Well, as you can hear from our reading today, we are going to spend our time in the Word this morning in the area of eschatology, which is the theology of last things. And even as I say the word eschatology this morning, there’s probably a few different reactions happening in the room right now. Some of you are very excited to just talk about eschatology; you’ve been waiting for this, you love to search the scriptures, to learn about Jesus second coming and the new heavens and new earth, and the culmination of the kingdom of God. But sometimes, for some of you, maybe you’re a little too excited, huh? I mean, is that fair? Maybe a little too excited about it. And then on the other end of that spectrum, some of you are not excited at all. In fact, you heard the word eschatology. You just tuned out. You’re already tuning out right now, probably because you’ve interacted with too many people who have too much zeal and certainty on their views. They’ve got a chart. They’ve identified the Antichrist. They have awkward rapture ready conversations with you. And you’re just not into it. But this has caused you to pull away from what the Bible has given us in His Word on this topic, God’s Word on this topic. And there’s part of the Bible that you’re ignoring, and that’s not good either.

Some of you are more in the middle in a position that I will label curiosity. You’re far from certain, but you’re not checked out either. Your certain Jesus is returning. You’re not certain how it will happen. I’d like to invite all of us this morning to take a little step closer to that middle position. Today we live right now in between Jesus first coming and his second coming. So, we believe in linear history. Some worldviews are circular. Some have no ending and no beginning. Christianity teaches a clear beginning to our universe, and a forward advancing timeline that culminates in the return of Jesus. So, while we don’t have endless information on exactly what Jesus coming second coming is going to look like, we do have substantial information. And as part of God’s Word, those passages are intended to shape the way that we as Jesus disciples live our lives today. So, eschatology is about the future, but it’s not given to us just so that we can speculate about the future. It’s given to help us to think and to live for Jesus today. So, while we should never claim to have certainty about Jesus return and become overly fixed on it, neither should we ignore it and act as if it doesn’t matter. Luke chapter 17, verses 20 to 37 is Jesus teaching on his own second coming and the judgment of sin that comes with that.

It’s a detailed, detailed story. A lot of imagery and metaphor in it. Some of that imagery is clear. Some of it is mysterious. The portions that are mysterious are meant to be. Because part of Jesus point about his second coming is that we’re not supposed to have all the information that we want to have about it. That’s part of his teaching. Did you know that there there’s a part of Jesus teaching where he taught us that we’re not going to know everything that we want to know? It’s like, if I were your math teacher and you came into class one day and I had a math problem on the board, and I said, sit down. Today’s lesson is you are never going to figure this out, right? That would be odd. Now, the mystery, though, is not taught to us for no purpose. On the contrary, Jesus teaches us the mystery of his Second Coming so that we will keep our lives focused on pursuing his mission. Today, this life is fraught with meaningless directions. Some of them are worldly, and they end up in judgment. Some of them simply make followers of Jesus ineffective. And we’re going to see some of that today. But with eschatology, God keeps us on track. That’s the point of eschatology. It is God keeping us faced in the right direction and properly on track. So, I encourage you this morning, keep your Bibles open to Luke chapter 17.

It’s a long passage, so it’s not going to be up on the screen this morning. We’re just going to walk through Jesus teaching beginning to end. And it has two parts to it. The first part is short. It’s addressed to the Pharisees, and it concerns the beginning of the kingdom of God. The second part is longer. It’s addressed to Jesus disciples, and it concerns the culmination of God’s kingdom that comes when Jesus return. So, we’re going to start with the beginning, and then we’re going to look at five things to know about Jesus second coming. So, here’s the beginning. It starts in verse 20 and 21. Jesus is once again he’s speaking to the Pharisees, who were Jewish leaders, mostly in opposition to him. I say mostly because some Pharisees did eventually put their faith in Jesus. Did you know this? Nicodemus famously, is one of these Pharisees that that came to trust in Jesus? Joseph of Arimathea might have been a Pharisee. He certainly was a leader in the Jewish world. Clearly, Jesus teaching was having some positive effect on these men who knew their scriptures well. And here it doesn’t say that they were trying to trick Jesus. A lot of times we’re told straight up, these Pharisees were trying to trick him. Not here though. It just says that Jesus was asked about the arrival of the kingdom of God.

They want to know when that’s going to be. So implied in the question is that the kingdom will come sometime in the future, and they just want to know when. Which makes Jesus answer very intriguing. The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you. That’s present tense right now. The Kingdom of God is here with us on this hill or wherever they were when he was teaching this. See, they’re asking, when is it going to start? And Jesus says, it’s already happening, guys, you’re just not aware of it. How did they miss that? Well, it’s because the kingdom of God is coming in ways that can’t be observed. Now, to understand what Jesus means here, when he says it’s coming in ways that can’t be observed, we have to quickly review what these Pharisees were looking for when they wanted to know the start of the kingdom of God. What did they expect to see this kingdom be? They were looking for the re-establishment of the nation of Israel through the coming of a Savior who would wipe out the Roman occupation. In other words, they were waiting for a kingdom. You could definitely see a final, permanently established Israel that had, uh, have a kingship and a priesthood. All those things that the Old Testament describes, they’re looking for a visible kingdom. So, to them, whatever kingdom Jesus is talking about would have to be after this moment, because it’s not there yet, hasn’t arrived.

But Jesus corrects their misunderstanding. You think? You think it’s going to be an observable nation? You think people will be able to point at it and say, look, there it is. But the actual kingdom of God is not only not observable physically, it’s right here in the midst of you, and you don’t even know it yet. Jesus is referring to himself when he says this. He is the beginning of the Kingdom of God. He is. He is the one who embrace the Kingdom of God onto the earth. The gates of the Kingdom of God have been opened since the start of Jesus ministry, and these Pharisees could enter it at any time simply by putting their trust in Jesus. We saw this last week with the ten lepers. Nine were healed and they took off and they just went back to their old lives. But one of them realized what had happened and turned around and came back. To do what? To worship Jesus. And Jesus told him, your faith has made you well. This, guy saw the unobservable kingdom of God in Jesus while the other nine guys didn’t. And these Pharisees are like the other nine guys. They can see the miracles of Jesus is doing, but they refuse to believe that they are observing a spiritual kingdom.

Jesus didn’t come to overthrow the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom. He came, as he tells us, to overthrow Satan and establish an eternal spiritual kingdom. These guys, just can’t see that what Jesus is describing here has a big, fun name to it that will make you sound really smart around all of your theology nerd friends. All of them. It’s got a great name. So, here’s the phrase okay. The phrase is inaugurated eschatology. Isn’t that fun? Write it down. Inaugurated eschatology. Eschatology, like I said earlier, is the study of last things. It’s the return of Jesus, the millennium, all that, that kind of stuff. All the stuff that’s coming in the future. Inaugurated refers to something that has begun, usually with a big moment. Think of a presidential inauguration. Inaugurated eschatology, then is it refers to last things that have begun. Last things that have begun. The last days have started. This is what Jesus is saying. His ministry marks the beginning of the final establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Now this Kingdom of God will become more observable over time, but again, not in the way that you might think. It’s not going to be a nation with borders. Jesus death and resurrection will defeat and crush Satan for all who believe. Those people will then be filled with the Holy Spirit, and they’ll preach the gospel, and they’re going to form local churches.

They’re going to spread to every nation. The kingdom of God will be represented among all people everywhere. The Jews will be included, but it will not be limited to the nation of Israel. The church, as the body of Christ, will be outposts and ambassadors representing the spiritual kingdom of God, And the more it grows and spreads, the more visible the Kingdom of God becomes, until eventually there will be a culmination of the Kingdom of God at Christ’s Second Coming. So, the first time Jesus came with humility and grace, the second time he will come with power and judgment. The kingdom has begun, but it’s not yet complete. It is already started, but it is not yet culminated. But it will culminate eventually. Churches. What’s going to happen? Jesus will return and he is going to bring an end to this earth, and he’s going to destroy sin for good. He’s going to render judgment on those who don’t trust in him, and he’s going to establish a new heaven and a new earth for eternity. Eventually, the kingdom of God will be observable to everyone. But it isn’t right now. So, Jesus starts by publicly teaching this. He teaches this to the Pharisees, to everybody who’s around. This is the beginning. This is what it’s going to look like. But then Jesus turns to his disciples, and he teaches them about the culmination when he returns.

And he and starts with this, the Second coming will be unmistakable. Unmistakable. Jesus says, 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 the days of the Son of Man. There in verse 22 is referring to the return of Jesus. So, now we’re looking into the future. Okay? Now we’re now. Now he is out in front. He’s not talking about now he’s talking about some day. This is the not yet part of God’s kingdom. And Jesus says, at some point we’re going to start longing for his return. Jesus understands how hard it is to live as Christians in this world, to be his follower, to be living in his kingdom while still also living in a broken, evil world. He knows that that is a burden to carry. Uh, right now I am. I’m watching what’s happening in Minneapolis, and I’m seeing the effect it’s having on families within the immigrant population and the fear and the grief that it’s producing. And you know what it does? It makes me long for the return of Christ. It makes me long for that. When I hear of the Congolese Christians that are murdered by Islamic terrorists, by the hundreds this last month. I think how long, Lord, how long is this going to go on like this? When, can this part of the timeline be done? Really? Whenever evil flares its head and puts a brokenness of our world on display, it makes me long for Jesus to come to culminate his kingdom, to bring an end to all suffering.

I’m sure those of you who love Jesus, you have longed for his second coming. And Jesus knew this. Here in our passage, Jesus is telling us. He knows that we are going to feel that way. He we’re going to long for his return. But what he doesn’t want is for us to go off looking for it. He doesn’t want us to be fooled into going and looking for his return. This is this is the part of the Bible that should bring an end to all the weird speculation that takes place within certain parts of the church. But for some reason, it hasn’t. I mean, are they missing a page? I don’t know. I don’t understand how this has not ended that strange speculation. Jesus tells us there are going to be people who are going to say, look, here it is. I figured out when Jesus is coming back. And you know the people I’m talking about, right? You know them. They got the radio ministry on the AM station, right? They got a book with their face on the cover of it. Right. They claim to have cracked the Bible code or whatever it is.

Jesus is telling us here, straight up church. Do not listen to these people here. Let me quote him directly. Do not go out or follow them. Jesus meant follow them physically, but I’m going to go ahead. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram. Don’t follow them. Don’t go. Don’t go after what they’re saying. No one is getting a special word from the Lord about the return of Jesus, because Jesus himself said in the Word of the Lord that we’re not to listen to anyone who claims to. When Jesus returns, everyone is going to know. Everyone is going to know. You’re not going to need a special individual to point it out to you. It will be unmistakable to everyone. It’s going to be like outdoor spring sports. Follow me on this, right? It’s going to be like outdoor spring sports, okay? Any sport will do. Baseball families will understand what I’m about to say here, but really, anybody that’s ever sat outside watching their kid do anything will understand this. You’re out there. You’re hoping that they’re going to get the game in today. But every one of us can see those clouds. We all know it’s there. They’re still playing in the rain. You’re sitting there miserable, but you’re going to make it through. But what happens suddenly? Lightning flashes across the sky. How many people react? Literally everyone. Everyone is up. Everyone is moving. Game’s over.

Running for the cars. Lightning is too big, too loud, too scary. Kids are out there with like, aluminum sticks in their hands. Like, got to get them out of here, right? We’re moving. Why? Because lightning is obvious to everyone. No one. And I mean no one is oblivious. When lightning flashes, everyone is in full attention. And that’s what Jesus says his return will be like. Jesus says that that’s what it’s going to be. You’re not going to miss it, okay? You’re not going to miss it. So don’t be fooled by people who want to claim that they can show it to you. And then he says that the Second Coming follows the cross. Now Jesus says this almost as an aside to his main purpose of describing his return. Verse 25 but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Jesus is describing here his own persecution that will lead to his crucifixion. He’s going to be unjustly tried, falsely convicted. He’s going to be abandoned by his closest friends. He’s going to be beaten nearly to death, and then he’s going to be crucified as a criminal. And he says, all of that has to happen before his second coming. Now, to us, this is an obvious point because we live 2000 years after the cross. We don’t need to be instructed on the order of events here.

But remember that these disciples are living on the other side of that timeline. Jesus hasn’t been crucified. And frankly, a lot of the disciples that walked with Jesus struggled on this point. A rejected crucified king doesn’t sound like a victorious king, especially if you’re thinking that Jesus is here to take back the country. These disciples have to understand that the kingdom doesn’t culminate in glory and power until after Jesus suffers rejection and death. And I’ll tell you what this small point does for me church. When I read it, it reminds me that if Jesus had to go through suffering at that point in the timeline, that it makes sense that I would suffer at this point in the timeline. Jesus said that we will experience trouble in this world just like he experienced it. And if it’s right and necessary for God’s plan that Jesus would endure suffering, then of course it’s right and necessary and even expected that I would endure it, that we would endure it. But just like he rose from the dead and he overcame the world, those of us who are in Christ are going to do the same. And then Jesus turns his attention back to the details of his turn, his return, when he says the Second Coming will be judgment on an indifferent world. So here Jesus uses two historical events recorded in Genesis to illustrate what his return will be like in the world.

Now, I can’t teach both of those passages this morning, but you can read them. I invite you to read them. Think that’d be a great idea there in Genesis chapter six and chapter 19, when Noah built his boat, the community around him went on as normal. They ate, they drank, they got married. The guy building the boat wasn’t a cause of concern for anybody at that time. When Lot lived in the city of Sodom, the people of the city just went about their days without regard for the Lord. Notice in this passage, in this teaching of Jesus, that he’s not focused on the sin of Sodom or of Noah’s neighbors. He’s not focused on their sin. He’s focused on the fact that they just lived their lives with complete indifference to the Lord. They were eating and drinking and buying and selling and planting and building. Life was just normal for them. And in both cases, when God’s judgment rained down and destroyed them, they were just going about their lives, disconnected from God and unbothered by any authority that he had over them. They didn’t see judgment coming because they weren’t looking, and they weren’t looking because they didn’t care. And I have to say, that sounds remarkably like 2026 to me when I read it. So many people care so much about so many things, but they go about it with total disregard for Christ.

There is no thought given to an impending judgment from a creator God, and this is either because they don’t believe in a creator, or they don’t believe he judges sin, or they don’t think that their sin will be judged by him. It really doesn’t matter the reason all of those thoughts create the same attitude. Indifference. And Jesus says that he is going to return right in the middle of indifference. He’s going to catch a lot of people off guard. When he returns. They’re going to face judgment for their sin, and their lives are going to be rightly destroyed. And they won’t even see it coming, not because it couldn’t be seen, but because they were too busy to care to look. The takeaway of that warning, for those of us who will listen, is that the Second Coming reminds us not to love the world. Now, verses 31 to 33 are difficult because they seem to sound like on the day that Jesus returns, there will be two different groups. There will be those who are destroyed by God’s judgment unsuspectingly and they won’t be prepared for him. But then there’s this other group that Jesus describes here that will know what’s happening. And they’re going to try to flee the scene. Jesus says, if you’re in the house, you get out. Don’t try to grab your stuff.

Don’t try to get it and go. Just go. If you’re working in the field, don’t go back, he says. It sounds like people are going to scatter in two different directions when Jesus returns. But in verse 34, as we’ll see here in a minute, the day Jesus returns, it’ll be too late for any choice at all. When Jesus appears unmistakably, you’re either with him or you’re not. And so, this description of fleeing the coming judgment of God for believers has to be prior to his actual return. Now, let me just reiterate at this point that there is a great deal of mystery in the exact order of the events of the last days. I hold what I’m about to say to you with a very open hand. Okay. When Jesus says on that day in verse 31, I believe he’s not referring to the actual day of his return, but the day when it’s obvious that the final events leading up to Jesus return are either beginning or nearing their end. I’m not sure which, that period is sometimes called the Great Tribulation, and during this tribulation the world is going to get worse and worse. Uh, but near the end of this terrible period, things are going to get really bad. How bad? I don’t know. And if you have an issue with my order and placement of these events, fine. That’s fine.

I don’t have any problem if you don’t see it quite that way. There’s a much bigger point here. There is a much bigger point. Through this period of God’s dismantling of this world in the last days, Christians will endure. If we remain faithful to the Lord and we don’t try to cling to the world around us. That’s Jesus point. That’s what we need to take from this. And it’s a point that applies not just for those final days. It applies right now. If your goal in this life is to accumulate as much stuff as you can and to hold on to things in this world because they’re precious to you, you’re going to go down with them. You’re going to be. Remember lot’s wife. That’s what he says. Jesus says, remember, don’t forget lot’s wife. That’s Jesus way of saying, Flee God’s wrath and don’t turn back with a heart that longs for a godless world. If you’re familiar with the story, you know lot’s wife took a longing glance back to Sodom as they were fleeing God’s judgment, and she was swept away in God’s judgment along with the rest of the city. She was turned to salt. Church, we should be falling more out of love with worldly things as we fall more in love with the Lord, that longing for Christ’s return should be making you every day more and more discontent with the things in this world that take your eyes and your heart off of Jesus.

Now, to become more and more discontent with the world is a process of spiritual growth in Christ, and we are saved entirely by God’s work, not our work. We’re saved by grace, not our own ability to overcome. But if you don’t see love for godly things growing inside of you with a matching discontent, even a hatred for worldly, sinful, evil things, then you should question what you truly love. If you don’t see that, you should question, what do I really love? What am I? What am I really grabbing onto? What am I really clinging to? When God’s judgment comes, you need to be clinging to Christ, not your stuff. And this brings us to the last thing that Jesus says about his return, which comes with the direst warning. And that’s that the Second Coming brings final separation of the saved from the lost. Jesus starts in verse 34, I tell you in that night, okay, so that follows the phrase on that day. So, he’s bracketing these phrases frame a period of time that starts with day and ends with night. I think Jesus is showing a passage of time when the tribulation has been occurring and now comes to an end in the moment that he returns, there will be two in a bed. One will be taken.

One will be left. Two women will be grinding flour. One gets taken, the other is left. It’s difficult to know if this is describing a rapture of believers taken to join Jesus as he returns to earth, because nothing is more. Nothing more said here about it, but I believe that’s what’s being described. So, if you’re trying to figure out where I am, as logically I think a post-tribulation rapture makes the most sense of scriptures as we have them. Again, I’m not going to fight you on it. If you’ve got a bit of a different view, that’s just fine because it’s not super clear. What’s clear is what this means. That’s what’s clear. When Jesus returns, he’s the dividing point. He’s the dividing point. Those who are with him in heart, who have trusted in his grace, who have lived for him on this earth will join him in the new earth, and those who have lived a life of sin and disregard for him will face his judgment. For them. The wrath of God will be justly deserved. And the disciples knew what Jesus was saying here. They understood the weight of it. They asked Jesus, where is this going to happen? Where is where is this going to take place? And Jesus simply says, don’t worry about location. Don’t worry about it. Because when it happens, it won’t be a secret. Earlier, when the lightning flashed, everyone knew what was happening.

Jesus ends this teaching with another sign in the sky. When a corpse is dead on the ground, you can spot it easily because vultures are going to be circling it. When Jesus comes, you’re going to know that it’s happening. When judgment comes, everybody’s going to know that, too. Friends, if you’ve been sitting on the fence, if you’ve been sitting on the fence and you were wondering if you ought to give your life to Jesus, I hope this has convinced you. We’re all living on the same timeline. We’re all marching forward in history at the same pace. Even whether you want to believe that or not, you’re in that timeline. Jesus is coming back, and there’s only two positions that you can be in, taken or left. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. The life without Christ that you’re clinging to is a sinking ship. But the good news is that the gates of the kingdom are open. That’s Jesus point to the Pharisees, they’re open. It’s open now. The invitation is in Jesus hand, and he’s offering it to you by his grace. And if you trust the Savior who came to save your life with his first coming, you’ll have no fear to face him and only joy to embrace him when he comes again. Would you pray with me?