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>> Jeff Chamblee: 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.

This is a prerecorded edition of Exploring the Word

Welcome to Exploring the Word.

>> Alex McFarland: We can't do the work of the spirit with the tools of the flesh. You can't do the work of the spirit with the tools of the flesh. With that thought, we welcome you to today's edition of Exploring the Word. My name is Alex McFarland. With me in the studio, just right across the table is Bert Harper. And this is a prerecorded edition of Exploring the Word. We're going to be in Matthew 26 for a few moments. So whenever we do a pre record, Bert and I are on the road or traveling or something like that. But can't call in live on the telephones today, but we do invite you to stay with us and to listen. and Bert, I want to say it's always a blessing to be live in the studio with you because we know separated by a thousand miles there can be technical issues. But when we're separated just by three feet, it's probably going to work okay.

>> Bert Harper: It does. And there's a little extra energy. You know, like I've seen you, you and I both, I think step it up a little bit when we're talking face to face and then I've seen you in front of a crowd and it steps it up a little bit more. And I know I step it up a little more. So let me urge people, if you want to see and hear Alex live, you would be in for a treat. And your website's alexmcfarlane.com easy alexmcfarland.com and you have there people want you to come, they can book you and go through all that and it is well worth it. Matter of fact, what he's doing in the prerecord, somebody asked him to come and he's in the Tupelo area. That's right. And he'll be speaking somewhere but this is a prerecord so we can't say where because it would be a little later and you'd go there and he wouldn't be there. But they can get ahold of you.

>> Alex McFarland: I started as an itinerant traveling speaker 20 some years ago to do apologetics, which I still do a lot and write books on apologetics. But you know, a lot of pastors would call me Bert and They would say, I don't know about apologetics but just come preach a revival. And the funny thing, I never knew that I would be like a revival preacher. But I do love revival. I love to see the spirit of God move among the people of God. And have preached a lot of revivals. It's interesting, like let's say I go to a church so Sunday morning through Wednesday night or Thursday night and maybe on one of the nights I'll do some apologetics like can we trust the Bible? Or how do we know Jesus rose from the dead? And pastors will invite me back and they'll say, well come back again next year. We're going to do another Bible conference and do some more of that prove the Bible stuff. Well that's apologetics. And let me just say that young people especially, they've got questions, they're in school and maybe their professors are really anti Christian. And so I think all ages, but especially young people need to know how to defend the faith.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. And if you're a youth minister and you're listening to student minister, make that a part of what you do with your young people and you can read up on it and you can become educated in those areas. You got to read to be a leader, you got to be a reader. And so you do that and then have someone at Alex come in your whole church. but anyway I would suggest that, and we appreciate you listening on the radio because it would be very dull if nobody was out there listening. It would just be you and me. But we have a whole crew. We call it a giant Bible study, nationwide Bible study. And so we enjoy doing this. So we're going to have a new subject today when we do these Alex, we do usually a, a one time study on the radio. and we have call ins we're usually doing a study of the book of Acts, the study of the book of Revelation. But here when we usually do some pre records we take a one subject ah, idea and share it for an hour. And that's what we're doing today.

>> Alex McFarland: We're talking ultimately about the Christian life and how we carry ourselves, how we walk with the Lord and how we act and how we react. And I was reading in Matthew 26, Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. And you know this, that Judas kisses Jesus, betrays Jesus and the soldiers come m. And very famously. And let me read a little bit of this beginning at verse 51 of Matthew 26 Peter stretches out his hand, draws his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Verse 52. Jesus said to him, put up your sword, for put again thy sword into his place. For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels. But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? Remember, Peter had said, lord, I will never allow you to be crucified. And, Lord, I would never deny you. You've got to give Peter, credit. You know, his heart's in the right place. Here comes these soldiers, and they're going to arrest Jesus. Peter is not going to let his friend get taken by these people. He pulls out a sword and strikes the ear of Malchus. And famously, Jesus, last miracle before he goes to the cross, he heals his cut ear.

>> Bert Harper: Now, there's something significant about this. You're saying Peter in Matthew. Matthew does not reveal that it is Peter that's not done unto the book of John. Because Matthew was possibly, if not the first, one of the very first accounts written, John was the last. And a lot of folks, they say if Matthew had given Peter's name, the possibility of him being arrested at that time, they did not have that statute of limitations. Wasn't true. And John does that and he tells it's Peter. I love to think about that. Hear that? Not only are the Gospels real, they're practical. And Matthew was practical. I don't need to tell who this is yet.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. I'm glad you brought that out, because you know one thing about the word of God, I assure you every word is in there for a purpose.

>> Bert Harper: And what's left out is for a purpose.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. Exactly. And you know what? Augustine said this, that every verse of the Bible has a meaning, even if we don't right now know what that meaning is. The theme of the Bible is Christ the Savior and how you can know him. But every word and even the things that aren't in there, like you say, have a meaning. Now, in John 18, verse 10, which, as you said, was the last Gospel written, then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it. You know, it's interesting why one of Christ's evangelists is walking around with a sword. That's another story. But here's the thing. We're going to talk about this question, friends, and I want you to think about it. In this journey called life, every day has its own joys and Stresses. But we everything post salvation, we're to grow in the Lord. We're to represent the Lord. We're on mission for God. Whether you're a, pastor in a pulpit or a businessperson or a parent or a spouse or a student or a young person, if you're a believer, you're an ambassador for Christ on a journey called life.

Bert Rogers: Which sword are you using in the battles of life

So here's the question. Which sword are you using in the battles of life? What weapons do you carry? Now, before we go too much farther, let me tell you a little story. Because what we say, people hear what we do, people observe how we act, how we react. And, you know, Bert, I'm sure you've heard kind of humorous stories. if you have a Christian bumper sticker on the back of your car, have good road manners.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: If you've got a Christian bumper sticker on your car for the whole wide world to see, don't drive like a maniac. But let me tell you a little story, and it's a true story. I was in a town to speak, and there was a church that had, built a building that was out of compliance with the zoning. And, while I was there, the mayor of the town wanted to have lunch, and that was an honor. So I did, and I've done that in many, many places. And we began to talk about the church, and I, could just tell the mayor was cordial. The mayor had called me and asked to eat lunch with me. And the mayor said, listen, the church is out of compliance with the zoning, and we know it. And we think they've lied to us to get their certificate of occupancy. And, is there anything you could do? We don't want to penalize them. So I went to the pastor, and the pastor was all to pieces that this was known. And yes, this church, if you can believe it, to get their building approved, had lied to the zoning board. And anyway, we got it resolved, and I was sort of the go between. But here's the thing. The zoning board of this town and the mayor and the city council, many were not believers. And they had known all along that they had been lied to. but they didn't hassle the church because they said, look, the church does a lot of good. And the pastor was at first mad at me for even having this conversation. I said, look, the mayor brought it up to me. My point is this. Of all things before a watching world, we need to remember who we represent. We don't represent ourself. Even Right now, Bert, even as you and I record this, in another part of the country, there's a very high profile pastor having a train wreck for nine women that say over a 35 year period he had relationships with them. One of the former staff members called me Saturday and asked if we would pray and said, it's really, really bad. Now my point is this. In the journey of life, we might think that we are self reliant. We might think that nobody, sees what we do. We might think, I don't really answer to anybody. What we want to do is challenge you. The illustration of the sword in the hand of Peter. I'm talking about your life mission, the words you use, the way you act, how you set priorities, how you, give yourself accountability. We are begging to do this thing called the Christian life. From God's perspective, you don't do the work of the spirit with the tools of the flesh. God's people don't lie to a zoning board. God's people don't have a secret separate life that's, hidden under wraps. God's people are to be people that are righteous, that are surrendered, that are obedient, that are transparent. You know, any day of the week, my wife, you or anybody should be able to look at my browsing history on my computer.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: amen. We're talking to you.

>> Bert Harper: And it's wise too. Make your phone and your computer accountable. Lay it out so your wife will pick it up and let her scroll through. The whole idea of where you've been and who is texting you and what's going on. listen, we need to have lives that way. I would say this years ago, a big profile, and I'm talking about years ago, big profile, issue about a pastor misusing funds and also having illicit relationships came up. It was detrimental the kingdom. And I heard Dr. Adrian Rogers speak to it and he said, some people saying, how could God let this happen? He says, no, God exposes darkness in the light, no matter who did the darkness. And God brings it to light. How important is that? We want to do God's work, God's way, in the power of the Holy Spirit, so no flesh can stand before God one day and say, look what I did. We want to lay all those crowns before his feet and say, thank you Lord for using even me.

>>  : The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the Dog won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.

This is Exploring the Word on American Family Radio

>> Jeff Chamblee: This is Exploring the Word on American Family Radio.

>> Bert Harper: Everybody here looking for revival in our own hearts and across the land. Everybody looks for a revival. Lift up your voice and say man.

>> Alex McFarland: But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Welcome back to Exploring the word. Alex McFarlane, Bert Harper. We're in Matthew chapter 26. We're talking about the swords that we carry and the way we live. And this is a prerecorded edition of Exploring the Word. We would invite you if you want to send a Bible question by email, you can reach us. If you have a Bible question or just any correspondence, you can send it to wordfr.net as in americanfamilyradio.net and your Bible question might be the material, for a future show, who knows? And it does take time, but we do our very best to get to each and every letter and email.

We return to the familiar, no matter what that familiar may be

But Bert, let's talk about some principles regarding the swords or the tools. We carry the tools in our toolbox because there's salvation, then there's sanctification, there's Christian birth and there's Christian growth. And it is possible for a person to be a born again Christian. But still some of the things, and we men especially, we're self reliant and whatever our strength is or what we think our strength is, might be the thing that we try to use to make it through life. Maybe you're an astute business person and God's gifted you that way and so you lean more on your own intelligence and aptitudes than trusting God.

>> Bert Harper: We return to the familiar, no matter what that familiar may be, our default position. You bet. You bet. I've seen it a hundred times in negative ways where a Christian was under pressure in place of turning to God, turn back to whatever it was that they found comfort in, whatever they found self reliance in, as you said, their default position because they were so familiar with it and they knew what to do. That's the reason it's good to start out early in your Christian walk on your dependence upon the Word of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: and your dependence upon the Spirit of God. And if that can, if the Spirit can become your default Position, you have come a long way. It's still a battle. Don't you get me wrong. But we are prone to return to the familiar. And, the sword of the Lord, the sword of the spirit, rather than the sword of Peter, is one that we should use, not what the familiar is, as Peter did.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, and let me say this. We've got a few points we want to bring out, but, psychologists talk about neural pathways when we establish habits. I know you've probably heard it takes 21 days to really establish a habit or to break a habit or to replace some bad behavior. If you're trying to stop smoking and replace that with something healthy, it takes about three weeks to really begin to make a new pattern. And unless you feed the good thing, there's a tendency to revert back to the bad thing. And so first, Peter 3:15 is a verse that we use a lot, but it says, set apart Christ as Lord in your heart and be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that you have. Do this with gentleness and respect. Okay? Set apart Christ as Lord in your heart. Do you remember? It's almost like Daniel. It said, daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. All right. Part of this thing about living life from God's perspective, letting the scripture be your authority, letting the Holy Spirit drive you. There has to be a time that you make a decision. And maybe for you, my dear friend, it's today, right now, listening to this show resolve in your heart and pray to God and say, lord, from this day forward, I'm tired of sort of a. I dabble in church. But Monday through Saturday, I call the shots. No, Make a decision right now that with God's help and for God's glory, the tools in your toolkit are going to be the fruits of the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ, the authority of his word, and the sword you carry, the tool. The weapons that you go through the battle of life with are going to be the things that are of God and pleasing to God.

>> Bert Harper: I want to give you an Old Testament example of that, and that is, Moses M. what was his chief occupation? Shepherd.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: What does every shepherd have? A rod. They got a staff or a rod. And, God brought him to the place where he said, throw that down. Now, there was a little bit of argument, if you read the whole story and, why that was his livelihood. Honestly, that was the only thing he owned. Everything else was his father in law's you know, the clothes.

>> Alex McFarland: That's true.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah. Only thing he owned, he said, that's my livelihood. That's my identity. That is my possession. And God says, throw it down. And when he threw it down, it became a snake. And then God said, pick it back up by the tail. You don't pick a snake that way. That leaves its head.

>> Alex McFarland: Let me tell you. I don't pick up a snake, period.

>> Bert Harper: Well, you don't leave that head exposed. But he picked it up and it became a rod. It was no longer the rod of Moses. It was the rod of God. And so God can even take that which we have had as familiar and get the devil out of it. You know, the serpent left. And God can use that. That's amazing, Alex. God can choose to use whom, and what he chooses. But it's got to be his way, and it's got to be spirit led.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, we all have, what we think are our strong suit. Every good pitcher has a fastball in him, you know, and when the chips are down and you got to do it, a pitcher uses his fastball.

>> Bert Harper: He's got some pitch that he relies upon. Yes, the knuckleball. Pitchers don't have fastballs. Okay, but they've got the fluttering, you know, that knuckleball, which there's very few of them around, but they have their go to pitch.

>> Alex McFarland: They do. And, you know, many housewives, if companies come in, you cook that dish, that is always a winner. And maybe in life, because, look, we all get stressed. Maybe you, in the right situation, you can give somebody, a verbal dressing down and you kind of take this posture. I know in business and in church life, sometimes on the finance committee, if you get a, person in there who's a businessman, they're not going to want to spend money. Because you've got to trust God. Now, here's the point. Fact number one, and this is where let's kind of make it personal. The sword you choose will be the sword you use. Now, think about it, folks. What is that thing that, from a human perspective, you know, it's your strong suit. You're pretty good at it, but it's causing you to trust yourself rather than God.

Part of the joy of the Christian life is trusting the Savior

Peter. All right, there's soldiers, and soldiers are, a force to be reckoned with. Peter's got a sword. John 18:10. The first part of that verse says, simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it. If you're trusting your sword, then at the right situation, you're going to draw it, because that's what your default position is. Part of the joy of the Christian life, as hard as it might be, part of the joy is learning to.

>> Bert Harper: Trust God, learning to lean on him. speaking of Simon Peter, not only a sword, but he is a fisherman. And he and those three other. At least three others were fishermen, probably possibly more. But Jesus sent them out into the sea to go the other side when the storm came up. Now, they knew how to handle storms. They knew how to handle storms. That's just the way it is. You've got to know how to do that if you're going to be a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Because the storms would swoop down and come down and. And many times they were difficult. Well, Jesus sent them into a storm they could not handle. They did not know what to do. And Jesus. They go down there and wake Jesus up and say, do you not care that we perish? Now, Jesus was sleeping. He was fine. But the whole idea was Jesus was getting Simon Peter and the other fishermen said, you can't depend totally on. On your human abilities. Some things are only through God's power.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And so that sword that you choose is the sword that you use. God is going to do his part to help you understand. You better choose the correct sword, the correct tool.

>> Alex McFarland: Do you know, I've got a friend that has a jewelry store, and they have been in business 100 years plus. And, you know, I've been trying to share the gospel with this family. And they said, you know, we survived the Great Depression. We survived the recession of the 70s. A lot of other businesses went out of business. Our family business has been here more than a century, and that's great. in any discipline, there is the failure that nobody wants to experience. No doubt at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee are the bones of fishermen that have drowned over the centuries. And, you know, when Peter walked on the water and the storm frightened him and he began to sink, or when they were out there in that storm, they couldn't handle, it would have been a disgrace to drown in the Sea of Galilee. For a fisherman to not make it back to the shore. That would have been an embarrassment. That would have been a disgrace. Let me say, when we are fearful, we tend to go to the tools of the flesh rather than the trust of the spirit. And let me say this, friend, saving face and looking good can become an idol. And part of the Christian life is trusting the Savior. And Bert, I want to say this, and I Want your response? Here's how we can trust God with our children. We can trust God with our business. We can. We can trust God with our pocketbook. We can trust God with our reputation. Look, you can trust God and I'm going to prove it. I believe M. If Jesus would move heaven and earth to look after your eternity, don't you think that he cares enough and is able to look after your 3 score and 10, your brief life down here? If God would do everything he could to save your soul and give you heaven. And don't you think you can trust him with your day to day life here in this finite world?

>> Bert Harper: You know, by him he holds all things together. That includes your life. And you know that passage in Job he gives and he takes away. You can trust him to do that, Alex. you can trust him not only to give you what you need, but the more difficult it is to take away that you're dependent on in place of Him. Now, that's scary and that is painful. And that's not as glorious as hearing God gives you what you need. Amen. I live that way. But I found out over these years he also takes away that which we are dependent on to show Himself strong to us. Not what we're our dependents, but Him. And sometimes that is money, and sometimes that is your job, sometimes. And even your health, Your health. Those things can be taken away. The Lord giveth, The Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. M. Now people are saying, oh, no. Everything God does is for your good and your glory. For his glory. Excuse me, it's for our good and his glory. Everything. And, Alex, sometimes we lose sight of that. It says concerning the fellowship of his suffering and the power of his resurrection. We want the power of the resurrection. Lord, deliver us from the fellowship of your suffering. No, we enter into that as well.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, there's an old saying. It said that we cherish every blood of every martyr, but, we cherish every drop of blood of all the martyrs. But we guard every drop of our own.

Point number one: The sword you choose will yield specific results

And I want to talk about the second point. The sword you hold will yield specific results. The sword you choose is going to be the sword you use. Point number two. The sword you hold will yield specific results. Peter had in his hand a sword. A sword is a weapon of warfare. Representative, really of human power. And maybe you've seen in life what you can do. And, you know, we men, we have a tendency to, you know, think about our own accomplishments. And God is good to let us do some Things. But listen, we need to celebrate the results that God has given. And you know, I will tell you, in doing all these Truth for NewSong Generation conferences around the country, you know, 20 years ago, I was working 80 hour weeks and more. You know the old joke, you know, if you don't come in to the office on Saturday, bother coming in on Sunday. I mean, we almost, we even in ministry can tend toward workaholism. And I remember a couple years ago, we were getting some invitations to work on some more conferences and do citywide crusades. And I prayed and I said, lord, I've seen what Alex can do. I want to see what God can do. And do you know what? Honestly, in giving it more to Jesus, not that we haven't, we've tried to.

>> Bert Harper: We cooperate with him, but some of that cooperation is coming apart with him. Jesus would leave the crowd to be by himself and be with those. That was refreshing to him. Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, I know, and I want to tell you, I have seen more happen by talking to God in prayer than me spending 40 hours a week talking to people on the phone. And so here's the thing. I've had to learn to carry more of the sword, shall we say, of trusting God, than the sword of my ability to work 80 hours.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, you're an itinerant evangelist.

>> Alex McFarland: Yes.

>> Bert Harper: I mean, it's not like, okay, you're at the church and you get that weekly salary, I'm going to this church. And, yes, I want my, you know, these expenses to be cared for, hopefully, but a lot. But you need also others to make the house payment to put food on the table. And so an itinerant evangelist like you, Alex, it is walking with it, you guys, you do live by faith, brother.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, and friend, we're challenging you to carry the sword of trust, of God, of obedience. and yes, the sword of holiness. And I'm not talking about being, you know, some super sanctimonious. But look, and this is between you and the Holy Spirit, my dear friend. Embrace the call of holiness. I'm talking as a born again Christian. And make the swords that you carry, Prayer, God's word, obedience, trust, love to your family, husbands, lay down your life for your bride. by the way, I honestly think the favor of God, is directly correlated to the way we treat our wives.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Holiness is not just what you don't do, it's what you do.

>> Alex McFarland: Right on.

>> Bert Harper: It's both. And. And we're letting God have his way in Our lives. We'll be back with more right after the break.

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>> Jeff Chamblee: Exploring the Word on American Family Radio, Connect with Alex and Burt on the Exploring the Word Facebook page. Facebook.com exploring the word or email wordfr.net.

>> Bert Harper: Love and. This is a pre record of exploring the Word. Alex and I are unable to do it live. We're either preaching or with family traveling. But we're glad you're listening.

Alex says God left us here to sanctify and influence others

In this last, segment, we won't receive phone calls, but we're going to continue studying about the sword you're using. And, the idea was Peter, when Jesus was being arrested, had his sword by his side. I think every good fisherman would always have a sword their way. And he pulled it out and cut off a servant's ear. And Jesus healed it, as Alex said, the last miracle that he did before he went to the cross. And so we find out that we're asking, what sword are you using? What are the tools in your, chest of tools you're using? Is it flesh or is it spirit? Paul talked about it. He said there's a war going on within him. And even the apostle Paul talked about the fight that goes on in working in the flesh, the old man, as he would call it, or the spirit, the new man. And so we're trying to encourage you to depend upon the spirit more than you depend upon your flesh. Now, Alex, it's a cooperation. We have to surrender certain things and God says do certain things, but it is a walk of faith day by day. Just because you made this decision 10 years ago doesn't mean that you don't refresh that decision. His mercies are new in every morning.

>> Alex McFarland: Praise God.

>> Bert Harper: And praise God for that. So he sanctifies us, sets us apart, to do the work that God wants us to do. If all he was interested in was us being saved, he would have taken us to glory right after we said, yes, Jesus, I want you as my Savior. Come into my life. Bam. We're in heaven. But he's left us here to sanctify and influence others. And I'm going to use a cliche to know him better and to make him known to others.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, it's a beautiful thing, the Christian life, because you're right. we don't get raptured to heaven one minute after salvation. And so why does God leave us here? Well, because, we play a role in the Great Commission. We play a role in a specific church. We play a role in our family. And then there's this thing of our own personal walk with the Lord. And isn't it a beautiful thing. Oh, my goodness. That through all the journeys of life with its ups and downs, and as a Christian, we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, we grow in our trust, and we learn new things about his faithfulness. Our walk and our witness is contributing to the work of the Great Commission. In a larger sense, we get rewarded in heaven for our faithful, journey, with Christ. he is pleased, he's honored, he's worshiped. We experience him. We know him. I mean, we talk about the glories of salvation. And that's true. How Christ came, died on the cross, rose from the dead. the story of the gospel is endlessly beautiful and wonderful. But the Christian walk that we grow, we know him, he uses us. We're rewarded in heaven. That is just an amazing story in itself, isn't it? The Christian experience.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. If I had have been, if I'd have died right after I got saved, I would have enjoyed heaven. But after following Christ 54 years since knowing him, I cannot imagine the glory that's going to happen. What I've seen him take me through in my life, what I've observed him doing in other people's lives, it makes heaven and in his presence more glorious than you could ever believe. So when you say, oh, God, do like Job. Why didn't you kill me when that happened? You know? No, he's leaving you here not only for his advantages. Paul says when he was ready to die, he said, it's more to your advantage that I stay. now he said, I'm ready to go and it would be good for me to go. But I am convinced it's good for us to stay, Alex. I think it's going to make heaven even more glorious than we could ever have dreamed had we not gone through the struggles that we go through here upon earth. So which sword are you using? Are you using your flesh, your own abilities to preach the word, to teach? Or are you cooperating with the Holy Spirit for him to energize you and to make you what you ought to be? I use this example all the time, Alex. I love tea. Just plain black tea. I'm not one of those that likes to doctor it up. I just like black tea. Hot tea? No, just iced tea. I'm an iced tea guy. I'm a Southern sweet tea guy. But I've learned to have it half and half. Not all sweet, not all unsweet, but. But when you start making it yourself, you have water. Now what do you do with water? You either let it steep or, put it in the sun. But then you put the tea bags in. when you start it, it's water. After the tea bags go in and you take the teabags out, that's no longer water, it's tea.

>> Bert Harper: Jesus. I mean, Paul said it's no longer me, but it's Christ in me now. That's the Holy Spirit coming into our lives. And Paul could say, it's no longer me, but it's Christ in me. We need to have the desire with this message that you've got about which sword you're going to use. No longer me, but it's Christ in me.

>> Alex McFarland: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: And Alex, it's not just the thought, it is a possibility. And our desire is to become a reality.

How you use your sword has definite repercussions, says Alex Pharise

>> Alex McFarland: Point number three is how you use your sword has definite repercussions. The sword you carry is going to yield specific results. How you use your sword has repercussions. And friend, look, this is all of us. We are prone to, We want enough of Jesus in our life so that we don't go to hell, but not so much that it messes up our own agenda. And even as a Christian, I'm going to just say this. Some of the places that God wants to take you might at the moment seem a little bit scary because we have to really trust him. And heaven forbid one day that you're leaving this world and yes, you're saved, you're on your way to heaven. But there were parts of the journey, some thrilling chapters of your story. God wanted to Write. But you just couldn't quite trust him enough to let him.

>> Bert Harper: Alex, you. And I'm quoting back what I've heard from you. We've done this program for so many years. We know one another. Well. Your desire early on was to be a writer, an author, but the issue of radio came up later.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh, I know.

>> Bert Harper: I mean, and for me, I pastored for. I mean, pastored for 38 years, preaching in front of congregations. And I come here to afa, afr, and they offer me the opportunity to be here on the radio that I never dreamed. Not having the voice for it, not having all that. But God is able to use the gifts that he's given you, cooperating with the Holy Spirit, and even go into areas that you said make you uncomfortable, make you feel like, what can I offer? But God in you can do amazing things. He can do that for those people that's driving down the road right now. Maybe a truck driver, maybe someone that's a housewife at home, maybe someone at their desk. It's amazing what God can do in and through you.

>> Alex McFarland: well, exactly. And friend, I guess our plea is, not only our sermon to ourselves, but our plea to everyone listening is to let God really write your story. You can trust God. We've talked about this in the show Leonardo da Vinci, who was a, scientist, mathematician, philosopher, writer, sculptor, inventor, artist. On his deathbed, he repented to God and he said, oh, God, forgive me. I did not give you my best work. Now, well, heaven help the rest of us. but listen to this. You can trust God, and we would appeal to you to pick up the sword of God's word and Jesus himself. Because the tools in your toolkit, will yield repercussions. they will yield definite results. And then finally, let me say this, and then I want to share a little poem here. The sword reflects much about the one who carries it. is your sword pride? Is it exaggeration or, let's just be honest, lies? are you all about promoting yourself or looking out for number one? I'm talking even as a Christian.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, it's easy to do. I mean, I enjoy being liked, Okay? I like for folks to like Bird Harbor. And that's an issue with me. Okay? Do I stand people pleaser? Yeah, people pleaser. Do I stand where God wants me to do when it's not going to be popular with the congregation, with those that I'm doing? Or am I going to stand with God? And, Satan knows he's an observer. He is not in control. But he is an observer of your weaknesses. And he's going to make sure that those weaknesses have an opportunity to. To exert themselves. And you and I return to using that which is of our own nature, our own abilities, rather than trusting God to use His Spirit in us that might use those abilities or not. He may do something completely different than going and borrowing the money from completely going and doing something different. God's amazing, and he's going to put us in those positions so that it reflects on what we're doing, Alex. And it should bring him glory.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, Paul talked about his own past. My goodness. Paul was a pillar of the community, a Pharisee, in the religious community. He was an upstanding Pharisee in the larger community. He was a person of influence and affluence. Had a great religious, educational, pedigree. Paul said all of those things that I defined myself by, I counted as dung and refuse. why would I redefine my complete identity that I may know Christ and him? So it's all about our identity in Jesus. The tools of the spirit, not the tools of the flesh, not the ways of the world. But, Elizabeth Elliot. I know you probably remember her.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: I heard this 30 years ago on her radio show. And, nobody knows who wrote this poem, as far as we can tell. But this is all about really trusting God, even in the scary areas of new levels of obedience. And I'm sure you've heard this, but somebody wrote this. When God wants to drill a man and thrill a man and skill a man. When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part. When he yearns with all his heart to create so great and bold a man that. That all the world shall be amazed. Watch his methods, watch his ways. How God ruthlessly perfects those he royally elects. How he hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him into trial shapes of clay which only God understands. While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands. How he bends but never breaks when his good he undertakes, how he uses whom he chooses and which every purpose fuses him by every act induces him to try his splendor out. God knows what he's about. In other words, trust God. Psalm 34 says God sends his angels to encamp around those who fear him. Psalm 91:11 says that God will give his angels charge over you. Listen. God's presence, God's indwelling spirit, God's unfailing word.

Alex: Stay on that journey because Canaan land is just in sight

God's indescribable love. God's powerful angels. If you feel like you're being drilled and skilled and hammered on, trust God, don't revert to the default positions of your own cleverness or your own agenda. when the Israelites were out there on the way to the promised land, they said, you know, we wish we had stayed back in Egypt. In fact, let's go back to Egypt. We were slaves, but at least we had some onions and garlic. I know. Let me tell you. Hey, I want to tell you something. If you think you want to go back to eating garlic, you're in a bad place. But listen to this. stay on that journey because Canaan land is just in sight, friend. And let the tools of, Jesus himself and his word be what you carry. Jesus calls us to the armaments of heaven, doesn't he?

>> Bert Harper: He does. Now, we're talking about the man Peter, drawing his sword at the time of Jesus arrest. And he would depend upon his own abilities. And Jesus corrected him, and he healed the man. That would be a lifelong struggle for Peter throughout the book of Acts that we see. And in the two letters that he wrote, there was that tendency to go back to Judaism, you know, legality. And Peter, Paul, said he withstood Peter to the face concerning that issue.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: And so when you have a failure in your life of going back to the flesh, repent, turn, turn to Christ, pick up and go again. Don't stop. Alex Some people say, oh, I've tried and I've tried. No, it is a struggle. Chuck Swindoll wrote the book, three steps forward, two steps backward. M. And that is a journey. But you're still going in the right direction. And it happens that way. Have you noticed the churches that grow exponentially so fast? They can come down that fast. But those that have a growth and they grow, and then they, they catch up with themselves, with their dynamic and with their teaching, discipleship. They grow again. How strong they stay and how strong sustainable they sustain. So it's not how high you go to beginning, it's how long you burn with God. So you stay with God all the way. And every once in a while, you're going to be there. God's going to let you see, am I dependent upon me, or am I dependent upon God? According to what we see here, it's far better to depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll bring us through, won't he?

>> Alex McFarland: He will. And to define ourselves, our very identity, by what God says is true and right and important. Jesus is calling us to himself and to his Word. And that should be the tool that we carry.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah. The sword of the spirit. It's the word of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And, it will do you well. Put on the whole armor of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And walk forward. There was no defense going backward.

>> Alex McFarland: very, very good point. We thank you for listening.

>> Bert Harper: Exploring the Word.

>> Alex McFarland: We always love to hear from you. You can email us wordfr.net Bert we hope people tell others about exploring the Word. But more than that, what do we.

>> Bert Harper: Hope tell everyone about the Lord Jesus Christ?

>> Alex McFarland: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast do not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

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