April 17, 2025 • 47 mins
What really happened when Jesus died on the cross—and what does it mean for your life today? Today on Equipped, Collin Lambert talks with Bible professor Bill Thrasher about the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, what it means for our sins, and how to experience God’s blessing. Listen and revel in the work of God at Easter!
Today's resource: Putting God Back in the Holidays
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:19):
Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of
equip with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined
us today. Do me a favor strap on your seat
belt as we navigate through the contours of culture, as
always with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But
before we do that, let me remind you, this is
the day that the Lord has made. He is giving
(00:40):
it as a gift so that you and I can
rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that.
Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Today
I want you to help me to welcome to the
host seat, my good friend Colin Lambert. Colin is a
man of God who ministers through radio for decades, including
(01:02):
many years at Moody Radio. He's the host of Missions
today and is passionate about seeing people across the globe
growing Christ Jesus. Colin, thanks for leading this edition of equip.
S2 (01:16):
So great to be with you today. Thank you Chris.
Appreciate it. Let us all continue to pray for Chris
and his family as they are out and dealing with
the illness of Chris's daughter. I know that you've been
busy doing that. I want to encourage you to keep
that up. Do not stop praying for Chris and his daughter,
Zoe and their family as they're going through these challenging times. Well,
(01:38):
it's Maundy Thursday. What is that? It's also known as
Holy Thursday. It's a Christian holy day that commemorates events known, uh,
such as the washing of the feet and the Last Supper.
And that's something we're going to talk about today. And
we'll talk about quite a bit related to Easter, actually,
as we focus in on what the cross means for
(01:59):
me and you, what does the cross really about? What
do we need to know about it? Uh, what maybe
have we forgotten about it? That would be helpful for
us as we head into this holy weekend, uh, to
join us and talk about it. Doctor William Thrasher. He's
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary.
He's a frequent speaker at churches and retreats nationwide. His
(02:22):
ministry passions include campus discipleship, singles ministry, and evangelism. And
he's written the book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
We'll talk more about that in just a moment as well.
But first, let me welcome Doctor William Thrasher to equip. Doctor,
thanks for being with us today.
S3 (02:40):
Delight to be with you. Thank you very much.
S2 (02:42):
Before we get into some of the specifics about holidays
in general and then this holiday, there are some who
would look at some of the holidays that Christians, uh,
celebrate or recognize and say, hey, we shouldn't be doing this.
At one time, way back in antiquity, there was a
pagan holiday, and we shouldn't be doing that. We need
(03:03):
to be different than the world. Do you have any
concerns about celebrating Easter or Resurrection Sunday?
S3 (03:10):
Well, I think the Lord has given us the Lord's
Table to an ordinance that we should remember not like.
Remember an ancient history lesson, but remember what he did
in a way that we bring it into today. Certainly,
you see, in the Old Testament he gave a sort
of a religious calendar. We're not under that. But we
do need time. To what? Reflect. And there's nothing wrong
(03:32):
with that. Certainly we want to be delivered from any
pagan understanding of it. And I think that's was one
of the purposes of writing the book. Putting God back
in the holidays. I think the devil is sometimes tried
to what? Rob, uh, the Lord of the great spiritual
meaning of many of the holidays. Um, and I think
there is a special battle around the holidays I can share.
(03:54):
I didn't write this book to give people an extra
burden in regard to the holidays, but I wanted Christ
to enter in and aid them, um, in, in their
holiday celebration. So I pray that for all of us
this week that God would truly enhance our relationship with him.
And I pray that our time together today would somehow
add to that.
S2 (04:14):
Yeah, you mentioned this battle concept. Why do you feel
that so many people experience a battle around the holidays?
S3 (04:23):
Well, I certainly did, and quite frankly, that would be
the motivation. And I was thinking, even as a student, I,
I recognized this, you know, when I would approach the
Christmas holidays, Christmas break, that if I charted my spiritual
life and that especially that lengthy holiday, would that my
spiritual life in the chart of it would be more
of a valley than a peak? Um, and I did
(04:46):
sense a special battle. And I think part of it,
the reason is what, uh, the devil hates Christ, and
he hates the people who represent him and wants to
give hope to the world. So, uh, I remember when
I sensed God leading me into teaching. I kept a list. God,
if you ever open the door and I'm able to
be a professor. Um, how could I make the use
of that opportunity? And I kept a list of things
(05:08):
that if God ever opened the door, that I would
seek to try to do. One of that is to
prepare my students for the holidays. For the last 45 years.
That's how long I've been at Moody. I've done that every,
every year in regard to, especially ever since the Christmas
holidays and other holidays. And that's the origin of the book. Um,
it's more of out of my own weakness, not out
(05:29):
of trying to give people extra to do things that
would be burdensome. But how is it that Christ can
enter into their holiday and enhance their relationship with him?
And I pray that this holiday in a special way.
S2 (05:41):
Yeah. As we look at Easter, how would you say
that Easter declares Christ as being the unique Son of God?
What is it about it?
S3 (05:50):
Well, uh, that's exactly what the Scripture says there in
Romans four. It declared him to be the unique Son
of God. He's the only one that what claimed to
be God and predicted and accomplished his own resurrection. Uh,
no other religious leader, uh, you know, he it declared
him to be the Son of God. You know, uh,
Sometimes when we aren't, you know, the idea of the
(06:10):
Son of God. I think in my early years I
was raised in a in a denominational church. A lot
of wonderful, good people. But what I was very uninformed,
and I think sometimes I thought Son of God was
maybe a little notch below God. Uh, but, you know,
when Jesus, uh, when he claimed to be the unique
Son of God, they picked up stones. Uh, we're there
(06:31):
was in John five. We're not trying to kill you
just because you've broken the Sabbath, but you're making yourself
out to be equal with God by calling God your son.
So this declare that it was not just an empty claim,
but it was a claim that he alone was a
unique Son of God. He is preeminent above all. Uh,
every one day will bow to him and recognize that
(06:52):
he is a unique Son of God. That's where history
is headed. Um, and so this was a great authentication
of that. Uh, unlike any other religious leader.
S2 (07:02):
Tomorrow is known as Good Friday. Uh, tell us a
little bit about the meaning. Help us understand Good Friday. It's.
It seems like an oxymoron that you would call Friday
when Christ is crucified. Good. Because of the violence of it.
Tell us a little bit about Good Friday.
S3 (07:21):
Well, yeah, it certainly it's the incredible accomplishment of the cross.
And that's a great theme of scripture, the accomplishments of
the cross. One word could never describe all that Jesus did.
So he's given numerous words in my book. I describe
numerous concepts and try to chart them out, that you
(07:42):
can explain them to a young person or an adult. Uh, like, uh, redemption. Uh,
that's a slave market term that we were we were enslaved.
Scripture says there's six things we were enslaved to. And
the only one, the the only key that would open
the prison gate was what? The blood of Jesus. That's
(08:05):
the redemption price. And so he redeemed us that we
might be a people for his own possession. Uh, one
of the greatest needs in the human heart is to belong.
The fact that's one of the greatest gifts that we
belong to him. And, you know, there's so much freighted
in regard to that we belong to Jesus. Um, that
(08:25):
you sometimes hear the phrase in spiritual warfare, praying, pleading
the blood. Well, because we belong to Jesus, we plead
the blood in this sense that Jesus, I belong to
you and the devil has no right to any claim
upon my life. And that is a glorious truth. Um,
in fact, Scripture says, you know, when we we can
give the devil claim, we go to bed angry. We
(08:47):
give the place for the devil. But you know the
good news of this. And there's none of us that
haven't struggle with that or done that. But you know,
you can, even through the blood of Jesus, reclaim that ground.
I pray that would be every listener now. They would
live in light of that. That what we belong to
Jesus and Jesus alone, and all those things we were
enslaved to because of that, that ransom price that was paid.
(09:10):
Now we have the opposite of that. We're no longer
a slave of sin. We're a slave of righteousness. We're
no longer under the curse of the law. We're we're
under grace. Uh, we're no longer in Satan's kingdom. That's
the place of lies and destruction. Now we're what in
Christ kingdom. We're no longer enslaved to this present evil
world that the Scripture says in Galatians one four. But
(09:31):
we're what now? We're what? Um, we're citizens of heaven. Um,
so all of those things, we're now no longer slaves
to death, but now we have eternal life. Um, we're
not now enslaved to what Peter calls a futile or
empty way of life. Now we can know abundant life.
So the radical change because of redemption, that's just one
(09:54):
of many others that we can go over. Um, in
those glorious words that describe, in a sense, the accomplishment
of the cross. So that's the Good Friday. It truly
is a good Friday. It's better than any of us
have ever conceived of. It's how we can continue to talk. Uh.
It's glorious, in a sense. It's even better. I did
a doctorate in systematic theology. But even after that, as
(10:16):
much as I so appreciated that, as I looked at Scripture,
it's even more wonderful than I discovered then. Um, as
you explore all the various aspects of the accomplishments of
the cross.
S2 (10:27):
Yeah. That's great. That is. It's probably one of the
best descriptions of Good Friday I've heard, and I thank
you for sharing that with us. And that's part of
putting God back in the holidays. Our guest is doctor
Bill Thrasher, and we're talking about what does the cross
mean for us? If you have questions about this celebration
of the cross and recognition of Resurrection Sunday, we'd love
(10:49):
to hear from you. 87754836758775483675. We'll come back. We'll talk
about some more of those accomplishments of the cross like redemption.
We'll talk more about what these holidays mean and how
we should share them with friends and family. Maybe most importantly,
(11:12):
maybe even today. My friend, you're not sure what the
real meaning of Easter is, or what it has to
do with your life. We'll talk more about that as well. 87754836758775483675.
Stay with us. More equipped with Chris Brooks coming up
in just a moment.
S1 (11:38):
Christianity speaks to every aspect of life, but sometimes we
struggle to connect God's unchanging truth to our changing world.
Apologetics for an Ever Changing Culture by Sean McDowell equips
you with the practical tools for meaningful conversation about faith.
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(11:59):
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S2 (12:16):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today. So great to have you along.
It is Holy Week and our topic today. What does
the cross mean for me? Our guest, doctor Bill Thrasher,
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary,
author of the book Putting God Back in the holidays.
(12:36):
And just before the break, we were talking about some
of the words or accomplishments that happen on the cross.
We'll get back to those in just a moment. Uh,
one of the things you talk about, I know overall
with regard to Easter, uh, Doctor Thrasher, is how Easter
shows that God promises and is faithful to be true
(12:59):
to all of his promises. Can you talk for a
moment about that?
S3 (13:03):
Yeah, I'm thinking about that statement we read in the
Gospel of Matthew, verse five and six says, he, he
was he was raised from the dead. You know, when
they're looking at the empty tomb, just as he had promised. Um,
so he was he promised that he would be, that
he would be die. But not only he would, he
was not he was not tragically killed. He was what
he laid down his own life. And then he also
(13:25):
raised it up again. The and so all of his promises.
And so I, I go over in the book at
least four key promises. The promise of pardon, the promise
of forgiveness. No one can forgive but God alone. Um,
and you know, he would want you to know that
what I sometimes I, like you sometimes need a statement
that uses the word all in it. Um, Colossians 213
(13:48):
and 14 is one of those. I remember reading this
book many, many years ago about spiritual depression, and each
chapter gave a reason for spiritual depression. In one chapter
was this one thing I did. The, uh, I remember also, uh,
and uh, also I remember a godly lady who was
a pastor's wife who confided in a friend of mine, finally,
(14:10):
because she was just being eaten alive with this one
thing that had happened in her life that she had done,
she felt very guilty about. And she finally confided in my, uh,
my friend and she said, you know, I'm just not
worthy to praise God these other people are worthy to
praise God. I'm really not. She said, you know, in
my past, I've had an abortion. And, um, and he
very lovingly and tenderly and graciously, uh, was able to
(14:31):
come around and tell her this. You know what? You're
a whole lot worse off than you think you are.
He thought if I didn't have that abortion, I'd be worthy.
But he saw how the depth, if all I did
was thank one unholy thought, uh, God would be perfectly just.
And sentencing me to hell forever. You know, the idea
that we are. He has pardoned us and forgiven us.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you'll be clean.
(14:51):
I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, from all
your idolatry. The glory John Wesley used to tell his men,
don't go out to preach until you know your sins
are forgiven. You know, so it's not. Maybe it's not.
We hope so. It is the promise of purpose. Um.
We were created by him and for him. One of
the reasons Jesus died. That we could no longer live
for ourselves, but for him who died and rose on
(15:13):
our behalf. I think a person who has purpose has
learned to find purpose in the mundane of life. Much
of life is mundane. It's taking out the garbage. It's
paying the bills. But whatever you do, whether you eat
or drink or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God. Person who can find meaning in that,
and also a person who's able to put their whole
life into life. There was a very successful man. He
(15:36):
was talking to a a believer one day and he says,
you know, you seem to have such purpose. Uh, he says,
you know, I have a very prestigious job and people
look up to me. But I want to tell you
something that's true. I'm very bored. There's a there's a
boredom factor in my life. And and the Christian told
him this. He says, you know, um, you do have
a very prestigious job, but. But you probably can do
(15:58):
your job with maybe 60 or 70% of your capacities.
You have a 30% boredom factor. My God requires the
totality of me to be involved in life. It may
be I'm doing a particular task. It may not require 100%
of me. But he says, what percent? All the members
of your body to God. And so whatever I do
as instruments of righteousness, so every part of me and
(16:20):
every even the mundane life I can know fellowship with God.
That's why I have such purpose. See, Jesus's death made
that possible. That's why one can have what great purpose? Uh,
there's the promise of power. The power to what? That
the power to live. The power to live a new life. Um.
And not only that, I tell you the promise of power.
(16:41):
This especially in regard to the resurrection. This is a
thrilling to me. This is a way of God. It's
what God can give you power. And I pray that
for everybody listening here, he can give you power to
have victory out of apparent defeat. Uh. That's the message
of the cross. See, when Jesus was in the grave
there on the Good Friday, the what we celebrate in
this week. Um, it looked like the enemies of righteousness
(17:03):
had won. But God was winning his greatest victory. And
then came the resurrection. That is a way of God
that will happen in our life as well. God can
bring you low and it looks like there's just no hope.
But he brings you low, witch and the devil will
will try to get you to despair in that low state.
But in that low state, God wants you to cry
out to him and experience that victory out of apparent defeat.
(17:27):
So that's that's thrilling. Uh, the promise of peace, you know,
Maundy Thursday now, when he when he, uh, instituted the
Lord's Supper, it says it was in the in the
day that he was betrayed. Uh, he was going through
that incredible pressure. But that Lord. And he had there
was a plot to kill him, and he was facing death.
(17:48):
But he said, my peace I give unto you, not
as the world gives out to you. He wants you
to know his peace. If there's anything on anyone's heart.
God gives you that thing. What? He commands you to
be anxious for nothing. And that would make you more
anxious if you didn't continue by saying, every time you
attempt to be anxious, talk to me about it. Tell
me what you want me to do about it, and
don't forget to thank me. Uh, you know, maybe the
(18:11):
goal of all of us in regard to the sovereign Lord,
would you show me any care, any. I want to
walk away from our time together today. Then what? All.
Casting all your cares upon him. Because he cares for you.
God's promises are true. The promise of peace. I know
how much I starve for peace as a college student.
That's what drew me into a real surrender. My life
to the Lord. Uh, outwardly, my circumstances were going quite well,
(18:35):
but inwardly they weren't. And so God wants to give
you that peace. And that's a glorious truth.
S2 (18:42):
Wonderful promises. Uh, shared by our guest, doctor Bill Thrasher.
We're talking about what the cross means for us. And
he's written a book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
So important because we can face so many challenges around
the holidays related to family, related to life in general. Uh,
it can be a time of darkness. Doctor Thrasher I
(19:02):
know you know from writing about the holidays, sometimes the holidays,
which are meant to be, uh, celebratory, end up being
very dark and challenging times, either because of loneliness or
because of family situations. That just is something that seems
to be a normal part of life.
S3 (19:20):
That's that's very, very true. And sometimes, uh, the holidays
and some people's mind, they seem to, uh, almost picture
an unrealistic ideal that maybe I don't quite measure up to. But,
you know, whatever your situation, some people aren't in a
Christian family. They, you know, but but but God wants to. What?
He wants to meet you where you are. Um, and
(19:43):
so go into every holiday saying, Lord, enhance my relationship
with you. Lord, help me make the most of this opportunity.
And Lord, I pray you would help me in your
strength to be a vessel of love. Sometimes a vessel
of love to people who don't understand me. A vessel
of love to to don't understand why I'm celebrating this
and don't appreciate it. But. But God can aid you
(20:04):
and and give you victory, uh, in whatever situation you're in.
And he understands you, and he loves you.
S2 (20:11):
If you're listening today and you don't know Jesus or
you're not sure of your spiritual condition, I want to
remind you there is a phone number you can call
and get somebody to respond immediately. It's eight, eight, eight.
Need him? That's eight, eight, eight need him. There's somebody
standing by to talk to you. If you'd like to
learn more specifically right away. Uh, there's a video you
(20:35):
can watch and a book we'd like to send you.
You can text the word gospel. To (800)Â 600-9624 (800)Â 600-9624. Just
text the word gospel goes, and we'd love to send
you some things to help you get started in your
(20:55):
walk with Jesus, and we'll talk more about that as
we go along today. Uh, Doctor Thrasher, we were talking
earlier about some of the words or accomplishments of the cross.
We started with redemption. Could we move to the word which.
It's a big word. Most of us don't use it
in our daily conversation, but it's important. It's propitiation. What
does it mean? And what do we need to know
(21:16):
about it?
S3 (21:17):
You know, that's the Godward side of the cross. It's
it's the idea that that Christ's death fully satisfied God's righteousness. Uh,
it talks about the Scripture does say, because he's righteous,
we're under the wrath of God. Um, now that's totally
different than pagan religions that where people are held in
(21:38):
sort of, uh, they're in bondage in a sense to
they never know when God's going to have a fit
of passion or whatever. And they're but that's totally different than, than,
than the scriptures about propitiation. God is righteous, yes, but
he provides the propitiatory sacrifice. God yearns for us to
escape his wrath. He's totally satisfied with what Christ has
(22:00):
done on the cross. That's why he says we can
confess our sins and he's faithful and righteous. He doesn't compromise.
He yearns. To what? Restore you? Um, my little children,
I'm writing these things that you may not sin. But
if you do sin, we have a we have an
advocate with the father who is the propitiation for our
sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Really,
(22:22):
it's how we confess our sins many times shows our
understanding or lack of understanding of this propitiation. I remember
hearing an older, wise man through an old videotape. Uh, actually,
it was so old. It was a reel to reel tape.
This is a man that probably went to be with
the Lord 70 years ago, but he was he was
talking to his students. He was actually the first president
(22:43):
of the seminary that I went to. He died way
before I got there, but he was talking to his
students about propitiation, and he's the one who pointed out
to me that the the, the father of the prodigal
son kissed the son before he made his confession. Yeah.
You know, it's not like his arms were were folded saying, okay,
fess up. See if I want to be on your side.
It's like God is running to him and wants to
(23:05):
reconcile him. There was this wise, wise mother when she
would discipline her children. Uh, and they would be, you know, confess,
and they would get, uh, get things right. And, uh,
she'd look him in the eye and said, you can
be happy now. You can be happy now. She didn't
want him to think. And God doesn't want you to
think either, that you sort of have to do penance.
You sort of have to be on probation for a
(23:27):
while to earn back a good standing with God. So, yes,
God wants to lovingly discipline us that we might share
his holiness, but his discipline is out of love because
of propitiation. So I remember when I learned that propitiation
in a fresh way. I remember riding on a three
by five car to cards still have that three by
five card set, you know. Never has living a holy
(23:48):
life been such a joy as understanding afresh that God
is propitious. Uh, so that's a beautiful concept. Draw near
to him, and he will draw near to you. God yearns.
He's the most reconcilable person you'll ever be in a
relationship with. Don't come to him. See? Sometimes it's the
devil will hide. Get you to hide things out of shame. Um,
(24:09):
I was talking to a. I was not talking to,
but I was listening to a funeral the other day, and.
And this, uh, dear son who so respected his father.
But he was wrestling with things inside of him, and
he said, you know, I just never I didn't feel
like I measured up anyhow, to my father. And I
just kept these things secret, and and that's just until
I was 30 years old, and I got out of
(24:31):
that bondage. And, you know, that that story could be
multiplied many, many times. God is propitious. He wants you
to what? That's, I guess, the next thing. Reconciliation. Uh,
the barrier has been broken down. I remember, um, a
dear student spontaneously in, uh, before class started, he said.
He said he was struggling with an ungodly habit and, um,
(24:51):
and he was asking God to deliver it from that
ungodly habit. But he still had that ungodly habit. And finally,
a discerning, loving man of God came to him, looked
him straight in the eye and said, you know, you
don't really want God to answer that prayer, do you?
You love that ungodly habit. He said that was the
absolute truth, and one of the most humbling things he
ever did is he came to God and said, God,
I'm really ashamed of this, but Lord, I love this
(25:11):
ungodly habit. You know what else he said? That was
the beginning of breaking the ungodly habit. Um, you know,
to me, that testimony helped me understand what it means
to come boldly, come with freedom to the throne of grace. Uh,
not deceitfully, but freedom to the throne of grace.
S2 (25:29):
Doctor Bill Thrasher is our guest. What does the cross
mean for us? We'll talk more about it. Some of
the accomplishments of the cross. We've talked about redemption, propitiation, reconciliation.
There's more to come. Like, like deliverance from sin's power,
defeat of Satan, and a basis of the New covenant. Uh,
so much more to come. You may have questions as well.
(25:50):
What questions do you have about the events of Easter?
Or maybe you have questions about knowing Jesus in general.
We'd love to talk to you. (877)Â 548-3675. That's (877)Â 548-3675. Equipped
with Chris Brooks. We'll be back with more coming up
in just a moment. Welcome back to equipped with Chris
(26:20):
Brooks I'm Colin Lambert sitting in for Chris today. So
grateful you are with us. It is Holy Week. We're
entering the final days of the week, Good Friday tomorrow,
Resurrection Sunday just ahead. And we're talking with doctor Bill Thrasher,
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary,
about what the cross means for us and to us.
(26:42):
He's written a book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
And boy, how important is that in a country where holidays,
the real meaning of so many holidays have just about disappeared? Uh,
Doctor Thrasher, just before the break, we were talking about, um, reconciliation. Propitiation.
You actually shared a story of a young man that
talked about a a habit or a sin that he
(27:04):
couldn't seem to overcome. Could we talk for a moment
related to the cross, about what the cross means about
the defeat of Satan and the deliverance from sin's power?
S3 (27:18):
Yes. You know, the the good news is that that
Jesus died to pay for the penalty of sin, that
I can know forgiveness and I can have a relationship
with him. But he also died in regard to the
power of sin. Um, think about the greatest struggle in
your life. Um, And that's where we enter into that.
(27:44):
Probably it's Romans six is one of the passages that
talks about the deliverance from Satan's power. Um, and he
tells us, okay, let me tell you how to tap
into that. Um, he says, I'm going to give you
three key words. Uh, he says the first ones, verse six,
he says, I want you to know something. Know that
when you trusted Jesus, your whole life as a slave
(28:07):
of sin came to an end. Sin's dominion over your
body came to an end. Um, now, how do you
know that? You know the same way you know that
you that you know John 316 because God has revealed
it to you. Now he goes on to say, okay,
in verse 11, I think that may be the first
command we're given in the book of Romans 11. He says,
(28:27):
what I want you to NIV. We use the word consider.
NIV uses the word count. I think the old King
James used the word reckon. I want you to see
yourself a certain way, and it's a present tense in
the Greek text to show a continuation of that. Continually
see yourself in a certain way. See yourself as a
winner in the spiritual realm. Um, you say, um, I
(28:49):
may not feel like a winner. You know, my my
my track record is much more defeat than win. Okay?
God says, but that's not who you are. And so
maybe a good way to apply that verse is just
to think of the most difficult situation of your life
and praise Jesus Christ that Jesus, you shed your blood,
that I can be a winner in that situation. Obeying
is winning. And so, Lord, if you went to the
(29:10):
trouble of dying on the cross for me, I believe
you are going to show me how to tap in
to that victorious work. Now he gives another key word
the all three are important. You can't divorce any one
of them from the other. No consider or reckon. Uh.
Thirdly is he said the NASB. NASB uses the word present. Um,
(29:33):
I think it's often in the NIV and it's, uh,
yield in and the old King James. Don't keep on
presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments
of righteousness, but present yourself to God as those alive
from the dead and all the members of your body,
to him as instruments of righteousness. So you see, you
have to enter into that in your will. You cannot
(29:53):
play with sin and have victory over it. Um, I've
read this a clever way. Uh, this illustration said in
North Africa. Maybe it's beyond that. North Africa, they have
a clever way to catch a monkey. They they have
a gourd, and they put a nut in the gourd,
and they have a hole just big enough for the
monkey to stick his paw in there, and he gets
the nut. Then all but but with the nut in
(30:15):
his hand, the hole is not big enough for him
to get to remove his hand. So? So he he
won't let go of the nut, and he gets captured
because of his covetousness. I remember the illustration said, we
might expect this kind of thing in a dumb animal,
but not in a person, certainly not in a person
made in the image of God. Yet it happens every day.
You got to release your grip on anything that's causing
you to sin. Um, I'll give you two contrasting things.
(30:38):
I remember an individual that the story is told. He
was he was angry at God because he had committed adultery.
And the person said, well, why are you angry at God?
Maybe you'd think maybe God may be frustrated with you,
that oh, I was asking God not to let it happen.
I was asking God not to let it happen and
he let it happen. Well, tell me about that. As
you were praying about that, he said, well, it was
(31:01):
a lady at work. And, uh, okay. As you were
praying about that. Yeah. We continued to have lunch every day. And, uh,
and this man took a big, big book, and he was, uh,
and he was pushing it across his desk and he said,
don't let this drop. Don't let this drop, don't let
this drop and boom, let it drop. And the man said,
that was a stupid prayer. No, not any more stupid
(31:22):
than the prayer you were saying. See, we you can't
play with sin and have victory over it. I remember
taking a trip to, uh, actually to to Brooklyn, New York,
with four other men that I'd asked to come with
me because they really loved prayer and believed in prayer.
And this dear man on that trip really opened his
heart up. He's with the Lord now, and he was
(31:42):
an older man, maybe in his 60s then. And he says,
you know, let me tell you why. I've never married.
I've never married because what I've lived in bondage, sensual
bondage most of my life. But but he said, you
know what? I've lived in victory the last five years.
He says, let me tell you what it took after
those years of bondage for me. He said, I can't
(32:06):
have a computer in my home. I can't have a
TV in my home. Um, now that sounds. Now, I
know that sounds so unrealistic, but I tell you, I
tried everything. I went to account everything for, what, 20
something years? But I. But I never go more than
one day at a time. And I believe God vow
to keep myself pure for that one day. He says
I've lived in victory. Now that's a totally different what
(32:27):
he entered in to what? Yes, Jesus shed his blood.
We need to know that we need to see ourselves
as a winner in the spiritual realm, and any way
God wants us to cooperate with him, God will. What?
Jesus says, if your right eye causes you to stumble,
pluck it out. Now he's talking about form there, but
he's saying whatever cause Jesus wants. He shed his blood.
You can live in victory. And may God do that.
(32:48):
May he pour out his grace upon us. And may
he usher in to us a freedom that we've never
known on this. As we celebrate this Holy Week and
we anticipate Good Friday, that is the good news. Now
in regard to the defeat of the devil. Um, see,
I can sin in any way without the devil's help.
I have no problem doing that. But sometimes it is
(33:08):
more than just me. See, I can be afraid. I
can be sensual. I can be, uh, guilt. I can
have all kind of angry. Um, but sometimes there's more
that I remember. This godly, godly man. He actually was
a professor at another school, and he said there was
a week that he and his wife were just seemingly
at each other's throat. And he says, not that that's
beyond us. Um, but, you know, we just got on
(33:29):
our knees saying, Lord, we think there's somebody that's trying
to disrupt our relationship with somebody that's trying to disrupt
the unity that you desire, and we ask you in
the name of Jesus to what? Like Michael the Archangel,
would you rebuke the devil in any way he was seeking?
You know that turn that situation around. So you see,
we have authority of the devil. We're not to be
ignorant of his schemes, but we know that when Jesus
(33:51):
shed his blood, he defeated the devil. The devil doesn't
want you to know that. Um, he wants you to
live in that defeat. But you can be victorious. You
can be victorious. Jesus shed his blood, that you can
be victorious. He fully paid that price. You belong to
Jesus and Jesus alone. So those are good news. Whatever
your situation is, God wants to give you hope in
(34:12):
your spirit. He wants to give you the power to
live a new life.
S2 (34:16):
Good news. Such good news. And that's what we're talking
about this week. The good news of Jesus Christ. Again,
let me remind you, if you're listening right now and
you're wondering about your own position with Christ or how
your spiritual life could potentially move forward. There's a number
you can call with people waiting to talk to you. Eight, eight, eight.
(34:36):
Need him is the number. Eight. Eight. Eight need him.
And if you've made a decision or want to make
a decision for Christ, want to learn more about starting
a life in Christ. You can text the word gospel
to this number (800)Â 600-9624. There'll be a video there explaining
(34:58):
exactly what. Making that commitment is about. We'll send you
a copy of the New Testament. We'll send you another
book that will help you as you start your walk
with Christ. Again, text the word gospel to (800)Â 600-9624. Doctor Thrasher,
somebody who comes into this conversation or a conversation about
(35:20):
the cross of Christ. Uh, you've said it a number
of times. They're going to hear a lot of talk
about Christ's blood. There's even a lot of people who
have left the faith, or who are questioning the faith
that say, what does all this blood talk about? That's
that's kind of gross. That's kind of weird. I don't
understand what is this blood talk about? Can you give
(35:44):
us a little bit of the the idea and concept
of what the importance of the blood of Christ is?
S3 (35:51):
Yeah, certainly. I think it speaks of a violent death.
It speaks of a sacrificial death and a God out
of his great love. Uh, there needed to be a
payment that was sufficient. That's the Jesus as the God
man is man. He could die as God. The the
death would be sufficient to pay for the sins of
the world. And so, uh, it was prefigured in the
(36:12):
Old Testament and through the whole sacrificial system. Uh, and
when the John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. So it's a glorious thing. He gave his
life voluntarily and willfully, Hopefully, um, that we would not
have to, um, that we could know eternal life. Um,
and so when you trust Jesus, you have eternal this
(36:34):
is eternal life, that you may know God and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent. So we praise God for that.
Upon the death that didn't die upon a life I
didn't live, another's death, another's life. I base my whole eternity. Um,
he shed his blood to forgive us. He also perfectly
kept God's law. And he and and God imputes that
perfect record to our to our account that we can
stand before God not only as if we've never sinned,
(36:56):
but as if we perfectly kept his his every aspect
of his law. And so, uh, that's the good news,
that God is that holy. He's that wonderful. But he's
provided a way, um, that each of us, uh, we
don't deserve it. We're to bow down and receive that gift.
That gift that God wants to give us. He. He's
yearning to give you that gift. Uh, he's not willing
(37:18):
that any should perish, but all should come to the
knowledge of the truth. That's true with each one of us.
And so we praise God for that. We owe our
life to him, and we thank God for that.
S2 (37:27):
Amen. Doctor Bill Thrasher, our guest. When we come back
in just a moment, we'll talk about what is this
new covenant we hear about related to Christ's death and resurrection?
What does substitution really mean? And what do we need
to know about the glorification of God's character? Those are
coming up in just a moment. Maybe you have questions
about Easter, about the faith. We'd love to hear from you.
(37:50):
You can call right now 87754836758775483675. Back with more of
equipped with Chris Brooks coming up in just a moment
right here on Moody Radio.
S1 (38:15):
As a dad, a friend and a neighbor, I share
your concerns over the growing problems in our culture. That's
why on equip we tackle the tough issues learning how
to respond with grace and truth. We're looking for like
minded partners to stand with us. Would you be willing
to become an Equipper today? In this role, you'll give
a monthly donation to support the Ministry of Equip and
as an Equipper, you'll receive insider benefits, such as a
(38:37):
bi weekly email that contains pastoral messages prepared just for you.
Become an Equipper today by calling 888644 4144 or go
to Equip radio.org.
S2 (38:53):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today our topic what does the
cross mean for me. Our guest Doctor William Thrasher. And
we're grateful to have him with us. Uh, just want
to take a moment to let you know about an
existing news story we've just gotten word of. It's hitting
all of the TV stations and wires right now. Uh,
(39:16):
there's been a shooting on the Florida State University campus
in Tallahassee, Florida. Students are locked down. At least four
people have been hospitalized. There are conflicting reports as to
whether or not the person has been taken into custody
or not, or is still alive. Classes have been canceled
for today. Athletic events have been canceled. And, uh, you know,
(39:38):
we have a history here on equipped of just taking
a moment and praying, uh, for situations like this, for
those impacted, for those who are even now dealing with
whatever's going on there. Doctor Thrasher, would you be willing
to to pray for this? Uh, right now, this situation.
S3 (39:55):
Thank you for letting me know. I'd be glad to. And, Lord,
we join with with many, many others, Lord, that are
listening with us. We join and we come to your
throne of grace, Lord, that you invite us to. Because
of the shed blood of Jesus and Father, we ask
God that you put your protection, Lord, upon the campuses.
Upon this campus, we pray God that you have mercy
(40:16):
upon these ones that have been shot. We pray even
upon the killer, Lord Jesus, you would bring him to
sobriety and even repentance. And so God used this Lord
Jesus once again to remind us that we don't live
on this earth forever. Um, and we don't know when
our last breath will be. But God, would you any
ones that don't know for certainty where they would spend
(40:38):
eternity if you were to call us home? Now, we
ask God that they receive the gift of your Son
of Jesus. And so, father, pour out your grace upon
our land, uh, in ways that we've never experienced. We
ask you for a fresh revival. Dear God, the revival
that I experienced in the 70s where you host for
us many, many people into Christ. God, would you do
(40:58):
a great work? We pray for all the gospel workers
there on the Florida State campus. God, would you empower
them to present your Christ with even a greater urgency?
We pray that for each one of us, dear God,
so we enter into this crisis moment that you care.
We appeal to your mercy to intervene. Lord Jesus there.
Thank you for allowing us to do this. In Jesus name, Amen.
S2 (41:19):
Amen, Amen. Thank you, Doctor Thrasher. Appreciate it. We continue
now with our conversation. What does the cross mean for me?
Doctor Thrasher has written a book called Putting God Back
in the holidays, and one of the things you talk
about are the accomplishments of the cross. We've been going
through some of those, uh, in the Old Testament there
was an Old covenant, but actually the cross itself is
(41:40):
a basis for the New covenant. Can you talk about that?
S3 (41:44):
You know, that's what the Lord said there in Matthew 2628.
This is the new covenant in my blood and and
the whole you know, I think I went through seminary
and even started teaching and and we the covenants were
a great emphasis upon the Abrahamic Covenant, Davidic covenant. But,
you know, I, I think it took me a while
to realize the obvious that I was in a covenant
relationship with God. And I remember sitting across the the
(42:07):
breakfast table from a dear, godly man that I worked
with her earlier at Moody, and he said, you know,
our problem is we tend to take ourselves very seriously,
but we don't take God and His Word seriously enough.
You know, the fact that God has coveted to do
something for us. He's solemnly promised, uh, to me, when
I began to really digest that, it was a little
bit easier to trust God. Um, what does he solemnly promise?
(42:30):
He's promised to what? Forgive us. I quoted earlier Ezekiel 3625.
That's when the New covenant was was instituted there with Israel.
And we share in that new covenant. The Apostle Paul
says in two Corinthians three and four, he says, I
will sprinkle clean water on you will be clean. I
will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all
your idolatry. He allows you to what? To know his
forgiveness and also to live in light of that continual
(42:52):
cleansing as we walk in the light before him. He
has also promised solemnly promised covenant to enable you. I
love Ezekiel 3627. He says, I will put my spirit
within you, and he will cause you to walk in
my statutes. There's no demand upon you that you have
to go about by yourself. You can look to him
with certainty. God says, if I if I've called you
(43:13):
to do it, I'm going to enable you. Uh, I
will put my spirit within you, and he will cause
you to walk in my statutes. He will also sustain you.
I love that when he's talking about that new covenant
there in two Corinthians four one he says, apart from
the mercy of God, I would lose heart. But God
mercifully sustains him. He talks about God renewing his inner man,
and I praise God that he has sustained me. There
(43:34):
have been times in my life I'm sure you'd say
the same. Um. That what? I didn't think I could
take another step forward, but yet I'm here. God has
sustained me. God is the God who gives encouragement and endurance.
And God can do that for you. You look to
him one moment at a time. Don't be anxious for tomorrow.
Don't be anxious for the next moment. Just trust God
to live each moment at a time. So that's glorious
(43:55):
truths that God has coveted. He's solemnly promised. And I've
mentioned three things to forgive you, to sustain you, and
to enable you to do whatever he calls you to do.
I think that's why you don't fear whatever God would
ask you to do. If God just told me anything
he tells me to do is for my good. But
but if he did not give me the motivation and
the power to do it, I couldn't love that God,
(44:16):
he'd look looked like a monster in the sky. If
he asked me to do things, but he didn't give
me the motivation and power to do them because he's
coveted he. You're in that new covenant he's coveted. He
will not just sustain you, he will enable you with
his motivation and with his power. So that's good news.
S2 (44:33):
That is good news. Doctor Thrasher, we just have a
minute left here. We'd be remiss in talking about this
topic if we didn't tell somebody listening today what it
takes to become a follower of Christ. Could you just
share quickly your thoughts on that?
S3 (44:49):
Yeah. You know, there's two religions in the world do
are done, uh, do this and you do this. Christ
said it is done. It is finished. It's paid. The
idea from a term that means what? Paid in full.
He's paid everything. He wants you to come. Recognize your need.
Recognize your need. We have offended the Holy God, and
we're under his wrath. But he bore that wrath. He.
(45:10):
He invites you now. To what? Trust him. And to
know not just forgiveness. Not to put you back on probation,
but to what? Give you complete, absolute forgiveness. He wants
you to know that he delights in you. He loves you,
and he wants to have a relationship with you. You
can begin that right now. If you said, Lord Jesus,
I trust you. I am a sinner and I'm looking
to you and you alone. What you've done to forgive
(45:33):
me of my sins. I accept that gift, and I
ask you to make me a new person and teach
me how to live for the glory of God. He
will answer that prayer. We and we pray that you
would pray that today, and call these numbers that colonists
told you about and to receive help.
S2 (45:49):
If you have prayed that prayer or want to pray
that prayer, I want to encourage you to call the
number (800)Â 600-9624. Text the word gospel. There you'll find materials available.
We'll send them to you absolutely free. No obligation. If
you want to, uh, move forward with your life in Christ. (800)Â 600-9624.
(46:10):
Text the word gospel. And if you want to talk
to somebody right now about your faith. 888 need him. Eight, eight,
eight need him. Doctor Thrasher. Such a pleasure to talk
to you. Thanks so much for your time today and
helping us focus on the cross during this important week.
S3 (46:28):
My delight. Thank you very, very much.
S2 (46:32):
Well, those numbers again text. The word gospel goes to (800)Â 600-9624.
Or call to talk to someone. 888. Need him. That's
888 him. So great to be with you today. Good
Friday tomorrow and Resurrection Sunday. Just ahead. If you don't
have a church to go to, I encourage you to
(46:53):
find one this weekend and be part of a local
body of believers. Thanks so much for sitting in with
us today. Great to be with you. Equipped with Chris
Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
Moody Bible Institute.
Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of
equip with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined
us today. Do me a favor strap on your seat
belt as we navigate through the contours of culture, as
always with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But
before we do that, let me remind you, this is
the day that the Lord has made. He is giving
(00:40):
it as a gift so that you and I can
rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that.
Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Today
I want you to help me to welcome to the
host seat, my good friend Colin Lambert. Colin is a
man of God who ministers through radio for decades, including
(01:02):
many years at Moody Radio. He's the host of Missions
today and is passionate about seeing people across the globe
growing Christ Jesus. Colin, thanks for leading this edition of equip.
S2 (01:16):
So great to be with you today. Thank you Chris.
Appreciate it. Let us all continue to pray for Chris
and his family as they are out and dealing with
the illness of Chris's daughter. I know that you've been
busy doing that. I want to encourage you to keep
that up. Do not stop praying for Chris and his daughter,
Zoe and their family as they're going through these challenging times. Well,
(01:38):
it's Maundy Thursday. What is that? It's also known as
Holy Thursday. It's a Christian holy day that commemorates events known, uh,
such as the washing of the feet and the Last Supper.
And that's something we're going to talk about today. And
we'll talk about quite a bit related to Easter, actually,
as we focus in on what the cross means for
(01:59):
me and you, what does the cross really about? What
do we need to know about it? Uh, what maybe
have we forgotten about it? That would be helpful for
us as we head into this holy weekend, uh, to
join us and talk about it. Doctor William Thrasher. He's
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary.
He's a frequent speaker at churches and retreats nationwide. His
(02:22):
ministry passions include campus discipleship, singles ministry, and evangelism. And
he's written the book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
We'll talk more about that in just a moment as well.
But first, let me welcome Doctor William Thrasher to equip. Doctor,
thanks for being with us today.
S3 (02:40):
Delight to be with you. Thank you very much.
S2 (02:42):
Before we get into some of the specifics about holidays
in general and then this holiday, there are some who
would look at some of the holidays that Christians, uh,
celebrate or recognize and say, hey, we shouldn't be doing this.
At one time, way back in antiquity, there was a
pagan holiday, and we shouldn't be doing that. We need
(03:03):
to be different than the world. Do you have any
concerns about celebrating Easter or Resurrection Sunday?
S3 (03:10):
Well, I think the Lord has given us the Lord's
Table to an ordinance that we should remember not like.
Remember an ancient history lesson, but remember what he did
in a way that we bring it into today. Certainly,
you see, in the Old Testament he gave a sort
of a religious calendar. We're not under that. But we
do need time. To what? Reflect. And there's nothing wrong
(03:32):
with that. Certainly we want to be delivered from any
pagan understanding of it. And I think that's was one
of the purposes of writing the book. Putting God back
in the holidays. I think the devil is sometimes tried
to what? Rob, uh, the Lord of the great spiritual
meaning of many of the holidays. Um, and I think
there is a special battle around the holidays I can share.
(03:54):
I didn't write this book to give people an extra
burden in regard to the holidays, but I wanted Christ
to enter in and aid them, um, in, in their
holiday celebration. So I pray that for all of us
this week that God would truly enhance our relationship with him.
And I pray that our time together today would somehow
add to that.
S2 (04:14):
Yeah, you mentioned this battle concept. Why do you feel
that so many people experience a battle around the holidays?
S3 (04:23):
Well, I certainly did, and quite frankly, that would be
the motivation. And I was thinking, even as a student, I,
I recognized this, you know, when I would approach the
Christmas holidays, Christmas break, that if I charted my spiritual
life and that especially that lengthy holiday, would that my
spiritual life in the chart of it would be more
of a valley than a peak? Um, and I did
(04:46):
sense a special battle. And I think part of it,
the reason is what, uh, the devil hates Christ, and
he hates the people who represent him and wants to
give hope to the world. So, uh, I remember when
I sensed God leading me into teaching. I kept a list. God,
if you ever open the door and I'm able to
be a professor. Um, how could I make the use
of that opportunity? And I kept a list of things
(05:08):
that if God ever opened the door, that I would
seek to try to do. One of that is to
prepare my students for the holidays. For the last 45 years.
That's how long I've been at Moody. I've done that every,
every year in regard to, especially ever since the Christmas
holidays and other holidays. And that's the origin of the book. Um,
it's more of out of my own weakness, not out
(05:29):
of trying to give people extra to do things that
would be burdensome. But how is it that Christ can
enter into their holiday and enhance their relationship with him?
And I pray that this holiday in a special way.
S2 (05:41):
Yeah. As we look at Easter, how would you say
that Easter declares Christ as being the unique Son of God?
What is it about it?
S3 (05:50):
Well, uh, that's exactly what the Scripture says there in
Romans four. It declared him to be the unique Son
of God. He's the only one that what claimed to
be God and predicted and accomplished his own resurrection. Uh,
no other religious leader, uh, you know, he it declared
him to be the Son of God. You know, uh,
Sometimes when we aren't, you know, the idea of the
(06:10):
Son of God. I think in my early years I
was raised in a in a denominational church. A lot
of wonderful, good people. But what I was very uninformed,
and I think sometimes I thought Son of God was
maybe a little notch below God. Uh, but, you know,
when Jesus, uh, when he claimed to be the unique
Son of God, they picked up stones. Uh, we're there
(06:31):
was in John five. We're not trying to kill you
just because you've broken the Sabbath, but you're making yourself
out to be equal with God by calling God your son.
So this declare that it was not just an empty claim,
but it was a claim that he alone was a
unique Son of God. He is preeminent above all. Uh,
every one day will bow to him and recognize that
(06:52):
he is a unique Son of God. That's where history
is headed. Um, and so this was a great authentication
of that. Uh, unlike any other religious leader.
S2 (07:02):
Tomorrow is known as Good Friday. Uh, tell us a
little bit about the meaning. Help us understand Good Friday. It's.
It seems like an oxymoron that you would call Friday
when Christ is crucified. Good. Because of the violence of it.
Tell us a little bit about Good Friday.
S3 (07:21):
Well, yeah, it certainly it's the incredible accomplishment of the cross.
And that's a great theme of scripture, the accomplishments of
the cross. One word could never describe all that Jesus did.
So he's given numerous words in my book. I describe
numerous concepts and try to chart them out, that you
(07:42):
can explain them to a young person or an adult. Uh, like, uh, redemption. Uh,
that's a slave market term that we were we were enslaved.
Scripture says there's six things we were enslaved to. And
the only one, the the only key that would open
the prison gate was what? The blood of Jesus. That's
(08:05):
the redemption price. And so he redeemed us that we
might be a people for his own possession. Uh, one
of the greatest needs in the human heart is to belong.
The fact that's one of the greatest gifts that we
belong to him. And, you know, there's so much freighted
in regard to that we belong to Jesus. Um, that
(08:25):
you sometimes hear the phrase in spiritual warfare, praying, pleading
the blood. Well, because we belong to Jesus, we plead
the blood in this sense that Jesus, I belong to
you and the devil has no right to any claim
upon my life. And that is a glorious truth. Um,
in fact, Scripture says, you know, when we we can
give the devil claim, we go to bed angry. We
(08:47):
give the place for the devil. But you know the
good news of this. And there's none of us that
haven't struggle with that or done that. But you know,
you can, even through the blood of Jesus, reclaim that ground.
I pray that would be every listener now. They would
live in light of that. That what we belong to
Jesus and Jesus alone, and all those things we were
enslaved to because of that, that ransom price that was paid.
(09:10):
Now we have the opposite of that. We're no longer
a slave of sin. We're a slave of righteousness. We're
no longer under the curse of the law. We're we're
under grace. Uh, we're no longer in Satan's kingdom. That's
the place of lies and destruction. Now we're what in
Christ kingdom. We're no longer enslaved to this present evil
world that the Scripture says in Galatians one four. But
(09:31):
we're what now? We're what? Um, we're citizens of heaven. Um,
so all of those things, we're now no longer slaves
to death, but now we have eternal life. Um, we're
not now enslaved to what Peter calls a futile or
empty way of life. Now we can know abundant life.
So the radical change because of redemption, that's just one
(09:54):
of many others that we can go over. Um, in
those glorious words that describe, in a sense, the accomplishment
of the cross. So that's the Good Friday. It truly
is a good Friday. It's better than any of us
have ever conceived of. It's how we can continue to talk. Uh.
It's glorious, in a sense. It's even better. I did
a doctorate in systematic theology. But even after that, as
(10:16):
much as I so appreciated that, as I looked at Scripture,
it's even more wonderful than I discovered then. Um, as
you explore all the various aspects of the accomplishments of
the cross.
S2 (10:27):
Yeah. That's great. That is. It's probably one of the
best descriptions of Good Friday I've heard, and I thank
you for sharing that with us. And that's part of
putting God back in the holidays. Our guest is doctor
Bill Thrasher, and we're talking about what does the cross
mean for us? If you have questions about this celebration
of the cross and recognition of Resurrection Sunday, we'd love
(10:49):
to hear from you. 87754836758775483675. We'll come back. We'll talk
about some more of those accomplishments of the cross like redemption.
We'll talk more about what these holidays mean and how
we should share them with friends and family. Maybe most importantly,
(11:12):
maybe even today. My friend, you're not sure what the
real meaning of Easter is, or what it has to
do with your life. We'll talk more about that as well. 87754836758775483675.
Stay with us. More equipped with Chris Brooks coming up
in just a moment.
S1 (11:38):
Christianity speaks to every aspect of life, but sometimes we
struggle to connect God's unchanging truth to our changing world.
Apologetics for an Ever Changing Culture by Sean McDowell equips
you with the practical tools for meaningful conversation about faith.
With chapters from 26 leading Christian thinkers, including our own
(11:59):
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When you support the Ministry of Equipped, call (888)Â 644-4144 or
visit equipped radio.org.
S2 (12:16):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today. So great to have you along.
It is Holy Week and our topic today. What does
the cross mean for me? Our guest, doctor Bill Thrasher,
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary,
author of the book Putting God Back in the holidays.
(12:36):
And just before the break, we were talking about some
of the words or accomplishments that happen on the cross.
We'll get back to those in just a moment. Uh,
one of the things you talk about, I know overall
with regard to Easter, uh, Doctor Thrasher, is how Easter
shows that God promises and is faithful to be true
(12:59):
to all of his promises. Can you talk for a
moment about that?
S3 (13:03):
Yeah, I'm thinking about that statement we read in the
Gospel of Matthew, verse five and six says, he, he
was he was raised from the dead. You know, when
they're looking at the empty tomb, just as he had promised. Um,
so he was he promised that he would be, that
he would be die. But not only he would, he
was not he was not tragically killed. He was what
he laid down his own life. And then he also
(13:25):
raised it up again. The and so all of his promises.
And so I, I go over in the book at
least four key promises. The promise of pardon, the promise
of forgiveness. No one can forgive but God alone. Um,
and you know, he would want you to know that
what I sometimes I, like you sometimes need a statement
that uses the word all in it. Um, Colossians 213
(13:48):
and 14 is one of those. I remember reading this
book many, many years ago about spiritual depression, and each
chapter gave a reason for spiritual depression. In one chapter
was this one thing I did. The, uh, I remember also, uh,
and uh, also I remember a godly lady who was
a pastor's wife who confided in a friend of mine, finally,
(14:10):
because she was just being eaten alive with this one
thing that had happened in her life that she had done,
she felt very guilty about. And she finally confided in my, uh,
my friend and she said, you know, I'm just not
worthy to praise God these other people are worthy to
praise God. I'm really not. She said, you know, in
my past, I've had an abortion. And, um, and he
very lovingly and tenderly and graciously, uh, was able to
(14:31):
come around and tell her this. You know what? You're
a whole lot worse off than you think you are.
He thought if I didn't have that abortion, I'd be worthy.
But he saw how the depth, if all I did
was thank one unholy thought, uh, God would be perfectly just.
And sentencing me to hell forever. You know, the idea
that we are. He has pardoned us and forgiven us.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you'll be clean.
(14:51):
I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, from all
your idolatry. The glory John Wesley used to tell his men,
don't go out to preach until you know your sins
are forgiven. You know, so it's not. Maybe it's not.
We hope so. It is the promise of purpose. Um.
We were created by him and for him. One of
the reasons Jesus died. That we could no longer live
for ourselves, but for him who died and rose on
(15:13):
our behalf. I think a person who has purpose has
learned to find purpose in the mundane of life. Much
of life is mundane. It's taking out the garbage. It's
paying the bills. But whatever you do, whether you eat
or drink or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God. Person who can find meaning in that,
and also a person who's able to put their whole
life into life. There was a very successful man. He
(15:36):
was talking to a a believer one day and he says,
you know, you seem to have such purpose. Uh, he says,
you know, I have a very prestigious job and people
look up to me. But I want to tell you
something that's true. I'm very bored. There's a there's a
boredom factor in my life. And and the Christian told
him this. He says, you know, um, you do have
a very prestigious job, but. But you probably can do
(15:58):
your job with maybe 60 or 70% of your capacities.
You have a 30% boredom factor. My God requires the
totality of me to be involved in life. It may
be I'm doing a particular task. It may not require 100%
of me. But he says, what percent? All the members
of your body to God. And so whatever I do
as instruments of righteousness, so every part of me and
(16:20):
every even the mundane life I can know fellowship with God.
That's why I have such purpose. See, Jesus's death made
that possible. That's why one can have what great purpose? Uh,
there's the promise of power. The power to what? That
the power to live. The power to live a new life. Um.
And not only that, I tell you the promise of power.
(16:41):
This especially in regard to the resurrection. This is a
thrilling to me. This is a way of God. It's
what God can give you power. And I pray that
for everybody listening here, he can give you power to
have victory out of apparent defeat. Uh. That's the message
of the cross. See, when Jesus was in the grave
there on the Good Friday, the what we celebrate in
this week. Um, it looked like the enemies of righteousness
(17:03):
had won. But God was winning his greatest victory. And
then came the resurrection. That is a way of God
that will happen in our life as well. God can
bring you low and it looks like there's just no hope.
But he brings you low, witch and the devil will
will try to get you to despair in that low state.
But in that low state, God wants you to cry
out to him and experience that victory out of apparent defeat.
(17:27):
So that's that's thrilling. Uh, the promise of peace, you know,
Maundy Thursday now, when he when he, uh, instituted the
Lord's Supper, it says it was in the in the
day that he was betrayed. Uh, he was going through
that incredible pressure. But that Lord. And he had there
was a plot to kill him, and he was facing death.
(17:48):
But he said, my peace I give unto you, not
as the world gives out to you. He wants you
to know his peace. If there's anything on anyone's heart.
God gives you that thing. What? He commands you to
be anxious for nothing. And that would make you more
anxious if you didn't continue by saying, every time you
attempt to be anxious, talk to me about it. Tell
me what you want me to do about it, and
don't forget to thank me. Uh, you know, maybe the
(18:11):
goal of all of us in regard to the sovereign Lord,
would you show me any care, any. I want to
walk away from our time together today. Then what? All.
Casting all your cares upon him. Because he cares for you.
God's promises are true. The promise of peace. I know
how much I starve for peace as a college student.
That's what drew me into a real surrender. My life
to the Lord. Uh, outwardly, my circumstances were going quite well,
(18:35):
but inwardly they weren't. And so God wants to give
you that peace. And that's a glorious truth.
S2 (18:42):
Wonderful promises. Uh, shared by our guest, doctor Bill Thrasher.
We're talking about what the cross means for us. And
he's written a book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
So important because we can face so many challenges around
the holidays related to family, related to life in general. Uh,
it can be a time of darkness. Doctor Thrasher I
(19:02):
know you know from writing about the holidays, sometimes the holidays,
which are meant to be, uh, celebratory, end up being
very dark and challenging times, either because of loneliness or
because of family situations. That just is something that seems
to be a normal part of life.
S3 (19:20):
That's that's very, very true. And sometimes, uh, the holidays
and some people's mind, they seem to, uh, almost picture
an unrealistic ideal that maybe I don't quite measure up to. But,
you know, whatever your situation, some people aren't in a
Christian family. They, you know, but but but God wants to. What?
He wants to meet you where you are. Um, and
(19:43):
so go into every holiday saying, Lord, enhance my relationship
with you. Lord, help me make the most of this opportunity.
And Lord, I pray you would help me in your
strength to be a vessel of love. Sometimes a vessel
of love to people who don't understand me. A vessel
of love to to don't understand why I'm celebrating this
and don't appreciate it. But. But God can aid you
(20:04):
and and give you victory, uh, in whatever situation you're in.
And he understands you, and he loves you.
S2 (20:11):
If you're listening today and you don't know Jesus or
you're not sure of your spiritual condition, I want to
remind you there is a phone number you can call
and get somebody to respond immediately. It's eight, eight, eight.
Need him? That's eight, eight, eight need him. There's somebody
standing by to talk to you. If you'd like to
learn more specifically right away. Uh, there's a video you
(20:35):
can watch and a book we'd like to send you.
You can text the word gospel. To (800)Â 600-9624 (800)Â 600-9624. Just
text the word gospel goes, and we'd love to send
you some things to help you get started in your
(20:55):
walk with Jesus, and we'll talk more about that as
we go along today. Uh, Doctor Thrasher, we were talking
earlier about some of the words or accomplishments of the cross.
We started with redemption. Could we move to the word which.
It's a big word. Most of us don't use it
in our daily conversation, but it's important. It's propitiation. What
does it mean? And what do we need to know
(21:16):
about it?
S3 (21:17):
You know, that's the Godward side of the cross. It's
it's the idea that that Christ's death fully satisfied God's righteousness. Uh,
it talks about the Scripture does say, because he's righteous,
we're under the wrath of God. Um, now that's totally
different than pagan religions that where people are held in
(21:38):
sort of, uh, they're in bondage in a sense to
they never know when God's going to have a fit
of passion or whatever. And they're but that's totally different than, than,
than the scriptures about propitiation. God is righteous, yes, but
he provides the propitiatory sacrifice. God yearns for us to
escape his wrath. He's totally satisfied with what Christ has
(22:00):
done on the cross. That's why he says we can
confess our sins and he's faithful and righteous. He doesn't compromise.
He yearns. To what? Restore you? Um, my little children,
I'm writing these things that you may not sin. But
if you do sin, we have a we have an
advocate with the father who is the propitiation for our
sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Really,
(22:22):
it's how we confess our sins many times shows our
understanding or lack of understanding of this propitiation. I remember
hearing an older, wise man through an old videotape. Uh, actually,
it was so old. It was a reel to reel tape.
This is a man that probably went to be with
the Lord 70 years ago, but he was he was
talking to his students. He was actually the first president
(22:43):
of the seminary that I went to. He died way
before I got there, but he was talking to his
students about propitiation, and he's the one who pointed out
to me that the the, the father of the prodigal
son kissed the son before he made his confession. Yeah.
You know, it's not like his arms were were folded saying, okay,
fess up. See if I want to be on your side.
It's like God is running to him and wants to
(23:05):
reconcile him. There was this wise, wise mother when she
would discipline her children. Uh, and they would be, you know, confess,
and they would get, uh, get things right. And, uh,
she'd look him in the eye and said, you can
be happy now. You can be happy now. She didn't
want him to think. And God doesn't want you to
think either, that you sort of have to do penance.
You sort of have to be on probation for a
(23:27):
while to earn back a good standing with God. So, yes,
God wants to lovingly discipline us that we might share
his holiness, but his discipline is out of love because
of propitiation. So I remember when I learned that propitiation
in a fresh way. I remember riding on a three
by five car to cards still have that three by
five card set, you know. Never has living a holy
(23:48):
life been such a joy as understanding afresh that God
is propitious. Uh, so that's a beautiful concept. Draw near
to him, and he will draw near to you. God yearns.
He's the most reconcilable person you'll ever be in a
relationship with. Don't come to him. See? Sometimes it's the
devil will hide. Get you to hide things out of shame. Um,
(24:09):
I was talking to a. I was not talking to,
but I was listening to a funeral the other day, and.
And this, uh, dear son who so respected his father.
But he was wrestling with things inside of him, and
he said, you know, I just never I didn't feel
like I measured up anyhow, to my father. And I
just kept these things secret, and and that's just until
I was 30 years old, and I got out of
(24:31):
that bondage. And, you know, that that story could be
multiplied many, many times. God is propitious. He wants you
to what? That's, I guess, the next thing. Reconciliation. Uh,
the barrier has been broken down. I remember, um, a
dear student spontaneously in, uh, before class started, he said.
He said he was struggling with an ungodly habit and, um,
(24:51):
and he was asking God to deliver it from that
ungodly habit. But he still had that ungodly habit. And finally,
a discerning, loving man of God came to him, looked
him straight in the eye and said, you know, you
don't really want God to answer that prayer, do you?
You love that ungodly habit. He said that was the
absolute truth, and one of the most humbling things he
ever did is he came to God and said, God,
I'm really ashamed of this, but Lord, I love this
(25:11):
ungodly habit. You know what else he said? That was
the beginning of breaking the ungodly habit. Um, you know,
to me, that testimony helped me understand what it means
to come boldly, come with freedom to the throne of grace. Uh,
not deceitfully, but freedom to the throne of grace.
S2 (25:29):
Doctor Bill Thrasher is our guest. What does the cross
mean for us? We'll talk more about it. Some of
the accomplishments of the cross. We've talked about redemption, propitiation, reconciliation.
There's more to come. Like, like deliverance from sin's power,
defeat of Satan, and a basis of the New covenant. Uh,
so much more to come. You may have questions as well.
(25:50):
What questions do you have about the events of Easter?
Or maybe you have questions about knowing Jesus in general.
We'd love to talk to you. (877)Â 548-3675. That's (877)Â 548-3675. Equipped
with Chris Brooks. We'll be back with more coming up
in just a moment. Welcome back to equipped with Chris
(26:20):
Brooks I'm Colin Lambert sitting in for Chris today. So
grateful you are with us. It is Holy Week. We're
entering the final days of the week, Good Friday tomorrow,
Resurrection Sunday just ahead. And we're talking with doctor Bill Thrasher,
a graduate professor of Bible and theology at Moody Theological Seminary,
about what the cross means for us and to us.
(26:42):
He's written a book called Putting God Back in the holidays.
And boy, how important is that in a country where holidays,
the real meaning of so many holidays have just about disappeared? Uh,
Doctor Thrasher, just before the break, we were talking about, um, reconciliation. Propitiation.
You actually shared a story of a young man that
talked about a a habit or a sin that he
(27:04):
couldn't seem to overcome. Could we talk for a moment
related to the cross, about what the cross means about
the defeat of Satan and the deliverance from sin's power?
S3 (27:18):
Yes. You know, the the good news is that that
Jesus died to pay for the penalty of sin, that
I can know forgiveness and I can have a relationship
with him. But he also died in regard to the
power of sin. Um, think about the greatest struggle in
your life. Um, And that's where we enter into that.
(27:44):
Probably it's Romans six is one of the passages that
talks about the deliverance from Satan's power. Um, and he
tells us, okay, let me tell you how to tap
into that. Um, he says, I'm going to give you
three key words. Uh, he says the first ones, verse six,
he says, I want you to know something. Know that
when you trusted Jesus, your whole life as a slave
(28:07):
of sin came to an end. Sin's dominion over your
body came to an end. Um, now, how do you
know that? You know the same way you know that
you that you know John 316 because God has revealed
it to you. Now he goes on to say, okay,
in verse 11, I think that may be the first
command we're given in the book of Romans 11. He says,
(28:27):
what I want you to NIV. We use the word consider.
NIV uses the word count. I think the old King
James used the word reckon. I want you to see
yourself a certain way, and it's a present tense in
the Greek text to show a continuation of that. Continually
see yourself in a certain way. See yourself as a
winner in the spiritual realm. Um, you say, um, I
(28:49):
may not feel like a winner. You know, my my
my track record is much more defeat than win. Okay?
God says, but that's not who you are. And so
maybe a good way to apply that verse is just
to think of the most difficult situation of your life
and praise Jesus Christ that Jesus, you shed your blood,
that I can be a winner in that situation. Obeying
is winning. And so, Lord, if you went to the
(29:10):
trouble of dying on the cross for me, I believe
you are going to show me how to tap in
to that victorious work. Now he gives another key word
the all three are important. You can't divorce any one
of them from the other. No consider or reckon. Uh.
Thirdly is he said the NASB. NASB uses the word present. Um,
(29:33):
I think it's often in the NIV and it's, uh,
yield in and the old King James. Don't keep on
presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments
of righteousness, but present yourself to God as those alive
from the dead and all the members of your body,
to him as instruments of righteousness. So you see, you
have to enter into that in your will. You cannot
(29:53):
play with sin and have victory over it. Um, I've
read this a clever way. Uh, this illustration said in
North Africa. Maybe it's beyond that. North Africa, they have
a clever way to catch a monkey. They they have
a gourd, and they put a nut in the gourd,
and they have a hole just big enough for the
monkey to stick his paw in there, and he gets
the nut. Then all but but with the nut in
(30:15):
his hand, the hole is not big enough for him
to get to remove his hand. So? So he he
won't let go of the nut, and he gets captured
because of his covetousness. I remember the illustration said, we
might expect this kind of thing in a dumb animal,
but not in a person, certainly not in a person
made in the image of God. Yet it happens every day.
You got to release your grip on anything that's causing
you to sin. Um, I'll give you two contrasting things.
(30:38):
I remember an individual that the story is told. He
was he was angry at God because he had committed adultery.
And the person said, well, why are you angry at God?
Maybe you'd think maybe God may be frustrated with you,
that oh, I was asking God not to let it happen.
I was asking God not to let it happen and
he let it happen. Well, tell me about that. As
you were praying about that, he said, well, it was
(31:01):
a lady at work. And, uh, okay. As you were
praying about that. Yeah. We continued to have lunch every day. And, uh,
and this man took a big, big book, and he was, uh,
and he was pushing it across his desk and he said,
don't let this drop. Don't let this drop, don't let
this drop and boom, let it drop. And the man said,
that was a stupid prayer. No, not any more stupid
(31:22):
than the prayer you were saying. See, we you can't
play with sin and have victory over it. I remember
taking a trip to, uh, actually to to Brooklyn, New York,
with four other men that I'd asked to come with
me because they really loved prayer and believed in prayer.
And this dear man on that trip really opened his
heart up. He's with the Lord now, and he was
(31:42):
an older man, maybe in his 60s then. And he says,
you know, let me tell you why. I've never married.
I've never married because what I've lived in bondage, sensual
bondage most of my life. But but he said, you
know what? I've lived in victory the last five years.
He says, let me tell you what it took after
those years of bondage for me. He said, I can't
(32:06):
have a computer in my home. I can't have a
TV in my home. Um, now that sounds. Now, I
know that sounds so unrealistic, but I tell you, I
tried everything. I went to account everything for, what, 20
something years? But I. But I never go more than
one day at a time. And I believe God vow
to keep myself pure for that one day. He says
I've lived in victory. Now that's a totally different what
(32:27):
he entered in to what? Yes, Jesus shed his blood.
We need to know that we need to see ourselves
as a winner in the spiritual realm, and any way
God wants us to cooperate with him, God will. What?
Jesus says, if your right eye causes you to stumble,
pluck it out. Now he's talking about form there, but
he's saying whatever cause Jesus wants. He shed his blood.
You can live in victory. And may God do that.
(32:48):
May he pour out his grace upon us. And may
he usher in to us a freedom that we've never
known on this. As we celebrate this Holy Week and
we anticipate Good Friday, that is the good news. Now
in regard to the defeat of the devil. Um, see,
I can sin in any way without the devil's help.
I have no problem doing that. But sometimes it is
(33:08):
more than just me. See, I can be afraid. I
can be sensual. I can be, uh, guilt. I can
have all kind of angry. Um, but sometimes there's more
that I remember. This godly, godly man. He actually was
a professor at another school, and he said there was
a week that he and his wife were just seemingly
at each other's throat. And he says, not that that's
beyond us. Um, but, you know, we just got on
(33:29):
our knees saying, Lord, we think there's somebody that's trying
to disrupt our relationship with somebody that's trying to disrupt
the unity that you desire, and we ask you in
the name of Jesus to what? Like Michael the Archangel,
would you rebuke the devil in any way he was seeking?
You know that turn that situation around. So you see,
we have authority of the devil. We're not to be
ignorant of his schemes, but we know that when Jesus
(33:51):
shed his blood, he defeated the devil. The devil doesn't
want you to know that. Um, he wants you to
live in that defeat. But you can be victorious. You
can be victorious. Jesus shed his blood, that you can
be victorious. He fully paid that price. You belong to
Jesus and Jesus alone. So those are good news. Whatever
your situation is, God wants to give you hope in
(34:12):
your spirit. He wants to give you the power to
live a new life.
S2 (34:16):
Good news. Such good news. And that's what we're talking
about this week. The good news of Jesus Christ. Again,
let me remind you, if you're listening right now and
you're wondering about your own position with Christ or how
your spiritual life could potentially move forward. There's a number
you can call with people waiting to talk to you. Eight, eight, eight.
(34:36):
Need him is the number. Eight. Eight. Eight need him.
And if you've made a decision or want to make
a decision for Christ, want to learn more about starting
a life in Christ. You can text the word gospel
to this number (800)Â 600-9624. There'll be a video there explaining
(34:58):
exactly what. Making that commitment is about. We'll send you
a copy of the New Testament. We'll send you another
book that will help you as you start your walk
with Christ. Again, text the word gospel to (800)Â 600-9624. Doctor Thrasher,
somebody who comes into this conversation or a conversation about
(35:20):
the cross of Christ. Uh, you've said it a number
of times. They're going to hear a lot of talk
about Christ's blood. There's even a lot of people who
have left the faith, or who are questioning the faith
that say, what does all this blood talk about? That's
that's kind of gross. That's kind of weird. I don't
understand what is this blood talk about? Can you give
(35:44):
us a little bit of the the idea and concept
of what the importance of the blood of Christ is?
S3 (35:51):
Yeah, certainly. I think it speaks of a violent death.
It speaks of a sacrificial death and a God out
of his great love. Uh, there needed to be a
payment that was sufficient. That's the Jesus as the God
man is man. He could die as God. The the
death would be sufficient to pay for the sins of
the world. And so, uh, it was prefigured in the
(36:12):
Old Testament and through the whole sacrificial system. Uh, and
when the John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. So it's a glorious thing. He gave his
life voluntarily and willfully, Hopefully, um, that we would not
have to, um, that we could know eternal life. Um,
and so when you trust Jesus, you have eternal this
(36:34):
is eternal life, that you may know God and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent. So we praise God for that.
Upon the death that didn't die upon a life I
didn't live, another's death, another's life. I base my whole eternity. Um,
he shed his blood to forgive us. He also perfectly
kept God's law. And he and and God imputes that
perfect record to our to our account that we can
stand before God not only as if we've never sinned,
(36:56):
but as if we perfectly kept his his every aspect
of his law. And so, uh, that's the good news,
that God is that holy. He's that wonderful. But he's
provided a way, um, that each of us, uh, we
don't deserve it. We're to bow down and receive that gift.
That gift that God wants to give us. He. He's
yearning to give you that gift. Uh, he's not willing
(37:18):
that any should perish, but all should come to the
knowledge of the truth. That's true with each one of us.
And so we praise God for that. We owe our
life to him, and we thank God for that.
S2 (37:27):
Amen. Doctor Bill Thrasher, our guest. When we come back
in just a moment, we'll talk about what is this
new covenant we hear about related to Christ's death and resurrection?
What does substitution really mean? And what do we need
to know about the glorification of God's character? Those are
coming up in just a moment. Maybe you have questions
about Easter, about the faith. We'd love to hear from you.
(37:50):
You can call right now 87754836758775483675. Back with more of
equipped with Chris Brooks coming up in just a moment
right here on Moody Radio.
S1 (38:15):
As a dad, a friend and a neighbor, I share
your concerns over the growing problems in our culture. That's
why on equip we tackle the tough issues learning how
to respond with grace and truth. We're looking for like
minded partners to stand with us. Would you be willing
to become an Equipper today? In this role, you'll give
a monthly donation to support the Ministry of Equip and
as an Equipper, you'll receive insider benefits, such as a
(38:37):
bi weekly email that contains pastoral messages prepared just for you.
Become an Equipper today by calling 888644 4144 or go
to Equip radio.org.
S2 (38:53):
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. I'm Colin Lambert
sitting in for Chris today our topic what does the
cross mean for me. Our guest Doctor William Thrasher. And
we're grateful to have him with us. Uh, just want
to take a moment to let you know about an
existing news story we've just gotten word of. It's hitting
all of the TV stations and wires right now. Uh,
(39:16):
there's been a shooting on the Florida State University campus
in Tallahassee, Florida. Students are locked down. At least four
people have been hospitalized. There are conflicting reports as to
whether or not the person has been taken into custody
or not, or is still alive. Classes have been canceled
for today. Athletic events have been canceled. And, uh, you know,
(39:38):
we have a history here on equipped of just taking
a moment and praying, uh, for situations like this, for
those impacted, for those who are even now dealing with
whatever's going on there. Doctor Thrasher, would you be willing
to to pray for this? Uh, right now, this situation.
S3 (39:55):
Thank you for letting me know. I'd be glad to. And, Lord,
we join with with many, many others, Lord, that are
listening with us. We join and we come to your
throne of grace, Lord, that you invite us to. Because
of the shed blood of Jesus and Father, we ask
God that you put your protection, Lord, upon the campuses.
Upon this campus, we pray God that you have mercy
(40:16):
upon these ones that have been shot. We pray even
upon the killer, Lord Jesus, you would bring him to
sobriety and even repentance. And so God used this Lord
Jesus once again to remind us that we don't live
on this earth forever. Um, and we don't know when
our last breath will be. But God, would you any
ones that don't know for certainty where they would spend
(40:38):
eternity if you were to call us home? Now, we
ask God that they receive the gift of your Son
of Jesus. And so, father, pour out your grace upon
our land, uh, in ways that we've never experienced. We
ask you for a fresh revival. Dear God, the revival
that I experienced in the 70s where you host for
us many, many people into Christ. God, would you do
(40:58):
a great work? We pray for all the gospel workers
there on the Florida State campus. God, would you empower
them to present your Christ with even a greater urgency?
We pray that for each one of us, dear God,
so we enter into this crisis moment that you care.
We appeal to your mercy to intervene. Lord Jesus there.
Thank you for allowing us to do this. In Jesus name, Amen.
S2 (41:19):
Amen, Amen. Thank you, Doctor Thrasher. Appreciate it. We continue
now with our conversation. What does the cross mean for me?
Doctor Thrasher has written a book called Putting God Back
in the holidays, and one of the things you talk
about are the accomplishments of the cross. We've been going
through some of those, uh, in the Old Testament there
was an Old covenant, but actually the cross itself is
(41:40):
a basis for the New covenant. Can you talk about that?
S3 (41:44):
You know, that's what the Lord said there in Matthew 2628.
This is the new covenant in my blood and and
the whole you know, I think I went through seminary
and even started teaching and and we the covenants were
a great emphasis upon the Abrahamic Covenant, Davidic covenant. But,
you know, I, I think it took me a while
to realize the obvious that I was in a covenant
relationship with God. And I remember sitting across the the
(42:07):
breakfast table from a dear, godly man that I worked
with her earlier at Moody, and he said, you know,
our problem is we tend to take ourselves very seriously,
but we don't take God and His Word seriously enough.
You know, the fact that God has coveted to do
something for us. He's solemnly promised, uh, to me, when
I began to really digest that, it was a little
bit easier to trust God. Um, what does he solemnly promise?
(42:30):
He's promised to what? Forgive us. I quoted earlier Ezekiel 3625.
That's when the New covenant was was instituted there with Israel.
And we share in that new covenant. The Apostle Paul
says in two Corinthians three and four, he says, I
will sprinkle clean water on you will be clean. I
will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all
your idolatry. He allows you to what? To know his
forgiveness and also to live in light of that continual
(42:52):
cleansing as we walk in the light before him. He
has also promised solemnly promised covenant to enable you. I
love Ezekiel 3627. He says, I will put my spirit
within you, and he will cause you to walk in
my statutes. There's no demand upon you that you have
to go about by yourself. You can look to him
with certainty. God says, if I if I've called you
(43:13):
to do it, I'm going to enable you. Uh, I
will put my spirit within you, and he will cause
you to walk in my statutes. He will also sustain you.
I love that when he's talking about that new covenant
there in two Corinthians four one he says, apart from
the mercy of God, I would lose heart. But God
mercifully sustains him. He talks about God renewing his inner man,
and I praise God that he has sustained me. There
(43:34):
have been times in my life I'm sure you'd say
the same. Um. That what? I didn't think I could
take another step forward, but yet I'm here. God has
sustained me. God is the God who gives encouragement and endurance.
And God can do that for you. You look to
him one moment at a time. Don't be anxious for tomorrow.
Don't be anxious for the next moment. Just trust God
to live each moment at a time. So that's glorious
(43:55):
truths that God has coveted. He's solemnly promised. And I've
mentioned three things to forgive you, to sustain you, and
to enable you to do whatever he calls you to do.
I think that's why you don't fear whatever God would
ask you to do. If God just told me anything
he tells me to do is for my good. But
but if he did not give me the motivation and
the power to do it, I couldn't love that God,
(44:16):
he'd look looked like a monster in the sky. If
he asked me to do things, but he didn't give
me the motivation and power to do them because he's
coveted he. You're in that new covenant he's coveted. He
will not just sustain you, he will enable you with
his motivation and with his power. So that's good news.
S2 (44:33):
That is good news. Doctor Thrasher, we just have a
minute left here. We'd be remiss in talking about this
topic if we didn't tell somebody listening today what it
takes to become a follower of Christ. Could you just
share quickly your thoughts on that?
S3 (44:49):
Yeah. You know, there's two religions in the world do
are done, uh, do this and you do this. Christ
said it is done. It is finished. It's paid. The
idea from a term that means what? Paid in full.
He's paid everything. He wants you to come. Recognize your need.
Recognize your need. We have offended the Holy God, and
we're under his wrath. But he bore that wrath. He.
(45:10):
He invites you now. To what? Trust him. And to
know not just forgiveness. Not to put you back on probation,
but to what? Give you complete, absolute forgiveness. He wants
you to know that he delights in you. He loves you,
and he wants to have a relationship with you. You
can begin that right now. If you said, Lord Jesus,
I trust you. I am a sinner and I'm looking
to you and you alone. What you've done to forgive
(45:33):
me of my sins. I accept that gift, and I
ask you to make me a new person and teach
me how to live for the glory of God. He
will answer that prayer. We and we pray that you
would pray that today, and call these numbers that colonists
told you about and to receive help.
S2 (45:49):
If you have prayed that prayer or want to pray
that prayer, I want to encourage you to call the
number (800)Â 600-9624. Text the word gospel. There you'll find materials available.
We'll send them to you absolutely free. No obligation. If
you want to, uh, move forward with your life in Christ. (800)Â 600-9624.
(46:10):
Text the word gospel. And if you want to talk
to somebody right now about your faith. 888 need him. Eight, eight,
eight need him. Doctor Thrasher. Such a pleasure to talk
to you. Thanks so much for your time today and
helping us focus on the cross during this important week.
S3 (46:28):
My delight. Thank you very, very much.
S2 (46:32):
Well, those numbers again text. The word gospel goes to (800)Â 600-9624.
Or call to talk to someone. 888. Need him. That's
888 him. So great to be with you today. Good
Friday tomorrow and Resurrection Sunday. Just ahead. If you don't
have a church to go to, I encourage you to
(46:53):
find one this weekend and be part of a local
body of believers. Thanks so much for sitting in with
us today. Great to be with you. Equipped with Chris
Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
Moody Bible Institute.
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