January 31, 2023 Show with Dr. David Whitla on “The Sum of Saving Knowledge”

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Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of Founding Father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer

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George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend

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Jim Thorpe, it's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,

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Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

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

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Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.

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It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions, and now here's your host,

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Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

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Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet

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Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this very last day of January, January 31st, 2023.

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I am thrilled to have on the program a first -time guest today. His name is

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Dr. David G. Whitlaw. He is professor of church history at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Today we are going to be addressing the sum of saving knowledge, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr.

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David Whitlaw. Hi, Chris. It's good to be with you this afternoon. First of all, before we get into your salvation testimony, which we always have first -time guests provide,

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I would love to hear about Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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I'm very familiar with this fine institution, but there is the possibility that some of our listeners are not so familiar with it.

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So tell our listeners about RPTS in Pittsburgh. Well, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary has been in existence since 1810.

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That makes us, I think, one of the oldest consistently reformed evangelical seminaries in the

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United States at this point, by the grace of God alone. We were initially established as a training institute for ministers of the gospel for the

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Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. We continue to, of course, fulfill that function for the small reformed denomination that I serve.

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But over the last couple of centuries, we have very much expanded our ministry to include preparation for all sorts of different avenues of ministry in the broader church.

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Certainly, we serve our local constituency here in Pittsburgh, but we also serve a much broader constituency around the world.

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It's a real blessing to have distance learning students from all over the globe tuning into our classes, and many of them, of course, come and live here as well.

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We have many residents serving churches from many different parts of the world.

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We're blessed to be served also by the Biblical Counseling Institute, the

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Wilson Center, which is part of our campus now as well, and we have a Biblical Counseling concentration as well as all other normal facets of study for Master of Divinity students.

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So we serve a broad constituency. By the grace of God, we continue to uphold the Reformed faith.

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We subscribe to the Westminster standards, and we're delighted to be of service in that capacity.

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Great, and if anybody wants to find out more about Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, go to rpts .edu,

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rpts .edu. And I'd also like to highlight a couple of interviews that I have done with those involved with the

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Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in the past, and after this live show is over, perhaps you might want to look them up.

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One of them that was conducted fairly recently in August of 2022,

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August 26th to be precise, had a fascinating interview with Robert M.

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Copeland on his book published by Crown and Covenant Publications, A Candle Against the

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Dark Reformed Presbyterians and the Struggle Against Slavery in the United States. It may surprise many to know that the

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Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America denomination was the very first, if I'm not mistaken, evangelical

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Protestant denomination in the United States to openly oppose slavery.

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Of course, the Quakers did, but this is a much more theologically sound denomination that was in the forefront of opposing slavery.

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So you might find this book absolutely fascinating, and as I did, and this interview that you can hear, if you just go to the search engine of ironsharpensironradio .com

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and type in Copeland, C -O -P -E -L -A -N -D, for Robert M. Copeland, the author of A Candle Against the

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Dark, you'll be able to hear that. Another interview I conducted back in 2018,

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April 16th, 2018, I think you may find fascinating because there are very few evangelical

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Protestant experts on the religion of Eastern Orthodoxy. And I interviewed a member of the faculty at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Dr.

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Jack D. Kinnear, on the theme, Eastern Orthodoxy, What Separates It from Rome and the

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Reformation. And I think that you will find that absolutely fascinating as well, as I said, especially since there are very few evangelical

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Protestant experts on that religion of Eastern Orthodoxy. So I just thought I'd mention those two.

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There are others that I have interviewed, but I wanted to highlight those. And the issue that I mentioned before that we want to hear now, since you are a first -time guest, we have a tradition here, whenever we have a first -time guest in the program, that guest gives a summary of their salvation testimony, which would include any kind of religious atmosphere in which they were raised, and also what kind of providential circumstances our

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Sovereign Lord raised up in their lives that drew them to himself and saved them.

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So let's hear your story. Yeah, I appreciate that. Well, as you say, it is a testimony of the grace of God, and in a certain level, everybody's testimony is a testimony to the same saving grace.

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The Lord, in his mercy, looked upon an unworthy sinner and brought him to himself.

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But our Lord used his means, and I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home. My father was a minister in the

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Free Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination I'm sure you're familiar with.

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So I was born in Scotland. I was raised, however, in Northern Ireland.

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So I guess that means I'm Scots -Irish, and my father received a call to the

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Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and so I was raised there. In many ways, the means the

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Lord used to bring me to himself are very similar to many others in the

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Reformed faith. I was blessed to hear the gospel from a very young age. I certainly participated in family worship.

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The family altar always had a central role in our family's life.

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I was blessed to hear excellent preaching. When my father retired, he was an excellent preacher as well, but when he retired from ministry,

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I was about maybe eight or nine years old, and we migrated to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and my pastor was

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Reverend Ted Donnelly, a name you may be familiar with. Oh, yes, one of the finest preachers

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I've ever heard. He was a guest preacher at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Franklin Square, Long Island, New York many years ago, and I had the privilege of being in attendance for that, and he was utterly superb.

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Well, it's a small world, and Ted certainly regularly made trips to this side of the pond.

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I remember from my youth, he would often be a regular speaker at Al Martin's Church and Baptist, Reformed Baptist Presbyterian Churches, all kinds of churches, and that's the preaching

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I was pleased—the word was pleased to use to me coming to faith. It doesn't mean to say that it was always a smooth ride, however.

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I did go to a small Christian school, which my parents helped begin, and when it came to high school,

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I went to public school in my hometown, which did not have quite the same impact upon me.

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There were a few years where I certainly would say I knew I was not yet converted, but the

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Lord, by his mercy, never let go. The Hound of Heaven was on my tail, and I came to a crisis moment,

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I'd say, around 15 years old. The Lord is often pleased to use means to bring covenant children to himself by waking them up to what they've always known.

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I think it's quite common for those raised in Christian homes to take the gospel for granted, and through a period of considerable illness and various surgeries,

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I was brought to my senses. I think it was Thomas Brooks, the Puritan, that said, when the

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Lord lays a man on his back, his eyes look up to heaven, and that was literally true with me, and the

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Lord was pleased to draw me to himself. Now, I continued to grow in the faith, largely through the influence of the preaching of the word, as I've said, which not only saves but sanctifies.

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Also the very important place, very important role was played by Christian literature in my life, and in many ways

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I have my father to thank for that. My father had been converted in, he was converted in Toronto, Canada, actually, in the 1950s, and returned from Canada to London for some theological training, felt called to the mission field, and while he was there, he ran into a preacher who

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I'm sure your hearers are familiar with, Dr. Martin Lloyd -Jones, and he met my mom there as well, and so they were members of the

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Doctors' Church, and like so many in that generation who went on to serve as preachers, my dad was one of their number, and the doctor would, of course, always impress upon my father the value of reading the

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Puritans, and so I was raised in a home where I was regularly given the mantra, read the

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Puritans, read the Puritans, and so perhaps it's no surprise that I'm talking to you today about recovering a work of a

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Puritan era, two Puritan era writers, I should say, but the Puritans played a great role in my maturing in the faith.

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My father was in London around the time of the Banner of Truth emerging, and banner books have always been part of my

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DNA, so my Christian friends at college would always laugh and joke and point at my bookshelves and say, is there anything here that isn't published by the

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Banner of Truth? Certainly the Lord used that, and I'm very grateful for that as well.

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So I followed my father's footsteps, I was a pastor here in America for eight years,

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I was a pastor of a reformed Presbyterian church in Indianapolis, prior to that I did a spell as a

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Christian high school teacher in that city as well, and then I felt a sense of call to the ministry.

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I tend to place more eggs in the basket of the external call, I had many people in the church who were urging me to consider seminary, and in the end it was actually my pastor

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Ted Donnelly who was back in the States preaching at a conference, he was preaching a series on the book of Jeremiah, and every one of those messages just beat on my heart as to the great need and urgency of preaching to a dying culture, and that's very much at the heart of Jeremiah's message, and the

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Lord used that to make me finally turn the page and go to seminary. And so I came here to Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and it's a blessing to be serving as a faculty member here as well.

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Well it might interest you to know that a friend of mine who is now in eternity with Christ, Peter Jeffrey, he was at one time the pastor of where Martin Lloyd Jones first pastored in Port Talbot, yes,

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Sanfields in Port Talbot, and when Peter Jeffrey was visiting the

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United States, which at one time when he was in good health he was doing fairly regularly,

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I think he was doing it annually, the congregation where I was a member, at the time it was

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Calvary Baptist Church in Amityville, and then later became Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Merrick, Long Island, New York when it merged with another church, but Peter had been a speaker at that church a number of times, and providentially he was in the

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United States at the same time that my dear precious mother was dying of pancreatic cancer, and I had the honor and privilege to have

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Peter Jeffrey sit at my mother's bedside while she was dying for at least a half hour alone, they were both alone, and I had been going through some anxiety over whether my mother's faith was genuine, she was a

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Roman Catholic who appeared to be clearly embracing the true gospel and it had jettisoned the baggage of Rome, the false gospel, the idolatry and the superstition, but I still had that nagging anxiety, and when

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Peter emerged from her deathbed, he said to me in his thick

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Welsh accent, I don't know what you're worried about, your mother's going to heaven, she's born again. So that was an extra blessing from God to hear

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Peter say that. That's really special, it's funny you mention

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Peter Jeffrey, it is a small world, I never met Peter Jeffrey, but his works were also very helpful when

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I was a very young Christian, Evangelical Press over there in the UK, I think published most, if not all of his books, and many of his,

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I would call them simple commentaries, but small, short Bible studies are just superb to give to young Christians, and I've done a lot of youth work,

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I continue to do a lot of youth work, and Peter Jeffrey's books are just very, very helpful to put into the hands of young believers, very accessible, but that's a very special memory.

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Amen, I cherish it nearly every single day, because it comes to my mind, and I have that confidence that my dear mother is with her

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Lord, God, Savior, and King for eternity, and would never trade places with any of us for a split second, as is true with all the saints who have gone on to eternity.

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Well we are going to be discussing a book that has been brought back into print,

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The Sum of Saving Knowledge, originally written in 1650 by David Dixon and James Durham.

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Can you tell us about the republication of this book, and your participation in it?

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Absolutely. Well, this is a project that I've been really eager to see the light of day for many years.

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The project began life when I was a pastor in Indianapolis, I taught many courses to our adult

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Sunday school class, and one of the things I was really eager to do was to encourage lay people to read some of the more significant, important works of our

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Christian past. I used to have a mantra, I would always ask my congregation, what is the most dangerous place for a new

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Christian, and the answer to that question is, a Christian bookstore. A little bit facetious perhaps, but from my experience.

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I remember someone of note saying that every Christian bookstore should have a sign outside that says, enter at your own risk.

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Yeah, that's perhaps quite true, and I want to be very careful, there are some absolutely stellar

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Christian bookstores. Banner of Truth for one, and Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.

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Absolutely, absolutely. So many of the brick and mortar stores, of course, sadly have closed due to the internet.

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Many have diversified and managed to hang on, but by and large, many of the large evangelical bookstore chains, certainly in the

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Midwest where I was a pastor, were very disappointing stores to visit. Sometimes it was hard to find a book in the bookstore as well, but I would find often even visiting a pastoral visitation, just having a concern about the caliber of the books

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I would find on people's shelves, I would often say the most dangerous bookshelf in said bookstore was the top 10 bestseller list.

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The Bible, of course, accepted. So I've always had a burden to see Christians putting their roots down deeper.

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Many Christians don't really know what is the best thing to read. Of the making of many books, there is no end, the preacher tells us, and so trying to bring to light the great works of the past.

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Well, The Son of Saving Knowledge is a little book which I was very concerned was going to vanish off the radars of particularly

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Christians within the Reformed tradition. It's a book that was published initially in 1650, and what

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I did was I recovered this book and I slightly edited the language just to update some of the older phrases.

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I changed the King James to the New King James. I wanted to make it something that would be accessible to the flock.

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And then I prepared a study guide to accompany it. And we went chapter by chapter through this little book, and it was just found to be incredibly helpful as a very clear presentation of a summary of what you need to know to be saved, which really is what

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Some of Saving Knowledge means. Some, I think there may be a play on words, but the word some could also be a sum total.

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All you need to know to be saved might be another way in which we could translate that for today's

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English speakers. So what does the book really contain? Well, the long title is

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A Brief Sum of Christian Doctrine Contained in the Holy Scriptures and Holden Forth in the

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Foresaid Confession of Faith and Catechisms Together with the Practical Use Thereof.

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And there's a very typical lengthy, wordy 17th century title. Generally speaking, historically, it's been abbreviated to simply

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The Sum. And there was a day when you could say to another Reformed believer, have you read

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The Sum? And everybody knew the book that was being talked about. But the book, as that title indicates, is meant to be a companion to the

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Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. It's essentially an effort to summarize particularly the soteriology of the

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Confession of Faith and to make it accessible to the average person in the pew.

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And then there are three chapters of practical application of that soteriology into the life of the believer.

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Now, there's a really interesting story behind this. Would you like me to tell you the story of how this book came?

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Oh, yes, definitely. OK, so as you mentioned, there are these two

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Scottish Presbyterian pastors, James Durham and David Dixon. I should maybe tell you a little bit about them before I go any further.

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James Durham was a young minister in Glasgow. He was in his 20s when this book was published.

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Professor at Glasgow University, even in his 20s, a truly remarkable young theologian.

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He has been fairly extensively republished recently by Naftali Press. And prior to that,

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The Banner of Truth, I know, published his commentary on the Song of Solomon. He has a very famous commentary on Revelation, sermons on Isaiah 53 and so forth.

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He was, we might say, the junior partner in the in the writing process. His mentor, we might say, was

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David Dixon. By the 1650s, he was a very influential pastor, preacher, seminary professor, theologian.

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He had famously preached at the Kirk of Shott's revival in the 1630s. He was professor of divinity in Glasgow, later served with Robert Leighton in Edinburgh University.

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Crawford Gribbon, historian of the period, who I know is, I think, a mutual friend of ours.

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He has estimated that Dixon may have trained as many as 75 percent of Scottish ministers in his generation.

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So the author of that particular author had a massive impact on his generation.

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And these two brothers in Christ, they would go for walks in the afternoon for their constitutional in the

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Crags, which is a hilly region just outside of Glasgow. And as they would talk, they would engage in edifying conversation.

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And in the late 1640s, of course, the talk of the time was the the war that was then going on, the

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Civil War, and in particular the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines.

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And the catechisms had just appeared in 1648. They had just followed the

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Confession, which had been published in 1647. The General Assembly of the

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Scottish Presbyterian Church quickly ratified these and disseminated them for public use.

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But one day, as the brothers were walking along, they were commenting just on how they felt that the

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Confession, and particularly, I think, the larger catechism, they said it might prove, and this is their quote, too large and dark.

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In other words, this might be putting the cookies on the top shelf for some of our younger people, some of our new believers.

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And is there perhaps some way in which we could make the glorious doctrinal truths of the Confession and catechisms more accessible to the average person in the pew?

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So what they decided to do was to write this brief summary, a sum of saving knowledge.

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And they dictated the summary to their secretary, Patrick Simpson was his name, as they would go on these afternoon walks.

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And so Patrick Simpson, their amanuensis, their secretary, was busy scribbling down the contents of at least the first chapter of this book while they would while they would walk.

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And Simpson told the story to the famous Robert Woodrow, who was the great historian of the

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Covenanter era, and that dictation became the first chapter of the book, which is also somewhat confusingly entitled

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The Sum of Saving Knowledge. And that's really the doctrinal meat of the book, that first chapter, which contains really a summary of the soteriology of the

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Confession. So that's how the book came to be, very much a pastoral purpose.

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Let's take this wonderful covenant theology, which is our heritage, and let's try to make it accessible for the person in the pew.

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And this is also a perfect book. Anybody listening who is in charge of filling the tract racks in the narthex or the lobby of your church, whether it be the elders or deacons, or putting books out for the general population to take from your church narthex,

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I would highly recommend that your church orders a case or two or more, depending upon the size of your church, of this book, because it is small enough that someone could easily fit it in their pocket and bring it home with them.

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And obviously more expensive than a typical tract would be, but it's small enough to be convenient, and the sum of saving knowledge, as the title is self -explanatory, would be an excellent way for people, not only who are members of your church, but visitors, to be aware of what your congregation believes to be the most prominent doctrines believed amongst

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Christians, especially Reformed Christians. So that's my little plug for that, and if you want to find out more about ordering this book, either in single copies or in multiple quantities, go to crownandcovenant .com,

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crownandcovenant .com, and you can also purchase the book through our sponsors, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, CVBBS .com,

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CV for Cumberland Valley, BBS for BibleBookService .com, and hopefully I will remember to repeat that information later.

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We're going to our first commercial break. If you have a question for our guest today,

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Dr. David Whitlaw, please send it to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

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As always, give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence. Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

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Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

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We here at Iron Sharpens Iron Radio praise

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mentioned Chris Arnson of Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio. We are now back with my guest today, Dr.

41:22

David Whitlaw, he is professor of church history at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

41:29

We are discussing The Sum of Saving Knowledge, a book that has been rescued from the archives of church history and brought back into print in a modern form.

41:39

It was written in 1650 by David Dixon and James Durham, and now it is more accessible to the average person in the pew.

41:50

If you have any questions for Dr. Whitlaw, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com,

41:57

chrisarnson at gmail .com. As always, give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence.

42:04

We do have a listener, we have

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Bobby in Hartsdale, New York, who says, would you recommend this book for Reformed Baptists as well, whose confession is nearly identical to the

42:21

Westminster, only differing on baptism issues and issues regarding church polity?

42:28

That's a great question, and the answer is absolutely. Especially if you are a subscriber to the 1689

42:36

London Baptist Confession, I think you'll find this to be a very helpful companion. As I said, the title of the book is

42:43

The Sum of Saving Knowledge, it's not The Sum of Ecclesiastical Knowledge, or Eschatological Knowledge, or some other perhaps more contested points that do separate people within the

42:56

Reformed camp, but rather this is a handbook on soteriology. Now, I do appreciate that even within Reformed Baptist world there are differences of opinion on some definitions of covenant theology.

43:09

I like to think of this book as something of a crash course in covenant theology. It articulates particularly the covenant of redemption in a very clear way, that's something that not all books of the period did, but obviously the covenant of works and the covenant of grace as well.

43:27

So, again, there may be some slight nuances of understanding on some of those things,

43:33

I realize, within the Reformed Baptist churches, but I would say if you're a 1689 man, yes, definitely

43:40

The Sum of Saving Knowledge will be a very helpful companion. Well, guess what, Bobby?

43:46

Thanks to our generous friends at Crown and Covenant Publications, you have won a free copy of The Sum of Saving Knowledge, a compliment of Crown and Covenant, and also compliments of Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, cvbbs .com.

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We'll be shipping that book out to you at no charge to you or to us, just make sure you give us your full mailing address in Hartsdale, New York.

44:12

We have Arnie in Perry County, Pennsylvania, who says, is

44:17

The Sum of Saving Knowledge book something that is more in line with reminding us and reaffirming things that we who are

44:27

Reformed already know, or may it surprise us by introducing something that we may not have been aware of?

44:36

That's another great question. I would say that The Sum of Saving Knowledge is certainly a helpful refresher course for those of us who may perhaps feel we're well versed in our covenant theology.

44:48

I think probably what will maybe surprise people is that this is a book that can be used for evangelism as well.

44:56

Now, I realize that I've updated the language ever so slightly. The sentences were very long and I've tried to break them up a little bit.

45:04

Perhaps the 17th century language that remains may be a hurdle for some, but this book contains the application of that soteriology.

45:14

It's possible, I think, for us as Christians to say, well, I know the gospel. I don't need another gospel presentation, but we always need to be preaching the gospel to ourselves.

45:24

The gospel should never get old to us. We never graduate from the gospel, and so to be reminded of those things of which we have already been taught and been convinced, as the apostle says,

45:35

I will not tire to remind you of these things again and again. So I find this personally in my own

45:42

Christian life to be a very helpful reminder of things, but it does present things in a very refreshing way.

45:49

I particularly appreciate the treatment of the covenant of grace here. The time in which this book was written, the covenant theology that has been codified in the

46:00

Reformed Confessions was very much in a state of development. Some of the terminology for the covenant of grace, for example, is eclectic in this period, and so we find in this book references to the covenant of mercy and the covenant of gracious reconciliation, and there's just some beautiful ways in which

46:20

Dixon and Durham describe the gospel to us. Probably, I would say the greatest contribution theologically, which the sum of saving knowledge gives us, is a presentation of the covenant of redemption.

46:35

The covenant of redemption, as you here may be aware, is not something that is fleshed out very fully in the

46:41

Westminster documents themselves. David Dixon is often credited as being, if not the first to articulate the covenant of redemption in a systematic way.

46:52

He certainly is one of the earliest theologians to do so, and he has just some very helpful material on this in the sum of saving knowledge.

47:02

This is something that he also fleshed out in other writings of the time, particularly his magnum opus, the

47:07

Therapeutica Sacra, which was a massive casuistry that he published after his death.

47:16

But there are other writings as well where Dixon really explains the eternal dimensions of the gospel, that in eternity past God the

47:25

Father covenanted with God the Son to save and elect people to himself out of lost humanity.

47:32

That's something that may surprise some readers. I'm conscious that many in the

47:37

Reformed tradition, at least as I've been a pastor, are perhaps unfamiliar with that dimension.

47:43

They certainly have read about election and predestination, they're Calvinists after all, but placing that theology within its covenant theological context is something that we don't sometimes see.

47:56

So that may perhaps come as, if not a surprise, perhaps a refreshing angle on the eternal dimensions of our great salvation.

48:05

And you have won a free copy as well, Arnie, of the

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Sum of Saving Knowledge. Please make sure we have your full mailing address in Perry County, Pennsylvania, and cvbbs .com

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will ship that out to you for free. And we thank again our friends at Crown and Covenant Publications for their generosity in providing us with a limited number of copies of this book for those who submit questions today.

48:33

We have an anonymous listener who says, and you actually already mentioned in part what he is asking about, but perhaps you can expand on it,

48:45

I have many friends who are in battle with me over Calvinism, which they think is absolute heresy.

48:53

Would this book be helpful in bringing them to a true understanding of what this system actually teaches, rather than the caricature?

49:05

Yeah, that's a great question. One of the things that strikes,

49:10

I think, some readers as a little unusual about this book is that two of the strongest statements that you find in here, the covenant of redemption and this eternal dimension to our salvation, that God from all eternity saved people to himself.

49:27

The other problem, the other balancing statement which you find very strongly stated in this is the free offer of the gospel.

49:36

And some of the clearest teaching in this period on the free offer is found actually in this little book.

49:42

Now that's puzzling to our Arminian friends. How can God be a God of election and yet at the same time freely offer the gospel to all?

49:51

And I find often that that's very disarming when we're trying to bring our friends to a reformed understanding of the scriptures and the sovereign grace of God in Christ from all eternity.

50:04

Oftentimes they have a wrong understanding of what we're trying to say as Calvinists.

50:10

I've kind of come to the place when someone asks me if I'm a Calvinist, I always ask them, you tell me what a

50:15

Calvinist is and then I'll tell you if I am one. Because very often they have,

50:21

I think, a wrong view that sees us, we believe that God made us all robots and there is no free agency of any kind whatsoever and that simply is a mischaracterization of what

50:34

Calvin taught. Certainly what we have in Dixon and Durham's little volume here is a wonderful statement balancing both those things, that you can preach the gospel freely and invite people to Christ as any good

50:48

Arminian desires to do, and yet that is not antithetical to the election of grace.

50:54

So Dixon and Durham certainly do address these issues, particularly again keeping a tension between this notion of a covenant of redemption and original sin and its impact and the whetting effects of sin, all of that is in here, and yet you also have this free offer of the gospel.

51:13

In fact, one of the often controversial aspects of this book is that it contains what some today would even perhaps consider to be a sinner's prayer.

51:23

I realize that terminology probably kindles in some people's minds the notions of Charles Finney and making the

51:33

Sodus Trail and signing decision cards, but that is not opposed to the doctrine of election for Dixon and Durham.

51:41

Maybe I'll just read to you this, what I'm calling a sinner's prayer, and I should just say by way of context this is the practical use of saving knowledge.

51:52

The sum of saving knowledge is the doctrinal meat of the book, but the last two, three, chapters two, three, and four are actually the practical application of that, and the practical use or application of this saving knowledge is to actually be saved by it, and the writers are at pains to woo the reader to close with Christ by faith, and so you have this, what

52:14

I'm calling a sinner's prayer. In fact, David, could you read that prayer after we return from our midway break?

52:20

Absolutely. Because I'd rather not interrupt you mid -sentence during the prayer. This is the break that Grace Life Radio, 90 .1

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FM in Lake City, Florida, uses to localize Iron Trump and Zion Radio geographically to Lake City, Florida with their own public service announcements and other local things that is required of them by the

52:41

FCC. While they do that, we simultaneously air our globally heard commercials.

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Please use this time wisely. We ask of you to write down as much of the contact information as you possibly can for as many of our advertisers as you possibly can so that you can more frequently and successfully contact our advertisers, and hopefully that will often mean that you are buying their products, you are using their services, you are visiting their churches and supporting their parachurch organizations.

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But when you cannot do any of that, there's one thing that everybody listening can definitely do.

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If you really love the show and are grateful to God that there are organizations that love this show so much, they are sharing with us some of the money with which

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God has blessed them with us, so that we can exist. If you're really grateful about that, because you love the show, thank our advertisers.

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We can't exist without our advertisers, folks. So please at the very least contact them and say thank you for sponsoring

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Iron Trump and Zion Radio. And also, of course, send in your questions to David Whitla, chrisarnsen at gmail .com,

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c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence and your country of residence.

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Don't go away. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

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I'm very excited to announce that my longtime friend Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and I are heading down to Atlanta, Georgia again for the

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G3 National Conference. That's Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd.

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On a theme that I've been preaching, teaching, writing about and defending in live public debates for most of my life, the sovereignty of God.

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I'll be joined on the speaking roster by Steve Lawson, Voti Baucom, Paul Washer, Virgil Walker, Scott Anuel and Josh Bice, founder of G3 Ministries.

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Chris Arnson and I look forward to seeing you all Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd at the

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Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing 6th grade.

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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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That's PTLBibleRebinding .com. As host of Iron Trump and Zion Radio I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

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

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

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

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

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God -centered focus. Reading, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, baptism, and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship performed with faith, joy, and sobriety.

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

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.com. That's GCBCNJ .squarespace

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.com. Or call them at 908 -996 -7654.

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That's 908 -996 -7654. Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

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CBBBS has been a family -owned book service since 1987, operating out of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

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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.

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Order online at CBBBS .com. That's 560231.

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Please let our friends at CBBBS know that you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

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

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

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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

01:03:34

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

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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

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

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

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

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

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When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

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New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

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Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

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Hello, my name is Anthony Uvino, and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and also the host of the reformrookie .com

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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

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Just subscribe on the iTunes app and listen to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio show at any time, day or night.

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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 Arnzen has on the show.

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Truth is so hard to come by these days, so don't waste your time with fluff or fake news.

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Subscribe to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio podcast right now. And while you're at it, you can also sign up for the reformrookie .com

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podcast and visit our website and the YouTube page. We are dedicated to teaching Christian theology from a

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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 Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, New York.

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Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Invinio and thanks for listening. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,

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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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He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

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01:09:38

Before I return to my guest today, David Whitla, and our discussion on the sum of saving knowledge,

01:09:45

I have a couple of very important announcements to make. First of all, if you really love this show and do not want it to disappear from the airwaves,

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You could donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion. And if you prefer snail mail, sending in a physical check to a physical address the old -fashioned way, there will also be a physical address that appears on your screen when you click support at ironsharpensironradio .com,

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where you can mail your checks made payable to Iron Sharpens Iron. Also, if you want to advertise with us, whether it's your church, your parachurch ministry, your seminary, your business, your private practice like a law firm or a medical firm, or it's a special event perhaps that you want to promote, as long as whatever it is you're promoting is compatible with what we believe here at Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I would love to help you launch an ad campaign as quickly as possible.

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You don't have to believe identically with me, but you need to be promoting something that is at the very least compatible with what we believe here.

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So if that's the case, send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

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We are just as much in urgent need of your advertising dollars as we are in your donations.

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Two things that are clear in the scriptures about finances is that God commands us to provide for our church and our family.

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We are in urgent need of your help financially. And also, I want to let our listeners know about a conference that I hope you attend, especially if you live in or near Milton, Florida, or are able to travel there this

01:12:32

March 3rd through the 5th. The First Love Ministries is having their first annual

01:12:38

Bible conference on the theme, Examining the New Birth, featuring guest speaker

01:12:44

Joseph Jakowicz, founder and president of First Love Ministries, and First Love Radio, which is the radio network live streaming this program right now.

01:12:53

And there are many other speakers on the roster at this conference on Examining the

01:12:58

New Birth. And as I said, it will be held March 3rd through the 5th in Milton, Florida.

01:13:05

If you want more details on this conference, go to firstloveministries .org, firstloveministries .org.

01:13:14

And last but not least, if you are not a member of a Christ -honoring, biblically faithful, theologically sound, doctrinally solid church, no matter where on the planet

01:13:24

Earth you live, I have extensive lists of biblically faithful churches spanning the globe and may be able to help you find a church, even perhaps, possibly, within a couple of minutes from where you live, as I have done with many listeners all over the world in the

01:13:38

Iron Trumpet and Zion Radio audience. So if that is your predicament right now, you are not a member of a biblically faithful church, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:13:48

and put I Need a Church in the subject line. That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Dr.

01:13:55

David Witla on the sum of saving knowledge, chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com.

01:14:01

Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence. And as you may remember,

01:14:06

Dr. Witla, right before the midway break, you were just about to read what could be called a

01:14:12

Reformed Sinner's Prayer, and I would love to hear that. Yeah, absolutely.

01:14:19

So this prayer is found in the Practical Use of Saving Knowledge, which is the second chapter of the book, and the application is, well, you need to be saved by this knowledge.

01:14:28

So this is how it goes. Consequently, let the penitent man who desires to believe take words with him,

01:14:37

Hosea 14 .2, and say heartily to the Lord, and here's the prayer. Since you say,

01:14:44

Seek my face, my soul answers you, your face, Lord, will I seek, Psalm 27 .8.

01:14:50

I have paid attention to the offer of an everlasting covenant of all saving mercies to be had in Christ, and I do heartily embrace your offer.

01:15:02

Lord, let it be a bargain. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

01:15:08

Behold, I give myself to you to serve you in all things forever, and I hope your right hand shall save me, for the

01:15:16

Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever.

01:15:22

Forsake not the works of your own hands. Mark 9 .24 and Psalm 138 .7

01:15:28

-8. And Dixon says after that, and that is how a man may be made a sincere believer in Christ.

01:15:37

I should just explain that he's not saying say the prayer and bam, it's done. It's not an

01:15:43

Arminian easy believism here. This is coming on the heels of a chapter and a half of presentation of the gospel and reminding the sinner that the gospel is for him.

01:15:56

It's a great exposition of the law work and the gospel work and how the law breaks man for sin, exposes his sin, and drives him to Christ and the gospel.

01:16:09

So a kind of sinner's prayer, I suppose you might say, but devoid certainly of the Arminian trappings.

01:16:14

In fact, David Dixon at one point was imprisoned for preaching against Arminianism. He has a number of very famous sermons that he preached on the subject and the famous Second Reformation of Scotland, the great reforming

01:16:29

General Assembly of 1638. He preached a very famous sermon arguing that Arminianism is essentially a very pure brand of Roman soteriology.

01:16:42

So this is not some Arminian sinner's prayer by any means, but I think it's a good reminder to go back to your listener's question that I think many

01:16:53

Arminian people imagine that to be a Calvinist is not to exhort people to close with Christ and it's not to urge them to pray in this way.

01:17:03

I think it was Lloyd -Jones who said that you haven't truly preached the gospel as a

01:17:09

Calvinist until someone out there has accused you of being an Arminian. Now that may be hyperbole,

01:17:14

I suppose, but we do need to be preaching Christ, inviting people to come to him, and urging them to pray a prayer perhaps not unlike that.

01:17:26

And obviously, even the most reformed of Christians, if someone comes to them that was, to our knowledge, lost, and they desire to be saved by Christ, we're going to look for some elements in what they say and what they pray to determine if that it is a genuine saving faith with which they approach us.

01:17:55

We're not going to accept any utterance. They may even have an utterance that is completely false as to what their expectations are.

01:18:06

They may say, I really want to become a Christian because I know it's going to save my marriage from falling apart.

01:18:11

I really want to become a Christian because it's going to help make me healthy, wealthy, and wise.

01:18:17

You could go on and on with things that are false reasons that people come to Christ because they are not really coming to Christ in reality.

01:18:28

They are seeking the benefits of religion that they presume are awaiting them, rightly or wrongly, but they're not really coming to Christ.

01:18:36

So I think what you have read there is completely appropriate. In fact, there's an excellent book that I'm sure you're aware of that Banner of Truth publishes,

01:18:46

The Valley of Vision, that is filled with Puritan prayers. And so I don't think there's anything that should raise the eyebrows of Reformed people at all in reference to what you have read.

01:19:00

Absolutely. Absolutely. In fact, Dixon and Durham in this book frequently will— well, each chapter has an application point, basically, for the reader to make sure that they have understood and are applying what they have read.

01:19:16

And it's very interesting how they do this. At the end of each chapter, they have what I guess we would call a syllogism, where, have you heard what we've said?

01:19:26

If you believe that, if you truly believe that, then this is the application that there ought to be.

01:19:32

And very frequently, they put words into the lips of the reader, but they're frequently the words of Scripture.

01:19:41

I'll give you just another example. This is a personal application, a warrant and motive to believe about God's hearty invitation.

01:19:49

He says, Therefore, Christ Jesus, with all his sure and saving mercies, belongs to me by an everlasting covenant.

01:20:24

So here's a weak believer who is struggling with assurance, and Dixon again puts words into his mouth and urges him to reason that the free offer of the gospel does apply to me, and I have accepted it, and therefore

01:20:39

I am saved. I need to believe the gospel, and I need to believe that when the

01:20:44

Bible says if you have put your faith in Christ, you are saved. If you can truly say in your heart of hearts,

01:20:51

I have believed in Christ, then do not doubt the word of God, what he has said of you.

01:20:57

So the personal applications are found throughout this. They are given to the unbeliever who is reading, to close with Christ.

01:21:04

They are given to the weak believer who's struggling with assurance of salvation. I think they're a very effective way of driving home in a very pointed way the words of the book.

01:21:15

I should probably have said this at the beginning, but I told the story of the first chapter being the composition of these two friends as they were walking along.

01:21:24

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 were actually composed from some sermon notes of David Dixon, and so they are very sermonic in nature.

01:21:34

They're very pastoral in nature. They're filled with application for the hearer, and I find that a very effective form of writing.

01:21:45

The second chapter is the practical use of saving knowledge, which, as I said, is to be saved by it.

01:21:50

The third chapter is entitled The Warrants and Motives to Believe. So if you are to believe the gospel, why should

01:21:59

I do that? And I think there's just some wonderful material here about God's hearty invitation.

01:22:04

There's that free offer, God's earnest request to be reconciled, God's command that all should believe, and the believer's assurance of salvation.

01:22:15

And you can almost hear Dixon preaching these words, wooing people to come to Christ, and those who have come to Christ to come to Christ also for assurance of their salvation.

01:22:26

And the same with the last chapter is entitled The Evidence of True Faith. So having heard the gospel of the covenant of grace and the practical use of it, and having been presented with every possible warrant to personally accept the free terms of the gospel of grace, he then closes the book with evidences that we can look to of being in covenant with God.

01:22:49

And there's some marvelous treatment on the doctrine of sanctification in that section as well.

01:22:55

But you can hear the preaching coming out here as well. It's very pastoral.

01:23:01

It's very applicable to the reader's lives. Amen. And we have

01:23:06

Susan Margaret from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, who wants to know, Can you tell me what you believe to be the non -negotiables when it comes to what a person must believe to be born again or to at least be rightfully identified as a born -again brother or sister?

01:23:29

And does this book contain all of those elements that absolutely must be believed?

01:23:37

Absolutely. Well, to be born again, we obviously understand to be a monergistic work of God, whereby our hearts are open to receive those non -negotiables.

01:23:46

But I would say that the non -negotiables, one has to repent of one's sins and acknowledge that one is a sinner and worthy of the wrath of God.

01:23:56

There needs to be, in the terms of this book, a law work. We need to be convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment by the law.

01:24:08

And so the law does its work. It convicts us of sin, and it drives us out of ourselves to Jesus Christ.

01:24:14

And so this book also points clearly to the work of Christ and his threefold office of prophet, priest, and king, what he has done in taking upon himself the sin of his people and bearing it away.

01:24:26

And so the cross of Christ is absolutely central in this book, and it is an absolute non -negotiable.

01:24:32

You have to have a sufficient Savior, and that Savior alone is Jesus Christ. So to repent of one's sin and to put one's faith in the finished work of Christ, these are the great non -negotiable things.

01:24:45

What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. To use the theological terminology, which does come across in this little book, there is in a certain sense a conditionality to the covenant of grace, but it is a gracious conditionality.

01:25:05

Unless you repent, you will not see the kingdom of heaven. Unless you believe in Jesus Christ, you will not be saved.

01:25:11

And faith and repentance are both necessary. They are necessary conditions, but they are gracious conditions.

01:25:20

Faith is itself the gift of God. It is not of works so that no one can boast. So at the risk of making the gospel sound more complicated than those things, he certainly expounds upon these things in marvelous ways in this little book.

01:25:35

But I think this book is actually one of the clearest 17th century presentations of the gospel that you will read, and it's packed into a very small space as well.

01:25:44

I think this edition worked out at 78 pages, but the first chapter contains the heart of the gospel.

01:25:52

And let me see, this edition, that's 11 pages, the first 11 pages, and it's amazing how all of the

01:25:59

Confessions soteriology is packed into those 10 or 11 pages. Susan, Margaret, thank you for the excellent questions.

01:26:08

Send us your full mailing address in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and CVBBS .com will ship out a free copy of The Sum of Saving Knowledge to you.

01:26:18

And again, that's compliments of our friends at Crown and Covenant Publications and compliments of our friends at CVBBS .com

01:26:25

who are actually shipping the book to you at no cost to you or to us. We have

01:26:30

Grady in Asheboro, North Carolina, who is one of the most faithful and loyal and generous supporters of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:26:40

He says, Greetings, brothers. I am in the process of reading Meet the

01:26:45

Puritans by Dr. Joel Beakey and Randall J. Peterson. At the end of each biography, there's a list of their works that we're aware of.

01:26:55

I'm astonished at the number of Puritan works not in print. Are you planning on making available any of these great writings from the past available?

01:27:08

Obviously, that would be a question for Crown and Covenant, but perhaps you have your own thoughts on that.

01:27:15

Yeah, there is an absolute mountain of Puritan theology, Puritan preaching that remains out of print.

01:27:23

And one of the difficult things is the accessibility of these texts, although that has largely been overcome with programs like Early English Books Online, which contains a massive database of every

01:27:38

English book in print that has been scanned as PDFs. Now, this is the kind of resource that you will probably only find in an academic library here at RPTS.

01:27:49

We're blessed to have that as well. And so, yeah, it's a great book. Meet the Puritans love that book.

01:27:55

And like yourself, I see all these books, and they're published in 16 -something. And you look at the title, and you say,

01:28:01

Ooh, I'd love to read that, but I can't get hands on it. So this is an ongoing project for the church in our day.

01:28:10

I think of The Banner of Truth, which is kind of, I would say, the granddaddy of reform publishing in the mid -20th century, bringing back to life many of these books.

01:28:21

And so the standard collections of the works of Owen and Sibbes and Manton and Bridge and people like this, they have kept in print.

01:28:30

But then, of course, they were joined by Reformation Heritage and Sully Dale Gloy of Don Kistler.

01:28:35

Mike Gaydosh, of course, is doing a similar kind of thing with Sol LeGrand. There's been a real resurgence of interest in the

01:28:43

Puritans. And I think a lot of this is because people are dissatisfied with the books they found at that Christian bookstore

01:28:49

I mentioned at the start of the program. I often say to people, I will find more spiritual profit in one page of a

01:28:57

Puritan volume than sometimes a whole chapter or even a whole volume of a contemporary evangelical publication.

01:29:04

As to plans to continue to do this kind of work, yes, I certainly, this is something

01:29:10

I like to do on the side. I'm a professor of church history, and I have lots of other things

01:29:16

I do. But this is certainly something that's on my heart. And I do have various projects you'll have to wait and see.

01:29:23

I will say, one other thing that we have done at Chronic Covenant, we do have a matching volume to this

01:29:28

Sum of Saving Knowledge. We published a very nice little gift edition of the Westminster Larger Catechism, which is a matching volume with a nice green cloth cover and ribbon marker like this edition of the

01:29:40

Sum. And you may say, well, that's easily available. And that's true.

01:29:45

You could go to the Internet and you could download the text of the Sum of Saving Knowledge. But we want books to be on people's shelves.

01:29:53

We want books to be companions. We're living in an age of the e -book.

01:29:59

It's wonderful that you can download PDFs of many of these Puritan titles. You don't have to have access to early

01:30:06

English books online. Google Books have many of these. The Internet Archive, archive .org,

01:30:13

often will have copies as well. The prdl .org, Post Reformation Digital Library, contain long lists of searchable files as well.

01:30:25

These are other places you can go. But I have to say there simply is no alternative to actually having a book in your hand.

01:30:35

I like to have an old book, a good book as a good friend. I can think of books and where I purchased them and where I was and I write my name in them and where I bought them and when.

01:30:45

And then I get busy with my pencil and I underline and I draw from those deep wells.

01:30:51

So we want books to be attractive. We want books to be on shelves. We want books to be studied not only individually but in groups as well.

01:30:59

And I think some of those books in Meet the Puritans are just aching to be republished.

01:31:05

RHB are doing a great job in making them available. The Banner as well. And I don't think there's going to be any less demand.

01:31:12

At least that's the way things seem to be. I understand Crossway are publishing a new set of the

01:31:19

Owen Works. I can't remember how many volumes they're hoping to churn out. But that tells you there is a demand for this.

01:31:26

And so I would say if you have a wish list of titles that you would like to see published again, it might be worth getting in touch with publishers and saying have you considered this title or that title.

01:31:39

And there are many treasures ready to be unearthed. So I feel your pain. I would love to be able to get access to some of these in a readable format, retypeset.

01:31:50

Part of the problem, again, is it takes a lot of work, a lot of man hours, and also there needs to be a market for it.

01:31:57

I think the market's there. But making them attractive and making them marketable, that's another part of the puzzle as well.

01:32:05

Yes, as my friend Jeff Pollard of Chapel Library affectionately calls

01:32:12

Christian literature, paper missionaries. And there is something that is unique about a physical book that is light years superior to the

01:32:30

Internet and anything you can download is that you can share a book with someone you love.

01:32:38

And it is obviously far more meaningful than say I'm going to e -mail you a download of something.

01:32:45

And, of course, when we leave this earth and enter into eternity, what greater legacy can we leave to those that we leave behind, including any that have children especially, than a library of books that will nourish them in their faith and may, if they are lost themselves, may lead them to Christ by God's sovereign grace and mercy.

01:33:12

And, of course, it's a tragedy whenever the surviving families of a

01:33:18

Christian do not treat those books as if they are a treasure trove of rare and priceless jewels, as they should.

01:33:27

I remember years ago, this was back in the 80s, when my late wife's, one of her former pastors, gave me as a gift a first edition four -volume autobiography of Charles Adams Spurgeon, printed when his wife

01:33:52

Susie was still living. And that came from the library of a recently deceased

01:34:00

Episcopal minister who had a treasure trove of books in his library that he left behind that his surviving family treated as trash, that they wanted to get rid of as quickly as possible.

01:34:13

I only wish that I had been among those excavating that library when there was still anything left, but I was grateful to God that Pastor Andy Montoro gave me as a gift that very wonderful four -volume set by Spurgeon.

01:34:31

But that's just a little anecdote that I thought I'd throw out there. Chris, can

01:34:37

I just maybe add one more thought to that? I really do appreciate the question from the listener.

01:34:44

We should be really thankful to the Lord that there has been such a resurgence of interest in the

01:34:49

Puritans. I began my story with my dad telling me, read the Puritans, read the

01:34:55

Puritans. It wasn't until I became a Christian that I really realized the value, and his pastor, Lloyd Jones, had done the same with him.

01:35:01

But we have to remember that a resurgence of reprints of the Puritans does not necessarily equate to a resurgence of Puritanism in our churches.

01:35:11

And I think we do have to be careful that we put our trust in Christ, and we remember that it is the

01:35:22

Puritans' God that we need in our midst and not Puritan books on our shelves. Those two things needn't be opposites.

01:35:29

But it's quite possible to fill a head full of theology and yet be a comparative stranger to the

01:35:36

Puritans' God. I remember this when I was doing my doctoral work. I did my work on a 17th century

01:35:42

Scottish lawyer, actually. He was a member of the Westminster Assembly. Archibald Johnson of Warston was his name.

01:35:50

It was very interesting studying in a secular state university, reading very intelligent people be able to articulate with incredible skill and ability the theology and Christian experience of the

01:36:06

Puritans. And yet these were people who made no kind of profession of faith. Many of them were atheists, actually.

01:36:15

And yet they were able to describe to me very accurately my own Christian experience, simply from having read the works of the

01:36:23

Puritans. These great physicians of souls. It was a real cautionary tale to me that it's possible to love the

01:36:31

Puritans, to devour as many Puritan books as possible, and yet be a stranger to the

01:36:37

God of the Puritans. Surely what we need in our day is not simply a revival of interest in the

01:36:43

Puritans, but we need a true revival of the Holy Spirit in our churches. My prayer, and I'm sure yours is as well,

01:36:50

Chris, is that the Lord would use this great resurgence of interest in Puritan writings and little books like The Son of Saving Knowledge, making them available again, that these might be among the means the

01:37:00

Lord would use to bring clarity to the theological confusion that exists in the churches today.

01:37:06

And above all, to present needy sinners with a powerful Savior. You just reminded me of the story told to me by my friend

01:37:15

Pastor Ed Moore of North Shore Baptist Church. In Bayside, Queens, New York.

01:37:21

He was born and raised into an Arminian Christian home, and he actually came to here for the first time and embrace the doctrines of sovereign grace, otherwise known as Calvinism and Reformed theology, by hearing a lost college professor explain the importance of Jonathan Edwards in American history.

01:37:46

And the man knew Edwards so well, and what he believed, and yet did not believe those teachings himself, but just viewed him as a very important, in fact, vital historic figure to rightly understand the history of America.

01:38:04

And it was through that man's words that the Lord opened up Ed Moore's eyes, ears, and heart to the doctrines of sovereign grace.

01:38:13

So I just thought I'd mention that, since it is very familiar to what you just expressed.

01:38:21

We're going to our final break. It's going to be a lot more brief than the other breaks. If you have a question,

01:38:28

I would urge you to send it in as quickly as possible, because we are going to be over before you know it.

01:38:35

Time flies by so quickly, especially when you're having fun, as they say, and I'm having a lot of fun today. So send in your question, if you have one, to chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

01:38:45

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. As always, give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence.

01:38:53

Don't go away. We're going to be right back, right after these messages. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

01:39:15

I'm very excited to announce that my longtime friend, Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and I are heading down to Atlanta, Georgia again for the

01:39:23

G3 National Conference. That's Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd, on a theme that I have been preaching, teaching, writing about, and defending in live public debates for most of my life, the sovereignty of God.

01:39:36

I'll be joined on the speaking roster by Steve Lawson, Voti Baucom, Paul Washer, Virgil Walker, Scott Anuel, and Josh Bice, founder of G3 Ministries.

01:39:48

And there's more great news. Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio can get you a 30 % discount off the registration fee.

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01:40:10

Chris Arnson and I look forward to seeing you all Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd at the

01:40:16

G3 National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on the sovereignty of God. Make sure you stop by the

01:40:21

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Exhibitor booth and say hi to Chris Arnson while you're there.

01:40:27

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01:40:50

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01:41:50

Puritan Reformed is a Bible -believing, kingdom -building, devil -fighting church. We are devoted to upholding the apostolic doctrine and practice preserved in Scripture alone.

01:42:01

Puritan Reformed teaches men to rule and lead as image -bearing prophets, priests, and kings.

01:42:08

We teach families to worship together as families. Puritan is committed to teaching the whole counsel of God so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.

01:42:21

We sing the Psalms, teach the law, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, maintain discipline, and exalt

01:42:27

Christ. This is Pastor David Reis of Puritan Reformed in Phoenix, Arizona.

01:42:34

Join us in the glorious cause of advancing Christ's crown and covenant over the kings of the earth.

01:42:41

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01:43:01

It's such a blessing to hear from Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners from all over the world.

01:43:08

Here's Joe Riley, a listener in Ireland, who wants you to know about a guest on the show he really loves hearing interviewed,

01:43:16

Dr. Joe Moorcraft. I'm Joe Riley, a faithful Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener here in Atai in County Kildare, Ireland.

01:43:24

Going back to 2005, one of my very favorite guests on Iron Sharpens Iron is

01:43:30

Dr. Joe Moorcraft. If you've been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron radio, Dr. Moorcraft and Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia are largely to thank since they are one of the program's largest financial supporters.

01:43:42

Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming is in Forsyth County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

01:43:49

Heritage is a thoroughly biblical church, unwaveringly committed to Westminster standards, and Dr.

01:43:54

Joe Moorcraft is the author of an eight -volume commentary on the larger catechism. Heritage is a member of the

01:43:59

Hanover Presbytery, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and tracing its roots and heritage back to the great

01:44:09

Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Heritage maintains and follows the biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the reformers, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone,

01:44:20

Christ alone, and God's glory alone. Their primary goal is the worship of the Triune God that continues in eternity.

01:44:26

For more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com.

01:44:33

That's HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com. Or call 678 -954 -7831.

01:44:40

That's 678 -954 -7831. If you visit, tell them

01:44:45

Joe O 'Reilly, an Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener and a tie in County Kildare, Ireland, sends you.

01:44:54

Hi, this is

01:45:00

John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnson and the

01:45:08

Iron Sharpens 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

01:45:20

Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the

01:45:26

Internet where folk won't be led astray. I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide.

01:45:32

This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised Chris up for just such a time.

01:45:38

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.

01:45:45

I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting

01:45:50

Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one -time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?

01:45:59

I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris, if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com

01:46:06

where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

01:46:19

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

01:46:27

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the NASB.

01:46:33

I'm Pastor Nate Pickowitz of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton Ironworks, New Hampshire, and the

01:46:39

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rich Jensen of Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and the

01:46:47

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Sule Prince of Oakwood Wesleyan Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the

01:46:56

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor John Sampson of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona, and the

01:47:03

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck Volo of New Life Community Church in Kingsville, Maryland, and the

01:47:12

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Steve Herford of Eastport Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and the

01:47:19

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Roy Owens, Jr. of the

01:47:25

Church in Friendship in Hockley, Texas, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

01:47:31

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?

01:47:40

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnson on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:47:49

Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

01:48:00

Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing 6th grade.

01:48:06

Do you know what they all have in common? They all require training, assessments, and certifications. But do you know what requires no training at all?

01:48:15

Becoming a parent. My name is A .M. Brewster. I'm the president of Truth, Love, Parent, and host of its award -winning podcast.

01:48:23

I've been a biblical family counselor since the early 2000s, and what I've discovered is that the majority of Christian parents have never been biblically equipped to do the work of the ministry in their homes.

01:48:33

That's why Truth, Love, Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

01:48:39

God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

01:48:51

Please visit us at TruthLoveParent .com. I'm Dr.

01:49:03

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,

01:49:14

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

01:49:21

It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God like the dear saints at Hope Reform 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

01:49:39

Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.

01:49:45

I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love, as I have.

01:49:55

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

01:50:01

That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.

01:50:11

That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island, New York, that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

01:50:36

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

01:50:42

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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And besides that, they feel so good. I'm so delighted I discovered Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

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No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot. Jeffrey Rice of Post -Tenebrous

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

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Jeffrey uses the finest and buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like the turquoise goat skin, tanned in Italy used for my

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Nessie Olin 28th edition, with a navy blue goat skin inside liner and the electric blue goat skin from a

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French tannery used to rebind a Reformation study Bible I used as a gift. The silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome.

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Jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather, making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art.

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For more details on Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to PTLBibleRebinding .com

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That's PTLBibleRebinding .com And I can't wait until my very first Bible rebound by Post -Tenebrous

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Lux Bible rebinding arrives in the mail. Jeffrey Rice is truly a master at rebinding

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Bibles and other very important documents. And mine is a brown distressed leather version that he is shipping me.

01:52:25

I just can't wait to get my hands on it. That's PTLBibleRebinding .com I want to read a couple of very powerful endorsements for the book that we have been discussing,

01:52:38

The Sum of Saving Knowledge, first by a man who is living in heaven with Jesus Christ for eternity, and the second by a man who is still living here on earth.

01:52:49

The first commendation is by Robert Murray McShane, 19th century revival preacher, who wrote this in his diary,

01:52:56

The Sum of Saving Knowledge, the work which, I think, first wrought a saving change in me.

01:53:04

How gladly would I renew the reading of it if that change might be carried on to perfection.

01:53:12

That is some powerful endorsement coming from the likes of a great man of history like Robert Murray McShane.

01:53:19

And then the second, our brother in Christ who is still with us here on earth, Chad Van Dixhorn, who

01:53:25

I hope to get on this program. I heard word from him when

01:53:30

I saw him at one of the Banner of Truth conferences that he would love to come on the show. Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, The Sum of Saving Knowledge is one of the documents of the era of the

01:53:41

Westminster Assembly held most dear by Presbyterians. Suitable for families and Bible studies, this new edition, with Dr.

01:53:49

Whitley's introduction, is a welcome addition to Crown and Covenant's stellar collection of Reformed and Presbyterian publications.

01:53:58

So if that doesn't whet your appetite to get a hold of this book, I don't know what will.

01:54:04

By the way, if you could, Dr. Whitley, since we are having a friend of yours on this program,

01:54:12

God willing, on St. Patrick's Day, who we mentioned earlier,

01:54:19

Brother Griffin, Crawford Griffin, to speak on his book, The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland, along with one of my pastors,

01:54:30

Simon O'Maney, who is a native of Cork, Ireland. Tell our listeners why they should tune in to that interview.

01:54:38

Yeah, you're in for a real treat. Crawford Griffin was my PhD supervisor, actually, for my doctoral work.

01:54:45

We go back many, many years, back to days when we were on mission teams in the west of Ireland together, actually.

01:54:52

Crawford is one of the world's foremost scholars of the period we're looking at, 17th century

01:54:59

Puritanism, but also many other eras as well. He's done some fine work on 19th century history of nonconformity in Ireland, particularly, and his latest work on The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland is a fabulous work.

01:55:15

It's a very sad work in many ways because it does speak about how rapidly a nation close to my heart, obviously, has apostatized and has fallen into very, very rapid secularism, and this tells the story of that.

01:55:32

It's a book filled with very moving histories of martyrs, of great champions and heroes of the faith, but it's also a story of how the gospel can be lost in a nation, and many salutary warnings for this nation in which we are recording, but I'm sure also nations that your listeners belong to as well, so you won't want to miss that episode.

01:55:56

You'll find that a very stimulating interview, I'm sure. So mark your calendars for St. Patrick's Day.

01:56:03

It's March 17th, and it's obviously 4 to 6 p .m. Eastern Time, as our show always is aired, and I hope that you join us for that,

01:56:12

I'm sure, what will be an exciting interview. We have time for one more question,

01:56:19

I believe. And it's another anonymous listener. The anonymous listener says,

01:56:25

I have been in strong disagreement with people in my church on whether or not believing and understanding in the

01:56:34

Trinity as it has been historically defined is absolutely necessary for salvation.

01:56:41

I believe that the Trinity is indeed a pillar of the Christian faith. To deny it is heresy, and we should never tolerate, especially teachers and church leaders, expressing any other understanding of God.

01:56:56

But I believe to insist that a new babe in Christ believe and understand this in order to deem them as a genuine brother and sister in the

01:57:07

Lord is unreasonable, and I was wondering what your thoughts are on that. Well, absolutely.

01:57:14

We hold to the Catholic creed, small c, the creeds of the early church, which unite us all as Christians, and we believe that that is a dividing line between heterodoxy and orthodoxy.

01:57:29

It is the triune God who saves. There is no other God. I am the Lord, there is no other.

01:57:35

And so if there is some other deity out there who is not the

01:57:40

Trinitarian God of the Bible, he is not a true God. And that is the prophet

01:57:46

Isaiah speaking there and not the opinion of a Scots -Irish history professor. So, no,

01:57:51

I believe you're absolutely correct to stand upon the Trinitarian orthodoxy that is contained in the scripture.

01:57:58

The second point is an interesting one, though, that, I mean, I think of a Philippian jailer. What must I do to be saved?

01:58:04

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I shall be saved. And I believe he did believe and was saved that night.

01:58:10

And I'm not certain that he was an expert in Trinitarian theology on the night in which he gave his life to Christ.

01:58:16

So, of course, we grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ, and we put down our roots, and these things become clearer through the teaching of the church.

01:58:27

And so, absolutely, I would absolutely believe that it is possible for someone to have a simple gospel presentation and to believe unto salvation.

01:58:36

But not to stop there, right? To grow in grace and in knowledge. Amen. Well, we're out of time.

01:58:43

I want to make sure that our listeners have the necessary websites to learn more about you.

01:58:51

The Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Pittsburgh's website is rpts .edu,

01:58:58

rpts .edu. And if you want to find out more about the sum of saving knowledge, go to crownandcovenant .com,

01:59:08

crownandcovenant .com. But I would urge you to purchase it through our sponsors, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, cvbbs .com,

01:59:17

cvbbs .com. I want to thank you so much, dear Dr. Whitlow, for being such a superb and extraordinary guest.

01:59:24

I look forward to your frequent return to the program if you are so inclined. I want to thank everybody who listened.

01:59:31

I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater Savior than you are a sinner.