100:00:00,620 –> 00:00:06,220Before God, human history is like this.200:00:06,220 –> 00:00:10,040Abraham was born on Wednesday.300:00:10,040 –> 00:00:13,000King David was born on Thursday.400:00:13,180 –> 00:00:16,280The Lord Jesus Christ was born on Friday.500:00:16,280 –> 00:00:21,639The middle ages slipped away yesterday and our generation will have passed before this600:00:21,639 –> 00:00:24,160service is done this morning.700:00:24,480 –> 00:00:30,280And if God should let the world continue till tomorrow morning, another 30 generations will800:00:30,280 –> 00:00:33,259have come, and of gone.900:00:33,259 –> 00:00:37,360With the Lord, a thousand years is like a day!1000:00:39,040 –> 00:00:42,900Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I’m glad you could1100:00:42,900 –> 00:00:44,240join us today.1200:00:44,240 –> 00:00:49,279Colin, we get so bogged down sometimes with the trials of life and the difficulties we’re1300:00:49,279 –> 00:00:52,959going through and we wonder if it’s ever going to end.1400:00:53,439 –> 00:00:59,119But, when we look at our lives in the context of eternity, that should allow us to persevere1500:00:59,119 –> 00:01:00,360and develop patience.1600:01:00,360 –> 00:01:05,160Yeah, I think that’s absolutely right and of course the news keeps coming, bad news.1700:01:05,160 –> 00:01:10,760There’s a war, there’s conflict, there’s difficulty in a family, there’s sickness, there’s illness1800:01:10,760 –> 00:01:16,639and we want God to have dealt with all sources of evil and trouble by next week or next month1900:01:16,639 –> 00:01:17,959or next year.2000:01:18,000 –> 00:01:24,919When Peter says, 1,000 years is as a day and a day is as 1,000 years with the Lord, he’s2100:01:24,919 –> 00:01:32,099speaking to us about the importance of patience as a component of genuine faith in a God who2200:01:32,099 –> 00:01:37,519is faithful but he works on his own timescale and he’s not going to eradicate evil from2300:01:37,519 –> 00:01:42,360the world by next week or by next year but by the coming of Jesus Christ which is the2400:01:42,360 –> 00:01:45,480day that we look for and anticipate by faith.2500:01:45,879 –> 00:01:50,480And for some that’s a source of comfort because it means that God is patient with us and our2600:01:50,480 –> 00:01:55,120unsaved friends and family members because he wants everyone to be saved.2700:01:55,120 –> 00:02:00,680That’s exactly right. Where would we have been if God had given us the latitude of a2800:02:00,680 –> 00:02:06,559week or a month or a year before we responded to Him? God has been very patient with us2900:02:06,559 –> 00:02:11,839and that’s one of the reasons why patience may grow within a Christian believer and why3000:02:11,839 –> 00:02:16,039we need to be patient with others as we look for the day that is surely to come.3100:02:16,039 –> 00:02:22,000So, join us today if you can, we are in 2 Peter Chapter 3 as we begin a message called3200:02:22,000 –> 00:02:25,380Everything You Need for Patience. Here is Pastor Colin.3300:02:25,380 –> 00:02:32,979I want to remind you again that this letter is all about the sufficiency of our Lord and3400:02:32,979 –> 00:02:38,220Saviour Jesus Christ. We have been learning its great theme and I think it’s now clear3500:02:38,300 –> 00:02:46,300within our minds that the Lord Jesus Christ brings to us in Himself and knowing Him we3600:02:46,300 –> 00:02:52,679have everything that we need for every circumstance we could ever face in our life in this world.3700:02:52,679 –> 00:02:58,000It is a marvelous theme. And we have been following the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus3800:02:58,000 –> 00:03:04,960Christ for life and for growth and for faith and for deliverance.3900:03:05,220 –> 00:03:11,220Now, we take it up this morning then at 2 Peter and Chapter 3, where Peter is describing4000:03:11,220 –> 00:03:17,919the environment in which we live our Christian lives in this world.4100:03:17,919 –> 00:03:26,020And he says in verse 3, first of all you must understand that in the last days, scoffers4200:03:26,020 –> 00:03:32,639will come scoffing and following their own evil desires.4300:03:32,880 –> 00:03:38,039Now the last days, when the New Testament refers to the last days, it’s more than simply4400:03:38,059 –> 00:03:42,960the generation immediately before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.4500:03:42,960 –> 00:03:47,460In the New Testament the last days refers to all the days between the first coming and4600:03:47,460 –> 00:03:49,880the second coming of the Lord Jesus.4700:03:49,880 –> 00:03:55,419And if you want to check that out you can do so in Acts, and Chapter 2, in verse 174800:03:55,419 –> 00:04:01,539where Peter quotes the prophet Joel who says that in the last days God will pour out His4900:04:01,559 –> 00:04:03,399spirit upon all people.5000:04:03,399 –> 00:04:07,160And Peter says now that is exactly what is happening on the day of Pentecost.5100:04:07,160 –> 00:04:13,839So, last days in the New Testament, Acts 2, 17 begin from the day of Pentecost.5200:04:13,839 –> 00:04:18,239Its really all the days between the first and the second coming of the Lord Jesus.5300:04:18,239 –> 00:04:24,339Now says Peter you must understand this it’s very important to get this, that throughout5400:04:24,339 –> 00:04:29,100this entire period this is going to be the experience of the church.5500:04:29,420 –> 00:04:35,420There will be folks who scoff at Christian faith and will follow verse three their own5600:04:35,420 –> 00:04:38,100evil desires.5700:04:38,100 –> 00:04:44,299So he’s describing in this first, then the normal experience of the Christian church5800:04:44,299 –> 00:04:47,500until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.5900:04:47,500 –> 00:04:51,700This is what the first Christians faced in the time that Peter was writing.6000:04:51,700 –> 00:04:56,140This is what we face today, this is what the church will always face and we should never,6100:04:56,140 –> 00:04:59,540never, never be surprised by it.6200:04:59,540 –> 00:05:04,940Don’t be surprised by the antagonism of the world towards the gospel.6300:05:04,940 –> 00:05:11,179The world never changes in any continent or in any century, the human heart is always6400:05:11,179 –> 00:05:17,019the same, by nature we do not seek God, by nature we do not love God, and by nature we6500:05:17,019 –> 00:05:19,619cannot please God.6600:05:19,619 –> 00:05:23,940So in the last days Peter says, understand this, scoffers will come scoffing and following6700:05:23,940 –> 00:05:26,059their own evil desires.6800:05:26,079 –> 00:05:32,559By the way notice how two things always go together, rejecting God’s word, following6900:05:32,559 –> 00:05:39,339our own evil desires, these two are always joined together.7000:05:39,339 –> 00:05:45,899Because of course if you want to follow your own desires, you have to reject God.7100:05:45,899 –> 00:05:50,320If you want to live life your own way, you have to put yourself, your own vision, your7200:05:50,320 –> 00:05:55,040own aspirations on the throne of your life, and the easiest way to do that is to reject7300:05:55,040 –> 00:05:59,140God, probably by saying that you do not believe him, or do not find him relevant.7400:05:59,140 –> 00:06:05,260In other words Peter is reminding us that unbelief has its own reasons.7500:06:05,260 –> 00:06:10,799The sinner would prefer a world without God because he wants to be his own God.7600:06:10,799 –> 00:06:16,899That is why Paul says in Romans chapter 1 and verse 20, that men suppress the truth7700:06:16,899 –> 00:06:19,739by their own wickedness.7800:06:19,760 –> 00:06:29,220There’s a rationale behind unbelief and a motivation that has its own internal logic.7900:06:29,220 –> 00:06:35,179So he’s telling us then that unbelief and a rebellion against God are really the default8000:06:35,179 –> 00:06:38,100position of the human heart.8100:06:38,100 –> 00:06:44,559In Romans chapter 8 and verse 7, the sinful mind that is the nature we are all born with8200:06:44,559 –> 00:06:47,880is hostile towards God.8300:06:47,899 –> 00:06:53,959Romans 8, 7 the sinful mind is hostile towards God.8400:06:53,959 –> 00:07:00,760So the idea that by nature, we somehow seek God and somehow in a hidden way love Him and8500:07:00,760 –> 00:07:07,160really trying to find Him if only we really could is completely false according to the8600:07:07,160 –> 00:07:09,600scriptures.8700:07:09,600 –> 00:07:16,239So following Christ for us who have been redeemed by His incredible grace, following Christ8800:07:16,839 –> 00:07:20,339rejecting world isn’t going to be easy.8900:07:20,339 –> 00:07:25,459We are going to find ourselves in the same sort of position as Lot was in.9000:07:25,459 –> 00:07:32,299We saw this last time in chapter 2 and in verse 7 where Peter tells us that Lot was9100:07:32,299 –> 00:07:36,619distressed by the way of the world around him.9200:07:36,619 –> 00:07:38,739It really distressed him.9300:07:38,739 –> 00:07:45,119As a righteous man who loved the Lord and he was tormented in so many ways day after9400:07:45,160 –> 00:07:46,160day.9500:07:46,160 –> 00:07:51,640It wasn’t easy for him to live as a godly man in a Christ-rejecting world.9600:07:51,640 –> 00:07:58,679And Peter says now that the church must understand that we are going to experience the same.9700:07:58,679 –> 00:08:02,119Now let’s now put that in the frame of this whole letter.9800:08:02,119 –> 00:08:07,480We’re being told by Peter that in Christ we have everything that we need for life.9900:08:07,480 –> 00:08:11,679Everything that we need for living a godly way in this world.10000:08:11,980 –> 00:08:21,320If that’s the case, we need to find in Christ the strength, the patience, the wisdom, and10100:08:21,320 –> 00:08:28,100the grace to live in a world that does not see His glory, does not believe in His Word,10200:08:28,100 –> 00:08:30,619and does not follow His way.10300:08:30,619 –> 00:08:38,340Now it’s that tension that is the subject of 2 Peter 3.10400:08:38,340 –> 00:08:39,900I think we all experience this.10500:08:39,900 –> 00:08:46,380I mean, think about the world we have lived in for the last hundred years, and where we’ve10600:08:46,380 –> 00:08:53,320gone through evolutionism, that says there’s no Creator.10700:08:53,320 –> 00:09:00,000Then we’ve come through a wave of postmodernism that says there is no truth.10800:09:00,000 –> 00:09:05,400And now we’re seeing all across the book shops the rise of a new atheism that says that there10900:09:05,400 –> 00:09:06,859is no God.11000:09:06,880 –> 00:09:08,440This is the world in which we live.11100:09:08,440 –> 00:09:12,559I went into the bookstore the other day and saw a table piled with the book with this11200:09:12,559 –> 00:09:19,159title, you’ve probably seen it, God Is Not Great.11300:09:19,159 –> 00:09:21,340Piled high, God Is Not Great.11400:09:21,340 –> 00:09:29,340I have to tell you, I came out of that book shop distressed in my own soul.11500:09:29,340 –> 00:09:33,539And yet what I was experiencing is exactly what Peter is talking about.11600:09:33,539 –> 00:09:36,140Here, this is the world that you live in.11700:09:36,919 –> 00:09:40,940And don’t ever be surprised by it, Peter is saying.11800:09:40,940 –> 00:09:42,619Some of you live with this every day.11900:09:42,619 –> 00:09:49,739You work beside people who are cynical about your faith, whose choice of values and of12000:09:49,739 –> 00:09:55,940behavior just distresses your own soul.12100:09:55,940 –> 00:09:57,900And how are you going to handle that?12200:09:58,859 –> 00:10:06,619Now, I tell you honestly, I find that I can quickly and easily become frustrated.12300:10:06,619 –> 00:10:13,659And even angry when people are cynical and skeptical towards God.12400:10:13,659 –> 00:10:15,520And I need to deal with that.12500:10:15,520 –> 00:10:17,880And that’s what Peter is talking about here.12600:10:17,880 –> 00:10:27,659Because becoming angry and angry Christianity never advances the purpose of God.12700:10:27,739 –> 00:10:33,859So how can I live in a way that is authentically Christian in a world that so often despises12800:10:33,859 –> 00:10:34,859my faith?12900:10:34,859 –> 00:10:36,380How can you do that?13000:10:36,380 –> 00:10:41,859Well, we need some help here, and that is what 2 Peter chapter 3 is all about.13100:10:41,859 –> 00:10:46,419But before we get into what Peter says, I just want us to be tuned into its relevance13200:10:46,419 –> 00:10:49,200in this other way.13300:10:49,200 –> 00:10:55,099See the pressure in many of us is not simply living in a secularised world.13400:10:55,099 –> 00:11:00,380The pressure of unbelief for many of us comes much closer to home than that.13500:11:00,380 –> 00:11:02,940It’s more personal.13600:11:02,940 –> 00:11:11,979What do you do when you have a son or a daughter who turns away from following Christ?13700:11:11,979 –> 00:11:14,239They don’t believe.13800:11:14,239 –> 00:11:18,900And you see a hardness coming over their soul.13900:11:18,900 –> 00:11:22,840They show no interest in spiritual things.14000:11:22,840 –> 00:11:26,239People realize their role when you talk to them about going to church.14100:11:26,239 –> 00:11:28,500It’s tough.14200:11:28,500 –> 00:11:31,380What starts going on inside you is very predictable.14300:11:31,380 –> 00:11:32,599You begin to feel frustrated.14400:11:32,599 –> 00:11:34,380You say, what can I do?14500:11:34,380 –> 00:11:37,080What can the church do?14600:11:37,080 –> 00:11:38,679You feel helpless.14700:11:38,679 –> 00:11:42,679You feel powerless.14800:11:42,679 –> 00:11:48,859So easily, even within our homes and within our families as frustration develops, anger14900:11:48,859 –> 00:11:52,020grows.15000:11:52,020 –> 00:11:57,580And of course getting angry doesn’t do anything to bring him or her nearer to Christ.15100:11:57,580 –> 00:12:05,299Isn’t it one of the hardest things in all of the world to see someone you love wasting15200:12:05,299 –> 00:12:08,739their life?15300:12:08,739 –> 00:12:16,320Now that’s exactly what Peter’s talking about here, following their own desires.15400:12:16,320 –> 00:12:21,799And it should not surprise us that we struggle then with feeling at times defeated, perplexed15500:12:22,000 –> 00:12:27,780frustrated, embattled, helpless, angry, tense, afraid, and even ashamed.15600:12:27,780 –> 00:12:35,479I hope I’ve said enough now to frame why 2 Peter chapter 3 is well worth our attention15700:12:35,479 –> 00:12:40,700this morning because probably in every family circle there is someone over whom you are15800:12:40,960 –> 00:12:50,840distressed because their whole disposition towards God is a thousand miles from where15900:12:50,840 –> 00:12:55,080you would wish it to be.16000:12:55,080 –> 00:13:02,960Now how can we develop patience with unbelieving kids, hard bitten colleagues, recalcitrant16100:13:03,000 –> 00:13:11,059relatives? So that what comes out of us in this unbelieving environment is the spirit16200:13:11,059 –> 00:13:20,700of Jesus and not the hard bitten spirit of the Pharisees? That’s the challenge.16300:13:20,700 –> 00:13:24,760And I want you to notice how Peter approaches it. You won’t be surprised that he offers16400:13:24,760 –> 00:13:30,619no quick fix, but he does draw us to a new attitude. In verse one he says, Dear friends,16500:13:31,159 –> 00:13:34,719This is now my second letter to you and I’ve written for this reason. I’ve written them16600:13:34,719 –> 00:13:41,919as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. He’s going where Paul goes in Romans16700:13:41,919 –> 00:13:46,65912, in verse one, we’re to be transformed, we’re to be changed by the renewing of our16800:13:46,659 –> 00:13:53,979minds. And he says there’s truth here that is going to help us in the practical difficulties16900:13:54,080 –> 00:14:01,359that we face in an unbelieving world. Fill your mind with who God is and you will have17000:14:01,359 –> 00:14:07,219everything that you need for patience. I want us to see three great truths about God right17100:14:07,219 –> 00:14:13,419here in these first 10 verses of second Peter chapter three, that God is eternal, the God17200:14:13,419 –> 00:14:22,299is patient and the God is merciful and wholesome thinking about these glorious truths of God,17300:14:22,299 –> 00:14:27,580these glories of God will lift us and help us and give us everything we need through17400:14:27,580 –> 00:14:36,260Jesus Christ for patience, mercy, grace in this unbelieving and sometimes very hostile17500:14:36,260 –> 00:14:41,119world, that’s where we’re going. Well, that is where we’re going, but we’ll17600:14:41,119 –> 00:14:46,619have a short pause before we get there. So, please stay with us. You’re listening to Open17700:14:46,940 –> 00:14:52,539the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Everything You Need for Patience. If17800:14:52,539 –> 00:14:56,940you miss any of the messages in the series, which is called Everything You Need for Life,17900:14:56,940 –> 00:15:03,099it’s easy to catch up or go back and listen again by coming online to openthebible.org.uk18000:15:03,099 –> 00:15:08,559and there you’ll find all Pastor Colin’s messages that have already gone out on air.18100:15:08,559 –> 00:15:13,140And you can also find them at a podcast, if you prefer that way of listening to him, and18200:15:13,140 –> 00:15:27,320those are on all the main podcast sites, search for openthebibleuk. Back to the message now.18300:15:27,320 –> 00:15:34,460Marvellous verse that many know well. For all the times I’ve heard or read this verse,18400:15:34,460 –> 00:15:40,179not sure I’ve really reflected on it as I’ve tried to do this week. It’s been a blessing18500:15:40,179 –> 00:15:48,760to me. Do not forget this verse, eight, dear friends. With the Lord a day is like a thousand18600:15:48,760 –> 00:15:58,960years. And a thousand years are like a day. God is eternal. That means that God is outside18700:15:58,960 –> 00:16:09,239of time, though he acts in time. He is not limited by time. And that means that what18800:16:09,239 –> 00:16:15,659is happening in your life and what is happening in the world, looks very different to God18900:16:15,659 –> 00:16:22,020from the way that it looks to us. Now, of course, eternity is so vast that there is19000:16:22,020 –> 00:16:28,380no way in the world that our human minds can begin to comprehend it. So God accommodates19100:16:28,380 –> 00:16:34,940himself to us by giving us a kind of analogy. By giving us an extended scale of time so19200:16:34,940 –> 00:16:44,539that at least our mind can be pointed in the right direction to begin to think about eternity.19300:16:44,539 –> 00:16:50,080And there are two statements here, each one of which helps us, I think, in a very practical19400:16:50,080 –> 00:17:00,340and distinct way. Let’s take the second first. With the Lord, a thousand years is19500:17:00,340 –> 00:17:10,920as a day. Now what that means, if with the Lord a thousand years is as a day, that means19600:17:10,920 –> 00:17:21,000that life on earth is very, very short. Think of it on this time scale that Peter is opening19700:17:21,000 –> 00:17:32,520up to us and he’s quoting from psalm 90, Abraham lived 4000 years ago. What that means19800:17:32,520 –> 00:17:42,819is that before God human history is like this. Abraham was born on Wednesday. King David19900:17:43,040 –> 00:17:51,239was born on Thursday.The Lord Jesus Christ was born on Friday, the Middle Ages slipped20000:17:51,239 –> 00:17:58,640away yesterday, and our generation will have passed before this service is done this morning.20100:17:58,640 –> 00:18:04,760And if God should let the world continue till tomorrow morning another 30 generations will20200:18:04,760 –> 00:18:16,520have come and have gone. With the Lord, a thousand years is like a day. Now on that20300:18:16,520 –> 00:18:19,640scale, and you can get the calculator out and check me later, I had a couple of folks20400:18:19,640 –> 00:18:26,500just check it because I wanted to get this one right. On that scale, if your life should20500:18:27,500 –> 00:18:38,719be 70 years, then to God, that is like 100 minutes. Just over an hour and a half. So20600:18:38,719 –> 00:18:50,800we’re thinking about that. So here’s the person who does not believe in God and does not obey20700:18:51,040 –> 00:18:57,219God and is growing up and wants to take his own stand, to live his own life in his own20800:18:57,219 –> 00:19:02,400way and make his own mark on the world, and he thinks his own life that he is going to20900:19:02,400 –> 00:19:09,420live is so important, and God looks down from heaven, an hour and a half and he’ll be gone.21000:19:09,420 –> 00:19:16,619An hour and a half? See, that truth is so important because it21100:19:16,979 –> 00:19:23,979cuts through our self-importance. Helps us look at all the attention that is being paid21200:19:27,800 –> 00:19:34,800to just deciding who will run for the next President of the United States of America.21300:19:35,880 –> 00:19:42,880And whoever wins will get about four years with a possible extension to eight. So do21400:19:43,099 –> 00:19:50,099the calculation. With the Lord, a thousand years is like a day. So as far as God is concerned,21500:19:50,420 –> 00:19:56,780the next President of the United States of America will be in office for five minutes21600:19:56,780 –> 00:20:03,780with a possible ten if it runs to two terms for him or for her.21700:20:03,880 –> 00:20:10,880Her. That is a blip on God’s eternal screen.21800:20:12,959 –> 00:20:18,239You begin to think about this, the eternity of God, and it shifts your mind from where21900:20:18,239 –> 00:20:25,000power is, and what’s really important in this world and where the action really is.22000:20:25,000 –> 00:20:30,359That’s why the Scripture speaks again and again about the brevity of our life, two pictures22100:20:30,380 –> 00:20:32,660the Bible uses.22200:20:32,660 –> 00:20:38,079First Peter, in chapter one, in verse 24, your life, human life, all human life, it’s22300:20:38,079 –> 00:20:40,180like grass.22400:20:40,180 –> 00:20:44,119Just the grass that’s mowed up in the summer, and here today, and it’s gone tomorrow.22500:20:46,979 –> 00:20:51,199An hour and a half in the eyes of heaven.22600:20:51,199 –> 00:20:56,040And in James, in chapter four, in verse 14, your life is like a mist or like a vapor.22700:20:56,160 –> 00:21:02,380The picture there is like if you breathe on a mirror and it steams up, and then it’s gone.22800:21:02,380 –> 00:21:09,660An hour and a half on the Heaven’s timescale.22900:21:09,660 –> 00:21:15,959Now take this in, and you will see that in this world that scoffs at God, this world23000:21:15,959 –> 00:21:25,099that pursues its own desires, God is not worried about his enemies.23100:21:25,619 –> 00:21:31,140When we get all worked up about the state of the world and how things are going wrong,23200:21:31,140 –> 00:21:38,119let’s remember that to the Almighty, the whole of human history is very short.23300:21:38,119 –> 00:21:43,500Which is why Psalm 2 says that when the kings of the earth take their stand against the23400:21:43,500 –> 00:21:47,060Lord and against His anointed, you know what God does?23500:21:47,060 –> 00:21:49,300God laughs.23600:21:49,300 –> 00:21:51,579God laughs.23700:21:51,579 –> 00:21:56,219He is not worried about His enemies.23800:21:56,219 –> 00:22:03,300And when you see His eternity, you will not be worried about them either.23900:22:03,300 –> 00:22:07,359We’ve been thinking about how God is outside of time.24000:22:07,359 –> 00:22:10,079Unfortunately, that isn’t the case for us.24100:22:10,079 –> 00:22:11,300We’re out of it.24200:22:11,300 –> 00:22:15,699But we’ll be back with a second part of this message in our next programme.24300:22:15,699 –> 00:22:17,660So I hope you’ll join us for that.24400:22:17,660 –> 00:22:20,939The message is called, Everything You Need for Patients.24500:22:20,939 –> 00:22:24,979And it’s part of the series, Everything You Need for life, based on 2 Peter.24600:22:24,979 –> 00:22:29,699If you ever miss one of the messages, it’s easier to go back or listen again24700:22:29,699 –> 00:22:34,619by coming online to our website, openthebible.org.uk.24800:22:34,619 –> 00:22:38,260Or you can also find the messages on your favorite podcast site.24900:22:38,260 –> 00:22:41,819Search there for Open the Bible UK.25000:22:41,819 –> 00:22:46,319Also on our website and available as a podcast, is Open the Bible Daily.25100:22:46,400 –> 00:22:50,119That’s our series of short, two to three minute daily reflections25200:22:50,119 –> 00:22:54,079based on Pastor Collyn’s teaching and read especially in the UK.25300:22:54,079 –> 00:22:55,719Open the Bible Daily.25400:22:55,719 –> 00:23:01,520Open the Bible is able to be on this station as well as our website and the podcasts25500:23:01,520 –> 00:23:05,400because listeners like you give generously to support our work.25600:23:05,400 –> 00:23:09,959So if you already support Open the Bible in this way, thank you so much!25700:23:09,959 –> 00:23:14,239if supporting Open the Bible is something you want to start doing this month25800:23:14,319 –> 00:23:18,239we’d love to say thank you by sending you Pastor Collyn’s brand new book25900:23:18,239 –> 00:23:19,680Grow in Hope26000:23:19,680 –> 00:23:22,160it’s a 30 day devotional study26100:23:22,160 –> 00:23:26,280drawing on scripture and years of pastoral experience.26200:23:26,280 –> 00:23:30,719Collyn, what is the one thing you’d like readers to take away from this book?26300:23:30,719 –> 00:23:34,800Well, it would be very practical because every Christian knows what it is26400:23:34,800 –> 00:23:38,520to go through dark times when we feel discouraged, we’re down26500:23:38,520 –> 00:23:42,640we don’t know how to move forward and when these times come in your life26600:23:42,920 –> 00:23:46,079you need to know how to handle your own soul26700:23:46,079 –> 00:23:49,199how to encourage and strengthen yourself26800:23:49,199 –> 00:23:52,319David of course speaks about this, he knew what this was like26900:23:52,319 –> 00:23:55,719in Psalms 42 he speaks to himself, he says27000:23:55,719 –> 00:24:00,479why are you cast down oh my soul, why are you in turmoil within me27100:24:00,479 –> 00:24:03,880and then he says hope in God27200:24:03,880 –> 00:24:06,560so I hope what people will take away from this27300:24:06,560 –> 00:24:09,319is that they’ll be helped and encouraged27400:24:09,319 –> 00:24:12,040in being able to speak to their own soul27500:24:12,239 –> 00:24:14,800in the way that David did in Psalm 4227600:24:14,800 –> 00:24:17,280and to find hope in God27700:24:17,280 –> 00:24:21,479because there is hope in God for every circumstance of life27800:24:21,479 –> 00:24:24,119and it comes to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ27900:24:24,119 –> 00:24:26,520so, Pastor Collins book, Grow in Hope28000:24:26,520 –> 00:24:31,959is our gift to you when you set up a new direct debit of £5 per month or more28100:24:31,959 –> 00:24:35,000or a one off gift of £60 or more28200:24:35,000 –> 00:24:37,599to support the work of Open The Bible this month28300:24:37,599 –> 00:24:40,079full terms and conditions are on our website28400:24:40,199 –> 00:24:42,680at www.openthebible.org.uk28500:24:42,680 –> 00:24:44,520and you can give online28600:24:44,520 –> 00:24:48,520don’t forget though to leave your full name and address when you donate28700:24:48,520 –> 00:24:51,199so we’ll be able to send you your gift28800:24:51,199 –> 00:24:55,199for Open The Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick28900:24:55,199 –> 00:24:56,719thanks for being with us today29000:24:56,719 –> 00:24:59,839and we look forward to having you join us again next time29100:25:10,160 –> 00:25:16,060do you ever wonder why God doesn’t work faster in your life?29200:25:16,060 –> 00:25:19,520discover what His slowness means for you29300:25:19,520 –> 00:25:21,479that’s next time on Open The Bible