WWUTT 2453 The Kingdom of God is Coming (Luke 17:22-30)

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are already a citizen of the kingdom of God, and you have not yet entered into the kingdom of God. So we're citizens now, but we're still looking for that eternal state when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

The Kingdom of God Already and Not Yet

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we've been in Chapter 17, where Jesus is talking about the coming of the kingdom. He addressed this with the Pharisees in the section that we looked at yesterday, as saying the kingdom of God is in the midst of you, and now He's going to address it with His disciples in the section we look at today, as the kingdom of God is still coming.

So let me read once again verses 20 -37, here the word of the Lord. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

And He said to the disciples, The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, Look there or look here, do not go out or follow them.

For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

But on that day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away.

And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed.

One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. And they said to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

So surely you've heard this expression before already and not yet. Have you heard that expression? So sometimes we talk about this, especially with regards to the coming of the kingdom of God or heaven or the promises that we are given in Christ.

We already have those promises, and yet we don't yet have those promises. We have the promise and the assurance of eternal life now, and yet we haven't entered into eternal life in the sense that we don't yet exist in that eternal state.

We're still physical beings here on this finite earth. When we die and our soul goes to be with God, then we enter into that place, and yet we're also awaiting the resurrection of our bodies, which will be on the day that Christ returns.

The dead in Christ will rise first, and then those who are left will be caught up together with him in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. So there's an already and a not yet aspect to that.

When it comes to the kingdom of God and the way that Jesus is talking about it here, we also see an already and a not yet. The way that he addressed the Pharisees, when the Pharisees said, When is the kingdom of God going to come?

And Jesus says, not in ways that it's going to be observed. The kingdom of God is in the midst of you. That's already. It's already here. It's in the midst of you. Jesus and his disciples right there, the kingdom of God existing in the hearts of those who are followers of Jesus.

We are already citizens of the kingdom of God, even as we still live here on this earth. So you won't be able to point to it and say, There it is a land with these borders and this people with these laws and so on and so forth.

It is. It is a kingdom that is spiritual, not a kingdom that we would think of a kingdom being on earth as physical. That's what Jesus is saying with the Pharisees with regards to the kingdom of God. Now it's in the midst of you.

The Coming of the Son of Man and False Claims

But then when he turns to his disciples, he talks about the not yet of the kingdom of God, specifically concerning the son of man, the coming of the son of man. Because remember, as I said yesterday, the Pharisees and even the disciples are expecting a literal kingdom on earth.

And they think that Jesus is going to ascend to the throne of David, and he is going to rule from Jerusalem and make Israel a great superpower in the earth again, like the dynasty it was or the empire it was under Solomon and even greater than that.

That's what they are expecting. So now having heard Jesus just say this to the Pharisees, well, then what are we looking for exactly? And so Jesus tells them about the coming of the son of man. He wasn't going to bring the Pharisees in on that.

The Pharisees are unbelievers. He's telling this only to his disciples so they know what to expect. And the way that we have this broken up here, he warns them, first of all, about those who are going to say, well, here's the day of the son of man, and here's the son of man right here.

So first he gives that warning. Then he talks about the signs to look for, just as it was in the days of Noah, just as it was in the days of Lot. And then he says what will happen on that day. Verse 31, let he who is on his housetop not go back to get his goods.

Talks about the two in one bed and one will be taken and the other one left. The two women who are grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. So these are the three sections that we look at here with regards to what Jesus shares about the coming of the son of man with his disciples.

So let's come back to verse 22. We'll see how far we'll get today, and then we'll pick up the rest tomorrow. So in verse 22, he says to his disciples, the days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the son of man, but you won't see it.

And they will say to you, look there or look here. Do not go out or follow them. So he's just said to the Pharisees, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And then he says to the disciples, a day is going to come when you're looking for the return of the son of man.

Now he's talking about something that's going to happen after he dies and is resurrected. He tells them that later when he says first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. That's in verse 25.

So those things must happen first. And then after that is when you're going to hit this time of wanting to see the day of the son of man, and you won't see it. So Jesus has died. He's resurrected. He's ascended into heaven.

And now you're waiting for his return. When is the king coming back? So those days are coming. You'll desire to see one of the days of the son of man. And this is a reference back to Daniel, because Daniel talks about the coming of the Messiah as the arrival of the son of man.

That's the title that Daniel gives to him. So that's what Jesus is talking about. And that's the way that the Jews would have understood it. This Messiah is coming, known as the son of man, according to Daniel's prophecy.

So you're looking for the days of the son of man. You won't see it. And it's really saying to his disciples that they're not going to be around for that day when Jesus returns, like one would view lightning in the sky.

So you're going to be looking for that day, and you won't see it. They will say to you, look there or look here. Don't go out or follow them. There are many that are going to rise up and say, here's the day of the son of man.

This happened with the Thessalonians, by the way. So what prompted Paul to write his second letter to the Thessalonians, second Thessalonians, is because the Thessalonians had received a letter seeming to be from Paul.

He mentions this at the start of chapter two. And it was a letter that said that the day of the Lord had already taken place and they missed the boat. So now they're in despair. We've been looking forward to the return of Jesus.

And now you're saying we missed it. So Paul's second letter is to write to them and tell them, here's what you should expect before Jesus returns. And he also says to them, you know about these things that I taught when I was with you.

So there's even some implied things that he doesn't write about in the letter, but says, you know what I told you. And unfortunately, the Thessalonians do know what Paul was talking about, what we don't.

So that's why we debate and argue about exactly what's going on there in second Thessalonians chapter two. What is it that Paul is describing? But what prompted him to write the letter was again, because the Thessalonians had been misled, thinking that the day of the Lord had already taken place.

We missed out. We're not going to get to see it. Paul says, no, there are other things that need to happen first. And so gives them those things that they need to be looking for before Jesus returns. So Jesus is even saying here to the disciples, there's going to be people that are going to come to you and they're going to say that the day of the Lord is here or it's already happened.

It's going to be a Messiah or a false Christ that will rise up and claim to be the son of man. He will claim to be Jesus. The disciples should know. No, you're not him. But they're being warned here that they would pass it on to others in the church.

There are things we need to be looking out for. And one of those things we need to look out for is false teachers who are going to claim to be the Christ. Now, this has been happening throughout the history of the church all 2000 years since Jesus ascended into heaven.

There's been people who have tried to claim that the day of the Lord has already taken place. The apostle Paul even put people out of the church, two men out of the church who had been saying that the resurrection had already taken place.

Well, that's it, guys. The resurrection of the dead has already occurred. So I guess we don't get to be part of that. In Second Timothy 2, 18, Paul treats that as heresy and puts those men out of the church.

So it's heretical to claim that the resurrection has already occurred. There were such false teachers that existed even in the time of the apostles, and it's been going on ever since. People that will pop up and will claim to be Jesus.

Jim Jones was one of them. You know, the whole drink of the Kool-Aid thing, Jonestown that happened, the Jonestown Massacre that took place however many decades ago. That was in the 70s, wasn't it? 1978, if memory serves.

So he claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus or the re-arrival of Jesus. There have been people in Mormonism who claim to be the return of Christ. The Baha 'i faith was even built upon somebody who claimed to be the return and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Also, Rastafarianism. It was from a group of people that thought that the emperor of Ethiopia was the return of Christ. And the whole religion, Rastafarianism, came about as a result of that. So, yeah, there are always people that are going to claim that either the Son of Man has returned or he's going to return on this exact date.

Or he's this person that's already come back. There are guys on social media. I don't get this every once in a while. Somebody will send me a message and say, I am the return of Jesus. You are talking about me.

You must worship me. I get it. I get it all the time. Not all the time, but once a year or something, some yahoo will pop up that will try to claim to be Christ on social media. I don't know who he's fooling, how he's convincing anybody.

They have followers. I don't know if the followers on social media are just like, well, let me follow this kook and see how weird he gets. Does anybody even follow these people?

I don't know.

There was a guy in Russia not long ago who claimed to be the return of Jesus, and he had a little cult going on until the Russian government arrested him and put a stop to that. So, yeah, all that to say, we've got people that are going to claim to be the return of Christ.

Don't listen to them. Do not go out or follow them, Jesus said. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. When Jesus returns, it will be unmistakable.

Everybody is going to know. There's not going to be any question that Jesus has just come back. All will see it. As you see lightning travel across the sky, so will it be when the Son of Man returns in his day.

But first, Jesus says he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. It was necessary for Jesus to tell the disciples that because, remember, they were not expecting that the coming Messiah was going to suffer anything.

And they think we're all going back to Jerusalem so that Jesus can take this thing over. It's why we've been following him. It's what we are expecting. He is the Messiah, and he is going to be the one who will rescue us from the tyranny of Rome.

But Jesus is saying to them here, first of all, the Son of Man has to suffer. He's going to suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And so then in the next part, he talks about what kinds of things to look for.

This has happened in history before. God has worked in various ways in which he has shown himself in a mighty way. The return of the Son of Man will be even greater than any of those other signs that God has put forth to show that he is working.

So what other signs might you be looking for or what can it be comparable to? So he's just talked about as lightning lights up the sky. So what else have we seen in history that has been a sign of heaven in some way?

To see how the judgment of God has come upon the earth. He will save his remnant. He will save his elect, but he's going to bring judgment upon the wicked. So in what other ways has this taken place? Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. And the flood came and destroyed them all. They were not even expecting that this was going to happen.

And then the judgment of God came. Noah and his family were saved. They had been following the word of God. They obeyed God and he delivered them. But everybody else was not listening to God's word. In 2 Peter 2, it says that Noah in his day was a herald of righteousness.

But the people were not listening to what Noah said. They were not worshiping God. They were violent. They were filthy. Sexual immorality was rampant. And God said, I've had enough of this. The stench of sin and wickedness on the earth had filled his nostrils and he had resolved that he was going to wipe them out.

Except for Noah and his family. Eight people aboard an ark with a bunch of animals. Floating on that thing for over a year. Before it lands on Mount Ararat. And God's anger was abated when Noah lifted up a sacrifice unto the Lord.

And then his wrath was satisfied. So just as it was in that day, when Noah entered the ark, so will it be with the coming of the Son of Man. People will be going about their business as if nothing is any different.

They're marrying, being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. Now I think for us as believers, there are going to be things that we can look for that we will probably see. But the day of the Son of Man will come suddenly upon people and they won't be expecting it at all.

They were just going about their casual business and did not know to look for anything. Because they weren't believers in Jesus. They weren't following his word. We have a hopeful expectation of that day.

We're still not going to know the hour or the day. But there's probably a season for us in which it's going to look pretty close. After all, Noah knew. He goes into the ark before the floodwaters came.

And he was on the ark for a little while before it started raining. But he knew that day was coming. And so he enters into the ark and the rest of the people are completely unprepared. And they perish in judgment.

While those who listen to God and his word will be saved. And so Jesus gives another example. Likewise, verse 28, Just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. You know, sometimes we have a picture of Sodom and Gomorrah as just being cities of decadence and depravity.

Like they were just eating and drinking themselves drunk and silly and engaging in sexual immorality. And that's all we think of regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. These were still significant cities of trade.

They were city-states. They each had kings who were directing them to build up wealth and do business and commerce with other cities. And they even went to war with other cities. We saw that previously.

I think it was Genesis chapter 13. When Abraham fights back in order to rescue Lot. And even the king of Sodom praises him because of Abraham's accomplishments. Though Abraham refuses to take anything from him.

So these were still operating, functioning cities that were building up wealth and doing trade with other cities around them. They were going about their normal business. Even eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

But then on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. Again, Lot obeyed, but everybody else did not. And they perished in the judgment of God. So will it be, Jesus said, on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

And we'll go that far for now. The next portion is where Jesus describes what will happen on that day. So we'll get to that tomorrow. Remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians. This is 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 4.

You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Therefore, remember this verse, verse 11, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing.

It was at the end of chapter 4, even regarding these end times things, where Paul says, encourage one another with these words. We all have differences of opinion regarding the end times, and we'll fight with each other over it, but may it not be.

Though we have differences of interpretation regarding things that have not yet come to pass, it should not cause division among us, but should be an encouragement to us. We encourage one another with these words, not dividing over our eschatology, but building one another up and giving each other hope in these days, knowing that Jesus is returning and he is going to rescue us out of this world.

He'll bring judgment on the wicked, and we will live with him forever in his eternal kingdom. So take heart, Christian, let these be good words for you today, that though we toil and struggle in this life for a little while, yet the day is coming and is promised to us that we will dwell forever with God in his perfect, imperishable, glorious kingdom.

We're already there and not yet. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read, and I pray these words would indeed encourage us. You do have a plan. You are going to fulfill it. You do have a promise, which you have already given to us, even if we have not yet entered into that eternal state, when we don't have to struggle with the things that we go through in this life for now.

While we live in these mortal bodies, keep us from evil, help us to pursue holiness and walk in the righteousness of Christ that we have been clothed in, looking forward to that day when we will join with you forever in your eternal kingdom.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study When We Understand the Text.