The church life on the ground of oneness is today’s Jerusalem, and within the church life there must be a group of overcomers who are the reality of Zion; we need to be vitalized to be the overcomers in the church life today.
In the Old Testament we see that the unique ground of Jerusalem was the ground of God’s choice, the ground of oneness; there, in Zion in Jerusalem, the temple was built, and there the men of Israel had to come three times a year for the feasts.
This kept the oneness among the people of God and brought in God’s blessing upon them. In the ancient times all the Israelites had to come together three times a year at Jerusalem; by this unique place of worship to God, Jerusalem, the oneness of God’s people was kept for generations.
What about today? How can the oneness of God’s people be kept today, and what is the place of His choice where we all have to gather when we meet?
In the New Testament the proper ground of oneness ordained by God is the unique ground of one church for one locality.
If we read the book of Acts and the Epistles we see that things are very clear: there was one church in one city, and the church met together to keep the oneness; they met in the name of the Lord, in the mingled spirit, and through the cross.
In 1 Cor. 1:1-2 we see the main characteristics of a genuine local church. Such a church is the church of God – the element, essence, and source of the church is God, and the nature of the church is divine; the church is heavenly, divine, in the heavens, and in God.
This is the universal church, of which the local church is a local testimony.
At the same time, however, the church is in Corinth, that is, it is in a locality; there is one locality, and the local church is an expression of the universal church, being the “local embassy” of the universal church.
On one hand the church is constituted of the universal God, and on the other, in practicality the church is local in a definite place.
Without the universal aspect of the church, the church is void and without content; the universal church is the reality and the content of the local church.
Without the local aspect of the church, however, it is impossible for the church to have any expression and practice, for the universal church has to be expressed in every locality as the local church in that locality.
Hallelujah, how we thank and praise the Lord that the record concerning the establishment of the church in its locality is consistent throughout the New Testament!
Within the Church Life on the Ground of Oneness there must be a Group of Overcomers!
We thank and praise the Lord that today He has brought us into the church life on the ground of oneness; the church life is today’s Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God.
However, within the church life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today’s Zion (Psa. 48:2, 11-12).
Zion was the city of King David (2 Sam. 5:7), the center of the city of Jerusalem; in Zion was the temple as God’s dwelling place on earth (Psa. 9:11; 74:2; 76:2b; 135:21; Isa. 8:18).
So in a sense it is not enough for us to merely be in Jerusalem – we need to be in Zion, even be Zion today.
Zion typifies the body of overcomers, the perfected and mature God-men within the church; Zion is the overcomers, and the church is the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22; Rev. 14:1-5).
According to the Old Testament, Zion is the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem (Psa. 48:2; 50:2); Zion therefore 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).
What the Lord is after is not only the local churches on the ground of oneness, but the overcomers in the local churches who are the beauty and reality of the church.
The Lord is after the overcomers who are the reality of Zion today, the reality of the Body of Christ who build up the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22).
Within the church life today there must be a group of overcomers being produced by the Lord, those who answer the Lord’s call to overcome the degradation of the church in all its aspects, so that they would fulfill God’s purpose in the church.
The overcomers are not super-Christians or spiritual warriors; they are normal believers who see God’s purpose, are one with Him, and receive mercy and grace to answer God’s call to be the overcomers today.
Without Zion in Jerusalem, there’s no beauty and uplifting of the holy city; without the overcomers, the church cannot be practically and actually built up.
Today we are in the age of the church, and more precisely we are in the age of the overcomers, for the church has become degraded and the Lord is calling for His overcomers.
In the new heaven and the new earth, the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, and all the believers in Christ as the components of the holy city will be the overcomers.
Today the Lord is calling for His overcomers, and He wants to produce many of His seekers to be the overcoming ones, the shining stars, those who answer His call to be the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church.
May we cooperate with the Lord today by telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we want to answer Your call for Your overcomers in the churches today. Thank You for bringing us on the ground of oneness to practice the proper church life today. May You gain us as the overcomers, the perfected and mature God-men within the churches! Amen, Lord Jesus, gain the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church. Perfect us and mature us that we may grow in life unto maturity and be the overcoming ones in the churches today, the reality of Zion within the heavenly Jerusalem!
Choosing to be Vitalized to be the Overcomers in the Church Life to Fulfill God’s Purpose
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery there are two ways before us: we can either choose to be vitalized to be the overcomers today, or we can choose not to be vitalized.
We thank and praise the Lord that, in His mercy, He has brought us in the proper and genuine church life in the Lord’s recovery today; it is not because we are better or more spiritual or more seeking than others, but it is because of His mercy that we are here.
The church life on the ground of oneness is today’s Jerusalem, and it is the right place for us to be an overcomer.
However, this doesn’t mean that simply by being int he church life we are overcomers; it is one thing to be in the church life and it is another thing to be an overcomer in the church life.
May we choose to be vitalized to be the overcomers in the church life today, those who fulfill God’s purpose!
In Rev. 14:1-5 we see that the overcomers are standing on Mount Zion with the Lord; in typology the overcomers are today’s Zion.
Without Zion, Jerusalem cannot be kept and maintained; similarly, without the overcomers, the church life cannot be built up and maintained.
In the church life there’s the need of some overcomers, those who 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.
We need to aspire to be today’s overcomers in the church life, those who not only attend the meetings and have a daily time with the Lord in His word, but who respond to the Lord’s call by overcoming the degradation in the church to be the Lord’s overcomers.
Once the church has a group of overcomers, that church is like Jerusalem with the peak of Zion.
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).
The church life is the right place for us to be an overcomer; in the church life we can produced by the Lord to be His overcoming ones, those who respond to His call and are produced as the overcomers in the church life to fulfill God’s purpose (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21).
Among all the things that need to be overcome to be the overcomers in the church life today, one of the main things is the overcoming of the degradation; we need to overcome not only sin, the world, and the flesh, but also the degradation of the church.
Christ today as the Spirit is still calling for the overcomers in the local churches. Will we choose to be those who are vitalized to be the overcomers in the church life today?
Judges 5:15 says that we need to have great resolutions in heart; we have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones.
This doesn’t mean that we decide to do this and try our best to do it in ourselves; rather, as those who have been shown mercy by the Lord and have seen something of His purpose, we make a resolution to be the overcomers in the church life today.
We make the resolution, the decision, and we let the Lord come in and cooperate with Him to replace anything that replaces Christ or that is against Christ.
Today we are in the age of the overcomers, and the Lord is still calling for us, His people to be His overcomers today. Also, the Lord has provided a way for us to be vitalized to be His overcomers.
Lord Jesus, we aspire to be the overcomers in the church life today, those who answer Your call and overcome the degradation of the church. We make a resolution to be the vitalized ones, the overcomers in the local churches, those who overcome everything that replaces Christ and that is against Christ. Oh Lord, we give ourselves to You to cooperate with You in this age today to be the vitalized ones, the overcomers that You are looking for! We choose to be the overcomers in the church life; amen, Lord, make us Your overcomers who meet Your need in this age!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 9, Enjoying Christ with God on the Ground of Oneness.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ has called us once to Him, / But He calls us once again. / To His call we say Amen! / Overcome! / For the church has fallen low, / Thinking everything they know, / But the life is missing; so, / Overcome! (Hymns #1273)
– God needs the overcomers, / ’Our dear Lord Jesus’ lovers! / Make us those who live to turn the age! / God needs the overcomers, / ’Our dear Lord Jesus’ lovers! / Make us those who consummate the age! (Song on, God Needs the Overcomers)
– The Church the lampstand is to Christ, / Christ is the lamp with God as light; / The light divine from Christ doth shine, / The Church upholds its glory bright. / Like “Philadelphia” she must be / To keep Christ’s word, confess His Name; / All “lukewarm” pride she must o’ercome / To feast with Him who overcame. (Hymns #822)
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