The Kingdom in Us

The Coming of the Kingdom

Lk 17:20–37 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 22 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. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 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. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 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. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 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. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Let’s begin today’s message by examining the first question asked in the text and who asked it. The question and who is asking… When will the Kingdom of God come is the question, and the Pharisees are the ones asking the question. Why… So why did they ask this question of Jesus? The Messiah... Jesus title is Christ, it means anointed one. The same as the title Messiah used by the Jews. Jewish expectations… According to Jewish the understanding of scripture the Messiah would fulfill several things. Among those things, the Messiah would be a king and the great high priest. Why the question?… Why was this important to the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come? Who the Pharisess were… The Pharisees were the lower and middle class religious leaders of the day.

What they believed… They believed the Messiah would overthrow the Roman government and restore rule of Israel to the Jews.

Isaiah 9:7 “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

The Messiah would be a Prophet… They also believe the Messiah would have the ultimate religious authority like Moses.

Deuteronomy 18:15–19 ““The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”

Lose their power… Once the Messiah came the Pharisees would lose their religious authority over the people. Not only that there was an expectation that the Messiah would bring about a peace. There would be no more war after He brought judgement and ruled/reigned.

Isaiah 2:1–4 “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Not only that he would restore peace to the animal kingdom and the world as a whole.

Isaiah 11:6–9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

The Sadducees… The other religious ruling class the Sadducees got their power over the people through Rome. They were in close with Roman rulership and that’s where they got their authority. They were the elite ruling class with deep pockets and power. Lose their power… Since the Messiah was both supposed to be both King and religious leader, the people would revolt against the Romans, and the Sadducees would lose their power. The why behind their question... Now we know the why of their question. Jesus threatened the Sadducees and the Pharisees power as both King and High Priest.

The questions the ask in the bible… Now the purpose behind both groups questions in the bible make more sense. Jesus answers, you looking for the wrong thing… Jesus’s answer to the Pharisees reveals the kingdom that they are expecting is not the one that is coming. Their metrics were way off.

John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.””

My Kingdom is different… In fact, it’s so different than what you expect, It’s right in front of you and you don’t even see it. It’s in your midst. What does Jesus mean by that? The Kingdom is already there? Instead of coming to establish a Kingdom for man, Jesus came to establish a Kingdom in man. The Kingdom isnt a perferct life… The kingdom of heaven wasn’t having the right politician and having closed borders and the perfect king. In other words, the kingdom of heaven on earth wasn’t their idea of a perfect world. So what is the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 6:9–13 “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is the Fathers will being done. How does the Kingdom come?… If the kingdom of heaven comes as the fathers will be done here on earth, then how does it come? Submit in all that we do to His will… The kingdom comes when God‘s children submit to him and all that they do and all that they are and fulfill His will here on earth.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 1 John 2:3 “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

If you know God, you will love Him. If you love Him, you will obey Him. If you know Him, love Him, and obey Him then the Kingdom of God is in you. It’s in your midst as Jesus Christ said.

John 14:23 “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Jesus then addresses the disciples... He tells the disciples there will be a time when they wish that He was with then again. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation…. His purpose in telling them this is so that they know they will Miss him when He has been crucified and even later when He has ascended into heaven. Warning… He warns them so that they are not deceived. He understands that out of their desire to be with Him again they could be led stray. The evil of false prophets... There will be those with evil intent in their heart who have no issue with leading Christians down a path they’re not supposed to be on. The Bible warns about false prophets. Like lightning… Jesus tells them you won’t have to wonder if I’ve returned. It will be clear. Lightening is a stark contrast to the darkness of storm clouds. Its dazzling and it bring with it the crash of thunder. It’s unmistakeable. And as long as you can see a little portion of the sky you no lighting flashed. There will be no mistaking Jesus when He comes. The Day of the Lord… What He is talking about here is the great and awesome day of the Lord‘s return.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

Jesus jumps around chronologically… Is important that understand inside this passage Jesus transitions between several different chronological events the past, their future then and the future to come. It can be difficult to pick up on it all without careful study. Jesus refers to events during or around these different periods in this passage: His Crucifixion His Ascension “Days coming” the temple destruction, and massacre of the Jews in AD 70 “the day, the Son of man is revealed”, that’s the Lord‘s return to earth The flood of the Earth during Noah’s time In God‘s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah The comparison of Sodom/Gomorrah and the Flood… Jesus compares the day of His return to both the flood during Noah’s time and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Evil and then judgement… During both times, God saw great evil on the earth before he delivered judgment.

Genesis 6:9–13 “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Genesis 18:20–21 “Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.””

Righteous saved… During both times there were only a few righteous who were saved. Noah believed God and acted on it. So he was counted righteous. Lot bow downed to the angels sent to Him and honored Gods messengers. Lot tried to prevent the evil the city wanted to do to them. God counted him righteous. Living for the world like God didn’t exist… In each instance the vast majority of the world was planning for and living for everything but the most important thing. Their lives are like ours… They were eating and drinking, marrying, buying, selling, plowing, building. This is a snap shot of our modern lives as well. They were living life, we are living life.

Is God in our lives?… But is author of life living it with us? He wasn’t living with them, through their choice not His.

Mark 8:34–37 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

The warning of verse 31… Jesus gave the disciples a warning in verse of 31 “On that day”, he says

“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. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.”

The temple destruction… The day that Jesus is prophesying about is the destruction of the temple in AD70. When the Roman army entered Jerusalem led by Titus it slaughtered the Jews and burned the temple to the ground.

More scripture… There are other scriptures linked to this event in Matthew.

Matthew 24:1–2 “Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.””

one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”” … Is referring to the temple being destroyed

Matthew 24:15–20 ““So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.”

1 million killed, Christians spared… Josephus the Jewish Historian records 1 million Jew dying in AD70 when Titus sacked the city and destroyed the temple. Few of those reported to have died were Jewish Christians, They had feld the city, because of Jesus’s warning.

the abomination of desolation… It is believed Titus sacrificed a pig in the temple while it was still burning. Either as an insult to the Jews how had cost many Roman soldiers lives or as a purification rite. Pigs were an unclean animal to the Jews that you were not supposed to even touch.

The mercy of the prophecy... Jesus’s prophecy of this event was a mercy. Those who believed Jesus could flee based on His warning and escape the judgment that was going to fall upon the city. If they lived in Faith, if they trusted and acted on what He said they could be spared. Transition to the Lords return… In verse 34 Jesus once again transitions. This time to the great day of the Lord‘s return. “One will be taken and the other left”…. This is yet another warning that there is a day of judgment coming. It’s also an example of God‘s mercy. Those in Christ will not receive the judgment on the day of the Lord‘s return.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

The rapture… This is the rapture of the church. You will not find that word rapture in the Bible. What the word rapture means is caught up in the air. This is an example of God being merciful to those whom are righteous in Him instead of receiving judgment, they receive His mercy. The next question Where?… After all this, the disciples, ask another question. Where. Where will this judgment occur? Location, the dead… Jesus responds wherever the dead are, those who do not pursue and choose God are spiritually dead. If a person chooses to pursue a life of the flesh like those in Sodom and Gomorrah, if a person chooses an evil life like those during the time of the flood, that is where God’s judgment will fall. With that person. The Kingdom of God for those with the Kingdom in them… But to everyone who the Kingdom of God is already in their destination is not for judgment, but the Kingdom of God itself. To the very presence of God Himself. Closing

Is you idea of Heaven a perfect place, or a perfect person? Because if it’s just the perfect place, everything around me is just so, so I’m fine, then your margin for being okay is very narrow.

But if your idea of Heaven is the perfect relationship, a relationship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who gives of Himself completely and asks that you give of yourself completely, then everything around you is secondary to you relationship with Him. And now no matter what the situation is your going through, good or bad, it’s okay because your going through it with him, your margin for being okay is enormous.

Philippians 4:10–13 “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

The opportunity.… Noah, Sodom Gomorrah, The temple AD70, The great day of the Lord.