I can’t believe I composed the title above, so funny 🙂 . Well, it isn’t my fault! It’s because of the video I saw recently on Youtube.
Dr Abel Damina, an Akwa Ibom born preacher was invited to an House on the Rock 2016 conference and he said a lot of things that should not be said or even believed as a Christian. To my surprise, the congregation was intoxicated and even Pastor Paul Adefarisin gave his unreserved approval – jumping to the rhematic twist.
I am writing this so that we can think through it as Berean Christians. We cannot become sound Christian if you do not study the Bible, pray and listen to good sermons. That is why we have plenty of churchgoers and few disciples. It is easy to shout “rhema!” thinking we have learnt something whereas we have learnt nothing. Do not absorb anything just because your Daddy GO says it.
DECERNMENT, as Charles Spurgeon says, is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.
Some may say “Does it really matter? we are humans and are bound to errors. To err is human?” True and I am not trying to be critical or engage in error-picking campaign. I understand that there are minor things that we may disagree on. However, there are also major truths that we must not afford to let go. They may be small like the yeast of the Pharisees. Truth matters and it is essential to salvation. More of this in my conclusion.
So, follow me as I unravel and open up the shocking statements I heard. I will pick only three (3). Let’s go.
- Funny: God is not in heaven
Dr Damina said:
“God does not live in heaven. That’s why your goal should not be heaven. If your goal is heaven, it’s a stupid goal….If there was a day when God created the heaven and earth, where was he before that day. Anywhere he was, that is where he is. Because he said I am the Lord, I changeth not. It is the man Jesus in heaven"
What shocks me is the extent to which charismatics/pentecostals go to arrive at their “rhemas”. When a man disregards other verses just to bring out a “rhema”, then something is wrong somewhere. Since God was somewhere else before creating heaven and earth, Dr Damina concludes, he’s definitely not in heaven since he cannot change. No scriptures to back up his assertion. Not one verse to prove this, yet, the entire congregation was mesmerized.
To answer him I will say firstly that God is everywhere. Heaven and Earth are inside of God. It is like a bucket inside an ocean. The bucket is in the water and water in the bucket. But if we are talking about the throne of God, Isaiah 66:1Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) says “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool”. Also, remember Jesus ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God. And please, that God doesn’t change means that his character and personality doesn’t change. It doesn’t in anyway mean that God didn’t or doesn’t do new things. For example, God became a man 2000+ years ago, before then He had never become a man. Also, the bible records that God will appear on the great white throne to judge the world at the end of the world, there has never been anything of such and will never be thereafter.
- The Gospels Misunderstood: Matthew to John is not part of the New Testament
Dr Damina said
“The Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John] are not part of the new Testament. That’s why if you follow the teachings of the Gospels on its own you can fall into heresy…Jesus himself placed a disclaimer on his teachings before he died… John 16:12Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)…. what I really want to say I have not said it because you don’t have capacity.
Later
Matthew Mark Luke and John are historical books recording the humanity of Jesus Christ … Acts to Revelation is the New Testament
The above is the most shocking statement that I heard. For a man to say that the messages of Jesus – his birth, sermon on the mount, parables, miracles etc can lead to heresy is absolutely unbelievable. When the Gospels which is the heartbeat of the New Testament have been relegated, prepare for unlimited heresies.
The basis for Dr Damina’s statement above is John 16:12Open in Logos Bible Software (if available). “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
Now, before we consider why his interpretation is poisonous, let’s see a corollary verse where Jesus says in John 15:15Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) that:
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
If we take these two Scriptures together, two things are very clear. While we know that it’s impossible for Jesus to say everything in his omniscience, there is a certain “everything” that Jesus has said. The “everything” needed to make “servants” become “friends”. In other words, everything concerning salvation. Also, we see that there are still many things Jesus would still say through the Holy Spirit. Therefore Dr Damina was wrong. Jesus did not say I have not said the most important things. Jesus did not say I have not said what I really want to say. Jesus only said I still have many things to say.
The other statement of Dr Damina that the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) on their own will lead to heresy, is to say the least, preposterous. If we follow Damina’s line of reasoning, whatever we find in Acts to Revelation is to be given higher prominence to what’s in Matthew-John. Whereas, the Scripture says nothing of such. Instead the Scriptures says “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
- The Old Testament Misunderstood: Angels & Prophets Dishonoured
Dr Damina said:
“So when we gather like this, an innumerable company of angels… they come with their biro and paper. When we start teaching, they start writing down “Ehen, is that what it means?” Because angels dont know. But angels can only know when sons are gathered because angels are servants. Angels cannot have secrets.
Another time, he said:
The prophets…they would prophecy ‘Thus saith the Lord’ and they will say ‘what are we talking about?’ God would say ‘it’s not for you. Shut up. Get out! Next….Your job is to prophecy. The people that own it, when their time come, they will understand’…1Peter 1:10Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)
There is nowhere in the Scripture where such derogatory words were used to refer to Moses or the angels. Yes our days are better because of Jesus’s coming, there is the fullness of the Spirit’s presence but this is not a licence to speak derogatorily of prophets of old. Hebrews tells us that Moses was faithful in God’s house; chapter 11 of Hebrews sings of all the mighty acts wrought through the old saints and prophets and the suffering they shared. Because the prophets “inquired what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating” according to 1Peter 1:10Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) does not mean they did not understand. Neither does it place the prophets in an unspiritual state. In fact, the following verses tell us they knew they were serving us. This is something that should humble a genuine Christian. Instead, Dr Damina said they do not know what they were talking about and God would tell them to shut up. This is a blatant lie. They knew. Abraham knew. Moses knew. This is particularly written of Moses:
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward Hebrews 11:24-26Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)
And to exaggerate the excitement of grace, Dr Damina boasts of even knowing more than angels in the quote above. Surely Dr Damina is not alone in this, he must have read it somewhere. As I have read that many men interpret Ephesians 3:10Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) that way.
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places – Ephesians 3:8-10Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)
This Scripture is talking about grace. In fact, the main point of this Scripture is the fact that the church, that is, the Christians are saved for God to show His graciousness. In other words, the plan of salvation and grace has all been God’s plan so that he will show to heavenly beings His manifold wisdom. Let me show you two similar verses, one in Ephesians and the other in Romans.
Epehsians 1:3-6 says
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Why did God save us? Answer is to the praise of his glorious grace. Now let’s see Romans 9:23Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
We are saved so that God might display the riches of His glory. John MacArthur puts it this way “The whole plan of salvation is a revelation of grace. And it was done beforehand, not as an afterthought.”.
In directly addressing this issue, John Calvin says:
The inference which some draw from this passage, that angels are present in our assemblies, and make progress along with ourselves in knowledge, is a groundless speculation…Paul’s meaning is this: “The church, composed both of Jews and Gentiles, is a mirror, in which angels behold the astonishing wisdom of God displayed in a manner unknown to them before. They see a work which is new to them, and the reason of which was hid in God. In this manner, and not by learning anything from the lips of men, do they make progress.”
To conclude this section, the only time the Scripture warns us of the prophets and indeed anybody, is when we begin to equate the prophets with Christ. It is Christ alone. Christ is supreme and over all the prophets and angels.
In concluding this article, let me tell you that there are plenty different gospels in Nigeria now. Preaching the crown without the cross, they preach as Uncle Femi Adeleye says, a “gospel of champagne”. They are hyper-grace, always cooking up new rhymes and almost never read the scriptures that end with words like ‘suffering’. Yes they will talk about truths like perseverance of the saints (eternal security) because it is sweet and convenient but they neglect others that are not that convenient. It is the gospel without persecution. Beware! It’s either you take all of the Gospel or none of it.
Let me also warn you sternly to be careful of what or who you listen to. Dr Damina was not wrong in all that he said. There were some truths in it, but also some serious falsehood enough to damage you. In warning His disciples against false doctrines, Jesus warns us to be careful of the yeast of the Pharisee. Think well before you shout “rhema!”. And remember that the best of men are men at best.
Paul in Acts 20:29-31Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) says:
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
Grace and Peace to you!