Title: Rice Cake? you mean? / Mt 4:3,4
Contents
is it a cake? you mean?
(Matthew 4:3,4)
A father and son were arguing with each other. The father scolded his son and told him not to go to church. ‘Didn’t the Bible say, children, obey your parents in everything? How can you disobey Ebi like this, saying you believe in Jesus?’ So the son answered. ‘Do you not even know these words? Whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.’
The fight between rich and poor was fought with the Bible. Everyone seems to respect what the Bible says. But everyone is despising the words of the Bible. There are many instances in which some Bible passages are quoted like this to justify their position. As we believe in Jesus, we often seek bread through the words of Jesus. The words of the Bible must be used properly.
Today's sermon is part of Jesus' temptation by the devil. Jesus was subjected to three temptations, and today's text is the first of those temptations. The devil tricks Jesus. If you are a son of God, you are commanding the stones to make loaves of bread. Jesus answers by quoting the words (Deuteronomy 8:3). “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”
Jesus fasted for 40 days. If we had said these words after starving for a meal or two, we would not have taken it very seriously. Jesus, who is in the same flesh as ours, said these words in the context of fasting for 40 days and then starving. Saints are soldiers of Christ. The battle Christians always fight is the battle between bread and the word. Through today's Word, I hope that you will become the true winner of the battle.
I need a cake
Anything in a visible body needs food. Because Jesus also took on flesh, he fasted for 40 days and became hungry after he was born. I was hungry. Jesus knows all too well that we, who have bodies, must eat to live, drink to live, and wear them to live. The Lord must have wanted to eat it too. Jesus never ignores our carnal desires. So, when Jesus taught us to pray, he made us ask for food.
“Give us this day our daily bread,” He would not have asked us to do this if we did not need bread. When we ask for our daily bread, Heavenly Father provides. Before Jesus taught us to pray, he said, “Your Father already knows everything you need before you ask.” It means that God does not ignore our fleshly desires and provides everything we need.
Just like the Western missionaries who brought the gospel to Korea, bread and the gospel are essential when evangelizing the poor. [James 2:16] “What profit is it if any of you say to him, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and be satisfied, and do not give him anything for his body’? When God led the Israelites into the wilderness, He fed them and clothed them. Manna and quail were food for immediate consumption.
[Matthew 6:31-33] “Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall you eat, what you will drink, or what you will wear? Seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Jesus never ignores our physical problems.
However, we cannot live on bread alone.
Today's verse says that a person must have bread, but he cannot be satisfied with it alone. We need bread because we have bodies. But we do not live on bread alone. If we live by bread alone, we are no different from other animals. Man has a spirit, soul, and body. The food of the flesh is bread. The food of the soul is knowledge. The food of the spirit is the word of the Lord.
A person who has not been ignorant of the world of civilization for a long time despite being human and has not had an opportunity to learn lives like an animal. It's hard to call him a person. They eat the same things as animals without knowing how to speak. Why are you so desperate to learn today? Isn't it because of the human will to live like a human being in a diversified society? So is our spirit. You must eat soul food. It is the Word of God.
The devil always prevents people from living like human beings. The devil continues to tempt us. They tell you to live for what you can see, and because everything you do is to make a living, you are told to earn money regardless of any means or method. In today's text, the temptation is, "Let these stones become loaves of bread."
It is scary to fall for this temptation. Judas Iscariot sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Ananias and Sapphira promised to donate, but they were sold out of greed for money and were quickly killed. The devil immediately tempts us about material things and food. Even today's saints lose their minds when they fall for this devil. If you give me money on a weekday, I go to work. We always abandon the mission the Lord has entrusted to us. But, gentlemen, man does not live by bread alone.
If you look at the global village as a whole, there are still many people who die from lack of food. However, in Korea, compared to the past, it is rare for people to die because of the food of the flesh. Now we will die for the word rather than for food. So the Lord has already warned. [Amos 8:11] “Behold, the days are coming, saith the Sovereign LORD, and I will send a famine upon the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.” not exist. But, how much effort do you make to read the Bible and listen to the Word while making fun of your tormented body for bread? Now you are in a state of hunger for the word.
Dear saints,
Now, we must live by the Word. Jesus overcame the temptation of the devil by holding on to the word of God. There are times in our lives when we are truly hungry. There are times when the situation is so desperate and desperate. Nevertheless, if we hold on to the word of God, we will live. Win. If we forsake the word of God, it may seem like victory for a short time, but eventually we will fall.
Yes, because we are spirit beings. [James 2:26] “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” This is the Bible that teaches what true faith is. Looking at the first part, there is the premise that a person without a soul is a dead person. That's right. A soul without the Word, the food of the soul, is a dead soul. If you have such a soul, you are also dead. No matter how healthy our bodies supply bread, we are no longer the humans God wants us to be.
It is worth remembering when Deuteronomy spoke these words to Israel. Living by bread is the Egyptian way of life, and living by the word is the way of life in heaven. Egypt is a country where bread is the life, but the kingdom of heaven is a country where the word is life. At that time, Israel changed their wrong way of life as they passed through the wilderness. Today, through the church, we must abandon the Egyptian way of life and adopt the way of life in heaven. But everyone, is it still rice cakes? How long is the rice cake?
People need bread. But we cannot live on bread alone. I can't live. You can live a blessed life if you live by the word of God. There are people who live in this world but live a life in heaven, and there are people who stay on earth while hoping for heaven. How are you? I hope you will no longer be deceived by the devil's deception to make bread out of stones and become believers who live by the word.