Reintroducing Jesus, Beyond Religion

Dr. Abel Damina: Father, we praise and bless the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name. We rejoice that tonight we come before your word humbly and respectfully. We come tonight with expectation and our hearts are ready to receive illumination from your word.

I pray for everybody connected to this service all over the world that the eyes of each one's understanding be flooded with light. Vails fall off. Whatever is not planted by God is rooted out. We rebuke sickness, disease, and the oppression of the enemy. We command you out in the name of Jesus. May the healing power of God flow through the teaching of God's word.

I decree that everybody tonight will come to that place of realization, the place of acknowledging all that Christ has made available to us via the finished work. We rejoice that by the end of this service, we will all be the better for it, in Jesus' precious name. And every believer says a powerful amen.

I am so glad to have everybody connected. All our house centers and campuses all over the world, it is a joy to have everybody here tonight. It is still 30 Days of Glory and the word of His grace is coming powerfully. The word of God is coming with such clarity and the people of God are being equipped, built up, and edified. It is just a joy to have all of you here tonight.

In fact, let me tell you the truth: the word of God is going to build you up tonight in a way you have to carefully pay attention to. We will be looking into and saying things as the word comes forth. I'd like you to grab a pen, grab a notebook, grab your Bible, and you can be seated with your sweet, smart self as we get right into the word of Almighty God.

If you observe verse one again, I'd like you to take note of something in verse one of Hebrews chapter two. Quickly, verse one. "Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." That word "slip" means we should let them drift away. That's the way it is in the original Greek; we should let them drift away.

If you observe very carefully something here, every time the Law was mentioned in the epistles, it is always referred to as being given by angels. Every time the Law was referred to in the epistles, it was always referred to as given by angels. It's a thought that the Bible makes you able to separate what God did from what the angels or from what man did.

In verse three of Hebrews chapter two, please pay attention because I'm going to say some things tonight. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him?" So Jesus began to speak about it. He began to speak what was spoken by the Lord. Not all, but which was spoken by the Lord.

The four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are an incomplete documentation of God's plan and purpose. Yet in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you see the beginning of God's plan and purpose. But if you do not see the fulfillment, there are things that can only be communicated in full detail by the Holy Spirit. There are things that can only be communicated in full detail by the Holy Spirit.

When he said "confirmed unto us by them that heard," "them that heard" is in italics. Remember Jesus said in John chapter 16, verse 11, "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Verse 12: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now." Next verse: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come."

So it would be funny to say that "them that heard" were the four eyewitness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because Jesus already emphatically said, "I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth."

What the writer of Hebrews wrote, you won't see it in the four Gospels because he dealt with the reality of the offerings of the Old Testament. He also dealt with the reality of the offerings of the Law. Then he also dealt with the realities of the shadows that existed and the substance of them. That is what you will find in the content and the context of the book of Hebrews, which you will not find in the four Gospels because it is the Spirit of God that points the revelation behind the symbols. It is the Spirit of God that points the revelation behind the symbols.

So it's not about them that heard Him; it's about them that heard. Them that heard the Spirit of God. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." Next verse: "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

Verse nine refers to the Old Testament. It was Brother Paul quoting from Isaiah that the Old Testament prophets' eyes have not seen nor their ears heard what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. Remember, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth."

So God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. Now come back to Hebrews chapter two, verse four. "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." It says that the angels spoke the Law, but Christ is the speaking of the Gospel. The angels in the Old Testament spoke the Law, but Christ is the speaking of the Gospel.

Observe the difference. Neglect, despise so great salvation. We cannot escape the recompense of reward if we neglect or despise so great salvation. You will despise it because the only way you despise this so great salvation is in your thought. The way people despise the Gospel today is in their belief system. The Gospel sounds too easy. The Gospel sounds too ordinary. Just for you to believe that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose from the dead and you are saved?

It doesn't make sense to a legalist. A legalist believes that you have to cut your body, you have to do so many things before you are saved. A legalist's opinion of salvation is works-determined. But what Christ has done for us does not require our human works. He did all the job on our behalf.

So some people despise what Christ has done because of their belief system. Somebody looked at me and he said to me, "Dr. Damina, why are you always talking about the fact that Christ has done it all? Christ has done it all. Is there nothing for us else to do?"

And I said to him, "Well, I know your problem. You are angry that I talk about what Christ has done. You are angry that I emphasize the finished work of Christ." And I said to him, "Did Jesus die?" He said, "Yes." "Was He buried?" He said, "Yes." "Did He rise again on the third day?" He said, "Yes." "When He died and rose from the dead, did He finish the job He went to die to do?" He said, "Yes."

I said, "So you see, I emphasize what Christ has done as it regards salvation and the reconciliation of man to God. And it is based on what Christ has done. But you downplay what Christ has done. You downplay the fact that what Christ did was not a complete job, that what Christ did would depend on our good works, it would depend on our morality, it would depend on our good behavior. Therefore, you are making caricature of the finished work of Christ."

So I now asked him, "You and myself, who is committing a sin?" Because if you downplay what Christ has done, you are casting aspersions on the redemptive work of Christ, because what you're saying is that what Christ did is incomplete without what man has to contribute. But Ephesians chapter two tells us you are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

So the despising of the salvation that Christ has brought will be in the belief system of a man. Many people in their thinking have despised what God did in Christ Jesus. In their thinking, what Christ did is not enough. It is what I do that will help what Christ did to be complete. So they despise. And in neglecting, he was referring to an attitude of despising what God has done in Christ.

In reading the document—please pay attention—in reading the document, and when I say "document," I'm making reference to the Bible. In reading the document, you will see the Old Testament and you will see the New Testament. That is the way your Bible is sectioned. There is an Old Testament and there is the New Testament.

But in observing closely, you will know that that is not all that there is to the Bible—just Old and New Testament. Yes, we have a document called the Old Testament and the New Testament for reference sake. For reference sake. We refer to it as the Old Testament and the New Testament for reference sake. Please don't miss that place. We refer to it as the Old Testament and the New Testament for reference sake.

They are not revelatory in design. The point is to look at what the scriptures teach by the Spirit of God for us to know when it is the New Testament and when it is the Old Testament. So the question will be: when did the Old Testament start? Where did the Old Testament start? Please pay attention.

Hebrews chapter 8, verse 6: "But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises." Next verse: "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second." Please pay attention. "If that first covenant had been faultless"—underline the word "faultless"—"then should no place have been sought for the second."

Verse 8: "For finding fault with them." So the fault is not fault in the document; it's that the document was a fault-finder. The Old Testament found fault with the people to whom it was given. "For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

Next verse: "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." So the Old Covenant started in the day when they left Egypt for the promised land, meaning Exodus. So the Old Covenant began from the book of Exodus. Please stay with me.

So now he's doing a distinction between Jesus and Moses. Exodus to Malachi. Jesus: salvation. Moses: the Law. Jesus: salvation. The Law is eye for eye, leg for leg, tooth for tooth. Jesus brought salvation from that Law by believing in what He has done. He qualifies you. Now please stay with me.

So now we know that Moses was not born in the book of Genesis. He is referred to as the Lawgiver. John chapter 1, verse 17: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Actually, in the original Greek, it's "grace which is truth came by Jesus Christ."

So if Moses was not born in Genesis, there's no way you can call Genesis the Old Testament because the Old Testament began in the day when I took you out of the land of Egypt, and it was Moses who took them out. So that means Genesis is not the Old Testament. Genesis is not the Old Testament.

So when was that Old Testament? It was when they left Egypt. That is when the Old Covenant began. Look at Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10. Please pay attention. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people."

Next verse: "And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest." Verse 12: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Look at verse 13 now. Pay attention. "In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old."

The new made the first old. The New Testament retired the Old Testament. "He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." So question: when did the Old Covenant begin? It began in Exodus. So you will discover again that the Old Covenant is not a book and the New Covenant is not a book.

First of all, we said that the Old Covenant started from Exodus to Malachi. Then now we said Genesis is not the Old Covenant because Moses was the Lawgiver and Moses was not born in Genesis. Moses was born in Exodus chapter 2, verse 2. Then now we are saying that the Old Covenant is not books. The Old Covenant is not a book or books. Please listen very carefully.

The Old Covenant is a relationship. The Old Covenant is a relationship. So when we see a relationship that is based on the Law, a relationship that is based on goats for sacrifices, a relationship that is based on physical ordinances, we see the Old Testament.

Listen carefully. When we see a relationship that is not based on animal sacrifices, a careful study will allow you to see the Old Covenant even in the epistles, which is Romans to Revelation. You will still see the Old Covenant in the epistles. So the Old Covenant is a relationship. The New Covenant is also a relationship. Please pay attention.

Now, if you observe in the epistles, sometimes you will see the conduct of certain people like Peter and James reflecting the Old Covenant. So it's not a function of books; it's a function of a relationship that people had or have with God. So the Old Covenant began when they left Egypt. There was a relationship God and man had based on the Law of Moses. There was a relationship God and man had based on the Law of Moses.

So again, the Old Covenant is not a book. You will see it very clearly. Galatians chapter 3, verse 15. Please pay attention to the reading. "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." Even though it's a man's covenant, once it is confirmed, nobody disannulleth or addeth thereto.

Next verse, 16: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Give me verse 17 now. I love this one. Verse 17: "And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." That it should make the promise of none effect.

What do you mean by "if it be confirmed"? Look at again verse 16. Verse 16 of Galatians chapter 3: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

Now look at verse 17 now. "And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before—before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." After what God confirmed in Christ.

And if you observe, there was a covenant before confirmed in Christ, which the Law came after 430 years. So before the Law, there was a covenant confirmed in Christ. 430 years after, the Law of Moses came. Now please pay attention.

So which means that the covenant of God in Christ came before the Law. And that covenant is called the Promise. That covenant is called the Promise. So the Law is the Old Covenant, while the Promise is the New Covenant. There was a promise long before the Law. That promise is the New Testament before the Old Covenant.

So the New Testament is older than the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is younger than the New Testament. The New Testament predated the Old Testament. Please follow me. The New Testament predated the Old Testament. The Old Covenant is younger than the New Testament. That's why I told you it's not books. And I'm going to explain in a few minutes.

So which came first, the New Covenant or the Law? The New Covenant. But you won't see that reading the Bible like a carnal man. You will have to read the Bible with the aid of the understanding of the context of the book. The Promise came first and then it was confirmed.

What do you mean by "confirmed"? 430 years of the Law cannot disannul the Promise. 430 years of the Law cannot disannul the promise of God in Christ, which predated the Law of Moses. How was it confirmed? Now please follow me.

Let's deal with the word "promise" first. That promise is a self-guaranteed commitment. A promise is a self-guaranteed commitment. God gave a commitment and that commitment was guaranteed by nobody. A man was not required to fulfill that commitment. So that promise was a self-fulfilling promise.

The Greek word "epangelia." "Epangelia" means a promise I make that only I will fulfill. A self-fulfilling promise. But the Law, guaranteed by their conduct. If you do this, you will be blessed. If you don't do this, you will not be blessed. If you watch places like Deuteronomy 28: "Blessed shall you be in the city, blessed shall you be in the field, if you shall observe to do according to all that is written. If you do not observe to do according to all that is written, these curses shall come on you."

That is the spirit of the Law of Moses. That is not the covenant of God in Christ before the Law. That is not the covenant of God in Christ before the Law. Please pay attention. So now, the promise was confirmed not by works. Not by works.

Watch Hebrews chapter 6, verse 16. I'm loving this. "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife." 17: "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath." Next verse, 18: "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us."

Now look at verse 18 again. By two immutable things, it was impossible for God to lie. That is by two unchanging things. He gave a promise and He confirmed it by an oath. God gave a promise and He confirmed it by an oath. Look at Hebrews 6:13. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 13, the same context. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself."

Because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. So that means the promise of God to Abraham was not based on Abraham's performance because God made promise to Abraham that only God would fulfill. In this business, it is all God to God. He makes the promise, He fulfills the promise. Man is just a beneficiary of the promise of God fulfilled by God in man's interest.

But the Law, the Law is a conditional promise that is dependent on man's performance. Dependent on man's performance. And nobody is able to keep the Law because the Law has a strict regulation: you break one, you break all.

So since you can't meet the demands of the Law, you become a victim of the Law. That's why Romans says for what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. What the Law could not do. The Law was a fault-finder, finding fault with them. The Law, the Law of Moses.

Please stay with me. The Law of Moses. So epangelia is God making a promise that He Himself will fulfill, that is not based on a man's performance. The Law is "do this, do that, and you will be blessed." You draw nigh, I draw nigh. You don't draw nigh, I don't draw nigh. If you shall hearken and do, I will bless. If you shall not hearken and do, you will be cursed. That's the Law of Moses.

And there are pastors, that's the line of their preaching all the time. They put their people under bondage. They tell them if you don't do this and this and that, you cannot be blessed. If you don't do this and this and that, you cannot be blessed. So they create a picture of a God as a contractor that needs mobilization before He does something.

But my Father is not a contractor. He does not depend on man to do what He wants to do. He does what He does because that is who He is. He does not wait for you to bless. He blesses you; you only wake up to realize that He has blessed. Am I communicating at all?

You don't have to do something for God to do. In fact, God did before you woke up to realize you need to do anything. It's a self-fulfilling promise. And that is the covenant of God confirmed before in Christ. So that is the distinction.

So in looking at the confirmation, it was confirmed before of God in Christ. Question: when was it confirmed? When God said it. When was it confirmed? When God said it. That word He gave was self-confirming. Self-confirming. In blessing, I will bless you. In saying that, He could swear by none greater.

The Law was weak. So the Law was faultless, but the Law found fault with the people to whom it was given. The Law was so strict that the people it was given to could not keep it. So He now established a new covenant that is predicated on the blood of Jesus. It was going to be in God's wisdom, in a mystery spoken in His word. The New Covenant fulfilled was going to be in God's wisdom, in a mystery fulfilled in His word.

Please pay attention. So God incarnated as Jesus the Son and walked upon the face as the Son of Man, guaranteeing and bringing to pass all that God said would happen. So at that point, you will see clearly that the covenant partners—the covenant partners—the Old Covenant partners were the Jews.

The Jews had a partnership. Watch. God said, "Israel, I will bless you. I will do you well. I will take care of you." Israel said, "Moses, tell God we don't want Him to do it for us. We want to do it ourselves and qualify." They requested for a conditional commitment.

So God said to Moses, "All right, if that's what they want, let them have it." Then God said, "Moses, bring them, let me talk to them." They said to Moses, "Go and tell God we don't want to talk to Him. Anything God wants to say to us, He should say to you, you come and tell us." So they appointed Moses their mediator, their mediator.

Now listen very carefully, everybody. In the New Testament, we don't have a covenant with God. Let me repeat. In the New Testament, we don't have a covenant with God. Sometimes you hear people say, "I'm a covenant child. I have a covenant with God. I know how hard I pray. If it is not for my prayer..." and they brag about all that they do to ensure that God does.

You're not a covenant partner with God. You're not a covenant child of God. You don't have a covenant with God. You are just a beneficiary of an existing covenant between God and God. God made the promise. God fulfilled the promise. You are a beneficiary of the promise. So there are no demands. No demands.

There are no terms of covenant between man and God. No terms. God is not waiting for you to fulfill anything. He made the covenant, He fulfilled the covenant. So the New Covenant therefore was confirmed before of God in Christ.

Now, when we say "in Christ," we are referring to the Word, to the words that God spoke, the words that God spoke. You see, so the word God spoke, that word had in it an oath of confirmation, an oath of confirmation. It was God that spoke and it was God that confirmed what God said.

The word of God does not require human efforts to bring it to pass. The word of God is self-confirming. So you will discover that God's dealings is what He referred to as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. It's a relationship and you will see it clearer as we keep teaching.

In the kind of laws that were given in the Old Covenant, when we talk about the covenant, we are referring to the Laws of Moses. Notice what he said in Galatians 3:11: "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith." The just shall exist by faith. That is, the just shall come alive by faith.

So the word "live" is the word "exist." Look at verse 12 of Galatians where we're reading: "And the law is not of faith." Oh my goodness, I can stay there for the whole night. The Law is not of faith. And without faith, you cannot please God. So a man in the Law cannot please God because the Law is not of faith. The Law is not of faith. But the man that doeth... the Law is about performance, doing something.

But the man that doeth them shall live in them. Are you following? Give me the next verse. Oh, glory to God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Why? That the blessing—next verse—that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise.

What promise? The promise that God made to Abraham. What promise? The promise of justification by faith, devoid of works. That promise that God made to Abraham. Now take note of some things here. First of all, the Law is not of faith. Number two, the Law is the opposite of faith. The Law is not of faith. The Law is the opposite of faith. Please stay with me.

Now look at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 to 3 quickly. So wherever we find faith, there is no Law. Wherever we find faith, there is no Law. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 2: "For by it the elders obtained a good report." Verse 3: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

Next verse: "By faith Abel." By faith Abel. Which means Abel was not under the Law because the Law is not of faith. So if Abel by faith, it means there was no Law when Abel operated because anywhere there is Law, there is no faith, and anywhere there is faith, there is no Law. So Abel by faith, meaning Abel, there was no Law.

Look at verse 6: "But without faith it is impossible to please God." Look at verse 5: "By faith Enoch." So when Enoch functioned, there was no Law because anywhere there is faith, there is no Law, and anywhere there is Law, there is no faith because Law is the opposite of faith.

Follow me. Look at verse 7 now. Look at verse 7 of Hebrews 11: "By faith Noah." So Noah did not function under the Law of Moses because Noah functioned by faith. And anywhere there is faith, there is no Law. Anywhere there is Law, there is no faith.

Follow me, follow me. Look at verse 8 now. Verse 8 of Hebrews 11: "By faith Abraham." So Abraham did not operate under the Law of Moses because anywhere there is faith, there is no Law, and anywhere there is Law, there is no faith. Are we in the building?

All right, now come with me to verse 17 of Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11:17: "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises..." How do you receive the promises? By faith. He that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.

Observe verse 20. Verse 20, Hebrews 11:20: "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob." So Isaac did not operate under the Law of Moses. Come to verse 24 of Hebrews 11, 24 to 27. "By faith Moses." So even Moses himself, the Lawgiver, did not operate under the Law because Moses operated by faith.

Even Moses did not operate under the same Law that he gave to the children of Israel because Moses operated by faith. Look at verse 26 and 27 of Hebrews 11. Pay attention. "Esteeming the reproach of Christ." So Moses knew Christ. Moses believed Christ. "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of reward." 27: "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible."

Look at 28 now. Pay attention to verse 28. "Through faith he kept the passover." 29, verse 29 of Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11:29, glory to God. Hebrews 11:29: "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land." Observe carefully, 30. Verse 30: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down." 31: "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not."

So even Rahab did not operate under the Law of Moses because she operated by faith. Now did you observe something? That the faith of Moses only took them to cross the Red Sea. From after the crossing of the Red Sea, you will not hear of any event again until Rahab, walls of Jericho.

So what happened between the crossing of the Red Sea and the promised land? Faithlessness. So because they didn't walk in faith, it's not recorded in Hebrews 11 because Hebrews 11 is an account of men who walked by faith. So there was a skipping of a period. And that is why when they went to spy the promised land and came back crying, they were a people that had no faith.

And that is why Moses gave them the Law because the Law is for the faithless, the Law is for the lawless, the Law is for the disobedient. The Law is not for the righteous, and righteousness is by faith. The Law is not for the righteous, and righteousness is by faith.

Now, the reason why that period was skipped is because there was no faith. But during that same dispensation which you call the Old Testament, he spoke by faith of Rahab. So under the Old Testament, there were people that did not operate the Law of Moses; they operated faith. People like Rahab, people like Barak, people like Gideon, people like David.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews says time will fail me to talk about other witnesses who functioned by faith. Samson could not live and get the result he had after being captured if it was under the Law. But because Samson operated by faith, that's why even with his mistakes and shortcomings, he still had exploits in his time.

You see a man like David. David, after all he has done, stands up to say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. He forgiveth all my sins and all my iniquities." David would say, "And God will not impute sin."

He had an understanding of the New Covenant even though he was in the Old Covenant. Why? Because the New Covenant is older than the Old Covenant. So men who operated by faith in the promise of God made to Abraham enjoyed New Testament blessings without performance in the Old Testament.

So the distinction in what you call the Old Testament and the New Testament was faith. Faith. And Jesus the Word is called the author and the finisher of faith. The author and the finisher of faith. That word "finisher" is the word "perfecter."

So as many as believe the promise of God, which is the word of God, the word that God gave, they lived by faith. So the Old Testament is not dealing with books; it's dealing with relationships. Look at when Isaiah said, "Woe, woe, woe." But in the same book, he began to prophesy. He prophesied of Christ. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah will condemn the people and in the same breath, he will talk about the redemptive sacrifice. That was faith in the Old Testament. In the midst of condemnation, he spoke about the redemptive sacrifice. That is why in studying, you rightly divide the word of truth.

What about the New Testament? The New Testament is what Jesus did. Matthew 26:28, as I begin to round up. Matthew 26:28: "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." So there was no New Testament until Jesus died and shed His blood, which means Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not New Testament books because in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus had not shed His blood.

So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are an extension of the Law. Because the shed blood of Jesus was at the end of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and it was completely shed in Acts. That's why Acts chapter 1 says "after His resurrection."

So how do we know that while Jesus walked on earth in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, He was not under the New Covenant? Because Galatians chapter 4, verse 4, put it up for me. Galatians 4:4: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law."

So Jesus operated under the Law. Matthew 5:17: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The word "fulfill" is not an English word. That word "fulfill" in the Greek means to meet up its demands. "I am come to meet up the demands of the Law," or "I am come to match the Law." "I am come to give the Law what it required from man that man could not supply."

Please listen carefully. So it's important to note that those on the table when Jesus said, "This is My blood of the New Testament," because it was in the last night when they took the Passover which is shed, they understood what He meant. They knew what He was talking about.

Now, the word "covenant" or "testament" was used once by Jesus. But before Jesus was born in the incarnation, a man by the name of Zachariah used that word. Zechariah 1:72 and 73. Luke chapter 1, verse 72: "To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant." Promise, which is the covenant. The covenant, which is the promise.

Look at the next verse now. Give me verse 73. "The oath which He swore to our father Abraham." The oath which He swore. This means there was a covenant given or made to Abraham. Notice, it was made "to," not made "with." It was made to Abraham, not made with Abraham.

So what covenant was made to Abraham? Luke 1:77: "To give knowledge of salvation..." Glory to God, that's the promise. The promise that God made to Abraham was that salvation was going to come. "To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins."

In fact, Zachariah spoke these words very strongly. That's why the day Jesus was born, Zachariah said, "Now thy servant can depart in peace, for my eyes have seen the salvation." That is, "my eyes have seen that that promise made to Abraham is beginning to be fulfilled."

The Jews in John 8:53 also spoke about this. John 8:53 quickly. "Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?" Are you greater than... these are Jewish people talking to Jesus.

Jesus, however, points our attention to an important fact as to why they spoke to Him like that. John 8:44: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

So Jesus turned to those Jews who were trying to argue with the fact that He was God and He said to them, "The reason why you don't know who I am is because your father is the devil. Abraham is not your father. If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham, for Abraham saw My day and he rejoiced."

That is to say, Abraham believed in the promise of Me. You, you don't even believe Me. So you cannot be the children of Abraham because if you were his children, you would rejoice like him. Are you in the building?

Now, so we have people who naturally came from Abraham—that is, his descendants—and those who are children of Abraham by faith. Faith in the Gospel of Christ. Remember where I began to do all of this calculations from was that you and God don't have a covenant. The covenant is between Jesus and God. You are just a beneficiary of the covenant between Jesus and God.

Last scripture, Acts 3:25. Glory to God. Acts chapter 3, verse 25. "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers." "Ye are the children." What it means is you are the beneficiaries.

You and God don't have a covenant. What is a covenant? A pledge, a vow, an agreement between two or three parties to carry out the terms agreed upon, and when broken, it is punished by death. You can't be the one in covenant. Mortality cannot be in covenant with immortality. Only immortality can be in covenant with immortality.

So Jesus and God in covenant. Jesus representing man, God representing Deity. So immortality and mortality in a covenant. God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And Jesus made the demands of the covenant and Deity made the demands. So that made it a binding covenant by two immutable things. Jesus and God. It's impossible for God to lie.

We are just beneficiaries. What we do doesn't affect the covenant. Whether we do or we don't do, it doesn't affect the covenant. Our representative in the covenant, the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, has made the demands of justice. And on the premise of what Jesus has done, we can enjoy everything that God has provided. I thought somebody would shout hallelujah.

Stand on your feet tonight, that's all I've got for you in this service. Glory to God. We're still laying foundation because I'm going to get into some things and I need this foundation to go as deep as possible before we get into all the things we want to teach under the Vital and Legal Work of Redemption.

Lift your right hands to heaven. Let's pray. Father, thank You for everybody under the sound of my voice in this building, on television, on radio, those that are watching on the different platforms on social media, our house centers and campuses. We rejoice that the revelation of Your word is growing big in the hearts of Your people. Vails are falling off. The eyes of men's understanding are being flooded with light.

Wherever you're hearing the sound of my voice, receive revelation. Receive now. Receive in the name of Jesus. We rebuke sickness, we rebuke disease and the oppression of the enemy. Satan, get your hands off of God's property in the name of Jesus. Your body be healed right now. Your body be healed right now in the name of Jesus. Thank You for answered prayer in Jesus' precious name. And every believer says that amen on a note of finality. Praise God.

Glory to God. Now grab your offerings tonight. We want to give in honor of what Christ has done. We want to give in worship. We want to give in acknowledgment of what Christ has done in our hearts. And we also give as our responsibility to get the Gospel out to wherever people are. And I want to thank partners of this ministry who keep sending in support to make sure that the 30 Days of Glory lacks nothing. Thank you again. God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love.

Let's pray together as you lift up your offerings tonight and all of your giving. Father, we pray for everybody giving in this building, online, on television, radio, all those that are hearing and are calling to give an offering and support this ministry and all those that are giving in our house centers and campuses.

We rejoice that through our givings, the word of God is growing mightily. And we pray for every giver today: your needs are met according to His riches in glory in the name of Jesus. You lack nothing; you have everything provided. Great grace is upon you in Jesus' precious name. And every believer says that amen like thunder. Praise God.