Today’s broadcast dives into a frequently debated question: ‘Would a God of love send people to hell?’ Pastor Colin Smith provides a thoughtful response by exploring the true nature of evil and God’s power to overcome it.
Join us as we delve into Micah Chapter 4 and examine God’s promise for a world free of evil, war, and suffering. Pastor Colin explains the profound hope found in God’s ultimate plan to create a new heaven and a new earth, and what these promises mean for us today.
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I’ve often heard it said, a God of love would never send people to hell.
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It sounds good, but it shows in the questionnaire an extraordinary naivety about the power of evil.
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Welcome to Open The Bible with pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick,
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and Colin, you’ve been a pastor for many years and I’m sure you have heard this argument many times.
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How do you respond to it?
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Well, what is the answer to evil?
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To evil then? The only answer to evil will be when someone has the power and the will to actually overcome it and defeat it.
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And all human history has shown that there isn’t a person who’s ever lived who’s able to do that.
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God alone is able to do that. And He will.
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And this is the hope of a world of peace.
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We’re looking at this great vision of how there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
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There can’t be a new heaven and a new earth unless and until evil itself is dealt with.
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Thank God that He has the power and the will to fulfill His purpose,
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and to bring an end to evil so that it will have no place in the home of the redeemed,
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and the home of the righteous in Jesus Christ.
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Well we’re going to look at this from Micah chapter 4 today,
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as we continue the message, the God who gathers his own community.
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Here’s Colin.
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If the dream of true community, the end of war, the end of hunger, and peace on earth is to be realized,
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then there has to be a solution to the problem around us, and the problem within us.
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That’s why I want you to turn to Micah chapter 4 with me today.
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Micah speaks, do you see that in Verse 3,
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about a day when they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,
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where nation will not take up sword against nation and nor will they train for war anymore.
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Now of course we find it almost impossible to imagine, because the only world you and I have ever known
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is one in which there is hostility, and fear, and the threat of attack.
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And you switch on the news to see what color the threat level is today.
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We cannot imagine a world in which there is no need for defense.
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But Micah speaks of a day when there will be such peace on earth,
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not just peace that comes from the absence of war, but peace that comes from the absence even of the threat of war and of hostility,
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and therefore military budgets and weapon systems will be a fading memory from the past.
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Imagine. Quite a dream.
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Now, obviously, these are very beautiful words and wonderful thoughts
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and they are light-years away from the reality of the world in which we live.
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So the question is, is Micah also a dreamer?
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Is Micah going to write at the end of chapter four,
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you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,
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I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.
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Is that what he’s saying?
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No.
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Look at the end of verse 4.
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Here’s his basis for what he writes.
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For the mouth of the Lord Almighty has spoken.
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See what he’s saying.
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You need to know that as I write these things that are almost beyond what you can imagine.
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I’m not dreaming.
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What I’m describing here is not some vague hope for a better world.
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It’s not a dream.
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It’s a promise.
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And it is the promise of Almighty God.
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Yahweh has spoken.
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The mouth of the Lord has spoken this.
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God has said,
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One day nation will not take up sword against nation.
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They will beat their swords into plowshares.
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Every man will sit under his own fig tree and no one will make them afraid.
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That’s the promise of God.
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Now, this obviously raises two questions.
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The first is, how in all the world will this ever happen?
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And the second question is, when might we expect to see this happen?
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And so that’s what I want to focus for the rest of our time,
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How and when.
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How and when.
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First of all how.
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Look at verse one.
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The Mountain of the Lord’s Temple will be established.
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Now whenever you read in the Old Testament about the Temple,
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you need to realize that in the Old Testament the Temple was the place of God’s presence
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this was the place where He said His presence would come down in a particular way on the Earth.
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Remember God said in Exodus 25 that He would meet His people at the Ark of the Covenant
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and the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Temple
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so that when Solomon’s Temple was built the presence of God came down
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and the cloud of the glory of His presence filled the Temple.
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So when we read about the Temple in the Old Testament
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we’re talking about the place to which God has said He would come.
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And Micah clearly foresees a day when God would visibly come to his Temple.
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Verse two, many nations will come and say
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Let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob
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and He will teach us his ways.
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Who is the He? Obviously God himself.
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This is the Lord himself having come in a visible form to his Temple.
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And if God is to come on Earth to a physical place
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In a way that is seen and known
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He must obviously come in some visible form.
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And so Micah is clearly anticipating a day
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When the Messiah, the Christ will come to the temple in Jerusalem.
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This will be a day, when God will draw near.
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His presence, and His word will be made known on the Earth.
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Now this sounds marvellous but, of course, it does not answer the question
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of how there will be peace and security.
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We still have the question, well okay, the presence of God comes
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but how will He deal with the deluded gunman, the rapist, the terrorist organization
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and how will He deal with the broken heart,
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the abandoned mother, the forlorn son, and so forth.
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Now Micah answers these questions about
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what will happen when the presence of the Lord comes
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with four simple statements, that I want us to get ahold of.
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These are the statements that bring us from dreams to reality
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and from vague hopes to solid promises.
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Number one, God will judge.
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Now you find this both in verse three and
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in verses 11 and 12.
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Let’s look at both.
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Verse three, He will judge between many peoples.
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Now, this is telling us that God will resolve disputes
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among his own people.
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He will exercise mediation.
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He will bring reconciliation.
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So many disputes even among God’s people
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never get resolved, but here, Christ
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will resolve them.
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That’s what God will do for his people,
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it’s a wonderful thing.
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And Micah also tells us,
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not only that he’ll bring the reconciliation
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of disputes among his people,
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but he will also bring judgment towards his enemies.
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Look at Verse 11,
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But now, many nations are gathered against you.
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That’s against Israel,
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and that was, of course, the reality in Micah’s time
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and it has been through the years since.
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Many nations have wanted to destroy Israel,
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they say, Verse 11,
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Let her be defiled,
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and their eyes gloat over Zion.
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So, there are many people,
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where in Micah’s day, still are today,
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they want to terrorize and to defile others,
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they want to invade the land of others,
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they want to promote violence,
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and what is God going to do about that?
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Verse 12,
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They do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
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they do not understand his plan.
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He who gathers them, like sheaves,
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to the threshing floor.
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Say, what happens to sheaves
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on the threshing floor?
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You know what happens to sheaves on the threshing floor,
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don’t you?
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They get threshed.
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So what this is saying is that
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when the presence of God comes,
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he will not only bring reconciliation to his people,
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but he will bring judgment to his enemies.
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They will be destroyed,
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God will remove them from the face of the earth,
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those who persist in evil.
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Second,
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he will gather.
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He will judge, but he will gather.
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Verse six- I will gather the lame.
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I will assemble the exiles.
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See, here’s the beauty,
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those who come under the ultimate judgment of God
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are those who continue to the end
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to shake their fist at him.
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But for all who will come,
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his arms are outstretched
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and he says, I will gather.
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Notice who he will gather.
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He says I will gather the lame.
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Here are folks who have
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been injured by the cruelty of others.
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They have difficulty
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walking by themselves.
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They cannot get where they want to
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go because of the injuries
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in their lives that can
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happen in so many ways.
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God says I will
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gather the lame.
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God is saying this to you.
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God is saying this to you.
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Him coming to you in your
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wounds and saying I am going to gather you.
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I am going to take you
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you where you could not otherwise go.
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Come to me. Come into my arms.
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Let me take you where
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you cannot otherwise get.
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He gather’s all who will come.
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And the New Testament says
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He never turns anyone away.
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He is the God who takes the
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initiative in reaching out to you
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extending the invitation
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and saying with all you wounds, and with all
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your weakness and with all the limping
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of your life. I am reaching out
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to you now let me take you
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where you need to go.
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Christ is gathering
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his own community.
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Come to me He says, all
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you who are weary and
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heavy laden and I will
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give you rest.
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He judges. He gathers.
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Same God.
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Third, He
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rules. He rules, God
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will rule, verse 7,
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The Lord will rule over them in
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Mount Zion.
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Now here’s something wonderful.
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When you become
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one of Christ’s flock you
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submit your life to His rule.
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That’s what it means to come to Him.
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When He says come to me
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you who are weary and heavy laden
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and I will give you rest
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He immediately goes on to say what?
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Take my yoke upon you
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and learn of me.
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Those He gathers
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He also rules.
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Now this is a wonderful thing because
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to rule means to
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give direction.
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And Micah sees a day
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when people from many nations,
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from every culture, will
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come to the Lord and
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he will give direction
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to their lives and they will come
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without reluctance.
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There’s no forcing here
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there is a freedom, a desire,
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a longing
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that our lives may be directed
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by the Lord Jesus Christ
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himself. Look at verse 2. Many nations
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will come and say let’s go to
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the mountain of the Lord because there he will teach
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us his ways and we can walk in
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his paths. There’s no reluctance here,
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here’s a community of people who are saying
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Lord, we’ve discovered now
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that with you will make a mess
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of our lives. So this is how we
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want to live. We want to draw near to you
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and we want you to give us direction
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you rule over us.
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You show us how to live. We will walk
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in your ways for we have discovered
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that this is how we will be blessed.
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And then
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verse 10. God
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will redeem. God
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will redeem verse 10
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You will go to Babylon
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there you
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will be rescued
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there the Lord will redeem
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you out of the hand
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of your enemies
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Now redeeming
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as you know is simply to buy back
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what otherwise would be lost
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And here are these
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people who who were told
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had gone into Babylon
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Happened literally of course in the Old Testament
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time. And figuratively
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in many many ways since Babylon
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throughout the Bible often
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refers in a general way
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to resistance to
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God in human culture
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that begins in Genesis with the
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Tower of Babel and it runs all the way
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through to the Book of Revelation where you have the great
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city of Babylon in
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the Book of Revelation that is ultimately
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destroyed at the
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coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
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And
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the marvelous thing here you see is
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that even Babylon finds its place
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in the plan of God because
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it’s there that you will be rescued
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It’s right in the middle
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of all the anti-God
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pressure that surrounds you and your
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life in this world, that God will
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redeem you and you will experience
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his grace in your life
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There you will see the strong
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arm of God revealed he says to his people
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who he gathers and rules, there
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the dark powers against
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you will be
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broken
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So now here’s the how, here is how
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God fulfills his
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promise
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Micah says he’ll judge
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he’ll gather
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he’ll rule
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and he’ll redeem
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This is the God of the Bible
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He’s the God who judges his enemies
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he gathers his people
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so he can rule them and so
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that he can redeem them and he does it in Jesus
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Christ
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This is the pattern throughout the scripture
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He will do this for all who will come to him
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And that is why
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however lame, however wounded
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however bound your life
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as become there is living hope
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for you today in
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Jesus Christ
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and with that great news
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We’ll pause just for a moment
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You’re listening to Open the Bible
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with pastor Colin Smith and a message called
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The God Who Gathers His Own Community
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The message is part
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of a larger series called
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Close Encounters with the Living God
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and if you’ve been following the series
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and I’m sure you’ve missed one or two
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don’t forget you can always go back and catch up
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or listen again online
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at our website
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openthebible.org.uk
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You can also find our messages as a podcast
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00:15:14,000 –> 00:15:16,000
on your regular podcasting site
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search for Open The Bible UK
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or indeed follow the link from
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our website
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Back to the message now
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We’re in Micah chapter 4
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Here’s Colin
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When should we look to see the promise in Micah chapter 4
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Let me give three answers
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First
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In the past
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there is some fulfilment
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of Micah and chapter 4
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in events that took place
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a hundred years after his time
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when God’s people
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were removed from Jerusalem
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and taken into Babylon
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as it says here
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in verse 10
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And then 70 years later
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they were indeed redeemed
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Those folks must have loved
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verse 10. If you’d been in Babylon
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500 years before the birth
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of Jesus Christ you would have loved
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Micah chapter 4 and verse 10
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You would have said that speaking to me
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and I thank God for it
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He’s not going to abandon me
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here in this wretched place
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He did gather his people
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He did rule them and he did redeem
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them
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but it’s only a very, very small part
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of what
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Micah spoke of that was
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fulfilled, those years
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before Jesus
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So let’s move very quickly to the future
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And two ways
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in which this is fulfilled
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in the future
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First, in regards to what
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we call the Millennium
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Revelation chapter 20
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Now many Christians see
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in these words, a description of
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the milennium, that is, a period
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of 1000 years when Christ
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will reign literally and
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physically on the earth. You can read
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about this particularly in Revelation
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In chapter 20
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The nations of the
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earth will discover
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the blessings of
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the rule of Jesus
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Christ
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And God says that the earth
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will be filled with the glory
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of God
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as the waters cover the sea
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I find it helpful
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to think about prophecy
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as being like a range of mountains
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so that you can see one peak
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but behind it is another and behind it
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is another
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and so even beyond the millennium
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there is another peak
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beyond the last mountain top
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of time there is the horizon
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of eternity and in the
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future what Micah
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describes points us forward
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even beyond that into the new
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writings as described in Revelation
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chapter 21 and 22
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the ultimate fulfillment
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beyond the summit
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of time
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Christian look at your
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eternal destiny
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peace
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security
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freedom
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even from temptation
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and from Satan
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in the presence
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of the Lord
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living according to his path
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and therefore under the full blessing
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of his reign in all the
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creativity
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of a new life
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that has been opened up forever
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and forever and he
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shall reign forever
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and forever
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past
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future
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Here’s a question
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does this have anything
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to do with now
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what about now
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is there any place in which
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we should look to see any evidence
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of what Micah chapter 4 is
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talking about today
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no you’ll notice in
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verse 1 right there that Micah says
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these things will happen in the last
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days right
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but the New Testament
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makes it very clear that we live
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in the last days now the last
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began they began with the
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ascension of Jesus you remember on the day of
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Pentecost Peter quoted the
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prophet Joel saying that God’s
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spirit would be poured out in the last
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days and Peter says this is the last days
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this is exactly what is
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happening now we’re in the last days
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ever since the ascention of
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Jesus
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so see we are living in
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the last days
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where should we look
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to see what Micah describes today
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where
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should we look to see
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evidence of God’s
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presence on the earth
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where would you look for a gathering
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of people who love God’s word
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and want to walk in
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his ways and under His rule
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where would
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you expect to see God at work
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gathering a redeemed
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community that will live under His rule
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That’s our
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calling isn’t it
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wherever
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God’s people pursue
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righteousness and peace
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there an expression of God’s
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reign is seen on the earth
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Apostle
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Paul says this in Romans
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14 in verse 17
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God’s kingdom he says this is what it’s
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00:20:32,000 –> 00:20:34,000
about
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God’s rule, God’s reign, God’s kingdom
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00:20:36,000 –> 00:20:38,000
it’s about righteousness, peace
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and joy in the Holy Spirit
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So wherever
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you see God’s people pursuing
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peace
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and acting in righteousness
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there you have
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an expression of God’s rule and of his
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redeeming love
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And that’s our calling
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Our very purpose here
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until God takes us home to heaven
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is to shine the light of hope
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into a dark world
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that God should do this through gathered
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communities of redeemed people
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who pursue peace and righteousness
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because they live under his rule
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And whenever you see that happen
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you’re seeing a snapshot of
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his kingdom
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God’s kingdom comes
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when his will
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is done on earth
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as it is in heaven
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You’ve been listening to Open the Bible
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00:21:28,000 –> 00:21:30,000
with Pastor Colin Smith
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on the message called the
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God who gathers his own community
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And as you’ve been listening to the message today
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you’ve heard God calling you
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into a relationship with Jesus Christ
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You’d like to know more about
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how to enter into that relationship
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by the saving grace of God
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And if so I hope you’ll seek out
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a trusted Christian friend or family member
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00:21:50,000 –> 00:21:52,000
or maybe go along to a Christian church
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00:21:52,000 –> 00:21:54,000
fellowship. Take time
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00:21:54,000 –> 00:21:56,000
to speak with the folk there
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the pastor or simply members of that fellowship
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Tell them about your journey to
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for yourself
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00:22:02,000 –> 00:22:04,000
and you’ll be ready to pray with you
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to help you make that step
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Or if you’re not yet ready to make that step
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00:22:08,000 –> 00:22:10,000
and still have questions
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and we all have questions
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00:22:12,000 –> 00:22:14,000
there may well be a Bible study course
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00:22:14,000 –> 00:22:16,000
or a home group or aALPHA programme
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00:22:16,000 –> 00:22:18,000
that you can join
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00:22:18,000 –> 00:22:20,000
Don’t forget, if you ever miss one of our messages
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you can always catch up or go back and listen again
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00:22:22,000 –> 00:22:24,000
online at our website
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00:22:24,000 –> 00:22:26,000
openthebible.org.uk
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You can also find us
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00:22:28,000 –> 00:22:30,000
as a podcast. Go to your favourite
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00:22:30,000 –> 00:22:32,000
podcast site, search for
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00:22:32,000 –> 00:22:34,000
Open the Bible UK
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00:22:34,000 –> 00:22:36,000
and subscribe to receive regular updates
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00:22:36,000 –> 00:22:38,000
Also on the website
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00:22:38,000 –> 00:22:40,000
and available as a podcast
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00:22:40,000 –> 00:22:42,000
you can find Open the Bible Daily
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00:22:42,000 –> 00:22:44,000
If you’re looking for a resource
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00:22:44,000 –> 00:22:46,000
to help you in your daily walk with God
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00:22:46,000 –> 00:22:48,000
Open the Bible Daily
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00:22:48,000 –> 00:22:50,000
is a series of 2-3 minute
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00:22:50,000 –> 00:22:52,000
short reflections based on
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00:22:52,000 –> 00:22:54,000
Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching
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00:22:54,000 –> 00:22:56,000
and read in the UK by Sue McLeesh
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00:22:56,000 –> 00:22:58,000
There’s a fresh one on our website
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00:22:58,000 –> 00:23:00,000
every day
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00:23:00,000 –> 00:23:02,000
Open the Bible is supported entirely by
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00:23:02,000 –> 00:23:04,000
the generosity of our listeners
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00:23:04,000 –> 00:23:06,000
and we want to thank you
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00:23:06,000 –> 00:23:08,000
for supporting our ministry in that way
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00:23:08,000 –> 00:23:10,000
If you haven’t previously supported
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00:23:10,000 –> 00:23:12,000
Open the Bible but you’d like to begin doing
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00:23:12,000 –> 00:23:14,000
so, we’d like to thank you by
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00:23:14,000 –> 00:23:16,000
sending you a copy of Kevin de Young’s
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00:23:16,000 –> 00:23:18,000
book, Impossible Christianity
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00:23:18,000 –> 00:23:20,000
It has a very
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00:23:20,000 –> 00:23:22,000
long subtitle
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00:23:22,000 –> 00:23:24,000
The subtitle is
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00:23:24,000 –> 00:23:26,000
Why Following Jesus Does Not Mean
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00:23:26,000 –> 00:23:28,000
you have to change the world, be an expert
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00:23:28,000 –> 00:23:30,000
in everything, accept
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00:23:30,000 –> 00:23:32,000
spiritual failure and feel miserable
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00:23:32,000 –> 00:23:34,000
pretty much all the time
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00:23:34,000 –> 00:23:36,000
Colin, how did the book
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help you? Well
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00:23:38,000 –> 00:23:40,000
it brought a fresh sense of peace to my soul
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00:23:40,000 –> 00:23:42,000
The problem is
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that sometimes we put burdens
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on ourselves that God never
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intended us to carry. We all know
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that we never do anything perfectly
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00:23:50,000 –> 00:23:52,000
and that none of us is perfect
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but what we can lose sight of
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00:23:54,000 –> 00:23:56,000
is that it is actually possible
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00:23:56,000 –> 00:23:58,000
to live a life that is pleasing to God
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00:23:58,000 –> 00:24:00,000
and that acts of faith
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00:24:00,000 –> 00:24:02,000
hope and love really are pleasing
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00:24:02,000 –> 00:24:04,000
to Him! Kevin de Young
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00:24:04,000 –> 00:24:06,000
brings this out in a beautiful way
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that I think will bring
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00:24:08,000 –> 00:24:10,000
a sense of relief to the
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souls of many people who read
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00:24:12,000 –> 00:24:14,000
this book. And that’s why I am really excited that
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we’re able
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.
Sermons on Micah In a time of crisis, God gets your attention. A crisis has a way of bringing new clarity. It can clear away the fog and show us that we desperately need a close encounter with the living God. The prophet Micah brought God’s Word to His people in a time of great
