Just as the priests stepped first in the Jordan River and remained there until the people of Israel crossed, the Lord needs us to die so that life may work in others; our dying is our working, and when we die, we minister life to others.
What an amazing principle and what a secret to our Christian life and church life!
The history of the children of Israel is a type of our history and experience in our Christian life today.
When the children of Israel arrived at the river Jordan and were ready to cross it, this shows that they were prepared and equipped to enter into the good land and take it for God.
However, the crossing of Jordan was done in a very specific way: it was the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant that stepped in the water first, and then they stayed there until the whole people crossed.
The priests stepped in the water first and they were the last to come out of the water.
This shows us that the Lord wants some who can bear His testimony and who are willing to step into the waters of death, some who are willing to be joined to Christ in His death and allow the death of Jesus to operate in them, so that the rest of the people may enjoy life.
On one hand, the crossing of the river Jordan typifies our baptism, for through our baptism we were put into the death of Christ, and we came out of the waters of baptism as a new man, a new creation.
On the other hand, however, there’s a deeper significance to this crossing, for when some of God’s people are willing to remain in the death of Jesus, life will be ministered to others.
Day by day we need to remain in the reality of our baptism, that is, we need to remain joined to the Lord in His death, for He wants to minister life to His people through our experience of Him.
We may have experienced something of the Lord’s death in our Christian life, but our experience needs to increase.
We don’t need to seek such experiences, however, neither do we need to ask for more death; we simply need to remain joined to the Lord and, in this organic union, He will operate in us and will minister life through us.
The crossing of the river Jordan is very significant, for without this crossing there’s no way to advance into the enjoyment of Christ as the good land and the defeating of God’s enemies in spiritual warfare.
May we open to the Lord concerning this matter, and may we ask Him to make us willing to have the experiences that He wants us to have so that we may minister life to the Body of Christ not only by our speaking but also by our experience of the death of Jesus in our daily life.
Our Dying is our Working, for when Death operates in Us, Life is Ministered to others
In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul doesn’t speak of his accomplishments but of his afflictions; it’s almost as if he boasts in his afflictions, for he knows that these afflictions are for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
If we were to write a letter to some saints to encourage them, we may have told them that we are blessed on every side, and God’s blessing accompanies our work and words, thus proving that our ministry is of the Lord and our work is of Him.
However, in v. 8 Paul says that they are pressed on every side. We may tell others that we have the blessing of the mighty God in our body, and we are just so blessed; Paul, however, says that he always bears about in the body the putting to death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in his body (v. 10).
What a contrast between what we think the experience of a great apostle is and what is his actual experience of Christ for the building up of the Body!
It is not merely God’s blessing that is upon us and our work that edifies the saints and builds up the church; it is our bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
We may boast in being rescued by the Lord from death and being protected by Him from every evil person and from any persecution.
Paul, however, says that he was being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in his mortal flesh.
Paul was not boasting of being rescued from death or from peril but rather, of being delivered unto death; this is so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in his mortal flesh.
He didn’t even say that the life of Jesus is manifested in his mortal body but in his mortal flesh; the word body is positive, but the word flesh is negative.
Our flesh is mortal, it is dying; however, the life of Jesus is being manifested through it even as the death of Jesus is operating in us. Paul concludes that death operates in him and life in the saints (v. 12).
It seems that Paul’s work was of dying; the more he experienced the death of Jesus, the more life was ministered to the saints.
Our natural belief is that the more we work for God and the greater work we do for God and the more we speak for God, the more life is minister to others.
However, Paul’s experience is different; according to his experience – which is the word of God in the Bible – our working is our dying, and when death operates in us, life is ministered to and operating in others.
In the Lord’s recovery, we need to die so that life may work in others.
We may think that, since this is the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we should multiply exponentially, a great work needs to be carried out, everyone should receive the truth, and the Lord’s recovery should spread rapidly everywhere.
However, the principle in the Word of God is clear: our working is our dying, and if we die, life will work in others.
We minister life to others by our dying; our work is to be put to death and to allow the death of Jesus to operate in us so that life may be ministered to others.
We are not here to do something great for the Lord, to do a great work, or to be exalted; we are here to experience Christ, follow in His footsteps, and allow the life of Jesus to be manifested in our mortal flesh even as the death of Jesus operates in us.
When death operates in us, when we are willing to remain in the death of Jesus, life will operate in others.
God doesn’t need us to do a great work for Him; He only needs us to die, for when we die, life will work in others.
We minister life to others by dying, and our work is to be put to death. Oh, Lord!
Lord Jesus, keep us one spirit with You, joined to You in spirit, so that we may experience the death of Jesus in our daily life for the life of Jesus to also be manifested in our mortal flesh. Save us from trying to do something big for God or work out something great for Him. May we allow the death of Jesus to operate in us so that His life also be manifested in our mortal flesh. May we realize that our working is our dying, for when death operates in us, life operates in us and is ministered to them. Amen, Lord, cause us to see that God doesn’t need us to accomplish a work for Him but rather, He wants us to die so that life may work in others. Make us such ones, Lord.
Touching the Reality of the Death of Jesus to minister the Supply of Life to the Body
2 Corinthians 4 shows us that where there is reality, there is the supply of life in the Body.
Paul was in prison, but he had the reality of the death of Jesus, so there was the supply of life to the Body.
He was not only imprisoned outwardly, but he was experiencing the death of Jesus, even the putting to death of Jesus, in an inward and spiritual way. So he was sure that, even as death operated in him, life operated in the saints.
On one hand, as death operated in him, the life of Jesus was also manifested in others. On the other hand, as death operated in him, the supply of life was released and imparted into the Body of Christ.
When we have the death of Jesus in us, the Body of Christ will receive the supply.
We don’t have to see this happening or to hear stories of how members of the Body received the supply; this is a principle that takes place all the time.
If we know the death of Jesus by bearing the cross in silence, we have the supply; we not only have the life of Jesus being manifested in us but also there’s the supply of life to the Body.
This shows us the need of having the reality of the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested through us and the supply of life would be ministered in the Body.
Many think that the more they work for God, the more they speak, and the more they do, the more they can help build up the Body; all these things are not wrong, but the reality behind all these needs to be our experience of the death of Jesus.
Our working is our dying; as far as spiritual reality is concerned, we shouldn’t “perform” any work but rather, we should allow the Lord to take us through the experience of the death of Jesus so that the supply of life would be there.
On our side we simply need to know the death of Jesus; on the side of the Body of Christ, there will be the supply spontaneously.
It is such a pity that many Christians are still living in outward appearances. They may work for God, they may speak for God, and they may do many things for God; however, when they stop working, the supply stops also.
When some open their mouth, they seem to be the best servants of God; but when they don’t open their mouth, they are no longer the best servants of God.
When others receive them and understand them, they seem to render them the supply; but when they are misunderstood or rejected, they don’t seem to have any supply to give.
We all need to touch the spiritual reality before the Lord so that we may not only manifest the life of Jesus in our body but also render the supply of life to the Body of Christ.
When we experience something of the Lord, when we receive the death of Jesus from God’s hand, we supply the Body of Christ; we don’t have to see it happening or hear reports concerning it, this just happens.
We supply the church with our inner knowledge and experience of the Lord. We may not be conscious of it and we may not do something intentionally to supply others, but we supply others spontaneously.
Those who do not touch reality, however, cannot supply others; they may offer some supply when they exercise their spirit to speak, but when they stop speaking or working, the supply stops.
May we be those who are a joint of rich supply to the Body all the time by our experience of Christ in a daily way.
If we have passed through something in a real way before God, and if there’s something real of God wrought into us, we will supply the church spontaneously.
As long as we have the real experience, the church will spontaneously receive the benefit. Amen!
Lord Jesus, make us a member of the Body that supplies the Body with much life through our inner knowledge and experience of Christ. Save us from focusing on or paying attention mainly to the outward work for God. May we focus on our inner experience of Christ so that we may have the reality of the death of Jesus. Amen, Lord, may something real of God be wrought into us day by day for the Body to be supplied with life. Grant us to touch the spiritual reality before God so that we may minister life to the Body not only by our speaking or working but by our very being. Save us from fabricating something or from acting before others. May we touch the spiritual reality of the death of Jesus so that we may minister the life supply to the Body of Christ!
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, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 33 (by Witness Lee), 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:
– If I’d know Christ’s risen power. / I must ever love the Cross; / Life from death alone arises; / There’s no gain except by loss. / If no death, no life, / If no death, no life; / Life from death alone arises; / If no death, no life. (Hymns #631)
– How cold my heart has been, Lord, / How slow obeying Thee; / So fill me with Thy Spirit, / I’ll ne’er rebellious be. / I lie upon Thy altar / And dare not move away; / Oh, may Thy flame descending / Consume my all, I pray. / Oh, from myself deliver, / From all its misery; / I’d henceforth be forever / Completely filled with Thee. (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)
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