November 28, 2018 Show with Dr. Barry J. York on “Hitting the Marks: Restoring the Essential Identity of the Church”
November 28, 2018:
Dr. BARRY J. YORK, President & Professor of Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA, who will address:
“HITTING THE MARKS: Restoring the Essential Identity of the Church”
Transcript
Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron, a radio
platform on which pastors, Christian scholars and theologians address the burning issues
facing the church and the world today.
Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron so one
man sharpens another.
Matthew Henry said that in this passage, quote, we are cautioned to take heed whom we
converse with and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another
wiser and better.
It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next hour and we hope to hear
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Good afternoon.
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,.
Lake City, Florida and the rest of humanity living on the planet earth who are listening via live streaming at
ironsharpensironradio .com.
This is Chris Arntzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday,.
I'm sorry, Wednesday on this 28th day of November 2018
and I'm so delighted to have for the very first time ever on the program Dr. Barry J
York.
He is president and professor of pastoral theology at the Reformed Presbyterian
Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and that seminary
should not be unfamiliar to those who listen regularly to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio because we have interviewed a number of
faculty members and also former students of Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Today we're going to be addressing Dr. York's book, Hitting the Marks, Restoring the Essential Identity
of the Church and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Sharpens Iron.
Radio, Dr. Barry J York.
Well thank you Chris, it's a pleasure and a privilege to be on your show.
Great, well it's a great honor and privilege and pleasure for me and I'm sure for my listeners
as well.
Why don't you tell our listeners first of all something about Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary even though
we've explained this seminary many times on the show.
We do have new listeners that seem to be joining the audience of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio
every day so please for the especially for the sake of those who have not yet heard about Reformed Presbyterian.
Theological Seminary.
Tell us our listeners about that.
Well Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary or RPTS as we like to call it is actually the fifth
oldest seminary in the United States.
We also
want you on my heart
training.
The website is rpts .edu
for those of you
who want to explore.
Further into the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
One thing that is quite a fascinating fact of
history, I know that the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America who is the primary
denomination running the seminary, they were the first evangelical
Christian denomination in the south to oppose slavery.
And that's something that a lot of people are unaware of.
Yes, if you look on our website and
a year ago I think it was in the
spring 2017 issue.
Well another
thing that
we normally do.
On Iron Trip and Zion Radio when we have a first -time guest is we have that guest.
Give a summary of the account of your salvation what kind of religious atmosphere if
any you were raised in and what providential circumstances our sovereign lord brought about in your
life that drew you to.
Himself and saved you.
I appreciate
that opportunity
almost every week.
And about about nine years of age
here that that
was just
as I got into my
high school.
Good
on the outside in
some way.
At other times that
happened to me too believe it or not
really that's something we
have in common.
Yeah two four two former crooks here.
I had a meal
hung out with
me and
then
eventually
asked me
if
I'd like
to attend a Bible study
and Saturday nights I was running wild.
But then I started going to this Bible study in the book of John.
So the
gospel in
grad
school.
Well
praise God.
Well
I'm
going to
give
our
listeners
our
email.
Address if they would like to join us on the air with questions of their own the email address is chrisarnsen at gmail
.com.
C -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n gmail .com.
Please give us your first name at least your city and state of residence in your country of residence if you live outside
of the USA.
And please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
I want to read a few of the endorsements for this book that you've written
Hitting the Marks Restoring the Essential Identity of the Church because they are quite
impressive.
Two of these men have been on Iron Trip and Zion Radio as guests and one of
them is involved with one of our sponsors World Magazine.
But Ligon Duncan a chancellor and CEO of Reform Theological Seminary says.
This book is clear helpful biblical pastoral and Presbyterian exposition and counsel
for pastors elders and congregations alike on understanding and applying the marks and characteristics
of the church in order to have healthy churches.
Also Derek Thomas senior minister at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia South Carolina and
Chancellor's Professor at Reform Theological Seminary says.
A much needed resource on the meaning and identity of the church in a compromised age.
Invaluable and timely.
Clear concise a clarion call for reformation.
Thoroughly recommended.
And finally Russ Pulliam who is with the Indianapolis Star
and World Magazine.
Uh he says Barry York offers an experienced voice of practical application of scripture.
God has used him as a pastor a disciple maker and a church planner.
He's not offering just theory about church.
Barry gives the real deal.
Well those are quite impressive commendations.
Especially because of the men who wrote those commendations.
And if you could uh Dr York there are a number of books as you know
that have intended or attempted to challenge
Christians in general and especially Christians in leadership to steer the church
back to the original purpose and intention and identity
that Christ had in his mind and his perfect and
inerrant and holy and righteous mind when the church was established.
Why did you think.
That another volume
was
needed
on a
subject
like this.
Yeah I uh
when
you ask them what things that
I
really core
issues
see.
But
then
it's the
church training the
people.
Uh if
you
could
uh
give
us
a.
Definition of what the church is.
That may sound like a silly question to many people listening who think oh I know what the church is.
Everybody knows what the church is but there are uh different definitions.
Obviously there's only one true definition but there are many who have a misunderstanding of what the church is.
I know that the root uh word uh ecclesia refers to
those who are called out but if you could give us uh a definition to work with in the beginning of our.
Discussion here.
Well the church would be those who follow Jesus.
A lot of people out there that
would
claim
to follow
between
the
true believers.
Heaven
now her
at the
end this
religion.
What
are those distinct that
are needed.
Yes
uh.
And it is a
tragedy that
uh for quite a long
time uh the.
Uh evangelical church at large let alone other churches that are even more
uh towards the realm of apostasy or even explicitly apostate
uh that all three of those have been uh poorly uh manifested
very often in even churches that would consider themselves to be bible believing and even
conservative.
Um one of the things um before we go into specifically those
three that churches disagree on even good biblically faithful churches uh
seem to have on occasion disagreements over the.
Offices
of
christ
if you could
uh let our listeners
know about that.
Christ we
now uh one of
the
reasons.
I say that some christians disagree.
Is that as you may know there are folks who we would consider our brothers in christ
even though we strongly disagree with them on certain issues and one of them involves the kingship of
jesus.
Uh some are saying that jesus is not now king he will be
when he is reigning and uh what they would call the uh the millennium period which
they they typically view in a different way than than most reformed christians.
Uh view that uh and they would say even they would even dare to say that that satan is the
lord or the king of this earth.
But uh how do you answer the person that says how can jesus be king.
When we see uh the majority of people on this globe acting in a wicked fashion who were
rebelling against christ and his word.
Uh when it seems that evil is getting worse and worse and manifesting itself in
all kinds of uh grotesque and horrific ways that
many of us for most of our lives haven't witnessed uh until recently.
So how would you say.
How is.
How do you respond to the folks that say how is jesus king.
Well
first of
any
man that he
was
the
king
and
when
he lord
authority
and
heaven.
It's mine.
It has been given
to me
so
just
a little he's
done a
great
thing.
We're not
done yet.
We
who
are
reformed.
Also would typically say that the devil is god's devil and that he
cannot do anything without being granted permission by god himself to do it.
Just as we see in the book of job all the things that fell upon job and his family
the devil couldn't do any of those things.
In fact he specifically asked god for permission to do those things.
Uh so uh people should be reminded.
Um i think you would agree that no matter what evil we see in the world around us god has a sovereign
purpose for us.
He does not bless evil and those who are guilty of
evil acts who do not repent before they depart from this earth they will be punished in hell.
But at the same time god has a sovereign purpose for all of this.
And the devil is on a leash uh that god is holding tightly onto.
Am i right.
Amen.
Yes yes uh even the legion of demons had to go
into her to the sea and drown.
So right.
Yes the demons are under his.
Well going back to those three main things uh that identify.
The true church i'm going to ask you about uh the faithful
preaching of the word of god and i'm going to have you answer it when we return from our first break.
Because we're going to our first break right now.
But if you could uh tell us what you think or ways that you
think.
The modern church even the church that professes to be biblically faithful has in many ways
failed at that mission for its ministers to be faithful preachers of the word and how they have
drifted from the gospel and focused on the things that are not the gospel or even have twisted the gospel itself.
But if anybody would like to join us on the air uh you can email us at chris arnson at gmail .com chris
arnson at gmail .com and give us your first name your city and state of residence in your country of residence.
If you live outside the usa and remember to please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
If you're going to be criticizing a particular church or congregation uh we would
obviously prefer that you remain anonymous and keep that church anonymous.
Uh so we could understand.
If you uh are going to be saying something critical of perhaps even the church where you are a member we would we would
insist that you remain anonymous.
But other than that if it's just a general question please give us your first name city and state and country of residence and don't go away.
We'll be right back.
After these messages with dr barry j york and more on hitting the marks.
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Hi i'm stefan limblad assistant professor of systematic theology
at irbs.
Theological seminary in mansfield texas.
I accepted this call to teach at the seminary because i'm firmly convinced that the people of
god in the churches of our lord jesus christ need to be firmly grounded in the truth
of holy scripture.
I'm excited to be teaching such subjects as the nature of theology and the doctrine of scripture
and even the doctrine of the person and work of jesus christ.
Our churches and our people need to be well grounded in these truths.
Indeed future ministers of the gospel need to understand these truths in order to proclaim them
to all of god's people.
If you want to learn more about our program visit us online at irbs seminary .org.
My name is steve lawson founder and president of one passion ministries as well as teaching fellow for ligonier
ministries.
I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the doctor of ministry program at the master's seminary in los angeles.
I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students andy woodard serves as the pastor.
It's called new covenant church nyc.
They are a reformed baptist church that meets in midtown manhattan.
You can find their service times and location on their website which is www
.ncc .nyc.
They believe in a sovereign god who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.
If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching which is simply biblical preaching
in new york city i'd like to recommend that you visit new covenant church nyc
again.
Their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc.
Have a great day.
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Welcome back.
This is chris arnzen if you just tuned us in.
Our guest today for the full two hours with about 90 minutes to go is dr barry j york
and he has written a book hitting the marks restoring the essential identity
of the church.
And the forward was written by one of my favorite preachers edward donnelly or as many people
call him ted donnelly.
What a phenomenal preacher.
If anybody listening wants to discover the preaching of ted donnelly
you can find it at sermon audio and other places on the internet i'm sure.
But what a remarkable.
Preacher and gifted man of god.
Uh how is brother donnelly doing these days.
Dr york.
Uh he actually.
Congregation that.
Praise god.
That's very good to hear.
Yes i can still remember vividly when i first.
Heard him preach at the orthodox presbyterian church of franklin square long island new york
probably back in the 1980s maybe the 1990s when my friend uh
dear friend of many years pastor bill shishko was still pastoring there so i can hardly
recommend uh the ted donnelly's preaching.
Um so as you remember uh before the break i asked you to highlight some
of the ways that you think perhaps the evangelical church at large may have
departed in some areas in regarding to the faithful.
Preaching of the word of god one of the things that i
point out we have these offices of jesus
he is
a
process
identity
is
directly
connected
to jesus
he is
the
head
priest and he's
showing
and
demonstrate
his son.
And
the
way
that
that
primarily
happens
is we're
telling
the
people
of god what it really means to be a disciple of jesus christ at the heart of that is the gospel.
He died.
So
i think preaching
although i'm i'm
on a large scale
way as
we look across the
preaching of god's please them to tickle
their ears to make now do you think that
that is a.
Direct result of preachers or pastors failing to
preach and teach the whole counsel of god.
If i have said before when i've seen joel olsteen preaching on television
where he has this permanent beaming smile on his face i've never
seen him preach or teach with a frown uh or with a look of
urgency and um seriousness uh now i'm not a i'm not somebody
who has watched every moment of his preaching.
But i have said that you cannot remain with a smile on your face all the time if
you are preaching the whole council of god.
Uh so do you think that that's at root.
Yes um
own
blood
right.
Uh
we
do
have uh
christopher
in
suffolk
county long island
new
york.
Who has a question.
I often hear reform people using different phrases for
the lord's supper and baptism.
Some interchangeably use ordinances and sacraments.
Some refuse to use the phrase sacraments and solely use the
word ordinances because they think sacraments is on in as an improper way
of defining what those elements are in the worship of christ.
Why does your guest use the word sacraments and does he differentiate
that word from the way.
Rome
has
misused
it.
Yes
and
uh
not
all
baptists
especially
reformed
baptists
are
leery
of
using.
The phrase in fact one of the greatest heroes earthly heroes of the majority
of reformed baptists charles haddon spurgeon he used the term sacraments.
Uh by the way thank you christopher.
And if you give us your mailing address in suffolk county long island new york you are going to be receiving absolutely free of
charge the book hitting the marks restoring the essential identity of the church by our
guest dr barry j york.
And that is compliments of our friends at crown and covenant publications who are always faithful to provide us
with wonderful books when we interview their authors.
Also compliments of our friends at cvbbs .com cumberland valley bible book service actually
be shipping the book out to you at no charge to you or to our interpreters on radio.
So uh please look out for that in the mail and please make sure we have your mailing address so we can have that shipped out
as soon as possible.
Uh now if the administration the proper administration of the
sacraments or ordinances is a hallmark of a true
church uh do you think that some churches
uh perhaps far more than we care to mention who are even within the reformed faith seem to
uh not want to highlight them too frequently in the gathering
of the body of christ and in the worship of christ uh where you have you know you may have some
churches that have the lord's supper once a year twice a year and
prolonged baptisms for many months perhaps a year or more.
And you know there are some churches that only baptize people on easter sunday for instance and things like
that or when it's warm enough to go to the beach and do it.
Uh do you think that uh that that kind of detracts from the sacraments ordinances
being such a.
A
major
element
within
the
true
church's
identity yes
i
look
around the
block so that
we go
out to
the church and
when
the
elements
are
and sometimes churches really need
to be
read the
blood of jesus christ because that's what the sacraments are really representing
to us is to
assure you which
is
a way
the
dirt
from
the bush
should
never
rise
that never
be a
self
-reflection.
We are going to our midway break right now and i just forwarded you an email dr york
uh from someone that you may know uh he has been a guest on this program at least
twice.
Uh my new friend mitch tepper who is the new missionary for a christian witness
to israel.
He is a graduate of reformed presbyterian theological seminary.
And uh yes i know that very well.
Yeah.
And he sent in a question and i'm going to read it to you now and then you can answer it when we return.
And you can also look over the question uh during the break.
Uh because of the fact that it's a it's an elongated break uh because of the fact that grace life radio 90
.1 fm in lake city florida requires of us a long break because they localize
iron trip and zion radio to lake city florida with commercials and public service announcements.
But mitch tepper uh who is as i said the missionary for
christian witness to israel's north american division he says without mentioning names.
I have heard many feel -good messages self -help messages.
Messages even as lloyd jones was quoted in your book as messages about the
gospel.
I think he wanted to emphasize about the gospel.
But i have heard very few pastors preach gospel messages on a weekly basis.
I appreciate you taught us well in homiletics classes.
Well obviously he's revealed.
He knows you that we must preach the gospel to our congregations every week.
So many preachers i know do not see seeker friendly churches as being a bad thing.
I learned from you that preaching should cut to the quick with that being
uh with that being said is the politically correct seeker
friendly.
Is the politically correct seeker friendly preaching hurting the true growth and revival of the church.
So we'll have you answer that uh when we come back.
And thank you very much mitch.
And if anybody else would like to join us our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Don't go away.
We'll be back after this elongated break with our guest dr barry j york and our subject at
hand hitting the marks.
Don't go away.
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Hello.
My name is james renahan and i'm the president of irbs theological seminary in mansfield texas.
The word of god says if a man desires the office of an overseer he desires a.
Do you have the desire to serve jesus christ in pastoral ministry.
20 years ago the institute of reformed baptist studies at westminster seminary california was
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We believe that the scriptures of the old and new testaments are the inspired and inerrant word of god that jesus christ
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Do you sense a call to serve jesus christ in his church as a why not consider irbs theological
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I hope to hear from you soon.
God bless you.
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James white here co -founder of alvin omega ministries and occasional guest on iron sharpens iron radio.
I'm so delighted my friend chris arnson will be heading down to atlanta for the next g3 conference.
From january 17th to the 19th 2019 we'll all be joining a very impressive lineup of speakers
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For more details go to g3conference .com.
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My name is steve lawson founder and president of one passion ministries as well as teaching fellow for ligonier
ministries.
I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the doctor of ministry program at the master's seminary in los angeles.
I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students andy woodard serves as the pastor.
It's called new covenant church nyc.
They are a reformed baptist church that meets in midtown manhattan.
You can find their service times and location on their website which is www
.ncc .nyc.
They believe in a sovereign god who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.
If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching which is simply biblical preaching
in new york city i'd like to recommend that you visit new covenant church nyc
again.
Their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc.
Have a great day.
Chris sorenson host of iron sharpens.
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Dan is an exceptional trial lawyer.
He wrote the test for the national board of trial advocacy and currently his firm has over 100
cases that have settled for one million dollars or more and in approximately 10
different states.
In illinois his lawyers had the fourth largest settlement in the state's history in new york.
His case involving a paralyzed police officer made the front page of the law journal.
If you have a serious personal injury or medical malpractice claim in any state i recommend that you
call dan.
Consultations are free there is no fee unless you win.
Dan buttafuco's number is 1 -800 -669 -4878 1 -800
-669 -4878 or email me for dan's contact information
at chris arnzen at.
Gmail .com that's chris arnzen at gmail .com.
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 its beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish god -centered christ exalting
books for all ages.
We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com 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.
Hi i'm buzz taylor frequent.
Co -host with chris arnson on iron sharpens iron radio.
I would like to introduce you to my good friends todd and patty jennings at cvbbs which stands for cumberland valley
bible book service.
Todd and patty specialize in supplying reformed and puritan books and bibles at discount prices that make them
affordable to everyone.
Since 1987 the family -owned and operated book service has sought to bring you the best available christian books
and bibles at the best possible prices.
Unlike other book sites they make no effort to provide every book that is available because frankly much of what
is being printed is not worth your time.
That means you can get to the good stuff faster.
It also means that you don't have to worry about being assaulted by the pornographic heretical and
otherwise faith insulting material promoted by the secular book vendors.
Their website is cvbbs .com.
Browse the pages at ease shop at your leisure and purchase with confidence as todd and patty work
in service to you the church and to christ.
That's cumberland valley bible book service at cvbbs .com.
That's cvbbs .com.
Let todd and patty know that you heard about them on iron sharpens iron radio and you could also call
cvbbs .com at.
Toll -free number 800 -656 -0231 800 -656
-0231.
And remember that you can only call that phone line or at least you can only call it and have somebody answer
it monday through friday from 10 a .m eastern time to 4 30 p .m eastern time.
And uh if you mention chris arnzen on iron sharpens iron radio and you purchase a minimum of fifty dollars worth of
merchandise you will receive absolutely free of charge the book always reforming by
david engelsma.
And also uh cvbbs .com is having their christmas sale where they are taking 10
off everything in their inventory.
So that's cvbbs .com.
Cvbbs .com.
And uh i just have a few special announcements to make about special events
coming up that i hope that everybody uh who is capable of traveling to these
events uh will take advantage of.
And i hope to see you there because i will be personally there at all of these events.
Manning and iron sharpens iron exhibitors booth.
First of all iron sharpens iron radio is having their annual.
Actually we've increased it to at least a biannual event um but
we're having our winter pastor's luncheon uh coming up on
thursday january 3rd from 11 a .m to 2 p .m at the carlisle fire and rescue
banquet hall in carlisle pennsylvania.
My guest speaker once again is dr tony costa who is professor of apologetics and islam at
toronto baptist seminary.
He is quite a brilliant uh man of god and quite a powerful speaker and preacher.
And this is an uh open invitation to all men in leadership whether
you are a pastor an elder a deacon or a leader in a parachurch organization
uh you are welcome to attend.
And we are only opening this invitation as i said to men who are in ministry leadership
and it is absolutely free of charge.
Nothing is for sale there.
In fact um every man that attends will be leaving with
one and perhaps even two heavy sacks of brand new books.
Every year the majority of christian publishers of major christian publishers
in the united states in the united kingdom uh each donate 100 copies
of a book that i select of a title i select from each of those publishers so that every man who
attends can get that book.
And uh crown and covenant publications has been one of those faithful publishers who
year after year has been generous to all who attend the iron chirping's iron pastor's luncheon
uh and you'll also eat for free.
There is no gimmick there is no ulterior motive.
It's just intended to bless all those who attend.
And this uh annual or biannual pastor's luncheon uh started with my late
wife julie having a dream.
I don't mean literally a dream but uh she requested that uh since i have so many
pastors who are friends that we have an annual luncheon near christmas time to bless these men.
And it grew so huge that i had to get corporate sponsors involved after a number
of years.
So this will be once again an honor of my late wife julie whose
vision this uh pastor's luncheon was and i'm thankful that she knew that it
came to fruition for quite a number of years while she was still with us.
And if you have uh interest in attending my pastor's luncheon send me an email to chris arnson at gmail .com
chris arnson at gmail .com.
Also immediately following that from friday january 4th through sunday january 6th
dr tony costa who i just mentioned from toronto baptist seminary he will be preaching at a three -day conference that
i have organized at the enola first church of god in enola pennsylvania.
This is also a free conference and dr costa will be speaking on the most dangerous threats to the christian
church in north america in the 21st century.
If you would like to attend this event at the enola first church of god you can call
the enola first church of god at 717 -732 -4253 717 -732
-4253.
And you can also go to enolacog .com that's e and as a nancy o
l a c o g which stands for church of god .com enola c o g .com.
Or you can also email me chris arnson at chris arnson at gmail .com.
And i want to thank my dear friend pastor george jensen of the enola first church of god for
cooperating with me on this event.
Then uh coming up later on in january i am returning once again to
the g3 conference in college park georgia a suburb of atlanta.
The g3 conference stands for gospel grace and glory and the theme this january is the mission of god
a biblical understanding of missions.
And as always they have an enormous impressive lineup of speakers that i
hope that you will take advantage of and come to hear speak.
Uh these speakers include vody baucom steven lawson james r
white john piper mark dever stephen j nichols conrad and bayway
who is the pastor of cubata baptist church in lusaka zambia africa phil johnson of john macarthur's
grace to you ministries uh we have many more on this lineup
uh a list too long to mention.
And the conference will be held from thursday january 17th through saturday
january 19th.
There is a an exclusively spanish speaking edition on wednesday january 16th as well if you want to tell
your spanish speaking and bilingual friends about that.
For more details go to g3 conference .com g3 conference .com.
And i would strongly urge you to register also for an exhibitor's booth just like i will be manning there god willing
because they are expecting four to five thousand people there.
So if you have a business a professional practice a parachurch organization a church or
a special event that you want to promote to a crowd of between four and five thousand people register for
your exhibitors booth at g3 conference .com g3 conference .com.
Then finally uh later on in that same month january from the 24th through 26th
i will be for the very first time uh in the state of mississippi.
I've never been in mississippi before and i'll be manning at booth for iron trip and zion radio at the deep south
founders conference at the bethlehem baptist church of laurel mississippi.
The theme this january at the deep south founders conference is sanctification and the
speakers include rusty reed gerald henderson jason goodwin bobby
crenshaw.
And the keynote speaker again is dr conrad mbaywe of lusaka
of kabwatha baptist church in lusaka zambia africa and chancellor of african christian university.
So delighted that i have those two opportunities to hear my dear friend conrad mbaywe preach my friend
that i've known since 1995 and he is i think the most powerful preacher alive on the planet earth.
For more details on the deep south founders conference go to deep south founders .com deep south founders
.com.
Last but not least if you love iron trip and zion radio you don't want it to disappear.
You benefit greatly from the guests and topics that we have featured on iron trip and zion radio often
guests and topics that are never heard anywhere else.
Please go to iron trip and zion radio .com click support.
Then click click to donate.
Now you can donate instantly with a debit or credit card and you can also mail in a check the old -fashioned way to the address that
you will see appearing on the screen when you click support at iron trip and zion radio .com.
As i try to remember to warn you every day never siphon money away from your regular giving
that you're accustomed to to your local church where you are a member in order to give to iron trip and zion radio.
Never do that.
Never put your family in financial jeopardy by giving to iron trip and zion radio those two things are commands of god.
Supporting my radio show obviously is not a command of god.
But if you are financially blessed above and beyond your ability to obey those two commands and you love the show and you don't
want it to disappear please consider going to iron trip and zion radio .com click support.
Then click click to donate and donate as heavily as you can and as frequently as you can if you love the show
if you want to advertise with us send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line because we could surely
use your advertising dollars.
And if you do not have a church home i have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the world.
So please send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com and put in the subject line i need a church home or something similar.
I have already helped a number of iron trip and zion radio listeners find good solid biblically faithful church
homes near them in all parts of the world in the united states.
So please don't hesitate to send me an email.
That's also the email address where you could send in a question to our guest today dr barry j york
on hitting the marks restoring the essential identity of the church.
It's chrisarnsen at gmail .com.
Please give us your first name city and state and country of residence if you live outside the usa and only remain anonymous
if your question involves a personal and private matter.
And as you uh have in front of you dr york we had our listener
our friend mitch tepper uh who has written in a question.
And mitch's question again uh is and i have to enlarge it again
because he has written in a microscopic font that my 56 year old eyes
have difficulty reading uh and now while i'm enlarging this font our email
address again is chrisarnsen at gmail .com.
Chrisarnsen at gmail .com.
And here is the question again without mentioning names.
I have heard many feel -good messages self -help messages messages even as dr lloyd
jones was quoted in your book as messages about the gospel but i have
heard very few pastors preach gospel messages on a weekly basis.
I appreciate you taught us well in homiletics classes that we must preach the gospel to our
congregations every week.
So many preachers i know do not see seeker friendly churches as being a bad thing.
I learned from you that preaching should cut to the quick with that being said is the politically
correct seeker friendly preaching hurting the true church growth and revival of.
The church.
Well i've had some time
to think
about.
Yes the political i think
one of the places yes.
And then yeah
in that uh
declaration
it
starts
increasingly
true righteousness.
So
the
worship
of god
spirit of god
is
residing
in the church
at
that
how he
can
meet
the reach
that
gospel.
And mitch added in a follow -up email i also believe it dilutes the
gospel even though many of my pastor friends think not i'm assuming he means the seeker
sensitive approach dilutes the.
Gospel yeah because you're trying to make if you're trying to we
know men really so deep that men really don't
see.
Amen amen.
And i've also
heard it said
that
you cannot
lure
sheep into
the
house.
Of god with goat food.
And uh our friend mitch tepper says.
By the way i love the book.
In fact i'm studying it in sunday school class
starting after the new year.
And he says also.
Miss you barry and chris.
Well miss you too brother.
And looking forward to having you come back on the program.
Uh one thing that uh you said in fact that uh mitch quoted you as
saying from your book is that uh christians should hear the gospel every week
now.
It's interesting.
Uh amazingly.
And of course i know that you are presbyterian and you're obviously not in this certain camp of
presbyterianism judging by what you said.
But i have known presbyterians who will say things like i don't need to preach the
gospel to covenant children.
Or that preaching the gospel in the confines of the gathered body uh
is not the essential thing it's instructing the saints and so on because of the perhaps
even a hyper covenantal view of the covenant.
How do you.
Respond to people who say things like that well anytime you begin to
instruct without a gospel
man's walk in love
you could even
take a
command like walk in
what you see christ
walked in love and gave himself so we got to keep our so
we need to be preached
amen.
In fact
another.
Thing uh about the need to regularly weekly preach
the gospel to even christians in attendance is that we don't
know the hearts of men and there may be false believers in our midst.
That's right that's
right.
Yeah we never know what
came in but i did
not know.
They're leading worship.
I started really thinking in my message is it clear in
it.
Amen.
We're going to
our final.
Break right now.
Uh it's briefer than the last one.
Uh if you'd like to send in a question we do have a couple of people still waiting and we hope that you're waiting patiently
but if you'd like to join us do so now or forever.
Hold your peace because we're rapidly running out of time.
Our email address is chris arnzen at gmail .com c -h -r -i -s -a -r
-n -z -e -n gmail .com.
Please give us your first name city and state and 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.
God willing we will be right back with dr barry j york after this final station break today.
God bless you.
We hope to hear from you with your questions.
Gotta tell you for my money.
Chris arnzen's radio program is just the best iron
criticizing.
I think that's what it's called.
This is todd friel of wretched radio and tv with phil johnson.
Of grace to you inviting everybody to come to the g3 conference which has almost instantly
become one of the best conferences in the country.
And it is.
It's a great conference i love it.
And chris arnzen was there last year.
He's been there i think every year.
It's great to see him there.
You and i actually did some recordings in the.
Lobby at that place which is a highlight.
Tons of stuff going on tons of great speakers and no matter where you are in the building you will hear chris arnzen's
laugh and that's worth the price of admission alone if you would like to join.
Phil me chris and a cavalcade of great preachers.
So it should be a cavalcade of great preachers and me.
G3 conference .com g3 conference .com.
Paul wrote to the church at galatia for am i now seeking the approval of man or of god or am i trying
to please man.
If i were still trying to please man i would not be a servant of christ.
Hi.
I'm mark lukens pastor of providence baptist church.
We are reformed baptist church and we hold to the london baptist confession of faith of 1689.
We are in nofolk massachusetts.
We strive to reflect paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how god views what we say and what we do
than how men view these things.
That's not the best recipe for popularity.
But since that wasn't the apostle's priority it must not be ours either.
We believe by god's grace that we are called to demonstrate love and compassion to our fellow man and to be
vessels of christ's mercy to a lost and hurting community around us and to build up the body of christ in truth and
love.
If you live near norfolk massachusetts or plan to visit our area please come and join us for worship and fellowship.
You can call us at 508 -528 -5750 that's 508 -528
-5750 or go to our website to email us.
Listen to past sermons worship songs or watch our tv program entitled resting in grace you can find us
at providence baptist church ma .org.
That's providence baptist church ma .org or even on sermonaudio .com.
Providence baptist church is delighted to sponsor 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 of the above.
For details call long island youth for
christ at 631 -385 -8333 that's 631 -385 -8333 or
visit liyfc .org that's
liyfc .org.
Hello.
I'm dr kerry kimbrell senior pastor at.
Bethlehem baptist church in laurel mississippi and i'm hoping that many of you who listen to chris arnson's iron
sharpens iron radio program will join chris and me at the deep south founders conference thursday
january 24th through saturday january 26th here in laurel.
If you love god's word and love to hear it powerfully preached i can assure you that you will not be disappointed.
Our speakers at the deep south founders conference this year include rusty reed gerald henderson jason
goodwin bobby crenshaw and our keynote speaker all the way from zambia dr conrad
mbaywe who has received the nickname the spurgeon of africa.
And i for one believe it's a very accurate description of brother conrad.
For more details go to deep south founders .com.
That's deep south founders .com.
I look forward to giving a big mississippi welcome to many iron sharpens iron radio listeners
january 24th through january 26th.
Thank you.
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 at 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 that's linbrookbaptist .org.
Listening to christian radio can be a big gamble spiritually.
Even many of the major christian networks that include excellent biblically faithful teachers on their lineup
sadly often also include the worst of doctrinally dangerous heretics.
If you are a lover of the doctrines of sovereign grace you need not fear listening 24 hours a day to
firstloveradio .org.
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 jackowitz pastor robert gifford al martin edward delcour and
more.
Firstloveradio .org also live streams my iron sharpens iron radio program daily.
Please stick around on firstloveradio .org after iron sharpens iron radio is over to continue
being blessed by the unwavering proclamation of the.
Gospel of sovereign grace.
Spread the word about firstloveradio .org.
Charles haddon spurgeon once.
Said give yourself unto reading.
The man who never reads will never be read.
He who never quotes will never be quoted.
He will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his.
Own you need to read.
Solid ground christian books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the prince of preachers to heart.
The mission of solid ground christian books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to christians in the present and
future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.
Since 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 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 and.
Remember that my dear friend and my very first pastor mike gadosh the founder of solid ground
christian books has experienced a very serious financial setback due to the
fact that he underwent a very dangerous and serious and complicated open heart surgery and
during his time being laid up in the hospital solid ground christian books had
some quite devastating financial losses so please help replenish that which was lost
by ordering as many books as you can from solid -ground -books .com.
Solid -ground -books .com.
Especially with the holidays coming up why not give everybody on your christmas shopping list a book from
solid ground christian books.
In fact even if you want to order from my other sponsor cvbbs
.com carmel and valley bible book service they carry all the solid ground christian books titles.
So if you want go to solid ground christian books website first solid -ground -books
.com make a long list of books that they publish and then go to cvbbs .com and
order those books.
That way you help both of our sponsors solid ground christian books and cvbbs .com.
So please do that and always tell all of our advertisers when you are patronizing them that you heard
about them from chris arnzen at iron sharpens iron radio we are now in our last 20 minutes
of the interview today with dr barry j york of reform presbyterian theological seminary in
pittsburgh pennsylvania we are discussing hitting the marks restoring the essential identity of the church.
If you want to ask a question please do so quickly as we are rapidly running out of time chris arnzen at gmail .com.
Chris arnzen at gmail .com we have an anonymous listener who says.
I have been disappointed in the church where i am a member because of the fact that they only have the
lord's supper once a month and i think it should be more frequently practiced in fact every week
the excuse that is often given has something to do with you.
What you said earlier they will claim that to have it frequently or
weekly makes it lose its specialness.
I don't buy that argument because if we were truly going to carry that argument through logically we would only go to
church once a month and only have once a month worship services to make them more
special.
How.
Do you
respond to this
well
frequency of communion
when i you know jesus
tend to the position that
weekly communion um i don't quite see that in scripture but
i don't seem to do so i think.
Irrigation that's gathered there.
If i was in a setting where i wasn't happy with the frequency of communion help
me to see and
understand study it's
against them.
I definitely
don't think we
should
devalue it by right.
And even though you said that uh it is best not to complain about.
Your elders.
I guess that would all depend upon the manner with which you are disagreeing.
Obviously there's nothing wrong with approaching your elders and with a spirit of humility
sharing your grievances with them recognizing that they are ordained over
the members of the congregation.
And of course they shouldn't be just gossiping or stabbing their elders in the back in
nasty conversation with others that would be sin but there's nothing wrong with bringing these.
Things to the
elders right.
And of course i'm
assuming you didn't
find fault with our
listener because he did remain anonymous.
He didn't.
Yes it seems that that's what he's trying to do.
Well.
Anonymous if you give me obviously off the air and in private your full name and your mailing address
you have also won a free copy of the book hitting the marks by dr barry j york
restoring the essential identity of the church and cvbbs .com will ship that out to you.
And once again we thank our dear friends at crown and covenant publications for their generosity in
providing copies of this book.
Uh well let's move on to one of the least popular topics within
discussions on the church especially since it is a main element in restoring the essential identity of the
church.
It's church discipline which is something that i have heard many people whose
opinions i respect uh have said that it is vanishing and
in many areas has vanished completely from the practice of even churches that claim
to believe in biblical inerrancy and are even conservative.
In many ways there is such a fear of losing people fear of
numerically shrinking that people do not practice church discipline.
But this is not loving to do that.
And by the way dr york you may not be aware of this but i owe my life i believe to
church discipline.
I before i was a christian uh was a very serious drunk
drunkard uh.
And after 18 years of sobriety i fell back into that sinful practice of
over imbibing to put it mildly uh drinking extremely heavily to a very life threatening
level and if it were not for gracious and loving under shepherds in the congregation
where i was a member my pastors who enacted church discipline upon me i
believe i might not be sitting here with a beating heart and oxygen in my lungs.
So uh tell us about church discipline what exactly it is and why
christians should not be so terrified of it that they.
They flee from association with the local body of christ.
Just hear that phrase.
Our minds immediately run to things.
Certainly that's a when the
reformers were looking at what the true church is rome identified the
true church using the qualities of nicene creed oneness holiness apostolicity
catholicity.
And they were they were um tracing all of
those things
following not
the
pope.
So they
uh
vehicle
congregation
is.
We
have
another
anonymous
listener
who
says.
When we speak of the true church how do you deal with differences amongst
brothers in christ that although would not separate them from the body of christ are
still serious.
For instance the host of the show chris arnzen is a reformed baptist his guest is
a reformed presbyterian and they do disagree on issues like baptism.
Does that make one a member of a false church and one a true church etc.
How do we deal with these kinds of issues when trying to discuss the true church.
And
for our
listeners who don't know al meller he is the president of the southern baptist.
Theological seminary in louisville kentucky.
So he is a calvinistic baptist that's right.
That's
right.
And he
talks
about
how
for
instance amen.
And
there there
is at
least
one
denomination.
I know of that does have both pedo baptist and uh credo baptists in leadership.
That's the free presbyterian church of north america free pre -presbyterian church of ulster the
mother church if you will.
In northern ireland they have both men who are credo baptist
or believer only baptists in leadership and pedo baptist.
And if somebody in the congregation for instance wants to baptize their baby they are convicted that that is
biblically faithful practice.
The the the baptistic pastor would be required to call in uh one of
his colleagues that believes in infant baptism to perform the uh the sacrament.
But that is an interesting congregation that seems to manage with both uh.
Well i'd like you now to at least have three minutes where you can
summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today.
In regarding to.
Hitting the marks his disciples
who do people say that i am and they were given a variety of
and
he
gives
to
people
what you bind on earth
to
those
who
remain
under it so
believe
in the gospel or those who have
been in the church.
But then there's overtures that
the tried the
door to
handle
those
men.
We have time
for one more
listener arnie
in perry county pennsylvania.
Who says how do we maintain harmony with brothers and sisters in christ.
Who disagree on how to interpret the regulative principle.
Can a person such as yourself who believes in exclusive psalmody and acapella worship
actually worship with a congregation that uses hymns and
also musical instruments.
How do we settle these kinds of issues.
Answer that in.
A couple of
minutes
but i
try to you
get into a lot of trouble when you begin to get
that engages full.
Well i want
to thank you
so much dr
york
for being
my guest
today.
I really.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
I look forward to your frequent return as a guest to iron trip and zion radio if you also share that opinion
of your experience.
Glad to come back sometime.
Chris.
Great.
Well i am very much.
Uh would enjoy that.
Uh i want to let our listeners know.
I want to remind our listeners that if you want to learn more about the reformed presbyterian theological seminary in pittsburgh
pennsylvania you can go to rpts .edu rp for reformed
presbyterian ts for theological seminary .edu and if you want to learn more about
crown and covenant publications you can go to crown and covenant .com crown
and covenant .com and of course all of crown and covenants titles are available at cvbbs
.com cvbbs .com which stands for cumberland valley bible books service.
I want to thank everybody who listened today especially those who wrote in
questions and i hope that you all always remember for the rest of your lives that jesus christ
is a far far greater savior than you are a sinner.