Avoiding a Shallow Life

Psalm 115
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Pastor Colin extends an invitation for a seven-week journey into the exploration of the soul. He shares that many people have never deeply examined their soul, a significant aspect of their spiritual life. The sermon highlights that the Bible references the soul nearly 500 times, indicating its importance. Pastor Colin discusses the creation story, where God breathed life into man, making him a living soul, underscoring the soul’s infinite value.

He emphasises that understanding one’s soul is crucial, as it is the centre of all meaningful experiences in life. Pastor Colin explains that knowing oneself and knowing God are intertwined, and one cannot truly know themselves without knowing God. He references biblical passages to illustrate the various conditions the soul can experience, such as bitterness, grief, and joy.

Pastor Colin introduces an analogy of a boardroom to explain the complexities of the soul. The boardroom of the soul contains members like Mind, Heart, Will, Conscience, Memory, and Imagination, who collectively determine one’s actions and direction in life. He explains how these faculties can influence and sometimes conflict with each other.

In conclusion, Pastor Colin encourages listeners to allow the Holy Spirit to lead their inner life, transforming and renewing their soul. He calls for a commitment to let God preside over their soul’s boardroom, helping them grow and experience abundant life through Christ. He ends with a prayer for renewal and leadership from the Holy Spirit in their lives.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,100 You�re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,100 –> 00:00:15,020 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website openthebible.org. 3 00:00:15,020 –> 00:00:17,740 Let�s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,740 –> 00:00:19,639 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:19,639 –> 00:00:25,559 Well now over the next seven weeks, I would like to invite you to join me on a journey 6 00:00:25,639 –> 00:00:30,360 to a place that many people have never been. 7 00:00:30,360 –> 00:00:35,840 Some people who have gone there didn�t see much when they visited. 8 00:00:35,840 –> 00:00:41,160 Others didn�t like what they saw in their visit and have never been back. 9 00:00:41,160 –> 00:00:48,520 Only a few people have come to know this place really well. 10 00:00:48,520 –> 00:00:52,400 The place that I�m talking about and that we�re going to focus on over these next 11 00:00:52,560 –> 00:00:58,959 week�s is your soul. 12 00:00:58,959 –> 00:01:02,240 The interior of your life. 13 00:01:02,240 –> 00:01:09,360 A place where even you yourself may not often have gone. 14 00:01:09,360 –> 00:01:16,879 A place where you may find some things that are surprising and even unfamiliar to you. 15 00:01:17,800 –> 00:01:25,980 It’s fascinating to find that the Bible refers to �soul� or �souls� nearly 500 times 16 00:01:25,980 –> 00:01:28,099 in the authorized version. 17 00:01:28,099 –> 00:01:34,459 It’s less in the New International Version which often translates the same words �life� 18 00:01:34,459 –> 00:01:39,400 or �self� or �your very self� but it’s talking about the same thing � your 19 00:01:39,400 –> 00:01:44,480 inner life, what makes you you. 20 00:01:44,559 –> 00:01:48,180 Apart from your soul you would only be a corpse. 21 00:01:48,180 –> 00:01:51,300 The soul is your very self. 22 00:01:51,300 –> 00:01:56,139 You remember in the story of the creation how at the very beginning when God made the 23 00:01:56,139 –> 00:02:00,820 first man He formed the body of the man from the dust of the ground. 24 00:02:00,820 –> 00:02:03,099 He brought these chemical matters together. 25 00:02:03,099 –> 00:02:09,960 He created what is a biodegradable chemical structure, molecular structure. 26 00:02:09,960 –> 00:02:11,880 But then God did a second thing. 27 00:02:11,880 –> 00:02:14,460 He did more than create a corpse. 28 00:02:14,479 –> 00:02:22,779 He breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of the man Genesis says, and Adam became a 29 00:02:22,779 –> 00:02:25,179 living soul. 30 00:02:26,660 –> 00:02:30,460 Now you begin to get a sense of the importance of the soul, and therefore the importance 31 00:02:30,460 –> 00:02:33,600 of our journey when you consider what God says about it. 32 00:02:33,600 –> 00:02:39,380 The Bible makes it very clear that your soul is of infinite value. 33 00:02:40,360 –> 00:02:49,559 What shall a man give, Jesus asked, in exchange for his soul, his very self? 34 00:02:49,559 –> 00:02:54,160 What could you give in exchange for you? 35 00:02:54,160 –> 00:03:02,860 If a man were to gain the whole world but then were to lose his soul what value would 36 00:03:02,860 –> 00:03:07,000 that be to him? 37 00:03:07,240 –> 00:03:10,460 On one day God will give you a new body, and that will be wonderful. 38 00:03:10,460 –> 00:03:16,520 But right now the focus of God’s attention is on your soul and that’s why Peter says 39 00:03:16,520 –> 00:03:23,800 in his letter that the goal of our faith is the salvation of your soul. 40 00:03:23,800 –> 00:03:28,100 So it’s clearly important to know what’s going on in your soul because although we 41 00:03:28,100 –> 00:03:32,360 may make many visits to the doctor and may be very concerned about things relating to 42 00:03:32,479 –> 00:03:41,539 the body, the soul is actually the center of the action that really counts in this life. 43 00:03:41,539 –> 00:03:46,199 Someone has once said that true wisdom, all the wisdom that you need for life actually 44 00:03:46,199 –> 00:03:48,800 boils down to two basic areas. 45 00:03:48,800 –> 00:03:53,300 You need to know God and you need to know yourself. 46 00:03:53,300 –> 00:04:01,660 And here’s the catch – you can never know the one without the other. 47 00:04:01,660 –> 00:04:07,240 Because if you don’t know God, then being made in his image, how can you know yourself? 48 00:04:07,240 –> 00:04:08,360 You are made in his image. 49 00:04:08,360 –> 00:04:11,600 If you’re made in the image of someone you don’t know, you don’t know yourself. 50 00:04:11,600 –> 00:04:16,059 You cannot know yourself until and unless you know God. 51 00:04:16,059 –> 00:04:21,760 But similarly if you do not know yourself, you will not know God either. 52 00:04:21,779 –> 00:04:30,500 For this reason, that if you’re away from the truth, you cannot come close to God. 53 00:04:30,500 –> 00:04:36,739 I love the song from DC talk which I know not all of you will be very familiar with. 54 00:04:36,739 –> 00:04:42,980 But some of the younger ones will be, and it has this great line, What’s going on inside 55 00:04:42,980 –> 00:04:43,980 me? 56 00:04:43,980 –> 00:04:49,760 That’s a great question, and we’re gonna be focusing on that great question from the 57 00:04:49,899 –> 00:04:51,880 scriptures over these next weeks. 58 00:04:51,880 –> 00:04:58,320 Did you know, for example, that your soul comes under regular attack? 59 00:04:58,320 –> 00:05:06,399 Peter talks about sinful desires that make war against your soul. 60 00:05:06,399 –> 00:05:12,239 So there’s a battle that’s going to be going on as enemies seek to attack, and to undermine 61 00:05:12,239 –> 00:05:14,260 your own very self. 62 00:05:14,260 –> 00:05:18,899 That’s why the book of Proverbs tells us that we need to guard our souls. 63 00:05:19,760 –> 00:05:22,739 How do you know how to do that? 64 00:05:22,739 –> 00:05:27,079 The Bible makes it very clear that the soul can go through different conditions because 65 00:05:27,079 –> 00:05:28,440 of different experiences in life. 66 00:05:28,440 –> 00:05:32,720 For example, your soul can get bitter. 67 00:05:32,720 –> 00:05:38,739 Hannah experienced bitterness of soul because she was not given the gift of children. 68 00:05:38,739 –> 00:05:44,160 It was a great spiritual struggle in her very self, and she worked it out in the place of 69 00:05:44,160 –> 00:05:46,700 prayer before God. 70 00:05:46,700 –> 00:05:48,820 Job went through bitterness of soul. 71 00:05:48,820 –> 00:05:51,380 speaks about it several times in the book of Job. 72 00:05:51,380 –> 00:05:56,619 It was a great inner struggle that he worked out in the presence of God. 73 00:05:56,619 –> 00:06:04,420 The book of Psalms speaks about your soul being downcast, or being in anguish, or even 74 00:06:04,420 –> 00:06:07,059 sometimes grieving. 75 00:06:07,059 –> 00:06:14,079 David speaks in Psalm 77 about a time when his soul refused to be comforted. 76 00:06:14,700 –> 00:06:16,480 And you may have been there. 77 00:06:16,480 –> 00:06:23,399 A time where your very self was in such pain that you were actually resistant to any attempts 78 00:06:23,399 –> 00:06:24,399 to bring comfort. 79 00:06:24,399 –> 00:06:27,320 My soul, he said, refused to be comforted. 80 00:06:27,320 –> 00:06:30,559 That’s how it was for him in the depth of his grief at one time. 81 00:06:30,559 –> 00:06:41,160 Do you remember Jesus said in the Garden, my soul, he said, is overwhelmed with sorrow. 82 00:06:41,160 –> 00:06:47,519 Remember how Simeon, in the Christmas story, said to Mary, when he blessed the child Christ 83 00:06:47,519 –> 00:06:54,459 and he said to Mary, A sword will pierce your soul too. 84 00:06:54,459 –> 00:06:58,559 So the soul can go through great pain, but the soul can be wonderfully revived. 85 00:06:58,559 –> 00:07:08,140 Remember, Psalm 23, the Lord restores my soul so the embitterment, the grief, the overwhelming 86 00:07:08,299 –> 00:07:11,019 sorrow need never be the last word for you. 87 00:07:11,019 –> 00:07:18,019 In Psalm 19 we are told that the law of the Lord, the scriptures, which are trying to 88 00:07:18,040 –> 00:07:24,480 encourage people to read, they revive the soul. 89 00:07:24,480 –> 00:07:27,899 The psalmist says my soul finds the rest in God alone. 90 00:07:27,899 –> 00:07:34,899 Jesus said come to me and you will find rest for your soul. 91 00:07:35,519 –> 00:07:41,899 So, the soul can not only experience times of great trauma, it can be wonderfully revived 92 00:07:41,899 –> 00:07:43,040 and restored. 93 00:07:43,040 –> 00:07:46,299 It can also know heights of incredible joy. 94 00:07:46,299 –> 00:07:50,440 When the angel announced the birth of the Savior to Mary, you remember her response 95 00:07:50,440 –> 00:07:52,260 in that beautiful song. 96 00:07:52,260 –> 00:07:59,260 She sang out, my soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. 97 00:07:59,540 –> 00:08:06,540 And in Psalm 103, one of my favorites, it begins this way, bless the Lord, oh my soul, 98 00:08:06,700 –> 00:08:11,299 and all that is within me, praise His holy name. 99 00:08:11,299 –> 00:08:16,679 So, that’s the ground we’re going to be covering over these next weeks as we take 100 00:08:16,679 –> 00:08:23,679 this journey into the interior of our own lives and look at the secret life of the soul. 101 00:08:24,579 –> 00:08:31,579 Now, to understand what is going on in your soul is one of the most difficult, and yet 102 00:08:31,839 –> 00:08:38,840 at the same time one of the most important skills in the whole of the Christian life. 103 00:08:38,859 –> 00:08:44,799 Now I want to give you an analogy, or a picture, that has helped me, and I hope it will help 104 00:08:44,799 –> 00:08:47,419 you to understand what is going on inside your soul. 105 00:08:47,419 –> 00:08:52,020 I’m going to give you the picture, and then we’ll come to the scriptures in Psalm 115. 106 00:08:52,179 –> 00:08:59,179 I want you to imagine a boardroom with a large, round, polished oak table at the center. 107 00:09:04,799 –> 00:09:09,659 And around this oak table in this magnificent boardroom there are seven chairs. 108 00:09:09,659 –> 00:09:16,659 I’m going to call this the boardroom of the soul. 109 00:09:16,659 –> 00:09:23,380 And I want to introduce you to six of the duly appointed members of the board. 110 00:09:23,380 –> 00:09:34,520 Their names are Mind, Heart, Will, Conscience, Memory, and Imagination. 111 00:09:34,520 –> 00:09:41,159 These faculties of the soul, these six members of the board of your interior life, 112 00:09:41,159 –> 00:09:45,559 are really the mainsprings of all your behavior. 113 00:09:45,559 –> 00:09:52,400 They meet together in secret to debate and to decide the great issues of your life. 114 00:09:52,400 –> 00:09:55,080 Often you will not even be aware of their discussions. 115 00:09:55,080 –> 00:10:00,239 But in the board room of the soul, they hammer out the decisions and the attitudes that you 116 00:10:00,239 –> 00:10:01,619 adopt every day. 117 00:10:01,619 –> 00:10:06,979 They determine the direction of your life. 118 00:10:06,979 –> 00:10:13,479 Now before I take this analogy of the board room any further, there is an important disclaimer. 119 00:10:14,239 –> 00:10:23,119 There are absolutely no references, either open or hidden, to members of the Board of 120 00:10:23,119 –> 00:10:26,200 the Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church. 121 00:10:26,200 –> 00:10:28,200 Past or present. 122 00:10:28,200 –> 00:10:34,280 Either in this sermon or in any future sermons using this analogy. 123 00:10:34,280 –> 00:10:36,400 Is that on the tape, Al? 124 00:10:36,400 –> 00:10:38,020 Thank you. 125 00:10:38,020 –> 00:10:40,799 Now, follow me with this analogy. 126 00:10:41,700 –> 00:10:44,039 You know how boards operate. 127 00:10:44,039 –> 00:10:49,640 Many of you have served on one, and many of you have served, indeed, on many. 128 00:10:49,640 –> 00:10:57,000 Now, you know that on any board, some members speak a great deal more than others. 129 00:10:57,000 –> 00:11:02,799 Some carry more weight and influence than others. 130 00:11:02,799 –> 00:11:08,219 There is usually one member who says very little, but just occasionally, he or she will 131 00:11:08,320 –> 00:11:11,700 come up with something that saves the day. 132 00:11:11,700 –> 00:11:12,820 Members of the board often disagree. 133 00:11:12,820 –> 00:11:17,359 In fact, it would be a strange board where that did not happen, and sometimes on a board, 134 00:11:17,359 –> 00:11:20,979 there can be hard battles. 135 00:11:20,979 –> 00:11:25,419 Sometimes the board makes good decisions, and 10 years later, the benefits of that decision 136 00:11:25,419 –> 00:11:27,140 are still being enjoyed. 137 00:11:27,140 –> 00:11:32,140 Sometimes the board makes weak decisions, and years later, the pain of it is still being 138 00:11:32,140 –> 00:11:33,900 felt. 139 00:11:33,900 –> 00:11:37,659 Some members of the board come with experience and wisdom to the table. 140 00:11:37,659 –> 00:11:41,400 Others find themselves dealing with issues they do not know how to handle. 141 00:11:41,400 –> 00:11:47,539 Now, all of these things that are true of any board really, are true of the boardroom 142 00:11:47,539 –> 00:11:51,260 of your soul. 143 00:11:51,260 –> 00:11:58,799 Think for a moment about these six board members who sit round the table of your inner life. 144 00:11:58,799 –> 00:12:00,739 The first is Mind. 145 00:12:00,739 –> 00:12:03,780 Picture him now. 146 00:12:03,799 –> 00:12:11,000 He comes in with his bulging briefcase full of information for the meeting. 147 00:12:11,000 –> 00:12:13,140 He of course has a large balding head. 148 00:12:13,140 –> 00:12:14,440 No offence intended. 149 00:12:14,440 –> 00:12:23,020 You know what they say, the best men always come out on top. 150 00:12:23,020 –> 00:12:25,099 Then there is Heart. 151 00:12:25,099 –> 00:12:26,840 Oh, that’s slow. 152 00:12:26,840 –> 00:12:29,780 I know it’s early in the morning. 153 00:12:29,780 –> 00:12:32,099 That’s slow. 154 00:12:32,179 –> 00:12:36,679 There’s not only Mind taking his place with his bulging briefcase at the table, but there’s 155 00:12:36,679 –> 00:12:38,619 also Heart. 156 00:12:38,619 –> 00:12:42,659 Now you never know what he’s going to be feeling when he comes in. 157 00:12:42,659 –> 00:12:44,039 Sometimes he arrives with a smile. 158 00:12:44,039 –> 00:12:45,039 Or she. 159 00:12:45,039 –> 00:12:47,419 You have to make this gender specific for yourself. 160 00:12:47,419 –> 00:12:49,440 I’m only speaking for myself. 161 00:12:49,440 –> 00:12:52,340 Sometimes he arrives with a smile. 162 00:12:52,340 –> 00:12:55,179 Sometimes he arrives with a frown. 163 00:12:55,179 –> 00:12:57,840 Sometimes Heart is angry. 164 00:12:57,840 –> 00:13:01,940 Sometimes he seems broken when he speaks. 165 00:13:01,979 –> 00:13:04,299 Often there’s Will. 166 00:13:04,299 –> 00:13:09,340 He tends to have a very strong personal agenda and can sometimes be quite demanding. 167 00:13:09,340 –> 00:13:12,719 He raises his voice rather too often in board meetings. 168 00:13:12,719 –> 00:13:17,919 He is capable of great determination, but he does not always show it. 169 00:13:17,919 –> 00:13:21,739 Sometimes in fact he has been seen to be rather lazy sitting back in his chair with his feet 170 00:13:21,739 –> 00:13:24,520 on the board table. 171 00:13:24,520 –> 00:13:28,859 Will usually sits beside Heart at board meetings. 172 00:13:28,859 –> 00:13:31,840 And the two of them often vote together. 173 00:13:31,840 –> 00:13:37,900 In fact rumour has it that they meet for coffee before and after board meetings. 174 00:13:37,900 –> 00:13:42,799 And sometimes the two of them overrule mind. 175 00:13:42,799 –> 00:13:44,479 Then there’s conscience. 176 00:13:44,479 –> 00:13:51,960 He of course also has a large briefcase full of papers but he hasn’t always read them. 177 00:13:51,960 –> 00:13:56,020 Sometimes the other members of the board wish that he had a better grasp of what’s right 178 00:13:56,020 –> 00:13:59,159 and wrong so he could give guidance to the other members. 179 00:13:59,159 –> 00:14:02,979 Sometimes there’s been talk of sending him on some kind of course because he’s been so 180 00:14:02,979 –> 00:14:08,119 weak but then other members of the board have noticed that because he’s sometimes weak he 181 00:14:08,119 –> 00:14:14,280 can often be persuaded to vote their way and so no one’s done anything about it. 182 00:14:14,280 –> 00:14:15,900 And then there’s imagination. 183 00:14:15,900 –> 00:14:23,140 As he comes in and takes his seat round the table he has insight that can open up sometimes 184 00:14:23,140 –> 00:14:28,380 in a meeting the way forward that no one else could see. 185 00:14:28,739 –> 00:14:35,719 But he does lack focus and he’s sometimes consumed with trivia and there have been times 186 00:14:35,719 –> 00:14:40,960 when conscience has had to tell imagination, your way out of line. 187 00:14:42,719 –> 00:14:46,059 And then there’s old memory, old memory. 188 00:14:46,059 –> 00:14:49,679 Of course he tends to live in the past. 189 00:14:49,679 –> 00:14:54,059 Sometimes he gets in the way of progress as he goes on at length about the difficulties 190 00:14:54,979 –> 00:14:57,919 that you faced before. 191 00:14:57,919 –> 00:15:06,299 But at other times memory can lead your whole soul into the highest worship of God as he 192 00:15:06,299 –> 00:15:12,900 recollects and tells all the other members of the board about the goodness and the faithfulness 193 00:15:12,900 –> 00:15:15,619 of God in your life. 194 00:15:16,059 –> 00:15:24,580 Now everyone of these board members are present in the inner room of your soul. 195 00:15:24,580 –> 00:15:33,280 And each of these faculties has tremendous potential for good or for evil. 196 00:15:33,280 –> 00:15:39,799 But together, debating it out around the table in your interior life, they will determine 197 00:15:39,979 –> 00:15:47,599 the actions and the attitudes, the direction and the outcome of your life itself. 198 00:15:47,599 –> 00:15:54,479 So, I want to ask the question, how is it in your soul? 199 00:15:54,479 –> 00:16:01,200 We have a medical journal at home, it’s about five inches thick and it lists all kinds of 200 00:16:01,200 –> 00:16:04,760 conditions that can prevail in the body. 201 00:16:04,760 –> 00:16:09,520 If we were to write a book of all the conditions that can exist in the soul, I suggest that 202 00:16:09,539 –> 00:16:11,900 it would be twice the length. 203 00:16:12,840 –> 00:16:18,500 Sometimes your soul will be divided and the whole direction of your life will come out 204 00:16:18,500 –> 00:16:23,520 of some hard-fought battles between your mind, your heart, your conscience in the boardroom 205 00:16:23,520 –> 00:16:28,280 of your soul, and you’ll be very conscious that no man can serve two masters and the 206 00:16:28,280 –> 00:16:31,659 board has to decide that you’re either gonna go one way or the other. 207 00:16:31,659 –> 00:16:34,580 And it’s divided and it’s a battle. 208 00:16:34,580 –> 00:16:38,719 Will wants to go one way, conscious says another, mind says one thing. 209 00:16:38,859 –> 00:16:40,260 Heart’s going a different way. 210 00:16:42,820 –> 00:16:45,140 There may be times when your soul is embittered. 211 00:16:46,359 –> 00:16:54,619 Memory won’t speak to mind and will won’t listen to conscience. 212 00:16:54,619 –> 00:16:57,960 Heart sits there utterly miserable. 213 00:17:00,580 –> 00:17:08,319 Or your soul can get unruly where the heart and the will start asserting their rights, 214 00:17:08,500 –> 00:17:17,939 I want, says will, I feel, says heart, and they won’t listen to the other members of the board. 215 00:17:17,939 –> 00:17:21,160 They shout and silence the others. 216 00:17:21,160 –> 00:17:23,180 Maybe that is going on in you right now. 217 00:17:25,400 –> 00:17:30,040 What is it like in the boardroom of your soul? 218 00:17:30,280 –> 00:17:38,640 Well, over these next weeks, I invite you to join me on a journey of self-examination. 219 00:17:41,140 –> 00:17:49,579 I want you to ask that the Holy Spirit will use the Bible to shine a light into some undiscovered 220 00:17:49,699 –> 00:17:52,660 corners of your soul. 221 00:17:52,660 –> 00:17:59,500 That the Holy Spirit himself will help you to get to know the members of your own soul, 222 00:17:59,500 –> 00:18:04,760 the faculty members who sit round that table. 223 00:18:04,760 –> 00:18:09,959 And that you will not only discover what’s going on but that you will discover from the 224 00:18:09,959 –> 00:18:14,599 scriptures what you can do about it. 225 00:18:14,599 –> 00:18:21,680 I want us to begin in Psalm 115 briefly this morning, where the Psalmist talks about idols 226 00:18:21,680 –> 00:18:25,540 – the things that we put in the place of God. 227 00:18:25,900 –> 00:18:30,500 Let me read again from Psalm 115 and verse 4. 228 00:18:30,500 –> 00:18:35,300 Their idols are silver and gold. 229 00:18:35,300 –> 00:18:40,780 They’re made by the hands of men – and then notice this description of the idols, 230 00:18:40,780 –> 00:18:43,819 which seems very obvious but it’s very important. 231 00:18:43,819 –> 00:18:46,680 They have mouths but they cannot speak. 232 00:18:46,680 –> 00:18:49,880 They have eyes but they cannot see. 233 00:18:50,619 –> 00:18:56,359 Picture this carving of gold or silver or wood or stone. 234 00:18:56,359 –> 00:19:01,719 They have ears but they cannot hear, noses but they cannot smell, hands but they cannot 235 00:19:01,719 –> 00:19:06,640 feel, feet but they cannot walk. 236 00:19:06,640 –> 00:19:08,420 That seems straightforward enough. 237 00:19:08,420 –> 00:19:13,380 Now, look at the punchline which has always fascinated me. 238 00:19:13,939 –> 00:19:29,060 Verse eight, those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” 239 00:19:29,060 –> 00:19:31,099 See what he’s saying? 240 00:19:31,099 –> 00:19:39,420 If you put anything else in the place of God in your life, this is what will happen to you. 241 00:19:39,420 –> 00:19:44,219 You will lose the capacity of spiritual hearing. 242 00:19:44,219 –> 00:19:48,459 You will lose the capacity of spiritual seeing. 243 00:19:48,459 –> 00:19:53,819 You will lose the ability to walk in God’s ways, and you will lose the ability to taste 244 00:19:53,819 –> 00:19:58,219 and to see and to savor that the Lord is good. 245 00:19:58,219 –> 00:20:04,979 If you put anything in the place of God in the long term, its effect will be the shrinking 246 00:20:04,979 –> 00:20:11,859 of the capacity of your soul. 247 00:20:11,859 –> 00:20:14,459 So what are you living for? 248 00:20:14,459 –> 00:20:19,900 Your career? 249 00:20:19,900 –> 00:20:22,219 Approval? 250 00:20:22,219 –> 00:20:24,500 Acceptance? 251 00:20:24,500 –> 00:20:26,979 Success? 252 00:20:26,979 –> 00:20:28,859 Pleasure? 253 00:20:28,859 –> 00:20:34,160 Paul said, for me to live is… 254 00:20:34,180 –> 00:20:35,540 How would you end that sentence? 255 00:20:35,540 –> 00:20:40,640 For me to live is… 256 00:20:40,640 –> 00:20:47,959 If you put anything in the place of Christ, its long-term effect will be the shrinking 257 00:20:47,959 –> 00:20:49,800 of your soul. 258 00:20:49,800 –> 00:20:55,239 Those who trust in the idols become like them and partake of the same qualities that they 259 00:20:56,040 –> 00:21:04,959 that they can’t see, they can’t hear, they can’t feel. 260 00:21:04,959 –> 00:21:12,599 Put anything in the place of God and your soul will shrivel. 261 00:21:12,599 –> 00:21:17,800 So if you want to be everything that you can be, the first thing that you have to do is 262 00:21:17,800 –> 00:21:20,800 to let God be God. 263 00:21:21,119 –> 00:21:22,119 The Bible puts that another way. 264 00:21:22,119 –> 00:21:30,280 It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 265 00:21:30,280 –> 00:21:34,880 Now there’s a fascinating illustration of this that comes directly out of the Old Testament 266 00:21:34,880 –> 00:21:36,780 story itself. 267 00:21:36,780 –> 00:21:41,280 If you turn back to Deuteronomy and chapter 4, there’re just two cross-references this 268 00:21:41,280 –> 00:21:42,280 morning. 269 00:21:42,280 –> 00:21:49,260 If you want to turn to them, the first is in Deuteronomy and chapter 4 and in this passage 270 00:21:49,260 –> 00:21:58,900 God is speaking to Moses, as about 15-1400 years before Christ, and God is warning the 271 00:21:58,900 –> 00:22:05,160 people about the dangers of idolatry in the future when they get into the land of Canaan. 272 00:22:05,160 –> 00:22:09,900 You’ll notice from verse 25, that God’s speaking about a time when you’ve had children and 273 00:22:09,900 –> 00:22:13,400 grandchildren and lived in the land for a long time. 274 00:22:13,400 –> 00:22:20,579 That’s verse 25, and then God warns them that after generations, if the people turn 275 00:22:20,579 –> 00:22:26,239 to idols, then some pretty terrible things are going to happen. 276 00:22:26,239 –> 00:22:31,520 Verse 27, the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive 277 00:22:31,520 –> 00:22:35,339 among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 278 00:22:35,339 –> 00:22:44,540 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, or eat, 279 00:22:44,540 –> 00:22:45,859 or smell. 280 00:22:45,859 –> 00:22:48,540 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you’ll find Him, if you look for Him with 281 00:22:48,540 –> 00:22:51,880 all your heart, and with all your Notice-It soul. 282 00:22:51,880 –> 00:23:01,859 Now, God is warning them about the dangers of worshiping a god of stone. 283 00:23:01,880 –> 00:23:07,219 And he’s talking about a time generations on – in fact, 800 years on – in the time 284 00:23:07,219 –> 00:23:11,579 of Jeremiah and the time of Ezekiel. 285 00:23:11,579 –> 00:23:16,400 And 800 years later, in the time of Jeremiah, and in the time of Ezekiel, what God warned 286 00:23:16,400 –> 00:23:20,359 them about, worshiping gods of wood and stone, was exactly what happened. 287 00:23:20,359 –> 00:23:24,020 And I want you to turn now and see what Jeremiah says about it. 288 00:23:24,339 –> 00:23:27,359 Jeremiah chapter 5, and verse 3. 289 00:23:27,359 –> 00:23:34,199 Jeremiah chapter 5, and verse 3. 290 00:23:34,199 –> 00:23:38,319 And here now, 800 years later, what God had warned them about is happening. 291 00:23:38,319 –> 00:23:39,640 They have turned to idols. 292 00:23:39,640 –> 00:23:42,959 There is this worshiping of wood and stone. 293 00:23:42,959 –> 00:23:44,280 And now Jeremiah says this, 294 00:23:44,280 –> 00:23:47,959 O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? 295 00:23:47,959 –> 00:23:54,020 You struck them, but they felt no pain. 296 00:23:54,020 –> 00:23:56,079 Isn’t that interesting? 297 00:23:56,079 –> 00:24:05,060 The capacity of feeling responsiveness to God, even in His discipline, has gone. 298 00:24:05,060 –> 00:24:09,400 You crushed them, but they refused correction. 299 00:24:09,400 –> 00:24:14,420 They made their faces harder than, guess what? 300 00:24:14,420 –> 00:24:15,979 Stone. 301 00:24:16,020 –> 00:24:19,959 God refused to repent. 302 00:24:19,959 –> 00:24:25,760 Those who make them, those who trust them, become like them. 303 00:24:25,760 –> 00:24:31,040 God warned them about the danger of putting something else in His place, and 800 years 304 00:24:31,040 –> 00:24:32,040 it happened. 305 00:24:32,040 –> 00:24:37,859 And when it happened, the effect was that these people lost sensitivity and responsiveness 306 00:24:37,859 –> 00:24:38,859 to God. 307 00:24:38,859 –> 00:24:44,439 Even when God spoke to them powerfully, they were not responsive. 308 00:24:44,439 –> 00:24:49,160 And Ezekiel speaking at the same period and in the same circumstances, of course, speaks 309 00:24:49,160 –> 00:24:51,180 of something very, very wonderful. 310 00:24:51,180 –> 00:24:56,239 Do you remember, he speaks about people who have a heart of stone. 311 00:24:56,239 –> 00:24:58,680 How did they get that? 312 00:24:58,680 –> 00:25:00,339 Because they worshipped gods of stone. 313 00:25:00,339 –> 00:25:03,239 They became like that, hardened inside. 314 00:25:03,239 –> 00:25:08,619 And Ezekiel says God’s going to do a miracle and take your heart of stone and make it again 315 00:25:08,619 –> 00:25:13,439 and make it a heart of flesh. 316 00:25:13,439 –> 00:25:20,300 You see this principle that when you disobey the law of God, when you put something in 317 00:25:20,300 –> 00:25:28,420 the place of God, you injure yourself and you shrink and shrivel the capacity of your 318 00:25:28,420 –> 00:25:34,219 own soul, and end up in a very, very shallow life. 319 00:25:34,219 –> 00:25:38,520 Now, I’ve given an illustration from Scripture. 320 00:25:38,520 –> 00:25:45,300 Let me give to you an illustration from secular literature, which I found interesting. 321 00:25:45,300 –> 00:25:49,859 Most of you will know of the Scottish National poet Robert Burns, perhaps best known, of 322 00:25:49,859 –> 00:25:54,140 course, for the song that gets sung every New Year, Auld Lang Syne. 323 00:25:54,140 –> 00:25:55,880 Robert Burns. 324 00:25:55,880 –> 00:26:01,439 Are there blank looks and expressions on faces here this morning, or are we with Auld Lang 325 00:26:01,439 –> 00:26:02,439 Syne? 326 00:26:02,439 –> 00:26:03,439 Good. 327 00:26:03,439 –> 00:26:04,439 That’s fine. 328 00:26:04,439 –> 00:26:06,140 I’m not commending it to you, I’m just quoting it. 329 00:26:06,520 –> 00:26:14,099 Burns wrote many poems, most of them, frankly, in such broad Scots that even I have to confess 330 00:26:14,099 –> 00:26:17,280 difficulty in understanding them. 331 00:26:17,280 –> 00:26:20,099 He was a profoundly religious man. 332 00:26:20,099 –> 00:26:25,959 He knew his way around the kirk – he would have been there at the communion service. 333 00:26:25,959 –> 00:26:34,180 He was also an incurable romantic who gave himself to a lifestyle of wine, women, and 334 00:26:34,180 –> 00:26:35,900 song. 335 00:26:35,939 –> 00:26:42,880 In one of his poems, in which he describes that lifestyle that he had chosen, he laments 336 00:26:42,880 –> 00:26:59,119 what he calls the serfecht which is, being translated, the sore fact that it petrifies 337 00:26:59,119 –> 00:27:01,280 the feeling. 338 00:27:01,280 –> 00:27:03,280 It’s what he says. 339 00:27:03,280 –> 00:27:09,339 The way he’s lived, the serfecht is that it petrifies the feeling. 340 00:27:09,339 –> 00:27:23,400 In other words, it freezes, turns to stone, petrifies the capacity to feel. 341 00:27:23,420 –> 00:27:33,520 He found that his lifestyle reduced his own capacity to love, not just to love God, but 342 00:27:33,520 –> 00:27:36,180 to love anybody. 343 00:27:36,180 –> 00:27:40,619 To receive love, to give love. 344 00:27:40,619 –> 00:27:47,699 His own heart was petrified by his indulgence. 345 00:27:47,699 –> 00:27:53,680 Truths who make them become like them. 346 00:27:53,680 –> 00:28:00,160 In his earlier life he had felt love and joy and life coursing through his veins, he had 347 00:28:00,160 –> 00:28:02,160 savored life deeply. 348 00:28:02,160 –> 00:28:07,119 But gradually he noticed his own capacity to love was diminished. 349 00:28:07,119 –> 00:28:11,560 His level of joy was less than it was before. 350 00:28:11,560 –> 00:28:19,199 He found he wanted to feel what he knew he once felt but he couldn’t feel it anymore. 351 00:28:19,199 –> 00:28:24,479 And what he had once tasted was beyond his reach. 352 00:28:24,479 –> 00:28:28,839 Now that’s what sin does. 353 00:28:28,839 –> 00:28:37,239 One of the difficulties in many of our relationships is that sin has just reduced our capacity. 354 00:28:37,239 –> 00:28:38,739 It shrivels the soul. 355 00:28:38,739 –> 00:28:40,760 It petrifies the feeling. 356 00:28:40,760 –> 00:28:49,060 Those who put something else in the place of God become like stone, and it’s not just 357 00:28:49,060 –> 00:28:54,880 that we lose the capacity to feel, for sin blunts the capacities of all the faculties 358 00:28:54,880 –> 00:28:55,880 of the soul. 359 00:28:55,880 –> 00:28:58,219 It blunts the mind so that we no longer think clearly. 360 00:28:58,219 –> 00:29:02,540 That’s why people make ridiculous decisions sometimes. 361 00:29:02,540 –> 00:29:08,660 It saps the will so that someone says, ought I can’t do anything about it. 362 00:29:08,660 –> 00:29:09,939 It sears the conscience. 363 00:29:09,939 –> 00:29:13,380 It distorts the memory. 364 00:29:13,380 –> 00:29:18,300 Jesus said that there’s an enemy who’s come to steal, and to kill, and destroy. 365 00:29:18,300 –> 00:29:24,739 That’s what sin does to you over a period of time. 366 00:29:24,739 –> 00:29:30,420 Pride shrivels your capacity to worship, so you come there and you stand and feel and 367 00:29:30,420 –> 00:29:34,640 do nothing. 368 00:29:34,900 –> 00:29:41,099 Greed strangles the ability to show compassion. 369 00:29:41,099 –> 00:29:47,219 Lust eats away and erodes your own ability to love. 370 00:29:47,219 –> 00:29:54,020 Anger makes it so hard for you to do the will of God. 371 00:29:54,020 –> 00:29:56,739 So what hope is there for a shriveled soul? 372 00:29:56,739 –> 00:30:03,280 That’s the greatest promise of the gospel, isn’t it? 373 00:30:03,300 –> 00:30:09,380 I will take your heart of stone, God says through Ezekiel. 374 00:30:09,380 –> 00:30:14,479 And I will give you a heart of flesh. 375 00:30:14,479 –> 00:30:19,699 We’ve just celebrated Christmas and the Incarnation — the Son of God takes human flesh, he becomes 376 00:30:19,699 –> 00:30:26,260 a man, and becoming a man, of course, not only meant His assuming our flesh, it meant 377 00:30:26,260 –> 00:30:33,880 that He assumed to Himself the capacities of a human soul, a mind that had to learn 378 00:30:33,880 –> 00:30:45,060 the Bible, a heart that was moved with compassion, a will that was seen as He set His face to 379 00:30:45,060 –> 00:30:49,660 go to Jerusalem, and in the Garden, said, Not what I will, but your will be done as 380 00:30:49,660 –> 00:30:53,280 He aligns and submits His will to the will of the Father. 381 00:30:53,280 –> 00:30:54,359 A conscience. 382 00:30:54,359 –> 00:30:55,920 Yes, a conscience. 383 00:30:56,459 –> 00:31:00,780 We have conscience that operates retroactively, makes us feel bad about something that we’ve 384 00:31:00,780 –> 00:31:06,420 done, but conscience at its best operates proactively, warning us of approaching danger. 385 00:31:06,420 –> 00:31:10,699 You see that, for example, when a crowd of people wanted to make Jesus king by force, 386 00:31:10,699 –> 00:31:14,359 and He realized the danger, and He walked immediately away from it, that’s why He 387 00:31:14,359 –> 00:31:15,420 didn’t see. 388 00:31:17,900 –> 00:31:22,180 Think of the imagination of Christ, the parables, taking the things of heaven and bringing them 389 00:31:22,180 –> 00:31:25,140 right down to earth. 390 00:31:25,140 –> 00:31:29,859 Think of the memory of Christ, how He could draw a line and forgive all manner of things, 391 00:31:29,859 –> 00:31:32,199 even to His enemies. 392 00:31:32,199 –> 00:31:41,300 Now, imagine if His Spirit could enter your soul. 393 00:31:41,300 –> 00:31:48,160 That’s the greatest promise of the gospel. 394 00:31:48,160 –> 00:31:49,339 Think of that boardroom. 395 00:31:49,439 –> 00:31:55,800 There were seven chairs and I introduced you to six members. 396 00:31:55,800 –> 00:32:03,900 Imagine if you can picture it at all, the Holy Spirit of God coming into the boardroom 397 00:32:03,900 –> 00:32:12,180 of your interior life and He sits in that vacant chair and instead of the old system 398 00:32:12,180 –> 00:32:16,060 that you used to have of all of the different members taking the chairmanship in turn, He 399 00:32:16,219 –> 00:32:27,599 assumes the presiding role and He says now this life is going to move in a new direction. 400 00:32:27,599 –> 00:32:31,199 Mind, you’re going to need to get renewed. 401 00:32:31,199 –> 00:32:34,520 Heart, we’re going to need to get you opened up and changed. 402 00:32:34,520 –> 00:32:38,239 Will, we’re going to need to get you redirected. 403 00:32:38,239 –> 00:32:40,439 Conscience, we’re going to need to get you educated. 404 00:32:40,439 –> 00:32:43,199 Imagination, we’re going to need to get you focused. 405 00:32:43,199 –> 00:32:48,260 Memory, we’re going to need to get you trained. 406 00:32:48,260 –> 00:32:53,599 And a whole new direction begins for the board under new management. 407 00:32:53,599 –> 00:32:58,199 Oh, there’ll still be many battles and we’re going to talk about them over these next weeks, 408 00:32:58,199 –> 00:33:01,560 but it must start here. 409 00:33:01,560 –> 00:33:04,819 Let God be God. 410 00:33:04,819 –> 00:33:10,680 And the reason that Jesus Christ has come into the world is that we live in an environment 411 00:33:10,680 –> 00:33:17,160 where sin is stealing and killing and destroying and he said, I am come that you may have life 412 00:33:17,160 –> 00:33:20,260 and that you may have it to the full. 413 00:33:20,260 –> 00:33:24,479 And where we put our trust in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comes into the presiding 414 00:33:24,479 –> 00:33:29,719 position in the chair of the soul. 415 00:33:29,719 –> 00:33:34,819 Where the Spirit of The Lord is, the Bible says, there will be freedom. 416 00:33:34,819 –> 00:33:43,859 As with unveiled faces we begin to be changed from one degree of glory into another. 417 00:33:43,859 –> 00:33:54,060 Sin will make you less, God will make you more. 418 00:33:54,060 –> 00:33:56,099 Let’s pray together. 419 00:33:56,819 –> 00:34:01,780 Our Father, our interior life is often a mystery to us, 420 00:34:04,339 –> 00:34:10,340 but we know for sure that unless you are in the presiding chair of our interior life 421 00:34:12,260 –> 00:34:14,020 we’re not going to go the right direction. 422 00:34:15,860 –> 00:34:20,739 So we want to begin this year by submitting ourselves to you and through faith in Jesus 423 00:34:20,739 –> 00:34:32,100 Christ opening our lives as best we know to you and asking that you will come and give leadership 424 00:34:32,100 –> 00:34:41,300 to us in our inner lives. Thank you that Christ has come. Thank you that he gave himself 425 00:34:42,739 –> 00:34:49,540 so that people who have been left with a shriveled stony heart because of long 426 00:34:49,620 –> 00:34:56,419 set patterns of bad choices may have the opportunity of being wonderfully renewed 427 00:34:57,459 –> 00:35:04,739 and changed from the inside. Hear our prayers, oh Father, and may this be the beginning of a 428 00:35:04,739 –> 00:35:14,500 new work in our lives by your spirit in these days through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 429 00:35:14,500 –> 00:35:21,219 you’ve been listening to a sermon with pastor colin smith of open the bible 430 00:35:21,219 –> 00:35:28,260 to contact us call us at one eight seven seven open three six five or visit our website open 431 00:35:28,260 –> 00:35:39,060 the bible dot org

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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