The New Jerusalem: Bride of Christ or Symbolic City?

Male announcer: Previously on
“The Endtime Show.”
Dave Robbins: Because we’re
gonna be shown the bride, the
angel escorting John, “Hey, come
with me, John, I will show you
the bride.”
“And he carried me away into the
spirit to a great and high
mountain, and he showed me the
great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven
from God.”
Now he said, “Come on with me.
I’m gonna show you the bride.”
And he took him, and he showed
him the city.
What did John see?
He saw the holy Jerusalem.
♪♪♪
Dave: I’m talking today about
Revelation chapter 21, the New
Jerusalem, and how we know that
that is a, the New Jerusalem is
the bride of Christ
and the church.
And I’m coming up to the point
now where I want to talk about
the measurements of the New
Jerusalem and how they
are symbolic.
And again, this is again,
probably the most talked about,
argued over, disputed section
here because a lot of people
don’t–simply don’t understand
what this means.
And so I want to go to the Word
of God because once you go to
the Word of God and just try to,
you know, really tie this into
other verses and things, it
really helps, helps it to
make sense.
So we’re going to Revelation
chapter 21, verse 15 through 16.
And this gives the measurements
of the New Jerusalem.
Again, the New Jerusalem, the
bride of Christ, the church, and
this is written in symbols.
So Jesus is going to describe
these things to John.
He’s describing his church, and
he says this–again, this is
Revelation 21:15-16.
“And he that talked with me had
a golden reed to measure the
city,” or the church, “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.
The length and the breadth and
the height of it are equal.”
Okay.
So since we’ve already shown
that the New Jerusalem is not a
literal physical city, these
measurements, they’ve got to
be symbolic.
And while we may not be able to
understand every single detail,
and I just wanna be transparent.
There are some important truths
that we can observe here.
The, if you look closely, the
angel measured the city at
12,000 furlongs in length.
Now again, this is symbolism,
written in symbolism.
And the width and the
height are the same.
And remember, the city has 12
foundations, so 12 multiplied by
12,000 equals 144,000.
You say, man, I’ve heard
that before.
Yeah, in Revelation 7 and
Revelation chapter 14.
Is it possible that this could
connect to the 144,000 Jews
sealed in Revelation chapter
7:4, and those mentioned in
Revelation 14?
It’s certainly something worth
considering.
Especially because we know the
New Jerusalem is the church, the
bride of Christ.
The number 144, it appears again
in Revelation 21, verse 17.
It says, “And he measured the
wall thereof, a hundred and
forty-four cubits, and
according to the measure of a
man, that is, of the angel.”
And then beginning in verse 18,
John describes the materials of
the city.
It says, “And the building of
the wall of it was jasper: and
the city was pure gold,
like unto clear glass.”
Now again, I keep saying this,
but you gotta remember these are
symbolic descriptions.
If you look at it as physical
gold, then you’re gonna move–
you’re gonna get sidetracked.
I mean, go down there and try to
figure this out.
Gold, for instance, is unique
because it does not tarnish.
Likewise, those who make up the
New Jerusalem have
been purified.
Remember, Jesus confirmed that
truth back in Revelation 3:18.
It says, “I counsel thee to buy
me of gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment, and that thou
mayst be clothed, and that the
shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; and anoint thine eyes
with eye salve, that thou
mayest see.”
So the symbolism is clear here.
The New Jerusalem represents a
purified people tried by fire,
clothed in righteousness, and
aligned perfectly with Christ,
when you tie all these
verses together.
If you pull one verse out and
say, I gotta figure it out, look
at this one verse, you’re
gonna be stuck.
Because I could come along and
ask you some questions about
this and you go, man, I didn’t
think about that.
That’s why you’ve got to look at
these verses, the symbolism of
all this tied into the rest of
the Word of God because it will
align perfectly.
It’s all the Word of God.
And once you do that, once you
look at all the verses that tie
into all these, then you can
say, wow, man, I had never done
that before.
But if you pull one verse out of
this chapter and say, oh no,
right here look at what
this says.
I can base my whole
perspective on this topic on
this, you’re gonna be stuck.
And if you’ve studied prophecy
for a while, you understand what
I’m saying.
And so it’s very, very important
that we understand these things.
So let me go now to the beauty
of the apostolic ministry.
When you look down to
about–let’s go to Revelation
21, verse 19 through 20.
It gives us a picture of the
beauty of the apostolic ministry
in God’s eyes.
And it says, “And the
foundations of the wall of the
city were garnished with all
manner of precious stones.
The first foundation had jasper;
the second, sapphire; the third,
chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth,
sardius; the seventh,
chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl;
the ninth, a topaz; the tenth,
chrysoprasus, the eleventh;
jacinth; and the
twelfth, amethyst.”
So earlier, you remember we
learned that the names of the 12
apostles were inscribed in the
foundations of the
New Jerusalem.
Well, here those foundations are
described as being adorned with
all kinds of precious stones.
Well, of course, if you, if that
reminds me of–go back to, what,
Exodus chapter 28,
verse 15 to 21.
When–you remember when God
gave Moses the design for the
priestly garments.
Each priest was to wear a
breastplate of judgment set with
12 stones.
And these stones closely
resemble the ones described in
the foundations of the New
Jerusalem, which is the church.
And, you know, just as they
brought beauty and honor to the
priesthood, so too they
highlighted the sacred
importance of God’s called
ministry in–within the church.
And Paul also echoed this truth
when you go to Romans chapter
10, verse 15.
He said, “How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad
tidings of good things.”
And again, if you go to Hebrews
chapter 5, verse 6, it
emphasizes the sacredness
of that calling.
It says, “And no man taketh this
honor unto himself, but he that
is called of God as was Aaron.”
So even today, no one can simply
decide to be a minister.
It’s not, you know, this is
not a career choice.
I don’t look as being a
God-called minister as a career
choice for me.
God miraculously
called me into this.
I mean, it was a
miraculous event.
And it’s not a–this is not a
career choice for somebody.
You’re looking at it, your
perspective is totally wrong if
you look at being a minister
as a career choice.
It is a divine calling.
Almighty God chooses specific
individuals to be a God-called
minister, be in the ministry.
And again, God alone chooses
that and God alone anoints those
who will carry his message.
Now, everybody can win a soul.
But God specifically
calls individuals.
The Bible says in church there’s
a fivefold ministry, apostles,
prophets, pastors, teachers, and
evangelists.
And so it’s a God calling
on your life.
And also, you know, in the–in
this, as we go down through
here, if you go to Revelation
21, verse 21 through 22, it’s–
it tells us here in these
passages that there’s gonna be
no temple in the New Jerusalem.
And if you go here, it gives
a description of the
New Jerusalem.
It says, “And the twelve gates
were twelve pearls.
Every several gate was one of
pearl, and the street of the
city was pure gold, as it
were transparent glass.
And I saw no temple therein, for
the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it.”
So to capture the glory of the
church, John portrays it with
streets of pure gold, so
pure that they appear as
transparent glass.
And each gate is described
as a single solid pearl.
Now I know you’ve laid awake in
bed at night and thought, man,
I’m gonna walk on streets
of gold someday.
And I hate to just burst
everybody’s bubble.
But actually it’s gonna be
much better than that.
But heaven, the church and what
we–what the bride of Christ and
everything that God has prepared
for that is so much better than
walking on streets of gold,
believe me.
And don’t you want to be part of
the New Jerusalem, part of the
bride of Christ, part
of the church?
And it’s of utmost importance.
God’s coming back for his
church, everybody.
I wanna be a part of that
church, and I know that you do
as well.
But the most powerful truth here
is that there is no temple in
the New Jerusalem.
Why?
Because the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb themselves are
its temple.
In other words, God’s presence
won’t be confined to a building
or a structure.
His presence will
fill his people.
The church itself is
his dwelling place.
And so I can’t–I want to be
part of the church now.
And I want to be raptured, and I
wanna be part of the
New Jerusalem throughout the
kingdom of God.
And I want to be part of the New
Jerusalem, the bride of Christ
in the church into eternity.
Because there’s only
two options.
And we don’t like to talk about
the other option which is
hellfire and brimstone
for eternity.
I don’t want to go there.
So I’ve got an–I’ve got my only
other option, which to me it’s
not even an option.
And I’m making sure my calling
an election is sure.
And I don’t want the Rapture to
occur and, you know, I’m
not prepared.
Oh man, that’d be the worst day
of anybody’s life ever.
And so, obviously, right now, if
you’re under the sound of my
voice, you’ve got a chance to be
prepared and we certainly want
to help you to be able
to do that.
Also, in the city, the
Bible tells us that there’s
gonna be no sun or no moon.
Revelation, go down to what
where we’re at, we’re down to
about chapter 21, verse
30–23 and 24.
That gives gives us another
incredible detail about the
New Jerusalem.
It says, “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 their glory
and honor unto it.”
So, God is everything to us.
God is the light.
And this city is not even gonna
need a light source because
Jesus Christ is gonna be there
and he is the light of the
New Jerusalem.
Okay, well, we’re gonna actually
do a much more deep diver–a
much more deep dive on the
backside of the break.
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Dave: You know, everyone, I love
talking about this, don’t you?
Because this is gonna be–this
is the inheritance of the
church, the bride of Christ.
I mean, we are gonna be with
Jesus for eternity.
And you know, here in Revelation
21:23 to 24, it’s gonna be so
awesome because there’s gonna be
no need for a sun or a moon.
The Bible says, “And the city
had no need of the sun, neither
of the moon to shine in it, for
the glory of God did light in
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 honor into it.”
So here we learn that Jesus
himself is the light of the
New Jerusalem.
And you know, while on earth, he
declared in John 8:12, “I am the
light of the world.”
So it shouldn’t surprise us that
in the New Jerusalem, the Lamb
is the everlasting light.
If you go to verse 24, it
reveals, “That the nations which
are saved will walk
in that light.”
And if you go back to Revelation
chapter 5, verse 9 and 10, it
tells us, that the saints, those
who are redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb, they will rule in
reign as kings and priests with
Jesus Christ during the
millennial reign on the earth,
verse 10 says.
So this shows us that the church
filled with Jesus Christ’s light
will teach the principles of the
kingdom of God to the mortals
who survive into the millennial
reign during the 1000 year
millennial reign here.
And for that 1000 years,
the earth will experience
true peace.
The Bible says they shall learn
war no more because it will be
governed by the principles of
Jesus Christ himself.
Consider Matthew 5:6 and 7, but
who are these nations which
are saved?
Well if you go to Daniel chapter
7:12, gives us the answer.
It says, “As concerning the rest
of the beasts, they had their
dominion taken away yet their
lives were prolonged for a
season and a time.”
So if, you know, in other words,
the nations whose dominion is
removed, you go to the Battle of
Armageddon, which is what it’s
talking about right there, the
Antichrist is going to be
destroyed at the Battle
of Armageddon.
God is coming back, plant his
feet up on the Mount of Olives
and annihilate the nations that
have come down against Israel
to battle.
But the rest of the nations,
Daniel 7:12 says the rest of the
nations that were not destroyed,
they had their dominion removed.
But their lives are spared, and
they get to live–as mortals,
they get to live into the
millennial reign.
Now that gets into a whole other
conversation about who gets to
live in the millennial reign, do
people, 60 years old get to live
into the millennial reign, have
another chance to be saved?
I don’t think so.
There may be an age of
accountability and that, you
know, I don’t want to take the
time here, but that may be
something we can talk about
in the future.
But which nations will be
allowed to continue into the
millennial reign as mortals?
Well, that decision really
belongs to God alone.
But the Bible does say there
will be people cast into the
lake of fire at the time of the
second coming of Jesus Christ.
That’s considered the parable of
the wheat and the tares.
The wheat, or that the children
of God are gathered and put into
the storehouse and the tares,
the children of the wicked are
cast into the fire at
that point.
And so certainly don’t want to
be one of those, right?
Make yourself ready to go.
Be born again today.
And it’s very, very important.
It’s of utmost importance.
Also, the Bible says here that
the gates of the New Jerusalem
will never be shut.
Now John continues to describe
this description of the holy
city in Revelation chapter 21,
verse 25 through 26.
Who’s the holy city?
Who’s the New Jerusalem?
That’s the church and
the bride of Christ.
In Revelation 21:25-26, it
says, “And the gates of it shall
not be shut at all by day, for
there shall be no night there,
and they shall bring glory and
honor to the nations–of the
nations into it.”
So if you remember, every part
of this vision that we’re seeing
here in Revelation 21 is a
symbolic view of God’s
immortal church.
The fact that the gates are
never shut means that access to
the church, the bride of Christ,
will never be closed.
When Scripture says the nations
will bring their glory and honor
into the New Jerusalem, it
points to the time when the
people of the earth will bring
offerings to the Lord
at Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:6–Zachariah 14:16
says, “And it shall come to
pass, that everyone that is left
of all the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall even go
up from year to year to worship
the King of kings, and Lord of
hosts, to keep the feast
of tabernacles.”
So this tells us that those who
survive after the coming against
Jerusalem at Armageddon will go
up year after year to worship
King Jesus.
Now, we don’t know exactly
how this will work in the
millennium, because we
haven’t been here yet, right?
Well, whether by, you know, are
they gonna go by their airplanes
or modern travel or, you know,
some other means.
But this much is certain,
it’s gonna be wonderful.
No more war.
The Bible says men shall
learn war no more.
“Beat your swords into
plowshares and your spears into
pruning hooks.”
Well, John goes on in Revelation
chapter 21 verse 27.
And it says, “And there shall in
no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whosoever
worketh abomination and
maketh a lie: but they which are
written in the Lamb’s book
of life.”
So just as Revelation 21:8, when
we talked about it earlier,
nothing impure will enter
into the holy city.
Only those names whose–only
those whose names are written in
the Lamb’s book of Life will
have access to this.
And that this truth underscores
the absolute necessity of having
our names recorded there.
And you say, well, how do we get
our names entered into the
Lamb’s book of life?
Well, only through salvation
purchased by Jesus Christ
on Calvary.
And he called it being
born again.
In John 3, he told Nicodemus.
He said, “Except a man be born
again, he cannot enter or see
the kingdom of God.
Marvel not that I say unto you,
Nicodemus, a religious leader of
the Jews and a Pharisee, marvel
not that I say unto you.
You must be born again,”
John 3:7.
And then of course the apostle
Peter defined this more fully in
Acts chapter 2, verse 38.
He’s telling us how to
spiritually obey the gospel
given by John in 1 Corinthians
15:1 through 4: the good news
that Jesus Christ died, was
buried, and rose again, and he
said, “I deliver you to the
gospel which is delivered unto
me, by which you are saved.”
And then of course, in Acts
2:38, the apostle Peter tells us
how to obey that more fully.
He defines it.
So the most important decision
anyone can make if they want to
enter or be a part of the New
Jerusalem or to be part of the
bride of Christ or part of the
church is to obey the plan of
salvation and be biblically
born again.
For a complete definition of
that and all the scriptures, go
to endtime.com/reborn,
endtime.com/reborn.
And then the Bible says that
there will be living water in
the New Jerusalem.
You know, John continues his
description of the New Jerusalem
in–if you go down to–
where we at here?
Revelation, we’re–let’s see if
we go–we’re going to 22:1.
The Bible says, “And he showed
me a pure river of water of life
clear as crystal proceeding out
of the throne of God and of
the Lamb.”
So the river of life takes us
back to Jesus’s ministry in John
4, when he met the woman at the
well, and he told her in verse
10, he said, “If thou knewest
the gift of God and who it is
that sayeth to thee, give me to
drink, thou would have would
have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water.”
Well, Jesus explained further
in verses 13 and 14, he said,
“Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again, but
whosoever drinketh of this water
that I,” in other words, whoever
drinks of the water of this
well, you’re gonna be thirsty
again after that.
But who–he was telling the
woman of Samaria, he said, “But
whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him, shall
never thirst.
But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into
everlasting life.”
And again, if you go to John 7,
verse 37 and 39, on the last day
of the feast of Tabernacles,
Jesus cried out, he said, “If
any man,” this would be the
water libation ceremony, he
said, “if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of
living water.
(But this spake he of the
Spirit, which he that believe on
him should receive for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because
that Jesus was not yet
glorified.)”
So here Jesus made it very clear
that the living water is his
Spirit, the gift of the Holy
Ghost poured out after he
was glorified.
Jesus ascends and died, was
buried, rose again.
Acts chapter 1, he ascends into
heaven and he says, “You guys,
apostles, don’t go out and
do missionary journeys.
You go and tarry in Jerusalem
until you be endued with power
from on high.”
Then in the very next chapter,
Acts chapter 2, verse 1 through
4, the Holy Ghost is poured out.
That’s what this is talking
about here.
And then Revelation 22, verse
22, it continues and it says,
“In the midst of the street of
it, and on either side of the
river, was there the tree of
life which bear 12 manner of
fruits and yielded their fruit
every month, and the leaf–and
the leaves of the tree were for
the healing of the nations.”
So we first saw the tree of
life in Eden, right?
Adam and Eve were forbidden from
eating of it after their sin,
lest they live forever.
But in the New Jerusalem, the
saved individuals will be, have
open access to both the river of
life and the tree of life.
And its fruit is abundant and
its leaves symbolize healing,
reminding us again that in this
city there is no sickness, no
pain, no death.
And then Revelation 22:3 to 4,
it adds, it says, “And there
shall be no more curse, but the
throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and he
serves–his servants shall serve
him, and they shall see his
face, and his name shall be in
their foreheads.”
So there is no curse because
Jesus bore it for us.
Galatians 3:3 says, “Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a
curse for us.”
So in that day, we will
serve him continually.
We will see his face, his name
will be on our foreheads, placed
there when we are baptized
in his name.
And at, you know, in 1
Thessalonians 4:7, it declares,
“So shall we ever be
with the Lord.”
And then John, of course,
concludes in Revelation 22:5,
“And there shall be no
more night there.
And they need no candle, neither
light nor the sun, and for that
the Lord God giveth them light,
and they shall reign forever
and ever.”
So no night, no need for sun, no
electricity, the glory of God
himself will be our light, and
we will reign with Jesus Christ
forever and ever.
♪♪♪