Today, Pastor Colin dives into the topic of love and sacrifice, reminding us that true love always involves a level of sacrifice. Reflecting on Romans Chapter 12, he encourages us to embrace a life of love by being willing to lay down our needs for the benefit of others, just as Jesus did for us. It’s a moving meditation on how saying no to ourselves can lead to profound blessings for others.
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Jesus said it this way greater love has no one than this than
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that someone laid down his life for his friends .
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Always involves sacrifice welcome to Open the Bible with
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Pastor Colin Smith .
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I’m David Pick.
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You could be with us today and Colin I’m sure some people would
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say that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun it sounds like a
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life full of loss.
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Yes sacrifice if that was the final word that would be a final
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and an ultimate loss but you know when the Lord Jesus laid
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down his life the Bible tells us that he did this and that’s a
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huge sacrifice.
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He did this for the joy that lay before him there was something
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beyond it when Jesus said to the rich young ruler.
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You’ve got to sell everything that you have and give to the
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poor and he thought he can’t do that.
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That’s far too big a sacrifice.
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What he missed was that Jesus said and you will have treasure
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in heaven.
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So the sacrifices that we make are never the ultimate thing we
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make sacrifices because we have our eye on the ultimate thing
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and whatever it costs you to live a life of love whatever it
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costs you to say no.
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I white yourself in order to give yourself to the service of
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others and to the service supremely of God whatever it
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costs you what you gain will make it gloriously worth it.
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So join us today if you can in Romans Chapter 12 as we begin
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our message love involves sacrifice.
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Yes Callan.
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Please open your Bible at Romans and Chapter 12 This is the last
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week in our series growing in love.
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I want to set a priority to intentionally pursue individually
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and together growing in love.
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We began by the with the question why should we grow in
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love and we saw that we must grow in love because love is our
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distinct calling Jesus said by this all people will know that
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are my disciples.
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If you love one another the natural response to growing
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anger and hostility in the world is going to be growing
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anger and hostility in Churches.
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That’s the natural response but you see Jesus calls us to
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something very very different.
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This is our distinct calling that we will be marked as those
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who belong to Jesus because we love by this all people will
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know that you are my disciples that you love one another.
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So we must grow in love because it is our distinct calling.
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And then we saw that we must grow in love because love is
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our greatest need.
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Without love all of our gifts all of our achievements and
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all of our sacrifices would be of no value at all.
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And we saw that love is like a tree that’s just bursting with
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good fruit.
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Grow in love and you will be more patient and more kind and
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you won’t envy you grow in emotional Intelligence and
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wisdom and in discernment and we saw that growing in love
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is of Supreme value because love endures forever when
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everything else passes away faith hope and love.
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We’ll remain so a desire has been stirred in our hearts.
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We want to grow in love love for God love for family love
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for God’s people love for neighbors and for friends and
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for colleagues love even for enemies those with whom we
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most deeply disagree.
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And then we asked the question, how?
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How can I grow in love?
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And we looked at the first answer to that question last
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week, you can grow in love because you are loved.
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And this is wonderful good news that love is not something
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that we need to find in ourselves and sort of pull up
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from within.
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No, God is love.
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And love comes John says from God, and we love because he
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first loved us God poured out his love for us in and through
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his son who he sent to be the propitiation for our sins.
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That’s how God’s love was poured out.
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And then we saw that God’s love has been poured into our
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hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
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When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ the spirit of God
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himself comes to live in you and we laughed at the
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incongruous thought of what it would be like if the spirit
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of Mick Jagger lived in me.
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But think about how amazing this is.
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This Holy Spirit of God himself, the God who is loved
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lives in sinners like us.
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That is astonishing.
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Marvelous.
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Glorious.
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The presence of the spirit of God who is love
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makes it possible for you to grow in love.
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It is as God’s love flows into us that it then flows out from us.
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And if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ today,
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you really can grow in love because of the spirit of God
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who lives who dwells in you.
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So the first answer to the question
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How can I grow in love is you can grow in love because
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you are loved and you are more deeply loved than you will ever
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be able to fathom we love because he first loved
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us.
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Now today we’re going to look at two further answers to the
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question.
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How can I grow in love?
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We’re going to look at several different scriptures today,
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but we’re going to begin in Romans and chapter 12 and this
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chapter rather like first Corinthians 13 and 1 John and
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chapter 4 that we looked but at last time it is an exposition
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of love love is the theme that runs all the way through.
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So for example in verses three to eight the apostle lays out
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how we serve with our gifts and how this is a wonderful
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expression of love then in verse nine Paul says let love be
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genuine verse ten love one another with brotherly affection
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then he lays out what a life of love looks like verse 13 it
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involves contributing to the needs of the saints or practicing
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hospitality verse 14 blessing those who persecute you verse
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15 weeping with those who weep rejoicing with those who Rejoice
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16 living in Harmony with one another or verse 20 feeding
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your enemy when he is hungry and giving him something to
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drink when he is thirsty.
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This is what a life of love looks like.
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But here’s the question.
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Where does it begin?
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And so if you look at the very beginning of this chapter
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verse 1 you have the answer I appeal to you there for Brothers
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By the mercies of God.
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To present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy.
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And acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.
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If you see what he’s telling us right from the beginning
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love that is the theme of this whole chapter involves sacrifice.
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If you want to grow in love.
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You have to lay down your life on the altar of God.
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That is what he’s saying.
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Jesus said it this way.
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Greater love has no one than this then that someone laid down his
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life.
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For his friends.
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Love.
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Always involves sacrifice.
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And a life of love is a life in which we learn to say no to
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ourselves, so that we can bring help and blessing to others.
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Now.
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This of course is what our Lord Jesus Christ so wonderfully did
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by far the easiest and by farther most comfortable choice
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for the Lord Jesus Christ would have been to remain in Heaven
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and to enjoy the love.
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He had always enjoyed their with the father, but if he had
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done that we would have lived and died without hope.
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We would have been utterly lost forever and forever.
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And so Jesus did not grasp on to what was easiest and most
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comfortable for him.
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He took the form of a servant, the Bible tells us it was
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made in the likeness of men.
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He left heaven, he came to earth.
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He loved us, and he gave himself for us.
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Jesus said no to his own comfort in order to bring blessing
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and life to us.
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Love involved a cross for the Lord Jesus Christ and love will
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involve a cross for us to remember that Jesus said if
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anyone would come after me.
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If you’re going to be my disciple he said let him deny himself
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and take up his cross and follow me love always involves
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sacrifice.
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It always involves saying no to self in order to bring help
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and blessing to others.
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And you know this can happen in the simplest of ways in the
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most ordinary things of life love chooses to get up and
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help rather than simply to sit on the couch.
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Love gives more weight to the needs and even the feelings
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of other people than it gives to our own.
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Love is always putting itself in another person’s shoes and
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asking the question, how can I bring help and blessing to him
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or to her pastor Colin Smith.
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They’re an open the Bible with our message love involves
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sacrifice and we’re posing the message there just briefly.
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Don’t forget if you ever miss the message or if you want to
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go back and listen to earlier messages in the series.
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You can do that by coming online to our website open the
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Bible dot org dot UK there.
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You’ll find.
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Messages that have already gone out on air, you’ll also find
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open the Bible daily.
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That’s our series of daily reflections and a whole host of
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other resources back to the message.
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Now.
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We’re in Romans and chapter 12 he is Colin.
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Now when The Apostle Paul describes a life of love in
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Romans and chapter 12, this is where he begins I appeal to
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you.
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Therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your
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bodies as a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God,
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which is your spiritual worship.
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They read a verse like that.
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And of course you say we all say how am I to do that?
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Now want you to notice that the key word in this verse is
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the word therefore.
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I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God
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to present your bodies as a living Sacrifice.
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Clearly the therefore refers back to something that was
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said before in the earlier chapters of Romans.
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We are to present ourselves as living Sacrifices in the
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light of something.
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There’s something then in the earlier chapters of Romans
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that when fully grasped and fully embraced makes it
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possible for you to give yourself for the blessing of
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others to present yourself as a living sacrifice to god.
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Now, what is it?
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What is it that makes this possible?
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Well, there is, of course sense in which what Paul is
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referring to here is everything that is in Romans
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Chapter 1 through 11.
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But there is one truth in these chapters that is repeatedly
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presented in the New Testament as the key to growing in
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love and that is that in Christ you have already died
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and risen.
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This is stated most clearly in Romans Chapter 6 and verses
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3 and 4.
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Do you not know?
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That all of us who have been baptized into Christ.
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Jesus were baptized into his death.
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We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death
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in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by
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the glory of the Father we too may walk in newness of
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life.
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Now very simply when you became a Christian you came to
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be in Christ and because you are in Christ what was true
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of Jesus is also true of you.
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Jesus died and Jesus rose again and when you’re in Christ
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the same is true of you as well.
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The person that you wear before the person living for himself
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or herself died and you have been raised to a whole new life.
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That’s what Paul is referring to here that you might walk
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in newness of life.
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And of course all of this is beautifully expressed in baptism
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going down into the water is a sign that the person you
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wear has died and coming up out of the water is a sign
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that you are now walking in newness of life.
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In Christ, you have already died and risen.
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Now, that’s the principle and what I want us to see today
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is how it works out in practice.
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First, you can grow in love
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because having died
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you are no longer a slave to yourself.
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Now, what a wonderful truth this is,
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because in Christ, you have died already
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you are no longer a slave to yourself
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and that is why and how you can love.
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You see this very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5
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in verses 14 and 15.
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Notice how Paul speaks about love here.
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For the love of Christ controls us,
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because we have concluded this,
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That one has died for all, therefore all have died,
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and he died for all
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that those who live might no longer live for themselves
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but for him, who for their sake, died and was raised.
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Now what a marvelous statement this is,
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The love of Christ controls us.
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Who would not want to be able to say that?
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The love of Christ controls me.
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What would that mean?
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Well it would mean,
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That the love of Christ restrains me
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From speaking a harsh or a hurtful word.
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It would mean that the love of Christ moves me
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To care and to bless and support others.
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A life controlled by the love of Christ
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Would be energized, moved, directed, active.
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Love would reach into and touch the lives of other people
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Inasmuch as we are controlled by the love of Christ.
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Now how does this come about?
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That’s Paul’s purpose in these verses.
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How is it that a person comes to be controlled by the love of Christ?
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Well notice what he says
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The love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this
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That One has died for all
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And therefore all have died
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You see he’s picking up the same wonderful truth that we just saw
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in Romans in chapter 6
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That if you are in Christ
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you have already died
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And what is the effect of the person you were
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Already having died?
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Well he says this
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That having died they might no longer live for themselves
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no longer live for themselves
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no longer
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Living for yourself is actually the default life
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That’s how we all start out
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That’s what we are by nature
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the Bible says this quite clearly
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In Philippians chapter 2 in verse 21
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All seek their own interests
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Not those of Jesus Christ
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Everyone seeks their own interest
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And unless something changes
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we all default to living for ourselves
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Now, living for yourself might sound attractive
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but actually if you think about it
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nothing could ever be more miserable
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Think about this… to live for yourself
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If you live for yourself
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you’re the one that’s doing the living
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and you’re the one that’s been lived for
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So, if you live for yourself
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you are actually both the boss and the servant
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you’re kind of both sides of the ledger so to speak
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the demands that you set
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are the demands that you must meet
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so you’re always in conflict with yourself
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if you live for yourself
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you’re going to find yourself, constantly in this very strange position
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of beating up on yourself
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You’re going to look at your life
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and self the boss, is going to say
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you should have accomplished more
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And then, self the servant gets beat up on
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because of under performing
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and that goes on
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until at some point you say
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well I’m not happy, this isn’t working
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I need to lighten up on myself
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that thought will occur to you
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I’m being too hard on myself
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I need to give myself a break
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And so, now you lighten up on yourself
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except you still have a problem
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because self the servant gets let off the hook
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and now self the master
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doesn’t get what he or she wants
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Living for yourself is an absolute nightmare
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When you lay it out as the master
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you end up crushing yourself as the servant
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and when you lighten up on yourself as the servant
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you end up being short changed
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as self the master
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You can never, never
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win
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Now what Paul is saying in this
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marvelous verse
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is that when you come to faith in the
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lord Jesus Christ you are actually
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delivered from the miserable
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existence of
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living for yourself
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You’re now a new creation
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in Christ
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You’ve been set free
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from this misery. You’ve been brought
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into a new liberty
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of living for Christ
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who loved you and gave
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himself for you.
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Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible
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with the first part of our message
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00:21:58,359 –> 00:22:00,359
Love Involves Sacrifice and you can hear the next
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00:22:00,359 –> 00:22:02,359
part of the message in our
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00:22:02,359 –> 00:22:04,359
next broadcast. I hope you will join us
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00:22:04,359 –> 00:22:06,359
for that. If you ever missed one of the messages
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00:22:06,359 –> 00:22:08,359
or if you want to go back and listen again
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00:22:08,359 –> 00:22:10,359
you can do that by coming online
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00:22:10,359 –> 00:22:12,359
to our website
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00:22:12,359 –> 00:22:14,359
openthebible.org.uk
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00:22:14,359 –> 00:22:16,359
There you can find all the previously broadcast
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00:22:16,359 –> 00:22:18,359
messages along with a whole lot
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00:22:18,359 –> 00:22:20,359
of other resources to help you
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and your church in the Christian life.
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We want to help you to understand
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00:22:24,359 –> 00:22:26,359
how the books in the Bible
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00:22:26,359 –> 00:22:28,359
fit together and a good way
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00:22:28,359 –> 00:22:30,359
to do that is with Open
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00:22:30,359 –> 00:22:32,359
the Bible Story. You can find
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00:22:32,359 –> 00:22:34,359
that on our website. It’s a
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00:22:34,359 –> 00:22:36,359
journey through the whole Bible.
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00:22:36,359 –> 00:22:38,359
A study course in 30 parts
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00:22:38,359 –> 00:22:40,359
entitled The Drive.
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00:22:40,359 –> 00:22:42,359
It will take you deep into the valleys of
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00:22:42,359 –> 00:22:44,359
the Old Testament, the peaks of
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00:22:44,359 –> 00:22:46,359
the glories of Jesus and the
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00:22:46,359 –> 00:22:48,359
ups and downs of the Christian life.
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All the way through it will show
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how the Bible always points to the
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00:22:52,359 –> 00:22:54,359
person of Jesus Christ.
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You can find Open the Bible Story on
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00:22:56,359 –> 00:23:00,359
our website. That’s OpenTheBible.org.uk
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00:23:00,359 –> 00:23:02,359
Also on our website and available
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00:23:02,359 –> 00:23:04,359
as a podcast, don’t forget about
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00:23:04,359 –> 00:23:06,359
Open the Bible Daily. That’s
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00:23:06,359 –> 00:23:08,359
a series of two to three minute reflections
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00:23:08,359 –> 00:23:10,359
based on Pastor Colin’s teaching
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00:23:10,359 –> 00:23:12,359
and read in the UK by
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00:23:12,359 –> 00:23:14,359
Professor Sue Micleish. If you’re a
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00:23:14,359 –> 00:23:16,359
regular listener to Open The Bible,
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00:23:16,359 –> 00:23:18,359
you’ll know that we’re supported financially
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00:23:18,359 –> 00:23:20,359
by many of our listeners.
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00:23:20,359 –> 00:23:22,359
If you’ve thought about helping the ministry in that way,
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00:23:22,359 –> 00:23:24,359
but you haven’t yet done it,
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00:23:24,359 –> 00:23:26,359
why not start this month?
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00:23:26,359 –> 00:23:28,359
If you’re able to set up a new
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00:23:28,359 –> 00:23:30,359
direct debit of £5 per month
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00:23:30,359 –> 00:23:32,359
or more, or give
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00:23:32,359 –> 00:23:34,359
a one-off gift of £50 or more,
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00:23:34,359 –> 00:23:36,359
we’d love to say thank you
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00:23:36,359 –> 00:23:38,359
by sending you a copy of Jerry Bridges’
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00:23:38,359 –> 00:23:40,359
his book, Respectable Sins.
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00:23:40,359 –> 00:23:42,359
Colin, who is this
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00:23:42,359 –> 00:23:44,359
book for? Well, this is a
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00:23:44,359 –> 00:23:46,359
really helpful and practical book
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00:23:46,359 –> 00:23:48,359
for any Christian believer, no matter
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00:23:48,359 –> 00:23:50,359
how long you have been following the Lord
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00:23:50,359 –> 00:23:52,359
Jesus Christ. As Christians
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00:23:52,359 –> 00:23:54,359
we all recognize that we’re
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00:23:54,359 –> 00:23:56,359
sinners. We all confess that in general.
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But, what would you say
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if you were asked
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what are three sins that
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00:24:02,359 –> 00:24:04,359
you need to be fighting against
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more strongly in your life?
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00:24:06,359 –> 00:24:08,359
As Christians, we’re committed to living
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good lives. We’re not going to be
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00:24:10,359 –> 00:24:12,359
murdering. We’re committed to being loyal
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00:24:12,359 –> 00:24:14,359
and faithful to our spouse. We’re not going
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00:24:14,359 –> 00:24:16,359
to be robbing a bank.
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00:24:16,359 –> 00:24:18,359
But the point of course is that there are
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more subtle sins alongside
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00:24:20,359 –> 00:24:22,359
these obvious ones that may actually
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00:24:22,359 –> 00:24:24,359
lurk in our hearts.
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Sins like pride. Sins like
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00:24:26,359 –> 00:24:28,359
discontent. Judgementalism.
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And what this book does so
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00:24:30,359 –> 00:24:32,359
helpfully is it identifies
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the respectable
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00:24:34,359 –> 00:24:36,359
sins. The ones that might just
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00:24:36,359 –> 00:24:38,359
be accommodated in our lives
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00:24:38,359 –> 00:24:40,359
and alerts us
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00:24:40,359 –> 00:24:42,359
to how we need to engage in battle
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00:24:42,359 –> 00:24:44,359
against them.
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00:24:44,359 –> 00:24:46,359
So this book Respectable Sins
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00:24:46,359 –> 00:24:48,359
by Jerry Bridges is our gift to you
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00:24:48,359 –> 00:24:50,359
if you’re able to support
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00:24:50,359 –> 00:24:52,359
the work of Open the Bible by setting up
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00:24:52,359 –> 00:24:54,359
a direct debit in the amount of
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00:24:54,359 –> 00:24:56,359
£5 per month or more
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00:24:56,359 –> 00:24:58,359
or a one off gift of
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00:24:58,359 –> 00:25:00,359
£50 or more this month.
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00:25:00,359 –> 00:25:02,359
For Pastor Colin Smith
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00:25:02,359 –> 00:25:04,359
and Open the Bible, I’m David Pick
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00:25:04,359 –> 00:25:06,359
and I hope you’ll be able to
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00:25:06,359 –> 00:25:08,359
join us again next time!
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00:25:12,359 –> 00:25:14,359
If you can say no to yourself
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00:25:14,359 –> 00:25:16,359
in order to bring blessing to others
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00:25:16,359 –> 00:25:18,359
you will discover peace
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00:25:18,359 –> 00:25:20,359
and joy. Find out why
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00:25:20,359 –> 00:25:22,359
next time on Open the Bible
Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.
