Memory Verse

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. —Matthew 4:4

Did you ever think about the unity of all the books of the Bible? There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. These were written by 36 different authors over a period of 16 centuries. There is no contradiction or confusion in the Bible. History has proven that the facts are true, and there is one main message throughout all the books of the Bible.

The Old Testament points to the Savior to come, and the New Testament tells us of the Savior who has come. There is only one explanation for this unity: there was really only one author—God. Think how prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament—His birth, life and death—were all fulfilled in the New Testament.

Jesus Christ believed the Old Testament was inspired by God and He often quoted from the Scriptures. Matthew 4:3-10 contains the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. When tempted to turn stones into bread, He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’” When Satan dared Christ to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, Christ said, “It is written, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’” When Satan offered Christ the kingdoms of the world, if He would only fall down and worship him, Christ answered, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.’”

Each time Christ rebuked Satan with the words, “It is written.” The Scriptures were His authority.

Jesus quoted from the law, Psalms, and prophets at other times and He showed that He believed they were true and would come to pass. Christ also promised that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the authors of the Old Testament would be given to those who wrote books of the New Testament.

—Excerpted from When We Worship God by Max and Fran Mann