Crystallization-Study of First and Second Kings
Message Ten
The Lord’s Recovery—to Build Up Zion
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Psa. 48:2 Beautiful in elevation, / The joy of the whole earth, / Is Mount Zion, … The city of the great King.
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.
Psa. 84:5-7 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, / In whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Baca, / They make it a spring; / Indeed the early rain covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; / Each appears before God in Zion.
Word of Appetizer
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion; What do Zion and Jerusalem each typify?
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. Jerusalem typifies the church, and Zion typifies the overcomers in the church. 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. The church life is today’s Jerusalem, and within the church life there must be a group of overcomers as today’s Zion
Spiritual Burden
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion. Our response to the Lord’s calling of the overcomers in this age is for us to be vitalized. There is no other way to reach the high peak of God’s eternal economy, the reality of the Body of Christ, except by praying; our becoming the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ to be the bride of Christ will close this age.
Today in the church age, the God-men who are perfected and matured are Zion, the overcomers, the vital groups within the churches, but in the new heaven and new earth, the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
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.
We have to realize what the Lord’s recovery is; the Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion.
The overcomers enjoy Christ as the incarnated Triune God, the God-man, and are those in whose heart are the highways to Zion—”Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, / In whose heart are the highways to Zion. / Passing through the valley of Baca, / They make it a spring; / Indeed the early rain covers it with blessings. / They go from strength to strength; / Each appears before God in Zion”.
“His foundation is in the holy mountains. ? Jehovah loves the gates of Zion”.
The Songs of Ascents (Psa. 120—134) speak of the preciousness of Zion and Jerusalem in the experiences and praises of the saints.
The Experience of Life
The overcomers enjoy Christ as the incarnated Triune God, the God-man, and are those in whose heart are the highways to Zion. The strippings and weepings result in the enjoyment of the loveliness and sweetness of God’s house. While we are weeping, we are being filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit becomes a spring and the early rain to us.
The blessings of our dwelling in the house of God are our enjoyment of the incarnated and consummated Triune God as our sun to supply us with life, as our shield to protect us from God’s enemy, as grace for our enjoyment, and as glory for the manifestation of God in splendor.
Practice and Application
Our response to the Lord’s calling of the overcomers in this age is for us to be vitalized; to be vital is to be living and active in oneness with our living and acting God.
For Christ to be victorious in our entire being, we must experience the slaying Spirit mingled with our spirit so that everything of God’s adversary can be killed within us, enabling us to rule in the divine life of the Spirit over Satan, sin, and death for God’s dominion and to live a healthy Body life, a healthy church life.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The overcomers, the vital groups, are today’s Zion (Psa. 48:2; 125:1)
(Please illustrate that Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church.)
T2 We must pay much more attention to the Body of Christ than to the local churches (1 Cor. 1:17; Eph. 4:1)
(Please illustrate that we have to be separated by localities, but we cannot forget that the churches are the Body of Christ.)
Day 2
T1 Jerusalem typifies the church, and Zion typifies the overcomers in the church (1 Kings 8:1)
(Why is it that there is something that has to do with God’s heart desire, Zion is mentioned?)
T2 God always uses a small number of believers to pass on the flow of life to the church and to revive the church (Rev. 14:1)
(Please illustrate that on behalf of the church, the overcomers take the stand of victory and also suffer tribulation and despising.)
Day 3
T1 As the mountain of Zion, we must have our doors open that Christ may come in (Psa. 24:7; Rev. 3:20)
(Please illustrate with experiences that the Lord Jesus is among us, but He may be shut out.)
T2 The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion (1 Cor. 9:24; 2 Tim. 4:7-8)
(Please illustrate that Paul’s writings unveil this to the uttermost.)
Day 4
T1 The church is the Body of Christ, and the church is also the new man (Eph. 1:23; 4:23)
(Please illustrate that in the book of Ephesians there is great emphasis on the mingled spirit,the human spirit mingled with the divine Spirit.)
T2 Christ’s love for the church is for sanctifying (1 John 1:7; Eph. 5:26-27)
(Please illustrate that the redeeming blood of Christ washes away our sins, whereas the water of life washes away the blemishes of the natural life of our old man.)
Day 5
T1 Psalm 84, concerning the psalmist’s love for the house of God with Christ (Psa. 84:5-7)
(What are the blessings of our dwelling in the house of God?)
T2 All my springs are in you (Psa. 87:5-7; Col. 3:11)
(Please illustrate that Psalm 87 unveils Christ with all the saints to be God’s house for God’s city and for God to gain the whole earth.)
Day 6
T1 Jehovah [speaks about Zion] by saying that He will abundantly bless Zion’s provision (Psa. 132:14-16)
(Please illustrate that what seven items related to the overcomer in Psalm 132.)
T2 The praise of the saint concerning Jehovah’s commanded blessing for brothers to dwell in unity. (Psa. 133:1-2)
(Please illustrate that for the oil to run down from the head to the hem of the garments signifies that both the Head and the Body are under the anointing of God’s fine oil.)