House Churches
Hi Friends,
A several days ago, on the way to Ohio, I received a vision that I would like to share with you regarding the church in America. This vision concerns the body of Christ, the Church, what we actually believe, and how we will face persecution as the world gets darker.
A Vision
A Church with a Gambrel Roof
I saw the front face of a two story narrow building with a gambrel roof, which is most often seen on barns. A gambrel roof begins with a peak in the center and slopes to either side. But at the midpoint on either side of the roof, the slope changes and becomes steeper, so that the roof appears to be in four panels. The gambrel roof has been used on barns because it provides more storage space and head room on the top floor.
In the vision, the sides of the building were clad with a siding that was grey in color. A large five-foot white cross was mounted to the front face of the building, to the right and slightly above the door, indicating that the building was being used as a church. The barn-like church was placed between two houses, one on the left and one on the right.
The Meaning of the Vision
I believe that the Lord is showing us the condition of many of the churches today. In the book of Revelation, we see that John was to write to the seven churches of his day, each having different circumstances, problems and traits. God’s purpose in his revelation to John was to bring an acknowledgement of their faithfulness and endurance in spite of hardship and persecution, and to bring correction to churches that were deviating from the true faith. Many of the churches were warned to change their ways, to repent and return to God. These letters promised eternal rewards for doing what is right and holy. They were all encouraged to stand firm in the faith and to overcome all obstacles.
This vision speaks of several things:
The Barn/Church
The building, I believe, represents the church at large. It is a house of worship, because of the large white cross on its face. The house of God is where we gather together to offer worship and praise to the Lord. We come to seek his face and experience his presence. It is a place where people receive salvation, a place where people are healed and set free. It is a home and refuge for those who love the Lord and who want to be in fellowship with like-minded believers.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20
A Gambrel Roof
I believe that the gambrel roof is given to show that the house of God should be like a barn. A barn is not a place of grandeur. It is not an impressive, or “flashy” place. The barn is a humble place. It is a lowly place. It is similar to the place that the Father chose for his son to be born and welcomed into the world. The barn reminds us of the Lord’s willingness to set aside his will and become “a little lower than the angels.” (Hebrews 2:7)
”Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29
Jesus was a servant leader, demonstrating his humble character throughout his life on earth. He was fully submitted to the Father’s will and as a suffering servant; he came to die.
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:8
Jesus taught the disciples to humble themselves and to serve one another as he did by washing his disciples’ feet.
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” John 13:4-14
On another occasion, Jesus taught about pride and humility using an example of seating at a banquet.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:8-11
Paul and Peter also spoke about humility and encouraged all believers to be humble and to prefer others over themselves.
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5
The Lord sees things so differently than we do. When he spoke to Moses, giving him instructions about an earthen altar, He did not want him to use dressed stone. Everything was to be left in its natural state.
“If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.” Exodus 20:25
People are impressed with fancy cars, elegant homes with their pools and gardens, and opulent hotels, restaurants, and lush surroundings. They are impressed with the finest of material possessions which are beautiful and costly. But God looks at things differently.
When Samuel went to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be over Israel, he first came to the eldest and expected him to be selected. But God said “No.”
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the Lord is His anointed.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:6-7
Of all of Jesse’s sons, the Lord selected David to replace King Saul to be ruler over all Israel, because the Lord saw him as “a man after his own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14) King Saul had greatly angered the Lord because he offered the evening sacrifice himself, rather than waiting for the prophet Samuel as he was told to do. When Samuel arrived and saw what Saul had done he said to Saul:
“You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 1 Samuel 13:-14
So the Lord selected David, a young shepherd boy, who had already proved his trust was in the Lord, rather than one that would have been the naturally preferred man for the job.
In the same way, the Lord values sincerity and truth over the man made religion and traditions. He is no impressed with pomp and circumstance. That is religion. The Lord revealed to the woman at the well, what the Father truly desires regarding worship.
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24
We can worship the Lord at any time and anywhere in the world. The building is not important. The Church is the body of believers, not the building. When the Lord said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, He was not talking about a building. He was speaking of the body of believers, the Bride of Christ. His desire is that we are built up in our most holy faith and that we bring him glory, by our godly character and our obedience to following his commands.
The Lord was at odds with the Pharisees because they were all about “laying heavy burdens on the people and lifting a finger to help them.” They were all about their man made traditions that nullified the word of God. They “honored me with their lips but the hearts are far from me.”
The Samaritans worshiped a false god, a demon, who they did not know. God desires that we know him and know his true nature, that he is holy. God is Spirit, so we must worship him in spirit and in truth. When we become born again, we are born of the Spirit of God and given the Holy Spirit to indwell us. By yielding ourselves to the Spirit of God and allowing him to lead us in worship of the Father, we become one with him.
The Grey Church
In the vision, the church was painted grey. Grey in the Bible is nearly always a description of grey hair, referring to old age. Occasionally, it will refer to the wisdom that comes from experience. However, I believe that the Lord has colored the building grey to show a contrast with the pure white of the cross that is mounted upon it.
The cross represents Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Because the Lord is perfectly sinless, perfectly holy, and perfect in every way, the white cross represents the characteristics of righteousness, holiness and purity. The Lord is coming for his bride, a bride that is spotless, without blemish or wrinkle. So he wants us to be as he is. We have no righteousness of our own, but the Holy Spirit living within us is our righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the desire to live for the Lord, and to be obedient to him.
“But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16
Aligning with the word of God, which is truth and embracing the cross, even our own cross, we will hold fast to our faith and become true disciples of Christ.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’” Matthew 16:24-25
Grey is a mixture of white and black.
White, according to Bible Study.com , represents righteousness or the pretense of righteousness, purity, wisdom, holiness, dedication to God and joy.
Black, dark or darkness, according to the same source, can refer to famine, mourning and sorrow, the lack of revelation from God, hades and hell.
Grey is produced by mixing two opposites like white with black.
The building is colored grey to represent two things - mixture and compromise.
In regards to teaching doctrine and building faith in believers, the world’s views and values have infiltrated the church. The Word of God is becoming tainted with the philosophies and ideologies of the world. This is causing all kinds of problems. We no longer have truth, but truth mixed with lies that are based on human constructs, traditions, and superstition. Black can be distinguished from white because of the sharp contrast between them. However, when they are mixed together, the contrast is less noticable. A little of this and a little of that, with careful wording, can make something untrue sound not only plausible, but believable.
This is happening throughout our churches today. We no longer are hearing an untainted message. The gospel has become more worldly. The truth of God’s word when mixed with the ideas of the world, no longer brings conviction of sin. But lulls one into a sense of complacency. There is no fear of God. “God” becomes an entity that has whatever attributes people want to give him. People may say:
“God is love, so it’s okay with God that I am doing this.”
“What’s the big deal? God loves everyone, no matter what their personal choices are.”
“Nobody’s perfect, and God knows my heart.”
“All roads lead to God.”
These are all excuses for our desire to do our own thing and disregard God’s righteous commands. This “god of compromise” that they have created for themselves is not the God of the Bible. They have created a “god” that reflects their personal values and beliefs.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3
So today our churches, not all of course, but many have mixed in worldly teachings, eastern religious practices, new age ideologies, and popular humanistic ideals into their teachings. They accept completely non-Biblical “scientific theories” as fact. Because of this mixture, there is no grounding in truth. Everyone chooses for themselves what they want to believe. They will easily accept lies and half-truths. The faith that they confess is not truly Christian, but a hybrid faith that compromises the word of God and in many ways denies the Lordship of Jesus, or denies his deity altogether.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12
This passage of scripture describes what is going on in the world today, and unfortunately many in our churches have embraced sinful lifestyles as perfectly acceptable.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
We cannot purge sin from the church and from every believer, but we should be taught that these are sins that come from the sinful nature of man. These traits are in direct opposition to the Spirit of God that lives in us, so when we recognize these traits in ourselves, we must sincerely repent and get right with the Lord.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9
We are the church. It is our responsibility to know the word of God, so that we will be able to distinguish truth from lies. We cannot expect that all teachers and all preachers and all pastors are submitted to God. They will be held accountable for what they teach, but if by their teaching they lead people astray, we do not want to be partnering with them. We need to guard our hearts and study the word of God for ourselves.
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
If we are diligent in the reading and studying the word of God for ourselves, then we will know what the Lord says about life, divorce, greed, pride, sexual immorality, money and pleasures. If we do not know how he feels about such things, how can we please God?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
There is another important aspect to the vision that I would like to share with you.
The House-Church
The gambrel roofed building in the vision was placed in a neighborhood-like setting with one house on the left and another on the right. Barns are usually wider and longer, and are found in the country. This was a house for it was narrow and not particularly deep. The cross on the front identifies it as a church.
I believe that this simple, small house represents a place where we may be meeting with other believers in the near future. Persecution by law should not be allowed, but laws can change as those who interpret the law change. There are already signs that persecution of the faith is increasing to our country, and at some point, we will be meeting in homes rather than in large impressive buildings that are meant to hold many people at a time.
About twenty-five years ago, the Lord showed me a vision that told me that it would be dangerous to carry a Bible. In that vision I took a tiny Bible, a pocket New Testament, and placed it in my purse. My normal-sized study Bible, I placed on my nightstand with the title facing away so as to not be immediately detected. By the other three books in my lap, I knew that we were in the days of tribulation. If you would like to read about this vision here is a link: Huis Clos - No Exit
Because of persecution against the church and the loss of our freedoms, the Bible will be outlawed and the church will be forced to go underground like elsewhere in the world. The crosses will be removed from the church buildings and small unmarked houses will take their place. Much caution will be taken with regards to inviting new people, for betrayal by false brothers will be a risk.
The grey color of the house-church helps it to “blend in” with the surrounding community and avoid detection. However, blending in may pose a problem for the church when its members become so fearful of persecution that they hide out and no longer “shine” for Christ.
With persecution, many will fall away from the faith. They would rather fit-in with their neighbors and co-workers than stand firm in the faith, and accept the consequences of being a Christian in a non-Christian world.
But we must remember that to compromise our faith to gain the world’s favor and avoid persecution will cause us to forfeit eternal life with God. Think carefully about these scriptures:
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30
“But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:33-39
So this vision warns us that in the near future we may have persecution so that we take our faith to house churches. This is a vision given to prepare us for the days ahead and to take our faith seriously. It is a good time to join a house church, and to memorize the Bible, for I truly believe that it will someday be dangerous to carry a Bible. Now is the time to build ourselves up in our most holy faith. And share the true gospel with all people.
The Bible speaks of a “great falling away from the faith,” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). So we need to take the possibility seriously and be prepared. Remember the word tells us:
“Everyone will be salted with fire.” Mark 9:49
“The one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13
“In this world you have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Thanks for reading, and please share this message with others. God bless you!
