５
Because the Body is one with the Head in the heavens, the Body has the authority to bind and loose what has already been bound and loosed in the heavens (Matt. 16:19; 18:18).
６
The church is built upon a rock, and this rock is the ascended Christ; as a result, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church (16:18).
Ｅ
To fully enter into this kind of prayer and be able to exercise the authority given by the Head to the Body, there are two things that we must realize:
１
We must realize that we are members of the Body, and we must live, act, and move in the Body; as an example, imprisonment did not isolate Paul from the Body of Christ or cut him off from the supply of the Body (Phil. 1:19).
２
In our daily life we must always put off the old man and put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of our mind; the new man is composed of the Head with the Body, Christ with the church (Eph. 4:22-24; 2:15-16).
Ｆ
"We need to see the vision of the ascended Christ and learn to pray the prayer of authority. For two thousand years these matters have been neglected, but we believe that in these last days the Lord is going to recover them. Too often we do not take the ground of Christ's ascension and claim what He has obtained and attained. Nevertheless, we believe that the Lord will recover this lost ground. This is the highest peak, the highest mountain of the good land. In these last days the Lord will recover this highest peak, this highest mountain. We must realize the facts, take the ground, and claim what the Head has obtained and attained. This is the prevailing prayer of the church. This is the prayer of the age" (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 1, p. 165).
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 16:19 I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
If we have the vision that we are the Body of the Head and that the Head has ascended to the heavens and is now transcendent, we will take the ground and claim what the Lord has attained. We will simply claim, proclaim, and declare to the sickness, "Do not trouble me; you are under my feet!" We can deal with sins, weakness, and worldliness in the same way. We should not deal with these things like a beggar. We can tell all these negative things, "Do not bother me. Go to the lake of fire! I am transcendent. You cannot touch me. You are under my feet." Whenever the devil hears this kind of prayer, he runs away. We should simply declare who we are and where we are. We are in the Body, the Body is in the Head, and the Head is transcendent. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, p. 164)
Today's Reading
On August 10, 1945, the Japanese army declared their willingness to surrender to the Allied forces in World War II. Before that day China had been under Japanese occupation, and many of the Chinese people had been treated very badly. However, on the day of the Japanese surrender, even the Chinese children gained the authority to claim victory. A few hours prior to the surrender, they had been very frightened, but once the surrender had been announced, they could claim what had been won for them. Once the victory had been obtained, they could take the ground and claim victory. In the same way, we can claim what the Lord has already obtained and attained for us.Since the Body shares the authority of the Head, the Lord told His disciples that whatever they bound on earth would have been bound in heaven, and whatever they loosed on earth would have been loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). When we pray with the authority of the Body, anything that we loose on the earth will be something that has already been loosed in the heavens, and anything that we bind on the earth will be something that has already been bound in the heavens. Because the Body is one with the Head in the heavens, the Body has the authority to bind or loose what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens.
The church is built upon a rock, and this rock is the ascended Christ. As a result, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church (16:18). We have the ground over Hades. Thus, we must learn to pray, exercising the authority that has been assigned to the Body by the Head.
To fully enter into this kind of prayer, there are two additional things that we must realize. First, we must realize that we are members of the Body, and we must live, act, and move in the Body. Second, in our daily life we must always put on the new man (Eph. 4:24). The new man is composed of the Head with the Body, Christ with the church (2:15-16). On the negative side, we need to put off the old man, and on the positive side, we need to put on the new man. By living in the Body and putting on the new man, we will be able to exercise the authority given to the Body by the Head.
We need to see the vision of the ascended Christ and learn to pray the prayer of authority. For two thousand years these matters have been neglected, but we believe that in these last days the Lord is going to recover them. Too often we do not take the ground of Christ's ascension and claim what He has obtained and attained. Nevertheless, we believe that the Lord will recover this lost ground. This is the highest peak, the highest mountain of the good land. In these last days the Lord will recover this highest peak, this highest mountain. We must realize the facts, take the ground, and claim what the Head has obtained and attained. This is the prevailing prayer of the church. This is the prayer of the age. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 164-165)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 157-166