Wherefore, Come Out

THE FALSE PROPHET MUHAMMAD | home

Though written over twenty years ago, the following allegory was never more

appropriate than it is right now. It reflects Church’s condition in the West as it

exists today. I could have left this chapter out, but what good is a book that

avoids truth just because it might make a few people uncomfortable?

THERE was a wicked city. In the middle of the city was a lofty church.

That church had the tallest steeple that ever was built. In the steeple was

the grandest bell that ever was made. When that bell was struck, it

pealed forth with such a mighty knell that every building in the city

rattled and some even shook to their foundations. It was all very

frightening at first, because here and there a building had collapsed. But

nothing had fallen in a long, long time, so the townsfolk had gone back

Seeing the church, Christian tried to go inside. But in the middle of

the doorway was a massive iron gate. It had strong iron bars. Looking

through the bars he saw lots of people inside. They were marching

around in lock-step and chanting the same words to each other over and

over and over again. They nodded approval to each other and kept

telling each other how great they all were. They were God’s elect,

Christian tried with all his might to open the gate, but it wouldn’t

budge. Then he noticed a heavy bronze plaque that was bolted to the

gate with big bronze bolts. The headline engraved on the plaque read:

Imposing and well-dressed men rode up in fancy cars. They

mounted pedestals and stood guard over the plaque. The pedestals were

very tall, and had signs on them that read, “Pastors and Evangelists

Only”. These elevated men held out collection plates and cried, “Give,

give. Oh, give more! We need to build a bigger church and get a louder

bell.” Other men with arm-bands that read “Theologian” stood behind

People came up and bowed to the men, then they breathed on the

plaque and polished it with their handkerchiefs, as you would a pair of

glasses. Some folks even knelt before the plaque and kissed it. For all of

them, the iron gate swung open by itself.

There wasn’t any light on the plaque, the print was very small and

there was an awful lot of it, so Christian held up his Bible (which shines

in the dark) so that he could see. Squinting and adjusting his bifocals, he

started reading the fine print. As he read, he muttered and groaned and

became more and more agitated. Finally, Christian could stand it no

“These doctrines do not agree with Scripture,” he cried out in a

troubled voice. Christian then opened his Bible and began to read it

aloud. As each verse of Scripture was read, a crack appeared in the

plaque, then another, and another, until the plaque shattered into a

million pieces. As it splintered and fell, it made a tiny tinkling sound, but

at that sound, the buildings of the wicked city quaked, and fell, until

The people in the church clapped their hands and giggled with glee,

“The wicked city has fallen, the wicked city has fallen!”

They puffed out their chests and ran around shaking hands and

congratulating each other. They never realized that it was not their bell,

nor their lofty church, but the reading of the Bible that made the

buildings fall. After the commotion had died down some, most of them

went back to their marching while others started working on a new

plaque. They were so busy making sure that everyone was keeping in

step that they forgot to take down their iron gate.

Christian didn’t want to chant or march in lock-step behind an iron

gate, so with Bible in hand, he turned and walked away. A few people

with Bibles in their hands came out from the church and went with him.

As they strolled along, they were all joyously singing, reading their

Bibles, and sharing what they read with any passerby who would listen.

Soon there was a huge crowd around them singing and reading their

Then someone said, “Let’s build a church and make a plaque ...”1

Now that was not an attack against good churches. If you are in one

of the few good churches that remain in the land, stay right where you

are! That is so important, I will say it again: If you are in one of the few

good churches that remain in the land, you are most fortunate, stay right

where you are! But it’s not true for all. In many cities, spiritually hungry

brethren spend Sunday after Sunday in a futile search for a Bibleteaching

Is this what your church is like? You go to services three times a

week, seeking a little spiritual reality in your life, but in Sunday school

they rehash last week’s TV programs and talk about the string of bass

that George caught.2 The pastor drones out some soothing old Charles

Haddon Spurgeon sermon you heard twenty years ago, and you

remember the last pastor, who ran off with that sexy-looking young

organist. You also think about Tom who lost his job, and that his family

didn’t have enough to eat, but how that didn’t stop the elders from

giving the pastor a raise, nor from using the rest of the tithe to expand

the sanctuary ... and you’ve been seriously asking yourself, “Is this what

1 The Iron Gate allegory does not appear in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, but to that

elder brother goes the credit for the idea.

2 2Th 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except

2Ti 4:4 “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto

fables.” So it is a falling away, not a great revival that will precede the return of Jesus.

Jesus’ church is supposed to be like, and is this really how God wants

You “sigh and groan” over the abominations committed in your

midst, but what can you do? Your mother and father were life members

of your church, you were baptized there, and the church down the street

isn’t any better. Could you even find a church that is truly concerned

about your family’s spiritual growth or that really has a heart to help you

raise up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

If you are asking those questions of yourself and see no answers,

then welcome to the true Church. The answer is the same as it has

always been: It’s in the person of Jesus Christ, and the Lord didn’t make

following Him difficult. He will show you through the Bible how easy

it is to worship Him the way He intended for you to do it all along: “in

spirit and in truth.” It is all in God’s Word, and we had better learn how,

for very soon, the only refuge we may have left will be the Lord our

2Co 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye

separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will

receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons

It may not have happened to you yet, but if you can hardly stand

what is happening to your church, or what is being taught there, sooner

or later the Holy Spirit may lead you out of that church. With a heavy

heart, many sound, Bible-believing Christians are now leaving

established churches and attending no formal church at all. Some

Christians are falling away, but a remnant – ah, the true Church – are

forming little home groups. They are meeting in living rooms, cellars or

garages, in any room large enough to hold a dozen brethren or so.

It’s a scary thought, being on your own with just the Lord Jesus to

sustain you. But don’t worry, Jesus can handle it. He planned this whole

thing long ago, and you are part of His plan. Just obey Him, and don’t

look upon what is happening as if it were a bad thing. It is the Lord’s

protection unto you. As we discussed in the last chapter, the visible

church will soon be destroyed, and the Lord may be leading you out of

Isa 26:20-27:1 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and

shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little

moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD

cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for

their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no

Five times in the New Testament we read about where the Church

was located. In each case, the Church was in the home of an individual

believer, and nowhere in the New Testament are we told that we should

meet anywhere else.1 In fact, the Greek word for church, ekklesia, could

probably be better translated as “the called out ones,” rather than “the

assembly.” The first century “called out ones” were unsung little groups

of believers, meeting in homes where they were hidden by the Lord from

the swords of their enemies.2 Very soon, we, too, may have to assemble

in the same way. The enemy hates the Church, and since he has now

been loosed, he will soon physically attack it here in the United States,

just like he is doing everywhere else on the planet.

Most of us have been programmed to believe that we can’t worship

the Lord, serve communion, baptize, or even have elders unless some

sectarian seminary sends an “ordained” pastor to do the job in an

“approved” manner: building a building complete with steeple, pipe

organ, stained glass windows, a choir, a music minister, and so on. It just

Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and

a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true

worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the

1 Act 8:3, Rom 16:5, 1Co 16:19, Col 4:15, Phil 1:2.

2 The word “church” itself comes from the old English/Germanic word kirke, which

meant a ritualistic pagan circle. Meeting in a kirke was rooted in the pagan concept that

people could stand in a “circle of agreement,” holding hands, to call upon demonic forces.

(from Church, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Flemming-Ravell). Unaware of its true spiritual

significance, many evangelical churches have now adopted this demonic ritual and have

included it in their worship service. The Greek åêêëçóßá (Strong’s No.G1577) ekklesia,

ek-klay-see’-ah; from G1537 and G2564. ek meaning “out of,” and kaleho meaning “to

As church doors close, or as assemblies depart from the truth, the

very survival of the true Church will depend upon the obscure godly

sheep who are willing to walk before the Lord with contrite hearts,

regardless of conditions around them. True saints will again need to

learn from the Bible for themselves and gather with other like-minded

brethren who are seeking the Lord’s face. And it’s all right to do that,

you know. After all, the Lord ordained each of us to be a king and a

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his

Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

We have a thousand pages of guidance on just how to gather

together. It is called the Bible. Throughout the Christian Era various men

and organizations have told us exactly what each verse was supposed to

mean, or exactly how each church ordinance should be observed. But if

we just trust Scripture, the Spirit of Truth, Himself, will teach us from

In this chapter, I considered writing the usual “rules” on how to hold

a meeting, serve communion, baptize, and so on. But then, I realized that

I would be doing exactly what has gotten the Church into trouble all

along: giving dictums of behavior beyond what Scripture already states.

It’s all in the Bible, folks. Everything the Lord wants a believer to do is

in the Word of God. We simply need to follow His orders.

Suffice to say that the qualifications for eldership are found in 1Ti

3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9, and how communion should be served is recorded

in Mat 26:26-28 and 1Co 11:23-26. There is no scrip-turally specified

method for baptism, but we do have early church history to guide us.

Many brethren in home churches now follow a first century church

mode of baptism. First, they ask the new convert to renounce his past

sinful life. Then they ask the convert to make a firm declaration of his

new position in Christ Jesus. Though the words below are not struck in

stone, the confession of faith goes something like this:

“I turn away from, reject, and totally renounce Satan, his kingdom,

his angels and all his works. I repent of and renounce all my sins,

and ask God to forgive me for them all. I accept the Lord Jesus

Christ as my personal Savior and ask Him to become Lord of my

Then, observing the command of Jesus in Matthew 28:19, the new

brother or sister is baptized “In the name of the Father ... in the name of

Jesus Christ His Son ... and in the Holy Spirit ... Amen.” If the new

believer is being immersed, he is immersed once. But if he is being

poured over, as was a first century practice, the convert is asked to kneel,

and he is poured over three times: once as each name of God is spoken.

But the mode of baptism is not nearly as important as getting it done.1

Don’t dawdle around. Baptism isn’t just for show; it was given to

believers for a sound spiritual reason (Act 22:16, 1Pe 3:21).

Brethren, unless I totally misunderstand Scripture, Christians and

Jews will soon be persecuted in this land and we need to get ready for

it. Not everyone in the church is saved. Many servants of the enemy are

lurking there as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They smile and sound

sanctified, but if they don’t really belong to Jesus, they would betray you

in a minute.2 You can’t lead anybody to Jesus if you are lying face-down

in some gutter with a bullet in the back of your head. Sound far-fetched?

Well, it’s a reality. That’s the fate of Christians in many parts of the

If you believe none of this could happen in your town or think that

your friends and neighbors would never betray you, that is what the

Protestant brethren in Ireland thought before 125,000 were tortured and

killed by their neighbors. That is what 1,000,000 brethren in Cambodia

thought before the Khmer Rouge wiped them out. That is what the Jews

in Nazi Germany thought before they were herded into cattle cars that

1 Southern Baptists would probably like me excommunicated for mentioning a mode of

baptism other than immersion, however, pouring as an accepted mode of was clearly

explained in the Didache, otherwise known as the “Teaching of the Apostles.” Written in

85AD, the Didache is not an inspired work so it is not part of the Bible, but it does outline

many practices of the 1st century church. William McGrath, The Didache (Christian

2 If you think that to be an overstatement: A deacon’s wife in one of our local Baptist

churches wore a red cape and tapped people on their forehead with a wand to drive out

their demons. Laughable? That’s a page right out of the occult, open witchcraft. In another

case, a church elder and his wife were a young man’s satanic godfather and godmother.

In a third case, I personally know a Christian sister who, as a child, suffered years of

unbelievable satanic ritual abuse at the hands of the elders of her “evangelical” church.

This happened years ago, but she is still in hiding and fears for her life.

took them to the gas chambers of Buchenwald, Triblinka, and

Auschwitz. And that is what we thought until the Twin Towers fell.

In Isaiah 26:20-27:1, the Lord directs us to hide at the end of time,

and Jesus said, “Night cometh, when no man can work,” Joh 9:4. Surely

that time is upon us. So in accordance with those verses, it would be

fitting to make preparations for a coming holocaust while we still have

To give you an idea of how persecution has already begun in

Europe, the media in Holland are publicly calling our Christian brethren

“dogs.” Through this kind of overt anti-Christian propaganda, the Dutch

people are being programmed to look favorably upon the havoc that may

soon befall their little Christian community.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come

out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that

SO WHERE IS THIS PERSECUTION GOING TO COME FROM?

While it is true that a vast majority of Middle Eastern people are

peace-loving, the religion they follow is not, as both history and current

events so clearly show. Despite the good intentions of many Moslems,

the Bible irrefutably identifies the Islamic states of the Middle East and

their associates as the final enemies of the church and Israel. As the

Nigerian evangelist, M. Ali, clearly stated in his letter to me of October

“You know as well as I, that Moslems the world over are pleased

with the activities of Osama bin Laden. Never mind the duplicitous

political statements of various Islamic leaders. They all see him as

a twenty-first century Saladin. That America will destroy bin

Laden’s organization is not in doubt. The question is this: will it

solve the hidden problem that every radical Moslem is a potential

As stated earlier, Islam would not be a problem if they had remained

in the Middle and Far East as they had for the prior thirteen centuries.

But fundamental Islam is spreading, not only in the Arab world, but in

every place on earth where the Koran is taught. As a consequence, we

are seeing these verses fulfilled right before our own eyes:

Rev 16:12-14 (excerpts) And the sixth angel poured out his vial

upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up,

[thus unifying the Islamic world] that the way of the kings of the

east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs

[the Leopard-Bear-Lion beast] come out of the mouth of the

dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of

the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working

miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the

whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God

Moderate Islamic governments supposedly support us while their

fundamental mullahs stir up an ever-increasing unrest and hatred against

all things Jewish or Christian. The Bible plainly foretells that Islam will

be the final enemy of the Church and Israel, so a major future war

against Islam is a certainty. This war in Iraq was not just a minor little

conflict against a few extremists that we will be able to contain. We can

shout all we want that this is not a religious war, but to every

fundamental Moslem in the Middle East, it is. Christian values that have

been ingrained in our society for the last 2000 years stand against a Jihad

mentality that is central to the Koran. Conflict is inevitable.