Righteous Invasion of Truth

Dr. Abel Damina: Glory! I tell you it is another day to be alive and to be excited about God's goodness. Are you excited? Glory to God!

Father, we rejoice that we are found in You. Thank You for what You have done for us in the resurrection. You rose on our behalf, and we are beneficiaries of all the benefits of Your resurrection. So today, as we fellowship in these realities, as we fellowship in this truth that we have in Christ Jesus, the eyes of each one's understanding are flooded with light.

Whatever is not planted by God is rooted out. Burdens and yokes are destroyed. Your people are built up, equipped, edified, and Jesus is glorified. So we rejoice that by the end of this service, we will all be the better for it. We give You praise and glory and honor for answered prayer. In Jesus' name we pray, and every believer says a powerful amen.

Lift your right hands to heaven. Let's release our faith together as we say these words: I am born of God. I am born of the Word. The Word of God is my nature. I do not struggle to do the Word. I do the Word naturally. Therefore today, I will understand the word of His grace. I will be built up. By the end of this service, I will never be the same. Never ever be the same again. In Jesus' name, and every believer says a powerful amen.

Grab your pen, your notebook, your Bible. You can be seated with your sweet smart self this morning. All right, we are looking at Understanding Satan: Myth and the Truth. We have seen how the Bible describes the devil as the deceiver. We traced his first activity on earth to the book of Genesis, the third chapter, the first verse.

Guest (Female): Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'"

Dr. Abel Damina: Go back to verse one and pay attention to something in verse one of Genesis chapter three. Now the serpent was more subtle. That word "subtle" there. So from day one, the devil showed up as a deceiver. That has been his modus operandi: deceiver. Now look at that Genesis the third chapter, verse 13. Pay attention to verse 13.

Guest (Female): And the Lord God said unto the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" And the woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

Dr. Abel Damina: The word "beguile" is the word "deceive." The serpent deceived me. So which means the first appearance of Satan, number one, he showed up as a serpent in Moses' understanding. Which means Satan always, from day one, wears a mask so that nobody is able to know he is the one in operation. He will wear a mask. He will hide behind a mask and carry out his atrocities, and you will be blaming God for what Satan has done.

I have said it times without number in this church that when you don't know what Satan has done, you will credit God for it. And when you don't know what God has done, you will credit Satan for what God has done. Knowledge is of the essence when it comes to the unveiling, unmasking, and to the exposing of Satan and his wiles. So all Satan has been doing from the beginning is deceive. And he is not just a deceiver, but an active deceiver. Look at Genesis the third chapter, the 13th and the 14th verse.

Guest (Female): And the Lord God said unto the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" And the woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." And the Lord God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."

Dr. Abel Damina: Because you have done this deception. So we saw that God now said to the serpent, look at verse 15. Look at what God sentenced the serpent to experience.

Guest (Female): And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Dr. Abel Damina: And between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise. The word "bruise" there is the word "deceive." It is not English; it is Bible language. It is the word "deceive." Just like when Jacob and Esau were in the womb and Jacob was holding the heel of Esau. That holding the heel of Esau was that Jacob was going to deceive Esau.

And you saw it in the birthright. He supplanted Esau. Because the word there, "bruise his heel," is Bible language for deceive. So the devil has always been the deceiver. His modus operandi has always been deception. Now because he is a deceiver, it is important for us to understand certain things to be able to unmask the devil and to be able to know how to handle the devil. Hebrews chapter one, verse one and two.

Guest (Female): God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things.

Dr. Abel Damina: Now we see a distinction between the Old and the New Testament, a very clear distinction. The Old Testament therefore has a portion of the truth. God, who at sundry times, divers manners, spoke to the fathers—Old Testament—by the prophets. New Testament, hath in these last days spoken to us in His Son. So in the New Testament, we have the clear revelation of God. In the Old Testament, we have the prophets communicating God to the fathers.

Which means the prophets will communicate the word of the Lord, and they will also communicate their own understanding of God. Two dispensations. The AMPC of that Hebrews chapter one, PJ.

Guest (Female): In many separate revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the truth.

Dr. Abel Damina: Did you observe? Each of which. So the revelations of the Old Testament only carried a portion of the truth. Genesis has a portion of the truth. Exodus, Leviticus, little portions of the truth. Which means there can be no complete revelation of God in the Old Testament because what the Old Testament carried was a portion of the truth. What we call polymeros and polytropos in the Greek. Polymeros, polytropos talks about a partial revelation or a progressive revelation of God in the Old Testament.

Which means in the Old Testament, you will have an incomplete information of God. Incomplete information. Many of the things you read in the Old Testament were products of visions. People saw visions, and they were products of experiences, and they were products of personal knowledge. Visions, experiences, and products of personal knowledge. Please don't miss that. The Old Testament was communicated in visions, products of experiences the people had, and products of personal knowledge.

So that is why you will see sandwiched with the revelation that they had will be their experiences and their own personal knowledge. Which means it is a combination of many factors that will require to be rightly divided. Pay attention. So which means that the Old Testament has incomplete information about God, incomplete information about Satan, incomplete information about you, and incomplete information about man.

So if your belief system is structured in the Old Testament, it cannot be sound. Because the Old Testament has incomplete information, which could actually be referred to as misinformation. When partial truth is communicated, it can misinform. And when there is misinformation, it will lead to deformation.

And you know we live in an age where what we are engaged in is what I call information war. Information war. That is why social media has become so powerful. That is why no country can ignore social media. No country in the world. No country in the world can ignore Instagram. No country in the world can ignore even TikTok. America wants to ban TikTok, and even the reaction in TikTok made America to step back and say, "Okay, we will look for a way." Because the world, it is information war.

Whoever controls information controls the world. Whether it is accurate information or deformation or misinformation or partial information. Whoever controls information controls the world because information will determine what you believe. What you believe will determine the quality of your life. What you hear is what you believe. What you believe is what you say. What you say is who you become.

Information is critical. And that is why Bible teaching cannot be compromised in these last days. Because if we are going to raise mature believers, they must be soundly informed. They must be well-informed concerning God, concerning God's plan for man, concerning man's enemy, and concerning God's plan and purpose for mankind. We have got to teach. That is why we are teaching you this morning. We are teaching it as accurately as possible because you can't afford to be misinformed concerning eternal issues, eternal realities, and eternal details.

So if your belief system is only structured in the Old Testament, you will be misinformed because the Old Testament only carries partial revelation, progressive revelation, or a portion of the truth, not the whole truth. That is why in the Old Testament you can see God kills, God makes alive, God destroys, God saves. You will see God causes disasters and God protects from disasters. Why? Because it is partial information.

If you stay with that, you will have a belief system of a bipolar God. A God that has a mental condition that needs to be confined to a mental institution. That is the picture of God you will have where one time He is good, one time He is bad. And if He wants to be good, extremely good. If He wants to be bad, extremely bad. What is that? Bipolar. That is a medical condition.

But the Old Testament gives you that kind of picture because the Old Testament was communicated in that form because God was revealed to the Old Testament people progressively along with the revelation. They had their own personal knowledge communicated, their experiences communicated, all put together to form what you call the Old Testament. Moreover, the Old Testament was communicated in a world that is not your world, a language that is not your language, vocabulary that is not your vocabulary, culture that is not your culture, communication method that is not your communication method.

The other day I stood here and I said if the person the devil possesses is a mumu, the devil will be a mumu-shous devil. Now there are countries in the world that don't understand "mumu." So people started asking on social media, "Papa, what is mumu? Please explain what is mumu." It is a communication I have done that other cultures and other nations are not conversant with. But we in Nigeria here, it is easy to know who a mumu is. A mumu is a mumu. Mumu. A mumu is somebody who is stupid, right? Stupid. That is mumu.

So if somebody tells you mumu, he is saying stupid. That is what it means. But you wouldn't know it except you have been in our culture, except you are used to the way we communicate here in Nigeria or within our society. So the Bible has such languages that were used in Bible days that when you read, you will think it is English. That is why you can't use a Macmillan dictionary to understand biblical words. The Bible has its own language that it uses in communicating the truths of God.

Now, so to be able to have a sound mind concerning God, to be able to have sound knowledge of God, sound knowledge of Satan, sound knowledge of man, sound knowledge of God's plan for man, we began to establish a few things that will help us or lead us in this discovery and adventure. Number one, we said God cannot lie. God cannot lie. We are not saying God does not lie. God cannot. Even if He wants to lie, He doesn't have the constitution that enables Him to lie. So God cannot lie.

Number two, God cannot do evil. God cannot do evil. Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted of God," for God cannot be tempted with evil. God cannot. I didn't say God does not. I didn't say God will not. I said God cannot. God can't. That's what the Bible teaches us. God cannot do evil.

Number three, God cannot change. "I am the Lord, I change not." God cannot change. Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever. God cannot change.

Number four, God does not find fault. God does not find fault. Bible tells us if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. The word "upbraid" means God does not find fault. God cannot, does not find fault. He is not a fault-finder.

Then there is no darkness in God. No darkness whatsoever in God. First John chapter one, verse number five. PJ, let's go.

Guest (Female): This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Dr. Abel Damina: In Him is no darkness at all. God is absolute light. Absolute. Those of you that are science-inclined, you know what the doctrine of absolutes is, or the theory of absolutes. That when a place has absolute light, there's no atom of darkness. When a place has absolute darkness, there's no atom of light. God is not light-darkness. God is light, absolute light, and in Him is no darkness at all. At all.

Now pay attention. God is not the author of confusion. God is not the author of confusion. Then number seven: God cannot repent. God cannot repent. God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. God cannot say, "Ah! I didn't know it was going to be like this. I regret." For God to say that means He is not God. It means something happened that God was not aware of. He is God means He knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. Nothing takes Him by surprise. God will never say, "Hey! Why didn't I see that?" God will never say, "Oh, I am sorry." God never repents because before the beginning began, God was.

And before the beginning began, God traveled through time and went to the end of time and came back to the beginning and began the beginning with the beginning. So nothing takes Him by surprise. That you are seated in this building today, God already knew that before you were born. So you sitting here today is not a surprise. Those of you online, God saw that before you were born, that on this day, 2025, you will be part of this service. Nothing takes Him by surprise. That is why He is God. Are we communicating?

God cannot repent. Now you will discover that when you read the Bible, there is so much contradiction in the Old Testament. Do you know that on the two occasions where Satan was mentioned in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel 28, those are the only two places the word "Satan" was mentioned? Satan was mentioned, not even as S-A-T-A-N, but Satan was mentioned by implication. In fact, in both cases, the prophet would be speaking about something different then include Satan in his talk, then move to something else. It wasn't focused. It was mentioning him in passing.

Now the third time Satan was mentioned was in the story of Job. And Job is our good study partner in this course or in this study. So when you read, you will see some contradictions in the Old Testament. We read that at a time God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. God wanted. God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He is God. His name is Yahweh, the self-existing one who exists by Himself. He introduces Himself as the "I AM," which means "I am what I am, I will be what I will be."

He introduces Himself to Abraham, who was a sinner and ungodly man. I don't know why people get angry every time I say Abraham was a sinner, was an ungodly man. He was not born holy. He was an idol worshiper. He was worshipping the moon and the stars. When God walked to him and said, "Abraham, I like you. I will bless you." Abraham didn't look for God; God looked for Abraham, just like we didn't look for God, God looked for us.

God looked for Abraham. He was an ungodly man, he was a sinner. Abraham was practicing idolatry under his father. God was the one who justified Abraham. Not that Abraham didn't sin anymore; God just justified Abraham by faith. Now God goes to the same man and said, "My friend, listen, my friend, I think I want to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah."

And Abraham said, "I know, I know You will be the Judge of the earth, and as the Judge of the earth, I know You will do right." Then God said, "Find me a few men. If I find five righteous men, I will not destroy. I want to destroy, I don't want to destroy." See that impression? "If I find 5, 50 righteous men, I will not destroy." So it shows like a God who does not have a settled mind. "I want to destroy... Hmm, if I find 50, I will change my mind."

So God is like negotiating crayfish. God and Abraham are negotiating. You want to destroy the place, you are now asking for 50 men. Then you even ask up to five. It is like God said, "I want to destroy the place," and then you now say, "But if I find five, I will change my mind." Then the same scripture tells us that God does not change. It tells us that God does not repent.

Then you go to another person by the name of Noah. God said, "I want to destroy the place." Then he sends Noah to the same place he wants to destroy. Preach to the people, build an ark, not just for Noah and his family, but for the people. If anybody enters, he will not be—they refused to enter. If you really want to destroy the place, don't tell anybody, just finish them.

You remember Jonah? Jonah knew God. Jonah said, "I am not going to Nineveh." God said, "You must go." Jonah said, "I know You, I know the way You operate. You are quick to forgive. I can go now and begin to prophesy, You come and change the plan." And it happened. Jonah said, "Didn't I tell You? Didn't I tell You? You sent me, now I have prophesied, You didn't fulfill my prophecy. I know You, I know You forgive people very easily. I know Your character."

One day David said, "His anger is for a moment." Now they were saying that in their ignorance. He said, "But His mercy is for a lifetime. In my prosperity I said, 'I shall not be moved.'" He said, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." That is what they knew. Anger is for a moment, mercy is for a lifetime. It sounds confusing. Anger for a moment, mercy for a lifetime.

Now remember all of this problem is only in the Old Testament, Genesis to Malachi. One day David has just sinned. He has taken the wife of a man called Uriah. He has killed the husband. And the prophet Nathan came unto David. And how many of you know that it was David that judged himself? It was David that judged himself. It is the judgment he announced that Nathan said, "You are the man." So David judged himself. It wasn't God that judged David. It was David that judged himself. You didn't hear that. It wasn't God that judged David. It was David that judged himself.

And David put on sackcloth. The boy died. Then David said, "I have sinned, I have sinned." But while he was saying "I have sinned, I have sinned," the woman was in his house. Then he said, "Oh God, against Thee and Thee only have I sinned." PJ, read for me. Psalm 51 from verse one. Please stay with me. Psalm 51 from verse one.

Guest (Female): Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Dr. Abel Damina: Against Thee and Thee only. You have killed a man. The wife is in your house. You are talking to God. "Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned and done this wicked." I thought David would do restitution. Take the woman to who? The husband has kpem-me. The husband has pai. The husband is dead. Remember Israel when they were in Egypt. Now, Exodus 11 verse 4 to 7.

Guest (Female): And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.'"

Dr. Abel Damina: Someone say, "Put a difference." All right, but notice what did God tell them to do? God has said all the sons, these things will happen: disaster, death, and all that. But what did God tell them to do? Exodus chapter 12, verse 3 to 11, PJ.

Guest (Female): "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover.'"

Dr. Abel Damina: You shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Now that's instructive. You see when Jesus took the bread and broke the bread and the wine, that was the Passover. He now said, "This is my blood of the New Testament." He said, "This is my body." He was doing exactly what was done in Exodus. So the Exodus account we just read was a typology of what Jesus would do in reality. Eat the bread, take the blood, strike the blood on the doorposts of your house. That is it. Eat it very well. Look at that Exodus again while we read chapter 12, verse number 12.

Guest (Female): "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord."

Dr. Abel Damina: I am the Lord. So the blood is a sign. Question: Who asked them to put the blood on the door? God. God. Now who is supposed to smite the people from what we read? God. He asked them to put the blood for protection, and He is the one who is going to strike. Can you see that? "When I see the blood, I will pass over." So He's protecting them against Himself.

Now I hope you know, honey, this has nothing to do with the conduct of the people. I hope you know that. Once the blood is on the doorpost, even if they are stealing inside, He will pass over. Once the blood is on the doorpost, even if they are fighting inside, He will pass over. Once the blood is on the doorpost, even if they kidnap somebody inside, He will pass over. Because this is not about their conduct; this is about the blood being where? On the doorpost. I'm teaching good. Stay with me.

It had nothing to do with their conduct; it had to do with their faith. The fact that they believed what He said. "Take the flesh, eat it, consume it, put the blood on your doorposts. When I see the blood, I pass over." He said including the beast of your house, everyone shall be saved and delivered. So if He is the one that's striking, why does He need the blood? He can adjust, He can just choose not to destroy. He can just—if He is the one doing it—He can just say, "I have changed my mind, I won't destroy. Everybody just stay." Why will He need the blood, if He is the one destroying, to keep Him from destroying? These are the kind of questions you want to ask yourself.

So He is the one that preserves from destruction. Write that down. God is the one that preserves from destruction. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that death is an enemy of God. Death is an enemy of God. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 tells us, seeing then that the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Question, church: Who had the power of death? The devil. So who was killing people? The devil. Who had the power of death? Was it God? So if there was going to be death in Egypt, would it be God killing or would it be God protecting? Who would be killing? The devil would be killing because he had the power of death, that is the devil.

Secondly, death is an enemy of God. Stay with me. Death is an enemy of God. The power of death was in the devil's hand. And then we thought it was God. No, it wasn't God. But because of their limitation in knowledge, everything they wrote about the devil, they credited it to God's account. They were limited in knowledge. They didn't know Satan. I have told you throughout the Old Testament, even Moses as educated as he was, didn't know Satan. Instead of Satan, he was saying serpent. He was saying serpent. Because the devil was masquerading himself in the Old Testament so that nobody can see him.

Even today, he's still masquerading. It's just that we are shining light by the scriptures now, that's why you know who the devil is. But outside the teaching of God's Word, you really can't know who the devil is. Because the devil is not a being that goes around saying, "I will beat you, I will fight you." No, he hides behind circumstances, he hides behind human beings, he hides behind situations, he hides behind elements, he hides behind events. So if you don't know him, you can't really see him. He's got to be exposed by the light that comes through the entrance of God's Word.

So it wasn't God that was killing in the Old Testament. And many times also, please listen to this one, don't miss this: translators of the scriptures didn't do justice because in language every translator knows this. There is what is called the causative tense and the permissive tense in language. Causative and permissive tense. Very two important tenses.

Causative is to say, "I put the car in the garage." Permissive is to say, "I saw the car put in the garage." That's permissive. Causative: "I put the car in the garage." Permissive: "I saw the car put in the garage." I was involved in the two occasions. One of them I caused it, the other one I permitted it. And in the Old Testament, most of the translators just put the two together. They didn't distinguish the tenses for us; they just jumbled them together. The things that God permissively saw happen—you didn't hear that—the things that God permissively saw happen, they said God made happen. An example is Exodus 15:26. PJ, read for us.

Guest (Female): And said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee."

Dr. Abel Damina: "I will put none of these diseases," as if God goes around distributing diseases. "I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord that healeth." So I am the Lord putting the diseases, for I am the Lord that healeth. That's a contradiction. Now but it's language, because the way it is in the Hebrew is, "I will not allow any of these diseases come upon thee." That's the way it is in the Hebrew. "I will not allow, for I am the Lord that healeth thee." That's the way it is in the original.

But you see translators put it all together. That's why you must study the epistles very well. I mean very, very well. You must know the epistles. That understanding of the epistles is what you carry now to go and read the Old Testament. The epistles are from Romans, Galatians, Corinthians to Revelation. That is what we call the epistles. That when I see the blood, I pass over. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:25. PJ, read for me.

Guest (Female): For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Dr. Abel Damina: The last enemy of God that shall be destroyed is death. What is death? An enemy. So death in the Old Testament couldn't have come from God because death was an enemy, is an enemy, will always be an enemy of God. The one that had the power of death was who? The devil. So who was the one preserving lives? God. "When I see the blood, I will pass over," because blood stands for the remission of sins. The authority Satan had over mankind was sin. That was the authority of Satan. The power of Satan was sin.

So Jesus became sin for us so that Him becoming sin, died, which is the wages of sin. He became sin, He died and paid sin its wages, and rose without sin. When you believe the gospel, the sinless life of God comes on your inside and brings you to God's level where you are sinless. Sin shall not have dominion over you. You are not under the law; you are under the grace of God. Moreover, you have received the life of God, eternal life. Your life and God's life have been intertwined like scrambled eggs. You can't differentiate one from the other. You and God are one spirit. You are now His righteousness. You are now His holiness. You are now His sanctification. You are now His wisdom.

He identified with you in sin; now you identify with Him in righteousness. He took your place so you take His place. If you don't understand this, you don't have a reason to celebrate Easter. Easter is not a religious celebration; it is a celebration of God's life in a human being. And it is not a day; it is our lifestyle. This is how we live every day, celebrating God's life, celebrating eternal life, celebrating the dominion of life over death. The day you receive Jesus, you pass from death to life. You die no more. Somebody shout, "I die no more!"

Somebody say, "But the Bible says it is appointed unto men once to die." Jesus died the death. That appointment, Jesus has kept it. How many appointments? Once. How many times did Jesus die? Once. So my appointment with death has been kept by Jesus on my behalf, so I die no more. I die no more. Some say, "But why do Christians die?" You call it death; the Bible calls it sleep. We don't die, we sleep. Why do we sleep? We sleep when we finish our work. We sleep when we finish our work and we are tired. When do you sleep? When you are tired.

When I get tired of this world and I get tired of living here and I have finished my assignment, instead of hanging around, I will just say, "Hi guys, I've given you everything I ought to have given you. I'll see you on the resurrection day." I will sleep. They will not make me sleep; I will sleep. Nobody will make me sleep. I will sleep when I want to sleep. Say "I hear you." How many of you know even children, you can't force them to sleep? If you force them, they will pretend. When you go out, they'll remove the cloth and laugh at you. When you're coming, they will cover. You can't make somebody sleep by force.

So the believer does not die, but the believer sleeps. That is why the Bible will say, and Jesus gave up the ghost. They didn't collect it from Him. That means He slept when He wanted to sleep. What about that guy that was stoned? What's his name again? Stephen. Stephen, they stoned and stoned and stoned him. While they are stoning him, he is seeing visions. That's not a normal human being. He said, "A-ha, my eyes just opened now. I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Wow, this is too beautiful. What am I doing here? This place is dirty. Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing. Into Your hands I commit my spirit." And he gave up the ghost. That's sleep. Nobody took it from him; he gave it up.

Am I teaching good here? What about Brother Paul? They carried stone and stoned Paul. They stoned and stoned and stoned Paul. Paul fell down, collapsed. After they left, he stood up. Because he cannot die till he gives up. He didn't give up, so when they were gone, he stood up, cleaned his body, said, "Stupid people." The next day they saw him in the house doing Bible study. "Uh-oh, is it not the man we killed?" No, you cannot kill him. He is unkillable. He is undyeable. You have eternal life. Glory to God! Somebody shout, "I have the life of God on my inside."

Nobody could take Paul's life. Abundance of persecution, yet he couldn't die. Shipwreck, he couldn't die. In the sea, he couldn't die. Attacked, he couldn't die. Beaten 39 times with rods, iron rods, 39 times four times, he didn't die. Shipwrecked inside the sea, inside the depth of the ocean, he didn't die. When finally he survived and came out because his body has been frozen, he gathered firewood, put fire to warm himself. As he was warming himself, a venomous serpent fastened itself on him—the type that if the snake just touches you, you are dead, dead, dead. Paul just looked at the snake in his hand, he shook it off into the fire and felt no harm.

That same life of God in Paul, that same life of God in Jesus, is the same life on your inside. Glory to God! If the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwelleth in your mortal body, that same Spirit shall quicken. Somebody shout, "I have the life of God!" One day Brother Paul said, "I am in a strait between two. Whether to go or to stay. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." No, that's not death. But he had to use "die" because people will have to understand what he means. Because you can't call death gain. Gain is supposed to be loss. We lost him, we lose him. Paul say it's not loss; say we gained him. Because his death is a gain to heaven. That's why he say, "Don't cry, brethren, like the unbeliever."

Because one of these days when the trumpet sounds, all our loved ones who slept in Christ, we will see them again. Then you will know that death never existed where the believer was. I feel like I am preaching here. We will see all our precious people that have gone before us. I'm just waiting to see E.W. Kenyon, see Kenneth Hagin, R.W. Schambach, some of those my guys. Arch-Bishop Benson Idahosa. We'll see all of them. "Hey, oh, this is where you have been. What's up, man?" Then you will know that the believer does not die. The believer doesn't die. I'm teaching good? The believer doesn't die. He only sleeps because one of these days he will wake up. We will all wake up. The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive shall be changed. Mortality shall put on immortality.

Paul said, "I am in a strait between two. Whether to go or to stay. Death, come." See it now. That man on the computer is a preacher. Philippians 1:23: "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." Watch next verse.

Guest (Male): Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Dr. Abel Damina: "I have a desire to go, but when I look at you, you still need my ministry." This guy is doing "teeny-tenana" with death. "Death come, death wait, death come, death wait," and death is busy obeying. Look at the next verse. "And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide." "I won't go since you need me. I know I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith." He said, "Look, death wait, even though I want to go, I want to ride you like a horse to cross from here to there." See, we use death to cross. We are the ones that will use it when we need it. We will bring it and climb on it like a horse to cross over to the other side. But when we don't need it and it comes, you tell it, "Go, go, who called you?" And it will obey. It's a function of knowledge.

Then one day Brother Paul, after being with them and strengthening them, said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord Jesus shall give me. Not to me alone, but to all those who love His appearing." He said, "Now I am ready to be offered." That is now. "I'm ready to go." It was shortly after that he departed. The believer in Christ has eternal life. God's life. Say with me very loud, "I have eternal life." I am not hearing you at all. Can I hear you louder? Glory to God!

The authority of Satan was sin, but sin has been defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. He says, "When I see the blood, I'll pass over." The devil acted injustice in judgment. Satan had given the right to him but the authority to him; he was acting with that authority. Satan took the authority from man because man sinned and man acted contrary to God. Say, but when I see the blood, because the blood takes care of the demands of justice. The blood is the end to that wrath. The blood puts an end to Satan's demands and to sin's demands. Righteousness does not come by works; righteousness comes by the blood.

So the sentence of hell and death by the devil will not touch those that are in a house with the blood. Even if they are inside the house doing bad things, the blood on that doorpost is their security. The day you received the blood of Jesus and the life of God was your eternal security from damnation. Jesus in His death now brought the real Passover. Remember God said, "I will put a difference." And Jesus said, "This is my blood of the new covenant shed for you." So it wasn't God; it was simply the devil. God does not punish people for their sins. Write it in capital letters. God does not punish people for their sins. Religious demons will start reacting now.

God does not punish people for their sins. It is justice that punishes people, not God. It is justice that meets out judgment. That's why Jesus met the demands for justice. Jesus met the demands of justice by dying. That's why Jesus was punished. The Bible says He was bruised for our iniquities. Bruised. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He was wounded for our transgressions. So Jesus met the demands of justice on our behalf so that justice will not be against us; justice will be for us.

Because the demands of justice, which is the soul that sinneth shall die, the wages of sin is death, Jesus became sin on my behalf, died on my behalf. One appointment with death, Jesus met the appointment on my behalf. Now I receive the life of God. I'm teaching good? The devil takes advantage of that justice and carries out evil on mankind. The devil takes advantage of it, the justice system. We discover there are so many people in spite of the fallen state of man, because of what they knew about the new covenant, Satan couldn't handle them anyhow. People like Abraham, people like Moses, people like David, they took advantage of the new covenant in a promise.

That's why a man like David could say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits. He forgiveth all my sins." David could say, "If Thou should count iniquity, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee that You may be worshiped." David would say, "You have not dealt with us according to our sins, but You have dealt with us according to Your mercy." That guy understood new covenant. That's why they could operate at certain realms of understanding.

Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3 tells us the things that were seen were not made of things you read in the old covenant. Yeah, you didn't hear that. The things that were seen were not made of things which do appear, of things that were seen in the Old Testament. Before now Abraham saw Zion. He sought for a city. "City" there is the word "polis." He sought for a people, so "city" means people. He sought for a people whose builder and maker was God. And those people are seated now. We are the ones Abraham was looking for. We are the people whose builder and maker is God. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are that people that Abraham was looking for. So now that we are here, we have come to Mount Zion. We have come to the city. Here is the city. Everyone here is a part of that city of the living God. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. We are come to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. We have come to Jesus, the mediator of the New Testament. We have arrived. We have arrived. We have arrived. We have arrived. We are in Zion. Are we in Zion or are we going to Zion? We are in Zion! "So it's not we're marching to Zion." Zion is far? Stop marching. Believe in Jesus; you'll be in Zion now. Believe in Jesus; you will be in Zion now.

Marching can't get you there. Somebody said to me, "Dr. Damina, why I don't like you is because you say heaven at last is a scam." Is it not a scam? It's a scam. Heaven is not at last; heaven is at first. The day you believe the gospel is the day you make heaven. It's not, "Let us... we pray that we make heaven." No, you cannot make it. You cannot make it. You cannot make it. You cannot make it. You cannot make it. That prayer already tells us you will not be there. That prayer already tells us you will not be there. No man can make heaven. But Jesus is heaven.

The moment you receive Jesus—I feel like I am preaching here—heaven is our reality where? In Christ. If any man be in Christ. Christ is the believer's heaven. Jesus makes heaven, heaven. Wait, wait. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. When at the cross my Savior made me whole. My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.

Do you know that even the Old Testament people knew better? Isaiah said God has planted eternity in our hearts. Eternity is in our hearts. Heaven is in my heart. Oh, heaven is in my heart. Heaven is in my heart. It's not a location in the sky. It's a reality in the immaterial. The word "heaven" is the word "epouranios." Epouranios means immaterial. We see you but we don't see the immaterial you, because the immaterial you is in heaven. The material you is on earth, but the immaterial you is in heaven.

Somebody say, "How do you prove that?" Ephesians chapter two, verse five and six. We'll read like a mass choir. PJ, all of us. Everybody, PJ, all of us, everybody with our microphones. Everybody with your loud voice. Let's go. Everybody. One, two, go.

Dr. Abel Damina: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace you are saved. You are not going to be saved; you are saved. Next verse. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together. We will sit? We will sit at last? We will sit one day? Has made us what? To sit together where? In heavenly places. Where are you sitting now? Is it heaven at last or heaven at first?

Brother Paul will say in Philippians, our citizenship is in heaven. We are citizens of heaven now. A citizen already has a passport. Say, "I'm seated in heaven right now." See, this is what Christianity is. Christianity is not, "My prayer is that we make it one day." Christianity is the assurance of eternity with God. Christianity is the reality of God's life in a man now. It's not some, "We may make it." No! Don't market to me a product you are not sure of. I will not buy it.

You came to sell soap. I say, "Have you used it?" You say, "No." "What is it capable of doing?" "Even me, I'm trying." "Okay, go first. When you try, you can bring it." Don't come and market a gospel that you have not experienced. Don't tell me about a heaven you have not gone to. Tell me about a heaven you have gone to. Jesus said, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth." So heaven's reality can be experienced on earth. Whatever you bind on earth. So right now, because you are heaven and earth, you can decide and affect heaven. You are a dual citizen. Glory to God! On earth a human being, in heaven a son of God.

Don't market something to me you have not experienced. Don't bring it to my house. If you are bringing something to me, it must be something you've experienced. Don't tell me you want to iron my cloth when the one you are wearing is ruffled. I will look at what you are wearing to know whether you can iron my own or not. Say, what we have seen, what we have handled, the Word of Life. John 1:1.

Guest (Male): That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.

Dr. Abel Damina: Say what we are telling you is not what they told us; it is what we have experienced. So in salvation, you have the experience of eternity. So you can talk about it. You experience the reality of Christ. Christ is not an abstract; He is a reality. He lives in you and is a part of your daily activity. You wake up knowing He's there. You sleep knowing He's there. You don't protect Him; He protects you. You don't carry Him; He carries you. You don't defend Him; He defends—I feel like I'm preaching. If you're hearing me, shout "I hear You." Turn to your neighbor, say, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Tell your neighbor, "And in case He's not there, He can come right now."

Our God is not in the sky. Our God is not in the grave. Our God is here. He's here; he's just a breath away from you. If you shall believe in your heart the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth, He takes possession of you. Say not in your heart, "Who shall go to heaven to bring Christ down?" Say not in your heart, "Who shall go to the grave to raise Christ from the dead?" But what saith it? The Word is nigh thee, in your heart and in your mouth. That is the Word of faith which we preach. That if you believe in your heart the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Glory to God! Somebody shout, "I am saved forever!"

Sit down if you can. Let me round off this service. Those Old Testament patriarchs took advantage of the new covenant. God made a covenant with Jesus. God didn't make a covenant with Abraham. God didn't make a covenant with Isaac and Jacob. His covenant was with Jesus. Mortality cannot make a covenant with immortality. God cannot make a covenant with man. God is sinless; man is a sinner. Sin and sinlessness cannot be in a covenant. It would be injustice. So God made covenant with God. Man became the beneficiary of the benefits of that covenant. That's why in the gospel, you receive. You don't do; you receive from what Christ has done.

Abraham only accepted the covenant, just like David and the men of old. So here we are. Death is not of God. Death is an enemy. Death was under the influence or with the influence of the devil. But you know, if you read the Old Covenant, you will not know what I'm teaching you here. Let me show you another confusion.

Now God had given a commandment to Israel that you cannot number Israel. God said there should be no census for Israel because what God told Abraham was that his children would be like the stars; they cannot be numbered. And the children will be like the sand by the seashore; they cannot be numbered. So it is a sin to count the number of God's people. Because God's people cannot be numbered. So God told Israel, "No census for Israel because My promise is that My children will be like the sand and the stars that cannot be numbered." OK? You can't be numbering children of God.

"How many people are Christians in this city?" There are many you don't know, and they will never say, "I'm a Christian," but they are. You can't number us. We are a number that cannot be numbered. Innumerable company. Because the gospel says "as many as believe." As many? There are more people going to heaven than those going to hell. Don't be mistaken. Heaven will full. 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 1. Pay attention. 2 Samuel 24 verse 1, PJ.

Guest (Female): And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah."

Dr. Abel Damina: Uh-oh, God is angry and he told David to go and number. And when David numbered, God killed them. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine half truth? What did I call it? Half truth. But let me show you what was erroneously put there, what the next thing is. Because God said don't number Israel. It will be a sin. So how can God be the one inspiring them to number Israel when He has said don't do it? And the Bible says, let no man say he is tempted when he is tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted He any man. So who is the "He" there that moved them to number? Now let me show you another account of that same instance that is clearly written now. Okay? 1 Chronicles 21 verse 1.

Guest (Female): And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Dr. Abel Damina: So who provoked David to number Israel? Satan. But Satan was hiding, so they thought it was God. That's how the Old Testament was written. It was Satan that caused that havoc there. In Second Chronicles, we are told who the person that caused it is. Satan thrives in anger. The righteousness of God is not operated in wrath. There's no wrath in God's righteousness. Amen. So you can see a whole lot of misinformation when you read the Old Testament without proper New Testament interpretation. Now listen carefully. Write this down: Never read the Old Testament without the New Testament. Never read the Old Testament without the New Testament.

Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 13 and 14, PJ.

Guest (Female): And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.

Dr. Abel Damina: Now what does he mean by "veil"? First of all, Moses talking about the Old Testament law. He says there is a veil upon their heart. So what does he mean by "veil"? It means they are blinded. To be veiled means to be blinded. When you read the Old Covenant without the revelation in the New Testament, you cannot see. Anytime you are reading the Old Testament without the revelation of the New Testament, you are blind. Every time. To read the Old Testament without the revelation of the New Testament makes you blind.

So to know the devil, you will have to have an understanding of the epistles. A thorough understanding of the epistles. Then you find out that God was not the one killing the children. He said children are the heritage of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is His reward. So how can He be the one killing them? Throughout the Old Testament, the devil deceived people a lot. It is without understanding you hear people say, "Whatever God wants to do, He will do it. Anything God wants to do, He will do it. What's gonna be is gonna be. There's nothing we can do about it. Give thanks to God for everything. For life, for death, for poverty, for hunger, for food, for bread. Give God thanks even for sickness."

Eh? He said, "After all, Bible say in everything give thanks." Have you gone to school? It didn't say "for" everything, it said "in." You don't thank God for everything, but you thank God in it because you know you will come out of it. You don't thank God for, you thank God in, because you're coming out. Am I teaching?

And people tell us that God uses circumstances to train you and teach you. God? No. He teaches you by His Word. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for teaching, for reproof, evidence, for correction. Even in correcting you, God doesn't correct with sickness. He corrects with teaching. What have I been doing to you in the last one hour here? Correction by teaching.

How does God correct people? By His Word. When God wants to correct you, He brings you to a Bible teaching church like this where correction begins to take place through teaching. It's not every family that uses koboko to train a child. It's not every family. It's not every family. It's not every father that is like your father that will wake you up with beating and send you to bed with beating. No. So it's not every child that was trained with koboko.

There are some families, just the mother's face and eyes is enough communication. The mother will just look at the child like this; the child knows what is to be done. They don't beat the child; just her eye that raised the child. True or false? It's not every house that they beat now. There are some families, codified. Some families, just the father's body language. He enters in and he's breathing. All the children, they behave. So it's not everywhere they use koboko to raise people.

And you know some of us have to renew our minds as to how our parents trained us from seeing God like that. Because some of us, the way we think God is, is like your father who will wait for you till you are about to wake up in the morning. He will bring that his morning greeting to you. "Pow! What did you do last night? I've been waiting for you to wake up since you don't want to wake up. Pow!"

So because of the way your father behave, when you say, "Our Father, our Father which art in heaven," because you are thinking you will get one. Our Father in heaven is not like your biological father. Do you understand? That's why Jesus revealed the Father to us so that we can use that revelation to correct our minds. God is not looking for how to beat you; He is looking for how to lift you up. He corrects you by His Word, and we have God's Word in this house. Every time we come, God's Word comes to us to build us and to equip us.

Glory to God! Somebody shout, "I am the new man in Christ." Say with me, "Satan has lost his power over my life." Say, "I know who is behind evil, disaster, death, wickedness: it's Satan. And I know who is good: God is good. Not just good, He is Jehovah the Good." Jehovah the Good. The only thing He knows is goodness. Glory to God! And the devil can no more deceive you. No matter which mask he wears, you will know when he comes into operation. And I have news for you: you resist the devil, he will flee. Can you stand? Let's resist some things this morning.

Glory to God! I said glory to God! I said glory to God! Turn to your neighbor, say, "Neighbor, I am found in Christ. No sin. No sin. Therefore, the devil has no weapon against me. Only wiles, deception, lies, tricks. And I know his tricks. I know his lies. And I have his weapon. I resist him. He flees. I have done all to stand, and I remain standing." Glory to God!

Lift up your right hands to heaven. Father, I pray for everybody under the sound of my voice. I decree right now: whatever is not planted by God around your life is rooted out. Rooted out! Every infirmity, oppression, every hold of the enemy, depression, every frustration coming from the orchestrations of darkness, I command it terminated in the name of Jesus!

And I declare the victory that is yours in Christ Jesus. You walk in that victory, you manifest that victory, and you execute that victory wherever you are found, in the name of Jesus! And I decree that the remaining days of your life you will be in victory and you will execute God's Word wherever you are found. Great grace is upon your life. Great grace is upon your life. In Jesus' name we pray, and every believer says that amen on a note of finality!

Go ahead and celebrate the victory that you have in Christ. Glory! I said glory! Hallelujah! Grab your honor offerings, let's give and celebrate the victory that Christ has made available to us. Glory to God! Lift up your offerings, let's give and just rejoice. Father, thank You for the privilege of using our resources to advance Your kingdom. Our monies are going to advance the message of Your resurrection, so we rejoice that we give to a righteous and a glorious cause. Thank You that every need is met in this house. Thank You for Your grace that is upon each one of us. We give You praise for the privilege to honor You with our monies. In Jesus' name we pray, and every believer says a powerful amen.