The Reality of the Body of Christ
Message Six
Living Out and Working Out the New Jerusalem to Build Up Zion as the Reality of the Body of Christ
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Eph. 4:15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, 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.
Rev. 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.
Word of Appetizer
What is to live out and work out the New Jerusalem?
God’s desire is to gain the New Jerusalem through the precursor of the organic Body of Christ produced in the local churches; to live out the New Jerusalem is to grow up “into the Head” by the mingling of God with man, and to work out the New Jerusalem is to function “out from the Head” for the oneness of the Body of Christ.
Spiritual Burden
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ by living out and working out the New Jerusalem.
The Lord is waiting for a group of overcomers to live out the reality of the Body of Christ in resurrection to become the bride of Christ to bring Him back and to usher in His kingdom age; for this we need to pray, “Lord, may I receive Your mercy and grace to be one of Your overcomers.”
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ by living out and working out the New Jerusalem.
To live out the New Jerusalem is to grow up “into the Head” by the mingling of God with man, and to work out the New Jerusalem is to function “out from the Head” for the oneness of the Body of Christ.
Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our personal and corporate experience for us to become the New Jerusalem and build the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ to fulfill the eternal purpose of God.
The Experience of Life
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be full of the light of life; Light is the presence of God; we enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion in the light to deliver us out of the authority of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and to transfer us into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
We must experience God the Spirit in His transforming work, by our growth in the divine life in Christ as the living stone, we are transformed into precious stones to have the same appearance as God.
Practice and Application
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be under the throne of God, the ruling of God; in everything we allow God to have the preeminence and are completely submissive to His authority and administration.
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ requires spiritual warfare; we need to stand against the stratagems of the devil by fighting the battle in the Body with fighting prayers, praying at every time in spirit to put on the whole armor of God to build up the Body of Christ as the house of God.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Psa. 48:1-2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Rev. 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.
Eph. 4:15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, 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.
I. The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ by living out and working out the New Jerusalem
II. To grow up “into the Head”; to function “out from the Head”
- 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.
- To live out the New Jerusalem is to grow up “into the Head” by the mingling of God with man, and to work out the New Jerusalem is to function “out from the Head” for the oneness of the Body of Christ.
- God’s desire is to gain the New Jerusalem through the precursor of the organic Body of Christ produced in the local churches.
- Eventually, the local churches will be over; only the Body of Christ will remain forever as the unique mutual abode of God and man so that God and man are married together, mingled and incorporated together, to be one entity, a great corporate God-man.
Key Verses (2)
Rev. 14:1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
Ezek. 48:35 …And the name of the city from that day shall be, Jehovah Is There.
Rev. 22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
5 And night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever.
III. Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our personal and corporate experience for us to become the New Jerusalem and build the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ (A)
- The New Jerusalem 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 (19:7-9; 20:4-6); then they will join the rest of the Lord’s believers, the later overcomers, to be the wife of Christ for eternity.
- To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must:
- Holding on to this principle: God’s presence is the criterion for every matter.
- Being under the throne of God, the ruling of God.
- Having the flow and supply of life.
- Being full of the light of life.
Key Verses (3)
Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
18-19 And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper…
Neh. 4:17 Those who built the wall and those who carried burdens took the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other holding a weapon.
III. Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our personal and corporate experience for us to become the New Jerusalem and build the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ (B)
- To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must
- Partaking of God the Father in His divine nature, typified by the gold as the base of the city.
- Experiencing God the Son in His death and resurrection, typified by the pearl gates.
- Experiencing God the Spirit in His transforming work, typified by the jasper wall with its foundations of precious stones.
- Requiring spiritual warfare; at the time of Nehemiah, “those who built the wall and those who carried burdens took the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other holding a weapon”; we need to fight the battle in the Body with fighting prayers, pray at every time in spirit to put on the whole armor of God.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 In the Old Testament, there was the city of Jerusalem with Zion as the center—Psa. 48:1-2
(Please illustrate that the church life is today’s Jerusalem, and these overcomers are today’s Zion.)
T2 The overcomers as Zion are the highlight, the center, and the reality of the church—Rev. 21:1-3, 7
(Please illustrate that in the new heaven and new earth the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers.)
D2
T1 To live out the New Jerusalem is to grow up “into the Head” by the mingling of God with man—Eph. 4:15
(Please illustrate that to grow in life is to grow into the Head, Christ.)
T2 To work out the New Jerusalem is to function “out from the Head” for the oneness of the Body of Christ—v. 16
(Please illustrate that to operate in the Body of Christ is to operate out from Him.
D3
T1 The New Jerusalem is the totality of the overcomers—Rev. 21:2
(Please illustrate that all of God’s chosen and redeemed people will have been made overcomers.)
T2 The earlier overcomers and the later overcomers—20:4; 21:2-3
(Please illustrate the difference between the earlier overcomers and the later overcomers.)
D4
T1 The temple in the New Jerusalem is God Himself—Matt. 1:23
(Please illustrate that God’s presence is the criterion for every matter.)
T2 In the New Jerusalem there is light—Rev. 21:23
(Please illustrate that this light is not natural light, neither is it the light of the sun or of the moon; this light is God Himself.)
D5
T1 The city, New Jerusalem proper, with its street, is of pure gold—vv. 18, 21
(Please illustrate that gold, the symbol of the divine nature of God, signifies the Father as the source)
T2 The divine nature is what God is—Jonn 4:24; 1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5
(Please illustrate that when we partake of the divine nature, we enjoy God as the Spirit, as love, and as light with experience.)
D6
T1 Experiencing both Christ’s death and resurrection—Phil. 3:10
(Please illustrate that how can we put this application of the subjective death of Christ into our daily experience.)
T2 Experiencing God the Spirit in His transforming work—Rev. 21:18-20
(Please illustrate that in order to be transformed, our mind, emotion, and will must be renewed with experience.)
