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I know that in my preaching to you on the subject of the Second Coming, it raises questions, but I
would just encourage you that there are some resources that probably would be obvious to
most of you. The study Bible has a treatment of all these texts that relate to eschatology
in the notes in the study Bible. The commentary series on the New Testament, you'll find the
larger prophetic passages such as Mark thirteen, and the Luke passage is seventeen to twenty-one,
Matthew twenty-four, twenty-five, and other passages in the other New Testament commentaries—book
of Revelation for one—covered in much much more detail. And they have reissued a book
I wrote called The Second Coming, which gives you a more thematic look at the events of
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I only say that because I don't expect that I'll
be able to cover everything, but somewhere, if you search far and wide, you will find
the answers to the questions that are raised in your mind as we look at the Word of God
together.
Well with that being said, we come this morning to this wonderful seventeenth chapter of Luke's
gospel. Luke chapter 17 and our theme is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We're dealing
with verses 22 through verse 37...Luke 17:22 through 37. This is a prolonged presentation
of our Lord's Second Coming that comes from His own lips. You might say this is Jesus
on His Second Coming. We are hearing it straight from the Lord Himself. It is not a presentation
of the chronology of His Second Coming, or the sequential events. There will be a more
sequential, chronological presentation by our Lord in the twenty-first chapter of the
gospel of Luke. But here we have not a chronological treatment of His coming but a description
of it. This is to help us with the nature of that event. And in one particular aspect,
and that is that it will be a judgment. While we as believers look forward to the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ because it will bring Him glory, and because He will establish His
Kingdom on earth and He will bind Satan and righteousness and truth and peace will prevail
over the earth as He reigns spiritually and physically in Jerusalem over the world, and
that's all positive, and that Kingdom will be launched only with those who are the Savior's
own by faith, we look forward to that. We look forward to the Kingdom aspects of Christ's
return. We long for that day when we will reign with Him and enjoy the fullness of all
the blessings and promises originally given to the patriarchs and to David and even to
the prophets in the New Covenant. But that's not all that occurs in the Second Coming of
Christ. It's not just the Kingdom and glory and blessing and prosperity and righteousness
and peace prevailing in the earth, before that happens there will be the most horrific
consummate complete devastating judgment the world has ever, or will ever know. And so
as our Lord talks about Second Coming in this particular text, it is a focus on the judgment.
It is looking at the nature of His return as a judgment event. This is all precipitated
by the fact that Jesus talked about the Kingdom all the time. He preached about the Kingdom
all the time. And in a mocking, scoffing way, the Pharisees say to Him in the query that
is certainly in their minds if not on their lips, verse 20, "When is the Kingdom of God
coming?" You keep talking about it. I think it's a sarcastic, scornful, mocking approach
because they had already rejected Him as their King and their Messiah and He was much an
unlikely King, He didn't appear to be the King they had anticipated by all their understanding
of Old Testament prophecy. There was no splendor. There was no glory. There was...there were
no signs in earth and signs in heaven of massive proportions and He attacked their religion
rather than confirming it, for all those reasons and others they had rejected Him as King.
And now I think in a mocking way, they ask, "When is that Kingdom you keep talking about
going to come?" And He answers them, "It's not coming with signs to be observed. The
first phase of this Kingdom is not external, it's not universal, it's not physical, rather...verse
21...He says the Kingdom of God is within you.
The first phase of His Kingdom is spiritual, personal, internal. And if you're not a part
of that Kingdom, you will never be a part of that external, worldwide, physical Kingdom.
We talked about the internal, personal Kingdom, verses 20 and 21, and now we're talking about
the external, visible, manifest, earthly reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. He launches, in
a sense, that first Kingdom in His first coming. He launches that second aspect in His Second
Coming. It is crucial then to any understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus to major
on the Second Coming. In fact, one could argue that it is the most important of all doctrines
because it is the consummation of all doctrines. Every other doctrine, every other element
in redemptive history ends up with the glorification of Christ in His Kingdom which is earthly
and then in its final phase eternal. It cannot be minimized. Because it is important, it
is laid out for us clearly. It is not obscure in Scripture. It is not hard to find. It is
all over the place, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and with amazing
specificity. Our contemporary evangelical world has become comfortable with the fact
that there are all kinds of views of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as if it is an absolute
possibility to understand the reality of it. In fact, books are written which share the
multiple views and the multiple perspectives of almost every aspect of the return of the
Lord Jesus Christ, as if God had not spoken clearly on the matter. So it's important for
us to get a good biblical sound solid look at this massively significant event...the
Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And to start with something that is very clear and very straightforward and unmistakable,
let me read a verse from Acts 1 and it's verse 11. Just listen to this. Jesus had ascended
into heaven. He was standing there in one moment talking with His disciples and after
He had completed what He had to say, He began to go up, just ascending into heaven by His
divine power. He went up and as He went up, they gazed intently, staring with a fixed
gaze at this phenomenal occurrence and He disappeared in the clouds. That is the ascension
of Jesus described for us there in Acts 1.
While they were in that startled stunned condition of gazing at Jesus leaving, two angels appear.
And this is what the angels said, "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." That is unmistakable,
unambiguous, crystal clear. He went up physically, bodily, literally, visibly and disappeared
behind the clouds. That is precisely the way He will come back...through the clouds visibly,
physically, bodily, literally coming down and placing His feet on the Mount of Olives.
This is not mystical and there's no secret meaning to this. It is a promise of the literal,
physical, bodily, visible return of Jesus Christ to earth. And this is the great culminating
moment in God's redemptive history. It must happen. It cannot be set aside.
Let me just give you a few things that demand the Second Coming of Christ. And I want...I
want to secure your foundation before we look at our text. First of all, the promise of
God demands that Jesus Christ return...the promise of God demands that Jesus Christ return.
In the Old Testament God made a number of promises that there would come a Messiah who
would set up an everlasting Kingdom. In 2 Samuel 7 this Messiah, this King was to be
in the line of the great King David and He was to come and establish His Kingdom and
build a house and establish a throne that would last forever, 2 Samuel chapter 7. In
Psalm 2 God actually speaks. In fact, He speaks out of anger, verse 6 of Psalm 2, "As for
Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree
of the Lord, He said to me...writes the psalmist...Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee, ask
of Me and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance."
God says I will establish My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. God says to His own Son,
"You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask Me and I will give you the nations as
Your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as Your possession." The first time Jesus
came, that did not happen...that did not happen. Of the three hundred plus messianic prophecies
related to the coming of Jesus Christ, about a third of them were fulfilled in the first
coming. That leaves two thirds...about two hundred plus...that have not been fulfilled.
That necessitates a second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by the very promise of God. The
integrity of God, the credibility of God, the truthfulness of God demands that Jesus
Christ return and fulfill those prophecies.
Secondly, the teaching of Jesus demands that He return...the teaching of Jesus Himself.
If you were to jump ahead a little and look at Luke 21, you would hear the words of our
Lord as He speaks of His own Second Coming, verse 25 of Luke 21, "There will be signs
in sun and moon and stars and upon the earth dismay among nations and perplexity at the
roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things
which are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heaven will be shaken and then they
will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these
things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption
is drawing near." Here Jesus discloses His own Second Coming.
You have a parallel passage to that in Mark 13. You have a parallel passage to that in
Matthew chapter 24. In Luke 17 Jesus Himself is speaking here about the days of the revealing
of the Son of Man, verse 30. In John 14 He said, "If I go away, I will come again and
receive you unto Myself that where I am there you may be also." The trustworthiness of God
demands the Second Coming and the trustworthiness of Jesus demands the Second Coming.
Thirdly, the word of the Spirit demands the Second Coming. The Spirit is the author of
Scripture, all prophecies of the Second Coming are written down by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit who is then the divine member of the Trinity assigned the responsibility
to inspire the writers to write and the Spirit then has spoken in the Word and every prophecy
calling for the Second Coming is a prophecy that has come by means of the Spirit to us
in the written Word. And therefore, the Spirit who says He will come, being trustworthy,
necessitates that coming.
In Revelation chapter 3 and in verse 11, you don't need to turn to it, I'll just mention
it to you. Jesus says, Revelation 3:11, "I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have
in order that no one take your crown." On this occasion He's speaking about His coming
which is a plus for those who believe, for those who believe to hold on to their crowns
so that when He's here they receive a full reward. Two verses later, our Lord Himself
says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." When
He writes a letter to the church, it is a letter that comes by way of the Spirit. So
listen to what the Spirit says about the Lord coming quickly.
The promise of God, the teaching of Jesus, the Word of the Spirit demands the Second
Coming. God's plan for the church demands a Second Coming. It cannot be over for the
church. John 14, I just mentioned to you that He will come and receive us to Himself. He
is now preparing a place for us. First Thessalonians 4, "If we believe Jesus died," verse 14, "and
rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Here
is how it's going to happen. The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the
voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first we
who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." The great Rapture of the
church. This is God's plan for the church. The history of the church culminates when
the Lord calls for His church. John 14, 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15, "In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we're changed and transported into heaven." That's
what triggers the events surrounding the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. His plan
for the church demands that the church be gathered to Him in glory and then according
to Revelation chapter 19, after having been gathered to Him in glory, before He comes
all the way to earth to set up His Kingdom and judge the ungodly, we spend some time
with Him in fellowship and when He comes, we come with Him. Revelation 19 pictures Him.
Heaven opens in verse 11, Revelation 19, a white horse, the one sitting on it is called
Faithful and True. In righteousness He judges and wages war. He comes, first of all, in
judgment. And it tells us in verse 14, "The armies which are in heaven," that would be
all the believers gathered there, "clothed in fine linen, white and clean," I think the
clothing of the redeemed, "Following Him on white horses." He comes for us and then later
we come with Him. He comes back with His glorified church and all the glorified saints. The plan
for the church demands that Christ come for His church, that He bring His church to Himself
in glory and then return to earth with His glorified saints to dwell here in His Kingdom.
But not just the church, the future of Israel also demands that Jesus come again. And that
is laid out for us, perhaps as clearly as anywhere, by the prophet Zechariah. In Zechariah
chapter 12 and verse 10 we read this, "Looking at the future, I will pour out on the House
of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication so that
they will look on Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns
for an only son and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping of a firstborn."
In the future, the people of Israel are going to recognize what they did to their Messiah.
They're going to recognize they pierced their own God and they're going to mourn. And it
will be a great mourning. The land will mourn. Every family will mourn. The wives will mourn.
The families here and there by name will mourn. And in that day, chapter 13 verse 1, a fountain
will be open for the House of David, the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. Salvation
will come. They'll recognize Christ. They'll recognize the sin of rejection. They'll embrace
the true gospel. They will be cleansed. And then, chapter 14 follows up, verse 4, "In
that day His feet...that is the Lord who goes forth out of heaven...will stand on the Mount
of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be
split in its middle from east to west by a large valley so that half the mountain will
move toward the north, the other half toward the south." Once Israel understands what they
have done, turns to their Messiah, they are saved and that triggers the final return of
the Lord who comes out of heaven in judgment and as well to establish His glorious Kingdom.
Verse 9, chapter 14, "The Lord will be King over all the earth. In that day the Lord will
be the only one and His name the only one." The future of Israel demands a Second Coming
to establish the promised Kingdom which will occur after Israel's salvation.
There's another very important matter that demands the return of Christ, let's call it
the corruption of the world. The last chapter of world history cannot be the one we're living
in now. For anybody to say this is the final Kingdom, to me is ludicrous. The final chapter
has not yet been written. The corruption of the world in the hands of the evil usurper,
Satan, is not the last part of God's history of redemption. In fact, 2 Thessalonians chapter
1 verse 7 tells us that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels
in flaming fire. It's not just the Lord that comes back. It's not just the glorified saints
that come back. It's the angels who come in flaming fire as part of the judgment, dealing
out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of
our Lord Jesus and these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence
of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes to be glorified in His saints
on that day. So it's two-fold. He comes to be glorified in His saints, to establish His
Kingdom, comes with His saints, comes to meet His saints who have come to believe here on
earth and saints alive and saints glorified go into that glorious Kingdom, but not until
there is judgment. And none of this happens until Israel has come to embrace the Lord
Jesus Christ. This corrupt and evil world will be judged when the Lord comes back and
the paradise lost will be the paradise regained. That's why in Revelation 6:10, the martyrs
under the altar saying, "How long, O Lord? How long are You going to wait until You vindicate
Yourself? Until You come and destroy the wicked and the ungodly.
And that leads us to the next demand for the Second Coming, the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
This world has not seen the last of Jesus. They have made Him in to a cartoon character
today. They mock Him freely. They scorn Him. They reject Him. They treat Him with trifling
attitudes and indifference. But they have not seen the last of Him. In Matthew chapter
24 and verse 29, Jesus says, "Immediately after of the Tribulation of those days, the
sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light. The starts will fall from the sky
and the powers of the heaven will be shaken." The sky as we know it will go into collapse.
It will become black, blacker than ever in history. And then, "The sign of the Son of
Man will appear in the sky." He will light up the sky. "And all the tribes of the earth
will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power
and great glory." He's coming with great glory, massive glory. Not the humility He came with
in the humble stable in Bethlehem.
So when you're talking about the Second Coming, you're talking about something that must happen.
The promise of God demands it. The teaching of Jesus demands it. The Word of the Spirit
demands it. The church demands it. The future of Israel demands it. The corruption of the
world demands it. The vindication and exaltation of Jesus Christ demands it. And the destruction
of Satan demands it...the destruction of Satan demands it. Genesis 3:15 says that though
the enemy will bruise the heel of the Messiah, the Messiah will crush his head. He will crush
his head. We read in the twentieth chapter of Revelation how that when the Lord Jesus
returns, He ties Satan up in a great chain and throws him into a pit with all the demons,
after which he's loosed for a little season and then thrown forever into the eternal Lake
of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels and all others who reject Christ. The destruction
of Satan demands that Jesus come back, that He take the scroll as described in Revelation
chapter 5, unroll the scroll which is the Title Deed to the earth. And each time one
of the seven seals is broken, judgment will come on the face of the earth. He will mete
out that judgment as He takes back what is rightfully His from Satan, the usurper.
And finally, the hope of the saints demands it. First Thessalonians 1:10, "We wait for
the coming of the Lord." Titus 2:13, "We are looking for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." You will dismantle evangelical doctrine, you
will dismantle the gospel without a proper understanding of the consummate significance
of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Yes, it's wonderful to celebrate the internal Kingdom,
the personal, spiritual Kingdom. Yes, it's essential to have the King dwelling within
you. It's essential to have the Trinity take up residence in your heart, to have Christ
in you and the Father make His abode there and the Spirit take up residence. That's essential
to be a part of that spiritual Kingdom. But it does not preclude that final, physical,
universal, external Kingdom. In the first one, Christ reigns over an individual's life.
In the second one He reigns over the whole world. Both are critical to the purposes of
God.
But in spite of this, and because of it, because it is the way the story ends, and because
it is the truth, it is attacked.
Just like the deity of Jesus is attacked, like the Trinity is attacked, like the gospel
of grace is attacked, like every true doctrine is attacked, this one is attacked. And as
we get closer and closer to the day that it's going to happen, perhaps the more frequent
the attacks become.
Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 for a moment. This gives you a perspective. And it's been a long
time since we discussed the Second Coming of the Lord, so it's good to fill in the good
and necessary components of a foundation for a sound, biblical eschatology. In 2 Peter
chapter 3 and verse 3, Peter says this, "Know this, first of all," get this in your head,
don't be surprised, expect it, "it is certain that in the last days, the days since Messiah's
first coming, in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their
own lusts, driven by their own lusts, their own ignorance," and here's what they say,
"Where is the promise of His coming?" They mock the Second Coming of Jesus. They mock
His return. They scoff at it. And their argument is the argument of uniformitarianism, that
everything is always the same, nothing cataclysmic every happens. Verse 4, "Ever since the fathers
fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." Nothing ever
changes. This is the theory of uniformitarianism that feeds evolution, everything goes along
the same pace, nothing ever varies, nothing ever changes, everything is simply going at
the same speed all the time. That's their theory. Their idea is, nothing like this could
ever happen because it never has happened. Which is a pretty ridiculous argument. It's
like saying, "I won't die, I never have."
But they're even wrong about their supposed uniformitarianism, for when they maintain
this, verse 5 says, it escapes their notice conveniently that by the Word of God the heavens
existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water. And what he's referring
to is creation. They forget that this world as we know it is not a product of continuity,
of forces moving at a uniform rate. This universe, this earth on which we live is the result
of a massive cataclysm called creation in which in six days God created a mature universe with full-grown
adults and full-grown animals and plants, and full-grown systems all life systems in
full power of operation and absolutely perfect. And He did it in six twenty-four-hour days.
That is a cataclysm in which everything was sped up at an infinite rate by the creative
power of God. Everything is not operating on a uniform time basis.
Further, he says at the end of verse 6...or at the end of verse 5 that the shaping of
this earth as we know it was done as God moved the water and the earth around. He formed
it and shaped it in the great creation, first it was all covered with water, then He brought
up the continents and put the water where He wanted the water to go and shaped the earth
by moving the water around. And speaking of water, he goes on in verse 6 to refer to the
Flood through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. All
things have not continued the same since the beginning. You have two great cataclysms...the
cataclysm of creation in six days, and the cataclysm of the Flood in which God literally
reshaped the surface the earth, broke up the masses of land and reappointed the water to
new places. The water came pouring up from underneath the earth, pouring down from the
canopy over the earth and shaped the earth as we know it today. These were cataclysmic
events.
And just as there have been these cataclysmic events in the past, verse 7, the present heavens
and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment, destruction
of ungodly men. There's coming a cataclysm in the future that's going to be, in a sense,
the reverse of creation, it's going to be the uncreation. And the entire universe implodes.
Verse 8, "Don't let this one fact escape your notice." What's that? Beloved, with the Lord,
one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.
Somebody is going to say, "Well He hasn't come and it's been two thousand years since
Jesus was here. And where is He? He hasn't come. He isn't going to come. Everything is
going to continue the same way it is, we're all going just to keep going along this way."
There are even evangelical Christians who believe that. There's not going to be any
cataclysmic return of Jesus Christ to this earth, it hasn't happened, it won't happen.
But you forget, God is eternal, and with God one day is a thousand years and a thousand
years is one day. And he says then in verse 9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise."
That's not the issue, as some count slowness. "But is patient toward you, not wishing for
any to perish but all to come to repentance." The Lord is not going to come until all have
come to repentance. The patience of God is waiting for the completion of the redeemed.
But...verse 10, "When it happens the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the
heaves will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, the earth
and its works will be burned up." Don't be foolish. Don't join the mockers. It's going
to happen.
Then he poses the important question in verse 11, "Since all these things are to be destroyed
in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?" You
better be ready, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God on account of
which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat.
That's an atomic explosion when God splits all the atoms in this created universe and
it goes out of existence.
Yes, there will be a return of Jesus Christ. Yes, He will come. He will come for His church
and gather us to Himself. Then on earth will come a series of judgments, precursors to
the day of the Lord that comes at the end of that seven-year period. When Christ returns
He will return because Israel has come to salvation, along with vast multitudes across
the earth. He will return. He will judge all the ungodly. And He will then set up His glorious
Kingdom. It's really unmistakable. It's not hard to understand, it's hard to misunderstand.
You have to do all kinds of convoluted things to come up with anything else. Now let's go
back to Luke 17.
Is our Lord concerned that we understand the Second Coming? Absolutely, as we're going
to find out starting here in chapter 17 verse 22, all the way through chapter 21, we're
going to be running into His teaching on this great coming event. He wants us to understand
that He is coming. And as I said, in this particular section, it is not the sequence,
or the chronology, it's the nature of the event. And in particular here, He focuses
on the judgment aspect of it...the judgment aspect of it because we need to understand
the terror of the Lord. The disciples to whom He says this, according to verse 22, need
to understand it. The Pharisees who are there listening need to understand it, that if you're
not in the spiritual Kingdom, you'll never be in the material Kingdom. If you're not
in the internal Kingdom, you'll never be in the external Kingdom. They need to understand
this is a reality. And, of course, as I told you last time, the Jews were all thinking,
"We're already in. When the Lord comes we're going to be part of the Kingdom." And what
He's saying to them is, what you're going to do is experience devastating judgment,
you'll never see the Kingdom. If you're not in the spiritual Kingdom, you'll never be
in the physical Kingdom. If you're not in the personal Kingdom, you'll never be in the
universal Kingdom. And so, it's really warning that He lays out here, describing the judgment
nature of the Kingdom.
Now, last time we talked about verse 22 and we said...there are several points that I
laid out for you. First of all, He wants us to understanding that Jesus' coming will be
desired by believers. So in verse 22, "The days will come when you long to see one of
the days of the Son of Man, you will not see it." You'll desire it, and it's true, we wait
for His coming, we long for His coming, we look for His coming. We say with the Apostle
John, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." We looked at that last time.
The second point that I want you to see, and be patient with me because this is important
enough for us to work our way slowly through it. I'm not going to sermonize this, I just
want to unfold the passage for you. But the second point is, Jesus' coming will not only
be desired by believers, and that we know to be true, but it will be visible globally...it
will be visible globally. Look at verse 23, "And they will say to you, 'Look here, or
look there, do not go away, do not run after them.'" If somebody comes along and says,
"Jesus is coming over there...Oh, Jesus is coming over here, or He has come over there,
or He has already come over here,' do not go away. Don't run after them." Don't head
off at their bidding into those directions. For...verse 24, "Just as the lightning when
it flashes out of one part of the sky shines to the other part of the sky, so will the
Son of Man be in His day."
Now His first coming was quiet and obscure in Bethlehem in a manger with no real fanfare.
But the second time He comes there won't just be a few folks who know about it. The next
time He comes, everybody is going to know about it because it's going to be visible
all over the world. And this is a good warning because even believers come to the point where
we get a little eager for the coming of the Lord, we get a little susceptible to the deception.
I remember when people running out buying prophecy books that Jesus was going to come
in this generation and it started in 1948 and a generation is 40 years so He's got to
be here by 1988 and all kinds of people were anticipating that. There have been lots of
people who have predicted that He's going to come. There are people who say, Christian
people who say, well He already came, He came in 70 A.D., that's the only coming that He'll
ever have and it was a spiritual one. Or there are those Christians who say He comes whenever
somebody is saved and that's it. You can't see it, the world can't see it but it's happening
spiritually. There are some cults who say He came at a certain time and did some cleansing
work and established a false religion while He was here...strange thing for Him to do.
And only the people who were in the secret knowledge know that. There are all kinds of
views.
But this simply obliterates all of that. Whenever a false teacher says, "Look there...Look here,"
don't believe them. Again in chapter 21 and verse 8, Jesus says, "See to it that you be
not misled for many will come in My name saying, 'I am He,' and the time is at hand, don't
go after them." Don't go after them....don't chase every so-called Messiah, every so-called
date. Don't run after everybody who says, "I am the Messiah," or who says, "The Lord
is at hand, He's coming here, He's coming now," don't do that.
Again in Matthew 24, the same warning is given by our Lord. It's...starts in verse...well
we'll start it in verse 23, "If anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There
He is,' don't believe Him. False Christs, false prophets will arise, show many signs
and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. I've told you in advance,
if you...if therefore they say to you, 'Behold He is in the wilderness,' don't go over there.
Or, 'Behold, He's in the inner rooms,' don't believe them." Why? "For just as the lightning
comes from the east and flashes to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be."
What's He saying? He's saying, it's not going to be anything somebody has to point out to
you, it's going to be obvious. It's like lightning, it's like a lightning storm and it starts
at one end of the sky and flashes across to the other end of the sky. That's the imagery
here. The Second Coming of Christ is not some secret event that happened in the destruction
of Jerusalem. It was not some private thing that occurred to a group of apostles. It was...it
is not something that happens personally to individual believers. It is a worldwide event
that is visible. Reject all other ideas. Reject all other ideas. When the King returns to
judge and when He returns to set up His Kingdom, no one will need to give us the secret knowledge.
Everybody is going to know. It's going to be like lightning flashing from one end of
the sky to the other end of the sky, and it's a Greek idiom that means precisely that.
How visible will it be? Turn to Revelation chapter 1. We already read in Matthew chapter
24 how visible it's going to be. How could it be mistaken when just what I read you it
tells us there that, verse 29, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,
the stars will fall from the sky. The powers of the heavens will be shaken. That ought
to be clear to everybody. Nobody could possibly miss the collapse of the universe. "And then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky."
But look at Revelation 1:7. "Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will
see Him, even those who pierced Him and those who belong to the company of those who rejected
Him, all unbelievers, all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him, even so amen, it
is time for His vindication. Let the unbelievers mourn." Every eye will see Him.
Well there's no question that when Jesus comes, nobody is going to be wondering if it happened.
Again chapter 19, we looked at earlier, "Heaven opens, out comes a white horse. Sitting on
the horsth...horse is one called Faithful and True." Then He comes. Now remember, the
universe is black and dark. There's no sky, as we know it. There are not stars, no moon,
no sun as we know it. The whole thing rolls up. One blazing, flaming Shekinah light, the
sign of the Son of Man in heaven, He appears. He is distinguishable in this vision as one
whose eyes are a flame of fire. "On His head are many diadems, verse 12, a name written
on Him which no one knows except Himself. I can't tell you how many people have asked
me what that name is. He's clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called The
Word of God.. It's another name. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, following Him on white horses. Out of His mouth comes a white sword. With
it He will smite the nations, rule them with a rod of iron. Tread the winepress with the
fierce wrath of God the Almighty, on His robe, on His thigh, has a name written King of kings
and Lord of lords."
There's no question that this is going to be visible globally. It's like lightning,
it goes from one end of the sky to the other. It's unmistakable. Everybody who can see,
sees the lightning. And the lightning expresses suddenness and unmistakable visibility. Now
remember, this is not the Rapture. The Rapture is that event where the Lord takes His church
to glory, then starts the judgment, precursors to the day of the Lord, redeems Israel and
a massive multitude, as we learn in the book of Revelation. And when that time is completed
and Israel has come to faith, a fountain of cleansing has been opened to them, then He
comes back to bring the promised Kingdom for them and for all the saints and establishes
His Kingdom on earth after having judged the world of ungodly men and women.
There's one other point in Luke 17 that I would just mention to you. And we will move
a little faster, but these were very foundational truths for today. A third point, His coming
will be desired, His coming will be visible, thirdly, His coming will be delayed...it will
be delayed. Verse 25, "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."
First He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
It's good that He said that. He said it often. I won't take you through every time He said
it, but just in Luke's gospel He told them He was going to suffer...Luke 9; Luke 12;
Luke 13. It comes up again in chapter 18 and, of course, look back at it in chapter 24.
In chapter 24 verses 6 to 8, the women who came and realized what had happened to their
Lord, it says, remembered what He had said. It helped to strengthen them. He kept telling
them, "I'm going to suffer...I'm going to suffer." He would have to suffer for sin as
a substitute or there wouldn't be any internal Kingdom or external Kingdom because He had
to redeem His own who would then inhabit His Kingdom. And so He cannot set up His Kingdom
until He suffers. And, He says, He must be rejected by this nation, this genea,this nation.
What nation? Israel....Israel. The Pharisees, of course, but the nation Israel, they rejected
Him. And as long as they keep rejecting Him, then He does not come to establish the Kingdom.
How did He characterize that generation? With great sadness. Chapter 9 verse 41 He said,
"O unbelieving and perverse generation." You are an unbelieving faithless perverse nation,
speaking of Israel. Chapter 11 and verse 29, "This nation is a wicked nation, perverse,
faithless, wicked." Chapter 11 verse 50, "The blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation
of the world may be charged against this nation. From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who perished between the altar and the house of God, I tell you, it will be charged against
this generation." They murdered the prophets. They killed the prophets. They killed their
Messiah. It is a perverse and faithless and wicked and murderous generation. Chapter 7
verses 31 and 32 He said, "You're an obstinate generation." No matter...you're like children,
somebody wants to play a game with happiness and you won't play. Somebody wants to play
a game of sadness, and you won't play. You're just indifferent, apathetic and obstinate.
This is the generation that rejected Jesus Christ.
When the rejection of Jesus Christ by Israel ends and Israel is saved and they will be,
all Israel will be saved. Paul says that in Romans absolutely unequivocally. Then they
will be purged from their sins and the Kingdom will come. Not until.
Now we're not waiting for that because the Rapture of the church happens first, then
the judgments begin to fall on the earth. And it's during that time of Tribulation,
that seventieth week of Daniel, that Israel is converted. There's nothing that needs to
happen prophetically before the Rapture...and we're gone. And then all hell at the hands
of God breaks out in this world. But He cannot come until He suffers many things...His death,
but also His rejection, ongoing rejection by the people to whom the Covenant of a Kingdom
was first promised. There will be a day when Israel repents and believes and are cleansed
and receives that glorious Kingdom and we'll come back with Christ to establish that Kingdom
and reign forever with Him.
Our Lord's coming will be desired. It is desired, visible, no one will miss it and delayed until
God's time is perfect for the salvation of Israel. Next time we'll look at His coming
will be unexpected, okay?
Father, we thank You for the Word and its clarity. It's hard to understand how people
can be confused about what is so clear. Save us from overspeculating about minutia in details
and overanalyzing the things that are happening around us in our day. Help us to live just
in the glory of the coming of the Lord Jesus, knowing that it will happen just as surely
as the first coming happened and as every other promise in Scripture is true, this one
is as well. And we look for that day, we long for it all to begin. We long for You to come
and take Your church so that we can fellowship with You and that You can begin the purging
and salvation of Israel that leads to the return of Christ and His exaltation and the
establishment of His glorious Kingdom. So we say with John, "Even so, come Lord Jesus,"
and may we who know these things to be true be the kind of persons we ought to be,
believing in Christ and living as He would have us to live. We thank You in His name. Amen.