August 26, 2020 Show with Geoff Thomas on “Prayer: Impotence Grasping Omnipotence”

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August 27, 2020

August 25, 2020 Rev. GEOFF THOMAS, who, beginning in 1965, served for over 50 years as pastor @ Alfred Place Baptist Church of Aberystwyth, Wales, will address: “PRAYER: IMPOTENCE GRASPING OMNIPOTENCE!”

00:04: Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown
00:10: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,
00:23: Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.
00:31: Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
00:38: Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation, to make one another wiser and better.
00:50: It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions, and now here's your host,
01:00: Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,
01:09: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.
01:20: This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Wednesday on this 26th day of August 2020, and this is day number two of our two -day interview with Reverend Jeff Thomas.
01:37: Yesterday we had Reverend Jeff Thomas speak on Christ in Gethsemane, and today we are going to be following up on that theme with our subject at hand, prayer, impotence, grasping, omnipotence, or to get the meaning more clear, omnipotence, just so you understand what that means, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back for day number two of our discussion,
02:05: Reverend Jeff Thomas. Thank you very much, and it's my honor to be on the program and speaking to friends far and near.
02:18: Amen, and for those of you who did not hear yesterday's show or who have not heard
02:24: Reverend Jeff Thomas before, I urge you strongly to become familiar with his preaching at sermonaudio .com,
02:32: and also if you go to banneroftruth .org and heritagebooks .org,
02:40: you will see a selection of books written by Pastor Thomas, and he was also for 50 years, for half a century, the pastor at one church, and that was
02:56: Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales, and that is a very rare phenomenon for any pastor to be at one place for half a century, and now his grandson has taken the mantle and is now pastoring
03:11: Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales. Could you give our listeners who did not hear you yesterday a brief description of that fine historic church?
03:20: Yeah, well, it's celebrating its 150th anniversary, the building.
03:28: The railroad came to town, and the university came to town all within three or four years, the first university in Wales, a little
03:37: New England kind of university town by the sea, and it flourished and grew until it's now 20 ,000 people, half of whom are students, and it has vacationers, it's a resort in the summer, it's a lovely place to be, and so I and my three daughters, my wife loved being there, and I never thought of leaving.
04:07: I never had a call to leave. God wanted to keep me there, and now my grandson, he preaches the word of God and lives in the same manse that I lived in, and I'm thrilled about that.
04:23: Amen. If anybody wants to find out more about Alfred Place Baptist Church of Aberystwyth, Wales, you can go to alfredplacechurch .org
04:32: .uk. A bit of a tongue -tier thing for me today.
04:44: Well, I am very pleased to be speaking to you again about a very important subject, prayer.
04:55: You could hardly get a more important subject than prayer in the life of a
05:00: Christian, and the specific theme you wanted to address was prayer, impotence, grasping, omnipotence, and what exactly do you mean by that?
05:12: Right. Well, everything is remarkable about Gethsemane.
05:20: His praying is remarkable. There's only one in the
05:26: New Testament we're told that Jesus kneeled to pray, and it's in Luke's account of Gethsemane, Luke 22.
05:33: Mark says, he threw himself to the ground. That's remarkable, and he prayed three times, and he is wrestling with God.
05:43: Gethsemane is not the road to suffering. Gethsemane is itself suffering. It's a part of the road he has to walk, and Gethsemane is
05:55: Christ being on a journey, and he's being tested. He's being tested immensely.
06:01: He's being tested in his love, in his trust, in his courage.
06:08: He's being tested by being asked, is it worth it? Are they worth it?
06:16: It's not the supreme moment of atonement, Gethsemane. He has yet to say it is finished.
06:23: He can't say that in the garden. The garden is the prelude. It's the first act.
06:30: Why is Gethsemane not enough? Why does there have to be Calvary as well?
06:37: Why must there be the cross and death and blood? Why these things?
06:43: Why are they the heart and the center that we are determined not to make anything more important than the dying of Jesus?
06:54: You see, Gethsemane is so beautiful in the whole passage. God Gotha is so ugly because atonement is incomplete in the garden.
07:06: It's not accomplished in the garden. He is so submissive.
07:11: He is so brave in the garden, but what is missing in Gethsemane is a sentence, a death sentence.
07:20: What is missing is justice. What is missing is divine justice being executed on the
07:27: Son of God. And that execution is the basis of our forgiveness.
07:34: God Gotha is. And Jesus is saying, Amen to the absolute need of justice.
07:43: And righteousness. It's essential. Substitution is. The Son of God must become the
07:50: Lamb of God. He must be condemned. He must be the propitiation.
07:56: God's right to damn him is asserted on God Gotha.
08:03: He will make atonement, not in Gethsemane, but on a green hill far away.
08:10: Not by repenting for others, but by dying for others. And this is his preparation for Calvary.
08:19: And how does he prepare? He prepares by praying. He falls to the ground.
08:28: Now, prayer is impotence grasping at omnipotence, I say.
08:34: And here is Christ praying. Christ is the reality of impotence, reaching out towards omnipotence.
08:43: And his praying is the greatest single indicator of his own sense of dependantness, of his own independent human sense, that with his limited, created resources, all of them, he simply can't handle the situation that's emerging before him.
09:06: And I think we must drive it and ram it home to the depths of our own consciousness, that that sense of dependantness is not a sign of sinfulness.
09:19: It's a sign of createdness. It's a sign of humanness. And it is a wonderful reminder to you,
09:28: Chris, and to me and all our listeners, that if Jesus felt he couldn't bear his load, if he couldn't climb the mountain, if he couldn't cross the river, if he couldn't overcome the temptation, except in strong cryings and tears, which he offers to God, how before God can we hope to go through life day by day and say to God, Father, it's okay.
09:59: I can handle it. And never come before God in this crushing sense of our own dependantness, our own sheer impotence.
10:12: Because when Christ is praying, he's saying in the most eloquent fashion possible, there's no way that in my own naked, my own unaided humanness,
10:23: I can carry this cross. I can finish this work you've given me to do.
10:29: I can bear this load. I can emerge from this trial. And that's why we have a praying
10:37: Christ. He is the incarnation of omnipotence, the incarnate
10:45: Son of God, the living power of God. He's the wisdom of God.
10:51: He's the enfleshment of all the ability of God's grace. And yet he is thrown down to the ground on his knees, praying.
11:04: And doesn't it say to us, Chris, that no matter what our position, what our eminence, the number and quality of our gifts, or how long, how deep our experience of God, there's no way that you and I can ever emerge into a situation where we are spiritually independent.
11:27: There's no way that we can face any day without prayer, carry any load without prayer, climb any mountain without prayer.
11:39: I don't mean that we develop a prayer life in the sense of Christian mysticism, when prayer becomes almost an end in itself.
11:48: But I do mean that you and I can only survive in the awareness of our own helplessness, our impotence, that every load is too big, every obligation is too big to love
12:04: God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
12:11: Every burden is too big. Every temptation is too big. Every privilege is too big.
12:18: And here is Christ, and he never failed. He's filled with the Holy Spirit.
12:24: He's had the most marvelous gifts of grace on a human level.
12:30: He has more right than any other creature to pretend to being independent.
12:38: And yet, in him here is felt weakness, felt impotence, grasping at the omnipotence of love and grace and power that he knows comes to him from God.
12:54: I can do all things through God's omnipotent grace.
13:00: That's what I mean by impotence grasping at omnipotence.
13:06: Very powerful and biblically true theme. And I want to give our listeners our email address if they would like to join us in the conversation with a question of their own.
13:18: It's chrisarnsen at gmail .com. C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.
13:25: Please give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.
13:30: If you live outside of the U .S .A., please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
13:40: We have a question already from CJ in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York.
13:46: And he says, when we pray, I know that we who are Reformed are very quick to remind others that we should always pray according to the
13:57: Father's will. At the same time, sometimes I wonder if our prayer life as Calvinists often reveals a lack of trust and confidence that God will actually answer our prayers.
14:13: Can you give us a correct way of understanding praying in the will of the
14:18: Father that does not diminish this confidence? What a wonderful question.
14:24: It's quite right, what you've said. You know, I feel at times, I can't ask
14:33: God for this. It's too good, too good to be true, too good for God to give me these things.
14:41: And yet, I am urged by Jesus to pray and not to faint.
14:49: And Paul tells me that God will give me exceeding abundantly, he goes on, above all, if I can ask or even think according to the power that's worked in me, that's brought me from death to life and brought me from a rebel to being a son, a child of my
15:16: Heavenly Father. And Jesus says, what child asks his father for bread?
15:23: And he gives him a snake or something to eat. He tosses a scorpion at him.
15:28: No, no child. A father loves his son. Oh, how wonderfully has
15:34: God loved me. Has God loved you to make you a Christian? What encouragement does
15:40: God bestow to tell us again and again and again that he loves us with an everlasting love and that he's going to give us abundantly, that he's going to supply all our needs according to the riches of his glory in Jesus Christ.
16:05: In Christ, that's how he's going to answer us. Not in Jeff Thomas or Hanson. Not in them at all.
16:13: But as Christ has merited, what Christ has won,
16:19: God is going to give to us. He's going to give us likeness to Christ.
16:25: He's going to give us an inheritance eternal, unchangeable, reserved for us.
16:32: That's the answer. So that's the encouragement that we have, not to faint, not to listen to the devil where it tells us, oh, you can't have that.
16:41: That's too great. That's too much. If you can pray it,
16:47: God can hear it, and God can answer what we have to say. Now, I was explaining to a friend who is not yet a
16:57: Christian. I have a very strong confidence that this person is being drawn by God due to the evidence demonstrated in his life.
17:07: But he actually asked me, how should we pray? And I was trying to explain what it meant to pray according to the will of the
17:17: Father, and he wanted more explanation. And I said to him, and if you could correct me if you think that I said this improperly or not adequately, but I said to him, the great and glorious thing about praying according to the will of the
17:35: Father is that Jesus would never answer our prayer in a way that is worse for us than the way he wills the outcome to be.
17:48: In other words, when we pray in the will of the Father, that is the very best—it's a promise that he will answer it according to the very best answer that he could provide.
18:01: Of course. That's very helpful. Indeed, what's extraordinary here, and oh, there's so little,
18:11: Chris, I can see. But part of what I'm seeing is this, the fact that it was not
18:17: God's will to hear the Lord's prayer. The cup did not pass.
18:25: And part of what I've got is the marvelous paradox of the
18:30: Messiah praying for what God did not intend to give.
18:36: Indeed, praying earnestly for what God did not intend to give him.
18:43: Sometimes we get into terrible trouble in our own souls because we think
18:49: God doesn't listen to our prayers. Now, remember,
18:57: Paul besought the Lord three times to take away the thorn in the flesh.
19:06: And am I going to say, oh, what an unspiritual man Paul was. He ought to have known that that thorn was
19:15: God's will for him. I don't find a hint of that as he recounts what happened to him.
19:26: And we have here in Christ the man,
19:32: Christ Jesus the creature, expressing its creatureliness, expressing his own shrinking, his own longing to escape from what he feels may be
19:46: God's will, but what he hopes will not be
19:51: God's will. And in that passion, in that earnestness of impurity and commitment, the
20:00: Lord prays that God's will may be different from what he dreads, from what he has reason to believe it's going to be.
20:12: You will say, you know what you will say to me? You will say to me, oh, well, the moment we know something to be
20:19: God's will, it's easy. Well, I think it might be easy for some of us maybe.
20:28: But the whole glory of Gethsemane was that God's will was not easy.
20:35: It was not easy even for the Lord himself, even for him, any more than the thorn in the flesh was easy for Paul.
20:47: It's no use you blabbing to Paul and saying, well, it's God's will.
20:54: It was still hurting. And there are many times in life when a thing is indeed
21:03: God's will, but it's sore. It's really sore.
21:10: It hurts bad. And we shrink from it. And we cry to God and sweat before God for deliverance from it.
21:23: And today I must confess that I don't feel as bad as I used to when
21:28: I find God's will difficult to bear. And I don't react critically when
21:34: I find God's poor, struggling people. And they're saying, oh, brother, this is hard.
21:42: Because it is hard. And God's will is sometimes hard.
21:48: It was hard for Christ. And I'm not surprised when those going through those things plead with God to change things.
21:58: Oh, Lord, bend the universe. Oh, Lord, make things different. And Christ in his agony is crying and probing,
22:09: Father, is there any possibility of a different cup? Oh, I want a different cup very badly.
22:20: And that really is my answer to the man who asked yesterday when he said, foolish people say it's cowardice.
22:29: Did he do? Do they know what what folly they're speaking of?
22:36: And do they realize what was involved when
22:41: Christ was given that cup and there was damnation in that cup?
22:48: And he longs for a different cup? He's the archetypal man. He's the proper man. He's the pioneer man, the author, the finisher of faith.
22:58: And oh, I take such comfort from it. He's not finding it easy. He doesn't find automatic comfort in the knowledge that it's
23:06: God's will. And he doesn't take it in his stride. He's praying. He's praying earnestly.
23:13: And yet he's praying submissively. And he's saying, yet not my will, but thine be done.
23:22: It's a marvelous depth here, Chris, aren't there? Two wills that are not exactly coincidental.
23:30: That which Christ wanted, what he desired, what he longed for was not exactly what was in the cup.
23:40: And yet there is submissiveness, not submissiveness that pretends this is what
23:47: I want. But where there is a frank acknowledgement of the pain and a confession of the hurt.
23:56: And I'm saying to God, Father, it's hurting. It's so painful.
24:04: It's so sore. But not my will, but thine be done.
24:10: I'm not going to pretend this is what I want. I'm not going to pretend this is how I'd love things to be if I could arrange them.
24:19: Sometimes as I try to bear the load and move through the pain, my voice is saying to me, you can't be right with God because if you were right, you'd enjoy it because it's
24:30: God's will. I do not, I do not for a single moment believe that Christ enjoyed
24:38: Calvary. It was pain. But he was submissive to it.
24:45: Not my cup, but the cup you give me.
24:53: Praise God. And we have to go to our first break right now. If you'd like to join us with your question, with your own question, please email us at chrisarnson at gmail .com.
25:04: chrisarnson at gmail .com. And as always, give us your first name, city and state and country of residence.
25:10: And only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
25:17: Don't go away. We'll be back with Jeff Thomas and more on prayer, impotence, grasping omnipotence after these messages from our sponsors.
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36:21: Welcome back. This is Chris Arnzen. If you just tuned us in, our guest today for the full two hours is
36:28: Jeff Thomas, who was the pastor for over half a century at Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales.
36:37: He is an author, primarily with Banner of Truth and Reformation Heritage Books.
36:44: He's also a very highly sought after conference speaker with Banner of Truth and other
36:51: Reformed ministries, and today we have him, we have the privilege of having him for the second day in a row.
36:59: Yesterday we began discussing Christ in Gethsemane, and today we are specifically addressing prayer, impotence grasping omnipotence.
37:08: And if you'd like to join us with a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnzen at gmail .com.
37:15: chrisarnzen at gmail .com. And always please give us your first name, at least your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.
37:21: If you live outside the USA, only remain anonymous. If your question involves a personal and private matter, and we do have another anonymous listener, or at least another one from yesterday.
37:33: We didn't have one yet today, I don't think. But an anonymous listener says,
37:38: I am from a Roman Catholic background, and I know that my
37:43: Roman Catholic friends and family are guilty of the sin of vain repetition when they pray.
37:51: They keep reciting the same prayers over and over and again, almost treating them like magical incantations, rather than actual communication with God.
38:02: And of course, they also sin in idolatrous ways when they cry out to the saints and Mary for answers to prayer.
38:12: Having said that, is it wrong for a Protestant church, or any church that considers itself to be biblical, to repeat the
38:20: Lord's prayer, for instance, every Sunday during service? Oh, what a good question.
38:29: Yes, that's right. Is it wrong? You can ask the same thing about the
38:38: Lord's Supper, can't you? There are some, our Roman Catholic friends, they have mass, it's their climax, every
38:48: Sunday. That is what it is. Always, always the mass, always the formula beforehand, the words that used to be in Latin, now in English.
38:58: But we have Evangelical Christians who have the
39:05: Lord's Supper every Sunday morning. And that very question you ask, how often should it be?
39:15: When I preach in the Hebrides, the islands off the west coast of Scotland, far up the islands of Lewis and Harris, and their congregation would have the
39:33: Lord's Supper, maybe as little as twice a year, or four times a year.
39:42: Now they go to other churches that are having the Lord's Supper on other weekends, and so they actually can attend but generally they don't, they just go.
39:58: That tradition has come about amongst the
40:03: Presbyterians of Lewis and Harris, because there were so very few ministers, and they weren't prepared for an elder to take the
40:16: Lord's Supper when there wasn't a minister available. Now I would be open to an elder taking it on those occasions, although I think that is too infrequent.
40:28: But I think maybe every Sunday could become, it could become too familiar, over familiar.
40:44: And I think then if you are going to go into a church and say you believe as Calvin did that there ought to be the
40:54: Lord's Supper every Sunday, I think there ought to be a corresponding growth in spirituality and holy living and godly fear and love, particularly for Jesus in his cross and resurrection and intercession at God's right hand.
41:18: Merely to repeat a rite, an ordinance, without the reality gripping your life,
41:28: I would be very hesitant about doing that.
41:34: But if there were a time of blessing, when there was an awakening ministry and people were moved by great love for the
41:48: Lord Jesus, and they'd say, ah, we'd like it more often, then
41:53: I think you'd really need to discuss that with your elders and listen to what the people want.
42:01: But without that, I would hesitate about repeating it. Now unless I read it incorrectly,
42:10: I think you misunderstood the question, because the question was not about the Lord's Supper, but the Lord's Prayer.
42:16: If you recite it every week, is that a sign of being guilty of vain repetition?
42:25: And obviously most evangelical churches that actually do that, that have perhaps a more liturgical worship service, they would not repeat the same prayer over and over and over and over and over again in the same church service.
42:40: They would repeat, Chris, the words of institution before and during the
42:48: Lord's Supper, wouldn't they? There would be a repetition there. But I'm sorry, I didn't answer properly your question.
42:55: You're quite right. I think, well, we need a wonderful freshness in our praying.
43:06: We need a close walk. We need to think upon the phrases of the
43:12: Lord's Supper, ah, the Lord's Prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, think about that. Hallowed be thy name.
43:19: Am I doing that? What does it mean? Thy kingdom come. What do I want about the extent and the growth of the
43:29: Church of Jesus Christ? There's a wonderful book of the Sermons of John Murray, which Westminster Seminary have just brought out.
43:37: Many of his prayers are there, and they are the most moving and wonderfully exalted prayers, because he was a man of God.
43:46: And as long as a man of God is taking your services, and he is a man of private prayer, then that will reflect itself in freshness and beauty and pathos in Sunday prayers.
44:01: Amen. Thank you. And we have another anonymous listener who says, when
44:06: I became an evangelical, I have been always told that I should not be using prayer books or written prayers that can become mechanical and not be really something that I am crying out to God from my own heart and mind.
44:25: And yet, a Reformed Christian friend has been urging me to purchase
44:31: Valley of Vision, which is a book of prayers reflecting how
44:37: Puritans prayed. Is this a good move for someone, and will it be robbing me of a personal connection with God when
44:47: I am praying these previously written prayers? Well, that's a fascinating question.
44:54: Yes, quite so. Do you know that's the best -selling Bible proof book, Valley of Vision? It sells by hundreds every month.
45:03: I find it helpful to stir up their own devotional life by reading it.
45:10: But I think you've got to be careful that it doesn't become a crutch, and that you are not, if you had a child that was learning and beginning to speak, you'd be sad if it just repeated the same phrases to you.
45:34: You'd think, ah, it's not growing, it's not maturing, what's wrong? I must take it to the doctor, because you would expect then that a mature child would be a creative child.
45:47: And it's similarly like that. If we're going to read prayers to God, and we have favorite ones that we read to him, he's our father, we're his children.
46:00: You don't talk to your ordinary fathers in that way, and that's the danger.
46:07: But if you can, at times if you feel rather stale, and you read some of those prayers, they're very moving and very fine.
46:17: The book of Spurgeon's prayers has come out, and those pulpit prayers are wonderful of his.
46:24: And as I mentioned, John Murray. So I think they can help us, they've set a standard for what praying should be.
46:35: Well, I'm assuming then you do heartily endorse Valley of Vision, in spite of the fact that somebody may misuse it, or any prayer book.
46:47: In fact, it just occurred to me that there are even friends of mine who are
46:52: Reformed Anglicans who use the Book of Common Prayer in their worship and their study of God's Word.
47:02: And I even know people outside of Anglicanism who enjoy that. But as long as we are not replacing personal communication with God and using it as an inspiration and an aid to grow and perhaps mature in the way we pray.
47:16: I mean, you might have people, especially who are new believers, or even believers who have claimed to know
47:24: Christ for decades, but they have never been taught rightly, and they may just bring a grocery list to God every time they pray.
47:32: So this could be a helpful aid. Of course. I've just been at a prayer meeting now for an hour, and I'm very moved by hearing my brothers and sisters, and how they express themselves to God.
47:48: And I never feel the same repetition, or that in any way they're dishonoring
47:56: God by what they say. Their concerns always lift me up. I always feel washed into a spiritual shower and clean myself by hearing them pray.
48:09: We have Bobby in Hartsdale, New York.
48:15: And he says that, I have visited churches on occasion when the prayer meetings very often have sadly become like gossip mills, where people will be praying, acting as if they are looking out for the best interests of others, but really revealing their sin in public.
48:39: Is this not something that is very wicked, and something that elders of churches should make sure never happens in a gathered prayer meeting?
48:47: That's how I was going to answer it. I was going to say, well, what are the elders doing? Why aren't they saying, now look, we're just occasionally getting, and being very gentle but persuasive in pointing out some ways in which there are sins to be avoided in a public prayer meeting, and counsel to be given, and yeah, that needs to be done as humbly and sweetly and firmly.
49:23: You know, good praying is like kissing your wife, gentle and firm.
49:31: That's how it ought to be. You've included your own version of the
49:39: Songs of Solomon in the devotion of the church. I've got to remember that line.
49:51: Thank you, Bobby. Very excellent question, and it probably is wisdom also.
49:57: I mean, I'm not saying that every church has to do it this way. The church where I'm a member, a church that you are very familiar with because you've preached there,
50:05: Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, when they have prayer meetings, the elders specifically ask for certain specific men in the church to pray, and of course they invite anyone to give their prayer requests to the elders or to the one leading the prayer service, but they do not encourage anybody just voicing out publicly a prayer that could lead to things like this.
50:37: I mean, it might even be somebody that's innocently doing it. They don't even really, they don't have a malicious intent by asking for prayer for somebody that might be involved in sin, but it might be also public knowledge that the person is involved in the sin, and you know, so it's not necessarily something that's wrong, but anyway.
51:00: We have, let's see, another listener. We have
51:05: RJ in White Plains, New York, and RJ says, when it comes to the public prayer, should our prayers be mainly about spiritual things, or is it all right that they may dominate the physical needs of those present?
51:25: Oh yeah, you big toe. I think
51:31: Auntie Mary's problem with her internal organs, and oh, it can be, people do latch on to these things, don't they, and I think we need to encourage people to pray, as the
51:57: Lord's prayer tells us to pray. Let me just say something for two minutes, because it'll soon be the major break, won't it,
52:09: Chris? The fact that Jesus was answered, and the way he was answered, it's amazing that he prayed, and prayed so earnestly, and prayed so submissively.
52:23: It's amazing the way God answered. There appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
52:30: God sent a messenger to contemplate that angel. One of our theologians,
52:36: Rabbi Duncan, said that the angel that he longed to see in heaven was the angel who comforted and strengthened his
52:44: Lord. Well, you ponder that angel, the holy angels bright who wait at God's right hand and through the realms of night fly at your
52:54: Lord's command. On this particular day, when the angels of God all appeared before the throne for their orders, there's this one, and he's given the most astonishing instruction, go to my son.
53:08: You'll find him broken in the garden of Gethsemane. Comfort him. Go and comfort your
53:15: Lord. Go and encourage your creator. Go and speak words of strength and consolation into the heart of my only begotten son.
53:25: And that's what the angels did. There was never a mission more amazing than that.
53:30: An angel sent to comfort the son of God. And how did he do it?
53:36: We're not told. Maybe he comforted him by adoring him and reigning before him, the great reality of his deity.
53:46: Maybe with two of his wings, he covered his feet and two of the wings he covered his eyes and two of the wings he flew.
53:56: And he cried, holy, holy, holy to this broken man lying on the ground in the garden.
54:04: Or maybe he spoke the same words that had been spoken at his baptism and transfiguration.
54:10: And he said, my father sent me to tell you, you are my beloved son, in whom
54:17: I'm well pleased. There was never a creature given such honor as that angel sent to comfort his
54:26: Lord. That same Lord hears and answers and comforts us when our hearts are breaking and when we fear what lies ahead.
54:39: Amen. And we have to go to our break right now, the longer break as Jeff just mentioned. Please be patient with us as we take this longer break because Grace Life Radio in Lake City, Florida requires a longer break in the middle of our show because they have to, by FCC regulations, localize
54:55: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio by airing their own public service announcements and other local things to localize this show to Lake City, Florida.
55:04: So please use this time wisely, write down information provided by our advertisers so that you can more frequently and successfully patronize them, which will hopefully result in them sticking around as our advertisers, which will hopefully result in us sticking around as a radio show, because we depend, we absolutely depend on our advertisers and the finances they provide to exist.
55:27: But also write down questions for Jeff Thomas and send them to ChrisArnson at gmail .com. ChrisArnson at gmail .com.
55:32: Don't go away, we'll be right back with Jeff Thomas after these messages from our sponsors. Iron Sharpens Iron Radio depends upon the financial support of fine
55:48: Christian organizations to remain on the air, like the Historical Bible Society. The Historical Bible Society maintains a collection of Christian books, manuscripts, and Bibles of historical significance spanning nearly a thousand years.
56:03: The mission of HBS is the preservation and public display of HBS dissemination of scripture, to provide tools equipping believers in Christian apologetics with evidence for the
56:14: Bible's reliability, and to introduce Reformation literature and Christian art to a broader audience.
56:20: Since 2004, HBS has toured schools and churches throughout the Northeast United States, reaching thousands of believers and non -believers alike who are hungry for knowledge of the
56:31: Bible. HBS's founder, Daniel P. Buttafuoco, attorney at law, is committed to sharing this collection along with an inspirational historical message that will captivate you and your church.
56:44: Come journey through their website, historicalbiblesociety .org. The collection includes a complete 11th century
56:52: Bible, an actual page of the Gutenberg Bible from 1455, the first book ever printed, the
56:58: Geneva Bible, the 1611 King James Bible, and much, much more. Visit historicalbiblesociety .org
57:06: today. Thank you, Daniel P. Buttafuoco, attorney at law, for your faithful support of Iron Trump and Zion Radio.
57:22: James White of Alpha Omega Ministries and the Dividing Line webcast here. Although God has brought me all over the globe for many years to teach, preach, and debate at numerous venues, some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church, now located at their new, beautiful facilities in Corham, Long Island, New York.
57:44: I've had the privilege of opening God's Word from their pulpit on many occasions, have led youth retreats for them, and have always been thrilled to see their members filling many seats at my
57:53: New York debates. I cannot hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught, discipled, and edified by the
58:03: Holy Scriptures, and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ.
58:08: I also want to congratulate Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham for their recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder,
58:14: Pastor Christopher McDowell. For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.
58:22: That's hopereformedli .net or call 631 -696 -5711.
58:29: That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island that you heard about them from James White on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
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01:00:04: Hi, this is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona, taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnson and the
01:00:13: Arn Sharpen's Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions while always defending the key doctrines of the
01:00:24: Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the internet where folk won't be led astray.
01:00:33: I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised
01:00:40: Chris up for just such a time, and knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.
01:00:50: I'm pleased to do so and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting
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01:01:04: I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ArnSharpen'sIronRadio .com
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01:03:04: This is Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.
01:03:10: Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support
01:03:15: Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio financially. Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers, which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in scripture through the person and work of our
01:03:32: Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, the end of which we strive is the glory of God.
01:03:38: If you live near Franklin, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some
01:03:52: Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.
01:04:01: Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.
01:04:10: This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our
01:04:15: Sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, today and always.
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01:05:55: He saw God's goodness and mercy, kindness, and the beauty in what
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01:14:06: solid -ground -books .com. And before I return to my interview with Jeff Thomas, I just have a couple of important announcements to make.
01:14:17: Please, folks, if you have not yet registered for the upcoming Bible conference being conducted by the
01:14:24: Association of Certified Biblical Counselors in Scranton, Pennsylvania, please do so today.
01:14:29: I will be there manning an exhibitor's booth for Iron Sharpens Iron Radio this Friday and Saturday.
01:14:36: It starts Friday night when people are registering and then continues in the evening on Friday and then all day
01:14:42: Saturday until 5 p .m. when it concludes. This is being held at High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, Pennsylvania, which is a suburb of Scranton.
01:14:56: And the keynote speaker at this event is
01:15:01: Dale Johnson, the Executive Director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, also known as ACBC.
01:15:09: The theme is Basics of Biblical Counseling, and Dale Johnson will be addressing such themes as the need for biblical counseling, definition and goal of biblical counseling, progressive sanctification, qualifications of a biblical counselor, secular and integration theories, what makes biblical counseling biblical, a
01:15:28: Q &A session with the audience, and more. If you'd like to join me there in Scranton, Pennsylvania, this
01:15:36: Friday and Saturday, the 28th and 29th of August, for the ACBC conference on biblical counseling, go to biblicalcounseling .com
01:15:46: forward slash scranton -pa -training. That's biblicalcounseling .com
01:15:53: forward slash s -c -r -a -n -t -o -n -p -a -training. You can also go to the website of the venue of the conference,
01:16:02: High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, Pennsylvania, to find out more about this church and its location, highpointbaptist .church,
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01:18:17: click support, then click click to donate now, and give as generously as you can and as frequently as you can as long as you have been financially blessed above and beyond your ability to provide for your church and your family.
01:18:30: And also folks, if you are not a member of a church, especially if you're not a member of a good solid biblically faithful church,
01:18:40: I can help you find one God willing. I have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the planet earth and I have helped people in our audience in all parts of the world find churches near them that they didn't even know existed that are faithful to the scriptures.
01:18:53: So if you are in that category or if you're recommending a church to somebody that you know who is not a member of a solid church or if you're going on vacation somewhere and need a church recommendation, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com
01:19:08: chrisarnson at gmail .com and put I need a church in the subject line.
01:19:13: That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Jeff Thomas on prayer impotence grasping omnipotence that's chrisarnson at gmail .com
01:19:23: chrisarnson at gmail .com and give us your first name at least your city and state of residence and your country of residence if you live outside the
01:19:31: USA only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter and just to clarify our dear brother gave us a beautiful quote earlier prior to the break from rabbi duncan and lest any of our listeners think that he was citing a non -christian source rabbi duncan was a great scottish theologian and minister and missionary in the 19th century he was actually sent out by the church of scotland to budapest hungary to evangelize the jews and uh and there were some remarkable results and fruit born from his labors amongst the jews in hungary hence that's where his nickname rabbi duncan came from and i highly urge you to look up more information about rabbi duncan that's john duncan at banner of truth .org
01:20:30: or solid -ground -books .com uh but uh where we left off um uh jeff thomas uh please uh encourage our listeners right now who believe that their lives have been far too disobedient and wicked uh for god to even dare to listen to them and answer any any of their prayers look at the failure of these uh three guys peter james and john such patents of spectacular failure they're taken to the garden to be with their savior to assist him and comfort him and watch with him every single level this monumental failure and it's worth for a moment pondering the circumstances you notice for example firstly they failed despite their position and their office these men are apostles and they're among the most eminent of the apostles they're the three that form the great inner group i don't know in many ways which way to turn this shall i say the church expects too much from its leaders or shall i say this that the leaders presume too much on their status as if our office were going to keep us then for two every church must know that those who lead it are human beings vulnerable falling stumbling sometimes overwhelmed and every leader must know the same truth about himself he's a falling man a stumbling man a failing man a human man his feelings his emotions so vulnerable and if he pretends otherwise his whole personality will break in the struggle what that dissemblance involves the church must reckon with the creatureliness of its leaders and you must reckon with your creatureliness your humanness that your experience didn't won't keep you or again you must see that these men failed despite their privileges they spent all those years with christ sometimes we are so naive we measure preachers and pastors in terms of the behavior of their people and we think that wherever there is good teaching there's going to be inviolability and perfection in the lifestyle of those who sit under it well these people had been three years with christ was it through lack of teaching that they failed lack of example lack of pastoral care it doesn't matter what privileges we have church at galatia had paul for its pastor church in corinth had paul and abolus and peter the church at philippi had tremendous privileged ministry none of those things kept them these disciples when you bear in mind had just been in the upper room with christ they sat through all the glorious discourses of john 15 and 16 they'd been at the first lord supper they went straight from john 17 prayer to get semini and they failed miserably there's no way that privilege is going to keep us furthermore they failed in spite of warnings because the lord had been most emphatic he said as he distributed the
01:24:39: Passover meal one of you is going to betray me he said to peter he denied him he said to them all satan has got you and he's gonna sift you as wheat he made the peril spectacularly clear but they were so self -confident they were so complacent they said oh we'll never never forsake you and peter he was the most emphatic of all and moments after the warning the ones who said they'd never never never never they let him down and the lord said simon it was only one hour and you said never you couldn't watch 60 minutes and sometimes people say when they hear a rapses on the part of christians oh if only someone had spoken to them if only someone had warned them well maybe someone had warned these people they'd be the objects of wonderful pastoral care and most assuredly someone had spoken to them most plainly and they still failed with all the privileges and warnings there's something else they failed when they were needed and they were needed christ didn't take them into the garden for tokenism he didn't take them into the garden simply that they would see and report what was going on it's this watch with me the gregariousness and humanness and the need for fellowship that wants company and friendship he really wanted them to pray with him he needed them to pray he needed them at last at least to stay awake that they do that now they're sleeping and maybe when the lord most needs us and when the church most needs us and the cause most needs us it's then we fail and you know it wasn't the last failure was it by any means at all it wasn't the last failure peter runs away like a rabbit and peter denies him three times with swearing ados when a girl a couple of girls say aren't you one of his men and on the mount of of ascension people are doubting and peter in galatia refers you to eat with gentiles my friends you are troubled because you said good good i'm troubled because i say not as troubled as much as i should be but in this fallen world we grow we don't experience perfection in this world but we're going to when we see him we will be like him and that hope then means we purify ourselves and tackle our weaknesses and prepare for a great metamorphosis that's going to be when he will glorify us in the twinkling of an eye so that's how i would view your concerns and my concern for um our failures as as christians we do fail these men failed god is merciful to us amen hallelujah and uh we have another anonymous listener who says i have often heard that if you are not a christian or if you are a christian in the midst of unrepentant sin that god will not hear your prayers i also keep hearing that god is omnipotent and omnipresent how can that coincide with him not hearing the prayers no no matter who the person yeah yeah that is that's not wise counsel is it um you know the verse that everyone quotes when they are talking about that if we if we consider and that means if we dwell upon if we feed sin by our imaginations by what we watch on the web by not putting to death the sharpness of our tongue the way we hurt those who we are most dependent on who love us the most if we consider and and think about these things uh my friends you are you are tempting god um you know what robert murray mccain said for every look at your sins you take 10 looks at jesus christ and that's the balance that's the proportion in sanctification for growth of course the evil that we would not that we do i'm a romans 7 man and the good that i would not i don't do oh wretched man that i am who shall deliver me from the body of this death i ask the question but i give the answer that romans gives i thank god through jesus christ through my wonderful forgiving loving merciful savior i find forgiveness when i repent of my sin i say sorry lord when at the end of the day i'm i'm in bed and i'm thinking ah i messed up again today i'm sorry lord and in the wonder of that confession to god my sins are forgiven i don't have to roll on the floor in agony i don't have to wear a hair shirt i don't have to beat myself if i confess my sins he's faithful and just to forgive me my sins and cleanse me from unrighteousness and it's those wonderful glowing strong gospel promises that the devil will keep me from and i must seize so yes oh be careful about feeding your lusts and dwelling upon them and then thinking then you can simply go from that and say uh say to god and bless me lord the lord blesses us by helping us to modify our sin and by looking to jesus christ our savior but as um our brother always says at the end of every program that our lord is more willing and more anxious to pardon our sins and we are to ask for forgiveness and those are the truest words chris ever said amen thank you um i think you would agree with me 100 that although what you said is very true and very encouraging at the same time people should not trust in an experience to think that they are truly a christian and if they are living unrepentantly that that is very good reason to question whether they are among the elect to question their hearts and of course they will never be at peace with god if they are waging ongoing war with him there was a girl she came into membership in our church and i said to her when you stand before god you want to get into his heaven uh and god will say to you why should i let you into my heaven forever and ever what are you going to answer him and she looked at me as if i'd asked the most silly question i could possibly ask her and she said because of jesus that's the reason i should get into heaven if she said well because i have strong faith i don't know dear or because i've been baptized oh dear because i've been a church member and going to church for 30 years me me me because of an experience i once had and raised my hand and got baptized or whatever me me me but if i say as she said because of jesus he's my hope he's the one i look to yes you're quite right uh because it's uh it's not uh because of some past event something we did but that because the lord gave us a new heart that discovered a wonderful savior and we're looking to him and we'll always look to him until we meet him amen and a part of the question was that if you are living in unrepentant sin you're in constant rebellion and waging war against god that you should not be comforted that you are a christian at all quite so quite so now that is that is an area of difficulty because we all sin and we all sin every day and we all sin many times a day so how do you distinguish between the frequent and ongoing sins of somebody who is a true disciple of christ with that of an unrepentant unbeliever who is really waging war against god even if they would never consider it you know what happens is people dodge good biblical ministry and they find a church which rearranges their prejudices every week and here's a man and he's uh slept with a woman and he's got her pregnant and he's arranged for a husband to be killed so he can have her as his uh as his bride another wife and he's unrepentant so god in his mercy sends a man to him and the man doesn't say to david he doesn't say god loves you and he's got a wonderful plan for your life a very pointed story of a wealthy powerful man that steals the only little lamb that a poor man has and kills him and eats him with his guests and the man david is outraged and david says who is that guy i'll get him for what he did to that poor man you are the man you had wives you had power you had women around you and look what you did you you killed a brave young man and you could take his wife and what happened was david took that message to heart and david deeply repented of his sin and if you were in that state you need to read psalm 51 and you need to ask god has he given you a repentant heart for the sins and the wickedness that you have done since professing to know and love jesus christ all those years ago you know yesterday's profession is a day late for today yesterday's confession of him as your savior is too late for the day today you need to begin again a repentant trusting relationship make a bundle of all your sins and flee from them make a bundle of all your virtues and flee from them and say what that girl said to me jesus only can take me to heaven amen and by the way uh you uh reminded me of one of the most precious conversations i ever had in my life when you were mentioning that girl or woman uh who when you asked her why she would go to heaven and she said because of jesus uh you reminded me of my conversation one of my conversations probably the most crucial conversation i had with my late mother my sweet mother virginia who was all her life a roman catholic and a very superstitious roman catholic with a lot of ritual and prayer to mary and the saints and prayers to statues and idols and things and when she when she uh was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer uh we would have frequent conversations in the hospital uh about uh her religion and her relationship with god and uh thankfully praise to the mercy and grace of our sovereign god when i asked her one day during a hospital visit i said mom do you believe you're going to heaven after this life and she said yes i do chris and i said why and she said because jesus died for me and i said mom you've been a very religious woman your whole life you've been a very good mother your children can't even think of anything to complain about you you have a life filled with good deeds filled with selflessness and sacrifice will any of that help help you get into heaven and she said oh no and i said really why and she said well that would be like the rabbi that we read about in the bible who was bragging about himself in prayer in the temple and he was thanking god that he was not a sinner like the tax collector who was also in the temple and the tax collector beat his breast bowed his head and said lord be merciful to me a sinner and jesus said that it was the tax collector that was saved and she said chris she said chris i am that tax collector i almost fell off my chair and i it was such a joy to have this it isn't that in spite of all that she'd heard about works yes um and then she'd seen one thing god had revealed one thing to her it's jesus only that can take us across that river over which there's no bridge amen and then it might encourage you also to know that uh even though i heard that wonderful testimony because of my flesh i did have lingering doubts and wonders about her eternal state and peter jeffrey the late peter jeffrey a mutual friend of ours and a fellow welshman he was visiting the united states providentially while my mother was on her deathbed and i asked him would you please visit my mother and he spent at least a half hour alone with her at her bedside and he emerged from he emerged from that sick room and he said to me i don't know what you're worried about your mother saved she's going to heaven she's born again oh what lovely encouragement that is and we have to go now to our final break it's going to be a much more brief break than the last two if you care to join us please do it immediately so you get your question before we run out of time chris arnson at gmail .com
01:42:00: chris arnson at gmail .com we'll be right back with jeff thomas right after these messages from our sponsor chris arnson host of iron sharpens iron radio here i want to tell you about a man i have personally known for many years his name is dan buttafuoco dan is a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer but not the type that typically comes to mind dan cares about people and is a theologian himself recently he wrote a book titled consider the evidence for the bible ravi zacharias wrote the foreword dan also has a master's degree in theology dan handles serious injury and medical malpractice cases in all 50 states he represents many christians in serious injury matters all over the country dan is an exceptional trial lawyer he wrote the test for the national board of trial advocacy and currently his firm has over 100 cases that have settled for one million dollars or more and in approximately 10 different states in illinois his lawyers had the fourth largest settlement in the state's history in new york his case involving a paralyzed police officer made the front page of the law journal if you have a serious personal injury or medical malpractice claim in any state i recommend that you call dan consultations are free there is no fee unless you win dan buttafuoco's number is 1 -800 -669 -4878 1 -800 -669 -4878 or email me for dan's contact information at chrisarnson at gmail .com
01:43:41: that's chrisarnson at gmail .com james white of alphanomega ministries here if you've watched my dividing line webcast often enough you know i have a great love for getting bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity and besides that they feel so good i'm so delighted i discovered post tenebrous lux bible rebinding no radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently but i'll give it a shot jeffrey rice of post tenebrous lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan all his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching jeffrey uses the finest and buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like the turquoise goat skin tanned in italy used for my nestle allen 28th edition with a navy blue goat skin inside liner and the electric blue goat skin from a french tannery used to rebind a reformation study bible i used as a gift the silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art for more details on post tenebrous lux bible rebinding go to ptl bible rebinding .com
01:45:13: that's ptl bible rebinding .com so as host of iron sharpens iron radio i frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations a church i've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is grace covenant baptist church in flemington new jersey pastored by alan dunn grace covenant baptist church believes it's god's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshiped and how he shall be represented in the world they believe churches need to turn to the bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship god in spirit and truth grace covenant baptist church endeavors to maintain a god -centered focus reading preaching and hearing the word of god singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs baptism and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship performed with faith joy and sobriety discover more about grace covenant baptist church in flemington new jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace
01:46:33: .com that's gcbcnj .squarespace .com
01:46:40: or call them at 908 -996 -7654 that's 908 -996 -7654 tell pastor dunn that you heard about grace covenant baptist church on iron sharpens iron radio charles haddon spurgeon once said give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read he who never quotes will never be quoted he will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own you need to read 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 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 since its beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish god -centered christ exalting books for all ages we invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com
01:47:52: that's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past or present you can unearth from solid ground solid ground christian books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of iron sharpens iron radio when iron sharpens iron radio first launched in 2005 the publishers of the new american standard bible were among my very first sponsors it gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the iron sharpens iron radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the nasb i'm dr joe moorcraft pastor of heritage presbyterian church in cumming georgia and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm anthony eugenio founder of the reformrookie .com
01:48:44: and co -founder of new york apologetics and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor tim bushong of syracuse baptist church in syracuse indiana and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm eli ayala founder of revealed apologetics and staff member with the historical bible society and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor josh miller of grace bible fellowship church in harrisburg pennsylvania and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm joe bianchi president of calvi press publishing in greenville south carolina and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor jake corn of switzerland community church in switzerland florida and the nasb is my bible of choice here's a great way for your church to help keep iron sharpens iron radio on the air pastors are your pew bibles tattered and falling apart consider restocking your pews with the nasb and tell the publishers you heard about them from chris arnzen on iron sharpens iron radio go to nasbible .com
01:49:53: that's nasbible .com to place your order this is pastor bill sasa grace church at franklin here in the beautiful state of tennessee our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support iron sharpens iron radio financially grace church at franklin is an independent autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of god as revealed in scripture through the person and work of our lord jesus christ and of course the end of which we strive is the glory of god if you live near franklin tennessee and franklin is just south of nashville maybe 10 minutes or you are visiting this area or you have friends and loved ones nearby we hope you will join us some lord's day in worshiping our god and savior please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about grace church at franklin our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org
01:51:10: that's gracechurchatfranklin .org this is pastor bill sasa wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign lord god savior and king jesus christ today and always we are excited to announce another new member of the iron sharpens iron radio advertising family banu gadi owner of three new york pharmacies lee's drugs of floral park long beach chemists and prescription center of long island in hempstead banu gadi earned a doctorate in pharmacy degree and is very knowledgeable on the current coronavirus pandemic please contact dr gadi so he and his expert staff can give you proper guidance amid all the contradictory confusion we are all hearing in the media to find the pharmacy nearest you call 516 -354 -2000 that's 516 -354 -2000 or order online at leesdrugsrx .com
01:52:27: that's leesdrugsrx .com don't forget to ask about their discount generic drug program greetings in the matchless name of our lord jesus christ my name is banu gadi i'm a pharmacist in new york which is the epicenter of the latest a crisis the world is going through in psalm 139 verse 14 the psalmist offers praise to the lord like this i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made and wondrous are your works that my soul knows very well he saw god's goodness and mercy kindness and the beauty and what god has designed and he has erupted into praise in any crisis or problem brothers and sisters our only fallback position is to trust god's design and once we do there is nothing for us to do but to erupt in praise to him when the whole world is searching for a solution god in his infinite mercy has given us what we need to address this illness which can be very serious such is the beauty of his design knowing the design how can we not add up in praise to our great god like the psalmist did may god bless you and give all of us wisdom to see greater things in his design thank you welcome back and uh jeff thomas if you could i'd like you to have at least three minutes of uninterrupted time to summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds in our listeners today when it comes to prayer impotence grasping omnipotence well when the hand of impotence is put in to that glorious powerful hand of omnipotence things change and things change for our lord jesus christ he prayed and he was comforted and he emerged from that garden composed we're told he came to the men and he looked at them he didn't rebuke them again he said rise let us go he stood in solidarity with them he'd gone through the struggle i'd say with all reverence that for a moment he is faltering not sinfully but humanly he tells us he's overwhelmed even to death but now he can look at these men and say get up now rise let us go he draws himself up to his full height and he stands forth in the splendid strength of the angel's comfort all the resources that have come in response to his praying rise let us go here comes my betrayer he defines who he is he knows who he is in and from that moment onwards we have again the masterful christ the one who when judas comes jesus is in control the one who when he stands before the various courts the son hadrian and then pilot and then always he is fully composed here's a great word to ourselves the composure that is born in fellowship with god that in that moment of crisis results in us going to god looking to him in our weakness and helpless and we've come out from him composed ready masterful we're ready for the meeting the interview the funeral service the new chapter in our lives we're prepared for loneliness for our own death
01:57:05: William Baxter says take what he gives and let him still through good or ill whoever lives and jesus could take from his father then all the grace to face then those last hours all the day involved and he in control he living by trust in the one he could say abba father praise god hallelujah what a perfect way to end today's interview reverend jeff thomas i really look forward to many frequent returns from you uh on the show as my guest you know you always have an open door the i am sharpened zion radio studio and i look forward to our next interview in fact i would like you to remain on the line when we go off the air because i'd like to schedule our next interview off the air and give you a proper goodbye today and i also want to remind everybody listening that if you want to find out more about alfred baptist church of everest with wales the church where our guest today pastor jeff thomas served as pastor for over half a century now being pastored by his grandson after pastor jeff's retirement that website is alfredplacechurch .org
01:58:44: .uk alfredplacechurch .org .uk also please if you have not registered yet for the association of certified biblical counselors conference this friday and saturday on the basics of biblical counseling please join me there i will be manning an iron sharpened zion radio exhibitors booth that's friday night starting at five for registration and then it will continue all day saturday and conclude at 5 p .m
01:59:13: on saturday that's this weekend friday august 28th and saturday august 29th on the basics of biblical counseling featuring dale johnson of the association of certified biblical counselors the website to register is biblicalcounseling .com
01:59:28: forward slash scranton -pa -training biblicalcounseling .com forward slash scranton -pa -training or you could go to highpointbaptist .church