«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　Eph. 1:22-23 And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
　　Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified.

　　The prevailing prayer of the church...is the prayer of the age. In these days we need to learn something concerning prevailing prayer. As Christians we may know something concerning prayer, but in the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, there is one kind of prayer that is far beyond our human concept. To enter into this kind of prayer, we need a heavenly vision.

　　The first main point of this heavenly vision is the ascension of Christ. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, p. 159)

　　The ascension of Christ indicates that the Lord's redemptive work is fully complete. After the Lord ascended to the heavens, He sat down at the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3; 10:12). Here, to sit down means to rest. When someone sits down, it means that everything that he had to do has been finished and accomplished. When someone has nothing more to do, he sits down to rest. The fact that the Lord is in the heavens sitting down at the right hand of God means that He has done everything that He had to do.

　　The ascension of Christ indicates that the lordship of Christ has been established. The lordship of Christ was established by the ascension of Christ. Generally speaking, all believers recognize that Christ is the Lord....Today the Lord Christ is not merely the Lord who created the universe. The Lord Christ today is also God who was incarnated to be a man. Today there is a man in the heavens who has been exalted and established to be the Lord of the universe.

　　On the day of Pentecost Peter declared, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified" (Acts 2:36). The apostle Paul also tells us that God "subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things" (Eph. 1:22). This is very different from our natural concept.

　　Moreover, Ephesians 1:22 tells us that Christ was given to be Head over all things "to the church." Everything that the Lord has obtained and attained is not only for Himself but is also to the church. This means that everything that He has obtained and attained is being transmitted to the church. We need to see a heavenly vision of this heavenly fact. The enemy—the devil and his evil spirits—knows this much better than we do. The evil forces know what it means for Christ to be made Lord. Therefore, we need to realize this fact and to genuinely see it. We need to see the heavenly fact that Christ has been exalted by God, established as Lord of the universe, and made Head over all things to the church. All things are under His feet, and everything that He has obtained and attained is being transmitted to the church, which is His Body (v. 23).

　　The second main point [of this heavenly vision] is the position of the church as the Body of Christ. Because the church is the Body of Christ, the position of the church is exactly the same as that of Christ. Wherever the Head is, the Body also must be. Whatever the Head has, the Body also must have. In addition, we need to realize that we are members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30). Since the Body is identified with the Head, the position of the Body is exactly the same as that of the Head.

　　The third main point...concerns the authority of the Body. I specifically use the word authority rather than the word power or even the word right.What is the authority of the Body? The authority of the Body is the authority of the Head exercised by the Body. Thus, the authority of the Body is the authority of the Head....As the church, the Body of Christ, we need to assume the authority of Christ. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 159-161) Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 153-157