Crystallization-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
Message Eleven
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
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Rev. 21:11-12…Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal. It had a great and high wall…Twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
18 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Word of Appetizer
What is the intrinsic significance of Ezra’s ministry and Nehemiah’s leadership?
The intrinsic significance of Ezra’s ministry is embodied in the words purification, education, and reconstitution; the intrinsic significance of Nehemiah’s leadership is embodied in the words separation, protection, and expression; we need to cooperate with the Lord in His heavenly ministry to build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God by living out and working out the New Jerusalem according to this intrinsic significance.
Spiritual Burden
We need to live by Christ and to live out Christ, thus magnifying Christ, so that we can build up the church as the expression of God; in order to express God, we need to be daily sanctified and renewed by the washing of the water in the word to be presented to Christ, our Bridegroom, as His pure, glorious, God-expressing bride.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The intrinsic significance of Ezra’s ministry is embodied in the words purification, education, and reconstitution; the intrinsic significance of Nehemiah’s leadership is embodied in the words separation, protection, and expression; we need to cooperate with the Lord in His heavenly ministry to build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God by living out and working out the New Jerusalem according to this intrinsic significance.
To live and serve God according to the vision of the age in the ministry of the age is to live out and work out the New Jerusalem: “the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass”.
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem is to live and serve in the intrinsic significance of Ezra’s ministry and Nehemiah’s leadership.
The Experience of Life
We can be purified through the process of God’s enlightenment, exposure, and judgment, through the termination and elimination of the cross, through the cleansing and washing of the blood, and through the flowing and saturating of the Spirit.
We can be purified through the washing process of the water of life in God’s pure word; the more a person is in the word of God, the purer he becomes.
Practice and Application
We need to stay in the process of being purified from all mixture, taking the Lord and the interests of His eternal economy as our unique goal.
We need to be educated to educate others with the truth for God’s testimony, His corporate expression.
We need to build up the wall to protect the church as the house of God; we must shepherd the flock of God by sounding the one trumpet of the unique New Testament ministry, declaring to them all the counsel of God to complete the word of God with the Lord’s protective warning and healthy teaching, so that they may be full-grown in Christ.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The entire city from its center to its circumference is an expression of the very God of life in His richness (Rev. 21:11-12, 18; 4:3)
(Please illustrate Jasper is the appearance of God, what is its spiritual significance?)
T2 The wall of the New Jerusalem is great and high for separation unto God and for the protection of God’s interest. (Rev. 21:12)
(Please illustrate what are the seven implications of the wall of the New Jerusalem.)
Day 2
T1 Today God is in His word. This word contains the reality of God, which is God Himself (Eph. 5:26)
(Please illustrate God Himself as this reality has a special function, which is to sanctify us.)
T2 You have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth (Acts 15:9; 1 Pet. 1:21-22)
(Please illustrate what it means for having our soul purified.)
Day 3
T1 In typology, to keep the law means to express God (Exo. 16:34; 34:28)
(Please illustrate that in studying the books of history in the Old Testament, we need to learn to link these books to God’s economy.)
T2 Entering into the new language of the Lord’s recovery (Neh. 13:23-24)
(Please illustrate the inner significance of incarnation, regeneration, and to be renewed.)
Day 4
T1 Grace is just Christ, the embodiment of Christ (John 1:16; Rev. 21:14)
(Please illustrate that the apostles [in Revelation 21:14] represent the grace of the New Testament, signifying that the New Jerusalem is built upon the grace of God.)
T2 We should only do the work of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14)
(What does it mean that “we should do only one work, which is the work of the New Jerusalem”? )
Day 5
T1 Manna is a type of Christ as the heavenly food that enables God’s people to go His way (Rev. 2:17)
(Please illustrate the difference between the open manna and the hidden manna.)
T2 In the sight of God the wickedness contained in commerce is a kind of idolatry and fornication (Zech. 5:7-8; Rev. 18:3)
(Please illustrate the vision in Zechariah 5 corresponds to that of Babylon the Great in Revelation 18.)
Day 6
T1 We must meet the devil on the ground of the Body (Rom. 16:20; Eph. 6:11)
(Please illustrate that the church is the Body of Christ. This Body renders supply and also renders protection to every member.)
T2 The whole armor is for the whole church, not for individuals (Rom. 16:20; Eph. 6:11)
(Please illustrate all the the members’ specialties combined together form the whole armor of God.)
