The Last Church: The Church on Earth when the Rapture occurs, and the church that remains on Earth after the Rapture

What I am going to talk about tonight is an element of prophecy that is not discussed very often, and if I were to say that there is any “signs” for the Rapture, this would be the only one.

In the Bible, in the 3rd Chapter of the Book of Revelation, the last church mentioned is the Church of Laodicea. According to Bible teachers and scholars, Laodicea represents a specific period of time in the Church Age.

Most Bible scholars say the time of the Laodicean church began in 1850, and it will be the church on the earth when the Rapture occurs, and it will be the false church on the earth after the Rapture.

The entire chapter of Revelation 117 is dedicated to the false church. It is the false church that will facilitate the rise of the Antichrist, and it will be the AC who will destroy the false church. Now, I do not have time to read Revelation 17 in its entirety, but I challenge you to read it to understand the false church.

The New Testament in at least three different passages describes the last church, and I thought we would take tonight to look at the last church. If you are truly saved, you know that you will be raptured if the Rapture occurs while you are still living, but as we go through the characteristics of the last church, you may realize the need to repent of some things in your life, and let me just say this.

If you never feel the need to repent, you need to get saved.

1. The Last Church.

A. What do I mean when I say the last church?

When I say the last church, I mean the church that will be on the earth when the Rapture occurs.

Those who will be raptured belong to the true church. The true church consists of all believers from the Day of Pentecost to the Rapture. It includes mean, women, boys, and girls.

Now, I believe, based on Bible study in particular the letters to the churches found in the Book of Revelation that there are at least a few Christians in every congregation. There may not be many, but I believe there to be a few in every congregation. I base that opinion solely on the letters to the churches.

In 5 of the 7 letters, one word stands out, and that word is REPENT.

Repentance in the Bible means to turn from sin, and only those who have been saved can do that. That tells me that in every “Christian” congregation there are at least a few true Christians in each who keep the light burning so to speak.

B. What are the characteristics of the last church?

Well, it is not a mystery. There are four passages that describe the last church, two were written by Paul and two written by John.

1. 1 Timothy 4:1-3

1 Timothy 4:1–3 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy,

having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

a. The last days church shall depart from the faith.

Remember.

I have told you before that the word shall means a determined outcome. The church is going to depart from the faith.

Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.””

What is the faith?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;

it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The church today is full of people who have departed from the faith. For the Cross of Calvary, they have substituted K-Love, worship music, and devotionals, but they do not have the power of the gospel in their lives. There is no substitute for Jesus Christ and His Word.

b. The last church is deceived by the devil and seducing spirits.

1 John 4:1–3 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.

And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”

There is no middle ground. Something is either of God or it is of Satan.

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

The last church is full of people including some pastors who are agents of Satan seeking to deceive. Here is how Jude describes them.

Jude 4 “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Guard yourself. Just because someone says he is a Christian does not mean he is a Christian, and we are to test the spirits to know.

Let met just briefly to tell you how the last church is seduced by Satan. If Christ commands the people of the church to do something, and the people within the church think it is okay not to do it, they have been deceived which is why I am preaching the sin of indifference next Sunday morning to show how people in the last church have been deceived into indifference, and my prayer is that all of our part-timers are here to hear it.

2. 2 Timothy 3:1-9

2 Timothy 3:1–9 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,

unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

Now, I am not going through all of these, but I just want to point out a few things briefly.

a. The “last days”

The “last days”refers to the ending of the Church Age.

It refers to the church on earth at the Rapture, and the false church that will go into the Tribulation. Someone may ask, “What will happen to Beech Grove when the Rapture occurs?” Do you want me to be honest? They will have service and will enjoy using the money in our accounts in helping the Antichrist ascend to power.

Let’s look at just a couple of these characteristics.

b. Lovers of self

Are there people in the church today that love themselves more than they love God? Absolutely!!!! Because there are some whose goal is to satisfy self more than it is to satisfy God.

c. Lovers of money

If there is anything that some love more than self, it is money, and once again, make no mistake about this. It is talking about the love of money in a church. Some churches are so tight they squeak. Dear friend, the goal of the church should not be to build up treasure on earth. The goal of the church should be to build treasure in heaven, and that is all I am going to say about that.

d. Proud

There are some within the church that cannot and will not humble themselves before God or before fellow Christians. They will not do it.

e. Blasphemers

This is talking about preachers in the church who are preaching for profit. They are claiming to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit, but they are as far removed from the Holy Spirit as East is from West.

f. Disobedience to parents

Parents, in the church, sanction disobedience in their children by not disciplining them and training them in the Lord, and when something goes amiss in school, parents want to blame the school, the teacher, or the principal when in reality, they should blame themselves for not applying the board of education to the seat of knowledge.

Have you realized this? Disciplining children is getting so rare today that when you see parents that do it, it surprises you because we are used to parents just letting their children do what they want. Well, Paul said that was a mark of the last church, the church that will last into the Tribulation.

g. Unholy

There is no separation between the world and the believer. The line is blurred as many in the church act like those in the world.

Now, we could go through this list one-by-one, but Paul makes an incredible statement in verses 8 & 9, and I want you to pay careful attention to it because it is chilling.

2 Timothy 3:8–9 “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;

but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

What is Paul suggesting here? He is telling us that you judge a tree by the fruit it bears, and if someone in the church is marked by these behaviors, they are no different than Jannes and Jambres were in the days of Moses. There minds are corrupt, and just as Jannes and Jambres were exposed as frauds so will be for those in the church, and ladies and gentlemen, that is where the church is today.

Let me ask you a serious question, and I want you to privately ponder the answer considering the two passages in Timothy that we have read. Do you think in the church according to the membership list that there are more true Christians or false Christians? I will let you be the judge.

3. Revelation 3:14-20

Now, I do not have time to read this, but if you do read it, you will see that the last church is a lukewarm church that makes God sick.

It is a church that has VBS, VBS Kickoff, fairs, revivals, homecomings, and Christmas plays, but the power of the gospel makes no difference in the lives of the members. It is the church where Christ is primarily on the outside. Yes, the Holy Spirit indwells the true believers in the last church, but Christ is on the outside trying to become a part of their everyday lives.

3. What happens to the last church?

Well, as I hopefully have made clear, those truly saved in the last church will be raptured. Those truly saved will be raptured as Enoch or Lot, but they will be raptured, but the majority of church memberships will not be raptured because the majority has not truly been saved. What happens to them?

Revelation 17:15–18 “Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.

And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.””

After the true church is raptured, the world will still be “religious.”

There will be left a church consisting of all peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. On the surface that sounds good, but the Bible calls that church the great harlot.

What it means is that the church that is left on earth after the Rapture will mingle all beliefs into one belief to appease everyone. I believe, personally, this church will be centered in Rome with the Pope as its head. This church will welcome all beliefs and will be used by the AC to rise to power.

Halfway through the Tribulation, the AC will grow tired of the harlot and destroy her proclaiming himself to be god.

Daniel 7:25 “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law.

Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.”

When the AC destroys the harlot, the last church, he will do away with all religious holidays and celebrations from Christmas to Easter to Ramadan to Lent to St. Patrick’s Day to whatever other “religious” holidays there are, and he will proclaim himself to be the only one worthy of worship, the true messiah, but he will find out differently at the end of 3 1/2 years.

Philippians 2:9–11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Why did I preach this? Because we need to be aware of what God says about what the last church will become. As those behaviors addressed by Paul become more evident within the church, we should not be surprised because the Bible tells us that it is going to happen, but what we are to do is to judge ourselves making sure of our salvation and repenting of any sins in our life, and we may need to do that daily.