April 9, 2021 Show with Geoff Thomas on “The Climax of Life: To Fight the Good Fight, Finish the Race, & Keep the Faith”

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April 12, 2021

April 9, 2021 Rev. GEOFF THOMAS, who, beginning in 1965, served for over 50 years as pastor @ Alfred Place Baptist Church of Aberystwyth, Wales, & author of many books, including his latest: “The LEGENDARY CASEY JONES & OTHER AMERICAN FOLK TALES”, who will address: “The CLIMAX of LIFE: To FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT, FINISH the RACE, & KEEP the FAITH!”

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 a 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
01:11: Cumberland County Pennsylvania Lake City Florida and the rest of humanity living on the planet earth who are listening via live streaming at iron sharpens iron radio dot com this is
01:21: Chris Arnzen your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio wishing you all a happy Friday on this ninth day of April 2021 and I am so thrilled to have back on a frequently interviewed guest on this program and he's interviewed frequently for a reason
01:39: I love to interview him and so do my listeners love hearing him interviewed
01:45: I'm speaking of none other than Reverend Jeff Thomas calling in live from London England today and beginning in 1965
01:56: Pastor Thomas served for over 50 years as pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church of Aberystwyth Wales he is an author of many books including his latest the legendary
02:09: Casey Jones and other American folktales and he is probably most well known for being a very popular conference speaker for Banner of Truth and Jeff we are so delighted to have you back on the program today this time to discuss the climax of life to fight the good fight finish the race and keep the faith welcome back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Jeff Thomas it's good to be back and to hear your happy voice again and your warm welcome and the sweet things you say about me you don't know my heart mercy that'll be on my lips when
02:53: I breathe my last and see the King yes mercy but to share the faith
03:00: Wednesday to the Saints with you and your listeners I feel
03:06: I'm getting to know them well let me give our listeners our email address if they have any questions today for you it's
03:14: Chris Arnzen at gmail .com CHRIS ARNZEN at gmail .com
03:19: as always give us the first name at least city and state of residence and country of residence if you live outside the
03:27: USA only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter and this obviously is a theme that is extremely important this is a theme that involves where one is going to be spending eternity and if you could tell us why exactly it was burdening your heart to discuss the climax of life to fight the good fight finish the race and keep the faith oh just the most popular letter second
04:04: Timothy last last words and it came to me freshly he's no longer looking for justice or entertaining any hope but there's condemnation there's execution and perhaps when
04:27: Timothy read these words for the first time Paul was already in the glory with the
04:33: Lord Jesus and all that gives an added solemn and poignancy to these great words of the
04:39: Apostle words that must inevitably dwarf any exposition or explanation
04:46: I may make of them he's concerned here with these great words and it was a personal reference my first wife she had
04:58: Alzheimer's and finally she had to go into hospital and I'd stay the nights there and she got weaker and weaker and we thought the end was near and one night
05:09: I was with her and she sort of sighed and went home and I called the girls or 10 minutes away in the car three o 'clock in the morning they dress they came and we four stood there and and looked at her and hugged one another and wept and then
05:35: I I got the scriptures out and I read those those great words then these words
05:42: I have fought a good fight I have finished the race
05:49: I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the
05:58: Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who loved his appearing so I want to look at these things firstly and just saying something about that phrase
06:23: I've kept the faith that's the hub of the Apostles teaching here that he used that as the objective with which he became the
06:34: Christian life and he sees the attainment of that objective as the great glory of his life by the grace of God and I'd say that he's holding up before each
06:46: Christian this particular goal that we should so live that we should ourselves personally keep the faith that's a great objective now what is that involved what means first of all that we should keep cleaving to biblical beliefs because we find this phrase of the
07:10: Apostle the faith used to refer to Christian teaching
07:16: Christian orthodoxy contend for the faith he says and he says here fundamentally
07:25: I've kept the teachings I've kept the great fundamental principles of Christian theology in other words in the moment of the
07:35: Apostles conversion the Lord gave him a great body of truth he revealed in the glory of the
07:42: Lord Jesus Christ that he was God the Son he revealed to him his states pre -incarnate in the beginning with God incarnate when he was born of the
07:54: Virgin Mary and then glorified in heaven at God's right hand and he revealed in the glory of his offices as our teacher an infallible teacher as our
08:10: Lamb of God that takes us in a way and as our
08:17: King Shepherd who cares for us and protects us and that's what the
08:26: Lord revealed to Paul a tradition what he refers to elsewhere as the gospel
08:33: God gave him a body of beliefs gave him a system of truth gave him fundamentally a message a message of the glories of Jesus Christ as Lord and Messiah a message of risenness of more power than death of atonement of redemption of reconciliation which explains the significance of the dying of Jesus Christ on the cross
09:05: God had buried deeply into the Apostles soul these great emphases the deity of Christ resurrection of Christ sacrificial death
09:16: God had shown to him given to him the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone and that was at the beginning the outset of his
09:30: Christian life and Paul is saying to Timothy you know the glory of it is that I have kept this message
09:39: I have adhered to that great body of doctrine despite all the temptations the opposition of Jews and Gentiles false teaching in the professing church the wiles of the devil despite the day to day costliness of my commitment to evangelizing this truth
09:59: I have kept the faith I maintain this orthodoxy you know it seems to me that we are terribly inclined to take this particular kind of perseverance for granted and to assume to ourselves that the very last thing we shall lose is our theology that whatever is in danger that's not in danger and that we say to ourselves constantly ah there's the peril of a dead orthodoxy there's the peril of non evangelizing of an unconcerned adherence to Christian truth and of course there is but the
10:42: Apostle is saying equally there is the constant peril that we shall lose the doctrine that we shall lose our theological bearings and that we shall err from the truth and that peril stands constantly before the
11:02: Christian professing church and in one generation the whole body of Christians can depart from the norm of the doctrine given to us in the word of God and similarly many a man many an apparent orthodox man many a competent theologian many an esteemed preacher of the gospel can fall into this particular trap let me give you just two illustrations
11:32: Professor A .B. Bruce a great book the training of the twelve a magnificent study of how our
11:41: Lord instructed the twelve disciples how he trained them for his own particular our own particular apostolic ministry a book of some six hundred pages without deviation from the norm of Christian truth it is superbly orthodox superbly devotional it's a deeply inspirational book of abiding value for every child of God yet within years only a few years that man had totally abandoned fundamental
12:17: New Testament emphases and he dies in the negation of the divinity of his
12:24: Lord he dies in the belief that prayer is a futility he dies entirely adrift from Christian truth that's one and then there's another book more recently called fundamentalism a sustained prejudicial jaundiced attack on the authority of the
12:49: Bible and on evangelicalism the man who writes this book is a man who was a member of an evangelical
12:56: Christian union as a student but now he is only contempt for the gospel he once proclaimed so I believe it's a calamity for any congregation to assume that it's adherence to orthodoxy is guaranteed and for any
13:17: Christian in the world of this present moment to imagine that no matter how he lives and how casual his attitude to the truth may be at least his orthodoxy is secure and we under secure pressure from the media from the opposition of the intellectuals of our day under constant pressure from professing churches of our day theologians of our day to abandon the great cardinal verities of the
13:50: New Testament gospel we have to say to ourselves let's hold on to this great hope let's propose to ourselves a great objective we're going to keep the faith we're going to keep the doctrines and you notice what it says keep it it says this is something to be done it's not something automatic it's not something instinctive hold to it, guard it, adhere to it, keep it, deliberately, consciously, without effort c h r i s a r n z e n gmail .com
14:56: give us your first name at least your city and state of residence and your country of residence if you live outside the
15:03: USA please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter don't go away we'll be right back with Jeff Thomas god willing right after these messages hi i'm phil johnson host and executive director of grace to you the media ministry of john macarthur i hope you plan to join me and chris arnzen host of iron sharpens iron radio for the g3 conference in atlanta georgia thursday september 30th through saturday october 2nd my theme this year is christ is supreme over all my friend chris arnzen and i will be joined by several of our other friends including fody baucom, justin peters, daryl bernard harrison, virgil walker, and james white more than 20 other speakers will be joining us and the lineup this year includes my pastor john macarthur for details visit g3conference .com
16:09: that's g3conference .com chris arnzen and i hope to see you september 30th through october 2nd at g3 2021 this is phil johnson reminding you that christ is supreme over all 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 lebenick 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 the nasb is my bible of choice i'm pastor ryan bilan of central iceland community church in central iceland 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 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
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22:44: This is Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.
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23:12: Lord Jesus Christ and of course the end of which we strive is the glory of God.
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23:50: This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our
23:55: Sovereign Lord God Savior and King Jesus Christ today and always.
24:05: Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music of Jesus Christ without his love, without the fellowship of the
28:22: Holy Spirit to help you, you cry to God, what shall I render to you,
28:28: Lord? And then at the end you can say, yes,
28:36: I've kept the pledge to serve you. I've borne your name, I've suffered for it.
28:42: Now then, can you say that? No turning back, I've given my body a living sacrifice as my reasonable service, that's the pledge, that his life would be placed on the altar and that his life would become a great act of devotion and sacrifice and service and praise to the
29:08: God of whom the apostle says, he loved me and gave himself for me. And I say, love so amazing, so divine, divines my soul, my life, my all.
29:20: I'm gonna place myself on the altar. I'm going to spend and be spent. I've kept the pledge,
29:29: I've kept the doctrines, I've kept the commitment and that's my objective.
29:39: And so then, how would you keep the faith? Well, by the grace of the
29:48: God who has saved you, that God will keep you. You're thinking perhaps, all right,
29:57: I'm not worthy to become a Christian. I don't think I'll continue as a Christian, I'll fall away.
30:03: But the God who's convicted you and given you a yearning, longing that you could know him, the
30:14: God who's begun the great process of your believing in him, that God will give you the habit and the attitude of daily trusting in him of daily picking yourself up when you have fallen seven times in that day.
30:41: And you'll go back and you'll say, sorry, Lord, how I need your mercy. And if I stand then this afternoon in the faith, if I stand in the grasp of a love that will not let me go, in the grasp of God's invincible determination to save me,
31:03: I've got to look at his promise. He is able to keep that which
31:10: I've committed unto him against that day. He can hold me fast, for the
31:18: Savior loves me so. He will hold me. He can sustain. He can preserve.
31:25: He can nourish. He will hold me. No man can pluck me out of his hand.
31:32: He will give me patience. He will give me a goingness, a stamina, an endurance.
31:40: He'll give me that, the wherewithal to keep the faith, to work in me the willing and the doing.
31:49: It's a great New Testament emphasis, isn't it? It's valid, it's important.
31:56: It's maybe not the most important thing, but that's the goal, to keep the faith.
32:07: And then you see in these great words of the apostle, how we reach that goal.
32:16: And you know how we reach it? We reach it by fighting. I have fought a good fight.
32:27: And I think it's, I have fought the good fight, the one that every
32:37: Christian must fight. It's the good fight. It's before every Christian in the world today.
32:44: It's absolutely imperative and mandatory for every believer that the only road there is to God is the road of the good fight.
32:56: It's inevitable. It's unavoidable for every child of God. I have fought the good fight.
33:04: How do we reach the goal then of keeping the faith? By fighting. And it's that all the way in the beginning as a young man, as a teenager.
33:16: In my early years, in the middle period, the middle of the river is always the deepest.
33:26: And then in old age, there's always opposition. There's always difficulty. And that's the objective that is clear and dear to us.
33:39: So do you rise each day and say, I've got to keep the faith today?
33:48: Do you see that clearly every day? I must keep the pledge today.
33:56: Remember all the difficulties that lie between you and keeping that pledge.
34:04: The wiles of the devil. What a cruel beast he is. Principalities and powers.
34:11: Oh, how relentless they are. A roaring lion makes you afraid. The hater of this world.
34:18: The way that society today organizes itself for the discomfort and the embarrassment of Christian belief.
34:28: How it constantly applies pressure to us to apostatize.
34:34: The fight. That's one aspect of it. But, ah, there's a more subtle fight.
34:43: With ourselves, with indwelling sin. The apostles are saying we can only keep this faith if we fight, if we realize from the very beginning that there are enemies, that there are obstacles.
35:00: There are the most tremendous difficulties. The objective ones are on Satan's side in the world around us.
35:08: The subjective ones are in our own hearts. In our own temperaments.
35:15: In our own personalities. In the power of remaining indwelling sin.
35:22: In all the stress, in all the burdens that our faith is subject to.
35:27: I'm saying, remember this, dear young people. Remember this, sisters.
35:34: Remember, in your frailty, you've still got to fight. You've got to make an effort.
35:42: You've got to discipline yourselves. You've got to deny yourselves.
35:47: You've got to put on all the armor of God. You've got to watch and pray and work and mortify.
35:57: You have to agonize and wrestle and strain towards this particular call.
36:05: This one thing I do, I press on toward the mark. Well, now, maybe you're not used to being challenged.
36:19: Maybe you don't see the Christian life in these terms.
36:26: Here's this great doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and those who don't understand it thoroughly and aren't controlled by the grace of which the doctrine is an embodiment.
36:41: They can rest it to their own destruction. We can fall into the trap into which so many fall at this present time of a quietist, of a pacifist concept of sanctification.
36:55: And so, if I get the second blessing, if I get Holy Spirit baptism, if I just open my heart and let the
37:02: Lord in, all of a sudden, I'm holy. I say to you, watch, pray, fight, agonize.
37:15: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We have to purify ourselves.
37:23: We have to do sin to the death. We have to mortify and painfully all the shortcomings, all the openness to certain sins that easily beset us.
37:40: And we have to be aware of them and don't give them an inch, don't feed them any tidbits at all.
37:50: That is our great calling as Christians to beware of a failure to fight, a failure to be in earnest,
38:05: Chris. I think that's one of the great dangers facing contemporary
38:12: Christians who are being challenged with the armor of God and their good fight of faith.
38:20: Well, all of that is so gloriously true. And how do we respond to those who wrongly think that what you are saying is inconsistent with the glorious truths of the
38:37: Reformed faith? They will say that this sounds more like perhaps an
38:45: Arminian understanding, and not that an Arminian would believe in perseverance and preservation of the saints, of course, but an
38:51: Arminian would believe that we must keep fighting and pressing on in order to maintain our salvation and that we could really at any given moment lose our salvation according to them.
39:07: How do we respond to those who think that we can never logically and consistently can maintain these truths that you are discussing without really teaching
39:22: Arminianism, even if unconsciously? Well, then, you know, the first 11 chapters of Romans are a great summary of all that God has done, a great summary of grace, of the achievements of the
39:41: Lord Jesus Christ, and our union with him, and our status now in Christ, our deliverance from condemnation, and the fact that nothing is going to separate us from the love of God, and that long list of enemies that will fight us.
40:06: We've got that, haven't we, there. And then, come chapter 12,
40:14: I beseech you, and as a note of concern for the right response to this, present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
40:27: This is your spiritual worship, your reasonable service. Don't be conformed to the world.
40:33: And then, right through that wonderful 12th chapter of Romans where he summarizes the great principles of the law of God and applies it to the believer all the time, it is grace, then, that creates the response of a fight for holiness, of a fight to sustain conformity to God and live for the
41:04: Lord Jesus. It only comes by effort, sanctified effort, without your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
41:21: God that's working in you to do and will. So you're saying, God, do it in me.
41:28: Help me. May your will be done in my life. I pray for that every day, that I may from henceforth be a good wrestler, a good soldier, a good servant whose eyes are on the face of his master who weeps for an eyeball to touch, a frown to appear, a smile of pleasure, and I'm responding all the time and looking to him.
42:00: That's the fight to keep our eyes upon Jesus. Amen, and there are many
42:10: Christians, I think it's very possible, that the majority of professing evangelicals today who are outside of Reformed Christianity, especially in the 21st century, where fewer and farther between do we have the full -blown legalistic
42:33: Arminian churches, even though that is a horrible false doctrine when you become oppressively legalistic.
42:44: But it's equally dangerous and damning to believe in easy believism and cheap grace.
42:52: This should really be a warning, shouldn't it, to those that think they can skate by through life without repenting, without following Christ, without obeying
43:03: Christ, and thinking because of a flippant false version of once saved, always saved, that they need not even look for fruit in their life.
43:15: They need not even ever examine themselves because they said a prayer when they were eight years old at Bible camp.
43:22: I mean, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's, you know, there was a great preacher in Cambridge called
43:29: Charles Simeon in the early 19th century, a wonderful man of God.
43:36: And he used to have, hanging in his church, Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, he used to have a portrait of Henry Martin.
43:48: And once I preached at the carol service of the Christian Union of Cambridge University, it was held in that church, and I went into the, and there, it was still hanging
43:59: Henry Martin who translated the scriptures into Farsi and suffered so much and died a young man out there.
44:10: And Charles Simeon had that portrait up, one of his heroes. And he used to say, every time
44:17: I look into that face, it says to me, do not trifle, do not trifle.
44:28: There's a war on, and it's a war unto death, and our enemy is merciless.
44:37: And his great aim is to take us into the pit where he and his demons are.
44:45: There's a war in my soul as well with remaining sin, and it's a war for the lordship of my soul.
44:56: Now, I hope that that's not being melodramatic, but it's poignantly true and relevant.
45:06: You know, I have nothing to offer to men and women, except Jesus Christ, our teacher, the lamb of God, and our shepherd king.
45:18: That's all I have. And if they say they're not interested in that, I can't say, well, maybe I've got other things to offer you.
45:27: All I can offer you is him, and then the life of following him is blood, sweat, toil, and tears, to rest in the whole armor of God, each piece putting on with care and standing, standing strong, standing erect, unashamed of the gospel, withstanding all that oppose whatsoever things are true and lovely and of good report, and having done all to stand, stand therefore.
46:09: And that's the only way the church can keep the faith. If it closes its ranks and say, these truths, we confess them.
46:19: They're in our confessions. We've been given a trust from the lord to keep, and we're striving together for the faith of the gospel.
46:30: And that's the way of Christian unity and fellowship I'm not going to be put to sleep and all of a sudden awakened at the end of the journey, having kept the faith,
46:45: I'm not gonna lie on a bed of clouds and transported, and then born up on eagles, angels wings over the sufferings of this present time.
47:00: Every inch, I've got to walk on this road. I've got to fight,
47:06: I've got to strive. I've got to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints until I reach the goal of keeping the faith.
47:16: So he says, I've kept the faith and I've kept the faith by fighting.
47:24: So that's the great picture, Chris, that we have here. Yes, if we're not fighting, that means we've already surrendered to the evil one.
47:34: Am I right? Yeah, we're on the canvas and the referee is counting near to 10.
47:43: We've got to get up. We've got to go back and sled it out with our enemy. Yes, we've got to do that.
47:52: By the way, do you remember, he was quite popular here in the United States.
47:58: I don't know about the United Kingdom, but do you remember the late Dr. D. James Kennedy?
48:04: Oh, yes, yes, that's right. Yeah, he had a very powerful message once that's engraved in my mind.
48:15: He was telling the story of Alexander the Great riding his horse through an area where many lives were lost during a battle.
48:30: And he was surveying the casualties and so on.
48:36: And he heard the sound of a man whimpering and crying and he rode his horse into a cave and found a young soldier hiding behind a rock.
48:52: And he had been hiding in there, avoiding being involved in the battle that was raging on.
49:02: And Alexander the Great was very upset with this young soldier. And he said, soldier, what is your name?
49:08: And the young man said, Alexander. So in other words, his name is Alexander, just like Alexander the
49:14: Great. And Alexander the Great became infuriated. And he said, soldier, change your conduct or change your name.
49:24: Good. And then he directed it at the listener and the viewer, Christian, change your conduct or change your name.
49:33: Amen, that is so true. You know, we need this savior.
49:41: We need this savior, not just to make a decision to follow him, but we need his companionship.
49:50: We need his saving power day by day. We need to be calling on him.
49:57: And I went to a barbershop in Oklahoma a couple of years ago and I needed a haircut.
50:08: And my friend said to me, oh, I've often spoken to this barber.
50:14: He said, I've often talked to him. He's a Roman Catholic, but he never goes to church. All right,
50:20: I said, oh, I'll see what word I can give him. So I sat in the chair and we chatted.
50:27: And I said to him, you know a friend of mine called Taylor Smith, he went to a barbershop and the barber was talking to him.
50:39: And finally Taylor Smith said, are you a religious man? And Taylor Smith said, and the barber said, well,
50:50: I don't suppose you can call me religious, but I always do my best.
50:57: And really, I can't think that God can ever ask any more of me than, did you do your best?
51:10: So he finished cutting his hair and he got up to go and he paid him and said, oh, thank you for the haircut.
51:17: You know, you can do with a bit of a haircut, can't you? And the barber said, oh,
51:23: I've been so busy, you know. Yeah, I can't, sit down,
51:28: Taylor Smith said, I'll cut your hair for you. He said, oh, no, you couldn't cut my hair.
51:35: Yes, I will, I'll do my best, Taylor Smith said. And he said, yeah, but your best isn't good enough for me.
51:47: As the barber here, no, Taylor Smith said to him, and your best isn't good enough for God.
51:59: Amen. That's why we need a savior, Chris, isn't it?
52:05: Amen, in fact, we have to go right to our midway break right now, but we'll pick up right where you left off there.
52:11: That's why we need a savior. If anybody has questions for our guest,
52:17: Jeff Thomas, you can send them to chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.
52:25: Please give us your first name at least, your city and state and your country of residence. And please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
52:33: And folks, this is the longer than normal break, so please be patient with us. Grace Life Radio, 90 .1
52:40: FM in Lake City, Florida requires of us a longer break in the middle of the show because the
52:45: FCC requires of them to air public service announcements and other local things to localize
52:53: Iron Trump and Zion Radio geographically to Lake City, Florida. And while they air their own local announcements, we air our globally heard commercials.
53:02: So please use this time wisely. Write down as much of the information as you can provided by our advertisers so that you can more frequently and successfully respond to them, whether it's purchasing their products, using their services, visiting their churches, supporting their parachurch organizations, or even if you can't do those, even at the very least, please respond to our advertisers and thank them for sponsoring this show because that should go a long way in making them happy, knowing that their money is well spent, that they are blessing people's lives.
53:35: Because we actually depend positively, absolutely depend on the advertisers to exist because we need the finances that come in through their ad campaigns.
53:47: So please try to respond to our advertisers as much as possible. And also, send in questions to Jeff Thomas at chrisarnson at gmail .com.
53:55: We'll be right back after these messages with more of Jeff Thomas. ♪
54:02: Better if you wish me luck one another ♪ ♪ As we're walking in the light ♪
54:10: Hello, dear ones. My name is Justin Peters and my friend, Chris Arnson, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and I are frequently blessed to share great times of fellowship with one another at conferences all over the
54:22: United States. We'll both be enjoying more fellowship together at the G3 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday, September 30th through Saturday, October the 2nd on the theme,
54:35: Christ is Supreme Over All. I'll be speaking there along with over 20 other speakers, including
54:41: John MacArthur, Phil Johnson, Vody Balkam, Joel Beakey, and James White.
54:47: For details, visit g3conference .com. That's G, the number three, conference .com.
54:55: Please join Chris Arnson and me September 30th through October the 2nd at G3 2021.
55:03: This is Justin Peters reminding you that Christ is supreme over all. ♪ Fellowshiping with the family ♪ ♪♪
55:25: When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the
55:30: New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the
55:39: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the
55:44: NASB. I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President and Professor of Systematic and Homiletical Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylor, South Carolina.
55:55: And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck White of the
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56:36: And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York.
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57:16: Anchored in Truth Ministries is the mission arm of Grace Like Church of the Shoals. Based in Alabama, it supports missionaries in over 13 countries around the world.
57:31: Anchored in Truth is in partnership with 36 church plants, as well as radio stations, theological seminaries, and various programs for unreached.
57:50: It's used Anchored in Truth in so many different contexts globally, as well as locally.
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58:23: New York pharmacies, Lee's Drugs of Floral Park, Long Beach Chemists, and Prescription Center of Long Island in Hempstead.
58:32: Bhanu Gadi earned a doctorate in pharmacy degree and is very knowledgeable on the current coronavirus pandemic.
58:40: Please contact Dr. Gadi so he and his team and his expert staff can give you proper guidance amid all the contradictory confusion we are all hearing in the media.
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59:24: In Psalm 139, verse 14, the psalmist offers praise to the Lord like this.
59:29: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made and wondrous are your works that my soul knows very well.
59:36: He saw God's goodness and mercy, kindness, and the beauty in what
59:42: God has designed and he has erupted into praise. In any crisis or problem, brothers and sisters, our only fallback position is to trust
59:51: God's design. And once we do, there is nothing for us to do but to erupt in praise to him.
59:58: When the whole world is searching for a solution, God in his infinite mercy has given us what we need to address this illness, which can be very serious.
01:00:08: Such is the beauty of his design. Knowing that design, how can we not erupt in praise to our great
01:00:14: God like the psalmist did? May God bless you and give all of us wisdom to see greater things in his design.
01:00:21: Thank you. Hello, my name is
01:00:30: Anthony Uvinio and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and also the host of the reformrookie .com
01:00:38: website. I want you to know that if you enjoy listening to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio show like I do, you can now find it on the
01:00:45: Apple's iTunes app by typing Iron Sharpens Iron radio in the search bar. You no longer have to worry about missing a show or a special guest because you're in your car or still at work.
01:00:55: Just subscribe on the iTunes app and listen to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio show at any time, day or night.
01:01:02: Please be sure to also give it a good review and pass it along to anyone who would benefit from the teaching and the many solidly reformed guests that Chris Arnson has on the show.
01:01:11: Truth is so hard to come by these days, so don't waste your time with fluff or fake news. Subscribe to the
01:01:17: Iron Sharpens Iron radio podcast right now. And while you're at it, you can also sign up for the reformrookie .com
01:01:23: podcast and visit our website and the YouTube page. We are dedicated to teaching Christian theology from a reformed
01:01:30: Baptist perspective to beginners in the faith as well as seasoned believers. From Keach's Catechism and the
01:01:36: Doctrines of Grace to the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Leviticus, the Reform Rookie podcast and YouTube channel is sure to have something to offer everyone seeking biblical truth.
01:01:46: And finally, if you're looking to worship in a reformed church that holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, please join us at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, New York.
01:01:57: Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Avino, and thanks for listening. Hi, I'm James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.
01:02:08: If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough, you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity.
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01:05:19: Then look no further than my new book, Health for All of Life, a medical manifesto of hope and healing for the nations.
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01:05:32: If 2020 has proven anything, it's that big pharma, big tech, and big government knows nothing about how to treat people naturally without poisoning them with synthetic drugs and experimental vaccines.
01:05:43: But what if God has given us a better way? What if we can take the Christian worldview found in the Bible and apply it to health and wellness?
01:05:49: My book, Health for All of Life, does just that. You can find this exciting new book on Amazon. Pick up a copy for yourself and for your friends and family.
01:05:57: Give the gift of health and don't be a dead end to truth. Hi, I'm Buzz Taylor.
01:06:06: Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio has had a long -time partnership with our friends at CVBBS, which stands for Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
01:06:15: They specialize in supplying Reformed and Puritan books and Bibles at discount prices that make them affordable for everyone.
01:06:23: CVBBS has been a family -owned book service since 1987, operating out of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
01:06:29: They seek to bring you the best available Christian books and Bibles at the best possible prices.
01:06:35: Unlike other book sites, they make no effort to provide every book that is available or popular because, frankly, much of what is being printed is not worth your time.
01:06:44: That means you can get to the good stuff faster. It also means you don't have to worry about being assaulted by the pornographic, heretical, and otherwise faith -insulting materials promoted by the secular book vendors.
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01:07:10: Or you can order by phone at 1 -800 -656 -0231.
01:07:17: That's 1 -800 -656 -0231. Please let our friends at CVBBS know that you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
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01:07:54: Our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on Long Island, New York by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ.
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01:08:39: That's l -i -y -f -c .org. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,
01:08:53: Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted.
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01:09:13: Prince of Preachers to heart. The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future, and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.
01:09:26: Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,
01:09:31: Christ -exalting books for all ages. We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com.
01:09:39: That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.
01:09:48: Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. And don't forget folks, solid -ground -books .com
01:09:56: is a vital, a premier, a primary advertiser on this program.
01:10:01: We need their continued support to exist. So please visit solid -ground -books .com
01:10:09: frequently and purchase generously. And always let them know that you heard about them from Chris Aronson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
01:10:16: And I want to thank all of you who have been doing that. Mike Gaydosh, the founder of solid -ground -books .com
01:10:22: has been so thrilled just to see a growing number of people who have been discovering and ordering books from him and many books for that matter.
01:10:34: And he has just been so blessed by his advertising relationship with Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
01:10:40: So please continue to make all of your gift -giving needs to make your very first stop for all your gift -giving needs at solid -ground -books .com.
01:10:53: And also don't forget solid -ground -books .com when you're replenishing your own library and getting books for your own growth as a
01:11:01: Christian in self -edification. So that's solid -ground -books .com. Before I return to my guest,
01:11:07: Jeff Thomas, we just have some important announcements to make. First of all, mark your calendars for next
01:11:14: Tuesday. That will be the 13th of April. I've got
01:11:19: Dr. Stephen J. Nichols joining me again for the two -hour program.
01:11:26: He is the president of Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Florida, the college founded by the late
01:11:31: R .C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries. And Dr. Nichols has written a new biography of R .C.
01:11:39: Sproul. It's called R .C. Sproul, A Life. And we are going to be discussing that autobiography this
01:11:46: Tuesday. And, of course, Iron Children's Iron Radio is on every day, Monday through Friday. So try to tune in every day whenever possible.
01:11:54: Also, folks, I still do not have any update on Vodie Baucom.
01:12:01: Vodie Baucom, who you may be familiar with, he is one of the most profound and powerful and needed voices in the body of Christ today.
01:12:11: He especially has been focusing lately on his opposition to critical race theory and the woke movement.
01:12:20: Vodie Baucom is a black brother in Christ, and I only mention that because he is a strong voice against this new form of racism, which is an anti -white racism, a bigotry against white heterosexual males, basically.
01:12:38: And he has just written a book called Fault Lines, which you've got to get your hands on.
01:12:43: But Vodie required quadruple bypass surgery on Monday, and he is in a very critical stage of recovery.
01:12:54: So please continue to pray for him that he is discharged from that hospital with flying colors, with a clean bill of health, and a strong new outlook on his life physically after this trial that he's been through.
01:13:12: And I look forward to giving you more good news, God willing, as I hear it.
01:13:18: Also, folks, if you love this show and you don't want it to disappear from the airwaves, please go to iantropanzionradio .com,
01:13:24: click Support, then click Click to Donate Now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion.
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01:13:45: Support at iantropanzionradio .com. And if you want to advertise with us, as long as whatever it is you're promoting is compatible with what we believe here, you don't have to believe identically with me, but you need to be promoting something that's compatible with what we believe, then please send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com,
01:14:03: chrisarnson at gmail .com, and put I Need a Church in the subject line. Please don't siphon money away from your regular giving that you're accustomed to to your local church where you are a member in order to give to Iantropanzionradio.
01:14:17: Please don't do that. In other words, don't punish your church financially by blessing less financially. Also, if you are really struggling to survive, don't put your family in financial jeopardy or peril by giving to Iantropanzionradio at this point.
01:14:32: Those two things are commands of God in Scripture to provide for your church and your family. Providing for my radio show, obviously, is not a command of God in Scripture, but if you are blessed financially above and beyond your ability to obey those two commands, you have extra money for recreational purposes, for frivolous purposes, money collecting interest in the bank.
01:14:54: Please use a portion of that money by helping us to remain on the air by going to Iantropanzionradio .com,
01:15:02: click support, then click click to donate now. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts who have been providing these wonderful gifts, these urgently needed gifts, and I can never stop thanking
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01:15:30: We really need your help. That's Iantropanzionradio .com, click support, then click click to donate now.
01:15:36: And lastly, if you are not a member of a local Bible -believing church, no matter where you live on the planet Earth, I may be able to help you find a church near you.
01:15:45: I have helped many people all over the globe find churches, sometimes just within a few minutes of where they live.
01:15:53: They've been passing these churches every day and they didn't even know that they were biblically sound or they didn't even know the churches existed.
01:16:00: I've been able to help quite a number of people spanning the globe find churches, and I could help you, possibly,
01:16:07: God willing. So if you are in that predicament, you don't have a good, solid, biblically faithful church near you that you're aware of, send me an email no matter where you live to chrisarnson at gmail .com,
01:16:19: chrisarnson at gmail .com, and put I need a church in the subject line. That's also the email address where you could send in a question to our guest today,
01:16:28: Jeff Thomas. And the email address again is chrisarnson at gmail .com,
01:16:35: chrisarnson at gmail .com, and Jeff, right before the break, you told the story of the barber whose customer offered to cut the barber's hair, and the barber informed his customer, well, you just won't do good enough, and the customer turned the barber's own words on him and said, well, you will never do good enough to please
01:16:58: God either. And that was in response to the barber when he asked the barber if he was a religious man.
01:17:05: That's right. He said that I do the best I can was the barber's response. But if you could, pick up where you left off.
01:17:12: Yeah. Let me... Yeah, it'll fit into the whole thing.
01:17:21: I've kept the faith, and I've done that, and now he says
01:17:30: I've finished the race. I've fought the good fight. I've kept the faith.
01:17:38: I've finished the race. And I'm saying we need a savior to finish the race.
01:17:44: We do. You know the power Olympics where you have handicapped people, and wonderfully courageous, strong people.
01:17:57: You have three or four blind men running 100 yards, 100 meters.
01:18:07: How do they do it? Well, each of them has a partner who is an even faster runner, and he's there running with him.
01:18:19: However long the race is, he's keeping him straight.
01:18:24: He's keeping him getting off the track. He's there saying, come on, yes, you can hear him breathing.
01:18:34: Now, we've got to finish the race. And the only way we can keep the faith is by fighting the good faith, fight, and finishing the race.
01:18:50: And again, there is this emphasis on effort, because the man who is the partner of the blind runner, he runs instead of him.
01:19:02: He runs alongside him. He runs in solidarity with him.
01:19:07: Every race needs effort. No man is carried in a race. He runs with a stitch.
01:19:15: He runs with blisters. He runs fighting for breath. And this course that we're taking in this race of ours is called a narrow way.
01:19:31: And sometimes it goes through the valley of the shadow of death. And sometimes it plunges right into the sufferings of this present time, into places where we can only walk, and there's darkness and there's no light.
01:19:46: And then there are lines in the way. And then there's the problem of our own fitness.
01:19:53: I'm not fit. I'm running this race with my heart and my lungs bursting.
01:20:00: And I'm saying to myself, oh, wretched man that I am. I'm not fit. I'm not going to finish this race.
01:20:07: And sometimes it goes up and up and up over a mountain. And it goes over through different kinds of terror and appalling obstacles.
01:20:25: And sometimes you run through the waters and the deeps. And there are points on the course where I run through the fire.
01:20:36: And I've got a load. And I'm bearing a burden of obligations and responsibilities.
01:20:44: And there are weaker people than me, and I am carrying their burdens too.
01:20:50: Who is sufficient for these things? Sometimes I've got a thorn in the flesh.
01:20:57: And then the thorn is in my foot. Every time my foot goes down, I feel the pain.
01:21:03: I feel the agony. And sometimes that's the way all the trials and the sufferings.
01:21:11: And I'm running this terrible course, the lion. And I'm out of condition. And what do
01:21:18: I need? Oh, I need someone alongside me to say, come on, you can do it.
01:21:23: Keep going. I'll help you. I'll strengthen you. I'll be with you.
01:21:28: You're not alone. You've got to finish the course. You've got to finish the course.
01:21:35: And the Lord is there. He's running with me. He's refreshing me.
01:21:42: He's always by my side. I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
01:21:50: Like the marathon runners. You see them, don't you? Getting cups of water or getting glucose to help them to keep going.
01:21:58: They pick it up and they swallow it down. And they throw the cup away. And on they run.
01:22:04: Well, the Lord is beside me. My shepherd is there. In the valley of the shadow
01:22:11: I will not fear. Because you're with me. There are great days when the road is easy.
01:22:18: Oh, it is straight. And there's a spring in my step.
01:22:24: And the shepherd leads me beside still waters. And through green pastures.
01:22:32: And there are days when my soul makes merry. And I rejoice in the
01:22:37: Lord easily. And the sun shines. And the good favor of Almighty God is upon me.
01:22:48: And then I have to bear the endurance, the stamina.
01:22:55: And I've got to keep on going. Keep on going.
01:23:01: I've got to keep on going. It's the only way. I've got to fight.
01:23:09: I've got to run. I've got to stagger and strive and plod.
01:23:16: But as William Carey said, never returning from India where he ministered and died.
01:23:23: He said, I'm good at plodding. Disciplined.
01:23:29: Self -denying. Watching. Mortifying. Unless you do these things, you'll never reach the goal.
01:23:42: Well, what is it like, this great end? What is
01:23:48: Paul's marvelous vision of the end of this race? Henceforth, what's
01:23:57: Paul's view of the future? My future. Your future, if you are a Christian.
01:24:03: If you're in the race, if you're keeping the faith. There's a crown.
01:24:10: Let's see if there are any questions, and then I want to talk to you a little bit about this crown that God has to give to us.
01:24:18: What do you say, Chris? Yeah, sure. We have an anonymous listener who wants to know, while we should be examining ourselves regularly, isn't it a danger to become guilty of what is called morbid introspection, where we get totally consumed and preoccupied by wondering if we are living a godly enough life to wonder if we are truly of his elect, and we could become very useless to everyone around us while we are constantly looking inward.
01:24:52: I know that we have to test our election to see if it is sure, but at the same time, should we not be enjoying this life that God has provided for us and looking towards the needs of others rather than being too morbidly introspective?
01:25:11: Of course, you're absolutely right there. Yes, no sensible pastor wants a congregation of morbidly introspective people filling the pews, looking gloom, and beating their breasts and saying, oh,
01:25:32: I don't know. I don't know if I'm a Christian. I don't know. And all the time, you have to help doubters, don't you?
01:25:44: You have to encourage them in every way, and I do that.
01:25:51: I say to them, if your faith is as thin as a spider's thread, if it is lodged in Christ, it's not going to break.
01:26:03: It will take you across the bottomless pit. It will take you across the lake of fire.
01:26:10: It will present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
01:26:17: I encourage them to a great Savior.
01:26:23: It's not great faith. It's spider's thin thread of faith, as long as it is lodged in Christ.
01:26:34: We're saved by Christ through faith. I want to say, I don't want morbid introspective people.
01:26:44: They're not going to be testifying to the gospel because they don't know if they have the gospel yet.
01:26:51: You know, there is a great word which came to me once, and I have found it very helpful in dealing with such people.
01:27:08: I say to them, you don't know, you're not certain, if you have
01:27:21: Christ. Are you saying that, yes, yes, I'm not certain whether I have
01:27:27: Christ. But can you say this, that I know this, that if I had
01:27:34: Him, I'd be safe. Can you say that? I don't know if I had
01:27:41: Him, but oh, I know this, if I had Him, I'd be safe. Do you know, only a
01:27:48: Christian thinks like that. You are a Christian, because you are saying, you know, you know, if you had the
01:28:01: Savior, you would be safe. So, there are extremes that we've got to avoid, of course.
01:28:11: One extreme is to ignore self -examination. You said in your question that you know you've got to examine yourself.
01:28:20: Every time we take the Lord's Supper, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup.
01:28:27: You know it's part of the duty. You say, Lord, I've failed you again in many ways.
01:28:33: At the end of every day, I've got to say, sorry, Lord, about not using my time well, and I'm sorry
01:28:41: I let you down. You've got to say that every day.
01:28:46: But then, you've got to say, grace abounds to the chief of sinners, and I'm saved and kept by that grace.
01:28:58: Sometimes I don't enjoy all the benefits of it, but the benefits are there if I'm looking unto
01:29:10: Jesus. Amen.
01:29:15: Amen. How do we respond, though, if somebody that we know is constantly doubting their salvation?
01:29:30: Obviously, there are no cookie -cutter situations. This person's life may be revealing.
01:29:37: Even the constant doubt may be, not always, but may be revealing that the person isn't saved.
01:29:44: That's true. Should we not be bold enough and love this person enough to tell them, well, perhaps you're not, and let's discuss this.
01:29:55: Let's get on our knees and pray, and let's open up the Bible and discuss what is going on.
01:30:00: You talked about Dr. Kennedy and what we call the question that he raised, that when you're at the door and you're talking to a person and you say to him that question, when
01:30:19: God says to you, why should I let you into my heaven? What answer do you give?
01:30:28: And if you say, well, because of Jesus, then that is the all -sufficient answer, because of him, because of his sinless life of righteousness, for me, because of his atoning death on the cross, for me, because he whispers my worthless name in the ears of his
01:30:55: Father in heaven and ever lives to pray for me. That's why
01:31:00: I want to be with my Savior. Why should
01:31:06: I let you in? Because he gave his life for me. He lives for me.
01:31:12: He prays for me. And so, but if you say, well, because I've lived a good life before, because I've always done my best.
01:31:21: Or if you say, well, I've got strong faith. Did your faith die for you?
01:31:28: Well, I've repented of my sins. Did your repentance hang on the cross for you? But if their eyes were on Jesus, and that is then one of the ways you're finding out if they've got doubts and unbelief and they're unsure whether they're a
01:31:46: Christian or not, do they understand? Jesus prayed it all, all to him
01:31:52: I owe. The sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it wet as snow.
01:31:59: That's the voice of the Christian who knows that he will be with the
01:32:07: Savior one day because of all that Jesus is and all that he promises to do for those who have repented of their sins and trust in him.
01:32:20: Praise God. And I hope I don't bore my listeners by bringing this up again because I bring it up quite often.
01:32:27: It was such a monumental event in my life. But my mother, back in 1995, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
01:32:36: She was 70 years old. And I was quite terrified, actually, of losing her, not only because I loved her and loved having her be around as a part of my life here on earth, but I was not quite sure about where she stood in relationship to saving faith in Christ.
01:32:59: She was a very godly woman. She was a very humble woman, a selfless woman, and a very religious woman her whole life.
01:33:08: But she was also, being a Roman Catholic, very caught up in superstition and idolatry, prayer to saints and their images.
01:33:19: And while she was in the hospital, there was a miraculous transformation that took place.
01:33:27: And I asked my mother, Do you believe you're going to heaven? And she said,
01:33:34: Yes. And I said, Why? And she said, Because of Jesus. He died for me.
01:33:40: And I said, Well, Mom, you've been a wonderful woman, a wonderful mother, so much so that your children can't even think of anything over which to complain about you.
01:33:52: You've been a very selfless and giving and generous woman. You have always put others before yourself.
01:34:00: You've also been very religious. Do you believe any of that is helping you get into heaven? And she said, No. And I said,
01:34:07: Why is that? And she said, Well, that would be like that story in the Bible of the
01:34:12: Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. And the Pharisee was bragging about all these wonderful things he did and things that he did not do that were evil.
01:34:24: And he pointed to the tax collector as being the one that was a wretched sinner.
01:34:32: And the tax collector beat his breast and bowed his head and said that, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
01:34:39: And Jesus said that the tax collector was the one that was saved. And she paused and she said,
01:34:46: Chris, I'm the tax collector. I almost fell off my chair. And I was just praising
01:34:52: God that she gave me such assurance that she truly understood the gospel.
01:34:59: She was going to heaven. And Peter Jeffrey, who I know you knew, a very good friend of mine, he was visiting the
01:35:06: United States, and he met with her. He met with her for a half hour alone, and he reassured me he believed that she was a born -again believer.
01:35:15: And so when you said, Because of Jesus, when someone is asked if they are saved, if they give that answer, you should be confident.
01:35:25: Surely you should. Surely. You know, like that Dixon said,
01:35:31: I make a bundle of my sins, and I make a bundle of my good works, and I run from them all to find my refuge in Jesus.
01:35:45: Amen. Well, we have to go to our final break. It's going to be shorter than the other breaks. And if anybody has any questions to ask, send them in now, because we're running out of time.
01:35:55: ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. Don't go away. We'll be right back with Jeff Thomas after these messages from our sponsors.
01:36:04: The boys are back in town. The boys are back in town. The boys are back in town.
01:36:10: I'm James White of Alpha Omega Ministries. My friend Chris Arnzen, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and I are headed down to Atlanta, Georgia once again for the
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01:36:27: Christ is Supreme Over All. I'll be joined by over 20 other speakers and musicians to lead in the worship of God through preaching, teaching, and singing, including
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01:36:48: Chris Arnzen and I hope to see you September 30th through October 2nd at G321. This is
01:36:53: James White reminding you that Christ is supreme over all. If you love
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01:37:21: One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnzen is doing is
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01:37:32: Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?
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01:39:08: John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnson and the
01:39:15: Iron Sharpen's Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions while always defending the key doctrines of the
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01:39:36: I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise and yet God has raised
01:39:43: Chris up for just such a time. Knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.
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01:40:07: I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com
01:40:13: where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com I'm Dr.
01:40:25: Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,
01:40:36: Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Coram, Long Island, New York pastored by Rich Jansen and Christopher McDowell.
01:40:43: It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God like the dear saints at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Coram who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in His Holy Word and to enthusiastically proclaim
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01:41:08: I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love as I have.
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01:41:37: Tell the folks at Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island, New York that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron Anchored in Truth Ministries is the mission arm of Grace Life Church of the
01:41:54: Shoals Based in Alabama it supports missionaries in over 13 countries around the world
01:42:04: Anchored in Truth is in partnership with 36 church plants as well as radio stations, theological seminaries and various programs for unreached people groups
01:42:16: With an aim to glorify God and reach the nations with the gospel it is a blessing to see how
01:42:23: God has used Anchored in Truth in so many different contexts globally as well as locally
01:42:31: To find out more about this vital work worldwide visit anchoredintruth .org
01:42:48: This is Pastor Bill Sasser, 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
01:42:59: Iron Sharpens Iron radio financially Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in scripture through the person and work of our
01:43:16: Lord Jesus Christ And of course the end for which we strive is the glory of God 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
01:43:36: Lord's Day in worshipping our God and Savior Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org
01:43:49: That's gracechurchatfranklin .org This is
01:43:54: Pastor Bill Sasser wishing you all the richest blessings of our Sovereign Lord, God, Savior and King Jesus Christ today and always
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01:46:30: 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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01:47:25: Hi, I'm Pastor Bob Walderman and I invite you to come and join us here at Lindbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can be
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01:48:40: Give the gift of health and don't be a dead end to truth Welcome back, Jeff Thomas, if you could provide us some final thoughts that are most important in regard to the climax of life to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith
01:48:59: Yeah, and then, henceforth, well, what is that? You know, today, the
01:49:07: Queen's husband, Prince Philip, died Oh, I didn't know that Two months short of his 100th birthday
01:49:15: Wow Prince Philip has gone So everyone listening knows this is a live broadcast because this is up to the minute
01:49:28: Now, I've never heard Prince Philip say one sympathetic word about the
01:49:35: Christian faith or about Jesus Christ Not one I don't know about his heart
01:49:41: Of course, God knows these things What is the
01:49:49: Apostle's vision at the end? His crown is coming before him
01:49:56: A crown, he says, henceforth When I finish the course, when
01:50:02: I've kept the faith He's going to have the crown of royalty
01:50:07: The diadem of kingship When he comes into the kingdom Not the moment of his adoption
01:50:14: Not the moment when he becomes a prince or a king But of his coronation
01:50:20: When he is openly acknowledged and acquitted And vindicated for all his sufferings
01:50:27: All that he has stirred people up And they've opposed him God will say, well done, good and faithful servant
01:50:35: You are king forever The crown is a crown of righteousness
01:50:43: The righteousness he was hungering and thirsting after And it's given by a righteous judge
01:50:49: And the glory of that A righteous judge giving the crown of righteousness
01:50:55: To an unrighteous man Who cried time and again Oh, wretched man that I am
01:51:03: A righteous God making a sinner a prince Placing him at his right hand
01:51:09: Of that majesty on high Oh, then he says it in another way
01:51:14: Henceforth the time of my departure is at hand And it's the picture of loosing a ship from its moorings
01:51:24: It's a marvellous picture He's like a boat moored by a few ropes
01:51:31: Tied to this world And he says, ah, I'll soon be setting sail
01:51:36: Most of the ropes have been cut off one by one Hardly any remain
01:51:42: And he's in a horrid prison He's undergoing an iniquitous trial
01:51:48: He's going to face the executioner's axe No privacy, no light, no air, no food, no grandeur
01:51:56: No humanity, filth, bestiality, blood Oh, he doesn't see those things
01:52:03: He's casting off the moorings The time of my departure The set time, the favourable time
01:52:10: The tide is set And now is the time The wind is blowing in the right direction
01:52:16: And I'm setting sail for my home port My citizenship is in heaven
01:52:22: That's where I belong This is a foreign country to me, a foreign port
01:52:28: I'm an alien, I'm a stranger I'm desperately homesick I'm longing to cast off the last rope
01:52:35: I'm longing for that The mythical psalm says Then are they glad Because at rest and quiet now they be
01:52:44: So to the haven he then brings Which they desired to see
01:52:52: He can look at a prison, a little window He can look at chains under an uncouth guard
01:52:58: He can look at execution But he can look beyond all that I'll soon be home, he says
01:53:06: I'll see the one who loved me And gave himself for me
01:53:12: There's no attraction for me in this world But now, oh,
01:53:20: I'm delivered from the price The prizes and the applaud
01:53:27: That once seduced me And now I'm going to be with him
01:53:33: Who has prepared a place for me And that's his wonderful hope
01:53:42: And he has no regrets That's the wonderful thing
01:53:47: The time of his departure is at hand And he's not wringing his hands
01:53:54: And saying, oh, I'm so unworthy I'm an unprofitable servant He knew that, he doesn't dwell on it
01:54:01: Because the blood of the lamb And the glory of God's grace Means such things don't matter
01:54:08: His failures, his inconsistencies The days when he was in despondencies
01:54:15: When he made blunders Those days, the Lord's forgiven them all
01:54:22: Why bother dragging them up again? We are moping over the past It paralyzes us
01:54:30: We're looking to the future To the crown
01:54:35: And to casting off the mooring ropes And we are ready to be offered
01:54:41: The last act of execution Is seen as a sacrifice
01:54:47: A specific kind of sacrifice It's a libation I'm ready to be poured out
01:54:53: And if you know the Old Testament Scriptures Then you understand it It's the drink offering
01:54:58: All the sacrifices were accompanied With a drink offering Either water or oil
01:55:06: Poured out beside the altar The drink offering was essential
01:55:11: To the sacrifice, it was the valid It was the last part of the sacrifice
01:55:17: And Paul is saying it's so marvelous There's only the libation left
01:55:23: There's only one thing to be done now Just the drink offering Then it's all over He's saying my life has been a sacrifice
01:55:32: On the altar of God I've been spending and being spent That's what it's been
01:55:38: On the last step The last act My body a living sacrifice
01:55:44: And one more thing to do It's Father into their hands
01:55:50: I commend my spirit There comes a time in the life Of every person
01:55:56: When there's nothing left But to die A time comes into the life
01:56:03: Of every believer And that's all that's left The last final part
01:56:10: We lay down our lives And we die And there's nothing more glorious Than to die in the knowledge
01:56:19: Of our God and Savior Of dying Going to the
01:56:25: God we have known Who has blessed us With goodness and mercy
01:56:31: All our days Nothing more glorious than this As one has served the
01:56:37: Lord In the land of the living So now one will serve him by dying
01:56:43: To a new heavens And a new earth My last act of service
01:56:49: Is to die My last little pact And perhaps for many, many
01:56:54: Christians It is the easiest part of all No fear No darkness
01:57:01: I'm ready to be offered We are ready to be offered I have kept the faith
01:57:10: I've finished the course I've run the race And henceforth
01:57:16: There is laid up for me The crown And my departure
01:57:24: Has come That is the glorious confidence That the
01:57:30: Christian is given Grace to die Grace to be at peace
01:57:37: Grace to look in anticipation To the glory that awaits us
01:57:44: May all of you have it By trusting The living
01:57:49: Savior Day by day Amen Once again, reunited with me when this race is over for myself and I appreciate your words very much today
01:58:27: I want to remind our listeners that if you have if you'd like to find out more about the books that our guest has written you can go to banneroftruth .org
01:58:46: banneroftruth .org and there's quite a number of them that he has written you can also go to heritagebooks .org
01:58:55: for Reformation Heritage Books another publisher who has brought Jeff Thomas' books into print that is heritagebooks .org
01:59:04: but after you make a list of books by Jeff that you'd like to purchase I would ask you please to purchase them at cvbbs .com
01:59:14: who actually sponsor this program you're not going to be hurting Banner of Truth or Reformation Heritage Books at all by purchasing from cvbbs .com
01:59:24: because after all they have to buy them from those two publishers so that's cvbbs .com
01:59:29: Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service and make sure that you mention that you heard about them from Chris Orrins at Iron Truckman's Iron Radio I hope you all have a blessed a safe a joyful a refreshing and Christ -honoring weekend and Lord's Day and I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater