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You’re more than a body, you’re a soul and that’s been breathed into you by God.
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And that soul will either be saved or that soul will be lost.
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And here’s the thing, to lose your soul is the ultimate disaster because it is the only
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loss that can never be recovered.
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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.
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?
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Hi, I’m David Pick.
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And Colin, a lot of us probably place more value on our bodies than we place on our soul.
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Yeah, there’s been a huge change in the culture.
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I mean, the time was when people were kind of flooding into churches because of a concern
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to care for the soul.
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Now, I think a lot of people are flooding out of churches and into gymnasiums because
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the great focus of interest has become I’ve got to have my body in good shape.
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Well, your body may be in good shape.
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What about your soul?
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What shape is your inner life actually in?
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I mean the body at some point, though it is very important, at some point your body’s
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going to die.
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It’s going to lay in the grave, your soul’s going to go on forever.
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Your body will then be raised but you have to take care of your soul.
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And that’s what we’re looking at in this series.
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How do you do that?
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That’s a great question and many people will ask.
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Well, how do I do that?
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And it begins by learning to value your soul.
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That’s what our message today is all about.
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If you can, I hope you’ll join us in Mark in Chapter Eight as we continue the message
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today, Valuing your Soul.
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Here’s Colin
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What causes temptation to be so powerful?
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Greed makes our soul sticky for materialism.
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If it wasn’t that greed was in our hearts then the temptation to materialism, It would
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just wash away.
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Anger.
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That resides within the soul makes the soul sticky towards all kinds of viciousness towards
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other people
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And pride that lurks in the soul, makes your soul sticky towards the greatest temptation
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of all which is to say I’m the captain of my life and the commander of my soul and to
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crown yourself as savior and Lord of your own life.
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Now these sins are in the soul by nature.
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And that is why Jesus said, and this is a very important reference for understanding
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the soul.
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Jesus said in Mark Chapter 7 and verse 21 It is from within, it is from the heart of
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man that come evil thoughts and sexual immorality theft and murder and adultery
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Just to underline it Jesus says again All these evils come from within.
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Now you see we like to say, ëOh no no.
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The evils are all outside of us.
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The real problem is that we are living in this secularized world and evil world with
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all these terrible temptations are outside.í Well if that was the case then when temptation
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came it would just be like Teflon to you.
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The problem is not simply that there is all these temptation outside the problem is that
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there is the stickiness by nature towards sin on the inside so that when temptation
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comes it attaches itself to you.
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It attaches itself to the soul and thatís why James goes on to say that it is because
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of this internal desire, this stickiness towards sin, that the thing stays and then it begins
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to grow and then an idea and a thought eventually issues itself in an action and even in a pattern
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of behavior.
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So understand this and try and get this picture in your mind.
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If your soul was pure temptation to you would be like a fried egg on the Teflon pan.
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It would just slide off.
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But here is the problem, our souls are not pure.
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They are sticky towards sin and therefore when temptation comes the soul receives it,
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the soul welcomes it, the soul embraces it, the soul holds onto it.
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And so you may have said well you know all my temptations is because of the body.
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You know it’s the way I’ve wired, I’ve really struggled with all these temptations
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in the body.
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No, the real problem is in your soul.
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Bunyan says your soul always has the deepest hands in your sins.
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So we’re talking about why your soul matters and you can see it matters because it’s
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been breathed into you by God and because it’s the source of all your good and all
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your great achievement, it’s actually also the source of everything that you struggle
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with in this life, it’s the source of all your sin.
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Number four, your soul matters because your soul well last forever.
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Matthew chapter 10 and verse 28, Jesus says, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
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kill the soul.
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Think of this, your life had a beginning but it will never end.
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Of course one day you will die and your body will be laid in the ground.
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And that death can happen in one of a number of ways, it might be that you’re killed, it
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might be through an accident, it might be through an illness, and might just be that
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you live for such a long time that in the end your body is no longer too able to sustain
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its function effectively.
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But one day your body will be laid in the ground someone will likely say ashes to ashes
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and dust to dust.
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But while that which was created from the ground, Genesis 2-7 will return to the ground,
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your soul that was breathed into you by Almighty God will last forever.
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And that is why Jesus says, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body.
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They cannot kill the soul.
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Nobody, nothing can ever kill your soul.
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That life that had a beginning will never end.
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I have a soul.
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It’s inside me.
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I can’t see it, but it will last forever.
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Now some of you are at a point in your life where you are trying to discern and decide,
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is it worth the cost of me following Jesus Christ?
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I’m going to go to college soon, I’m going to be independent soon, I’m moving into a
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new phase of life here.
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Am I really going to follow Jesus Christ?
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And I’m wanting to say to you today, you’d better calculate what’s at stake here because
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your soul will last forever and your soul can be saved and your soul can be lost, and
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so figure that into your thinking as the world around you screams it’s not worth it.
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Your soul will last forever.
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That’s reason number four.
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Number five.
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Your soul matters because your soul will experience either everlasting joy or everlasting
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misery, and we see this of course in the words of Jesus that were read to us earlier.
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Our Lord tells us the story of two men who died and one of them we’re told was carried
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to Abraham’s side.
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Now here’s the question.
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What exactly was carried to Abraham’s side?
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Because it certainly wasn’t the poor man’s body because the poor man’s body remained
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on the earth.
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So exactly what was carried to Abraham’s side?
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Not his body, but his soul.
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The soul was carried to Abraham’s side.
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Then we read in the Words of Jesus that the rich man also died and was buried.
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So everybody knew where the rich man’s grave was.
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No doubt it would have been a very fancy tomb because he was a very rich man and so there
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his body was in this tomb, and words that were carved, his name, and perhaps dates and
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all the rest of it in the rock.
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So that’s where his body was.
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But then we read Jesus says in Hades being in torment he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham
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afar off.
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So what exactly was it that had this conscious awareness of itself in Hades?
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Not the man’s body.
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The rich man’s soul.
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Jesus is making this point as plainly as it possibly could be made.
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That death takes life from the body but it cannot take life from the soul.
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And that when you die you will go your soul will go one of two places.
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One of these places is a place of unimaginable joy and the other place is one of great torment
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Jesus understand this that there is a great gulf fixed between them and no
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person can cross from one to the other in either direction
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So what Jesus is saying so plainly here to us in scripture is understand this,
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that there is a heaven to pursue. There is a hell to avoid. You have a soul and
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your soul can be saved or your soul can be lost. Your body one day will be
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buried or could be cremated or maybe lost at sea but whatever happens one day
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to your body that was made from the dust to the ground remember you’re more than
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a body you have soul and that’s been breathed into you by God and that soul
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will either be saved or that soul will be lost
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and here’s the thing to lose your soul is the ultimate disaster because it is
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the only loss that can never be recovered so your soul is of such great
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value and it could be lost or it could be saved
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You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and our message
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valuing your soul it’s part of our series soul care and if you miss any of
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the series or if you want to go back and listen again you can do that by coming
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online to our website openthebible.org.uk or find us as a
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podcast that’s available on your regular podcasting site just search for
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open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates back to the
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message. Now, we’re in Mark chapter eight here’s Colin. Now, we’re going to
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focus all of next week on the question, how can a soul be saved? I want just in
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the last few minutes that we have here today to give you some headlines as to
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how a soul can be lost because friend that is the one thing in all the world
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not want to happen to you. And so, it’s important and valuable to know how it
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happens and what that actually looks like. So, let me just briefly give to you
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these three very simple headings that might frame it for you. Here’s how you
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can lose your soul. You can lose your soul by starving your soul. I think that
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very clearly is what happened with the rich man in Jesus story lives well
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enjoys life dresses in purple. He never really thought about his soul. Jesus says
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man shall not live by bread alone but by every word the proceeds from the mouth
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of God your bread sustains your body what sustains your soul the Word of God
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but what is this rich man want of the Word of God. What interest does he have
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in the things of God. He’s a rich man enjoying life in this world and
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that’s been given to him. He doesn’t care he’s not interested.
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He has no appetite for the things of God. He doesn’t even think about them. Jesus
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told another story I like to describe this one as the man who lived the
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American Dream. Do you remember the American Dream? You work hard and then
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you relax and enjoy everything? And here’s this man. He certainly did that. He
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worked very very hard. He even ended up having to build
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build larger barns because of all that had come as a result of his work and the
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development of his business and then he came to a point where he said, now I’m
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going to have a long retirement and here’s what I’m gonna do in my long
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retirement. These are the words that he uses. He says to his own soul now you’ve
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got enough laid up for you for many years. So long long years and in these
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long years here’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna relax. That’s his first word.
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I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy this all because I’ve earned it and I’m
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gonna eat and I’m going to drink and I’m gonna be very happy. That is the dream
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isn’t it? And God said you live that dream you’re a fool. It couldn’t be
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stronger could it? Why? Because God said to that man, tonight
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your soul will be required of you and you’ve been rich towards yourself, you
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sure haven’t been rich towards God. You speak to those who are older, worked hard,
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you’ve got a will, appointed an executor, you thought a great deal about what will
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happen to all that’s yours when you’re gone, and I’m concerned for some older
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people who haven’t thought enough about what happens to them, what happens to you
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your soul. And if you’re thinking about that, then surely these years must be
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years of coming more closely after Christ and after his Word and after
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seeking to be all that you can for him, you lose your soul by starving it. In the
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relentless agenda of relax and enjoy life, that’s all that matters! Then you
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can lose your soul not only by starving it you can lose your soul by strangling
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it. Let me say a word to those in mid-life. Jesus speaks about how people
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who receive the Word of God, so that’s us people who hear the Word of God here’s
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something that can happen among us, that for some the cares of the world, he says,
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and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things enter in and
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happens is the Word gets choked and it proves unfruitful.
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Those of you who are in midlife perhaps know this in particular ways,
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your schedule is just relentless. The pressures on your career are,
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demands are higher than at any other time in your life. Your kids are involved
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in multiple activities, the whole thing is absolutely relentless and something has
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to give and here’s what so often is the thing that gives, your care for
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your soul. And you look back and you see times when your heart was more tender
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towards the Lord where you wanted to be something more for Him and grow
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in what it means to reflect His beauty and His image and somehow all of that
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shrunk. It’s been strangled. Life of it has been strangled out of you like
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some vine that just wraps itself round and round you. And squeezes the spiritual
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life out of you and then you can surrender your soul. We say this to those
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who are younger particularly. Peter says this, abstain from the passions of the
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flesh which wage war against your soul. Isn’t that a striking phrase? Notice
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what he says, there are passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul.
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Wage war. Now, think about that phrase, wage war. What happens when someone
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wages war that’s violent, wage war? That means the passions of the flesh are out
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yourself. And when
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your soul captive.Wage
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Now you are saying to the enemy of your soul, Well now, you win. I concede, I’m
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yours
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now. So think about this next time you are tempted. Passions of the flesh are waging
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war against your soul. Trying to take you captive. Trying to destroy your own soul from
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within. And it may be that some of you will be saying you know what, I concede. All three
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of these things are at work in my life. All three. I have too much surrendered my soul
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to the passions of the flesh. I have been too much strangled by the cures for this world,
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and now increasingly my soul is starved. I don’t even really have the hunger for the
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things of God that I remember at one time happening.
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Here’s what’s happening. You’re losing your soul. You are inching every week, every month,
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every year as you soul gets starved and strangled and surrendered. You’re sort of inching your
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way towards a place where ultimately your soul is lost. Jesus says your soul is of such
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great value. This is the one loss that can never be recovered. What if you gain the whole
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world? If you lose your soul, so what can you do?
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Bishop Riles said on one occasion, The first step towards heaven is for a person to see
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the value of their soul. The first step towards heaven. Someone ready to take the first step
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towards heaven right now. The first step towards heaven is that you would see the value of
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your own soul. If you should see the value of your own soul today that is how you will
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respond to the word of God today. You will come to Jesus Christ and you will say to Him
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something like this. You will say, Jesus Christ you have called me to love God with all my
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heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength and I haven’t
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done it. And you have called me to a purity of soul and of heart and of life and I haven’t
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got it. And Lord Jesus Christ without you here’s what’s happening. You have called
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I am going to end up starving my soul, strangling my soul, surrendering my soul and my soul
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is going to lose. Therefore I need you to be the Lord, the Captain, the Savior of this
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soul. I need you to feed this soul. I need you to guard this soul. I need you to shepherd
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this soul. I need you to save this soul. And so as best as I know how I am going to turn
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the whole of my life, the whole of my soul, all that I am over into your hands as my Lord
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and as my Savior. Lord have mercy on me and Lord give me a new heart. A different heart.
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Take away this heart of stone that always resists you and give to me a heart that loves
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you, a heart that desires you, a heart that submits to you. For what shall it profit man
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if he were to gain everything, the whole world, and lose his soul.
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You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a powerful reminder
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today about the importance of placing our soul into Christ’s hands. Maybe, as you’ve
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been listening, you feel he’s been calling you into a relationship of the kind we often
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talk about here on Open the Bible. You’d like to know more about how to enter into
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that relationship by the saving grace of God. If so, I hope you will seek out a trusted
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Christian friend or family member, or maybe go along to a Christian church fellowship.
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Don’t take time to speak with the folk there, the Pastor or simply members of that fellowship.
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Tell them about your journey to discover faith for yourself. You’ll find they’ll
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be ready to pray with you to help you make that step. Or, if you’re not yet ready to
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make that step and still have questions, and we have questions, there may well be a Bible
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study course or a home group or an Alpha Program that you can join.
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Today’s message is called Valuing Your Soul and it’s part of our series, Soul Care.
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If you miss any of the series or if you want to go back and listen again, you can always
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do that by coming online to our website, openthebible.org.uk. There you can hear any of the messages which
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have already gone out on-air.
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Open the Bible is listener-supported. It’s your generosity that keeps Pastor Colin’s
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teaching on this station and online. Thank you if you already give regularly.
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If that’s something you’ve been thinking about doing, if you’re able to set up a
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regular gift to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or
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more, this month we’d love to thank you by sending you a copy of Chris Lungard’s
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book The Enemy Within. Straight talking about the power and defeat of sin.
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Colin, for those of us not familiar with Chris Lungard, what can you tell us about him?
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Chris Lungard has done a brilliant job of describing the battle that Christians have
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against sin and pointing us in the direction of how we can prevail in that
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battle. You know, the Bible speaks about this very clearly, especially in Romans
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chapter 8 and verse 13 we’ve got to put to death the misdeeds of the body by the
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power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. That’s the ongoing battle of
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the Christian life. I think one of the most insightful writers in all of human
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history on this, is a Puritan writer by the name of John Owen, he wrote on the
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battle against sin in a profoundly helpful way. You’ve got to know what sin
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you’re up against, you’ve got to find where it’s lurking in your heart and
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then you’ve got to be ruthless and giving it no quarter in putting it to
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death. That’s Romans chapter 8 and verse 13. But the problem with John Owen is
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that he was a 17th century Puritan and he wrote hundreds of pages that are quite
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difficult to read and the genius of Chris Lungard is that he has taken the
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insights of John Owen, some of the richest insights into the battle of the
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Christian life in history, and he has put these in clear and contemporary and
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compelling terms and that is why this is such a wonderful book. It is brilliantly
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entitled The Enemy Within Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin. Anyone
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who wants to prevail in their battle against sin should read this book it is
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wonderfully practical, wonderfully encouraging and wonderfully helpful.
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Well we’d love to send you a copy of this book to thank you for setting up
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a new donation to the work of Open the Bible this month. There are full details
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on our website openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith
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I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again next time.
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How can your soul which is of such great value be saved?
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Find out next time on Open the Bible
