“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” John 3:27.

“If you don’t go to Church, you’re not saved.” I heard that phrase from a man the other day, and I responded with “Going to Church doesn’t save you. We’re saved because Jesus died on a cross for our sins and that we believe that fact.” I said, “Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” He answered “Yes I do”. So I said “That’s what God wants from us, to believe in His Son. To know who He is and what He did for us.” By faith through God’s grace we believe and are saved, and the building you call a church hasn’t a thing to do with that salvation.

I heard a story about a women who attended services in a Christian congregation for 40 years, and when she turned 70 she finally came forward during an alter call and gave her life to the Lord. She began attending that Church when she was 30 and for 40 years she heard to message after message, she was probably very active in potluck dinners and such, yet had never asked Jesus into her life. We’re not saved by going to Church. Jesus saves and it can happen anywhere.

We can attend a Christ centered Church and hear God’s word preached every Sunday, but until we make up our mind to say yes to Jesus Christ, going to Church just becomes a routine we follow. I attended a Church for a full year before a man in that congregation asked me some questions that jogged my brain into gear. The man asked me “If you died today, Ron, would you go to Heaven or Hell?” I only needed to ponder that question for a few seconds, as I knew I had not given my life to Christ. I had never admitted to being a sinner and I’d never asked Him to save me from my sins. So I answered “I would probably go to Hell.” I spent a year attending that Church, religiously sitting in the same pew that had become my seat for that year. In all that time I never really heard the message. I never really paid attention, and the question the man asked me that very special day never once came from the pulpit in that church. Church doesn’t save, Jesus saves.

I asked Jesus into my life the very day that man asked me the question that got through to my brain. I opened the door that Jesus was knocking on and He came in. But the amazing thing as I look back on that situation is that it took a year for that question to be presented to me. Why? All the born again believers in that Church just supposed I was listening, but they were wrong. Going to Church for a full year didn’t save me, but Jesus did.

You may hear a great message while sitting in a pew, but even that message won’t save you. It’s what you do with that message that brings about a brain shock, a Holy Spirit induced revelation that convinces the lost that they must make a decision for Christ, and they must make it soon. It can and does happen during a Sunday morning worship service, but make no mistake, only Jesus saves and it’s the Holy Spirit that reaches us for Christ, be it through a message at a local church or through a few words uttered by a friend on a street corner.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:15-16. The Apostle Paul attended synagogues for years, and he knew the Old Testament scriptures very well, but he was not saved until he met Jesus out on that lonely, dusty Damascus road. No church saved him.

I’ve also heard it said that simply to believe in Jesus Christ is not enough, although we’re told numerous times throughout God’s word that all we must do to be saved is to believe. The verse that is inevitably trotted out to confirm the misguided opinion that believing in and of itself is not enough is in the book of James. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:19. Its true there’s only one God, and that one God is Jesus the Christ. There is also only one devil which is Satan, but there are many seducing spirits that belong to Satan and they do tremble at even the thought of God.

The fact of the matter is these seducing spirits tremble because they know the truth. This confuses many especially when we are admonished over and over again throughout the New Testament that believing is what is necessary for salvation. The demons believe, but not by faith; they recognized Christ as Lord and as their future Judge. They are seducing spirits acting under Satan to deceive men. They know they are doomed to Hell because they can’t be saved. They know they have no chance of reconciliation with God. That’s why they tremble, they know their ultimate destination and they know time is their enemy.

Salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Many people are convinced that they are saved simply by attending church. In all actuality, without ever asking Jesus Christ into their lives, they are as lost as the seducing spirits that follow Satan. How many have fallen for these words: “If you don’t go to church you’re not saved”? So, they go to church to prove their salvation, but have never accepted Christ. Where are those people spending eternity?

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36. Man believes by faith that Jesus is who He says He is and that He died for our sins. We believe the scriptures; more simply stated we trust God. We have placed our faith in the fact that Jesus is the only way we can be saved. We hear the message of the cross (that message can come while sitting in a boat in the middle of a raging river, or standing on a street corner, or sitting in church) and by hearing that message we are then convicted in our spirit to believe. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” Romans 10:17.

What was the response by the keeper of the prison where Paul and Silas were locked up once he realized none of his prisoners had escaped? He fell down before Paul and Silas and asked “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30. To which came the response. “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” Acts 16:31. To believe means we trust Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12.

Going to the right church, being baptized, doing good works of any kind, these are things we might do after we are born again, but they are not prerequisites for being saved. There are an untold amount of burdens being dumped on people by the uninformed or by those who have an agenda apart from God’s agenda. Thus there are doctrines made up by men which confuse and even bind those who wish only to follow Jesus Christ unabashedly.

Many people go to church for the wrong reasons, and most are seeking something but they don’t understand what. If a person is truly seeking God He’ll reveal Himself to them. In other words God isn’t hiding inside a big white building waiting to be discovered. Many folks, when they hit rock bottom and there is no place else to turn, finally end up asking God for help. All of a sudden it seems they need God’s help, but what they hadn’t realized previously is that God has been there all along helping them, blessing them. If only they could realize that simple fact, perhaps they wouldn’t need to hit rock bottom before finally turning to God.

Fellowshipping together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in a Christ centered Bible believing Church can be an awesome experience, one that we may never wish to depart from, but that isn’t what saves us. Jesus Christ saves, and only Jesus is worthy of that designation.

No my friends, you and I don’t need to walk through the doors of some huge Christian cathedral, or a small backwoods humble Christian Church to ask the God of the universe into our lives. I have said it before, the early Church met in their homes and there God added to the numbers of His Church daily. Personally, I asked Christ into my life on a street corner outside a local restaurant in the little town of Gold Beach, Oregon. There, for the first time in my life, I spoke to God and acknowledged who He is, and interestingly there wasn’t a church building in sight.

God is wherever you confront Him. The most important question we should all be asking ourselves is “Have we asked Jesus Christ into our lives, to be the propitiation for our sins?” Not which church to attend and what to wear, or will I be accepted.

Where do you stand in regards to the God of all creation? If you’re waiting for some great revelation at your local church it may never happen. If no one has asked, then let me be the first. If you died today would you go to Heaven or Hell? Think about it.

God bless you all,

Ron Graham

“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” Acts 2:46. The early Christian believers got together every day, and they broke bread together, prayed together, and sold what they had so they could share with other believers who had more of a need than themselves. Their Christian experience was daily, joyful, and simple – good examples for us Christians to follow today.

What we notice right off is that these early Christians were overwhelmed with thoughts of Jesus Christ as they fellowshipped every day. They rendezvoused as Christians in the Temple. Matthew Henry tells us that “Though they met with the Jews in the courts of the temple, yet the Christians kept together by themselves, and were unanimous in their separate devotions.” Even after the temple was destroyed in 70 AD they still continued daily in one accord, but met exclusively in their homes. It wasn’t until almost 400 AD that Christians began to fellowship in buildings other than their homes.

Church tradition has come a long way in the last 2,000 years. Most of what is done these days behind the doors of Christian Churches is not so much biblical as traditional. Simply put, years of man’s doctrines have crept into our Christian Churches. Even though we practice something every week doesn’t mean it is necessarily biblical. And you’ll never really achieve any real understanding of your Bibles by simply sitting through three songs and a thirty minute message by a pastor on Sunday mornings. Never be afraid to simply open your Bible and begin a study. If done diligently and prayerfully, God will direct you and provide you with understanding.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrew 10:25. This is the verse that so many choose to use whenever they are confronted with Christian believers who worship in their own homes in lieu of assembling in a big white building somewhere. Sometimes it’s actually used to condemn Christians who prefer home worship. Whether folks worship Christ together as a congregation of fifty or an assembly of five it’s still worship.

“Not forsaking” means we aren’t to abandon or desert (leave behind the brethren), and “assembling ourselves together” means we are to gather together in one place. This can be easily accomplished by getting together with our loved ones and worshipping God in our homes, every day. 

We have grown accustomed to assembling with a huge throng of believers and non-believers alike. In the case of the early Church, though, they got together with other believers every day and they communed together, they prayed together, and God added souls to the church daily. Wow, even while worshiping in their homes?

In our homes, as neighbors join neighbors to hear the word, there maybe more intimacy with God, and much more dialogue and closeness of worship. The prayers might be more spontaneous and fluent in the smaller home worship groups, and Jesus would certainly be there. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”Matthew 18:20.

So why do I seem to be against hundreds of years of Church tradition? Actually I’m not. But I do believe, very strongly, that one day, very soon now, all those who are truly born again believers in Christ will need to discontinue holding worship services in those big, highly visible and expensive buildings. We will need to go back to the roots of Christianity – coming together and breaking bread daily in our own homes.

I believe Christians will be forced into a sort of undercover mode of worship involving perhaps only our immediate family members, and maybe a few close neighbors. It’s these Church traditions that many believers are going to have a tough time distancing themselves from in future America as well as other nations.

In many respects the assembling together has become a huge social club designed to entertain the club members. This membership atmosphere which has become the norm in many congregations, and which is now seen in the eyes of many as the Laodicean Church, might well be the church’s waterloo. These folks could well be the ones who will turn against and bring down the organized Christian Church in the last days. Believers might have to give up their coffee shops, book stores, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and all the rest of the unbiblical amenities that have infiltrated our worship halls.

As church traditions have become more commonplace in our services, we can see a moving away from the basic tenets of the Bible. Reading about how the early Christian believers went about meeting together and how their fellowship was centered on our Lord Jesus Christ and the breaking of bread together as a group is inspiring. Today we can see a huge difference as many years of traditions have crept in and become quite the financial beast of burden pulling the heart out of the worship services. Fellowshipping daily keeps coming back to mind.

Paul asked that the believers lay by and store a portion of what God had prospered them so it could be gathered and taken to distribute to the poorer saints. “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2. Since the early church assembled in their homes they had no huge overhead budgets to account for and they were able to help their brothers and sisters in the Lord with their increase.

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. Carefully read these verses – there’s not one reference to giving money but we are to give not grudgingly or of necessity, but cheerfully. It can be money, but it can also be our time, our experience, food, clothing, etc. Money is given these days because that’s what it takes to pay the mortgage on the buildings and the pastors salaries along with electric bills, but  stocking up food pantry’s can be done by each believer bringing in a can of soup.

Many Christian congregations have bank accounts holding thousands, some even millions, of dollars. All the while there are believers in many parts of the world suffering from starvation, mal-nutrition, a lack of warm clothing, or a pillow to lay their heads on. Many more have not even a Bible to read. God will hold us accountable for what we did for the brethren.

Tradition tells us to tithe 10 percent of our income, place that tithe into an offering plate each week, thus we’ve done our part. If you are a believer in Christ you are free in Christ to worship and give as you see fit. Tithing is not a New Testament commandment, it’s a Church tradition. Giving comes from the heart and we don’t need to wait for Sunday services to give. If a congregation holds huge sums of money in their bank accounts they are not relying on God to supply their needs, they are saving up for their wants.

What will become of the believers who are stuck in the traditions of the past as the church is forced underground? What will the individual saint do when the persecution of the Church becomes overwhelming?

These are questions we should address now while we are at liberty to worship as we please. We should take a long hard look at just how important all those traditions really are. If you’re one of the ones who doesn’t believe the persecution of the Church will ever occur in the US, you may well be living in a dream world. Yes, there will always be those big buildings where people meet, but in the last days they will only be filled with Laodiceans. 

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not attempting to dissuade folks from attending Sunday worship services by any means. There are, I’m sure, many fine congregations out there that are doing a great work for the Lord. I’m only suggesting that all the saints should become aware of the possibility that home worship is also approved of by God. It’s not forsaking the fellowship if we have fellowship in our homes. It’s just extremely different than what the organized church is accustomed to, traditionally speaking.

Daily worship of our God and Savior Jesus Christ is our faithful duty, and it includes every Christian believer. If Jesus is to be constantly on our minds then we should already be faithfully worshipping Him daily in our homes. But is that the case? Are the majority of believers today consumed with Jesus Christ? That is precisely why I am writing this commentary. If you’re not focused on Jesus while going about your daily routines, how will you become focused on Him when the bottom falls out concerning our freedoms here in the US? Mainly, our freedom to worship. When it becomes impossible to worship openly what will become of Christ’s Church?

Being prepared for the eventual persecution of the Church is only good sense. Holding to the traditions that have become commonplace in our worship service may not be prudent. Folks, the persecution Jesus spoke about is coming. It’s time we as His Church become prepared for whatever the world throws at us.

God bless you all,

Ron Graham