Some of you come to church, some younger and some older, and you put Jesus off, you say I will become a Christian later. You’ve been doing this for years. Now listen, you are saying to yourself, I can become a Christian later. How do you know that? You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. And Colin, I guess you may be talking today to someone who has that thought. Putting Jesus off, yeah. You know, when that point’s made, I think folks often have in mind, you know, you might fall under a bus, something might happen to you, and how do you know that you’ve got tomorrow? And that is true, of course. We do not know that we have the next hour, let alone the next day, week, month or year. We must never count on tomorrow in regards to what God calls us to do today. But there’s an even deeper point. You know, when a person comes to the place of being aware that Christ is somehow speaking to them, it is a huge mistake to push Christ away and just to assume that he will come back in the same way, knocking on the door another time. If your eyes are opened and you are sensing the pull of God calling you to repentance and faith and obedience, you must respond to this because in this moment he is calling you. And you will never be in quite this moment again. His grace may come back to you another time, but you do not know that for sure. What you do know is that he is laying hold of you now. I appeal to you, even at the beginning of the programme, if you have sensed that God is speaking to you, do not put him off. You dare not do that. It’s Christ who’s calling you. It’s God who’s speaking to you. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. So let’s open our Bibles to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 8 to 12. In our message, the Lord Jesus Christ coming in glory. Here’s Colin. I want to press on all of you who have not yet come to know and love Jesus Christ and respond to the gospel. I want to press on you today the spiritual danger of you continuing to resist Jesus Christ. See, some of you come to church, some younger and some older, and you put Jesus off. You say, I will become a Christian later. You’ve been doing this for years. You say, well, I’ll make a response, but I’m not ready yet. And even right now, you would push Jesus Christ away. Now listen, you are saying to yourself, I can become a Christian later. How do you know that? You may not be able to. You have to be realistic. The secret work of sin is going on within you. It’s an active force. That is why the Bible says repeatedly today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Warren Wearsby says it so well. He says, the human heart becomes harder every time the sinner rejects God’s truth. The human heart, your heart, if you’re not yet a Christian, becomes harder every time you reject God’s truth. You feel him reaching out to you. You push him away. Listen, the word of God, wherever it is preached, never leaves one of us the same. As we place ourselves under the authority of the scripture in this time and in this context of worship today, every one of us in some degree will be changed. You will either become softer towards Christ or you will become more resistant towards Christ. But not one of us will be the same. That’s why Jesus said, you are going to have the light just a little bit longer and then can you imagine Jesus looking right into your eyes and he says, walk while you have the light before the darkness overtakes you. Listen, when you understand that spiritual forces are at work within the world, you’ll become less passive about this whole business of your spiritual position. Life and death is at stake here, folks. Sinners refuse to love the truth and down the line, they end up with a delusion. They can no longer even see what they once saw. This is how God’s judgment works in the world. He gives sinners what they ask for. So change what you’re asking. For a life that continues down the track of running from God ends up with an eternity apart from God, with the God-haters, in the darkness, irrevocably separated from the light and the joy of his presence forever. Now I press this upon you with urgency today because it is on my heart as I’ve tried to meditate on this scripture. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Here’s the sixth fruit. The powerful delusion leads to believing the lie. God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. What is the lie? The lie that is the lie that Antichrist perpetrates. It’s the lie that has gone through all human history. Right back to the book of Genesis, you shall be as God. Put yourself in the place of God. Put yourself in the place of God’s law. Just work out your own way. You’re a good person. You don’t need Christ’s sacrifice. When a man feels that he’s the captain and the commander of his own life, that he’s his own God, that he can find his own way, that he can stand on his own goodness, you know that that man has swallowed the lie and that he is under the powerful delusion. Here’s the last. All will be condemned, verse 12, who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness. Is that not a terrible word? Don’t you shudder when you read that word condemned? Really, don’t you? I love to read Romans chapter eight and verse one that says, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But friends, Romans eight chapter one only has meaning because of the awful reality of second Thessalonians chapter two and verse 12, which says, all will be condemned who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness. Could that be plainer? To those who have resisted the claims of the Savior, who have not loved the truth, who have believed the lie, Christ will say, depart from me, I never knew you. And then Jesus used a phrase that, it’s an awful phrase. He said, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Did you know that Jesus said that seven times? That one phrase, seven times he said it. Jesus said, there will be weeping and there will be gnashing of teeth. I do not want that for you. You don’t want that for you. Those who pray for you don’t want that for you. I plead with you. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Every time you push him away, you’re making another layer on the shell of your resistance to Christ. I plead with you. So this is a weighty subject, folks, but if we are going to be robust Christians in an evil world, we’d better get in touch with reality. We’ve looked at what sin is, putting yourself in the place of God, in the place of Islam, in the place of Christ’s sacrifice. We’ve now looked at what sin does in the life of an unbeliever. It bears seven bitter fruits, and they’re right there in 2 Thessalonians in chapter two. Deceived, perishing, refusing to love the truth, delighting in wickedness under a powerful delusion, believing the lie, and ultimately condemned. Folks, that is why we need a Savior, isn’t it? That is why Jesus Christ has come into the world. That is what every person born into this world needs saving from, the mystery of sin that is at work in every human life. We’ve been looking at why we need a Savior and what we need saving from, and in a few moments, we’ll return to this message with Pastor Colin Smith and look at how to use the truths that we’ve been hearing about. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message, The Lord Jesus Christ Coming in Glory. And if you ever miss one of our messages, don’t forget you can always catch up or go back and listen again online. Come to our website, that’s openthebible.org.uk. You can also find our messages as podcasts. Go to your regular podcast site, search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates. Back to the message now, we’re in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 8 to 12. Here’s Colin. We’ve looked at what sin is, putting yourself in the place of God, in the place of Islam, in the place of Christ’s sacrifice. We’ve now looked at what sin does in the life of an unbeliever. It bears seven bitter fruits and they’re right there in 2 Thessalonians in chapter 2. Deceived, perishing, refusing to love the truth, delighting in wickedness under a powerful delusion, believing the lie and ultimately condemned. Folks, that is why we need a Savior, isn’t it? That is why Jesus Christ is coming to the world. That is what every person born into this world needs, saving from the mystery of sin that is at work in every human life. So let me in these last minutes give you three uses or three applications of this massive truth. I hope you get this truth and if you have to chew on it for a week or a month or a year, grapple with it because it’s there in your Bible in front of you. First application, use this truth to mature beyond naive optimism about the human condition. Years ago, back in England, Karin and I were enjoying an evening with some dear friends of ours who served alongside us wonderfully in the church where we served the Lord for 16 years. And we were spending a Friday evening together and we were playing a game. It was one of these games where, you know, in the group you have to, one person answers a question and then everyone else in the group has to work out what they think the person’s answer would be. And the question that came out the box, it was quite extraordinary really, was, by nature, are people good at heart, bad at heart, or somewhere in between? And I noticed, Karin, as we looked across to the other cup, I said, no, no brainer, we got this one, we got this one. By nature, are people good at heart, bad at heart, or somewhere in between? And our friend still circled the answer, and the answer she chose was, by nature, good at heart. And we had a good conversation with our dear friends about it, but I still, don’t invite Karin and me around for a game on a Friday evening, I still remember, and maybe there was self-pity in this, but I still remember the distress I was in as we drove home. I said, Karin, I’ve been preaching the Bible in this church for 10 years, and here’s one of our closest friends, and she loves Christ, and she’s in the thick of the ministry, and she attends church, and she reads the Bible, she actually believes that by nature people are good at heart. Give me a break. How is this possible? Many Christians are utterly unrealistic about what we’re up against when it comes to mission and evangelism. That may be, by the way, one reason we’re so weak on prayer, don’t you think? If you don’t know what you’re up against, you’ll feel you can do it. Bit of organization, few programs. That’ll put Johnny right, won’t it? Not if you’ve understood the seven bitter fruits of sin. So then, second of the three applications, use this truth to shape your convictions about mission and evangelism. You see, inevitably it goes here. What you believe about the secret power of sin will shape your convictions about mission and evangelism. And so people who have a very optimistic view of human nature tend to have an unrealistic view of missions and evangelism. There’s the informational view, which says all we have to do is tell them. The problem is people haven’t heard. We just need to give them a clear and compelling presentation. Or there’s the friendship view that says all we need to do is love them. If we just love them, then that will solve it. Or there’s the environmental view, which says all we’ve got to do is connect them. You know, if Johnny has good friends, Johnny will be okay. Just get him in a great Sunday school program at the orchard. That’s all we need, isn’t it? No, that’s not all we need. All these things are necessary. I do not question one of them. But none of them are sufficient. None of them are sufficient. Not if you have understood the seven bitter fruits of sin. The fruit of sin is such that the salvation of your son, your daughter, your colleague, your friend, your neighbor can only be accomplished by a miracle of grace. It’s going to take what? The breath of Christ and the splendor of Christ. That’s the only thing that’s going to do it. That’s the only thing that will overwhelm this spirit that is at work in him or her. That is why missions and evangelism must have at its center two things. Proclaiming Christ’s splendor and praying for Christ’s breath. Which, of course, is why the apostles said whatever else is going on in the multiple programs of the church, feeding people and all the rest that’s going on in Acts and chapter six, multiple wonderful ministries. What did the apostles say? They said we must give ourselves to two things. The ministry of the word and the ministry of prayer. What’s that? Proclaiming Christ’s splendor. That’s the ministry of the word. Praying for Christ’s breath. That’s the ministry of prayer. That has to be a priority therefore for every pastor, for every missionary, for every evangelist, and for every Christian who wants to see others won to Jesus Christ. I do not say it is the only thing. I say it is the central thing and it must be the central thing if we have understood what we are up against. So here’s what I have to do and ask for the help of God to do in my preaching and it’s the same thing that you have to do in your witnessing. We proclaim his splendor. You try to explain to another person why Jesus Christ is compelling to you. What it is in him that so has drawn you. What have you seen in him that would make it worthy of the ultimate sacrifice of your friend to go and follow him. Jesus said when I am lifted up I will draw people to myself. So lift him up. Don’t attack another person’s lifestyle. That’s not the way to do it. No, lift Jesus up. Exalt him. Commend him. Tell people what you have found in him because the only way to overcome the mystery of sin is to proclaim the mystery of Christ. You will find that in Colossians chapter 1 where Paul speaks about how among the Gentiles and he’s referring to all the heathen nations of the world the glorious riches of the mystery of Christ has been made known and here’s the mystery. He says it’s Christ in you and that’s why we proclaim him. You see he’s grasped. This is what we must grasp. The only way to overcome the mystery of sin is through the mystery of Jesus Christ. And so as you try in the best way that you possibly can with the help of the Lord to lift him up in your conversations and as we try to do that in all of our worship and commend the Lord Jesus, pray for his breath as you do it. If you’re a believer pray for his breath right now in this place. Pray that Christ will breathe his life into some unbelieving person, that he will blow that wind that will not destroy them but this time will heal them. Proclaiming Christ’s splendor, praying for Christ’s breath, that’s at the heart of New Testament missions and evangelism. And you know what? Anything else, anything less than that is like trying to treat cancer with aspirin. The church doesn’t do these things. Well we have no hope, not of real conversions. And here’s the very last thing just briefly. Use this truth to deepen your gratitude for the miracle of your salvation. Now to all of you who are in Christ today, let me just say this. Do you see yourself today as a person in whom a miracle has taken place? Because if you are in Christ, if you love Christ today, that is true of you. Your story may be very, very simple. It cannot be simpler than mine. I asked Christ to be my savior at the age of six. It can’t get much simpler than that, can you? You really can’t. Can’t get less dramatic than that. I began to love him. I began to trust him. With all my faults, with all my feelings today, that is true and that is the reality today. That is a miracle of grace. Where would the secret power of sin have taken me if it were not for his grace? Where would it have taken you if you’re a believer? What would that secret work of sin have made by way of wreckage in your life? And here you are, all you’ve been through and you’re in Christ and you still believe the truth and you still love the truth. And how is that? And the answer is Christ has breathed his life into you and Christ has opened your eyes so that you do see his splendor. And that is why you follow him. That is a miracle of grace that has happened in your soul, never underestimated. My very last word must be to the person then who says, well, that hasn’t happened to me. And I say to you today, you need a miracle of grace. You need a new heart. You need a work of the Holy Spirit in your soul that will change what you love and will open your eyes to who Jesus is so that you too will be compelled by his glory as others around you are. And honestly, please understand this, having Christian friends won’t do this for you. Studying 25 books on Christianity won’t do this for you. You need Jesus Christ to breathe his life into your soul and open your eyes to his glory and to his splendor. You need him to bring you to the place where these first disciples were, where they just knew the best thing I can do with my life is follow him. When you say that, you’ve seen his glory. You have. So I invite you to come to Jesus Christ today, not to push him away. You just tell him, I need you, Jesus, to do for me what I now know I cannot do for myself. So ask him, Lord Jesus, breathe your life into me. Open my eyes to your glory. Change this heart that loves sin and resists you. Change it and do this miracle of grace in me. And I give you this promise from the very words of Jesus. He says, whoever comes to me, I will never turn away. A powerful truth from Pastor Colin today. If we come to Jesus, he will never turn us away. Maybe you’ve never come to Jesus before, but you want to. If you’ve got some questions, maybe you can go to a trusted Christian friend or family member or go along to a local Christian church fellowship. Any committed Christian will be happy to talk to you about their experience of Christ in their life, and they’ll be able to help you find answers to your questions. Open the Bible is supported by our listeners. That’s people just like you. If you feel that’s something you’d like to get involved in, you can do that by going to our website. That’s openthebible.org.uk. If you’re able to set up a donation in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a free gift. It’s two copies of a book called More Than a Carpenter, written by Josh McDowell. Colin, why is this book so important? Well, I’m always drawn to books that are tried and tested, and God has used this book, More Than a Carpenter, for more than 40 years, and it has been a means of God’s work in many, many people’s lives. But I think it’s perhaps a book that many today are not aware of, and so I’m just delighted that we’re making it available. More Than a Carpenter deals with real questions that a skeptic might have in regards to the Christian faith. So Josh McDowell deals with questions like, what about science, and what about the new atheism, and how do we know that the Bible is reliable? So this is a really helpful book for believers to help us be clearer and more confident in our witness to Jesus, and it’s also a marvellous book to give to anyone who’s asking honest questions about the Christian faith. And that’s why we’d like to send you two copies, one for you and one to give away, in return for setting up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible for £5 per month or more. Details on our website, openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick, and I hope you’ll be able to join us again soon. How do you stand firm in the darkest days of your life? Find out next time on Open the Bible.