Reformed Church, Bellville: Sunday 8 December 2002, Morning Service

Our help is in the Name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit. Amen

Psalm of praise: 145:1+11
Creed
Law
Psalm: 40:4
Prayer
Psalm: 4:2+3
Scripture reading: Revelation 11

Text: Revelation 11:2

"But exclude the outer court, do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months."

To be able to comprehend Revelation 11 we must review the occurrence of the events as described in the book.

In chapter 6 the road to victory by the Gospel over the earth is described.
Chapter 7 tells how the Lord keeps and protects his elect.
Thereafter follow chapters 8 and 9 which show how the judgments of the Lord erupt over the godlessness and unbelief of mankind.
Chapter 10 tells that more trouble lies ahead.
Yet chapter 10 contains also a positive turning, because the Lord also told St John that he "must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings". (Rev 10:11)

What St John had to say was pleasing to him because in his mouth it tasted like honey. But when it reached his stomach it turned sour. (Rev 10:10)

It pictured the effect of the preaching of the gospel in the world.
It was going to cause much trouble because some would err in their faith and others would go to war because of their hate for the Lord and his faithful.
The true believers would try to live righteously but the majority of mankind would refuse to abandon their sins.

What we have read from chapter 11 fits in here. In this sermon we will consider the following issues:

1.   The Lord and the Church of the New Testament.
2.   A part of the church will be rejected.
3.   Our congregation: Altar or Outer Court.

1.   The Lord and the Church of the New Testament

The Book Revelation reveals symbolically the course of the end of time. In Revelation 11 the Lord deals with the history of the Church through the era of the New Testament -from the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ until His Second Coming.

We see this when we compare the period described in chapter 11:2+3 with the period described in chapters 12:6 and 13:5.

It is the same period and it stretches from the coming until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus.

In Revelation 11 the Lord reveals what is going to happen to the Church of the Lord and especially how the work of the office bearers working in His church will be.

Somebody gave St John a reed.

The Bible does not tell who gave it to him, but it does not matter, for it is plain from verse 3 that it was done at the command of Jesus Christ.
With this reed St John was to measure certain things. Listen again to his instructions: He had to measure three things:

firstly the temple
secondly the altar
thirdly the worshippers there

But he was not to measure the entire building and also not count all who worshipped there.

He had to exclude the outer court of the temple. That he was not to measure.
He was to count only the people who were worshipping physically inside the temple - while he had to exclude those who were worshipping in the outer court.

Why was St John obliged to measure this? Because "measure" has a special meaning in the Lord's Revelation.

Some times the process of measuring points to a complete destruction. An example from the Bible is in 2 Kings 21:13:

"I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb-line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside-down."

In other places measuring points to a process of reconstruction and restoration, for example in Ezekiel 40:2 and following:
Ezekiel tells how the Lord placed him on a high mountain. He then saw a man whose appearance was like bronze.
- This man had a measuring rod with which he measured various buildings and areas.
- The Lord explained to Ezekiel that this showed the rebuilding of the temple so that a new one could replace the destroyed one.

The Lord also some times indicates that by measuring something He wants to fence it in to preserve it. We read of this in Ezekiel 43:13 about the altar.
This is also the meaning of the instruction to St John to measure the temple of God.

We must note the precise name which the Lord gives to the place St John is to measure.

The Lord says that he must measure "the temple of God".

This means that he must not measure the bricks and the walls.
What is being referred to here is the true temple of God - the congregation.
Consider here for example the words of Revelation 3:12 where the following is written:

"Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it." (Compare also Revelation 7:15 and 1 Corinthians 3:16)

It is because this deals with man's worshipping of the Lord. Therefore the altar is mentioned.

Worshipping the Lord occurs at the altar.
This is where prayers are offered and from where they rise up to the Lord. (Compare Revelation 8:3 and following and 6:9 and following)

Hence the specific mention of those who worship in the temple.

Here the Lord refers to the true believers who love and fear the Lord with their whole heart.
These are the people who in these times still find their wealth in the Lord and place all their trust in Him.
With this measuring the Lord reveals that He fences these people in with His grace and omnipotence. He will protect and keep them in the bitterest strife.

This does not mean that in the course of history these people will not experience difficulties.

   *   They will suffer pain, because the Lord did not place them on an island.
   *   They may also be murdered, or tortured but they shall not be destroyed forever.
   *   The attacks of the powers of modern times shall not injure their faith and not estrange them from the Lord.
   *   The bond between them and the Lord shall remain into eternity.

2.   Part of the Church shall be rejected

In front of the temple - on the outside - there is an outer court. This St John is not to measure.

That part of the temple is rejected by the Lord - it has been given to the heathen.
This prohibition to measure that part of the temple shows that there is a part of the people who are members of His Church that the Lord does not include in His elect. He gives them to this world and damnation.

We know that in the time that Jesus was on earth the outer court of the Gentiles was used by people to exchange money and sell cattle and do other things which desecrated the temple. (See John 2:14)
In this chapter the Lord reveals that He gives the outer court to the Gentiles to trample.

Note that these heathen are in fact all faithfull who claim that they have repented because true heathen do not come to church.

But the Lord rejects all those who are there together with what they are busy with.
They are all given to the damnation and destruction of this world.

Do you not also see a red light flashing? Our church, also has, figuratively speaking, an outer court.

With this symbol the Lord describes all who are members of this church but who do not truly love the Lord.
They pretend to worship the Lord, but their lives show that they have not subjected themselves to the Lord Jesus.
Although they are so closely tied to the Church of the Lord that they even are members, the truth is not in their heart.

There are people who believe that they are safe simply because they belong to a church. This is not decisive.
The question is what you do with your membership. How do you worship the Lord and what is the measure of your sincerity?

God's grace is also shown clearly. Any true believer will read that the sanctuary where the Lord is and where the true worshippers are round the altar will not be destroyed, the true sanctuary will never be destroyed.

The period that the heathen will be allowed to trample the outer court and during which the Lord will protect the true worshippers inside the temple will be 1260 days (42 months). This is a symbolical number.

It is a symbolical number that can be divided into 42x30. 42 is 7x7. 7 is the number of the fullness of the Lord and 6 is 2 (the number of man) x 3 (the number of the Lord). 30 is a combination of 3x10 which are both numbers that represent the perfection of God. What this number means is that it represents a period of time determined by God in respect of man's life on earth.

Note what the Lord does with His church in this period:

In this period the Lord Jesus sends two witnesses.

He gives them the power and the opportunity to preach the gospel.
The opportunity is from the ascension to the Second Coming.

Their preaching will be preaching of penitance.

that is the meaning conveyed by the words that they shall be clothed in sackcloth. (See 1 Kings 21:27 and Matthew 11:21)

These two witnesses of the Lord will always be in mourning and heavy hearted because of the sins committed by the people on this earth.
In their preaching they will continuously call the people to repentance.

The period of their preaching is expressed in days because preaching is a long and continuous work that gives little visible fruit.

These witnesses will be despised by the people as time goes by.

The Ministers will more and more be oppressed and persecuted.
The Lord gathers all the ministries under the name "two witnesses" because two is the number of man; the Lord created two people, Adam and Eve.
These two witnesses represent all the ministries who in all sincerity minister int the service of the Lord in His church until He returns.

What the ministers must do in the church of our time is clearly revealed in verses 1 and 2.

They must distinguish between the holy and the unholy.
The unholy people must be excluded from the church.

This is not a new command, because this was written already in Leviticus 10:10 and Ezekiel 42:20.

Furthermore they must guarantee the holiness of the congregation.

Think of Peter's discussion with Ananias and Sapphira because they wanted to defraud the Lord with the contribution which they gave to the apostles. (Acts 5:3-9)
Another example is the serious admonishment that St Paul addresses to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 5:1-3

In Revelation 11:4 the Lord gives a very accurate description of the working of the witnesses. It is a reference to Zechariah 4:2 and following.

In Zechariah's vision he sees two olive trees next to the lampstand. The two olive trees continuously provide oil for the lamps so that they continue to burn without interruption.
In Zecharia's prophecy the two olive trees refer to Joshua and Zerubbabel, while the Revelation of St John includes all true preachers of the gospel and honest ministers of the Lord's church.
Through them the Lord makes His light shine over the earth. Through them He gives his blessing and grace to His church.

The two olive trees stand before the God of the earth. This proclaims the lord as Creator and Ruler of the earth. The fact that they stand before the God of the earth also shows that God looks at them. He cares for them under His almighty and watchful eyes.

3. Our congregation: Altar or Outer Court?

You must realize the dangerous time in which we live - very few people are fearfully concerned with the deteriorating Christian faith among our people.

In our country there are many sects and churches and everybody believes the Bible in the way it pleases him - it is almost like in the time of the Judges when everyone did as he saw fit.
This is something to worry about, because it means that there are many errants who do not worship the Lord.

We are part of a community of which few people are concerned that the faith of many people has few teeth left.

We live in a time in which charismatic churches grow and also strongly influence the traditional churches.
Faith for many people has reduced to a strongly emotional faith.
For many Christianity is changed into an idolatry - think of the unique dress which is worn and all the rituals which are now becoming fashionable.
Then there are the tradition killers - who want to destroy everything which can remotely be described as tradition. This group claims that what they want to do is the will of God although they seldomly look at what the Bible itself teaches.

Something should tell us that in the outer court there are faithful who no longer enter the church of God because they have moved the emphasis from the altar of God to the obstinacy of the outer court of the heathen.

The trouble is that the Lord's patience and His time is running out.

We read in verse 7 that a time will come when the testimony of these witnesses will end. The ministers will reach a point when their work is completed.
At that stage the beast will arise from the depths and kill them. The Lord permits this.
Then a period of unlimited hate against the church of the Lord will commence. The power of the anti-christ will then rule the earth.

Where do the true believers fit in?

The Bible teaches us that only a few true believers will remain on the right path because the whole world will be glad that the church and its witnesses will be gone at last.
The pain caused by the church when it awakens the conscience of people because of their sins will then be gone.

Let us reflect on this prophecy and straighten our own road ahead.

A road on which we again open ourselves to listen to the Lord's gospel and to repent from all that is bad.
At the same time a road that turns away from all worldliness.
Let us reflect carefully on the precise condition of our worship.

Are we altar worshippers?
Or are we the "worshippers" in the outer court of the Gentiles?

Amen

Closing prayer

Closing Psalm: 45:1+8

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
8 December 2002