Ep.25 Rerun: The Cross Part 1

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Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Welcome everybody to another episode of Ask Me Anything. Obviously, I'm in a little different setting today, but I want to take you in to an episode that we did on the cross of Christ. Easter is the greatest time of year, Passion Week, eight days that changed the entire world. And I believe this episode will change your life, enrich your faith, and deepen your love for Jesus. Enjoy the episode. And so the mastery of the cross is that God was able to do both. Because what God did is he sentences himself to die on the cross so that sin is punished, but so that he can extend mercy to you and I. And the reason why God's able to do all this is because there's a third component about God, and that is that God is all powerful. Welcome to our show. Ask Me Anything. I'm Frank Santora.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

This is my co-host, Ronald Julian. What's up, everybody? How you doing, man? I'm doing real good. Real good, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:20

You're looking good. Thank you. You're looking good, man. Looking like a looking like a uh a JV high school uh You know, I mean, you know. They say black don't crack, but I mean these are looking, you know.

SPEAKER_10 1:35

Yes, that's what they say. So how does that apply to you right now? I'm saying, you know, I'm not gonna be. Oh, yeah, I see the 3%. I see the 3% in your ancestry report.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

I'm just trying to say they say black don't crack, but I mean I'm in pretty good shape. Yeah, you know. Pretty good shape, you know.

SPEAKER_10 1:51

So Italians eat olives, right? That's that's a big part of their Mediterranean.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Stereotypes. I mean olives. Maybe it's all the people also in the mafia. That's true.

SPEAKER_10 2:06

That's true. There's there's no stereotypes there. I've seen you at work, brother. I've seen you at work. I've seen you making deals.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

But uh, man.

SPEAKER_10 2:15

Everything's good.

SPEAKER_05 2:16

I see I see you you brought this this contraption with you today. This is can you get a shot of this contraption with you? You can see that right there.

SPEAKER_10 2:23

So this is my my tea uh cup. Has a little lid to keep the keep the heat in, um, and then it has an infuser. All right, so we you pour our tea in here. Uh if you can see that, I try not to make a mess here.

SPEAKER_05 2:37

I I I don't know how I how I feel about all this stuff. I mean, you you're getting very metrosexual.

SPEAKER_09 2:44

First it was the bidet last week.

SPEAKER_10 2:50

Bro, that's just that's such a last generation term, bro.

SPEAKER_04 2:52

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_10 2:54

Today's term, if if I wouldn't help you out, you would say sus. You're being very sus.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

What does that even mean?

SPEAKER_10 3:00

It is, it is, it is a short, uh, is it is is a shortened word for um suspicious or suspect.

SPEAKER_05 3:07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 3:07

Yeah, you're being very sus. But the kids use it for more terms than just Yeah, I I don't know if I that term applies.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

I it this is kind of like I'm just not sure. This is like a crossover item right here. It's tea. Yeah, but the whole setup, it's like, it's very, I don't know, it strikes me as feminine.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

It's true. I mean, it's just like this, it's too much. It's dainty and you know what I mean? It's it's it's big. Get some espresso, bro. You know what I mean? It's blue. A bro drink is espresso. It's not tea. I don't want to. I don't want to put it in that foot in the infuser.

SPEAKER_10 3:42

I mean, this is something I keep putting out in the tea bag.

SPEAKER_04 3:46

Do you drink it with your pinky out like that?

SPEAKER_10 3:47

No, this is too heavy to drink with my pinky. I don't have to drink the, I have to grab the whole thing. It's like a it's like a beer mug almost. It's big.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

Well, look, you just tried to make it into something it wasn't, you know what I mean? Try to make it not even, not even trying to even just try to make it manly, you tried to make it manly and sinful. I mean, all in one shot.

SPEAKER_10 4:05

I mean, just like listen, this is an amazing. I've added this to so when I went to Sri Lanka, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

You got it in Sri Lanka.

SPEAKER_10 4:14

No, I not this part. This is Amazon. So like But the actual tea that I bought. Okay. We went on a tea tour, right? Where they show us.

SPEAKER_04 4:21

Again, I mean, again, again, I'm bro.

SPEAKER_10 4:24

Listen.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

I don't know too many guys that go on tea tours. Well, first, I just don't. I'm sorry, man. I mean, this is this is getting deep, man. We may need an intervention here or something like that. I told you. I told you.

SPEAKER_10 4:38

I'm a Renaissance man. Okay, told you this.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Kind of like Metrosexual.

SPEAKER_10 4:41

No, it's not. It's it's cultured, it's refined. All right, it's refined and I am I am I am versed in areas outside of just music and and and sports, you know? Refined.

SPEAKER_04 4:57

Listen, but tell us what's in the drink.

SPEAKER_10 4:59

So this is um this is uh white tea with just a a teaspoon or tablespoon of honey. I like honey. I love honey actually. Um so apparently I learned this. White tea is the most premium. It's the top of the top of the tea, top of the tea charts.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Why's it gotta be white?

SPEAKER_10 5:15

Why's it gotta be white? But I thought I thought this really I thought this really saved you, bro. Because this is white tea, but you you're always taught that white is bad. White flour, white sugar. So this really saved you. From a food standpoint, it really saved you.

SPEAKER_04 5:34

I never thought about that. Yeah, man. That all the white stuff is bad for you. Ice cream? I'm telling you, man, it built.

SPEAKER_10 5:44

So when they say when he said white tea, I would have I I thought, you know, this is a this is a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Now, does white tea taste different than black tea?

SPEAKER_10 5:52

So I haven't really had a lot of black tea. I'm also like green tea, ginseng tea, throat coat, because I'm, you know, I sing a lot sort of a thing. So this has a very mild taste. But apparently, what the gentleman told us after you you can use these leaves a couple of times.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yes. Okay. Just clarifying.

SPEAKER_10 6:12

Uh and then afterwards, you can actually eat the the uh the tea leaves. And they have even more additional properties for you. Come on. Did you eat the tea leaves? I'm not going to eat them. I I did chew the first the first round.

SPEAKER_05 6:24

You can't tell me that tastes good. No, but listen, when you when you that to me is almost like probably chewing like tobacco.

SPEAKER_10 6:31

Maybe. Probably. Probably. But but again, I'll I'll take it for the benefits. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

I mean, so what benefits is this supposed to have? So it's supposed to be.

SPEAKER_10 6:40

So I have experienced in our producer can vouch for me on this one. I have There's been an increase in energy and and pointed this out to you. Yeah, yeah. They and they pointed it out to me. You had more energy than normal. Yeah. Brain fog was gone away, like just, you know, and it and it has nothing to do with the fact that you've been trying to trim down.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_10 7:03

Because you know at the start of it.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

It has an impact on you. It does have an impact on you.

SPEAKER_10 7:08

But even with that, this was uh they were telling me you seem like a bit more energetic, you seem more Yeah. No brain fog.

SPEAKER_09 7:15

It was really good. Wow.

SPEAKER_10 7:16

So this is the best tea you can buy. And they said preferably um tea that doesn't that is not in the tea bags.

SPEAKER_05 7:24

Yes, I've heard that. I had I had a similar type of thing um one time. Oh, did you? Yeah, but it wasn't it wasn't as dainty as this. You ever see the tea seepers? What is it what is this infusers that it's like a ball on a s on a on a stick machine? Yeah, uh huh. And um I had this this cinnamon um spice tea, and it was so potent. That the flavor, the essence of the flavor just came like just you know, shining through. And um I tried it for a little while, but I I couldn't stay with it.

SPEAKER_10 8:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:04

Yeah. I'm a coffee drinker.

SPEAKER_10 8:06

I got you. You know, I find it really interesting. We talk about metro this and you know, sus this and all these different things.

SPEAKER_09 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 8:12

Because you absolutely do drink cappuccinos. Is that or is that espresso? You have an espresso? I'm mostly an espresso guy. But we absolutely should go and get the cup that he uses um for his for his uh espresso drink. It's a little small cup. That's not a little small, dainty cup, and I absolutely have seen your pinky up. I've seen your pinky up, bro.

SPEAKER_05 8:36

I've seen it. Every mobster.

SPEAKER_10 8:37

Okay, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Every mobster drinks espresso out of a little cup.

SPEAKER_10 8:43

And they have their pinky up? I've seen you walking down the hall, bro. I've seen you walking down the hull. No.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

We gotta call in the question. We gotta put a lie detector test on you right now. So make it something up. I'm asking.

SPEAKER_10 8:55

Okay, so here's the question. No, no, no, no, you're listening. Do you have the little small dainty cups of it? I do.

SPEAKER_05 9:03

Everybody drinks espresso out of small cups. It's the way you're supposed to drink espresso. Okay. You know, I I don't see too many men using infusers, but I see a lot of men only men. I mean Tony Soprano.

SPEAKER_10 9:18

You know You know he died of a heart attack, right?

SPEAKER_05 9:20

Yeah, but that's because he was overweight, so you better be careful.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

It's starting to fly off the rails here.

SPEAKER_10 9:31

This is starting to fly off the rails.

SPEAKER_05 9:32

Yes, but anyway, um, my have you heard today is is I've heard that these things exist. Look at this.

SPEAKER_10 9:38

And that white tea, white tea.

SPEAKER_05 9:40

And that white tea is is is the best thing. White tea saved y'all, man. Yeah, look at that. Listen, we we we appreciate the redemption.

SPEAKER_10 9:48

What else is going on, man? What else is going on?

SPEAKER_05 9:50

You know, all good stuff. We are we are we're in the Easter grind. Yes. All of us are in the Easter grind. And uh, but it's worth it. I mean, Easter's the time where we celebrate everything that Jesus did for us. And you know, in the church world, it's it's our Super Bowl, and yeah, you know, everybody is is is working overtime and you know want to make Easter special as we celebrate um the greatest event in the history of the world.

SPEAKER_10 10:16

Shout out to all the staff members at churches across the world, volunteer staff members who are burning the midnight oil to make Jesus big.

SPEAKER_05 10:25

Yeah, the volunteers, man, they make it happen, don't they? You know, I was just at a uh a leadership conference and um it was full of volunteers and uh and professional staff, church people, you know. And um without the volunteers, you can't do that. You can't do it. You just can't. I mean, I think in our Easter production we have 150 volunteers that participate in our Easter production and they prepare it the whole time. And out of all the people that are participating, it might be ten staff and 150 volunteers. Wow. So we we thank God for the volunteers.

SPEAKER_10 10:59

Beautiful, man. Beautiful. Yeah, the Easter production's coming up next week at our church here. And I know that uh all of our campuses are coming up at some point in time. Who's coming up and uh on Saturday and New York City? ETC will be up there on Sunday, so we're we're looking forward to it, man. It's gonna be really good. That's good. All right, man. Let's get into it today. As we are traveling and preparing for resurrection Sunday, resurrection weekend, it is fitting that we talk about the cross. The cross. Um we all know or have ideas about the the importance of Jesus dying on the cross, but there's there's historical uh implications there. You know, we talk about Rome. Uh Rome was kind of like, you know, the the head honchos, if you will. They were over, they had conquered uh that that that part of the the world. Um and so we're gonna kind of delve into that a little bit today, why the cross. And then you have other other disciples who um thought it would not even fitting to be crucified the way that Jesus was.

SPEAKER_05 11:57

You know, it's when you think about it, the fact that Christianity's symbol is the cross. Yeah. Is the cross is is is just amazing because I mean, you look at all the other, you know, um uh symbols of of major world religions, you know, you got the yin and the yang, yeah, you know, you you got the the star of David, you know, you got you got all these other things that you know stand for peaceable things or enlightenment and things like that. Then you have the symbol of Christianity, which by the way symbolizes hope and freedom and and new life and everything like that. It's a cross. It's not it's it's not the empty tomb. Right.

SPEAKER_10 12:38

And we know that um it's kind of hard to wear empty tomb on your on your necklace.

SPEAKER_05 12:42

I mean, I guess you can make it little, you know. You can make it little. You know, I mean crosses can be as big as, you know, we can get a flavor flake cross, you know. I mean, you know, something like that. If he can wear a clock around his neck, we can wear an empty tomb around ours. But it's amazing that the the empty tomb is not the symbol. It's the cross. And for me, I think part of the reason for that is uh it's it it's why Christianity is distinctive. Yeah. Um, you know, the cross was a it would be like kind of wearing a um lethal injection around your neck. It'd be like kind of wearing a gas chamber around your neck. You know, imagine you you go to church and you know, instead of there being a cross on the altar area, there's a gas chamber. Yeah. I mean that's how jarring the cross was um, you know, in its time in in Roman culture. It was a it was a form of excruciating torture. Um it was a form uh of of punishment for the most vile of all criminals. Um and it was used to send a message. It was used basically to keep order. It's like if if you do something that we consider like to be way out of bounds, this is what's gonna happen to you. And it was the way they controlled um, you know, the populace in in those days. And uh to think that that is the symbol of Christianity is is is mind-blowing. And actually it was one of the reasons why um you know early Jews uh rejected Christ, because um anybody who was hung on a cross was considered to be cursed by God. Yeah. And um that's why even the Paul Paul said we preached the cross of Christ, you know, to the to the Jews a stumbling block. It it stood in the way because how can somebody be, you know, God manifest in the flesh, how can somebody be come from heaven and um be one with the Father and and be punished on a cross? But the but that's the whole point, isn't it? Um and it's what separates Christianity because you know, our God, the one and only God, yes, he chose not to be immune from human suffering.

SPEAKER_11 14:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 14:49

You know, and a lot of people always think about, you know, um the typical atheist argument, right, is if if God is real, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? And and we this not our topic today, um, but let's just say there's a big question mark over human suffering, but but over that question mark uh there remains the cross where God chose not to be immune from the suffering, but to become part of the suffering and actually to substitute to to be a substitute for our suffering, to to die in our place. Um and the cross is the cure. It's the cure. It's like you know, part of any uh antidote when you get bit by something poisonous, yeah, is you've got to make the the venom part of the antidote in order to be cured. And and the cure for sin was Jesus becoming sin for us. Jesus literally being cursed for us. He was cursed by God. He allowed himself to be cursed so that you and I wouldn't have to, and so that we could have eternal life. And the message of the cross is so powerful. Unfortunately, we live in a in a day and age where the the preaching of the cross has become rare. Um and and in a lot of churches the cross is hardly ever mentioned. Um and even around Easter time it's hardly ever mentioned. Um, you know, we we try to figure out, you know, oh how does this all you know relate to our personal lives? And and sometimes we just have to stop and and stand in awe of the cross and what Jesus did for us on the cross and the message of the cross, it's the power of God on a salvation to everyone who believes. Yeah. To the Jew first and also to the Gentile. And it's it's it's something that we should take time um not just around the Easter season, but all year round to remember the cross. And we're gonna delve into some of the most powerful truths about the cross today.

SPEAKER_10 16:49

Yeah, you mentioned earlier about it was used as a humiliat uh humil humiliation tool and an intimidation tool. And um one of the things that they were always worried about, Rome was always worried about, was revolt and people trying to overthrow the Roman government. Um so they would use this, this most humiliating public display to as an example, like you said, you know. Um you know, I've I I've I've worn crosses, I have one on today, as a matter of fact. Um I've throughout the years I've had various types of crosses. I've had crosses where Jesus is on the cross. I've had Jesus where he I mean the cross without Jesus. I've had the cross where it has the the uh the symbol on the top, you know, king of the Jews, you know, all of those different things. And throughout my life, I've had different people come up to me and have different opinions about the the the pendant with him on the cross still, the pendant with the not on the cross. Talk a little bit about that, you know?

SPEAKER_05 17:49

You know, I know years ago in Christianity, the big thing was, you know, never wear a cross with Jesus. Jesus is not on the cross. And he's not on the cross, of course. And and you know, we all know that had it not been for the resurrection, the cross would mean nothing. Yes. It wouldn't be our symbol of hope. It would be our symbol of shame. Uh Christianity would have died in its infancy had it not been for the resurrection, but there could be no resurrection without a cross. That's right. Um, and so you know, the big thing years ago was, you know, Jesus is not on the cross, he's not on the cross. And and to me, like, I I don't get into all that. To me, I think we know that the tomb is empty. But to remember that Jesus did hang on that cross. Amen. And and the price that he paid um is is so, so, so important for us. So for me, like kind of whatever floats your boat in that area, I don't think there's one theological right or wrong there. Um, but I think that, you know, um sometimes we can get so in the weeds when it comes to that that we miss the whole point.

SPEAKER_10 18:55

Yeah. I think for me too, um when I for me at least when I wore that cross with him on it, I remembered Jesus, obviously, yes, but to see him on the cross, that's where my sin was.

SPEAKER_05 19:07

Yeah, amen.

SPEAKER_10 19:08

That's where my my my my disease was. That's where my shame was. And to know that I was supposed to be on that cross. Yes. I was supposed to be in that position and he took my place. For me, it was an intentional reminder of the I mean the passion of the Christ.

SPEAKER_05 19:24

Oh, yeah. The reason why the movie was powerful is because it showed what Jesus went through.

SPEAKER_11 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

It showed him as he as he hung on that cross. And to to think, you know, I mean, that the kind of torture that Jesus went through on that was was hor horrific in every single way. I mean, we can talk about the most probably excruciating of all the physical things that he went through, which was the the beating with the Roman Catanine tail. And um, you know, the Bible never says he took thirty-nine stripes. A lot of people think he did. Um never said he took thirty-nine stripes. Matter of fact, the indication from history and the way that the Romans um tortured would indicate that he probably took a lot more than 39 stripes. And um the Roman Cat nine tail, everybody knows, had bone in it, glass in it. And when you got struck with a Roman Cat nine tail, it would when when they pulled it back, it would pull back with it chunks of flesh. And so Jesus was marred, the scripture talks about beyond recognition. Yeah I mean, you could see, you know, some of his insides. He was beaten that bad for you and I on the cross. I mean, um, but that's not really what caused Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to sweat drops of blood. It wasn't the physical torture, um, it was the separation from the father. It was those those words that are um the the most pathetic uh and sad words that one could ever utter. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You know, we talk a lot in our world about what it means to be forsaken. Uh a father can forsake his family, that's horrible. Um, a friend can forsake another friend, that's horrible. But when we are God forsaken, we are hopeless. Yeah. And um in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was that. Jesus had never known what it was like to be separated from the Father, Him and the Father always one in every single way, God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Um, that's the thing that caused Jesus to sweat drops of blood. That's the thing that caused him to experience the anguish and the agony, and and if you want to say the anxiety that that he was going through at that moment to know that he was going to become sin for you and I and be separated from the Father. Because that's the payment, that's the penalty for sin. The Bible says the the wage of sin is death. And death, not just not just physical death. Physical death is the thing that we sorrow over most. The thing that God sorrows over most is spiritual death. And spiritual death is much different than physical death. Spiritual death is being Separated for all of eternity from the Father. And sin has as that as its consequence, that God is a holy God.

SPEAKER_09 22:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 22:09

And what that basically means is that he cannot stand in the presence of sin. And his holiness and his justice, they go hand in hand. And what that basically means is that because God is holy, he cannot overlook sin. And we would think, well, he really should. Well, we don't ever want somebody to overlook injustice done to us. Right. We don't want the law to overlook injustice that is done. We want justice to be served. And because God is holy, he's also just and he can't just wink and overlook sin because sin is the greatest crime against God that we can commit. When we sin, we're not just sinning against ourselves, we're not sinning against other people. We're sinning against a holy God. And by the way, what makes a crime bad or not bad or worse or or less worse is the object of the crime. So for instance, if I came in and and and smacked you, um, which I would never do because you know I I would I wouldn't want I wouldn't want to mix it up with somebody as tough and strong as you. And so I would I would never want to I would never do that. But that would be that would be bad enough, right? But if I went and smacked a three-year-old kid or an infant, that would make it worse. Yeah. Because the object of the person that I'm doing wrong against makes the wrong that I'm doing either more egregious or less egregious. When we sin, I may, I may sin against you, but but more than sinning against you, I'm sinning against God. And since God is perfect and pure and holy and faultless, it makes it that much more egregious. So God can't just wink at sin, he's holy, but the other thing about God is he's merciful.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 23:45

And and so there's this tension, right, between the God of holiness and justice, the God who cannot let sin go unpunished, and the God of mercy who wants to forgive us and let us go. Right. How does that how does that tension work against one another? How do you how do you remain both of those things? Because the thing about God is he can never not be anything that he is. Anytime God ceases to be anything that God is, he ceases to be God. And so there's this real tension that God has with the sin problem of the world. How do I punish sin and how do I forgive mankind that that God has to fix? And so the mastery of the cross is that God was able to do both.

SPEAKER_11 24:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:30

Because what God did is he sentences himself to die on the cross so that sin is punished, but so that he can extend mercy to you and I. That's good. And the reason why God's able to do all this is because of this third component about God, and that is that God is all powerful. And so God in his in his omnipotence, in his majesty, and in him being God and God alone, he's able to figure out how to do all that and in the process to redeem you and I. And that's what the cross is. The cross is where judgment meant grace, where where the judgment that was due to us for sin meant the grace and the mercy of God, and both were satisfied so that you and I can go completely free. And so the crime against humanity now is not really, have you sinned or haven't you sinned? Because we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every single one of us. The crime that humanity commits is not accepting the payment for sin. Yes. And therefore, in essence, saying, okay, I'll pay for my own sin. It's one of the most unthoughtful, would be a nice way of saying it, unthoughtful uh decisions that we could make, that we would actually want to be held responsible for our sins when God has provided a way for us to be freed from our sins, to be reconciled to Him, to not have to experience spiritual death or eternal separation from Him and to have everlasting life. That is what was accomplished on the cross.

SPEAKER_10 26:09

Amen. That's good. Amen. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross.

SPEAKER_05 26:13

Thank you, Jesus for the cross.

SPEAKER_10 26:14

You know, when we talk about, again, we're talking about as we're getting leading into Palm Sunday and then ultimately uh Resurrection Sunday. Um you mentioned earlier about how sometimes we have difficulty um preaching about the cross or preaching about the blood or preaching about all of that stuff uh uh that that happened that satisfy the sin debt, right? Ultimately satisfied it. I think sometimes people have difficulty being in that moment.

unknown 26:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 26:44

Yeah. Right? Difficulty like the really comprehending and seeing this, this is not a fairy tale.

SPEAKER_05 26:51

No.

SPEAKER_10 26:52

This actually happened. Yeah. You know, and we think because it's over 2,000 years removed from us, and and we would, you know, we have the death penalty, we're trying to abolish the death penalty, and we don't have these vicious ways of of doing away with bad people that's that our minds have difficulty fathoming that that somebody could one go through this. But the reality of it is Jesus wasn't the first person to be crucified under Roman law.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

Yeah, no. And he was crucified with two others. Correct. And and I mean, there's just even the mastery of God in that, that he would be crucified between two others. Yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Two people who actually deserved what they were getting from a worldly point of view. But what's interesting about that is that the two people that he was crucified in between represent the two choices that you and I can make when it comes to who Jesus was and what he did on the cross. And those two choices are to receive him, to put their, put our faith and trust in him, not saying yes. Like what Daryl Strawberry said once when he was here preaching, he said yes means you enjoy the gospel or you enjoy salvation. And uh so one thief, the thief that was um, you know, on his right, um, said, you know, will you remember me when you come into paradise? And uh and Jesus said, Today you'll be with me in paradise, which I I know I'm kind of going all over the place right now, but that's also the power of the cross. The power of the cross is that God answers our prayers.

SPEAKER_11 28:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:22

I mean, the power of the cross is that's the reason why God answers our prayers. Not because we're worthy. That thief wasn't worthy. We God can answer our prayers because of what Jesus did on the cross. And so that one thief, he he tells us so much. He tells us, first of all, what the right decision to make is, and tells us that anybody can make this that decision. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The fact that that this is the one who on the cross exemplifies who can be saved. If if he can be saved, we all can be saved. You know, the the worst sinners and and the people who are the most moral, we all can be saved. Just got to put our faith in Christ. And then the other guy on the left side, he rejects Christ. Right. And those are the two choices. You can either reject salvation, you can receive salvation, but but um uh the choice is made available for every single one of us. And and just the mastery of God in the message that he even everything, when you study the scripture, ever you can see how God's brilliant design. You could see God's omniscience. Um, you could see that God is all-knowing and and how God so carefully weaves everything into the message of salvation that you possibly can. And um, what made Jesus's crucifixion unique, other than the fact that he was a sinless sacrifice, is is the stuff that accompanied his crucifixion, that accompanied no other crucifixion. Not just the stuff that we know spiritually, but even the stuff that happened naturally. So the Bible says, first of all, when when Jesus you know gave up the ghost, when he yelled it is finished and gave up the ghost, that the veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom. Now, I don't know if we realize it. Maybe we think that this is like you know the ripping of some you know small sheet, thin sheet. I mean, this was 300 pounds.

SPEAKER_11 30:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

I mean, it was like yay thick.

SPEAKER_11 30:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:21

And it was ripped from top to bottom. And and the and and and everybody, this made a loud noise. It was heard, it was seen, and the message that was sent is now access to God is now granted. That we can't come to God on our own. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. And the only way that you have access to God is through Christ. But now that Christ has paid that price to justify us, just as if we've never sinned, to make us right and holy in the eyes of God, we can now think of the power of this. We don't now have to go through an intermediary to go into the presence of the Father. We can now come boldly before the throne of grace and find grace and mercy to help in time of need because access has been granted. We can now go to God directly for ourselves. That didn't happen with anybody else.

SPEAKER_10 31:11

Yeah, that didn't happen.

SPEAKER_05 31:12

I mean, when when Jesus died on the cross, the Bible also says that um uh the the whole earth became dark in that moment. Yeah. I mean, that didn't happen with anybody else.

SPEAKER_10 31:26

Yeah, and there was an earthquake.

SPEAKER_05 31:27

There was an earthquake. The rocks rent and were shaken. I mean, this was, and one of the Roman soldiers seeing all this, right, he he he pierced him through his side and the blood and the water came out, which by the way, again, just just even that, right? The blood and the water. Why blood and water? Because blood is spiritual rebirth and water is natural birth. And so, what the message that God was sending, I mean, every little detail that God is giving, he's screaming out to people, this is no ordinary crucifixion. This is a time for everybody who is naturally born to get spiritually reborn so they can be made right with me. Every little detail. And this is why the Bible fascinates me. It fascinates me because, like, even if you're really smart, you cannot nuance that many details into one singular story. Yeah. It would the the word of God is woven together. It's God's love letter to us so that you and I recognize who Jesus was and receive him as Savior so that we could be made right with him.

SPEAKER_10 32:28

That's powerful, bro. Yeah. That's very powerful. And I I guess I'm I'm I'm harping on. I remember when the Passion of the Christ came out. Right. Um, I think it was maybe 15 years ago now. People wanted to look away. They wanted to look away.

SPEAKER_05 32:40

You're like, this is too graphic.

SPEAKER_10 32:41

Yeah. But this was the penalty.

SPEAKER_05 32:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 32:48

This was this this was the pri And even that was not even sufficient enough to really tell the story. Yeah. You know. It wasn't. Because you're you're talking about not just being hung on the cross, you're talking about having to carry the cross, this heavy cross, down a trail, the Villa de la Rosa, down this trail after having been whipped and beaten and sped on and versed, cursed, and verbally abused, you know, and mocked, all of those things, you're carrying the very thing that you're it's well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:20

You know, when you when you were talking, the some of the things that just came to my mind is even when you talk about Jesus being spit on. Okay. So when he is in Caiaphas' court, um the Sanhedrin is assembled together. Um, the great Sanhedrin was seventy people. And the Bible says they spat in his face. But what we don't realize is it wasn't one person. It was seventy people.

SPEAKER_11 33:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:49

Seventy people spitting in your face. Come on. He had spit dripping down his face. That is the most insulting thing that you could do to anybody is to spit in their face. This is God.

SPEAKER_11 34:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:10

I mean, like, I mean, do you know what kind of restraint this takes? I mean, think about somebody who comes up to you and just purposefully spits in your face. I don't want to think about it.

SPEAKER_10 34:19

I'm not that saved. I'm not that saved.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

This is God who has all this power. Yeah. So much power that when they came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane and they said, Are you Jesus of Nazareth? He said, I am. They all fell backwards, as if dead men. Right? That that, I mean, his word has that much power. This is God who told, he looked at Peter, he said, put away your sword. He said, Don't you know I can call on a legion of angels right now and they come and rescue me. Don't you understand? They're not, they're not capturing me. Right. They're not they're not taking me by their strength and by their force. They're taking me because I'm allowing them to, because I'm restraining myself. They're spitting in Jesus. And then not only they spit in his face, they came and the Bible says they slapped him in the face.

SPEAKER_11 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:07

One time after another time, after another time, after another time, after another time, after another time. I mean, all of this is going on, and God is enduring all. When people say, I don't really know if God loves me.

SPEAKER_10 35:21

Yeah, talk about it.

SPEAKER_05 35:22

You know, all this evil in the world, all this suffering, this God is God really a loving God? The cross. The cross. Is God really a loving God? He he was spit on that much. He was slapped that much. He endured that beating, that whipping, that, that mocking. And not only that, like he was exposed naked before everybody. The humiliation and the shame that Jesus had to go through. Imagine, like, imagine if if you know, you didn't know it, but there was like a camera in your shower and everybody got to see. I mean, you would be humiliated, bro.

SPEAKER_04 35:57

What in the world? I mean, I'm just, I'm just saying, can you imagine? Can you imagine like nobody, nobody wants to just expose themselves to everybody? Why did I say that? I don't know why.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

I'm just trying to get it, make it real for people. You know, people who don't feel good about their body.

SPEAKER_04 36:23

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That was that was I don't know why that came into my mind. It just did. Um anyway, anyway, how are we gonna get this back on track right now? I didn't expect you to laugh that much. You're really crazy. Um, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 36:40

The point is, the humiliation that Christ endured um is is just is just beyond anything that we could we could ever imagine. And to to actually question the love of God, to question that like that God cares when you know about the cross. And here's the thing is tell me what other deity did all that? What other deity suffered for everybody else? Right. Every other deity was kind of like, you know, like peace, bro, peace, bro. You know, like, like, okay. But Jesus, like, he he took the pain. And not only that, but he could have just showed up, kind of did a few things and went to the cross, but but he took the time to actually walk in our shoes and experience our humanity. Yeah, and that made the cross even more powerful. That's kind of, I think that's one of the reasons why he was able to cry from the cross, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Yeah. Because he was able to talk from the perspective of, I know what it's like to be human. Like I know what it's like to feel the kind of things, I know what it's like to be tempted to react the wrong way, to come to the wrong conclusions, to be married to a particular belief system, and then all of a sudden be introduced to a new belief system and have to rethink everything that you thought before. I I know what all of that is like. And that's why not only is God um ultimately forgiving, but God is ultimately understanding.

SPEAKER_11 38:23

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:23

That's why God is so patient with us. Because like He knows how the human factor kind of comes into all this and how all of the other, all of the inputs in our lives, you know, bear come to bear on the decision making that we we have. And and the cross is just the culmination of all of that. Yeah. It's just it's just amazing. Yeah. It's just amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Do I got you back yet?

SPEAKER_10 38:49

Yeah, I'm here.

SPEAKER_05 38:50

All right, I'm just I'm glad you come back.

SPEAKER_10 38:52

No, I mean, I mean, literally, I mean, as you as you were, even though we're we're joking around and and and you know, your your your metaphor you gave, you know, was colorful.

SPEAKER_05 38:59

Not a not a great metaphor. Uh I I confess.

SPEAKER_10 39:02

But when we when you really sit back and think about it, there's there's something magnificent, you know, as you as you ponder at that someone did this.

SPEAKER_05 39:09

The wonder of the cross.

SPEAKER_10 39:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:11

The wonder of the cross.

SPEAKER_10 39:12

Yeah. Someone, you know, he he he knew no sin, he became sin for us. And to move from, you know, you talked about the Garden of Gethsemane, you know, you know, God, I wish this cup would pass from me, but nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. It's it's like to be able to be able to know that I didn't do anything wrong. Right. Like I didn't do anything wrong, but I am willing to go down the path as if I did everything wrong. Everything.

SPEAKER_05 39:44

You know, it's it's it's just a some objections to the cross are usually things like, well, I mean, this that doesn't seem right. Why would God give his son? I mean, that's that's cruel. Well, the thing is, because you you're you're you don't understand that the son is God. It's it's not somebody else giving another person, it's God sentencing himself. Right. It's it's it's amazing. Yeah. It's amazing. And if you can the the best way, the the the the best way that we can grab just a little bit of understanding of what the cross means in terms of God's love for us. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God God died for us. No greater love hath any man than this, but to lay down his life for his friend. The only way that we can scratch the surface as human beings is to think what parent would not get in the way of the death of their child.

SPEAKER_10 40:51

Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 40:52

And and again, remember people say, well, well, well then God's not loving. But yeah, but no, that he was God. That's that's the difference here. Yeah. That's the difference here. Yeah. And and so to understand that kind of love is just um it it should it should make us think.

SPEAKER_10 41:08

Yeah, there's a song uh by Pastor Donnie McKirkin says, just for me, just for me. Jesus came and did it just for me.

SPEAKER_08 41:17

Just for me, just for me. Jesus came and did it just for me. Just for me, just for me. Oh, Jesus came and did it just for me.

SPEAKER_10 41:41

And then that bridge says the cross will always represent the love God has for me. When the Lord of glory, heaven sent, gave all on Calvary just for me. And not just for me, but just for you too. God did it just for you so that you Pastor Frank hit the nail on the head when we talk about valuing ourselves and feeling worthy of love and all of these different, you know, self-esteem and all of these different things. Jesus came and died because he loved you.

SPEAKER_05 42:09

Because he loved us and because what you just said is worth repeating because of the value that we have in the eyes of God. Yeah. You know, people are always searching for identity value. They struggle with uh who they are and how much they're worth, and we do all sorts of things to ourselves because we we struggle with not feeling good enough or not measuring up or trying to to fit in and all these kind of things. And yet the Bible says, and this is why the preaching of the cross and specifically the preaching of the blood are so important. Yes. And you know, we we have become a crossless uh Christianity and a bloodless Christianity. Um and by doing so we have missed so much. The Bible says we have not been redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of the Lamb.

SPEAKER_08 42:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 42:59

And and the word precious literally means without value, or let me say it a different way, of infinite value, because without value can sound wrong, but I think people know what I meant, is uh with it priceless.

SPEAKER_11 43:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:13

Priceless. You know, like somehow, some way in our from our human perspective, if if like Jesus had come to earth and like paid this huge monetary ransom, you know, brought in, you know, a truckload of gold and said, I'm buying back the whole human race with a truckload of gold. Somehow, some way in our humanity we'd be like, oh, that's how valuable we are. But but gold to God is what he paves the streets with in heaven.

SPEAKER_11 43:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:37

What what meant more to God than anything else was his own blood, that he was willing to to shed his own blood for you and I. When we when we the reason why our kids are are are are near and dear to our heart is because they're our flesh and blood.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 43:52

And that's the that's the value that we have in the eyes of God. And you know, I want everybody who's listening, and I know it's consistent. Sometimes sound corny, but you know, sometimes people need to know that's how important you are to God.

SPEAKER_08 44:04

That's right. That's good, man. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 44:07

And let me say this also about the blood. And you started to hit on it when you talked about the passion, how people wanted to turn their face from it. I think it was Charles Spurgeon who in a in a message he was he was preaching on the blood, he said the reason why blood is the payment for sin is because it reminds us of how horrible sin is. Because when you see blood, you want to look away. When you see blood, you do get squeamish. Or seeing somebody bleed. You know, when when they do that on TV, like we watched a show, my wife and I, it's called Um Chicago Fire. And like somebody's always impaled on the show. Always. And like they show it, and I'm like, well, what are you doing? I don't want to see this. You know, I want to look away. I want to look away. Because that's what sin is. That's that's the price of sin. It's it's it's death. It's horrible. It's not something that's cute, it's not something that you know is is is to be toyed with and played with. It separates us from God, and the payment for that was the blood of Jesus.

SPEAKER_10 45:20

Yeah. And that goes all the way back even to the Old Testament, you know, when when before Jesus Christ came, there there had to be still the shedding of blood. There had to be a shedding of a lamb, uh, uh, uh, you know, some sort of uh animal, and blood had to be shed because if not, you were still considered unclean in the sight of God.

SPEAKER_05 45:39

You know, I mean even that, again, we talked about the nuances of scripture, like the fact that that was the practice, and quite frankly, it was the practice in in a lot of religions, right? There was always a sacrifice for sin, a blood sacrifice for sin, and a blood sacrifice for covenant, all of that kind of stuff. But think about the nuance of how Jesus was referred to when he walked the earth as the Lamb of God. That's right. Because he was that final sacrifice his blood shed once and for all, full payment for sin, paid in full. When Jesus said it is finished, the the the original language is it's tetalesti, and it means paid in full.

SPEAKER_02 46:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:22

In full. Or we think that what we've done is so bad that you know we have to live in shame and regret for the rest of our lives. God's whole thing is forgiveness. God was in Christ Jesus, not imputing the world's sin to them, but reconciling the world to him through Jesus, through Jesus' payment. And so we need to receive that forgiveness for our our sins and let God cleanse us and walk in purity of conscience and mind and walk and live for God with everything that we have.

SPEAKER_10 47:13

I think we're out of time, man. But you uh that was really good. It was really good. And I hope you guys are receiving this this because I I feel the Holy Spirit, man. I just really do. Um, in this season, man, make it your business to reflect on the the the beautiful, horrible, terrible, amazing cross, the cross, the cross of Calvary. Uh at another another time, man, I want us to talk about because like you you mentioned that you mentioned that we don't really talk about the cross and the blood anymore. You know, and I I'm curious to know your thoughts as to why. Why do you think that is? Why we have we moved because I remember growing up, man, there were so many songs and messages and conferences around the blood. The blood still works, the blood never loses its power. Why are we not re-emphasizing that in today's I'm gonna give you a quick answer to it?

SPEAKER_05 48:06

Okay. It's because it's not popular, but here's what I would say but it's powerful. And here's what I think is happening in the church world today because of the new generation. You know, everybody talks about Gen Z now, right? Um Gen Z wants power over popularity. They want something that is tangible more than they want something that is um cool or like popular, right? They couldn't care less if you got smoke and lights in church. They really don't care anymore. It used to be like you had to have smoke and lights in church. And I'm not saying we shouldn't have that. You know, just whatever floats your boat. You know, heaven's pretty, you know, the throne of God is there's a lot of things going on there. So we could talk about that. But but the power of the blood in the cross is what is going to change people's heart and mind and soul and really make an impact in their life.

SPEAKER_10 49:10

Amen. Amen. That was good, man. That's good. Let's transition now to our real life react. This is when we see something for the first time, a real for the first time, and we give our reaction on it. So he's made mistakes.

SPEAKER_07 49:26

Hold on, wait, wait, wait. He made mistakes, he forgot things. What did he forget? Eli Eli Lama Sabakhtani. My Lord, my lord, why have you forsaken me? What do you mean? When he was supposedly on the crossing.

SPEAKER_06 49:37

What did he say that he forgot that?

SPEAKER_07 49:38

What did he forget? Supposedly, he doesn't know if he's God, supposedly according to you, he's supposed to know his divine mission, right? And he's on his but yet on the cross, he's looking up to the sky saying, Eli Eli Lama Sabactani, which translates from the Aramaic, My God, my God, why would why do you forsake forsaken me? So why would God think that God forsake forsaken me? He forgot his divine mission? Oh, no, stone is for civility.

SPEAKER_06 50:06

It's funny that you say that in this verse it shows that Jesus forgot his divine mission when he's calling the psalm that points to his divine mission. What is my gala, magaba, whatever you forsaken me? What does it come from? Tell me. Psalm 22. Literally have Psalm 22 stuff and subverbed. You want to know what else is in there? It says that the balls surround me, they encompass me, they mock me, they say the Lord, he delights in the Lord, let him save them. He's beloved by the Lord, let him bring them down. That's what they were saying. No, but first, but also when we get to verse 16, the apostle says this. It says, They encompass me, they make the mouths at me, they've pierced my hands and my feet. He pierced his hands and his feet, they mopped him and surrounded him, he's surrounded by his enemies. Jesus is literally this was Psalms 22. So Jesus on the cross is literally pointing to his divine mission by saying, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He ain't forgetting nothing. He's saying, Y'all don't know. That was a great point.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Thank you. I want to I want to give that I want to give that brother some props right there. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 51:17

Here's the thing is you gotta know your Bible. Yeah. You know, because there's a lot of things that sound like good arguments until you understand your Bible. And what he explained to the person who had had that question was that Jesus was actually fulfilling prophecy. Psalm 22 is a prophetic psalm. It's a psalm that it that that speaks thousands of years earlier about how you'll know the identity of the true Messiah and Savior of the world. And um and and Jesus He fulfilled, depending upon you know who you listen to, anywhere from 300 to 400 or so, maybe even as many as 450 different prophecies in his life. Um the the final prophecy for him to fulfill was when he said on the cross, I thirst. That was the only one at that point that Jesus had not yet fulfilled. And if we go with the low-end number, 300 prophecies, that means that at that point Jesus had fulfilled 299 out of 300. Now, as a human being, I'd be like, good enough for me.

SPEAKER_11 52:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 52:23

Like I got it. Like, you know, this dude is who he says he is, right? But see, but God is not almost.

SPEAKER_10 52:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_05 52:30

God is not 99.9% of, you know, you and 1% doubt. God is 100%. God, God, Jesus fulfilled everything that was written about him. And so even down to that last thing when on the cross, I mean, he's got a lot on his mind at that point. You know what I mean? Got a lot going on, right? You know, I know me at my tender young age of 53.

SPEAKER_04 52:54

I know I know what to shave, I don't look like it, but at the tender young age of 53, I forget stuff walking into the next room. Right, right. Because I got a lot of stuff on my mind. What is the coming for me?

SPEAKER_05 53:06

He's he's on the cross, a lot going on, and he's like, one more. One more, so that everybody will know that I am who I said I am. And so um, great answer. Um, the great thing about the word of God is it can stand up to any question.

SPEAKER_10 53:23

Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, now we're gonna move on to our next segment, Ask Me Anything. This is where you guys get to send in your questions based upon uh the previous podcast or just something that's on your mind and on your heart that you want to share. And so our question for today comes in. It says, I know I'll be criticized for this, but I found that internet church helped me quite a bit. Okay. I'm a member of four different churches. All right then, and I watch and listen to five. All right. I know you're supposed to commune with others of faith, but is it wrong to just be with the Lord and religion day today?

unknown 54:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:02

So I mean, um, here's the thing is that there's nothing wrong with listening to uh a lot of different ministers. Nothing wrong with that. But but the problem with the with the perspective is that do you know your Bible? Right? So we can all come up with things that we think are helpful and so on and so forth. But if what we're saying is it's it's to replace being in the house of God, then I just ask, what does the Bible say? The Bible says, do not forsake the assembling of yourself together. And so much the more as you see the day of the Lord approaching. And so as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ, it becomes more and more important for us to gather in God's house. All the scripture that talks about the house of God, David said, better uh uh better better is a you know the scripture, better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. What were the courts of the Lord? They were the inner sanctum in the tabernacle of God, you know? And so um the Bible talks about how God has given us some pastors, evangelists, prophets, uh, and teachers, apostles, prophets, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints till we all come into the unity of the faith. Um He said, I'll give you pastors after my heart. He says, Submit to those who have uh, you know, the rule over you as those that will give an account for your soul, the the pastoral relationship with uh the parishioner, the the relationship with the house of God. These are well-established biblical truths contained in scripture. And so what we can't do is we can't take something that is useful and and say, okay, now this supersedes what God says in his word. And so, yes, internet church can be useful. We have we have 16 or 1,700 people that tune in every single week, you know, before we put it out there, you know, for the rest of the week just to listen to our messages.

SPEAKER_02 56:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 56:09

Fantastic, wonderful, great, but not as a substitute for being in the house of God.

SPEAKER_10 56:15

Well, well, the the the the the person who asked the question said it right here in their question. I know you're supposed to commune with others of faith. Yeah. So it's like I I had a really tough conversation with one of our members at our campus in New York City yesterday, and one of the things that they kept saying was, like, you know, I want to know your opinion on this. And I said, I can't give you my opinion. Right. I have to give you what scripture says. Right. Because my opinion might differ from from scripture, but as a as a as a minister of the gospel, my opinion is of little value. What does the word of God say on on this issue? You know, I think you el elocuted it very well as well. So yeah, so hope that hope that bless you. So f if you're if you're local, come holler at us at faith church. But if you are not local, find a place to get plugged in, find a community of faith, and use those internet, those internet services to supplement what you're learning and the communal aspect of of uh of being in the in the in the fellowship of your brothers and sisters. Um Ralph is in the building. What you got for us, Ralph?

SPEAKER_00 57:15

Can the cross be used in interfaith contexts? With the increasing interaction between different religions in modern society, some question whether the cross can be a symbol that bridges faiths, or if it remains strictly tied to Christianity, can it be used in interfaith discussions or would it be seen as exclusionary?

SPEAKER_05 57:35

Um Well, I mean, if it if the question is, can it be used, you know, like to unite people who are, you know, coming from all different places and and get them to kind of see it as part of, you know, I don't think so because the very nature of the cross is exclusionary. Yes. Um, you know, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through me. That's pretty exclusionary. Um but but here's the thing is that you know, we have this thing that exclusionary is bad. It's not. Okay. Um me and my wife are exclusive. I I don't want other people included in that kind of exclusionary relationship, right? Exclusion, exclusion is good. Um, and and here's the thing about why it's particularly good when it comes to our relationship with God and and the way to God, because if I'm trying to find my way somewhere, I want clear directions. I I don't I I don't need you to be amb ambiguous with me. I want some clear directions, you know. And it's funny because we we think like this in every aspect of society. So if if somebody comes to me and you know, um and says, How do I get to the nearest McDonald's? and they're at Faith Church, if I tell them to go out of the parking lot and you know, go straight across the street and keep going, that's not gonna get them to the nearest McDonald's. Matter of fact, it's gonna get them in a river. I need to tell them that the way to get to the nearest McDonald's is you go out of the parking lot, you make a left, you go down the road about a mile and a half. Now, if you go right, you can get to another McDonald's, but not the nearest McDonald's. And so the point is that that not all paths always lead to the same place. It's the most ridiculous argument that anybody could ever make. And so the cross, though, is not meant to be inclusive in terms of, you know, whatever you believe is okay if it's underneath the cross. Whatever you believe is okay if it's underneath. But here's where it is inclusive: whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

SPEAKER_10 59:47

That's it.

SPEAKER_05 59:48

It doesn't Christianity does not exclude anybody from being welcomed at the cross.

SPEAKER_04 59:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 59:56

And it embraces everyone, no matter what they've done, what sin they've committed, what background they come from, what color of skin they are, if they're male or female. It doesn't matter. Everybody is welcome at the foot of the cross. But here's the thing, and here's what grates against our flesh and our humanity. But it it requires you to surrender. Christianity is not Burger King. I've used McDonald's and Burger King a lot lately. I'm not even hungry right now. Um, but you know, Burger King is have it your way.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:32

That's not Christianity. Right. Christianity is not have it your way. Christianity is if you truly um come to Christ, He becomes your Lord, your savior, your master. He He calls the shots, He sets the agenda, He, He, He, He defines right and wrong. You know, He's the Savior of your soul, He's the captain of your salvation. You know, you have to surrender to Him. And what society sometimes wants is they want a God on their terms. That's right. And that's why the early, I don't want to say church, but early society and even the early Jews missed Jesus because they wanted a God on their terms. You know, they wanted a God who was gonna do it what they wanted him to do. Jesus didn't come to do what they wanted him to do. They wanted to, they wanted a political savior. They wanted somebody who's gonna, you know, give them a kingdom here on the earth so they can rule and reign over the Romans. Jesus didn't come to be a political savior, he came to be the savior of our soul.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:35

That's good. Yes. The bridge the cross was not made or established, was not um, he was Jesus was not crucified to build bridges to other faith.

unknown 1:01:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:45

Bridge to heaven, though. A bridge to the kingdom. To the kingdom. Amen. This is a good one, man. Amen. This is a good one. You know, in spite of uh all of your jabs, man, I really appreciate seeing the cross from you. You you you know, God has blessed you with some amazing wisdom and insight, and it's it's an honor just to sit and to hear you pour out and and to give all that God has given you, man. That's that's from that's from a really genuine place. I mean, I've got to be able to do that. Despite despite.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:12

Can you take us out with that song again?

SPEAKER_08 1:02:16

Just for me. Just for me. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. Jesus came and did it just for me. Just for me. If you want to hear more faith worship just for me. Oh Jesus came and did it just for me.

SPEAKER_10 1:02:48

We'll see you next time on Ask Me Anything.