LUKE LESSON 43
We will begin this lesson in Luke 17:20 "And when he was demanded
of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:" Luke
17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you."
The word kingdom is in the book of Luke 44 times. The kingdom that
Jesus is speaking of here is when we make Jesus, King and Lord of our
lives. A Christian carries Jesus in his heart. In that sense, the
kingdom of God is within every Christian.
Luke 17:22 "And he said unto the disciples, The days will come,
when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye
shall not see [it]."
Jesus is telling these disciples. I am with you now, but there
will come a time when I will not be with you. You will long to see me,
but I won't be there.
Luke 17:23 "And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go
not after [them], nor follow [them]."
In verse 22 above, we see that this message is to all followers
of Jesus for all time, because it said those who have disciplined
themselves to follow Jesus (the disciples). Throughout the ages every
Christian has longed to see Jesus. Verse 23 above is looking to our
time. Everyone is looking for Jesus. We must be careful not to look in
the wrong places. We are warned not to go looking for Jesus in any out
of the way places. We will see in the next verse where we will find
Him.
Luke 17:24 "For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one
[part] under heaven, shineth unto the other [part] under heaven; so
shall also the Son of man be in his day."
In the book of Acts the first chapter verses 9-11, Acts 1:9 "And
when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up;
and a cloud received him out of their sight." Acts 1:10 "And while
they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel;" Acts 1:11 "Which also said, Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven." You see, when Jesus returns to earth, it
won't be a secret. Every eye will see Him. We don't need to run around
looking for His appearing. We will know it when He comes.
Luke 17:25 "But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected
of this generation."
We see, here, that Jesus has jumped from His second coming to the
earth in verse 24, back to the time they were in. This suffering and
rejection would happen in Jerusalem just a few days from when Jesus
was telling the disciples this. He would be rejected by His own
people, the Hebrews. He would be whipped, spit upon, and then
crucified. With Jesus, as with the Father, a thousand years can be as
one day. Jesus foreknew all the things that would happen at
crucifixion and at His second coming. He tells of both here in reverse
order so His followers would not try to figure out the exact time.
Luke 17:26 "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also
in the days of the Son of man."
Now, again here, Jesus has jumped to telling them about how it
will be at His second coming to the earth. In Noah's day, people had
gotten so evil that God decided to destroy them. Our day is just as
bad as it was then. I believe that is one of the signs that Jesus is
coming soon.
Luke 17:27 "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they
were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
and the flood came, and destroyed them all."
There is a great deal of this teaching in our book on Genesis, so
we will not go into detail here. It is enough to know that God was fed
up with their evil and destroyed them because of it. Noah found favor
in the sight of God, and he and his family were saved. God favor in
the sight of God. and he and his family were saved. God will not
always overlook sin. There is time when punishment falls. Read II
Timothy 3. and you can see our people are in the last days right now.
Then the wrath of God will fall, as it did on these people in Noah's
day.
Luke 17:28 "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did
eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;"
Luke 17:29 "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire
and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all."
Sodom, where Lot lived, was a community where homosexuals and
lesbians lived. Their minds were perverted. Even married people, such
as Lot's daughters and their husbands, had no natural relations. The
men were homosexuals. Homosexuality is rampant in our land today. Do
we think we are better than Sodom? God will destroy this land, if we
do not have a national repentance from this terrible sin. The disease
AIDS which has swept through a number of countries, I believe, is a
warning from God to straighten up or else.
Luke 17:30 "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man
is revealed."
How much clearer can it be? The time is NOW! Jesus could be back
at any moment and be revealed as king of Kings and Lord of lords.
REPENT AND BE SAVED!!!
Luke 17:31 "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."
Just as Lot and his family were not to look back, we see we are
not to look back. When Jesus calls, just go with no hesitation.
Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife."
You remember, she looked back and turned to a pillar of salt.
Luke 17:33 "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it;
and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."
Our life is but a vapor on this earth, it soon passes. This earth
is not our home. We need not try to hang on to something so temporary.
Spend your life on earth working for God, not worrying about tomorrow.
Luke 17:34 "I tell you, in that night there shall be two [men] in
one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left."
I do not believe that this means two homosexuals, as many believe
today. When two men sleep in one bed, it does not necessarily mean
they are evil. This just means one of these men is a follower of Jesus
and the other is not. It is interesting to me that this Scripture says
in that night, as if the catching away is at night. I am not saying
that it will be. This could be symbolic of darkness or could actually
be at night. I won't say for sure.
Luke 17:35 "Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall
be taken, and the other left."
See, this straightens out the Scripture before. These 2 women are
working together. Again, it is just explaining that one is saved and
the other is lost. the lost one rejected Jesus as the Saviour.
Luke 17:36 "Two [men] shall be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left."
We see, here, an indication that it might be during daylight.
People don't work in the field at night, ordinarily. Another thought
is that daylight here is night on the other side of the world. Just
because two people work together does not mean they are both saved.
Luke 17:37 "And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And
he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [is], thither will the eagles
be gathered together."
I believe the body mentioned here is the body of Christ (the
Christians). Eagles are symbolic of God. We see, then, that wherever
the Christians are, is where these things mentioned above will happen,
and that it will be God's action, not Satan's. God will protect His
own.
Luke 43 Questions
1. Who demanded Jesus to tell them when the kingdom of God would
come?
2. Where did Jesus say the kingdom of God is?
3. How many times is the word kingdom used in Luke?
4. What kingdom is Jesus speaking of here?
5. What did Jesus tell the disciples they would desire to see and
could not?
6. What did Jesus say to do when someone tried to get you to go
somewhere to find Him?
7. Who are the disciples?
8. In verse 24. we realize the second coming of Christ will be seen
where?
9. In what book of the Bible do we read that Jesus will come back the
same way He went to heaven?
10. In verse 25 Jesus says before all that He had explained happened,
what had to happen?
11. In verse 26. whose days did Jesus compare the days of His second
coming with?
12. What similarity is there?
13. What other man's days did He compare to His second coming?
14. What sin was predominate in Luke?
15. What is the suggestion of the author to those who are not ready to
meet God?
16. When Jesus comes, what does verse 31 say we should do if we are on
the housetop?
17. What happened to Lot's wife when she looked back?
18. Whosoever shall seek to save his life ______ _______ _______.
19. What in verse 34 happens to the two men in the bed?
20. Does night in verse 34 mean Jesus will come at night?
21. What were the women doing when the second coming came?
22. What question did the disciples ask Jesus about the catching away?
23. What does the body symbolize?
24. What do eagles symbolize?
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