Open your Bibles, please, to
Revelation 11. Revelation chapter 11. The world in which we live is
rapidly being engulfed in terrible spiritual darkness. Having said
that, I realize that God's servants And every generation since the
Reformation has said the same thing. I read the writings of
men who lived in the first, second, and third centuries, and they
lamented the fact that the days were so dark and evil after the
death of the apostles, after the New Testament era had ended,
and those days of darkness had begun. And then for the next
thousand years, darkness, darkness, darkness. spread over the earth. God was pleased then to raise
up men like Martin Luther and John Calvin, who broke the arms
of papacy and the gospel was again spread, flourishing throughout
the earth. But after the Reformation, throughout
the other generations to this hour, men have done just as I
am doing here this evening. They've stood before their congregations
and they have lamented The terrible departure from the gospel. The
terrible departure from the rule of scripture. And that only reinforces
the fact. That only reinforces the fact.
These are dark, dark days. And it's going to get worse.
It's going to get worse. Now that's just fact. That's
what's revealed throughout the scriptures, as taught plainly
in the passage our brother read a few moments ago. As time goes
on, the darkness will engulf the entire world. In Revelation
chapter 11, the Apostle John was given a vision of the terrible
judgment that must come upon this world. The slaying of God's
two witnesses tells us that there is a time coming in which the
darkness and superstition of false religion will engulf the
entire world. Now, the light of the gospel
will not be entirely extinguished. Don't ever misunderstand. God
will never leave himself entirely without a witness. But in his
wise providence, God will cause the light of the gospel to be
eclipsed. so that it appears to be totally
departed. He will cause the light of the
truth of the gospel to be eclipsed by false religion so much so
that the light of truth seems not to shine at all in the world.
Before Christ returns, the Apostle Paul tells us that there will
be a falling away. a general apostasy in the religious
world, and the reason for that is so that the man of sin might
be revealed. Now, without question, this falling
away has begun. The Apostle Paul tells us that
in that time of apostasy, men will appear throughout the world,
claiming to have apostolic powers, with signs and wonders and powers
in heaven and earth, after the working of Satan. Reckon he could be talking about
the modern revival of the Pentecostal movement that is engulfing the
whole world? I suspect maybe he could. I suspect
maybe that's precisely what Paul has in mind when he speaks of
Antichrist, the messenger of Satan arising in the last days.
performing signs and wonders and powers in heaven and in earth
so that men stand astounded that Paul says it's after the working
of Satan and not after the power of God. In these last dark days
the Apostle tells us that because men receive not the love of the
truth God himself shall send them a strong delusion that that
they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who
believed not the truth. Now this too is in God's providence. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and
verse 19, I believe it is, the Apostle Paul says heresies must
come. These things too must come. so
that those who are perfect, those who have been made perfect and
righteous, those who are approved of God in Christ Jesus might
be made manifest. God sends the strong delusion,
and God's providence and God's purpose according to God's will,
the strong delusion comes. so that men who would not believe,
men who would not receive the truth, are now sealed up under
the judgment of God in reprobate religion, and their religion
will bring them to eternal damnation. In the last days, God will allow
the truth to be trodden in the streets for a season. It will
seem to disappear from off the face of the earth. And that's
symbolized by the two witnesses laying in the streets as slain
men for three and a half days. This idolatrous religion of Antichrist. And what I mean by that is freewillism,
ceremonialism, the religion of works in one form or another. It doesn't matter whether you're
talking about papacy or fundamentalism or whether you're talking about
Pentecostalism. Freewillism. the religion of works, ceremonialism,
the religion that says that man is his own savior in essence.
It's all idolatry. It's all paganism. It's all false
religion. And men believing those things
are damned by the lies they believe. Now that tells you something
of the dark, dark days in which we're living. The idolatrous
religion of Antichrist will be universally accepted as the truth
of God. This terrible judgment with which
God shall afflict the world in these last days will be marked
by a great religious revival. I'm disturbed because we're living
in days of great religious revival. And the revival of religion is
the damnation of men who follow it. My soul. I mean for you to understand,
children of God, that men and women engulfed in false religion
are perishing. This revival of religion is not
a revival of faith in Christ. It is not a revival of truth.
It is a revival of false religion. It is a revival of works religion. It is a revival of apostasy. And that apostate religion will
seal up those who embrace it and reprobate darkness unto eternal
damnation. You have the picture of it given
in Paul's own day in Romans chapter 1. Because being worshipped and
served the creature more than the creator, God gave them over
to a strong delusion. God gave them over to a reprobate
mind that they might worship and serve the creature. That
they might be sealed up in reprobate false religion. And God does
it even now in these last days. Now these are the things which
John saw in chapter 11 of Revelation. They would have been too great
for him to bear. The vision of such judgment would
have crushed the old preacher's heart, but for one thing, before
the Lord showed John the judgment that must fall upon the earth,
he showed his servant this picture of assurance, assuring him that
the church and the kingdom of God would be kept and preserved
in perfect safety. In these days of darkness, were
it possible, our Lord said, The delusion of Antichrist would
be so great that it would deceive the very elect of God. But thank
God it's not possible. That's what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians.
He said God sealed them up in delusion. God sent the strong
delusion that they might be damned. But we're bound to give thanks
unto God for you, brethren beloved of God. Because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. If you're not deceived and deluded,
if you don't perish under the religious deception of the hour,
it's because, Wes Rosenblum, God chose you. God sanctified
you. God called you. God gave you
faith. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. It's not possible that God's
elect be deceived. Now read with me beginning in
verse 1 of Revelation 11. And there was given me a reed,
likened to a rod, a measuring stick. And the angel, that is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the covenant, the same one
he saw in chapter 10, standing with one foot upon the sea and
one upon the earth, holding the book of God's purpose in his
hand, 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, and measure it not. For it is given unto the Gentiles,
and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months throughout the gospel age." Now this vision is entirely
symbolical. No doubt in the vision John saw
in his mind's eye the temple in Jerusalem as it originally
stood. But the temple, the altar, and
the outer court, the measuring reed, and everything in the picture
was entirely symbolical. Entirely symbolical. What do
these things represent? The temple of God symbolizes
the true church of God. All true believers. Those men
and women in whose hearts Christ dwells by His Spirit. All true
children of God, all who worship Him in spirit and in truth, are
measured and protected. While the judgments of God are
inflicted upon the world, His elect are preserved in safety.
But this protection does not extend to the outward court.
Notice verse 2. But the court which is without
the temple leave out. Don't measure that. Very specific
instructions. Inner court, that inner court
was the place where the priest ministered. That holy place was
the place where the priest continually ministered. They did their service
to God there. The common people worshipped
and served in the outer court of the temple. And that outer
court represents those who belong to the church by profession only. They are not true believers,
but only professed believers. They are men and women who claim
to be the children of God, but they walk not in the ways of
God. The world then invades this outer court with its religious
doctrines, with its religious practices, and with its religious
customs. And the world takes possession
of it until the end of the age. In other words, the religion
of Antichrist becomes the religion of the professed Church of God.
And that's what's happened in our day. The religion of Antichrist
has become the religion of the professed Church of God. Now,
this is what John saw. Though the world must be engulfed
in false religion, by an act of divine judgment, God will,
in the midst of that terrible judgment, preserve His Church,
His true people, from all apostasy and from all ruin. Tonight I
want to briefly show you three things that are mentioned in
this vision. First, John saw the temple of God. Now what does
he mean by the temple of God? What's the symbolism? What's
the picture? Let me be very clear. I'll keep on saying this until
it's heard. This does not have a reference,
any reference whatsoever, to the rebuilding of a Jewish temple
in Palestine, in Jerusalem, as though God were someday going
to return to being worshipped under Jewish ceremonialism, under
Jewish legalism, with a Jewish priesthood and Jewish sacrifices
flowing from a Jewish altar. Now, such things are blasphemy.
If it should ever come to pass, as most people in this day seem
to think, if it should ever come to pass that God again received
a blood sacrifice from a Jewish priest and a Jewish altar, then
Jesus Christ is not who He said He was. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is the Messiah, the fulfilling of every sacrifice, the fulfilling
of every type, and He has put those things away once and for
all with finality. God will never return to dealing
with men on the basis of Jewish worship, or Jewish customs, or
outward Jewish religious covenants. Never. The covenants of God,
the promises of God, the blessings of God, the worship of God is
in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone. We're the children
of the covenant. We're the children of promise.
We're the Israel of God. This temple, then, has no reference
whatever to a rebuilding of a physical temple in Jerusalem. That Jewish
temple was destroyed in 70 AD by God's providence. when he
sent the Roman armies under Titus' command to destroy Jerusalem. And God will never return to
Judaism. The old covenant was forever
abolished when the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose again by
the power of God. Let me show it to you from the
book. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. Verse 8. God found fault with them. He
said in verse 8, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Jacob, a new covenant with God's princes and God's
elect. That's his church. You are the
Israel of God. You are the sons of Jacob. Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt, because they continued out in my covenant. And I regarded
them not, saith the Lord, because they broke my law. I regarded
them not. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
minds and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God and they shall be to me a people. That's what happens
when a man's born again by God's spirit. And they shall not teach
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. No need for it. For they shall all know me, all
true believers, know the living God. This is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the one true and living God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. They shall all know me, from
the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more." That's what God does for us through the pardon of
sin in Jesus Christ. In that he said, a new covenant
He hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. The Apostle Paul was saying to
these Jewish believers, all of these things about the old covenant,
The temple, the altar, the ark, the priesthood, all of these
things about the old covenant are getting ready to vanish away. God's shaking heaven and earth,
and that which remains will stand of God. That which is not useful,
God will destroy. And that's what he did. Chapter
10 of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 9.
Then he said, the Lord Jesus, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. He taketh away the first. Do you see it? He taketh away
the first. The first covenant. The covenant
of law. The old covenant. The ceremonial
covenant. The typical covenant. The symbolical
covenant. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. Now, God will never return to
any kind of Jewish temple, or to being worshipped by Jewish
sacrifices. That stuff is just, it's some
kind of a delusion that men have. But God Almighty has done away
with those things forever. The temple of the Old Testament,
and the temple of John's vision here in Revelation 11, symbolically
represent the church of God. The temple of God is the place
where God dwells. It's the place where God dwells.
Now then, Solomon had good sense, better sense than most folks
have. He built the temple and in his prayer he said, The heavens
cannot contain you, much less this little building I built.
God doesn't... He's not contained in a material
building. That temple symbolically represented
God's presence there. And that temple symbolically
represented the church of the living God in whom God dwells
by His Spirit. Now let me show it to you from
the Scriptures. Turn over to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians. Chapter 6 and
verse 16. There are three things described
in the New Testament as the temple of God, and actually the three
are one. First of all, in 1 Corinthians
6 and verse 19, your body, your body is the temple of God. If you're a believer, if you're
a child of God, your body is God's temple. God dwells in you. God dwells in you. Paul uses
this as an argument that men who believe God should not be
engaged in promiscuity and evil things, because your body is
the temple of God. Your body is the place where
God dwells. Don't take God's temple and join
it to a harlot. He says in verse 19, what? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have
of God, and you're not your own. You're not. Bob Pontchart, God
lives in you. God the Holy Spirit dwells in
you. Your body is the temple of God's
Spirit. Now that ought to make you think
twice about how you behave. That'll make you think twice
about how you live in this. This body is the residence of
God Almighty. He dwells in us. Your body is
the temple of God. Now turn over to chapter 3 of
1 Corinthians. Not only is your body the temple
of God, but every true local church, every congregation of
true believers assembled in the name of God is the temple of
God. Our Lord said in Matthew 18 and verse 20, Where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst
of them." Two or three. Every time two or three people
get together in the name of Christ to worship Him, to seek His glory,
to do His will, every time two or three people get together
in the name of Christ as an assembly of believers, there's the temple
of God. right here this evening, not
this material building, by no means. This building is just
wood, that's all. It's wood and mortar, nothing
else. This material building, there's
nothing holy about it. There's nothing spiritual about
it. This building is just a house in which God's church meets.
But this church, this local assembly, meeting in the name of Christ
every time we come together, we're the temple of God. God
meets with us. God meets with us. Now look here
in 1 Corinthians 3. Know ye not, Paul's dealing with
a matter of division and strife in the church. He says, don't
you know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? He's talking to the whole assembled
congregation of Corinth. He said, you're the temple of
God. The Spirit of God dwells there. Now then, if any man defile
or destroy or divide the temple of God, that man God shall destroy. For the temple of God is holy.
Which temple you are. You be careful how you deal with
God's church. You be careful how you behave
with God's church. This is the temple of God. Don't
you defile it. Don't you divide it. Don't you
destroy it. God deals with men according
as they deal with his temple. And then thirdly, turn over to
2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians 6. So important that you see this.
Your body is the temple of God if you're a believer. Every true
local church everywhere where men gather in the name of God
and worship God is the temple of God and thirdly the church
universal That is all true believers scattered throughout all the
earth Yes, even those in heaven above are the temple of God this
is what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 6 and verse 16 and What agreement
has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
Living God As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk
in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Look in Ephesians 2, Ephesians chapter 2. This is how Paul describes
the church. We're no more strangers and foreigners,
but we're fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God. and are built upon the foundation,
verse 20, the foundation of the apostles, that foundation is
Jesus Christ himself, the chief cornerstone, in whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for inhabitation
of God through the Spirit. Now that's what God's church
is. The people of God. One head, Jesus Christ the Lord.
One high priest, Jesus Christ the Lord. One body, one holy
temple. All of God's people together
combined are the temple of God in whom God dwells in all His
glory. That's the temple. That's the
temple that was typified and represented in the Old Testament.
Now, those who worship in this temple, in the holy place, and
you'll notice in our text that John was commanded to measure
particularly the sanctuary, leaving out the outer court. That is,
he was to measure the holy place, the sanctuary, which he calls
here the temple of God. Those who worship in the holy
place are the priests of God. The outer court was the place
for the common people. Only the priests of God were
allowed to worship in the sanctuary, in the holy place, and these
priests symbolically represent all true believers. The Apostle
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a royal priesthood. The saints in heaven sing praises
to the Lamb. They said, you've made us kings
and priests unto God. We're priests. God's priests. Now, what is a priest? He's a
man who does business in the holy place. That's what a priest
is. He's a man who has rightful access to God. A man who has
the right to approach the living God Himself. That's what believers
are. Through Jesus Christ, through
the blood of Christ, the new and living way, we have access
by Christ unto the Father. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. We come boldly, not presumptuously,
not demandingly. We don't come strutting into
God's presence and say, now God you do this or God you do that.
No, no, no. But we don't come like timid,
whipped pups either. We come as the sons of God, as
priests in the name of Jesus Christ, confident that God will
hear us. Confident that God will hear
us We've come before him as priests priests come always with a sacrifice
Christ is the sacrifice That's so important that we understand
this We continually serve at the altar and the altars Christ
Jesus. We who are the priests of God
approach God through the person and work of Christ, trusting
His merits, His righteousness, His blood, and His intercession. And as priests, we are always
praying. All priests are praying people.
God's saints approach God directly. Directly. As priests unto God,
we have direct access to Him. I know that I can stand up here
and tell you, you don't ever need to go to a priest. You don't
need to go to an Anglican priest, or a Mormon priest, or a Roman
priest. They're all fakes. They're all
impostors. They're all liars and deceivers.
Any man who assumes the title of priest before men as a priest
before God is saying that he is himself what Jesus Christ
alone is. He's a liar, a fake, an imposter. Don't you deal with him. And
you'll all recognize that. Let me tell you something else.
You don't need to approach God through me. You know, you don't
need to call upon God through me. You can't call on God through
me or any other preacher. We're here as God's messengers
to help you, to guide you, to direct you, to lead you in the
path of obedience. But when it comes to you dealing
with God Almighty, you deal with God yourself through Jesus Christ
the Lord. When you've got sin to confess,
you don't need to confess it to the church, confess it to
God. It's easier to confess it to Don Fortner or to Grace Baptist
Church than it is to confess it to God. But you take it to
God and confess it. You've got something to seek
from God, you go to God and seek it. Seek it yourself through
the merits of Christ. You have access to God, Bob Pontzer. Freedom to come before God. You're
as free to go to God as John is to come to you. Just that
free. You have a right to. You have
a right to. A right to approach the Holy
One. Not yourself. But a right given
through Jesus Christ the Lord. And God will not turn away anybody
who approaches Him through the merits of Christ. He won't do
it. He can't say no to His Son. He can't do it. We're priests
unto God. So John is here speaking of those
who worship in the holy place. The priests of God. And then
the temple. is itself a beautiful type and
picture of the church, which is the house of God, the pillar
and ground of the truth. Let me give you a few parallels.
I thought they were good. The temple was a house built not
by David, a warrior, but by Solomon, a man of peace. Solomon is that
son that David had, who was a type of David's greater son, who was
the prince of peace. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Prince of Peace, David's great son, builds his temple himself. He says, upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. The church is not built by the preacher. The church is not
built by a committee. The church is not built by an
evangelism organization. The church is not built by some
hotshot evangelist coming to town and he's got a puppet show
and he's got some singers and some football players and some
dope heads and folks that he's decided that he's going to use
to get folks in come and hear what they've got to say. The
church of God, Merle, is built by Jesus Christ, the head of
the church. That's all. That's all. The temple
was built out of hewn stone. I was reading the other day over
in 1 Kings where Solomon was giving express orders as to how
the temple is to be built. Now you bring your stones, but
you only bring hewn stones, fitted and prepared before they ever
came in the temple. They were hewn so that there was not the
sound of a hammer or of a saw inside that building. In other
words, There's no place for works in the temple. No place for works
in the temple. Those hewn stones were prepared
precisely to fit right where they belonged, in the walls of
the temple, before they ever came in the temple. You know
the picture. Peter said, you're lively stone.
going together in Jesus Christ, who is himself the chief cornerstone.
All the stones fit together around him. And these stones are hewn
out of the quarry of fallen humanity by the power of God's Spirit
without any works of men. Without any works, the Spirit
of God comes down by the power of His grace through the preaching
of the Word, and He takes out of the quarry of fallen humanity
a people whom He makes and fits in His temple. And boy, when
they fit, they fit. You can spot one that Don Fortner
fit. It's got cracks all around it. The mortar doesn't fit. The
joints don't work. And it causes constant consternation. Oh, but when the Spirit of God
fits one of the stones in, there's his place. He does it right,
and they fit fine. Not by might nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord. God built his temple by the power
of his spirit and not by all the conniving methods of men. Boy, I wish we could learn that.
Well, maybe if we had a better program, you know. Maybe if we
had better seniors. Maybe if we had a better preacher. Maybe if the service was a little
shorter or a little longer. Maybe if we had a youth program.
Maybe if we had a senior citizens program. Maybe if we had a ball
team. Maybe if we had this or had that.
Folks would come into the church and we could build up the church.
What we need is the power of God's Spirit. Nothing else. Nothing less. That's the only
thing that will work. The temple was built for one
reason. One reason. the honor of God's
name. The only reason that temple stood
in Jerusalem, so that men might come in the name of God and worship
God for the honor of his name. Oh God, make that the purpose
for this congregation. One reason, not entertainment,
not social reform, Not social works of benevolence. Not any
of those things. The Church of God is built in
this world as an habitation of God through the Spirit for the
glory of God and for nothing else. For nothing else. We've
long since missed our mission. We've missed our purpose in the
world. The Apostle Paul says that God should get glory to
the church, world without end. Let me see if I can read it to
you. In Ephesians 3, I believe it is. Yeah. Verse 20. Now unto him that's
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Both the church, local and the church universal, exist for the
honor and worship of God. We exist in this place for the
preaching of the gospel. We have no other function, no
other usefulness in this world. I know churches today have got
everything on the agenda but preaching. Everything. And I'm telling you, there's
no room for anything on the agenda of God's church but preaching.
Nothing else. Nothing else. Well, preacher,
people don't like that. All the more reason. Preacher,
that's not the way folks do it. All the more reason. Preacher,
that's not popular. All the more reason. Preach! Preach! Preach! We have no other
purpose! Whether here or with our missionaries,
whatever it is we're doing around the world, it's our one function
in this world for the glory of God to preach the gospel of God. And we preach that message as
we maintain the ordinances of the gospel. We're about to observe
the Lord's table. The breaking of the bread, the
drinking of the wine. You who believe not, watch what
we're doing. Here God's children will take the bread. It represents
the broken body of Emmanuel, the Son of God. His holy, spotless
body, broken for our sins. And we'll eat it. That bread
becomes mine. You can't get it. Not all the
medical science in the world can get it from me. It's mine.
It's part of me. That's how I receive the righteousness
of Christ, by faith. That obedience of the Son of
God in His body, I receive it by faith. It's mine. You can't get it. It's mine. Forever mine. We'll receive the
wine, the symbol of His blood. The blood of His covenant. Squeezed
from the grape by the death of the grape. Crushed out by heavy
burden on the grape. As our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, His very body is crushed beneath the load of our
sin under the wrath of God, and His blood is poured out in remission
of our sins. And we receive the wine. And
just like we receive that wine, and I drink it and it becomes
mine, by faith I take Christ's blood, His sacrifice, His atonement. I trust it. That pardons mine. That redemption is mine. It really
is mine. And that's what the ordinance
symbolizes by giving this typical ordinance, the bread and the
wine. There's nothing in the bread, nothing in the wine, but
the picture. And the picture is a picture
of redemption by Christ Jesus. In the preaching of the gospel,
we maintain God's honor and God's truth in the world. And as the
temple was a place for God's worship alone, The temple was
the place of God's manifest presence in the most holy place. And the high priest came and
offered that sacrifice on that mercy seat. And God accepted
that blood by which sin was atoned and his law was satisfied. What on earth was that? I don't
have any idea. But it was a manifestation that
God accepts the sacrifice. It was a manifestation that God
will receive sinners. It was a manifestation of the
pardon of sin through the merits of another. And the Lord God
revealed himself only in that temple. Now listen to me. Listen
to me. I know that God walks with his people all the
time, every day. Sometimes driving down the road
two or three o'clock in the morning, maybe listening to a tape or
maybe just meditating on the scriptures. Sometimes even turn
the light on and read a little bit, you know, while I'm driving.
God meets with me. Oh, I thank God for it. I thank
God for it. And I don't mean to suggest that
God's people somehow or another have a sacramental relationship
with the church, so that the church is a means by which we
dispense God's grace. But I'm telling you, I'm telling
you, and you'll bear me witness, you who know God, this is the
place, Merle Hart, where you meet God, is it not? This is
the place. God's ordained it that way. When
God's people come together in the name of Christ, I'm with
you. I'm with you. They're in the
midst of you. Here is the place where God holds
forth the mysteries of his covenant. Here is the place where God meets
with men in Christ Jesus, the mercy seat, our propitiatory
sacrifice. Here is the place where God displays
His grace and mercy. Here is the place where God reveals
His glory. In this place, as the gospel
of God's grace is preached and God speaks to the hearts of men,
God Almighty from heaven shows His glory when He declares the
pardon of sin through Jesus Christ the Lord. And God makes Himself
known. He makes himself known. Oh, there are times, there are times when we come and I take the responsibility.
The blame is mine. But there are times when we come
and I'm as dry as last year's corn
shucks. I've got nothing. My heart's cold and my mind is
cluttered. And my soul was barren, and we
come in and go out with no apparent manifestation of God's presence.
But I want to tell you something. Most of the time, most of the
time, I'm so anxious to get here I can't stand it. Does it meet with you here? God
meets with me in this place. Where is Temple? Where is Temple? The Temple of the Living God. Tell you what, I wouldn't miss
it. I wouldn't miss it. Just as sure
as I'd miss it. That'd be the time God'd be there.
I wouldn't miss it. Let Grandma come if she wants to. If she
wants to stay at home, let her stay at home. But I wouldn't miss
it. I wouldn't miss it. This is where God meets with
man. This is the place where God meets with his people in
sweet communion and fellowship and says, you're mine. I am thy
salvation. That's right. This is place where
it's done. Oh, I know. There's nothing to replace private
worship. There's nothing to replace private
reading and private prayer and private meditation. But I'm telling
you, God has ordained the public assembly of his people, the public
ministry of his word, the public worship of his name as the specific
temple of God, whereby God makes himself known. That's the importance
of the local assembly. That's the importance of the
local assembly. And if I were going somewhere where God didn't
meet with me, I'd find me another place to go. If I was going somewhere
where the truth of God wasn't proclaimed, I'd find me somewhere
else to go. So John shows us first the temple,
the church of God. And then secondly, and I'll be
very brief with these next two points, John saw the altar in
the temple. The temple of God had within it the altar The place
of sacrifice. There the priest would make their
sacrifices as they approached the Lord God. None would dare
come before his presence without the blood of an innocent victim.
And we have an altar. Yeah, we got an altar. Y'all
don't have an altar down at Grace Baptist Church. Oh, yeah, we
do. Yeah, we do. We got an altar you don't understand.
Now, we don't have one down here. No, no, that'd be idolatry. Oscar,
that'd be sacrilege. That'd be blasphemy. We don't
have an altar here where you can meet God. No, no. And I got
news for you that don't have one anywhere else either. They
just got a piece of wood they call an altar where men are deceived.
That's all. That's all. Well, preacher, where's
your altar? Turn over to Hebrews 13. Hebrews
chapter 13. Verse 10. We have an altar, whereof they
have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle." Paul says, uh,
fellas, as long as you worship in that material temple, at that
material altar, through those material ordinances and ceremonies,
you can't touch this altar. You'll never get the benefits
of this altar. Who's the altar? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
He is the sacrifice, and He's the place of sacrifice. He is
our acceptance with the Holy God. We come to Jesus Christ. He's our altar. You who are here
tonight, you wonder how, how can I approach God? I've got
to have an altar. You're right. You can't approach
God without an altar, but you can't approach God with the wrong
altar. You've got to have the right altar and the right sacrifice.
How can I approach God? Right where you sit. Tell you
what, hold your hands behind your back. Cross both feet. Get somebody to sit on your lap.
Now come to God. Come to God. You don't do it moving your feet.
You don't do it walking down a church aisle. You don't come
to God by moving from one location to another in the church. You
don't come to God by coming to a material altar, or to an inquiry
room, or to a preacher, or a soul winner. You come to God by your
heart with faith in Christ Jesus. That's all. Trusting the sacrifice. Giving your all on the altar. Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Can you do it? God's people do. Right now, tonight,
I lay myself before God upon the altar. And I cling to the
horns of the altar. And that altar is Jesus Christ! And God will not turn us away. He'll not do it. He'll not do
it. And one last thing. John saw the temple and the altar.
And them that worshiped therein. And then there was given him
a reed. And he was commanded to measure the temple. And so
for my third point, I want to show you what is meant by the
measuring of the temple. The purpose of this measuring,
as it's presented in the scriptures, is twofold. You can read the
cross references in Ezekiel. But this is why the temple was
measured. Number one, for separation. And number two, for protection.
By measuring the temple, the holy was separated from the profane.
And the worship and the people of God were protected and preserved
from the idolatrous abominations of the world. I'll try to get
the picture. John, the servant of God, was
given a measuring reed by Christ, the angel of the covenant. With
that reed, he was commanded to measure God's church. He was
commanded to separate it and to protect it from the profane
influence of false religion. The measuring reed, which he
says was likened to a rod, is the rod of his mouth, the word
of God. That's how the church is measured.
That's how it's separated, and that's how it's protected. All
scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God and the church of God may be perfect, truly
furnished unto all good works. It is the responsibility of God's
servants, particularly those who preach the gospel, to constantly
measure and enclose the people of God, separate and protect
the church of God by the faithful ministry of the word. Only as
we faithfully preach the gospel of Christ can we preserve God's
church from the corrupt religion of the world. Only by the regular
faithful preaching of the gospel is the church preserved from,
distinguished from, and separated from the vile abominations of
the world. God separates the precious from
the vile by the preaching of the gospel. Now I'll illustrate
it for you. I stand before you three times
a week, and I declare to you the gospel of God's free grace,
and I identify that which is evil in the religious world.
And if I didn't do it, if I didn't do it persistently, consistently,
day after day, week after week, month after month, year after
year, gradually, little by little. And I don't say this to your
shame. I say it because this is the
way it is. Little by little, one fellow come along and said,
well, let's do this. And let's, you know, up here they've had
a lot of success with this thing here. You know, up there they've
started this trend, and down here they've started this trend,
and we gradually, gradually, we're impressed by those things.
We're impressed by the apparent success of those things. We're
impressed because everybody's pleased with those things, and
everybody stands back and says, my, my, my, look what they're
doing. And the reason God gave me to be your pastor, bud, is
to keep you from that. That's the reason He gave me to be your
pastor. And you're kept from it by the Word, by the preaching
of the Word. Is that simple enough? But plain
enough? God tells Timothy, be faithful! Preach the word! Preach the word!
Preach the word! Because the time will come when
the religious world will despise this word! And they'll heap to
themselves teachers having itching ears. Now this is what I'm saying. The rule of all doctrine and
faith. Right here. What do you believe? Right here. Right here. What
do you preach? Right here. What's in here? This is our doctrine. This is
our creed. We have none other. We preach
it exactly as it's written here. Neither less nor more than is
written here. Exactly what's here. The church
doesn't have any business inventing doctrine. The church doesn't
have any business deciding what doctrine she shall believe. The
church doesn't have any business hiding doctrine. We declare the
Word, exactly what's in the Word. Now, what do y'all do down there
at the church? We do what's in the book. That simple. What kind of programs y'all have?
Every kind they had in New Testament. Every kind they had. No more. No more. The most dangerous thing the
Church of God can do, the most dangerous thing you can do. Now
you mark it down. If I fall dead before I get home
tonight, you mark it down. The most dangerous thing you
can do as a congregation of believers is seek to accommodate, placate,
and please the religious world in which you're living. Don't
even give it a shot. Don't even give it a shot. I
know all over town they have puppet shows. I know they've
got that nut up here on 3rd Street. Say he used to be a demon worshipper,
he's still a demon worshipper. Goes around the world poking
fun at God, making riches on it. I know they go all over the
place. I know they go all over the place,
poking fun at God, making light of God, deceiving the souls of
men. I know they've got ball teams, and I know they've got
their suppers, and I know they've got their senior citizens programs,
and they've got their youth programs, and they've got their toddler
programs, and they've got their choirs, and they've got their
recitals, and they've got their Christmas plays, and their pageants,
and Christmas time. You watch it. All over town this
year, they're going to have human Christmas trees. Oh, so impressive. So impressive. Everybody stand
and hold a candle and sing. Joy to the world, the Lord is
come. And everybody says, oh, wasn't
that impressive? Yeah, that impressed God too.
He hates it. He hates it. I don't care what
it is. Our program is described right
here. We don't have any other. And
God helping me, as long as I stand in this pulpit, Bob Pontzer,
we'll never have another. we preach the gospel. That's
all. That's all. No, we're not going
to get involved with political rallies, no. We're not going
to have any ball teams. No, we're not going to have any
recitals. No, we're not going to have any
plays. No, we're not going to have any special programs. No,
we're not going to have any youth programs. No, we're not going
to have any Halloween parties. No, we're not going to have any
Christmas plays. No, we're not going to have Santa Claus. No,
we're not going to entertain men on the road to hell and make
them feel good about going there. We're going to proclaim the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. Nothing more. You with me? You
with me? Then let's get the job done.
In this dark day, we have the light of the gospel. Let's see
to it that that light shines as well as God will let it shine
for the glory of his name. Amen.