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Our hope is from God, it is through Christ and this hope

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is given. It is not earned.

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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David

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Pick. I’m pleased you could be with us today. Colin, I’m glad

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we’re gonna spend some time today thinking about where hope

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comes from because I think sometimes we feel we really

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ought to be able to earn it.

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Yeah, I think that’s right. It’s actually the default position of

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the human heart that we feel that if we do the things that

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God has commanded us to do that that will be a basis on which we

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would have hope before him. And of course the problem is it

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never works. We never get to a place where we really do have

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lively hope or confidence before God on the basis of the lives

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that we’ve lived. And Jesus speaks very clearly about this.

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He says in John five and verse forty five, do not think that I

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will accuse you to the Father.

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There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your

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hope. So here are people who are setting their hope on living a

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good enough life for God and Jesus says, now that’s actually

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going to lead not to your vindication but actually to your

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condemnation. That’s the law that’s going to accuse you.

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So here’s the wonderful truth that we’re heading to in the

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program today, that hope does not come through our fulfilling

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of the law, hope comes to us through the grace that we find

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in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is a wonderfully renewing

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truth.

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So let’s continue to look at that truth. We’re in 2

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Thessalonians and Chapter 2 as we begin our message, hope, by

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grace. Here’s Colin.

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We’re asking the question, how can I grow in Hope?

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And we saw very simply first that hope comes from

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God. We looked at the experience of David at a low

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point in his life. He was dried out. He was downcast. He

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was in turmoil, but he challenged his darkest thoughts.

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Why are you cast down O my soul? Hope in God.

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We saw that there is hope in God for every person and that

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you find that hope through a relationship with him.

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David could speak about God as my rock, my salvation, my

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God. So that led us to the question. Well, now how do you

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come to such a relationship with God in which you find hope

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in him? And we saw the answer of the Bible to that question

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is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We looked last

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time at Colossians, chapter one, and verse 27, Christ

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Christ, in you the hope of GLORY, when you believe in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, he himself comes to dwell in you by the

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Holy Spirit. Jesus said to his disciples the Holy Spirit will

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dwell with you. And he will be in you, Christ in you. And it’s

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the presence of Christ by the Holy Spirit in a person’s life

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Thanksgiving is the constant maintenance of everything.

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We saw that the Holy Spirit is more than a mentor coming

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alongside and telling you what you need to do. He actually

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works in you, renewing your mind, shaping your will,

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changing you from the inside out. And this is why there is

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hope for every person in Jesus Christ, Christ in you is what

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God created and redeemed you to be. And it’s going to happen

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through Christ in you. So we’ve learned that hope comes from

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God and it comes through Jesus Christ. But there’s something

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else that we need to grasp if we’re going to grow in hope. So

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today, I want us to take a third step in our journey.

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Hope comes from God, it is through Christ and now today, I

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want us to see it is by grace. Look with me if you would at

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Second Thessalonians chapter two in verse sixteen. Now, may our

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Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and

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gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. May he

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comfort your hearts and establish them in every good

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work and word. Now, notice that the Apostle is speaking here

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about hope. He speaks about eternal comfort and good hope

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and he tells us what we’ve already seen that hope comes

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from God and it comes through Christ and notice the

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relationship. Hope comes from our Lord Jesus Christ and God

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our father. But there’s something more here. The

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apostle tells us that this hope comes from God our father

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through our Lord Jesus Christ and it comes to us by grace.

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Now, what is grace? Well, notice the word gave in this

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verse. Our Lord Jesus Christ and God our father who loved

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us gave us good hope. So, our hope is from God. It is

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through Christ and this hope is given. It is not earned and

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that is the meaning of this wonderful word, grace. Now, I

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want us to see today that hope does not come from the law.

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It’s not earned by what we do. It does come through grace and

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in the light of that we’re going to look at some further

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strategies as to how we can grow in hope. First then, hope

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does not come by the law. Now, I’d like to look at one other

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verse of scripture today and that’s from John 5 and verse 45.

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Look at these words of the Lord Jesus, do not think he says that

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I will accuse you to the father. That is one who accuses you,

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Moses on whom you have set your Hope. Now, notice that Jesus is

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speaking here to people who have set their hope on Moses.

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Now, Moses of course received the law from God. He was the

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one who gave God’s laws to God’s people. And so to set

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your hope on Moses as these people to whom Jesus speaks

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here were doing is to base your hope on obedience to God’s law.

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So here were people who had set their hope on a life of

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obedience. They believed that hope comes from God. And they

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knew that God had given the commandments. And so they had

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concluded that they could have hope

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in God, if they did what God said.

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If I live a good life, well, God will see what I have done, and

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he will then welcome me into the joy of his presence. That

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was their hope. Now notice what Jesus has said here. You have

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set your hope on Moses, but here’s the problem. Moses is not

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your friend. Moses is your accuser. There is one who

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accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. Now, why

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would Moses have been their accuser? Well, because none of

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these people, and none of us, have kept the law that Moses

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gave. Take the Tenth Commandment as an example. You

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shall not covet. There’s part of the law given by God

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through Moses. And you see the good in this command, you shall

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not covet. And so you try to keep it. You say, well, I must

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not covet. And what that means is that I must learn to be

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content, I must be grateful for what I have, I must live within

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my means. It also means of course, that I must find as much

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joy in what God gives to others as I would, if God had given

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these same things to me. But now think about it, can any of us

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honestly say, that when you see other people’s gifts, and

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opportunities and friends and looks and skills and homes and

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possessions can any of us honestly say that we never

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covet not even a tiny little bit?

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Now if you set your hope on Moses, on obedience to the law

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of God, if that’s your hope, you’re in for a rude awakening.

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That’s the point of what Jesus is saying.

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The law is not on your side, it’s not your friend, it’s your

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accuser.

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So hope does not come by the law.

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Now does anyone set their hope on Moses today?

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Yes absolutely.

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Millions do and the place you’re most likely to find many of them

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is in church.

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You see it is possible to believe that hope comes from God and to

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believe that it comes through the Lord Jesus Christ, and then

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to set your hope on living a good enough Christian life.

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And here’s what you will experience if you set your hope

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on obedience to God’s law.

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What you’ll find is that when you’re doing well, you’ll think

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I’m really doing rather well and you’ll immediately be tempted

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to pride.

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And when you do badly, well then immediately you’re going to

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find that you’re tempted to despair.

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And you’re going to find that you will live under the

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constant cloud of haunting questions that never go away.

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Have I done enough?

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Have I prayed enough?

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Have I been a good enough mother or father or son or daughter or

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husband or wife or brother or sister?

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Have I been a good enough neighbor?

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Have I been a good enough friend?

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Have I been a really good witness?

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Have I been a good example?

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Is my faith good enough?

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do I love God enough?

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Have I been a good enough Christian?

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And, you know, to all of these haunting questions, your

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conscience will whisper the answer, No, no, no.

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you will.

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If you set your hope on fulfilling all that God has

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called you to do, you will not have any hope at all.

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Your conscience will tell you that there’s more

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that they should have done, that there’s more that they

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should have done.

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You will never feel that you have done enough.

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And in the end the law on which you set your hope will

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condemn you.

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Hope does not come through the law.

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But God gives hope by grace.

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That’s the central point of the text that we’re looking at today.

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Do you remember at the beginning of John’s Gospel, John says the

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law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and he

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says we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness.

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You’re listening to open the Bible with

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pastor Colin Smith and our message hope by grace.

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We’re hearing that hope does not come from the law.

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In a moment, we’ll come back and hear how hope really comes by grace.

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If you ever miss one of our broadcasts

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or if you want to go back to to earlier in the series, you can do that by coming

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online to our website, openthebible.org.uk

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or by finding us as a podcast.

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And those are available on all the major podcasting sites.

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We’re in two Thessalonians and Chapter two today.

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As we continue the message, Hope by grace, here’s Colin.

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So we’re going to focus on grace in our text today.

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Let’s look at it more closely together.

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Hope does not come from the law.

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Hope comes by grace, see this in second,

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Thessalonians and chapter two and verse 16.

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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our Father,

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who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope, how through grace,

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hope through grace.

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And grace.

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Is God giving

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what we don’t deserve.

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And hope comes through grace.

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Now, do you see that this cuts right

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through all these haunting questions about how well you’ve performed in the

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Christian life?

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How much have you prayed?

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How well have you lived?

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How faithful have you been?

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Grace simply sets all these questions aside.

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Because your hope is not based on you measuring up.

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Hope comes through grace.

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That is it is God giving you what you don’t deserve.

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He gave us eternal comfort and good hope through

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Grace.

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Hope comes from God through Christ.

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And it’s by grace.

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Now, when I think about grace, the first thing that comes to

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my mind is that Jesus died for our sins.

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Our sins were laid on Jesus.

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He gave his life as a sacrifice

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so that our sins would not be charged against us.

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But, you know, there are two parts

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to what God has done for us in Christ, two dimensions as it

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were, of God’s grace.

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God, on the one side, has taken away our sins.

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And on the other, he has credited to us Christ’s righteousness.

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You can think about God’s grace to you

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being like a robe that is draped around you.

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You might find it helpful, actually, if you put on a robe

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in the morning when you put that robe on to think about how it

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represents the two sides of God’s grace.

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Two sides of the robe are folded over you.

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On the one side,

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God folds you in the forgiveness that is yours through the death of Jesus.

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And on the other side, God folds you in the righteousness

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that is yours through the life of Jesus.

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Jesus died the death that we should have died,

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and Jesus lived the life that we should have lived.

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In other words, Christ did what we have failed to do, and he lived his life for us.

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So when our hearts condemn us in regards

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to what we have failed to do, we find hope not only in resting in the death

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of Jesus for us, but also resting in the life of Jesus for us.

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The death he died and the life he lived.

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I’ve been reading a book by Andrew Bonner

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in which he shows how to apply the perfect life of Jesus to your conscience

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when you find yourself very troubled by a sense of your own failure.

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Now, I’m putting this in my own words, but I’m drawing from Bonner’s examples.

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Did you waste your youth?

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Jesus Christ grew in wisdom and in favour

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with God and man.

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See, he lived the perfect youth and childhood for you.

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He lived the youth and childhood that you didn’t.

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So don’t let your wasted youth or childhood lead you to despair.

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Have you neglected prayer?

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Christ rose early in the morning to pray,

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and he prayed through the night.

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Boehner says,

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this God will impute to me as if I had prayed every day and every night.

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See,

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God, by his grace and mercy,

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will regard you as if you had prayed as much as Jesus himself did.

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Have you sought your own will rather than the will of God?

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Do you perhaps look back even years ago

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to a decision you made? You felt God was calling you to something costly,

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well you weren’t up for it.

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You pulled back.

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And years later you look back on that decision and the different course

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that your life took, and you have a profound feeling that you let him down.

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You didn’t have the courage to do what you sensed he was calling you to do,

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and you live with a great sense of regret.

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Have you sought your own will rather than the will of God?

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Jesus said to the Father,

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not my will, but yours be done.

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He gave

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what you withheld,

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and God regards you in his grace and mercy and Jesus Christ as if you had been

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as willing to pursue that costly call as Jesus himself was

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Examples could be multiplied

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and you can work this out for yourself.

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Have you been worldly?

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Jesus was not of this world.

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Have you been double minded?

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Jesus was always single and resolute in his purpose.

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All these things he did.

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He lived a life that we have failed to live and he lived that life for us.

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And then Bonar, because he was a pastor.

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Makes this application.

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Have I been a good enough pastor?

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You see the questions of whether we’ve

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been good enough at what God has called us to do, go everywhere.

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And where is a pastor or a missionary

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or a Christian leader to go when we feel our own failings?

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Well, we find hope not in what we are

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doing for Christ, but in what he has done for us.

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He is the perfect shepherd.

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That no one else has ever managed to be

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and what he did, he did for us,

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Boner says his shepherd’s heart and work cover over ours.

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You see this beautiful truth.

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Jesus is everything that we have failed to be.

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He has done everything that we have

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failed to do and God counts all that the Lord Jesus Christ has

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done for us, as if it had been done by us.

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A powerful look there at hope,

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and we’ve heard how hope doesn’t come from the law, it comes by grace.

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Next time, we’ll find out how to grow in grace.

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You’re listening to Open the Bible with

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Pastor Colin Smith and our message called Hope by Grace.

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It’s part of our series Growing in Faith, Hope and Love.

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And if you ever miss one of the series

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or if you want to go back and listen again,

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you can do that by coming online to our

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website, openthebible.org.uk,

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there you’ll find all of the previously broadcast messages.

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You’ll also find open the Bible Daily,

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and that’s a series of short two to three minute daily reflections based

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on Pastor Colin’s teaching and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish.

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There’s a fresh one every day and it’s a great way to start the day.

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We want to help you to understand how the books in the Bible fit together

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and a good way to do that is with open the Bible story.

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You can find that on our website.

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It’s a journey through the whole Bible,

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a study course in 30 parts entitled The Drive,

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it will take you deep into the valleys of the Old Testament,

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the peaks of the glories of Jesus and the ups and downs of the Christian life.

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All the way through,

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it will show how the Bible always points to the person of Jesus Christ.

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You can find Open the Bible story on our website at openthebible.org.uk.

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Whether you listen to Open the Bible on the radio, on our website or as a podcast,

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it’s your generosity that keeps Pastor Colin’s messages available.

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So thank you for supporting the ministry.

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If that’s something you’ve thought about doing,

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and you’re able to set up a new direct debit to the work of Open the Bible

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for the amount of £5 per month or more, or a single donation of £50,

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we’d love to say thank you by sending you a copy of Jerry Bridge’s book.

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Respectable Sins.

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Colin, how is this book helpful for you?

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Well, I find it helpful in my own life in three ways.

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The first is

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that Jerry Bridges identifies some of these

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sins that can easily hide in our hearts as Christian believers.

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And you know, you can’t fight against what you don’t see.

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You can’t confess what you don’t see.

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So the first thing is to be able to see

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what might be lurking there, and that’s the great value of this book.

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So when you’re able to identify what

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you need to be fighting against more strongly,

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then the next thing to do is to confess it,

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to seek the cleansing of the blood of Christ and then to begin to fight against it.

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And Jerry Bridges has a chapter in here that is absolutely worth its weight in gold.

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It’s certainly well worth getting the whole book for.

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Directions for Dealing With Sins.

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How are you going to deal with the sins that lurk in your heart and in your life?

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He gives seven very practical directions.

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It’s worth his weight in gold.

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So this is a treasure.

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It really helps us to move forward.

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So we don’t just become an older version

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of the person we were before, but actually become someone who’s more

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and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, which is what every Christian really wants.

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So Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins is our gift to you.

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If you’re able to set up a new direct debit

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00:24:50,119 –> 00:24:54,599

to the work of Open the Bible this month in the amount of £5 per month

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00:24:54,800 –> 00:24:58,280

or more, or a single donation of £50.

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Full terms and conditions on our website

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openthebible.org.uk

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For Open the Bible and for Pastor Colin Smith,

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I am David Picke and I hope you’ll join us again next time.

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Everyone relates

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to God either based on law or based on grace.

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Discover the difference next time on Open the Bible.