The Lord is seeking a group of people who, like the priests in Joshua 3 and 4, are willing to step into the water of Jordan, that is, walk into death first, being willing to be dealt with by the cross first, standing in the place of death so that the church will find the way of life.
Amen, may the Lord gain many such ones in the church life today!
The crossing of the Jordan river by the children of Israel as described in Josh. 3-4 is very significant; it had nothing to do with man’s ability, skills, or organizing – it had everything to do with God’s doing and instruction.
And in particular, it is significant to see that it was the priests who entered the river first, at God’s command; the priests who bore the Ark of the covenant stepped into the water first, and then the people followed.
We need to be those who bear God’s testimony, Christ Himself as the embodiment of the Triune God, and stay in the waters of death until the whole people of God receives life.
Christ did this first: He entered into death, passed through death, and rose from the dead; now we as His many believers, His continuation and reproduction, receive the divine life, the life that passed through death and overcame death.
Twelve stones were taken from the riverbed and made into a memorial on the riverside, and twelve stones were taken from outside the river and put in the riverbed.
This is very significant, for it shows that we need to experience Christ in His death and even remain in His death; our old man has to remain with Christ in His death, and only the new man can go on to take the good land and fight the spiritual battle.
It is a fact that our old man is not qualified to take the good land; in our natural man we cannot enjoy the all-inclusive Christ neither can we fight the spiritual warfare.
Therefore, we need to experience Christ in His death and resurrection, realizing that our old man has been crucified with Him, and our new man in resurrection can go forth to take the land and fight the battle.
Every believer in Christ needs to remain in the reality of the baptism so that we may live a crucified life daily for Christ to be manifested and expressed through us.
Our old man has been buried in the death of Christ, and our resurrected new man is living and working, being one with the Triune God.
This is our reality and this should be our experience day by day.
We should no longer live in our natural man but in the new man, allowing the natural man to remain in the death of Christ so that the new man may come forth, be manifested, and go on to take the land with Christ and for Christ.
Bearing God’s Testimony as we Enter the Place of Death for Others to Receive Life
In their crossing of the river Jordan, the priests stepped into the water first; the priests who bore the Ark stepped into Jordan first, and they remained in the middle of the river until all the people crossed over (Josh. 3:8, 13-15, 17; 4:10-11, 15-18).
The priests carrying the Ark of the Testimony stood firmly on dry ground at the bottom of the river Jordan until all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan.
They stepped into the water first, bore the testimony of God on their shoulders, and when they came to the middle of the river, they stood there until all the people crossed.
They saw everyone crossing over, yet they remained in the riverbed until all of them crossed. The priests were the first to go in and the last to come out.
We need to be those who bear the testimony of God on our shoulders even as we enter the place of death so that others may receive life.
God put the priests in the place of death so that all the Israelites would have a way to the land of life (v. 10).
If we were one of the priests standing there, with the Ark of the Testimony on our shoulder, we may wonder when is our turn to cross, even as we see others crossing over and getting to the other side safely; we may even have wondered what happened if the waters came back.
The Lord many times instructs us to enter into a situation of death, even be in a place of death, bearing the testimony of God on our shoulders, so that the rest of God’s people would have a way to the land of life and receive life.
Morning may pass, the evening may pass, and night may also pass, and we may still remain in a place of death, while others cross over and receive and enjoy life.
The Lord is looking for such ones, those who are willing to be in a place of death, bearing God’s testimony on their shoulders, so that others may receive life.
Such ones may be few in number, but they are built up as the overcoming ones, a body of overcomers, who take the place of the entire people of God; these are the remnant who are willing to enter into a place of death, remain in death, and not get out of that place until all of God’s people receive life.
The bottom of the river is the position of death; it is not a comfortable or attractive place, neither is it exciting or exhilarating.
We may see many others enjoy life and enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ, while we ourselves may seem to remain in a position of death and stay in a place of death, for the Lord keeps us there until life is being dispensed into others.
To bear the Ark of the Testimony at the bottom of the river is great suffering; it is not comfortable or convenient to stand with the testimony of God on our shoulders.
Today in the Lord’s recovery He must gain the overcomers who are willing not to just to stand by themselves but with the testimony of God on their shoulders, bearing God’s testimony.
They are not the “kamikaze” soldiers who standing there as volunteers to die; rather, they are those who are qualified and worthy to bear the testimony of God, remaining in the place of death, for the Lord to minister life into others.
In 1 Cor. 4 Paul likened himself to such a one; he said that God has set forth the apostles, last of all, as doomed to death, even becoming a spectacle to death.
Some considered them to be the offscouring of the world, the scum of all things until now. The apostles remained in death so that the believers would receive life.
May we be willing to remain in the place of death so that others may receive life and enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to bear Your testimony even as we step into the place of death and remain in death so that others may receive life. Make us worthy, Lord, to bear Your testimony as we remain in a place of death so that others may enter into life and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ. Make us willing to be the overcoming ones, those who see the need for death to operate in them so that life may be ministered to many others. Thank You for dying for us, Lord; thank You for taking the lead to allow death to operate in You so that life may be ministered to us. Make us the overcomers of today who are willing to be dealt with by the cross first so that many others may find life and enjoy the ministry of life!
The Overcomers are willing to Stand in a Place of Death for others to Receive Life
Today the Lord is seeking for a group of people who, like the priests in Joshua 3 and 4, are willing to step into the death waters so that the people of God may receive life and enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
He is looking for many who are like Paul, standing in the place of death in order that the church will find the way of life (2 Cor. 4:10-12).
These are not in a rush to get out of death and enjoy life; they remain in death, wait in the position of death and stay in the place of death until the people of God enter into life and enjoy life.
Remaining at the bottom of the river, as the priests bearing the Ark did, is not a comfortable, attractive, or restful situation; rather, it is a suffering.
We need to be the overcomers of today who, by the Lord’s mercy, are willing to be dealt with by the cross first, to stand in the place of death in order that the church may find the way of life.
God must put some in the place of death before others can receive life (John 2:19; 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:36).
There is no resurrection life being imparted into others unless there are some who experience and remain in death.
There’s no multiplication and spread of the divine life in resurrection unless some fall as grains of wheat into the ground to die, allowing death to operate in them so that life may operate in others.
The Lord Jesus took the lead to do this; He was the Pioneer who fell into the ground to die, remaining in the place of death by Himself so that life may be released and dispensed into us.
The apostle Paul also followed the Lord in this to remain in the place of death so that so many others would receive life. If we want a good report and an easy life, if we want others to sympathize with others, we cannot be those through whom life is ministered.
But if we want the church to gain life, if we want life to be ministered to the saints, we need to remain in the place of death so that others can receive life.
We may not be disobedient, but we may just not be obedient enough; we need to realize that the Lord’s way is through death into resurrection, and our need today is to remain in the place of death so that life may be ministered to others.
God has put us at the river bottom in order that we would be His overcomers; He puts us in chains so that others may receive the gospel. If we are willing, by His grace, He will put us in the place of death, one with the crucified Christ, so that His life may be dispensed into others.
The Lord’s death experienced by us first fills us with life, and then this life flows to others.
May the Lord grant us the grace to be His overcomers today, those who stand upon Christ’s death so that many others would gain His life.
May we realize that God must first put us in the place of death before others can receive life.
If we remain in the place of death, if we are willing to be one with Christ in His death, life will fill us, and life will be ministered to others in the Body.
When there are some who are willing to be put in the place of death, life will flow in the Body of Christ. May we be those who tell the Lord in all honesty,
Dear Lord Jesus, make us Your overcomers today, those who allow death to operate in us so that life may be ministered to others. Make us willing to remain in the place of death so that others may receive life. We want to be channels of life for others; we want that Your life will not only fill us but also be dispensed into so many others for the building up of the Body. Make us those willing to step into the waters of death and remain in a place of death so that the people of God may gain life, find the way of life, and be filled with life. Oh Lord, we can’t do this in ourselves and we don’t even desire to, but we are joined to You, the crucified One, the One who took the lead to die so that life may be imparted into others! Make us Your reproduction, Your continuation today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, pp. 763-767, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 3, Crossing the Jordan River and Being Prepared for Battle.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Oh, may Thy Cross within me / Deepen its work and burn / In me enlarge Thy measure, / And me to ashes turn. / Oh, may Thy Spirit fill me / Each day more than before, / And may Thy living water / On me and thru me pour. (Hymns #280)
– Since it must be thus, I pray, Lord, / Help me go the narrow way; / Deal with pride and make me willing / Thus to suffer, Thee t’obey. / I for greater power pray not, / Deeper death is what I need; / All the meaning of the Cross, Lord, / Work in me-for this I plead. (Hymns #279)
– By the cross discern the spirit / And within the spirit move; / As good land, on Christ e’er labor, / And His riches thou wilt prove. (Hymns #748)
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