April 24, 2020 Show with Joseph Jacowitz on “Coronavirus: Pandemic, Pestilence & Panic (What Does the Bible Say?)” (Part 7)

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Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century gospel minister

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George Norcross in downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

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This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

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

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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.

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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,

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Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

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

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Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the Friday edition of the program on April 24th, where we provide, every week, coronavirus updates with my guest,

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Pastor Joe Jackiewicz. He is the pastor of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California, and founder of First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications, and some of you may be wondering why my voice is not as energetic and bubbly and happy as it normally is every single day when

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I open up the program. Well, I heard some very sad news that requires prayer.

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I hope that all of you who are faithful believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will pray for my oldest brother,

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John. He has critical stage emphysema, and he was rushed to the hospital yesterday, and my sister -in -law and my niece, his daughter, don't believe he's going to make it this time out of the hospital.

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He has been, he is in an induced coma right now.

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I'm not sure why they did that, the doctors, so I don't know when he will come out of that, if at all, but I would appreciate your praying about this.

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Pray that he regains consciousness enough for one more visit from my friend,

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Pastor Mack Tomlinson, who lives in Justin, Texas, which is just about 10 minutes from Denton.

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I'm sorry, he lives in Denton, Texas, which is just about 10 minutes from where my brother's hospital is, which

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I can't remember right now, the name of the city, it may be Justin. But Pastor Mack Tomlinson visited my brother once before, and my brother, although was protesting before Mack got there, he was protesting having any visits by Mack, and he didn't even know why, but thankfully, this time that I had

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Mack visit him, I didn't tell him, so Mack showed up unannounced, and my brother was very pleased with the visit, and all

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I can tell you is that Pastor Mack told me that my brother gave a hearty amen to everything he prayed with my brother, and Pastor Mack seemed to believe that the amen was coming from a sincere heart.

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But I'm hoping that my brother has one more visit from Pastor Mack.

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And this would be more for my clarity's sake, and my peace of mind, because we know that God is in control of salvation, and my brother's eternal destiny is not in the hands of a minister who visits him, but it would be obviously an enormous blessing to have confirmation of a saving faith after a more thorough visit, a more thorough conversation from Pastor Mack Tomlinson.

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So just pray about that, even pray that my brother is healed, or at least recovers enough that he has more time on this earth with us.

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But one of the things that has me very upset right now, that I need your prayer about my anger, is that the hospital is not even allowing my sister -in -law and niece to visit my brother.

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They couldn't even accompany him when he went into his room, and it's just infuriating.

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Because of the coronavirus hysteria, there's no reason why strangers wearing hospital gowns and masks and everything else they wear, and gloves, etc.,

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there's no reason why the family of somebody that may be on their deathbed could not be wearing the same things.

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It just doesn't make any sense at all. So please pray with me, because I'm very angry about that. Perhaps pray that the governor of Texas lifts this ban on visiting people in their hospital rooms, especially on their deathbed, in time for my sister -in -law and my niece to see him, and even

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God willing, speak with him. But a lot of things to pray about. And Pastor Joe Jackiewicz, it's always a pleasure to have you on the

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Friday edition of Iron Trip and Zion Radio, and why don't you, once again, let our listeners know about the

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Christ Bible Church of Pleasanton, California. Well, before I go into that, would you mind if I encouraged our listeners to take a minute right now, and we can pray for your brother,

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Joe? Absolutely. Go ahead, brother. Okay. Again, I encourage our listeners to join with me and Chris as we unite our hearts together before the throne of grace.

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Let's pray. Blessed Father in heaven, you are God, and besides thee there is no other

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God. You are the author of life. You are our creator and sustainer.

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You are the giver and taker of life. And we know that not only is John Ornzen's life in your hands, but all of our lives are in your hands.

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And we particularly bring before you now, oh great God, merciful God, compassionate

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God, God who delights in showing mercy, to please remember John now in his time of need, seemingly at the end of his life.

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We don't know how much more time he has, Lord, but we know that his life is in your hands, your compassionate hands, and we pray for him, oh

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God. We thank you that in your providence, Pastor Mack was able to visit him and share the word of God with him, and that he had a positive response.

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We thank you for that, Lord, because Chris was very concerned that his brother would not be open to the gospel, but we pray that you will continue to water that seed that was planted in John's heart before he leaves this world while there is still time, that you would water that seed and bring it forth into fruition, and that it would birth new life in his heart.

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Please save John, have mercy on him, let his be at that 11th hour conversion, oh

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Lord please remember him in his time of need and his family. Open the door, Lord, by your grace for his wife and daughter to visit him, don't let him pass away without seeing his wife and daughter at least one more time,

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Lord. Please, please help us and be with our brother

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Chris that you would lighten his load and his burden, as you've bidden us to cast our care upon you, for you care for us.

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Have mercy, oh God, great Physician, have mercy on John's soul, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

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Amen. And also, brothers and sisters, please pray for my brother's other children, he does have a second daughter and he has two boys, so please pray for them as well.

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Well now you can let our listeners know about Christ Bible Church. Okay, well,

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I've been pastoring Christ Bible Church since 1990, which is just over 30 years, and we are about, we're located about 30 miles, 40 miles east of San Francisco in the

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San Francisco Bay Area, and we have a congregation in the town of Pleasanton, and we're all locked down right now and sheltered in place like most other people, so we've been worshipping through live streaming every

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Sunday at 1 o 'clock, and we have several ministries, you've mentioned three of them, missions, we go overseas to various countries and we hold pastors' conferences,

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Bible conferences, in churches and on university campuses, and First Love Missions is the name of that ministry, and then we have a publications ministry where we distribute books, booklets, and tracts free of charge all around the world, about 300 ,000 of them in the last, oh,

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I'd say 15 years or so, and that ministry is First Love Publications, you can find out more about it at firstlovepublications .org.

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And then we have a radio station called First Love Radio, on which this program, as well as a number of other programs, are broadcast, the

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Word of God, teaching, music, gospel, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, online at firstloveradio .org,

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that's firstloveradio .org, it's our privilege to have this program,

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Iron Sharpens Iron, and Chris anchor with this program our entire radio station, and we highly value this program, and it's a highly quality program that has fed and nourished many believers through the years, and the program continues to grow and add more listeners all the time, and we're very thankful to God for the work that you do

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Chris, for your labor is not in vain. So First Love Radio is our radio station, we have speakers like Martin Lloyd -Jones,

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Alistair Begg is our newest teacher, and on May 4th we will be launching his program,

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Truth for Life, on our station, Dr. Robert Cook, also on the same day will be launched as a program on First Love Radio, and we have a number of other pastors and speakers, some of them very well known, some of them not, but we have quality teaching, and a variety of programs, different genres of programs on First Love Radio, and again that's located at firstloveradio .org,

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so our church seeks to reach out with the word and the gospel through radio, through the printed page,

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First Love Publications, and through missions work for the last, oh I'd say about 30 years, no about 25 years we've been doing missions work with teams of pastors and missionaries that would go overseas on short term mission trips.

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All of these ministries are connected with Christ Bible Church, and our church website is christbiblechurch .org,

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christbiblechurch .org. Well thank you Joe, and I know that you usually have a specific topic under the umbrella heading of a coronavirus update, you usually start off obviously with updates that you're aware of, and then you go into a biblical application that usually has a specific theme, do you have that for us today?

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Yes, our theme today is going to be the sympathy of Christ, but I want to give an update first on the coronavirus, and if there ever was a time where people, believers, need the sympathy of Christ, the high priestly intercessions and ministry of our

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Lord Jesus Christ is today, because people are just as much in need of God's grace today as they were throughout the history of the world.

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And so shifting quickly to the coronavirus update, we'll not dwell long on this, the world total of people infected now is at 2 ,766 ,621, almost 3 million people infected

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I'd say over the last couple of months since the virus has come into play and is spreading.

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As far as deaths, we're looking at 194 ,456, these numbers are the latest of about an hour ago.

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And then as far as the U .S. is concerned, there's been a total of 883 ,826 infected, and deaths are at 50 ,372, just over the 50 ,000 mark.

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And there's a lot of debate among the doctors and among the pundits on television as to how high that death toll will rise.

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Nobody really knows but the Lord, but they can project, of course, but it's continuing to have a major impact, an unprecedented impact upon the economy of the

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United States and the world economy and the lifestyles and lives of just about everybody in our nation.

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The United States' coronavirus -related deaths, again, passed 50 ,000 this morning after more than 3 ,000 people died

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Thursday. A tally compiled by John Hopkins University put the death toll at exactly 50 ,031, with more than, like I said, almost 900 ,000 cases.

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And U .S. grocers are struggling to secure meat, looking for new suppliers and selling different cuts as the coronavirus pandemic cuts into domestic production and raises fears of shortages.

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Looking at the U .S. equity markets swinging between gains and losses,

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Friday after the House of Representatives ratified the $484 billion

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Small Business Relief Bill, which replenishes the Paycheck Protection Program, a forgivable loan program that small businesses can tap into and keep their employees on the roll, with $310 billion.

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The Small Business Administration is expected to begin taking loan applications again next week through the

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Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses slammed by the coronavirus -related economic freeze.

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And then United Airlines is the first carrier to mandate face masks for flight attendants as part of the latest operational changes during the coronavirus pandemic.

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So there's so many more details we can go into, but those are just a few selected nuggets about the coronavirus and its impact and effects upon the economy and upon, for example, the airlines and small businesses.

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But these numbers of 50 ,000 people in the

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United States dying and 194 ,000 worldwide represent families who lost mothers and fathers, sister -brothers, children, nieces, nephews and so forth.

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And there are a lot of hurting people right now because of it. And so, friends, we need to encourage you to continue to pray that, number one,

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God would lift this virus and its impact upon people, that it would sweep away just as quick as it has swept in and taken the lives of so many people.

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And in response, emotionally and spiritually, a lot of people are hurting and need the grace of God to come in and to minister comfort and consolation.

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The church is no exception. Believers are really battling against depression and stress and doubts and uncertainty.

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I don't think there's a church that doesn't have a large amount of Christians wondering about the future.

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And it's at a time like this, Chris, that the knowledge of Scripture and our relationship with Christ and faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ is desperately needed to continue to be exercised.

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We need to continue to look to Christ because it's all about Him. And we need to be reminded, our listeners and believers and churches, pastors, everyone who names the name of Christ needs to be reminded of the interest of our

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Lord Jesus Christ in this situation. He's not very far away from any of us.

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Christ died for His people, for His church. He purchased our salvation.

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He's the Lord of our lives. He is very involved with the affairs of our life and preserving us and providing for us in spite of our emotional struggles and our doubts and our fears.

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The Lord Jesus is right there praying for us. He is upholding us by His mercy.

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And so I want to talk today, Chris, about the sympathy of Christ, because there are all kinds of people who are struggling.

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Many of our listeners, perhaps right now, have been laid off from their jobs or unemployed. They're among the 27 million people who are receiving unemployment checks.

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In the last four weeks, think about it, Chris, 27 million people.

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I read the other day that all of the gains economically that were made since 2008 until now, so that's 12 years, have been wiped out because of the economic turmoil as a result of the coronavirus.

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All of the gains in the last 12 years. And it just so happened, I was in my reading, reading

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Revelation yesterday, and I was reminded that in the last days, there will be a sudden shock to the merchants, to the business owners of the world, where their prosperity will be taken away suddenly in a moment.

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And I'm not saying we're there, where it'll be such a shock that there will be no hope to return to work and for businesses to recover.

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What I am saying, though, that this could be a harbinger, it could be a microcosm of things to come, whereas we draw closer to the second coming, the impact upon the world economy will so upset the lifestyles of unsaved people, rich people, and others who have enjoyed their affluence and their success monetarily and their luxurious things and their material possessions as a result of being rich and being prosperous financially.

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We see that before the second coming of Christ, there's going to be a sudden shock upon the economies of the world, where the rich and those who have enjoyed their lavish lifestyle will suddenly have it taken away from them.

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Their income stream will not flow any longer, and there will be a mourning and a weeping among the merchants of the world, because their goods and their finances and their wealth will be suddenly removed.

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And who knows, Chris, this could be the beginning of such great economic disasters that will follow one after another.

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I hope not. I pray for revival. I pray that God will use this terrible situation to draw many people to himself and save many souls.

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But we need to continue to keep our focus on Christ, because it is the

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Lord Jesus Christ alone through his mediation, through his high priestly prayers, through his love for his church, his sympathy for us, who will continue to preserve us and uphold us.

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And so we read in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted.

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And this is a beautiful portrayal of the sympathy and the empathy of the

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Lord Jesus Christ for his people, who are tempted, particularly who are tempted because of their besetting sins, or tempted to think fearful or doubtful thoughts that God will continue to keep his promise in providing for us, watching over us, and taking care of us.

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So when we talk about temptation, we're talking about a very important subject that is brought up here early in the book of Hebrews, not only because temptation does a lot of damage to the people of God, and how

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Christ's atoning death guarantees that salvation can't be removed or unraveled because of temptation, nor of the devil's greatest efforts to destroy the child of God, but because Christ's high priesthood, based on his sympathy, based on his sympathetic humanity, will always prevail in delivering the believer from every foe and every weight and every sin that does so easily beset us.

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Well, I think now would be a good time for us to take our first station break, and if anybody would like to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail dot com.

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chrisarnson at gmail dot com. Please give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the

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USA. Please only remain anonymous if your question has a personal or private nature to it.

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Anyway, sorry if I'm getting distracted here, I keep getting texts related to my brother, so please forgive me for that.

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Don't go away, God willing, we'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors. Thank you so much for joining us.

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And we are now back with Joe Jackowitz for our weekly Friday update on the coronavirus. And, Pastor Joe, if you could pick up where you left off.

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Sure. We're talking about the sympathy of Christ and how His ministry as our High Priest, through His sympathy,

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His empathy, His prayers, uphold us, support us, especially in days like today where the whole world is shaking and in shock and traumatized because of the pandemic, and everybody's lifestyle has changed because of it.

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And so many of us are experiencing temptations like we've never experienced before, and we need to be reassured from God's Word and God's promises of the ministry of our

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Lord Jesus and praying for us. We need to be reassured that based on His High Priestly role and function as our

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High Priest, that role will never suffer. He will never grow weak or tired.

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He will never be uninterested in what's going on in our lives. He's just as much concerned about preserving our salvation today as He was when, before the foundation of the world, our salvation was decreed.

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And on the cross, He actually purchased our salvation by dying in our place.

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So nothing has changed in terms of our status as believers. We can't lose our salvation.

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God's promise to provide for us if we seek first the Kingdom, and all these things will be added to us is still yea and amen in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He hasn't changed. He cannot deny Himself nor His promises, but from time to time we get distracted as Christians.

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We lose our focus and we take our eyes off the Lord, but we need to get our eyes back on the

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Lord. I think we have a public example of temptation when at the beginning of this program things did not go very well.

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Technically, Chris had some problems, technically, that he's never had before. And he and I were tempted to be shocked beyond the ability to continue the program, but I trust that some of our listeners were praying for us, that we would be able to press on and get the problem corrected.

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And Chris also is going through some personal struggles because his brother is possibly on his deathbed, and his sister -in -law and nephews and nieces,

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John, his brother's children, are not able to see him right now. So Chris is pressing on with the program, and so I'm here and we're talking about these things.

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So this is an example, Chris, of temptation where you and I, while we were in the midst of conducting the program, were tempted to cancel it.

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But by God's grace, by His mercy, we were able to overcome.

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So far, so far. Who knows what will happen in the next hour and a half, but you keep praying for us, dear friends, and we'll trust in the

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Lord. Now we're talking about the sympathy of Christ, and one of the main reasons our

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Lord can truly sympathize is because Jesus experienced our humanity, our suffering.

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He experienced our temptation, and so He's worthy to be our High Priest and the perfect sacrifice for our sins, because He is perfect.

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And He never sinned, not one time, yet He went through all of the sufferings that we go through in terms of physical deprivation.

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He suffered hunger. He got tired. He experienced pain. And so we see then in Hebrews 2 .18

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that Jesus suffered. It says there, for in that He Himself has suffered being tempted,

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He is able to aid those who are tempted. So it wasn't so much that He was tempted, but that He suffered when

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He was tempted. And that enabled Jesus to sympathize with us as our High Priest.

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For example, some temptations don't cause us to suffer, such as the temptation to steal for people who don't have a problem with stealing.

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And these people will just shrug their shoulders and move on because they don't have a problem with stealing.

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They're not really tempted that much. But certain temptations related to one's besetting sins cause intense pain.

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They stop us in our tracks and cause agony. Those temptations that make us suffer, the agony part of it, have a great effect on Jesus and draw out of His pity upon us and move

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Him to pray for us and to aid us. And so when we suffer that pain and temptation, when it causes us to have to wrestle with those thoughts, should

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I, should I not, and it causes us affliction in our souls, the

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Bible says when we are afflicted, He is afflicted.

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And so this is a wonderful picture of the sympathy and the empathy of our

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Lord Jesus Christ because He suffered Himself temptation when we are tempted.

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Even at that agonizing moment, He suffers as well.

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But I want you to notice when the actual suffering occurs during temptation.

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You see, we don't suffer when we yield to temptation. On the contrary, the flesh likes it when we give in to temptation.

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When the flesh acts upon its desires, it doesn't suffer because the flesh enjoys being tempted.

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But we read in James 1 .12, Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the

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Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted,

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I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone

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Himself. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

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Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

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Two key phrases in this text provide clues on how we suffer when we are tempted.

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The first is in verses 14 and 15 where it says each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed, then when desire has conceived.

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You see, a temptation is presented to our desires to see if desire will latch onto it and run with it.

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When desire reaches the point of conception, this occurs when the will decides it will give in to the flesh, it results in sin.

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The second clue is found in verse 12 of James 1. Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

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You see, enduring temptation is the resistance process.

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The resistance of temptation is what causes the pain and suffering. The pain and suffering will eventually dissipate though if you resist and endure the temptation.

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So you've got to hang on while you're being tempted. Pray for the grace of God. Pray for God's strength.

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Pray that the temptation will diminish and evaporate. Pray that you'll be able to resist and endure temptation.

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Resistance will diminish and weaken the strength and the pain of the temptation until it goes away and until you escape from it.

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There's various ways we resist temptation. The first way is cling to the way of escape.

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In 1 Corinthians 10 .13 it says no temptation has taken you except such as is common to man.

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But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

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Many of you have this memorized. In other words, there's always a way of escape. The Lord always gives us a way of escape when we're tempted and we need to look for that way of escape no matter how weak we may be.

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The escape can be in the form of a distraction, maybe a lull in the growing power of that temptation or a glimpse of the vanity of that sin who will flash by your mind how vain that sin is.

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You may have a yearning from the spirit of God inside you for help.

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That's a way of escape. That momentary yearning of God's spirit within you or it may be a sense of righteous indignation towards that sin, a momentary impact of anger that this sin is trying to get the best of you again.

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It could be a thought about how Christ would feel about you giving into temptation or it could be in the form of love for Christ and gratitude for his great salvation.

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All of these are ways of escape during temptation. Of course behind all of these various ways and many of them are momentary and fleeting is faith in God, faith in Christ.

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Your mind's eye is looking to Christ not to your own strength and nine out of ten times you will find the open door and the grace to escape.

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And so the first way that we resist temptation is to cling to the way of escape.

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Take that way of escape. Hold on for dear life with an eye to Christ with faith in Christ and you will find very often you'll be able to escape.

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Now remember this is important for today because many of us are tempted because we're low on income, many are out of a job, we're locked in or sheltered in place and getting stir crazy or health problems or all kinds of negative effects related to the coronavirus and we're being tempted in ways some of you are being tempted in ways that you've not been tempted for a long time or ever.

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And so we need to remember that we have a high priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmity and he makes the way of escape of temptation that we might be able to bear it.

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Cling to those ways of escape. Secondly we're commanded to resist the devil.

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The second way of escape in resisting temptation is to resist the devil.

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Many of you know this. Have you been putting up that stop sign to the devil?

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The scripture says in James 4 .7, therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you.

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Ephesians 4 .27 nor give place to the devil. Don't let him take advantage.

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1 Peter 5 .8 be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

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Resist him, resist him steadfast in the faith knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

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One more Ephesians 6 .10 and 11 finally my brethren be strong in the power of his might.

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Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

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Verse 13 take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.

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And so we need to resist the devil not in our strength but throw up a shocking no in his face when he suggests a certain temptation.

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Thirdly, patience and perseverance especially among new believers temptations cause great impatience confusion and frustration because of a lack of experience in fighting the devil and fighting the inward war and battle as Christians that we are called to the moment of our salvation a war begins to destroy the work of God in us but we are called as Christians to be patient and persevering and so the temptations you're suffering right now you're experiencing due to directly or indirectly to the coronavirus we need to be patient and we need to persevere we need to wait on the

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Lord to see how God will provide for us how God will deliver us but we need to be assured that the sympathy and the prayers and intercessions the compassion of our

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Lord Jesus Christ the love of Christ for you and I as Christians has never waned or diminished one iota he is praying for us he is praying for us he is helping us that's why we are still encouraged to move on that's why we still have food on the table and we're still in the faith it's because Jesus has been praying for us and has been sustaining us this thus far well we do have a listener question uh when let's see the uh the listener is john and banger main and the question is when when the scriptures tell us that Jesus was tempted in all ways as we have what does that exactly mean because it seems like if somebody is being tempted they want to sin but we know that that could not be true of Jesus because even wanting to sin is a sin yes

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I think that that is probably a lot to do with uh the way that we

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I think very often wrongly think in our modern ears or our modern eyes um how the term tempted is to be used or interpreted we could because we when we think of tempted we are automatically thinking of somebody rubbing their chin and fantasizing about something that they want to do that's that's wrong and either they give into that temptation or they don't uh in fact there was some very famous evangelical minister very highly respected on the radio network

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I used to work for and uh although I didn't hear it myself there were about six or seven people who independently approached me and said did you hear so -and -so say this and they said that Jesus at times wanted to sin but he never yielded to the temptation and that that's absolutely ridiculous because obviously you know wanting to sin is a sin so what what the listener

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I think is a very good question uh and uh because you know the bible does say that Jesus was tempted in all ways uh that we yes well wanting to sin is another way of saying lust it's another form of lust lust is strong desire that's the uh core meaning of it and wanting to sin basically is lusting you have a strong desire after it and that never entered

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Jesus heart when when it or mine because he's God the bible says that um he was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin so during his being tempted in all of these points there was at no time a point where Jesus sinned in his mind either by lusting after it or desiring to do it he did not have those thoughts there was no sin in Christ in his thoughts and his actions behavior during the temptation process of our lord when it talks about um that he was tempted in all points as we are from roman i'm sorry from hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 right hebrews 4 15 which we would which we um uh touched on last week uh a little bit but it doesn't mean that he exhaustively or in an all -encompassing way was tempted as we are you have to look at the context if there are other verses in scripture when we compare scripture with scripture that modify that phrase all points as we are then we have to interpret it in the light of these other scriptures so we find that first of all in hebrews 4 15 it says that um it says yet without sin so we find other places in scripture of christ temptation in the wilderness he was tempted when he was hungry to um command the stones to be made bread he was tempted to idolatry um to worship false gods uh like satan um when satan brought him up on the temple and said cast yourself down for the scripture says that he will give his angels charge over you unless you dash your foot against stone and jesus said it is written uh you shall uh you shall um worship the lord your god in him only um i may be mixing up the the three temptations of our lord there but uh so he was tempted um during weak moments in the flesh that is he was hungry or he was tired um uh but his his um the bible says in james one that god cannot be tempted now don't you think that that is referring to the external temptation that was being used to harass him like like for instance if the devil were to come and try to lure me to do something and i completely resisted and never even gave one second of uh enticing thought to what he was trying to lure me to do i was still being tempted but that does not mean that i was tempted in the way that we use that very commonly in our modern language yeah it's not sinful to be tempted it's sin when you fall into the temptation right and then and what i mean is though as you know we use that term like uh i was tempted to have that third hot fudge sundae but i i said nope two is enough you know i mean because in that case the person is mulling it over in their mind they're fantasizing about it and jesus never did that well it did enter his mind but it did not cross over the line into lust or strong desire or fantasizing about it he you know what i meant by it he didn't mull it over in his mind as if he was it's not like he was debating in his mind should i give into this sin no because the scripture says god cannot be tempted right yeah he he did mull it over in his mind because he can't be tempted there's no second thought on his part there's no consideration of it on his part because he can't be tempted and he doesn't tempt anyone else okay we have to go to our midway break right now and folks this is our longer than normal break so please be patient with us because grace life radio 90 .1

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fm in lake city florida requires this longer break in the middle of the show because they have to localize their programming including iron sharpens iron radio to lake city florida as an fcc requirement and so therefore uh please make the best use of this time and while they air their own public service announcements we are going to be airing our globally heard commercials so i'm asking you to please write down as much of the information provided by those sponsors so that you can more frequently and successfully patronize them and uh also send in questions to joe jackowitz at chris arnson at gmail .com

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you can write those down as well chris arnson at gmail .com and and we look forward to hearing from you uh after these words from our sponsors so don't go away we're going to be right back uh god willing with more of joe jackowitz and our weekly coronas coronavirus update and biblical application 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

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.com that's gcbcnj .squarespace .com

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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 every day at thousands of community centers high schools middle schools juvenile institutions coffee shops and local hangouts long island youth for christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need jesus we are rural and urban and we are always about the message of jesus our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on long island new york by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following christ long island youth for christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959 we have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement to youths in need all over the country and around the world help honor our history by becoming a part of our future volunteer donate pray or all the above for details call long island youth for christ at 631 -385 -8333 that's 631 -385 -8333 or visit liyfc .org

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that's liyfc .org iron sharpens iron welcomes solid rock remodeling to our family of sponsors serving south central pennsylvania solid rock remodeling is focused on discovering understanding and exceeding your expectations they deliver personalized project solutions with exceptional results solid rock remodeling offers a full range of home renovations including kitchen and bath remodeling decks porches windows and doors roof and siding and more for a clear detailed professional estimate call this trustworthy team of problem solvers who provide superior results that stand the test of time call solid rock remodeling at 717 -697 -1981 717 -697 -1981 or visit solidrockremodeling .com

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that's solidrockremodeling .com solid rock remodeling bringing new life to your home

01:00:57

James White of Alpha and 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 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 new york debates i do not 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 holy scriptures and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in christ i also want to congratulate hope reform baptist church of corham for the recent appointment of pastor rich jensen's co -elder pastor christopher mcdowell for more information on hope reform baptist church go to hope reformed li .net

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that's hope reformed li .net or call 631 -696 -5711 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 chris arnzen 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 1 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

01:03:52

that's chrisarnson at gmail .com the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life bringing so many uncertainties when will it end why do disasters like this happen how do we deal with anxiety fear and the like well join us each friday on the program iron sharpens iron with your host chris arnson and pastor joe jacobs as they explore god's word for answers to this and other of life's related issues tune in at firstloveradio .org

01:04:31

that's firstloveradio .org each friday at 1 p .m

01:04:37

pacific 4 p .m eastern that's iron sharpens iron on firstloveradio .org

01:04:43

fridays 1 p .m pacific 4 p .m to hear what the bible has to say about pandemics and how we should respond 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 pastor nate pickowitz of harvest bible church in gilminton ironworks new hampshire and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor rich jensen of hope reform baptist church in quorum new york and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor sule prince of oakwood wesleyan church in toronto ontario canada and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor john samson of king's church in peoria arizona and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor chuck volo of new life community church in kingsville maryland and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor steve herford of eastport baptist church in jacksonville florida and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor roy owens jr of the church and friendship in hockley texas and the nasb is my bible of choice here's a great way for your church to help keep iron trump and zion 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 trump and zion radio go to nasbible .com

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that's nasbible .com to place your order this is pastor bill sasser 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

01:07:44

that's gracechurchatfranklin .org this is pastor bill sasser wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign lord god savior and king jesus christ today and always charles heddon 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 it's 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

01:08:55

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 linbrook baptist church on 225 earl avenue in linbrook long island is teaching god's timeless truths in the 21st century our church is far more than a sunday worship service it's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant it's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement it's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing we're a diverse family of all ages enthusiastically serving our lord jesus christ in fellowship play and together hi i'm pastor bob waldeman and i invite you to come and join us here linbrook baptist church and see all that a church can be call linbrook baptist at 516 -599 -9402 that's 516 -599 -9402 or visit linbrookbaptist .org

01:09:55

that's linbrookbaptist .org welcome back this is chris arnson and if you just tuned us in our guest today for the full two hours with a hour about a little less than an hour to go is pastor joe jackowitz of christ bible church and pleasant in california this is our weekly uh friday update on the coronavirus with biblical application to follow and uh before we return to that discussion with pastor joe jackowitz i just have a few important announcements uh i repeat the first request that i made at the outset of the program i ask for prayer from all of my christian listeners uh for my brother john he's my oldest brother john and uh he is perhaps on his deathbed he's on life support now due to critical stage emphysema he was rushed to the hospital yesterday and unfortunately and tragically the hospital will not even allow his wife and daughter who live in texas uh with him they will not even allow them to be at his bedside with him so pray uh for a miracle obviously pray that my brother recovers pray that he makes a clear profession of faith in jesus christ and pray that uh something eases up with the restrictions in texas at that hospital specifically so that his wife and daughter can be by his side no matter what happens uh also folks um want to let you know that uh next week we've got a great lineup of guests we've got my former pastor before moving here to pennsylvania pastor mark rimaldi of grace reform baptist church of long island which is located in merrick new york he's on monday and then on tuesday and wednesday the 28th and 29th of april pastor mack tomlinson who i mentioned earlier uh he is the pastor of providence chapel in denton texas which is very close to where my brother lives and where to where my brother is in the hospital he visited my brother on a previous uh time in the hospital uh right before the corona virus broke out or at least before it was known to have broken out and um he had a very good time of visitation with him which was a pleasant surprise for me because my brother was apprehensive to have mack visit him because my brother is not a believer uh at least he wasn't then i don't know what the lord is doing in his mind and heart now but uh pastor mack tomlinson will be on the 28th 29th we've got a first time guest michael hammer a jewish believer he's going to be giving his testimony on how a jewish believer came to uh not only become a christian first and foremost but also became theologically reformed which uh is a minority to be sure today being a jewish christian itself is a minority but to be theologically reformed on top of it just like my guest today joe jackowitz is even a more rare phenomenon so and then of course joe comes back next friday for our next edition of the coronavirus update uh last but not least folks if you love this show and you don't want it to disappear please be as generous as you can with donations and as frequent as you can with them we lost at least temporarily uh two of our largest advertisers because their businesses were very negatively impacted by the coronavirus hysteria going on so uh please help us make up for that loss and go to irontripandzionradio .com

01:14:07

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to the address that appears on the screen remember folks if you are not a member of a bible believing church and you're not even prayerfully looking for one you are living in rebellion against god now i was lovingly chastised by a listener who heard me say that and i believe that she has a point that i have to be sensitive and compassionate because there are people who have been really badly burned by being in a church that was a horrible church uh there's all kinds of things that could happen to a person uh either in a false church or uh it could be even a biblically orthodox church as far as theology and doctrine and practice is concerned but you may have a wicked man who is the pastor or whatever the case may be uh you could have people who have been uh greatly harmed mentally emotionally spiritually and physically i mean it's a tragedy when we hear about people being sexually molested and and so on in churches uh so i'm not trying to be uh unconcerned or harsh when i say this but no matter what the circumstance in your life that has harmed you in a church uh i have to be biblical about this and say that there is no license to disobey god and to never search for another congregation again because there's no such thing in the new testament as a person who never attends worship services at any church or just bounces from church to church to church but never joins any of them we have to be under the headship of local elders in a local bible believing church so i just want to be as sensitive as possible about that but if you need help finding a church send me an email to chrisarns and at gmail .com

01:18:26

because i do have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the world including christ bible church in pleasanton california and uh so i've already helped a lot of people find churches where they they where they either have joined them or they have visited them on vacation or they have uh asked for these churches because their family friends and loved ones in different parts of the world don't have one don't have a church that they're aware of near them uh so uh please send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:18:56

and put i need a church in the subject line and i may be able to help that's also the the email address where you can send in a question to pastor joe jackiewicz and that's chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:19:10

chrisarnson at gmail .com and as always give us your first name city and state and your country of residence if you live outside the usa and only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter and we do have a question from andrew in dolton georgia and andrew says dear brothers chris and joe i wanted to first say that i am praying for all these things mentioned especially for your brother chris brother joe as i drive a truck for a living and go through different states i see a lot of panic and fear in people like when i stop at a truck stop how might i best minister in this usually rushed situation for example handing out tracts or a short word about the lord how might i make best use of this opportunity well i would answer that the the most important element of being prepared for opportunities to share the gospel whether it be very quick open doors like a minute five minutes ten minutes or longer time periods to share the gospel is prayer because we need the lord to open the door first of all providentially to share the gospel so he has to be working he has to open that opportunity but humanly speaking on our part we need to be prepared spiritually we need to be in the spirit we need to be equipped with the wisdom of god at the moment we need to be able to uh be we need to have the grace of god to be able to transition or smoothly into a conversation we need to have fear taken away and replaced by courage and boldness and compassion and gentleness uh and the wisdom of god provides all of these fruits and all of these graces at the moment so when you wake up every morning or when you have your times as a truck driver where you're pulling off on the road having meals or whenever you pray constantly be praying about god giving you the giving you a fresh burden for unsaved people giving you fresh love for their souls and the wisdom of god and the the level of comfort comfort you need to be able to share with people as well as praying for those open doors if you just do those things you won't need to learn techniques of evangelism because the holy spirit working in you will give you a level of confidence and relaxation and comfort to be able to share with anybody at any time and give you the spiritual and emotional um i give you the emotional and spiritual grace to relate to anybody from any different background so you really need the wisdom of god and you need inward grace from the spirit to adapt to even quick opportunities if you're walking in the spirit if you're if you're standing next to somebody at a cash register paying a bill well you won't be doing that now because there's not going to be any restaurants open for you but wherever you might be if you only have a minute or two have tracks prepared you know say something that the lord might put in your heart or mind about the situation the most important part of the whole process is spiritual preparation and usually the rest will take care of itself well thank you andrew and keep listening to iron sharpens iron radio and spreading the word in dalton georgia and about the program uh well if you could pick up where you left off joe and continue blessing us with your biblical application sure you know we've been talking about in this time of great testing of our faith as christians as well as churches when christians uh income and the the donations and income of local churches are waning and diminishing and our faith is being greatly tested a lot of believers are asking where is jesus does he care uh many are weak the bible teaches that in the last days iniquity shall abound the love of many will grow cold jesus said when i come again will there be really faith on the earth so faith and love and many of the graces of the spirit are on the wane and so there's been an increase in fear and doubt as this driver said in his email uh everywhere he goes he sees panic and fear and so forth um we need to be um reconvinced and reaffirmed that our lord jesus as our high priest has not lost any of his compassion and his empathy and his concern for his people we've talked about the fact that jesus suffered and so he can identify with us in our humanity when we are tempted he himself was tempted with all of those physical temptations that we are subject to yet he never entertains sin nor did he ever commit sin but in another area we need to understand uh that jesus himself taking it one step further was tempted he was tempted he didn't submit to it and think about it but he was tempted and that by itself causes pain and agony jesus remember was made like us in his humanity in order to sympathize with us and deliver us his incarnation was necessary in order to experience every situation and condition and trial that people go through he experienced the most humiliating experiences imaginable uh for example he was born in a stable the worst of conditions he was born to poor parents he had his life threatened as a baby he experienced unimaginable sorrow he had to be transported and moved as a baby he was reared in a despicable place back then called nazareth somebody said can anything good come out of nazareth he had his father died during his youth he had no home not even a place to lay his head he was hated and opposed by the religious leaders he was falsely charged with insanity he was charged with demon possession he was opposed by his own family he was rejected and hated and opposed by his hearers he was betrayed by a close friend he was rejected and forsaken by all of his friends he was tried for treason but was innocent he was crucified the worst kind of death imaginable in that time and so our lord in all of these things indirectly or indirectly was tempted and he never succumbed to the temptation or even entertained it and our lord suffered so much more than this but in his suffering he reached the very depth of humiliation he stooped to the lowest point of human experience in every condition in order to become the perfect sympathizer and this is the reason he can identify with anyone's circumstances especially today with the virus spreading and things getting worse and it does the death toll is climbing and people are concerned about their future no one ever came close to the level of suffering and humiliation christ experienced in his temptations which were just as painful and real as the inward suffering that you and i experience when we are tempted but he never yielded to them he never entertained them though he was fully man with a human spirit and soul and body and will there was never the slightest inclination of his heart or will to yield to temptation not only was his humanity sinless but it was also holy and his inward holiness rejected all sin as as water extinguishes fire and so he in his suffering not only came from temptations and trials which originated from satan but also came from other sources like his like i said earlier he got hungry um his spirit suffered from being in the presence of the devil and being tempted by the devil and there's the temptations from the pharisees and others that grieved him he was greatly grieved he suffered from the words of his own disciples which were sometimes an offense to him um and so he suffered in many many ways but then there's the help of the lord jesus we talked about his suffering we talked about the fact that he was tempted but then there's there's jesus who helps us and those first two points his suffering and his temptation are backdrops to his help and intervention and provision for us when we are in need the bible talks about in this text in hebrews chapter 2 and verse 18 that he is able to aid those who are tempted and the backdrop is because he suffered because he was tempted because of these things he's able to aid us in a way that is amazing that is majestic but what happens when believers are tempted to sin jesus stands ready to help us he was tempted but no temptation ever conquered him because he defeated every enemy and through him through jesus we defeat every temptation um the word aid in the king james version is the word sucker he is able to sucker those who are tempted in the new king james it's the word aid which literally means to run to the cry of a child it means to bring help and relief and assistance when it's needed in the original the word aid has a much stronger meaning than in modern english the word implies a deep and more meaningful type of aid than english than the english term like help the ideas of comfort and rescue are bound up in this word it was commonly used to describe the way a parent would sue the crying child and lovingly provide exactly what is needed well jesus doesn't merely assist us when we're tempted he offers all of the comfort and support and aid we could ever need that he in heaven could ever give jesus said in john 14 1 let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me i will not leave you as orphans i will come to you he said i will not leave you alone i will aid you i will be there for you that's verse 18 um we read in scripture as a father pities his children so the lord pities those who fear him for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust we just don't have pity a pang of concern from our lord's heart we have infinite pathos and pity he is god and there's no depth no length no breath to his love and his pity when we are afflicted like isaiah 63 9 says in all their affliction he was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bore them and carried them all the days of old and so hebrews back to hebrews in chapter 7 verses 25 and 26 powerful text many of our listeners i'm sure are very familiar with this glorious promise therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to god through him since he always lives to make intercession for them for such a high priest was fitting for us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens he's a great high priest we learned in hebrews 4 he stands apart from any earthly high priest who die and who often lack in compassion any pastor who lacks in areas because we grow weak he's perfect he's blameless he's harmless he has passed through the heavens and is at the right hand of god the holiest closest place next to the very throne of god on his own throne and therefore we have a promise because he helps us he prays for us he guarantees he will sustain our faith though we stumble and fall and we backslide from time to time jude 24 says now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to god our savior who alone is wise be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen and i add hallelujah amen uh we have a question from harrison and mechanicsburg pennsylvania and he asks i understand that there has existed for centuries a debate amongst christians over a teaching known as the impeccability of christ whereas all bible believing faithful and orthodox christians believe christ was sinless from his conception through his death burial resurrection and ascension at the same time there is a difference as to whether there was a theoretical possibility for him to sin some say that if there was no theoretical possibility for him to sin he was not fully human others say that that is just an impossibility because he was the god man even though the natures are not mixed and coincide 100 god and 100 man it still would be an impossibility because of him being deity can you please settle this debate for me well i think it's very clear from scripture the scripture is very clear on it although we don't have exhaustive details on every finer point in this area we can speculate forever on different shades and sides of this question but the bible teaches definitely the impeccability of christ his absolute sinlessness and his absolute perfection but when we talk about him identifying with us in our weakness and struggle as our great high priest who is fully man and in his humanity he sympathizes all of his affections are engaged fully as god and as man in his role as our high priest he doesn't just have love for us he has unfathomable love he doesn't just have pity for us he has inexhaustible pity he doesn't just have pathos and tenderness and sympathy and empathy he has them all infinitely and for some reason in the infinite wisdom of god it was determined that jesus in his humanity would learn and experience pain and suffering and sorrow in his flesh in his emotions without sin in order that a dimension of his high priestly ministry and prayers might be added uh for lack of a better word to that ministry on our behalf now there is an element of mystery in all this that we will never understand and be able to reconcile how can he be man or human and yet be and fully and fully and fully human and yet be impeccable in his role as our high priest in in sympathizing for us and suffering so much on our behalf so he could relate to us i don't see in the bible where there's the slightest hint that he was any less man and any less god because of his perfection and impeccability in his role as our high priest there's not even the slightest hint of it anywhere just because we can't answer every theoretical question that will come up connected with that doesn't mean that the bible is not clear on it it is indeed clear on it and doesn't mean that he's not impeccable or perfect in his humanity and in his divinity by the way harrison when i chuckled after reading your question i wasn't chuckling because i thought it was a bad question it was the way you asked him to settle this centuries -old debate in a matter of minutes was was kind of interesting um the the the issue is though um can you be and are there biblically orthodox christians who believe that christ was peccable not that he ever sinned but that there was a theoretical possibility is that something that a an orthodox christian and of course i'm not speaking of eastern orthodoxy i mean a biblically sound uh christian is that something that he or she could believe no well um believers from all backgrounds and church traditions um from time to time embrace teachings and believe them that are heretical when and they don't know it so i think a person can be saved but being a temporary snare about something that he or she believes especially new believers who often come into the faith in churches or in in religious environments that are less than ideal or less than sound in their doctrines and in their teaching so yeah a person could be a christian but be caught up in a in a temporary blind spot about a key doctrine how many uh testimonies do we have of those of jehovah's witnesses and mormons and others who were cult members and god began to draw them while they were in those cults and opened their eyes and they lingered for several months or maybe longer in that cult before they finally left before the lord finally gave them the understanding to put two and two together concerning their heretical teachings and their convictions were stirred up and finally drove them out of those environments but i don't think you can have you have the theoretical possibility even from a biblical scriptural standpoint of um the end that christ was not impeccable or perfect in every way right to be able to identify there's no there's no way that his full deity could be maintained if there was a theoretical possibility for sin right and the full weight of scripture comes down on that where it talks about he was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin there's the element of mystery again um we're we're not going to be able to take a biblical magnifying glass and analyze this issue so deeply that we can we can know everything about it we just know what the scripture teaches that um he was without sin in his temptation yet at the same time as fully man he can identify with us when we are tempted and therefore pray for us with path pathos and zeal and diligence because in every single area of human experience except sin he has suffered himself and that dimension of identifying with us in the wisdom of god was was added to his uh efforts and role as our high priest so that that he could identify with us that's how close he is to us that's how far infinitely far jesus has condescended to us and god in his infinite love for forever has caused his son to be to be in human in a in a glorified human body um and in his role as our high priest which is his main role on our behalf um is is i is to identify with us a lot of that role has to do with going back to his identification with us as fully man so that he could sympathize with us in his prayers and in his god wanted him to have that experience and that's how we see so much more deeply the love of god for human beings who have been redeemed who children of god believers that he has caused his son to have this role uh so that we can experience um an element of love and compassion and condescension that that causes us to be amazed at at god's infinite condescension to us he must love us so much amen well we have to go to our final break right now and it's a lot briefer than the other breaks so please uh if you have a question send it to us immediately at chris arnzen at gmail .com

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because we're rapidly running out of time chris arnzen at gmail .com c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n at gmail .com

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as always please give us your first name city and state of residence and your country of residence if you live outside the usa and only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter don't go away we'll be right back 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 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

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that's ptl bible rebinding .com 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 tony costa professor of apologetics and islam at the toronto baptist seminary and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor jeff downs of knox reform presbyterian church mechanicsville virginia and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor mark rimaldi of grace reform baptist church of long island in merit new york and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor scott pisolo of the master's church of bucks county pennsylvania and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor kevin venue of the bible church for washington new york and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor andrew smith of christ reformed community church in saint augustine florida and the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor clint lighter of highway m chapel sedalia missouri 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

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that's nasbible .com to place your order i'm dr tony costa professor of apologetics and islam at toronto baptist seminary i'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where i've been invited to speak and have grown to love hope reformed baptist church in corham long island new york pastored by rich jensen and christopher mcdowell it's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of god like the dear saints at hope reformed baptist church in corham who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of christ in his holy word and to enthusiastically proclaim christ jesus the king and his doctrines of sovereign grace in suffolk county long island and beyond i hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love as i have for more information on hope reformed baptist church go to hope reformed li .net

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that's hope reformed li .net or call 631 -696 -5711 that's 631 -696 -5711 tell the folks at hope reformed baptist church of corham long island new york that you heard about them from tony costa on iron sharpens iron the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life bringing so many uncertainties when will it end why do disasters like this happen how do we deal with anxiety fear and the like well join us each friday on the program iron sharpens iron with your host chris arnson and pastor joe jacobs as they explore god's word for answers to this and other of life's related issues tune in at first love radio .org

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that's first love radio .org each friday at 1 p .m

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they feature christ -centered programming from reformed pastors and teachers you can rely upon for theological soundness and biblical faithfulness such as dr wr downing dr peter masters pastor joe jacobs pastor robert gifford al martin edward delcor and more first love radio .org

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01:50:38

and we thank god for first love radio and we thank god for joe jacobs for founding that invaluable ministry which is why you are hearing this program at this very moment via live streaming and joe we have about seven minutes left so i want you to first summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners before we take any remaining listener callers or should i say listener questions thinking of the old days when we took phone calls if we have room for any of the listener questions before we go off the air well i'll try to quickly summarize we're talking about the worldwide pandemic and how we as christians are not to forget the ministry of our lord jesus christ in the midst of our fiery afflictions and temptations and doubts about our future and uncertainty about so many things where the world is shaking and trembling in fear we as christians have our lord jesus christ his ministry as our high priest the one who prays for us intercedes for us loves us gave himself for us has not changed he is just as committed today to sanctify us and to glorify us to bring us to the father as he did on the cross or even before the foundation of the world and so in our needs and in our necessities and in our temptations we are to look to christ look to him first don't look at your situation and circumstances horizontally look to christ vertically trust in him faith is so important trust in him whom you cannot see or hear but whom you trusted by faith when you became a believer and so we will press on god willing next time to talk about spiritual priorities in the midst of a pandemic that has the church a little shaken up but christ has guaranteed that he will never leave us nor forsake us and nothing shall separate us from the love of christ that is a surety that is carved in stone right up until he comes again he will keep us he will preserve our salvation and nothing like i said will separate us from the love of christ amen amen and uh let's see here let's try to take one or two questions while we still have time uh we have arnie in perry county pennsylvania and he he says there are people who think that those best suited to minister to someone with a specific sin or problem in their lives is a person who experienced that very same thing before they were saved especially if we are talking about a sin but not necessarily if it's just an experience but is this actually true because obviously jesus christ was the ideal picture of the perfect minister and he committed no sin and he did not experience every single thing that humans experience in regard to specifics and i understand what the listener is saying uh yeah you know uh jesus never had his wife cheat on him because jesus never had a wife you know i mean so obviously there were there were there are specific details even though he was tested in all ways just as we are there are certain details of experiences that jesus didn't go through personally and yet of course he's omniscient yeah uh so it's not like something is beyond his his uh scope of being completely uh understanding so right well the bible was written to us as an objective standard that we judge all things and we um respond and teach and relate all things according to the bible's objective standard without any condition or stipulation that the teacher and preacher of the bible has experienced it himself there's no conditions that we have to experience what we teach or preach especially as it regards to sin now it does help certainly and adds a dimension to our ministry and to our counsel and teaching if we've experienced something ourselves because we can bring out more insights and and more understanding because we've experienced the deliverance and we've experienced how to how to get through that the situation but there's no demand of or requirement of the scripture that those who teach or share the word man woman doesn't matter who it is teacher prep pastor have experienced something first before we give out the teaching we we find the prejudice of man very often is the reaction to people who share the word who who have never experienced it themselves and that's why we have statements in the bible concerning uh like timothy let no man despise thy youth people will naturally um reject or doubt teaching from people who come with a message from the bible that if they haven't experienced it and sometimes they'll think in their minds well who are you to tell me this because you've never experienced it well they're not looking at the word of god objectively as coming from god himself we have to look past the messenger to the message itself because it comes from god um and just because a single person happens to be in a conversation with a marriage married couple and they ask him a question about marriage and he gives them the answer from the bible doesn't mean he's not qualified to be able to to give them that answer because he's not married no we just share the scripture and we remind people this is what god says look to god and his word not to me as the messenger if you look at me long enough you'll find a weakness amen well uh joe uh we are out of time we don't have uh room for any more messages i'm sorry questions uh so uh i'd like to make sure that our listeners have all of your contact information christ bible church of pleasanton california uh their website is christbiblechurch .org

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christbiblechurch .org and of course first love radio where you are listening to this program via live streaming is firstloveradio .org

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firstloveradio .org first love missions can be found at missionsfirstlove .org

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missionsfirstlove .org and first love publications can be found at first love i'm sorry um i think i got something what is the what is the website for first love publications it's uh firstlovepublications .org

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okay all right great sorry about that well thank you so much joe and uh i hope uh that you have a blessed and refreshing weekend continue to pray for my brother john pray that he recovers so that he does have some more time on this earth with his family and hopefully that time will be spent as a newly born uh christian on fire for the lord uh but may i may i be give a quick invitation and we will definitely be praying for you brother john especially on sunday at your worship services my friends if you can remember chris's brother john in your prayers and during your live streaming services and if you are looking for a worship service to attend our church christ bible church will be live streaming our worship service this sunday at one o 'clock the sermon part of it on facebook and youtube and first love radio at one o 'clock pacific time christbiblechurch .org