VERSE 4: But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word
The use. By this comparing of the Evangelists we may observe; that when the Devil hath once begun to tempt a man, he will not easily leave off, but will set an edge upon it, and enforce and urge it by all the means he can, that if it be possible it may prevail. Which should teach us on the other side, to be most earnest and resolute in resisting Satan's temptations: he will take small advantage before he leave; we therefore must not give place, nor yield one jot unto him:
Resist the Devil and he will fly. This must every member of the Church do; the Minister by sound and through applying of every part of God's truth to the heart, whereby it may be armed against the enemy; and the people by faithful embracing and obeying of the same, as also by earnest prayer unto God for the assistance of his grace in all assaults.
VERSE 4.
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. - MAT. 4.4.
These words contain Christ's gracious answer, whereby he repelled the devils temptation; and in it we may observe three points; first, that Christ did Answer: Secondly, whence he borrowed his Answer:
Thirdly, the very words of his Answer.
For the first, that Christ did answer, is noted by the holy Ghost in plain words, And Jesus answering, said; Whereby he would give us to understand, that Christ Jesus our Savior being in the wilderness, was not only willing and ready to encounter with Satan, but also able to withstand him, yea and to vanquish Satan without receiving any foil
at his hands. Which is a point of singular comfort to God's Church and children; for was Christ Jesus able in this low and base estate of a servant, being disadvantaged also by a desert place and bodily hunger, was he then (I say) able to encounter with Satan and to overcome him in his most violent and subtle assaults? Then how much more is he now able even in all his members to give Satan the foil, having spoiled him in his death? Seeing he is advanced to the throne of majesty and glory, and set at the right hand of his father, having a name above all names given unto him, at which every knee should bow, both of things in heaven and in the earth and under the earth? We therefore may now say, with that loud voice; Now is salvation in heaven, and strength, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of the brethren is cast down.
The second point here noted is, whence Christ borroweth his answer, namely, from the Scriptures; It is written: It had been an easy thing for Christ being the son of God, to have confounded the Tempter with the breath of his mouth, or to have commanded innumerable legions of holy Angels to have driven him away; but he betakes himself to the written word for his defense. And this he did especially for our instruction; namely, that we might know, that the written word of God, rightly welded by the hand of faith, is the most sufficient weapon for the repelling of Satan and the vanquishing of him in all his temptations; hence Paul calleth it the sword of the spirit, because it serves not only for our defense, but also to wound
Satan, and to put him to flight.
The use. I. This fact of Christ doth discover and condemn the damnable practice of the Church of Rome, who lock up the word of God from their people in an unknown tongue, and commend unto them for their defense against spiritual enemies other devices of
their own, as holy water, crossing, crosses, &c. which they highly commend as means of special strength and force to vanquish the Devil; when as indeed the word of God is the only true and trusty weapon, whereof while they deprive their people, they send them forth naked and unarmed to encounter with Satan.
Secondly, here also behold the miserable estate of all those that either through covetousness or any other profaneness are drawn to neglect or contemn the written word of God: their case is most fearful; for they cast away those weapons whereby they should defend themselves against the Devil, and quench all his fiery darts, and so betray their own souls into his hands: And doubtless all contemners and neglecters of the word are guilty of their own damnation, because God hath given us his word for our defense, and for the confounding of Satan, so as without guilt of willful murder not of our bodies, but of our souls, we cannot neglect this heavenly weapon.
Thirdly, hereby we may see the cause why sin so much abounds in all estates everywhere, namely, the want of love unto and knowledge in the word of God, whereupon the most are ignorant of it, or else know not how to handle this spiritual weapon, whereby Satan is resisted and foiled: Hosea 4.2. The Lord complaineth of lying, swearing, killing, stealing, and whoring yea of blood touching blood; and the cause is laid down in the first verse, There is no knowledge of God in the land: This David knew well, and therefore said, He hid God's saying in his heart, that he might not sin against him, Psal. 119.11.
For as Saul's spear stood in readiness at his head even when he slept, so should God's word, which is the sword of the spirit, be ever in our hearts, as it were ready drawn, that to what sin soever the Devil allures us, we may be able to say for our defense, It is written:
through want hereof it comes to pass that the Devil at his pleasure leads men captives into all impieties.
Lastly, this excellent use of the word understood, believed, and obeyed must move all ignorant persons to labor for knowledge herein, and with all endeavor after growth in knowledge, by holy obedience, to show forth their faith: If we had an enemy that had sworn our death and vowed to see our blood, how careful would we be, for our natural life, both to get us weapons, and also some knowledge to use the same, not only for our defense, but also for the annoyance of our deadly foe? Oh then how careful should we be for the safety of our souls to put upon us the whole armor of God, and to learn to use aright this sword of the spirit, that when we meet with Satan our irreconcilable enemy, in the field of temptation, which is this miserable world, we may be able both to award his blows, and to wound his head! It is lamentable to see how ignorant people will bless themselves in their ignorance, and say they defy the Devil, and spit at him in defiance, and yet they know not how they are entangled in his snares of their own sins: he little regards such defiance so long as their souls lie naked and bare before his deadly darts: let two men meet that be at enmity, the one armed the other naked, what will it avail for the naked man to defy his enemy with big words, while in the meantime his armed enemy takes away his life?
Lo, Satan is this strong man armed, and ignorant persons are poor naked caitiffs, they defy the Devil and spit at him with their mouth, but in the meantime the devil wounds their souls unto death. They will say they feel no such wounds, and therefore they fear him not: but they must know, that the less they feel, the more cause they have to fear; for Satan's wounds are most deadly when they are least felt.
The third point is, Christ's Answer itself: Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God:
This answer is borrowed from Deuteron. 8.3. And it is that lesson which Moses sought to teach the children of Israel after the Lord had fed them with food from heaven in that barren wilderness where they were afflicted with hunger. The words are something hard, and therefore I will show the meaning of them. Man shall not live; that is, shall not preserve his temporal life in this world; for of eternal life, neither Moses nor Christ did intend to speak. By bread only, that is, only by such ordinary means as food and raiment, sleep, physic &c. which God hath appointed in his providence for the ordinary preservation of natural life. But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God: This title word betokens diverse things in scripture: I. The substantial word of God, the second person in Trinity, John. 1.1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was
God. II. It is usually taken for the written word contained in the books of the old and New Testament, 1 Pet. 1.25. Thirdly, it is sometime taken for God's will and decree, and it is called his good pleasure: so Heb. 1.2. Christ sustaineth all things by the word of his power, that is, according to his will and decree, by his powerful appointment: and by this word were all things made in the beginning and hereby have they been preserved ever since: this is that word that melteth the Ice, Psal. 147.18. And in this last sense must we understand word in this place; meaning that man doth not preserve this natural life by ordinary means only, but withal, by God's good pleasure, will and decree sanctifying the means for his good. Note further that it is said by every word, and therein lieth the substance of this sentence; for the understanding whereof we must know, that this powerful and working word of God may be distinguished according to the matter whereabout it is occupied: Thus, sometime
God will have men to live by bread the ordinary food of natural life; and this is his ordinary word. Sometime his will and appointment is that man shall live by extraordinary means; as the Israelites did in the wilderness while they lived upon Manna; and this is his
extraordinary word: Other whiles he ordains that man shall live without all means, as Moses did in mount Sina, Elias in mount
Horeb, and our Savior Christ in this wilderness; for the space of forty days and forty nights together; And lastly he ordains sometime, that man shall live against means and contrary to the course of nature;
Thus Daniel lived in the Lions den, and the three children in the fiery furnace; both which last may be called God's miraculous word: So that we see good reason of this clause every: for hereby we learn, that man doth not preserve his life only by ordinary means ordained of God; but likewise by every word proceeding out of the mouth of God, that is, by every appointment and decree of God, whether extraordinary, above the usual means, or miraculous without all means, or against the course of nature: this we must labor to know and be persuaded of. Nature teacheth that man liveth by God's blessing and appointment in ordinary means: But nature knows not this, that God preserveth man's life by his word, above means, without means, yea and against means. The believing heart will hardly yield to this, which Moses would teach the Israelites; and therefore we must take the more pains to be resolved of it. If any shall think hereupon, that a man may live by the written word without meat and drink, he is deceived; for Christ meaneth not that every word that God hath spoken shall preserve natural life, but that whatsoever way he hath appointed whereby man shall live, whether by ordinary or extraordinary means, whether, without means or against means, the same shall be effectual for man's preservation:
Thus much for the meaning.
The applying of this testimony to the Devils temptation, is thus to be conceived: the Devils temptation was this. If thou be the son of God, then command these stones to be made bread: But thou canst not make these stones to become bread: Therefore thou art not the son of God. To this Christ answers, by denying the proposition or first part
of this argument, the ground whereof was this, (which the Devil took for granted) that when a man is hungry he must needs have bread or else he cannot live: and this our Savior Christ doth flatly deny, saying; Man liveth not by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God: And this application is most excellent, teaching us that thing, for the learning whereof the Israelites were trained up forty years in the wilderness, and fed with Manna from heaven, and with water out of the rock; to wit, that God by his word can preserve the life of man without ordinary means even what way soever he appointeth for that purpose; and if we should spend our lives in learning hereof, no doubt the time were not misspent.
The use. First, hereby we are taught to consider aright of all creatures whereby our life is preserved, as meat, drink, apparel &c. and that is thus, besides the bodily sustenance of the creature, we must labor to see a further matter, even the blessing of God in the creature proceeding from his word, decree and appointment, whereby it is made fit and able to yield sustenance and nourishment. The Scripture calleth this the Staff of bread, and so it is indeed, for as an aged and impotent man falleth to the ground if his staff be plucked from him, so the best creature that serves for our use, without God's blessing becomes fruitless unto us. This, reason may teach us, for how should that thing of itself preserve and further life, which in itself is void of life? And how should that give heat and warmness to our bodies, which of itself is void of heat? Let us therefore confess that it is not the substance of food that doth refresh us, nor the matter of our raiment that keeps us warm, but the blessing of him that by his word hath ordained them for these ends, if he withdraw his blessing, the staff and stay is gone; men may eat (as Haggai saith) but they shall not have enough; they may drink, and yet not be filled; they may cloth themselves, and not be warm; It is God's blessing that
makes God's creatures do us good: how else should it come to pass, that the poor man's child which is barely clad, and homely fed, should be as healthful, comely, and well liking as the child of a Prince, but that God blesseth as well the homely food of the poor, as the dainty fare of the richest.
Secondly, hereby we must learn Sobriety and Temperance, in the use of all God's creatures: when we use our food and raiment it is God's blessing alone that makes them do us good, the Lord as it were stands by us to put his blessing upon every morsel that we eat, and every draught that we drink, and upon our raiment when we put it on; how then dare we abuse them in surfeiting and drunkenness, in pride and wantonness? May we not fear in so doing that while the meat or drink is in our mouths, the wrath of God will fall upon us; as Psal. 78.30, 31.
Thirdly, hence we must learn to sanctify God's creatures as food and raiment which we use for our comfort, by invocation on the name of God: for we do not live by the creatures simply, but by the word and appointment of God blessing them unto us; and therefore we must not be like unto brute beasts which receive God's blessings, but yet never look up to heaven from whence they come; or like to the swine that gathereth up the mast, not looking up to the tree from which it falleth.
Fourthly, hereby we see the common error of the world, who place the staff and stay of their life in the abundance of outward blessings, whereupon they labor to enrich themselves herewith as much as possibly they can; these men do little consider that man's life standeth not in abundance, neither doth he live by bread, but by the blessing of God, which is and may be as well upon a little, as upon the treasures of a kingdom. This was the practice of the rich fool,
who spake peace to his soul for ease and pastime, because he had much goods laid up for many years. But since Christ teacheth us that man liveth not by bread only, it must needs be a flat note of unbelief, to cark and care immoderately for the things of this life.
Fifthly, hereby we are also taught, not to entangle ourselves overmuch with the cares of this world, nor to suffer our hearts to be oppressed with desire of food, raiment, lands or living: because our life and welfare consisteth not in these things, but in the blessing of God on whatsoever he sends be it more or less: the gripple mind after much is a deadly snare, wherewith many a soul is entangled to perdition and destruction; This chokes the heart in such sort as the seed of grace can take no root not bring forth any saving fruit: this made Paul to lay a charge upon Timothy for rich men, that they should trust in the living God and not in uncertain riches, 1 Tim.
6.17. Let us therefore be content with food and raiment, and rather seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all those things whereof we stand in need shall be given unto us in the moderate use of lawful means. Indeed the worldlings excuse is, that food and raiment is his living, which he must needs look unto: but we must still remember, that our life standeth not in these things, for when death comes, these cannot save us from the grave: it is God's blessing by which we live, he can preserve us above means, nay without means, and against means, and therefore we must never give place to such thoughts and cares as show distrust in God.
Sixthly, hence we must learn contentation and patience in extreme poverty and in all other miseries of this life; If God should deal with us as he did with his servant Job: if for our religion he should bring upon us the loss of goods, of children, of health and all that we have, with banishment also from our friends and country, yet then must we labor to show the fruit of patience, and not suffer our harts to be
swallowed up of overmuch grief: because our life stands by God's word, and not in any of these things: indeed, if in these outward miseries a man should be deprived of the comfort of God's providence, then might he sorrow without measure: but seeing all such as fear God do still enjoy the blessing of God in their greatest calamities (for God's blessing is not locked up in bread, but above means, without means and against means can he manifest his power and goodness in their preservation) therefore in the extremity of evil must we comfort ourselves in the Lord our God, as David did in great sorrow, having lost his two wives and being in danger to be stoned of his own followers: and learn to say with Job, Though the Lord kill me yet will I trust in him. What if the Lord should send a famine among us, as he may justly do for the sins of this land? Should we then despair or use unlawful means for our relief? Nay, then we must learn Moses lesson, that man liveth not by bread only, and labor to depend on him that can increase the oil in the poor widows cruise and the meal in the barrels, till plenty come.
Seventhly, this must teach us moderation of our affections in all estates that do befall us; in health and plenty we must not be puffed up with pride; in weakness and in want we must not be oppressed with sorrow; for man's life standeth not in these things, neither can we hereby know love or hatred; he that is in want may have as good a portion in God's blessing as the wealthiest in the world, herein hungry Lazarus full of sores, went far beyond the rich glutton in all his riot.
Lastly, seeing our life depends upon God's word, we must hereby learn to acknowledge God's providence, and to rely thereupon in all estates. In the days of peace, wherein (as Job speaketh of himself) men wash their paths in butter, and have the rocks to pour them out rivers of oil, men will soon be brought to say so much; but we must