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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee
3. Being Blessed in Zion
In the local churches we are daily under
the dew, under the grace. Whether we are married or single, old or young, we
are under the dew that descends upon the mountains of Zion. Oh, how we enjoy
the Lord’s sufficient, exceeding, manifold, abundant grace! This grace is the
very Lord Jesus Christ Himself as our life supply. If we wish to enjoy this
grace in full, we need to be in the church life. According to Psalm 133, the
grace does not descend upon the homes of individual believers; it descends
upon the mountains of Zion, which typify the local churches. Thus, if we would
enjoy the dew that descends from Mount Hermon, we need to be on one of the
peaks of Zion….In the church life the dew descends upon us richly. We are
happy because we have the abundant supply of the all-sufficient
grace.
The anointing oil and the watering dew are
found in the church. Here we experience the anointing, the “painting,” of the
processed Triune God.
Simultaneously, we enjoy the processed God as grace, as the life supply for
our enjoyment. By this grace we can live a life that it is impossible for
people in the world to live….Such a living is possible through the grace we
receive on the mountains of Zion.
We should never underestimate the
importance of the church as a corporate person who receives the ointment and
as the place under the descending dew….[M]any of us can testify of the
difference it makes to be in the church. Yes, we can pray and read the Word
alone at home. When we do this, we receive a certain amount of grace. This
measure of grace, however, is not as sweet, rich, powerful, inspiring, or
sufficient as the grace we receive in the church. I can testify that, no
matter whether the meetings of the church are high or low, rich or poor, I
experience the ointment and the dew whenever I come to the meetings. The more
I come to the meetings, the more I am preserved in the Lord’s
grace….
…Let us come to the church meetings, even
when the meetings do not seem to be particularly rich. Simply by attending the
meetings we are preserved, for the dew still descends upon the mountains of
Zion. Thus, simply by being in the meetings, we are under the watering dew.
Our experience has confirmed this again and again.
(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 98-100)
In typology Hermon [in Psalm 133:3]
signifies the heavens, the highest place in the universe, and the dew
signifies the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). Without the New Testament, it would
be difficult for us to realize that dew signifies grace….As many verses in the
New Testament make clear, grace is the processed God as the life supply to be
our enjoyment.
…Many verses in the Acts speak of grace.
Acts 4:33 says, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” This verse indicates that
the great power in resurrection was the great grace. Christ in resurrection is
grace. Such a grace is not a good house, job, or automobile. It is God
experienced, received, enjoyed, and gained by the believers. In Acts 11:23 we
are told that in Antioch Barnabas saw the grace of God. He, of course, did not
see material blessings. He saw that the believers in Antioch were experiencing
God in Christ as their life supply for their enjoyment.
…If we are clear about this, we can have a
greater appreciation of the dew as a type of Christ in Psalm 133. As the dew,
the grace, becomes our enjoyment, we share in the genuine oneness. However, if
we are not under the dew that waters, refreshes, and saturates us, we cannot
be one with other believers. It is on the mountains of Zion that we experience
this dew. If we would enjoy the dew which typifies the all-inclusive
grace, we must be on one of the peaks, the mountaintops, of Zion.
(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 94-97)
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