100:00:00,600 –> 00:00:09,580I want to do everything that I can today to dispel the idea, if it may exist in any of200:00:09,580 –> 00:00:16,440our minds, to get rid of the idea that there is a God to be feared in the Old Testament300:00:16,440 –> 00:00:20,080and that there’s a God to be loved in the New Testament and therefore the fear of God400:00:20,080 –> 00:00:22,360has nothing to do with a Christian believer.500:00:22,360 –> 00:00:27,600Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick. And Colin, I think600:00:27,900 –> 00:00:31,900there are many who believe that the God of the Old Testament is to be feared and that700:00:31,900 –> 00:00:36,700the God of the New Testament is different from that. But you’re saying that Christians800:00:36,700 –> 00:00:38,919ought to fear the God of the New Testament.900:00:38,919 –> 00:00:43,639Well, the starting point is that God himself never changes. He is always to be feared and1000:00:43,639 –> 00:00:48,299he is always to be loved. And you know, when I was a student, one of the most memorable1100:00:48,299 –> 00:00:54,200experiences for me was reading the entire book of Deuteronomy in one sitting and being1200:00:54,680 –> 00:00:59,580completely and utterly overwhelmed by a sense of the love of God, in the Old Testament.1300:00:59,580 –> 00:01:00,020In Deuteronomy?1400:01:00,020 –> 00:01:04,959In Deuteronomy, yeah, absolutely. And then you come to the New Testament and then you1500:01:04,959 –> 00:01:11,639find Jesus saying, fear him who is able to cast body and soul into hell, destroy them1600:01:11,639 –> 00:01:18,199in hell. We have the command, fear God, is a New Testament command in the first letter1700:01:18,300 –> 00:01:24,580of Peter you have Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Apostles and to God and finding themselves1800:01:24,580 –> 00:01:30,459being struck down dead in the New Testament. So, God never changes and our love of him1900:01:30,459 –> 00:01:35,699is to lead us to fear him and our fear of him is to lead us to love him. These things2000:01:35,699 –> 00:01:41,500are never to be divided, we’re going to see today how they’re held together.2100:01:41,739 –> 00:01:51,180You have a soul, it will last forever. Your soul will either be forever saved or2200:01:51,180 –> 00:01:59,059else it will be forever lost and therefore to care for your soul is of supreme importance.2300:01:59,059 –> 00:02:05,099And we’ve been saying that God in his kindness has given us four friends to help you care2400:02:06,099 –> 00:02:10,860for your soul. And we’ve been thinking about the son of God, the word of God, today the2500:02:10,860 –> 00:02:17,860fear of God and next week the love of God. All of these are spoken of in the Bible as2600:02:17,860 –> 00:02:24,880being in the soul or in the life of a believer. And we began thinking about the son of God.2700:02:24,880 –> 00:02:30,899What an amazing gift this is Galatians two twenty, I have been given four sons and I2800:02:30,940 –> 00:02:37,940I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The son2900:02:43,940 –> 00:02:50,940of God lives in the soul of a Christian believer what kind of gift is that, this amazing gift3000:02:52,380 –> 00:02:58,779of the son of God as the first friend of your sole putting you in a position where you’re3100:02:58,779 –> 00:03:04,300able to pursue a new and different life because new and different desires that are arising3200:03:04,300 –> 00:03:10,500from the presence of Christ with you and in you. And then last week we looked at the word3300:03:10,500 –> 00:03:17,500of God let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, the word of God producing good fruit3400:03:17,940 –> 00:03:24,940in the life of a believer, working from the inside out as it takes root within your soul.3500:03:25,339 –> 00:03:32,339Now, today we come to the third friend, the fear of God. Now, my first task and I don’t3600:03:32,820 –> 00:03:39,820think it’s an easy one today is to make the case that the fear of God is actually a friend.3700:03:41,020 –> 00:03:47,600Some of you may as a first thought be thinking, well, the fear of God that sounds more like3800:03:47,600 –> 00:03:51,559an enemy to me than a friend isn’t that what we’re trying to get away from, isn’t that3900:03:51,679 –> 00:03:53,839what we’re trying to get rid of.4000:03:53,839 –> 00:03:59,899It sounds to some people I think more like a dysfunction than a sign of spiritual health4100:03:59,899 –> 00:04:06,240and yet the Bible as we’re going to see today presents the fear of God as a friend.4200:04:06,240 –> 00:04:14,919A friend who will do you all kinds of good if this friend is living in your soul.4300:04:15,399 –> 00:04:20,540And so I invite you to open your Bible at Jeremiah and chapter 32 which was read for4400:04:20,540 –> 00:04:27,440us and we read these words, Jeremiah 32 and verse 39.4500:04:27,440 –> 00:04:39,100God says I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for their4600:04:39,660 –> 00:04:46,799own good and for the good of their children after them.4700:04:46,799 –> 00:04:51,119Now notice what God is saying in this very important verse.4800:04:51,119 –> 00:04:58,739God’s own people are distinguished by the fact that they are the ones who fear him and4900:04:58,739 –> 00:05:03,600fearing him is for their good and not only their good.5000:05:03,600 –> 00:05:05,559It’s for the good of generations that will follow.5100:05:05,559 –> 00:05:09,040In other words, if the people of God were to lose the fear of God, there would be trouble5200:05:09,079 –> 00:05:10,799in the generation that followed.5300:05:10,799 –> 00:05:13,679That’s what God is clearly saying.5400:05:13,679 –> 00:05:16,679And that this fear of God is not limited to Old Testament times.5500:05:16,679 –> 00:05:19,220He specifically says it is forever.5600:05:19,220 –> 00:05:20,220It is forever.5700:05:20,220 –> 00:05:24,600So as we’re going to see today, there will never be a time on Earth or even in heaven5800:05:24,600 –> 00:05:32,600itself where the people of God do not fear him as we love him and love him as we fear5900:05:32,600 –> 00:05:34,359him.6000:05:34,359 –> 00:05:40,459I want to do everything that I can today to dispel the idea, if it may exist in any of6100:05:40,459 –> 00:05:47,500our minds, to get rid of the idea that there is a God to be feared in the Old Testament6200:05:47,500 –> 00:05:50,959and that there’s a God to be loved in the New Testament and therefore the fear of God6300:05:50,959 –> 00:05:53,700has nothing to do with a Christian believer.6400:05:53,700 –> 00:05:57,399If you’ve thought that ever, if you think that now, I want to try and show you from6500:05:57,399 –> 00:06:03,899the Bible an entirely different revelation with regards to the fear of God.6600:06:03,940 –> 00:06:10,019By the way, if you were here last week, you may just spot the evolutionary view of the6700:06:10,019 –> 00:06:12,760Bible that we spoke about last week in that thinking.6800:06:12,760 –> 00:06:19,500The idea is, oh, well, in ancient primitive times people had these crude ideas about a6900:06:19,500 –> 00:06:23,100God who was to be feared, but now in these much more enlightened times, we have more7000:06:23,100 –> 00:06:27,339sophisticated and better and inclusive ideas about a God who must be loved.7100:06:27,339 –> 00:06:29,859That is entirely the evolutionary view of the Bible.7200:06:29,859 –> 00:06:32,880It’s a complete misunderstanding of what the Bible is.7300:06:32,980 –> 00:06:40,260It’s not a history of human views about God, it is God’s word to us, and God never changes.7400:06:40,260 –> 00:06:43,140So the idea that there’s a God to be feared in the Old Testament, a God to be loved in7500:06:43,140 –> 00:06:48,320the New Testament is a complete misunderstanding of what the Bible is, and of what the Bible7600:06:48,320 –> 00:06:49,320says.7700:06:49,320 –> 00:06:50,320God never changes.7800:06:50,320 –> 00:06:52,420He is the same yesterday, today and forever.7900:06:52,420 –> 00:06:54,940He is to be feared as he is loved.8000:06:54,940 –> 00:06:57,839He is to be loved as he is feared.8100:06:57,839 –> 00:07:01,019So the Old Testament is full of the love of God.8200:07:01,059 –> 00:07:06,140Read the book of Deuteronomy and you’ll find the unprovoked love of God that is sourced8300:07:06,140 –> 00:07:09,260only in himself.8400:07:09,260 –> 00:07:15,019Read the book of Hosea and you will find the intensity of the love of God where it is wounded8500:07:15,019 –> 00:07:21,059and it’s all played out in this amazing story of Hosea who will not stop loving his wife8600:07:21,059 –> 00:07:25,220who is so unfaithful and that this is a revelation of the love of God.8700:07:25,220 –> 00:07:27,779That’s in the Old Testament.8800:07:27,820 –> 00:07:31,200And when you come to the New Testament you will find not only the love of God, but you8900:07:31,200 –> 00:07:35,260will also find again and again the fear of God.9000:07:35,260 –> 00:07:38,100Listen to this from Matthew 10.9100:07:38,100 –> 00:07:45,640And verse 28, fear him, who can destroy both body and soul in hell.9200:07:45,640 –> 00:07:49,720Fear him who said that.9300:07:49,720 –> 00:07:50,899Jesus.9400:07:50,899 –> 00:07:52,720Who did he say it about?9500:07:52,720 –> 00:07:55,279His father in heaven.9600:07:55,279 –> 00:07:57,660Who did he say it to?9700:07:57,660 –> 00:07:59,279His disciples.9800:07:59,279 –> 00:08:11,079Peter, James John, fear him, who can destroy both body and soul in hell.9900:08:11,079 –> 00:08:17,839The command to fear God, fear God is a direct New Testament command.10000:08:17,839 –> 00:08:24,4801 Peter 2 verse 17, it’s right there, fear God, it’s a New Testament command.10100:08:24,540 –> 00:08:28,779The statement, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.10200:08:28,779 –> 00:08:34,500Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 31 is in the New Testament and it’s in a letter Hebrews10300:08:34,500 –> 00:08:39,299that is addressed to Christian believers.10400:08:39,299 –> 00:08:43,460Fearing God was the mark of the New Testament church at it’s best.10500:08:43,460 –> 00:08:48,039Acts, chapter nine and verse 31.10600:08:48,039 –> 00:08:54,400The church lived in the fear of the lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and it multiplied.10700:08:54,419 –> 00:08:56,979Notice how these two things are put together.10800:08:56,979 –> 00:09:00,080The fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit.10900:09:00,080 –> 00:09:05,159The one experienced in conjunction with the other, not a bit of tension between them.11000:09:05,159 –> 00:09:07,140They walked in the fear of the Lord.11100:09:07,140 –> 00:09:12,979When the church was at it’s spiritual height and God’s blessing was being poured out in11200:09:12,979 –> 00:09:14,380remarkable ways.11300:09:14,380 –> 00:09:16,799This is what it was like among Christian believers.11400:09:16,799 –> 00:09:20,840The fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit.11500:09:20,840 –> 00:09:28,700So very clearly, we need to grasp this fear of the Lord that is spoken about in both Testaments,11600:09:28,700 –> 00:09:33,559is commended to us as Christian believers and in the Scripture that is before us today11700:09:33,559 –> 00:09:39,260supremely we are told it is for our good and it will be for the good of our children after11800:09:39,260 –> 00:09:41,119us.11900:09:41,119 –> 00:09:44,640What then is this fear of the Lord?12000:09:44,739 –> 00:09:49,640I want to suggest to you from the Bible that it is a chord of three strands.12100:09:50,500 –> 00:09:57,260And the three strands are the splendor of God’s glory, the reality of God’s judgment12200:09:57,260 –> 00:10:01,179and the wonder of God’s love.12300:10:01,979 –> 00:10:06,520And we’ll come back and look at those three strands in just a moment.12400:10:06,520 –> 00:10:10,799You’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and a message called The Fear12500:10:11,719 –> 00:10:14,739of God, one of the most listened to messages in the past year.12600:10:14,739 –> 00:10:19,280We’ve taken this message and the other most popular messages and bundled them together12700:10:19,280 –> 00:10:21,000as listener favourites.12800:10:21,000 –> 00:10:24,960Don’t forget, if you ever miss one of our messages you can always catch up or go back12900:10:24,960 –> 00:10:30,239and listen again online at our website openthebible.org.uk13000:10:30,239 –> 00:10:35,580Or you can find Pastor Colin’s teaching as a podcast, and those are on all the main podcast13100:10:35,580 –> 00:10:36,580sites.13200:10:37,400 –> 00:10:41,580and subscribe if you want to receive regular updates13300:10:41,580 –> 00:10:47,780Open the Bible aims to give individuals, small groups and churches excellent Bible study13400:10:47,780 –> 00:10:48,780courses.13500:10:48,780 –> 00:10:50,479One of these is Fly Through the Bible.13600:10:50,479 –> 00:10:54,299I’m with Open the Bible’s Executive Director, John Martin.13700:10:54,299 –> 00:10:58,140John, how does Fly Through the Bible help with Bible study?13800:10:58,140 –> 00:11:03,159Fly Through the Bible is Colin’s whistle stop tour of the Bible.13900:11:03,219 –> 00:11:07,520Through that introduction you meet five characters from the Old Testament14000:11:07,520 –> 00:11:10,039then we look at five events in the life of Jesus14100:11:10,059 –> 00:11:13,880and then we finish with five gifts that God gives to the church.14200:11:13,880 –> 00:11:16,440The book is short and simple and therefore shareable.14300:11:16,440 –> 00:11:21,159It’s something you might want to give away to someone as a gift, possibly a neighbour.14400:11:21,159 –> 00:11:27,140The level at which the book is appealing to is those who are perhaps more exploring faith,14500:11:27,140 –> 00:11:29,239perhaps they are new as a Christian,14600:11:29,239 –> 00:11:31,479perhaps they want to see how it all fits together,14700:11:31,479 –> 00:11:32,960they know bits and pieces14800:11:33,000 –> 00:11:36,679but they wonder where all the characters and events fit together.14900:11:36,679 –> 00:11:39,159And this is Colin’s introduction to that.15000:11:39,159 –> 00:11:45,080You can find details of Fly Through the Bible on our website, openthebible.org.uk15100:11:45,080 –> 00:11:48,679and I’ll be talking more to Colin about his book later in the programme15200:11:48,679 –> 00:11:51,119so I hope you’ll stay with us for that.15300:11:51,119 –> 00:11:54,140Back to the message. Now here’s Colin!15400:11:54,140 –> 00:11:56,679I hope you have the Bible open in front of you.15500:11:56,679 –> 00:11:57,880Let’s begin here.15600:11:57,880 –> 00:12:08,859That the fear of God arises from a knowledge of the splendour of his glory.15700:12:08,859 –> 00:12:12,059And think about who God is.15800:12:12,059 –> 00:12:19,400God who just speaks and the moon and the stars and the planets come into existence15900:12:19,400 –> 00:12:24,039and he upholds it all by the word of his power.16000:12:24,119 –> 00:12:30,799I want you to see, particularly, in this chapter some glimpses of the glory of God in Jeremiah16100:12:30,799 –> 00:12:33,239and chapter 32.16200:12:33,239 –> 00:12:38,599If you look at the beginning of the chapter you’ll see it’s titled Jeremiah buys a field16300:12:38,599 –> 00:12:41,020during the siege.16400:12:41,020 –> 00:12:42,020You read this story.16500:12:42,020 –> 00:12:46,700I’ll just give it to you in outline, verse 2 tells us that Jerusalem was under siege.16600:12:46,700 –> 00:12:53,140The Babylonian army was building up piles of earth against the city walls getting ready16700:12:53,239 –> 00:13:01,500to walk up over the walls, attack the city, destroy it completely and to destroy the people.16800:13:01,500 –> 00:13:09,119And what happens to the economy of a country when that country is under siege?16900:13:09,119 –> 00:13:11,559It’s capital city is surrounded.17000:13:11,559 –> 00:13:17,099Well, very obviously the economy goes into meltdown.17100:13:17,119 –> 00:13:23,900Who in the world wants to buy land in a place that is about to be taken over by hostile17200:13:23,900 –> 00:13:26,760and brutal enemies?17300:13:26,760 –> 00:13:33,940What happens in that circumstance is that values collapse, trading stops, commerce17400:13:33,940 –> 00:13:37,640grinds to a complete and utter halt.17500:13:37,640 –> 00:13:40,799The whole thing is gridlocked.17600:13:40,799 –> 00:13:48,679And in that circumstance, Jeremiah did an extraordinary and a very public thing.17700:13:48,679 –> 00:13:52,820He bought a piece of property.17800:13:52,820 –> 00:14:01,159He’s buying land in an economy where no one would see any value at all, in buying a17900:14:01,159 –> 00:14:02,159piece of land.18000:14:02,159 –> 00:14:05,479Hold onto your assets, that’s the best strategy.18100:14:05,479 –> 00:14:08,659You might be able to find some way of escaping of the Babylonians.18200:14:09,099 –> 00:14:13,979But Jeremiah goes out and said, no I’m gonna spend money, I’m gonna buy land.18300:14:13,979 –> 00:14:19,260And why would he do such a thing, verse 14 and 15, for thus says the Lord.18400:14:19,260 –> 00:14:29,539Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.18500:14:29,539 –> 00:14:33,580Now that of course is exactly what happened.18600:14:33,580 –> 00:14:38,260If you know the Old Testament story, it’s a matter of history that some years after18700:14:38,500 –> 00:14:48,219the scene in the Book of Jeremiah, that God by His divine power caused this world superpower,18800:14:48,219 –> 00:14:58,739this world empire, this impregnable war machine of Babylon to collapse completely and utterly.18900:14:58,739 –> 00:15:05,940That God in His mercy caused a pagan king by the name of Cyrus, a Persian.19000:15:05,960 –> 00:15:10,059To have it in His heart even though he did not know or honor God.19100:15:10,059 –> 00:15:16,440To repatriate the people of God and to actively support and even sponsor their returning back19200:15:16,440 –> 00:15:20,479to the rebuild the city of Jerusalem.19300:15:20,479 –> 00:15:26,340Who could have guessed that within a few years God would utterly destroy and bring down the19400:15:26,340 –> 00:15:30,099world superpower of the day.19500:15:30,099 –> 00:15:36,500That God would bring back His people who had been so devastatingly scattered and that God19600:15:36,500 –> 00:15:44,440would give to them in that land a thriving economy where things had been in meltdown19700:15:44,440 –> 00:15:47,380just a few years before.19800:15:47,380 –> 00:15:51,059Now you see what that is telling us?19900:15:51,059 –> 00:15:58,299That God is sovereign even over the economies of nations.20000:15:59,020 –> 00:16:02,340That’s why He says in verse 42,20100:16:02,340 –> 00:16:08,219Just as I have brought all this disaster upon this people, I will bring upon them all the20200:16:08,219 –> 00:16:10,299good that I promised them.20300:16:10,299 –> 00:16:11,700And verse 44,20400:16:11,700 –> 00:16:17,299Field shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed.20500:16:17,299 –> 00:16:22,460I will restore their fortunes declares the Lord.20600:16:23,419 –> 00:16:29,960Here is the living God and he is sovereign over the fate of cities and over the rise20700:16:29,979 –> 00:16:32,859and the fall of nations.20800:16:32,859 –> 00:16:39,039And he is sovereign over the growth and the decline of economies and he is sovereign over20900:16:39,039 –> 00:16:41,619the growth and decline of churches too.21000:16:41,619 –> 00:16:45,840What else could it mean when the Son of God says in Revelation 1,21100:16:45,840 –> 00:16:48,260I will remove the candlestick.21200:16:48,280 –> 00:16:53,440What that means is that the life even of the people of God, even of the church is in the21300:16:53,440 –> 00:16:58,960hands of this living and in off this sovereign God.21400:16:58,960 –> 00:17:03,599And so it’s not surprising that earlier in the book of Jeremiah the prophet speaks the21500:17:03,599 –> 00:17:07,540word that God gives to him in chapter five and verse 22.21600:17:07,540 –> 00:17:12,359Do you not fear me says the Lord?21700:17:12,359 –> 00:17:16,859Do you not tremble before me.21800:17:17,199 –> 00:17:18,540To the people who do not fear21900:17:18,540 –> 00:17:25,319the Lord, have not seen his glory who not only created the worlds not only sustains22000:17:25,319 –> 00:17:31,020them by his power, but controls the course of history even the rising and the falling22100:17:31,020 –> 00:17:39,579of nations, working out all things, including the disasters, as well as the blessings in22200:17:39,579 –> 00:17:46,640the accomplishment of his own inscrutable and marvelous and glorious will.22300:17:46,640 –> 00:17:52,599And when you begin to get a sense of God being that great and that glorious you begin to22400:17:52,599 –> 00:17:59,680get, first strand of what it means to fear him.22500:17:59,680 –> 00:18:05,560Accord of three strands, number one, the splendor of God’s glory, ruling over the world and22600:18:05,560 –> 00:18:07,219over history.22700:18:07,219 –> 00:18:12,400Number two, the reality of God’s judgment.22800:18:12,400 –> 00:18:13,780Here’s the second strand.22900:18:14,719 –> 00:18:19,540And here I want to draw your attention to Second Corinthians in chapter five where Paul23000:18:19,540 –> 00:18:25,199the apostle gives two statements, right joined together.23100:18:25,199 –> 00:18:32,060First, he says we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.23200:18:32,060 –> 00:18:39,160He was writing to Christians and he said, now every one of us, every one of us, we’re23300:18:39,160 –> 00:18:46,140all going to stand one day before the judgment seat of Christ.23400:18:46,140 –> 00:18:52,119Take that in and then what he says in the very next verse is this, therefore knowing23500:18:52,119 –> 00:18:58,619the fear of the Lord we seek to persuade others.23600:18:58,619 –> 00:19:03,099Here we live in a world of people who don’t give weight to God or not thinking about His23700:19:03,099 –> 00:19:06,599judgment, probably don’t believe in it.23800:19:06,599 –> 00:19:12,560But God’s people who have seen something of the splendor of His glory and have come to23900:19:12,560 –> 00:19:18,699know Him, we do think about it and it weighs with us.24000:19:18,699 –> 00:19:24,260We know that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and therefore knowing24100:19:24,260 –> 00:19:32,079the fear of the Lord we engage in the work of ministry.24200:19:32,079 –> 00:19:35,640I want you to think with me for a moment as again I tried to ponder this.24300:19:35,640 –> 00:19:41,839It’s good for us as Christians to ponder the day when we will stand before the Lord.24400:19:41,839 –> 00:19:44,699And remember this, that He knows everything about you.24500:19:44,699 –> 00:19:46,819He knows you better than you know yourself.24600:19:46,819 –> 00:19:54,560There are many prayers in the Church of England liturgy that that I found helpful over the24700:19:54,560 –> 00:19:59,099years and one of them is called a Collect for Purity, it’s a very strange name.24800:19:59,099 –> 00:20:08,819It’s a short prayer and it goes like this, Almighty God, before whom all hearts are open,24900:20:08,819 –> 00:20:15,959all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.25000:20:15,959 –> 00:20:19,000Just think about that.25100:20:19,000 –> 00:20:23,660Then the prayer says, Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy25200:20:24,479 –> 00:20:31,020may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord.25300:20:31,020 –> 00:20:32,020Amen.25400:20:32,020 –> 00:20:35,579Now you think about this.25500:20:35,579 –> 00:20:41,819You’re going to stand, and I’m going to stand, before the judgment seat of Christ, and your25600:20:41,819 –> 00:20:44,560heart is completely open to Him.25700:20:44,560 –> 00:20:50,660There’s nothing that he doesn’t know that’s going on in your heart, and your desires are25800:20:50,660 –> 00:20:53,420fully-known to him.25900:20:53,520 –> 00:21:01,479Even the conflicting desires, it’s all known to him, and from him no secret can be hid.26000:21:03,060 –> 00:21:07,140He may carry lifelong secrets with regards to other people, even other people who are26100:21:07,140 –> 00:21:15,040close to you, but from God no secret can be hid.26200:21:15,040 –> 00:21:21,560He knows everything, he’s perfect in His knowledge and infinite in His power.26300:21:21,719 –> 00:21:30,640Even we, you and I, we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ.26400:21:30,640 –> 00:21:38,520Now simply to ponder that and to take it in is going to produce within your heart what26500:21:38,520 –> 00:21:43,619the Bible describes as the fear of God, it arises not only from the knowledge of the26600:21:43,619 –> 00:21:50,219splendor of his glory, for if we’re taking in the reality of his judgment, we must all26700:21:50,319 –> 00:21:54,979stand before the judgment seat of Christ.26800:21:54,979 –> 00:21:58,719You’ve been listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called26900:21:58,719 –> 00:22:01,819The Fear of God, and we’ve been hearing how the fear of God27000:22:01,819 –> 00:22:05,160is made up of three strands, the splendor of God’s27100:22:05,160 –> 00:22:07,859story, the reality of his judgment27200:22:07,859 –> 00:22:10,500and next time we’ll look at the wonder of his love.27300:22:10,500 –> 00:22:14,260So I hope you’ll join us for that broadcast.27400:22:14,260 –> 00:22:16,680If you ever miss one of our messages, you can always catch up27500:22:16,839 –> 00:22:18,839or go back and listen again online27600:22:18,839 –> 00:22:22,119At our website, openthebible.org.uk27700:22:22,119 –> 00:22:25,680Or find us as a podcast on all the main podcast sites27800:22:25,680 –> 00:22:27,680Search for Open The Bible UK27900:22:27,680 –> 00:22:29,680or follow the link from our website28000:22:31,060 –> 00:22:33,479Also on our website and available as a podcast28100:22:33,479 –> 00:22:34,939is Open The Bible Daily28200:22:34,939 –> 00:22:37,800That’s a series of short 2-3 minute28300:22:37,800 –> 00:22:41,099Daily Reflections based on pastor Colin’s teaching28400:22:41,099 –> 00:22:43,520and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish28500:22:43,520 –> 00:22:45,520there’s a fresh one every morning28600:22:45,520 –> 00:22:49,160and many Christians find it’s a brilliant way to start the day28700:22:49,160 –> 00:22:50,479so hope you’ll check that out28800:22:50,479 –> 00:22:54,119again, that’s our website, openthebible.org.uk28900:22:54,119 –> 00:22:57,000or on your favourite podcast site29000:22:57,000 –> 00:22:59,939Earlier in the program, we heard John Martin29100:22:59,939 –> 00:23:01,939Open The Bible’s Executive Director29200:23:01,939 –> 00:23:04,380talking about Fly Through The Bible29300:23:04,380 –> 00:23:08,060Fly Through The Bible is available in a number of different formats29400:23:08,060 –> 00:23:11,520and in the coming days, we’ll bring news of some exciting ways29500:23:11,520 –> 00:23:13,520that you can use this material29600:23:13,520 –> 00:23:16,739Colin Smith’s original book, Fly Through The Bible29700:23:16,739 –> 00:23:19,800is our gift to you this month, if you’re able to begin29800:23:19,800 –> 00:23:22,680a new direct debit to the work of Open The Bible29900:23:22,680 –> 00:23:25,760in the amount of £5 per month or more30000:23:25,760 –> 00:23:28,920or a one-off gift of £50 or more30100:23:28,920 –> 00:23:32,300If you’re able to do that, we’d love to send you a copy of the book30200:23:32,300 –> 00:23:36,680Colin, why did you use the flying metaphor, to describe this book?30300:23:36,680 –> 00:23:40,239Well, suppose you were making a visit to the Grand Canyon30400:23:40,239 –> 00:23:42,239and exploring it for the first time30500:23:42,239 –> 00:23:46,500I guess you could hike down and you’d get a sense of the depth of the canyon30600:23:46,500 –> 00:23:50,520you could drive around the rim, you’d get a sense of the length of it30700:23:50,520 –> 00:23:54,140But perhaps the best way to get an overall sense30800:23:54,140 –> 00:23:56,760of the vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon30900:23:56,760 –> 00:23:59,040would be to take a flight over it31000:23:59,040 –> 00:24:01,439Now, when it comes to the Bible31100:24:01,439 –> 00:24:04,479to get a high altitude overview31200:24:04,479 –> 00:24:06,819of what the Bible’s story is all about31300:24:06,819 –> 00:24:09,939seems to me to be the best place to begin31400:24:09,939 –> 00:24:11,640The Bible really it one story31500:24:11,660 –> 00:24:13,660It begins in a garden, it ends in a city31600:24:13,660 –> 00:24:16,260and all the way through it’s about the Lord Jesus Christ31700:24:16,260 –> 00:24:17,920and Fly Through the Bible31800:24:17,920 –> 00:24:19,760is kind of cookies on the bottom shelf31900:24:19,760 –> 00:24:21,540to change the analogy32000:24:21,540 –> 00:24:24,140It gives an overall picture32100:24:24,140 –> 00:24:26,160an introduction to the scripture32200:24:26,160 –> 00:24:28,819that I hope will help and encourage people32300:24:28,819 –> 00:24:31,500to want to explore more when they get on the ground32400:24:31,500 –> 00:24:34,619Well, we’d love to send you a copy of Colin’s book32500:24:34,619 –> 00:24:35,760Fly Through the Bible32600:24:35,760 –> 00:24:38,979to say thank you for setting up a new direct debit32700:24:38,979 –> 00:24:40,439to the work of Open the Bible32800:24:40,839 –> 00:24:43,479in the amont of £5 per month or more32900:24:43,479 –> 00:24:47,420or a one-off gift of £50 or more this month33000:24:47,420 –> 00:24:50,439Full terms and conditions are on our website33100:24:50,439 –> 00:24:53,640at openthebible.org.uk33200:24:53,640 –> 00:24:56,280and you can give online33300:24:56,280 –> 00:24:57,160For Open the Bible33400:24:57,160 –> 00:24:58,680and Pastor Colin Smith33500:24:58,680 –> 00:24:59,780I’m David Pick33600:24:59,780 –> 00:25:01,739and I hope you’ll join us again next time on33700:25:01,739 –> 00:25:02,920Open the Bible33800:25:02,920 –> 00:25:11,260What is the Fear of God?33900:25:11,260 –> 00:25:13,780Find out more next time on Open the Bible