MEASURING ROD
Revelations 11:"I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers."
2"but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months."
Introduction:
The temple here is symbolic of the people of God and the Church.
Christians who are like the Outer Court are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15)- people who claim to be Christian but aren’t.
Apostle Paul explained it as follows:
2 Timothy 3:5-7
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to jarrive at a knowledge of the truth."
The true and faithful church is often ignored, persecuted and mocked.
1)You will be measured:
The Lord ordered " Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers." 3 things to be measured:
Temple
Altar
Worshiper
We can live a phony life and cheat the world but God will measure you, your family and your deeds and only if it matches His standards then would you be eligible otherwise you would be rejected and evicted.
The Lord would say ,"do not measure the court outside the temple.." You may look like you are attached to the Church but you are not ...Says your life.
God watches the Youth pastor when he flirts around with the young girls, God watches the choir singers when they watch porn movies and come straight to the Church to join the choir.
During a Church Youth Meeting, I was called to share the Word, just when the mike came to me, the church organisers started distribution of coffee. I refused to preach and asked them to stop serving coffee. After the meeting the Youth Leader came to me and said, ' I had actually kept a movie ready to watch just after this meeting.' Imagine!
Matthew 5:20 "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Observe the word 'never' here!
God is serious that we meet His standards, what makes us think that we can do anything and get away? The way we do ministry will be measured, the way we conduct our family will be measured, the way we worship in the church will be measured, the way we bring up our children will be measured, the way we talk will be measured. You are in His radar all the time!
Psalm 139:1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Anybody listening?
The altar and worshipers were not spared, just check on them, said the Lord.
How you come to church , fight at the parking space of the church, how you gossip and aggressively push others to move forward for a seat under the fan are all measured. Just not the "hallelujah, raising of hands, weeping and dancing but what you do before and after church are measured by God.
One particular girl just after a long night prayer, after heavy anointing and hearing a mighty Word from God, I found her standing in the corner of the church, speaking to her boyfriend. Alas, she eventually vanished from my sight.
2) Outer Court Life:
The outer court looked like it belonged to God but it was not. "Do not measure it" says the Lord, it has been contaminated by the gentiles with their idol worship and other evil practices. Anything that is not measured by God is not safe and not protected. Anybody listening?
Those who worship in the outer court are fake worshippers, chaff that is to be burnt and hypocrites who pretend to be holy. These kind of churches that look like church with a big CROSS on it, are all rejected by God and not measured by Him.
Let us read this scripture that talk about people in the Outer court:
Revelations 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Illus: When we relocated our ministry to Hyderabad, we were invited by a branch church of a particular denomination (I don't want to mention here)to preach in their Sunday service. The church functioned in the living room of one of the church members. The lady of the house was a hindu convert and her husband was jobless but doing unrighteous money dealings. For Easter service they requested me to come at 4am and do service with lighted lamps. The heart of the family was still stuck to hindu rituals and many churches function this way. These are Outer Court churches not measured by God!
Illus: When we were in Chennai serving as Evangelists, we served not only in the city but God took us to the innermost villages and we got the opportunity to share the Gospel, screen "Jesus is coming soon" movie produced by us and proclaim the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the lost.
We visited one particular branch church to share the Word of God, I found it dark, gloomy and weird- not just the building because it was not kept clean, tidy and holy, but the place had a dark spirit hovering over the place. Later we came to know that the man of God was not a holy person. This is called 'outer court life'! The main church handed over the branch church to another pastor who was a very prayerful man, a holy man who regularly fasts and reads the Bible. A spectacular transformation came over in the church, I visited the same building to preach in a 3 days revival meeting and stayed in a room attached to the church and felt the presence of God in a mighty way. Amen.
Ezekiel 40:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.”
3) Outer Court Worshipers:
The worshipers must be measured said the Lord, to see if they worship in Truth and Spirit and give glory to God.
Luke 18:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I would also like to mention about the ten virgins parable here:
Matthew 25:2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
Christian faith is disconcertingly shallow, as shallow as a puddle of water on a sidewalk these days! People daringly confess, “ I have no time for prayer, fasting or Bible reading! I’m just busy, I have work to catch up!” These are the replies that I have got firsthand from people who I speak with! If at all I speak a bit forcefully, they are ready to throw me out of the window!
Let me show you something today from the Bible; there were ten virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. Observe, all of them were Christians or believers but mark it, not all would go to the Kingdom of God as mentioned here; the foolish ones were not prepared and did not carry oil with them but the wise ones carried ‘flasks of oil!’ Observe not just few teaspoons of oil but flasks of oil! The words ‘flasks of oil’ caught my attention and I hope it would come to your observation also today and put some fear of God in your life!
Now, when the bridegroom was delayed they all became drowsy and slept, but at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' Now watch this, the wise replied,‘ I’m sorry friends, we just got enough for us go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' I wonder how many of you take the words of the Bible seriously! Alas, at the last minute the foolish ones ran out of stock and thus they missed the bridegroom and the marriage feast, and the door was shut!
These 5 foolish virgins lost the golden opportunity of meeting Christ and now they were shut outside, look what the Lord says:
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Pretty scary!
4) Inner court worship:
A)Paul And Silas Singing In The Prison: Acts 16:24-26
B)The Woman With The Alabaster Box: Luke 7:36-50
Luke 12:15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
5) Outer man and Inner man
There is "the inner man" that can renewed, even while "the outer man" decays - 2Co 4:16-18
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self 1 is wasting away, gour inner self his being renewed day by day. 17 For ithis light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 jas we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
Conclusion:
God said “do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out”, because He wanted a clear demarcation between the holy and common.
Ezekiel 42: 20” So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. 18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.
"Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the LORD’s house."Isaiah 52:11
Which side do you belong?
