Turn to God, have an Active Faith, and be Joined to God’s People to Bring forth Christ

Regardless of our background, if we turn to God and His people and are joined to the proper person among God’s people (in a spiritual sense), having an active faith in God, we will bring forth proper fruit and participate in the enjoyment of the birthright of Christ.

This week in our crystallization study of Joshua we come to another amazing crystal entitled, The Need for God’s People to Seek the Lord’s Direction and Have the Lord’s Presence to Display His Victory for the Building Up of His Body and the Spreading of His Kingdom.

The context is that we as the people of God are here to possess the good land which God has given us and dispossess the Canaanites, defeat them, and take their territory as God’s promised inheritance to us.

All this is for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ and the spread of the kingdom of God.

In order for us to fully gain and possess Christ as the all-inclusive land for God’s building, we must learn to be kept, ruled, governed, and guided by the direct, first-hand presence of the Lord.

Seeking the Lord’s direction and having His presence are interrelated; if we have God’s presence, we have wisdom, insight, foresight, and inner knowledge concerning things.

In our daily Christian life and in our church life, the Lord’s presence is everything to us – it is the greatest thing.

As we are entering into the God-given land to gain the all-inclusive Christ, possess Him, and be possessed by Him, we need God’s presence.

We do this so that God may have a building on earth and so that Christ may be brought forth for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy.

In this article in particular we come to the case of the two spies going to Jericho to spy it, and how their going there was not mainly to spy out the land but, as it turns out, it was to gain Rahab.

We need to learn from the examples shown in the Bible and apply them in the spiritual realm, especially since this Rahab is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matt. 1.

Something must be of utmost importance to our Christian life and experience related to this case of Rahab, and we need to pray over it and bring it to the Lord so that He may shine on us and infuse us with Himself.

May we be like Rahab today, those who have an active faith, choose to be joined to and associated with God’s people and be on the line of life to bring forth Christ on the earth.

Having an Active Faith in God and Believing in His Redemption to be Part of God’s People

In Josh. 1:1 we see that Joshua sent two spies to spy out the good land, especially Jericho; what turned out to be the result, however, is finding Rahab and gaining her to be part of the people of God.

When the two spies came to Jericho, Rahab (who was both a harlot and a Canaanite) contacted them and was willing to receive them, hide them, and deliver them by acts that issued out of her active faith (see Josh. 2:1-7, 15-16, 22; James 2:25).

She told the spies that she knew that Jehovah had given the land to the people of Israel and that all the inhabitants of the land melted before them.

They heard how Jehovah had dried up the water of the Red Sea before Israel when they came out of Egypt, and what they did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, whom they utterly destroyed.

So Rahab declared, “Jehovah your God, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath” (Josh. 2:11). What a faith she had!

Because of her faith in God, she didn’t perish together with those who were disobedient (Heb. 11:31).

She didn’t just have a passive faith, something she subscribed to in her mentality and agreed with in her heart; she had an active faith, a faith that is confirmed and strengthened by her acts.

Therefore, she received and hid and delivered the two spies to spy out the land.

Jehovah provided Rahab the harlot to Joshua for the gaining of the land; because of her faith in God, she didn’t perish with those who were disobedient but rather, she turned to Israel and their God, and she trusted in Him and His people (Josh. 2:12-13).

Her receiving, hiding, and delivering the spies were acts of faith; she had an active faith, and she had a good fellowship with them concerning what God intended to do.

She was doomed to death, she was to perish with the people in Jericho, but she had faith in God and she turned to the God of Israel; therefore, she and her whole household were saved.

The spies told her to hang a line of scarlet thread in the window of her house, and have her whole household with her, and their life will be spared; this she did (Josh. 2:18, 21).

This scarlet thread was hung out in the open, for everyone to see. It signifies an open confession of the redeeming blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and we gladly testify in an open way that only the blood of Christ can redeem us and make us part of God’s people to have God as our God.

The result was that she was saved by believing in God, having an active faith, and openly displaying a token of her faith, and she became part of God’s people.

This Canaanite woman married Salmon, a leader of the tribe of Judah (most likely one of the two spies sent out), and through her union with him, she became part of Israel and brought forth Boaz, the great-grandfather of David.

A Canaanite woman who was a harlot turned to God and to His people, had an active faith, displayed her faith in an open way, and was saved, and she became part of the lineage which brought forth Christ. Amen!

Such were we also: we were dead in sins and offenses, under the judgement of God, but we believed in the Lord Jesus, and we applied the precious blood.

Through our confession of the Lord and belief in His redemption, we were saved, and we are now part of the people of God, the church, to bring forth Christ.

We need to have such an active faith, a faith that rises in us as result of the hearing of faith, to believe in God, trust in God, and be joined to the people of God.

If we do this, God will have a way to bring forth Christ through us today.

Lord Jesus, we repent and believe into You. Thank You for Your redemption. Thank You for redeeming us with Your precious blood. We openly confess that Jesus is our Savior and our Redeemer, and we apply the precious redeeming blood of Christ. Amen, Lord, we trust in You, we believe into You, and we join ourselves to You and to Your people. Grant us to have an active faith to be joined to You and to Your people so that You may have a way to bring forth Christ through us today. Hallelujah, we are part of the people of God, and through us Christ can be brought forth for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy!

Turning to God, having an Active Faith, and being joined to God’s People to Bring forth Christ

Although Rahab was a condemned Canaanited and even a prostitute in Jericho (Josh. 2:1), a place cursed by God for eternity (6:26), after she turned to God and to God’s people (vv. 22-25; Heb. 11:30-31), she married Salmon (Matt. 1:5), the son of a leader of Judah, a leading tribe of Israel (1 Chron. 2:10-11), and probably one of the two spies.

Then, she brought forth Boaz, a godly man, out of whom David came and then later Christ came; Rahab, therefore, became associated with Christ in His incarnation for the fulfilment of God’s eternal economy (Matt. 1:5).

We need to turn to God, have an active faith in God, and be joined to God’s people in a proper way so that we may bring forth Christ.

No matter what our background is, when we hear the gospel we can simply turn to God and receive the hearing of the faith to have an active faith and be joined to God and His people.

Then, we must “marry the proper person”, not in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense.

After we turn to God and to His people, we must be joined, built up, and involved with the proper person.

Then, we will bring forth the proper fruit, and we will fully be in the portion of the birthright of Christ.

If we look around us today, however, it seems that many Christians today have lost their birthright; they don’t have Salmon, and there is no Boaz.

For us to be part of the people who bring forth Christ, we need to turn to God, have an active faith in God, be joined to God and to His people, and bring forth the proper fruit.

The story of Rahab should be our story in the sense that we should turn as she did, have the faith that she did, and be joined to God’s people as she did.

The truth is that regardless of our background if we turn to God and His people and are joined to the proper person among God’s people (not in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense), we will bring forth proper fruit and participate in the enjoyment of the birthright of Christ (Exo. 24:13; 33:11; Num. 27:18; Deut. 34:9; Josh. 1:1; 2 Kings 2:2-15; Phil. 2:19-23; 1 Cor. 4:17).

Amen, it is our right to participate in this birthright, and it is our portion for us to be part of the people who bring forth Christ today for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy.

So we need to take care of two things: our faith and our association with the proper people. We need to have not just a passive faith but an active faith, a working faith, a faith that acts and brings about some good issues and results.

Then, we need to associate ourselves with the proper people, with God’s people, even with those among God’s people who pursue Christ and seek after Him.

It is very important who do we associate ourselves with today; even in the church life today, it is crucial who do we associate ourselves with.

May we join ourselves to the proper believers, the right ones, so that we can bring forth the proper fruit.

May we be those who turn to God, turn to God’s people, and are joined to God’s people for the bringing forth of Christ.

May we not look at our background, our past, and our situation and condition; may we place ourselves under the hearing of the Word of God, be infused with faith to have an active faith, and based on this active faith may we join ourselves to God and to His people.

Our desire is that we would participate in the enjoyment of the birthright of Christ; we desire to bring forth Christ for God to carry out His economy.

Lord Jesus, we do not look at our situation or background but we come to You and we turn to God and His people! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit of faith to be joined to God and to the people of God so that we may bring forth proper fruit! We desire to participate in the enjoyment of the birthright of Christ. We desire that Christ would be brought forth through us so that God’s eternal economy may be carried out. Amen, Lord, grant us to have such an active faith, a working faith, a faith that causes us to join ourselves to God and to the proper ones among God’s people so that we may bring forth Christ! Have a way in us and through us, Lord!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, msg. 3 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 4, The Need for God’s People to Seek the Lord’s Direction and Have the Lord’s Presence to Display His Victory for the Building Up of His Body and the Spreading of His Kingdom.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption; / No riches of earth could have saved my poor soul. / The blood of the cross is my only foundation; / The death of my Savior now maketh me whole. / I am redeemed, but not with silver; / I am bought, but not with gold; / Bought with a price—the blood of Jesus, / Precious price of love untold. (Hymns #303)
  – Our faith to God-ward must in these days spread abroad / To show we’ve turned from idols to the living God. / We’ll mix His Word with faith by answering “Amen!” / And to Christ in the Word turn again and again. (Hymns #1305)
  – When all are sweetly joined / (True followers of the Lamb), / They’re one in heart and mind, / They think and speak the same; / When all in love together dwell; / The comfort is unspeakable! (Hymns #1244)