Revelation 11:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there. 2But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’”
The Temple of God
The Temple of God is the church, the body of Christ, the
body of believers in Jesus Christ across the entire world. We who believe in
Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, who have denied self, died to
sin, and who have been reborn of the Spirit of God to walk in newness of life
in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as servants of
righteousness, we are the Temple of God, the church. We are and Jesus is the
only Temple of God.
The Altar
And the altar within that temple is not a physical altar but
it has to do with our worship of God and with the sacrifice of our lives to the
Lord to be His to be used for His glory and for His purposes. So this has to do
with our relationships with Jesus Christ. The body of Christ and the gatherings
of the church, the universal body of Christ, are under scrutiny. We are being
examined to find whether or not we are truly of God in surrender to Him.
And worship of God is not just about singing “worship songs”
once a week on a Sunday morning. For we can sing all kinds of songs of worship
of God and never truly ever worship God if our hearts are not right with God.
For true worship of God has to do with us denying self, dying to sin, and with
us following our Lord in obedience to His commands wherever He leads us in
doing whatever it is He has called us to be and to do for His glory.
The Defiled and Immoral
Now, not everyone within the gatherings of the church are
true followers of Jesus Christ. There are many predatory, deceitful, manipulative,
selfish, self-indulgent, malicious, corrupt, depraved, immoral, and perverted
people, some of them serving as pastors or as Bible teachers, who are also
within the gatherings of the church, the Temple of God. But they are the
defiled, the licentious (wicked, immoral) who are continuing in habitual sin.
They are “the nations” who are trampling the holy city. And
the holy city is the church, the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ.
And the nations are all people who have not surrendered their hearts to God,
who are not of faith in Jesus Christ but are those who deny Him by how they
live. And they are both Jew and Gentile who do not honor Christ as Lord of
their lives but who are still living to please the flesh and not to please God
with their lives.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Corrupting the Church
So many of them have invaded the gatherings of the church
and they are corrupting the church, the body of Christ, with their deceptions
and with their false teachings and with their false gospels (see John 10:1-13).
We need to not be those who buy into their lies, but we must be those who
refute their lies and who expose their deceptions for what they really are. We
need to be the Lord’s witnesses and messengers who are taking the gospel truth
to the people, teaching death to sin and obeying God.
So, please be aware that there is no “temple of God” other
than Christ himself and His body the church comprised of all who, by God-gifted
faith in Jesus Christ, have denied self, died to sin, and who are obeying our
Lord’s commands in life practice. But there are Christians who have fallen back
into sin who need to repent and to obey God, too. And the only “Holy City” is
the church, the body of Christ. And all who deny Christ as the Messiah (Jew and
Gentile) are not God’s people. They are the nations who oppose Christ.
[Matthew 21:43; John 8:18-19,38-47; John 10:16; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:1-6; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; 1 Peter 2:9-10,24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9; see also Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19]
They Trample the Holy City
An Original Work / October 15,
2026
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
My Witnesses
An Original Work /
April 26, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
You shall be called
My witnesses
Unto Me in
Jerusalem.
Harken to Me, won’t
you believe
Jesus is calling you
home?
Trust in Your Lord
and God to save
Everyone who trusts
His name.
Let everyone who
says he’s saved
Honor and magnify My
name.
Won’t you believe in
Me today?
I have provided the
Way.
I lay My life down
for your soul.
Won’t you trust Me
to make you whole?
Oh, how I love and
care for you.
Would you abide with
Me in truth?
Listen to Me, now
hear My plea,
Won’t you trust Me
with your all?
I gave My life, so
you go free.
Won’t you bow down
on bended knee?
No comments:
Post a Comment