Forget The Easter Bunny Follow The Lamb @S1

Is your faith built on Scripture—or on tradition?

In this powerful message, Reverend Ben Cooper challenges Lent, Palm Sunday, and religious systems by asking one direct question: does it line up with the Word of God? This is a call back to Bible-based Christianity—where truth comes from Scripture, not man-made religion.

Through Luke 2, John 19, John 20, and Exodus 12, we uncover one powerful thread running through the life of Jesus Christ: He was wrapped at birth, wrapped in death, and left the grave clothes behind at resurrection.

This is more than a detail—this is revelation.

From the manger to the cross to the empty tomb, this message connects:
• The birth of Jesus Christ 
• The crucifixion and burial in linen 
• The resurrection and victory over death 
• The meaning of linen in Scripture 
• The authority of Christ over the grave 

We also go deeper into Passover (Exodus 12), where the blood of the lamb was placed on the lintel as protection. This points directly to Jesus—the Lamb of God—and reveals the cross as the true entry point into the Father’s house.

This message will help you understand:
• The difference between biblical commands and religious rituals 
• Why faith comes through hearing the Word of God 
• What it truly means to be born again (born from above) 
• Why salvation belongs to God—not religion 
• Why the cross is not the end, but the doorway to eternal life 

This is a strong Bible teaching on Jesus Christ, Passover, salvation by grace, and following Scripture over tradition.

Also on this platform:
Sunday Service and Sunday Night Prayer.

For 9 daily prayers each day, follow Daily Prayer UK:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7A72aIfImGBUGPcXMz9kAp

Support this ministry:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reverendbencooper 

Need a Bible?
info@dailyprayer.uk  

Never give up in prayer.

Transcript

Rituals Versus Scripture

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Let's turn into the word of God. Come on, without further ado. We're jumping into the book of chapter. Well, sorry, Luke. We're going to Luke. We're going to go to the book of Luke. We're in Luke. We're going to go to John. We're going to go to Matthew. We're going to go back to John. And we might touch the Old Testament. Depends. Depends how the time is going. I know we're all time critical and everything like that. But let's just get straight into uh the scriptures. You know, the world at this moment, well, the majority of the world is in Lent, and the majority of the world is doing what they're doing. You know, Palm Sunday, religious areas today will be celebrating Palm Sunday and everything that goes along with all that Razmatazz, you know. If you want to watch it, go on to Disney. Sorry, I didn't mean Disney. Go on to um what they call the Catholic TV. You'll find what they're doing in the Vatican today. You watch what they want to do, you watch what they do, and you see what they're doing. We don't follow rituals, we follow the word of God. So we have to question everything that we do, as in the church, and as in the way of a ritual. And then we might turn our eyes to Israel and we might say, Well, they follow rituals, they don't follow rituals, they follow commands. See, there is a difference between a command and a ritual. A religious activity, where did the religious activity come from? Where did that activity start from? Did it start from the Pope? If it started from the Pope, it's not of God. If it started from scripture, biblical based, that's what we got to get back to. So when you look at the feasts and when you look at um uh the Jewish festivals and everything that goes along with all that, it is biblically based. So what I have to do is I have to question everything that I look at, Lent, this, that, the calendar of the West. And what I got to do is I've got to say, does it line up with the word of God? Does it line up with the word of God? Because that's the critical thing. If it doesn't line up with the word of God and it's been brought in by the Institute, goodbye, see you later. It's it's got to be rooted in the Torah, it's got to be rooted in the New Testament, it's got to be rooted in the Word. If it's biblical, if it's clearly biblical, and I'm following that, praise God, hallelujah. Yeah, that's correct, because that's what we do. We go back to the Orthodox, we go right back because that's what we believe in. The Torah, you know, and the law and the Old Testament and the New Testament. We believe that all those scriptures were fulfilled by the cross of Calvary, and now we're in the time of Lent. So where does Lent come from? Where does Lent come from at this moment in time? When we look at Lent, it's been it's been taken and it's been fashioned and it's been shaped into another ritual, another, another bit of showmanship. That's what we've got to be careful of because when you look at Jesus, when you we're gonna go and look at just a couple of areas of his life, and for those that are taking notes, the title of this sermon is They Wrapped Him. Okay, the title of this sermon is They Wrapped Him. Two times, twice you will find in scriptures where Jesus was wrapped, and we can guess that, we understand that without turning to the biblical understanding. Jesus was wrapped when he came into the world, he was wrapped by his mum, wrapped up in swaddling clothes, he was wrapped up in linen. Now, linen is very interesting. I've got to be careful what I say, and I won't say nothing about the letterbox people that wear, you know, I won't say nothing about that, but linen is very important in scripture. Now, what the devil does, the devil takes what God has said and he uses it and he manipulates it and he uses it for manipulation and control. So the very interesting part that we might have a chance to get to, Jesus was wrapped in linen. Very important. Linen is critical in scripture that I understand. We're coming up to the Passover, and we got a card this morning in the church. Actually, it's the only church that ain't got an Easter bunny on the front of it, to be fair, and it's got Happy Passover, and you can guess where it's come from. It's come from Israel itself. So it's come from Israel because we know that the Passover starts on Wednesday. See if you are a real believer, you won't be engaging. You might have a little bit of cheeky chocolate here and there, you know, and yeah, all that. But you won't be engaging in the rituals of religion because there is a difference between rituals. Now, when you look at world religions, world religions are very ritualistic, they are they are they follow rituals, and the majority of them have been put into place by a bearded man. A man. They have been put into place by a man. When you look in scripture, the everything that the the the feast and everything have been put into scripture by the Holy Spirit, the Father, you know, so it you you've got to look at the understanding of all the rituals that are happening. We've got Lent, we've got Catholicism doing all that today, we've got the Church of England, you know, Palm Sunday, and all the Razmatazz. Pastors are dressed up in Easter Bunnies today, you know, treasure hunting, uh, egg hunting, all that sort of stuff. But the real meaning of it, this absolutely really hit me this morning, this card that I opened up. Happy Passover. And it's got the it's amazing because it's got the the four cups that I speak about a lot about, and the four cups on the Passover table. The first cup is the cup of sanctification, the second is the cup of deliverance, the third cup, the cup of the Garden of Gethsemane, is the cup of redemption. When Jesus said, if it's possible, can you take this cup from me? Then the fourth cup is the cup of praise. So that's a really interesting card. So as we look at linen, linen is critical. Now, there are 26 nations around the world at this moment in time that have banned a certain part of linen. You know what I'm saying? Thank you, Jesus. I hope and pray that this government ban certain wearing of linen in a certain way. Now, very interesting, the scripture that we will turn to talks, and what we're looking at is the wrapping of Jesus. The wrapping, there are two points in in scripture that Christ had to hit. Christ had to hit two major points. Obviously, it was the birth, and it had to be that that the part of death. He had to go to the cross. But the the fourth, the third cup of cup of redemption that I mentioned was when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. So let's read the scriptures, let's get a biblical foundation. Everything has to be done from the word, not from the preachers and the teachers. It it has to come from biblical understanding. So we're in Luke chapter 2, verse 7, and it says, She gave birth to her firstborn. Very interesting. Firstborn. Jesus has got brothers and he's got sisters. Let's make that clear. That is clear. He has other earthlings, he has brothers and sisters. Right, Luke chapter 2, verse 7. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no room at the inn. Then we jump to Luke saying chapter 2, verse 12. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in clothes laying in a manger. And then we jump to the Gospel of John. Turn to John with me. Let's turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 38. So that's the only area where we find that Christ as a child rapped, and his mum rapped him. Mary. Let's remind ourselves we don't lift up Mary, we don't worship Mary, we don't pray to Mary, we don't have nothing to do with that worship of any other human being on earth. But Mary rapped Jesus. Now, very, very significant about the death of Christ. So when we look at the death of Christ, this is such an enormous subject, you know, and we must just remind ourselves and breathe a moment, there is extra biblical knowledge outside from historians at that time, writers, you know, great thinkers, that there are books outside of the Word of God that I'll I'll be careful how I say it, not just make it, yeah, that what it does, it supports it in a roundabout way. But the Bible doesn't need supporting because the Bible is fact, is without error. But what we have is extra biblical knowledge, that we call it, on the outside of the holy word of God that says, yes, this happened, that happened, and it's very, very interesting that there's outside information that clarifies just what the Bible says. So as we look at this, the linen cloth is very, very interesting and very, very powerful. So what we have, we have Jesus comes into the world. The Bible says in the Gospel of John very, very clearly, John chapter 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. So there we have a connection to the deity, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. We understand in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 14, and the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So the word became flesh, became human being, fully God, fully man, fully king, fully saviour of the world, the deity. So we have God. We have God, the Godhead, we have the Son, John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So what we have, you know, we are looking at the Christmas story, and I use that very carefully, you know, because we have to start, we have to start at the foundational point. We have to understand what is happening in the world at the moment. We've got Lent going on, we've got battles in the heavenly realms, we've got war happening at this moment, we've had other world religions being celebrated, you know, and now we are going into the Passover. Very, very interesting. When you bring the prophecies together, when you bring the scripture and you and you put everything in line, you find that hang on, this Bible is absolutely on point. So when you look at the wrapping of Jesus, the wrapping up of Christ, you know, he was wrapped at the very beginning by his mum. He was wrapped up in swaddling clothes, he was wrapped up, and then the next time we read about Jesus being wrapped is at the cross of Calvary. Now, what we have is when his mum wrapped him, it's very interesting when you look and you study that there was no, there was no grandeur, there was no castle. When you look at all the kings and the princes all round the world, and you look at all the other writers of their old holy books, they was written in great big palaces, they was written in places of grandeur and and and uh all that rasmataz that went on. They was written in in you know, people feeding them greats, you know, washing their back and all that sort of stuff. You know what I'm saying. You know, it they was written in comfort, the word of God was written in pain and suffering, the complete opposite. So when you look at linen, linen is critical when you look at the orthodox, the and we take everything we got from the all we go right back to the old. We are, you know, Christians, we believe in the word of God, you know. And as you look at the scripture now, as we gently move forward into the Gospel of John 19, 38, it says, Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accomplished, or accompanied, sorry, the our ever translation reading, by Nicodemus, taking the body of Jesus, the two of them wrapped it with spices, strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial custom. Now, when you look at this, it's very, very interesting because as you unpick the fabric of the text, and then you go a little bit further, and then you read very clearly in John 20, verses 6 and 7, it says, Then Simon Peter came along to the tomb, uh, went behind them, got into the tomb, he saw the strips of linen lying there. Okay, we get that. And it says, as well as the cloth that was wrapped around Jesus' head. Now we come on to that tender subject, the head covering. Now, Jesus, on the third day when he was resurrected, took off the burial clothes and he took off the head covering. Now, what the devil does, the devil takes it takes it and he uses it to the opposite. So when you look at a certain piece of linen around the world at this moment, now we are not talking about a prayer show. We are not talking about the prayer shawl, the prayer shawl is completely different. We are not talking about the the Talmar, we're not talking about that, we're not talking about that. We are talking Christ was making a clear statement, and it's very interesting the statement that he was making. What was the statement he was making? Clearly, that I am greater than death. The burial clothes have been taken off, and it says as you read the scripture that they were folded up by themselves. Now, we're entering into very interesting land as we start to talk about this because the burial cloths are very, very significant when you look at certain rituals the way people are buried and all that customs. Now, coming back to Joseph of Arimathea and coming back to Nicodemus. Now, we understand that in John 3:3, Jesus was had a visitation at night physically by Nicodemus, the lawgiver. Jesus had a conversation with Nicodemus, and he said, You must be born again. So the terminology, born again, isn't a Pentecostal rhythm for naming it and putting it on the crackpots that believe in Jesus. Being born again is a clear biblical understanding. What does it mean to be born again? I am a born-again Christian. What does that mean? To be born again, it means not to be crazy and to be wild and to be running and singing and dancing and shouting everywhere. It's got nothing to do with the Pentecostal area of that. Nothing to do with that. Being born again means to be born from above. So when you look and you understand on what the Bible says about being born again, he Nicodemus says to Jesus in that conversation, How can I be born again? It's impossible to be naturally. Jesus said, Yeah, you're right. That's not what it's about. Being born again means to be born from above, to be given the gift of salvation. So this is really interesting. At this conversation, what we find is the hand of the church has been lifted away. The hand of what? The hand of salvation. So you can't go to church and get saved. Hold it with me just for one moment. We go to church, and yes, there might be someone that is delivering a message and it triggers our spirit, and we get a little bit of, oh, hang on a minute, what's going on here? I want to I want to follow Jesus. Under no circumstances, under no area of life, any human being across the world has the power to resist Jesus Christ. Let's make this loud and clear. No one has the power and the authority to say, I'm gonna follow Jesus. Let me tell you this very clearly. From the very beginning of the Word of God, God tells us that He calls and He calls and He calls you into salvation. So when we hear about altar calls and we hear about revivals, and and I ran down the front and gave my life to Jesus, your life was already in the hands of Jesus. What your body is doing is your body is catching up with what Scripture's already divided. You're catching up. So what you're doing is you are recognizing that there is a holy God because God had already saved you through the sanctifying working of the power of the cross at Calvary. So when you look at the linen, the linen is absolutely critical. The linen, Jesus was wrapped at the beginning of time, and he lived his life and he got through his life, and very interesting. You know, Egypt, they've got to be careful how I talk about Egypt. We know that Egypt is a very now. What I will say, I don't know how to put it, let's just go for it. Egypt is very evil in the way of spiritual, very dark. Now, Jesus, when he was wrapped, he was taken by his dad, yes, his dad, and his mum, and they was taken, God made a way for them to go into Egypt. The scripture says, Out of Egypt I bring my son. See, God took his son, you know, and you look at this, that the son of God and everything, when you took, went back into Egypt, one of the most darkest places spiritually on earth. When you look and study Egypt itself, what it has there, and what they worship and what they celebrate, it is very powerful as in the way of the dark side. So when you go on holiday, oh be careful, enjoy that wherever you go. So you've got to be careful. So God took Christ back into Egypt. He hid him. Who did he hide him from? He hid him from the eyes of the king at that point. So he he took him as a young child out and he hid him back. So when you look at scripture, it's very interesting that God took Jesus Christ right back into the thick of where the darkness was. And the Bible says, out of Egypt, I called my son. What is happening here? What we have, we have a practical application. Now you have to go to Genesis to get a little bit of an understanding. So when you look at the scripture, you know, God said, Let there be light, and there was. So God created at the very beginning of time there was darkness. The darkness was hovering over the surface of the deep. And the Bible says God created two types of light. At first, there was just darkness. Before light, there was absolute blackness, not blackness and darkness as we know it, but a completely different understanding. And when you read through Genesis, and God said, Let there be light, the very first time that the human race now actually heard the voice of God, because we know human beings wasn't created at that particular point. So when we look at the cross of Calvary, right from the very beginning, God is very first words, he is talking about salvation. Let there be light. So Jesus was taken in the swaddling clothes, wrapped up. He was taken by his mum and Joseph, his dad, taken into Egypt, right into the darkness. So now we have so the spoken, when the written and the spoken word come together and the spirit moves through. This is the safeguard of scripture. This is the safety net of scripture. The word of God is revealed through revelational knowledge. We can study it to a certain understanding, we can study it to a certain degree of the capabilities of our mind. But the mind is limited. The mind is limited. That's why the Bible says the just shall live by faith. If we thought education and knowledge was greater than faith, God would have said, and the just shall live by education. But that would do something. That would restrict certain people that are restricting in education. But faith is the same measure. Because faith is given as a mustard seed. So everyone is given the safe measure, the same sorry, measure of faith. So faith comes from hearing the message, the word. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of God. So the way that my faith grows is hearing scripture, not reading a manual by me, not listening to me rabbbling on, not listening to the next pastor down the road with his latest book and what the bishop's doing and what the archbishop ain't doing and what all that's doing. I get my understanding and I get my healing from scripture. What is scripture? The scripture is Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the savior of the world. Jesus is God. What do you mean, Jesus is God? We know that the book of uh Colossians, I've said this a thousand times. Colossians chapter one, verse 15. Christ is the image of the invisible God. So when you look at Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, just five five verses, 15 to 20, gives you creation, power, salvation, redemption, and creation. So when you look at those five verses, they are they are an accelerator within five verses. So then we look at the linen. So, okay, let's just talk about a little bit about the linen. The linen is critical because when Jesus was unwrapped, and who unwrapped him in the tomb, it's very interesting that he unwrapped himself. So when you look at the scripture, and it says the linen took itself off, basically. So you've got to now, my mind works like this. Okay, Joseph and Nicodemus rap Jesus, they carry him. Now, this must have been one of the most bloodthirsty events that they've ever seen in their life. Because when he was hanging on the cross, imagine how the Romans got him off. You don't even want to imagine what that was like. I don't even think they denounced it. You can imagine what they would have just done. And the body of Jesus would have just hit the deck. Bang. Bent up, all just gone. Ribs on shirt. When you study crucifixion, it is a most brutal way to leave the earth. So his body's on the floor, not clean, not washed, completely, literally in pieces. Christ is on the floor. The disciples, everything looking. This is who is this? So Joseph, now Joseph is extremely important because Joseph links the alt and the new, and um Nicodemus links the altar and the new. So what we have we have Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus. So, right, okay. So they go to the body of Jesus. He is accompanied by Nicodemus. So you've got Joseph, a New Testament believer, and then you've got Nicodemus, who was representing the old law, the Torah. Now, what you have is very interesting. You have the physical, the physical representations of the New Testament, Joseph of Aramaphia, and you have Nicodemus representing the old scriptures. They come together. What did Jesus do at the cross? He brought the old and the new together. Because at the cross, when he said, It is finished, when you study what happened in the heavenly realms, when you study nature, what happened through biblical interpretation and outside biblical knowledge, when you look at what happened and what we have, we had a ricochet from the cross right through the stratosphere. The planets were damaged, the stars were damaged two times, twice in creation. We have seen such devastation out within the stratosphere of life. The first time it happened was in the garden, the Garden of Eden, when the fall of humanity, when God created the heavens and the earth, it was perfect right up until they took the Big Mac. Sorry, I got McDonald's on the brain. Until they took of the tree of life, the fruit. When they took of the fruit, when the fruit was taken, that is when devastation and the fabric of the world changed. And the screams and the the wrench that went through the heavenlies, the world changed. That was the first time. Very interesting, it was in the garden. And we have three gardens in scripture that are critical. The first garden was where it was lost. It was lost. At the first garden, it was lost. The second garden is what garden? The garden that I mentioned, the cup of redemption, the garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, the second time a garden is mentioned, and then we got the third garden that it's very briefly mentioned. So the first garden is where it was lost. The second garden, the garden of Gethsemane in the olive grove, is where Jesus was bringing it back. So it was lost in the Garden of Eden, and then it was starting to be brought back in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, time doesn't prevail, but when you look very clearly, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he said to the disciples, wait here, watch and pray with me. Then he goes on a little further and he goes into the Garden of Gethsemane. He goes deeper into the olive growth. And the Bible says he was all alone. And the Bible says that he was sweating droplets of blood. Now, for the atheists out there, jog on, this actually happened because science proves it. When someone's in extreme extremities of stress, you can sweat droplets as of blood. That is science. That is fact given. Game over. So Christ is in the garden, fully God, fully man, fully king, fully savior of the word. World, sorry, fully living God. Because the Bible says in one uh Colossians chapter, sorry, Colossians chapter one, verse 15, Christ is the image of the invisible God. And then we start to see Christ in the garden. And I call it the 50-50 garden, the place where Jesus had a tremor, where he had a 50-50 thought, and the thought is written in scripture. If it's possible, is there another way? What was he referring to? He was referring to the cross that's going to happen just a few hours later. So linen is all the way through. Linen is critical in what we are looking at. Linen represents so much. He was wrapped and he was placed in a manger in a cow shed. The innkeeper said, There's no room at the inn. That's very interesting because what the innkeeper was saying is pressed across the world. There is no room for Jesus. Very, very interesting what that innkeeper said. There is no room for Jesus. So he was laid to sleep that night. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. His mum wrapped him in a manger. In a stable. Then we find ourselves that we we we we crisscross. There are over 63,000 cross references from the old to the new, the new to the old. Crisscrossing. So what we have at the cross, we have now in the word we we have this we have the text. So we have a correlation and we have a crisscross of text. What we have at the cross, we have a physical vision through two human beings, crisscrossing the old to the new, and the new to the old. So what we have Nicodemus, who representing was representing the old the law and the Torah, because Jesus said, You are Israel's teacher, and you don't know how what salvation is. So we clearly see that the Old Testament doesn't understand because there were sacrifices, bulls and heifers and everything. You look at the sacrifice and uh you bring it up to the temple, and if you if you study all what went on, but then the Bible tells us that there can only be one sacrifice once and for all. Now, the Bible refers to Jesus as the great high priest, the Pope isn't the daddy. Let me remind you. The bishop isn't the kingpin, no pastor, no one is the head of the church. Because the Bible says in the New Testament, he is the head of the church. So let religion go and play cards, let them go and do their crazy rituals. But if you are of the church of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is the head of that church because there's only one real church. That is the church that you find in the book of Acts, chapter 2. And Jesus said, wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. That was the birth of the church, not religion, because religion has come out of Rome, religion has come out of man, religion has come out of the crazy king that we had not many two years ago. I'll tell you what, I want to get divorced. The church won't let me do it. I'll make my own one up, I'll make the church of England. Let's have it. So he made up his own church, made of man, made of man. So why are you following the Church of England? What are you following the Church of England for? What you following the Pentecostal movement for? What are you following me for? What you following Catholicism for? Why are you following the Catholic faith? Because the Pope has got red bottom shoes? Oh no, he didn't. He had black shoes on that day when they put him in. And the whole cameras of the world, the Pope hasn't got red bottom shoes on. He hasn't got his Christian laboutons on. What is going on? He hasn't got red bottom shoes on. The whole world was in turmoil. The Pope has got wrong shoes on. Crazy. So are you following religion or are you following Jesus? See if you follow Jesus, you're completely crazy and wild. Because you've got to be absolutely right out there. Not crazy and wild, but the Bible says we are peculiar people. That's what the Bible says about believers. That's what he says. Because you're not kin to the world. Yes, we live, we mooch, we move in and out, and we do what we do, we fall, we live, we everything. And the Bible says we're all sinners saved by grace. There is no one greater than anyone. No culture is bigger than anyone else. No colour is greater than any other colour. Nothing. We're the same in the eyes of God through Christ, through the Holy Spirit. So everyone is equal. But religion and culture and business and education segregates us and it puts us in boxes. We're not meant to be in boxes, we're in the kingdom. So when you come to the cross of Calvary, and time I've got to pick up a bit of speed, I don't know where from, but we're going to try. I'm sorry that we're running late. So when you look at the cross of Calvary, let's get to the Gospel of John 19, 38 that we're in. Later, Joseph of Aramaphea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. With his permission, they came, they got the body of Jesus, they take him away, and he was accomplished by Nicodemus. Again, I will reiterate the Old Testament, Nicodemus, the New Testament, you know, Joseph of Aramaphea. The old and the new come together. Now, you've heard me, we've looked at this before, but it's critical for where we sit because the Passover is about to start in a few days. What is the Passover? The Passover is the passing over of the angel of destruction, back very clearly in the book of Exodus, chapter 12, chapter 13, when you look at that, the Passover. Nothing about the Easter bunny, we're not celebrating chocolate, we're not celebrating, you know, the bunny that's dancing around Asda and Lidl at this moment in time, selling your rock cross buns, and where do they come from in the name of Jesus Christ? So when you look at everything, am I following Jesus or am I following rituals? So when we come to the burial cloth, and before we get to that burial cloth, Christ was on the floor, broken, absolutely skin open. You can't imagine what it was like, but what's important, the Bible says not one of his bones will be broken. So his bones wasn't broken, but his skin was pierced. His skin. And that's where the scripture comes in in the Old Testament. By his stripes we are healed. So when you look at that scripture, by his stripes, it's not just a crazy Pentecostal bit of language. Oh, hallelujah, by his stripes I'm healed. The stripes was what he received in where? In the priest's courtyard. That the priest instructed the Pharisees and the Sadducees didn't want Jesus. The Pharisees and the Sadducees and the lawgivers took Jesus to the cross. It wasn't the Romans, they was just full and following instruction. And they made it look like the Roman soldiers. But it was actually religion and man that took Jesus to the cross. So in so from the garden when he was sweating droplets of blood, that is the first time we start to understand that blood is in redemption. So that's where we first start to see it in the garden. So Christ starts to bring it back in the second garden, and I'm dancing from Alton and all over the place because time. So it was lost at the very beginning of time in Genesis. The first garden was lost. We understand the fall of humanity. The second garden was where Christ was bleeding, sweatlets or droplets of blood, because he wasn't going to know that when he comes out of the olive grove, he was going to be meted by the betrayer that was going to give him that kiss, the kiss that changed the world. Jesus had to be identified. Isn't it interesting that Jesus had to be identified because of the hour and the bit of the darkness and everything? And because the olive grove had was a place of pilgrimage. There was people everywhere. So it's very, very interesting. So it was lost in the first garden. It was coming back in the second garden. And then the third garden is where the tomb was. So there are three gardens in the scripture. You will read about the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ was asking if it is possible, take this cup from me. That I just we read out the cup of redemption on the Passover table. And then the third garden is where they buried him. If you look into scripture, and I haven't got the time to open all that up, but he was it was lost in the first, it was coming back in the second, and in the third, it was fully fulfilled. So what we find ourselves is that God uses pictures, terminologies, agriculture to capture the imagination of humanity. So what we have now capturing the human being at the cross is this Joseph and Nicodemus. The Old Testament and the New Testament in what? Physical formation and the living word. So they had to pick up the body of Jesus, they had to get older Jesus. Imagine what their clothes were like blood stained, covered in blood. So what you got, the old was covered in blood. What you got? The new covered in blood. So there you have the blood covenant being fulfilled that we read about in the Old Testament in physical formation. First, we see Jesus on the cross of Calvary. He is in full control of death. Death did not take Jesus. Jesus said, It is finished. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Very interesting. Death has no power. Death is a gateway to either heaven or hell. That's fact. That's where it will take us. It will take us to the judgment to Jesus. Different Sunday altogether. So what we have at the cross, we have the free crosses, and almost we have the free gardens being fulfilled. We have the free now. We have the free days. Now we are not looking at numerology. We don't, but when you look at the way the word speaks about numbers, seven, the number seven, the three, how three is depicted. How long was Jonah in in the belly of the fish? How long uh was Jesus in in the grave? Or I should say what scripture says went down to Shola, went down to the very depths. Now the devil had no control on Jesus whatsoever. There's no way on this earth that the devil had charge over Jesus. Jesus is in full charge, but he had to go down there to fulfill what was written. And remembering he created all things. And Christ created Lucifer. Because when you study where Lucifer came from, so in the Gospel of Luke, we clearly read what the Bible says that Jesus said, I saw Lucifer fall like lightning when he was kicked out of heaven. Now we've got to wrap this up, and I'm that's not a pun by anyway. So Jesus was wrapped up, he was wrapped up first by his mum, and then he was wrapped up by the New Testament and the Old Testament. But no one unwrapped him. Because the word unwrapped himself. So when you look, I've got to I've got to just blatantly just cut this so we can get moving. So when you look at the blood covenant, you're seeing it be fulfilled spiritually and physically at the cross. The physical formation and fulfillment was in many areas, but the ones we're speaking about was Joseph of Aramaphia and Nicodemus. They were both covered in blood, completely head to toe. Imagine what it was like, because it was a little bit of a journey from the cross, where to to the garden. They had to carry Jesus Christ, fully dead, fully king, fully Jesus, fully God. Jesus was carried by the Old Testament, by the New Testament in physical form. The Old Testament in physical form was covered in blood, the New Testament was covered in blood. So when we look at the Passover, what is the Passover about the covering of the blood? See, it's not about religion. I'm sorry I've had to rush all this. It's not about religion. See, blood is critical in Scripture. Now we go back, we're coming to a close in just a few minutes. We go right back to the Exodus chapter 12, 12 and 13. God gives them a clear indicator, a clear sign, and a clear instructive way to do things. Not a ritual, not a ritual, an ordinance. There's a difference. Now, he said, take a lamb. That lamb has got to be perfect in every way, unblemished. When John says Jesus come round the corner at the River Jordan, he said, The Lamb of God. God said, Take a lamb, roast the lamb, sacrifice the lamb, get the blood of the lamb, and put it on, or get a hyssop or a palm tree, whatever one you got, put it in the basin, put the blood in the basin at your doorway, get the blood of the lamb, put it over the lintel of your doors, the lintel of your house. See, that was a forerunner of the cross. What is a doorway and a window? It is an entry point. An entry point into what a house. So what we have, we have an entry point. The blood makes an entry point. When we was at the well, not we, when when Jesus was at the cross of Calvary, the blood was what? An entry point. What do you mean? When you bring all this up and you bring this to a thread and you look at this, there was an entry point. What do you mean, the entry point? This gets me, makes me cry. Because there's been access made for you. Whoever you are across the world, there has been access. Because there's been blood shed. And the blood that was shed in the Old Testament was put across the doorway and the lintel. The entry point into the house. Where do you go? Into the Father's house. So when you look at the cross, the cross was an entry point, but there had to be blood sacrifice so that we would have what? Access. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. See, there's an entry point. And it's not through the Pope with his red bottom shoes. It's not through the Church of England, whoever they're putting in leadership for a few weeks. It's not through the Pentecostal movement. It's through the blood of the Lamb. So this isn't Easter. This is the Passover. This isn't a ritual. This is an ordinance. This has come from the God of Israel. We are living in a time where we are watching the world fight each other, kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, nation. Now we're going to take of what? We are not taking of the bread and the wine in a religious order. It is an entry point. The blood is the entry point into the Father's house, but you could only enter into the Father's house when Jesus said, It is finished. And who possibly could have been the first human being to enter in? The thief on the cross. Because Jesus said, Hold it, son, you'll be with me in paradise in a moment. So suddenly we have everything breaking out at the cross of Calvary. We have the fulfillment of uncountable writings being fulfilled. We have Joseph, we have Nicodemus covered in the blood. God talks and tells us there is life in the blood. Sacrifice. Jesus gave his life, his life was given so that we would have life. And have life to the full. So the cross is an entry point, not to death, but to the kingdom. Sisters and brothers, salvation is not in the hands of me or the church. Let's wipe this one clean. Salvation doesn't belong to religion, to no man. Salvation belongs to God. And you have been given access because God has sealed you online, wherever you are. Maybe you've never been to church, maybe you've never thought about church. Let me tell you now, God loves you. Everyone in the house, everyone online, maybe we're wrestling God all our lives, maybe we don't want to know it. It's not about going to church because church did not exist at the entry point of the cross. It was Jesus. We're coming to the table. Father, I'm sorry, Lord, I've had to cut this. Holy Spirit, I pray. I pray, Lord, that we will realize that Jesus is the entry point, not to religion, but to freedom. So Lord, I pray. I ask you, God, that we will understand the power of linen that I haven't been able to unravel because of time. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the cross. Because the cross is the entry point to the kingdom of God. It was a place of death for Jesus. But a Place of life for you, for me, and for everybody. The cross is the physical entry point. And as we come to the table, we're not doing this. This is this is scripture, this is an ordinance. Very clear from biblical days. Not the church. Don't do it how the church tells you to do it. Do it how the Bible tells you to do it. We are bloodwashed, we are sanctified, and you have been chosen. You can wrestle God all your life. I have watched uncountable men and women. I worked in a certain place for nine years. And I have stood around and sat around uncountable deathbeds when people have resisted Jesus Christ of every faith, of every colour, of every creed. And let me tell you, they're not calling on Allah at that point. They're not calling on Buddha. They're not calling on Hare Krishna. They're saying, Rev, tell me about your God. At that point, when the human being is getting ready to cross out of this physical realm, you're not don't worry about who you've been serving, it's who you're going to see. Because you ain't going to find no one but Jesus in front of you. Judgment Day. Because salvation belongs to God. And salvation is given. Now, this is really, really important. The cross of Calvary was the last second salvation. He lived his life as a cutthroat, the thief and the murderer. He lived his life outside of religion and church. He lived his life wild and crazy. But at the last point of breath that I have seen, time and time and time again, please. If there is, the same line that he said, Rev, will you please pray? People resist Jesus right up to the 11th hour of the crucifixion. But when you are reaching your last breath, I will tell you that your body goes into a state, a state of what? Getting ready to cross from the physical to the spiritual. Let me tell you, there's only one God you call on when you're on that final journey. And He's the God of Israel. And He's the King above all kings. Father, as we come to the table right now. Lord, as we come to the table, and Lord, I'm going to do it quick because you tell us to do it quick in the Old Testament. Lord, I thank you, Jesus. I thank you for the cup that symbolizes the redemption cup. I thank you for the bread that symbolizes the body of Christ at the cross. So, Father, we thank you that blood is mentioned back in the book of Exodus, chapter 12. And then we start to read about the body. The body comes together with the blood. So this is critical. So you don't find all that, you find it when Jesus says, when Jesus brings it together. So Lord, I pray right now that, Lord, as I take of this bread, I understand it represents the body of Jesus. When I take this cup, I understand it represents the blood of Jesus. So Father, bless this bread and Lord, just cleanse me from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet. In Jesus' name, I'm in. May God bless you and carry you. Father, just just cover us right now in Jesus' name. I'm so sorry we we overran. I'm so, so sorry. As we pedal out of this service, God is with you online. We will see you tonight at nine o'clock for prayer. Never give up in prayer. And what I love about prayer, guess what? We ain't got to go to church. We haven't got to go to church. We can pray in the transit van, standing in the shower, all lavaed up. Hallelujah, Jesus. You can be anywhere in the world and praying, because prayer is within. If I can give anybody some advice, if anyone ever wants to take something from me before I leave this earth, is I always say just follow Jesus. Forget church. Church is boring, it's finished. Be a Jesus follower.