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

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

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

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

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

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

Now here's our host Chris Arnton Good afternoon,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reformed Baptist Church founded in 1990 by four families in the

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

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

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

Greater San Francisco Bay Area street preaching street evangelism

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I was manning an exhibitors booth because not only did

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pillars of the Reformation it obviously hinges on a solo script

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scriptures from which come the sufficiency of Scripture is 2nd

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Need to understand first of all and identify the counterfeit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God told me generation of Christianity is increasingly the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know that goes back to The Roman Catholic issue

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bible has no contradictions in it Secondly the testimony of the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holy Spirit leads all true believers to agree with the essential

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christian faith basic Christian doctrine so do our

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Unanimously agreed Monolithic Church they there are all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bible is Learning the scripture learning the various doctrines of the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

There are Christians there are some fundamentalists and other

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Especially the parchments so How how do we learn?

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

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

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

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

Yes, and the fact that these scriptures Require certain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes, hence What Jesus Christ declared?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But it's obviously extremely Notorious in Catholicism and even

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bindings and covers. These are not cheap ugly things

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Position of Apologetics or the Discipline of defending the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EM bounds is what complete works on prayer in two volumes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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