Ⅰ
The overcomers are produced by the overcoming Christ as the sevenfold intensified Spirit, and they are burdened for the building up of the Body of Christ as the preparation of the bride of Christ—Eph. 4:16; Rev. 5:6; 19:7-9:
A
The overcomers are for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—Eph. 4:12, 16; Rev. 2:7b; 3:12, 21:
１
Without the overcomers the Body of Christ cannot be built up, and unless the Body of Christ is built up, Christ cannot come back for His bride—19:7-9.
２
The overcomers produced by Christ as the sevenfold intensified, life-giving Spirit build up the Body in this age for the initial consummation of the New Jerusalem in the kingdom age and eventually for the full consummation of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth—1:4; 2:7; 4:5; 5:6; 3:12; 21:2.
B
The Lord’s promises at the end of each of the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 refer both to the present enjoyment of the overcomers and to the reward given to them in the coming millennial kingdom—2:7b, 11b, 17b, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21:
１
In order to enter into the Lord’s joy and receive the Lord as our exceeding great reward in the next age, we need to gain Him and faithfully enjoy Him today in this age—Matt. 25:21b, 23b; Phil. 3:8-9; Gen. 15:1.
２
If we do not faithfully enjoy and experience Christ as the reality of His promises today, we will not participate in their fulfillment in the kingdom age; the principle is that what we are will become our reward—1 Cor. 9:24-27.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints…unto the building up of the Body of Christ.Rev. 5:6 And I saw…a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having…seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
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.
I hope that all the co-workers will see the three stages, the three sections, of Christ: incarnation—the stage of Christ in the flesh; inclusion—the stage of Christ as the life-giving Spirit; and intensification—the stage of Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit. These three stages are the three sections of Christ’s history…. Therefore, we emphasize these three words—incarnation, inclusion, and intensification—and stress the facts that incarnation produces redeemed people, that inclusion produces the churches, and that intensification produces the overcomers to build up the Body, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as the unique goal of God’s economy. This is the revelation in the New Testament. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification,” p. 196)
Today’s Reading
The first stage—incarnation—is in the physical realm for the accomplishment of judicial redemption, which is a physical matter. The second stage—inclusion—is divine and mystical. In the third stage—intensification—there will be a maturing and a ripening in the divine and mystical realm, and the Body will be built up to consummate the New Jerusalem.In His second stage, the stage of His being the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, Christ has produced the churches, but not much of the Body was produced and built up in an actual and practical way. In order for the Body to be produced in a full and complete way, there is the need of the third stage of Christ, the stage of intensification in which Christ becomes the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
I can say that the work which I did in mainland China was mainly to produce redeemed people. Only a small part of my work there was for the producing of churches. This indicates that my work in China was mainly a work in the first stage. However, when I came to Taiwan, I began to do a work in the stage of inclusion, and many churches were raised up. Now I am burdened to carry out a work in the stage of intensification. Therefore, I pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I am endeavoring to do my best to be an overcomer for the building up of Your Body to consummate the New Jerusalem.”
We should be doing a work of all three sections. I am concerned that many of the co-workers are still working only in the first section, the section of incarnation. If this is your situation, you need to improve and to advance. What you have learned and what you have done in the past are not adequate. Of course, you should not discard the things of the first stage, for those things are the foundation. Now you need to begin building on this foundation and eventually have the completion of the building. The foundation is the work in the stage of incarnation; the building up is the work in the stage of inclusion; and the completion of the building is the work in the stage of intensification. I would urge you to consider this matter of intensification and to pray desperately, saying, “Lord, …I do not want to remain in the work of incarnation nor even in the work of inclusion. I want to advance from inclusion to intensification. Lord, You have been intensified sevenfold, and I pray that I also will be intensified sevenfold to overcome the degradation of the church that the Body may be built up to consummate the New Jerusalem.” (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification,” pp. 195, 194, 196-197)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ,” chs. 2-4