March 27, 2020 Show with Joe Jacowitz on “Why Did the Coronavirus Pandemic Happen?”

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Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown

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Carlyle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,

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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

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Earth, who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Friday on this 27th day of March 2020, and it is absolutely gorgeous here in Carlyle, Pennsylvania today, and it's a shame that we can't take more advantage of this beautiful weather out there.

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Not that we can't go outside, but other than walks or sitting around in your property, there's not much else you could do.

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But I'm thrilled to have back on the program Pastor Joe Jakowitz.

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Those of you who have been listening recently regularly to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio know that we have begun, at least until further notice, a weekly feature here on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, where Pastor Joe Jakowitz returns to the program every

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Friday to give updates on the coronavirus, to also give you a biblical response to the virus, the pandemic, the reactions to this, and also to encourage the saints in Christ during a time like this, which although there have been fatalities and illnesses,

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I think by far the most devastating thing that has occurred from this pandemic is the loss of income and the loss of livelihood amongst multitudes, millions of Americans and people globally.

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But Pastor Joe Jakowitz is pastor of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California.

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He's also founder of First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications.

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You can hear him every single day on First Love Radio, who live streams

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Iron Sharpens Iron. He preaches every single day immediately following this program, so you could actually be blessed by his preaching, his pulpit ministry.

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And then on every Wednesday he has a new program called Bible Talk, which airs at 10 p .m.

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Eastern Time, 7 p .m. Pacific. And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Pastor Joe Jakowitz.

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Always a blessing to be with you, Chris, and your listeners. Why don't you, before we go into anything else, tell our listeners, for those of our listeners who have not heard you yet on this program, tell them about Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California.

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Well, I've been pastor there for just over 30 years, and we have a congregation in Pleasanton, and over the last, oh

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I don't know, 15 years or so, three ministries have emerged from Christ Bible Church.

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First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications. And these ministries are under the oversight of Christ Bible Church, and we distribute publications free of charge worldwide.

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We have a missions organization called First Love Missions. We have about 50 missionaries.

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Almost all of them are volunteer missionaries. We go to many countries like Nigeria, Nepal, the

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Philippines. We hold Bible conferences, pastors conferences. We give away tons of literature there as well, and so First Love Missions works hand in hand with First Love Missions.

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And then, of course, First Love Radio. As you mentioned, Iron Sharpens Iron is live -streamed on First Love Radio.

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It's a 24 -hour a day, seven -day a week internet radio station, and you can find many solid preachers on our programming schedule.

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You just go to FirstLoveRadio .org. That's FirstLoveRadio .org. Great. And, of course, the website for Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California is

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ChristBibleChurch .org. ChristBibleChurch .org. Today we are specifically addressing why did the coronavirus happen on today's weekly update with Joe Jakowitz on the coronavirus.

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But I know that you wanted to, before we actually went into that theological question or biblical question, you wanted to give us some updates statistically.

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Yes, and by the way, you prompted something in me when you mentioned the coronavirus.

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We're all shut in. We're all locked down, most of us anyway, and I think it affords pastors an opportunity to reassess their priorities and to reassess their ministries and their flock.

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I have. I know that. And it affords us an opportunity to reach out.

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And like myself, some pastors are using this opportunity to reach out. So we do have three weekly broadcasts, and I'm going to announce on your show for the first time that a fourth broadcast will be started to specifically minister to the church and to people who are distraught, who are traumatized by the coronavirus.

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Billions of people are asking questions. Why did this happen? What's going on? What about my income?

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There's so much uncertainty that is hovering above everybody's head, and very, very few people have answers.

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I think Christians have answers, maybe not all of them, but pastors need to take the initiative to fill in the gap and seize the moment, besides believers, to give those answers.

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And so our media platforms such as First Love Radio and Facebook and our website, our church website, we're live streaming and we're

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Facebooking several programs now. The ones you mentioned, with you on Friday on Iron Sharpens Iron, then on Wednesday at 7 p .m.

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on firstloveradio .org, Bible Talk, and that's 10 o 'clock Eastern, and then on Sunday at 1 p .m.

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we live stream our worship service, which is really a sermon. So we live stream it on the radio as well as on our website and on firstloveradio .org.

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But we're starting a fourth program to reach out and minister to folks.

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We don't even have a name for it yet. Can you believe that? We're wrestling with that right now. But myself and Pastor James Tippins, who's a very good friend of mine, he's on the board of directors of First Love Ministries, he's also the pastor of a local church in Georgia, and he and I are going to do a pastoral counseling program on First Love Radio every

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Saturday. So we would encourage your listeners to join us on Saturday and bring your questions on topics such as family issues, relational problems, doctrinal questions, pretty much the array of concerns and problems and questions that people would have, especially during this time.

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We especially want to reach out and minister to people who are struck by all kinds of confusion and problems due to the coronavirus.

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Now getting to... Well first I wanted to mention to you, please send Pastor Tippins my way so that I can invite him on the program.

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I sure will. I sure will. So as far as the coronavirus is concerned, here's the latest.

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As of noon today, actually as of about a half hour ago, there are 585 ,000 coronavirus cases of infection and 26 ,819 deaths worldwide.

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The United States has 97 ,000 confirmed cases and 1 ,475 deaths.

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Just in the 20 minutes that I've been away from those statistics, it may have gone up a lot.

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The Congress, as you well know Chris, has passed a bill today that would provide two trillion dollars in emergency relief for companies, for families, for individuals.

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This is the largest aid package in U .S. history. A third of the world is on lockdown, pretty much sheltering in place.

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I know in the United States, we have a public health crisis and an economy in the

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United States in crisis like we've never seen before. I haven't in all my years. Some are saying we're in a recession right now.

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The virus has spread to over 151 countries and with the exception of one or two countries, that curve has not flattened out yet.

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So the virus is still spreading and I think at least over the next month or so, that curve will continue to climb, including in the

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United States. This is based on what doctors are saying and the professionals who look at these statistics and who examine the virus and its spread.

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We're looking at at least another month perhaps or so, three to four weeks, this is based on what they are saying before it flattens out.

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So we have a lot of work to do from our homes between now and when things start to calm down and get back to normal.

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3 .2 million people filed for unemployment last week in the United States. In New York City, hospitals and morgues are nearly at capacity and they're expected to reach capacity next week.

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The virus is reaching the prisons and jails and counties and states are releasing thousands of inmates and one of the leading doctors has said that the virus is 10 times stronger than the flu.

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But in most cases we're still in the building stage, as I said, and the curve continues to climb in the

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U .S. and most other countries. Now think of the absurdity of releasing the prisoners because of the spread of coronavirus in those prisons when the government wants us to be confined anyway, why don't they just keep those prisoners confined where they already were?

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Right, it doesn't make sense at all and so, you know, by moving around on the outside after being released they could they could get the virus.

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And spread it if they have it. Exactly. There are positive things going on.

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I could talk a lot about that. There's countless acts of kindness by believers, even unsafe people sharing food with one another.

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There are so many good Samaritans who are out there concerned about their fellow man with altruistic and love driving them.

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Wells Fargo, U .S. Bank, Citibank and J .P. Morgan Chase have all agreed including a couple of hundred of other banks and credit unions to waive mortgage payments for people affected by the coronavirus and that's that's good news.

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So to sum up a little bit and after now these statistics are kind of laid out,

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I could have gone into greater detail about other things but these are just the major statistics and you and I agreed last

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Friday that we've never seen anything like this in our lifetime perhaps in the last hundred years and so we see that we're still wrestling with this worldwide pandemic and emergency that has changed every life in one way or another to some small or great degree.

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And though there's a lot of good signs on the horizon that things will improve at least this is what they're telling us and eventually the government will distribute a vaccine and medication and medical science will probably

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God willing again help deliver humanity from a spectacular catastrophe on a level that is unthinkable.

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We're still talking about devastation on a biblical level and so the key is that we need to bring into clear focus the biblical and spiritual issues uppermost in our minds and never never forget the spiritual lessons we learn through all of this.

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A lot of people are listening right now who would not ordinarily listen to that still small voice, that hidden message as it were that they miss all the time when their lives are conventionally lived and the routineness of their lives just captivate them.

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We need to learn the lessons that God is teaching us even after the coronavirus diminishes and goes away and we all get back to a normal life with all of its routines.

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If we want to be used by God and God intends to use this pandemic as the teaching tool for his people and for the church and church leaders who desperately need to pursue revival, to pursue spiritual life, to deepen spiritual life in our churches, we need to be listening to the

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Lord at this time and garner and apply the lessons, the spiritual lessons

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God is teaching us. You know this was the same problem that many faced after September 11, 2001.

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I think you mentioned it last week after the World Trade Center attack and the terrorist attack. Millions of people flooded into the churches with the fear of God upon them but just three months later most of those folks left the church and left off seeking

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God and went right back to a place of indifference about their relationship with God and believers need to be praying that that would not happen again this time and that God would use this pandemic to really get the attention of unsaved people who are living for the moment, who are living for themselves.

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The impact of the pandemic is greater on a social level in terms of the panic and the fear and the paranoia and the uncertainty and the worry that is driving most people right now and will continue to drive them for the foreseeable future and we need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

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We need to use this opportunity God has given us to be light and salt, to be a source of truth, to be channels by which the gospel comes out from us.

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We need to be witnessing to everybody we can. Use social media, use

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Facebook, use our contact list, text, call, any way we can and God has given us this technology which has been abused by many but let's use it for the glory of God to communicate the gospel.

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Start Bible studies on Skype or Zoom, call people, do a one -on -one on the phone.

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My wife has a ministry with her mother where every day she calls her mother and usually every other day she has a little

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Bible study. Use the phone for the glory of God. So we definitely do know why the coronavirus occurred because the

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Bible tells us. I know there are probably, Chris, some people who don't really know why or are thinking can we really know why the virus happened?

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I'm not a prophet. I don't have a direct line to God. And on an earthly plane we still don't know for certain how it happened in regard to whether it was people eating bats and turtles and all kinds of strange animals in China and that somehow these animals transferred the virus.

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We don't know if it was a laboratory accident or purposeful act of terrorism from a laboratory in China.

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And of course the Chinese have been blaming the United States military. I don't know if they're still doing that but that's obviously a slander.

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But we still, they really have not, expert scientists have not really concluded on an earthly level why this happened.

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Am I right? Yes, you're right. But for biblical purposes and all intents and purposes, it really doesn't matter how it was transmitted, whether it be a bat or wild animals or whatever.

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You and I as a firm believer in sovereign grace know that God brought this about and he has many many reasons for it.

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It was not plan B, this was plan A. So even though we don't know why this happened, in terms of all the reasons that God has for doing it, we do know why

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God did it in terms of there are some reasons we can know from the Bible. And so I'm not a prophet, but there is a foolproof source of knowledge that has a lot to say about disasters and calamities such as the coronavirus pandemic and why they occur.

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And that source, like I said, is the Bible. We can know why it happened. It's not a mystery to people who are listening and who know where to find the answers.

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Everything in the Bible is true. Scripture has a perfect track record in terms of its accuracy of its prophecies and the description and meaning of reality and human experience.

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Reality has always backed up the Scripture 100 percent. That is the practical reality and interpretation of why things happen.

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The Bible says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the

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Lord is sure, making wise the simple. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness.

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So if we want to be instructed, if we want to learn from the Bible any reasons why we have this disaster upon us, we ought to search the

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Scriptures. And I certainly have, and I have a few reasons to share with you today. Because the

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Bible is a sure guide. It's been tested billions of times in terms of its accuracy, the truth of its message, the reality of its message, and it's never failed.

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No corner of the Bible has failed, has weakened in terms of its veracity and integrity to back up what it teaches in reality.

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And the Bible's promises have never failed, not one time. Can you imagine that? Trillions of times, probably, over the last 4 ,000 years, people have trusted the

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God of the Bible and the promises He has given us. And not one of those promises have failed.

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So when the Bible tells why disasters happen, we can believe what it says is the source of absolute truth.

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Well, I want to make sure that our listeners have our email address, so if they have questions of their own, they can email them in.

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My email address is chranzen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

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Please, as always, give us your first name, at least your city and state and your country of residence if you live outside the

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USA, and only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

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And with something like a pandemic going around, and people's not only personal bodies being affected, but loved ones being affected,

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I could understand that some of our listeners might want to remain anonymous. But other than that, please, if it's just a general question, give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence if you live outside the

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USA, chranzen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

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I'm sorry, Joe, go ahead. No problem. And so we know why the coronavirus happened, because the

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Bible tells us why. And what are those reasons? Well, the first reason for the coronavirus is the worldwide pervasiveness and saturation of sin.

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Sin is always the big culprit that brings down disasters and the wrath of God.

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And when we talk about a large -scale disaster, a worldwide pandemic, we see that this is

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God's way of judging the world for sin on a large scale. Now, He doesn't do that very often, thank

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God, or else we'd all be dead. But the reason for such disasters where human life is affected, health is taken away, a living or income is removed, whenever there are things like this due to sin, it is man experiencing the consequences of sin, which are very much deserved.

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And the Bible defines these grounds for such punishment as original sin.

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As we read in Scripture, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because of all sin.

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So when we look at God's perspective through the Scriptures, everyone deserves to be punished because of original sin.

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And if every hundred years or every 75 years we have a pandemic, that is

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God breaking through very, very rarely to punish men and women, boys and girls, because of their sins.

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And they rightly deserve that punishment. Whereas God can punish sin on a worldwide scale, like He did in Noah's day, and wipe everybody out, and He'd be just in doing so.

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But God is patient and doesn't punish us as we deserve, as the Scripture says in one of my favorite

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Psalms, 103, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

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He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.

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And so look at the worldwide flood in Noah's time as an example. We read that the

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Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

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And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said,

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I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. So this worldwide destruction, this worldwide punishment came down from God because He saw the wickedness of man, the sin of man, and that it was very great.

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And our sins today in society and around the world and every culture and every nation are no less great.

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The second reason for such disasters is sexual sin and moral perversion.

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Look at Sodom and Gomorrah, where we read in Genesis 18, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave.

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And then we read later on, the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the

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Lord out of heaven. So there was this whole -scale destruction, not only of Sodom, but Gomorrah and the other three cities in the plain there.

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And also it says God burned up the grass. Everything was destroyed. So the people got what they deserved, and there were only three people who were preserved from that fire and brimstone, which was

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Lot and his two daughters. The third reason for the worldwide pandemic, according to the

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Bible, is persistent hardness of heart. Look at the example of Pharaoh.

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The entire nation suffered. The entire nation of Egypt had suffered just because one man hardened his heart, the

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Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But when we look at it, the Egyptians also had their individual sins, by which

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God punished them through those ten plagues. And it says in Exodus 8 that Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not heed these signs, these punishments, these plagues, as the

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Lord had said. And so the result was that God ultimately came through in the last one and struck all the firstborn of Egypt, both men and animals, and against all the gods of Egypt.

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And so hardness of heart. Look at the world, Chris. The immorality and the sexual perversion on a scale that I think is unthinkable, that was incapable of being so deep -rooted, so embedded in the hearts of people, the sexual immorality and pornography.

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When we look at sin going on on a level that we've never,

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I think, never seen before, the hardness of heart, the Bible talks about the love of many will grow cold in the end times, and faith will be on the way.

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Jesus said, when I come again will I really find faith on the earth. We see such a vast diminishing of the fruit of the

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Spirit among believers. Even the attempt of trusting in Christ or believing in God, leading to a relationship with God, is so rarely seen today.

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The saints of God need to cry out for revival. So I ask your listeners, is your heart hardened against God in any way?

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Are you listening to what God is saying? Are you pondering it? Are you musing on this terrible pandemic?

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Are you just doing an intellectual exercise, thinking about it?

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Or is your heart, is your spirit, are your your emotions deeply struck by what you're experiencing and by what you see in the news reports all around the world?

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God says, give me your heart. God says He does not look at the outward appearance, but He looks at the heart.

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And so will you ask God to search your heart and to humble you on a level that He desires to bring you into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ?

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Will you trust in Jesus to forgive your sin? You see, getting back to the example of the last plague in Egypt.

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In fact, Joe, let's revisit the last plague in Egypt when we come back from our first break. If anybody wants to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address again is chrisarnson at gmail .com.

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chrisarnson at gmail .com. Don't go away, we'll be right back after these messages with more of Pastor Joe Jakowitz of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California.

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And our theme today, why did the coronavirus happen? A part of our new weekly feature on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio every

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Friday, where Joe Jakowitz will be giving updates on the coronavirus and a message from the

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Word of God on how we should respond to it. We'll be conducting these every Friday until further notice.

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Don't go away, we'll be right back with Pastor Joe Jakowitz. Chris Aronson, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, announcing a new website with an exciting offer from World Magazine, my trusted source for news from a

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The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life, bringing so many uncertainties.

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When will it end? Why do disasters like this happen? How do we deal with anxiety, fear, and the like?

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Well, join us each Friday on the program Iron Sharpen's Iron with your host Chris Arnzen and pastor

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Joe Jackiewicz as they explore God's Word for answers to this and other of life's related issues.

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Tune in at firstloveradio .org. That's firstloveradio .org.

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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

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Lord's Day in worshipping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.

38:37

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

38:46

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

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

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Iron Sharpens Iron welcomes Solid Rock Remodeling to our family of sponsors.

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40:11

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries and the Dividing Line webcast here. Although God has brought me all over the globe for many years to teach, preach, and debate at numerous venues, some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the

40:26

Brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church, now located at their new, beautiful facilities in Coram, Long Island, New York.

40:33

I've had the privilege of opening God's Word from their pulpit on many occasions, have led youth retreats for them, and have always been thrilled to see their members filling many seats at my

40:42

New York debates. I do not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught, discipled, and edified by the

40:52

Holy Scriptures, and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

40:57

I also want to congratulate Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram for their recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder,

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

41:11

that's hopereformedli .net, or call 631 -696 -5711, that's 631 -696 -5711.

41:22

Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island that you heard about them from James White on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

41:31

And mark your calendars, folks, because James White, whose voice you just heard, Dr. James R.

41:37

White of Alpha Omega Ministries, is returning as a guest to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on Wednesday, the 8th of April, and the theme of our discussion is going to be

41:49

Purgatory Revisited on the 20th anniversary of the notorious debate between Dr.

41:57

James R. White and Father Peter Stravinskas on Long Island, New York, a debate that I organized on purgatory, an evangelical

42:06

Protestant versus Roman Catholic debate. We will be commemorating that event, which was quite an amazing event in many ways, and of course we'll be discussing that very important dogma of the

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Church of Rome that is among their most heretical and dangerous and damning teachings.

42:31

We are now back with Pastor Joe Jackowitz of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California, also founder of First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications.

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We are conducting our weekly Friday update on the coronavirus, and today we are specifically addressing why did the coronavirus happen?

42:52

And before you return to the plagues of Egypt where you left off, I think it's very important that we give a caveat, and I'm sure you would agree with this,

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Joe. It is not our business to be assigning blame to any other person or people as to their sins specifically bringing a virus upon themselves.

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Perhaps they've had a death in the family or just are experiencing severe illness. We are not to either speculate or even worse publicly and vocally say the reason these people are sick is because they have sexual immorality in their home or some other reason.

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It is not our business to do that. We are to be primarily focusing inwardly and making sure we are right with God in that realm.

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Am I right on that? You're absolutely right. It's not our place to assign blame on a particular person or to judge them and to read into the situation their sins, so that's what

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God does. That's his job. He judges for sin, not us.

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Well, you could pick up on the plagues of Egypt as you were leaving off. Right, so we used Pharaoh as an example of the hardness of heart, and persistent deafness to the punishing hand of God will often bring

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God to a place where he pours out a greater, more intense, painful judgment.

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And one only needs to look at the history of the nation of Israel, where for hundreds of years

44:37

God would send the prophets to them, to warn them to repent of their idolatry and their individual and national sins, and he would use lesser forms of punishment leading up to the great punishment, which in many cases was the captivities of Assyria, Babylon, and Rome, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70

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AD. But very, very often before God judges nations or the world on that big level, he will give many, many warnings beforehand.

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He teaches in Scripture that his wrath is a strange thing, and he does not delight in the death of the wicked.

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He would prefer to show mercy if people are listening, and so Pharaoh hardened his heart, and we see the disaster that occurred there, and we hope that our listeners are listening to God, not just to us on the radio, but to God in this very, very strange and rare occurrence in the life and history of our nation, this worldwide pandemic that has struck our beloved

45:55

United States. There's a fourth reason why we can know that this is from the

46:02

Lord, and again, I don't want to split hairs over prophetic interpretations, but I think most schools of thought with regard to prophecy will agree in the general signs of the times, and I think this pandemic, if you look over a period of time, is part of the growing intensity and frequency of the signs of the times.

46:28

But there's another important point here that I'd like to move on, besides talking about how we can know from Scripture that this pandemic is from the

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Lord, I want to focus on people for a few minutes, if I can. Of course.

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And so my thought was, Chris, that for people to benefit spiritually, and there is a silver lining in this pandemic, they need to be listening.

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And so I see that, like in 9 -11 -2001, there's this resurrection of the conscience.

47:08

All of a sudden, the sins that people were taking for granted and there had not been any judgment poured out, just because God delays chastisement and punishment doesn't mean

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God is not upset with people. And right up until the flood took place, the world went on as normal, it was business as usual, until the day that God destroyed the earth by a flood and brought

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Noah and his family into the ark. And most people who don't know the Bible, who are not listening to God, they will have a rude awakening.

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Very, very many of them will not have time to repent. So people need to be listening. And the fact that people have their conscience stirred up and awakened, and they begin to look inwardly, and they begin to realize that they've taken their lives for granted for so long,

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God uses a traumatic event like this, even where it touches the bodies with pain and illness and disease of many, many people.

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It will shake them out of their complacency and lead many to seek the

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Lord and to be saved, to be forgiven of their sins, to come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

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And so God intends for natural disasters or accidents that they would humble us and help us to see that we're sinners before God.

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Or for the church, God uses disasters to awaken us from complacency and lukewarmness and realize again how dependent we are on God to sustain us and deliver us.

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God very often will revive our memory, our very sanctified memory, when we were walking close with God and we were sensitive to all the little ways in which

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God blessed us and provided for us and sustained our health and kept our income coming in.

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But when we're backslidden or when we wander from God, we tend to take things for granted.

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We don't notice those little ways that God takes care of us and humbles us and creates such thanks and praise to God in our hearts.

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But a disaster like this very often will cause people to return to that place of discernment, discernment in their relationship with God and where they need to make corrections and adjustments.

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And we will see in the last days that people will not be listening and they will harden their hearts on a level that is insane.

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For example, in Revelation 16 it says that God will scorch men's bodies, people's bodies with great heat and they will blaspheme the name of God who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory.

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So there's this idea that great plagues will be poured out on the earth and I don't doubt that plagues like the coronavirus will grow in frequency.

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We don't see them that often, but just in the last 20 years we've seen the H1N1, we've seen the

50:26

SARS, the bird flu. I mean just in the last 20 years since 2000 there's been half a dozen or more of these epidemics or pandemics, whatever you want to call them, whether they take place regionally in an area like a continent or they take place globally.

50:43

These pandemics will continue to increase as Matthew 24, Luke 13,

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I'm sorry Luke 21 and Mark 13 indicate that pestilences will be a major sign of the end times, but people need to be listening.

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If they're not, the Bible says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

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Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

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Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double -minded. Lament and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

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Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. He says to believers, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

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For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

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And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

51:47

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the Living God. As God has said,

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I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the

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Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the

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Lord Almighty. Therefore having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

52:20

And Chris, if I just may appeal to believers, Christians, you're born again, you're washed in the blood of Christ, you know the

52:27

Lord, the witness of the Spirit has always been in your heart since you've been born from above, but you've struggled and you've been playing around with the world and you've got friends that are worldly and this immoral company is corrupting your godly behavior.

52:44

The Bible says, come out from among them, return to the Lord Jesus Christ in the way of your heart, ask him to cleanse you afresh in that fountain for sin and for uncleanness, that precious blood of Christ which sanctifies us and purifies our consciences and cleanses us from dead works and worldliness.

53:05

And he will restore you to that place of fellowship and service and usefulness that you enjoyed in times past.

53:14

And we have to go to our midway break right now, this is the longer than normal break, please be patient. Grace Life Radio 90 .1

53:20

FM in Lake City, Florida requires of us this longer break in the middle of the show because they air this program twice a day in a pre -recorded format in morning drive and 8 to 10 p .m.

53:32

at night and the FCC requires them to localize Iron Sharpens Iron Radio to Lake City, Florida, so therefore while we air our globally heard commercials, they air their own local public service announcements relative to Lake City, Florida.

53:49

So please use this time wisely since it's a longer break, please especially take time to write down the information provided by our advertisers so that you can more frequently and successfully patronize them.

54:02

We depend upon our advertisers to exist and therefore the most likely reason they're going to stick around is if they notice you the listener are patronizing them and frequently.

54:14

So please do that if indeed you want this program to remain in existence.

54:21

And so write down as much of the information as you can and even if a advertiser or should

54:28

I say an advertiser is not relative to you, let's say it's a church on the other side of the country or even another part of the world from where you are listening and you know that you're not going to be ever visiting that church or joining that church, well why not just call them or write them and tell them, hey can

54:52

I just want to thank you for sponsoring Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. It means a lot to me that you do that and perhaps even if you have the financial means to do so, send them a check along with your letter of gratitude for sponsoring

55:09

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio because remember a lot of churches are going through really hard times financially during this coronavirus scare especially since public worship has been discontinued momentarily at least temporarily and people are relying solely upon live streaming from their own homes if even that so therefore there are a lot of people who haven't been giving that used to give regularly and churches are suffering.

55:42

So please just do whatever you can to bless our advertisers to make sure that they remain our advertisers and also write down questions for Joe Jakowicz at chrisarnson at gmail .com

55:55

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Don't go away, we'll be right back after these messages with more of Joe Jakowicz and why did the coronavirus happen?

56:10

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here. If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough you know

56:15

I have a great love for getting Bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity and besides that they feel so good.

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I'm so delighted I discovered Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding. No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently but I'll give it a shot.

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Jeffrey Rice of Post Tenebrous Lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan. All his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching.

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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

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

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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.

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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 As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

57:54

A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington New Jersey pastored by Alan Dunn.

58:04

Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshipped and how he shall be represented in the world.

58:12

They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship

58:18

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

58:23

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.

58:38

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

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.com. That's GCBCNJ .Squarespace .com

58:53

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

59:03

Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life, bringing so many uncertainties.

59:23

When will it end? Why do disasters like this happen? How do we deal with anxiety, fear, and the like?

59:30

Well, join us each Friday on the program Iron Sharpens Iron with your host Chris Arnson and Pastor Joe Jackowitz as they explore

59:38

God's Word for answers to this and other of life's related issues. Tune in at FirstLoveRadio .org,

59:47

that's FirstLoveRadio .org, each Friday at 1 p .m.

59:52

Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern. That's Iron Sharpens Iron on FirstLoveRadio .org,

59:59

Friday's 1 p .m. Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern, to hear what the Bible has to say about pandemics and how we should respond.

01:00:16

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

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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, Virginia, and the NASB is my

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

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

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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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01:02:13

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

01:02:20

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

01:02:25

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

01:02:41

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

01:02:48

If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some

01:03:01

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.

01:03:10

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

01:03:19

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

01:03:24

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

01:03:37

Chris Sorensen, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, here. I want to tell you about a man I have personally known for many years.

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His name is Dan Buttafuoco. Dan is a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer, but not the type that typically comes to mind.

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Dan cares about people and is a theologian himself. Recently he wrote a book titled Consider the

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Evidence for the Bible. Ravi Zacharias wrote the foreword. Dan also has a master's degree in theology.

01:04:06

Dan handles serious injury and medical malpractice cases in all 50 states. He represents many

01:04:12

Christians in serious injury matters all over the country. Dan is an exceptional trial lawyer.

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He wrote the test for the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and currently his firm has over 100 cases that have settled for $1 million or more, and in approximately 10 different states.

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In Illinois, his lawyers had the fourth largest settlement in the state's history. In New York, his case involving a paralyzed police officer made the front page of the

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Law Journal. If you have a serious personal injury or medical malpractice claim in any state,

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I recommend that you call Dan. Consultations are free. There is no fee unless you win.

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Dan Buttafuoco's number is 1 -800 -669 -4878. 1 -800 -669 -4878.

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Or email me for Dan's contact information at chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

01:05:09

That's chrisarnsen at gmail .com. I'm Dr.

01:05:25

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,

01:05:37

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

01:05:44

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.

01:06:08

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.

01:06:17

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

01:06:28

That's 631 -696 -5711. That's 631 -696 -5711.

01:06:38

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

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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.

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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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Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered, Christ -exalting books for all ages.

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We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com. That's solid -ground -books .com

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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 folks, why not contact

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Solid Ground Christian Books and thank them for being so generous to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, because they recently, when they paid for their monthly advertising bill, they added an additional gift, a very substantial financial gift, and that means the world to me.

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And if you could, why not thank them and also order books from them as your way of saying thanks to them for their generosity to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and for helping in a primary way to keep

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air through their advertising dollars. Go to solid -ground -books .com,

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solid -ground -books .com and order as many books as you can for Easter, for birthdays, for wedding anniversaries, just to send your love and concern to family, friends, and loved ones who are shut up during this coronavirus quarantine.

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Send them a book or books, plural, and tell them while you are cooped up, I thought you might be blessed with these books.

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These are just some ideas on how not only will you benefit your own personal life by replenishing your own library, but benefit the lives of others, both the

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Christians in your life and the lost, who need to be led to Christ. And Christian books, which contain the gospel, are an excellent way to do that.

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That's solid -ground -books .com, solid -ground -books .com. Always remember to tell them that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:09:40

Before we return to Joe Jackowitz of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California, and First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications on our theme,

01:09:51

Why Did the Coronavirus Happen?, we just have some important announcements to make. First of all, we have a phenomenal lineup next week on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:10:02

Mark your calendars for every day next week, because all these interviews will be extraordinary,

01:10:09

I'm sure. On Monday and Tuesday, the 30th and 31st of March, we have world -renowned

01:10:15

Reformed Baptist author and preacher and pastor Jeff Thomas, who, this is a very rare thing, he pastored one church for over half a century.

01:10:31

That was the Alfred Place Baptist Church in Everest with whales, and Pastor Jeff, he is one of the most extraordinary preachers alive, and I am so thrilled that he's coming back two days in a row.

01:10:44

In fact, he is the one that contacted me and said, may I return to your program?

01:10:50

That actually sounds more British, but I can't do a Welsh accent very well. And he specifically requested two days.

01:10:57

On Monday, March 30th, he will be discussing singing in the church, and on Tuesday, the 31st of March, he will be discussing the free offer of the gospel and real evangelism,

01:11:10

R -E -A -L evangelism. On Wednesday, we have what

01:11:15

I am sure will be a fascinating discussion with my dear friend of many years, Reverend Dave Corson.

01:11:23

He's not only an ordained minister, but he also is an administrative law judge in New York City, and he is going to be discussing voluntary versus mandatory, a guide to the limitations on public gatherings during pandemics.

01:11:41

And he is going to be trying to separate fact from fiction in regard to what is actually legally binded upon us, required of us, when it comes to these things, and that which is totally voluntary, although the media makes it very confusing to distinguish between those two things, voluntary and mandatory.

01:12:03

I'm sure this administrative law judge will open your eyes about some things. Thursday, by the way, that was

01:12:10

Wednesday the 1st of April. In fact, Dave said, I think that April Fool's Day would be appropriate for me, because Dave actually used to be, believe it or not, a stand -up comic, a professional stand -up comic.

01:12:22

He was actually regularly featured on a comedy TV show at one point. On Thursday, the 2nd of April, Kurt Daniel will be our guest to discuss his monumental, massive, new hardcover book,

01:12:38

The History and Theology of Calvinism, nearly 900 pages of information on this phenomenal book published by Evangelical Press.

01:12:48

And you might want to especially write this down, because the first six questions that we receive that are good enough to read on air, the writers of those questions will receive a free copy of this massive hardcover,

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The History and Theology of Calvinism. Your question can't be, can you tell us something about the history and theology of Calvinism?

01:13:11

No, that's not an adequate question. It's got to be a good one, good enough to be read on the air.

01:13:16

And then, of course, on Friday, Joe Jackowitz is going to be returning to Iron Trump and Zion Radio for our weekly update on the coronavirus and the

01:13:28

Bible's response to what is going on in the world as a result of this pandemic, and that's every

01:13:33

Friday until further notice. Also, folks, if you are a man in ministry leadership, whether you're a pastor, an elder, a deacon, a parachurch leader,

01:13:44

I invite you to the spring Iron Trump and Zion Radio pastors luncheon, barring any inconvenience, or should

01:13:54

I say, interruption of that meeting due to a prolonged quarantine or ban on public gatherings or what have you.

01:14:03

We obviously don't know what the future holds, only God does, but we are assuming by May 29th,

01:14:09

Friday May 29th, we will be able to gather once again, and this is going to be a really exciting pastor's luncheon.

01:14:18

It's the first one we've ever conducted at the Bongiorno Conference Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and on top of that, it's the first time we've ever had

01:14:27

Dr. Conrad M. Bayway, pastor of Kibwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa, and former chancellor of the

01:14:36

African Christian University, where he is currently a lecturer. So you don't want to miss

01:14:41

Dr. Conrad M. Bayway. I believe, I've said this often and I will continue to say it, I believe he's the most powerful preacher alive on the planet

01:14:48

Earth. So, if you want to attend a free event where you're going to hear Dr. Conrad M.

01:14:53

Bayway for free, where you're going to be fed a sumptuous meal by the Bongiorno Conference Center for free, and where you're going to leave with a heavy sack of books personally selected by me from Christian publishers all over the

01:15:08

United States and the United Kingdom that have been donated by these fine folks, and that heavy sack of books will be free.

01:15:15

If you want all that free stuff, plus the fun fellowship, register at chrisarnson at gmail .com,

01:15:24

chrisarnson at gmail .com, and I will register you absolutely free. And folks, here we go again.

01:15:30

I know you may be rolling your eyes, but I have to beg you for money again, folks, because we are in urgent need, perhaps more urgent need than ever, for your donations here at IronSharpensIronRadio .com,

01:15:42

if you do indeed love this show. We have temporarily lost our two largest sources of financial support because of the coronavirus scare doing great damage upon their businesses, so please help us make up for that.

01:16:00

Please, if you have extra money, and those of you who are still employed, whose businesses or livelihoods have not been interrupted at all by this, you should have extra money lying around because you can't go to any sporting events, you can't go to restaurants, you can't go to the movies, you can't go to the theater, so please use some of that money if you love this show to help us remain on the air.

01:16:26

I've been begging my audience for money every day for weeks and weeks, and it's amazing to me how only a tiny handful have responded, and I thank

01:16:37

God for that tiny handful. I don't want to undermine the importance and my gratefulness to that tiny handful.

01:16:44

You folks have been more of a blessing to me than you will ever know this side of heaven.

01:16:52

I am always just filled with such gratitude and peace and joy and thanksgiving when

01:16:59

I receive a check in the mail or when I look at the online donation application on IronSharpensIronRadio .com

01:17:09

when I see who has been donating and how much they've been donating, and even those that can only afford a small amount but are faithful in doing so every single month,

01:17:19

I thank God for you, so please don't think I'm undermining the importance of what you are doing. I'm just saying that as far as the number of people who have donated, a tiny handful, and keep in mind in October alone we had over 41 ,000 people download this show, so I don't understand, maybe people are fast -forwarding through this part of the show when they're listening via the recordings on the archive on IronSharpensIronRadio .com.

01:17:47

Those of you who are listening live have no excuse, you can't escape me. Please, and I'm not trying to put a guilt trip on those of you who have a hard time financially and you can't do it.

01:17:56

I'm not trying to guilt trip you at all. I'm just saying if you are blessed financially above and beyond your ability to provide for your family and your your church, please consider going to IronSharpensIronRadio .com,

01:18:08

click support, then click click to donate now, and donate as frequently and as generously as you can if indeed you love the show and you don't want it to disappear.

01:18:18

If you want to advertise with us, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

01:18:26

And folks, if you are not a member of a Bible -believing church and you're not even prayerfully looking for one, you're living in rebellion against God, I can help you rectify that situation,

01:18:38

God willing. I have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the world. I've helped many people find churches that they have either visited and joined or that they have recommended to others that they love in other parts of the world who have no churches or where they have gone on vacation and visited these churches.

01:18:57

If you are in any of those categories and you need a church, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com.

01:19:03

chrisarnson at gmail .com and put I need a church in the subject line. It's also the email address where you can send in a question to Pastor Joe Jackowitz and we are discussing, once again, why did the coronavirus happen?

01:19:16

Our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com. chrisarnson at gmail .com.

01:19:21

Before you pick up where you left off, we have a listener in New York City, Johnny in Queens, New York.

01:19:31

I have to enlarge Johnny's question because the font on the email is microscopic, so let me just repeat our email address while I'm getting this enlarged.

01:19:47

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

01:20:00

USA, and only remain anonymous if your question is a personal and private one.

01:20:07

And Johnny says, Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who has been instrumental in governmental policy decision -making, just offered a massively downgraded projection of the potential death roll after admitting he was wrong with his initial projections.

01:20:32

And Johnny offers a very long URL, which reveals the information on that.

01:20:38

If anybody wants that URL, I will send it to you because it's too large to read.

01:20:46

Then Johnny says, let's see here, I got to enlarge that part too.

01:20:51

Considering Italy that counts all deaths caused by COVID -19 12%, with deaths of patients by existing conditions not directly caused by COVID -19 88%, could it be that we're overreaching to this global pandemic?

01:21:16

I don't think we're overreaching. I saw that report from that epidemiologist, and yes,

01:21:22

I agree that he definitely had an outlandish prediction on the effects, the negative effects, including those who were infected and those who would die.

01:21:37

And I agree with the listener that it was outlandish, his prediction.

01:21:45

But I've been really doing a lot of research, not only in preparation for this program, but just trying to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on concerning every aspect of the coronavirus, to try to be a faithful pastor and teacher, and encourage her to let people know what's going on.

01:22:04

A lot of the sources that I'm looking at are saying that the curve is still going up in most places, except for one or two it has flattened out, possibly

01:22:16

China and South Korea. But there's new cases coming, even in China.

01:22:23

So what I'm hearing from the top professionals and the doctors here in the

01:22:29

United States that are in charge of the task force that the president has set up to, you know, eradicate this, and they're saying that the worst is still yet to come.

01:22:46

I don't think it's going to be on the level of that epidemiologist's prediction, but I still think the worst is yet to come.

01:22:55

But I'm hopeful that there's light at the end of the tunnel here. But again, if you look at the larger perspective,

01:23:03

I think that's what we have to keep in mind, is that there are numerous warnings and wake -up calls from the

01:23:10

Lord in Scripture, that even if there was no pandemic to spur us on, to motivate us, to stay faithful to God in the way of our hearts, we would still be responsible to be watchful and to live holy lives, in spite of the complacency and apostasy of the

01:23:31

Church in many places. Not every church, thank God there are a number of faithful churches still out there.

01:23:38

But I think, generally speaking, we see that in the generation that precedes the second coming of Christ, there will be a vast apostasy that will grip the

01:23:51

Church, and we see that that is the case right now. Well, thank you,

01:23:57

Johnny, and keep listening to Iron Trap and Zion Radio, and keep spreading the word about it in New York City, which is the number one area for coronavirus -related deaths and illnesses in the

01:24:11

United States. Chris, may I take a minute, since you touched on spreading the word about this program?

01:24:17

Yes. I'd like to let your listeners know, many of them may not realize it, how closely you and I work together in seeking to expand the listenership of Iron Trap and Zion program.

01:24:31

This program is a very unique program. It is very, very rare on television or radio or media in general to have such a high -quality program dealing with a wide variety of issues.

01:24:48

Many of them are apologetics issues, many are not, but the level of equipping that takes place on this show, and you know, the quality of the content consistently, program by program, and the quality of the guests that you have on in terms of their knowledge, their professionalism, their godliness, many of them, and the impact that your guests have had upon the church as authors, as speakers, teachers, pastors, and as professionals, is second to none.

01:25:24

And I know that my listeners don't need need me to say that, because they wouldn't be listening if they didn't come back because of these reasons to listen to the program.

01:25:37

But First Love Radio has Iron Sharpens Iron as the anchor of our radio station.

01:25:46

We're a 24 -hour radio station globally at firstloveradio .org.

01:25:52

Iron Sharpens Iron has its own website at ironsharpensironradio .com,

01:25:58

but you and I work together, and I so value and esteem the quality of this program.

01:26:10

So I would ask your loyal listeners, would you, if you are blessed by this program, invite others to listen.

01:26:20

Send them an email with the link to the program, or to the website rather, with comments on it.

01:26:26

We would really appreciate you doing that, especially at this time when the coronavirus is sweeping the world, and people have questions, and men's hearts are failing them for fear of the things that are coming on the earth.

01:26:40

The uncertainty, the struggles, the questions they have about God, and why is this happening?

01:26:46

Why is God doing this? This show, this show has answer after answer after answer.

01:26:55

Generally speaking, you will have, each show will address many things that people are wrestling with today concerning fear and anxiety and and paranoia concerning the coronavirus.

01:27:08

Would you take this time and use Iron Sharpens Iron as a tool, as an instrument by which you can evangelize unsaved people, where you can feed those church members who are unchurched right now, because most churches are closed down by law.

01:27:27

And this program, Iron Sharpens Iron, consistently will equip and will nourish listeners.

01:27:36

And so please, please take this opportunity to invite as many people as you can.

01:27:41

Go to your contact lists on your email, on Facebook, on texting, and make it your business while you're shut in, and there's not much to do, you're out of work, and just send out hundreds of invitations for people to tune in to Iron Sharpens Iron at this time.

01:27:59

And I add my amen to what you said, Chris, and it is difficult for people to listen to people asking for money, but I know your situation better than most, and if people knew that you are a staff of one, and that you are very, very dedicated to this program because you have very little or no help, and you really depend on your advertisers, but mostly listeners, to send in donations, so would you pray about what your part would be in giving to First Love Radio?

01:28:35

This is not the time to hoard. Hoarding is a sin, and I realize that many people are out of work, their income is down, and so many are living off of savings, but if you can give, would you pray about what your part would be in supporting

01:28:54

Iron Sharpens Iron? I would appreciate it. Thank you so much, Joe, I really do appreciate that very much, and if you want to pick up where you left off before the midway break on...

01:29:06

Yes, we were talking about the pandemic, and the fact that many people are listening, and their conscience is very raw and soft, and this is, you know,

01:29:22

God has brought so many of the people of the world to the doorstep of the

01:29:28

Church, and when they would not, under other circumstances, consider talking to a

01:29:35

Christian about God, or listening to radio programs such as Iron Sharpens Iron, and so added to that, that there are billions of people who are looking for answers, and they're looking for real answers, and you and I as Christians need to step up and take these opportunities to share the gospel with unsafe people.

01:30:04

If you've not shared much before in the past, what are you waiting for? Now is the time to do it, because people are looking to believers in the

01:30:13

Church for answers who would not normally do that under calm conditions. The Bible teaches that Christians are to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

01:30:29

We are to be in a place where if we see people in their struggles and their sins, we're to give them the counsel of the

01:30:38

Word of God. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

01:30:50

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And so those of you who know that there may be some people who have really struggled with sin, use this opportunity of the coronavirus when they're listening to share the gospel with them.

01:31:07

Don't judge them. You don't have to say, you see, you see, you're going through these difficulties now, and now the coronavirus has added to your misery because you're a sinner, or you've done this, you've done that.

01:31:20

No, no, don't approach it that way. Just go to them and share the gospel with them, and be sensitive to their situations, their personal situations.

01:31:30

As we read in James 5, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

01:31:44

And of course, Chris, there's the Great Commission. Go and make disciples of all the nations, Jesus said, baptizing them in the name of the

01:31:50

Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

01:31:56

So we're to go, and we're to take the gospel to the nations, and we are to teach them the

01:32:05

Word of God. And you know, the Church is a mission field, even more sometimes in the world, because sometimes there's more of the world than the

01:32:12

Church. And so begin with unsaved people in the Church. Give them a book or a tract.

01:32:18

Send them an article online. Invite them to tune in to Iron Sharpens Iron. Share the gospel.

01:32:25

And I would encourage your listeners, Chris, and this is another important point, don't take anything for granted.

01:32:34

You know, we go along with our daily routines, and we presume that things will keep on going the way they were.

01:32:42

We get in our comfort zones, and boom, something like this pandemic takes place.

01:32:49

And so we have to understand that God is going to shake us up in our prosperity, in our jobs, and He will take things away from us.

01:33:00

He'll take our jobs away from us, and sometimes it's because we presumed that things will just keep going the way they always have been going.

01:33:09

The checks will keep going in. My health will keep up and will be sustained so I can keep working on my job and keep the flow of income coming in.

01:33:18

And we settle into this mindset of taking things for granted, where we have this unspoken sense of invincibility, that nothing is going to change that's going to take my job away, that's going to diminish the value of my 401k or my retirement program or my stocks.

01:33:36

And God can, in mass, shake everyone up at the same time.

01:33:42

The stock market lost 20 percent, 25 percent of its value in one week.

01:33:49

3 .2 million people filed for unemployment last week alone.

01:33:55

God has done this in a massive, on a massive scale. He's shaking our grip from our income and He's calling us to trust in Him, to trust in Him.

01:34:10

Did we forget eventually we're all going to get sick and die anyway someday? And so we need to trust in the

01:34:20

Lord Jesus Christ, not in our government and the checks that the government's going to send out. Thank God that the

01:34:26

Congress voted today and the president signed the bill I noticed during the break. He signed the bill, the $2 trillion bill that will help us out.

01:34:35

And every good gift comes from God, but don't put your trust in that. Don't assume that that will continue to come in.

01:34:41

There's a thin veneer between life and death. And the Bible says, do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

01:34:51

Come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.

01:35:01

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

01:35:08

Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance, all such boasting is evil.

01:35:17

And Chris, it reminds me, and I don't know if I should touch upon this, but I'm going to anyway.

01:35:25

Think about the last three and a half years of this present political administration in America.

01:35:33

And as I've watched the rallies that President Trump would would lead, and I would watch him on the news and his staff, his cabinet, and yes, on the one hand

01:35:49

I'm thankful to God for the prosperity that has come into America, and how the unemployment rate before the pandemic was so low.

01:35:57

And to see our country return to work again in a way that we've never seen before, and to see the economic prosperity break all the records, the economic records of the past is wonderful.

01:36:10

But there's a warning here to all of our political leaders. The Bible gives a warning.

01:36:16

Not me, but the Bible. Don't boast about tomorrow. Don't boast in what you have now.

01:36:22

Don't boast about all of your policies that have caused all of this prosperity.

01:36:30

The Bible teaches clearly that it is God who blesses us in every way.

01:36:37

Every good gift comes from above, from the Father of lights. And so the policies that have brought about such wealth and prosperity and low unemployment are the result of the wisdom and the knowledge and the discipline that God gave the president and his cabinet and those who are his managers and so forth.

01:37:03

It is not the president or anyone else. It is God who has brought us to a place. And he has shown us in the

01:37:09

Old Testament when Israel would prosper in a similar way based in their society and at their time period.

01:37:18

And they took stock and they trusted in their policies or in their economic practices.

01:37:26

They trusted in their discipline and diligence to raise crops. And God took it all away.

01:37:33

He brought about a captivity, or he would bring about a plague that would destroy all the crops, or the locusts that would come and eat up all the crops on a massive scale.

01:37:44

And actually such locusts are taking place in certain African countries. Have you seen that recently in the news?

01:37:51

But the point I'm trying to make is, we need to pray for our politicians. And I voted for Trump and I embrace most of his policies and I agree with them.

01:38:02

But at the same time as Christians we need to pray for our political leaders. That God will keep them humble and dependent on God.

01:38:09

That God will save them if they don't know Christ. And we need to look to the

01:38:15

Lord. Our government, our politicians, our leaders, our pastors and churches need to return to the

01:38:22

Lord. We need to start prayer meetings again, which is almost obsolete in local churches now.

01:38:29

We as Christians need to return to the Lord Himself. And we have to pick up right where you left off there, because we're going to our final break.

01:38:39

If anybody wants to join us on the air with a question of your own, send it in immediately, because we're rapidly running out of time.

01:38:46

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. Don't go away,

01:38:51

God willing we're going to be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

01:39:04

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01:40:35

That's chrisarnson at gmail .com. The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life, bringing so many uncertainties.

01:40:49

When will it end? Why do disasters like this happen? How do we deal with anxiety, fear, and the like?

01:40:56

Well, join us each Friday on the program Iron Sharpens Iron with your host Chris Arnson and Pastor Joe Jackiewicz as they explore

01:41:05

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That's firstloveradio .org. Each Friday at 1 p .m.

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Friday's 1 p .m. Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern, to hear what the Bible has to say about pandemics and how we should respond.

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800 -656 -0231. We are now in our final segment of today's interview with Pastor Joe Jakowitz of Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California, founder of First Love Radio, First Love Missions, and First Love Publications, and today is a part of our weekly

01:49:39

Friday episode of Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio, where we are giving updates on the coronavirus with Joe Jakowitz, and today specifically we are discussing why did the coronavirus happen.

01:49:51

Joe, if you want to pick up where you left off. Yes, so we've mentioned several reasons why and talked about the statistics, and God willing, next

01:50:02

Friday we'll update everything in terms of what's going on with the virus around the world, and we'll continue to give positive and biblical encouragement and teaching that will strengthen us in our need to be faithful to God and to be used by God during this very, very great opportunity we have to share the gospel with unsaved people, and we need to make use of the skills

01:50:27

God has given us, the open doors that each Christian has in the lives of other people, and take a risk.

01:50:35

Step out in faith. Send an email, send a text, a link to a program.

01:50:41

Just to people that you may not think are open, you'd be surprised how many of them are receptive to hearing what you have to say now that they're listening and God has got their attention because of the pandemic.

01:50:54

But I wanted to mention something. There's also a message in all of this to the local church.

01:51:02

The Scripture says, therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith.

01:51:10

So if you see folks, members, fellow believers in your local church or elsewhere that are in need,

01:51:18

I think it's our responsibility to reach out to them and help them if we're able to.

01:51:24

And I'm not talking about if they're sick with the virus to come into contact with them. No, not at all.

01:51:30

But God says that He is not unjust to forget our work and labor of love which you have shown towards His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.

01:51:42

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

01:51:55

So we need to encourage each other as Christians. We need to stay in touch, reach out to folks who are shut -ins.

01:52:03

The elderly and weak folks are especially vulnerable and discouraged and can fall into despair.

01:52:11

There are ways we can strengthen the church. We can gather for phone or Skype prayer meetings.

01:52:19

Our own church does that. Last Wednesday we started a Skype prayer meeting.

01:52:26

You can organize them yourself. Like I said, you can call or write other believers.

01:52:32

You can have a prayer list sent through email to each other.

01:52:37

You can inform others of the needs of the body as well as they come up, but especially pray.

01:52:43

You need to intercede, intercede, intercede. Pray, pray, pray every day for the needs of your local church or other believers.

01:52:52

Give financially because the needs of the church continue. The needs of the pastor to be supported continues.

01:52:59

Even though the church is not meeting, it's important for you to find a way to send in your donations to your church.

01:53:06

And if you have extra, give to programs like Iron Sharpens Iron. Don't hoard. Don't hold on to that money.

01:53:14

It's all going to burn up. It's all going to go when you leave this world. Every possession you and I have and all the money we have in the bank is going to go to somebody else when we die.

01:53:25

We can't take it with us. By the way, our listeners can feel free to mail in toilet paper as well.

01:53:35

You can also mail Christian literature. If you have a P .O. box or you have a mailbox, you can put a tract and a letter and send it to somebody.

01:53:50

Another thing we can do is pray for revival. God says in 2nd

01:53:55

Chronicles 7, 13, and 14, when I shut up the heaven and there is no rain or command the locusts to devour the land or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then

01:54:14

I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Prayer is our top priority besides everything else at this moment.

01:54:25

We read in Isaiah 56, 7, even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.

01:54:34

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

01:54:43

And then when our listeners get a chance, I would encourage them to read Hebrews 10, 19 through 23,

01:54:50

Hebrews 10, 19 through 23, which talks about Jesus being our high priest and that we have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

01:55:01

With all of our needs, all of our necessities, all of our pain and difficulties during this time when the coronavirus is causing a lot of problems and a lot of health issues.

01:55:13

And Chris, before I finish, can I just mention a couple of things to your listeners about what's upcoming in the next week?

01:55:24

Sure. So we want to let you know that this

01:55:29

Sunday at 1 p .m. Pacific Time, 4 p .m. East Coast Time, we have our message we're going to be giving online on Facebook.

01:55:39

You can get to our Facebook page at our website ChristBibleChurch .org.

01:55:45

That's ChristBibleChurch .org. We'll also do a simulcast of our 1 o 'clock

01:55:51

Sermon Pacific Time on FirstLoveRadio .org. Many of you are listening to Chris's Iron Sharpens Iron program right now on First Love Radio.

01:56:01

Many of you are listening to it directly from his website, IronSharpensIronRadio .com.

01:56:07

So that's this Sunday at 1 o 'clock, and then next Wednesday we'll be hosting the

01:56:13

Bible Talk program, which also will be simulcast on FirstLoveRadio .org

01:56:19

and Facebook from our FirstLoveRadio .org

01:56:25

website, as well as ChristBibleChurch .org website. We would appreciate you inviting your friends to watch us on Facebook.

01:56:33

That's next Wednesday, 7 p .m. Pacific Time, and we will be taking questions during that hour from 7 to 8 p .m.

01:56:42

Pacific Time. Then, of course, God willing, next Friday we'll rejoin you, Chris, on this program. Yes, folks, and don't forget about Monday and Tuesday of next week, the 30th and 31st of March, we have

01:56:53

Jeff Thomas, the world -renowned Reformed Baptist author, preacher, and pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Everest with Wales, where he was pastor for half a century.

01:57:07

He's going to be addressing singing in the church on Monday and real evangelism on Tuesday.

01:57:14

Administrative law judge from New York City and ordained minister Dave Corson will be discussing on Wednesday, the 1st of April, Voluntary vs.

01:57:24

Mandatory, a guide to the limitations on public gatherings during pandemics.

01:57:31

And we have Kurt Daniel on Thursday, the 2nd of April, discussing his new book,

01:57:36

The History and Theology of Calvinism, a nearly 900 -page hardback. You don't want to miss that, especially since we have six copies we're giving away to the first six people who write in good questions.

01:57:49

And then, as Joe said, he will be revisiting us on Friday, the 3rd of for our weekly update on the coronavirus.

01:57:57

Joe, I would like you to, just in about a minute, summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners.

01:58:04

Well, I want our friends and brothers and sisters in Christ to remember the importance of not taking things for granted.

01:58:12

We live in a prosperous, affluent society, and God has weakened the grip of the nation and many of our brethren on our material possessions, on trusting in our jobs or the government, our safety nets.

01:58:28

He is really causing us to look to him and to seek him, and it would be a great time for us to experience personal revival, as well as the revival of our churches.

01:58:40

And it's so critical that each of us spend as much time in prayer as possible every day, interceding on behalf of our nation, on behalf of our local churches, our church leaders, our friends, our family members, for the salvation of souls and for the sanctification of the people of God.

01:58:59

Don't miss this opportunity that the coronavirus and the pandemic provide for us to be light and salt in the world, consistently walking with God and also making him known.

01:59:15

And the website for Christ Bible Church in Pleasanton, California is ChristBibleChurch .org,

01:59:21

ChristBibleChurch .org, and obviously don't forget about FirstLoveRadio .org, FirstLoveRadio .org.

01:59:26

Thank you so much, Pastor Joe, for being another excellent guest on this program. I want everybody who is listening to have a safe and happy and blessed weekend and God -glorifying

01:59:37

Lord's Day, and I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater