December 27, 2017 Show with Joseph Jacowitz on “The Sufficiency of Scripture”

Iron Sharpens Iron

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:02

Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown

00:08

Carlisle, Pennsylvania It's iron sharpens iron a radio platform on which pastors

00:15

Christian scholars and theologians Address the burning issues facing the church and the world today

00:23

Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another

00:31

Matthew Henry said that in this passage quote we are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with and Directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next hour

00:50

And we hope to hear from you the listener with your own questions

00:56

Now here's our host Chris Arnton Good afternoon,

01:04

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Lake City, Florida and the rest of humanity living on the planet earth

01:09

We're listening via live streaming at iron sharpens iron radio .com. This is Chris Arntz and your host of iron sharpens iron radio

01:16

Wishing you a happy Wednesday on this 27th day of December 2017

01:22

I'm delighted to have returning it to the program someone who has been a excellent guest in the past Joseph Jackowitz, he is founder of first love publications and one of two pastors at the

01:37

Christ Bible Church of Pleasanton, California Today we are going to be addressing the sufficiency of scripture

01:45

And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to iron sharpens iron radio pastor

01:50

Joe Jackowitz Great to be with you Chris, and we're looking forward to wrestling with this burning issue that We're talking about today and before we go into the topic at hand once again for those of our listeners who

02:06

Have not heard you before on this program who may be a unaware of you because we have new listeners

02:13

It seems joining us every day On iron sharpens iron radio. Tell us about first of all

02:19

Christ Bible Church of Pleasanton, California where you serve as pastor Christ Bible Church is a

02:26

Reformed Baptist Church founded in 1990 by four families in the

02:33

East Bay area of San Francisco and We've been here since for 28 years next

02:42

February this coming February and I've been the pastor since the beginning. We have two pastors now and have had for many years, but we're a

02:55

Smaller congregation and we reach out with the gospel in various ministries in the

03:04

Greater San Francisco Bay Area street preaching street evangelism

03:09

Bible studies Discipleship ministries we also have under the auspices and government of our church three other ministries

03:22

First is first love publications It's a publications ministry where we print and distribute books on many different topics and categories doctrinal devotional evangelistic and Apologetics and pastoral and we distribute them worldwide.

03:42

We have a website Also first love missions. We have 11 missionaries that go on short -term mission trips

03:49

Different countries where we hold seminars and Bible conferences and we distribute literature free of charge

03:56

And of course teaching and the seminars are free mainly for pastors and then first love media where we have radio ministry in various countries and other radio ministries in the works right now, which

04:14

I really can't get into because it's in a preparation stage and So those are the main ministries of Christ Bible Church So we have a local and an international dimension to our ministry and God willing this

04:28

January from the 17th through the 20th Pastor Joe and the folks at first love publications will be joining me

04:38

With their own exhibitors booth at the g3 conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and I'm very excited about that once again, this is my second time manning an exhibitors booth at the g3 conference and I just was blown away the last time

04:55

I was manning an exhibitors booth because not only did

05:00

I get to meet a lot of listeners in the iron sharpens iron radio audience whom

05:07

I had never met before face -to -face some of whom I was aware of through their

05:13

Correspondence by email and their questions that they submitted by email to my guests but also

05:20

I met a number quite a number a large number of People who listen to the program, but I had never heard from at all in any way from all over the world different parts of the world including

05:31

England and other areas and it was just such a blessing and also to meet for the first time face -to -face men that I have already interviewed by phone

05:44

That was the first time I had ever met face -to -face Phil Johnson the executive director of John MacArthur's ministry grace to you

05:52

And had the privilege of interviewing him for the first time face -to -face, even though I have been interviewing him on the radio since 2005

06:01

And we have been Corresponding very often all of these years, but I had never had the privilege to meet him

06:07

So if anybody wants to register for that conference, it's g3 conference calm G3 conference calm and I'll be repeating this later, but I just want to let you know that James White will begin the

06:20

English portion of the event on Wednesday night January 17th.

06:26

He's debating a Muslim. That's dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega ministries Then on the 18th the actual conference the actual

06:34

English speaking conference Begins on the 18th and that lasts and through through the 20th and the speakers include

06:41

Stephen Lawson Vodie Balcom Pete Phil Johnson Keith Getty HP Charles jr Tim Challis Josh Bice James White Tom Askell Anthony Matheny and Michael Kruger David Miller Paul Tripp Todd Freel Derek Thomas who's gonna be my guest this

06:55

Friday? Martha Peace Justin Peters and Stephen Nichols who is the president of Reformation Bible Church the

07:02

I'm sorry Reformation Bible College the college step started by R.

07:08

C. Sproul and Ligonier ministries So go to g3 conference calm if you want to register for either a personal

07:17

Attendance registration or if you want to register for your own exhibitors booth Like Joe Jackowitz and myself will be

07:25

Manning G3 conference calm make sure you tell them that you heard about the conference from Chris Arns and an iron sharpens iron radio and and This topic the sufficiency of Scripture is really one of the key

07:41

Pillars of the Reformation it obviously hinges on a solo script

07:47

Torah Which means that Scripture alone is? our soul inerrant infallible rule of faith for the church and The two major areas of disagreement with Rome during the

08:02

Reformation that the reformers had were on solo script Torah and solo fidei the others that follow from that solo gratia and Solus Christus and soli deo gloria are natural products of these two and the

08:24

Catholic Church may try to Confuse the issues with a smokescreen by giving some kind of lip service to the others that I mentioned, but The sufficiency of Scripture and sola fidei are not two of them.

08:38

They are openly in opposition and do not mince their words in their opposition to the sufficiency of Scripture and also

08:47

Sola fidei that we are justified by faith alone but If you could

08:54

Joe tell us why it was that you had a burning Desire to address this specific issue today

09:02

Well, like you said, it's at the very core and heart of Christianity itself

09:08

We need an infallible trustworthy reliable guide that we base our beliefs and our practices as Christians on if there is not an objective standard that is unviable that is infallible then anything goes anyone that anyone says any any dream or vision or feeling or experience

09:36

That anyone has can be interpreted or misinterpreted as being from God and so we can all become our own source of Quote -unquote truth if we do not have an objective infallible standard and I think the most important text in the

09:54

Bible that undergirds our Belief in the doctrine of the inspiration and infallibility infallibility of the

10:01

Scriptures from which come the sufficiency of Scripture is 2nd

10:07

Timothy 3 15 through 17 Where we read and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures

10:14

Which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus all

10:20

Scripture is given by inspiration of God and as profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction

10:28

And righteousness that the man of God may be complete Thoroughly equipped for every good work now

10:35

Chris verse 17 This is 2nd Timothy 3 15 through 17 that I just quoted

10:41

But verse 17 is perhaps the best -known passage For teaching the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture because it tells us that the scriptures are sufficient to make us perfect to completely equip us

10:56

Not for most good works, but for all of them a couple of verses before in verse 15

11:02

We read that the scriptures are are the grounds of Learning of salvation the scriptures the

11:11

Bible is what we need to learn about salvation and They are sufficient for teaching us how to go to heaven how to have our sins forgiven and how to know

11:22

That we are saved. We don't need to look at other sources to learn how to be saved the scriptures are able to make sinners wise unto salvation and Nothing else is needed now if we put verses 15 and 17 together we see that the

11:39

Bible is Completely sufficient to put us on the path to salvation and to carry us through the

11:46

Christian life after that unto the very end until we enter heaven, so The scriptures are alone and this is the case.

11:55

This is the point are sufficient to teach God's truth to correct our course

12:01

To rebuke us when we sin to guide us in everything. We don't need any other guide We need no other authority

12:08

The scriptures are the answer and they don't need a supplement. There's no

12:13

Book of Mormon. There's no other book to add There's no Talmud. There's no church tradition anything else only has merit

12:22

In helping us understand the meaning of Scripture nothing else rather Has has any merit in how to help us effectively apply what it teaches now, there are a lot of problems

12:35

Today which challenged the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture? How do we how do we apply the sufficiency of scriptures in our daily life when we're confronted by many cults and false

12:49

Teachings. Well, the first thing and this is sad Chris because I'm sure you're aware that there are many weak ignorant professing

12:58

Christians in churches who are completely without the equipment and tools in Defending this very important doctrine of the sufficiency of the scriptures and so they and all of us

13:10

Need to understand first of all and identify the counterfeit.

13:15

There are many counterfeit doctrines There are many teachings out there which on the surface like you suggested

13:21

Roman Catholicism Which professes to have a strong belief on Scripture as as a guide into truth?

13:29

but the sufficiency of the scriptures is the is the only antidote to identifying the very subtle forms of Teaching and teachings which under not under Undermine, excuse me this very important doctrine and this doctrine is

13:49

The sufficiency that is is the antidote to for example the traditionalism of many churches

13:56

It's the answer to the dangerous mysticism of modern pop

14:03

Christianity It's the answer to the pseudo authority of psychology that ignores

14:10

God the celebrity preacher worship of much of evangelicalism and The authoritarian ministers syndrome that infects many independent churches

14:21

Baptist churches and other churches So what are these counterfeits? Well, first of all we have a lot of man exalting tradition out there and This is where Tradition is exalted to a place of authority and as you as you mentioned

14:40

Roman Catholicism is probably most renowned in this area And in fact the thing that's the thing that's bizarre about that is that the

14:49

Roman Catholic Church? Oh Not only agrees with us That the scriptures are inerrant but they

14:59

Agree with us that only scripture is God breathed and the thing that's very bizarre

15:05

About that is that even though they recognize the only scripture is God breathed. They still believe

15:11

That the traditions of their church are on the same par, even though they even

15:19

Act as if they are above the scriptures Very often if not most often, but it makes no sense that they would

15:27

Recognize that scripture is God breathed and scripture alone is God breathed and the

15:35

The traditions of the church are handed down by mortal men They still hold them on an equal par and I know that they will say that we are in unsafe territory

15:49

Because we don't have an infallible magisterium interpreting the scripture but the reason why that is a farce is

15:59

Because they don't have an infallible interpreter for their alleged infallible interpreter

16:04

There are many disagreements by different wings of the Roman Catholic Church because it's not monolithic as they claim

16:12

There are many disagreements on what the Pope is saying and his encyclicals even in his ex cathedra pronouncements over the centuries

16:23

So this is this this big Boon they think they have this area of superiority that they believe they have is just a farce and I think that many conservative and traditionalist

16:37

Roman Catholics know that this would be a very difficult thing for them to defend with the

16:43

Coming of Pope Francis their most liberal Pope in history, but I'm sorry. I digress there

16:49

That's okay. And that's important what you just said and it's what the problem is. This is very very confusing for so many evangelical

16:58

Christians today because there's such a Weak test of truth today so few professing

17:06

Christians understand the doctrine of the sufficiency of scriptures the infallibility the inspiration the inerrancy of Scripture and so anyone who comes along and just says glibly.

17:19

Oh, I believe That the Bible is the only authority like some well -meaning

17:24

Catholic person most Evangelicals will just accept it outright and not understand that if you look at Rome's Minutiae in their teaching about their authorities like Tradition and the versus the

17:39

Pope versus the scripture and how these three authorities interrelate to one another

17:46

They will not be able to identify the subtle lie that Rome puts forth that the scriptures are above the

17:57

Pope and tradition in the authority for the believer and But you so therefore this is a real issue for today, especially since the church has be has become more and more apostate

18:10

Doctrinally and it is no longer a priority in the worship services and in the teaching ministries of most evangelical churches to ground the members of the church in sound doctrine

18:23

Especially all of the fundamental and elementary doctrines of the Christian faith of which sola scriptura or the

18:30

Sufficiency of the scriptures alone to guide us as the only rule of faith and practice in the

18:36

Christian life is a very critical Teaching because if we cannot agree on the source of our authority

18:42

Chris everything else from there in the discussion is a moot point and so You look today at so many things

18:52

Concerning how do we apply this doctrine in the daily life and this idea of tradition now?

18:59

Tradition has some value But it often contains the wisdom of the world

19:05

So when we look at tradition as it relates to the church and our worship in the church and our study of Scripture We have to sniff out worldly wisdom and unscriptural implications and Cast them out spit out the bones, but if the scriptures are sufficient

19:25

Human tradition is never our authority and traditions can always be changed so These traditions only have value as long as they serve scriptural purposes

19:38

There are biblical traditions For example, the church by way of tradition not command began to worship on the first day of the week

19:46

After our Lord rose from the dead and and so many churches worship on different days.

19:53

We have Bible studies We have Wednesday night service. Well, what makes? Sunday the main day of worship.

19:58

Well, is that a tradition in honor of the resurrection? So as long as tradition does not violate

20:04

Scripture nor contradict it Nor you start the authority of biblical of the Bible then

20:10

Generally speaking, it's okay. But we of course must always test our traditions to the scripture but Roman Catholicism Claims to accept the

20:19

Bible's authority as as you so aptly said But actually their teaching specifically rejects

20:27

Scriptural sufficiency they exalt the tradition of the church or as you said the authority of the Pope who they teach speaks ex cathedra

20:36

To be equal with the authority of the scriptures and Catholicism is man exalting traditionalism at its heart the two

20:46

Doctrines you mentioned the doctrine of just faith alone and scripture alone

20:51

Are rejected really when you look at the finer points of their teaching even many mainline

20:57

Protestant churches rejects Scriptural authority Chris and have nothing to offer but tradition, especially the high church

21:06

National or worldwide denominations Many of them have abandoned the sufficiency of the scriptures a long time ago teaching a weak and changeable moralism in which is determined By tradition or society or the opinion of the teacher and it's interesting that the

21:28

Catholic Church will acknowledge That The the letter to Timothy that the

21:37

Apostle Paul wrote which is included in the canon that they agree with that part of the canon because obviously the

21:44

Catholics disagree with our Old Testament canon, but the Second Timothy 3 16 verses 17 that you were reading before all scripture is inspired by God and and some

21:59

Translations I have heard from those who know the New Testament Greek Koine Greek will say that actually means

22:07

God breathed all scriptures God breathed and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for trading in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work and If the

22:22

Catholics were consistent and they were were to claim this as God's truth breathed directly out from God through Paul If they were consistent in their belief that that is true.

22:38

How could they possibly believe that? Praying to Mary is a good work that praying to Images statues and paintings and icons of Mary and the

22:49

Saints. How could they believe that those are good works? how could they believe that worshiping the elements of The mass is

22:59

A good work and there are so many things that the Roman Catholics the Roman Catholic Church teaches and has even dogmatized that are nowhere to be found in scripture and Yet they would have us believe that they are a good work or good works

23:13

Even though they're not in that God breathed Scripture that Paul speaks of right exactly

23:23

Let me ask you a question. Has anyone ever Come to you a professing

23:28

Christian and you got into a conversation with them and they began to say well God told me this and God.

23:34

Oh, yeah, obviously those are typically not exclusively but they are typically charismatic or Pentecostal Christians that say that but I I have experienced even just run -of -the -mill evangelicals who don't

23:46

Necessarily believe in the the continuation of signed gifts saying things like that Right, well that this is the the second thing that is dangerous today this hazardous mysticism where because we're living in a in in a day where a

24:02

God told me generation of Christianity is increasingly the

24:10

Prevalent way of Telling someone else how you are led and what decisions you make and choices in your life

24:17

Where if people feel something they suggest it must have been from God We're told in the

24:24

Bible to test the spirits But too often people don't even know how to test their own feelings even many

24:31

Christians they assume that what they feel and what they think is spiritual in nature and that the only spirit that Would try to influence them is

24:45

God Well, this is extremely dangerous because our own hearts can't be trusted as Jeremiah 179 says that the heart is deceitful above all things and Desperately wicked who can know it and because also there are spirits other than God That would influence us to do evil or to think evil or to believe evil if they can

25:06

So if you're looking for the voice of God in your experiences and feelings

25:11

Satan will do his best to provide a counterfeit So, how will you really know?

25:17

What is true and what is false? Well, the Bible says and the Bible teaches that the scriptures are sufficient we shouldn't be looking for extra revelations from God around every corner and Under every tree or expecting to hear the voice of God in every feeling and looking for that in every personal experience

25:36

I would say good seven eight Up seven out of eight professing

25:42

Christians. I talk with outside of my church talk like this They've incorporated this terminology into their conversational language

25:50

God told me this and I felt the leading and I felt this and everything seems to be based more and more on on mystical experiences and feelings rather than the

26:01

Word of God in fact, don't you think that and I'm I'm fairly certain you've experienced this is that sometimes it comes under the guise of False humility and and what

26:15

I mean by that and I'm not even necessarily saying That the person is conscious of the fact that they are lying but you will hear things such as I've even heard this from Christian authors.

26:29

Wow. This is a Interesting book you wrote here. Well, I don't take any of the credit.

26:35

This is all from God This is oh, well, really then why don't we staple it next to Revelation if that's the way you feel about it

26:44

And you know, it could be a number of things. It could be a song that somebody wrote. Oh, I don't know

26:50

I don't deserve any of the thanks. This all came from God they they have this humble approach to answering that question and what they are really doing is

26:58

Exalting what they have done to a status of God breathed Yes, they do and we need to be very careful about that when we describe where our inspiration comes from that We don't get too close to Connecting with it with divine inspiration on the part of the scriptures

27:15

But my point is that if the scriptures really do give us everything to make us perfect Why are we looking for something more?

27:22

This God told me mysticism has caused a lot of Instability a lot of confusion and a lot of weak doctrinal foundations on the part of many believers

27:35

Many Christians bounce from one God told me experience to the next Without ever asking if it's really

27:42

God that's speaking to them and the Bible is clear that we must test the spirits whether they be God from God if they speak not according to this word is because there is no truth

27:52

No truth in them. The third point that I would bring up is the false notion of the place of psychology in in directing our lives our view of how people think and act shouldn't be influenced by psychological philosophies that know nothing of God and biblical truth

28:14

Because when we reject the Bible's authority Chris in Describing the workings and problems of the human heart like pride and selfishness

28:25

Which They end up becoming instead of sin a lack of self -esteem

28:33

This idea this biblical notion of slavery to sin Then becomes an addiction or an illness.

28:41

That's what happens when we use Psychology to direct our lives rather than the scriptures and therefore sin becomes a mere product of our bad environment and not an internal problem of the human heart and so these things minimize our sin problem the idea of using psychology to trace out the source of our bad behavior and It ultimately

29:10

Portrays us as victims rather than responsible people who need a solution to sin psychology's approach to the human condition is

29:20

Not found in Scripture and when we adopt a psychological method of solving problems We deny the truth that the

29:26

Bible is sufficient to describe our problems and we limit our ability to Understand and apply its solutions if we use the man -invented

29:35

Psychology to diagnose our problems will inevitably end up with Man -centered answers to those problems and man has never yet devised the solution that will get man

29:46

Right with God or give true freedom from sin and we have to go to it We have to go to a break right now

29:52

So pick up where you left off there on that point of psychology And if anybody wants to join us our email address is

29:58

Chris Arnzen at gmail .com Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. If you have a question, see HR is a

30:04

RN Z and a gmail .com Please give us your first name your city and state in your country of residence

30:10

If you live outside the USA and only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter, don't go away

30:16

We'll be right back with Joe Jacob. It's and the sufficiency of Scripture right after these messages from our sponsors

30:26

Tired of box -store Christianity of doing church in a warehouse with all the trappings of a rock concert

30:32

Do you long for a more traditional and reverent style of worship? And how about the preaching perhaps you've begun to think that in -depth biblical exposition has vanished from Long Island Well, there's good news waiting

30:44

River Baptist Church exists to provide believers with a meaningful and reverent worship experience

30:49

Featuring the systematic exposition of God's Word and this loving congregation looks forward to meeting you call them at 6 3 1 9 2 9 35 12 for service times 6 3 1 9 2 9 35 12 or check out their website at wrbc .us

31:08

That's wrbc .us I'm James white of Alpha Omega ministries

31:15

The new American Standard Bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study used by pastors scholars and everyday readers

31:20

The NASB is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable Bible translation The NASB offers clarity and readability while maintaining high accuracy to the original languages

31:29

Which the NASB is known for the NASB is available in many editions like a topical reference Bible Researched and prepared by biblical scholars devoted to accuracy the new topical reference

31:39

Bible includes contemporary topics relevant to today's issues From compacted giant print

31:44

Bibles find an NASB that fits your needs very affordably at NAS Bible calm Whichever edition you choose trust discover and enjoy the

31:52

NASB for yourself today. Go to NAS Bible calm. That's NAS Bible calm

32:04

Charles Hedden Spurgeon once said Give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read

32:12

He who never quotes will never be quoted He will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own you need to read

32:22

Solid ground Christian books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the Prince of preachers to heart the mission of solid ground

32:30

Christian books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and To publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world

32:39

Since its beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish God -centered

32:44

Christ exalting books for all ages We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid ground books .com

32:52

That's solid ground books .com and see what priceless Literary gems from the past or present you can unearth from solid ground

33:01

Solid ground Christian books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of iron sharpens iron radio

33:09

Hi, I'm pastor Bill Shishko inviting you to tune in to a visit to the pastor's study every

33:15

Saturday from 12 noon to 1 p .m Eastern Time on WLIE radio www .wlie540am

33:25

.com We bring biblically faithful pastoral ministry to you and we invite you to visit the pastor's study by calling in with your questions

33:33

Our time will be lively Useful and I assure you never dull join us this Saturday at 12 noon

33:39

Eastern Time For a visit to the pastor's study because everyone needs a pastor Hi, I'm buzz

33:50

Taylor frequent co -host with Chris Arnzen on iron sharpens iron radio I would like to introduce you to my good friends

33:56

Todd and Patty Jennings at CVBBS Which stands for Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service?

34:02

Todd and Patty specialized in supplying reformed and Puritan books and Bibles at discount prices that make them affordable to everyone since 1987 the family -owned and operated book service has sought to bring you the best available

34:15

Christian books and Bibles at the best possible prices Unlike other book sites.

34:21

They make no effort to provide every book that is available because frankly Much of what is being printed is not worth your time

34:27

That means you can get to the good stuff faster It also means that you don't have to worry about being assaulted by the pornographic

34:36

Heretical and otherwise faith insulting material promoted by the secular book vendors. Their website is

34:42

CVBBS .com Browse the pages at ease shop at your leisure and purchase with confidence

34:49

As Todd and Patty work in service to you the church and to Christ That's Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service at CVBBS .com

34:59

That's CVBBS .com Let Todd and Patty know that you heard about them on iron sharpens iron radio

35:07

And you can also call CVBBS .com at their toll -free number eight hundred six five six zero two three one eight hundred six five six zero two three one

35:18

Those phone lines are usually manned between 10 a .m. And 4 30 p .m. Eastern Standard Time eight hundred six five six zero two three one and they have a new offer if you purchase $50 or more worth of merchandise from CVBBS .com

35:37

They have a new book that they are giving you free Dr. Joel Beeky's book knowing and growing in assurance of faith

35:46

It's a $15 retail value that you will get absolutely free of charge by purchasing $50 or more worth of merchandise

35:54

From CVBBS .com, please. Please. Please always remember To mention

36:00

Chris Arnz in an iron sharpens iron radio when you're placing any order If you're calling them at their toll -free number, obviously you could tell them that verbally

36:09

But if you are ordering by the internet CVBBS .com

36:15

The only way that you could tell them that is by clicking on the instructions Area and writing that you heard about them from Chris Arnz in an iron sharpens iron radio

36:26

So, please do that It's very important for you If you want iron sharpens iron radio to remain on the air you have to let our advertisers know that you are indeed

36:37

Patronizing them because they will have no idea that they are getting Patronized from my listeners unless you tell them so please tell them that and that will help us

36:48

Remain on the air in a big way And we are now back with our guest

36:54

Joe Jackowitz. I think I Accidentally called you Jacob. It's and you may still hear me call you

36:59

Jacob. It's from time to time by mistake. It's Jackowitz, correct All right. I'm sorry about that brother

37:05

Okay, and we are Discussing the sufficiency of Scripture. We already have an anonymous listener from New York State who asks in your condemning of Psychology, are you ruling it out altogether?

37:23

Is there any proper use of it for the born -again Christian in your opinion that would not violate the sufficiency of Scripture?

37:30

No, I was going to address that there is a place for medical Elements to be used in counseling and that it could be certain medication used for psychological illnesses

37:45

There are chemical imbalances that people have that are rooted in a pure medical

37:52

Physiological or mental problem and there is a place for medicine and in a rare rare situation

38:02

The effects of biological medical problems upon the mind for An opinion of a psychiatrist or psychologist, but it is indeed a rare instance when that occurs and We'll pick up where you left off before the break on psychology

38:22

Yeah, well, I pretty much finished that point on some of the

38:29

Switches we see today from our focus and belief in the scriptures alone as Being sufficient to guide the believer and direct the believer.

38:39

We looked at tradition and mysticism and pretty much finished the idea of psychology, but then the fourth one

38:48

I wanted to touch on is the celebrity preacher worship and There are many

38:55

Pastors who are wonderfully gifted by God to understand the Bible to explain the

39:01

Bible to teach the word but unfortunately too often Christians will exalt these men to the point where the teacher himself becomes the authority and when we challenge these people

39:14

On their beliefs that this man is almost infallible. I can name a few

39:19

Teachers that I think reached this status With some of my friends through the years, but when we challenge them

39:28

There can there is a tendency for them to say well preacher X says this and teacher

39:34

Y agrees with him and You're almost left with the impression that You know, it doesn't matter what the

39:43

Bible says these luminaries of the theologians Calvin Luther or whoever even a contemporary pastor a theologian says such and such a thing

39:54

Why even bother search the scriptures or compare their teachings to the scriptures? But preacher

40:00

X is not our authority nor is teacher Y the scriptures are sufficient and we don't need another guide the

40:06

Bible says that we are to test all things by the inscripturated word even the

40:12

Apostle Paul Was cross -checked by the Bereans who searched the scriptures to see whether the things that Paul spoke were so Therefore preacher our preachers that we we indeed hold them in high esteem and we are told in the

40:29

Bible to respect them and to love them for their work's sake and so forth, but And teachers can help us understand the

40:39

Bible. That's why we're given teachers and that's why pastors and teachers are given gifts of teaching and great grace to understand the

40:48

Bible and to explain it and to apply it through expository preaching and through the

40:55

Topical teachings of the Word of God unto great edification of the believers and the members of the church

41:01

But we need to keep in mind that men are fallible and should always be tested by the scriptures

41:06

To see whether their teachings are true We should not give the authority of the

41:12

Bible to human teachers or speak in a way that implies They have the authority

41:18

The teachings of men are always open and should always be open to examination and criticism

41:24

No matter how effective their ministry may be no matter how big their the numbers in their churches are

41:30

No one is perfect And if we really believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, we would never and should never speak as if they are

41:38

You know that goes back to The Roman Catholic issue

41:45

The Roman Catholic Church will often claim that sola scriptura or the sufficiency of Scripture is our

41:54

Achilles heel because they will say you say that the scriptures are sufficient and the scriptures themselves don't even say that and they don't even say that they are the sole infallible authority of the church

42:06

Well, the fact that they are identified as God -breathed should be sufficient to come to that conclusion because It reminded me of an analogy

42:19

Let's say you are camping in the woods with a friend your friend gets bit by a rattlesnake and You you say

42:33

Don't worry, I have this manual that was written by a physician and also an expert on snakes on what to do in this circumstance and Then one of your other buddies with you says don't worry about it.

42:49

I've got an old Family remedy passed down from my grandmother's grandmother all throughout our family lineage

42:57

I know how to take care of this snake bite Well, you would probably be much more secure in using the writings of a

43:07

Researcher of snakes who is a physician an expert in this area now you you multiply that millions of times over When you have

43:15

God breathed truth Why does there even need to be an explanation that any tradition outside that cannot possibly?

43:25

Be on any level even close To the authority of scripture it is what

43:30

I said Does what I said make sense to you? Yes Absolutely, correct and the

43:36

Bible itself. However, good some of these external Helps are an aid in supporting the

43:43

Bible or Lending more trust in the Bible no matter what it is whether it's you know, grandma's a recipe on a on a

43:54

Scriptural level that you're making that metaphor related to or anything else the scriptures are infinitely superior in Directing our lives and giving us clarity concerning who

44:06

God is Knowledge of God and what God's will is for our lives. Why would we want any other source of?

44:14

direction for our lives actually the Bible says that the scriptures are self

44:20

Authenticating and self -attesting they bear witness to themselves and don't need any outside source to confirm them as the

44:29

Word of God because first of all of their Non -contradictory nature the

44:35

Bible has no contradictions in it Secondly the testimony of the

44:41

Lord Jesus Christ in the scriptures to the Bible being the Word of God God breathed from the

44:48

Lord himself in Many places in the New Testament the Lord makes reference to the law and the prophets and Moses Identifying it as the

44:59

Word of God. And so the Lord Jesus is the second witness that the scriptures are self -interpreting and attesting thirdly the witness of the

45:10

Holy Spirit of the truth and people's minds and their consciences the way in which he has

45:17

Inspired the writers of Scripture and how the unity of Scripture through the

45:23

Holy Spirit inspiring these writers You know confirmed the entirety of scriptures and the fourth reason concerning the authority of the

45:33

Bible is the power to change lives and The way in which the

45:38

Holy Spirit leads all true believers to agree with the essential

45:44

Doctrines of the faith. I'm not talking about all the doctrines that believers profess to Embrace and believe but I'm talking about the essential doctrines of the faith such as the deity of Christ the resurrection of Christ the the

45:59

Trinity and So forth every true believer must believe in those fundamentally central doctrines of the

46:06

Christian faith, so These these bear witness to the fact that the

46:12

Bible doesn't need any outside sources To affirm its reliability and its veracity

46:20

We do have a listener in I know that My instincts are to pronounce this

46:27

Versailles, Kentucky as it would be pronounced in France but and I think in Kentucky they call this

46:33

Versailles, don't they? we we have been in Versailles, Kentucky and He says what is the best approach to share the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture in Missions when dealing with someone unfamiliar with the gospel

46:54

Well, that's the first of all you need to start there. You need to start with the scriptures you cannot really share the gospel and evangelize and make progress with someone in Bringing the good news of salvation to them without first agreeing that the

47:11

Bible is the Word of God and So to promote the sufficiency of Scripture We ourselves first of all need to be people of the

47:22

Bible We need to understand the Bible ourselves very at least in the in the basic doctrines of the

47:30

Christian faith basic Christian doctrine so do our

47:35

Reading habits and personal decisions show that we believe scripture is enough

47:41

We need to look at our own spiritual life and answer truthfully and make changes accordingly

47:46

Because we need to have be firmly rooted in a belief that the scriptures alone are the

47:52

Word of God because we're going to be Challenged by so -called sea lawyers and experts from other religions who will try to bring wedges into Our convictions on this very very important doctrine

48:06

So we ourselves need to understand the scripture and being convicted about it, and we need to be a model and a good example of what the

48:14

Bible teaches and we need to go beyond more than just Bringing in the milk of the milk of the word.

48:21

We need to be versed in many portions of the meat of the word We need to stretch our appetite in studying and meditating upon the scriptures

48:29

To be able to take the deep things the weightier matters of the law very very

48:37

Smoothly and easily into our minds and hearts so we need a regular appetite on the meat and the milk of the

48:44

Word of God and So I I hope that addresses that question

48:51

Thank you, Ben keeps spreading the word about iron sharpens iron radio in Versailles, Kentucky and beyond You know the

48:58

Roman Catholic Church once again They have called or some who are apologists among them have called sola scriptura a blueprint for anarchy because they believe that without an infallible interpreter of the scriptures we will be in chaos and Apparently in contrast they are allegedly supposed to be some kind of united Monolith which is ridiculous.

49:25

I mean they're Alleged Infallible interpreter the the papacy and the magisterium have not preserved some kind of Biblically sound

49:42

Unanimously agreed Monolithic Church they there are all

49:47

Kinds of Roman Catholics that have not been disciplined or excommunicated who are teaching in seminaries and writing books

49:54

There are ultra left -wing Catholics who are communists and Marxists and who have very unbiblical

50:05

Acceptance of Homosexuality and all kinds of things and you have cultic Roman Catholics on the other end of the spectrum say the vacantists and Lefebvre rights and all kinds of ultra right -wing

50:19

Traditionalist Catholics, so this is it. No way has protected them from schism and from division and all that but The the fact of the matter is that the

50:35

The other churches that would profess to be Christian as well such as cults

50:44

Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and others They do not adhere to sola scriptura.

50:52

And in fact, I can read I could still vividly remember Marcus grodi, who is the host of the journey home

51:01

Radio program or television program. I should say Catholic television program may also be on radio as well.

51:08

And He said that sola scriptura has led to the forming of cults like the

51:14

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons That's absolutely absurd because the Jehovah's Witnesses do not permit people to be

51:21

Berean and just study the scriptures and Follow their convictions of what the scriptures say you have to go by the

51:31

Watchtower Track Society, I believe it's called their headquarters for the

51:38

Kingdom Hall and you have to go by their Interpretations of the Bible and the Mormons don't even hold to the one book of the scriptures they of course, which is 66 books, but they

51:51

Do not contain all of their inspired writings in the scriptures.

51:58

They have the Pearl of Great Price. They have the Doctrine and Covenants. They have outside sources of what they would believe our

52:06

Our God breathed authority outside of the scriptures. So those two examples are

52:13

To give them as examples of what can arise from sola scriptura is pure nonsense. Am I right?

52:19

Yes, it is. I don't know where some of these cults and these false religions come up with the fact that They they

52:31

Try to validate their Teachings by saying that The scriptures are are not sufficient.

52:40

So I think it's amazing on another note Chris that while the cults and the false

52:46

Gospels and the world's religions are increasing their attack on The scriptures as the only standard of truth the only rule of faith and practice for the

52:56

Christian faith Believers seem to be becoming more ignorant and weaker in their understanding about the vital place of the scriptures as the very foundation as the objective source of truth and understanding

53:13

God in the Christian faith So the Bible the veracity and the infallibility and the sufficiency of the scripture is not only under Increasing attack, but it's it's fighting right now

53:25

We're fighting a losing battle and we need Christians more than ever before true believers to become educated

53:32

To take the time to make a commitment to a course of learning what the

53:39

Bible is Learning the scripture learning the various doctrines of the

53:44

Bible Defending the sufficiency of scripture. We need to encourage people to read and study the

53:51

Bible people in our churches May not naturally think to spend time reading the

53:56

Bible at home Pastors are are not Encouraging their members more and more to study the

54:03

Bible as the church growth movement and the purpose -driven church Model and paradigm seems to be increasing and spreading throughout the world

54:14

Less and less of the importance of studying the Bible is emphasized from the scripture

54:19

So we need we need to get out there as believers and encourage Others to study the scripture to go deep in our in our meditation and study on the

54:31

Bible Teaching newer believers in these weaker churches of the vital critical importance of studying the

54:40

Bible memorizing the basic doctrines of the Christian faith strengthening their understanding of the sufficiency of the scriptures memorizing scriptures and scripture references about The infallibility and inspiration of the scriptures especially those who are not accustomed to being challenged and rebuked and exhorted on the importance of Studying the

55:04

Bible people who are not accustomed to reading and meditating on the scripture They're either biblically illiterate or semi illiterate and we need to get out there

55:14

And we need to be gently bold but we need to gently but firmly encourage people to follow the lead of God's Word in You know spreading the

55:26

Word of God rather than rely on uncertain extra biblical sources of knowledge and reading

55:32

Christian novels and other other sources of supposed truth and Things that would motivate and inspire us to be better Christians It is the scripture alone that will change us to be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ and to help us grow

55:51

We need to desire the pure milk of the Word that we may grow by it And we have to go to our midway break right now.

55:57

It's a longer break the normal because grace life radio 90 .1 FM in Lake City, Florida requires a 12 -minute break.

56:05

So please be patient with us and please take this opportunity to write in your questions

56:10

Our email address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com a Chris Arnzen at gmail .com.

56:16

Don't go away We'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors Tired of box store

56:22

Christianity of doing church in a warehouse with all the trappings of a rock concert Do you long for a more traditional and reverent style of worship?

56:30

And how about the preaching? Perhaps you've begun to think that in -depth biblical exposition has vanished from Long Island Well, there's good news

56:38

Wedding River Baptist Church exists to provide believers with a meaningful and reverent worship experience

56:43

Featuring the systematic exposition of God's Word and this loving congregation looks forward to meeting you

56:50

Call them at 6 3 1 9 2 9 35 12 for service times 6 3 1 9 2 9 35 12 or check out their website at Wrbc .us,

57:03

that's wrbc .us I'm James White of Alpha Omega Ministries The New American Standard Bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study used by pastors scholars and everyday readers

57:15

The NASB is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable Bible translation The NASB offers clarity and readability while maintaining high accuracy to the original languages

57:24

Which the NASB is known for the NASB is available in many editions like a topical reference Bible Researched and prepared by biblical scholars devoted to accuracy.

57:32

The new topical reference Bible includes contemporary topics relevant to today's issues From compact to giant print

57:39

Bibles find an NASB that fits your needs very affordably at NASBible .com Whichever edition you choose trust discover and enjoy the

57:46

NASB for yourself today go to NASBible .com. That's NASBible .com

57:52

Hi, I'm Chris Arnsen host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio here to tell you about an exciting offer from World Magazine My trusted source for news from a

58:13

Christian perspective Try world at no charge for 90 days and get a free copy of R .C.

58:19

Sproul's book Relationship between Church and State. I rely on world because I trust the reporting

58:26

I gain insight from the analysis and world provides clarity to the news stories that really matter

58:32

I believe you'll also find world to be an invaluable resource to better understand critical topics with a depth

58:38

That's simply not found in other media outlets Armed with this coverage world can help you to be a voice of wisdom in your family and your community

58:46

This trial includes bi -weekly issues of World Magazine On -scene reporting from World Radio and the fully shareable content of world digital simply visit

58:58

WMG .org Forward slash iron sharpens to get your world trial and dr.

59:04

Sproul's book all free No obligation with no credit card required visit world news group at WMG .org

59:14

Forward slash iron sharpens today Have you been blessed by iron sharpens iron radio?

59:26

We remain on the air because of our faithful sponsors and because of listeners like you there are four ways you can help

59:32

First do you know potential sponsors who may wish to advertise their goods or services on iron sharpens iron radio?

59:40

second whenever possible purchase the products or use the services that our sponsors advertise and Then let them know that you heard about them on iron sharpens iron radio

59:51

Thirdly you can also donate to iron sharpens iron radio by going to our website at iron sharpens iron radio

59:57

Dot -com and click support at the top of the page, but most importantly keep iron sharpens iron radio in your prayers

01:00:05

We hope that iron sharpens iron radio blesses you for many years to come Iron sharpens iron radio is sponsored by Harvey Cedars a year -round

01:00:22

Bible conference and retreat center nestled on the Jersey Shore Harvey Cedars offers a wide range of accommodations to suit groups up to 400 for generations

01:00:32

Christians have enjoyed gathering and growing at Harvey Cedars Each year thousands of high school and college students come and learn more about God's Word an additional 9 ,000 come annually to Harvey Cedars as families couples singles men women pastors seniors and missionaries 90 miles from New York City 70 miles from Philly and 95 miles from Wilmington and easily accessible

01:01:01

Scores of notable Christian groups frequently planned conferences at Harvey Cedars like the

01:01:07

Navigators InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Campus Crusade and the

01:01:12

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Find Harvey Cedars on Facebook or at hcbible .org

01:01:21

hcbible .org Call 609 -494 -5689 609 -494 -5689

01:01:32

Harvey Cedars where Christ finds people and changes lives Every day at thousands of community centers high schools middle schools juvenile institutions

01:01:55

Coffee shops and local hangouts Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need

01:02:02

Jesus We are rural and urban and we are always about the message of Jesus Our mission is to have a noticeable

01:02:08

Spiritual impact on Long Island, New York by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ Long Island Youth for Christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959 we have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement

01:02:25

To youths in need all over the country and around the world help honor our history by becoming a part of our future

01:02:32

Volunteer donate pray or all of the above for details call, Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333

01:02:42

That's 631 -385 -8333 Or visit liyfc .org

01:02:51

That's liyfc .org Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said

01:03:05

Give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read

01:03:10

He who never quotes will never be quoted. He will not use the thoughts of other men's brains

01:03:16

Pruesley has no brains of his own you need to read Solid ground

01:03:22

Christian books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the Prince of Preachers to heart the mission of solid ground

01:03:28

Christian books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and To publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world

01:03:38

Since its beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish God -centered

01:03:43

Christ exalting books for all ages We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com

01:03:51

That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past or present

01:03:57

You can unearth from solid ground Solid ground Christian books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of iron sharpens iron radio

01:04:05

And I want to thank all of you who have been responding to these ads To solid ground

01:04:11

Christian books and helping them a dig out of a sale slump Means the world to me that Mike Gadosh has reported to me

01:04:20

That there are quite a number of you listening who have begun Purchasing once again or for the first time

01:04:29

From solid ground Christian books as a direct result of hearing the ads on iron sharpens iron radio and Even a couple of very large

01:04:38

Purchases were recently made from iron sharpens iron listeners so I just I Can't explain to you in the

01:04:46

English language how grateful and how thankful I am to you and also how grateful and thankful to God I am for you and This is the way you're going to help our

01:04:57

Sponsors continue to sponsor iron sharpens iron radio because obviously they can't continue to Sponsor us if they can no longer afford it or if they no longer exist themselves

01:05:10

But thank you very much. In fact, you heard me Aaron add earlier for a

01:05:16

CV bbs .com. Well, you can even order solid ground Christian books titles from CV bbs .com

01:05:25

Because solid ground Christian books is a publisher and CV bbs .com is only a distributor

01:05:32

They do not publish their own books So therefore if you want to go to solid dash ground -books .com

01:05:39

solid dash ground -books .com make a long list of Everything that you want to purchase that they publish and then you can go to CV bbs .com

01:05:48

and order those books And as I said, please mention that you heard about CV bbs .com

01:05:55

or solid ground Christian books from Chris Arnzen and iron sharpens iron radio And if you really want to make that $50 minimum goal with CV bbs .com

01:06:05

Why not order solid ground Christian books titles to help you get to that goal or to exceed that goal and to win the free

01:06:13

Copy of the book by dr. Joel Beeky that we mentioned to you earlier

01:06:19

It's a $15 retail value book Titled knowing and growing in assurance of faith by dr.

01:06:27

Joel Beeky Absolutely free of charge if you order a minimum of $50 worth of merchandise from CV bbs .com

01:06:34

and please include as many solid ground Christian books titles in your

01:06:40

Selection as you possibly can and before I return to our interview. I Just have to let you know that coming up in just a couple of weeks from January 17th through the 20th the g3 conference returns to Atlanta, Georgia on the 17th, it begins with a debate between Reformed Baptist apologist and theologian.

01:07:01

Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries and a Muslim apologist then on the 18th of January through the 20th

01:07:11

The English speaking conference begins and that's on the theme Knowing God a biblical understanding of discipleship

01:07:19

The speakers include Steven Lawson Vodie Baucom Phil Johnson Keith Getty HB Charles jr

01:07:24

Tim Chalice Josh Bice James White Tom Askell Anthony Matheny and Michael Kruger David Miller Paul trip

01:07:30

Todd Friel Derek Thomas Who's my guest this Friday? Martha Peace Justin Peters and Stephen Nichols if you want to either register to attend the conference or to register for an exhibitors booth

01:07:43

Like the ones that I am going to be Manning for Iron Trip and Zion Radio and my guest

01:07:49

Joe Jackowitz is going to be Manning for first love publications if you want to register for your own booth

01:07:57

Go to g3 conference comm as well and please mention Chris Arnzen and I interpret

01:08:02

Zion Radio last but not least I know you may grow weary some Over me begging you for money now every day

01:08:11

Something I resisted doing for years for years I never made one single public appeal for a donation for Iron Trip and Zion Radio But I finally caved in to the urging of my paying advertisers

01:08:25

Who wanted me to make these public appeals because they want me to remain on the air They want to continue advertising in my program and obviously the only way they'll be able to do that is if I'm still around So if you really love this program and you don't want us to disappear we we are really on the verge of going

01:08:44

Off the air and that is not an exaggeration If you love this program go to a solid ground Go to soft crackers and books.

01:08:51

I was just about to say go to iron sharpens iron radio .com iron sharpens iron radio .com

01:08:57

Click on support. You will be given a mailing address where you can mail a check for any amount you can afford

01:09:04

And made payable to iron sharpens iron radio and Please as I always try to remember

01:09:11

To remind you never ever ever siphon money out of your regular giving that you're accustomed to to your local church

01:09:18

If you're not already a member of a Bible believing church or prayerfully seeking one out

01:09:24

You are living in disobedience to God So I urge you please to find a good solid

01:09:30

Bible believing church and join it and never Siphon money out of your giving to that to give to iron sharpens iron and never take food off of your family's dinner table

01:09:38

If you're struggling to make ends meet Those are two commands of God Supporting my program is not a command of God.

01:09:45

But if you are blessed above and beyond your ability financially to support Your church and your home as the

01:09:52

Bible commands Then please consider donating to iron sharpens iron radio as much and as often as you possibly can.

01:09:58

I thank all of you who have Responded to my urgent pleas for help and have been sending in very generous gifts some of you

01:10:08

Even two to three to four times a month That blows me away.

01:10:13

I love you for that and I thank you for that and I am grateful to you for that and If you want to advertise with us

01:10:22

Send me an email to Chris Arnson at gmail .com Chris Arnson at gmail .com Put advertising in the subject line and as long as whatever it is you want to advertise is compatible with the theology

01:10:32

We express on iron sharpens iron radio. We would be more than happy to launch an ad campaign with you

01:10:38

Because we certainly need the advertising dollars. That's Chris Arnson at gmail .com

01:10:44

Well now we are finally back with Joe Jackowitz who is founder of first love publications

01:10:50

And he is one of two pastors at Christ Bible Church of Pleasanton, California We are discussing the sufficiency of Scripture and One of the things

01:11:00

I wanted to bring up to you right now Joe are some of the stereotypes That people have in regard to what sola scriptura means or even the sufficiency of Scripture.

01:11:12

There are Christians there are some fundamentalists and other

01:11:18

Bible believing Christians who mock those of us Especially those of us who are theologically reformed or Calvinistic Because they will say that we are violating

01:11:29

One of the very pillars of the Reformation that we claim as our own sola scriptura because we are known

01:11:36

We're having very large libraries in our homes. We are very well known for going to Bible conferences and breaking our backs carrying out the very heavy load of Books written by great men of God throughout the ages and Because of the fact that very often are the sermons that are preached by our pastors

01:12:01

Will not only obviously contain the scriptures which are the most important of all things to be

01:12:07

Featured in a sermon and that sermons should be based on but they are very often.

01:12:12

These sermons are very often bolstered by quotes of great men of God and and This is not a violation of sola scriptura or the sufficiency of Scripture at all when rightly handled

01:12:25

No, it's not Actually, I think they're well -meaning. I think their zeal

01:12:31

Has preceded them they have perhaps more zeal than knowledge on this subject and it I think it's an overly simplistic approach to This topic of the the sufficiency of Scripture, but let's back up a little bit and let's remember how

01:12:47

God teaches us God has raised up pastors and teachers in the church.

01:12:53

He gives them a mind and Understanding to be able to not only know

01:13:00

God and understand who God is But he gives them a gift and a talent to be able to rightly divide the word of truth

01:13:08

He gives them the Holy Spirit who provides Insight and perception and understanding into the the the doctrines of God's Word he also gives these men a cognitive and analytical ability to to coherently

01:13:27

Not only understand the doctrine but to teach it in a way that is simple, but also understandable organized and It leads to edification and growth and maturity in the

01:13:42

Christian faith This is a gift that God plants within the hearts and minds of pastors and teachers

01:13:49

These men have many different personalities but the one thing they have in common on this point is that they're gifted by God to present truth to the congregation in a way that it brings clarity edification and inspiration in Maturing and growing the members of the church in their relationship with Christ This is an amazing privilege and great mystery how

01:14:14

God chooses Fallible human beings like pastors and teachers in the church to deepen one's

01:14:21

Relationship with the Living God in a supernatural way where they actually love

01:14:26

God more they serve God more diligently They grow in the grace and knowledge of God It's an amazing privilege to be a pastor and a teacher of course

01:14:36

To be any believer who has given any gift from God, but on this particular point when pastors and teachers that the mode or the form of Teaching is not as important as the gift itself that ultimately results in the edification of the church and there are two primary methods of teaching it is

01:14:59

Verbally verbal teaching where the pastor or the teacher stands up and teaches the

01:15:04

Word of God verbally and The people hear it audibly, but another way is in writing

01:15:12

We're taught we're given it not only a cognitive ability by God a gift by God to comprehend to understand

01:15:23

Concepts and truth and Things in an organized way so that we can remember them and make those things profitable in our lives but also

01:15:35

The Lord the Lord gives us a gift To to take those same truths not only communicate them verbally but also in writing in writing and the

01:15:46

Apostle Paul himself Learned through this way in in Jerusalem when he sat under Gamaliel he learned through reading

01:15:54

Even and as a Christian he continued to study and to read he valued

01:16:00

Books back then they didn't print books the way they do today but he told

01:16:07

Timothy in 2nd Timothy 4 13 bring the cloak that I left in Carpus at Troas when you come and the books

01:16:15

Especially the parchments so How how do we learn?

01:16:21

How do we learn? We learn through reading we learn through studying of Course printing was not invented until the 15th century

01:16:30

But through reading and studying books. There are many many great books that theologians in the faith the history of Christianity witnesses

01:16:41

Great truths books, although these books are not inspired by God like the original autographs the original scriptures are but these men who are given a gift of teaching and preaching and writing are gifted by God to Organize the truth in such an edifying way as to cause the church to grow

01:17:03

So it's it's absurd to think that books written by people Cannot have the same impact in in terms of the edification of the church as auditory preaching

01:17:16

Yes, and the fact that these scriptures Require certain

01:17:24

Things for a man to possess In his life in his godliness and so on in order to be

01:17:36

Qualified for the the role of a teacher The very fact that there is a

01:17:43

Mandate for us to have teachers and that they are there. It can't be just anybody These are men that need to stand

01:17:53

Head and shoulders above the crowd in in many ways and The very fact that this exists in the

01:18:02

God -breathed and errant scriptures We would be foolish not to make use of great teachers from the past.

01:18:08

They don't have to be living teachers We'd be foolish to it totally ignore because these men who say that I'm just using the

01:18:18

Bible I am NOT going to be using John Calvin or Martin Luther or Charles Spurgeon or all these men.

01:18:25

I'm just using the Bible. Well, that's actually Disingenuous because they aren't just using the Bible.

01:18:31

They're using themselves and the Bible and there is a level of arrogance and haughtiness and sinful pride

01:18:40

For a man to think that he doesn't need any assistance at all to more accurately follow the scriptures am

01:18:49

I Stepping over bounds here and saying that no You're not and it almost borders on being exclusivistic where you are purporting to have a direct line

01:18:59

With God, you don't need any earthly teachers. You don't need to read any books.

01:19:05

You don't need any other vehicle or channel of inspiration or source of revelation other than this

01:19:11

Supposed direct line to God by way of direct revelation. That's a direction a very bad and dangerous direction one is going when they

01:19:22

Dismiss the value of earthly teachers whether they be heard on CDs or tapes or on the internet or like your program or books or in church

01:19:36

And you know the Word of God comes in many different ways in many different forms as long as we are accurately embracing the solid teaching of Scripture biblical truth

01:19:48

Tested by the by the scripture, of course God God has used his word

01:19:54

He has in in many different vehicles many different forms and methods to deliver to people

01:20:02

Books and radio and television to save his people and to edify his people

01:20:08

Yeah, there are many people who are are so proud Like like the

01:20:13

Pharisees they don't need anyone or anything just God But God himself has designed and ordained the church as a primary means of growth and maturity for believers he has used and ordained and Designed earthly teachers and preachers as long as they stay on the narrow road of truth

01:20:33

For their edification as well, and we have so many enemies against us the world of flesh in the devil

01:20:38

We need to take advantage We need to be humble and meek and admit we're weak and we need to take advantage of Every means available to stay faithful to God Reading of the scriptures, of course and meditating on them is the primary means and we need to make sure we don't substitute

01:20:56

The scriptures for something else, but we need to we need to make sure we are faithfully attending worship services

01:21:03

There are other means for our edification like prayer meetings communion services Bible studies cell group meetings the constant meditation of Scripture Individual prayer walking with God even when we use every means available for our sanctification that God has given to us

01:21:21

The Bible says we are at at best Barely saved scarcely saved so I don't know how some of these

01:21:29

Teachers say they only need God and the Bible I need every every means

01:21:35

I can possibly Use legitimately to help me stay on the narrow path that leads to heaven, you know

01:21:43

And also we have to be careful not to confuse people. We do believe as reformed

01:21:49

Protestant Bible believing Christians in the perpiscuity of Scripture, we do not believe that The scriptures are so difficult from cover to cover

01:22:03

So difficult to understand in any way that they require some elite clergy

01:22:09

To rightly handle the scriptures. I mean we are to be Berean and the scriptures are plain enough

01:22:16

That the things we need to know in order to inherit eternal life are easily understood but that but in saying that Not everything in the scripture is easy for us to understand.

01:22:30

I might adequately or accurately Explaining the perpiscuity of Scripture yes, the idea of the perpiscuity of the scripture is that the

01:22:39

Bible can be understood and correctly interpreted by anybody like you suggest we don't need some priest or prelate or Pastor to spoon -feed us every single word every single syllable

01:22:54

And and help us along babysit us Every single moment of the day and helping us to understand the scripture

01:23:01

The Bible says that God's given us a mind and he's also as Christians He's given us the

01:23:08

Holy Spirit We read in 1st John chapter 2 that you have an anointing from the Holy One and you have no need that anyone teach you

01:23:15

For the Holy Spirit teaches you all things now He's not suggesting that we don't need earthly teachers or disparaging pastors and teachers in their role as teachers or else

01:23:26

He would contradict himself in by saying in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that pastors are apt to teach

01:23:33

That is God gives them a gift to teach for the purpose of teaching the Saints so that they can grow in the grace and knowledge of God No, but but whenever there is a lack of teachers or even if there are competent capable teachers in the church

01:23:51

We still have the individual responsibility as Christians to study for ourselves and to stretch our minds imaginations and mental faculties our intellect our memory as far as we can stretch them in developing and cultivating our mental gifts and powers in Studying the

01:24:12

Word of God for ourselves. So we need both to study the Word of God individually and God has given us a a logical and Coherent mind most of us anyway so that we can absorb the meaning of Scripture But he's also given us the

01:24:29

Holy Spirit to open up a very critical element of our Bible study that we cannot do ourselves he and he

01:24:38

Illuminates our minds to understand the spiritual import and meaning of the

01:24:43

Word of God So we need to do our part in developing the mental faculties and also the spiritual gifts

01:24:52

God has given us and having the scripture be as Profitable and edifying to us in our individual

01:24:58

Bible study but at the same time we need to ask that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand the

01:25:05

Spiritual meaning of Scripture and to help us apply it to our lives So the perspicuity of the scripture is just that God through the mental gifts and Mental faculties as well as through the

01:25:17

Holy Spirit Anybody from as long as we can read or or understand the taught word?

01:25:25

Can not only understand the scripture, but we can understand how to apply it to our lives and grow by it

01:25:31

Yes, hence What Jesus Christ declared?

01:25:38

In John chapter 10 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me that supernatural

01:25:45

Awakening that Christ's true sheep true sheep have by his grace

01:25:51

Have received by his grace. We are following The voice of the

01:25:56

Shepherd through the preaching and teaching of the word today Obviously Jesus Christ is not walking physically among us or he's not audibly communicating with us but today we are hearing the voice of the

01:26:08

Shepherd through the preaching and teaching of the word and even if we do not have the

01:26:14

The gifts or the requirements to be an official teacher in the church

01:26:20

We certainly have a responsibility Unless we are mentally impaired in some way

01:26:25

To be studying the scriptures as the Bereans did and therefore that's where the the perspicuity

01:26:33

Really comes home to bear on what we're talking about The scriptures are not so above The comprehension of the average person that we are to just say when we are hearing a preacher a teacher

01:26:49

I'll take your word for it. I don't know what you're talking about, but you know, you're a lot smarter than me

01:26:54

So I'll just trust in what you're saying because you have credentials and all that and it unfortunately that is the way

01:27:01

Throughout the centuries and even today you'll have many Roman Catholics and I am a former Roman Catholic Who don't ever pick up their

01:27:10

Bible because they know well the priest knows that stuff. I don't need to know that stuff I can't even understand it

01:27:15

I don't I'm not even gonna waste my time But as long as the priest knows what he's talking about as long as I'm faithful to the church

01:27:21

I don't really need to know what the priest is talking about That is unfortunately the attitude of many and of course that's not confined to Catholicism alone

01:27:30

But it's obviously extremely Notorious in Catholicism and even

01:27:37

Roman Catholic apologists admit that that's true and Protestant and evangelical churches have their share to blame in that area when believers in fundamental some fundamentalist churches and Evangelical independent churches will turn their minds over to their pastors and rely exclusively on their pastors to interpret the

01:28:01

Bible for them without reading it for themselves and Because you have this authoritarian pastor syndrome where in some churches the pastor is

01:28:11

King And what the pastor says is law is Interpretation of Scripture is the only interpretation and it must be obeyed and indeed the pastor must preserve order in church and safeguard sound doctrine

01:28:25

But not to the point where his preferences and his opinions are law and he himself is above the process of being checked and challenged and Scrutinized in his teaching to make sure that the things he teaches are so The believe the pastor's duty as a teacher and counselor in helping believers understand the meaning and application of Scripture sometimes grows beyond biblical boundaries in some churches and the pastor dominates and Controls the lives of the congregation in a way

01:28:57

Beyond his scriptural authority and so that's why Christians need to think for themselves

01:29:03

Yeah, they're to respect their pastors and submit to their elders and their pastors as long as those pastors are accurate in their interpretation and application of the

01:29:16

Word of God and One thing that believers need to keep in mind is that the wisdom that is from above is both in James 3

01:29:25

It says is pure gentle willing to yield so any pastor that stands up like a

01:29:30

Hitler in the church like a Diatrophies and begins to demand that the members obey him and embrace his interpretation without question

01:29:42

Not only is unscriptural doctrinally in demanding that but his attitude his demeanor and His behavior is unscriptural as well.

01:29:52

I had an experience recently last year we went to the Philippines and I taught in a church and we had a conference where the pastor pretty much operated the church that way and every teaching that came forth had to conform to the pastor's interpretation and Believers there were very weak in their approach to Bible study and their understanding because they were afraid that if they got too knowledgeable and if they

01:30:22

Went deep in their study of the Bible. They perhaps would encounter teachings or beliefs

01:30:28

That would go counter to their their pastors beliefs. And so they were kept deliberately dumbed down Well, we have to go to our final break right now if you want to join us our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com

01:30:42

In fact, let me take one question and have you I'll read the question to you and you can answer it when we come back this will give you a time to mull it over in your mind and look at your own catalog because the

01:30:55

Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Says could you give me a list of books that you publish from first love?

01:31:06

publications that are the best titles to give to unbelievers very good question and We'll have you answer that question when we return from our break if you have if any

01:31:18

Anybody else in the listening audience has a question. Our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com chrisarnsen at gmail .com

01:31:27

Don't go away. God willing. We'll be right back after these messages with more of pastor Joe Jackowitz and the sufficiency of Scripture Paul wrote to the church at Galatia for am

01:31:38

I now seeking the approval of man or of God or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man,

01:31:45

I would not be a servant of Christ. Hi I'm Mark Lukens pastor of Providence Baptist Church We are a reformed

01:31:51

Baptist Church and we hold to the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 We are in Norfolk, Massachusetts We strive to reflect

01:31:59

Paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how God views what we say and what we do

01:32:04

Than how men view these things? That's not the best recipe for popularity. But since that wasn't the

01:32:09

Apostles priority, it must not be ours either We believe by God's grace that we are called to demonstrate

01:32:15

Love and compassion to our fellow man and to be vessels of Christ's mercy to a lost and hurting community around us and to build

01:32:22

Up the body of Christ in truth and love if you live near Norfolk, Massachusetts or plan to visit our area

01:32:28

Please come and join us for worship and fellowship. You can call us at 508 -528 -5750

01:32:35

That's 508 -528 -5750 Or go to our website to email us listen to past sermons worship songs or watch our

01:32:43

TV program entitled resting in grace You can find us at Providence Baptist Church ma .org.

01:32:49

That's Providence Baptist Church ma .org or even on sermon audio .com Providence Baptist Church is delighted to sponsor iron sharpens iron radio

01:33:03

One sure way all iron sharpens iron radio listeners can help keep my show on the air is to support my advertisers

01:33:09

I know you all use batteries every day So I'm urging you all from now on to exclusively use

01:33:16

Battery Depot calm for all your battery needs at Battery Depot calm.

01:33:22

They're changing the status quo They're flipping the script. They're sticking it to the man In other words, they'd like to change the battery industry for good by providing an extensive inventory of top -of -the -line batteries

01:33:35

There are uniformly new dependable and affordable Ordering from Battery Depot calm ensures you'll always get fresh out -of -the -box batteries

01:33:44

You can count on to work properly at competitive prices Whether you need batteries for cordless phones cell phones radios

01:33:53

PCs laptops tablets baby monitors hearing aids smoke detectors credit card readers digital cameras electronic cigarettes

01:34:03

GPS's mp3 players watches or nearly anything else you own that needs batteries go to Battery Depot Calm next day shipping available all products protected by 30 -day guarantees and six -month warranties

01:34:19

Call 866 403 3768 that's 866 403 3768 or go to Battery Depot calm.

01:34:31

That's battery Depot calm Linbrook Baptist Church on 225

01:34:37

Earl Avenue in Linbrook, Long Island is teaching God's timeless truths in the 21st century Our church is far more than a

01:34:44

Sunday worship service It's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant

01:34:49

It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing

01:34:57

We're a diverse family of all ages Enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ in fellowship play and together.

01:35:04

Hi I'm pastor Bob Walderman I invite you to come and join us here at Linbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can be call in Brook Baptist at 5 1 6 5 9 9 9 4 0 2 that's 5 1 6 5 9 9 9 4 0 2 or visit

01:35:18

Linbrook Baptist org that's Linbrook Baptist org Chef exclusive catering is in South Central, Pennsylvania Chef exclusives goal is to provide a dining experience that is sure to please any palate

01:35:33

Chef Damien white of chef exclusive is a graduate of the renowned Johnson and Wales University with a degree in culinary arts and applied science

01:35:41

Chef exclusive caterings event center is newly designed with elegance and style and is available for small office gatherings bridal showers engagement parties and rehearsal dinners

01:35:53

Critics and guests alike acknowledge chef exclusives commitment to exceeding even the highest expectations

01:36:00

I know of their quality firsthand since chef exclusive catered by most recent iron sharpens iron radio pastors luncheon for details call 717 -388 -3000 717 -388 -3000 or visit chef exclusive comm that's chef exclusive comm

01:36:26

Hi, I'm pastor Bill Shishko inviting you to tune in to a visit to the pastor's study every

01:36:32

Saturday from 12 noon to 1 p .m Eastern Time on WLIE radio www .wlie

01:36:41

540 a .m. Dot -com We bring biblically faithful pastoral ministry to you and we invite you to visit the pastor's study by calling in with your questions

01:36:50

Our time will be lively Useful and I assure you never dull join us this Saturday at 12 noon

01:36:56

Eastern Time for a visit to the pastor's study because Everyone needs a pastor. Welcome back, and I want to wish a very happy birthday to someone who is

01:37:07

A dear friend of not only my guest Pastor Joe Jackowitz, but has become a very favorite

01:37:17

Guest of mine on iron trip and Zion radio and I have the honor and privilege of having interviewed him for the very first time ever on this program, which absolutely amazed me

01:37:29

Considering the fact that many in reform Baptist circles consider him a legend

01:37:35

And actually a quite a historic figure among us. I'm speaking of pastor Bill Downing of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley in California today is his 77th birthday

01:37:48

So I want to extend to him my birthday wishes and the fact that I am praying that the

01:37:57

Lord grants him many more years of faithful service and laboring in his kingdom for the spread of the gospel and We just thank

01:38:09

God for gifts to the church like pastor Bill Downing what a Very rare unique and an incredible man.

01:38:16

He is am I right pastor Joe? Oh, don't get me started on that. Yes, indeed. He is

01:38:22

He's not only a personal friend but a mentor he officiated at my ordination 30 some years ago and The first love publications our publications ministry.

01:38:34

He has contributed several volumes in our catalog Excellent books that really helped to strengthen the church.

01:38:42

I only on the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture but in many other doctrines as well and Topics and he's written several new books that we've we've published and we're in the process of publishing

01:38:57

But I would take this opportunity myself If he is listening to wish him a happy birthday

01:39:03

I'm gonna call him anyway a little later on today, but he is a Dear man of God and if we had a thousand more like him across the

01:39:13

United States I think our country would be in a lot better shape Amen, and for those of you listening if you live near Silicon Cal Silicon Valley, California Or if you're planning to visit there or if you have family friends loved ones or acquaintances that live near there the website for more information is sg bc

01:39:39

SV org that's SG for Sovereign Grace BC for Baptist Church SV for Silicon Valley org and I cannot more highly recommend the preaching and teaching ministry of Pastor Bill Downing known by many as Mountain Man Bill because until his health and age began to prohibit it he was quite an avid hunter a a boar a wild boar hunter and I Can't help but repeat a humorous

01:40:19

Story that a friend of mine Dave Dykstra many years ago told me he said Having a conversation because Dave Dykstra is an avid hunter.

01:40:27

He said I was having a conversation with Bill Downing Said what do you like to hunt? He says I hunt wild boar.

01:40:33

He goes. What do you you Dave said? What do you use and Pastor Bill said I use a knife and he said well,

01:40:39

I'm not talking about butchering it. How do you hunt with it? He said a knife I hide in a tree when

01:40:44

I see a boar roaming around beneath me I leap out of the tree onto its back and stab it to death

01:40:53

That is a mountain man, that is not an exaggerated nickname Yes, he told me that over and we need to pray for him

01:41:07

I encourage your listeners to pray for Pastor Downing because we need many more years of Ministry from from him though.

01:41:15

He is 77 years old. He's still pastoring full -time at church He has a writing ministry

01:41:20

And so I would I would be surprised if he works under 70 hours a week probably 70 hours is low but bless his heart he has such a gift of preaching and writing and First love publications has a number of books.

01:41:37

We still want to get from him from his writing ministry and So we we need to pray for his health just in general because we love him

01:41:47

But also to have the Lord continue to bless the church through his writing and preaching ministry

01:41:52

Well, as you know before the break, I read a question from Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Who wants to know what are the best books that you publish?

01:42:03

from first love publications that are best suited for giving to unbelievers and and of course

01:42:12

This is a great way to dovetail on the sufficiency of Scripture because this proves since you are leading a ministry that publishes books

01:42:22

Extra biblical extra canonical books written by Great teachers of the faith yet mortal men not writing

01:42:34

God -breathed Instructions for us, but at the same time Right who have written many wonderful and useful books throughout the centuries you do not see that at all as an inconsistency with the scripture with the

01:42:49

The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. No, I don't I think through missionaries radio television and Especially through the printed page.

01:42:59

The Word of God is being spread throughout the world even fulfilling two prophetic passages in Scripture that the knowledge of the

01:43:06

Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea that's taken from Habakkuk chapter 2 in specific reference to the world just prior to the second coming of Christ and then of course in Matthew 24 and other passages that The gospel of this kingdom shall be preached unto all the world and then the end shall come so it doesn't mean that there will be worldwide revival and Billions a but it means that there will be this paradox of both things getting worse and worse in terms of moral decay throughout the world while simultaneously the

01:43:42

Truth of God's Word will be readily available and will be spreading Through various formats and and means but I I believe especially the printed page

01:43:52

And so first love publications Seeks to do that. We have 51 titles on our website that you're welcome to look in answering

01:44:01

Susan's question We have five categories of books. One of them is evangelistic.

01:44:07

We have about three books and About eight or ten tracks that would be ideal to give to unsaved people

01:44:14

Susan The first one I would recommend is a book about a hundred page book Titled questions answered for the seeking soul written by Robert Jones And this book is excellent to not only give to an unsaved person because it's written in simple

01:44:31

English But also you can use it for one -on -one Bible studies

01:44:36

Or discipleship sessions with unsaved people small group Bible studies with unsaved people because each chapter is one or two pages in length

01:44:46

Answering a question that an unsaved people an unsaved person would ask questions such as why was

01:44:53

I born? What is my purpose in life just instinctive questions that unsaved people ask? Unconsciously just about every question along those lines that unsaved people ask are

01:45:06

Covered in a short chapter in this book and you could sit down and cover one chapter at a time with with an unsaved relative

01:45:13

Or friend, it's an excellent book. There are scripture references scattered throughout the book

01:45:19

So that's questions answered for the seeking soul the next book would be

01:45:27

Written by Newman Hall it's called come to Jesus again the format of the book is similar to the previous one where the author takes one page and lays out a

01:45:41

Proposition in teaching the gospel. It's about a 50 page booklet called come to Jesus written by Newman Hall And then some excellent tracks,

01:45:51

I would recommend Called one of them is called eight lies you hear on campus and in the world and in this booklet it answers

01:46:01

I think eight fallacies or lies that unsaved people have about God or the

01:46:10

Bible For example, the first lie that is addressed is in order to believe the

01:46:15

Bible one must commit intellectual suicide And then the answer from scripture is given and so it's excellent for campuses colleges and universities

01:46:25

But also just to give the unsaved people in the world eight lies You will hear it deals with a lot of misconceptions unsaved people have but it also gives them the gospel in the process

01:46:34

And then a track called. Are you born again is an excellent one six tests for the

01:46:40

Christian and For the non -christian as well Are you born again written by JC Ryle who was a one of my personal favorites and then are you ready an important question?

01:46:53

The implication being are you ready for the second coming of Christ again written by JC Ryle?

01:46:59

These are some excellent tracks that can you can use in your evangelistic outreach also one of our more prolific authors

01:47:08

Robert Jones wrote a book for believers called the soul winner Spurgeon wrote a book by the same title, but Robert Jones wrote this book and to encourage believers in their evangelistic

01:47:21

Endeavors the last track I'll mention is called. What crisis are you facing very short two -page track?

01:47:28

But it dresses people going through crises and the last time I looked most unsaved people go through crises

01:47:35

Constantly, so it's an excellent track My pastor friend Tony Okoro in Lagos Nigeria says this is the best track

01:47:43

He has used in his ministry. What crisis are you facing again written by Robert Jones?

01:47:51

First love publications will send you these materials. Just go to our website They're free of charge go to first love publications org one word first love

01:48:03

Publications org and you can order these tracks online and Click on it put it into your cart and we will send them to you postage paid

01:48:15

Well, praise God for that. And once again the website for first love publications is first love publications org first love publications org and It is quite a remarkable thing that you're doing

01:48:32

I mean I have seen and own some of the books That you publish that you give away for free and these are top quality

01:48:43

Bindings and covers. These are not cheap ugly things

01:48:48

I mean no matter how Beautiful and true the contents of books are very often if they are

01:48:58

Published or printed in a cheap fashion and I recognize that there is certainly a

01:49:05

At times a need for that. It's far better that books when they are good and biblically faithful It's far better that they are distributed

01:49:14

Even if printed cheaply then not distributed or purchased or received at all

01:49:20

But you just go above and beyond the call of duty by having these books really

01:49:27

Published in the same quality as the finest and most renowned of Publishers produced their own material.

01:49:37

Can you explain that? Yes. Well, we believe that it's important to give a quality book to someone

01:49:45

It's not extravagant and we don't we don't Spend a lot of money in buying the most expensive

01:49:52

Resources to print our books as a matter of fact, we not only have a quality product

01:49:58

But we work hard at trying to find the cheapest resources We can to print them.

01:50:04

All of our books are printed in India Southern India a Christian printer there the fourth largest printer in India prints our books so we're able to print our books and booklets and tracks at 1 5th to 1 10th the core the cost of most

01:50:20

Christian or all Christian companies in the United States the printer in India gets their paper from China, which is where most printers who

01:50:31

Overseas get their papers the cheapest paper and the highest quality and of course the labor

01:50:37

In India is very cheap. So we're able to hold our costs down through through the cheaper labor and the cheaper paper

01:50:44

I guess a probably better phrase would be least expensive paper because it's just not cheap paper. It's not garbage cheap least expensive

01:50:51

Thank you with my Jewish background. I should have said it that way Anyway, so yeah, we we find very inexpensive

01:51:01

Resources to print our materials, but we also try to bring very beautiful cover designs that are attractive we know that only the

01:51:09

Spirit of God can move someone to Assimilate our materials read them and profit from them

01:51:16

But at the same time we do our part in trying to have a cover design that's very relevant to the topic that's being taught in the book as well as attractive to the eye and so Yeah, we we we've never had someone tell us that our materials are are

01:51:36

Bad or cheap in that sense. Praise God for that and Why don't you other than the ones that you listed for Susan?

01:51:46

Why don't you tell us about some other? Books that you have in print that that might be of interest even to the seasoned

01:51:54

Christian or the pastor among us Well, we have five categories of books. We have the evangelistic

01:52:01

Materials we have about a total of 15 books and tracts that are evangelistic in nature that we send to believers and to Churches in their efforts to reach out with the gospel.

01:52:13

We have an apologetics category where we seek to defend the faith through a books that are in a designed to address issues that come up in defending the faith against the cults and the false

01:52:31

Gospels and We have books like presuppositional ism, which teaches the presuppositional

01:52:39

Position of Apologetics or the Discipline of defending the

01:52:45

Christian faith against the world religions and cults and we Dr.

01:52:52

Paul Nelson wrote that book And then we have other books on apologetic topics

01:52:59

I'm on my website right now going through it We've got books on doctrinal

01:53:07

Topics dr. Downing whom you mentioned earlier has written several of our books. The most popular book we distribute is titled catechism on Bible doctrine

01:53:19

It's a library in itself because it has every major doctrine of the

01:53:25

Christian faith not every doctrine exhaustively, but every major doctrine of the

01:53:30

Christian faith Explained and taught in a catechism format, which is a question and answer format

01:53:36

So as I click on the doctrinal section here, we see first of all that comes up is dr

01:53:42

Downing's two -volume book set on Old Testament survey Which the format is very unique And then we have a book titled the

01:53:52

New Testament missionary if any of your listeners want to Be a missionary or have been praying about Getting involved in missions or one more information on missions life

01:54:05

That's the best book I've ever read on missions by Cliff Heller the New Testament missionary

01:54:10

And then we have a booklet that's very popular called the devil in the church By E .M.

01:54:15

Bounds most people know him as the author of the books on prayer But bounds wrote another book about heaven and interestingly in that book

01:54:24

He has two chapters on how the devil works in local churches to cause disunity and bring about Destruction and it's very insightful the particular focus is showing how entertainment switching the preaching and teaching of the

01:54:41

Word of God for entertainment how it can destroy a church and Then we have a book on lectures on revival a 350 page book by dr

01:54:51

Downing again, and then we just printed the classic book called the sovereignty of God by Arthur W Pink I know you're familiar with that one

01:55:00

Chris and That's that's a classic going back almost a hundred years and We have a book on the relationship between the law and the gospel called

01:55:11

Trinity and triunity We have other books in the doctrinal category and Dr.

01:55:19

Downing just finished a book called how to study the Bible the best book I've ever seen on The hermeneutics or the principles of interpretation he took every major conservative and reformed work on hermeneutics and he gleaned the most important information for every one of those books he

01:55:39

Rewrote it in his own words, and he added his own information and commentary And he put it in one book called how to study the

01:55:46

Bible It's about a 400 page book, and it's at the printer right now, so if your listeners want to get a hold of that book

01:55:54

They can check us check out our website in about a month or get on our mailing list

01:55:59

And we'll send out an announcement once that it's available and again that book is free of charge, and then we have a

01:56:08

Devotional categories probably our largest category of books we have a book on addiction and the grace of God Helping people with five particular addictions including sex addiction and drugs and three others

01:56:23

We have another book on a personal revival a new book from Robert Jones a study of Psalm 138 and Isaiah 12 on the topic of revival

01:56:33

And then we have a book a classic written by Hudson Taylor union and communion

01:56:39

Reflections on the song of Solomon. That's a wonderful book in Encouraging believers to go deeper in their heart relationship with Christ A book on redeeming the time and we've just printed as well

01:56:53

EM bounds is what complete works on prayer in two volumes

01:56:58

And we added in the back of the book. I think pastors would really Be interested in this we've printed a separate book by bounds on Preaching and prayer so everything that EM bounds wrote on Prayer and the ministry prayer and serving

01:57:18

God prayer and the pastor prayer and preaching we put in one book 140 page book titled prayerful and powerful pulpits

01:57:27

But we also printed his complete works on prayer at the end of that book Concerning his complete works.

01:57:34

We put the devil in the church in that one, too Shall I oh and the last one

01:57:39

I want to mention in the devotional category is the best book on sanctification I've ever read them.

01:57:45

I'm going through it right now for the third time. I'm on like page 300 and some

01:57:51

Holiness by JC Ryle if you want to learn of what sanctification and holiness is all about you need to get this book listeners

01:58:00

Holiness, it's nature. It's hindrances. It's difficulties and it's roots the most practical

01:58:08

Applications I've ever read in a book on holiness Well, we are out of time and I want to make sure that our listeners have all of your contact information once again the website for Christ Bible Church is

01:58:25

Christ Bible Church org Christ Bible Church org and that is in Pleasanton, California And then also the first love publications website is first love publications org

01:58:39

First love publications org. Do you have any other contact information that you care to give for any listeners who are interested in missions?

01:58:45

It would like to serve in short -term missions for a week or more. We have a missions organization called

01:58:51

First love missions, but the website address is missions first love org

01:58:59

Missions first love org on that website. You'll see our mission trips if you want to serve or be a missionary worker

01:59:05

Just fill out the form and we'll be in touch with you missions first love org

01:59:11

Thank you so much Joe Jackowitz, I look forward to your return to iron sharpens iron radio.

01:59:17

Sorry to our listener Chuck We did not have time to answer your question on the Sabbath But try to keep listening and the next time we have a program on that subject

01:59:27

Please submit a question and next time Please give us the city and state and country of your location because you failed to do so when you wrote in today

01:59:35

I want to thank everybody who listened especially those who wrote questions And I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater

01:59:44

Savior than you are a sinner. Make sure you stay tuned tomorrow for Josh Bice and the next