Zion was the city of David, the centre of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple as God’s dwelling place was built; the overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches – within the church life today there must be a group of overcomers as today’s Zion! Amen!
This week we come to the tenth great crystal in the books of 1 and 2 Kings, The Lord’s Recovery – to Build up Zion.
There are many ways to describe what the Lord’s recovery is, for He has been working throughout the ages to recover many things back to the way He wants them to be.
The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine truth, and His recovery is the recovery of the experience of Christ as our life and our everything.
The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the church, and it is the recovery of the function of the members of the Body of Christ as they are being perfected to function in their measure to build up the church as the Body of Christ.
One way to describe the Lord’s recovery is that the Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion; the Lord’s recovery is for Him to gain the overcomers, those who cooperate with the Lord for the fulfilment of His purpose, those who are the stepping stone for the Lord to return.
In the Old Testament we see that, after the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, the people of Israel were taken into captivity; however, there was a prophecy through Jeremiah that after seventy years, the Lord will return them to their land.
And this is what happened. A remnant returned from Babylon, in a few “waves” of people who returned, and they lived in Jerusalem and Israel, and it was through them that the temple was rebuilt.
This is what the Lord is doing today, He is recovering His people out of any division, dispersion, and captivity, and He is bringing them to the proper ground of oneness, the place of His choice (not their choice), one church in each locality standing on the ground of the oneness of the Body of Christ.
He is bringing us back to His original intention for Him to build up the church as the Body of Christ.
He wants His people to return to the place of His choice, rebuild the city of Jerusalem, rebuild the temple, and make sure there is a kingdom of God on earth with a great and high wall protecting God’s interest.
And we are happy to be here in the church life with the saints, partaking of Him and enjoying Him with the saints on the ground of oneness.
However, even though we may be in the city of Jerusalem in general, that is, in the church life, the Lord still desires something more: He wants to gain Zion, the overcomers who live in the reality of the Body of Christ, the ones who can build the church as the temple of God for His glory to return.
God’s heart’s desire is not fully fulfilled merely with the recovery of the church or the proper church life with all members functioning and enjoying Christ; He wants to gain the overcomers, the Zion in Jerusalem.
We need to see that there’s a difference between Zion and Jerusalem, and we need to be those who are Zion, the group of overcomers living in the reality of the Body of Christ today.
Zion Typifies the Overcomers in the Church, the Highlight, Beauty, Uplifting, and Reality of the Church
![But I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain. Psa. 2:6 And in Salem is His tabernacle, / And His dwelling place, in Zion. Psa. 76:2 Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, / Which cannot be moved [but] abides forever. Psa. 125:1 See, I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who abides on Mount Zion. Isa. 8:18](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/But-I-have-installed-My-King-Upon-Zion-My-holy-mountain-2-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "But I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain. Psa. 2:6 And in Salem is His tabernacle, / And His dwelling place, in Zion. Psa. 76:2 Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, / Which cannot be moved [but] abides forever. Psa. 125:1 See, I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who abides on Mount Zion. Isa. 8:18")
According to 2 Sam. 5:7, Zion was the city of King David, the center of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple as God’s dwelling place on earth was built.
In many verses such as Psa. 9:11 and 2:6, 74:2, 76:2, 125:1, 135:21, and Isa. 8:18 we see that God loves Zion, Zion is the place where God’s blessing comes from, and everything that is good about Jerusalem is in Zion.
God chose to put His name in the city of Jerusalem; however, this city is a large city with many hills and elevated locations.
Among these hills and mountains in Jerusalem, there is Zion, where God has His temple; Zion is the place where God dwells specifically.
God is the solo resident of Zion. He installed His king upon Zion, His holy mountain. Jerusalem is His tabernacle, and Zion is His dwelling place.
Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. He dwells in, rules from, and blesses from Zion.
Jerusalem typifies the church, and Zion typifies the overcomers in the church.
Zion is the prominent, eminent part of the city of Jerusalem; it is the outstanding part of the city.
Zion is the highlight of Jerusalem, the beauty of the holy city (Psa. 48:2; 50:2). Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion!
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. If we take away Zion, Jerusalem is just like any other city, but with Zion, Jerusalem is beautiful and filled with God’s presence.
As the highlight and beautify of the holy city of Jerusalem, Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the centre, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church (Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2).
The church should be all these things to God; but unfortunately, the church degraded, the church declined, and the church is no more these things.
So God needs the high peak of Zion, the overcomers in the church that are the peak, the centre, the uplifting, and the enriching and beauty of Jerusalem.
All the divine realities of the church, which the church has lost throughout the ages, the Lord is recovering and expressing through Zion, the overcomers in the church.
God needs a Zion today in Jerusalem; He needs the overcomers in the church to provide the church with a peak, a centre, strength, riches and beauty.
The hill of Zion is absolutely open to the Lord and is absolutely possessed by Him (Psa. 24:1, 3, 7-10).
The King of glory is coming in, and the doors open and lifted to welcome Him.
Nothing is closed in the overcomers toward the Lord; the overcomers in the churches are open to the Lord for whatever He wants to do.
The overcomers are absolutely open to the Lord, and they’re being absolutely possessed by Him. An overcomer is one who is totally and entirely open to the Lord, open to God.
Whatever God says, whatever God wants, whatever God’s will is, Zion is open to the Lord so that He may do what He wants to do.
This is the place where God is pleased to dwell and live and do what He desires.
The overcomers in the churches are totally possessed by God; they are not just open to the Lord but their whole being is possessed by God.
There’s not a part of them that is not possessed by God; God owns every cell, every organ, every part of their being.
May we be those who aspire to be the overcomers in the church today, those who are fully open to the Lord and absolutely possessed by Him.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You for Your interest on the earth. Save us from remaining in the degradation of the church today. Bring us on with You and cause us to be the overcomers in the church that You desire. Amen, Lord, gain the Zion in Jerusalem, the overcomers in the church! Gain the center, the high peak, and the uplifting of the church in the overcomers. Gain the overcomers that are the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church! Lord Jesus, we open to You without any reservation; we want our whole being to be open to You for whatever You want to do today. May we be those absolutely open to You and absolutely possessed by You to be the overcomers in the churches today!
Within the Local Churches, there must be a Group of Overcomers as Today’s 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 ultimate Holy of Holies as God’s dwelling place, in eternity (Rev. 21:16; Exo. 26:2-8; 1 Kings 6:20).
The church life is today’s Jerusalem; 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).
Yes, we love the church life, and yes, we love to be in the local churches, but we need to realize that the local churches are the procedure God takes for Him to gain the reality of Body of Christ.
The local churches are not God’s goal but a procedure He takes in this age to reach His goal; the local churches usher us or should usher us, into the reality of the Body of Christ.
The local churches are wonderful and necessary, but we need to be in the local churches realizing that we need to be in the reality of the Body of Christ.
![Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Cor. 12:27 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and [through] the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Eph. 4:16 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. Rev. 21:2-3](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Now-you-are-the-Body-of-Christ-and-members-individually-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Cor. 12:27 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and [through] the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Eph. 4:16 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. Rev. 21:2-3")
We need to advance with the Lord and touch the reality of the Body of Christ; we need to be the group of overcomers in the local churches that are today’s Zion.
The Lord needs not only many local churches – He needs the reality of the Body of Christ to appear on this earth before He can return.
There must be an adequate number of brothers and sisters, saints in the local churches, that are in the reality of the Body of Christ to a certain degree.
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).
The Lord needs this high peak, this strengthening of the church, the beauty and uplifting of the church in the overcomers.
Being in the Lord’s recovery today does not guarantee that we are part of today’s Zion.
Living the church life in the local churches doesn’t necessarily mean that we are the Lord’s overcomers today.
Yes, the church life in the Lord’s recovery today is under the Lord’s blessing, and He is releasing His word through the ministry to take us on with Him and to perfect us to function for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The Lord’s recovery is the best place for us to be produced as God’s overcomers.
While we are in the local churches, we need to be reminded that we have not yet arrived; we are in Jerusalem, and we need to advance until we reach the high peak of Zion.
We need to aspire to be the overcomers in the church, today’s Zion.
If we read the first three chapters of Revelation, the local churches are there as the seven golden lampstands; however, toward the end of Revelation, we no longer see local churches but the overcomers and eventually the New Jerusalem.
Brother Watchman Nee was raised up by the Lord and 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 we stressed the local churches very much.
But the local churches today are the Lord’s wonderful and necessary procedure in this age for Him to gain the reality of the Body of Christ.
Because of physical and practical reasons, the many believers on earth cannot all gather in one place to enjoy God together, so there’s the need for local churches, one church in each locality.
The local churches are ninety per cent physical; however, in the local churches, as we live the church life in the local church, we need to be today’s Zion, the overcomers in the church.
The local churches will eventually be over, and what remains is the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem as the unique tabernacle for God to dwell with man and the temple for man to dwell in God (Rev. 21:2-3).
May we pay much more attention to the Body of Christ than to the local churches; we do not neglect or put aside the local churches but rather, we pay attention to the reality of the Body as we live in the local church.
A physical human body is real and living when there’s a person moving in it when it is filled with the inner life.
The inner life of the Body of Christ needs to animate us and be our reality as we live the church life today.
May we go higher to arrive in the divine and mystical realm to possess the reality of the Body of Christ and be the overcomers in the churches.
It is the overcomers, the Zion of today, that will consummate God’s economy and bring the Lord back.
Lord Jesus, we aspire to be Your overcomers today, the Zion of today for You to gain what You are after on earth. Thank You for bringing us into the church life where Christ is our life and our everything and where the saints enjoy Christ and are built together in oneness. Hallelujah for all the local churches as the procedure for God to gain the reality of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, gain today’s Zion. Gain the group of overcomers in the church who cooperate with You for the fulfilment of Your economy. May we be those who are ushered into the reality of the Body of Christ today. Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with you to carry out God’s economy so that You may gain not only local churches but an organic Body as Your organism! Gain the reality of the Body of Christ, dear Lord, in the local churches today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” pp. 110-118, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 10, entitled, The Lord’s Recovery – to Build up Zion.
- Further reading on this topic:
– The Principle of the Overcomers and the Principle of Prayer (via Living to Him).
– Reaching the high peak of Zion (excerpt from, Practical Points concerning Blending, by W. Lee).
– The goal and purpose of the training – via FTTA-MA.
– There must be the overcomers standing in the position of the church to do God’s work (via Livingly Wrong). - Hymns on this topic:
– Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, / In the city of our God, / In the mountain of His holiness. / Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, / Is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, / The city of the great King. / Is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, / The city of the great King. (Hymns #1335)
– O walk about, walk about Zion, / Go round about her in love. / O walk about, walk about Zion / And count the towers thereof… / How great the Lord is in Zion, / How greatly to be praised, / How great He is in that city / Which over the earth is raised. / O bless the Lord out of Zion, / O let His praises swell, / O bless the Lord out of Zion, / Ye who in Jerusalem dwell. (Hymns #1223 stanzas 1, 6-7)
– Will you be an overcomer? / Christ is calling now! / Will you then be such a follower, / Though you know not how? … / Will you be an overcomer? / Never lukewarm be, / Ne’er content with what you’ve gotten, / More you need to see. (Hymns #894 stanzas 1 and 7)
About aGodMan
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, Recovery Version Bible
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. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” p. 110
We thank the Lord that He has brought us into the church life in the Lord’s recovery to enjoy Him with the saints.
May we advance with Him and be today’s Zion, the overcomers in the local churches, so that He may gain the high peak, the center, the uplifting, and the reality of the church.
Today in the Lord’s recovery there is the desperate need for the realisation, the practicality and actuality of the Body life – today’s “Zion”- within the local churches – “Jerusalem”.
To meet such a need, God needs overcomers, those who are standing on Mount Zion – saints who are the beautifying, the uplifting, enriching and strengthening in the local churches – as God’s dwelling place, who will consummate the building up of the Body of Christ through the vital groups and usher in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate dwelling place of God.
Dear Brother. Zion is God’s dwelling place. It is His satisfaction.
Zion is also the Joy of the whole earth. This is Wow, incredible Without the High Peak the consumption of God’s Goal, Zion, the overcomers in the local churches, there is no Joy on the earth.
May we be those who give ourselves fully continually to the Lord, Open to Him and to the Saints to be under His rich dispensing to be an encouragement to the saints but also ultimately to bring in His Millennium Kingdom where we will ring and rule with Him for a thousand years.
A word of warming in Revelation 2v11, 3v5 to all the saints the make Zion the goal of our attainment or we may have our names erased from the book of life and taste of the 2nd death.
Amen Lord!
Do this for the sake of Your Body through the local churches on the earth today
Ameeeen brother!
Ps 125:1 Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, / Which cannot be moved but abides forever.
Ps 125:2 Jerusalem — mountains surround her; / And Jehovah surrounds His people / From now and to eternity.
Yes Lord we want to be those who live in the reality of the body of Christ, gain us Lord Jesus; make this reality be our normal life.
Yes indeed!
Brother, I agreed and said Amen from the bottom of my heart.
Amen brother. In a sense, the local churches only exist to produce the overcomers.
One fine day, there will be no local churches; only a city shining over the whole earth. Only the Body will remain forever & ever.
Therefore, we must pay much more attention to the Body of Christ than to the local churches.
The Triune God is the source, the element & the essence of the Body. God is building these four entities together through the overcomers.
May we all be willing to answer the Lord’s call for overcomers…
Amen Lord make us those who trust in You! May we be your overcomers in this age!
Those who live in the reality of the body of Christ today’s Zion!
Gain us to be the vital groups in the Church life today Lord!
amen brother may we have this view that the Lord is not satisfied with the Local churches he wants to gain his body, he wants to have the reality of the Body of christ and the overcomers will be those who will bring its manifestation in it’s reality, may be those who live with this realisation that the goal of our living in the church life is the body of Christ
Yes Lord! Make us Zion, in Jerusalem! Cause us to advance to the highest peak!! The reality of the Body of Christ!
Dear brother, 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.
Amen Lord! We want to advance with You in the church life and be part of Your overcomers today!