American Family Radio will study God's word next hour

>> Bert Harper: The Bible.

>>  : It's the word of God, sharper than any two edged sword.

>> Bert Harper: This sacred book is living and active.

>>  : And contains all that's needed for life and godliness.

>> Bert Harper: Stay with American Family Radio for the.

>>  : Next hour as we study God's word.

>> Bert Harper: And take your Bible questions.

Bert Harper: Isaiah chapter 49 ends with Jesus being pictured as conquering warrior

Welcome to Exploring the word. Isaiah. AH49 finishes with Jesus being pictured as our conquering warrior. He is courageous and he does conquer. Listen to this. For I will defend with him or contend with him who contends with you. He is on our side. Well, this is bert Harper and Dr. Alex McFarland will be joining us shortly. But we are thankful that you are here and you're listening. We're going through the book of Isaiah and chapter 49. We got through most of it, but the last few verses is about Jesus being our warrior, being the one who contends not only for the Israel's Israel that were coming back from Babylon and going to Jerusalem. And he said, listen, you may have been captive, but I'm here to set you free. And I'm going to do it because I'm mighty. He's the mighty warrior. And listen to this, what he says in verse 26. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh. They're going to eat themselves up and that's what they do. The enemies start fighting among themselves and this is the whole idea. And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. In other words, they are consuming themselves. That's what people do that lives unto themselves and not to God. And then the last lines there in chapter 49 of Isaiah, all flesh shall know that I, the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. Now when you put all those together, listen to that. I am the Lord, man, boss, overall sovereign, your Savior, the one who will save you and, and redeem you and your Redeemer. I'm going to I'm going to pay the price for you. And I am the Mighty One. Now he starts. Notice what he does. He starts with the Lord and he finishes with the Mighty One. Now in between that is Savior and Redeemer. So this means he is qualified and he is able. Now I hope you are able to understand that and recognize that, that our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is in a position to do so, the God man. And he is willing to do so. So he has the position and authority and he also has the desire. He's not willing that any should perish, but his desire is that all would Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope you understand that today, that. That God is on your side. He wants you to know Him. And when you know him, it doesn't mean everything's going to be easy. But it does mean you have a friend that stays closer than a brother. So that was the end of chapter 49. And it brings us into chapter 50, which is a relatively short chapter, in the book of Isaiah, for the book of Isaiah. But the third servant song is found here. And we'll get to that in verse four. There were four servant songs, in other words, Jesus the servant. And, we'll get to that.

Difficult times help us develop character difficulties

But first, here in chapter 50, verses 1 through 3, he. He demonstrates himself as a compassionate lover, a lover of those. And. And notice it says, where's the certificate of your mother's divorce? No, he said, I'm there with you. I'm. I haven't divorced you. I know who you are. And then he says, whom have I put away? Of which of my creditors is it? Whom do I have sold you? No, I haven't done that. I haven't sold you out. I haven't declared bankruptcy on you and our. In our language, and to get you out. No. And notice what it says in verse two. And this is powerful. You'll recognize it, know it greatly. Is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? And then. Or have I, no power to deliver. That is our God. He says, I'm still able. I'm able. now, some of the greatest words that I know. Some people that, have gone through some real difficult times lately. Some of our dearest friends, with difficulties in their life. I won't go into all the details, but their theme was, he is able. He is able to redeem. He is able to do great and mighty things. That's our God. And most of the time we say, why doesn't he do it all the time? Well, I don't know how to explain this. I was the youngest of nine. And, a lot of my older brothers and sisters thought I was spoiled. Being that young and my mom and dad raising me and having it easier than they did. And I admit that. But anybody that is spoiled, we say they're spoiled rotten. In other words, difficulty helps us develop character difficulties, no matter how harsh they may be and how difficult they are to overcome. They develop strength in our life, in our character, in our walk with the Lord. And that's what he wants us to do. But in that his hand is not shortened, that it cannot Redeem it can reach you at the lowest point, he can reach out and bring you in when you have gotten off track, if you'll turn to him, his hand is not shortened that it cannot redeemed. There's nothing that's keeping him away from, from helping you where you are now. Again, we come to him on his terms. Now what? You and I have got to just say no, I'm not going to do that. I, I do not. God does not come to us on our terms. He is God, we're man. But many of you who are listening, either in your past or possibly even right now, you're saying, oh God, I will trust you. If that's your terms, that's what you're laying out, I want to tell you need to trust him regardless. And you say, well, I don't understand it all. Well who does? Just let me tell you, when you read the book of Ecclesiastes and you see what Solomon tried to work out on his own, in his own flesh, in his own mind, with all of his works, with his education at the end of it, he said it's vanity, everything under the sun, it's not worth it. But chapter 12 says, I figured it out. It's the whole duty of man to trust God, to obey God and follow him. And I want to just tell you true happiness, true I would say peace that you can have that passes understanding will never happen on your own terms. you can look for it and you can find some relief every so often. that's why some people get addicted. They get addicted to drugs or alcohol, prescription drugs, there's some relief there. They get may get relief in a new relationship. That's why some people go from relationship to relationship to relationship. Because they're looking for something that they themselves cannot give and they're wanting it. Only God can satisfy that vacuum that's in your heart and in your life. And his hand is not shortened that it cannot redeem or have no power to deliver. He has that power. Only God can touch that life. Only God can fill that vacuum that's in your life.

Alex Dolann: Chapter 50 of the Bible starts with a servant song

And so here it is, this great Chapter is Chapter 50 is introduced with this idea that God can deliver, God can save. And it goes to verse four and it is the third servant song. Now what you're going to find is the title God here, the Lord God, which is really in Greek, Jehovah, Adonai. And it is sovereign God, all powerful, the one who is able. And so notice what it says and I'm just going to go over these real quickly, verses four through nine, and just read the portions of it where it says the Lord God. And then we'll go back and look at it even more. Verse 4, the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned. Okay? He's giving me the tongue. I can speak. But then he continues, look at verse 5. The Lord God has opened my ear. Now, I found that awesome. In other words, speech and listening. And then in verse seven, it says, the Lord God has helped me. That's who God is. He's able. He is Jehovah, Adonai. And then in verse nine, surely the Lord God will help me. And this is God's purpose in our lives, to help us, to bring us to the point of deliverance, to bring us to the point of repentance and trust in Him. And that's what he wants to do. Now let's go back to verse four. And we're looking at this. The Lord God has given me, and Alex has joined us. And we praise the Lord. Alex, we're in chapter 50, verse four.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Starts the third servant song. And I'll just throw it to you real quickly. But, what I pointed out is four times in verses four through nine, the servant song, his name is used the Lord God, Jehovah, Adonai, and of the four servant songs, this is the only one of those that uses that name for our God. Lord God, Sovereign Lord over all. And here he is saying what he. Now we're going to get into the difficulties that he had, even the pain that he had. But it starts off with notice. Two things, and I'll throw it to you. In verse, 4, verse 1, it says, first line, the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned. But then in verse five, the Lord God has opened my ear. I found that significant. Knowing what to say, knowing what to hear, God has opened us. If we'll listen to him and we'll speak for him, we won't sound so foolish, will we?

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. You know, in, verse four there, the Lord God has m. Given me the tongue of the learned. An instructed tongue. That's what that means. And, apologize for being late. I had to have a little bit of a mic issue. I had to go find a new microphone, which we did by God's grace. But this is about Jesus. And I think everybody will see this pretty easily here in just a moment. Because the Lord God has opened my ear. And I was not rebellious, neither turned back Verse six. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheek to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting bird. Doesn't that sound like some of the abuse that our Lord was subjected to?

>> Bert Harper: It really is. my beard. Plucked out my beard. They beat him with a cat of nine tails. And that's what it talked about, the back to those who struck me. That's what they did, the Roman soldiers. And what Pilate tried to do was to punish him like that and saying, isn't this enough without me having to pronounce him to go to the cross? And they said, no, that's not enough. Crucify him. Crucify him. But before they cried that he was struck on the back, they plucked his beard out. Alex, this, this is the first servant song. The other two that came before this, they talked about him, you know, them deserting him and going their way. But this is the first one that deals with the pain of the physical punishment.

>> Alex McFarland: Brother, I know, as what the Lord went through to purchase our redemption. And he says in verse seven, the Lord God will help me, therefore I shall not be confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. You know, setting one's face like a flint. Christ, went to Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, Palm Sunday, the hosannas, knowing that his ultimate destiny was the cross. Paul in Acts said that he purposed in his mind to go to. To Jerusalem, not knowing what shall befall me there. But Paul said, I know this, that God is with me, Bert, when we have assignments. And we talked about that yesterday, you know, in Isaiah 40:20, how, you know, Jacob was the servant, and that means assignment. Can't we with. We could say the resolve of our heart or setting our face like a flint. Can't we face all that we have and all of our assignments with God's help as well?

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Just think about Joshua. Be strong and courageous. Don't deviate from left or right. Set your faces, afflicted, it says here, and march toward the command of the Lord, and he'll see us through. We'll be back with more right, after this break.

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>> Bert Harper: From the.

>> Alex McFarland: Highest of heights to the depths of the sea. Creations revealing.

>> Caroline: Your majesty.

Alex and Bert discuss Isaiah chapter 50 in Exploring the Word

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to Exploring the Word. Alex and Bert here, so honored that you're listening to Exploring the Word. And we are in Isaiah chapter 50. Bert, you know, there's so many nuggets of gold and so many, truths, you know, you wonder what to, what to include and what to leave out. Do you ever remember. And we're in Isaiah 50, but there was a study Bible called the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Do you remember that?

>> Bert Harper: I, got one, yes.

>> Alex McFarland: Do you really?

>> Bert Harper: Yes, I do.

>> Alex McFarland: And the chains of references would be where verses reference other verses. Now, I think we're going to see an example of that where scripture seems to support scripture. like in, verses, let me see here. verse seven. The Lord God will help me. Therefore I shall not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint. I know I shall not be ashamed. This is Christ. And by the way, this is 750 years before he was born. He is near. That justifies me. Okay. the Father would never leave him. And Christ is with us. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together.

>> Bert Harper: Who.

>> Alex McFarland: Who is mine adversary. Let him come near to me. In other words, when you belong to God and you're with the Lord and he's with you, you really have no enemy to fear. Now, we're going to. Before this chapter concludes, we'll talk more about that. And it says in, verse nine, behold the Lord. God will help me. Who is he that shall condemn me. Lo, they all wax old as a garment. Isaiah, 50, verse nine. Now, you're going to see that again in Isaiah 51:6, that very same language, that ultimately, at the end of time, the heavens will wax old as a garment. And, Bert, you know, that's even what science is saying, that the universe is running down. Now, I gotta say, from 56,789 over here to 51, I see really the suffering servant victoriously paying the price. Rising from the dead, the church age, the eventual return. It's God's enemies that wax old. It's this fallen world that gets wrapped up. And then 10 through 11, I'm gonna throw it to you. But trusting in oneself, we, lie down in sorrow, safe in the hands of God, trusting in him, we are victorious.

>> Bert Harper: You're exactly right. And I think you're exactly right when you say what you're saying. I could not help but notice then, if God will contend for you. And we saw that, earlier. That God will contend for us, in chapter, 49, verse, 41. excuse me, 25. For I will contend with him who contends with you. He will contend with our enemy, and then he will not condemn us. Alex, that is powerful.

Alex: We're saved by grace through faith, not our own works

Which brings us to that point. For how long? Forever. For what Christ did for us on the cross, what he's doing with us now, and what will happen in the future. And it brings us to the point where the question is asked, who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. Do not trust in your own works. That's why the Bible says we're saved by grace through faith. And it's not of works. Lest any man should boast. If we had enough works to boast of, Alex, it would not be enough. You know it is true. Yeah. No one has enough money. No one has enough good works. No one has. what it takes to bridge the gap between where we are as sinners and where God is in his perfection. No one can bridge that. Only Christ. So the question. When you see who, who, who? And it's only Christ, isn't it?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, it is. It is. I mean, Augustine said our best works are merely sp. Sins. we can't build a bridge to heaven. But Christ is the bridge.

>> Bert Harper: He is the one and only.

>> Alex McFarland: And if you've not trusted him, do trust him today, because. Verse 11. Behold, all you that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks. Okay? Sparks are little flicks of embers that come out of a fire. And, you know, Bert, I think about this. people say, well, I'm a pretty good person, and I've done this. Here's a little spark. I used to help out at the homeless shelter. here's a little spark. I've tried to feed my family. Here's another spark. I go to church a couple times per decade. Hey, look, don't trust whatever fire of morality you think you've started, or any sparks. Maybe if I add up all the punch list, I've got enough good to tip the scales in my favor. No. Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that you've kindled. This shall you have of my hand. You shall lie down in sorrow. Really? And I know this is kind of an illustration, it might be a little bit hard to follow, but, we need Christ's righteousness, not our own righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own. I know. Hey, if good works could have gotten us to heaven, why did God incarnate have to be nailed to the cross? Christ came down here, died, and rose again because our good works couldn't save us.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. It's only through Christ. He's the only way.

Bert says to be like Abraham and trust God for the Messiah

This brings us to chapter 51. And I want you to listen closely, and I'm going to give you some words. And I'm always looking outline. I do that. Listen to, verse 1 of 51, verse 4, verse 7, and listen to see if there's something he says that's the same. Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness. Verse 1, verse 4. Listen to me, my people, and give ear to me, O my nation. Verse 7. Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people whose heart is my law, and do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their revelings. I think Isaiah, is saying to these people, you've been dull of hearing. I've shared with you a lot of things. Listen up. Don't you think he's saying, listen up, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. Verse two says, look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah that bare you. For I called him alone and blessed him and increased him. Now, what does it mean, look unto Abraham? Well, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him righteousness. let me say this. we love the Jewish people. We are very, very, very pro Israel. we categorically condemn anti Semitism. Nevertheless, the most Jewish thing a Jewish person can do is to be like Abraham and trust God for the Messiah. You know, look unto Abraham. by the way, a saved gentile is really more Jewish than an unbelieving Jew, really, because we get grafted in. And so we are to believe in Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. For the Lord God shall come to us.

>> Bert Harper: Alex, real quickly. I know I'm interrupting. Before you leave. Verse 2. There's something about this I think is significant. Okay. Notice how it starts. Abraham, your father, and Sarah who bore you. I called him alone. Okay. Just one couple. Now, how were they when they. They were childless for years and years and years. And then in their older age, they conceived. And then it says, and I blessed him and notice this, and increased him from. From, I mean, from M. Absolutely hopelessness, you know, far as the world could see. Nothing out of increased blessing and increased, you know, the Bible talks about we grow from faith to faith. If you have the faith of a mustard seed, listen, God can do great things. It will grow in a bound. And when I see that, and I looked at that in verse two, and I saw that the word that got my attention was alone. It was just them, just those two. But out of those two became a great nation.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: That's Abraham and Sarah. If that doesn't light your fire to knowing what God can do with just that couple. you need to look at that. Look what God has done. And I just wanted to pass that on in verse two. Alex, go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. You know, Bert, I'm, going to trade places with you just a bit today. You are good at finding action words over the years, you always see. But look at these verbs. One, hearken to me. Now, that means listen. Okay, verse one, hearken or listen. Verse four, listen. verse six, lift. Lift up your eyes to the heaven. Verse seven, hearken. Listen to me. Verse nine, awake. you go over here and it says verse 17. Awake, awake. So God is saying, listen, look, respond, open your eyes, wake up. And in verse five, he says, my righteousness is near. My salvation has gone forth. Mine arms shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm they shall trust.

Alex: The church has plenty of resources and finances to carry out missions

All right. This is so important. The salvation of Jesus has gone forth to the ends of the earth. And in every generation we need to do our part to make sure that the word and the message, the good news is still going forth. Bert, I'll tell you this. I'll throw it back to you. I was very, very, very blessed to have in seminary Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade. He had introduction to evangelism. And that's where I was taught evangelism by Bill Bright. It was a great, great honor. But he talked about the fact that, that in every generation, the population of the church really did have the personnel and the means to tell the whole wide world. And there was a time when the world population was less. And now the world population is 8 billion. But in any generation, which is roughly about a 50 year period, the church, if we would, we could reach the whole wide world. Let's do this. This is. And my goodness, what resources we have now. Like, thank you, Lord Christian radio. But we want that salvation to go forth, don't we?

>> Bert Harper: We really do. And not only the people. And you've already said it. The Resources, there's enough money in every church to go beyond what they're doing. It may, the problem is it may be in the people's pocket, you know, Say that again.

>> Alex McFarland: That's, good.

>> Bert Harper: Okay. The church has plenty of resources and finances to carry out God's plan for that church in missions, in every way. The problem is that money may remain in the members pockets and we need to be generous with this. And, I was just reading about evangelism. if you want to look how much money in your budget, church budget, does it give to missions and evangelism, how much money is given forth to reach. And you just said it. We have enough people. Bill Bright said that. I think that's true in every generation. Look what happens in the Book of Acts. Are these the men that turned the world upside down? How many were there? Okay, he left 12 men that he poured his life into, and one of those went out, wasn't with them at all. And yes, they got others to come in and they had 500 at one time, but they actually listen, in just a few years, the Roman Empire was changed completely. And so, Alex, God's, given us what we need in order to do the Great Commission, hasn't he?

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen.

If you stand where the Bible stands, people are going to be critical

let me address, those that are critical of us, proclaiming what the Bible says. And we're in a minute. Bert, I'm going to ask you to talk us through verses seven and eight. If you take your stand and you say, look, there's no Savior but Jesus, and that's true, that's biblical, that's factual. There's no Savior but Jesus. If you say that marriage is between a man and a woman, all sex outside of marriage is wrong. All homosexual activity is wrong. In other words, if you stand where the Bible stands, people are going to be critical sometimes. Verse 7 and 8. Listen to this in verse 8. Hearken unto me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Fear not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings, for the moth shall eat them up like a garment. Bert, getting criticized and called narrow, that's just an occupational hazard. Comes with the job of being a Christian, isn't it?

>> Bert Harper: It is. Matter of fact, I've had this Bible that I use here a, long, long time. I have that verse underlined, highlighted, an asterisk bite. And it was my heart as a pastor. In other words, I know I have God in my heart. I know that I love his word and I'm going to proclaim it as it is in love, not in bitterness, not in hatred. But the whole idea is in whose heart is my law? Listen, God has taken up position in your life as Lord. So therefore what he says concerning anything, salvation, marriage, lifestyle, whatever God says, that's the way it is. And then it says, do not fear the reproach of men. Now here it is. The reproach will come. if you're doing God's work, it's going to come. Look at Jesus, look at the apostles, look at everyone. The reproach will come. But it says, do not be afraid of their revelings. They're going to revile you. They're going to talk about you and who do you listen to? And here it is. And I believe this is it, Alex. We're to look under heaven. And I think that's what he was saying. Other who stretched out the heavens, who's placed it here? If he is our Creator, he's our redeemer. Who are we wanting to please? Now, again, some of us, our personality is such we like people to like us. you know, but there's some more important things than people liking us. And that's God's approval. Now, that doesn't mean you get angry and say, oh, I don't care what people say. I don't care. No, you want to love people and care for them. But our job, make much of Jesus and what he said and give it to others, isn't it?

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. Well, hey, the number. If you want to call in with a Bible question, the number is 8885-8988-4088-8589-8840. Call now. You'll get in and when we come back, we'll take all your questions on exploring the word.

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>> Alex McFarland: In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my life, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought in storm.

>> Caroline: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: amen. I could listen to that whole song and be happy, but we've got people that are calling in with their questions. So, Alex, we're going to cut it short and go straight to the phone lines, if that's all right with you. Where do we go to first?

Bert asks Ken why heaven is never capitalized in Bible versions

>> Alex McFarland: Well, we begin our day in Arkansas with Ken. Ken, you are on exploring the word sir.

>> Caroline: Oh, it's pretty wonky. It's an inconsequential kind of question, but it drives me nuts, that in all my studying material and all the Bible versions I use, heaven, which is a real place, is never capitalized.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, that's good. I'm kind of old school. And by the way, this gets to what's called style. And there's a famous book, some of you will know this book, Strunk and a Manual of Style. And I capitalize him like, my soul trusts in him. I capitalize that. And nowadays, modern style, there's mls, there's Chicago Manual of Style, there's Kate L. Turabian. All right, more and more, Bert. proper names and pronouns aren't capitalized. But I'm kind of with Ken if it's, deity or the abode of God. And you're right, heaven. Now, heaven is a place. I'm not sure the sign at the street says heaven, although we know it is the abode of God. But, I think it's honor and reverence to capitalize. I always capitalize Lord L, O, R, D. I capitalize him. I capitalize Israel, you know, because these are proper nouns, aren't they, Bert?

>> Bert Harper: They really are. And I'm old enough. I, must have been trained by that teachers who went by that book. And I thought of this, Ken, and I'm playing off of what you said. even if it's not capitalized, it doesn't take the reality of it. But I agree with you guys. It deserves that capitalization. And, thank you, Ken, and I appreciate your heart. I do. That's great.

>> Alex McFarland: Texas, Harold in Texas. Harold, you're on the show. Welcome.

>> Bert Harper: Harold.

>> Caroline: Yes, yes, I'm here. I can hear you now.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay.

How should Christians in today's day and age handle vows

>> Caroline: yes, my question is when it Comes to vows. I read throughout the Bible, different people making vows to God, not just regarding marriage. How should Christians in today's day and age handle vows?

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Alex, I know this. It's better not to make one than to make it and then not, do it. Let me see. Was there a judge that made a vow, a kind of a foolish vow, about if God would give him the victory, the first person he saw, he would, you know.

>> Alex McFarland: Was that Jephthah? It was Jephthah back in judges, 12.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, it is. I don't want to bring on that up, but it does show you the danger of making a vow, doesn't it?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, in Matthew 5:37, Jesus said, Let your yes be yes and your no be no. I think our marriage vows are in a different class because it is a covenant and a covenant. Remember, God made a covenant with Abraham, and there is the new covenant. Well, a covenant means, And the way they would ratify a covenant, something had to die, blood had to be shed. And it was basically saying, may this be what happens to me if I default on what I'm promising. And I believe the fact that in a wedding, Bert, we say, till death do us part. Let not man put asunder what God hath joined. Marriage is a holy, sacred covenant, and therefore worthy of a sacred before God and these witnesses. A vow.

>> Bert Harper: It is. It's a double vow. We make it not only to our. Our spouse, but we're making it to God. Okay, and. And listen, that marriage vow, as you just said, is, one that should never be broken. And we enter into it. That's the reason. We don't enter into it lightly. We enter into it with a heaviness in knowing that this is of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: It is. I'm glad you brought that one out, Alex. Thank you, brother.

>> Alex McFarland: also in Texas is Cindy. Cindy, welcome to Exploring the Word.

>> Caroline: Well, thank you so much.

Sandy asks what your opinions are about the Millennial Kingdom

This is probably a weird question, too, and there may not be an answer, but I really would like to know what your opinions are, about the Millennial Kingdomnomics. I know there will be mortals that do enter the kingdom. They'll live, for hundreds of years again, and they'll have a lot of children, and those children will need to be saved. Once a saved mortal during the Millennial kingdom dies, where do they go?

>> Bert Harper: Okay. Okay. I don't know if we've had that one before, Alex. Have we?

>> Alex McFarland: I think that is a unique question.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah. Okay. She said, may not have a complete answer. So anytime you're Dealing with the millennial and them, especially those that mortals that go into it, we know they're going to have to respond because there's nobody gets right with God apart from grace through faith, is there? That's from Genesis all the way through. Am I right, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Absolutely. There is no salvation except through Jesus. The thing about the millennium, like in revelation, 20, and the thousand years and the Christians, like Revelation 24, 7 and there's 1,000 years. The amazing thing about the millennium is this is the most unparalleled, highest degree of revelation the human world has ever seen. we know the Bible is true. Christ is physically present, ruling on earth from Jerusalem. So the people in the millennium have no excuse. I mean everything is there, and yet there will be some. When Satan is briefly loosed, there's going to be a rebellion. So to her question, it's a fantastic, profound question. What about the mortals born in the millennium? They believe in Jesus, they're saved, but they die. Well, Bert, maybe this is just maybe because the Bible doesn't fully tell us. Maybe, they get translated.

>> Bert Harper: Let me see. There was two. That's happened to right before.

>> Alex McFarland: That's true. was it, Enoch was one. Who was the other?

>> Bert Harper: It was Elijah.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. Now Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Just, you know the old saying, God said, hey, we're close enough to heaven, let's just come on. In Enoch, maybe in the millennial kingdom, they you say, wow, there's somebody. He must have physically expired because now he's in his glorified body and it's maybe an instantaneous translation as happened in the life of Enoch or Elijah. Bert, I have to confess, I don't definitively know.

>> Bert Harper: Well, listen, Sandy, I want to just tell you one day I'll know that answer today. I don't know. You get what I'm saying that we're going to be, if you know Jesus Christ as savior, we're going to be there. We're coming back to reign with him. And that's what Alex and I on this program, that's what we desire. Every listener, make sure you're right with God. Be ready for that day when either death or his return occurs. Be ready.

>> Alex McFarland: By the way, there is much, much, much about heaven and last things in our brand new book on 100 Questions on Prophecy. As we get to Micah in Tennessee, I want to ask everybody to pray for Connie and her family. We got an online mess. Connie's daughter and grandsons are questioning Whether or not God exists. So, folks, God knows them. Please pray for Connie and her family. Micah in Tennessee. can you hear me?

>> Caroline: Yes, welcome. love y' all show. Been listening a few years.

>> Alex McFarland: Thank you.

Do all churches have business meetings on how to handle tithing money

>> Caroline: I'm calling about y' all brought up, you know, the tithing earlier and it got me wondering, and if. Do all churches, like, have business meetings and, you know, I mean, how do you. If, if you don't have them, do the members supposed to know how the money's being span or. I'm just wondering and I trust people in my church. I'm just, I'm not calling cause of that, but, like, what is the protocol, you know, on handling the money?

>> Bert Harper: Okay, let me say, Micah, it's different with different people, different churches. There's those that are congregationally, looked at and say they decided all, and then there's elder rule. But I do believe this, Alex. I believe that accountability is the most important part. You know what I mean? After you've done that, that accountability and however that can happen by publishing it or telling individuals, Micah, here it is. And if you want to look at it, you make yourself known without printing it out for everybody to see. But accountability is one of the most important parts of this, isn't it, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: It really is. And that's why, I really believe in having really good administration and transparency. And, I think, let me say one of the committees you might want to have is what we call a counting committee. That multiple sets of eyes see the money and handle it. You know, churches have to file a 941 with the IRS, and even a public charity has to be, you know, above board and transparent with their finances. so, you know, business meetings, sometimes churches have them on a Wednesday night or something. They don't do it in the middle of Sunday morning. But either way, you know, I really do think that every church should, at a moment's notice, say, here's the finances, here's the balance sheet, and God's money is handled in a forthright, honest, Godly way.

As a younger Christian, I feel there is a gap between Christians

Good question, Micah. Denise in Louisiana. Denise, you are on exploring the Word.

>> Caroline: Hi. Thank you for having me.

>> Alex McFarland: Thank you for listening.

>> Caroline: I kind of have two questions, but I do understand that there are many callers, so I don't want to hold your time. the first question that I had was, as a younger Christian, I feel like there is a gap between the older generation of Christians and the newer generation of Christians. And I feel like sometimes the newer Christians or the non believers who are younger they feel like if they commit and become a Christian, that their life will be just drastically constrained and boring. And me, myself, personally, it's like, I enjoy life. Like, I have fun. Jesus died so that we might have life more abundantly. And I feel like certain things that we do. As a newer Christian, some of the views are, you know, you can't go to the movies, you can't go to concerts, you can't. And, you know, I know everything is not appropriate, but I feel like it's really important that we show younger Christians how they can still be, you know, able to do things.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Denise, thank you for that. Alex. here's. I'm going to say if you ever heard this, you know, I, don't smoke and I don't chew, and I don't run around with those that do. Have you ever heard that before? I have, yeah. That was a theme. It was more. I don't mean to say this, and I'm setting it up for you. in other words, what Denise saying the Christians are more about what they don't do than they do. It's not either or. It's both. There's some things we just don't do, but there's some things we should do, isn't it? Am I offbeat there, Denise?

>> Alex McFarland: if going to concerts and loving music is a problem, then I'm in bad trouble. Here's the thing. we are free in Christ. We really are. Now, should we live for the Lord? Of course. Should we avoid sin? But I'm going to say a couple of things here, and, in 1520, Martin Luther wrote a book called On Christian Liberty. And in other words, he says, we are free in Christ. Now, we're not supposed to go out there and be sinning, but Romans 14, verse 5. Paul says, One man regards one day over another. Another man regards another day. I honestly think, and I have to be careful what I'm saying here, Bert, I'm not saying that we should be sinful, but if somebody's, you know, joy and hobby is something, let them do it. You know, we. I really think legalism and trying to be the Holy Spirit and police each other, that's driven more people away. Christians, of all people are happy people have fun, you know, And I think if we got into sin, drinking, promiscuity, whatever, of course the Holy Spirit is going to convict and. Correct. But, Bert, man, that's when the joy and the having a good time. And I'll say the fun really does begin when I Know that I'm secure in Christ, and I'm also free in Christ.

>> Bert Harper: We're free to do what we ought not to do. Everything we want. The Bible makes it clear. One man, one woman for life. The Bible makes it clear. Concerning homosexuality. The Bible makes it clear on many issues. And we stand there. We. We try to disciple them in love, to let. Understand the younger ones to know this is where you are. but again, Alex, to have a check list, you know, I do this, I don't do that. I do this, I don't do that. It does get into legalism. Got to quote Adrian Rogers. I'm not sure we've quoted him this year.

>> Alex McFarland: We are remiss.

>> Bert Harper: we really are. But he said there's two things you need to avoid. One is legalism. The other one is license. In other words, the license, oh, I'm free. I'm, saved. I can live any way I want. No, the Bible says it. And he. Paul, made it sure. For the Corinthian Church, said, you shouldn't let this man be doing what he's doing and be a part of the fellowship and leadership. You need to take your stand. But at the same time, there's that Holy Spirit of God leading us that you talked about. And he will want to. He'll lead us in the right direction.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. Well, Roy in Mississippi, please. Please call back tomorrow. I'm sorry. We are just about out of time. I hear that music. And we're going to try to get to everybody. We'll continue in Isaiah 51 tomorrow. Hey, pray for our nation. We need a revival. You and I can be a part of it. Tell somebody, if you would, about AFR and exploring the Word. But most of all, tell everybody about Jesus. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Isaiah 49:24 - 51:8: God's Encouragement To Us