Transcript

American Family Radio takes your Bible questions live on American Family Radio

>> Bert Harper: The Bible. It's the word of God. Sharper than any two edged sword. This sacred book is living and active and contains all that's needed for life and godliness. Stay with American Family Radio for the next hour as we study God's word and take your Bible questions.

Bertie and Alex discuss Romans chapter six, seven and eight

Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thank you for listening to Exploring the Word. Bertie and Alex here, we thank you for being a consistent listener and some of you may be tuning in for the very first time or second time. We, we are glad you're doing that. And by the way, you can catch it podcast as well. Go to afr.net and go to podcast and scroll down and you can listen to Exploring the Word. Alex. Romans chapter six, seven and eight are coming up. We're going to finish part of five today, but it's like climbing a mountain peak over in high altitude and then when you get to 6, 7 and 8, it's like the summit of that mountain, range and then you stay on it pretty close all the way through. Now I don't say you declined very much, but for his doctrinal statements in what we have in Jesus Christ and what it means to be justified and right with God, I don't think you get any bigger and any better than chapter six, seven and eight of the book of Romans.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. Bert, I completely agree and I want to welcome everybody. We're in the New Testament Book of Romans and yeah, every show that we talk about the salvation message, the promises and I will tell you Romans, written by the Holy Spirit through the penman, the apostle Paul, but Paul, his human background of intimate in depth knowledge of the Jewish law, world history, plus his own experience meeting the risen Jesus on the Damascus road. Romans is deep, it really is. But it's reflective not only of the background of the human author Paul, but the salvation, reality is deep. And Bert, I gotta say this, I think that the more we study, the more we reflect. there's more to God's great love, God's grace and God's great redemption. There's more to it than we realized and what good news it is, how the depth of what Christ went to, that we could be forgiven and redeemed.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

Today we won't take phone calls, but we're still going to take prayer requests

Well Alex, today is Tuesday. usually we take phone calls. Today we won't take phone calls, but we're still going to take prayer requests and Brent is going to tell those who are listening how they can get those prayer requests and if they come in during this hour at the end of it. We'll just call those names and pray for them. Brent, how can people let us know to pray for them?

>> Alex McFarland: Today I have posted on Facebook a place that you can leave your prayer requests there. You don't want to do that. Go ahead and send us an email. I'll be checking emails throughout the show. Also, you can, direct message on Facebook and leave them there for us. And then in the third segment, we'll. We will read those on the air.

>> Bert Harper: We don't want to forget our day of prayer, but today's going to be a little different how we do it. So we wanted to let you know that.

Who is going to reign in your life? We talked about it yesterday

Well, let's jump in to the end of chapter five. Alex. There's a word that is repeated five times between verses 12 and 21, and it's the word rain. So here's the question. Are you going to say that a great mind sometimes come upon the same thought? And sometimes those that don't have such great minds do that, but five times it is used. Go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, I was just. This is. Well, I started to say. It's uncanny. It's the Holy Spirit. I was just looking at the word rain and the various renderings of that, and I was going to hone in on verse 21. But you. You go ahead and then I'll. I'll piggyback with thought.

>> Bert Harper: well, the whole issue. Who is going to reign in your life? We talked about it yesterday in the first man, Adam, and then the second man, Christ. What's going to reign in your life? Natural or that supernatural Jesus Christ brings in a supernatural relationship. And that relationship helps us to live victoriously. Now, when you see the word reign, I think one of the words that goes along with that, victory. And there's this old hymn. Hm. People still love to sing it. They've put renderings on it. Victory in Jesus. Listen, let him reign in your life. And victory is reality, Alex. Not just a possibility, but reality. I want to live in victory, not just the possibility of it. Go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

Bert says Romans chapter 5 says grace reigns through Jesus Christ

Well, yeah, I want to read verse 21 of Romans chapter 5, and then we'll come back. But of course, Romans began. Romans 5:1. With that great promise, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through, our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, if you have not done it already, you can put your faith in Jesus today. You can do that. Verse 21 says that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay. the way these words are rendered, sin has had a limited and temporary reign or authority. and by the way, if you don't have Jesus, you might not realize this, but sin is reigning in your life. There's no saying, you know, something is playing you like a fiddle, right? And you don't want to be under the reign or the headship of sin and condemnation and death. But even so, grace in Jesus reigns, and that means kingship. Now, I'm going to give you a word here in just a little bit. The second rendering in verse 21, if we can turn a noun into a verb, the word king, K I, n G is a noun, but K I n G s in other words, in Jesus, grace kings or reigns over the world. And the word, the Greek word is basilica. Now, if you think of a basilica, I mean, you might think of, you know, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. or sometimes, the Vatican is called the Holy See. S E A. And I'm not. I'm not talking about Catholic versus Protestant necessarily, but really, the word basilica connotes, not only a royal building, a palace of a king, but the authority and the reign and the reach of a king. And Bert, the reach of King Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting, from east to west. the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end. as you know, some of the great, There was A Dutch theologian 100 years ago, Abraham Kuyper, and he said, look in any direction and God has spoken. And there's not one molecule of matter, not one square inch of space in the universe where Christ cannot legitimately say mine, the rain, the basilica, the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. And he will reign forever and ever. And by putting your trust in Jesus, you're part of that.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Alex, one more thing. In these verses that I found, you know, I'm looking for words that you see again and again. And it's a three letter word, One O, N, E. And it talks about. Listen to this and you get what I'm talking about. The, it says, for if by one man's offense, many died. Okay, One man's offense. And then in that same verse, verse 15, it says this. The grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Now, here's the question. Which one, which one do you want to reign? Have authority be under their control? The one that brought forth death, or, the one that reigned and brought on abundance, even life? Because we found that, you read that in verse 21 through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ. When you, you can study honestly verses 12 through 21 by looking at three, two words and one phrase. The word is the, the phrase is much more. We got much more in Christ than we did in Adam. Secondly, the one which one, one brings death, the other brings life, and then the other is rain. Who will you let reign in your life? And he uses these words and I think right into the Roman believers reign had a lot to do with it. We're talking about the seat of power in the Roman Empire. We're talking about the authority that the Roman Empire had. And Paul uses that. Not the kingdom of Rome, but the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one. And even today, with all the world powers, plural world powers, there's still no power or powers that can even come close to the reign of, of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the reason when you read this, I want to tell you, you ought to make a beine to the cross where you say, Jesus, who lived that perfect life, died on that cross, willingly gave himself, and then he rose again the third day. That is his power over death and sin. Our greatest enemies. And they don't have to reign in your life, death in sin. You can reckon them what I mean, that means you can account them dead to you once you come to Christ. Alex, honestly, if you study those, the, the phrase and those two words you've covered. Romans, chapter 5, verses 12 through 21.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Beautiful, beautiful. Romans 5 is one of those chapters almost like, you know, Philippians 2 or John chapter 3, John 3, 16, and verse 19 really summarizes, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. And the word there means the obedience of Christ to the Father. He fulfilled the Father's will. He fulfilled the law of God. He paid for all of our sins. You put your faith in Jesus, yes, you have peace with God, but all that is necessary for you to be reconciled to God, is fulfilled in Jesus.

Bert says Isaac Watts was great hymn writer

And you know, talking about the reign of Jesus, Bert, I know many have heard of the, the hymn writer Isaac Watts. I don't know if a lot of people know that much about him. Isaac Watts was great hymn writer. he wrote oh God, our Help in ages past. He wrote When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Isaac Watts wrote a song you may have heard of Joy to the World and listen to this. He was writing hymns by age 7. And by the time he died he had written over 750 hymns. But he wrote one. It's not all that well known. Some of you remember this from church. But listen to it. It's so beautiful. But it's Jesus shall reign where' er the sun does its successive journeys run. His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane no more. And I love this verse. I won't read them all. But blessings abound where' er he reigns. The prisoners leap to to lose their chains. The weary find eternal rest and all who suffer want are blessed. I mean that's beautiful poetry, beautiful composition. But Bert, the reign of Jesus, the kingship of our risen God in Christ, all that we have in him. I mean it's little wonder that it makes the human heart full of joy, the human voice to sing, the creative to worship through art. Jesus is everything, isn't he?

>> Bert Harper: He really is.

After finishing up chapter five, who will reign in your life

So here's the question, after us finishing up chapter five, who will reign in your life? And I want to go to the Christian who is reigning? R E I G N I N G Reigning in your life. Is it the one that brings forth death or the one that gives life? I pray that you know Jesus Christ. Well, we're going to come back and we're going to jump into chapter six, six, seven and eight. You don't want to miss. And we're going to jump into six. When we come back, will you take a moment and celebrate life with me?

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>> Alex McFarland: Open the eyes of my heart Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. Cause I want to see you. I want to see you to see you high, lifted up, Shining in the light of your glory.

Bert Austin: Christianity is uniquely a musical praise faith system

Welcome back to Exploring the Word. That's a great phrase. I love that.

>> Bert Harper: The problem, the problem with these songs that Brent plays for us is where do we stop it? And we start Talking, you know, so he puts us on a spot when he does.

>> Alex McFarland: And you have to watch me dance around.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, that's true, too.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, I've got kind of an inner, gospel music DJ that wants to come out. You know, we're here to teach the Bible, and here I am talking about music sometimes. But, you know, Christianity is uniquely a musical praise faith system. I mean, you know, I was watching a show. Well, it was one of the Gaither shows. Bert, did you ever watch the. The Gaither Home?

>> Bert Harper: I have, yes, Several times. Yes.

>> Alex McFarland: I love that.

>> Bert Harper: Especially when Mark Lowry's on it. I'm a wannabe comedian. So, Martin Lowry comes on. It gets my attention.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, were you. Was it you and me, or was it me and Marvin? This is way early in the life of this program, and it was, Easter, but we had Bill Gaither on.

>> Bert Harper: Oh, man. It wasn't me, or I'd have remembered that one. Man. We've had the Gettys on with us. But Gaither. I did. I wasn't a part of that interview.

>> Alex McFarland: And, you know, I do believe it was Marvin Sanders. And I was, teaching at North Greenville University back then because I had all my gear set up. But it was, I think, on a Good Friday, and we were live. But we had Bill Gaither on just, you know, right on the beginning of Easter weekend. And he told the story of two songs. One, because he lives. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. But the other, it is finished. the battle is over. It is finished, and Jesus has won. Do you remember that song?

>> Bert Harper: I do. Both of them. Hallelujah.

>> Alex McFarland: And my point is, we're in Romans, chapter five, and grace reigns through Jesus Christ. you know, yeah, we have incredible theological truth. We have the promises of God's word. We can have joy even in the toughest of circumstances. we have great literature, like Pilgrim's Progress and the writings of C.S. lewis. We have great art. you know, Peter Bruegel and Carl Block, if you know some of those painters that are the great. And Warner Salmon, some of, you know, the great artist. But we have great music because, hey, we've got something to sing about, don't we?

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Listen, I enjoy music. I cannot produce it, but I certainly enjoy it. And, when you're talking about Isaac Watts and you talking about the song When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, that last line demands my life, my soul, my all. I, don't know of another line in any song. That grips me. That much love so divine that. Listen, Alex, it does. You don't come to God halfway. you do not make a deal with God. No, you come to God in full surrender and saying, lord, I am yours. there's nothing that. That I can offer to you except me. I'm yours. And, Alex, that song, when I survey the wondrous cross, every time I hear it or sing it or even think about it, like you just referred to it earlier, it grips my soul.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. So we get into Romans 6, by the way. We are going to go over some questions and prayer requests. if you. What we're asking you to do today, if you go on Facebook on the Exploring the Word Facebook page, and you can submit a prayer request, and we're going to read those in a while. And the Facebook page is live even right now. Brent Austin, as he always so faithfully does, he's overseeing the Facebook page. But if you want to submit a prayer request, we will get to those.

Cornelius: Romans chapter six asks three questions about baptism

But right now, in, Romans chapter six, Paul makes these great transitions. All of the letters of Paul, the epistles where Paul was writing to congregations, they're very orderly and structured. So he says, what shall we say then? In other words, okay, what do we make of all this? In light of all this, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? And Bert, I wonder if, you know, it's like, okay, sin reigned unto, death, but Jesus reigns victoriously, eternal life to all people. And I didn't think this, but it's almost like Paul anticipates how people could get it wrong.

>> Bert Harper: I think that's exactly it. I think he anticipates three questions that. That he's going to respond to in 6, 7, and 8. And the first one is this. If God's grace abounds when. When we sin, then let's continue sinning so we might experience more grace. And m. He said, God forbid. No way.

>> Alex McFarland: He, like a, very comprehensive thinker. He preemptively, says, wait before you. If you're thinking that the more you sin, the more, well, hey, let's give ourselves to sin that grace may abound. not that way. Verse 3.

>> Bert Harper: Alex, one thing if. I know I'm interrupting, but I gotta say this. The last part of verse two really catches me. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? I could not help but think of Lazarus. He had died and he Is dead four days. Jesus came, and I'm not going through the whole story, but he says Lazarus come forth. And Lazarus comes out of the the grave struggling because he has what on grave clothes?

>> Bert Harper: He didn't keep those grave clothes on. What did Jesus tell them to do? Take them off and let him go?

>> Alex McFarland: Loose him and let him go.

>> Bert Harper: Exactly. No more do we need that sin in our, past. We don't need that. We need to walk in the newness of life. I couldn't help but think of Lazarus. But man, put off those dead clothes. Put off that sin that reigned in your life. When an alcoholic dies, guess what the smell or the look of alcohol does to him? Absolutely nothing. If we can die to sin, then I want to tell you we're more than conquerors. We're overcomers. And we have in us that which can be overcome in that sin, life. That's the power of the cross.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, for one thing, in verse two, we are dead to sin. It means, among other things, that we are set free from the dominion of sin, the penalty of sin. And additionally, we are made alive in Christ, which includes the, indwelling of God's Holy Spirit to give us a new set of priorities, give us supernatural strength to increasingly say no to temptation. know you not that so many of you as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. But Bert, hundreds of times, literally over the past 35 plus years, it's been my joy to baptize people. Water baptism, believers, baptism, and say, something like this. Buried in the likeness of his death, raised to walk in the newness of life.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: But you know what, let me say this and Bert, I want you to comment. when a born again believer, publicly makes his testimony by getting baptized, he's already baptized. The water baptism is really your second baptism, because like it says in verse three, upon your faith in Jesus, you are baptized into Christ. And this is also in Galatians 3. 27. But we, we're immersed in, united in, baptized in Jesus when we put our faith in him, aren't we?

>> Bert Harper: We really are. And, and to show that, I think a good example of that, again, the best way to interpret scripture is using scripture, you know, and Acts chapter 10, Peter goes to Cornelius. And Cornelius is, you know, they trust Jesus Christ as Savior, when he talks about Christ and them being able to come to him, they believe. And they then, as it was, it was like they were at Pentecost. And then they were physically baptized later. Now, what happened? They were baptized. The Holy Spirit, indwelling Holy Spirit came in them. And then, like you just said, the water baptism and is the second baptism. But it's like that. We're buried with Christ and risen again. I would say the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. And it demonstrates. So here in chapter six, when Paul uses this, it pictures both of them. Now in a lot of places you just see, yes, water baptism, like the Ethiopian eunuch. What hinders me to be baptized? Well, they went into the water and was baptized. But you have other places where they were baptized in the Spirit. They came to know Christ as savior. So, Alex, you did a great job. One more thing real quickly and I will throw it back to you. There are some words that's going to be reoccurring in chapter six, and one of them is verse three. And then in verse six you'll see some more. But note it's no or knowing in other words. Now what's happened, verses one through five, Paul has been, I mean, driving it home. The things they should know, that they're justified in Jesus Christ. Since they know this, they do what walk in newness of life. They reckon themselves they have the capacity. They know it, so they need to act upon it. The reality has happened, but the action needs to follow in walking with Christ. So knowing it made me think of what John said. These things I've written that you may know that you have when you have this. And it's more than head knowledge.

Bert says Romans 6 says we are raised in the likeness of Jesus resurrection

It's a relational ship knowledge, that. I remember the first time I met Jan. I found out what her name was. This is my wife. And I knew about her. I introduced my. Finally, after I had enough nerve, would introduce myself to her. But now, after 50 years of marriage, I would say we know one another. This knowledge is not about this is knowing him. And in chapter six, you find this knowing, like verse six. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin may be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. We know that we need that. Like it, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. look at Romans 6, 5. I've got the old King James, which I love, but I, know it's not the only English translation, but it says, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. what translation do you have, Bert?

>> Bert Harper: It's the new King James. And in place of the word planted, it says, for we have been united together in the likeness. It's still likeness of his death. Certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Now, the likeness of his resurrection, the full meaning of it is it certainly we also shall be the resurrection. In other words, the likeness of the death is carried over in the likeness of the resurrection, but it is united together.

>> Alex McFarland: You knew that I was going to kind of zone in on that word a little bit. I looked fancy word. It's really the word, from which we get the word symphony. Now you think of a great musical, performance, right? All the instruments playing together, playing in tune. That's a good illustration. What it also, believe it or not, without getting too in depth here, it's partially the word that we get for photosynthesis. Now, you know, the sunshine shines on the leaves of the plants, and the plants grow, and anyway, here's the point. Just like the plant, is thriving in good soil and getting good nourishment in the rain and the, the sun's rays, that's how we think thrive, as we grow in Jesus. Or the uniting and perfect harmony and perfect agreement, like an orchestra and all the players, playing off of the same score, following the same conductor, really symphonied. Again, a noun becoming, you know, ah, a new word. We've been symphony or planted or united perfectly in Jesus.

>> Bert Harper: Hallelujah.

>> Alex McFarland: I mean, there's just so much beautiful imagery here. And therefore we are raised in the likeness of his resurrection. You know, it's just universally part of human nature to recoil from death and to fear death. I've. I've even known good born again Christians who, you know, they weren't like, terrified like an unsaved person might be. But, you know, death is unfamiliar. And I don't think any rational person, you know, craves death. But we do have this assurance that, the Savior who conquered the grave is there to give us victory over the grave. And it's a guarantee in Jesus. You know what, Jesus, he said of those the Father has given me, I have lost none. And whoever comes to me, I will in no way reject. So here's the deal. we human beings, we're mortal. And either by death or Christ's return, m. We're going to leave this world. But you need not fear. I mean really, because, of the millions and millions of millions who've put their soul in the hands of Jesus, his. His success rate is 100%, isn't it Bert?

>> Bert Harper: It really is. Hallelujah, Alex. This is, this is real. And this is what we do. Knowing this. No man, we're, we're hopefully those who are listening. You're getting this knowing what you have in Christ Jesus. What you want to do is make sure that you know Christ as Savior and Lord. I didn't say joining the church. I didn't say baptized. I am talking about in the relationship with Christ that is real. And when we do, look what it says in verse six, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. We're not servants to sin. We've been bought with a price. We're servants for the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we're going to come back and we're going to have some prayer requests. We're going to answer questions for email, so don't go away. As we continue in the Word of God.

AFA Stream is a great resource for small group leaders looking for curriculum

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Exploring the Word Bird is answering prayer requests for President Joe Biden

>> Bert Harper: Welcome back to Exploring the Word Bird. And Alex, you. We are not taking phone calls today and, but we are answering some questions that has come in, on email or Facebook and we're going to take time to answer some of those that's come in. But if you have a prayer request, Brent, if during this third, 15 minute time period, if they call in a prayer request, how can they do that? Or I'd say not call it in but let us know about their prayer request.

>> Alex McFarland: All right. Yeah, they can do it through email. They can also do it on the post that I have put on Facebook on our Facebook page page exploring the word. Or they can send it direct message on Facebook as well. I'll check all those.

>> Bert Harper: Okay. And at the end we're going to pray. But we're going to pray. We've got two prayer requests that I know about. It came in to hear in our, in our ministry here. there's A father who called in wanted to pray for his daughter. her husband has left her, and, so they're hurting, and there's consequences of that. So we want to pray for this individual. God knows who it is. And, Alex, you had a prayer request, too.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, I want to encourage everybody to pray for 46th President Joe Biden, who has an aggressive form of prostate cancer. And, you know, politics aside, physically and spiritually, we are lifting him up before the Lord and wish him the best in a recovery. And I. I just think as citizens and, you know, Bert, in the spirit of what the Bible says about praying for kings and leaders and those in authority, we need to pray for Joe Biden and his health.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. And pray for this lady. Her father wants to pray for their daughter. I understand that. Listen, that relationship, father and daughter can be so strong. And here's this father hurting. So let me. Alex, would you mind praying? And, remember this, father and his daughter, who's been deserted by her husband.

>> Alex McFarland: Let's pray. Lord, we thank you on this Tuesday afternoon that we get to join together in prayer. Bert and I and Brent Austin and listeners everywhere. And first of all, even before we bring our requests and petitions, we just want to praise you and Lord Jesus as we read Romans 5:6, your plan of salvation. Lord, we didn't deserve all this grace. We. We did not deserve mercy. And, Lord, yet you were willing to do all the necessary things to fulfill every word of scripture, to act in accord with your righteous nature. The law and the justice of God was served, and yet the mercy and the grace was manifested. And, Lord, it's even more than our, little mind can get around. But, Lord, we thank you for salvation and your love. And we thank you for the reality of prayer. And, Lord, for this wife that's been deserted and this family that is broken over this painful, painful reality of divorce and abandonment. M. Desertion. Lord, I pray for healing. I'm even right now thinking of another Christian family, one of the most godly families I know. And, a young husband has betrayed his marriage vows with another woman. And there is, a young wife that's broken. There are little children wondering where daddy is. And so, Lord, it just pains us to even think about. But in a broken world of broken hearts and very often broken vows, Holy Spirit of the living God, intervene on behalf of these people. Lord, take the messes we make and please redeem and restore and fix and heal. And, Lord, may truth and righteousness prevail. And, Lord, as we did mention, we pray for President Joe Biden. Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus, most primarily and fundamentally of all. I pray that he is, ah, walking with you and knows you. And I pray, Lord, that you will help him above anything else, realize that his relationship with you is the most important thing in his life. And I do pray for his wife and family and the medical care that he needs. I hope he is getting, Lord, heal him in body, soul, mind and spirit. And we lift him up to you, wishing him every blessing, Lord Jesus, we, we lift him up to you and his family and loved ones as well. In Jesus name. And for his glory we pray. Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Thank you, Alex.

Question: Does God send people who worship a different God to hell

Well, here's a question, and I'm going to answer. I'm going to ask the questions, give them to you, answer as well as you can. If I need to add anything, feel like I do, I will. If not, we'll go to the next question and at the end we'll see if any prayer request has come in at the end of the hour. But here's, this is from Jay. Does God send people who worship a, ah, different God to hell? And then they say, I don't understand because people don't really know who the real God is, no matter what. Well, go ahead, Alex. That's the question.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, I think people do know who the true and living God is, who the real God is. because Romans 1:2 tells us that we actually do know. And, and it says even from the creation of the world. This is Romans 1, 1821, even his eternal power and Godhead. So that Romans 1:20, they are without excuse. So first of all, yeah, by the way, there was a great Christian thinker of times past, Jonathan Edwards, brilliant theologian, and he has been called the most profound philosophical mind of colonial America. But Jonathan Edwards said if even one sinner was saved in all of history, the mercy of God would have been imminently demonstrated because salvation is gift that we don't deserve. Now, it's tragic, it's sad. the idea that anyone is eternally lost is very heartbreaking. I get that. But Bert, we really. I'll say this. Be careful about your desire to justify stubborn sinners, because really people get fixated on that. And if we put more stock in the deservedness of humans rather than the truth of the living God, that's really kind of idolatry.

>> Bert Harper: Yep.

>> Alex McFarland: God is merciful. And the judgment is this, that people are rejecting and suppressing truth, that they really did know.

>> Bert Harper: Amen, Alex. And we hope, Jay is listening and anyone else that would have that again at the end, at the end of the hour, we're going to go to Brent, and he'll give us that, but we'll wait till then. But keep on sending a request in.

Pastors that do not give an invitation are cutting off Holy Spirit ministry

Let me ask this. This is from Sandy, and it's. It's longer, so I'm going to put it in a concise form. Pastors that do not give an invitation at the end of the worship time, is it cutting off the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, that's a good question. It is. You know, what's. What's interesting is if you look at the. Some of the early Christians, like Tertullian and Irenaeus, you know, some of you might have heard those names, and others, they were closers. Let me. Let me show what I mean by that. They called people to a decision. I've had modern pastors and, Bert, I. There have been a few times, maybe you could count on five fingers or less that I didn't give an invitation. 99.9% of the time, I do. In other words, I call people to make a decision, whether it be to come to Christ or come back to Christ or, you know, I like to give people an opportunity. And I'll tell you why. Because Jesus, every person that you read in the New Testament, he called people publicly. And Jesus said, if you acknowledge me before men, I will acknowledge you before the Father in heaven. So I think it's appropriate to call for a response and to make that a public response. Now, once in a blue moon, I've spoken somewhere, and maybe I knew everybody in the audience, and I don't know, maybe. But at the very least, I would say, listen, make sure you know Jesus. but modern pastors, many have said to me, said it, well, Alex, you. You can't, you know, bully somebody into a decision. And we're not trying to do that. But I will say, some of the very earliest Christians, man, they. They called people to respond with the fervor of a Billy Graham. it is appropriate, isn't it, Bert?

>> Bert Harper: I believe it is. Jesus certainly gave invitation. And, I see the. Some. If you don't want to call it invitation, call it a response. you need to respond to the word of God. Now, I believe it's good to have it openly. Invitation to come to Christ, a response. I lay it out, said, if you, need prayer, would you come down here? And we'll have people meet you and pray with you. God may want you to go to someone you know and just lay your shoulder on, put your hand on their shoulder and say, I need your prayers. But I believe in that, Alex. Yes, I believe, I believe the Holy Spirit of God can still work in that. Again, not manipulation, but real conviction, power, and the power to respond. I know I responded that way on a Tuesday night in a revival in August. God got a hold of my life there. Thank God I had the invitation to go forward. So I do as well.

Alex Long: What power does the believer have to command the enemy

Here's one that comes from Deborah. And again, Maurice said, but I've underlined the part that I can ask. What power does the believer have through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to command the enemy and. Or the annoying spirits of the enemy to leave, concealing all assignments and effects of the enemy? In other words, you know, speak to the enemy, get behind me, Satan. And then she says, According to Jude 1:8 and 2nd Peter 2:10, don't be foolish to rebuke a celestial being. Ah. And so, Alex, how careful do you have to be when you're dealing with maybe demons? And you know that. And how careful do you have to be, brother?

>> Alex McFarland: well, let me say this. and this is one of the great topics that we ought to teach on more. And I would encourage my fellow ministers to preach on it. And that is the believer's authority. We do have authority in the name of Jesus. I think about James 4, verse 7 that says, Submit yourselves therefore, to God. Listen, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And Ephesians 6, 10 and following. finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God. All right, here's the thing. We have authority in Jesus. We have power, but in his might. And I want to say this. It's like, you don't go kicking a hornet's nest. Don't go looking for spiritual warfare. But I will say this. if you sense that Satan is trying things I say in the name of Jesus, Satan, get out of here. In the name of Jesus, I am free. there are many times that we. I do think we need to exercise our authority by the word of God and the Son of God, I think you and I both could probably do hours of content. You know, when I was working for James Dobson, Focus on the Family bought a building thinking it was. It was either in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but they bought a building that had been a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.

>> Bert Harper: Right.

>> Alex McFarland: And what they did, though, they walked through every room of that building and they, in the name of Jesus, they consecrated that to life. And they commanded Satan and any demons to leave in Jesus name. And as they were finishing this very lengthy prayer, they said, Satan, be gone in the name of Jesus. And the back door blew open and a number of my friends were there at this prayer service and they said you could feel, I mean the whole atmosphere in the building changed.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: And listen, this is real.

>> Bert Harper: It is.

>> Alex McFarland: Alex.

>> Bert Harper: I believe before we've, moved into a house, we lived in, it was built. We consecrated the Lord, we went through and prayed, moving into a house that someone else has lived in. we went through that house in each room and we prayed. Lord, may you have your way. May any evil spirit that's in here depart in the name of Jesus. I think so. Well, Alex, thank you for all those answers, to the questions. And Brent has some prayer requests so he's going to give them. I'm going to write them down so I can, remember them. So all of you that are prayer warriors, get your pen ready, write these names down so we can pray for them. Go ahead, Brent.

>> Alex McFarland: Alright, I've got four and I hope I don't have any that I missed. If I did, we'll get them tomorrow. But I've got Sarah, asked for prayer for her mom who has shingles and possibly tick fever.

>> Bert Harper: Okay.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh boy.

>> Alex McFarland: Joshua is asking for prayer for his family, for God to strengthen his family as Josh transits, transitions away from what he calls, you know, a not so good life that he had. And he's trying to. God's working on him.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Amen. Sometimes it's difficult to carry your family with you when that turn can be exactly right. Long and hard. Yes.

>> Alex McFarland: Joshua, Tyler asked for, prayers for he and his wife and the, devil's attacks on fathers. I think it's a really good one.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: Linda's asking for prayer for young people in general as world tries to lure them away from Christ.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Alex, is it all right if I pray here?

>> Alex McFarland: Yes, brother, lead us.

Alex asks Father to heal Sarah's mom with shingles

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Father, we're praying for Sarah. Thank you for her contacting us. And now we're sharing this with those who are listening that are prayer warriors and others, her mom with shingles and the possibility of the other. I pray God, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that you would be with her, that she would be healed. And I, I ask that she would listen to the doctors and do what is necessary. And you can do the healing. Father, I pray for Joshua and his family. Thank you. That he is coming out from a life and to a different life. May his family follow him. Pray for Tyler, he and his wife, as they struggle, Father, may they turn to you and walk with you, depend upon you as they grow closer to one another. And, Father, be with Linda. thank you for her concern for young people. God, you're doing a great work in Gen Zs. They're buying Bibles, revivals on campuses. We're excited about what you're doing. Continue your good work. In Jesus name, amen. Well, Alex, we'll be back tomorrow ready for more of Romans you're excited about it.

>> Alex McFarland: Romans 6:18. Being made free from sin, ye become the servants. Servants of righteousness. Read on ahead, and we'll pick up Romans 6 tomorrow. In the meantime, may God bless you in all things. Thank you for listening to Exploring the Word. And may the name of Jesus Christ be praised.

>> Bert Harper: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.