September 1, 2020 Show with Dr. Joe Morecraft on “Authentic Christianity: The Theology & Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism” (Part 2)

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September 2, 2020

September 1, 2020 Dr. JOE MORECRAFT, pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, GA, who will address: PART *2* of “AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY: The THEOLOGY & ETHICS of the WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM”

September 24, 2020 Show with Dr. Jeffrey C. Waddington on “A New Series on the Book of Romans” (Part 3)

00:04: Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown
00:10: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,
00:23: Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.
00:31: Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.
00:38: 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.
00:50: It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours and we hope to hear from you the listener with your own questions and now here's your host
00:59: Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon
01:09: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.
01:20: This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this first day of September 2020 and I'm thrilled to have back on the program a returning guest who
01:38: I just love to interview and in fact this is the second part of a new series we began a number of weeks ago.
01:46: His name is Dr. Joe Moorcraft. He is pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia and today is part two of our series on Authentic Christianity, the
01:58: Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism that also happens to be the title of a commentary series, a multi -volume commentary series by Dr.
02:11: Moorcraft that we will be discussing as well and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr.
02:18: Joseph C. Moorcraft III. Always a joy to be with you, Chris. Let me give our listeners our email address right now in the event that they would like to join us on the air with a question of their own.
02:34: Our email address is chrisarnzen at gmail dot com. chrisarnzen at gmail dot com.
02:40: Please give us your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence. If you live outside of the
02:47: USA, please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
02:52: Let's say you have just started to become very interested in the
03:00: Westminster Catechism or Reformed Theology in general and you're still in a church that is opposed to these teachings and you'd rather not draw attention to your identity.
03:11: Perhaps you're even a pastor going through that same circumstance. Well, I understand that for those and other reasons you would want to remain anonymous and we will obviously grant your request, but if it is just a general theological question, we would love to hear your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the
03:34: USA. I would also love to hear from people who are not Reformed. I don't want to just hear from the
03:42: Amen Choir, I would love to hear from people who might have challenging questions for Dr.
03:48: Moorcraft and myself and this way we can get some healthy iron sharpening iron interaction going on.
03:57: So don't ever hesitate to write in a question just because you might be adamantly opposed to what we are affirming on the show.
04:08: But before we go into the subject, Dr. Moorcraft, as I normally do for the sake of those who did not hear you before or they may have forgotten this information if they did, tell us about Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia.
04:24: Heritage Presbyterian Church we planted about four years ago and it is a small congregation of very faithful people.
04:33: By the grace of God, our influence of our church far exceeds our numbers.
04:40: And we are a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hanover Presbytery, and we have about 60 members and we advertise on all of our websites,
04:54: Iron Sharpens Iron, every opportunity we get. Oh, I really love hearing that, I wish more people did that.
05:01: Yeah. I am actually often surprised and saddened by the number of regular guests
05:08: I have had on here that don't do that. Yeah. Well, if anybody wants more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia, especially if you know you are going to be visiting there or you already live in that area or you have family, friends, and loved ones who live in that area and they do not have a good, solid biblical church home, you can go to HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com.
05:33: That's easy enough. HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com to get all the information that you need.
05:39: Now, the primary reason you and I began a number of weeks ago this new series on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Authentic Christianity, the
05:50: Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism, was because you wrote a commentary, a multi -volume commentary that has actually grown over the years, and if you could please tell our listeners about this commentary.
06:07: It is an eight -volume commentary, and very user -friendly.
06:15: Each book has a very well -defined, accessible table of contents that tells you where everything is.
06:25: And then the last volume, Volume 8, is several indices.
06:32: If you want to look up scripture passages, historical events, theological subjects, that makes the whole set very, very usable.
06:43: I preached the basis for these books in the late 20th and early 21st century, and it represents some 400 sermons.
06:57: They're not ivory tower scholarly lectures. They're sermon notes, transcripts from sermons that I preached to a normal congregation.
07:10: So it has a trust, fire to it, practicality to it, faithfulness to the word of God to it, and it is not just for preachers.
07:27: It's for mothers, fathers, older young people.
07:37: I've been blessed by it. This book, The Larger Catechism, written in the 1640s, is one of the greatest human documents ever written.
07:48: It is biblical Christianity in its best human expression, and it deals with all kinds of revealed truths from predestination and creation to the second coming and everything in between.
08:08: The focus is on Christ, and it also has a,
08:14: The Larger Catechism has the best book on Christian ethics that I know of in the serif.
08:21: Many pages expounding the Ten Commandments. It goes through every commandment and says what does this commandment forbid, what does it command, and then gives you several answers to those and roots them all in the
08:38: Bible. Every week, the Westminster fathers, 120 of them who met and wrote this, every week they took a vow for years saying that they promised that they would not support, teach, or recommend anything that was not based upon the word of God.
09:02: It's not a perfect book, but it is a book that is, if you and your family want to mature in the
09:12: Christian faith, and learn what the Bible says about a whole host of subjects, and develop a worldview that is a unified way of looking at the world, and analyzing what's going on in the world, and if you want to learn how to live the
09:28: Christian life, it's all there in the Westminster Larger Catechism. And if I were to say, and the set of books, as you said, you can get at westminstercommentaries .com.
09:46: All of the sermons that underlie these books you can get on sermonaudio .com,
09:54: so if you want to listen to them, the sermons on sermonaudio .com, if you want to read them, you can get the books from westminstercommentary .com.
10:07: The foundational, I can't say enough about it. There is a catechism, for those who come out of non -presbyterian, non -Reformed
10:19: Baptist backgrounds, a catechism is a specific way of educating children and yourselves in Bible truth.
10:29: It is by means of questions and answers. So the catechism asks questions like, how did
10:40: God create the world, what part do angels play in the plan of God, what is the person of the
10:49: Lord Jesus Christ, etc., etc., etc. It asks a question and then it gives a very distinctive answer.
10:59: It answers that have hundreds, if not thousands, of scriptural footnotes that back up every phrase.
11:12: And it is a useful book, I read it and re -read it many times in my life.
11:19: And the one answer that tells you the nature and the tone of the larger catechism is this answer.
11:34: The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are our only rule of faith and practice.
11:46: So these Westminster fathers did not put what they wrote on par with the scripture.
11:52: These were to help you understand the scriptures, which is the supreme authority for Christians.
11:59: And notice the answer. It says the scriptures of the
12:04: Old Testament and the New Testament are our only rule of faith and practice.
12:12: So it is the whole Bible, not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament from Genesis to Revelation, the whole
12:20: Bible is our only rule, not scripture and reason, not scripture and tradition, not scripture and the traditions of man, but the whole
12:33: Bible is our one and only rule that governs everything we believe about God and life and ourselves and governs every inch of life on this planet and every aspect of Christian behavior and the
12:52: Christian life. So when somebody hears about the Westminster larger catechism, they shouldn't think about some abstract intellectual theology book that's for seminaries.
13:06: They should think of something that throughout the centuries has been used not only by preachers, not only by seminary students, but by families to help the families understand the full -orbed and distinctive teaching of the
13:25: Word of God. Great. Well, just remember, again, that website is westminstercommentary .com.
13:35: I think that the first time you announced it, you misspoke by accident and said
13:41: Westminster Commentaries, but it's Westminster Commentaries Singular, westminstercommentary .com.
13:49: Correct. I just want to read an endorsement, another endorsement.
13:55: And I don't think I read this one the last time, but it is by another one of my favorite guests to interview, who also wrote a wonderful commendation for Iron Trump and Zion Radio, George Grant, who is pastor of Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee.
14:12: And he says of this commentary series by Dr. Moorcraft, informed by a lifetime of pastoral insight, theological precision, confessional faithfulness, and historical incisiveness,
14:27: Joe Moorcraft's magnum opus is an invaluable treasure. This is a vital source every
14:33: Reformed pastor, Sunday school teacher, and Bible study leader will want to have in their library.
14:40: That's some endorsement from someone the likes of George Grant. It sure is.
14:48: And we actually do have a listener right now who has a question for you.
14:55: And he says, oh by the way, this is John in Bangor, Maine, who says, you just said moments ago that the
15:03: Bible is our only rule of faith for the church. Wouldn't that more accurately be said, the only infallible rule of faith for the church, because we do have rules of faith, such as our own elders and so on, but they are not infallible as the scriptures are, and the scriptures are our ultimate and supreme guide above all others.
15:28: That is a very important point, and the Westminster Larger Catechism does talk about that in other places.
15:34: So that's not the only question, that's just pointing out the only rule, and then it goes on to say the nature and character of that rule is it is incapable of error.
15:45: That the Bible in both Testaments is divinely authoritative in everything about which it speaks, and it speaks about everything.
15:55: That whenever the Bible asserts anything to be true, it is true, because it is the word of God.
16:03: Whenever the Bible says anything happens, it did happen, whether it's found in archaeology or whether anybody agrees with it or not, because it is the word of God, and the
16:17: Westminster Larger Catechism and Confession bring that out over and over and over. It's infallible, it's inherent, it's all sufficient, and it applies to every area of life.
16:35: For instance, if the Bible says that Noah's flood covered the whole earth and all the mountains, it did, whether anybody else believes it or not.
16:48: If the Bible says that God suddenly out of nothing created the world with the appearance of age 6 ,000 years ago, it doesn't matter who disagrees with it, that is truth.
17:07: And a lot of times when I'm talking to people, I define truth as God's opinion of a thing.
17:14: My opinion of something is not always true, but God's opinion of something is true.
17:21: God's opinion of how the world was created, God's opinion of you, God's opinion of Christ, that is the truth.
17:28: And the Bible is a book of God's opinions on everything we need to know anything about.
17:35: One of the most, to me, amazing statements in the Bible on this subject is by Paul in 1
17:44: Corinthians, where he says that in so many words, the
17:50: Bible is spirit -produced thoughts in spirit -produced words.
17:59: That is that the Holy Spirit, what the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the
18:06: New Testament wrote, is information and ideas that came directly from the very mind of God by the
18:15: Holy Spirit. And secondly, the words that these prophets and apostles used to express these divine thoughts, the words themselves originated with God by means of the
18:32: Holy Spirit. So the Bible is not only the word of God, the Bible is the words of God.
18:39: God didn't show these men what to write and then left it up to themselves to express themselves.
18:45: No, this we believe in propositional revelation. We believe the revelation has content to it.
18:55: And that content originated with God and the propositions in the Bible and the stories in the
19:01: Bible used to express that content also originated with God.
19:09: There is a move in 20th century, 21st century Christianity called
19:15: Barthianism or Neo -Orthodoxy or various other things that tries to drive a wedge between the word of God and the
19:26: Bible. And so they do it in a variety of ways and if you're not careful you can be sucked in by them because they are deceitful in the way they express things.
19:37: It sounds so right until you realize it's not. Like Spurgeon said, discernment is not the ability to distinguish right from wrong, it's the ability to distinguish right from almost right.
19:52: And so many of these liberal theologians will talk about the
19:58: Bible as a witness to the word of God. That the word of God is something that hits you like a lightning bolt.
20:06: About all you can say is you've been struck by the lightning bolt. It has no content to it and the
20:12: Bible is simply the attempts on the part of these men to describe what that lightning bolt meant to them.
20:22: And if that's what the Bible is, it is of nothing but human authority. My son was in college and his
20:30: Bible professor put a Bible on the floor and then jumped up and down on it. And somebody in his class rebuked the professor and said,
20:39: Sir how dare you jump up and down on the word of God. And he said, oh I would never jump up and down on the word of God.
20:47: But he was jumping up and down on the Bible. So the point is that in much of modern theology they sound so good but you've got to listen carefully.
21:00: Because they do distinguish between the revelation of God and the
21:08: Bible as that verbal, propositional, plenary revelation of God.
21:15: Like one old preacher said, the Bible is the word of God from Genesis to the maps. From lid to lid.
21:23: And that doesn't mean that the men that wrote the Bible were a bunch of automatons, robots.
21:30: And all of a sudden when God would inspire them by their spirit, their hand would start moving uncontrollably and write down the
21:38: Bible. That's not the way it happened. The way it happened is God who is sovereign and almighty chose men to write the
21:47: Bible, the 66 books of the Bible. And he used their personalities, their language, their background, their culture.
21:58: He used them to write down exactly what he wanted man to know.
22:06: Nothing more and nothing less. So I'm glad the brother from Maine asked the question because that is a great emphasis in the
22:18: Westminster Catechism and in the history of the Reformed faith. If somebody today claims to be
22:26: Reformed and doesn't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, he's deceiving himself and his hearers.
22:33: You see, there's something worse than a wolf. If you see a wolf coming towards you, you can run, you can shoot him, you can do whatever it needs to be done.
22:45: What's more dangerous than a wolf is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Where he looks like a sheep, smells like a sheep, talks like a sheep.
22:54: But he's really a wolf. And so we not only see that now in liberals, but we're seeing it more and more in professed evangelicals.
23:05: People who are being swept away by the new trends and the new heresies, the new false doctrines.
23:14: And they know they can't come right out and say these things, so they wrap them up in slick, biblical -sounding words.
23:23: So the unsuspecting will be influenced by them.
23:31: So it's not enough just to say the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God, the only rule of faith and practice.
23:39: And if your church or mine has any rules for elders or the church not based upon the
23:44: Word of God, they shouldn't have them. In our church, and in many churches and Reformed churches, the elders cannot make any rules not based upon the
23:57: Word of God. The deacons can't make any rules not based upon the Word of God. There is nothing a church can do or should do or may do except what is commanded in Scripture in God's, in the church of Christ, Christ's Word is law.
24:15: And so that's why the Confession of Faith says only rule of faith and practice.
24:21: And it means that all the subsidiary rules and regulations that a church may have, requirements for church membership, all these things, all of those things have to be based on the only rule of faith and practice, which is the
24:42: Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now I emphasize the Old Testament because there is an abysmal ignorance among evangelicals today of the
24:54: Old Testament. They've been influenced by this view that says, well the
25:00: Old Testament was for another age and it was for the Jews and it's not for Christians, it's not for the church.
25:06: And as a result, the evangelical church by and large can't even understand the
25:14: New Testament because you can't understand the New Testament without the Old Testament and vice versa. The definitions of the words in the
25:22: New Testament are taken right from the Old Testament. I may have said this before, but I'll give you one example.
25:30: The first verse of John, the Gospel of John says, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the
25:36: Word was God. And John wrote in Greek, but he also was a
25:44: Hebrew and he also knew Hebrew and had been marinating in the
25:50: Old Testament. And so rather than being influenced by the
25:56: Hellenism of his age, that is the Greek philosophy of his age, his
26:01: Greek was influenced by the Old Testament. One reformed man who should have known better translated the first verse of John, as in the beginning was logic.
26:12: And logic was with God and logic was God. Well, that's the word logos, where we get the word word.
26:20: That's what it did mean to the Hellenistic Greeks, but that's not what it did in the Old Testament. The Word of God in the
26:27: Old Testament was the means by which God revealed what was on his mind and in his heart. And that was supremely the
26:34: Lord Jesus Christ and secondarily through the prophets and the apostles. So that verse is not about logic, it's about Christ, the
26:44: Son of God. And so if we, if we neglect, there's one preacher in Atlanta that's got three churches and there's tens of thousands of people in all of them.
26:57: And he's made a big point of this, that a Christian today, if we're going to reach people in the modern world, we've got to unhitch ourselves from the
27:06: Old Testament. I don't think there's anything wrong with identifying publicly who that is, since he said these things publicly.
27:13: That's Andy Stanley you're referring to. Yeah, that is true. That is exactly correct.
27:19: And when we unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament, we're unhitching ourselves from the way
27:26: Jesus preached. And we're really unhitching ourselves from the New Testament because you cannot understand the
27:34: New Testament without the Old Testament and vice versa. The scriptures of the
27:40: Old Testament and the New Testament are our only rule of faith and practice.
27:46: In fact, let's pick up where you left off there when we come back from our first break. We're going to our first break and if anybody would like to join us on the air, our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com,
27:59: C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.
28:07: If you live outside the USA, please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
28:13: And just to give you a heads up, Joe, when we come back, after you finish your thought, that is, when we come back from the break,
28:20: I'd like you to go through the main contents, if you could list the main contents of each of the eight volumes of your commentary series.
28:33: And this will also, I think, give us some good guidance for topics to discuss as we proceed into this series on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio about the
28:43: Westminster Larger Catechism. Is that all right with you? Yes, sir. Okay, don't go away.
28:50: We'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors with more of Dr. Joe Moorcraft and our discussion on the
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36:28: Good to be back. Chris, I always enjoy our time here. I have to tell you, you're one of the better interviewers out there and I've been doing this for 30, more than 30 years.
36:38: Wow, that's some compliment. How much do I owe you for that? You don't have to owe me anything.
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38:02: 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.
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39:57: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York and the
40:04: NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep
40:10: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?
40:16: Consider restocking your pews with the NASB and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
40:25: Go to nasbible .com that's nasbible .com to place your order.
40:32: Welcome back, this is Chris Arnzen if you just tuned in to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio our guest today for the full two hours with about 90 minutes to go is
40:42: Dr. Joseph C. Moorcraft III and not only is he the pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia he's also an author of a number of books including an eight volume series on a commentary on the
40:59: Westminster Larger Catechism it's titled Authentic Christianity an Exposition of the
41:05: Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism which you can find at westminstercommentary .com
41:12: westminstercommentary .com if you have more interest in investigating and perhaps even purchasing this eight volume set a wise investment for anyone who is a serious student of the
41:26: Scriptures especially if you are placed in a role of responsibility to have teaching, authority, and guidance over any other
41:35: Christian such as not only a pastor, an elder, a deacon but a Sunday School teacher somebody who leads
41:41: Bible studies and even if you want to be a better equipped teacher in your own household guiding your wife and children in the truth of the
41:54: Scriptures and I even as a Reformed Baptist can say that I thank God for the
42:00: Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms because the Reformed Baptists have based our confessions and catechisms largely on the
42:09: Westminster and I think that the contributors to the 1689
42:16: London Baptist Confession of Faith certainly thank God for the Westminster Divines as well if you have any questions of your own for Dr.
42:23: Moorcraft our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com chrisarnson at gmail .com and please remember to give us your first name, city and state and country of residence if you live outside the
42:34: USA and only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal or private matter and before the break
42:40: Dr. Moorcraft you had mentioned the really horrible teaching of Andy Standley that the church needs to unhitch itself from the
42:53: Old Testament and you were just basically talking about the danger of either being ignorant or ignoring the significance of the
43:01: Old Testament in the 21st century as the Church of Christ yes sir,
43:09: I told my people the other day in a sermon that there's two pages in their Bibles that were not inspired by the
43:18: Holy Spirit and one of those pages says the Old Testament and the other says the
43:25: New Testament in other words when the
43:30: Hebrew Bible was put together they didn't entitle the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament and when the
43:37: New Testament Scriptures were put together they didn't call it the New Testament in fact I think because people have misunderstood and thought there's a wedge to be driven between the two the
43:50: Old Testament was written in Hebrew the New Testament was written in Greek we have a young woman that visits our church every now and then and she has this big thick
43:59: Bible she brings and the Old Testament's in Hebrew the New Testament's in Greek very intimidating but if we didn't call them
44:08: Old Testament and New Testament people wouldn't know what to call them they'd just think the Bible was one whole book written in two languages and it is it's a unified book that the whole
44:20: Bible has one message and that is Christ and his covenant and his kingdom every book of the
44:28: Bible Old and New Testament in some way or another explains Christ and his covenant and his kingdom and so when we study whether it's
44:37: Nahum or whether it's Jude we should ask ourselves what is this book going to teach me about Christ and his covenant and his kingdom that's the focal point but today we have all of these views that say the
44:54: Old Testament God is different from the New Testament God the Old Testament God is a
44:59: God of vengeance the New Testament God is a God of love the Old Testament taught salvation by law the
45:06: New Testament teaches salvation by grace and on and on and on and I'd like to point out that the verse vengeance is mine
45:14: I will repay says the Lord is not only found in the Old Testament it's found in the New Testament in fact if anybody out there believes that the
45:25: Old Testament taught salvation by works then we will never see any of the prophets and patriarchs of the
45:34: Old Covenant in heaven because nobody can do that that is a good point that's exactly correct in fact there are three books in the
45:43: New Testament that deal with justification by faith in Christ alone and they all quote the
45:52: Old Testament text that we're declared righteous by faith and not by works in Romans 3 and 4 where Paul is expounding justification by grace through faith alone he gives two great examples of believers in Jesus David and Abraham both of them lived in the
46:18: Old Testament it's not just on one hand the dispensationalists that have confused the church about being two kinds of salvation but I went to a liberal seminary and the liberals believed that too and they're both dead wrong and one of the reasons we're in the position we're in today is because of that wedge that people want to drive between the
46:44: Old and New Testament people say you know you see signs out in front of churches that says this is a
46:50: New Testament church my church is not and a church that's going to be faithful to Jesus Christ is not a
46:56: New Testament church it's a Bible church it believes the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice and that's one of the most important things we can learn is that the whole
47:13: Bible is a revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how
47:18: God wants us to live as individuals, as families as churches, as nations remember what
47:26: I said a while ago the Bible is divinely authoritative in everything about which it speaks and it speaks about everything it is a book that tells us how to keep from going to hell when we die, praise the
47:40: Lord for that but it is also a manual for understanding every area of life and in so far as we think and evaluate and plan and analyze based upon reason or experience rather than the word of God we're thinking like humanists a humanist is somebody who believes that he has the ability to distinguish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, reality from illusion and he does not need
48:14: God to help him and so it's amazing how Christians today on Sunday morning they may largely think like Christians but Monday through Saturday they think like every other humanist, it doesn't even occur to them to ask the question what does the
48:29: Bible have to say about politics, what does the Bible have to say about funerals what does the
48:35: Bible have to say about raising children and on and on and on and so the inerrancy of Scripture without the sufficiency of Scripture is not that relevant to say that the
48:49: Bible is incapable of error and then to limit its authority to either what goes on in our spirit and not to the rest of the world or limited to individuals is to make an inerrant
49:07: Bible irrelevant to the issues of life and that's the great thing I like about the larger catechism.
49:14: And that's distinguished from the shorter catechism because the shorter catechism is mainly intended to catechize or teach children although it is an excellent instructional tool for adults as well.
49:32: Yes sir and that's the reason it was originally written is to help parents teach their children to help people who may not understand the faith to have the basic ingredients of Christianity and there was a history book written by a man that was not a known for his
49:56: Calvinism who said that in the 17th century
50:05: Scottish children and Scottish people had some of the best minds in the world.
50:12: They were capable from young age of handling and critiquing various ideologies and philosophies that were current in that day.
50:24: Now that's an amazing statement saying that Scotland was in many ways a poor nation but then the author says this why is that so?
50:36: Why is it that children in Scotland from their youngest age were able to analyze and critique basic philosophical trends and world views and he said it is because their parents taught them to memorize and understand the shorter catechism.
50:55: They were taught to think they were taught to think from a biblical perspective they were taught to analyze from a biblical perspective when their parents taught to ask questions and had to memorize the shorter catechism.
51:12: Years ago we founded a school of first grade through twelfth grade and you couldn't graduate from that school unless you memorized the shorter catechism.
51:24: And the shorter catechism and the larger catechism and the Westminster Confession of Faith are not denominational doctrines.
51:33: That is as you pointed out they're not limited to a particular denomination.
51:41: The people who wrote it were made up of a variety of theological commitments but they all were committed to the
51:48: Reformed Faith and so these are things the shorter catechism is something that every believing
51:56: Christian family can benefit from no matter what, who they are.
52:02: And so then the larger catechism was written to take families and preachers more deeply and more maturely into the
52:11: Christian faith. It's interesting I think Chris that whereas the shorter catechism was originally written for children now it's taught in some seminaries.
52:23: And that shows you how far we've fallen and it's over the head of some of the seminary students.
52:30: So the Westminster Confession of Faith is thirty -three chapters of one to six paragraphs each expounding the heart of the
52:43: Christian faith. Not just expounding but stating as a confession of faith of those who believe the
52:50: Bible. In fact we've got to go to our midway break already believe it or not. And when we return
52:55: I will have you begin to list the major themes covered in each of the eight volumes of your commentary series.
53:04: That would be great. And if anybody would like to join us please send in a question to chrisarnson at gmail .com
53:13: This is our longer than normal break folks so please be patient with us because Grace Life Radio 90 .1
53:20: FM in Lake City, Florida requires of us a longer break in the middle of our show because they need to localize
53:27: Iron Shepherd's Iron Radio to Lake City, Florida by the requirements of the FCC. They air this program in a pre -recorded fashion twice daily.
53:36: Once in morning drive 8 to 10 a .m. and once in the evening 8 to 10 p .m. And they need to air public service announcements and other kinds of announcements that localize this show to Lake City, Florida while we air our globally heard commercials.
53:52: So please use this time wisely and write down as much of the information for as many of our advertisers as you can so you can more frequently and successfully patronize them which will further ensure they will remain our advertisers when they see that listeners are actually responding to them and of course that will subsequently result
54:12: God willing, in us remaining on the air for a longer future because we absolutely depend upon our advertisers to exist.
54:21: So please write down the information to our advertisers, respond to our advertisers and also write down questions for Dr.
54:27: Joe Moorcraft and send them to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com ChrisArnzen at gmail .com
54:33: Don't go away, we'll be back after these messages from our sponsors with more of Dr. Joseph C.
54:38: Moorcraft III Iron Sharpens Iron Radio depends upon the financial support of fine
54:47: Christian organizations to remain on the air, like the Historical Bible Society The Historical Bible Society maintains a collection of Christian books, manuscripts and Bibles of historical significance spanning nearly a thousand years
55:01: The mission of HBS is the preservation and public display of ancient Scripture dissemination of Scripture to provide tools equipping believers and Christian apologetics with evidence for the
55:13: Bible's reliability and to introduce Reformation literature and Christian art to a broader audience
55:19: Since 2004 HBS has toured schools and churches throughout the northeast
55:25: United States, reaching thousands of believers and non -believers alike, who are hungry for knowledge of the
55:31: Bible. HBS's founder, Daniel P. Buttafuoco, attorney at law, is committed to sharing this collection, along with an inspirational historical message that will captivate you and your church
55:42: Come journey through their website HistoricalBibleSociety .org
55:47: HistoricalBibleSociety .org The collection includes a complete 11th century Bible, an actual page of the
55:53: Gutenberg Bible from 1455 the first book ever printed the Geneva Bible the 1611
56:00: King James Bible and much much more HistoricalBibleSociety .org
56:05: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
56:14: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
56:20: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
56:27: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
57:00: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
57:12: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
57:28: HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org HistoricalBibleSociety .org
57:33: HistoricalBibleSociety .org
58:03: I believe you'll also find world to be an invaluable resource to better understand critical topics with a depth
58:10: That's simply not found in other media outlets armed with this coverage world can help you to be a voice of wisdom
58:16: In your family and your community this trial includes bi -weekly issues of world magazine on scene reporting from world radio
58:24: And the fully shareable content of world digital. There's no obligation and no credit card required
58:31: Visit get world now dot -com today Also, check out world news groups podcast the world and everything in it at w n g dot org
58:42: Forward -slash podcast that's w for world n for news g for group dot org forward -slash podcast
58:59: You 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
59:08: Some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church Now located at their new beautiful facilities in Coram, Long Island, New York I've had the privilege of opening
59:23: 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
59:30: New York debates I'm not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught
59:38: Discipled and edified by the Holy Scriptures and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ I also want to congratulate
59:47: Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram for the recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder pastor for Christopher McDowell for more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church go to Hope Reformed Li .net
59:59: that's Hope Reformed Li .net or call six three one six nine six five seven one one
01:00:06: That's six three one six nine six five seven one one 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
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01:01:34: Earl Avenue in Linbrook, Long Island is teaching God's timeless truths in the 21st century
01:01:39: Our church is far more than a Sunday worship service It's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant
01:01:46: It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing.
01:01:54: We're a diverse family of all ages Enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ in fellowship play and together
01:02:00: Hi I'm Pastor Bob Walderman and I invite you to come and join us here at Linbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church
01:02:06: Can be. Call Linbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402 That's 516 -599 -9402 or visit linbrookbaptist .org.
01:02:16: That's linbrookbaptist .org Chris Sorensen host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio here.
01:02:26: I want to tell you about a man I have personally known for many years. His name is Dan Buttafuoco Dan is a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer, but not the type that typically comes to mind
01:02:38: Dan cares about people and is a theologian himself Recently, he wrote a book titled consider the evidence for the
01:02:46: Bible Ravi Zacharias wrote the foreword Dan also has a master's degree in theology
01:02:51: Dan handles serious injury and medical malpractice cases in all 50 states
01:02:56: He represents many Christians in serious injury matters all over the country Dan is an exceptional trial lawyer
01:03:04: He wrote the test for the National Board of Trial Advocacy and currently his firm has over 100 cases
01:03:11: That have settled for 1 million dollars or more and in approximately 10 different states
01:03:17: 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
01:03:28: Law Journal If you have a serious personal injury or medical malpractice claim in any state,
01:03:34: I recommend that you call Dan Consultations are free. There is no fee unless you win
01:03:41: Dan Buttafuoco's number is 1 -800 -669 -487 -8 1 -800 -669 -487 -8
01:03:49: Or email me for Dan's contact information at chrisarnson at gmail .com
01:03:55: That's chrisarnson at gmail .com Every day at thousands of community centers, high schools, middle schools, juvenile institutions, coffee shops, and local hangouts,
01:04:16: Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need Jesus We are rural and urban and we are always about the message of Jesus Our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on Long Island, New York By engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ Long Island Youth for Christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959
01:04:38: We have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement
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01:04:51: Volunteer, donate, pray, or all of the above. For details call Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333
01:05:01: That's 631 -385 -8333 Or visit liyfc .org
01:05:10: That's liyfc .org As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations
01:05:35: A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey Pastored by Alan Dunn Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's
01:05:47: God's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshipped and how he shall be represented in the world
01:05:53: They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship
01:05:59: God in spirit and truth Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a
01:06:04: God -centered focus Reading, preaching, and hearing the word of God Singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
01:06:11: Baptism and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship Performed with faith, joy, and sobriety
01:06:19: Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace
01:06:28: .com That's gcbcnj .squarespace .com
01:06:35: Or call them at 908 -996 -7654 That's 908 -996 -7654
01:06:44: Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here
01:07:03: If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough, you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity
01:07:13: And besides that, they feel so good I'm so delighted I discovered Post -Tenebrous
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01:07:42: Like the turquoise goat skin tanned in Italy used for my Nessie Allen 28th edition With a navy blue goat skin inside liner
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01:08:21: That's PTLBibleRebinding .com When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the
01:08:36: New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the
01:08:44: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the
01:08:49: NASB I'm Dr. Joe Moorcraft, pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia And the
01:08:57: NASB is my Bible of choice I'm Anthony Uvino, founder of TheReformRookie .com
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01:09:21: Historical Bible Society And the NASB is my Bible of choice I'm Pastor Josh Miller of Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania And the
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01:09:40: NASB is my Bible of choice I'm Pastor Jake Korn of Switzerland Community Church in Switzerland, Florida And the
01:09:50: NASB is my Bible of choice Here's a great way for your church to help keep
01:09:55: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?
01:10:02: Consider restocking your pews with the NASB And tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Go to nasbible .com,
01:10:13: that's nasbible .com to place your order Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said
01:10:27: Give yourself unto reading The man who never reads will never be read
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01:11:13: That's solid -ground -books .com And see what priceless literary gems from the past to present
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01:11:41: For back -to -school, for bereavement gifts For those of you who have friends and loved ones who have lost someone precious to them
01:11:51: We could go on and on and on with reasons why you purchase gifts Well, please always make your first stop at solid -ground -books .com
01:12:01: For the finest in Christian literature from the past and present And please, always keep in mind
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01:13:40: Before I return to Dr. Joe Moorcraft And our continuing series on the
01:13:47: Westminster Larger Catechism For which he wrote an eight -volume commentary series
01:13:52: I just have some important announcements to make First of all, this Thursday My very dear friend,
01:14:00: Pastor Rich Jensen Of Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island, New York Will be our guest here on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio He is going to be discussing the vital importance of inter -church relationships
01:14:13: He is not talking about liberal humanism Which is abhorrent and heretical
01:14:19: He is talking about like -minded churches Who may not believe in everything identically
01:14:26: But who believe in enough in common That they should be working together and learning from each other
01:14:33: And helping each other as much as they can Especially during a time like the pandemic that is currently going on So we will be discussing that this
01:14:43: Thursday, God willing Friday I have a first time ever guest On Iron Sharpens Iron Radio I'm thrilled that I just got an email recently
01:14:54: From the assistant to Dr. Jason Lyle Dr.
01:14:59: Lyle, if you don't know who he is He is a brilliant young earth creationist
01:15:06: He is known for his brilliance in the area of astronomy
01:15:11: And many other fields of science Coming from a young earth Bible position
01:15:18: And I just cannot wait to have him on this program For the very first time ever On Iron Sharpens Iron Radio And please, tell your family, friends and loved ones
01:15:31: If any of you or them have a fascination and love for science
01:15:39: And especially, well not exclusively But especially if they are young earth creationists
01:15:45: Have them tune in this Friday For a discussion with Dr. Jason Lyle I'm sure that you will not be disappointed
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01:18:42: Please help us to exist By going to IronSharpensIronRadio .com Click support Then click, click to donate now
01:18:48: Also, if you are not a member Of a local Bible believing church I have lists of Biblically faithful churches
01:18:54: All over the planet Earth And I have helped many people In all parts of the world Find churches near where they live
01:19:00: That are Biblically faithful And you may be among them If you cannot find a church
01:19:06: Send me an email to ChrisArnson at gmail .com And put I need a church In the subject line Even if you are just going
01:19:11: On vacation somewhere You need a church to visit Or you have family, friends And loved ones Who do not have churches
01:19:17: Or they are not aware of churches That are right near them perhaps Anywhere in the world Send me an email to ChrisArnson at gmail .com
01:19:24: And put I need a church In the subject line That is also the email address To send in a question To Dr. Joseph C.
01:19:29: Moorcraft III Pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church In Cumming, Georgia And author
01:19:36: And also a Bible commentator Who has written an 8 volume Commentary On the
01:19:43: Westminster Larger Catechism Titled Authentic Christianity An exposition of the theology and ethics
01:19:49: Of the Westminster Larger Catechism Which can be found at Westminstercommentary .com
01:19:56: Westminstercommentary .com Send in your questions to Dr. Moorcraft At ChrisArnson at gmail .com ChrisArnson at gmail .com
01:20:02: And I will squeeze in a question Before I have you list
01:20:08: The themes of the 8 volumes Just so we can make sure
01:20:13: We get another listener question Under our belt We have an anonymous listener
01:20:19: Who says I am growing to agree with much Of Reformed Theology And much of what you teach
01:20:27: Specifically, Dr. Moorcraft Through hearing your guest appearances On Iron Trip and Zion Radio And my church is not in agreement
01:20:36: With you or Reformed Theology in general And some of the accusations have been
01:20:41: That those who believe In the perpetuity Of the necessity of the law
01:20:48: Are really modern day Judaizers They are saying that if we need the law
01:20:55: And we need to teach repentance And good deeds As a result of a faith
01:21:01: That truly justifies We are just as guilty As adding works to salvation
01:21:06: As those in Galatia That the Apostle Paul condemned As being false
01:21:12: Christians With no gospel at all How do you respond to that criticism? Well, I hear it a lot
01:21:18: And I hear it from some people That say it ignorantly Because that's what their pastor told them
01:21:25: But then a lot of pastors If they've had any study at all In the history of theology
01:21:31: Know better They know that there has been No greater
01:21:38: Defendant Of salvation by faith alone Than the Calvinists For 500 years
01:21:46: And By salvation by grace Now the one thing we've emphasized
01:21:54: That these pastors Who criticize us unjustly For being legalists and Judaizers The one thing we've emphasized
01:22:02: Is that they are the ones Who have departed From the historic faith
01:22:10: They're the ones That have Left the faith of their fathers
01:22:17: And we continue to teach The Bible and the historic faith
01:22:23: Of Protestant Christianity We hate legalism I have all kinds of sermons
01:22:30: Against Judaizers Against legalists And anybody else who says that Justification is by faith
01:22:37: And anything else That we must trust in Christ alone
01:22:42: So not trust in Christ and the church Not trust in Christ or baptism Not trust in Christ or tradition
01:22:50: Not trust in Christ or works But we're justified by faith alone
01:22:56: There was a great theologian New England theologian In the 1800's Named William G .T.
01:23:02: Shedd And he said That when it comes to justification By faith
01:23:08: That is forgiveness of sins And adoption into God's family Good works Are good for nothing
01:23:15: Because good works Don't bleed And without the shedding of blood
01:23:21: There is no forgiveness of sins What a great line to remember
01:23:27: Isn't that a great line? And that is the stand Of the historic reformed faith
01:23:33: That's just not my opinion That's the opinion of those Who are representative
01:23:38: Of the reformed faith Throughout history Now we are not antinomians
01:23:44: Like these people are Who don't have any role For the law of God In a religion of grace
01:23:49: An antinomian Antinomianism is made up Of some Greek words
01:23:54: Anti means against Nomian is law From the Greek word for law
01:24:00: And so an antinomian Is someone who believes There's no room for law
01:24:05: In a gospel of grace And so therefore they say
01:24:10: And you can see this In several modern movements Like the sonship movement
01:24:16: The sonship movement Is a heretical movement That's eating the heart out Of conservative Presbyterian particularly
01:24:24: Denominations And it says that When it comes to living The Christian life
01:24:30: What you do Is you receive Christ every day Just like you did When you were first saved
01:24:35: And any talk About struggling with sin Any talk about Obedience to laws
01:24:41: Any talk about repentance Is a return to legalism One time
01:24:48: I was Back when I was in college I would hitchhike To churches Where I was going to Preach on Sunday And one time
01:24:57: This young man picked me up And it was about A four hour trip And I was sitting there
01:25:02: In the passenger side And I noticed down between us A tract Called Four Spiritual Laws Which is terrible
01:25:11: It doesn't tell you How to be saved But anyway Four Spiritual Laws Of Campus Crusade For Christ So I decided
01:25:19: I would let him practice on me Without telling him Who I was Or what I was So I said
01:25:25: Tell me about that tract And so he was glad to do it So he spent the next hour
01:25:31: Explaining to me Those Four Spiritual Laws Allegedly On how to be saved And I acted it good
01:25:39: I said Well I've heard that Christians Talk about repentance
01:25:45: But you've never Mentioned repentance So where does repentance
01:25:50: Fit in He said Oh we don't talk about repentance Until we get people saved And I said
01:25:56: And then I decided Just to wave Fight or quit waving the flag And I said
01:26:01: Well I thought the Bible said Unless you repent You shall all likewise perish So there is this attitude
01:26:08: That's prevalent in Christianity And the preachers Who accuse us Of legalism
01:26:14: And Judaizing religion Have this old heresy That says
01:26:19: There is no place for law In a religion of grace Well Here's the situation
01:26:27: And this is a historic Protestant faith Whether you're Lutheran Or Reformed This is the historic faith
01:26:36: Of the church And that is That the law of God Drives us to Christ For salvation
01:26:45: The law of God Used by the Holy Spirit Shows us We have no hope For salvation in the law
01:26:51: The law of God Cannot save The law of God Cannot make a bad man good
01:26:57: All the law of God Can do Is command And then punish If you disobey it So the law of God Says Galatians Is our schoolmaster
01:27:07: That drives us to Christ So we run to Christ The law makes us see
01:27:14: Just how sinful we are And how precarious Our situation is And so we run to Christ Alone for salvation
01:27:24: And then he saves us And then when he saves us He takes his nail scarred hands
01:27:31: And he hands his law to us And he says Here's how I want you to live
01:27:36: As my saved people Here's how I want you to live As people that I bought
01:27:41: With my own blood Because We're saved by grace
01:27:47: But there's no such thing As lawless grace The purpose of God's grace
01:27:53: Is not simply To save you so you can do Whatever you want to do thereafter The purpose of God's grace
01:27:59: Is to save you And to change you So that you now have The power And the ability And the liberty
01:28:06: And the desire To obey God with your life You remember in Ezekiel 36
01:28:12: Year about 31 You got the Great promise of the new covenant And these messianic prophecies
01:28:19: And it says that In the new covenant There's going to be This great blessing That God's going to take out
01:28:25: Of the heart of his people Hearts of stone And he's going to Replace them with Hearts of flesh
01:28:32: That are responsive to God And he's going to Fill that new heart
01:28:38: With God's spirit And he's going to Write God's law Upon that new heart
01:28:43: So that we will observe All his statutes
01:28:50: So how does a person Tell whether or not He has a new heart? How does he know
01:28:55: Whether or not Christ has saved him And he has the Holy Spirit In his life? Some warm fuzzy feeling Inside?
01:29:01: No He has one desire Above all the rest And that is To live for the honor of God And Jesus said
01:29:09: You are my friends If you obey my commandments And it says also in James That faith without works
01:29:16: Is dead That if all you have Is a profession of faith I believe in Jesus I believe in Jesus Just an empty
01:29:24: Profession of faith That's not Illustrated and Demonstrated by life
01:29:29: Of works and Obedience to God That profession of faith Will not save you
01:29:36: Because justification Is not by profession Of faith in Christ alone Justification is
01:29:42: By faith in Christ alone By faith in Christ alone And if that faith
01:29:47: Is real It will demonstrate Itself In a life of good works
01:29:55: Good works can't save you But good works are Proof of true faith
01:30:00: And what is a good work? A good work has Three elements to it
01:30:06: Or it's not a good work A good work is Number one Obedience to the Law of God in the
01:30:12: Bible Number two It is obedience
01:30:18: To the law of God In the Bible From a heart Full of faith In Jesus Christ Number three
01:30:28: It is obedience To the law of God In the Bible From a heart Full of faith
01:30:33: In Jesus Christ To the honor And glory of God So In these churches
01:30:42: That say they Believe that we're Saved by faith alone They don't really They mean we're
01:30:48: Saved by profession Of faith in Christ alone That is We're saved by Coming forward
01:30:54: In a church service Or we're saved By making a decision For Jesus Or we're saved
01:31:01: By asking Jesus Into our hearts None of which phrases Are found in the Bible Anywhere John 1 12 says
01:31:09: As many as Received him To them he gave
01:31:15: The authority to be called The children of God Even to those who Believe in his name Who were not
01:31:20: Born of blood Nor the will of the flesh Nor the will of man But who were Born of God Amen And so we're saved
01:31:29: By faith in Christ alone And by faith that Demonstrates Its authenticity
01:31:37: In a life of Obedience to Christ And how did
01:31:43: Christ liken us And what's the Distinguishing feature Of Christ's human life
01:31:48: He loved God's law He said it is My food to Obey God's law
01:31:56: The longest chapter In the Bible Is Psalm 119 And of course
01:32:01: Most people know It's the longest Chapter in the Bible Of a couple hundred Verses What's it about It's about how
01:32:09: Wonderful How much a Christian loves The law of God The longest Chapter in the
01:32:15: Bible Is about the Christian's love For God's law Amen And in fact
01:32:21: You and I Neither of us Are dispensationalists But I have a feeling
01:32:28: You Would Agree As I do At least With the
01:32:33: Dominant Teaching Of One of my heroes
01:32:38: Of the faith Who's a dispensationalist Dr. John MacArthur When he wrote The book The Gospel According to Jesus And it's
01:32:46: A sequel Faith Works Which Erupted Out of the
01:32:52: Dallas Theological Seminary Teaching Predominantly The heresy
01:32:57: Of easy Believism And cheap grace And actually In the 80's There was quite a significant
01:33:03: Theological war Going on amongst The evangelicals Over this And I stood Strongly on Dr.
01:33:08: MacArthur's Side Yes but those Two books Refute his Dispensationalism Of course
01:33:15: He would never Admit it or see that But No I know Let me tell you
01:33:21: What I think Is the Most important Verse In the 200 Most important Question and answer
01:33:27: This deals right with What you just Were talking about The most important Question and answer
01:33:33: In the 200 Questions and answers Of the larger Catechism The question
01:33:40: Is this What does God require Of us That we may
01:33:47: Escape his wrath And curse To the
01:33:52: Due to us By reason Of the Transgression Of the law
01:34:00: In other words It's asking What Is required
01:34:05: Of us To escape God's Judgment On us Because of Our sin
01:34:11: Against him Now it would Be interesting To ask that Question among Evangelical And even
01:34:18: Reformed Preachers Today Cause many And maybe Most of Them would Get it wrong
01:34:27: And they Wouldn't like This answer At all But this is
01:34:33: The answer Of the Historic Christian Faith This is
01:34:38: The answer Of the Old Testament And the New Testament Both Give to The question
01:34:46: What does God require Of us That we May escape
01:34:51: His wrath And curse Due to Us By reason Of our
01:34:56: Transgression Of his Law Answer That we
01:35:04: May escape The wrath And curse Of God Due to Us By the reason
01:35:10: Of our Transgression Against his Law He requires Of us
01:35:17: One Repentance Towards God Two Faith Against Our Lord Jesus Christ Now that's
01:35:29: Where people Would even Many good People would End They'd say Amen That's right
01:35:36: Bible says If we're going To escape The wrath Of God We gotta Repent Of our Sins And believe In Jesus And that Is great
01:35:43: But that's Not the Whole answer That the Larger Catechism Gives Or the
01:35:48: Shorter Catechism We must Repent Of our Sins We must
01:35:54: Change our Mind And our Lives By his Grace Nobody can Repent Without the Power Of the Holy Spirit And unless He's born
01:36:00: Again But once The person's Born again He wants To turn From whatever Kind of life He was living
01:36:06: To whatever Kind of life God wants Him to live And when he Doesn't repent He's not
01:36:11: Really born Again And secondly If he's Born again He will Start believing In the Lord Jesus Christ And resting
01:36:17: Upon him Alone For salvation But there's
01:36:33: One thing He requires Of us Repentance Towards God And faith Toward our
01:36:39: Lord Jesus Christ Comma And The diligent
01:36:45: Use Of the Outward Means Whereby Christ Communicates To us
01:36:53: The benefits Of his Mediation What that Means is
01:37:00: We should Not expect To escape God's wrath If we
01:37:06: Do not Spend our Lives diligently Using the Means of Grace Praying Reading the
01:37:12: Bible Worshipping Him Fellowshipping With Christians Singing his
01:37:19: Praises Obeying his Laws That if we
01:37:25: Don't repent Of our Sins And believe In the Lord Jesus Christ And show
01:37:31: That that Repentance And faith Is real By spending The rest of Our lives In the Diligent use
01:37:37: Of all those Instruments That God Has ordained By which he Brings the
01:37:43: Blessings of Redemption Into our Lives we Can't expect To escape His wrath Now that Will sound
01:37:50: Like legalism To somebody Who has been Brainwashed By dispensationalism
01:37:56: Or antinomianism But I tell You before God there Is no
01:38:01: Other gospel And there Is no Way of Escaping the
01:38:06: Wrath of God Due to us For our Sins except In the way
01:38:12: Of repentance Of sin Faith in Christ alone For salvation And the
01:38:18: Diligent use Of all the Means of Grace Amen. And it's Ironic that Some of the
01:38:25: Harshest critics Of reform Theology Who would
01:38:30: Dare claim That our Belief in What has Become nicknamed Lordship Salvation Or the
01:38:36: Necessity of Repentance to Be saved They would Accuse us Sometimes of Sinless Perfectionism And yet the
01:38:44: Only ones Historically that Have embraced That are Arminians Right Probably in The late 20th
01:38:51: Century In the
01:38:57: Late 20th Century One of The most Gifted Reformed Baptists Preachers Was a
01:39:02: Friend of Mine Named Al Martin And Al Martin Said this
01:39:09: He said We cannot Enjoy With reference To lordship
01:39:14: Salvation We cannot Enjoy The benefits Of Christ Cross Without Bowing Before the
01:39:24: Claims Of Christ Crowned There is
01:39:29: Only one Savior And He is The Lord And Act 1631 says
01:39:35: Believe in The Lord Jesus And you Shall be
01:39:41: Saved Amen And we Have to go to Our final Break and Then we Will pick up On those
01:39:46: Themes of Your Life Iron Sharpens Iron Radio First Launched In 2005
01:40:25: The Publishers Of the New American Standard Bible Were Among My Very First Sponsors It Gives Me Joy Knowing That Many Scholars And Pastors In The Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Audience Have Been Sticking With Or Switching To The NASB I'm Author Gary DeMar President Of American Vision And The NASB Is My Bible Of Choice I'm Pastor Dan Anderson And The NASB Is My Bible Of Choice I'm Pastor Ryan Galan Of Central Islip Community Church In Central Islip New York And The NASB Is My Bible Of Choice I'm Pastor Brandon Smith Of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church In Jackson Georgia And The NASB Is My Bible Of Choice Here's A Great Way For Your Church To Help Keep Iron Trumpets Iron Radio On The Air Pastors Are Your Pew Bibles Tattered And Falling Apart Consider Restocking Your Pews With The NASB And Tell The NASB Is My Bible Great Way Your To Help Keep Pastors Are Your Bibles Tattered And Falling Apart Consider Pews With The NASB Is Bible Of Choice Here's A Great Way For Your Church To Help Keep Iron Trumpets On The Pastors Are Your Consider My Here's A Great Way For Your Church To Help Keep Iron Trumpets On The Pastors To Help Keep Iron Trumpets On Are Your Church To Help Keep Iron Trumpets The Pastors Are Your Help Iron On The Pastors Are To Help Keep Iron Trumpets On The Pastors Are Your Help Keep Iron Trumpets On The Pastors to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture through the person and work of our
01:45:16: Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the end of which we strive is the glory of God.
01:45:23: 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
01:45:36: 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.
01:45:46: Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.
01:45:54: This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our
01:45:59: Sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ, today and always.
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01:48:25: This is the final segment of our interview today with Dr. Joseph C. Moorcraft III, as we have been addressing part two of our new series on the
01:48:35: Westminster Larger Catechism. And if you have a question, send it in immediately before we run out of time.
01:48:41: ChrisArnson at gmail .com. ChrisArnson at gmail .com. If you could, Dr. Moorcraft, begin to list a summary of themes.
01:48:50: We'll start with today the first four volumes of the eight -volume series on your commentaries on the
01:48:57: Westminster Larger Catechism. The Larger Catechism presents us not just with a collection of unrelated doctrines, but it presents us with a worldview, a whole way of looking at life based upon the
01:49:14: Word of God. And the teaching of Scripture, the various doctrines of Scripture, are knit material.
01:49:23: That is, if you get a string in your shirt, well, then you just pull the string out.
01:49:30: But if you pull a string out of a knit sweater, you're going to unravel the whole sweater.
01:49:37: And that's the way it is with the teachings of Scripture, that they are knit.
01:49:43: That is, they're all interrelated. They all build on each other and work themselves out of each other.
01:49:51: So after having said that, there is a clear organization to the way the
01:49:57: Larger Catechism presents the doctrines of the Bible because the Bible presents a clear systematic organizational way of doctrines related.
01:50:07: So the first doctrines of the Larger Catechism have to do with the basic presuppositions of Christianity.
01:50:14: Question number one, what's the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify
01:50:19: God and enjoy Him forever. And then you have a series of questions and answers that deal with the authority of Scripture because everything that's going to be said in the
01:50:31: Larger Catechism is drawn from Scripture. Then after those questions and answers on the authority of Scripture, there are several on the nature and perfections of God, who is the central focus of Scripture.
01:50:46: And it talks about His perfections, who He is, what it means to say that He's one
01:50:52: God in three persons simultaneously, and what's the biblical basis of all these.
01:50:58: And then after the questions and answers on God, there's some on predestination and what
01:51:06: God was doing before the creation of the world and how that everything that's happened since creation was planned out by God before creation.
01:51:16: And then you have questions and answers on creation. What does the Bible say about creation and what about the creation of the earth, the creation of man and woman, the purpose of creation, the covenant of works in the
01:51:31: Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and Adam as the representative of the whole human race.
01:51:37: And then there's chapters on providence and how God provides for and governs
01:51:43: His creation ever since He created it. Then there are things on other presuppositions like God's covenant with His people and on the nature of sin.
01:51:56: What is sin? What are the consequences of sin? And then you have another major section on the person and work of Christ, and that's my favorite section.
01:52:08: Who Jesus was and is. What does it mean to say He's God? What does it mean to say
01:52:14: He's man? Why did He have to be God to be our Savior? Why did He have to be man to be our
01:52:19: Savior? What does it mean to say He's God and man in one person? And then it talks about the various redemptive works and offices of Christ.
01:52:30: Talks about His mediatorial ship, His being a prophet, the priest, and the king, and the meaning of His life, and His death, and His resurrection, and His burial, and His ascension to God's right hand.
01:52:44: And then you have the various passages that relate to what we have because of our union with Christ, or how does the
01:52:52: Holy Spirit apply salvation to us? And you have things like effectual calling, and justification, sanctification, faith, repentance, perseverance of the saints, glorification.
01:53:11: And with glorification, you have a series of questions on death, and what are the blessings of salvation at death, after death.
01:53:21: And then some questions and answers on resurrection as the goal of salvation.
01:53:28: The goal of salvation is not death. The goal of salvation is resurrection at the second coming of Christ and Judgment Day.
01:53:36: And it has several answers that explain all that as over against this new and non -biblical view called rapturism.
01:53:46: And then after that comes an exposition of the
01:53:52: Ten Commandments. It's a wonderful thing to teach your children. How do we know what's right and what's wrong?
01:53:58: There's only one way, and that is to compare everything we think and do to the one infallible standard of right and wrong, which is the law of God.
01:54:07: And so in many ways, that's the most practical part of the whole catechism, and it's a long part.
01:54:15: Then after that, it concludes with a lot of questions and answers on the means of grace.
01:54:22: We read that passage a while ago that says that faith will diligently use the means of grace, and then it says what a means of grace is, and what the means of grace are.
01:54:34: And it talks about the importance of Bible reading, and the importance of preaching, and the importance of worship, and the importance of prayer.
01:54:44: And then once it talks about prayer, it has a lot of questions and answers explaining the
01:54:50: Lord's Prayer. That's worthy of a book in and of itself. What do all these phrases mean by the
01:54:56: Lord's Prayer? So that is a bird's -eye view of the whole system of doctrine of the
01:55:02: Westminster Confession of Faith. And it starts out with the basic presuppositions of Christianity, then goes to Christ's person and work, then goes to the work of the
01:55:15: Holy Spirit in applying the benefits of Christ's death to us, and explains all those things.
01:55:21: It explains how the Christian life is to be lived, and what the means of grace are, and what prayer is.
01:55:29: I mean, you can see just how practical it is. Yeah, so in other words, that's the entire summary of the
01:55:36: Catechism. So that would be what your eight volumes cover. And because of the fact, people may wonder, why is a document that is technically very short, why would it necessitate a massive eight -volume commentary?
01:55:54: Well, that's because, just like, if you were to take all the sermons of Charles Spurgeon, who exegeted the
01:56:02: Bible, and in fact I believe all of Spurgeon's sermons are available in print, the volumes are much longer than the books of the
01:56:16: Scripture combined, because when you exegete something, it takes you longer than just to read it.
01:56:24: You're explaining what you read, that's correct. Right, so it's exactly the same thing with the commentary. I want to make sure that we get a question in from a friend of yours, and also a faithful listener to my program,
01:56:39: Pastor Gary Wagner of Campbell, California. He says,
01:56:45: Joe, I know you are a theonomist, and one of the major complaints of theonomy is that we hold to the penal sanctions of Scripture.
01:56:53: Could you explain our position in the case of stoning a disobedient child? Yeah, leave it for a controversial theme like that with four minutes to go.
01:57:03: Yeah, I love it when people like Gary set me up. What's interesting is in my lifetime, that Old Testament penal sanction was in effect.
01:57:21: It says, this is a paraphrase, that if a young adult is an incorrigible evil person, committing all kinds of evil sins, evil things and crimes, that if he's found guilty of incorrigibility, he is to be executed.
01:57:45: That was in effect in my lifetime in most of the states in the United States. I'm 75 years old, and in my young adulthood, it was the law in many states that if you were found guilty of three felonies, even if none of those felonies were capital crimes, if you were found guilty of any of three felonies in your lifetime, you would be executed for incorrigible criminality.
01:58:19: Wow. Well, I want to give Gary a plug for his Church Reform Heritage Church in Los Gatos, California.
01:58:28: Reformedheritage .org. Reformedheritage .org is his website. And we will pick up on this with part three of our series at an undetermined date yet.
01:58:39: In fact, I want Joe to hang on the line so we can schedule his next interview. But I want to make sure that you all have the website for Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia.
01:58:50: It's heritagepresbyterianchurch .com. Heritagepresbyterianchurch .com.
01:58:56: And also, don't forget about the website to find out more about the eight -volume commentary series,
01:59:02: Authentic Christianity and an Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism. That's westminsterseminary .com.
01:59:11: I'm sorry. Sorry about that. You're not going to get my commentary at Westminster Seminary.
01:59:19: You might get it at Greenville, though, because Dr. Piper... Oh, Greenville. Yeah, you would. Dr. Piper, the president of Greenville, wrote a wonderful commendation for it.
01:59:28: That's westminstercommentary .com. westminstercommentary .com.
01:59:34: Thank you so much, Dr. Joe Morecraft. Thank you, everybody, for listening today. And I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far, far greater