The church of Ephesus had lost its first love. Paul told them they must remember from where they had fallen and repent. Ephesus did not regain their first love, but we, the final generation, are to regain it. Let’s look at what exactly the church of Ephesus lost, and how God’s final generation will regain it as the end of time draws ever nearer.
“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth, there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.” The Great Controversy, 464
We see two things from this quotation: God’s people have lost their first love, and this first love hasn’t been seen since apostolic times.
Christ Reveals Himself to His People
“The Spirit came upon the waiting, praying disciples with a fullness that reached every heart. The Infinite One revealed Himself in power to His church. It was as if for ages this influence had been held in restraint, and now heaven rejoiced in being able to pour out upon the church the riches of the Spirit’s grace. And under the influence of the Spirit, words of penitence and confession mingled with songs of praise for sins forgiven. Words of thanksgiving and of prophecy were heard. All heaven bent low to behold and to adore the wisdom of matchless, incomprehensible love. Lost in wonder, the apostles exclaimed, ‘Herein is love.’ They grasped the imparted gift. And what followed? The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief. Thousands were converted in a day.” The Acts of the Apostles, 38
“… They burned with desire to carry the glad tidings of salvation to earth’s remotest bounds. And the world took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Sinful men, repentant, pardoned, cleansed, and sanctified, were brought into partnership with God through His Son.
“The members of the church were united in sentiment and action. Love for Christ was the golden chain that bound them together. They followed on to know the Lord more and still more perfectly, and in their lives were revealed the joy and peace of Christ.” Ibid., 579
The Joy and Peace of Christ
The Roman Empire was causing a lot of trouble during this time in history, but God’s people carried out their mission in the world, even under these less than ideal conditions.
“They visited the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and kept themselves unspotted from the world, realizing that a failure to do this would be a contradiction of their profession and a denial of their Redeemer.
“In every city the work was carried forward. … Warm, inspired personal appeals were made to the erring, to the outcast, and to those who, while professing to know the truth, were lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” Ibid., 579, 580
“Christ had bidden the first disciples love one another as He had loved them. Thus, they were to bear testimony to the world that Christ was formed within, the hope of glory. ‘A new commandment I give unto you,’ He had said, ‘That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.’ John 13:34.” Ibid., 548
At the time when these words were spoken [the night before the crucifixion], the disciples could not understand them; but after they had witnessed the sufferings of Christ, after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, and after the Holy Spirit had rested on them at Pentecost, they had a clearer conception of the love of God and of the nature of the love which they must have for one another. Then John could say to his fellow disciples:
“ ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.’
“After the descent of the Holy Spirit, when the disciples went forth to proclaim a living Saviour, their one desire was the salvation of souls. They rejoiced in the sweetness of communion with saints. They were tender, thoughtful, self-denying, willing to make any sacrifice for the truth’s sake. In their daily association with one another, they revealed the love that Christ had enjoined upon them. By unselfish words and deeds, they strove to kindle this love in other hearts.” Ibid., 547
This was what the church was always to cherish, but by the time the book of Revelation was written they had lost it.
What We See Can Be Deceiving
“The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the world.” Ibid., 585
The church at Smyrna followed the church at Ephesus.
“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 2:9
The church of Smyrna called themselves Jews. Who is a Jew in the New Testament? A Christian, all those who follow Christ whether they are biologically Jews or Gentiles (Galatians 3:26–29; Romans 2:28, 29). However, regardless of what they call themselves, they neither obey God’s law, nor do they possess the character of Christ. They cannot be Christians, but instead are of the synagogue of Satan.
How did the apostolic church go from where it was in the first century to where we are today? The church is always composed of two groups: true and faithful believers and some who claim Christianity, but are not Christians. It is because of this that I started using the terms “the professed church” and “the true church.” Mrs. White used these two phrases and a couple more multiple times in her writings:
- “professed people of God” over 150 times
- “His professed people” over 100 times
- “God’s professed people” over 100 times
- “the true church” nearly 45 times
Everyone who is a member of the true church makes a profession. In fact, you cannot be a member of the true church without making a profession. Jesus made that very clear (Matthew 10; Romans 12). However, those who make a profession, but fail to live the life of Christ are not part of the true church, but are of the synagogue of Satan, and to the human eye, the synagogue of Satan often appears to be more holy and more spiritual than the true church.
Historic Origins of the Synagogue of Satan in the Smyrna Church
Understanding the synagogue of Satan, its origin and destiny, is to understand how Christianity got from where it was in AD 80 or 90 to where it is today. How can we summarize what scholars have spent years trying to dig out and explain?
Hellenism is the culture, philosophy, religion of the Greeks that was dominant in the Near East after the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century. The name comes from the Greek goddess Helen and the name Hellenist became a designation for the Greeks. Hellenistic philosophy was the product of the great pagan reformation in the 6th and 7th centuries BC, and spread throughout the Near East.
What does Hellenism have to do with Christianity? In the first century, Hellenistic philosophy was combined with Christianity, and this hybrid was called Gnostic Christianity. Gnosticism was a collection of teachings that essentially attributed Christian names to the basic principles of the pagan Hellenistic religion, thus giving these principles the appearance of Christianity. There were dozens of Gnostic sects, but the principal doctrines taught by the Gnostics are as follows:
Gnostic Principal Doctrines
They believed that man has a divine immortal soul. That belief was derived from Plato, a Greek philosopher.
- They believed that this divine immortal soul originated in the heavens and is destined to return to the heavens
after death. - Most Gnostic Christians passionately and totally rejected the Old Testament and Hebrew religion. They said the religion of the Old Testament is based on materialistic animal sacrifices, and is a false religion.
- They considered the natural material world to be evil.
- The Gnostics saw themselves as reformers, not of Judaism but of the New Testament church itself. They said that their teachings were a more advanced revelation of Christianity. Their focus was on the spiritual alone, not the material world. They relied especially on the writings of the apostle Paul because of his emphasis on inner spirituality.
For instance, they loved to read, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16–19 - They also believed in the theory of progressive revelation, saying that theirs was a more advanced revelation of the Christian faith. They taught that there was nothing intrinsically good or evil; it all depends on the situation. That leads to situation ethics.
This very same theory has been promoted in the Seventh-day Adventist church since the early 1980s. Almost all highly educated Adventists believe in situation ethics. They say they don’t believe in it, but put them in a tight spot and watch how they use situation ethics to reason it out.
Gnosticism developed several major strands going in different directions.
- They believed that morality was subjective.
- Some advanced the idea that it wasn’t important to keep the law.
- Gnosticism infiltrated the Roman church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
- Gnostic Christianity pioneered the conversion from Sabbath to Sunday. Calling Sunday the eighth day, its worship symbolized for Gnostic Christians a rejection of the material world, its Creator God, and freedom from Old Testament bondage.
The Eighth Day
The Sabbath promotes both physical and spiritual rest, but the Hellenistic Gnostic rest was only spiritual, not material. Both Origen and Gerome believed that the epistle of Barnabas taught that Sundaykeeping was canonical. However, we know that Barnabas, Paul’s companion, never wrote such a book.
Today, as in the early centuries after Christ, the distinction between the material and the spiritual was presented as a primary justification for discarding the Sabbath. The Sabbath, because of its attachment to Creation, was considered materialistic, inferior, and spiritually dangerous. Both Gnosticism and Hellenistic Christianity understood the eighth day to signify a breaking away from the Hebrew religion and the Old Testament. They said the material world was the first creation but the new covenant salvation is the second creation. They said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
They said that the first creation week was complete, but the second creation is an ongoing process, and has not yet ended. The seventh-day celebration is the end of the creation week of the material world, while the new creation is just beginning and honored best by celebrating Sunday, the day that Christ rose from the dead.
From the encyclical Dies Domini or the Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy that was sent out to the world by Pope John Paul II in 1998, he states, “Sunday is not only the first day, it is also the ‘eighth day’ … in a unique and transcendent position which evokes not only the beginning of time but also its end in ‘the age to come.’ … Sunday symbolizes that truly singular day which will follow the present time, the day without end which will know neither evening nor morning. … Sunday is the ceaseless foretelling of life without end which renews the hope of Christians.” This Gnostic teaching was being promoted by the pope before AD 2000.
How Did They Know
In order to reveal who the Christians were and to get along with the Roman authorities, the Gnostics set up an altar in the center of town. On the altar, a fire continually burned, and next to the altar was a bowl of incense. All the population was required to throw just a pinch of incense into the fire and say, “Ceasar is Lord.” A very quick and simple act that, once done, ensured everything would be okay for you.
However, the primitive Christian could not say “Ceasar is Lord.” Christ was and is the Christian’s Lord, not Ceasar. This immediately identified them as Christian and they were removed from the town to be killed or imprisoned.
Herein Lies the Issue
Is it God’s will that the Sabbath be used in Christian worship as it was by the apostolic church in the first century, or was it the divine will that it should be replaced with pagan Hellenistic symbolism and practices? For those who believe there is a God in heaven, the question is, What is the divine will? What does God say about this issue? The Gnostics had all kinds of arguments for substituting Sabbath for Sunday. They even accused Sabbathkeepers of idleness.
The Gnostic Christians in the church at Smyrna made their persecution much worse because they saw no problem with participating in the pagan religious customs of the day and in doing so they escaped much of the persecution by the Roman Empire.
While the Gnostic suffered less because they compromised, primitive Christians, standing alone for right and refusing to participate in the pagan customs and worship of the day received worse persecution from the Roman Empire.
That brings us to a critical point directly related to who should control your conscience. This has been a controversy in the Christian world for 2,000 years. The basic Roman Catholic position holds that the community of faith should control the conscience of the individual member; while the Protestant position holds that you should be in control of your own conscience and your thoughts and actions should be in accordance with your conscience. Should you be in control of your own conscience or should you allow your church to control your conscience?
This idea of the community of faith being in control of the individual conscience has been the cause of a great deal of persecution down through the years. Protestants in the Reform church in Europe banish Roman Catholics; the Roman Catholic countries banish Protestants. Why? Because the Gnostics promoted the idea of community control over individual conscience.
From the days of the church of Smyrna to near the end of the first century, the church was not the true church only, but simply the professed church. It doesn’t matter if you are referring to the Roman Catholic church, the Protestant churches, or the various Adventist churches, all churches are a mixture of two groups—those who love God and keep His commandments to the best of their understanding, and those Jesus called the synagogue of Satan. The synagogue of Satan claims a more advanced Christianity, but they are not obedient. Only God’s true believers are obedient.
If you are part of a church that engages in persecuting those who believe differently from you, there is no more sure sign and conclusive evidence that the spirit of Satan prevails and you are part of the synagogue of Satan, regardless what you may call yourself.
“There can be no more conclusive evidence that we possess the spirit of Satan than the disposition to hurt and destroy those who do not appreciate our work, or act contrary to our ideas.” The Desire of Ages, 487
“ ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [the last church], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God who makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon.” The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889
Having these two groups in the church didn’t create problems just for the church of Smyrna. In Revelation 3, the church of Philadelphia, which existed in the 18th and 19th centuries, is described as the faithful church. “Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews [claim to be part of the Philadelphia church but are actually of the synagogue of Satan] and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.” Verse 9
What Will Happen In The End?
A time is coming when all around the world, those who are church members but who are actually part of the synagogue of Satan will kneel down and worship before those who are true members of the church.
- Revelation 13 and the Spirit of Prophecy reveal that we will soon face the Sunday law crisis.
- The antichrist will come.
- The majority of professed Christians, including Adventists, will yield to the pressure of keeping Sunday. Rather than remaining faithful, they will try to “get along.”
- The professed Christians, those who give up worshiping on the Sabbath, will come before God’s people—now threatened with death—and will worship at their feet; but it will be too late for them to be saved.
The Bible tells us what will happen after these professed Christians decide to follow their professed Christ, actually the antichrist, when Jesus comes. “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” Revelation 1:7
These professed Christians will mourn because they will now see that they are lost. They will knowthat they have been worshiping the antichrist, not the true Christ.
- that the ones they were determined to kill are the ones that God now has delivered.
- that they are facing eternal destruction.
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30
At the end of time, the true church will be persecuted and those who do the persecuting will be those who profess to be a part of the true church, but who are actually members of the synagogue of Satan. Jesus says, I know their blasphemy and the time is coming when the people in My church who are actually part of the synagogue of Satan are going to come and worship before your feet, but it will be too late for them to be saved.
Prophecy Tells Us
The purpose of the prophesies in the Bible is to alert and prepare the people of God. God is telling us through these prophetic messages that for the world to come to an end, everyone in it will have the opportunity to see that God is fair and just; everyone will have to choose who they will obey. We know these things will happen:
- There will be an international Sunday law.
- The three angels’ messages will be proclaimed throughout the world.
- The world will be deceived by the miracles performed by the antichrist.
- The entire world will be led to believe that the antichrist is the true Christ.
- There will be no neutral position. Everyone will be a member either of God’s true church or of the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 13:8). Obedience or disobedience will be the only choices.
Friend, truth has been unpopular in this world for 6,000 years. God calls us to give the trumpet that certain sound—the sound that will awaken the spiritually-dead—offering them the opportunity of becoming a part of God’s army in the last battle of the great controversy. Jesus says to each one of us, if you want to follow Me, then deny yourself, and, with humbleness of heart, take up your cross and follow Me. Now is the day of salvation.
The test is coming. We need to be ready. We have to develop faith and trust in the Lord. Look to those who prepared throughout their lives to meet this final question—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Daniel, Joseph, David. The Lord did not forsake them. He will not forsake you.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is the Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. Contact: historic@stepstolife.org, phone: 316-788-5559.