The Touchstone.

Delivered by Pastor Brad Smith 06/04/25.

The touchstone has been an essential method for testing the purity of gold and silver for 4000 years. This is scripturally mentioned with Abraham having much wealth in gold and silver (GEN 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold). Historically, a method of testing was essential to separate counterfeit and fake precious metals, and to also establish overall purity. There are two known ways to test the purity of gold and silver. The first way is to melt them down where impurities can be separated (trial by fire). However, this is not suitable for the daily use of gold and silver coins... thus a touchstone is used.

The metal to be assayed is rubbed on the touchstone, adjacent to the rubbing on the touchstone of a sample of a metal of known purity... they are compared.

Uses of the touchstone... In scripture, God uses the well-known 'touchstone' principle to prove the validity of his promises, and also to confirm our reality as Christians. Speaking in tongues serves as a touchstone for those claiming to be saved or anointed... this is a direct comparison with the bible narrative.

Scriptural References.

Act 2:3-4, Mar 16:17-20, Rev 3:14,18, 2Tim 2:15, 1Cor 11:19, Rom 14:17-18, Jam 1:12, Rev 14:10-11.

A PDF copy of the talk notes is available to view or download at:

https://www.brf.org.au/articles/articles.jsp?category=9

A MP4 video is also available to view or download at:

https://www.brf.org.au/videos/videos.jsp?category=2

A YouTube link to the uploaded video.

https://youtu.be/P44NBJRbwMU