Sunday Sermon
sunday morning 1st Jan 2012
Lk 17v20-37
At New Year we always look forward. We make resolutions.
But what of the very end?
The bible has much to say about the end times. Jesus spoke a lot about the end.
The overall picture that the bible presents is that we are living in the end times now.
· The time between the Incarnation and the Return of the King is the end times.
God has established His Kingdom on earth now through the work of Jesus but there is still more to come, the fullness of Gods Kingdom Rule and the final defeat of evil is yet to come.
Jesus is on the Throne with all authority in heaven and on earth, but every tear is yet to be wiped away. We’ve had D-Day, V-Day is still to come, but is guaranteed.
So how are we to live in the End times?
1) first remember the now!
a) the kingdom is here now v20-21
In this passage the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come.
They believed in the Kingdom. They believed God reigned and they looked forward to the time when Gods rule would be established on earth.
But it was all too in the future!
App: The problem with looking only into the future is that we forget the present!
If we look only to the second coming we miss out on Jesus now!
That was the problem with the Pharisees! They missed out on Jesus.
b)He was the personification of the Kingdom in their midst v21.
He was amongst them, the kingdom was within their grasp.
That is the good news: Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near!
App
Now is the time to enter into eternal life with God.
You don’t need to wait until you die before you go to heaven!
This is the day of salvation. When is the kingdom coming? Now if you accept Jesus.
Our first priority this year should be to accept Jesus as our Lord.
Or to recommit to him as Lord over all of our lives.
2) then look forward to the end v22-32
a) V22 Jesus turns now to the disciples.
Days will come when they would long for the coming of the kingdom in all it fullness!
App
Longing for the coming of the kingdom in all its fullness is natural for the Lords followers.
Part of the Lord’s prayer is for Gods kingdom to come.
If we love the Lord we long to know him more fully.
The suffering and sin of this world make us long for the kingdom.
The world now only offers very little comfort!
b) V25 before the fullness of the Kingdom there will be suffering and rejection.
Jesus had to suffer and die, before Resurrection and Enthronement
App
The follower of Jesus on earth now is bound to suffer!
But as we suffer now for following Jesus now, Remember:
c) the end is coming:
Throughout church history there have been those who predicted the end date!
But so far they have all proved wrong! Jesus warned about this:
V23 people will talk about it and say it’s here or there!
Some people get caught up in all this, even in the early church people did: 2Thes2v2!
But when Jesus comes again everyone will see and know,
V24 so don’t worry that day will be like no other. Everyone will see it.
App: In other words the end is going to take care of itself!
· the end will not come through anything special we do.
Before that life goes on as normal!
Just like it was before the Flood (26-27), before Sodom and Gomorrah (28-29) so it will be the same on the Day (v30)!
d) but a warning: keep the faith, don’t look back.
when the end does come it will be too late to do anything about how you have lived.
V31- on that day it will be too late to make any changes
V32 Lot’s wife tried to turn back and was destroyed
App
The call in all this is to keep going!
As we look forward to the Coming, and even suffer as we follow Jesus, and then simply see everything go on as normal, we might be tempted to take the foot off the gas!
But surely giving up is no option! Jesus is coming don’t look back!
3) the End is coming, so what must we do?
a) give up your life now!
V33 gospel call – the good news: you’re going to die, if you try to keep your life you’re still going to die! But if you give up your life to Jesus you’ll live.
app
We always read these type of verses as bad news! But that is not the sense of them.
In actual fact the gospel offer, is the greatest bargain ever!
We have to face facts: this year may be the last for some of us, we don’t know.
We do know that we are not going to live forever, we will all die.
So Jesus is telling us how to escape death. By giving your life over to him now!
b) and that, again, before it is too late:
V34-37 there will be a division. – before the division!
Jesus is giving us an early warning here! There is no middle way.
You are either for Jesus or against him (Lk11v23)
c) V38. The disciples seem to be worried by this separation and want to know where!
They were literalists! Wanted to know where they people would be taken.
If you want to find a dead body look for the vultures!? What is Jesus doing here?
Is he saying stop asking foolish questions!?
Surely he is wanting to point them to the main thing: the need to come to him!
There is going to be a separation, the vultures are going to feast, but what about you!
Makes sure you are following Him.
App: Questions about the Final Day will no doubt always be asked.
But what about today? What about now? The end will come with or without our questions.
What about the Kingdom in our midst? What are you doing with the Lord Jesus now?
How are we going to live this year if it is not to be our last?
