97. It is very different with the tenets or teachings of the new church, though. All of them are essential elements. Heaven and the church are present in each one of them. The goal toward which they aim is for us to be in the Lord and for the Lord to be in us, according to his own words in John 14:20; 15:4, 5, 6. Simply put, the [true] Christian church is this type of partnership with the Lord.

From the mere handful of points just made, we can clearly see the meaning of the Lord’s words:

The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new”; and said to me, “Write, because these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:5)

88. Brief Analysis

Seven chapters in the Book of Revelation concern the corrupt state of the Protestant churches, and two chapters concern the corrupt state of the Roman Catholic churches. This and the now condemned condition of these churches has been shown in the explanation of the Book of Revelation titled Revelation Unveiled — and shown not with idle guesswork but with overwhelming evidence.

The dragon in Revelation 12 means Protestants who split God into three and the Lord into two and who separate goodwill from faith by saying that their faith is something spiritual and effective for our salvation but goodwill is not. See Revelation Unveiled 532– 565 and the memorable occurrence immediately following in §566.

The same people are also described as the two beasts, one of which rises up out of the sea and the other out of the land in Revelation 13. See Revelation Unveiled 567– 610 and the memorable occurrence immediately following in §611.

The same people are also described as the locusts that come out of the pit of the abyss in Revelation 9. See Revelation Unveiled 419– 442.

This belief (when adamantly clung to) is depicted in Revelation 11 as the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where the two faithful witnesses were killed. See Revelation Unveiled 485– 530, especially §§500– 503, and the memorable occurrence in §531.

This belief is also depicted, in Revelation 9, as the pit of the abyss, from which smoke came out like the smoke of a great furnace, darkening the sun and the air, and from which locusts then came forth. See Revelation Unveiled 421– 424.