Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Join Reverend Ben Cooper from Elim Swanley on a spiritual journey through life's profound questions, offering wisdom, insight, and a touch of humour in every episode. "Embarking on a soul-enriching voyage through the Bible's timeless wisdom and the Christian journey, with a diverse array of inspiring guests, Join us as we explore faith, life, and hope.
Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Beyond Sight: Embracing Spiritual Rebirth and the Peace of Jesus Christ - (#691 - Elim)
Can you truly see beyond what your eyes perceive? In this episode, we promise to guide you through the transformative journey of being "born again," as inspired by the scriptures of the Gospel of John and the book of Acts. Through the profound conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and the powerful events of Pentecost, we explore the essence of spiritual rebirth beyond traditional rituals and hierarchies. Discover the crucial role of the Holy Spirit in fostering personal spiritual renewal and its impact on the early disciples, challenging the status quo and redefining faith.
Through reflections on Jesus' teachings, we examine his humility and non-violent approach, even amidst adversity. We ponder the dual nature of existence—the physical and the spiritual—and how true vision transcends mere sight. Our discussion highlights the transformational power of faith, positing that the kingdom of God dwells within and beyond our visible world. Reflect on the thief on the cross, who might have been the first to experience heaven as a born-again believer, and consider the eternal promise of salvation through faith in Christ.
Finally, we contemplate the enduring legacy of Jesus as a king who conquered without an army. By examining the symbolism of blood and water from his crucifixion, we connect these elements to the concept of spiritual rebirth and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We contrast artificial intelligence with genuine spiritual insight, emphasizing the need for true spiritual enlightenment over superficial alternatives. This episode invites you to seek a deeper connection with the divine, beyond the trappings of modern technology and societal constraints, embracing the promise of eternal peace through Jesus Christ.
https://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/
Press in. It's good to have you with us this morning. It's good to have so many people online across the world. Thank God for the online church. We thank God for the human church, the in-person. We are blessed to be able to stream across the world and to have people in the Lord's house, and we thank God for your lives, wherever you are.
Speaker 1:At this moment in time, we're going to turn into the scriptures and I believe we're looking into page 1093. That is the book of Acts. We're in the book of Acts, chapter 2, and the first scripture that we will go to is the gospel of John, and you probably don't even need to turn there because we're in the gospel of john, page 1067, and you might um to 065. What I'm going to say straight away, the only thing that I can start words that I can finish with it is the power of the word of god. It is the Redeemer's word. So I pray that, wherever you are in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit will lead you, that the power of the living God will strengthen you in all things. He is worthy of all praise. The Bible says very, very clear you must be born again and I pray that we will never get tired or frustrated of hearing me or hearing that word coming out of the word of God you must be born again. It is critical that we understand what that means and you know what we understand what that means. But today we just have a little look in the scripture and then I'm going to read from the book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 through to 4. But let's get straight into the gospel of John. Now I'm going to take it from verse 1 and I'm going to probably just drop off the peg, not literally die, but I mean drop off the peg at a reading. Some may say, yeah, we wish you would in some ways. Verse five so we're in verse one of John, chapter three.
Speaker 1:Now there was a man named Nicodemus of the Pharisees, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. We know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can perform these miraculous signs unless he was from God. Verse 3 in reply it says there Jesus declared I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old. Nicodemus answered Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born. This is the place Jesus answered. I tell you the truth no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of two areas water and of spirit. Water and of spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit. Spirit.
Speaker 1:Let's just take our holy eyes onto the book of acts, chapter 2, verses 1 through to 4, maybe page 1093. The book of acts. Book of acts. If anyone needs to find that, someone will show you if you're struggling. Acts, chapter 2, new testament, 1093.
Speaker 1:When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, the sound of a violent blowing of a wind came from heaven, filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and rested on each of them. All of them, verse 4,. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Let's just hold it there, verse 4,. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and he began, and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Clear to see through the scriptures that Jesus is very clear in his teachings.
Speaker 1:He doesn't talk about being churched, he doesn't talk about being religious. He talks very clearly about being born and to me at this moment in time, over the last number of months, it's been so relevant, it's been, it's been so real that I've I've gotta be so on the button, as in keep sharing that you must be born again. It's a simple line, but it's a critical line Because when we understand what it means and I don't believe that we'll ever understand to the full stretch of what it means to be born again we get a bit there as human beings. But it is so far beyond what we can imagine or what we can ask about being born again. So when we look at the crucifixion and we look at salvation and we look at everything, what I love about Christ is that he never talks about the church, that we must be healing, brothers and sisters, we must be aog, we must be this, we must be that.
Speaker 1:He doesn't talk about religion. He doesn't talk about that, the structure of the church. We know that he's the cornerstone, we know that he is the head of the church. It isn't the pope, believe it or believe it not, it is not. We know that he is the head of the church. It isn't the Pope, believe it or believe it not, it is not the Pope, he is not the head of the church. He might run a bit of an occultic activity at some points, like the Church of England, but if anyone claims in the human body to be the head of something, especially the church, when we look at the church, that is very dangerous Because there is no human being that can be the head of the church.
Speaker 1:There are leaders and we call the five-fold ministry within the word of God, apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers and everything that rolls out from that, but no one can claim to be the head of the church. There are shepherds, there are leaders, there are pastors, our elders and deacons, and we get the structure, the biblical church. But it's important to understand the structure of the biblical church because if I just hold on to the structure of what I call the system church, the worldly church, the religious church, the organization, it will hold me back from what God has for me, because when I stay in religion, within the church, I stay within the realms of humanity, religion and what pastor says and what leaders say and what the structure of that organization. Because every church maybe I shouldn't say every church, but probably 98% of churches across the UK has a charity number. If you have a charity number, you are kin to something, you become an organization, you become controlled outside of the realms of the kingdom, which is sensibly understood through the scripture. You are controlled by your charity number and there are certain criterias that the charity has to adhere to.
Speaker 1:So we lose our identity within GDPR. We lose our identity in charity number. We lose our identity in the label over the door of who the pastor is, who the leaders are. We lose our identity in so many ways and, when it comes down to the basic understandings, we lose ourselves in the structure and the mechanisms. That's why we are lacking so much Spiritually. We are spiritually dry. We are very, very dry. There's rumors and there's a little bit. Oh, the Lord is moving here, the. But the Bible tells us in the end days it will be quiet anyway. But the UK church is suffering in many areas because the majority of the UK church has a number on the bottom of its letter headed paper and we are kin to the government.
Speaker 1:We need to be extremely careful what we are kin to. Yes, we have to have this, yes, we have to that, but there are so many areas of what we can and ask God to Lord. Erase that. Cut the umbilical cord to that, because when I live by numbers, when I live by charity, status, when I live by certain criterias and tick boxing exercises, I become someone that I'm not. So that's why it's really important to understand who I am in Christ Jesus, because we've lost our identity.
Speaker 1:The cross gender issue. It is because the world is looking for identity and it's trying everything. It's trying everything crossing from one to another, this that migrating across the world. The world is looking for who it really is and it's lost. And it is traveling so fast and the human race is moving so quick that we have lost our identity in so much stuff around us.
Speaker 1:So, as I said at the start of this service, it's critical that we leave the suits that we wear hanging up in the closet of life, but leave them alone, because we've got a suit, we've got an earth suit. We've got an earth suit for every day of the week, every person, and we dress ourselves according to the situation. But Jesus says you've got to be born again. There's only one way I want you to dress when you go to the book of Ephesians. It tells us about putting the armor of God on. So that scripture that we read out you must be born again. Because when I understand to a tiny grain of sand what that means, it gives me clear identity, who Christ wants me to be. So Nicodemus says what are you referring to? I can't go back up the route. I cannot go back through the biological process. It is absolutely impossible. Science, you can't do that, jesus. And Jesus says that's correct. That is correct. Nicodemus, you are correct in what you're saying. And then we look at the word being born again and it is labeled with that.
Speaker 1:Them crazy space hopping people that jump up and down on the pogo, those Pentecostals they're crazy, they're wild that they believe in this, they believe in that. But it has been taken out of context and it has been used in so many different ways. And it does label certain areas of the church. When you say, am I born again? Christian People go oh, they're crazy. They're crazy. They believe in magic, they believe in all types of things. They believe it because it's a mixed bag of everything that goes on, but we need to tell the world.
Speaker 1:It is a simple understanding what it means to be born again, and it's not crazy. It is being free. It is not being a crazy Christian jumping up and down on a pogo stick like Ziga, barking and shouting and bouncing around all over the place. It's realizing who you are. It actually brings calmness to your spirit. It brings peace to you. So it is the opposite effect to the Pentecostal movement that is out there barking and shouting and hollering and laying on the floor with your hands and your feet in the air, calling and we're in revival, barking like a dog and rolling around doing crazy things. That is not a biblical text. The God that I serve is a God of calmness, of stillness, a God of words, a God of action. You never see Jesus doing the crazy things that these crazy revivalists have brought in. That's of a different spirit.
Speaker 1:If I want to know what revival is, I follow Jesus Because revival is being revived from within, being set free, and then, when I get around, believers that have been set free, yes, I may call it a revival, because we are revived. I don't engineer and I don't plan a revival meeting. It can't be done because you can't roadmap the Holy Spirit, you can't roadmap the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. You can't plan him to come out at a set time because someone with a bit of a name on social media is telling you that Jesus is in town. Jesus was in town before the preacher even spoke about being in town, because Jesus created the bricks and mortar that created the town that the preacher is starting to walk in. Christ created every fabric of every situation, of every moment. So revival is living always inside a believer, because revival remains being revived from the darkness. You are always in a reviving moment, you are always in a revelational moment, you are always in a redemption move.
Speaker 1:Now there's two of me. There's the skin me, there's the human me and there's the biblically me. And there's that great New Testament writer, that great writer that walked the earth. Oh, wretched man am I? Why do I do the things I hate and why can't I do the things that I should be doing? Why, oh God? Because the battlefield of the mind, the battlefield of humanity, the battlefield of life. So being born again, as Jesus said, means to be born of something greater.
Speaker 1:The Bible is extremely clear what it says. I know what it says. But I want to read it because I can't leave anything to memory. I've got to read what God is saying through Christ Jesus, through the written word in John 3, 3. And as we go down in that, jesus replies I tell you the truth no one can see this is important no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
Speaker 1:So that's where vision comes in. Now we understand that the human eye and the way that it works through the retina, through vision, through focus when we see it, triggers so much. The human eyeball is so powerful. It's beyond the science of my understanding, it's beyond the test tube, it's beyond what we can fathom, beyond the science of my understanding. It's beyond the test tube, it's beyond what we can fathom. It is so powerful. The eyeball itself, how it works, the body, how it sees, how it works and brings emotions in, and it brings in emotions, in and out what it sees and what it works out through vision, because vision is critical. But if I live my life by my retina a continuation of living by a human being I will live my life completely outside of what God wants for me, because I've got to live in faith. But that's why the Bible is extremely clear when it says in verse three. It says Jesus replied I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom, because there's more to see. When we see the chairs, we see human beings, we see everything around us. There's more to this world and that is the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God lives within and it is. It is outside, it is within, it is, it is everywhere.
Speaker 1:Are you bored with your life? Are you angry with your life? Are you fed up with stuff around you that it is just the monotony of just a robotic activity? Are you tired of the commute? Are you tired of seeing the same people in your life if you get what I mean and you want something more and you're hungry for something and you're tired of treading the same boards day in, day out. There is so much more.
Speaker 1:But when you realize who you are, in the skin that you've been birthed, in in you, in just me and you, when you realize that being born again is not belonging to a crazy Pentecostal movement that is shouting and hollering and dancing and standing on one leg and jumping on the chairs and barking like a dog and doing all the crazy and occultic things, because you won't find Jesus doing none of that. It's interesting, isn't it, that Jesus didn't do none of that when he came in the face of adversity. You won't find him rolling around on the floor. You found him saying it is written when you find Jesus in trouble and he was in trouble. When you find Jesus in trouble and he was in trouble, what do you mean? Jesus in trouble?
Speaker 1:It was in trouble in many areas of his life because of the surroundings. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't lift a hand to any human being. He didn't punch no one. He didn't kick no one. He didn't knock no one down. He didn't beat his family across the floor. He didn't drink a drop of alcohol. He didn't take any drugs. He didn't have any social media account.
Speaker 1:He's the only king that walked this earth, that never had a palace, but all kings recognize him. He's the only king that doesn't have an earthly throne but has the greatest throne in heaven. He's the only king that went to the cross and died for all humanity. He's the savior of the world. He conquered the world, but he had no army.
Speaker 1:He had 12 lazy renegades that sat around the Passover table, probably with their feet up. If it was today, every one of them would have been on TikTok, scrolling through social media, checking their emails, checking their texts, thinking about what's going on. If the 12 was around the table, with technology, jesus would have gone. There we go. The 12 that sat around the table, very significant their names, who they was. They didn't actually knew and know who they was because being born again didn't enter into the world until Jesus said it is finished.
Speaker 1:So when he said it is finished, suddenly I actually believe and I hope that that this, this could be a quite a big possibility that the thief on the cross was the first one to actually enter into heaven as being a born-again Christian, because his life was transformed by the word. Even though the word wasn't fully written in the concept of pen to paper. We should say the word was fully written because Jesus says I am the same yesterday, today and forevermore. So when he hung in the center cross, on the cross of Calvary, he was the fully word, fully God, fully man, fully king, fully savior of the world. He was Yahweh. He was the greatest man that ever walked this earth, he was the savior of the world. But he hung on the cross as the living word, because the bible said and the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So he is the eternal word hanging on the cross of calvary, fully word, fully, complete word, because the bible says he knows the beginning from the end. So when he was hanging on the cross of calvary, we got to understand that salvation wasn't going to move and wasn't going to come into the understanding of the realms in which we live until there was one or there was a few words that he said very clear it is finished.
Speaker 1:And when he said it is finished, what he was referring to, the old testament wasn't being finished, but it was being held in an area of of completion. So the old had been completed because it couldn't be completed until everything that had happened within the readings and the writings that we have. But jesus was the one that finished the Old Testament and he is the one that started the New Testament. So when you look at the Old Testament and you see what was going on, everything was hanging on the cross, and I mean everything was hanging on the cross. The Old Testament was hanging on the cross because he is the old and new, he is the bright morning star and the physical realms, the historical events, was on the cross, because he is the old and new, he is the bright morning star, and the physical realms, the historical events, was at the cross, everything was at the cross.
Speaker 1:So when we look at salvation, salvation was on the cross and we have these two criminals and the way they lived their lives, and we understand that one didn't make it, but one did. So that could be the first human being to actually receive salvation, as we know that, because no one could go in, because the Bible says, and we understand through certain Old Testament writings in the New Testament about certain prophets. But what we've got to remember is the Bible says no one entered into the kingdom. No one entered into the kingdom, no one entered into that. So we could say was there a place? Like when we understand that heaven is divided up into different spheres, different levels, different layers, but you can't enter in and you can't see until the remission of sin and the shedding of blood. So there was no balls, there was no goats, there was no heifer, there was no bulls, there was no goats, there was no heifer, there was no sacrifice that could do what had to be done, except Jesus Christ, the lamb, as John the baptizer says.
Speaker 1:So, without any human intervention, you are born again. You can't resist it. This causes so much frustration in human beings. Let me tell you loud and clear, in the house and across the world you are born again, whether you like it or not. You are a Christian, whether you like it or not, because he has called you. He has called you before the very beginning of time. You can fight, you can can run, you can do whatever you want, but let me tell you this, and I guarantee my life, that you are and you belong to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Whatever events you have gone through, however angry you may be towards God, and you can throw your toys out the pram, you can do whatever you you're going to do. But let me tell you this there's someone that you can't run from. There is a time in your life that you will never be able to escape from, and his name is Jesus Christ. You can drink yourself to pieces. You can snort your way through cocaine and do as many lines as you like. You can smoke the reefers until the sun turns a different color. You can drink yourself. You can go and party all day long. You can live your life until you are at the edge of reason. But let me tell you this you will not run from Jesus Christ. You can go for escapism, you can try everything that the world has to offer, but there's coming a time, and there is a time and it's got nothing to do with church because Jesus Christ is in your house right now.
Speaker 1:Jesus Christ is in the van and the car that you're driving. Jesus Christ is with you. If you're in the gym or if you're shopping, if you're over Bluewater, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, if you're in Lakeside, wherever you may be this morning, jesus Christ is with you and you cannot escape the king of glory. As I said, he's the only king that the whole world is talking about. Kings drop off the peg. They leave a little bit of history, but it's not worth thinking about the king that left this world, took himself off of the earth. No devil, no Roman soldier, no sickness, no disease. No one took him out except him. Because the Bible says in the Gospel of John the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 30. Somewhere around about that that Jesus gave up his spirit.
Speaker 1:So coming back to the word being born again, you can't see, so the church and religion can't see. Church and religion cannot see. You've got to be born again to see. But then suddenly, when you realize you're born again and you are a Christian, life becomes very strange because you've been stripped back and it feels like you're going backwards. It feels like you're falling into abyss of situations. But the church told me that being born again, being in the Pentecostal moment, it's going to be laughs. It's going to be wine flowing. It's going to be oh, what a great wonderful place. The spirit of God's going to be moving. I'm going to be laughs. It's going to be wine flowing. It's going to be oh, what a great wonderful place. The spirit of God's going to be moving. I'm going to be bouncing in and out. I'm going to have bundles of cash. I'm going to have this car, that car. My house is getting larger, my job's getting better.
Speaker 1:But when you become born again, god strips you back. You get stripped back. Look at Job. I've cut Job out. My Bible I cannot begin to read it. I cannot begin to look at that. I'm scared to read what God does, what God does and what he allows the devil to do. So when you understand about being born again, born again can almost throw you back for a long time, because suddenly there is an awakening in your spirit and you start to see things very different. Things change in your vision, your focus, and when Christ was on the cross at Calvary, christ, the saviour of the world.
Speaker 1:When you look at Islam, when you look at all these other world religions, they're nothing to true Christianity. What does Islam offer you? Nothing. What does Hinduism offer you Nothing? What does being a Buddha offer you Nothing? What does being a witch offer you? It offers you nothing. Jesus Christ offers you everything. The living word offers you nothing. Jesus Christ offers you everything. The living word offers you everything. There is no greater writings than the word of God. We know that it's been written over 1,496 years.
Speaker 1:It took to write Genesis, to Revelations. There's no king like Jesus Christ, there's no savior like Jesus Christ. And you are born again and you do not realize. You think that you are in charge of your own mortality, your own destiny. But God has a plan for you and all things are possible to those who believe. And that famous line that is across the church world oh, here they are. They're then born again. Lot. There's class layers in church, certainly, class layers in church and if you look at yourself and you call yourself born again, religion thinks it's higher than you. Religion will laugh at you. Certain areas of church will laugh because you're you. You're born again. What are you talking about?
Speaker 1:Nicodemus, the educator, the teacher of the scripture, of the Torah of the word, didn't have a clue what it was to be born again. Religion and the church in many areas doesn't have a clue what it means to be born again. The Bible says he calls the lowly thank you Jesus. He calls the ones that the world kicks into touch thank you Jesus. He calls the ones that are lost thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. The underdogs Thank you Jesus.
Speaker 1:I'm an underdog, but I'll never let go of the word of God. I don't care about religion, I don't care about church. I'm not bothered anymore, face bothered. No, am I bothered about what the world is saying? No, I just want to know what Jesus Christ is calling me to. I'm hungry for something more than this world can offer me. Are you hungry for something? But we don't know what we're hungry for because, as I said earlier, we've got so many suits hanging up in the wardrobe of life and we're getting dressed for every human being and Jesus says I don't want you to wear that. I want you to put the armor on, but, lord, the armor ain't going to get me through, lord, I've got to be someone else today, lord. The world wants me to be this.
Speaker 1:Lord, the world wants me to say this, the world wants me at this that A, b, c and D, and we're running out of suits and the suits are tired and the skin that we're walking in is exhausted. Lord, I'm tired, I'm at the end, but I don't know what the end looks like. I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know what next looks like. I don't know what to do. Jesus, he says come to me, all of you that are weary and heavy laden. I'll give you rest, but, lord, I don't know how to get to you. I't know, lord, I've sat in church, I've preached, I've teached a podcast, I've I've done this, I've done that. Lord, I've been in church more times than I can count. I don't know what to do because it's all ecclesiastes, it's all meaningless.
Speaker 1:This religious, this order, this, this structure, is meaningless. The Father is calling you. The Father is calling you. The Father is calling you through Jesus Christ, not to ministry. Let's erase those words out of conversation. He's calling you to salvation, the greatest calling in the world. You've got to tell your loved ones, your friends, the world around you. You've got to be born again. Even if you think he's crazy, he doesn't know what he's talking about. This is breaking down in my life. This is lost. This is gone. There's a reason for the season that you are walking in and I pray that you will get dressed in the armor of God and you will dress. Let's use this analogy in the armor of God and you will dress. Let's use this analogy in the skin of being born again. Find out what it means to be born again. Find out what it means to be a Jesus follower.
Speaker 1:If you want to be a Jesus follower, you're going to be in such a small percentage. If you want to be a churchgoer, they're everywhere. Everyone wants to go to church when lockdown happens. Everyone wants to go to church when trouble hits. Everyone wants to go to church when lockdown happens. Everyone wants to go to church when trouble hits. Everyone wants to go to church when a tax man's chasing your towel. Everyone wants to go to church when they're calling the debt in. Everyone wants to go to church, when we've heard a bit of news from somewhere and it has frightened us.
Speaker 1:But that isn't about being born again. Being born again is every second of every moment. Even when I sin, even when I foul, even when I let God down, I'm still born again, because nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. No weapon forged against us shall prosper and any tongue that rises up will be condemned. Imagine if I took on the scripture that said this God said to Moses and they addressed the Israelites and he said Moses, I'm going to be an enemy to your enemies. Oh my god, I'm going to be an enemy, moses, to your enemies. Imagine having the God of judgment, the God of heaven and earth, the God of all creation, locking arms with you and saying you're not an orphan, you're grafted in.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter where you were birthed around the world, it doesn't matter if your family have kicked you into touch. It doesn't matter if you don't know your mother or your father. It doesn't matter if you don't know where you were birthed or who your parents was, because I am your father, I am your father, I am your father, I am your redeemer. You don't need your earthly parents. You need me Because I am the saviour of the world and I sent my son, and actually my son is me, because the Bible says they gave him the name Emmanuel. God with us, the Father's with you.
Speaker 1:You're at full stretch and you don't know what to do. You're beyond the finish line and you don't know what to do. You are worn out. We are dressing up, trying to dress up stuff clean, tidy, haircuts, beard shaven, smelling good, looking, sweet, looking fine. But inside we are lost. Inside it's filthy rags, it's uncertainty. We put the smile on, we smile yeah, I'm good, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, but God, I'm good, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, but God, I'm broken. I'm tired of putting these suits on every day for the world because I've lost me, jesus.
Speaker 1:There are many people that have gone through traumas, many people that have gone through heartaches, many people that have gone through bereavement, still going through and forever will go through, losing family, family, losing friends, losing children, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, friends, being their lives torn and ripped apart. On the question that we have and it's like that big question mark that hangs over the um, that that um, the alpha course, that big red question mark. Why god? It's the question that humanity has that we'll never answer. Why God?
Speaker 1:But the Bible says faith. So being born again. We're going to bring this to a close in just a few moments. So the Bible is extremely clear. It says that you've got to be born of something different of flesh. He says very, very clear. He says that he's so clear. He says in verse let's pick it up in verse five, jesus answered. In John, chapter three, he says Jesus answered. I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of what? Water and spirit. Okay, lord, very quickly, help me Jesus with this one.
Speaker 1:If you was to look very clearly in the book of Acts, if you look in the book of Acts, chapter 2 that we got to, it says in verse 4, all of them were filled with what the Holy Spirit. See, being born again means to be born from the outside, within. It means the Holy Spirit comes from external and lands in internal. So you can't resist, you can't resist, you can't resist the outside power of the Holy Spirit. So then we come to the understanding. What does it mean water.
Speaker 1:When you look at the cross, when you look at crucifixion, the scriptures are extremely clear, because it says this it says something so clear At the point of crucifixion, not one of his bones will be broken. Okay, the Old Testament tells me that the scripture is clear Not one of his bones will be broken. So I might think to myself that he gave up his spirit, so okay. But there's something happened that one soldier done to his side. It says that they punched at his side. Very interesting, what flowed at the same point? Water and blood.
Speaker 1:You must be born again, nicodemus. I can't go back up my mother's womb. Don't be a crazy man, jesus. Nicodemus, you're right. And it does sound crazy, nicodemus, doesn't it? And the world looks at me and thinks I am crazy. Completely the opposite. I'm fully calm, fully God, fully in control, because I'm the greatest king that ever walked this earth.
Speaker 1:And as Herod and Pilate looked in the eyes of Jesus and as one of them said are you king of the Jews? He just stared him in the eyes. He went you're rocking on that one, son, I am. That I am. When moses was up in the mountain and he said who are you? Who am I? Who's sending? Who am to tell that lot down the mountain? Just tell them I am. Jesus. Pops up in the New Testament and he says I am the bread of life, I am the good shepherd. Oh my God, it makes me want to bounce around when I think about the power of the word, that this scripture that we're in has been brought together by 40 authors.
Speaker 1:Much of the writings of the scripture wasn't written in pastor's office with air conditioning, looking at TikTok, listening to AI for a bit of a message. It was written in prisons. It was written when they was beaten, when they was shipwrecked. It was written when they was on the run from Pharaoh. It wasn't written in pretty places. Pastor didn't sit back, light up a fag and go AI, give me a message for Sunday morning. You can have a message within four minutes on AI, a message.
Speaker 1:It's intelligent. It's intelligent, it sounds good, but it's lacking something. What is it lacking? Nicodemus sounded good. So AI is nothing new really, because Nicodemus could speak it, but he was lacking something. Ai, you'll hear many messages now and we have for many years of AI messages. It is lacking something so critical. It's got the education. It's got the history. It's got a bit of jargon. It's got everything laced in it, but it's lacking something. It's got everything laced in it, but it's lacking something. It's lacking spirit. Because when the word and spirit comes together, there is fire. Ai is across the platform of the church, it's everywhere. Ministers are preaching AI and it says what it says on the tin Artificial intelligence.
Speaker 1:Nicodemus and them renegades at that time had artificial knowledge. The church is living in AI, artificial. We've got artificial light. We need light, humanity needs light, human beings need light, but we live our lives, the majority of our lives, in buildings and we've got artificial light. Artificial light is not good for the human being when you go out into the open. Why do we think that Jesus said I am the light of the world? The church gives us artificial light, religion gives us artificial light. Jesus says I am the light of the world.
Speaker 1:But coming back to the cross of Calvary, coming back quickly to the cross, the Roman soldier punched at his side and it said water flowed with blood, blood for redemption, water for being born again. And what did Jesus say at that beginning? At that point, it is finished. And then what does it say at that beginning? At that point, it is finished. And then what does it say? He gave up his spirit. So you got spirit and water. What was Jesus saying to Nicodemus? You must be born again. But you can't be born again, nicodemus, by the natural realms of what you know. It's of water punching the side. It's of spirit. And then we come to the book of acts as we come into the table, and it says the spirit came from above. It came from above and it changed their lives. It changed their language, it changed the world.
Speaker 1:J Jesus turned the world upside down by 12 crazy, lazy men. He's the only king that conquered the world that doesn't have an army. He never fired a bullet. But governments fear him. Religion hates him. Church can't work him out. It can't grapple him. Church can't work him out. It can't grapple him. The only king that walked this earth that never had an earthly throne. The only king that was buried in a borrowed tomb. He wasn't wrapped up and displayed for the world to see. He was wrapped up and buried. The stone was rolled. He's the only king that taught and never got a penny. He's the king that walked the earth where kings fear him.
Speaker 1:Herod said where is this child? Where is this saviour of the world. I want to worship him. I want to worship Jesus. Where is this boy? He wanted to remove Jesus. Kings can't stand Jesus. Kings want to be controlling. Kings want to rule their own kingdom. Kings, pharaohs. They called him master, but he never had a degree. They called him healer and he never gave you a prescription. They called him savior of the world and he died on the cross. Let's come to the table, father, in the name of Jesus.
