Luke 17, turn there, Luke 17,
verse 20, down to verse 27. I'm taking the title for the
message from the two verses, 24 and verse 25 of Luke 17. For as the lightning that lightneth
out of one part of heaven under heaven, and shineth unto the
other part. That happens just like that,
doesn't it? So shall it be with the coming
of the Son of Man. But first he must suffer many
things and be rejected of this generation." Be rejected. So
the title that I've given to the message is The First and
Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In these two verses,
the Lord described for us His first, what they call Advent,
or His first coming. He came the first time to do
what? He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. It says
there, He must suffer many things. He suffered for our sins according
to the Scripture. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hold your
place there. Remember back in Luke chapter
9 if you want to turn there. The Lord must suffer for our
sins. There is no other way that we
can have pardon and redemption from our sin without a sin payment
by the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. Luke 9, 22. The Son of
Man must suffer many things, be rejected of the elders, the
chief priests and scribes, be slain. The Lord died for our
sins. How did He die for our sins?
According to the Scripture, and be raised again according to
the Scriptures, be raised up again the third day. Thank God
for His first coming. We would have no salvation without
His first coming. And then the Lord talks about
in verse 24, His second advent. or His second coming to receive
us to Himself forever in great power and glory. We read earlier from Hebrews
9.28, Hebrews 9.28, So Christ once suffered to bear the sin
of many, Christ once suffered to bear the sin of many, and
unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without
sin unto salvation. He is coming back the second
time. Now, I want to go back to verse
20, and look at verse 20 and 21 for just a moment, and verse
22. The Pharisees were again, it says, when he was, and he
was demanded of the Pharisees. Now, these folks are so arrogant
and so full of themselves self-righteous hypocrites. They demanded of
the Lord when the kingdom of God should come, and he answered
them, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither
shall they say, lo, here, lo, there, for behold, the kingdom
of God is within you, or among you. The Pharisees were again
demanding answers from the Lord as to when the kingdom of God
would come. Now these Jews were looking for
an earthly kingdom. They were looking for the kingdom
of David to be re-established again. They were looking for
the Roman government to be overthrown who had them in their grips. They wanted the Romans gone. They wanted the throne of David
to be re-established and that's what they were looking for. They
were looking for an earthly kingdom. They were looking for a physical
kingdom. And they had no true interest
in the true Kingdom of God, nor His King." The true Kingdom of
God, nor the King of the Kingdom of God. Now, hold your place
there and turn over to John 18 for just a moment. John 18, verse
33. Pilate entered the judgment hall
again and called for the Lord Jesus, John 8, 33, and said unto
him, Art thou king of the Jews? And the Lord answered him, Sayest
thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew?
Thine own nation and chief priests have delivered thee unto me.
What hast thou done? And the Lord said, My kingdom
is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from
henceforth. My kingdom is not of this world. We're not looking for a earthly
physical kingdom. Now notice the Lord's answer
in verse 20 and verse 21. The true and spiritual kingdom
of God, he says, does not come by mere outward show, but rather
the kingdom of God, he says, is among you, or the kingdom
of God is within you. Now we're talking about what
happened in the believer. Christ in you is a hope of glory. It's a spiritual kingdom that
none can enter into except those who were born into this kingdom,
the kingdom of God, by the power of God's regenerating grace,
and that's what happens in the new birth. The Lord said, except
a man be born again, he cannot enter into this kingdom of God. Christ in you is the hope and
glory. It's an inward kingdom, not an
outward one. It's a heavenly kingdom, not
a earthly one. Now we're going to study in a
few weeks in Romans 14, where we read these words, the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, Peace and
joy in the Holy Spirit. What is this kingdom of God?
It's the Lord our righteousness. What is this kingdom of God?
He made peace for us with His own blood. What is this kingdom
of God? We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, the second thing, as the
marginal reading has it there, The kingdom of God is among you. You see that? The kingdom of
God is among you. That is the Lord Jesus Christ
is king of his kingdom. He came here as God, our king. He was born king. You remember
the wise men said, where is he that is born king? He came as
our God and king. He was born as king to establish
righteousness for us by honoring the law of God for us. He said,
I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to honor the law
of God. And he died to redeem us from a curse of that law.
And that's what he did. God made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Christ. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. But these Jews, they
stumbled over his person, they stumbled over his priestly work,
they looked at the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and God of glory,
right in his lovely face, and they did not know he was God
their King. King. He was standing right in
front of them. The Lord said, you've seen Me,
you've seen the Father. I and My Father are one. They
looked Him right in the face and did not see the Kingdom of
God or the King in His Kingdom. Remember it says there, first
He must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation. That's exactly what happened.
We read, He came unto His own, His own, They had away with him. They received him not. When Pilate
presented the Lord Jesus Christ to them, he said, Behold your
king. Remember what they said? Away with him. Crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. We have no king. You see, the
gospel to those who are perishing is foolishness, but to those
that are saved by the gospel, Christ, the power of God, Christ,
the wisdom and glory of God forever. Now, look at verse 22. And he said
unto his disciples, Now, if you're a believer, you're a disciple.
This is the Lord's address to you. From verse 22 all the way
down to verse 36. The Lord addresses His disciples. He is speaking unto us today
with these astonishing words of this precious promise. He says, I'm coming back. I'm
going to go away. by suffering and shame through
the cross, be raised again the third day, I'm going to go away
to ever live to intercede for you, and if I go away, I'll come
again and receive you unto myself." What a precious, blessed promise
God gives unto us. Exceeding great and precious
promises. Now be sure of this, as the God-man
mediator ascended to glory, and as our forerunner entered in
and sat down, That same Jesus is coming again. The physical
body of the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. Our Lord said
this, or the angel of the Lord said this, upon the Lord's ascending
glory in Acts chapter 1, you remember you men of Galilee?
Why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which
is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as you have seen Him go." He's coming back. He bodily ascended
to glory and He's bodily coming back again. We read in the Revelation
1 verse 7, Behold, it said, Behold, He cometh. He's on His way. He cometh with clouds, and every
eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all the
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." That is, those
who are unbelievers. Now many false prophets have
set times, dates, and places in these last 2,000 years or
thereabouts. One just recently said that April
23rd, 2018, that the Lord was coming back on that day. He was talking about all the
planets aligning and the stars and all this lining up. He said,
this is the day the Lord's coming back. Well, we're still here. That man just proved himself
to be a fool. We read in Matthew 24, no man
knows the day or the hour but the Father alone. And then if
you hold your place there and find 1 Thessalonians, we'll be
turning to a few chapters, so get your Bible ready in your
lap there. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. The
Lord tells us that we don't need to know when He's coming back. All we need to know is that He
is coming back. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, look
at verse 1. But of the times and seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman without child, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren,
are not in the darkness, that they should overtake you as the
thief. You are children of the light, children of the day. We
are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore let us not
sleep as do others, but let us watch. We're looking for his
coming, and let us be Sober-minded about these things. We're looking
for His coming. Always looking for His coming. Let us always be looking for
the Lord who is coming. Let us always be ready to meet
the Lord when He comes by being found in Christ. We read in Titus
earlier today, looking for that blessed hope and that glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking for Him who is
coming. Now we can be certain of this,
the Lord will come again just as He has promised. Turn to John
chapter 14 and receive us unto Himself forever. John 14 verse
1. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God? Yes. Believe also in me? In my Father's house are many
mansions, dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. He's talking about going
to the cross to prepare the way of salvation, to accomplish the
way of salvation for us. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and I will come again and receive
you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. The Lord is coming back. Now, let us focus on what we
know from the word of the Lord about His second coming instead
of ungodly speculation. And that's what it is, ungodly
speculation. Now what do we know about the
coming of the Lord? Well, first thing is this, it
will be sudden and it will be unexpected. In Luke 12, verse
40, as it says there in verse 24, as the lightning shined out
of the east unto the west instantaneously, so shall it be in the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in Matthew 24, 27 and
28. But in Luke 12, 40, it says,
Be ye therefore ready, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour
when you think not. That's when He's coming back.
Revelation 3 says this, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come. Unexpected. As we read in 1 Thessalonians
5, as a thief in the night. So it will be certain, and it
will be sudden, and it will be unexpected. Now we're looking
for His coming. Don't ask me when. All I know
is that He is coming, and that we're told to look for Him. The
second thing we know about His coming, what will take place
when the Lord comes back? Great judgment. Great judgment
will come, as it says there in verse 26, as it was in the days
of Noah, You know what happened in the
days of Noah when God sent the flood and killed everyone? It says there that God destroyed
them all. What happened? Judgment fell. The wrath of God fell. Only those
inside that ark that were prepared by God, God put them in the ark
and shut the door and then the flood of God's wrath came. And
everyone outside that ark, it says there in verse 27, destroyed
them all. It will be a day of judgment,
great judgment as it is appointed. Men want to die after that judgment. Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they built, they were going on
with their everyday life. That same day that Lot went out
of Sodom, God destroyed everything and everyone in those two cities,
Sodom and Gomorrah. So it will be a day of judgment
just as it fell in Noah's day. Just as it fell in Lot's day,
only those inside the ark were safe, only those whom the Lord
brought out were safe, and only those in Christ will be spared
from the wrath of God in the coming of the Lord. Those sinners
who are not found in Christ shall be judged with an everlasting
punishment. When the Lord comes back, find
first Thessalonians, Excuse me, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2
Thessalonians chapter 1. And to you, verse 7, who are
troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God, that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of
his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony
among you was believed in that day. They write in the same location,
find 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. The day of judgment, 2 Timothy
4, verse 1. I charge you, I charge thee before
God and the Lord Jesus who shall judge The quick, the living,
and the dead at the appearing of His kingdom. Talking about
His coming back. Preach the word, be in season,
out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. The time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto
fables. But watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do
the work of an evangelist, Make full proof of thy ministry, I
am now ready to be offered, the time of my departure is at hand."
The Lord is coming back in great glory and judgment. Turn one
other reference or two, turn to the book of Jude, right before
the revelation, the book of Jude, verse 14, Jude 1, 14, The seventh from Adam prophesied
of these things, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand
of his saints to execute judgment upon all, to convince all that
are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds which they have
committed, of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners
have spoken against him." They have judgments coming. The second
coming of the Lord for those who are not found in Him will
be a day of great, great judgment. The second thing, or rather the
third thing I want to bring out here is that it will be a day
of separation. Turn back to Luke 17. Verse 30,
Even thus shall it be in the days when the Son of Man is revealed
in great glory and great power 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 is in the field,
let him likewise not return. Back, remember Lot's wife, she
looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt. Whosoever shall
seek his life, whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose
it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I
tell you that in the night there shall be two, In one bed, one
shall be taken, the other shall be left. Two shall be grinding,
one shall be taken, the other shall be left. Two shall be in
a field, one shall be taken, and the other left. There is
a day of separation. Sudden coming, a day of great
judgment, and then a day of separation by His sovereign will, power,
and distinction. He will divide. Turn to Matthew
25. He will divide the tares from
the wheat. He will divide the sheep from
the goats. It's His business to do so, not
our business to do so. Matthew 25, 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory. He shall come. Before Him shall
be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, He
shall set the sheep on his right hand, the goat on the left. Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed
in my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Down to verse 41, Matthew 25,
Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. There is a day of separation. Verse 46, These shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life. A day of separation. The sheep
from the goats, the tares from the wheat. Fourthly, it will
be a day, the second coming of the Lord, will not only be a
great day of judgment and destruction upon this earth, but also a great
day of rebuilding. He's going to make a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." Now, if you'll
find 2 Peter, these are the things that the Lord would have us to
know that He has revealed unto us about His second coming. This is 2 Peter chapter 3. There
will be a day of judgment, a day of destruction, a day of separation,
but there will also be a day of recreation, of rebuilding. Now, 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is
not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to us-ward, His elect, His chosen, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,
Now don't make that verse say what it's not saying. He is long-suffering
to us-ward. The Lord said, All that the Father
giveth to me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will
in no wise cast out. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with a fervent
heat, the earth also, and the works therein shall be burned
up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of person got you to be in all holy conversation and
godliness? Looking for and hastening unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on
fire, shall be dissolved, the elements shall melt with a fervent
heat. Nevertheless, verse 13, we according
to His promise look for new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot, and blameless." And that's how he finds us in
Christ. Holy, blameless, separate from sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want you to find Revelation
21, a day of new creation, a new heaven and
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Revelation 21. Revelation 21. I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, Revelation 21. And there was
no more sea, and I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and
God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more
death, no sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." New. And he said to me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha, Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that hath a thirst the water of the fountain of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things. I will be his God,
and he shall be my Son, or my people. Now, in closing, let
me give you this one last thing, fifthly. Luke 17, verse 37. And they answered and said unto
him, Where, Lord? Where is this going to take place,
Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever
the body is, the body, there will the eagles be gathered together. There's going to be not only
a day of separation, a day of judgment, a day of destruction,
a day of creation, but there's going to be a day of gathering
together unto Him. It will be a day of comfort and
joy, glory and blessing to the believer resting in Christ. The eagles there, I believe,
represent the elect of God. There will be a gathering together
with the body of Christ. We read in Matthew 24, 31, He
shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall be gathered together, His elect, from the four winds, from
one end of heaven unto the other, a day of gathering unto the Lord. Now, a couple more references.
Stay with me, I'm almost through here. I want you to see this.
Turn to the book of Philippians chapter 3. The day of the Lord, when He
comes, will be a day of comfort, joy, and glory, and blessing
to those who are gathered together in Christ. Philippians 3 verse
20. For our conversation, our citizenship
is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Believers
are predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now a couple more references
to this last point find 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13. I would not have you to be ignorant
brethren concerning them which are asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4
verse 13 that you sorrow not even as others which have no
hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who
rest in Him will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which
are asleep, those who have died in Christ. For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an
archangel, with the trump of God, there is no such thing as
a secret rapture. The Lord shall come with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, every eye shall see him, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall be raised up.
The dead in Christ, blessed are those who die in the Lord. Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. If you would look at every chapter
of these five chapters in 1 Thessalonians, in every chapter, the last verse,
or the second to the last verse in every chapter of this book,
it talks about the second coming of the Lord. For example, find
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, look at verse 23. The very God of
peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit,
soul, body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ." This book has a whole lot to say about the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't need to be ignorant
about these things. Now, what do believers desire
to see in the second coming They desire to see Him who is coming. Looking, looking for Him. Now, this is it. The last verse
in the last book. Turn there. The last verse in
the last book. Revelation 22, 20. Second to
the last verse. And He which testifieth these
things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. So be it. What do we say? Even so. Even so. Come. Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking for Him who is. Surely I come quickly. Even so. Come. Come. Amen. May God bless His word.