November 29, 2022 Show with Jeffery Rice on “Truths From Ephesians”

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Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father

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James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister

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George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe, 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.

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And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

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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.

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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 29th day of November, 2022.

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I'm thrilled to have back on the program a brother who is a sponsor of this show,

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. If you listen regularly, you no doubt have heard every day the ads for post -Tenebrous

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Lux Bible rebinding, and those ads are voiced by our mutual friend,

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Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries, because he is an extremely satisfied customer, which is made very clear in his advertisements of post -Tenebrous

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Lux Bible rebinding. But my guest today, Jeffrey Rice, is also pastor and teaching elder at Covenant Reform Baptist Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee, and we're also going to be announcing the upcoming conference on Truths from Ephesians, featuring

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Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries and others, and that is the theme of our program today,

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Truths from Ephesians, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Jeffrey Rice.

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Hey man, thanks for having me. Again, I appreciate it. You know, I can remember maybe three, four years before we met, listening to your show, and it's really a big deal for me to be on here today, to be able to have the fellowship that we have, and I appreciate your friendship.

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Oh, the feeling is completely mutual, brother. And before I have you give your testimony, you were actually on the program once before, but you have never been on the two -hour live program.

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You were on the program during my on -site interviews at one of the G3 conferences,

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I think it was in 2020, and you likely gave your testimony then, but since this is your first time as a guest on the full two -hour live show,

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I'd like you to repeat a summary of that testimony, but before we do that, tell our listeners about Covenant Reformed Baptist Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee.

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Yeah, so Covenant Reformed Baptist Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee is a church plant from Christus King in Syracuse, New York.

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It was during the time where churches were shut down because of COVID. I had previously, a decade or so ago, was ordained with the

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Churches of God, Assemblies of God, and I found myself not agreeing with their theology, so I'd rather sit in the pew than be convicted behind the pulpit of preaching what

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I didn't consider to be correct. And so I was attending a church that was reforming, and I was a part of their, they had a class where they were considering me as an elder.

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That church shut down. The pastor, whenever it would start back up, the pastor sat down, and then they were moving away from Reformed theology, and then all the

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Reformed people from that church were looking at me because I was teaching them at that time, Sunday school, and filling in in the pulpit.

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And then we didn't know what I was going to do, and the people heard that I had already been ordained. I was moving into being an elder at this

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Baptist church, so I was contacted about planting a church in this area that would stay open during the

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COVID war, and so I accepted. And we were almost, so May the 30th,

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I think it is May 30th or May 31st, will be three years that Covenant Reformed Baptist Church has been a church plant, and the

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Lord has truly blessed it. Praise God. If anybody wants more information about Covenant Reformed Baptist Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee, go to CovenantRBCTN, for Tennessee, dot com.

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That's CovenantRBCTN .com, and we'll be repeating that,

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God willing, later on in the program. Now tell us about this exciting news about this conference that you have coming up that I've already mentioned this

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February. God willing, I am going to try to be there. I have fallen in love with the state in which you live and minister,

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Tennessee, and I've never been to Tullahoma. I've been to Knoxville. I've been to Franklin and Nashville, but I would love to pay a visit to Tullahoma and here and be blessed by this great lineup of speakers you have that include our mutual friend,

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Dr. James R. White, Valpha and Omega Ministries, Anthony Mathenia, who is the pastor of Paul Washer in Virginia, Haps Addison, who

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I have not yet had the privilege of interviewing. I've got to try to do that soon, and that goes also for Braden Patterson.

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I have not yet interviewed him. My old friend, Andrew Rappaport, has been on this program several times.

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I just recently met and interviewed Claude Ramsey in Knoxville at the Fight, Laugh, Feast conference, and hopefully that will be uploaded onto the

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Iron Sherpa's Iron Radio website in the near future. And Kevin Hay and Brandon Scalf and John Crawford and Greg Moring are also brethren that I have not yet interviewed, but I'm going to try to interview as many of these brethren as I can.

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But tell us about this conference, which is also on the theme of our discussion today,

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Truths from Ephesians. Well, first let me tell you about Tullahoma. So Tullahoma is a small town with a big city feel.

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To me, it feels like Nashville in the 80s. Of course, I can only relate to Nashville because that's where I'm from,

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Nashville. And so it's a small town, but because we have the Air Force Base, it has a lot of things in this little small town.

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So it might seem like it's country land to a lot of people, but it really isn't.

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As far as the conference, I always had a desire to have a conference, and I said, because for two years or so, we were just renting out a building once a week that we met for church.

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And I always said, once the Lord blessed us with a building, we were going to be trying to have some conferences.

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I wanted to have conferences, and I wanted to have preaching classes to where I can train the men in our area how to preach, how to teach, prepare sermons and stuff like that.

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And so the first thing that seemed to fall on my lap is this conference. So I have a small podcast called

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Open Air Theology, along with Brayden Patterson and Habs Addison, and we just decided to do something together that would be on the book of Ephesians.

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And so we wanted to look at the truths that's given to us in Ephesians. And so basically it's probably going to be even a lot broader than that.

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We're hoping with all the speakers that we have, the point would be to teach through Ephesians.

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But some of the main points in Ephesians are found in chapter 4, verses 1 through 7, where it talks about these truths.

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And so you can walk through and see where it talks about, let's see, the unity of one spirit.

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And you can go through Ephesians and find where it talks about the spirit or the bond of peace, the one hope, the one

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Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God. We believe that all these truths are found expositionally through the book of Ephesians.

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And so the goal is on that day would be to teach through the book of Ephesians. Well, the book of Ephesians is near and dear to my heart, as is all of scripture.

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But there's a particular significance with the book of Ephesians. When I was a brand new Christian, even before my baptism,

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I began attending a Bible study, which was being held in the basement of a member of the church where I was eventually saved by God's grace and mercy.

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And in that basement, my first pastor, who eventually was the one to plunge me into the waters of baptism,

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Mike Gaydosch, who is also the founder and director of Solid Ground Christian Books today.

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Pastor Mike Gaydosch was conducting a Bible study on the book of Ephesians.

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And so that was my first thorough introduction to evangelical Christianity.

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As a Roman Catholic who had basically abandoned the

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Catholic Church, as a person in my mid -teens and lived a life of rebellion with alcohol addiction and just a very profane lifestyle,

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I thank God that I was led by His sovereign providence to that church and to that Bible study, which was my introduction, as I said, to the

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Christian faith. I also would like you to tell us why is it that you picked this specific theme and perhaps go through some of the men on the speaking roster, why you specifically chose these men to open up God's word on this theme of Ephesians.

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Well, like you said, the book of Ephesians is near and dear to myself. It's one of those books that would challenge you theologically, right?

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I can remember whenever I was a part of the Churches of God and the

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Assemblies of God, when

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I was a part of the Trinitarian Pentecostal crowd. I'm assuming you meant by the

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Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee Church of God, the Pentecostal one? Yeah, so I was a part of the

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Trinitarian Pentecostal movement for a while. And the book of Ephesians scared me, right?

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Like chapter one, this whole predestination idea. I can remember being in a

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Bible study, and the question was asked if I believed in predestination. I said, no,

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I don't believe in that stuff. And this older gentleman was like, well, I don't know why. And he started just naming off verse after verse after verse.

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And I said, you know what, I don't either, but I'll figure it out. And at this time, I was a part of this movement.

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And it really challenged me. And so looking in Ephesians, looking in the Gospel of John.

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And so Ephesians has been one of these books that has challenged me theologically, along with the

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Gospel of John and the Letter to the Romans. And it's one of those books that I sit down and I read every day for 90 days.

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So every day I would read the whole book. I started out, I did it with 1

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John also. I'd read it once every day for 30 days. And at 30 days, I decided to do another 30 days and then another 30 days.

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And it's just one of those books that really captivate my attention. It's like a go -to book with me.

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If I have 15 minutes to kill and I want to read a whole book, what am

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I going to go to? It's one of those top five books that I'll just sit down there and read.

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And I probably will read it 20 times a year. It's just that go -to book for me.

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And as a pastor so far, I haven't had the opportunity to teach it, teach through it. And so I figured it would be great if I could get some men to come alongside with me and take three days and to actually pour our heart and soul into this book and have this book pour its truths in myself and the other gentlemen who will be preaching, but along with everyone who comes.

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Now, as far as the gentlemen, the other pastors and preachers that will be coming,

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Dr. White's a gig of me, right? Everybody who has a brain who's running a conference should want

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James White to be on the roster because he is one of the most brilliant apologists of our day.

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I think he's the most gifted debater of our day. And there are a few subjects that he could not brilliantly and masterfully handle.

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There's only a few that he himself does not want to highlight in a message of his own or an event of his own.

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But for the most part, from Genesis to Revelation, you can count on Dr.

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White for a superb job behind the podium or pulpit. I've been a huge fan of Dr.

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White for a long time. When I stumbled into Reformed theology, he was the cookies and cream for me, right?

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And just feasting at the table, listening to him, and then actually developing a semi -friendship with him.

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If he needs something from me, I hope he knows that I'm there.

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And there's several times when I've had some kind of theological question or whatever, I've been able to reach out to him, and he's answered my questions.

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And so it's good to have Dr. White as my friend. And Anthony Mathena, like Paul Washer's pastor,

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I mean, you know, like when I'm struggling with something, I kind of tell people, who pastors the pastor?

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Who ministers to the pastors, right? And I think every pastor needs someone that they can look up to and minister to them.

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Anthony Mathena has been that kind of guy for me. If I'm struggling or if I have questions, you know, some kind of pastoral need, and I'm not sure how to handle it,

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I can go to Anthony. But also, outside of James White, I really don't listen to a lot of big -name preachers.

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But these guys that I have coming, these are the guys that I listen to. I basically listen to, outside of Dr.

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White, I listen to people that no one knows about. And these are the guys that feed me.

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Anthony Mathena, Haps Addison. Haps Addison runs a home for the mentally ill.

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And there's times where he's in a pulpit preaching every day. Every day he's preaching to mentally ill people.

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And he just has a heart of a servant. One of my best friends,

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I met through Facebook, and that's Brayden Patterson, Haps Addison. Brayden Patterson was a

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Mormon for 19 years. Wow. Yeah, I mean, he was true blue, white shirt, name tag

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Mormon. And he came to faith, yeah. I mean, cookie -cutter

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Mormon. He came to faith in Jesus Christ. And me and him have become best friends.

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And I just love him. I love his heart for God, his preaching. And I just can't say enough good things about Haps Addison and Brayden Patterson.

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And Andrew Rappaport, I listen to him. I met him witnessing the people. Claude Ramsey is probably one of the most passionate preachers

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I've ever heard in my life. After the Fight, Laugh, Feast conference, I had the honor and privilege of worshiping at the church where Claude pastors.

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And I was blown away by his preaching. He is a powerful, gifted preacher.

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Yes. I mean, I wish I had half the passion that Claude has. Kevin, I mean,

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I've recently been just introduced to him this year.

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He has some things out there. He's very, very intelligent. I wish I had his brain.

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Brandon Scalf, like, these are just guys that you need to meet. Brandon, I listened to him preach a sermon yesterday.

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Like, there's just plenty more. John Crawford. John Crawford is young. And this guy is full of passion too.

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He reminds me of Claude. And Greg, I also had on my YouTube channel just very, very intelligent people that no one knows about.

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Like, you see what I'm saying? I really, like I said earlier, outside of Dr.

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White, I really don't listen to a lot of big name people. But the guys that are coming to this conference, they're people that I give my time to.

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When they're speaking, I listen. Well, praise God. But I'm, as I said, going to prayerfully attempt to attend this conference myself, and I hope to get a chance to get to know you a lot better and also to meet and get to know some of these other men on the roster that I don't already know and also to rekindle friendships with those that I do.

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I always love the rare opportunities that I can fellowship face -to -face with Dr.

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James R. White, who's been my dear friend since 1996. And he was the debater for over a decade on Long Island, New York, when

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I was orchestrating every year debates with him, predominantly against Roman Catholic apologists.

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We called that the Great Debate Series. But I'm very enthusiastic about this event you're having.

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Well, now let's, as I said before, hear a summary of your salvation testimony.

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That would include the kind of religious atmosphere, if any, in which you were raised, and what kind of providential circumstances our

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Sovereign Lord raised up in your life that drew you to Himself and saved you. Yes.

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You know, growing up, my uncle on my dad's side, so it was actually my dad's uncle, so he would have been my great uncle.

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He was a pastor of a general Baptist church. And so my dad took me to church, so I had the opportunity to sit under him.

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But none of it really clicked. I can remember probably being like three or four years old, and there was this knock at the door, and this evangelist comes up in our trailer, from the trailer park.

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He comes up in the trailer, and he starts preaching Jesus. And I can remember, it was like an outer body experience almost.

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I can remember the moment he said the name of Jesus. Something inside of me told me that I was going to grow up, and I was going to just do whatever and whenever, or whatever it took for Jesus.

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I knew that my life was going to be His. Now, I say that because whenever I was a kid and I was in church,

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I could always remember that, and it would keep me from paying attention because I didn't want to give my life to anybody.

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I was invited to church as a teenager, and then right when they invited me to church,

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I recalled that memory, and because of that memory, I didn't go to church. I just knew that one day

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I would serve Him, but I just quite wasn't ready for it yet. Now, when

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I was 11 years old, I was kidnapped and molested. I say that for another purpose that we'll get to in a minute.

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I saw a next -door neighbor come outside. He's wrapping a dog up, and he offers to give me $5 to bury the dog.

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So I take the dog into the woods to bury the dog, and the next thing I know, I get grabbed up. To come to find out it was him, well, a lot of demonic things took place or whatever, but I was released.

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The guy's in prison. Still in prison? Yes. Praise God.

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I can remember right after that happened, it changed who

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I was. I feel like it took the kid's spirit out of me, like everything became serious.

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When I was 14, I got robbed at gunpoint and beat up.

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There was a local gang in my neighborhood. I can remember when they had the gun on me after they beat me up.

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I remember thinking, if I was in a gang, this probably wouldn't happen to me. Luckily, by God's grace, they didn't kill me, and I immediately joined the gang, got beat into a gang.

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This was in Tennessee? Yes. Which city? Nashville, Tennessee.

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Okay. Yeah. As much as I love Nashville, I hated being at the bus station, which was like being in a third -world country.

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Yeah, yeah. I got put in the gang, and I really just lost my mind and eventually got up into the rankings.

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It really got unified from South Nashville, East Nashville, North Nashville, and West Nashville.

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We all came together, and I was really big in this organization. It kind of gave me a

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God complex, because I didn't even have to talk to many people. Anything I wanted,

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I could have. It really scared me. Then I had two drive -bys pulled on me.

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Drive -bys were where you're on the side of the road, and next thing you know, a rival gang is shooting at you. It really challenged me.

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I'd go to sleep, and I'd have dreams about getting shot or dying. I'd always pray at night.

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I had this religious background, kind of. My dad took me to church. Every night, I would pray.

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Because of the things that I'd done throughout the day, I couldn't get it off my mind to go to sleep.

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So I'd find myself praying, and I didn't know how to end the prayer. So I would do the

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Peter Scrawls. I didn't know what I was doing. That's the life that carried out until 9 -11.

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When 9 -11 happened, I was in a trailer park. I was playing hacky sack, hanging out with some friends.

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We were drinking beer, smoking weed. The next thing

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I know, someone runs out and says that the towers had been hit with a plane.

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They said that this was in the Bible. So I went in, and I watched it.

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That guy kept saying, man, all this is in the Bible. It's in the Bible. I said, well, you know what? I'll read the Bible, and I'll find out.

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Because of that, I couldn't hardly read. I was very dyslexic. I was kicked out of school at 15.

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So I just picked the Bible up every day. Every day I would read through it. Three years later,

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I started going to church. Two years later, I heard Ray Comfort preaching the gospel on the side of the road.

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Through Ray Comfort preaching, God exposed my nakedness. I saw myself naked before the king of this world, and I threw myself on the throne.

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Then probably ten years after that, no, six years after that,

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I was involved with a prison jail ministry. I'm locked in a room with people that have done what was done to me, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Praise God. Now, how and when did you come to discover the doctrines of sovereign grace and come to passionately embrace them and proclaim them and just make that an element of the very hallmark of your being?

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Well, in 2011 and 2012, I was involved with a church plant.

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I started preaching through the book, The Gospel of John. I got to chapter three, which

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I'm in chapter three of John right now at my church. Speaking of the new birth, it was the last sermon

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I preached at that church plant. I got up there and I said, Now listen, this goes against the fundamentals of what we believe, but I'm just going to lay it out.

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I taught that we didn't do anything in our first birth, nor do we do anything with our second.

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I left there not knowing what I believed. I didn't know what I believed.

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This was at the time where I just got me a smartphone.

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I downloaded YouTube and I found the sermon that John MacArthur preached on the new birth.

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I said, That's it. That's what I believe. The next thing I know, there was a

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Truth Matters conference about the Strange Fire conference. I saw

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Steve Lawson standing behind a pulpit with his hand gestures preaching.

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It so captivated me. It's so captivating.

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I've never been captivated by someone just standing behind the pulpit. I come from a background where you would walk around.

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You take your jacket off and throw it at someone. It was just anything goes type of stuff.

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I was so captivated. I just kept watching the Steve Lawson's or the

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John MacArthur's. Then I was introduced to R .C. Sproul. I was like, What is it that these guys are talking about?

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Then I got R .C. Sproul, What is Reformed Theology? The next thing you know, I was introduced to Dr.

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White and Paul Washer. I was like, Just pour myself into these books, into these videos.

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At first, when it came to Calvinism, the doctrines of grace, I thought

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I'd have it in the headlock. The next thing I know, it would have me in the headlock. I was like,

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No, I don't. There was probably six months there where I believed it, but I denied it around my friends and other

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Christians. I believed it, but I wouldn't tell nobody I believed it. When I first came to believe it,

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I hated it. I hated it, even though I acknowledged it as truth. Within a couple of months,

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I came to fall in love with those teachings. It's the thing with anything.

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If you have a child and you name your child, you want to name your child something that's unique, that you don't hear every day.

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The moment you do that, within six months, you meet several different people that have a kid with that name.

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Or if you buy a certain kind of vehicle that you don't see on the road, the next thing you know, you see that vehicle everywhere.

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You don't see it. Once you know something or see something, you see it all the time.

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That's kind of how it was with the doctrines of grace. Once I understood it, it's in every book.

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Praise God. I know exactly what you're talking about. We have to go to our first break right now. If you would like to join us with a question of your own on the book of Ephesians or any other matter of importance that involves the scriptures or our guest's life and ministry, send it to chrisarnzen at gmail .com.

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C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. As always, 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. Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. Don't go away.

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We'll be right back with Jeffrey Rice after these messages from our sponsors. It's such a blessing to hear from Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners from all over the world.

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London Baptist Confession of Faith, please join us at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, New York.

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Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Invinio, and thanks for listening. If you love

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Iron Sharpens Iron radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is by supporting our advertisers.

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One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnton is doing is

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Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?

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To foster belief in the credibility of scripture as the written word of God. They go to various churches, schools and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts, along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.

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Patafuco demonstrating the reliability of scripture. To advance the cause of the gospel, they created a beautiful, perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a first edition 1611

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You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.

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Visit historicalbiblesociety .org. That's historicalbiblesociety .org.

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Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio on the air. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,

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Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted.

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He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own.

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You need to read. Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the

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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.

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Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,

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That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

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Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

38:01

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.

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And besides that, they feel so good. I'm so delighted I discovered Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

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No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot. Jeffrey Rice of Post -Tenebrous

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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.

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Jeffrey uses the finest in buttery -soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors, like the turquoise goatskin tanned in Italy used for my

38:44

Nestle All -in -28th edition, with a navy blue goatskin inside liner, and the electric blue goatskin from a

38:50

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.

39:01

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.

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For more details on Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to ptlbiblerebinding .com.

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That's ptlbiblerebinding .com. We here at Iron Sharpens Iron Radio praise

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God for the generous monthly financial support of Royal Diadem Jewelers, educated by and affiliated with the

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Sterling Vandewerker, owner of Royal Diadem Jewelers, his wife, Bronnie, his business partner and manager,

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And please don't forget, folks, that if you purchase jewelry from royaldiadem .com

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Whatever your imagination can come up with, royaldiadem .com will turn it into a physical product that you will love, or anybody to whom you are giving this as a gift will love,

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I can assure you. Royaldiadem .com, make sure you mention Chris Arntzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

43:46

We're now back with Jeffrey Rice, who, as I said earlier, is pastor and teaching elder at Covenant Reformed Baptist Church in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and founder and leather craftsman at Post -Tenebrous

43:59

Lux Bible Rebinding, a sponsor of this program. We're discussing truths from Ephesians, which is also the theme of the upcoming conference featuring

44:09

Dr. James R. White and many other speakers. Before we go into that theme of Ephesians, you've got to obviously give our listeners at least a summary of information about your wonderful business,

44:24

Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible Rebinding. Tell us more about that. Yeah, so Post -Tenebrous

44:31

Lux Bible Rebinding, it's just, you know, I figured out that I was really good with my hands in the leather.

44:39

I worked roofing 25 years. I was a master at copper forming it around chimneys.

44:48

And so I started dabbling into the leather. I mean, at first it wasn't really good, but then it started to be good.

44:55

And me and my wife decided to start a business and hoping to provide for our family as well as to glorify

45:02

God with what it is that I was doing. And so my wife is a big part of the business.

45:11

She's the one that takes in all the orders, orders all the material, deals with the customers.

45:18

I myself, I just, she basically just gives me forms for me to fill.

45:29

But when I first purchased an expensive Bible, a real leather quality

45:35

Bible, I just held it and I just thought to myself, man, I'm pretty sure I can make one of these things.

45:42

And so I just did everything that I could to try to figure it out. And the Lord has blessed it.

45:47

I was able to put one in the hands of Dr. White. And ever since Dr. White has gotten one of my

45:56

Bibles and has been advertising for me, I haven't had to worry about getting back on the roof.

46:06

Well, I have never heard, and I'm not even exaggerating, I've never heard James White be more enthusiastic about anything other than the gospel, other than Jesus Christ and his inspired and inerrant word.

46:22

I've never heard him speak with such enthusiasm and zeal and excitement as I have when he talks about your craftsmanship with leather and post -Tenebrous

46:33

Lux Bible rebinding. And I'm sure you are getting a lot of business from him. I'm also thrilled that at least three of your

46:42

Bible rebinding jobs came from listeners of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio who were, or should

46:49

I say, who are in leadership at Harborview Christian Church in Port Jefferson, Long Island.

46:56

That was music to my ears when I heard that they had ordered custom rebound

47:02

Bibles from you. Yeah, we definitely appreciate all the business.

47:10

There's definitely been a lot of new rebinders, a lot of people getting into it.

47:17

And it has hurt our business some, but the Lord has been faithful.

47:23

He's providing for us. I haven't had to walk over to my neighbor's house and ask for a sandwich, so everything's been pretty good.

47:34

Well, let's at least, because we have to go to our midway break in a few minutes, but let's give our listeners a teaser about the

47:44

Book of Ephesians. In fact, I'm going to read the primary verses that I believe your conference is focusing upon.

47:54

This is Ephesians 4, 1 through 6. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

48:04

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the

48:12

Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling.

48:23

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

48:32

And just out of curiosity, what is it about this particular portion of Ephesians that made you say, we've got to highlight this in the conference?

48:43

Well, one of the things concerning in Reformed theology, covenant theology, is the idea that there's only one people of God.

48:55

There's not the Jews and Christians. No, it's

49:01

God's people, those who believe in Jesus Christ. For Christianity to be true,

49:08

Christianity has to be owed. The same way Abraham was saved is the same way if the

49:15

Lord tarries 2 ,000 years from now, people will be saved. And that's by looking to the promise.

49:23

So for Abraham, it was a future promise that was to come, an offspring that the land would be given to.

49:32

If you look in covenant theology, the offspring of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent while only bruising his heel.

49:40

That offspring passed to Abraham, passed to Isaac, Jacob, all the way down to David.

49:50

And we see the fulfillment of it in Christ. So in order for the Old Testament saints to be saved, they would look, they would believe in the promise that was to come.

50:01

You and I today, we're looking back believing, but in hindsight, of what has happened.

50:09

And so because of that, the children of God, God's people, are those that have their faith in Jesus Christ.

50:17

Now, Ephesians chapter 4 clearly teaches that the dividing wall of hostility has been taken away, if you read chapter 2.

50:25

And so what chapter 4 is really highlighting here is this unity of Jew and Gentile, that there is only one body.

50:35

There's not two bodies, there's one body, those that have faith in Jesus Christ. Whether it was the promise offspring that would come, or for us in hindsight, the promise offspring that has come.

50:48

Our faith is in what took place out on that cross. And we all have one spirit, the same spirit, the

50:56

Holy Spirit given to us by faith alone, by hearing in faith. We have one hope, one

51:03

Lord, one faith. It's the Christian faith, and it's one baptism, the

51:08

Christian baptism. And it's one God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

51:13

And so what Ephesians is doing here, I believe, is it's outlining why

51:20

I am Reformed, why it is I hold to covenant theology. I believe Reformed theology is covenantal theology.

51:28

And so Ephesians is going to highlight the importance, the truths of Ephesians are going to highlight

51:35

Reformed covenantal theology. And, of course, from a

51:42

Reformed Baptist perspective is what you are particularly... Yes, 1689

51:48

Federalist is what I hold to. Well, we have to go to our midway break right now.

51:53

Please be patient with us because the midway break is a little longer than the other breaks in the show.

51:59

And that is because Grace Life Radio, 90 .1 FM in Lake City, Florida, requires of us a longer break in the middle of the show because the

52:06

FCC requires of them to localize geographically all of their programming to Lake City, Florida.

52:13

And that includes Arning Truppenstein Radio. So please use this time wisely. Not only write questions for Jeffrey Rice and send them to chrisarnsen at gmail .com,

52:23

but also please write down as much of the contact information provided by as many of our advertisers as you can so that you can more frequently and successfully purchase their products, use their services, visit their churches.

52:36

But when you can't do any of those things, you can, at the very least, if you really love this show, you can contact the advertisers and thank them for making this show possible.

52:47

We absolutely, positively depend on our advertisers to exist. So please thank them if, indeed, you are grateful to God that there are churches and parachurch ministries and businesses and corporations and private practices who love this show enough that they share some of their wealth that God has blessed them with with us at Arning Truppenstein Radio.

53:09

And also, of course, send in your questions to Jeffrey Rice at chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

53:15

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. Don't go away.

53:21

We are going to be right back right after these messages with more of Jeffrey Rice. I'm Dr.

53:33

Joseph Piper, President Emeritus and Professor of Systematic and Applied Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

53:42

Every Christian who's serious about the Deformed Faith and the Westminster Standards should have and use the eight -volume commentary on the theology and ethics of the

53:52

Westminster Larger Catechism titled Authentic Christianity by Dr. Joseph Morecraft.

53:58

It is much more than an exposition of the Larger Catechism. It is a thoroughly researched work that utilizes biblical exegesis as well as historical and systematic theology.

54:10

Dr. Morecraft is pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, and I urge everyone looking for a biblically faithful church in that area to visit that fine congregation.

54:22

For details on the eight -volume commentary, go to westminstercommentary .com, westminstercommentary .com.

54:29

For details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com,

54:38

heritagepresbyterianchurch .com. Please tell Dr. Morecraft and the Saints at Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia that Dr.

54:46

Joseph Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sends you. If you're near retirement or thinking about retiring, you probably have questions.

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Do what it takes to get there. Now it's time to make the most of retirement. Visit edwardjones .com,

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that's edwardjones .com, or call 717 -258 -4688, 717 -258 -4688.

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We here at Iron Sharpens Iron Radio are forever grateful for the generous financial support of Art Amundson, Edward Jones financial advisor in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

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Call 717 -258 -4688 today. O Hail the

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Power of Jesus' Name This is

56:11

Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

56:17

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support

56:22

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

56:38

Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the end for which we strive is the glory of God.

56:45

If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe ten minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some

56:58

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.

57:08

Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org That's gracechurchatfranklin .org

57:15

This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our

57:21

Sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ, today and always.

58:00

I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President and Professor of Systematic and Homiletical Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina.

58:11

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck White of the

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First Trinity Lutheran Church in Tonawanda, New York. And the NASB is my Bible of choice.

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I'm Pastor Anthony Methenia of Christ Church in Radford, Georgia. And the NASB is my

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Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jesse Miller of Damascus Road Christian Church in Gardnerville, Nevada.

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And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Bruce Bennett of Word of Truth Church in Farmerville, Long Island, New York.

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And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rodney Brown of Metro Bible Church in Southlake, Texas.

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And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York.

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And the NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew bibles tattered and falling apart?

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Consider restocking your pews with the NASB. And tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

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Go to nasbible .com, that's nasbible .com to place your order.

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Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing 6th grade.

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Do you know what they all have in common? They all require training, assessments, and certifications. But do you know what requires no training at all?

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Becoming a parent. My name is A .M. Brewster. I'm the president of Truth, Love, Parent and host of its award winning podcast.

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I've been a biblical family counselor since the early 2000s. And what I've discovered is that the majority of Christian parents have never been biblically equipped to do the work of the ministry in their homes.

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That's why Truth, Love, Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

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God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

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Please visit us at truthloveparent .com. Every day at thousands of community centers, high schools, middle schools, juvenile institutions, coffee shops, and local hangouts,

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Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need Jesus.

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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.

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For details, call Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333.

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That's 631 -385 -8333. Or visit liyfc .org.

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That's liyfc .org. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

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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.

01:02:07

And besides that, they feel so good. I'm so delighted I discovered post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

01:02:13

No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot. Jeffrey Rice of Post -Tenebrous

01:02:20

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.

01:02:29

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

01:02:38

Nestle All in 28th edition, with a navy blue goat skin inside liner, and the electric blue goat skin from a

01:02:45

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.

01:02:55

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.

01:03:06

For more details on Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to PTLBibleRebinding .com.

01:03:14

That's PTLBibleRebinding .com. As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

01:03:45

The 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.

01:03:54

Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how He shall be worshiped and how

01:04:00

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

01:04:08

God in spirit and truth. Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a

01:04:14

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.

01:04:28

Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at GCBCNJ .squarespace

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.com. That's GCBCNJ .squarespace .com.

01:04:44

Or call them at 908 -996 -7654. That's 908 -996 -7654.

01:04:54

Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Hi, this is

01:05:12

John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnson and the

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Iron Sharpens Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions, while always defending the key doctrines of the

01:05:32

Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the internet where folk won't be led astray.

01:05:41

I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised

01:05:48

Chris up for just such a time. Knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.

01:05:57

I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting

01:06:02

Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one -time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?

01:06:11

I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com,

01:06:18

where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com.

01:06:28

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read.

01:06:36

He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

01:06:44

You need to read. Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the

01:06:50

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.

01:07:03

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,

01:07:08

Christ -exalting books for all ages. We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com.

01:07:16

That's solid -ground -books .com, and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

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Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. And please, folks, make your very first stop for all your

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Christmas gift -giving needs. Solid -ground -books .com.

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They publish and bring back into print nothing but the very finest in Christian literature dating back to the

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James R. White of Alf and Omega Ministries. That's solid -ground -books .com.

01:07:59

Purchase frequently, purchase generously, and always mention that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:08:06

Before I return to my guest Jeffrey Rice, I just have a couple of very important announcements to make.

01:08:12

First of all, folks, if you really love this show, we need your help to continue broadcasting.

01:08:17

Ever since the hysteria of the COVID mandates that far surpassed the government's authority according to our

01:08:28

Constitution, we have been hurt real bad as far as the plummeting of our audience giving to us, and we've never recovered from it.

01:08:42

And we need your help. If you really want us to continue broadcasting Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, please go to ironsharpensironradio .com,

01:08:49

click support, then click, click to donate now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion.

01:08:56

And if you want to send in a check the old -fashioned way via snail mail, sending a physical check to a physical address, there will also be a physical address that appears on your screen when you click support at ironsharpensironradio .com.

01:09:10

If you want to advertise with us, as long as whatever it is you're desiring to promote is compatible with what we believe,

01:09:18

I would love to help you launch an ad campaign immediately because we are just as much in urgent need of your advertising dollars as we are in your donations.

01:09:29

So please send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

01:09:36

Also, folks, if you are not a member of a Christ -honoring, biblically faithful, theologically sound church, like the one that Pastor Jeffrey Rice pastors,

01:09:49

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee, no matter where you live on the planet

01:09:55

Earth, I have extensive lists of biblically faithful churches spanning the entire globe, and I have helped many people in our audience in all parts of the world find churches, sometimes even within just a couple of minutes from where they live, that they didn't even know these churches existed or they didn't know that they were theologically sound.

01:10:14

So if that is the case for you, you are homeless spiritually, you need a good solid church home, no matter where you live, please send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com

01:10:26

and put I need a church in the subject line. That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Jeffrey Rice.

01:10:33

We are talking about the Book of Ephesians and its importance, and that is also the theme of their upcoming conference in February of next year.

01:10:44

In fact, I want to make sure that we even mention that. I don't know if we ever told our listeners the exact dates, but it's

01:10:51

February 16th through the 18th, 2023, and you can find out more information by going to Jeffrey's church website, which is covenantrbctn, for Tennessee, .com,

01:11:07

covenantrbctn .com. And Jeffrey, we do have a listener.

01:11:14

In fact, I think it's a first -time listener who has a question for you. We have

01:11:20

John in Arab, Alabama, and John says,

01:11:26

Brother Chris, I hope this finds you well. Currently live -streaming the interview, enjoying it greatly. Here is a question

01:11:32

I have for Brother Jeff. How have the truths of Ephesians impacted, in particular, your work as a church planter and pastor?

01:11:42

And he has another question that I'll go to after you respond to that one. Well, I think it just goes back into the truth that I'm not in this alone.

01:11:59

I think a lot of times we can view our Christian walk as solo, right?

01:12:07

As it's me, myself, and God, me and Jesus, got our own thing going. I think that's a terrible way to view anything.

01:12:16

From what I see in Ephesians, in these truths of Ephesians, is that, you know, like, let's take it to the local church right now, right?

01:12:28

We're called to love God and love our neighbor. My closest neighbor is my wife and kids.

01:12:34

And then it's my church family. It's my church family before it is my actual neighbor.

01:12:40

That's right next to me. That's 20, 30 feet away from me. And my church family, a lot of them live a pretty good distance away.

01:12:51

It's pretty common in Reformed churches for people to drive 45 minutes, an hour, and stuff like that.

01:13:01

But my closest neighbor is my wife and kids, my church family, and then it goes to my actual neighbors.

01:13:10

But if you look at it in the idea of history, I think a lot of times churches and cities can be viewed as,

01:13:21

I'm going to say it this way because this is how I came up, as gangs, right? Like, we got rival churches, like rival gangs, right?

01:13:29

The churches do not commune with each other. Churches do not help out one another just because of some difference in theology.

01:13:41

What Ephesians tells me is that there's only one body, one spirit, one hope, one calling, one

01:13:51

Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, right? So this tells me that it's much bigger than me and Jesus got our own thing going.

01:14:02

It's much bigger than me and my wife and kids. It's much bigger than me and my local church, right?

01:14:08

It's me, my family, my church, your family, your church,

01:14:15

Chris's family, Chris's church, all the way to Abraham, all right?

01:14:23

We have to view this as the body of Christ. And so when

01:14:28

I'm planting a church, like when I'm involved with this church plant, I need to understand that this plant is bigger than me.

01:14:38

Like, I'm going to die one day. They're going to bury me. Someone's going to say some kind words, I hope, at my funeral, and this church is going to live on, right?

01:14:47

Because it's the body of Christ. And that's just kind of how

01:14:53

I'm viewing it, that it's not about me as a pastor.

01:14:58

It's not even about Covenant Reformed Baptist Church. But it's about the one body who has the one spirit, who holds to the one hope, and our hope is in this one

01:15:09

Lord. We have this one faith, which is the Christian faith, and we're all baptized in the name of the

01:15:15

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is Christian baptism under the one God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

01:15:21

And so Ephesians has taken my mind from focusing on myself to focusing on the church body worldwide, not to mention that when

01:15:32

I die and someone says kind words about me, like, it's me planting for the future.

01:15:38

The seeds that are being sown in my ministry now are going to be trees that's grown after I'm dead for other people to pick up the battalion after I'm gone.

01:15:56

I hope that makes sense. Yes, and you probably already answered John's second question, but perhaps you have something to add to it, to what you already said.

01:16:10

He asks, how can a proper understanding of covenant theology revealed in this epistle encourage another church planter like myself and shape their ministry, philosophy, and methodology?

01:16:23

It seems to be focused on planting churches.

01:16:30

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a good question. Can you repeat the first part of that question?

01:16:40

You mean the one I already read in the beginning? Yeah. How have the truth... Just now.

01:16:46

Oh, I just read this just a second ago. Yeah, right. How can a proper understanding of covenant theology revealed in this epistle...

01:16:56

This is where it's, I guess, a little different than the first one. Right. Because he's emphasizing covenant theology.

01:17:01

Revealed in this epistle, encourage another church planter like myself and shape their ministry, philosophy, and methodology.

01:17:13

So I don't know so much as if it's encouraging to you as much as it would be just for good information.

01:17:21

And it's to understand, like I was touching on earlier, that it's much bigger than you are.

01:17:30

It's much bigger than any church that you can plant. Now, I find it encouraging, but I don't know.

01:17:37

A lot of things that I find encouraging, people find fearful. Because it is, you know, like just standing in, you know, getting into a pulpit to preach.

01:17:47

Like there's some fear there that you're about to be handling the Word of God.

01:17:53

Well, same thing when it comes to planting a church. You want to make sure that once you plant, you're planting good seed.

01:18:01

Seed that would grow. And so it's in the early years of planting a church, like it's in those foundational moments of planting a church, of how that church is going to grow and develop.

01:18:15

If you're planting a church and you don't have any kind of theological principles behind you, if there's no lines that you're not willing to cross, if there's not lines in your ministry that you're not going to let someone cross, then you're going to fall for anything.

01:18:30

Right? I think my dad told me when I was young, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

01:18:37

Well, so too in our theological convictions. Whenever we began to plant this church,

01:18:44

I was looked at along with other well -enabled men that were able to teach who was going to be the pastor of this church.

01:18:56

I happily said, listen, I would sit under any one of you gentlemen. If you want to take the reins and be the lead pastor, by all means, please do so.

01:19:09

I said, but if I am put as the lead pastor and plant in this church, it's going to be a

01:19:16

Reformed Baptist church. We're going to hold to covenant theology.

01:19:23

And that's what happened. And that group of people left because they were

01:19:30

Calvinistic, but they were not Reformed. They claimed to be

01:19:35

Reformed, but they were not Reformed. Dispensationalists? Say again?

01:19:41

Were they dispensationalists? No, they weren't dispensationalists.

01:19:49

They would say they held to covenant theology, but they've never been a part of a Reformed church service.

01:19:54

They were more of a Southern Baptist -style service with Reformed principles.

01:20:00

I tell people all the time, Calvinism will get you in trouble if that's all you have. And I think that you would agree with me when we have things critical to say about brothers in Christ and about churches that differ with us over these things.

01:20:17

We're not saying that they're false churches. We're not saying that they're heretics. We're just saying that if you want to maintain unity in a specific congregation, there's nothing illegitimate by making sure that all the teachers in that church, whether they be elders or deacons, subscribe to the same confession or the same main principles of theology because you don't want to create chaos in your own congregation.

01:20:46

Not that you won't allow disagreement of any kind, and especially among the membership.

01:20:53

There is no doubt going to be some kind of diversity there and understanding. But we're not trying to be nasty or dismissive of our dispensationalist friends, of our

01:21:04

New Covenant theology friends, of our Pato Baptist friends, or anything like that. Yeah, definitely.

01:21:13

I consider all those my brothers in Christ. But when you're planting a church, you want to have unity.

01:21:20

You need to have a clear theological statement that this church is going to be built on. And if that's your approach, you can't let those lines be crossed.

01:21:31

And I was just firm enough to not let those lines be crossed. And because of that, a lot of people left.

01:21:39

But God has more than enough made up for what has left in the church that we have now, the structure of what we have now.

01:21:53

So those that left, though we love them, care for them, wish nothing but the best for them, even would love it if they come back,

01:22:01

God has enriched our numbers beyond that. Well, John in Arab, Alabama, if you are indeed a first -time questioner, please send me your full mailing address in Arab, Alabama, so that Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, cvbbs .com,

01:22:22

can ship out to you a free New American Standard Bible, compliments of the publishers of the

01:22:29

NASB, and compliments of Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, who will be shipping it out to you at no charge to you or to us.

01:22:37

And keep in mind, you are not getting a free Jeffrey Rice Bible rebind of that Bible.

01:22:44

If you want to have that done, you have to pay for that. But you will be getting this free

01:22:50

Bible nonetheless, if you submit to us via email your full mailing address in Arab, Alabama.

01:22:57

And thanks for listening. We have another Alabamian. I don't know if that's the right word to say. But we have

01:23:03

Ted in Moundville, Alabama. Hello, I recently started following a

01:23:09

Twitter account with the handle PostTenebrousLocks. Is that Mr. Rice's Twitter account?

01:23:17

Yes, it is. Oh, great. Well, there you go, Ted. Thanks for submitting the question.

01:23:23

We have an anonymous listener who says, I'm remaining anonymous because I am a theologically reformed

01:23:32

Baptist, and most of my friends are Pato Baptists, and in particular Presbyterian.

01:23:38

I do not want to unnecessarily offend them with my question, but I was just curious in this passage in Ephesians that refers to the one baptism that we who are brothers in Christ have as a unifying factor.

01:23:54

How could Presbyterians who have only been baptized as infants and by sprinkling claim to have this unity with we who are

01:24:04

Baptists, especially those Pato Baptists that accept Roman Catholic baptism?

01:24:09

And I know that not all Presbyterians do accept Catholic baptism, but I think in our day and age the majority do.

01:24:22

Well, I think we find unity with them not in the baptism. We find unity with them in the one body, one spirit, one

01:24:32

Lord, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one God. Sadly, there is no unity when it comes to baptism.

01:24:40

If someone was baptized as an infant, then we cannot recognize that baptism as valid.

01:24:49

I can go deeper into that if you want me to. Baptism is the subject that I love most, but when it comes to that particular point, there is no unity.

01:25:02

So this one baptism referred to in Ephesians is addressing the

01:25:08

Apostle Paul, and your assessment exegetically is addressing water baptism?

01:25:16

Yeah, I would say all baptism passages in the Scripture are water unless the text specifically says otherwise, such as the one in Titus where it talks about the washing and regeneration of the

01:25:30

Holy Spirit. Well, we know that that's pointing to Ezekiel 36, the new birth.

01:25:39

John in Matthew 3 mentions three baptisms. He said that he baptized with water into repentance.

01:25:48

So that's a literal baptism into water. He says that ones coming, speaking of Jesus, who were baptized with the

01:25:55

Holy Spirit and fire. So those are three different baptisms. You have a baptism in water, a baptism of the

01:26:02

Holy Spirit. That's regeneration. Those that hear the gospel preached,

01:26:08

God grants faith to them to believe. Regeneration precedes faith. Faith is followed by repentance, a turning from sin.

01:26:16

And then the baptism of the fire would be judgment. So all those that do not receive

01:26:24

Christ by faith, have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, will one day be baptized in fire.

01:26:29

That fire has to be judgment. Verse 10 says that the axe is at the root of the tree.

01:26:36

Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's a literal judgment. The verse underneath, verse 11, 12, says that the willowing fork is in his hand.

01:26:47

He would thirdly cleanse the threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff will be burned with an unquenchable fire. So because of the context, verse 10 speaking of judgment, verse 12 speaking of judgment, verse 11 also, the baptism of fire has to be speaking of judgment.

01:27:03

And so there's three baptisms there. And so when it comes to the

01:27:08

Christian baptism, I would see all of it is speaking of the unifying baptism that we see, being buried with Christ in baptism and raised to the newness of life.

01:27:19

This is a water baptism unless the baptism is actually a alliteration of the word baptism, it means to be immersed, to be dumped.

01:27:33

And so I would say that unless the context says otherwise, it's speaking of water.

01:27:43

So when you get to Galatians chapter 3, you see verse 27. Verse 27 says, for all who are baptized into Christ have clothed themselves in Christ.

01:27:55

This baptism is being dunked underwater in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You're buried with him in baptism and raised to the newness of life.

01:28:04

If you're a Christian, you are to be baptized. You are to clothe yourself with Christ. You are to take the sign of the covenant, right?

01:28:13

And when it comes to our Presbyterian friends, I mean, which

01:28:20

I love, and I have a great fellowship and relationship with them. But Romans chapter 8, verse 9 says, however, you are not in the flesh, but in the

01:28:34

Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any does not have the

01:28:40

Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. So if an infant who is baptized, and they say that they're in the covenant, but the

01:28:51

Scripture is clear. If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're not in the covenant. You have no part of Christ. The Spirit comes by hearing and faith.

01:28:59

And so we have to draw the line and say, yeah, we have unity with them when it comes to the body, when it comes to the one

01:29:07

Lord, one faith, but the one God, but we can't have unity when it comes to baptism.

01:29:15

Excellent question. Go ahead. Well, simply because infants can't have the

01:29:23

Spirit of Christ, because you receive the Spirit by hearing and faith. Right. Well, excellent question, anonymous listener.

01:29:29

And if you are indeed a first -time questioner, like our first or our previous questioner, send us your full name and address by email.

01:29:40

We will not reveal who you are over the air, obviously. And Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service will ship out to you a free

01:29:47

New American Standard Bible. And we thank the publishers of the NASB, and we thank

01:29:53

Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, CBBBS .com, for shipping that out to you for free.

01:29:59

By the way, I also want to let our listeners know I had a fascinating interview. I thought it was fascinating.

01:30:06

Back in 2017, five years ago, in September, in fact,

01:30:11

September 4th, 2017, with my dear Presbyterian friend Jeffrey Waddington on the theme,

01:30:19

Is Roman Catholic Baptism Christian Baptism? And we were primarily gleaning from J .H.

01:30:28

Thornwell's works. J .H. Thornwell, who is a 19th century

01:30:33

Presbyterian. And unlike what appears to be the majority of Pato Baptists today,

01:30:40

J .H. Thornwell strongly rejected Roman Catholic Baptism, even though he was a

01:30:48

Pato Baptist. And so does Dr. Jeffrey Waddington reject Roman Catholic Baptism.

01:30:54

And it is an entirely different rite if you really explore what goes on in a

01:31:01

Roman Catholic Baptism. It's not even the same as a biblical baptism. The only thing that they have in common is the use of water and the

01:31:10

Trinity. But there's all kinds of stuff going on. The Roman Catholic Church views baptism as an exorcism.

01:31:17

They invoke the saints to bless the baptism. You're being baptized into the

01:31:23

Roman Catholic Church, and I could go on and on. They include oil, a foreign substance.

01:31:29

So I would urge you to go to irontreppanzionradio .com

01:31:35

and type in J .H. Thornwell or just Thornwell, T -H -O -R -N -W -E -L -L, and you will see the link to hear my interview with Jeffrey Waddington, who we both disagree with each other strongly on infant baptism.

01:31:53

He embraces it. I reject it. But we are in harmony over this issue of Roman Catholic baptism.

01:32:00

We have Arnie in Perry County, Pennsylvania. And Arnie says,

01:32:26

The context in Ephesians where it talks about, also

01:32:32

I would say in Galatians where it talks about this divide and wall has been torn down and we are one in Christ, it has nothing to do with our gender role.

01:32:42

It's talking about our position before Christ. The divide and wall of hostility means that Jew and Gentile, male and female, can be one in Christ.

01:32:55

We can now be a part of God's people. It has nothing to do with our gender roles.

01:33:05

So the Bible, Paul specifically speaks about the subject.

01:33:13

So we have to take what Paul says as doctrinal truth, that women are to be silent, they are to learn from their husbands, and the qualifications.

01:33:23

It mentions nothing about in order for a woman overseer, she is to be the wife of one husband.

01:33:31

We have to take Scripture at face value when it comes to doctrine concerning the didactic text given to us by Paul.

01:33:44

Well, thank you, Arnie, for the excellent question. And before I go to any other listener questions, one of the things that we as Christians, especially those like those in the

01:34:06

Reformed faith who typically are very tenacious about the purity of biblical doctrine and theology, on the one hand, we have those that are, to use a term that was probably more prevalent in my father's day, loosey -goosey, those who are seemingly unconcerned about theology and doctrine at all, other than they want us all to lift up the name of Jesus, but the definition of who that Jesus is is rarely provided, and their ecumenism includes far too many people that have a false gospel.

01:34:48

And then on the other hand, you have those that are so overly rigid and sectarian and even mean -spirited against those that disagree with anything that they believe.

01:35:04

I have seen this with Reformed Baptists, and I have seen this with Paedo -Baptists, with Presbyterians who have viewed us as their stupid cousins.

01:35:20

And I could go on and on. There are those who take their opposition to the charismatic movement to an extreme and discount everyone under that umbrella as a false convert.

01:35:35

And then you have, on the other side of the coin, Charismatics and Pentecostals who publicly declare that we, cessationists, don't even believe in the

01:35:45

Holy Spirit, which is absurd. So how do we, in your opinion, what are some practical ways we can keep the unity of the

01:35:53

Spirit in the bond of peace when we are faced with these two sides of the spectrum, both those that are too open to fellowship with those that don't have a correct gospel or who have aberrant theology in many other ways, and those that are possibly even cultic in the way that they respond to others who disagree with them on anything?

01:36:26

Well, you can't fellowship with someone that yells at you. And yelling can be done in different forms.

01:36:34

They don't have to be literally yelling at you. You can't love someone that's not going to love you.

01:36:40

So what we're trying to do in our community is something that I think that should be done worldwide.

01:36:48

We're trying to get together with our local churches and congregations around here and to ask two questions.

01:36:57

And I'm willing to answer these two questions as well with any of them. What do you believe, and why do you believe it?

01:37:05

Right? There's no debate. It's just what do you believe, and why do you believe it? And once that's on the table, we'll say, you know, as long as it falls within orthodoxy, we'll say, okay, well, now that's out the way.

01:37:18

Let's love our neighbors together. Right? Churches, you know, so like in my county alone, there's, you know, a church on every block.

01:37:29

We cannot view each other as rival gangs.

01:37:35

Right? We have to view one another as a part of the same body that's a part of the one hope, the same faith.

01:37:47

But in order to do that, there has to be some kind of conversation.

01:37:54

And even though we don't agree on things, we have to say, okay, well, now that that's over with, as long as you're in orthodoxy, how can you and I as two different churches in the same community love our neighbor?

01:38:11

Right? We've got to be willing to work with one another despite the difference. As long as it's in orthodoxy.

01:38:18

But that does mean that you have to get out of your comfort zone because a lot of these churches around here, they're not like in my area, they're not going to approach me.

01:38:29

We have to get out of our comfort zone and approach them. It's kind of like when you're if you're a single man or something and you desire to be married, well, guess what's going to happen if you don't speak to a woman?

01:38:44

You're not going to have any kind of a unity, right? And so as the church, if we want unity with our if we want fellowship with other

01:38:53

Christians, we're going to have to to offer our hand in fellowship. We're going to have to try to have fellowship with our brothers and sisters around.

01:39:03

And hopefully this can carry out and get bigger. But we ask two questions. What do you believe and why do you believe it?

01:39:10

If what they believe is in orthodoxy and they can give good scriptural proof of why they believe this, where we are willing to have fellowship with them.

01:39:22

And one thing that I always point to when I have been criticized by my friends and brethren that are far more ecumenical than I am, and they may think that I am being overly rigid and Pharisaic even in my condemnation, as they would put it, to those who disagree with me.

01:39:44

Well, while there is, we have to be we have to be very cautious about condemning people who are truly our brethren for whom

01:39:53

Christ died. But at the same time, I always point them to the way the apostle

01:40:00

Paul and the God breathed scriptures that God used

01:40:06

Paul as an instrument to write. He condemns the

01:40:11

Judaizers as false teachers with a false gospel. And they disagreed with Paul many times on far less issues than those with whom my friends, some of my friends and brethren want to have enjoy fellowship with.

01:40:33

So, you know, in fact, I have a Roman Catholic friend that I've had for decades who is very upset when

01:40:42

I refuse to identify him as my brother because he says that he believes in the gospel of Trent.

01:40:49

And I tell him that is a false gospel. I cannot call you my brother. He acts as if I'm just being mean -spirited, but I have to bring up, can

01:40:59

I be more kind and friendly and accepting than the apostle Paul? And the only thing that we know that the

01:41:07

Judaizers taught that Paul did not teach is that they insisted on circumcision for salvation.

01:41:15

And the Roman Catholic Church, at least in its dogmatic teachings, not the modern -day leftism of Pope Francis, but the dogmatic teachings which could never change, they add a lot more than just circumcision as a requirement.

01:41:35

Do you have any comments on that? Yeah, so like when it comes to the idea, so like in John chapter 3,

01:41:43

Nicodemus comes to him and Jesus mentions to him about the new birth, right?

01:41:50

So if you look in chapter 3, this just sheds some light. So in chapter 3,

01:41:56

Jesus says to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see, this is with your eyes, see the kingdom of God.

01:42:04

The kingdom of God here is the reign of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old?

01:42:12

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb? Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

01:42:26

Nicodemus wasn't, like the concept of the new birth isn't something that's new to Nicodemus, but it's the way that Jesus structured it.

01:42:34

So in order for a Gentile to become a convert into Judaism, two things had to be done.

01:42:42

They had to undergo baptism and circumcision. And then right whenever, first it was the circumcision and then it was the baptism.

01:42:52

And as the new convert to Judaism was coming out of the water, they would say that he has received a second birth.

01:43:02

So the concept of a new birth was nothing new to them. But the way that Jesus structures it, he says, truly, truly,

01:43:10

I say, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And truly, truly,

01:43:15

I say to you, unless he is born from the spirit, water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

01:43:23

You see, Nicodemus viewed, the Jews viewed themselves as the kingdom of God.

01:43:29

And Jesus is telling them, you don't, you don't know what the kingdom of God is. You cannot see it and you cannot enter it unless you are born again.

01:43:38

But the structure, the word that Christ used is born from above. You have to be born from above to see the reign of God.

01:43:48

And so the Jewish mind being born again is something that you can do.

01:43:53

It's something that you can choose to have done to you. And other people would do it for you. They would circumcise you.

01:43:59

They will baptize you underneath the the new covenant. It's something that's done to you.

01:44:05

Once once you hear the gospel, then you are born again. We have our mutual friend,

01:44:15

Claude Ramsey of Knoxville, Tennessee. And Pastor Claude says, would you agree that 1st

01:44:26

Corinthians chapter 12 verses 12 through 13 describes and explains that baptism is into Christ?

01:44:35

Being baptized into Christ is the work of the spirit and really has nothing to do with physical baptism.

01:44:43

And I'm assuming he means water baptism, obviously. Would this be a good example of the scripture interpreting scripture on the question asked earlier about baptism?

01:44:55

Could you tell me the verse again? I'm sorry. 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 12 through 13.

01:45:04

All right. So let's just try to begin in verse 12. It says, for even as the one body is one and yet has many members and all the members of the body, though they are many are one body.

01:45:19

Also, so also is Christ, meaning that Christ is has one body for also by one spirit.

01:45:27

We are all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Jew or Greeks, whether slaves are free or and we are made to drink of the one spirit.

01:45:42

Again, I would say unless the text tells us that this is not a water baptism,

01:45:51

I would do this as a baptism in water. Romans chapter six.

01:46:01

I mean, could someone say that Roman chapter six is speaking of the spiritual.

01:46:09

The spiritual baptism, of course, I believe in a spiritual baptism, the regeneration. Romans six begin in verse three says, or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

01:46:23

Therefore, you were buried with him through baptism into his death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father.

01:46:34

So, too, we might walk in the newness of life. I don't know how else to interpret baptism unless if it's not water baptism in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit.

01:46:46

If the scripture doesn't tell us that this is some kind of spiritual baptism, whenever I receive

01:46:54

Christ. So so regeneration must proceed faith and faith is followed by repentance.

01:46:59

So I hear the gospel. God grants me faith to believe. I am a new creation in Christ.

01:47:06

What? So now I have the spirit, the one spirit that's that every person in Christ has.

01:47:14

What am I to do? I am to take the sign of the covenant, which is as reformed

01:47:19

Baptist. We believe the sign of the covenant is baptism in water in the name of the father, son and the

01:47:25

Holy Spirit. By the way, Brother Claude or Pastor Claude, I think this may be the very first time that you've sent in a question.

01:47:34

So you are also eligible for a free New American Standard Bible and give me your full mailing address so that CVBBS .com

01:47:42

can ship that out to you. I also want to plug the fact that Pastor Claude is the pastor of Reformata Baptist Church, R -E -F -O -R -M -A -T -A

01:47:55

Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. And you can look them up on Facebook.

01:48:00

That is the only website that they have at this moment anyway, unless Pastor Claude wants to contradict me and offer another

01:48:09

URL. And don't forget that Pastor Claude Ramsey is also the host of the

01:48:17

Here I Stand Theology podcast, a podcast that I had the honor to be featured as a guest, where I was honored to be featured as a guest when

01:48:29

Pastor Claude interviewed me at the Fight, Laugh, Feast conference in Knoxville, Tennessee.

01:48:35

And I reiterate something I said earlier, he is a powerful and gifted preacher.

01:48:41

I highly recommend anybody who is either living in Knoxville or passing through to visit

01:48:46

Reformata Baptist Church. We're going to our final break. It's going to be briefer than the other breaks. So if you have a question,

01:48:55

I would send it immediately because we are rapidly running out of time. It's ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

01:49:02

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence.

01:49:08

We'll be right back. Don't go away. Here's what

01:49:15

Gary DeMar, president of American Vision, had to say about Iron Sharpens Iron Radio recently.

01:49:21

Good to be back, Chris. I always enjoy our time. I have to tell you, you're one of the better interviewers out there, and I've been doing this for 30, more than 30 years.

01:49:31

Wow, that's some compliment. How much do I owe you for that? You don't have to owe me anything.

01:49:38

We're in good shape. I'm glad you said it on the air, so I don't have to brag about myself.

01:49:44

Tell your friends and loved ones about Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, airing live Monday through Friday, 4 to 6 p .m.

01:49:52

Eastern Time, at ironsharpensironradio .com. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

01:50:06

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.

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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,

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Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jensen and Christopher McDowell.

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It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God like the dear saints at Hope Reform 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

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Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.

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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.

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For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

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That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.

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Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island, New York, that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

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Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing sixth grade.

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Do you know what they all have in common? They all require training, assessments, and certifications. But do you know what requires no training at all?

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That's why Truth, Love, Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

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God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

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Please visit us at TruthLoveParent .com. If you love

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is by supporting our advertisers.

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One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnton is doing is

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Daniel P. Patafuoco, serious injury lawyer and Christian apologist.

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Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?

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To foster belief in the credibility of scripture as the written word of God. They go to various churches, schools, and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.

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Patafuoco demonstrating the reliability of scripture. To advance the cause of the gospel, they created a beautiful, perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a first edition 1611

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You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.

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Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

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New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the NASB.

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I'm Pastor Nate Pickowitz of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton Ironworks, New Hampshire, and the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Sule Prince of Oakwood Wesleyan Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor John Samson of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona, and the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Steve Herford of Eastport Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and the

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Church in Friendship in Hockley, Texas, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

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Here's a great way for your church to help keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew

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Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

01:57:42

Well, I'm sorry folks, we don't have any time for any more listener questions, and perhaps the next time Pastor Rice is on the program, we can ask your questions on the air.

01:57:52

But just to remind you, the website of this church, Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, there in Tullahoma, Tennessee, is covenantrbctn .com,

01:58:04

and also don't forget about Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible Rebinding, ptlbiblerebinding .com,

01:58:11

ptlbiblerebinding .com. Do you have any final words that you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today,

01:58:17

Pastor Rice? Yeah, I just want to point out, Dr. James White will be debating, we haven't got the topic yet, but it's something that's dealing with the

01:58:27

King James Bible. He will be debating a fine debater, Thomas Ross. If you click on our church's

01:58:35

Facebook page, Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, there's a link there to his bio. And also, if you're not familiar with Dr.

01:58:43

James White, you can click on there. I've got one for his bio, and also have a link there to purchase tickets.

01:58:52

Also, at the conference, we will be providing one food. We will be having after parties.

01:58:58

For those of you that always had a desire to see open -air preaching or to learn how to open -air preach,

01:59:05

I'm going to be taking some gentlemen, I'm going to be taking whoever wants to go out, and I'm going to show you how

01:59:11

I witness, how I open -air preach. There's just a lot of things we're going to be doing, and it's going to be a great time in the

01:59:20

Lord. We're going to have a lot of fun. And it's going to be February 16th through the 18th of 2023.

01:59:27

February 16th through the 18th. Well, I want to thank you so much for being such a superb guest, Pastor Jeffrey Rice, and I want to thank everybody who listened.

01:59:37

And by the way, mark your calendars, folks. Joe Boot is our guest tomorrow on I Am Sharp on Zion Radio.

01:59:44

We're going to be talking about his massive book, The Mission of God. I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater