Bearing Witness in the Age Between Resurrection and Return

Sep 30, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Measured People in a Trampled City

John measures worshippers, not walls. God marks His people not to shield them from suffering but to claim them amid chaos. The temple’s inner court is measured, but the outer court is left vulnerable—a picture of believers who belong to God yet endure life’s trampling. Their security isn’t in circumstances but in being named, known, and sustained by the One who walks with them through fire. The same rod that measures also reminds: our tears are counted. [10:29]

“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.’”
(Revelation 11:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you feel “trampled” right now? How might God’s measuring rod—marking you as His—reshape your view of that struggle?

Day 2: Two Olive Trees, One Unseen Oil

The witnesses aren’t superheroes but lampstands fueled by endless oil. Like Zechariah’s vision of a menorah fed by olives, the church’s light burns not by human hustle but the Spirit’s quiet flow. Their task—rebuilding God’s kingdom in a broken age—seems impossible, but the oil never runs dry. Witness isn’t about volume but abiding connection to the Source. [14:11]

“Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.’”
(Zechariah 4:6, ESV)

Reflection: What “impossible” work weighs on you? How might shifting from striving to abiding in the Spirit’s oil change your approach?

Day 3: Sackcloth Witnesses and Lead Repenters

The two prophets wear sackcloth—the uniform of mourners who know their own need for grace. Their authority comes not from moral superiority but from daily repentance. To call the world to turn, they first turn themselves. A witness in sackcloth disarms; it says, “I’m with you in the mud, pointing to a cleaner way.” [16:46]

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
(2 Corinthians 7:10, ESV)

Reflection: When has someone’s humble repentance opened your heart more than their certainty? Where might sackcloth—not armor—soften your witness?

Day 4: Fire in the Mouth, Mercy in the Heart

The witnesses’ words burn like fire, yet their posture weeps. They speak hard truths about Christ’s lordship but refuse to weaponize them. Their power lies in the message, not the methods. Like Suzanne forgiving her father’s killer, they absorb violence without returning it. The beast rages; the witnesses bleed but bless. [27:24]

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
(John 15:18-19, ESV)

Reflection: When have you been tempted to trade truthful speech for spiteful speech? How might fire and mercy coexist in your words today?

Day 5: Dead Witnesses and the Breath of Life

The world mocks the witnesses’ corpses, but three days later, God breathes and they rise. Their deaths don’t silence their testimony—they amplify it. The church’s story mirrors Christ’s: rejection, death, resurrection. Every small surrender—forgiveness, generosity, silence—is a grain falling, trusting the harvest comes. [31:19]

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”
(Colossians 1:24, ESV)

Reflection: What “little death” (a pride swallowed, a cost absorbed) have you resisted? How might trusting resurrection loosen your grip?

Sermon Summary

John places Revelation 11 inside the long meantime between Christ’s resurrection and the day his kingdom is seen in full. The forty-two months, twelve hundred sixty days, and three and a half years name a broken, incomplete age: the church’s time to bear witness while the holy city is trampled. God’s measuring rod marks out his people as belonging to him, but the text refuses to confuse belonging with being untouchable. God protects his people from nothing, yet sustains them in everything.

The two witnesses dramatize the whole witnessing church. John calls them lampstands, and Revelation has already named lampstands as churches. The number two establishes a testimony, reminding the church that nobody bears witness alone. The Spirit supplies what the church cannot manufacture, just as Zechariah’s olive trees supplied oil to the lampstand: not by might, not by power, but by God’s Spirit.

The witnesses wear sackcloth because a people calling the world to repent must remain repenters. Repentance is not an entry fee left behind once life is figured out. Jesus’ righteousness frees his people to say, “I was wrong,” without building a life around self-defense. The church therefore bears fire in its mouth and sackcloth on its body: deep conviction that Jesus is Lord, joined to humility, openness, and repentance.

The gospel becomes threatening because Jesus’ lordship dethrones every little kingdom. The beast represents power made absolute, idolatrous, and coercive, demanding allegiance that belongs to God alone. The witnesses receive authority rather than seize it; the beast coerces, while the church tells the truth. Revelation therefore will not become a Christian grievance text or a permission slip to grasp power. The church refuses the beast without becoming beastly.

The slain witnesses reveal that faithful testimony is vulnerable, costly, and sometimes rejected. Christ’s people do not repeat his atoning death, yet their lives take the shape of the Lamb when they forgive, absorb costs, welcome outsiders, and refuse hatred. The grain of wheat falls and bears fruit. God’s breath then enters the witnesses, showing that death cannot make their testimony false and that God vindicates those whose lives reenact Christ’s death and resurrection.

John’s remnant math finally turns outward: a tenth and seven thousand fall, while the rest give glory to God. Judgment exposes idols, but witness displays the Lamb, truth in sackcloth and conviction without domination. The seventh trumpet announces the end toward which prayer and witness move: the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Lord and his Christ. Jesus remains the faithful witness, the true light behind every imperfect lampstand, and his resurrection makes repentance a gift rather than a threat.

Key Takeaways

1. Witness belongs to the in-between time The church does not wait for history to become safe before telling the truth about Jesus. The broken age between resurrection and return is not empty waiting; it is the appointed space for testimony. Christian hope does not escape the meantime but speaks faithfully inside it. [09:22]
2. Sackcloth keeps conviction from becoming pride The witnesses call others to repentance while wearing the clothing of mourners and repenters. Jesus’ righteousness removes the need for constant self-justification, making honest confession possible. Deep conviction that Jesus is Lord can therefore live alongside humility, teachability, and mercy. [16:26]
3. The church must not become beastly The beast makes power absolute and demands what belongs to God, while the witnesses simply testify. Fear can tempt Christians to seek domination as self-defense, but the Lamb’s way refuses coercion. Faithfulness means resisting beastly power without borrowing its methods. [22:26]
4. Little deaths can bear resurrection fruit A surrendered desire, a costly forgiveness, and a refusal to protect personal status can feel like genuine loss. Christ’s resurrection gives those small acts of self-giving a future that cannot be measured immediately. The grain falls because God raises the dead. [33:48]
5. Prayer asks for a kingdom God brings The prayers of the saints rise before the trumpet judgments, and the church is then sent to witness to the King. Human force cannot manufacture repentance, resurrection, or the kingdom. God’s Spirit lights the lamp, while God’s people pray, testify, and trust him with the outcome.

## [35:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[05:31] - The Blind Man’s Simple Witness
[07:35] - The Meantime Is a Time of Witness
[10:02] - Measured by God, Yet Still Vulnerable
[11:28] - The Two Witnesses as the Church
[13:13] - Olive Trees, Lampstands, and the Spirit
[16:26] - Sackcloth and the Gift of Repentance
[18:15] - Why the Gospel Feels Threatening
[22:26] - Resisting the Beast Without Becoming Beastly
[24:02] - The Cost and Courage of Testimony
[28:11] - The Grain of Wheat and Faithful Suffering
[30:33] - God Vindicates His Witnesses
[33:08] - Truth in Sackcloth Bears Fruit
[34:38] - The Seventh Trumpet and the Coming Kingdom
[37:26] - The Ark Opened and Jesus the Faithful Witness

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Revelation 11:1-4
“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.' These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” [05:07]

Zechariah 4:6
“Then he said to me, 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” [14:17]

John 12:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” [28:17]

Observation questions

What does John measure in Revelation 11:1–2, and what is left unmeasured and given over to the nations? [10:11]
What three descriptions of time appear in Revelation 11, and how do they connect the trampling of the holy city with the witnesses’ testimony? [09:22]
What images does Revelation 11:3–4 use to describe the two witnesses, and what earlier meaning of “lampstands” helps explain those images? [11:28]
According to Zechariah 4:6 and the olive-tree-and-lampstand imagery, what is the source of strength for God’s people as they carry out their calling? [14:17]

Interpretation questions

If being measured marks God’s people as belonging to him, why does Revelation also show those same people as vulnerable to suffering and opposition? How does this correct the idea that God’s care always means safety from hardship? [10:34]
Why is it significant that the witnesses are clothed in sackcloth while they call others to repentance? What kind of posture should this produce in Christians who speak clearly about Jesus? [16:25]
The beast gains power through coercion, while the witnesses receive authority and testify. What are some ways a church or Christian could resist what is wrong but begin to use beast-like methods in the process? [22:28]
John 12:24 uses the image of a grain of wheat that dies and bears fruit. How do costly forgiveness, generosity, hospitality, and absorbing a cost make the life of Jesus visible without suggesting that Christians save others by their suffering? [28:17]

Application questions

Where are you most tempted to delay speaking honestly about Jesus until circumstances feel safer—at home, at work, with friends, or in another setting? What might a simple and truthful witness look like there? [09:49]
Is there a recent situation in which you have felt the need to defend your image, your rights, or your control? What would it look like to trust Jesus’ righteousness enough to say, “I was wrong,” or “Please forgive me”? [17:02]
Who has helped keep your faith steady when you could not see clearly, pray easily, or remember grace? How could you more intentionally receive help from the church and offer that kind of support to someone else? [12:30]
When you feel threatened, dismissed, or misunderstood because of your faith, what reactions tempt you to become harsh, controlling, or eager to win? How can you tell the truth without trying to dominate the person in front of you? [23:16]
What “little death” might God be inviting you to embrace right now: laying down the need to be right, forgiving someone, giving generously, welcoming someone difficult, or letting go of personal status? What makes that step costly? [33:48]
Think of one person who may be skeptical of Christianity or wounded by Christians. How might you pursue that person with both conviction and sackcloth—speaking truthfully about Jesus while listening humbly and showing repentance where it is needed? [38:30]

Sermon Clips

43s

#ResurrectionLife

“And this is where the rub is for most of us. The rub is really belief in resurrection. can believe Jesus rose from the dead in abstract and still struggle to believe that God will take our little deaths and bring resurrected life from them. That a desire laid down, a need to be right surrendered, a cost absorbed for another person, forgiveness offered when we would rather protect ourselves. That God can do something with all of those little deaths. And the battle is for us to believe that a life laid down is a life resurrected.”

34s

#LambOverBeast

“So Revelation 11 is political but it's not, hear this, it's not a Christian grievance text. John is not teaching the church how to seize the machinery of the beast before somebody else does. He is teaching the church how to remain faithful to the slain lamb when beastly power demands its allegiance. There is a difference between being against the beast and walking in the way of the slaughtered lamb.”

42s

#JesusIsLord

“Because the gospel is good news and it also contains an absolutely devastating announcement. Jesus is Lord and you are not. Caesar's not. The king's not. The president's not. I mean, neither are you. And that last one is the hardest. There's something deep in us that does not merely want freedom from bad rulers. We wanna be our own ruler. Nobody gets to tell me who I am. My desires, they're mine. My time is mine. My body is mine. My future is mine. My truth is mine.”

32s

#PursuedByGrace

“Before you ever become a witness, Jesus has pursued you. He tells the truth about you. He loves you enough to dethrone you because he knows the unbearable weight of you being your own God. And then he gives you himself and repentance becomes a gift. I can stop defending my little kingdom. I can come out of hiding. I can say I was wrong. I can cry out I need mercy. I can say Jesus is Lord.”

57s

#FreedomInSurrender

“And this is why repentance can feel like dying. The gospel says to you, am more loved than I ever dreamed, but it also says, you are not self created, self owned, or self saving. I belong to another. And for modern people, that can sound terrible until you begin to realize the alternative. If I am my own lord, then I also have to save myself. And I have to justify my existence and I have to make the my life matter. I have to construct an identity strong enough to hold me together out there in the world. Defend my kingdom because if it falls, I fall with it. And so Jesus' lordship dethrones us and then frees us from a burden that we were never made to carry.”

43s

#RepentanceIsAGift

“We have been brought to repentance and God keeps bringing us there. Repentance is not the humiliating entry fee we pay once we... Before graduate... Graduating into the people who have life all figured out. We get to repent. It's a gift to repent. The gospel gives us enough security to say what? I was wrong. I wanted control and I hurt you. I sinned. Forgive me. Our standing with God does not depend on our defending ourselves successfully because Jesus is our righteousness.”

40s

#FaithfulWitness

“If the beast is coming, perhaps we need to get tougher, more ruthless, less concerned about the means. Maybe domination becomes self defense. But Revelation won't let Christians hear the text in that way. The witnesses are in sackcloth. They they receive authority, they don't seize it. The the beast coerces and the witnesses do what? They just testify and of course, the beast then kills. The witnesses refused to become a larger beast.”

33s

#TruthWithoutDomination

“So I would not simply say judgment does not work and witness does. The trumpets matter, judgment warrants, it exposes our idols, it reveals where rebellion leads, but judgment alone cannot produce repentance. The witnesses show the world something else. Who do they show? The lamb. Truth in sackcloth, conviction without domination. A people who refuse the beast without becoming the beast. The grain falls and bears fruit.”

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Redeemer Winston Salem This sermon · AI assistant

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