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Now we know from the Bible that when Jesus rose from the dead he ascended

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into heaven and right now he is seated at the right hand of the Father where he

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is interceding for us. So if Jesus is at the right hand of the Father how can he

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truly be present 24 7 with each and every one of us

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Welcome to open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith

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I’m David Pick and glad to be with us today then Colin please answer this

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question if Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father how can he also be

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with us? Well, that is the person and work and ministry of the Holy Spirit and

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what a wonderful central truth in the Christian faith this is that the Lord

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is as truly with us today right now as he was with the Disciples when they were

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in the boat on the lake or wherever they had followed him during his years on

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earth and that the way in which he is with us

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is by his Holy Spirit who is given to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus

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Christ we look at this wonderful verse in colossians chapter one in verse 27

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Christ in you the hope of glory so the lord Jesus Christ is actually in us and

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the way he is in us is by his Spirit imparted to us we’re going to look at

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that wonderful truth and how it makes a difference leading us to hope this is

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where hope is found in God through Christ and by means of the Holy Spirit

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so let’s get right into that as we continue the message hope through Christ

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Where in Colossians 1 and here’s Colin

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Confusing oneself with the Holy

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Spirit is actually at the root of a great deal of fanaticism, authoritarianism

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and self-deception you may even have met someone who has lost sight of the

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distinction between him or herself and the Holy Spirit and one of the ways that

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you know that a person has lost sight of that distinction is that they begin to

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speak as if everything they say is what God himself says and of course you

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cannot reason with such a person that’s why I say its the root of so much

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fanaticism authoritarianism and self deception. The Holy Spirit, Jesus says,

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will be with you that preserves a distinction. You are not the Holy Spirit

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the Holy Spirit is not you and of course that is why it is possible for a

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person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God still at times to speak or act in

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a way that is foolish or even sinful. But then Jesus says the Holy Spirit will be

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in you in you. In other words the Holy Spirit will actually be present and

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active in the life of every believer in Jesus every one of Jesus disciples. It’s

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not just that the Holy Spirit is with you, wonderful though that is when you

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trust yourself to Jesus the Holy Spirit comes to dwell that’s the word Jesus

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uses to live in you in you. Now what’s the difference? Well the difference is

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very significant this means that the Holy Spirit is more than a mentor more

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than someone who walks with you and simply tells you what to do. Now the Holy

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Spirit actually works in you renewing your mind, changing you from the inside

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out, molding and shaping and directing your will, giving you strength that you

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did not have before and would not have otherwise, producing within you, the good

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fruit of faith, hope and love. And you see that is why there is hope for every

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person in Jesus Christ. You may be standing at the the bottom of Mount Hope

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as it were and saying, you know what I don’t think I have the ability to live

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this Christian life. And you know what that’s true, but when

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Christ lives in you, when he is present and active in and through his Holy

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Spirit, he will give you an ability that you did not have before and that you

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would not have otherwise. So here is a wonderful, wonderful prospect and promise

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when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, his Spirit will not only be with

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you but in you. He will produce a new life in you that you did not have before.

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And you see when you grasp the first half of this marvelous verse, well then

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you will begin to experience the second, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now

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let’s think first then, about this marvelous word, glory. And Jesus gave this

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marvelous prayer to the father, made this marvelous prayer to the Father on the

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night that he was betrayed. And it’s a prayer not only for his disciples then

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but also for us. John 17 in verse 24, father I desire that they also whom you

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have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me.

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Jesus wants you to be with him. Jesus wants you to see his glory. Will this be

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a seeing with our eyes or will it be an understanding with our minds and our

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hearts? The answer to that is both. Thomas Manton the marvelous Puritan

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writer says that there is a glorified eye as well as a glorified mind. I love that.

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You will have a glorified eye. In other words, your eyes in the resurrection body

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will be able to behold the brightness of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Think about it.

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If you were to see that glory, now it would be as blinding to you as it was to Saul of Tarsus

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on the road to Damascus, but in your resurrection body you will have the capacity to see

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the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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We shall behold his face, we shall his power adore, and sing

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the wonders of his grace forevermore.

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But you know there’s more.

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Think about it.

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The angels are spirits and do not have bodies, no eyeballs for the angels, and yet our

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Lord tells us quite clearly that the angels always behold the glory of the Father in heaven.

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So not only will we see the glory of Christ with our own eyes in our resurrected body,

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we will have some grasp, some grasp of his glory in our hearts and in our minds and that

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is going to fuel worship in a way that we have never known it before.

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Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns

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before you lost in wonder, love, and praise.

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That’s how it’s going to be when you see the glory of Christ.

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Not only will we see his glory, but Jesus has promised that we will actually share his glory.

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John 17 in verse 22, the glory Jesus says to the Father, that you have given me I will

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give to them.

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That’s amazing.

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The disciples of Jesus will share his glory and this is something so certain that Jesus

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speaks about it as if it is something that has already happened.

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And of course you find the same in Romans in chapter eight, where the Apostle Paul says

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those whom God has justified he also glorified.

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And he tells us what this means.

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That we are going to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ when we see him,

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we’re going to be like him.

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All of God’s children will reflect forever the beauty, the glory of God’s one and only

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dearly loved Son.

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Glory.

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Christ in you, the hope of glory.

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Now let’s think about this word hope that is central to our series.

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The Apostle Paul does not say, Christ in you is glory now.

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He says Christ in you is the hope of glory.

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So you see, Christians live in this tension between what we have now and what we will

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have one day when we see Christ.

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We live in the tension, to put it another way, of the already and the not yet.

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And the process that’s going to end in you reflecting the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ,

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that process has already begun, already.

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I’m thinking of second Corinthians 3 in verse 18, where Paul says, we with unveiled faces

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beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree

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of glory to another.

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This is present tense.

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This is what God is doing by his spirit now.

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The work of changing us into the likeness of Christ, the work of his glory

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beginning to be reflected in you is already begun.

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There’s an already, but there’s also a not yet.

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Romans 8 in verse 23, we who have the first fruits of the spirit, Paul says,

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We have to, then, be grown inwardly as we wait for

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adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

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He’s saying we don’t have that yet.

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We’re waiting for it.

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It’s our hope that lies in the future.

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So, Christians live in the tension between what we have in Christ already

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and what we do not have yet.

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And John Stott, very helpfully, spells out what it is like for us to live,

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as it were, between times in this tension of what we already enjoy in Christ

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and what is not yet ours.

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Let me quote some words from him.

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Already, he says, we affirm that God has revealed himself.

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We really do know God because He’s made Himself known in Christ,

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but not yet do we know God as He knows us.

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That’s why we live with many mysteries and so many unanswered questions.

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The already and the not yet.

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Then he says, already, God has put His Holy Spirit within us in order

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to make us holy.

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You have the power and the capacity to pursue a holy life already, now, pursue it.

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And yet, says John Stott,

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not yet, however, has our fallen nature been eradicated, for still the sinful nature does

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what is contrary to the spirit, so that if we claim ourselves to be without sin, we deceive

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ourselves.

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That’s why we are in a battle.

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The Spirit indwells you, and yet you still know this temptation with many pulls towards

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sin.

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Third example.

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Already, Jesus is gathering — Staude says — around him, a people characterised by

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truth and love and holiness.

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These are distinguishing marks of the church.

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But then he adds this.

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Not yet, however, has Christ presented his bride to himself as a radiant church without

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stain or wrinkle or any other blemish.

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The marks of the new life of Christ can be seen in other believers, but you’ll never

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find it perfectly anywhere.

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One more.

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Already, we affirm, Staude says, God is at work in human society.

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Not yet, however, has God created the promised new heaven and new earth, the home of righteousness.

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That is why, for all the blessings that we enjoy, the apostle Paul says that the whole

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creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up until the present time.

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At present, we are living in between times, the hope of glory.

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We live between the grace that we grasp by faith and the glory that we anticipate in

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hope.

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Christ in you the hope of glory, and these two belong together.

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If Christ is yours, living hope will be yours as well.

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It comes from God and through Christ.

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We’re listening to open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message Hope Through Christ.

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And in a moment we’ll come back and look at growing in hope.

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If you miss any of our series which is called Growing in Faith, Hope and Love you can always catch up

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or go back and listen again online at our website OpenTheBible.org.uk

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There you can catch any of the previously broadcast messages.

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Back to the message now. We’re in Colossians and chapter one.

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Here’s Colin.

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Now, I want this series to be as practical as possible.

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So, let me try and give now three applications in which we see further how to grow in hope.

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The first, very obviously from this verse is if you’re to grow in hope

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you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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There is hope for you in God and that hope will become yours in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The hope of glory is Christ in you.

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If Christ is yours glory will be yours.

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Christ becomes yours in and through faith.

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And this is why the apostle Paul says I have been crucified with Christ,

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it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

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And the life I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Hope comes from God, it comes through Christ and Christ becomes yours through faith

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as you believe in him.

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Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ will be in you.

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And when Christ is yours, living hope will be yours, as well.

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And of course it follows that without Christ, you really have no ground for hope.

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You know, the apostle does not say good in you is the hope of glory.

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He doesn’t say, trying your best in you will be the hope of glory.

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No, Christ in you the hope of glory.

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So believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Trust yourself to him and hope will be yours.

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Then, secondly, let’s learn today to enjoy what Christ has given.

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You know when we talk about hope, it would be very easy to fall into the mistaken idea

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that somehow the Christian faith is all about jam tomorrow and no jam today.

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But God’s promise is not only the hope of glory, God’s promise is Christ in you.

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So enjoy what is yours in Jesus Christ today.

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Think about it, in Jesus Christ you are forgiven.

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In Jesus Christ you are loved.

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In Jesus Christ right now you are a new creation.

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The apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that being justified by faith we have peace

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with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, so he says we rejoice in the hope of the glory

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of God.

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And then he says hope does not disappoint us.

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Why are we not disappointed by hope?

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Well he gives the answer.

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Here’s why we’re not miserable in this world while we’re waiting for the better

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one to come.

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Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts

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through the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us.

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Christ lives in you.

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And you therefore already have a taste of what is to come, so enjoy what is yours in

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Jesus Christ now.

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How are you to grow in hope?

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You’ve got to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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You’ve got to enjoy what is yours in Jesus Christ now, and here’s the last thing.

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Anticipate what Jesus Christ has promised.

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Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have the most marvelous future.

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No eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared

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for those who love him.

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Some people talk about living your best life now and you know, living your best life now

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is what a person does if they’re going to hell.

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If Christ is not in you, the only happiness you’ll ever know is the happiness that you

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have in this world.

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If Christ is not in you, you’d better enjoy all that you can right now because there’s

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in the future for you to enjoy, not beyond this world.

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But you see, if Christ is in you, your best life lies ahead of you.

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You’re in an altogether different position!

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You have living hope.

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Listen to how David describes it in the psalms.

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He says to God,

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Then he says this,

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As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness,

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When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

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Brother, sister in Christ,

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ahead of you are joys that are greater than anything you have ever known.

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Ahead of you is strength, greater than anything you have previously enjoyed.

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Ahead of you lies peace, and love, and flourishing,

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In a perfect world, where faith is turned to sight,

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Where god’s redeemed people will be made perfect in love,

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Where sin, and sorrow, and suffering are no more,

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And every tear is wiped away from your eyes,

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In that perfect world you will behold him.

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You will dwell with him, and he with you.

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You will glorify him, and you will enjoy him forever.

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What a comforting and uplifting thought as we finish our message today,

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Enjoying and Glorifying God Forever.

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Our message is called Hope Through Christ,

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

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based on Colossians 1 verse 27.

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And if you’ve missed any of the series or if you want

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to go back and listen again you can always do that

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by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk.

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You can also find us as a podcast that’s on your favourite podcast site

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and just find that by searching open the Bible uk.

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Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners,

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that’s ordinary people just like you.

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If you appreciate Open the Bible’s Ministry

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and you’d like to support us in this way but you haven’t yet

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done so.

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Can I encourage you to begin a donation this month to Open the Bible.

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If you’re able to support Open the Bible with a direct debit

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

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we’d love to say thank you by sending you a copy of

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Jerry Bridges’ book Respectable Sins.

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Colin, we know what sin is, but what in the world is respectable sin?

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It’s a fascinating title for a book, isn’t it?

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Jerry Bridges’ point is that there are some sins that are so despicable

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that we immediately recognise them as things that we’d never touch or go near,

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but there are other things that are displeasing to God and are equally sins

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that we may be tempted to accommodate in our lives

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and perhaps not even recognise them as sins, which they are.

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And what’s so helpful is that Jerry actually lists these.

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He has a short chapter on any number of them,

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including anger, frustration, discontent, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness,

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lack of self-control, impatience, irritability, judgementalism, envy, jealousy.

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The list goes on, but what he does is he identifies them,

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speaks about why they’re sins, why they’re displeasing to God,

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why they bring destruction in our lives

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and how we can fight against them and begin to prevail over them.

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So this is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to grow in likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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I have found it immensely helpful. It’s a book I’ve gone back to many times

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and that’s why I’m really pleased that we’re able to commend it to others this month.

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Well, Gerry Bridges’ book Respectable Sins is our gift to you

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when you are able to set up a new direct debit to the work of Open the Bible

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in the amount of £5 per month or more or a single donation of £50.

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For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick

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

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What does the word grace really mean?

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Find out next time on Open the Bible