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It’s a general principle in life that if you are
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faithful in what God has trusted to you now God will trust you with more in the future.
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Wonderful principle really. It’s true of money. It’s true of responsibility.
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It’s true of influence, ministry, and friendship. Faithfulness leads to more trust.
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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick,
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I guess there are some people probably thinking, I’m pleased that God holds leaders accountable,
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but that doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a leader. Yes well you may not be a leader but God has
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given you a trust. Everyone has been given an trust. You’ve been trusted with relationships,
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you’ve been trusted with certain work, you’ve been trusted with certain gifts,
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and all of us are accountable for the trust that God has given in to each of our hands.
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That relates to leaders in regards to the responsibilities of leadership,
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but it relates to everyone in regards to what’s trusted to us. So there’s a very important
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principle here and a wonderful principle that when we’re faithful with regards to what God
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has trusted to us, he trusts more. He’s wonderfully generous in that regard,
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but we are accountable for all that’s trusted into our hands.
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So we’ll look at this today in the book of Micah chapter 3 as we begin the message,
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The God Who Holds Leaders Accountable. Here’s Colin.
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I’m gonna plunge straight into the text this morning and see where it leads.
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It really is a story with a surplusing and a wonderful ending.
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Look at verse 1. Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel.
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So straight away in this chapter, it’s very obvious that God is speaking to leaders.
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Let’s take a few moments to ponder that theme before we walk through these verses together.
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The Bible has a very great deal to say about leadership and all leadership is a gift or a
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trust from God. Some positions of leadership are elected, that is, the people make a choice
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through a process of voting and trust the task of leadership to others who are willing to take
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that responsibility. It happens in government, it happens in the church and in many other spheres.
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Leadership is a trust that is given by the people. In other spheres, especially in business,
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leaders are appointed. There’s no voting that is involved. But leadership is still a trust
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from those who make the appointment and ultimately from God. Very interesting
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that the apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans, chapter 13, that the governing authorities
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are established by God. Fascinating that he would say that in Romans of all places because
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the Roman empire was hardly a model of democracy. But even governments like the Roman one is not
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elected by the people. Paul says, the authorities are established by God and that means
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that even the most tyrannical authority is accountable to God.
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So, all leadership then involves a gift of trust from people to people and ultimately from God
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to people. And therefore, all leaders are accountable, first, to other people and then
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ultimately to God. So, for example, I am accountable to the church board and to the
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congregation who hired me. The same is true in your work, whatever that is,
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whatever authority or responsibility you have is given to you by someone else and you are
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accountable to them for the way that you use it. Now, I think it s worth taking a few moments
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just to list the trust that has been given by God to you. And if you have a pen and a bit of
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paper, you might like at least to jot down one or two headings to consider, and one or two immediate
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ideas that come to mind. Because you will be surprised, as I think I ve been surprised again
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just looking through how much has been trusted by God to each and every one of us. Take the
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area, for example, of relationships, your relationships are a trust from God.
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Every time I do a wedding I am reminded of this in a particular way. That a great deal of the
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happiness of one woman is now trusted into the hands of a man and the great deal of happiness
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for that man is now trusted into the hands of this woman. It is a trust. If you’re a husband,
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if you’re a wife, you have been trusted with another person by God. It’s a huge trust.
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When a child is born, this new little life is trusted to the parents. God places this little
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life in your hands. Friendships involve a gift of trust. Your friends influence your life,
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you influence their lives and a good friend is one who is trustworthy. So what has God
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trusted to you in the area of relationships? As you map it out, you’ll find it’s quite extensive.
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That’s just one area, look at your work. Your work is a trust from your employers to you
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and ultimately from God to you, you have certain responsibilities in your work.
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There are certain things you’ve been trusted to do. If you’re a teacher you’re trusted with
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students. If you’re a nurse or you’re a doctor, you’re trusted with patients. If you’re working
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in investments, you are trusted with other people’s money. If you’re a pastor or a missionary,
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you are trusted with the scriptures and the care of God’s flock. You may have been trusted with
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the oversight of other people, maybe two or three in a project team, maybe two or 300
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in a large company. What have you been trusted in your work?
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Then there’s the whole area of your gifts, your abilities, which are a trust given from God,
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your ability to work with your hands as we’ve just seen folks working with their hands
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in the service of other people, your ability to work with your mind is a trust from God.
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Your creativity, your enterprise, your love for children, your sensitivity towards people
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with special needs, your ability to connect with young people, your natural way of being
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able to communicate the gospel with others, these are all gifts that have been trusted
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to you by almighty God and you’re accountable for the way that you use them.
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What gifts has God trusted to you?
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Don’t say he hasn’t given me any, that means you just haven’t seen them yet.
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What has he trusted to you?
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And how are you using them?
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Then of course, there’s the whole area of ministry itself.
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You may have a Sunday school class, you may be a small group leader.
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Whatever your ministry is, it is a trust from God and the ministry we share together
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is a trust that God has given to us as a congregation.
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Your money, all that passes through your hands, you have been trusted with a certain amount of
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money, large or small.
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It is a trust from God.
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Together as Christian believers, we are trusted with the gospel.
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And Paul says we’re to guard the gospel.
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Jude says there may be times when we have to contend for the gospel,
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we are trusted with proclaiming the gospel, and we are trusted with living the gospel.
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So it’s good to make a list of all that God has trusted to you.
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And you will see very quickly that God has trusted a great deal
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into your hands as he has to mine.
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Now it’s a general principle in life that if you are faithful
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in what God has trusted to you now, God will trust you with more in the future.
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Wonderful principle really.
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It’s true of money,
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it’s true of responsibility, it’s true of influence, ministry,
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and friendship.
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Faithfulness leads to more trust.
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You’re faithful in what God has given you already,
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it’s more than likely he’ll trust you with more.
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Remember, Jesus told a story about three servants
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who were trusted with investing money.
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Two of them did a good job.
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They were enterprising and they showed themselves
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to be wise managers.
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And when their employer returned,
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the employer said,
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well done good and faithful servant
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you’ve been faithful in a few things
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and what was the result of that?
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I will now put you in charge of many things.
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In Luke’s version of the parable,
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when the master comes back,
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I guess Jesus has told it more than once,
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the master is saying to his servants
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you’ve been faithful in a few things.
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I’ll put you in charge of 10 cities.
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Big responsibility is the gift that God gives
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in the light of earlier faithfulness.
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Jesus spells out the principle of God rewarding faithfulness
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with greater responsibility in Luke 16 and verse 10.
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He said, whoever can be trusted with very little
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can also be trusted with much.
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And whoever is dishonest with a little
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will also be dishonest with much.
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Now that’s an important principle.
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See, whenever you’re faced with making choices
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about who to trust,
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look at that person’s track record.
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That’s what we learned from the scriptures here.
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Because the person who’s been faithful in little
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is the person who you can trust with much.
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And the person who did not do so well with little
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is the person that you should not trust with much.
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So whenever you find yourself making choices about trust
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here’s the question.
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Where has this person proved faithful?
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You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith
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and we got to pause the message briefly there.
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The message is called
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The God Who Holds Leaders Accountable.
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And it’s part of our series
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Close Encounters with the Living God.
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If you’ve missed any of the series
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or if you want to go back and listen again
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you can always do that by coming online to our website.
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That’s at openthebible.org.uk
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You can also find us as a podcast
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and that’s available on your regular podcasting site
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Just search for Open The Bible UK
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and subscribe to receive regular updates.
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Back to the message now.
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We’re in Micah 3 here’s Colin.
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Whenever you find yourself making choices about trust
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here’s the question, where has this person proved faithful?
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It’s a great question that will keep you
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from trusting the wrong people.
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When you’re choosing leaders, when you’re choosing friends,
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when you’re considering what to look for in a life partner,
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when you’re choosing who to hire for your company,
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when you’re choosing who to trust with a confidence,
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when you’re trying to discern the extent of the freedoms
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that you should give
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to your teenage son or your daughter.
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Here’s the question.
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Where has this person proved faithful?
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And faithfulness leads to more trust.
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And what follows from that, of course,
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is that more trust leads to more accountability.
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See, you and I are accountable
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for all that we have been given.
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And the more that God trusts into your hands,
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the higher the level of accountability,
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because there is more for which you are now accountable.
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You are accountable for all that you have been given.
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And the more that you are given by the hand of God,
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the more accountable you become.
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By the way, that is why the Bible
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urges us to pray for our leaders.
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Children, pray for your parents.
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Pray for your mom and dad.
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Pray for your mom and dad because they’ve got a big job
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that they’ve been given by God
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to lead and to direct your life.
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Congregation, pray for your pastors
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and for your elders.
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God has given them a big responsibility to lead the flock.
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Citizens, pray for your president,
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your senators, your congressmen, your local leaders.
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God has given them a big responsibility
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to lead our country.
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And the God of the Bible is the God
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who at every level holds leaders accountable.
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You see this most clearly in the New Testament
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in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17,
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where the writer to Hebrews says to a Christian congregation
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obey your leaders and submit to their authority
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for they keep watch over you
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as men who must give an account.
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So the pastors and the elders will give an account to God
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for what has been trusted to them.
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God holds leaders accountable.
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And on the last day,
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we will have to answer questions like this.
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How have you been faithful to the gospel
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as an elder or as a pastor?
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How have you shephered of the flock of God
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as an elder or as a pastor?
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How have you led God’s people in vigorous fulfillment
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of the great commission that I, Christ, gave to you?
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They must keep watch as those who will give an account.
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That’s what it says about leaders.
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See, the more that’s trusted,
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the higher the level of accountability.
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So, no one should underestimate the responsibility
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that goes with the privilege of leadership.
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Pray for your leaders.
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Because they’ve been given a great responsibility
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by you and before God.
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Now, once again, that was a bit of a long introduction,
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but it sets the scene for what we have here
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in Micah, in chapter three.
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Because you notice right from verse one
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that God is speaking to leaders who have been
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given a trust and therefore are accountable.
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The problem here is that these leaders
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in Micah, chapter three, have betrayed their trust.
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Very simply, they are abusing
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what God has trusted into their hands.
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Verse two and three, should you not know justice?
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You who hate good and love evil.
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And then we have this description of tearing skin
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and flesh and bones and so forth
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and chopping up meat for the pan.
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I mean, these prophets and priests
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were supposed to be the shepherds of God’s people.
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From this description, it seems they were
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more like the butchers of God’s people.
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So what does God do when leaders
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are unfaithful to their trust?
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What happens when a prophet or a priest
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or a pastor or a parent or a product manager
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or a publicist or a professor or a promoter
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or a plumber proves unfaithful?
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I’ve run out of peats,
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but you can run this in any sphere of life.
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What happens when you prove unfaithful
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in what God has trusted to you?
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Answer?
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God stops listening to the leaders’ prayers.
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Look at Verse 4, you’ll see it very clearly.
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Then they will cry out to the Lord,
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but he will not answer them.
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At that time he will hide his face from them
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because of the evil they have done.
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Now, here we come to another principle
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that runs right the way through the scriptures.
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And it’s simply this,
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that effective praying depends on right living.
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Effective praying depends on right living.
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Let me give you some scripture for this.
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You will find it all the way through the Bible,
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one that is such a clear principle.
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James 5.13 he says,
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it is the prayer of a righteous man
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that is powerful and effective.
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Why does he say that?
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Because God does not listen to the prayers
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of those who are committed to the path
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of unrighteousness.
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Effective praying depends on right living.
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Or 1 Peter 3.7.
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Listen to this in the context of marriage.
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Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives.
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Treat them with respect.
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Why?
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So that nothing will hinder your prayers.
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You giving your wife a hard time?
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Don’t expect God to be inclined to listen to your prayers.
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That’s what Peter says.
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Or Psalm 66 in verse 18,
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If I had cherished sin in my heart
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the Lord would not have listened.
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Could this be plainer?
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He’s not saying, if I’ve ever sinned God won’t listen
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but he says, if I cherish sin in my heart,
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if I hold onto it, if I pursue it,
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If I will not give it up
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I can’t expect that God will listen to me.
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Or 1 John 1 in verse six.
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If we claim to have fellowship with him
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and yet walk in darkness, walk in darkness
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then we lie and we do not live by the truth.
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Now hear me clearly, this does not mean
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that you have to be perfect before you can pray.
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The reason that we come to God in the name of Jesus
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is that none of us can come with completely clean hands
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or completely pure hearts.
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But what good scriptures teach us clearly
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is that if there is sin in your life
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that you continue to pursue and that you refuse to face
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you cherish it, you walk in it
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and you will not turn from it
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then very simply God has an issue with you,
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he really does, and what he says is
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look if you will not deal with your sins
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I will not listen to your prayers.
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It would be a farce for you to suggest
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that you’re drawing close to me
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when actually you’re pursuing a path that’s far from me,
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that’s hypocrisy.
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And God says I won’t play any part in that.
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Now you see that is why self examination
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and confession of our sins is so important
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when we come to God because God has made
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an unbreakable connection between your relationship
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with Him and your relationship with others,
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your responsibility towards Him
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and your responsibility towards others.
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That’s why for example when we look
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in the 10 Commandments, the first four
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are about what it means to love God
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but you can’t have these without the last six
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that are about how you relate to other people,
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you loving your neighbor as yourself,
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how you relate to your mom and dad,
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how you tell truth in the office,
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how you have integrity at work,
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how you’re faithful to your wife,
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and so forth and so on.
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Because a life of love for God cannot be pursued
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without integrity towards others.
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Satan wants to erect a wall in your mind
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so that you can think yourself spiritual
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while you pursue an unchanged life
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and God says don’t think I’m listening
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to your prayers under these circumstances.
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It’s the same in the Lord’s prayer, isn’t it?
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That unbreakable connection.
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If I come to the Lord and I say, forgive me my sins,
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he immediately asks me, well now Colin
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is there anyone else around you that you need to forgive?
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I cannot separate these two things
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because I can’t have a little privatized
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spiritual relationship with God
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that is separate from the way that I live my life
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in relation to other people.
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So you see all these scriptures are pointing
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to the same fundamental principle
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that effective praying depends on right living.
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That’s why prayer is such a powerful thing.
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When I come to seek the face of God,
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there more than any other time
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I have to search my heart.
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Search me and know me, see if there is
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any wicked way in me.
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Now, you see what’s happening in Micah chapter three.
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Here are people who are ripping others off,
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chewing others up, and then coming on Sunday
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to the temple and saying their prayers
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and thinking that they’re spiritual.
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But they did not listen to the cries of the poor
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and God says, as long as that’s the case,
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He will not listen to their cries either,
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because God holds His people accountable.
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Accountable.
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That’s a great reminder, isn’t it,
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that God holds us accountable
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for what He has entrusted into our hands.
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You’ve been listening to Open the Bible
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with Pastor Colin Smith
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and a message called The God Who Holds Leaders Accountable.
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It’s part of our series Closing Counters
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with The Living God and if you’ve missed any of the series
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or if you want to go back and listen again,
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00:22:38,839 –> 00:22:43,280
why not come online to our website, openthebible.org.uk
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and there you can hear any of the messages
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which have already gone out on air.
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Or if it’s easier, find us as a podcast
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on your favorite podcast site.
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You can do that by searching for Open the Bible UK.
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While you’re on our website, have a good look around.
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We have plenty of resources for individual Christians,
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00:23:01,439 –> 00:23:04,819
for Christian groups and for Bible study in general.
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00:23:04,819 –> 00:23:06,719
You’ll also find Open the Bible Daily
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which is a set of short two to three minute reflections
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based on Pastor Colin’s teaching
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and read in the UK by Sue McLeish.
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All these are available on our website openthebible.org.uk
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Open the Bible is supported entirely
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00:23:22,939 –> 00:23:25,300
by the generosity of our listeners
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and we want to thank you
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for supporting our ministry in that way.
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If you haven’t previously supported Open the Bible
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00:23:31,739 –> 00:23:33,660
but you’d like to begin doing so,
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we’d like to thank you by sending you a copy
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of Kevin DeYoung’s book, Impossible Christianity.
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00:23:39,900 –> 00:23:43,119
It has a very long subtitle.
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The subtitle is
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why following Jesus does not mean
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you have to change the world,
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be an expert in everything,
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accept spiritual failure
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and feel miserable pretty much all the time.
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Colin, how did the book help you?
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00:23:58,359 –> 00:24:01,780
Well, it brought a fresh sense of peace to my soul.
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The problem is that sometimes we put burdens
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on ourselves that God never intended us to carry.
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We all know that we never do anything perfectly
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and that none of us is perfect.
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But what we can lose sight of
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is that it is actually possible to live a life
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that is pleasing to God
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and that acts of faith and hope and love
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really are pleasing to him.
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And Kevin De Young brings us out in a beautiful way
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that I think will bring a sense of relief
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to the souls of many people who read this book.
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And that’s why I’m really excited
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that we’re able to share it this month.
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It was immensely helpful to me
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00:24:39,060 –> 00:24:41,020
and I think that it will be immensely helpful
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to everyone who reads it,
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especially people who have a tendency
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to put too great burdens on themselves.
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00:24:48,739 –> 00:24:50,739
Well, we want to send you a copy of this book,
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00:24:50,739 –> 00:24:53,599
Impossible Christianity by Kevin De Young,
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00:24:53,599 –> 00:24:54,819
as a way of saying thank you
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00:24:54,819 –> 00:24:57,619
for your financial support this month.
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00:24:57,619 –> 00:24:59,500
If you’re able to set up a new payment
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00:24:59,500 –> 00:25:01,719
of five pounds per month or more
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00:25:01,719 –> 00:25:03,420
to the work of Open the Bible
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00:25:03,420 –> 00:25:05,660
we’d love to send you this book.
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Full details of this are on our website
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00:25:08,020 –> 00:25:10,180
and you can give online.
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00:25:10,180 –> 00:25:12,680
For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith
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I’m David Pick and I hope we will see you along next time.
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Does it really matter if we’re faithful or not?
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Discover what’s at stake next time on Open the Bible.