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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:1a; 12:1; 14:1, 4, 14-16; 19:7; 21:18-21; 2:9; 3:9; 2:20; 17:1-6; 2:13-14; 3:20; 18:4; Acts 2:40; Rom. 11:3-4
We thank God for the book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament and the concluding book of the entire Bible. However, this book has not been opened to many Christians in a very clear way, and very few have truly seen its significance. Generally speaking, almost everyone considers this to be a book of prophecy. Whether this is right or wrong depends on our definition of prophecy. As we saw in a previous chapter, Revelation is not merely a book of predictions of events that will transpire in the future. Rather, in the nature of prophecy, it is a full revelation of Christ that opens the covering veil to give us a clear picture of this wonderful person (1:1a). In portraying Christ, this revelation also gives us a full record of the church from the first century until the time of the coming kingdom. Christ is in the church. In order to see who Christ is and what He is, we need to see the church throughout all the centuries. Then we can see Christ in the church, with the church, and in oneness with the church. This is a further view of Christ. Many Christians have seen the view of Christ presented by the four Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, but very few have seen Christ from the view presented in the book of Revelation.
Until around 1828, when the great Brethren teachers were raised up, including John Nelson Darby and others, the book of Revelation was mostly a closed book. On the one hand, these teachers opened this book in a general way, but on the other hand, they also misinterpreted certain matters. For example, Darby said that the scene around the throne in the heavens in chapter 4 takes place only after the church is raptured. He based this on the fact that John, as a representative of the church, was in the heavens in spirit (vv. 1-2). Then after the church is taken up, the tribulations follow as a judgment on the world. By moving directly from the historical churches in chapters 1 through 3 to the Lord’s coming and the taking up of the church in chapter 4, this interpretation creates a gap of many centuries, leaving the book of Revelation incomplete. In our early days we learned some things from Revelation through the writings of the Brethren teachers, but eventually we could not hold on to any misleading concepts. Gradually as the years went by, the Lord showed us something further. The book of Revelation spans a long period of time, covering, in principle, all the things from the age of the apostles in the first century to the New Jerusalem in eternity.
The book of Revelation is a revelation not merely by Christ but concerning Christ in His church and in oneness with His church. Based upon this principle, it opens with the first three chapters depicting the situation of the church in a practical and full way. Later, in chapter 12 there is a wonderful, universal, pure, holy, and bright woman (v. 1). With her there is no darkness because she is clothed with the sun, the moon is underneath her feet, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars, which are the luminaries that shine in the whole universe. This woman is in contrast to Jezebel—the evil, ugly, dirty woman in Thyatira who seduces God’s people to commit fornication and eat idol sacrifices (2:20-23). According to church history, Thyatira signifies the Roman Catholic Church. In the eyes of God, this church is Jezebel, who cheats the people who follow her. Some may ask, “Does not the Catholic Church teach people to worship God?” Yes, it does, but at the same time, it teaches people to worship idols. Over twenty-five years ago, while I was in Manila in the Philippines, I sought to know the facts about the Catholic Church, so I went to the largest cathedral there to watch and observe. Many people were worshipping idols. First, they went to a counter and bought a candle. Then they came into the cathedral, looked at all the idols, and considered to which one they should go. Most of them chose to go to the idol of the so-called “holy mother” to burn their candle, worship the idol, and pray to it. Under one idol was a notice that to come to it and pray every day would reduce a loved one’s time in purgatory. This is to teach people to worship in God’s name but in actuality to worship idols. This is evil and demonic, and it was prophesied in Revelation as Jezebel, the evil woman who teaches the Lord’s servants to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices.
We should not be disappointed with chapters 2 and 3. Rather, we should go on to chapters 4 through 11 to arrive at chapter 12, where there is a woman not with idols but full of light—the sun, the moon, and the stars. Then from chapter 12 we go on to chapter 14, where there are the firstfruits and the harvest (vv. 1-5, 14-16). A little further on, however, the evil woman comes again as the great harlot, Babylon (17:1-6). Babylon is the consummation of the evil woman, Jezebel. With this great harlot there is a mixture. The New Jerusalem is a city of gold; the entire city proper is gold in nature (21:18), but the great Babylon is only gilded with gold, having a golden cup full of abominations. In appearance the cup is gold, but it is not gold within. This is a cheating, a deceit. The great harlot is gilded with the divine things, but we should not look only at the appearance. In the eyes of God, the cup is filled with abominations. This is a picture of the Catholic Church. From the outward appearance, it is gold, but inside are abominations. The harlot is gilded not only with gold but also with precious stone and pearls (17:4). In appearance, this seems to be the same as the New Jerusalem. However, the New Jerusalem is not gilded but built with precious stones and pearls on the base of gold (21:19-21). The Catholic Church is only gilded to deceive people with a good, divine appearance, but its contents are evil and abominable.
In chapter 2 there is Jezebel, in chapter 12 there is a bright woman, in chapter 17 Jezebel becomes a great harlot, and then in chapter 19 there is the wife of Christ (v. 7). Following this is chapter 21, which shows the New Jerusalem built with precious stones and pearls inlaid in the golden mountain. This is the wonderful picture presented by the book of Revelation, and in this picture we see Christ with the church and in the church. Therefore, as the revelation concerning Christ, the book of Revelation presents the testimony of Jesus, which is the church.
We all need to know what age we are in, what the present revelation is from God, where we should be, what we should do, and what flow we should enter into. Time is short, and the day of the Lord’s second coming is approaching. We must no longer be drugged by the religious things. We need to wake up to see where we should be and what we should do. This is a serious matter. The Lord Jesus likened this age to the age of Noah, saying, “Just as the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage...until the flood came and took all away” (Matt. 24:37-39). We must not be here unclear, drugged, and befuddled by the present situation. We must see what the age is, where we should be, and the way we should follow.
Revelation gives us a clear vision of today’s age and its prevailing flow and tide. If we spend time in this book with much prayer, the Lord will show us that the age today, from the unbelievers’ side, is full of evil and corruption. We will see that on the whole earth the age is full of evil matters, such as fornication, adultery, sodomy, dancing clubs, robbery, and violence. There is no hope for this age. God does not have any thought to cure it but has already given up on it. The unbelieving world is now under God’s condemnation and judgment.
In addition, on the earth today there are three typical religions. I do not count Confucianism, which contains only ethical teachings and is not a religion. I do not even count Islam, because it is an imitation, a counterfeit. The Islamic holy book, the Koran, is merely a counterfeit of the Old Testament with a little of the New Testament. The Koran even says something about Jesus, whom it calls “Isa.” According to the Koran, Isa was merely a great servant of God who was neither crucified nor resurrected. When Isa was about to be crucified, God took him to Himself in heaven. Then one day this Isa will return to continue his human life. What a counterfeit this is! The typical, genuine religions are Judaism (the Jewish religion), Catholicism (Romanism), and Protestantism. Do you love these three “isms”? No, we simply love Jesus.
It was under Judaism that Jesus was brought into the world. However, in speaking to the churches, the Lord mentioned the “synagogue of Satan” (2:9; 3:9). Synagogues are places of worship for the Jews, but those synagogues became the synagogue of Satan. In the eyes of God, all the synagogues of the Jews are synagogues of Satan. Although the Jews teach people to worship God, God is not in the Jewish synagogues today. Rather, Satan is there. This is the view not of man but of God. We must all realize that God is frank; He never pretends. On the contrary, Satan is always subtle and never frank. The first time Satan came to man, he came as a small serpent. Adam and Eve were not aware that this serpent was Satan. He always comes to us pretending to be something better than he is. He is evil and ugly, but he comes as something that appears nice. This is Satan’s way. One day Satan came to the Lord Jesus in this kind of subtle way. In Matthew 16:16 Peter recognized the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, and the Lord Jesus praised him for that. Right away, however, this same Peter who had received a revelation from the Father became one with Satan (vv. 21-23). Satan came through Peter to frustrate the Lord Jesus. If the Lord Jesus had not had the insight, He might have been cheated. Of course, He did have the insight, so He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan!” The Lord Jesus saw through him. Apparently that was Peter, but actually it was Satan. In the same way, apparently the synagogues of the Jewish religion are for the worship of God, but in actuality Satan is there. They are the “synagogue of Satan.”
As we have seen, the Catholic Church is Jezebel. People in Catholicism worship Jesus, but they worship Mary even more. At the entrance to a cathedral in Manila is a statue of Mary, one of whose hands is almost completely worn out. When I asked the people there what had happened, they told me that every day hundreds of people would come to touch that hand and that over many years this had worn it out. What a superstition this is! Catholicism teaches people something about Jesus, and they teach people to worship God, but their teachings are, for the most part, misleading.
In the Catholic churches today there is the so-called charismatic movement, in which speaking in tongues, the worship of Mary, and the Catholic mass all come together. What a confusion! Catholicism is subtle. As long as people belong to the Catholic Church, it accepts almost all the things they bring in. When the Catholic missionaries went to China, the Chinese people were practicing ancestor worship, and it was very hard for them to give this up. Because of this, some of the priests asked the pope to allow Chinese Catholics to continue this kind of worship. They were afraid that if the Vatican did not allow it, almost no Chinese would come into the Catholic Church.
Catholicism contains many heathen items. When Catholicism went to the Philippines, all the natives had their form of idol worship. Many of these forms were collected by Catholicism and added into their worship. For example, at a certain time each year there is a feast day, a special day of repentance. Before that day, people may rob from one another, but on the day of repentance they would repent of what they did. After the feast day, however, they would begin again to steal.
What then of the Protestant churches? To the church in Pergamos the Lord said, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is” (Rev. 2:13). Satan’s throne indicates his kingdom. Then verse 14 mentions the teaching of Balaam, which is to teach God’s people to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication. This does not pertain to the Jewish centers of worship, the synagogues, and it is not found only in the cathedrals of Catholicism. This teaching is also found in the Protestant churches. Some may argue and say that they never saw idols in the Protestant churches. However, we should be careful. There are some idols there. The title Reverend, for example, is an abomination to God. Only God Himself is to be revered. This is a small indication that should open our eyes to see that in Protestantism there are subtle things related to idols. As a sign, the church in Sardis prefigures the Protestant church, from the time of the Reformation to the second coming of Christ. In the eyes of God, the reformed church is dead (3:1). Moreover, even though certain matters were restored by this church, these things were about to die; hence, they needed to be revived (v. 2). This is the actual situation of the Protestant churches.
Today there is the unbelieving world. In addition, there are the things that belong to the enemy of God, including idols, Satan’s synagogue, Satan’s throne, and deadness, that are related not to the unbelieving world but to the religious world—Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Where then should we be today? Should we be in the unbelieving world, going to movies, skiing, dancing, surfing, and gambling in the casinos in Reno and Las Vegas? Should we go to Judaism or Catholicism? Should we be “Reverends” in Protestantism? On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the Jewish people, “Be saved from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:40). At that time, the crooked generation did not refer mainly to the unbelieving world but to the Jewish religion (Gal. 1:4). Do not ask, “Is there no God in Judaism? Is there no Christ in Catholicism and no Jesus in Protestantism?” Yes, the name of God is in Judaism, the name of Christ is in Catholicism, and the name of Jesus is in Protestantism. However, Satan is also there. God, Christ, and Jesus are there in name, but Satan is there in actuality. Therefore, under the covering of the Lord’s prevailing blood, we say, “Come out of her, My people” (Rev. 18:4).
According to Revelation, there is a fifth category. Besides the unbelieving world, Judaism with its synagogues, Catholicism as Jezebel, and Protestantism, there is the pure church life and a call to the overcomers (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). The wrong concept about overcoming is that we need to overcome the small things, such as bad habits, our temper, smoking, or drinking. According to the context of chapters 2 and 3, however, to overcome is to overcome the evil, crooked, and perverse generation of Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Some among us, who were Jews, have overcome Judaism. However, in front of the trap of Judaism there are two snares. One is called Catholicism and the other, Protestantism. Some may come out of Judaism, but if they are careless, they will fall into one of these two snares.
Every religion today is a “drug,” a deceit, but the book of Revelation shows a clear, pure, bright, and shining way. We must take the way of the “sun,” the “moon,” and the shining “stars” (12:1). We must not be drugged and deceived by things that have the appearance of godliness. Those are not the genuine articles. We must all come out of those things. We must be clear, honest, and faithful; otherwise, we will be fully befuddled and judged by the Lord with this generation.
The United States is a Christian country. Today there are millions of genuine Christians here, saved, washed by the blood, and regenerated in their spirit. There is no need to ask concerning the unbelievers or nominal Christians. Among even the genuine Christians, how many are truly here for God’s eternal purpose? Many of them are only for their own welfare. With many, it is difficult to discern whether they are Christians. Their homes, cars, clothing, and appearance are all the same as those of the unbelievers. It is difficult to discern who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Nevertheless, we do not believe that our God is doing nothing in this age today. Instead, we fully believe that our God is working strongly on this earth to attract a remnant of His lovers and seekers. Elijah once went to the Lord to accuse the Israelites, saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars; and I am left alone, and they are seeking my life.” The Lord answered him, “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Rom. 11:3-4). We in the church life are a reserved people.
Some may think that if the Lord’s recovery is of God, we will have a great movement and gain a large number of people. If we do this, though, we are not the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is always on the narrow way. In the ancient time Noah preached righteousness for one hundred twenty years, but he gained only eight persons, including himself. No doubt Noah had many relatives, but only his wife, three sons, and three daughters-in-law entered with him into the ark. That was God’s way in Noah’s age. The Lord Jesus worked for three and a half years with many kinds of miracles, but eventually He gained only one hundred twenty persons (Acts 1:15). People today like to trust in miracles, but the Lord Jesus even raised people from the dead, and still only a few believed. There will be no great movement in the Lord’s recovery today. Rather, there will be a small number. The seekers and lovers of the Lord must be pure in their motive, heart, and goal toward the Lord. These are the ones reserved by God for the fulfillment of His purpose.
The entire world, with its unbelieving and religious aspects, is condemned by God. God is using His faithful seekers in His recovery to protest against today’s trend. Therefore, it is a shame for someone to be in the Lord’s recovery yet still go to movies and bear the signs of modern fashions. The people in the Lord’s recovery should be the reserved ones, fully separated from this crooked, perverse, and condemned generation.
The church life is the recovery of the testimony of Jesus, which is the testimony that the Lord Jesus lived as a human being on this earth, not by Himself but by His Father. He could proclaim to the entire universe that the subtle one, Satan, God’s enemy, had nothing in Him (John 14:30). The whole world is under Satan, yet this man had nothing to do with Satan, and Satan could do nothing with Him. He lived this kind of victorious life on the earth by His Father (6:57a; 4:34; 5:19, 30; 7:18; 14:10). The church is the testimony of such a Jesus. When the church people walk on the street, not only the angels but even the worldly people can discern that we are a separated people. We have nothing to do with the unbelieving world or the Jewish, Catholic, or Protestant religions. We care only for the living Jesus. He is our life, and we live by Him and for Him. This is the testimony of Jesus, which is the proper church life.
To be sure, nothing is a legality in the church life. There are no regulations posted on the wall concerning the way the brothers should cut their hair or the way the sisters should dress. The church life is simply the testimony of Jesus. This Jesus, the One who lived by the Father’s life and in whom Satan had nothing, is in us today. All religions care for regulations, but the church cares only for Jesus. We have no regulations or rituals but a living Jesus who lives in us. We do not ask anyone to care for regulations. Rather, we help them to care for the indwelling Jesus by telling them that Jesus is their life, He lived on the earth by the Father’s life, and Satan had nothing in Him.
We too must have such a life, a life having nothing to do with the world or with any kind of religion. We do not care for ways of baptism, head covering, rituals, speaking in tongues, or manifestations of gifts. All these belong to the religious world. We care only for the living Jesus. Some say that if we do not speak in tongues or have healings, we do not have the spiritual gifts. However, the first gift in 1 Corinthians 12 is the word of wisdom, not speaking in tongues, and the second gift is the word of knowledge. The last two of the nine gifts mentioned are speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues (vv. 7-10). To emphasize tongues and interpretation is to turn the gifts upside down, making the tail into the head. In every meeting we have words of wisdom and of knowledge. Who can say that we have no manifestation of the gifts? Nevertheless, we do not care for the gifts. We care for the living Jesus. If we care for gifts, we are in religion. We are not here for any religion; we are here for Jesus.
As the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years, they saw the greatest miracle every morning. The heavenly manna came to at least one million people every morning. If such a thing happened today, people would come from all around the world to see it. However, this great miracle accomplished nothing inwardly for those people. Out of one million people, only two, Joshua and Caleb, received the genuine help. According to John 2:23-25, the Lord Jesus would not commit Himself to those who were interested in miracles. God can never trust this kind of person. He trusts only in those who have a pure and single heart toward Him.
Today is not the age of miracles or of gifts. Today is the day of the living Jesus, and God wants a people who live by this Jesus. These people will be today’s Noah, who terminate the present generation and usher in the coming age, the age of the kingdom. This is what the Lord is doing today. The Lord’s work is not a matter of right or wrong doctrine. His work is to attract His lovers and seekers who have a pure motive with an open spirit to follow Him in an absolute way so that He may have the church life to protest to the whole world against the present trend, terminate this present age, and bring in God’s kingdom. This is God’s purpose that He is fulfilling today. We look to the Lord that in the local churches in many places this revelation will become clearer and clearer, day after day and week after week, so that we will all see what the Lord wants today. The Lord desires “the family of Noah” to build the ark and testify against the trend of the age so that He can use them to terminate this age and bring in the kingdom age. What we are building in the church life is today’s ark for our salvation (Phil. 2:12) and for the salvation of the ones under our care.
