WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT THE SECOND COMING

LUKE SEVENTEEN

Sermon of the Week #200537-September 23, 2005

         And he said unto the disciples, "The days would come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it." Those days will come when we shall wish for the Lord's coming when you consider that He is speaking of His return. And they shall say to you, “Lo there! Lo here! Follow not after them: for as the lightning, when it lighteneth out of one part of the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall the Son of man be in His day.”

           When we see the lighting there is always a clap of thunder that follows. Peter says, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief and the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements being on fire will melt with a fervent heat, and the earth and all things therein shall be burned up.” The great noise must be the sound of celestial thunder that will attend the Lord's lightning fast return. He further states that we are to, look for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God...

So when things look bad in the world because of violence, drugs, wars, and disease, it is only natural for the Christian to desire the coming of the day of the Son of man. Our prayer should be at all times in the words of Peter: “0 Lord, Let the elements be dissolved with fervent heat, let the heavens pass away with a great noise, let the earth and the works that are therein be burned up, and as Jesus promised let the sun be turned into darkness, let the moon be turned into blood, let the heavens be removed as a scroll when it is rolled up, let the stars fall from heaven as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken by great wind, let the Lord descend, let the shout be heard, let the voice of the archangel be uttered, let the trumpet sound, let the dead in Christ be raised up, let us who remain be caught up, and let us meet the Lord in the air in our resurrected, glorified bodies, and let death be swallowed up in victory. This is our prayer, this is our desire, and this is our wish, in Jesus name. Amen.”

However when Jesus told the Apostles of His return; He said, that first He must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation. He was rejected then and He is rejected now. And now the Lord tells us next what the days will be like before He returns. Those days that make us long to see His coming again. He instructs us by comparing those days with the days of three individuals. The three are Noah, Lot, and Lot's wife. First the Lord spoke of the days of Noah.

THE DAYS OF NOAH AND THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN

As it came to pass in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. What was it like in the days of Noah? Moses said, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." And then, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." Peter says Noah was a preacher of righteousness and evidently no one paid any attention to his warnings. These words give us some insight as to the spiritual conditions of the people in the days of Noah. What were they like? For one thing they were violent.

1. Violence is one of the characteristics of people just before He returns. Remember these people did not have any atomic bombs. They had no gunpowder or any of our modern day methods of killing each other yet they were so violent that God brought the flood on the world of the ungodly.

Evidently the laws we make regarding the sale of guns are a moot question. If we took all of the bombs and other weapons we have and threw them in the ocean that would not stop wars. Men would still go to war and fight if they had to use sticks and rocks. Is there any serious question in anyone's mind that we live in perilous times? Martin Luther thought they had perilous times in 1522. He said in one sermon he preached in that year that the end must come soon because they had invented gunpowder and the printing press. Luther thought the world was so hi‑tech that they had gone about as far as they could go. How much more is our potential for violence today? As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.

2. Another characteristic of men in Noah's day was that the thoughts of men's hearts were evil continually. It is the opinion of advertisers that Americans are people who think evil continually. Look at the shows on television, the porn magazines that are specially made for the spiritually and sexually depraved. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.

           3. Another condition of Noah's day and the day of the Lord is all flesh had corrupted themselves. I saw in a national magazine several years ago that two unmarried college students were living together. The boy said he did the ironing and that the girl did the cooking. He said they may or may not get married. Most of us won't have to look very far to see the same situation in your own family or Church. Of course in their impudence they snicker, they smile at us indulgently, and tell us that this is the twenty-first century and they are two consenting adults having a relationship and that makes it O.K. The moral commands of the word of God have never been up for a vote of the majority. God is not governed by what the polls say.    We live in a time when all flesh has corrupted themselves. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.

        4. And now a fourth thing the people of Noah’s had in common with today is their lack of faith in the word of God. God told Noah, I even I, will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh. He told Noah to build the ark. Noah believed the Lord. In the roll call of great people of faith it is said, "By faith Noah being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house."

        While Noah built the ark he preached with the Bible in one hand and a hammer in the other. Peter tells us Noah was a preacher of righteousness who was spared with seven others when God brought the flood on the world of the ungodly. Noah was the most unsuccessful preacher that ever lived. Aside of his own family he did not see one convert to his ministry. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.        

THE DAYS OF LOT AND THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN

And now the second example is Lot. As it was in the days of Lot so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. What then was it like in the days of Lot? Both Jude and Peter give us some insight. First Jude says, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Then Peter says, " Lot was vexed with the filthy life style of the wicked: For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.”

I saw an advertisement of a movie about thirty years ago that was called Sodom. The ad said Sodom was the city that gave its name to sin. This statement could not be politically correct today. Some things that are politically correct today are morally and spiritually rotten.  But think about it. Suppose your city was well known for its distilleries and they called it Whiskey City, and the street where you lived was on the corner of Booze and Drunkard Streets. Whenever you read of the city of Sodom in the Bible everybody knows what made them famous or infamous, whichever the case may be. And remember Jesus said, “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."  This is the way it was in the days of Lot, the way it is now, and the way it will be in the day that the Son of man will be revealed. The moral fiber of people in both cases had been shredded and had disintegrated.

Even though the soul of righteous Lot was vexed by the life style of the Sodomites he did not seem to be in any hurry to leave. Moses tells us while Lot lingered the angels took him, his wife and two daughters by the hand to lead them out of the city and said, “Escape for thy life.”  Perhaps he lingered because he was loath to leave that nice house he lived in, the new television, the new car, and all of the money in the bank. Think of that nice boat that was going to go up in flames, what a waste! The angels said, Escape for thy life!

Perhaps he was loath to leave so many in his family behind and no doubt they used his lingering for what they thought was hypocrisy. Look at that Ole fool. He says this place will burn down, but he doesn't believe it himself, he is still hanging around. Escape for life!

Sometimes the Church seems to linger in evangelism when they should be crying out to the world, Escape for thy life! There needs to be a sense of urgency in the invitation as the terms of pardon are laid out, “Escape for thy life!” In most congregations the emphasis is on making the assembly feel comfortable and full of self‑esteem and inspired instead of being troubled with their spiritual life. “Escape for thy life!”

            On this broadcast we continue to sound forth the fire alarm, “Escape for thy life!” We remind you of the terms of pardon laid down by Peter on the day of Pentecost. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The message should come through loud and clear, “Escape for thy life.” And now for the third person that Jesus mentioned regarding His return, was Lot's wife.

LOT'S WIFE AND THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN

The Lord said, “Remember Lot's wife.” What can we remember about this woman? Remember her because she is lost for all eternity in spite of the fact that she was a member of the saved community. She no doubt was personally acquainted with Uncle Abraham, yet she was lost. Remember Lot's wife!

CONCLUSION

As you read this account someone might notice that the Lord did not mention the sins listed in the Old Testament. His comment on the conditions of the last days regarded some things that don't appear wrong at all. He mentioned such things as eating and drinking. He spoke of marrying and giving in marriage. Then again how about what he said about buying, selling, planting, and building. What is wrong with any of those things? They are all necessary. What's wrong with marrying? There are a few people left today who actually go to the trouble of getting a license and having a marriage ceremony. Now what's wrong with that? What's wrong with planting? If the farmers don't plant this year we all are in real trouble. What's wrong with that? What is wrong with buying and selling? I would hate to think that if I went to the super market I would find the place pad locked and they could not sell and I could not buy. What is wrong with buying a house or a car or selling such things? Nothing? Then why did Jesus bring it up? There are at least two reasons:

The first reason: Jesus went back to the days before the flood thousands of years ago to show us that the nature of people has not changed. They ate, drank, planted, bought, sold, married, were given in marriage, and then they committed the same sins that people do today. We are more polished. We have invented things for our life style that would have boggled the minds of the ancients, but we are no better, nothing has changed about our human nature. They were on a collision course with destruction and many today are on a collision course with hell fire.  

           The second reason Jesus mentioned these things that are alright in themselves was to point out the fact that these ancients were just like us also, because to them all these good things was a way of life. They thought let the good times roll. They will never end. They go on forever. Nothing can stop it and that includes my house, my car, my family, my money, my sports team, my television programs, my movies, and my job. This is the sum total of life. It goes on and on and on endlessly. And then one day surprise, surprise, the flood came in Noah's day and the fire fell on Sodom. The twin towers fall and Americans get antsy for a few days. The biggest sin of all in both cases was greater than all their violence, perversion, and corruption. The greatest sin of all is that they like us lived with no preparation for eternity.

           There is one statement that Jesus made regarding Lot's wife that needs emphasis. He said it six times--twice in Matthew, once in Mark, twice in Luke, and once in John. He repeated it more than any other statement that He made while on earth. Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.

Jesus concluded His message on His Second Coming with these words: "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. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." And they answered and said, “Where, Lord?”  And he said unto them, “Wheresoever the carcass is, thither will the eagles be gathered together."

Eagles seem to be a generic term for buzzards since the eagle does not eat dead meat. Wherever you find a dead body you will see the buzzards gather.

The lesson of Jesus on the buzzards is clear. When ever this world becomes as morally rotten, putrefied, and stinking, as it was in the days of Noah, Lot, and Lot's wife, that condition will draw the Judgment of God.

In Revelation we read: "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; 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."

Wheresoever the carcass is....Just look up and by the eye of faith you can see the buzzards making lazy circles in the sky over the rotting carcass of humanity. How long can God endure the stench, the foul odor, of a drug infested, sports crazed, sexually perverted, and violent, pleasure mad world? It is in days like these that Jesus referred when He said, “If I go I come again.”