«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　Psa. 48:1-2 Great is Jehovah, and much to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

　　Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

　　In the Old Testament, there was the city of Jerusalem with Zion as the center.... Mount Zion was one of the mountains on which Jerusalem was built. Zion is the center, and Jerusalem is the circumference. The church life is today's Jerusalem; within the church life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today's Zion. According to Revelation 14, the overcomers are standing on Mount Zion with the Lord (vv. 1-5). Actually, in typology the overcomers are today's Zion.... Without Zion (the overcomers), Jerusalem (the church life) cannot be kept and maintained.

　　Zion is the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, and the reality of the church, the holy city.... [The] overcomers are the peak and the center of [the] local church. They are the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, and the reality of [the] local church....The overcomers as Zion are the highlight, the center, and the reality of the church. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, "The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups," pp. 274-275)

　　The overcomers as today's Zion are for the consummation of the holy city (the church). They are to consummate, to finish, the building up of the local church and to bring in the consummated New Jerusalem in eternity (Rev. 21:1-2). In order to complete the building up of the Body, the Lord needs the overcomers, and the building up of the Body consummates in the New Jerusalem. This is why at the end of the Bible, in the last book, there is the calling for the overcomers. In Judges 5:15 Deborah said, "Among the divisions of Reuben / There were great resolutions in heart." We have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones. An overcomer overcomes anything that replaces Christ or that is against Christ. In the Bible there is the age of the overcomers, and there is the calling for the overcomers. Furthermore, there is a way for us to be vitalized so that we can be the overcomers. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, "The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups," p. 275)

　　Our goal is to reach Zion, to have Zion today, for the fulfillment of God's eternal economy.... The last book of the New Testament sounds out the call to be overcomers (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21), and these overcomers will be Zion (14:1)....In the new heaven and new earth...the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers. The church life in the Lord's recovery must go on and on until at least some of us, if not all, reach Zion. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, p. 57)

　　Jerusalem typifies the church. Within Jerusalem, there was Mount Zion....The stronghold of Jerusalem is Zion. Whenever there is something that has to do with God's heart desire, Zion is mentioned....God always allowed Jerusalem to be trodden down, but He always protected Zion. There is a New Jerusalem, but there never will be a new Zion, because Zion can never become old. Every time the Old Testament speaks of the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem, it shows us that the characteristics, the life, the blessing, and the establishment of Jerusalem come from Zion. In 1 Kings 8:1, the elders were in Jerusalem, and the Ark of the Covenant was in Zion. Psalm 51:18 says that God did good to Zion and built the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 102:21 says that the name of the Lord was in Zion and that His praise was in Jerusalem. Psalm 128:5 says that the Lord blessed out of Zion and that the good was seen in Jerusalem. Psalm 135:21 says that the Lord dwelt at Jerusalem but that the Lord was to be blessed out of Zion.... Joel 3:17 says that when God dwelt in Zion, Jerusalem would be holy. (CWWN, vol. 11, "God's Overcomers," p. 762)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, "The Practical Points concerning Blending," chs. 2-3, 5