Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Reverend Ben Coopers podcast, offers an inviting space for listeners to explore Christianity and spiritual growth with wisdom, humor, and a deep commitment to biblical truth. Through Rev. Ben's engaging conversations with guests, the podcast not only explores the timeless wisdom of the Bible but also tackles the pressing issues of life, faith, and hope in a way that is accessible, thought-provoking, and enriching. Whether you’re seeking spiritual nourishment, answers to life’s big questions, or simply a place to reflect on your faith, the Rev Ben podcast is a valuable resource on your journey.
In each episode, Rev. Ben guides listeners through profound theological reflections, personal stories, and practical insights drawn from the Bible and the broader Christian tradition.
Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Grace: God's Undeserved Favor - (#1045 - Elim)
What does it really mean to be saved by grace?
In this soul-stirring episode of the Unshakable podcast, Pastor Ben Cooper unpacks the revolutionary truth behind God’s undeserved favor—a truth that doesn’t just change theology, but transforms lives, identities, and hearts. Grace isn’t a concept for scholars. It’s the foundation of the gospel and the doorway to a life of peace and purpose.
Grace tells us that our relationship with God doesn’t depend on our performance, perfection, or past, but entirely on Christ’s finished work at the cross. One speaker shares with raw honesty: “I know me, and I wouldn’t choose me. But God chose me.” That powerful statement reflects the heart of grace—it’s unearned, unstoppable, and deeply personal.
We journey through Ephesians 2, where Scripture reveals that we were spiritually dead, incapable of saving ourselves. And yet, God—rich in mercy—made us alive in Christ. Even before the world began, He chose us, knowing every mistake we would ever make. That’s not just grace; that’s eternal love in action.
The episode highlights stories of real people transformed by grace, including one man whose encounter with Jesus changed his spiritual and mental health. Even his doctor was stunned by the change. We also hear from those in prison ministry, where grace is often received with open arms by those society has written off. One inmate shares:
“I’m so glad I was put in prison because I found freedom.”
It’s a reminder that grace often finds us in the lowest places—and lifts us higher than we imagined possible.
We then apply Philippians 4, discovering how to overcome anxiety by turning to prayer and focusing our thoughts on truth instead of fear. Grace isn't just about salvation—it’s about daily peace, steady joy, and renewed minds.
The episode concludes with a time of communion, symbolizing the power of the blood of Christ. Just as the Israelites were covered during Passover, we too are protected—fully covered by grace, forever.
Have you truly experienced this grace? It’s not reserved for the perfect or the religious. It’s for the broken, the doubting, the searching. If you’re ready to stop trying to earn what’s already been given, this episode is for you.
https://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/
https://www.rbchristianradio.net/
Welcome to Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast. We are a radio and podcast ministry based here within the UK. Your support is vital through prayer and through sowing a seed of faith. We are so thankful to have so many people around the globe downloading and listening to our podcasts, whether you are on Spotify, apple Podcast, google, alexa, amazon Music and so many other platforms. Thank you, world for Jesus Christ. Please send us an email through our contact form on pastorbencoopercouk. Also, you can find our latest books on Amazon under hashtag one, hashtag two and hashtag three under Christian Straight Talk hard-hitting, real-life conversations taken from our podcasts.
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Speaker 2:Good morning everyone. Good morning, it's great to be here. I'm here with our friend Glenn. Unfortunately, pastor Ben is not with us this morning. He's got other duties to carry out, so we're here holding the fort.
Speaker 2:So I just want to take you into the first from ephesians so it's a well-known verse, I think ephesians 2, verse 8. For it is by grace. You have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast, for we are God's workmanship, grace. Someone told me a long time ago that the meaning of grace is undeserved. Favour of grace is undeserved favour, and it's through Christ, who went to the cross, that he gave his life for each one of us. And it's through grace, that undeserved favour, that we can come to him, we can come before God and he welcomes us as his children. And that's why we're here today, that's why Glenn and I come and speak to you. This is why Ben does this on a regular basis. So we really consider it a privilege just to be here and to talk about our own faith. My own faith is quite old now. I feel quite old actually.
Speaker 2:I won't say you look old, yeah, but as a teenager I came to know Jesus and it is believing in him that he came to save each one of us and we have to get to that place to believe him, to know that he actually died for each one of us. But it's that personal thing that we have. It is a personal faith that we have with Jesus and when we can get to know him, he just welcomes us, he knows us, he knows everything about us and he knows our shortcomings, he knows what we're good at and he just wants us to live that life for him. And that's what each one of us around this table do. Actually, we live our lives for Jesus and that's when the blessings come and we have to give thanks to him.
Speaker 2:Chapter 2 of Ephesians starts as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. He's talking about the enemy there. And certainly before we made that decision to accept Jesus into our lives, we were dead in our sins. And I just look at the world around us at the moment. Look at the TV and all that's going on there and the programs that are pushed out towards us. A lot of them are so godless. A lot of them are so godless and we need to train our minds and to be careful. And we need to train our minds and to be careful. We need to be careful that we're not tripped up in what we watch, and I think that follows through in our actions as well.
Speaker 2:So I just want to feel that we should be blessing each other today and I just want to pray a real blessing upon all those who are listening at the moment, who will pick up later on and listen to this broadcast.
Speaker 2:So, father, I just want to ask that you come and be with each one of us by your spirit. We pray come, holy Spirit. Come and fill each one of us afresh with your power, with your love, and this morning I just want to pray for each one of us that we would have that, just to come and look out for the lost. Father, we are all called to be witnesses, and help us to be strong in our own faith that we can give that testimony when we see the opportunity to actually give our own testimonies of what Jesus has done in our lives. He's pulled us back from the brink. He knows us intimately and he cares for us, and even when we let him down, he still loves us. He draws us back. So we thank you, father God, that we can be in relationship with you through jesus, and we thank you, holy spirit, that you come and equip us and give us that strength and power.
Speaker 3:In jesus name, we pray amen amen um, if we had one rule for this morning's coffee and prayer, apart from having coffee as a rule, the other one is we don't prepare. Quite strange, isn't it? We don't. For years we've been doing this and it's we don't prepare. So we just trust on the Holy Spirit to lead us, and Andy has started this morning with God's grace. And it's all about grace.
Speaker 3:It's already quoted Ephesians, where God chose us before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight. What did we have to do with that? Nothing. Before the creation of the world, he chose us to be holy and blameless. In 1 Peter 2, 2, verse 10 says Once you had no identity. Now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy. Now you've received mercy. As Andy has already quoted from Scripture, we were dead in our transgressions and sins, dead. What can a dead person do? Nothing? Got it underlined? Oh, it's got it underlined. We were blinded by the God of this world. We were actually, by our very nature it says in Romans objects of God's wrath. But God who is rich in mercy? I want to look at this rich in mercy because people think well, what did I do to get this salvation? What did I do Nothing.
Speaker 3:Nothing as it carries on in Ephesians 2, verse 8, and God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this. I'm reading from the NLT with this one and you can't take credit for this. It's a gift of God. Faith is a gift from God. Actually, jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes, he'll convict the world of sin, because they don't know him. Conviction of sin is a gift of God. Salvation is not a reward. It says in Ephesians 2, verse 9. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. Actually, neither is it for the good things we will do. I've met so many christians who think well, god saved me because one day I'm going to do something good no if that's true, then it's salvation by works.
Speaker 3:Then it's not a gift, it's actually a wage. You see, if it's because one day you think you're going to do something for god, then god saved you because you're going to do something good and gives it to you as a wage. No, it's by grace, and grace alone. Um, grace, I know, and he's already given a definition of it, but it's god's riches at christ's expense. Yeah, we're saved solely by a savior, someone who has taken our place. We all, like sheep, have gone astray and we've each deserved to be alienated from god all eternity, each of us to be alienated from God for all eternity, each of us.
Speaker 3:I'll carry on with Ephesians 2. For we are God's masterpiece. So from verse 9 again, salvation is not a reward for good things, so none of us can boast about it. I need a saviour as much today as when I did nearly 40 years ago, when I cried out to him For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he's planned for us long ago. We've got works to walk in, but they don't save us Never. We do the good works now because we're born again. Do you know, unless you're born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God. But when you are born again, you have a new nature, a new heart that's formed in you and that's the nature of Jesus From the time we have him as our saviour. We are, then, in a process of being transformed into his likeness, and we are transformed from one degree of glory to another.
Speaker 3:God's foreknowledge. God said to Jeremiah this is Jeremiah 1.5,. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. You know God knows everything about us, everything. He knows our present, he knows our past. He also knows our future. He knows we're going to trip up. He knows we're going to make mistakes. He knows we're going to deliberately sin. Is that an excuse for us to sin? No, not at all, because we're born again. When we do sin, it makes us miserable, it takes us in the wrong direction, it gets in the way. But as he says in it's 1 John 1 9, when we, when we sin, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness. We're now in relationship with God.
Speaker 3:What does this do for me? Knowing that scriptures also says blessed is the person whose sins and transgressions will never count against them. Why? Because Jesus stands before me. When I stand before my Father in heaven, I've got Jesus standing before me and the father looks at him and pardons me every time, because he's my savior. It's not about me, it's about my savior. Is he worthy? Oh yeah, he is. Has he met the mark? Yes, so because of that, ephesians 4 sorry, philippians 4, verse 4, should come into effect Always be full of joy in the Lord when.
Speaker 3:What about when we're facing hardship or persecution? What about when we're going through tough times? Always be full of the joy of the Lord, always. That's our strength. How can we do that? Because we are saved. Brothers and sisters, if you know Jesus Christ as your saviour, then you are saved. We're coming up to the Easter season.
Speaker 3:What did Jesus say in his final breath on the cross? It is finished. What is finished? The work of the saviour to be the perfect Saviour is finished. Always be full of the joy of the Lord.
Speaker 3:If today was my last day on the earth, I am guaranteed a place in heaven. Guaranteed it. What about if I was on the motorway doing 140 mile an hour and crashed, breaking the law? I still walk straight into glory. Cool, that's a bit pretentious, isn't it? No, because I'm not saved by what I do or how I function. I'm not saved by how righteous I am, because I have no righteousness of my own. I am saved because I have a saviour who, in his foreknowledgeledge, knows everything about me, even knows what my final day will be. He knows exactly how many times I'll let him down, and his banner over me is always constantly love, acceptance. It says in John 1,.
Speaker 3:For those who dare to believe, he gave the right to be called the children of God. For that is who we are. I'm a father. I've got six daughters and I love them all. They're all my favourites. What about the ones who've decided to hurt me every now and then, regularly? I never stop loving them. Never stop loving them. What about when they're in trouble? What about when they've deliberately got themselves in trouble? I move closer towards them. What about when they're in trouble? What about when they've deliberately got themselves in trouble? I move closer towards them because our relationship is based on love. I haven't got a script at home that says to be my daughter, you must do this, you must do that, you must do that. Not at all. It's not a performance level. They are naturally my children and I love them.
Speaker 3:For those who believed in his name name, he gave the right to be called the children of god, not of natural will, nor of the flesh, but born of god, chosen by him. And he's already read when did this thing happen? Ephesians 1 before the world was created. We were chosen by him in him. Why did he choose me? I often ask myself that I know me and I would not choose me. And the devil knows me and he reminds me of all my failures, all of them. But God chose me because he loves me.
Speaker 3:No other conclusion, no other conclusion than that. Because I'm his son. He because he loves me. No other conclusion. No other conclusion than that Because I'm his son, he's always loved me. Before he formed me in the womb, he knew me, and before I was born, he consecrated me, same as you. That's why there was always that emptiness within you, until you found Jesus, until he found you.
Speaker 3:But now that you know him again, as it says in Philippians 4.4, always be full of the joy in the Lord. He's my joy, he's my peace, he's my redeemer. He's the one who has promised to be with me always, no matter where I am, no matter where I go, if I'm going through a hard time. He hasn't always promised me deliverance from it, but he has promised me that he'll be with me through it. Rejoice, always, be full of the joy in the Lord. I say it again rejoice. Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. Remember the lord is coming soon. You know.
Speaker 3:Save the planet. That ain't gonna work. I can show you in the scriptures what's gonna happen to this planet global warming. It gets very hot in the last days, very hot Actually. All the elements will be consumed in fire, but it will also be made new. Heaven and earth will become one. The invisible and the visible, the spiritual and the physical All becomes one. Under Christ, we will be transformed and be exactly like he is. That's our destiny.
Speaker 3:Brothers and sisters, whether he comes back during my lifetime or I go and be with the Lord Makes no difference. I can rejoice in that. Always, always, be full of joy in the Lord. Not your own joy, that's worldly joy. I have joy because I've just won the lottery. Well, I haven't, but you know what I mean. So people think they'll be happy if they've got money. People think they'll have joy if they.
Speaker 3:You can have temporary happiness, but what God's talking about is a deep, everlasting joy, the same joy that Paul says in Philippians, where he says I have found the secret of being content in all circumstances, whether I'm in want, whether I'm in plenty. His contentment comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. With him, this is eternal life that we would know him, not just know about him. We're not bringing you religion this morning. We're bringing you relationship with Jesus, where he comes and takes his place, his home, in you. We are the temples of the living God. That should make you full of joy. Regardless, I say it again rejoice. Philippians 4, verse 4. Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. Remember the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything. No, what do we worry about? Nothing, nothing. There's a hard one, isn't it?
Speaker 3:in our humanity we're prone to worry. All worry does is confess over yourself something bad's going to happen. That's about it really. You can spend all night. Oh, this is going to happen. This is going to happen. Do you really know that? I know what it is to go through hard times we have as a family. We've gone through very hard. Oh, this is going to happen. This is going to happen. Do you really know that? I know what it is to go through hard times we have as a family. We've gone through very hard times. We've gone through good times, but God has been with us through it all.
Speaker 3:There are times when we're perplexed, there are times when we just don't get it. But you know what? Not only has he got today, he's also got tomorrow. We go through seasons, but we can know in every season of life whether it's seasons of grief, because they will come. Whether it's seasons of hardship, they will come. Jesus said we are guaranteed many hardships in this life. Guaranteed them, but he will be with us always and we can hope and we can rejoice through it all, knowing the outcome is very good. Have you seen your eternal outcome, the end of the story, with him forever in a place that you can't compare.
Speaker 3:I'm sure most of us have probably had a holiday destination that we can think back on and say, wasn't it lovely? Well, yeah, but it wasn't perfect. We're going to perfection that never ends, where there is no more pain, no more, no more agony, no more. Every tear is wiped from us, even tears of regret will be wiped away and we'll enter true paradise. Always be full of the joy of the lord. I say it again rejoice. Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. You you know what.
Speaker 3:I'm quite quick to forgive now. I never used to be before. I knew Jesus. But when it says in Scripture, those who've been forgiven much will love much, do you know how much I've been forgiven Much, all of it, all of it, even my flawed character, all of it. I have been forgiven, forgiven 100, without blemish, without stain. I know, regardless of myself, when I stand in god's presence, I am totally 100, accepted and loved. I'm forgiving everything, all of it, even the thoughts, even. We've been forgiven much, love much, and because of that, because God is so considerate to me, I find it easy to be considerate to others, quick to forgive. Why? Because God is quick to forgive.
Speaker 3:Don't worry about anything, and here's the remedy Instead. So instead of sitting up all night worrying about it and confessing over yourself terrible things, confess something different. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Lord, you know what's going on. Help me, lord. You know what they're saying. Deliver me, lord, you know what's going on. Help me, lord. You know what they're saying. Deliver me, lord, you know my circumstances. Turn up, he never fails, ever. But he may cause you to walk through some hard things, but pray all the way through it. Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done. Then you will experience God's peace. You ever done that?
Speaker 3:The amount of people I see come to church with their heads stooped, looking at the floor and then worship starts. God's presence is manifest. Don't neglect meeting together if you can. I know some people live in countries where it's illegal to meet together. So when you do come together, it's a privilege. But if you can meet together, if you've got that luxury like we have in the UK of church, don't neglect it. But there's a special manifestation of God's presence. He says where two or three are gathered in my name. There I am, and I've seen these people come into church with heads bowed low and then, as we worship and the Holy Spirit starts to move and God's presence is in the room, their heads are lifted up and I've seen weights drop off of people Seen it and they're transformed transformed. Don't neglect meeting together. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. What can we pray about?
Speaker 2:everything everything.
Speaker 3:Can I pray about that?
Speaker 3:yeah, you can, of course you can talk to god about it. Talk to your father in heaven about it, even with what you're struggling with, because he knows anyway. He knows you and in his foreknowledge you already knew that. Then thank him for everything he has done. Tell god what you need and thank him for all that he's done. Then you will experience god's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. The peace god gives, the peace of god trans. It transcends our understanding. We shouldn't have it, and yet we do. What does it look like scripturally?
Speaker 3:Paul in prison, wondering if he's facing execution? What does he do? Well, he just frets all night and worries and smokes. And no, he's actually singing hymns, he's actually worshipping and praising god. Actually, in philippians as well, paul says to live is Christ, to die is gain. He knows that peace, that peace that transcends all understanding. His peace, it's a gift.
Speaker 3:Jesus said my peace, I give you, my peace, I leave you. And he's talking about the Holy Spirit here as well. He will give you. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? That's what Jesus said. How much more we who are evil know how to give good gifts? How much more does God know how to give his Holy Spirit, the one who brings us peace, the one through whom we cry Abba, father, then you will experience God's peace, not mind over matter. You ever tried that. You're going to keep doing that. You're going to end up having a breakdown. No, because your brain is flesh. God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand, his peace, will guard your hearts and minds as you live in christ jesus. Mental health plague. There's one in the uk and right through the west. Yeah, a plague of mental health condition. They're looking at this. Therapy, that therapy, try this, try that jesus, try him. I'll tell you what he makes a difference.
Speaker 3:Before I knew the Lord, I was demonised. I had mental health conditions caused through extensive drug abuse. I had LSD flashbacks that would not go away because of the amount of drugs I did. Then I met with the Holy Spirit who transformed me so much my doctor who was trying to put me in rehabs. 40 years ago I just walked in his office. He said you're better, what's happened? And I told him I've met with Jesus. He said oh, I don't believe in any of that. And then he said but you're better. What's happened? I said I've met with Jesus. He went. No, no, no. What's happened? I went, just told you he was perplexed. I was transformed.
Speaker 3:That peace of God, god peace. You could gain the world and have all the riches but not have peace. What's the point? You can get everything human hearts desire and not have peace. I wouldn't trade this peace for anything else. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Paul goes on to say Fix your thoughts on what is true. Don't worry about anything. Don't fix your thoughts on the issue or the problem. Instead, fix your mind on jesus. It's if I was saying now, whatever you do not think of a biro pen, don't think of a black biro pen. It's a Bic pen. It's probably about looks about seven inches long. There's a bit of ink that you can see inside it. There's a little figure on it. I've got you all thinking about a pen now and we're so prone to do that. But if I said don't think of a pen. Instead, think of a cup of coffee in a white mug. Oh, it's a nice cup of coffee actually.
Speaker 4:I like the way Ben makes these coffees Good, roasted, fresh coffee.
Speaker 3:You can smell the aroma. It's a white mug, quite a nice size mug. You're now thinking of a mug. That's what transformation of the mind is. Focus on him. It's in philippians four, verse eight.
Speaker 3:And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Fix your hearts on jesus and your minds. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Well, I can think of one person who fits all that jesus yes, him. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you have learned and received from me, everything you have heard from me and saw me doing. Then God's peace will be with you. Let's pray.
Speaker 3:Jesus, I want to thank you that you are the way, the truth and the life. You are truth. You spoke the universe into being Lord. Everything that was made was made by you and for you and through you, and that includes us. I want to thank you, lord, that we are made for your good pleasure and your good purpose.
Speaker 3:Again, you've revealed that in the scriptures in Ephesians 1. In love, you predestined us to know. You, holy spirit, would you come and bring the peace of god to all those suffering from anxiety, troubled thoughts, the ones who the mind, the mind has been taken captive by the enemy of our souls. Well, by the blood of Jesus, I break those captive thoughts, the ones held in bondage in the name of Jesus, through his blood spilt on the cross, I break the strongholds of the demonic and I thank you, jesus, that you said it's for freedom, for freedom that you have set us free. So I pray for freedom to come. Holy Spirit, would you move? Would you move, lord, in the lives of people today? Bring them peace, bring them vision, show them who you are, reveal Jesus, our Saviour, before their, their eyes, let them know you amen amen thanks, glenn.
Speaker 2:Really powerful stuff there. Um, I was looking through the old testament and when the Israelites were celebrating their new temple and there was a cry that comes out from the people he is good, his love endures forever. And there's a verse in 2 Chronicles that I've got underlined in my Bible. It's 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Yeah, it just emphasizes for me that we need to make that crucial decision to actually turn from our old ways to to christ, because of and it's, it's there in print black and white he will heal us and he will hear from heaven and will forgive us our sin.
Speaker 2:And there is also this then took me to Psalm 32, which starts off by saying Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven. Wow, aren't we blessed when Jesus forgives them? Whose sins are covered, it says. Or another word for covered is blotted out, gone, expunged from the record, erased, erased. Yeah, blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and whose spirit is no deceit. In my Bible, I've underlined that.
Speaker 3:And put me Me. Claim the truth. Claim them, they're yours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's there. And I then turn to Joel. Rend your hearts, not your garments, don't? It's no good pulling your old shirt or your jacket it's not that that's got to be changed or it's your hearts? Return to the lord, your god, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and it's that love that we sometimes it's almost impossible to understand, the love that Jesus actually went to the cross, and of course we're. We're approaching Easter now, aren't we? It's not far away.
Speaker 2:The fact that Jesus didn't complain, was obedient. He knew that. That was the reason why he came to earth. That was why he came, because he knew, in the end, he was going to have to go to the cross and he died for each one of us. He died so that we could have life. He died so that we could have life, and I always find that so powerful and sometimes so difficult to understand that someone would do that for me, do that for me. He is gracious and compassionate and he died for me, and of course he died for me, and of course he died for you too, and if you don't know that, you need to understand that Jesus is calling you to him. He wants to be your friend. And you know that old chorus. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. We have a friend in Jesus, and I mean that's an old Sunday school song, isn't it? We have a friend in Jesus. Can you sing it for us? What a friend we have in Jesus. So I mean that's, but it's simple, but it's true, it's absolutely true that Jesus died for each one of us, but he doesn't force himself, he doesn't force himself on us. Stand at the door and knock. Yeah, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice I will come in and sup with him. You know that's at Revelation 320.
Speaker 2:And I was thinking only yesterday of Holman Hunt's picture of the light of the world. And he's holding that lantern standing by the door and the door is covered in ivy and thorns and thistles all growing up around the door that hasn't been opened in a long time. And there is Jesus standing there knocking on the door, which I mean, and there's no door handle. That's a key part of the painting. There's no door handle. And when Holman Hunt was challenged about that, he said well, there's no door handle because it's got to be open from the inside. So we have to open our hearts to him. It's, he will knock gently and he will continuously knock.
Speaker 2:But it's for each one of us to make that decision to open up our hearts by inviting jesus into our lives. And I just urge upon anyone who's listening today, who's never made that decision, today is the day, today is the day of salvation, to ask Jesus into your life. And it's so simple. You need just to say Jesus, I welcome you. Please forgive me my sin, please come into my life, fill me with your power, fill me with your spirit, so that I can walk with you and that you will be with me from now on. Amen to that. Thank you, lord.
Speaker 3:Yeah the scriptures say everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 3:Again I said I cried out to him 40 years ago in a school field, while I was on LSD, with my best friend who was a Satanist. His voice was telling me to go and kill people and I cried out God, if you're there, save me. Didn't even know that his name was Jesus then, but he just came flooding into my life. He will. He's there for you Now.
Speaker 3:Tomorrow, both Andy and myself we're going into can't say what one, but regularly go into a high security prison. And God is moving in that prison. Amazingly. Why? Because Jesus said in the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Fortunately for the inmates, they've all been found out. We can conceal our sins a bit. Well, we got away with it. They didn't. But wow, is God moving in that place? Because they've got nothing to hide and they hunger and thirst after god's presence. And, wow, does god's presence move. Each time I've been in there, people have got saved. One of the inmates said I'm so glad I was put in prison because I found freedom. Well, in jesus, he's the one who brings true freedom.
Speaker 3:Now Paul says again I'm stuck in Philippians today, but it's a wonderful book, and this is Philippians 3 from verse 9. I no longer count on my own righteousness for obeying the law. Well, the inmates can say that, so can we Come on. If you think if you're still holding on to self-righteousness you're going to be miserable, you've already blown it, you just can't see it yet it's only pride that stops to see it.
Speaker 3:I no longer count and this is the Apostle Paul, and he already says if he had anything to boast of while keeping the law, he was faultless in keeping God's law faultless. But he says I no longer count on my unrighteousness through obeying the law. Rather, I become righteous through faith in christ, for god's way of making us right with himself depends on faith and, as it says in ephesians, even this faith was a gift from god. I want to know christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one day that's one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead.
Speaker 3:I don't mean to say that I've already achieved these things or that I already reached perfection. No, he's not saying that. But this is it. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. Other translations will say I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. He's taken hold of us to give us destiny and identity. Again, it's not by works, but the works we do is because of who we are. We have identity and we have destiny. I go into this prison. I spent all my youth trying to avoid it. Now I voluntarily go in there. They've offered me a job in there, but I keep saying no. But I go in there with my own free will and I love it in there because God has called me there and I see him move. And I see him move For I focus on this one thing Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ, is calling us.
Speaker 4:Hmm.
Speaker 3:I'm getting older. I think Andy's getting older than me.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I don't want to finish badly. No See, we are transformed from one degree of glory to another. It's not that the more we press on with Christ, the less we do. It's the opposite. The more we know him, the more we understand his grace over our lives, the more we're transformed into his image, the more zeal we get. I think I'm more on fire today than when I first knew him. My life is about walking with him, knowing him.
Speaker 3:I suppose at my age I should be thinking about I'll be retiring in a few years, but how do you retire from yourself? We're God's masterpiece. He saw us, he formed us in the womb. He knows exactly who we are. He knows us 100%. He's redeemed us and he's transforming us to be exactly like his son, jesus Christ. Press on, take hold, move in, and I think it's kind of time that we move in to communion, because this is coffee prayer and we do communion every week and again focusing on him, the perfect one, the one who has taken our place. So, before we come to communion, my brother will lead us in. Is it a prayer?
Speaker 4:Our brother will lead us in. Is it a prayer, and Do I do a prayer first or do I do a prayer later?
Speaker 3:Isn't it the Lord's Prayer we do before communion?
Speaker 4:We've got the Lord's Prayer and then we've got communion coming up.
Speaker 3:Right excellent.
Speaker 4:So right now we're going to do the Lord's Prayer with Maisie.
Speaker 5:I invite you to say the Lord's Prayer with me. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Father, we come before you now and if you're at home now and you can get some bread and some wine or a bit of squash to take communion, and, father, we ask you now to come, come by your spirit. We remember that this bread represents your body that was broken for us, that you died for each one of us and we, we take this bread now in remembrance that you died for us. Thank you, lord.
Speaker 4:Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 4:Amen.
Speaker 3:It says in Isaiah 53 that he was pierced for our transgressions, the things that we did, the sin that we deliberately did and the things that we failed to do. But also he was crushed for our iniquities, which is our. It says in Romans that each of us have gone astray, that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We was made in God's image to reflect his glory. Even that's flawed. That's why our characters are flawed, stained. But he was crushed for our iniquities, our flawed characters, our falling short. The punishment that brought us peace was placed on him and there's a covenant relationship. As we take the wine Jesus said at the Last Supper, he said this wine is my blood, the blood of the new covenant. A new relationship, a new order, a new way. Our faith and our trust is now on the lamb, the pure, spotless, perfect land, not on ourselves. Now we're in a covenant, not of law but of grace. Now we go right back and it was interesting we're doing a cedar mill next thursday at church where we do the whole mill and we go through exactly how the jews have practiced for thousands of years now. And we go through exactly how the Jews have practised for thousands of years now and we go through it and Jesus is so in that meal, the Passover meal. So when Jesus took this he's reflecting back to the Exodus you go through all the Exodus, it's the Passover. When they fled Egypt. Now, when judgment came, death was going to visit every family, every household. What the Israelites were told to do and this was an act of faith was to paint the blood of a lamb over their doorposts. And Jesus says this wine that's my blood. And when we got him as our saviour, we're literally his blood is over our lives, just like over the doorposts. Hold us down at the door and knock. It's funny, there's so many analogies in scripture. So we are now covered in the blood of the lamb. So when judgment comes, when that angel of death visited Egypt, any household that had the blood of the lamb on he had to pass by. He could not bring judgment on that household, Couldn't even look in the window, Couldn't even knock on the door and say what are you up to in there? He passed by. So anyone whose faith is in Jesus has his blood over their lives. So we have already passed from death to life Judgment. We've been saved, For the judgment we deserved was placed on him and his blood is over us. So as we take this wine, let's celebrate that we are in a covenant relationship that can't be undone Because it's already finished. It's been paid for. We are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ and that alone. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us. Let's drink together, Amen.
Speaker 3:No wonder it says in Romans 8, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. That's his covenant. No height, no depth, no angel, no demon, nor the past, nor the present, nor the future. Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God. That's through Christ Jesus. Nothing. Come on, rejoice, Rejoice. We are saved already. If you know him, we have passed from death to life and we're in a covenant. Andy, it looks like you're burning with the scripture there.
Speaker 2:Well, I was. It says in 1 Corinthians again, it's something that it's really really something for each one of us to get deeper and deeper into scripture, and just one verse here is God is faithful. It says he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. That's always a verse that I pondered over quite often, you know, especially when actually you do fall and you think, oh wow, have I messed up.
Speaker 2:But actually it's a verse that can give us comfort because we can come back to him. We can come back to Jesus and you know words of the communion service also. You know he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and he is faithful. Jesus is faithful and if we come and we are fully repentant, he will forgive us our sins Absolutely. Isn't that amazing? That's so encouraging for us in our walk with him. We can always come to him and he sends us out again in the power of the spirit. Yeah, sends us out in the power of the spirit. Yeah, just a thought that dropped into my mind.
Speaker 3:Really, we'll never be tempted beyond what we can endure yeah doesn't mean we're going to go through hard times where we feel broken, where we think 2 Corinthians 1.8, and this is the apostles the supermen. So we think they're just people. Scripture says even Elijah was a man just like us. Now, in 2 Corinthians 1.8, paul writes For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened, beyond our strength, that we despaired even of life, despaired even of life. They had it hard, you know. They despaired even of life yeah.
Speaker 4:They had it hard yeah.
Speaker 3:You know they despaired. Did that mean they lost their contentment? No, it means that the conditions they were going through were so pressing, so hard, that they felt crushed. It's okay, brothers and sisters if you feel like that the outcome was good.
Speaker 3:Jesus was still with them and it's actually in the breaking. It's in the hardship, it's when we go beyond what we can endure. But God said he'd never take us through. No, we'd never be tempted more Temptation. There is no excuse for sin, ever. God says that. Actually, it's not God who tempts us with sin, because there's no sin in him. He allows us to be tempted and it shows us what we're like without him. Have I ever sinned, as a Christian, too much? Too much.
Speaker 3:And it's me who chose to do it, because I'm stupid. What does it do? It brings me to my knees Circumstances that were coming to my life. I remember once I heard such bad news in the family twice not with just one person in my family, two people in my family that my wife Sarah said I thought I was going to die. The blood drained from me and I had to go and lay down and I felt I was going to die. It's one of many times Beyond what I could endure. Did God leave me? No, what did I find? Through it? I found in the breaking I become less reliant in my own strength and in my own flesh, which makes me walk more in faith, which makes me lean on God more. That actually produces a harvest of peace in my life. He's at work in all things for good, all things. The things that the devil thought would break us are actually the things that God has set up to bring us strength Again.
Speaker 3:The thing that's opened the door into this high security prison is a book that I wrote, called how Can God Hear a man Like you, and that's based on part of my testimony where, nearly 40 years ago, I did come to the end, I lost the battle and I went to take my own life. I went back to the school field where I'd met with God nearly two years previously. It wasn't a cry for help. I'd gone beyond what I could take. So I'm alone in this school field, a secular school. It was not a church, it was not anything religious, and there was a light on in the building at the end of the field, so I walked over to make sure there was nobody there. I didn't want to be found. As I looked at this light, I saw that it was a poster on a tripod set up with a spotlight shining on it, and this poster was and know this, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Who on earth left that there? Who on earth, in a secular building, left scripture? What happened? I went there because I despaired even of life honestly, lost the battle completely and found that place to be a well of faith that has helped sustain me for 40 years and more. Jesus was there. He'd said it all up. Who left the poster in there? I haven't got a clue. Probably an angel. I do believe in angels. It was about a year later.
Speaker 3:I met my wife who was engaged then, and we were walking in that school field and I was showing her this is where I went to end it. You know what a nice romantic evening. And it was in that window and suddenly this man walked out of nowhere really nice old man and said, oh, how are you doing? I said, oh fine, yeah, thanks. And he said good to see you. A really nice chat we had with him. Then he walked off into the darkness.
Speaker 3:Could have been the angel who put it there. Yeah, so God's at work in us, he's for us. My confidence, paul says in Philippians, my confidence, is that he who began this good work in me is the one who brings it to completion. Not you now saved you on your own. Work it out the best you can. No, the one who began this work in us is the one who brings it to completion. He's for you, he's not against you. He's done it all for us. We've taken communion together in the celebration that we now have a Saviour who has saved us and is now at work in all things to make us like himself.
Speaker 4:For that is our eternal destiny.
Speaker 2:Amen, just one verse. You've been looking at two corinthians quite a bit and there's a. It's a verse in uh, in this uh, chapter three, and we who, with unveiled faces, all reflect the lord's glory, we're being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the lord, who is the spirit.
Speaker 3:Amen amen and don't forget. If you need a bible, get in touch and we will get one to you.
Speaker 2:Yes, increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, amen, amen, and don't forget.
Speaker 4:If you need a Bible, get in touch and we will get one to you. Yes, absolutely, we're going to do a short prayer. This is for everyone, for today and every single day that's going around. It's called a daily prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this new day and with our coffees in hand or our cup of tea in hand and our open hearts, we invite your presence into our life through us, peace and clearly and purpose. May this time of your prayers be the moment of stillness, in the business as in space, when we reconnect with you. Blessed conversations we have today, blessed of the work with our hands and guidance in our steps, straighten us in our spirits and help us say out your love wherever we go. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 3:Amen, Amen. So thank you for being with us. Yep, again, nothing of this was prepared. We just feel that Holy Spirit leads us. So hopefully Holy Spirit has led you into knowing Jesus more and again. Get in touch. If you need a Bible, if you need the word of God, we will get it to you. Oh, and you can find my book on Amazon if you want. It's called how Can God Hear a man Like you? Might as well have a plug for it. See you next week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hope you found inspiration and guidance in today's audio. Remember the journey of faith is a continuous one and your questions and thoughts are important. You can send us a text or an email and we will get back to you. So, wherever you are around the world, thank you for listening to our podcasts and radio ministry. For more information about our ministry, please find us on pastorbencoopercouk. Please support us with prayer. Also, you can sow a financial seed into this ministry. You can also leave us a legacy to support and continue the work of this radio ministry. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with others who might benefit. Until next time, stay blessed.
