100:00:00,960 –> 00:00:11,420Jesus died. On that Good Friday, they took His lifeless body down from the tree on200:00:11,420 –> 00:00:17,180which He was crucified. They laid the corpse of the Lord Jesus Christ in a300:00:17,180 –> 00:00:27,020stone-cold tomb, and on that day the disciples experienced life without Jesus.400:00:27,059 –> 00:00:33,419What if it had ended there? Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.500:00:33,419 –> 00:00:37,759I’m David Pick. I’m pleased you could be with us today and Colin, we can’t let600:00:37,759 –> 00:00:42,439that question hang in the air, what if it had ended there? Well, if it had ended700:00:42,439 –> 00:00:45,939there what would the disciples have had, they would have had great teaching, all800:00:45,939 –> 00:00:49,840the teaching of Jesus they had, they’d received it, and they would have had a900:00:49,840 –> 00:00:53,099great example. Now here’s the issue, there are many1000:00:53,180 –> 00:00:58,200people who think that Christianity is about following the Great Teaching and1100:00:58,200 –> 00:01:02,500the great example of Jesus. Well, you could do that without a resurrection and1200:01:02,500 –> 00:01:07,779so the great teaching, great example version of the faith actually misses the1300:01:07,779 –> 00:01:12,099very center of the faith which is that it’s not simply about us making a1400:01:12,099 –> 00:01:16,419gallant effort at following the teaching and example of Jesus, it is actually1500:01:16,419 –> 00:01:22,180about the life of the risen Lord Jesus Christ coming into us by the power of1600:01:22,379 –> 00:01:27,339the Holy Spirit. And boy, it’s a wonderful thing to see the life of a person who’s1700:01:27,339 –> 00:01:31,419been doing the great teaching, great example thing, suddenly coming to know1800:01:31,419 –> 00:01:36,559Jesus, and there’s life and there’s joy and it’s not just a great effort that1900:01:36,559 –> 00:01:40,839I’m making to live a good life, but it’s the life of Jesus Christ lived in me. If2000:01:40,839 –> 00:01:46,099we can see that change happening through the program today then that’ll be a huge2100:01:46,099 –> 00:01:51,580answer to prayer. So join us today if you can, in John chapter 14, as we begin the2200:01:51,580 –> 00:01:56,620message, Jesus Will Remain With You. Here’s Colin. We’re looking at some great2300:01:56,620 –> 00:02:03,059promises of Jesus Christ, statements where he explicitly says that he will do2400:02:03,059 –> 00:02:08,039something for us, his people. So we thought about the words of Jesus, come to2500:02:08,039 –> 00:02:13,500me all you who are weary and he says I will give you rest. Or when he says2600:02:13,500 –> 00:02:20,380follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Or where he says whoever confesses2700:02:20,399 –> 00:02:27,500me before my father, I will confess him before my father who is in heaven. We’re2800:02:27,500 –> 00:02:31,179going to look at two promises of our Lord Jesus today both in John chapter2900:02:31,179 –> 00:02:39,39914. The first is in verse 16 where Jesus says I will ask the father and he will3000:02:39,399 –> 00:02:44,419give you another counselor to be with you forever the spirit of truth. That is3100:02:44,479 –> 00:02:50,679the promise of the Holy Spirit and then in John chapter 14 and verse 18 where3200:02:50,679 –> 00:02:54,419Jesus makes a double commitment. He tells us something he won’t do and then3300:02:54,419 –> 00:02:58,839immediately something that he will do. You notice that Jesus says I will not3400:02:58,839 –> 00:03:09,160leave you as orphans I will come to you. That is the promise of the resurrection.3500:03:09,240 –> 00:03:15,360Now our Lord Jesus spoke these marvelous words on the night before he was3600:03:15,360 –> 00:03:21,639crucified. He had spent this evening with his disciples. They had eaten the last3700:03:21,639 –> 00:03:28,300supper together. They had shared bread and wine as we do in our service today.3800:03:28,300 –> 00:03:33,580The words that are recorded that Jesus spoke in John chapter 14 right through3900:03:33,580 –> 00:03:39,380chapter 17, would either have been spoken by Jesus at the Lord’s Supper, or4000:03:39,380 –> 00:03:46,059perhaps more likely would have been spoken by Jesus to the disciples as they4100:03:46,059 –> 00:03:51,179were actually walking towards the Garden of Gethsemane. So I want you to try and4200:03:51,179 –> 00:03:57,419get this picture in your mind. Jesus has already spoken to them about the4300:03:57,419 –> 00:04:02,860imminence of his death. He said in chapter 13 and verse 33,4400:04:02,860 –> 00:04:09,179My children, I will be with you only a little longer. And when he says only a4500:04:09,179 –> 00:04:13,279little longer, get clear in your mind that Jesus was going to be taken from4600:04:13,279 –> 00:04:20,519them that night. He’s now walking with them to Gethsemane and His4700:04:20,519 –> 00:04:25,480arrest and His trial and the flogging and the crucifixion are now only hours4800:04:25,880 –> 00:04:33,739away. And Jesus, of course, had spoken to the disciples about his death before but4900:04:33,739 –> 00:04:37,700they had been confused about this. It seemed not to have registered with them,5000:04:37,700 –> 00:04:44,000but now it seems at this moment finally, it is beginning to dawn. And so, as Jesus5100:04:44,000 –> 00:04:48,459is walking towards Gethsemane, He speaks to them words that have brought comfort5200:04:48,459 –> 00:04:53,660and strength to millions of people. The beginning of John, chapter 14, you know5300:04:53,660 –> 00:05:00,420these words well. He says, Do not let your hearts be troubled. He says, Trust in God.5400:05:00,420 –> 00:05:07,140Trust also in me. Now, we’re going to spend, God willing, two weekends in John5500:05:07,140 –> 00:05:12,480chapter 14, as we reflect on the resurrection of Jesus, the promise of the5600:05:12,480 –> 00:05:19,100Holy Spirit, and then the promise of his second coming in power and in glory. Most5700:05:19,100 –> 00:05:23,079of you will be familiar with the fact that in the Gospels, Jesus told his5800:05:23,079 –> 00:05:28,799disciples three times about his death. In John 14,5900:05:28,799 –> 00:05:35,239Jesus tells the disciples three times that he will come to them again. Do you6000:05:35,239 –> 00:05:39,519notice that? If your Bible is open in front of you, verse 3, I go to prepare a6100:05:39,519 –> 00:05:45,720place for you. I will come back and I’ll take you to be with me that you may also6200:05:45,720 –> 00:05:52,079be what I am. I will come back. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans. I will6300:05:52,480 –> 00:05:58,760come to you. Verse 23, Jesus says if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching.6400:05:58,760 –> 00:06:07,799My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. So6500:06:07,799 –> 00:06:12,399three times in this one chapter on the very night when the Lord Jesus was6600:06:12,399 –> 00:06:18,320betrayed, he tells the disciples that he will come to them. I’m going to be taken6700:06:18,399 –> 00:06:23,920You he has said, but three times he says, I will come to you and these three6800:06:23,920 –> 00:06:30,160promises of Jesus coming are fulfilled first in his resurrection second in the6900:06:30,160 –> 00:06:34,200gift of the Holy Spirit, and then third in the day to which every Christian7000:06:34,200 –> 00:06:39,720looks the day of his Garden coming that still lies ahead of us.Verse 3 relates7100:06:39,720 –> 00:06:41,260to the promise of Christ’s second7200:06:41,260 –> 00:06:45,260coming, we are going to look at that God willing next week. Verse 18 that we7300:06:45,260 –> 00:06:47,059focus on tonight, the promise of the7400:06:47,100 –> 00:06:54,079resurrection, and verse 16 and verse 23 the promise of the Holy Spirit. So we’re7500:06:54,079 –> 00:07:00,339taking the latter part of John chapter 14 first because it relates first to7600:07:00,339 –> 00:07:05,799our experience, Jesus is risen, the Holy Spirit is given to every believer and7700:07:05,799 –> 00:07:09,619the next week, God willing, we’ll look at what still lies in the future from the7800:07:09,619 –> 00:07:16,679earlier part of the chapter the promise of the second coming of Jesus. Now what7900:07:16,859 –> 00:07:23,880I hope and pray we’ll be able to grasp tonight is, how the promise of Jesus8000:07:23,880 –> 00:07:32,679Christ is radically different from other brands of faith that many people today8100:07:32,679 –> 00:07:39,980confuse with authentic Christianity. And I’ve coined two phrases that I hope8200:07:39,980 –> 00:07:45,839will be helpful to us today, we’re going to look at what I’ll call orphan faith8300:07:46,019 –> 00:07:51,839from verse 18 and the promise of the resurrection of Jesus, and then we’re8400:07:51,839 –> 00:07:57,739going to look at what I’ll call non-invasive faith and the promise of the8500:07:57,739 –> 00:08:02,880Holy Spirit. So I hope you have your Bible open and let’s begin at verse 18, where8600:08:02,880 –> 00:08:11,420Jesus gives us this great promise, I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to8700:08:11,420 –> 00:08:17,940you. Now an orphan is obviously someone who loses both parents through death, and8800:08:17,940 –> 00:08:27,519Jesus uses this experience of the orphan to describe what was about to happen to8900:08:27,519 –> 00:08:34,359his own disciples. Jesus had been like a father to them. In fact, he refers in9000:08:34,359 –> 00:08:40,679chapter 13 and verse 33 to them as his little children. Now he’s going to be9100:08:40,719 –> 00:08:44,859taken from the disciples. I want you to try and think what this was like for9200:08:44,859 –> 00:08:50,659them. Their whole world at this moment was imploding. It had been three years9300:08:50,659 –> 00:08:54,919since they had heard Jesus Christ say, follow me, and I will make you fishers9400:08:54,919 –> 00:09:00,200of men, and you remember that they had left their nets, they had followed him.9500:09:00,200 –> 00:09:05,380Christ had become the center of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ was the focus of9600:09:05,380 –> 00:09:09,679their hope and their joy, and now the Lord Jesus says, I’m going to be taken9700:09:09,679 –> 00:09:16,919from you, and they are going to enter into what Jesus describes as an orphan9800:09:16,919 –> 00:09:22,979experience, and that is what happened on Good Friday.9900:09:22,979 –> 00:09:31,520Jesus died on that Good Friday. They took his lifeless body down from the tree on10000:09:31,520 –> 00:09:35,820which he was crucified. They laid the corpse of the Lord Jesus10100:09:36,020 –> 00:09:43,900Christ in a stone-cold tomb, and on that day the disciples experienced life10200:09:43,900 –> 00:09:50,219without Jesus. Now here’s the question,10300:09:50,219 –> 00:10:02,099what if it had ended there? What would these men have? What could these men have10400:10:02,580 –> 00:10:06,520done? Now there are some answers to that10500:10:06,520 –> 00:10:11,539question. You see, if it had ended there, these men had the greatest teaching that10600:10:11,539 –> 00:10:18,020this world has ever heard. Did they not? They had the teaching of Jesus. They had10700:10:18,020 –> 00:10:24,239the beatitudes. They had the sermon on the Mount. They had a pattern to live by10800:10:24,239 –> 00:10:28,580greater than any other pattern to live by that has ever been spoken in the10900:10:29,039 –> 00:10:33,159entire world. They had the teaching of Jesus and they could have shared it with11000:10:33,159 –> 00:10:40,820the world. More than that they had the example of Jesus. These men had seen up11100:10:40,820 –> 00:10:46,580close the only perfect life that has ever been lived in the entire history of11200:10:46,580 –> 00:10:52,619this world. They had been moved. They had been inspired by the example of the Lord11300:10:52,619 –> 00:10:57,820Jesus Christ. So I’m suggesting to you today that these men therefore were in a11400:10:57,820 –> 00:11:04,179position to go out into the world and to say let us tell you about Jesus. Let us11500:11:04,179 –> 00:11:08,340share with you his teaching. We want to call you to obey this teaching it is the11600:11:08,340 –> 00:11:11,340greatest teaching that has ever been heard in the history of the world. We11700:11:11,340 –> 00:11:16,640want to invite you to follow this man’s example and with this great teaching and11800:11:16,640 –> 00:11:20,559with this great example these men could have gone out into the world. They had11900:11:20,559 –> 00:11:28,219enough to construct a faith that drew from Jesus but did not depend on him12000:11:28,219 –> 00:11:37,960actually being there. I call that orphan faith. A faith that draws12100:11:37,960 –> 00:11:47,200inspiration from Jesus that latches onto his teaching and commends its principles12200:11:47,299 –> 00:11:56,099but does not depend on him actually being there. And folks, I have to tell you12300:11:56,099 –> 00:12:02,340it’s important to understand this that orphan faith has massive appeal and is12400:12:02,340 –> 00:12:08,159widely subscribed to in our culture. It is basically a personalized faith12500:12:08,159 –> 00:12:12,700custom-built from selected words and actions of Jesus that seem meaningful to12600:12:12,700 –> 00:12:16,619the individual today you sort of take what you find helpful from words that12700:12:16,659 –> 00:12:22,520Jesus said here and there and you adopted into your life orphan faith does12800:12:22,520 –> 00:12:30,219not need a living Christ. Orphan faith brings a man or a woman under no12900:12:30,219 –> 00:12:37,580obligation to a living Christ that’s why it’s so popular you see, and our culture13000:12:37,580 –> 00:12:40,659is full of this kind of faith13100:12:40,659 –> 00:12:44,559Orphan faith though is not Christian faith.13200:12:44,859 –> 00:12:48,900What an important thing for us to understand that orphan faith which13300:12:48,900 –> 00:12:53,539Colin has been talking about is not authentic Christian faith. You’re13400:12:53,539 –> 00:12:57,099listening to Open The Bible with pastor Colin Smith and a message called13500:12:57,099 –> 00:13:02,419Jesus will remain with you. It’s part of our series rock solid seven promises13600:13:02,419 –> 00:13:03,760Christ makes to you13700:13:03,760 –> 00:13:07,679and if you’ve missed any of the series it’s very easy to catch up or go back13800:13:07,679 –> 00:13:11,619and listen again if you’re able to go online come to our website13900:13:12,400 –> 00:13:17,039and there you’ll find all the messages which have already been broadcast14000:13:17,039 –> 00:13:22,299also find them as a podcast and those are on all the main podcast sites. Search14100:13:22,299 –> 00:13:27,140for Open The Bible UK or follow the link from our website. Back to the14200:13:27,140 –> 00:13:29,320message now, here again is Colin.14300:13:29,320 –> 00:13:34,320Orphan faith is not Christian faith. Notice what14400:13:34,359 –> 00:13:38,320Jesus says in verse 18, I will not leave you14500:13:39,599 –> 00:13:46,000as orphans. I will not leave you Jesus says to face the world14600:13:46,000 –> 00:13:54,419with only my teaching and my example. I will come to you, he says, verse 18 so14700:13:54,419 –> 00:14:00,000that Christian faith, authentic Christian faith rests on the living presence14800:14:00,000 –> 00:14:05,359of Jesus Christ in your life. That is why the resurrection is central to14900:14:05,359 –> 00:14:13,640Christian faith. Let me pose this question, What do you feel about orphan15000:14:13,640 –> 00:14:18,440faith? Many people find it very attractive. Just adopt the teachings of15100:14:18,440 –> 00:14:26,679Jesus. What you feel about orphan faith will say a very great deal about you.15200:14:27,140 –> 00:14:33,979Back in the Old Testament, you remember this story. Moses tells us about a15300:14:33,979 –> 00:14:38,440time in Exodus chapter 33 when there was a great breach between God and his15400:14:38,440 –> 00:14:42,979people. Remember the story of how God’s people had come to Sinai. Moses goes up15500:14:42,979 –> 00:14:46,880the top of the mountain, and God is speaking his words to Moses, writing them15600:14:46,880 –> 00:14:50,400on the tablets of stone. And down the bottom of the mountain, at the same time the15700:14:50,400 –> 00:14:54,280people are sinning and rebelling against God. Moses comes down the mountain, you15800:14:54,280 –> 00:14:58,059remember the story, smashes the tablets of stone and so forth and so on.15900:14:58,059 –> 00:15:02,599Eventually, Moses goes back up the mountain and he begins to pray for the16000:15:02,599 –> 00:15:06,780people. He even offers his own life, asking God to forgive their sin. He says,16100:15:06,780 –> 00:15:11,799oh God, please forgive their sin but if not blot me out of the book that you16200:15:11,799 –> 00:15:20,059have written. And God says this to Moses. God says to Moses, this is Exodus 33 and16300:15:20,080 –> 00:15:31,940verse 3, go up into the promised land. Then God says, I will send an angel16400:15:31,940 –> 00:15:42,500before you. Then God says, but I will not go with you. Now folks, that’s quite an16500:15:42,500 –> 00:15:51,059offer. If God said to you, you can go into the promised land, i.e. you can live in16600:15:51,059 –> 00:15:55,460the land flowing with milk and honey, you can have a life of health and wealth16700:15:55,460 –> 00:16:01,299and prosperity. If God said that to you, that would get your attention and if God16800:16:01,299 –> 00:16:05,580said, in addition to a life of health and wealth and prosperity, I’m gonna give16900:16:05,580 –> 00:16:11,820you a guardian angel who will protect you and your family, that’s quite an17000:16:11,820 –> 00:16:20,539offer. And here’s my question would you settle for that? See God made that offer17100:16:20,539 –> 00:16:26,840to his people and Moses says that when the people heard this, they began to17200:16:26,840 –> 00:16:31,820mourn. They said, what in the world were they mourning about? God’s just said to17300:16:31,820 –> 00:16:34,700them, you can go into a land of milk and honey. You’re gonna live a prosperous17400:16:34,700 –> 00:16:38,719life. I’ll even have a guardian angel protect you and your family, what more do17500:16:39,119 –> 00:16:44,960you want? Here’s what more they wanted. They wanted the presence of God. And they17600:16:44,960 –> 00:16:52,179mourned because life with all its abundance without the presence of God17700:16:52,179 –> 00:16:58,359was something that they knew could never satisfy their hearts. You know what? That17800:16:58,359 –> 00:17:00,599was the finest hour of God’s people right there.17900:17:00,599 –> 00:17:06,800John Piper has put this, I think, rather helpfully and provocatively by asking18000:17:06,800 –> 00:17:14,300this question. If you could have just a good job, a good wife or husband, a18100:17:14,300 –> 00:17:20,180couple of good kids, a nice car, long weekends, a few good friends, a fun18200:17:20,180 –> 00:17:27,699retirement, a quick and easy death, and no hell would you be satisfied? Would you18300:17:27,699 –> 00:17:32,660settle for that? You see, there are folks all over our country with an orphan kind18400:17:32,660 –> 00:17:37,160of faith would say that’s fine, that’s everything I want right there. But not18500:17:37,160 –> 00:17:44,479the disciples. Disciples of Jesus, when he’s about to be taken from them, they’re18600:17:44,479 –> 00:17:47,400not looking at each other and saying, well, Jesus is gone now, but at least18700:17:47,400 –> 00:17:53,280we’ve got each other. They’re not saying Jesus is gone now but, hey, we can still18800:17:53,280 –> 00:17:58,380have ministry and change the world! They’re not saying, hey, Jesus is gone now18900:17:58,500 –> 00:18:04,939but we can still have a good and a prosperous life! No, there is only one19000:18:04,939 –> 00:18:10,579thing that will satisfy these men, and that is the presence of Christ with19100:18:10,579 –> 00:18:21,900them. And Jesus says to them, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I will19200:18:22,060 –> 00:18:27,060come to you. Notice he doesn’t say you will not be19300:18:27,060 –> 00:18:32,000orphans. He says I will not leave you as orphans. This is the promise of the19400:18:32,000 –> 00:18:38,500resurrection. You see what Jesus is saying? I’m going to die! You will go19500:18:38,500 –> 00:18:42,520through this orphan experience but it will not end there! I will not leave you19600:18:42,520 –> 00:18:46,020there! You won’t spend the rest of your life armed only with my teaching and19700:18:46,020 –> 00:18:50,959with my example. I will rise from the dead! I will come to you! And this is the19800:18:50,959 –> 00:18:56,900Heart of true Christianity. It is so different from the orphan faith. The19900:18:56,900 –> 00:19:04,180great promise of the Gospel, folks, is Jesus Christ Himself. I will come to20000:19:04,180 –> 00:19:06,979you. Christ being taken from them was what was20100:19:06,979 –> 00:19:11,020making them orphans. Only Christ returning to them was able to restore20200:19:11,020 –> 00:19:15,339what was being lost. So Jesus doesn’t say look, I’m gonna be taken from you, but20300:19:15,339 –> 00:19:19,339it’s okay you still got forgiveness. You still got heaven. No he doesn’t say20400:19:19,339 –> 00:19:23,959that because no number of gifts could replace the presence of Jesus in their20500:19:23,959 –> 00:19:30,380lives. This is the promise. I will come to you and if Christ is with you, then you20600:19:30,380 –> 00:19:37,020have every spiritual blessing in Him. If you do not have Christ, then no blessing20700:19:37,020 –> 00:19:44,479that you have in your life will be of ultimate or eternal value. Now that takes20800:19:44,540 –> 00:19:49,760us to a very important question. Jesus promises the supreme gift of His20900:19:49,760 –> 00:19:56,020presence and the question I think for us then is how do we know the presence of21000:19:56,020 –> 00:20:02,500Jesus in our lives? In what way, when He says I will come to you, in what way is21100:20:02,500 –> 00:20:13,359he with us? How does Jesus actually come to us? Jesus said to the disciples, I21200:20:13,640 –> 00:20:18,239will come to you and obviously He fulfilled that at Easter but then after21300:20:18,239 –> 00:20:24,640Easter He returned to the Father in heaven and so now the resurrection life21400:20:24,640 –> 00:20:30,380of the Lord Jesus Christ is communicated to us by the Holy Spirit and that is why21500:20:30,380 –> 00:20:35,640it’s so important that the promise of the resurrection in verse 18 is linked21600:20:35,640 –> 00:20:40,880to the promise of the Holy Spirit that is given to us in verse 16. Look at what21700:20:41,020 –> 00:20:45,300what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit He says,21800:20:45,300 –> 00:20:51,160and he will give you another Counselor another Counselor. So the21900:20:51,160 –> 00:20:56,280disciples had Jesus as their Counselor already and when Jesus says another22000:20:56,280 –> 00:21:02,280Counselor what He’s saying is that the Father will give One who will be to the22100:21:02,280 –> 00:21:07,560disciples all that Jesus has been to them and will do for the disciples all22200:21:07,560 –> 00:21:12,439that Jesus has done for them and then He tells us right here in this verse who22300:21:12,439 –> 00:21:19,359this other Counselor is. He is the Spirit of Truth that is the Holy Spirit the22400:21:19,359 –> 00:21:28,300third person of the Trinity and Jesus says He will be with you forever so here22500:21:28,300 –> 00:21:33,359is this wonderful truth that Jesus gives us as the great promise of His presence22600:21:33,819 –> 00:21:39,119The Lord Jesus Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father in Heaven but22700:21:39,119 –> 00:21:44,939He is present with all His people by the Holy Spirit22800:21:45,040 –> 00:21:49,119If you know Christ as Savior, then the Spirit22900:21:49,119 –> 00:21:54,479of God lives in you. What an incredible truth to dwell on as we finish our time23000:21:54,479 –> 00:21:59,239together today. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith23100:21:59,239 –> 00:22:04,479and a message called Jesus Will Remain with You part of our series Rock Solid23200:22:04,479 –> 00:22:09,8807 Promises Christ Makes to You. If you tuned in late or if you’ve missed any of23300:22:09,880 –> 00:22:13,859the series which have already been broadcast you can easily catch up or go23400:22:13,859 –> 00:22:17,520back and listen again by coming online to our website23500:22:17,520 –> 00:22:23,640openthebible.org.uk or by finding Pastor Colin as a podcast and those are23600:22:23,640 –> 00:22:27,280on all the main podcast sites. You can find them by searching for23700:22:27,880 –> 00:22:33,400openthebible.org.uk or follow the link from our website. Open the Bible is supported23800:22:33,400 –> 00:22:37,359by our listeners financially and if that’s something you’ve been considering23900:22:37,359 –> 00:22:42,040doing this month we have an offer for you. If you’re able to set up a new24000:22:42,040 –> 00:22:47,800direct debit in the amount of 5 pounds per month or more or a 1-off gift of 5024100:22:47,800 –> 00:22:53,300pounds or more this month we’ll send you two copies of the book Christmas Stories24200:22:53,819 –> 00:22:58,979by Colin Smith and also five beautiful Christmas cards with illustrations24300:22:58,979 –> 00:23:04,260from the book. Christmas Stories is a retelling of the Christmas Story from24400:23:04,260 –> 00:23:09,719the point of view of several Biblical characters. Characters like Adam, Joseph,24500:23:09,719 –> 00:23:15,800Herod, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth and even the angel Gabriel. You know I have24600:23:15,800 –> 00:23:20,859really enjoyed telling the Christmas Story from the perspective of different24700:23:21,040 –> 00:23:26,099who were involved and the one exception to that is Herod, I can’t say I enjoyed24800:23:26,339 –> 00:23:29,219that because of course he was on the wrong side of the Christmas Story.24900:23:29,219 –> 00:23:34,339Absolutely opposed the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.25000:23:35,339 –> 00:23:42,219Whereas telling the story from Mary and Joseph’s perspective or Simeon’s25100:23:42,219 –> 00:23:43,739perspective you know you’re able to think about, well here’s a person25200:23:43,739 –> 00:23:48,439who’s in heaven looking back on this most marvellous good news of the birth25300:23:48,880 –> 00:23:53,959of Jesus into the world well Herod is certainly not there and the message25400:23:53,959 –> 00:23:57,680that comes from his rejection of Jesus is it’s too late now for him25500:23:57,680 –> 00:24:02,099to change direction but it’s not too late for you and what a marvellous25600:24:02,099 –> 00:24:08,520thing it is that we are in the day of God’s grace where mercy and love25700:24:08,520 –> 00:24:12,920are extended towards every person in Jesus Christ and what a marvellous25800:24:12,920 –> 00:24:16,380thing to be able to invite our friends and our loved ones to receive25900:24:16,380 –> 00:24:21,859that mercy and that grace I hope that this book will be a real help to many26000:24:21,859 –> 00:24:26,979folks in sharing the gospel be a lovely gift just to give to someone is 24 pages26100:24:26,979 –> 00:24:31,099beautifully produced and it tells the Christmas story from these different26200:24:31,099 –> 00:24:35,180angles in the first person through the eyes of people who were actually26300:24:35,180 –> 00:24:39,520involved well we’d love to send you two copies of this book and the five26400:24:39,520 –> 00:24:44,500beautiful Christmas cards if you’re able to set up a new direct debit of five26500:24:44,560 –> 00:24:50,280pounds per month or more or a one-off gift of 50 pounds or more this month26600:24:50,280 –> 00:24:55,719full terms and conditions are on our website openthebible.org.uk. and26700:24:55,719 –> 00:25:00,060please remember if you want to take advantage of this offer don’t give26800:25:00,060 –> 00:25:05,520anonymously and remember to leave your full name and address so we can send you26900:25:05,520 –> 00:25:11,199your free gift. For open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I27000:25:11,380 –> 00:25:16,000you’ll join us again next time on Open the Bible.27100:25:19,260 –> 00:25:23,380How can you know more of the presence of Christ in your life?27200:25:23,380 –> 00:25:28,199Find out next time on Open the Bible.