More than two decades ago the Lord spoke to me and some of my friends that the cross would become popular again. This will be the time when the church truly crosses over and begins to possess its Promised Land. We have come to that time. Therefore, we can expect the focus of what the Spirit is saying to the churches to become more and more centered on the cross.
The cross is the power of God, and those who want to walk in His power in their daily lives will learn to take up their crosses daily. Those who do this will become free from all of the yokes of this present evil age, and they will walk in a greater freedom and boldness than has been seen on the earth on such a scale for nearly two thousand years.
The Scriptures we have already studied indicate that baptism represents our commitment to lay down our lives and to no longer live for ourselves but for Him. In the biblical, prophetic model laid out by the Scriptures however, we see two different baptisms. One is the Red Sea and the other is represented by the Jordan River. A major difference between these is that we see the Israelites did not go to the Red Sea baptism willingly. Basically the Lord had to trick them into it as we read in Exodus 13:17-18 and 14:1-4.
Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea….
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea...."
For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'
Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." And they did so.
The only way the Lord could get Israel to partake of the Red Sea baptism was to corner them into it. As we look back on most of the trials that have been used to fashion our lives, we will probably have to confess the same thing—we did not choose the trials, but were cornered into them so that the only way out was to die to self. The Lord is gracious to align our circumstances so there is absolutely no way out but to lay down our lives and conform to the image of His death.
During this time the Lord usually fixes it so the enemy is chasing us, and to retreat would only mean that we end up on the end of his lancers. This is when we learn that the two most powerful beings in the universe are both trying to kill us! One of them is going to get the job done, and we have to choose which one it will be. However, we have no choice but to die, which is actually grace from the Lord.
The Jordan River baptism will be different. The more mature and those who have grown in faith do not have to be tricked or trapped into their baptism—they willingly choose to take up their crosses. The mature do not run from the cross, but to it.
Another basic difference between these two baptisms is that in the Red Sea baptism the enemy was chasing Israel, and he was destroyed because the people entered into their baptism. The second baptism represented by the Jordan River begins our pursuit of the enemy. This change in the baptism will mark a very basic shift in vision and purpose of the church in our time. This difference is what we can expect the church to transition to over the next few years. We will no longer just react to the attacks of the enemy, but we will pursue and aggressively attack his strongholds.
Therefore, there are many powerful and important lessons that we must learn from the biblical, prophetic models of what is now taking place, which is the purpose of this study. As we proceed, let us also keep in mind the differences between the biblical, prophetic models of Scripture and the present realities. An example is the biblical model Israel was to utterly destroy the nations that were in their land. However, we are not called to destroy the nations, but save them by destroying the evil that has them in bondage. The nations themselves are our inheritance in the Lord.
The Great Commission was to make disciples of all nations, not just individuals. We also see that when the Lord returns, He is going to divide the nations into sheep and goats, not just individuals. Currently being decided are which nations will be “sheep” and which will be “goats.” This, of course, does not mean we are to abandon the gospel of salvation. Nations will be changed by saving and teaching individuals the ways of the Lord. However, we must begin to develop national and international strategies that will impact nations with the gospel, not just a few individuals.
This will, to a large degree, be a major shift in our missionary thinking and strategies, which has actually been happening in some groups over the last two decades or more.
We need to understand some differences in where the church is now and where it was in the first century. There are many foundational things that will never change and will always be a basic part of the church’s vision and purpose, but there are also some differences at the end of the age. Just as Joshua instructed Israel in Joshua 3:4:
Those who follow the Ark, which represents the Lord, will be going a different way by “about 2,000" years than where the church has gone before. Many are the same, but many are not, and we need to understand the differences.
Before the end of this age can come, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached. This has not yet been done. Until now we have preached the gospel of salvation, which is basically to get out of Egypt. This is essential and it will continue to be the banner of the cross that we march under, always preaching the gospel of individual salvation, but we will also begin to preach the gospel of the kingdom—the kingdom of God is at hand! The King is coming, and He is coming to take over. He is sending us before Him to prepare His way.