As followers of Christ, we are citizens of Heaven. That is our primary citizenship. All other earthly citizenships are secondary.
October 28, 2024
Speaker: Greg Sanders
Passage: Revelation 11:1-2
I think this is one of the most important passages in the entire book. I think it’s very central in the Scriptures, as far as the book of Revelation, it kind of sits in the middle. But I also think just for the day we’re in and the time we’re in, it’s an incredibly important passage.
Chapter 11, verse 1, “Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, ‘go and measure the Temple of God and count the number of worshipers. Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar and count the number of worshippers. But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for forty-two months.'”
I want to pick up on some early observations in it. The word then. Then always means something. Then only happens after something. Okay, so after what? So, the picture we just had in chapter 10 was this picture of the severity and the might of Heaven. You remember John seeing an angel that is standing one foot on a continent and the other foot on a continent. It’s just this incredible being. And there’s some that are like, I think it’s Jesus. I don’t care who it was, it’s big.
And there was a reason the narrative brings it forward like that, because the goal, I think, of chapter 10, was to show John that no matter what Hell releases towards the people of God, it just takes one from the Heavenly realm to stand in their stead and to stand against them. We’re so protected. I think that was the point of 10. It doesn’t matter what Hell releases, the people of God are completely protected by the King.
So John’s invited here in 11 to look at something different. I think 10 was so he could grasp the infinite futility of humanity’s rant against God because that’s really what 10 was about. And I want us to just hold that idea in our hearts. It’s incredibly futile for humanity to rail against God. In other words, they can say what they want to say, they can stand in whatever positions they want to stand in, in the end, He’s the King, and it’s not in question.
So the nations can rage. Leaders can say what they want. They can do their worst, whether it’s a dictator or an official. Remember where Psalms says that He sits in the Heavens and does what? He laughs. Why? He’s not remotely questioning His own strength. He’s fully sovereign.
So John says, “Then I was given a measuring stick.” I want to invite our attention to this stick and the reality of what it means. What is a measuring stick used for? Measuring. That’s why it’s called a measuring stick. Determining dimension. He said, “I was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar and count the number of worshipers.'” So John’s told to both measure and count. It’s the language of inspection or an invitation for him to specifically focus on something. He’s permitted and he’s mandated to measure and focus on something.
This is the other half of what was spoken: “‘Do not measure the outer courtyard, for it’s been turned over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.'” So John, in the same communication, is restricted and reproved for measuring something different– the outer court– and it’s the clear language of caution. In other words, it’s a boundary. So we put it all together: John’s told to go measure the Temple of God and the altar and count the worshipers, but he’s told not to measure the outer court.
So, I want to talk about what I think this is symbolic of. Why would he be told that? Number one, his attention is to be on the Temple of God. So what’s the Temple of God? Are we talking he’s supposed to be looking at the structure of the Temple, and this is all about Jerusalem and Israel, and he’s supposed to look at the building?
Well, in 1 Corinthians 6, it teaches us that the people of God are actually the Temple of God, or the church is the Temple of God. The altar in this passage is significant because it’s the only altar left from the Temple system that’s in Heaven, and it’s the altar of incense, which means it’s symbolic of worship. And then the worshipers are those giving their attention to the Lamb, but his attention is not to be given to the outer court. What is that? It’s the Gentile court.
The church is symbolic of the systems and ideals of the outside world, and John’s told that it’s been turned over to the nations for a time. It’s their domain for a season. The indication would be that for this limited time, it’s been given to the pagan world to manage or wreak havoc within. Therefore, the question is not what John is to measure and not to measure. That’s really clear; we just itemized that. The question is, why is he directed to be intentional with his focus? Why would John be told to be very clear about what he measures and what he doesn’t?
It’s interesting– and I think it becomes a really important interpretive lens for us– do you remember where David counts Israel and gets rebuked for it? He’s reprimanded for measuring the people of God, and yet John is invited to. It feels very opposite. David was looking to validate strength and ability, so he’s reprimanded because he was looking at the wrong thing for his sense of security. Instead of David looking at the Lord and trusting the Lord and whatever the Lord said for his security, he wants to go measure the people of God to see if he is as strong as what God tells him to do.
It’d be like the Lord telling you, I want you to give X amount of money, and you decide I’m going to go to the bank account and see if I can really afford to do what the Lord just said. Anybody ever done that before? How many have done the opposite, where the Lord does that, and you’re like, All right, fine, whatever, and you just send it, and then the Lord provides ridiculously? And you’re like, oh, that’s how this is supposed to work.
See, John here is being directed for where to look to protect his heart from being misled. Let me say that again; John is being directed for where to look in order to protect his heart from being misled and to ensure security. What I see here is an exhortation to the people of God to focus on Heaven’s culture, the prayer and worship of God’s people– the community of the believers– and refuse to focus on the chaos of the outer court. In other words, John’s being gently reminded to keep his eye on the right thing. And I want to take this moment just to bring a cautionary reminder to this house: we are citizens, and we shouldn’t forget it.
I was thinking through this season we’re in and what we face as a people, and I found myself doing a deep dive into what a citizen is. So I looked up citizenship and just the words connected to it. Let me give you some definitions. What is a citizen? A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized. What’s a naturalized citizen? Someone who’s become a citizen of a country they were not born in.
What is citizenship? It’s a legal status that grants a person certain rights and responsibilities in a country. Rights: citizens have the right to vote, hold public office, to receive certain benefits, such as social security, health services, and public education. Responsibilities: they’re expected to obey the law, pay taxes, and defend their country. A citizen is responsible to defend their country, uphold the ideals, and work for the betterment of that country or kingdom.
That got me thinking about who we are in the Kingdom. We’re naturalized citizens of the Kingdom, correct? And based on this definition, we have responsibilities and rights that come with our citizenship. We’re also citizens of the United States. For the majority of us here, I would say that’s probably true.
How do we handle that duality is the question. How do you handle the duality of being both a citizen of Heaven and a citizen of the United States? Can we equally uphold both citizenships? What do we do when they’re at odds? Can we defend two territories at the same time? I don’t think it matters what we think about this, because I think that has gotten the church at large into a lot of trouble. I think it matters what the Scriptures say about this.
Do you know Paul faced the same thing, both privately and in the church? Privately, he was both a Roman citizen and a Jew. The Jew would have been an understood idea. It was nationality, yes, but primarily, it was a faith condition. And we see him over and over again identify with Jesus as his King.
He utilizes his citizenship to appeal for the cause of Christ. It’s interesting, Paul just over and over in his writings, will talk about Jesus as his King, Jesus is my King. Then we see him when he’s standing before Agrippa, and he finally says, Oh, hey, by the way, I’m actually a Roman citizen. Why did he say that? Because they had already beaten him up, and they weren’t supposed to do that to a Roman citizen. He kind of throws it out there as this gentle reminder to Agrippa: You guys already broke the law concerning me.
In the church, there was a rift between natural-born Jews and grafted-in Gentiles, or naturalized Gentiles. Paul will take Romans chapters 5-9, and will go into a line of teaching that had to be crazy controversial in the time. He declares that citizenship in the Kingdom of God has nothing to do with native birth and everything to do with faith.
He will honestly come out and say, what is a true Jew? It’s one who lives by faith. He declares there’s neither Jew nor Greek. In other words, their nationality was never to be of consequence. Okay? So therefore, just brace for this statement, please: being American is absolutely, completely secondary to being a citizen of the Kingdom.
We are living in a time of incredibly bizarre theology. And my cry for us and for this house is I want to invite us to be citizens of Heaven first, citizens of earth second, and that we would hold very carefully the ordinal.
We are in a critical season of politics. Please, vote. But vote for what supports and aligns with the Kingdom, not with a specific party, not with your own ideals. Because when our ideals don’t align with Scriptures, we’re actually in sin. When the things that matter to us are contrary to the things that matter to God, we’re in sin.
I’m crucified with Christ. Yet I live. This life I live, I no longer live according to the flesh– to me. I now live according to Him, every word that comes out of His mouth. Well, what if I split the parties? Who cares? Did you vote to honor the Kingdom? Let me say it stronger. Jesus is neither Republican nor Democrat nor centrist. He’s not affiliated with a political party of any system, whether that be the United States or any other country. He is the King of Glory.
So if we vote with a party at the expense of voting with Scriptures, we’re actually failing our first citizenship. And I know this gets dicey, but if we vote with the Kingdom, but we don’t hold a party line, we actually have held our first citizenship.
And there are a few areas that I think we, as followers of Jesus, those who uphold His Kingdom, cannot acquiesce on. There are some areas coming up in this election that we cannot acquiesce on. There are a couple that I think have to be called out: the sanctity of human life as defined in the Scriptures.
Yahweh makes a statement in Jeremiah 1:5: “Before you were in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” Whether you get it or not, life begins before conception, Biblically. And abortion is taking a life. This is not a political issue. This is not a tolerance issue. Abortion is a violation of the heart of God. And if we read our Bibles and allow the sacredness of the Scripture to inform our understanding, there’s just not a way to come to a different conclusion.
And I’m asking and I’m crying out for the church to go back to the Scriptures and use her vote to uphold what matters to the text. There are a lot of places where it’s not necessarily a Scriptural issue. I’m not sure the wolves being reintroduced into Colorado was a Scriptural issue, but I can tell you for sure what it means to the Lord to take the life of a child. There’s not a people group in the history of civilization that wasn’t judged dearly for misunderstanding the sanctity of human life.
The second area that I think has to be called out is gender identification and definition. Genesis is really clear that He– Yahweh, Creator God– He created them, male and female. He defined what defines that choice. And to argue with that is an attempt to supersede the wisdom of God for the matter of personal preference.
Here’s my conclusion, please get your eyes off the outer court, because what was spoken to John still applies to us, and we have spent way too much time measuring and evaluating the very thing John was told not to. We focus on it, we respond to it, we take our cues from it, instead of looking at the Lamb. So get your eyes on the inner court. Worship. Pray. Intercede. These are the weapons that He’s given us in this day and time.
Prayer should not be a hard call for us. We should be able to announce a prayer gathering and have the same attendance we see on Sundays. Why? Because we hear the call, it’s time to work.
Be a secondary citizen of our country and a primary citizen of the Kingdom. Vote. Use your vote, but use it to align with the Scriptures. Live, but live in alignment with the Scriptures. Show the watching world what true citizenship of Heaven looks like– a people governed beyond their opinions.
I had somebody say to me that they think this is the most important election in the history of the United States. I think everybody that’s getting ready to vote thinks that. In my twenties, even into my early thirties, my answer was, I think they’re all idiots. I’m not voting for any of them. Maybe, but God places leadership and authority. And God, in His kindness and His mercy, has chosen to use systems throughout the history of humanity that have broken people in leadership to accomplish His purposes.
And we are in a wildly privileged place to get a say-so. And we tend to freak out when the elections don’t go our way, like we’ve been done wrong by God. I’m like, What do you tell someone who was born in a country with a dictator who could care less what they think? Oh, God must like us more? We were born in America?
But I think it’s wrong– on the flip side– it’s just catastrophically wrong for us not to use the responsibility He’s given us as an opportunity to extend the Kingdom. What do I mean? What does that look like? It means get your Bible out. It means go through the candidate list. It means go through the things they stand for and find out what the Scriptures say about this. It should take us a while to vote. It should take us three or four hours with our Bible. It should be prayerful. It can’t be opinionated.
So I have three things for you: out in the West Lobby, there’s a voter registration table. If you’re here and you’re like, I’ve never registered to vote, I just figured in this season, it was probably right to say there’s no excuse not to, so we’ll help make it possible. That table will be here Wednesday night as well.
Wednesday night coming up this week is a night set aside to pray over the elections. It’ll probably be the greatest attendance we’ve ever had in a prayer gathering. I don’t care what it takes to get here. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from Heaven. I’ll forgive their sin and I’ll heal the land.”
If you’re new here, Welcome, hi. We don’t usually talk like this. I think it’s the first time in the history of Vintage that I’ve actually talked politics at all. My answer is everybody else is talking for me; I don’t have to say anything right now. I sat with the Lord for a long time on this one.
I watched four years ago, watched the people of God get decimated by stupidity and opinion. I watched them lose their focus. I don’t honestly think we’ve regained it yet. Our focus is to be Him. We are to be a people so consumed by Him, so in love with Him, that we would use anything in our life as an ability to extend His Kingdom. But we really don’t care much about our own.
And I do believe there is a people group in this city and in this region who could stand up and become that, who could say, red, blue doesn’t matter. We’re following the King. If you’re here and you’re like, Yeah, but some of those things matter, that’s exactly what I’m saying. There’s a bunch of stuff that matters, and we need to speak to it; we need to vote for it. Stewardship is a great statement. Be stewards of the opportunity that’s been given you.
So if you’re new with us, Hi. To my right, to your left, Pastor Emily’s over there by the Connect TV. We’d love to get you connected into the culture, help you get on the track to get settled into a team and make this your home. Give boxes are in the back. There’ll be prayer teams available up front, if there’s anything that came up in your heart you want prayer for.
Jesus, thank You, Lord. If anything I said is not of You, let it be forgotten. But Lord, the things that You wanted to whisper today, may they resonate in our hearts. May they be loud. Lord, we say right now, as a people for our nation, we need You. We need an intervention. Lord, I think sometimes it’s been so far gone that we’ve given up hope. Would You arrest that in us and show us what it looks like to be the people of God in our day and in our time? We love You, and we honor You. In Jesus name, Amen.
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