Those who may have been taught there will be no Christian churches on the earth during the great tribulation may wish to consider the above verse.

The concept of the verse is that the "great multitude, that no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (Revelation 7:9) were pressured by the great tribulation into developing righteous behavior through the authority and power of the blood of the Lamb ("washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"). The purpose of the great tribulation is to make the Wife of the Lamb perfect and complete in preparation for her marriage to the Lord.

Also, the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, the principal scriptural description of the coming of the Lord, reveals that Christ's coming will take place "immediately after the tribulation of those days."

As for the saints living on the earth during the reign of Antichrist, it is clear that Antichrist has been on the earth since the first century and that in the closing days of this age he will wage war against the saints and will overcome them (I John 2:18; Revelation 13:7).

The Laodicean church, the last of the seven golden lampstands, is wretched in the sight of the Lord. Such a church never could be termed "the Wife of the Lamb." But a remnant will come out of the Laodicean churches and buy the refined gold of faith purified by suffering.

Compare:

My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? (Song of Solomon 6:9,10)

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:16,17)

What possibly could take place on the earth to convert her who is destined to be so undefiled and precious in her Lord's eyes into one who is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"?

The world, Satan, and our own lusts and self-will continually attempt to keep us blind and naked. The ready availability of all forms of sin will cause the majority of the people of the last days to become cold in their attitude toward God and His Christ.

Also, Babylon (man-directed Christianity), Antichrist, and the False Prophet will be major forces of corruption in the end-time. Babylon is the spirit of religious organization, that is, of man attempting to build the Kingdom of God in his own wisdom and strength. The spirit of Babylon is the worship of churches.

To be continued.