One of the last end-times signs that we will see before the Rapture is the so-called "Laodicean Church". This term refers to the last type of Christian church which will exist just before the end-times Tribulation begins. We can analyze what the Bible says about this church, and see if there are any churches which match this description. If we can find this, then we will know that we are very close to the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation.
The Churches in Revelation
The book of Revelation begins with seven letters from Jesus to seven churches - the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyratia, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These seven cities existed in the ancient Roman Empire, and had real historical churches which were founded by Jesus' disciples. Jesus' letters to these churches can reveal many things. They reveal what these actual historical churches were like, and what their flaws and good commendations were. These churches can also represent Christians in our personal lives, and can tell us what we may need to work on and avoid doing.
However, the most interesting analysis is that these seven churches represent seven different types of Church. These different types of church will have appeared at some point through the last 2000 years since the start of the Church at Pentecost, and will exist until the Rapture. The list of churches even goes in chronological order, as we will see. To make this more obvious, let's look at the descriptions of each church and figure out what time period it matches with.
As a main reference I will use the book "Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain" by Tim Lahaye (his newest version is called "Revelation Unveiled" if you want to find it, but has all the same info of the older "Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain", although the page references for info may be different than mine here). Also, the first six churches will just be shorter summaries to get the idea of what time-period each church represents and not go into extreme detail on every sentence - for more details I would suggest reading Tim Lahaye's book here.
The Church of Ephesus
The letter to the church of Ephesus is found in Revelation 2:1-7. To summarize it: Jesus says he knows how hard this church has worked and that they have endured hard times. They don't put up with evil people or false teachers. Jesus says they hate the Nicolaitans just as he does, which is good. But their problem is they don't love others like they should, and they need to return to showing love for God and for others like they used to.
Source [1, chapter 2] says the Church of Ephesus represents the Apostolic Church from 30 A.D to 100 A.D. The letter mentions "When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out they were liars" (Revelation 2:2, CEV), which identifies this church time period of having real Apostles and also false apostles who tried to deceive others. Source [1, p.22-23] says this church excelled at evangelism and preaching the gospel throughout the ancient Roman world, and converted many Jews to Christianity. They followed Paul's instructions to "watch out for anyone who causes trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught."(Romans 16:17, CEV) and would not fellowship with supposed "Christians" who were behaving immorally or spreading heretical ideas. They also hated the Nicolaitans - this group will be discussed later in this article.
The main problem with this church was that "Although basically faithful, it has unconsciously succumbed to the natural tendency of letting even the most wonderful experience become commonplace ... although the Ephesians loved the Lord, they had lost the spontaneous sparkle of their love for Him" [1, p.26]. Just like at first in a romantic relationship people will do nice things for the other, compliment, and appreciate the other person - after many years of marriage these first acts may disappear. Jesus said he wants this church to remember their early times and regain that passion for Him.
The Church of Smyrna
The letter to Smyrna is in Revelation 2:8-11. Jesus says he knows how poor this church is and how much it suffers. Jesus knows some of this church will be thrown into jail and it's people will be tested for "ten days". Jesus doesn't have any criticism for this church, and encourages them with promises of a glorious eternal life.
Source [1, chapter 3] discusses the church of Smyrna, and says it represents the churches that were persecuted under the early Roman Empire from about 100 A.D. to about 312 A.D. The early emperors of Rome persecuted the Christians because they may have been perceived as a threat to their empire and their pantheistic Roman/Greek religions. Source [1, p.29] says the mention of the church suffering for "ten days" matches the ten anti-Christian Roman emperors which ruled during this time - Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Severus, Maximinius, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, and Diocletian. During this time Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified, John was exiled, Ignatius was burned at the stake, and Justyn Martyr was killed [1, p.29]. This is also when Christians were routinely killed in the coliseums for the Romans' entertainment. Source [1, p.29] says that possibly as many as five million Christians were killed for their faith in Jesus during this time period.
The Church of Pergamum
Revelation 2:12-17 is the letter to the church of Pergamum. Jesus says this church lives where Satan has his throne, but the church has stayed true to Christianity. However, a few of them are following false teachings and the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Jesus warns these people to turn back before it's too late and Jesus will come fight against them.
Source [1, chapter 4] identifies the church of Pergamum as representing the church from A.D 312 to A.D 606. Source [1] says that the city of Pergamum had many Greek idols, and this may be why it is called "where Satan has his throne", since Satan is the source of all false religions. When the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, he stopped the persecution which was happening and made Christianity the new state religion of Rome with many advantages. However, to appease many Romans who still believed in their gods, Christianity adopted many false teachings and pagan practices. According to [1, p.37], some of the practices adopted at this time were: prayers for the dead, the sign of the cross, the rosary, worshiping angels and saints, worshiping and praying to Mary, celibacy of priests and nuns, and the doctrine of purgatory. Also, this church began to ignore the teaching of the Rapture - that Jesus could return at any time for the Church - and as a result it lost lots of it's enthusiasm for evangelism [1, p.37].
So we can see that Pergamum represents the start of the Roman Catholic church, and the beginning of the distortion of Christianity as taught by the Apostles. At first they stayed true to Christianity and held important meetings on Christian doctrine (such as the Council of Nicea, and fought heretical ideas about Jesus by other groups) [1, p.38]. Jesus says that although their theology was correct, he criticizes them for their new practices listed above which were based on pagan ideas. This church also adopted the hierarchical structure which was proposed by the Nicolaitans, which we still see today in the Catholic church (i.e priests, bishops, cardinals, pope, etc.). It was never taught in the Bible to have this sort of structure of the Church - while there will be leaders and preachers, etc. it is not to be categorized into a ruling structure as the Catholics have done.
The Church of Thyratia
Jesus' letter to the church of Thyratia is in Revelation 2:18-29. This church seems to have good faith, love, and service and has endured. But they have serious problems with an immoral woman named Jezebel who teaches idolatry and "deep secrets of Satan". Jesus says that those who don't know anything about this idolatry are instructed to just to keep following his teachings, and they will one day rule with Jesus during the Millennium - which means they were true Christians.
Source [1, chapter 5] says this church represents the church from about 606 A.D, and in fact this church still remains today. It can be identified as the modern Catholic church, which was built on the practices of the Roman Catholic church above (Pergamum). During this time the Catholic church has added even more non-scriptural doctrines, such as worshiping images/relics of 'saints', using holy water, the doctrine of trans-substantiation, teaching that Mary is the 'Mother of God' and was also virgin-born and ascended into heaven, and also forbade regular people to read the Bible [1, p.44]. They believed that Jesus' death is not enough and people must constantly do things such as sacraments, penance, burn candles, etc. in order to be fully saved. These are just some of the worst offenses - there were many more, and most of these are still followed today. Yet Catholics who do believe that Jesus was God and died for their sins will go to heaven, even if they have no clue that some practices of the Catholic church are non-Biblical. But many people in the Catholic church may be deceived and only follow the practices and traditions and think that makes them good enough to get into heaven, while lacking a real faith in Jesus Christ.
The Catholic church will remain until the Rapture, where any true Christians who were part of it will be taken to heaven. However, part of this church will remain on earth during the Tribulation, and may become the leader of the end-times inter-faith false world religion - represented by the prostitute sitting on the beast in Revelation (for more details on this, see my article here).
The Church of Sardis
In Revelation 3:1-6 we have the letter to the church of Sardis. Jesus says this church appears to be alive, but in reality they are dead and have only a little strength left. They are not totally obeying God, and Jesus warns them to remember the teaching they heard and to grow in strength, or else he will return at a time when they are least expecting it. The true Christians of this church will go to heaven in the Rapture, although they may be surprised when it happens.
Source [1, chapter 6] identifies this church as representing the church from about 1520 A.D until the Rapture. [1, p.50] notes that Sardis means "escaping ones" or "ones who have come out". This describes well the Protestant Reformation churches which broke away from the Catholic church during this time. The Protestant Reformation removed some of the pagan practices and teachings of the Catholic church, and went back to following the Bible alone (called Sola Scriptura).
But according to [1 p.50], the reason Jesus says this church is dead is because they became too politically involved and became state churches of many European nations. So people without faith may have joined just because it was the state church and not because they actually believed it. Also, this church didn't remove all of the false Catholic practices, and kept ones such as the strict rituals, sprinkling with holy water, infant baptism, etc. They got too caught up in their rituals and traditions, and may not have had a living true personal relationship with Jesus, which means a person is still spiritually dead. Additionally, [1 p.51] says they were not totally obeying God because they stopped their reformation before they had fully removed the Catholic pagan practices.
The Reformation churches (i.e. Lutheran, Calvinist, the Church of England, etc.) still exist today, but many are indeed dying out. As their population grows older and is dying, they are finding it harder to attract new younger people, and the ones who are currently going there may leave because the churches lack vitality and are too traditional. Jesus says they are not actively looking for his return at the Rapture and some of this church who are not true Christians will be caught unaware and left behind to endure the Tribulation.
The Church of Philadelphia
The letter to the church of Philadelphia is in Revelation 3: 7-13. Jesus says he has given this church an open door that no one can shut. This church is not strong, but obeyed Jesus' message and did not deny they were Christians. Jesus promises this church "You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of testing that everyone in all the world must go through. I am coming soon." (Revelation 3:10). This seems to be a clear promise that most of this church's members will be Raptured before the Tribulation because they have faithfully obeyed Jesus' teachings in the Bible.
Source [1, chapter 7] identified Philadelphia as the Protestant Evangelical churches which have existed from about 1750 A.D to the Rapture. This church is famous for sending missionaries throughout the whole world to teach the gospel, and for removing all remaining traces of Catholic pagan practices. This church rediscovered the teachings of the Rapture in the Bible after it had been ignored for centuries under the Catholic church, and this may have inspired the missionary movements. Only in this time-period did worldwide travel and communication become possible, which allowed a great opportunity to spread the Gospel (the "open door") that did not exist before. [1, p.55] notes that Philadelphia means "brotherly love", and the evangelical churches have attempted to love everyone equally - it was these churches who encouraged removing the slavery, racism, and sexism which existed in western society. It sees all Christians as equal under Jesus/God - there is no need for a Catholic hierarchical structure.
Jesus did not have any criticism for this church, and has promised that true Christians of this church will experience the Rapture. Jesus also tells this church that he is coming soon - so this church must exist in a time-period much closer to the Rapture than the previous churches. Jesus tells us to hold on to our faith and teachings until the Rapture - which is becoming increasingly difficult in our modern world. There have been many attacks on Christianity throughout the last few hundred years - the theory of evolution and the big bang, false religions like Mormonism and the Jehovah's witnesses, the "politically-correct" ideas that one religion can't be the only way to heaven, and the pressure to compromise our beliefs to be more "tolerant" of other beliefs and lifestyles. We are very close to the Rapture now, and so we won't have to hold on for too much longer.
Who are the Nicolaitans?
Many times in these letters Jesus mentions the "Nicolaitans". So who was this group of people and what did they teach that made Jesus hate them so much? Source [1, p.26] says that the Nicolaitans taught "ecclesiasticism", which basically means a hierarchical church structure - with leaders above leaders above leaders, like a pyramid. The current Catholic church has this structure, with everyone ruled by the Pope at the top, a small circle under him, and layers below that of more cardinals and bishops and priests.
The problem with this structure is that it's totally non-Biblical. Christians can come to God directly (Hebrews 4:16), and we do not need popes or priests or cardinals to relay our messages. While we do need designated pastors and church leaders, they occupy only a functional role. A pastor may have more experience and understanding of the Bible, and can provide instruction and encouragement and criticize un-biblical behavior - but they are not our "link" to God. All Christians are equal before God since we have all sinned and all need Jesus as a saviour (Romans 3:23) - no one is less of a sinner than anyone else.
The problem with having a pyramid-structure in the hierarchy of a church is that one person at the top can control the rest of the pyramid. If this one person is corrupted with bad doctrine, it will filter down to the lowest levels and no one will be able to correct them since the person at the top has ultimate power. [1, p.40] says "Laymen were given no voice in church affairs, but were required to obey blindly the decrees of the clergy. The clergy then gradually seemed to gravitate to an impractical ivory tower type of existence that separated them more and more from the people.". The Protestant Reformation had to completely leave the Catholic church and start over to get away from this structure and the entrenched pagan practices, and early Protestants were persecuted for it by the Catholic church.
The Church of Laodicea
Finally, we are at the last letter to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus says to this church "I know everything you have done, and you are not hot or cold. I wish you were either one or the other. But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.". Jesus asks them to buy refined gold, white clothes, and eye medicine from Him to correct these conditions. Jesus says: "I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together."
This is the worst church of them all - Jesus doesn't have any good things to say about it. He says he hates them for being lukewarm, and will spit them out if they don't change. This church has it all and is so prideful that they think they don't even need what Jesus has to offer. Jesus begs them to come to him for their salvation and to not rely on their own abilities or resources. This church will exist up unto the Rapture, and possibly afterwards if it's members are not truly saved. Perhaps the Rapture will wake these people up and they will become Tribulation Saints who must be persecuted and martyred for their faith.
When Jesus says "I wish you were either cold or hot", it does not mean that cold = dead and hot = passionate. I have heard that the historical city of Laodicea had two aqueducts coming into the city - one was from nearby hot springs, and the other was fresh cold water. The hot water was considered to be medicinal, and the cold water was refreshing and thirst-quenching. So this statement means that this church is not able to be medicine to a broken world or broken people, and is also not refreshing and does not quench their members' thirst for truth and for Jesus.
More characteristics of the Laodicean church
We can find more detail on the Laodicean church from other verses in the Bible: "The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear. The will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories." (2 Timothy 4:3-4, CEV). The Laodicean churches don't preach about sin or hell, or the need for repentance because they don't want to offend anyone and tell them that they need to change. They don't preach that Jesus is the only way to heaven because that would exclude other religions. They want to be told that it's enough to be a good person to get into heaven.
Also: "Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real." (2 Timothy 3:5, CEV). This final form of Christianity will appear to be religious, but it will not be sincere. I believe this matches with many modern mega-churches. With their huge fancy buildings, full worship bands, the huge budgets for multimedia productions, and the huge crowds that they attract - these churches certainly put on a good show of being religious, yet they are often so shallow that many of the people in the pews may not be saved at all. They are content to go to church on Sunday (or maybe only on Christmas and Easter) and call themselves a Christian, yet during the week their lives are no different than any non-Christian.
So who is the Church of Laodicea?
I believe we can see the Church of Laodicea active today. I believe this church may be defined by two different movements - the "Purpose-Driven Church" trend and the "Emergent" movement. Both of these have sprung up over the last century or so, and are in full force today. I will discuss my reasons for including both of these as the Laodicean church.
The Purpose-Driven Church
These churches may tend to be "mega-churches" such as those huge churches in the United States that have stadiums for sanctuaries and have hundreds of thousands of people come to services on Sunday. They have all the fancy multi-media displays, full rock bands, and very charismatic preachers. This matches the Laodicean church who thinks it is rich and successful. Often they try to be "seeker-sensitive", and thus try to attract people with all sorts of programs, free coffee, and a modern/relaxed environment. These things are not bad in themselves, do not automatically make a church bad. What is a more disturbing trend with these types of churches is their theology.
Often these churches do not preach about sin - for they don't want to drive away any of their congregation by criticizing their sinful lifestyles. These churches preach more of a self-help gospel, saying that the Bible can help us live better fuller lives and heal our personal issues. While the Bible can address these issues, primarily the Bible is about how God is dealing with the problem of sin, through the death of Jesus on the cross. If sin is not a problem, then why would Jesus have to die? Isn't this the core of the "good news"? If people are not convicted that they are sinners and do not feel the need to come to Jesus for forgiveness, they will end up in hell for eternity. It doesn't matter how much you hurt someone's feelings or self esteem if it gets them out of hell - sometimes "tough love" is needed.
Source [2] says: "Concluding their weak gospel presentations, many church growth preachers lead their audience in a model 'sinner's prayer'. Warren advises sinners that, "Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe...bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: 'Jesus I believe in you and I receive you.' Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God.". No conviction of sin, no repentance, no forsaking of the sinner's way, no counting the cost - just 'accept and receive' and the job's done.".
Then these people go on their way for the rest of their lives thinking they are saved but have never changed their lifestyle and may not even have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus said that when these people die, they will come to him and say "Sir, open the door (to heaven) for us!", but Jesus will say "I don't know a thing about you". The people will respond "We dined with you and you taught in our streets", but Jesus will say "I really don't know who you are! Get away from me you evil people!" (paraphrased, Luke 13:25-27, CEV). These people will think they should get into heaven because they were in the church crowd and listened to the pastor preach on Sundays. But they never personally had faith in Jesus.
I have also heard more disturbing things about the Purpose-Driven churches. They don't like to display the symbol of the cross (for it is not inclusive), they don't preach on sin, and some pastors don't even believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven! They want to make Church more like an entertainment experience than a worship experience. Some of the worship songs are so shallow they merely repeat the same vague phrase over and over and never actually sing about why they love God or Jesus. The old hymns, while perhaps "traditional" and "boring", have so much more content than many modern worship songs - often one hymn will address our first need for Jesus due to sin, Jesus' death on the cross, Jesus' resurrection, our salvation through Jesus, and our promised future in Heaven - all in only 4-5 verses! The modern worship songs repeat over and over but never get anywhere close to this content. How can we love Jesus properly if we don't know how much he has done for us by dying for our sins? Why should we sing "I love you" twenty times if we never explain why Jesus deserves our love?
Overall, while there are some true Christians in the Purpose-Driven movement, I suspect that they were probably all Christians before joining and thus have the proper background to know why we need Jesus and why we should love Him, etc. I am worried that non-Christians who come to a Purpose-Driven church will never be taught about sin, will never learn why Jesus had to die for us, will never know that they can't get into heaven by being a "good person", and will believe they are saved by saying a tiny prayer and attending services twice a year. Jesus would not be impressed with thousands of people getting together to discuss "self-esteem" and "finding the purpose for your life" while ignoring everything he taught about sin and hell and our need for a savior.
The Emergent Movement
The next disturbing trend in Christianity is called the "emergent" or "emerging" movements. For a good source on this relatively new movement, I would recommend the book "Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be" [3]. The emergent movement is basically "hipster-Christianity". It attracts young white people who are into modern trendy culture and post-modern ideas. Several disturbing trends with this movement are:
- They don't believe "truth" can ever be defined, and that we must constantly question and re-question and redefine everything we think we know about God. They dislike firm doctrinal statements such as "Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" and instead stick to more vague ideas like "God is love", while ignoring all the facts God has revealed to us about who he is in the Bible.
- They avoid discussing hell and heaven in the afterlife, and instead focus on preventing "hell" on earth - like injustice, poverty, hunger, etc.[3 p.102]. While this may be admirable, the main point of the church is to teach people about God so that as many people as possible avoid hell in the afterlife. There will always be suffering on earth until Jesus returns, and no amount of charity or social activism is ever going to get rid of it.
- Source [3, p.107] says "I have no doubt that non-Christians find some of the emergent literature very appealing. The literature often describes who they already are - non-dogmatic, ambiguously spiritual postmoderns interested in making the world a better place. But where is there mention of the hard edges of Christian faith - God's holiness, divine judgement, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, human depravity, and the necessity of the new birth?". Without these teachings, Christianity is reduced down to a feel-good, be-a-good-person-and-make-the-world-a-better-place message, which is hardly Christianity at all. No wonder this church makes Jesus so sick he wants to spit them out of his mouth! (Revelation 3:10).
- They don't want pastors to teach - instead they promote pastors as people who are also confused and on a journey and don't have the answers: "I find it disconcerting that Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz is supposed to be the new model for leadership. 'Rather than being a person with all the answers, who is constantly informed of what's up and what's what and where to go, she is herself lost, a seeker, vulnerable, often bewildered,' writes McLaren. 'These characteristics would disqualify her from modern leadership. But they serve as her best credentials for leadership in the emerging culture.' " [3, p.159]. This is not the sort of Pastor I want - I want a pastor who can teach doctrine and provide answers for people who have questions about God. Could you imagine going to a doctor and saying "I don't feel well, can you tell me what's wrong?" and having the doctor say "Well, hmmm... sometimes I don't feel well either...let's sit and discuss this for a while". That's not the answer we want, and it helps nobody!
These are just a few examples of problems with the Emergent movement. As you can see, it seems to be a very wishy-washy, watered-down Christianity where they don't care about doctrine and the answers the Bible has to our problem called sin. Instead they focus on endlessly questioning and discussing and never actually come to a conclusion (and even if they did I'm sure they wouldn't admit to it because that might exclude someone who doesn't agree on that conclusion). This movement stands for nothing and while appearing to be religious and Christian, it has no power to guide people to God, just as predicted in 2 Timothy 3:5.
Summary of the Laodicean Church
So as we have seen above, there are two main trends in current Christianity that fit with the Laodicean church in Revelation. One is the mega-church Purpose-Driven-Life model which refuses to teach on sin and why Jesus had to come to die for us. It misleads people into being complacent and hearing what they want to hear - that they are a good person and that is enough. They think they will go to heaven because they said a tiny prayer and go to church a few times a year, even though their lives are unchanged and they have no personal relationship with Jesus. This church only puts band-aids on people's surface wounds - when really the people need a heart transplant! This church is like the lukewarm water which is not medicating and cannot truly "heal" a person's lost and unsaved spiritual condition.
The second aspect is the Emergent Movement, which dislikes any definitions of doctrine and never settles on "truth". Instead they are always questioning, always discussing - never proclaiming and presenting the truth to a lost world. When people are thirsting for refreshing, crisp truth, this movement only provides more questions and no concrete answers - like getting lukewarm water when you want a good cold drink. They ignore the obvious important doctrines about Jesus in the Bible and instead prefer to go with fuzzy notions of "God is love", and extrapolate from there to un-Biblical ideas that never answer anyone's serious spiritual questions.
Conclusion
So now we have finally finished the analysis of the Churches in Revelation. We can see that each church represents a historical time-period of the Church's history. Currently in the world we see there are four of these churches which will remain until the Rapture - the Catholic church, the Reformation Protestant churches, the Evangelical churches, and the Purpose-Driven/Emergent churches. The last church described before the Rapture happens in Revelation chapter 4 is the Laodicean church of the Purpose-Driven/Emergent churches.
This indicates that all of Revelation Chapters 1-3 has been fulfilled, and the next event we are waiting for is the Rapture. Also, we should be on the lookout for the Laodicean churches' teachings and make sure that we can identify them and correct them. Since we have so little time left before the Rapture, we must hold on to our faith in an increasingly hostile world for just a little longer. We need to make sure people see the errors in the Laodicean churches and learn the truth about why we need Jesus' death on the cross, and how to actually become a real Christian. The Laodicean church is one of the final end-time signs that scholars have been looking for, and now it is clearly here.
There is some hope though - I believe that after the Rapture, some of those who were left behind from the above four church types may finally wake up. They will have the proof that the Bible was correct, and they will finally truly put their faith in Jesus. This is demonstrated in Revelation 7 where John sees "a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands."(Revelation 7:9, CEV). An elder explains to John that "These are the ones who have gone through the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white."(Revelation 7:14). These people were martyred for their faith by the Antichrist and the false world religion during the Tribulation, but they are Christians and they are saved and go to heaven. They will be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation to rule earth with Jesus (Revelation 20:4-6).
References
[1] Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain, by Tim Lahaye (1975), now published as Revelation Unveiled, by Tim Lahaye
[2] www.webtruth.org - "The Purpose Driven Church (a critique)" by Michael J. Penfold
[3] Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), by Kevin DeYong and Ted Kluck (2008)