Luke 17:20-37 When the Kingdom comes

Zech. 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

Intro: It was exciting to be in Israel & see the Land where Jesus Lived walked & ministered. /

  1. It was amazing to see areas that hadn’t changed in 2000 yrs / it was incredibly moving & thought provoking to think back to how it was
  2. It was ALSO amazing to see how far they traveled on foot to the places that they went to .
  3. But the thing that was perhaps even more exciting & thought provoking was to think about the events that would take place in the future there
  1. The passage that I just read is one of those events – When Jesus returns at the 2nd coming – He is going to set His feet upon the Mt. Of Olives
  1. And it is going to split in two from East to west - Wide passage way for people to flee .
  1. It was amazing to sit on this hill – that is quite modern & built up now and think about – that day .

 

The section that we come to today in our study of the gospel of Luke also concerns that day / that subject – The coming of the Lord .

  1. The subject comes up when the Pharisees ask the Question v.20 when would the Kingdom of God Come !!!!!
  2. Note really DEMANDED = To accost or to interrogate / so they began to interrogate Jesus as to when the KINGDOM WOULD COME .
  1. Notice His response v. 20

He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation;

  1. Meaning it wasn’t going to come w/ a Lot of Hype & Fanfare .
  2. Which is exactly what they were Looking for – A HERO / a Warrior / a Political Genius who would come to over throw the ROMANS
  1. They were waiting for this Guy to come Riding in on a White Stallion

NOT W/ OBSERVATION - Dan.9
  1. Then Jesus says something that probably blew the minds of those who were listening & infuriated the Pharisees at the same time !!!! v.21

    2. 21 "nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."

  2. LIT – AMONG YOU – Why? It is wherever the King is

Now Because Jesus is THE King /where ever He is the Kingdom is

  1. In your HOME / At your WORK / When you are w/ FRIENDS /

    2. IN YOUR HEART

  2. So Jesus was implying that the KINGDOM OF GOD had already come because He came & Dwelt among THEM / the King was in their mist
  1. The Pharisees like the many Jews today – would miss it because they failed to see that Jesus was the KING the Messiah

    2. 1) Many are still looking for His first coming

  2. In Israel – we went to the Temple Institute & saw some of the things

that they are remaking for the 3rd temple -

  1. Saw a Beautiful model of what that Temple is going to look like – one thing was interesting – the Veil that separated ….. was still in place

  1. I almost asked if it was going to have a big rip in it!!! - They are still

looking for the First coming of the Messiah

Learned something really interesting On the Plane – From NY to Israel

I was sitting next to a 27 yr. Old Jewish Gal – named Mika

  1. I began to ask her about her country & about her Beliefs – Then I asked her if she thought that Jesus was the Messiah
  1. She didn’t understand – so I pulled out my Bible & began to show her different Messianic passages /
  1. Here is what was interesting she was very ignorant of the scriptures / yet she believed in Jesus – that He died & Rose –
  1. But she hadn’t thought through what that meant – If He was alive & why that made Him the Messiah / ( I assumed they were very religious)
  1. I found out that is the condition of many in Israel / There are = 4 mill. 480,000 Israelis – 5% orthodox / 30% are religious / rest are secular
  1. Meaning they might be Atheist / or AGNOSTIC / or like MIKA they might belief & have some very general Knowledge – but do nothing w/
  1. Like so many "Believers" in U. S. today- They go to synagogue once or twice a year – like people today – call themselves Christians
  1. Attend Church on Christmas & Easter / With each Generation that 65% becomes less & Less Religious & more & more Secular
  1. It is easy to see how – all the Israelis will accept the AntiChrist as their Messiah /
  1. The Orthodox & the Religious because he will help them build their temple / the secular – because he will bring an end to tension/ life better

 

So Jesus says to these guys you are looking for a kingdom that is Physical / material / Political but you are not going to see it

A) Because the Kingdom Of God is among you & your eyes are not open.

B)It is only when you open your heart to Christ that you experience the

Kingdom of God being among you !!

  1. Now what Jesus does here is interesting & is something that He did often in talking about the KINGDOM –
  1. He mixes the details of His first & 2nd coming !!!!

V.22 Then Jesus spoke to the Disciples –"The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

  1. "And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not go after them or follow them.
  1. Now here Jesus is talking about His 2nd coming &Jesus warns his Disciples that false Messiahs are going to come – Brooklyn/ India –
  2. But when you hear of it don’t go after them – because
  1. "For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
  1. In other words Jesus is saying when I come back it is not going to be something of an esoteric mystery – it is going to be obvious
  1. it is going to be like Lightning that lights up the sky – All are going to see
  1. Have you ever been in a Lightning storm? When we were moving here

driving back from Oregon – Siskue Mts – before Shasta – Radical storm

  1. The Lightning was loud & Bright – Lit up the Sky – felt it was going to hit the Car .
  1. That is what Jesus is saying – When I come again – you will Know it will be obvious . / not going to be some secretive thing

 

But First : V.25 "He must suffer many things and be rejected by this

generation."

A) Here Jesus reveals the PURPOSE OF HIS FIRST COMING : To Suffer & be put to Death

  1. He came to Solve man’s biggest Problem / life w/ out God / Life w/ no Hope of Eternal life .

1) Life in Bondage to Sin / Not saved – your place today

 
  1. This is a Huge Revelation two comings – 1st was as a LAMB/ A SERVANT – to solve man’s greatest problem – SIN
  2. Second time He will come as a LION / A KING to set up HIS KINGDOM ON THE EARTH.

C) Jesus is making it clear that He did NOT come the first time to be

CROWNED...

1) He came the first time to be CRUCIFIED in order to PURCHASE His Kingdom / Forfeited when man sinned

  1. But then He proceeds to give us some insight into the condition of

men’s Hearts Prior to His 2nd coming !!!

26 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Noah lived during a time that when the world had grown exceedingly wicked – Violence /Sexual immorality / many other problems

  1. Gen. 6 tells us that God grieved that He had made man / man sin & rebellion were that great .
  2. Noah was the only righteous man – God said I want you to build a boat – for I am going to bring water out of the sky to flood the earth
  1. It took Noah 120 yrs to build it & While he built it 2Pet. 2:5 tells us that Noah was a Preacher of Righteousness
  1. Think about this – the U.S. is a little over 200yrs old – seems like forever to us / well for more than ½ the time of our countries existence Noah built

    2. 1) And Noah Preached !!!!!! - He warned – that Judgement was coming

  2. But no one paid any attention it was just Business as usual / eating drinking / marrying while Noah preached & built
  1. At first they probably scoffed – that crazy Noah – he has always been a little different you know - so straight & narrow / now off deep end
  1. He really believes that Water is going to come from the Sky !!!!

    2. And so for 120 yrs while he built & Preached people thought that he was nuts

  2. But I wonder what they thought when they saw the first drops of water fall from the sky !!!! COULD IT BE ? NOAH WAS RIGHT?

 

So too today we talk about the rapture of the Church – How millions of people are going to suddenly disappear - & the world thinks we are crazy

  1. People say that you Christians have been talking about all that stuff for so many yrs now / Grandma / Grandpa

  2. But it Still hasn’t happened the Lord still hasn’t come – I don’t think that it is going to happen - many who were once excited have now fallen away
  1. Problem w/ many who have fallen away is that/ they were more excited about the coming of the Lord & not the Lord who was coming !!!!

C) But Peter said that would be the case . 2Pet.3: 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,

  1. and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
  1. Nothing has Changed – they will say – things are just like always –

BUSINESS AS USUAL

5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

E) Peter says they willingly forget about the flood -

7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

 

Jesus compared the time of His 2nd coming & the rapture of the Church which takes place 7 yrs prior to being like a woman in Labor / birth pains

  1. As the Day of DELIVERY gets closer the pains become more frequent & intense . LISTEN : BIRTH PANGS GETTING MORE INTENSE

    2. THINK ABOUT WHAT IS TAKING PLACE IN OUR DAY & AGE

  2. 100 yrs ago when people read about this final battle that would take place in the middle east – people thought who would care about the middle east
  1. But then came Henry Ford & the Automobile – oil became a very important commodity – the middle east is full of it
  1. Quite frankly if one nation controls the middle east they could theoretically control the world

 

 

 

 

D) Russia 50 yrs ago was not a super power / not a major player –

  1. 1)So if Russia is the nation in Ezk. 38 that invades from the North w/
  2. Israel’s Arab neighbors

    3. Who would have imagined Russia’s influence in the World 50 yrs ago

    F)Who would have thought 50 yrs ago that Europe would unite / Berlin wall

  3. come down / Euro dollar – come about – United European Currency

1) 30 yrs ago who would have dreamed a Cashless society possible

30 Yrs ago if you read in Zech. 14 that on the hills of Israel an event was going to take place where armies who came against Jerusalem are going to be wiped out / w/ flesh melting while they stand / eyeballs melting down the cheeks / tongues rolling up in the mouths and skin turning black

A) People would say oh that is science fiction/UNTIL The Neutron Bomb was invented & Radiation

  1. It does exactly that melts the eyeballs turns the skin black & causes the

tongue to roll up – Israel has this weapon

  1. Now 50 yrs ago these things would have seemed impossible /we could go on & on things that have transpired where now we see the possibilities
    1. But most are not paying attention/ they are going on like business as usual – when every yr. Every day – events move us closer .
  1. When we were in Israel – we stopped for Lunch at this Kibitz –(a little community of People )– about a mile from this little town / 1wk earlier had been hit w/ 30 missiles / in fact Carpentry shop @ Kibitz blown up
  2. As we drove through the city – I was amazed to see kids out playing / people in the streets shopping -–NO BIG DEAL
  1. War has become such a part of their life that / just Business as usual

 

  1. Jesus says that will be a trait of the time before His coming – BOMBS will being going off / Labor Pains will be taking place –
  1. But many will not be paying attention.

 

SO LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH – BUT ALSO LIKE THE DAYS OF LOT

28 "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ( again Business as Usual Lot’s own sons didn’t heed warning) 29 "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

  1. "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

 

Now it is interesting to me that the Lord choose these two situations & placed them side by side here in making his illustration about those days A) Paints a Significant picture

B)See people will say that just like Noah was preserved through the trib.

Time so too the Church is going to go through the Trib. & be preserved

    1. But then there is Lot – Lot presents a different picture –
  1. Because Lot who is called RIGHTEOUS LOT – IN N.T. was taking out before destruction came

Listen close : Noah is a type of Israel who will be preserved & protected during the Trib. Time – that Remnant –

  1. Lot however is a type of the Church – who will be taken out – raptured

before the Trib. Starts before the Judgement is revealed

 

So Noah is a type of Israel – preserved through / but Lot is a picture of the Church taken out before – Trib. Comes

A) Peter makes this clear in 2Pet. 2:7-9 – read on your own *

  1. the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
  1. Lot had a lot of problems – yet he is still called righteous Lot-

speaking of his position in the Lord

    1. Peter reminds us that the Lord Knows how to Deliver the righteous

out of the Trib .

C) Guys we must never lose sight of the imminent return of Christ – whether

  1. it will be today 2 months or 20 more yrs
  1. One of the reasons why the early Church was so POWERFUL / they BELIEVED & LIVED like it could be today!!!

 

ALSO NOTE PREDOMINAT SIN IN SODOM – HOMOSEXUALITY – busting down the door – give us those men !!!!!

  1. So too today – growing – no longer coming out of the Closet / now it is GETTING IN OUR FACES
  2. Adds / TV / you name it / Govt. officials - School Principals etc

C) So Like the days of Lot.

  1. "In that day, ( Matt. 24 – Abomination of Desolation ) he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.

D)HOUSE TOPS very Jewish - Also Matt. 24 – Pray that it is not on the

Sabbath –

    1. I believe He makes these type of distinctions because the focus is Israel

Then Jesus says something RADICAL in v. 32 "Remember Lot's wife.-

  1. Strong warning : SEE Lot could get his wife out of Sodom but he Couldn’t get Sodom out of her /
  2. Warning about our kids - Allowing the World to get into them – the more we do the harder it is to get it out

  3. What about our own lives – this world is getting more & more corrupt / it is moving farther & farther to the left / WHERE WILL WE STAND
    1. TV / Movies / not going to say – You can’t watch this or that – but I will challenge you to pray – Lord is it ok that I watch movie – blood guts killing

C) Ok – watch – things sex nudity / adultery – fine if the Lord says ok for you

 

Remember Lot’s wife - she looked back- Guys take note that looking back will paralyze you

  1. Don’t look Back but be constantly looking forward / Looking unto Jesus

B) Guarantee not to miss out / Live right always looking for the Lord who is coming / Instead of look at the signs – better straighten up closer

C)Lord I am running along looking to you – and Lord if it is today I am

ready !!

  1. That needs to be our mindset/ our mode of operation / Lord I am running

my eyes are on you – if you come great

  1. My Prayer for this church – is that we would grow in that area – that we

would grow to that end .

Because Jesus then says :

33 "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it

A) Jesus also said to the disciples in Caesarea Philippi / resort place

Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

B) In other words IF you are trying to find life in THINGS, you are NEVER going to find it / Rosyln summers - Had it all – LONELY

1) If saying "I want the perfect house and perfect car and perfect wardrobe".... You are LOSING it

C)IF you want to live, THEN turn all of those ambitions over to Jesus...

Lose your life in Christ/

1) Start Living for Him & Discover what LIVING IS REALLY ABOUT !

RAP THIS UP V.34 -37

  1. there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 "Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. "Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left."

 

NOTE: This statement is subject to DIVERSE interpretations

So diverse that there are OPPOSITE views

A) One view says that Those taken are those caught up in the rapture, and those left will face the Great Tribulation

B)But Others say that those who are taken away are taken away to

judgement and those left are those who will go into the Kingdom age

1) The views are so different that you DON’T know if you want to be

Taken or left

C) NOTE: The disciples asked WHERE they would be taken

  1. And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?" So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."

  1. Those who say that those taken are those in the rapture interpret THE BODY to mean the Body of Christ....

  1. They say that EAGLES refers to the saints (they shall mount up with wings as eagles)

  1. The others say that THE BODY refers to the dead bodies that will be the

feast for the vultures Rev 19:17-18

WHICH IS IT ? Is it the rapture of the Church... and they are being taken out of the earth,

A)Or is it Jesus at His Second Coming.... Taking those away for judgement?

I can NOT tell you

B)To accept one view over another does NOT exclude a Pre-Tribulation

Rapture

C) Either is possible and it is NOT possible by the text to prove either one

  1. I will not be so narrow minded and dogmatic as to impose any of these

upon you

D) This is a passage of Scripture that gets filed on WAITING FURTHER INFORMATION

 

In the mean time, I want to be ready SO - That IF it is those being taken in the rapture, I’ll be ready

A) Or - If it is those remaining to enter into the Kingdom age, I’ll be there

B)The issue is BEING READY – Knowing the times & the seasons to which

we are Living – But instead of just Looking for the coming of the Lord

  1. We would be looking to the Lord who is COMING

C)Close w/ this thought – Gayle teaching over looking the Road leading to

Damascus .

1 Paul was arrested By Jesus – Changed attitude outlook & direction Have you ?
  1. Who are you Lord & what would you have me to do - Those two questions became Paul’s PASSION & PURSUIT rest of his life .

WHO ARE YOU – Phil 3 – Paul says Lay aside everything for that

  1. WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ? – To live is Christ / His love constrains me

Here is the thing the Person who lives w/ those two mindsets – will no doubt be ready – but He will also CONTINUE to be arrested by God

  1. Think about that first time salvation – God Changed your whole direction / whole outlook .

B) Next time / Job? – You thought you were going to do this – Lord had other plans !!!

  1. perhaps – who you were going to Marry - / Maybe an area of Ministry

C)Here is a question that I want you to ponder - Has the Lord done that

lately ? When is the last time ?

  1. The Lord said to Paul –it is hard for you to kick against the goads – Paul was resisting – God hand – truth – pricked his heart
  1. Have you been so set on a certain thing in your life – that you are missing out on what God is really seeking to do ?

God has a way – of slapping us upside the head – WAKE UP – listen

  1. When is the last time the Lord – ARRESTED YOU –

B) We need Him to do that