I am burdened that all the co-workers in the Lord’s recovery would realize that we need to do a work of three sections. We should not only be able to do the work of the first section, the section of incarnation, to produce redeemed people, but we should also be able to do a work that can serve the purpose of the second section, the section of inclusion, to produce churches. Furthermore, we should be able to do a work to build up the Body of Christ consummating the New Jerusalem. This is the work of the stage of intensification.
The first stage—incarnation—is in the physical realm for the accomplishment of judicial redemption, which is a physical matter. The second stage—inclusion—is divine and mystical. In the third stage—intensification—there will be a maturing and a ripening in the divine and mystical realm, and the Body will be built up to consummate the New Jerusalem.
In releasing this message, I am concerned that the co-workers are not carrying out a threefold work: the work in the stage of incarnation, the work in the stage of inclusion, and the work in the stage of intensification. If we are carrying out this threefold work, we will work not only to produce redeemed ones and work to establish churches but will also work to build up the Body consummating the New Jerusalem.
I would ask the co-workers to consider what kind of work they have done in the past and ask themselves if they have been doing a work of three sections. Regarding my own work I can say that the work which I did in mainland China was mainly to produce redeemed people. Only a small part of my work there was for the producing of churches. This indicates that my work in China was mainly a work in the first stage. However, when I came to Taiwan, I began to do a work in the stage of inclusion, and many churches were raised up. Now I am burdened to carry out a work in the stage of intensification. Therefore, I pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, I am endeavoring to do my best to be an overcomer for the building up of Your Body to consummate the New Jerusalem."
I hope that all the co-workers will see the three stages, the three sections, of Christ: incarnation—the stage of Christ in the flesh; inclusion—the stage of Christ as the life-giving Spirit; and intensification—the stage of Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit. These three stages are the three sections of Christ’s history. This means that Christ’s history is divided into the section of His incarnation, the section of His inclusion, and the section of His intensification. Therefore we emphasize these three words—incarnation, inclusion, and intensification—and stress the facts that incarnation produces redeemed people, that inclusion produces the churches, and that intensification produces the overcomers to build up the Body, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as the unique goal of God’s economy. This is the revelation in the New Testament.
What kind of work should we be doing today? We should be doing a work of all three sections. I am concerned that many of the co-workers are still working only in the first section, the section of incarnation. If this is your situation, you need to improve and to advance. What you have learned and what you have done in the past are not adequate. Of course, you should not discard the things of the first stage, for those things are the foundation. Now you need to begin building on this foundation and eventually have the completion of the building. The foundation is the work in the stage of incarnation; the building up is the work in the stage of inclusion; and the completion of the building is the work in the stage of intensification.
My use of the word inclusion is based on our use of the word inclusive. For the last Adam to become the life-giving Spirit was for Christ to become the all-inclusive Spirit. His becoming all-inclusive was a matter not just of incarnation but of inclusion. As we have pointed out, inclusion involves many complications. In the stage of inclusion, many things are included in the pneumatic Christ, in the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. Now we need to see that the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit has been intensified sevenfold.
I would urge you to consider this matter of intensification and to pray desperately, saying, "Lord, I must advance. I need Your grace to bring me onward. I do not want to remain in the work of incarnation nor even in the work of inclusion. I want to advance from inclusion to intensification. Lord, You have been intensified sevenfold, and I pray that I also will be intensified sevenfold to overcome the degradation of the church that the Body may be built up to consummate the New Jerusalem."
(Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)