Being the Vitalized ones who Overcome Death to Live and Minister in Resurrection

In order for us to change the age, we need to have the experience of passing through the river Jordan, that is, overcome death to live and minister in resurrection; we need to answer the Lord’s call for overcomers to build up the church as the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem. Amen!

The story of Elisha following Elijah and sticking to him until the latter was raptured is very significant, for it shows not only that Elisha saw something of how important Elijah’s ministry is, but that he also wanted to enter into this ministry.

Elijah was a prophet chosen and used by God in a time of desolation and idol worship in the people of Israel, and he stood for God and His testimony.

When the whole people of Israel were worshipping idols, only Elijah stood for the Lord and spoke the word of God, telling people that the idols are vain and only Jehovah is the real God.

Elijah had a strong ministry with many powerful miracles, including praying earnestly to Jehovah not to rain and there was no rain for three years and six months, praying and then fire coming from heaven to consume the burnt offering in the sight of the people, and praying and rain coming down.

Elisha was his servant, his co-worker, and he saw what God was doing through Elijah; therefore, he remained with Elijah all the way.

Elisha realized that God was about to take Elijah up to heaven, and he wanted to remain with him so that he may enter into Elijah’s ministry.

The two of them two four journeys: first to Gilgal, then to Bethel, then to Jericho, and finally crossing the river Jordan.

Elijah was a minister of the age with the vision for his age, and Elisha wanted to enter into this ministry himself, so he remained with the minister of the age.

The story of Elisha following Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the river Jordan shows us that, in order for us to enter into the ministry of the New Testament age, we need to intrinsically follow the minister of the age according to the vision of the age.

We may not be the ones who saw the vision of the age or who were given the ministry of the age, but we can intrinsically follow the minister of the age, and we can have the same vision, the vision of the age.

To do this, we must follow the Lord through four crucial places. We start with Gilgal, the place where the people of Israel were circumcised before entering the good land; this is a sign that we need to thoroughly deal with the flesh.

We then proceed to Bethel where we overcome the world and remain in fellowship with God on the altar of total consecration.

Then, we go on to Jericho to enter into the spiritual warfare and defeat the enemies of God by standing on the Word of God and in the position of ascension given to us by God.

Finally, we come to the river Jordan, which river we need to cross; this shows that we need to overcome death in order to live and minister in resurrection.

We need to Overcome Death and Resist the Power of Death in order to Live and Minister in Resurrection

The last step of the journey of Elijah with Elisha was passing through the river Jordan; this river, where the New Testament baptism began, signifies death.

Crossing the river Jordan is overcoming death in order to live and minister in resurrection (Matt. 3:5-6; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 2:20).

In order for us to change the age, we need to pass through the river Jordan, that is, we need to overcome death and resist its power so that we may live and minister in resurrection.

The Lord’s baptism in Matt. 3:13-17 signifies death, and His coming out of the water signifies resurrection; by the power of resurrection, the Lord overcame death.

By the Lord Jesus being baptized, He was able to live and minister in resurrection even before His actual death and resurrection three and a half years later.

The Lord Jesus did what Elisha also did: He entered into the ministry of His predecessor, John the Baptist.

He didn’t ask John to move over because Messiah is here; He simply wanted to fulfil all righteousness, so He was baptized with John’s baptism.

We believers in Christ obtained Christ as the resurrection life at the time of our regeneration.

The God-man, Jesus, was nailed to a cross and killed by the hand of lawless men, but God raised Him up (Acts 2:23-24; John 11:25; 1 Pet. 1:3).

God raised Jesus up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it.

For us to walk in newness of life is for us to live in the reality of our baptism (Rom. 6:4); for us to serve in newness of spirit is for us to serve in the reality of our baptism (7:6).

We need to pursue knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection, for it is by the power of His resurrection – not by our natural life – that we determine to take the cross by denying our self and are enabled to be conformed to His death by being one with His cross (Phil. 3:10-12; Matt. 16:24; Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14).

On one hand, we need to overcome death and resist its power, for death is in all aspects of our environment and even in our being.

Death comes in a subtle way or in a striking way; it can creep in or it can suddenly be here. Oh, Lord.

We already have the power of resurrection, and we need to simply know it, experience it, and apply it, so that we may overcome death and resist its power!

While preparing to be raptured, we must learn how to cross the Joran and overcome death. We must learn how to resist the power of death that exists both in us and in our environment.

Also, we must learn to demonstrate and manifest that we believers in Christ are joined to our resurrected Lord, knowing and expressing Him as the power of resurrection in all things (1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; 5:4; 3:17; cf. 4:5, 10-12).

Elijah and Elisha crossed the river Jordan not in a common way but in a supernatural way; Elijah took off his mantle, rolled it, and touched the waters, and they stopped, so they crossed as on the dry ground.

The Spirit of power dealt with the river of death so that the way was opened for Elijah and Elisha to cross over. Hallelujah!

This is what Christ did: Satan tried to kill Him, but He passed through death as on dry ground.

There’s a difference between crossing the Red Sea and crossing the river Jordan; the crossing of the Red Sea was forced upon the Israelites, but the crossing of the river Jordan is a choice.

The Israelites were being pursued by the enemies, so they had to cross over the Red Sea.

However, crossing the river Jordan is out of man’s willingness and it is man’s choice.

All the genuine Christians, the genuine believers in Christ, have the resurrection life in them, but not many experience it or pursue it.

Paul regarded the power of resurrection as important, and he pursued it (Phil. 3:10-12); however, many Christians may have the resurrection life in their spirit but do not have the experience of overcoming death.

The last enemy that believers need to overcome before they are raptured is death. This death may be of the body, of the mind, or of the spiritual life; death must be overcome.

The entire world today is filled with the atmosphere of death. As we are preparing for the rapture, we need to learn how to cross the river Jordan and overcome death.

We need to learn to resist the power of death that exists in us, in our environment, and in those around us, and we must manifest the power of resurrection in all things.

We need to live out this Christ who is resurrection life itself, and we need to demonstrate that we are joined to Him as one and have also been resurrected.

The life of the cross is lived by the power of resurrection and is encouraged by the riches of resurrection (Phil. 3:10).

In the concluding word of Song of Songs we see Christ’s loving seeker praying for her Beloved to make haste to come back in the power of His resurrection (signified by the gazelle and young hart) to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom (signified by the mountains of spices), which will fill the whole earth (Song of Songs 8:13-14; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35). Amen!

May we bring all these matters to the Lord and really open to Him in prayer concerning the four journeys needed for us to be prepared for rapture and for being filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is He who needs us to be His overcomers in this way, and we can bring this to Him and just say Amen to His word.

Lord Jesus, grant us the experiences we need so that we may know the power of Your resurrection and overcome death in us and in our environment. We want to pursue knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection. We want to take the cross by denying the self to be conformed to the death of Christ and be one with His death by the power of Christ’s resurrection. Amen, Lord, we want to not only have the resurrection life in our spirit but also experience this life in any kind of death! Make us those who resist the power of death that exists in us and in our environment. May our daily life and experience manifest and demonstrate that we are joined to our resurrected Lord! Amen, Lord, may we know and express You as the power of resurection in all things!

Meeting God’s Ultimate Need in these Last Days by making a Resolution to be the Overcomers, the Vitalized Ones, to bring the Lord back

According to the spiritual significance and application of 2 Kings 2:9-15, we need to have four main experiences in order to receive the rapture of Elijah and a double portion of the Holy Spirit.

Like Elijah and Elisha, we need to pass through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the river Jordan.

In order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament in our experience, we need to deal with the flesh (Gal. 5:24; Phil. 3:3), give up the world and turn to God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17), defeat Satan (Eph. 6:10-20; Rev. 12:11), and pass through death into a living that is in resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 2:20).

We need to bring all these matters in prayer before the Lord and He will give us the experiences we need for us to be prepared to be raptured and to receive the clothing of the Holy Spirit with power.

This age we live in, this present age, is the age of the overcomers; today the Lord wants not only many Christians in all the localities on earth but even more, He desires to gain His overcomers.

The ministry of the age today through the ministers of the present age is the sounding of the Lord’s call for the overcomers (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-29; 3:5-6, 12-13, 21-22).

The overcomers are those who answer God’s call and, seeing God’s need, give themselves to meet God’s need today.

They are not super-Christians or “SWAT”-style believers; they are normal believers who hear God’s call and respond to His call.

They see the vision of eternity, live the life of eternity, and do the work of eternity, that is, they see God’s ultimate goal and live out and work out the New Jerusalem!

May we not only try to understand and apprehend what the Bible speaks of so that we may “improve” our Christian life and “uplift” our Christian experience; may we pray much over what the Bible reveals concerning God’s heart, and may we simply respond to His call for overcomers.

As we hear the trumpeting of the word in the church life today in the Lord’s recovery, as we are under the Lord’s up-to-date speaking through the ministry of the age and the ministers of the age with the vision of the age, may we give ourselves to the Lord to be His overcomers.

We aspire to be the overcomers who live a life for the building up of the reality of the Body of Christ, the preparation of the bride of Christ, and the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ.

In order to meet God’s ultimate need in these last days, we have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones (Judg. 5:15-16).

Amen, we want to be such ones, those who are vitalized.

We need to make a resolution that we would be the vitalized ones, those who go through the experiences that the Lord assigns to us to be the overcomers in this age.

May the Lord guide us as the Spirit of reality into the reality of these four crucial journeys so that we may overcome death, the last enemy, and be the Lord’s overcomers today.

May we really be those who enter into the ministry of the age, closely following the minister of the age until we meet the Lord, remaining in the vision of the age.

Lord Jesus, grant us an ear to hear what You are speaking to the churches. Make us Your overcomers today. May we hear the sounding of the Lord’s call for the overcomers through the ministry of the age under the vision of the age. Amen, Lord, make us those who build up the Body of Christ in reality for the preparation of the bride and the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ. We give ourselves to You to meet God’s ultimate need in these days. We make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones, who end this age, are raptured to the heavens, and bring the Lord back with His kingdom! Amen, come Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1972, “The Kingdom,” ch. 2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 2, entitled, Four Crucial Journeys to Enter into the Ministry of the Age by Closely Following the Minister of the Age with the Vision of the Age.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / All of God’s fulness it will manifest; / God’s righteousness and holiness it yields, / His glorious image by it is expressed. / Oh, may I know this resurrection life, / In every kind of death its pow’r outpoured, / In my experience ever realize / This life is nought but Christ my living Lord. (Hymns #639, stanzas 5 and 6)
  – Thru my death with Christ, from Adam I am free, / Thru my life with Christ, new life is given me! / Minding not the flesh, old Adam cannot move, / Minding just the spirit, life divine I prove. / Minding just the spirit is God’s saving way, / Minding just the spirit, Christ we will display; / Minding just the spirit, we can overcome, / Minding just the spirit, we the race may run. (Hymns #593. stanzas 4 and 5)
  – Will you be an overcomer? / Christ is calling now! / Will you then be such a follower, / Though you know not how? / Will you be an overcomer? / Will you make this choice? / Christ is calling, Christ is calling, / Listen to His voice! (Hymns #894, stanza 1 and chorus)