Ⅰ
Zion was the city of King David (2 Sam. 5:7), the center of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple as God’s dwelling place on earth was built (Psa. 9:11; 2:6; 74:2; 76:2b; 125:1; 135:21; Isa. 8:18):
A
Jerusalem typifies the church, and Zion typifies the overcomers in the church:
１
Zion is the highlight of Jerusalem, the beauty of the holy city—Psa. 48:2; 50:2.
２
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—48:2, 11-12; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2.
３
The hill of Zion is absolutely open to the Lord and is absolutely possessed by Him—24:1, 3, 7-10.
B
The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the ultimate Holy of Holies as God’s dwelling place, in eternity—Rev. 21:16; cf. Exo. 26:2-8; 1 Kings 6:20.
C
The church life is today’s Jerusalem, and within the church life there must be a group of overcomers as today’s Zion—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 2:7; 3:12:
１
This reveals that the local churches are not God’s goal but a procedure God takes to reach His goal; the local churches usher us into the reality of the Body of Christ.
２
The highest peak of the Lord’s recovery that can carry out God’s economy is for God to produce not many local churches in a physical way but an organic Body to be His organism—1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 4:16.
Morning Nourishment
Psa. 48:2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,... the city of the great King.50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
125:1 Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
Zion was the city of King David (2 Sam. 5:7), the center of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple as God’s dwelling place on earth was built (Psa. 9:11; 74:2; 76:2b; 135:21; Isa. 8:18)... As the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem (Psa. 48:2; 50:2), Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church (48:2, 11-12; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2). The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God’s dwelling place, in eternity (Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22). (Psa. 48:2, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
Jerusalem is built on the top of a mountain... In Jerusalem there is a peak, that is, Mount Zion, on which the temple was built. About one thousand years before the building of the temple, God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, which is another name for Mount Zion (Gen. 22:2; 2 Chron. 3:1). The good situation in the recovery today is just like Jerusalem. However, there is no Zion. In the New Testament the overcomers are likened to Zion. In Revelation 14:1 the one hundred forty-four thousand overcomers are not just in Jerusalem; they are on the peak of Zion. The overcomers, the vital groups, are today’s Zion. My burden today is to help you reach the peak of the vital groups, that is, the overcomers’ Zion. Although we may have a good church life, among us there is almost no realization, no practicality, no actuality, and no reality of the Body life. This is the need in the recovery today.When Brother Nee was raised up by the Lord, he saw the light that the local churches are needed for the Lord to take the procedure to go on to reach His goal in His economy. So he stressed the local churches very much... We have stressed the local churches again and again.
The one church is expressed in the local churches because of physical reasons. We believers are scattered on this earth, so we cannot be in one location. We have to be in many locations, so in a sense, we have to be separated by localities. But we cannot forget that the churches are the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4 says that there is one Body (v. 4). Paul says that though we are many, we are still one bread and one Body (1 Cor. 10:17).
Eventually, the book of Revelation does have a consummation. In this consummation all the seven lampstands disappear. In the first chapter we see the seven lampstands. But in the last two chapters we see only one city. Eventually, the local churches will be over. Only the Body will remain and remain forever, and this Body of Christ is the unique tabernacle as God’s dwelling place on this earth, the unique bride of the Lamb (21:2-3). We all have to see this.
Therefore, we must pay much more attention to the Body of Christ than to the local churches. This does not mean that I annul the teaching of the local churches. We still need it. As a person, we have a physical frame. That is our body. But a body by itself is a carcass. A physical body needs an inner life. Today the church is the same. On the one hand, it does have a frame, a body, but this frame is not the nature, the essence, or the element of the church. Ephesians 4 tells us the church is the Body, and within this church is the Spirit, the Lord, and the Father (vv. 4-6). The Father is the source, the Lord is the element, and the Spirit is the essence of the Body. These four entities are built together. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” pp. 110, 116-118)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups,” An Introductory Word, ch. 1