The Lord is inwardly recovering us, His people (see Ezek. 35-36), and for this inward recovery, He acts on behalf of His holy name, and He applies His judicial redemption to them for their being cleansed with the precious blood of Christ.
Before He can inwardly recover us, however, He pronounces and carries out His judgment on the old man, the natural life in our soul, because our old man always arises and stands against God’s plan and our enjoyment of Christ.
In type, Edom signifies the old man, and God’s repeated judgment on Edom in Ezek. 35 (even though He already judged him in Ezek. 25) shows that there’s still the need of God’s judgment on the old man.
The fact is that our old man has been crucified with Christ, and now we should live not in the lusts of the flesh or as slaves of sin but in spirit and by the spirit (Rom. 6:6).
However, our reality and experience many times is that the old man, our natural life in our soul, still occupies our being and comes to visit us again and again; therefore, we need to condemn the soul-life, the old man, and live a crucified life with Christ to live in spirit.
As believers in Christ, we need to realize that our soul should not be the leading part of our being but our mingled spirit, our regenerated human spirit with Christ as its life, should take the lead.
Therefore, our independent self, the old man with its life and personality, needs to be exposed, condemned, and put on the cross, and we need to put on the new man by being strengthened into our inner man to live one spirit with the Lord.
As we live one spirit with the Lord, with the old man put to death and condemned, the Lord has a way to recover us inwardly and make us one with Him for the fulfilment of His economy.
We need to exercise the keys of the kingdom – denying the self, losing the soul-life, and taking up our cross – to deal with the old man, so that we may be inwardly recovered and be made into a new man, a new creation, that cooperates with the Lord for His purpose.
God Acts on Behalf of His Holy Name for the Inward Recovery of His People
God wants to recover His people back to His original intention, His purpose, and His economy, and He does this on behalf of His holy name. God regards His holy name, which His people have profaned among the nations, and He will sanctify His name so that He may be sanctified in us among all the nations (see Ezek. 36:21-23).
In recovering His people, God acts on behalf of His holy name; the inward recovery of life is carried out by God not for our sake but for the sake of His name.
In ourselves we don’t have any merit, and many times we may not even seek the Lord, but God recovers us inwardly for His own name’s sake, for His name to be sanctified in us among people (Matt. 6:9; Isa. 29:23).
God’s name has been dis-sanctified among nations by His own people, and therefore He comes in to recover His people inwardly on behalf of His holy name. God calls us, chooses us, saves us, sanctifies us, and recovers us for His own name’s sake!
He is faithful to Himself and He does something for His own name’s sake. This is very powerful. We may be faithless, we may deny Him, or we may forget about Him, but for His own name’s sake, the Lord does something in us and inwardly recovering us.
This is why, when we pray with the saints in the prayer meetings, we need to tell Him, Lord, do this for the sake of Your own holy name! The prayer that we pray, answer it according to Your name! – God is pleased to hear such prayers.
He doesn’t act on behalf of anybody but of Himself, for He wants to have His name sanctified among the nations; therefore, He wants us to no longer pray begging prayers asking for things to meet our need, but prayers that are for His name’s sake.
Many of us can testify that we have been recovered and revived by the Lord not because of any merit in ourselves but because God Himself did something in us for His own name; therefore, we love Him, praise Him, worship Him, and give Him all the glory.
How we love the Lord for the fact that, in recovering us back to Himself and reviving us, He does everything in us on behalf of His holy name!
It’s not about us: it’s about Him – He wants to gain the glory, He wants His name to be sanctified, so He does many things in us for His own name’s sake to recover us, renew us, revive us, sanctify us, and make us His testimony among all the nations.
Lord, thank You for everything You do in us for Your own name’s sake. Thank You for recovering us and reviving us not because of any merit in ourselves but because of Your own name. Lord, may Your name be sanctified in us and through us among the nations. Recover us inwardly and sanctify us for Your own name’s sake. Do in us what You need to do not for our sake but for Your glory, for Your own name’s sake! Increase our cooperating prayers with You so that You may gain in us what You desire to gain – for Your own name’s sake!
The Lord Cleanses us with His Blood from all Filthiness and Idols – He is Inwardly Recovering us
In order to inwardly recover us, the Lord promises to sprinkle clean water upon us and cleanse us from all our filthiness and from all our idols (Ezek. 36:25; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).
The clean water the Lord washes us with is His redeeming and cleansing blood, which is a cleansing fountain (see Zech. 13:1). Hallelujah, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from the Lord’s veins, and this fountain flows throughout the ages to cleanse us from any filthiness and from all our idols.
The Lord’s blood is a washing fountain; He cleanses us with His blood not only initially when we are saved but also every time that we are revived and brought back to Him.
The Lord cleanses us with His blood in particular from two categories of dirty things: filthiness and idols. Filthiness includes our being dirtied by the things of the world, the worldly entertainment and amusement, and also hating others, doing wrong to others, and all kinds of sinful things, unjust things, unrighteous things, and dark things.
When we were saved, we felt ashamed of these filthy things, and when the Lord shines on us through His word and in the meetings to revive us, we also have such a feeling of shame; then, we apply the Lord’s blood to be cleansed with clean water from all our filthiness.
We may not sin, but we may gossip, spread rumours, be jealous, criticize, or be rude to other people; when we come to the Lord to touch Him or when He revives us, His blood is the clean water to cleanse us from all our filthiness.
How we thank the Lord that there’s a cleansing and opened fountain for sin and impurity (Zech. 13:1; cf. Num. 19:2-10)! When we confess our sins under His light, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
The Lord washes us from all our filthiness, including all kinds of sinful things, unjust things, unrighteous things, and dark things (1 John 1:7, 9; cf. Eph. 5:8-9).
Furthermore, the Lord cleanses us from all our idols (see Ezek. 14:3; 1 John 5:21; Col. 1:18); idols refer not merely to earthen or golden images for people to worship, but anything that replaces God and demands our worship.
Before we were saved, we had many idols; as we go on with the Lord in our Christian life, however, we may still have some things, situations, and persons that take our time, energy, and capacity, occupying our heart more than the Lord.
Some particular clothes or style of clothing may be our idols; our shoes, car, or smart phone may be our idol. Technology and entertainment can be idols to us. Even such seemingly harmless things as horse-riding, exploring the nature, gardening, and house-keeping can be our idol, for they may replace the Lord’s place in our heart.
We may never shed a tear for the Lord Jesus, but we may have shed many tears as we watch certain TV series, read some celebrity gossip news, or when our clothes or shoes are damaged.
We may care very much for a high position in the company we work for, a doctoral degree, being famous, or having a name for ourselves.
Idols come in many shapes, sizes, and types, and just when you think you got rid of one, other things and situations can cause your heart to depart from the Lord.
We need to be cleansed from the sin of idols, for idols offend God’s very person. How thankful we are to the Lord that we have His precious blood that flows with pure water to cleanse us from idols!
When He touches us and exposes our idols, we need to be cleansed by His redeeming blood from all filthiness and from all our idols.
Lord Jesus, thank You for shedding Your blood for us to be cleansed from our sins, from all filthiness, and from idols. Thank You for the opened fountain for sin and impurity: we rejoice at the sight of this fountain of blood flowing from Your side. Oh Lord, cleanse us from all our filthiness, from all sinful things, unrighteous things, and ark things. Cleanse us from gossip, worldly things, jealousy, criticism, and unkindness. Recover us inwardly, Lord, and cleanse us from anything that replaces You in our being and demands our worship. Cleanse us with Your precious blood from any idols!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Minoru C. for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 189-191 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 12 (week 12), The Inward Recovery by Life for the Carrying Out of God’s Economy.
- Hymns on this topic:
# There is a fountain filled with blood / Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; / And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, / Lose all their guilty stains. (Hymns #1006)
# I have come to the Fountain of Blood / That for guilt and uncleanness doth flow; / I have washed in its sin-cleansing flood / And my garments are whiter than snow. / I count not my righteousness mine— / ’Tis Jesus that lives in my soul. / I partake of His nature divine, / And in Him I am perfectly whole. (Hymns #523)
# Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole, / I want Thee forever to live in my soul; / Break down every idol, cast out every foe; / Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. / Whiter than snow; yes, whiter than snow; / Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. (Hymns #408)
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Before we were saved,…we also had many idols. This also might have been our situation after we became backslidden and before we were revived. Consider how many idols you had before you were saved or revived. For some, an article of clothing is an idol….Once while Brother Watchman Nee was ministering in Shanghai, he suddenly pointed to a certain sister and asked, “How many chapters are there in Matthew?” She answered, “Twenty-six.” Then Brother Nee asked her how many buttons were on her long gown, and without hesitation she told him the correct number. Brother Nee went on to say, “You know your long gown so well. You even remember how many buttons it has. But you do not remember how many chapters there are in Matthew.” This simple illustration shows us that we may love an article of clothing more than we love the Lord Jesus. Anything that we love more than the Lord is an idol.
Some Christians have never shed a single tear for the Lord Jesus, but they have shed many tears for their clothing. This proves that they love clothing more than the Lord Jesus. Others may care for things such as a doctoral degree or a high position. Still others may desire fame or may want to make a name for themselves. All these things are idols. We need the Lord’s redeeming blood to cleanse us not only from all our filthiness but also from all our idols. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 190-191, by Witness Lee)
Amen! Lord, show us what we really love so that we may turn and give you our first and best love.
Amen!!
Amen! O Lord bring us back to You today and every day to be revived and save from all the earthly ties to gain You more. Zechariah 13:1 says that the Lord’s blood is a washing fountain….The Lord Jesus washes us with His cleansing blood not only when we are saved but also every time we are revived and brought back to Him.
Amen !!!
Praise You Lord Jesus for your cleansing all-inclusive blood
What a good word, CLEANSE US LORD AND DELIVER US FROM OURSELF.
Amen, Lord, cleanse me from any idols inside me
Yes, thank you Lord.
Amen..lord jesus
La sangre del Señor es una fuente que nos lava; Él nos limpia con Su sangre no sólo inicialmente cuando somos salvos, sino también cada vez que somos avivados y traídos de regreso a Él.
El Señor nos limpia con Su sangre en particular de dos categorías de cosas sucias: la inmundicia y los ídolos. La inmundicia incluye el que nuestro ser sea contaminado por las cosas del mundo, el entretenimiento mundano y la diversión. También incluye el odiio hacia los demás, haciendo mal a otros, y todo tipo de cosas pecaminosas, cosas injustas, impias y oscuras.
Cause us to love you more Lord Jesus!