Whenever you find measuring going on it is referring to the application of the standard of God, including the eternal moral law, to the object or situation under discussion.

This is true of the many measurements taken of Ezekiel's Temple; the temple of God, the Altar of Incense, and the worshippers of Revelation 11:1; and now the new Jerusalem, its gates, and its walls.

Measuring indicates Divine judgment. Does the object or situation come up to the Divine standard?

There is a significant aspect of the new covenant missing today in the Christian churches. It is Divine judgment. No further progress can be made toward the Sabbath rest of God, the land of promise so to speak, until Divine judgment is restored.

The lack of judgment in the Evangelical churches and the consequent moral confusion is due in large part to a misunderstanding of John 5:24.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

This verse can be interpreted to mean if we hear the Gospel and believe in God we will live forever and cannot be judged. We have passed from death to life and that's that for eternity.

But such an interpretation flies in the face of the remainder of the New Testament.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:31,32)

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)

If we accept the above two passages as part of the New Testament canon then we obviously cannot agree that John 5:24 means Christians are not judged.

Well, then, what does John 5:24 mean?

It means just what it says.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Whoever "hears" the word of Christ.

Do you remember in Revelation, "He who has an ear let him hear"?

You can't hear the word of Christ except as the Spirit of God makes the word live in your spirit. This is not the same as hearing the words of the Bible with your physical ears.

Can you hear Jesus Christ today? Many people are preaching the words of the New Testament who are not hearing what Christ is saying today. How do I know? Because of the way they behave.

"Whoever believes in the Father." I think most people in the world believe there is a God and have a sense He is loving and righteous. But education and religion beat their natural sense of God as well as their common sense out of them.

To be continued.