About Discerning Righteous Congregations

~~~ YouTube Comment

I attended one church that left me feeling off. They had a very active and alive worship before the message. When they delivered the message the congregation was left in the dark. They kept the stage lit up like worship. There was windows but they were covered up with blackout curtains. Matthew 5:15 kept echoing in my head throughout that Sunday morning. "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."

A bit more extreme is how I find it off putting when more established churches lack bibles for people. There's something about lacking God's word for people to have or borrow. How can we create strong faith in new Christians if they are kept in the dark and lack a Bible to hold.

~~~ RESPONSE

That's a very surface way of looking. It's not what the Bible was talking about and sounds like excuses to me. Here's how to tell: Did the sermon preached in the dark contain light, or was it against Scripture? Learn God's Word by comparing what the preacher says against the Bible after church. Go home, get on blueletterbible and be diligent. The main thing, as always, though, is to make sure you don't listen to any preacher who doesn't affirm justification doctrine - 1 Cor 15:-18 and Rom 10:9-14a lays out what we must believe and do to be saved. The language there is all-inclusive and emphatic! So if they say what's in there and then add things (like repenting of sin or loving your neighbor) AS A NECESsary basis of SalVatiON (justification, not sanctification), then RUN! But understand first, be humble, and make sure you know what and why they are saying what they're saying; your mind isn't enough; read the Bible and pray to know God's mind.

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