Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. This Bible
study and the message in a moment, they are not conjoining scriptures. They're not a part one and a
part two, but they will very much so go hand in hand. This Bible study, that message,
that message is just a continuation of this. Bible study. They're
going to very much so go hand in hand, and it's because of
their urgency. I have an urgent Bible study
for us this morning. And I have an urgent message
for us in a moment. Very, very urgent. And I pray
the Lord will impress that urgency on us. Matthew chapter four begins
with the temptation of our Lord. And we're not going to look at
that specifically this morning. We're gonna focus on a scripture
that our Lord quoted. He quoted Deuteronomy chapter
eight, verse three. That's what we're gonna focus
on. Let's read it and then I'll tell you what the heart of the
study is, what we're trying to get to. Matthew four, verse one,
it says, then was Jesus led up of the spirit and just hold onto
that. Just remember that for the message.
He was led of the spirit. Then was Jesus led up of the
spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And
when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and
hungered. And when the tempter came, that's
the adversary, when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou
be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But
our Lord answered and said, it is written, man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Our
Lord was tempted with a physical temptation, a physical fulfillment,
physical gratification. We who are in the flesh would
see that to be a physical need. That's what we would see it to
be a need for life to sustain life, bread, food. And the Lord's response was,
that's not what a man needs for life. That was his response. That's not what will sustain
a man's life, temporary life. Yes, a man needs some bread to
sustain temporary physical life. He did not say man doesn't need
bread at all. He said man cannot live temporarily
here by bread alone. If we're talking about this physical
life, sure, we need some bread. But eternal life. which is the only life that matters. And this is what I want to convey
to us. This temporary life that we are
in doesn't matter. It does not matter. It doesn't
matter at all. This temporary life is not real
life. The Apostle Paul said, we're
not looking. These things are temporal. We're not looking to
the temporal. These light afflictions are but
a moment. We're looking to eternal things. We are looking to eternal
things. Our Lord said, man cannot live
that eternal life that God's people are looking to by bread
alone. He said, it's gonna take every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And this is an
important side note. A man cannot take part of the
words. This is a very important side
note, total side note. But as people take these words,
and you know how men are, they'll take some of them. A man cannot
take most of them and reject the ones he doesn't like. It's
going to take, in order for us to receive eternal life, it's
gonna take every word. A man's gonna have to take in,
receive, ingest, Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God. This is the heart of our study. This is what I want us to say.
If we get ahold of this, we will have gotten the point of the
Bible study and we will have gotten the meaning of our Lord's
words. Eternal life is the only life that matters. And as we hear this, we're all
saying, yep, that's right, brother. But if we go into the depths
of this, it's going to be shocking. Eternal life is the only life
that matters. Everything that we do as human
beings is in the pursuit of health, wealth, and happiness. And I'm
just talking about the unbelieving world. I'm talking about us.
Everything that we do as human beings is in the pursuit of health,
wealth, and happiness. And number one, if pursuing health,
wealth, and happiness is going to cost us Christ, it's not worth
it. It's not worth it. You're gonna
be faced with decisions. You're gonna have decisions.
You're gonna have decisions, decisions, decision. That's what
life is, full of decisions. And if anything is gonna cost
us Christ, it is not worth it. If it's going to be at the expense
of eternal life, it's not worth it. No thing is
worth neglecting the things of eternity for. No thing. That's the first thing we need
to know. It's not worth it. Bread is not worth it. The second
thing we need to know is this. The health that this world has
to offer us is not true health. It's not really health. The wealth
that this world has to offer us is not true wealth. And the
happiness that this world has to offer us is not true happiness.
Our health in this life here on this earth is only for a short
time. And you who are above the age
of 30, especially 40, realize it's just like it's leaving you.
Our health in this world, in this life, is only for a short
time. Because of our sin, we are actually
fading as leaves. We're fading. We get a sickness. We get a disease of some kind.
And we go get medical treatment for it. And we recover from it. Like when people say, you've
heard people say this all the time, I beat cancer. All right, we get a disease,
we go get medical treatment and we recover from it. We're still gonna die. You go get this disease and you
recover from it. Then you go get that disease
and you recover from it. We're still gonna die. This is what Solomon realized.
The wisest man on this earth, this is what he realized. If
death is postponed, they say, you got a horrible case of cancer,
and you go get treatment, and they throw everything they have
at it, and you recover, and the cancer's gone, you're in remission.
If we recover, if that death is postponed, it's only because
of God's sovereign appointment. It was appointed for that to
be. It's not that death was put off. It wasn't our time. It wasn't our appointed time
to die, but it is appointed unto man wants to die. The healthiest
man on this earth has the exact same end as the sickest man on
this earth. One man can spend his life going
from hospital to hospital, going from wheelchair to bed, declining,
declining, worsening and worsening and worsening until finally he
dies. And another man can be a perfect
picture of health, standing tall, walking tall, strong as an ox,
and all of a sudden, he dies. Hmm. Well, I understand why the
first one died, but why in the world did the second one die?
It was his appointed time. It was his appointed time, and
it does not matter what his physical health seemed to be. It does
not matter. It was not lasting health. It was not true health. The health
that this world has to offer is not true health. And the wealth
that this world has to offer is not true wealth. We come into
this world with nothing. What are we going to leave with? Nothing. Nothing. A man works his whole life away.
I kind of feel like I have a man works his whole life away, but
you know, a man does a little better than I did. And he stacks
millions in the bank. And then he leaves this world
with nothing more than a homeless man. Nothing more. In a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, it dissolves like cotton candy. As soon as
you bite it, gone. All gone. Health, wealth, let's
just suffice it to say that our sin will ruin all happiness in
this life. Physical, worldly happiness,
that's the shortest lived of all of them. just constantly
being ruined. So this is what our Lord is saying
to us. And I pray God will teach this to me. I mean, this is just
really, I'm begging the Lord for a double portion of his spirit
today to really reach us. I pray God will impress this
upon me. Physical bread, physical fulfillments
are not what matters. They do not matter at all. They
will not sustain our lives. They will not last. It is the
eternal bread that we need. We need eternal fulfillments. We need an eternal health. It does not matter. If you find
out that you have a disease, Or if I find out that I have
a disease, I want you to remind me of this. When I find out and
I'm crushed inside and worried and fearful, you remind me that
the health of this world doesn't matter. The Lord's bringing all
of us to one end. It does not matter. We need an
eternal health. That's what we need. We need
one that sin and sickness can't touch, can't kill. I love how our Lord said, sin
is not coming into my eternal kingdom, will not enter in. We need an eternal wealth, one
that will never fade away. We get something on this earth
and you know it so, we spend all our time and worry after
that trying not to lose it. You get ahold of something and
you're just trying not to lose it. We need a wealth that can
never be stripped away from us. And we need an eternal happiness. Not one that's here for a minute
and gone the next. We need an eternal happiness
and everlasting rejoicing. Where do we find that? Christ. Christ. Now, I wrote down in my notes, I cannot
convince me of that. I wrote down in my notes, I'm
telling us here's the answer. Christ, I cannot convince me. I don't have the power to convince
me of that. I can say it. You don't need
anything but Christ. I can say it and I realize I
don't have the power to convince me of that. I don't have the
power to convince you of that. It's gonna take the Holy Ghost. It's gonna take the Holy Spirit
of God. God is three persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. It's gonna take God the Spirit
to convince us of that. It's gonna take God coming down,
reaching down, laying hold of us, to convince us of that. We need Christ. We need Christ. Man cannot live
by bread. It's gonna take the Word of God. And Christ is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now don't turn, but speaking
of Christ the Word, Psalm 42, verse 11 says, He is the health
of our countenance. He is our health, our eternal
health. If God blesses us with glory,
we're going to know health like we've never known. He is our everlasting health. He said, whoever lives and believes
in me is never going to die. For God so loved the world, He
gave His only begotten Son. He gave His own Son to the death
of the cross. He gave His own Son to our sickness,
our sin, our cross. He gave His own Son to that.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Whoever believes in him, faith
is not of ourselves. That's the gift of God. Whoever
God does that for, he's not going to perish, but have eternal life. He is our true health. Ephesians
3, 8 says, Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Unsearchable riches. He is wealth
that can never be told. Wealth so vast, it cannot diminish. It cannot fade away. It cannot
rot. It cannot rust. And concerning
happiness, Peter said, Christ for believer is joy unspeakable. And he is joy unspeakable. Oh,
how eternally happy is he who hath the God of Jacob for his
help. Christ is true health, true wealth,
and true happiness. Now, if that's what we desire, we need to go to him. We need to go to him. Where can
we find him? If we say, okay, I want to go
to him. Where can we find him? In his word. Right here in his
word. This is the word of Christ. It's called the word of God.
That's, that's right. The word of Christ. When the
scripture speaks of the word, we have all kinds of verses that
speak of the word. It's speaking of the written
word talks about your word. It's speaking of the written
word of Christ. And it's also speaking of Christ,
the man, the word made flesh, speaking of both of them. They're
one in the same. Psalm 138 verse two says, the Lord God has magnified
the word above everything. He's magnified the word above
everything. And as far as tangible things,
go things here in this physical world world. He has magnified
this word, these written words above everything. This Word is
our tangible connection to our Savior, Christ who is our life. We would be wise, this is what
I'm trying to get at, we would be wise to pursue this with all
of our ability. Y'all get up every day and open
your Bible and read it for five or six hours and then go do the
things that are required of you and run right home and open your
Bible and read for another, it's not in the flesh to do it. It's
not in the flesh to do it. It's going to take the Holy Spirit.
It's going to take the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying I do. Necessity
is laid on me. I have to open this Word. I have
to dig into this Word. And I thank God for putting me
in the burden, in the position to where I have to open this
Word. Because it's not in my sinful flesh to do it. But this
is what we need. This is what we need. I had an
illustration and I threw it out. I was gonna tell you, if I told
you, you need money to live, you're gonna have to get some
money to live. You'd be like, amen, brother, you do. You need
to devote some time to it. You need to, that's right. This
is what we need. It's gonna take God's spirit
to convince us of this. This is what we need for everything
we need. He has magnified this Word. This is our connection to Christ. This is our connection to Him. And we would be so wise to pursue,
pursue, give ourselves to the Word of the Lord. Every word
that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. I need the words
that have proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord in my heart
more than I need bread in my belly. more. Turn with me to
Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verse 50. Psalm 119 verse 50, it says,
this is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickened me. It's the word that the Holy Spirit
of God uses to quicken his people. It's not the preacher. Our Lord
used a donkey one time. It's not the man, it's not his
charisma, it's not his speaking ability. It's not by man's might,
man's power. It's not. It's the Word. It's not by man's illustrations,
although our Lord preached with illustrations, and I adore illustrations. It's not illustrations. It's
the Word that the Holy Spirit uses to quicken His people. The
message of the gospel comes. The message of the good news
of the Word comes. And it says, and you hath He
quickened. And through that word, God's
elect sinners are quickened from death to life. Amazingly miraculous
that he uses the word. Look at verse 81, right here
in Psalm 119. Verse 81 says, my soul fainteth
for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Because of sin,
the soul begins to faint. It just begins to faint. But
the Word reminds us of the blood. The soul starts dwelling on the
sin, and then the Word starts dwelling on the blood. It tells
us the blood paid the debt of that sin. The blood blotted out
the transgression of that sin. The blood wiped the slate clean.
And hearing that Word, it brings hope to God's people again. Look at verse 89. Forever, O
Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. The promises will never
change. They'll never be taken back.
They are forever settled in heaven. Our Savior said, I am the Lord,
I change not. That means I'm forever settled.
That's why you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Do you ever
feel like you're in a dark place? You ever feel like you're in
a dark place in life, a dark place in the world? You ever
feel like you're in just darkness? Look at Psalm 119 verse 105.
It says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This word lights The way, all capital letters,
the way. Christ said, I'm the way. This
word light, when you feel like you're in darkness, like I do
most of the time, this word will light the way again. Look at
verse 116. It says, uphold me according
to thy word. This is what upholds us. Look
at verse 162. It says, I rejoice in thy Word
as one that findeth great spoil. I rejoice, this is our rejoicing.
Look at verse 169. Let my cry come near before thee,
O Lord, give me understanding according to thy Word. This is
our understanding. Look at verse 172. My tongue
shall speak of thy word. This is what we speak of. This
is what we look to. This is our all. James said,
the apostle James said, he said, this life on earth is a
vapor, just a vapor. It's here for a brief little
moment. and then it vanishes away. Now
I hear that the second half goes faster than the first half. And
the first half has gone pretty fast. He said it's here for just a
little moment and then it all vanishes away, vanishes away. This is all that we are going
to have to hold on to. This is all that is going to
remain after everything else vanishes away. I am an advocate very much so,
I'll let it be known. I'm an advocate for going to
the gym. But man cannot live by going
to the gym alone. Don't, don't, don't. I'm talking to me first and all
of us because I love us, I fear for us. Don't, don't, don't. Go after physical health at the
expense of Christ. Don't do it. Don't do it. I am an advocate very much so
for a man and a woman earning money to provide for his or her
family. The scripture says a man that
will not provide for his own is worse than an infidel. That
means worse than an unbeliever. A man or a woman has to do what
a man or a woman has to do to provide for his or her own. But
don't go after physical wealth at the expense of Christ. We'll be going after something
that is not. All of a sudden it will be not.
And we will have missed the only thing that is. I am all for, and Solomon was
too. I am all for enjoying things
in this life and finding a little temporary happiness in the things
that have been provided to us. The Lord has given us homes and
given us some bread and given us some money and things like
that. And I'm all for having our friends over and let's share
it together. And I'm all for taking my family
on vacation. I'm all for these things. The
Lord has given us nice cars and such on and so forth. I'm for
it. But don't seek happiness in this
world at the expense of Christ. Man cannot live by any of these
things alone. We're going to find that out
so quickly. It's just, it's just scared me. You know, I understand
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is coming so
quickly. It's coming so quickly. We're
about to find out so quickly. I'm waiting on the number 48.
I'm 44. My mother, Lord took my mother
at 48. Four more years, three and a
half more years, I'll be at the place where he took her. And
you know, three score and 10, we're not promised three score
and 10. It's coming so quickly. It could be today. It could be
tomorrow. It is coming so quickly. There
is one thing needful. Before I step out of this pulpit
and we stand up and go to that foyer, we need to understand
we need one thing, one thing, and it's Christ. It's Christ. It's his salvation. It's his
life. It's his body. It's his blood. It's his mercy. It's his grace. It's his word. It's his spirit. It's his presence. It's his worship. It's his gospel. It's his people. It's this right here. It's this
right here. Our Lord said, make this your
priority. Make Christ your top priority. Put everything else second to
Him. Everything else. I don't have
time. I was gonna take you to Matthew
six. You can read that on your own. It's just, it's precious.
I'm not gonna read that to you, but our Lord there said, take
no thought for this life. Wouldn't that make a man a fool?
Not according to God. Take no thought for this life.
He said, don't take any thought for the things that you need
in this life. But don't I need to go to work? Yeah, and he told
us to. He said, a man ought to work while there's 12 hours in
a day. But this is what he said. He
said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And what is His righteousness?
Christ. His name shall be called the
Lord, our righteousness. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And
this is what He said, all these things that you need shall be
added to you. Seek Christ first. Put Christ first. A child of God who has received
a work of grace, if he has done something, if he has done something,
a child of God who has received a work of his grace will say,
that's exactly what I want to do. I'm so thankful to the word for
telling me that. Oh, I'm so thankful for the word
for reminding me of that. That's exactly what I want to
do. I pray the Lord will let that be exactly what we all want
to do. All right, you're dismissed.