In the seven epistles to the churches, there are also negative matters. On the one hand, the churches as the lampstands of Christ are the testimony of Jesus. On the other hand, God’s enemy never sleeps. We all need to realize that Satan is very busy. Our God also works very diligently, but He is never too busy. He never says, “This morning I do not have time to be with you. Please wait until evening.” Rather, whenever we call on Him, He is ready to answer us. However, since the time that the church came into existence, Satan has been constantly busy, doing many things to corrupt and transmute the church and even to change its nature.
In the seven epistles, the Lord used very hard and strong terms. He indicated that the Jewish synagogues were no longer of God but the synagogue of Satan (2:9; 3:9). Some may be offended and say, “You are too much. In the synagogue the Jews read the Bible and worship God. How can you say that they are the synagogue of Satan?” However, we must be fair. This is not my word; it is the word of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus indicated that although the synagogues apparently were something for God, in actuality they had all become something of Satan. Today the principle is the same. Today on the whole earth, all the Jewish synagogues are satanic, and the satanic Judaism is versus the church. Nowhere is the opposition to Jesus so strong as in the Jewish synagogues. Some among us are brothers of Hebrew descent, but they must all realize that the religion of their fathers has become something satanic in the eyes of God.
The Lord mentioned the synagogue of Satan twice, once to Smyrna and once to Philadelphia. This is because among the seven churches, these two were the most positive ones. When the church becomes dull, dark, and down, there is no need for opposition from the synagogues. The synagogues would not care about such a church, because it is so low. However, when the churches become bright and shining, the synagogues hate them. If the churches in the Lord’s recovery in the United States become bright, eventually even Judaism will rise up against them. Judaism today is satanic.
After speaking of Judaism, the seven epistles also deal with the Roman Catholic Church. In the eyes of the Lord, Catholicism is Jezebel, the evil woman (2:20), that is not only satanic but also demonic. Judaism is satanic, but it never teaches people to worship idols. In Catholicism, however, Jezebel teaches people to worship idols, which are related to demons. Jezebel is the woman prophesied by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 13:33 and the great harlot in Revelation 17:1-5, the religious part of Babylon the Great. As such, she is a sign, a symbol, of Catholicism. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, when I was in Manila, I went to the largest cathedral purposely to study the situation. I observed all the idols there. Under one idol was a sign saying that if someone prays at that idol a certain number of times a day for a certain period of time, they would reduce a relative’s time in purgatory. Of course, they did not call those things idols. They called them Saint Teresa or the “holy mother.” The outstretched hand of the statue of the “holy mother” was made of marble, but it was almost worn out, because for many years superstitious worshippers had come and touched it. What superstition this is! This is an abomination in the eyes of God. It is more than satanic; this is demonic Catholicism. This is spoken of in the fourth epistle, the epistle to Thyatira.
In satanic Judaism, the name of God is preached, and people are taught to worship God. Likewise, in Catholicism people are taught about God, Christ, the Bible, and the cross. This is a subtlety. In the parable in Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus said that this woman, Jezebel, took leaven and hid it in three measures of fine flour. Fine flour is pure, but leaven is dirty and evil. This signifies that Catholicism has mixed the “fine flour,” the things concerning Christ, with every kind of heathen thing. Opposing the pure church there is satanic Judaism and also demonic Catholicism.
The next item related to religion is Protestantism. Whereas Judaism is satanic and Catholicism is demonic, Protestantism is dead and Christless. We know this from the fifth epistle, to the church in Sardis. Sardis has a name that it is living, yet it is dead (Rev. 3:1). In principle, we also see the condition of Protestantism in the epistle to Laodicea. The Lord told the church in Laodicea that it is neither cold nor hot, and because of this He is about to spew it out of His mouth. Christ is not in such a situation; therefore, He is outside of it, knocking at the door (vv. 15-16, 20). Again, all these things can be seen in the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3. Have you seen satanic Judaism, demonic Catholicism, and dead and Christless Protestantism in these epistles? Where then are you?
The fourth negative factor in these epistles is the world. According to church history, the church in Pergamos was fully married to the world. The Lord told Pergamos, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is...where Satan dwells” (2:13). The world is the place where Satan dwells and where his throne is. Therefore, four negative matters are covered in these seven epistles. The Lord’s intention here is to show us the things that are versus the church, His testimony—Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and the world.
Within Catholicism and Protestantism there are the subordinate items, such as the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans (vv. 14-15). The teaching of Balaam was to lead God’s people to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication, and the teaching of the Nicolaitans was to set up the clergy-laity system. (Please see footnote 1 of verse 6 and footnote 1 of verse 15 in the Recovery Version of the Bible.) Both of these are versus the church life. The church as the testimony of Jesus must forsake satanic Judaism, demonic Catholicism, dead and Christless Protestantism, devilish worldliness, the teaching of Balaam, and the teaching of the Nicolaitans. We are here as the pure golden lampstands.