In Matthew 4 Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he 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” (Matt. 4:2-4). The tempter talked with Jesus when He was hungry. But Jesus answered that man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If we mean business to have the church life, we will be hungry all the time. Hence, we must learn to feed on the Word of God. Jesus’ life is a life that is always feeding on God’s Word. Only this life is the proper life for the church life. Jesus as a man on this earth was a good eater of God’s Word, and today the Jesus within us is the same. If you say that Jesus is within you, yet you do not daily eat the Word of God, that is not Jesus, that is you. Jesus lives by feeding on the Word of God.
Then Jesus came as a great light. “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matt. 4:16). If we would be a Nazarene, neglected by religion and persecuted by politics, fulfilling all righteousness by taking Jesus as our life and daily feeding on the living Word of God, we will become a light. Wherever we go, people will be under our shining. Men may be in darkness, but our presence will bring the light. People will simply see the light. Sometimes, without us, our family may be in darkness. But since we take Jesus as the Nazarene and our life within, and we are willing to suffer persecution and be right in everything by feeding on the Word of God, our family will be full of light.
Jesus is also the greater temple. “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple” (Matt. 12:6). He is the greater temple and the greater Jonah. “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Matt. 12:41). And He is the greater Solomon. “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42).
Jesus is the greater temple with the presence of God, the greater Jonah with the power of God, and the greater Solomon with the wisdom of God. If we are those who take Jesus as our life, we will be the temple with the presence of God. Wherever we are, others will sense that God’s dwelling is with us. They will also sense the power of God and the wisdom of God with us. I believe that many of us have had this kind of experience. We may be the youngest in the family, yet the whole family senses that we are so powerful, so wise, and so much in God’s presence. This is because the greater temple, the greater Jonah, and the greater Solomon is within us. This should be the life of the people in the church. They must have the greater temple, the greater Jonah, and the greater Solomon. Others may not like it, but they cannot deny it. They must admit that the presence of God, the power of God, and the wisdom of God are with us.
I know of a brother who worked in a telegraph company. All those working there called him Jesus in a despising way. But one day they needed someone to care for a large sum of their money. They all agreed that they should entrust their money to the one they called Jesus. They realized that he was the most trustworthy person in the whole company. This is the way the church people should be in the world. We should have the wisdom and the power with the presence of God.