Message
Luke 17:20-30 (KJV)
As It Was in the Days of Noah
In the environment of today, a lot of people are wondering about the end times. And that leads us to words that Christ spoke to the Pharisees concerning similar things. So, without further discussion, let's get into an exposition of this passge of Scripture.
20 And 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:
This morning’s passage begins with the Pharisees demanding to know when the kingdom of God would arrive. The Lord’s response demonstrated that they were blind to at least one thing: The kingdom of God cannot be observed. In their fleshly minds, minds that minded earthly things, they could not see the spiritual. They were seeking an earthly kingdom to be free from the oppression of the Romans.
The Lord was telling them that the kingdom of God is not found in a place. You cannot see it. It is perceived. He was telling them not to look for it. But that it was something present in part and in whole (just as the church is both local and universal) within each child of God.
Jesus went on to say …
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Thus, there is no reason to go looking for it. Animated illusions of peaceful environments, false joy, or far away places that offer relief form the cares of this world are not it! We see a lot of cartoons and modern movies depicting what some might perceive as paradise. But, there can be no real peace, no real joy, no relief from the corruption of this life without Christ.
The world, Hollywood, and others try to remove Christ from the equation and seem to think we can be better off without Him. But without the Lord, there is no lasting peace, no lasting joy, no real goodness, no fairness, no real love, ... which is why His return is the only way we’re going to truly enjoy life. Did He not once say He came to give life, and that more abundantly? Only Christ can give what we seek.
Now, the Lord moves on to His disciples; those people following Him. And He speaks to the same to us today from His written word.
22 And 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].
In some way, at some point in the heart of a believer, there is a longing for Christ’s return. The Bible tells us that creation groans for the Lord’s return. We read also that we groan within ourselves waiting for the redemption that comes in Christ.
The corruption of this world, our sins, the iniquity of others, and the evil world system ought to be unsettling to believers walking closely with Christ. That's going to be natural for a healthy believer. So, the Lord says, the days shall come when ye shall desire to see the Lord rule the earth with truth, righteousness, and justice.
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after [them], nor follow [them].
So, Jesus says to keep the faith. Don’t be deceived and go chasing after these imitations because the kingdom of God is not temporal; not physical. But because we long to be with the Lord, we might be tempted to grasp at anything that seems real. And the Lord tells us, “go not after them.” Do not fall for those lovely scenes in movies, for those possibilities in books, or the false teaching of humanism.
24 For 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.
You won’t need to be told where and when. You won’t miss it. For it will be evident to the whole world when Christ returns. Just as lightning flashes from one end of the sky to another, the world will know without question Christ is back. The world will know when Jesus Christ rules this fallen, corrupt, sin-filled world with truth and righteousness with a scepter of iron.
There will be no mistake about it. Why? Because it will be something so radical. The world will have never known the justice, righteousness, rightness, truth, fairness, and peace, that Christ will rule with.
Right now, all we know is corrupt leaders, self-serving politicians, stealing, lying, cheating, bias news, covert operations, propaganda, and much more evil than we can grasp in the world; everybody doing what is best for themselves instead of what's best for the people they lead and or represent. Christ’s rule will be so refreshing that we won’t be able to stop rejoicing I think.
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
But before that happens, Christ must first suffer and die. Why? To save the people who will enter His kingdom; to save those who will not be left out of His kingdom. The period between Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection for the sins of the world until His return is a period of grace; the church age, where people can be saved from the wrath to come. His Gospel has enough efficacy to save the whole world if the world would believe. But sadly, not all do, not all have, and not all will.
The Lord seems to indicate here that we ought not be concerned with His return if we have not yet understood the reason for His suffering. Jesus Christ died for our sins that we might have life in Him. That is the first priority. We must first believe that Christ died for our sins to enjoy His return. Hence He says, “must” here. But, it will not end well for those who are not looking to Christ for healing by His stripes, for forgiveness through His blood, for assurance by His resurrection … or for Christ’s return.
Too often people want to talk about eschatology and end times but fail to first grasp the free gift of God offered before it happens. The Lord promises to call His people out of the world before the Tribulation and His eventual return to rule the earth for 1000 years. But we "must" first be ready for that trumpet.
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Now the Lord gets into the rest of the answer. Here He clarifies His coming would be a surprise to many. Why? Because they will not be expecting it. They will be too busy living their lives without Him.
27 They 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.
Notice there is no mention of sin and the iniquitous conditions of the day. We are often taught that, ‘as the sin in the days of Noah, so will the sin be before Christ’s return.’ But the Lord does not refer to the sin of people here. He refers to only to their living life unprepared.
I’m sure the sin of today is just as bad if not worse than those days. Think of all the things that are available to us now thanks to the internet. I’m sure it could be said of us now that the wickedness of man is great and our imaginations are only evil continually.
Eating and drinking (living), marrying and being given in marriage are not sins. The people in that day (whether now or in the future) will be doing their thing: eating and drinking—in other words, living; marrying and being given in marriage. In other words, they're living their lives with their eyes on themselves and their own futures. They're not thinking about the Lord’s return.
This is why the Lord tells us not to be overly concerned with these things in Matthew 6. He tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And that righteousness is in the form of Jesus Christ—we are to seek Jesus Christ and all these things shall be added unto us.
But, the people of that day will not be doing that. And we can say now, the people of today are not doing that. This tells us the Lord could come at any time.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
A second example supports the first. No mention of the filth and sin of Sodom and Gomorrah here. What is mentioned is that the people of the cities, though immersed in sin, were going about their lives, doing their things. They cared not for God. They cared nothing for the things of God. They cared nothing for their sins or judgment. They only thought about themselves, doing what feels good, what they think is right, and living their lives on their terms; going about their business.
How many people in the world are doing these things right now? Going through life with no thought about the future. No thought about the spiritual. They don’t care about the things of God. They’re just living, going through their lives without belief, without God, without care that Christ will return.
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all.
However, as they were doing these things, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and caught them. They were destroyed while they were doing their business. They were not expecting anything like that to happen. They just expected life to go on as it had been the previous days. Will it not be the same before Christ’s return? Christ says it will be.
This is why the Lord is warning us here to expect the unexpected; not to get so caught up in the things of this world; not to get entangled in this life and caught unawares. When I speak here of Christians, I’m referring to the time of rapture. After that, the day of the Lord begins with the Tribulation; at the end, His return to set foot on earth again. It’s a package deal.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Jesus tells us here that it will be the same when He returns to earth. But believers should not be surprised or overcome by this day. We should be looking forward to it.
How will one live if they know the Lord will return?
How do people live now not thinking about the Lord’s return?
Noah built the ark because he believed what God told him about the sin of mankind and about God’s judgment of the world. He built the ark by faith believing that what God said He will do. And He did! The earth was flooded and all but eight people died.
Out of faith he acted. By faith, his life changed. It went from doing the same things we read about in previous verses, to following God. It should be the same for every believer. If we believe Christ will return, our lives should reflect that. We still do the same things as the world (e.g. eat, drink, marry, think about the future, buy, sell, plant, harvest, etc.), but with one eye upward looking for Christ’s return.
I wonder what may have been going through the minds of those people in the time of Noah when the fountains of the great deep opened up. Maybe one or two things: (1) Noah was right, and (2) I wasn’t ready for this?
How about you today? Where are you?
We’re all going to be judged. All in Christ will give an account of how they spent their lives and their works will be tried by fire, but they are still saved. All who are not in Christ will be judged for their works and deeds in the flesh, but they will not be saved. That's because no one can stand justified before holy God apart from Christ.
We have all sinned, we are sinners, and we are born into sin. We are helpless and hopeless of ourselves. no amount of good deeds can correct that. There is only one good work that can save us, and it came by Christ. that's why He said, "it is finished." There's nothing more to be done.
Are you desiring to see the return of Christ? Are you not thinking about it because you’re so busy with life, work, studies? Family? 'Ministry'? Other? When Christ returns, only everlasting life with Him will matter.
Christian, are you living your life reflecting Christ’s return? Are you telling others about it? Are you warning people of the judgment and wrath to come? Noah preached 120 years. There was an ark outside of his house (it could have been). How about you and I? Is there evidence in our lives that we believe God’s word? Is there evidence in our lives that we have looked in faith to Jesus Christ as our only hope to be redeemed from sin and live with Him forever? Is there evidence in our lives that we are walking by faith, looking for Christ’s return?
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