Dear Daisy,
Is church attendance required to get to Heaven? I desperately need help finding scripture to respond to those who persecute me for no longer attending weekly church services. Right before the world closed in 2020, the Holy Spirit started revealing some things to me and led me to step back from my team service and from attending church. At first I wrestled with God because I had always gone to church, and I knew everyone would think I was crazy. However, I chose to ignore the persecution and follow Jesus instead of my family and friends. Being obedient to the Holy Spirit has transformed my life in amazing ways, but it also put me in a place of being persecuted relentlessly by those closest to me. I know that Jesus said we will be persecuted, but it’s still hard. I feel like everyone is against me but Jesus, and I’m wondering if anyone else feels like I do. Can you help me find scriptures to support my obedience to God, and that I am not going to hell for leaving the church building? Signed, ~ Help! I’m being persecuted for leaving the church!
Dear, Help! I’m being persecuted for leaving the church,
Number 1, good for you for following Jesus and not people. Secondly, I am happy to tell you that you are not alone. Even though all we need is Jesus, it is still comforting to know others in the remnant that are dealing with the same persecution issues. I have spoken with many others who are in this battle with you. Take heart, God is working His plan that we cannot see. For a while now, and more visibly since 2019, followers of Jesus are clearly being separated from the crowd. God is moving and shaking things up as we are truly living in the last days. Keep your eyes on Jesus, not the crowd. We are Heaven-bound!
There is lots of information to help you, so let’s get started!
Christians must attend church weekly
Says, who? Where does it say that in the Holy Bible? It doesn’t; in fact it says the opposite many times throughout scripture.
Here is one place:
“24 He is the God who made the world and everything in it.
Since he is Lord of heaven and earth,
he doesn’t live in man-made temples,
25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—
for he has no needs.
He himself gives life and breath to everything,
and he satisfies every need.”
Acts 17:24-25
Being guilted that everyone needs to be in a church building regularly reminds me of how we are told that every child needs to be in public school. Why is that? It’s because they want us all learning the same thing; what the government wants us to believe. Don’t shoot the messenger, do your research. There’s a reason that homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular; parents are taking control of what their children learn. Parents have discovered that their children are being taught unbiblical things and untruths in schools. If parents are doing that for their children’s education, why aren’t they doing the same with their spiritual education? Where is whole Holy Bible Biblical truth being taught?
Have you ever wondered what being a 501c3 means for a church? We are told it’s so churches don’t have to pay taxes. However, by churches becoming a 501c3 church, they are required to follow the rules from the government. Thereby they control the churches and tell them what they can teach in order for them to enjoy the tax free status. Do your research.
Why do we go to church?
We were trained to. When you study the entire Holy Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit, He will reveal the truth about everything. With His help you will discover you were not taught God’s whole truth; only pieces of it that were sprinkled within the man-made laws. If you don’t know the whole story, the whole Holy Bible, cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, you won’t recognize the lies meant to deceive you.
Be aware that there is a huge difference between reading the whole Holy Bible on your own, and studying it slowly with the help of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to teach you deeper truths along the way. There have been many who have read the whole Bible a number of times on their own and never once allowed the Holy Spirit to teach them anything. How can one tell? Because there are no fruits. Without the help of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to see the deeper truths that God intentionally hides for those who seek a deep personal relationship with Him. Remember the parables that Jesus spoke? They were confusing to those who didn’t follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Only those who love Jesus and follow Him in all ways are shown the truth by the Holy Spirit.
Reading the Holy Bible without the Holy Spirit to guide you is a drudgery, and that is why many don’t want to read it. What they don’t know is that studying with Him brings you pure joy as He reveals amazing things you never knew. It’s in studying with Him that you discover who God is, and who He says you are; it’s where you find your identity and purpose. Sadly, there are so many people that have no idea what they are missing by not allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and teach them in God’s Word. Once you discover this truth, you no longer want to be taught by anyone but the Holy Spirit. That’s why some followers of Jesus stopped attending church. The Holy Spirit led them back to their home so that He could teach them His truth, since it wasn’t being taught in the church building.
In addition, nowhere in scripture does God say we have to go to church every Sunday. What you will find in scripture is the true followers of God went to the Holy Tabernacle, then later to the synagogues, to worship the giving of their tithes from their goods ONLY during Feasts times each year, in between, they gathered in their homes. During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He taught on hill sides, atop mountains, in a boat near the shore, and in peoples homes. There were occasions when Jesus would go in the synagogue on some Sabbath days to teach truth to the Pharisees and heal the sick; giving them an opportunity to see He is the Son of God. Jesus never once taught that His followers had to go to the synagogue each week.
The synagogues were created by the Pharisees, they decided amongst the leaders what believers in God should do. Scripture reveals that the Pharisees created their own laws that they “added to scripture” and taught these laws had to be followed in order to honor God correctly in their man-made religion. In creating their man-made laws, they also created their own version of what they wanted their Messiah to look and be like. Because of their man-made laws and expectations, they put God in a box of rules, and as a result, they did not recognize their Messiah when He was standing right in front of them in the flesh. Jesus did not measure up to their expectations, therefore they rejected Him and set out to crucify this man that threatened their belief system, and their following. Their main concern was that people were believing Jesus and following Him instead of the Pharisee’s way, so they were determined to get rid of Him.
Let me be clear; I am in no way trying to encourage you to stop going to church. It is my intent only to educate you a little in hopes that it will inspire you to do your own research with the help of the Holy Spirit to learn God’s truth. Ask Him, He is the teacher that Jesus gifted us with after He ascended into Heaven; the Holy Spirit will teach you the truth.
Jesus said,
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away;
for if I don’t go away, the comforting Counselor will not come to you.
However, if I do go, I will send him to you.”
John 16:7
(the Counselor is the Holy Spirit.)
God said,
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee,
and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah 33:3
“As for you,
the Messianic anointing you received from the Father remains in you,
so that you have no need for anyone to teach you.
On the contrary,
as his Messianic anointing continues to teach you about all things,
and is true, not a counterfeit, so, just as he taught you, remain united with him.”
1John 2:27
(you will never hear this preached at church)
He is our true teacher
Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit is our Teacher. Man is imperfect, even pastors and human spiritual leaders. It’s ok to be encouraged and taught by those that seem to be appointed by God to teach, but we must know that there are also false teachers in the pulpit. Jesus said to test everything that is said and make sure it aligns with His Holy Word (1Thessalonians 5:21). That means when you are taught something make sure it aligns with God’s truth; look for the scripture to back up what they said. If it goes against what God’s Word says, TOSS IT OUT! The main point here is to listen to the Holy Spirit. Let Him be your guide.
The enemy, satan, seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He works hard to deceive all into NOT believing in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You must know and believe that there are deceivers not only outside the church, but especially inside; satan plants them there to deceive and lead astray (Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Timothy 3:1-5). Many had a pure heart to serve God in the beginning but got deceived by the enemy who tempted them with pride, greed, the love of power and money. God has exposed many of them in recent times; pastors doing the unthinkable with women and children in their church, abusing their position and power. It’s not new; it’s been going on since the beginning of time. The serpent in the garden was the first example of how evil slithers in Godly places. Jesus had one of his twelve disciples that was evil, that eventually made sure Jesus was arrested by the Pharisees to be crucified. The Apostle Paul calls it out and confronts the sin in the church in 1 Corinthians 5, then there’s more about it in Revelation that you will see further down. God, nor Jesus, were surprised that there was evil in the churches, in fact they warned us. They knew and had a plan in place to bring good out of evil for us.
We have spent a lifetime learning man’s version of God’s truth in church. And God has saved and changed many lives inside a church building in spite of it. However, many whose life was changed inside a church, found that the Holy Spirit lead them outside of the church to find their purpose He created them for. That’s why it is so important to focus on God and not people; He is the only one we can trust with all things.
Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. Ask Him to teach you and show you all truth. He will tell you if He wants you to do something different than you are currently doing for worship. The Holy Spirit’s main goal is to turn your focus back to Jesus. It is there that they are able to bless you in indescribable ways; and I am NOT referring to money or what it can buy, but eternal things that matter.
God separating the wheat from the chaff
If the Holy Spirit leads you to step back from serving at or attending church, follow Him; He has a plan for you, trust Him. Don’t worry about what others think; keep your eyes on Jesus. What He thinks is all that matters.
Since the Revelation 12 sign God showed in 2017, He started speaking to many hearts showing them that things weren’t as they had always believed. The Holy Spirit caused a remnant of Jesus‘ followers to begin questioning why they believed what they believed, and found they suddenly had a hunger for a firsthand knowledge of the truth of God’s Word. These ones were drawn deeper into scriptures, as the Holy Spirit led them to study the whole Holy Bible cover to cover to find the truth and get the whole story God breathed for us (1Timothy 3:16-17). While He showed them that they were taught partial truths mixed with untruths, He also showed them that many in the church called themselves Christians who actually didn’t follow Jesus at all. God opened their eyes and revealed that the church has many “lukewarm” Christians, people who believe in Jesus but live for the world and all it has to offer. Note: God has plans for the “lukewarm.”
“15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either cold or hot!
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16
(This is another example of a church that was run by wickedness. It does exist. Also, look up the church at Shiloh and see what God did to it. It’s no coincidence that churches have been burning down around the world. God sees, knows, and judges.)
The year 2020 was many things, but God used it for His great reset. He used that time to separate His wholehearted followers, separating His sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12).
When the world re-opened, God directed a remnant, His wholehearted followers, to stay home and not return to a church building. It was very difficult for these ones to process not doing what they had always done: attend and serve at a church building, but they obeyed the Lord. It was then that God started having the Holy Spirit teach this remnant His truths. This led to these obedient ones discovering why the Holy Spirit wanted to teach them, because they weren’t being taught the whole truth of God’s Word.
Many of these chosen ones had to work through anger and resentment for being lied to their entire lives by people they looked up to in church. However, it was also a time to learn how to give grace to those that hurt them, and move forward with the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, these obedient followers of Jesus are being persecuted for their actions to listen to the Lord and not the persecutors. Many have lost family and friends for making this decision, and have even been told they are going to hell for not being at church weekly. Some have given into the pressure and have sadly allowed themselves to fall back into the trap of trying to please people instead of their Savior and have returned to church and are now miserable because they disobeyed the leading of the Lord for them. For those who have clung to Jesus and followed Him regardless of the persecution, they have actually experienced His Shalom peace and great joy in spite of the pressure from others.
When it comes down to the choices of obeying the Lord or trying to please people, the answer should be obvious. Following those people will not get you into Heaven, only following Jesus will keep you on that narrow path that most won’t make the sacrifices to be there.
You know when people say or see it in movies or the news that they could never survive in prison? Prison is no comparison to what hell will be like for those who choose to please people instead of God. Hell was not created for people, it was created for demons. God does not want you to go there, but that is where you will end up if you don’t choose to follow Him in all His ways.
It’s a HUGE step of faith to walk away from everything you have always known or done. But the huge step is easy when you are clinging to Jesus.
If the Holy Spirit leads you to stay home and allow Him to teach you, obey. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Don’t stop going to church so you can live life doing what you want. Stop going because you want the Holy Spirit to teach you. It takes deep faith, discipline, and a strong commitment to Jesus to stay home and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you because the devil will try to distract you at every turn.
Abraham is the father of ALL WHO BELIEVE!
Before we move forward with scriptures for you to study, the Holy Spirit wanted to make sure you understand who you are – who He says you are, and when He is talking about you in the Holy Bible.
It’s important to know that, like parables, scripture sometimes on the surface is not what it actually means when you allow the Holy Spirit to show you the hidden mysteries. As an example, many times when God speaks of Israel, He is referring to ALL those who believe He is who He says He is. According to scripture, the original Israel, the Hebrews God delivered out of Egypt, did not consist of only Jews. There were foreigners/sojourners that believed and followed the God of the Jews out of Egypt as well. They were all counted as Israel.
Abraham was told by God that he would be the father of “many nations” that would outnumber the stars and the grains of sand (Genesis 15:5, 17:5, 22:17). Observe when you study scripture that God did not say that Abraham would be the father of all Jews, but of “many nations.” That is any and all people who are believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God was very specific whom He said He was the God of, because He knew that NOT ALL descendants of Abraham would believe and follow. Observe:
“9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles?
Well, we have been saying that Abraham was
counted as righteous by God because of his faith.
10 But how did this happen?
Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised,
or was it before he was circumcised?
Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!
11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith
and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—
even before he was circumcised.
So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith
but have not been circumcised.
They are counted as righteous because of their faith.
12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father
of those who have been circumcised,
but only if they have the same kind of faith
Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Romans 4:9-12
“16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift.
And we are all certain to receive it,
whether or not we live according to the law of Moses,
if we have faith like Abraham’s.
For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him,
“I have made you the father of many nations.”
This happened because Abraham believed in the God
who brings the dead back to life
and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:16-17
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people,
holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion
and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Colossians 3:12
Did you know before today that Abraham is your earthly father if you believe and wholeheartedly follow Jesus whether Jew or Gentile? Now when you read about Israel you can see that He’s not always talking about Jews, He’s referring to all His followers from many nations.
Now, on to the scriptures for you to study.
Establishing who our teacher is.
Now that you know who you are in Jesus: chosen, holy, and dearly loved, let’s find you scriptures to study to support you when having to stand against persecution for following Jesus and not what people expect from you.
Here are scriptures confirming that the Holy Spirit is your teacher. Study these with Him at His pace for you and ask that He show you deeper meanings here.
“33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:33-34
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee,
and shew thee great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah 33:3
“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him;
and he will shew them his covenant.”
Psalms 25:14
“Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it?
I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things,
and thou didst not know them.” Isaiah 48:6
“As it is written in the Scriptures,
‘They will all be taught by God.’
Everyone who listens to the Father and
learns from him comes to me.”
John 6:45
“16 So Jesus told them,
“My message is not my own;
it comes from God who sent me.
17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God
will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.
18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves,
but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.
19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it!
In fact, you are trying to kill me.”
The point here being,
no one wants to hear the truth of God,
so pastors teach what they believe others want to hear
and will tithe and come back each week.”
John 7:16-19
“31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him,
“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.
32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
“Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God.
But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
John 8:47
“My sheep listen to my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
John 14:26
“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 shew you things to come.”
John 16:13
“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.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
1Corinthians 2:9-11
“10 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:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me,
from the least to the greatest.”
Hebrews 8:10-11
“18 Dear children, the last hour is here.
You have heard that the Antichrist is coming,
and already many such antichrists have appeared.
From this we know that the last hour has come.
These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us;
otherwise they would have stayed with us.
When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
But you are not like that,
for the Holy One has given you his Spirit,
and all of you know the truth.”
1John 2:18-20
“26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you:
but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,
and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him.”
1John 2:26-27
It is because we have allowed others to teach us what they believe we need to know from the Holy Bible, that we have not been taught the whole truth, the whole Holy Bible.
Religion vs. relationship
Churches teach us religion, what a denomination of faith believes to be “truth.” Jesus did not create denominations, man did. Jesus wants a personal relationship with us so that the Holy Spirit can teach us all truth, His truth, the whole story, from Genesis to Revelation.
- Jesus did not create denominations of faith.
- He said to follow me.
- It was in the synagogues that the Pharisees taught their version of truth.
- It was in the synagogues that Jesus over-turned the tables.
- The Pharisees who created the man-made laws hated Jesus and His truth and sought to crucify Him.
- The Pharisees believed that Jesus would lure people away from their church buildings where they sat themselves higher than others and demanded tithes.
- Jesus was literally leading them away from church gatherings and participated in home church.
- Jesus taught in homes, on sides of mountains, and from boats.
- Jesus gave the Pharisees an opportunity to hear truth when He visited the synagogues on Sabbath, but they refused Him.
- Jesus encourages us to be in fellowship with other followers of Jesus; He never said you have to go to a church building that is filled with Pharisees and teachers that only teach their opinion with some scripture sprinkled in. He said gather with a body of believers, He did not specify where you had to meet.
Establishing why we don’t feel God wants us in a church building.
We learn in the following scriptures that going to a church building weekly was a man-made law. As born again wholehearted followers of Jesus, we are no longer bound to man-made laws. We are bound by God’s commands. His commands do not mention being in a church building every week; but His commands do focus on #4 = Sabbath. (Do your research. Sabbath is a gift.)
Remember, man is not our teacher, the Holy Spirit is. (1 John 2:27…)
To question someone’s faith based on whether they attend a weekly gathering in a church building, is not scriptural. It is of a Pharisee mindset.
Jesus taught all who would listen, but He knows our hearts; He knows which ones are His, and which ones are against Him.
In Matthew chapter 23 – Jesus describes exactly what He sees in the hearts of the church leaders. I selected key verses to give you an idea of how Jesus felt about them. I encourage you to study the whole chapter. Powerful words from Jesus!
“1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees
are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.
3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you,
but don’t follow their example.
For they don’t practice what they teach.
4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands
and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
5 “Everything they do is for show.
8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher,
and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.
9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’
for only God in heaven is your Father.
10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’
for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.
11 The greatest among you must be a servant.
12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites!
For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces.
You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
28 Outwardly you look like righteous people,
but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Matthew 23
“For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up
and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive,
if possible,
even God’s chosen ones.”
Matthew 24:24
“23 Because of the miraculous signs
Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration,
many began to trust in him.
24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people.
25 No one needed to tell him about human nature,
for he knew what was in each person’s heart.”
John 2:23-25
“18 If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it,
but you are no longer part of the world.
I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
20 Do you remember what I told you?
‘A slave is not greater than the master.’
Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.
And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
21 They will do all this to you because of me,
for they have rejected the one who sent me.”
John 15:18-21
“We understand that some men from here have troubled you
and upset you with their teaching,
but we did not send them!”
Acts 15:24
“Even some men from your own group will rise up
and distort the truth in order to draw a following.”
Acts 20:30
“17 And now I make one more appeal,
my dear brothers and sisters.
Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith
by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught.
Stay away from them.
18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord;
they are serving their own personal interests.
By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.”
Romans 16:17-18
“Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you.
This “letter” is written not with pen and ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God.
It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”
2Corinthians 3:3
“16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols?
For we are the temple of the living God.
As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD.
Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the LORD Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
“13 These people are false apostles.
They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 But I am not surprised!
Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves
as servants of righteousness.
In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
“6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God,
who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.
You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News.
7 but is not the Good News at all.
You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone,
including us or even an angel from heaven,
who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.
9 I say again what we have said before:
If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed,
let that person be cursed.”
Galatians 1:6-9
“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ,
not by obeying the law.
And we have believed in Christ Jesus,
so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ,
not because we have obeyed the law.
For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Galatians 2:16
“11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law.
For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says,
“It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”
Galatians 3:11-12
“21 Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?
Absolutely not!
If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.
22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin,
so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 3:21-22
“24 Let me put it another way.
The law was our guardian until Christ came;
it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.
25 And now that the way of faith has come,
we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ,
like putting on new clothes.
28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.
You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
Galatians 3:24-29
“15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry.
But others preach about Christ with pure motives.
16 They preach because they love me,
for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.
17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ.
They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely,
intending to make my chains more painful to me.”
Philippians 1:15-17
“For we who worship by the Spirit of God
are the ones who are truly circumcised.
We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us.
We put no confidence in human effort”
Philippians 3:3
“8 Don’t let anyone capture you
with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense
that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world,
rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”
Colossians 2:8-9
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2Timothy 2:15 KJV
“3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen
to sound and wholesome teaching.
They will follow their own desires
and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.
4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”
2Timothy 4:3-4
“24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do,
but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:24-25
(This does not say it has to be in a church building)
“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives,
and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts,
for it has the power to save your souls.”
James 1:21
“For you have been born again,
but not to a life that will quickly end.
Your new life will last forever
because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
1Peter 1:23
“Dear friends,
do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit.
You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.
For there are many false prophets in the world.”
1John 4:1
The seven churches in Revelation
But wait! That’s not all!
Then comes the seven churches that Jesus spoke of in Revelation.
God sees everything. There is no sin that we can hide from Him. In scripture God promises to expose this darkness at the appointed time; that time is now. We have been witnessing Him exposing pastors and church leaders all over the world. God is very clear in Revelation 2 & 3 about what is going on and what He is going to do about it.
Did you know that out of the 7 churches only 1 was honoring God wholeheartedly? And this is not about churches back in Bible times, this is a prophecy about how churches will be in the end times: NOW! The messages to these churches teach us many things, one of which: being in a church doesn’t mean you are going to Heaven.
The church in Ephesus – sinned
“4 But I have this complaint against you.
You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
5 Look how far you have fallen!
Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.
If you don’t repent,
I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.”
Revelation 2:4-5
The church in Smyrna – sinned
“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!
I know the blasphemy of those opposing you.
They say they are Jews, but they are not,
because their synagogue belongs to Satan.”
Revelation 2:9
The church at Pergamos – sinned
“But I have a few complaints against you.
You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam,
who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel.
He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.”
Revelation 2:14
The church at Thyatira – sinned
“But I have this complaint against you.
You are permitting that woman—
that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—
to lead my servants astray.
She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.”
Revelations 2:20
The church at Sardis – sinned
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis.
This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God
and the seven stars:
“I know all the things you do,
and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.”
Revelation 3:1
The church at Philadelphia – honored God
“8 I know all the things you do,
and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.
You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.
9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—
those liars who say they are Jews but are not—
to come and bow down at your feet.
They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.
10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere,
I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world
to test those who belong to this world.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have,
so that no one will take away your crown.”
Revelation 3:8-11
The church as Laodicea – sinned – “lukewarm”
“15 I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold.
I wish that you were one or the other!
16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth!”
Revelation 3:15-16
Questions?
Ask the Holy Spirit. He will answer you.
Be still and know. (Psalms 46:10)
Now you are armed with scripture to support what the Holy Spirit has led you to do; focus on Him teaching you all truth. And remember, you are not alone! Jesus is always with you, and He has a remnant of wholehearted believers going through exactly what you are going through. Keep the faith! Eyes on Jesus! God bless you.
Heart check time
Jesus is coming back soon to get His Bride. Let’s make sure your heart is right with Him. Don’t complicate the process for salvation. Keep it simple. Even if you have prayed this before, rededicate your life today and go “all in” with Him. It’s time for a deeper relationship with your Creator, Adonai.
Do the ABC’s and repent today.
- A: Admit that you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9)
- B: Believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. (John 3:16-18, 1Corinthians 15:1-4)
- C: Call on Jesus and repent of your sins and turn back to Him and ask Jesus to show you the way. (Romans 10:9-13, John 14:6)
May God bless you and keep you.
“Put everything to the test.
Hold on to what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21
In closing,
Always ask Jesus what you should do in every situation. The Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you. If it’s not okay with Him, He will check your spirit and you will have an uneasy feeling and doubt about going forward. Always follow Jesus; NOT your heart; our hearts are fickle and can’t be trusted. Listen to the Holy Spirit; He is trying to protect you. You have a choice to obey or ignore. Choose to obey and stay under His protection.
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.“
Proverbs 3:5
“When you know you grow!”
Take note:
“I am not your teacher, the Holy Spirit is.
I’m just the messenger leading you back to Jesus and His truth.”
Daisy Hawkins
~ 1John 2:27, Jeremiah 33:3