DIVINE MEASUREMENT
[p. 452] DIVINE MEASUREMENT
Revelation 11:1,2; Revelation 21:15 - 17
I was thinking of measure, but particularly in regard of substance. As you know, there is long measure, square measure, and cubic measure. These are not only in use among men, but they are also used by God, the last involving substance. Cubic measure must involve that in some sense. So I was encouraged to call attention to these scriptures in the book of Revelation which anticipate the full divine result. This is not determined by square or long measure, but by cubic measure.
Thus we are reminded that God looks for substance in His people. He will have it, as we see in the measurement in the passage last read. What He is determined to have in the future, He surely would have now. So you find that in the Proverbs wisdom enters into these things peculiarly, for all divine measurements are in wisdom; indeed you could not have the great physical system that we are in aside from wisdom and the measurements and the weights that wisdom alone could determine. And I may say that whatever can be measured and weighed is not infinite. It is finite. God in Christ came into what was measured outwardly, but ever remaining what He was personally, that the infinite, eternal, omnipotent God should find a way into the finite so as to be in it; and in it in regard of measurement and in regard of very small measurement, but measurement of a solid kind. The ark of the covenant was relatively very small, the measurements of which were governed by a half; it was two and one-half by one and one-half by one and one-half cubits. There was in it, therefore, the witness of something more, which love would ever recognise in the presence of the Son of God here. As John says, “The Word became flesh” (He took that condition), “and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth”, (John 1:14). He came into that compass so as to be taken account of. Wisdom designed it.
The most remarkable measurement was that of the ark; (Exodus 25). It was to remind faith beforehand that God was coming in. Moses was already notified in the peculiar appearance to him at mount Horeb in the thorn-bush. It was something that in man’s account would be extremely insignificant, and yet God was in it. It was burning, but the bush was not consumed. God could come into the most insignificant circumstances with His people, and be there according to the exigencies of His own nature. And yet the bush remained unburnt — most extraordinary thing! Such would appeal to faith and intelligence that God could be with us in the very smallest circumstances, but according to His own nature, and yet we remain, we are not consumed. Moses says, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight”, (Exodus 3:3). What he regarded as great was that the fire was there and the bush was not consumed, an immense fact for faith, that however severe the discipline, and it was severe throughout the wilderness, the fire burnt but Israel remained. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) — our God. It is well to remember that; not simply “God”, but “our God”. The God we know who has justified us, who in love has sent Christ for us, is a consuming fire.
So we are told to serve Him “with reverence and godly fear”. That corresponds with what the ark signifies and the measurements of it. The testimony was to be put in it. God says, “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee”, (Exodus 25:16). That is to say, all the mind and glory of God was in Christ. In Him all the fulness was pleased to dwell.
[p. 454] Wisdom (Proverbs 8), after speaking as to what it would do, says that it loves those that love it and that riches and honour are with it. Before it says anything as to the creation in which it had such a part, it reminds us that it loves those that love it, and that wealth is with it, “durable wealth and righteousness”, for it will have no other kind of wealth. Any wealth acquired aside from righteousness is spurious, the “mammon of unrighteousness”, (Luke 16:9). Wisdom’s way of acquiring and investing with wealth is in righteousness.
And then it says, “I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasuries”, (verses 20,21). That is what wisdom does; when it comes to dealing with men, righteousness is insisted on; what substance we have must be on those lines. In fact, Wisdom has actually taken up the path of righteousness; it says, “I walk in the path of righteousness”. What company we have thus in the path! You say, “The company of the saints”? Yes, but we have the company of Wisdom in the path of righteousness. The wisdom that created all these great things, of which I have been speaking, has actually come down here in Christ to “lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasuries”. No one will be poor who walks in those paths; not at the side, but in the midst of the paths of judgment. We must not be afraid of judgment; we cannot go through this world according to God without it; it ought to reside among the saints. But I am speaking of the fact that Wisdom is there; the Lord is in those paths to cause those that love Him to inherit substance and to fill their treasuries. Every believer ought to have a treasury. A treasury in this sense is not a place into which robbers can break and steal.
[p. 455] The believer, instructed in the kingdom of the heavens, is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. Where are we to get the things new and old with which we shall contribute to the wealth of our brethren, save as we are in those paths? It is right to read the Scriptures, you cannot get on without it; you cannot get on without prayer; you cannot get on without meditation; you cannot get on without the meetings. As soon as we begin to lag in regard of these things we become poor. It is sure as possible that spiritual poverty stalks in our circumstances as soon as we begin to lag in reading and prayer, and in the assembling of ourselves together. These things are essential, but, dear brethren, what is insisted on is this, that we acquire the substance that wisdom imparts as we are in the path of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment.
Well, all this enters into the book of Revelation because what is measured in chapter 21 is being built up now, acquired; it is the work of wisdom. The formation and building up of the heavenly city is the great masterpiece of wisdom, greater than anything done previously. It is to be measured by and by, and will be a perfect cube.
I wanted to go back a little so that we may see how practical this thing is. You get the principle of measurement in Romans in the most simple manner. You get it in Corinthians and Ephesians, and throughout Scripture, but you get it in Romans 12 in a simple, practical way, and that is, What do I think about myself? What is my estimate of myself? I begin with myself in this matter. God having forgiven me, saved me, and given me the Spirit, I have now to take account of myself as a unit before Him. Paul says, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10.) He became conscious of his personal responsibility to the Lord. Hence he says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man [p. 456] that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”, (Romans 12: 3). That is, it is not my acquirement to start with, it is the divine measure, what God has seen fit to give me.
He is the God of measure, and He is distributing, and there is infinite variety in His realm. He has saved me and now He is distributing in measure to me, and it is my obligation to determine it. It is not a question of the amount of reading I have done, needful as reading is, but the measure of faith God has given me. What power have I to look at unseen things? That marks Christianity, the power to look at unseen things, to see God who is invisible. I begin to reckon on that principle of faith, not of sight. I am taken up for another world altogether, and faith is the link with that world. How much am I able to enter into it? The apostle said later, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen”, (2 Corinthians 4:18). Thus by the Spirit I bring in here something from that world in the way of testimony. I do not go by current customs at all. As I look into that world, I see in it things that were before this world. “Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt”, (Numbers 13:22). That means that the resurrection sphere is not governed by the principle of this world. I have to look into that world, and that makes me a stranger in this world. It is not an advanced idea, it is an initial idea; I have to determine my measure, and if I do, it is very likely I shall seem very small. It is a deflating thing, not an inflating thing. Reading and the acquirement of knowledge, although necessary, is apt to be inflating, but if I measure my faith, then I begin to feel very small, and that is wholesome. It makes me dependent on God.
Then you find in the epistle to the Corinthians [p. 457] another thing. It is a sort of beacon-light as a warning to us, especially to young men who aspire to serve. The Lord is looking for young men, and young women too, but if you desire to serve, in regard to this matter of measurement see that the standard is right. You want to serve and you should serve, and the Lord will help you in it. I have never known this to fail where one has laid himself out to serve. But the principle of measurement is what I would call your attention to. What is my standard of measurement? The Corinthians were “measuring themselves by themselves”. That is the principle of this world. I am a little taller than another brother, I can speak better, I know more. That is not the idea at all, that is not the standard. “These, measuring themselves by themselves ... are not intelligent”, (2 Corinthians 10:12). It is folly to do that. The standard is Christ; God has His standard here for everything, whether walk, conversation, ministry, service — Christ is His standard. Hence I do not think of the brother beside me, I think of Christ. I look at Christ’s service in the gospel and I look at my service. I find I am dwarfed, but that is wholesome, and although perhaps depressing, the Lord takes one by the hand. Moses said, “Send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send”, (Exodus 4:13). He said, as it were, “I cannot speak”. What a come-down for one who had been mighty in words in Egypt! But God would not let him go. You may be depressed, and it is wholesome in a way, if you measure yourself with Christ. But then God says, “Aaron can speak”. He furnishes him with a mouth-piece.
But He further says, “I will be with thy mouth”. If God is with my mouth, I shall get words. Moses proved the truth of God’s promise and of what he had seen in the bush. He refers to it later, “the good will”. You often hear that expression in business circles. If I have “the good will” of God in my [p. 458] little business, I shall prosper, spiritually, I mean. What a good will that is! The good will of God, of Him that dwelt in the bush. I shall never fail, never be bankrupt, if I have that good will! It is the good will of Him that could come down in the smallest circumstances. Moses proved it. Moses had plenty of matter in his heart; he was not questioning that. Wonderful light had come to him about God in the bush; God revealed His name to him, “I am that I am”. His heart was, no doubt, full of that precious light. God says, I will stand by your mouth, too. You can rely on God. You see how Moses prospered from that small beginning in the backside of the desert with a flock of sheep, as a shepherd tending them. God says, “See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”. What an honour! And what a mighty prophet he was! As I take my proper measure, not measuring myself with others, God is with me. Christ is the standard for me. I would not be out of communion with God for anything, and certainly not in regard of His standard.
Now, coming on to the first scripture read (Revelation 11), we have this principle of measurement introduced into circumstances such as ours. Chapter 21 is future. The prophet is directed to take a reed like a staff, which would direct the mind to a certain experience. The angel says, “Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it”. Applying this to the saints, we are viewed collectively, for we are not the temple of God otherwise; and speaking of this, one does deplore the disposition of brethren to absent themselves from the meetings.
One has often thought of Lazarus. Scripture never refers to anything he said, but it makes a great deal of him. It is not a question of speaking. He is like John, the writer of the gospel, one whom Jesus loved,
[p. 459] and yet it does not say that he ever said anything. It is not a question of speaking, not that speaking has not its place, but it was the kind of man he was, “he whom thou lovest”, (John 11:3). It says that the Lord Jesus “six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was”, (John 12:1). He was of that place. Let us suppose he was absent — I can hardly think of him in that way, but suppose he were absent. You can see what the situation would be in Bethany that day. The Lord came with him before Him. I should not like to be absent on such an occasion! Of course, I am not in New York tonight! I am here in the fulfilment of a certain responsibility, I hope, but it is said of Lazarus that he was of the place. He is of the place and he gives character to it, and so the Lord came to it in relation to him.
“Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was”. And Lazarus was there. You must have the company for the temple. “Ye are the temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16), (the saints at Corinth), meaning all the saints. I must not be absent when that is in function. It is a wonderful thought, the church is the temple of God, and so is a local meeting, at least in principle. I do not want to be away when the measuring takes place!
The next thing is the altar, that is, the principle of giving, the principle of sacrifice. The brethren may not know what I sacrifice. The measuring is by the Lord, and one is impressed with the poverty of our giving. We may think lightly of it, but God does not. It says, “Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury”. He watched the thing.
And then there are the worshippers. I want to be there when the measuring of these is going on. Is it not most precious that there is such a thing as that in every little gathering in the world? — God at the present time taking account accurately of the [p. 460] temple, what there is going on in the way of light in the meetings, and of our sacrifices, and of the worshippers. How God delights in a little bit of worship! The Lord says, “The Father seeks such as his worshippers”; it is the persons He seeks, persons who worship. “God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”, (John 4:23,24) “The court without”, the profession around, is left out; not that God does not know what is going on, but He takes no account of it, being valueless. He says, “Measure it not”. Hence the importance of what is measured now by God: God taking account of us accurately for His own satisfaction. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels”, (Matthew 3:17). That is the principle of it.
In Revelation 21 it is a measuring reed of gold. That is the kind of measuring now, the reed itself must be wholly of God. It is not now a staff, or simply the principle of measurement, but the material of the reed. It is according to the nature of God. That is what He uses. It says, “He that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city”. There was a definite purpose in his mind to measure the city. And then it says, “And the gates thereof, and the wall thereof”. These are the things in the mind of God. The city is in the mind of God; it comes down with every evidence of His approval, nothing wanting in it, the residence of the glory. The prophet sees it coming down from heaven and it shines like jasper. It is “a city which hath foundations”, that faith had ever looked for; now it is here. And God Himself would have it measured, the city, and the gates, and the wall. Then it says, “And the city lies four-square, and its length is as much as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed — twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and height of it are equal”. It is a vast thing, no [p. 461] small conception; not now the ark of the covenant, so small, with half measurements. It has complete measurements, twelve thousand furlongs — an immense thing. And the length and breadth and height are equal. It is solid.
I just mention that because we ought to have the idea of substance ever before us. The Lord would furnish us with it. In every religion that has been built up in this world there has not been substance in this sense, for the founders were not what they said. In Christianity it is what is seen, and heard, and handled, and contemplated. Everything is worked out from that. We are going on with a Person who is the expression of His (God’s) substance and with persons who are formed after that Person. We are going on with substance. We have the Persons and the blessings, the Lord Himself and the Spirit. You see what we are going on with. God, as it were, says, “I am going on with this”. This is what is coming out, a cube of twelve thousand stadia. You can look up the equivalent of a furlong and you will see how large the city is. It is the divinely given symbol of the great concrete result that God is working up to.
One might speak of it in regard of twelve, that love enters into every part of it. It is composed of the saints, as formed in love, so that we are entirely under the hand of the Lord for His manipulation in service. It is a glorious thought that I am to be entirely in the hands of the Lord in relation to millions of others for His service. We must get the spiritual thought that the number twelve, which enters into all the measurements, refers to love. How can I be under the hand of the Lord in relation to myriads of others unless I am in subjection to Him and formed in the divine nature? I am not a rival of any of them. I am there to serve in relation to others, and at the present time that is what tests me. When Saul says,
“[p. 462] What wilt thou have me to do?”the Lord said, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do”, (Acts 9:6). He had to go to the brethren. He had to learn to serve from and in relation to them. The idea of the cube and twelve entering into it is that it is substantial spiritually, formed in love, so that every unit in it is under the Lord’s hand for service. He will send us hither and thither in His service.
Well, that is the thing — the length of it and the breadth and the height are equal. What a glorious prospect! Think of all the units in this wonderful thing formed after Christ, and all for His will as He was here for the Father’s will! Never for one instant was He here but for the pleasure of His Father. And that is the city. The number “twelve” enters into it in every way. May God help us in regard of substance and measurement. I believe it will work out in our increased and enhanced usefulness in the testimony.