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So a great deal of our time and our attention and even our affection

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gets spent on-on music, and food, and-and pets, and travel, and sports, and all of these

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are good things.

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But if you are going to believe, you’ll have to take time to look at the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

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I’m David Pick.

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I’m glad you could be here today.

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Let’s start there, Colin.

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What does it actually mean to look at Jesus Christ?

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Well, very simply, to listen to what he has said in the scriptures, to look at what he

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has done, to hear what he has promised, to heed what he has commanded, and to take on

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board the invitations that he makes, and then respond to them.

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You know, people don’t come to faith by accident.

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Many of you take an analogy of someone who wants to be married.

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Well, you know, they’re going to cultivate a relationship over time, and that’s going

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to involve spending time with another person.

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It’s going to involve listening.

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It’s going to involve speaking.

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A relationship is cultivated.

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Now, it’s the same with the Lord Jesus Christ.

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If we’re going to come to living faith with the Lord Jesus Christ, then we’re going to

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have to speak to him – that’s what prayer is, and listen to him, and the way that we

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do that is by opening the Bible.

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And it’s the whole purpose of our programme every day – to open the Bible so that we

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can hear the voice of God himself speaking to us in and through his Son Jesus Christ.

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So that’s what we’re focussed on today and everyday, and it is a wonderful thing to be

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able to look at the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in this marvellous 53rd chapter of Isaiah

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that we’re focussed on today.

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You heard what Colin said.

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If you can, open your Bible to Isaiah chapter 53, starting at verse 2.

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And as we continue our message, our desire.

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Here’s Colin.

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What lies behind unbelief?

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Well, Isaiah is telling us the first thing, is that we are distracted by the wrong considerations.

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Second – what lies behind unbelief is that we are drawn to the wrong priorities.

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Look at what he says again, in verse 2.

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He had, He’s speaking of Jesus, no form or majesty, that we should look at him.

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Now, I was fascinated to look this week at a list of the most popular hobbies and interests

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in the United States of America.

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Based on a recent survey, here is the list in an ascending order.

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I’ll give you the top seven.

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Coming in at number seven, seventh most popular interest and hobby in America, health and

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fitness with 29% off respondents to this particular survey.

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Number six, travel.

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Number five, video games.

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Number four, heads.

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Number three, reading and writing.

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Number two, food.

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And wait for it, number one, the most popular hobby our interest in the United States of

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America according to this particular survey, music.

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Fifty-two percent of people responding to the survey identified that.

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I have to say, I was absolutely amazed that sports came further down in the list, though

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I suspect that that was because there was more than one question about it.

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If you put together the rankings for watching sports and playing sports, it would have come

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in at number three on the list, with 45 percent.

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But here you are.

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Here’s a range of the things that get our attention.

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The priorities to which we give, that focus time an affection, things we actually choose.

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We have to sleep.

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We have to work.

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But here are the things that we choose to do.

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Here are the things that we are drawn to.

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Now, Isaiah is telling us why unbelief is the overwhelming response of the world to

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Jesus Christ.

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And here he tells us that one reason for this unbelief is that people do not take the time

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to look at Jesus.

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He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him.

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So a great deal of our time and our attention and even our affection gets spent on music

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and food and pets and travel and sports and all of these are good things.

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But if you are going to believe, you will have to take time to look at the Lord Jesus Christ.

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You won’t come to faith simply by some vague or casual impression.

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So why is it that people don’t spend time looking at Jesus?

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Well Isaiah tells us there was nothing about Him to particularly attract our attention.

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We’re drawn to food, we’re drawn to pets, we’re drawn to video games, but not to Jesus Christ.

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He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him.

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Now, here, I’d like to speak directly to the person who does not yet believe.

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This whole series is an invitation for you to take a serious look at Jesus Christ.

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Now I really hope with all my heart that you will do this.

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But let’s answer this question.

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Why should you?

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Why should you as a thoughtful person take a serious look at the Lord Jesus Christ?

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Have to answer that question and let me do it by way of this personal illustration.

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It’s more than 40 years now since I met and fell in love with my lovely wife, Karen.

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We were both students in London at the time.

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Karen’s father was a musician.

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He played the violin for the Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields.

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And that meant that he came through London quite often after touring in various countries

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abroad.

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And, sometime after we had begun dating, Karen told me that her father was returning from

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a tour, and that we could meet him when he got off the plane in London before he returned

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Now, everyone in my wife’s family would agree that my father-in-law was a force to be reckoned

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with, and so I really wanted to make a good first impression.

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My dad loves cricket, Karen said to me, and he’ll want to know the score when he gets

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off the plane.

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Well, cricket began as an English game, and I’m Scottish, and I had no interest in it

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whatsoever.

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But before we went to meet our father, I asked someone who would know, I mean, what’s the

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score in the game?

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Oh, oh, he said, it’s 200 for four.

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Well, sure enough, when we met my future father-in-law he asked what was happening in the cricket

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area.

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And Karen looked at me expectantly and with some confidence, I said, it’s 200 for four.

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To which he said, yes, but who’s batting?

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I didn’t have that rather vital piece of information and it was abundantly clear to my father-in-law

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that I didn’t know the first thing about his beloved game.

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So, I decided that I needed to learn about cricket.

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I started to watch cricket highlights.

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I asked questions about it of people who knew a great deal about the game.

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A new interest was born and you know it wasn’t too long before I could honestly say that

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I shared my father-in-law’s great passion for cricket.

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Now here’s the question.

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What changed?

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For years there was nothing whatsoever about cricket that attracted my attention.

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Nothing at all.

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What changed?

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The answer was that when I met Karen I had something at stake.

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Now, you may have had very little interest in looking at Jesus.

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You may say to Dave, now why should I be interested in him?

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And here’s my answer to that question.

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You have something at stake here, you really do.

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You have a soul that will live forever.

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You are accountable to the God who made you.

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One day you will stand before him.

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The Bible makes that very clear.

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And Jesus gives you this promise, that if you will confess him before men, he will confess

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you before his father in heaven.

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If you will take your stand with him, he will take his stand with you.

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So there’s room in your life for music and for food and for reading and for pets and

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for video games and for travel and for sport and for all kinds of other interests and

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all kinds of other hobbies.

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But all of these things are going to pass away.

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You know that.

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But your soul will live forever.

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So make room for Jesus Christ and look at him.

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That’s what Isaiah chapter fifty three is all about.

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People don’t believe.

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Why?

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Because we’re distracted by the wrong considerations and because we’re drawn to the wrong priorities.

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But if you will look honestly at the Lord Jesus Christ as he has presented to us in

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the scriptures, you will soon see that he is the Savior that you need.

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And when you see that he is the Savior that you need, you will be well on your way to

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believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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You’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and our message today, called

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Our Desire.

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It was originally part of the series The Gospel According To Isaiah.

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And it’s been one of the most requested and downloaded broadcasts of the past 12 months.

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So we bundled it up with a number of other popular broadcasts under the title, Listener

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Favourites, and we’re broadcasting it on the radio, all through this month.

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If you’ve missed any of the series, do remember that you can come online to catch up or go

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back and listen again.

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And that’s at OpenTheBible.org.uk.

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Open The Bible is supported by the kind donations made by our listeners.

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And if that’s something you’ve been considering doing, this month, we have a special offer

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for you.

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If you are able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible for five pounds

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per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Collin’s new

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book Fly Through the Bible.

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It will give you a better understanding of the story line of the Bible.

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Also, you might want to pass the book on to somebody you know, who’s asking questions,

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but hasn’t yet opened the Bible for themselves.

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Back to the message now, we’re in Isaiah chapter 53.

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Here’s Colin.

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So we’re looking at this very important question.

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What lies behind unbelief?

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Why do so many people not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

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And we’re seeing the answers that Isaiah is giving to us, here in this verse.

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We are distracted by the wrong considerations.

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We are drawn to the wrong priorities.

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And then one more thing that’s very clear in this verse.

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We are driven by the wrong desires.

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Look at what he says.

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He had no form or majesty that we should look at him

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and no beauty that we should desire him.

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Now, the Bible never gives us a description

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of the physical appearance of Jesus.

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Of course, artists throughout the years

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have tried to make an impression,

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but the Bible never gives us

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a description of the appearance of Jesus.

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When Isaiah says here that he had no beauty,

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he is simply telling us

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that there was nothing especially outstanding

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about the appearance of Jesus.

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He looked like any other person.

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If you had been walking through the market

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and had passed Jesus,

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you would not have been attracted to his appearance

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more than any other person that you walked past.

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There was not some kind of halo around his head.

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He really did become like us in every way,

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except that he was without sin.

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But notice that Isaiah’s point here

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is that he had no beauty that we should desire him.

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So he’s bringing in our desires.

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He’s now down to the level of the will.

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He’s telling us what we want, what we go after,

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what drives us.

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And he brings in our desires to explain

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why there is so much unbelief in the world.

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What lies behind unbelief?

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Their answer, we are driven by the wrong desires.

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Now the relationship between what we desire

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and what we believe, is brought out very, very clearly

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in some words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John.

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Jesus said to the Pharisees who refused to believe in him,

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How can you believe?

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When you receive glory from one another

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and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God.’

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Now you see what Jesus is saying here?

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He knows the heart and he says to them now,

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The great passion of your lives

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is to be affirmed by each other.

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That’s the thing you want, that’s what drives you.

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But you’re not seeking the praise or the commendation

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that comes from God.

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And that is why you don’t believe.

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And more than that, Jesus says,

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and not just why you don’t believe,

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as long as you are driven by the desire

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to be affirmed by other people,

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as long as that’s the most important thing in your life,

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you can’t believe, you can’t.

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How can you believe, he says,

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when you receive glory from one another?

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So someone says here today, I can’t believe,

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and you know the Lord Jesus Christ then from this verse

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would say to you, you’re right.

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You can’t.

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And here’s why you can’t.

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You are driven by a passion to be affirmed by other people.

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You are affirmed by other people

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and you have no great interest in the commendation

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that comes from God alone.

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Now do you see what isaiah is telling us

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in this remarkable verse?

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He’s brought before us this extraordinary reality

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that the largest part of the world does not believe

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the greatest good news that the world has ever heard,

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why is this?

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What lies behind unbelief?

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And the answer that isaiah gives to us

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in this amazing verse,

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is that behind unbelief lie these three realities,

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that we are distracted by the wrong considerations,

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we are drawn to the wrong priorities,

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and we are driven by the wrong desires.

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No one will be able to say on the last day,

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it’s God’s fault that I didn’t believe.

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No one will be able to say on the last day,

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I never had a chance.

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You can’t claim inability as a defense.

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God sees behind that and God knows the reality.

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If you wanted the praise and the commendation

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that comes from God alone, you would seek Him,

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and if you really were to seek Him, you would find Him.

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But you don’t do that.

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Why?

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Because you are driven by the wrong desires.

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You are driven by the wrong desires.

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That’s why you don’t believe.

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Now, we’ve looked then, at what lies behind unbelief.

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Let’s then draw from that very briefly

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in these last moments, what then leads to faith.

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And there are two things, very clearly

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that you can do that will lead to faith.

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it is to take an honest look at yourself.

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Ask yourself this question honestly,

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why do I not believe?

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Could it be, that I’ve been distracted

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by the wrong considerations?

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Could it be that in my life,

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I have been drawn to the wrong priorities?

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Could it be that the reason that I do not believe

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is that I am driven by the wrong desires?

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Take an honest look at yourself

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and if you do, you will soon come to the conclusion

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that you are a sinner who needs a savior

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and when you see that, you’ll be well on your way

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to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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What can you do that will lead you to faith?

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You take an honest look at yourself

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and here’s the second thing you can do.

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Take an honest look at Jesus Christ.

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Ask yourself this question.

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Think about it.

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If it is true that Jesus Christ is the son of God,

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the Lord of glory, who has always been

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at the right hand of the Father’s side,

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could there then be anything more beautiful than this?

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That he should leave heaven and be born in a stable?

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That as a young child he should become a refugee

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fleeing to another country?

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That he should grow up like a young plant

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without attracting attention to himself?

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That he should live in an unfashionable and despised town?

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That he should labor in a carpenter’s shop?

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That he should make friends with people

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that no one else was drawn to?

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That he should become the friend of sinners like us?

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And that he should lay down his own life

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as a sacrifice for his friends?

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Look honestly at yourself.

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Look honestly at the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And here is what you will see.

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You will see that you are a sinner who needs a savior,

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and you will see that Jesus Christ

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is the savior that you need.

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Pastor Colin Smith there,

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wrapping up a message called, Our Desire.

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And perhaps as you listen,

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you’ve come to the point where you recognize

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that Jesus is the savior that you need.

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If you don’t already know Jesus in that way,

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perhaps you’d like to.

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And you can change that today.

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You can pray a simple prayer,

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recognizing that Jesus died for your sin

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and asking him to be your savior and guide.

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If you’re doing that for the first time,

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or simply renewing your commitment to Jesus,

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I hope you’ll take time

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to talk to a trusted Christian friend or family member

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and tell them what’s happening to you.

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I’m sure they’d love to hear about it

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and would love to pray with you.

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And we’d love you to tell us about it too.

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At Open the Bible, we welcome contact with our listeners.

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You can email us by using the contact form

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on our website openthebible.org.uk

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forward slash contact.

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You can write to us at Open the Bible,

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P.O. Box 1420 Cheltenham GL50 9PG.

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Or you can phone us

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on 0330 335

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8089.

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If we are not available when you call,

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leave a message for us and we’ll return your call.

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All of these contact details are available on our website

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openthebible.org.uk.

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Open the Bible is a listener supported ministry,

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so thank you for giving and supporting Open the Bible.

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If that’s something that you’re thinking about doing,

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if you’re able to set up a new gift

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of five pounds per month, or more, this month,

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we’d like to thank you by sending you a copy

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of Pastor Colin’s new book, Flying Through The Bible.

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And, Colin, when you do this kind of high altitude flight

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over the entire Bible story,

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there’s so much in there that you really have to focus in.

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So, what are the themes that you focused on

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in this new book?

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Well, it really is a high altitude flight

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over the Bible’s story.

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I mean, we’re talking about around 100 pages,

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so it’s covering at a great speed.

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But, you know, you can get an overview of the Bible

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very simply by thinking about five people

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in the Old Testament.

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Adam, and Abraham, and Moses, and David, and Ezra.

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If you get the stories of these five people,

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you’ve really got a broad outline

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of the Old Testament story.

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Then, when we come to the Gospels,

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we look at five events in the life

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of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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He was born, He was tempted, He was crucified,

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He is risen, and He has ascended.

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Grasp these five events, and you have a broad outline

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of what you need to know about the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And then, in the New Testament Letters,

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there are five marvelous gifts

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that God gives to all who believe,

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the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of faith,

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the gift of forgiveness, the gift of the Church,

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and the gift of heaven itself.

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So there’s a very quick fly-through the Bible.

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It’s cookies on the bottom shelf,

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and I hope folks are going to find it really helpful.

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Well, we’d like to send you a copy

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of Pastor Colin’s book, Flying Through the Bible,

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to say thank you for supporting Open the Bible this month.

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Full details of this offer are on our website.

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That’s at openthebible.org.uk.

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For Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick,

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and I hope you’ll be able to join us again soon.

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You’ve experienced one disaster after another,

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and you’re wondering what hope is there for you?

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Find out next time on Open the Bible.