Surrender at the Cross — David Ravenhill

It's a real joy to be back with you. I have to let you know I bragged about you in a number of places and said to my wife I really believe that this is one of the most mature congregations that I've been in and I don't say that just to make you feel good.

I think God has done something very wonderful in your midst. It's very rare to at least for me and I travel 47 or 8 weekends per year to go into a congregation where you really sense that you make it into the presence of God.

There's a lot of noise, a lot of volume, a lot of worship leaders that are tripping out on their own egos but not too many that bring us in to the presence of God. The Bible says cast up a highway and I believe we've done that tonight.

Prayer and the Cross as the Foundation of Faith

So again it's my joy just to share God's word with you. Let's just pray once again shall we? Father again we bring this word to you. He said we're to pray give us this day our daily bread. Father we pray that this would be bread.

Lord it would nourish, it would sustain, it would further your cause tonight. Lord your word says you were made known to the disciples in the breaking of the bread. So Lord make yourself known. Make your ways known Lord.

Give us understanding of your purposes in Jesus name. Amen. I want to speak to you tonight on the cross. I have been in ministry now for 36 years. I've never had a secular job in my life. I don't know if that's good or bad.

I went from high school into Bible school and then from Bible school right into ministry. But I'm convinced that we really don't understand the cross. And yet the cross is the very crux, the very center, the very foundation of all that we believe.

And if we miss it here then we sort of miss it everywhere. If the foundation is wrong it doesn't matter how great the building may be ultimately something is going to be out of kilter. Something is going to collapse.

And so I want to look at the cross I trust in a way that you have seen it. But for many of you maybe you haven't seen it this way. And let's begin in the epistle of John. 1 John chapter 2. Reading from verse 12.

John says I'm writing to you little children because your sins have forgiven you for his namesake. I'm writing to your fathers because you know him that is from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men because you've overcome the evil one.

John is addressing here three levels of spiritual maturity. He is not literally writing to the children's department of the congregation. He's not writing to the young people. He's not writing to the oldies.

But he is writing to three levels of spiritual maturity. We begin the life the way we begin the natural life. As babies. And the wonderful thing about a baby is that it has no past. A baby may toss and turn at night for various reasons but it certainly doesn't toss and turn over the remorse of some sin that it committed you know years previously.

Because there's no history. And so John says I write to you little children because your sins have forgiven you. That's where it all begins the realization the blood of Christ. God's us from all sin we've just sung about the grace of God.

Amazing grace. But Steve Hill used to say we don't sing amazing justice. Because we sang another song if I should market an equity he would stand. But amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

So I write unto you children because your sins have forgiven you for his namesake. And then he goes on to say in verse 13 at the end of the verse I've written to you children because you know the father.

Now there is a progression that is taking place here of maturity. It isn't too long after we are born again into the kingdom of God into the family of God we realize again our sins are forgiven. That God is now our father.

We have a new relationship. Spirit within us cries daddy or Abba father. But not too long after that we realize there is a battle going on. The enemy is out to destroy to defeat to discourage to undermine all that God is doing in our lives.

He wants us back in his kingdom. He's a bad loser. And so we've got to learn to overcome and so he says alright you young men because you've overcome the evil one. And part of our maturity process is the realization that we can't be children forever.

We can't just sort of play with our toys and our games and have everybody sort of cater to our needs and so on. We've got to grow up part of the growing up processes learning to stand on our own two feet learning to resist the devil learning to fast to pray to get a hold of God for ourselves and to overcome the evil one.

He goes into more detail in verse 14 he says I've written to you young men because you're strong and the word of God abides in you and you've overcome the evil one. I think if I were to put that in what I think is a more logical sequence I would say I've written to you young men because you're strong.

I'm sorry because the word of God abides in you because the word of God abides in you therefore you're strong because you're strong you're able to overcome the evil one. The only way you and I will ever effectively live as overcomers is to have the word of God abiding in us.

It's not in natural strength or human strength or human wisdom or capability. It's as the word of God. Not just the letter of the word of God but the living word of God the Lord Jesus Christ. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

And then he addresses the fathers. Verse 13 I've written to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. Again in verse 14 I've written to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning.

And I've always been a little disappointed in John's revelation that it doesn't seem to have the umph that I think he should stress here after all we're on a path of maturity. I write to you children your sins are forgiven.

I write to you young men you're strong you've overcome the evil one. The word of God abides in you. I write to you fathers I would have thought he would have said because you know you've completed at least three forty day fast.

You know you've raised the dead. You've cleansed the leper. You've established a few churches. You understand Revelation and Daniel or you know something that seems to have at least a little bit more depth to it than I than what seems to be the same statement that he says to the children.

I write you children because you know the Father. I write you fathers because you know him that is from the beginning. What's the difference? Well children know fathers from a very selfish point of view don't they?

My wife and I have three daughters that are all grown up now. But all my life at least all my life from their point of view I was there to administer to their needs. Daddy do this. Daddy do that. Daddy buy me a bicycle.

Daddy teach me to ride the bicycle. Daddy you know put me to bed. Daddy read me a story. Daddy push me on the swing. Daddy buy me an ice cream. Daddy you know daddy daddy daddy. And father existed for one reason alone.

My whole existence was to minister to my children's needs. At least that was their perspective. And so there is a relationship of knowing him as father and that's wonderful and thank God that he does condescend to come down to our spiritual infancy and immaturity and minister to us and take care of us and protect us and so on and so forth.

But then there is a difference between a father's perspective. I write you fathers because you know him that is from the beginning. A father sees the big picture. If I were to take three words to describe these three facets of maturity the first one would be regeneration not salvation.

Salvation is that all-inclusive word that deals with the moment you get saved till the moment we have a glorified body. But the word regeneration the new birth born again. And then the young man the word maturation.

They begun to mature and grow up. And then father's the word consummation. The bringing together, the tying together, the understanding of the overall plan and purpose of God the big picture. The reason a father disciplines he sees beyond the immediate.

And he knows if that child is not disciplined then somewhere down the line he's going to be a nuisance to society and so on and so forth. And so he sees the beginning of things or the end of things if you like.

And it's this word beginning that is one of John's favorite words. John I think as far as I know, you can check it out, uses it something like 25 times in his writings. And he seems to have a revelation on the beginning of things.

His gospel in the beginning was a word and the word was with God and the word was God. The epistle here, what was from the beginning, what we've seen and heard our hands have handled concerning the word of truth.

The wonderful book of Revelation talks about the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending. And the beginning of things is absolutely essential if we are to understand the cross. We need to go back to the beginning.

The Cross as God’s Remedy and Restoration

You see the cross is God's medicine if you like. God's remedy for man's sickness. The cross is to restore man. The cross is to bring man back to his God's original plan and purpose. Jesus said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up.

Now we can simply take that at its face value and say you know Moses lifted up this serpent and so Jesus was lifted up on a cross and that's that. But we need to go a little deeper than that and realize that there was a moment when the nation of Israel, at least physically, were well.

Their bodies were healthy, they were normal, they had plenty of vitality, plenty of life. And then sin came into the camp. They began to murmur, complain and so on and so forth. God had allowed judgment to come and death resulted.

The wages of sin is death. The serpents came and Moses of course cried out to God for a remedy, an answer. And God said I want you to make this brazen serpent, put it on a pole and lift it up. And whoever looks on that brazen serpent, the moment they look on it, life will be restored to them.

They'll go from death at work in them to life working in them. They'll go from sickness to health. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up. In other words, the cross then is to be the counterpart of that.

It's to bring us back to our original place, if you like, that God had for us. And so the beginning of things is essential. You recall that the Pharisees and scribes and so on were always trying to get Jesus embroiled in some sort of controversy.

And on this occasion they wanted to know where he stood on the matter of divorce. And as you know there were two schools of divorce in those days, as there are now. One very conservative, one very liberal.

And to back up their claims, they said you know even Moses gave us permission to divorce our wives. So Lord would you stand? You know what school do you believe in? For any cause or for, you know, strictly the case of adultery.

And Jesus very wisely took it out of the present debate and he went back to the beginning and he says, you don't understand, in the beginning it was never God's intention. You see the beginning of things is absolutely essential.

We need to have a beginning perspective. If I were to demolish this beautiful podium here and take it all apart and you had never seen it as a podium and I say is there a carpenter here or somebody that's a builder and you say I am and so I have you come up and here we have all these pieces of wood now, pieces of trim and so on and so forth and I say would you restore this?

Well who knows what we'll end up with. If you've never seen it originally how can you restore it? We may end up with a coffee table, we may end up with a bookcase, may end up with a casket. We could end up with all sorts of things, a side table, a dresser.

You see we've never seen it originally so how can we restore it back to the original plan of the Creator? And we have this theology of trying to bring man to something we don't, we're not really sure what the cross is supposed to look like when it's all sort of put back together again as far as our own lives are concerned.

And so we need to go back to the beginning and so we're going to do that and for a few moments we're going to try and get into the mind of God so to speak and understand his purpose. Let's go to Genesis, Genesis chapter 2 as you know Genesis is the book of beginnings and here we have man in his original condition.

Before sin came, before rebellion came, before independence came, before man chose to do his own thing and go his own way, this is the way God originally intended you and I to be. Verse 15, the Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.

There are three things in that verse, the word, at least the principle, submission, location, vocation. The Lord God, not simply God as wonderful as God is, but God as Lord. The Lord God took the man, no resistance on man's part, no objection on man's part, we don't see man digging in his heels, we don't see man fighting and striving with God, we don't say see man saying God I don't want to do that, I want to go my own way, no, man is totally compliant, totally submissive to the Lordship of God Himself, so much so that God is able to take him again without any resistance and place him in the geographical place of God's choosing and not man's choosing.

He doesn't say to man, listen I've got a few options, I've just created this incredible garden with all these beautiful fruit trees, this magnificent river and if you like gardening boy that's the place to be.

On the other hand I've got this villa that I've just about finished, you're overlooking the bluff there and incredible sunsets and you know Adam just think it over, I'll be back this afternoon and you know, no.

God says listen I know exactly where I want you, this is the location of my purpose for your life. And then in that location, a vocation. Adam, I've got a calling, a specific calling. In this case obviously we know God said I want you to look after the garden, cultivate, keep it and so on, replenish the earth and so on.

Now I believe if we understand the cross correctly, that God wants to bring us back to that place where God can reach into your life and my life at any given time without any resistance, any objection.

He can take us and He can place us in the geographical place of His choosing and then in that place He can reveal why He placed us there. He's got a mandate, a calling, a purpose for our life. Now that was the beginning of things.

Creation’s Purpose: All Things Are for God

Let's look at some other scriptures, the book of Colossians. You see we've got to know what the cross is to bring us back to. Colossians chapter 1 verse 16, for by Him all things were created both in heaven and earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by Him.

Let's pause there for a moment. I trust you don't have a problem with that. All things were created by Him. By faith we understand the world's were framed by the Word of God. I don't have a problem with the earth being 6 ,000 years old or 6 million years old or 60 million years old or 100 million years old.

It doesn't worry me. I believe God can create a rock right now with vintage. He could have created this earth 6 ,000 years ago and carbon dated it so it 100 billion million whatever years old. After all He created wine, a caner of Galilee it had vintage.

He created Adam with a little bit of vintage. He wasn't running around in nappies or diapers. So I don't have a problem with creation. All things were created by Him but now we have insight and for Him.

See we're getting in now I trust to the understanding to the mind of God as it pertains to your life and my life and all of creation. Not only did God create everything, we readily admit that, but we need to understand why He created everything.

All things were created by Him and for Him. That pertains to you and that pertains to me. Then into Revelation. Revelation chapter 4 verse 11. Worthy art thou our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power for thou didst create all things.

Once again a declaration that God is the creator and because of thy will they existed and were created. All the King James of course says and for your pleasure they were created. So once again it's easy to acknowledge that God is the creator of everything especially as believers.

We don't stumble over that like the world does. But then we need to take it one step further and say well for His pleasure all of that was created. And since I'm a part of that creation in fact the crowning achievement I think of that creation.

I was created for the will and the purpose and the pleasure of God according to this verse. And then we go into Hebrews chapter 2. Again all of these verses I'm giving you two or three or four here to establish something.

Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established. You can't establish doctrine on one verse otherwise we'd be baptizing for the dead. Verse 10 for it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things.

Let me put that in the order of the other verses. It was fitting for him speaking of Christ through whom are all things and for whom are all things. Again it's easy to acknowledge that through whom are all things because that doesn't really touch us in any major way.

It just acknowledges God you're the creator of the heavens and the earth. But then we've got to take it this step further and for whom are all things. And then into the book of Romans. Romans chapter 11 verse 36 for by him and sorry for for him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever amen.

Here Paul has this wonderful revelation. He says everything comes from God. Everything has its beginning in God from whom are all things. And then he says and through whom are all things. You see in him we live, we move, we have our being.

Everything is sustained and held together by the word of his power. So it's not only from him as though it was some sort of historic fact that took place you know thousands of years ago. But it is present through him.

You and I the very breath we breathe in him we live, we move, we don't we can have that breath unless it was through him. But then Paul says not only is it from him and through him but to him are all things to him be the glory.

Therefore I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God. You see there's no chapter division there. This was a letter. Paul has established something. He goes on to say therefore because everything is from him, because everything is through him, because everything is to him.

Therefore I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you give back to him that which is from him, that which is through him, that which is to him as your reasonable worship. Makes a lot more sense doesn't it?

See Paul again he's understood the mind of God. He's mused and meditated and he understands all of this creation is for one reason and one reason alone. For God himself and our lives and your life belongs to him.

It's not only from him and through him but it's got to be to him. Therefore give back to him that which is his. Then over into Corinthians we have the same thought when Corinthians 8. Where Paul can't seem to get away from this little triangle of truth here.

Verse 6. Yet for us there is but one God the Father from whom are all things and we exist for him. One Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we exist through him. Now he's got it in a slightly different order than what he does in Romans but you have the same thing.

From him, through him and for him are all things he says once again. Now these all these verses are very very important. Now we're back in the beginning. We're in the mind of God. We're understanding again this world that you and I are a part of that doesn't make sense unless we put it in the perspective of the beginning of things.

Sin, Self-Rule, and the Need for Redemption

But something went wrong. Man chose to break that sort of relationship with God. Man chose to do his own thing, to go his own way, to rebel. Isaiah says all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way.

We've turned from God's will, God's purpose, God's way, God's desire to our own way. We've wandered again like sheep and so the cross then is to bring us back, to restore us, to heal us if you like. It's God's remedy, God's medicine, God's plan to restore men.

Now the problem with us is that we are selfish. From the moment you and I are born, self occupies the throne of our life. We're born into a sin-infested world, a demonized world and so on, a selfish world and so we grow up with self occupying the throne of our life.

A baby learns within a matter of days many times that a certain cry will get a certain response. And there it is in the middle of the night, you know maybe the first night and it's all alone and it's not used to being all alone.

It's been in that warm tummy of mothers for a while. Now it's come out into this world and everybody's been oohing and aahing and looking at it and admiring it and so on and so forth and now all of a sudden all of that's gone and there's no heartbeat and no attention being given.

It's dark in here and so it lets out a bellow and mother comes running in within a moment, you know. Honor to whom honor is due. Father turns over pretends he doesn't hear us, hear a thing. And mother picks that child up and all of a sudden that child is the center of the universe again and mother ooze and aahs and cuddles and changes and feeds or whatever the need may be and the next night baby does the same thing.

And the next night train of a mother in the way she should go when she's old should not be part of it. And baby learns that I am the center of everything and as it matures and grows it begins to hear certain expressions.

Maybe it's got siblings, older brothers, sisters and they come home complaining about maybe an exam at school or some test or something and this little baby is registering test exam that that's a bad thing.

And so the day comes when five six years of age and off he goes to school and not too long before the teacher announces you know tomorrow morning we're gonna have an exam and all of a sudden the computer picks up on that and says oh I remember that's a bad thing.

Wakes up the next morning, mommy I've got tummy ache. Mother's been trained by now and that's alright Johnny you can stay home. Johnny gets his way. Nine o 'clock of course there is a miracle that takes place.

Instant healing. We're selfish aren't we? And all we do we further that ability to satisfy and gratify our needs as time goes on. It's me, it's mine, my money, my time, my this, my that. And so when we see the cross and hear about the cross unfortunately we respond selfishly.

After all that's all we've known. And so we look at the cross and we say well what's in it for me? What sort of a deal can you make for me God? And out of that comes a very popular theme. Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin so that I could go to heaven when I die.

Have a mansion over the hilltop. I don't personally believe there are any but you may. After all I don't think God's gonna put us all back in a bunch of little boxes and isolate us. We're gonna be one big family.

It's gonna be no marriage there so there'll be no need for the bedroom and we're not gonna have to eat necessarily. We'll have resurrection bodies so no need for the kitchen. You know the Lamb is going to be all the glory so we won't need television.

You know so you can eliminate just practically just about every room in the house just on that basis alone. But when Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you in the Father's house there were three rooms that the disciples knew of.

And one of those rooms was off-limits. There was only one man once a year that had access into that room. But after Calvary that veil was rent and we can be where he is. I go to prepare a place for you.

But where I am you may be also. Not only that but he lifted us up, raised us up and seated us with him in heavenly places. Far above all principalities and powers. I don't think Jesus is running around with a carpenter's belt.

I'm frustrated you know because there's an end time revival he didn't plan on or something trying to get all the mansions finished. You know. But you see we look at the cross and we say well God what's in it for me?

And out of that again comes our popular teaching that Jesus Christ died so that you could be free from sin. Obviously there's truth in that. But it's really a very man-centered sort of a gospel. I get to go to heaven.

I escape the flames of hell. You know all of these things accrue to me. You know I have a new name and a new nature and new family and a new kingdom and a new destiny and new, new you. Everything's made new and wonderful.

It's true. But it doesn't stop there. Now let me give you an illustration and then we're going to look at a number of scriptures and I'm going to change your mind I trust. Let's assume that my wife and I have been married for one year.

We've been married I think it's 37 years this summer. Yeah. Pretty sure. Better find out before August. But anyway. But by way of illustration. And let's say that we begin our married life with a number of debts and so we agree together that we are not going to buy any sort of luxury item until our debts are paid off.

And so towards the end the year we have paid off our debts. Not only that but we have accumulated now 1 ,000 pounds. And during that year we have gone without transport. I've been taking the bus. Something you can't do in America but you can in England at least.

And you know to work or maybe a carpool or something. And so we've been able to get by without transport. But it's getting somewhat embarrassing calling friends at certain times to take us places. And so I say to my wife one day darling listen I know we've only got a thousand pounds.

It's our life savings. It's everything you and I have you know put away now over the last six months. But I think we need a transport. We need a car. And she said darling I agree with you. So I said well why don't you pray and I'll go out and look you know intercede that we'll get the right car.

You don't get much for a thousand pounds I'm sure. Now let's also assume that during the year that we have lived in this particular part of town that we've established a reputation as being Mr. and Mrs. Clean.

Everything about our lives is immaculate. The house is always immaculate. The lawns are beautifully manicured. The shrubs are always trimmed perfectly. The windows are always bright and sparkling so on.

And we have this reputation we you know never go around in dirty clothes and so on. I mean that's the reputation we have. And so I go out now and I take my thousand dollars and I look around the various car yards and eventually I find this car.

It's you know 15, 20 years old. Engine seems to be running pretty well. But you know it's an old car. I paid a thousand dollars. I take the car home. I immediately drive it around the back so the neighbors can't see it.

And I proceed to wash the car. I spend hours washing that car. Bucket after bucket of soapy water. Then I take some solvent. Excuse me. Remove all the grease and grime that the water is not removed. Then I cut and I polish that car.

I do all the chrome work. Then I tackle the inside of the car. Take the vacuum cleaner and thoroughly clean it. Then I shampoo the carpets. I take some upholstery cleaner and do the upholstery and clean the windows and everything else.

At the end of four or five hours that car now is absolutely immaculate. There's not a trace of dirt anywhere. The polishes you know brought the color back. It looks beautiful. Just like showroom condition.

And then I gather together all these cleaning items and I go into the house and I pile all this filth on the kitchen table. All these rags. All these paper towels. This bucket of soapy now filthy water.

I tear open the canister of the vacuum cleaner and dump all the fluff and everything else. And here's this huge pile of dirt. I then call my wife from prayer. Darling come in here quick. And with a big smile on my face I say darling have you ever seen so much dirt?

I mean could you believe we could buy that much dirt for a thousand dollars? I'm gonna have trouble. My wife is gonna be upset. You can say you know are you feeling all right? What do you mean? You mean you didn't really buy all this dirt for a thousand dollars?

Yeah I think that's what a thousand dollars your life blood of my life blood that's what it bought. One thousand dollars worth of dirt. I mean this is incredible isn't it? I've never seen that much dirt of you darling.

Obviously that doesn't make sense. You see the reason that I paid the price that I paid was because I wanted the car. Had nothing to do with the dirt. The car was really the object of my payment. And if you like and take this with a grain of salt.

The washing was a byproduct. Because you see that car is going to represent who I am. It's an extension of who I am. I'm Mr. Clean. And so the car therefore has to come up to my standard. Otherwise my name my reputation is at stake.

If I drive around in this filthy old car people gonna say well I guess the Raven Hills um you know gave up that idea of being clean a long time ago you know. Oh you translate that into biblical terminology.

Be holy as I am holy. That God gives to us his righteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ again washes us. But the real object of the payment was the car. Now let's look at some scriptures. Now I've got your attention.

Christ’s Lordship and the Purpose of the Atonement

All right all these scriptures now deal with the atonement. Romans chapter 14 verses 7 8 and 9. For not one of us lives for himself not one or no one dies for himself. If we live we live for the Lord.

If we die we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die we are the Lord's. So you fit into one of those categories tonight. Whether you live or die you are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again.

That he might be Lord of the dead and the living. Or if we use the illustration of the car that he might be the owner of the car. Not that he might be the Savior but that he might be the Lord. For to this end here again we're getting into the mind of God.

Why did Jesus Christ die? To bring us back to God's plan and purpose. What he created he wants back. He didn't create sin and he's not interested in sin. There's no sin in heaven. God doesn't you know have a sin collection like people have coin collections or stamp collections.

If he did he'd have the best one in the world I'm sure. You know he doesn't gather around a few cherubim and seraphim occasionally and say you know boys it's been a while but have I showed you you know my sin collection.

He pulls down you know some big letter volume out of the library of heaven and very carefully opens it up and says you know I've got sins going way way back but this is my pride and joy right here. You know this is the only sin of its kind right here and I've got it.