The Kingdom In Your Midst: Luke 17's Now and Not Yet

And again, we're in the book of Luke, chapter 17 today. And I invite those that

Luke 17 · chapter mention

may be listening via podcast.

We looked at the whole chapter of Luke 17, so I'd invite you just to pause that,

read that chapter first, and then pick back up with us.

But I will tell you this, that it will be easier to apply the lessons of the

opening section of chapter 17,

which I would say is verses 1 through 19, if we first tackle the more complex

teaching that follows it,

which was verses 20 through 35 or so, right?

And by now, we've grown used to the Pharisees approaching Jesus with false or

ulterior motives, if you will, right? We saw that all the way back in chapter 6.

And so it comes as a bit of a surprise, at least when we read this,

I think, in chapter 17, verse 20, because we're going to look at that latter half first here,

that the Pharisees seemed to be asking Jesus here an honest question about when

the kingdom would arrive.

And at that point in history, if you remember, Eastwood, many of the promises

that God had made to his people in the Old Testament actually seemed to be still unfulfilled.

God had promised Abraham that, if you remember, that he would bless the entire

world through his descendants back in Genesis 12, but Israel here,

it was not in a place spiritually,

politically, or culturally, by the way, to be a blessing to anyone.

God had promised David that the throne of his offspring would be established forever in 2 Samuel 7,

but Roman garrisons were stationed in Jerusalem with no potential king from David's line in sight.

Actually, we're not at the same point in history, but perhaps sometimes we may

find ourselves sitting here today in Babinet, Alabama, asking the same question.

When will God's promises be revealed or realized, I should say, really is a better word.

When will God's promises be realized?

And Jesus is preaching of the good news of the kingdom that started back in

chapter 4 of Luke chapter 8,

Luke 8 · chapter mention

chapter 16 that we looked at a week or two ago was the news that God's promises

were being realized at his arrival.

Jesus's ministry here of teaching, of healing, and exorcism seemed to actually

shout out the arrival, church, of an era of fulfillment.

God was keeping his promises. How many of you know God keeps his promises? He keeps his word.

We saw that in Sunday school today and we're seeing it as we study throughout

god keeps his word he is faithful.

Forever he is faithful, amen? I mean,

but many Jews in that day expected, y'all, that when the kingdom of God came,

the enemies of God's people would be destroyed immediately, and a new world would be ushered in.

You can see that back in Isaiah 65, it talks about the new world ushered in, right?

Jesus' ministry met some of those expectations, but it certainly didn't represent

the cataclysmic, if you will, upheaval that many anticipated with his arrival.

Remember that even John the Baptist was confused by this particular dynamic.

If you look in chapter 7 of Luke that we've studied previously.

Instead, don't miss this, the kingdom was small at the beginning,

more like a mustard seed or a bit of yeast.

As we studied back in chapter 13, it was present in the person of Christ,

but it was also still something to be earnestly prayed for.

Okay. So you can kind of view it as the now and not yet.

And we'll talk about that more. But Jesus's response in Luke 17,

20 indicates that the Pharisees were asking about potential signs of that kingdom's

coming that would actually be observable in the physical world.

But the kingdom cannot be located by careful observation, we found out, right?

Either of the earth or the stars, because why? Look at verse 21 again.

Because it is where? Where's the kingdom?

Within you. Verse 21 tells us that.

That Greek phrase there, church, entos humon esten.

Entos humon esten. It can be translated as within you,

giving the sense that the kingdom of God, church, is found to be present internally

in the individual who has actually embrace Jesus as the king sent by God.

It can also be translated in your midst, as the ESV renders it,

in the midst of you, with the meaning that Jesus himself was the embodiment of the kingdom.

And the later translation there in ESV is probably most likely correct.

The kingdom is in the midst of you, within you, in the midst of you.

And so as we look at that, it seems highly unlikely that Jesus was encouraging

the Pharisees to see themselves as possessing the kingdom.

In fact, theologian actually commented on this verse. I believe it was Gerhardus Voss.

What a name, right? He said this. He said, our Lord means to teach the inquirers

that instead of a future thing to be fixed by apocalyptic speculation,

like that's the end times, right?

The coming of the kingdom is a present thing, present in their very midst.

In other words, Jesus was right there in their midst of those who are curious

about the day and the hour of its sometime appearance, right?

They're only looking down the road a bit here instead of seeing,

hey, the kingdom is within you.

Or with you, in the midst of you. And so we see right off the bat here today

as we open up, don't be fooled.

Don't be fooled. In verse 22, Jesus pivots from telling the Pharisees that the

kingdom is a present reality to instructing his disciples, as you see here,

about the reality of the future kingdom.

They will long to see, look at it there, They'll long to see one of the days

of the Son of Man, a reference to Jesus's return, right, to earth and splendor

that we're studying about on Sunday night in Revelation,

to judge God's enemies and vindicate his people once and for all.

And that longing that we see here will not be fulfilled in the short term.

In other words, what does he say here in this passage?

You will not see it. And therefore, the disciples should not give credence to any new reports, as Ms.

Sharon read about, that they might hear to the effect that Jesus is back, it says in verse 23.

And that brings us to our first point on the slide. Instead,

the coming of the Son of Man in his day will be, y'all, dramatic and visible

to all, much like a flash of lightning, it says in verse 24.

How many of you have seen lightning before? I know you have.

How many of you experienced it close by, close in hand?

Kapow, right? I mean, how many of you have been like kind of shaken by what happened, right?

Definitely. I mean, some of y'all may have been like me. I had one time,

man, I was reaching out to a car door or truck door, whatever it was,

and the lightning hit about the same time.

And I was like, oh, it shocked me, right?

I mean, you never know. But we see lightning, and it's quick.

It's not something that hides, is it? like that blinding light especially the

closer it is right and it'll be an event in other words what he's saying here

in this passage it'll be an event that's impossible to miss or to misunderstand.

And that seems to be the meaning of that curious expression in verse 37,

I think you were talking about, Sharon, when asked where these things would happen.

Jesus replied, listen to his reply, where there is a dead body, there will be vultures.

The vultures will gather. There the vultures will gather.

That's to say this, y'all. It's easy to locate a corpse when you see vultures swarming around it.

You can't miss it, right? You can't miss it. In the same way,

the events surrounding Jesus' return will not be difficult to see.

And because it will come suddenly, it will come decisively, it says in verses 34 and 35.

People, y'all, get this, will be caught unaware by the arrival of God's judgment.

And as we see in this next point, they'll be going about their normal daily

lives on the day that the Son of Man is revealed like lightning.

And they'll perish like the people in Noah's day, it says in verse 26 and 27,

and the days of Lot in verses 28 and 29.

So you see, people are going to be doing their normal stuff.

Think about your normal day tomorrow.

You'll be going to your meetings, some of you, in the corporate setting.

Some of you will be attending meetings. Some of you will be doing this,

that, or the other, depending on where you're at or what you're doing.

If you're a retiree, you'll be doing whatever it is you're doing tomorrow.

You may be going to doctor's appointments.

You may be going on vacation. You might be running errands. whatever it is,

believe me, you'll be working in some fashion your normal day.

And Jesus is going to come back right in the middle of that kind of day,

right? Right in the middle of that kind of moment.

It'll be just like this, he says, it'll be just like this on the day the Son

of Man is revealed, just like in Noah's day, Lot's day.

There'll be no opportunity, in other words, Eastwood, to make preparation once

that day has arrived in verse 31, it says.

So they must not fail to obey the Lord's instruction as Lot's wife did.

You remember Lot's wife back in Genesis 19?

Think about this for a moment. Just as Lot's wife should not have allowed the

comforts of home to distract her from the urgency of the Lord's deliverance,

as we see in this next slide.

So y'all, we must not be so enamored of the pleasures of our daily routine that

we fail to follow Jesus with our whole hearts and lives.

How many of us have become comfortable with the comforts of this world, right?

How many of us want to hold on to the things we have? How many of us think that,

man, our life would be in shambles if we just couldn't keep the dates on our calendar, right?

If we didn't go to this or we didn't have this.

And in light of that reality, y'all, Jesus repeats his call to discipleship

in verse 33 of chapter 17. What does he say there?

Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it. And whoever loses their life

will, yeah, save it or preserves it, right?

Man, we got it backwards. Y'all have heard me say this before.

We're living life upside down, just like that old For Him song said, right? Upside down.

All the stuff we go after so much of the time is so temporary. It's so fleeting.

We miss that the kingdom, this part here, the kingdom is within you in the now, right?

Jesus, the Holy Spirit is within you.

But yet, and we'll see this in a moment, it's not fully arrived in the way that

it will be in the future that we'll see in just a moment.

So basically, it leads us to this. life in the already, not yet.

Life in the already, not yet. The call, that call here to discipleship,

it really provides us the framework into which the rest of the chapter actually fits.

And that's why I wanted to look at the last part first.

Jesus's followers, in other words, must wrestle with what it looks like to live now, say now, right?

Now, today, in Babinette, Alabama, for us, right?

In a way that makes sense of two different facts, of twin facts.

And here's the first one, as we see on the slide.

The kingdom has already come, Eastwood, in the person of Christ,

bringing forgiveness and new spiritual life by virtue of his suffering, right? Right?

As we read about in verse 25, and his resurrection, right? His resurrection.

But secondly, as we see on this slide, there is a very real,

in a very real way, the kingdom of God has not yet come in its fullness.

Why do I say that? We still await who?

Jesus' return. So that's life in the already, not yet.

So I want to give y'all quickly this morning, six principles for living in this

kingdom or for kingdom living, if you will. All right.

In the already, not yet. It's that tension of the kingdom that emerges from verses one through 19.

So here's the first one. Jesus followers, that's us, right?

If we know the Lord, Jesus followers must be watchful. See that in verse three,

we must be watchful. Think about it, church.

In this fallen world, there will be temptation to sin, it says in verse 1.

How many of you have been tempted to sin?

Tempted to whatever it is, to lie, cheat, steal, to have bad attitudes,

to have corruption, whatever it is, we're all tempted to sin in some way.

And when Jesus comes back, sin will be eradicated and we'll no longer have to

endure daily temptations to sin. Hallelujah, right?

But for now, living in the times and places that we do, temptations are all over the place.

And it's such a pervasive reality that we barely need to mention it, right?

The advertising industry, for one. Think about all the ads you see.

I mean, wherever it might be, those of you that are social media nerds or some

of you that like perusing YouTube or whatnot.

Think about all the ads you see every day, Facebook, whatever it is.

And then think about the economic systems that are built on it all,

how they depend on tempting you or me to some degree of greed,

envy, gluttony, and lust.

Am I right? Temptations to sin are everywhere.

And so the Lord tells his disciples here to be on guard, to be watchful in such a world.

We also, as we see in this next point here, must be careful not to tempt others

to sin, not to tempt others to sin.

You know, Jesus warns of a terrible fate. We saw that at the beginning of the

passage for those who cause others to sin in verse two.

As followers, think about it today. As followers of Jesus, we must love others

enough to examine our lives, right?

Be watchful over our lives and our behaviors to make sure that we don't lead them into temptation.

When somebody speaks, can I get real for a moment?

When somebody speaks bitter, sarcastic, or lewd words, or harsh attitudes, or tearing others down,

they tempt others to join them in their sin.

Do you see what it's saying? When somebody dresses provocatively or shows off

their wealth in just austenious ways, right,

they risk being the cause of sinful responses in the hearts of their brothers and sisters.

And beyond the negative responsibility, y'all, to not cause our brothers and

sisters to sin, according to this passage, we also have a positive responsibility.

You know what it is? This next point, we see it, to rebuke them when they do sin. In verse 3.

I don't know how you feel about this, what you've observed in your life,

but as followers of Jesus,

our kingdom commitment to righteousness means that, church, we have an obligation

to confront sin in the lives of other believers,

particularly when our brother or sister sins against us.

And isn't it great that God's word gives us the very steps we need to take in doing that?

And when we don't do that, we are not only not watching, being watchful and

on guard for our own lives, but we are also tempting others in sin and dragging others down in it.

And by the way, you do know that of the seventh thing God hates,

that one who sows discords among the brethren, one who sows strife among brethren, God hates.

God hates it. And obviously, that confrontation, though, needs to be undertaken

with a spirit of love and humility.

Remember truth and grace?

But merely turning a blind eye to sin, it misses an opportunity,

church, to promote holiness in that individual and unity in the community of disciples.

Yes, here in Eastwood Baptist Church as well. So it is so important.

These are principles for kingdom living in the now, the already and not yet.

You see, life in the already not yet of the kingdom also requires,

as we see in this next point, that Jesus' followers forgive one another. Come on, hear an amen.

Forgive one another. Forgiveness, church. Wow, what a novel concept.

Because this world, y'all, is still falling.

It's not yet made new. your brothers and sisters here, even in the church at

Eastwood, are still going to sin against you.

None of us are perfect. We're still going to sin against each other, right?

Even if they sin against you and come back to repent, it says here, seven times.

And by the way, that's just an expression used in those days to communicate

the sense of no matter how many times.

You must forgive them. If you're a true believer, if you're a true disciple of Christ.

You see, forgiveness can be extremely difficult and painful, can it?

You know why? Because when somebody has hurt you, hurt us, whatever the case

may be, badly, giving up your right to be angry, to be vengeful,

can feel like maybe even another violation, right?

But y'all, you got to think about this. This dynamic is one of the ways that

we live out the presence of the gospel of the kingdom in our lives here right now.

In this already, the kingdom has come.

You see, if the son of man, think about it this way. If the son of man,

Jesus suffered many things, as it says in verse 25, paying the cost so that

we could be forgiven of our sin, then we got to be a people.

We must be a people, Eastwood, who forgive those who sin against us.

Because let me just say this. In the end, every sin will be paid for either

by Jesus on the cross or by individuals when Jesus returns to give justice,

as it talks about in verse 7 here,

or verse 7 of chapter 18.

One of the two. And so we don't need, get this today, Eastwood.

We do not need to get justice for ourselves.

When will we learn that? We don't need to get justice for ourselves.

Somebody who does not forgive others does not understand the gospel.

You don't understand it. If you don't forgive others, if you can't forgive others,

you don't understand the gospel.

Because when you look at that forgiveness, it's gonna lead you to this.

Jesus' followers, his disciples.

As we see in this next point, should be characterized by humility to start with.

We shouldn't allow any growth, church, or progress in godliness,

whether it's resisting temptation, remember being watchful, or rebuking and

forgiving to become a source of pride or self-satisfaction in any way.

In fact, in a brief comparison with the relationship between a master and his servants.

You remember as Sharon read earlier in that section, verses 7 through 10,

what does Jesus remind his disciples of?

He reminds them that such things are simply what's expected from them.

Just as a master, he said, is not obligated to serve or thank his servants,

so disciples, that's us, right, should not

imagine that our obedience somehow puts

God in our debt or earn some extra measure

of his approval the fact is y'all

that god is incredibly kind and gracious to his servants but that love and care

is rooted where in his character not in our performance do you get it it's rooted

in his character not in your performance.

When we fail or when you fail, when we all fail to obey Christ,

and right here as disciples learn this, that they find their master forgiving.

And when they do obey, guess what? According to this passage,

they've only done what they should do as faithful servants.

And as we look at this, that humble attitude, that humility gives glory to who?

To God, where it belongs.

And finally, on this slide, the last point, kingdom citizens should be characterized by what?

Gratitude. Wow. Don't you think we need a healthy dose of gratitude?

I mean, kingdom citizens should be characterized by gratitude.

In fact, if you think, we saw in verses 11 through 19 here this morning,

in the account of the leper's healing, remember that?

We have a picture of the way that the gospel actually works in our own lives.

Leprosy, y'all, y'all know this, was a terrible disease.

And those who were afflicted with it were required to what?

To stand at a distance, it says in verse 12, lest they infect healthy people.

And the surprise of the story here lies both in the fact that only one person

returned to show gratitude for the healing that he received.

We saw that in verse 15, and especially that the one person who did return was a what?

Samaritan in verse 16, we saw that. Y'all, there's clearly more going on than

mere physical healing. Do you see that in the passage?

For all 10 lepers, church, received that gift of physical healing.

But this man alone, according to scripture, had what? He had faith.

And so he was the one who was made well spiritually. In fact,

the Greek word that's actually used there in verse 19 is literally saved.

He's the one whose faith saved him spiritually, not just physically.

In fact, in the message of the gospel of the kingdom.

We see that if that message is that Jesus' followers have been cleansed from

a far more terrible pollution, what?

Sin, right? Jesus took that upon himself on the cross. In fact,

it's more terrible than leprosy. Did you know that?

It's only appropriate since Jesus took our sin on the cross and he died in our

place, a place we should have been.

And it's only appropriate for us to be people who are grateful people,

who are full of gratitude.

Y'all, Christians should live lives of genuine gratitude to God for what we have received.

If you find it lacking in your life this morning, take time, y'all.

I challenge you, take time every day to just contemplate for a moment the incredible

cost that Jesus paid so that your sins could be forgiven, so that my sins could be forgiven.

Because when you do that, that's when you understand real forgiveness.

And that's why I said earlier, and according to this passage,

if you can't forgive others, you don't understand the gospel.

Because once you realized how much you have been forgiven of, forget other people.

How would you like to have your life up here on the screen? Just yours.

You think about what Jesus took upon himself to save you, and that'll forever

silence you. Your mouth will be stopped.

You'll simply say, thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for me.

And you'll want to show that same forgiveness and grace and mercy,

humility, all of it to others.

So what you need, what you need, as we come to a close today,

the apostles' request for increased faith in verse 5, it follows directly here

on Jesus' insistence that they live lives of watchful righteousness.

We saw that in verses one through four.

And rightly so for the demands of the kingdom and the leadership that the apostles

here will have to exercise in the community of the believers will require great

faith in God alone, right? And the good news of his kingdom.

Jesus has already employed the image of a mustard seed. We saw that back in

chapter 13 of Luke, right?

To explain the nature of the kingdom of God. And here it is again.

Here again, it serves as an example of something quite small that contains greater

potential, Eastwood, than we might imagine.

What does it say here in verse six? Look at it. If you have faith as small as

a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in

the sea, and it will what? It will obey you.

Now, we're not meant to put Jesus' words to the test by trying to relocate shrubbery.

I mean, you know, I can see people out here around the church saying,

you know, I have faith to believe all these diseased bushes will be uprooted,

okay, and planted somewhere. But.

Those seeking to prove their faith through such dramatic signs have more in common with who?

With the magicians, if you remember, and the street charlatans there in Jesus'

day than with the apostles' ministry, a preaching, teaching,

and healing that God has called them to do. I think the point is clear, church.

Christians, even apostles, are distinguished not by the quantity of faith,

but by the employment of faith.

Faith not by the greatness or the smallness of

faith but by acting on faith even

faith y'all the size of a mustard seed think about that song faith faith faith

just a little bit of faith anybody ever heard it faith faith faith just a little

bit of faith you don't need a whole lot just use what you got faith faith faith

just a little bit of faith.

Sorry about that. But while we certainly ought to long for greater faith,

because the Lord is honored by our trust, as we see in this first point on the

slide, we should not imagine that we should delay obedience,

y'all, and service until faith is increased in us, or we feel like it is, right?

We need to obey now. Let's show this first point here.

In fact, faith is the key to living in the already and not yet of the kingdom.

Faith, what does it do? Think about this, Eastwood. Faith looks back to the

incarnation and crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and sees the way that

every one of God's promises have already become a yes for us in him.

It talks about it in 2 Corinthians 1.20.

And faith also looks forward to the return of the Son of Man as the day when

all of the promises of God will be completely fulfilled.

And that leads us to this next point. Faith grabs hold, church,

both of what God has done and what he has said that he will do and lives accordingly.