On the day of Pentecost Peter condemned the Jews, saying, “This man, delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you, through the hands of lawless men, nailed to a cross and killed; whom God has raised up...Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” This word pricked their heart, and they asked, “What should we do, brothers?” (Acts 2:23-24a, 36-37). Peter did not tell them to be saved from hell to go to heaven. The gospel he preached was, “Be saved from this crooked generation” (v. 40), which was the Jewish religion that had killed Jesus. As a result, three thousand were saved, not only from hell but also from that evil generation. Then all these saved ones remained together, loving one another, and they became the church, the testimony of Jesus against the crooked generation.
The church is the testimony of Jesus protesting against the crooked, evil, perverted generation. However, even the church as the testimony of Jesus became corrupted. Satan corrupted the testimony of God in the Old Testament time and changed it into the system of Judaism. Then in principle, he did the same thing with the church. Eventually, out of the church as the testimony of Jesus, Satan created Catholicism, another crooked and perverted generation. Later, at the time of Martin Luther, God raised up the Reformation to separate His people out of the Catholic Church, calling His people out of the perverted generation of that day (Rev. 18:4). Once again the ones whom God saved became the testimony of Jesus. Again, though, various doctrines came in to divide Christians firstly into the state churches, such as the Church of England and the Church of Denmark, and then into the private churches, such as the Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Methodist Churches. Today we also have the charismatic movement, with the Lutheran charismatics and the Catholic charismatics. This confusion and division has become another “ism,” Protestantism. Today people often ask what kind of Christians we are, whether we are Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, or something else. This question indicates that Christianity has become a crooked and perverted generation.
The generation today is composed of four things: worldliness, Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Therefore, the Lord says, “Come out of her, My people” (Rev. 18:4). We are standing here as the testimony of Jesus against this present crooked and perverted generation composed of these four items. We are no longer Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, or Methodists. We are the local churches outside of worldliness, Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. We are standing on the ground of the church, testifying against this crooked generation. Based on the history of Christianity, some may be concerned that one day even the local churches will be corrupted by Satan. However, I believe that the Lord will come back before Satan can corrupt the local churches. This old age will be terminated, and we will usher in the kingdom age. We are bold to say this, because according to the Bible, the recovery of the local churches as the testimony of Jesus is the final recovery in this age. The local churches are precious, dear, and prevailing. This is not man’s work. This is the Lord’s recovery of His testimony today on the earth. Whoever does not take the way of the churches will miss the mark of God’s work.
The world situation today indicates that the time for the Lord’s coming is near. The re-formation of the nation of Israel has been accomplished, and Jerusalem has been returned to the Jews. Only one thing, according to the prophecy of the Bible, remains to be accomplished outwardly, which is the building of the temple on the proper site in Jerusalem. The nation of Israel today is waiting for this, and we are praying for it. The situation in the Middle East is setting the stage for the war at Armageddon (16:12-16; 19:11-21). This will be the time for the Lord Jesus to come to tread the great winepress of the fury of God (14:19) and terminate this age.
In the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 we can see worldliness (Pergamos, 2:13), Judaism (the synagogue of Satan, v. 9), Catholicism (Jezebel, v. 20), and Protestantism (Sardis, 3:1). Under these circumstances, Christ calls us to overcome. We must overcome worldliness, Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism by eating Jesus. Verse 7 of chapter 2 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life.” Eating Jesus is the way. We need to forsake all the Jewish rituals, Catholic ordinances, Protestant practices, and worldliness. The only thing we need to do is to eat Jesus. We should say, “O Lord Jesus, I do not care for all those other matters. I only care for eating You.” We are no longer under the Jewish rituals, the Catholic ordinances, the Protestant practices, or the influence of the Christian free groups. Rather, day by day we are feeding on Jesus. We have no rituals, ordinances, or any practice that we insist upon. Strictly speaking, we are not shouting Christians or silent Christians. We are simply eaters of Jesus.