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A Panorama of Church History Revelation 1: 1-2
Today and another week, we come to the end of another section in our study of Revelation. For the third time we are reminded of the Victory of our Lord Jesus. Here also we are shown the panorama of Church History throughout the millennic period between the comings of our own Christ. And during this period God is sovereign and the measure of all things. Chapter eleven is divided into three sections:
We begin with verses one and two today which concern the measuring of the temple. The balance of this wonderful chapter we will consider next week. These two verses, as well as the general silence of the whole New Testament on the subject, are strong indication for dating the most of the New Testament before the Jewish War of 70 AD. The prophetic words "They will trample" are in a future tense and we know that the Roman siege of Jerusalem did last for forty-two months. There are many other facts that also support this view as well. The reason why this dating is important is that it allows us to verify from the course of events the calling of John as a prophet. The credibility of all God's prophets is based upon the actual happening of the events which they had revealed to them. Thus, the book of Daniel is all the more amazing when we lay along side his prophecy the real events of history which mirror what was written four hundred years before fulfilment. The position that John had the destruction of Jerusalem revealed to him prior to the event should give us confidence in his panorama of the whole future of Christ's Church. This confidence should encourage us to view his unveiling as being for our very own spiritual health! To that purpose we turn our attention now. The factual and the spiritual are mixed together in this passage as well as in other places in revelation and indeed in all of Scripture, so we should not be surprised at this melding together. In these two verses John is given a reed like a measuring rod. Years ago I read of an old farmer who planned to build a barn. His first step was to take a straight ash pole cut from his own timber and he fashioned it into his very own measuring rod. That rod and its half and quarters and so on, served to measure all boards and beams for his barn. In times past, each county or province had its own set of official measures. In today's world we are rapidly moving towards a common metric measure created and determined by humanistic science. The world's measure is more and more also being applied in areas that are sacred as well as secular. It is well that we note the fact that John is given our Lord's own measuring rod for His temple. Where His Church and Kingdom are concerned we should be completely submissive to His measure for our beliefs and for the living of our lives. But for what purpose does the measuring of the temple here have for the instruction of our hearts. We may compare four Scriptural passages for a conclusion. 1st, we turn to the prophet Ezekiel whose vision was carefully dated from the fall of Jerusalem. This vision of the New Temple area covers three chapters and there are great details concerning the restoration of the city, the courts and the temple. Ezekiel 40:2-3 "In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand." Once the walls of separation between secular and sacred are established then we read of the Lord's return: Ezekiel 43:5 "Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple." A later prophet Zechariah also envisions another measuring of the Holy City. Zechariah 2:1-2 "Then I looked up - and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! I asked, 'Where are you going?' He answered me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.'" The passage goes onto discuss the necessity for a city without walls to hold a great number of men and livestock. This idea is continued at the end of Revelation with the coming of the heavenly Jerusalem. John reports that: Rev 21:15 "The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod" John further reports there that Rev 21:22 "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." Our passages would indicate that the measuring has a purpose related to the presence of our Holy God and the increase of His true worshipers. The measuring of the temple in our verse today to set the true sanctuary of our God apart from that which is profane. For this reason the courts and the city are left outside. For that reason the rejection of Christ by the Jews of the first century led to the destruction of their temple because they were Covenant breakers. In the same way God measures His own Church, in all times. That Church includes all of those who are called into a saving covenant relationship with His only Son Jesus Christ. Like the Holy City and the outer courts of the gentiles in the real temple, any who are not part of God's spiritual kingdom are left to be trampled. Are you part of the true Church today? There are three distinctive features here in verse one to help you see yourself in relation to God's measure. First, there is the fact of the Temple which speaks symbolically of the new birth brought about by the Holy Spirit of God in the heart and life of everyone who becomes a Christian. The word temple may now be used in Paul's sense in Ephesians 2: 19-22 "you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." We see in the Old Testament that in a very special sense God dwelt in His temple. Now in that same sense He dwells in His church - by His Holy Spirit. Have you really been born again, do you know that God has laid His hands upon you through the power of the Holy Spirit? Second, there is the fact of the altar which calls our attention to the special work of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks so often of the altar as the place of those sacrifices appointed by God and offered there by the priests on behalf of the people. Those Old Testament altars and sacrifices pointed forward to one thing: Christ's sacrifice of Himself. His shedding of His own blood for sinners at Calvary. That sacrifice was a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins. This principle is best explained in the tenth chapter of Hebrews. Please turn with me there and follow along. READ: Hebrews 10: 1-18. This passage confirms both signs here in verse one of Revelation eleven. That of God's Holy Spirit in our lives and that our sins are atoned for in Christ's own sacrifice. Our third and last feature involves the worshipers present in the temple. We should well note that only those who have been born of the Spirit and washed in the blood of Christ can bring true acceptable worship to God the Father! Our outward practice of saying prayers, singing hymns and so on are only an empty shell and a mockery unless they proceed from hearts and souls attuned to the measure of our God, Christ and Spirit. As we pause in these verses in the course of confronting the panorama of Church History we would do well to examine ourselves. And why? Our lesson of the temple, court and city indicates that we should consider our relationship to our Lord and Savior. The holy city of Jerusalem stands for the world of nominal Christianity, which is Christian in name only for the convenience of putting a church name on a hospital card or in an obituary column. When I was in the Army we usually surveyed the new recruits to get a feel for their religious needs. Practically every soldier put down some denomination or another. My favorite designation was one young Presbyterian who spelled the word Perspiration. The outer courts stand for the tares among the wheat. These are the worldly hypocrites who go with God's people to His temple or Church for worship but never enter the spiritual sanctuary of the fellowship of God. Neither of these groups are measured by John. That is, they are not counted by God to be among His people. How will you be counted this day and for all eternity. It is my hope and prayer that each of you will be counted in the sanctuary of Christ's own Church. Amen.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213 Rev 11a 11 February 90
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