100:00:00,080 –> 00:00:09,520If we have really understood grace in the present tense, it will mean that the message200:00:09,520 –> 00:00:19,360of our church is not Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners like you! That will300:00:19,360 –> 00:00:23,200not be the message. What will be the message? It will be Christ400:00:23,200 –> 00:00:29,080Jesus came into the world to save sinners like, like us500:00:29,100 –> 00:00:33,139Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick. Glad you could join600:00:33,139 –> 00:00:39,279us today, and Colin we’re thinking about grace today, and we see that grace is more700:00:39,279 –> 00:00:43,020than just forgiveness of sins at the moment of salvation.800:00:43,020 –> 00:00:48,139Oh, thank God for that, because we live in the knowledge of God’s grace. I mean, I’m900:00:48,160 –> 00:00:53,439not living a perfect Christian life today. None of us are or ever will. We’re always1000:00:53,439 –> 00:00:57,360dependent upon the grace of God, and when we arrive on the shores of heaven, we’re going1100:00:57,360 –> 00:01:04,620to arrive there by his grace, and his grace covers us right throughout our entire Christian1200:01:04,620 –> 00:01:09,800lives. This is what it means to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I’ve been so struck1300:01:09,800 –> 00:01:14,599by the way in which Paul puts this. He says in First Timothy, chapter 1, and verse 15,1400:01:14,599 –> 00:01:21,879the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into1500:01:21,879 –> 00:01:28,860the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. Now, he didn’t say I was the foremost.1600:01:28,860 –> 00:01:33,620He’s not just saying, you know, I used to be a terrible person who needed God’s grace1700:01:33,620 –> 00:01:38,260but now I’m a wonderful Apostle and so you should have great respect. No, there’s great1800:01:38,260 –> 00:01:39,239humility here.1900:01:39,239 –> 00:01:46,279He’s saying I live every day in dependence upon the grace of God. And I think when we2000:01:46,400 –> 00:01:53,000grasp that that’s the reality of our own lives, it gives a winsomeness about the way that2100:01:53,000 –> 00:01:55,599we try to reach out to others.2200:01:55,599 –> 00:02:00,279Christians are not looking down our noses at other people as if they were beneath us.2300:02:00,279 –> 00:02:07,279What we’re saying is that we live in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ every day and the2400:02:07,279 –> 00:02:10,960grace that we live in is grace that is offered to you as well.2500:02:10,960 –> 00:02:13,880So let’s take some time to think about that together.2600:02:13,880 –> 00:02:22,600Join us if you can in 1 Timothy 1 verses 12-20 as we continue the message, Gospel salvation.2700:02:22,600 –> 00:02:24,139Here is pastor Colin.2800:02:24,139 –> 00:02:29,240There was an anger in Paul, it was churning, there was a conflict that was going on inside2900:02:29,240 –> 00:02:31,479him, his conscience was troubling him.3000:02:31,479 –> 00:02:37,779And what happened was it spilled out in bringing injury into the lives of people God had placed3100:02:37,779 –> 00:02:43,860around him, and he says, I’ve wounded other people, I own it.3200:02:43,860 –> 00:02:46,820Isn’t this a marvelous thing?3300:02:46,820 –> 00:02:54,080Here is a man who is not afraid to face his past sins.3400:02:54,080 –> 00:02:55,479See that’s what the Gospel does.3500:02:55,479 –> 00:02:58,139It produces honesty.3600:02:58,139 –> 00:03:03,020It gets us out of denial, it gets us out of hiding from the past.3700:03:03,380 –> 00:03:09,500It enables a man or a woman to face the truth and to stop making excuses.3800:03:09,500 –> 00:03:20,740Now, folks, when you remember your sins, here’s the really big thing.3900:03:20,740 –> 00:03:23,860Please remember them redemptively.4000:03:23,860 –> 00:03:32,619If you’re taking notes, triple underline as many times as you want the word, redemptively.4100:03:32,619 –> 00:03:35,979Because here’s what will happen, we need to remember our sins, we need to remember that4200:03:35,979 –> 00:03:40,899we are sinners, otherwise we will never have any joy in Christ, and faith will always be4300:03:40,899 –> 00:03:45,160a vague thing that will be dull and boring to us.4400:03:45,160 –> 00:03:50,080But as soon as you do remember your sins, Satan will be at your elbow and he’ll say,4500:03:50,080 –> 00:03:54,360yes, indeed, and he will try to bring you into defeat.4600:03:54,360 –> 00:03:57,419Actually, that may well happen for some of us when we’re in church.4700:03:57,419 –> 00:04:01,300Do find sometimes that your own sins come to your mind in church more than at other4800:04:01,440 –> 00:04:05,619times, that your own failures live in your memory, perhaps when you’re lying on bed,4900:04:05,619 –> 00:04:10,380on your bed at night and you can’t sleep.5000:04:10,380 –> 00:04:13,460We need to remember our sins redemptively.5100:04:13,460 –> 00:04:14,460Listen.5200:04:14,460 –> 00:04:20,359The Lord Jesus Christ did not come into the world and hang on a cross to remove the condemnation5300:04:20,359 –> 00:04:25,480of God from you simply so that you could live under a new condemnation that you impose on5400:04:25,480 –> 00:04:27,820yourself.5500:04:27,820 –> 00:04:31,059There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.5600:04:31,059 –> 00:04:34,059You say, okay, well, now how do I do this?5700:04:34,059 –> 00:04:38,100You’re saying I have to remember my sins, but I’m to remember them redemptively.5800:04:38,100 –> 00:04:40,100Here’s how Paul does it.5900:04:40,100 –> 00:04:46,260He names his sins and then in verse 13, he says, but I received, what?6000:04:46,260 –> 00:04:47,660Mercy.6100:04:47,660 –> 00:04:56,000In other words, he uses the memory of his sins to magnify or to expand his grasp of6200:04:56,079 –> 00:04:58,700the mercy of God.6300:04:58,700 –> 00:05:04,600And when you do that, you will be brought into Christ-exalting joy.6400:05:04,600 –> 00:05:10,320He’s remembering his sins not to come into a kind of self-loathing.6500:05:10,320 –> 00:05:17,079He’s remembering his sins because in this way he magnifies the mercy of God.6600:05:17,079 –> 00:05:23,760And what otherwise would seem distant and remote from him lives for him when he thinks6700:05:24,220 –> 00:05:32,760of his own sins and the mercy of God towards him in Jesus Christ.6800:05:32,760 –> 00:05:36,279And notice he says, I was once a blasphemer.6900:05:36,279 –> 00:05:39,260But praise God, he’s saying, as it were, not now.7000:05:39,260 –> 00:05:40,880I was shown mercy.7100:05:40,880 –> 00:05:47,040The redeeming work of Jesus Christ has come into my life.7200:05:47,040 –> 00:05:53,420And not only does the remembering of his sins lead him to magnify God’s mercy but also7300:05:53,600 –> 00:05:57,299to a greater appreciation of God’s patience.7400:05:57,299 –> 00:06:03,519Verse 16, I was shown mercy, so that in me the worst of sinners Christ Jesus might display7500:06:03,519 –> 00:06:10,700his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal7600:06:10,700 –> 00:06:11,119life.7700:06:11,119 –> 00:06:15,399See, Paul is using his testimony here to encourage the Church.7800:06:15,399 –> 00:06:22,399Are you praying for someone right now who is rock hard against the Gospel, utterly resistant?7900:06:23,940 –> 00:06:33,119Well, Paul is saying in his testimony, look at me, look at how rock hard resistant I was,8000:06:33,119 –> 00:06:35,100and God never gave up on me.8100:06:35,100 –> 00:06:39,619He displays in me his unlimited patience!8200:06:39,619 –> 00:06:46,619Friends, the more you see clearly your own sins – the more you will magnify the mercy8300:06:47,500 –> 00:06:54,500of God, the more you will appreciate the extraordinary patience with you, and the more you will be8400:06:56,179 –> 00:07:02,000encouraged to believe in his ability to transform the lives of other people as well.8500:07:02,000 –> 00:07:05,980So remember your sins redemptively.8600:07:05,980 –> 00:07:12,459Let the memory of your own sins be something that leads you to thankfulness, because it8700:07:12,459 –> 00:07:19,459magnifies God’s mercy, and because it shows to you his unlimited patience towards you.8800:07:20,779 –> 00:07:27,339You will not find your faith dull and boring and lifeless when you’re here. This will be8900:07:27,339 –> 00:07:33,640leading you into Paul’s extraordinary joy.9000:07:33,640 –> 00:07:37,420But I want you to see there’s a second thing here. As you’re writing your testimony, remember9100:07:37,459 –> 00:07:44,459your sins redemptively. Second, affirm God’s grace thankfully. Now that’s verse 14, affirm9200:07:47,320 –> 00:07:54,320God’s grace thankfully. See, faith sees not only our failures, but also God’s grace.9300:07:56,980 –> 00:08:03,959And notice how Paul puts it here, he says, verse 14, the grace of our Lord was poured9400:08:04,040 –> 00:08:11,040out on me abundantly. Here’s what God has done. The grace of the Lord Jesus has been9500:08:13,279 –> 00:08:20,279poured out on me abundantly. Now, I want you to notice here something9600:08:22,920 –> 00:08:29,920very important. Never think of God’s grace simply as a past experience, but always as9700:08:30,440 –> 00:08:37,559a present reality in your life. I think there are some Christians who tend9800:08:37,559 –> 00:08:42,280to think of grace being poured out on them 25 years ago, when they made a decision to9900:08:42,280 –> 00:08:46,799follow Christ, and, you know, my sins were forgiven then, but it’s all past. That’s10000:08:46,799 –> 00:08:51,919why you’re finding things dull and boring now, because you’re not living in a sense10100:08:51,919 –> 00:08:58,919of the continuing grace and mercy of God being poured into your life at this very moment.10200:09:00,400 –> 00:09:04,679Paul clearly has it in the present tense, because if you look back in verse 15, you’ll10300:09:04,679 –> 00:09:11,119see what he says. Will you look at it closely with me? Christ Jesus came into the world10400:09:11,119 –> 00:09:18,119to save sinners of whom I was the worst. Is that what he says? Is that what he says? Is10500:09:19,799 –> 00:09:26,799it past tense? Say it with me, then, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners10600:09:26,960 –> 00:09:33,960of whom I am the worst. Present tense! So this grace that has been poured into my life10700:09:38,440 –> 00:09:45,440is being poured into my life right now, and the standing that I have with God, the peace10800:09:45,760 –> 00:09:50,260that I have with God, is not because of some righteousness that has been developed in me10900:09:50,260 –> 00:09:54,500in the last week or the last month or the last five or ten years. It is because of the11000:09:55,099 –> 00:10:00,299righteousness of Christ that covers me and clouds me now.11100:10:00,299 –> 00:10:07,299Of whom I am the worst! Is Paul really serious? Present tense? The apostle? John Stott I think11200:10:09,859 –> 00:10:14,640is really helpful on this, let me read a quote that I find useful. He says, he is stating11300:10:14,640 –> 00:10:21,640the obvious here, Paul had not investigated the sinful and criminal records of all the11400:10:21,840 –> 00:10:26,979inhabitants of the world, carefully compared himself with them and then concluded that11500:10:26,979 –> 00:10:33,979he was worse than them all. Obvious? Ok. Then Stott says this, the truth is rather that11600:10:35,340 –> 00:10:40,820when we are convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, an immediate result is that we give up all11700:10:40,820 –> 00:10:47,659such comparisons. That’s helpful. Paul was so vividly aware of his own sins, present11800:10:48,299 –> 00:10:54,840tense, remember, that he could not conceive that anyone could be worse. This is the language11900:10:54,840 –> 00:11:01,840of every sinner whose conscience has been awakened by the Holy Spirit. And that is profoundly12000:11:02,219 –> 00:11:07,960helpful. And, here’s what it means folks. If we have really understood grace in the12100:11:07,960 –> 00:11:14,960present tense, it will mean that the message of our church is not Christ, Jesus, the Lord12200:11:18,059 –> 00:11:24,520came into the world to save sinners like you. That will not be the message. That will be12300:11:24,520 –> 00:11:31,520the message. It will be Christ, Jesus came into the world to save sinners, like… like12400:11:32,299 –> 00:11:37,719us. Now you’ve maybe been in a church that sounded like you know Christ, Jesus came into12500:11:37,719 –> 00:11:43,039the world to save sinners, like you. You get your life sorted out. But, if we have really12600:11:43,039 –> 00:11:46,520grasped the Gospel, and if it is front and center of the life of the church, there will12700:11:46,640 –> 00:11:53,500be a humility and a grace that says, Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners12800:11:53,500 –> 00:12:00,500like me, like us, and what we have found in Him we would long for you to find in Him also.12900:12:04,919 –> 00:12:11,919Do you see how that would shape even the culture of a family? In the way parents seek to woo13000:12:12,919 –> 00:12:19,919children into the gospel? Not with a condemning spirit about you, but Son, your Dad too needs13100:12:23,700 –> 00:12:30,700grace, from the Lord Jesus Christ, and stands only in grace even now, not in righteousness13200:12:30,739 –> 00:12:37,739that is our own, but that our righteousness is in Him. Right now, you have peace with13300:12:42,340 –> 00:12:48,840God because grace is being poured out on you in Jesus Christ.13400:12:48,840 –> 00:12:54,700You’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith on a message called Gospel Salvation.13500:12:54,900 –> 00:12:57,440It’s part of our series, 10 Distinctives of a Gospel Centred Church.13600:12:57,440 –> 00:13:05,659And if you’ve missed any of the messages in the series, come to our website openthebible.org.uk13700:13:05,659 –> 00:13:09,599and there you’ll find all the messages which have already gone out on air.13800:13:09,599 –> 00:13:12,659Back to the message now, here again is Pastor Colin.13900:13:12,659 –> 00:13:19,659Notice grace never comes singly as it were, grace is poured out abundantly along with the faith,14000:13:19,820 –> 00:13:24,000the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.14100:13:24,000 –> 00:13:26,700Where did Paul’s faith come from?14200:13:26,700 –> 00:13:31,200He says in this very passage that he was acting as one who was resistant to Christ, out of14300:13:31,200 –> 00:13:33,280unbelief.14400:13:33,280 –> 00:13:35,520So where in the world did his faith come from?14500:13:35,520 –> 00:13:40,200Well his faith didn’t come from anywhere in the world, his faith came from Christ.14600:13:40,200 –> 00:13:44,260Grace is being poured out along with the faith that is in Jesus Christ.14700:13:44,260 –> 00:13:48,739This is Ephesians 2.8, it is by grace that you have been saved through faith and that14800:13:48,739 –> 00:13:51,419is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.14900:13:51,419 –> 00:13:55,159It wasn’t that Paul had an unbelieving heart, and he rummaged around in the unbelieving15000:13:55,159 –> 00:13:56,659heart and suddenly came up with faith.15100:13:56,659 –> 00:13:57,979How could that happen?15200:13:57,979 –> 00:14:00,820No, faith was the gift of God to me, he says.15300:14:00,820 –> 00:14:02,419The redeeming gift of God.15400:14:02,419 –> 00:14:07,299His grace has been poured out so that now I have come to the place where I trust Christ.15500:14:07,299 –> 00:14:11,859And I thank him for the fact that the faith is his gift to me even now.15600:14:11,859 –> 00:14:15,700And with it love has been poured out.15700:14:15,780 –> 00:14:21,219But how does love get into the heart of an angry violent man?15800:14:21,219 –> 00:14:26,320He’s a man who is in the city and he is pursuing all kind of acts of violence.15900:14:26,320 –> 00:14:28,739How does love come into his heart?16000:14:28,739 –> 00:14:30,059By rummaging around it?16100:14:30,059 –> 00:14:31,460No it’s not there.16200:14:31,460 –> 00:14:36,340Paul says, here is what has happened to me, the love that is in Jesus Christ has been16300:14:36,340 –> 00:14:39,599poured in to me, poured out upon me.16400:14:39,599 –> 00:14:42,440That’s what has been life transforming.16500:14:42,440 –> 00:14:43,960That’s why the gospel is good news.16600:14:43,960 –> 00:14:48,679That’s why it can do what good advise never can.16700:14:48,679 –> 00:14:50,400So look at the grace of God in your life.16800:14:50,400 –> 00:14:53,940Ask the question, how is it that you came to trust Christ?16900:14:53,940 –> 00:14:56,500How is it that today you have come to love Christ?17000:14:56,500 –> 00:14:57,580What has happened?17100:14:57,580 –> 00:15:02,239The grace of God has been poured out upon you abundantly along with the faith and love17200:15:02,239 –> 00:15:04,440that is in Christ Jesus.17300:15:04,440 –> 00:15:11,059And when you see that you will be led into Christ’s exulting joy.17400:15:11,400 –> 00:15:15,739Faith affirms what God has done and what He is doing with thanksgiving.17500:15:15,739 –> 00:15:23,260Remember how King David put it in the Old Testament, who am I and what is my family17600:15:23,260 –> 00:15:25,900that you should have brought me so far, he says.17700:15:25,900 –> 00:15:31,580Or how Paul puts it in the New Testament, it is by the grace of God that I am what I17800:15:31,580 –> 00:15:36,700am, and His grace to me has not been without effect.17900:15:36,700 –> 00:15:39,760I live in this grace.18000:15:39,760 –> 00:15:42,299It’s not simply out there.18100:15:42,299 –> 00:15:49,580It’s come to be in here, it has reached me, been poured out into me.18200:15:49,580 –> 00:15:55,179So remember your sins redemptively and affirm God’s grace, thankfully.18300:15:55,179 –> 00:15:58,719That will lead you into God’s exalting joy.18400:15:58,719 –> 00:16:00,280Here’s the last thing, very briefly.18500:16:00,280 –> 00:16:03,320Pursue your calling joyfully.18600:16:03,340 –> 00:16:06,679This is the completion of the transformation of the gospel.18700:16:06,679 –> 00:16:12,460I’m a sinner, that helps me to see God’s mercy and patience and leads me into joy,18800:16:12,460 –> 00:16:16,080His grace has reached me, been poured out on me abundantly, along with faith and love18900:16:16,080 –> 00:16:17,820that are in Christ Jesus.19000:16:17,820 –> 00:16:18,820But now what’s happening?19100:16:18,820 –> 00:16:23,520Now I pursue with joy the work that He has called me to do and you have that in verse19200:16:23,520 –> 00:16:28,020twelve where Paul says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that He19300:16:28,059 –> 00:16:33,780considered me faithful appointing me to His service.19400:16:33,780 –> 00:16:41,400Now the evidence of your testimony will be seen in the way that you invest your life.19500:16:41,400 –> 00:16:50,380The evidence of your testimony will be seen in the way that you invest your life.19600:16:50,380 –> 00:17:00,200And Paul having, living in this grace he now sees serving the Lord Jesus Christ as the19700:17:00,200 –> 00:17:02,539great privilege of his life.19800:17:02,539 –> 00:17:06,420Living for Christ as the joy of his life.19900:17:06,420 –> 00:17:10,739He says, He appointed me to His service.20000:17:10,739 –> 00:17:13,699It’s like he can never get over this.20100:17:13,699 –> 00:17:17,540I resisted Christ.20200:17:17,560 –> 00:17:25,819I injured Christian people and here now God has given me the privilege of being involved20300:17:25,819 –> 00:17:30,219in His redeeming work in the world.20400:17:30,219 –> 00:17:31,459He appointed me to His service.20500:17:31,459 –> 00:17:33,099I can’t believe I get to do this.20600:17:33,099 –> 00:17:36,579I hope you feel that about ministry.20700:17:36,579 –> 00:17:41,619I hope you feel as a part of this congregation as we seek to engage ourselves fully in the20800:17:41,619 –> 00:17:42,859work of Christ.20900:17:42,859 –> 00:17:50,500I hope that you would be saying with me, I can hardly believe that I get the privilege21000:17:50,500 –> 00:17:57,420that we get the privilege to be involved in Christ’s redeeming work in the world and21100:17:57,420 –> 00:18:02,060to live in time in a way that counts for eternity.21200:18:02,060 –> 00:18:08,839It’s amazing that He should give that privilege to folks like us.21300:18:08,839 –> 00:18:11,420Paul says, I pursue that with everything that’s within me.21400:18:11,500 –> 00:18:16,619And he says Christ has considered me faithful which doesn’t by the way mean He is saying21500:18:16,619 –> 00:18:18,239I was worthy to be an apostle.21600:18:18,239 –> 00:18:22,959What He is saying is no, God views my service in Christ.21700:18:22,959 –> 00:18:30,239See if God was to look at my ministry or your ministry and evaluated as it were with a clipboard21800:18:30,239 –> 00:18:36,880on strict justice, He’d find a thousand faults in my ministry and in yours.21900:18:36,880 –> 00:18:40,459But thank God that’s not how He views our service.22000:18:40,459 –> 00:18:46,760He views our service in Christ and therefore considers us faithful with all the imperfections22100:18:46,760 –> 00:18:49,760of anything that we do.22200:18:49,760 –> 00:18:54,739And then Paul says to Timothy for his encouragement that God gives him strength in this service.22300:18:54,739 –> 00:18:58,459Here’s what I found Timothy, this is a great principle.22400:18:58,459 –> 00:19:05,500God gives me strength as I extend myself in His work.22500:19:05,500 –> 00:19:10,579As I give myself ever more fully to what Jesus Christ is calling me to do, I find myself22600:19:10,579 –> 00:19:12,459energized by that.22700:19:12,459 –> 00:19:16,119So, Timothy, don’t hold back.22800:19:16,119 –> 00:19:21,939Don’t be afraid, give yourself, Timothy, to the work that God is calling you to do22900:19:21,939 –> 00:19:26,060and encourage the whole congregation to give themselves to the work that God is calling23000:19:26,060 –> 00:19:32,219them to do and we will find together that we prove Him as we extend ourselves in His23100:19:32,219 –> 00:19:33,219service.23200:19:33,339 –> 00:19:37,680He was faithful, He gave me strength.23300:19:37,699 –> 00:19:40,699Is this your testimony?23400:19:40,699 –> 00:19:44,500You recognize the frame of it?23500:19:44,500 –> 00:19:47,540Can you say today with joy, I trust Christ?23600:19:47,540 –> 00:19:49,760I love Christ?23700:19:49,760 –> 00:19:58,119Do you know what’s happening for Paul when he just can’t find words really to express23800:19:58,119 –> 00:20:02,859the wonder of what God has done for him and he says, O to the King eternal be glory and23900:20:02,859 –> 00:20:04,660honor forever and ever?24000:20:04,660 –> 00:20:06,959Are you living for Christ?24100:20:06,959 –> 00:20:10,219Are you finding joy in serving Christ?24200:20:10,219 –> 00:20:16,800Is that fruit of your testimony clear in your life for anyone looking at it?24300:20:16,800 –> 00:20:20,780Are these things true of you?24400:20:20,780 –> 00:20:27,079Or are you living in a nether world neither light nor dark, hardly knowing whether you24500:20:27,079 –> 00:20:31,040are Christian at all.24600:20:31,260 –> 00:20:34,939For if you are, I have good news for you.24700:20:34,939 –> 00:20:43,180Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.24800:20:43,180 –> 00:20:47,599He came to save folks who don’t have this faith.24900:20:47,599 –> 00:20:51,859He came to save folks who don’t have this love.25000:20:51,859 –> 00:20:55,599He came to save folks who don’t have this joy.25100:20:55,599 –> 00:20:59,459There is hope for you in him.25200:20:59,939 –> 00:21:05,400Not in a bunch of instructions, but in him.25300:21:05,400 –> 00:21:09,979And if he could bring such life and transformation to the apostle Paul, why in the world do25400:21:09,979 –> 00:21:13,619you think he couldn’t do it for you?25500:21:13,619 –> 00:21:18,319And if you do know what Paul is talking about here, and in some real measure you share his25600:21:18,319 –> 00:21:27,660joy, can you see with me today how this is going to be transforming for the church?25700:21:27,959 –> 00:21:38,459Can you taste the joy here of a congregation remembering our past sins redemptively, affirming25800:21:38,459 –> 00:21:44,760God’s grace in each of our lives thankfully, pursuing God’s calling, extending ourselves25900:21:44,760 –> 00:21:48,800joyfully, counting it the greatest privilege of our lives.26000:21:48,800 –> 00:21:54,780Folks, as we know more of this we will be a church full of thanksgiving and joy and26100:21:55,040 –> 00:22:00,900praise and gratitude, a church energized in the work of the Gospel.26200:22:00,900 –> 00:22:07,900He gave me strength, a church confident in the ability of Jesus Christ to transform the26300:22:08,560 –> 00:22:15,560most wounded life, the most broken life, the most hardened life, the most criminal life.26400:22:16,479 –> 00:22:23,479And most of all we will be a church marked by doxology, by joyful praise which says from26500:22:24,839 –> 00:22:31,839the heart to him, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to the only God, the honour and26600:22:32,599 –> 00:22:39,599glory forever and ever. And everyone who shared that joy says, amen.’26700:22:40,140 –> 00:22:43,739You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called26800:22:43,739 –> 00:22:50,040Gospel Salvation, part of our series 10 Distinctives of a Gospel Centred Church. If you’ve missed26900:22:50,040 –> 00:22:54,579any of the series so far you can easily catch up or go back and listen again by coming to27000:22:54,579 –> 00:23:01,359our website that’s at openthebible.org.uk or go to your favourite podcast site and search27100:23:01,359 –> 00:23:04,660for Open the Bible UK.27200:23:04,660 –> 00:23:09,239Open the Bible is supported by our listeners, and if you already give to support our work27300:23:09,239 –> 00:23:14,119thank you so much. If you’re considering beginning to support Open the Bible financially,27400:23:14,119 –> 00:23:19,640this month we’d love to say thank you by sending you John Stott’s book The Incomparable27500:23:19,640 –> 00:23:20,760Christ.27600:23:20,760 –> 00:23:23,640Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham to tell us about it.27700:23:23,800 –> 00:23:28,859Hi David, thanks so much for having me. This month we’re really pleased to be giving away27800:23:28,859 –> 00:23:35,719a wonderful book called The Incomparable Christ by John Stott. Now, whether someone realises27900:23:35,719 –> 00:23:42,180it or not Jesus Christ has had an enormous impact on the world. In fact for over 2,00028000:23:42,199 –> 00:23:47,699years he has been the most influential person in human history, but the really important28100:23:47,699 –> 00:23:51,800question is this, who is Jesus?28200:23:51,819 –> 00:23:57,079In this book Stott takes us on a fascinating journey to explore that question. He looks28300:23:57,099 –> 00:24:01,959at how the New Testament presents Jesus, how the church has spoken about him through the28400:24:01,959 –> 00:24:07,579centuries and how people’s lives have been completely changed through encountering him.28500:24:07,579 –> 00:24:13,500What’s lovely about the book is that it’s thoughtful and rich but also very accessible.28600:24:13,520 –> 00:24:17,900Stott spent a lifetime studying the Bible and helping people understand the person of28700:24:18,719 –> 00:24:23,719and this book really brings together the fruit of that lifetime of reflection.28800:24:23,719 –> 00:24:30,599So during April we’d love to send you a copy of the Incomparable Christ as our way of saying28900:24:30,599 –> 00:24:34,339thank you when you support the ministry of Open The Bible UK.29000:24:35,199 –> 00:24:43,760If you give a one-off gift of £60 or you set up a new monthly gift of £5 we’ll send the book to you.29100:24:44,500 –> 00:24:49,459Your support helps us continue sharing clear, faithful Bible teaching across the UK and beyond29200:24:49,459 –> 00:24:53,219and we are so grateful to you for your partnership.29300:24:53,219 –> 00:24:59,319Well the Incomparable Christ is our gift to you when you set up a new direct debit of29400:24:59,319 –> 00:25:05,020£5 per month or more or a one-off gift of £60 or more this month.29500:25:05,020 –> 00:25:09,239Full terms and conditions are on our website and you can give online.29600:25:10,119 –> 00:25:12,459For Open the Bible, I’m Pastor Colin Smith.29700:25:12,459 –> 00:25:17,060I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again next time!29800:25:23,699 –> 00:25:27,199How does God influence the world through prayer?29900:25:27,199 –> 00:25:29,560Find out next time on Open the Bible!