March 29, 2018 Show with Earl Blackburn on “John Chrysostom: A 4th-5th Century Doctor of the Church More Evangelicals Should Discover Today”

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Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Lake City, Florida. And the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth. We're listening via live streaming at iron sharpens iron radio .com. This is Chris Arnz.

And your host of iron sharpens iron radio wishing you all a happy Thursday on this 29th day of March 2018 and I'm delighted to have back on the program an old friend of mine who has proven to be an excellent guest and I look forward to today and I look forward to many future interviews as many as the Lord will allow.

I am speaking about Earl Blackburn who is Chairman of the Administrative Council of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America for six. I'm sorry for eight years. That is also known as ARCA.

He is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana. And the author of a number of books and today we are going to address one of those books John Chrysostom and we hope to Provide reasons why a fourth to fifth century doctor of the church Should be discovered by more Evangelicals today and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to iron sharpens iron radio Earl Blackburn.

Thank You Chris, it's a joy to Many ways and especially my ministry and It's very appropriate that we do so at this time because this coming Sunday Easter Sunday Will be the one thousand six hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his baptism of his immersion in the triune name and Confessing the name of Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Yes, and of course you being a Baptist but specifically insert the word immersion there. We're you and I are both reformed Baptist. So we we rejoice in that and that probably comes to a surprise. To many listening who are not Baptist that would probably actually come as a surprise to many who are Baptist as well.

But.

It is clear that The immersion of believers was indeed a practice in the ancient church. It's not something that arose on the scene of 19th century revivalism in America, you know, that's what some people might think.

Right. In fact, we would think it is obviously the biblical mode and the biblical candidates being repentant believers. But before we go into the topic of John Chrysostom Please let our listeners know who missed you the previous times you were on the show.

Reformed Baptist Life, Inner-City Ministry, and the Call to the Gospel

Let our listeners know about. First of all, we'll start with the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America also known as ARPCA where You once were the chairman of the Administrative Council and you were for eight years But of course are still a member of that association.

Well. Of the Reformed Baptist Churches of America. We are a small group a humble group of a desire to exalt the triune God to make known the excellence of Christ and like John Chrysostom who believed to preach and believe strongly in a life-changing salvation and of carrying the Great Commission to the ends of the earth to those who have never heard and.

So we have no pretensions about who we are. We're just a simple confessional body Association of Churches that wants to wants to see the. The glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ made known over all the earth and so it has been my esteemed privilege.

I came back on the Administrative Council two years ago and I could only commit myself to two more years. So it this will be my tenth year as.

As.

Chairman. And what a Godly group of men to been faithful committed to the scriptures committed to our confession of faith committed to world missions and.

So for a man and the church where I am a member Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania is also a Member of ARPA and if anybody wants more information about ARPA, they can go to. A RBC. A .com.

That's a RBC. A standing for the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America. A RBC. A Dot-com. And now tell us about the church where you currently pastor. Heritage Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana.

It's all the way back to 1919 1918 1919. We're not exactly sure because the events are not it's clear it is an inner-city church. At one time it was one of the most prestigious church, but the Neighborhood began to decline and we had a lot of what I called white flight a lot of the people white People white-collar people left and But there was a core group of people that said, you know, if we leave who's going to give the gospel to these people so desperately.

Need needed and Multiracial it's multilingual our service Spanish every Sunday and sometimes. When we have people from other countries those that are Fluent will also translate into whatever language is needed.

We're not a real large church. We're dealing with people by the the police chief of Shreveport told me that he wouldn't want to be in this community for anything. It is the Unwritten neighborhood of the entire city and yet here we are a bondage to Unspeakable things I couldn't even mention on the air and shouldn't believe is that The great need is not for another program.

Not another not another self-help program. The great need for our community for our city and here in Louisiana, we're the only state in the 50 United States that has parishes instead of counties. The great need Is not for another social program not for another social justice agenda.

The great need that will break all dominions of the Greek or to the generosity setting and It's wonderful a we gather to see so many people and many people whose first language is not English and Yet we're sitting there side-by-side not looking at our race or looking has been redeemed by the point suite.

It's just wonderful to see the gospel Transform. Lives had no hope. Lives have been broken and destroyed by all sorts of sins and many of them unspeakable things. But I would not even talk about on the air See them rescued by the mighty Savior Christ praise God, you know, it's interesting that you are staying in that area and.

I.

Happen to be someone that a number of churches Have contacted up north up here and not only Pennsylvania, but even in New York where I lived previously Where they have asked me to help them find.

A.

New pastor this these are churches that are having a pastor who is about to retire or leave for some other reason or the their their pulpits are open for for one reason or another and When they have asked me to provide this assistance to help them find a replacement.

It is interesting how often? The brethren from down south or the Midwest are terrified and have no interest in seeking or Taking the call accepting the call to a church That in their Minds because of a stereotype of New York from the movies I'm assuming they think that the entire state of New York is nothing but a crime-ridden urban city, but But the fact that you are knowingly remaining in a crime-ridden urban area is quite to your credit because of the gospel that is needed in places like that and Pastors who are only taking accepting calls to Beautiful safe communities now.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I mean if you have a wife and children and you that is something that you Are diligent to make sure that they are safe or something of that nature. I'm not going to bad-mouth pastors like that, but it's there are few and far between is really what I'm trying to say.

Men Like you who wish to remain in a place like that.

The church and I was there for 22 years and Many people have the same idea about Los Angeles as they do New York these places need the gospel and I Was diagnosed with cancer 14 years ago. All three of my doctors told me I needed to find another church a smaller church and a more rural parish as they put it and I didn't mean but when this Church may contact we make contact.

My to use the words of Charles Wesley my heart was Strangely warm and with the pulpit search committee. I told them I said now I am from originally from the south. I know there's been a lot of racism and I want you to know That I'm not going to talk if you were to call me and I believe it to be the will of God.

We will I will not tolerate racism of any kind. I don't care if the person is green or purple if they want to come into this church and Hear the Word of God and the gospel of Christ. They will be welcomed and if they repent and Christ I Will baptize them and bring them into the membership of this church and if you're not in agreement with that, then there's no need for us to talk any further and immediately one of the men on the pulpit search committee a doctor who has Remained faithful been with this church where he said no, you're the man we're looking for and Several times we have been approached by others.

Why don't you leave this community? Why do you why don't you leave this inner-city area? Go out into the suburbs and I am just so pleased with the mind and opinion of the people and Especially the church leaders they they read it weally who will be salt and light who will be a light on the hills perishing dead community and We're not going to look to me to pastor of people like that that have that same burden and vision and if you please that same passion to Make the gospel known in the most difficult places statement made by a man.

That is probably little known today Missionary named CT stud at CU DD. He was a cricket player in England and and in his lifetime he planted churches on five different continents. And he used to have a little thing and and my mind and soul resonates with it so much.

He said some people desire to live within sound of church or Chapel Bell. But as for me, I want to run a rescue shop Right at the door of hell. Wow and and That's the mindset that I have in the mindset of these people here We want to run a rescue shop right at the door of hell.

Hey, man, and You know some Isaac was his famous him and my soldier must I be carried through the skies them flowery beds of ease? While others fought to with bloody feet and It is our desire here to be in this downtrodden community People they're not hungry for Christ.

They're not warning Christ. They're in bondage to their slavery to their sins but we want to Proclaim unto them the Great Shepherd the Good Shepherd the Chief Shepherd Christ who can lead them out of them.

Amen.

Well.

This may go over the heads of a lot of our listeners including yours. But you you in an odd way reminded me of the pizzeria owner in do the right thing Spike Lee movie where this Italian American pizza or pizzeria owner played by Danny Aiello Remained in a very dangerous neighborhood, even though it changed radically over the years and as one of his sons Who worked there with him wanted him to leave thought he was nuts for wanting to stay but of course.

Your.

Mission and your purpose is infinitely greater than serving pizza to the The people that were raised on this pizzeria owners food yours is a mission to be used of God to bring the gospel of Everlasting life to those in darkness.

So you are to be commended and I want to make sure that the Listeners I will repeat this god-willing later, but the website for Heritage Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana is.

Hbc.

Shreveport comm that's HBC for Heritage Baptist Church Shreveport. Shreve as in victory. E p o r t .com. Well now we are getting into the theme for today. John Chrysostom a fourth to fifth century doctor of the church more evangelicals should discover today and It may and probably does surprise a lot of people to discover a reformed Baptist wrote a biography of John Chrysostom that is strange if somebody's having a Bible conference on on the patristics or the church fathers and They want somebody to address the life and legacy of John Chrysostom.

The a reformed Baptist from Shreveport, Louisiana It would not be the first person that might come to mind. But why is it before we get into a lot of the details? About his own history. What is it that drew you and fascinated you so much about this this giant of theology from history?

That led you to research him in much greater depth and write a book about him. I am NOT a Chrysostom scholar. I'm not a patriot. My appetite in an unusual way make this disclaimer. I am NOT a few men out there scholarly death regarding Chrysostom.

Secondly the book in the series called bite-sized series by the publisher people today might be introduced to famous Christians of yesteryear and. To do so on a very elementary level, but by the way, brother.

Can you make sure you're your mouth is as close to the mouthpiece as possible because sometimes you fade out.

Sorry about that. Is that better that that last word you said was better? Yes. Okay, great. Well the John Chrysostom. Several times in other writings and asked if I would write a bite-sized biography that can be read in two to three hours.

Say someone is on a plane trip across the Atlantic or on a train trip. From the south of England to the north from the south of France to the north of France or where I agreed. And What began the pilgrim studies.

And one of my churches the name John Chris little was said about it. And the more I began to read about this guy the more fascinated I became. On with him and Over the years just about him. Materials by him sermons by him of all the early church fathers.

He has the greatest stand of sermons above them all and no other church father was as profuse and in writing are in sermon production as John Chrysostom and so the more I read the more fascinated I became and the more thrilled I was at the the some the godliness the integrity and the sufferings that this man endured.

Well, he is.

More readily.

Associated with or he typically associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church I know and I know that the Roman Catholics uphold him as a father of the church as well but I have discovered the longer I have been a born-again believer that.

Many of the church fathers on the most crucial of issues have much more in common.

With.

Bible-believing Protestants than they do with Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic Individuals and churches. Tell us about the the history of John Chrysostom as far as what you know in regard to his own Religious upbringing if any and how he came to learn about Jesus Christ and Got more deeply involved in study and in leadership, etc.

He was born probably don't know the exact dates because calendar and the Gregorian calendar and things of this nature. But in all probability he was born around 349 ad ad 349. He was his father was truly a woman.

He his father died very early and early in his life somewhere in the first two years of life he was raised with the godly influence of a mother that prayed for him and cared for much like Augusta and the godly influence of a mother can never never be underestimated or understated.

And Somewhere arrest in home Somewhere 17th 18th year he was he was he experienced human conversion. He he had been fascinated with rhetoric. He studied at the School of Labienus the last great Greek learned much there, but He was connected 68 on Easter Sunday.

And as it was the tradition of those days by immersion I remember this Greek Orthodox told me he said, you know, why we Greek Orthodox immersed. Don't you not really one? he said because we know the meaning of.

That's right. If anybody saw. If anybody saw the if anybody saw the movie my big fat Greek wedding when the woman's fiance Has to convert to Greek Orthodoxy before he can marry this woman. They baptize him in a kiddie pool.

Because normally they're baptizing babies by immersion and obviously they don't need anything that large but for his circumstance, they brought a baby pool into the Baby swimming pool into the church.

Yeah, well, he was and as it was the cut was the time in which they back. But they didn't immediately unlike most of evangelicalism today received them into the membership of the church from the Greek word catechesis and They taught Christian doctrine basic Christian living they taught orthodoxy and and Right belief right.

And once the catechumen proved to be a genuine convert They would baptize and usually Easter Sunday. At least in the early days of the church was the time in which they were baptized. John was baptized.

Well, he's off of this oftentimes in his sermon because the Greek philosophers Talked much about Sophia and about wisdom and and knowledge and so forth and John Krasav simply called Then John of Antioch Christianity is the true Sophia it is.

And he would use that patho in Colossians, you know, beware of vain philosophies vain wisdom and Through his life as much as the the editors would allow.

He.

Desired to walk he goes into monasticism and we often think of monasticism and a negative or the more the Aesthetic life they call it were given over to Just prayer and meditation desire and a bird. Whether he did or did not memorize the entire Bible there's reason to believe that he probably memorized a great deal of several years and he he went from the Communal life that became too noisy for him following the He he did harm to his body and he had to leave and he he began to work there with Melita's the very gifted and godly man, and John and He follows the ladder up the orders of ordination first as a reader Then a deacon and then eventually as a priest aesthetic life the solitary life and then that eventually led and.

John Chrysostom, Baptism, and the Antiochene School of Interpretation

When you say that he became a priest what was a fourth the fifth century Christians understanding of what that is. I mean from what I understand of tristics things like Transubstantiation and the unbloody sacrifice of the mass and things that are known in modern Roman Catholicism and other things that are similar in Eastern Orthodoxy were Absent from the patristic era for the most part.

What would he what to your knowledge? Was someone who is identified as a priest doing or believing? In the fourth the fifth century when Chrysostom lived.

We would use today a presence much like an elder and His primary role was thought and this is where Chrysostom becomes so Noted throughout history. One of the things to recognize about he lived in some very formative time.

He lived after the first great ecumenical council and for those of you out there That don't understand the meaning of ecumenical don't be afraid simply means worldwide first ecumenic great ecumenical council course was 320 the doctrine of the Trinity was formulated.

It wasn't it wasn't this from the scriptures Reasoned from the scriptures and formulated what we know today was born after that the second great ecumenical council was the first council of Constantinople in 381 in Antioch and He had no part in the Gregory Nazianzus the the the great creed that came out of that the Nacino Constantinople Creed.

He was ordained. So he didn't play a role in Any of these first two great ecumenical councils nor did he play a role in? The third council of Ephesus and 431 he was dead counsel. He lived he became can tell more about that later.

But he came he became popular because of his preaching and the primary work. We would know that out of preaching and His name was simply John of Antioch and it wasn't until a century century and a quarter later that he was given Greek word for golden mouth and That's that name is stuck with him more than anything.

That's why he's known as John Christophel John the golden mouth he was learned in his unconverted rules of rhetoric and Upon his conversion. He was endowed with Unusual gift by Christ through the Holy Spirit and he was a master Orator and preacher of the Word of God and so a priest of that day problem.

What an expositor. He was Orthodox Church every Lord's Day. But he also did a lot of counseling a lot of so many different again the proper work, which I think Has been lost in even Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism and all the various and that is What he is the most known for in our day?

What an outstanding preacher and I'll say I can say more about that later, right?

We have to go to our first break right now. In fact, I have forwarded you a Question that you can mill over during the break and I'll read it when we come back and you can answer that. That was a question from Joe in Slovenia.

If anybody else would like to join us on the air our email address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. Chris a RNZ and a gmail .com. Please. Give us your first name your city and state and your country of residence if you live outside the USA and Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter, so don't go away.

God willing We'll be right back with more of Earl Blackburn and our discussion on John Chris Austin. I am Chris Arnzen host of iron sharpens iron radio here to tell you about an exciting offer from world magazine My trusted source for news from a Christian perspective.

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You can stop now and I think my my guest may have fallen off a chair or something but we are now back with Earl Blackburn and as you may have heard me say earlier, he is or has been chairman of the Administrative Council of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America for eight years and he is the pastor of the Heritage Baptist Church Of Shreveport, Louisiana.

We are discussing his book John Chrysostom and we are hoping to provide reasons why a fourth to fifth century Doctor of the church should be discovered by more evangelicals today. Our email address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com.

Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. And I'm gonna just before I go to our listener in Slovenia's question I just want to read a plug for this book by a friend of mine Tom Nettles who's been a guest on iron sharpens iron radio a number of times.

Dr. Tom Nettles who's a former faculty member at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. And also a former former faculty member at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, but Dr. Nettles says this is truly a charming informative and inspiring book.

Blackburn as an experienced pastor himself has sought out those aspects those aspects of Chrysostom's ministry that show the strengths courage humility faithfulness doctrinal integrity confidence and the power of Proclamation that every pastor should covet while pointing to the weaknesses and troubles Endemic to the historical conflict context of Bishop John.

I found not only the subject but the style of presenting it to be engaging and provocative of high thoughts. That is dr. Tom Jay Nettles who we hope to have back on this show very soon. And now we have the question That our guest from slow our listener I should say from Slovenia.

Joe in Slovenia says brother Earl I noticed that the book description mentions that John Chrysostom influenced John Calvin and What are some of those most significant influences in what ways are we blessed today by John Chrysostom through Calvin?

I would like to personally mail him an autographed copy my my heart missionary church planters and places where the gospel is not known and I pray that the Lord will strengthen and enrich and bless our brother laboring there in Slovenia died and much success in Preaching the gospel and planting churches in his mailing address to you Chris and then you can forward it on to me.

I would like to send our brother an autographed copy. I can't do that, but I would love to do this for the servant of Christ laboring on the mission field. I know how to get to it now to get to it in order to answer this question I need to give you a little background about the times in which John live.

The question the Bible, so there are many and John's day schools of thought. One was the Alexandrian school of thought which dealt more with allegory and Symbolism was the Antiochian from Antioch school of hermeneutics and Their approach overflow with each other throughout the kingdom of that time.

You might have someone in Antioch that would hold to Alexandrian hermeneutics or you might hold find someone in North Africa that held to Antiochian school of hermeneutics the two schools were basically one was Course primarily fathered by origin.

The other early church father origin. And he believed there were four levels of and I don't want to go into all those I just briefly touch on it. You can do research on your own and. But if the main one was the level of which you know, you can make anything that you want to.

Martin Luther was quite a champion of that and you read some of his commentaries his commentary on Genesis and he Spiritualizes a lot of things that I don't believe he had the liberty to do so, but the Antiochians were very literal and For a lot of this allegory except where the scriptures allowed it.

I mean for instance, you can't take the book of Revelation Literally in every sense. I remember hearing one famous radio preacher Haranguing people for not taking the book of Revelation literally and then he turns around and he's reading from one of the seven churches where Christ says the one that overcomes I will make to become a pillar in the temple of our God and I thought to myself now dear brother.

Does that mean when we go to heaven? We're all going to be turned into pillars of marble.

You.

Can't take that literally and the Antiochians were aware of that to the adore who was teacher in theology was Was great in handling the scriptures the question at the thought that was one who believed that The Word of God is the Word of God.

The Bible just doesn't contain the Word of God. It is the Word of God He believes himself in. And the reformers Got this. I believe from Christoph. Um, a Pat an elder not there for himself. He is to be a servant of the Word of God.

It's where the Apostle said We won't we will not wait on tables. It wasn't that waiting on tables was below their dignity. They said we will give ourselves continually to pray. I can Mia the servant of the Word of God.

Think. And the Antiochians and of course himself was notorious for this and he writes a book entitled on the priesthood in Which he devotes a good portion of it to what it is to be a minister of the gospel and a minister of the Word and what is necessary and Calvin was influenced heavily by that.

When Calvin set up the Academy in Geneva, he had certain Requirements for admission into the Academy among them were you you couldn't neither be affected by the praise of men or the criticism of me and He knew that both of them changed and sometimes people were praised and they get puffed up and they're criticized and they become deflated and Chris often deals with this and he lays down in his book on the priest of what makes a Man a good minister of the Word of God.

I'll not go into those. You can see that in the book John Calvin the the great reformer of Geneva. The only other book that was published in Geneva during Calvin's lifetime except for Calvin's sermons and his commentary of selected homilies by John Chrysostom and Calvin himself selected these homilies or sermons and in the preface to these the French translation of Chrysostom's homilies Calvin writes these words is that it was Not to turn aside even to the slightest degree from the genuine simple sense of Scripture and to allow himself no liberties, but twisting the plain meaning of the word and quote and Calvin was and I want to use this word properly.

Calvin was notorious for being a A literal oracle interpreter of the scriptures. You've got to let the scriptures speak for them. And that's what Chrysostom proclaims. That's why He's really the father what we would know today as expository preaching right, we're living in a time and when men are I Remember, I think I've shared this with you I'm preaching through the book Romans at our church at this time and before I Started I was talking with some of the men in our associate subject came up.

What are you going to preach on? Or what are you preaching on and I said, I'm getting ready to start the book of Romans and one guy spoke up. He said wow, I Would never preach on It because if I did it with people in our church Maybe they need to be driven up if the preaching through the book of Romans drives people away.

Then the sooner they leave if they're not going to submit themselves to God's inspired and errant infallible Word where they'll be entertained. In fact, we have to pick up right we have to pick up right where you left off there.