Hello, you're listening to Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. Stephen Pollack is the pastor of Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania. The church is located at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. Thank you for joining us today as Dr. Pollack opens the Word of God and lets the Bible speak. I'm going to read tonight from Revelation chapter 11. Revelation chapter 11. Let's hear from the verse number one. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and 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 underfoot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. And these are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they finish their testimony, and the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So I remind you this book was written to encourage a persecuted, troubled church, written to those who were suffering at the hands of the Roman emperor. They were suffering greatly for the witness of Christ Jesus. And so they were encouraged by seeing Christ and his kingdom. They were shown visions of Christ and his glory, the success of the kingdom, the ultimate safety of the kingdom, and all of these things being used to enable them to persevere in their faith, though the way be particularly difficult. I think it's important to remember today that we desperately need to hear the same message. And we need to have the same convictions regarding the glory of our Savior and the success of his kingdom. And so tonight I want to start by considering the encouragement we glean from the view here of the two witnesses mentioned in verse number three. I will give power onto my two witnesses. Who are they? What could this possibly mean? And what is the encouragement to the church? Well, that's going to have to wait till next week in the will of the Lord. For to get to that, we need to see a little bit about the setting of these witnesses, as we have revealed in the Scriptures in the first two verses. The setting here, again, with the giving of a reed like a rod to John, that he would rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and them that worship therein. Now, where are we in the bigger picture here? Well, we are somewhere between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. The seventh trumpet is mentioned in verse number 15, and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven. Okay, the sounding here again is the seventh trumpet being sounded. The sixth trumpet goes back to chapter 9 in the verse number 13, and the sixth angel sounded. Okay, so the first six of the trumpets, they sound judgment in various forms. We haven't gone through that, but chapter 8 and 9, they open up these six trumpets and the various forms of judgment and the wrath of God that descends upon the earth. When you get to the seventh trumpet then, in verse number 15 of chapter 11, the seventh angel sounded, there was a great noise, a voice in heaven saying, And you get a similar scene. So the multitude gathered round the throne, praising God from every kindred, tribe and tongue. And so I'm suggesting to you is there's some parallels here. If you remember the seven seals, the sixth seal showed us the wrath of the Lamb. and the seventh seal then you've got to wait you go across to chapter eight and when it opened the seventh seal there was a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour the if you like the silent joy and the so the the contemplation of heaven at the completion of judgment and redemption So between seal six, the wrath of the Lamb, and seal seven, there are various things that are given to encourage the church. The angels hold back the wind, the wrath of God, until the 144,000 are gathered safely in. We see the scene of the company of every kindred, tribe, and tongue in verse number nine of chapter seven. Between the sixth and seventh seals, there are these things that are given to encourage the church. And so I believe it is here, between the sixth and the seventh trumpet, there are things that are given to encourage the church. the measure of the temple, and also the image of the two witnesses. These things are given to encourage the persecuted church as they see the wrath of God being poured out, and as they wait the consummation of the kingdom with the glory of Christ, with all the company worshiping him around the throne. Now, if that's the case, then it's also worth noting that this image, these visions that are given in chapter 11, they follow John being recommissioned to prophesy. Chapter 10, verse 11, He's been given a book, a book to eat. Like back to the pictures of the Old Testament prophets, he's given this book to eat. Sweet but bitter, these words of gospel blessing, but also words of judgment. And he's got to prophesy these again before the peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. And this matter of prophesying again is a reminder to us that what follows in chapter 11, is relevant to the people that John is preaching to at that time. I say that because many people get to chapter 11 and they go forward many millennia to the end of the age and they see things that are yet to come. They see the building of a new temple and they see two literal individuals, two witnesses coming and witnessing on the earth. Those of you who are aware of dispensationalism will know that was the teaching of dispensationalism. Now, this temple mentioned here in chapter 11 is something that is yet to come in the fullness of time before Christ returns. My suggestion to you is, in light of John being told to prophesy again, we've got to see this as having some relevance to the people of John's day, to the church in the first and second century. And so I don't see it the way that the dispensational will see it. I see it rather as having tremendous importance and relevance to the time of John's preaching, but also to us today. Again, I say that humbly. I'm very, very, very conscious that these things are hard to understand. And so we're doing our best to try to analyze the scriptures, to come to conclusions. And they do so in a way that understands that, yes, there are those who are God's people who make different interpretations and genuinely come to different views in this area. But I trust that as we look at it together, we will see the weight of Scripture pointing us in a certain direction. And so tonight, just a couple of things to mention tonight. First of all, there is the issue of timing here. Okay, so as we're trying to see, well, how is this relevant to the church in John's time and us today? Well, part of that relevance is seen in the issue of timing. We have periods of time mentioned here. Verse number two, there is the holy city being treaded underfoot by the Gentiles for forty and two months. The three and a half years or three times and half a time. Those things, those terms are used elsewhere in the scriptures, Daniel, and of course, also here in Revelation. The same time period is in view in verse number three, though it's given a different number, 1,203 score days. And there you have the same, 1,260, 30 times 42. Again, you're looking at the same period of time. 1,260 days corresponds to the 42 months in chapter, or in verse number two. Now, when you think of this timing, we should, first of all, think about the prediction of events at this time. Verse number two refers to the court, we'll come back to that later on, which is left out, and refers to it being given on the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. That's a very, very important reference here. And it puts us in a particular direction with regards to interpreting these verses. You see, you cannot understand this without seeing the clear parallel of Luke chapter 21. So turn back please to Luke chapter 21. One of the key lessons of Bible interpretation is seeking to interpret passage by passage, allowing the scriptures to interpret the scriptures. And it's also the case that we allow, if you like, direct teaching, whether it be in sermons or epistles, to govern our understanding of visions. So Revelation 11, we've got a vision. But here in Luke chapter 21, we have the teaching of Christ himself. And the verse number 24 says this, And they shall fall by the age of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. We looked at this in our studies in Luke in recent months. We made the point at that time that so much of Luke chapter 21 pertains to the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. And the years approaching that. And so you have the verse number 20. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. And so this actually came to pass. And the armies came around and circled Jerusalem. It was besieged for a season, and it was the desolation coming nigh. In Matthew's treatment of this particular sermon, Matthew 24 verse 15 says, And when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains. And in that situation, the Lord's instructions to those in Judea, he says this in verse 20, but pray ye that your flights. The Lord is speaking to those in his own time. In a similar fashion, Luke says in verse number 20, and when ye shall see Jerusalem. He's talking to those in front of him. He says, You're going to see, your generation will see Jerusalem compassed with armies. The desolation thereof is nigh. And Matthew says, or records the Lord's words, Pray that your flight be not in the winter. He's giving advice to those in Judea at the time of AD 70, that they should flee for their safety. And so we saw this in Luke that it refers to the period of time in the first century. And so verse number 24 of Luke 21 refers to Jerusalem being trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. The Jerusalem is under Gentile authority until this period of time known as the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Now, we can discuss the ending of that time, and we did so to some degree, and we looked at Luke's gospel, Romans 11, of course, being very relevant in that discussion. But the point for now is not the ending, but rather the beginning. Because we see from Luke 21 that the time of the Gentiles treading down Jerusalem begins in the first century, within the generation of those who were living in Christ's time. This generation will not fall away until these things come to pass. And so therefore, the treading of the Gentiles, or the treading of the holy city by the Gentiles, corresponds to the first century. And so therefore, going back to Revelation chapter 11, where it refers to the Holy City being treaded underfoot forty and two months, and then the witnesses being given power to prophesy in that same period of time. The suggestion is that the witnesses, they are not something future, but they picture something that was relevant in John's time and indeed is relevant in our time. So the predictions of events in this time are significant. It's also worth noting the parallel passage regarding this time. So we have events predicted, but also the parallel passage is Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12 again refers to this period of days, verse number six, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days. The same forty-two months, the same number of days, the same three and a half year period of time. Now that happens after the events of Revelation 12 verse 5, All the imagery in the previous verses of chapter 12 point to this child being the Messiah. Jesus Christ being the child who was brought forth in the fullness of time, brought forth, if you like, in the promise of God to Israel, and Israel brings forth this child. And this child is then caught up to God and to the throne. And so again, the time, this 1203 score days, occurs after the Lord has ascended to the throne. Again, a period of time within the first century. One writer says this. Revelation, like Daniel, refers to this time period with the symbolic number of half of seven years enumerated in various ways, such as 12, 160 days. They make this point. This was the duration of the famine called down by Elijah. and the abomination of desolations by Antiochus Epiphanes, mentioned in Daniel 11 verse 31, and also the war leading up to A.D. 70. All of these periods of time, they're all the same time. Elijah's famine, the abomination of desolations in the second century B.C., and then also the issue of the A.D. 66 through 70 war. And now Revelation takes this time period and applies that to the church's struggle between the Lord's ascension and his future coming. And so the witnesses will do their work during this period of time, the time of the Gentiles. And so the relevance of chapter 11 is that it occurs at the time of John's writing, all the way through to at least approaching the Lord's return, depending how you end the time of the Gentiles. So that gives relevance to what we'll see next week when we think about these witnesses and what a set of the witnesses pertains to that day as it does to your own day. That's something about the timing. But then there's also something about the temple here. The temple is mentioned again in verse number two. Verse number one, initially, rise, sorry, and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. Likely the situation here is that the image is relating to the Herodian temple of our Lord's day. There was the inner sanctum with the altar, and there was the outer court. And here in these verses, the court and the temple are set apart as being distinct. Measure the temple, but don't measure the court. So with that distinction in mind, let's look and think with the court for a moment or two. The court corresponds to the Holy City. The court it says there is given unto the Gentiles and the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Now, the Gentiles are present, of course, in these outer courts and this imagery is being used to indicate Now, this court scene is under the oppression of the Gentiles for a time. It's pointing our minds, I believe, to earthly Israel, to Jerusalem, in an earthly sense. Verse number eight also refers to it. You have there the dead bodies of these witnesses we'll see later on, shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And so what you're seeing here is revelation using Old Testament images. Where the Lord rebukes his people, you're like Sodom and you're like Egypt. You're marked by immorality, Sodom. You're marked by idolatry, Egypt. These things mark you so much so that I can call you Sodom and Egypt. In a spiritual sense though, you're not literally Sodom or Egypt. It says there, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. We're actually being told in the very portion itself that these are spiritual, these are visionary, these are images, not literal things. But the lesson we are shown here is that the court is speaking of unbelieving Israel. marked by immorality and idolatry, marked by these things, this is unbelieving Israel, pictured as an accord, pictured, again, all the languages, all the terms mentioned here in these verses, distinct from the temple. The temple, by contrast, is the place where the altar is. and where they worship therein. That's the temple, and it's to be measured. And this imagery is imagery for the church, for the true people of God. They are accepted in God's presence, and the temple speaks of the presence of God. And there are those who are worshiping therein. They're welcome into the very company of God and communion with God. They are those who are at the altar, The altar, more than likely in the context of the previous chapters, more than likely the altar of incense, the golden altar that's mentioned over in chapter eight in the verse number three that we saw, there was the angel standing at the altar, a golden censer, and there were prayers of the saints offered upon the golden altar. And so here you're seeing this company accepted by God, who approach unto God in prayer at the altar because they faith in Christ's atoning work. a blood cleanse, a sprinkled people, a purified people who can pray in the presence of gods. Those who are worshiping, again, them that worship therein. You think of the words of Paul, again, in Philippians chapter 3, we are the circumcision. He's making the point that in his day there were those who claimed to be Israel, but now they're in the outer courts. They've been cast out through unbelief. They're no longer in the temple, they've been cast out. But we are now, says Paul, Jews and Gentiles combined, we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, who rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. And so the temple picture here of chapter 11 verse 1 is picturing the true people of God in distinction from the idolatrous unbelief of earthly Israel. They've been cast out from belief. And so you see, therefore, that the temple is the picture of the church. And of course, for the student of the New Testament, that is no surprise. Paul, 1 Corinthians 3, know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Or 2 Corinthians 6, for ye 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. or even Ephesians chapter two and the verse 20 through 22, and are built upon the foundation of the apostle and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being 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 an habitation of God through the Spirit. This temple is measured rise and measure the temple of God. And this idea of measurement, of course, also, as you well know, will take you back into the Old Testament. It will take you back to Ezekiel chapter 40 through 44. It'll take you to Zechariah chapter 2. You can go back and do that for your homework, and you'll see portions where there's great detail regarding the measurement of the temple. And in Ezekiel chapter 44, there's an important reference that we should look at briefly. Ezekiel chapter 44. And here you see the significance, Ezekiel 44, in the verse number 9, Thus saith the Lord, No stranger, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, or any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And so in measuring, all these chapters, 40 through 44 of Ezekiel, all talk about measurements. And it's all about who can be part of the temple of God. Not those uncircumcised in heart, but rather those who are regenerate, who've been brought to faith in Christ, who worship God in the spirit, who have no confidence in the flesh. Those are the ones who are in this temple. And as they are measured, Now, what does all this say about our witnesses? Well, given the parallel times here, we see the church that worships the temple is the church under the watch of God, measured, is the church that bears witness. And the two witnesses speaking to the church. So next week we'll come back and think about these witnesses. But tonight let me close with a very brief comment or two regarding the church here seen as the temple of God. It's a purified church. As the temple of God, it shows that which has been sanctified, washed and cleansed by the blood, by the Spirit. Speaks of us again in our standing before God. Not something future, but something that is our present joy. We are right now the temple of God. We're the temple of God here on earth. Not an earthly building, but a people among whom God dwells. That is our great privilege. We are a people who have God amongst us. And so the temple image is very appropriate for the church, as a purified people, living in God's presence. Oh, how I wish we'd be thankful for God's presence in our meetings, thankful when we gather together, God is here in the midst, and yet being careful about our conduct. If we are the temple, how there can be no fellowship between light and darkness. That's 2 Corinthians 6. We've got to be careful regarding not grieving the spirit of God. You see, we are those who've been purified, living in God's presence, and yet those who are preserved. Preserved. Let me close with another commentary that says this. John is determining the boundaries of the true church. that God is committed to preserve through all the tribulations of every age. Measure the temple. God is going to know exactly the church that he is going to preserve. As Paul says in 2 Timothy, the Lord knoweth those who are his. We are measured, accounted, in the same way as the people who are counted in. Counted in, all gathered together, not one soul missing. So the church is measured under the watch of God. The Lord exactly knows those who are his. These are things that should encourage a struggling church in every age to see how God views his people and how he's pleased to bless us even for the glory of his son. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of Let the Bible Speak from Malvern Free Presbyterian Church. If you'd like more information about the gospel or the church, please call 610-993-3170 or email malvernfpc at yahoo.com. We extend an invitation to all to join us as we worship the Lord each week. You will be made very welcome. The church is situated at 80 Mallon Road, Malvern, Pennsylvania at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. We meet for worship on the Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A Bible study and prayer meeting is also held on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We preach Christ Crucified.