We need to build up the wall to protect the church as the house of God and we need to live by Christ and to live out Christ, thus magnifying Christ so that we can build up the church as the expression of God. Amen!
We have seen how the ministry of Ezra and the leadership of Nehemiah have an eternal value and consummate in the New Jerusalem.
With the ministry of Ezra, we see three main things: purification, education, and reconstitution.
With the leadership of Nehemiah, we see three main things also, that is, separation, protection, and expression.
With Ezra, we see that he came to speak the word of God and educate the people of Israel with the law of God.
The people of God who returned to Israel to rebuild the house and city of God were impure, mixed, and not pure.
Therefore, they needed to be purified by the word of God. We need to be purified by having the hearing of the faith, that is, by reading the Bible and by actively placing ourselves under the speaking of the word of God.
The word of God is pure, and our reading of God’s word and listening to it does a work of purification until we become like pure gold, like the constitution of the New Jerusalem.
Furthermore, we need to be educated with the word of God so that we may know God, be one with God, and partake of what He is. We need to be educated and constituted with the word of God day by day.
This all consummates in the New Jerusalem, of which we are a miniature in the church life today and every believer is a small New Jerusalem.
We need to be purified, educated, and reconstituted with the word of God so that we may become the pure expression of God, constituted with God, and filled with God.
Furthermore, we need to have a clear separation between us and the world, between us and the things of the world and which are not of God, and between us and the enemy with his things.
We need to be part of the great and high wall around the New Jerusalem to protect the interests of God and express what He is.
All this is by our coming to the word of God. The word of God purifies us, educates us, and reconstitutes us with God Himself.
By being in God’s word day by day with the help of the ministry that opens up the word of God, we are separated from the world, we protect the interests of God, and we are constituted to be the expression of God.
May we be those who live and serve God according to the vision of the age in the ministry of the age by living out and working out the New Jerusalem today.
Amen, may we give ourselves to the Lord to be in His word day by day and to be under the speaking of the ministry of God’s word so that we may be purified, educated, and reconstituted!
May there be a clear separation, protection, and expression of God in us and through us.
Build up the Wall to Protect the Church as the House of God by the Overcoming Blood of Christ and by Fighting the Battle in the Body
As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ who are learning to enjoy Christ, live Christ, and be properly related to the saints in the Body, we need to build up the wall to protect the church as the house of God.
This is our need today.
The church as the house of God needs to be protected; we need not only to be built up as the household of God, the church of the living God, but also build up the wall to protect the church.
How can we build the wall? The Bible gives us many ways for us to build the wall to protect the church as the house of God.
Rev. 12:11 tells us that we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and by not loving our soul life even unto death.
We can build up the wall through the overcoming blood of the Lamb, applied to us through our repenting, confessing our sins, and asking God for His purging (Psa. 51:18).
Day by day we need to apply the blood of Christ to our sins, confessing our sins under the Lord’s shining.
Also, we need to take the overcoming blood of Christ as our covering, declaring to the enemy that we have overcome him through the blood of the Lamb.
We can simply repent, confess our sins, and ask God for His purging, and we will overcome the enemy.
We also build the wall by shepherding the flock of God by sounding the one trumpet of the unique New Testament ministry (1 Cor. 14:8; Eph. 4:11; Acts 20:26-35; Ezek. 33:1-11; 34:25; Col. 1:24-29).
As we shepherd one another and especially as we care for the new ones, we need to declare to them all the counsel of God to complete the word of God with the Lord’s protective warning and healthy teaching, so that they may be full-grown in Christ.
We build the wall to protect the church by speaking and declaring the New Testament economy of God to complete the word of God.
We build the wall to protect the church from the enemy’s attack by fighting the battle in the Body (Rom. 16:20).
Our battle is not in ourselves or by ourselves but in the Body, for the Body, and as the Body.
It is the whole Body that puts on the whole armour of God and renders protection to every member (Eph. 6:10-20; Matt. 16:18; Acts 21:4, 11-12).
We must seek the counsel and covering of the Body to receive the protection and safeguard of the Body.
In the Body every member has its speciality; one member has the word of God (the sword of the Spirit), another has the burden for the gospel (the shoes of the gospel of peace), while still another one has faith (the shield of faith).
Each one’s function is for the Body and in the Body, and the armour of God is for the whole Body.
If we are isolated from the Body, we are prone to be deceived; we need the covering of the Body.
We need to constantly fellowship with our fellow believers, asking for help and rendering help to the other members of the Body.
If we see the Body, care for the Body, and live in the Body, we will seek the counsel and covering of the Body not as a practice but as a daily necessity.
But if we only know the truth of the Body but don’t live in the reality of the Body, we will only check with the Body and fellowship with the saints from time to time, if we remember this. Oh, Lord.
May we realize we’re members of the Body, and may we build the wall to protect the church as the house of God by fighting the battle in the Body!
May we learn the lesson of fellowshipping with the Lord and with the saints, opening our situation, decisions, and feelings to the Lord and to the saints the Lord put us with.
Spiritual warfare is in this principle: one will chase a thousand, and two will put ten thousand to flight (Deut. 32:30; Eccl. 4:9-12; Exo. 17:11-13).
As we build up the wall to protect the church, we’re built with the saints and we chase the enemy in the Body and as the Body.
We may chase one thousand enemies by ourselves, but when we’re with a vital companion, we will put ten thousand to flight. Hallelujah!
May we rise up today to build up the wall to protect the interests of the riches of God’s divinity on the earth and the attainments of His consummation.
Lord Jesus, we want to build up the wall to protect the church as the house of God. We take the overcoming blood of the Lamb and apply it as we repent, confess our sins, and ask God for His purging. Hallelujah, we overcome the enemy through the blood of the Lamb and through the word of our testimony and by not loving our soul-life even unto death! Amen, Lord, we want to remain in Your word, sounding the trumpet of the unique New Testament ministry and declaring all the counsel of God to complete the word of God! Amen, Lord, may we preach and speak the Lord’s protecting warning and healthy teaching to the saints and the new ones so that they may be full-grown in Christ! Lord, we want to build up the wall to protect the church by fighting the battle in the Body. We stand one with You, Lord, and one with the saints. We cannot live without the Body. We take the Body as our armour and we seek the counsel and covering of the Body to receive the Body’s protection and safeguard. Hallelujah, we fight the battle in the Body by the virtue of the Head.
Live Christ and Magnify Christ to Build up the Church as the Expression of God
![Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, [and] such are you. 1 Cor. 3:16-17 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and [the] bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Phil. 1:19-21](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Do-you-not-know-that-you-are-the-temple-of-God-and-that-the-Spirit-of-God-dwells-in-you-1-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, [and] such are you. 1 Cor. 3:16-17 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and [the] bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Phil. 1:19-21")
The result of our being purified, educated, reconstituted, separated, and protected in the living word of God by the ministry of the age is that we become the expression of God.
The consummation of all God’s work in man, with man, and through man is the New Jerusalem, the corporate expression of God for eternity. Hallelujah!
Today we are in the process of being purified, educated, and reconstituted by the word of God, and we are becoming the wall of the city of New Jerusalem to separate anything of God from what is not of Him and to express Him to the whole universe.
We need to learn to live by Christ and to live out Christ, thus magnifying Christ, so that we can build up the church as the expression of God (Exo. 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:1-11; Rom. 13:14, 12; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rev. 21:3, 22, 10-11).
We need to daily turn our heart to the Lord, have any veils removed from our eyes, and enjoy and experience Christ.
We need to live Christ and live out Christ so that we may magnify Him.
In all situations, whether good or not so good, pleasant or not so pleasant, we need to live Christ and magnify Him by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and by the petition of the saints.
As we live by Christ and live out Christ, we magnify Christ and we build up the church as the expression of God.
The wall of the city of New Jerusalem is for the expression of God.
The One sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper, and the wall also has the appearance of jasper.
We are becoming the same as He is to express Him to the universe; He is expressed through us.
![That He might sanctify her, cleansing [her] by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:26-27 But our comely [members] have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the [member] that lacked, That there would be no division in the body, but [that] the members would have the same care for one another. 1 Cor. 12:24-25](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/That-He-might-sanctify-her-cleansing-her-by-the-washing-of-the-water-in-the-word-1-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "That He might sanctify her, cleansing [her] by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:26-27 But our comely [members] have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the [member] that lacked, That there would be no division in the body, but [that] the members would have the same care for one another. 1 Cor. 12:24-25")
To build up the wall to protect the church (as seen in Neh. 2:17) means to build up the church as the expression of God (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20-22; 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 3:9-17; Rev. 4:3; 21:11, 18-19).
Thank the Lord that today in His recovery He is working to restore the normal condition of Christ within the proper church as His expression.
Today He is working in us and among us so that we enjoy Christ, focus on Christ, and experience Christ day by day, allowing Him to make His home in our heart for the church as the expression of Christ (Eph. 3:16-21; Rev. 4:3; 21:11, 18-19).
In order for us to express God, we need to be saved from our natural disposition and from self-likeness; we live out what we are in ourselves, and what we express is what we are by our nature.
We need to be saved from our natural disposition and from self-likeness by living a mingled life with the Divine Trinity in the blending life of the entire Body of Christ (Rom. 5:10; Lev. 2:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:24-25).
May we be blended with the saints not only in our locality but also in our country, our continent, and throughout the world, so that we may be saved from ourselves and live a mingled life with the Divine Trinity. Amen!
In order for us to express God, we need to be daily sanctified and renewed by the washing of the water in the word to be presented to Christ, our dear Bridegroom, as His pure, glorious, God-expressing bride (v. 24; Eph. 5:26-27).
Amen, may we be daily sanctified and renewed by the Lord’s washing of the water in the word so that we may become His pure, glorious, God-expressing bride!
Lord Jesus, we want to live by Christ and to live out Christ, thus magnifying Christ, so that we can build up the church as the expression of God! Amen, Lord, we want to build the wall to protect the church by building up the church as the expression of God! Work in us and among us, Lord, to restore the normal condition of Christ within the proper church as Your expression! Keep us enjoying and experiencing Christ day by day for the church as the expression of God. Save us from our natural disposition and from self-likeness. Keep us living a mingled life with the Divine Trinity in the blending life of the entire Body of Christ to become part of the corporate expression of Christ! Amen, Lord, sanctify us daily. Renew us. Keep us under the washing of the water in the Word so that we may be presented to Christ, our dear Bridegroom, as His pure, glorious, God-expressing bride!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, pp. 803-838, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 11, entitled, The Intrinsic Significance of Ezra’s Ministry and Nehemiah’s Leadership – to Build up the Church as the House of God and the Kingdom of God by Living out and Working out the New Jerusalem.
- Hymns on this topic:
– For the Body is God’s armor, / Not for anyone alone; / When you wrestle in the Body, / All its benefits you own. / ’Tis the Church on Christ established / Satan shall not overpow’r; / ’Tis the Body built together / Which resists the evil pow’r. (Hymns #885 stanzas 2-3)
– By the blood of Christ the Victor / Overcome the enemy: / By its virtue and its power / You will win the victory. / By the blood of Christ the Victor / Counter him who doth accuse; / By the blood for you defending / All the sland’rer’s blame refuse. (Hymns #889 stanza 2 and chorus)
– Do you see them in the meetings, / Lifting up their voice on high, / Every brother, sister sharing, / Christ the Lord to magnify? / Do you hear them all pray-reading, / Breathing in the living Word? / Praying, praising, drinking, feeding, / How they all enjoy the Lord! (Hymns #1257 stanzas 2-3)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, pp. 803-805
Dear brother, we are members of the Body and we fight the spiritual warfare by being in the Body. In the Body we are protected, supplied, and covered.
May we learn to fellowship with saints about big and small things, taking the Body as our cover and safeguard.
Hallelujah for spiritual mathematics!
The divine realm operates according to a logic quite different from the human realm.
We humans need to see that as a corporate body we have much greater impact than as scattered individuals. If we stand alone, we invite Satan’s attack.
May we all come to know the Body of Christ not merely as a truth but as a matter of life. In the Body, there is a supply and there is protection.
The strength of the corporate Body is very great indeed. In the most recent census, more than 40% of Londoners declared themselves to be Christian.
If the believers in London were to realise how much impact they could have had on London and probably the rest of the country, they would weep.
There really will be much weeping & gnashing of teeth when the majority of believers come to understand how great has been their failure.
Ameen!!!
Spiritual warfare is a Body matter. The prerequisite to engage in spiritual warfare is to knowing the Body.
The church is the Body of Christ . This Body renders supply and also renders protection to every member . This is especially important when it comes to the matter of spiritual warfare .
It is the Body of Christ that puts on the whole armor of God. In the Body every
member has its specialty, and all these specialties combined together form the whole armor of God.
Amen brother may we always stay in the principle of the Body to always fellowship in the body with other members and fight in the body, the enemie’s strategy is to always isolate us from the body so that he can attack so may we always stay in the body
Amen brother!
O Lord May we fight the spiritual battle in the body and not on our own.
Let each member function in the body to cover the church with the armour of God.
Hallelujah! 😃
Amen brother 🙏
Eph. 6:11, note 2 on, “whole armor”, Recovery Version Bible