I awoke one morning in late April, 2017, with this understanding which I believe is from God.
The greatest sacrifice we can make today is to give up our church group when we recognize misuse of scripture and other evils in that church group.
If we know our church group is going a way different from that shown us in scripture, how can we love the Word of God and sit there where that word is disrespected?
In 1975, as a newly born again Christian, I attended a church group with my best friend and her husband.
The speakers at this group were men who were professors at Dallas Theological Seminary.
When I began attending that group, the main teaching series was that tongues were of the devil.
One day, I opened my Bible and was reading in I Corinthians 14 and saw the following scripture:
39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
I was really shocked!
I was attending a church that was teaching tongues were of the devil.
I didn't care anything about tongues. I didn't even know what such was, never having heard a "tongue." But I did care about Bible! I did not return to that church group. They were teaching opposite to Bible.
Do you pay attention to what is going on at your church group and compare it with Bible?
If you are going to follow God and have faith developed in God, you can't sit in a church where they are doing opposite from a scripture.
One of the most highly violated scripture in today's churches is the following.
Matthew 5
32 ... Jesus said ... But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
* The only scriptural reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she is committing adultery against him. If a man divorces his wife for any other reason and she remarries, he will be the cause of her committing adultery upon remarriage.
* The wife who remarries after divorce commits adultery.
* The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Is this what they are teaching at your church?
Also consider:
I Corinthians 7
10-11 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
*****
When Jimmy Swaggart, TV preacher, committed fornication with a prostitute, he presented a tearful plea asking forgiveness. He was associated with Assembly of God churches at that time. They decided to pray for him and counsel him.
They completely ignored what the apostle Paul said to do with such a "brother".
I Corinthians 5
11-13 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
The governing group of the Assembly of God church group paid no attention at all to this instruction in Bible. It obviously meant nothing to them. The thinking of humans over ruled the scriptures.
A couple of years or so later, Swaggart was caught with another prostitute. This time he said, "The Lord said it's flat out none of your business." (Swaggart: Wikipedia)
After this second incident, the Assembly of God "defrocked" Swaggart.
The Bible is the only thing we have in the NT church. When scripture is cast aside, the restraint holding antichrist back from the churches is gone and antichrist moves into the churches, allowing lawlessness into the churches.
Paul said this had to happen before Jesus returns and it is happening today. (But I don't see how any of us can sit there where scripture is trampled under foot of man this way.)
II Thessalonians 2 (NASB) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed
The ONE restraining the man of lawlessness was Jesus, THE WORD, the scriptures.
As soon as scripture, even a portion of scripture, was removed, the restraint which held lawlessness back from the churches was removed so antichrist could move into the churches and lawlessness could reign inside the churches.
*****
The following shocking dream was given me in 1979:
Destruction was everywhere.
A man was speaking to a group of people. I went into the room and began to listen.
Another man rushed into the room and said: "Stop ... Wait ... Can't you see? ... It's too late ... It's already begun."
The first man resumed speaking.
I looked out the windows to see what had "already begun."
I was very shocked at what I saw!
There was a tall pole with a yellow civil defense type warning speaker on top of the pole. Out of the speaker was coming a gas that was poison. It was coming directly toward us. I knew it would kill us.
The speaker that was set there to warn us was the device being used to gas us to death.
I looked at the man sitting next to me. He had a big smile on his face. But he was a corpse. He was already dead. I looked around the room at the other people. They were dead too, though they seemed to be alive. And as I sat among them, I began to feel sleepy and I knew as I sat there with them, the gas coming from the speaker was killing me too.
God was showing me the condition of the church groups at the time of this dream, 1979. It is much worse in churches today.
What we are seeing today is the end time apostasy in the churches. Paul said it had to happen before Jesus returns and we are seeing this apostasy happen.