We need to be educated with God’s truth to educate others with the truth for God’s testimony to be part of the New Jerusalem, whose foundations are the twelve apostles; we need to remain in the unique ministry of the teaching of God’s economy and learn to speak “the language of Judah” in the God-man culture of the new man.
As believers in Christ, we are different from the people around us; we are not only men but even more, we are men born of God, and we belong to the species of God, having a new life with a new living and a new culture.
We are learning to live out and work out the New Jerusalem in the church life, realizing that each individual believer is a little New Jerusalem and every local church is a miniature of the New Jerusalem.
We enthrone the Lord Jesus and check everything with the throne, for in the centre of our being there is a throne set up, and Christ is on the throne, even as He is on the throne in the New Jerusalem.
As we enthrone the Lord, there’s a river flowing to water us, and this river reaches every part of our inner being, flowing out of us to others to water them.
With the river there’s the tree of life; we eat Christ as the tree of life, and He gives us new fruits each month, and even the leaves of this tree are for our healing and for others’ healing.
And our daily living is not in disorder or according to our feelings; we live according to the divine nature in us, the golden divine street of the New Jerusalem.
And we have a great and high wall, a wall that is higher than any other wall; this wall is both for protection and for expression.
On one hand, we protect the interests of God and the attainments of His divinity; on the other hand, this wall is transparent like clear glass to express the One on the throne.
The Christ who is on the throne in our being is full of richness, full of the riches of the divine life, and He is expressed through us, for we are no longer opaque: we are transparent to let Him shine through us.
In this way, we live out and work out the New Jerusalem. And as we live in the church life, we corporately enthrone Christ, holding Him as the unique Head, and we receive the life and life supply from Him and through the members.
We together eat Christ, drink Christ, and hold to Christ as the Head; out from Him all the Body, being knit together and built together, grows through the operation of each one part and through the function of the joints of the rich supply.
And together we build up a wall, a great and high wall, to protect both the saints and the church from the enemy’s attack of death, and to express the One enthroned in our midst.
Amen, may this be our reality in the church life today. May the church life today be a miniature of the New Jerusalem!
We need to be Educated to Educate Others with the Truth, the Apostles’ Teaching, for God’s Testimony
![And the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commit to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also. 2 Tim. 2:2 But if I delay, [I write] that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory. 1 Tim. 3:15-16 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 1 Cor. 14:31](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/And-the-things-which-you-have-heard-from-me-through-many-witnesses-these-commit-to-faithful-men-who-will-be-competent-to-teach-others-also-2-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commit to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also. 2 Tim. 2:2 But if I delay, [I write] that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory. 1 Tim. 3:15-16 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 1 Cor. 14:31")
The ministry of Ezra and the leadership of Nehemiah – these are the two main things we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah; these two consummate in the New Jerusalem and are crucially needed today in the church life so that we may live out and work out the New Jerusalem.
Ezra was skilled in the law of God; he was not only a priest but also a scribe, someone who knew the law and could teach the law in a proper way (Ezra 7:6).
So he went up from Babylon, having been given all his requests by the king according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him, and he came to Jerusalem to educate the people of Israel.
Fast forward to Rev. 21-22, we see that there are twelve foundations to the New Jerusalem, which bear the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:14).
This shows us that the New Jerusalem is built according to the apostles’ teaching, the healthy teaching of God’s economy (Acts 2:42; 2 Tim. 1:15; Titus 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:2). Wow!
So for us to be part of the New Jerusalem, we need to be educated with the truth, the apostles’ teaching, and we need to educate others with the truth, so that we may become God’s testimony.
We need the ministry of Ezra today, and we need to be part of the ministry of Ezra, that is, we need to be educated to educate others with the truth for God’s testimony, His corporate expression (2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; 6:3; 1 Cor. 14:31).
We ourselves need to be in the word of God and be constituted with the truth.
We need to be up-to-date with the Lord and be immersed in the word of God, being clear concerning the apostles’ teaching and teaching only one thing, the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy.
Then, we need to help others to also be taught with this healthy teaching.
We need to speak the truth to others to educate them so that they become part of God’s testimony, His corporate expression.
If we see a clear vision of God’s eternal economy, everything we read in the Bible will make sense, and everything is related to God’s economy.
What is God’s economy? God’s economy is God becoming a man so that man may become God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead) to produce and build up the organic Body of Christ which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
If we see a vision of God’s economy and study the books of history in the Old Testament, we will link them to what God’s economy is, and everything will fall into place.
We will realize that God in His economy chose a people, Israel, and established them as a people, formed them as a nation, and gave them the law.
![And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Rev. 21:14 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching [of the apostles,] that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose. Titus 1:9](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/And-the-wall-of-the-city-had-twelve-foundations-and-on-them-the-twelve-names-of-the-twelve-apostles-of-the-Lamb-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Rev. 21:14 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching [of the apostles,] that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose. Titus 1:9")
In His economy God desires to gain a people who express Him and represent Him; by choosing Israel, He chose a people to fulfil His purpose, and by giving them the law, they could fulfil his purpose.
The law given by God to the people of Israel was a portrait of God, a picture of God, an image of God, and a testimony of God.
The law was a type of Christ who, as the image of God, is God’s portrait, God’s picture, God’s testimony.
The people of Israel had to keep the law, that is, they had to fulfil God’s purpose.
Keeping the law by not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying, not coveting, worshipping God only and loving the neighbour as themselves is the living of a God-man.
This is what God desires to gain today.
He wants to gain a group of people who live the life of a God-man and bear the image of God to express God and represent God.
He wants to gain a group of people who are God’s duplication and reproduction on earth for His expression and representation.
May we have a clear vision of God’s eternal economy and give ourselves to the Lord to be constituted with the truth, being educated to educate others with the truth of the apostles’ teaching in the New Testament, so that we may become God’s testimony on the earth.
Lord Jesus, we want to live out and work out the New Jerusalem by being educated to educate others with the truth of God’s economy for the testimony of God! Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word; infuse us with a clear vision of God’s eternal economy. We give ourselves to You to be educated with the healthy teaching of the New Testament economy of God so that we may become part of the New Jerusalem, the holy city expressing God. May we all be in the truth day by day and may we teach nothing but God’s economy, which is in faith. Work Yourself into us a little more today. Dispense more of Your element into our inner being. Make Your home in our heart. Make us the same as You are, Lord, by constituting Yourself into us so that we may become Your corporate expression! Amen, Lord, gain a group of people on earth who are filled, saturated, and permeated with God to be the corporate expression and representation of God on earth!
Speaking “the Language of Judah” in the God-man Culture of the New Man Today
![In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab; And as for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod; and none of them could speak the language of Judah, but [they spoke] the language of the respective peoples. Neh. 13:23-24](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/In-those-days-I-also-saw-that-the-Jews-had-married-women-of-Ashdod-Ammon-and-Moab-jpg.webp?resize=750%2C750&ssl=1)
Neh. 13:24 says that the returned captives of Israel were so mixed with the nations around them that their children could not speak the language of Judah, but they spoke the language of the respective peoples.
Isn’t this what is happening today?
We may be in the church life today, but what language do we speak?
Do we speak as the people around us, or do we speak “the language of Judah”?
Nehemiah, as a proper and adequate leader, realized his need for Ezra to reconstitute and educate the people of Israel so that they speak the language of Judah and become the testimony of God.
We need to be educated with the truths of God’s economy so that even our language, our way of speaking, and our utterance may not be like the peoples around us but divine, heavenly, the language of Judah.
![And they read in the book, in the law of God, interpreting and giving the sense, so that they understood the reading...And on the second day the heads of fathers' [houses] of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe, that is, in order to gain insight into the words of the law. Neh. 8:8, 13 What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Cor. 14:26](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/And-they-read-in-the-book-in-the-law-of-God-interpreting-and-giving-the-sense-so-that-they-understood-the-reading-3-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And they read in the book, in the law of God, interpreting and giving the sense, so that they understood the reading...And on the second day the heads of fathers' [houses] of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe, that is, in order to gain insight into the words of the law. Neh. 8:8, 13 What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Cor. 14:26")
This means that we need to come to Christ as the living word in the written word of God, so that He can become the applied word for us to be infused with Him and become the testimony of Jesus (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13; John 5:39-40; 6:63; Rev. 1:2, 10-11).
Our need is not to “learn a language” and speak doctrines to one another; we need to get into the word of God in a living way by contacting the Lord and being filled with Him.
The written word of God needs to be living in us, and it needs to be applied to us in our daily living.
We are not here as letter-keepers or law-keepers, but as lovers of Christ who come to the living word of God as we read the written word of God so that the word may become applied to our being.
We remain in the unique ministry of the teaching of God’s economy so that we may apprehend the intrinsic significance of the word of God and be filled with the light of life (Neh. 8:8, 13; Matt. 4:12-16; John 1:4-5).
We really need to be reconstituted and educated with the word of God and with the heavenly language in the divine revelation of God’s word.
We cannot just read, memorise, and repeat the words in the Bible; we need to let the word of God pass through our mind, our understanding, and our whole being, and this word need to dwell in us richly.
When we come together, we can speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with our heart to the Lord (Col. 3:16).
May we be saved from the shame of not speaking “the language of Judah” in the church life today.
May we be purified, cleansed, and purged from all mixture with the nations around us, and may we speak the heavenly language, even the new language of the God-man culture of the new man (Neh. 13:23-24).
We believers in Christ are a new race, a new species, with a new culture; we have a new language, the heavenly language as unveiled in God’s word, and we have a new culture, the God-man culture of the new man.
We must learn to use the new language, “the language of Judah,” in the new culture, the God-man culture of the new man.
When we speak concerning the matter of regeneration or being born again, we need to realize that God as the Spirit came into us to mingle Himself with us, and the divine life was grafted with the human life to have one life and one living (Rom. 11:17).
Becoming a Christian is not merely believing that God exists or that Jesus died for our sins; it is being grafted into God so that God would live in us and we would live Christ in our organic union with Him.
Incarnation is not just God coming as a man to save us and redeem us; incarnation means that God was brought into man, mingled His divinity with our humanity, and made God and man one entity.
It’s easy to understand that God became a man, but it’s more difficult to understand the heavenly language of God’s eternal economy, which says that God brought Himself into man and mingled His divinity with our humanity.
Our being renewed is not merely our learning the truths in the word of God so that we learn to think as God thinks.
Being renewed is to have our mind changed to be the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5).
Being renewed means that the mind of Christ with the mingled spirit penetrates our mind, saturates our mind, and makes our spirit the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:23).
According to God’s eternal economy, our spirit is the centre of our being, and our soul surrounds our spirit; at the time of our regeneration, the Spirit came into our spirit, and now we are one spirit with the Lord.
But He wants to spread from our spirit into our soul to renew our mind, subdue our will, and saturate our emotions for Him to be expressed through our soul.
This is “the language of Judah” in the new culture of the new man.
May we learn the new language of the God-man culture of the new man and may we speak the high truths of God’s eternal economy.
May we be educated with the heavenly truths in God’s word and may we teach others with these truths so that they touch reality, be filled with the truth, and be part of the corporate expression of God on the earth.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn to speak “the language of Judah” in our Christian life and church life today. Save us from being like those around us, speaking the same things and living in the same way they do. May we learn the heavenly language of God’s eternal economy and teach others the truths in God’s word to educate them to be God’s testimony on earth. Hallelujah, in the church life we have the new language of God’s economy in the new culture, the God-man culture of the new man! Amen, Lord, we want to learn the new vocabulary, the new language and utterance, of the God-man culture of the new man. May we allow the word of God to dwell in us richly so that, when we come together, we would speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Lord, save us from any mixture with the world, the people around us, and the things of the world. We want to be purified and educated so that we may speak the new language, the heavenly language, in the God-man culture of the new man in the church life to be God’s testimony on earth!
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 Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 4, pp. 38-39, 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:
– Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words: / The truth of godliness! / Oh, good deposit, common faith, / And life of holiness! / Lord, make us now those faithful men / Who pass on what we’ve heard; / Make us examples of the saints / In spirit, faith, and word. (Hymns #1285 stanzas 5-6)
– God’s eternal purpose / Is to join with man, / Causing man, His vessel, / To be born again, / His own life imparting, / Filling to the brim; / Man may thus express Him, / And be one with Him. / God in His own image / Hath created man, / That he may be able / To fulfill His plan; / That he may receive Him / As the tree of life / To become His fulness / As to man the wife. (Hymns #971 stanzas 1-2)
– God’s economy and goal / According to His heart’s desire / Are to build Himself into our being / And to build us into His being / In order to mingle His divinity with our humanity / Into one entity (one entity)— / The Body of Christ, / Which consummates the New Jerusalem. (Song on, God’s economy is His plan to dispense Himself)
About aGodMan
Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, pp. 75-76, by Witness Lee
What a shame it would be if we do not speak “the language of Judah,” the heavenly language of God’s eternal economy!
May we give ourselves to the Lord and place ourselves under the hearing of faith so that we may be purified, educated, and reconstituted with the heavenly truths of God’s eternal economy to be the testimony of Jesus!
Amen, may we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we may speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs!
We need to learn a new language brother… the language of God’s Economy. Only by this language when we express God in life and nature can we build up the body of Christ from every culture and language.
This life in the mingled spirit is the new culture and language which will build up the bride of Christ unto the new Jerusalem!
Hallelujah!😃
Today, we see that in order to build up God’s house we need to know God not merely in a general way but according to what He has spoken.
We need to learn to link the Old Testament with God’s economy.
We need to see that the law is a type of Christ and the observance of Torah was the living of a God-man. In short, we must see Christ throughout the Old Testament.
The Lord’s recovery is a new culture with a new language.
The culture is Christ and the new language describes the things of Christ in God’s economy.
May we become today’s Ezras, those who are skilled in the language & culture of God’s economy.
Amen, Lord! 🙏🏾
So this morning I really enjoyed seeing that the people building the wall had a heart to work (Neh 4:6)… although they had returned and had oppositions and all these negativity around them, they had a heart to work.
I prayed Lord give us a heart to work, because without this we won’t even have the strength to build or to fight for his interests, even if there was no opposition without a heart everything is through…so Lord do give us a heart to work!
Oh hallelujah!!!!!!
Dear brother, we need to be educated according to the healthy teaching of God’s economy, the apostolic teaching for the testimony of Jesus.
We need the interpreting, the sense and the insight of the scriptures though today’s Ezras, skilled in the word of God.
Wow! Speak and live! Yes Lord work this out in us!
May we remain in the apostles teaching, the teaching of God’s new testament economy to live out and work out the New Jerusalem by learning to speak the language of Judah and live the life of a God-man!
For this we need education, purification and reconstitution! We give ourselves to You for Your expression! Amen!
AMEN
*Our “spirit” is the center of our being, and our soul, the main part of which is our mind, surrounds our spirit. In “regeneration” the “Spirit comes into our spirit” to be one with our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). From that time on, the Spirit, who is mingled with our spirit as one, is waiting for the opportunity to spread into our mind, that is, into our soul. This is “renewing”, according, to the “new language”.
*We all must learn to pick up this new language in the Lord’s recovery…The “Lord’s recovery is a new culture”. I hope that all the saints will enter into the new vocabulary, the new language and utterance, of this new culture. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, pp. 38-39)
Enjoy the audio version of the agodman.com article entitled, Being Educated with the Truth, we Speak the Language of Judah in the God-man Culture (based on the HWMR on, the Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther – week 11 day 3).
The article is online at https://bit.ly/theLanguageofJudah
Amen Lord Jesus! May we be those who are constituted with Your word to speak the language of Judah!
Amen, brother, may we give ourselves to this ,to speak the heavenly language of God’s economy and live in the God-man culture of the new man to be your corporate expression today.