Matthew 4:4 Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone

 

⁴Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. -Matthew 4:4 Bible, King James Version

There are at least two kinds of nourishment we all require, physical and spiritual. If we do not have physical nourishment we will physically die. If we do not have spiritual nourishment we will spiritually die. This means we should not say we have the Old Testament of the Bible and we need no more of the word of God. Neither does it mean we should say we have the New Testament of the Bible and we need no more of the word of God. We should instead live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD especially what has been given to us in this day and age rather than what was appropriate for us thousands of years ago. We should have spiritually evolved since then.

 

In the Mormon Church’s Book of Mormon the prophet Nephi in ancient America teaches the people: Behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days. …The Gentiles… have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches. …For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, …the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s, and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches. …Because of… false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted… They have all gone astray save it be a few. …Behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth… must tumble to the earth. …Yea, wo be unto him that saith; We have received, and we need no more. And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he should fall. Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough! For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts… for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. …And because my words shall hiss forth- many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible, Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. …Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? …I speak forth my words according to my own pleasure. And because I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. Wherefore, because ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. (2 Nephi 26:14,20; 28:3,14,18,27-30; 29:3,6,9-10)

 

Also in a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1833 the Lord teaches: Study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books… but be admonished in all your high-mindedness and pride, for it bringeth a snare upon your souls. …Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly. (Doctrine and Covenants 90:15,17,24) Become acquainted with all good books does not mean only the Mormon books. No religion has all the Truth. Truth is like a Golden Thread which runs through all religions. Some have more of the Truth than others but none have all the Truth. The Ascended Masters teach that the Bible contains about thirty percent of the Truth therefore it is important to search diligently until one finds the pure Truth as taught by the Masters or one risks being snared in their own high-mindedness and pride believing they have all the Truth they need but it will only lead them to re-embodiment.
 

Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com



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The nature of celestial and spiritual food can best be known in the other life. The life of angels and spirits is not sustained by any such food as there is in this world, but by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord" as the Lord teaches in Matthew 4:4. The truth is that the Lord alone is the life of all, and that from Him come all things both in general and in particular that angels and spirits think, say, and do, and also what evil spirits think, say, and do. The reason why these latter say and do evil things is that they so receive and pervert all the goods and truths that are of the Lord. Reception and affection are according to the form of the recipient. This may be compared to the various objects that receive the light of the sun, some of which turn the light received into unpleasing and disagreeable colors, while others turn it into pleasing and beautiful colors, according to the form, determination, and disposition of their parts. The whole heaven and the entire world of spirits thus live by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and from this each individual has his life; and not only the whole heaven and the world of spirits, but also the whole human race. I know that these things will not be believed, nevertheless from the continuous experience of years I can assert that they are most true. Evil spirits in the world of spirits are not willing to believe that this is so; and therefore it has often been demonstrated to them-to the life-even until they have acknowledged with indignation that it is true. If angels, spirits, and men were deprived of this food they would expire [die] in a moment.