Revelation chapter 11. I titled
the message this morning, Measuring Christ's Kingdom. You'll remember
that the theme of the book of Revelation is the absolute victory
of Christ over everything and that his people will be preserved
by his grace and by his power. Even though they go through many
dangers, toils and snares on this life, they're not in danger
of being lost and perishing. And that's what our text this
morning clearly teaches us in a picture of the angel, the Lord
Jesus Christ, telling John to measure the temple. Verse one
of Revelation chapter 11. There is given me a reed likened
to a rod and the angel stood saying, rise and measure the
temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. Now
this measuring reed is mentioned two other times in scripture.
as mentioned in Ezekiel and Zechariah, where the angel comes and tells
those those prophets to take the reed and to measure the temple
in both times. And this third time as well,
when the temple is being measured, it's being done to show God's
prophet, to show God's people that that those chosen people
of God's cannot be lost. The Israel of God cannot perish. They're always be kept safe by
God. John says this reed is likened
to a rod, and that rod, the word actually means scepter. So this
is going to be a royal measure, the measure of Christ the King.
Now, you know, John's not supposed to take this reed and to measure
a physical building. He doesn't need to measure the
tabernacle or the Temple of Solomon. We already know the dimensions
of that. What John's supposed to do is measure a spiritual
building, not a physical, a spiritual building. And he's to do it to
teach us some spiritual truths. The temple of God is where God
dwells. It's the temple, the tabernacle
is where God dwelt with men. This is the place God dwelt with
men. And it's the place that God would
meet with men in mercy. And the temple, the tabernacle
is always a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. God was in Christ
because Christ is God. God meets with men in mercy only
in one place, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when
John measures the temple of God, he's measuring the exact dimensions
of Christ's kingdom. He's measuring the exact area
of victory accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ. And that kingdom
is very exact. It has exact boundaries. There's no gray area. It has
exact boundaries. And it's marked by the word of
God. Now it has exact boundaries. Anything not within that boundary
of the Lord Jesus Christ, anything not in him is not all right. All religious activity, all religion
is not right. Everything that's religious is
not included in the kingdom of Christ. Look at verse two. But
the court which is without the temple leave out and measure
it not for it is given under the Gentiles. and the holy city. So they tread under foot 40 and
two months. Now John was to measure the temple
itself, but he was not to measure the court of the Gentiles. The
angel, which is our Lord Jesus Christ told him, leave it out.
That phrase leave out doesn't just mean ignore it. It means
to cast out. Somebody in religion is cast
out. Somebody in religion is not being
measured in, in the boundary of the kingdom of Christ. What
this refers to is the temple at the court of the Gentiles.
The Gentiles could come into that court and worship. They
could be a Gentile, a Jewish proselyte, and they could come
into that outer court and worship, but they could go no further.
Unless you are a natural Jew, you couldn't go inside the temple
itself. That court of the Gentiles is
what this is referring to. Now, Thankfully for everyone
here, this is not teaching us Gentiles can't be saved. It's
not telling us Gentiles, fleshly Gentiles cannot go to heaven.
Just like the Apostle Paul taught us, everyone who's a natural
Jew is not saved. Everyone who's part of national
Israel is not of Israel, of spiritual Israel. Only spiritual Jews,
only spiritual Israel shall be saved. Those spiritual Jews are
spiritual Jews by the covenant of God's grace. They are there
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But no spiritual Gentile
shall be saved. And that's what this is referring
to here. No spiritual Gentile shall be saved. A spiritual Gentile
is anyone who's not part of God's covenant of grace. You can identify
them because they're not trying to be saved by faith in Christ.
They're trying to be saved by their own religion. Wayne, just
what you prayed. They're trying to think they can do something,
make God happy with them. That's a spiritual Gentile. Now
they're religious. They're very religious. They're
in the court of the temple. But John wasn't to measure that
place where those spiritual Gentiles worshiped. See, that's why I
said, Everything religious is not OK, is it? No, it's not. These spiritual Gentiles, they
tread into all sorts of religious activity. They even get into
the physical church on Earth. Now, they don't get into the
church, the body of Christ, but they're in the physical church.
They're very religious and God hates their religion. It's offensive
to them. And the Lord told John that they're
going to tread there in that court for 42 months. I read a
lot about this 42 months. This is my advice to you. Don't
go reading about this 42 months. Don't try to figure out what
the 42 months mean. It means something about when
Christ will return, but don't try to figure out what those
months mean and actual physical days and years from the time
that Christ died or ascended to the time he returns. because
you're not going to figure it out. We know that by the word
of God, we're not going to figure it out. This is what the 42 months
teaches us. There is a specific time period
that has a specific beginning and a specific ending when the
Lord's going to allow this false religion to go on. 42 months tells us that God's
going to allow these spiritual Gentiles, these unbelievers to
be in the physical church. but just for a specific period
of time. They're never going to be in
the actual church, the body of Christ. They'll be in false religion. They'll even be found in the
pew of true religion where Christ is preached, but they never bow
to him. They never worship him. They
never submit to him. And the Lord's going to allow
that to go on for an exact period of time. And then it's going
to be over. Now, 42 months, if you're waiting
for something, 42 months, It seemed like a long time. I remember
when I was a little fella, it seemed like I had to wait 42
months for Christmas to come. I mean, it can seem like a long
time, but eventually it's going to be over. It's not forever.
It's just 42 months. And they'll only trample in that
outer court. They'll never get into the inner
court. They'll never trample and do any damage to God's people,
to the kingdom of Christ. There's a restriction upon them,
both where they can go and how long they can do it. So John
is to take this reed that's like unto a rod, and he's to measure
the temple. And when he does, he's measuring
the kingdom of Christ. Now you think, how on earth can
you do that? How could you measure the kingdom of Christ? What would
you even use to measure a spiritual kingdom, a spiritual building?
Well, it's pretty obvious that this reed that's like unto a
rod represents the word of God. David called God's Word a rod
of correction. He said it's a rod like the shepherd's
rod, a rod that the shepherd uses for the safety of the sheep,
to keep the sheep from on the right path, to keep them from
falling off a cliff or something. That rod is the Word of God.
Now, everything, everything is measured by the Word of God.
Everything we believe, everything we hope in, everything we preach
is all measured by the Word of God. You know, the only way we
even know Christ has a kingdom is by the word of God. Matthew
4 tells us that Christ came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The
only way we even know there's a gospel of the kingdom is Christ
came, the incarnate word came preaching it. Based upon what
the word of God teaches us, we know the only way you can enter
the kingdom of Christ is by being born again. That's what the word
teaches us. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of heaven except you'd be born again. You cannot
see, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And from what
we read in the word of God, we know that people who are in that
kingdom, they didn't, they don't have their citizenship in the
kingdom of Christ by their own righteousness, by their own law
keeping. Our Lord said that except your righteousness, shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You shall in no
case, no wise will you enter the kingdom of heaven. People
in heaven or people in the kingdom of Christ aren't there because
of their own righteousness. No, they're poor in spirit. They
need Christ to be their righteousness. That's how they got their citizenship. They got their citizenship in
this kingdom because God put them in it. God has translated
us, delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us
in the kingdom of his dear son. That's how they got there. Not
because of what they did, because God put them there. Now, when
John is measuring here, he's measuring more than dimensions.
He's measuring the character of the kingdom of Christ. You
know, we say we take a measure of a man. What we're saying is
we're taking stock of his character, who he is, what he's like. Well,
what's the measure? What's the character of the kingdom
of Christ? Well, we know based upon the
word of God, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Like I said a minute ago,
everyone's not in this kingdom. character of this kingdom is
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Everyone's
not in that kingdom. And that includes religious people. Everybody who's religious is
not in this kingdom. We can measure that by the word
of God. What did our Lord say? Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only
him that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. So
when John measures the temple, what he finds, he finds the boundaries
of the kingdom of Christ. And he finds this out, those
borders are secure. You don't need to worry about
building a wall around the borders of this kingdom. The borders
are secure because Christ is the one who keeps his kingdom
secure. This word measure, it means to
measure like you're measuring the length and the width, but
it also means an allotment. what he set apart. What John
is telling us as he measures this kingdom is that the kingdom
of Christ is secure and everyone who's in that allotment is safe. John found out that he measured,
found the allotment of Christ's kingdom and Christ is going to
have all that allotment. He purchased them. He's going
to have them. The father set them apart and gave them to him
and he's going to have them. They're safe. in this kingdom. That's what the measuring of
the kingdom means. It means to measure the character
of the kingdom and to find out that this is part of the character
of that kingdom. Everyone who's in this kingdom
is utterly safe. They can never perish. Now, we
know we're not going to find spiritual Gentiles, unbelievers
in this kingdom. John is not to measure them.
They're cast out. But there are three things John
tells us he does find and he is to measure. in this kingdom.
The first one in verse one is the altar. Rise and measure the
temple of God and the altar. Now the altar is where the sacrifice
for sin is made. Now how can you measure that
altar? Again, you're not measuring the
dimensions of the altar. We know the dimensions of the
altar in the tabernacle, the outer court and the inner court.
We know the dimensions of the brazen altar and the golden altar. We know that. So he's not measuring
the dimensions of those altars. He's measuring the character
of that altar. What was accomplished at that
altar? Well, the only way you can measure, get the character
of that altar is by the word of God. The character of this
altar is the character of the holiness of God and the character
of the sinfulness of man. This altar tells us You and I
need a sacrifice. We need a sacrifice. We're sinful
men and women. And the only way our sin can
be paid for is through the blood of the sacrifice. There's got
to be a sacrifice. There's got to be a lamb. There's
got to be death for sin. And it's either going to be the
death of the sinner or the death of the sinner substitute on the
altar. But one way or another, this altar tells us there's got
to be death for sin. And thankfully, God's word tells
us We have an altar. God's people have an altar. Our
altar is the Lord Jesus Christ. And God is satisfied with the
sacrifice of his son. We have an altar. And we have
a sacrifice to be offered upon the altar. Our sacrifice is the
Lord Jesus Christ, who offered himself as a sacrifice to God
for the sin of his people. And God can only be pleased with
that sacrifice on that altar. he is. God is well pleased with
his son. You see, God is the one who measures
when the sacrifice is enough. You and I would think, well,
if we just clean up our act and act more moral than somebody
else or act better than we used to act, we would think that's
enough by our measurement. But we think that because we've
got a sinful, depraved mind. God is the one who measures whether
this sacrifice is enough. And God says, He's only satisfied
with the sacrifice of his son. Nothing more, nothing added to
it and nothing less. Let me show you that Hebrews
chapter 10. The sacrifices that were acquired by the law. They're
not enough. The sacrifices that we would
make up trying to offer to God. They're not enough. They won't
please God. The father's pleased with the sacrifice of Christ
alone. Hebrews 10 verse one. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
there's no substance in those things, they're just a shadow,
can never, with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would
they not have ceased to be offered? If those sacrifices really took
away sin, then they'd quit offering them, wouldn't they? Because
that the worshipers, once purged, should have had no more conscience
of sins. But in those sacrifices, there's a remembrance again made
of sins every year. Every year when they had to offer
those sacrifices on the Day of Atonement over and over and over
again, all it did is to remind the people of their sin. It reminded
them that these animal sacrifices are only pictures. They're not
actually taking away their sin. It's just reminding them every
year how they need a sacrifice that will take away sin. where
it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sins. That's just obvious. And that's why Christ came, verse
five. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he sayeth, sacrifice an offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written of me.
I come to do thy will, O God. He comes to satisfy God through
His obedience and through His sacrifice. That's why He came.
He said, that's why I've come in the flesh. Did He do what He came to do?
Did He get the job done? Let's measure it by the Word
of God. Verse 14 of Hebrews 10. He did. For by one offering He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He got the job
done, didn't He? sanctified his people, he perfected
his people. The character of this altar tells
us that God is satisfied through the person, the work, the sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the measure of the altar.
Christ got the job done. That's the character of it. But
the altar is also measured by who the sacrifice is for. Who's
it offered for? Well, the sacrifice of Christ
wasn't offered for the sin. of every man, of every son of
Adam. His sacrifice was offered only for his elect. Now, I know
this world hates that truth, but it's true nonetheless. They
wouldn't argue about the Old Testament sacrifices. The Old
Testament sacrifices are pictures of the sacrifice of Christ, aren't
they? Well, the high priest offered those sacrifices. Were they offered
for everybody in the whole wide world? No, they weren't, were
they? The high priest offered those
sacrifices only for Israel. He didn't offer them for any
Gentile. He didn't offer them for the Philistines. He didn't
offer them for the Amorites, did he? No, he offered them for
Israel. And to make it crystal clear
who he is offering the sacrifice for, when the high priest on
the day of atonement, he wore that breastplate that had 12
names on it. The 12 tribes of Israel. There's
a specific people by name. he's offering that sacrifice
for, for the tribes of Israel. And nobody has any real problem
with that. That's obvious, isn't it? That's a picture of Christ. Christ,
our high priest, offered a sacrifice, one sacrifice, not many, but
one. And he offered them for the sins of his people. And by
his sacrifice, the sins of those people are put away. See, those
animal sacrifices were just pictures of Christ the Lamb of God. Christ
didn't die for people of every nation. He didn't die for every
nation. He died for his people out of
every nation, out of every nation, but not every nation, not everyone
in every nation. Christ died for his people. And
he told us that before he went to the cross, in his great high
priestly prayer, it seems like he's putting this breastplate
on to show us who it is he's going to go suffer and die for.
Right before he went to the cross, he prayed, Father, I pray not
for the world. He's not going to go die for
the whole world, is it? But I pray for them which thou hast given
me for they are thine. That's who he's going to go suffer
and die for, for his elect that the father gave him. And this
is the character of the altar. All those people are saying Christ's
sacrifice is effectual. That's the measure, the character
of the altar. The sacrifice of Christ is not
limited in its power to save. The sacrifice of Christ is limited
in its scope of who it would save, God's elect. And the measurement,
the character of the altar tells us those people are saved. They can never perish. All right,
here's the second thing John measures in the kingdom, is the
people who worship their end. At the end of verse one there,
and them that worship their end. Now, really, we talk about the
temple of God, the spiritual building. We're talking about
people. That's who we're talking about.
John is to measure the living stones that God uses to build
his house, his temple. It's a spiritual house. It's
not a house like Solomon built with those hewn stones. It's
a spiritual house made up of living stones that God has melded
together, put in place to build his house, his spiritual house.
And every believer, there are part of that temple. They're
a living stone that makes up that temple. But every believer
is also the temple of the living God, because the Holy Spirit
dwells in them. Wherever God dwells, that's his
temple. Well, the Spirit of God dwells in every believer. So
every believer is the temple of God. So when you measure the
temple, really you're measuring people. It's a spiritual house.
Every son of Adam's not in this kingdom. They're not in this
temple, are they? Those who are in the court of the Gentiles,
they're not to be measured. They're cast out. And they're
cast out not because, well, you know, they want to be saved.
They wanted to know the Lord, but, you know, they can't because
the Lord didn't choose them, cast them out. No, they're cast
out because they will not believe. They will not submit themselves
to the righteousness of Christ. That's why they're cast out.
But the people who are in the kingdom are worshipers. They're
worshipers. They're not people worshiping
an idol. They're not just in any kind of religion. They're
worshipers. All right, what's the character
of those people who are worshipers? What's the measurement or what's
the character of those people who are in the kingdom of Christ?
They're true worshipers. They're worshipers of God. Now
look at Philippians chapter three, I'll show you that. Here's the
measurement of them by the word of God. They're not just anyone
in religion. I'm just going about religious
activity. They're true worshipers of God. Philippians 3 verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord to write the same things to you. To me, indeed,
is not grievous, but for you, it's safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision. Beware of those Well, what our
Lord called evildoers. Lord, Lord, did we preach in
your name? Did we prophesy in your name?
Did we do many wonderful works in your name? And he said, depart
from me, ye workers of iniquity. These men who are in religion
are workers of iniquity. Beware of the concision. Beware
of those who try to mutilate your flesh, get you to be circumcised,
get you to do things. They know you can't keep all
the law, but let's pick out two or three of them that seem like
really important to us and keep those and you're safe. That's a mutilator,
that's a dog, that's someone who's serving his own belly.
Beware of those people. See, everybody who's religious
is not in the kingdom. They're dangerous. Well, how
do you tell who's in the kingdom? By taking measurement of them.
Verse three, for we are the circumcision, the true spiritual circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. This is the true worshipers of
God. This is the measurement of them. They worship God in
the spirit. This is not just fleshly activity
that they try to impress people with. It's heart worship. It's spirit worship. It's a broken
heart, a contrite spirit. Those are the people who worship
God in the spirit. Second, here's the measurement
of those people who are in the kingdom of Christ. They're true
worshipers. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. Christ is all of their righteousness. He's all their salvation. He's
all of their hope. All the praise, all the glory,
all the credit for everything they have, everything they are,
everything they ever hope to be is in Christ. It's because
of Christ. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. They have no confidence in anything
they do, but they rejoice in Christ. And thirdly, this is
the measure, the character of those people who are in the kingdom
of God. They have no confidence in the flesh. They have no confidence
in anything they can do in the flesh. They're completely dependent
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a true worshiper. And
those true worshipers are in the kingdom because of the sacrifice
of Christ for them. Where does John find those that
worship therein? Around the altar. Everything
is around the altar. They're around the altar because
they're partakers of the benefit of the sacrifice of Christ upon
that altar. All their benefit comes from
that. They're worshiping him who has sacrificed for them.
And Christ put their sin away. So they're protected, they're
preserved, they're secured by him. I sure would like to be one of
those people, wouldn't you? Would you like to know if you're one
of those people who are in the kingdom? First Thessalonians
chapter one. Here's the measurement. Measurement,
the character of those people who are in the kingdom. True
worshipers. First Thessalonians one verse
four. Knowing, brethren, beloved your
election of God for our gospel came not into you in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. As you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake, and you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word, believed the word in
much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. That's the measurement
of those people who are true worshipers. They have faith in
Christ. The gospel came to them not in
a word only. This is not just a set of doctrines
that they think is better than somebody else's set of doctrines.
The gospel came to them empowered by the Holy Ghost, and they believe
Christ. They can't not believe Him. That's
who the true worshipers are. Right, then thirdly, here's the
third thing John sees and measures in the kingdom of Christ. It's
preachers. Verse 3, Revelation chapter 11.
And I'll give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy
a thousand, two hundred, and three score days, clothed in
sackcloth. Now, this is the means that God
uses to preserve his people, to protect the hearts of his
people from false religion. False religion, both without
and within our own flesh, that fleshly heart. The means God
uses to protect his people is the preaching of the gospel of
Christ. It's the way God calls his people
out. It's the way he feeds them and comforts them and encourages
them. And it's the way he protects them from the error of false
religion. Now these two witnesses, they're not two specific men. They represent all of God's preachers.
Remember when the Lord sent out his disciples to preach, how
did he send them out? Two by two, two by two. Let every
word be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. These
two witnesses represent all of God's preachers and they preach.
Now they preach, but the only way they can preach is if God
gives them power. Our power in preaching is measured
by the word of God. That's right. Do we speak according
to this word? If we do, then there's going
to be power in our speech and our preaching. The spirit's going
to bless it. Our power in preaching is not yelling. Our power in
preaching is not having a dominant personality. It's the power of
the Holy Ghost. It's the power that Paul talked
about to those Thessalonian believers. The first Thessalonians one is
the power of the Holy Ghost. And God's preachers, they preach
in power. The Spirit blesses their preaching.
But they also preach clothed in sackcloth. Apparently, they're
not wearing $1,200 suits, are they? They're clothed in sackcloth.
That's not just talking about their outward dress. This is
the measure of the man who's preaching. It's his character.
It's his attitude. He wears a garment of repentance
and mourning. That's what sackcloth is. They
preach. This is their message. repentance
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's their message.
They preach just what our Lord would preach. Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. And God's preachers preach in
mourning. Mourning over our sin, mourning
over other folks' sin, mourning over people who refuse to believe
this gospel. They preach in mourning, but
they're faithful. This is their character, the
measurement of their faithful men. They will faithfully preach
as long as the Lord enables them to preach. It's 2260 days. It's
the same as the 42 months. It's the same number of days,
I suppose, if you count every month as 30 days or something.
But again, don't try to figure out what those days mean and
the way we estimate time and days and years and months, you
know, from from the time Christ ascended until he returns. It
does represent those days, but don't try to figure it out because
you won't be able to. These are representative numbers of the
gospel age. They represent the time from
when Christ ascended and told his disciples, go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. It's that time
from when he ascended till he returned. That's the whole gospel
age. And throughout all of those days,
God's going to send his preachers out into this world. God's never
going to leave himself without a witness. So no matter how many
horrible things are going on in this world, God's people are
going to be kept safe by God. This world is a horrible place
to live, isn't it? The book of Revelation teaches
us that's what it's going to be. And we know that from our
own experience. This world is a horrible place
to live. But God's going to keep feeding his sheep. He's going
to keep calling his sheep out through the preaching of the
gospel. He's not going to leave himself without a witness and
he's not going to leave his people without the gospel in the midst
of this wicked, perverse world. He's going to keep them safe.
That's the message of those first three verses in Revelation chapter
11. I hope the Lord will bless that
too.