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
They Wrapped Him for Us - (#1055 - Elim)
Title: Wrapped for Us – The Burial of Jesus and the Fulfillment of Redemption
The burial of Jesus is more than a transitional scene between crucifixion and resurrection—it is a divine appointment in Scripture that reveals the sovereignty of God, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the merging of old and new covenants. In this deeply reflective episode, we explore John 19:38–42, where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus come together to bury the body of Jesus.
These two unlikely figures—Joseph, a secret disciple afraid of Jewish authorities, and Nicodemus, the Pharisee who sought Jesus under cover of night—represent more than individuals. Their joint appearance at the burial site becomes a powerful symbol of Old Testament shadows giving way to New Testament light. Their actions were not coincidental but divinely orchestrated, echoing the grand narrative of redemption that stretches from Genesis to Revelation.
As we unpack the symbolism of their role, we challenge the popular notion that Jesus was simply a victim of Roman brutality or religious conspiracy. Scripture paints a different picture: Jesus remained sovereign throughout His passion, willingly allowing every moment to fulfill what had been written. When He declared “It is finished,” He wasn’t succumbing to death—He was completing the work of salvation that had been foretold since the beginning.
This episode also highlights the rich theological significance of the burial itself. The spices, the linen, the tomb—all elements echoing Passover, priestly tradition, and prophetic fulfillment—serve as reminders that God never loses control of the story. Even in death, Jesus reigns.
Whether you're deeply rooted in Christian tradition or searching for spiritual clarity, this episode invites you to move from religion into relationship. At a time when many observe Easter or Passover, it’s essential to understand the deeper truths behind the rituals. Salvation is not something we earn or discover—it is a gift from God, sealed in Christ, prepared before time began.
burial of Jesus John 19, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus explained, symbolism in Jesus’ burial, gospel fulfillment old and new testament, theological meaning of Jesus’ burial, John 19:38-42 reflection, Jesus sovereignty at the cross, Passover and crucifixion connection, what it means it is finished, resurrection begins at burial, Christ's burial and prophecy, moving from religion to relationship
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https://www.rbchristianradio.net/
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Speaker 2:Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax and enjoy. You are across the world. May God bless you and strengthen you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Let's get straight into the Word of God. We're just going to turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 19,. The Gospel of John, chapter 19. We're going to pick it up in verse 38. So we're in the Gospel of John and we are chapter 19. We're going to go to 38. We go to 38, and we're going to go right the way through to the end of 42. So, wherever you are tonight, may God bless you and strengthen you. You know we're in a very, very interesting time of the season that we're in at this moment and wherever you are, we just pray that the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit will strengthen each and every one of you. It God and the power of the Holy Spirit will strengthen each and every one of you. It's a beautiful time to see what's happening across the world. It's a great time to be alive.
Speaker 2:So let's get straight in. It's about the burial of Jesus, the burial of Christ, and for those that are following us, and thank you for those that are on RB, christian Radio, those that are on podcasts and those that are literally with us tonight on the live stream and as we just gather around the Word of God, let's get straight into these scriptures. The title for those that are taking notes it's they Wrapped Him For Us. You know, it's a really interesting scripture. It's a really interesting bit of text that we're in. There's so much going on. But as we go a little bit deeper, let's just pray that the Holy Spirit, our God and our King will take us a little bit further. But if you're with us, you know, just put some scriptures up online. Thank you for everyone in the world of podcast. We apologize for the bit of an unusual sound. You know, a bit of an echo sound. It's just that we're in the main church tonight.
Speaker 2:For those that are listening on radio and those that are just following us in the world of podcast, this is a great text. The reason it's a great text is because you find that two human beings have been given the privilege to carry Jesus and the season that we're in and the Easter time, and well, you know what I say about that, the Passover time that we're in. It's critical that we understand that we're in the Passover. So when you look at the scripture, when you listen to the word, when you hear what's going on within the scripture itself, I think it's very, very relevant for every one of us to just take a moment. So, wherever you are, just gather your thoughts, have a read. Go ahead of me at this moment in time, but we welcome you Wherever you are at this moment in time. We welcome you for these moments. We're going to break bread together soon and we're going to take it a cut, but these scriptures are really, really critical for us to get a bit more of an understanding. What happened at the cross of calvary got to be careful. There's little ears in here tonight, so we've got to be a bit careful how we present this. But we're in verse 38 of john, chapter 19, and again I've got to keep saying thank you as we just connect to people across the other side of the world.
Speaker 2:It says later, joseph of arimathea asked pilot for the body of jesus. Now joseph was a disciple of jesus, but secretly, because he feared the jews. With pilot's permission, he came and he took. It says he came and he took the body away and he was accomplished by nicodemus, the man, man who earlier visited Jesus. At night, nicodemus bought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about 75 pounds, taking the body of Christ, the two of them wrapped it with the spices and the strips of linen. This was in accordance with the Jewish burial custom. At the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden and in that garden there was a new tomb which no one had ever been laid before, because it was the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Speaker 2:When you look at this scripture, you know, when you just ask God, say Lord, will you open this word up to me tonight? Lord, they wrapped him for us. They was wrapping him for their own understanding at this moment in time. They just wrapped him because it's really, really interesting, as we said before, and we've looked many times at this, when you see this scripture that we're in, when you take a hold of it and you really start to unpack it and start to really dive into the theological understanding. I've said it many, many times, but I've got to take my time tonight because of the season that we're in and where we actually sit.
Speaker 2:You've got the Old Testament and you've got the New Testament. On the cross of Calvary, you've got Jesus. He is the Old, he is the New. So when you look at Christ, at this particular time of his life, he is. He is in a position where he is in the hands of humanity, but he's only in the hands of humanity because he allows the human being not to take charge, but he allows the human being just to move in the way that he's orchestrated it for this to happen. So when you look at Christ on the cross, he isn't there because the authoritarians have taken him.
Speaker 2:If you go back from Matthew, mark, luke and John, you will find that it was the Sanhedrin, it was the high priest, it was the Romans we know that actually physically carried him to the cross and they executed him only because they was following the instructions. A high priest, you know the law givers and when you look at this, these scriptures that were in here the human beings are not doing what they thought was right to do. They're doing what they are doing because the scriptures already tell us what they're going to do. It's really, really interesting that the way the mind is working, the body is working, the human being is working and the human being is taking charge of the situation, but the human being is literally reacting to what the scripture and what the Bible has already told us. So when you look at this execution of Christ, when you look at the Lord Jesus Christ, when you look at the way it's all being unfolded before our very eyes, it's not because the Romans was doing what they were doing, it's not because of Pilate, it's not because of Herod, it's not because of the Jewish law, but we see this in front of the Jewish tradition. It's happening because the Scriptures had to be fulfilled.
Speaker 2:And what I find absolutely fascinating is that if you look at Nicodemus and you study Nicodemus, you'll find that Nicodemus is the one in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, 3, and you read about Nicodemus from 1 all the way through the Gospel of John, john 3, it tells us about being born again, and Nicodemus went by night. And then we look at Joseph. You look at Joseph and you find out Joseph's journey. Joseph was what we would call a Christian that kept himself back. He kept himself back because he was fearful of the Jewish custom. They didn't want anyone to know that he was a Jesus follower. So here we have two characters coming together the Old Testament and the New Testament, and what I mean by the Old.
Speaker 2:I'm referring to Nicodemus was the representation of the law and the Torah and he's at the cross and Joseph was at the cross. But when you go to the center of the cross you find that you've got Christ. You've got two criminals either side of the Lord, jesus Christ, and you look at this activity, you can look at everything that's going on and you can say to yourself that humanity was in charge. But humanity is not and has never been in charge of Jesus. It is only the fact that Jesus has given the authority to the human beings to do what they're doing Now. When you look at this now the reason I've titled it up, you know they wrapped him for us. It was for the scriptures to be fulfilled. The Jewish custom looked like it was coming into fulfillment and they was doing it because of preparation day. But it's very, very significant that the scriptures are telling us what is happening and what is to come. So let's just have a quick look, let's just see how we can go.
Speaker 2:It says in verse 38 it says later Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now, Joseph was a disciple of Jesus. Joseph was a New Testament follower of Christ. Joseph believed in Jesus. He see Jesus, he watched Jesus, he walked with Jesus, he ate with Jesus, he spent time with Jesus. He'd watch miracle after miracle. This is the New Testament believer following Christ.
Speaker 2:But then, all of a sudden, you find what has happened before their very eyes. They have found before their very eyes that Jesus Christ, the one that they're following, suddenly his life has been taken. Now they didn't realize that this was for the scriptures to be fulfilled. They just thought that the Romans and the authoritarians just took him to the cross and they nailed him. And thought that the Romans and the authoritarians just took him to the cross and they nailed him, and this was the end of the story. See, we know the end of the story because we have the written article and we have the written facts of what the story is about. So it's easy for us to go back and we can view the story. We can look at the story, we understand the story.
Speaker 2:But imagine what it was like for Nicodemus that went to Jesus at night and, as Jesus said, you must be born again, you can't see and you can't enter into the kingdom. And then you've got Joseph that followed him for three years or thereabouts, watching the miracles, seeing great things happening, and then all of a sudden they see this figure, the one they looked up at. And Nicodemus looked at Christ and Joseph looked at Christ. Two different eyewitnesses account, and then you've got the eyewitness accounts of Matthew, mark and Luke as well. So, all of a sudden, what we have at the cross?
Speaker 2:We have this situation where it looks like the authorities have taken Jesus' life. Then it looks like the authorities have released, through Pilate and Herod and everything that's going on in the courtyard and on the outskirts of, everything that's happening on the olive grove olive grove. So that is building up to the Lord Jesus, christ crucifixions. It looks like the authorities and humanity is taking charge of Christ, but it's not actually true. What it is is Christ is allowing. Christ is allowing the Sanhedrin, the law. He's allowing all the activities of Pilate and Herod. He's allowing this to happen because the scripture says when he was in front of Pilate, he said you only have power from above, simply because I have given you that authority to you. So I'm just going to be quiet because I've got to go through this process. I'm going through the process for the whole world.
Speaker 2:So, at this Easter, as we reflect and, as we have a look, and the church in the UK and religion and across the world is looking at it from many different eyewitness accounts we've got to look at it not just as a historical event but we've got to look at it as the saviour of the world. Because when they took the body of Jesus this is absolutely profound, as we've looked at before. As they took the body of Christ, the old testament comes together with the new testament and the bible says you can't separate the old and the new. It wasn't by just coincidence, because that word is is non-existent. If you are a christian, if you're an atheist, you live your life by by all the worldly words, but if you are a christian, you live your life by the word of faith. So they're in in the scripture. There is no word and there is no way where you can bring all this together that this is a coincidence that all of a sudden you got Nicodemus and you got Joseph. Nicodemus was told that he is the lawgiver by Jesus Christ, you know, not too long before he was taken to the cross of Calvary. And then you've got the New Testament right before. So you've got the Old Testament, you've got the New Testament standing before the cross of Calvary.
Speaker 2:I find it absolutely profound to think that these two men had the privilege of carrying the body of Jesus. One was representing the Old Testament and the other one was representing the Old and the New. When you see what is going on, it's absolutely an amazing story of the depth of where we are in these scriptures. So let's go a little bit further. So we're in verse 38 of the Gospel of John, chapter 19. Now later, joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly. It's very, very interesting how the scriptures say says this Now we understand. Also, there is a parallel running along with Nicodemus. It says secretly. Now, the reason it's me making that very clear is because Nicodemus went secretly. So what you've got is you've got Nicodemus went at night and you've got Joseph of Arimathea not giving a word to anyone and telling the world around him that I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 2:And there are many people just because they don't go to church, they are Jesus followers, because they just don't want to let the world know that, because of fear. But it's really interesting what what fear can actually do to you. But if you are a bible believing believer. We're living in very critical times. We're waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the coming King. He's on his way back.
Speaker 2:Yes, we are at this position. We are at this particular point in the season of life, as we are in the UK at this moment in time, and what you have to look at? You have to look at Lent. And when you look at Lent, lent is a religious exercise and you cannot find salvation in Lent whatsoever. You will find criteria, you will find ties, you will find everything else, but you will not find Jesus. And I would have I'd love to have a conversation with anyone about that. You know, because it's about control and you've got to do this. You've got to do. Yes, I know we've got Palm Sunday nestled in it. Yes, I know we've got 40 days. Yes, I know we got Palm Sunday nestled in it. Yes, I know we got 40 days. Yes, I know we got fasting, we got prayer and all this sort of stuff. But when you actually strip it back, you have to ask yourself where is Jesus amongst this? So, those that are joining us tonight, we're in the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 38, to the end of that, that verse 42.
Speaker 2:Now, nicodemus and Joseph had a very important job. Their job was to take Christ and to bury him. When you think about that Joseph and Nicodemus the Old Testament and the New Testament believer coming together at the cross, see the old and the new start and they finish at the cross. So when you go to Genesis, when you go to Genesis chapter 1 straight away, you will start seeing redemption starting to unfold. Right at the very beginning you find the Godhead, you find the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So right at the very beginning, when God said let there be light, we understand that the physical realm was being spoken into existence.
Speaker 2:Genesis, chapter 1, verse 3. We understand that the power of voice comes in to the earshot of the human being and for the reader to read. So in Genesis chapter one, verse three, it says and God said let there be light. I've mentioned this, we've studied this. I have to keep going back because people are capturing these services and it's good that we refresh ourselves and we get a clear understanding.
Speaker 2:So Genesis chapter one is a creation story. It's a story of the physicality of what God is speaking coming into existence. But it's more than what you see with your eyes what you perceive through your natural perception of life. You can read Genesis and you could take that literally and we have to take it literally. You have to take the Bible literally and spiritually.
Speaker 2:The both go together because at the very beginning of time, god shows us that the physical realm is as important as the spiritual realm. But the more important realm is the spiritual realm. But the physical realm is really, really clear. This is why we have the crucifixion. This is why we have Christ coming to the earth, not because God had to prove it to himself, he just had to reveal it to humanity, because humanity struggles to believe anything that is outside of eyesight. That's why religion is shot to pieces. That's why religion can't grasp that the second coming of Jesus. Religion is stuck in the old ways. It is stuck there. It can't move forward because what religion cannot do, religion cannot surrender. What do you mean? Of course it does. It doesn't because religion is man-made. Religion is the wheels of the industry, of what we call church. So when you look at the scriptures, you won't find Jesus being religious. You find Jesus being faithful to the word. He is the word, he is the first, he is the last. Jesus is being faithful to the father in heaven. Who is the father in heaven? He is the God of Israel. Who is the God of Israel?
Speaker 2:If you have a bible, quickly turn. If you turn to the book of Colossians, chapter 1, we've referenced this many times. It's really important that we keep referencing the fundamental text of the word, because what it does, it gives us a foundation to build from. So if you turn to Colossians, chapter 1, verse 15, you will find salvation creation wrapped in five verses. You will find salvation creation wrapped in five verses. Five verses explain to us so much. And as you turn there and I'm just going to carry on speaking at the moment read it for yourself and for those that are in the house with me tonight, for those that are online and listening through the power of radio. May God bless every one of us, wherever we are. But creation is about redemption. Creation is about birth, about new beginnings.
Speaker 2:So when you look at science, when you look at reasoning, when you look at physics and mathematics, it cannot prove that Jesus Christ did not come to the earth. Jesus Christ, through the word, can prove very simply that he came to the earth. So, when you look at creation. If you take creation literally as it is and I take it literally as it is if God said in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 3, and God said let there be light, I don't need to find any other text across the world to prove to me that Jesus said let there be light. I don't need science to tell me that, I don't need mathematics, I don't need physics, I don't need anything else, because that's what I believe and my belief is greater than knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. You don't need knowledge to see the kingdom of God, because Jesus tells Nicodemus to see the kingdom of God. Because Jesus tells Nicodemus and we read this in the gospel of John, john chapter 3, 3, and it tells us you must be born again. He says you can't see and you can't enter. There is no education, there is no academic stretch in about being born again. It's not about academics, it's about God choosing, god choosing and revealing.
Speaker 2:So when you come and you bring the Old Testament with the New Testament and that's what we have in the text that we're in very clearly in John, chapter 19, verse 38 to 42. I know I'm dancing around from the Old to the New, but what you've got at the cross is that you've got the Old Testament and you've got the New Testament. When you look at Christ, you take Christ as the literal saviour of the world. What we look at, christ on the cross, we have Father, son, holy Spirit. So when you look at that, when you look at the crucifixion straight away, what you have is that we might look at that and just see Jesus. But actually we see God, we see God and we see Christ and we see the Holy Spirit. How can you see the Holy Spirit at the cross? Because the Bible says this. It's very clear what the Bible says and the Bible reveals as we read.
Speaker 2:So, at the cross of Calvary, we understand, through Matthew, mark, luke and John, four different eyewitnesses account about this crucifixion, the execution of the king. About this crucifixion, the execution of the king, what we find is that Jesus says, just before the temple curtain was torn in two and we had to have the temple curtain torn in two because that was tearing. What was that tearing? That was tearing religion. What do we got in religion? Church of England, catholicism, the Pentecostal movements, many areas go down the religious road. So what was being proved at the temple curtain being torn? That Christ was tearing through the sacrificial lamb. He was making access, because you can't have access to Jesus through religion, because religion is at the top of the Christmas tree Religion you can't get to Jesus through religion. You'll find the top of the Christmas tree Religion. You can't get to Jesus through religion. You'll find the Pope, you'll find the bishops, you'll find pastors, you'll find leaders, but they are the authoritarians and there is a ceiling level.
Speaker 2:So when you look at the cross, it says and Jesus just before, what does it say? And Christ Just before, what does it say? And Christ said it is finished. Now he was referring what he was referring to, not salvation being finished, he was referring to the Old Testament's being completed and continuing. So when he said it is finished and bow bowed his head and what did he say? It gave up his spirit. So what we have is we have the old testament, you have the new testament, you have the father, the son and the holy ghost at the cross of calvary.
Speaker 2:Because when jesus said it is finished, he was put in the full stop for a moment, just at that moment, to say the old scriptures were fulfilled. Then he was saying I'm giving up my spirit, death is not in charge of me. I created death, I am ahead of death, I am about death and I hold the keys to Hades, to death and to life. When he comes back and he visits that great disciple, he says I was dead, but behold, I am alive and the gates of hell shall not prevail because I hold the keys. God created death. God created the heavenly realms. There is nothing that is in existence, whether physical or spiritual, that God hasn't created. So when you take the cross of Calvary, religion took him to the cross. So when you take the cross of Calvary, religion took him to the cross.
Speaker 2:You read the Sanhedrin, you read the authoritarians, you read about Pilate. You read about the Jews, you read about the lawgivers, you read about the high priest. When Christ was taken from the olive grove, where did he go? He didn't go to the hands of Pilate, he went into the hands of the authoritarians, and it says there that the chief priest, he went to the courtyard of authority and Jesus said something really profound and you don't hear preachers preaching on it and he said you've got one hour. You've got one hour to do your darkness. But what happened was the authoritarians thought that that hour would extend forevermore. So Jesus is clearly telling us that I am over religion, I am over authority, I am over the King of England, I am over governments, I am over every human being, I am the savior of the world and I came down 14 generations.
Speaker 2:And you can read that in the gospel of Matthew, where you see God come down. How can you say God came down? How can you say God was at the cross of Calvary? Because in the gospel of John, jesus gives us fact, fact. The Bible is fact. The Bible is science, mathematics, physics. It is everything. What do you mean? Physics? When you look at creation, when you look at how creation and how you create something, there are a few elements that you need Space, time and matter. You find it in Genesis, chapter one. You find science, you find mathematics, you find physics all wrapped up in what? The power of the voice of God.
Speaker 2:So in Genesis, chapter 1, we have redemption at the door, at the cross of Calvary, we have redemption. What is redemption? God, father, son, holy Spirit. So at the cross you have the Holy Spirit, you have Christ, you have God. How do you know God is at the cross? Because the scriptures tell us right now let's wait a minute something really, really important. We understand that. He says why have you forsaken me? But when you look at this you look at this now you look at separation. It's not separation as we understand separation. It's something completely different. The father turned his face. When you look at everything coming together, you can't separate father, son, holy Spirit, because Jesus already says in the scripture I and the Father are one.
Speaker 2:Go to Genesis, chapter one, and you will read about the Holy Spirit right at the kickoff point. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the deep and God said now the Bible says God is spirit. Right, god is spirit. So if you've got a voice, there has to be a voice box. If you read that God walked in the call of the garden, there has to be two legs. If you look at the scripture, you find Jesus wrapped up in the father, in the Godhead. Yes, it says God walked in the call of the garden. So, as God walked in the call of the garden where Adam and Eve fouled us, where they really put us in a bit of trouble, you find that it says God walked in the call. You can't walk if you are a spirit. You can only walk if you are a human form.
Speaker 2:So when God said, let's make man in our image, if you want to make an image of something, you've got to have something that is visible. If I want to make another microphone, I've got to see it and it's got to be there in existence for it to come into it. So God said let's make man in our image. If you are a spirit, there is no image, so you have to have a physical realm. So when God said, let's make man in our who's he referring to he? He's referring to Jesus. Jesus is banging the door.
Speaker 2:In Genesis, chapter 1, straight away. Jesus is the first. He says I am the first, the last, forevermore. He says behold, I was dead, but now I am alive. So Jesus was obedient to death. So did the grand reaper come down and take Jesus? No, because Jesus is above death. How do you know what's your reference point? You've only got to go to the book of Exodus and God says God says the blood will be a sign, and as I go over the properties, over the houses, as I go through, the death will be the destructive plague. So God created death. Very strong subject, very, very strong, because we have to come to an understanding. There is nothing outside of the realm of God. Everything within God, within the God bubble, let's use that. Everything that we see, that we understand, everything has been created from the voice, the voice of Jesus, and God said so. If you want to work out how these are woven together, you've only got to go to the Gospel of John, chapter one.
Speaker 2:I've referenced this more times than I can count, but read it for yourself. It says in the beginning what do you mean? It's simple biblical truth In the beginning, in the beginning, what does the Bible say In the beginning? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. So there is a with. I am with you, you are with me. So in the beginning was the word. Who is this word? This is Jesus. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and he was with God in the beginning. So let's reference it for ourselves. Let's just check this for ourselves In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. It's woven together.
Speaker 2:So when you hear the scripture says and God said, it is referencing Jesus as the voice and God as the creator. You can't separate. You can't separate. So when you take a certain faith and you take a certain religion within the nation and you start lifting up a certain human being and you know who I'm talking about I've got to be careful because of what we say. Religion lifts up a female and we know what we're saying. Believers lift up the king. So we have to lift up the king because Jesus says do not make for yourself any idols in any way, shape and form. Now, any shape and form means any shape and form. There's no excuse. He says do not create, do not make any golden calves or do not worship anyone, because I am a jealous God. So when you look at these scriptures, you can't separate the old and the new.
Speaker 2:Coming back to the cross of Calvary, you can't separate the old and the new. And at the cross of Calvary, what do you find? Joseph of Arimathea? And you find Nicodemus. Jesus said you must be born again, but you don't know Nicodemus because you represent the law and the law is spirit-less. So here we have. We have the law that has no spirit.
Speaker 2:So when Jesus was taken on Ascension Day and you look at the birth of the church, the Church of England and the pentecostal movements and the catholicism have not created the church of jesus christ. The church of jesus christ was birthed through jesus christ saying this I want you to wait for a gift. And when the gift comes down, he doesn't say no more, just wait. But then. But then all of a sudden it says in the book of Acts Acts chapter 1 and chapter 2, we start to read about the birth of the physical church of Jesus Christ. Then it says out of nowhere. Out of nowhere, the sky was warm. The sky was warm.
Speaker 2:Suddenly, the Holy Spirit fell and it seemed to be like tongues of fire came into the upper room. Why was they in the upper room? They was in the upper room. They was in lockdown. See, the Spirit of God isn't worried about lockdown. The Spirit of God isn't worried about man turning the key. See, the Spirit of God came and the Bible said it rested on every one of them. Every one of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. The flame of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, came down. The spirit fell and it seemed to be like tongues of fire came and that fire separated.
Speaker 2:See, god doesn't leave anybody out. Religion leaves you out until you hit a certain criteria. You can't take communion here. I'm not referring to here you can't take communion and you can't take holy communion because you haven't done a, b, c and d. But in the book of acts, at the birth of the church, it says they were gathered together, men and women, and the scripture said now man thinks man was the first one in in the creation story of the church coming together. Well, I'm sorry, men, we wasn't, because it says the men were on the outside and the women were already gathered in prayer. The women were already at prayer, the women were already praying, the women were already in worship and the men joined the women. Isn't it interesting? Religion puts it at the top really, really, really powerful scriptures. Now we've only got 12 minutes and we've got to get out of here because everything's going to disappear.
Speaker 2:So when you look at these scriptures at the cross of calvary, let's just refresh ourselves. At the cross of calvary you got the lamb of god. You got god. You got jesus, you got, you've got Holy Spirit in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm you've got Jesus. But then at the foot of the cross you've got the Old Testament representation from Nicodemus, and at the foot of the cross holding hands with him almost, is Joseph a follower, a disciple? You can only be a disciple outside of the Old Testament because Jesus says I am the new covenant and the new covenant is different to the old way.
Speaker 2:But the old scripture emphasizes and strengthens the new. The New Testament emphasizes and strengthens the old. So you can't separate old and new. You might get some clever sausage. I nearly said something else, lord, forgive me. In the name of Jesus, you might get someone else go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but there was a gap of three, 400 years from the old to the new. There was a gap of silence, that's all it was. That was God just being quiet. But just because there was a time gap. Remember, god is time and he's outside of time. God now is on the outside of the furthest stratosphere universe. However you want to read that through your education. God is time, god is light. God is sitting on the outside of the world as we know it and the Bible says in the Old Testament God is stretching out the heavens like a scroll. So when you talk about the acceleration at school and education, it is accelerating. Light is accelerating. The universes are accelerating only because God is on the outside of that and he's stretching it out.
Speaker 2:So when we right, we got to get. We got to try and wrap this somehow. So what you have is nicodemus and you have joseph the old and the new representation, but right in the center, right in the center. It's very interesting that jesus was in the center and he has to be in the center. It's very interesting that Jesus was in the center and he has to be in the center. So what you got? You got two crosses, jesus on the third cross in the center, and you got two human beings, one that was told you must be born again. If you're not born again, you can't see and you can't enter. The Old Testament couldn't get you saved. It couldn't get you saved. That's why the scriptures were fulfilled through Christ, because there had to be bloodshed, there had to be a lamb that was unblemished, unmarked, pure, beautiful, without sin, but took on all sin.
Speaker 2:So back to Genesis. Very quickly, get yourself ready. We're going to take the bread and the wine in just a few moments. So when you look at Genesis, chapter one, you have Father, son, holy Spirit. When you look at the cross, the crucifixion, you have Father, son, holy Spirit. When you go to the book of Revelation, you have Father, son, holy Spirit. When you go to the 66 books, you have Father, son, holy Spirit. You will find God, you will find Jesus. You will find the Holy Spirit wrapped and laced in every scripture, every syllable, every word, every punctuation mark.
Speaker 2:The Word of God is about Father, son, holy Spirit. The Word of God is power. So, as we look at this, nicodemus and Joseph wrapped him in accordance with Jewish burial tradition, but we might look at that and think they took charge of Jesus. It was just the scriptures being fulfilled according to the old testament and to the new. That was being written.
Speaker 2:See, do you realize that you have a power with inside of you that is greater than death itself? Do you realize that you have a love over you and within you that is beyond human understanding? Do you realize that John 3, 16 is for you, for God so loved the world that whosoever shall believe? Okay, now you've bounced that back to me, rev, that I am in charge of my belief. You're not in charge of your belief. You only believe when believe it outside of the gift giver. So salvation is no. Choice is no choice. Predestination, no human being has the choice.
Speaker 2:Religion, that's a different story. But a true Bible believing believer doesn't roll up to church and go. I'm going to be a Jesus follower. What happens is you will find your flesh is coming into conformity to what the power of the eternal God has done to your heart, within your innermost being. So all that is happening is that your physical realm is catching up with what God has already said and orchestrated before the very beginning of time.
Speaker 2:You're not at church because you want to come to church. You're not at church because I'll think I'll go to church. You're not saved because you thought that you'd listen to a message on the social networks and suddenly you became born again because of that person. You are born again because of the blood of Jesus. You are born again because God is the gift giver. Salvation comes from God, given to Christ through the saviour of the world at the cross of Calvary. There is no human being that can resist the eternal power of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Atheists are only doing what God allows them to do. Governments are only doing because God allows them to do what they're doing.
Speaker 2:Agnostics Every other religion is only doing what it is doing because God has given it the authority and God has created all things, you read that in the scriptures. We got six minutes and we're out of it. So when you want to say, where do I find Jesus Genesis. Where do I find God Genesis. Where do I find the Holy Spirit Genesis. Where do I find all three, 66 books, all the way through right to the last full stop of the book of Revelation, do you realize that you serve a king? Do you realize that you serve a God that loves you unconditionally? Do you realize that you serve a king? Do you realize that you serve a God that loves you unconditionally? Do you realize that you serve a God that God didn't need to write the Bible, but he wrote the Bible to prove to humanity everything that is written?
Speaker 2:When you look at the word of God, god could have spoke the word within a blink of an eye, but he took the human frailty of a person. John writes this is a mystery. Paul writes even greater. He says what I'm about to write and declare to you, I don't even understand it myself. He says that were on the run, that was in prison, that was beaten. If the church had the privilege of writing the word of God, it had been written in Canterbury, it would have been written in the great halls of the higher educators. But God took the renegades. God took the lowly of the low of the low. God took the ones that was on the run. God took the ones that religion would not choose. So if the Bible was being written today by religion, it would be written by the ones from Eton, fine sounding, beautiful, articulated, but it was written by human beings that were beaten, lost in society. Looked at in a strange way the prophets of the old, the world around them went don't get near them, crackpots, don't listen to what they're saying. So when you look at the structure of the word, god did not use education, he used a human being that was lost. I was lost, but now I'm found.
Speaker 2:When you look at the cross of Calvary and the time that we're sitting in, we're going to break bread. We've got three minutes and we're going to be out of here. So let's break bread together right now, father, in the name of Jesus, as we break this bread, as we take this bread as it is, because it's just bread, it doesn't turn into this mysterious bit of flesh of Jesus. It just stays bread, because even when Jesus took bread at the Passover table, it said it became sop, it didn't become flesh. So as you take this bread, it just stays bread, I'm afraid for those religious ones out there. So, father, I thank you for this. Bread symbolizes the body of Christ and as I just take this right now, I just take a moment out of the busyness of life and I thank you for this. Bread symbolizes the body of Christ and as I just take this right now, I just take a moment out of the busyness of life and say thank you that the body of Christ was broken for me in Jesus' name, amen. The Bible says in the same way. After supper, he took the cup. Now, the season that we are in at this moment in time is the Passover season. Pagan religion calls it Easter, but it's Passover. And Jesus took this cup, the Passover cup, and he said this represents the blood of the lamb. This is the new covenant. So, father, will you cleanse me from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet, lord? Because this cup, whether it's grape juice, wine, whatever it may be, it represents the blood of Jesus. So cleanse me in your name, amen. So when you look at the word of God at the cross, you got the deity At Genesis 1, you got the deity At Revelation. You got the deity. You got Father, son, holy Spirit, right the way through, way through. You don't find Mary in Genesis. You don't find anyone else around. You find the fire of God, the power of God. Brothers and sisters, we thank you for joining us in the house today. We thank you for being online with us, wherever you are. We thank you to everybody. We're going to go into worship in just a few moments. The radio will press in and we'll go to live worship. But wherever you are across the world, we want to encourage you. Don't be religious, be a Jesus follower, follow Jesus Wherever you are across the world. Follow Jesus. Don't follow religion. Don't follow me, don't follow Elim, don't follow the constructive way of church. Get yourself a Bible. If you need a Bible, we will get you a Bible. We will get you a Bible. If you need a Bible, we will get you a Bible. We will get you a Bible. May God bless you and strengthen you. Thank you for listening on radio, thank you for in the world of podcast, thank you for those that are in the house with me tonight it's good to see so many people in and thank you to those that are on the social network. May God bless you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. God bless, bye-bye.
Speaker 3: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 for ever and ever. Amen.
