A Few Thoughts On The 2nd Coming

A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE 2ND COMING OF THE LORD; 3/10/08

Luke 17:20-36

20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

25But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

26And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Whenever something climatic occurs in the world; whether it be “The War in Iraq, or the September 11 Terrorist Attack in 2001, a lot of folk ask the question, “Do you think this could be the beginning of the end times?”

The subject of the “end times,” has always been a subject talked about when such as this happens, but the end times, it’s not something that we as saved people worry about.

We read once again in verses 20-21 of our text found in LK.17:

20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

~~~ He is answering the Pharisees who are demanding that He tell them when the Kingdom will come. He is not saying that the Kingdom of God is inside the hearts of these godless and hostile Pharisees. Rather, the Kingdom of God was in their midst, in the person of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was right then standing among them.

The word “within” is used in the New Testament only twice, here in our text in LK.17:21 and in Matthew 23:26. And it is translated “among” meaning that the kingdom was present among the Pharisees in the person of the King, Christ Jesus.

The Pharisee saw themselves as the experts on the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus says in these verses that we are not to trust anyone who says to us, that they know when the Kingdom is coming.

Now the last days began at the 1st coming of the Lord Jesus, and they will continue until He calls His church out of here. Heb.1: 1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. -------- “These last days” means, “recently”** but also means that the last days is underway.

1 Peter 1:20 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,--

Jude 18 18How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time---

1 John 2:18 18Little children, it is the last time:

Even though Jesus plainly tells us in MATT. 25:13 - 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Men are still trying to predict that very thing.

If I hear someone mention a day, or a date that’s my que to turn the knob, all their doing is wasting time.

All down through the years men have been setting dates for the return of Christ.

Over the last two thousand years lots of men have played little mathematical games with Bible prophecies in an effort to determine the date of the Lord’s return.

This date setting business has harmed the cause of Christ among unbelievers by making us look foolish.

All down through the years at every climatic event people have asked, “Is this the beginning of Armageddon?” Men asked that at the outbreak of World War I and World War II. But Jesus wants us to see that knowing the date is not important but being ready is.