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
Faith Beyond Sight - (#1044 - Elim)
Faith demands trust in what we cannot see—a radical and often difficult concept in a world that craves instant, visible proof.
In this deeply insightful episode of the Unshakable podcast, Pastor Ben Cooper unpacks the tension between authentic faith and religious systems, guiding listeners through a compelling journey from the Ark of the Covenant in Joshua 3 to our current post-resurrection reality. The Israelites followed a visible symbol of God’s presence. The early disciples walked beside the physical Jesus. But today, we’re called to believe without seeing—to walk by faith alone.
As Pastor Ben shares, faith is no longer about what’s in front of our eyes—it’s about trusting in the unseen, the eternal. This episode explores how modern believers often fall into the trap of recreating man-made religion that mimics God’s design but misses His presence. He compares it to building a “wonky IKEA cupboard”—a powerful image of what happens when we alter divine instructions to suit our preferences.
You’ll learn:
- Why following Jesus requires more than visible signs
- How the Israelites followed God’s presence, and how we must follow by faith
- The danger of religion replacing relationship
- How faith connects us to Jesus in a way sight never could
- Why church systems must reflect Christ’s simplicity and not human tradition
This message resonates with anyone who has struggled with doubt, ritualism, or a disconnect between church and Christ. Pastor Ben reminds us that Jesus never charged admission, never sold the gospel, and never demanded empty tradition. He called followers—not just attendees.
If your walk with God feels dry or disconnected, this is a call to return to real faith in Jesus, not the version of Christianity shaped by pressure, money, or performance. We are invited to walk where our eyes can’t lead us—into a deeper, freer, unshakable faith.
This episode also offers deep encouragement for those navigating difficult seasons. When answers don’t come easily, and signs aren’t visible, this message reminds us that faith still works, and God is still moving—even when we can’t see it.
Whether you’re listening in the U.S., Nigeria, the U.K., Australia, or across the globe, this word will equip and challenge you to trust like never before.
https://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/
https://www.rbchristianradio.net/
Even. Let's just turn to the New Testament. We're going to turn to the New Testament. If you have a Bible, if we can quickly turn to the New Testament. Wherever you are across the world, we welcome each and every one of you. We thank you for joining us in the house of the Lord this evening. You know, as we're pushing across the radio tonight across the world and podcast, you know across the platforms, and we just want to say it's amazing, since we've pushed the radio or we've had that radio launch now RB Christian Radio, now we've had that for three weeks or there, or just about, really, really interesting. It's made everything else accelerate, just crazy, you know. So, whoever you are, wherever you are across the world, we know the stats are coming back with high figures. We just want to say thank you so much to everybody across the world that is getting into the radio, rb Christian Radio. We are so blessed, we are so grateful that you are. But let's get straight into the New Testament. We're going to turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11. Hebrews, chapter 11. If you've got a church Bible, we are in page 1209. If you've got a church Bible, it's page 1209. And also we're going to go into Hebrews 12, where we just turn over the page. But also we're going to go right the way back in the New Testament, sorry, right the way back in the Old Testament. We're going to go back right to the book of Joshua, chapter three, in a few moments. You know, and for those that are making notes, and wherever you are across the world, we welcome every one of you as we're just linking in, we're just getting in now. Thank goodness, we got the internet. That's working at the moment in time, so everything seems to be settled down. We got everything in and done, so that's making a terrific difference to the sound, to the live stream and everything that we're doing. But thank you to everybody. I've got to keep saying that. Thank you to everybody that is watching, that is listening, that is across the other side of the world.
Speaker 1:The book of Hebrews the Hebrew writer, and where we're picking it up from, is chapter 11, verse 1, and it talks about faith. And for those who want to know what the title of this evening's study is, it's I Can't See it, lord. And we're going to go back to get a bit of a more understanding. So it's I Can't See it, lord. Now you might think, why have I titled it like that? Because the Bible says the just shall live by faith.
Speaker 1:When you look at the cross of Calvary, when you see what's happening across the world and when you see what's happening, especially in the UK at this moment in time in Lent, and everything that's going on about Easter and everything that's going down that drumbeat at this moment in time. So when, when we analyze, when we look at at the word faith, you know church, we understand church is real, we're in church, we look at church, we're sitting in church, you know. But when it comes to faith, faith and a belief system is completely different to outside of the wills and the mechanics of church. It's easier to come to church, it's easier to come into church, but to actually get yourself to believe, you are on a different drumbeat altogether. And we might say to ourselves well, that goes together. It does and it doesn't. You know it does and it doesn't.
Speaker 1:Because Christ never called us. He never called us to church. He called us to be believers, he called us to be followers. At the shoreline of Galilee he said drop your nets, come and follow me. The scriptures refer to about being followers of Jesus. It doesn't refer about being followers of the fabric, of the tent, of the building, the fabric of the building whatsoever. It says be a follower. Be a Jesus follower. Now to be a Jesus follower.
Speaker 1:I laugh because I have to laugh because following Christ, in this world that is so fixated on visualization, what is so fixed on what we see? It is here, I believe it. I believe it because it's in my perception, it's in my vision, I can smell it, I can touch it, it's here, I can embrace it. And if it's not within the vision, if it's not within the touching grasp, if it's not before our very eyes, it can be extremely difficult to believe. Because when you look at faith, faith goes against the opposite to what the world is doing. Because when you look at faith and you look at what the world is doing, they're like oil and water. They don't blend together. It's impossible the world of faith, it doesn't go together. It's impossible, the world of faith, it doesn't go together.
Speaker 1:Then you, we use the word christianity. We say what does that word? What does a christian mean? What does that word mean? Is it christ living within me?
Speaker 1:So when you look at these scriptures that we're in, hebrews 11, verse 1, it says now, faith is being sure of what we hope for. It talks about this hope, this eternal hope. Hope is seeing something that isn't really there in the natural realm. Now we could get the spooks when you start talking like this. What you're going on about, what you're talking about. But the Bible talks about the spiritual world well before it talks about this physical world. When you look at creation, the Bible is extremely clear. It's extremely clear on creation and all what it says about creation. But when you look at creation, it is coming to existence by the power of the spoken word. So you've got word, you've got faith and you've got belief.
Speaker 1:So when you look at the church you look at the church in the UK. Let's lay a few things out across the table. When you look at the church in the UK, the UK church is in serious trouble because it's not going by faith. It's going by the pocket, it's going by money, it's going by the notoriety, it's going by religion, it's going by the mechanics. It's like it's been wound up like a clock and it's just it keeps ticking. It keeps ticking.
Speaker 1:But when you talk about faith, faith is outside of the realms of church, even within the church here, even though we understand and we believe what we believe. Faith is outside of this box, what we call church, because faith is about believing. Church is about belonging. Church is about being. Church is about community and the Bible is extremely clear when it talks about the church that it's not the building we are the church, the people, the individuals we make it up, but the church that we are the church, the people, that the individuals we make it up. But the church, as in the fabric church, it tells us that we have got to be in the building, you've got to be in in the building.
Speaker 1:But Jesus doesn't say that. He doesn't say that. He says come and follow me. See, following Christ will be the hardest, the most difficult in the most easiest. It is the opposite. Sometimes it is the opposite. Sometimes it is the opposite, because when you talk about following Jesus, you're following Jesus not by religion, you're following him by faith, the invisible substance that is pressed in the scripture.
Speaker 1:And when you look at this scripture, it says in Hebrews 11, verse 1, now faith is being sure, hopeful and certain of what we do not see. Now faith is going beyond this natural realm and if you live life by science and by perception and by every area of what you see, this physical world, it's real. I believe this physical world because I see it, I can touch it, it's tangible, it's before my eyes. But believing in an invisible God? Because the Bible says God is invisible and no one can see God and live. So no one can claim that they have seen the Godhead. You can't even see the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is a spirit. So then we say well, what about Christ?
Speaker 1:When people say, well, I've had a vision or I've had a dream, what you've had is a vision and a dream of Jesus Christ, because no one can see God and live. The Bible says it is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. So if you want to unpack that, you say well, if I've seen Christ, I've seen God. What we, when we see Christ in a vision or in a dream because that's how we get it presented to us, and there may be many of us I've never seen Christ in a vision or a dream. That's the truth. I've never seen anything, never seen angels jumping out the sky at me, nothing like that.
Speaker 1:I go by absolute faith. I believe so I'm not one of these people that every time I wake up, god's laying next to me and Jesus is making me a cup of tea and everything's wonderful and rosy. It's none of that. It's the complete opposite. It's. The hardest thing I've ever done in my life is to believe that there is an invisible God. But not only is there an invisible God, but there is the Holy Spirit that also is invisible. But then, suddenly, jesus Christ is revealed to the human race when you look at the New Testament.
Speaker 1:So faith is believing in something that we can't see. Church is here, I'm here, we are the church. But it's more than that, it's more than the building, it's this, it's this belief system. It's believing, I believe. And we might say to ourselves well, I believe. And and we might find it really, really difficult to actually get ourselves into that position of belief because we all have been dealt different hands of cards, if I can use that. Every one of us has got a different hand dished out on the table, you know, and every one of us is trying to grapple with life itself itself.
Speaker 1:Now, the reason we're going to go to Joshua is because in the book of Joshua, everything was tangible and touchable when you look at that, when the ark of the covenant. So when you go to Joshua, chapter three this is a really interesting text that we're going to go to so Joshua, chapter three, right back in the Old Testament, go back and where are we going to go to? We're going to go to page 217. You know, what we're talking about is faith and the title is I can't see it. So when you come to the book of Joshua, joshua is a powerful book. It's a fighting book. It's a bloodthirsty book. It's a book of passion. It's a book of war. It's a book of taking territory. It takes no prisoners. It's a powerful book. It is so strong.
Speaker 1:And what we've got to remember is about the Bible, what we've got to try and remember. History is built around this text that we're in, from Genesis to Revelations, before Christ, after Christ. When you look at the history, when you look at Israel, when you look at the certain nations around the world, and you just look at everything that goes on, the world is built around the historical events that has happened through the word of God. You look at kings, you look at the judges, you look at the prophets, you look at everything. Through the Old Testament. There is extra biblical knowledge outside of what we read within the text that we're in, but Joshua chapter 3,. So Joshua, chapter 3 is about crossing the river Jordan. Now, the reason I titled this evening is in the way that I did. I can't see it, lord is because we can't see faith but go back in the Old Testament, right up from the cross, and go backwards.
Speaker 1:So in the Old Testament of Joshua, chapter 3, I'm going to read it and I believe it will come to light a little bit more. It says early in the morning, joshua and all the israelites set out from shifram and they went to the river jordan and they encamped before crossing over. After three days the officers went through the camp giving orders to the people, to the people, and he says when you see the ark of a coven of the lord, thy god, and the priest, is very important what it says there. The priests, who are the levites, the levitical priesthood, are a very interesting tribe, very, very interested. They was, they was brought up, they was, they was brought into existence, the levitical priesthood right the way through the old testament, really powerful to understand and the history of that.
Speaker 1:Who are the Levites carrying? Now, here we go. It says, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. You are to get ready to move out from your positions and follow it. Now they was watching the Ark of the Covenant. So all before the cross, all before the cross, right away through the Old Testament, we read about the Ark of the Covenant. We read about the Ten Command, 10 commandments, that everything was visualization. So everything god said you could see it through the visualization of it happening for your very eyes. So what we have in the book of joshua, chapter 3, we have this this priesthood that is about to carry. They are about to carry the ark of the covenant, carrying the law, carrying the Torah, carrying everything about what was written and on on the tablet.
Speaker 1:So when you look at what's happening here, it's easy for the Israelites to do what they're going to do. It says when you see the ark of the covenant, start moving, follow it. So what is the ark of the covenant? It is the word of God. So in the old testament it was easy because God gave clear signs. When you see the cloud, when you see the pillar, when you see the fire, when you see the Ark of the Covenant, when you see the priest move, there was clear instruction that when you see it, that is your key to start moving.
Speaker 1:But then all of a sudden I could say, jesus, come on, mate, I've got to live my life now by faith. I've got to live by faith. And then suddenly, after the cross, everything switches completely from visualization and from prophecies that are being fulfilled right before their very eyes. And then suddenly the New Testament comes into play and we've got to literally go by faith. And I would put this out there across the radio, uncountable people watching and listening across the world. I find it extremely difficult when I'm having a bad hair day and, yes, I've had my hair cut, so I had a bad hair day.
Speaker 1:I find it extremely difficult to go by faith when everything hits the fan. I find it extremely difficult to believe when everything is pressed against me. Because I've got to believe, and I do believe in this invisible God. The Bible says that he's invisible, that he sits in unapproachable light. No one can see God and live. But then we think, well, hang on, we talk about the deity, the Trinity, father, son, holy Spirit. So the only human likeness that we have is Christ and Christ came around.
Speaker 1:In the New Testament we get, we understand that, we got the basic picture when Christ came into the world and you can read that through the New Testaments. You can read that really clear. You know Mary and Joseph, and Mary and Joseph's story is a really powerful story. Everything was against them, everything in life was against them as young parents, and they bring Christ into the world. It can be difficult to grapple with where you think to yourself why would God use this vehicle of the human race to get his work done? The Bible says that his ways are higher than our ways. His ways are just Every thought. Everything is beyond human understanding, beyond what we can imagine or what we can focus on. God's ways are completely outside in the framework of the human race. That's why faith can be so, so difficult to grasp that I've got to live by faith. So I'm living now back in the book of Joshua. They was carrying the Ark of the Covenant, so the priests were the obvious ones. You know, the Israelites were watching the priest's movement and after a few days, suddenly the priests are reacting to the instruction that they have been given. So they react to the instruction that has come from God through Joshua. Joshua relays the instruction. So there is always visualization of the Torah and the law before their very eyes. But suddenly now at the cross, after the cross, everything changes and switches. It is by faith. And then suddenly we're in Lent and we're in that crazy plastic Lent as religion is doing at this moment in time.
Speaker 1:When you look at Lent, how can we be entrenched in Lent when Lent came around by a Pope so many years and years back, instilled, put in by the council? Lent is not of God, lent is not biblically based. To a certain degree, yes, it talks about fasting, it talks about prayer. But when you look at what takes hold of Lent, who are the major ones in the nation that takes hold of it? Catholicism and the Church of England. Where did Catholicism come from? You go all the way back, you trace it all the way back to Rome and all that sort of stuff. And then when you look at the Church of England, it's not very old, the Church of England. When you think about it, it come out of that crackpot of a king that we had that he decided to make the Church of England and he done what he done. So when you look at it, there is areas where you could draw a parallel and you go, yeah, that has got a biblical line there.
Speaker 1:But actually the fact of the matter is Jesus just says come and follow me, but Lent and tradition and religion will get you so caught up. That's why we can't get caught up with religion and tradition. We've got to get outside of that and we've got to get into that posture, into that position of believing. You've got to believe, but hang on a minute. It's okay for the disciples as well, because Christ, at the age of around about 33 years of age, he went to the cross of Calvary and when you see everything through the brutality of the crucifixion, so Christ was on the earth for 33 years, or give or take.
Speaker 1:The disciples that were around him for around about four years or so. So they, they had the privilege, even the disciples and the council and everyone around him and the elders and everything. They had the visualization of Jesus. So they have the old testament. And then suddenly the old testament, through the prophets, is becoming really real. The prophets, isaiah. They're saying that a king is coming and upon him his majesty and everything. Through the book of Isaiah, a virgin will give birth and everything comes into being. You see that through the four gospels, the three synoptic gospels and the gospel of John, you see that clear fact. It is clear.
Speaker 1:But then all of a sudden, christ is walking the earth and it isn't until he's around about 30 years old that you really start to see his ministry unfolding, the 30 years back to his birth. He's hidden amongst every area of life. He is just a child growing up and you've got to remember something really, really interesting about Christ that I find really fascinating, you know, when you look at his mom and you look at his earthly father, joseph. Joseph passed away when Jesus was around, about 24, 25. So Jesus actually experienced the breathing feeling, the feeling of the pain of losing his earthly father. So Jesus' experience every experience under the sun. So Christ suddenly becomes the head of the house. He becomes the head of his house, he becomes the head of his brothers, his sisters, and he has to look after his mom. Suddenly, everything changes in Jesus's life. But then, when he hits around about 30 years old, suddenly his ministry, this calling, so Jesus's actual calling, the main part of his life, the three years of the miracles and the signs and the wonders, packed in just three years, he dies at 33.
Speaker 1:The church let's use the word, that terminology religion, religion took him to the cross. It wasn't the soldiers, it was the high priest that wanted it. The soldiers actually done the execution because the church didn't want to get his hands dirty. How normal is that to hear at this moment in time? But it was the church and the religion that started, and through the higher priests that they said to Judas Iscariot we want Jesus. And the Bible says we need to rid this Jesus away because if he gets in our temples we will lose it. So religion knew that if Jesus would get into their place of authority suddenly they would lose it. So it wasn't the Roman soldiers, it wasn't Pilate, it wasn't Herod that actually wanted to take Jesus to the cross, it was religion, it was the tradition that we know. It was everything to do what was going on through, through the Sanhedrin and everything at that particular point. So it wasn't the soldiers, it was the soldiers that actually nailed him to the cross. You know the church religion was at the bottom. You know as it was, as it always will be. You know not near the cross. You know religion can't get near the cross because when you get near the cross, suddenly you start to realize it's surrender, because that's what faith is about. But religion can't surrender.
Speaker 1:Religion is a practical. It is a very vicious. It can be quite a vicious animal, it can be, and it has no heart. It is just a mechanism and it just moves and it and, and it is a very dangerous thing. Religion is dangerous, but so I am not a religious person. I am a man that I was this morning. Hallelujah in the name of Jesus. By the end of the day, I could be anything. According to the world. You can do what you like. So right now, I'm a bible believing. I am a man, by the way, just for everybody across the world, you know, I am a bible believing, spirit filled, child of the living God. I am not religious, because if I say I am religious and then I get caught in everything that religion talks about. And religion took Jesus to the cross.
Speaker 1:Now come back to the scripture. So when we look at the Ark of the Covenant, we got a pretty vague idea of what the Ark of the Covenant meant, what it represented. It's really powerful. So what we have is we have the priests, we have the Israelites, and not only do we have the priests, we have the priests, we have the Israelites, and not only do we have the priests, we have the Levitical priesthood that were put in place by God to carry and to do all the duties at a higher temple because it was so, so powerful.
Speaker 1:What was going on at this particular point? So Joshua gives the commandment. He gets the command from God. He is the voice, peace and clear instruction. Now this is where it all goes wobbly in the church in the UK because there's not clear instruction. Now this is where it all goes wobbly in the church in the UK because there's not clear instruction. Now Joshua was given instruction. Joshua took that instruction. He relayed that instruction word for word and he gave that to the priests. The priests executed what the instruction was. They picked up at the Ark of the Covenant and they'd done what they had to do. And they went and they stood at the brink of the river jordan.
Speaker 1:And the bible says that the israelites when you see the ark now we know the ark was the old testament, the lord of torah, everything wrapped up in that when you see that moving, follow it. Now they had the privilege of the visualization of following the ark, the disciples when Christ was birthed and everything, and especially from his three years in ministry. Let's use that the disciples and the world around him had the privilege of watching Jesus and seeing Jesus, so it was easy and it was obvious for them to believe. I believe in him because he's there, but then, suddenly, at the cross, the Bible says that Christ gave up his spirit and with that he bowed his head and that was it. And the Bible says that Jesus died and we understand on the third day that he rose.
Speaker 1:So when you look about the birth, the death, the resurrection of Christ, and when you bring all this together, especially at this time of year, that religion is doing such a good job as it always does at the old theatrical performing and all that razzmatazz that goes along with Lent, I can't follow Lent. I can't be found to be found in Lent. I've got to be found to be in the Word, because Lent and religion can take me to a very obscured place. But the Bible brings freedom, religion brings chains. It brings criteria. That is not from the heavens above. So the basic understanding of what we're looking at tonight is I've just got to believe, I've got to believe.
Speaker 1:But actually when I look at religion and I stand in the middle of religion and I watch that, I think this is crazy. Is this supposed to be the face and the voice of God? What I'm watching that? You're right over there. The Church of England's right Catholicism's right over there, and then there's an offshoot of Catholicism. Then there's another movement over there and the Pentecostal movement and this and that and every movement, and I stand in the center and I do a 360 and I turn around and every one of you is right in your own eyes. Now, that's very interesting.
Speaker 1:In the book of Judges that was in the other day In the last chapter of Judges it says there was no king in Israel. Each man done what he thought was right in his own eyes. And that's what we have today. Religion is doing what it thinks it is right in its own eyes. Religion has made up its own Jesus. Religion has made up its own faith.
Speaker 1:Because when you come right to the core of the scripture, what does it say? Follow me and don't worship man. What does the scripture say? Don't make any idols. Religion makes idols. It has a place. Yes, we understand the only area of christianity that we could take. Now, I'm not going to use this word as as an idol, but when you look at the cross, it is the only symbolic structure that we have, not even the church, because the church doesn't represent Jesus.
Speaker 1:Because when you look at the churches that are built, especially in the UK, when you look when they was built and the reasons that they were built, and when you look at the architecture of many of the Church of England buildings, especially in Kent for the medieval times and all that they, if you look at some of the structures, you will find a god right up in the years of a lot of it called the god of the forest. So when you look at that the god of the forest now it's really interesting. And even in pulpits and even in the carvings you've got the god of the forest hidden in the fabric of the foliage that's been crafted. So you've got to be careful of the church because it was built in medieval times. It was built for a different reason, but now suddenly, when you bring it all together hang on a minute this is church. So when you look at symbolic symbols let's just take the cross the cross is the only place that we look at and the reason we look at the cross is because it represents redemption.
Speaker 1:But when you're in religion, you look at art, you look at the masonry, you look at the gargoyles, you look at the grandeur of the building, you look at the stonework, you look at all that and where do you find in scripture that Jesus went? I'm going to charge you a fiver now for coming into my building. I'm going to charge you a fiver and when you come in the building, once you've given me a fiver, I'll charge you another fiver for a program. And once you've come in here we'll buy some pens and we buy some cups and we buy a hat and you can buy that little hat over there. Kiss me quick hat, you know. And by the time you've walked into the Lord's house you've done 25 quid and you're thinking hang on a minute, I've only come in here for a prayer.
Speaker 1:In the scripture Jesus never charges for a prayer. He never charges for a sermon. He never puts a pound on anything. He says come and follow me, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Religion will charge you for the privilege of following Jesus. When you look at certain areas of religion and you look at certain areas of the church and school churches, you've got to have certain criteria to get your children into that school and it could be a little brown envelope here, there and everywhere, and all this and all that and ticking this box, ticking that box. You don't get that with Jesus. Jesus just says come and follow me.
Speaker 1:So in the Old Testament they had the ark of the covenant. The Levitical priesthood suddenly would stand up on that day, carry the ark of the covenant. They would go to the, to the Jordan's edge, and they would stand there and wait for the next set of instructions. So instructions, we know. Humanity knows that instructions are important, that we live our lives by instruction. If I'm given an instruction to do a certain task, and that instruction will execute that task perfectly and seamlessly. But if I come away from that instruction and add my own interpretation to it, I am not going to get the end product.
Speaker 1:This is what we have with church and religion. It has the instruction but it has taken like the Ikea manual and it has put a B&Q manual with it and it has changed the wording. And suddenly you've got this odd cupboard, the legs wobbly, the door don't shut, this don't fit, I've lost the instructions. And the instructions have been made up and we try this and we try that. Suddenly you've got this cupboard that you thought that you bought. The instruction is all upside down, inside out, and we've done what we wanted to do and what we thought that this piece fits in here.
Speaker 1:But the Bible says don't come outside of the instruction. So when you look at the Levitical priesthood and you look at the Israelites, they did not come out of the clear instruction given. So when you get clear instruction, so if you follow this book of instruction and you live your life by what it says, my God, you'll see miracles fall. You'll see things beyond human understanding, because it is a book that is supernatural, it is a book that is of power. But if Joshua heard that instruction and he said something completely different to the Levitical priesthood and then the priesthood took something else out of context and done something else, they would have not got to the river Jordan's edge. So you've got to follow, the church has to follow, but religion has come away from instruction, the instruction from God. And then suddenly we got this Bible. We got that Bible, we got this word. We got that word. Look at the Jehovah Witnesses. They got their Bible. Look at the church and the Mormons Look at this. Look at that. Everybody's got their own Bible.
Speaker 1:We've got to go back to the root. We've got to go to the root right away, through the Greek, right away through the Hebrew. We got to make sure that what we read has clear cut instruction all the way back, right back to Jerusalem, right back to the time of when it was written that it has no error. Because when error comes in, the Ikea cupboard doesn't look as it was portrayed on the TV. There's a handle missing, it's wonky, the door ain't shutting, something ain't happening here. But I bought a cupboard, yeah, but did you follow the instructions? No, I just thought what I thought would be right. So, rather than follow the instruction and get on the floor with it and read it all the way through and make sure every piece is in in line, and I use this and I use that, if I do exactly what the ikea instruction says, I will have the perfect cupboard. But if I forget what it says, if I don't understand what it says, if I push many of the components aside and bring other components in from another instructor, what am I going to get? I'm going to get a wonky door. I'm going to get a wonky cupboard. So that's what religion is. It's a wonky IKEA structure. It doesn't look right, it's wobbly, the doors are not shutting, the drawers are not shutting, it ain't balancing right. That's what we have with religion.
Speaker 1:We got so much instruction from so many people interpreting and not only interpreting, but changing the text. When you change the text, the Bible says do not add and do not take away. God tells us that Do not add and do not take away. God tells us that do not add and do not take away. So when we study the bible, we've got to make sure that the scripture that we're in has not been tampered with. It hasn't been moved about. So you're safe within the niv, the esv or or anything like that. You're safe in them texts, texts, and even people bang on about the King James the King James to a degree, but you've got to be extremely careful about that. And then you've got to make sure that the Bible that you have hits every point. But also, what we've got to remember is that God just doesn't rely on us reading the right one, but also he uses revelational knowledge so it is revealed.
Speaker 1:So as we read and as we are hungry, and as we're searching and as we are looking, god gives us that hunger within. That's what faith is. So when we're looking at what we're looking at and we're seeing that, what we're seeing is that title that is there tonight. I can't see it, lord you. You can't see faith, but you can see religion. But religion has given me a wonky cupboard, because nothing is right in that situation. That's why Jesus says drop your nets, come and follow me as he speaks to the disciples on the shoreline of Galilee Drop everything, drop your purse, drop your nets, come and follow me. But, lord, what am I going to do? Do not worry. Now, faith is the invisible substance that we're all hungry for. But faith sits within the believer and the Bible says that faith has been deposited in each and every one of us.
Speaker 1:And what makes our faith grow? Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of God. So if I go to a religious area, I'm not going to grow because I'm listening to religion. I've got to make sure that I'm a good steward and I read the word. Even if I don't understand the word, I read it and I get into the scripture and I say God, you got to reveal it, god, you got to open up so right in the Old Testament, in the book of Joshua, chapter three, verse one onwards, we have clear instruction. God says don't come out of the instruction. When you look at it as well. Also in Joshua chapter one, god gives clear instruction there and he tells Joshua be strong and courageous, whatever you do, do not let this book of the Lord depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night. So God is telling us from the kick point do not come out of instruction. If you come out of instruction you'll have a dodgy cupboard. So we've got lots of dodgy cupboards around the UK at this moment in time because the manual is not being read correctly. If you want a perfect cupboard, you follow the word of God. So what we have is we're just going to recap, we're going to take it a bread and a wine in a moment. We've got 11 minutes and then the literal the cameras will kick out and we'll go straight back over to radio. So it's time. We're time critical at this moment in time.
Speaker 1:So I want to encourage you, wherever you are across the world, don't follow religion, don't follow denominations. You've got to follow Jesus. You've got to follow Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. The Bible says no one comes to the Father except through me. I've got to follow Jesus. There is no other way. I've got to make sure that I'm a Jesus follower.
Speaker 1:But being a Jesus follower will be the hardest thing anyone will ever do in your life, because we are going by faith. We are not going. We are not going by the visuals of what the old testament was. We're not going by what the disciples had the actual autonomy and the physicality of Jesus, the human Jesus, the man, christ Jesus. So everything he done, everything that was happening. They believed it because they could actually see what was happening and Jesus was doing it right before their very eyes.
Speaker 1:But now, but now you and I, since the cross, 40 days after the cross, to be precise on ascension day, christ left the earth. Well, hang on a minute. I can hear people sending me an email. What do you mean? Jesus left the earth. The Bible says that he was taken up. He was taken up. He was taken up and hidden behind the clouds, but he said something. He said I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit. So there we have the book of Acts, chapter two. That is the birth of the church, pentecost. That's what it, and we're not referring to the healing movement.
Speaker 1:Just because we're a Pentecostal movement, you've got to be careful about the Pentecostal movement. Many of them are a little bit odd and a little bit off the beaten track and a little bit whoa. Hang on a minute. I don't see where it says about barking like a dog and all that sort of stuff and doing crazy things that you see on all the social networks. Have you seen all that stuff that's happening on Instagram at the moment in certain areas, in certain tribal churches, where pastors are waving their jacket and they're all falling over? Isn't that amazing? What a load of rubbish. How does that line up with scripture? What a load of junk. Do not follow that stuff. Keep in instruction. So when I take my jacket off, be careful. You're all going to wobble. In the name of Jesus, how can we believe that? Watch it for yourself. It's great. If you've had a bad day, though, and you want a little bit of a laugh, you just oh, yeah, look at that. Oh, pastor, keep dancing. For goodness sake, whatever you're on, don't give it to me in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1:So when you look at the old testament, the old testament was visualization, was clear instruction. The new testament is faith, but with clear instruction. So there is a difference. The old testament was done through visualization and a clear voice and clear leading by God in many, many areas, through prophets, through every area of life. And then suddenly Jesus comes on the scene. Excellent, wonderful, jesus is here. He's here for 33 years Three years are really really powerful the end part of his life in ministry.
Speaker 1:And then suddenly Christ goes to the cross. And then suddenly the disciples go a bit hayward and they go a bit wild and they're not sure because suddenly the visualization has been extracted. So they was living by the visualization of Jesus. But then all of a sudden he's been taken up, he's gone to the cross, he's died and everything has happened. And then, hang on a minute, now I've got to go by faith. And then, hang on a minute, now I've got to go by faith. So if you're struggling with your faith, don't worry. Don't worry because that's natural. If you're struggling to believe, don't worry because that's natural, because when you go back through the Word of God, all the way through, you will find so much is done through the visualization of Scripture. But then, when Christ left the earth 40 days after the resurrection, suddenly he disappears from eyesight.
Speaker 1:Now faith comes in. Now we're going to come to the table. We've got to be extremely quick and let's break bread together right now. We have seven minutes and I'm not rushing it, you know, but we'll get there. So, hebrews 11, verse 1, I just wanted to read this before we break the bread. It says now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. We do not see. There's a challenge there.
Speaker 1:Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Dear God and Heavenly Father, we come to the table tonight. Lord, we thank you that we are not religious, that we are not caught in religion, that we are believers. But, lord, I've got to be honest. Being a believer in a very fast, crazy world is hard. Lord, will you increase my faith? Will you increase my faith tonight, lord, because I've had a bit of a wobble today? Wherever you are across the world, have you had a wobble? Have you had a moment where you're going, lord? What's all this stuff about?
Speaker 1:So I pray for every one of us tonight, in the house, out the house, online, you know, across the world listening to us on radio. May God strengthen your faith tonight, because we are living in very strong and very powerful days and it's difficult. It's difficult to follow an invisible God when the world is telling you he doesn't exist. The world around us can say very clearly what are you going to church for? Why are you following Jesus? I'm following Jesus because I love him. I'm following Jesus because I believe in him.
Speaker 1:So, father, I pray that you'll bless this bread tonight and as we break this bread, I just pray, lord, that you will increase my faith as a believer, not as a pastor, not as a reverend, not as a vicar, not as all the titles, because they're meaningless, they have no eternal value, they have no value over salvation. So, lord, I'm just a man that needs strengthening my faith. We're just sisters and brothers, lord, that need strengthening in my faith. We're just sisters and brothers, lord, that need strengthening in our faith. We're just human beings that need strengthening in our faith. So, lord, I ask you tonight that our faith will increase. In the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Father, we thank you for time in your house and as we break bread together, lord, I thank you that this symbolizes the body of Christ that was broken for each and every one of us on Passover, not on Easter. Erase that word out of your language. If you're a pagan, carry on with it. If you're a Bible-believing believer, we have to replace it with the Passover, because that's what it's about right now the Passover, the passing over Christ, god, the Holy Spirit, the deity passing over, because that's what this is about at this time, what religion is looking at. But it uses Easter more than it actually references the Passover feast. So, father, I recognize that this bread is symbolic to the body of Christ and I thank you that it was broken at Calvary. From me, bless this bread in Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 1:Father, I recognize that this cup has no power in itself, but what it symbolizes, what this cup symbolizes is the blood of Jesus at the cross. And, father, when I, when I study and I read the Passover right the way back to the book of Exodus, chapter 12, about the blood, will be a sign. And all the way through history it talks about the blood, the covenant, the blood, the blood, the blood, the lamb, the lamb without blemish, christ, the redeeming king. So, lord, I recognise that this cup has no Power within itself, but what it means Inside, that it represents the blood of Jesus. So, lord, as I take this Grape juice whatever it is tonight, it's symbolic Lord, cleanse me from the crown of my head To the very soul of my feet, in Jesus name, amen. Lord, cleanse me from the crown of my head to the very sole of my feet, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:You know we've got to be extremely careful, extremely careful, and I know I get close to the wind some days and it's getting a bit thin on ice in certain areas. But we can't be religious. There's no room for religion in the kingdom. You've got to believe, you got to believe. You got to believe, even if you can't believe, even if life is telling you. What are you believing for? Get yourself in that position and go. Do you know what? I'm not going to go to church, but I'm going to read the Bible. I'm not going to listen to Pastor Ben. I'm going to see what God has to say about life. I'm going to study Jesus.
Speaker 1:If you want to follow a man that was the ultimate man, the ultimate human being, it's Jesus. How he treated people, how he walked with people, how he nurtured people. He didn't punch anyone, he didn't kick anyone, he didn't go to the gym, he didn't do anything. There was nothing about his persona. There was nothing about Jesus that was attractive. Why would it say that? Because there was nothing. It doesn't talk that he was an attractive man. It says everything about him. It wasn't his character, it was the way that he was. It wasn't his looks, it was him as a human being. If you want to know who the greatest man who ever walked this earth, it's not the Tate brothers. It's not Donald Trump, certainly not my friend Trump. It's not any natural leader of this earth. If you want to be a great human being, for being someone that shares love and everything, it's following Jesus. Follow Jesus, because he's the ultimate, he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Speaker 1:We're going to click out in just a few seconds. We got like 20 seconds and the cameras are going to go off and we're going to click straight into radio. So thank you to everybody in the Lord's house tonight, thank you to everybody online, thank you to everybody across the world as we see the data coming back. May God bless you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. But the title this evening is I Can't See it. Lord, don't give up, keep going, press in. In the name of Jesus, we'll see you soon. Stay on, listen to the music, stay on the radio, but God bless you, take care, see you later.
Speaker 2:Bye-bye. 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, For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
