As we begin Chapter 4, the Lord has completed the messages He has for the seven literal churches of the Apostle John's day and for the seven church ages which they represent. This is significant, for after a loud voice calls out, "Come up here!" in our passage today, we won't see the church mentioned on earth during the years of the Great Tribulation. We will see the so-called "church" of the end times, but she is the apostate church which the Lord said made Him want to vomit. (Revelation 3:16) The apostate church is not the bride of Christ; she does not love Him and has not betrothed herself to Him.
It would be difficult to explain why the Lord never once mentions His beloved church if she were on the earth during the terrible times of the last days. The best explanation for this, and the one accepted by most of the scholars and theologians of mainstream denominations, is that she is in heaven with Christ during those years. For example, one of the foremost experts of Biblical prophecy, the late Dr. John F. Walvoord, said in his book The Revelation Of Jesus Christ: "The word church, so prominent in chapters 2 and 3, does not occur again until 22:16, though the church is undoubtedly in view as the wife of the Lamb in Revelation 19:7. She is not a participant in the scenes of the tribulation which form the major content of the book of Revelation."
The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee, who was a pastor and an author and the founder of the Thru The Bible Radio program which still airs every day, said in his book Revelation: Volume One: "Up to Chapter 4, there have been 19 references to the church in the world...However, from Chapter 4 to the end of Revelation, the church is never mentioned in connection with the world."
These are just two examples of reasons why we should believe the church won't be on earth during the Great Tribulation. I could spend our entire time together today listing quotes by well-respected experts of prophecy and by prominent preachers of the word of God. There is simply no satisfying explanation for where the church is and what she is doing during the Great Tribulation except that she is in heaven with her Lord. I cannot imagine any reason why the Lord wouldn't mention the beautiful church, for whom He gave His life, if she were on the earth enduring the hardships of the last days.
Let's begin our look at Chapter 4. "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven." (Revelation 4:1a) When John says "after this", he means after he has completed writing down the Lord's message to the seven churches. The Lord Jesus has finished dictating the letters to John, and at that point John glances heavenwards and sees an open door. Where have we seen an open door mentioned before in Revelation? We saw it in the Lord's message to the church of Philadelphia---the church that represents the age we're living in now. Remember, this is the church age that will experience the rapture (the "catching up" of the church) to be with Christ. In our passage today, the promised "catching up" of the church comes true.
"And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'" (Revelation 4:1b) Who previously spoke to John with a voice like a trumpet? The Lord Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:10-18) This is the same voice that calls John to, "Come up here!" This is the same voice that will call the church to, "Come up here!"
The Apostle Paul, by revelation from the Lord Jesus, explained to the church how the rapture would take place. "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Paul wanted to comfort the believers regarding those who had already passed on. He wanted them to understand that, when the Lord calls His church out of the world, He will call all who have placed their trust in Him, both the living and the dead. The prophet Isaiah foresaw the day when those who had trusted in the Lord and whose bodies had crumbled to dust in the grave would rise from the dead. He said: "But Your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise---let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy---Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." (Isaiah 26:19) The Lord Jesus Christ, while He lived on the earth, spoke of a day in which even the dead and buried would hear His voice "and come out" of the graves. (John 5:28)
When John hears the trumpet call of the Lord, what happens next? "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it." (Revelation 4:2) He is immediately in the presence of the Lord! This is the fulfillment of all the prophecies regarding the removal of the church from the earth, when she will "be with the Lord forever". This change of location happens instantly, as was predicted by the Apostle Paul who said it would happen "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet". (1 Corinthians 15:52)
Why does the Lord call for His bride with a trumpet? Because a trumpet call was used to signal the approach of someone important. A king or other dignitary would have someone out ahead of his caravan to blow the trumpet as he approached a city so the citizens could gather together to greet him. A great teacher, whose coming lecture was highly anticipated, might have someone blow a trumpet ahead of him so that everyone who purchased a ticket to hear him speak could assemble in the stadium or lecture hall. Lastly, (and this is my favorite example), a bridegroom would gather his friends together when it came time to collect his bride for the wedding, and they would blow a trumpet ahead of him while he called the bride's name as he approached her house.
You'll recall earlier in our study we discussed that Jesus made what was essentially a marriage proposal to believers when He promised to go and prepare a place for them and return for them so they would be with Him always. This is what a young man would say when proposing to a woman he loved. We also talked about how the young man, after having his proposal accepted, would go home and build onto his father's house a place in which to dwell with his future wife. It was the father who decided when the dwelling was ready, and when everything met with the father's satisfaction, he would tell his son to go get the bride. This is why the Lord Jesus told His followers that not even He knew what day He'd call them out of the world; He said only the Father knew the day. (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32) Since a bride of ancient times didn't know what day her beloved would call for her, she kept her honeymoon bags packed and ready. She kept her ears open for the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the one she loved calling her name.
We---the church---are to be like the brides of old. We are to be listening for the command to, "Come up here!" It's fascinating to study end times prophecy. It's natural that we should feel concern for the people of the world in the last days. But the fact that our Bridegroom will call us to the wedding before the dreadful days of the Great Tribulation begin to occur should fill us with joy and anticipation. Our job isn't to anxiously look about us for the signs of the last days, wondering whether the one who will become the Antichrist is already in the world, wondering if every bad thing that happens is a sign that the end is almost here. As the bride of Christ, "We wait for the blessed hope---the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
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