The 2nd Sunday in Advent

SERMON - The Kingdom Ours Remaineth!

INI

Text: Luke 17:20-30

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!’ or ‘See there!’ 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 shines to the other part under heaven, 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 Christ Jesus, of whose kingdom we are privileged to be a part, dear fellow redeemed:

The kingdom of God—few truths of God have raised more questions and been the subject of more confusion than that of the kingdom of God. For instance, have you ever been asked: “If there is a God, why does He allow disasters like Hurricane Katrina to occur?” That is a “kingdom of God” question. Or, have you ever heard about the Left Behind series of books and movies? They deal with the biblical truth of the end times, but speak of a “rapture” and a “millennial rule of Christ,” both of which are false teachings that have created tremendous confusion in the minds and hearts of believers. The kingdom of God is real! You and I by virtue of our faith in Christ play a role within it. That kingdom, however, is spiritual, rather than political. It is universal, rather than national. It is often internal, not just external. The kingdom of God is Jesus’ exercise of power within our hearts and those of all believers, as well as His demonstration of power on our behalf.

As we consider the kingdom of God this morning, we will use as our theme the last line of Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God—THE KINGDOM OURS REMAINETH! For Luther that thought was not theory! To the best of our knowledge Luther wrote this hymn in 1529—a critical year for the Protestant Reformation. Emperor Charles V had defeated his Catholic foes and was determined to deal with what he viewed as the Lutheran heresy. He demanded immediate submission by the Lutherans to his royal authority, and also in spiritual matters to the authority of the Roman Church. The situation looked grave—Charles had much larger armies than all of the Lutheran princes combined. The cause of the Reformation seemed lost. It was in that situation that Martin Luther reminded his fellow confessors of the kingdom of God—Christ’s power to move hearts and His power to protect lives! He is truly “a Mighty Fortress,” from within which believers have always been able successfully to oppose “the old evil foe!” Truly, Luther wrote and millions of Christians have since sung in both good times and bad—THE KINGDOM OURS REMAINETH! As Jesus’ words in our text further reveal: it is our present help, and it is our future hope!

I.

The kingdom of God is our present help! That is what Jesus was trying to explain to the Pharisees in the opening verses of our text. It was towards the end of Jesus’ ministry. He had left Galilee for the last time and was on His way to Jerusalem, passing through Samaria as He traveled. He had just demonstrated His power by healing ten lepers who approached Him as He walked through the countryside, pleading with Him to be merciful to them. Only one of them, a Samaritan, had come back to thank Him.

It was apparently shortly thereafter that certain Pharisees asked Jesus: “When will the kingdom of God come?” You see, the Pharisees had a concept of what the kingdom of God should be and, unfortunately, Jesus’ disciples seemed to share at least part of that concept. It was a view commonly held among the Jews of Jesus’ day. They thought of the kingdom of God as coming sometime in the future, when the Messiah promised by God would free them from the control of the Romans and establish an independent Jewish nation similar to that which had existed during the time of David and Solomon. They thought of the kingdom in terms of outward, political power and great material wealth—of which each of them, of course, would enjoy a share!

But that is not what Jesus, as the promised Messiah, had come to do. Their dreams of worldly power were not a reflection of the real kingdom of God. As Jesus would later tell Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus, therefore, responded by saying: “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed the kingdom of God is within you.” An alternate English translation of Jesus’ words, and perhaps a better one in this context, would be “the kingdom of God is among you.” Jesus, after all, was talking to the Pharisees who, because of their rejection of Him, were not members of that kingdom. But the kingdom of God—Jesus’ exercise of His power—was certainly evident among them.

Every miracle that Jesus performed was a demonstration of the powerful kingdom of God. He stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee demonstrating His control of nature. He had just cleansed ten lepers demonstrating His control over disease. He had cast out of numerous people multiple demons demonstrating His control over Satan and his forces of evil. He had raised the young man of Nain from the dead demonstrating His control over that judgment for sin. But beyond those obvious miracles were the changes to be seen in sinners—sinners such as Matthew the tax-collector, whose heart had been changed and who now in faith served as one of Jesus’ disciples rather than continuing a life of greed and theft. Jesus’ preaching was with power, convicting and convincing the hearts of many to turn to the Lord in simple repentance and to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins provided freely through His grace. The Pharisees were looking in the wrong places for the wrong type of kingdom, when in fact evidence of its presence was everywhere around them!

Dear friends, the knowledge that Jesus possesses all authority in heaven and on earth (cf. Matthew 28:18) and that He is prepared to use that authority on our behalf, should instill within our hearts a deep sense of joy, of peace, and of confidence. With the apostle Paul we can state emphatically: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) The kingdom of God is not ours to command—as if we were those in charge and Jesus serving as but our servant, doing this or doing that according to our bidding. No, Jesus is our Lord as well as our Savior—He determines when and how He will use His power, but we are time and time and time again the blessed recipients of His blessing. How often does not Jesus provide exactly what we need at just the right time and in just the right way! He is a God of details, working out for us all those things about which we so often worry—and needlessly so, for Jesus has all things under His control! Indeed, THE KINGDOM OURS REMAINETH! It is our present help!

II.

In addition, it is our future hope! Shortly after His conversation with the Pharisees, Jesus provided further explanation for His disciples. While it would appear that the disciples were perfectly content to bask in the kingdom glory of their Savior, Jesus knew what lay ahead. His mission was not to continue preaching to the multitudes and performing great miracles of healing. Rather He was heading towards Jerusalem in order to complete His work of atonement. He would shortly die in Jerusalem, be buried, but then arise again no longer to walk among His disciples, but rather to ascend in glory to His Father’s side. Consequently, Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for the rigors that lay ahead. It would not be easy to remain a follower of Jesus. Many of His followers would be persecuted, suffer great afflictions, and many would lose their lives. Yet, as Jesus had told them—the gates of hell would not prevail against His kingdom (cf. Matthew 16:18).

To instill within His disciples a sublime sense of hope Jesus points to the consummation of His kingdom—His return at the end of time. He lays out for them four truths concerning that return. First of all, that day won’t come as soon as they might wish. Jesus said, “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.” How often do we not get impatient waiting for Jesus’ promised return wishing that our particular situation in life might be very different? How often do we not long to see our Lord and to experience that for which we so strongly hope? Yet, the Lord has a purpose for our each and every day, and knowing that, we are to persevere.

Secondly, the day of Jesus’ return will be known to all and not happen in secret. Jesus said: “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 the heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.” This last week in our study of Comparative Religions, our Juniors and Seniors at our Immanuel Lutheran School studied the Adventist movement, which led to the rise of both the Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah Witnesses. The founders of both of these religious sects claimed to have special knowledge and made specific predictions concerning the time of Jesus’ return. All such predictions failed, for as Jesus Himself tells us concerning His return: “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Rest assured, dear children of God, when Jesus returns, you will know it!

Thirdly, there must first come a time of suffering, both for Jesus Himself and for us who follow Him. Remember, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for a final time during His earthly ministry. There He would suffer and die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. But Jesus warns us often in His word, as do His apostles, that we too will suffer. The apostle Paul told Timothy: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). This does not happen, because God is sadistic and enjoys seeing us suffer, nor do we ever suffer as a punishment for our sins, for Jesus bore that punishment Himself. No, we share in Christ’s sufferings now as part of His great struggle with the powers of darkness, in order that we might one day share in His glory in heaven.

Fourthly, the day of Jesus’ return will catch many people unprepared. Jesus warns us not to be like the people in Noah’s day who ignored his preaching, but spent their time eating and drinking, getting married and being given in marriage until Noah and his family entered the ark and the flood destroyed the earth. He warns us likewise not be like the people of Sodom in Lot’s day, who likewise failed to listen to his warnings, but just kept on selling and buying, planting and building until it rained down fire and brimstone and destroyed them all.

My dear friends, the kingdom of God is real! It is not “of” this world, in the sense that it involves political and material power, but it certainly is “in” this world, for Jesus’ power is being exercised within our hearts and on our behalf each and every day. He will come—at the end of time to claim us as His own. May we be found waiting—properly prepared and busy doing all of those things He would have us be doing to fulfill our individual responsibilities, our family obligations, and our spiritual and civic duties. To that end and until that time may we find joy, hope, patience, and strength in the name of Jesus, our precious Lord and Savior! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!