Before the age of the apostles closed out, Jesus delivered His final recorded message to the church through 7 letters addressed to the 7 major churches in existence at the end of the first century A.D. These letters are recorded in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. Seven is God’s number of completion or fullness. Within these 7 letters, every believer in every church of any age can be identified.
Revelation is also a book of prophecy. Bible scholars have long noted that the 7 churches constitute a prophetic walk-through of the history of the church.
Ephesus represents the church age of the apostles from roughly 30 A.D. to 100 A.D. Smyrna represents the persecuted church from roughly 100 to 313 A.D. Pergamum represents the Constantine church age of compromise from 313 A.D – roughly 600 A.D. Thyatira is the corrupt Roman church age of the Middle Ages. Sardis is the age of Reformation. Philadelphia represents the church age of evangelism from roughly the 1700-1960’s. And the final church age before the end times, is the lukewarm, materialistic church of Laodicea.
This raises a difficult question. If the church age in general is lukewarm & materialistic as it stands on the brink of end times, how do we become the spotless Bride of Christ, the one who has “made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7) for her marriage to the Lamb?
In each of the 7 letters, Jesus followed the same format. He would praise the church’s overall strengths and rebuke its failings. But from there, the application got personal. “To him who overcomes…” The promises were for the individual, not an organization.
Much has been made by some that in the book of Revelation, the word “church” is not mentioned after chapter 3. This fact has led many to assume that the church will be raptured or removed prior to the start of end times. Yet, what is mentioned repeatedly throughout Revelation are individual believers who stand faithful to Christ when tested:
“It was granted to him to make war with the SAINTS and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world…HERE IS THE PATIENCE AND THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS,” (Revelation 13:7-8,10).
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST,” (Revelation 12:17).
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of JESUS,” (Revelation 14:12).
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake,” (Matthew 24:9).
It is not the organized church which will inherit the promises of God. It is the overcoming individual. Taken collectively, it is this body of overcoming individual believers who will make up the Lord’s “wife” (Rev. 19:7).
So, what happens to the rest of the organized church in end times?
1 Timothy 4:1 describes how some will “depart from the faith” (literally, apostasize) in the latter days. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.” What happens after Laodicea are seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. In the end times, some in the church will be “seduced”— attracted to the notion of a powerful, victorious church rising to take over this present world. False signs & wonders, false teachers & prophets promoting this idea will abound. In short, as we approach the time of the end, some will depart from faith in the word of God, rejecting Revelation’s picture of the end times.
This departure from faith in Jesus & His word (“apostasy”) is mentioned by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Paul links this apostasy with the rise of Antichrist. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away [“apostasy”] comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”
There is a correlation between the church’s rejection of the Biblical picture of end times, and the ability of Antichrist to rise to power. He will rise as the man of the hour, “anointed” as leader in order to save the world.
What happens to the church as we approach the end times? It will split between those who love God, hold fast to His word, and long for His coming— versus — those who love this present world so much that they will compromise to keep it.
God promises His faithful saints that because they have been guardians over the faith that was entrusted to them, He in turn will be Guardian over them:
“Because you were shomer [guardians] over my word of patient endurance, I will also be shomer [guardian] over you, guarding you from the hour of trial about to come upon the whole world, to try all the ones of the inhabited world, all the ones dwelling upon the earth,” (Revelation 3:10 OJB).
There is coming a point of separation between the sheep & the goats; between the wheat & the tares. One will be delivered; one will be burned up. The “hour of trial” that is coming upon the whole world will be the end time, fiery wrath of God. But the saints will be delivered. “For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
What happens to the body of Christ in the end times? In between the final church age of Laodicea and the glorious appearing of Jesus, lays tribulation. What will emerge from this tribulation will be individuals who are totally sold out to their Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. The true church— the Bride of Christ— will be made up of individual overcomers who have held fast to their faith, despite the testing of tribulation.
Shalom and amen!
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