THE POWERLESS CHURCH
I am pleased to welcome Bud Hancock back to my Blog. Today he writes concerning the lack of power evident in most of the Churches today. When I consider the influence of Preachers like John Wesley and the hymn writing of his brother, Charles, and look for such men today, I am inclined to agree.
Gibber! Gibber!
Chugley
The Powerless Church – Laodicea
By Bud Hancock
Revelation: What It Really Is
The first words recorded by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show to His servants things which must shortly come to pass and signified it by His angel unto His servant John”. The words “things which must shortly come to pass” indicates that the entire book IS a prophecy of things that have not yet been revealed to the servants of Jesus.
Be aware that the word “revelation” is an English translation of the Greek word “apokalupsis” (Strong’s 602, pronounced ap-ok-al’-oop-sis) which is a combination of two Greek words, “apo” (Strong’s 575, meaning “off”) and “kalupto” (Strong’s 2572 meaning “cover”). The proper way to read the word is “the removing of the cover from”, or “the revealing of”. Up to the time of the writing of Revelation, the prophecies given in the book were hidden from those who would need them at the proper time.
The Rapture of the Church is NOT the revelation of Jesus Christ discussed in the Book of revelation. Why? Because the world will NOT be aware of the Rapture until it is over and the Church is with Jesus in heaven (Revelation chapter 4:1 “Come up here). The Revelation of Jesus Christ takes place beginning with the events that Jesus told John to write about, and is the revelation, or the revealing, of the Lord to the entire world.
Notice that John specifically stated it is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, indicating that the entire book IS the revelation of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is ONE revelation made up of many parts, all of which point to and pertain to Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, but it is NOT The Revelations (plural) and the book should NOT be called Revelations. Jesus commanded that the book be read, assuring a blessing to all who do so (Revelation 1:3), but He also issued a warning to those who would change any word of the book by either adding to it or taking away from it (Revelation 22:19).
In the Book of Revelation, chapter two, Jesus began dictating the words that He wanted John to write in the form of letters to the “angels” (Special Messengers, or Pastors) of the seven churches which were in Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia and Laodicea. In these letters, Jesus both commends and/or condemns the various churches as their actions demand. He provides some consolation as well as some warnings that were pertinent to each church. The individual churches are forerunners of the entire Body of Christ as it would exist and change throughout the Church Age, from the time of Pentecost when the Church was birthed, to the Rapture of the Church at the end of the age.
After John completed writing the things which he had seen and the things which would be hereafter, it is certain that he made sure the words he wrote were forwarded on to the pastors of the seven churches to be preached to the members of those churches, otherwise, Jesus command for all to read the book would have little meaning. For those who were alive when John recorded the words of Jesus, the letters would be for instruction on godly living and the need to follow all the commands Jesus gave to the original disciples in support of the furtherance of the gospel; for those who would come after and up to the end of the age, they were for exhortation and increasingly warnings to stay close to the Lord.
Throughout the entire dispensation of grace, or the church age as we know it, these letters were meant to guide all the believers in their daily lives to be, and become, like Jesus so that the gospel could flourish. The spirit, or character of each of the seven churches, as described by Jesus to John, was part of the makeup of the Church as a whole throughout the Church Age. Each was affected by the events – spiritual, cultural and political – that would take place as time passed, and it appears that, as Jesus dictated the letters, some characteristics of each church would still be a part of the Church up to the rapture. As time would pass, the good characteristics of each church would appear to wane and be replaced with the characteristics for which each church was chastened by Jesus.
More and more, as the life of a Christian would be one lived in some peril, and the power of the Holy Spirit would be needed more and more, satanic pressures introduced apostasy into the churches, making them powerless and basically, ineffective in delivering the gospel to the world.
The last letter was to the Laodicean Church, or the final version of the church that would exist at the end of the Church Age. In a previous article, I mentioned the Laodicean Church which was located in the kingdom of Pergamon, in the western area of modern-day Turkey. It was a church located in a geographical area that combined a great volume of commercial trade as well as banking. It appears the church members, and possibly their leaders, were subject to the temptations to desire “their share” of that great wealth and the political power that accompanies it. Those temptations and the words of Jesus in His letter to them indicates they were living more for the wealth of the world than to be true disciples of Jesus. As such, they were risking losing their place in the kingdom of God.
The final words to John for the Laodicean Church placed the responsibility for their salvation squarely on their own shoulders. They were cautioned by the Lord to repent for their arrogance and self-indulgence, being warned that what they considered being rich, increased in goods and having need of nothing, was equated in God’s eyes as being “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Jesus’s recommendation to them was “to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:18). It was obvious from the words of Jesus to the Laodiceans that the mission of that Church had moved from being an instrument of spreading the gospel to one of enriching themselves monetarily. Their boast of such indicates that they were in an advancing state of apostasy.
The Apostle Paul penned these words to his disciple, Timothy, recorded in 1 Timothy 6:6-11, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Now in these scriptures we can see the danger in living as the Laodiceans did; According to their letter from Jesus, they were in danger of losing their heavenly reward and their salvation. The Body of Christ is one of the greatest mysteries of the New Testament and there are still many who miss the importance of that description of what is now simply referred to as “The Church” or even worse: religion.
The Laodiceans could have benefited greatly from the words of Paul to Timothy, recorded in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
From Whence Cometh the Power?
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” So we know that the gospel (good news) of Christ (the anointed One and the Anointing) IS the power that Jesus Himself plainly displayed to all when He was on the Earth ministering and doing the will of God. Jesus never held back when proclaiming that gospel; after all, He knew Who He was and what He had been sent to do, and He knew the power that was inherent in The Word, the gospel. But it is also plain that He only accomplished God’s will and purpose by being anointed with the Holy Ghost and power (Acts 10:38). After their baptism into the Power of the Holy Spirit, the disciples of Jesus also went about doing the will of God as they had been taught by Jesus, and they also needed that baptism of power to be effective.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul described those who provide an outward “show of godliness” to the world, but inwardly are the very opposite of true godliness. The type of godliness they show is simply a tool used for deceiving the masses and gaining more power over them. In the government of the United States, as in the Laodicean church, there are multitudes of these charlatans who deceive people with their claims of godliness but are the ravening wolves described by Paul.
Those who claim to be Christian and use that claim to deceive are the very worst of these. In the Laodicean Church that will exist in the end times (actually, it exists now) and will be on the Earth after the true Church has been taken out of this world via the Rapture, apostasy has gained more traction that anyone will admit, and those who have grabbed the power within it are promoting apostasy as the new normal state of the church. Their idea of “church” is loud music, much entertainment and making sure the members realize how important it is for them to “pay their share”. They have taken their eyes off Jesus and His gospel and have placed themselves at odds with God.
Instead of being a Christian Church that operates in the power of the Holy Spirit, they use their sham godliness that appears so godly to many to further ensnare them in sin. The true Church (the Philadelphia Church) of which there will be a remnant when Jesus appears to take the true believers home, will still be operating, albeit in a much smaller capacity, in the same power that functioned through Jesus in His Earthly ministry.
God intended for His Church to be the Earthly family made up of His born again children, doing the will of the Father, emulating His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, preaching the true gospel, and as Jesus did, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and showing godly love to all.
When was the last time you saw, or even heard of such activities from the Laodicean Church? Unfortunately, the simple truth is that the power that once characterized God’s Church, the Body of Christ, is almost gone and had been replaced with only “the form of godliness”. The result is a world now drowning in every kind of sin and evil, with very few from the pulpits trying to stop or reverse the slide into perdition. The only good thing this says is that the appearance of Jesus in the clouds to take HIS church, the true Body of Christ, to be with Him forever, is closer than we know, Amen.
Now, look up for your redemption draws near and we have only a very short time to once again function in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Maranatha
Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors. After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker. Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Metrologist (Science of high precision measurement), he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents. Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he began a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer. Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles emphasizing Biblical teaching and geopolitical issues. At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter. Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times perspective.