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.