======================================================================== AL WHITTINGHILL 01 by Al Whittinghill ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the power and significance of the cross of Christ, highlighting the need for a personal revelation of the cross and the impact it has on believers' lives. It delves into the importance of preaching Christ crucified, the foolishness of the cross to the world, and the spiritual transformation that occurs when one truly understands the message of the cross. The speaker emphasizes the centrality of the cross in the gospel and the necessity of denying self to fully embrace the message of Calvary. Duration: 30:46 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the power and significance of the cross of Christ, highlighting the need for a personal revelation of the cross and the impact it has on believers' lives. It delves into the importance of preaching Christ crucified, the foolishness of the cross to the world, and the spiritual transformation that occurs when one truly understands the message of the cross. The speaker emphasizes the centrality of the cross in the gospel and the necessity of denying self to fully embrace the message of Calvary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus. I want to thank him for the privilege of having spent these last days in Scotland. There are many people that I know and many people that I don't know, but I'm in fellowship with by email, that have been praying for you and love this country. We are jealous for what you have had in the past. And we are burdened for that to happen again. We've enjoyed the fellowship with the saints that are here, brothers and sisters in Christ, and the communion with the Holy Ghost together. It's been sweet. I want to thank him for the privilege of being here. And I thank the Lord for answering my prayer. I prayed that Mary could sing before I should. Thank you, Lord, for that. But it did make me feel a little old-fashioned, I must admit. In fact, it's as good as it is. Well, I want to pray with you. And I want to address a subject this afternoon that I think must be faced. It's interesting, as Denny said, how the Lord weaves things together. How he weaves our lives together. Those who come here, we meet together. And in the future, have fellowship. And the Lord uses us in our friendships to embarrass the devil. And then how he brings our messages together. That he's laid on our hearts. Weak men that serve the great God. Let me pray with you. Father, in the name of Jesus, we bow before you. We want your presence. Not just for this moment, but to live in your presence. The Lord before whom I stand. May it be so. May the light of your face be our path. May the presence of the Almighty be our passion. We pray that you will honor your scripture today. That you'll open them to hearts. Lord, there are so many people that you have brought to them here. Precious ones that you have a way for them in the days ahead. They know not yet. You'll bring the blind in a way they don't know. Who is blind in your service? But Lord, it's an exciting and blessed thing. And may we lay hold of it. That for which you have brought us together. May we see in manifestation in our midst. We thank you in advance for revelation that burns in the heart forever. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Well, it was a cold and a clammy night. And the man lay over in the corner of his dungeon. You see, he knew it was his last night to be on the planet. He was about to be executed for his crimes. He was guilty of murder and sedition and robbery. And so he knew that in the morning the death warden would come down the hall. And he rehearsed it in his mind over and over. As he could hear the footsteps coming down the hall. And he could hear those keys outside his door. And as the lock turned and the door opened and outside air came in. He instinctively just went over into the corner. Crouched in fear. And really just he had a night of doom before him. So like he knew that like an animal on a rope. He would put it around his neck and drag him out to the fatal spot. Outside the city. And there he would be crucified. He'd seen it happen to others before. They would tie you and then nail you. And at night, you were there for days. The birds would come and pull your entrails out. And string them over their arms. And peck your eyes out. And kids would throw little flints and see who could hit you in the face. And they would sling excrement on you. And so for him, it was a night of doom. And he must pay for his crimes. He knew his life was over. Guilty as charged. So the morning did come. Just as he dreaded. And he heard those footsteps coming down the hall. And that keys outside the door. And the big lock opened. And the door opened. And he drew back into the corner. And in terror as he crouched over in the darkness. He heard these words. Barabbas! Barabbas! Have you heard the good news? What good news? You've come to execute me for my crimes. Get over with it. And instead of coming over and grabbing him by the neck. They said, Ah, you haven't heard, have you? So they came over and they took him by the arm. And led him out that dreaded corridor. Out into the courtyard. Out into the streets of Jerusalem. And there, busy Passover traffic. They went out beyond the gate. And there, his eyes wasn't used to the light like this. As his dungeon used to. And there, the warden said, Do you see that hill there? And he's blinking. Do you see that cross in the middle? He said, There are three crosses. There's the one in the middle, Barabbas. It was meant just for you. It was custom designed for you. You were supposed to have died there because of your violence. And Barabbas had never seen such a thing as that. And as he looked, you see. Come, I'll show you more. But he didn't even hear. Because as he saw the man in the middle cross. Somehow, he was drawn to him. And the warden was speaking. Saying, Yes, you were supposed to have been there. That's your cross. It was for you. And as he looked at that man on that middle cross. He was lost in wonder and in amazement. And he didn't understand it. But he knew somehow it was true. And as Barabbas looked at that man on the middle cross. Something hard inside melted. Something really hard melted. And it's as if he knew that he was free to start over. And the warden was telling him that. But he didn't hear a thing at all. Because the man on the middle cross had changed everything. You see, that's how it is with us. Some of us in this room are in prisons. Man-made prisons. Not of brick and mortar and metal. But they're real all the same. And you live every day in that prison. And you want to get out of it. And you're haunted by your past. Perhaps you're intimidated by your future. And you're tormented by your daily present. Every day things happen that seem to bother you. And you may dread the days. Even though you come to a conference like this. You may have deep-seated things that you brought with you. And they won't go away. You're a prisoner of the visible. You're trapped in logic. And you're a prisoner of time. And you seem to can't break free. But if you listen today to what's been going on in this conference. You can hear the footsteps of a warden. He has your key. And he knows the type of lock you have. And he can slip it right in. And if you feel the breeze of him coming through here like we have. He'll lead you outside the camp. And he will point you to that hill with three crosses on it. And one on the middle cross. And you have an eye problem. I have an eye problem. I've never seen light like that before. And if you look at that light. You will hear the whisper of that man from the middle cross took your place. And what happened to him should have happened to you. And that Holy Spirit will take you out and point down through the ages. And you will see. And Calvary's love, like my brother said, will melt it all. Chains will fall off. And walls will come down. And there can be a whole new beginning. It's a glorious thing indeed. It's the blessed word of the cross. It's the word that was Paul's spiritual universe. And no wonder he exclaimed. Having preached the cross for 15 years before he ever wrote one line in his epistles. He could exclaim, God forbid that I should place confidence or boast in anything. Save the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. By whom the world is crucified to you. And I to the world. Well, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 16. Because every one of us needs a revelation of the cross. Not just a theological understanding. But to have our eyes open spiritually. So we can see the man on that new cross. And see what really happened. The Holy Spirit's arm to put us there. And to keep our hearts and minds there. Matthew 16. We come to a turning point in the gospel. And Lord Jesus. Remember verse 13. They go to Caesarea Philippi. For a quiet retreat. And while they're there. This is the place of idols in Israel at that day. When they had the Grotto of Pan. And all the other fertility cults had been based up there. And so Jesus asked his disciples. Saying whom do men say? That I the son of man am. And they gave him answers of what they had heard from other men. Some say you're John the Baptist. Some Elijah. Others Jeremiah. Or one of the prophets. And like he does to us. He says but who do you say that I am? Who do you say? Forget what the Baptists do. Or the Anglicans. Or the Pentecostals. Or some. Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter. Bless him. Lord bless him. He answered. He said thou art the Christ. The son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him. You are blessed Simon son of Jonah. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But my father which is in heaven. You didn't get this on your own. This came by the spirit of God from the father in heaven. This is a revelation of who Jesus is. And then he charges him and says. This is what I'm going to build my church upon. This confession. This revelation of who I really am. And then you just look at verse 19. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And then he did something strange. He charged his disciples that they should tell no man. That Jesus was the Christ. Now why would he do that? They knew he was Messiah. They knew his love. They knew his power. They had seen miracles. And they really had a grasp in a certain sense. That this was an unusual. They didn't understand fully. But you see the reason the Lord Jesus told them to be silent. Because they did not yet understand the very central issue of the gospel. Just to go out and preach Jesus is the Messiah is not enough. And so you see in the very next verse. Verse 21. From that time forth. It's a turning point. Look at Matthew. Jesus began to show his disciples. How he must go to Jerusalem. And suffer many things in the elders. And priests. And scribes. And be killed. Raised again the third day. In fact there were three times. That Jesus told his disciples. That he would go to the cross. And suffer. And die. And be raised. And the other times. It's shameful to us as his disciples. That they were arguing about whom he would raise. After he was gone. Oh the human heart. Oh the human heart. Jesus says I'm going to go to the cross. Then Peter. Very sincerely I'm sure. Began to take him and rebuke him. Saying be far from you Lord. This will not happen to you. Literally he says pity yourself. Or spare yourself. And Jesus turned. Keep in mind he just turned to Simon. And said the spirit of God showed me that. You didn't figure this out as a man. But get behind me Satan. That's who's talking to me now. Because you are an offense to me. You say we're not the things that be of God. But the things that be of men. And then Jesus said to his disciples. He was supposed to often repeat the words. In the New Testament. Five times in this form. Or just very similar. He says if in man will. Meaning choose to come after me. And let him deny himself. Now that is not self denial. Self denial is when I give up things for Jesus. I give up money for Jesus. I give up comfort for Jesus. But this is not self denial. This is denial of self. The person. Not just things I give up. But me. It disappears. And deny himself. And take up his cross. And follow me. For whoever will seek to save his psyche. Or his life. Will lose it. In other words you won't realize what God has for you. But whoever will lose his psyche. His soul. For my sake. And Luke he says. And for the gospels. Shall find it. He's talking about the real sense of value of things. Why did Peter say. Spare thyself. Because he has what we have. A secret sympathy with man. And that's what we often have. You see. What kind of gospel would Peter have preached. Why did the Lord tell him to be quiet. Don't tell anybody that I'm the Christ. The reason he told him to be quiet. Is because he would go out. And preach a gospel. That was not really the gospel. What kind of a gospel would he have preached. The same kind that's being preached. All over. In many of our countries. When he talks about the moral leader. The great teacher. The example. And the lover of the soul. The Messiah. And leaves off. The central point. And passion. Of the whole gospel. And what revival is all about. Everything about the cross. You see. The blessing of man. Is the motive. And self esteem. Is the saboteur. Of the gospel. When man's allowed to be left at the center. The blessings of man. Becomes the motive. And this is why the Lord says. Be quiet. Until you come to know the cross. And Peter did be quiet. Remember. After he saw the capacity. Of his own flesh. He denied the Lord. Three times. When the Lord's word came true. In his experience. And you remember. How he was completely silenced. Until he saw the Lord Jesus. And he dove out of that boat. And saw him. And then he was. The Lord showed him the cross again. His personal cross. Not just the cross. Of the Lord Jesus. You see. We must deny. Self. Or self. Even as a Christian. Will end up denying. The Lord Jesus. Peter found this out. The hard way. So. As long. As the word. Of the cross. Is discarded. The work. Of the church. Will be discredited. And the world. Will not take us seriously. Someone. Asked the question the other day. The church is in Scotland. Why are they so small? Well. The church. Is in America. Why is it so big? Both. Is the same answer. Because. We have discarded. This truth. And we have said. Spare thyself. And. Said other things. Like. That. You see. It's a. It's a. Amazing day. That we live in. In that case. Well. I want to take you to. First Corinthians. Chapter. One. And I want you to look at that. For a moment. And I want to read with you. Something that's there. That while you're going. To. First Corinthians. Chapter. One. Let me say the same. He wants to keep the cross. Out of the picture. You know why? Because that's where. The only place on this. In the universe. Where he has to get. Everywhere else. He won't admit it. But you see. The place of the skull. When the cross. Is driven. In place of the skull. Then Satan. Has his greatest. Defeat. And when the cross. With this mind. It's in the Lord. Jesus. The mind of the cross. The humbling. Of ourselves. Even to the. Beings. But that is. Driven. Into our. Thick skull. But the spirit of God. Then that is. When you will find. That the workshop. Of Satan. Is defeated. In the life. Of Christ. And the workshop. Of Satan. Is the self-love. You see. The blood of Jesus. Was shed. To forgive us. For what we have done. What we will do. Our crimes. Against God. But the cross. The Lord Jesus. Is given. For a different reason. And it's to deal. With the source. Of the criminality. And the reason. For the. Having to be forgiven. Of sins. And so. Spare thyself. Is what the world will say. Sacrifice thyself. Is what. The Lord will say. The wisdom of the world. Versus the wisdom of God. Self-centered. Versus God-centered. This is the great battle. Of our day. Happiness. Of man. Versus the holiness. Of God. You see. Without. The cross. All Christianity. Is left. With. Is a. Clever. System. Of morals. Sanitized. Philosophy. That's all. And it can't. Save. Or help. The people. Who get to see this. Without the cross. So let this mind be. The mind. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. Which came. All the way down. To the cross. And let me say. For myself. And I believe. For every Christian. That your attitude. Or my attitude. Toward the cross. This day. Is either. Our single. Greatest. Blessing. Or our single. Greatest. Sin. As a Christian. As a Christian. We need. A personal. Revelation. Of the cross. And the Holy. Spirit. Down. His glorious. Lord. He takes us. To Calvary. So I says. Brother. You need to get. Beyond Calvary. To Pentecost. I'll agree with you. But after Pentecost. Where is the Lord. Take you back to? Calvary. It's Calvary. With. Understanding. Burned. In. Tattooed. Into. Your very soul. By the. Very. Revelation. Of God. You see. This is the same thing. That transformed. Peter. And changed. Everything. When he saw. The cross. And it changed him. Forever. In the. Book of. First Corinthians. Paul's. Message. Chapter. One. You see. Saying. In verse. 17. Christ. Sent. Me. Not. To. Baptize. But. To. Preach. The gospel. Not. With. The wisdom. Of words. As. The cross. Of Christ. Should be made. None. Effect. For the. Logos. The. Word. Preaching. Of the. Cross. Is. To. Those. Present. Are. Perishing. Foolishness. That. Word. Is. Six. Times. Foolishness. These. Next. Few. Verses. But. To. Us. Contrast. Who. Are. To. Contrast. Are. Us. Contrast. Are. To. Us. To. Contrast. Are. To. Us. Contrast. Who. Are. To. Contrast. Are. Contrast. Are. To. Contrast. To. Contrast. Are. To. Contrast. Ok. I think that you. But to. To. Contrast. Are. To. Contrast. Are. To. Contrast. Contrast. I. Contrast. foolishness of preaching. Not that preaching is foolish, well maybe some of it is, but preaching is only foolish because it sets forth the foolishness of caliphate to the world. That's why it seems foolish. But the foolishness of preaching, God has chosen to use it to save those who believe. God chose to use the proclamation of the word of the cross to preach Christ, crucify, but the Jews receive, require asylum, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ, is that what it says? We preach Christ crucified. It's got to be crucified. And it says in this awesome, humble, glorious, well, we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, it is a stumbling block. To the Greeks, it is foolishness. But unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger, better, greater than any man. When you see, here he's talking about the setting forth of caliphate. Paul is proclaiming Christ and him crucified. And you see in these verses and other verses, like in Romans three, he says, God placarding his son in history. The word is a word that means to get a hand and paint a canvas. God hung Jesus Christ like a billboard, a sign beside the highway when you're driving for all of history to see. This is what holy God requires of sinners. This is what holy God demands and you have justice. This is the love of God, the love revealed, the holiness underwritten in great bold letters and the devil dealt with it. He justified whoever would believe in that place. But he also justified himself for winking and overlooking the sins in the Old Testament. Romans 325. And he justified himself in the future when he utterly and totally judges to the absolute last bit. Every sin is not in Christ, not laid on Christ. Perfect justice. And he says in another place to the Galatians, O foolish Galatians, who has convinced you that you should not have lived the truth as a believer. You began by trusting Calvary and the grace of God, but are you so foolish now that you would think that you by your own efforts can continue to sanctify yourself by you who before your very eyes, Christ has been set forth. That's the word. Crucified among you. Do you know that when you hear Jesus preached as crucified, God says you're just as accountable as if you're an eyewitness at Calvary. You're just as if you were there in physical fashion yourself. And so you see, people don't like for us to preach Christ. That's why Christ crucified. That's why Paul said if I didn't, it'd be the offense of the cross. First Corinthians chapter two. Here's Paul's methodology when he came in with the message of Christ crucified. I rose, but I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. I determined, I made up my mind before I ever came in to Calvary. I determined, it was a disposition of my heart before I ever set foot in the place. I'm not to know anything. I wouldn't make anything known in your midst except Christ and him crucified. Why did he do that? If you were to read on, you'd see his testimony. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in tremor. We tell you, he studied at Tarsus, remember? He could have come in with academic credentials. It was one of the best. It's like the Oxford. I'm not trying to be offensive. Maybe you'd like somewhere else, but that's all I'm eager for, okay? But you know, the Roman scholars should hold that to it. Forget it. Okay, let's go on. And you see, he knew Greek. He was cultured. He knew the Greek culture. He was a Roman citizen. He was a Jewish lawyer. He could have come in and related to them on a hundred levels that we try to do, but he was determined to make nothing known except the obnoxious message of the Lord Jesus and him crucified for sin and for the glory of his father. And so perhaps tempted and yet tested and trembling, he says, verse four, my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but it was rather in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. There's that word again, because you see the power of the spirit of God and the revelation of the cross are married and they can never be divorced except unless God did it. He's brought them together forever. It's always, as we heard this morning, the altar before the fire. It's always the cross before the spirit. When Jesus says, receive me, the Holy Spirit, before that he showed him his hands and his side. When he had the dove come upon him in Jordan, it was in Jordan, which is a symbol of that death and baptism and to the whole world of God. Then the spirit came upon him. It was the smitten rock that put out water and on and on. It was the altar that was built before the temple was built. When Solomon dedicated his temple, I've often said that he dedicated the temple, but in the scriptures, he says it's the dedication of the altar, the altar. He dedicated the altar in 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Chronicles, sorry, I'm getting excited here. It's probably in 2 Corinthians 2, I think, as well. He casts himself on the Holy Spirit. This is what Paul does in knowing nothing else but Christ and him crucified. So this is a spiritual miracle that Paul would preach the gospel that was revealed to him. He didn't learn the cross by going to seminary. He didn't learn the cross by reading books about it. Someone asked me today, I was talking about the cross. They said, oh, you must have read Miss Penn Lewis. And I have, I love her. And I didn't learn about the cross from Miss Penn Lewis. I learned the foundation, the truth of the fact. God had to teach me through all his anvil some things and I'm not, he's not through with me yet. It took cancer, a lot of my children. It took problems in having babies among my kids and disappointments and friends of mine martyred and learning to realize that we have nothing we can offer him apart from a totally consecrated heart. God must show to me and I certify to you, brother, says Paul, that the gospel that I preach was not taught to me from man, neither did I receive it from man, but rather God gave it to me through revelation of the spirit of God. Oh, and that kind of gospel is going to cause a riot or revival, one or the other. Someone said, a British preacher, he said, he said, I wonder why when the apostle Paul got through preaching, they either had a revival or a riot. But when I get through preaching, all they have is a spot of tea. You know? A spot of tea. You know? There's a lot of talk today about church growth. I've seen some materials on some shelves here that grieve me greatly because there's a lot of systematic thinking from man about church growth. You see, we've systematized the gospel, we've packaged it, we've made it look less offensive to the world and put it on the banqueting table with the world's best spices, you see. There's a lot of discussion about church growth and how to bring men and women to the kingdom of God. There's books and seminars and training and methodology. The church is to be a magnet, we're told. You see, a magnet can't attract what it's like. It's got to attract totally opposite. And you see, if the church is to be a magnet and draw men and women to Christ, then the Bible makes it clear how God will draw men and women to Christ. Jesus said in John 6, 45, and said twice in that chapter, no man can come to the Father except the Father draw him. No man can come to me except the Father draw him. How do you bring men and women to the Lord? There's a lot of appeals made to men's feelings and how they think. But you see, magnets attract the opposite. And so you can't draw the world by becoming like the world by preaching to the lowest common denominator and you leave a church with malnutrition for the precious only thing that can be the foundation for any revival that lasts. So hear the words of the Lord Jesus when he says, no man can come to me unless the Father draw him. You know, Jesus never had a problem drawing a crowd, did he? You know, there's something that's easy to read right over, but I'm gonna take you through it quick because I want to provoke you to study it. I want you to read it later and study it as you go home. I wanna just give it to you quickly. You know, the word Jesus and his promise when he says in John chapter 12, talking about the matter of his death, he said, listen, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. And as he spoke about the way that he would be crucified and he would die, I've seen people who kind of thought that lifting up Jesus was singing about him or saying nice things or biblical things about him, but the lifting up he's talking about is the lifting up of the placard that the scriptures say to explain and set forth the whole meaning of Calvary. It's the whole meaning, not just the crucifixion, but the glorious passion and sufferings of the Lord, the death, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension and the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the word of the cross. It begins with the cross and ends at the throne. So you see, Jesus had crowds following him and you might too, in John chapter two, just write these references down in the future and look at it later. In John chapter two, you remember in verse 23 and 24, it says that many believed on the Lord Jesus, where they saw the miracles that he did. But because it says in the next verse, Jesus knew what was in him, he did not commit himself back to them. They didn't have a commitment to him, reciprocate his drawing him forth into real life. It wasn't deep enough. They saw him and they believed, the same word as John 3.16 kind of belief, they believed in him because of miracles. One of them was Nicodemus. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/o43H4HKaS18.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/al-whittinghill/al-whittinghill-01/ ========================================================================