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Faith Alone In Christ Alone Bible Church, 12 Igbokwu Avenue, Port Harcourt (2026)

07/01/2026

What a beautiful way to answer the question ( HOW DO YOU KNOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR THE THOUSANDS OF DECISION YOU HAVE TO MAKE NOT DIRECTLY REVEALED IN GOD'S WORD? )

12/12/2025

WHY DID JESUS RESTRICT HIS DISCIPLES FROM PREACHING TO THE GENTILES IF THE GOSPEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN FOR ALL NATIONS?
This question exposes one of the most misunderstood truths in Scripture—and answering it correctly will save you from serious doctrinal confusion.

Let’s walk through the Bible carefully. 👇

1️⃣ Jesus’ Restriction Was DELIBERATE — Not ACCIDENTAL

Jesus explicitly told His disciples:

> “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”
— Matthew 10:5–6

This was not racism. This was not hatred. This was divine order and covenant priority.

Why?

Because Jesus came first as Israel’s promised King, not yet as the Savior of the world in the Church Age sense.

2️⃣ The Gospel Jesus Preached Was a KINGDOM Gospel — FOR ISRAEL

John the Baptist preached:

> “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 3:2

Jesus preached the same message:

> “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
— Matthew 4:17

The disciples preached the same message:

> “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
— Matthew 10:7

👉 This was not the gospel of the cross as preached by Paul later.
👉 This was not justification by faith apart from works (Romans–Galatians).
👉 This was a national, covenant message to Israel.

3️⃣ What Kingdom Were the Jews Expecting?

The Jews were not expecting an invisible, spiritual kingdom. They were expecting a physical, political, Davidic kingdom.

God promised David:

> “Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.
Your throne shall be established forever.”
— 2 Samuel 7:16

The prophets described this kingdom as utopian:

> Peace (Isaiah 2:4)
Justice (Isaiah 9:7)
Righteous rule from Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:1–10)
Messiah reigning on David’s throne (Jeremiah 23:5)

This is the kingdom Israel was waiting for.

4️⃣ Even the Apostles Expected a PHYSICAL RESTORATION

After Jesus died and resurrected, the apostles asked Him:

> “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
— Acts 1:6
Notice: ❌ Jesus did not correct their expectation of a physical kingdom
❌ Jesus did not say, “There is no future kingdom for Israel”
✅ He only said the timing was not for them to know

> “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.”
— Acts 1:7

👉 The kingdom was real 👉 The kingdom was future 👉 The kingdom was postponed

5️⃣ John the Baptist’s Question Reveals the Same Expectation

When John was imprisoned, he sent messengers to Jesus asking:

> “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
— Matthew 11:3

Why would John ask this?

Because John expected the Messiah to: ✔ overthrow oppressive rulers
✔ judge the wicked
✔ establish the kingdom immediately

But Jesus wasn’t doing that—yet.

This confusion makes sense only if the expectation was political and physical.

6️⃣ Why the Disciples Were Restricted from Gentiles

Now we can answer the core question:

Why did Jesus restrict His disciples from preaching to the Gentiles?

Because: 🔹 The kingdom offer had to be presented to Israel first 🔹 Israel was God’s covenant nation (Romans 9:4–5) 🔹 The Messiah had to be officially received—or rejected—by His people

> “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.”
— John 1:11

Only after Israel’s rejection would God open a new, previously unrevealed program—the Church Age.

7️⃣ Israel Rejected the King — So the Kingdom Was POSTPONED

Israel didn’t just reject Jesus—they crucified Him.

Peter later acknowledged this:

> “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”
— Acts 3:15

Because of this rejection: 🕰️ The kingdom was postponed
🕊️ The Church was introduced
🌍 The gospel went to the Gentiles

Paul explains this clearly:

> “Through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles.”
— Romans 11:11

But note carefully:

> “Has God rejected His people? By no means!”
— Romans 11:1

Israel is set aside temporarily, not permanently.

8️⃣ Two Programs. One God. No Confusion.

Failing to distinguish Israel and the Church leads to massive doctrinal errors.

Paul says the Church was a mystery hidden in past ages:

> “The mystery that was kept secret for long ages.”
— Romans 16:25

> “Which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations.”
— Ephesians 3:5

That means: ❌ The Church was not promised in the Old Testament
❌ The kingdom promises to Israel were not canceled
❌ They will be fulfilled when Christ returns

9️⃣ Why This Matters for You TODAY

If you don’t distinguish Israel and the Church: 🔸 You’ll preach the wrong gospel 🔸 You’ll apply promises that don’t belong to you 🔸 You’ll mix law, kingdom, and grace

Paul warns:

> “Rightly dividing the word of truth.”
— 2 Timothy 2:15

The gospel for today is:

> “Christ died for our sins… was buried… and was raised on the third day.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:1–4

Not “repent for the kingdom is at hand.”

🔥 FINAL THOUGHT

Jesus restricted the disciples because: ✔ The kingdom offer was for Israel ✔ Israel had to accept—or reject—her King ✔ The Church was not yet revealed ✔ The kingdom is coming—but later

Understanding this one truth will unlock Scripture like never before.

💬 Question for you:
Have you ever noticed how much confusion disappears once Israel and the Church are rightly divided?

Drop your thoughts below 👇

06/12/2025

✨ DOES THE BIBLE REALLY COMMAND BELIEVERS TODAY TO ‘SUFFER NOT A WITCH TO LIVE’❓❓❓

📌 1. The Misquoted Verse Everyone Uses Wrongly

One of the most abused passages in Scripture is:

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” — Exodus 22:18 (KJV)

Many believers have turned this into a license for:

❌ Killing supposed “witches”
❌ Praying for the death of people they don’t like
❌ Binding and “sending fire” to destroy neighbours
❌ Demonizing innocent people—old women, children, relatives
❌ Accusing anyone who is poor, sick, or acting strange

But this is a completely WRONG interpretation.

Why?
Because the verse was NOT written to the Church, and the “witch” there is NOT what people think.

Let’s break it down properly.

---

📌 2. “Witch” in Exodus Was Not what we perceive as witches today,

The Hebrew word used in Exodus 22:18 is “MEKHASHEPHAH” — meaning:

Sorcerer

Spirit medium

Enchanter

Necromancer

One who consults familiar spirits

What we would call today witch-native doctors or occult practitioners (NOT herbalists)

These were people who:

➡️ Practised deliberate demonic worship
➡️ Consulted the dead
➡️ Summoned spirits
➡️ Served as mediums
➡️ Invited citizens to follow other gods
➡️ Spiritually manipulated an entire nation

These are nothing like the cultural “witches” people accuse today.

The Bible was NOT referring to an innocent grandmother, a child, a poor widower, a neighbour you quarrelled with or someone your dream said attacked you.

📌 3. Why God Gave Israel This Command

This instruction was part of the civil law God gave to the nation of Israel, not to the Church.

🔹 Israel was a theocratic nation
🔹 God Himself was their King
🔹 Their civil laws were also their spiritual laws
🔹 Anyone who practised sorcery was committing treason against God
🔹 Such people led entire communities into idolatry and destruction

So laws like:

“Stone the sorcerer”
Leviticus 20:27 – “A man or woman who is a medium or necromancer shall surely be put to death…”

“Stone the adulterer”
Deuteronomy 22:23–24 – A betrothed virgin and a man caught in adultery were to be stoned.

“Stone the rebellious son
Deuteronomy 21:18–21 (KJV)

“If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son…
…all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.”

…were NATIONAL LAWS, not spiritual instructions for the church. Israel didn't pray to God to kill these people, they stoned them

📖 Scriptural Support:

Deuteronomy 18:10–12 lists the same kind of people:

Diviners

Enchanters

Charmers

Mediums

Necromancers

Spiritists

These are people fully devoted to demonic service.

The punishment was stoning—a physical, civil penalty for a physical nation.

This is not doctrine for believers in Christ.

📌 4. The Church Is NOT Under the Law—Including National Israeli Civil Law

> “You are not under the law but under grace.” — Romans 6:14
“Having abolished in His flesh the law of commandments…” — Ephesians 2:15
“The law was our schoolmaster… but now we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” — Galatians 3:24–25

Therefore:
❌ Christians cannot apply Israel’s civil stoning laws
❌ Christians cannot “kill witches” in prayer
❌ Christians cannot claim “suffer not a witch to live" as a New Testament command

It Is Not Our Command.

📌 5. The New Testament Never Commands Us to Kill Witches—Spiritually or Physically

Instead, the New Testament teaches:

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood…” — Ephesians 6:12

Meaning:

❌ Humans are not your enemy
❌ The person you think is bewitching you is NOT the target
❌ Warfare is never against people

Your real enemies are spiritual:

Principalities

Powers

Rulers of darkness

Spiritual wickedness

Anyone you call a “witch” today, if they even exist, is simply a human needing salvation, not death.

📌 6. ALL Witchcraft Today Falls Under Demonic Forces in Ephesians 6

Whatever category of darkness people fear:

Occultists

Sorcerers

Native-witch doctors

Mediums

Spiritists

Enchanters

Diviners

They ALL fall under:

“…principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places.” — Ephesians 6:12

And the Scripture NEVER tells you to kill them.

The command is simple:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to STAND…” — Ephesians 6:11

Not to kill.
Not to destroy.
Not to send fire to burn your neighbours.
Not to pray for death.
Not to “return to sender.”

JUST. STAND.

With the armor.

📌 7. What Protects the Believer? The FULL ARMOR OF GOD

Paul gives only ONE instruction for spiritual protection:

📖 Ephesians 6:10–18

Belt of truth

Breastplate of righteousness

Shoes of the gospel

Shield of faith

Helmet of salvation

Sword of the Spirit

Prayer

When you put on the armor:

✔️ No divination against you can stand
✔️ No enchantment can overpower you
✔️ No demonic influence can pe*****te you
✔️ No sorcerer can alter your destiny

You do NOT fight people.
You stand firm in Christ.

📌 8. Jesus Never Killed “Witches”—He Delivered Them

When Jesus met:

The demoniac in Mark 5

The woman with the spirit of infirmity

Mary Magdalene (who had 7 demons)

He did not pray for their death.
He delivered them.

The early church did the same (Acts 8, Acts 19).

Our assignment is redemption, not destruction.

📌 9. The Real Biblical Position Summarized

🟥 Old Testament

“Suffer not a witch” = sorcerers & mediums

Civil law for the nation of Israel

Punishment was stoning

Not addressed to Christians

🟩 New Testament

No command to kill witches

No prayer for death

No “return to sender”

Believers fight spirits, not people

Victory through the armor of God

Warfare = standing firm, not killing

✨ FINAL EXHORTATION

Stop using Exodus 22:18 to justify fear, hatred, or violence.

Stop praying for the death of people made in God’s image.

Understand Scripture in its proper covenant.

And remember:

**Your safety is not in killing witches.

Your safety is in PUTTING ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD.**

06/12/2025

You have been taught to pray away challenges, but the scripture teaches something different — want to know more? Read on 👇

Many Christians talk a lot about salvation…
but very few talk about why they were saved.

You were not saved to sit down.
You were not saved just to escape hell.
You were saved to become like Christ.

📖 Ephesians 2:10 —
“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”

Meaning:
The goal of salvation is transformation — to become a living expression of Jesus on earth.

God achieves this through:

Growth

Maturity

Forming Christ in us (Gal. 4:19)

Bringing us to the full measure of Christ (Eph. 4:13)

And one of the MAJOR tools God uses to produce Christlike character in us is:

🔥 Testing. Challenges. Suffering. Pressure. Difficult People. Difficult Situations.

Not because God hates you…
but because He is shaping you.

Not because He abandoned you…
but because He is growing you.

Not because He is punishing you…
but because He is producing fruit.

---

🍇 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT GROWS IN DIFFICULT SOIL

Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the Spirit:

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.

These fruits don’t grow in comfort.
They grow in conflict, pressure, and adversity.

Here’s how each one grows:

---

1️⃣ LOVE (AGAPE)

Agape is not revealed by loving those who love you.

It shows up when:

someone offends you… and you choose mercy

someone gossips… and you pray for them

someone hurts you… and you refuse revenge

Love grows where people are difficult.

---

2️⃣ JOY

Joy is not laughter when life is sweet.
Joy is stability when life breaks.

Joy grows when:

expectations fail

prayers seem delayed

life disappoints you
yet you choose to rejoice in God.

---

3️⃣ PEACE

Peace is not the absence of problems.
It is calmness in the midst of them.

Peace grows:

in uncertainty

when anxiety knocks

when everything looks out of control
yet you choose to trust God.

---

4️⃣ PATIENCE (LONG-SUFFERING)

You cannot learn patience without people who try your patience.

It grows when:

people misunderstand you

they test you repeatedly

circumstances stretch you

---

5️⃣ KINDNESS & GOODNESS

These grow when:

you are treated unfairly but still do good

you choose compassion over cruelty

you refuse bitterness and choose generosity

---

6️⃣ FAITHFULNESS (FAITH)

Faith cannot grow without mountains.
It cannot grow without storms.

Every challenge becomes your faith classroom.

📖 James 1:3 —
“The testing of your faith produces endurance…”

No test, no faith.
No pressure, no growth.

---

7️⃣ GENTLENESS

Gentleness grows when:

you have the power to react, but choose restraint

you could fight back, but choose softness

you respond with the heart of Christ

---

8️⃣ SELF-CONTROL

Self-control grows when:

temptations rise

emotions flare

your flesh wants to explode
yet you choose obedience.

---

🔥 WHY CHALLENGES ARE NECESSARY

Because without them:

there is no fruit

there is no growth

there is no Christlike character

📖 James 1:2 —
“Count it ALL JOY when you fall into various tests…”

Why?
Because the tests do not come to destroy you.
They come to develop you.

Your pressure is not punishment — it is pruning.

---

🌱 GOD’S GOAL FOR YOU IS SIMPLE

Not title.
Not fame.
Not blessings.
Not popularity.

But CHRISTLIKENESS:

To think like Jesus

To love like Jesus

To respond like Jesus

To reflect Jesus

And He does this by producing the fruit of the Spirit through real-life challenges.

---

📌 FINAL WORD

If you are going through pressure, testing, or difficulty:

Don’t despise it.
Don’t quit.
Don’t complain.

God is working.
God is pruning.
God is forming Christ in you.
God is growing His fruit in your life.

Your trials are the soil where the fruit of the Spirit grows.

Stay yielded.
Stay trusting.
Stay growing.

The fruit will show.
The character will emerge.
And Christ will be seen in you.

30/11/2025

🌟 WHY GOD SAVES US BY GRACE ALONE

👉 To remove boasting… and to reveal His overwhelming LOVE ❤️

If salvation depended on your strength, your goodness, your fasting, your consistency, or your discipline, then you would have every right to brag.

You could say:

“I’m saved because I did better.”
“God accepted me because I performed well.”

But scripture makes it impossible for anyone to take glory for salvation.

🔥 Ephesians 2:8–9 says:
“For by grace you are saved through faith… not of yourselves; it is the gift of God — NOT of works, so that no one may boast.”

God removed human effort from salvation so that human boasting would die.

💖 God Chose the Lowly — On Purpose

1 Corinthians 1:28 reveals something shocking:

✨ “God chose the lowly things… the despised things… the things that are nothing…”

Why?

🔥 “…so that no flesh should boast before God.” — (1 Cor 1:29)

God deliberately selects:

• The broken
• The rejected
• The overlooked
• The unqualified
• The ones who feel like “nothing”

Why?

So that when He lifts them, no human can say they did it by their effort.
Grace makes sure ALL the glory goes to God.

Ephesians 2:8–9 and 1 Corinthians 1:28–29 preach the same truth:

God saves us without our works so that we can never brag about our works.

✝️ Grace Makes Christ Everything

Paul continues:

✨ “Because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus…” (1 Cor 1:30)

Not because you tried hard.
Not because you were religious.
Not because you were perfect.

BECAUSE OF HIM.

And Christ has become for us:

🥇 God’s wisdom
🥇 Our righteousness
🥇 Our sanctification
🥇 Our redemption

Meaning:

You don’t stand holy because you behaved well.
You stand holy because Jesus IS your holiness.

You don’t stand accepted because you deserve it.
You stand accepted because Jesus IS your righteousness.

Grace replaces your résumé with Christ’s résumé.

🔥 Grace Ends Boasting

From beginning to end, God designed salvation to silence human pride.

✨ “NOT of works, so that no one may boast.” — Ephesians 2:9
✨ “That no flesh should boast before God.” — 1 Cor 1:29
✨ “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” — 1 Cor 1:31

Grace forces us to point to Jesus and say:

“If not for the Lord, I would be nowhere.”

Grace makes Jesus the hero of your story.

❤️ Grace Reveals God’s Heart

God saves by grace because:

🌟 He wants you confident — not insecure
🌟 He wants you loved — not condemned
🌟 He wants you resting — not striving
🌟 He wants your praise — not your pride
🌟 He wants relationship — not performance

You didn’t climb to Him.
He came down for you.

You didn’t rescue yourself.
Grace rescued you.

You didn’t earn salvation.
You received it.

Which verse about grace has impacted your life the most — Ephesians 2:8–9 or 1 Corinthians 1:28–31?
👇 Share in the comments — someone will be blessed by your insight.

Faith Alone In Christ Alone Bible Church

07/01/2026

12/12/2025

06/12/2025

06/12/2025

30/11/2025

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