Where is the Church in Revelation?

Where is the Church listed in Revelation after chapter 3?

To answer that question we must first define the Church of Christ and His Body. These numerous Holy Scriptures below will accomplish and make clear the definition of the Church.

Romans 12:4.  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,  5.  so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Colossians 1:18.  And He (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:24.  I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

Ephesians 1:22.  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23.  Which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all.

1Corinthians 10:16.  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?  17.  For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

1 Corinthians 12:12.  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.13.  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.14.  For the body is not one member, but many.

1 Corinthians 12:20.  But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:26.  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.  27.  Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

Ephesians 5:30.  For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31.  "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.''  32.  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

1Corinthians 6:15.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!  16.  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "The two,'' He says, "shall become one flesh.''  17.  But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  18.  Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.  19.  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  20.  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

The reason that there are seven churches listed in Revelation is because there are seven different members: Ephusus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These seven represent the gentiles, Israel, Judah,Jerusalem,  Zion, house of Joseph, the 144000 virgins and the prophets with watchmen. All of us who claim to be Christians belong to one of those churches. The identity of some of these houses is hidden to most people. The gentiles, Joseph and the virgins all wear coats of many colors indicating that they are intermixed with the gentiles.  You are not sure which church you belong to so you must watch and pray always because you do not know when you will die and which watch in which you will be taken from the earth to be with the Lord. To watch means to study the Bible daily, looking for signs, meanings and warnings while guarding the Word of Truth with your life. For most it is wishful thinking and almost delusional to believe that you are of the church of Philadelphia in these last days of famine for the hearing of the Word of God. This is the reason why Jesus wondered aloud for our sake whether he would even find faith when he returns. Millions of people cannot fit into a space reserved for 144000 living members. These virgins are predestined and chosen; you can only attempt to be spotless and without guile as they are in the body, praying always that you will be accounted worthy to escape this fiery trial upon the whole earth which is the time of great tribulation. Blessed you are to be one of the Church of Philadelphia. The imminence of the return of Christ is for every believer in that they must be ready and be counted worthy at their death in the body to join the Holy saints who preceded them.

Here are some of the different members of the Church listed in Revelation highlighted in red.

Revelation 1:1.  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,  2.  who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to all things that he saw.  3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Revelation 2:7.  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'' '

Revelation 2:11. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.'' '

Revelation 2:17. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.'' '

Revelation 2:26. “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. 

Revelation 3:5.  "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Revelation 3:21. “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Revelation 6:9.  When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.  10.  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?''  11.  And a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Revelation 7:3.  saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.'' 4.  And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed…

Revelation 7:9.  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands…

Revelation 7:14. And I said to him, "Sir, you know.'' So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 8:4.  And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.

Revelation 11:3.  "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.''  4.  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

Revelation 11:18.  The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.''

Revelation 12:11.  "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Revelation 12:17.  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 13:7.  And 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.

Revelation 14:1.  Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.

Revelation 14:4.  These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Revelation 14:13.  Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' '' "Yes,'' says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.''

Revelation 15:2.  And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3.  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

Revelation 18:4.  And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

Revelation 19:1.  After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God!

Revelation 19:6.  And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!

Revelation 21:7.  "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

The fact that the word Church is not used again after Revelation 3 does not prove at all that the Church is raptured before the time of great tribulation begins. The Bible states that there will be a great falling away from the faith in the last days, not that there will be a great catching away. The great catching away is reserved for an elect few. Only the Church of Philadelphia, who is the 144,000 virgins are spared from the great trial upon the whole earth while the remnant of Jerusalem are raptured alive after enduring almost the whole tribulation period. As we read above from the scriptures there are many members of the body which is the Church, which is of Christ. It will require much research and study to interpret the members of each church. To desire to be one of the living of Jerusalem and Zion is an honor but will come with a great price, suffering tribulation, purification and refinement while witnessing the death of fellow Christians and the devastation and desolation to come upon the whole earth.

New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ, being one with the Lord through consummation is also the body of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11.  Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands 12.  that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.  14.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us,  15.  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  16.  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  17.  And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.  19.  Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  20.  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  21.  in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  22.  in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Here is the bride of Christ, New Jerusalem which is the whole Church described in the next scriptures:

Revelation 3:12. “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Revelation 21:2. and I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:9.  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.  10. and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11.  having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.  12.  Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:  13.  three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.  14.  Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  15.  And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.  16.  And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.  17.  Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.  18.  And the construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.  19.  And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,  20.  the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Revelation 22:14.  Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Amen!