Reformation Baptist Church

Often until things become very extreme, people do not recognize the absurdity of things. People who have any credible profession to be Christians are usually quick to say that a man cannot be born in a woman's body or that two men cannot marry, but often they ignore the precursors that brought our culture to the point where that would be considered moral. One of the things that the church does to make those things appear normal is to have women speak in church or be pastors, because once you have eliminated the idea that there is any difference in roles, how can you say two men cannot marry or that there is any real differences between men and women. If God did not make them different and it is just a social construct, then why cant someone change their gender. Another major component to the societal self-deception that men and women are the same is women in combat. For a long time, governments have used the military to transform the culture and that happened in the United States. They said that they are the same, but they had significantly lower fitness standards for women than for men. Pete Hegseth says that he has eliminated that, but are there things other than strength that theologically and practically make it unwise to have women in combat?Listen to the audio version here: Timecodes00:00:00 Effectiveness00:05:08 Role of Women00:09:16 Women in Non-Combat00:18:55 Biblical Authority00:23:05 Military Reality00:28:11 Who Scripture Says Should Fight00:36:51 Uncleanness in the Camp00:43:50 Women and Fear00:51:56 Purpose of War00:57:43 Women's Spirit01:04:28 Physical Differences01:12:

What does it mean to be a Christian? Not what you believe or how you become one. But what happens after that? What does the Christian life look like? What are the duties that we have to one another? How do we live and labor as a part of the body of Christ? In this episode, using our church's covenant as a framework, we walk through the many different duties that make up the Christian life. Love for God, love for our spiritual brothers and sisters, love for our families, love for our neighbors, love for the world. It's so easy to overlook many of these and yet we believe that each is a part of the Christian life. Please join us as we discuss this important topic. Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/06/was-the-revolutionary-war-rebellion-or-righteousness-ep-223-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 Paragraph 100:38:01 Paragraph 201:11:45 Paragraph 3Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

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.

As with Paul's epistles, after laying out the theology in chapters 1-12, the writer now begins to give practical applications. Because believers have a kingdom that cannot be shaken and God is a consuming fire, it should really effect our behavior starting with brotherly love. If we recognize that this world is not our home, then our treatment of those who have eternal life will be different because we will use the things of this earth to care for one another and not just focus on ourselves. The most basic manifestation of this will be hospitality. As one body, we should all remember and support people who suffer for their faith. If we have an heavenly focus, we will have control of our lust. We will turn from covetousness and we will submit to authorities that God has appointed. Truly understanding the kingdom of God, will change our behavior toward this world.

Was the American War of Independence an unrighteous act of rebellion against God-appointed authority or a legitimate effort at seeking peace that generally followed Biblical principles? What conclusion should we come to if we look at the American Revolution through the lens of a passage like Romans 13? In this episode, we try to do exactly that. Romans 13 is often used as the go-to passage for understanding submitting to authority, but often it is discussed very shallowly if not completely incorrectly. Early on in the discussion, we note that this passage does not say to submit yourself to the higher power (singular), but to the higher powers. And in every circumstance, there is always more than one authority that God has appointed. This is undeniably true of the American Revolution. In many ways, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the entire American Revolution serve as an ideal case study for this type of discussion. One reason for this is because, at least for those of us in the US, it is our own history and is not so far in the past that the details have been lost to time. Another reason is that fallen man has a natural desire to be rebellious, and even in Christian circles, American independence is often associated with rebellion and this association is often used to justify rebellion. But it's also worth pointing out that no effort of man is without sin. Some people go so far as to whitewash the actions of the founders, casting them in a light that makes them appear to be without fault. This is also not true. As much as the devil is in the details, righteousness is also often found in the details. Please join as we discuss this important topic

After declaring that Israelites could redeem one another from slavery, but the foreigner would be in permanent slavery, God declares that the same rules do not apply if a foreigner buys an Israelite. If, because of poverty, a rich foreigner buys a poor Israelite, they can be redeemed by a kinsman redeemer at any time. The price of their redemption would decrease depending on the number of years to the Jubilee. Unlike the foreigner, they are released at the year of Jubilee to return to their family. The Israelite also had the responsibility to make sure the foreign master is not being cruel to the Israelite as far as they can tell. All of this is a picture of that true believers might be slaves on this earth, but we are truly free in Christ and will always be free in Him when He returns.

Our text this week is Leviticus 25:35-46. After talking about the kinsman redeemer and his ability to redeem the land as a picture of Christ, God moves on to the duty that we have toward one another. That we must care for our brothers more than we care for earthly things. We have a duty to show hospitality towards him as we also do to guests and strangers that dwell near us. You cannot take advantage of them by charging them interest for loans. We have a duty to not use our capital to take advantage of our brother because we have been freed from spiritual Egypt. God then talks about slavery. If your brother sells himself to you, typically this would be because he had debts that he could not pay, then you shall not abuse him in his slavery. He does go out at the time of Jubilee as a picture of the liberty that is in Christ doesn't mean that you will have liberty in this world. At the time of Jubilee, he returns with his children to his family. You can also purchase slaves from the nations around you and as a picture of unbelievers, neither they nor their children go out in the Jubilee. They are permanent slaves. They are the inheritance of the Israelites. They never receive the picture of the liberty in Christ.

One of the most common objections we get from dispensationalists is that we do not know how to "rightly divide the Word of Truth", which is taken from II Timothy 2:15. Based on the dispensational view popularized by Scofield, Larkin, Ryrie, and others, this verse is a foundational hermeneutical passage instructing the church that God's word must be broken into divisions so that it can be properly understood. But not only is the dispensational view of this verse incorrect, it also goes against the hermeneutical and doctrinal thrust of all of Scripture, which instead of teaching division, teaches that Christ's purpose was to bring unity.In this episode, we examine II Timothy 2:15 in light of a broader view of God's Word. We look at many passages where scripture teaches that Christ came to reconcile man to God, to unify the Jews and the Gentiles, and to restore God's creation. We look at the dispensational insistence that the church and Israel must be forever separated from one another, and explain why Scripture teaches this is not true. God did divorce the physical nation of Israel, and to the extent that it continues in the world, it is an example of what happens to those who reject Him. But the Israel that is made up of those Old and New Testament saints that are the children of Abraham by faith, is reckoned in the Son of David, the risen Christ, the True Israel, and regardless of their earthly heritage, all those who believer are made one in Christ and are partakers of the promises. Please join us as we discuss this often mishandled verse of scripture.Listen to the audio version here: Thumbnail image by Rod Ramsey under CC-BY 2.0Timecodes

After constraining oppression, God now declares the right of redemption. Because they are sojourners in the land, they cannot buy or sell the land permanently. When they sell the land, it can also be redeem by someone near of kin to them. This is the same word that is used with avenger of blood or the kinsman redeemer. It is a picture of Christ. Christ had to become incarnate to become a kinsman in order to redeem the world itself that was sold into sin through the work of Adam. God creates a different picture related to the land compared to cities in the land. In cities, houses can be bought and sold. It can be redeemed within a year, but after that, it is perpetually the purchasers and his heirs unless you are a Levite. The Levite can purchase their houses back whenever they want to. While houses in other walled cities remain their purchasers even through the Jubilee year, that is not the case for Levites. They receive their houses back in the Jubilee. In the laws about the houses, the picture is of heavenly Jerusalem, where, as a picture of the elect, the Levites always have a place and they will receive their place in the new heavens and the new earth.

What makes a rich country rich or a poor country rich? What causes them to stay that way? Often, when people think of countries that are wealthy versus those that are poor, they discuss factors like natural resources, but that isn't really the case. If you look at North America vs. South America, there were more resources in South America, but yet North America is far wealthier than South America. Doctrine really matters and the North America continent was far more Protestant than the South American continent and it has real and substantial long term effects. So how does that work itself out in the world and what are the ways that righteousness exalts a nation?Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/05/pedobaptism-debate-response-ep-218-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 Righteousness Exaults a Nation00:09:01 Justice00:12:39 Access to the Bible00:20:06 Safety00:22:51 Laws Enforced00:30:22 Fruitfulness00:45:39 Victory00:53:30 Fearsome00:59:04 Expansion01:04:29 Debt01:06:14 ClimateProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

In the midst of the these pictures of restoring the world to righteousness, God stresses the need to not oppress people now. The specific example that God uses is in buying and selling land, but the overriding theme is to not oppress one another. When you buy and sell land, it should be based on the number of crops between the time of the sale and the Jubilee year. It is not lawful to take advantage of people's ignorance, instead we are to trust that God is our provider. If your focus is on the new heavens and the new earth, then you will not oppress people now because of fear of God and the judgment to come.

People used to have their children walk long distances to school and would assume that they would be safe. Now there are cases where that has been treated as child abuse. Children are afraid to ride a bike without a helmet, but with less bike riding, there are more bike head injuries. We are a society that is filled with fearIn this episode, we want to look at risk from a Reformed perspective. We start with the fear of death, which scripture teaches is central to the lives of the unsaved. As it says in Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. From fear of death, we look at the damage that has been done to the family: to men's abdication of responsibility and leadership and to the rise of feminism and women-led households and communities. We have talked in other episode about how men and women prioritize safety differently, but in this episode we look at how this difference plays out when the home and therefore society becomes fundamentally disordered.Lastly we also talk about the ways that changes in technology, the news industry, and government also impact our view of risk and fear. These issues matter greatly and affect how we live our lives, how we train our children, and even how we promote and preach the gospel. Please join is as we discuss the subject of risk.Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/06/america-the-fearful-raising-brave-children-in-a-generati

In addition to the Sabbath year, God appointed a Jubilee year every fiftieth year. While the Sabbath year was on the revised calendar that started in the spring, the Jubilee was back on the original calendar that started in the fall. Both are a picture of the redemption of the earth, but the focus of the Sabbath year is the eternal rest. The picture of the Jubilee is the restoration of all things. The world will be put back into God's order. Everyone will be restored to their own families. Everyone will be free. The Sabbath year is declaring the eternal rest. The Jubilee is declaring the blessings of eternal life

Mother Teresa is considered one of the great humanitarians of the 20th century and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic church. But she did not really help many of the people that she talked about helping. The help she gave was very different from the way it was described by her and others and she often taught doctrine contrary to Roman Catholic teaching. But in the end, according to the Roman Catholic church, she is a shining example of what it means to be Catholic. And they have no problem with her unorthodox doctrine, her false help and false promotion, or taking the millions that she funneled into the coffers of the Roman Catholic church.If you listen to our podcast often, this should come as no surprise to you. Roman Catholicism is a false religion that leads many to hell. According to the Westminster and Second London Baptist Confession, the Pope is that Antichrist. It should come as no surprise that the "saints" of this false church are false as well. And this is very relevant to us today, as many conservative Christians follow and listen to Catholics like Matt Walsh and Candace Owens or JD Vance. We should remember that Roman Catholicism ultimately leads to death and darkness and separation from God. Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/05/the-hypocrisy-and-heresy-of-mother-teresa-ep-219-audio/Thumbnail image by JohnMathewSmith under CC-BY-SA 2.0Timecodes00:00:00 Danger of Charities00:06:58 What She Got Right00:09:28 Her Ministries00:19:24 Twisted Theology of Suffering00:26:03 Need for Conversion00:33:53 Roman Heresy00:37:48 Private Letters00:43:21

God is now going to tell them how they need to treat the land when they receive the Promised Land. That they need to give it rest. Man, since the fall, being self-centered wants to think that God only cares about us, but He said that creation was good before man was every created. He cares about the land and gives them specific instruction of how they are to treat it. This does match practical experience in farming, so the world can recognize the need to give land rest. While this is ceremonial law, since it is requirements for when they receive the land but we should also remember our responsibility to be good masters of the land that God has given us. Christ did not just come to save men. He came to save all of Creation.

God is now going to tell them how they need to treat the land when they receive the Promised Land. That they need to give it rest. Man, since the fall, being self-centered wants to think that God only cares about us, but He said that creation was good before man was every created. He cares about the land and gives them specific instruction of how they are to treat it. This does match practical experience in farming, so the world can recognize the need to give land rest. While this is ceremonial law, since it is requirements for when they receive the land but we should also remember our responsibility to be good masters of the land that God has given us. Christ did not just come to save men. He came to save all of Creation.

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.

After God gave these pictures that relate to the importance of making God and His Word known, the text switches to a narrative. A man who had a Israelite mother, but a Gentile father, blasphemed and cursed the name of God during a fight. The Israelites recognized that he was in serious sin, so they put him in custody while they waited to hear from God what they should do. Notice how much greater and proper their fear of God was that they would at least know that he needs to be punished. Many professed Christian churches wouldn't think of church discipline for someone who blasphemed the name of God in a fight. At the same time, they knew if you cursed father or mother it was worthy of death, so how much more is it worthy of death if you do it to God. God is instructing them in the proper use of the law, how to take the laws that they were given and apply them to other situations, so God told them to take him outside the camp and stone him. The tendency of the unbelievers is always to say that God is not serious about the level of punishment that He will inflict, so we don't want laws that are as severe as God's laws. God is a jealous and just God, so He can judge with eternal torture. We need to understand how serious sin is and the significance of the forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

A little over a month ago, Dan Horn had a debate with Pastor Rich Lusk about Paedobaptism and the place of children in the church. After the debate was posted on YouTube (see link below), there were a number of comments that seemed worth responding to. A couple of the comments are from credobaptists, but most are from paedobaptists whose viewpoints seem to diverge from orthodox Presbyterian views and lean more toward Federal Vision.Dan Horn vs. Rich Lusk on Children in the Church:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rcocRXATE Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/05/pedobaptism-debate-response-ep-218-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 The Debate00:00:45 The Position is Cold?00:11:44 Israel Drank of Christ?00:25:55 Children Praying?00:33:11 Christ's Baptism?00:40:57 Born Again?01:00:27 Baptism and Priesthood?01:16:31 Covenant Community?Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

How can we think about pain and suffering from a Reformed perspective. While suffering exists because of sin, both sin and suffering are part of God's means to glorify Himself through his Son. Because of this, those who seek to glorify God with their lives must approach suffering not only as God's decree, but as one of the ways that He glorifies Himself.In this episode, we discuss why suffering exists, how God uses suffering to constrain sin, how maturity and suffering are tied together, and how suffering for our sin differs from suffering for the sake of righteousness. Please join us as we discuss this important topic. Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

Replacement theology is a derogatory term often used by dispensationalists to accuse those who believe in Covenant theology. Specifically, they claim that covenant theology teaches that the church replaced Israel. And while Christ does say to national Israel that the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to another who will produce it's fruit, the way that is fulfilled is through the people established in Christ himself, the true Israel. One of the other issues with Dispensational eschatology is that it teaches that the church is a "parenthesis" in Israel's history and that every spiritual promise given by God will be fulfilled in physical Israel, which is clearly not true. So here's the question: What is right about replacement theology and what is wrong about it?In this episode, we look at the promises made to physical Israel which were fulfilled and acknowledged in Scripture. We also look at the promises that were clearly made to be fulfilled through Christ and his body, not in a "parenthesis", and not by the church completely replacing Israel either, but by the substance, which is Christ, taking his place as the root and head of true Israel and bringing all that the Father has given him to the blessed promises of his glorious salvation and redemption.Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/04/is-replacement-theology-biblical-or-a-dispensational-boogeyman-ep-216-audio/Thumbnail image by Daniel Borman on Flickr under CC-BY 2.0Timecodes00:00 Replacement Theology09:57 Shadows to Substance15:20 Divorce of Israel28:49 Not All of Israel52:39 All Israel Will Be Saved?

Leviticus 23:23-32. After the Feast of Weeks, the next feast in the Israelite calendar is the Feast of Trumpets. It is the first day of the seventh month which means it would take place immediately after the original start of the year, It the first feast that represents what happens after Christ returns or as 1 Corinthians describes it as the last trumpet. The next holiday, the Day of Atonement, was when the High Priest went into the presence of God. If you consider it as the High Priest carrying spiritual Israel into the presence of God, when you consider the timeline and when you consider that it is a day of affliction, it is pointing to the the day when Christ will open all of the books and all our deeds with be judged, both those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and those who are not. All the dead will stand before God in preparation of the next thing in the redemption timeline which is tabernacling with God forever.

One of the biggest disagreements between Baptists and Presbyterians is related to baptism, it's administration and what it means within the church. And these differences in practice are tied directly to differences in how God's Covenant and the covenants that He has made with men are understood. One primary difference that we want to concentrate on is that the Baptist view has more of an upward focus, looking at how each of God's covenants with man reveals or discovers the Eternal Covenant of Grace whereas the Presbyterian view is more downward focused with their description being that the Covenant of Grace has different administrations in the time of the law and the time of the gospel. Because of these different focuses, Baptists and Presbyterians see the effect of continuity and discontinuity very differently, with Baptists looking for those details to be expressed in physical vs spiritual typologies expressed as the earthly covenants with man reveal the heavenly Covenant of Grace (for example: circumcision of the flesh being fulfilled through circumcision of the heart, physical offspring pointing to spiritual offspring, physical households pointing to spiritual households, etc). Alternately, Presbyterians look for continuity and discontinuity within the earthly covenants. (physical households continuing, circumcision becoming baptism, etc).Most of the differences in this episode are found in Chapter 7 of both the Westminter and the Second London Baptist confessions of faith. In the Westminster, this chapter is titled, "Of God's Covenant with Man" and in the SLBC it is titled, "Of God's Covenant"Note: While we are focusing on real dif

God now codifies what is to happen at the Feast of Weeks. First of all, it is to be fifty days after the waving of the sheaf offering, which means that the day of the Sabbath was to change year by year. This is important when we think of the resurrection which the sheaf represents, because it was fifty days after the resurrection of Christ that the Holy Spirit was poured out. The Feast of Weeks is done in remembrance of the giving of the law on tablets of stone at Mt. Sinai and was given to point forward to the giving of the law in the hearts of believers at Pentecost through the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, they were to wave two large loaves of leavened bread because unlike the Feast of Unleavened Bread which represented the gospel not spreading from Israel, the Feast of Weeks is a picture of the Word of God going through the whole world. Also, more animals needed to be sacrificed for Pentecost and not just burnt offerings, but sin and peace offerings as well. With Israel being the people of God, there was no eternal forgiveness in the making of them as a people unlike in the New Covenant where sin was actually taken away. It is about where there is true peace with God. Israel was never at peace with God, but the visible church does have peace with God even as it is a mixed multitude. Then lastly, God ends by putting aside all of the symbolic offerings and speaks plainly. You must leave the corners of the fields for the poor and stranger. They would not have understood the symbolism of the offerings, but they had a duty to understand that. They had a duty to care for their neighbor.

When you consider the fact that God calls those He has called out front the world, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His own special people, it should be obvious that He intended the church to be the ideal form of community. What group could have more in common and closeness than one made alive by His Spirit and called for His purposes into His family and household?But when we look at the world, we can see a different picture. While the church has a greater sense of community than the world, it does not seem to be a light to the nations in this regard. In fact, over the last sixty years, the American sense of community has been breaking down. And while some people want to accuse technology of causing this breakdown, in most cases, technology only facilitates the things we already desired. One of the things that has happened in the church is that we have shifted our focus from God saving the church as one body to be his bride, and instead have almost exclusively focused on God saving each of us as individuals. And because a strong sense of community requires one to focus, not on himself but on the group and what they hold in common, this singular focus wars against the sense of community that God desires for the church. In this episode, we want to look at the ways that God has designed the church to be the model community for the world, and how the practices He instituted and called the church to should strengthen rather than weaken this sense of community. Please join us as we discuss this very necessary topic.Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/04/gods-blueprint-for-community-how-th

After reminding the children of Israel about keeping the Sabbath and the Passover, God now describes how the first fruits are to be offered. These would be barley for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and wheat for the Feast of Weeks. They would be required to bring a sheaf of their grain to offer before the Lord as a wave offering. The priests had to offer an additional lamb of the first year as a burnt offering in addition to the regular daily offering along with the grain offering and a drink offering. When we think of grain in the offerings, we should think of it as a type of the Word of God. The lamb of God must be slain so that we can received the Word of God. It is through Christ's sacrifice, that God opens our eyes so that we can meaningfully receive His Word. This was to be very distinctive for the people because they were not allowed to partake of any of the crop of the new year, until the wave offering had happened. When we think of times of famine, this would require self control when your crop comes in and you are not to eat it until the first fruits are waved before God as a testimony that both the physical food and the spiritual food that we receive is from the mercy of God.

Sharing the gospel is central to the Great Commission. But doing so on a day-to-day basis is more complicated than we often want to admit. It's definitely more complex than just memorizing the Romans Road or learning a three-step approach for door-to-door witnessing. So in this episode, we want to ask two different questions about sharing the gospel: first, we want to ask why don't we do it, and second, how should we change the way we think about sharing the gospel?Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/04/what-stops-christians-from-sharing-the-gospel-ep-213-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 Failure to Evangelize00:08:36 False Fears00:11:33 Belief in Hell00:14:53 Disobedience00:19:59 Gifting vs Practice00:26:48 Different Venues00:35:36 Hospitality00:40:04 Ready to Give an Answer00:49:28 Listening00:58:17 Answer a Fool01:21:59 Using God's WordProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

After five chapters of declaring that they must be a holy people, now God also talks about how they must rejoice together. All of the commandments about holiness were not evil and to harm, rather they were given so that they would be a blessed people. God's laws are good when they are used lawfully. They were designed to bless, so they should result in rejoicing before God. He called them to many feasts. The weekly feast of the Sabbath to remember that God has given them rest and then the annual feasts for the nation. The first annual feast is about rejoicing before God because God not only delivered them from Egypt, but He was taking them to a pleasant land, to a place of blessings. Just as God loves a cheerful giver, when we understand them properly, all of God's commandments will bring us to a place of joy.

Many Christians would describe justice and mercy as being at odds with one another, but most confessions of the faith, such as the SLBC and the Westminster Confession, say that God is most just and He is most merciful. But if they are in opposition to one another, how can God be both merciful and just?Thumbnail image by Manu_H on Flickr under CC-BY 2.0Timecodes00:00:00 Intro00:02:57 Sproul00:10:50 Definition of Justice00:15:52 Definition of Mercy00:24:51 Overlooking Sin00:37:02 Vengeance vs Justice00:46:08 Justice in Man's Law00:49:14 Importance of Justice01:00:51 Mercy in the LawProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

Many churches teach that Matthew 18 is the generally applicable text about church discipline and it should be followed in all circumstances. But Matthew 18 is primarily about forgiveness between brothers and when you look at other cases of discipline, such as when a man has his father's wife, there is no hint that Matthew 18 should be followed. So when is Matthew 18 appropriate? And why is this passage so often misunderstood? In this episode, we start out by laying out the differences between personal offenses and offenses against God. Matthew 18 is about dealing with personal offenses and because the person who believes he has been wronged has no greater authority than the brother he is confronting the process is structured to minimize slandering and false accusations. We also discuss how this is not just for brothers who go to the same church, how that works and what it looks like. After laying this groundwork, we then walk through the passage verse by verse discussing how each step is rooted in God's desire for justice and forgiveness.Matthew 18 is an incredibly important passage for us to understand. When we do not understand what it is intended to accomplish or how we should go about the process, we cause the church to be filled with a lack of forgiveness and injustice. Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

God continues to give instructions through Moses to Aaron and his sons, and to all the people of Israel, regarding the requirements for animals offered in freewill offerings, peace offerings, or offerings for vows. God points out that these types of offerings can be made not only by the children of Israel but also by strangers dwelling among them, and he requires the same standard for his offerings regardless of who is making the offering. God is holy, and he expects what is offered to him to be free of defect.

Both of the primary Reformed confessions explicitly call the pope that Antichrist. They saw the man of perdition from 2 Thessalonians 2 and that Antichrist from 1 John 2 fulfilled in the office of the pope. So what does it mean for the Pope to be that Antichrist or for the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church to the falling away that Paul writes about to the Thessalonians and also to Timothy? One of the dangers of not considering these issues is that we begin to view eschatology as completely separate from doctrine. But Paul says that all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Whether we consider the Pope to be THAT Antichrist or just one Antichrist of many, we should realize that the scope and success of the Roman Catholic Church as a heretical and evil imitator of the true church for almost 1500 years is something that the church must grapple with. At a minimum it should warn us to not grow lax in standing against the heresies of the church even when they are embodied in likable people. At the most, it should help us focus on Christ and the work that He is doing in the world, it should reframe how we view the scope and significance of the Reformation and the work that Christ has for His church in fighting for right doctrines and right practices. So here's the question: If you hold to a Reformed tradition have you considered what it means for the Pope to be the Antichrist? And even if you do not, have to considered why the Reformers thought the way they did?Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/03/is-the-pope-really-that-antichrist-ep-210-audio/

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.

Leprosy in the Bible was a picture of sin. And God uses it many times throughout the Old and New Testament to help us to think about different types of sin and the redeeming work of Christ.Recently we did a podcast on reading the Old Testament and how we should think abut the types and shadows whose substance has come in Christ. Leprosy, which was never intended to be primarily about health, was a type of parable regarding sin in individuals, in the works of men, and in houses and we are to be able to understand how those pictures as given in the law and in narratives apply to the current time. As a follow on to that topic, we want to discuss leprosy and we thought it would be useful to start with one of the more straightforward examples: leprosy in a house. We think the most direct application of this passage is to when sin is exposed in a household of faith, not just in an individual, but in the very church itself. In the text that we walk through, God spends significant time talking about how to prevent that revealed leprosy from spreading and then what to do when it is found to have spread, and when it keeps recurring. This Old Testament instruction parallels Paul's admonitions in the New Testament and it is instructive to us that he does not repeat the Old Testament but merely references it. This not only helps us to understand how to deal with this specific situation but instructs us in the proper use of Old Testament texts, how they relate to proper practices and how they relate to the holiness of the church. Please join us as we consider this important topic.Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/03/whe

God continues to give restrictions to the priests, because it is not about them. It is about the holy things of God and profaning His name. When things are dedicated to the Lord, they are not to be defiled by uncleanness because that profanes the name of the Lord. The priest that is caught doing that is to be cut off from His people, meaning that it is a death penalty offense. Whether it is long term or permanent, like a leper, or it is short term, like touching a dead body, those who are unclean are not allowed to act as priests. As priests in the New Covenant, we should understand the seriousness of profaning the name of God through our actions and the church has a real obligation to act when it sees the holy things being defiled. Often in church discipline, people make the goal restoration, but the first goal is always to declare that God is holy.

In the 1960s, less than 4% of bodies were cremated. Now, it is about 2 out of 3 and by 2040, it is expected to be around 80%. Much of that is driven by the rising cost of funerals, since the burial plot is expensive and you can send a significant amount of money on a nice casket. On average, a cremation probably costs half of the cost of a burial. Another thing that seems to drive it is that the church typically doesn't explain why burial matters and why cremation is wrong. While many people do not think deeply about it, cremation has always existed and from a Christian perspective has been viewed as a picture of the body going to hell while burial is the picture of the body waiting for the resurrection. In this episode, we look at what scripture has to say about cremation and burial. We look to the Old Testament which contains the laws that detail dealing with the dead and where most of the narrative surrounding death and burial is written. We also look to church history and see how as Christianity spread, so too did the idea of burying the dead rather than burning them. We talk about how death and our handling of it is a significant testimony to the world about our faith and when done properly is something that the world cannot fully understand. So here's the question: If we are going to be resurrected anyway, does it matter how the body is treated? Or does our handling of death and burial testify to our faith?Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/03/is-cremation-a-sin-ep-208-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 Does it Matter00:05:30 The Symbolism00:06:53 What God's Law Says00:14:26 Bi

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.

How you read the Old Testament impacts how you read all of God's word. It frames the questions that shape our understanding of God and His purposes. What was the purpose of the garden? Why did God choose, separate, and protect the nation of Israel? What is the church? Who is Jesus Christ and the nature of his atonement? It frames all of these and a hundred other questions as well, none of which are trivial or unimportant. In this episode, we want to look at how broadly and deeply the Old Testament shadows run. And while we start with God's word in Hebrews that "the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things" which is talking about the ceremonial, priestly laws of Israel, by the end of the episode, we want to go broader still to where Paul looks at the crossing of the Red Sea as a baptism, and Christ declares the manna in the wilderness to be bread from heaven which points forward to Him as the bread of life. We also want to emphasize that Scripture teaches us that these pictures are for us. We should not say, it is only Christ and Paul who can understand them. Jesus promised that after He left, He would send the Holy Spirit, who Paul reminds us in Corinthians understands the deep things of God. God's word declares that "all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." When the church refuses to look deeply at the Old Testament, we misunderstand the New Testament as well, as God does not spend a great deal of time repeating himself. The shadows are important because by them we can better understand the substance, which is Christ. P

As we go back to Leviticus, we need to remember that the Levitical priesthood and High Priest were to teach us about Christian priesthood and the effectual High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ. After Leviticus 19 talking about how individuals needed to be holy and Leviticus 20 talking about how the society had to enforce holiness, we now come to how the priests need to be holy. The first picture is about a separation from the world. They still have connections to the world, so they can defile themselves for a dead body such as their mother or father, but not even for a married sister, since she is now part of a different family. When we think about applying this, we should consider ex-communication and what that means. Obviously, a believing child doesn't have to leave home if their father is excommunicated so that they do not have fellowship with them. This gives parameters to a question that often comes up when people are excommunicated. God then continues and commands, as He did for all of Israel, not to have tattoos, cuttings or cutting the edges of their beards which are acts of worship to false gods. God connects it to offering the bread of God. When we think of the bread of God in the Old Testament, we should always be thinking about the word of God. Hypocrisy, by rebelling against the word while it is being taught is against the priesthood. A priest is not allowed to take a defiled woman as his wife, which is a picture of equal yoking. Also, the daughter of a priest is held to a higher standard, so if she acts as a harlot, then her body is to be burned. God then sets an even higher standard for the High Priest as a picture of Christ. He cannot def

Credobaptists and Paedobaptists differing views of baptism have real-world implications over how they view their children and their relationship to the church. Presbyterians (paedobaptists) hold that baptized children are part of the church, with the church having authority over and membership responsibility toward the child. Baptists (credobaptists) hold that they only become part of the church through faith and membership, and see baptism as a result of their faith. Often though, credobaptists treat their non-professing, unbaptized children like they are part of the church and as if they have been regenerated, going so far as to create practices that are inconsistent with their theological views of salvation, faith, and baptism.In this episode, we want to look at some of these inconsistencies, compare them to scripture, and discuss how they cause harm and confusion. So here's the question: What practices do churches need to watch out for so the children at the church are not deceived about their state with Christ?Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/02/the-hypocrisy-of-baptists-ep-206-audio/Timecodes00:00:00 Introduction00:02:49 Youth Ministry00:12:09 Parents' Duty00:22:55 Baby Dedications00:30:13 Baptism Limits00:35:49 Should Our Children Be Saved?00:45:22 Expectation to Get Baptized00:53:26 Church Discipline00:55:17 Deceptive Songs00:59:43 Children in Church LifeProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Mus

In this passage, the writer is connecting the heavenly Jerusalem with the promise in Haggai that once more God will shake not only earth, but also heaven. When God descended to Mt. Sinai with the giving of the law, the earth shook. Through entering into covenant, Israel became the people of God. The law that had been written only on fallen consciences, now was written on tablets of stone. But as Hebrews has said many times, the New Covenant is a greater covenant because not only earth is shaken, but heaven as well. We see that in the establishment of the heavenly Jerusalem and we will consider what that means, but the application God has for us is that we are to focus on not the things that will be removed. Instead, we are to focus on the things that will remain for God will consume the rest for He is a consuming fire.

A hundred years ago in America most wives considered themselves to be homemakers with very few working outside the home. Now about 57% percent of them do. What should we think about this shift in the fabric of the American home, and more importantly what does God's word have to say about it. Throughout history, there have been societies that have been very confused about men's roles and women's roles. Frequently, the men don't do much work. They just do the things that please them. Hunting, fishing, maybe going to war while women do most of the provision for the household. But when Scripture began to inform a society, the roles of the husband and wife have typically been changed. Men begin to recognize they have a duty to provide for their family, to lead, and to make their household productive. Wives see their role as submitting to their own husband. Over the last hundred years, we have been losing that Christian influence in America and we've made an enormous shift that the church has largely gone along with it. In this episode, we look at many of the passages in Scripture that frame God's design for the home. We discuss how the curses from the fall continue to shape men's and women's rebellion against God's design. We also talk about what it means to build a home, to be productive, and how our unwillingness to hold the structure and purpose of the household in high regard has caused our courtship rituals to become focused on shallow concepts such as pleasure and comfort rather than long-term purpose. While modern culture has many problems that need to be resolved and fixing marriage and the home will only solve some of them, the home and family

In considering the last passage in Hebrews 12, it is referencing Haggai and understanding the reference will provide more insight for that passage next week. In Chapter 1 of Haggai, God had rebuked Israel for not having rebuilt the temple since they came back to Jerusalem around sixteen years before. They had started, but the opposition used King Artaxerxes to stop it after they rebuilt the altar of burnt offering and the foundation of the temple. Nothing had happened since, but after Haggai rebukes them, they start to rebuild the temple. Less than a month later, God tells them to look at the temple and recognize how it is nothing compared to the previous temple, but that they should persevere for God is going to shake like He did when they came out of Egypt, but also heaven. He will shake the nations so they come to the Desire of All Nations and I will fill this temple with glory That temple will have greater glory than the first temple that Solomon made. As we consider all the shadows of Christ in this passage, it is important for the understanding of Hebrews 12:25-29 for us to understand what it meant that He shook heaven and earth when the Desire of the Nations come. Since Haggai 2 is about the heavenly temple described in Hebrews 12:22-24, we will consider that temple and the promises associated with it before we conclude Hebrews 12.

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.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, that we are to pursue love and to be zealous for spiritual gifts especially that we may prophesy. We are not just to sit back and wait for God to bestow them on us. It is part of pursuing love and edifying one another. And if prophecy is about love and edification, then it cannot be primarily about telling the future. So what is prophecy?Prophecy is about declaring the truth regarding the nature of God. It means to speak forth, and while prophets did often declare future events, a key reason those events were foretold was to warn Israel and others to turn from their sins, thus declaring the justice and faithfulness of God. This is why Moses was a great prophet, not because of all his foretellings, but because by him the law of God was given. This is why Jesus Christ was the greatest prophet of all, because He is the very image of the invisible God. Everything He did and said declared his Father and the nature of God. And we must understand this because Paul says that prophecy is for edification. How can we edify one another without understanding? This is one of the key differences between the Pentecostal view of prophecy and a Biblical view of prophecy. Pentecostalism keeps a great sense of mysticism around prophecy. It is cloaked in spiritual artistry and emotionalism. But Biblical prophecy brings all things back to scripture. The Spirit of God, as we are told in John 16, "will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father

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.

After talking about how without holiness no one will see God, the author of Hebrews then explains the picture of the feasts in Jewish law. They are these times where all the circumcised must gather three times a year at Mt. Zion to be the picture of the gathering at heavenly Mt. Zion. All of national Israel was to gather and make sacrifices so that we would understand what God is doing with Christ. Calling us to gather in the eternal presence of God through the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Another way that the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant feasts were to be a time of celebration, but they were physical. In the New Covenant, we now have the spiritual version of that, a much better version.

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.