What the Lord is after today is to gain the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; in the church life today we must endeavour to reach today’s Zion, praying and cooperating with the Lord to be one of His overcomers.
The Lord wants that all men would be those who, bearing His image to express Him, would represent Him and deal with the enemy to bring in the kingdom of God and express God with His image.
However, man has fallen; so God came in to call a particular person, the head of one nation, Abraham; through the people of Israel in the New Testament, God wanted to recover His image for His expression and His dominion for the dealing of His enemy.
But His people also failed God, so God sounded out a call through Moses, and the Levites came to him to be those who would fulfil God’s purpose.
As a whole, however, the people of Israel have failed God and left His purpose, leaving God and going after idols, and not being absolute for God.
So through Jesus Christ, God came in again to call all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, to come to Him, believe into Christ, receive the life of God, and come back to the original intention of God to express and represent God.
All believers in Christ have the life of God, and by means of this life they can express God with His image and represent God with His authority; the church is God’s expression and representation on earth.
However, the church as a whole has failed God, for division came in, apostasy is here, and many different teachings and opinions are promoted more than the word of God.
So in Rev. 2-3 the Lord as the Spirit is speaking to the churches and calling the overcomers.
Today the Lord is calling the overcoming ones, those who see what is in God’s heart, join themselves to God through His word, and cooperate with God to fulfil His purpose on behalf of the church.
The overcomers see the Body, know the Body, care for the Body, and do all things in and for the Body; they live in the reality of the Body of Christ, and their prayer is for the reality of the Body to be expressed in the local churches.
Today the Lord needs to gain the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; He needs to gain a group of overcomers to carry out His economy to have the Body of Christ for His expression and as the army for the destruction of His enemy.
May we aspire to be such ones; may we aspire to be those who overcomer in this age, by His grace and mercy, so that we may reign with Him for a thousand years, and live a married life with Him for eternity in and as the New Jerusalem!
The Lord’s Recovery is to Gain the Overcomers as the Reality of the Body of Christ Consummating in the New Jerusalem
As the Lord’s recovery is taking care of producing the Body, caring for the Body in a general way for its building up, the Lord in His recovery is after a particular matter: He wants to gain the overcomers, the Zion within Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament, God’s dwelling place was in Jerusalem as a city, but in particular, He lived in and delighted to be in Zion, the place where the temple was.
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 (see Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 50:2; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2).
If we read in the Old Testament we see that God delights to be in Zion, for it is here that He finds rest; Zion is the uplifting of Jerusalem, the strengthening, and the reality of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is a type of church, and Zion is a type of the overcomers.
On one hand, we are here in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, enjoying Christ with the saints and building up of the church; on the other hand, the Lord’s particular work is to build up Zion, that is, He is working to produce the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.
What the Lord is after today is the overcoming ones, those who live in the reality of the Body of Christ as they live in the local churches; they build up the church and do the work of the church on behalf of the church for God.
Jerusalem typifies the whole body of the church, while Zion typifies the overcomers of the church; on one hand we need to be in the local churches enjoying the Lord and living the church life with all the saints, and on the other hand, we need to aspire to be the Lord’s overcomers in 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 (see 1 Kings 8:1; Psa. 51:18; 102:21; 128:5; 135:21; Isa. 41:27; Joel 3:17).
Without Zion, Jerusalem is an empty place; without the overcomers, the church has no reality, no uplifting, and no enriching.
We need to be the group of overcomers who live the life of a God-man to be in the reality of the Body of Christ; this kind of living will close this age and will bring Christ back.
When there’s a substantial living out of the reality of the Body of Christ, the age of the church will come to a close, and the Lord will return to take, possess, and rule over this earth with the overcomers in the kingdom age.
May we give ourselves to the Lord to be perfected, completed, and consummated in the church age; may we aspire to be the Lord’s overcomers living in the reality of the Body of Christ today.
For eternity, all believers in Christ will be the overcomers as the New Jerusalem; the difference is, however, when are we produced to be the overcomers – is it in this age, the age of the church, or in the next age, the age of the kingdom?
Will we cooperate with the Lord today to be the overcoming ones living in the reality of the Body of Christ, or will we have to go through the one-thousand-year period to be perfected to be the overcomers?
At the time of the New Jerusalem, the entire city will be Zion, for all believers in Christ will have been perfected, equipped, and consummated to be the Lord’s overcomers; however, will we join Christ in His wedding feast in the next age, or will we be the defeated believers who are being perfected to be overcomers?
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion – the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; we in the church life today must endeavour to reach Zion, being the Lord’s overcomers today.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to be Your overcomers today, those who live in the reality of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem. Amen, Lord, build up Zion, the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem! Gain what You are after, Lord, the overcoming ones who live one spirit with You, caring for the Body, and fulfilling Your purpose in and on behalf of the church. We want to endeavour to reach today’s Zion to be perfected, equipped, and consummated as the overcomers in the churches today. Amen, Lord Jesus, gain the overcomers in the churches for You to have a way to hasten Your return and bring in the age of the kingdom!
How we can be the Earlier Overcomers, the Reality of the Body of Christ, to Bring the Lord Back
The New Jerusalem is the enlarged and consummate Zion; the holy city 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), and then they will join the rest of the Lord’s believers (the later overcomers), to be the wife of Christ for eternity (Rev. 21:2-3, 7).
We could say that the New Jerusalem will come forth in two stages: in the early stage in the millennium for the overcomers who will rule and reign and feast with the Lord for a thousand years, and in the eternal stage in the new heaven and new earth to be a common portion of all the saints for eternity.
Praise the Lord, for eternity all believers in Christ will be overcomers!
However, if we overcome in this age, we will inherit these things earlier; we need to aspire to be the bride of Christ, the earlier overcomers today.
The earlier overcomers, as the reality of Zion within Jerusalem, are the reality of the Body of Christ within the church; they have the highways of Zion in their heart (Psa. 48:2).
They take the way of the church internally, caring not just for the general church life but for Zion, the high peak, the elevation, the eternal purpose of God.
Whatever we are doing in the church life must be not just outward but by taking the way of the church internally, seeing and cooperating with what the Lord is doing intrinsically in each one of us.
The earlier overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ are being incorporated into the Triune God as their dwelling place through the crucified Christ and the resurrected Christ in ascension; this is typified by the two altars mentioned in Psa. 84:3-5.
We have the highways of Zion in our hearts by spending time with the Lord at these two altars – the bronze altar signifying the cross of Christ, and the golden incense altar signifying the resurrected and ascended Christ.
As we spend time with the Lord, He is crucifying what we are in our natural man, self, and flesh, and He is making us one with Him in His resurrection and ascension for us to dwell with Him.
To overcome means that we love the Lord more than we love our self; it means that we love Him more than we love our soul-life (Phil. 3:19; 4:12; Rev. 2:4-5, 7; 12:11).
An overcomer knows Christ and loves only Christ for the reality of the Body of Christ.
To overcome is not just to overcome the world, sinful things, and the negative things but even more, it is to be willing to lose our soul-life and deny the self.
We need to hand ourselves over to the Lord and give ourselves to love Him, enjoy Him, and be filled with Him; we should care not only for our work for the Lord in the local church but pay attention to the Body, building up the Body in coordination with the saints.
Overcomers care for the Body, and they deny their self and lose their soul-life for the reality of the Body of Christ; may we aspire to be the earlier overcomers who enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom age!
The Lord today is waiting for a group of overcomers who live out the reality of the Body of Christ in resurrection to become the bride of Christ and bring Him back to usher in His kingdom age. He needs the ovecomers.
He is looking for the remnant among the defeated church who stand on Mount Zion (Rev. 14), the small number of believers to pass on the flow of life to the church to revive the church.
They give themselves up for the church, standing in the victory of Christ, and suffering tribulation and despising.
They pay the price and allow the cross to cut off all the old creation and deal with the ages of Hades (Matt. 16:18), for they want to be the earlier overcomers.
May we be those who are willing to be the Lord’s earlier overcomers today, those willing to be defeated so that the Lord can be the Victor. May we have a prayer in our heart toward the Lord,
Lord Jesus, may we receive Your mercy and grace to be one of Your overcomers. We may not be that strong or spiritual, and we may not know that much, but we want to be one of Your earlier overcomers in this age. Oh Lord, we have seen Your Body and we want to live in the reality of the Body of Christ today. Make us the overcomers who care for the Body and do everything in and for the Body. Make us willing to endure heartache to gain the heart of God. Make us willing to let ourselves be defeated so that the Lord can be the Victor. Strengthen us to pay the price and allow the cross to cut off all the old creation and deal with the gates of Hades. Fill us with Your love so that we may love You more than we love our self and our soul-life. Lord, we love You. We give ourselves to You to be part of the earlier overcomers who live in the reality of the Body of Christ consummating the New Jerusalem to hasten Your return!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, pp. 760-766, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 7, The Factor of Blending for the Reality of the Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Will you be an overcomer? / To the Lord be drawn! / Keep the “first love,” never leave it, / Till the break of dawn. / Will you be an overcomer? / On His life depend! / Dare to suffer persecution, / Faithful to the end. (Hymns #894)
– Zion Highways, Our heart’s longing, Though pass through Baca valley yet not cease, / All loss count we, Refuse, rubbish; Care for God’s interests, vision ever heed. / My Lord shall be no more delayed, Be overcomers, pave the way for Him! / Conquering all foes, reigning with Him, How splendid, beauteous, Zion the High Peak! (Song on, The Uniqueness of the Lord’s Recovery)
– We would be those who pay the price, / Deny the soul, reject the self; / Ambitious for the birthright thus / We’d gain Thee, Lord, above all else. / The promise, Lord, ’twas giv’n to us, / Oh, let us ne’er this right despise; / Enflame us, Lord, to gain Thyself, / And Thee, our birthright realize. (Hymns #1272)
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