Within dispensationalism, there are standard hermeneutical principles that on the surface sound reasonable. But when taken to their logical conclusions, many of these principles actually stand in the way of understanding the mind of God and often introduce significant error. We firmly believe that the heresy caused by dispensational hermeneutics is part of Satan's attack on the church and is used to veil the truth of God's word. We believe that its true intent is to focus the people of God on fleshly pursuits rather than seeing and fearing the invisible God who works all things to his will.Please join us as we discuss this serious issue.

After Paul explains how God makes His attributes known through His vessels, His wrath and power toward vessels of wrath, and the riches of His glory toward vessels of mercy, He makes clear that these vessels of mercy are called not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. As is common in Paul's writings, he establishes this truth by referring back to the Law and the Prophets. In Romans 9:25, Paul quotes Hosea, particularly Hosea 2:23, so we will consider the larger context of Hosea 2:14–23. The focus of this passage is not primarily on what qualifies someone to become a vessel of mercy, but on what God does for those upon whom He sets His mercy. God restores the undeserving, betroths them to Himself in righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, and mercy, and calls those who were "not My people," "My people." His promise is that He will "sow" them for Himself in the earth, a people created and saved by His sovereign mercy.

After Paul explains our place as the creature rather than the Creator, he knows what the logical question that the reader will then ask. If it is not he who wills or he who runs, but God who shows mercy, why does He still find fault. We cannot resist His will. What He determined from before the foundation of the world will stand, so how can He find fault? Because He is the Creator and who are we to reply against God. Who do we think we are to think that we can sit in judgment of God? That is what started the fall when Eve thought that she could sit in judgment of God. We are His creatures and He can do to us whatever He wants and we are not in any position to understand or to judge His actions. Paul goes on and explains it is because the purpose of the universe is not us. It is not about the creature. It is about the Creator and if He in His perfect judgment says that this is the best way to glorify Himself, then who are we to judge. He suffers with the sin of all men, so that His power is known. He also shows mercy to whom He will show mercy so that the riches of His glory is seen. God created all things for Him and we are in no position to judge the Creator.

After showing how God chooses the outcomes for individuals and the outcomes for nations, Paul now reminds us of what happened on Mt. Sinai after the tablets of stone were broken as a picture that no one can be saved by the law. Moses went back up the mountain and asked God to show him His glory. God said that He would proclaim His name before Him, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." All of creation is about the glory of God and the greatest expression of the glory of God is how He rescues sinners from the just punishment for their sins. Because of the fall, we all died spiritually in Adam and live in the flesh unless God chooses to show compassion on us. Therefore, it is not of him who wills (for we would all would to continue in our sins) or him who runs (because we point our feet toward evil) but God who shows mercy so that no man can boast. God gets all of the glory and He will not allow it to be stolen by others.

At Reformation Baptist Church we stream the audio of the service for those who regularly attend who are unable to attend due to sickness or travel. We encourage everyone else to attend a church in your area.

The Apostle Paul continues his argument in showing God's sovereignty over all things. Just as the fleshly children of Abraham were not guaranteed salvation, the fleshly children of Isaac and the Nations that came from them were appointed to their positions by the decree of God.

After explaining his desire for his people, Paul now goes on to say what he knows will be offensive to the Jews. They were taught that they were a special people in all the earth, because they were descended from Abraham. Paul is going to point out "not all of Israel is of Israel." Paul has been leading up to this by saying the true children of Abraham are the ones who share the faith of Abraham and the true Jews are the ones who are circumcised in the heart and not just the flesh. Now he is going to explain how it can go so badly for Israelites. Ten of the tribes were scattered by the Assyrians. Most of the other two tribes were killed, but a small remnant went to Babylon. Only a few of them came back and then they were never reestablished as an independent people. The logical question after Paul saying "all things work together for good for the who love God, to those that are called according to His purposes" is Israelites are the called out people of God and things don't seem to work very well for them. Paul's response to that question is you don't understand who the true Israel of God. It is not those of the type. It is those of the antetype. Those who were of the seed of Abraham who is Christ. It is only Isaac and not Ishmael or Keturah's children that have Abraham as their father. It is only the one God gives for that purpose and not those of the flesh like Ishmael. It is according to the calling of the Spirit and not the works of the flesh.

We're starting with a fundamental question this episode: Why did God choose to create a world that would come to be filled with suffering? When human tragedy strikes, skeptics often cite the "problem of evil" to challenge God's goodness or His sovereignty. But even worse, rather than confronting these questions with the absolute authority of Scripture, many modern churches hide or distort the truth in favor of a comfortable, man-centered theology that strips God of His holy justice and sovereign purpose.In this episode, we want to discuss how Christians should biblically respond to the existence of suffering and how we can understand God's attitude toward suffering. We'll discuss everything from how man tries to sit in judgment of God, to examining how God does not just use suffering but divinely appoints it according to His good pleasure.Understanding the biblical view of suffering is essential for every believer seeking to stand firm in a broken world. Rather than viewing adversity as a defeat for the Christian faith, Scripture reveals that theology drives the world and that God's sovereign hand orders all things for His glory and the good of His people. God desires His church to trust in His uncompromised Word, finding true comfort and hope not in human sentimentality, but in Him as the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth. Please join us as we discuss this very misunderstood topic.Timecodes00:00:00 Spiritual Mind00:11:37 Judging God00:19:39 Doing vs Allowing Evil00:23:01 Questioning God00:31:14 God Means it for Good00:54:53 Suffering Pushing Towards Salvation00:58:43 A Consequence of SinProduction

Paul has just been saying everything works together for good to those who love God, but the Israelites think that they are the people of God. They have been scattered. They have been displaced from the land. A large percentage of them were killed during the Babylonian captivity, so the Jews hearing Paul would say "how can this be?" All things are not working together for good for us. Paul's response after this passage is because the Israel that you are thinking of is not the true Israel. Not all of Israel is of Israel. To set up that statement, he says that he would honestly be separated from Christ if it would cause his brethren according to the flesh to be joined with him. He knows and accepts that God's plan is better, but he mourns according to his wisdom. They had seen the glory of God. They had received the law. They had been assigned to do service to God and been given many promises, but they still rejected Him. But it was not a failure of the word of God, because that was the plan of God from the beginning.

Patriarchy gets associated with everything that liberal Christianity and modern American culture hates about a biblically ordered home. Because of this, many Christians have abandoned the term patriarchy and replaced it with complementarianism. And the problem with this is that in practice, complementarianism often obscures the purpose of the home and the authority that God bestows on a husband and father. By focusing on "roles" it is used by many to turn the wife from her husband's helpmeet into a one-woman bureaucracy who operates on her own authority to carry out her own desires, provided they do not directly conflict with what her husband cares about. The husband goes from being a leader to a tie-breaker in extreme cases. Part of the reason for this is that many Christians find authority to be offensive. The idea that a husband should tell his wife what to do is shocking to many, but it is a biblical concept. Please join us as we discuss this issue that is so fundamental to the home.Thumbnail image by Mohamed_hassan on PixelbayProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson