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You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible.

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To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365.

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Or visit our website, openthebible.org.

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Let’s get to the message — here is Pastor Colin.

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We’ve been looking together at the words of Jesus about the soul.

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You have a soul.

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And one of two things will happen to your soul, and to every soul, either your soul

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will be saved or your soul will be lost.

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And Jesus speaks about this very clearly.

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What will it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world, if you were to get everything

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imaginable, and then lose your own soul?

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It would not be to your advantage.

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But then Jesus speaks about how your soul can be saved.

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He said if you lose your life for my sake, you will keep it.

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And we saw that losing your life for Christ involves returning to the shepherd and to

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the overseer of your soul.

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We saw that Jesus is presented to us in the Bible as the savior who died on the cross,

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but also as the shepherd who rose from the dead.

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And a Christian is a person who believes in the savior who died, and who submits to the

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shepherd who lives.

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And then we looked at caring for your soul.

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Your soul is of greater value than the whole world, and so it is good to care for your

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soul well.

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We thought about this, your money has value, and so you look after your money.

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You want it to grow.

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Well, your soul has greater value, and therefore we want to be caring for our souls.

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We want our souls to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

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And these are the things that we’ve been considering over the past month or so.

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And the message today is really a very simple one, and it boils down to this.

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You don’t do this alone.

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This caring for your soul, you don’t do it alone.

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And I want to introduce to you, four friends for your soul.

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Four friends for your soul.

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Think of them as honored guests who come into your life and stay there.

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And if you want to keep your heart right as you move through life, you must welcome these

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guests and make room for them in your heart.

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Now, throughout our lives, and this will be true of many in the congregation today, Karen

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and I, over the years have at different times had different members of family and others

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living with us.

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Early in our married life, living in London, Karen’s brother came and lived with us for

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a year.

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And after we recovered from that, her sister came and lived with us also for a year.

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And you folks know what this is like.

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You know, you welcome a guest who’s coming to live in your home and you say, well, now

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you make yourself at home, and our home is your home, and all the rest of it.

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Now, take that picture and try and apply it to your soul.

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There are 4 friends, 4 honoured guests for your soul.

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And if you care for your soul, you will welcome these friends and you will give them unfettered

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access to every aspect of your life.

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Let me give you who the 4 friends are.

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The Son of God, the Word of God, the Fear of God, and the Love of God.

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The Son of God, the Word of God, the Fear of God, and the Love of God, all of which

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in the Bible are spoken of as dwelling in our hearts.

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Now, my original plan was to cover all four of these.

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I thought, this is a four-point message, but as I prepared this week, it became quite obvious

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to me that if I stayed with the original plan, we would be here long past lunchtime.

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And therefore, I’ve decided that discretion is the better part of valor.

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So, today then, the first friend, and because we’re focusing particularly on the first friend

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rather than all four, would you turn with me to Galatians 2, verse 20.

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Galatians 2, verse 20.

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And many of you will know this verse very, very well, and if you don’t, it’s certainly

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one to come to know, to underline in your Bible, and to seek to experience.

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Galatians, chapter 2, in verse 20, and just the first part of the verse, we’re thinking

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about the Son of God dwelling in our hearts, and Paul says, I have been crucified with

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Christ, it is no longer I who Live, but Christ who lives in me.

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Christ lives in me.

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That’s what the Apostle Paul says, Christ lives in me.

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Now here is a marvelous statement of what it means to be a Christian.

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The Son of God moves in as the honored guest of your soul, and you can think about how

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the Bible speaks of this in different ways.

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You may remember Revelation 3, verse 20, where Christ says,

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Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

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I will come into him, and eat with him and he with me.

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So if you have had an idea that Christian faith is somehow about believing in Jesus

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Christ from a distance, then please think again.

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Because Jesus Christ says, No, I am knocking at the door of your heart, and I want to come

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in, that’s what he says.

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And when I come in, he obviously uses an analogy here, he says, I want to eat with you.

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Now think what that means, the son of God says if we could use this picture, I want

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to settle down, you and me either side of a booth together and for us to do breakfast,

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lunch, dinner, and supper too.

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That’s the kind of friendship I want to have with you.

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Table conversation, that close, the other side of the booth.

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And I’m standing at the door and knocking because I don’t have that with you yet, but

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that is what I seek.

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And Paul is saying that’s what I’ve discovered, Christ lives in me, he’s the honored guest

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in my soul.

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I’m not simply believing in a remote Jesus from afar, I am experiencing communion with

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the Son of God who actually dwells in my heart.

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This is something very wonderful that we are looking at today.

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Now the obvious question is, how is Christ present in the soul of a believer?

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What does that actually mean?

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Remember Christ rose from the dead and He rose in a resurrection body.

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And in that resurrection body our risen Christ ascended into heaven.

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The disciples saw Him go.

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Now the resurrection body is obviously different from the bodies that we have now, but it is

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nonetheless a body.

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And the scripture makes clear that the risen Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand

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of the Father in heaven.

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So the presence of the resurrected body cannot be in your heart any more than it could be

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on the Communion Table.

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So how is Christ present, then, in the soul of every believer?

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The answer is, by the holy spirit.

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And Jesus spoke about this very clearly to his disciples.

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You can read about it in John’s Gospel in chapter 16 and chapter 14.

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Remember, Jesus was telling them that he must go to the father, and they didn’t want him

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to go, of course.

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But Jesus said, it is to your advantage that I go away because if I do not go away the

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helper will not come to you.

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But if I go, I will send him to you, the helper.

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Who is this helper that Jesus is speaking of?

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And the answer is, he is speaking of the holy spirit.

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And he says this quite clearly.

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Jesus says, I will ask the father, and he will give you another helper, to be with you

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forever.

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And then he says who the helper is, the spirit of truth.

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And he says you know him, for he dwells with you.

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Notice that he dwells with and will be in you.

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That’s John chapter 14 verses 16 and 17.

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So I am going to the father says Jesus, but I am going to send to you the Holy Spirit

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of truth, and He will dwell with you, and He will be in you.

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Now the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity is referred to in the Bible as the

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Spirit of God, as the spirit of Christ, as the spirit of truth, as in the verse we just

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quoted, as the Holy Spirit, or simply as the spirit.

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It’s interesting that in Romans chapter 8 verse 9 there are three references to the

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Holy Spirit in one verse using three of these different titles.

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Romans 8, 9,

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You however are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.

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If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ

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does not belong to Him.

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So, here is the great reality that stands at the very center of an authentic Christian

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life.

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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born in the manger, who died on the cross, and

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who rose from the dead, lives by the Spirit in the life of every believer.

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I’m going to say that again because it is so remarkable.

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That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born in the manger, and died on the cross,

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and rose from the dead, lives by His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, in the life, the heart,

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the soul of every believer.

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And that is why Paul says in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, that it is open before us,

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I’ve been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

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That’s why the apostle says in the book of Colossians it’s Christ in you, that’s your

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hope of glory.

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Now, I want to try and convey, before we come to some direct applications, I want to try

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and convey to you just how important this is, and how different the whole of the Christian

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life is when you get it, and how dry the whole thing is if you miss it.

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Years ago, when I was still a student, I came across a book by a man called William Law

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that was called A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.

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Some of you may have heard of that book, it’s actually quite famous, and has been regarded

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in some spheres as something of a classic.

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A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, and here I was, a young student, wanting to

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give my life to Christ, and I thought to myself now that’s what I want, a holy life.

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I really want to be devoted to Christ, so I got the book and I started reading and I

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didn’t get very far.

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Because it was very, very dry.

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And there are 24 chapters.

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I was looking at it again online.

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I actually threw my original copy away because I hadn’t found any value in it.

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By the way, I do know there may be a rebellious section of the congregation, they’ll say,

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I’ve got to read that book because he didn’t like it, you know, and just see what’s wrong

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with it or else what’s wrong with him.

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But, there are 24 hefty chapters, I don’t think I got through 4 or 5 before I gave up.

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And just last weekend, I was reading a book, a wonderful book, by Ian Murray, who is a

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historian, a Christian historian, and I was absolutely fascinated, it just popped out

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of me, you know how that happens.

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When he made a comment about this man, William Law.

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And let me read the quote to you in full so that you’ll understand it.

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He says this.

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Any teaching on holiness which puts the main emphasis, underline that, the main emphasis

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on the Christian’s duty, any teaching on holiness that puts the main emphasis on a

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Christian’s duty turn sanctification, that’s the way in which we become progressively more

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like Christ, turn sanctification into a matter of self-effort, a work dependent on ourselves

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or an experience that we have to seek. If that were the case, says Murray, it would

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not be good news. Grace would fall into the second place, and our works would be put before

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the grace of God. Then he says this. This is not an imaginary danger, that is, to make

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the main emphasis self-effort and to put our works before the grace of God. This is not

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an imaginary danger because in the 18th century in England there were clergy – ministers

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who lamented the moral decline. That sounds familiar to us, doesn’t it? They lamented

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the moral decline, and they spoke and wrote, therefore, about holiness. One of them was

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William Law, who wrote a book called A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, 1729. And

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yet, says Murray, and this was what got me, the teaching of these men – this is a historian

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speaking – brought no change to the church or to the nation. He then explains why. The

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reason? Their message was not good news. It was simply self-effort and moral improvement,

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he says, they directed non-Christians to live as if they were Christians. They said, they

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see the moral decline in the country, and they say, what we need is a restoration of

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traditional values, we need a restoration of Christian values. So what we’ve got to

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preach is to tell non-Christians to live as if they were Christian. That’s what William

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Law did. And Ian Murray, the historian, looking back on the whole history of the 18th century,

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it made absolutely no difference in the Church, made absolutely no difference in the nation.

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Then he says this, it was only when George Whitfield and the Wesley’s and others began

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to preach Christ, and the necessity of the Holy Spirit and the new birth, that then a

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great and a mighty change began, and he’s talking about a great, mighty change not only in

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England but also, of course, here in America where the great awakening, the preaching of

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George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards and so forth, remarkable movements of God, in which many many

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people were converted, and lives were lastingly changed. Nothing like that ever came from the

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ministry of men like William Law, because they were essentially calling for a more disciplined

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life. And that’s not good news. And so it made no difference to the church and it made no difference

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to the nation. And it just popped out to me. You can understand why, because I’m thinking,

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now 200 years, we’re nearly 300 years later, here’s a theological student in London who’s

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picking up William Law and wanting to live more of a holy life and saying, well, this looks like

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a famous book, so it’s going to help me and find his what? As dry as dust. Because it’s all about

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my effort to live a better life. It’s not Christ, new birth, the Holy Spirit, Christ living in me.

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Friends, isn’t this the greatest challenge of Christian parenting?

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Little fellow? Little girl? Trusted into your care? And how easy it is to spend all

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your time doing what William Law did. Trying to instruct a non-Christian to live as if he

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or she was a Christian. No, don’t do this. Do that. Read your Bible, say your prayers.

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Don’t swear. You say, well now, what do we need to do? What Marie is saying,

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the real change came when Wesley and Whitefield, they began to speak about Christ. He began to

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speak about the necessity of the Holy Spirit to change your little life. For you to be converted

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for God to come into your soul, and for me to pray for that, and for you to know,

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don’t tell yourself a Christian just because you go to church, and you say your bible and

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read your prayers, because then you might shortchange yourself and miss the whole thing.

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Which is that Christ should come to live in you. Now, we’ve got visitors every Sunday,

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folks who are new to the church and all the rest of it. Let me just say this. If

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this all seems beyond you, I want to boil it down to a simple question.

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Can you see, if you’re thinking, I’m not sure what he’s talking about here, can you see

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that if it were possible for the spirit of Jesus Christ to be an honored guest in your soul,

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can you see that if it was possible for the spirit of Jesus Christ to be an honored guest in your

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soul to dwell in your mind and in your heart , and to settle down in your desires and in

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your conscience and even in your memories, can you see that if that were to happen,

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it would be entirely different from you simply doing your best to be a good Christian.

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Entirely different. And I hope that you know what I am talking about and what Paul is talking about

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in Galatians Chapter 2 and verse 20 from your own experience, and if you don’t,

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I hope that you will be awakened to what it really means to be a Christian and that you

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will determine today that you will not sell yourself short and you will not rest until

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you can say with clarity and with joy, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,

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but Christ lives in me. I’m saying to parents often who have kids that are like this,

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in their whole attitude towards God, stop telling him he’s a Christian. You’re doing the greatest

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damage by insisting on that. You have no basis for doing so, begin to speak about the need of

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a change of heart from the inside, otherwise he’ll conclude that what you’re talking about

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worth having. Christ lives in me. Now this is good news. Now let me come to the application here

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very simply. What does this mean for us? Christ lives in me. Why- why is this such marvelous

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good news? Let me just point, in these directions in the last part here very, very simply. It means

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this. It’s a wonderful good news. Because the indwelling Christ by the Spirit means that

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a Christian is never truly alone. Isn’t that good news? Some of you have been buried for years and

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feel the loss of someone you greatly love. You cling to this. You love this. A Christian is

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never truly alone. Oh there will be times when you feel lonely, for sure.

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But if you are in Christ and Christ is in you, He is always with you at

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your lowest moment and for some of us that will immediately say, that’s me, that’s

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right now. At your lowest moment when you feel completely overwhelmed, isolated,

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abandoned, alone, you can say the Lord is at my right hand and therefore I will not

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be shaken. That’s the greatest thing in all of the world, isn’t it? You know there’s a

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prayer that we often pray that is somewhat redundant. It goes like this,

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Lord Mary is sick, please be with her. Jim is going through a great trial, please

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be with him. Now I’ve prayed that many times and I’m sure I will in the future

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too, though I try to pray it less often than perhaps I did in the past just for

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this reason. It’s good to pray that a person will be aware of the presence of

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Christ but it is even better to remember that a prayer for Christ to be with a

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Christian in time of trouble is a prayer that has already been answered, hasn’t it?

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True Christian never alone! Christ lives in me and when this is the

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reality of your life, you can say with David, the Lord is my light, the Lord is

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my salvation, who shall I fear? You can say with Paul, if God be for us who can

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be against us? You can say with John, he who lives within me is greater than he

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who is in the world. A Christian is never truly alone, Christ lives in me.

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Second, Christ knows directly all that you face and feel and fear. This is the

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most wonderful comfort, help, strength. In times of trouble, Jesus Christ, because

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he lives in you by the Spirit, knows directly all that you face and feel and

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fear. Jesus Christ has a real-time, instantaneous awareness of every trial,

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temptation that you will ever, ever face. Some of you have told me- I guess you

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told me because of where I come from- that you have been enjoying watching

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Downton Abbey. Are there any folks here who have been enjoying watching Downton

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Abbey on PBS? I know one or two who want

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to hold up a hand there. This marvellous drama of a stately home in England. Early

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20th century where the servants live and eat and work downstairs, and the Earl

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and his splendid family enjoy life upstairs in this stately home. And it’s

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so intriguing because it kind of takes you into another world that is

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long gone. That the house has, as was traditional in those days, a system of

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little bells that ring in the kitchen. And there’s a pull cord in every room. I

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mean you can still see this in stately homes in England and perhaps also

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here. So that, the occupants could call for attention, and when the bell rings

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downstairs it indicates by which bell goes exactly where the point of need is

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so that the servants can make an immediate response. Now, here’s something

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very wonderful. Jesus Christ has installed a bell system that connects

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your heart to heaven. But think about this, it is a bell system that works in

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reverse, because it is a bell system in which the servants ring for the help of

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the Master. Think about this, the Spirit of God lives within your heart. He feels

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the approach of every trial and every temptation, pulls the cord to ring the

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bell in heaven. Jesus Christ knows directly everything you face, everything

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that you fear. And he knows it because his Spirit dwells in you! And Christ

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does not roll his eyes when the bells ring, as some servants might sometimes

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do. We have a high priest, says the writer to the Hebrew, who is able to

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sympathize with our weakness. Why? Because he’s been downstairs, he’s lived

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downstairs, he has been tempted and tested in every respect. And now, as your

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advocate at the right hand of the Father, he speaks on your behalf, so that

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prayer, and all the resources of heaven are available for you. That’s why the

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writer to the Hebrew says, let us then, with confidence draw near to the throne

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of grace, that we may receive mercy and find this grace to help us in our time

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of need. So, Jesus Christ knows directly all that you face, and all that you feel,

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and all that you fear. The Spirit of God indwelling the heart, and the bell system

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that works in reverse so that the servant may call on the Master. And then

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here’s the very last thing today, the Spirit of Christ is actively at work in

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your soul. Christ lives in me. He lives in me by the spirit, The Spirit of Christ

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indwells the heart, the mind, the soul of a Christian believer. And how wonderful

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this is.Think of all the things that the New Testament tells us that the Holy

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Spirit does in the life of a believer. He’s always at work. He’s opening the

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mind of the believer to an understanding of God’s words so that when you read the

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Bible the Holy Spirit is right there active with you, he convicts of sin, he

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makes us holy, equips us for ministry, thrusts us out, and sends us into every

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sphere of life in our vocations. He intercedes for us. He bears witness with

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us that we are the children of God. The spirit of God is always working in the

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life of a believer. And I cannot think of a greater incentive to care for your

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soul than to know that God, by His spirit, is present in your soul caring

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for it. That motivates me. I cannot think of a greater motivation to work for God

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than to know that He, by His Spirit, is working powerfully in me. I can’t think

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of a greater reason for hope than to know that in the hardest moments of life

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the spirit of almighty God, the spirit of Jesus,

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is actively at work in you. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, says

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the Apostle Paul. Why, how am I to do that? I don’t feel that strong because it is

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God who is working in you! He’s speaking about the in-dwelling Christ, the Holy

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Spirit, and He’s working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

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Christ in you, therefore, says Paul is the hope of glory. The presence of Christ

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with you, the sympathy of Christ towards you, the strength of Christ in you. That’s

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what’s going to get you through. Christ in you –the hope of glory. And to every

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person who says, now that sounds like what I need, the Lord Jesus Christ says,

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behold, I stand at the door and knock. Anyone hears my voice and opens the

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door, I will come in. I’m gonna eat with him, with her, and him or her with me.

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Let’s pray together. Lord we’re coming around the table that we refer to often

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communion and we bless you for the communion that we have with you by your

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Holy Spirit and through Your Son Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.

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You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible.

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To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website OpenTheBible.org.