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Do not be put off by the apparent difficulty of getting to Jesus. Learn from the example

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of these five men. They were determined, nothing would stop them, do not let anything stop

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you either.

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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick. I’m glad you could

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be with us today. We continue a story from Mark chapter 1 today where Jesus has something

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to offer. Today he’s offering things to you and I, and it’s easy to be distracted from

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him. But you’re saying, what Jesus offers is so important that we shouldn’t be put off.

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Yeah. And sometimes we get to in Scripture just a little picture of how to receive from

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Jesus Christ. There are certain people who came to Christ. They wouldn’t let anything

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put them off and they received from Jesus Christ.

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We’re going to look at the story of the leper today who came to Jesus and he just pressed

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through. He said, now, if you’re willing, you can make me clean. And he received from

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Christ. And I think he gives us a little snapshot, a very, very simple snapshot of how any person

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can come to Jesus Christ today and receive from him.

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So, join us, if you can, in Mark and Chapter 1, at verse 40, as we continue our message,

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Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. Here’s Colin.

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Now, I want to give five encouragements to help you come to Christ and receive from him

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today. And these, I think, will be helpful. I’ve found them helpful as I’ve pondered

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them again from the bible this week. They’ll be helpful, whatever we are, in terms of coming

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to Christ as we learn from the example of those who press through to receive from our

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Lord and Saviour.

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Here’s encouragement number one. Don’t let anything stop you from coming to Jesus. Whatever

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you do, having recognised your greatest need and having recognised his authority from the

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word of God, whatever you do, don’t let anything stop you from coming to Jesus.

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Now, surely that is what we learn from the paralysed man and his friends and their great

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example. When they arrived carrying this mat, and the man on it, and saw that the house

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was full and that there was a crowd outside the front of the door as well, they might

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very easily have said, well, you know, there’s no way we’re ever going to get to Jesus

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today, let’s just go home and perhaps there’ll be another time and another opportunity. But

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were made of stronger stuff than that, they would not let anything stop them from coming

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to Jesus Christ. Whatever it takes! No passivity, no giving

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up, whatever it takes to get to Jesus, we’re ready to do that and we’re going to do it

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today. That’s their spirit. Love that. Let me ask this question. What might be stopping

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you from coming to Jesus? Is it a Christian who has given a bad example and you’ve never

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got over it? Is it a great request that you made of God and you did not receive what you

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asked? You’ve never quite come to terms with that? Don’t let anything stop you from coming

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to Jesus Christ. Maybe you’ve tried to come to Jesus before but you feel you haven’t

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got there. Listen, don’t be put off by the apparent difficulty of coming to Jesus. The

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gospels are telling us that even when He was in a little place like Capernaum, people

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who lived there didn’t find it easy to get to Him. And you may find that there are many

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in getting to the Lord Jesus Christ and your journey of faith to really draw near to Him,

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don’t be put off by the apparent difficulty of getting to Jesus. Learn from the example

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of these five men. They were determined nothing would stop them, don’t let anything stop you

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either. Because nothing is more important than this. That’s the first encouragement.

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Second. Fix your faith on Jesus Christ alone. Fix your faith on Him directly. Directly.

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Now, I want to move here to the other story that’s before us today. Mark chapter one

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and verse forty tells us the story of another man who came to Jesus. And one thing that

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ties these two stories together is what we learn about the way in which they approach

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Jesus, how they actually receive these wonderful gifts from his hand. In chapter one verse

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forty we’re told a man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, if you

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are willing, you can make me clean. Now, notice how all of this man’s hope is pitched directly

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on Jesus Christ. The you is the really strong word and it comes twice. If you are willing,

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you can make me clean. He’s on his knees as he says this, he’s begging Jesus, he’s speaking

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directly to Jesus. If you are willing, you can make me clean. Now, here’s the important

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point here, the you is singular. You! And remember that at this time Jesus is already

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surrounded by the first disciples who are traveling with him. There’s Simon, there’s

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Andrew, there’s James, and there’s John who he has called to follow him. And it strikes

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me significant that when this man comes, he ignores the disciples completely. He might

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have come and said to the group, you know, if you guys are willing, I think you can help

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me. But he doesn’t do that. He fixes on Jesus alone, not the disciples and he says

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if you are willing, you can make me clean. Now here’s the application of that to us.

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Don’t make the mistake of confusing Christ and His church. Don’t make the mistake of

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confusing what Jesus can do with you and what his followers might be able to do for

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you. You see, I meet many folks, I have met many folks over the years who have pitched

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their hope on what other Christians can do for them. And other Christians can do many

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things for you that are very good. Other Christians can help you find confidence. Other Christians

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can help you find purpose. Other Christians can give you the gift of friendship, but other

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Christians cannot forgive your sins. Other Christians cannot give you power to live a

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new and different kind of life. Other Christians cannot give you entrance into eternal life

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in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now if you are going to receive from Christ, and this is the issue before us here, how

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are we actually going to receive from him? Well first make sure that nothing puts you

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off or stops you from coming to him. But second, you’re going to have to get your eyes off

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what other Christians may be able to do for you, and to fix your eyes on Jesus Christ

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directly. Now, here is one of the greatest spiritual

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dangers for folks like us. You know that it is possible to be assimilated into the church,

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to have relationships with other Christians without ever directly receiving from Jesus

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Christ. And that is probably one of the most dangerous

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spiritual positions for a person to be in, because it masks the reality of your true

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position. You think that all is well with you because you are in relationship with other

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Christians. But if your greatest need is going to be met, it can only be met directly from

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Jesus Christ. And that is what this man had wonderfully grasped to the exclusion of all

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of the disciples. He comes directly to Jesus and on His knees he says, If you are willing,

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you can make me clean. It is a singular fixing of faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you

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know the greatest complaint that Jesus made against religious people? You will find it

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in John’s gospel and chapter 5 and verse 40 and this is what Jesus said as a complaint

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against religious people. He spoke about all the things that religious people do and then

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he said, but you will not come to me and have life. That’s your problem. You’ll go to your

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friends. You’ll go to your priest. You’ll go to your rabbi. You’ll go to your pastor.

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You’ll go to your small group. You will go to your church. You’ll go to your therapist.

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But, you will not come to me that you may receive life. That is the chief complaint

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of Jesus Christ against religious people.

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Now, I plead with you today. Don’t make that mistake. It’s possible to be in the

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company of the disciples of Jesus, without ever personally coming to receive directly

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from Jesus Christ, and this man, the leper, is a wonderful example to us as he comes

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and pitches his singular faith on Jesus Christ, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

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There is in your hand a gift that no one else can give me, and that can be received from

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no one else either. So fix your faith on Jesus Christ directly.

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We’ve got to pause the message briefly there but we’ll be back with Colin in a moment.

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The message today is called Jesus has the authority to forgive sins and it’s part of

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the series The Gospel According to Jesus, and if you’ve missed any of the series or

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if you want to go back and listen again, you can do that by coming online to our web site

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openthebible.org.uk. There you’ll find all the messages which have already gone out on

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air.

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You can also find Caster Colin’s messages as podcasts, and those are available on all

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the major podcast sites. Search for Open the Bible UK, and subscribe to receive regular

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updates. You’ll also find a link to the podcasts on our web site.

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Back to the message now, we’re in The Gospel of Mark Chapter 1, and Verse 40, here’s Colin.

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Fix your faith on Jesus Christ directly. Here’s the third answer, third encouragement. How

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are you going to receive from Jesus? Well, don’t let anything stop you from coming and

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rising and make sure that you are pitching your faith directly on Jesus. Here’s the third

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thing, and this is a wonderful encouragement, I think, come with the faith that you have.

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Come with the faith that you have. Notice what the man says here in Verse 40. If you

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are willing, you can make me clean. If you’re willing, you can make me clean. Now someone

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has put it this way, that that little word if has two letters in it, but these two letters

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bring together two whole worlds. The world of faith and the world of unbelief, if, if.

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I believe that you are able to make me clean, that’s faith, but I’m not sure if that

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is the sort of thing you would want to do. That’s unbelief.

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So when this man says if, you know that what’s going on in his soul is a kind of mixture

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of faith with unbelief. But that is the faith that he has and the encouragement to us is

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that is how he comes to Jesus. You can’t come to Jesus with what you don’t have. You can

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only come to Jesus with what you do have. You have to come with the faith that you have.

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One writer puts it this way, I find this very helpful. Some people come to faith not by

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any sudden and irresistible impulse of the spirit. But rather by a gradual process. The

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spirit working out unbelief and working in faith. And maybe what’s happening in your

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life right now. Don’t let the limitations of your faith prevent you from coming to Jesus

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Christ. Take encouragement from the response of Jesus to this man. Jesus does not take

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offence at the weakness of this man’s faith. The man says to Jesus, if you are willing

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you can make me clean. Jesus does not turn around to him and say, if, what do you mean

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by if? You see? What does Jesus say to him at verse 41. The man says, if you are willing,

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Jesus says I am willing. And you see in these words, Jesus removes all the doubt. Now here’s

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the principle. Come to Christ with the faith that you have and he will deal with your unbelief.

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He will deal with your unbelief. Come to Christ with the faith that you have and he will deal

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with your unbelief. But you have to come to Christ. You see, you can’t just stay there

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with your mixture of faith and unbelief at a distance from him. If you stay there, you’ll

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never change. It will never move. But if you come to Christ with the faith that you have,

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He will deal, as you come to him, with your unbelief. And that is exactly what happened

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for this man who received from the hand of Jesus. So we’re asking the question, how

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are you going to receive what you need and what Christ is able to give to you? Don’t

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let anything stop you from coming to Christ. Fix your faith on Christ alone and Christ

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directly. Come with the faith that you have.

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Fourth encouragement, draw strength, draw encouragement from the compassion of Jesus.

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Do you see verse 41? Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the

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man. Now, of course there’s great drama in this moment because nobody would touch a leper.

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But Jesus does and remember Jesus is everything that God is in the flesh. By the way, Jesus

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is everything that God is in the flesh. Jesus touches the leper. Let that inform your understanding

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of God. This is what God is like and if this is what God is like wouldn’t you want to

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know Him and be near to Him and to be part of His great Kingdom with all of its saving

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and wonderful effects? These things are revealed for us you see. The whole Bible – it is

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revealed for us for God’s people so that we will know how He responds to the most desperate

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needs when we come to Him. The scripture is telling us here that Jesus is filled with

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compassion, that His heart is moved, the heart of Jesus. Now if He had compassion for this

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one, why would He not have compassion for you? If His heart is moved by the plight of

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this man, why should you not have confidence that His heart will reach out to you as you

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come to Him with the faith that you have? Draw encouragement from what we’ve learned

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here in the Bible about the compassion of Jesus, He will not turn you away as you draw

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near to Him today. Here is the last thing, get to the point. You know this is something

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that congregations sometimes say about preachers? I wish he’d get to the point. Have you ever

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heard this? Can you believe this? This is something that we all need. There are folks

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who sit in the pew for years and never get to the point with Jesus Christ. Have you got

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to the point with Jesus? See, some of you who operate very effectively in the world

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of business, you’re brilliant at this. You lay out the situation, and you make the ask,

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why can’t you do that with Jesus Christ? Have you ever come to the place where honestly

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you’ve got down to business with Jesus, if I can put it that way, and you have to use

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a phrase that the Puritans used that I think is very helpful. Brought Christ to the point.

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I like that. Bringing Jesus to the point. If you come to Him and say look here’s what

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is. Forgiveness is my greatest need. You have authority to forgive my sins. Here’s

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the point. Will you through your death and resurrection please forgive my sins in their

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entirety and bring me into a new and living relationship with God by your mercy and by

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your grace? Will you do that for me? Come with the faith that you have, you’ll deal with

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the rest of your unbelief as you come. And as you move forward as a disciple of Jesus.

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But the reason that some of us have remained floating around in church world knowing the

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disciples but not actually receiving from Jesus Christ is that we have never got to

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the point to make the ask. And if you’ve seen that forgiveness is your greatest need and

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that Jesus has authority to forgive sins, why would you not get to the point with Jesus

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Christ today? Don’t let anything stop you from coming to Jesus. Fix your faith on Christ

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alone. Come with the faith you have. Draw encouragement from the compassion of Jesus

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and get to the point and make the ask. And I can’t do that for you. You don’t want me

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to do that for you because you want to receive from his hand just as a paralyzed man did

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and just as a desperate leper did.

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Pastor Colin there reminding us of our desperate need for Jesus and how we shouldn’t let

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anything stop us from coming to him. Maybe, as you’ve been listening to the message today,

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you’ve heard God calling you into a relationship with Jesus Christ. You’d like to know more

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about how to enter in to that relationship, by the saving grace of God and if so, I hope

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you’ll seek out a trusted Christian friend or family member or maybe go along to a Christian

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church fellowship. Take time to speak with the folk there, the pastor or simply members

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of that fellowship. Tell them about your journey to discover faith for yourself. You’ll find

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they’ll be ready to pray with you to help you make that step. Or if you’re not yet ready

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to make that step and still have questions, and we all have questions, there may well

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be a Bible study course or a home group or an alpha program that you can join.

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You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible and the message called Jesus

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Has the Authority to Forgive Sins. That’s part of our series called The Gospel According

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to Jesus and if you’ve missed any of the series to

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date, or if you want to go back and listen again, you can easily do that by coming online

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to our website open thebible.org.uk. There you’ll find all the messages which have already

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been broadcast. You can also find the messages as a podcast if that’s a better way for you

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to hear Pastor Colin’s teaching and those are available on all the major podcast sites,

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just search for open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates.

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Also available on our website and as a podcast you’ll find open the Bible Daily and those

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are short two to three minute reflections based on Pastor Colin’s teaching and read

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in the UK by Sue MacLeish. At open the Bible we welcome contact with our listeners. If

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you’ve been blessed by Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching, and you’d like to reach out to us,

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there are several ways you can do that. You can write to us at open the Bible P.O. Box

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1420 Cheltenham GL50 9PG or you can phone us on 0330 335 8089

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If we’re not available when you call, leave a message for us and we’ll return your call.

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And you can find all those contact details on our website openthebible.org.uk

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Open the Bible is a listener supported programme

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and that means exactly what it sounds like

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It’s your generosity that keeps Pastor Colin’s teaching on this station and on-line

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If supporting Open the Bible in that way is something you’d like to begin doing

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and you’re able to set up a monthly direct debit of £5 per month

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or more, or a one-off gift of £50 or more this month

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We’d love to say thank you by sending you a

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copy of Pastor Colin’s latest booklet, What Jesus Says to Sceptics

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Colin, how would you describe a sceptic?

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Well I think a sceptic is someone who would not at

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this point say that they’ve made a commitment of faith

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but on the other hand they’ve not rejected the Lord Jesus Christ either

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They’re somewhere in between, there are some real questions

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And the good news is that Jesus cares deeply about sceptics

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And we find this in John’s gospel, where he engages with people who have honest questions

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and he does it in such a way as to give them stepping stones to faith

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And that’s the aim of this little booklet, to show what Jesus says to sceptics

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And if you’ve got honest questions, or if you know someone who has honest questions

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about the Christian faith, then I hope and pray that this booklet will be useful to you

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This booklet is called What Jesus Says to Skeptics

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And it’s our gift to you for beginning to support Open the Bible this month

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If you set up a new Direct Debit of £5 per month or more, or a one-off gift of £50 or more

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You can give online and find full terms and conditions at our website

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that’s openthebible.org.uk

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

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And I hope you’ll join us again next time

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Join us again tomorrow on Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith