Watchman on the Wall

Southwest Radio Ministries Host: Today is Good Friday, the day we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. So today, we have Pastor Larry Spargimino, Brother Don Perkins, and Josh Davis here, ready to examine what this special day means for the world.

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Southwest Radio Ministries Host: The linchpin of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is impossible to understate the significance of Jesus's victorious sacrifice for the sins of the world. Pastor Larry Spargimino and Brother Don Perkins join Josh Davis to explore these truths on today's special Watchman on the Wall.

Josh Davis: Greetings friends and welcome to a special episode. No, we're not doing our normal Friday headlines from the end times today. But since it is Good Friday, we are bringing you some information about what Jesus has done for us. And I have a special guest joining me here today. It is Pastor Larry Spargimino. Pastor Larry, thank you so much for joining me today.

Pastor Larry Spargimino: Well, it's so good to be with you. And this is indeed a very, very special day. For the purpose of our chat, we're going to consider Friday to be the good day. It's called Good Friday. Maybe it should be called Good Thursday or Good Wednesday, but these are issues of chronology that people sometimes bring up.

But that often leads us to miss the significance of what really happened on the cross. So, chronology concerns sometimes lead us where we don't want to go, especially when we think of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm not denying the chronology. I'm just saying we've got some other things that it's very important to speak about.

I want to focus on the words, and it's really, these are special words to me. Part of my salvation experience, maybe 50 years ago, was involved with these words where Jesus said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" You know, the crucifixion was a day of great suffering for our Lord. We often think of the suffering of Jesus on the cross in terms of the physical pain: the nails, the crown of thorns, the scourging, and so forth.

But we must remember that Jesus suffered much, much, much more on the cross than any criminal ever did. No one suffered like Jesus did. Many years ago, as an unbeliever, I could not understand what was so special about Jesus on the cross. I mean, thousands suffered on crosses. What's the big deal?

But Jesus was not being crucified because he was considered a blasphemer or some kind of a criminal, though that's what it looked like. Jesus was crucified because he was suffering the penalty that was due to us for our sins. He was suffering the wrath of God. That made it special. When you think of a holy Son of God, holy Jesus, in eternity past with the Father, and now he was suffering the wrath of God. It was my sin and your sin that put him on the cross.

And in Isaiah 53, verse 5, it says, "He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities." What Jesus bore in his body on the cross was substitutionary. He was not paying for his own sin. Jesus had no sin. He was our substitute paying for our sin. He was forsaken and abandoned by God so that we would never, never, never be forsaken and abandoned by God.

The cross experience of Jesus was absolutely unique. That never happened to anyone else and never will happen to anyone else. God the Father forsook his Son so that God's adopted sons, all believers, could hear God say, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Jesus's relationship with the Father was temporarily changed in the sense that he was now bearing the just wrath of God upon sinners.

And notice, Jesus said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Usually, Jesus addressed God as Father. He even taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." But Jesus is now addressing the Father as God. No one in hell can call God Father. And Jesus is now experiencing the pains of hell. He did it for you, he did it for me, he did it for everyone.

I believe that the atonement was universal in the sense that it doesn't mean that everybody is saved. But the Father's design was that whoever will, whoever will put their faith in Jesus Christ, will be saved. And we see something really amazing in Romans 3:25 and 26. We see that Jesus's death on the cross was a propitiatory sacrifice. God set forth Jesus as a propitiation through faith in his blood that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

When God saves unworthy sinners, God did not compromise his justice. We must never think that God would do that. Divine justice was satisfied. Jesus paid for our sins in full. So, God was just and the justifier of those who deserve divine wrath—that's you and me and everyone else. Someone did pay for our sins. We have what I like to call a grand and honorable pardon.

It's a wonderful pardon. Our sins have been paid for in full. We will not come into condemnation, but we've passed from death to life, to use the words of John 5:24. So, I think we quite often miss the tremendous significance of the cross and what happened on the cross and the theology involved. I know a lot of people say, "Well, theology, I'm not interested in theology." But that's the study of God. And if we really want to know the wonder, the amazement of grace, we have to think of things like this.

Josh Davis: Amen, Pastor Larry. Thank you so much. Friends, you're listening to Southwest Radio Ministries' Watchman on the Wall. You can visit our website swrc.com. Again, that's swrc.com. Or give us a call at 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. And you know what? Maybe you're a new listener and you've just come across our ministry.

Reach out to us by phone and request your free welcome packet. We'll send that to you in the mail and we'll add you to our mailing list so that you'll get things like our monthly Prophetic Observer newsletter in your mailbox every month for free as part of the ministry that we do here at Southwest Radio Ministries. Pastor Larry and I typically will write articles for that Prophetic Observer newsletter every month. It's just part of what we do here.

So if you'd like to get that free welcome packet, give us a call: 1-800-652-1144. You know, Pastor Larry, as you were talking especially about that word "propitiation"—and that's something that people really need to get their heads around and they need to really understand what that concept is—that we have this sinless substitute.

Pastor Larry, I grew up singing wonderful hymns of the faith and I still love them and sing them to this day at my local church. "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus," so many others that emphasize the sacrifice of Jesus and how he shed his blood for us. And I'm afraid sometimes as Christians we can become so familiar with that kind of language and singing those things that we really don't stop and think about what we're really saying.

Jesus literally gave his life, gave his very blood, every drop of blood shed on that cross for our sins, for my sins. This is a day, this is a time, this is a season for us to just pause and reflect and think about the sacrifice that Jesus has made for our sins. There's another wonderful song that says it was my sins that held him there until it was accomplished.

And of course, we know Jesus cried from the cross, "It is finished." And as he made that cry, he was declaring that the victory is won, that the payment is made. What a mighty God that we serve. Pastor Larry, what some other thoughts that you have on your heart you'd like to share with our friends today?

Pastor Larry Spargimino: Well, it's amazing to me how there's so much strife and confusion in the world, for example, what we see in Iran and Israel at the present time. But I'm always reminded of the fact that God's love is eternal and everlasting. Many people don't realize that the fastest-growing church in the world is in Iran. And you say, "Well, how could that be?"

Well, the reason that is happening is because people want reality. They don't want war. They want reality: the power of God, the grace of God, the forgiveness of God. I see this whole thing working out so ultimately there's going to be an explosion, a revival. I believe in end-time revival, and I've written on end-time revival.

I think even though this thing is so ugly and so terrible, and we can see how the Shiites are just out of their minds, they're destroying their country. They're doing all kinds of things. They've killed thousands and thousands of protesters. They will never win. But I think they're doing what they're doing right now to bring the Mahdi out of the ground who will deliver them.

And I think, wow, what you believe, what's your hope, that determines how you live. If you have the wrong eschatology, if you have the wrong hope, if you have the wrong deity, it's really a bad thing. So friends, I want to encourage you, if you're not a Christian at the present time, put your faith in Jesus. He's willing and able to save you to the uttermost.

He did everything that you need. He said, "Tetelestai." It is finished. That means something that happened in the past with continuing results. So he died in the past, but the effects of the atonement of Jesus Christ are continuing today so that anyone—a Pakistani, an Iranian, whoever, black, white, whatever, somebody on the Pacific island—puts their faith in Jesus, the effect of the atonement is available right now. Full pardon. What could be better than that? Hallelujah. I love Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for all that you've done for each and every one of us.

Josh Davis: Amen. Thank you so much, Pastor Larry. It's been wonderful to visit with you today. Friends, we've got so much more coming up, so stay tuned to the rest of our episode. Friends, I'm joined by another wonderful guest on this special episode. No, we're not doing headlines from the end times this Friday, but instead, we're emphasizing the death, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Joining me is Christian evangelist and Bible prophecy expert Donald Perkins. Brother Perkins, wonderful to be with you again.

Brother Don Perkins: Josh, it is always a privilege and an honor to be with you and the Southwest Radio family. I look forward to our time together.

Josh Davis: Me too. Me too. I've just finished speaking with Pastor Larry Spargimino and getting his thoughts on the resurrection and the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He talked about terms like "propitiation" and how Christ is that sinless substitute for our sin.

And I want to just give you the opportunity to share what the Lord has placed on your heart with our audience as we reflect on his death and, of course, this coming Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, and all that that entails. So why don't you just share what the Lord has placed on your heart for our audience?

Brother Don Perkins: Well, you know, I love this subject so much. Our life is tied to the resurrection of our Savior. You know, Good Friday is a normal traditional type thing. And again, there's some debate amongst scholars as to when he actually was crucified, whether it was Wednesday or whether it was Friday.

Based on Matthew chapter 12, verse 40, where it talks about as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And again, those are three 24-hour days. So there's some debate among scholars, but we're going to look today at the resurrection because the power of what happened to our Savior is what gives us strength in our salvation. So, I look forward to our time together as we talk about the power of the resurrection.

Josh Davis: Amen. And so we are so grateful to have you. And I know that 1 Corinthians 15 is one of those key resurrection passages that talks about why it's so important and some of the many implications that are given if Jesus is not risen. And I know that there are some of those kinds of things that you want to address. So the floor is yours, Brother Perkins.

Brother Don Perkins: Again, I look forward to this wonderful time. And I love this first part where the scripture talked about "if Christ be not raised from the dead." In the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 12, the Apostle Paul, he dealt with it in his day. Verse 12 says, "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection from the dead?"

This is a major debate even in our time. There are so-called scholars today who try to claim that Christ never rose from the dead. We know that this is not true because there's so much proof and evidence that Christ did. But Paul addressed it. In verse 13, Paul wrote this: "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen."

And again, because people try to debate the resurrection, the whole purpose of what they're doing is trying to disqualify our Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul said here in verse 14, "And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain." The Apostle Paul knew the power of the resurrection of Christ because our faith, our belief, our whole structure, you said it's the linchpin of our salvation, is tied to the resurrection.

And of course, the devil hates that. So what he tries to do is try to disprove it. Whenever he does that, he always gets egg on his face because there's so much evidence that Christ did rise. Paul went on to say in verse 15, "Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if the dead rise not."

So he's saying if this is a fact that nobody could be risen from the dead, then our faith, our message is wrong. We become false witnesses of God. And we know that this is not true. You know, the apostles, all of them, Peter said, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power of Christ." He said, "We beheld his majesty."

Peter and all the apostles knew Christ. They lived with him. Not only that, but these men experienced his death, his burial, and his resurrection. They experienced it to such a fact, Josh, many of the apostles died for their testimony. They believed and saw the resurrected Christ. Among the people in the world today, there are a lot of people out there that like to disprove it, but they really can't.

Now, I want to close up here with the latter part of the verse here that Paul gave us in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 16 through 18. Paul said this: "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen." Verse 17: "And if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain and ye are yet in your sins." Verse 18: "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."

So again, the whole fact here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul was dealing with the fact that Christ is risen, although you have those out there that would try to debate this fact. Again, and they cannot debate it because there's so much history on it. As a matter of fact, after Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared among his disciples. Thomas even pierced him in the side.

He put his finger through the pierced side of Christ. Jesus said, "Come to me, Thomas. Come and touch me, see, feel." Thomas didn't want to believe unless he saw with his own eyes, unless he put his hand in the piercing. The scripture said that Christ ate with the disciples after his resurrection. So there's so much proof about his resurrection, and that proof of his resurrection validates our salvation.

Now, Josh, if you let me for a second, I just want to mention a few things here because, again, there is much debate out there. There are a lot of false teachers out there, false scholars out there. So there are many false views out there. And what I want to do, I just want to address a few of them. I have a message that I teach called "Beware of False Christ in the Last Days."

And I talk about one of the most diabolical false Christ's is false Christ in the media. The world and the media is trying to redefine Christ. And I challenge Christians all the time: you need to know Jesus from your Bible. Know Jesus from a biblical perspective. And if you don't know Jesus from the scriptures, these false Johnny-come-lately so-called scholars will trip you up and cause you to miss it.

So what I do every holiday, Christmas and Easter, I've been tracking the periodicals: Newsweek, Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report. Those periodicals, I track them every year. And what I notice, every year during those holiday seasons, they always do a cover story on Jesus Christ. And their cover story, as I began to buy these things, I look at them, I start reading the articles, and I say, "Wait a minute, this is not true."

In these articles, they start talking against Christ. They present Christ in a different light. So what I want to do, I just want to read probably three articles and just show you how they don't like Christ or the resurrection. The first one I want to quote from is Newsweek magazine. There was an article that appeared entitled "Rethinking the Resurrection: A New Debate About the Risen Christ."

Listen, there's no debate. There's no new debate about the risen Christ. The scriptures testify of his resurrection. But let me read what they said on page 63. They said, "Some scholars who do not believe in the resurrection do not accept the burial story either. Some say the body rotted away in an unmarked grave, others that it was thrown to wild dogs. But the only crucified body ever found in Israel was laid in a family tomb."

That is totally false. But if you don't know the scriptures or if you don't know biblical history, these type of false Johnny-come-lately scholars will trip you up. Let me read another one for you. This was Time magazine. The article was entitled "The Search for Jesus: Some Scholars Are Debunking the Gospels." On page 55, listen to this: it says, "Jesus rising from the dead was blackballed by the seminar." By the seminar.

"An unsurprising move since liberal scholars have always given that miracle little credence." You know, these so-called scholars, I don't care what they say. I don't care what kind of little credence they give to the resurrection. The power is in the word of God. The power is in the fact that we know he rose from the dead.

And again, because these Johnny-come-lately scholars come on the scene thinking they know everything, I'd rather follow the first-century apostles who ate and died with Christ, who witnessed his majesty, who saw the resurrection. And again, it is so powerful. So I want to read one more, one more. This was U.S. News & World Report here. The title of this one was called "Why Jesus Was Killed: Scholars Find New Clues About the Crucifixion."

Now, this is amazing because they believe that Jesus died for a different reason. So let me read this to you. "Jesus put the kingdom of God up against Caesar, and that act led to a political execution that launched a major world religion. The author of 'Who Killed Jesus' contends that the Romans went after Jesus because they considered him a political subversive."

"From day one in Galilee, Jesus was waging a frontal assault on Roman commercialism. The author contends he opposed the dislocation of peasant life caused by the Roman building boom in Galilee. It's no surprise he gets himself executed." Now again, this type of false teaching that's out there is just amazing to me. They try to say that Christ was not risen, he got killed because he come against the Romans.

We know why he died. He came into the earth to die for humanity. But not only to die, he came also to rise from the dead. And surely, our Savior did that. Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. See, the resurrection of Christ is the power of our salvation. He rose from the dead to enable what God had accomplished in his life to bring about eternal life for every born-again believer.

And again, I just love the text here in 1 Corinthians here. Paul went on to say in verse number 23, he said, "But every man in his order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Here, Paul said that Christ was the firstfruits. A firstfruit is like a tithe. It's the firstfruit of the harvest. Christ was the first to be raised from the dead, eternally, bodily.

And then he said, "and every man after his order." Every born-again Christian will literally rise again unto eternal life just like our Savior did. And see, this resurrection is so powerful, and this is one reason why the enemy likes to attack it. I love this as well because the resurrection is tied to our salvation. We come to Christ because of the resurrection.

You know, I normally tell people this and say, if you're born again today, you know that Christ is alive because your life has changed. Josh, I know that Christ is alive and he lives in me. And the reason why I know that is because I'm a different man. When I received Christ over 40-plus years ago, my life changed, my world changed. But it changed from the inside out.

I became born again. I became a new man because the risen Christ lives in me. If I can, I want to close and move toward the part in reference to our salvation is tied to his resurrection. To do that, I'd like to go back to the scripture, very familiar passage, we all know this. This is Romans chapter 10. I'm going to start here at verse number 8. The Apostle Paul said this: "But what saith it?

The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth," and then he said, "and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach." So we preach a message of faith. It's tied to our mouth and it's tied to our heart. Now, look how Paul went on to explain this. In verse number 9, Paul said this: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart," believe what?

"That God hath raised him from the dead," Paul said, "thou shalt be saved." The resurrection of Christ is tied to our faith, tied to our salvation. And again, when we accept Christ as our Savior, we swap places. You know, our sins were placed on him at Calvary, and then his righteousness is given to us by faith. But that's tied to his resurrection.

Paul closed up in verse number 10 of Romans 10. He said this: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is why the enemy fights the resurrection, because it's because of his death, burial, and resurrection that we have eternal life. And again, I'm a strong proponent for preaching the truth of the resurrection of Christ.

I don't like to get caught up in all the minutiae of whether it was a Friday or Wednesday. The power is in what he did and what God did by raising him from the dead.

Josh Davis: Yes, yes. Thank you so much, Brother Perkins. And so glad that you could join us for this special day. And as we're emphasizing the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and friends, as he said, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon him today. We encourage you to be in the Lord's house this Sunday. Brother Perkins, thank you so much for joining me today.

Brother Don Perkins: Well, it's been an honor and a privilege and I love being with Southwest Radio Church. God bless.

Josh Davis: Friends, we are less than a month away from our next Prophecy in the News Live event. Friday and Saturday, May 1st and 2nd in Bel Aire, Kansas. You're invited to this free event featuring top Bible scholars, teachers, and researchers who will be covering current events and end times prophecy, God's plan for Israel, unlocking biblical mysteries, and more scripture-based insight that will bring clarity to the chaos.

Registration is now open for this free two-day event. Visit swrc.com and sign up. Prophecy in the News Live at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, Friday and Saturday, May 1st and 2nd. Before we go, I need to let you know that giving is down. We need your help. Please pray and support Watchman on the Wall with a gift today.

Visit swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Please give your best gift today. swrc.com. Thank you. Lord willing, we'll be back here Monday, ready to once again bring clarity to the chaos. So head into the weekend with the encouragement that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things.

Southwest Radio Ministries Host: Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends just like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com. That's swrc.com.