April 20, 2020 Show with Rev. Geoff Thomas on “Common Grace”

Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century Gospel Minister, George Norcross, in downtown

Carwile, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues

facing the Church and the world today.

Proverbs 27, verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens

another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, 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.

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, Chris Arnzen.

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity

living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at IronSharpensIronRadio .com.

This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Monday on this 20th

day of April 2020, and I'm so thrilled once again to have the

privilege and the honor and the blessing and the joy of interviewing Reverend

Jeff Thomas two days in a row.

He's going to be on today, as I said before, April 20th, and he's

also going to be on the program, God willing, tomorrow, Tuesday, the 21st of

April.

He is, or should I say he was, for over 50 years, the

pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church of Avarice with Wales.

He is very well known as an author and conference speaker, having spoke at many

conferences conducted by the Banner of Truth and other ministries and churches, and not

only has he been published by Banner of Truth, but he's also been published by Reformation Heritage Books

and other publishers.

Today we have the honor of interviewing Reverend Thomas on the subject, Common Grace.

It is not without its controversies, and I am waiting with bated breath

to interview Jeff on this subject.

It's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Reverend Jeff Thomas.

Well, thank you very much, Chris.

I don't know why you keep asking me, but I'm up for it, and

I have a few friends in America that I know are listening, and my dear friend, dear Ron, he's

thrilled to be

here.

Amen.

Well, I am thrilled to have you on the program as often as the Lord will

allow you to, and so whenever you're interested in coming on, I would love to have you back.

In fact, I'm sure after tomorrow's broadcast, I'll be asking you to schedule

another two -day.

Interview.

Well, before we go into our subject about Common Grace, as I normally do, since there

may be people listening, hearing about you for the first time, tell us about this

church in Aberystwyth, Wales, Alfred Place Baptist Church, where you pastored for over half

a century, and is now being pastored by your grandson.

In

the north

and

south, and

as in

America,

and

my

sowning

death of

Christ

is in

the

congregation that we're praying

for better days.

Praise God, and I want our listeners to know that if you live near Aberystwyth,

Wales, I know that we do have Welsh listeners, and perhaps if you're

ever vacationing there, if you don't live there, the website to find out more about Alfred Place

Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales, is alfredplacechurch

.org .uk.

Alfredplacechurch .org .uk.

Well, as I said, this topic is an interesting one, a fascinating one, Common

Grace, and it is not without its controversy.

In fact, our brethren in the Protestant Reformed Church do not believe in this,

although they do agree with us that God's blessings and mercies reign upon the

just and the unjust alike.

I think it's more the phrase that they don't like.

But, if you could, define Common Grace.

Yeah,

whatever

you

would

like.

Well, I think one of the problems that, in fact I know one of the problems that

our Protestant Reformed brothers and sisters have with the phrase Common Grace

is that they want to assign the term grace only to salvific

matters, and obviously Common Grace is not

always salvific.

Obviously, if a lost person who is among the elect is shown mercy

and blessings from heaven, God could use that to draw that person to himself and

save him.

But Common Grace does not automatically lead to salvation, am I right?

Isn't that because of the very restraining hand of God?

Now, would you say that when we say

that men, even the lost, or perhaps even especially the lost when

we're talking about this, when we say that they are not as bad as they could be,

we're not really saying that innately in their beings, according to their nature, that

they're not extremely wicked.

We are saying that, isn't it God himself who is really restraining the lost,

the reprobate, from acting out as wickedly as he possibly could, and

even thinking as wickedly as he could.

And that is really to our benefit, isn't it?

Because if the world was filled in the majority with people who were unrestrained, we

couldn't, not only could we not leave our doors and go outside without being killed, but we couldn't even remain in our

own homes without being killed.

No.

The Maximus, you know that.

I found him shooting Abimelech, the king of Gera.

I kept you from sinning when he was going to have sexual relations with Sarah Abrams'.

Wife.

We read in 2 Thessalonians 2 about the one who

restrains the revelation of the lawless.

One.

Well, that's the Holy Spirit, the Antichrist figure.

Amen.

I am certainly very, very grateful to God for that.

And we do have a listener who was formerly in your

congregation when you were pastoring at the Alfred Place Baptist Church in Everesteth, Wales.

We have Mike, and he asks, let's see here,

Cornelius Van Till taught about common grace.

In fact, I've just been reading about it in Covenantal Apologetics by Scott Oliphant.

Very powerful.

Is this where Jeff is coming from?

Yes, I am epistemologically self -conscious.

I learned all those phrases from my old teacher Van Till.

We do have John in Bangor, Maine, who has a question for you.

He said, I have heard that Abraham Kuyper is the first to have used

this phrase, common.

Grace.

Is that true?

I know that the phrase itself is not in the scriptures.

No, it's not.

We

do

have

another

listener.

We have Christopher in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, who says, it is a very

hard thing for most of us to contemplate that someone we thought was a very

dear and sweet and kind person with great integrity and great love and compassion

toward us, that they, when they leave this planet after death, having

been lost, not embracing Jesus Christ, his gospel, and his word,

the thought of them being punished is a horrible thing to contemplate, let

alone eternal damnation.

My question is, do you think that these people, although we see them as such

warm and kind and wonderful people here on earth, after death, the restraint of

their evil is removed from them, and therefore, if we could see them in that state,

we would more readily recognize their worthiness of damnation?

This is always, as the listener, Christopher, said, always a hard thing to

contemplate, especially if we're close to somebody that departs this earth without

coming to Christ.

And do you think that one of the reasons that

God does demonstrate his common grace, even on the reprobate, those that will never come to

saving faith, is that it makes them even more ripe for judgment, because they have, even though

they have been overwhelmed with goodness and blessing from God, they still reject it?

Now, if

you

could,

before we

go to our first

break, provide

some more

biblical proofs

that.

This common grace, we believe, is indeed something that is taught in the God -breathed

pages of.

The Bible.

And another example that came to mind, in Psalm 73,

David seems to be troubled very greatly that God has common grace upon the

wicked, because he is asking, why do the wicked prosper?

I mean, he sees that God's blessings, in a physical sense,

often overflow upon the reprobate and the unrighteous

and the wicked, even at times in a measurable, physical way, much more abundantly

on the wicked.

First thing,

you've seen it,

haven't you?

Well, we have to go to our first break right now.

If anybody would like to join us on the air with a question, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail

dot com.

Chrisarnson at gmail dot com.

And as always, please give us your first name, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence, if you live outside the USA,

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

Don't go away.

We'll be right back with Reverend Jeff Thomas and more on common grace.

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Iron Sharpens Iron Radio depends upon the financial support of fine Christian organizations to remain on the

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

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Why do disasters like this happen?

How do we deal with anxiety, fear, and the like?

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and Pastor Joe Jackiewicz as they explore God's Word for answers to this and other of

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Tune in at firstloveradio .org, that's firstloveradio .org,

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And Mike happens to be a very close mutual friend of both mine and my guest today, Reverend Jeff Thomas.

He's a dear brother, isn't he?

Certainly is.

And I know that he has gotten you to endorse a number of the books with your commendations over the years.

Amen.

Well, we do have a listener from another mutual, who is another mutual friend

of ours, who has a question here.

Pastor Mac Tomlinson from Providence Chapel in Denton, Texas.

He says, thanks for being on for us here in America, dear Jeff.

And his question is, how is the personal love of God for people

involved in common grace?

I'm assuming that he, in fact, if you want to clarify your question, Pastor Mac,

I'm assuming he's perhaps talking about how God loves

the non -elect, the reprobate.

Because there is, as you know, just like with common grace itself, there is disagreement

amongst even Reformed people in the same denomination, sometimes in the same pew,

over how God actually loves those who are going to hell.

So if you could please, and I don't know if that is where Mac was coming from, but I think

that must have been where he was coming from.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm

assuming

that

you

believe

that,

although

there

exists

a

universal

love of

God

towards

all

of humanity,.

That there are different kinds and degrees of love.

Because, for instance, I don't think that anyone could logically and

consistently, from an exegesis of scripture, teach that God loves

the reprobate, the one who is going to hell, as a spouse or as a child.

In fact, the Bible even says that those who are not

Christians are the children of the devil.

We were children of the devil before we were regenerate and we were adopted and rescued.

But isn't there a different kind of love that God demonstrates?

He uses the word hate for Esau.

I don't know which

one is an Esau

in his heart.

I'm assuming from everything you said that even though the Apostle Paul, who was

speaking through the inspiration, he was speaking God -breathed

truths directly from God, when he said in Romans 9 that,

Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.

I'm assuming you believe that even though he hated Esau, there was a form of love that he still had for him nonetheless?

From what you would

assume.

Great.

I'm going to read a question for you and have you answer it when we return.

This is a first -time questioner.

His name is Zach from Pocahontas, Arkansas.

I've never heard of that city.

He says, thank you both for this episode.

If common grace is not sufficient for salvation, why are people held

responsible for coming to a proper conclusion, I think he meant to

say, about the facts of creation?

And then, even when the information is processed correctly, unless the gospel is shared with that

people group, is there any hope for them?

Almost sounds a little bit like the question that Paul brings up in Romans 9,

that the unbeliever would say to Paul in response to the clear

teaching of unconditional election,

that how can God find fault for who could resist his will?

It's almost a little bit attached in there.

But we will have you respond to Zach's question after we return from

the break.

This is our longer than normal break, folks, so please be patient.

We have to air more commercials in the middle of the show because Grace Life Radio in Lake City, Florida,

they air this program twice a day in a prerecorded format, and they are required by the FCC to air

their own public service announcements and other things that localize Zion Sharp and Zion Radio to Lake City, Florida.

And while they do that, we air our own globally heard commercials.

So please take this time to write down the information on many of our

advertisers or advertisements so that you can more frequently and

successfully patronize them.

And even if you cannot actually patronize them, if it's not a business, if it's a church that's very

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you are grateful to them for sponsoring Iron Trip and Zion Radio, if indeed you are, if

indeed you love the show.

But write down the information that our advertisers provide, and also write down questions for

Jeff Thomas on Common Grace and send them to chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at

gmail .com.

And give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Only remain anonymous if the question involves a personal and private matter.

We'll be back after these messages with more of Jeff Thomas.

Chris Arnzen, host of Iron Trip and Zion Radio here.

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

A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in

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

uncertainties.

When will it end?

Why do disasters like this happen?

How do we deal with anxiety, fear and the like?

Well, join us each Friday on the program Iron Sharpens Iron with your host Chris Arnzen

and Pastor Joe Jacowicz as they explore God's Word for answers to this and other of

life's related issues.

Tune in at firstloveradio .org.

That's firstloveradio .org.

Each Friday at 1 p .m. Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern.

That's Iron Sharpens Iron on firstloveradio .org.

Fridays, 1 p .m. Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern.

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I'm Dr. Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary.

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

on Iron Sharpens Iron.

When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, 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 Dr. Joe Moorcraft, pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Cumming, Georgia,

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and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

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NASB is my Bible of choice.

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

Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?

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

James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries here.

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.

And besides that, they feel so good.

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.

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.

Jeffrey uses the finest and buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like

the turquoise goatskin tanned in Italy used for my Nestle All in 28th edition with a navy

blue goatskin inside liner and the electric blue goatskin from a 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.

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.

For more details on Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to

ptlbiblerebinding .com.

That's ptlbiblerebinding .com.

Hi, I'm Buzz Taylor, frequent co -host with Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio.

I would like to introduce you to my good friends Todd and Patty Jennings at CVBBS, which stands for Cumberland Valley

Bible Book Service.

Todd and Patty specialize in supplying Reformed and Puritan books and Bibles at discount prices that make them affordable

to everyone.

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and Bibles at the best possible prices.

Unlike other book sites, they make no effort to provide every book that is available because, frankly, much of what

is being printed is not worth your time.

That means you can get to the good stuff faster.

It also means that you don't have to worry about being assaulted by the pornographic, heretical, and

otherwise faith -insulting material promoted by the secular book vendors.

Their website is cvbbs .com.

Browse the pages at ease, shop at your leisure, and purchase with confidence as Todd and Patty work

in service to you, the Church, and to Christ.

That's Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service at cvbbs .com.

That's cvbbs .com.

Let Todd and Patty know that you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

And don't forget, you can call cvbbs

.com at 800 -656 -0231, 800 -656 -0231, and only call that number Monday through Friday between

10 a .m. and 4 .30 p .m. Eastern Time, because that's the only days and

times that phone line is manned.

There is no voicemail.

So please always remember to mention to them that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron

Sharpens Iron Radio.

Before we return to our discussion on Common Grace with Reverend Jeff Thomas,

we just have a few announcements to make.

First of all, we were very sad to hear that the Banner of Truth Conference has

been canceled, which was going to take place the last week of May.

And it's very understandable, obviously, in these times that we're living in with the coronavirus

pandemic.

So they have canceled, or should I say postponed, and there may be a new date coming

down the way that we will let you know about.

But because of that, since they were flying in Dr. Conrad Mbewe of Kabwatha

Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa, who was one of the speakers at that conference, we

have therefore canceled or postponed our Iron Sharpens Iron Radio

spring pastor's luncheon, because Dr. Mbewe was the keynote speaker.

So we will keep you updated on any new date that we schedule for

the free spring Iron Sharpens Iron Radio pastor's luncheon.

And tomorrow on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, my dear friend, the rector of

St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama, Reverend Roger Salter,

is going to be on the program.

He's a Reformed 39 Articles Protestant Anglican,

and he is going to be addressing a theme that we have not yet decided on.

But no matter what it is, I'm sure you will be blessed.

He is a phenomenal guest every time he's on, and I always get good reports from listeners afterward.

And then on Thursday, the 23rd of April, Ron McKinney will be

on the program for the very first time to talk about the journey that his dad, Don,

had taken his whole family, the McKinney family, by God's grace,

the journey that he took them on out of Arminian Pentecostalism

into the doctrines of sovereign grace.

And I mean no disrespect to my Pentecostal and charismatic friends who listen to this program, and

some of whom I've interviewed, but being a Calvinist myself, I cannot be ashamed of these precious

truths, I believe.

And I think it's a remarkable story that you will hear from Ron McKinney this

Thursday.

And then, of course, as you've been hearing advertised, Joe Jakowicz will be returning on Friday,

as he does every Friday during this pandemic, to give an update on the coronavirus

and give biblical application on how Christians should respond to it.

Folks, if you love this show, and you don't want it to disappear, I'm urging you to please go to www .irontrapandzioneradio

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So please help us to make up for that lost income.

That was a huge blow to us, because we were already on shaky ground financially before that

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I thank God, and I thank God for you, all of you who have been responding

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I have been declaring on the show every day these calls for help, these

pleas for financial assistance.

You folks have really blessed me in ways I can't even describe.

You have shown me that this program is of great value to you, and that means the world to me.

And some of you I have never even heard from before, which is also a great blessing to know that there

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Churches are going through rough times as well during this pandemic, and

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Those two things are commands of scripture, providing for your church and home.

Providing for my radio show is obviously not a command of scripture.

But if you are financially blessed above and beyond your ability to obey those two commands, you love this show,

you have extra money now that you haven't been able to go to

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We would love to hear from you at IronSharpensIronRadio .com, and then click support, then click, click to donate now.

If you want to advertise with us, we could certainly use your advertising dollars as well.

We are in urgent need of them, and as long as whatever it is you're promoting is compatible with what we

believe, we would love to help you launch an ad campaign.

Send me an email to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, and put

advertising in the subject line.

Also, folks, if you are not a member of a local Bible -believing church, and you're not even prayerfully seeking for one,

you are living in rebellion against God.

There's no such thing as a maverick, lone wolf Christian in the New Testament who

does not submit himself or herself to the authority of local elders in a local

church.

So please rectify that situation.

I may be able to help you, because I have lists of biblically faithful churches all over the world,

including Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales, if you happen to live in Wales.

I have helped people all over the planet Earth find churches near where they live, where they have

visited and joined some of them.

Some of them have visited these churches when they're on vacation, and some of these folks have referred

these churches to loved ones who live in areas where they were having a difficult time finding a church.

So please, if you need help, send me an email to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, and put I need a church in the subject line.

That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Jeff Thomas, who was

the pastor at Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales, for over half a century.

Very rarely do you hear about a man who has faithfully served one church for that long.

And if you'd like to join us, we are talking about common grace, and our email address is

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

And I will read these questions again one at a time from Zach in

Pocahontas, Arkansas, that I read before the break, but I'll reread them to you so they're fresh in your mind.

Thank you both for this episode.

If common grace is not sufficient for salvation, why are people held

responsible for coming to a proper conclusion about the facts of creation?

I don't know about you, Jeff.

Well, I'm pretty certain you would agree.

It's that I do believe that every mercy extended by

God is sufficient for salvation, but I don't believe that common

grace, especially when it's extended toward the reprobate, I don't believe it's intended for

salvation.

And I think those are two different things, being sufficient or intended.

But if you could pick up where I left off there.

I know

I shall

be happy.

Amen.

I could be that Zach, in fact, Zach, if you want to send in another email to clarify this, it could be

that Zach is referring to Romans 1, and he's

asking why are people held responsible for coming to a proper conclusion about the

facts of creation?

Because obviously general revelation is not sufficient

to save men.

It is only sufficient to hold them accountable.

And in Romans 1, it seems to be teaching, or I think it is teaching,

that men innately know or already have a proper conclusion

about creation, but they suppress the truth.

Yes, they do.

They clamp down on it.

The second question is, and then even when the information is processed correctly,

unless the gospel is shared with that people group, is there any hope for them?

He was with God in the beginning, and he is.

Amen.

Well, thank you so much, Zach.

And by the way, since you are a first -time questioner, you have won a free New American Standard

Bible.

So please make sure that you email me your full mailing address in Pocahontas, Arkansas.

And that will be shipped out to you by our friends at cvbbs .com, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service,

cvbbs .com.

So keep your eye open in the mail for that package from cvbbs .com.

Linda Tomlinson, who is Pastor Mac's wife there in Denton, Texas, says, This is so

good, and I'm glad that she sent that little note because it reminded me.

I don't think I remembered to give, I wanted to give Pastor Mac's website

because it's such a fine church, and I always like to promote

biblically faithful churches whenever they providentially come to my attention during a

discussion.

And so if anybody living in Denton, Texas, or visiting there, or if you have family, friends, and loved

ones living there, just as I do, my brother John lives very near there,

the website is providencedenton .org,

providencedenton .org.

Let's see here, we have, I'll take this last question before we switch gears

because I know that you wanted to go into the dangers of

misuse of common grace.

Am I right on that for the second half of this?

Yes, that's exactly what I'd like to do.

Okay, I just want to take one more question from, oh,

this is not really a question.

Mary in Cork, Ireland is just asking you to move closer to the microphone.

I guess that you sound more quiet than you did before, and I think that I

agree with her.

I can't turn you up too much because it over -modulates, but anything that you could do to speak more loudly perhaps?

I will.

Well, if you could, how is and can this teaching of common

grace be so abused that it's dangerous?

I

don't

think,

and

you

know

Jesus

in

John

17 says, I

command

thee to

God

and all

believers, and

seeing these

things,

you believe in that, but there's not a

distinct

entry in meteorology

and

design

and

dentistry

and whatsoever.

It mustn't be

social

matters.

One of the dangerous tendencies that I observe, more and more evangelicals, as well as others, are

putting these things into the center.

Culture or war, this and that.

Then the impression will be gained that Christianity is nothing but

a philosophical attitude.

We're

living

in

a

material

time,

and

it's

in

the

centuries

now, how all of the earth

is made.

We're

going

to

go

to

our

final

break.

It's going to be a lot more brief than the last one.

If anybody wants to send in a question of your own, do so quickly, because we're rapidly running out of time.

ChrisArnson at gmail .com.

ChrisArnson at gmail .com.

We'll be right back after these messages.

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 brethren at Hope

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

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 New York debates.

I do not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island to anyone who wants to be

accurately taught, 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 Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham for their recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder,

Pastor Christopher McDowell.

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

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

That's 631 -696 -5711.

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

Sharpens Iron Radio.

When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, 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 Labenek of West Hills Baptist Church in Huntington Station, New York, and the NASB

is my Bible of choice.

I'm Justin Peters of Justin Peters Ministries, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

I'm Reverend Buzz Taylor, author of God's Lawson, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

I'm Dr. William Webster, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Battleground, Washington, founder

of the ministry Christian Resources, 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 Sharpens Iron Radio on the air.

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Go to nasbible .com.

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

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support 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 Lord Jesus Christ.

And of course, the end of which we strive is the glory of God.

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 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.

Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org.

That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.

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

Lord, God, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, today and

always.

Welcome back.

This is Chris Arnzen.

And if you just tuned us in, Jeff Thomas has been our guest

for nearly two hours now.

We've got about a little less than 20 minutes left in the program.

And we are discussing Common Grace.

If you have a question, please send it immediately because we're rapidly running out of time.

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

We have a clarification from Zach in Pocahontas,

Florida.

I'm sorry, Pocahontas, Arkansas.

He says, Yes, sir, I was speaking of Romans 1.

My quotation was added after listening to the episode with R .C. Sproul

answering on the love for the world.

Yes, my webmaster just posted a blast from the past where I had

interviewed R .C. Sproul before he went home to glory.

And that is now available on the archive of Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

Zach says, I was assuming general revelation and grace

was intended to bring man to Christ.

Do you have an answer to that?

I think that the general revelation part was only intended to make men responsible.

But obviously it has been used to draw the elect to

salvation.

But it's obviously not always intended for that purpose because many who, in fact, all men

have the knowledge of general revelation, but they suppress it, as we were saying before.

But anyway, what do you think, Reverend?

Amen.

And Zach concludes, Thank you for the great responses.

I'm a new listener to your podcast.

I first heard of you because of the recent purgatory conversation with Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega

Ministries.

I've also recently come out of an Armenian Pentecostal church.

Your content, along with Ligonier and many others, have been and will be great helps for my

spiritual realignment.

Thank you very much.

Well, thank you, Zach, for that encouragement.

And thank you for your address in Pocahontas, Arkansas.

And keep your eye open for the Bible from CBBBS .com.

We have Pastor Bruce, who is a friend of mine, Pastor Bruce Bennett.

He is the pastor of Word of Truth Church in Farmingville, Long Island,

New York.

It's been a while since I have heard from him with a question.

And I'm glad that he's joined us on the air with a question.

And I have to enlarge the font because it's very, very tiny.

So while I'm doing that, send in your questions to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

And give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence.

Here's the question.

Do the non -elect primarily perish for their sins or

for not believing in Jesus?

And obviously, since there have been throughout history millions of people who never

heard the gospel presented to them and never heard even the name of Jesus Christ,

they could not be held accountable for that because unlike general revelation,

that is not something that everybody has heard.

So therefore, they are going to be damned because of their sin, as you just said.

I think the judgment would be

scrupulous.

And so therefore, when we say that someone is going to

be damned because they did not believe upon the name of Christ, what we

mean by that is that they did not have the covering of his blood to redeem them, but it's

not the specific sin that they're going to hell for, the disbelief.

They didn't have the cure for the cancer,

the spiritual cancer.

Well, thank you, my dear friend, Pastor Bruce Bennett.

And I want to give his website, too.

It's wotchurch .com, W -O -T, for word of truth, church

.com.

And actually, that has something relevant to my next question to

you.

When we were talking about the abuses or the dangers of common grace, I think

many thousands, maybe even millions, in fact, I'm certain

millions of Christians, those who are

truly our brothers and sisters, but they are in great error in one very significant way, is

that in their twisting of common grace,

they believe that God does love all men and women and children equally in the same

way.

And I touched on that earlier when we were having you distinguish between the way he loves

different people.

Because, therefore, you're going to have people thinking, well,

if God loves everybody equally, there's no way he's going to send them to hell.

You know, you have people who become universalists, who

I would say that they are outside of the pale of orthodoxy or the

realm of Bible -believing Christianity.

But you also have people left in a

difficult dilemma because they are saying that there are people being tormented

in hell that Jesus loves just as much as he loves those in heaven.

And that makes absolutely no sense.

What

do

you

believe,

I don't

know

if

we

could

say with absolute certainty about this,.

But the young rich ruler, he obviously

rejected Christ and walked away sad.

But Jesus does say that he looked at him and loved him.

So what do you make of that?

Do you think that that means that that man, even though it's not recorded in Scripture, eventually did repent and

follow Christ?

Or do you think that that was just a general common grace sort of love?

Oh, I know what my longing in 3000...

Is that

the

only instance, at least that you're aware of,.

Where someone who is lost and we have no record of

their salvation is said to be loved by Jesus?

Is that the only instance in the Scripture?

Regardless of where you land on the debate over common grace, if you are

among our brethren in the Protestant Reformed denomination, and I have friends that are not in that denomination that

agree with them on that issue, we still, we are commanded to love

people and do good for them even if we have no idea whether or not

they are of the elect, because obviously the only way that we ever know that somebody is of the elect

is when they come to saving faith and repentance in Christ.

And of course, even then, we don't even have an infallible knowledge of that.

We just have sufficient knowledge of it.

Well, it's been a joy, Reverend Jeff Thomas, to have you on again.

It's a joy to hear your sweet voice and your kind words to me.

Amen.

And don't forget, folks, tomorrow, Reverend Jeff Thomas returns to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio for his

second interview this week.

And that's Tuesday, April 21st.

He will be discussing the theme, If Disaster Occurs in the City, Will Not the Lord Have

Done It? from Amos chapter 3, verse 6.

I want to once again thank all of our listeners, especially those who took the time to

write in today.

And I'm thrilled that I have now discovered a new listener, Zach in Pocahontas,

Arkansas, who has joined our audience.

And I hope that you keep listening and keep spreading the word about the program and keep writing in questions.

And I hope that you all always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ

is a far, far greater Savior than you are a sinner.

God bless.