In the previous chapter we saw that Judaism is satanic, Catholicism is demonic, Protestantism is dead and Christless, and the world is devilish. After hearing this, some may consider that this word is hard and without mercy. This is the reason that I have not released such a message in the United States for over twelve years. If I had spoken such a message ten years ago, even some among us would not have been able to receive it. However, now is the time to release this word. We are not the first ones to speak in this way, apparently without mercy. It was the Lord Jesus who pointed out these diabolic matters in His seven epistles to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, and we are simply His small followers. In these seven epistles, the Lord Jesus used the term synagogue of Satan twice (2:9; 3:9). Then in speaking to the church in Thyatira, He mentioned Jezebel. Jezebel was an evil woman in the Old Testament during the time of the kings, but now the church in Thyatira tolerates that evil woman (2:20). According to church history, Thyatira symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church. In the eyes of the Lord, the Roman Catholic Church has become Jezebel, the evil woman who teaches God’s people to commit fornication and to worship idols. Thus, in the fourth epistle the Lord used the words Jezebel, fornication, and idol sacrifice, and He also mentioned the “deep things of Satan” (v. 24), the mysteries of Satan taught not only in the idol temples but also in the cathedrals and sanctuaries of the Catholic Church. Therefore, no one should say that we are merciless. The Lord Jesus Himself pointed out the diabolic things in Catholicism.
The Lord told the church in Sardis, “You have a name that you are living, and yet you are dead” (3:1). According to church history again, Sardis signifies the Protestant church, which in the eyes of the Lord is dead and lifeless. Finally, to the last church, the church in Laodicea, the Lord said, “Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.” Moreover, He is standing outside the door of the church (vv. 16, 20). This is not our own word. It is the word of the faithful and true Witness (1:5; 3:14). This Witness of God pointed out all these negative matters in the churches. By the Lord’s simple and clear word, we can see the real situation in the typical religions, even in the so-called Christian churches. There are the synagogue of Satan, Jezebel, idols, fornication, and the deep things of Satan. Even Protestantism is dead, lifeless, and Christless. Christ has given it up, and He is outside of it. This is the word spoken by the Lord in the Bible.
In addition, the third church, the church in Pergamos, dwelled where Satan’s throne and dwelling place are (2:13). The church was not in the place of God’s ruling but where Satan’s throne is. This place is the world. Today’s Christianity is not only devilish but also worldly. Today certain Christian churches even use rock music, drama performances, and dancing as entertainment to draw crowds. This is worldly and is altogether abominable in the eyes of God. Nevertheless, many good Christians justify these things. Almost no one stands up to protest against them. Some have told me, “Brother Lee, you are too old. You are not up to date. You need to know the trend of the world. If we are so straight and old, the young people will not come. We need to fit into the young people’s trend.” Some even proposed to me that we should form a “hippie church,” saying that this would be the best way to follow the tide of the age. This is worldly and diabolic. Christianity today has drugged people with things such as music and dancing. Regrettably, these “drugs” have damaged many Christians in their sober mind that was created by God. Their mental sky is altogether cloudy, and they cannot discern right from wrong. Therefore, when we stand up to protest against these things, they say that we are merciless and unkind, that we should love people and not condemn them. The Lord Jesus loves everyone, but He does not love the things of Satan, such as devilish entertainment.
Satan is subtle. He not only uses these “drugs” to damage the understanding of God’s people, but he also uses good things, that we may compare to dessert and candy. Even in fundamental Christianity, we can hear good, sound, fundamental, and scriptural messages, but many of them are merely “sweets” to comfort people and show love to them. Those who are considered to be the best ministers and speakers in today’s Christianity are the ones who soothe, comfort, and give rest to their listeners. If anyone is faithful to stand up and tell people that they need the experience of the cross, the listeners will reject him and cut off his financial supply. If we could check with the heart and conscience of certain fundamental preachers, we would find that they do know what the Lord’s will is, yet they dare not to preach it. Rather, they pick up many good messages along the line of Streams in the Desert. As we said in a previous message, many things in this devotional book are like a “British biscuit” or an “American dessert” that can damage the appetite for proper, solid, and nourishing meat.
Over twenty-five years ago, when I came out of mainland China, I received the burden to preach concerning the New Jerusalem. The Lord had shown me that the New Jerusalem is not the “heavenly mansion” of the so-called heaven but a living composition of all God’s redeemed ones. I preached this, and I taught it strongly. Then a certain preacher in Hong Kong rose up to tell people, “Brother Lee is taking away the heavenly mansions from the believers.” He asked me, “If you take away the heavenly mansions from the believers, what will we tell them when their relatives die?” I told him, “You are deceiving people with your superstition, telling them that their parents are in the heavenly mansions where you say we will all go one day. Do you really believe this? Do you not know that this is the superstition of Buddhism that was adopted by Catholicism? Have you not read in Revelation 21:2 that the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven? The mutual abode of God and man for eternity will not be heaven but the New Jerusalem on the new earth. The teaching that you use to comfort people is a superstition, even a lie.” However, most people prefer to listen to the lie. They do not like to listen to the truth. The New Testament is full of solid food (Heb. 5:13-14; 1 Cor. 3:2), but in the Catholic Church and also in the Protestant churches, no one dares to touch this solid truth for fear of not being accepted even by the real, fundamental Christians.
Those in the charismatic movement emphasize nothing but the gifts, and by gifts they mainly mean speaking in tongues. However, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 mentions nine gifts. The two chief items of the manifestation of the gifts are the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, and the last two are speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. To emphasize speaking in tongues is to make the tail into the head. We would rather keep the head as the head. In every meeting we have many words of wisdom and of knowledge. According to the context of 1 Corinthians, the word of wisdom is the word concerning Christ as the deeper things of God, predestined by God to be our portion (1:24, 30; 2:6-10), and the word of knowledge is the word that imparts a general knowledge of things concerning God and the Lord (8:1-7). The word of wisdom is mainly out of our spirit through revelation; the word of knowledge is mainly out of our understanding through teaching. Both of these, not speaking in tongues or any other miraculous gift, are listed as the first gifts and the topmost manifestation of the Spirit because both are the most profitable ministries, or services, for the edification of the saints and the building up of the church to carry out God’s operation. According to history, the Christian churches have almost never had so much of the word of wisdom and of knowledge as we have today week after week and meeting after meeting. However, the charismatic movement cares mainly for the “tail.” Of course, it is good to keep the tail, but we must not make the tail into the head.
Some have also practiced prophesying by saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” but what they predicted was never fulfilled. Twice in 1963 and 1964 some prophesied that Los Angeles would fall into the ocean, and this was even published in a major newspaper. However, it never happened. Those who practiced in this way were all “drugged.” They never saw the fulfillment of their grand prophecies, but they still clung to the gifts. This is a kind of addiction. It is difficult for anyone today to rise up and speak something according to the solid truth, but in the United States today there is a people among whom the solid truth can be released. We thank the Lord for this. I have no intention to condemn anyone. Rather, our burden is to see what the Lord desires to have today. We must go on more and more in a positive way. We should not remain in satanic Judaism, in degraded Christianity—including demonic Catholicism and lifeless and Christless Protestantism—or in devilish worldliness. Whoever wants to remain there, let them remain. We need to go on from all these negative things to the one positive item, the testimony of Jesus.