Being under God’s Judgment and doing all things by God’s Grace to be Pillars in the Church Life

Those who are pillars in the church life are constantly under God’s judgment, realizing that they are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial, and whatever they are, they are by the grace of God; in this way, they fight to redeem others’ birthright of Christ.

This is based on the interpretation of the two pillars in the temple being called Boaz and Jachin; it is interesting to see the connection between the person of Boaz in the book of Ruth and the pillar called Boaz in the temple of God.

The Bible is not speaking of anything in an accidental way, and no particular name or designation is at random.

This is why we need the divine light to shine on the Word of God so that the Lord may speak to us and enlighten us concerning the intrinsic significance of what the Bible speaks of.

Boaz in the book of Ruth was a rich person – he was rich, generous, and kind, and he was not selfish; rather, he was willing to “mar his own inheritance” (as the other kinsman put it) in order to redeem Ruth and her birthright.

The Lord is looking for some who are like Boaz today – those who are rich in the enjoyment of Christ and willing to pay the price to bring many saints who are like Ruth into the full enjoyment of Christ.

Prov. 11:25 says that the blessing soul will prosper, and he who waters will also be watered himself.

If we bless others, we will prosper, and if we water others, we ourselves will also be watered.

First, we need to take care of our own inheritance by enjoying the Lord; we need to be filled with the enjoyment of the riches of Christ, so that we may have a surplus, something to offer to those who are more needy among God’s people.

Then, we need to pray for those the Lord put us with and those whom He put on our hearts, that we may water them and bring them into the enjoyment of the Lord.

May the Lord save us from being the shepherds spoken of in Ezek. 34, those who take care only of themselves and feed themselves, protecting themselves and focusing only on themselves and not on the sheep among whom God placed us. Oh, Lord!

The Lord didn’t put us among His people so that we may feed ourselves, care for ourselves, and protect ourselves; He put us there for us to enjoy Christ and exercise our stewardship, which is of the grace of God given to us for others. Amen!

The more we shepherd others into the enjoyment of Christ, the more we will have of the enjoyment of Christ, and we will even arrive at the greatest enjoyment of Christ, for we enjoy Christ not only for ourselves but also for others, and we take care of others’ enjoyment of Christ.

Amen, may we be the Boazes of today who cooperate with the Lord to redeem others’ birthright of Christ!

Those who are like Boaz are Pillars in the Church Life, those under God’s Judgment who live by Grace

Those who become like Boaz are pillars in the church life; this is seen in 1 Kings 7:21 where one of the pillars in the temple was called Boaz.

In the Scriptures the pillar is a sign, a testimony, of God’s building through a transformation in practising the Body life (Gen. 28:22a; 1 Kings 7:15-22; Gal. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 3:12; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:11-12).

The temple Solomon built was a great one, with two imposing, impressive pillars right in front of the building; one was named Jachin (meaning, He shall establish) and the other Boaz (meaning, In it is strength).

These two pillars were not merely standing in the wilderness somewhere for God; rather, they were built into God’s building and they were supporting God’s building.

If we do a little study on the matter of pillars we will see that the first mention of the pillar was in Gen. 28, when Jacob was running away from Esau, his brother, and the Lord gave him a dream at night.

When he woke up from his sleep after having that marvellous dream, Jacob erected the stone-pillow on which he laid his head to be a stone-pillar, pouring oil on it and saying, This is Bethel, this is the house of God.

This pillar signifies the house of God; the first mention of pillar is in relation to God’s house, His desire to have a dwelling place.

Here in 1 Kings we see the two pillars in front of the temple built by Solomon, supporting the temple.

In 1 Tim. 3:15 we are told that the church is the pillar and the base of the truth; the church must become a pillar, strong, upright, supporting, upholding the truth.

In the midst of this perverted and crooked generation, the church as a pillar stands up to support the truth, hold the truth, and express the truth by standing for the truth.

In Rev. 3:12 we see that the Lord will make the overcoming ones a pillar in the temple of His God, and He will inscribe them with the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and christ’s new name.

Those who overcome will bear the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and Christ’s new name; this means that they become the same as God, the same as the New Jerusalem, and they become Christ in a new way.

Such ones are needed for the building up of the church and for upholding the truth. In the temple of Solomon, however, when we look at the pillars in the temple, we see that one was called Boaz and the other Jachin.

Boaz was rich, generous in caring for others, and selfless in redeeming others’ birthright; such a one is considered to be a pillar in the temple of God.

In particular, this pillar was of bronze; it was not of stone, silver, or any other material, but of bronze. Bronze signifies God’s judgment.

Those who are pillars in the church life are constantly under God’s judgment, realizing that they are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial (Psa. 51:5; Exo. 4:1-9; Rom. 7:18; Matt. 3:16-17).

Even the Lord Jesus, God incarnated, had such a testimony; by Him being baptized by John the Baptist, He testified that He was a man in the flesh, good for nothing but death and burial.

Paul also testified that he is crucified with Christ, and even though he labored so much, he did it all by the grace of God which was with him.

The Lord wants to gain such Boazes today, those who are pillars in the temple of God by remaining under God’s judgment and considering themselves to be nothing but Christ is everything.

May we be such ones. May we tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, make us Your overcomers, those who are pillars in the temple of God having the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and Christ’s new name inscribed on them! Amen, Lord, produce us to be pillars in the church life, the Boaz of today, who live a crucified life. May we live a life under God’s judgment, always realizing that we are men in the flesh worthy of nothing but death and burial. Amen, Lord, we have nothing and we can do nothing in ourselves, but we can do all things in and by the grace of God. May we remain in the grace and do all things by the grace of God.

We can Redeem others’ Birthright of Christ if we Judge ourselves as Nothing and do all things by the Grace of God

We may be those who enjoy the Lord, love Him, and read the Word every day, so we may have a desire to care for others and bring them also into the enjoyment of Christ as their birthright.

In order for us to do this, in order for us to be able to redeem others’ birthright of Christ, we need to judge ourselves as nothing and do all things by the grace of God.

For us to be the Boaz of today who can redeem the lost ones, the ones who have lost their enjoyment, we first need to come under God’s judgment.

We cannot go to redeem others’ birthright if we think that we are better than them, higher than them, and richer than them; if we do this, it will never work.

The saints will never receive what you try to pass on to them if they sense you consider yourself better, higher, and more spiritual than them.

We need to have an inward realization that we are crucified with Christ, that we are under God’s judgment; our motive, our intention, our desire, and our whole being have to pass through God’s judgment.

Only such a person can be a Boaz as a pillar to do the work of redemption – to redeem the lost ones and bring them into the enjoyment of Christ.

We need to judge ourselves as nothing and as being qualified only to be crucified; whatever we are, we are by the grace of God, and it’s not us who labor but the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 5:5-7).

Paul was such a one: he labored more abundantly than all the others, but it wasn’t himself who did it all – it was the grace of God which was with him.

We shouldn’t have any confidence in ourselves; we shouldn’t have any sense of boasting in ourselves.

Rather, we should realize that we are what we are not because we work so hard or because we’re diligent and faithful. No. We are what we are because of the grace of God; in ourselves we are good for nothing but death and burial, but by the grace of God we can do all things.

The reason for both division and fruitlessness among believers today is that there is no bronze, that is, that believers do not consider themselves crucified with Christ, and God’s judgment is not applied to their being.

Instead of living a crucified life, what we see among believers today is pride, self-boasting, self-vindication, self-justification, self-approval, self-excuse, self-righteousness, condemning others, and regulating others instead of shepherding them and seeking them (Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:54-55).

May we bring this to the Lord and ask Him to shine on us to expose all our self-justification, our self-boasting, our pride, our approving ourselves while condemning others, and our excusing ourselves.

May we allow the Lord’s light to shine on us and expose any self-justification and self-approval, and may we let Him eradicate any critical spirit or condemning attitude from our being.

May we be joined to the crucified Christ and live a crucified life, realizing that in ourselves we are good for nothing except death and burial, but by the grace of God we can labor, we can shepherd others, and we can help others return to the enjoyment of Christ.

One of the main reasons for our fruitlessness and barrenness in the church life is a spirit of condemnation, a judgmental spirit, which is pervading the recovery. Oh, Lord.

We love the Lord, we love the ministry, and we love the church life; we have seen the high peak of the divine revelation, and we have so many riches unveiled to us week after week.

But in our attitude toward others, we should not consider ourselves superior or higher; rather, we need to allow the Lord to eradicate by His shining any judgmental spirit and condemning attitude from our being so that we may experience Him as the Man of Bronze, the One who was judged by God and who does all things by grace.

When we love the Lord and experience Him as the man of bronze (Ezek. 40:3), He will become our extraordinary love, our boundless forbearance, our unparalleled faithfulness, our absolute humility, our utmost purity, our supreme holiness and righteousness, and our brightness and uprightness (Phil. 4:5-8). Amen!

May we experience Him as the One who was judged by God to the uttermost and who does all things one with God and by the grace of God, so that we may also be produced as pillars in the temple of God, those who do all things by the grace of God to redeem others’ birthright of Christ!

Lord Jesus, we acknowledge that in ourselves we are good for nothing except death and burial; all that we are and all we can do is by the grace of God. Oh Lord, we join ourselves to You, the crucified One, and we remain under God’s judgment in ourselves; we can do nothing apart from You, apart from the grace of God. Shine on us and expose any pride, self-boasting, self-vindication, self-justification, self-approval, self-excuse, self-righteousness, condemning others, and regulating others instead of shepherding and seeking them! Expose any spirit of condemnation and any critical attitude. Oh Lord, may we experience You as the Man of bronze so that You may become our extraordinary love, boundless forbearance, unparalleled faithfulness, absolute humility, utmost purity, supreme holiness and righteousness, and our brightness and uprightness! Amen, Lord, grant us such an attitude and such an experience today so that we may be pillars in the church life, those who help others return to the enjoyment of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 83, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 11, Boaz and Ruth Typifying Christ and the Church.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I am crucified with Christ, / And the cross hath set me free; / I have ris’n again with Christ, / And He lives and reigns in me. / Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ, / To the world, and self, and sin; / Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ, / As He lives and reigns within. (Hymns #482)
  – My old man has been crucified with Him, / With all its foul corruption deep within; / And buried too its nature serpentine, / Completely finished—this great fact is mine, / I hold it fast. / But there’s a Person in my spirit now, / Born as a babe so small, so weak, so low; / Who by the Word’s pure milk will grow to be / The overcoming inner man in me / To gain my heart. (Hymns #1179)
  – By the grace of God I am what I am; / And His grace unto me did not turn out to be / In vain, but on the contrary, / I labored more abundantly. / Grace is not only something given by God, / But it is God Himself coming to us; / Grace is not only something given by God, / But it is God Himself doing things for us. (Song on, By the grace of God I am what I am)