June 17, 2015 ISI Radio Show with Mike Gaydosh of Solid Ground Christian Books on “The Providence of God”

Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron, a radio platform on which pastors, Christian scholars and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed 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 and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions. Now here's our host, Chris Arntzen. Good afternoon. Cumberland County,.

Pennsylvania and the rest of humanity on the planet earth listening via live streaming. This is Chris Arntzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron, wishing you all a happy Wednesday on this 17th day of June 2015 and I'm very excited to have as a guest for my very first time on Iron Sharpens Iron, my very first pastor over 30 years ago when I came to Christ by his mercy and grace, Pastor Mike Gaydosh, who is now the executive director and founder of Solid Ground Christian Books and I thank God that he has remained a faithful friend through all these years even though he relocated a number of years ago down south and it is a joy to see what the Lord is doing with Solid Ground Christian Books and today we're going to be discussing the providence of God and it's great to welcome you to Iron Sharpens Iron for the first time, Michael Gaydosh.

Well thank you, Brother Chris. I'm very excited about the opportunity of being able to be with you today and I'm especially excited to know that you are back once again being able to interview people and to speak about things that really matter.

God has gifted you and I believe that Iron Sharpens Iron is indeed unique. There's nothing quite like it.

Yes and I want to thank Mike Gaydosh for the invaluable tool that he has been in my life. God used him to nurture me in the faith to wean me on the doctrines of grace and to disciple me in the ways of God so anything that you may hear from my lips in this program that's stupid or heretical you can blame Mike Gaydosh for that.

Well thank you, Chris. I appreciate it. And I own that. And I just want to give quickly before I forget and I hope to do this a number of times today but I want to give the website for Solid Ground Christian Books who is also one of the newest sponsors of this broadcast Solid Ground I'm sorry Solid-Ground-Books .com that's Solid-Ground-Books .com and before we even go into our subject at hand on God's providence and I know we'll be gleaning some wisdom from the book The Divine Purpose by John Matthews but if you could tell us something about Solid Ground Christian Books.

I know that the ministry originally was born out of Calvary Press many years ago when you started publishing and originally you were just reprinting things that were out of print, correct?

That's correct, Chris. I began publishing by indeed the providence of God. It was not something I'd ever intended to do but in 1990 I lived in Long Island in Amityville for about nine years at that time and we began Calvary Press as a ministry of Calvary Baptist Church.

I had the idea of bringing back as a separate booklet, a separate item, the material called Thoughts for Young Men by J .C. Ryle and what ended up happening was we donated money to allow us to do 10 ,000 copies of Thoughts for Young Men and we ended up selling at a very, very low price.

We sold all 10 ,000 within about the first six months and we were off and running. We began to realize that God could use these old works that were given to a new generation and in the providence of God.

What happened many years later, talking to the man who was actually the new... at Westminster, how did you get involved in publishing and I told him about the Thoughts for Young Men project back in 1990 and he stopped me before I could even finish and he said to me, you published that?

I said, yeah. I said, we published that back in 1990 and he said, did you publish the one that had the blue cover? I said, yeah. He said, well, he said, God used that to bring me to Christ. He said, I was saved through reading that book in Australia.

This was a Korean man got a hold of our little book, Thoughts for Young Men by Ryle and God brought him. This is a real blessing to hear that and we've converted and...

Just to give a little shout out to Calvary Press, they still do exist and that's calvarypress .com just to let you know that they are still in existence but just under a different upper... under a different headship and so the...

Tell us about how these books have been used of God and I know that they've traveled globally and they've wound up in the hands of some people who have become, by God's grace, saved through reading them and lives have been transformed.

Tell us some things about that. Yeah, we've... well, we've had... we've had literally hundreds and hundreds of stories that have been told us. I remember, again, early on that the Thoughts for Young Men that God was using it in and there were people that were traveling 50 to 75 miles to get a copy of the book and we ended up getting to know some of the people who had been converted through the reading of that particular material.

And really since... since we began publishing at Calvary Press and then now more recently in the last 14 years at it's really a steady stream of encouraging testimonies of people through reading the material or who have at least in their faith and have come to a fuller understanding and appreciation of the sovereignty of God.

Obviously what we publish is consistently material that exalts the glory of God as others do in Christ and in Christ alone for their salvation and there's almost that we have received from people who have...

I want to quick announce my.

Email address here for anybody who may have a question for Mike Gadosh about either our theme, The Divine Purpose, or The Providence of God and we're going to be gleaning from the book, The Divine Purpose, displayed in the works of Providence and Grace by John Matthews, but we you can also ask questions specifically about Solid Ground Christian Books and the email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com chrisarnson at gmail .com and of course we would ask that you at least give your first name and the city and state from where you're writing and country if you're not in the United States but of course if for some reason the question involves a personal private and intimate matter you can remain anonymous if you so choose.

It's chrisarnson at gmail .com c-h-r-i-s-a-r-n-z-e-n at gmail .com. What would be the best selling books that you.

Have brought into print that have been most widely distributed etc? Well the one that would be Thoughts for Young Men is a wonderful edition. And Joe Bianchi of I Began Solid Ground and so we did. Uh we uh even it's an honor that I receive when I publish a book is when I see other people as well that people have.

And I know you're familiar with this. Five years out amongst the. And he did this for 20 some years and he did became an instant best rival of Uncle Tom. And he ended up having it before he died. And he did a second.

Both volumes in one. And uh it has become required reading in southerners of pastors. Or to read the scriptural ministry. And um again we've had tests. But we've we've even had pastor. How that book is.

So I would say those three immediately jumped once again. So this was gracious enough thoughts for young men that we did a new edition. Donate money and wanted to order 200 copies of Thoughts for Young Men so we decided to do a new edition.

My son and two of his needed a much god has used that in the lives of many in fact. A cover.

Like that might make an average teenager or young young man especially uh more prone to read it rather than be embarrassed by a booklet that may appear to be childish even though because he doesn't see the contents of it he just sees the cover of it so well.

You're right and I think that.

You know cover is wondering did you want me to. Before we go on to the uh the discussion of our.

Main subject for today. I did want to ask you about your friendship with Elizabeth Elliot since she just very recently went home to be with Christ and I know that she wrote the forward to Elizabeth Prentice's book Stepping Heavenward for you and wrote endorsements for a number of other books.

Yes as a result of being many many almost celebrated people and Elizabeth Elliot certainly would be to help me. Her husband Lars I got to know him quite well and she she not only wrote a forward to it but I never did get the clear answer on this word or if we just reintroduced by that book that she ended up doing on both the book that was one week and then the second week was on the life of her radio broadcast of 50 to 60 people who had learned the gospel to yes you.

Don't have many grown well-built men that would have the courage to do what she did.

No this frail woman and and and she had a little girl. I want to repeat the email address.

Chrisarnson at gmail .com if you have a question for Mike Gaydosh regarding either solid ground christian books or our topic today which is the providence of God and if you could define for us what providence is.

A lot of people recognize that as a city in Rhode Island but they don't know.

Really much else of what it means. Well you're right. And but it's an interesting they have find that that that name was what what. Both the back all his creatures and all this is based upon will whereby for his own glory deigned whatsoever comes to pass through his given.

God executes his decrees in the works of summarize creating and governing his world and then of course the work of redemption where he has entered history through the death and the resurrection and the ascension and the enthronement of the land since providence involves extra biblical events.

Things that are not inherently written down and God breathed in the pages of the bible. We have to be careful on how we interpret providence. Don't we some people. Uh very often it's interesting that that are.

There are a lot of people that are not even believers in God's sovereignty over all history overall history especially in salvation. And yet they will immediately know that God is telling them something through some kind of a an act that occurs or something that they happen to stumble upon.

Or I'm I was praying for a wife and this beautiful girl walked through the door at a restaurant and she was wearing my favorite color blue. So I knew God was telling me that that was the woman that I'm to marry.

And of course she person wouldn't be thinking that if it was an ugly woman. Yeah. But if you could if you could.

Expand on that. Well I think that. Yeah that's a good point. I think that uh providence must not be our bible we we as of life something is. You may recall that in the book of deuteronomy the lord actually tells people at one point that he will send a test to dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or wonder comes true and then he tells what he was other gods we've not known and let us serve them.

The lord says you shall not listen to that dreamer of dreams for the lord your god is testing you to find out. If you love the lord your god shall follow the lord your god and fear him. You shall keep his commandments listen to his voice serve him and cling to it and believe.

But the problem was he was calling them to go out. I think that that's one case. And there are many instances in the scriptures where you have people were who were actually was not from the lord. It would read too much in them even at time.

Didactic.

Teaching now very briefly before uh I mentioned some things out of john matthews book who we are going to be gleaning some of the wisdom from that today. The divine purpose displayed in the works.

And providence of grace. Uh tell us something about john matthews. Well john matthews it's interesting that he was a man that was not very well known. Uh when this book was chibald alexander who many of your listeners.

Matthews book the divine lengthy review about it and read this book and to see how valuable it was. John matthews he ended up being a was used of god as i'm called by god he said to innocent people whose affection counting nothing dear to him which marked his preaching the intellectual vigor which characterized his work on the divine purpose which so often has been his duties as perfect feebleness of body to attend on all the exercise.

He ended up uh teaching in theology that who is this man. He just said he looked together. It was actions about the sovereignty of god about the divine decrees and addressing all of those kinds of issues.

And the man himself when was really unsearchable. Alexander what happened actually was in the late 1920s when the book was published got a hold of it and he ended up writing this lengthy review about like 30 page review value of it.

Well it apparently remained unprinted for many years. And then uh in getting the book three edition i had an opinion with you or nothing in the volume calculated to when you.

Return from the break i want to ask you about the influence of prejudice. Answer to the question what are the decrees of god which is one of the chapters in john matthews book. And if you could answer that when we return if you could explain that.

And if you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own for mike gadosh of solid ground christian books on the subject of divine providence or on the subject of his publishing ministry our email address is chris arnzen at gmail .com.

That's chris arnzen at gmail .com. Don't go away we'll be right back after these messages.

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That a church can be. Call linbrook baptist at 516 -599 -9402 that's 516 -599 -9402 or visit linbrookbaptist .org that's linbrookbaptist .org. Welcome back. This is chris arnzen if you've.

Just joined us our guest today on iron sharpens. Iron is michael gadosh who is the founder and executive director of solid ground christian books and we are delighted to have him as our guest for the first time.

He is my very first pastor after my rebirth by god's mercy nearly 30 years ago and i am enjoying this conversation with him very much. And we do have a listener with an emailed question before i go to the question on the influence of prejudice.

Answers to the questions what are the decrees of god. This listener writes and it's an anonymous listener that he has written a manuscript and it has been rejected by the major publishers. He's submitted it but he is constantly being encouraged by uh christians and men in the ministry whom he trusts that this is a book worthy of print.

Since your subject is on providence it's it's difficult to discern which providence i should accept as my fate the one involving the rejection of the.

Or the affirmation and encouragement of friends and ministry. Well that's yeah. In my personal opinion i would say that i would lean. But i know many publishers what you call the bottom line and they have to say well is this going to warrant our expending the amount of money that's necessary.

Thankfully we live in a day in which i recommend this person to get a hold of me i may be able to help. Obviously we have many things that we have to can proceed to publish a book but um i would not take.

There are many reasons why they why they said no if they gave i would not take that.

In fact a mutual friend of ours uh the late dr robert j cameron he wrote a book the last few on the left and a major christian publisher that everybody would recognize the name of this publisher said that they believed it was the finest manuscript unsolicited manuscript that they had ever received but because being a black pastor he he criticized both the white church at large and the black church at large for the sin of racism and because he included blacks as being guilty with along with whites of the sin of racism they didn't feel comfortable publishing.

Yeah some.

Of the things that you have to you have to understand there are many many especially when the larger publishers are dealing with. You might have investors that are involved many that aren't even owned by christians anymore now.

Absolutely that's exactly the case and now you have many of the largest quote christian publishing houses who are not being run by christians anymore. So they have they have one line and that line is the bottom line and that's all they care about.

And going back to the question from uh john matthews book the divine purpose uh the influence.

Of prejudice. Answer to the question. Yeah that you know the way that he begins. That chapter is so so well stated that i'm just going to read that opening section. No person can have been so long conversant with the world as you have been without.

Often it implies the belief of a statement or opinion without examination of course without a knowledge of the evidence on which the true good reason can be given in this way either truth or error may be and often is received.

It is peculiarly unfortunate when its influence operates for it renders the mind almost if not quite inaccessible to truth. It is a hopeless undertaking to reason with men. You state a case to them differently from their own opinion.

Free judge to form their opinion. Difficulty. And why should they doubt. Perfectly satisfied with their present views. Troubled with no doubts respect. Well he goes on and speaks more about that. But we've all had to deal with this in our lives no matter what the positions we hold.

I remember having a conversation one time with a young woman an election and that he has to give everyone an equal. Ridiculous. How can you possibly believe that god has to opportunity. And she says well i believe he does.

And i believe that that's what that. That's exactly what god does because he has to do that in order to be fair sent this case to her. I said okay a young child who's born into a christian ample opportunities to to hear the gospel.

And uh and then you have another child born in another side of the world and to receive the gospel. You know what john matthews is talking about. Here's a person who is completely unreasonable. It makes absolutely no sense.

And you so how do you reason. What when i would come to a person and realize that two and two no longer equals because you're not. You're not talking to somebody. And that's what that is. That's exactly what he calls prejudice.

There you've pre-judged them that you've been given an opportunity to actually test the matter to see whether these things are so. And uh and that's exactly what i love about the way my decrees of god and then on into the process he walks people through these these causes a person to have to really evaluate not just what do you believe but why do you believe what you believe.

And i i remember years and years ago knowing what you believe and then knowing why you believe. It's a very helpful terminology to do in your evening walk you trip. In the first case the effect as it respected yourself was accidental.

That is it happened without your intention. You had no design to injure that worm. Or the event was according to your nothing like this can possibly christian life. And uh what paul is is describing here in ephesians 1.

In this what's called the longest 14 is over 200 words in the origin right in the heart 14 according to never gotten over. According to he who works be 28. Now last thing let's go back and read it is all things to his purpose conformed to the image.

So everything that happens in our lives that that even include. No way does it minimize. But it what it does tell us is that god will take even the worst things and he will turn them for good. One of my favorite books by thomas watson is called all things for good.

And it's his brief exposition. I can't possibly read that and not be the issue of providence.

God's Sovereign Decrees and the Limits of Reading Providence

God's control over all occurrences in history. Uh it's. There's a lot of division amongst even those that profess to be christians and even those who are in christian leadership so-called where you have for instance a a natural disaster a hurricane that kills many thousands of people and destroys millions of dollars worth of property and etc.

Uh you will have christian leaders who some will say uh god did not do that he set up in his design of nature things such as hurricanes and tornadoes and and that just was a natural occurrence because of certain atmospheric phenomena that occurred.

You will have some who fall into the error of the opposite extreme. Uh who will be certain that god wiped out a certain area with a hurricane tornado or flood because of homosexuality. Or they will name a specific sin or a specific group of people as being the cause of this disaster as if they have been told by god himself why he specifically acted that way.

And then of course you have all different uh different.

Opinions in between on the spectrum. But if you could comment on that. Yeah that's. That's the 40. Um to to address the the issue of god having nothing to do. Remember hearing. And i'm pretty sure that he he he corrected himself.

But i remember hearing myself one time franklin graham answering a question regarding katrina and when larry king asked him that god had nothing to do king was even shot off. Question was asked her and she gave the exact opposite.

No. Have you not heard you from the beginning. Have you not understood. From the foundations of the earth it is he who sits above the vault stretches out the heavens like a curse who reduces rulers to nothing who he merely blows on them carries them away.

Like will you liken me who has created these stars. The one who leads forth. Are not one of them. Sure. You've heard me say that do not fear those who kill the body but are not accomplished for a purpose.

And i would agree with you that there's why god whether it's a hurricane hit one group of house or perhaps it had mingled with their sacrifices and he answered and said to them that do you suppose these galileans were greater sinners than all other galileans because they suffered do you know.

But unless you repent you will all likewise perish. And then he asked then he presents this to them. Or do you suppose that the power in siloam fell and killed them. Jerusalem can't interpret providence.

We can't say oh or the. But he must have. It's obvious that. But yet we're told into the watching world that god would be able to sustain this man him even his health. And we're going to be going to.

Our final break. Uh let me just quickly quote someone in reference to you mike gaydosh. I believe it was charles spurgeon who was referring to john bunyan when he said prick him anywhere his blood is bib line.

The very essence of the bible flows from him. I'm saying that about you today brother. Um and uh we're going to our our final break here. So uh if you'd like to email us with a question we're running out of time rapidly so do it now at chris arnzen at gmail .com chris arnzen.

At gmail .com we'll be right back. I'm james white of alpha and omega ministries. The new american standard bible is perfect for daily reading or in-depth study. Used by pastors scholars and everyday readers the nasb is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable bible translation.

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Call them at 631 -929 -3512 for service times 631 -929 -3512. Or check out their website at wrbc .us. That's wrbc .us. Welcome back. This is chris arnes and if you've just joined us we have mike gadosh of solid ground christian books as our guest today we're talking about divine providence.

We do have a listener louis from vista california writing. I had a question on how we should engage those who differ from us in regards to providence. You went over it briefly but i was wondering how we could talk to friends and family to help them better understand where we are coming from.

And if you could do that as briefly as you can because we've only got about seven minutes. Yeah that's a good.

Question. I think that um we we are trying to give answers probing and asking a series of questions to another and try to help people. Try to help people to understand. Well if god is not in control for instance when in the bible with a lord i mean that's one way of dealing with it.

And another way is i think just by by seeking to reason with people and ask them questions. Okay now if god's not in control of this then what else is he not in control of. Then he mustn't be in control of the evil actions of evil men.

Right. Then then he has nothing to do with them. Well how about we turn to what joseph said in in genesis 45 says when he revealed himself to them he says now don't be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here me before you to preserve life.

For the famine has been in the land these two years and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance now therefore it was not you who sent me here but god and he has made me a father to pharaoh and lord over all his household and a ruler over the land of egypt.

Three times in those verses joseph says god is the one who sent him to egypt. And yet how did he do it. He did it by means of the evil actions. And yet it was god who had sent him there. And you may recall that by the end of his life the brothers were fearful that when they came back from the funeral of their father jacob that take revenge.

In fact that their father was dead. They said what if joseph can fool for all the wrong which we did to him. So they sent a message to joseph saying your father charged you wrong. And now please forgive the transfer of your father.

And joseph wept when they. And he said they said behold we are your servants. And joseph said to them do not be afraid for i am in god's place. And as for you you meant evil against me but god meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive.

So therefore do not fight for you and your little hope kindly to them. I think if we just bring scripture to people and show them the examples of the sparrow in the hair and also let them know that you know they are literally robbing themselves of the greatest comfort.

Nothing can 828 is true. Do you believe romans 828 is true. Well if you do. Well then we need to take that seriously. We know that god causes all things to. So we don't have to argue with people. We just need to reason with them and to think through what kind of comfort is there in the idea that god had nothing.

In fact uh we have some startling words in 2nd samuel 12.

Where nathan the prophet speaking. God is speaking to david through nathan the prophet and uh telling uh david about his sins with bathsheba and uriah and what the chastisement will be. And we have god saying this is what this is what the lord says out of your own household i am going to bring calamity on you before your very eyes.

I will take your wives and give them to the one who is close to you and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret but i will do this. I will do this thing in broad daylight before all of israel.

So there you have god himself saying he is going to bring about these great evil things that are happening in.

The life of david. Exactly. And who are weak. Some have even fallen asleep. Thing is he has been chastising them he has been discerning the lord's body and god is saying he is involved in all of and and.

So what comfort is there in a god who is not in control of the world. From god's hands. And you leave it where you does it end up in. It's clear and i believe it. I believe what christ is doing when he says that is he is arguing from the least to the greatest.

What he is saying can event in the world's history as a sparrow who's not anybody's pet not anybody knowing it. This is one of the most pressured of the people of god. Find the article by. That's where we gotta we gotta.

End there mike. Okay. And uh... We thank you so much for being on the program. We thank ted in tuscaloosa alabama for sending in a question and i will bring it to mike's attention the next time he is on his mike i'd like you to come back to continue this very same subject if you don't mind.

So thank you ted in tuscaloosa alabama. Thank you all for listening. Remember that uh... Solid ground christian books website is solid dash ground dash books dot com. Remember and never forget for the rest of your lives that jesus christ is a far greater savior than you are a sinner.

God bless and i hope you tune in tomorrow to. Iron sharpens iron.