March 28, 2023 Show with Chris Durkin on “The Importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ”

The Program Opens and the Host Introduces the Guest

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

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. 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, Chris Arnzen.

Good afternoon, 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. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 28th day of March, 2023.

And first of all, I would like to announce to our listeners a request for prayer for the families of the victims of the recent horrific murder of three adults and three nine-year-old children at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

The murderer was a woman, a biological woman, professing to be a transgendered individual undergoing the process of allegedly becoming a male. And that individual was also, as a younger person, a student at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and went into the school, I believe it was yesterday, and murdered three adults and three nine-year-old children.

And I just learned that one of the children murdered was the daughter of the senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, the church that hosts Covenant School. So please pray for the families of the murder victims.

Please pray even for the family of the murderer. I don't know what the background is of that family. I'm assuming that there's a possibility that family may be professing to be Christian since they enrolled their daughter, who was the murderer, in that school years ago.

But please pray for all involved. What a tragedy this is. And sadly, something that doesn't shock us anymore when we hear about it in the media. So please pray for that situation and all of the surviving family members.

Today we have on the program a first-time guest who came to me at the highest recommendation of Pete Hegseth, who many of you who listen to Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio will likely know that he is a Fox News host.

And Pete was on this program, actually, not that long ago. Pete was the keynote speaker at a fundraising banquet on Long Island, New York, for the Grace Christian Academy, which is the school, the classical Christian school, operated by my former church, where I was a member in Merrick-Long Island, Grace Reform Baptist Church of Merrick-Long Island, before I moved to Pennsylvania.

And Pete was the keynote speaker, and I was the master of ceremonies at that fundraiser. And while sitting at the dinner table with Keith, he strongly recommended that I interview my guest today, Chris Durkin, who was Pete's pastor before he relocated to the Nashville, Tennessee area.

Chris is pastor of Colts Neck Community Church in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He's a blogger. And we are going to be addressing today the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the crowning jewel of Christian theology, and we're also going to be promoting part two, which is the Easter portion of the Fox Nation documentary hosted by Pete Hegseth and Chris Durkin, The Life of Jesus.

It's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Trip and Zion Radio, Pastor Chris Durkin.

Chris, thank you so much for having me on the broadcast, on this podcast. It's a joy to discuss together what God's Word says about the resurrection of our Lord and our King, Jesus Christ. So thank you for this opportunity.

The pleasure is mine, brother. And tell us about Colts Neck Community Church.

We are a Southern Baptist church. We were planted about 50 years ago in what is called Central New Jersey or the Jersey.

Shore.

We're about 20 minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean. And it's interesting that New Jersey, because the total population of Southern Baptist is 0 .001%. So I was blessed and honored to receive the call to shepherd this flock back in 2010.

My wife and I grew up down in South Jersey and always had a heart for New Jersey. We always had a heart for New Jersey, not only as far as where we grew up and what is our home, but also we believe this to be our mission field as well.

So we received the call. I received the call back in 2010. And at that time, the church had been through a lot of faithful ministry, but a lot of trials and challenges as well. We had a small gathering, about 25 people that were gathering here for worship.

Over the last 12 years, by God's grace, we have seen dozens and hundreds of people come to faith. And it's a joy to serve in an area there, New Jersey. As you know, Chris, it's not exactly the buckle on the Bible belt, but at the same time—.

I think it's known as the ring on the pinky finger, isn't it? Yes.

New Jersey gets described in a multitude of different ways, which some of them are not entirely appropriate for a podcast.

Yes.

So we have, Chris, by God's grace, we have seen a lot of people come to saving faith, saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. And we have people that are from all over the spectrum. So we have, by God's grace, seen many, many Catholics come to know Christ.

We have seen many people, especially recently, leave churches that are more of a liberal theological persuasion. We tend to be a church where, whether you're Calvary Chapel or you're coming from a charismatic tradition, this is a wonderful gathering of sinners who have been saved by the perfect grace of Jesus Christ.

So here in Colts Neck, New Jersey, and here in the Jersey Shore, most of the people that gather at Colts Neck Community Church wouldn't describe themselves probably as Southern Baptists.

They would all—.

Who are born again Bible-believing Christians. So it's 12 years in, whether it's global pandemics or the hard secular soil of the state that we're called to serve in, it's really been a joy. And God gets all the glory because of His sufficient grace.

Amen. And if anybody wants more details on this fine congregation, Colts Neck Community Church in Colts Neck, New Jersey, go to coltsneckchurch .com, coltsneckchurch .com. And hopefully I will remember to repeat that information toward the end of the program.

And as you may remember, we have a tradition on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Whenever I have a first-time guest, we have that guest give a summary of their salvation testimony that would include the kind of religious atmosphere, if any, in which they were raised and what kind of providential circumstances our Sovereign Lord raised up in their lives that drew them to Himself and saved them.

And so I'd love to hear your story.

Absolutely. So I grew up down in what is called Southern New Jersey, and I grew up in a Catholic family. It was a nominal Catholic family in the sense that my family had a cultural, religious, and familial tie to Catholicism.

But as far as any kind of real devout devotion to Catholicism, it wasn't there. It wasn't present. It wasn't my experience growing up. My parents knew enough to christen us and to have our first reconciliation, as they say, and we were on the road to confirmation, we being my brother and I.

And what happened, Chris, was my parents, they went through a difficult separation and then ultimately a divorce. And from the ashes of a broken family and a broken marriage, our saving Lord revealed His light, His love, His grace, and His mercy.

So from that difficult time, and I'm probably about a young teenager around this time, Chris, 13, 14, 15 years old, my mom actually gets invited to another church. So we go, Chris, can you imagine this, from a Catholic church to a charismatic church.

I remember the Mass. I still remember it. I remember the steps. But can you imagine going from a 45-minute Mass to about a two-hour-long charismatic service? Where all of a sudden you see people lifting their hands.

You see people speaking in different tongues. You see people on the ground. My first time I went to this church, Chris, no disrespect, I really did think it was a cult. I would not drink the Kool-Aid after the service.

Very quickly, the first non-Roman Catholic church I experienced, because I was also raised Roman Catholic before my salvation, I was invited to a church service one Wednesday night by my older brother, thinking that he was taking us to a Catholic church service.

And it was a tent revival held by Gene Profeta on Long Island. Gene Profeta is the one with the notorious reputation of introducing his secretary, Jessica Hahn, to Jim Baker. And so this 12-year-old Catholic boy, thinking he's going to a Catholic church service, sees people, like you were saying, writhing on the floor and dancing around and speaking in, I never even heard of the concept of speaking in tongues before.

And they had an exorcism while I was there. And Pastor Profeta warned the congregation, if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, or if you're a parent with small children, flee from this tent immediately because the demons will leave this young man and enter into your children's souls.

So I ran out of there as fast as I could. Sorry for interrupting you, but I just wanted to let you know of some similarities we have there.

Well, yes, I thought I had an interesting experience, but that's pretty interesting. So here's what I always say about, and I'm so grateful for that community, because it would be in that community, it would be in that church where the pastors did preach the Bible.

They did preach the Word. I don't consider myself a part of that tradition anymore, but at the same time, I'm so grateful to God, the Word of God. But at the same time, my mom gets saved there. So my mom comes to know Christ, and she would tell you all of this if she were on this podcast.

But she was making decisions that were not God-honoring. She was making decisions that were not good for me and for my brother. God powerfully, supernaturally saves her. And then all of a sudden, she starts to walk that straight and narrow path.

All of a sudden, she starts to talk and speak of Jesus as if there is a true, genuine love and devotion there. We could see the life change, Chris, so I couldn't deny it. I couldn't deny what I saw in my mother.

I couldn't deny the joy that I saw in these believers, many whom I truly believe were generate, born again, saved. But it wouldn't be until I went out to my aunt and uncles out in Missouri. After hearing the Word preached over and over and over again, I went out to a youth group out there, and that was about 100 teenagers who were, once again, seemingly born again, passionate about the gospel, saved.

And it would be that night that the youth pastor would proclaim the gospel. And I don't remember exactly what he said, Chris, but it was something to the effect that anyone who ever believed Jesus Christ was who he said he was, the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, crucified for our sins, risen and reigning.

It was never again the same. So on the outside, Chris, it looked like everything was fine. I was a good kid, a popular kid, go-on-to-win, senior class president, homecoming king. But what nobody knew was on the inside, completely dead in my sin, hollowed, emptied, dark, filled with despair.

And it would be in that light that Jesus Christ would shine His grace. And I didn't answer an altar call. I didn't come forward for an invitation. But in my cousin's bedroom that night, Chris, on the He-Man bedsheets, I cried out and I just said, Lord, forgive me.

Forgive me for my sin. And His Spirit so powerfully worked in my heart and mind that night. Chris, I knew it was true. I knew Jesus was alive. I knew that everything that the Bible said, everything I heard preached about Christ was now true.

And I knew there was no going back. So from that moment, as a young teenage man, the Lord captured my heart, saved me, transferred me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. And I knew.

I knew it was all true. And I knew that from here on out, in that faith and in that repentance, the Lord was calling me to obedience. And from there, a couple years later, He would call me to serve the local church as a pastor.

Amen. Well, hallelujah. Always love hearing the story of how our Lord has saved His elect. And your story is no different. I just love to hear it. Well, we are going to be discussing things that are connected to each other.

We're discussing the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we're also going to be promoting the Easter portion, part two of the Fox Nation documentary hosted by Pete Hegseth of Fox News and my guest Chris Durkin.

The Life of Jesus is the name of the documentary. And before we go into the core of the topic on the resurrection, this documentary was filmed in Israel. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, this was your first trip there?

Yes, it was. First time I had ever been to Israel.

And so tell us about your experiences being there with Pete Hegseth. And I know that when you go to a place like that, not that I've been there, but I've seen many times in documentaries and in other forms of media tours of Israel and discussions of Israel and the places they call holy sites.

There's always a mixture of that which is truly historic. You know, they know where Golgotha was, which I think it's now a parking lot or something like that, where our Lord was crucified. But then you have other things, other places, and it's interesting how there seems to be a little bit of a competition very often between the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics as to where these sites actually were, where Jesus was born and where other important events took place.

So you have your mixture of those things that are certain and historic and those things that are up for question and are possibly just related to legend and so on. Not the events themselves that took place, but the locations.

So tell us just about your experience there, especially as a first-time visitor there, a tourist.

Yeah, I mean, truly remarkable. It truly was a remarkable experience. I tell everyone that even as if you make your visit to Jerusalem, to Israel, you're going to have to deal with some of the tensions.

You're going to have to deal with worldly religion. You're going to have to deal with some of these sites and some of these churches and the rampant idolatry that you see as people are bowing down and worshiping, it would seem, these practical little monuments or churches.

You're going to see consumerism. You'll see that as well. I mean, to walk the Via Della Rosa today is to walk through a market, to walk through a place, whereas Jesus somewhere in that vicinity carried the cross for my sin as he was on his back carrying the sign of my scorn and shame.

Right now you can buy falafels and Barbies, right? You have to deal with the consumerism there, and then you also have to deal with, like we mentioned, not knowing entirely where the location was. But with all of that said, Chris, still so powerful.

I mean, I remember just getting off the airplane, taking the taxi to the hotel and thinking to myself, my goodness, so much of what we know to be true in God's holy word happened in this short space, this limited geographical area in the Middle East, in Israel.

And just taking the taxi, I was overwhelmed. So it is truly a remarkable experience, and we could go into details as far as what places help you to understand and to see the pages of scripture come alive.

I was surprised to see that the places where it seemed like you were stepping directly into the Bible were the ones that really impacted me the most. Like when I went to the Holy Sepulcher, a church that has been around since nearly the 3rd or 4th century, which is truly astounding and remarkable.

But because of all the icons and because of all the different ways people are bowing down and worshiping all these things, it's still powerful. But to be honest, it would be at the Sea of Galilee. It would be on the Southern Steps, which are still the same Southern Steps as 2 ,000 years ago.

It would be at the Garden Tomb. It would be areas where they believe Jesus was whipped and scourged. Those areas where you really feel like you're walking into the pages of scripture without too much worldly religion, without too much consumerism, Chris, it hits you like a ton of bricks.

It just does. And you're going to see it in the second half of the documentary. To be in the spot where they believe Jesus was whipped and scourged, you just feel that emotion. You just do. So I highly recommend it to any Christian that's able to go, even despite some of the challenges.

It truly is a remarkable experience. And as you're reading your Bible and as you're retracing the steps of Jesus, it gives you vision. It gives you eyes. It gives you places and locations to see what the Bible has always said.

Great. And I know that the website for Fox News is foxnews .com. And there are different areas to click for media and so forth. And also, I know that your congregation, I don't know if this is open to the general public or only to your congregation, but on March 31st, from 6 .30 p .m. to 8 .00 p .m., you are having an event, The Life of Jesus Part II Dinner and Documentary Night.

Tell us about that. Yes.

So we're doing a special early screening of the documentary here at the church this Friday night. Pete's going to be in town. He still flies up from Nashville to New York every weekend to do Fox and Friends.

So Pete will be in town. He's going to stop by, say hi to the church. Him and Jenny and the kids became such a dear part of this community. It's always a joy to see him again. So we're going to show the three episodes of this documentary, the second half of this documentary on Friday night.

So we'll have a great time of food and fellowship. And we're hoping it's a great opportunity for people to invite others because, Chris, by God's grace, this documentary is so filled with the word and with the gospel.

It's a great opportunity to invite people that might not feel comfortable coming to a church service on Sunday, but they might go see a dinner and a documentary. So we're hoping to equip, to edify the body here in Colts Neck.

But we're also hoping it's a bridge for somebody to come and watch this documentary and to hear the not only factual archaeological truths of the documentary. But then, of course, that it would all lead to God's word, which will lead to God's son, so that they might repent and believe.

Amen. And if you want more details on this event, The Life of Jesus Part 2 Dinner and Documentary Night on March 31st, that's this Friday, 630 p .m. to 8 p .m. at Colts Neck Community Church in Colts Neck, New Jersey.

Go to ColtsNeckChurch .com forward slash events. ColtsNeckChurch .com forward slash events. And do you have any other way that people can RSVP for this?

Yes, if they're local, they could call the office. You can call our office 732 -462 -0772 or just come. The first time we showed the documentary back at Christmas, we were nervous about feeding everybody.

We're just going to pack them in. We'll figure out the food later, even if people can't make it for dinner. If you're in the area and you want to stop by at 7 p .m., we'll try to find a seat for you in the sanctuary.

Really excited, excited not only to have a night where we can watch the documentary, but then also to gather on Sunday for Palm Sunday to wave those palm branches and shout, Hosanna, Hosanna, our Lord saves.

Lord willing, Chris, it's going to be a wonderful weekend of ministry.

And do you know when the documentary will actually be available to the general public globally on Fox Nation?

Palm Sunday, I believe. So I think they're going to upload it to Fox Nation on Palm Sunday. And usually they have a trial if people don't want to subscribe, but they kind of want to just get a feel for what's available on Fox Nation.

And a lot of what's on Fox Nation is very, very appropriate and good for families. Obviously, a lot of cultural, political issues. But there's plenty of things for Christian families on Fox Nation. For Christmas, I haven't heard word yet.

They usually don't know these things too far in advance, believe it or not. But at Christmas, they actually showed an edited version of it on Fox News at 10 p .m. So, Lord willing, that will also happen next week.

But I don't have any details about that yet. But people can watch it as soon as Palm Sunday, this Sunday. If they want to download Fox Nation, subscribe. You'll really be encouraged and blessed. I believe by watching this documentary, it will once again remind you of the power of the gospel, the archaeological, historical, factual truths of our faith.

And then I hope—my hope is that as they watch us in the Holy Land, it will give them greater confidence in God's holy word.

Also, before I forget to announce it later, I want to let our listeners know that if you want to, at some point after this live broadcast, listen to the interview I conducted on September 26th of last year with Pete Hegseth on his book, Battle for the American Mind, Uprooting a Century of Miseducation, go to ironsharpensironradio .com, ironsharpensironradio .com, and type into the search engine Hegseth.

I can assure you he is the only person I've ever interviewed with that name. So his interview will be the only one that comes up. Pete Hegseth, H-E-G-S-E-T-H. And I hope that you enjoy that interview.

We're going to our first commercial break right now. Just to let you know, Chris, since we didn't have time to discuss this before the live broadcast, you are not going to hear the commercials. So don't worry that you are kicked off the air or something.

There's going to be a long 10-minute or so pause of silence on your end. Everybody else listening hears the commercials.

You will not.

And it might be wise for you to mute your microphone because every single noise you make will be magnified like a million times during this commercial break. And you'll hear me return to the program when we are back to our live discussion.

And if you have a question about the resurrection that you would like to ask Pastor Chris Durkin, send it to chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com. As always, please give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. Don't go away. We'll be right back with Chris Durkin right after these messages from our sponsors.

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That's royaldiadem .com. We are now back with Chris Durkin, pastor of Colts Neck Community Church in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He's a blogger, and he's also the co-host of the Fox Nation documentary hosted by Pete Hegseth, The Life of Jesus.

And we are talking today about the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the crowning jewel of Christian theology. The issue of the resurrection, as you know full well, Chris, is a vital one.

In fact, if you go to Romans 10 9 -10, we read, If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

And obviously a core element of that whole concept from the God-breathed words of Scripture coming through the writing of the Apostle Paul is that you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

So this is no trivial area of Christian faith, or it's not an area of secondary or tertiary importance. There are tragically, as you know, liberal apostate denominations that still wear the name Christian on their shingle that they hang outside, who even celebrate Easter, and they may even celebrate Easter with great pageantry and musical productions that may put Broadway to shame.

And yet many of these same houses of so-called worship, which are really synagogues of Satan, deny the very thing that they claim to be celebrating, the bodily resurrection of Christ. But if you could continue on why this is such a profound and vital area of Christian belief and life.

Absolutely. Well, I mean, if we turn to 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible, God's Word, places it all on the resurrection. So it says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 12, I'm sure many of your listeners are familiar with this passage, the Bible says, now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. And then verse 17, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

So the simple truth is, is that if Jesus Christ did not raise, if there is no resurrection, then there should not be any Christianity at all. The Bible puts it all on the risen reigning Lord. The Bible says that without the resurrection of Christ, our preaching is in vain.