Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Reading

Table Talk Discourse Continues

Started with a dinner with a Pharisee in ch 14

Jesus addresses Pharisees and disciples

In chapter 17 we heard Jesus calling us to a new way of life / repentance & forgiveness

We have heard of the 10 Lepers and the unprofitable servant

We have learned of a faith that was a seed -

Now a demand of the Pharisees shifts the discussion - but it is not off topic just the natural progression

Luke 17:20–37 (KJV 1900)

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:

21 Neither shall they say, Lo here!

or, lo there!

for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

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.

23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

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.

25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

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.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

32 Remember Lot’s wife.

33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord?

And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Sermon Introduction

Chase praying for Tyler at the wedding rehearsal.

Surely Lord come quickly..

Teaching of the second coming should be heard in our prayers, our foyer discussions, and in our planning meetings.

It should be that real to us.

We need a paradigm shifting in our thinking.

We can live as if this world is all there is, or we can view our earthly existence as a brief pilgrimage designed to prepare us for eternity.

Three dominate worldviews

Ultimate reality is material and that everything in the universe is the impersonal product of time and chance.

There are variations of this view, but it is best known as naturalism, atheism, and humanism.

Ultimate reality is not material but spiritual.

However, this spiritual agent is not a personal being but the “all-that-is.”

Variations of this view include pantheism and the New Age movement.

The Christian world view, distinguishes between the creation and the Creator and declares that ultimate reality is an infinite, intelligent, and personal Being.

We believe that this personal God has decisively revealed himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ and one day he will return to rule and reign.

Today’s passage we see 3 things about the Kingdom

You will not miss when it comes

You will not understand this event if you do not understand the cross

You will ready for this event if you are clinging to this world

How did we get to this topic?

Luke 17:20-21 “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 (1) cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here!

or, lo there!

for, behold, (2) the kingdom of God is within you.”

This was a logical question to ask, for He had been preaching for quite some time that the kingdom was at hand.

Jesus had just taught about a new way of life (repenting and forgiving one another), He has told the story of the unprofitable servant, and He just healed 10 lepers.

I do not know what was motivated the Pharisees to ask the question, but we can see the logic behind it.

Jesus responded to the question in two ways.

He said that the Pharisees would not be able to tell of the coming of the kingdom through their observations.

He told them that the kingdom was in their midst.

Kings and Kingdoms

The topic of the kingdom and King is foreign to us.

We've never had a king in the United States of America.

In fact, we were born in a revolution against a king.

The kingdom is such a critical aspect of biblical teaching.

God is presented as a King who rules over a kingdom.

They misunderstood the purpose of His first coming.

There are two realms to this kingdoms.

There is the material kingdom.

/ They got this.

They tried on a number of occasions to force Him to be a King, didn't they?

And he had to prevent that from happening.

There is the spiritual kingdom.

He is King over both domains.

He rules one by creation.

He rules another by recreation, through revelation.

What is the Kingdom like?

Many Parables are given in Matthew that help us see.

We have looked at two recently in Luke.

Luke 13:18-19 “18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?

19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.”

Universal.

It will take over the whole universe at its culmination.

/ Also, seen in parable of the leaven bread.

Gradual.

The kingdom will not come like a prefabricated home.

Rather, it spreads progressively, as the Son in heaven sends his Spirit to prepare his people for his place

“Look, I begin with a spiritual kingdom in the heart which is now realized and it expands and moves and becomes greater and greater until one day it will cover the whole earth in the millennial glory when Christ comes to reign!”

There is no equal.

However, maybe this earthly example will help.

The 4-square mile (10-square kilometer) heavily guarded strip on the banks of the Tigris River in Iraq was known as “Little America” or the Green Zone

We're fellow workers for the kingdom.

Col 4:11 “11 And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision.

These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.”

We're in the kingdom.

We preach the kingdom.

It's all about the kingdom.

So we are a part of this expanding spiritual kingdom.

This passage is not chronological but it speaks to the nature of Christ’s return.

Let me give a brief summation of the passage

“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.