Rise, and measure the temple of God.
The living temple of Christ’s Church and the two witnesses of the Word written and the sacraments
The temple and altar, and them that worshipped therein, were capable of measurement. They were not like the unorganised multitude, formless, creedless, undisciplined, without the court. The temple, the altar, and its priesthood and the worshippers, have strength of form and organisation, and the beauty of order. So the apostles organise the Church, set in order its worship, establish its discipline. Standing before the Incarnate Son of God, who in the spiritual organism of His temple, the Church, reveals Himself, and bearing their corroborating testimony to the faith are the two witnesses of the sacraments and the written Word.
1. Consider first the witness of the sacraments.
(1) They are the instrumental life-givers. For Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, is to the new creation what God, “Creation’s secret force,” is to the old.
(2) So likewise the sacraments enlighten. Baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, declares the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity as the fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It manifests our sinful condition and the need of a washing away of sin.
(3) The sacraments are witnesses. The Church, filled with sacramental life, bears witness to the world.
2. Turn we next to the other great witness, the written Word. The written Word self-evidences its own inspiration. (Bp. Grafton.)
The extent and limit of the true Church of God
At the time of this prophecy the literal temple was no more. The once-holy city was defiled by the “abomination of desolation.” Then the true temple, the true holy city, existed in “the Church of the living God.” The outer enclosure is not to be reckoned as a part of the temple in this Divinely appointed remeasurement. All this most impressively sets forth the fact that Zion’s external buildings cover a much wider space than the real heartworshippers whom God will own. There may be, and there are, large masses of people at the outer fringe of our Christian services. But ii now a heavenly messenger were to come among us who was appointed to measure the real living temple of God, would it not turn out that, of a very large part of our surroundings, the order would be, “Measure it not”? This measurement from on high is ever going on. And if the great Lord of the Church saw fit to show us in a vision who are in His Church and who are not, many would be without whom we thought were in, and many within whom we thought were out. But not by any human hands can the true temple of God be built; nor yet by any human eye can its limits be discerned. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
The measuring of the temple
I. The measuring. But as in those other representations we cannot think that material earthly buildings are meant, or any literal measurements whether of city or temple, so here we regard the temple as telling of that glorious spiritual fabric of which we so often read under like imagery in the Epistles of St. Paul, and the measuring is a metaphor to signify that careful investigation and scrutiny whereby true knowledge is gained.
1. God has an ideal for everything, a standard to which He would have it conform. He had in the creation of the world. And He looks down from heaven--so we are told--to see what is done upon the earth; He taketh account of all that men do.
2. Christ is the ideal Man, and therefore called “the Son of Man.” He did in all things so answer to His Father’s intent that He was the “beloved Son in whom” God was “well pleased.”
3. And this “measuring “ is continually going on. There is an inward monitor as well as an outward one.
4. How grateful we should be for this! “Lord, with what care Thou hast begirt us round!” so sings holy George Herbert; and one evidence of this care is in the constant bringing before our consciences the rigid rule of right.
II. The measured that are spoken of here. The temple, the altar, and the people.
1. The temple of God. It was a symbol and type of all Israel, if not of the whole Church of God (St. Paul, “In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple unto the Lord”) Therefore we may take “the temple of God” as representing the Church in its outward form. Now, God has His ideal for this. What is it? By this supreme test will all our Church organisations be tried. What fruit have they borne in that which is the end of all religion? No antiquity, orthodoxy, catholicity, popularity, beauty, wealth, or any other such plea will stand if God’s standard be not answered to, and His demand for “good fruit” be not met. The axe will fall, and the tree will go down.
2. The altar. This also was to be measured. We may take “the altar” as the symbol of the worship of the Church. Is our worship fervent? On that altar was an ever-burning fire. Is it spiritual? Does it ascend up to God as the smoke of the sacrifice mounted up into the heavens--symbol, beautiful, striking, appropriate, of that uplifting of the heart, that real outgoing of the soul after God, which belongs to all true worship? And, above all, is it sacrificial? The altar was for sacrifice. Worship that has not this element in it will be rejected when that measurement of the altar told of here takes place. Sacrifice means giving up something which we should like to keep. Was not Christ’s sacrifice such? Is not all sacrifice such?
3. The people. “Them that worship therein”--so we read. Now, the Divine ideal for these may be learnt by noting what was not to be measured. And we are told in Revelation 11:2 that “the court which is without the temple … measure it not.” It was to be cast out, left out of the reckoning altogether. Now, the outer court of the temple was the addition of Herod; he was given to erecting magnificent buildings, and the addition of this outer court did undoubtedly add much to the splendour of the whole fabric. But such court had no place in the tabernacle nor in the temple of Solomon or that of Zerubbabel. But Herod had made this outer court in the temple at Jerusalem. It was thronged by all manner of people. There it was the money-changers had their tables, and they who bought and sold doves. The Gentiles might come there, though they might not pass into what was especially the temple, and which was sacred to Israelites only. And so it represented all those outer-court worshippers, those mixed multitudes which are found associated with God’s true people everywhere--of them, but not truly belonging to them.
III. The meaning of all this. It was because a time of sore trial was imminent, close at hand. God ever has, even in the worst of times, a remnant. And He takes notice of them, and will keep them securely, whilst those who are not as they are subjected to His sore judgments. The measuring means preservation for the faithful, judgment for all else. (S. Conway, B. A.)
The cause of right on earth
I. The cause of right on this earth has its measuring rule (Revelation 11:1-2).
1. In the human world there is right and wrong. There is the temple of God, etc. At the same time there is the court that is outside--a sphere discarded by the right and trampling on the holy. This, however, is only for a time.
2. Right here has its measuring line. Take the “temple” here as the emblem of right on the earth, and the “reed” as that of the moral law of God--the law that measures moral character. It is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of being: it is a moral analyst to test the quality of every thought, affection, and deed.
II. The cause of right on this earth has its mighty defenders (Revelation 11:3-6).
1. They do their work in sadness. “Clothed in sackcloth.” It is not a light work to stand up against a corrupt world and struggle against an age grinning with selfishness, sensuality, and cupidity.
2. They contribute Divine light. The “olive trees” fed the lamps and the “candlesticks” reflected the light. Were it not for the Divine defenders of the right, grand heroes in moral history, all the lamps of truth would go out, and the whole race would be mantled in midnight.
3. They exert tremendous power (Revelation 11:5). Their words flash devouring flames, so shake the corrupt moral firmament under which their contemporaries are living, that the very heavens seem shut up and the rolling streams of life seem turned into blood.
III. The cause of right on the earth has its terrible antagonists (Revelation 11:7-13).
1. The antagonists of the right are malignant; they not only murder, but they exult in their cruelty. The spirit of persecution is an infernal virus that gallops through the veins of the intolerant persecutor, and physical violence is the weapon.
2. The antagonists of the right are ever frustrated.
(1) Their victims were Divinely reanimated.
(2) Their victims ascended to heaven.
(3) With their ascension terrible calamities befall the earth.
IV. The cause of right on the earth is destined to triumph (Revelation 11:14-19).
1. The rapture and adoration of the good. “The kingdoms of this world.” What have they been? What are they now? Hellish mimicries of eternal right and power. Like muddy bubbles on the great stream of life, they have broken into the clear and fathomless river of rectitude and will appear no more, and this will continue for ever and ever. Well, then, might the righteous Worship and thank God.
2. The increased accessibility of heaven. “The temple of God was opened.” (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The temple of God
I. Its peculiarity. By “the temple of God,” which John is commanded to measure, understand the true Church of Christ. The altar of incense is named, to denote the militant state of the Church, whose employment is prayer; in distinction from that of the Church triumphant, which is praise. The censer is in the hand of the “kings and priests unto God” below, the harp is in the hands of those above. That the measurement is to be confined to the altar and worshippers within the temple is obvious also from the refusal of its extension to the court; “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not.” If whatever is without the temple be precluded from the measurement, all that to which it applies must of course be considered within.
II. Its measurement. Rise and see how far we have proceeded with the prophecies. Observe in what state we left the Church l Let a correct measurement be taken before we proceed further. Measure how far the building is advanced, and see what remains to bring it to perfection. See what injuries the temple of God has sustained from fierce and sanguinary attacks. It has suffered much, but behold it still abides. See now what the work is, after weathering its storms. “Rise and measure the temple of God.” Measure too the altar. Take the dimensions of the altar of incense which has been reared for prayer and praise. Take the degree of faith in the everliving Intercessor. Measure the devotions of the sanctuary. Mark the plenitude and purity of the incense rising before the throne. Measure too the worshippers. Observe the number of professing Christians. Measure the spiritual stature, and gauge the heart of each one. Measure them that worship therein. There must be a certain breadth, and length, and depth, and height of character. There must be a certain depth of humility and self-renunciation, a certain height of faith and devotion, a certain length of integrity and zeal. View them as worshippers, and there is a certain height to which they must attain, in feeble imitation of the dignity of Him that sits upon the throne. The breadth of the believer’s principles, the depth of his emotions, a certain breadth of sincerity and charity, the length of his hopes, the height of his joys, are far beyond the narrow bounds within which his whole being was formerly confined. His soul is enlarged. He is created anew in Christ Jesus. He has risen above this earth, and has attained a spiritual stature that brings him into fellowship with the Father, and with His son Jesus Christ. His conversation is in heaven.
III. The desecration of the court by the Gentiles is the remaining particular in relation to this temple. This court is nominal Christianity, which now, for the first time, began to assume a distinct character. It was the necessary consequence of an alliance between the Church and the world, it has been far more prejudicial to the real interests of the Church than the most virulent persecution. This court is further said to be “given unto the Gentiles.” It remains only to speak of the court being given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city to be trodden under foot. “I will give power,” it is afterwards said, “unto My two witnesses and they shall prophesy clothed in sackcloth.” It brings before us the permission of the awful reign of anti-christian darkness, for the development of the whole principles of evil in contrast with good. It coincides with the surrender of the Church by God, to that ardent desire for worldly conformity which the severest chastisements had failed to repress. They would not retain the gospel in its simplicity, but would rely upon an arm of flesh; therefore God suffered them to be spoiled by thieves and robbers, who entered not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbed up some other way. (G. Rogers.)
The right temple
Jesus Christ in what He has done as the way in which God dwells with us, and we with God, is the temple that we are thus to measure.
I. First, this is a temple that endureth for ever; a temple of eternity, a house, as the apostle calls it, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Blessed are they that dwell in this temple. And who are they that take such account of it as to understand the eternity of it, the certainty of it, that Christ is indeed a house not made with hands, that He is indeed eternal in the heavens.
II. A temple of plenty. “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.” Ah, God the Father is well pleased, Christ is satisfied with the travail of His soul; and “we,” poor sinners saved by mercy, brought out of eternal privation into this eternal plenty, “shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple”; a temple from which sin and death are for ever excluded; a temple into which sin and death cannot enter.
III. A temple of government, as you may see in the last verse of this chapter: “The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” Now heaven here means the New Testament dispensation, and there will never be another dispensation after the one we have now. But will there not be glorification? That will not be another dispensation; that will only be a continuation of the present. It is true preaching will end, the ordinances of the present dispensation will end; but we shall always have the same Jesus Christ, and the same God, and the same covenant, and the same life, and the same sanctification. Christ’s kingdom shall reign through all ages, and never be moved; and everything must be subservient to the government of Christ’s kingdom. And hence it is said that when this temple was opened “there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and a great hail.” What are the lightnings? Why, God’s Word. His arrows shall go forth as lightning, whether it be to strike an Ananias and Sapphira dead, or to pierce the hearts of three thousand sinners, and make them cry, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” whether it be for judgment or for mercy. These lightnings are God’s Word; and when the temple is opened, that is when Christ is revealed, then these lightnings come. And there were “voices.” There is the voice of salvation: there is the voice of “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” There is the voice of the deep soul trouble; there are the various voices of all the experiences of the people of God: glorious voices of exaltation, triumph, victory, and satisfaction. And then there are thunderings: and what are they? Why, God’s Word. The child of God sometimes gets rather sleepy, some thundering Scripture will come into his mind, create fears, and doubts, and tremblings. This is what one calls being called into the secret place of thunder--but it does the soul good. And an earthquake. Why, regeneration is an earthquake. It swallows up what you were before; swallows up your former hope, and makes you feel that you yourself will be swallowed up in hell. Many a sinner, when God begins His work in this earthquake-like way, has exclaimed with the Psalmist, “Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.” “And a great hail.” What is that? Storms of persecution and tribulation. If the lightning seem to be against you, yet your God holds the lightnings in His hand, and though the thunderings may seem to be against you, yet the Lord governs those thunderings, and though revolutions alarm you, yet the Lord governs these changes, and though you may be persecuted, and storms and persecutions may fall upon you, yet the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. (James Wells.)
The holy city shall they tread under foot.--
The true Church reduced
The Church of God will be greatly reduced in its apparent numbers by the open desertion of the powers of the world. This desertion will begin in a professed indifference to any particular form of Christianity, under the pretence of universal toleration; which toleration will proceed from no true spirit of charity The pretended toleration will go far beyond a just toleration, even as it regards the different sects of Christians. For governments will pretend an indifference to all, and will give a protection in preference to none. All establishments will be set aside. From the toleration of the most pestilent heresies, they will proceed to the toleration of Mahometanism, atheism, and at last proceed to the positive persecution of the truth of Christianity. In these times the temple of God will be reduced almost to the holy place, i.e., to the small number of real Christians who worship the Father in spirit, and regulate their doctrine, and their worship, and their whole conduct strictly by the Word of God. The merely nominal Christians will all desert the profession of the truth when the powers of the world desert it. And this tragic event I take to be typified by the order to St. John to measure the temple and the altar, etc. (Bp. Horsley.)