May 26, 2020 Show with Geoff Thomas on “The Relevance of the Prophet Nahum in the 21st Century”

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

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Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 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 a 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.

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And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

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Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth, who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 26th day of May, 2020, and I'm thrilled to have back for the second day in a row this week, my friend

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Jeff Thomas, who beginning in 1965, served for over 50 years as pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church of Aberystwyth, Wales.

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Jeff Thomas has been published by Banner of Truth, and has also been published by Reformation Heritage Books.

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For the websites of both of those publishers, first of all, Banner of Truth can be found at banneroftruth .org,

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banneroftruth .org, and Reformation Heritage Books can be found at heritagebooks .org,

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heritagebooks .org. It's my honor and privilege to welcome

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Jeff Thomas back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio to discuss the relevance of the prophet

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Nahum in the 21st century. Welcome back, Brother Jeff. Thank you very much.

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You're very kind to ask me. And before we go into the theme at hand, the relevance of the prophet

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Nahum today, please tell our listeners about Alfred Place Baptist Church, because we do have new listeners, it seems, joining us every single day.

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Okay. I'll tell you a little secret. I've been writing my autobiography, and I've come to the penultimate chapter of it.

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And I've dedicated this chapter to four of the most unforgettable conversions that took place there.

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A woman from Islam, a man from Mormonism, a boy from, well,

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I don't know, weird occult practices, and then a man from Methodism who became then the great evangelist and church planter in Kenya, Keith Underhill.

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And he tells me now there are 40 Free Grace Baptist churches since he's gone there that have spread and are growing.

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And he wrote to me and told me about how he first met me and how he came with the gang of students there 52, 53 years ago.

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And I preached through Genesis in the mornings and rooted them in the

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Word of God. And, oh, how blessed his memories are. He said,

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I've still got the little cards on which I've got your notes from those sermons. So there we are.

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There are 42 men who went into the ministry. I had my own little seminary there, and 20 wives who were girls in the congregation.

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They have been pastors' wives from that time. So I was greatly honored and blessed by God for those years

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I spent in Aberystwyth. Great. And if anybody is visiting

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Aberystwyth, Wales, or perhaps you already live near there and you want to perhaps investigate this church with the thought of perhaps joining it, or perhaps you have loved ones that live in that area, the website is alfredplacechurch .org

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.uk. alfredplacechurch .org .uk.

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I am also thrilled that, God willing, I'm going to be attending a conference where my guest,

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Jeff Thomas, will be speaking. The Fellowship Conference New England, which is going to be held at the

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Deering Center Community Church in Portland, Maine, August 6th through the 8th,

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God willing. This will be my first time in Maine. It will be a bittersweet visit for me because my precious late wife always wanted to go on a vacation to Maine with me, and we never had the opportunity.

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She's in a far, far more beautiful and better place than Maine right now, no offense to the citizens of Maine, but she is in glory with Christ.

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But visiting Maine without her, I'm sure, will have mixed emotions for me, but I still intend to go because I would love to see both

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Jeff Thomas and Dr. Joel Beeke, a longtime friend of mine who

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I've interviewed many times in this program, both speaking at this conference. Now, do you know yet what you intend to speak on at the

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Fellowship Conference? I don't know. I'm not sure yet. There's been a little uncertainty whether it'll be allowed, but I would think by August most churches will be open in the

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USA again. We don't know, but that seems to be the feeling from my friends.

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Yes, well, if anybody would like to join me there in August, August 6th through the 8th, the website is fellowshipconferencenewengland .com,

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fellowshipconferencenewengland .com. And let me give our listeners also our email address, should they like to join us with a question of their own.

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My email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com, c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n at gmail .com.

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If you'd like to ask a question of Jeff Thomas, our theme today is, as I've already announced, the relevance of the prophet

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Nahum in the 21st century. And, of course, you could even ask other questions on a broader spectrum of theological issues, but that is the primary theme we are discussing today.

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That's chrisarnson at gmail .com. Always please give us at least your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence, if you live outside the

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USA. Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. And, Pastor Jeff, what was the compelling factor, the most compelling reason that you wanted to address this minor prophet today?

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I've been just studying it and preaching from it in the last couple of weeks, and it's come alive to me.

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And I just saw the things that I hadn't seen it before, and maybe others will not have seen the things that I'm seeing in it, and a neglected part of the

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Word of God is not as important as Ephesians or Romans or John's Gospel.

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Of course, it's not as important, but it is as inspired, and I think it has some very searching things to say to us.

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Well, why don't you give us some background information on this minor prophet, Nahum. Nahum, we don't know much about him.

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We think Nahum is probably an abbreviation of Nehemiah, but not the Nehemiah of the return from the exile.

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So his name, we're not sure where this place is that he came from. But once you go to Nahum, which is the seventh of the minor prophets, you have to jump back to the fifth of the minor prophets, which is

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Jonah, because they both had missions to address Nineveh and Assyria.

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Jonah, remember, preached against Nineveh, and Nineveh is the symbol then of, well, the world, the lesser of the flesh, the lesser of the eyes, the pride of life, the dominant spirit that we are always up against, all our lives till our deathbeds.

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We've got three enemies, the flesh, the devil, and the world. And for Nahum and for Jonah, the world was symbolized in the cruelty and the hatred, the viciousness of Nineveh and Assyria towards them.

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So when Jonah gets a message to go and preach against Nineveh, he runs away.

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Why does he run away? Well, because he doesn't want a message to raise an alarm in the city and cause a city to repent and confess their sins.

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He doesn't want godly sorrow, because then there'd be no judgment, because God is merciful.

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And he hated the Ninevites, all they had done to him and family and to the nation.

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So he runs away. He wants to go to Tarshish. He gets on the boat. God sends the storm.

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God sends the whale. And he then is landed and has to walk across the land to get to Nineveh.

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And there he obeys God. And he is a chronological reference.

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Now, 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. And that's his judgment and the impact of his preaching.

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My, it is really powerful. We are told that the government are affected by it.

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And when the news reaches the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, sat down in dust and issued a proclamation, don't let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything.

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Don't let them eat or drink. Let them be covered with sackcloth. Don't let everyone call urgently on God.

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Who knows? God may yet relent. And with compassion turn his fierce anger so that we will not perish.

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And when God saw what they did, and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and didn't turn his wrath upon them and turned them away from their destruction.

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Well, of course, Jonah was greatly displeased at this and grieved.

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I knew this would happen, he said. And it was blistering hot there, you'll remember.

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And Jonah was cultivating a vine and he lived under a shade.

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And he woke up one morning and it died. And its leaves were shriveled.

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And Jonah grieved. And God says to him, have you any right to grieve over a vegetable and not over people?

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Where's your compassion? There are tens of thousands of people that can't tell the right from the left.

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Shouldn't we grieve over mothers and women and children and men and young people?

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And shouldn't we be people who see the wickedness of the world and see that it comes from just ignorance of our origins?

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Where do we come from? Why are we in this world? What's our destiny? Where are we going? What's the purpose of life?

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So the command for compassion, a century goes by, 100 years later,

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Nahum is summoned by God to go back and preach in Nineveh.

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And obviously there was a temporal repentance.

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Obviously the majority of them were stony ground hearers. So that they heard the word and there was an instant, immediate response.

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But it didn't last long. You know last year's knowledge is a year late for today.

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Last year's repentance is a year late for today.

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And now when God goes, the consistent God, the unchangeable

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God, he sends a prophet again to warn that people, and this prophet obeys

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Nahum. The spirit of Christ is in him. Second Peter says holy men of old speak as they were moved by the spirit of God.

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And we're told in first Peter that the spirit of Christ worked in them.

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And they spoke about him and they spoke by his power.

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And really the book of Nahum then is about the certainty of judgment and the great separation that lies before us all.

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It's appointed unto men once to die and after death for judgment. It was judgment for Nineveh and it's judgment for us too.

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And it's telling us what you sow you're going to reap.

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If you sow potatoes you don't reap carrots. And if you sow beans you're going to reap beans.

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And this is a moral universe in which we live. And Jesus spoke as strongly as Nahum spoke and as Jonah spoke.

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He spoke to Jerusalem and he warned them. He spoke in Matthew 24 about what was going to happen.

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No judgment the world has seen is like what's going to happen. Well we know it's 80 -70.

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A generation later than the people he was speaking to there was going to be a judgment.

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And woe to them that were pregnant in those days. It would be a fearful thing. And he underlines that again when he's walking to the cross.

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And the women are wailing and he doesn't want their pity. And he says you weep for yourselves, weep for your children.

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Weep for those who would be glad that they don't have children in this terrible day.

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So here's an echo of the spirit of Christ in these people.

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And what we see in Nahum then is the enormous contrast between ourselves and God.

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God says I'm not like you and he's not like us. And we see it in three words which occur just about ten verses between them in the first chapter of Nahum.

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And in verse 7 we read Jehovah is good.

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And then in verse 14 it ends with you are vile.

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Jehovah is good and you are vile.

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Or there is the alternative marginal reference to that word contemptible.

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You are contemptible. And so what we have then is the black velvet of the righteousness and the justice of a

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God who hates sin. God isn't like Buddha contemplating his neighbor with a whimsical smile on his face.

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And all the foolish ways of men and women old and young and just enigmatic in his response.

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God is angry with the wicked when he sees how men treat women and men treat men.

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Men treat children, men treat animals so abysmally. And God is motivated to his wrath revealed from heaven against them.

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And so he is good morally, ethically.

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That's the nature of God. And so the heart of Nahum is in chapter 1 and verse 7.

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That simple verse there. And the three things that God wants us to know when we read this prophecy and when he speaks to us of God.

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The three things. Jehovah is good. That's the first thing. Who God is, he's good.

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Secondly, a stronghold in the day of trouble. When the nations are shaking and there's trouble all around and plagues and viruses.

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There's a stronghold. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.

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And thirdly then, he knows those who trust in him.

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He cares for them. That trust in him. And so this verse is speaking to us.

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It's the heart of this prophecy and it's showing to us the beauty of our

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God. And it captures what every Christian who is facing the judgment seat of God and that makes us all tremble, tremble, tremble.

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What we need to believe about the God we're going to meet.

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To focus every little bit of faith and gather every atom of trust and to see it here.

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The Lord is a good Lord. A stronghold in the day of trouble. And he then knows those, loves those who trust in him.

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And that really is what I want to talk to you about in this hour today,

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Chris. You know when you mentioned before about the absurdity of grieving over a vegetable.

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While men, women and children face such horrific fates and horrible violence and so on.

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It reminded me of in 2 Samuel 12 when the prophet

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Nathan confronts David. And of course at first David doesn't know why

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Nathan is there. David having already committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband

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Uriah the Hittite murdered to cover up the pregnancy. Nathan tells that story about a rich man and a poor man and the poor man only had a little ewe lamb that he raised as his own child.

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And when the rich man had a visitor rather than kill and cook one of his own cattle or other livestock.

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He takes the one little ewe lamb from the poor man and cooks it for his guest.

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And David having done what I just mentioned having already committed adultery and murdered

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Bathsheba's husband. He burns with anger over that, over a sheep.

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And not to say that I think that we are to be compassionate toward people when their beloved pets come to harm and are mistreated or killed and so on.

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Especially in the description this man raised this ewe lamb as a child.

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But in comparison to human beings we cannot put these animals or especially plants on the same plane with human beings.

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Quite so, quite so. Yes, it ends with the word cattle doesn't it?

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There are thousands of cattle in Nineveh. You know

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God's concern for the welfare of his creation. A theme that echoes through the book of Psalms.

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God's love for them, God numbering the sparrow when he falls. Now do you think one of the ways that God's goodness is revealed here is the fact that he is slow to anger?

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Yeah, yeah. Do I have a few minutes to speak about the goodness of God?

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Oh yes, you have about six minutes before we go to a break. Okay, let me talk to you about the first point.

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The Lord is good. No darkness in God. No cosmic malice. No evil intentions in God.

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No ill will. No impurity. Absolutely benevolent. A God of purity.

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A God of integrity. A God of beauty and attractiveness. The Lord is good.

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Good in his essence. Good in his heart. Good at his core.

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No matter how you might look at him. No darkness in God. He hasn't got a past that he's ashamed of.

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There are no prerogatives in which God is other than good. He's good in all he does.

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When he chastens us. When he takes away our beloved wives like you and I have known that grievous loss.

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When he disciplines us. When he judges us. Then he never afflicts us willingly.

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And one day he'll give us a complete explanation of why we wept as we did.

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He's good in his being, in the depths of his being. You go into him and he's good.

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And in and in and he's good. And in and in and in and he's good. And in and in and in and in.

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And all you'll find is the goodness. There's not one bad rogue molecule buzzing around in God at all.

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Spots on the sun we're told. But no shadow turning in God.

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No inconsistencies. No weak spots under pressure. No sense of omission.

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No faults because he didn't know. He never says that. There's a goodness of which everyone is a beneficiary.

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A goodness that extends to all. You can go around the hospital and you can go to one bed where you know the person.

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Then you can talk to the lonely person in the bed next to them. And you find out how they are feeling.

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And then you say to them, but God has been good to you, hasn't he? And Jesus says, we're evil but we know how to give good things to our children.

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We know about goodness. And there's a universal goodness. What we call a common grace.

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The loveliest gifts. The most precious things that we've had in our lives. They've been God's gifts to us.

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God's long suffering. The covenant he's made with Noah. A covenant of common grace.

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The gods of Baal were cruel and unpredictable. But God, how good he is to us, to his people.

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And more than a bland goodness, a saving goodness. A gracious, glorifying goodness.

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He works all things together for our good. You know Thomas Watson in that lovely Puritan book, All for Good.

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The first half of that book says, the best things work together for our good. The last half of the book says, our worst things work together for our good.

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He supplies all our needs. He absolutely guarantees that he'll never have to apologize to us for what he has done.

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He keeps his word. He's so sincere. And he makes a wonderful offer.

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If you come to me, there's no way I'll cast you out. The chief of sinners, the very worst person in the world.

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I gave the grace of repentance to and forgave him his sins. And he's in glory now.

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What a wonderful offer he makes to us. God is straight. And the great thing is that the judge we're going to stand before is absolutely good.

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Can't be bribed. He'll bring every factor into consideration. He'll be scrupulously fair.

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No one will go to hell who didn't deserve whatever hell's judgment might be.

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God is good. And that's the great message then. When judgment falls on the world and on Nineveh, it comes from the hands of a good

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God. People get exactly what they deserve. Yes.

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That is only in regard to his judgment, I'm sure you would agree. Because when it comes to those of us who are saved by his mercy, we do not get what we deserve.

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Of course. Of course we don't. You're absolutely right. Good that you said that. And we are going to our first break right now.

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If anybody would like to join us with a question of your own, our email address is ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.

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ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

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

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If you live outside the USA, only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

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In fact, what I'm going to do right now is I'm going to read a listener question, and you can answer it when we return from the break.

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We have Grady in Asheboro, North Carolina, a very faithful listener and supporter of Iron Trump and Zion Radio.

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And he says, Greetings, Brother Chris and Dr. Thomas. You said that this was probably about 100 years after Jonah preached in Nineveh, if I understood you.

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Instead of Jonah's message falling on stony hearts, couldn't it be more likely that those that repented didn't teach their children about the salvation they received from the true and living

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God? It seems to me that this has been a recurring issue for most of God's children throughout the ages.

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We'll have you answer that when we return. Don't go away, folks. We'll be right back with Jeff Thomas after these messages.

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

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

39:52

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

40:01

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.

40:40

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

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jeff Downs of Knox Reform Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Mark Rimaldi of Grace Reform Baptist Church of Long Island in Merritt, New York, and the

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Scott Pasolo of the

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Master's Church of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and the NASB is my

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NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Andrew Smith of Christ Reformed Community Church in St.

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Augustine, Florida, and the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Clint Leiter of Highway M Chapel, Sedalia, Missouri, and the

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42:04

Welcome back, this is Chris Arnzen, if you just tuned us in. Our guest today is

42:10

Reverend Jeff Thomas, and he was for over 50 years, Pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales.

42:19

Today we are addressing the relevance of the prophet Nahum in the 21st century. If you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnzen at gmail .com,

42:30

chrisarnzen at gmail .com. And before the break, we had Grady from Ashboro, North Carolina write in a question, and he said, let's see here,

42:45

Dr. Thomas, you said that this was probably about 100 years after Jonah preached to Nineveh, if I understood you.

42:52

Instead of Jonah's message falling on stony hearts, couldn't it be more likely that those that repented didn't teach their children about the salvation they received from the true and living

43:07

God? It seems to me that this has been a recurring issue for most of God's children throughout the ages.

43:14

Good point, yeah, I agree with you, there was a decline. There must have been, firstly, a decline in theology, a decline in Christian doctrine, in the confessions, who is

43:31

God, and where do we come from, what went wrong. That went, and then after that, the morality went.

43:42

The ethic went, because there was no divine grounding of it. The parents were neglectful in not teaching their children.

43:53

And so then, after 100 years, it was barren. The 18th century revival needed then, in 1859, 100 years later, it needed to be another work of God.

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So, I wanted to speak on this verse, I wanted to speak on the second point.

44:14

God is a stronghold in the day of trouble. God is good, but there are days of trouble.

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God is good, and so the health and wealth people say, there'll never be days of trouble if you have enough faith.

44:29

But, my friends, there are days of trouble. Paul had a fall in the flesh.

44:35

It wasn't punishment, it was in order to make him sweeter and holier and enable him to write

44:46

Romans and Ephesians and Corinthians. God is good, you can count on that, but there'll be days of trouble.

44:56

If Christ was hated by the world, then the more the church lives like Christ, we'll be hated by the world too.

45:07

Blessed are you when men revile you, because you're living the sort of life you should be living,

45:14

Jesus says, the churches are tucked by the gates of hell. The world is under a curse and it's groaning, there are days of trouble.

45:23

But then he says, the day of trouble. Ah, you've known that, some of you, ah, you've known a special time.

45:32

When there was full frontal attack, when one problem seemed to beckon to another and it came crashing into your life and no sooner had the dust settled on another one, on another one.

45:49

The psalmist says, iniquity against me prevails from day to day.

45:56

Days of trouble, but ah, then there's a stronghold we can go to on that day.

46:03

There's a place we can go to. Oh, save to the rock that is higher than I, we can say in Aberystwyth there's a castle.

46:13

And when the Viking marauders came in their boats into Cardigan Bay, the trumpets blasted and the people left their little farms and they all came crowding in and the portcullis came down and the drawbridge went up and they were safe in the stronghold.

46:35

And we've got a stronghold. Luther said in Festerberg, a mighty fortress is our

46:42

God. We've got a savior that we can turn to.

46:47

When the sisters lost their brother, when he grew more and more sick,

46:55

Mary and Martha sent a message, Lord behold, surprised, astounded, he whom you love is sick.

47:06

So they told Jesus, whom God loves he chastens and we experienced that.

47:13

They sent a call. They didn't do nothing. They went to him.

47:20

The song says, are you weary, are you heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Are you grieving over joys departed?

47:26

Tell it to Jesus. Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious what shall be tomorrow?

47:34

Tell it to Jesus, we are told. There's another lovely old poem.

47:41

When vision of the coming years wakes in thy bosom anxious fears of what may be when parting nears.

47:49

Tell Jesus, when death regardless of thy moan has claimed thy dearest for his own.

47:56

O carry not thy grief alone. Tell Jesus, when burdens great thou hast to bear or trifling ones thy patience wear.

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The great, the small, he waits to share. Tell Jesus. So we've got someone to go to.

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Well, when John the Baptist was killed, his disciples took up his body so tenderly and they buried it.

48:27

And then they went and told the Lord Jesus. My friends, have you got someone to turn to?

48:36

If something enormous and tragic hit you this week, who would you go to?

48:46

Who would you turn to? Do you know there's a throne of grace where you find mercy and grace to help us?

48:55

There's a mighty stronghold that we've got to go to.

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Many people left Jesus one day and you remember how he gathered 12 together and he said to them, will you also go away?

49:10

And Peter said, to whom? Lord, to whom shall we go? Who else is there?

49:17

If you reject my Savior, if you just say, ah, this is religion again, this is fundamentalism, well, who is there to say that he loves you?

49:31

That he'll never leave you? That he'll work all things together for your good?

49:36

When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he will be with you. Whom will you go to?

49:43

When you're in a crisis situation, when you're laboring and heavy laden, when you're troubled by guilt, when you become seriously ill, when there's trouble in the family, when you're filled with doubts, who are you going to go to?

49:59

When evil prevails, when your marriage is on the rocks, when your children start asking you how they should live, when they start staying out late at night and reject your kindness, whom will you go to?

50:15

When you're all alone, when the weakness of old age comes upon you, to whom will you go?

50:22

I'm telling you that there is a stronghold that you can go to, that you will be welcomed to.

50:33

In all the daily petty crises of life, when the car breaks down, when the builder lets you down, when the electrician and the plumber doesn't turn up, and your house is in a mess, who will you turn to?

50:50

People go to horoscopes, people go to séances and try to reach the dead, and that's like seeking light in the deepest, darkest, stinkiest dungeon.

51:01

It's a horrible thing. Some go to drugs, some go to pubs, some go to cults, some go to communes, some go on the road.

51:11

My friends, where will you go for the answers to the great questions? You can go in every need, material, spiritual.

51:23

Come to me, Jesus, as all you that labor under heavy laden. Go to him.

51:29

There's this stronghold in the day of trouble. Go to him for forgiveness.

51:36

Go to him for pardon for your sins. Go to him for protection for everything that's yours.

51:44

He has all the resources of heaven and earth at his command, and by the help of Jesus, this stronghold, you can ford any river, you can cross any mountain, you can bear any burden, you can do everything he asks of you with the strength he will supply.

52:04

You can turn the other cheek. You can say to him, if this cup can't pass from me, then may thy will be done.

52:16

Go to him who says, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. To whom else can you go?

52:25

That was utterly beautiful. Thank you so much, brother. In fact,

52:31

I've got to find out what hymn or poem that Go to Jesus was from.

52:40

Who wrote that? I don't have the name to tell Jesus. Tell Jesus.

52:47

It was from an old tract which fell from the pages of an old, even secondhand book.

52:54

Wow. They went and told Jesus, it says on the top, when memory lifts the welcome veil that hides the past and fears assail, lest mercy at the last may fail, tell

53:07

Jesus. And it goes, it's got 12 verses. Wow.

53:12

Tell Jesus. And then there's the old song, which you probably know that I quoted first of all about telling

53:27

Jesus. There were two that I quoted there to you. I must send a copy to you,

53:36

Chris. Oh, yeah, definitely do that. And we have to go to our middle break, our midway break right now. This is the longer break because Grace Life Radio, 90 .1

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FM in Lake City, Florida, requires of us a longer break in the middle because they have to localize our show to Lake City, Florida, according to FCC regulations with their own public service announcements.

54:00

So while they air their own public service announcements, we air our globally heard commercials.

54:06

Please write down as much of the information provided by our advertisers as possible so that you can more frequently and successfully patronize them.

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And that way they will stick around as our advertisers, and subsequently we can stick around as a radio show because we absolutely depend upon their finances in order to exist, the finances that come through our advertisers.

54:30

So please try to patronize them as much as possible. And also, please send in questions to Jeff Thomas about not only our main topic today, which is the relevance of the prophet

54:43

Nahum in the 21st century, but you can also broaden the field of questions to anything theological.

54:52

And our email address, once again, is chrisarnson at gmail .com. chrisarnson at gmail .com.

54:58

Don't go away. We'll be back after these messages with more of Jeff Thomas. Iron Sharpens Iron Radio depends upon the financial support of fine

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Christian organizations to remain on the air, like the Historical Bible Society. The Historical Bible Society maintains a collection of Christian books, manuscripts, and Bibles of historical significance spanning nearly a thousand years.

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The mission of HBS is the preservation and public display of ancient Scripture, dissemination of Scripture, to provide tools equipping believers in Christian apologetics with evidence for the

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Bible's reliability, and to introduce Reformation literature and Christian art to a broader audience.

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Since 2004, HBS has toured schools and churches throughout the Northeast United States, reaching thousands of believers and nonbelievers alike who are hungry for knowledge of the

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Bible. HBS's founder, Daniel P. Buttafuoco, attorney at law, is committed to sharing this collection, along with an inspirational historical message that will captivate you and your church.

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Come journey through their website, historicalbiblesociety .org. The collection includes a complete 11th century

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Geneva Bible, the 1611 King James Bible, and much, much more. Visit historicalbiblesociety .org

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today. Thank you, Daniel P. Buttafuoco, attorney at law, for your faithful support of Iron Shop and Zion Radio.

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James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries and the Dividing Line webcast here. Although God has brought me all over the globe for many years to teach, preach, and debate at numerous venues, some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church, now located at their new, beautiful facilities in Corham, Long Island, New York.

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I've had the privilege of opening God's Word from their pulpit on many occasions, have led youth retreats for them, and have always been thrilled to see their members filling many seats at my

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New York debates. I do not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught, discipled, and edified by the

57:28

Holy Scriptures, and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

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I also want to congratulate Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham for their recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder,

57:40

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

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

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That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island that you heard about them from James White on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

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It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement. It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing.

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We're a diverse family of all ages. Enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ. In fellowship, play, and together.

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Hi, I'm Pastor Bob Walderman, and I invite you to come and join us here at Lindbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can be.

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Call Lindbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402. That's 516 -599 -9402.

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Or visit LindbrookBaptist .org. That's LindbrookBaptist .org. This is Andrew Rappaport with Striving for Eternity Ministries.

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Are you cooped up at home? Are you just desiring to use your time wisely? Well, Justin Peters and I got together and realized that our calendars were cleared because of COVID -19.

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So we decided we would get together and do our Snatch Them from the

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to 6 p .m. Eastern Time. We're going to give you a free seminar that you can take at home.

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We're going to cover the topics of the sufficiency of Scripture, interpreting Scripture, discerning false teachers, identifying false teachers, and then a

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Q &A. Get all the details at strivingforeternity .org, and there you can go to the online events to register before May 30th.

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And we'll see you there, online, in your home. As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

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The 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 worshiped and how

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He shall be represented in the world. 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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Or call them at 908 -996 -7654. That's 908 -996 -7654.

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Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our way of life, bringing so many uncertainties.

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When will it end? Why do disasters like this happen? How do we deal with anxiety, fear, and the like?

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Well, join us each Friday on the program Iron Sharpens Iron with your host, Chris Arnzen, and Pastor Joe Jakowitz as they explore

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God's Word for answers to this and other of life's related issues. Tune in at firstloveradio .org.

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That's firstloveradio .org Each Friday at 1 p .m.

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Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern. That's Iron Sharpens Iron on firstloveradio .org

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Fridays, 1 p .m. Pacific, 4 p .m. Eastern to hear what the Bible has to say about pandemics and how we should respond.

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

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

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And knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.

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

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

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

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O hail the power of Jesus' name

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This is Pastor Bill Sousa of 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

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Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the end of 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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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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01:16:09

Christmas gifts. And also, replenish your own library and edify yourself with the finest in Christian literature from the past and present from Solid -Ground -Books .com

01:16:21

Always remember to tell them that you heard about them from Chris Arns and Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Before we return to our discussion with Jeff Thomas, I just have a couple of announcements to make.

01:16:34

This Thursday and Friday, the 26th, I'm sorry, the 28th and 29th of May, we are having our long -awaited two -day debate on full preterism.

01:16:49

For those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, full preterists deny a future bodily, physical, visible return of Christ, and they also deny a future physical resurrection of the dead of both the saved and the damned.

01:17:08

And we are having a debate on this issue between a full preterist, one of the most well -known advocates of that position,

01:17:17

Don K. Preston. He is debating a former full preterist, somebody who used to be

01:17:24

Don Preston's colleague, somebody for whom Don Preston even published books, especially at least one book in particular.

01:17:36

So, this is going to be a fascinating debate to see these two men go head -to -head on a subject they once agreed on passionately and now vehemently disagree on.

01:17:49

That's going to be this Thursday and Friday, May 28th and 29th, right here on Iron Shrub and Zion Radio, and that's between the full preterist,

01:17:57

Don K. Preston, and the former full preterist, Samuel Frost. And day one features the theme, the physical resurrection of the dead is not still in our future.

01:18:12

And that is going to be defending or affirmed by Don K. Preston. And then the second day,

01:18:19

Friday, the theme is the second coming of Christ is still in our future.

01:18:25

That is being affirmed by Sam Frost and denied by Don K. Preston.

01:18:30

So, I hope that you tune in this Thursday and Friday. Make sure you mark your calendars and tell your loved ones about this fascinating debate on full preterism.

01:18:40

One more thing, folks. If you love this show and you don't want it to disappear from the airwaves and you love sharing the free downloadable

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01:19:11

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01:19:18

Then click, click to donate now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card by doing that. And also, you can advertise with us if you are promoting something that is compatible with what we believe.

01:19:32

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01:19:39

Whether it's a church, a parachurch organization, a business, a professional practice like a lawyer, a doctor, dentist, a special event.

01:19:50

Whatever it is that you're promoting, at least it has to be compatible. So we would love to hear from you because we are in urgent need of your financial help.

01:19:59

I want to thank all of you who have already generously and benevolently responded to these calls for help, and especially a woman in Austin, Texas who

01:20:11

I had never heard from before until recently who broke all records as far as the amount she donated.

01:20:18

And I am forever in your debt. You know who you are if you're listening, and this was such a blessing to me to know that we have people that value this program that much.

01:20:32

But we appreciate gifts large and small, so please go to ironsharpensignradio .com

01:20:38

click support, then click donate now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card.

01:20:46

And keep in mind, I would never want you siphoning money away from your normal giving to your local church where you are a member in order to give to us.

01:20:55

Please don't do that. Especially during this time of the pandemic when many churches and possibly yours have been hit hard financially.

01:21:03

Never siphon money away from them to give to us. And also, never put your family in financial jeopardy by giving to us.

01:21:11

Those are commands of God providing for your home and your church. Providing for this show is not a command of God, but if you are blessed financially above and beyond your ability to obey those two commands, you have extra money that you've saved because you're not going to your favorite sporting events, you're not going to concerts, you're not going to the movies, you're not going to see theatrical performances at playhouses, you're not going to Bible conferences, and doing a lot of the other things that you once did before the pandemic and before the banning of large public gatherings, including even things like fine dining.

01:21:54

With all the money you're saving on those things, please, could you use some of that money to help us survive, to help us remain on the air?

01:22:02

Go to www .ironsharpensironradio .com click support, then click click to donate now. Also folks, if you are not a member of a local

01:22:10

Bible -believing church, I have lists of biblically -faithful churches all over the world, and I can help you find a church,

01:22:17

God willing. I've already helped many people in all kinds of areas on the planet

01:22:22

Earth to find churches where they have visited and joined, or sometimes they have visited on vacation or referred them to others they know who need a church.

01:22:33

So, please, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com and put I need a church in the subject line and we will try to help you out as quickly as possible.

01:22:43

And that's also the email address where you can send in a question to Jeff Thomas, our guest today.

01:22:48

That's chrisarnson at gmail .com chrisarnson at gmail .com Give us your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside the

01:22:59

USA. And by the way, I want to let you know that once again, Jeff, our mutual friend,

01:23:06

Pastor Mac Tomlinson is listening from Providence Chapel in Denton, Texas. And he told me that Tell Jesus was written by Charles Gabriel and Ina Ogden.

01:23:19

O -G -D -O -N. Right. So, it was good that our friend

01:23:26

Mac was listening. Well, it's down the South, I've heard it. It's number 592 in Redemption Songs.

01:23:35

Right. But the second one, Tell Jesus, when memory lifts the welcome veil that hides the past and fears the sale, there's mercy at the last may fail.

01:23:46

Tell Jesus. Fifteen verses and I've only seen it in one place.

01:23:51

And it came out of an old tract that fell from the pages of an old second -hand book.

01:23:57

They went and told Jesus was the theme there. So, it's written by F.

01:24:05

S. McCurry. So, that's going to be a task to try and find out more about who wrote that second one.

01:24:14

And I want to thank Mac Tomlinson by giving a plug to his website.

01:24:20

If anybody lives in Denton, Texas or plans to visit there, or has loved ones there, the website is providencedenton .org

01:24:30

providencedenton .org that reminds me to ask our listeners to continue to pray for my oldest brother,

01:24:37

John, who lives about 10 minutes away from Pastor Tomlinson. Pastor Tomlinson has visited him and I pray that you, and I ask you to pray that my brother,

01:24:49

John, who is not, it's not certain whether he's a believer right now, and he has got critical stage emphysema, and very seriously ill, and I'm asking you to soften his heart to welcome a visit again from Pastor Mac, and that I hear some good news about very clear evidence of repentance and true faith in Christ.

01:25:17

I also want to plug the conference where my guest,

01:25:23

Jeff Thomas, is speaking. This is a conference being run by Pastor Mac Tomlinson.

01:25:31

Fellowship Conference New England, August 6th through the 8th, at the Deering Center Community Church in Portland, Maine.

01:25:38

Jeff Thomas and Dr. Joel Beakey are both speaking at this conference, and for more details, go to fellowshipconferencenewengland .com

01:25:49

fellowshipconferencenewengland .com fellowshipconferencenewengland .com Go to the third main point that you wanted to derive from the prophet.

01:26:02

Okay. Give it now, my brother, you're saying. He knoweth them that trust in him.

01:26:09

First point, the Lord is good. Secondly, a stronghold in a day of trouble. This is

01:26:15

NAM 1 -7, and then the last. He knows them that trust in him. He knows us.

01:26:21

You know, that doesn't simply refer to his omniscience, that there's nothing he doesn't know.

01:26:31

It's as if he's aware of us. You know, in the Bible, very often the idea of knowing is more affectionate than cognizant.

01:26:43

For God to know means God loves. So the NIV translates this verse, he cares for them that trust in him.

01:26:55

I'm thinking of Amos and God saying through Amos, you only have

01:27:01

I known of all the nations in the world. Well, it's not saying

01:27:08

God only knew about Israel. God knew about the Babylonians and the

01:27:14

Assyrians and Nineveh, didn't he? He knew about the Greeks and the Romans. He was aware.

01:27:22

When it says that God you only have

01:27:27

I known, he's talking about his love for his people. On the day of judgment he'll say, depart from me.

01:27:34

I never knew you. It isn't saying I'm ignorant of you. It's saying you're not

01:27:42

Jacob. You were Esau. I didn't know you. You weren't

01:27:48

Joseph. You were Pharaoh. I didn't know you. We're told that Adam knew his wife

01:27:54

Eve. Well, that doesn't mean he knew she was five foot two with eyes of blue.

01:28:02

But that it was an intellectual knowledge. It was an affectionate knowledge. It was a personal knowledge, a passionate knowledge, a loving knowledge.

01:28:11

It's the message of Hosea, isn't it? His great love for Goma.

01:28:18

Lord, she's betrayed him. It's the message of Ephesians 5. Christ loves the church and he gives himself for her.

01:28:28

He washes and cleanses her. So, we've got to read back the whole commitment, the whole jealousy of God for the love of his people.

01:28:41

God in love with them. God going to Calvary for them. God shedding his blood.

01:28:46

God refusing to end the enfleshment and come down from the cross.

01:28:54

I love that's prodigal. I love that's emotional. I love that's sparing not

01:29:00

Jesus Christ because he loves miserable sinners like you and me.

01:29:07

He knows them. He loves them. It says he loves them.

01:29:14

He loves and loves them. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. And you know for some people when a day of trouble comes and they lose people that are so precious to them and they lose their health and they're out of money and it's very hard to believe

01:29:32

God is loving them. And here he says, he does love.

01:29:39

He does love eternally. He does love unchangeably. He loves us.

01:29:46

Nothing's going to separate us from his love. Those who trust in him, those who take refuge in him, the

01:29:57

ESV says, I like to trust. People are cynical today.

01:30:03

There's a culture of cynicism. People let you down. They're disappointed.

01:30:10

The banks let you down. The insurance people let you down. Your car mechanic lets you down.

01:30:18

Your husband breaks his marriage vows. Your wife does. They let you down.

01:30:25

Ah, I can tell you someone will never let you down. I've got somebody for you.

01:30:34

I'm offering him to you. And he's worthy of your total trust in him.

01:30:41

He'll never disappoint you. Always keep his word. I've trusted him.

01:30:47

I've trusted him since February 1954. And he's kept his word.

01:30:58

There are going to be disappointments if you put your trust in anyone else.

01:31:04

The people you love the most can let you down. But ah, here is someone who will never, never, never do that.

01:31:16

And you can put your trust in him. You can put your whole lives in his hands.

01:31:23

You can trust in the Lord. Into his safe keeping. You can trust him with all your heart.

01:31:32

Not lean to your own understanding of just how things are now and why things have gone wrong.

01:31:39

Don't trust that. Trust in a God who numbers the hairs of our heads.

01:31:47

A God who cares deeply for us. A God who won't allow the gates of hell to prevail.

01:31:58

Here's this little Christian boy and the devil wants to destroy him.

01:32:04

And you know you can entrust that little Christian boy, that little

01:32:10

Christian girl into the hands of the Lord Jesus and he will keep him safe.

01:32:16

Because he loves him. There's a stronghold. There's a mighty fortress.

01:32:22

There are walls of salvation that delight to defend the soul that Jesus is determined to take to glory.

01:32:32

The Lord is good. And so you can trust him. He's a mighty fortress.

01:32:38

You can trust in him. And you can trust him because he loves you.

01:32:48

He knows all about you. And he still loves you. How wonderful the love of God is for us.

01:32:55

This is why I love what Nahum says here. There's going to be war. There's going to be the destruction of Assyria.

01:33:03

And the world is going to shake. And the women are going to weep. And the mountains are going to tremble.

01:33:08

But you've got a stronghold where you'll be safe. You've got a

01:33:13

Lord who loves you when you trust in him. And that's the great message of Nahum.

01:33:20

Praise God. Those are all great messages from Nahum. And I want to repeat our email address if you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own.

01:33:33

It's chrisarnson at gmail .com chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:33:39

c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n - z -e -n at gmail .com And please give us at least your first name, your city and state, your country of residence, if you live outside of the

01:33:53

USA. And we have let's see here we have

01:34:01

RJ in White Plains, New York and he says this has been so refreshing hearing such vital biblical truth that is so powerfully comforting and encouraging and soothing especially knowing that it is coming from a minor prophet who is very rarely addressed in the media on televangelist programs or in Christian literature or on the radio.

01:34:34

And I'm just asking if there are other minor prophets that have this much powerful truth in them.

01:34:43

Well, that's a great question. I love the first half of Zechariah and the great images there.

01:34:54

You know the Satan comes and accuses the high priest that he's dressed in stinking robes and the

01:35:03

Lord takes the stinking clothes from him and clothes him in beautiful garments and puts a tiara on his head and it's a lovely picture of redemption.

01:35:15

I love that in Jeremiah and then in Hosea last time

01:35:21

I was in Carlisle and I did a family conference I did three messages on Hosea, on the extraordinary love that he had how he bids for her and he bids for her she hears his voice, she's been unfaithful to him she's turned her back on him and she's gone after men and she's slept with anyone and he goes now she's penniless and she's had to pay her debt by being sold she's there in the slave market and somebody bids for her peanuts and somebody calls out a great sum and she knows the words and it's

01:36:05

Hosea her husband and he wins her back and he buys her back and I think that's a wonderful picture of salvation and redemption

01:36:17

Amen. The prodigality of God's love for us and so that's the message of and then in Amos you know

01:36:27

I was here a month ago and I was preaching a verse from Amos is the destruction in a city and the

01:36:34

Lord hasn't done it talking about the plague that's come and you find these gems

01:36:40

I think in all of them you can say what the hymnist says it is a golden casket where gems of truth are stored and you'll find that in the books and it's a popular series

01:36:56

I tell you who's got a nice series on the twelve prophets John Blanchard wrote one

01:37:02

I think it was his last book about three years ago and it's a very useful summary of the twelve minor prophets great yeah

01:37:14

John Blanchard is probably most well known for ultimate questions the booklet that is in many church lobbies and track racks yeah in a number of languages yeah in a lot of languages yeah

01:37:31

I remember when I heard heard when I realized I should say that where I used to live on Long Island there was a growing

01:37:39

Polish community I got hundreds of Polish versions of the ultimate questions very good yes it's been translated into Welsh by a girl who read the banner of truth

01:37:55

John Blanchard book and was converted by reading that and then she translated ultimate questions into the

01:38:04

Welsh edition that's a nice story isn't it she paid him back let's see here we have another question for you we have

01:38:18

Harrison in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania who says hearing you on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio the last several times you've been a guest has been an introduction of your ministry to me and I am totally thrilled and I was wondering

01:38:34

I heard earlier that you have written books that have been published by Banner of Truth and also

01:38:40

Reformation Heritage books can you tell us about some of these books well

01:38:46

I've written a biography of a famous Pennsylvania man named Ernest Riesinger who was from Carlisle and was instrumental in the starting of the church where Chris attends and I've written that biography of him,

01:39:01

I loved writing it and it's just been plugged with a sweet video from a widow in the congregation that knew him and her husband came to faith

01:39:12

Ernie speaking to him, he was a contractor and built schools and bridges and roads before he retired to the south and then he worked amongst the

01:39:25

Southern Baptists the life of Ernest Riesinger I think it's a very encouraging life and that's

01:39:33

Banner of Truth and then there is Reformation Heritage my best selling book is a book of 22 chapters and it's called

01:39:43

The Holy Spirit and it's a series of sermons that I wrote and then some lectures

01:39:52

I gave in a Bible college in Wales and it's been translated into Spanish and it sells well in South America and in Spain where I was speaking last year and that's gone well and then

01:40:10

I I've written a book which was the latest one to come out about 6 months ago on the greatest evangelist of the 19th century,

01:40:21

Brownlow North and it's just called Brownlow North and that's Reformation Heritage books and I brought it up to date and he wasn't saved until he was in his late 40s and then he gave the rest of his life fearlessly to telling other people about Jesus Christ and then

01:40:45

I got a new book an evangelistic book called You Could Have It All which is coming out this summer by Reformation Heritage books and I aimed it for I suppose a teenage unbeliever a person who doesn't do a lot of reading and I'm telling them of all that they could have when they became

01:41:09

Christian they could know God, they could know themselves they could have the forgiveness of their sins, they could have all things working together for their good they could have

01:41:20

God supplying all their needs they could learn contentment in whatever state they are in they could have nothing to separate them from the love of God, they could become children of God, heirs of God they could have hope in death, about 10 chapters like that and I'm hoping that I shall give it to some of the neighbors in my street and I'm hoping that one grandson who is 22 and a bit of a rebel

01:41:52

I'm hoping that it will touch his heart and bring him to confess

01:41:58

Jesus as his Savior Amen, and by the way folks perhaps especially

01:42:05

Harrison, if you go to the archive of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio where it says

01:42:12

Past Shows Podcast, if you click on that when you see a search engine type in Jeff Thomas, and his first name is spelled

01:42:21

G -E -O -F -F and you will see a listing of all of his interviews that he's done on this program and a number of them are on books that he has written as well so I look forward to having you back

01:42:37

Jeff to discuss you can have it all after it comes out in print Yeah, good

01:42:44

We have to go to our final break right now this will be a lot more brief than the last one so send in your questions now before we run out of time at chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:42:54

chrisarnson at gmail .com don't go away, we'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors

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

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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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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.

01:53:13

Welcome back. This is the final segment of our interview with Jeff Thomas. And if you have any intention to send in a question, do it immediately, because we're rapidly running out of time.

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If you could, Pastor Jeff, summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today when it comes to this minor prophet who has obviously proven to give us a great wealth of encouragement and comfort in this day and age in which we live, even in the 21st century.

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Yeah, it's the goodness of God. I think that just needs to be emphasized.

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I think the devil would give us a perverted view of God, would try every way.

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You meet it in the world, don't you, people saying, I had a lovely lady, a friend of mine, she was sitting on a bus, and she had a book with her, she was going on a bus ride, and there were empty seats on the bus, and this woman got on the bus, and instead of sitting in one of those empty seats, she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on the bus, and she got on to the empty seat, and she sat right next to her.

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And then she turned to my friend, and she said, if God was hearing,

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I'd wring his neck. Wow, that was it.

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Of course there was no better person who could speak to her seriously, and sweetly about the

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Living God and tell her these truths. People want to blame God. God is good.

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He sends a thorn in the flesh, doesn't he? A thorn to the greatest

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Christian, the Apostle Paul. And a thorn is angry and painful.

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A child that falls in a thorn bush yells in pain. And yet, out of the thorn bush, a rose comes, the sweetest of all flowers, the most delightful to the eye.

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Paul, ah, he had a thorn in the flesh, but out of it, what fragrant lettuce came, that has been a blessing to millions and millions of Christians, and will be so forevermore.

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So, God is good. He gave a stronghold in that day of trouble to the

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Apostle Paul. So, here we have it. A godly man, a

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Christian, is free from the sting of death that was taken by Jesus, but not from the stroke.

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It's an appointment that lies before us. We're freed from the curse of death, of course.

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There is, therefore, no curse for those that are in Christ Jesus, but the cross, the sadness, the parting.

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Ah, yes, for a time, I have chosen three things to be my epitaph, to be on my tombstone under the dear wife that is also already there.

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I'm going to put down these great words.

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God created me. Sin ruined me. Grace restored me.

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I have the foundation of my life for all the years

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I've known the Lord, and it is my hope and comfort yet.

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God created me. Sin ruined me. Grace restored me.

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Hallelujah. Well, I want to make sure that our listeners have the information to visit

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Alfred Place Baptist Church, should they live in Aberystwyth, Wales, or intend to visit there, or have friends and family and loved ones near there.

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It is alfredplacechurch .org .uk. That's alfredplacechurch .org

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.uk. And even though Jeff Thomas is not the pastor there any longer, after he retired, his grandson is, and he still, and Jeff Thomas still, on occasion does preach there, and so I hope that you pay a visit if at all possible.

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Also, don't forget about the conference where Jeff Thomas is scheduled to speak, and this is far enough into the future where I seriously doubt it will be banned because of quarantine issues from the pandemic.

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This will be August 6th through the 8th, and I intend to be there, God willing, and that's the

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Fellowship Conference New England, August 6th through the 8th at the Deering Center Community Church in Portland, Maine, and Jeff Thomas will be speaking with Dr.

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Joel Beeke, another powerful speaker and writer, and dear brother in Christ.

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So go to fellowshipconferencenewengland .com, fellowshipconferencenewengland .com.

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Don't forget about our debate on Thursday and Friday on full preterism between Don K.

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Preston and Samuel Frost, so mark that down on your calendars. I hope you all always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater