June 26, 2018 Show with Jesse Barrington on “Unity Amidst Our Diversity: How To Passionately Pursue & Defend Truth While Striving to Maintain Unity in Our Local Churches”

Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania it's iron sharpens iron a radio platform on which pastors Christian scholars and theologians Address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us. Iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. Matthew Henry said that in this passage quote we are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with and Directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.

It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next hour. And we hope to hear from you the listener with your own questions. Now here's our host.

Chris good afternoon,. Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Lake City, Florida. And the rest of humanity living on the planet earth. Or listening via live streaming at iron sharpens iron radio .com. This is Chris arms and your host of iron sharpens iron radio wishing you all a happy.

What is it today? Today is Tuesday. I Forgot what day it was. Tuesday July, I'm sorry. I'm forgetting the month to Tuesday, June at 26th 2018 and I am delighted to have a returning guest to my program today.

And I'm delighted to be promoting a very important and exciting event that he is going to be involved in. I'm speaking Specifically of Jesse Barrington who is a conference speaker and he's a pastor at Grace Life Church in Dallas, Texas.

Today, we are going to be addressing unity amidst our diversity how to passionately pursue and defend truth while striving to maintain unity in our local churches, we're also going to be Announcing the upcoming fellowship conference, New England being held August 2nd through the 4th in Portland, Maine at the Deering Center Community Church there in Portland.

But it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to iron sharpens iron radio. Jesse Barrington.

Well, thank you Chris. I appreciate you having me back. It's a privilege to be on. Yeah.

Well after forgetting the day and the month, I'm glad I remembered your name and the name of your church.

Amen, brother. Me too. And.

Before we go into the subject at hand. Tell us about Grace Life Church in Dallas, Texas.

Sure, Grace Life Church is a reformed in Plano, Texas. About 30 minutes north of congregating together for 12 years the church has been graced by by God and growing together and The gospel growing together and unity of Jesus Christ and seeking to make disciples.

Great. And by the way, it does say Dallas on the fellowship conference New England website.

Well, the name of the church is Grace Life Church of Dallas. That are actual meeting places in Plano.

So you are correct in that. Yes. Okay, and.

By the way, I believe if I'm wrong on this I've been I've been spreading false information. But I believe you are somehow affiliated with Grace Life Church in Lake City, Florida, are you not.

Yes. Churches of like-minded and fellowship. Yes, they're in the 20 Grace Life churches throughout the u .s. It's not a denomination per se of any sort but just like-minded brethren who come together in areas of ministry.

And so yes, the brothers out there and in Lakeland, Florida would be a part of the same group their fellowship. Lake City, Florida.

Yes, Lake City, Florida. All right. Yes, and the name is specifically chosen though because there wants that they want to identify publicly with some kind of camaraderie. Camaraderie, I am really messing up to.

Some kind of connection and fellowship with the other churches that wear the name. Now, of course there there perhaps are hundreds of thousands of church named Grace Life that have nothing to do with you but.

Yeah, but there are a number of churches that specifically and purposefully You chose that name because they wanted to identify with each other. That is correct. You are correct in that and I don't know if you even know this but Grace Life Radio in Lake City, Florida.

They have a radio station Grace Life Radio that airs this program every day in a rerun format. I am aware of that. Yes, brother. In fact, they air twice a day in morning drive and evening drive. So we're very happy about that.

So they will be hearing the Lake City, Florida folks will be hearing you tomorrow.

Amen, wonderful and.

I don't believe we had time to do this the last time because the last time you were only on for a short portion of our program you were on after another guest was on. And I don't know if you gave your personal testimony of salvation, but even if you did I think it's gonna be very helpful.

I typically ask Guests to do this if they have not done it before. Especially and if you could tell us what kind of a religious upbringing you had if any and what providential circumstances arose in your life by the sovereign hand of God that drew that Drew you to himself and then eventually saved you.

Amen brother, I'd be happy to boast in Christ. I grew up in a home in their garden through college. I went to Bible College at a young age a repeated prayer station where you know walk in our faith at age seven and.

And I would have affirmed the truth that the Bible is the Word of God that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and I didn't want to go to hell. So at a young age, you know want not wanting to go to hell I made a profession of faith and was baptized, you know.

Regularly converted at this time and what you just said is very typical of Christian homes. Especially in the south. Is it not where you where you have? It's almost even amongst Baptists in the Bible belt.

They almost they almost behave like pedo Baptists in that they baptize their children without real credible Evidence of repentance and faith. They're just a little older than the babies are.

It's very similar. I agree with you and it it's done much in that sense and it's been much harm to individuals. And pastorally, you know looking back on that. It's something that I'm very mindful of and care congregation right now, but I grew up in the church in that sense.

Very moral if we might think of it as a worldly individual. I wasn't into partying or drinking and so forth to marks the conversion marks of repentance. I had no desire for the Word of God that no love for Christ and no love for the church.

I didn't want people times when I would tell people about Jesus and try to get them to repeat a prayer or something like that. Really see now that I had a knowledge of Jesus a mental offense of Jesus a knowledge of the Bible Question in our home.

But I can remember sitting in church services or even at the Christian school I was at and and just finding church boring finding Chapel service and again, yes, I wanted to preserve my soul from going to hell.

And there's no one in the world that truly desirous of their sin. And so that's not a mark of could not want to go to hell in Jesus Christ and the love for Jesus Christ and those were absent and and I just Sentence in that what a year and a half almost two years of Bible because I prayed in the Bible in God's grace.

I met my wife in college. We were married and found work in the telecom industry. We were attending a Moral and it's awful presentation and like you and I just mentioned The understanding of salvation was the repeating of a prayer and walking an aisle the Bible.

Will teach English my heart one day and I know it sounds not a regular thing. There's leading in this. I began to read if you love the world or the things in the world the love of the father keeping me from all that Was good in the world and I realized that a love for the world and the love for God not Acknowledged without the immediate realization I'm lost.

I was in my heart Jesus Christ and I was married at the time and my wife at the time was not converted and She didn't know what had happened to Nisha. But I was just being overly religious up in the morning wanting to pray wanting to read wanting to know more about this God wanting to understand and You know, I'm there was for a while until God graciously saved my wife for all that they did for me.

But no doubt that and Chris about that transformation. Even if you affirm some doctrinal truth, you can have no assurance praise God one thing.

I want to ask you even though it is not on the topic We are discussing but what you chose. Something that you said intrigued me as it always does when I hear about this. What was it that your wife Found so annoying so disturbing so unsettling.

So.

Into interfering in your marriage that when you but when you became a Christian She was saddened by that and and there was a wedge there. The reason why I'm asked asking this is That it always perplexes me.

When either a man or a woman Gets saved and they are the only one at that moment for the period of for a period of time the saved ones in the marriage. It wonders it makes me wonder why the unsaved spouse has a difficult time with it.

If indeed, I don't know this for certain in your case but you could fill in the details as far as this is concerned, but especially when The spouse who becomes a Christian becomes a better spouse like right like for instance, especially With women when women get saved and their husbands are unbelievers.

In fact the woman who led me to Christ back in the 80s. She later discovered that she was not generally converted herself. But then but then sometime in the 90s or actually the early 2000s, I believe The she really truly knew she was saved and her husband Couldn't stand it and he left her and right.

And in fact, he said specifically as she was sitting on the front porch with a Christian lady friend. If God's that way and he pointed to the house I'm this way and he pointed to the end of the driveway and he left never to see her again.

Other than the courtroom when she when he deviled when he filed for divorce. But the thing that strikes me as odd is like in the case with a woman getting saved. Very often. I mean you might have a woman who gets saved and she's a nag and she's a pest and she's relentless.

But but in the case of my friend. And many women they become more submissive to their husbands they Become more trustworthy. I think a husband would be a lot less Nervous about his wife committing adultery or something like that.

If she was a dedicated Christian and on and on and of course in the reverse side you have men who become Christians and they are more loving and dedicated than they've ever been they are more Attentive to their wife's needs than they've ever been and you wonder why are these spouses?

So sickened by this that they want to leave. Can you give any example as to why this upset your wife?

Yes. Reminds me again of just how gracious God has been To me in that and saving my wife and there are many in our church who have a saved. Who are saved and I have an unbelieving spouse and they're they're always high on the prayer list because that's a very difficult situation.

I was not preaching with my wife and. And not that I didn't share the gospel with her and what the Lord was doing. I did but I wasn't like you said in a nagging preachy way to her. I think at the root of it you have the difference of light and darkness.

Well before you know a moment before we are two people of darkness veneer of morality good yet instilling three desires if you will and. And that confounds and regenerates and then abides in the believer and in what's present when you have a professing Christian who's not truly converted and a genuine person who has now genuinely been converted by the grace of God and regeneration you have before the false a reality of Christianity and.

And so now they're seeing something that's genuine and real that is absent in them they can't deny it and so they're forced to acknowledge that they're not saved and repent and believe and be saved in front of them as either false or just being overly religious and.

So I think you're forced to deal with that and all too often sadly people Reject that because of pride. I know that I'm saved because I've prayed a prayer I'm in a church and the other thing in that Chris is I'll give you maybe a a fruit example.

So that would be the root of these things. Here's a fruit example whether it was our favorite TV shows of the time say for my wife and I prior to conversion was Date night and we still have date night.

But before date night movie out is we go to eat dinner and we go to the new movie out Irregardless of what it is or what its ratings are. We just went and had fun and you know yes when they would use a tirade of Vulgar language or take a Northland in a bang we'd say oh I wish they wouldn't do that.

We continue on and press on because we just wanted to see the movie. I can remember the next Friday coming up movie time and I'd saying that you can't go see a movie as a Christian. What I meant was I don't have a desire to put those things before my eyes anymore the next time our Recorded favorite TV show came up and I said I don't want to watch that.

I'll be with you I want to spend time with you, but I don't want to go watch that anymore. So now begin to into the the things that she she and I used to enjoy doing and now here I am as a Christian which she professes to be and and I'm saying It's about that.

I even glorify the Lord and so now it's beginning to impact her and her daily living. You know, I would rise the legation out of the joy I wanted to speak the Lord and the reading of the word and the study of the word or in prayer and She would tell me how irritated she would get lying in bed hearing me get up.

So commune with the Lord and and so by God's grace again, she's been converted and we share a Marriage in those things and the fresh for her now was the reality of a new creation.

And it was reflected. Wow, you know it. You reminded me your situation reminded me of when I was saved. I was in a relationship with a Young lady that was not a Christian. I was not a Christian. Obviously when I started the relationship.

We met at a punk rock club. Well, and we immediately hit it off and we started dating and we're fairly serious. I got saved. About six months later, maybe a year later and.

I.

Went with her to the punk rock club after the salvation experience and. What I used to love. I used to just absolutely love being in those types of places. I was literally getting physically sick and there was a lounge area.

I had to sit down on the couch and I said I felt like I was in the city of Sodom or something like that. Everything else that that was surrounding me in previous circumstances Was entertaining to me. All the women or should I say many of the women were dressed like prostitutes?

And.

You know, you would even occasionally see although it's nothing like it is today. You would occasionally see people that would look like they were Drag queens or whatever and although that was even disturbing back then it was more of a something to laugh about than to be disturbed by then after my conversion.

It was just utterly sickening to be in there. Yeah, and I remember telling my girlfriend I'm sorry. I can't come back there. Yeah, I This is the last time I'm going with you and she was shocked. She was disturbed and And rather than having like some kind of formal official Breakup, we just drifted apart and just stopped seeing each other and calling each other and I called her the day before or at least the a few days before I was baptized and I invited her to the baptism and she said oh, that's sweet, but I'm going to an Iggy pop concert that night.

And that was the last time I spoke with her and Laureen if you're out there listening, I hope all is well with you, and I hope that you do come to Christ. And that you have an eternity with him awaiting you.

In fact It was interesting with her she dabbled with the Jehovah's Witnesses for a while and She was taking care of her mother as a teenage girl who eventually died of cancer and And she did have the thought of eternity on her mind and there was something about Eternity that mattered to her but she Was terrified of religion and Christianity.

I think that Jehovah's Witnesses may have had something to do with that I don't know sure, but I can remember the the first and only time I took her to church. She was sitting next to me in the pew. Physically trembling like a dog that just came in out of a cold rain or something and I'm sorry for that analogy if you're listening to rain.

But she was she was shaking like a leaf. That's a better way of putting it and and I could feel her. I mean it was it was so Distracting and noticeable and then what made it worse is as we were leaving after the service.

My pastor said hi, what's your name? And she said Laureen and that's a very unusual name and he said My that's an unusual name. I can't believe you're here because I was praying that a Laureen would be here tonight.

Oh, well, and yet it was a different Laureen. She didn't come and you came I find that remarkable. And then after we left she said I'm never going back there again. She was freaked out by that Wow, and by the way, I have to let you know That was not a charismatic or Pentecostal church that it was a reformed Baptist Church.

So that made it even more remarkable that my right my pastor was praying that way.

Well, I think it is coming to should be trembling.

Well, I want you to also even though we're going to be announcing it several times throughout the program I want you to tell our listeners about the Fellowship Conference, New England where you are on the roster.

The speaking roster.

Yes, if I could say one more thing Chris, I'm just about that true and false conversion. Sure you know, I look back at our lives. Jesus Christ was a part of our lives as.

As.

Professing Christians my wife and I and I think that Transformation when God changes us at the core at the heart through regeneration his spirit is put within us. Jesus Christ becomes our life. And when something's a part of your life, and then something is the substance and identity of your life.

Transformation that although people may not embrace it when they see it. They can't deny it. It's like a means for you or to see the end for you. And when someone by grace again has been changed and Jesus Christ is no longer just a means to my happy life Of the things that I want him to give me the genie in the bottle, but he becomes the end.

He is the treasure that we joyfully give all things up for. And by the field you can't deny that and when you don't have that you become aware. I don't have that. And so again, it's either the embracing of who you are a false convert and repenting and believing and being saved or it is the rejection in them is a Representation of that and so God have mercy.

I hope it's in these matters, but Praise God again. Amen. Regarding the conference. I mean, I think this is my fourth or fifth year here. I'm looking forward to it. If you want information on it, it fell with New England.

By the way, it's your fifth.

It's your fifth time being there. Thank you. That's what it says in the website. Anyway, no.

Not redeeming grace. I was preaching at that church. Conway coming. Mac Collins in my cell. Local guy, if you will. It's wonderful to have someone there and they I think you're having a mom if you haven't already.

Yeah, I've had I've had Nate on and he's also going to be on again this time this Thursday. He will be on immediately following. Dr. Stephen J Nichols who is the president of Reformation Bible College the college founded by the late RC Sproul and Ligonier ministries.

Wonderful. That sounds like a wonderful day. So make sure you won't tune in for that, but you will be there for for August 2nd through the 4th good Bible preaching wonderful fellowship and union in Christ and so Unbelievers can come if you're interested to hear about what what the believers pastors come and our prayer is that God would Revive New England.

You begin to work just like Nate's book says reviving New England, but he would do just that.

Well, I'm hoping especially all of my main listeners attend this. I knew that I know that I do have a number of listeners in Maine and New England so, please try to get there if you Are physically able to get there?

Amen, and that's fellowship conference new england .com. Fellowship conference new england .com and I am so thankful for Mac Tomlinson the pastor of Providence Chapel in Denton, Texas. For being so generous.

The congregation was so generous to iron sharpens iron recently. We were in a financial crisis and they sent us a very generous gift. That enabled us to pay some vital bills and I just want to thank God I just want to thank God for pastor Mac and the folks at Providence Chapel in Denton, Texas.

I look forward to having him back in the show. Soon it was so nice to have fellowship with him in Pennsylvania recently when he attended the banner of truth conference. Well, yeah, I was also in attendance.

So We are going to our first break now if you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own our email Address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. Please give us your first name your city and state and your country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter we are going to be discussing as our major theme unity amidst our diversity how to passionately pursue and Defend truth while striving to maintain unity in our local churches.

However, since Pastor Jesse Barrington is a pastor I will permit pastoral questions that you may have for him and I can understand especially in those cases That you might want to remain anonymous. In fact, please do remain anonymous if it's something about a personal and private matter especially if it involves other folks in your congregation and so on but Other than that, if it's not personal and private, please give us your first name city and state and country residence.

And that's Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. Chris Arnzen at gmail .com. Don't go away. God willing. We will be right back after these messages from our sponsors with more of Jesse Barrington.

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This is Chris Arnzen. If you just tuned us in our guests today on iron sharpens iron radio for the full two hours with about 90 minutes to go.

Is.

Jesse Barrington a conference speaker and pastor at Grace Life Church of Dallas Texas technically in Plano, Texas. And today we are addressing unity amidst our diversity how to passionately pursue and defend truth while striving to maintain unity in our local churches.

We're also going to be promoting throughout the broadcast the fellowship conference New England coming up August 2nd through the 4th. And something just occurred to me Brother Barrington that we have to get an event at some point.

We really have to pull this off. We have to get Tim Conway and Steve Martin to be at the same conference on the roster. So we can advertise it as Tim Conway and Steve Martin at such-and-such Conference and just sit back and watch how many people show up.

And Steve Martin for those of our listeners who don't know he is the Dean of students at the new IRBS Theological Seminary in Mansfield, Texas the Reformed Baptist Seminary that is launching its first semester this fall.

He has also been a pastor for many many years and he's well-known amongst Reformed Baptists as being a powerful a proclaimer of truth and a very humble servant of Christ and I'm glad that I am developing a friendship with him and it has been so nice to interview him and also I Shared fellowship with him as well at the recent banner of truth conference and it was a great joy.

Well.

You picked the subject that we are discussing today unity amidst our diversity how to passionately pursue and defend truth while striving to maintain unity in our local churches. Obviously since you picked that subject you believe that there is a problem maintaining both The pursuit and defense of truth while striving to maintain unity in our local churches.

If you could explain exactly What the circumstances are not only to you locally But what you've observed in the body of Christ in general that would lead you to want to discuss this today.

Amen brother. Obviously, it's a problem in script unity to local churches. So you see these calls to maintain unity to be of one mind. To agree together we also see a Reality of diversity in local churches all throughout so I speak of diversity.

We'll get more into this. I'm speaking more than just you know and nation. I'm speaking about diversity within those tribes tongues and nations and Obviously that tribe tongue and nation adds a level of diversity.

That's a hot topic and and obviously always being worked through but beyond that when we get into things like maturity of the believer and understanding of different creates another opportunity for this unity to come into the church and In addition to that we see in Scripture the church to be.

We're in butchers. We are lovers of truth. We are pursuers of truth. We are and then so the either or Manifesting all the time we see those who would say well in the name of love. Let's go light on dr.

Stand up and say wait a minute. No, that's not right. And then we see some and this is where I would say that all use me as an example. I have known high in doctrine and they should be and we can't stop the danger.

There is which one needs to be sharpened by Scripture and begin inevitably will praise God.

Let's see. We do have a listener Susan Margaret and Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. And she says do you think that most church splits that you are aware of Actually arise from matters that are far less important than the gospel and the pillars of the faith.

From what I have witnessed personally, they tend to be trivial matters at least comparatively trivial and people are failing to put the interests of others Above them at their own interests. There seems to be always selfishness at the root of these problems and a lack of humility and a lack to let someone else Have an option rather than yourself.

I.

Couldn't agree more Chris. Again, I'll speak some of mine. But when I see people leave churches other churches or this church here grace life. It's not over. You know salvific matters and and I don't want to.

I want to be careful not to minimize any aspect of God's Word. But but usually people are not leaving Reformed Baptist churches if we're going to speak about maybe the group that we're in. Because someone's denying the deity of Jesus Christ or the humanity of Christ or his substitutionary atonement or salvation by grace through faith alone.

Usually it is it is Another doctrine which yes is important. But but here's the concern if I could kind of spell this out. Once you begin to find your identity whether that's individually or as a church or your unity or your fellowship and something other than Jesus Christ in the gospel.

Inevitably what you begin to do is you begin to minimize The unity and fellowship that we do have in Jesus Christ in the gospel that with you in this way. If you come to me Chris, and you say Jesse, I know that we have Jesus Christ in common.

We have this whole gospel thing in common, but in this other area of doctrine. We don't see eye to eye so I can't be in fellowship with you think of what we just said Jesus Christ and the gospel we have that in common, but set it aside this other thing.

We don't see eye to eye when you begin to go down that path number one is. Where do you draw the line. Because once you start dividing from other genuine Christian. Over matters that are not pertaining to the gospel and Christ and and sociology and salvation.

Where does it end. And it really doesn't end. And number two is what you do is you begin to minimize that genuine Supernatural unity that we do have in Jesus Christ in the gospel. You can set that aside and focus on this and what you're doing when you do that inevitably is you're finding your identity.

Your unity and your fellows in the gospel. Yes, that's a it is tragic and thank you so much Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania for the very insightful question and commentary. Let's see here.

We have an anonymous listener Who asks. I know that sometimes? When a church split occurs and I know this from personal experience it is over the pastors preaching and teaching and shepherding. When is it appropriate to criticize a pastor privately if he is teaching things and Preaching about things that are technically accurate and biblically true.

But there seems to be a total lack of passion in his manner of preaching. There seems to be no urgency and it is more like a lecture. Is that a Reason enough to bring a word of criticism to that pastor and is it reason enough for a person ever to leave a church?

The three-day workshop with Steve Washington from past one passion ministry. Yes, very familiar with brothers. Steve. Yeah. Expositional gospels can talk about someone passionately preaching the word.