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.
These Pharisees thought of their position as religious experts and felt assured that they knew the “where” and “when” of the appearance of the kingdom of God. But because they were trying to make the coming of Jesus fit their preconceived notions and expectations they were missing out on the greatest thing that had ever happened in history.
And so no one should even try to make the Second Coming Fit onto their Preconceived Ideas and Expectations.
Verses 22-25 Jesus says 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.
Well having answered the Pharisees, Jesus now turned to his disciples and instructed them not to become so obsessed with His return that they ended up doing nothing else except trying to track down the time of His return.
It seems that many folks spend a lot of time worrying about the future and how will it all end!
But today is what God is concerned about. Today is when He wants to meet us, and provide for us.
Now there is nothing wrong with us thinking on & understanding that we are certainly nearing the end of the church age, its obvious to us that the Philadelphian and the Laodician church is what we’re in today, and that is the last days church age,
But we’re not worrying about the when its going to end, it’ll end up just exactly like and when it’s suppose to. Hebs.10: 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
What’s taking place in the world don’t change our views and expectations at all on His next coming.
Verses 26-27 Jesus reminds us as to how it will be when it’s time for Him to return.
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.
No doubt in the days of Noah people were evil, but they just went right on with their regular routines and paid Noah no attention, in fact, they most likely made fun of him, [the very thought of some one building a Hugh boat, I mean after all it never had rained a drop as yet.]
They were just too busy to think about the impending judgment that was soon to come.
~~The point is that when we live our lives for the things of the world, we lose the life that God intended us to live.~~
For 120 years as Noah built the Ark, he warned the people that God’s judgment was coming, yet the indifference of the people as a whole continued until the very day that Noah entered the Ark.
And that is the way it is going to be, right up until the day the church is removed from this earth, people will just go about their normal activities until it’s to late.
Verses 28-30 Likewise 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.
Lot here is a picture of the just being taken out of the world at the rapture and then God will turn His wrath loose on the earth,
A lot of people think that God will always allow things to go unpunished, but that is not what we find here.
REV.6:16-17And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
In the days of Lot was a time of homosexuality, and that is the way it seems to be today, the queers and lesbians may scoff and made sport of their life style but be sure their sin will find them out. Our society today has these perverts lifted up it seems, they have their own T.V. shows and programs and think they have arrived, but rest assured God has not changed His mind in the least to do with that crowed.
Jude 7-8 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
God called it an abomination in the O.T. and that is what it is to Him today.
LEV. 20: 13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death
I want us to be sure to notice that in both cases, Lot and Noah, the scriptures reveal that judgment did not begin until God’s people were safe out of harms way.
There are many so-called Christians today who would see the Lord’s return as a terrible interruption to their plans. But dear heart what we ought to say is as THE Apostle John,
REV. 22:20 --Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
