WEBVTT 00:00:00.380 --> 00:00:03.260 It is the 1st of January, 2026. 00:00:03.260 --> 00:00:04.220 I am Corey J. 00:00:04.220 --> 00:00:06.140 Mahler, and this is At Any Cost. 00:00:06.140 --> 00:00:09.340 This is a question and answer episode. 00:00:09.340 --> 00:00:14.520 And happy new year to all of you, and I think I will just get straight into the questions here. 00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:26.840 Unfortunately, ReStream is seemingly having some kind of problem with their OBS plug-in, so I have to check the comments in another window because it's not loading, having some cross origin issue. 00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:30.360 So, hopefully, they fix that by next week. 00:00:30.360 --> 00:00:34.120 At any rate, moving right into the questions. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:37.400 The first question is an exegetical one. 00:00:37.400 --> 00:00:38.980 It is a little bit longer. 00:00:40.120 --> 00:00:47.660 I may go through the fullness of the text just because it's a useful text to go through for a number of reasons. 00:00:47.660 --> 00:01:02.960 But the question is about Ezekiel 37 through 39, so obviously, not trivial, but not that substantial chunk of scripture, and how that plays into proper exegesis. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:24.000 So understanding what Israel is, what Israel isn't, and particularly how to respond to those who interpret that incorrectly and believe that it is dealing exclusively or even primarily with ethnic Israel, which is to say Old Testament Israel, the Jews in that sense. 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:27.020 So more properly, the Hebrews and the Jews. 00:01:27.020 --> 00:01:33.540 But let me pull up Logos here so that we can get the scripture visible. 00:01:36.740 --> 00:01:45.660 Actually, I think I would just pull up the full Logos window for this one, because I'm going to want both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and you don't really need to see my face while I'm reading. 00:01:45.660 --> 00:01:47.760 It's not that important. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:02:17.360 So looking at Ezekiel, I think I probably will go through the fullness of this, just because it's going to come up again and again and again, and not just this, but similar sections of the Old Testament, because those who have been misinformed, have been falsely taught with regard to what Israel is and what Israel is not, are going to resort to passages like this in order to, well, try to defend false theology. 00:02:18.600 --> 00:02:23.040 So, let's just go through the fullness of it. 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:24.900 Starting with 37, we'll read through 39. 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:29.320 I'll probably comment along the way instead of waiting to the end, just because I think that's useful here. 00:02:29.320 --> 00:02:40.700 Eventually I will go through and do something more substantial on this and similar passages, but this is sort of the Cliff Notes version of it, the short version of it. 00:02:40.700 --> 00:02:46.020 And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord brought me out in his spirit, and set me in the midst of the plain. 00:02:46.720 --> 00:02:49.000 And this was full of human bones. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:55.960 And he brought me all around them in a circle, and behold, very many, very dry, upon the surface of the plain. 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:59.660 And he said to me, Son of man, shall these bones live? 00:02:59.660 --> 00:03:02.860 And I said, O Lord, you know these things. 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:10.760 And he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and you shall say to them, O dry bones, hear a word of the Lord. 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:12.980 This is what the Lord says to these bones. 00:03:13.720 --> 00:03:27.240 Behold, I am bringing into you a spirit of life, and I will give sinews on you, and bring flesh upon you, and draw out skin over you, and give my breath into you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:37.640 And I prophesied as he commanded me, and it happened when I prophesied, and behold a shaking, and he brought forth the bones, each to its joint. 00:03:37.640 --> 00:03:46.100 And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh were growing upon them, and skin was coming up upon them, on top, but no breath was in them. 00:03:46.100 --> 00:03:59.760 And he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, this is what the Lord says, come from the four winds, and blow into these corpses, and they shall live. 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:08.500 And I prophesied just as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, a very great gathering. 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:14.360 And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:20.060 And they say, our bones have become dry, our hope is perished, we are lost. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:30.800 Therefore prophesy and say, this is what the Lord says, behold I am opening your tombs, and will bring you up out of your tombs, and bring you into the land of Israel. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:37.120 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, so that I might bring my people up out of their graves. 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:49.420 And I will give my spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will place you upon your own land, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act, says the Lord. 00:04:50.760 --> 00:05:01.040 And so here we have basically one of the first things that they are going to bring up when they're trying to tell you, no, it's promises for ethnic Israel, it's not promises for Christians. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.460 They're going to bring up that it mentions the house of Israel. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:12.800 But in order to understand these passages in the Old Testament, you have to understand what is meant by Israel. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:28.080 And this is the fundamental problem that you have with so many when it comes to exegesis of these passages, because they've been inculcated with this false belief from dispensationalism and related things. 00:05:28.080 --> 00:05:29.440 That's the problem. 00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:35.560 And so the issue here is that Israel is the church. 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:40.240 I'm just going to go right up front and say that bluntly, Israel is the church. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:46.660 I guess I should pull it up in this other Logos window as well, so we're not looking at the preface to Emperor Charles here. 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.320 But Israel is the church. 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:56.980 And one of the ways you can understand this, of course, is when dealing with the promises, what does it speak of? 00:05:56.980 --> 00:06:05.060 And particularly, you should look at the New Testament, because we use the New Testament, which has a clarity to the Old Testament does not, when interpreting the Old Testament. 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:09.940 And so, for instance, we can turn to Galatians 3.21, is a good place to start. 00:06:09.940 --> 00:06:11.820 And I will pull that up here. 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:23.880 So, starting with Galatians 3, verse 21, Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? 00:06:23.940 --> 00:06:30.460 Certainly not, for if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 00:06:30.460 --> 00:06:38.080 But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 00:06:38.080 --> 00:06:44.700 Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 00:06:44.700 --> 00:06:50.660 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:54.080 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 00:06:54.080 --> 00:06:58.060 For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith. 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:01.760 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:03.380 There is neither Jew nor Greek. 00:07:03.380 --> 00:07:05.200 There is neither slave nor free. 00:07:05.200 --> 00:07:07.020 There is no male and female. 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:09.300 For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:14.480 And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.700 And so, of course, what is the house of Israel, the actual house of Israel? 00:07:18.700 --> 00:07:26.660 The heirs to Abraham, Abraham's true offspring, his true offspring are those through the promise, not through the law. 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:29.180 You have this in a number of places in scripture. 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.160 It's very clear. 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:38.500 So, for instance, we can also turn to the next chapter of Galatians, which is even more clear on this subject than perhaps Galatians 3. 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:46.520 And, of course, we've dealt with, in Stone Choir, Galatians 3.28 and all those issues that people bring up, so I won't reiterate that here. 00:07:46.520 --> 00:07:52.740 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:58.780 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 00:07:58.780 --> 00:08:04.600 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.080 Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. 00:08:07.080 --> 00:08:08.760 That's an important point. 00:08:08.760 --> 00:08:10.740 These women are two covenants. 00:08:10.760 --> 00:08:14.420 One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:15.280 She is Hagar. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.820 Now, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. 00:08:18.820 --> 00:08:24.260 She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 00:08:24.260 --> 00:08:27.840 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:35.340 For it is written, Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear, break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor. 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:40.980 For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:43.780 Now, you brothers like Isaac are children of promise. 00:08:44.540 --> 00:08:52.960 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.140 But what does the scripture say? 00:08:55.140 --> 00:09:01.640 Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. 00:09:01.640 --> 00:09:06.260 So brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. 00:09:06.260 --> 00:09:13.440 And of course, the Jews are the children of the slave woman, because they are not children of the promise because they are not in Christ. 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:20.700 And so, they cannot be in view in these Old Testament passages that are dealing with Israel. 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:24.160 One of the ways, of course, you can see this, it's very clear in this passage here. 00:09:24.160 --> 00:09:26.100 There are two different Jerusalems. 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:39.900 This is one that is going to come up in a number of places, and you can think perhaps of Psalm 47 in the Septuagint numbering, Psalm 48 in the numbering with which we're more familiar, because those are the Bibles we have. 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:51.340 And in that, it describes Jerusalem as being in, in the wording of the Masoretic text, the far north, or in the wording of the Septuagint text, the slopes of the north. 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:55.940 In either case, it's talking about Jerusalem being in the north. 00:09:55.940 --> 00:10:03.560 Well, if you know anything about Old Testament Israel and even Israel today, so called, where is Jerusalem located? 00:10:03.560 --> 00:10:06.720 Jerusalem is located in Judah. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:08.240 Judah is the southern kingdom. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.260 Jerusalem is in the south. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:10.960 It's not in the north. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:21.920 And so, very clearly, it cannot be describing earthly Jerusalem, which is also obvious by the fact that it's described in Revelation and other places as coming down from heaven. 00:10:21.920 --> 00:10:23.160 This is the heavenly Jerusalem. 00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:24.340 It's speaking about the heavenly city. 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:25.720 It's speaking about paradise. 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:26.920 That's what it is. 00:10:26.920 --> 00:10:29.780 It's a way of speaking about paradise. 00:10:29.780 --> 00:10:39.940 And so, not to sort of jump ahead in the exegesis here, but this passage in Ezekiel in a number of places is speaking about the end times. 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:42.100 It's speaking about the church, the fulfillment. 00:10:42.100 --> 00:10:43.440 It's speaking about the apocalypse. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.220 That's why you start to get imagery. 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:52.320 I won't read through the whole thing, I don't think, but you start to get imagery of these countries from the north coming and attacking Israel. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:58.340 Well, the problem is they're riding on horses, and the weapons described are things like daggers. 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:04.620 No one is going to attack modern day Israel, so called, with horses and daggers. 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:07.540 This is imagery of the apocalypse. 00:11:07.540 --> 00:11:11.960 It is imagery of Satan's assault on the church. 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:14.680 And that's why you have different Jerusalems. 00:11:14.680 --> 00:11:29.380 You have the earthly Jerusalem, the children of the slave woman, you have the Jews who are apostate, unbelievers, not part of the promise, and you have the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of those, obviously speaking, symbolically, the mother of those who are believers. 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:36.960 So, continuing on here, we will start with verse 15 now. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:41.840 I should tab back over to that, so you can all follow along, probably a little easier. 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:51.660 And a word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, take for yourself a rod and write on it, Judah and the sons of Israel who are joined to him. 00:11:51.660 --> 00:12:00.760 And you shall take for yourself a second rod, and you shall inscribe it for Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the sons of Israel who have been added to him. 00:12:00.760 --> 00:12:07.540 And you shall join them to each other into one rod for yourself so as to bind them, and they shall be in your hand. 00:12:07.540 --> 00:12:13.960 And it shall be when the sons of your people shall say to you, Will you not proclaim to us what is this thing of yours? 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:24.360 Then you shall say to them, This is what the Lord says, Behold I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is through the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel join to him. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:30.040 And I will give them on to the tribe of Judah, and they shall be as one rod in the hand of Judah. 00:12:30.040 --> 00:12:34.380 And the rods, those upon which you write, shall be in your hand before them. 00:12:34.380 --> 00:12:47.740 And you shall say to them, This is what the Lord says, Behold I am taking the whole house of Israel from the midst of the nations, where they went, and I will gather them from all those around them and bring them into the land of Israel. 00:12:47.740 --> 00:13:02.560 And I will give them into one nation in my land, and on the mountains of Israel, and they shall have one ruler, and they shall no longer be as two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms, so that they never again defile themselves with their idols. 00:13:02.560 --> 00:13:13.300 And I will rescue them from all their lawless acts, whereby they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be for me as a people, and I, the Lord, will be a god for them. 00:13:14.540 --> 00:13:21.440 Again, you can see very clearly in this passage, it's not speaking about earthly, ethnic Israel. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:29.040 It can't be, because also later on, the next passage here, I'll read that in a second. 00:13:29.040 --> 00:13:44.960 It's dealing with the eschaton, it's dealing with eschatology, the end of all things, because this is the gathering end of all of those who are of the house of Israel, which is to say, again, the church, who will be in paradise with God as their ruler. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:47.660 Made more obvious by the next passage here. 00:13:47.660 --> 00:14:05.300 And my slave or servant, same word in Greek, David shall be ruler in their midst, and they shall all have one shepherd, for they shall walk by my ordinances and keep my judgments and perform them, and they shall live upon their land that I have given to my slave, Jacob. 00:14:05.300 --> 00:14:13.180 There were their fathers lived, and they shall live upon it, and David, my slave, shall be their ruler forever. 00:14:13.180 --> 00:14:30.440 If it's talking about an eternal ruler, and it's talking about David, David is used in the Old Testament in this sense here, typologically of Christ, because of course, no human ruler is going, no merely human ruler, is going to rule them forever. 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:38.420 This is Christ, this is the new Jerusalem, this is the new land of Israel, this is paradise, this is again, talking about the eschaton. 00:14:38.420 --> 00:14:51.540 And of course, we know that, because David again, typological of Christ, Christ is the one shepherd, very obvious in the New Testament, I am the good shepherd, I lay down my life for my sheep, and many other places. 00:14:52.420 --> 00:15:07.960 And so, we cannot be dealing with an earthly kingdom, because it talks about them following his law, obeying his commandments, walking by his ordinances, no longer sinning. 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:14.820 That's not something that's going to happen in this life, in this world, in this creation unrenewed. 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:27.460 That is the next life, that is the creation renewed, purged of sin, where those of us who are in Christ will be ruled by Christ and will no longer sin, no longer have all of the problems we have today. 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:30.380 Concupiscence will no longer be a thing, original sin. 00:15:30.380 --> 00:15:35.460 So it's very clearly speaking of the restoration of all things. 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:40.080 I'm going to skip the bit about all of the nations coming and fighting against Israel. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:41.340 I've already mentioned what that means. 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:42.420 Again, it's the eschaton. 00:15:42.420 --> 00:15:45.960 You can see this in Revelation as well. 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:47.620 This is something that is typological. 00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:55.160 It is then echoed in Revelation, speaking of the end times and the assault of Satan and his followers on the church. 00:15:55.160 --> 00:15:56.820 That's all that this is. 00:15:59.300 --> 00:16:01.740 I think that's probably sufficient. 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:10.360 I don't think I need to read through 38 and 39, because I've really touched on how you exegete this entire passage just by reading through 37. 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:15.920 I do, of course, encourage you to go and read all of it, but I'm not going to take the time now to do it. 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:33.420 So, again, I may touch this in an essay at some point, deal with it more thoroughly, but that gives you sort of the starting place to deal with those who talk about this being ethnic Israel, because it's just very clearly not. 00:16:33.420 --> 00:16:47.360 The only way that you can find ethnic Israel here is if you ignore what it's actually saying about what God is doing, about what God is going to do, about the fact that they're not going to sin anymore, or they're going to follow his ordinances. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.200 Look at Israel today, so called. 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.100 Are they obeying God? 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:54.140 Are they following his ordinances? 00:16:54.140 --> 00:16:54.860 No. 00:16:54.860 --> 00:17:03.460 The restoration, so called, of ethnic Israel to that land in 1948 does not fulfill this, because it doesn't obey what is said here. 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:08.140 They are not subject to David, which is to say Christ. 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:11.040 They are still horrible, sinning Jews. 00:17:11.040 --> 00:17:11.960 They don't believe in God. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.240 They blaspheme him daily. 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:20.200 That's sort of the Cliff Notes version, again, and the way to deal with this. 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:30.360 And it's also worth mentioning, you do have sort of cyclical fulfillments of many of the prophecies in the Old Testament, including this one. 00:17:30.360 --> 00:17:44.680 And so you do have times where you will have a minor fulfillment, which is a restoration of ethnic Israel, incidentally, not actual Israel, the Northern Kingdom, because they get destroyed completely by the Assyrians. 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:55.180 But you do have the restoration after the Babylonian exile, because the house of Judah was restored to the land, and then dispersed again for being faithless apostates again. 00:17:55.180 --> 00:18:04.840 But the ultimate fulfillment of this, the end of the cycle of fulfillments, is the end times, is the restoration of all things. 00:18:04.840 --> 00:18:07.360 And it's worth emphasizing that point. 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:16.560 Again, this cannot be about ethnic Israel, because the northern ten tribes are destroyed completely, they're gone. 00:18:16.560 --> 00:18:28.280 So you can't have some restoration of the ethnic house of Israel, and the ethnic house of Judah, because the ethnic house of Israel ceased to exist after the Assyrian exile. 00:18:28.280 --> 00:18:35.440 Incidentally, also the way that you deal with those who try to say the 144,000 revelation are ethnic Jews. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:35.880 They can't be. 00:18:36.520 --> 00:18:40.820 First off, the list is wrong, because it's not actually a list of the tribes. 00:18:40.820 --> 00:18:44.480 But then second, it's very clearly typological. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:46.620 I've talked about that one before, so I won't get into that now. 00:18:46.620 --> 00:18:53.940 But I think that sort of covers it for really most purposes here. 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:57.260 If someone has follow-up questions, of course, I can deal with those later. 00:18:57.260 --> 00:19:03.360 But you can also think, of course, Isaiah 56 came to mind while I was thinking about this question. 00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:06.940 Also, an eschatological promise, also dealing with the End Times. 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:11.420 I will bring them into my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. 00:19:11.420 --> 00:19:21.260 Their whole burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. 00:19:21.260 --> 00:19:28.660 Not just dealing with Old Testament, ethnic Israel, all nations, because the gospel is for all peoples, as also seen very clearly in Galatians 3. 00:19:32.340 --> 00:19:35.840 The next question is sort of an easier, lighter question. 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:38.040 Let me pull that up here. 00:19:38.040 --> 00:19:41.660 Basically, Anglicanism versus Lutheranism. 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:45.940 Not in the sense of them being opposed, but sort of in the sense of which one should I be. 00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:49.440 So a little opposition, but I'll read the question. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:50.460 Hello, thanks for all you do. 00:19:50.460 --> 00:20:02.880 I recently moved, and I am considering joining a Lutheran church, but the hang up is that my ancestors are all from England, both sides, and my grandfather was an Episcopal priest in the 1960s until he passed. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:10.740 I respect your and Woe's opinion, and would consider a Lutheran church, but feel the Fourth Commandment leads me to stay Anglican. 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:13.860 Thoughts on participating in the church of my fathers? 00:20:13.860 --> 00:20:18.140 I don't have any problem with the faithful Anglican churches. 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:39.600 Obviously, I disagree with some of their theology, particularly the ones that lean a little more heavily reformed, because as I've mentioned before, the Anglican church is a very big umbrella, for a number of reasons, partly due to the empire historically, partly just because it was never really solidified into a single confession to which everyone adhered without exception. 00:20:39.600 --> 00:20:43.840 That's very common over in the reformed camp, and I don't think that I'm being unfair to the reformed. 00:20:43.840 --> 00:20:46.240 I think they would agree with me on that point. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:51.680 So there are very good Anglican churches, and there are very bad Anglican churches. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:57.520 The same is true of Lutherans, of course, but, and I'm not just saying Elka, because they're not even Christian. 00:20:57.520 --> 00:21:00.900 There are bad LCMS churches, there are good LCMS churches. 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.280 The same thing is true over in the Anglican camp. 00:21:03.280 --> 00:21:06.920 If you can find a good Anglican church, by all means attend it. 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:08.980 Yes, I disagree with some of their theology. 00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:12.680 Yes, I think there are doctrinal issues, but I still think they're Christians. 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:14.720 There are faithful Christians in the Anglican church. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.160 You can be Anglican. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.600 There's also the historical tidbit that is worth mentioning. 00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:50.600 The Anglican church proper, as something separate from, in this case, Lutheranism, would not have existed if Henry VIII had not martyred Robert Barnes, because he was initially listening to him, but then, basically due to political shenanigans, very underhanded, but sort of the history of the human species, Robert Barnes was murdered, and so he was the one who was bringing England over to Lutheranism. 00:21:50.600 --> 00:21:51.900 He was a friend of Martin Luther. 00:21:51.900 --> 00:21:54.760 He had lived with Martin Luther for a period of time. 00:21:54.760 --> 00:22:07.800 Martin Luther published his confession and eulogized him, but because of that martyrdom, you wind up with an independent Anglican church distinct from Lutheranism and separated from it. 00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:08.860 That's unfortunate. 00:22:08.860 --> 00:22:10.320 It is part of history. 00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:11.860 That's just how it's gone. 00:22:11.860 --> 00:22:16.200 But there wouldn't be anything wrong if you were to join a Lutheran church. 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:38.060 Effectively, what you would be doing is recognizing that historical reality, that unfortunate historical event, and undoing it in miniature, which I would love to see the Anglican church and the Lutheran church unify under a true confession, which is, say, the Augsburg confession, and no longer have that schism and no longer have that separation. 00:22:38.060 --> 00:22:40.060 So, you can join either one. 00:22:40.060 --> 00:22:55.100 It's not a violation of the Fourth Commandment because what you want to do to be true to your forefathers, not just your father, but your grandfather, your great-grandfather, all the way back, is to be a Christian, to be a true Christian, to be a faithful Christian. 00:22:55.100 --> 00:22:59.140 And I do believe that you can do that in an Anglican church and you can do that in a Lutheran church. 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:05.700 As a Lutheran, obviously, I believe the Lutheran confession is better than what the Anglican churches confess. 00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:08.980 But I don't think that Anglicans are not Christian. 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:14.860 So, join whichever one you happen to have in your area that is a good church and work to improve it. 00:23:14.860 --> 00:23:16.920 That's the best thing that you can do. 00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:24.940 I have sort of a follow-up question here for the next one, a little bit more about baptism. 00:23:24.940 --> 00:23:27.760 Unsurprising, that's going to be a question that comes up a lot. 00:23:29.120 --> 00:23:29.960 Hello, Cory. 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:32.960 Hopefully, I am posting a question in the correct part of the forum. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:33.980 It was fine. 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:35.740 I think I moved it, but it's good. 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:45.780 Is there a morally permissible means that permits the head of the household, a man, obviously, to administer baptism to those that God has entrusted to his care? 00:23:45.780 --> 00:23:51.600 I confess that I'm likely standing in the way of God's free gift, and that is not what I want to do. 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:56.180 I would rather receive his free gifts and return thanks in his church. 00:23:56.180 --> 00:24:02.060 I am hesitant to bring my family into a congregation that is part of a corporation that is demonstrably led by an apostate. 00:24:02.060 --> 00:24:05.120 Certainly a problem, and that's a problem across denominations. 00:24:05.120 --> 00:24:08.280 You're not going to find, unfortunately, good leadership anywhere. 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:11.560 The Roman Catholic Church obviously has... 00:24:11.560 --> 00:24:19.880 As a Lutheran, I'm going to say some choice things about the Pope, but the current one is awful, even by the standards of popes, and they've had Medici's as popes. 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:25.760 But the corporate heads of basically every denomination, they're all terrible. 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:29.560 Thanks in advance for your time in considering my question. 00:24:29.560 --> 00:24:33.700 If I missed it in a prior SC episode, I'm sorry. 00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:36.940 Thank you for your time and faithful exegesis of Scripture. 00:24:38.120 --> 00:24:48.620 So, I have addressed this one before, but it is worth addressing again, because it's such an important issue, because the sacraments are important, and baptism in particular is important. 00:24:48.620 --> 00:24:52.540 Yes, of course, I'm not minimizing the Lord's Supper anyway. 00:24:52.540 --> 00:25:01.360 I recognize that many of those in the ancient church went to the lions, because they would not deny the real presence, the bodily presence of Christ in the Supper. 00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:06.020 But baptism is the way that you properly enter the church. 00:25:07.280 --> 00:25:14.100 Now, that's not to say that you cannot have faith from some other means, because there are means of grace, plural. 00:25:14.100 --> 00:25:19.100 And so, you can be given faith by hearing, reading the word, right? 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:21.340 That's one of the means of grace. 00:25:21.340 --> 00:25:23.200 Another one is baptism. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:25.040 Baptism grants faith. 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:29.780 And there's a follow-up question as well later on, I think, touching on regeneration. 00:25:29.780 --> 00:25:31.900 Yes, I may get to that one tonight, I don't know. 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:35.080 But baptism regenerates. 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:38.160 Baptism grants the free gift of faith. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.040 Baptism is how you enter the church. 00:25:40.040 --> 00:25:44.820 It does not mean, again, that you cannot have faith absent baptism. 00:25:44.820 --> 00:25:48.880 I've explained it before by saying, is baptism necessary? 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:52.320 Yes, but not absolutely so, but yes. 00:25:52.320 --> 00:26:06.740 And I've explained that, I won't necessarily go to that right now, but the core of the question here is, can a Christian man, particularly the head of the household, although I won't limit it to that, because it's not limited to that, can he baptize the members of his household? 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:10.200 The answer is yes, you can baptize your children. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:12.660 Is it the ordinary way that things are done? 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:28.680 The answer is no, because the ordinary way that things are done in a Christian society, when everything is functioning as it should, is that the pastor, a member of whose flock you are, baptizes your children as they are born. 00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:30.240 That's the way it should be. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:31.720 That is the way it was for centuries. 00:26:32.020 --> 00:26:34.240 That is the ideal. 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:40.300 We are not necessarily there right now for a number of reasons which we are all well aware. 00:26:40.300 --> 00:26:44.600 So, any Christian can administer baptism. 00:26:44.600 --> 00:26:45.840 That includes women. 00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:59.360 Women can baptize in an emergency, because that is even further outside the norm, because it should be the head of the household, or some male that has an appropriate relationship to the person being baptized. 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:07.600 And so, usually, that's the minister, the priest, the pastor, but it can be the head of the household, it could be an uncle, a grandfather, whatever. 00:27:07.600 --> 00:27:09.760 My father baptized both of my siblings. 00:27:09.760 --> 00:27:13.020 Incidentally, he also baptized me, in the church, in my case. 00:27:13.020 --> 00:27:15.320 So, nothing wrong with that. 00:27:15.320 --> 00:27:17.260 That is entirely fine. 00:27:17.300 --> 00:27:21.180 Use the words as instituted in the New Testament. 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:23.040 Go through the ritual of it. 00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:24.620 Ritual is important. 00:27:24.620 --> 00:27:30.900 It's not justifying in its own sense, of course, but it is an important part of being a Christian and practicing the Christian faith. 00:27:30.900 --> 00:27:32.580 And make sure you have witnesses. 00:27:32.580 --> 00:27:35.080 That's the standard for Biblical baptism. 00:27:35.080 --> 00:27:40.000 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, with witnesses, water. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.120 It's water and the Word, because, of course, it's a sacrament. 00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:44.100 It's not just the water, it's not just the Word. 00:27:44.100 --> 00:27:46.640 It's the water and the Word together. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:51.200 So, the short answer, of course, is yes, you can baptize your children. 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:57.500 And if you happen to have access to a Lutheran hymnal, they are all going to have a baptismal rite. 00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:58.500 Just follow that. 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:07.580 Or, I think, probably most reformed hymnals, or the equivalent, if they have something separate for their rites, their services, we'll also have that. 00:28:07.580 --> 00:28:10.760 So, there's even an emergency. 00:28:10.760 --> 00:28:12.660 I'm looking at my Lutheran service book here. 00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:18.400 But there's even an emergency form in the back of many, or in the front, depending, of many Lutheran books. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:24.260 So, in an emergency, if someone needs to baptize someone, that's something that's there and available. 00:28:25.220 --> 00:28:30.540 So, if you're on an airplane and it's going down, by all means, baptize someone with a water bottle. 00:28:30.540 --> 00:28:33.620 If you are any Christian, male, female, doesn't matter. 00:28:39.023 --> 00:28:50.763 The next question is again about denominations and kind of denominational differences here, this time in the context of marriage. 00:28:50.763 --> 00:28:56.143 As a Christian, is it permissible to marry a Roman Catholic? 00:28:56.143 --> 00:29:04.963 I'll read the rest of the question here, there's a couple more paragraphs, but I do want to point out first, there are Christian Roman Catholics. 00:29:04.963 --> 00:29:07.563 And I know some people think, how can a Lutheran possibly say that? 00:29:08.343 --> 00:29:19.223 Our confession, the Book of Concord, says that the Pope is anti-Christ, and basically says everyone should desert him, and some other choice phrases, particularly in certain documents in the Book of Concord. 00:29:19.223 --> 00:29:24.403 And that doesn't mean that there are no Christians in the Roman Church. 00:29:24.403 --> 00:29:28.583 Similarly, I believe there are Christians in the Eastern churches. 00:29:28.583 --> 00:29:36.483 I believe the Eastern church itself is apostate due to Palomism and a number of other things, but there are Christians in those churches. 00:29:37.203 --> 00:29:47.103 Just as there are even some Christians in the Mormon Church, so called, I wouldn't call it a church, but they like to call themselves that. 00:29:47.103 --> 00:29:59.443 In the lower levels of that, before they become a temple Mormon, which is what they call them, before they get initiated into the mysteries, because it is a mystery cult, there are people who just believe in Christ. 00:29:59.443 --> 00:30:04.563 In the simplicity of their ignorance, they hold to Christ, they believe in Christ, that makes them a Christian. 00:30:05.303 --> 00:30:06.543 Are they a good Christian? 00:30:06.543 --> 00:30:09.843 Not particularly, but that's not what saves you. 00:30:09.843 --> 00:30:14.623 What saves you is belief in Christ, faith in Christ, the free gift of faith. 00:30:14.623 --> 00:30:16.563 And there are Christians in the Roman Church. 00:30:16.563 --> 00:30:19.123 So, continuing on the rest of the question. 00:30:19.123 --> 00:30:22.283 I'm a young man who's pursuing a relationship with a woman about my age. 00:30:22.283 --> 00:30:30.003 She is a Christian, as am I, but she is currently in RCIA with a strong intention to convert to Roman Catholicism. 00:30:30.003 --> 00:30:36.563 I am unsure about marrying this woman if she converts to Roman Catholicism, as the differences may be irreconcilable. 00:30:36.563 --> 00:30:41.183 Is there a middle ground that we can reach, or should I shake the dust off my feet? 00:30:42.983 --> 00:30:45.023 This touches on a number of things. 00:30:45.023 --> 00:30:54.543 The core here, though, and I think that's the bulk of what I'll address, is that a woman is supposed to follow her husband, period. 00:30:54.603 --> 00:30:55.843 Scripture is very clear. 00:30:55.843 --> 00:31:01.283 Wives submit to your husbands in all things as you would unto the Lord. 00:31:01.283 --> 00:31:03.923 That certainly includes in theological matters. 00:31:03.923 --> 00:31:07.443 And so, a wife is to follow her husband. 00:31:07.443 --> 00:31:12.543 If he's a Presbyterian, you are a Presbyterian, your children are Presbyterians. 00:31:12.543 --> 00:31:16.863 If he's a Lutheran, you're a Lutheran, your children are Lutherans. 00:31:16.863 --> 00:31:19.223 And that is the way things are supposed to go. 00:31:20.543 --> 00:31:25.943 Now, if a husband becomes completely apostate, right? 00:31:25.943 --> 00:31:40.603 Let's say he goes from being some Christian denomination, pick whichever one you like, to a neo-pagan, or a Muslim, or a Mormon, or God forbid, someone who follows the Talmud, right? 00:31:40.603 --> 00:31:44.303 Then no, she can't follow him in that, because you must obey God rather than men. 00:31:44.303 --> 00:31:52.143 That would be an exception to that complete submission to her husband, because it is as you would submit unto Christ, right? 00:31:52.143 --> 00:31:53.863 There's a limitation there. 00:31:53.863 --> 00:32:01.863 It's a minor limitation, because it is comparable to when slaves are to submit to their masters, even to bad masters. 00:32:01.863 --> 00:32:05.903 And so wives are to submit to their husbands, even when they aren't good husbands. 00:32:05.903 --> 00:32:13.063 Now, husbands should endeavor to love their wives, of course, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, among other passages. 00:32:14.143 --> 00:32:24.103 But you are to follow wives, you are to follow your husband with regard to what denomination he chooses to be a Christian. 00:32:24.103 --> 00:32:30.803 And so, to answer your specific question, she has to follow you if she is going to be your wife. 00:32:30.803 --> 00:32:33.683 So you need to have a serious conversation with her. 00:32:33.683 --> 00:32:38.263 If I am a Presbyterian, or whatever you happen to be, right? 00:32:38.263 --> 00:32:39.823 Are you going to be a Presbyterian? 00:32:40.483 --> 00:32:44.623 Or are you going to continue to insist on being a Roman Catholic in this case? 00:32:44.623 --> 00:32:46.003 Something else. 00:32:46.003 --> 00:32:49.243 And is that going to be a constant source of conflict in the marriage? 00:32:49.243 --> 00:32:51.063 How are you going to raise the children? 00:32:51.063 --> 00:32:54.283 Are you going to teach them to be Presbyterian, and she's going to teach them to be Roman Catholic? 00:32:54.283 --> 00:32:56.203 That doesn't work. 00:32:56.203 --> 00:32:57.763 She has to submit. 00:32:57.763 --> 00:33:05.223 If she is unwilling to do that, it is going to cause you nothing but strife in your marriage, and she's already demonstrated she's not going to be a faithful wife. 00:33:06.243 --> 00:33:10.723 So, wisdom would dictate you probably should look elsewhere. 00:33:10.723 --> 00:33:18.043 Hopefully, she recognizes that her duty in scripture, her duty to God, is to submit to you if you are her husband. 00:33:18.043 --> 00:33:20.823 If she's willing to do that, then there's no problem. 00:33:20.823 --> 00:33:27.683 Lead her back into what you believe to be the true faith and out of what she is currently investigating. 00:33:27.683 --> 00:33:41.963 That is, to some degree, on you, and if you are able to do that, if she is willing to listen, if she's willing to submit and obey, then by all means, she makes a great wife, marry her, may you have many children, and be blessed by the Lord. 00:33:41.963 --> 00:33:46.443 But it comes down to whether or not she is willing to do what scripture commands her to do, to be an actual wife. 00:33:53.874 --> 00:34:00.814 The next question is again about sort of house churches and what to do under current circumstances. 00:34:02.354 --> 00:34:06.114 That is, starting a home church, a follow-up question to that. 00:34:06.114 --> 00:34:12.714 What do you recommend doing if one is new in an area or traveling and does not have a group to start a home church? 00:34:12.714 --> 00:34:17.614 Is there a kind of lay service one can do at home, which is different from regular daily devotions? 00:34:17.614 --> 00:34:18.974 There is. 00:34:18.974 --> 00:34:20.134 Follow-up to that. 00:34:20.134 --> 00:34:28.734 Perhaps it would be a good idea for people interested in doing this to organize some kind of locator map or resource to indicate if there are others in the area who would be interested in doing that. 00:34:28.734 --> 00:34:30.294 Certainly, that's important. 00:34:30.294 --> 00:34:37.574 Probably a little less so when traveling, because if you're organizing a group, you kind of want to have the regularity of being able to meet together. 00:34:37.574 --> 00:34:47.154 But certainly, if you cannot find a good church, because obviously, do not forsake the gathering together of the saints and all the other injunctions. 00:34:47.154 --> 00:34:50.414 If you can find a good church while you're traveling, just go to that church. 00:34:50.414 --> 00:34:51.294 It doesn't have to be perfect. 00:34:51.494 --> 00:34:55.854 You're going for one service, two, three at the most, right? 00:34:55.854 --> 00:34:58.514 Maybe a couple of years if you travel frequently, whatever it happens to be. 00:34:58.514 --> 00:35:00.754 By all means, just find a church and attend it. 00:35:00.754 --> 00:35:08.754 I've done that when, in various other places, even going to LCMS churches, despite the LCMS's corporate opinion of me. 00:35:08.754 --> 00:35:10.494 I'll take a sip of tea here. 00:35:14.294 --> 00:35:17.574 But yes, you can just find a faithful church and attend it. 00:35:17.574 --> 00:35:26.394 And if you can't find that, then by all means, simply find a rite that you can do at home, just a basic church service. 00:35:26.394 --> 00:35:37.434 You know, you're basically going to have a prayer, say the Lord's Prayer, recite the creed, whether it happens to be the Apostles of the Nicene, or if it's the Trinity Sunday, then the Athanasian. 00:35:37.434 --> 00:35:41.794 And you're not going to have the Lord's Supper by yourself. 00:35:41.994 --> 00:35:43.554 That would be inappropriate. 00:35:43.554 --> 00:35:47.054 And you're not going to have the corporate absolution. 00:35:47.334 --> 00:35:53.434 But you don't need the corporate absolution, because you know that all of your sins are forgiven before you commit them. 00:35:53.434 --> 00:35:55.854 God has already forgiven all your sins in Christ. 00:35:55.854 --> 00:35:57.674 It's good to have that reminder. 00:35:57.674 --> 00:36:04.634 God is super abundant in His grace and how He delivers His forgiveness to us, His good gifts to us. 00:36:04.634 --> 00:36:07.434 But you don't need all of them all the time. 00:36:07.434 --> 00:36:09.214 It's not absolutely necessary. 00:36:09.214 --> 00:36:10.694 So yes, you can just follow a rite. 00:36:10.694 --> 00:36:13.274 There's a rite in the Lutheran service book I keep looking at. 00:36:13.274 --> 00:36:15.094 I should have put it on my desk. 00:36:15.094 --> 00:36:16.554 But you can just follow that. 00:36:16.694 --> 00:36:18.334 It's available online. 00:36:18.334 --> 00:36:22.474 If you are part of some other denomination, then they undoubtedly have one as well. 00:36:22.474 --> 00:36:27.774 You can probably find it in your equivalent of the service book or the hymnal, whichever you happen to use. 00:36:27.774 --> 00:36:29.714 So I would say just go through that. 00:36:29.714 --> 00:36:32.354 That's probably the best way to do it. 00:36:34.674 --> 00:36:37.734 The next question here, let me pull that up. 00:36:39.934 --> 00:36:41.794 Maybe I don't have my notes there. 00:36:45.094 --> 00:36:51.214 Apparently, we're significantly shifting categories here and sorts of questions. 00:36:51.214 --> 00:36:56.754 In the context of the marriage bed, are erotic fantasies shared between husband and wife a sin? 00:36:56.754 --> 00:37:01.214 The short answer to that is no. 00:37:01.214 --> 00:37:16.034 The sort of longer answer is that to some degree, it depends because if you are imagining your spouse is another person, that's inappropriate because that is mental adultery. 00:37:16.034 --> 00:37:24.914 Coupled with an act that isn't itself adultery, but is certainly inappropriate because of the nature of what you have associated with it. 00:37:24.914 --> 00:37:28.574 Because you're supposed to be pure not just in body but also in mind. 00:37:28.574 --> 00:37:35.834 But I guess to give a not too concrete of an example as to not be inappropriate or get banned. 00:37:35.834 --> 00:37:42.534 But if you want your wife to wear a cheerleader outfit, whatever, have fun, that's between you and your wife. 00:37:42.534 --> 00:37:45.554 God's not going to object to that, you're allowed to do that. 00:37:46.194 --> 00:37:47.414