The Laodicean Church
*Editor’s Note: Once again friends, it is an honor to edit and distribute an article from my dear friend Ben Girod, an Amish Bishop based in the rural outskirts Libby Montana. If this article water’s your spirit, do consider dropping Ben a note via his email address at the trailer of his article below. David Davenport – MustPressOn@gmail.com.
The Laodicean Church
Ben Girod
*All scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible.
It is doubtful that anyone would care to identify themselves with the Laodicean church following the sobering warning represented in Revelation chapter 3. What could possibly inspire a group of people to boast of being affiliated or connected with the Laodicean church? To identify with her, would be a disgrace to any church or movement. Let’s take a moment to look at her through the lenses of Revelation 3:15-17:
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,‘ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked…”
To be lukewarm is to induce one of the worst symptoms of sickness—“vomiting” (Rev. 3:16). Worse yet, she is plagued with pride, as she says, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” Her pride has wholly blinded her to her most desperate and deplorable condition. Who among us would have such audacity, to make the presumption of being in need of nothing?
In contrast to the church of Laodicea, the church of Philadelphia was the epitome of God’s favor and blessing. She touted no creed or identity but Jesus Christ Himself, and that to obey His commandments (Rev. 3:10). Yet she received this advice: "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown" (Rev. 3:11). This is what the Laodicean church is attempting to do—take her crown! For out of the former glory of the Philadelphian church emerges the church of Laodicea. The vibrant life she once possessed has degenerated into a form of works.
We as a church still proclaim our former glory, but we are so in name only, for we have lost the fire and power that was once ours. We declare Jesus as Lord of our lives while at the same time we hold up our own banner, creed, or doctrine to distinguish ourselves from other movements. Today, we eulogize big names of the past as well those of the present, yet we have become but a shadow of what we once had been—a time when the mighty power of the name of Jesus transformed and revolutionized lives in an instant.
I may not speak with authority on other movements throughout history, but I may speak with some authority of my own church history (the Anabaptist movement), in which I feel privileged to have been born into.
The story of the early Anabaptist movement is unique, as it neither identified itself with Catholicism or Protestantism. It was birthed out of the early reformers of Luther and Zwingli, and that with a single eye on obedience to the Word of God alone. We promoted neither rights, creed, opinion nor denominational banner except Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. For this, we were considered the scum of the earth; rejected, scorned, persecuted and martyred by the Catholics, Protestants and the very Reformers themselves. Our deepest Anabaptist history is a shining light of purity, humility, power, redemption, and holy adoration to the literal dictates of the Word of God. Amidst our deepest afflictions, our worship ascended to the Throne, for we feared neither man, imprisonment, banishment nor death.
I wish I could report that we have maintained this life of power to this day. Sadly, we have not. We do not even recognize how far we have fallen. Our wounds have become incurable (Jer. 15:18). We are fractured and fragmented into many divisions, movements and sects, i.e., Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite, Brethren, etc, a fragmentation which spans the globe. What once had been a guiding light and a shining path that embraced the cross and a childlike faith in Christ’s redemptive power has been reduced to one of reason, logic, performance, and manipulation. I have personally witnessed few exceptions. We perhaps, like no other movement today, exemplify the Laodicean church, as we remain proud of our heritage despite our deplorable condition at present. I, in great shame, acknowledge our sin of pride, to the Church at large.
Our Anabaptist forefathers experienced perhaps the greatest insurgence of Holy Ghost power since the days of the first apostles. They left us and the Church at large, a legacy of power, life, and redemption. Their faith and worship was pure and unadulterated. Their love for Christ and their fellow man was like a raging fire that spilled-over and into society at large, changing and transforming everything in its path—affecting nearly every country in Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Their spilled blood runs deeply throughout European soil, crying out and declaring a hope for greater things to come, through Christ, in this generation (Heb. 12:24). For this reason I am believing that multitudes of Anabaptist will find their way back to that place over power in due season.
This great turning-back will come at the cost of succumbing to the Refiner’s fire, and the furnace of afflictions—the very sufferings of Christ. The gold we seek will not be purified by any other means, as depicted in the Laodicean church (Rev. 3:18). For this reason, I believe the Laodicean overcomers will in the end, rise to levels beyond anything that has gone before them, as, despite the depths of her fall, she will yet recover. She will also be clothed in white garments of purity in such magnitude that it will cover the deepest depths of shame and disgrace that man is capable of falling into. Their eyes will be opened to the heavenly treasures that were rarely discovered before, for this eye salve is applied by the Redeemer Himself. To no other church has He given such an invitation but to the Laodiceans; "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). Yet we refuse to open the door for Him to come in. Why is this? It is through the doors of our hearts that He is able to rebuke, chasten and purify us (Rev. 3:19). This is NOT His disfavor, but rather his great love, because He has chosen us for this purpose, despite our sickly condition. For Him to dine with us in such an intimate way, requires a holy and sanctified heart.
It was in 1981, as we had just encountered the Lord in a most marvelous way, that He began knocking on the door of my heart in a very pronounced way. Having experienced great deliverance, I had no intention of letting Him in any further, as He was exposing some skeletons that I still harbored in my heart. But then the word came, that unless I further open up, He would depart. This alarmed me and I quickly repented and met with restoration. Little did I know however, that this was only the beginning. The three years which followed were trademarked by my willingness to allow Him to uncover, fully expose and subsequently empty every compartment of my heart which represented the old life and all of its carnal attributes. The pain and anguish of this purification was at times indescribable, perhaps not unlike open heart surgery—without anesthesia.
During this time, spiritual heart surgery ("Jeremiah’s word") became a stark reality within me, whereby he declared:”The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds" (Jer. 17:9-10). The peaceable fruit of righteousness that is birthed through such chastening is indescribable (Heb 12:11). Perfect liberty and freedom in Christ is the result!
To the vast battalion of overcomers presently emerging from the church of the Laodiceans, is reserved this promise: "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His Throne" (Rev. 3:21). I believe it is impossible in the natural, to even faintly comprehend the measure of this promise. Our finite minds simply cannot grasp such. And this vast cloud of overcomers is not pressing forward only to obtain the promise, but is doing so out of love and dedication for their Bridegroom, that He may receive the full reward for the price that only He could pay for the very redemption of the world.
Finally, He admonishes us in the same manner in which he uniformly addressed all seven churches: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 3:22). This has been my lifelong prayer:”Lord, give me ears to hear.” Only God can tune our hearing in such a way that we may begin to discern only that which the Spirit may speak or reveal. This is quite a contrast to my natural hearing, wherein many times I have been the brunt of jokes for misinterpreting someone’s question, and have subsequently rendered a misappropriated answer accordingly. I have learned to accept this as part of God’s ways and means, for humiliation is often a gift, briefly disguised.
As we contend for “the ears to hear,” I am reminded of an endearing habit of my wife Barbara as she and I walk along a given wooded path. For she has been known to ask me, “Do you hear that beautiful song in the distance?” To which she answers her own question, by identifying the very bird making such a beautiful, heavenly melody. And it is a heavenly melody indeed which the Lord longs to impart to each of us in this hour, if only we will contend for the “ears to hear” what the Spirit says to the churches.
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For more information about Ben’s ministry, as well as directions for obtaining a copy of Ben’s book, Baptized by Fire—the Gethsemane Way, you may view the following web address: www.anabaptistconnections.org. You may read Ben’s previous articles: The Apostolic Age and Heaven’s Hidden Gems, at: www.TheQuietCorner.org. You may contact Ben personally via the following email address: BenGirod@gmail.com