The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 17. We've been looking at the Kingdom of
God, and our Lord had several things to say about it. The Pharisees,
who claimed to be experts on it, and especially the High Council,
the Sanhedrin, which was mostly made up of Pharisees, they were
experts on the second coming of Christ. on the coming of Christ. But they didn't. They had no
understanding of the reality of it. And they're asking them
questions here about the Kingdom of God, and He's telling them
things that are just going over their head. They had no understanding
of it at all. But my subject, and I pray it's
the message For you from God is about life in the kingdom.
That's what our Lord is talking about. Life in the kingdom of
God. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 17 beginning with verse 24. For as the lightning
that lighteneth out of one part under heaven shineth unto the
other part under heaven. so shall also the Son of Man
be in his day. But first must he suffer many
things and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in
the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son
of Man. They did eat, they drank, They
married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that
Noah entered into the ark. And the flood came and destroyed
them all. Likewise also as it was in the
day of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But the same day
that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from
heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day he which shall be
upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come
down to take it away. And he that's in the field, let
him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall
lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you that in that night
there shall be two men in one bed, and one shall be taken,
and the other left. Two women shall be grinding together. The one shall be taken, the other
left. Two men shall be in the field.
The one shall be taken, the other left. And they answered and said,
Where? Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. Now in Luke 17, 20, our Lord
was put on the spot by the Pharisees as when the kingdom of God would
come. In response to their foolish
question, he tells them that all their foolish notions about
the kingdom of God were carnal and wrong. That's what he's telling. You're experts asking me questions,
trying to snare me with your questions, but everything you're
asking is wrong and carnal. He told them that the kingdom
of God cometh not with observation. What's he talking about? What's
he mean by that? Well, he means at least three
things. He meant by that that the kingdom of God will not come
with pomp and pageantry. It will not come in any form
of outward show whatsoever. And if you look in the margin
of your Bible, if you've got a Bible and it has a little margin
over there and you look over there and you'll see in parenthesis,
you'll see an explanation. If you look over there, it says
outward show. Outward show. And then secondly,
it means that the kingdom of God will not come in any way
visible to men. The warfare is inward. The strong
man that rules you rules on the throne of your heart. And the
one stronger than him that takes him down and takes his kingdom
does so inside. I can't see that. Man looks on
the outward countenance. That's as far as my eyes can
take me. God looks on the heart. This
kingdom is not in any way visible. The seating of the king is in
the heart and you cannot see this kingdom established. All
you can see is the effects of it and the evidence of it. And
then thirdly, he may mean by this that the kingdom of God
does not come by the observation of religious laws and ceremonies
and traditions and ordinances. It does not come by observing
holy days and doing what men call holy things. It doesn't
come by observation. In Psalm 14, 17, he said, The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness. I mean
in Romans 14, I'm sorry. Romans 14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. That's the kingdom. Righteousness,
peace, at peace with God, not peace in the world. In the world
you shall have tribulation. But in Him we have peace. Peace
with God. And we have joy. in the Holy
Ghost. And with these things in mind,
let's listen to how our Lord describes life in the Kingdom. Life in the here and now, in
the Kingdom of God. Our stay on this earth is often
called a day. And let me give you four things
about this Gospel day that tell us what it will be. First of
all, He tells us that it will be a day of trouble. A day of
trouble. Look at verse 22. He said, The
days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days
of the Son of Man, and you shall not see it. Oh, I can just imagine
when Peter and them were locked up in prison and beaten for preaching
the gospel and outcast out of cities and so on, how they longed,
how they longed for one day with our Lord who bore the brunt of
all the persecution against the gospel he preached and against
his faith. He bore it all. Even at his crucifixion, when
they come to get him, he said, if you're going to take me, you
let these go. And they did. Oh, my soul. He said, the days are coming.
Days of trouble. Days of persecution. These days
are coming. Almost all of them were martyred,
Russell. All put to death. Almost all of them. Very few
escaped it. And then listen to this. He said,
He will appear in that day as lightning shining under heaven. Not in heaven, under heaven.
It's going to start over here, and just like that lightning,
you'll see it, and it'll go way over there. It'll light up. Where does it
light up? Where the storm is. He'll appear in that day as a
lightning shining here and there where God sends the storm. And
this whole life here is attended with storms. The disciples believed
the same as did the Pharisees about an earthly kingdom. They
often discussed among themselves who was going to be chief in
the kingdom. They thought by their obedience and their sacrifices
and all the things that they did, they'd be like David's companions
that helped him and the key men in there. And he would, in that
day, make them key men in the kingdom. And they discussed that
among themselves. Who would hold the top office
in it? Who'd be greatest in the kingdom of God? They had ideas
of being exalted and rich and royal in their offices. But our
Lord burst their bubble. And he tells them that things
are going to get worse, not better. So much so that they long once
again to have a day with our Lord as He walked with them. These things I have said, John
16, 33, that in me you might have peace. In the world you
shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome
the world. And then secondly, he describes
this day, the day of grace, the day of salvation, the day of
the reigning king, as a day with a fixed end. There's going to
be an end to it. And to do this, he picks two
events out of their past, known and committed to memory by every
Jew, rehearsed When they come together to worship God, they
rehearse these things, they were well known. Fact is, I've been
hearing these things since I was a child. And he picks these two events
out of their past, the flood of Noah and the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah. And as it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. In
Genesis chapter 6, Through chapter 18, our Lord leaves us with a
very vivid picture of these two events. And in those days, as it is in ours, corruption,
lust, vanity, pleasure, and just a general engrossment with the
business of life. Isn't that what he's talking
about here? They were marrying and giving him marriage. In Sodom
they bought, they sold, they married, they had sons, all of
these things. Nobody had any time for God or
worship or any time to be taught. The everyday business of life
in this world totally consumed their hearts. And that's what
he said it was going to be like when the kingdom comes. And it
was there in him. Here's what it's going to be
like. Everybody's going to be too busy to listen. Too busy
to listen. They lived, but they lived as
they pleased. They worked, but their work was
to gratify their flesh. They had affection, but it was
distorted, perverted, and unlawful. And they had no other concern
than food and drink, family, and home. That was their concern. Their whole life was about business
and pleasure. And as it was then, so it is
now. This world will continue on in
what they call the everyday affairs of life until the last of God's
elect is removed. Here's the common denominator.
Nothing happened until Noah went into the ark. Nothing happened
until Lot went out of Sodom. Nothing happened. Nothing's going
to happen so long as God's elect are in this world. But there's
coming a day when the last of His elect is going to be called.
And that's it. That's it. Time shall be no more. There's an end. And I tell you, man is of a few
days and full of trouble. He's born under trouble, Job
said, as the sparks fly upwards. And then thirdly, life in the
kingdom is a day of distinguishing grace. Who maketh thee to differ, Paul
said, from another? I was raised in a Nazarene church.
How come I ain't still in it? I have a lot of friends who still
are. One of the boys I went to high school with, I saw his dad
after 40 years and he's still going to that church. How come I ain't? Our family
for generations went to that church. Who maketh thee to differ
one from another? In the day when the Son of Man
is revealed, revealed in men by the gospel truth and the powerful
working of the Holy Ghost, our gospel, Paul said, came not unto
you in word only, But he came in power and in the Holy Ghost
and in much assurance. And God's calling of his elect,
it's an irresistible calling. It's an effectual calling. I
used to illustrate that. We all had to sleep upstairs.
We lived in this little soft box house. It was a log home,
two story. And had one source of heat, big
wood stove downstairs, coal stove. And at night, Daddy shut the
door, and just whatever heat was up there was up there, and
the rest of us stayed downstairs. And those kids all bundled up
under them quilts, and Mom would come up in the morning, open
that door, come on down to breakfast. And we'd just lay there under
them covers, you know, and she'd come back, time to get up. And
we'd just lay there under them covers. I didn't want to get
up, it was cold out. Oh, and Dad'd come to the steps, and
he'd speak your name, you better in a few minutes be down sitting
in front of that stove. That's a factual calling. When
God calls, He calls just that way. And you respond just that
way. The fear of God is the beginning
of all wisdom. All of a sudden, we understand
who God is. We understand. And how do we
understand? We see Christ. We see Him in
His Gospels. It's an irresistible calling.
It never ends in failure, never. To them gave he power, he said,
to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name
who were born of God. Paul said, giving thanks unto
the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of saints and light. And the kingdom of God is set
up in the hearts of God's elect By an act of distinguishing grace,
there's going to be two men in one bed. God's going to call
one and leave the other one there. Huh? Which one did he call? Did he do a any-men-mighty-mo? What made the difference in these
two men laying in the bed? Distinguishing grace. That's
right, distinguishing the two. Two women are going to be grinding
in the mill. They're both doing their work, probably both had
good homes, married good husbands, whatever. They're in there grinding
the mill. God takes one and leaves the
other. Two men working in the field. God takes one and leaves
the other. That's God's distinguishing grace. And the believer, for
the rest of his life, asks this question, why me? He doesn't say, well, how come
he didn't call my whole family? No, he can't get past the question,
why me? I don't deserve it. It was the
grace of God. The distinguishing grace of God. That night, two men should be
in one bed. One will be taken away and left. Our Lord said of the Pharisees,
leave them alone. They'd be blind leaders of the
blind. If the blind lead the blind,
they'll both fall in the ditch. Leave them alone. Quit pampering
them. Quit walking on eggshells around them. What have you gotten that you
haven't received? And if you received it, why do
you glory if you didn't? God saves men according to His
good pleasure and by His distinguishing grace. God has saved us. That's what Paul wrote Timothy.
You want to comfort another believer, especially a younger believer?
You want to comfort him? Here's how you do it. God has
saved us. God has saved us. and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now is made manifest by the coming
of Christ. Paul wrote and said there's a
remnant. He said the Jews should have
been like Sodom and Gomorrah. But God has reserved to himself
a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. And this kingdom is a kingdom
of grace. Recipients of grace. Provenient
grace. Eternal grace. Free grace. Amazing
grace. Amazing grace. He tells us in Ephesians chapter
2, by grace ye are saved. Then he turns right around and
he says, by grace are you saved. And then lastly, life in the
kingdom is a day of gathering and feeding upon Christ. Having
heard our Lord talk about his distinguishing grace and a time
just before the judgment of God, a time when some will be called
and others pass by. They answered and said unto him,
where, Lord? Where is this distinguishing
grace to be manifested? Where is this kingdom to be set
in motion? These things that you're telling
us, when? Where is this going to be? Where should these things
take place? Where will this manifest division
come to pass? They looked at what our Lord
said as some kind of prediction of some future Listen to what our Lord says
in answer to the question. Verse 37. Where so ever the body
is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. What does
He mean by the body and the eagles? Well the body, as near as I can
find in my study, is a slain corpse. It's a slain corpse. In this particular place, he's
talking about himself, Christ crucified. Christ crucified. Where is this kingdom established? Where Christ crucified is preached. We preach Christ crucified under
the Jews a stumbling block, under the Greeks foolishness, but under
them which are called Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. God's elect are often described
in the Scriptures with the simile of an eagle. In Deuteronomy 32, He tells us,
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
and separated the sons of Adam, that He set the bounds of the
people according to the children of Israel. Everything is mapped
out in this world according to the children of Israel, according
to God's elect. Everything is set in motion.
God's portion, he said, is his people. Jacob is the lot of his
inheritance. He found him in a waste howling
wilderness, and he led him about and kept him as the apple of
his eye. Verse 11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, and taketh
them and beareth them upon their wings. We looked that up, didn't
we? And we saw a picture of an eagle
with her babies on her wings, carrying them. That's the children
of God. They're eagles. They're eagles. You can read about it in Exodus
19 and Job 9 and Isaiah 40 verse 31 and Revelation 12, 14. In Revelation 12 he said, And
to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might
fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished
by time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent. Where do they gather? Where do
these eagles gather? Where the body is. Where the
body is. Christ is the body. He's the
head of the body, the church. And Job 39, he said, the eagles
abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong
place. And from thence she seeketh the
prey, and her eyes behold him far off. Oh, we see Him, don't
we? We see Him. And her young ones
also suck up blood where the slain are. It's the blood of
Christ we preach in it. Eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no part with me. Wheresoever the body is, thither
will the eagles be gathered. The manifest division or salvation
takes place in the place where Christ crucified is preached
and where God's people gather, where the eagles gather over
and over, picture after picture, simile after simile. I've showed
you throughout the scriptures, this gathering together of God's
people is biblical and it's necessary. And it's always identified with
the people of God. They're the only ones who do
it. Only ones who do it. The rest of them, they just pass
by a statue and bow and say a prayer. Not God's people. They gather.
They gather, and they gather in His name. Thither will the
eagles be gathered together. May the Lord be pleased to confirm
this truth to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Thank you.