The River In The Desert

One of the earmarks of the last days will be deception. Paul warned us that the Israelites crossed through the cloud, passed through the sea and even drank from the Rock and river in the desert (that Rock was Christ) and still perished in the desert. Israel's fate is our warning today. We must endure to the end to be saved and be firmly planted in CHRIST to endure the days ahead.

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: 1 Cor. 10:1-6 - Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; [2] And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; [3] And did all eat the same spiritual meat; [4] And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. [5] But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [6] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

    The word of God consistently uses the analogy of rivers to describe the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it stands to reason that the enemy would seek to counterfeit the river of God and thereby undermine God’s plan and purpose in His Church.

    Deception first begins with this attitude – “I cannot be deceived.” Obadiah rebukes that spirit with these words:

Obadiah 1:3

    The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwells in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

    Jeremiah also has something to say about pride and the deceitful nature of our hearts:

Jeremiah 17:9

      The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

    In Matthew 13 Jesus likened the end of the age to a woman with meal and three measures of leaven. Leaven has always spoken of evil, false doctrine. He said that in the last days the woman would hide the leaven in the meal until “the whole was leavened.” In other words the true message of the gospel would be mixed with the leaven of false doctrine until the entire message would be perverted. Truth will be at a premium in these days that are ahead. We would do well to ask ourselves an honest question from time to time – “are we being deceived?” “How well am I doing in resisting the deception and devices of the enemy?”

    Sin is another element of deception. Sin deceives us. The Apostle warned us in Hebrews that our hearts could be hardened through the “deceitfulness of sin.”

Hebrews 3:11-17 

    So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) [12] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

        Paul warns the Galatians not to think that they can sow and not yet reap consequences of their actions. (Gal. 6:7). One of the greatest areas of conflict we fight in the Body of Christ is the question of spiritual liberty and carnal freedom. One of the greatest blessings of the true river of God is its liberating power. It has freed millions from the bondage of legalism and religions and brought them into the GLORIOUS liberty of the sons of God. But Israel drank from this same river in the desert and DIED in the wilderness.

        Another form of deception is when we think we are more than we are in our own eyes. Pride puffs us up and blinds us to our spiritual need IN HIM.

Galatians 6:3

    For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

        The Puritans had a saying that PRIDE was the last thing to leave the human heart and the first thing to return. How readily we buy into this deception that “we are something” and therefore superior to everyone else. The church is expert at pointing out the specks in the world’s eye and failing to remove the mote in our own. Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority had a catch phrase in the early 1980s that said “We (meaning the Church) are going to clean up America.” The proper statement there should have been “WE ARE GOING TO CLEAN UP” PERIOD. THEN we would have the ability to clean up America. To be quite frank the church has not been called to clean up the world. We are to be the LIGHT that points to the world to its only hope for salvation – the HEAD of the CHURCH – YESHUA Ha'maschiah! The Lord Jesus Christ – the light of the World, the Son of God.

        Other ways we deceive ourselves is through our tongues. James says a man who proclaims to be righteous yet cannot keep his tongue in line is deceived. A person who only hears the word and never OBEYS is also deceived. Talk is cheap. Backing words with a lifestyle of biblical obedience and repentance is a requisite from living free of the enemy’s deception in these last days.

        This journal is about the failures of a nation in the wilderness AFTER they had drank from the river of God. It’s a warning to us in the Church today including myself. The church is full of fads right now from wearing “WWJD” bracelets to the ever increasing attention given to big ministries and the “conference circuit.” Many ministers today will not grace a small church of 30 because the offering “wont cover their expenses.” Singing groups and other major “Christian” entertainers (NEIGHBOR THEY ARE ENTERTAINERS, whether they are Christian or Secular or not is not the issue) will come but only for a fee.

        I cannot help but believe that the Apostle PAUL would turn over in his grave if he saw what the ministry had degenerated into today. We are producing a generation of believers hooked on experiences and hype rather than the exposition of our hearts and the uniting of our passions to GOD and not to the world. We get very excited about something we “experience” and “feel” instead of the TRUTH of the Cross of Christ and the Word of God. People flock to see demonstrations of God’s power but they run away from ANY desire to know the person of God Himself. We not give more emphasis to PRAISE than we do prayer. Possessions have replaced purity and passion. We’re very busy making our church members “millionaires” with the riches of this world instead of preaching a gospel that will make them “millionaires” with the riches of heaven. The depth of our character no longer measures success during times of testing.  Gifting has replaced godliness. Put on a gospel concert and their lined up 3 blocks from the church begging to get in. Call a prayer meeting and solemn assembly and you can’t fill a front row.

        We want to come hear someone tell us we’re going to receive financial prosperity without concerning ourselves about SPIRITUAL prosperity. Jesus rebuked LAODICEA for “being rich,” yet they were POOR. They were “increased with goods,” yet they sickened Him to his stomach. Don’t think the rebuke for the church today would sting any less. It would sting more.

        Israel drank from the river in the desert and DIED in the wilderness. Let that sink in. It’s the topic of this short but to the point journal.

The Four Rivers

        There are four main rivers in God’s word. The first river, the river God had caused to flow out of the first “tabernacle” the Garden of Eden divided and became four great rivers. These rivers had their origin in God and would serve as the pattern for all future rivers that came from God.

        Ezekiel had a great vision of the river that flowed from under the altar of the temple. As the water flowed forth, it became deeper and deeper and more and more majestic. This mighty torrent of water brought LIFE to ever place it flowed. Preacher, if your church is deader than Sunday’s bread – GET THE RIVER IN IT! If the local morgue has more life than your Sunday school classes – GET THE RIVER IN IT! If you’re preaching sermons that are causing people in your services to fall asleep – GET THE RIVER IN YOU! Get the river, get the river. The river is the flow and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. It’s the power of God that will change your heart and your life and in the end change your church.

        The final river we find toward the end of God’s word is found in Revelation 22. John saw a river that was full of the water of life, clear as crystal, which flowed directly from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

        But the one river in scripture that brought on judgment instead of blessing was the river spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10 – the RIVER IN THE DESERT that Israel drank from yet because she did not have self-control – DIED in the same wilderness that the river flowed through. The river was meant to bring life, which it did, but it was not enough to keep Israel from sinning in the wilderness and to be quite frank – our “use” of this river today will not keep us from sinning in the modern church now.

The Problem Is NOT with the River

        The problem is NOT the river or “revival” as we call it here in modern American evangelical circles. But the river is NOT meant for us to camp on and stay at. It is meant to CROSS OVER and enter into the fullness of God’s purpose and plans for our life. As Tommy Tenney so adequately puts it we must move from a place of privilege to the place of PURPOSE, from the people of God AMONG the nations to the PRIESTS of God TO the nations. There is a HUGE difference in the two types of peoples and ministries just described. The river is NOT the goal it is the gate. God’s promises are in the PROMISED LAND. Wildness is in the wilderness. The wilderness is the BRIDGE between slavery and sonship – Egypt and Canaan.

        The Jordan represented in type the death of the believer when he identifies with the CROSS of CHRIST. It is only by DEATH that we can have the TRUE newness of life spoken of in scripture. The church has tried and continues to try to circumvent this process. We try our best to get to Canaan by not crossing over the river. We somehow think that by camping at the river that the ugly process of death to our flesh and lives will go away – it won’t!

        It is because we have camped on the river in the desert and not crossed over it that we have what Bob Mumford calls “shooting stars” in the Body today. What does Rev. Mumford mean? It’s simple. Many seemingly anointed ministries appear as if out of nowhere and within months become the talk of the church. People flock to their crusades, buy every tape and video they can afford, and follow the ministry’s every move like some spiritual Pentecostal pied piper. All too tragically, these ministries soon peter out, leaving behind them disillusionment, disappointment and confusion. Many times in the Christian entertainment “industry” (God help us – the world must be proud we’ve become just like them) many so-called “stars” come forth and seem to be the next “best thing” under heaven than sliced bread. It’s a idol of entertainment. It’s what caused Israel to perish in the wilderness AFTER they drank from the water of life. That’s what we have done in the Body of Christ with the anointing. We have taken the river of life, built a tent there, and made a religion out of something that God never intended for us to do.

        When God anoints us with gifting and graces that cause men to be touched by His Spirit we must NEVER forget that the “excellency of the power” is not US, but HIM. HE is the HEAD of the church, we are the BODY. The way many act today with the anointing you’d think we’re the head and He’s in subjection to us. God is not Santa Claus. Jesus Christ is not our bellhop. The Holy Spirit is not an errand boy.

        Having said that let me get back to my point here. It’s not how we start in the race of life that is as important as the way we finish. Longevity is the critical thing. Starting off well means little if in the end we have become, as Mr. Ravenhill eloquently states, a “shooting star.”

Staying The Course

        One of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is “temperance,” or self-control. Dr. James Stone of Baton Rouge, Louisiana once stated in his book “Frustrated Grace,” that the term “self” there is almost in error because it is because we try to control “SELF” that brings us into bondage, failure and defeat. You cannot control SELF. SELF is the reason we will quit if “self” is in control. The word there would be better rendered “spirit-controlled.” The key to making it in this race called life is to be “CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT” and crucify our flesh daily at the cross of Christ. Spirit control is the result of the workings of the Holy Spirit’s effort in our lives. His job is to bring us to Calvary at salvation and make the experiences of the Lord’s death REAL in our life.

        Paul spoke to the Corinthians that “he bore the marks of the Lord Jesus” in his body. The reason the church languishes today in its morass of activity without changing society is that we have ceased seeking to “bear the marks” of the Lord’s death. We so want to “move on” to other experiences in God. But we can make an idol out of those experiences. Many worship experiences without taking time to reflect on the fact that everything we receive from God is because of the Cross. Jesus died that men may be free and that they may be FILLED with the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in our heart and life based on the parameters of our faith in the Cross. When we put our faith in experiences, we lose the help of the Holy Spirit.

        Many may disagree but we must never forget the pattern. Passover was the anti-typical feast day of Israel that represented the crucifixion. Pentecost was the feast day that represented the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the giving of the Law. Passover first, Pentecost second. Calvary FIRST, the HOLY SPIRIT second. At Calvary, Yeshua nailed the ordinances against us to the tree to render the law’s power over us fulfilled. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to bring the POWER to our hearts and lives to fulfill the Law of God and walk in His statues and precepts.

        Those two events in the life of Yeshua are the bedrock of all Christianity. The cross and the Holy Spirit. Our faith rests in the finished work of Christ and because of that faith – the HOLY SPIRIT works in us.

        Why is this important? Because we are in a race.

1 Cor. 9:24-27

    Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. [25] And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: [27] But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

         At the dawn of this third millennium we are still running this race. We may nearer the finish line than Paul was in his day but we are still running. It’s not quite over yet. We are to run in such a way as to win. Spirit-controlled living, discipline and self-denial are part of this race. If we don’t allow the Spirit to work in our lives in the areas our flesh seeks to exert its will over – we are doomed to become like Paul said “a castaway.” If the apostle himself was worried that after he had run the race he could become disqualified then we are called to be no less diligent today. If anything today’s attacks and issues against the child of God are greater to some degree because we’re in the last generation before Yeshua comes. The Word Of God tells us that the warfare of the last days will be greater because the harvest will be greater. The accountability of this generation will be greater because we have been given so much to accomplish the task through the power of the Holy Spirit. The work is the Lord’s. It’s not of us, it’s OF HIM and BY HIM.

        Our lifestyles should look toward the prize, the victory and the end. The Christian walk is a marathon, not a sprint. Israel found this out the hard way. They did not allow the same Spirit that led them out of Egypt by way of the blood to KEEP them in the wilderness. And we are facing the same question and cross roads today.

The River In The Desert

1 Cor. 10:1-6

    Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; [2] And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; [3] And did all eat the same spiritual meat; [4] And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. [5] But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [6] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

        In Moses’ time Israel began the race well, but failed to finish.  Notice that ALL Israelites began the race. Under God’s direction and Moses’ leadership they ALL were under the cloud of God’s protection; they ALL passed through the sea of deliverance; they ALL enjoyed the manna provided by God for their nourishment; and they ALL drank from the river that sprang from the rock in the desert.

Exodus 17:6

    Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

        Paul calls this food and drink “SPIRITUAL” because GOD supernaturally provided for them. The “spiritual” rock that followed them and from which they drank Paul identified as CHRIST HIMSELF. The Lord was their spiritual sustenance. Yet, in spite of all this, the Israelites “were laid low in the wilderness.” Out of that vast generation of peoples and privileged population, only TWO – Joshua and CALEB – lived to enter God’s purpose of the Promised Land.

1 Corinthians 10:5

But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [6] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

        The warning of this journal is clear: Despite a great river of divine blessing and provision, the nation of Israel FAILED to finish their race and enter into the Promised Land. They DRANK FROM RIVER IN THE DESERT (CHRIST) and DIED in the wilderness.

Experiences Do Not Beget Great Christians

        As I bring this journal to a close, which is to be picked up in a secondary journal, let me make a few statements about what happened to Israel and what is happening today.

        I have been involved in the Pentecostal movement in 1987. I remember the years leading up to my receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit that I had this idea that receiving this glorious experience would solve all my problems. I was a very selfish person. I was very arrogant and lived only for me. I had serious issues with lust and other issues relating back to my youth. I had never heard anything other than “just believe” “go to church” and everything will be ok. Living a life of holiness was not something that really concerned me that much.

        I remember watching my family who were Pentecostal thinking how “spiritual” they were and putting them on a pedestal. My view of Pentecostal people were they had more than this poor Baptist kid had and they spoke in tongues. I had heard nothing but negative about this so to aspire to receiving the gift myself was almost mystical. In late 1986 then the Lord started dealing with my heart about it I remember feeling so frustrated because I was seeking something that seemed unreachable. Thank the Lord for my Aunt Florence who led me into the baptism of the Holy Spirit in her kitchen in February 1987.

        After I received this experience I began to see that Pentecostal people were just as human as most Baptist people – unloving at times, arrogant, rude, and worldly. The difference between the two camps though was that Baptists tended to seldom boast of their spirituality while Pentecostals had this air they were better than everyone else because they spoke in tongues. Many bragged of their walk with God while harboring all sorts of unbridled lusts, hidden sins, Unforgiveness and just a rotten, self-righteous spirit that would make one want to puke. I’m not judging them – I was one of the worst offenders. I was probably the “arrogant of the arrogant.”

        My point in all this is simple. If experiences made perfect Christians then believe me I should have had a front row seat to heaven without blinking. Over the next few years I began to experience more and more of the power of God – but CHRIS NEVER DIED! He was still alive trying to live my life as a Christian in the flesh. I was drinking from the river but was headed for death in the wilderness. This death would come through many failures, two failed marriages, bankruptcy and a number of battles I lost along the way with regards to my integrity. When all was said and done in 1996 I had lost my manhood, my integrity, my will to live for God and my desire to ever preach again. Three years later by the help and grace of God I remarried a beautiful woman of the Lord but yet the battle ensued again. My life or the power of the Holy Ghost. This is not a battle that is won on the fields of “experience.” It’s won at the cross of Christ. WE MUST DIE.

        Israel saw every manifestation known to man and yet they still did not believe God. Miracles do not make for better Christians. Speaking in tongues will not make us a better Christian. Being slain the Spirit, as wonderful as that may be, will not and does not make us a better Christian. Reading only the King James Version of the Bible will NOT make us a better Christian. No no no, surviving in the wilderness will take more than that. It will take more just drinking from the river. It will take the life of SPIRIT-CONTROLLED living. That is the key to victory in this modern circle we call “church” today.

        Many are drinking from the river, but are headed to death in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit has not been sent to lead us away form Calvary. Ah contraire. He has come to make Calvary a reality IN US.  The experience of the cross of Christ is one that will carry you through sir.

        As the old song goes, “let me lose myself and find it Lord in thee. Let all self be slain, the people see only thee. Though it cost me grief or pain, let me FIND my life again. When I lose myself and find it Lord in thee.” Praise God. That my friend is the key to receiving true abundant life from the river in the desert. And in these days that are ahead for all of us - we had better be doing more than just drinking from the river - we had better be SWIMMING in IT!