Ⅲ
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion—the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; in the church life we must endeavor to reach today’s Zion—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27; Rev. 14:1; 21:2:
A
As the highlight and beauty of the holy city, Jerusalem, Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church—Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 50:2; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2.
B
Jerusalem typifies the whole body of the church, while Zion typifies the overcomers of the church; 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—1 Kings 8:1; Psa. 51:18; 102:21; 128:5; 135:21; Isa. 41:27; Joel 3:17.
C
The New Jerusalem is the totality of the overcomers; a remnant of the Lord’s believers, the earlier overcomers, will be the bride of Christ for one thousand years (Rev. 19:7-9; 20:4-6); then they will join the rest of the Lord’s believers, the later overcomers, to be the wife of Christ for eternity (21:2-3, 7):
１
The earlier overcomers, as the reality of Zion within Jerusalem, the reality of the Body of Christ within the church, have highways to Zion in their heart; they take the way of the church internally by being incorporated into God as their dwelling place through the crucified Christ, typified by the bronze altar as their nest for their refuge, and through the resurrected Christ in ascension, typified by the incense altar as their home for their rest—Psa. 48:2; 84:3-5; cf. Prov. 27:8.
２
To overcome means that we love the Lord more than our self, more than our soul-life; an overcomer knows and loves only Christ for the reality of the Body of Christ—Phil. 3:10; 4:12; Rev. 2:4-5, 7; 12:11.
３
The Lord is waiting for a group of overcomers to live out the reality of the Body of Christ in resurrection to become the bride of Christ to bring Him back and to usher in His kingdom age; for this we need to pray, “Lord, may I receive Your mercy and grace to be one of Your overcomers.”
Morning Nourishment
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.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.
The reality of the Body of Christ is the aggregate, the totality, of such a living by a group of God-men. This kind of a living, which is the reality of the Body of Christ, will close this age, the age of the church, and will bring Christ back to take, possess, and rule over this earth with these God-men in the kingdom age. They were perfected, completed, and consummated in the church age. So in the next age, the kingdom age, they will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” p. 138)
Today’s Reading
Today in the church age, the God-men who were perfected and matured are Zion, the overcomers, the vital groups within the churches. But in the new heaven and new earth there will be no more Zion, only Jerusalem, because all the unqualified saints will have been qualified to be Zion. In other words, the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion…. Zion is the very spot where God is, that is, the Holy of Holies.By that time all the God-redeemed people will be transformed, not only to be the same as God in life and nature but also to be the same in God’s appearance…. God looks like jasper (Rev. 4:3). Then Revelation 21 says that the entire New Jerusalem has the appearance of jasper (v. 11). Thus, God’s redeemed people have become absolutely the very God in life, in nature, and in appearance but not in His Godhead.
The overcomers are the very Zion, where God is. This is the intrinsic reality of the spiritual revelation in the holy Word of God…. The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” pp. 138-140)
According to the Bible, when God wants to do something, He first chooses a small number of people as a base and then works the same thing into the majority of the people. Jerusalem typifies the church. Within Jerusalem, there was Mount Zion. One typifies the whole body of the church, while the other typifies the overcomers of the church. Jerusalem is large, while Zion is small. The stronghold of Jerusalem is Zion. Whenever there is something that has to do with God’s heart desire, Zion is mentioned. Whenever there is something that has to do with the failures and sins of the Jews, Jerusalem 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.
Today God is looking for the one hundred and forty-four thousand amidst the defeated church, who will stand on Mount Zion (Rev. 14). God always uses a small number of believers to pass on the flow of life to the church and to revive the church. As the Lord has done once before, so these overcomers have to pour out their blood before life can flow out to others. On behalf of the church, the overcomers take the stand of victory and also suffer tribulation and despising. Thus, the overcomers of God… have to pay the price and allow the cross to cut off all the old creation and deal with the gates of Hades (Matt. 16:18). Are you willing to endure heartache to gain the heart of God? Are you willing to let yourself be defeated so that the Lord can be the Victor? (CWWN, vol. 11, pp. 761-763)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ,” ch. 3; CWWN, vol. 11, pp. 760-766