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: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo
there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 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. 23 And they
shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow
them. 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. 25 But first must he suffer many things, and be
rejected of this generation. 26 And as
it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
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. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot;
they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when
the Son of man is revealed. 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. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life
shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 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. 35 Two women shall be grinding together;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36
Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the
other left. 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.
The kingdom of God does
not appear on this earth in this present dispensation as a nation with massive
parliament or congress buildings or executive mansions, armies, and multitudes
of government bureaucrats. It occurs in the heart of each believer and those
believers are united as the church of God, Christ’s body on earth.
God’s Spirit indwells each
believer.
John 14:23 Jesus answered
and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his.
Proof of that
indwelling is the fruit that is produced.
Galatians 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law. 24 And they that
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The body of believers
is the church, Christ’s body on earth, to be doing things on earth as His
ambassadors….
2Corinthians 5:16 ¶
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us: we pray you in Christ’s
stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21
For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.
Ephesians 6:20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
Colossians 1:24 Who now
rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
…until He returns to
take control of the world of men physically.
Revelations 11:15 And the
seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The
kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and
ever.
We are not improving
the world or making the world a better place because it is dominated by sin and
man’s extreme arrogance and presumption, something from which we have been
delivered if we are truly Christ’s.
Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the
Father, and from our Lord Jesus
Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of
God and our Father:
There are many and have
been many false Christians, tares among the wheat, but God will deal with that
at the end of human history. Just read Matthew 13 about them with the birds of
the air being types of Satan, and the woman polluting the three measures of
meal in type false religion.
What is to be the
expression of our faith, of our religion? Is it political, social, or a
practice of power? No, none of those.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Jesus says here in this
passage that you cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is not found in a cathedral,
an enclave, a church building or compound, school, or camp. It is found within
the spiritual heart of each believer.
We look fervently for
Christ’s return. In fact, we are told to do so.
Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; 13 Looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Then, Jesus goes on to
provide a summary, a synopsis, of things that will happen at the end of human
history, including the translation of the believers, the church, from the
world, something which has been promised. First, Enoch’s translation as a type
of our own.
Genesis 5:24 And Enoch
walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
See three mentions of
the translation, popularly called The Rapture,
here.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because
God had translated him: for
before his translation he had this
testimony, that he pleased God.
Then, the promise,
spoke of three times.
Proverbs 25:7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up
hither; than that thou
shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.
Revelation 4:1 After this I
looked, and, behold, a door was
opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up
hither, and I will shew thee
things which must be hereafter.
Revelation 11:12 And they
heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up
hither. And they ascended up
to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
And the promise
confirmed even to when in the course of prophetic events it is to take place…
1Corinthians 15:52 In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 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.
Verse 24 in this
passage reminds me of verses in the Old and New Testaments.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one
like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
days, and they brought him near before him.
Zechariah 12:10 And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit
of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn.
Matthew 24:1 ¶ And Jesus
went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of
the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them,
See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one
stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the
disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and
of the end of the world?
4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take
heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of
wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom:
and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in
divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you:
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall
rise, and shall deceive many. 12
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved. 14 And
this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto
all nations; and then shall the end come. 15
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand:) 16 Then let them which
be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17
Let him which is on the housetop not
come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes. 19 And woe
unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck
in those days! 20 But pray
ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days
shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man
shall
say unto you, Lo, here is
Christ, or there; believe it
not. 24 For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold,
he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers;
believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of
the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be. 28 For wheresoever the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the
Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory. 31 And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
The Kingdom of God is
not a physical thing of this world now.
John 18:36 Jesus answered,
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 is my kingdom not from hence.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost.
But, Christ’s return to
deal with the darkness of this world will be very physical. Verse 37 and this
entire passage is a stark reminder of events at the end of human-centered
history.
Revelation 19: 11 ¶ And I
saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12
His eyes were as a flame
of fire, and on his head were
many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. 14 And the
armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God. 16 And he hath on his
vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD
OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and
he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of
heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings,
and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small
and great. 19 And I saw the beast,
and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of
him that sat upon the horse, which sword
proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
There is another
principle expressed here underscored in verse 32. We are not to look back. Our
future with Christ is what is important. Read Luke 9:59-62 again.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said
unto him, No man, having put his hand
to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
I believe, though, in
verses 30 to 33 before speaking of the translation of the church, Christ is
literally referring to the final Holocaust of the Jews perpetuated by the Beast
of Revelation, who is popularly called The Antichrist, although that title is
not in Revelation. See Revelation, chapter 12, as Satan drives the remaining,
believing Jews, into the wilderness.
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