It's good to be together as well. I want to make one announcement or draw your attention to one of the announcements in our little bulletin and it is this. Next week we have a membership class.
The elders, we've been talking a lot the last while just about the nature of membership in our church and it really is a special place. Membership, I know, can be a confusing thing to many. What membership really is, is a declaration by people who come regularly and know and love the Lord that this is the local church that they want to be accountable to and to serve in. And it's a way, really, to verbalize, to indicate, to let people know that reality.
But it also is a real tool to the elders in the church. It allows us to know who are we accountable for? Who are we to be praying for? Who are we ultimately going to stand before our Lord and give an accounting of in terms of how we sought to give oversight and care for those individuals? And so, it's an important thing to us, and we really want to make sure that we treat membership as a helpful tool within the context of our church so that we can live out that charge well.
And so next week, That membership class is really an opportunity to explain to those who will come what our philosophy of church membership is here at Trinity, why we believe it's important and how it operates and the type of accountability and expectations that we have of members here at Trinity Bible Church and the care that we want to also exercise and be accountable to you for giving as elders at Trinity Bible Church also.
And so, in the past, people have maybe registered for a class and come and done the application forms and everything else. This is what I want to say. If you, you know, have maybe filled out an application form and need to go to a membership class and that was what you were planning to do anyway, brilliant, you should be there, okay? If, however, you've never been to one of these classes, you didn't even know we really had a thought about membership in the church, it just hasn't occurred to you, I want to invite you to that class also as an opportunity to hear why it's important
I know sometimes, depending on what church background you come from, or if you come from no church background, it all sounds a little either like a country club or a little bit like a cult. And so, I want to clarify that it's neither of those things. And I would love you to come and have an opportunity just to hear what we believe about membership. There's no obligation, there's no need to sign up for anything, there's no need to even continue through the membership process. This is an opportunity for you to come and just hear, what do we mean when we talk about these things? And what are our priorities at Trinity Bible Church?
And then afterwards, if you do want to continue through the process, and we want to encourage that for those who know and love the Lord and see this as their local church, we want to be able to facilitate you then moving through the process, but primarily next week is an opportunity just to hear the why, the why, and the expectations and all that would be involved.
So, I highlight that to you that if you haven't ever been able to come to one of the membership classes in the past. If maybe you're not even sure what membership is, please know you're warmly invited to that. It'll take place during the Sunday School Hour next week to try and facilitate the opportunity for as many as possible to be able to access that. Now, with that said, can I ask you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 17, and then to stand as we read God's Word together.
Luke chapter 17. And I want to begin reading at verse 20. So, Luke chapter 17 and verse 20.
[Scripture reading] "Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, look, here it is or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.' And he said to his disciples, 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. And they will say to you, look there, or look here. Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.
So, what will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed? On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night, there will be two in one bed, one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken, and the other left. And they said to him, where Lord? He said, He said to them, Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Heavenly Father, we love your word. We love the insight it provides. We love the instruction and encouragement and rebuke and correction that we find within its pages. But Lord, we pray and ask that the Spirit would move and work to make these things clear to us. We thank you that Jesus Christ will come again in great power and splendor. And we long for that return. But we pray and ask that the instruction in this particular passage would give us clarity. Clarity about what is to take place and clarity about our posture while we wait. So, Lord, help us, we pray. For it's in the name of Jesus Christ we ask it. Amen. [End]
Have a seat.
Well, many cultures across the world and through church history, but maybe, arguably, in particular, the American culture today seems obsessed with eschatological speculation. A date setting, many of us can remember times and situations where people claimed certain dates were the time when things would come to a close. Pat Robertson, in 1982, he predicted that the world would end that year, and it didn't. In 1975, the Jehovah Witnesses, they proclaimed that that could be the year that all things would draw to an end. And it didn't. Many Christians today find themselves giddy and excited every time something happens in the news. They talk about the establishment of Israel in 1948, the potential rebuilding that might be taking place in secret of a third temple in Jerusalem, technological changes like artificial intelligence and global surveillance and digital currencies, all associated in different people's conversations with potential marks of the beast. Every time there's an earthquake, famine, extreme weather, it's all thought of as the beginnings of the end. One world government, rumors about the UN, the EU, the world economic form, all of these things cause people lots to talk about within Christian circles.
There's been so many people who throughout history have been dubbed the Antichrist. In the early church, they thought it was Nero. Many others have talked about Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin. All of these different characters have been pointed to as potentials. Great recessions and wars, economic collapse, conflicts around the world. Every time Russia buys a helicopter, rumors start to circulate that the times are happening. It's all upon us. So many, it seems, just comb the newspapers or comb the online news sites looking for things that could be the start of the end.
Speculation about the last days is not a modern thing. It's no new thing. Rather, it's something that occupied many, even in the days of Jesus Christ. And in this passage, we come to this morning, he addresses the folly and also the importance around this issue of how you think about the end, how you understand what is to come. And before we even get to it, let me say that this tendency to get drawn into speculative commentary about the end times is a plague especially in Bible churches, in Bible churches. So, we need to take heed and hear what the Lord says, especially, look at verse 20.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
The first thing I want us to notice in the text this morning is how Pharisees think about the last days. How Pharisees think about the last days. This particular group, I want you to notice the particular group that Jesus is speaking about, the audience that is asking the question that forces His response, according to verse 20, are the Pharisees. The Pharisees. You know, they are a group of religious people. They identified themselves as moral. They identified themselves, we could say, as churchgoers, as the involved, as the ones who were committed to studying and knowing and memorizing and living out, as they understood it, the Scriptures.
And I want you to see as they contemplated the last days, first of all, their obsession with this topic. Their obsession with this topic. Verse 20 begins with the Pharisees saying, when the kingdom of God will come. They're asking when. They have a huge question, and it's a question about timing. They want to know when the kingdom of God would come. And the reason is because as they understood it, it hadn't come yet. They, through their studies, their understandings, their discussions of Scripture, like many in the days of Jesus, were expecting a time when a political kingdom would be established there in Jerusalem. And at that moment, they looked around and, well, Pilate was still the governor of Judea. And they themselves were still occupied by the pagan Romans. They still had to pay taxes to Caesar. And because their expectation, based on their understanding of the Old Testament, was that the Messiah would come and establish a kingdom that would turn the political fortunes of Israel upside down so that they would be on the top and the Gentile nations would be their footstool, They asked a very simple question, when will this be? They were obsessed with what was to come, all the events, all the happenings that would lead to this established kingdom.
I want you as well to notice their oversight. There was something, Jesus says, that they missed. Look at verse 20, how Jesus responds. He answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, look, here it is, or there.
Very simply, Jesus answers their question about when by saying, it's not coming in ways that you can see it, ways, verse 20, that can be observed, that this isn't going to be something you get from the news. This isn't going to be something that comes with a signpost. In verse 21, you won't be able to say, look here, or look there, that's not how this will operate.
And right away we see a warning in Scripture that I think is so applicable to many of us, that there is a danger that comes to religious people as they get obsessed with end-time speculation. When someone says to you, oh, just watch what's happening in the Middle East at the moment, or they start talking about vaccines or digital currencies with a sense of giddiness, a red flag should immediately go up in your mind. You should be immediately cautious.
And it is so easy. Church history is littered with example after example after example of the church community getting pulled into speculative ideas about eschatology, and it ruins and robs our focus. And we'll see more of that caution that's needed as we continue through the passage. But recognize the danger. Recognize the danger. The danger of end-time speculation.
The Pharisees show us why that speculation can be so dangerous, because in their oversight, there was also a great omission. A great omission. Jesus says, doesn't He, in verse 21, for behold. He's gonna tell us what's at risk here. He's gonna tell us what they are missing here. And what does he say? For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. The "is" there is emphatic. He says, in effect, for behold, the kingdom of God is presently in the midst of you.
Now, their mind's sitting on the end, and he says, no, friends, you're missing relevance here and now. And what had they missed about the kingdom of God? Well, is it not obvious? The king was standing in front of them. They were talking all the time about their hope in the kingdom of God that would be, so much so it had caused them to miss the fact that the kingdom was standing in front of them. Jesus isn't saying, look, the kingdom of God is something spiritual that exists within you, because remember who He's talking to. These are Pharisees. They're not believers. There's no kingdom of God in them. He's not even appealing to them with the gospel, like, if you just come. Now, he will appeal to the Pharisees in many other places. In fact, we saw that a few weeks ago whenever we looked at the parable of the prodigal son, that older brother. It is a wonderful appeal that Jesus gives to the Pharisees to respond and to come. But that's not what we have here. What he is declaring is very simply, the kingdom of God has started because the king is here. And he has come to establish his kingdom. And very explicitly, verse 20, he says, it is not observable. There's nothing dramatic about this. It's akin to Luke 13. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that will slowly grow into something significant, or like the leaven in the dough that causes the bread to rise. It's not dramatic. There's a subtlety to it, but it's real. It started. It's growing.
That there is, in the kingdom of God, in the work of Christ in this world, an already component. That's what he's saying. You're looking for what is coming, but friends, it is present. It's here. The kingdom of God is something that has already begun. It's already growing. It's already taking shape. Because the king that the Old Testament longed for has come already has walked this world, has accomplished his great victorious fight at one level.
And so, you see here the disastrous omission, ultimately, of the Pharisees was though they talked so much about the kingdom, they missed the king. It's so possible, it's a real thing to be so obsessed with the last things that you miss the main thing. That's the warning that Jesus is issuing here. The Pharisees had rigor, but in all the wrong areas. And the problem with it wasn't just that it was misguided. It wasn't just a waste of time. It was a deadly mistake. Their obsession with eschatology it caused them to miss the very Messiah in whom salvation was to be found.
Jesus has proclaimed already, the already, that He has already come. But then what happens in the rest of the chapter as He addresses not the Pharisees but the disciples, He begins to unfold the not yet. There is an already and there is a not yet. There is more still to come in this wonderful story of God, this wonderful story of the kingdom.
So, the second, and really this will take up the rest of our time this morning, the second big thing I want you to see in the text is how disciples then are to think about the last times. We've been warned how Pharisees think, now I want you to notice how disciples are to think about the last days. Notice what we've already just said, the change in audience in verse 22. It begins, and he said to the disciple, or to his disciples. And so, what follows from that point forward all the way through the end of the chapter is advice. Jesus is talking to those who are following Him, those who've made a commitment to Him. those who are His disciples, and to them He speaks about how what will take place should affect them in the here and now
And so, how are disciples to think about the last days? Well, first of all, He says, don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. Look at verse 22. And He said to the disciples, 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. And they will say to you, look there, look here, do not go out or follow them. Jesus anticipates a time in the future, an immediate future for His disciples where they will be consumed with a desire, with a longing, with a deep yearning within for the days of the Son of Man. They'll be filled with this desire for that time when Christ will establish his earthly reign. when he will come and he will sit upon that throne in Jerusalem, and he will rule over his people, he will protect his people, he will deal with the enemies of his people, he will establish a rule of justice and righteousness and perfection here on earth. And Jesus says that there will come a time, disciples, when you will long so deeply in your bones. for that, for the days of the Son of Man, the days when He will reign. And because of that longing, there will be some false teachers, opportunists, who will sweep in to prey upon that desire while it burns within.
Now notice here why the disciples are susceptible to this particular false teaching. Why they're susceptible to this type of influence in such a degree that Jesus explicitly warns them about it. It's because they're filled with a desire for that coming earthly reign. And they're filled with that desire, I think, contextually, as we look through the rest of the chapter, because this present stage is full of hardship. Difficulty and suffering. Verse 25 speaks about the fact that the Lord who sets the example, He will suffer many things. Verses 26 to 29 will speak about the days of Noah, the days of Lot, that fosters images of the righteous being few in number, experiencing hardship, being surrounded by wickedness. In fact, you think of Lot, the hands of wicked men seeking to grab a hold and to have their way with him, the oppression that they face. Verse 33 talks about the need to lose one's present life. In other words, that there is something uncomfortable about the here and now, something hard, something sacrificial that is called for in the here and now.
And so, the idea is that there will be disciples, followers of Jesus, difficulties that come in your life that will fill your soul with a deep desire. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Maybe you can relate to that feeling.
But Jesus always goes further. And so, he says, in the present world, where Christians will stand out, where they will attract scorn, where they will even attract persecution, it is natural to long for the coming of the Lord, but in that natural longing, you are susceptible to deception. Look how the opportunists come in to see verse 23. And they will say to you, oh, look there, or look here. They prey upon that longing within. It's amazing, it doesn't matter how quirky, how crazy, how many decades it's been since you brushed your hair, but you can in America gather a following around you simply by saying you know when He's coming. Why is that? Well, it's because people haven't heeded the warning of Jesus here.
Christian, don't get pulled into the influence of those fraudsters. Look, it is not wrong to desire the coming of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus, come! But it is wrong to be deceived concerning it. And the reason you don't need to be deceived, the reason you shouldn't be deceived is because of what the Word itself says. Look at verse 24. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."
Jesus really, in each verse, gives us a reason why you should not get deceived by these fraudsters, by these opportunists. In verse 24, he says, Look, Christ is coming and it's going to be so obvious. Like, could you imagine lightning that goes east to west? The whole sky, one pshh of lightning. And the idea is everybody sees it. Everybody knows. Nobody misses it. Everybody will be stopped in their tracks. This is not subtle. So you will not be left wondering Did that happen or not? I wonder if Jesus came back and I missed it. That's not a question believers will ever have to ask because he says, verse 24, as bold and clear as lightning that traverses the whole sky, so clear to the believer, to the disciple, will the coming of our Lord be. You're not going to miss it.
And then also, why you shouldn't be deceived as you suffer and struggle here and now while longing remains unsatisfied? Well, verse 25 says, the hardships that we face in this life follow the pattern of our Lord. We're told in verse 25, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Now, this is the fifth of six passion, the crosswork predictions that Jesus gives that appear in Luke's gospel, and I think it falls in this context. It seems a little unusual at first, but it falls in this context because Jesus is saying to His disciples, look, this is what's happening to me. I'm going to suffer before I receive my glory. And the idea is, so you shouldn't be surprised that this life will be hard before your glory.
Look, if he had to be obedient to death, even death on a cross, and then he was exalted, Christian, you're going to have to be obedient. And it's going to be hard. It may even involve death in a horrific way. But then there will be glory, then there will be exaltation. He's saying, look, this is the pattern. It's not an easy pattern, but it is a pattern for what is yet to be.
He says, look, don't speculate about the end. Rather, his great call is to endure to the end. That's what he wants. Don't get caught up in trying to observe this or that or whatever. Rather, be faithful. That's what he's saying. Endure. Press on.
So, you see the point so far? The end won't come according to some human calculation, some code-breaking, some observation. It's going to be something clear that's visible to all. Nobody is going to miss it. And as you think about that, he's telling us Christians, this life will be marked by difficulty. It will be hard. And because of that, you need to be on your guard. Because those very difficulties can make you vulnerable, more receptive to dangerous people who want your money, who want to influence you, who want to have power over you, so don't buy into their schemes.
When it comes to how disciples should think about the last days, don't be deceived. And then secondly, don't lose hope. Don't lose hope. Look at verse 26,
"'Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. And the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So, it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Jesus immediately gives his followers, his disciples, two illustrations from the Old Testament that show how Jesus treats his followers as judgment unfolds. He picks Noah, and he picks Lot. Two individuals, you may have questions about Lot, but the New Testament describes him as a righteous man. So, at minimum, he is one who found favor in the eyes of God, who was, though he sinned frequently, a follower of God, who had a relationship with God. And they both lived in terrible times. Noah's situation, it's described in Genesis chapter 6 verses 1 to 8, and we're told about that time period that the population general, every inclination of their heart was evil always. That's not good. And then you know a Lot. He finds himself living in Sodom. And even today, Sodom and Gomorrah are a kind of nickname that we give to the worst and most sinful places. We're the most grotesque, activity is taking place, the greatest departure from the patterns laid down in the Word of God, and he's there, and it's a mess, and both these situations call out for the judgment to come from a righteous God.
The verbs in verse 27 and 28, they depict continual action. In the run-up to that judgment, it's saying that people were always eating, always drinking, always being married, always buying, always selling, always planting, building continually. But then, verse 27, God destroyed them all. Verse 29, God destroyed them all. It's a picture, isn't it, of God stepping in, of their normal routines being broken by the devastating judgment that came.
And yet notice in the two examples, it's not the sin of the people. He could talk much about the sin in the days of Noah. He could talk much about the sin in Sodom, but he doesn't. That's what we think, but that's not what the text stresses, is it? Rather, what are these people doing? They're eating, drinking, buying, selling. Now, this week may have been different with the ice storm. But the week before, I could ask for a show of hands. I won't because we're conservative and that scares us. How many of you ate? How many of you drank? How many of you bought something or sold something? It's not unusual behaviors, is it? It's normal things. It's daily secular activity. It's just the normal affairs of life that are being spoken of here.
And also remember, who is he talking to? He's talking to good, his disciples. So, I don't want you to look at the stories that Jesus is illustrating here and just think, oh, Sodom got it. Oh, those wicked in the days of Noah, got it. He's talking to his disciples and he's saying something to them. And I think our picture, our idea of what they're hearing is sometimes a little bit off because what he's highlighting to them is not about the wicked. He hasn't even told us they are wicked in this context. We know that from the rest of Scripture. What he is saying here is that before judgment came, verse 27, Noah entered the ark. Verse 29, Lot went out from Sodom. In other words, the big emphasis here is not judgment but deliverance for the righteous.
Now, that doesn't dismiss the fact that Sodom got judged, people in the days of Noah got judged. They did for their sin, absolutely. But He's talking to His disciples, and He's saying that though the world deserves judgment, and it does, He never fails to deliver the righteous. He never is slow to save His own. That's how God works. We need to understand that there is judgment coming to this world, but no disciples, there is no collateral damage in that judgment. If you are safe in Christ, you are safe in Christ. That's the point in the passage. While the end does bring judgment to the wicked, it marks salvation. It is the clearest expression of salvation to those who belong to God.
Really, for those of you who are curious and here without trust in Jesus Christ, this is the distinction. Judgment will come. You cannot escape the judgment of God. But there is salvation to those who are found in Jesus Christ. Those who acknowledge their sin, who repent of it, and put their hope in the finished work of Jesus Christ, there is always salvation. There is no collateral damage that hits the people of God. So don't lose hope.
When it comes to how disciples should think about the last days, don't be deceived, don't lose hope, and don't get too attached. Don't get too attached. In particular, it's don't get too attached to the things of this world. The things of this world.
Look at verse 31. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Jesus, again, is still talking to his disciples. In verse 31, he is still talking about that day, that day when judgment comes. And here he warns about a great temptation that can grow in the heart of the religious, of those who claim to be His disciples. He warns about a great temptation to look back to be drawn to some of the things of the here and now, to want to go back and grab something.
He has these two great illustrations, one of an individual on the rooftop. Don't think of a roofer coming in and fixing your tiles after the ice storm. In those days, the rooftop was the social area of the house. A warm, hot climate. It was the place that people reclined, where they had dinner, where they mixed, where they talked, where they enjoyed. The home itself, the inside of the house, was dark. It was for sleeping. The upstairs, the rooftop, was where you spent your time with your guests, where you talked, where you mixed, where you lived.
And so, he talks about somebody who is there, and Jesus comes back, and oh, they're almost ready to go, but they want, I don't know, the photo album. They want that, you know, special brooch. They want that trinket attached to whatever. And the idea is that they run in to get it. Or in the second illustration, there's somebody out in the field and they've been working hard and then the Lord comes and they think, oh dear, I've got to go get changed. And they run home to maybe get dressed or to grab something that they want.
And Jesus is saying that's the wrong response. That there should not be something that we need in the here and now. There cannot be a love that sits in the heart that supersedes the glorious reality. Our Lord and Savior is returning. If something else demands our attention first, something's wrong. That's what he's saying. Something's off.
And then he underlines that danger with one of the most graphic illustrations in Scripture, verse 32. Remember Lot's wife. Do you remember that story? The angels come two angels into Sodom. They warn Lot and the family. And in fact, even as they hesitate, they grab their wrists and they drag them out of the city. They drag them to salvation. But in the heart of Lot's wife is such piercing longing that as she's moving towards salvation, she looks back herself and becomes that pillar of salt. She was so close, and yet because of the cares of this world, because of the life that she was losing in Sodom, her longing caused judgment to fall on her head even as she walked towards salvation.
What's he saying? Well, it's that point that so often Jesus has to make in the Scripture, because so often we don't get it. Do you remember this? The seed, the good seed that's sown on the soil, and there is that seed that falls on certain soil, and it grows, and it looks like it's producing real life. It looks like it's about to produce fruit, and the thorns come up and choke it. And it dies, and it never becomes fruit-bearing plants. Why? Well, Jesus tells his disciples, the thorns are the cares of this world, and they choke out all potential of genuine growth.
Remember that other great New Testament illustration? Paul writes about one of his band of missionaries serving with him, enduring persecution beside him, Demas. And he's right there in the work doing it, serving, being entrusted with great responsibility. And in one of the later letters Paul writes, he proclaims, Demas has left me. Because he loved the things of this world.
Friends, this is a danger Jesus is warning us about. You can be drawn to Christ at one level, not in a truly salvific way, but in an interest. You can want to know these things well. You can step deeply into these things. You can want to know the Scriptures. You can love ideas about theology. You can begin to even show signs of what others will perceive as genuine life. And yet, the love of the things of this world chokes it out.
Again, remember the verbs that we already saw in verses 27 and 29. We're not talking about gross sinful practice here. We're talking about that potential to be saved truly by God, being choked out because you love eating too much. You're too devoted in that sense, if you can say it this way, to your spouse, to work. Again, those adjectives, eating all the time, marriage all the time, buying, selling all the time. The idea is, single ladies, that you would have an interest in the things of God, but it gets crushed by a longing for a spouse that becomes all-consuming in your mind. Or men, some of you will become so consumed with longing for the success in work, the promotion that would come, that even though now you are, you would say, genuinely interested in the things of God, it gets choked out because of that obsession with the things of work. Or even just your next holiday, your next vacation, eating and drinking. You know all the restaurants in Dallas, and you know them too well.
There's nothing wrong with eating a good meal and enjoying time with family. Marriage is a glorious gift from the Lord. And at the same time, the warning here is that these things supersede the priority of Christ and being with Him. Jesus is warning His disciples of that great danger.
Look at verse 33 as He sums it up. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. Look, if you're trying to hold on tightly to the here and now, you're going to lose everything. You cannot have an attachment over and above that devotion to Jesus Christ our King.
The Curry's, we've been really thankful in the kindness and goodness of the eldership as they planned for us to arrive. They organized this beautiful home for us to be in, and work was done to try and get it ready. It was so kind and so thoughtful and genuinely we are, I want you to know this, so thankful for that provision. That's been wonderful and such a help to our family.
But here's my point. I thought the other day about, you know how sometimes people put those signs up, you know, home sweet home? I would love to get a sign, but I'm worried it would be misunderstood that I put up on the front of the door that says, this is not my home. Now, I don't want you to get, I'm very thankful for this home. But this is not my home. And actually, because it is so comfortable and nice, it would be easy for that obsession with it to be cultivated in the heart. And that's exactly what he's warning about. The normal, ordinary graces, common graces of life could become things that choke out our affection, first and foremost, for Christ.
When it comes to how disciples should think about the last days, don't be deceived. Don't lose hope. Don't get attached. And lastly, don't be worried. And especially don't be worried about where you'll go. Look at verse 34. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. And Jesus reminds us that when that day of judgment comes, there will be separation. There will be distinction. His people, His disciples, His followers will be treated differently. They will be taken. Two in the bed, one taken, the other left. Two out working, they're grinding, one will be taken, the other left. It's a reminder in those two examples, it doesn't matter where you live, it doesn't matter what work you do, that's not where the distinction comes from. The distinction comes from the fact, are you a disciple of Jesus or not? That's what makes the distinction. That's what separates these individuals, not where they live. They could be in the same bed, and one is taken and the other not. They could be in the same workplace, one is taken, the other not.
We're being told here, when it comes to that final moment, you don't get to jump up and say yes. You don't get to volunteer. There's no magic word you get to say. Jesus simply takes his followers. This is a passive verb. He does it. He's the one taking. Not you. You don't opt in. He takes. And then we read verse 37. And they said to him, Where Lord? He said to them, Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
You're gonna have to work with me really hard, and I know we're tired, you're hungry, but you gotta stay with me in this bit. This is one of the most confusing verses in Scripture. It's hard to translate, and it's hard to interpret. One commentator I looked at this week, he listed 20 different options. 20! That's not normal, that's excessive. But what helps, I think, to see what I believe is the right interpretation is the whole flow of argument to this point. That's why I wanted to do this section as one, because I think the contextual argument's flow makes clear the best sense of this verse. So, look at it with me. And they said to him, who are they? Say it again. Yes, good. His disciples. So he's talking to his followers. Not the Pharisees, his followers. And what is their question? Where, Lord? Not when, that was the question of the Pharisees. Their question is where. That's a weird question, isn't it? We don't ask where very often. But think of what we just read in verse thirty-four and thirty-five. Two in the bed, one will be taken. Two milling, one will be taken. What's the obvious question? Where are they taken? Do you see that? That's important if we're going to understand this verse. Where are they taken? And he says, where the corpse is there the vultures will gather.
Now, this is where we have to do some hard work again. Where the corpses, now, my Bible has a little number beside corpse, and it puts a wee footnote. Yours may do that, may not. But it says in the footnote, Greek body. In other words, that's what the word means. It doesn't mean distinctively a corpse. It's not saying a dead body, it's just saying a body, like this vessel. The thing, the physical entity of your body. Could be alive, could be dead, you know, it's your body. That's all its saying. It's not making a pronouncement about how much life is left in it. It's just saying this thing, this physical entity that is you, your body.
And it's an important term in Luke's gospel, because most often it's going to be used to describe Jesus' body, this is my body, broken for you. They come to the tomb to perceive where the body had been taken. When He appears to the disciples and to the men on the road to Emmaus, He presents His body. He eats and drinks with them in His body. The body is very, very important in Luke's gospel, and it will be very important throughout the early church because our resurrected Lord is not a ghost. He eats, He drinks, He mixes because He has a body. We have an incarnate Savior. Jesus is still body and soul. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and He is flesh.
And so, where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Now, again, that word vultures is tricky, too, because it doesn't specifically say vultures. There's actually another Greek word, technical word, for that particular bird, the vulture. Well, the word that's used here is just eagle or big bird. Okay, big bird. And, you know, somebody who did zoology may object to this, but the days of Jesus, they didn't have a different classification for a vulture and an eagle. They were all big birds. They were all one. Those big birds of prey. That's what the word is that's here. And really, eagle, I think, is a more fair translation. And I think it's important because the idea is not a picture of death. The reason vulture was chosen because in many versions’ corpse was chosen, and so they just tied the two together because we think of death, we get vulture. But actually, if the word is allowed to be what it is, just eagle, that fits in with so much imagery in the Bible of the righteous being carried along by the things of God.
Exodus chapter 19, verse 4, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Christ said, 40 verse 31, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
So, we've done a lot of detective work. Let's come back to the verse. What is it saying? The disciples ask him, because they're wondering where are these people taken? Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, speaking of His body, there the eagles will gather, there they will bring the people. What is He saying? He's saying, look, when that judgment comes, all of those who are in Christ will be snatched up, taken. And where will they be taken? To Him. You don't need to worry. Disciples, you're not going to an unknown place. You're not going to somewhere where you need to panic, where there's a great test or an exam for you to take, a great scales for you to be weighed upon. You're gonna be with Him, your Savior. You're gonna be taken to the incarnate Jesus Christ, gathered to Him.
You know, all of this together is making a very simple point. The end times is not about a chart. It's about going to be with Him, with our King, and with our Savior. And because of that, you don't need to worry, because they will all be taken. No man left behind. They'll all be taken to be with him. I remember Pastor John MacArthur sharing a story with me about a prank he and his friends played in college. You often hear stories about John MacArthur playing a prank. He went to a college that was a Christian college, but a Christian college that was particularly obsessed with the end times. And there was one boy on the floor that the group of young men lived on that was particularly nervous that the rapture would take place and he would be left behind. And so, they made a great plan and they kind of like ruffled their bedclothes and they kind of set shoes awkwardly as if they were walking down the corridor and all these things. And then all the boys went out at the same time when the other one was asleep, and they set off the fire alarm. So, the boy got up and he came running out and all of a sudden everything was not where it should be. And he thought, they've all gone and I've been left behind.
Now, what's my point, if we come back to the text? Nobody gets left behind. Jesus is saying all of this to the disciples, so they don't worry. Here in Christ, you will not get left behind. You may not be able to draw the chart or answer the questions about every aspect of eschatology. It doesn't matter. You're not going to get left behind. That's the point. And even better, not only are you not going to get left behind, but you know the one you're going to. You're going to be gathered to Jesus, to the body, to Him. We're going to be with Him.
So don't fall into that trap that catches so many members of Bible churches. Don't get caught in that trap of obsessing over end-time speculation. And at the same time, don't worry either. Our King, our Jesus, is in full control, and you can trust Him. You can trust Him to take care of you now, and you can trust Him to take care of you in the end also.
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Our heavenly Father, we thank You so much for the full, sovereign control of You, the Almighty. We thank You that King Jesus will come back, and He will gather His people to be with Him And in the meantime, Lord, we ask that You would help us to remain faithful, to suffer if You call us to suffer, to be persistent in our proclamation of the gospel, to continue to pursue a life of godliness wholly and pleasing unto You, so that in the end we would be found faithful. And may, Lord, our confidence sit in the fact that He is coming, and He will do all that He has said He will do, and He will not leave His people behind. for all His ways are perfect. Lord, help us not to get caught in that dangerous speculation that would remove our focus from Jesus Christ, and help us neither to become a people of despair. Fill us with great hope because of the greatness of our Savior now and forevermore. For it's in His name we pray, amen. [End]
