Well, I invite you to turn this morning to Luke chapter 17, I think it was maybe three or four years ago. We looked at the first part of this pretty heavily and looking at the kingdom aspect of this. I'm focusing on the second half of this passage today, thinking about the second coming of our Lord and I think that's appropriate as we conclude 2023 and anticipate a new year and Luke chapter 17 helps us with that direct as it is it's such a wonderful passage to keep us in proper priorities as we begin a new year so I'm going to be looking at verse 20 to the end of the chapter and we'll give our attention to the reading of God's word found on page 1042 beginning at verse 20 this is the word of the lord 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 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 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 planning 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 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 to them where the corpse is there the vultures will gather may the lord bless today the hearing of his word the year of our lord 2024 that's um quite a remarkable thing uh to say that little phrase has been used throughout history to mean that the year that we have reached these years that we have reached since the the conception and the birth of our lord and savior jesus christ that's how people at least used to look at history and think about history and use it reverently in that way the year of our lord well here we are 2024 what a remarkable thing to be able to say today the year of our lord 2024 to beginning think about it tomorrow i don't believe there's any more pressing and important subject to close out 2023 than to consider how Jesus instructed people to think about his second coming. It's such an important theme in the scriptures and something that he gives a lot of attention to. We just spent weeks celebrating the birth of Christ and that was comfortable for us. I think we give a lot of attention to the birth of Christ It's a comfortable message, but I wonder how much we miss the real important details that surround the coming, the first advent of our Lord. It's remarkably how similar it is to the second coming when you study the parallels there. There were only a few watching and looking. You think of Simeon and think of Anna who were in the temple watching constantly for the lord's coming a few shepherds out in the field a few wise men are recorded for us but the masses and all jerusalem were troubled at the the news of christ's birth which challenges us to think about who was watching who was thinking who was ready for the first advent and who will be ready for the second advent that's an important message for us right at the beginning of jesus the arrival of his kingdom kingdom the gospels are pressing us to urgency on this question the gospels are pressing us to response on this particular issue. To enter the kingdom today and to be ready is the central theme that is found all over the Gospels and all over the New Testament. And unfortunately, we don't give enough attention to that. And that's why I thought it would be helpful today to begin, as we think about it, beginning a new year and with all of the resolutions that are made and all the plans that we have to have priorities set correctly and that's what this really message is designed for today to have us think about priorities about listening to jesus listening to jesus speak to us listening to what jesus is concerned about i think when it comes to this particular subject on the second coming we tend to feel like in these discourses and in these discussions that we get a hard jesus a combative jesus a scary jesus when it comes to this as if the intention is to scare us all to death to enter the kingdom and that can't be right that's certainly not the intention of our lord when we look carefully at this i think if we could this is one of these these moments i think if we could actually listen to the voice of our lord what we would get is not anger what we would get is not yelling wake up we would get a pleading voice a pleading voice from our lord if we could hear that voice i think you would hear are you listening to me are you hearing what the scriptures are saying you're hearing what i'm saying to you Are you awake? Because I have something really important to tell you. This is a great burden that I have to tell you. If your son or your daughter were playing near the edge of Niagara Falls, what would you do? Nothing? Would you say nothing? That wouldn't be parenting. Well, Jesus is saying, I'm concerned that people are playing near the edge. I'm concerned that too many in the kingdom are playing near the edge. And they're not listening to me. I'm concerned that many of you are not watching. And that many are not taking serious the fact that there is a sudden, That there is an unexpected, that there is a cataclysmic second coming that is about to happen. And I'm calling you today, I think he would say, fix your eyes on me in 2024. Focus on me in 2024. You want a resolution. Draw nearby faith to me in 2024. Because I have an important lesson to talk about. and so he's telling us these things and he's providing history for us so that we don't do the same thing that some did and the goal of this in our lord is to say i want you to live secure i want you to live think about the glorious statement in john i mean i asked the question are we ready a few weeks ago um the glorious statement in john i want you to have boldness when I come again I want you to be watching I want you to be ready I don't want this day to overtake anyone as a thief I want you to have assurance and I want you to have boldness to stand see that's the intention of this which means that this has this is very much the will of the Lord for his people and so today I want to consider the question that Jesus is asked here that draws all of this out to show how distracted we can become in our present age and consider Jesus's response to this and the caution he gives to wake us up to live by faith and I think that's a good look at the end of 23 and 24 today the entire teaching of Christ's return here is prompted by a question of the pharisees that question comes in verse 20 we read that jesus was asked by the pharisees when will the kingdom of god come now the sense of that is not a nice question an easy question this is an accosting this is an interrogation in the original that word is very clear they are interrogating him they are agitated with jesus they are frustrated with jesus all these claims that he is the messiah and this is the kind of kingdom we get you got to be kidding it was a big issue you know on this point numerous times in the gospels they they attempted to come and they try to force him to make him king they wanted that kingdom to come in with so much power right now they were not patient and they were agitated at the progress if this is indeed the Messiah. This can't be it. Where is this powerful kingdom that God promised all over the scriptures that you should be bringing in if you're the Messiah? That's the intention in this. With so little power and so much trouble and so much of Rome dominance, you haven't done anything to address our oppression of Israel. Well, I guess that's the big question at the moment you know for us where is the kingdom of god where is the kingdom of god in the midst of all of this think of the hard realities that we face think of the difficulties that we're going through and some have tried to live and they've turned their whole ministries to try to address this and say well if that's the case we've got to bring it in collapse of christendom is a mess right now the culture is a mess it's time to focus on that and for the jews this is exactly what they expected of Jesus. Where is your glorious kingdom? Jesus is, as always, fascinating when he receives a costing question. Sometimes he wouldn't answer when he knew the intention behind it, but this time he clearly took the moment to correct, especially with his people and his disciples, and that's why this is so important. And so Jesus answers the question, and he says the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. What an important answer. Nor will they say, look, here it is. Or look, there it is. For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Your expectations of the kingdom are all wrong. your expectations of what i have brought are all wrong you think it's going to unfold outwardly you think it's going to come by retaking power structures you think it's going to come by coercion you think it's going to come in that kind of way to break the power structures of the world that will come in its time jesus would say but you're looking to observe some kind of outward demonstration of my kingdom and if you're living now this is an important for what he's about to do. If you're living that way, if you're living in ultimate frustration with everything in that kind of way, you will be disappointed in my kingdom. You will be disappointed with my kingdom. Always. You'll always be frustrated. You'll always be disappointed. You'll always be questioning. So you see how important this little issue is. This is not to say the kingdom doesn't come with power. Oh, the kingdom comes with power. But it comes with power to those who see. When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven breaking into this world, he constantly would say, especially with the parables, blessed are your eyes, for they see. You see it. Simeon saw it. Simeon saw it. You know where he saw it? In a manger. Simeon saw it in the little child that nobody noticed. No one's going to say, there's the king. Here he is. The world will not do that. Even from his birth, only those who were given eyes to see could see the kingdom and its arrival with Jesus. and jesus says that's what you've missed i'm here i'm here here was christ standing there in power think about it the son of man veiled in that humanity and here are here begins the building of that kingdom and that building project doesn't look real glorious their 12 bumbling disciples but who saw it notice what jesus says the kingdom doesn't come this way but it's here most people are deceived about the kingdom of god in the church today it's one of the most confusing concepts for people in fact jesus is openly going to say when it comes in fullness when it comes in all of its fullness suddenly then it will be seen then it will be seen now i think at jesus's point he knows what's behind the question and that's why it's so important to study jesus on this point the question of the pharisees was a worldly one the pursuit behind the question that really why they were asking it was because they were interested in using jesus for the political agenda of the world he knew that he was being exploited this way he knew that he was being exploited for these sordid ends and jesus follows this up with a giant concern the concern now is aimed to help the disciples the concern is to aim to help you because there's a giant shift in the text and he takes the disciples you'll notice the shift there off to the side and it becomes a great teaching moment for jesus and the disciples because they have to understand something they have to understand something important jesus said to his disciples clearly here look notice the next verse 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 now this is a really fascinating moment if you were to compare um luke with matthew and the all of it discourse it's at this point that jesus will say many are going to come and say i'm the christ and they're going to deceive many jesus pinpoints individuals in the all of it discourse but here he doesn't reference individuals he does something surprising here he references what individuals have built what they have accomplished in this world and he may have been thinking of herod so jesus says people will say to you look here or look there some will build great things along the way and many will be confused that that is the kingdom of god there are those outwardly who are going to create powerful things and glorious things and jesus must have been thinking in the future of rome and saint peter's look at that building look at the magnificence of these things think of those who've tried to localize the kingdom of god in one space in time with something outward it's always happened in history and that's going to confuse people throughout history it's going to confuse people throughout history some have even thought that the united states in all of its glory is the kingdom of god and look at all the attention that's been given look at all the energy look at all the time and when things get really hard in this life and we begin to suffer and we face opposition and we face difficulty we begin jesus says to desperately want proof that there is a kingdom that's powerful but jesus turns all this on its head in a surprising way when the kingdom of god comes he says in all of its fullness no one's going to miss it jesus is not talking here about ad 70 he says plainly for his lightning flashes out of part of the heavens and shines to the other part so it will be in the son of man's day that's the day of glory that's the day of the second coming jesus wants people to understand the kingdom and that the kingdom is advanced he says right now by the suffering under a cross i have to be rejected first i have to die and that will be the path of my followers throughout history until this kingdom comes in all of its glory it's a theology of the cross that we have at the time you see when it comes though this is this is where it turns here when it comes jesus says it's going to come suddenly and it's going to come unexpectedly and it's going to come in great brightness and it's going to come with great power and the whole heavens are going to shake that didn't happen in 80 70 and you will see the son of man in his day that's what he says here well now what he does is he says i want you to think about two events in history to help you in your weight. I want you to think about the great day of the flood and I want you to think of Sodom and Gomorrah. He says this in verse 30, the day of his full revealing will be like these. Now all that's background to I think what Jesus, the heart of what he's getting at here for us that many will be so caught up living for this world. That they will be so caught up in trying to bring in the kingdom now. And what happens in that pursuit is that people are totally unexpected or unprepared for the great day. Especially because everyone's looking for the wrong kind of things. you know think about it who right now and who wants to and this is the absent message today in much of america and i've been guilty of it who right now talks about the great day of judgment when do you hear it who's focused on it it's almost lost on us at all lost on us at the moment. We don't think about it. We don't talk about it. We rarely pray about it. When is the Lord Jesus come quickly at the heart of your prayers? We are entirely taken up with the state of the world right now. And this is where Jesus challenges us. He raises two figures he raises noah and lot and the emphasis that jesus gives and he wants us to consider the character of the the days before jesus gave a judgment in those scenarios what were they like what were they doing what were the people like what were they caught up with i mean those seem to me some of the most important questions that we could ever ask Jesus thought so obviously there were righteous people there it's always been amazing to me and this is great hope for us that Lot himself is considered righteous by God the man who lived in Sodom and served in Sodom and of course Noah being a preacher of righteousness well it's not unclear the the records there you know the records they here here's here's the summary of those records that if you were if jesus were standing right here and this is his word being proclaimed this is this is exactly what he would say because he says it almost word for word they were given over to eating and drinking and marrying and buying and selling and planting and building. It's really a remarkable thing. None of those things, I suppose, are wrong in themselves, are they? But I think you can catch Jesus' point. They gave themselves in life to these things as what life is all about. You are about to begin 2024, year of our Lord. I have plans this year. You have plans this year? Well, you might think I'm going to go build something this year. I'm going to build the house of my dreams. I'm going to go up here. I'm going to move here. I'm going to accomplish this. I will do this. I will do that. New Year's resolutions begin. See how easy it would be to be swept up in this? Who's building kingdoms? Kingdom building gets pretty personal here. What are we really building? Remember what James said. Listen to you who say today or tomorrow. We will go to this and that city. Spend a year there. Carry on business. Make money. Why? You don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. See, a lot of people are making their plans and planning to build and planning to do, planning to accomplish with no thought of the Lord. And this year, I could give attention to that which is the most unimportant thing in my life. Jesus says, don't forget Noah. He built an ark. When you come to sermons, an ark's being built. When you come to hear the word of God, that's your place of refuge. And don't forget Sodom. Ezekiel says she and her daughters were arrogant. They had abundance of food and they lived with careless ease. She didn't help the poor and the needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before me. Therefore, I removed them as I saw fit. He removed the entire cities of the plain in one hour. And Jesus is using these examples to say one day, in one day God carried away the whole world with a flood. And in one day he carried away Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned it all to the ground. What are you building? That is what it's going to be like when I come. Do you hear him? He's pressing us to think about this. Everyone before those days were buying, they're selling, they're marrying, they're giving in marriage, they're planting, they're building, they're drinking, they're making merry. As if that's the purpose for our existence. As if this day will never come. Now, I'm capturing the entire world right now. You couldn't write this script. Holy Spirit wrote that script. And Jesus is saying, are you missing what's most important? And in this context, he gives a sobering call. Three words. Remember Lot's wife. You know, I mulled over those three words. I don't know if there's anything more jolting from Jesus' mouth. Remember Lot's wife. What do we know about Lot's wife? I don't even know her name. We don't know her background. All we know is that she was Lot's wife. Now why does the Bible present Lot's wife? Lot was a righteous man. He had a wife, beloved, who loved Sodom, who loved the world. why is he telling us this she had some kind of profession she fled with her husband but in her heart she loved sodom she looked back that's what jesus is saying she looked back see this is where i think the heart of jesus concern comes that there are many before christ come, will come who have been of the masses knowing of Christianity. They've probably attended worship services. They're probably known as good people. Who before Christ comes did not come to him in repentance themselves in faith. And some are even married to believers. There may be a profession. There may be partaking of the supper. They may come to church. But if their hearts could be shown, they've not yet entered the kingdom. You see why he's concerned? This is a sudden, unexpected coming. And Jesus says there to end this will be a great separation on that day. A family. Two family members will be together. Two will be grinding together. Two will be in bed together. One shall be taken, the other left. That's taken in judgment. That day will reveal who has truly believed and who has not. And Jesus is pressing us. Because we can't look into hearts. I take this press on me just as much. This is a press on Chris Gordon. Many are living with no thought or concern about this. Now, let me be as practical as I can here. A New Testament apostles took this and applied it everywhere. It's so common, where do you even begin? Let me just quote 1 Thessalonians 5. While people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come upon them suddenly as labor pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape. Now listen, listen to the application. But you, brothers and sisters, you, you are not in darkness. You know this. So that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of light and children of the day, he says. We don't belong to the night. We don't belong to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep. Let us be awake and let us be, I think crucial word here, sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night. And those who get drunk are get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith. And love is a breastplate. And the hope of salvation is a helmet. For God, now listen, this is all gospel here. God did not appoint us to wrath. But he appointed that all of you would receive salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is really good news. see the concern this is going to come when no one expects it but i'm concerned that you're going to be so wrapped up with the world like lot's wife that you will live asleep now let me make clear i don't think lot was any better and nor do i think the salvation can be lost i mean scriptures are so clear on this but you see why he challenges the the body with this challenge he's calling all of us to live awake the illustration he uses is that of drunkenness and you see why he uses it when do people get drunk well they get drunk at night typically unless that that sin has so overcome them that it carries over into the day and that imagery that jesus uses of wasting one's life away with alcohol captures the point that Jesus is making. Are you awake? Are you ready? Are you looking for him to come and bring in the kingdom? What is the great question entering 2024? What do we need to put away in our lives that is hindering us from being ready? Now, I said at the beginning, none of this is intended to scare us to death. The apostles said, you are children of light. You are his children. You are his. And this is Jesus' way, as he's training the disciples, of shepherding his flock from pulling them back from the edge of the falls. It's just a beautiful thought. when these two sections are coupled, if you were to study this, they're coupled by two great moments of forgiveness. The first one is the little, the nine who were forgiven, the one comes back and he's so thankful for being healed. And then it ends in the next section, Jesus says, look, take heed, continue in prayer and don't lose heart. And he talks about a little widow who, in the hardship of life, is praying and looking for the Lord's return. And he ends this with the man who goes down to his house justified because he prayed, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's watching. That's watching. Jesus is telling us all this to keep us from what the world is running into, beloved. And that should cause great fear for those who refuse him or reject him. But the intention of our Lord is to say, all through the scriptures, God is abundant in mercy. He doesn't cast off those who call upon him. He takes your sins and he throws them as far as the east is from the west. You who have done all these things, that's what he'll do for you. What a message for 2024. What a way to enter 2024. To think more about living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's coming. that that day won't surprise us. If he were to come tonight, it won't surprise us that we would look up and that we will see our friend. We will see our savior, our master who bought us. But he's calling us as we close this year and enter a new one to be ready, to be watching, to be a people who are looking for the Lord's coming and to keep from living as the world does, buying, selling, building, doing, getting, accumulating, all this, again, God gives us good gifts. We don't fall into those things as the purpose of our existence. We live remembering what's most important. Ryle says something helpful in this regard. He that loves his relative and friends is specially bound to consider them. Here's a purpose. life is only a time for such a world. Life is fast, ebbing away from us all. Partings and separations and the breakup of families are at times painful, but all the separations that we see now are nothing compared to what's going to happen at Christ's second coming. He is so long-suffering today. That's why today is called the day of salvation. He is willing that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So doesn't that prioritize life? Focusing on praying for those who are stumbling about in the darkness, living by faith and giving strong witness and valuing his gospel over everything the world offers us. That gives us purpose. Are we strong enough to keep ourselves? No. But look to Christ. He is your refuge. he is your covering he is your shelter and he promises that when you have him by faith you will not face condemnation do you hear me you will not face it we need that message we need this today to wake us out of sleep so let us in 2024 seek first christ and his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you're worried about he says i've got your back let's pray heavenly father thank you for challenging us with your word to be a ready people to be a watching people we confess oh lord at times we've been so caught up with the world that we forget of this great day that's coming but we're so thankful that you speak to us as children of the light so let us walk as children of the light and of the day, and to cast down the works of darkness and that of the night. Help us, O Lord, by your Spirit. May we live by faith, trusting your promises. In Jesus' name, amen.