One More River

 We used to sing an old song, “One More River to Cross.” -

One more river to cross, one more mountain to climb,

One more valley that I gotta go through

Leavin' my troubles behind.

One more battle with the devil, and I know he'll understand.

I'm going through with Jesus, Hallelujah

Holding his nail-scarred hand holding to his nail-scarred hand.

After 400 years of captivity, the Children of Israel were finally free. Now began the long journey through the wilderness of the Sinai as they slowly made their way eastward. But it wasn’t long after they were free until they met the first major hurdle in their journey. Just a few day's journey from Goshen; the Jews came to the banks of the Red Sea. Pharaoh was hot on their trail. After having finally hardened his heart and gathered his chariots of war, he had come to put an end to these people and to this prophet named Moses, once and for all.

Of course, we all know the story of how Israel went across the Red Sea on dry land and how Pharaoh’s entire army was drowned in the sea as the waters came crashing down upon them. I am sure there is hardly a Christian alive who couldn’t give you an outline of the story. But there is much more to this than meets the eye. Buried between the lines of what is printed in the Bible, there is an underlying meaning, an analogy, that carries such a powerful word for all of us. Israel’s journey from Egypt is symbolic for all of us as well.

Let me begin by saying that all of us were slaves in “Egypt” at some time. Whether we are new babes in Christ or Elders in the church with many years of serving the Lord behind us, we all came from “Egypt.”

“Egypt” is a type of the sinful life that men live in the world. It is a symbol of Satan’s power to enslave mankind in the pits of sin and impose upon him a life that is hard and full of trouble. That’s not how God intended it to be for mankind. God had created Adam, placed him in a Garden Paradise, created woman as a companion, and gave Adam the rule over all of God’s creation. It was, and still is, God’s intention that mankind should one day enjoy life and live in God’s protection forever.

Out of “Egypt,” God called for us. He sent His messenger, in the form of a man, anointed with the Holy Ghost, to give us the message of deliverance. Moses, as a type of the Messiah, didn’t have an easy time convincing or leading Israel out of bondage, even though God was with him through it all. He knew that he could have faced certain death at the hands of Pharaoh for even entering the land of Egypt. Likewise, it was not a walk in the park for Jesus to come and lead you and me from the pits of sin either. He had to lay down his life and die for you and me.

Satan didn’t want to let us go, but he couldn’t stop it either. Satan has no power to prevent any man or woman whose heart is under conviction from bowing their head and hearts before God and surrendering their lives to Jesus.

Through Moses, God sent seven plagues upon the land of Egypt. Each one of them represented God’s judgment against Egypt, not just for the mistreatment of God’s people, but they also represented God’s wrath against the idol gods of Egypt. All these plagues and the judgment that God brought upon Egypt are symbolic for you and me.

When we heard the gospel message and responded by giving our lives to Jesus, God judged the gods of this world, casting off their powers to bind us and destroying their power to possess us as slaves. In the process, God delivered us from the power of Satan, who had us under sentence of eternal death. He delivered us from every influence of the world and made us overcomers by His blood. He crushed the power of those demonic spirits who attempt to make us serve them and worship them as idols.

When a Christian is born again, it’s a wonderful miracle of deliverance from sin and death. We are called forth and step out by faith, headed for the “Promised Land” that lies somewhere over the horizon, closer than we think but just a little farther than we can see clearly.

God destroys the power of everything that could become a god to us in this world, lastly destroying the old man and making us a new creation in Christ. Just like God persuaded Pharaoh to let His people go, He still forces the devil to set his children free today.

But like the Children of Israel, there comes a time when we must face the first major hurdle in living for Jesus. We must come to our “Red Sea”. Until then, the babe in Christ is elated with his deliverance. He is on “cloud nine” as he walks without the weight of sin that has held him captive for so long. But that soon fades when he faces the reality of the spiritual warfare that doesn’t stop trying to bring him back to “Egypt.”

Satan doesn’t give up easily. The fleshly desires don’t stop instantly; they keep nagging us all along the way. The Children of Israel came out of Egypt, but Egypt was still in their hearts and minds. It took a long wilderness journey passing through the waters, and the loss of many of God’s chosen ones along the way before the victory could finally be realized. Israel’s freedom and passage through the Red Sea can be likened to us being saved and the burial of the old man in the baptismal waters. It can also be compared to being born again of the Spirit as we begin our walk with Jesus.

Throughout that long wilderness Journey, Israel tried to learn to obey God, failing miserably at every turn. Doesn’t that sound like the Christian walk today? How many times do we fail God? How often do we find ourselves in doubts, fears, and frustrations, almost ready to throw in the towel and walk away, returning to “Egypt?”

Eventually, after traveling through the wilderness for 40 years, the Children of Israel came to another river, Jordan. This river was more horrifying to them than the Red Sea because this one meant total commitment, and what was on the other side was vastly unknown. The pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day wouldn’t be there to guide them now. They had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

God had given them hints and glimpses of what that Promised land would look like, but they could only “see” it in their minds as though they were looking at it through a darkened glass.

As each of us walks with the Lord through this wilderness called life, we walk in the same manner that Israel did. Like Israel, we can go quickly to our high calling in Christ by faithfully, with a total commitment, obeying and following the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Or, we can do like the Children of Israel and take many years to make the same journey. The point is that the destination is the same whether we take the short or the long road. We are all going to have to face the Jordan River. We will all have one more river to cross before the victory can come.

When they reached the Jordan River and looked into the Promised Land, they still couldn’t see what was there. God had said it was a land flowing with milk and honey. He had promised them that it would be theirs forever. God had painted a wonderful picture of what Israel would be like if they trusted and obeyed Him and walked by faith.

That same thing is true for you and I. God, through His Word, has given us glimpses into the Promised Land. You can call it Beulah Land, Heaven, New Jerusalem, the Eternal Kingdom, or whatever you want to. We can describe it. We can dream about it. Study about it. Read about it and believe that it’s a beautiful place, but the fact is that none of us know what it will be like.

Each of the Children of Israel had to decide whether they would cross Jordan and take the Promised Land. Each of those spies had to make up their mind.

When that day comes that we must face Jordan alone, how will it be for you and me? Will we face Jordan with confidence, knowing and believing that God’s Word is true, and will we be like Joshua and Caleb and tell the world that we are well able to take the land? Or will we be like all the others who doubted whether crossing Jordan was worth the trouble because all they could see were the obstacles?

When Joshua and the Children of Israel finally crossed over Jordan, they found God’s Word was true. The land was more than they had imagined. The enemies were there, but God had already made the way for Israel to overcome them. They picked up 12 stones and built an altar in the middle of the river before the waters came back.

In Revelation 21:14, John saw the New Jerusalem on the other side of Jordan. Listen to how he described it. "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."

We all have one more river to cross. We’ve passed over the Red Sea in salvation and baptism, and now we must face that last great hurdle as we stand at the edge of our Promised Land. The river Jordan will stand before us, overflowing its banks in a menacing tide that seems impossible to cross.

I’m convinced that our time will come to step into the waters of Jordan. Will we step out in faith and walk across as if on dry ground, or will it become a raging torrent with billows that will drown us in fear and doubt?

I believe that if we stay close to God and keep our faith strong in Him when we must cross that final river, we will cross it in a moment as though it wasn’t there. If you keep your eyes on Jesus, on the other side, and trust Him to carry you through to victory, your “one more river to cross” will be the most extraordinary step you will ever take.

For those who refuse to trust God in the wilderness, the river will be a horror to their hearts. Great waves of fear, doubt, unbelief, and mistrust will overwhelm them as they slip into the waters for the last time.

In the story of “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan, two pilgrims, “Hopeful” and “Christian,” come to that final river, and there, a discovery is made. The story says we will find that river as deep and wide as our faith in the King of Heaven.

If you don’t know the Lord as your Savior and come to the edge of that last river that each of us must cross, it will be a sad day, for all hope will be gone. Make sure that you are ready to go. You have one more river to cross.

Heed the words of the Lord that He spoke to Israel about that river.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20, "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."