LUKE 17:20-37 THE KINGDOM OF GOD2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 17:20-37 The Kingdom Of God

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013.

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This morning as we look at this teaching of Jesus, we're talking about the kingdom of God. It's the kingdom of God that is being discussed here by, well the Pharisees bring it up and Jesus responds and then he goes into further detail with his disciples.

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Now, as we talk about the kingdom of God, we're looking at some future events as we go through this passage together. And so I wanted to take some time before we dig into the passage to remind you of some of the things that we looked at when we went through the book of Revelation, which was where we were before the gospel of Luke. It's a couple of years ago now, but we spent some time in the book of Revelation looking at the things we

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which must shortly take place. And we went through the book of Revelation looking at and following along those things that are yet to come. And as we go through this today, these things are still yet to come. These are the future events, the end times, and the order in which they will take place. And so here, the first on the list is the rapture of the church. And we saw that in Revelation chapter 4.

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And that's what as believers we are looking forward to. The time when we'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

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Well, following the rapture of the church, the earth is going to go through seven years of tribulation. It's going to be devastating tribulation like the world has never seen before. That seven-year period ends with the return of Jesus Christ. That's when, not the rapture, where the rapture, he comes back, but he doesn't set foot on earth. We go to meet him in the clouds.

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But the return of Jesus Christ is when he actually sets foot on the Mount of Olives. He returns physically. He sets up his kingdom here upon the earth. And so you have there also the 1,000 year reign of Christ, also known as the millennium.

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During that time, there's going to be righteousness and peace as Christ will rule and reign here upon the earth for that thousand years. At the end of that, though, Satan, although he'll be bound for the millennium, he'll be released at the end and he'll lead one final rebellion against God. But of course...

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That will be squashed. Is a good word I think. With maybe his thumb. Just you know. He's going to take care of that rebellion. And that will bring in the great white throne judgment. Which is the final judgment. Those who have believed in Jesus. Will be with him in eternity. But those who are not written in the book of life. Will be cast into the lake of fire at that time. And then Revelation 21 says.

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Tells us about the new Jerusalem and the rest of eternity that will be spread out before us. And so those are the things that are yet to come. The things which must shortly take place is the way that John worded it there in Revelation chapter 1.

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Now as we talk about the kingdom of God, as the Pharisees approach this question with Jesus, they're focusing in on this particular event, which is the 1,000 year reign of Christ. When they ask Jesus about the kingdom of God, they are referring to the millennium.

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That is that time that has been prophesied throughout the scriptures when there will be glory there in Jerusalem. Where the Messiah will reign and there will be peace and there will be righteousness.

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As we go through the Bible in three years and reading through the book of Isaiah right now, we can see a lot of the prophecies that the Pharisees are talking about and thinking about as they ask Jesus about the kingdom of God. We see all of those prophecies about the peace that is to come, the glory that is to come when the Messiah rules and reigns there in Jerusalem. But Isaiah also spoke about the suffering of the Messiah.

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And what happened was, well, the people, the Jewish people as a whole, basically ignored the suffering passages of the Messiah. They didn't quite understand them. They didn't see how that could fit with the glory passages. So they kind of just set those aside and just held on to the glory passages. That, man, he's going to reign. It's going to be wonderful. The earth is going to be renewed. There's going to be peace.

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It's going to be an incredible time. And so they were looking for those prophecies to be fulfilled for the Messiah to rule and to reign. And so as they ask about the kingdom of God, this is what's in their minds.

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And so now Jesus is going to respond and bring us some insight into the kingdom of God. And he's actually talking about a lot more than just that millennial kingdom. He's actually going to start there from where they're talking about and work backwards really to the rapture of the church. And so we'll see that as we go through our passage this morning. But we start out in verses 20 and 21.

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And the point here is that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. It's a spiritual kingdom that we are concerned with. Verse 20 says, Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation. Verse 21, Nor will they say, See here or see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you.

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So here the Pharisees, this is the religious leaders in Jesus' day, they approach him and they ask, when is the kingdom of God going to come? You claim to be the Messiah, Jesus. So when are you going to establish your kingdom? Again, the Jewish people were looking for a kingdom on earth.

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They were looking for the Messiah, that promised Savior, but in their minds, they were picturing someone who would come in, who would overthrow the Roman Empire, and then set up a kingdom right there and then in Jerusalem and in Israel. They were expecting a person, the Messiah, to come and do that right then immediately. That's the Messiah that they were looking for.

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You know, the same type of thing happens today as well. As we talk about Jesus and we, you know, proclaim him as people believe in Jesus, a lot of times people are looking to Jesus

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to fix immediate problems, you know, to get themselves out of debt, to give them lots of happiness and joy and, you know, just make their life all around wonderful. Looking to Jesus for deliverance from a tough situation or making, you know, or looking to Jesus to make their life better. But as we talk about the Jesus and the salvation that he brings, it's more than just

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You know, making you feel good about life and enjoy this life a little bit more. We're talking about looking to Jesus for salvation.

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All the rest of those things may or may not happen. Those things are really not promised. In fact, the promise is you're going to have tribulation and difficulty in this world as you follow Jesus. It's really not, you know, just so you could have a more comfortable life. That's not what believing in Jesus is all about. But that's what they were expecting from the Messiah. And sometimes that's what we expect from the Messiah or from our Savior that, well,

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Well, God, aren't you just supposed to make my life comfortable? Aren't you supposed to, you know, just make everything work out and have no problems in my life at all? That's what we expect sometimes. That's what they expected. And Jesus is correcting that and saying, the kingdom of God does not come with observation.

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He's saying, look, you're looking for an earthly kingdom. You're looking for something that is visible. And you're looking for signs to observe that the kingdom is established. They believed that when the Messiah came and he set up this kingdom, that there would be really radical cosmic signs.

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Which, as you look forward to the tribulation period, in the book of Revelation, we read all about it. We can understand there's going to be some pretty intense signs. And when Jesus comes back, it's going to be glorious. It's going to be obvious. So it makes sense that they believed that. But again, they missed the first coming of the Messiah. And they only focused on the second coming. And Jesus here, at the first coming, he's saying...

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You're looking for visible things that the kingdom is established. But the kingdom of God does not come with observation, he says. He says you're not going to be able to, you know, have somebody come and say, see right here, look right here. Here's the, you know, the GPS coordinates on the map of where the kingdom of God is at. It's not going to be like that, Jesus is saying. It's not going to happen the way that you think it's

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It will happen. Now Jesus is the Messiah, but at this time he was not there to set up his earthly kingdom. That's not what he was there for. He was there to do a completely different work altogether. And so he goes on to say at the end of verse 21, the kingdom of God is within you. The word within you, it could also be translated among you or in your midst.

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The kingdom of God is among you or it's within your midst, Jesus is saying. He's not saying that there's kind of, you know, the idea that some people present, you know, like there's God in all of us and that kind of thing. That's not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is saying, I'm the king and I'm here. Therefore, the kingdom of God is in your midst. J. Vernon McGee puts it this way.

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He's not saying that the kingdom of God is inside the hearts of these godless and hostile Pharisees. Rather, the kingdom of God was in their midst in the person of the king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was standing right then among them. That's the idea. Jesus is saying the king is here. The kingdom of God is among you because the king is here. He's here. The reason why Jesus came the first time

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was to accomplish the salvation from sin. It was a spiritual thing that Jesus was doing, a spiritual kingdom that he was establishing in overthrowing the reign of sin and death and establishing the opportunity to have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And so Jesus here is explaining that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. He is the King. He is the Messiah Jesus.

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But as he is there at this time, he is there to deal with sin, to establish a spiritual work. And then he promised to come again to set up an earthly kingdom. That's going to happen later on, but that's not what he was there for at that time. Jesus came to deal with sin. That was his objective. That's what he accomplished at the cross. He conquered sin and death. He did not come

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Just to make everybody's life perfect and comfortable. He came to abolish sin and offer salvation in him. And later on, he will come again to reign in glory. And that's what he begins to talk about next. And so, point number two, as we look on now at verses 22 through 25, is that it will be a public return.

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It's going to be a public return when Jesus comes again. Check out verse 22. It says, You see, it was not just the Pharisees that were confused. He now begins to talk to the disciples. And he uses this opportunity to instruct the disciples about the things of the kingdom of God.

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The disciples also were expecting Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom. The disciples also were looking for Jesus to overthrow Rome and establish them as, well, the servants in his kingdom that he was establishing. Remember, a couple of disciples came to Jesus and they wanted to be seated at his right hand and at his left when he entered into his kingdom because they were expecting Jesus to

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To do the same thing that the Pharisees were expecting the Messiah to do. That is set up an earthly kingdom right there and then. And that's why they always argued over who was the greatest. Who's going to have the highest rank when Jesus sits on the throne? They're expecting, you know, he's going to be the king. He's going to be the next president. And so who's going to have, you know, the vice president status? Who's going to have that rank amongst them?

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And so Jesus now explains to them, it's not going to be the way that you think. It's not going to be the way that you're anticipating. He says, you're going to desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and you will not see it. Jesus here is effectively telling them, you're not going to see this happen in your lifetime. So don't believe people when they come to you and say, it's here. Christ has returned.

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It's here. It's happened. Here he is. Come talk to Jesus. Come see Jesus. Again, verse 23, they will say to you, look here or look there. Do not go after them or follow them. When people say, there's Jesus over there. There's his kingdom over here. Don't follow them, Jesus is saying. Don't be fooled by that. He's going to go on to say, because when I return, it's going to be public. It's

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But there are always those who come and present themselves as the Messiah. And there are those who come and say, look, here he is. Here's the Messiah. Jesus has come again. Dr. Charles Feinberg, who is a Jewish Christian scholar, he counts that since the time of Christ, there's been 64 different people that have appeared claiming to be the Messiah. So over the past, you know, a couple thousand years,

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There's been at least 64 people who've come on the scene and say, I'm Jesus. I've returned. And so there's people saying, look over here. See there. Jesus has come back. Jesus's point is that his return will not be a secret thing that, you know, someone will have to come in and say, hey, come here, come here, come here. I want to tell you, Jesus has returned. I'll take you to him. It's not going to be like that. When Jesus returns, it's going to be completely and totally obvious that

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How do I know that? Well, look at verse 24. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day. Jesus says, when I return, here's what it's going to be like. It's going to be like lightning. And so as he's talking now, he's talking about what we refer to as the return of Jesus Christ.

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The second coming of Jesus Christ. The first time he came, he conquered sin and death. The second time he came, he's going to fulfill all those other prophecies and establish his kingdom. And when he returns, Jesus says, it's not going to be some secret thing that's done in a back room somewhere. He appears, you know, only to this select few or to these elite or to these extra spiritual religious people.

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The return of Jesus will be as obvious as lightning. Now, how obvious is lightning? Well, it's pretty obvious, right? I mean, you don't even have to be outside. When you're inside your house, you're inside the building, you can tell, whoa, lightning just flashed. It affects not just...

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Those who are immediately looking at it. But those who aren't looking at it. You know you're driving down the road. And you see the flash in your mirrors. You see the flash out of the corner of your eye. No matter where you're at. When the lightning strikes.

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You're aware of it. It's obvious. It's public. It's not something that, you know, the government could try to keep hidden or secret, right? It's not that Jesus has returned, but, you know, the government, you know, the NSA and the CIA, they've all conspired against us to keep it secret from us so that we don't know that Jesus has returned. That's never going to happen. When Jesus returns, there's nothing nobody can do about it.

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Nobody can hide it. There's not going to be any questions about whether or not Jesus has returned. When Jesus returns, every single person will know Jesus has returned. You can check it out in Revelation chapter 19. It describes it there for us. It's going to be obvious and clear as he comes out riding that white horse.

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The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, when He returns, everybody will know. But then He goes on in verse 25 to give some important insight that they didn't understand. In verse 25, He says, But first, He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. So He says, I am going to return. It's going to be obvious. Everybody's going to know. But here's what you guys are missing. Before that happens...

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First, I must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. They didn't understand this. They weren't looking for the suffering of Jesus. Jesus has told his disciples several times now about his suffering that is about to come, but they still, they couldn't grasp it. They didn't understand it. The kingdom that they looked for would come, but first, this suffering would come.

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First, he says, he must suffer many things. Now, why must the Messiah suffer? Why did that have to take place first? Why is the order this way? That first, Jesus must suffer. Well, I hope you know the answer to that. It's because it's the only way for the price of sin to be paid. That was it. There was no other way. Remember when Jesus was in the garden, he's praying to the Father.

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It's the night he's going to be betrayed. He's about to be crucified. And he prays to the Father, Lord, if there's any other way. Father, if there's any other way, let it be by that way. Let's do that instead. Let's go with plan B. If there's another way. But no, he must suffer many things because there was no other way. There's no other way of salvation. There's no other way of eternal life or forgiveness of sins.

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So he must suffer many things and be rejected. He must be crucified so that sin could be taken care of. That you and I could have the promise of everlasting life by believing in Jesus. So the scriptures prophesy about both the first coming, the suffering servant, and the second coming, the glorious king.

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The Messiah fulfills both passages. But again, they were just looking at the second one. They were not anticipating that the Messiah would suffer and die. Jesus' point here is that when it happens, it will be public. It will be open. Everybody will know that he has returned. When we go on now to point number 3 in verse 26 through 33.

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And here Jesus explains that there will be an unexpected tribulation. An unexpected tribulation. So as we're considering our timeline here, we started at the 1,000 year reign of Christ, the millennium. That's what the Pharisees were thinking. That's what the disciples had in their mind. Jesus is going to set up a kingdom here on earth.

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And Jesus is explaining before that happens, I'm going to return. And when I return, it's going to be public. It's going to be open. Everybody's going to know it. But before that happens, there's going to be an unexpected tribulation. Seven years of tribulation upon the earth. Before Jesus returns, this is what's going to happen. It's a tribulation like the world has never seen before.

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Now the world has seen a lot of tribulation. It's seen a lot of wars and death and disease and natural disasters as well as national disasters, I guess. It's seen a lot of devastation. But the tribulation as described by the scriptures supersedes them all. It's going to be, it's described by the Bible as the worst thing that this world has ever seen.

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The tribulation thus far does not compare with the tribulation that is to come. It's going to be worldwide. It's going to be global. It's going to be devastating. There is going to be immense death and destruction in that time. And here what Jesus is pointing out as we look at these verses, his point is that this tribulation period will begin without warning.

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It's going to come upon this world without any kind of warning. Check out what he says in verse 26. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. As it was in the days of Noah. Now Jesus compares this to the days of Noah. If you want to read more about that, you can check out Genesis chapter 6. Why does he compare Noah?

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His return, this tribulation, why does he compare that to the days of Noah? How is it going to be similar? Well, a lot of times when we refer to this verse, I think we refer to it with a misunderstanding because we talk about, well, you know, the wickedness that was there in the time of Noah and this particular sin was happening and that particular sin was happening and so those kinds of sins will be happening and there's probably some truth in that, but that's not what Jesus is saying here.

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What is he saying? Well, here's how it's going to be similar. He says in verse 27, they ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. When Jesus says it's going to be like the days of Noah, he's not talking about the great sinfulness that is happening, although that was there and we could see that is happening today as well. But his point here is

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Is that people are going to be going on with their lives. As if nothing was about to happen. They're going to eat and drink like they always do. They're going to get married. And they're going to be given in marriage like they always do. The people in Noah's day. Although Noah announced the judgment that was to come. They didn't take heed. And they just continued to live as they've always lived. Until the very day that Noah entered into the ark of.

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And then the flood came and destroyed them all. By the time they realized what was happening, the door to the ark was sealed shut by the Lord. There was no hope. There was no rescue. There was no salvation. They could not get out of that. It doesn't matter what mountain they went up because the flood was global. It covered the whole earth. And so here are these people in the world living their lives, thinking about what am I going to have for dinner tonight? And then they start to feel some raindrops.

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clueless, no idea what was about to happen. Then suddenly, surprisingly, the flood came. They were not expecting it. They were not prepared for it. It came upon them suddenly and without warning.

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Well, just to make sure we have this clear in our minds, Jesus now goes on to give us another example in verse 28. He says, likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. Now Jesus compares this time to the days of Lot. And you can read about that in Genesis chapter 19. How is this similar to the days of Lot?

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Well, similar to the days of Noah. They ate and they drank. They thought about what they're going to have for lunch. They thought about, well, what are we going to eat tomorrow? Where's a good place to get a drink? They also bought and sold. They're purchasing property. They're selling goods and products. They're planting crops. They're building buildings. They have all kinds of plans. They're preparing for the next few days and weeks and months and years because they're

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They have no clue that they're about to receive a total judgment. The people in Lot's day, like the people in Noah's day, went on with their lives as if nothing would happen. And then suddenly, surprisingly, destruction came. Verse 29. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. You see the picture? Here they are living their lives again.

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But then there was one particular day, the day that Lot left Sodom. He wasn't real excited about it. The angels actually had to kind of grab him and pull him out. He didn't want to leave his family behind because they weren't believing him when he announced the judgment that was to come. But the day that he left, everything changed. And Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with fire and brimstone from heaven. The Lord wiped out those cities completely.

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But the people, up until that very last day, lived as if nothing would change. And so Jesus gives us two examples here to help us understand what the tribulation time was going to be like. Or in other words, what it was going to be like up to the tribulation period. It's going to be like the days of Noah and it's going to be like the days of Lot. Now, this is really important for us because...

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Hey, you might know these verses. You might know these things. And yet somehow, always in our minds, we are convinced that we will have some kind of warning or time to prepare. We're always convinced about that. We always think, well, I'm going to have an opportunity later on. There's going to be some kind of indication, some kind of warning. And then, well, then I'll get real serious about my relationship with Jesus.

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Then I'll get real serious about going to church. Then I'll get real serious about being with God. But please, hear what Jesus is saying. He gave us two examples to help it become very clear for us. Please understand what Jesus is saying. The worldwide global tribulation that is worse than anything this world has ever seen before will come upon this world without warning.

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Without any kind of advance notice. There's not going to be some announcement, you know. You won't read the morning paper and the headline. You know, God says three more days till the tribulation. Well, you might read that, but it'll be some crazy person and not the Lord speaking. There's not going to be an announcement. You know, we work real hard to build in warning systems for hurricanes, for floods, for

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Maybe sometimes you get text messages now on your phone, right? Flash flood warning, flash flood alert. That's not going to happen. You're not going to get any kind of text message that says, hey, heads up, tribulation is about to happen. They've been working really hard trying to figure out an earthquake early warning system. They've been unable to do so. In the same way, there will be no warning, no indication that tribulation will come upon the earth again.

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In a day, in a moment, it's going to happen. It's going to catch the world by surprise. We have this idea in our minds that we're going to have some kind of warning. But Jesus is saying, I need you to understand. It must be clear to you. That's not how it will be. Yet so many times people put off the decision to follow Jesus. Sometimes we put off the decision to really be faithful or fervent or sold out in our relationship with God.

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And we think in our own selves, hey, I'll have an opportunity again before the end, before my life is over, before the tribulation begins. I'll have another opportunity. And at that time, then I'll really get serious. One day, we often say. One day. We always put it off. And Jesus wants us to understand that.

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I know you're convinced that you think that, yeah, there's going to be some kind of warning. You'll have another opportunity. But Jesus is saying, think about the people in Noah's day. They had opportunity because Noah was there preaching. And yet, they didn't believe it. And they went on living their lives. Up until the very day that the flood struck the world. Think about the people in Sodom and Gomorrah. They had the warning.

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The lot went around and saying, hey, destruction is about to happen. They laughed at him. And they went on about their business, making their plans, building their buildings, making marriage arrangements. Life as usual. Life just continuing to go on as it always had. And in that day, fire and brimstone destroyed those cities. In the same way, when the tribulation happens, people are going to be living their lives just as they've always lived them.

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Making plans, thinking about dinner, getting married. And in that condition, this horrendous tribulation that we read about in Revelation is going to come upon the whole earth. Verse 30, Jesus says, "...even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed."

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It's going to be the same way, Jesus says. Just like it was for the people who died in the flood. It's going to be that way for the people in the tribulation. Just like it will be, or just like it was for the people in Sodom and Gomorrah. It's going to be that same way for people in the tribulation. The world is going to go on as normal until that moment.

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The New Living Translation puts verse 30 this way. Yes, it will be business as usual right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Business as usual. People are going to be buying. They're going to be selling. They're going to be making plans. They're going to be just like they always have. It's going to be a day like any other day as far as we could tell. And then the tribulation will be brought upon the earth. Jesus wants to make sure it is clear. There will be no announcement today.

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There is no early warning system. So therefore, we must be ready at all times. We must be ready at all times. Now, for those who are not ready, Jesus will go on here to give some instruction. Verse 31. In that day, he who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.

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Here's some instruction for those who were not ready on that day. That is, when you see these things being fulfilled in the tribulation period, you're not going to have time at that point to go pack your bags. No, you need to get out of town immediately. If you suddenly find yourself in the tribulation, run for the hills and don't look back, Jesus is saying. And then he says in verse 32, remember Lot's wife. So as we visited Sodom and Gomorrah and there's Lot, he's

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telling his family, hey, they're about to bring judgment upon these cities. They laughed at him. He's reluctant to leave. The angels lead him and his wife out and two of his daughters. His wife, although she's with him, her heart's still back there in Sodom and Gomorrah. And she looks back and we're told that she's immediately judged and she's transformed into a pillar of salt because she looked back. He says, remember Lot's wife, don't look back.

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In other words, if you find yourself thrust into the tribulation period, you're going to need a complete and wholehearted, forward-looking mentality. It's going to be more difficult than ever before. He goes on in verse 33. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Jesus is saying, look, it's going to be harder to follow me at that time.

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And if you're going to survive the tribulation period and enter into the kingdom of God, essentially it's going to cost you your life. But if you're going to try to save your life, you're going to lose it because, well, you're going to end up turning away from the Lord. You're going to end up turning away from the things of God. You're going to receive the mark of the beast in order to save your life. You're going to deny Jesus Christ in order to save your life. But

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If you will lose your life, if you're willing to die for me at that point, then you will be saved. But it will most likely cost you your life. That's going to be the general rule for the tribulation. There's going to be a few believers who survive. But for the most part, you'll have to lose your life. Now there's a saying. It's a really good saying. It's an appropriate saying. Because, well, it's the way that we think. The saying is, if you cannot live for Jesus today...

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Why do you think you'll be able to die for him later? If you can't live for Jesus today, in the tribulation period, it's going to be much more difficult than ever before. Why do you think that if you can't live for him today, you'll be able to die for him tomorrow? It's foolish to think that way. But there's a lot of people who say, well, when the rapture happens, then I'll know all these things are true and then I'll follow Jesus.

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All I got to do is just get through the tribulation at that point. Like, you know, hey, no problem. It's going to be really easy. Listen, that's not the way the Bible describes it. It's going to be the most devastation, the most difficulty this world has ever seen. And it will be harder than ever to follow Jesus at that point. The point is, be ready. It's an unexpected tribulation. The world will be thrust into the worst times it's ever seen without any kind of notice.

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So you must be ready. You must be prepared in advance. And always be ready. Because what happens before the tribulation period is our point for the final verses. That is verse 34 through 37. And here we have an individual rapture. An individual rapture.

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So again, considering the things which must shortly take place, we started out looking at the thousand year reign of Christ. That's what the Pharisees had in their mind. And Jesus explains before that happens, there's going to be the return of Jesus Christ. It's going to be obvious. It's going to be clear and public. It's not going to be hidden.

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But before that happens, there's going to be seven years of tribulation. It's going to happen as a surprise to the world, but the world is going to go through such devastation that, hey, if it happens, you weren't prepared. Don't even go pack your bags. Get out of town because it's going to become really terrible. But before that happened, what we look forward to as believers in Jesus is the rapture of the church. Now, just a quick side note.

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There's a lot of Bible teachers who look at this passage that we're about to look at and teach something entirely different. That this is talking about a gathering at the end of the tribulation period as opposed to the rapture. And there are those, you know, who believe that. And you can check that out later on if you'd like, if you're interested. But I don't think that that's what this passage is talking about. I believe this passage is referring to the rapture of the church for a few reasons.

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One of the reasons is Jesus here is emphasizing the unexpectedness of judgment. Now the rapture of the church is described in the scriptures as something that is happening at an unknown time. There's no set time. There's no countless number of days. And then there's the rapture of the church. However, once the tribulation begins, there are key points to the tribulation period where you can count the number of days.

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Daniel outlines it for us in Daniel chapter 9. There's this many days here, then there's this many days there. And it's very clear. And then at this point, on this day, is when the Messiah comes. The day, you know, the battle of Armageddon. It will happen on a specific day. And as soon as the tribulation begins, then you'll be able to calculate and understand, okay, this is when he will return. This seven year period, it's a seven year period. And it begins at a certain day, ends at a certain day.

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But Jesus here is talking about the unexpectedness of the judgment. In other words, it's going to begin without any kind of notice. And so I believe he's talking about the rapture of the church because that's the event that the Bible says we'll not have any kind of notice about. Jesus here is referring to one specific day. On this day when this happens, the rapture of the church, then that's when the world is thrust into this tribulation period.

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In the parallel to this passage, Matthew chapter 24, Jesus there says that the day and the hour are unknown. And he talks about these same things that we'll be reading about in these verses. So as I look at this, as I study this, I believe Jesus is referring to the rapture of the church. Now the rapture of the church, Paul talks about the best passages that we have on it are 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

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And there we get some insight into what the rapture of the church is. It's a time when Jesus returns, but not to set foot on earth. As he's returning, he's in the clouds. And then the believers in Jesus worldwide are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The word is snatched away immediately, in an instant, in the twinkle of an eye, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15.

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It's just going to happen. And then Christians will be gone and caught up to meet the Lord. And Paul says, we'll forever be with the Lord from then on out.

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That's the event, the rapture of the church that we're talking about. This snatching away, this catching away of believers everywhere. And so with that in mind, we read verse 34. Jesus says, I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed. The one will be taken and the other will be left. Verse 35, two women will be grinding together. The one will be taken and the other left. Verse 36, two men will be in the field. The one will be taken and the other left.

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So here Jesus gives three examples, three pictures for us of how this is going to happen and what this will look like. And from this we can learn several things. First of all, it's going to be a worldwide event because there's going to be some who are sleeping and then some who are working. For some it's going to be nighttime, for others it's going to be daylight. It's going to happen, of course we know that, right? Somewhere else right now it's dark, it's nighttime. It's because of the way that

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earth rotates. In the same way, when the rapture takes place, it'll be an event. It doesn't happen at six o'clock and then as each time zone hits, you know, then those Christians are raptured, like New Year's Eve. No. One moment, worldwide, instantly, believers vanish, caught up to meet the Lord. Some will be sleeping, some will be working, some will be doing different things, but it's going to happen at one time, a worldwide event.

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It's also going to be a universal event in that every people will be affected. It's men and women. Jesus gives examples of both. They'll be involved in various activities. It's not a particular nation. It's not a particular geographic location. All people will be affected as those who believe in Jesus will be caught up to meet the Lord. But here, I think the most important point that Jesus is making is that it's going to be an individual event.

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He gives these pairs of people involved in various activities. And the pairs are split up. One person is taken. The other is left. The point is, there's nobody who's included in this event because of somebody else. There's nobody who's included because, well, the other person was ready to meet Jesus. No, it's an individual rapture. That is...

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It all comes down to each individual. It's not groups. Well, I went to this church. And since I went to this church, you know, the whole church membership. God has the list and we're all going to be caught up. You know, actually, it doesn't matter what church you go to. Whether it be a good church or a bad church. Or you might think, well, it's because I'm going to be raptured, you know, because, you know, my wife is really strong with the Lord.

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My husband, he's really faithful. He reads his Bible every day. My family is involved in ministry, you know. And so I'm going to be included. I got the hook up, right? I mean, they're going to make sure I get in. Jesus is saying here, look, it's an individual event. You might be really tight with somebody. Your best friend might be really strong with the Lord. But that doesn't include you in this event. Your best friend might be far away from the Lord. Right?

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But you can't include them in this event. It comes down to the individual. It's personal. The husband is not caught up in the rapture because of the wife. And the wife is not caught up in the rapture because of the husband. Parents aren't caught up in the rapture because of the kids. And the kids aren't caught up in the rapture because of the parents. Except for underage kids. But that's a whole different subject. But it's not because of somebody else. And nobody else can help you with this. It comes down to you. Verse 37 says,

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This is kind of a difficult verse. It's not exactly clear. And so there's a variety of opinions about what this is referring to.

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The commentator William Barclay says, hey, this is a common proverb. And it means that these things would happen when the necessary conditions were fulfilled. So at the right time, when everything is set in place, then that's when it's going to happen. Others, well, like the New Living Translation says, just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby. So these signs indicate that the end is near. So he's talking about, you know, these are signs that the end is about to come.

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And again, there's a variety of other perspectives. Essentially, I would boil it down to say Jesus is, as he's talking about the rapture, those are caught up to meet the Lord. Those who are left, they're about to head into the tribulation period and the birds are going to have a feast. And we see that in the book of Revelation. It talks about the birds feasting because of the amount of those who died during the tribulation period. As Jesus here is giving insight on the kingdom of God,

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He ends it, I think, appropriately. I think we're at the right spot here to wrap up this message. The kingdom of God will be glorious. When Jesus establishes his kingdom, it's not the permanent kingdom. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years. And then there's going to be a new Jerusalem and the rest of eternity will extend before us.

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But the thousand year reign of Christ is going to be glorious. The rest of eternity that is beyond that is going to be, well, more than we could ever even imagine. The kingdom of God is going to be great. But before that happens, there's some other things that take place. Like the tribulation period, which is going to come upon the world unannounced, without notice. It's going to be a surprise. And that's, well, it's going to be preceded by...

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The rapture of the church, which is unannounced. It's going to be a surprise. The time, the day, the hour, it's not known. And so it leaves us with the question, are you ready? The kingdom of God, Jesus began by saying, is a spiritual kingdom. It's in your midst. Jesus says, I'm right here. You want to be part of the kingdom of God? I'm the door. It comes down to, are you ready? Because you're right with the Lord.

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Are you ready because you are walking with Jesus? Are you ready because you have believed in Jesus and received what He has done for you? The question is not, is your wife ready to meet Jesus? The question is not, is your spouse ready? Or are your parents ready? Or is somebody else ready so that you can then meet with Jesus? No, Jesus calls each and every one of us individually and personally to be ready.

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to get right with him. In Mark chapter 13, as Jesus talks about these things, he says, watch. And he goes on to talk a little bit. And then he says in Mark 13, 37, and what I say to you, I say to all, watch. We're all supposed to be watching. We're all supposed to be ready because this is going to happen without any prior announcement. So are you ready? Are you waiting for him?

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Are you looking up knowing that your redemption draws near? Are you walking with Jesus? Are you living for Jesus? Not just buying and selling without regard to the things of God. Not making plans and arrangements for the future without considering God or listening to Him. If that's the case, you're going to be caught off guard. No, are you ready? Are your spiritual bags packed? Are you walking with Jesus so that when He returns, you will be caught up to meet with Him? That's the question.

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And I would ask you to consider it. I would ask you to get ready because no one knows the day or the hour. We need to be prepared. And once you've prepared yourself, then you can start to be concerned about the people around you. It's like when the air mask comes down in the airplane, first secure your own, then help the person next to you. That's what we're to be doing. Get right with God. Make sure you're ready. And then help the person next to you because they won't be saved on your behalf.

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They need to get ready. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider your kingdom and all that is yet to come, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to see clearly what you are saying here. Lord, that we would heed the warning that you are giving. Lord, that we might be prepared. Lord, I pray for each one of us. Give us a clear insight, Lord, into our own hearts. Help us to see clearly where we're at with you. If there's things that you want to change, if there's things that need to be done,

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Lord, if we have not believed, if we've not repented, if we've not changed, Lord, if there's rebellion in our hearts, if we've turned back to things that you've once delivered us from, Lord, I pray that you would bring great clarity to our hearts right now. Lord, that you would speak to us those things that need to be changed so that we might be prepared to meet with you. And Lord, I pray as we get our hearts ready for your return.

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that you would also develop within us a concern and a passion for the people around us, Lord, that we might be involved in helping them prepare, that they would be ready for your return. And so, Lord, lead us. I pray, Lord, that you would allow these things to be at the forefront of our minds continually, that we would always be ready to meet with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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