June 22, 2016 Show with Michael Gaydosh on “More of the Best of Christian Books in Print…or Back in Print” PLUS Geoff Thomas on “Romans 8:28: The Christian’s Anchor in the Midst of Storms”

Iron Sharpens Iron

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September 20, 2016

00:01: Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown
00:08: Carlisle, Pennsylvania It's iron sharpens iron a radio platform on which pastors
00:15: Christian scholars and theologians Address the burning issues facing the church and the world today
00:23: Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us Iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another
00:31: Matthew Henry said that in this passage quote we are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with and directed to have in view in Conversation to make one another wiser and better It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next hour
00:50: And we hope to hear from you the listener with your own questions
00:56: Now here's our host Chris Arnton Good afternoon,
01:05: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania And the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming
01:12: This is Chris Arntz and your host of iron sharpens iron wishing you all a happy Wednesday on this 22nd day of June 2016 so delighted to have back on the program
01:25: Someone who is one of my favorite guests and also a very important person in my life
01:31: Ever since becoming a Christian by the mercy and grace of God in the mid 1980s that is my very first pastor as a born -again
01:42: Christian Mike Gadosh, who is the founder of? solid ground
01:48: Christian books That's solid ground books calm and many of you who have discovered my program through world magazine will notice that Solid ground
02:01: Christian books website is right at the very top. They are one of the sponsors of my program and their their website is right at the top of our full -page ad and world magazine in the
02:15: Special books edition very appropriate and today we're going to be discussing for the first hour with Mike Gadosh More of the best of Christian books in print or back in print because Mike not only has published works by contemporary authors and he's very finicky and fussy and rightly so about who he publishes and Not only does he do that, but he also
02:41: Probably even the the more dominant aspect of solid ground Christian books is that he has brought back precious jewels from the past that have been out of print sometimes out of print for centuries and the things that have been
02:57: Unfortunately and sadly forgotten by the masses within Evangelical Christianity today, but he has helped to revive their popularity
03:07: By bringing them back into print and it's amazing that you some of these things that you read you wonder how on earth did this ever?
03:14: Get out of print and how on earth that it did ever become forgotten because some of these things are so powerful and so dynamic and so relevant even
03:24: Hundreds of years after they've been written, but let me welcome you back for the for the I don't know if the 600th time how many times you've been on here?
03:33: Let me welcome you back Find anybody else? That's when I come on That's not true at all, let me welcome you back to the program
03:42: Mike Gadosh Thank you my privilege to be here, especially knowing that buzz is there to watch you
03:49: And as he just said our co -host reverend buzz Taylor is in the studio Today and officially greet on the air our guest today buzz.
03:57: Yes Good to hear you again, Michael Gadosh And I think this is going to be a very expensive program for me because I'm gonna have to buy all these books now
04:10: Yeah, and I don't hold your breath cashing that check good
04:16: Mike but anyway um And a second hour,
04:22: I'm so delighted that you are going to hear an interview with Jeff Thomas who is an author a conference speaker and the pastor emeritus of Alfred Place Baptist Church and Aberystwyth Wales and He is no stranger to Mike Gadosh and has preached at a church
04:42: Formerly pastored by Mike Gadosh on Long Island and they have known each other for quite a number of years And I'm looking forward to that interview during the second hour of the broadcast
04:52: On Romans 828 the Christians anchor in the midst of storms So I hope that you stay tuned for the second hour for the
04:59: Jeff Thomas interview But Mike I know that I keep asking you this every time you come on But there are people who keep discovering iron sharpens iron for the first time
05:10: Especially now that we have this world magazine and this full page and world magazine
05:16: I've been getting I've been getting unfamiliar names emailing questions for my guests ever since so I Assuming that there's a connection there and I know for a fact that there is a connection there with some of them
05:31: So why don't you tell our listeners what exactly solid ground Christian books is all about? Well, Chris, you've already done a good job of being able to introduce
05:41: What solid ground is all about solid ground began? 15 years ago and it began with a burden to bring back into print books that had been neglected and forgotten some for a hundred two hundred years or more and I first began
06:00: Publishing as you know Chris back in 1990 91 when
06:06: I was pastor in Calvary Baptist Church in Amityville and An idea to bring back into print a little book called thoughts for young men by JC Ryle That book now has become very well known it's been republished and republished by several different publishers and most recently by my banner of truth and I'm thankful that that idea that the
06:32: Lord gave me so many years ago as Caught on and in our edition of it the solid ground edition now
06:41: Isn't the only that's available and it is of course the best one available
06:47: It's not the only one of them The I remember the cheap the cheap version you first brought that out
06:54: Yeah, and and then it became a very attractive and much -in -demand booklet
07:00: Yeah, it's it's a book that's been I mean, I I've completely lost track of the numbers of tens of thousands of Copies of that book that have been printed.
07:10: We did ten thousand the very first printing and that was in 1991 and Those ten thousand sold within the first six months
07:20: We we have seen So many people that have come to the Lord and have grown in their faith through that book
07:27: And as I said now it really does my heart good to see that banner of truth and others have picked up and have have done editions of it as well and And I have to believe that it all stemmed from the little book that we did or the booklet that we first did back at Calvary Press so that that kick -started me and an understanding the value of some of these old works that have been buried and While Soledad Gloria and Don Kistler were focusing more on the
08:03: Puritan era Of course, very very valuable material there Most of my books early on were more more recent more recent the
08:14: Puritans that is most of them were from the 1800s middle to late 1800s and The easier for people because the language is not that difficult to follow it the and the authors that I that I publish generally are are people who are easy to read and therefore they're available to laypersons and and now in recent years,
08:40: I've started doing more books by living authors and Have begun to really launch that whole new dimension of my ministry in fact right now we're in the process of a book called cross encounters a decade of Gospel conversations with Tony Miano.
08:59: Yes. No, you've had Tony more than once on your program. Yes, and That Tony is just an incredibly gifted
09:08: Compassionate and passionate man for the gospel right now He and several men are over in England in London and they are preaching full -on street corners engaging people in conversations with the gospel and This is what this man does
09:25: Constantly and the book cross encounters is just a fabulous book
09:31: It's a modern -day really a modern -day version of pastors sketches by Ichabod Spencer Which was the first book that I published at solid ground?
09:42: 15 years ago I'm excited about that. We just recently published book
09:47: Rock of Ages the biography of Augustus top lady that was done by Tom Isham We've also recently done leaving dark land by Ed Wallin.
09:57: You've been in as well and And also the gospel heritage of Georgia Baptists from 1772 to 1830 and you also
10:09: Interviewed so far. I think you've only interviewed Brandon Smith, correct, right and Kurt Smith hasn't come aboard yet, but he we're gonna make sure we get him as well
10:20: He'll make he'll do a good interview for you. And I've also done Minding your faith by Greg Hodge and you've had
10:27: Greg on it. That's right. That's right So these are some of the modern authors that I've done
10:33: We've also we're pretty famous for our 1689 Baptist confession of faith, which we've done in flexible bonded leather as well as paperback and That has really put us on the map and in a lot of circles a lot of people learned about us
10:50: Who didn't learn about us by pastor sketches have learned about us through the Baptist confession of faith and the
10:55: Baptist Catechism Which truly is and this is no brag. This is just fact
11:01: This is truly the best edition of the 1689. I believe it's ever been done It it is really just a fabulous edition
11:11: Jim Renahan introduced Both the Catechism and the confession of faith.
11:17: We also have the appendix on baptism Which is not found knowledge in any of the editions are available right now, and it's a very important work on Baptism so there's just there's a lot that's found in that particular edition and I want you to give that So that at a discount to my co -host is
11:38: Presbyterian We gotta give him a copy But I you know, seriously,
11:52: I think that as a reformed Baptist One of the things and and I would
11:57: I would give I will give a shout -out to David Charles a pastor in Ohio It was
12:02: David who gave me the idea several years ago of doing the confession in leather
12:11: And and at first my thought was I wasn't too sure but then the more I thought about it the more
12:17: I realized, you know It really does deserve to be in leather Jesus calling is in leather.
12:24: Then. I think we should get the 1689 in leather if the message is
12:35: Yeah, certainly, I mean those you know, it's sad the things that are being put into leather nowadays
12:41: Which shouldn't be in paper to begin with? Very thankful that that we've we've gotten a tremendous response.
12:49: We sold out the first printing And now we're well on on the halfway of selling through the second print run it's been a it's been a very very very encouraging thing for me now, even though you just highlighted a
13:05: Baptist confession of faith and identified yourself as a reformed Baptist We don't want to give our listeners the wrong impression that you do not have great works by other heroes of the faith that were
13:18: Presbyterian and Reformed Anglicans and other other groups.
13:24: Well, you're exactly right Chris. And in fact I've been accused of being
13:30: Presbyterian because more of the books that I publish are by Presbyterians and are by Baptists, but I give you an example
13:38: I've done shorter catechism illustrated by John Whitecross and the shorter catechism illustrated is the
13:46: Westminster catechism and This is a you know, it's a brilliant book.
13:52: John Whitecross was a very gifted man who had the ability to find Illustrations and anecdotes and what he did is he went through the entire catechism and the catechism has the question is given and then an answer is given and You know the standard the question and then the answer and then and then there are illustrations or anecdotes like for instance
14:17: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification adoption and sanctification?
14:23: Answer the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification adoption and sanctification are assurance of God's love peace of conscience joy in the
14:35: Holy Ghost increase of grace and perseverance therein to the end has six different examples
14:44: That he gives Anecdotes one of them a person who suspected that a minister of his acquaintance was not truly a
14:50: Calvinist Sir, I am told that you are against the perseverance of saints
14:56: Not I indeed answered he it is the perseverance of sinners that I oppose
15:01: But this is not a satisfactory answer, sir. Do you think the child of God cannot?
15:07: Yet be Reported I think will be very dangerous to make the experiment
15:14: Now there you have an example of the kinds of illustrious Anecdotes, they're found
15:21: Scattered throughout the book. It's a very valuable worky He has anecdotes about George Whitfield and John Newton and Archbishop Usher and Robert the
15:31: Bruce It's it's a fascinating thing it would be very useful for a family to use in family devotions as they're going through the catechism and it introduces them to people search history and It's it's just a fascinating fascinating little book.
15:50: It really is and In addition to that. I also have another one by John White Cross in the titled instructive anecdotes
15:58: Illustrative of the Old and New Testaments and what he what we have there is we have every chapter in the
16:04: Bible he has an anecdote or an illustration and So, you know if you're teaching the pastors preaching in Isaiah chapter 8, he can turn to page 231 of our book and he'll see that in chapter 8 verse 21 they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their
16:23: God and look upward and then he gives an example from history church history or from secular history and It's a fascinating book
16:34: There's nothing quite like it Anywhere, there are books of illustrations and anecdotes But but his his anecdotes are all course are very carefully selected because he himself was a man
16:45: Who embraced the doctrines of grace and he sought to underline those truths in both his book?
16:51: The shorter catechism illustrated and also instructive anecdotes illustrative of the Old and New Testaments By the way
16:58: I'm gonna give our listeners our email address if you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own
17:04: Our email address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com chris
17:11: Arnzen at gmail .com, please. Give us your first name city and state and country of residence if you live outside of the
17:20: USA and Right now your phone seems to be working. Okay, Mike, but a few minutes ago it was sputtering
17:27: I don't know if you're on a cell phone or not. I Am okay. Is that required of you right now to use a cell phone?
17:35: Well, my business phone right now is tied up. So, okay. Is that any better? Are you hearing?
17:41: I'm hearing you better now, but a few minutes ago you were cutting in and out. So I just well but anyway
17:48: We will we will take it as far as we can go with the cell phone and if you actually absolutely become unbearably inaudible
17:54: Then we'll have to switch phones. Yeah, no, that's fine. I can I can do that during the break I may be able to go ahead and just switch over to the other phone.
18:01: Okay, and In fact, I have a listener from Long Island, New York Tyler in Mastic Beach, Long Island Tyler is
18:12: Tyler is a new customer of mine. Oh, really great. Yeah. Well, praise
18:17: God I hope that Tyler discovered you through iron sharpens iron Remember either either that or he discovered iron sharpens iron through me.
18:24: I'm not sure one or the other it could be He says I have known many Christians who are anti Intellectuals and have told me not to read books they say
18:37: Man's teachings are useless and to stick with the Bible alone
18:43: How should I respond to that statement? Well before Mike answers, I would say to the person now
18:49: Did you what you just said was that a text in the Bible or was that something from your own brain?
18:56: because obviously this These people are telling him to do something that they themselves are not even doing if they're not just walking around reading the
19:04: Bible But they're telling people things that they think are biblical truths and the contradiction
19:10: Contradicting themselves, aren't they Mike? I think yeah, you're right And I think that I mean, that's a good question that Tyler is asked and I think that the simplest answer
19:20: I have given years is when people say that That there's no reason to read anything, but the
19:25: Bible then if that if they put that into practice Then what they would expect when they went to church is to have
19:32: Their pastor stand up and simply read the Bible to them right because as soon as the pastor begins to interpret the scriptures and Seek to preach scriptures and apply the scriptures.
19:47: He is not just reading the Bible and And and so the fact that that a person would say you shouldn't read the writings of other men
19:59: But that also is doing that is also negating the promised ministry of the
20:08: Holy Spirit Who would guide his people into the truth? And so to say that we should only read the
20:17: Bible Means that we don't need somebody to explain it to us Philip goes up to the
20:23: Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the Bible and Yet, he didn't understand it.
20:31: And so when Philip asked him, do you understand what you are reading? What was his response? It was a brilliant response.
20:38: How can I unless someone? Explained it to me. And So Philip comes alongside and he preached
20:46: Jesus to him And so every time what I would say is
20:53: In answer to the person who would say don't read books. I would say be cautious of The books you read make sure that you're reading books by those who are going to be
21:05: Affirming the truth of Scripture Making sure you have the Berean spirit testing everything by Scripture to make sure that what you are being told
21:15: Is true Oh, yeah, and we even have you know, the texts and Scripture that's worn against Ordaining people that are too young in the faith and so on We have in first Timothy three you know one of the one of the actual requirements for Overseas seers and deacons is that they not be a novice and Here and if you're if you are going to trust your own brain
21:58: Over the the great minds of the faith men who spent their lives
22:06: Pouring over the scriptures like few today Have the time or ability to do these great teachers that God has given us in the faith
22:15: You would you would have to be an arrogant fool to dismiss what these great men Have been given to us by God to teach us
22:24: What and I venture to say Chris that? most of the people Who would say to you you should not read anything, but the
22:33: Bible if you would turn back to them and You ask them how much time do you personally spend?
22:42: Reading in your Bible. I could almost venture to assure you that very few of them
22:48: With a clean conscience would be able to say that they spend hardly any time in their Bible That's usually just a cop -out for somebody who's lazy, right?
22:57: Yeah, too. It's like it's like a person who says well, I don't I never prepare my sermons I just get up in the because the
23:02: Lord promised that he'll He'll give me a word to speak when I need to speak it. Well that passage is completely taken out of context
23:11: Certainly, that is not what the Lord was saying But he was saying is when you are in situations where you're suddenly thrust before the council
23:19: Or you're arrested because of your faith under such circumstances The Lord will give you what to say
23:27: He's certainly not saying by that that in your regular everyday ministry, just don't study anything just Say whatever comes to your mind
23:38: Yeah, in fact, I love the the quote By Charles Haddon Spurgeon that we use in the solid ground
23:48: Christian books ad that we run where Spurgeon says
23:56: Let's see give yourself into reading the man who never reads will never be read
24:01: He who never quotes will never be quoted He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own
24:27: But Yeah, I got my feelings hurt
24:37: But yeah, it is It is ridiculous and you I would be shocked if these people saying this
24:45: Weren't reading their own You know chick tracks or whatever.
24:51: They're reading. Oh, yes all the The the the fundamentalist predominantly
24:57: Arminian Stuff that is just really garbage for the
25:04: I mean a lot of it is and of course You had somebody who wasn't Arminian Just a heretic but not an
25:12: Armenian Harold camping he was one of those few rare people who at one time and for most of his life professed to be reformed
25:21: But was was opposed to confessions of faith and catechisms and Reading books by men, but what did he do?
25:29: He wrote his own books? He wrote I can still remember a man who
25:34: I will not Identify on the air Mike, but you would know his name very well.
25:40: He used to visit Calvary Baptist Church and even grace reform Baptist Church where you pastored and He was a disciple of Harold camping back in the days when
25:51: Harold camping still told his Followers that they should go to church before he came up with the heresy that Christ was the enemy of the church
26:00: But I could still remember In the narthex of the church after the service this person was standing there
26:08: And I was I took a deep breath because I knew he was gonna say something critical and he said to me You know what?
26:14: I don't like about you a pastor. I said, what is it now? He's and he said he's always quoting men
26:21: Jonathan Edwards this and Charles Spurgeon that in George Whitfield this why doesn't he just stick to the
26:28: Bible and mr. Camping Said are you kidding me?
26:33: Do you realize what you just said? What part of the canon did mr. Camping contribute to?
26:40: Oh Man, so there you have the you know, it's it's absolutely ridiculous this whole notion
26:49: Well, I think but I do think you know, you're right I think but I do think that the one thing that I would take away from that is
26:58: Acknowledging that there is always danger in leaning upon the writings of men and Not upon Scripture and I think anybody who sat under my ministry for any time would know that My sermons were filled with Scripture.
27:14: Yes, and I've built with the quotations of men, right? In fact, most of the time when I was quoting from men, it was usually in a controversial subject
27:24: Where and earlier in my ministry because I began the ministry there when I was 30
27:29: For the first several years of my ministry. I tended to lean pretty heavily upon other
27:36: Other more respected men so that the people who were listening would realize that this was not a novel idea that I had come up with and Could easily be dismissed because I was a young man.
27:48: I think as I got older I did that probably much less Because I had confidence in myself, but I just I didn't feel it was quite as necessary Any longer to lean so heavily upon the names of men like Whitfield and Edwardson Etc.
28:06: Right? Yeah when I when I was quoting the Troublemaker who said he's always doing this
28:13: I think he just meant just because of the fact that you did it with frequency not that the majority of your messages contain
28:19: The culture but we have any quote any quote for him would have been too much, right?
28:25: We have to go to a break right now. And if you'd like to join Tyler by asking a question of your own to be read and answered on air by our guest
28:35: Our email address is Chris Arnzen at gmail .com chris Arnzen at gmail .com.
28:43: Don't go away. We'll be right back with Mike Adosh of solid ground Christian books Hi, I'm Chris Arnzen host of iron sharpens iron radio here to tell you about an exciting offer from world magazine
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29:58: forward slash iron sharpens today Paul wrote to the church at Galatia for am
30:07: I now seeking the approval of man or of God or am I trying to please? Man, if I were still trying to please man,
30:14: I would not be a servant of Christ Hi, I'm Mark Lukens pastor of Providence Baptist Church We are a reformed
30:20: Baptist Church and we hold to the London Baptist confession of faith of 1689 We are in Norfolk, Massachusetts We strive to reflect
30:27: Paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how God views what we say and what we do
30:32: Than how men view these things that's not the best recipe for popularity But since that wasn't the
30:38: Apostles priority, it must not be ours either We believe by God's grace that we are called to demonstrate love and compassion to our fellow man and to be vessels of Christ's mercy
30:48: To a lost and hurting community around us and to build up the body of Christ in truth and life
30:53: If you live near Norfolk, Massachusetts or plan to visit our area, please come and join us for worship and fellowship
30:59: You can call us at 508 -528 -5750 that's 508 -528 -5750
31:06: Or go to our website to email us listen to past sermons worship songs or watch a TV program entitled resting in grace
31:13: You can find us at Providence Baptist Church ma .org. That's Providence Baptist Church Ma .org
31:20: or even on sermon audio .com Providence Baptist Church is delighted to sponsor iron sharpens iron radio
31:29: Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read
31:36: He who never quotes will never be quoted He will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own
31:45: You need to read solid ground Christian books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the
31:51: Prince of preachers to heart The mission of solid ground Christian books is to bring back Treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world
32:03: Since its beginning in 2001 solid ground has been committed to publish God -centered
32:09: Christ exalting books for all ages We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com
32:16: That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past or present
32:23: You can unearth from solid ground solid ground Christian books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of iron sharpens iron radio
32:31: Welcome back. This is Chris Arns And if you just tuned us in we have as our guest for the first hour with a half hour to go right now
32:39: Mike Adosh of solid ground Christian books, and I'm glad Mike that you told me that that you were not holding on because I must have answered the phone when somebody that I don't even know called and They beat you to it it must have been like a bill collector a
33:00: Telemarketer or somebody was on the line on hold there and I thought that you were on and then
33:06: I hear the call waiting beep going on the Anyway, the joys of live radio
33:15: Much better much better. That's a good thing to remember for future. Yes reference.
33:21: Yep well, what is Some of the other new things that you have coming out that you want our listeners to know about that you believe will bless their
33:30: Lives. Well, I think the the book cross -encounters I've already mentioned then there's also the book on on the
33:36: Christian view of the second and second amendment Oh, yeah, Ron Gleason that came about through this broadcast
33:42: It sure did Ron Gleason you you recommended Ron to me and we've been he's been working on revising it a pastor
33:50: Bill Downing who's a pastor in California and a avid hunter and And a guns advocate
33:59: He read it and said it's the best thing that he's ever read on the subject and that was before Ron actually
34:05: Did the revision of it and I haven't even had a chance to look at the revision yet but that's that's a book that obviously is desperately needed in our time we have a
34:18: We have obviously a tremendous Problem today in dealing with and having the right understanding of how is a
34:27: Christian to respond? To the not just that the violence that's going on But what is to be what is a
34:33: Christian's attitude towards gun control and all the rest and I think that Ron has done a phenomenal job of gathering the data both from the
34:43: Christian perspective in a historical perspective And I think that's going to be a timely timely work
34:51: I have other things in the pipeline as well But I rather than talk about them.
34:57: I wanted to bring up a couple of items from the past that is that all right? Oh, yeah, definitely. All right what
35:03: I've featured recently on on my website has been a trilogy of books that In some ways they relate to one another
35:13: What I have what I've classified them as is neglected three neglected gems
35:21: And by that I mean these are three books that I have published That have really not done as well as they should have done
35:29: And I'm trying to kind of promote them to get people to take a look at them and realize how valuable they are
35:39: Two of them are more from the the Puritan era One is a book entitled heart the harmony of the divine attributes
35:47: By William Bates, and it has an introduction a new introduction by dr. Joel Beeky that is a book that looks at William Bates looks at the divine attributes and Shows how it is
36:02: It's working together that the attributes of God work together to display
36:08: How great our God is in bringing salvation and he looks at all the various?
36:15: Attributes of God such as he has sections here on After he deals with the corruption of man
36:21: He has the wisdom of God and redemption and then he goes through the freeness of divine mercy and redemption then he has the
36:31: Subject on the justice of God in Redemption Venus of God in Redemption the
36:40: Perfection of the laws of Christ the example of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit the power of God in Redemption and the truth of God in Redemption is the last chapter and It's about a 400 page volume, and it's absolutely brilliantly done the late dr.
37:03: Robert Paul Martin Wrote William Bates the harmony divine act in tributes of the accomplishment of man's redemption is in a class of books
37:12: Which few are writing in our day here is a thorough opening of the central principles of the gospel without the corrosive errors so often found in modern presentations of this glorious theme and Well delivered in a way that is
37:28: God centered and God honoring that's called the harmony of the divine attributes by William Bates a second book also from that era by Jane Jane way
37:42: James Jane way is a Man who died in his 30s?
37:48: He was I believe 38 when he died and and yet the book that he wrote that I've published
37:55: I think it is absolutely Masterful Beaky calls it a masterpiece and it's entitled heaven upon earth
38:04: The subtitle is one of my favorites Jesus the best friend in the worst times
38:12: Jesus the best friend in the worst times the picture on the cover is the fire of London the great fire of London and The time that he wrote the book it was during the period where the great fire of London took place and that was also during the great plague that killed tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people and he
38:43: He wrote this book at that time describing Jesus as the best friend in the worst of times and Let me just read to you some of the some of the subtitles that are found in the in the table of contents under the motivation
39:06: The motive the first the net the nature of the person I would have you acquainted with First he is the most loving and kind friend
39:17: Second he is the most comfortable friend third. He is the most able and powerful friend
39:24: Fourth he is a most active friend fifth. He is the most humble and condescending friend
39:31: He is the most faithful friend. He is a rich friend. He is a sympathizing friend.
39:37: He is a patient friend He is the most honorable friend. He is a suitable friend he is a wise friend an immortal friend a present friend a soul friend a necessary friend a
39:50: Tri -tested friend an everlasting friend. He is a friend who is willing to be acquainted with you
39:58: He is a friend who is all together lovely well, just reading the those
40:06: Points should wet the appetite to desire to dive in and find out more about this
40:12: Jesus You know, the father is always pleased When Jesus is spoken of well, and then that book by James Janeway is a book heaven upon earth
40:24: Jesus the best friend in the worst of times Amen, we do have a listener David in it's either
40:30: Ada, Ohio or at a Ohio ADA. I'm not sure how to pronounce that And he asks what does it take to have a book reprinted?
40:41: such as Oswald T Alice Prophecy and the church or Alan turns or Carnes Dictionary of theological terms just to name two of the many
40:53: I would like to see in print again Well, I think it's a more it's more difficult to do the
41:00: Alice book. I would have to do some investigation I would be interested in doing that myself.
41:05: I'm just not certain about copyright What the copyright situation would be with the
41:12: Alice work I have that book it's it's certainly worthy of being done and I can do some investigation on that because it is worthy of being done and see if anybody has any plans on doing it and There is a copyright issue or not
41:33: There may not be it may not be an issue at this point the copyright may be free and Public domain you mean go ahead and do it.
41:42: Yeah public domain, correct? Yeah, that's yeah, that's what I say Well, I don't know
41:50: You just said you just said that if you just said that the copyright may no longer be binding or say yeah
41:57: Which is that's the same thing and how about the other book Allen? Cairns and ever heard of that here with that one
42:04: I think I would you know, what I would do what I would recommend to the this individual is to say
42:11: The first thing that I would recommend if if they want to go ahead and do some research
42:18: Mike are you there? Looks like our guest has been cut off You Welcome back.
42:28: We got knocked off the air Temporarily, we do not know why that happened. That is definitely the fault of the internet provider because The internet went out and it had nothing to do with my computer or anything like that.
42:42: So we apologize for the the The the fact that we went off the air for probably five or six minutes
42:49: But you were you were answering a question from David in Ada or at a
42:56: Ohio and he was Mentioning a couple of books that he wants brought back into print and you were about to tell him
43:10: To investigate whether these books are public domain yet. It wasn't that what you know, that's right
43:16: Yeah, if he could do an investigation on that and then just get back to me and send me a note at Mike dot sgcb at gmail .com
43:25: mike dot sgcb at gmail .com And then that way I can make a decision as to whether or not these would be
43:33: I mean I'm pretty sure the Alice book with something that I would be interested in and the other one I would just need to do some more investigation on it.
43:40: But Those are that's the simple the simple answer Yes, and that's
43:46: Mike dot s gbc Yeah, right Mike dot s
43:53: Gcb for solid ground Christian books, correct at gmail .com correct and Well, thank you very much.
44:01: And by the way David since you are a first -time Questioner, I don't know how long you've been listening
44:07: But since this is the first time we've gotten a question from you you are getting a free New American Standard Bible compliments of the publisher
44:22: Compliments of the publishers of the New American Standard Bible who have just Renewed their contract with iron trepans iron and we are so we are so thankful to them
44:33: They've been loyal sponsors of ours since that's great 2006 So David you should be getting this
44:42: In the near future within a week or so. Well, what's the third neglected gem? Oh the third very good buzz
44:51: Wonderful look at you the third neglected gem The third neglected gem is actually the divine purpose displayed in the works of Providence and grace by John Matthews, I first discovered this book about three or four years ago and And I found out that Archibald Alexander the first President and a professor at Princeton Seminary back in 1812,
45:20: I believe He came across this book the divine purpose
45:26: Displayed in the works of Providence and grace and and I could only say about him that Archibald Alexander Was literally blown away
45:35: When he read this book the first time and he wanted to know who on earth is this man and Where has he been hiding?
45:44: He could not believe the brilliance of John Matthews in the way that he laid out the doctrine of God's decree in such a beautiful way.
45:57: In fact, he talked about what I love about this book is That And and he says it so beautifully
46:05: Archibald Alexander says it beautifully when he says One thing the reader may be assured of that whether he should coincide in opinion with the author or not he will find nothing in the volume calculated to wound the most delicate feelings a spirit of meekness and kindness
46:27: Eminently characteristic of the writer pervades the whole When I read this, this is what
46:34: I wrote in the back of the book I said I spent the past several days devouring this incredible series of letters on the divine purpose and I cannot stop thinking about what
46:43: I have of all the books. I've read on the doctrines of grace I do not know of one that does what this book does as I have read several of the letters several times
46:52: I've kept asking myself one question. Why has this book been unavailable for over 165 years?
47:01: The the beauty of the of the book itself is just the simplicity with which he writes that he's writing letters
47:08: It's very similar to the kind of letters that John Newton used to write and he was writing letters to a man who was genuinely interested in understanding
47:17: The basis of the doctrines of grace in particular the doctrine of God's decrees as Displayed both in Providence and in grace and just the way that he systematically works through Answers questions and deals with the objections is just so brilliant I remember one of the
47:37: One of the memorable lines early in one of his chapters. He says you're walking down the street
47:43: And you accidentally step on an earthworm as you continue down your journey, you see a
47:52: Poisonous snake that's ready to strike and you go and step and crush that snake to death
48:00: He said the first you did accidentally The second you did on purpose
48:07: He says God never does anything Accidentally All that God does he does on purpose?
48:17: And I thought wow, that is so helpful. So good everything that happens in our lives every single thing including when the power goes out
48:30: Purpose and it's true. I mean when we come to understand that God has a purpose in Everything that happens there's nothing not even as Jesus said not even a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father in heaven and that is intended to bring a
48:53: Tremendous amount of comfort to us, especially in the world that we live in today we live in a world that is controlled by God and How grateful we are to him that even during this political season
49:09: Which in many ways is embarrassing for us as Americans at the same time we serve a sovereign
49:18: God who is Lord of heaven and earth and His will shall be accomplished and we will find that it will be for our good
49:27: As your next speaker is about to tell us Amen, and of course, he's referring to Jeff Thomas who is going to be our guest in about nine minutes or so But we do have another listener from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin another first -time listener or at least a first -time questioner
49:50: William from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin S if one is a beginner at reading old books
49:58: What three or four would you recommend to get started? Well, I could just before Mike answers
50:04: I can chime in saying the oldest book I know of that's still in print is Mike Gadosz is his high school yearbook.
50:10: You could start there You can actually give him the true answer to that question
50:23: Well, you know, I don't know that I would I wouldn't necessarily say to start with the older writers
50:30: My recommendation would probably be to start with something like knowing God by J .I.
50:36: Packer Also books by Jerry Bridges the pursuit of holiness what
50:43: I like about those two books is they both are steeped in the older writers and They kind of introduce you to the older writers in a way that is
50:54: It is easier upon a person who's just getting started in addition to that There are there are a series of books now that are available
51:06: One of them has been done by Reformation Heritage Books We you can get them from us at actually a better price than you'd get them from them
51:20: I mean they they actually, you know, they set things up that way so that so that they don't compete with their distributors
51:27: Okay, and so they you know, they they have a series of books called the the
51:34: Puritans Puritan treasures For today and there are now
51:39: I think eight or nine of them and and and the nice thing about those is that they're small
51:46: Introductions to the writings of the Puritans and You can go to our website solid ground books comm and if you just type in Puritan treasures
51:58: It'll take you to the page where you can find. Let me just make sure I'm saying that correctly Puritan treasures and it'll take you to the to the page where we have all of those listed and They're very very reasonably priced
52:16: There are books like stop loving the world by William Greenhill triumphing over sinful fear by John Flayville contentment prosperity in God's glory by Jeremiah Burroughs rules for walking in fellowship by John Owen a
52:32: Faith seeking assurance by Anthony Burgess. Now the nice thing again about these is they're bite -sized
52:38: They're they're they're introductions to these great writers and it's just a way
52:43: I think it's just a way to ease a person in a banner of truth has also done a series of Puritan reprints that are are abridged are
52:56: Modernized the John Owen works. There are several of them now that have been redone By a man,
53:02: I believe them RK law who has done a brilliant job of introducing The writings of Owen to a new generation
53:10: And and by reading them first by reading these books by RHP or by banner to the first then you can graduate to the actual works of Owen and And Bunyan and Burgess and Vincent and Burroughs and all the rest
53:27: Well, I think I think the listener may have been talking about not the fact that he's a new
53:32: Christian and new to Christian literature But maybe new to reading old books so, okay, so I think
53:39: I still think I still think that the I Still think that answer would be the right answer to give them.
53:45: I think that I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily start Directly with now you could
53:51: I would say looking at the banner of truth paperbacks and also these RHB Puritan treasures for today
53:59: That's where I would start and if those if those are two Remedial and you need something more solid
54:07: Well, then just go to the originals of those volumes and you'll find those available in many cases from banner truth or from Reformation Heritage books or from Soledad Gloria or from Northampton Press or Possibly from solid ground
54:23: Christian books and you of course you can never lose by picking up Spurgeon Who's that's right her who's writing speaks clearly even to a modern audience
54:32: Yeah, Spurgeon was a man who was deeply steeped in the Puritans. Yeah speaking of modern audience, though Would you recommend the purchase of like for example a
54:42: Noah Webster dictionary to get the current usage of the people that you're reading? Oh, I think
54:47: Noah Webster's. Yeah, the the the old that old. Yes Yeah, all words have changed meaning and oh, yeah
54:55: Yeah I think that I think the Webster that that that huge Webster's dictionary that has been done by master books is just Tremendous.
55:05: It's a tremendous tool In fact, you know that I've always told people that the three things that they should always have by their side are a hymnal
55:14: Of course the Bible and and a good solid dictionary the thing I love about Webster's The one you're talking about that real large green one.
55:24: Yes, it's filled with quotations of Scripture. Oh, yes Absolutely, it's unbelievable the number of passages of Scripture that are found in the dictionary and You know the word just look at the word propitiation you'll get a full -blown description theologically accurate with Scripture texts that are included and and the propitiation redemption
55:50: Alienation reconciliation Justification you'll find that definitions will be absolutely on spot on and Defended with scriptures and of course you mentioned
56:03: John Owen that that's got to be Really picked up by somebody who has got a fairly large vocabulary already.
56:12: He's not the easiest to read No, you're right. He is not the easiest to read. That's why I think that But but I'll tell you though when you when you start when you start to get in there when you get in there with John Owen and I start to To get familiar with his train of thought and the direction of his mind.
56:31: There's nobody like him, right? Absolutely Unbelievable. Amen Well, I want to make sure our listeners have your website again.
56:39: It's solid dash ground dash books calm That's solid dash ground dash books calm.
56:46: And by the way folks if you're ever trying to remember the website of One of my sponsors such as solid ground
56:57: Christian books and you can't remember it You can always go to iron sharpens iron radio .com where you listen to the broadcast all over the world
57:05: Iron sharpens iron radio .com and if you scroll all the way to the bottom you will find a display ad or a banner ad
57:12: For all of our sponsors and they have hyperlinks to their own website So when you click on them, you'll be taken directly to their own websites
57:20: Well, I want to thank you Mike for being our guest. Once again, I look forward to your return and Thanks, Chris.
57:28: I appreciate it. It's good to have buzz along as well Thank you very much And it's always not only a pleasure to interview you but to count you among My most faithful and loyal friends for so many years and thank you also for your support
57:40: Obviously of iron sharpens iron radio my pleasure Chris. I'm excited about what God's doing through you
57:46: I knew that you had the gift and it was just a matter of the opportunity of being given to you Well, thanks brother and we are going to be going now to our interview with Jeff Thomas who is the pastor emeritus of the
58:01: Alfred place Baptist Church in Everest with whales and so don't go away.
58:07: We're gonna be talking about Romans 28 The anchor for the
58:12: Christian in the midst of storms, so don't go away. You don't want to miss that interview with our guest
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59:42: I'm James white about the mega ministries The New American Standard Bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study used by pastors scholars and everyday readers
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01:00:29: Tired of box -store Christianity of doing church in a warehouse with all the trappings of a rock concert
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01:01:26: Give yourself unto reading the man who never reads will never be read he who never quotes will never be quoted
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01:02:26: Welcome back. This is Chris Arnzen of iron sharpens iron radio If you just tuned us in I am so delighted to have for the second hour today
01:02:35: For the very first time on iron sharpens iron somebody I have been wanting to get on this program for quite a long time
01:02:42: His name is Pastor Jeff Thomas And he is a mutual friend of Mike Gadosz the founder of solid ground
01:02:50: Christian books that you just heard advertised on the broadcast I can remember many many years ago
01:02:59: Jeff Thomas coming out to Long Island when I was a very Young Christian knew in the faith and remember how blessed
01:03:06: I was by his preaching and meeting him personally and I've enjoyed reading
01:03:11: Things that he has written One thing that is near and dear To my heart is his biography of Ernie Riesinger Ernie Riesinger is the founder of the church
01:03:25: Where I am now a member Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania Well, actually
01:03:31: Jesus Christ is the founder of it. But Ernie Riesinger was the very first pastor of it back in the 1950s or 60s somewhere around that Time and it is currently pastored by David Campbell but Pastor Jeffrey is no stranger to Reform Baptists and other theologically reformed
01:03:55: Christians globally he has been the minister of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Everswith Wales since 1963 or 1965.
01:04:08: I'm sorry and He has systematically preached the Bible to his congregation ever since and has published the complete the complete text of Almost a thousand sermons on the church's website he has served as the chairman of the
01:04:25: Grace Churches of England and Wales and of the Association of Evangelical Churches of Wales and is currently editor of the banner of truths website articles
01:04:36: He is the author of scores of articles in several books including the Holy Spirit Daniel servant of God under four kings
01:04:46: Philip and the revival in Samaria and earnest reason Ernest Riesinger a biography the book
01:04:53: I mentioned earlier as Well as as the booklet reading the Bible some of which have been published by the banner of truth he is a frequent speaker at conferences throughout the world and as a visiting professor of historical theology at Puritan reform theological seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan Where my friend dr.
01:05:16: Joel Beakey is the president who you have heard on this program a number of times in 2011
01:05:23: Westminster Seminary awarded him a Doctor of Divinity degree Jeff Thomas and Iola Thomas have two daughters and are married who are married to deacons and a third who is a
01:05:35: Pastor's wife and they have eight grandsons and one granddaughter It's my honor and privilege to welcome you to the for the very first time to iron sharpens iron pastor
01:05:45: Jeff Thomas Thank you very much. It's a Privilege for me to speak to you and to the people that are listening well pastor
01:05:55: Jeff first of all, I want to Bless our audience with a little bit about your personal background on how you came to faith in Jesus Christ Oh, well
01:06:09: My my grandmother's brother was influenced by the famous 1904 revival in Wales and he became an earnest evangelical
01:06:22: Christian All his life. He was in fact an antiques
01:06:29: Salesman had a shop under railway arches In a little town in Wales used every opportunity to speak to others about the
01:06:40: Lord and so his two nieces my mother and her sister went to the meetings and Sometime during the first world war around 1915 1916
01:06:52: She gave her heart to Jesus Christ She didn't ever sit under Biblical ministry until she became one of my members but she had a true piety and so she sang hymns
01:07:11: To accompany all her labors at home Whether she was washing cooking cleaning
01:07:20: Testing she found how sweet the name of Jesus Lord's my shepherd and so on one day a friend said to me your mother's remarkable, isn't she?
01:07:31: Said the way she sings hymns I thought every mother
01:07:43: Sang hymns as they worked in the home. So I went with her to church and I had a unordinary conversion one
01:07:51: Sunday night in 1954 as the preacher preached and challenged the congregation.
01:07:59: I was given an inward assurance that Jesus Christ had loved me and given himself for me and I trusted in him and was baptized and joined the church a few
01:08:13: Month or two later and then sought fellowship and read and We Went to university in Cardiff Joined the intervarsity group there and started to read
01:08:31: Extensively as I had always been a reader. So I read J .C.
01:08:37: Ryle's holiness and dr. Martin Lloyd -Jones his studies in the Sermon on the Mount and then I met dr
01:08:42: Lloyd -Jones and sat and listened to his preaching and that was really the beginning of the trajectory of my life then in a more focused way into the understanding of historic
01:08:57: Christianity Confessional Christianity, you know what? the
01:09:03: Reformers what Luther 500 years ago next year what he affirmed so powerfully
01:09:10: Calvin and Knox and Latimer and Cranmer there in England and then the next century then developing that into the
01:09:18: Persian period John Bunyan and then the next century after that how and evangelism developed in an extraordinary way under Whitfield and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and then the next century then the
01:09:32: Princeton period of Theological training The missionary expansion of the of the church and into the 20th century and the development there of such men as dr.
01:09:46: Matron and Dr. Lloyd -Jones and I found myself then fused into linked into that that ethos and was greatly helped and blessed by Reading and inspiration from the lives and the teaching of those men
01:10:10: Now as I said earlier in while introducing you you are the pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth Wales, how did
01:10:19: I do pronouncing? Rust I think it's built around other rust with okay
01:10:27: That's the easiest way in the rust Aber rust with wells
01:10:36: It's a small town bilingual town Shipping 40 % of Welsh speaking 60 % are
01:10:43: English speaking. We have a sister congregation man that Meets and has all its services in Welsh.
01:10:50: Ours is in English. We have joint enterprises with young people and Street evangelism together
01:11:02: It's a A university town, it's halfway between the north and the south, you know
01:11:07: Every country has north south tensions England has them You have them in the
01:11:13: USA and we have them in Wales And so when it came to the establishment of a the first University in Wales, it had to be halfway between England the north and the south and Aberystwyth then which was a little seaport
01:11:29: On the Irish Sea was the ideal center for that and then for the
01:11:35: National Library of Wales so it's like one of the University towns in New England small town domineered by University 10 ,000 students are there and the population of the town is 20 ,000 and I came there and Thought it was a cultural
01:11:58: Capital in Wales and a beautiful town with a promenade and hotels the students in the winter months
01:12:13: Vacationers in the summer. It was an ideal place to Preach the gospel and I never had a serious call to leave it and there
01:12:22: I have been for 50 years until I retired at the end of February Preach it all through the
01:12:28: Bible, but I failed to do that. I The Bible conquers you in in the end.
01:12:33: I thought after 50 years I'd have got every book of the Bible declared to the congregation that was an aim but Half of Isis there and half of the
01:12:48: Proverbs half of Psalms half of Exodus I failed to bring those passages and I won't now
01:12:56: Well as you firmly believe in the sovereignty of God, that's what exactly
01:13:02: God intended you to preach to those folks and You are also a mutual friend of somebody who's very important in my own life
01:13:12: Peter Jeffrey Who used to when his health was better come out to Long Island, New York where I formerly lived?
01:13:21: Quite a number of times. I believe my former pastor Mike Gadosh was the very first person to bring
01:13:28: Peter to America if I'm not mistaken, I'm sure you're right Peter is
01:13:34: Remarkable facility in Communicating simply
01:13:41: Deep truth and He's had Heart problems and operations and so he can't preach now as once he did there was an awakening under his ministry of a church that he passed it in rugby in England and There are still people.
01:14:01: I have Some people in my congregation who were affected after that time.
01:14:07: Now he is devoted his life to Clarifying and simplifying the
01:14:15: Historic Christian faith in very readable Publications He's done a remarkable job as well as being
01:14:27: Extremely listenable Interesting minister. Oh, yes. Yes I still listen to recordings of his sermons that he preached on Long Island back in the 1990s and Are riveted to riveted to them just as much as I was back then and I have the rare privilege of Having Peter Jeffrey sit at my mother's bedside when she was dying of pancreatic cancer and he spent a half hour at least alone with her and As I mentioned to you over lunch yesterday when he emerged from Her room and came outside where I was waiting
01:15:13: He said to me, I don't know what you're worried about your mother's born again, she's going to heaven she's going to heaven and Encouragement for you wasn't it?
01:15:23: Oh, yes. My mom was a Roman Catholic and During the last weeks of her life made it clear that she was trusting in the death of Christ alone for her salvation
01:15:35: And she had renounced Prayer to saints and things like that that some things that she was very religiously devoted to Especially prayers to Mary and st.
01:15:46: Jude and she gave all that up and went through our one mediator to God Christ Jesus and But having an entire life dedicated to Some of the superstitions of the
01:16:01: Roman Catholic Church. I still had a bit of anxiousness to me and Jeffrey assuaged those things
01:16:08: We don't know how our loved ones are Spiritually in those last days of their life.
01:16:17: We don't know what God is doing sometimes they seem unconscious and we read to them and we speak we hold their hand and we give them the promises of God and there's a famous story of a
01:16:31: Farmer on the island of Lewis in the Hebrides in Scotland and he was
01:16:37: Riding in his horse and cart on the edge of his fields on the cliff
01:16:43: Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and suddenly the cliff gave way and he and his horse and cart all fell through the air
01:16:52: And as he was falling he was crying to God that God would save him and He landed on a big pile of seaweed and sand cushioning his fall so that he lived for many years afterwards and he lived to adorn the
01:17:13: Christian faith and His message was if he had landed on rock and they'd broken his skull and he had been killed
01:17:23: They wouldn't have known that while he was in flight while he was falling
01:17:29: He was looking to God and trusting in God and his message was we don't know
01:17:35: What state people are what is going on in their hearts as they are like your mother was so Slipping away from this world to meet her creator and Yet there we are words were spoken to her lovingly and a
01:17:58: Confirmation was given it came ultimately to you, but it It didn't need to come to you right?
01:18:06: It's an act of God's grace to give you peace. Amen Hey, you will see her and be with her and both be like the
01:18:15: Lord Jesus Amen I considered that whole experience a precious gift from God that that beautiful gift of assurance on behalf of my mother and What you're saying is so true because we would not even know
01:18:33: About that one thief on the cross next to Christ. Yeah, whoever repented because he initially was
01:18:42: Mocking Christ with the other one and we would not know unless it was recorded in the Bible We would not know that this man had come to faith in Christ and was in paradise with Christ the moment he took his last breath and Those who knew him as a thief if they did not have the benefit of reading about the the true account of his salvation afterwards
01:19:08: Or unless they heard him at the foot of the cross Repenting and asking
01:19:13: Christ to remember him in his kingdom. They would not know that that man What impact that dialogue between that thief and the
01:19:24: Lord Jesus had on the other thief Yes Incredible words of comfort and assurance today thou shalt be with me in part
01:19:37: Amen. Well, I know that Wells Has a history of They're like the the the main area on the globe to my understanding where Calvinist Methodism came from which is a very interesting combination
01:19:54: That's right, and I don't know what dr. Martin Lloyd -jones was a Calvinist Methodist and yes Some other great men of God What is the and it was the great
01:20:04: Welsh revival that in fact I heard about that from Peter Jeffrey years ago Where after Salvation began sweeping through the the coal mine areas of Wales that all sudden the next day the the owners of the the mines began to discover wheelbarrows and tools that were had been returned by the the
01:20:31: Folks who stole them. I know yes Yes Well, it was yes
01:20:42: What strikes me most of all there's the 1904 1905 revival and they say 100 ,000 it's a number that's often used for the 1859 revival in Wales and also in Ireland that that figure and presumably in New York at that time to the great work of God that's done and Out of the 1904 revival three forces came the
01:21:10: Pentecostal Church the Apostolic Church pastor Dan was Vigorous holy man of God and That was one
01:21:24: Expression of Christianity that was given a A vital boost by the 1904 revival and then the second
01:21:38: Branch that came out of the 1904 revival the mission halls people who were converted and then spoke
01:21:48: Often and earnestly to their fellow church members about their need to enter into the blessing which was the common phrase at that time and They irritated their companions and fellow church members and were no longer welcomed in their churches and they
01:22:07: Came out and built corrugated iron Hats called tenons and there they met in mission halls with gospel service
01:22:20: Sunday night Schofield Bible and then Lord's Supper every Sunday morning and then the third group that came out with the children of the revival people like my
01:22:31: Grandmothers brother and others who? Were the backbone of their churches and the
01:22:38: Calvinist Methodist churches particularly but also the in the Congregationalists and the
01:22:44: Baptists they led the prayer meetings they Taught the young people they became the elders and the deacons and they
01:22:52: Rejoice whenever they heard the gospel preached and those were the three movements that came out then in the 1920s
01:23:02: God did something new God always does something unexpected and new and so here is a medical student in London His name was
01:23:14: Martin Lloyd -Jones his father wasn't interested in religion dismissed the 1904 revival
01:23:21: He wasn't Pentecostal in any way. He was attending the
01:23:26: Charing Cross Calvinistic Methodist Church in in London a large congregation of Welsh speakers and there
01:23:36: God began to deal with him and to turn his attention to founders
01:23:43: Daniel Rowland, Howell Harris, William Williams of Panterkelly, Thomas Charles and Those men then as he read their lives.
01:23:54: They had something they had an emphasis which the shallowness of Christianity that he could see in the professing churches all around him had lost and he cast himself upon God and felt then the the future lay in being a preacher of this message this gospel and so returned to Wales then in the middle of the 1920s and became a pastor in in Port Talbot in Aberavon and Was there for 12 years or enormous growth in that church
01:24:40: Discernment and my mother Heard him preach at that time and she could remember some of the things that he said.
01:24:47: He awakened that area and he then had a very pervasive influence over me and over the banner of truth and its birth and under the leadership of Jack Cullum and Ian Murray and God Always does a new thing and that is the encouragement that I have looking to the future when
01:25:19: There seems to be such hostility towards Supernatural authoritarian
01:25:26: Bible Christianity historic confessional Christianity and disdain for it and People are being fired and harassed
01:25:39: Because of these convictions that they have well God can bypass all those forces
01:25:48: That are opposing this Gospel and come in new ways raise up individuals congregations families publishing houses magazines conferences camps and There be a network radio broadcast like this in which those of us who then have been impacted and transformed by this old message of the
01:26:17: New Testament The Bible's message of Jesus Christ. We deserve eternal death because we're sinners
01:26:24: But Jesus Christ because he loved us died for us that message then has
01:26:31: The most incredible relevance and helpfulness to all who will heed it
01:26:39: Amen, amen, and when we come back from the break, I want you to talk a bit about Something that you really blessed me with at the
01:26:51: Lord's Day service at Grace Baptist Church You were preaching on Romans 828 and You were reminding us that the true disciple of Jesus Christ In his life, whatever disappointments pain or dark sorrowful trials
01:27:12: We are experiencing in this life that they will with absolute certainty work together for our ultimate good even if on this side of heaven, we don't ever fully recognize it as being something good in our life and You really summed that up in such a precious way with a jewel you gave me a jewel during that sermon
01:27:35: Where you said whenever we ask God for something He either gives us what we ask him for or he gives us something better I I love that and I want you to talk about that a bit when we return from the station break good and We're gonna be right back after these messages with pastor
01:27:55: Jeff Thomas of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth Wales, I hope
01:28:00: I got it right that time We'll be right back Iron sharpens iron radio is sponsored by Harvey Cedars a year -round
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01:30:28: This is Chris arms, and if you just tuned us in For this second hour of the program.
01:30:34: We have the honor and privilege of interviewing for the very first time on iron sharpens iron pastor
01:30:41: Jeff Thomas of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth Wales.
01:30:47: He taught me how to pronounce it correctly in the Welsh pronunciation pronunciation of it and We have been discussing a lot of things including whales and the revivals and his own testimony and How dr.
01:31:03: Martin Lloyd -Jones had helped to shape his life theologically And also our mutual friend
01:31:10: Peter Jeffrey Who I wish could be healthy enough to travel to America one more time to preach
01:31:20: But at this point in his life he is going to be remaining in the
01:31:26: UK due to his health problems and but I could still listen to the many recordings that Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Merrick Long Island has archived there, and I'm very happy about that but Romans 828 you touched on that during a sermon recently at Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and I'm gonna read that for our listeners
01:31:52: There are some listeners that we have to iron sharpens iron who are either new Christians So sometimes we even have people who are not
01:31:59: Christians at all And I think we're having difficulty with hello.
01:32:06: Can you hear me Jeff? Pastor Jeff. Yeah. Yes. Can you hear me pastor
01:32:12: Jeff? We Okay, well we you just got us in time and we returned from the station break and Yes, yes and Romans 828
01:32:34: Says and We know that God causes all things to work together for the good to those who love
01:32:42: God to those who are called according to his purpose That is one of the most precious truths that any
01:32:52: Christian can cling to No matter what is occurring in his or her life.
01:32:58: No matter how deep or dark the painful trial may be No matter how repetitious the disappointments and failures may be this is a
01:33:11: Truth as the old saying is you can hang your hat on but even more importantly you can cling to To maintain sanity and peace.
01:33:21: I know that it has been used as a cliche and it's been wrongly used Trying to comfort those who are not
01:33:29: Christians because this is meant Only for those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose, but if you could
01:33:39: Just a little bit before you go into a story. I'd like you to Tell our listeners who weren't there to hear you preach in Carlisle, Pennsylvania about the widow and the widower who met and married but before that tell us about Romans 828 because There are people there are many even well -meaning
01:34:01: Christians that offer this as a comfort To those who are not children of God and it really doesn't this promise is not for them.
01:34:13: Is it? It's a defined Specific promise that all things work together for good to to certain
01:34:26: Grouping those that Call according to God's purpose and the purpose that is defined for us for which all things work together in the next verse that they are conformed to the image of God's that that purpose is advanced
01:34:46: Christ likeness is being advanced by the Disappointments and heartaches that you you mentioned
01:34:56: I spoke of Disappointed Girl that he'd fallen in love with There was no possibility of that relationship developing and then he had to see another man a young man coming to her life and That man wanted him to give him counsel and help
01:35:24: Courtship Little knowing that his pastor was
01:35:30: Very much in love with the same girl and I tried to comfort him and I'd give him
01:35:35: Romans 828 And so on and he said to me It's alright
01:35:41: Jeff. It's alright. You know when we ask God for something We believe either he gives us what we ask
01:35:53: Amen Consequences The 14 of us
01:36:49: My wife and I went into the table and he and his wife the others of the children men from 18 to two years of age talking away, it was the most peaceful happy of Environments and then he picked up his
01:37:03: Bible to read at the end of the meal he said Did I know about them
01:37:10: I'd be preaching on I Have learned in what sort of a state
01:37:17: I am there but to be content. That'd be my text And he said did you know do you know about us?
01:37:28: Wish you tell me Because I wanted to hear it from the horses mother until he told me how he was
01:37:40: A Number of years ago
01:37:47: Was driving in the car and the guy shot through a red light and crashed into the car and killed her
01:37:57: So he was left with the three children And then
01:38:04: Little later the lady who is now his wife was
01:38:11: Butcher, he was very kind a very godly man.
01:38:20: Her first husband First Joby he said to me how he felt he would become a preacher and he was kind in Employing street people and trying to help them to put their lives together one man was a great disappointment to him but Had to be dismissed for his dishonesty and attitude the man turned up a few days later with a pistol and shot him dead and So her parents came to Look after them and the five children
01:39:00: She was now left to raise by Sunday came and they got into the car the parents
01:39:08: And Children and they drove along to church and suddenly little boys come from the back of me of the vehicle
01:39:15: We're not singing We always sing when we go to church And William struck up John Newton's Great Sabbath him safely through another week
01:39:29: His father had been shot dead And yet the children knew that dad was safe in the arms of Jesus Amen This mysterious
01:40:11: Unknown to us now we see through a glass of dark, but there'll be no perplexing
01:40:22: Unanswered questions that will trouble us in eternity Then it will be face to face
01:40:29: Deep in unfathomable minds of never -failing skill. He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will
01:40:38: Blind unbelief is sure to err and scam God's work in vain
01:40:43: God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain and that was their hope and My wife and I saw these twelve people in this family and their obvious trust in God and their obvious submission to the good and acceptable and perfect will of God what
01:41:07: I don't know what I do. You don't know now But you will know hereafter that was the bedrock again of their hope and That was their trust and confidence that Romans 8 28 was utterly relevant to the
01:41:29: Fearful providences that both those families have had to pass through through the actions of evil cruel men plunging such families
01:41:41: No, amen, and when you think about the one who penned
01:41:48: Romans 8 28 the Apostle Paul Who calls himself the chief of sinners?
01:41:55: even his Wicked life prior to coming to Christ when he was a fire -breathing
01:42:03: Pharisee soul of Tarsus rounding up men and women to be executed
01:42:10: When you when you think about how even that background of his helped to solidify that he after his conversion
01:42:21: Was truly no faker was was truly no a
01:42:28: Person who just bought into some myth or lie about Jesus.
01:42:33: He was a person whose life was a hundred and eighty degrees turned around and Began to proclaim this one
01:42:42: Jesus not only to the diminishment of his position with the
01:42:48: Jews But also at the risk of his own life, which he eventually did lose
01:42:54: For his commitment to Christ, so even even those dark days of soul of Tarsus were were used even to this day to Convince people that this man was truly
01:43:07: Speaking the truth. He was not lying when he was he was testifying to the gospel of Jesus Christ And tell us
01:43:19: About this text a little bit more in in regard to our listeners who are no doubt
01:43:28: Either when they listen to this program Being broadcast or they listen to it weeks or months or years later on the archive
01:43:38: There's going to be no doubt people who are going through all different kinds of trials. There are going to be recent
01:43:44: Widows and widowers, they're going to be people who have loved ones struggling with terminal illness or perhaps they themselves
01:43:52: Are struggling with a terminal illness and facing death. Perhaps they have children that are rebellious and have rejected
01:44:00: Christ And even through their adulthood Perhaps their children are drug addicts or involved in all kinds of Sexual perversion or whatever the case is there are all different types of trials and tribulations that God's children are going through Tell us how this is an anchor of this
01:44:21: Romans 828 is an anchor We can all cling to in the midst of a storm like that Divine cordial Sweet refreshing drink
01:44:48: Every name By the power of truth, it's not
01:44:57: Difficult to read and it's not very long. But what was Watson does is to divide the book into Two pieces
01:45:11: Concerning the first part Our best things work together for our good in the second half of the book is our worst things work together and You see this more supremely in the crucifixion of the loveliest the best of someone who
01:45:39: Has no reason at all to be Dealt with as he did men should have fallen before him and worshipped him
01:45:53: Trumped up charges and bribed false witnesses Were envious of him
01:46:02: God permitted him to die Peter says of the day of Pentecost He was delivered by the determined counsel for knowledge
01:46:17: And you with wicked hearts of crucifying and slaying and so you see most perfect In those words of Peter the combination of two great truths from Kenneth The sovereignty of God Determining all things from him and through him and to him
01:46:49: The fall of the Sparrow the evil actions the good actions work them all
01:47:02: For the good of his people and what greater good could there be
01:47:08: And the atonement that was once wrong Amen He by himself good to us
01:47:20: Reckons a holy to us. So there was There was time
01:47:28: He was delivered by the determinate counsel for knowledge of God But you with wicked heart crucified and slain
01:47:37: He held a responsible for what they had done
01:47:43: Brought the charge against them They would answer to God They couldn't find relief in saying oh, well,
01:47:52: God is sovereign. It was God's purpose yes, but We are also We answer we live in a moral universe
01:48:00: What men sow that they also reap But it is appointed unto men to die and after death there is the judgment
01:48:11: There is a Justice and the judgment that's commensurate with the
01:48:20: Terror and awfulness of the crime that we commit and we seem to be living in days
01:48:27: New horrors Announced the cruelty of man to man man to man men must answer men must give the time but God will work for his people
01:48:45: Worst of things are the best for our good Amen, amen, and I know personally that that is an anchor that has
01:48:58: Helped to maintain my sanity, although people who know me may think I'm quite insane I Cling to that truth and praise
01:49:08: God for it because it is a promise and God will never break a promise
01:49:15: Well, we've gone we've touched a bit on the revival in Wales the revivals plural
01:49:23: I should say and Some great men of God that have come out of there What can you say?
01:49:29: about Wales before We have to End the interview today.
01:49:35: What are your prayer requests for Wales? What is the theological climate of Wales today?
01:49:40: Is it very similar to that of America? Is there? basically
01:49:48: Liberalism and an anti -christian spirit running rampant there as it is here.
01:49:53: What would what would Wales be like today? I suppose but larger population 3 million
01:50:06: It's 200 miles north -south and it varies from 60 miles 50 miles east to west there are
01:50:20: More gospel pulpits than there have been For the century there are 60 of us churches associating evangelical churches
01:50:32: With Calvinistic congregations 1823
01:50:44: Calvinistic Methodist Confession Westminster Confession of Faith Second London confession of faith and we magazine there is a theological college there are
01:51:04: There's a conference in August in Aberystwyth on the 7th of August Our friend
01:51:14: Peter Jeffries has mentioned in the past that this year Joel Beattie is the main speaker in the mornings
01:51:23: And I always open it with three messages on the Sunday and Monday speaking this year on Three messages on the road to Emmaus 24 the one of the most beloved passages in all the
01:51:37: Bible and about 1 ,300 people come along to that and then following week about 300 people meet in the
01:51:44: Welsh which have a similar conference there and There is in all five or six university towns in Wales.
01:51:54: There are three great where Where Expository evangelistic
01:52:01: Preaching characterizes them all and I think with all those 60 churches you could go you could
01:52:11: Give your mind to the preacher to be informed and you wouldn't be perturbed by error or by intrusion into the into the service, which would be alien to historic
01:52:29: Christian teaching and there are schools of thought now in July and August Activities on the beaches open air preaching in Aberystwyth on the promenade
01:52:49: Hundreds will stand and listen to that and There's a industrial
01:52:55: South where two million people live and that the
01:53:00: Bible belt which stretches right across the South Wales and in those areas
01:53:07: You can be a religious consumer And you can choose other kind of you know,
01:53:14: I like this sort of music and I like this kind of Ministry and I can exercise my gifts and all that sort of thing.
01:53:22: There's bags of that like there is here but In the capital city of Cardiff, there are
01:53:34: Tens of churches which are serious There are pulpits where Jesus Christ is honored and the
01:53:44: Bible is believed and the truth is vindicated And sin is shown to be extremely sinful and the
01:53:52: Savior is shown to be one and only way to God sinners are urged to Believe in him and trust in him.
01:54:05: So we are meeting the same forces of anti -christian sentiment which has caused nurses and Registrar Bed and breakfast keepers to have lost their work and to be taken to court and Family that has made cake and refused to adorn it with slogans promoting homosexual activity
01:54:39: They have been fined for doing that the same tensions that you are facing we are facing to much wisdom
01:54:55: Grace and patience Dissent Holy Spirit courage to live a consistent credible godly life
01:55:11: In this present evil world, that's what you need to pray for the way We need to pray for you in America Amen, if you could in the three minutes that we have left just unburden your heart with And leave our listeners with what you most want etched on their hearts and minds before the program ends well
01:55:44: We deserve eternal death because we're sinners, but Jesus Christ because he loved us gave himself
01:55:51: That gospel. I think those are the words of J. Gresham Founder of Westminster Samaria one of the great champions in the 20th century that that gospel
01:56:03: All that there would be gospel preaching again. My fear is that we have given ourselves over to Exposition of the word and that we are content with that and we're not locking in holding in on the sinners that are there and Beseeching challenging them and warning them and Like they're not hit the pulpit to pieces in his passion that people should become believers
01:56:36: That is the greatest need and we don't seem to be raising up a generation of young preachers who are preaching like that That's That's my
01:56:53: Strongest concern I yearning for the future is that a new generation
01:57:02: Old and wise and loving and faithful preachers should be raised up the greatest blessing that God could give to our present generation.
01:57:16: Amen, well, I must tell you that it has been again I know I keep repeating myself, but it has been such an honor and privilege and joy
01:57:26: Not only to interview you but have to have the opportunity to finally Meet again after many decades meet again in person and I will extend your greetings to those
01:57:40: Here in the States who I know that you are familiar with like Pastor Bill Shishko of the
01:57:46: Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Franklin Square, Long Island and Mike Gadosz of Solid Ground Christian Books and others who know you well, and I just Eagerly look forward to your return to the
01:58:00: States and hopefully to Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Would love to have more opportunities to sit beneath your preaching brother
01:58:21: And people can go there and listen to it Today after this broadcast, well, that's great sermon audio .com
01:58:29: Yeah, and you can look up his name is spelt for those of our listeners who don't know it's G as in George e o
01:58:35: F F or e y Thomas and So you could look that up and he preached the sermon that we were speaking about at Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle Pennsylvania and I want to remind our listeners of the website for the church that Pastor Thomas Pastored until he retired just recently a matter of a few months ago
01:59:02: Alfred place church org dot UK Alfred place church org
01:59:08: UK Kind Well, god bless you brother and I look forward to your return to iron sharpens iron
01:59:41: Thank you very much By now, but by now and I want everybody listening to always remember for the rest of your life that Jesus Christ is a far greater