Guard the Good Deposit of the Lord’s Healthy Words and Speak the Words of Grace

In order for us to be preserved in the Lord’s genuine testimony today, we must guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and speak the healthy words of our Lord Jesus to minister life and grace to us. Amen!

We thank and praise the Lord that in the church life, we have received a good deposit.

There is a rich ministry among us, the Lord is speaking, and we have the books full of the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy.

However, it is not enough just to have the books or to read them; we need to give ourselves to the Lord to be daily in the truth so that we may be constituted with the truth and be filled with the healthy words of the faith.

And we need to guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

For this, we need to receive and enjoy Christ as grace; the wonderful Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God is grace to us for our enjoyment day by day.

Christ is grace to us in what He is; He came full of grace and reality, and His coming brought grace to us. Christ is grace in what He gives to us; He dispenses Himself into us, and we are superabounding with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Amen!

Day by day we can be supplied with grace, for grace is there to meet all our needs. We are so short in so many ways, but grace is here to supply us with more of Christ to meet our timely need.

As Heb. 4:16 says, we need to daily come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help.

Day by day we need to come to the Lord in our spirit, exercising to touch the Lord and be filled with Him, so that He as grace may meet our need.

Especially when we cannot do anything, when we’re not able to move, when we have no strength, that is the time for us to trust in the Lord and enjoy the supply of God as grace.

Grace is even more Christ, the most wonderful One, doing everything in us on our behalf.

Many times we are in situations where we cannot do much, for we’re limited and constrained from every side; in such situations we can come to the throne of grace to receive the Lord’s mercy and find grace for timely help.

May we learn to wait on the Lord by stopping ourselves to receive what God is in Christ to us as our supply.

May we come to the Lord both in His word and throughout the day to enjoy Him and experience Him.

Grace is not a doctrine or merely an unmerited favour; grace is Christ Himself given to us for our enjoyment to be everything to us in our daily living. His grace is sufficient for us.

We must Guard the Good Deposit of the Lord’s Healthy Words through the Holy Spirit who Dwells in Us

If we want to be preserved in the Lord’s recovery today, we must guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us (2 Tim. 1:13).

In the church life we are daily under the Lord’s blessing, for we are under His speaking, we have the rich ministry of the age, and we have the Lord’s up-to-date speaking in all the feasts, conferences, blending times, trainings, and meetings.

Thank the Lord for dispensing a good deposit in us.

As we remain in the church life, reading the ministry books, being in the holy word for morning revival, and fellowshipping with the saints in small group meetings, vital group meetings, home meetings, prayer meetings, Lord’s table meetings, and all kinds of meetings, there is a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words that is accumulated in our being.

We cannot deny that, of all peoples of the earth, we are the most blessed ones, for we’re able to hear the things that the angels like to hear and see things that people yearn to see.

We are blessed to see these things and receive these things.

But we need to not just know and enjoy these things but even more, hold a pattern of the healthy words in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

We need to cooperate with the Lord in our daily life to guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us (2 Tim. 1:14).

We should not lose this good deposit but rather hold it, even guard it through the Holy Spirit.

There is an accumulation of the Lord’s healthy words in us, but there is the danger of losing these words or having them leak from our being.

We need to give heed more abundantly to the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we drift away.

We receive many things. We enjoy the Lord in His word.

We enjoy and digest the rich footnotes in the Recovery Version and we partake of the Lord’s riches as unveiled in His word with the help of the life-studies.

Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year the Lord deposits in us many healthy words.

But we need to take heed to our spirit and exercise our spirit.

We need to call on the name of the Lord, breathe in His word, and enjoy the Christ who nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light.

As we take heed to Christ and remain in the healthy words in God’s word, we accumulate a good deposit and we hold a pattern of the healthy words.

We need to be aware, however, that even though we may have this good deposit, there is a chance for these good, healthy words, to leak out.

We may have a cup filled with a precious liquid and there is a pinhole at the bottom, little by little the liquid will leak out unless we cover this hole.

This is why we need to guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

We need to exercise our spirit and enjoy the Lord.

We need to deal with our conscience so that we may have a good conscience, a conscience that is pure and void of any offense.

If our conscience is seared, there will be a leakage and all the good things we have in our being will leak out.

We may enjoy the healthy teaching on the one hand, but our conscience may have a leak on the other hand; little by little, we may drift away, veering away from the path. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Drifting takes place little by little over a long period of time; it is a slow veering off. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we hold the pattern of the healthy words in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

May we guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

The deposit refers to the healthy words of God’s economy, including the riches of life in the Lord’s words, which He has stored in us (1 Tim. 6:20; Col. 3:16; Psa. 119:72).

We have to deposit the Lord’s healthy words into our being, like we deposit money in a bank.

When we deposit money in the bank we don’t take things lightly; we want to make sure the deposit is safe.

We need to guard the deposit in our being and make sure it is safe. We get the good deposit not just by memorization but by a slow, day-by-day constitution.

We also accumulate the riches of life in the Lord’s word, and we learn the pattern of healthy words.

There are some older brothers and sisters who live Christ, and their life is a pattern to us.

The way they conduct themselves, the way they behave, their kindness, humility, and love are a pattern to us.

We need to hold a pattern of the healthy words by living by the healthy words, being nourished with the words of the full gospel concerning God’s New Testament economy and the sweet words that contain and convey the riches of Christ (2 Tim. 1:13; 1 Tim. 4:6).

May we pray for ourselves and for all the saints in this respect that we would hold a pattern of the healthy words and live by these healthy words.

May the Lord raise up many patterns in the church life, those who live by the healthy words and exercise their spirit.

If we are persons acting, behaving, and having our life in the Spirit through the exercise our spirit, all that has been deposited into our being will be guarded through the Spirit who is indwelling us (2 Tim. 1:12, 14; Acts 5:20).

We don’t guard the good deposit merely by exercising our good mind; we need to exercise our spirit to live a life in the spirit and walk according to the Spirit.

It is only by exercising our spirit to live in the mingled spirit that we can hold a pattern of the healthy words and guard the good deposit.

Lord Jesus, we want to guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We come to You in Your word to enjoy You, partake of Your riches, and be constituted with the healthy words of God’s eternal economy. Amen, Lord, we want to be filled with the deposit of the healthy words of God’s economy. We want to be constituted with the riches of life in the Lord’s words, which He has stored in us. Oh Lord, strengthen us into our inner man. We want to hold a pattern of the healthy words by living by the healthy words. May we be nourished with the words of the full gospel concerning God’s New Testament economy and the sweet words that contain and convey the riches of Christ. May we live by these words, exercising our spirit to live one spirit with the Lord. Amen, Lord, we want to be those who act, behave, and have our life in the Spirit through the exercise of our spirit! May all that has been deposited in us be guarded through the Spirit who indwells us!

Minister the Healthy Teaching of God’s Eternal Economy by Speaking with Healthy Words

On one hand, we need to hold a pattern of the healthy words by exercising our spirit so that we may guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words.

On the other hand, we need to speak these healthy words to others.

Actually, the more intake of healthy words we have, the more there is a way for these words to be ministered to others.

We need to not only know the Word, keep the Word, and guard the Word, but also speak the Word.

In order for us to minister the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy, we must speak with healthy words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:3), which are words of life (John 6:63; Acts 5:20), words of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7).

We need both to guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words and speak with healthy words.

As we meet with the saints, as we contact the new ones and the young ones, we need to speak the healthy words, the words of the grace of life, which are the words of life.

In our small group meetings, in preaching the gospel, in meeting with the saints, and in caring for the saints, we need to speak not ordinary words but healthy words, words that are filled with life.

The grace of life is God as life and life supply to us in His Trinity – the Father as the Source of life, the Son as the course of life, and the Spirit as the flow of life (v. 7; 1 John 5:11-12; John 7:38-39; Rev. 22:1). Amen!

The Triune God flows Himself into us, and He flows within us; then, He flows out of us into others.

The more we genuinely enjoy the Lord in His word and guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words by exercising our spirit to live in, the more we will have something within us to flow out to others as healthy words.

What comes in will also flow out. What we drink and eat will be expressed through us.

If we eat and drink politics, sports, or world events, we will speak to others about these things.

If we like gardening or taking care of plants in the garden, we will speak about these matters.

But if we spend time with the Lord daily to enjoy Him in the Word, and if we guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who indwells us, we will be filled with words of life, words of grace, which are healthy words.

This is what we will also speak to others.

When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, all those around Him bore witness to Him and marvelled at the words of grace proceeding out of His mouth (Luke 4:22).

He was a living testimony of God, and words of grace came out of His mouth.

In Psa. 45:1-2 we see that the psalmist’s heart overflowed with a good matter, and he spoke what he composed concerning the king.

His tongue was the pen of a ready writer, declaring the Lord’s beauty and grace.

We need to be such ones today.

We need to spend time with the Lord to be infused with Him, behold Him, and enjoy Him; then, when we meet others, we will reflect Him, for we will have words of grace to minister to them.

We need to have a solid intake of the Lord’s healthy words, guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, and speak with healthy words.

Too many negative words are being spoken today not only in the world but even among the saints.

Too much criticism and gossip is being passed around.

We need to remain in the Lord’s healthy words and speak these words to others.

Lord Jesus, we want to minister the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy to others. We want to be filled with the healthy words of our Lord Jesus and speak these words to others. Amen, Lord, may we be filled with Your words day by day. Keep us in Your word. We want to guard the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit who indwells us. We exercise our spirit to partake of Your riches in Your word. We come to You as we are, Lord, and we want to be nourished with Your words. Supply us with Yourself. Fill us with grace. May the words of grace abound in us. May grace pour from our lips as we speak to others. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to not only enjoy You in the Word and live You out but even more to speak the healthy words! We want to speak the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are words of life and words of the grace of life! Amen, may our heart overflow with a good matter! May our tongue be the pen of a ready writer! May grace be poured upon our lips so that we may give grace to those who hear us!

Read this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol în limba română la următorul link, Păzim depozitul bun al cuvintelor sănătoase ale Domnului și vorbim cuvintele harului.

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 the brothers in the message for this week, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 9, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 7, The Lord Being with Our Spirit to Be Our Empowering Grace, Enabling Us to Minister the Healthy Teaching of God’s Eternal Economy, Speaking with Healthy Words of the Grace of Life for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The basic factor of the decline – forsaking the apostle and his ministry, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 14.
  – Being Overcomers with a Vision, Not Idealists with a Dream, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The perfected works of the gifted persons, a portion from, The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee.
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  – The economy of God in the Holy Scriptures, article in Affirmation and Critique.
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – Hold a pattern of the healthy words / that you’ve heard from me, / in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. / Hold a pattern of the healthy words / that you’ve heard from me, / in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. / Guard the good deposit / through the Holy Spirit / who dwells in us, / who dwells in us. / Hold a pattern of the healthy words! (Scripture song)
  – 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)
  – Lord, speak Thy Word, upon us breathe, / Thy people fitly frame with grace / To be Thy rest, Thy dwelling-place; / Lord, speak and breathe upon us! / Lord, speak to me, upon me breathe, / Revive me, in Thy Body build, / No more secluded and self-willed; / Breathe now, O Lord, upon me! (Hymns #844 stanzas 5-6)