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The First Witness (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #11) (King’s Cross)

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Introduction

Today we consider Stephen’s martyrdom and his message to the Jewish leaders, that might be boiled down to the simple quotation from Isaiah: “Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool, what house will you build me?” (Acts 7:49, Is. 66:1-2)

The Jewish leaders hated God, and this means that they used fastidious religious traditions to attempt to keep Him at bay. And so we too must be aware of this tendency in the Christian church. It is not enough that we be around the Word of God. We must listen and obey. We must humble ourselves and worship Him alone.  

The Text: “Then said the high priest, are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charan…” (Acts 7:1-60). 

Summary of the Text

The charge brought against Stephen was that he was speaking blasphemies against Moses and God, the temple and the law (Acts 6:11, 13). The high priest asked Stephen if this was true, and Stephen answers the charges with a lengthy summary of Jewish history, beginning with Abraham’s call in Mesopotamia, in the land of the Chaldeans (Acts 7:1-4). The overarching point of Stephen’s message is that God has never been bound permanently to one place: God spoke to Abraham before he lived in the Promised land, before he owned a single square foot of the land, and yet He gave him the covenant of circumcision and foretold the four hundred years of sojourning, including slavery in Egypt (Acts 7:5-8). Stephen traces the story of Joseph, envied by his brothers, but God was with him, all the way down into Egypt, providing for his family, according to the promise made to Abraham (Acts 7:9-17). 

When another king arose who dealt harshly with Israel, God raised up Moses who was rejected by his own kindred, but God spoke to him by an angel of the Lord in the burning bush, which was holy ground and he brought them out of Egypt (Acts 7:18-36). Moses foretold another prophet and spoke many good things, but the Jewish fathers rejected him, demanding the golden calf and worshiping other gods, turning away from the tabernacle that he built that was with them even unto the days of David (Acts 7:37-46). Solomon finally built God a temple, but God does not dwell in temples made with hands since He made all things (Acts 7:47-50). At this point, Stephen drives the point of his message home, calling the Jewish leaders stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears and like their fathers, persecutors of the prophets and rejectors of the law (Acts 7:51-53). When they gnashed their teeth and Stephen had a vision of Jesus standing at God’s right hand, they hauled Stephen out of the city and stoned him, laying their clothes at Saul’s feet, while Stephen prayed for their forgiveness (Acts 7:54-60).  

The Necessity of Debate and Collision

Stephen’s short ministry was characterized by debate, dispute, and controversy (Acts 6:9-10). It can be tempting to think that Stephen was being needlessly confrontational, but we should remember that the ministry of Jesus was much like this: three years of controversy, concluding with an early death. The gospel smells like death to those who are perishing, and those who bring that gospel are covered with that aroma (2 Cor. 2:15-16). And at the same time, controversy and debate is where the truth of the Word shines, confounding and infuriating some, but also softening and piercing others: it is the aroma of life for those who are being saved. There is even a hint of that here with Saul witnessing the murder of the first martyr. 

Resisting the Holy Spirit?

Here, Stephen charges the Jewish leaders with resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). And that may strike some as a strange thing to say. Who can resist the Holy Spirit? Isn’t this like saying they are resisting God? But this highlights the doctrines of predestination and reprobation. In fact, in our sinful state, all men resist God, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18), and it is only those whom God mercifully chose before the foundation of the word to save who cease resisting (Eph. 1:4ff). This doctrine is a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to those who are disobedient, “whereunto also they were appointed” (1 Pet. 2:8). To which the objection comes again: but if they were appointed to be offended and disobedient, who can resist God? And Paul answers this elsewhere: “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and who he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” (Rom. 9:18-20) This is a doctrine of high majesty, clearly taught by Scripture, which shuts the mouths of men in humility or else drives them to gnash their teeth in fury. 

Jesus Standing

There’s a marked contrast between Jesus standing in Heaven and Saul standing outside the city overseeing the stoning of Stephen. It has been pointed out that in the apostles’ creed and many texts, Jesus is described as “sitting” at God’s right hand (e.g. Mk 16:19, Heb. 1:3, 10:12, Rev. 3:21), but here, at the climax of this story, Stephen sees Him “standing,” in a posture of intercession, like an attorney in a courtroom. The Jews thought they were conducting a trial of Stephen, but it was actually God who was conducting a trial of them. While they condemned Stephen in their sham hearing (thus condemning themselves), Jesus exonerated him while condemning the Jews. And yet, even then, at least one of those guilty Jews would become the answer to Stephen’s prayer, that God not hold their sin against them (Acts 7:60). 

Applications 

The sovereignty of God is what crushes the pride of man. The rejection of the sovereignty of God is ultimately an attempt to wrest some part of that sovereignty from God. The exhaustive sovereignty of God is the theological doctrine that destroys all totalitarianism. And it does this by humbling man in worship. 

It is precisely this humility that listens to the Word of God and obeys. It is this humility that tells the truth even when the truth will offend and infuriate. A Christian is someone who lives coram deo: before the face of God. But because of the mercy of God, this is a great joy and relief. Whatever the Father has for us is for His glory and that is our highest good. 

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Dobbs Celebration Message (King’s Cross)

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Introduction

On June 24, 2022 the landmark Supreme Court ruling was handed down in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, declaring that there is no federal, constitutional right to abortion and returned the matter of abortion to the States. Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, around 65 million abortions have been performed in America. We have determined to celebrate this ruling both because of the monstrosity of the previous rulings of Roe/Casey being struck down and because it has granted God’s people a glorious opportunity to protect more pre-born lives in the states. 

The story of God’s deliverance of the Jews in the book of Esther provides us helpful biblical principles to bolster our celebration of this Dobbs victory. 

The Text: “And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly…” (Esth. 9:20-28).

Summary of the Text

Mordecai writes as the new appointed Persian king’s chief counselor, urging the Jews in every province to keep an annual two-day festival (Esth. 9:20-23). This festival was to celebrate the destruction of Haman’s plot to slaughter the Jews, Esther’s courageous intervention, and would be called Purim (Esth. 9:24-26). The Jews received Mordecai’s instruction and determined to remember those days in all their generations (Esth. 9:27-28).  

Free to Celebrate

Part of what this story teaches us is that God is pleased when His people celebrate His goodness and deliverance. A central part of the law given to Israel was a festival calendar, with feast days and sabbath years (cf. Lev. 23). God put His tabernacle in Israel so that they would continually rejoice before Him: “And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee” (Dt. 12:7). Even part of the tithe was to be spent on celebrating before the Lord: “And spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household” (Dt. 14:26 ESV). This is why Moses warned the people that if the curses of the covenant came upon them, it would be “because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things” (Dt. 28:47). So following the example of Esther and Mordecai, God’s people should look for new acts of deliverance to celebrate. 

Celebrating Imperfect Decisions

Part of what is also helpful in the Esther story is the fact that what is being celebrated at Purim is not a perfect decision. Why doesn’t King Ahasuerus simply rescind his previous immoral order? We are not told, other than the pagan precedent mentioned elsewhere, the Law of the Persians and the Medes “which cannot be revoked” (Esth. 1:19, cf. Dan. 6:8-12). But of course even that so-called “law” is evil since only God’s law is so perfect and holy that it cannot ever be revoked. But King Ahasuerus preserves the pagan Persian precedent and instead of overturning his previous evil order, he issues a new decree giving the Jews the right to defend themselves against their adversaries (Esth. 8:11, 9:1ff). If Purim was a godly celebration of deliverance (and it was), then the Dobbs decision is worthy of celebration when two evil rulings are reversed and the right of the states to defend themselves and their unborn children is restored.

Applications

Don’t Let Up: Christians (and conservatives in general) have a bad habit of failing to implement the principle of war known as “pursuit.” We are like the king of Israel who struck the ground three times, instead five or six (2 Kgs. 13:18-19). In the Esther story, the Haman was hung on the gallows and the Jews defended themselves, killing at least 500 on the first day of deliverance (Esth. 9:6). But Esther asked for more: the sons of Haman to be hung and one more day of self-defense on the part of the Jews (Esth. 9:13-15). 

So too, we must not rest until all human lives have equal protection under the law according to God’s Word. Rape and incest are not reasonable exceptions; we should never punish a child for the crimes of his father. “Morning after pills” and other so-called “contraception” that disturb or do not allow fertilized eggs to implant are abortifacients. We must also be particularly vigilant and wary about the burgeoning IVF and surrogate industry of “boutique families.” If life begins at conception, at the fertilization of an egg, then we must protect and honor those lives, doing all that we can to preserve the natural family intact. 

Keeping the Feast: The story of Esther and Purim is part of the case for the change from a seventh day Sabbath to our Sunday Lord’s Day. It would take something greater than the first Creation (Ex. 20:11) and the first Exodus (Dt. 5:15), but Christ has accomplished a new Creation and a Greater Exodus, and so Christians have been feasting on the First Day of the week ever since. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and if covenant keeping in the Old Covenant was marked by feasting and rejoicing, how much more the New Covenant when Christ has finally accomplished what the Old Covenant pointed to? 

Part of this joyful festivity is also learning to rejoice in all of the little things. If we want God to give us the greater blessing of a complete end to abortion in our land, then we need to be practicing the kind of faithful rejoicing now that would be ready for such glory.  

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Ministries of Word & Table (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #10) (King’s Cross)

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Introduction

When God is at work, challenges arise from within and from without. Just as Jesus directed His disciples to feed the crowds that followed Him (Mk. 6:37), so too His Spirit leads His apostles to appoint men to address the needs of widows in the early church so that the Word can continue to multiply. 

The Text: “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration…” (Acts 6:1-15)

Summary of the Text

Administrative challenges accompany the success of the gospel, and right on schedule a complaint arises from the Hellenists against the Hebrews that their widows are being neglected in the daily service (Acts 6:1). The twelve apostles charge the congregation to appoint seven men over this table service, so they can continue in the ministry of the Word and prayer (6:2-4). The congregation chose seven good men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and the apostles ordained them, and the word of God increased and the disciples multiplied (6:5-7). 

Stephen, one of the seven new deacons, was particularly gifted with words and wonders, and a party of opposition arose, which when they were unable to resist his wisdom, convinced some men to falsely accuse him of blasphemy (6:8-11). They successfully got many people and leaders stirred up and brought him before the Jewish counsel, and while many false witnesses testified against him, God made his face like the face of Moses (6:12-15). 

Serving Tables

This text has traditionally been understood as the origin of the office of Deacons. While the noun is not used, the verb is used twice: “ministration/service” (6:1) and “serve” tables (6:2). The office of apostle was unique for the first century (eye-witnesses of Jesus, authorized to write the New Testament, Acts 1:8, 21-22), their ministry was passed on to elders (also called bishops), particularly the ministry of the Word (e.g. Lk. 1:2, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Tit. 1:5-9). While all Christians are called to a general ministry of “service” (e.g. Mt. 20:26-28, Rom. 13:4-6, 1 Cor. 3:5, 1 Pet. 4:10), the word is also used to describe an office for qualified men (1 Tim. 3:8-13) who assist the elders (cf. Phil. 1:1) in a ministry of serving at tables, which we understand to include assisting the elders with the administration of worship, caring particularly for the material/physical needs of those within the congregation as well as those outside. 

Controversy as Opportunity

We have already seen this, but Luke doesn’t want us to miss it: when the Holy Spirit it as work, there will be controversies inside and outside the church, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, controversy is an opportunity for the gospel to go forth. When this internal controversy arises, the apostles understand that they must not be distracted from their assigned task and therefore conclude God is leading them to appoint new leaders to oversee this need (Acts 6:2-4). And the result is clear: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (6:7). Likewise, we should be anticipating something similar coming with the controversy surrounding Stephen – more on that later (6:9). 

Like the Face of an Angel

Clearly, Stephen did his administrative work well, and in addition to those gifts, was also a gifted teacher and evangelist (6:8-10). Remember, the miracles of the first century were specifically given as confirmation of the Word of the apostles (cf. Mk. 16:20, 2 Cor. 12:12), but the thing that the Jews could not withstand was his wisdom with the Word (Acts 6:10). And while they brought all kinds of false words against him, his face had the authority of an angel of God, which reminds us of the face of Moses coming down from the mountain, having spoken to God face to face (Ex. 33:11, 34:29-35). Elsewhere Paul says that when Christ is preached in faith and received in faith an even greater light shines on our faces without a veil, changing us from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:7-18).

Applications

We are a growing community and congregation, and we should expect growing pains and needs. We want to preserve real community and personalism, but we should not resent wise administration. Large churches cannot pretend to be small churches. If you see a need, please say something. Just be aware that there are many moving parts to coordinate and sometimes the one who sees a need is gifted to fill it. But guard against all murmuring (e.g. 1 Cor. 10:10). 

We should expect controversy, including persecution, slanders, and lies, and we should expect many people to hear them and get caught up into them. And we should expect blessing to come with it: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” (Mt. 5:10-12).

The Word is the tip of our spear. Read the word. Share the word. This word is our glory. It is the glory of a Holy God who freely saves sinners. This is the greatest wonder – that God takes hearts of stone and replaces them with hearts of flesh – that men and women may be born again – and that wonder truly cannot be resisted. But when resistance comes to that glory, we should be praying for more opportunities to preach this good word, and regardless, please pray regularly for those called to this particular ministry (cf. Eph. 6:19-20).

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Fighting Against God (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #9) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Remember, Acts is the story of what Jesus continues to do by His Spirit in the Church. Consistently over history, this has provoked many to resent this powerful work and seek to destroy it, and every time, God foils their plans. 

The Text: “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison…” (Acts 5:17-42)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

With the city of Jerusalem buzzing with fear and excitement (Acts 5:12-16), the high priest becomes jealous and orders the arrest of unnamed apostles (Acts 5:17-18). An angel frees the apostles by night and urges them to keep preaching, and so they do (Acts 5:19-20). The next morning, the high priest marshals his court, only to find that when the officers are sent to the prison, everything is in place, except the prisoners (Act 5:21-23). While they are wondering what has happened, word arrives that the prisoners are preaching in the temple (Acts 5:24-25). The officers summon the apostles without force, and they are questioned before the assembly, accused apparently of insurrection (Acts 5:26-28). 

Peter and the apostles say that it is better to obey God than man, and they repeat their message that the Jewish leaders crucified Jesus but God has raised Him from the dead and they are witnesses, as is the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:29-32). This message enraged the council, but before they could carry out any executions, a respected Pharisee named Gamaliel, gave a speech urging the council to wait and see how matters fell out, since other revolutionaries had risen up and their followers scattered after their deaths (Acts 5:33-39). The assembly agreed to Gamaliel’s advice and released the apostles after beating them and threatening them, and the apostles rejoiced and kept preaching Jesus (Acts 5:40-42).

ENVIOUS INDIGNATION

The high priest and his party of Sadducees were filled with “indignation” at the influence and popularity of the apostles (Acts 5:17). The word for indignation can also be translated zeal, envy, or jealousy. It was out of “envy” (another Greek word) that the Jews delivered Jesus to Pilate for execution (Mt. 27:18, Mk. 15:10). The same root describes “zealots” who were often violent against the Roman-Jewish establishment, in fact, like Theudas and Judas who drew crowds of followers before their deaths (Acts 5:36-37). The irony of course is that the high priest and the council are the real zealots in this story, plotting to murder the apostles. 

The warning is that misplaced zeal is often knotted up with jealous envy and masked with what is imagined as righteous indignation. Envy has been defined as pain at another’s blessing or happiness. Envy often casts another’s blessings or success as somehow unjust for any number of reasons: how they arrived there, how they are handling it, slight imperfections, etc., but it fundamentally wants to see the happiness and blessing stripped away and develops a sort of morally charged desperation (e.g. Cain, Joseph’s brothers, Ahab). Revolution is driven by this kind of violent sentimentalism, but reformation is principled and thoughtful and only takes up arms in a just cause not for personal gain or vendettas.

FIGHTING AGAINST GOD

This episode is comical in its ironies. The high priest has risen up full of huffy zeal and put God’s apostles in prison, and God breaks them out without anyone noticing. And when the high priest has assembled his sanctimonious cabal, the prisoners are summoned, and while everything is perfectly in order, the prisoners are missing. Which is what this whole episode is about: you have a perfectly orderly legal proceeding, all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted, and appropriate paperwork filed, the only thing missing is any semblance of lawful justice. And when the truth comes out, the orderly little mob is on the verge of lynching the apostles, when the old wise man suggests, that perhaps they should wait and see if this is from God or not (Acts 5:38-39). The whole story is calculated to underline the fact that this is from God. God is with His people, and we are completely in His hand, every detail is under His rule. The machinations of men are a comical farce compared to the power and wisdom of God (Ps. 2:1-4). Whether we live or die, we serve His will, and we are more than conquerors by His grace (Rom. 8:37).

OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN MAN

As the apostles have insisted before, God is over all authorities, and therefore, it is better to obey God than man (cf. Acts 4:19). All human authorities are under God. He is the one who establishes human authority – all authority belongs to Christ, and He delegates some of that authority to husbands/fathers, pastors/elders, and civil magistrates. John Calvin summarizes the principle like this: so long as they remain in their limited jurisdictions, they honor the authority of God over them, but when they go beyond the bounds of their office, they “diminish the honor and authority of God.” Sometimes the commands/prohibitions of men would require us to disobey God, and we must flatly refuse (e.g. Daniel and friends). Sometimes the commands/prohibitions are beyond their bounds of office but don’t directly require us to disobey God, and there is a tactical wisdom call. We may pay unjust taxes as a testimony to unbelievers (Mt. 17:25-27), or we may thresh some of our wheat in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites (Jdg. 6:11). 

CONCLUSION: KEEP PREACHING

The tip of our spear is the preaching of the gospel not politics. The apostles are preaching when they are arrested, they immediately return to preaching when they are broken out of jail, they continue preaching when they are hauled (belatedly) before the pompous presbytery, and after they are beaten and threatened, they go right back to joyfully preaching. Reformations are driven by preaching. The American War for Independence was led by the “black robe regiment.”

And the message is this: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Christ crucified, risen, and ascended for repentance and forgiveness of sins by the power of the Spirit. This is what cuts: it cuts for the salvation of some (Acts 2:37) and it cuts for the furious indignation of others (Acts 5:33). But we preach Christ, and every detail of history bows to the rule of Christ. 

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Adoption, Forgiveness, & Glory (Pentecost 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

We live in a world that has rejected God the Father, and so we are a nation of bastards, fatherless and angry, fatherless and despairing. And this is why God sent His Son into the world: so that all the lost sons might be brought home, to adopt them as His own sons by His Spirit.

THE TEXT

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God…” (Rom. 8:14-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is in the middle of an argument, but the central point is that whoever is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God (Rom. 8:14). This Spirit is the Spirit of Christ who was obedient to the point of death, condemned sin in His flesh on the cross, and rose from the dead (Rom. 8:2-3, 9-11). This Spirit is not of bondage to fear (because all of the condemnation for our sin has fallen on Christ in our place, Rom. 8:1-3), but rather, the Spirit of adoption has been given to us which teaches us to call God ‘Our Father’ (Rom. 8:15). This Spirit has been given to assure us that we belong to God as His children (Rom. 8:16). And this assurance includes the full inheritance of Christ and all of His glory, while sharing in His suffering (Rom. 8:17).

THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION

It has been rightly said that God has no grandchildren. The point is that salvation in Christ is a direct adoption by God the Father, in Christ, by His Spirit. Christ is the only Mediator between God and men, and what He mediates is His own relationship to the Father: we are joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). He freely shares everything with us.

Nevertheless, part of this inheritance is the people of God. Elsewhere, Paul prays that “ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many” (1 Cor. 12:13-14). Some of us have the great blessing of having grown up in a faithful Christian family, but many are starting from scratch, either as new converts or simply as being awakened to the necessity to follow Christ more faithfully. But all of us have been given the same Spirit of the Son, and in Him, we have all been given the inheritance of the saints. God has no grandchildren, but all of God’s true children have parents and grandparents in the faith.

THE SPIRIT OF FORGIVENESS

This Spirit is not a spirit of bondage to fear (Rom. 8:15). In Hebrews it says that Jesus partook of flesh and blood “that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15-15). Bondage to fear is fundamentally fear of death, and the reason we fear death is because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). For guilty sinners, death is punishment, and this is the power of the devil, Satan – the Accuser. He accuses us and condemns us for our sins, and we know that we deserve to die. But the Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of deliverance because Christ condemned all our sin in His body on the cross (Rom. 8:3). All our offenses were nailed to the cross, and therefore all the accusations, all the condemnation was blotted out by His blood (Col. 3:14). And now Satan has nothing on us, and the sting of death is gone (1 Cor. 15:56).

This same Spirit of forgiveness sets us free to forgive others. Guilt is one kind of bondage to fear, but bitterness is another. Many people are kept in bondage to fear by sin committed against them, often by parents or others close to us: fear that it will happen again, fear that no justice will be done. But bitterness is like chaining yourself to someone else’s sin (Heb. 12:15).

Forgiveness isn’t the same thing as trust. Forgiveness is a promise, not a feeling. It’s a promise not to hold someone’s sin against them before the Lord. And if someone isn’t repentant and hasn’t asked for your forgiveness, you can’t be fully reconciled. But you can and must have forgiveness ready for them. Have forgiveness ready like bread baking in your heart; have forgiveness like a bottle of fine wine waiting by the door. Be like the father in the parable looking down the road, ready and eager to run to them, because that is how you have been forgiven (Eph. 4:31-32). This Spirit gives this glory.

THE SPIRIT OF GLORY

The Spirit has been given to guarantee our glory in the Son, and the text goes on to say this glory will include all of creation itself (Rom. 8:17ff). The Spirit restores, glorifies, and transfigures everything; the Spirit anoints for rule and battle (Rom. 8:37).

All wars are ultimately fought with and over glory. We fight for competing visions of glory, and we fight withwhatever we consider our greatest strengths. Many Christians are at a loss about what to do about the current madness assaulting what is left of Western civilization. But this is the battleplan: pursue the glory of your Father as His sons. Everything good triumphs over evil. Forgiveness triumphs over bitterness. Generosity conquers greed. Joyful marriage confounds perversion. Beauty overcomes ugliness. Therefore, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely… cultivate those glorious things.

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