A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 47
“Three Dangers with Reference to the Second Coming”
Luke 17:20-36
Whenever something climatic occurs in our world; whether it be “The Persian Gulf War” in 1990, or the September 11 Terrorist Attack in 2001 we hear the question, “Do you think this could be the beginning of the end times?” The subject of the “end times,” or eschatology if you want to be technical, has always been an area of fascination, as attested to by the popularity of the “Left Behind” series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, which have become national best sellers. I will admit that I have read all of the “Left Behind” series of novels, and I find them informative and entertaining. But frankly I do not fear the end times, it’s not something that I worry about, it doesn’t keep me up at night and I don’t read and study about it constantly. “So what is a balanced Christian approach to the concern about the end times?”
This morning I want to answer that question by examining; “Three Dangers with Reference to the Second Coming” that we find beginning in verse twenty.
1. Don’t Try to Make the Second Coming Fit you Preconceived Ideas and Expectations
(vv. 20-21)
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; (21) nor will they say, "See here!’ or "See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
The Pharisee saw themselves as the experts on the coming of the kingdom of God. And as much as I enjoy the LaHaye and Jenkins “Left Behind” series we should not allow ourselves to think that we have this whole prophecy thing figured out. In fact Jesus says in these verses that we are not to trust anyone who says to us, “I know when the Kingdom is coming.” or “I know when the last days will be.”
In spite of the fact that the Bible says, that no man shall “know the day nor the hour,” (Matt. 25:13) men are still trying to predict that very thing. Down through the years men have been setting dates for the return of Christ. From William Miller who set the date in 1844 to Edgar Whisenant, a retired NASA rocket engineer who set the date in 1988. Each of these men when the date they picked was wrong, they recalculated and set a new date, which was also wrong. Over the last two thousand years lots of men have played neat little mathematical games with Bible prophecies in an effort to determine the exact date of the Lord’s return. This date-setting has alarmed Christians and has harmed the cause of Christ among unbelievers by making us look foolish.
Some have tried to rationalize their date-setting by saying, “Yes the Bible says that we cannot know the day nor the hour but it does not say we cannot know the week and the year.” Very little critical thought is needed to see through that kind of rationalizing.
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 exact date is not important but being ready is.
There is some question as to the meaning of Jesus’ words in v. 21, “the kingdom of God is within you.” One thing we can be sure of is that Jesus is not telling these unbelieving Pharisees that they had the kingdom of God in their hearts.
The Greek word (entos) translated “within” is used here and can also mean “among” or “in the midst of.” Jesus is saying, “Don’t look around you for the kingdom of God out there somewhere unless it is first of all in your own heart.”
“The irony here was huge, because they (the Pharisees) were arrogantly and unknowingly asking the kingdom’s King, indeed the king of kings, when His kingdom would come.” [R. Kent Hughes. Luke: That You Might Know the Truth. Vol. 2 ( Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 19980 p. 178]
They thought that their position as religious experts assured them 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 the greatest thing that had ever happened in history.
The warning then is, Don’t Try to Make the Second Coming Fit your Preconceived Ideas and Expectations And ….
2. Don’t Be Obsessed by End Times Thought
and Study. (vv. 22-25)
“Then He said 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. (23) And they will say to you, "Look here!’ or "Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. (24) 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. (25) But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”
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. We cannot deny that many Christians seem to be obsessed by prophecy. It is possible to spend lots of time fretting about the future and how will it all end! But today is where God is concerned. Today is where He wants to meet you, provide for you. Don’t misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with seeking to understand the general characteristics of the “last days” predicted by the prophetic scriptures but, we are not to be obsessed by such thought and study…and
3. Don’t Allow Worldly Concerns To Dim Your Desire For the Lord’s Return.
(vv. 26-28, 33-34)
“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. Have you ever stopped to consider why Noah’s neighbors were so hard to convince? “The indifferent attitude of the people of Noah’s day is emphatically expressed by the use of four Greek imperfect verbs without any connectives. A literal translation would read: They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage.” [The Complete Biblical Library:Luke. Vol. 4 (Springfield, Missouri: The Complete Biblical Library, 1986 p. 515]
They were not necessarily evil, they were just too busy eating and drinking, marrying and burying, conducting business. It was not their sin, as great as it was, that damned them to destruction, it was there indifference. They were just too busy to think about the impending judgment. 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 the Noah entered the Ark.
The attitude of the world in Lot’s day was the same as in Noah’s day. In verse twenty-eight we see, “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built.” Again the use of imperfect verbs emphasize that they were eating, drinking, buying and selling and planting and building. All of these activities stress the preoccupation and the indifference of these people. Yet they are not much different than many today, who are so preoccupied with the concerns of this life that they are shallow, complacent, comfortable - and lost.
Jesus tells his disciples that he is coming again and the resulting judgment will be selective and final. In verse twenty-seven we read, “but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. (30) Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”
The word translate “revealed” (v. 30) is a verb (apokalupto) which means “to uncover or unveil.” But what Jesus reveals is not intended for us to develop a chart, but for us to prepare our hearts.
Before we leave this section I think that it is worthy of note that in both cases, Lot and Noah, the scriptures reveal that judgment did not begin until God’s people were safe.
Verse thirty-one tells us that his judgment is to be so sudden and so climatic that,"In that day, 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.” To underscore how total and swift this judgment will be, Jesus notes that people will not have time to grab things out of their homes to take with them as they flee. Nor can workers in the field go home to recover their possessions. There will be no time to retrace their steps. Those who live for eternity will be ready to drop everything to welcome His coming.
In verse thirty-two, the believer is cautioned “Remember Lot’s wife.” Even Lot’s wife was so consumed with life in Sodom that she looked back in spite of the angel’s warning (Gen 19:17). Perhap’s Lot’s wife just cannot imagine living without all the “things” she has had to leave behind and looks back with one lingering look. That one lingering look cost her heavily according to Genesis 19:26, “But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
I don’t know that it is too much different today for there are many professed Christians today who would see the Lord’s return as a terrible interruption to their plans. (1 Thess. 5:1-11).
Jesus then states the general principle in verse thirty-three when he said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
According to verse thirty-four in all outward appearance two people may be the same as they work together or even live together. But one will be taken away in deliverance and the other left to judgment. “I tell you, in that night 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. (36) Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left."
People will be separated. Some will gain everlasting life and judgment will come for others. Warren Weirsbe in his commentary says that, “The verb “taken” in verses 34-36 does not mean ‘taken to heaven’ but ‘taken away in judgment.’ [Weirsbe p. 58] It should be remembered that what Jesus is talking about is not the rapture of the church where the believer is taken and unbeliever left but the second coming were the unbeliever is taken and the believer is left.
The point of verses 34-36 seem to be that No matter how close two people are, either emotionally or physically, they may be separated by the judgment. Two people may sleep in the same bed, one will be taken and one left behind. Two people will be working at the same job, even friends, like two women grinding grain, but only one will escape judgment.
But there will be no mistakes for the separation, will be made by God. Outward appearance will count for nothing; God will judge our hearts.
Conclusion
Jesus made it very clear that there are some things to be careful regarding the end time.
1. Don’t Try to Make the Second Coming Fit you Preconceived Ideas and Expectations
2. Don’t Be Obsessed by End Times Thought
and Study.
3. Don’t Allow Worldly Concerns To Dim Your Desire For the Lord’s Return.
Jesus is coming again, make no mistake about it, and whether you believe it or not, or your ready or not, HE IS COMING!!! For those that know Him there is nothing to fear, for those who know that they do not know Him there is every reason to prepare.
The moments that remain should motivate the church to reach a lost and very frightened world. What we must remember is that every moment until the Lord returns is an opportunity to be an instrument to change the destiny of someone who does not know Jesus personally.
