The Coming of the Kingdom of God (Part 2)

Go ahead and take your Bibles and open them if you would to Luke chapter 17.

And our text for this morning is the same as it was last Sunday. And it is verses 20 through 37. Now we focused on the first couple of verses in this text last Sunday.

And we're going to begin to look at the balance of it this morning. And I have to always kind of apologize for that. Not for any of you because you didn't have any idea what I was going to do.

But I apologize to Jonathan primarily because we discuss in staff meeting with Chris and Jonathan. Discuss where I'm going this next Sunday. Which is a pretty important thing for Jonathan.

As he organizes the worship service. And yet even as I say where I'm going I don't really know until later on in the week. So I just keep studying and putting together a sermon to the point where I think well that's all I can get in on a Sunday morning.

So we just have to wait for the rest of it next time. But actually next Sunday is Mother's Day. And so we're not going to be back in this text next Sunday. So we'll take a little vacation from it.

And focus on motherhood next Sunday. And then we'll get back to this passage and finish it up. Alright so I've explained all of that. You're going to forget all about that after you leave here this morning.

But let me go ahead and read the text. Starting with verse 20. Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come.

He answered them and said. The kingdom of God does not come with observation. Nor will they say see here.

Literally see here it is. Or see there. There it is. For indeed the kingdom of God is within you. Then he said to the disciples. The days will come 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 here. Or look there. Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven.

And shines to the other part under heaven. And so also the Son of Man will be in his day. But first he must suffer many things. And be rejected by this generation.

And as it was in the days of Noah. So it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate. They drank. They married wives. They were given in marriage.

Until the day that Noah entered the ark. And the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot. They ate. They drank.

They bought. They sold. They planted. They built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom. It rained fire and brimstone from heaven. And destroyed them all.

Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day he who is on the housetop. And his goods are in the house. Let him not come down to take them away.

And likewise the one who is in the field. Let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife? Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you in that night there will be two men in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left.

Two women will be grinding together. The one will be taken and the other left. By the way verse 36 is not in some of the more modern translations. But I'll go ahead and read it anyway.

Two men will be in the field. And one will be taken and the other left. Now in case you're wondering about that. We'll talk about that next time. Okay.

And they answered and said to him. Where Lord? So he said to them. Wherever the body is. There the eagles. It says in my translation.

Vultures in some modern translations. Will be gathered together. All right. So there is the passage. The larger text. And we started to look at it last week.

And we're going to focus on it this morning of course. And in a couple of weeks. Try to wrap this up. I won't make any promises. But we'll try to. But the principal subject.

And I identified this last week. The principal subject of this text. The coming of the kingdom of God. That's the principal subject. The coming of the kingdom of God.

And we could accurately say I think. That the coming of the kingdom of God. Is identified primarily by the coming of the king. Okay. Isn't that right?

I mean you know. A sure way to locate the kingdom. Is to locate its king. And so where you find the king. You usually will find the kingdom. And all that really to say this.

When you begin to discuss. The subject of the kingdom of God. Then you ultimately must have a discussion. On the second coming.

Of the Lord Jesus Christ. They go together. You have to talk about that. And the fact is of course. The Bible clearly reveals. Two comings of Christ.

Into this world. And his first coming of course. You know he came to the cross. He came as savior. He came in sacrificial humility.

The second time that he comes. He will come as sovereign. Sovereign king. And so he will come in all splendid royalty. As king.

Now his kingdom. Is associated with both comings. That's what we need to understand. Well one of many things we need to understand.

About this passage. His kingdom. The kingdom of God. Is associated with both comings. At Jesus first coming. People wanted to know. When is the kingdom coming?

That's what basically what we have. The question we have there in verse 20. Is asked by the Pharisees. When is the kingdom coming? And Jesus said to them. It is here right now.

It is. He said in verse 21. It is within you. We talked about that last week. That is. Really what he's saying is. That the kingdom of God. Is wherever.

Jesus is saying. Wherever I am truly recognized. And revered. As king. Revere. Revered. Worshipped. Obeyed. As king.

That's where the kingdom of God is. And so. This is the first. We could call it. The first dimension. Or aspect. Of the kingdom of God.

It is present. Here right now. It is internal. And therefore. It is invisible. He said. It's not something. That comes by observation.

It's invisible. It's spiritual. It's a spiritual kingdom. And of course. Then. It is not manifested. In a. Any kind of visible monarchy.

Or any other form. Of human government. It's not. Manifested in that way. It's not identified. By a physical throne. Set up. Some place. In a physical place.

It's not established. Through military might. This kingdom. Is not announced. Through a series. Of cataclysmic. Signs. And wonders. And so forth.

This. And so. This is the first. Or. Initial. Dimension. Of the kingdom. Of God. And it was established. At the first coming. Of Christ.

When he came. The first time. And it. Is established. In the heart. Through faith. Through faith. And so. In that regard. In this aspect.

Of the kingdom. It exists right here. In this place. In. Those hearts. Where Jesus. Is recognized. And honored. And revered.

As king. But there is a second dimension. Of the kingdom. And this is. Kind of the subject. Of the latter part. Of the text. As Jesus.

Turns from the Pharisees. And turns. To his disciples. And he begins. To refer to. Another aspect. Of the kingdom. A second dimension.

Of it. And it will be. Physical. A physical kingdom. It's throne. Physical. It's realm. Will be.

Physical. And so. Therefore. It is. Tangible. It will be tangible. It will be. Visible. And. This dimension. Of the kingdom. Of God.

Is future. Still future. For us. It was certainly. Future for. Jesus disciples. But now. We've. We've. Been around now. You know. It's now 2,000 years.

Plus. Since Jesus. Said these words. And it's still future. For us. It's a future kingdom. And it will be revealed. At the. Second coming. Of the Lord.

Of Jesus Christ. And. I must say. And this is important. Very important. Only the subjects. Of his. Present kingdom. Will be.

In. Welcomed. As subjects. Of his. Future kingdom. That's very important. To remember. If you're not part. Of his. Internal. Spiritual kingdom. Right now.

If you were to come. Today. Then you will not. Be a part. Of his. External. Physical kingdom. Now. Last Sunday. Again.

Our focus was. Verses 20 and 21. And. Where. Clearly. Jesus speaks. Of his. Internal. Spiritual kingdom. It's here. Right now. It is.

Within you. This morning. As we. Begin to look. At verses. 22 to 37. We have. Just as clearly. Jesus. Speaking. About his.

External. Visible. Physical. Kingdom. And it is. That dimension. Of Christ's. Kingdom. That is. Yet. To come. So.

It's here. Now. But not yet. In those. Two dimensions. Of his. Kingdom. And I would also. Say. That it is. This. Phase. Or. Future.

Dimension. Of the. Kingdom. That we are. Praying. For. Or. We should be. We get that. From the Lord's Prayer. Matthew 6. In verse 10.

Your. Kingdom. Come. Your will be done. On earth. As it is in heaven. Now. His will is not being done. On earth. As it is in heaven. Every day. Not yet. And in God's sovereignty.

And his providence. And his. According to his plan. God allows his will. To go on undone. For a time. But one day. All that will be set right. But for now.

We're praying for it. The kingdom to come. Come. And we also shout. With the apostle Paul. Maranatha. In 1 Corinthians. Chapter 16.

Verse 22. Maranatha. Which means. Our. Lord. Come. And we are longing for. We long for Jesus. From heaven. 1 Thessalonians.

Chapter 1. Verse 10. And we love his appearing. 1 Thess. Excuse me. 2 Timothy. Chapter 4. Verse 8. And we look for. The blessed hope.

And glorious appearing. Of our great God. And Savior Jesus Christ. And that's in Titus. Chapter 2. Verse 13. And we lift up our voices. With the apostle Paul.

Excuse me. John. And say. Amen. Come. Lord Jesus. Revelation 22. 20. And so. All of that. Just to say this.

You see. The second coming. Is an important feature. Of our faith. In our hope. As believers. And so. We ought to be. Praying for it. To come. And longing for it.

And looking for it. And loving it. And so forth. Now it's always. Been important. For God's people. To know. And to understand. The truth. About the second coming.

The Lord's second coming. And that's why Jesus. Spends so much time. Talking about it. In fact. As I mentioned. Last week. The subject of the kingdom. Just keeps coming up. And Jesus. Talks about it.

Quite a bit. And then you get on. Into the epistles. And we have. Lots of instructions. And information. About the second coming. About the end times. From them. And so in our text.

For this morning. Jesus spends some quality time. Teaching his disciples. About the future coming. That future dimension. Of his kingdom. A kingdom that is coming.

One day. And so we want to look at this. This morning. Or at least. Begin to look at it. Under three headings. We'll just focus on the first one.

This morning. But here are the three headings. That will. Kind of the three divisions. Of this passage. As I see it. First of all. This kingdom. Will be. Unmistakable. The coming of Christ.

The second time. Will be unmistakable. There's no way. Anyone will miss it. Second. It is. Unpredictable. Come as a thief. In the night. It's unpredictable.

Those. Who are. Alive. At his coming. Will not be expecting it. It will come very suddenly. So it's unpredictable. And then third. It is.

Unavoidable. And I mean specifically there. His purpose. For his second coming. Will be unavoidable. And we'll talk. About the second. Of those two.

Or. The second and third. Of those next time. So this morning. Let's focus on this. His second coming. Will be unmistaken. It will be unmistaken.

Now. To kind of introduce that point. First thing we need to realize here. Is this. In this passage. Jesus' intent.

Is not to present. Some full blown. Listing. Of all the events. Of the end times. He's not here. Desiring to give any kind of timeline.

For all of the. End times. Events. The Holy Spirit. Is going to do that. By inspiring. Paul. And Peter.

And we're going to get. Information like that. And really. We could even go to Matthew. Chapter 24. And get. In more detail. The events. Of the second coming. And the end times.

And even in. The gospel of Luke. I mentioned this last week. When we get to chapter 21. We're going to get more. There. As well. This is not his intent. Now.

There is. A sense. In which. We can understand. The second coming. As something. That entails. A series. Of events. There.

A lot of things. That the Bible. Prophesize. We call it. A part of. Eschatology. The doctrine. Of. End things. Final things.

There are a number. Of events. The Bible speaks. About. That. We kind of. Lump under. The subject. Of the second coming. Of Christ. Events. That occur.

Really over. A span. Of. Some years. And. Events. That precede. His actual coming. And.

Events. That follow. His actual coming. Events. That precede. His coming. The rapture. Of the church. For one. The resurrection.

Of the saints. The. Judgment. Seat. Of Christ. The marriage. Supper. Of the lamb. The tribulation. Seven years. Of tribulation. And. And the events. That take place. In there.

Landmark events. That take place. Within that seven years. Armageddon. The battle. Of Armageddon. I could go on. With. Some other items. Those are. Things that precede. In my view.

And. I believe. It's the right one. I wouldn't preach it. Things that precede. The second coming. Of Christ. And then there are events. That will follow it. Follow the second coming.

Like. The binding of Satan. For a thousand years. And his demons. And the millennial reign. Of Christ. On this earth. The final resurrection. Of the dead.

The great white throne. Judgment. And we could. Name some other items. As well. To be more. Detail and specific. But. But. We're not going to do that. Here this morning. See. Jesus. Doesn't give us.

All of that. Here. We may. Want that. Desire that. But Jesus. Intent. Is very. Specific. He's only concerned.

About. One. Of the days. Of the son of man. Verse 22. One of the days. Just. One of the days. Specifically. The return.

Of. The. Quote. Son. Of. Man. That's what. Jesus said. You know. Jesus quite often. Spoke of himself. But he always spoke of himself.

In the third person. And. He's talking about himself. Because who is the son of man. By the way. Well. It's none other than. Jesus himself. And.

You see. You're going to find. In this passage. Four times. Jesus uses. That phrase. Or that. Designation. Son of man. Four times. In this one text.

And. Every. Jew. Would have known. Just. Who. He was referring to. They would have. Immediately thought. Of. Daniel.

The prophet. They would have. Immediately thought. Of Daniel's messianic. Prophecy. In Daniel. Chapter 7. In verse 13. Where Daniel said. Listen to this. I was watching.

In the night. Visions. God. Granted. Daniel. A number of visions. Prophetic visions. And so. He was watching. And behold. He said. One. Like.

The son of man. Coming. With the clouds. Of heaven. He came. To the ancient of days. And. They brought him. Near. Before him. Then to him.

This son of man. To him. Was given. Dominion. And glory. And a kingdom. That all peoples. Nations. And languages. Should serve him.

His dominion. Is an everlasting. Dominion. Which shall not pass away. And his kingdom. Is the one. Which shall not be destroyed. It's an exciting prophecy.

Prophecy of Daniel. And so the Messiah. According to Daniel's. Messianic prophecy. Is coming. With the clouds of heaven. He's coming. And that.

By the way. Is what the angel. Promised the disciples. In Acts chapter 1. You remember. After the resurrection. Of Jesus. And he appeared.

To so many. Five hundred. Even at one time. Appearing to all of the apostles. And so forth. After all that. Transpired. And then. He is with his disciples. On the mount. Called Olivet.

And. You remember there. Jesus. The bible says. Taken up. And a cloud. Received him. Out of their sight. And the disciples. Of course.

Were doing what. Anyone would do. They were looking up. In the sky. You know. I mean. Jesus. Taken up into a cloud. And they're just. Watching him. Until he disappears. In the clouds. And so they're looking up.

In the sky. And verse 10 says. Behold. Two men stood by them. In white apparel. Angels. Of course. Angels. Obviously. And they said.

Men of Galilee. Why do you stand. Gazing up into heaven. Which. You know. From my perspective. Is a pretty silly question. I mean. Why wouldn't they be looking. Up into heaven.

But. They go on to say. To the disciples. This. Same. Jesus. Now listen to every word of this. This same Jesus. Not a different one.

This same one. I believe also. An allusion. To the fact. That when he returns. He will return. In the body he had here. Though glorified. The bodily return. Of Jesus Christ.

This same Jesus. The same one. Who was taken up from you. Into heaven. Acts 1. Taken up to heaven. This same Jesus. The one you've been spending.

The last three years with. The one you walked with. And talked with. And fellowshiped with. The one who taught you. And led you. And the one you love.

And have trusted. This very same Jesus. Will. He will. So come. In like manner.

As you saw him. Go into heaven. So. Went up into the clouds. Going to come out. Into the clouds. And. What did Daniel say? That the son of man. Would come.

With the clouds. Of heaven. And so. Daniel's son of man. Is the Messiah. Of course. And. We make the connection. Here in Acts chapter 1.

Though we already knew it. Even before Acts 1. Came around. That. The Messiah. Is Jesus. Is Jesus. And one day. He will come again.

He will come again. He left through the clouds. And one day. He will. Return. Through the clouds. Kind of. Clouds being rolled back. As a scroll. You know. And it will be.

Unmistakable. At his second coming. And. Again. In our passage. Jesus is referring. To. One of the days. Of the son of man. He's referring.

To his actual. Coming. To this earth. And he wants his disciples. To know just a few things. About them. First of all. I think he wants them.

Not to be. Distraught. That's number one. Don't be distraught. Don't be distraught. In verse 22. Jesus said something here. That was really meant.

Specifically. For his disciples. His current disciples. Of the disciples. Who were standing. Right before him. That day. Specifically for them. And not. In a specific sense. For us today.

Though. There are some implications. For us today. So what he said. In verse 22. He said to his disciples. And this is what he said. The days will come. When.

You. Will desire. To see. One of the days. Of the son of man. One of these days. The days going to come. You're going to desire. To see. One of my days.

Now he's not talking about. A desire to see. You know. One of his days of ministry. On this earth. That's not the reference here. He's not saying. You know.

One of the days. Like you have enjoyed. Over the past three years. You know. He's not talking about that. But the day. He's talking about the day. When the Messiah. Would come.

At the consummation. Of all prophecy. The coming of his kingdom. There's going to be a day. In fact. Very soon. I think. They're going to long for that.

Desire. To see. The consummation. Of the kingdom. And so he said. You will desire. To see that day. And you will not see it.

That sounds. Pretty discouraging. You will not see it. You see. Listen. Their eschatology. Their doctrine.

Of last things. Their eschatology. Was not unlike. The eschatology. Of the Pharisees. Remember. The Pharisees. Asked the question. When is the kingdom coming? And there. Of course. Their view was.

You know. Is it coming right now? I mean. And so forth. And their eschatology. Was very much the same. The only difference was. The disciples. Believed that Jesus. Was the Messiah.

And the Pharisees. Did not. But their eschatology. Was the same. All. Of the Jews. Of that day. Were basically. Pre-millennialists.

Seriously. I know. Those who have other views. They always. Argue against. The pre-millennialists. And say. Well. You know. Yours is just. A more recent theology.

But the Jews. Were pre-millennialists. They really were. They. They believed. That the king. Would come. And then establish. His kingdom. That he would put down.

All of his enemies. And that he would establish. Righteousness. And the law. And rule. A worldwide kingdom. And that's exactly. What I believe. The difference is.

The disciples thought. That that would become. A reality. In their lifetime. They didn't understand. That there were two comings. They thought. This was going to happen. At the first coming.

And Jesus said. You will not see it. The implication being. Not in your lifetime. So don't be distraught. Don't be distraught.

And though Jesus is saying. This specifically. To his disciples. Living. There. That day. In his day. There is. I think. A lesson. For disciples. Jesus disciples.

In this day. And that is. We also. Desire. To see. One of the days. Of the son of man. Don't you? Today.

Would be okay. Or tomorrow. Or certainly. In our lifetime. In fact. Probably most of us. Fit into that category. You know. I have got. Some things. I want to do. Still. Now. And. I want to see my kids.

Grow up. And my grandkids. So. In my lifetime. Would be okay. So we have a desire. To see one of the days. Of the coming. Or the son of man. And the day.

That we are looking for. Is the rapture. Of the church. As part of his second coming. It's the next event. And we are looking for that. We desire that.

And you know. Sometimes. The desire. Can be so great. That we can be obsessed. With it. I tell you. There are a lot of people. Obsessed with that today.

Obsessed with. End times. And you know. Eschatology. And the events. Of the second coming. And so. We can even begin.

To believe. Because the desire. Is so strong. It even becomes. Somewhat distorted. We become a little bit. Gullible. And we can even begin. To believe all sorts. Of erroneous.

News. Concerning. The second coming. Of Christ. So that leads. To a second thing. Not only. Don't be distraught. But second. Don't be deceived.

Don't be deceived. Verse 23. And they will say to you. Look here. Or look there. Don't. Do not go after them. Or follow them.

You know. Satan knows how. To take advantage. Of our desires. He really does. And there have been. Many.

Almost. A countless number. Of false messiahs. Since Jesus came. The first time. Even within. Israel. There have been. I don't think. We often think. About that.

But even within. The Jewish. Community. There have been. Many false. Messiahs. Over the years. I was reading. An article. By a. Dr. Charles Feinberg.

A noted. Jewish. I mean. You can guess that. From his name. Jewish. Though. Christian. Scholar. And Dr. Feinberg. Said that. In the course. Of Israel's history. Since the time.

Of Jesus. Sixty. Four. Different. Individuals. Have appeared. Claiming to be. The Messiah. Sixty-four. And I'm just talking about. Within. Within the.

Community of Israel. Of the Jews. And. Not too long ago. Back in the. Seventies. Many orthodox. Jews. Thought that a. Brooklyn rabbi. By the name of.

Of. Mendel. Schneerson. Was the Messiah. I mean. They felt very strong about it. In fact. There were billboards. Even put up. Erected all across. Israel. That. With this slogan.

Prepare. For the coming. Of Messiah. They had bumper stickers. And other type of signage. It said the same thing. And one group. Even took out a full page ad. Over in this country. In New York. In the New York Times.

Announcing. The time. Of your. Or for your redemption. Has arrived. They strongly believe. That this. Schneerson fella. Rabbi. Was the Messiah. And that's just one example.

Sixty-four. Different men. Over the course. Of Israel's history. For the last 2,000 years. Have come. On the scene. And claiming themselves. To be the Messiah. And we can even look. In the Gentile world.

And know that there have been. A number. Even in our own country. Of men. And even some women. Who have claimed. To be the Messiah. So. Don't follow them.

Look here. Or look there. Don't. Go with them. Don't follow them. Don't be. Deceived. At all. Now. The coming of the king. Here's the point.

The coming of the king. And his kingdom. Will not happen that way. With these people. Coming on the scene. And then. Then the. You know. There are others. Begin to follow. And maybe it gets a little.

Larger following. And then they start. Broadcasting different parts. Of the world. You know. Here's the Messiah. It's not going to happen that way. At the second coming. There will not be.

Any need. For anyone to say. Look. Here it is. Or he is. Or look. There he is. No one will need to do that. Why? Because of verse 24.

For as the lightning. That flashes. Out of one part. Under heaven. Shines to the other part. Under heaven. So also. The son of man. Will be in his day. That is.

No one's going to miss. His coming. At his second coming. No one's going to miss. The whole world. Will see him. And.

They will know. Who it is. All right. There's not going to be speculation. About who this one is. I mean. He's going to come. In such a way. That there will be no doubt. That doesn't mean.

That everybody's going to be a believer. At that time. But there's going to be no doubt. It's going to be unmistakable. And he's not coming. You see. In obscurity. Like he did the first coming.

He's not going to come. You know. Born in some. You know. Backwater place. On the outskirts of Bethlehem. You know. And only just a few people. Some shepherds. Saw him.

And. He's not going to grow up. You know. In an obscure. Kind of setting. And. And have a small. Little following. You know. And so forth. And. He's not going to. He's not going to come that way.

This time. The second coming. Will be unmistakable. Unmistakable. You know. There are a lot of false doctrines. Out there. Concerning the second coming. And.

You know. Some say. It is simply. A spiritual coming. Is what some say. So every time. Someone is born again. That's the second coming. And that's as far as they go with it. And then there are some.

Who say. Well. He's already come. He came back in 70 AD. And so there's not going to be another coming. Not going to be a second. He's already come the second. That's. As I heard one.

Preacher say. That's a hard sell. And then there are some. Who say. Just flat out. He's not coming. In fact. They would say. There may be some. Obscure promises in the Bible.

But that is not true. He's not coming. There's no real promise. Of an actual. Second coming. Of Jesus. You know. Second Peter 3. He talks about that.

In verse 3. Listen to this. Peter said. Know this. That's. We ought to perk up our ears. Peter says. Know this. Alright. What. What.

He says. That scoffers. Or mockers. Will come in the last days. Walking according to their own lust. And saying. And saying what. Where is the promise of his coming.

I mean. Where is it. You show me. Where is it. And this. This is their argument. He says. For since the fathers fell asleep. All things continue.

As they were from the beginning of creation. And nothing's ever really changed. Nothing ever going to change. It's going to just be the same old. Same old. Until. I guess.

We just all wind down. And died. Or somebody blows up the planet. Or whatever. It's the same old thing. And you know. To some degree. I guess. Some of us might be tempted to say.

Well you know. He hasn't come yet. It's been 2,000 years. Where is he? Maybe we got this wrong. Maybe he's not come. And Paul said.

Or Peter rather. Says in verse 8. He says. Beloved. Do not forget this one thing. Or. Do not let this one fact. Escape your notice.

That with the Lord. One day. Is as a thousand years. And a thousand years. As one day. That's been 2,000 years. Right. Since Jesus said these words.

So I guess. In the mind of God. That's just like a couple of days. And we're all impatient. Wondering. Well. You know. It's been all this time. Is he ever going to come? But we don't. You see.

God doesn't operate the way we do. He's eternal. Well. And one day. Is like a thousand years to go. A thousand years. One day to God. And so Peter says. The Lord is not slack.

That is. He's not up in heaven. Loitering around. Piddling around. You know. Concerning his promise. The promise that is coming. As some men count slackness.

But. Is long suffering. That is. He's patient. We're the ones who are impatient. He's patient. Patient. Toward us.

Peter said. Why? For what purpose? Not willing. That any should perish. But that all should come. To repentance. And so.

The next time. You get a little impatient. For the Lord. To come again. And take us out of this world. Just think about. All those lost people. You know. Family members. And then thank God.

For his long suffering. His patience. And so the second coming. Will be unmistakable. Don't be distraught. You have a desire to see.

One of the days of. The son of man. But don't be distraught. And don't be deceived. I was. Matter of fact. You know. Maybe some of you know.

My love of science fiction. And so Friday night. Seven o'clock. Earliest possible viewing. I went to see the Avengers. How many of you have seen the Avengers? Several.

I don't think badly of me. You know. This unspiritual movie. And unspiritual activity. That your pastor has been involved in. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. For what it was.

But you know. You also know. That I have. Kind of a heightened. Awareness. Of. Some of the references. To Christ. In these. These.

Avenger. These superhero movies. And there's one in this one. I'm not going to give away the movie. In case you want to see it. But there he is. Comes on the scene. A new.

Kind of superhero. Hero. And he. You know. Is kind of presented as being. Almost all powerful. And they're. Wanting to know what to call him. What's his name. And you know what he said. He said.

I am. This can't help it. They can't help it. But don't be deceived. Don't be deceived.

And then finally. Don't be. Distracted. I think Jesus. Inserts. A. A word here. An admonition.

Not to become distracted. Verse 25. Jesus said. But. First. Now that's important. Here. That he inserts this.

Because if you don't. Understand it. This way. You're going to think. Well. This doesn't really belong here. He's talking about the second coming. And then he. Comes back to something. That's now.

And then he goes back. To the future. So. Maybe it's just kind of out of place. In fact. Some scholars have thought. That it was inserted there. It didn't belong there. But it does belong there. Jesus said.

But first. First. He. He's still talking about the son of man. That's him. He must suffer many things.

And be rejected. By this generation. Now what is that a reference to? Well. The cross. Obviously. The cross. His suffering. And his death.

His sacrifice. Upon the cross. This generation. Will reject him. The one living. Right now. He's saying. Will reject. The son of man.

So you know. He's talking about the cross. And I think. It's inserted here. To remind the disciples. To get first things first. I mean.

Right now. The cross comes first. I think. That's what Jesus is saying. To the disciples. Though he had already been. Kind of. Alluding to that.

A number of times. All throughout. His ministry. And made even some. Very. Very definite. Very straightforward. Unambiguous statements. About. His sacrifice.

His death. And so forth. And here he is. Reminding them again. But first. But first. So the cross. Comes first. It. It comes first. In.

There. In the disciples. Immediate situation. In the timing. For the disciples. It comes first. And it comes first. Still today. Comes first.

In our priority. You know. We can become. So. Fixated. On the coming. Of Christ.

All of the. You know. The various events. That we understand. Will. Come before. And after. And we like to study. Or at least. We like to hear people.

Expound upon. Eschatology. The in things. And so forth. We become. So fixated. That we forget. All about the cross. We forget about that.

Jesus. That's first. We forget all about the gospel. We. Forget all about the work. Of the gospel. You know.

There have been. Those. People. And groups. Of people. Who have. Fall. Followed. Either some. False. Messiah. Or some. False. Teacher. That was.

Pointing them. To. The coming. Of the Messiah. And setting. Dates. And so forth. And there have been. People. And groups. Of people. Over the centuries. Who have. Sold. Everything. They had.

You know. Got a lawn chair. Moved up. To the roof. Of their house. And sit there. And sip on. Iced tea. Waiting for Jesus. To come. Now. I'm embellishing it.

A little bit. But. There have been those. Who have done that. They've. Sold everything. And. Forsaken all things. And moved. And formed. Whole communities. In some. Isolated places.

Waiting for the Messiah. To come. They've forgotten. All about. The mission. That Jesus has given us. Becoming so fixated.

Forgetting all about. The work. The work. That we must do. And continue to do. Until Jesus comes. I remember.

I'm always reminded. When I think about this. Whole idea. Reminded of an old. Old. Old. Him. Will work. Till Jesus comes. I mean.

If you know that. I'm not going to ask you. To sing it. I'm certainly not going to sing it. For you. But here's one stanza of it. Listen to it. And you can kind of. Sense the heartbeat. Of the songwriter.

And it's the same kind of desire. That was in his heart. That's in our heart. That was in the disciples hearts. Who were desiring. To see. One of the days. Of the son of man.

And listen to this. Oh land of rest. For thee I sigh. When will the moment come? When I shall lay my armor by.

And dwell in peace at home. What is that about? That's about heaven. It's about this life being over. And how. This land of rest.

And I sigh for that desire. That. That's what the songwriter is talking. When will it come? When I shall lay my armor by.

That is. What I use for the work. Warfare. Lay it aside. And dwell in peace. We can relate to that. But then the.

Hymn writer responds this way. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes.

And we'll be gathered home. Well, it's a great truth. I want to close this morning by taking us back to Acts chapter 1.

Quoted a little bit from it earlier. The resurrected Jesus is about to be taken up into heaven. Disappear in the clouds. And in verse 6 of Acts chapter 1, the disciples ask Jesus, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?

You see, they just can't get away from that. They're still thinking about it. They've gone through several disappointments. You know, they are, you know, initially walking with Jesus and serving with Jesus.

And he's their Messiah. And they have their view of what the Messiah would do when he came. Because all they could see is just one coming. And then he dies.

And that didn't figure into their calculation. Or their theology. But then he's raised from the dead. And so then, once again, renewed in their hearts that he is the great conqueror.

The king who's come to establish his kingdom. He's going to throw out the Romans. And he's going to establish Israel again. And all of her glory.

And who she's meant to be. And he's going to rule and reign this world. And so they can write. All that comes flooding back into their hearts and souls.

So is this the time that you will establish a kingdom? And think about there up on a mountain. Called Olivet, the Bible says. What a great place for Jesus to announce his kingship.

And form the armies of Israel. This is what they're thinking was. And Jesus just put the needle in that balloon.

And he says, Jesus said to them, It's not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. Wow. I mean, what a wet blanket.

It's really not. I'm just speaking of how it may have been perceived. It's not for you to know. That is, you should not concern yourself with these things.

Rather, this is the very next verse. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

The cross first. The gospel is first. And you stick with that. Don't concern yourself with the times and seasons that the Father has set as the authority over you.

You work until Jesus comes. Don't let the fact of his coming, the hope of his coming, be a distraction from the main thing.

The gospel. The world. The work. The Jesus comes.