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25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ~ Luke 17:25-30
Our text begins with the necessity of the cross of the Lord Jesus. "He must suffer many things." This is referring particularly to His death on Calvary's tree. And, our text is establishing the Lord Jesus will not come again until He takes sin and death head on and whips them.
In addition, notice in v.25, "But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation." The Lord Jesus cannot return until Israel's rejection of Him ends. Paramount in all of time and eternity is and will be the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Viewing all things through the lens of His cross is the answer. His cross makes sense of all things.
In Zechariah 12:10 we read, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
When Israel recognizes the pierced Lord Jesus, they will grieve and repent and return to the Lord. And, out of their broken condition they will cry out to Him and the penalty for their sins will be a thing of the past for those who believe.
In Romans 9-11, the Apostle Paul tells us that all Israel will be saved. This is the purpose of the the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:24-27, also known as the Tribulation. As the judgment of God is being measured out on the world during that time, at the same time Israel will be convicted and will turn back to the Lord.
Before all of this happens, the rapture of the church comes first. And then, according to Revelation 7, the Lord will purify a people (Israel) for Himself and a 144,000 will proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth, warning all of the greater judgment to come, calling them to return to the Lord for His salvation. When this happens, Christ will then return and set up His kingdom on the earth.
In Luke 17:26 we read, "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man." And, then in v.28 we read, "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building." This is referring to the Second Coming of Christ.
Here, the Lord Jesus used two Old Testament events to illustrating the certainty and the suddenness of His coming: the flood in Genesis 6-8 and the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah in Genesis 19. In both examples, the people of the world were caught unprepared as they engaged in their everyday lives. Noah witnessed to his generation in the years preceding the flood, but his preaching did not convert them. Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives were saved from destruction because they entered the ark.
Both Noah and Lot lived in days of moral decline. During “the days of Noah,” population growth was significant, lawlessness was on the increase, and the earth was given over to violence. In Lot’s day, the unnatural lusts of men were so abhorrent to God that He completely destroyed their cities. Only Lot, two of his daughters, and his wife were saved from God's judgment.
That's the way it will be in the days when the Son of Man comes. It didn't get better before the judgment fell in Noah and Lot's days and it won't get better before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus happens.
Evil will be rampant. In fact, we seeing it increasing now. According to Revelation 9, and Hell will release a force of demons that have been kept captive for a while. And, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, the Spirit of God who up until this time had restrained evil in the world, will be removed. So it will be like the day of Noah and like the day of Lot.
In v.29 we read, "But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all." It will come fast, and it will be inescapable. The results will be devastating.
Before the Flood, Noah was taken into safety in the Ark. Before the fire and brimstone, Lot and his daughters are taken to safety on a mountain. And before the unfolding of judgment during the Tribulation, God will rescue His own. And the ark of safety is the rapture of the church, the gathering together of His own, and then the judgment begins to be poured out. And even those that are converted during the time of the Tribulation, the 70th 7, they will be rescued from God's judgment. Noah and his family are caught away. Then comes the judgment. Lot and his daughters are caught away. Then comes the judgment. In the future, the redeemed and the beloved of the Lord will be caught away in the Rapture.
In v.30 we read, "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed." All on the earth will see Him at the Second Coming. Only those raptured up will see Him when He comes for us at the Rapture which could happen any day now. Are you ready? In Romans 10:9-10 we read, "9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
I recently had a conversation with a man whom I had shared the Gospel with just a year before. A year ago he told me he believed in the Gospel. Well, recently I asked him if he were to stand before God and God were to ask him, "Why should I let you into my heaven?" The man cited his good behavior for reason the Lord should let him into heaven.
This is the wrong answer, my friends. The only adequate answer is that the Lord Jesus went to the cross to absorb in His body the punishment for our sin which separated us from God. And, on the authority of God's word, when we believe that the Lord Jesus died for us, was buried and was raised from the grave for the forgiveness of our sin, we shall be saved. I trust this is what you have embraced, my friend.
