American Family Radio thanks sponsor, preborn. com for supporting pro life efforts

>> Bert Harper: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, preborn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection and the majority of the time she'll choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound250 and and say the key word baby or visit preborn.com the Bible.

>> Jeff Chamblee: 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.

Bert Harper: Belief has a lot to do with behavior M

Welcome to Exploring the Word.

>> Bert Harper: One of the things that I have learned over years of preaching the word, pastoring, working with people, belief has something to do with behavior M and behavior has a lot to do with belief because we love to justify ourselves and we can twist a few things in order to make us feel better about ourselves. Now, this is Bert Harper along with Jim Stanley. And we're in a recording studio doing this. we're still somewhere out and about, which is not unusual for Bert or Alex or Jim, either one. And we stay on the road quite a bit. And so we do this. So we'll not be taking calls at the end of the program as we usually do. But Jim, we were talking about what to do and you came up with something that when you said it, I said, man, wished I had done that earlier. And then I thought, I wished I would have thought of that.

>> Jim Stanley: Well, it's one of the things that, and in some of the ministries that we partner with, the first thing we do is see what they believe. You know, what do they teach, what is, what are their teachings going to be based on? And we want to make sure it's all founded in scripture, that it's all biblical. And so I was thinking, you know, we need to make sure that folks know what we believe and what we stand for. And I say that because it's one of the things that oftentimes goes without notice. [email protected], fr.net, there are links that say who we are. And in there is a statement of faith. And I think that is very critical to who we are as a ministry to let folks know that we stand unequivocally on the word of God. And I like the fact that our first statement of belief says we believe the Bible now we could just stop and put a period right there. And I thought for exploring the word, what a good one to start with it is. We believe the Bible. Again, if we had just put a period we would have been fine. But it goes on to make sure folks know why we believe the Bible. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative word of God. And 2 Timothy 3, 15, 17 says, and now from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Jesus Christ. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof and for training. And Bert, one of the things there, when Paul was writing to Timothy, isn't it interesting that the only sacred writings they had were the Old Testament?

>> Bert Harper: That's right. At that time that was it.

>> Jim Stanley: And what did Paul say that the Old Testament did? Well he said it's able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. They didn't have the Roman road to salvation if you will. They didn't know all the scriptures about Christ. They didn't have Matthew, Mark, Luke and Jon. And pardon me, they did, they didn't have those various things. What they had was the Old Testament basically. And so you know, this day and age folks say the Old Testament doesn't matter. Well it must because it mattered to point people to Christ. Now a few moments ago you made the statement and it made me think of an inscription in my Thompson chain reference Bible that is. Oh my goodness, that thing, it gets older every year.

>> Bert Harper: It's worn, right?

>> Jim Stanley: That's right, it's battle worn. so inside of there a former general with the Salvation army wrote this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. When you said what you did, it made me think about that. when General Gowans wrote that in there I thought that's pretty simple but it's also pretty deep.

>> Bert Harper: It is. And the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. And it is the only thing that separates soul and spirit. you know, we know we're a trinity, body, soul and spirit. We know that now what happens? Our spirit is dead until Christ comes in, but he makes it alive. And the word of God is able to do that. And so the word of God is people who are lost and they have their soul. Yeah, well I'm alright. But that spirit that, that needs to be brought alive is brought about through the separation is the word of God pinpoints that. And these holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

>> Bert Harper: I don't understand it completely. I believe it and I know it. And I know the word of God is true. But it's amazing how it was God breathed and yet man's personality is seen through it.

We believe the Bible to be the only infallible, authoritative word of God

Oh yeah, I love it with the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Jon, they talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news, but each one of them comes. Luke was a physician. And if you noticed in Luke how many details he gives about physical descriptions, Matthew was a tax collector dealing with money. Notice how quickly and how much he deals with the numbers.

>> Jim Stanley: Right.

>> Bert Harper: Mark was probably dictated and influenced at least by Peter. And Peter was known as a guy. Well quick, let's get it done. The word that is used more than any other word in the book of his Gospel, Mark's gospel is immediately right. And then you turn to Jon, that's known, the apostle of love, of love and light. And those are scriptures. And I just, you see, you know, God breathed it. But at the same time it's a dynamic thing how God would use man to not only to write it, but let me give you one more thing to collect it.

>> Jim Stanley: Right.

>> Bert Harper: We get this all the time. How do we know we've got all the books we need? How come every book in there? Are you sure we need this book in there? If you believe God gave the word to the men, you believe God oversaw the collection in the 29 books we have in the NewSong Testament?

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely.

>> Bert Harper: Because Jesus had already said the Old Testament is right.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: So, so you can depend on the word of God.

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely. And you know, when you think about some of the letters that Paul wrote and you think of Philemon or Philemon or however you want to pronounce it on any given day, that's simply a one chapter book. But when you look at it, man, it's got some really good stuff in it. So we believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative word of God. You know, I have more trouble with authoritative than anything else. Well, I have trouble that could be a personality.

>> Bert Harper: Well, I was thinking, I think it may be both ways with me describe it, but it is, you know, there it is. I'm having to authoritative.

>> Jim Stanley: It's contagious.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, it is. But we know that in other words, you better obey it.

>> Jim Stanley: Right.

>> Bert Harper: I don't mean that God's he's not an angry God, except it says it's a dangerous thing to fall in the hands of an angry God.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And I'm not saying God can't get angry, he has his wrath. But Jesus Christ's blood that cleanses us from all sin. We're able to approach God on his authority, not ours. And the Word of God has that authority.

>> Jim Stanley: Sure does. Well, the second one says we believe that there is one God eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That should be pretty self explanatory. But Bert, and we have listeners from both camps and we love the folks, don't misunderstand us. And sometimes the semantics of the Trinity are Unitarian. Those tend to build up walls. But that's not the intent, is it?

>> Bert Harper: It is not the scripture that I use and understand. I don't understand it. And the person who would tell you they can explain it to you, so, so you can understand it, you better watch out. The Bible teaches it. Just because the Bible teaches it and that I don't understand it, which one rules? Not my understanding, but the teaching of the Scriptures. And in Luke 3. 22, when Jesus was being baptized bodily, guess what happens? The Holy Spirit descends and the Father speaks from heaven. That's three in one. And it's not three gods, because according to the Scriptures, the God, our God, he is one. And Jesus said it, I and my Father are one. And so yes, we believe in the Trinity even though we cannot completely comprehend it nor explain it.

>> Jim Stanley: Well, you know, if I have the chance to say anything about Jon 1, I'm going to say it.

>> Bert Harper: I know it. Amen. I saved that for you.

>> Jim Stanley: Did you? I appreciate it.

Jesus is the Word and the Light, according to Genesis 1:1

and of course, you know, because we've talked about it before, that it establishes Genesis again. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life. And the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not or has not overcome it.

>> Bert Harper: Hallelujah.

>> Jim Stanley: You know, in another version it says does not comprehend it. Isn't that interesting that we know that Jesus is the Word and as you said, Jesus is the light. And so when you see that and you go back to Genesis and you look at Genesis 1:1 and so forth, then you see again just what you're saying. You had God who created you, had the Spirit that moved across the face of the waters, and you had the Word or the Son who was there with him, right?

>> Bert Harper: there.

>> Jim Stanley: And then who was God talking to when he said, let us make man in his own image?

>> Bert Harper: That is plural. Let me see. That is plural, if I remember my English correctly, anyway.

>> Jim Stanley: But that is where we are there. And I think it is important that folks understand that. Now here is the one that the other seven will hinge on. And these are all pretty much built one upon one precept. Ah, upon precept, if you will. But this one right here, if you were going to have a quote unquote money doctrine, something you could put your money on, something you could guarantee, something that plumbs straight, if you will. If you're a carpenter and you remember using the plumb lines before, where there were lasers and everything. All right, this is something that's straight. This is something that's true. And it says, we believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles and vicarious and atoning death through his shed blood, in his bodily resurrection, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in his personal return in power and glory. Now, Bert, we could do a whole show on just that. But when you look at something that is foundational for what we as Christ followers are supposed to believe, what we as ministries, you know, we talk about the unity of the believer, there are a lot of things, and you and I talk about it all the time, there are a lot of things that are worth standing on and are worth breaking fellowship over. And there are a lot of things that aren't. This is one that absolutely establishes what our fellowships to be, doesn't it?

>> Bert Harper: It is the fundamentals. You cannot deny them. When you think about those areas that you cannot deny, it's a mountain to die on. It's that that you stand for. Note it's Jesus.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord of the glory of God the Father. Why? Because of this statement that you just read. He is the virgin born Son of God. Now for Muslims, they cannot comprehend that, you know, my son works with quite a few. And they'll get to that. And they just. That is something that is difficult for them. They believe it and state it, but it's still hard to believe that, you know, God would become man. That, you know, that just doesn't register with them. But he is, he is the God man. And I can't explain that the way I can't explain the trinity. He's not 50% and 50. He's 100 and 100.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Now, I know that sound. It can't be that way humanly. That's what it is, right? And he's more than divine. He is deity.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Divine means you might have a spark, but no, he is deity in the flesh.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

American Family Association is raising funds to save 200 babies through preborn network

Well, folks, we're talking about the spirit statement of faith of the American Family association as Exploring the Word continues here on American Family Radio.

>> Bert Harper: Meet Kelsey. When she found out she was pregnant,

>> Bert Harper: she wasn't sure where to turn. After meeting with the counselors at preborn network Clinic who loved and supported her, and after hearing the baby's heartbeat on a free ultrasound, she chose life.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: When a mother looks at her child through a sonogram, it does something to you. You know, I ended up deciding to Keith, my son, who is now five years old today. He's amazing. He brings absolute joy to my heart. I could not imagine life without him. Not only did they help me save his life, they saved my life.

>> Bert Harper: By introducing a woman to her baby on ultrasound. A baby's chances at life doubles if you have the means. Would you consider a leadership gift to save babies in a big way? Your tax deductible donation of $5,000 will sponsor PreBorn's entire network for 24 hours, helping to rescue 200 babies. To donate, dial 250 and say the keyword baby. That's £250, baby. Or, donate [email protected]. that's preborn.com bertharper.

After making purifications for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand

>> Jeff Chamblee: This is exploring the word on American family Radio.

>> Jim Stanley: He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty.

>> Bert Harper: Hallelujah.

>> Jim Stanley: That's Hebrews 1:3.

>> Bert Harper: I thought I recognized that, brother.

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely. And that is one of the tenets of our third doctrine. That's at our statement of faith there, if you will, @AFA.net under what we believe.

>> Bert Harper: Sat down at the right hand of the father on high, having completed, done, done what he had asked on the cross. He said, it is finished.

>> Jim Stanley: Right?

>> Bert Harper: And then when he got up there, God said, sit down, son. Good job.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen. Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

Jim Stanley: We stand on the word of God. And today we're going through what we believe

>> Jim Stanley: And so, folks, this is exploring the word. I'm Jim Stanley along with brother Bert Hart. And today we're going through what we believe, and we're, expounding on that just a little. Some of you may know that brother Bert was chairman of the board for us. And he was also a longtime board member before he became chairman. And so, we're grateful for the service that he's done. And so he is incredibly familiar with this statement of faith. And we just felt like that we could share that today because it's not something we've really done before.

>> Bert Harper: We have not. And we want people to know we stand on the word of God. And also we look at what it says, but also look what it doesn't say. We talk mostly about Jesus.

>> Bert Harper: And the Bible. M. And what the Bible teaches, like marriage and life. We'll get to that. But you know, there's some that are so restrictive that it would, you know, cut out. I would say, like certain denominations because they'd say, oh, we can't go with that. The mode of baptism, that's not in here. So it's not just what's in here, it's also what is not in here that we don't make a point of fellowship within, support. Now if you're in a local body, you know, if you're at a local church, there are some things that you more narrow down to because, you know, you just got to get along with one another. But in ministry you don't have to have that.

>> Jim Stanley: You're familiar with the Babylon Bee?

>> Bert Harper: Yes.

>> Jim Stanley: Which is a satirical news site.

>> Bert Harper: First time I ever read it, I thought, man, what is this? And finally I figured out satire.

>> Jim Stanley: and so the other day they had a. And I get it in the email, you know, so I enjoy it. I thoroughly do.

>> Bert Harper: Hey, both of us love to laugh.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Absolutely.

>> Jim Stanley: And they're not afraid to poke fun at anything. But they had one the other day that talked about baptism and said that the baptistry referee threw a flag on the play because on, on, on instant review, if you will, a finger didn't make it under the water. And so it was set aside and, and he has to serve like a year in children's church and then will be eligible for re baptism. And I'm thinking he didn't commit the penalty. Whoever was plunging him under should have gotten the flag.

>> Bert Harper: You take them under. You take them under.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: I had a friend that was, he was another denomination and he joined our church and he had not experienced, immersion believer's baptism. And so he said, are you going to hold me under a little extra longer? And I said yes, until you say tithe.

>> Jim Stanley: Oh my goodness.

>> Bert Harper: That is just a story. We don't want any Emails on that.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right. So what you saw was, as he was saying, that was blue.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Blue.

AFA believes that for salvation, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is essential

>> Jim Stanley: Anyway, let's get back to the serious at hand. And, again, folks, you can follow along with [email protected] and it's who we are, and it's our statement of faith. It's pretty easy to find. It has a plethora of scriptures to go along with it. And so we just finished number three. Well, we did as much on number three as we were going to.

>> Bert Harper: Like you said, we could have spent several programs on that one still just on that one. And honestly, we have in previous places.

>> Jim Stanley: Well, and through the different books of the Bible that you've, covered, all of that's been in there. And so this one says. And again, this is another one. You know, that is a bedrock principle. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. Now, I want to be real clear. We're not talking about different giftings. We're talking about, just like Jesus said, you must be born again, we're talking about God breathing the breath of His Holy Spirit into your life. When you've confessed Christ as savior, almost like you think about the original birth, how did the doctor know that you were alive? How did the parents know that the baby was alive? Well, it's because that baby started sucking in air and squalling because they had just got popped on the bottom. That's right. So the same thing is true here, that where God breathed life into Adam, Christ, by the Spirit, breathes new life into us. And that's the regenerative process we're talking about, isn't it, Bert?

>> Bert Harper: It is Titus 3:5. Not by works of righteousness. How do you like that? Not by works of righteousness, which we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. And through the washing of regeneration. And listen to this. And the renewing of the Holy Spirit, it is regeneration. It is through the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says, I gotta go away. Because when I go away, I'm gonna send the comforter, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete to you. And guess what he says? And you're gonna do greater works. And I hear people say all the time, man, I wish I could have walked with Jesus. I do, too. I understand that. But guess who has the greater advantage? Those apostles who were walking beside Jesus are those of us who are disciples of Christ. Today, with the Holy Spirit in us.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Who has the advantage?

>> Jim Stanley: Amen. and I agree with that wholeheartedly because when you think about it, we are to walk with Christ. We are to take up our cross daily and walk with Christ. And we do that because of the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

Jim Stanley: We do it each morning in the power of the Holy Spirit

>> Jim Stanley: We look on and the next one says, and again, this will be some that get some comments. That's okay. You can send those to wordfr.net and by the way, if you have some questions about these, we'll be happy to take those [email protected] but this is one that sometimes upsets folks and it says, we believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. Now, Bert, that shouldn't be any great revelation to anybody because just like we talked about regeneration in the previous statement, and as you talked about the comforter coming to help us, I think of 1 Corinthians 10:13, I think it says, it talks about sin and that there's a way that God won't put on us more than we're able to escape or to bear. And so if we're able to bear that temptation, it's not through our strength, it's through the power of the Holy Spirit. First Jon tells us, of course, my little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not. But if any man sins, we have an advocate, through Jesus Christ, the righteous. So when we think about those things, we see the Spirit in our life. That's what equips us to take and take up the cross daily and put. What kind of armor are we supposed to put on?

>> Bert Harper: Armor of God, man. The whole armor of God.

>> Jim Stanley: And how do we do that?

>> Bert Harper: We do it each morning in the power of the Holy Spirit.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And that's the only way. I've asked, someone asked me, said, what do you do? Prepare for the day before you leave your house? I put on the armor of God. I do it. I can't say do it absolutely every day, but I try to do it. I think about the helmet of salvation. I think about the breastplate of righteousness. And as I stand before the mirror, I'm shaving, brushing my teeth, doing all that. in my mind, I'm putting on the armor of God.

>> Jim Stanley: That's good.

>> Bert Harper: And it really does help as you go out, because the fiery darts of the evil one is going to be throwing their darts at us. They're going to try to come in and do damage to you. And it's in the power of the Holy Spirit. let me give you this, It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. And Christ in us means that he's inside in the person of the Holy Spirit. I know you drink coffee. I'm a tea guy. Matter of fact, I have it before me. The only warm drink, hot drink I drink is hot chocolate. The rest of them are always cold. But, you know, I can make tea and I use tea bags. But guess what I do? I put water on, turn the stove on. It heats it up, and it's water. Then I go in and I turn it off. The water's heated. I take three tea bags, I'm telling everybody my formula, and I put those three teabags in. And in a matter of about five minutes. That's no longer water. It's tea, right?

>> Bert Harper: It is tea.

>> Bert Harper: That's what you call it.

>> Jim Stanley: Go ahead.

>> Bert Harper: And so the Holy Spirit, you remember, it's Christ in me, the hope of glory, and it's no longer me, but it's Christ in me.

>> Jim Stanley: M. Amen.

>> Bert Harper: It's through the power of the Holy Spirit. You better look at that and understand what we've just read. The ministry of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, he's the only one that can make us what we should be, here upon earth in our own strength. We are weak and hopeless.

>> Jim Stanley: And here's the thing. And, I like the analogy that you used of the tea. Because here's the deal there. The water didn't change. The water is still just water. It was the tea that infused itself into the water.

>> Bert Harper: And that's what he does.

>> Jim Stanley: And that's exactly what he does. And not only that, you no longer taste the water, although the water is still there. You now taste the tea. And when people look at us, that's what they should see. They should not. Unfortunately, too many times they see Jim Stanley. What they should see is the Spirit living in me. Jon 14, 15:26, says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper to be with you forever. Emphasis mine. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Let's repeat that part. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Much like the tea bags are placed into the water to infuse and transform the water into something else, so too did Christ by His death. And allowing us to be washed clean from the, sins of our lives. Because Remember Jon said, behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the singular sin of the world. He didn't say, and that's it. He was taking away the sin nature. And so by the blood of Christ, then Jesus is able to say, I got something for you.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. M here.

Jim: We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost

>> Jim Stanley: Meet the helper, meet your comforter, meet your friend, meet your powerhouse. And think of all the different ministries that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives each and every day.

>> Bert Harper: Jim, preach it, brother. and this is important. This is one of those what we don't say. We don't talk about the giftings of the Spirit. We do not talk about all of that. In other words, we're a ministry that says, okay, we're not going to tell you everything about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We know he indwells you and helps you, to live a godly life. This is where individual churches may take it and go further with theirs and say, we believe in this or that concerning the Holy Spirit, but we're here as a ministry because we wanted to minister to those people who believe, oh, the Holy Spirit. It's limited in its giftedness. And those that say, no, it's not limited, you know, and we are trying to minister to both.

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely. And I think the key phrase in that statement is that we believe that he is active. We believe that he is, present. It is a present tense verb. And that is why we use that the way we do. It's not past. He is active today because if he were not active today, Christ would have been a liar.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. And guess what? We couldn't get saved. Guess what? Guess how we're saved through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I can't even get saved on my own. I m can't even get, hey, guess what? I can't get convicted on my own. In other words, my guilty conscience is not enough. I have to have the conscience being guilty. But then the Holy Spirit adds his conviction to it and draws me unto

>> Jim Stanley: himself, lets you know what's short, and then also points the way of where it's found.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. Amen.

>> Jim Stanley: Well, Brother Bert, I've been reading these. Do you want me to continue?

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, you're doing a good job, man. I'm the color man. You know, on a, sports team, you have the announcer and then the color guy. The color. So I'm adding color to this.

>> Jim Stanley: Now, this next one is not controversial by any means, but it's pretty black and white and it says, we believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. Folks, let there be no doubt. Hell is real.

>> Bert Harper: That's what it says.

>> Jim Stanley: Make no mistake. Hell is real and it is a place of eternal damnation.

>> Bert Harper: I heard a sermon one time, don't worry about hell, you won't be there forever. And everybody started looking because this is a very conservative Bible believing pastor, he said over in the book of Revelation, it says hell and death was given up and thrown into the lake of fire. In other words, here's his point. He said the Bible describes hell. As far as we know, it just talks about the lake of fire. Is it just. And more, is it worse than. I did that to get people's attention as well, just like they did. But the resurrection, those of us, that body that is planted, buried, cremated, eaten by sharks in the sea. God who is able to bring Adam from the dusk can bring our new bodies to himself when the time comes.

>> Jim Stanley: I, like how you said that, because there are a lot of folks that worry about cremation, that there would not be able to be a bodily resurrection. But you nailed it in what you said. I mean, it talks about the deep giving up those in the deep. It talks about the ground giving those up in the ground. There is no conditions. All it says is there will be a resurrection. And why do we try and limit God to think that we have, and this is no offense to anybody that chooses to be buried and have your body placed in the coffin. Please don't misunderstand that, because that is a personal preference. But the thing is that why would we want to limit God to think that he has to use a dead, decaying body for a resurrection over the dust for the resurrection? Because we're talking about the same God who spoke existence into being.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. If he can do it with the dust, he can do it with the ashes. And I'm not trying to be funny with that, but that is the truth. And I remember a funeral that I did and the individual had never found his body because he was deep sea fishing, Jim. And, he made the mistake of putting those fish on a belt.

>> Jim Stanley: Oh my goodness.

>> Bert Harper: And as, far as I know, a shark, got him. Don't know exactly what all happened, but guess what? He is a believer. That means one day that new body, it's going to come alive again, brother.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen. Folks, this is exploring the word. We're looking over the statement of [email protected] under what we believe stick around. More of that to come as Exploring the Word continues on afr.

Alex Vert: If we don't save babies, who will

>> Bert Harper: You've heard a lot about saving babies on this show. That's because it's important to me personally. And let me just be frank with you. We need to save them. That is why we've partnered with PreBorn, the nation's leader, in introducing mothers with unplanned pregnancies to their babies. And once she hears that heartbeat and sees that precious life growing inside of her, she is twice as likely to choose life. Now, that's a miracle. But quite honestly, if we don't save them, who will? Preborn receives no government funding, so their work is completely dependent on us. Preborn has rescued over 280,000 babies. And that's not all. They provide love, support, and counseling for up to two years for free, saving lives and souls. One ultrasound is just $28 or $140. Helps to rescue five babies. Abortion doesn't stop, so we can't. Together, you and I can save lives. Just call pound two five zero on your cell phone and say the key word baby. That's two fifty baby. Or, go to preborn.com that's preborn.com afr talk.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Connect with Alex and Vert on the Exploring the Word Facebook page and watch the latest broadcast facebook.com exploring the word.

>> Jim Stanley: What a great song to come back to. Pardon me. As the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 53. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. And, Bert, we're talking about the resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The lost to eternal damnation, the saved to the comfort, of the presence of God. And so that's one of the statements of what we believe. And, folks, if you'd like to follow along with us and do a Bible study beyond this, it's easily done. Simply visit afa.net, you'll find a link there that says who we are, and then you'll see what we believe. And it's our statement of faith, and that's what we're going through today. And when, Bert, when you and I talked about this, we both thought that this would be a good thing for us to share it.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Is.

>> Bert Harper: And I'd remind people this is a pre recording. So usually we take phone calls, but we're not taking them now because again, we're in the studio. This has already been pre recorded and played for it. And so yes. Jim, when you brought this up, I immediately went back to my office and I drew up these and you know me, I had them printed off. I'm still a paper in print kind of guy. because I'm always afraid that I'll press the wrong button on my computer and go flash and I won't remember it.

Without the resurrection, Paul said, we're of men most miserable

But I want to share this one. The resurrection. Without the resurrection, Paul said, we're of men most miserable.

>> Jim Stanley: Right?

>> Bert Harper: That's what it is. In the book of Acts, when Paul was on his missionary journeys, especially in Athens when he goes to Athens. And they are always loving to hear something new. And he sees the Statute of the Unknown God. And he said, let me tell you who this unknown God is. I know him. And he started and they were listening and they were all ears until he mentioned one thing. The resurrection of Jesus Christ.

>> Jim Stanley: Right.

>> Bert Harper: Our resurrection is based upon his resurrection. He's the first fruits. That doesn't mean anything but. Except that he preceded us and we follow and there is a resurrection. And that is, I mean it really the empty tomb. Jesus, resurrection and our hope of resurrection with a new body.

>> Bert Harper: Being in his presence. There are several things that separate Christianity from the world religions. But that is the hallmark of it. That is the hallmark of it. The resurrection, the tomb of Buddhas, the tomb of Muhammad. Yes, but the tomb of Jesus is empty. Praise the Lord for the resurrection.

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely.

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ

Well, as we continue into our statement of faith here at afa, it says we believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Bert, this is important. and it's important to the fact that we choose that we know whose we are, that we know what price was paid and that we understand that there are peripheral things that are going to challenge us but shouldn't break our fellowship as a unity of believer. When I think of the National Day of Prayer that recently passed, people of all denominations were there. Now as great a job as the president did in that. I think there was one part that, and I understand he's the President of the United States, I get that. But there was a gentleman that he allowed to speak and he equated God, Jehovah, Mohammed, Buddha, he equated all of those as one God. And that is just absolutely not the case, is it?

>> Bert Harper: It's really anathema and that's a strong word, it really is. And trying to be inclusive is very difficult. it's the exclusivity of Jesus Christ, but not the exclusivity of any nation, tribe. Christ is not a white man's God. He's not a black man. He's not just the Jewish. He is for all people. And it says in the book of Revelation, every tongue, every tribe, every people, every nation would be gathered around the throne. He's going to be there, and it is Christ and Christ alone. And I believe this unity of believers. Let me read Ephesians if we could, because this is important. Ephesians 4:1 6. Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, I, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling which ye were called with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, one Spirit, just as ye were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all. Now again, just as we talked about the deity of Jesus Christ, could be a, multi taught, lesson. We're talking about this one as well. But I did want to concentrate on verse three, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

>> Jim Stanley: M. Amen.

Jim: Anytime we say that salvation is something other than Christ or Christ

>> Bert Harper: Coming to. You know, before I came to afr, I pastored in a certain denomination and coming here I was looking forward to ministering to people in many denominations. And I said, okay, Bert, what do you do? And here's what I came up with. Jim. If it doesn't matter in heaven, don't make it a big deal down here. And there are some things, yes, they are important and I didn't say they were non important, but don't make them a bigger deal than Jesus made them, you know, and here it says one body. If you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you're my brother or sister in Christ.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: regardless of some things that you may practice or not practice or believe or not believe. And that's what we're trying to do at afr, we're saying Jesus Christ, he is, and his Word is the central part of everything we're about, you know,

>> Jim Stanley: and when we think about that, it goes back to some of the things we said earlier. If the centrality is focused on Christ, on blood bought, forgiveness of sin, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, then it doesn't matter to us as persons between Burton I. If you were sprinkled, if you were dunked, if you were immersed completely, even down to the little finger, those things are. They're not insignificant and they're not unimportant because it's one of the first things that we were told is that we do that so that we walk through the life, burial and resurrection of Christ. It's a public testimony of who we are and whose we are. And so those things are important, but it shouldn't be to the. To the point of breaking faith, of breaking fellowship, because our centrality of fellowship has to be Christ. Anytime we say that salvation is something other than Christ or Christ and anything, I think we sell the price that was paid. I think we sell it short.

>> Bert Harper: Well said. Christ alone, through faith alone. I hear people say, well, denominations, do you know what the. You know what would be happening if there wasn't denominations? A state church.

>> Jim Stanley: Yeah, yeah.

>> Bert Harper: And you don't want that. I know denominations is difficult and hard, but if we would be right and major on what you just said concerning the centrality of Jesus Christ, even denominations, we would be very, very careful in giving them, our thanks for coming along beside us with Christ. But if you get tired of the denomination, just thank God there is no state church causing you.

>> Jim Stanley: Romans 8, 15:16 says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit. That we, we collectively, who have been bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. I want to be very clear about that. We collectively. Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopalian, Charismatic. We collectively. Oh, and by the way, Mormons. If, a Mormon can be saved. I've met some and I say that because we often think of it as a cult, not as the occult. I want to be very careful in that distinction. But, there are Mormons that. You know, Bert, you and I have said before, not only are we going to be surprised by who's not in heaven, I think we're going to be surprised by some folks who are in heaven. So, anyway, back to the we collectively. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Now, I think the family reference there is important because we know that brothers and sisters are going to fight.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Jim Stanley: But it doesn't change whose we are.

>> Bert Harper: One more thing before we go on to the next. One wrong doctrine in a church doesn't mean the possibility of God Invading that person.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And saving them. That's what we've seen. Yes. We disagree on some severe issues with our Catholic.

>> Bert Harper: And Mormon.

>> Bert Harper: But you and I have both seen God intervene and save individuals. Do they stay in those churches or they come out? They do both. I have some that stayed in there and they're trying to do their best to lead them to truth. And I've got others that I just, you know, God's brought me out. So, yes, it is a belief, the true belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As I surrender my life to him, I ask him to forgive me of my sin. the word repent is good. I turn from my ways and I turn to him and I follow Him. And that's what we do and that's what we preach and that's what we'll stand on.

>> Jim Stanley: Absolutely. And for our Baptist friends who. And I say this on purpose because, Bert, you remember when they gave out Sunday school pins? You know, you had a full year of completion.

>> Bert Harper: Some of them hung to the floor, I'm telling you.

>> Jim Stanley: But going to Sunday school didn't get you saved. Having that perfect attendance didn't get you saved. The fact that your grandfather's name may be on the cornerstone of the building as one of the founders of the church doesn't get you saved. It all comes. And that's why I liked what you said about the Catholics and the Mormons. And it does carry on through our Protestant denominations, if you will. Because if God doesn't save us individually, if we haven't come to an independent individual knowledge of who he is, nothing else matters.

>> Bert Harper: You got that right. And I just want to say, trust Jesus Christ and Savior. Don't trust your church. Don't trust your doctrine. Don't trust God has no grandchildren. You know, the whole thing is, it's in Christ alone, by faith alone, come to Christ.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

Jim Stanley: We believe God created mankind in his image and likeness

Bert, I'm not sure we're going to get through all of them, but we're going to give it a whirl because these others are important too. But each again it goes back like we talked about. Precept upon precept, based upon previous. Based upon the previous. Here it goes into. We believe God created mankind, both male and female, in his image and likeness. Every human being bears the image. that's Latin, brother.

>> Bert Harper: That's image of God. Anyway.

>> Jim Stanley: Yes, that's what I was going to say. the image of God. Therefore, we believe in the sanctity of human life, which must be protected from conception through Natural expiration. Now let's think about that. If I get sick, my best buy date doesn't change. It does not change. My destiny is in the hands of God now. Just like when Satan took Christ up to the mountain and said, throw himself off. I don't think we're to tempt God. I don't think we're to go speeding into a phone pole and say, God's going to save me. It's not my time yet. And God may be saying, yeah, it is, you know, and so we don't tempt God, but we believe basically in the sanctity of human life. We are against abortion because the baby didn't do anything wrong. Abraham Hamilton III had a great piece that we had, said, don't kill the babies, you know, because those lives are worth saving. The most dangerous place for a baby to be right now in this country is in the womb of the mother. And I say that with broken heart. Even, even in the last couple of weeks, we've had a congressman from the state of Alabama, he was a state representative who said, we either kill them now or. Or we kill them later. And that, at that point, you've just given up on life entirely.

>> Bert Harper: No, you do. We used to not have to have this in the statements of faith, right? It was granted and assumed. But because of the day we've lived, we've had to do this. Male, female, against transgenderism. No. God created you who you are. And you can try. You can even pass laws. You can even have surgery. You cannot change your DNA.

>> Jim Stanley: Right.

>> Bert Harper: And God is in control from conception to death.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And natural.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And, so we stand on that, folks.

>> Jim Stanley: There's a lot more we can say about that. And during the month of January, we normally will, because that's pro life month. And so. But we need to make much of

>> Bert Harper: life every day, every day, praise the Lord for preborn. That we do too.

>> Jim Stanley: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: That ministry, really, that ministry saves the baby. But many, many times, the mama saved. In these crisis pregnancy center, two lives are saved.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right. And on that, as you think about that, if your state has a heartbeat bill, if your state has a heartbeat bill, you need to be campaigning as hard as you can for that. Well, brother, I'm a Christian. Christians aren't supposed to be involved in politics. Don't you know that? I know this. I know that we're going to be held accountable for the innocent blood that's been shed in America.

>> Bert Harper: We're to be a steward of our citizenship.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right, God.

>> Bert Harper: Every gift is demanded. Stewardship, this citizenship. You can tell my voice is going up my blood pressure because I get tired of hearing those people. Our citizenship is in. We got it in heaven. But as long as we're here, we got a dual citizenship. We're down here and we're stewards of it. And part of that is the government by which you're under that you operate and be a steward of what God's given you.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: We also need to say man and m woman marriage. We believe in marriage between a man and a woman as well.

>> Jim Stanley: That's right, folks. Check these out for yourself and look at the scriptures that they're built [email protected] net under what we believe. I'm Jim Stanley and longer with brother Bert Harper. It's been our pleasure to be with you today on exploring the word. Stick around. More to come on afr.

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

>> Bert Harper: We'd like to thank Reborn PreBorn has rescued over 200,000 babies from abortion. And every day their network clinics rescue 200 babies. Will you join PreBorn in loving and supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com.

✍️ Episode References

Preborn
https://preborn.com 

American Family Association
https://afa.net 

2 Timothy
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+3%3A15-17 

Hebrews 1:3
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1%3A3 

Ephesians 4:1-6
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A1-6 

1 Corinthians 15:51-53
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A51-53 

Jon 14:15-26
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A15-26 

Titus 3:5
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+3%3A5