Revelation 21 - Verse by Verse Bible Study

By Pastor Steven L Anderson

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January, 2013

Now in Revelation chapter 21, the Bible reads in verse 1, "And I saw a new heaven and a

new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more

sea." Now just to back up a little bit into chapter , we saw when the heaven and the

earth passed away in verse of chapter , the Bible reads, "And I saw a great white

throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and

there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;

and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and

the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their

works." And so we see here the great white throne judgment is where heavene and earth

flee away and basically every single person who has ever lived is going to be at that

judgment, because there is no other place to be, heaven and earth are gone, everyone

is at that great white throne. Now, it's only the DEAD that are being judged. Those of us

that are saved, we will have already been resurrected more than years before this,

long before this, we've alreaady been resurrected, so we're not being judged by our works at

this evert, but the dead are being judged. The unasved who are brought up at this time

to stand before the great white throne. Now go to nd Peter chapter , because in nd

Peter chapter we have another scripture that deals with the subject of the earth and

the heaven passing away in chapter of Revelation, it said that the earth and the heaven "fled

away". Jesus CHrist said in Matthew , "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall

not pass away". So this world is not going to be here forever. And people are intent

upon preserving it, and they think "well, we're going to be here for millions of years,

we need to make this thing last." Well, it's not going to be here for that long. What the

Bible calls "the New Testament", is the "last days", and we know that this earth, so far,

has been around for about years, give or take years. But, we know that this world

is going to pass away. Everything in it is going to be gone, and there is going to be

a completely new heaven and new earth. I'm going to show you some of the differences

between the new heaven and earth, and the old heaven and earth, because they're not

the same. Look down if you would at nd Peter chapter , it says in verse , "But the day

of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with

a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the

works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be

dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being

on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless

we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth

righteousness." So the Bible tells us that because we know that everything on this earth

is going to be dissolved, and that there is eventually going to be a new heaven and a

new earth, that should affect the way that we live our life. I mean, what manner of persons

ought we to be, if we know that everything around us is going to be burned up. The cars

are going to be burned up, the houses are going to be burned up, the boats are going

to be burned up. We're definately not going to be covetous people, who live our lives,

for how many possessions we can amass and how much money we can make, and how many physical

things we can acquire, they're all going to be burned up. ANd that's why the Bible says

"set your affection on things above, not on the earth." If we're realising that the new

heavens and the new earth will take the place of this earth, we're going to focus on things

that are eternal. THings like the people in our families, people that we can win to the

Lord, people that come to our church. We are going to think about things that are eternal,

not the temporal things. But if you would, flip back to Revelation , and we'll see

what the Bible says about the new heaven and the new earth. It makes it very clear right

away that the new heaven and the new earth are dramatically different, because in the

first verse there, when it says that the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,

it says "and there was no more sea". And of course, the earth as it stands right now is

covered in sea, in fact there is more sea than there is dry land. But on the new earth,

there is no more sea, it's all dry land. Another colossal difference between the old earth

and the new earth is that the old earth had hell at it's core, or hell at it's center.

the Bible teaches today that hell is at the centre of the earth, in the heart of the earth,

whereas Jesus talked about people being cast into the lake of fire as being cast into "outer

darkness". Obviously there is nothing "outer" about being in the centre of the earth. So

at this time, hell is located in the centre of the earth. But in chapter , we saw that

hell was moved, it was relocated to the lake of fire in outer darkness. And so the new

earth will not contain hell. Let's keep reading, it says in verse , "And I John saw the holy

city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned

for her husband." We're going to get back to the New Jerusalem and the bride there,

but look at verse , "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle

of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God

himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their

eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be

any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said,

Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and

faithful." So in the new earth, there is going to be no sorrow, no sadness, no crying, no

death. ANd really when we go to heaven at the rapture, these things still might come

into play in our lives, because there could be sorrow for example at the great white throne,

when we see lost loved ones being cast into the lake of fire, there could be crying and

tears. And so here after the millenium, at the time of the new heaven and the new earth,

God talks about wiping away the tears from our eyes. And there will be never again any

sorrow, or any death, or any pain. And so this is the ultimate goal right here, the

new heaven and the new earth. It says in verse , "He that overcometh shall inherit all things;

and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and

the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,

shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second

death." Now what does he mean there, when he says in verse , "he that overcometh"?

Let me just quickly go through this. Go to st John chapter . st John chapter number

. The term "overcometh" is not really a term that's used very much in the Bible, but it's

used alot in the end of the Bible, it's used in st John, it's used alot in the book of

Revelation. Look what the Bible says about it in st John chapter , verse number ,

it says "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh

the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth

that Jesus is the Son of God?" So the Bible is very clear here, and if you understand

the grammar there of verse , what he is saying is that the only people who overcome the world

are those who believe that Jesus CHrist is the Son of God, if you understand taht grammar.

The Bible is really clear that "overcoming" means that you are born again, that you have

faith, that you believe that Jesus CHrist is the Son of God. And by the way, that's

how you get saved, is by believing on the Lord Jesus CHrist. Not through you your own

good works, or your own goodness. Now, why is that called "overcoming the world". I'll

tell you why. Because the world is out to STOP you from doing just that. And that's

why the Bible calls this "overcoming the world" when you believe on Jesus CHrist. THat tells

me that the world's school system is not trying to get you to believe that Jesus is the Son

of God. In fact, they are actively trying to STOP you from believing that Jesus Christ

is the Son of God. THe world's entertainment, Hollywood, TV, movies, the school system,

the governments of the world, the advertising... ALL of the world and what it has to offer

is geared toward hindering you from believing that Jesus CHrist is the Son of God. In order

to get saved, you have to overcome that. You have to hear the word of God and believe it

IN SPITE OF what the world is telling you. You know, if you go to the school system,

they'll tell you that everything came from nothing. "There was nothing, and then it exploded,

and then there was some stuff, and then there was some other stuff, and then eventually

it came to LIFE, we don't really understand how, but we are going to give it a fancy name,

we're going to call it Abiogenesis, and then it sounds a little more official, it evolved..."

ALL these lies, all this garbage, and they teach it in the science department, but it

should be in the FAIRYTALE department. And all these lies out there. And then TV will

show you all these "biblical" movies, and "Jesus" movies that pervert the gospel and

change things. All of it is geared toward stopping you from really believing the truth

and believing the gospel. ANd that's why the Bible calls someone who is saved, someone

who has overcome the world. And when we go to Revelation , that's still what it means

when it talks about the one who has overcome. And if you look up the different times that

he mentions it in chapters and , you will see that it is consistent with referring to

salvation through believing on Jesus Christ, through faith. There was no mention of works

when we talked about overcoming. And in Revelation chapter , you will see that as we look at

these different "overcomeths". Let's look at the first one in verse . It says "He that

hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh

will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Well

if you remember, back in Genesis, the tree of life was associated with living forever.

Because when they were kicked out of the garden, they were kicked out, because they were told,

"man can't eat of the tree of life, or he will live forever, if he eats of the tree

of life". So again, here it's being associated with eternal life, being born again, being

saved. Jump down if you would to verse , it says "He that overcometh shall not be hurt

of the second death." STILL consistent. It says in verse , partway through, "To him

that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone,

and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."

SHowing that those of us who are saved will recieve a new name, at some point when we

get to heaven, that no man knoweth except us. ANd then of course, it says in verse ,

"and he that overcometh AND", so did this person just overcome and do nothing else?

No, the Bible says "he that overcometh AND keepeth my works unto the end". So here is

somebody who not only believed on Christ, but they also did the works, he says "to him

will I give power over the nations". So you see, doing good works gets you rewards, it

will give you a greater authority in the kingdom of God. You will be rewarded. Jesus said "Behold

I com quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall

be." But when it comes to being saved, it's just faith alone. If you also keep his works

unto the end, you get additional power, you get additional rewards and so forth. Look

at chapter verse . It says "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment;

and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name

before my Father, and before his angels." Let me ask you this. Is God going to blot

out of the book of life, the name of anyone who has believed on CHrist? NO. Because , he

promised, "him that overcometh is not going to be blotted out of the book of life, his

name will be confessed before the Father." Look at verse , it says "Him that overcometh

will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write

upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,

which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." We'll

see that in Revelation , when it says "they shall see his face, and his name shall be

in their foreheads." Verse , it says "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with

me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

So let's flip back over to Revelation with that in mind. It says in verse , "He that

overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But

the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,

and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and

brimstone: which is the second death." There is not alot of middle ground with God is there?

I mean, you either overcome, and inherit all things, and God is your Father, and you are

his son, or your going to the lake of fire. The only two choices are heaven or hell. And

when the Bible gives this list of sins, alot of people will take that list and say "well

if you commit those sins, that's proof that you're nnot saved". I've heard people say

that. But that's not really accurate at all. I bet you that every single person has told

a lie. ANd the Bible includes there, all liars. THere is another list that's similar over

in Galatians , it mentions thieves, drunkards, other types of sins. And people will say "see,

if somebody is a drunk, they're not saved!" Look, Noah got drunk. David committed murder.

People that are saved can definately commit these sins, but when the Bible says in Galatians

that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, you also have

to keep in mind that flesh and blood shall not ingherit the kingdom of God. We in our

sinful condition often walk in the flesh and fulfill the works of the flesh. And that's

what it says when it gives that list in Galatians . It says "Now the works of the flesh are

manifest, which are these" ANd then he goes into you know, "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,

lasciviousness..." ANd he goes through all those sins saying these are the works of the

flesh. Look, as long as we're living in the flesh, we have a tendency to want to walk

in the flesh, and then we are going to commit sins of the flesh. But, thank God, at the

resurrection, or commonly known as "the rapture", we're going to be changed, in a moment, in

a twinkling of an eye, and our sinful flesh will be gone. We're not going to inherit the

kingdom of God in this sinful flesh. When we get to heaven, we will never sin again.

Someone who believes on the Lord Jesus CHrist may be a drunkard upon the earth, but they

will not inherit the kingdom of God as a drunkard, because of course, they will be changed in

a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The sinful flesh will be gone forever, and of course

they will enter as a spiritual person, body soul and spirit. But it says here, all liars.

And this is a great scripture when you are trying to get somebody to understand that

the penalty of sin is hell, the wages of sin is death. Because alot of people think "well,

to go to hell , you have to be really bad, you have to be a murderer, for example." But

then he also says "all liars". Now some people will look at this scripture that says "all

liars" and they'll say "well, that's talking about somebody that lies habitually, that's

somebody who just lies all the time. Somebody who jsut tells a lie once in a while, like

MYSELF, they're not really a liar!" But the evidence is found in the last verse of this

chapter. In verse , talking about the heavenly Jerusalem, it says "And there shall in no

wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or

maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Look, ONE LIE is

equivalent to being a liar in this chapter. ONE LIE will keep you out of that heavenly

city. I know I've told a lie, I'm sure you haev too. None of us deserves to go there,

but we will go there by grace through faith, and that's the gift of God right there. So

look down if you would at verse of chapter . It says "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 shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." Now this

is the main subject of this chapter. The vast majority of this chapter deals with the subject

of the bride of Christ. And the bride of CHrist in this chapter is synonymous with the city,

the heavenly Jerusalem. Look at the next verse, it says "I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's

wife..." Verse says this, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high

mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from

God". Now, you can't get around this folks. He says "I'm going to show you the bride",

and then it says "he showed me the city". Obviously the city here is equivalent to the

bride. I mean, isn't that pretty obvious as we look at this? Now, here is what's interesting.

per cent of people that you talk to, it seems like they totally misunderstand the

subject of the bride of Christ in the Bible. And there are a couple of different variations

on this. Let me first talk about the most extreme variation. THere is a teaching out

there of people who call themselves "baptist briders", and it always blows my mind how

people just create these man-made doctrines that have no basis in reality, they have no

basis in scripture, and they're vehement, they're MILITANTLY promoting this doctrine.

ANd there are so many things, that we can get all fired up about... THey get fired up

about things that aren't even in the BIble. For example, when brother Chris Sosee started

coming to church, some of his family warned him, they said "stay away from that Faithful

Word Baptist Church, that's a bad church." And he said "what's wrong with it?" They said

"well, they're a non-brider church." ANd he said "Non-brider? What in the world does that

mean?" And he came to me and said "Pastor Anderson, I hear your a non-brider, what does

that mean?" And I said, "I tell you what Chris, on sunday morning I'm going to preach a whole

sermon on the bride of Christ", and that's what I did, I preached a whole sermon and

I explained the whole thing. But this "baptist bride" doctrine teaches that "the bride of

Christ will only consist of Baptists. People that are part of a Baptist church." Now, where

in the world they're getting this doctrine, I don't understand. And that's why they say

I'm a "non-brider", because I don't believe this strange doctrine that says "you're not

the bride of Christ, unless you attend a Baptist church." And then there are even more extreme

variations of this, that teach that you have to be baptised in a baptist church by someone

who was baptised by someone who was baptised, by someone who was baptised, by someone who

was baptised, by someone who was baptised.... All the way back to John the Baptist, and

if that chain is broken in any way, you're not part of the bride. And you know what?

I really hope that Pastor Armor who baptised my when I was years old, had that pedigree,

like from the AKC or whatever, going all the way back to John the Baptist, to prove that

he was qualified to baptise. I mean, what kind of a strange doctrine is this? And it's

going to become even more obvious how bizarre this doctrine is to you, as we read what the

chapter says. Obviously that's a strange doctrine. Obviously that's very bizarre and very extreme

to teach that, but there alot of people who teach it, believe it or not. But i'll say

this, even though that's a fringe teaching and not as common, I would say this...

per cent of baptists in my opinion, from what I've seen... percent of baptists will teach

that the bride of Christ consists of Church age saints, or New Testament saints only,

will be part of the bride of Christ. And here is what they'll say, "the church is the bride

of Christ, and therefore the bride of Christ will consist of church age saints". ANd I'm

sure you've heard it before, it's probably per cent that teach this. And again, it's

very unscriptural. The statement that says "the church is the bride of Christ" is a false

statement. It's not true. Now first of all, go to chapter , I'll prove to you that it's

not true. In chapter of Revelation, the BIble reads in verse , "Let us be glad and

rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made

herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean

and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." Now look at verse there, it

said "for the marriage of the Lamb IS COME". The verb "is come", means that it just came

right now. And Revelation is at the end of the years. So let me ask you this. Is

the church the bride of Christ TODAY, if the wedding is going to happen in the future AFTER

the tribulation, and after God has poured out all his wrath? I mean, goodnight. What

if somebody is engaged, and they are going to get married a year from now, would we call

that person the bride? Would we call her his wife? No, because she becomes the bride, when?

On the wedding day. IS she the bride years before the wedding day, or years before

the wedding day? Absolutely not. So the statement, "the church is the bride of Christ" is a misguided

statement, number one. Number , if you would just use a concordance and look up the term

"bride" in the Bible, the first time the term "bride" is used in the New Testament is in

John chapter , and in John chapter , John that Baptist uses a parable to describe himself.

And he says "he that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom

which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

This my joy therefore is fulfilled." And what John the baptist is saying with that parable

is that he was not the main event. If you remember, he was always pointing to Jesus

Christ saying "I am not the Christ, I am not even worthy to stoop down and loosen his shoe

latchet." That's what John the baptist said, "He must increase, I must decrease". And what

he is using there is a parable to explain, "look, JESUS is the bridegroom, I'm more like

the best man." Because he said "I'm like the friend of the bridegroom. THat's where my

joy is fulfilled. Not to be the main event, but to share in the bridegroom's special day."

You know, if you're there as the best man at a wedding, you're not there to steal the

show, and to make the day be all about you. No, you're jsut there to be happy for your

friend, and to rejoice in his day. And you always want the emphasis in a wedding to be

on the bride and groom. And so John the Baptist is jjust using that parable to explain his

role as the best man, so to speak, the guy who point to Jesus and gives HIM all the glory.

And lets it be all about him. Now, you can't just take that parable and just run with it,

and make it mean whatever you want. That's what he says, that's what he meant, that's

the context, that's the story. There is a tendency sometimes to abuse parables. And

the Bible says "The legs of the lame are not equal, so is a parable in the mouth of fools."

And so we need to be careful that we twist parables and they're meaning something that

they don't mean. So the word "bride" is mentioned in John . You want to know when the next

time is that God uses the word bride in the New Testament? Revelation . So, there is

no mention of the term from John to Revelation . So it sounds to me like we're going to

get our doctrine on the bride of Christ from Revelation , is that what it sounds like?

Because that's the only place it's mentioned, besides John just using a parable about a

bride and a bridegroom. Really Revelation is our primary source for this doctrine.

And if we look at Revelation and really read it, I can prove to you several different

ways right now that the church is not the bride of Christ, and that the bride of Christ

does not consist of "church age saints", or even "New Testament saints", but that rather

the bride of Christ consist of every believer who has ever lived throughout ALL ages. Old

Testament, New Testament... And if we let the Bible define itself, we will see that.

Therefore, people who are saying "the CHURCH, the bride of CHrist is a different group"...

No, the bride of Christ is all believers, all saints from all ages, and I'll prove it

to you. Let's read it together, you be the judge. He said "I will shew thee the bride,

the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and

shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having

the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper

stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the

gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of

the children of Israel". Now, stop right there, let me ask you this. Does that sound like

a New Testament church age group there? The tribes of the children of Israel? Now if

the names are written thereon, that means the names "Reuben, Gad, Asher", those are

the names written on the foundation, are those people New Testament saints? No, of course

not. Let's keep reading. It says "On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on

the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve

foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." So, the gates

are labelled with the tribes of Israel, the patriarchs from the Old Testament,

the foundations are labelled with the apostles of the Lamb. And then it says in verse ,

"And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof,

and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth:

and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs." And we talked about the

fact that a furlong is an eigth of a mile, so the , furlongs is miles, this

city is huge, it's miles, by miles, and miles high. This is a huge

city. And it says in verse at the end there, "The length and the breadth and the height

of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits,

according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel." You know, roughly, a little

over feet there. And it says in verse , "And the building of the wall of it was

of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the

wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones." We'll come back to the

precious stones in a moment, but it says in verse , "And the twelve gates were twelve

pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold,

as it were transparent glass." It says in verse , "And I saw no temple therein: for

the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of

the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and

the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the

light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And

the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." And

on and on. So what do we see here? WHen we look at this passage, is there any mention

of the church, or church age saints, or "you must go to a baptist church, or you must be

baptised, by a guy who was baptised, by a guy who was baptised by..." No, no. What we

see here is that the people who are part of this city are those that are SAVED. It says

"the nations of them which are SAVED shall walk in the light of it. In Revelation ,

it said that the Lamb's wife was clothed in white raiment, which is the righteousness

of SAINTS. ANd look, people in the Old Testament were also called saints. If they were saved,

if they were believers, they were also called saints. In the New Testament, they're called

saints. Look, these are people who are believers from all ages, from all time. I'll prove it

to you further. Go if you would to Ephesians chapter , because in Ephesians , we actually

have a tie in with Revelation , because if you remember, the city has foundations

and on the foundations are written the names of the apostles. You remember that?

Well in Ephesians chapter , we see something very similar to that. In verse , it says

this, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles..." Now, you think that that's

a coincidence? I don't think that anything in the Bible is incidental, coincidental or

accidental. And so if Ephesians : is talking about being built upon the foundation of the

apostles and then in Revelation , he says "look, the city is built upon foundations

that are named after the apostles, there is a correlation here. Let me show you what

that correlation is. Back up to verse . It says "Wherefore remember, that ye being

in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called

the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye 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: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were

far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." He is saying "look, you used to be aliens

of the commonwealth of Israel." What's an alien? We live in Arizona, so you hear alot

of talk about illegal aliens. Well think about this. Aliens are foreigners. They're not citizens,

they're foreigners. If we mention someone being an alien, we're saying "they are not

a citizen of our nation." Well here he is saying "look, in time past", look at verse

, he says when ye were without Christ you were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

Let me ask you this. Once you're in Christ, are you still an alien? No you're not. Because

he says "now in Christ Jesus", verse , "ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by

the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one", and when he says

"both one", the context shows us, he is talking about the uncircumcision and the circumcision,

both being made one. That he has broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Verse

, " Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in

ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he

might reconcile both unto God". So he is saying "look, the uncircumcision is reconciled to

God, the circumcision is reconciled. BOTH are reconciled to God, they're both made into

one, they're both joined together in one. He says that he has reconciled "both unto

God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached

peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." Look at verse . Who are

the ones that are far off? The gentiles. Who are the ones that were nigh? The Jews. And

he says here, "For through him we BOTH have access by one Spirit unto the Father." That's

why the Bible says elsewhere, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. It says in verse

. "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners", remember he is talking to

the Ephesians, they're gentiles. He is saying "look, you're not uncircumcision, you're not

a stranger, you're not a foreigner, you're not an alien, YOU ARE A FELLOW CITIZEN with

the saints, "and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles

and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone". Wait a minute now, who

is built upon the foundation of the prophets? Just the gentiles? JUST the Ephesians? JUST

the church which is at Ephesus? NO! Because he made of both, ONE. And he said "ALL of

you are joined together, Jew, gentile, bond, free, circumcision, uncircumcision, you're

all built on that foundation of the apostles and prophets! Verse , " In whom all the"-

the what?- "the BUILDING". Doesn't that make you think of that city that's built on that

foundation? "In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple

in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

You say "oh, Pastor Anderson, ha ha ha... THIS is just saying that in the New Testament,

both Jew and gentile are part of the bride of Christ and part of that city, and part

of that building and built on that foundation. But the Old Testament saints of another dispensation,

they're not part of it." Okay, go to Hebrews . Go to Hebrews . Because Hebrews will

prove it to you. And really, you should have just been able to read Revelation , see

NO MENTION of the church, see it listing Old Testament patriarchs, how many Old Testament

patriarchs? . How many New Testament apostles? . All in the same building. All in the same

city. That city represents the bride of Christ, according to Revelation . But look, this

is unequivocal proof right here. In Hebrews , talking about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

look what it says in verse . "By faith he"- he is Abraham- "By faith he sojourned in the

land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,

the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a"- a what? "he looked for a

CITY which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." What city was he looking

for? The heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem. It's obvious. And the Bible proves it further.

Let's keep reading. He said in verse , "he looked for a city which hath foundations,

whose builder and maker is God." But when he got there, he was turned away at the door

"because this is only for the church age saints" (sarcastic) ... Silly Abraham. "The bride

of Christ is only for the church. It's not the Old Testament saints, it's not for you..."

I mean, what kind of nonsense is this doctrine? People need to quit listening to Peter Ruckman,

and quit listening to all these hyper dispensationalists, and all this man-made Clarence Larkin, CI

Schofield, and they need to get in the word of God, they need to get a King James Bible,

and READ IT and BELIEVE IT and STUDY IT, and quit repeating things that have NO BASIS IN

THE BIBLE. THERE IS NO BASIS for saying that that city is only going to be for "those who

are part of the church age". There is no church age. The Bible says "glory to God in the church

throughout ALL AGES, Amen." Ephesians :. But let's keep reading. It says "he looked

for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Jump down if you would

to verse . "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen

them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they

were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly

that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence

they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better

country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for

he hath prepared for them a city." Who did he prepare it for? Old Testament saints, is

who he prepared it for. That's why of their names are on the foundation. Go to chapter

of Hebrews. Hebrews talks about this in chapter , chapter and chapter . Look

at chapter , verse it says "but ye are come unto the Mount Zion, and unto the city

of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Isn't that the city we're reading about in

Revelation ? It says that ye are come to "the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable

company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn". You say "Pastor

Anderson, see right there, it's the church!" Yeah, "church" means "assembly". We're all

going to be assembled. Again, get this "church age" out of your mind. Moses was with the

church in the wilderness! Let me say it again. And it's funny how these people will claim

to believe the King James Bible is the word of God. And then they don't believe you when

you try to show them Acts , "this is he that was with the church in the wilderness". They

say "oh, that's a mistranslation". No, no. It was the church in the wilderness. "Church"

means "congregation". Look, when we get to heaven, that church, that assembly, that throng,

that city, it's going to include Old Testament saints and New Testament saints alike. It

says "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,

and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect". Now look at chapter

. It says in verse , "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing

his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." So look, in

chapter the Old Testament saints were seeking a city, in chapter , we as New Testament

saints are seeking a city, do you see that? And then in chapter , in the middle chapter

there, we see that the heavenly Jerusalem is going to be an assembly of both! And so

it's crystal clear, I don't know what else to say. But go back to Revelation if you

would, for even more proof that the Old Testament saint are part of this group, the saved, that

will make up the bride of Christ. The Bible says in verse number , "And the building

of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And

the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth,

an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx..." And so we see this list of precious stones, precious

stones. Now what's interesting about this, is that there is a similar list of precious

stones in the book of Exodus. Because if you remember, Aaron the high priest had these

holy garments, and part of it was a golden breastplate that Aaron would wear, and I believe

this is found in Exodus . ANd Exodus describes the breastplate that Aaron wore

as being a golden breastplate inlaid with stones. And what's interesting is that

in those stones were written the names of the patriarchs. The sons of Jacob.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi etc. Here those stones are labelled with the apostles of the Lamb.

So in the Old Testament, on the priest's chest, the gems were labelled with the patriarchs,

in the New Testament, they're labelled with the appostles, showing that the apostles

are the New Testament equivalent of the patriarchs, theres a connection there that

we see. Now you say "well, the stones don't exactly match up. But actually the stones

do match up. Now, some of them are given different names, just because of the fact that the book

of Exodus was written thousands of years earlier in a different language, in Hebrew. And then

of course the New Testament is written in Greek, and so different languages word things

differently. and the names for stones change over time. I mean, people today, even scholars

look back at Exodus , and they can't quite figure out what gems those are referring to,

just because it was so long ago, it's hard for them to understand just what gem is being

referenced. But if you compare the list, which I've done, and you take the list of Exodus

, and you take the list of Revelation , you'll see that seven of them match up exactly.

Just word for word. I don't have the list in front of me. But the Topaz matches up,

the Beryl etc. There are of them that match perfectly, then there are others that you

are kind of left with on each side. But, they actually match up, they're just different

words for the same thing. For example, one of the ones that's listed here is the Sardonyx,

in verse , it says the Sardonyx, right? Well in the Old Testament, it just calls it

the Onyx. Well you could look at those two words and see this is the same stone. One

of them is "Onyx" and one of them is "Sardonyx". And then also you could see, if you study

these stones, the "Agate" is the "Chalcedony", the "Ligure" from Exodus is the "Jacinth"

of Revelation . And so on and so forth. You can do some matching up and figure out

which is which. So it's the same stones. So God here is tying in Old Testament symbolism,

and the Old Testament high priest there with the New Testament apostles of the Lamb. Jesus

Christ of course if the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. ANd so this doctrine

that states that "the church is the bride of Christ, and church ae saints are the one

we're referring to..." And you say "what about when it says husbands love your wives as Christ

loved the church?" But look, that's YOUR logic, that's YOUR interpretation. That's not what

the Bible tells us is the bride of Christ. Just because you look at a parable, where

God is comparing Christ's love for the church of a husband loving his wife, doesn't mean

that you can now define the bride of Christ as "only church age saints", when here we

have Old Testament people mentioned, we have all the evidence from the book of HEbrews,

and we have the evidence from Hebrews chapter . It's jsut not a biblical doctrine. But

you get people who take this and they run with it, and they get so extreme with it,

that they start saying "it's only baptists!" after a while, or they say it's only people

who go to a certain TYPE of baptist church, "it has to be people who go to an independent

baptist church". Now look, I'm all for going to an independent baptist church. You say,

"what would you be if you weren't baptist? Ashamed of myself, right?" I'm a baptist.

I'm not saying I'm going to go to some kind of other non-denominational church. But I

am saying that if you believe on Christ you're saved, even if you never set foot in a church

in your whole life. ANd you're going to walk in the light of this city. You are going to

be a part of the bride of Christ. I don't care who you are, when you've lived, if you

believe on Christ, you are a part of it. And people will just extrapolate these parables

out... I mean, here is the craziest one I ever heard, they said "well, we know that

the rapture is before the tribulation, because Jesus is not a wife beater! He's not going

to beat up on the bride, before the wedding day..." And go ahead and pat yourself on the

back, Pastor Cutiepie, for coming up with such a cute little illustration, of "Jesus

isn't a wife beater, Amen?" I'm sure you are going to get alot of Amens from the ignorant,

but wait a minute... I thought Jesus beats us all? The Bible says for whom the Lord loveth

he chasteneth and scourgeth EVERY SON whom he receiveth! Now isn't a "scourging" a beating?

So if he says whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth EVERY SON whom he receiveth,

and then they say "well, we know that we're not going through the tribulation, because

Jesus is not a wife beater". First of all, are we even the bride of Christ yet? NO! Number

, are we his sons? Yes. Does he beat his sons? Yes he does. And not only that, but

guess what? The tribulation is not God beating up on anybody. Because again, they've made

the mistake of confusing the tribulation with God's wrath. God will not pour out his wrath

on his people. We have not been appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord

Jesus CHrist. But the tribulation of course has nothing to do with God's wrath. But again,

we see doctrine that's biblical on one hand, where we just go go to the BIble and say "okay,

let's study the bride of Christ in the BIble", we see who it is, the SAVED. That's what the

Bible actually says. The SAINTS. And then we have this doctrine that's based on people

taking parables... "Well, since we're supposed to love our wives like he loved the church,

that must mean that the church is the only thing that is considered his wife. And just

because John is the friend of the bridegroom, that means he's not part of the bride, because

he's an Old Testament..." And you know, we just get all this man-made teaching. "And

we know it's pre-trib because Jesus isn't going to beat up on his wife before the wedding

day, he's not a wife beater", and all this NONSENSE. Instead of just reading Matthew

, where he says it's AFTER THE TRIBULATION, we're going to just come up with parables

about beating your wife. That's what these guys come up with! That's all they've got.

So in Revelation here, we see some of the other differences here. The bulk of the chapter

is just talking about the bride of Christ, the Lamb's wife, also known as "the heavenly

Jerusalem". Now what's interesting is that- and I already did this back in chapter ,

when I preached on chapter , remember when we compared the great whore with the bride

of Christ, and they matched up as opposites? As contrary one to another? And remember how

it used the same wording in chapter , where he said "come hither, I will shew thee the

great whore", here he is saying "come hither, I will shew thee the Lamb's wife". And we

already went through that in chapter . And we talked about the fact that chapter ,

the new Jerusalem, the bride of Christ represents a group of people, the saved. And how the

great whore represents apostate Christianity, false religion. And what's interesting is

that they both represent a city. Because Babylon is a city in chapter . In chapter , New

Jerusalem is a city. Look what it says in verse number of chapter . It says "And

I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory

of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which

are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory

and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall

be no night there." So here is another colossal difference betweent the new earth and the

old earth, beside the fact that there is no more sea, beside the fact that hell is no

longer located in the centre of the earth. Also notice that there is no night there.

I mean, just /, the lights are on. And it's bright and it's the Lamb that lights

it up. So it's not going to be heavenly bodies moving that cycle through day and night. There

is no need of the sun, because the Lamb is the light thereof. And so this is probably

every child's favorite verse, "no night there", because every child hates to go to bed at

night, don't they? And when you are an adult, you want to go to bed. We look at this verse

as adults and get a little bit nervous. "No night there? I thought HELL was no rest day

or night, you know? Goodnight!" But we just by faith believe that I guess, God's going

to give us the energy to stay awake all the time. But we as adults, we love to go to sleep.

If someone forced us to take a nap, we'd love that, right? But kids, they hate taking naps,

they hate going to sleep. And how many times have... I've seven children, and we'll put

our children to bed and they'll cry, they'll be so upset, and sometimes you will ask them,

why are you crying? They say "I don't get to play enough today". You're like, you try

to tell them "tomorrow morning you can wake up, you can play again!" "But I didn't get

to play enough today!" "You've been playing all day! You can play all day tomorrow, what

are you talking about? You're homechooled!" Just kidding. But anyway. And they hate going

to bed, so kids, this one is for you. No night there. Never go to bed again. Never take a

nap again, alright? We adults are not as jazzed about that verse as you are. But it says in

verse , "the nations of them which are saved". Now notice the word "nations". Do you see

that? And then notice another word halfway through, "and the KINGS of the earth do bring

their glory and honour into it". So, even after the millenium, even after we're done

ruling and reigning with Christ for years, when we're in the eternal state here of the

new heaven, new earth, no sorrow, no pain, no death... There are still nations and there

are still kings. Do you see that? So let me ask you this. Is this some kind of a communist

Utopia that we are going to live in for all eternity? See the world often brainwashes

us with this communist philosophy of "in a perfect world, everybody is equal. In a perfect

world, there is no such thing as the haves and the have nots, and we all are the same,

we're all equal". Is that how it's going to be for all eternity, are we all going to be

equal? Somebody is going to be a king, and somebody is not! Somebody is going to be part

of one nation, somebody is going to be part of another. And it's based upon your merits,

of how you lived your life on this earth. The Bible is really clear about that. And

Revelation, it seems like more than other books of the Bible, really emphasises the

rewards. He talks about rewarding us according to our works. Now, the doctrine of Jesus Christ

rewarding us according to our works is a very important doctrine. And I've heard alot of

people try to deny this doctrine. And I've heard people say that "no, no, we're all going

to be equal, we're all going to get the same reward, and God is not a respecter of persons..."

He isn't a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of WORK. And he says he will reward

us based on our work. And no, we will not all be equal, no we will not all get the same

reward. The Bible talks in nd John, he says "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those

things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward." Every man will recieve

a reward according as his works shall be. You say, "why is that an important doctrine,

why does it matter? So what? When we get there, we get a reward or we don't, so what?" Here

is why it matters. Because salvation is free. Salvation is FREE. And because salvation is

free, if we turn around and do works, because look... We're saved, I'm assuming everybody

here is saved tonight, at least the vast majority. There could be a Judas Iscariot among you,

but the vast majority of people that are in church on an off night like this, are obviously

saved, the majority. We're saved. And the fact that you're here, you're probably one

that does some work for God. You're doing some good works in your life. Okay, well God

wants to make sure that we know that those good works are not somehow paying for our

salvation. Because salvation is NOT of works, lest any man should boast. You see, if it

were of works, we could boast, right? Now there are alot of people that teach, "well

you don't have to do any works to get saved", but then they turn around and teach that you

have to do works to stay saved. Or they'll say you have to do works to prove that you're

saved, and "if you don't do the works, you're not saved." Of course, Romans shoots that

out of the water. The whole chapter of Romans is a great chapter on that. But, I love

this doctrine of rewards, because it so vividly illustrates how free salvation is. Because

you know what God is saying with rewards? Here is what he is saying. "Salvation is so

FREE, and it's completely paid for with the blood of Jesus CHrist, and just to demonstrate

that to you, any work that you do is not going to be applied toward paying me back for what

I did for you. No, I'll reward you for the works that you do, just so that we know that

that's a separate transaction." I think that's what we see, from the doctrine of rewards.

Because what it shows is that when it comes to salvation, it's paid for by the blood of

Jesus Christ and NOTHING ELSE. So then when we work for God, he doesn't just say "well,

I'm not going to pay you for the work you did, because look what I did for you over

here!" No, because that was a GIFT. That's separate. I mean, think about this. What if

I gave Scott a big gift. What if I gave him a new vehicle, right? And let's say that vehicle

was worth , dollars, right? And then what if a few weeks later, I commanded Scott,

not asked him to, but I commanded Scott "Scott, you need to mow my lawn!" And then Scott came

over and mowed my lawn, and I said I'm not going to pay you for that Scott, because I

gave you that , dollar car. Was that , dollar car a gift? Even if he paid

after the fact with his work and his labour by mowing that lawn, he is still paying me

for that, and that doesn't make it a gift. So isn't that similar to what's going on with

God? God gave us this big gift, and then he commands us to work for him. Is he commanding

us to work for him because we OWE him that, because of what he did for us? No because

he promises that if we work for him, he'll pay us. He said "knowing that whatsoever good

thing any man doeth, the same shall he recieve of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."

God promises us that ANY time we work for him, he will pay us. He will reward us. And

I believe personally that the reason why he emphasises the reward so much, is just to

let us know, "that gift was free, period." The gift was free. And you say "well, we're

bought with a price, we owe him that." Yes we are bought with a price, yes we do owe

him that, but we could never pay it back, and that's why he pays us when we work. And

every bit of work that we do, we will be paid for it. And we will be rewarded. And if you

think the apostle Paul and the thief on the cross are going to get the same reward, you're

wrong. They're going to get different rewards. And here we see that there are people that

are going to be kings, and people that are not. There are also going to be nations. People

think nations are bad, we need to just all join together and hold hands and join forces

and not have these distinctions of nations. Now look, we're not talking about race here,

by the way. Don't get me wrong. The Bible never uses the word "race", except when it

talks about running a race. "Nations" are basically groups of people not necessarily

determined by skin colour. Because there are all kinds of nations where the people have

the same skin colour, but they are still different nations. It's just different families, it's

just different groups, it's just different tribes of the earth. And there will still

be nations. Some day in the new heavene and the the new earth, there will still be nations.

And there will still be kings. And there will still be a distinction between those who have

great rewards and those who have small rewards. And the Bible says in verse , "And they

shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter

into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but

they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Well isn't this going to be great

someday. What a place! No sorrow, no sadness, no crying, no death, and just there is NOTHING

to mess it up. That's what "defileth" means. Nothing to mess up God's perfect paradise

here. No devil, no abominable workers of iniquity, but just righteousness, and godliness and

joy and peace and happiness. And we are going to be working for God all throughout eternity,

and it's going to be great. Something to look forward to. And we ought to keep out eyes

on the finish line and set our affection on things above, not on the things on the earth.

Not laying up for ourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and

where thieves break through and steal, but we are laying up for ourselves treasures in

heaven. Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor

steal. For where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. And here we see the city

that Abraham had his mind set on. He looked for a city which had foundations whose builder

and maker is God. All of those died in faith, looking forward to being in that city. I hope

you are looking forward to being in that city someday as well. Let's bow our heads and have

a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word and for the clear teaching

of your word. Please help us not to be decieved by the cunning craftiness and sleight of men,

who teach alot of false doctrine for various reasons. Help us to study to show ourselves

approved. Help us to read your word and see what it actually says, not to just take parables

and man's logic, and man's interpretation. But rather to just read the text for what

it says, and who it says is going to be there. And Lord, we thank you so much for the chance

to look within your word. Help us to understand it, guide and direct us into all truth. And

in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.