Bless you, wherever you are today. Thank you so much for sharing all these podcasts that are coming out here, Elim church, we have Steve of us today. And we're going to go into quite a dive. Today we're going to go into the Word of God, we're going to start off with Amos, chapter eight, verses 11 through 13. There will be some other biblical references as we go. And the title of today's podcast is famine for the Word of God. very relevant, very timely, and really needed across this earth, the word of God is needed. But wherever you are, we thank you so much for joining us today. And as we always say, you can find us on Amazon music and so many other platforms. God bless every one of you. Thank you for sharing all this stuff. And Steve, good afternoon.
Steve:Afternoon. afternoon, everyone.
Reverend Ben Cooper:This is gonna be a dive yet.
Steve:Yeah, it's it. I don't find it difficult already practice through, man. But there's gonna find this tough. As I said earlier, this is in many respects, it's touching on stuff that we've spoken about kind of individually, over the past two, three years. But now, as I was praying about it, God's kind of brought me to the point where I'm gathering it all in and it's going to be one message. So we begin in night, verse 11, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord of God, sorry, says the Lord God, that I will send a feminine land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. I shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east, I shall run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord shall not find it. In that day, the fear virgins and strong young men shall fight from thirst. Now, the famine, if we, if we look at two Thessalonians, two, and it talks about the great falling away, which seriously has been going on for a long time, the fan gang, probably. It's a watershed moment I should imagine was around about the end of World War One was an awful lot of people that just walked away from the load at that time, because of the colossal loss of life. Yes, yeah. And it was a huge number of people showing that they really weren't Christian. But I'm kind of religious. And at that point, you also had the rise of communism, and so on, so forth. Now a lot started coming unglued. But without first World War, we wouldn't have had the Second World War, without the Second World War, we wouldn't have had to do. So God is always at work in this,
Reverend Ben Cooper:praise the Lord. So come on.
Steve:What we've seen, really, in English church, and in the Western churches as a whole, is a rejection of the Word of God and the will of God. We have seen the reduction of people in the church. And so we've turned to all these different ways of trying to get him back in, except for returning to the Word of God. We've had the church church growth business models. We've asked the purpose driven church. We've made ecumenism especially joining up with Roman Catholicism. We've a interface join up with Muslims and Hindus and all the rest of it. And we've got the word of faith, which is now marching in lockstep with New Apostolic reformation. And you've got people like Joel Osteen, who will tell you that this is your best life now. Well, if you're not a Christian, I will tell you is your best life now, because you've got something horrible to look forward. You've got people like Steven Furtick, at Elevation Church, who is a motor list. And also, I was I was watching one of his sermons a while ago. And he, he makes two statements, two different things. One of them he cried. He says, I am God Almighty. Yes. I've seen that bit. And also he says that when God was talking to Moses, and he said to Moses, I am he was trying to get Moses to see that he was also now I don't know where he draws his from because you really read that it's a it's, it's just errant nonsense. You've also then you've got Bill Johnson, who's completely off his trolley. He's done a retread of the Copeland heresy that Jesus was born again in hell. That, you know, it was a fella that continents recover from. I can't remember.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Oh, gosh, there's so many of them there. What's the what's his name? Yeah, yeah, I know. You mean
Steve:it kind mount with a statement that physical death was not enough. Jesus had to die spiritually. Whereas of course it says in a word that he might show of all things. Yeah cross. For our sins on the cross, everything was all crossed out and locked down in some pit that no one's here at the moment. And you've got the likes of people like Joyce Meyer, they retract this. And you've got people I've been enjoying it with Bill Johnson. I was watching somebody else die of theirs. A Benny him was talking about castling Coleman. Yeah. And Johnson had already spoken about how we need to create an atmosphere. We we have to create an atmosphere, we have to get people energized. Okay, yeah. Yeah, we have to create an atmosphere. And Bernie instead, yeah, you're quite right. I used to watch Katherine Coleman. And she would only preach, she would never preach to anything bigger than the 700 seat area, she would always make sure that the people that were sitting in front row, were people that kind of accepted what she had to say. He said, because if you put people at the front row to kind of sort of look a bit angled, and they're not really too keen on what you're saying, is it they can, they can kill the anointing? And so yeah, the Lord 11. And there was this kind of agreement on this was another guy called Lou angle, and they were all kind of up there. Nodding Nuage great, better. Yeah, terrific. We believe in you and all the helicopters. And so we've got this, all of this where you've got the word of face, New Apostolic reformation, or joining hands, oh, Lincoln, all linking. And it's funny, actually, because I did a study on this one of my old churches years and years ago, and I found it the other, and it's about 30 years old. And I was looking then how, at that particular time when you ate it was prior to the Toronto It was sort of it was the Charismatic Renewal was really taken off and stuff like that. And even then I saw that there were there were links between word of face, and the Charismatic Renewal examiner. When I started looking at it, then I was totally shocked. I just couldn't believe that it would, would happen, but it did. And it's continued to do it. And gradually and gradually and greatly we've seen the churches, losing. People, people do not come like don't come to hear the Word of God, because the word God just isn't preached. Now. We've looked at the figures for how many born again, Christians or people with a biblical worldview, that George Barna brought out from the Christian University of Arizona, Arizona. And he's figures that there were there were only 17% of teaching pastors that had a biblical worldview. There are only 37% of pastors that had a biblical worldview. But there are only 6% of Christians in the pews. 7% Well view. And if you look at that, and look at the numbers that people in America say that they're a Christian. That works out to about 15 million people. That America was always the big play Baker's life for Christianity. It was always reckon about two thirds of the people were Christians. So you're looking at something like 232 and 40 million people. And of that 240 million people, only 15 million. Only 15 million has so small, a biblical worldview that you come into our country
Reverend Ben Cooper:reduces?
Steve:Well, I think I looked at it and sort of honestly, I saw 2 million, but I've kind of looked at it again,
Reverend Ben Cooper:lower.
Steve:I think it's lower. I
Reverend Ben Cooper:think it's lower. I
Steve:think that we've got less than 2 million born again, Christians or Bible believing Christians, whoever you want to put it. Yeah, in this in this nation, right. And the reason we all the way we are the reason that churches in the state is
Reverend Ben Cooper:there's been a long build up as it says in a long, long time that
Steve:we were we were encouraged to chase down rabbit holes. I mean, you had the Charismatic Renewal you had, you know, signs and wonders and all that and a lot the Word of God and seriously weakened the fight of people. Yeah, because they were all encouraged. You know, pray for people to get he would pray for people. It doesn't happen, and it doesn't happen. And then God gets the blame. God gets the blame disappointments, it says appointment, walk away, I'm gone. And when you then start preaching the word of God, you have an uphill struggle. Definitely India with the disappointments of these young people. Now, at the same time in all of this, I understand that whatever happens to a Christian, this is God's will. He's he's worked out. Yeah, everything.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So everything isn't all this unbiblical stuff hasn't taken God by surprise. And this is this is meant to be yes. Without any doubt whatsoever, because this is written about the, so we can put this in the great falling away Conway and this racket. Oh, yes. in that language.
Steve:Oh, yeah. But we're getting to a point now where?
Reverend Ben Cooper:Because you could easily look at that and think that's coming down the track? Well, actually, it's yeah, it's been a long time or many years. But it's not finished yet. Now, and it's gonna get it's gonna get less and now
Steve:we're being brought to Ezekiel 34. And I'll read this out. And this is a zekiel 34. And it's verses one to 12. The word of the Lord came to me say salad man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds, while to the shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat things, which you do not feed the flock, the week you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up or broken or brought back what was driven away nor sought what was lost, but with false and cruelty, you have robbed them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the beasts of the field. When they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill, yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore you shepherds Hear the Word of the Lord. As I live, says, The Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food for every brief beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my Shepherd search for my flock, but the shepherds fit themselves in did not feed my flock. Therefore our shepherds Hear the Word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, I will cause them to cease feeding sheep, and a shepherd shall feed themselves no more, for I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them. Well, that says the Lord God, indeed, I myself will search out my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock. On the day, he is among his scattered sheep. So will I seek out my sheep, and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark die. And we are facing an energy crisis across the world.
Reverend Ben Cooper:We've got everything even like that. And
Steve:we've got mistress or Mrs. Trussell, where she's just come up with his this New Energy deal, where she's got to bailout houses, households, she says small businesses and charities. Now, I don't know if that's going to take into account churches. But out over it works, churches, churches will be closing and they'll never open again. Right? Yeah. The shepherds will have to go out and earn a living for challenging stay here. Trying to sponge off the flock. Yeah, because they have not fit them because they've not given them the word of God. And it's very strange, actually, because years and years and years ago, I really came to an understanding that the church was going to have to go back into the house. And I thought reason it was gonna go back into the house because I looked over at China and see what was going on over there. And the way they were doing,
Reverend Ben Cooper:though, flattening the build, I
Steve:kind of thought, Well, this was before the buildings. I kind of thought, you know, that's, that's going to come here. I'd always understood at some point, persecution will come here. And I thought that that was, that was what was going to draw us back to the house. I didn't realize it was gonna be this. I don't know anybody ever saw this
Reverend Ben Cooper:financial and this huge crash, and I know it's affecting enorm Well, every church has been affected drastically. And as Steve was saying, you know that I've got two jobs or work outside of the church, but in the ministry area, and just to support myself and my family because the church has never been able to, and we've never drawn money from the church. So I understand what that's like to work outside and do what we have to do with inside because of the it's we're cold, but we are facing as to church across the nation, a serious tightening and a wave of when you just got to look at the pubs, for instance, straightaway, that culture there. That culture was that spring from the war time all that you mentioned families before that
Steve:I really we've always had a pub culture in this country
Reverend Ben Cooper:I've always had that everyone is very, very strong. And you can see them establishments closing as quick as anything. But then we look at the church. And we see the great coming away from the Word of God a long time ago. Now the fuel crisis now the money crisis, you can see these big ministries that have been pushing the prosperity gospel that people will not be able to give, the things will collapse, things will fold. So we see a quickening in the great falling away.
Steve:And we're back to it a similar situation that has been various times in history, that those when the church is close to people leave. If they really have got, they'll continue,
Reverend Ben Cooper:they'll continue to serve God in their own way they can say as he calls them to, but those that aren't will just fall away. Yeah. And we've seen that through COVID. And we have seen that across every layer of church and denomination, a falling away, and no one and not a lot, many whatever we look coming back to the Lord's house.
Steve:And in actual fact, a thought crossed my mind whether this is right or not. But there was a sense I mean, God, we always understood that God using that period of time to try and his people back to himself. But I think also there were there were churches that willfully closed down wouldn't open when they did I want the people only that they had to jab only put the mask Yeah, all the hand. This again, is God's sign, okay. You're not looking after my sheet. You're not trusting in me. So I'm going to strike shepherds, and they're going to beg on a scatter. Yeah. And it's as this occurs, as this begins to grow. The two individuals in the church are being asked this very simple question by God. Do you really want my will? Yeah. Do you want more wealth? Is it more where you want? Is it may you want? Is it my will you want? Or is it you want me because you think you'll get something out me? That that's what we've had? If you look at the in the US in prayer meetings I've been to over the years, basically, most of them are. Mile Mike Allen smart used to say they're all blessed, less money prison, they were basically it's How long will you do this law? Will you do that? Nor will you do this? Show me? Let's do that? Very rarely? Where is it? Law? What is your will worship purpose speak to us? Would you guide us? Would you show us what your will is? Would you please give us understanding? Would you show us the way forwards?
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, that's what the
Steve:vast majority of times is, people just give me power in you know, you know, I believe in free will. But can you make sure that mom gets saved? You know, she's got free will. And you know, there's this disconnect. But the other thing is that the failure of the ministers and I don't care whether they're pastors, evangelists, teachers, preachers, Apostle, they're all ministers are all ministers, ministering the Word of God. Yeah. And what we've seen over probably 560 60 odd years is a gradual, a real steady. Well, it's a gradual breaking down exegetical to Yeah, instead of reading the Word, and drawing out of the word and understanding the word and seeking God line by line, but yeah, line by line, it's chance turned around. And it's Isagen stickle teaching, which is reading into the Scripture into the Scriptures. And this happens all the time. And it's, it's not only is it Poor teaching, but it's dishonest teaching. And in one of in John, and the Gospel of John, Jesus says, something very interesting. And he says, All that My Father gives Me will come to me, the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all he has given me I should lose nothing, but should rise up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last die. Later on in John, in chapter 10. He says, I am the good shepherd, the hireling fleece, I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep I know, I am known by my sheep. And my and the father knows me even so I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep, which are not of this fold I will bring in. He then goes on to say how it is that none can snatch them out of My hand. Yes. And no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand, and my Father is greater than most. And then the people say, Yeah, but you can snatch yourself out of the head. And that's dishonest preaching? Yes. Because he doesn't say intertext doesn't say at all it does. It's not inferred in the text. And this is isogenic. We're teaching this is where people have got their own view and vision of the Word of God.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So fluffy is what they're engineers, when I hear
Steve:it's what it is, basically, it comes down to the fact that on a facing, Well, isn't that so much, but if you're looking to Word of God, there are loads and loads of times when people are being warned by God. Yes. Get your act together. If you look at the seven churches in Revelation five of them, yeah, the Lord really takes on the task. Yeah. Okay. If you read Hebrews, the law really takes the Jewish believers that are wanting to go back into the temple where he really takes him at us. You can't make up out you can't, you know, this is an Okie conky time in an hour. You know?
Reverend Ben Cooper:It's right. He's right. Yeah, this is it.
Steve:He said the same to the Galatians. Yep. And there are warnings over and over and over again. And in Psalm 19, I think it's verse 11. It says that your servants are warned by your scriptures. Yes, if they are a servant of God, you know, the woman, you will be warned, and you will pay attention to the woman. If you are not, if you are not the shape, fold. Yeah, and you won't pay attention. No. All right, you won't pay attention. But when there's a warning there, we've all had warnings from God about different things in our life. And most definitely, we respond by the grace of God because He gives us the ability to respond. And so instead of, as I say, looking at the word of God, and objectively drawing out of it, what's there? Yeah, people come along with their own notions and ideas want to prove their theology? Yeah, actually read into it. What they want it to say,
Reverend Ben Cooper:because it's what the flesh wants. Yeah. That Yeah. And they come, I think it comes back to surrender and obedience, that comes back to the will of the Father, you if you really are a disciple, you that it can only be the will of the Father. It can't be happy clappy message and whatever your flesh and sin. Get rid of the sin.
Steve:Yeah. That's an ongoing sanctification of the Holy Spirit. And if what was it that royal said? I think it Ron anyway. He said, everybody wants to be saved from hell. But the Christian wants to be saved from his sin. And there's a real big difference. Yeah, who either look within yourself and hate what you see. Yeah. And continue to wrestle with the Lord over that until you're overcome. Much same as Jacob was, and we all walk with a limp.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So it's an ongoing wrestle.
Steve:It's awareness. Thankfully, it becomes we become weaker. Yeah, it becomes stronger.
Reverend Ben Cooper:That's right, that yeah, we become weaker, he becomes stronger, and it becomes less
Steve:clear. Oh, John, John the Baptist said he must increase and I must do and this is dis ongoing sanctification. If someone is not engaged in this, you've got to consider they're not saved. And if they are not crying out, beseeching the Lord to deal with them then I don't really believe that their sides I just don't believe that because no person who is born again of the Holy Spirit, really and truthfully can abide what they see within themselves. It starts off practice something small I remember many years ago. My my wife when she was born again, for some reason couldn't stop blaspheming it used to drive her mad. Lord, help me help me what's going on? Imagine that for Understand. But the point is when the Spirit of God comes and it young, He yearns, He yearns, and we get this battle within us. And this battle grows, and grows until it hits that wrestling climax. And then gradually, gradually, the Lord overcomes us. And we find greater and greater peace within. When he got peace with Yeah, but we find that peace of God, deep within us now, and and we find that we're not having to wrestle as much. But we're staying in that in that place that spoke about repentance, that we are always in that in that posture of repentance of turn towards God.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So what sort of timeframe was that for Rosemarie that that journey?
Steve:I think it was several months. You know, it's fair to say she took the strike the city before she was born again. I mean, she knows she never blasphemed she never did. She never did. She never did. She was not she was not a profiling woman in any. And then she became born again. Yeah. And yeah, but this is the flesh you see this? Is the flesh rising up again.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Is it NASA that makes that really interesting. And so we have this so we have a bit of a, an interesting thought there that the more we want him, the more we desire, and the more the flesh rises up, we and we become very carnal, very worldly, because it's a fight of the flesh
Steve:is enmity towards God. So it sounds wonderful, but basically what it means is we in and of our own self hate, hate God, and the flesh that remains there, hates God.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So do you think the flesh in a roundabout way tries to offend God by face this already offended him but in the way of vocabulary, lifestyle, kicking back, I can choose, I can say what I want. The flesh is a very unusual,
Steve:what if he says, it's basically the basic problem within within the flesh is it is pride, pride, pride of life, lost the pride of life. And that pride is an ongoing you. I don't think you'll ever get through it. I know Darrell Wesley thought you've come to some sort of perfect holiness, but I don't know that thing that I think even ingested the idea after a while. But this, it's this sort of Teaching isn't in the churches, right? It's this sort of teaching. What we've got is this airy fairy ever dream. All right.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Gonna have a conversation where we're going to be okay, I'll
Steve:give you an idea of how poor the teaching is. Okay, I was watching a thing on YouTube the other day. And I think, I think it was from Bethel, I think it was. I don't think it was out of one of the three it was the best sell Hills elevation or Hillsong. I think it was Bethel, because of some of the testimonies. And I had these young girls and they were only a young teen, well, older teenagers 18 or 19. And they were coming up and they were having these baptisms. And I'll just give you one, because this is the most outlandish. Leave me the other ones that we've been blessed, justified. Okay, so there's this guy. Hello, there. How are you? Wonderful. That's terrific. Cheer. cheering, you're being baptized today? Yes. And what is your name? My name? Cindy. How old are you? I'm 19. Okay, Cindy. So why do you want to be baptized? Well, I want to be baptized. Because the Lord has told me, I'm going to lead a bunch of warrior angels to save the animals, Warrior angels to save the animals. So the animals thanks for she's been baptized, got nothing to do with the cross. got nothing to do with crucifixion got nothing to do with the identifying of what Christ has done in her life. And so she wants to show everybody else and bear witness to him because he is our Lord and Savior. Now she wants to get baptized. Because she feels our name. She went on to say, and it's going to empower me to do that work. Wow. All right. And they're all cheering. And the guy that's got the mic, he said, that's terrific. That's wonderful. And you need that mic shoved up your nose,
Reverend Ben Cooper:that side
Steve:dishes, but this is, in all seriousness,
Reverend Ben Cooper:if this is the kind of tripe This is the language that is right. Okay, but yeah, we've got to follow
Steve:this. This scene and that is rubbish. They've been encouraging us rubbish. So yeah, where does it come from then? Yeah, but hang on a minute. Then they go on, and they're encouraged to dream to dream or write dreams. Okay. Yeah. And they have their declarations, right? Yeah. And then you get people that write songs about it. Yes. And then they sing about it. Yeah. And it says was wonderful and occasional was nice. And it's just nice and it rolls and rolls and rolls. And it was a guy I was watching. I've watched him occasion he's laying down on PA, he reminds me of Denzel Washington. And he was saying that he went to this conference. He said, and it was great was wonderful time a musical. It's terrific. It's seven, and I'm singing a song. And suddenly, I just came screaming off because I start as I'm reading the words, I'm realizing, I can't sing these words. Wow, interesting. sing these words. And he said, I'm looking around, but everybody else is singing a snippet. And it was all about what I'm going to do, and what I am, and how things are for me, and me and me and who I am. And, I mean, I don't I don't know the song. So I can't remember the lyrics. But he said it was absolutely astonished. He said on as I read this.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So God was speaking to him very clearly
Steve:in the crowd. And it was he said, the excitement of the worship died down within me. There you go, that in itself gives you have no idea. It's not a spiritual ship, the white, like dynapro approach worship, to glorify God, to come to get excited.
Reverend Ben Cooper:That word elevation that's used in the church that's used, that is a real dangerous word, to use to elevate, to lift up to lift up myself to lift up the church and lift up to elevation. Worship, there's some real strong stuff hanging around. And when you've got people in mega churches saying like that, I'm going to lead warrior angels, and now I'm laughing, but actually, I shouldn't be laughing. I should be actually almost climbing under the table to figure out where is this coming from?
Steve:These are the influential churches. These are the churches. That's correct. The ordinary person in the pew sits and listens to Yeah, right. Yeah, talking about
Reverend Ben Cooper:even astral climbing as well. And so you've got astral plane, and you've got elevation, you've also got the grave soaking that is very common. You've got all this sort of stuff, drawing out of the grave drawing on the spirit and your, this is complete witchcraft, and pagan worship at the highest level, and being accepted under the label of church, trance, music, the vibe, the feelgood factor the, the very driven by the crowd, the the happy feeling,
Steve:this is filled, this feels nice, feels comfortable, well, it covered that made me feel comfortable worship, worship is not I've come to worship You, My God, my lord, my Savior. It's not I've come to give you thanks. And praise and adoration. Now I've come to it makes because it makes me feel good. I'm going to wish you because I feel good. I'm saying I want to I want to sing and sing and sing and sing and sing and sing. And I don't really want to read a word. I just want to sing and worship, worship and sing.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And I've lost the understanding of real worship. Of course, we have biblical worship here. That that's where we're at. And it's come to the factor of it's a money making entity that is fierce tapping into the two streams money, notoriety, fame. Jesus wants you famous,
Steve:and it's there to destroy the sheep. It's doing very good.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, yeah. And I've
Steve:read several testimonies of people that have come out and have had I mean, it was one on one I was reading the other was a 13 year old kid. He said I'm struggling I realized what I was into Yeah, I realized what I was into and God has been dealing with me and in his draw me out and I'm getting back in and the word that I'm reading on what I'm reading is not always been taught,
Reverend Ben Cooper:that that's that's the thing, isn't it? You know, we are, we have heard it time and time and time again, you can be an evangelist, you can be a preacher, you can be this you can pay your money. And some of them mega churches, they're like charging 10,000 quid for a lot for a year 10 grand to pay and people are paying it. So you can see this big build up kind of this atmospheric this very worldly business organization that is like drawing money is using Nuf to draw it and and a lot of them you know and to hear that you know, to be a warrior to lead What was that again
Steve:angels to lead us to she's been told by God according to her that she is going to lead warrior angels to save animals
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah. Goodness gracious me
Steve:that that's, that's why she got baptized. But then the other stuff was just as loopy
Reverend Ben Cooper:as that. But that's quite in interesting when you dig a bit deeper in that, because that's all about save the planet, isn't it? And all that, that that that big that big drum that's been been saved the planet you know this and that the environment and
Steve:you can imagine if she was on Noah's Ark Okay, she said but what about all the animals in our sort of wanting to be tasked with bringing too much to bear
Reverend Ben Cooper:to clean unclean?
Steve:Unclean unless you want to go if a while back that tough. Got it. So we did it. And that's it. And this is the thing that God there are times when God speaks in a very difficult and a very hard way. But he's always got a plan. Go ahead. And he's always got guidance within his work. The other thing is that something I found out today, I didn't realize this, I found this out today. Only 2% of American churches teach prophecy.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And he percent Yeah,
Steve:and how, at quite low, extraordinarily,
Reverend Ben Cooper:considering. I think I know what you're going to say. This false. They 2% only teach it
Steve:or my basically what they will teach is the fluffy stuff, you know, clearing they'll teach associate this particular thing. My brother and I, so I don't like it. Or I like to be built up. And I'm thinking, but this is not building you up. If you open your ears. Yeah, it's God. God wounds. And there's nothing finer than a warning. No, there isn't. Especially when it comes from God. Exactly. Nothing else finer, because he's saying yeah, like you said the know. Yeah, build any Ark. Get ya get any Ark. But why Lord, because just get in there. Build me an ark. I mean, no didn't even argue. He said. When he started, he built it took him 100 years to build the ark.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And 100 years of faithful
Steve:never rained and so people would kind of know I'm building an ark and what's an ark? Well, it's a place where I'm going to go to something to build it. I don't even I don't even think that God told him at that particular time you start to build it. what he's gonna do with it. It just said build an ark. So he said okay, I'll build an ark he hadn't got a clue about rain because it had never rained it yeah
Reverend Ben Cooper:it's quite interesting because we're looking back at that knowing what we know he's just going on complete obedience yes thinking what the what the bananas is an ark.
Steve:It just said boom you know God what is government understand and give them measurements and measurements and so many many songs got stuck in for 100 years and I built it
Reverend Ben Cooper:you can imagine it was probably quite a raw Ark as well. Because of the lack of authority just
Steve:been cut down. You just cut down cork and roll pitch to go over the top of it.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, so it would have been a very unusual looking arc to what we would imagine the manufacturers would produce today.
Steve:If you look at the dimensions of the arc like an oblong isn't yeah it's not a you know the classic thing is this arc it's got sort of two sort of bowels
Reverend Ben Cooper:yeah all night.
Steve:I think if you look at it is probably is is just an oblong with a kind of pitch roof on top of it. Very
Reverend Ben Cooper:simple. Very basic.
Steve:And yeah, I mean, it was a guy that went into your in order to save, save Yeah, to save.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So when you look at the instruction, he was going on instruction, that he didn't know what was happening the sun was beating down no rain, no rain, no rain, no rain. Not sure never seen an art before never seen one flowing, haven't got a clue what it is just build it. That is serious faith. See, did it. Abraham was the site, did it? Sacrifice.
Steve:They acted in faith. God said do this. And I said okay, we'll do it. That was it. And if you do not teach basic prophecy like that, to get people to understand that to live by fight is the necessity so that
Reverend Ben Cooper:is that what we're talking about there, then guys, they were talking about their men of faith. That is real living by faith. But if you say if you look at today, when people say Oh, I'm living by faith, it's believing that you're going to get a new Yeah, no car, it's completely different to what but that but you say it's trash, which is true, it is trash, but that is what these these mega churches, that's what he's built people up to believe historically out of a word of faith and, and that was a tremendous it can fit. And it was you know if you can believe it, and all your GI Joe, if you can get it within your spirit and you can visualize what's crazy? It's actually crazy. If moving sounds crazy is actually happening. It's actually happening. And the real percentage of real Bible believing believers is less than we actually think and can imagine. Never thought so that drama out there is loud and clear. But nothing is actually happening. It's all show see the other thing? Because where are the healings when you when you look at all this, you know where our work, you know the our work, we know everything about that. Not seen one. But down the road in certain places that jumping up and down jumping out
Steve:tents, it's an absolute pretense. The other point about it is that you can get people so hyped up that they can believe anything.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah. And actually believed the lie. They believe that. Yeah. But they
Steve:also got to remember, a Kosti here was Benny, he's been his nephew, blow, blow the whole thing wide open, you know, he used to go, you know, he would say My uncle used to take in a load of crutches, and he leaves them on the side. And he typed in wheelchairs on one side. And the idea was, you know, when he was talking to Johnson about what Catherine Coleman did, it was manipulated, the whole thing was manipulated. I can't do this unless there's an atmosphere. What does that mean? Yeah, what does that mean? Jesus never wondered about atmospheres he walked in, and he said, What are you? What do you want me to do? Father, he spent the night in prayer. And God would talk to him and tell him and and show him what was going to happen. And he got out under the unction. Spirit, and he would do what he was called to do.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So it's about the Word of God. So when we say there is a famine, we can see that so clear, can't we from just looking across the platform of all the social channels and the places we can see that there is a serious famine of clear, correct, biblical sound doctrine.
Steve:And if people just in case they haven't caught on yet, we're moving relative very rapidly to the last seven years. Yes, seven last years, however you want to put it. And if you don't believe that, then, quite simply with Jews back in the land, you should be waking up by now. You should have been in there since 1948. And God has got promises laid down in his word. Yeah, he hasn't fulfilled for the Jewish nation yet. And he's going to do it. He's going to do that. And we're seeing the build up of the One World Government. We're seeing the build up of one currency.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, the that was was a radio currency and all Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Steve:And it's growing now. Our new leader, Mistress. She's tied into the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab. And all they're all tied on it. Yeah. But Rishi Sunak wasn't. Okay. And she has come out and said, What was it? She said something about? She's, she's out to get Joe Biden or something like that. And you think that Biden would be tied up in all this? But no, he's not. No, no. He, he and his little Cabal? No, it wasn't Biden, it was Nancy Pelosi. And so she's after Nancy Pelosi, and you think with a track record and everything else, but as I was listening to one chap, who's a Christian political commentator, he said, there's a difference between the deep state which is Nancy Pelosi, yeah, and a New World Order, which is Klaus Schwab and a World Forum. And it said, you know, they're going to, they're going to climb, they're going to collide, they are going to collide. And I was thinking about this the other day, and this kind of reminded me of, of Hitler. And he had to lots he had a blog called arch Rome. And he ended up the essay, which was the brown shirts, and he'd been with him right from the very beginning. Then he had Himmler, who was the black shirts and these two hated one another and they kind of testy one another and hit him law worked it's sold at Rome. I mean, it was bent as a nine Bob Now it was slightly all sorts of weird and wonderful people. And it worked. So basically it killed Rome and got the brown shirts out white purged. Celeste what you've there will always be a falling out within the kingdom of darkness. It's always because sign us it will use certain people and no discard them. Yeah. All right. People don't serve sake, no, discard them. He couldn't give a tepee.
Reverend Ben Cooper:He's not loyal. They couldn't care all about him.
Steve:He couldn't care less. I mean, people, you know, all the cyclists like they come to a realization. Even cyclists come to realization that he really doesn't care for him.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Got no no nothing, absolutely nothing. And so
Steve:if we do not read the Word of God if we do not understand the prophetic word, because from Genesis to Revelation, it is all scripture is all given for our benefit and for our instruction. And whilst there are certain things within the Word of God that are directly for us, the Jews. There are things in there that are also against the world. There are things in there that are for the church, and there are things that are in there for the guard. ring of the hole of Israel is everything in that word, there
Reverend Ben Cooper:is nothing.
Steve:We have to learn to understand by the grace of God, and by the leading of the Holy Spirit, that we discern what's what and how it all works out. And one of the reasons that one of the things that we have to understand now in this country in America, in Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand, I don't know about your I've got no I, I can't find any real connections with Christians in Europe. But the government come in for Christians, definitely. Right. In Canada, yep. Trudeau is trying to pass a law so that farmers cannot use fertilizer, or can only use a certain amount of fertilizer, and it has to be a certain kind of fertilizer. But he's also wants to pass a law whereby if you are a farmer, and you've got excess produce, you can't sell it to your next door neighbor. Because it's not being tracked and taxed. There we go. Okay. And you, they will take your land off of you. And they will stop you from doing that. All right. So it will come down. Are you in that while Mrs. Smith next door? She I've got a few more carrots, would you like them saying yeah, I'll give you a couple of quid for your age. Yeah, you know, yeah. And that control, control, total control. And we can see cotton your fruit food there, even in this nation. One single trolling
Reverend Ben Cooper:role. And this
Steve:is the thing that although Okay, dear Ole Miss trust might have given us a couple of years breathing space by the grace of God. And I do mean, by the grace of Yes. We have got a famine of food coming up. We have, but and I shared this, you know, I shared this with the fellowship couple of weeks ago. Our strength is found in the Word of God. Jesus said, Man does not live by bread alone, praise God, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Yeah. And I was praying about this the other day at home. And I was, you know, I don't know how you're gonna do it. But you've in all these four years, you've never let me down. Yeah, I've never let me down. So you either let me down now. No, no, no, no, I don't know where you're gonna feed me. And I don't know where you're going to look after me. But that ain't my problem. No, problem. That's your problem, Lord,
Reverend Ben Cooper:because you've told her to lose trust. Yeah, yeah, that's it. So the word has told us he will not leave it. That's right. Not let the righteous be beggars of bread. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth. Oh, God. So God cannot fail us. No, no, no, no, no, he hasn't. Anyway, but it's impossible. Yes. So even though there is restrictions coming in, we will still breathe and walk
Steve:hate He will take care of live. Yeah. And as I say, how he will do that? I don't know. That's his problem, not mine.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah. But that this comes down to again, doesn't it? Trust is fine, I see the world doing what the Bible says. So if the world is doing what the Bible says, the Bible is true. And also, his promises are true. And he will not fail me. So if anything, it should strengthen me to go you know, what? I'm being pressed, the world has been pressed the world is doing exactly what the Word of God says. So actually, I should be smiling. Because I will I will see this glorious God look after me in a time of famine.
Steve:And now he's gave us a period of time during the lockdown that we could draw closer to Him differently. He is now giving us another period of time. Look, he say right now, come before me. Ask me because it's us yielding to him. Yeah, because this is very important. People gotta understand it. Come to me and asked me to search you out to shine my light within you and to deal with those areas in your life. Okay? Because if you don't That's right. If you don't yet look at my servant Job and what I did to him to get him to where I wanted him to be. So you got a choice. So you can either do it now now. Yeah, or God will drag you through the age backwards to say come back to Jonah again. And John is another thing let me okay, but fully fully Christian in a pew.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So are we looking at it Psalm 137. Test me Search me, you know, search me O God, search my heart. Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah.
Steve:And, and I am on what do I pray I want your will to be done. Do you really mean it? Right now, I've shared this with you over the years that you have have to come to this place that you want God's will no matter what,
Reverend Ben Cooper:no matter what the price is, no matter what, no
Steve:matter what. And the thing is that the enemy will come next I was going to do this, and he's going to do that, and he's going to do this and you got to do that. Hate the enemy doesn't know what God's gonna do. He doesn't know what God's will is. And he will try to persuade you that God will abandon you, or God will do this, oh, God will do that. Well, no, he won't. He won't. If you come to the Lord, and you seek Him, and you ask him to search you out. And you ask him to deal with those areas that he finds hateful within you your wants. And you will not have to be like Job, no one be Assad, if you are of the cold if you are of the elect. Yeah, God will deal with you one way or the other. Either be dealt now now within all right, coming before him. Yeah, confession. Yes. Don't trust you confessing, I don't love you as a should confessing all these things dealing with these things. Right? That's right. And it's and this isn't a five minute prayer. This isn't five minute prayers. This is dedicating your life before God, this could
Reverend Ben Cooper:be the rest of our life of literally coming before him on this earth and saying, Lord, test me try me Your will be done, stripped back from a law when I'm stripped back, please stroke for me guide me. And yeah,
Steve:I mean, the thing is, there comes a point where the stripping of testing doesn't have to continue in that sense, because he's already dealt with those things in you because you're moving forward. You're there's a realization
Reverend Ben Cooper:you're
Steve:growing your faith. You're trusting him growing. All right. Now coming back to Jonah. Oh, okay. The ministers which I spoke about, yeah. Who will not feed the sheep? Yeah, if they are, if they are of God calling if they are the call? Yeah. If they are the elect, and they are not, yeah. And they will not come before God. Then he will deal with them as he dealt with Jonah. Exactly. You will. And they will go through it. They and that's this is what we sit and look at the moment over these next months and years. That as a child of God, come before Him and trust Him.
Reverend Ben Cooper:To start with starting now. Yeah. But I think the starting point was actually at the beginning of COVID, wasn't it? It was a stripping back
Steve:started to draw his children in a deeper way, certainly, because he was drawing them away. He used that period of time that there were people that were not sitting under his junk. Some of them went back to his some of them are still in it. Alright, and they still find themselves in a poison. But now he's coming up. Now it's an even more a direct critical situation. Because next year, there's not going to be any food in the shops. Next year, we're going to be scratching around for food. Right now, at Riot is point the mercy of God has been poured out, definitely is being poured out. And all he wants you to do is come before Him and learn to trust him.
Reverend Ben Cooper:What with him? Trust Him. Repentance. Thank you father helped me
Steve:to deal with those things in your life that he hates. Yeah, because it's only the Spirit of God that can search us out and show us those things.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Search me O God, yes. Test me and try me Yes.
Steve:Because as I say, the choice God is putting this choice before us now. come before me, I love you. I want you to be free. I want you to stand in me, I will be strong in the day of testing. Come to me. And I will cause this to happen in you. But if you won't come to me, I will drag you through the hedge backwards and you will either cause serious harm you will experience what job experienced. Right? Yeah, or you will experience what Jonah experienced. And this is what stay with this. This is the critical time. It's very very critical.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah. And I you can almost sense it. You can you can pick it up, you know that God is definitely speaking. And I believe God is God is calling us to this position of repentance, of trust, of standing on the word of leaning into him of saying Lord, strip me, search me test me might test my heart. If my heart isn't right, please correct my heart. Yep, that's it.
Steve:Yep. Now we're all every single one of us will face trials. That's a fact. But but this is what it says in Romans. Probably not people will read this prayerfully and understand what God is saying. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We got this piece it's, it's been given to us, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God and that rejoice means boast. All right, yeah. Okay. And not only that, and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations we boast of them. We both on why don't we boast in him, because we will be known. We're know that tribulation produces perseverance, which is what the Lord says, I want you to persevere I want you to overcome, but he doesn't expect us to do it in our own strength. So he takes us through the chalk trials, so that we learn how to persevere and continue to persevere. And then that perseverance, what does he do? It produces character, and character produces hope, and who is our living hope, Christ. And so it is establishing Christ within us.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, it's an individual journey. And so this
Steve:week, so if you're going through a trial, it doesn't mean to say that you're not pleased with God, it means that he's dealing with these little life because he doesn't like them. And he's, he's getting rid of them.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And another important thing to say what Steve is saying that is not the devil. No, no, no, no, no, it it'd be there in a wing,
Steve:they will come along, and he will whisper in your mind. God hates you. That's why you're going through this. You can't trust God because he's going to take away your wife. You can't trust God because he's going to take away your kids. You can't trust God because of this. You can't trust him. And this is an it's this is the lie. You have to come before God and cry out, Lord, help me help me. Change me Cruzi sorry, so that I can't hear the siren voices anymore. I've got to die to this helped me Lord, I cry to you. Please, please, please hear me cry. And I think it's Psalm 77. thrust of it in Psalm 7070. ISEF is the guy and it's it's almost screaming, screaming HIS VOICE Help me.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Help me. Yeah. I love love that. He's shouting so loud. He's expressing himself, he's at the end. Help me Help me, at the end of the HELP ME is the beginning. Yeah, that is the beginning
Steve:point is that you've come to understand is that you can't stand in your can't do it. And you've got to die to this yourself. So that you can stand in Christ dying to self is the beginning of,
Reverend Ben Cooper:of, of glory, it
Steve:anyway, just now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. Now. The book of Hebrews has been used for lots of loads, lots of different reasons. And it used to be Christians over the head about whether or not they lose their salvation. The book of Hebrews was written to a bunch of Jews in Italy, I think. I think it was a letter from Jerusalem, to the Jews in Italy. I think that's where it was. And there was persecution coming against Christians. But the Jews were still kind of favorable people. Now they wanted they were toying with the idea of going back to the temple and sign up when, you know, don't don't come up, beat us up, because we're not created. We're really just, we're just pretending we pretend. And he also said, You can't do that. In actual fact, what he says in in chapter six, the warning now, if you go away, if you do, you can't come back. Now, if someone reads that, and he's scared out of his wits, yeah. Okay. Is hearing the Word of God? Is hearing warnings of God. And he's crying outside of me. Yeah. Right. Because there were times when you read that word, terrifies you. right apart. Yeah. So for sure. The Word of God sometimes scares the living daylights he does, and we tremble at it. Because if we don't tremble at it, then we're not really dealing with it as we should. Because there are times in that word,
Reverend Ben Cooper:I'd say more times than the jolly times,
Steve:when especially in Hebrews, Hebrews is extraordinarily challenging, but a strange, very, very challenging book and you'll cry out you have to come to it with this understand, you can either come to it with say, obviously that means you can lose your salvation. Or you can say no, this is God's warning to his people, and those whom He who hear Him those who have ears to hear, will hear and they will cry out and turn back to God. And in chapter 11, we have the role of the faithful. But in Hebrews 12, we have this Therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, these people that they talked about in Chapter 11 Let us lay aside every white and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the author, and finishing a finisher finisher of our face, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and price For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you have not a new or forgotten the exhortation which speaks to your sons, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him, for whom the Lord loves He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. And that's when the devil comes in and will say, Oh, you see, you see what God's doing. He's chasing you, and he's punishing you and he doesn't love you. Well, no, it's quite the opposite. It discourages those, every son whom he receives, he tries and Zozi he loves if you're not being chastened your son. Yeah, that's as simple as as simple as that. Right? If you enjoy chastening, God deals with you is with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chase him? But if you are without chasing, or which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons ZICO. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, when we paid them respect, shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us, the sing best to them, but hey, that's God does it for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness is the Lord now no choice and he seems to be joyful for the present, but painful, nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. And we go back to our back Romans there, that we are taken through these trials, so that we persevere, and that perseverance produces. It's,
Reverend Ben Cooper:you know, it's all goes together. Yeah, it all rolls together. And this is this is it, therefore,
Steve:strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees basically, don't believe the lies of the enemy, loves you. He does great loves, God loves you and make straight paths for your feet. So what that what is lying may not be dislocated, but rather hailed praise the Lord. And, God, it's this area of understanding. This is this is where the devil comes in and starts lying. God doesn't love you don't God doesn't care for you. If he loved you, why do you think you're going through this? If if he really loved you, he wouldn't do this. If he really loved you. He wouldn't allow this if he really loved you. And so people get disheartened. And it's gone down. Let me go back to the decree and declare it because it seemed a lot. lot easier. Yeah. All right. We'll go back and do a bit of decree and declare it. No, it did any good. But it's like the the children of Israel when it came out of when they were brought out of Egypt, they were always complaining. Why didn't you just let us die? back now? Yeah, why can you leave? We have plenty of meat to eat. What can you what can you leave us here? We have plenty of water to drink. And that sort of testing for them? Yeah. It's the same sort of testing. We go through exactly the same. All right. Yeah. That God will test us if we are not tested. We are not have him
Reverend Ben Cooper:tested in a wilderness. Yes. It's a strengthen in a no beginning. There's hope. There's so much. So we are there. We have a very interesting podcast of a famine for the Word of God. And Steve has opened up a lot for thinking and everything like that. Steve's anything you want to close? Yeah,
Steve:I do. We don't know what's going to happen with regards to this energy over the next couple of years. Yeah. But we are. We are facing the simple fact that God will scatter the false shepherds, most countries, you can go down the road, there's a church here, there's a church there. There's a church here, there's a church there will no they won't be there anymore. And you might seek it. And as it said in the Word, you might, you can run to the edge. You can go from C to C from north to south from east to west, there's gonna come a point where you're not gonna find any churches. You've got more you can't be bought up now by Muslims. Anyway, just one, Danny Crawford it's been turned into a mosque, and you're seeing more and more and it will proliferate it definitely. Very quick. People will say see, Christianity is that now, God is dealing with His remnant.
Reverend Ben Cooper:That's right. Definitely. Powerful stuff. Where there There you go. Really interesting stuff. The Word of God the Word Is the Whiteford wherever you are today. We just say keeping the word simple. Stay in the Word of God seek Him, ask God that He will search us out. search our hearts. So today's title was famine of the Word of God my God bless you and strengthen you wherever you are, you can find us on many platforms. Thank you so much. Have a great day, wherever you are. God bless. Thank you. God bless Steve.
Close:Thank you for listening to Elim church Swanleys latest podcast. You can find us on Buzzsprout Spotify, Apple Music, iHeart Radio, Google Play, Alexa Mixcloud, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.