Christ Church

Reformational Family (What is “Reformed” Anyway? #5) (King’s Cross)

Grace Sensing on

INTRODUCTION

We live in a world that says you can be anything you want, anything at all – the more bizarre and perverse the better, just don’t be an ordinary, faithful man who marries an ordinary faithful woman, and have a pile of happy, ordinary kids and love and serve the Lord together. Anything but that. And the mischievous Tom Sawyer inside you should grin and say, “Well, now I’m going to normal even harder.”

A significant part of the Protestant Reformation was a recovering of the Bible’s teaching concerning the goodness and power of marriage, children, and family. Celibacy had come to be seen as the “higher calling,” and the duties and responsibilities of family as therefore lower and menial. The devil has always sought to lure people away from the glory of marriage and family precisely because when God’s blessing is upon it, it is such potent goodness. 

The Text: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him…” (Gen. 2:18-25)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In a striking contrast to all the “good” that God has made/seen before, God says it is “not good” for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). This is not merely a statement about bachelors, it is also a statement about the goodness of family and community. The process of naming the animals was educational: Adam was naming their attributes and learning about how God made the world, concluding in part that other creatures had mates, which he lacked (Gen. 2:19-20). So God put Adam in a coma, removed a rib, and constructed the woman from the rib and brought her to Adam (Gen. 2:21-22). Using a Hebrew superlative, Adam spoke the first recorded poem, calling her the best version of his flesh and bones (Gen. 2:23). He also names the woman “eeshah” which is related to the word for “fire,” suggesting glory, and he simultaneously renames himself “eesh,” a glorified-man. For this reason, a man leaves his father and mother and becomes one flesh with his wife, and this union has no shame (Gen. 2:24-25). 

NUCLEAR MARRIAGE

It is perilously easy to take some ordinary things for granted. But one of the ways God tries to get our attention is through death penalties. Modern Christians are sometimes tempted to be embarrassed of the death penalties in Scripture for rebellious sons, adultery, or homosexuality, but even Jesus cited the death penalty for a certain high-handed dishonor of parents (Mk. 7). If you met the CEO of a nuclear power plant, and he told you they just “wing it,” you would be understandably concerned. If your neighbors announced one day that they bought some uranium and plutonium off the internet and they were going to be doing some experiments in their basement, you would be very concerned. And it should not give you any pause, when they ask why you care so much about what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home. 

We are living in the nuclear fallout of the sexual revolution. Skyrocketing crime, mass incarceration, substance abuse, suicide, sexual abuse, and 65 million dead babies and counting is our Chernobyl. It is not whether there will be death penalties. The only question is who will be executed. We have not actually repudiated capital punishment; we have simply reassigned it to the most innocent. While the death penalty is only mandatory for murder, other crimes do approach that harm to the image of God and therefore allow for death as a possible maximum sentence. And many of those crimes center on the destruction of marriage and family because that is where people are being made: immortal souls, images of God, that will live forever. 

REFORMED MARRIAGE

A reformed view of marriage understands the gift of marriage to be a great “good,” not an accommodation to human sin or weakness (Gen. 1-2). Sin certainly adds many difficulties, but marriage, sexual intimacy, and the fruitfulness of children were gifts given before the Fall. A reformed view of marriage also affirms the creational good of the original structure of marriage: the woman was made from the man and for the man, and she is therefore, the glory of man (1 Cor. 11:1-12). Closely related is the sacrificial leadership of the husband and the respectful submission of the wife to her own husband (cf. Eph. 5:22-25). All of this is bound by a covenant, enacted by public vows and sealed with sexual union, recognized by God and blessed by Him (Gen. 1:28, Mal. 2:14). This is why a man must love his wife as his own body. God really does make the two into one covenant body, and therefore what a husband/father does impacts everything. The covenant is a multiplier for good or evil. While each member certainly is responsible before God individually, the head is also responsible for the whole body. 

APPLICATIONS

One of the “doctrines of devils” is “forbidding to marry” (1 Tim. 4:3). And sometimes this happens through a kind of hardening that simply rejects the natural use of men/women (Rom. 1:26-27). Therefore, beware of celibacy movements. Nevertheless, encourage singles in chastity and faithfulness even as they bear this hardship. Related, generally aim for earlier marriage, but don’t overshoot. Just because early 20s is good, doesn’t mean that 17 is better. It is not buying into worldly feminism to want your sons and daughters actually prepared for marriage. 

To the married: do not deprive one another sexually (1 Cor. 7:3). There are relatively few warnings about Satan’s attacks, but regular intimacy is one way to guard against them (1 Cor. 7:5). The marriage bed is honorable and undefiled (Heb. 13:4). The Song of Songs is in the Bible.

Children are reinforcements (Ps. 127). Welcome and celebrate children. But a man with five kids and a wife who has had three miscarriages in a row is not necessarily becoming worldly to decide (humanly speaking) to be done having kids. But this is a private decision. So mind your own business, and husbands love your wives as you consider your resources (Lk. 14:31).

Every covenant brings with it blessings and curses. The central thing that God blesses is faith, but this faith is alive and it obeys. And therefore the instructions to family members are not arbitrary. Husbands love and lead like Christ. Wives respect and obey in the Lord. Parents teach and discipline. Children obey. The stakes are very high, but the blessings are very rich. 

Read Full Article

Wrestling with God (King’s Cross)

Grace Sensing on

THE TEXT

Genesis 32:24-32

INTRODUCTION

Scripture says that we Christians are more than conquerors. And that is one of our beloved verses. But, if we are conquerors, that means there are things standing in our way. This truth, the one about looming obstacles, can weigh down the spirit if we let it. But, there really is no need for soul troubles. We are victors after all. And what good are victors if they have nothing to vanquish?

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jacob was headed back into the Promised Land after spending twenty years in Paddan-Aram. He was very wealthy, traveling with wives, servants, eleven sons, and abundant goods. But, he was soon to face his brother, Esau, who, as far as Jacob knew, still had a score to settle.

After sending his family over a brook for the night, Jacob was left alone and wrestled a man until daybreak (v. 24). This “man” was no mere man but God himself, a truth revealed in this passage and in Hosea 12:3, “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And by his strength he had power with God.” When this man could not prevail over Jacob, he touched his hip socket, throwing his hip out. Jacob continued to wrestle (v. 25). Jacob would not let the man go unless he blessed him (v. 26). The man responded by asking Jacob’s name and then changing his name to Israel, for Jacob was as a prince who had wrestled with God and men, and prevailed (v. 28).

Jacob returned the question. But, instead of getting an answer, he got a blessing (v. 29). Jacob called the place Peniel, for his life had been preserved even while seeing God face to face. As Jacob passed on toward the Promised Land, the sun rose on him, and he walked with a limp (v. 31). The children of Israel remembered this encounter by not eating the sinew of the thigh (v. 32).

A PARTICULAR KIND OF WRESTLING MATCH

Jacob’s wrestling match with God is the kind of Bible story we can potentially get all twisted up. There are texts that are quite straightforward: “Do not steal.” After reading this, one does not exactly sit around the circle in the Bible study asking, “But, really, what do you think it means?” Wrestling with God, on the other hand, can result in a festive small group.

For starters, we need to be clear on who the wrestling partner is: namely, God. Jacob was not wrestling with himself. He was not wrestling with his inner demons. He wasn’t wrestling with his emotions. He wasn’t wrestling with ideas. He wasn’t wrestling with tensions. People always want to wrestle with “the tensions in the text.” Very often, all of this is simply a bit of LARPing to keep us from wrestling with the Lion. We opt for a therapy session rather than a come-to-Jesus meeting.

Also, this was no abstract wrestling match. This was not fisticuffs in the cloud. It was not a simulated boxing match or a video game. Real wrestling is wonderfully tangible. It has a way of focusing the mind. Jacob didn’t have the opportunity to do the ivory tower theologian thing. He was too focused on not getting choked out. Wrestling with God takes courage. And there is a strong inclination to get out of that particular boxing ring. If the first maneuver is to wrestle with something else instead of God. The second escape route is to pretend to wrestle with God, while manifestly not doing so practically.

FINISHING STRONG

Several truths lurk around Jacob’s night battle with the Lord that illuminate just how much adversity was wrapped up in the scuffle. Some have posited this a “conversion experience.” But this was not Jacob wrestling over whether God really loved him or not. This was not a conversion or assurance struggle. Those wrestlings do occur. And they seem large enough when they happen. But one eventually moves on to bigger battles.

The remarkable thing about this night of wrestling with the Lord is just how much Jacob had already been through. By running the numbers from a few different places in Scripture, we discover that Jacob was around 97 years old that night. He had just finished serving (and wrestling) Laban for twenty years. Before that, he wrestled with his brother, Esau, for his birthright and blessing. God had declared, even before his birth, that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). And yet, at 77 years old, when Jacob crossed over the Jordan to head for Paddan-Aram, he had nothing but his staff in hand (Genesis 32:10). Indeed, he was now a wealthy and blessed man. But it was uphill the whole way.

Twenty years earlier, when he was fleeing from his enraged brother, God appeared to him, and Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. God told Jacob that he and his children, who would be as the dust of the earth, would possess the Promised Land. Jacob believed him back then, and here he is two decades later, going to the mat with the LORD.

TUSSLING FOR BLESSING

A truth that cannot be lost is that Jacob wrestled with God for covenant blessing. Not only did Jacob say, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” But, God had made covenant promises of blessing to him. Jacob believed God back when those promises were made. Jacob obeyed God back then. He was headed back into the Promised Land at God’s Word. But, come to find out, those covenant blessings don’t come without a fight. We are tempted to say, “Why all this adversity if God has made promises to us?” But that would be to turn everything upside down. The real situation is, “Why all of this adversity? Well, God has made covenant promises, that’s why.”

And in all of this, we look to Jesus:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Read Full Article

Biblical Sexuality (Troy)

Grace Sensing on

SERMON TEXT

Genesis 2:24-25

INTRODUCTION

From Andrew DeBartolo, Director of Operations at Liberty Coalition Canada, “On Sunday January 14th, 2024, Liberty Coalition Canada would exhort you to preach a sermon focused on a Biblical sexual ethic and God’s good design for marriage. We hope to have thousands of pastors worldwide participate in this initiative. We believe the Lord will use this united effort to both declare the sovereign Lordship of Christ over His Church and transform many lives through the life-changing power of the Word of God.” And so this morning we will take up the charge and unite with our other brothers and sisters across the globe to discuss this very important subject, biblical sexuality. First we will begin by asking, “How does the world define sexuality?” Secondly, we will discuss what the Bible teaches about sexuality. And lastly, we will answer objections from the gay Christian movement, those who teach it’s ok to be gay and Christian.

WHAT DOES THE WORLD BELIEVE ABOUT HUMAN SEXUALITY?

I’m going to focus my efforts on a particular segment of society, mainly those who are irreligious, agnostic, or anti-religious. And the reason for this is the difficulty level. When it comes to the big questions—”What is the meaning of life?” and “How did we get here?”—those who already affirm a higher power are much less squeamish about these topics. They believe that they have the truth, and proselytizing is on their mind as well. There’s a higher probability that they will be amenable to discussing these deeper topics. But with the irreligious person, it’s not uncommon to simply be stonewalled. They say, “Oh, I don’t talk about religion.” So the barrier to entry is much higher in these cases. But, God may put an atheist in your path one day, and maybe it’s an atheist who isn’t opposed to having a conversation. So when I say, “what the world believes about sexuality”, it is this type of person that I have in mind.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT HUMAN SEXUALITY?

Scripture References: Gen 2 / Lev 18 / Lev 20 / Rom 1 / 1 Cor 6 / 1 Tim 1

What are our foundational principles as Christians that inform our view of what a man and a woman is? Let’s start in Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. God created everything in 6 days and rested on the 7th. The Psalmist says, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.” Job says, “…ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?

ANSWERING OBJECTIONS FROM THE “GAY CHRISTIAN” MOVEMENT

  1. If you condemn homosexuality as sinful, why don’t you condemn those who eat shellfish or those who wear mixed fabrics?
  2. The condemnation in Romans 1 only refers to pederasty.
  3. The word “unnatural” in Romans 1 simply connotes something “out of the ordinary,” not sinful.
  4. μαλακοὶ and ἀρσενοκοῖται are ambiguous terms.
  5. Aren’t we all sinners? Isn’t it the sin of pride to think that a gay Christian is less authentic than any heterosexual Christian?
  6. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about rampant sexual perversion, but rather, God destroyed them because they were inhospitable to strangers.
  7. David and Jonathan were in a homosexual relationship.
  8. Jesus is silent on homosexuality.
  9. The emotional argument

CONCLUSION

Section 1: I want to talk about the importance of sola scriptura when it comes to these issues. Ultimately, on virtually every apologetic issue it comes down to defending sola scriptura. And the gay Christian movement is no exception.

Section 2: I want to go back to 1 Corinthians 6 because this is the crux of the issue. It says this, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

Read Full Article

Wrestling with God

Christ Church on

THE TEXT

Genesis 32:24-32

INTRODUCTION

Scripture says that we Christians are more than conquerors. And that is one of our beloved verses. But, if we are conquerors, that means there are things standing in our way. This truth, the one about looming obstacles, can weigh down the spirit if we let it. But, there really is no need for soul troubles. We are victors after all. And what good are victors if they have nothing to vanquish?

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jacob was headed back into the Promised Land after spending twenty years in Paddan-Aram. He was very wealthy, traveling with wives, servants, eleven sons, and abundant goods. But, he was soon to face his brother, Esau, who, as far as Jacob knew, still had a score to settle. 

After sending his family over a brook for the night, Jacob was left alone and wrestled a man until daybreak (v. 24). This “man” was no mere man but God himself, a truth revealed in this passage and in Hosea 12:3, “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And by his strength he had power with God.” When this man could not prevail over Jacob, he touched his hip socket, throwing his hip out. Jacob continued to wrestle (v. 25). Jacob would not let the man go unless he blessed him (v. 26). The man responded by asking Jacob’s name and then changing his name to Israel, for Jacob was as a prince who had wrestled with God and men, and prevailed (v. 28). 

Jacob returned the question. But, instead of getting an answer, he got a blessing (v. 29). Jacob called the place Peniel, for his life had been preserved even while seeing God face to face. As Jacob passed on toward the Promised Land, the sun rose on him, and he walked with a limp (v. 31). The children of Israel remembered this encounter by not eating the sinew of the thigh (v. 32).

I remember reading this story in a children’s bible when I was very young. I remember thinking that I was going to have to go check with Dad and Mom on this one, “Are you sure about this story? I mean, wrestled with God? And won!” 

It is a fascinating story with a simple truth: If you want to be blessed, you have to wrestle with God.

A PARTICULAR KIND OF WRESTLING MATCH

Jacob’s wrestling match with God is the kind of Bible story we can potentially get all twisted up. There are texts that are quite straightforward: “Do not steal.” After reading this, one does not exactly sit around the circle in the Bible study asking, “But, really, what do you think it means?” Wrestling with God, on the other hand, can result in a festive small group.

For starters, we need to be clear on who the wrestling partner is: namely, God. Jacob was not wrestling with himself. He was not wrestling with his inner demons. He wasn’t wrestling with his emotions. He wasn’t wrestling with ideas. He wasn’t wrestling with tensions. People always want to wrestle with “the tensions in the text.” Very often, all of this is simply a bit of LARPing to keep us from wrestling with the Lion. We opt for a therapy session rather than a come-to-Jesus meeting.

Also, this was no abstract wrestling match. This was not fisticuffs in the cloud. It was not a simulated boxing match or a video game. Real wrestling is wonderfully tangible. It has a way of focusing the mind. Jacob didn’t have the opportunity to do the ivory tower theologian thing. He was too focused on not getting choked out. Wrestling with God takes courage. And there is a strong inclination to get out of that particular boxing ring. If the first maneuver is to wrestle with something else instead of God. The second escape route is to pretend to wrestle with God, while manifestly not doing so practically. 

FINISHING STRONG

Several truths lurk around Jacob’s night battle with the Lord that illuminate just how much adversity was wrapped up in the scuffle. Some have posited this a “conversion experience.” But this was not Jacob wrestling over whether God really loved him or not. This was not a conversion or assurance struggle. Those wrestlings do occur. And they seem large enough when they happen. But one eventually moves on to bigger battles. 

The remarkable thing about this night of wrestling with the Lord is just how much Jacob had already been through. By running the numbers from a few different places in Scripture, we discover that Jacob was around 97 years old that night. He had just finished serving (and wrestling) Laban for twenty years. Before that, he wrestled with his brother, Esau, for his birthright and blessing. God had declared, even before his birth, that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). And yet, at 77 years old, when Jacob crossed over the Jordan to head for Paddan-Aram, he had nothing but his staff in hand (Genesis 32:10). Indeed, he was now a wealthy and blessed man. But it was uphill the whole way. 

Twenty years earlier, when he was fleeing from his enraged brother, God appeared to him, and Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. God told Jacob that he and his children, who would be as the dust of the earth, would possess the Promised Land. Jacob believed him back then, and here he is two decades later, going to the mat with the LORD. 

TUSSLING FOR BLESSING

A truth that cannot be lost is that Jacob wrestled with God for covenant blessing. Not only did Jacob say, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” But, God had made covenant promises of blessing to him. Jacob believed God back when those promises were made. Jacob obeyed God back then. He was headed back into the Promised Land at God’s Word. But, come to find out, those covenant blessings don’t come without a fight. We are tempted to say, “Why all this adversity if God has made promises to us?” But that would be to turn everything upside down. The real situation is, “Why all of this adversity? Well, God has made covenant promises, that’s why.” 

AND IN ALL OF THIS, WE LOOK TO JESUS: 

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Read Full Article

Honoring God in Personal Finances 
(Workbench of Practical Christianity)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Martin Luther once said that a man needs to be converted twice. The first conversion is that of his heart, and the second one is of his wallet. What we are going to be addressing here is the nature of that wallet conversion. How should we go about honoring God in our personal financial dealings?

THE TEXT

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:1–2). 

“And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:42–44). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Abraham was the friend of God (Jas. 2:23), and he is the father of all the faithful down through history (Gal. 3:29). He serves as our exemplar in faith (Heb. 11:8), and, as we see in our text, he was very, very rich (Gen. 13:1-2). Despite all of his wealth, he knew how to look for a deeper inheritance (Heb. 11:10), and he sets an example for us in this as well.

But we also have examples from the other end of the spectrum as well. The apostle Paul points out that the saints in Macedonia combined great affliction, deep poverty, and profound joy in order to achieve staggering generosity (2 Cor. 8:2). And in our text, the Lord Jesus sets before us the example of a nameless widow who, measured by the percentages, gave more than all the wealthy tithers. 

And so we see that money matters, and it matters a lot. But it is not a lot of money that matters, unless that is what you have on your mind. What matters is that God has a lot of your heart, as indicated by money. You are the one with the temperature. Money is just the thermometer. 

A NEW COVENANT TITHE

A common assumption that many Christians make is that the tithe was an Old Testament ceremonial thing, somehow fulfilled in Christ, and so our job is to give as “the Spirit moves,” meaning somewhere in the neighborhood of two percent. 

But there is a passage in the New Testament that opens up all the wonderful promises of the Old Testament for us. And here it is:

“Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13–14). 

The passage in context is talking about how the ministry of the Christian church is to be funded. Paul brings up how the Old Testament Levites and priests were supported, which was by the tithe. He then says “even so, in the same way, likewise” the Lord has ordained the funding of New Testament ministry. The ministry in the Old Testament was funded by the tithe, and this is how the New Testament ministry should be funded—exactly the same way.

But this is not God running low on funds, and needing to put the squeeze on His people. 

“If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:12).

No. Rather, this is an invitation from God to learn how He has determined to bless His people.  

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). 

THE MEANING OF TRIBUTE

Just as sabbath observance is a recognition that God is the Lord of time and history, so it is with the tithe. Observing one day out of seven is our recognition that all seven belong to Him. Giving a tithe your increase is a tangible way of acknowledging all your resources belong to Him, and that you are managing the remaining 90% as a responsible steward.

So you bring your tithes as the Lord’s financial training wheels for you, and this teaches you how to be responsible with your offerings (voluntary gifts) and with your management of the remaining resources that you retain. In all of this you should remember the exhortation of John Wesley: “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” 

WHAT THE PRIORITIES SHOULD LOOK LIKE

You honor God’s sovereign authority through the tithe. You demonstrate your love for Him through your offerings. You make sure that you fulfill your basic responsibilities by feeding your family (1 Tim. 5:8). You live out your love for others by lending a hand where needed (1 John 3:17). And all of this blends together in one harmonious picture that Paul describes for us.

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17–19). 

MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

You have been redeemed from the slave market of sin. You have been forgiven for all your idolatries, and this includes the idolatry of wealth. Greed is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Covetousness is idolatry (Eph. 5:5). The pride of life is idolatry (1 John 2:16). This means that whatever precious things you may possess—whether in money, or heirlooms, or rare collectibles—you should first make sure that your faith is more precious to you than all of that. 

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).

Read Full Article