Transcript

Go with me over to Luke 17. We’ll begin in verse 20. If you are visiting with us today, we’re going straight through the Gospel of Luke and we’ve come to this section where the Lord is once again in a public way confounding and rebuking the religious authorities of his day, the Pharisees, and then secondly, turning as he has been doing over and over to instruct and edify his committed disciples. I’ve entitled this section of Luke “Remember Lot’s Wife.” Luke 17, beginning in verse 20,

20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 22 And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.” 37 And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

Two major points in this exposition. The first one is: the present spiritual kingdom. He talks about that as he answers the Pharisees; and secondly in a moment we’ll see the future spiritual and physical kingdom that’s coming to be established in the earth and he’s addressing that primarily, the Bible says, to his disciples.

I. The present spiritual kingdom. Several subpoints here. First of all, let’s note that the physical eye cannot see it. That would be subpoint A. The physical eye cannot see it. Verse 20, he’s being questioned by the Pharisees and they say, “When is the kingdom of God coming?” He answered and said, “It’s not coming in a way that you’ll see signs and you can observe it. It’s not observable to the physical eye.” Now these Pharisees, of course, knew something of the Old Testament. If there was one thing they did know well it was the promise of the coming physical kingdom that their promised Messiah would bring in the earth. That was true, however, these Pharisees were premature. There’s something that needed to be addressed before the physical kingdom is established and that is the spiritual cleansing of their hearts. These religious Pharisees looked not for salvation from their sins, they loved sin. These men are men with a worldly eye and a sensual heart.

Now, the events of these kinds of episodes are just another in a long line that the Lord had with these unspiritual religionists, the Pharisees, who missed the truth of the spiritual kingdom. You know, in reality from the moment Christ was born in Bethlehem, the kingdom of God was present. It was in their midst, if you will, but very few could see it. In Bethlehem, only a few shepherds and the angels observed it. A little later, Simon and Anna saw Christ as he was being presented at the temple and they grasped the truth but vast majority of others, thousands of others around the temple that day completely missed him. 30 years later, a few fishermen will begin to grasp the truth but the great majority missed it. How much different the spiritual kingdom he is now establishing is from other kingdoms. I mean, when other monarchs go through and conquer new territories and then they go out to survey their new conquest, everybody pays keen attention to the new kingdom that’s being established but God Incarnate comes to the earth and begins to establish his kingdom and no one sees it. How interesting. The great majority including these educated religionists missed the true kingdom and they missed it badly. It’s a kingdom that the human eye cannot see. Jesus said, “It’s right here in your midst.”

B. In our outline, not only is the present spiritual kingdom something that the physical eye can’t see, secondly, no physical place can contain it. No physical place can contain it. Jesus says in verse 21 as he continues to refute and inform these Pharisees of the truth, he says, “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” In your midst. Now, you can translate those very Greek words “within you.” As a matter of fact, there’s a good argument that says that’s the better translation. However, I can sympathize with Bible translators to not know exactly what to write here because both truths are clearly taught in Scripture. The kingdom of God is inside of every true believer in the person of the Holy Spirit but in this context, Christ being present, the kingdom of God was also in their midst and so both are actually true but most people completely miss it. Isaiah 53:2 says, “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” Isaiah prophesies hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth that when he the true King of heaven will bring the true kingdom, the spiritual kingdom to the earth, we will look at him and try to discern him with physical eyes and physical evidence and we’ll miss it. There’s nothing about him that really would make us think this is a King establishing a kingdom. No wonder Jesus said in John 1:26, “Among you stands One whom you do not know.”

Now, when he says here “the kingdom is in your midst,” I think one of the things he’s pointing out to the Pharisees is right here, “It’s within your reach. It’s open to you to process it if you will. Here it is,” and I think that would be, now here is something that you and I and I say this to you often because we miss a lot of truth because you’ve got to understand the Jewish mindset he’s addressing. For a Jewish religious leader to have someone tell them that God and God’s kingdom is present and he’s not emphasizing being in Jerusalem and particularly in the temple at Jerusalem, to them that’s almost heresy. They can’t grasp, “What are you saying?” That was another open rebuke to their theology. “What do you mean the kingdom of God is right here? We’re not in Jerusalem. We’re not at the temple. We’re not bringing offerings to the high priest. We’re not observing the rituals that Moses ordained. How can you say we’re here in the kingdom of God and it’s right here in our midst? Don’t you know the kingdom of God is a geographical place? It’s always connected to a geographical place.”

But it’s not. Their Old Testament prophets told them better. Ezekiel 36:26, “Moreover, I will give you,” the prophet said, “a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” He’s pointing out even to the Old Testament believers that it’s not about a particular geographical place and it’s not about particular rites and rituals in a particular building somewhere. It’s about a new heart. That’s what Jesus is pointing out. No physical place can contain the truth and reality of God.

Now, if you want to start a movement and get lots of followers and get lots of money, then take the Scriptures and twist them. Obviously, I’m not recommending this but take the Scriptures and twist them and give people a place and some rituals to perform in that place and then tell them, “If you do this you’re okay with God,” and millions will follow you. I mean, here we have, that’s all the way back to ancient Israel in Jerusalem, they said “That’s the place, that’s the key. You’ve got to go to Jerusalem. You’ve got to observe the rituals and that’s where you find God.” As a matter of fact, they believed that if you didn’t really pray in Jerusalem you may not even be heard in your prayers.

Then we go down through the ages. The Roman Catholic church, they have their altars, they have their holy place, they have their rituals and so many millions believe if they go to those places and they go to certain buildings with certain priests and do those certain things then they are okay with God. Not far behind them, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians and the Methodists are baptizing infants. I’m not saying there are not genuine Christians in those churches but I’m saying the system is prone to cause men to think, “If I go to that place and that man performs that sacrament with my child, then they are okay.” You can go all over the world and there are millions of people if you asked them, “What hope do you have of knowing Christ and getting to heaven?” They’ll say, “Well, my parents baptized me when I was an infant into the blank church.” We’re just conditioned to want that. We can put our human fleshly hands and minds around that. Baptists fall into the same trap. Baptists have taught with good intentions, not an evil motive, that if you come down to the front there’s a magic spot where you get saved and it’s no different than an altar in a Catholic Church if you overemphasize coming to a place. Now, it’s good to tell people to come for counseling or help or guidance. I say it’s good, a lot of times people don’t need to go to any man, they need to be told to go to Christ.

So Jesus did not tell these religionists to go to their physical geographic place that tradition held that’s where God is. He said, “God is right here in your midst.” The Scriptures show us Lydia. She finds God down by the riverside. Zacchaeus finds salvation and finds a relationship with God up in a tree. The immoral woman finds God at a well in Samaria. The eunuch finds God in a chariot. Saul finds God riding a horse on his way to persecute Christians. You see, the true altar, the spiritual altar of where you come to know God and where the kingdom of God begins to dwell in your life is in the heart and it comes under and through primarily, not absolutely but primarily the preaching of the word of God. Do you know what’s the hardest thing for men to do? Get your hands off God’s work. Get your wisdom and your logic and your reasoning and your hands off of God’s work. Do it God’s way and trust the Spirit of God will change men’s hearts. He will do that.

So first of all, in responding back to the question to the Pharisees, the Lord says, “The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and it’s in the heart and you Pharisees are missing it.” Now he addresses his disciples starting in verse 22 here and we call that II. The future kingdom is both spiritual and physical. While certainly there is a spiritual kingdom and it dwells in the hearts of those who are truly converted, he’s saying there’s coming a day when there’s going to be a physical kingdom on the earth. Subpoint A in this: it will come through the person and the work of Christ. It comes through the person and the work of Christ.

Jump down to verse 25 because it’s foundational to everything else that’s going to happen in him teaching us about his Second Coming. He says, verse 25, “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” In other words, “First I’ve got to go and die on a cross. First I’ve got to go endure the ridicule, the mockery, the rejection of this age and be crucified on a cross and then everything else will be built off of that and through that work.” That is the foundational work of God in building his kingdom. You see, there must be the cross before there’s the crown.

Now, through dying on the cross, Jesus redeemed his children but also there’s more than that: he also reclaimed his dominion. It’s very important that we understand both of these. He not only redeemed his children, he also reclaimed his dominion. Listen to Colossians 1:19-20, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself.” I have a sermon where I talk about what Christ did, who he reconciled or what all he reconciled on the cross and I said that he reconciled a lot of thugs and a lot of things. We’re the thugs and material things are the things. To reconcile all things to himself, how? Having made peace through the blood of his Christ, through him I say were the things on earth or things in heaven. So there’s going to be a new physical dominion, a new kingdom and it’s all going to come because Christ on the cross has regained dominion over all that is.

When he says “reconcile all things” one scholar says it means the entire universe of things. We get a good insight in Romans 8, for example, Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” Now, what does he mean? What he means is just as men are cursed in sin and under the curse and corruption of sin, so also because men sinned, creation itself is under the curse and corruption of sin. Now, while all of creation is under this curse and corruption, creation is fit to be ruled by the dominion of Satan. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that Satan is God of this world. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have allowed Satan a temporary sovereignty over the created order because the created order is fit for Satan right now. The created order right now is cursed and corrupted in sin and so it fits Satan right now. Now, he’s not all sovereign. There is a sovereign one over Satan but he has a sovereignty under God over the created order in today’s world.

As a matter of fact, go over to Revelation 5, if you would. Would you turn there? I didn’t know how to pull this out without just going there but John sees something in this vision in Revelation 5 which speaks to this reclaiming of dominion of all that is through the work, the person and work of Jesus Christ. Revelation 5, let’s go to verse 1 and just read through it. “I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.” I believe that’s the title deed to planet earth. It’s a scroll sealed up and it’s the title deed and there’s an anxiety over who can claim this.

“And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.” Nobody had earned the right to claim the title deed.

Verse 5, “and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome.'” What does that mean? Through his cross he has earned the right to claim it for his own. He “has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

Verse 6, “And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” Who else is going to go up to the throne of God and take the scroll and say, “This is mine”? Only the one to whom the Father has prescribed to take the scroll and say, “It’s mine.” And the only reason Jesus could take the scroll, the title deed to men’s souls and to planet earth, the only way Jesus could take possession of those title deeds is if he did what the Father prescribed must be done to purchase it back and redeem it and he did that and he did it perfectly.

Verse 8, “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Verse 9, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals,” how is he worthy? “For You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” The past tense is used there, friend, and if God is sovereign he is sovereign in salvation and that means when Jesus Christ died, he purchased his church at that point. He wasn’t waiting to see who it would be, he established it right there. We are so saved it’s pitiful.

Verse 11, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.” Verse 12, “saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory,'” there it is, “‘and dominion forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” So Jesus through his work on the cross is the one who has all authority to make obsolete and remove every other kingdom and to establish his kingdom on the earth he has reclaimed as his own through the work of his cross.

My friend, listen to me: planet earth belongs to Jesus Christ. There is not one square inch of matter in this entire earth where Jesus cannot say, “That is mine.” It’s his. It’s his through creation and it’s his through redemption. Everything now has been earned by Christ, if you will, and now it’s all under his authority. As John 5:22 says, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.” Because of the Son’s perfect obedience to the Father’s will which was centered in his work of dying on the cross for his children and to redeem creation, Christ has now earned for him the right to the title deeds of men’s souls and planet earth and he will do exactly what he pleases with both.

So as Jesus begins to tell these disciples, “There’s a physical kingdom coming,” verse 25 he says, “But first of all understand for me to get this done, I’ve got to go to a cross.” That’s foundational. So this future kingdom is through the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

B. This new future physical kingdom comes in a dark and difficult time. It comes in a dark and difficult time. Verse 22, “He said to the disciples, ‘The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.'” In other words, “I’m going away. You’re going to have some difficult days as my followers in the earth, some dark and difficult days and they’re going to be so difficult you’re going to long that I was there physically with you.”

You know, the Bible counsels us and he counseled them to be prepared for spiritual warfare and for sorrow. On another occasion, Jesus told his disciples, “The day is going to come when men will kill you and in killing you they’ll think they are doing a service to God.” Is not our culture in principle doing that today? Does not our culture think we have to crush Bible-believing Christians, they are the problem? They are hurting our efforts to make this a better world. That’s basically what they’re saying. Jesus said, “They will say they are serving God by destroying you.”

Our faithful forefathers in the faith saw their godly preachers silenced and their churches scattered and to varying degrees we will face some of the same. These will be difficult days and one of the difficulties verse 23 points out, probably the most difficult part, he says, “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them.'” In other words, there are going to be so many false teachers and false prophets and false preachers popping up and they’re going to sound so good and it’s going to be so alluring and that’s going to be one of the great difficulties. I think one of the problems is that there will be all these cult groups popping up and claiming, “We know the way. We have the truth.” They’ll be doing bizarre and even immoral things but calling themselves followers of Christ and we’ll get lumped in with them. I mean, the secular culture will just kind of put us all in one package and put the label “Christian” on all of us. That’s going to be difficult. That’s part of the great difficulty. As a matter of fact, Acts 21 records how the Apostle Paul already experienced some of this as he’s been brought in before the judge. They say, “Oh, you’re not connected with that group that led thousands away out into the wilderness and caused a revolt.” They just kind of lumped Paul in with every radical, revolting cult group that popped up and that’s going to continue on and that’s part of the difficulty that we will face in these days.

We can go on and on about the stuff that’s happening in our society that makes following Jesus Christ more difficult than it was 5 years ago. There’s a lady, where is she, in Washington state who is a committed Southern Baptist lady who will not bake pies and serve at a gay wedding and they are destroying this woman. They’re not just putting her out of business, they’re just bankrupting her in every way, bringing all these injunctions against her. Jesus said, “It’s going to be during a dark and difficult day when I’m going to return and establish my kingdom.”

C. Not only is this future physical kingdom established through the person and work of Christ, not only is it coming in a dark and difficult day, thirdly, it comes invincibly and unmistakably, he says. Invincibly an unmistakably. Verse 24, “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.” In this day and up to today, do you know there are little cult groups meeting in Jerusalem right now thinking they’ve got to be there to catch Jesus when he returns? I’m serious. There are cult groups right now meeting in Jerusalem, teaching, “The Lord is coming soon and we’ve got to be there to find him.” There are others who follow some cult leader out into the jungle thinking that somehow they’re going to usher in the Second Coming of Christ. Ones like Jim Jones who led those people into the jungle, of course, he had them all commit mass suicide. Some sit on mountain tops believing that, “Well, Christ is going to come,” and I guess they’re thinking, “If we get up real high, we can catch him on the way down.” I don’t know what they’re thinking. Some go out to a commune in Texas and begin weird and strange teachings about Christ and the coming of Christ.

Here’s what Jesus said, “Don’t follow any of that stuff. You don’t need to follow that.” He said, “When I come back it’s going to be like lightning, man.” In other words, it’s going to be unmistakable and undeniable. Listen, you can add up, are you listening? In fact, you can add up every great cataclysmic event that has ever happened in the earth and when Jesus comes again it will dwarf all of them put together. He said, “It’s going to be such a mighty display of majesty and glory and power, you don’t have to run to find it. It will find you. You won’t be able to miss it.” I mean, when lightning comes, there’s a majesty and there’s a glory. When lightning flashes, there’s a purifying effect from the fire and the heat. When lightning comes, it’s clearly manifested. You can’t miss it. And when lightning flashes, it happens suddenly. Suddenly. You may indeed miss his saving power while you live on this earth but you will not be able to escape his searing presence when he returns to this earth. That’s what he’s saying. So be aware. Be careful reading all the books about, “Well, go here and learn that.” Look, you just serve Jesus. When he comes you’ll know it.

Fourthly, not only does he come through the person and work of Christ; not only does it come in a dark and difficult day; not only is it coming invincibly and unmistakably; but fourthly, it’s coming completely unexpected by the lost. Beginning in verse 26, he gives a couple of interesting metaphors, it would probably be better to say interesting illustrations. Actually, there are 2 types. They are Old Testament types of the coming future return of Christ and final judgment. The 2 types are: the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Those are the 2 types.

Jesus said in the text, “I’m going to come when it’s like the days of Noah and the days of Lot.” Then he tells what it was like in the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Look at verse 27, in the days of Noah, verse 27, “they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” In other words, they’re just going to go along totally unprepared with the thought of a holy and Almighty God returning and calling them into account the furthest thing from their minds.

He said it was the same way in the day of Lot. Look down at verse 28, “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building.” The way this is worded in verse 28 it looks like the economy was good. They were making money: buying, selling, building. They were just focused on the earth and the world and all it was doing for them. Verse 29, “but on the day,” while they were in the middle of being totally unconcerned about God, “on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.”

So he said there’s a day when men are overwhelmingly sensual and overwhelmingly secular and they have no spiritual appetite. He said, “Then I’m going to burst forth from heaven on them.” The text here says, “When the Son of Man is revealed,” this is amazing to me, it’s like the infinitely majestic and glorious and Almighty Christ sits just above the veil of our terrestrial heavens and all of a sudden God will say, “Move the veil back and let them see who has been watching over them the whole time.” It’s an unveiling. That’s what the word means. It’s an unveiling of the Christ.

Now, when he says the days of Noah, what were the days of Noah like? Genesis 6:5-6, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved.” That’s the description of the earth before the flood came in Noah’s day in judgment and that’s only a type of the future judgment Jesus is bringing.

The days of Lot there in Sodom. Genesis 19:4-5, 2 angels come to Lot’s house. The people of the city think those angels are just men and the Bible says, “Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.'” “We’re homosexuals and we demand to be able to have sexual relations with those men. We demand it!” And today they’re knocking on our doors and they are beginning to demand that we hand over to them our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. “Let us have them! Let us have them.” Jesus said when a culture begins to be as wicked as the days of Noah and the days of Lot, that’s the kind of day the Son of Man will return in.

Genesis 19:12-13 continues the narrative of Lot and Sodom, “Then the two men said to Lot, ‘Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.'”

Now, the open and deep wickedness of the earth in the days of Noah and the open and deep wickedness of the earth in the days of Sodom was signified particularly in the case of Sodom in an open embracing in the perversion of homosexuality and when a people begin to openly embrace and celebrate this kind of sin, it indicates 2 things. 1. It indicates a people that has completely turned their back on God. Romans 1, though, teaches us and much more horrifyingly teaches us, it indicates that God is turning his back on a people. It is the judgment of God and it brings the judgment of God. Both are true.

But it’s interesting here, the wickedness of the men of Noah’s day and the wickedness of the men of Lot’s day there in Sodom is not really what the Lord brings out here. As clearly as the Bible teaches those things brought judgment and do still bring judgment, that’s really not the emphasis here. The emphasis the Lord wants to put on here is their radical complete unpreparedness: marrying and giving in marriage; going to bed, rising up; buying, selling, building. The real issue is: there was no one who said, there was no heart spirit, there was no attitude in the minds of men, “There is a God and he is holy. We’ve got to do something to get our hearts ready for him.” That was just gone. It was just gone. Unpreparedness. Someone said their unpreparedness was their ruin, now listen, I’m talking about Noah and Lot’s day because that’s a type for us to learn from; it’s a type of the future of judgment of Christ and the coming of Christ. Their unpreparedness was their ruin and their ruin is our warning to be prepared. There will be no excuses to be unprepared for the Lord when he returns.

Verses 30 through 33, referring back to Noah and Lot’s day, he said, “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Now, I think what what he’s saying here: the moment Christ returns, all earthly and temporal cares and concerns are to cease. You’re not even if you are on the rooftop, you’re not even to think, “What do I need to get out of my house?” It doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t have to go anywhere, do anything, find anything, grab anything, just look at Jesus. All earthly concerns must cease. Why? Because the moment he appears, a new treasure appears. Our true treasure has come and no one seeing him that looks back on a sin-cursed world and wonders what they are losing is worthy of him. That’s what he’s saying. He said, “If there’s anything in your heart that when Christ returns you’re saying, ‘Yeah, but I love this world,’ you’re gone. It’s too late. It’s just too late.” If you see him and still can love this world. Now, we make use of the world, we praise him for the common graces in this world but we don’t love this world and we long for him to return, our true love, our true treasure, our lasting possession. So he says, “Don’t run anywhere and do anything or buy anything. There is no use in that.” Just as it was in the days of Noah, they were deeply wicked, they were radically unprepared and judgment came before they could do anything about it. Just as it was with Lot in Sodom, those people were going about in their lust and immorality, giving no thought to a holy God and accountability and judgment and instantly in that condition, God’s wrath came with fire and brimstone on them.

He said when this future physical kingdom comes, it’s going to come through the person and work of Jesus Christ. He has earned the right to claim the dominion of it all. Secondly, it’s going to come in a dark and difficult day. Thirdly, it will come invincibly and unmistakably. You don’t have to run somewhere to look for it, you’ll know it. Fourthly, it’s going to come totally unexpected to the lost. Lastly, it’s going to come to remove the wicked and establish the righteous. It’s a day when he will return to remove the wicked and establish the righteous. Look at verse 34, “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.” Verse 35, “There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.” Verse 36, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.” I think it is interesting to note that all of these illustrations are from a lower class people, if not just poor folks because the wealthy in that day had their own beds but he said in this case they’re just going to be people sleeping in beds and some will leave the beds and be taken away and some will be left. Literally, when Jesus returns, one spouse will be left in a bed and the other will be taken away. In poor households in this day, they all just slept on mats on the floor beside each other. He said, “When I return, some are going to be taken away and some will be left. Two women who know each other and care for each other and love each other will be serving down at the mill getting the flour or the grain prepared for their evening meal and immediately one is going to be taken away and another will be left. Two men who have known each other all their lives will be serving together in the field and one immediately, there’s no time to prepare. You don’t go anywhere. Christ has come like the lightning in the sky. One will be taken and one will be left.”

Now, understand in this text, this is not the rapture. It is not the rapture. He’s coming to the earth to establish his physical kingdom. What he’s saying is, “One will be taken away to judgment and outer darkness, the other will be left to inherit the physical kingdom on earth with Jesus Christ.” One is taken away to judgment and one is left to the bliss and the glory of Christ’s earthly kingdom.

Then verse 37, “And answering they,” the disciples, “said to Him, ‘Where, Lord?'” In other words, “Where are they going?” Those that are taken away? Because they’re Jews. They’re thinking in terms of a physical kingdom on earth so the ones that are taken away, they know that’s not good. Where are they going? “And He said to them, ‘Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.'” Here’s the point the Lord’s making, it’s a powerful parable that wasn’t just used in the Bible in this day but the Lord uses it to make his point. He says, “The vultures always gather and eat that which is so vile and corrupted it’s not good for consumption by anyone else.” The buzzards and the vultures eat that which is so filthy that it’s not fit for anybody else. So the point he’s making is: those who do not know Jesus Christ, those who are unprepared, those who have not repented of their sin and placed faith in Christ, they are vile, corrupt beings. They are God rejecters and unbelievers who cheaply love this world, did not love Christ and his return and they are not fit to be with Christ, they’re only fit to be out there where the vultures are. They are not proper. It’s improper. It’s unrighteous for them to inherit the kingdom of God.

Really if you look at verses 32 and 33 though, you get I think the summary point the Lord wants his disciples to get here. Verse 32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” That’s really the summary point of the whole thing, “Remember Lot’s wife.” What’s the point? Now, Lot’s wife was with Lot and she evidently made the same kind of profession of faithfulness to the true God of Scripture that Lot made and perhaps some of his family members. But when it came time to escape the wrath God was going to pour on Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife got so far and then looked back. It wasn’t the physical act of looking back but the looking back expressed the content of her heart. She was worried about the world she was losing; she really loved Sodom. She really loved the world. Lot’s wife had a convenience conversion to Jesus Christ. She converted to be a God-fearer because her family did it but it wasn’t real in her heart. It’s an interesting thing. Now, Jesus brings this out, talking to disciples, “Fellas,” he’s saying, “make sure you really know me and love me, you’ve really repented and you have faith in Jesus from the heart.” Remember Lot’s wife. She turned back and became a pillar of salt, a symbol of God’s judgment and worthlessness. It corresponds and parallels with the statement that the vultures eat the corrupted meat. She was not worthy to be in the kingdom. A convenience conversion and she was exposed in judgment and so will it be with every single one who does not know Christ truly from their heart as Lord and Savior. If your conversion is not true and real, it will be exposed in the day of judgment.

Come you sinners. Seek his grace whose wrath you cannot bear. Flee to the shelter of the cross and find salvation there.

Let’s bow in prayer this morning.