April 7, 2025 • 25 mins
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are now living in anticipation of one day dying.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says we need to concentrate more on
what happens after that day than before it.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You must flip the script spiritually in order to experience
what God has for you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. When Jesus told
us to take up our cross, he wasn't talking about
hanging a piece of jewelry around our neck. Today, doctor
Evans looks at what it really means to merge with
the cross. Let's join him.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Unfortunately, many Christians do not have a clear picture of
who they are, and because they don't know who they are,
we function in ways we were not designed to function
once we came to Christ. It's not that you don't
have the right nature, is that you don't fully understand
(01:01):
the nature that you do have that I have. Paul
in Romans chapter six wants these believers to have a
correct and clear understanding of who they are. He's concerned
that they don't fully understand where they are spiritually since
(01:22):
they've come to Christ, and that lack of understanding has
led to a whole series of problems or challenges that
he himself had to struggle with that he talks about
in chapter seven. He raises the question, what shall we say, then,
are we to continue in sin that grace may increase.
(01:42):
He knew that many of the people he was writing
to didn't understand grace. They looked at grace as a
license to sin, rather than as a power not to sin.
Having stated this, he now talks about the merger that
occurred at salvation. This is what we want you to understand.
(02:04):
There was a merger, something was merged. Verse three. Do
you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus, have been baptized into his death.
Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death,
so that as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, so you two might walk
(02:25):
in the newness of life. For you have become united
with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we
shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. He says,
You and I, when we trusted Christ, were merged together
with Christ. It is death that's the cross, in order
that we might experience the merging effect of his resurrection.
(02:51):
He says, the reason that you died with him is
so that you could live like him. Now you have
to understand that this is a reversal to how we're living.
We are now living in anticipation of one day dying.
(03:11):
We are now living our lives in anticipation that one
day this physical life is going to end. So physically
we are living in anticipation of dying. But it's supposed
to be the direct opposite spiritually. Spiritually, you are dying
so that you might start living. You follow me, now,
(03:33):
you must flip the script spiritually in order to experience
what God has for you. Physically, you're living to die,
but spiritually you're supposed to be dying to live. If
you're supposed to be dying to live, but y'are dying,
(03:54):
then you can't be living. The Cross of Christ is
not just a historical two thousand old experience. It's supposed
to be your point of reference. If you want to live, now,
you gotta die. The problem comes when we either don't
(04:14):
know that that's the case or refuse to adapt to
the new reality of it. He says, you used to
be in a realm defined by sin. That's why he says,
our old self was crucified verse six with him in
order that the body of sin might be done away.
He's talking about a realm of existence where that which
(04:36):
was a gangst God ran the show. You were switched. Look,
why did Jesus die Galatious Chapter one, verse three and four.
Grace to you and peace from God, our father and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins,
so that he might rescue us from this present age
according to the will of God. The father Jesus Christ,
(04:58):
he says, died on the cross to rescue us. He's
not talking about Heaven, He's talking about earth. He says,
from this present age, Jesus Christ died on the cross
to extract us from the dominion or the rule, or
what he calls in Romans Sis, the reign of this
present age, this present age is total, no longer to
(05:20):
find you. When a man sees the lady he's interested in,
he often speaks in rescue language. I mean, he becomes
chief rescuer. He says, you know, I'm going to protect you,
(05:41):
I'm going to provide for you, I'm going to take
care of you. And when she says something is wrong
at least while he dating, he says, I'm gonna take
care of it. I'm gonna take care He speaks in
rescue language, and you ladies, you know he's for real
(06:02):
when he says, and your bills are now my bills.
Six too many people talking like that. So when he
when your bills are my bills, I'm gonna take ownership
for your dad, I'm gonna rescue you economically, I'm gonna
(06:24):
rescue you. I'm going to Here's what he's saying. He's saying,
I'm going to deliver you from your present circumstances. That's
what he's saying. He said, if you come over here
with me, I'm gonna take all of the stuff. You've
been mistreated by your daddy, but I'm gonna treat you right.
You've been mistreated by all the guys, but I'm gonna
treat you right. I'm gonna rescue you from your present order,
(06:47):
from your present situation. And then he speaks about rescue
in the name of sacrifice. He talks about I'm gonna
rescue you because I'm gonna give up my time, my energy, money,
my word. I'm gonna do all of that so that
you can be whole, you can be at peace, you
can be taken care of. I'm going to be your deliverer. Now,
(07:10):
he may be lying through his teeth, but that's the
talk he's gonna give because he wants this relationship. What
God is saying is I died to rescue you. I
died to deliver you. I died to deliver you because
the main thing that is the problem is the effect
of sin. I died for sin, so I died to
(07:33):
deliver you from what this present age offers. I died
to deliver you. He says. This baptism that you illustrate
in water, by the way, I've never seen a person
go down in the water and come up dry. I've
never observed that. Why, because the baptism affects you. When
you were baptized in the Christ spiritually illustrated by the
(07:55):
water baptism, you were to be plunged into death. Because
life comes out of death. It's very important for you
to know life comes out of death. That is, your
association with the Cross will determine how you live. Not
your physical life, your financial life, all those have a
place in terms of us functioning physically, but in terms
of seeing God at work. Unless you're hanging out around death,
(08:20):
you won't see life. And most of us try to
hang around life to see life. No, if you hang
around life, you see death. If you hang around death,
you see life. He says, you were buried with it.
You died with him. You were buried with him so
that you could be resurrected with him. You were put
in another realm. Look at tewod Corinthians four. But we
(08:45):
have this treasure verse seven. Watch this. We have this
treasure in earth and vessels. Okay, you have an earth
and vessel your body. Inside your body is a spiritual treasure,
he says, so that the passing greatness of the power
will be of God and not from ourselves. The treasure
(09:07):
chest you have inside your chest, so to speak, inside
of you, has got so much stuff in it that
you'll know it didn't come from you. It is designed
to reveal the surpassing greatness of God's power. If this
chest is open, inside your chest, inside your earth. If
(09:29):
this thing ever gets opened up, it says, what will
come out of its stuff that's not natural to you?
He says, what will come out of it? Is the
surpassing power of God. What will that look like when
it shows up in your life? Because of this treasure
you have inside of you. We are afflicted in every way,
(09:53):
but not crushed, he says. We are perplexed, but not despairing.
We are persecuted but not forsaken. We are struck down,
but not destroy He's not saying, understand your baptism, understand
your death, and you won't have any problems. What he
(10:15):
is saying is the problems you have won't have the
last word.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Doctor Evans will elaborate on that when he continues our
message in just a moment. First, though, today's lesson comes
from Tony's fourteen part series Returning to the Cross. This
collection spells out how truly understanding and appreciating Jesus' sacrifice
is the very key to the Christian life, and through
these messages you'll gain better insight into how to access
(10:42):
the benefits, blessings and power the Lord died to give you.
When you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station, we'll say thanks by sending you
this complete series on either CD or instantly downloadable MP
three's and as an added bone, but only for a
couple more days. Now we're able to include Tony's book
(11:04):
that goes hand in hand with this series. It's called
The Power of the Cross. Get the book and the
audio collection along with our thanks. Just request them when
you make your donation online at Tonyevans dot org, or
let one of our resource team members help you by
calling one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
(11:25):
any time of the day or night. That's one eight
hundred eight hundred three two two two. I'll repeat that
contact information for you after part two of today's message,
and this.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
That covers very important ground what they are and what
they're not.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century,
the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts all for a treasure
trove of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever have before.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating Biblical studies at
Tony Evans Training dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Here's what you gotta do. Every day. You got to
decide to go to your own funeral. Paul said, I
die daily, daily, I die so I believed, not talk
about phithically. He doesn't phythically die daily. Every day you
get up, you get up with the dead man walking.
(12:58):
You die. How do I die? You declare to yourself
that my independence from God is dead, and that I
identify with the judgment of Jesus Christ on my sin,
and I now free him to live his life through
me for the glory of God. According to the will
(13:19):
of God. You die daily. If you want to live,
let me invite you to the cemetery, because that's he says,
where you live, because that's where the life of Christ response.
He says, why he died Roman success and then he
(13:41):
arose to live unto God. We die so that we
arise to live under God. Communion is a reminder of
that death that I am no longer. It is no
longer I who lives, but it is Christ who lives
in me. We call it the lordship of Jesus Christ.
And this trance Fir brings about a whole new rulership,
(14:04):
a whole new reign, a whole new dictatorship in our lives.
But see, the enemy doesn't want you to notice. If
he can disconnect us from the Cross, he disconnects us
from life. The life comes through the Cross. So if
he can make you live your life apart from the
(14:26):
Cross reference, then he knows he can defeat you because
he knows you don't know who you are. See, Satan
wants us to forget who we are. Then we don't
know who we are, where we are, why we are,
And he does that through one way, causing us to
disconnect from the Cross verse eleven. Here it is even
(14:47):
so consider yourselves to be dead to sind but alive
to God in Christ Jesus. Okay, here it is. He says.
Consider that means calculate. Calculate. One of my favorite temptation
songs was each day from the window I watch her
as she passes by, I say to myself, Oh, you're
(15:12):
such a lucky guy with a girl like her. You know,
make your dreams come true. Then he comes to his
senses and says, it's just my imagination running away with me.
In other words, he was fantasizing about something that wasn't real.
(15:38):
Guess what Paul is saying. He says, fantasize about something
that is real. He says, let your imagination run away
with you, but you're imagining a reality, not a non reality.
Consider fantasize. Fantasize that I'm a dead man in Jesus Christ,
(15:59):
and I'm alive to God. Fantasize it because the spiritual
so you can't grab it in the physical sense, but
you can fantasize about things you can't grab. He says,
Fantasize it and make it real in your thinking. That's
why he says, no this, know this, know this, know this,
he said, because if you will fantasize it, declare it
to be so that I am now dead. I am
(16:21):
now dead with Christ to sin at the cross. I
am now alive to Jesus Christ. I have now been
delivered from this present world. That is no longer my definition.
I am married now to Jesus Christ. That is my
new reality. He says. Fantasize that. Consider it to be so,
(16:42):
because it is so. You're not making it up. It
is the way it is, if you've come to Christ.
I was talking to a guy from years ago who
was in the mortuary science. He was talking to me about,
you know, him embalming bodies and all this kind of stuff.
And he was telling me, he said, yeah, I'm down
here with all these dead you know, when we got
to get them ready for burial and all that. And
(17:03):
he said, it's interesting what some of these bodies do.
I said, who are you talking about? He said, uh,
sometimes they quiver and shake on the table. He said
he was back there one time and the body quivered
so much and threw itself off the table. He said,
(17:25):
he's singing Cadavis blink. Oh no, I said, doesn't that bother?
You said, no, that bother me at all. I said,
why not? He said, because I know they did. I
know that signs of life doesn't mean life, and because
(17:47):
I know that I'm unaffected by it, and so I
am no longer controlled by that fear. What Paul is
saying is, I want you to know that you know
of your position in Jesus Christ, and that you are
dying with him, and that you are carrying the cross
inside this earthly vessel, and that you are fantasizing and
(18:08):
your imagination is running away with you. That you are
now tied to Jesus at the cross, which means you're
raised with Jesus from the dead, which means that this
present age and it's authority no longer dictates to your life,
because there is a new ruler over your life. And
now every time you commune with him, you are reminded
(18:30):
of this new relationship, that the surpassing greatness of his
power might be made manifest and you begin to see
things happen that you know what's beyond you. That's what
he's saying. You remember that old movie the first time
it came out, The Blob, You know, way back. The blob,
(18:54):
this thing comes from out of space, hits the ground
inside his jello, and this guy comes and he's got
this little stick trying to touch it and figure it out,
and the things scoos up the stick onto the man's arm,
and the man goes to the doctor, and the doctors
are trying to get it off, but they can't get
it off, and it keeps climbing up the man's body
until it encompasses the man's whole body. And now the
(19:17):
man has been overwhelmed by the blob. The blob now
is taking in everything it touches. It is consuming it.
And people are being consumed by this thing. And this
thing is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger and bigger. And you come down
to near the end of the movie and all these
people are in the movies. They're in this movie house
(19:37):
and the blob is behind the screen and they're watching
this hord flick and they in the movie house. And
then the blob comes from around the screen and starts
to consume people in the theater. And people are come on, y'all,
remember what I'm talking about. People are now running all
out of the theater and they're screaming because the Blob
is taken over. It's ruling the present world. That present
(19:57):
world is being ruled by this alien four called the Block.
They shooting the blob, They machine gun and the blob.
They're trying to blow the bah blah up. They try
to do everything they can to get rid of this problem,
and they can't get rid of it because this is
an unstoppable force and it's just consuming everything. And now
it's gargantuous in size. It's huge in size because of
(20:18):
all the lives that have been swallowed up by its presence.
You know, it got the Blob. It wasn't the human
ability of men to stop it. They discovered a very
simple thing. It couldn't handle cold. Somebody shot it with
some cold spray and it shrunk back. So what they
(20:40):
did was they threw a net around it, hoisted it
up by a helicopter, and took it to Antarctica. In
other words, they relocated it to another realm. And when
they put it in this other realm, in that realm,
it lost its power. It didn't have power when its
realm changed. As long as they tried to resist it,
(21:04):
with their human ability. It won. But the moment they
understood that it couldn't handle this realm, the realm defined
its function. You and I are in another realm. But
if we're trying to bring into this realm that realm,
that realm will keep us from experiencing this realm. If
(21:27):
you want to experience this realm, you've got to leave
that realm. So the surpassing greatness of Christ's power in
this realm is available to you. You must carry the cross,
but not around your neck. You must die daily so
that the surpassing greatness of his life might be made manifest.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
If that decision to die daily is one you haven't
made yet, here's doctor Evans to explain how it works.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
If you've been listening to our broadcast and you have
not personally trusted Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins so that he can give you the gift of
eternal life. Right now, I want you to go to
God and transfer your trust from any and everything else
except the Son of God who died on the cross
for your sins and arose from the dead. In fact,
(22:21):
I'm going to say a little prayer and you can
repeat it after me, you just have to mean it
for yourself. Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner and
that I can't save myself. I believe Jesus Christ, your son,
died on the cross in my place for my sin,
and I now am trusting him alone to forgive me
(22:45):
and to give me the gift of eternal life that
he promised to give to anyone who came to him
for it. Thank you for saving me and help me
from this day forward to live a life pleasing to you.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, or
if you or someone you know wants to learn more
of what the Christian faith is all about, visit us
at Tonyevans dot org and click the link that simply
says Jesus doctor Evans will talk to you about exactly
what it means to become a Christian and there are
also some free resources you can download to get you
(23:22):
started again. That's Tony Evans Dorg. In the meantime, I
want to remind you that today's message is part of
Tony's powerful series called Returning to the Cross. This two volume,
fourteen message collection focuses on the very heart of the
Christian faith and includes quite a bit of material we
(23:43):
haven't been able to present on the air. Remember when
you help support this ministry with a contribution, we'll say
thanks by sending you this complete audio series, along with
Tony's insightful companion book, The Power of the Cross. But
tomorrow is the final day we'll be on offering this
special package, so don't wait. Drop by our website Tonyevans
(24:04):
dot org to let us know you'd like to take
advantage of this exclusive deal, or give us a call
at one eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two
where the friendly people on our resource team are ready
to help. Twenty four to seven. Again, that's one eight
hundred eight hundred three two two two. Obviously, the biggest
(24:25):
blessing we receive because of the Cross is salvation, but
tomorrow doctor Evans will talk about the other benefits the
Cross gives us even here on Earth. Be sure to
join us
We are now living in anticipation of one day dying.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says we need to concentrate more on
what happens after that day than before it.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You must flip the script spiritually in order to experience
what God has for you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. When Jesus told
us to take up our cross, he wasn't talking about
hanging a piece of jewelry around our neck. Today, doctor
Evans looks at what it really means to merge with
the cross. Let's join him.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Unfortunately, many Christians do not have a clear picture of
who they are, and because they don't know who they are,
we function in ways we were not designed to function
once we came to Christ. It's not that you don't
have the right nature, is that you don't fully understand
(01:01):
the nature that you do have that I have. Paul
in Romans chapter six wants these believers to have a
correct and clear understanding of who they are. He's concerned
that they don't fully understand where they are spiritually since
(01:22):
they've come to Christ, and that lack of understanding has
led to a whole series of problems or challenges that
he himself had to struggle with that he talks about
in chapter seven. He raises the question, what shall we say, then,
are we to continue in sin that grace may increase.
(01:42):
He knew that many of the people he was writing
to didn't understand grace. They looked at grace as a
license to sin, rather than as a power not to sin.
Having stated this, he now talks about the merger that
occurred at salvation. This is what we want you to understand.
(02:04):
There was a merger, something was merged. Verse three. Do
you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus, have been baptized into his death.
Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death,
so that as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, so you two might walk
(02:25):
in the newness of life. For you have become united
with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we
shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. He says,
You and I, when we trusted Christ, were merged together
with Christ. It is death that's the cross, in order
that we might experience the merging effect of his resurrection.
(02:51):
He says, the reason that you died with him is
so that you could live like him. Now you have
to understand that this is a reversal to how we're living.
We are now living in anticipation of one day dying.
(03:11):
We are now living our lives in anticipation that one
day this physical life is going to end. So physically
we are living in anticipation of dying. But it's supposed
to be the direct opposite spiritually. Spiritually, you are dying
so that you might start living. You follow me, now,
(03:33):
you must flip the script spiritually in order to experience
what God has for you. Physically, you're living to die,
but spiritually you're supposed to be dying to live. If
you're supposed to be dying to live, but y'are dying,
(03:54):
then you can't be living. The Cross of Christ is
not just a historical two thousand old experience. It's supposed
to be your point of reference. If you want to live, now,
you gotta die. The problem comes when we either don't
(04:14):
know that that's the case or refuse to adapt to
the new reality of it. He says, you used to
be in a realm defined by sin. That's why he says,
our old self was crucified verse six with him in
order that the body of sin might be done away.
He's talking about a realm of existence where that which
(04:36):
was a gangst God ran the show. You were switched. Look,
why did Jesus die Galatious Chapter one, verse three and four.
Grace to you and peace from God, our father and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins,
so that he might rescue us from this present age
according to the will of God. The father Jesus Christ,
(04:58):
he says, died on the cross to rescue us. He's
not talking about Heaven, He's talking about earth. He says,
from this present age, Jesus Christ died on the cross
to extract us from the dominion or the rule, or
what he calls in Romans Sis, the reign of this
present age, this present age is total, no longer to
(05:20):
find you. When a man sees the lady he's interested in,
he often speaks in rescue language. I mean, he becomes
chief rescuer. He says, you know, I'm going to protect you,
(05:41):
I'm going to provide for you, I'm going to take
care of you. And when she says something is wrong
at least while he dating, he says, I'm gonna take
care of it. I'm gonna take care He speaks in
rescue language, and you ladies, you know he's for real
(06:02):
when he says, and your bills are now my bills.
Six too many people talking like that. So when he
when your bills are my bills, I'm gonna take ownership
for your dad, I'm gonna rescue you economically, I'm gonna
(06:24):
rescue you. I'm going to Here's what he's saying. He's saying,
I'm going to deliver you from your present circumstances. That's
what he's saying. He said, if you come over here
with me, I'm gonna take all of the stuff. You've
been mistreated by your daddy, but I'm gonna treat you right.
You've been mistreated by all the guys, but I'm gonna
treat you right. I'm gonna rescue you from your present order,
(06:47):
from your present situation. And then he speaks about rescue
in the name of sacrifice. He talks about I'm gonna
rescue you because I'm gonna give up my time, my energy, money,
my word. I'm gonna do all of that so that
you can be whole, you can be at peace, you
can be taken care of. I'm going to be your deliverer. Now,
(07:10):
he may be lying through his teeth, but that's the
talk he's gonna give because he wants this relationship. What
God is saying is I died to rescue you. I
died to deliver you. I died to deliver you because
the main thing that is the problem is the effect
of sin. I died for sin, so I died to
(07:33):
deliver you from what this present age offers. I died
to deliver you. He says. This baptism that you illustrate
in water, by the way, I've never seen a person
go down in the water and come up dry. I've
never observed that. Why, because the baptism affects you. When
you were baptized in the Christ spiritually illustrated by the
(07:55):
water baptism, you were to be plunged into death. Because
life comes out of death. It's very important for you
to know life comes out of death. That is, your
association with the Cross will determine how you live. Not
your physical life, your financial life, all those have a
place in terms of us functioning physically, but in terms
of seeing God at work. Unless you're hanging out around death,
(08:20):
you won't see life. And most of us try to
hang around life to see life. No, if you hang
around life, you see death. If you hang around death,
you see life. He says, you were buried with it.
You died with him. You were buried with him so
that you could be resurrected with him. You were put
in another realm. Look at tewod Corinthians four. But we
(08:45):
have this treasure verse seven. Watch this. We have this
treasure in earth and vessels. Okay, you have an earth
and vessel your body. Inside your body is a spiritual treasure,
he says, so that the passing greatness of the power
will be of God and not from ourselves. The treasure
(09:07):
chest you have inside your chest, so to speak, inside
of you, has got so much stuff in it that
you'll know it didn't come from you. It is designed
to reveal the surpassing greatness of God's power. If this
chest is open, inside your chest, inside your earth. If
(09:29):
this thing ever gets opened up, it says, what will
come out of its stuff that's not natural to you?
He says, what will come out of it? Is the
surpassing power of God. What will that look like when
it shows up in your life? Because of this treasure
you have inside of you. We are afflicted in every way,
(09:53):
but not crushed, he says. We are perplexed, but not despairing.
We are persecuted but not forsaken. We are struck down,
but not destroy He's not saying, understand your baptism, understand
your death, and you won't have any problems. What he
(10:15):
is saying is the problems you have won't have the
last word.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Doctor Evans will elaborate on that when he continues our
message in just a moment. First, though, today's lesson comes
from Tony's fourteen part series Returning to the Cross. This
collection spells out how truly understanding and appreciating Jesus' sacrifice
is the very key to the Christian life, and through
these messages you'll gain better insight into how to access
(10:42):
the benefits, blessings and power the Lord died to give you.
When you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station, we'll say thanks by sending you
this complete series on either CD or instantly downloadable MP
three's and as an added bone, but only for a
couple more days. Now we're able to include Tony's book
(11:04):
that goes hand in hand with this series. It's called
The Power of the Cross. Get the book and the
audio collection along with our thanks. Just request them when
you make your donation online at Tonyevans dot org, or
let one of our resource team members help you by
calling one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
(11:25):
any time of the day or night. That's one eight
hundred eight hundred three two two two. I'll repeat that
contact information for you after part two of today's message,
and this.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
That covers very important ground what they are and what
they're not.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century,
the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts all for a treasure
trove of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever have before.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating Biblical studies at
Tony Evans Training dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Here's what you gotta do. Every day. You got to
decide to go to your own funeral. Paul said, I
die daily, daily, I die so I believed, not talk
about phithically. He doesn't phythically die daily. Every day you
get up, you get up with the dead man walking.
(12:58):
You die. How do I die? You declare to yourself
that my independence from God is dead, and that I
identify with the judgment of Jesus Christ on my sin,
and I now free him to live his life through
me for the glory of God. According to the will
(13:19):
of God. You die daily. If you want to live,
let me invite you to the cemetery, because that's he says,
where you live, because that's where the life of Christ response.
He says, why he died Roman success and then he
(13:41):
arose to live unto God. We die so that we
arise to live under God. Communion is a reminder of
that death that I am no longer. It is no
longer I who lives, but it is Christ who lives
in me. We call it the lordship of Jesus Christ.
And this trance Fir brings about a whole new rulership,
(14:04):
a whole new reign, a whole new dictatorship in our lives.
But see, the enemy doesn't want you to notice. If
he can disconnect us from the Cross, he disconnects us
from life. The life comes through the Cross. So if
he can make you live your life apart from the
(14:26):
Cross reference, then he knows he can defeat you because
he knows you don't know who you are. See, Satan
wants us to forget who we are. Then we don't
know who we are, where we are, why we are,
And he does that through one way, causing us to
disconnect from the Cross verse eleven. Here it is even
(14:47):
so consider yourselves to be dead to sind but alive
to God in Christ Jesus. Okay, here it is. He says.
Consider that means calculate. Calculate. One of my favorite temptation
songs was each day from the window I watch her
as she passes by, I say to myself, Oh, you're
(15:12):
such a lucky guy with a girl like her. You know,
make your dreams come true. Then he comes to his
senses and says, it's just my imagination running away with me.
In other words, he was fantasizing about something that wasn't real.
(15:38):
Guess what Paul is saying. He says, fantasize about something
that is real. He says, let your imagination run away
with you, but you're imagining a reality, not a non reality.
Consider fantasize. Fantasize that I'm a dead man in Jesus Christ,
(15:59):
and I'm alive to God. Fantasize it because the spiritual
so you can't grab it in the physical sense, but
you can fantasize about things you can't grab. He says,
Fantasize it and make it real in your thinking. That's
why he says, no this, know this, know this, know this,
he said, because if you will fantasize it, declare it
to be so that I am now dead. I am
(16:21):
now dead with Christ to sin at the cross. I
am now alive to Jesus Christ. I have now been
delivered from this present world. That is no longer my definition.
I am married now to Jesus Christ. That is my
new reality. He says. Fantasize that. Consider it to be so,
(16:42):
because it is so. You're not making it up. It
is the way it is, if you've come to Christ.
I was talking to a guy from years ago who
was in the mortuary science. He was talking to me about,
you know, him embalming bodies and all this kind of stuff.
And he was telling me, he said, yeah, I'm down
here with all these dead you know, when we got
to get them ready for burial and all that. And
(17:03):
he said, it's interesting what some of these bodies do.
I said, who are you talking about? He said, uh,
sometimes they quiver and shake on the table. He said
he was back there one time and the body quivered
so much and threw itself off the table. He said,
(17:25):
he's singing Cadavis blink. Oh no, I said, doesn't that bother?
You said, no, that bother me at all. I said,
why not? He said, because I know they did. I
know that signs of life doesn't mean life, and because
(17:47):
I know that I'm unaffected by it, and so I
am no longer controlled by that fear. What Paul is
saying is, I want you to know that you know
of your position in Jesus Christ, and that you are
dying with him, and that you are carrying the cross
inside this earthly vessel, and that you are fantasizing and
(18:08):
your imagination is running away with you. That you are
now tied to Jesus at the cross, which means you're
raised with Jesus from the dead, which means that this
present age and it's authority no longer dictates to your life,
because there is a new ruler over your life. And
now every time you commune with him, you are reminded
(18:30):
of this new relationship, that the surpassing greatness of his
power might be made manifest and you begin to see
things happen that you know what's beyond you. That's what
he's saying. You remember that old movie the first time
it came out, The Blob, You know, way back. The blob,
(18:54):
this thing comes from out of space, hits the ground
inside his jello, and this guy comes and he's got
this little stick trying to touch it and figure it out,
and the things scoos up the stick onto the man's arm,
and the man goes to the doctor, and the doctors
are trying to get it off, but they can't get
it off, and it keeps climbing up the man's body
until it encompasses the man's whole body. And now the
(19:17):
man has been overwhelmed by the blob. The blob now
is taking in everything it touches. It is consuming it.
And people are being consumed by this thing. And this
thing is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger and bigger. And you come down
to near the end of the movie and all these
people are in the movies. They're in this movie house
(19:37):
and the blob is behind the screen and they're watching
this hord flick and they in the movie house. And
then the blob comes from around the screen and starts
to consume people in the theater. And people are come on, y'all,
remember what I'm talking about. People are now running all
out of the theater and they're screaming because the Blob
is taken over. It's ruling the present world. That present
(19:57):
world is being ruled by this alien four called the Block.
They shooting the blob, They machine gun and the blob.
They're trying to blow the bah blah up. They try
to do everything they can to get rid of this problem,
and they can't get rid of it because this is
an unstoppable force and it's just consuming everything. And now
it's gargantuous in size. It's huge in size because of
(20:18):
all the lives that have been swallowed up by its presence.
You know, it got the Blob. It wasn't the human
ability of men to stop it. They discovered a very
simple thing. It couldn't handle cold. Somebody shot it with
some cold spray and it shrunk back. So what they
(20:40):
did was they threw a net around it, hoisted it
up by a helicopter, and took it to Antarctica. In
other words, they relocated it to another realm. And when
they put it in this other realm, in that realm,
it lost its power. It didn't have power when its
realm changed. As long as they tried to resist it,
(21:04):
with their human ability. It won. But the moment they
understood that it couldn't handle this realm, the realm defined
its function. You and I are in another realm. But
if we're trying to bring into this realm that realm,
that realm will keep us from experiencing this realm. If
(21:27):
you want to experience this realm, you've got to leave
that realm. So the surpassing greatness of Christ's power in
this realm is available to you. You must carry the cross,
but not around your neck. You must die daily so
that the surpassing greatness of his life might be made manifest.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
If that decision to die daily is one you haven't
made yet, here's doctor Evans to explain how it works.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
If you've been listening to our broadcast and you have
not personally trusted Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins so that he can give you the gift of
eternal life. Right now, I want you to go to
God and transfer your trust from any and everything else
except the Son of God who died on the cross
for your sins and arose from the dead. In fact,
(22:21):
I'm going to say a little prayer and you can
repeat it after me, you just have to mean it
for yourself. Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner and
that I can't save myself. I believe Jesus Christ, your son,
died on the cross in my place for my sin,
and I now am trusting him alone to forgive me
(22:45):
and to give me the gift of eternal life that
he promised to give to anyone who came to him
for it. Thank you for saving me and help me
from this day forward to live a life pleasing to you.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, or
if you or someone you know wants to learn more
of what the Christian faith is all about, visit us
at Tonyevans dot org and click the link that simply
says Jesus doctor Evans will talk to you about exactly
what it means to become a Christian and there are
also some free resources you can download to get you
(23:22):
started again. That's Tony Evans Dorg. In the meantime, I
want to remind you that today's message is part of
Tony's powerful series called Returning to the Cross. This two volume,
fourteen message collection focuses on the very heart of the
Christian faith and includes quite a bit of material we
(23:43):
haven't been able to present on the air. Remember when
you help support this ministry with a contribution, we'll say
thanks by sending you this complete audio series, along with
Tony's insightful companion book, The Power of the Cross. But
tomorrow is the final day we'll be on offering this
special package, so don't wait. Drop by our website Tonyevans
(24:04):
dot org to let us know you'd like to take
advantage of this exclusive deal, or give us a call
at one eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two
where the friendly people on our resource team are ready
to help. Twenty four to seven. Again, that's one eight
hundred eight hundred three two two two. Obviously, the biggest
(24:25):
blessing we receive because of the Cross is salvation, but
tomorrow doctor Evans will talk about the other benefits the
Cross gives us even here on Earth. Be sure to
join us
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!