The Apostle Paul preached to the Corinthians to be of a solid foundation based on Christ's truth and to have no division in the Faith. The Lord tells believers to be equally yoked in His sound Words because a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Christ is not divided in His Word and neither should those who believe in Him be so divided.

Our Scripture reading was found in Numbers 30:1-16.

The Apostle Peter addresses the purpose of suffering for righteousness just as Christ suffered for us. Believers are encouraged to be willing to suffer in the flesh and to share in Christ's sufferings and that He will reward us openly in His kingdom. We also see Peter addressing the responsibilities of Christian living.

By withdrawing from the Gentile Christians, Peter and the other Jewish believers were not walking in line with God's Word. Peter regularly had fellowship and ate with the Gentiles, thus modeling the ideal of Christian love and liberty between Jew and Gentile. By separating from the Gentiles, he was basically telling the Gentiles they too had to live like Jews. Paul's rebuke of Peter serves as a strong statement on the absolute and unwavering doctrine of justification by grace through faith.

We continue our study in the book of Ezekiel. In chapter eighteen we see God refuting the sour grapes proverb, while calling them to repent. In chapter nineteen we see the royal line of Israel laid into the dust and has become a lamentation. In chapter twenty we study the rebellions of Israel and how God will restore Israel.

Our Scripture reading was found in 1 Kings 7:1-51.

This message is about Paul's thanksgiving for the church at Corinth. Paul's thankfulness is Christ centered on God's provision of great spiritual blessings and confirmation of the gospel. Sometimes, humans twist those gifts for their own benefit, as we will see in the rest of the letter, but God had only begun his work there. He was using Paul's letter as a tool to advance the Corinthians' sanctification to correct their misappropriation of God's good gifts.

Our Scripture reading was found in Numbers 29:1-16 and Numbers 29:35-41.

If we are humble to the Lord then He will be gracious to us. if not then there will be consequences for our transgressions.

We continue our outline of Ezekiel starting in chapter fourteen we see judgment against heart idolaters and their unfaithfulness. In chapter fifteen we see Israel being likened to useless vine wood. In chapter sixteen likens Israel like a beautiful woman who later resorted to prostitution. We later see in this chapter God keeps His covenant with his people. In chapter seventeen we have the parable of the eagles (King Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh) and the vine.

In chapters 8-11 Ezekiel sees a series of visions. In chapter eight we see how Israel fell into idolatry and we know God is a jealous God. In chapter nine Ezekiel has a vision seeing His servant angles to carry out His judgement on Israel. These angelic executioners came equipped with weapons of destruction. In chapter 10 God leaves the Temple. In chapter 11 we see God's further departure from the Temple. We also see how God will restore the nation of Israel in this chapter. In chapter twelve we see that Ezekiel portrays Judah's captivity. In chapter thirteen we see false prophecies by the prophets of Israel.

Our Scripture reading was found in 1 Kings 6:1-38.

Us Christians do in fact call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior just like the Corinthians had done. When we acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior, this means that we are people rescued from the power and presence of sin, the enemy death, and eternal punishment (Romans 10:11,13). As such, then, Christ is the commonly shared Lord of all Christians everywhere, binding us together in a unity that is unlike any other in creation.

Our Scripture reading was found in Numbers 28:1-31.

Tonight we continue our study in 1 Peter 3:13-22 where we see the Apostle Peter describing how Christians ought to present Him in society as a whole. We focus on honorable living in the midst of sufferings: 1) The principle of suffering for righteousness (1 Peter 3:13-17) and 2) The paragon of suffering for righteousness (1 Peter 3:18-22).