Ready or Not...The King is Coming

Ben

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

0 ratings

· 16 views

2nd Coming of Christ/The Kingdom is here but not yet

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

David Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell in Houston, Texas in 1959 to a 15-year old single mother. He never knew his father and was raised by his

How many of you here have heard of someone who claimed to be Jesus Christ? Whether through history, watching a documentary, watching the news?

I would reckon to say most of us have heard of Charles Manson who put together a following in California and was behind several murderers in the late 60’s/early 70’s.

What is the Kingdom of God? What is the Day of the Son of Man? The confusion of the Jews: both Pharisees and the disciples thought Jesus was coming in power.. Yes but not yet.

. David Koresh who ended up dying in the midst of a police standoff in Waco, Texas.

Many of you have heard of Jim Jones who led many to commit mass suicide by drinking poisoned Kool-aid in 1978. Over 900 people died as a result of following him. That’s where the expression “drink the Kool-aid” came from.

David Koresh built a following of people and moved to a ranch in Waco, Texas. In 1993 there was a siege with the police that lasted 51 days. 76 people lost their lives including David.

We actually had a girl in our high school who was part of that cult. Her dad was able to gain custody of her and pulled her out of the cult before the siege took place. Unfortunately her mother died in the siege of the compound they were at.

There have been many claiming to be Christ and many have been obsessed with the 2nd coming of Christ. That can create both fear and excitement in us.

As we look more closely at , one thing is clear:

Ready or Not…The King is Coming Luke 17:20-37

Make no mistake about it. There is a time coming when Jesus, the King of Kings will come again and make things right once and for all.

We don’t know the day he is coming. We don’t know the hour. And there is a lot of confusion on what exactly it will look like.

But what we do know is the King is coming.

No one knows the time of the 2nd coming of Christ: Jesus doesn’t tell the Pharisees when nor does he tell the disciples when.

The whole idea of the Kingdom of God was confusing to the Jews. Their understanding was that a King would come with absolute power.

Their thinking went to Scriptures like...

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

In the Gospel we are in Luke says this in :

English Standard Version Chapter 1

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

This son of man, Jesus. They were expecting him to come and overthrow the Roman government. He was suppose to come with military power in order to begin a new reign.

This confused the Pharisees... and the disciples too for that matter.

What was this talk of the Kingdom of God all about? Talks of the days of the Son of Man?

What we need to understand is that there are 2 advents of Christ, 2 occasions when the Son of Man, King Jesus, will come.

The Jews understood there was a King that was to come and reign. When they thought of the King their minds would have ran to scriptures like .

But what Jesus is saying here is that in once sense the kingdom of God was here. And in another it wasn’t completed.

What he tells the Phar

No one knows the time of the 2nd coming of Christ: Jesus doesn’t tell the Pharisees when nor does he tell the disciples when.

They were in the midst of the first advent, when Christ first appeared taking on human flesh. The ending of the first advent will conclude in His death on the cross.

The 2nd advent will be when he returns to reign as King forever as they expected.

5 Realities of the Coming of the King

That is where we find ourselves now: between the 1st and 2nd advent.

And what Jesus is talking about with the disciples is that his coming in absolute power and rule will take place. But not before he suffers.

What the pharisees and disciples didn’t understand is that the power, the reign

So lets dive into the passage more where we will see...

5 Realities of the Coming of the King

The first is this:

The World Can’t See the King (v.20-21)

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) 993 βασιλεία

993 βασιλεία (basileia), ας (as), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ DBLHebr 4867, 4895, 4930, 4931; Str 932; TDNT 1.579—1. LN 37.64 reign, as a king (Lk 1:33); 2. LN 1.82 kingdom, an area ruled by a king (Mk 6:23); 3. LN 37.65 λαμβάνω βασιλείαν (lambanō basileian), become a king (Lk 19:12, 15; Rev 17:12+); 4. LN 37.105 διατίθεμαι βασιλείαν (diatithemai basileian), give right to rule (Lk 22:29+); 5. LN 11.13 υἱοὶ τῆς βασιλείας (huioi tēs basileias), people of God, formally, sons of the kingdom (Mt 8:12; 13:38+)

βασίλειον (basileion), ου (ou), τό (to): n.neu. [served by 994]; ≡ Str 934 & 933—LN 7.5 palace, place where the royalty live (Lk 7:25+)

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.”

Here we see the Pharisees’ confusion. If Jesus was the King of this Kingdom, then where was his army? Where is the celebration? The parade to welcome the King home?

Where they to believe these DISCIPLES were his army? Fisher men?? Tax collectors?

This is not how a king comes into power. From their earthly mindset it didn’t make sense. And so they mock him by asking him this question.

But they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand. They couldn’t see Jesus as the King.

As so Jesus explains to them this is a kingdom you can’t see. You can make observations of its arrival. No one can point it out to you.

In fact it’s already in your midst. [PAUSE]

This would have driven the pharisees mad. WHAT KINGDOM?

You’re certainly nothing impressive, Jesus. There’s no kingdom.

They didn’t have spiritual eyes to see what He was talking about.

The problem with the pharisees is that they saw everything with physical eyes. They valued what someone looked like on the outside. Jesus didn’t have the look of an earthly king. He wasn’t looking to make his name great. No pomp and circumstances for Him.

He didn’t value being honored. He didn’t treat others in a way where he sought for paybacks.

This was not a kingdom for eyes to see. But rather for hearts to perceive.

It’s like 3D Hidden Magic Eye Illusions. The ones where the pictures are blurry and you have to stare at the picture and let your eyes wonder, almost going cross-eyed? Do you know what I’m talking about?

Here is an example of one. Can you see what it says?

So in what ways do we see that the Kingdom of God has come? What does Jesus mean that it’s in our midst?

[PAUSE]

How do YOU see that the kingdom is in our midst? What evidence is there that this is true?

[PAUSE]

It’s in the way God exposes our evil desires and changes them into Godly desires.

It’s in the way he takes bitter, unforgiving hearts, and molds them into hearts that forgive, hearts that are overjoyed in the Gospel.

It’s how he brings strangers together who had no contact before but because of Christ we come together. We love each other. We work together to challenge one another to be conformed like Christ.

Tim Keller said this of Calvin.

4191 παρατήρησις (paratērēsis), εως (eōs), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 3907; TDNT 8.148—LN 24.48 close watch, careful observation (+)

“Calvin believed there were two ways God’s kingdom comes-through the Spirit, who “corrects our desires,” and through the Word of God, which “shapes our thoughts.”-Tim Keller

[PAUSE]

Are you seeing these things in your life? Are you different than you were last year?

Like those 3D Magic Hidden Eye Illusions that you had to strain your eyes to see. I knew some who couldn’t see them. That’s what the kingdom is like.

Here’s the thing: if you are of the world, you don’t see these things taking place. You aren’t experiencing the Spirit’s work in your life.

The World Can’t See The King.

But for believers it’s different. Our 2nd reality of the coming king is this:

God’s People Can’t Miss the King (v.22-25)

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.

The Kingdom of God- the domain ruled by God as the sovereign King

People will try to deceive you and they have! David Koresh. Don’t let people deceive you into thinking they know where Jesus is. Like lightning across the entire sky you will know.

What Jesus is communicating to them is that tough times are on their way. I’m going to suffer. And if I suffer, you will as well. It’s inevitable.

The disciples will experience soon an outpouring of God’s spirit in a powerful way. There will be more miracles performed. They will see 1000’s come to Christ in a single day. But it won’t always be like that. It will get bad.

And you will find yourselves in a place you want out of. And you will long for days like this: when we were together.

And you will be thinking of me coming to reign in power and once and for all put my enemies under my feet. You will long for it.

But don’t let people deceive you into thinking I’ve returned without you knowing.

They will be looking for hope in his coming and people will be deceived. But God’s people need not be deceived. For he has declared that his 2nd coming will be extremely obvious, like lightning that starts flashes from one side of the sky to the other.

So if someone comes to you and says they are me and it’s not like that, don’t believe them. You will know when I’ve returned.

In 2001 I bought my first car: brand new 2001 Ford Focus. One of the things I wanted on the car was a spoiler. For you non-car people, its like a fin on the back of your car. It was time to go pick the car up from the dealer.. It was 5 minutes from our house. As we left the house there were sirens going off warning of a potential dangerous storm coming in. How many times though have you heard sirens and nothing of significance happens? Up to this point there never was real dangerous storms. So we ignored it and picked up the car. It took maybe 10 minutes to get the car and we headed home. By the time we got home the wind was picking up and a storm was coming. I ran inside while my dad and nephew stayed in his car to wait it out. Within minutes it got really bad. My mom and I were worried about them and she opened the front door only to have ripped out of her hands breaking the door. And so I grabbed the door and held it shut while I looked across the street to see trees blowing sideways while some snapped in half. At that point there was no doubt a tornado had passed through.

As Christians we need not get caught up in fear with all of this. We know he is coming again. We don’t know when. But people will try to deceive us. There will be David Koresh’s, Charles Manson’s & Jim Jones’ who claim to be Christ. People will try to tell us when Christ will return. But those are all lies.

As we

As God’s people it will be plain to us when he has returned. It will be impossible for us to miss it.

Are you allowing the enemy to deceive you? Are you trying to interpret the times? Just know this. He is coming again and we can’t miss it.

Look forward in anticipation for that day.

People will try to deceive you and they have! Don’t let people deceive you into thinking they know where Jesus is. Like lightning across the entire sky you will know.

New Dictionary of Biblical Theology Jesus and the Kingdom

Luke’s distinctives are partly in his unique introduction and structure. Whereas Matthew begins on a kingly note, Luke looks at the priestly pedigree of Jesus as he concentrates on the ministry of the temple as the context of Jesus’ birth. The priestly and royal roles are related: in the annunciation to Mary, Jesus is designated son of God, son of David, and ruler over the house of Jacob (Luke 1:30–33). Circumstances decree that Jesus is born in the city of David, his royal ancestor. Both Matthew and Luke record the baptism of Jesus and the accompanying word from heaven that almost certainly picks up the teaching of Psalm 2:7 that the son of God is the ruler of the kings of the earth (Luke 3:22). In Acts, which builds on Luke’s Gospel, the kingdom is presented as the central message of the risen Christ and then of the apostles (Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31).

But we also must be aware that suffering is inevitable.

After all Jesus suffered. And this was really hard for the disciples to comprehend.

The way to the crown was through the cross.

-”Son of Man must suffer.”

Like the lepers we may find ourselves tempted to just want comfort and ease more than Jesus himself. But remember his promise.

The King is coming and God’s People Won’t miss it.

It won’t matter where you are. You will see His return.

[PAUSE]

We find the 3rd reality in v. 26.

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 17

17:20–21 The Jews were looking for a kingdom of God that would come with signs in the sky and miracles (Jl 2:28–32), but that was yet in the future. The aspect of God’s kingdom that Jesus emphasized in his ministry was not observable in that sense. The presence of the King (Jesus) and his offer of the kingdom through the gospel meant that the kingdom was already “in their midst.”

The way to the crown is through the cross.

The World Will Deny the King to Please Themselves (v.26-30)

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.

English Standard Version Chapter 17

God told Noah to build a big boat 450 feet long for his family and for animals because he wanted to destroy the entire earth by flooding it because of the sinfulness of mankind.

I’m sure he was mocked for it. I’m sure people ridiculed him for wasting his time with that. And so the people went about their lives doing as they pleased without thinking about the things of God.

The same was true with Lot. He was the nephew of Abraham and lived in Sodom. The evil there came to a place where God was done and was ready to destroy it. And so Lot and his family were warned. If you remember Abraham pleaded that if there were a certain number of righteous people that God wouldn’t destroy it. But there weren’t enough. It was so wicked. And the people did as they pleased. Like the days of Noah the city had no care for God and followed their own way of living.

And for the people in Noah’s time came upon them suddenly and destroyed all those not in the ark.

For Lot all those who didn’t flee Sodom perished because of the sudden onslaught of sulfur and fire.

The World denied the King then and many do now and instead live for themselves. We won’t know when Jesus will return. But when he does it will be sudden. And for those who have not repented of their sin and confessed Christ as savior and Lord will face a similar face as the people in Noah’s & Lot’s time.

It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it. Can you imagine the chaos that happened with Noah concerning the people left off the ark? The screaming. The pleading that was taking place. But when the rain came it was too late.

[PAUSE]

If you find yourself in a place where you haven’t repented yet, you haven’t bowed the knee to Christ in surrender, I plead with you to take heed of the warning this morning. The King is coming and my desire is that none of you will perish.

But if you continue to reject Christ, He will come and you will not be ready.

And like the people in Noah’s time and Lot’s time, you will suffer greatly. And you will suffer forever. So turn to Christ before it’s too late.

It starts with first acknowledging that you are sinful before a Perfect, Holy, righteous, good God. You can’t make yourself right before him. You can’t do enough good things. And one sin is enough to determine you guilty forever. But the good news is Jesus came. He was fully God and fully man. And he lived a perfect life, one that we could not live. He was perfect in every way. How he thought, lived, acted, behaved, how he responded in every way. And then he offered himself as a sacrifice in the cross to pay for the sins of every person that would ever believe. And when we respond in repentance of our sin, and place our faith in Christ we can be saved. You can do that today. At the end of the service we will be up front to talk with you if you have questions on these things.

Be ready for the King.

If you ARE a believer in Christ, let me ask you this. Are you sobered by all of this? Are you aware that people all around us are perishing? They are on their way to an eternity in hell? And does this reality leave you broken over them?

Or do you find yourself pleasuring in the thought of people suffering forever? May we respond first in amazement that God would rescue us. Then secondly may God break our hearts for those who are lost.

I long to be a church that first gets the Gospel right. That we receive it wholeheartedly. That we would be amazed at the Gospel. But we can’t just get the Gospel right. We need to get the Gospel out! Let’s pray for opportunities to share the good news. Let’s pray for boldness. Let’s pray soft hearts. For apart from God softening our hearts, we too would be lost in our sin.

The World will deny the king to please themselves.

BUT that’s not how the God’s people live. Look at v.31.

God’s People Will Deny Themselves to Please the King (v.31-33)

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.

As God’s people we look forward in anticipation when our Lord will return. And when he comes back, there’s no need for us to look back on this life and try to hold onto it.

Can’t serve God and money.

He calls us to deny ourselves and look to please him even until he comes.

Remember Lot’s wife. Poor lady. We don’t even know her name. She is just given as a bad example. When God proclaimed he would destroy Sodom, he told Lot and his family not to look back or they would turn into a pillar of salt.

But Lot’s wife didn’t listen. She couldn’t let go of the life she had. She wanted to stay in a place that was overrun with sin. She didn’t want to deny herself. She wanted to preserve it. But those who seek to preserve this life will lose it in the end. But those who lose it to Christ now in the end will keep it.

Any Dave Ramsey fans in the house? We are fans “ish”. What’s the statement he makes all of the time?

Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else. -Dave Ramsey

You ever plan to make a big purchase and live on a tight budget? What do you have to do? Live like no one else by quitting the starbucks runs. Eating rice and beans. Do away with eating out and save as much as possible so that later you can make that purchase or live off that retirement.

This is really a great statement for us as believers is it not? Who in the world is looking to deny themselves for eternal rewards? Yet that’s what we do as believers.

And when you really think about it when Jesus returns, what is there to hold onto that compares to the eternal weight of glory that awaits us.

[PAUSE]

So, believers, are looking forward in anticipation for Christ’s return? Are you ready to lay it all down and leave it behind to go live with the king? We can’t anything with us when we die anyway. You don’t see hursts pulling trailers with them.

Followers of Christ anticipate his return and are ready to deny it all in order to be with their king.

[PAUSE]

Lastly, it all comes down to the reality of what the end is all about.

We believe Christ is returning. Can I get an amen on that? So what does that ultimately mean for each of us?

The Reality concerning the King coming is this:

The King Will Separate the World from God’s People (v.34-37)

4191 παρατήρησις (paratērēsis), εως (eōs), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 3907; TDNT 8.148—LN 24.48 close watch, careful observation (+)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.”

English Standard Version Chapter 17

When the King returns it will be sudden. It will be quick. It will be like Thanos snapping his finger and half the population is wiped out. If that just went over your head, ask a Marvel geek about it after the service.

When Jesus comes again 2 people will be sleeping. One will be taken and the other left. 2 women will be grinding and one will be taken and the other left.

We know not the hour it will happen. Be now an hour is coming when it will happen.

It will happen in a flash. One minutes a person is there and the next they are gone.

The disciples are completely lost with what Jesus is saying. And I’m not sure what they are asking. Is he asking where Jesus will return? Is he asking where the people will be taken?

And to make things even more confusing Jesus says, “Where the corpse...”

What is he saying? There’s debate. I think it’s one of 2 things. He could be saying generally speaking that it will be obvious. Because wherever there’s a corpse, vultures are sure to be hovering above. So he could be saying that just to say it will be obvious where.

Or he could be saying where the spiritually dead are, judgment awaits them.

Regardless I think both of these things are true. We’ve already discussed it will be obvious as Jesus is returning like lightning across the whole sky. As true believers it will be impossible to miss that.

But for those of the world who do not repent, there will be spiritual death for an eternity. And the physical death they will experience won’t be pleasant either.

And this is why I plead with you, unbeliever. Let me just express how grateful I am you are here. It can be very intimidating to walk into a place like this and listen to what we are saying. Thank you for your willingness to come. That’s a brave thing you have done. And if you still find yourself doubting this Jesus think, I’d be more than willing to spend time with you. One of our elders, Mark Jones who did announcements, would be glad to sit with you too. We will not shame you. We may share some hard truths with you. But it’s because we love you. And we fully believe that the bible is true, that God gave us these words to proclaim.

Is he calling you to himself? Don’t hesitate. You don’t know the days you have left. And we don’t know when he will return.

Believer in Christ, are you anticipating his return? As followers of Jesus when he comes back for us, it will be a major celebration. For he will return to his bride to once and for all cleanse her of all sin. And we get to be with our king forever.

So look forward in anticipation! And may God so move in us that we are burdened to tell others of the King’s Coming, that we may share the Gospel with a world in need. Let’s pray.

Related Media

Related Sermons