Revelation chapter 11. I'd like
to read this chapter and then make some comments on verses
1 and 2. Revelation 11. And there was given me a reed like
unto a rod. The angel stood saying, rise
and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship
therein. But the court which is without,
the temple leave out. Measure it not, for it is given
unto the Gentiles. In the holy city shall they tread
under foot 40 and two months. And I'll give power unto my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy 1,203 score days clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees. and the two candlesticks standing
before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them,
fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them,
he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven,
that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power
over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all
plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished
their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill
them. And their dead body shall lie
in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom,
and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the
people and the kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead
bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead
bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the
earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send
gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented
them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half,
the spirit of life shall God enter into them And they stood
upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them,
come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven
in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour
was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell.
And the earthquake was slain of men 7,000, and the remnant
were affrighted and gave glory to God of heaven. The second
woe is past, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. The
seventh angel sounded, and there was a great voices in heaven
saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and
ever. And the four and twenty elders
which sat before God on their seats fell on their faces and
worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
which art and wast and art to come, because thou hast taken
to thee thy great power and hast reigned. and the nations were
angry, and thy wrath is come in the time of the dead, that
they should be judged, and thou shouldest give reward unto thy
servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear
thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which
destroy the earth. And the temple of the Lord was
opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of
his testament, And there were lightnings and voices and thunders
and an earthquake and great hail. Let's look at verses one and
two tonight. John was given a measuring instrument
of some kind. And he is given this measuring
instrument by this angel. And he is instructed to rise
and measure. Now, he is instructed to rise
and measure three things, and when we get to the last item,
we know that he's instructed to rise and measure spiritual
things. He's not measuring physical things. But before we proceed any further,
there are three things throughout the book of Revelation, and this
chapter shares this with us, but there are three things throughout
the book of Revelation that are repeatedly called on to remind
us and to assure us of these three things. First of all, our
Redeemer is in total control. We're gonna find that from cover
to cover in the book of Revelation. We'll find it from cover to cover
in the Bible, but the book of Revelation, like the book of
Acts, every time when it seems like things couldn't get any
worse, the Lord intervenes and shows us that he is in absolute
control. When those people were going
through that terrible persecution under those Caesars and so forth,
the Lord demonstrated he is in control. The second thing that
we find in this is that the church is always safe. The Lord puts
his hedge about it. He will protect his church. And
the third thing that we find in this is that the people of
God will triumph in the end. Our resurrection will be such
a triumph. God will cause the church to
triumph. Our feet will be placed on the
heads of our enemies. whether they be internal or external.
So the Lord continuously reminds us of these three great facts
and truths throughout the book of Revelation. And the one that
God uses to comfort us so much is he's in control. Now, what
all of this means in this 11th chapter, we may not know, but
I do know this, he's in control. I do know this, that he has his
hand on his church. And I do know this, that his
church will triumph. they will see glory. Now, let's
look at these and we find that this measuring instrument, the
Apostle John is called on to measure three things. And as
we mentioned when the last item that he is called on to measure,
there's just some things about measuring them that worship therein
that a yardstick just doesn't fit. Now, we may find that there's
a possibility of measuring a temple, and there's a possibility of
measuring an altar. But if we look at these things
as spiritual under New Testament eyes, we're going to find out
they are impossible to measure with a yardstick, too. This temple
that John was called on to measure can be nothing more or less than
the temple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called on to measure
this, the Savior, the Lord Jesus. The second thing that he's called
on to measure is the altar. And this shares with us this
great salvation that he has given in his son, the Lord Jesus. He,
this salvation is truly what came off of this altar. The altar
in the Old Testament spoke of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ
fulfilled on the cross. And then the third thing, and
we're going to look at these, the third thing that we're called
on, he is called on to worship, or excuse me, to measure here
in verse 1 of Revelation chapter 11, to worship, to measure them
that worship therein. So a yardstick's not going to
work. A 20-foot tape measure is not going to work. We're going
to have to look at the Word of God and see what there is to
measure and how we are measured. How is the gospel measured? How is this great salvation that
God has as pictured and typified in this altar, how is it measured?
And how is the temple measured, the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, in
the next verse, we're gonna come back to this, but in the next
verse it says that there is part of this that's not to be measured.
Verse two, but the court which is without, the temple, leave
out and measure it not. For it is given unto the Gentiles,
and the holy city shall be trod underfoot 40 and two months.
Now, if we understand what is said in Romans chapter 2 with
regard to who are God's people, they're the Jews. Those who are
Jews inwardly, then the contrast would be those that don't know
Christ, they're the Gentiles. We're Gentiles by birth, but
by spiritual birth, we're Jews. The contrast is the Gentiles
don't measure them. Now, they're in the temple property.
They're the ones who think. They're the ones that have made
a profession. They're the ones that don't have anything. They're
the religious people. They're called Gentiles. Don't
measure them. They don't measure up, number one. They don't have
the temple. They don't have the altar. And
they're not part of the ones that God wants measured. They're
the outcasts. They're the ones that are left
over. They're the ones that have never trusted Christ. They've
trusted themselves. All right, let's look at Romans.
If you would turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 11.
Romans chapter 11 and verse 33, as we think about measuring.
There's a lot said in the Bible about measuring. Ezekiel has
some things to say about doing this, almost this identical measuring. But notice here in the book of
Romans chapter 11, verse 33, as we think about measuring,
and John is called on to measure the temple. Now, if you were
called on to measure Christ, It's an impossible measurement.
I like what is mentioned over there with regard to the groom
in the Song of Solomon. Head and shoulders above everyone
else. That's a good measure. Saul was
a picture of that. He was head and shoulders above
any counterpart in all of Israel, King Saul. that there's no one
can measure up to him, that we can't measure Christ. But we
have some things to look at with regard to him to see that there
is a length and a breadth and a height and depth that's immeasurable. Every aspect about the Lord Jesus
Christ we cannot come to a conclusion about. It is greater than we
are. The measuring stick that we have
is so limited. He is altogether lovely. and describe that. Put your measuring
stick on that. We're just unable to come to
a conclusion, but we can just put the word all there. He's
all together lovely. All right, Romans chapter 11,
verse 33. Romans 11, verse 33. Oh, the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Can't measure it. Oh, the depth. of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God. How unsearchable is his judgments? Okay, John, go out and measure
the temple. We'd still be measuring. We are.
Every day that we read his word, we think on him. We're measuring
him and we're finding out that our measuring instrument is quite
limited. But there is no completion yet. We can't come to the end yet.
We can't measure him completely yet. Every facet about the Lord
Jesus Christ is superior to anything that we know. Goes on to tell
us how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his
counselor?" So if John is asked to go out and measure the temple,
we get the conclusion, and I'm sure that's what the Lord intended
for us to understand about this, there is no way to measure the
temple. There is no conclusion to it. We cannot measure the grace of
God. We cannot measure the mercy of
God. When we look at this temple,
it is so all-inclusive and has every characteristic and attribute
of God Almighty, and there's no end to it. The depth is deeper
than we can go and the width is wider than we can comprehend.
So measure it up, measure it up. And the end, we can't measure. There is no measuring instrument
that we have that we can measure Christ. It goes on to tell us
here in Romans, or who hath first given to him, and it shall be
recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever, amen.
And we measure him. We are so limited. We can only
go to the word of God. We can only see what the word
of God has to say about it. The Lord Jesus said this about
himself, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. We just
have to use the word all. He has all power. Okay. He has
all grace. All right. He has all love. Okay. He has all mercy. Okay. How big
is that? I don't know, but it's all. He
has all tender mercies for us. How big is that? I don't know,
but it's all. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It
covers more than we can even compass, even think about. So
when John was sent out to measure the temple, he sent out to do
an unable task, never come to the conclusion of. There'll never
be the end of this measurement. And throughout eternity, we'll
still be called on to comprehend the grace of God. Now, turn with
me to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 3. Measure
this, John. It's like sending out a student
to measure the United States of America with an inch stick. I mean, it's going to take more
than two lifetimes. Just never get the job done,
all right? And the verses of scripture that
share with us about the things that be of Christ are so many
in the word of God. The Old Testament is filled,
and the New Testament is filled, and using words, he is the Lord
God Almighty. Can't come to the grips of it,
can't measure that, can't get to the end. When we think we
do, he's still almighty over everything else. All right, Ephesians
chapter three, verse 14. Scripture says, for this cause
I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, how many are in that? A number that no man can number.
And yet we find the Lord knows those who are his. So we can't
number it. But he does. Measure it. Then
it goes on to say that he would grant you according to the riches
of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the
inner man. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may
be able to comprehend with all the saints. Now notice this. What is the breadth and the length
and the depth and the height? and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God, that ye might be filled, or that you know the
love of Christ which passeth knowledge, measure it. Well,
it passeth knowledge. I can't measure it, but go measure
it. What are we to do? We're to look
at the aspect of Christ, the character of Christ, the attributes
of Christ. That's our job, is to glorify
Him by praising Him for His attributes, His character, and all His ministry
to us, and yet we'll never measure it. We'll never come to the end
of it. And that's what John is set out
to do. He's set out to measure the temple,
and there's no way that we can measure this temple in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, he's also instructed to
do another thing with that same measuring instrument. It's infinite. The measuring instrument is infinite,
because it just can't measure. It can't come to the conclusion.
We don't know. There's a X to the nth power. We just, and if we need more,
x to the nth plus one. We just don't ever get it done. The second thing that he's called
on to measure is the altar. Now what happened on that altar?
There's a death on that altar. There's a death on the altar.
Now, the second thing that we're called on to measure is to measure
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to measure this great salvation,
to measure and encompass it in our mind of the totality of his
free grace granted to us in the sacrifice of his son. And we'll
never come to the conclusion. Jesus said with regard to it,
it's finished. And we thank God for it. but
we can't measure it. There is no way in this world
to measure the quality of this sacrifice except it is perfect. We cannot measure the extent
of it, but Christ knows the extent of it. Our extent is, it's a
number that no man can number. And yet Christ's extent of it
is, I know all that are mine. I know who I laid down my life
for. I know who my hands were graven for. I know who I died
for. But this salvation, from our
standpoint, is all inclusive of all his people. And we don't
know the number of it. We can't measure it. All right,
this great salvation, how much blood did it take, all of it?
How much grace did it take, all of it? How much mercy did it
take, all of it? We can't measure it, but we know
it took all of it. How much of all of his attributes,
every bit of his attributes, every bit of his character, every
bit of his person, and how much life did he give, all of it?
How much blood did he give, all of it? And how dead was he? Dead. Absolutely dead. There
was all dead. And he was put in the tomb. He
was a dead man before God. How much sin did he take of all
of his people? All of it. Not one sin was left
off him. He became sin for his people.
Measure it. We come to the conclusion he
took it all and he had all mercy, all grace, all glory for his
church. Every bit of it. John, go measure
that. And the church has been looking
at it since. Just can't come to the conclusion
of it. Now he asked to measure the third
thing. He says there in Revelation chapter 11, verse 1, the third
thing, them that worship therein, go measure them. Well, what do they hang on to?
All Christ. How much of His grace? All of
it. How much of His mercy? All of it. We can't measure it,
but they're depending on all of it. They're depending on nothing
more or less than His blood and righteousness and all of it.
So measure, measure the church. Measure the salvation, measure
the Christ, and we'll never come to the conclusion. And I think
as we see this, that that's one of the ways that God has blessed
his church in knowing that he rules over all things and his
church shall be successful in all things. And that his people
will be triumphant. When we are called on, now, I
was listening to just a short bit this afternoon, sitting in
the chair, pulling on my socks, but I didn't wear any socks to
church tonight. I took them off and put my sandals on, listening
to an account of the Pearl Harbor. And I didn't realize, but the
Americans shot the first shot of World War II. while I was
listening to this program. I'd never heard that before.
And you know, it bears some more investigation. Well, we find
all kinds of things. We find new things about President
Washington. We never studied in the history
books when I was in school, finding out all of the nasty things about
all the presidents and the glory in this sort of thing. We talk
about the presidents, we find out all this stuff about them. We'll never find stuff out about
Christ. We'll never find stuff out about
his salvation, and we'll never find out that he lost one of
his sheep. We may investigate and find out,
and rumor has it, and here it is, but with Christ, none of
those things apply because he is perfect in every aspect. His
salvation is perfect in every aspect, and he will present his
church spotless in every aspect. So the church will be victorious
and triumphant. To measure Christ, to measure
his great salvation, and the results of that great salvation,
the church is impossible. But we still look at it. How
great is his grace? We look at that. Try to look
at it every Sunday, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night.
What is his great salvation like? We try to look at it. We try
to get a grip on it. What's Christ like? Oh, we try
to look at him and look at him in his various aspects and various
points and various love and all these things, attributes. We never get to the end. We're
gonna spend our life measuring these three things and never
come to a complete understanding. Now that makes it great. All
right, John, he's a preacher. What do we do? We're sharing,
we just never come to the conclusion. Now, let's look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. This is a measurement, and this
is a worldly measurement. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 7. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 7, it says,
do you look on things after the outward appearance? If any man
trusts to himself that he is Christ, let him of himself think
this again, that as he is Christ, even so are we Christ. For though
I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord
hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction,
I should not be ashamed, that I may not seem as if I would
terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are
mighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his
speech contemptible. Let such a one think this, that
such as we are in the world by letters, when we are absent,
such will we be as indeed when we are present. For we dare not
make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some
that commend themselves. Notice this, they that measure
themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves
are not wise. That's one thing the church doesn't
do. They don't measure themselves by themselves. They measure themselves
in Christ. They measure themselves not worldly,
but spiritually. Christ said, He's left himself
for me. Christ said he died for me. So
people begin to measure themselves by themselves, comparing themselves
with themselves. I'm better than they are. We
just have to say, going on to verse two of Revelation chapter
11, he says, there's some things here that you're not gonna measure.
I don't want you to measure this. What is left out is given to
the Gentiles, verse two. But the court, which is without
the temple, leave out, and measure it not. For it is given unto
the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty
and two months. All right, it's the Gentiles.
Now, this is given to the Gentiles. These Gentiles, when we look
at it in light of Romans 2, would you turn with me to Romans 2?
In light of Romans 2, Gentiles are made Jews and Jews are Gentiles. Natural born Jews are Gentiles.
Second born Gentiles become Jews. Not all Jews are Jews. Now here's
a real Jew. This is what God looks at. He
is going to have a chosen people and they are termed as Jews,
they're spiritual Jews, they're termed as a church, they're his
flock. But notice here in verse 28 of
chapter two, for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Now,
if a Jew is not a Jew that has an outward, he's a Jew, he's
a Gentile. He's the one that's on the outside.
Going on it says, neither is that circumcision, which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision
of that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter,
whose praise is not of men, but of God. Now the converse of this
is everybody else is Gentiles. Everybody that doesn't meet this
is Gentiles. Everybody that meets this is
Jews. They are God's chosen people. The Jews of the Old Testament
were a type, a picture, a shadow. But this is the reality. And
there are those in that number, David, Moses, they were Jews
who became Jews inwardly. God granted them the new birth.
But Gentiles are made Jews by the new birth. This is another
statement about what we get when we're regenerated when we have
the new birth. So the outside area of the temple, those roundabout,
these are the professors. These are not the possessors.
These who have made a profession. They're religious. But he said,
don't measure them. Why? They don't count. You can measure them with a foot
stick, a yard stick, and you come up with a zero because they
don't count. They have no respect of God,
they have no love of God, they have no mercy of God, they have
no grace of God, they have no sacrifice of God, they're not
known by the temple, they're not known by the altar, and they
don't worship God, so they're on the outside. These or those
Gentiles are false professors, workers of religion. They are
without the court. Now, I'm not sure at this moment,
at this moment, I'm not sure what it means to tread underfoot
for 42 months. Now, I know what I was taught,
and it's wrong. So I'm going to do some more searching. And
I may come to the conclusion, I don't know what it means. And
I found out that's OK. Where he speaks, speak, and where
he's silent, be silent. So we'll look at that later.
Two witnesses. We're not going to make much
comment tonight, but there are several things. I have, for years,
thought these two witnesses were the Testaments, the Old and New
Testament. Good authority. Dr. Hawker kind
of agrees with me. But we're going to do some more
study on that. But we'll leave that tonight. And just remember
there are some things immeasurable. The temple, the altar, and the
people who worship there are immeasurable. It's immeasurable
grace, immeasurable mercy, immeasurable peace, immeasurable hope, immeasurable
blood, immeasurable life, immeasurable. Can't be measured. Those on the
outside, they don't know what it's about, and they're the ones
that want to make this physical. The church says it's been spiritual
all along. It's been a spiritual birth,
a spiritual life, a spiritual Christ, a spiritual hope. Let's
just leave it spiritual.