When will we see the kingdom of God?

So much to celebrate in the middle of June.

Man, so much to celebrate.

One more time, our praise team did a great job.

Give them a round of applause.

We're excited about them and all that they've done.

And then Michael and Abby, the local celebrities are back in town.

Give them a round of applause.

They're here for a couple of weeks and then going back to New Jersey where they shepherd the church there along with Blake and Lisa.

Man, we love them.

And so much to celebrate.

The Golden Knights.

Hey, how about that?

Oh, yeah.

Did somebody boo?

I thought I heard somebody boo.

Did it?

Did you leave?

And never come back.

Are you sure?

I'm not kidding.

No, I am kidding.

All right.

We're glad they're here.

Maybe they'll get saved.

Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights won again last night.

We're one way away from clinching and winning the Stanley Cup, which is really awesome.

Very exciting stuff.

So much to celebrate.

And summer is here, which means if you're new to Vegas, we're very soon.

It's going to be 198 degrees outside and you'll die.

You'll die.

But you have eternal life, so it's okay.

It gets really hot here in Vegas and all that's coming up in Las Vegas.

So much to celebrate.

But maybe you're here today and deep down there's not a spirit of celebration because of something you're going through.

Something deep, something problematic.

Maybe it's a financial situation.

Maybe it's a relational problem.

And you're having a good time.

You put a smile on your face.

You're here.

You're going to study the Bible.

But there's something deep inside that you cannot move past so quickly.

And you see the way the world is as a whole.

And you're kind of wondering when is all of this going to shift?

When is all of this going to end?

When is it going to get to a place where Christ's power is demonstrated permanently in my life and through this world?

Essentially, you're asking the same question that the people in Luke chapter 17 were asking.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

And that is, when will Christ's kingdom be established?

You know, Jesus is the one who said, pray thy kingdom come.

God, we want your kingdom to come.

So when is the kingdom going to come?

And that is essentially what's being asked to Jesus in Luke chapter 17 and verse 20.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

The Jewish people lived in a great anticipation during this time.

The people who lived in Israel, there was a sense of anxiety and anticipation all at the same time because of what their society was going through.

You see, there was a great political divide in that culture where half the people felt one way about everything

and half the people felt another way about everything and that political divide made them fight constantly.

The taxes were very, very high.

The national political situation was made even worse because there were bad players all around the community

and all around the area that were bringing political problems to the point where the nation of Israel at this point had already been conquered by an outside empire named Rome.

And so there was this sense of anxiety and frustration that was at a heightened level when this passage was written.

Not only that, there was financial, major financial problems with the society and the economic system of the day.

Because of the outside influence of Rome, the taxes of the people were so high they could barely make a living.

There were racial tensions that were boiling over between the Samaritans and the Israelites at this time.

And throughout all of this, they were expected to go and celebrate a national holiday called Passover.

Now at this moment, Jesus and his disciples were on their way down through Pariah across the river over into Jerusalem.

They were headed up to celebrate the Passover.

And the Passover was a very special celebration, specifically designated so that the Israelites could remember what it was like to be freed from the oppression of the Egyptian empire.

And so they had gone through so much oppression in their past.

Now they are celebrating a holiday about being freed from oppression.

And now they're currently under oppression from another outside empire.

And so as they're celebrating this moment of freedom, they're all thinking to themselves, when is the kingdom of God going to be established?

So Jesus and his disciples are walking through the way.

And as they're walking up to Jerusalem, he's followed by Pharisees and he's followed by disciples.

And one of them shouts out to Jesus, Jesus, when is your kingdom going to come?

We're ready for it.

And suddenly this discussion about the kingdom and this discussion about deliverance is mentioned in Luke chapter 17 and verse 20 when one day the Pharisees ask Jesus, when will the kingdom of God come?

Luke 17 · chapter mention

Let us pray.

Father, our hearts and our minds want to celebrate, but we also see the precarious position our society is in the way the world is right now.

And our hearts are happy to have you, but we are desiring to know when your kingdom will come.

And so our hearts cry out in the same way these people's hearts cry out, when will your kingdom be established?

And so Jesus Christ, my prayers that you would help us to understand the same things that you taught your disciples during this time about your coming kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So there's the question.

When will the kingdom of God actually come?

When will Jesus Christ return?

In this passage the Pharisees ask the question and Jesus answers the question and he answers it in three parts, all of them building upon the other.

First he says, when is the kingdom of God coming?

First he says, the kingdom is now.

That's the first part of the sermon.

Part number one, the kingdom is now.

I'm going to say part one.

You say the kingdom is now.

Part one.

Look what he says in verse number 20 and 21.

The day of the Pharisees, one day the Pharisees asked Jesus, when will the kingdom of God come?

And Jesus replied, before we see his reply.

Let me ask you a question.

Have you ever given two answers to the same question?

I'm not talking about lying or being hypocritical.

I'm talking about being asked the same question by two different people and you might give two different answers.

It's not that they're both wrong.

It's they're both right, but one has more information than the other.

For example, if you came by to me one day and said, hey Josh, how are your kids?

And if I don't really know you real well and you say, you have three kids, right?

I say, yeah, three kids.

You say, how are your kids?

I say, they're doing great.

They're great.

They're great.

They're great.

How are your kids?

You're like, they're great.

And that's the conversation.

But if you knew me very well and we are very close and you came by and said, Josh, how are your kids?

I would say, do you really want me to tell you?

And I would give you more information.

Why?

Because of the relationship being close.

In this passage, Jesus is asked by both his Pharisees and the disciples by the believers and the unbelievers.

He's asked the same question.

When is your kingdom going to come?

And to the unbelievers, to the Pharisees, this is his answer.

Look at what he says in verse number 21.

The kingdom of God cannot be detected by visible signs.

You won't be able to say, here it is or it's over there.

For the kingdom of God is already among you.

Jesus, when is the kingdom of God going to be here?

Jesus looks at the Pharisees and says, here I am.

The kingdom is already here because the king of kings is standing in front of you.

It would be like this.

If on a Sunday morning, a guest visited our church and I happen to be sitting out front.

By the way, if you're a guest here today, we are so glad you're here.

Thank you for coming to Southern Hills Church.

Why don't we welcome those who are guests that are our church?

We're so glad you're here, men.

And maybe you're a guest at the church and I'm standing out front and you walked up and you're just new here.

So when you're new somewhere, you're a little disoriented and you walk up and you say, hey, my name is Bill and I'm new here.

Can you show me where the church is?

I would look at you and say, what are you talking about?

The church is right here.

You're at the church.

Welcome to the church.

The church is here.

That's if you're new, you see.

But if Adam, Adam, are you a follower of Jesus?

You've been a follower of Jesus for a while now?

Okay.

If Adam took me out to coffee and we sat down at Starbucks and Adam looked at me

and said, pastor, where is the church?

Tell me about the church.

My answer to Adam is not going to be, hey, that building over on pebble and blue diamond.

My answer to him is going to be slightly different.

Why?

Because he's asking a deeper question.

I'm going to say, Adam, the church is you and I right here in Starbucks.

We are the church.

And when you go out to the game, you are the church.

And we collectively are the church on Sunday in this location.

And we throughout the week are the churches we disperse.

We are the church.

So it's not that Jesus gives two different answers.

He gives one answer to the unbeliever.

All they need to know is Jesus is saying, I am the kingdom.

If you receive me, the kingdom is now, which leads to a theological idea that some of you may have never been taught.

But I want to teach it now.

It's a deeper theological idea.

Even though it's a Sunday morning, I'm going to share it.

It means this, the theological idea is what we say, what we refer to as the kingdom now and eventual.

Let me show you the slide.

It explains it very well.

This is what we call the already and not yet theology.

The kingdom of God was established the very moment Jesus Christ came to earth.

During what we celebrate is Christmas time, when Jesus Christ was born in that manger.

And then he started teaching everybody over his lifespan, died upon the cross, was buried and rose from the grave, and established what we call the church age.

During this age, we are in the kingdom of God.

So we say, where is the kingdom of God?

The answer is, it's right now.

But in another sense, the kingdom of God is still yet to come.

So we believe that the kingdom of God is already, but also not yet.

The full establishment of the kingdom of God did not take place when Jesus came the first time.

The full establishment of the kingdom of God is when Jesus Christ comes back the second time.

How many of you believe that Jesus is coming back?

Amen.

This is what he said, and he taught over and over to his disciples, I must go away, but as I go away, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also.

So the Bible says, Jesus Christ is coming back.

So when will the kingdom of God come?

And what will happen when Jesus Christ comes back?

The answer is, Jesus Christ, when he comes back, he will be crowned the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

So when will that kingdom be established?

That's what the disciples want to know.

So first of all, the answer to the question, when will we see the kingdom of God?

The kingdom is now, but number two, we see the king must be rejected.

So Jesus goes on to speak more about this theology.

Yes, the kingdom is with them, but he said first before the real kingdom comes, the king has to be killed.

Look at what it says in verse 22.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, the time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won't see it.

People will tell you, look, there's the Son of Man, or here he is, but don't go out and follow them.

Jesus says, there's coming a day you need to be aware of telling his disciples, you're going to miss me because I'm going to be gone.

And I won't be coming back very soon.

In fact, other people are going to say, all my followers, they're going to say to you, they're going to say, you want to know Jesus?

There he is over here.

You want to know a true Bible prophecy?

There it is over there.

Jesus is telling his disciples, how many disciples of Jesus are here right now?

Say amen.

He says to us, there's going to be a day we want him to come back, but he won't come back yet.

And a lot of people will point you to false Jesuses, false Christs, and false prophets and false teachers.

Don't be fooled.

Don't be fooled.

How do I know when Jesus will come back?

Verse 24, for as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.

Jesus said, if you think you're going to miss my coming, trust me, you're going to see it.

It's like if you stand outside in a big black night, and all of a sudden a strike of lightning goes from one side of the sky to the other side of the sky.

He'd be like, whoa, did you see that?

And everybody say, everybody saw that.

Jesus said, that's what's going to be like when I come back.

Ain't nobody going to miss it.

When Jesus Christ comes back, the entire world will know.

So Jesus Christ came the first time as a baby in a manger.

The second time he comes as a Lord, Master, and God as he arrives.

And we hear all about that in the book of Revelation.

But then Jesus says something fascinating.

He says, but first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.

Jesus looked at his disciples and said, guys, I know you think that we're going up to the kingdom of God.

I know you think that we're going up to Jerusalem to establish the kingdom.

But I've told you once and I've told you many times now.

I'm going to Jerusalem to die on the cross for the sins of mankind.

Why?

Because for Jesus, before he could arrive at the crown, he had to go through the cross.

Friend, the cross always precedes the crown.

It does for Jesus.

Jesus Christ made a decision that he would not just establish his kingdom and make everybody follow him.

Don't you understand who Jesus is?

He's the Son of God.

If Jesus wanted to, he could have arrived to Jerusalem, sat on a throne, and said, everybody, bow down and worship me.

But he didn't.

He didn't want to make humanity follow him.

Instead, he wanted to die upon the cross to pay for the sins of humanity.

Why?

Because he's given you a free choice to follow him.

And he knows that your sins must be paid for.

And instead of allowing you to pay for your own sins by dying and going to hell, Jesus Christ suffered hell by dying upon the cross and paying for your sins.

He had to go through the cross to get to the crown.

That's what the second coming of Jesus is all about.

We all want Jesus to wear the crown.

But Jesus had to go through the cross to get there.

Can I say the same thing is true about you?

Are you a Jesus follower?

If you are, say amen.

Okay, literally.

To be a Jesus follower means to get to your crown, you have to go through your cross.

Some of us wonder right now, why is it that I'm going through this problem in my life?

Why is it that I have to bear this cross of chronic pain?

Why is it that I have to bear this cross of loss and heartache?

Why is it that I have to bear this cross of a difficult relationship?

Why is it that I have to bear this cross of financial burden?

For some of you, this financial thing is a problem because it's almost cyclical.

And you're like, I've tried all the right things, but it's like I constantly keep falling into the same issue.

Say, why am I bearing this cross?

Here is what Christ is teaching us.

You must go through the cross to get to the crown.

And the crown is not established until Jesus Christ comes back.

Jesus is saying, if you're a follower of mine, understand this life is going to be difficult.

It's part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

But as you make your way through that cross, the crown is waiting on the other side.

Can I get an amen?

And that's why Christians for years have always looked forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

We want the kingdom to come.

Why?

Because that's the kingdom we've been looking for.

Number one, the kingdom is now.

Number two, the king must be rejected.

But number three, the king will return.

Can I get an amen?

Yeah, the king will return.

Jesus Christ is coming back and he talks about it here in verse 26.

When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was Noah's day.

Stop.

Jesus said, you want to know what it's like when I come back?

First of all, I already am here, so the kingdom is now.

And I've got to die and be buried and rise from the grave, and then I'll be rejected, and then I'll come back.

But you want to know what it's like when I actually come back?

He gives two analogies.

The first one is, it'll be like the days of Noah.

And the second, it'll be like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

These are the words of Jesus.

So first, he talks about Noah.

He says, when I come back, the world will be like in the days of Noah.

In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up until the time that Noah entered into the boat,

and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Now everybody listen, if you only like, hey listen, if you only like baby Jesus, right?

Like that's your favorite Jesus?

Or you like shepherd Jesus holding a lamb?

You know?

Just turn your mind off.

You don't want to see this side of Jesus.

You won't like this side of Jesus.

Because you like to control the narrative of who Jesus is in your mind.

You're not going to like this part.

Because Jesus said, the world is coming to an end.

It'll be like it was with Noah.

And in Noah's day, people were eating and drinking.

They were having banquets and parties and getting married.

And all of a sudden, sudden apocalypse.

That's what it'll be like when I come back.

Normal life, sudden apocalypse.

Verse 28, the world will be as it was like in the days of Lot.

You say, who was Lot?

Lot was the man who was in Sodom and Gomorrah with his family.

People went about their daily business, eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building.

Until the morning that Lot left Sodom.

And what happened when Lot was rescued out of Sodom?

When Lot was rescued out of Sodom, sudden apocalypse.

The world was doing their own thing, ignoring God, cursing God, filled with sin, didn't care about God.

Yes, there was this tiny little family of people who did believe in God, but they were irrelevant.

They were nobodies.

They were to be spit upon.

They were to be looked down upon.

They were nobodies.

And Jesus said, that's the way it'll be whenever I come back.

And Jesus then says, that's when fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Yes, Jesus says.

Yes, it will be business as usual right up until the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Pastor, what's it going to be like when Jesus comes back?

I'll tell you what it's going to be like.

It's going to be like this.

When Jesus comes back, it's just going to be a normal day to the rest of the world.

They're going to be doing their own thing, living their own lives, not thinking about God, not thinking about Jesus, not thinking about sin, not thinking about God's point of view.

They're going to be celebrating every sin they want to celebrate.

They're going to be doing everything they want to do.

They're going to be living their life in any way they want because there is no God, just like it was in Sodom and Gomorrah and just like it was in the days of Noah.

And then there will be sudden apocalypse where the world is destroyed.

You say, you believe that?

That's what Jesus said.

I believe the things Jesus says.

You say, man, that's a terrible thing.

It is a terrible thing.

It's a terrible thing that the people of Noah's day rejected God.

It's a terrible thing that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah rejected God.

And it's a terrible thing that in our world today, people are rejecting God.

It's a terrible thing.

And then God says, when I come back, before I can establish the kingdom, I need to eradicate the temporal, sinful, disgusting world that has been destroying itself.

You say, why?

Because this world, though as nice as it looks, it's filled with hate and violence and war and disease and death and anger and malice and lust and rage and destruction.

And so we as Christians have said for years, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come.

Why? Because we know all of this is a facade.

On that day, the person Jesus says, the person that is out on the deck of the roof must not go down into the house to pack.

A person out in the field must not return home.

Remember what happened to Lot's wife.

Jesus said, in that moment, as you see the end approaching, do not cling to this world.

Let me ask you a question.

Have you seen this world heading in a bad direction?

Like genuinely.

Did you know there's not very many people in this entire society who don't believe that our world is headed to hell?

They'll tell you different reasons why they believe our world is in trouble, but everybody knows something's not right.

And listen to me, my dear friend, who cares what all of them believe?

I'm asking you what you believe.

When you look around the world and you think something's not right here, do you know why you feel that way?

Because something's not right here.

Something inside of you is telling you this is all headed to a bad place.

You say that's just what a few people believe.

No, even the secularists, even those who don't believe in God, they know the end is coming.

Say how do you know that?

Because all the movies they make and all the books they write are all about the coming apocalypse.

Deep inside they all know we're headed there.

The difference is they think the answer to the question is humanity.

They think we who kill each other are the answer to our own problems.

Well, I can't God be the answer because they rejected God long ago.

There is no God. Why did they reject God?

Because they don't want to submit to a deity other than themselves.

And so Jesus said this would be happening once again, verse 33.

If you cling to this life, you will lose it.

And if you let your life go, you will save it.

In that night, now Jesus describes what it's going to be like when he comes back.

In that night, two people will be asleep in one bed.

One will be taken, the other left.

Two women will be grinding flour in the mill.

The one will be taken and the other left.

Did you notice something interesting about the story of Lot and the story of Noah?

Before God came and destroyed the society, he rescued his believers out of the society.

Did you notice that?

So Jesus said it'll be the same thing when I come back.

Before I come and destroy the world, he's going to rescue his people out of that.

We as Bible believers call that the rapture.

Where God rescues his believers out before the judgment begins.

This is what the Word of God teaches.

When the king returns, he will gather his family for protection,

but he will also gather his enemies for destruction.

And that's what the next verse says.

When and where will this happen, Lord?

The disciples asked and Jesus said,

Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby,

so are the signs that indicating that the end is near.

Jesus tells us in Luke chapter 21 and in Matthew chapter 24 and 25,

Luke 21 · chapter mention Matthew 24 · chapter mention

the last judgment that God brings is Jesus puts all of the unbelievers on one side,

He calls them goats, and all of the believers on the other side, He calls them sheep.

And He brings the sheep into His family permanently into heaven,

and He sends the goats to hell.

That's what Jesus says.

So He doesn't just gather His family for protection,

He gathers the unbelievers for destruction.

When and where will this happen?

The disciples asked and they said,

Jesus said, I'll tell you when it's going to happen.

Do you know what it's like when you see a bunch of vultures flying in the sky?

What does that tell you?

Death is coming.

Death is coming.

I want to listen, I want to talk to you honestly.

You look at the world, don't you see the vultures?

The signs of the times?

Look, if you're on social media or if you are listening to the celebrity culture,

they're going to tell you that vulture is really good for us,

that vulture is really good, and that vulture is a good sign.

But inside of your heart, you know this is not looking good.

Jesus says, when you see the vulture circling, you know death is close.

When and where will this happen?

We call it Armageddon.

It's the apocalypse.

It's the end of all things.

Now this is just one sermon,

so I don't have a chance to talk about all the rapture and the tribulation period

and the battle of Armageddon and all those things.

I do have a sermon series coming up in October.

It's called Apocalypse Now.

Be here for it.

For those who are new to the church, we work through a book of the Bible.

Right now, the book of Luke.

We're in Luke 17, and in October, we're going to be in Luke chapter 21.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

And in Luke chapter 21, Jesus gives his final sermon to a large crowd.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

It's called the Olivet Discourse, and Jesus explains in detail

what the end of the world will go through.

And if that's something that's interesting to you,

boy, you need to mark your calendars and be here for it.

Pastor Josh, this is a really sad sermon.

This is very dour.

Well, I guess it depends on your perspective.

Like genuinely, if you're here today and you reject God and you want nothing to do with it,

yeah, of course this could be sad and dour.

Don't you understand? Listen, don't you understand?

I really want to address this.

Don't you understand?

My goal is not to bring you in here and to make you feel good.

You understand?

I hope you do sometimes feel good.

It's a great place to be, but that's not the primary goal.

The goal is not to come in and validate every thought you've ever had is the right thought.

Every idea you've ever had is the right idea.

You're the best already that you've ever been.

Go forward. That's not my goal.

You can go all over the world and pay people to tell you everything you want to hear.

My goal is to tell you what Jesus said.

And Jesus said, hey, I'm coming back.

I'm going to destroy the world.

And if you want to follow me, you can.

So it's a dour perspective from that perspective.

But I'll tell you, it's actually a really beautiful thing when you think about the original question.

The original question was, hey, Jesus, when is the coming of your kingdom?

And Jesus said, I'll tell you, we have to go through all of this bad stuff to get to the good stuff.

And when Jesus Christ comes back and the apocalypse is over, the kingdom of God gets to start.

And the kingdom of God is awesome.

Friend, the world, the way you know it is not the way the world was intended to be.

But in the kingdom of God, there will be no sorrow, there will be no hunger, there will be no homeless,

there will be no disease, there will be no war, there will be no hate, there will be no death.

The former things are passed away and all things are made new. We will be there.

That's exciting to the believer.

But to the rejecter of God, of course it's damning.

Of course it's scary.

It's supposed to be.

Man, I look forward to the kingdom of God, peace and prosperity to all.

And He's offering it to you.

Okay, so Josh, what do I do with this information?

Right? Like, wow, Jesus, like, what do I do with this?

Okay.

The answer is, you got to tell people.

Don't you get it?

How many of you believe Jesus?

Say amen.

You got to tell people.

This is what, sudden apocalypse.

Now, let me just warn you, I love you Christians, let me just warn you.

Be aware of how you tell people.

Don't be a weirdo. You know what I mean? We got a lot of weirdos.

Like some of you are already on Amazon and ordering boxes and markers, you know.

You're going to be standing out on the corner next week.

That's not going to help.

It's not going to help.

You say, what do I do?

Get to know people, love those people and tell them, hey, hey.

Can I tell you about Jesus?

And once you live out your authentic, genuine, true Christian life, here's what will happen.

Other people will see it, other people will ask questions,

and what will happen is they themselves will be drawn to the truth

and they'll come to church and they'll get saved.

Can I get an amen?

That's what happens. That's what happens here all the time.

That's what happened here. You see this little boy?

You're like, of course we all see this little boy, amen.

This is Daisy.

Daisy's been a friend of mine for years.

And she's been part of this church sitting right up here for two and a half years.

And for two and a half years, Daisy, I saw her sitting here

and then I saw her as her belly began to grow

and she had a baby in there, amen.

Otherwise that would be an awkward thing to say.

Sitting right here all the time, all the time, every week, every Sunday.

And then a few weeks after that, I saw her holding a baby.

There's a baby in her arms.

I'm like, wow, that's amazing.

And then the baby start growing up and now the baby's walking around.

And then about, I don't know, two months ago,

I saw a young man sitting beside her.

And I'm like, is that her brother? That's what I thought.

I'm like, I found out, no, that's the guy.

And I'm like, oh, we've been waiting for this guy.

And that's the guy right there.

And a couple of weeks ago, he came to me after the service

and he shook my hand. He's like, Pastor Josh, you've got to help me.

I said, what? He said, we've got to go to the coffee shop and talk.

Right? And I said, about what?

He said, I've got to be a good Christian father.

That's what he said.

And I'm like, okay, well, you've got to start by becoming a Christian, you know.

And so we went to coffee, was it a couple of days ago?

Friday?

And Joshua right there at coffee bowed his head and received Jesus Christ as his savior.

Amen?

Now listen, listen.

I can't save the world, neither can you.

That's Jesus' job.

But what you can do is you can help a few people come to know Jesus.

So that those people don't have to go through that stuff.

Yeah?

So who, who, who are you supposed to bring to church?

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the chance to study your word, to get to know you, to understand more about the apocalypse, the end of times.

Jesus, my prayer is that you would help all of us to take the truths that we know and graciously and kindly tell people about you and invite them to church,

that they don't have to suffer the judgment on this world.

In Jesus' name we pray.