In his sermon 'Witnesses Standing Before the God of the Earth,' Scott Brown explores the complex imagery and symbolism found in Revelation 11, focusing on the two witnesses, the temple, and the role of the Church in a hostile world. Brown interprets the measuring of the temple as a metaphor for God's protection and ownership of the Church, emphasizing that true believers live before the face of God and are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The sermon highlights the power given to the two witnesses, likening them to olive trees and lampstands, and explains their role in condemning unbelievers through the word of God. Brown discusses the ongoing conflict between the Church and the secular state, illustrating the persecution faced by believers, but also the promise of vindication through the final resurrection. He stresses the importance of understanding these images as part of the apocalyptic literature of Revelation, encouraging believers to find comfort and strength in their faith amidst trials.

Please open your Bibles to Revelation, chapter 11. We'll be reading verses 1 through 14. This is the inerrant, all sufficient, holy word of truth. Let's read verse one. Then I was given a read like a measuring rod, and the angel stood saying, "'Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar and those who worship there.

But leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months and I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy.

For, and they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire when they finish their testimony the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the streets of the great city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified then those from the peoples tribes tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and will not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them and they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them come up here And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.

In the earthquake, 7, 000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, The third woe is coming quickly. Let's pray. Father, you've laid before our eyes such dramatic and remarkable images.

Lord, we pray that you would give us all, every one of us, a heart to obey you. What the images mean help us to obey. Lord we pray that you would use these images to draw us to you and anyone who is dull or unbelieving that you would use these images father to send them away different. Amen. Please be seated.

So we find ourselves seeing again what John saw and he saw the church. He saw the church. It's described in verse 4, standing before the God of the earth. This is what the church does. This is what true Christians do is they stand before God.

They live literally before the face of God. And just from the reading, I know you're wondering what in the world does this mean. It's a very difficult passage to interpret. I'll do my best. And if there are disagreements, I would love to talk and continue to learn as well.

But children don't miss this. This is doctrine in 3D. This is pictorial theology and you're going to see particular very helpful important doctrinal truths laid before your eyes in these pictures. Almost as if you were seeing these pictures on a screen and there are the biblical doctrines that stand behind those images. I mean just look at look at what's here.

You've got a measuring rod, you've got a temple, you've got two witnesses, you've got sack cloth, you have olive trees and lampstands, you've got fire proceeding out of the mouth of the witnesses of God, you have waters turning to blood and plagues, and you have a beast, someday we'll do a little study on the animals in the book of Revelation. You have Sodom, you have Egypt, you have Jerusalem, as it turns out they're all the same. You have a breath from God, you have an earthquake, you have 7, 000 people killed. So there's a lot of imagery here, all of it has meaning, all of it points to the glory of God, all of it points to the power of Jesus Christ, and all of it points to sound doctrine. So check the doctrine.

Now, this chapter illustrates in pictures one of the effects of the power of the gospel, the sweetness of the gospel. Because when a person Repents and they turn to Jesus Christ Their lives change and their whole orientation toward the world has changed and frankly if their lives have not changed They didn't really receive Christ. They did something else. They received a false gospel. But when a person comes to Jesus Christ, they are born again, they have a new life with a different worldview.

Jesus becomes Lord over all of your life, every part of your life, and everything changes in the way that you live, in the way that you view the world, in the way that you view people in the world, in the way that you see rocks and trees. You think of everything as different like never before. And you know, Jesus said, unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And what does that mean? It means that you, in humility, you receive his authority in your life and you grow, little children grow.

Some of you are little children you won't always look like that, you will grow. A true Christian grows they humbly accept the word of truth and then they grow. And your whole community changes. You no longer walk in the ways of the Gentiles. You walk with what were called the people of the book, the word of God, and you quit walking according to the traditions of the world, the traditions that you receive from your fathers.

You turn away from an immoral world, and this causes conflicts. And Jesus said that this divides families, and it divides churches, and it also divides nations. And that's what you see right here in this chapter. You see tremendous division that's caused by the witness, by the witnesses. So, Okay, so where are we in this book?

We're just coming to the end now of the second major section in this book in chapter 11 The first three chapters address local churches They're called lampstands and then from verse 4 on You have various pictures of life on earth and pictures in heaven and we've Reviewed those then you you know enter into the judgments the seal judgments the seven judgments The seals that are open they in that one ends in the second coming. And then we have now progressed onto the trumpet judgments. We have gone through all the first six trumpet judgments and you'll find that the sixth trumpet judgment also ends in the second coming. John is painting before us cycles of history, things that happen in history and they end in the second coming and now we're coming to the end of that second section between the sixth and the seventh trumpets. There's an interlude between the sixth and the seventh trumpet, just like there was an interlude between the sixth and the seventh seal.

And this is a pattern that John continues in these cycles of history. And so we're in this period of an interlude just before another declaration of the Second Coming. We'll touch on it briefly today and expand on it next week. And these interludes are, I believe they're just composed to be pictures to comfort the church, to help them to see, almost to pull back and say, look what's happening in heaven, look what's happening with the powers and the principalities. And all along we've been seeing what God is doing and what the devil is doing and what is happening in heaven and how it all correlates with with life on the earth.

Okay so that's where we are. Now you remember if you were here with us last week the previous chapter ended or the previous section ended with a picture of the Word of God. And John is commanded to eat it. And so he eats it. And he finds that it's sweet to his taste.

But you remember what else it was. It was also bitter to his stomach. There was difficulty that was involved in it. And it's possible that this chapter before us now illustrates that bitterness and the conflict that takes place and what is it? It's fury from an ungodly world against the church, against the witnesses of the church And the people who are illustrated here, they speak the word of God and they will experience not just mocking, they will experience people in the world who want to be rid of them, who want to expunge them from the earth and they will finally kill them.

And so you find here the beast, he's waging a very aggressive ground war against the people of God. So, you know, what am I hoping for from our time this morning? You know, I want to move us to understand just very clearly and accept it and not be worried about it that we will be in aroma of death to death in the World will be an aroma of life to our brethren But but the truth is we're being warned Somebody once said to to be forewarned is to be forearmed. And I hope that this is a forearming of this church living in the midst of a culture that seems to be running off the railroad tracks. And Revelation is full of forewarnings and forearmings.

And the beautiful thing about God is he tells the truth about the world. You don't you don't get a sugarcoat. You get the real thing and that's what we find here And the truth is the sheep that are of God's people in the church, they walk among wolves and because They walk to the beat of a different drummer and as a result they are exposed. You know, a couple of weeks ago I did a broadcast. We were talking about this book that I edited called When to Disobey by Pierre Verre.

And there's a chapter on the sheep walking among wolves. It was my favorite chapter. I hope you get a chance to listen to it. Just it's very comforting, very compelling, but there's great conflict and this has always been the case of God's witnesses in the world. They had hills to die on and some of them actually did die and what is Here is the beast waging war against the church.

And we've seen global movements of the beast mounting up to try to control your family, to try to control your church, to try to control your movements, to try to control what you put in your body. This is what the secular state always wants to do. We've been so privileged to live in the midst of a secular state that hasn't wanted to do those things, that seems to be changing. And we live in a world now where the education of children is controlled and they want to teach your kindergartners their sexual preferences. So this is, this is, these are marks of the beast operating in the world today.

But what you find here is the church standing before God on the earth. The church is standing before God on the earth in this passage. And I really I like the way John MacArthur in his commentary on these words, he says, throughout history, God has faithfully sent his spokesmen to call sinners to repentance. And then he quotes 2nd King 17, where the Lord is calling his people to repent. We read this.

Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments, my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you through my servants, the prophets. However, they stiffened their necks like their fathers and did not believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and his warnings with which he warned them. Well, This is a picture of actually the people who did obey. They did turn and they became witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you have these dramatic scenes. If you have an outline in front of you, you'll see I've divided it into four sections here. Four sections that really describe the church standing before God in a hostile world. And the first image is in the first two verses, the measuring of the temple to distinguish the true and the false. And then the second section is the work of these two witnesses in verses three through six.

And then thirdly, the witnesses are struck down. They're nullified, they're canceled in verses seven through 10. And then finally, the fourth section, the witnesses are vindicated. And that's from verses 11 to 14, all of this leading up to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now, okay, I just wanna review interpretive principles that we've been operating on.

I realize these images are difficult. I'm gonna give you my very best take on them. I'm doing my best. But first of all, we always have to remember whenever we're in the Book of Revelation, what kind of genre this literature is. It's apocalyptic literature.

It is literature which is characterized by symbolism. In the first three verses of the book of Revelation we are told that this is a book of symbols. It's a book of pictures. And John has been giving us picture after picture of what he saw. And in this passage there are many many pictures of measuring rods and temples and witnesses and olive trees and all these things that we've already talking about.

This is doctrine in pictures. So we always have to remember that when we're reading the book of Revelation. And by the way, if you read the prophets in the Old Testament, you know that's what it is. If you read them carefully they're always speaking in symbols secondly when you see a symbol use scripture to interpret scripture don't go to the newspaper go to the Bible go to particularly go to the Old Testament John has hundreds over 500 images of Old Testament people and situations in the book of Revelation. It's just packed with Old Testament imagery and we should always go back and say what does the Word of God say about this?

And then thirdly, read it as it is written. Just read it like it's written naturally, like you would read a book. Don't have a grid in your mind necessarily. Revelation presents these various cycles of history. That's what, If you just read it, that's the way it sounds.

And then fourthly, Revelation is written to encourage a persecuted church by giving her pictures. So that she's not surprised with what's happening to her. She has the pictures. Get the pictures in your mind. And then fifthly, Revelation is written to exalt Jesus Christ and his victory over the powers of darkness.

You know, if you find yourself thinking very differently about how I'm going to interpret this today don't worry about it see Jesus Christ see his power see his glory see his wisdom see these amazing pictures and what they mean and go obey it so those are five interpretive approaches to this book okay let's get into the text Verses one and two you see this measuring of the temple to distinguish the true and the false. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod and the angel stood saying rise and measure the temple of God, the altar and those who worship there, but leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, For it has been given to the Gentiles and they will tread the holy city Underfoot for two months. Well, what is here is what it's like to stand before God in the world and It has to do with this picture, this snapshot, and it's a picture of the temple. The people of God in the temple are measured. They are, just by way of summary, they're documented.

They're hemmed in behind and before. There are boundary lines that hold them in. At the same time, there are others outside who will trample that temple, and we've seen manifestations of the outside world wanting to trample the temple of God in lockdowns and closing of businesses and destroying social life and scaring people away from one another and away from worship. But John is commanded to measure and he's given a rod, actually a reed. What we think this is is a reed maybe 15, 20 feet long that was used to measure various items.

It was a hollow stock and lightweight. That's the kind of imagery that we find here and the temple is measured but not the entire temple complex as we see in the Old Testament only the intertemple only the inner temple only the holy place and the holy of holies The court of the Gentiles doesn't exist here. There's no more outer court in this temple. It's a picture of the post resurrection where God's people are one in the temple. There is no court of the Gentiles, but there are unbelievers on the outside.

And so this is not about architecture. This is about people. This is about people who are in the temple. And What's measured is the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. This is imagery, this is instruction about the temple.

What is the temple of God? And what you have here, you have boundaries that are surveyed for inclusion, boundaries for protection of God's people. Now, some people interpret this as the rebuilding of a literal temple next to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem where sacrifice is restored, where tribulation Jews will worship God, and of course, you know, there are people who are, they've raised money for plans for a new temple raised to breed red heifers, which are mentioned in Numbers 19, where apparently the ashes of the red heifer mixed with water were thought to be a purifying element for the priests to do their service again in the temple of God and I'll just have to say if this did happen if the temple was built it would be absolute blasphemy Jesus Christ died for sinners once for all there will be no new temple there will no be no new legitimate sacrifices Jesus Christ paid for your sins and it's not the blood of bulls and goats. So it's blasphemy. And you have many messianic Christians, they embrace this idea, it's blasphemy.

And you should just tell them it's blasphemy. Now, measuring is a mark of ownership, it's a mark of division, and you know what that's like. If you've purchased a piece of property, you measure it. And this is what title searches are all about. You need to know what you're buying and the property lines have to be verified.

So you hire a surveyor and you mark the boundaries of the property that you're buying and that it belongs to you. It's a mark of ownership. But it's the temple here and we have to ask what does the Bible say about the temple and as it turns out the Bible says much about the temple You know in the Old Testament and particularly first in the tabernacle and then in the temple It was the place where God met with his people was we're talking about imagery that speaks about God meeting with his people in a temple and this This whole idea of the temple in the Bible is so rich. And, you know, in some places the temple is like a mountain. In other places it's like a garden.

It's a tabernacle. It's, in the New Testament, it's the church. In the New Testament, It's the Christian. So this imagery of the temple is very, very rich. And Adam and Eve were in the first temple because what was in the garden was in the tabernacle and was in the temple and is in heaven.

And it's also implied to be in the church. You know, in the garden you had trees and a river and precious metals. You have that in the tabernacle in imagery and you also have it in the temple and you also have that in heaven. Wait till we get to the end of Revelation, you'll see it again. You'll see the garden coming down and Eden is restored.

So this whole matter of the temple is so rich. Well, what do I think the focus is here? The temple is representative of the church, of the true church. When he's mentioning temple, he's mentioning the Church of Jesus Christ. And why would I say that?

Well, in 1st Corinthians 3, 16, the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church, he told the Church that they were the temple of God, and also that there are terrifying consequences if you do anything to harm it. 1 Corinthians 3, 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. That's the meaning of the temple, I believe in Revelation 11.

In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 22, 20 through 22, Paul, he actually tells the Ephesian church that God has fitted them together into a temple and that they are stones in the temple. He says, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So the temple is the church, it's the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So the temple is the church. It's the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 4 through 10, Peter is telling those who've been scattered because of persecution, that they were like living stones in a spiritual house. He says that we're coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ So this temple in Revelation 11 is the church. It's a picture of the true church. God is measuring and hemming in and protecting the church.

I think David said, Lord you hem me in behind and before you've laid your hand upon me. This is a picture of the protection of God for his people and the world and the Temple is the place where God meets with his people. That's why we gather. We want to meet with God. We read his word, we pray, we sing, we hear preaching, we fellowship, we meet to meet with God, and It's a wonderful thing.

I love what Psalm 92 verse 12 says about this. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. And they shall bear fruit in old age.

They shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. Oh, There's so many good things that come with being in the temple of God. If you're a Christian, you live in the temple of God. You're standing before God in the temple of God. Every day, everywhere you go, you drive to work, you're in the temple of God.

You are the temple of God. When you come to be with the people of God, you are in the temple of God again. So it's such a rich and beautiful thing. However, there's some difficult news here in verse two. The Gentiles will trample the temple.

They'll always be wanting to trample the temple for it has been given to the Gentiles and they will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months. This is the attempt of the devil to disfigure the worship of God and this is this is something the Gentiles do. How did that happen? Why does that happen? Well the language in the text tells us it was God that gave them the authority to do that.

It says, for it has been given to the Gentiles. By who? By God. So don't ever worry about it. God is doing it.

You can't look around and find anything in the world that God isn't somehow doing and using for his own glory. Even when the Gentiles try to trample the temple of God, it has been given by God for them to do it. So this whole message of these first two verses is this, is a picture of the church dwelling in the temple of God. David called it the tabernacle of the most high. He said he will hide me in his pavilion in the secret place of his tabernacle.

He shall hide me. He shall set my feet upon a rock. This is in Psalm 27 where David is just talking about the refuge of God in his temple wherever you go and it's as if he sets you high upon a rock in another psalm he says he he almost hands you in like a bubble and he protects you from the slander of tongues this is your God he's so good Even in the midst of this world, this is a picture of standing in the world before the face of God. Can you remember that? Isn't that the most precious thing in the world is to be in a moment, in a conversation, and you realize that you're standing before the face of God.

You're talking with a friend and you realize that you're also standing before the face of God. This is the precious gift of salvation. So, but God not only gives power to the Gentiles, he also gives power to his witnesses. Look at verses 3 through 6. We come to this section of the two witnesses and the same language.

I will give power He not only gives power to the Gentiles to trample The temple he also gives power to his two witnesses and I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth." Now, notice two words, power and witnesses. Now, when we study, when we began our study in the book of Revelation, do you remember where we actually started? We started in the book of Acts. We started in Acts chapter 1 and we went to chapter 2 and I did that. The purpose was to first of all see the transition between the Old and the New Testament but to see the figurative language that's used of the church in Acts 1 & 2 and the fundamental principle that Jesus wanted the Apostles to understand.

They said, Lord when is the time when you're going to restore the kingdom? When Lord? And he says it's not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. That's what we're talking about here. This is a picture of the witnesses.

They don't know exactly when the time of his coming is, but here's one thing they do have. They have the Holy Spirit. They have all they need God is a fully fully equipped them to deal with the raging and the fury of the secular state and the unbelievers in the world and so These are witnesses you shall be my witnesses and these here are witnesses. Now, I want us to understand what it means to be a witness. It actually means many things but I think in this context, It's helpful to understand a little bit about the Greek word witness or witnesses.

And it's the Greek word, martus. And it's actually a word that's connected with the prosecution of criminals. The witness, the witnessing is a prosecution of criminals. It's a condemnation of criminals. And It's a courtroom term, it's courtroom language and it pictures a person who observes something and then they bear witness to it to prosecute it.

And It's a courtroom drama kind of a word. Like for example, there are other words that come from it. Marturia, same from the root Martus. Marturia is a court testimony. Martureo is to testify.

Marturian is the word for evidence. Pseudomarturia, you know what that is, it's a false witness. So The witnesses here are condemning the world for their rejection of God. And there are two of them in this text, is it literal? Why two?

Go back to the Old Testament, where it was required to have two witnesses in order to prosecute a criminal. In Deuteronomy 17 verse 16, Moses tells the children of Israel about the law of witnesses. Witnesses are required for prosecution. Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

So this is a formal process where charges are brought. And these are charges brought against an unbelieving world. In Deuteronomy 19 15 we read a very similar thing, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. So this is this is a way that charges are brought. If you have time to turn over to your Bibles, maybe later on today to Luke chapter 10, you notice that the disciples were sent out two by two.

They were bringing charges. They were bringing charges of rebellion to a watching world. They weren't just simply saying Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. They were they were actually saying you have sinned, you have rebelled against God, turn please turn to the living God. And who are they?

Well there's imagery to describe them. It's really graphic imagery and you might just say who you know who am I who am I as a Christian children you know what is a Christian oh He's like an olive tree and a lampstand. Verse 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies.

And if anyone wants to harm them fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies and If anyone wants to harm them he must be killed in this manner These have the power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy and they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire." So who are these witnesses? Well they they are likened to olive trees and they are likened to lampstands. There's a comparison that is being made here and fire actually proceeds out of their mouths. They are witnesses of the glory of God in an apostate world and I don't believe that the olive trees and the lampstands speak of literal matters. They are men who are referred to as olive trees and lampstands.

So how do you interpret this? I believe these are not just simply two individuals, they represent the true church. And again, we go back to that basic hermeneutical principle. How do you know that? Well, why would you even think that?

Because scripture interprets scripture. If you want to know what something means, then go back to the Word of God. And then we'll go to Zechariah 4 where we'll speak of this, but now remember lampstands. Well, haven't we already encountered lampstands in Revelation? In the first three chapters, the seven churches were lampstands, and these lampstands were witnesses in the world in these particular cities.

So we've seen that lampstands are actually churches in Revelation And what do they do? What do these witnesses do? Well, they cause it not to rain. Who was it that caused it not to rain? In the Old Testament, for three and a half years.

For the exact same amount of time. It was Elijah, 1st King 17 verse 1. And who was it that turned the waters into blood to bring plagues upon Egypt and Pharaoh's domination of God's people? Well, of course it was Moses. So these witnesses are like Elijah and they are like Moses and they stand before a watching world to testify that God is condemning sinners unless they repent.

And the symbolism here is actually very beautiful, olive trees and lampstands. So open your Bible to Zechariah chapter 4 and you'll see where this imagery comes from to get some understanding of what these olive trees are all about and what the lampstands represent as well. Zechariah 4 verse 1, now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who is wakened out of his sleep and he said to me what do you see? So I said I'm looking and there is a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it. And on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

Two olive trees are by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me saying, What are these, Lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, do you not know what they are? And I said, no, Lord, no, my Lord. So he answered me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

So what's that all about? Well you have to understand what the book of Zechariah is all about. The captives returned from Babylon. They're rebuilding the wall, they're rebuilding the temple, they've been attacked severely. At one point they even stopped for 17 years because the fury of the Gentiles was so difficult for them to...they just stopped.

They just stopped in fear of the secular state. And the whole book of Zechariah is to encourage these people who've returned not to give up but to keep building, keep going, keep... God is gonna bless your efforts and he gives he gives the people through Zechariah a picture all the way to the end of the second coming. He's saying, don't despise the day of small things. I know you're poor.

I know there are ruins. Don't despise the day of small things. I'm doing something so big, so great, so wonderful. The entire book of Zechariah is written for that purpose, just to encourage the captives who come back to tell them how good God is. It's gonna be okay.

That's really the message of Zechariah. And it's not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. In other words, it's just what Jesus said to the disciples. He said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. But this image is so remarkable.

You have these olive trees, okay, and they are, and out of the olive trees is coming oil through these pipes, and it's fueling the seven lampstands. It's a picture of the oil of the Holy Spirit fueling the church of Jesus Christ, getting fed from heaven, being nourished secretly. You know, this is why it's so important that you're nourished in the word of God. Keep nourishing yourself. You know, the reason often we get discouraged and flat is because we're not feeding.

We've turned the oil down and there's not that much oil running. You might just check your dipstick, you know, how much oil is running. You know what happens when the dipstick runs dry. I mean, that's what happens to you and me when we're not filled with the Holy Spirit. So these are witnesses who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

And they have the oil flowing and their lampstands are bright. That's the picture that's here. And they are standing before the Lord in the midst of the fury of the secular state. And they're standing. And I'll just add they're happy because they understand what God is doing but it's not just that it's a little bit more nuanced we'll get to that in a minute but they're empowered by the Spirit because they have that continual flow.

They're standing before the face of God and being fed from heaven. You know, and I was bouncing around looking for this whole matter in John 5 35. We learned that John the Baptist, he was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a time in his light. You know, it's so good when your fellow brethren and your sister are shining. You're so helpful to one another when you're filled with the Word of God, when you're filled with truth, when you're filled with the love of God.

You're so helpful to each other. And so, you know, we all have a responsibility to be filled with the Holy Spirit together. All of us have a responsibility to put away everything that hinders. All of us have a responsibility to set aside every impure thing so that our eyes are bright, so that our lamps are shining brightly. Brothers and sisters, be holy.

Shine like John the Baptist. Shine like these witnesses who are moving not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit, says the Lord. So how long will they testify? 1260 days. 1260 days.

So Maybe you're not used to hearing this, but these, I believe these numbers are figurative. The number seven is used in a figurative way all throughout Revelation, all throughout the Bible. In Revelation the number four, the number twelve, the number 144, 000, the number 666, these are representative numbers. They represent something else. And these 1, 260 days, it's the same amount of time as 42 months.

It's the same amount of time as three and a half years. It's the same amount of time as time, times, and half of times. They're talking about the same thing using different numerical qualities And I believe he's talking about this is not an enduring time, it's a limited time, that the trampling of the nations happens from time to time for short periods of time, and the numbers are figurative, meaning that the church will face periods of persecution. But what about the Christians? They're protected in the invisible sanctuary of the temple of God.

Like David said in Psalm 27, he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret place of his tabernacle, he shall hide me. And what's their mood? Well, I said that they were happy. What I really mean by that is that when you know that God is in control, you're really free, and you can smile a lot more than most people, but they're clothed in sackcloth. So it's not just that they're strong and mighty because the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God gives them love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness.

At the same time they're mourning, they're in sackcloth. All the reference to this term sackcloth appear when it's about mourning. So I just, I can't think, they're also mourning. They are filled with the Spirit, all of the fruits of the Spirit, but they're also mourning. You know, God has this nuanced way of working through his people.

You're not just Joe happy-clappy, you also have a realistic view of the world. And that's what these witnesses have. And they're mourning over the state of their heroes. Remember in the previous chapters we saw how the devil punishes and wrecks the lives of his own, how he drives them to drink, he drives them to drugs, he drives them to all kinds of diseases, he tortures them, he beats them, he hates them. C.S.

Lewis says, the devil doesn't really like pleasure, but he only just gives them just a little bit so that he can finally take it all away from them. That's the devil. But I think that these witnesses that are mourning because of the harm of sin in the world and how painful it is to live without Jesus Christ and how dangerous it is to reject God because, well, you'll see the end of it here in this book. So, and what happens to those who attack these witnesses? This is interesting.

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. So, fire is coming out of their mouths and licking them up. They're like flame, you know, mobile flame throwers, right? Is that what that is? Is it literal?

Is God going to modify these men's bodies so they'll be like fire-breathing dragons, you know, to just scorch whoever's in their way? Well, frankly, no. That's actually what Muslims do. But Christians don't do that. Christians don't torch their enemies.

So if this is a picture of actually burning up your enemies, it's totally inconsistent from the way the apostles operated, or really any of the people of God have operated. This is what the persecutors of the church do. They kill their enemies. So it must be a different kind of fire. I think it's a different kind of fire.

Have you ever heard the term fire breathing Calvinist? Have you ever heard the term fire breathing Calvinist? Have you ever heard the term fire breathing feminist? One dictionary gives eight definitions of fire breathing. I'll just read you one.

Angry or forceful rhetoric. I did bump into one feminist writer who said, women like me breathe fire. So I think it's figurative, I think it's like that. But what kind of fire is it? I believe that Jeremiah 15 verse 14, gives us some idea of what kind of fire this is, where Jeremiah says, God says to Jeremiah, because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people would, and it shall devour them.

Now, was Jeremiah actually burning people? No, he was speaking the Word of God and it caught fire and the people were like wood in that sense. So I think he's talking about speaking the word of God, which is like fire. You know, the Bible is called fire, it's called a hammer, it's called water, It's called a sword. There are different ways the word of God is spoken about.

David spoke of the word of God like fire actually coming out of the mouth of God in 2 Samuel 22 verse one. Smoke went up from his nostrils. That's not literal. God doesn't have nostrils. It's figurative.

And fire from his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. This is all figurative language to speak of the power of the word of God. He also spoke like this in Psalm 18, David did, of how God delivered him, his figurative language. Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken.

Because he was angry, smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. So the word of God is like a fire. And I was struck by what Jonathan Edwards said about this verse. He said, for all who hear the word of God shall be conquered by it.

God's word always comes as a conqueror. And I would just add, it comes and you are either conquered by the devil and your rejection of it, or you are conquered by the living loving God and you repent and you have oil and you're like a lampstand and you're filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what you get with fire. One effect or another. The Word of God is always designed to divide.

It divides people. It divides people into sheep and goats. It divides into light and darkness. The Word of God is sweet, but it's also bitter. It has a hard edge and it cuts.

It cuts and it heals. And every person hearing probably should ask, is the word of God healing me or is it separating me from the people of God? You know, who are you today? That's really a question that I think is appropriate. So the words of the witnesses are like fire.

They are a condemnation of the wicked. Remember they are Martus, they are witnesses. They're bringing accusations against an ungodly world. They are bringing a voice of judgment against the wicked in the world. And here, these witnesses, they're standing before the face of God and they're being fed through these pipes full of oil.

And what's the impact of their presence? Plagues. Verse 6. And they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. Now we already know the Bible teaches it all over the place that God brings down plagues upon the oppressors of the church.

He punishes the nations, he brings earthquakes, he brings floods. Whenever you see an earthquake or a flood or a fire, you know that God is doing something to move people's hearts. And what kind of plagues are these? And again, I believe these plagues should be understood figuratively And in just the tormenting of the consciences of the unrepentant, this is the language of Gregory Beale who speaks of this. He says, when God's people pronounce judgment, the city of God strikes the ungodly community with every manner of plague especially the plaguing of his or her conscience he continues the plagues also had the effect of tormenting the minds of unbelievers by reminding them of their hopeless spiritual plight which results in forms of depression.

There are plagues that fall upon people. Some are physical, some are mental, and some are eternal. So these witnesses are the ones whom God has sent through the earth. They are the Church of Jesus Christ who advanced his kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the preaching of the Word of God, and they are living in an invisible temple, the temple of God. So they come with a message that makes people very uncomfortable.

It reminds them of their guilt. It tells them of God's displeasure. It tells them that they're defiling themselves. This is what Christians do in the world. They actually tell the truth about what's happening.

They don't pander to a culture that acts like there's really nothing wrong. And they confirm the guilt of the world before God and they condemn a culture in rebellion against God and they are at war with the beast. Let me just say the entertainment industry is one of the great beasts alive in the world. The largest companies in the world, the wealthiest men in the world are promoting the things of the beast and the political parties are beasts. The Democratic Party is a beast promoting the LGBTQ lifestyle and all that goes with it.

These are beasts in the world, they're waging war against the Church of Jesus Christ in our day. And here you have these witnesses and they're standing before God in the world. They're standing before the face of God with the pipes of the oil flowing in. Well then, because of their message, they're struck down. This is verses seven through 10.

They're struck down. They will be persecuted. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them and overcome them and kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified, that would be Jerusalem, then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now this is a picture of the demonic power of the state. These are the moral tyrants.

These are the political tyrants. These are the business tyrants. These are the media tyrants. And the language actually comes right out of Daniel 7. The beast will always be at war with the people of God.

All your life long they have been just taking different forms today. And so you have this, you have these beasts, these unbiblical philosophies, and they're actually dividing the church today. The environmental movement, the woke critical race theory movement, the LGBTQ movement, the medical tyranny movement, all these things are dividing and they're working against. But you notice the fierce hatred that the beast has. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war against them and overcome them and kill them.

So this is martyrdom. Some of them will be killed. We've already read about this earlier that some will be killed, not all, but some. And here's what's happening. The secular state wants the witnesses of the truth to disappear.

They actually want them dead. And so they take measures against them. And the people of God will die on these hills of truth in the word of God. They'll die on the hill of the seventh commandment not to commit murder, the murder of unborn children. They'll die on the hill of all the commandments of God.

You know the last two months 48 churches were burned to the ground in in Canada. Isn't that interesting? I mean it's they're only buildings It's not that big of a deal. But you get some idea of the fury. You know, one of the old commentators, Hengstenberg, said, with their death, we'll accomplish more than their life.

And that's true. When a person dies, God is glorifying himself. It's not the end of the world. And often a person's effect is greater after they die. So there's this public outcry of dishonor toward these witnesses and they have they're so happy the the ungodly are so thankful they're joyful now they're smiling because God's witnesses have been neutralized that's verse 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom in Egypt, where our Lord was crucified.

It wasn't enough to kill them. Now they're just gonna keep celebrating their deaths and mock their dead bodies and vent their rage and express their malice while they are dead. They're just not satisfied with killing them. They have to make a memorial of them with their dead bodies. Now this is all symbolic.

You know why? Because they were killed in Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem. It's all one place. Well Sodom is over here. Egypt is over there, and Jerusalem is down the road.

But no, it's one place, it's spiritual, it's figurative, it's figurative of evil in its various forms. And you know, this type of thing has happened many times. If you read about the Scottish Reformation, I have several books on the Scottish Reformation and you know people were hung up to be seen on display. Nero did the same thing in Rome. They're just so happy to see the Christians gone.

And that's what you find here. A city like Sodom for their immorality, a city like Egypt for their persecution and subjugation of God's people, a city like Jerusalem which was fake through and through. So there's, if you look at these words Sodom and Egypt, you'll find that these are figurative. There are many places where that's very, very clear. But what's happening here is really interesting.

The witness of the church is neutralized for a time. The church, it almost seems like the church disappears. And this does happen in different places in different times where the persecution is so fierce that the church, if it doesn't completely disappear, it's so small. This has happened in the United Kingdom in recent years where the church and its voice has been canceled. You know it happened you know looking back to the churches in Smyrna and Erna and Ephesus and the other churches in Asia You know there used to be a vibrant church in Smyrna.

We have missionaries there today In the modern city of Izmir same city almost no Christians Islam worked to destroy the church and they they have so canceled the church I mean in in Izmir there are only four places missionaries four cities in the entire country, missionaries can live. Because that secular state, or that religious secular state, wants to know where the Christians are so that they can get them. So this does happen and the prophets you know often fall down and they don't want to stand and they don't want to put their heads out there for exposure. It's really interesting. There's a real decline going on today of men who want to preach the word in a church.

There's too much attack, there are too many problems, there's too many disappointments, there's too much failure, there's too much worldliness in the church. And so the truth is that, you know, in America the army is kind of thinning, at least the army of preachers is thinning. That's just a reality. Perhaps this is a picture of it where the prophets are being canceled. And then finally the witnesses are vindicated.

Now I won't elaborate much on this section because we'll pick it up again next week. But verses 11 through 15, which I believe refer to the final resurrection, which I understand this as the church and her witnesses are now finally protected. They've been canceled, they've been killed, but they will be raised again. Verse 11, now after three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them and they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them come up here and they ascended to heaven in a cloud and their enemies saw them in the same hour there's a great earthquake and I tipped that the city fell in the earthquake seven thousand people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. And I do believe this is the final resurrection and no one will ever be able to treat these witnesses that way again.

And then verse 14, the second woe is past, behold the third woe is coming quickly. And then in the remaining verses of chapter 11 you have this beautiful picture of the second coming and then the seventh trumpet sounds. And so that's what we find. Now all this tells us that God, the temple of God represents God dividing his people from the people of the world. The olive trees and The lampstands speak of just the beauty and the beautification of the people of God by the Holy Spirit.

The fire that consumes is the power of the word of God to take down strongholds and to set captives free. The beast symbolizes the hatred of the world toward the church, how the church will be canceled, but not forever. And the breath of life from God will enter them. So here we are standing in the world before the face of God. And in the measuring of the temple, You must know who you are, whether you're in the temple of God or the temple of the devil, worshiping with him and his celebrities.

In the two witnesses you will have power. In the fury of the beast you'll be persecuted. In the resurrection you'll be vindicated and you'll be taken to everlasting joy. So I asked at the beginning that you just think about how you might obey what's here. I don't know what the Lord has been moving in your heart about.

I pray that you walk away out of here differently than when you came in. If you came in discouraged, I hope you're going to walk out so encouraged with the power of God. If you came here just seemingly hopelessly trapped in your sin that you'll walk out of here repenting. If you walked in here and you didn't know the Lord and you know it, walk out of here, walking and leaping and praising God and know that there is a God in heaven and he's governing everything in the world and he is giving power to the beast, but more power to his own. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it.

I'd like you to just have us pause for a few moments and meditate, and then I would like to lead us in prayer. Father, thank you for giving us these words of truth that are both sweetness to our souls and also testimonies of reality of the world that we live in. I pray, oh Lord, that in this church you would find your holiness and the oil flowing. Lord, we're so thankful for your many gifts toward your church in the midst of this fallen world. We thank you for putting us here.

We Thank you.