Being Very Pure and Aggressive in Resurrection for the Lord and His Interest on Earth

As believers in Christ who see something of what is on the Lord’s heart, we need to be very pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest; we need to allow our ability and capacity to go through death and resurrection to be useful to the Lord for His move and work.

Nehemiah was a pattern to us in this respect.

When Israel was taken into captivity for seventy years, God still had a dispensational move because of Nehemiah, because he was a true overcomer.

He was a pattern of someone who has dispensational value to God.

He heard about the situation of the returned captives in Jerusalem and the state of the wall around the city, and he was properly aggressive concerning this situation.

He had a burden from the Lord to go and help rebuild the wall around the city, and the Lord granted him favour in the eyes of the king that he would go.

First of all, he prayed. He confessed the sins of his people.

He confessed before the Lord and asked Him to remember His people, to remember the word He said to Moses, and cause His people to prosper.

The Lord gave him favour in the eyes of the king, and he was aggressive to go back to Jerusalem and help rebuild the wall of the city so that God would have a kingdom on the earth.

When he went back, however, there were some people who did not like it; the enemies of Israel, those living around them, were greatly displeased that a man had come seeking the good of the children of Israel.

We need to be such ones, those who seek the good of the people of God.

We want to be persons who are burdened for the Body, seeking the welfare of the children of God.

We need to ask the Lord to burden us for His Body.

We want to be useful to the Lord in being burdened for the Body so that we may build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God.

When we realize and enjoy Christ as our life, we have the church as the house of God (Eph. 1:10, 22-23; 4:15; Rev. 22:1).

When we take Christ as our life and enjoy Him in our daily living, the church is built up to be the house of God, the dwelling place of God.

If we go further to realize the headship of Christ, the church as the house of God will be enlarged to be the city of God, the kingdom of God.

In the church life today we need to not only enjoy Christ as life and experience Him as our life and life supply, but also take Christ as our Head to live in the church as the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17).

We need to be properly aggressive, even be very pure and aggressive for the Lord and for His interest, being burdened by Him for the building up of the church so that He may have a dwelling place on earth.

May we learn from Nehemiah and allow the Lord to deal with anything natural in us, even to take our capacity and ability through death and into resurrection, so that we may be useful to the Lord in resurrection for the building up of the church.

Not being Cowardly but being Very Pure and Aggressive for the Lord and His Interest on Earth

When the leaders of the Moabites and Ammonites heard that Nehemiah came to seek the good of the people of Israel, they were greatly displeased; these descendants of the impure increase of Lot hated and despised the children of Israel (Neh. 2:10, 19; cf. Ezek. 25:3, 8).

The Moabites and Ammonites were the issue of the terrible union of Lot with his daughters; this can be seen in Gen. 19.

They signify our use of sinful or worldly means and methods to secure increase for our success in the Christian work, thus breaking God’s governing principle and committing spiritual incest.

The only ways we should use to gain increase should be prayer, the Spirit, and the Word; we need to remain in the Word of God with the exercise of our spirit with much prayer.

Nehemiah shows us the need to have the proper aggressiveness in the Lord’s recovery today.

There are many dear and good saints in the Lord’s recovery today, but we are short of aggressiveness.

We love the Lord, we love the church life, and we love the ministry that betroths us to Christ, but we are not properly aggressive.

If the Lord would gain even seven hundred aggressive ones in each continent, a great deal would issue forth for the carrying out of God’s economy.

We need to not be cowardly but be very pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest on the earth.

Nehemiah was a common man, a servant of the king, but he was aggressive to volunteer himself to God and to his burden concerning the building up of the city so that God would gain His kingdom on earth.

He was aggressive in making his requests known to the king, and he was pure and aggressive in dealing with all the things in the city of Jerusalem, bringing everything to the Lord in prayer and opening his heart to Him concerning all things.

In order for us to be properly aggressive, we need to fear the Lord; we need to both love the Lord and fear Him.

We shouldn’t fear Him in the sense that we’re afraid of Him but in the sense that we don’t want to lose His smile.

Psa. 86:11 says that our heart needs to be single in fearing the Lord’s name.

This means that we fear offending God; we are in fear of losing His presence, and we don’t want Him to not smile upon us.

We do not want to miss the Lord’s smile in this age or His reward in the next age; this is to fear the Lord.

We need to be very pure and aggressive for the Lord, loving Him and His church, and being properly aggressive for Him to gain what He is after on earth today.

Unfortunately, many times those who should NOT speak in the meetings are the ones who speak, but those who should speak, they don’t.

Those who are aggressive among us many times are not the right persons, while those who do not share or function are the right persons, but they are not aggressive.

We need to allow the Lord to purify our heart and cause us to be aggressive in a pure and proper way, so that He may gain the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Even when others mock us or despise us, when they persecute us and speak evil words about us, we should not be cowardly but be strong in the Lord, and be pure and aggressive for His interest (Acts 4:29-31; 1 Thes. 2:2; 2 Tim. 1:7-8).

We basically need to be one with Christ, for only He is both pure and aggressive for God and His interest.

Many times we are not pure but we’re aggressive, or we are pure but not aggressive.

We need both honesty and love and wisdom and patience at the same time; only Christ is this way, and only He can do this in us.

May we not have a “chicken spirit”, a spirit that is cowardly, but a spirit that is exercised to be one with the Lord, so that we may be balanced, being both pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest.

The aggressive ones receive help from God; like Nehemiah, the apostle Paul was allied with God and realized God’s assistance in this alliance (see Acts 26:21-22).

When we’re pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest, He assists us.

In Acts 26 Paul said that he obtained help that is from God, and he stood and testified to both small and great concerning God’s economy.

He was allied with God, and God granted him assistance.

When we’re properly aggressive for the Lord, being both pure and aggressive for His interest on earth, God is on our side, and He gives us assistance in the carrying out of our ministry.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the church. We love Your economy. We give ourselves to be those who are pure and aggressive for the Lord and for His interest on the earth. Purify our heart. Cause us to be pure in our intention, thoughts, desires, and decisions. May we be pure in heart in seeking God and pure in intention in serving God. Grant us to have a proper aggressiveness for the Lord and for the burden He has given us. Amen, Lord, we want to be allied with You in serving You and in the carrying out of our ministry. We trust in You, we look to You, and we seek You; may Your will be done and may Your kingdom come. Grant us the assistance we need, and be with us as we carry out our ministry. Amen, Lord Jesus, make us those who are properly aggressive for the Lord and for His interest on earth today!

Our Ability and Virtues need to Pass Through the Cross and be Brought into Resurrection to be Useful to God for the Accomplishing of His Economy

Nehemiah is a good pattern to us; he is a type of one whose natural virtues were used by God for the carrying out of His purpose.

Nehemiah’s aggressiveness, as a virtue in his human conduct, shows that our natural capacity, ability, and virtues must pass through the cross of Christ and be brought into resurrection to be useful to God.

Our natural capacity, our natural ability, and our natural virtues need to go through the cross and be brought into resurrection, into the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God, to be useful to God in the accomplishing of His economy.

What the Lord is after is not naturally aggressive people who do their best to be pure; He wants to gain those whose abilities and virtues have passed through death and entered into resurrection to be useful to Him.

Many Christians think that, if God gives us an ability, we should use it for His purpose.

They think that, if you don’t use your ability for God, you are wasting it; you should “glorify God with your ability.”

Many Christians think that to put a certain ability or virtue to the cross means that it is finished, and cannot be useful.

However, the real significance of the cross of Christ is that it terminates and eliminates the natural element from our virtues, abilities, and capacities, and it brings us into resurrection, so that the element of God would be wrought into us.

The cross of Christ brings all the natural things to death and burial, and then resurrection follows.

Moses is a good example in this respect. He had a strong character and was very capable; he was trained in all the knowledge of the Egyptians, and he was very powerful.

At the age of forty, he thought he was ready to rescue the people of Israel and lead them, so aggressively volunteered to save them.

But God came in and limited him, allowing him to fail and be disappointed; he was then “buried” in the wilderness for forty years until God came in to resurrect him (Exo. 3:2-6).

God made each one of us with certain virtues, capacities, and abilities in our natural constitution.

Each one of us was given talents according to our own ability (Matt. 25:15).

According to our own natural ability, which is constituted of God’s creation and our learning, each one of us has certain abilities, capacities, and virtues.

However, these need to be brought through death and resurrection to be useful to God.

We need to allow the cross to deal with our natural capacity, ability, and virtues, so that we may be brought into resurrection and be useful to the Lord.

These things will still be ours, but they are now in resurrection, and the element of God is wrought into them.

We need to be pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest, but our aggressiveness needs to be in resurrection, not our natural aggressiveness.

If we don’t allow our natural capacity, ability, and virtues, to be checked by the cross and brought into resurrection, they will be like “wild beasts” among the saints, and others will fear being with us.

May we not consider it a loss to sow the “seed” of our natural ability into the ground, thinking we are losing it.

Yes, we lose it temporarily, but eventually, there will be a harvest in resurrection.

When we let the Lord deal with our natural capacity, ability, and virtues, we will be brought into resurrection, into the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God, and we will be useful to God in the accomplishing of His economy.

Lord Jesus, show us our need to have our natural capacity, ability, and virtues to pass through the cross of Christ and be brought into resurrection to be useful to God. Save us from using our natural ability and capacity in the work of God or in the church life. Have a way, dear Lord, to deal with anything natural in our capacity, ability, and virtues. Bring our whole being with all that we have and are into resurrection, into the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God! May we be willing to sow the seed of our natural ability into the ground so that we may reap a rich harvest in resurrection! Amen, Lord, may our natural capacity, ability, and virtue be transferred from our natural life into the Spirit through death and burial, so that we may be useful to You in resurrection! We want to be pure and aggressive for the Lord and His interest, and we want to be in resurrection!

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 Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Nehemiah, pp. 12-15 (by Witness Lee), 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 7, entitled, Nehemiah – a Pattern of One who has Dispensational Value to God.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – How do we live our Christian life? Read more via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Being hot for the Lord and not being lukewarm, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 05: The Christian (3), Chapter 4, by Watchman Nee.
  – We Come into Resurrection for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Calling on the name of the Lord, the booklet, via, LSM Newsletters.
  – Christ and the Church in Resurrection, article via, Living to Him.
  – Having an aggressive desperation, a portion from, Being Desperate and Living Uniquely for the Gospel, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – The Divine Trinity in the Divine Economy, article by Kerry S. Robichaux in, Affirmation and Critique.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – God’s Kingdom on the earth is now / His sovereign government within; / ’Tis Christ Himself in us to live / As Lord and King to rule and reign. / His life with His authority / Enthrones Him now within our hearts / To govern all our words and deeds / And regulate our inward parts. (Hymns #942 stanzas 1-2)
  – Not the labor of my hands / Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; / Could my zeal no respite know, / Could my tears forever flow, / All could never sin erase, / Thou must save, and save by grace. / Nothing in my hands I bring, / Simply to Thy cross I cling; / Naked, come to Thee for dress, / Helpless, look to Thee for grace: / Foul, I to the fountain fly, / Wash me, Savior, or I die. (Hymns #1058 stanzas 2-3)
  – Flow through me, Lord, a weak and earthly vessel, / Cleansed by Thy blood, and quickened at Thy call. / Flow through me, Lord, all utterly abandoned, / To Thy dear service, great, or high, or small. (Hymns #249 stanza 1)