Crystallization-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
Message Nine
Building and Fighting—
the Need to Engage in Spiritual Warfare
for the Building of the Church
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Neh. 4:17 Those who built the wall and those who carried burdens took the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other holding a weapon.
Eph. 6:10-12 Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.
Word of Appetizer
Why is building can be carried out only by fighting?
Building the church as the city of God is not an easy task; building can be carried out only by fighting; the Israelites who worked in the building with Nehemiah labored with one hand to build and with the other hand held their weapons for fighting the battle (Neh. 4:17); this reveals that whenever we labor on God’s building, we will certainly be involved in a battle. Regarding the building up of God’s dwelling place, there is a real conflict, a severe fighting between God and His enemy; the enemy hates seeing the building of God’s dwelling place going up in a good way; Satan will do everything that he can to interrupt, interfere, attack, and destroy; without warfare and without a spirit of fighting, there is no building; building calls for grueling warfare.
Spiritual Burden
For the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, there is the need for spiritual warfare carried out according to four principles—not using fleshly weapons, keeping the position of ascension, using spiritual weapons, which are powerful to overthrow the strongholds of the enemy, and understanding that prayer is warfare and uttering prayers of warfare in the heavenly realm and from the throne of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Nehemiah chapter 4 describes the frustration of the enemy regarding the rebuilding of the city.
Building the church as the city of God is not an easy task; building can be carried out only by fighting.
For the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, there is the need for spiritual warfare; Spiritual warfare is based on the victory of Christ; Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body of Christ; we must fight the battle in the Body.
The Experience of Life
If we are in the heavenly realm, we are able to pray prayers of ascension, prayers of warfare. When we are strengthened, we are renewed; when we are renewed, we are filled; when we are filled, we are equipped to fight; it is in the fighting spirit that we pray fighting prayers of spiritual warfare.
Practice and Application
.Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body of Christ; we must fight the battle in the Body. Spiritual warfare is not an individual matter; it is a matter of the Body. In order to fight the battle, we must be in the reality of the Body.
We need to stand against the stratagems of the devil by fighting the battle in the Body with fighting prayers, praying at every time in spirit to put on the whole armor of God to build up the Body of Christ as the house of God for the glory of God and as the kingdom of God for the dominion of God for the complete fulfillment of the economy of God.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Nehemiah encourged the people to trust God would fight for them (Neh. 4:14, 16)
(Please illustrate Nehemiah took the lead to take the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other hand holding a weapon with some built the wall and some carried burdens.)
T2 There is warfare even in the smallest matters of our daily life (Neh. 4:17; Eph. 6:10-11)
(Please illustrate that we must have an attitude of fighting; even if we hold a job, we need to be for the Lord.)
Day 2
T1 Without warfare and without a spirit of fighting, there is no building (Neh. 4:16-17; Matt. 16:18)
(Please illustrate that once we touch the building, the enemy will come to attack and frustrate.)
T2 We must have fighting prayer (Neh. 4:2-3; 6:2; 4:10-12; Eph. 6:10-11)
(Please illustrate that from the book of Nehemiah we can see that there are three aspects of the attack of the enemy.)
Day 3
T1 The starting point of spiritual warfare is not dealing with Satan, but trusting in the Lord has already won (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15)
(Please illustrate why the spiritual warfare is defensive, not offensive.)
T2 The building of the church is a matter of warfare (Matt. 16:18-19)
(Please illustrate as soon as the Lord began to build the church on the day of Pentecost, warfare began.)
Day 4
T1 Satan has his kingdom of darkness; in this kingdom, Satan is at the top, and under him are the rebellious angels (Eph. 6:12-13)
(Please illustrate our warfare is not against human beings, but against the evil spirits, the spiritual powers in the heavenlies.)
T2 Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23)
(Please illustrate that we must fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not individually.)
Day 5
T1 We cannot use fleshly weapons (2 Cor. 1:3-5)
(Please illustrate what the first basic principle is when we experience spiritual warfare in a practical way.)
T2 To keep the position of ascension (Eph. 2:6)
(Please illustrate what the second basic principle is when we experience spiritual warfare in a practical way. )
Day 6
T1 To have fighting prayers (Matt. 6:9-10, 13)
(Please illustrate what the fourth basic principle is when we experience spiritual warfare in a practical way)
T2 The prayers of greatest worth are prayers in ascension (Eph. 2:6; 6:18)
(Please illustrate with experiences that it is not enough that we only preach the gospel; we must pray to God that God’s heavenly authority may be brought down to the earth. )
