Lucas 17
A.T. Robertson · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 17
Robertson on achreios - The word is common in Greek literature, but in the N. T. only here and Matt. 25:30 where it means “useless” (a privative and chreios from chraomai, to use). The slave who only does what he is commanded by his master to do has gained no merit or credit. “In point of fact it is not commands, but demands we have to deal with, arising out of special emergencies” (Bruce). The slavish spirit gains no promotion in business life or in the kingdom of God. Marvin
Lucas 17
Robertson - Do not rush after those who set times and places for the second advent. The Messiah was already present in the first advent (Luke 17:21) though the Pharisees did not know it. (Word Pictures in the New Testament) Related Questions: What does it mean that there will be false christs in the end times? Is it possible to know when Jesus is coming back? How should Christians respond when someone claims to be Jesus reincarnated? Are we living in the end times? Does the Bible prophesy a one-world government and a one-world currency in the end times? How should a Christian react to all the doomsday predictions out there? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE SECOND COMING? While all true followers of Christ surely long for His return, the question arises as to why do we long for it? Dr John MacArthur gives an excellent answer to this question, an answer that I have never really heard before, at least not presented as he does. I think you may be surprised at what he thinks is the primary goal of the Second Coming of Jesus (bolding and references added)... This particular sermon by Jesus in Luke 17 focuses not on the chronology of the sequence but on the nature of His coming. And the idea really is to convey to the Jews, both the Pharisees and the disciples of Jesus, both those who rejected Him and those who accepted Him, that their expectation of His Second Coming as a wonderful, joyous, happy celebration needs to be altered because the reality of His Second Coming is that it will be the most horrific event the world has ever seen. Yes, it will result in the establishment of His long promised Kingdom (ED: E.G., SEE Rev 11:14-15-note WHERE HIS KINGDOM IS DESCRIBED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SECOND OF 3 WOES REPRESENTING THE POURING OUT OF GOD'S WRATH ON THE WORLD). Yes, it will result in righteousness and peace and joy prevailing upon the earth (cf Ro 14:17-note). Yes, Jesus Christ will establish His throne in Jerusalem and will reign over the whole earth (Isaiah 2:2-note). Yes, it will be begin only with the righteous, those who are alive on the earth (HAVING SURVIVED THE HORRORS OF THE ANTICHRIST) at the establishment of that Kingdom and the saints who have been with Him in heaven returning with Him (Rev 19:14-note where "armies" include saints - see parallel description of "called and chosen and faithful" in Rev 17:14-note) so that you have the glorified and the earthly saints together making up the inhabitants initially of that Kingdom. Yes, it will be a restored earth. Life will be very different here. The lion and the lamb will lie down together. Children will play in a snake pit, etc (Isa 11:8-note). Those things which are part of the curse in our world today will be reversed in that age (ED: See characteristics of the Millennium). It will be a time when knowledge fills the whole earth (cf Hab 2:14-note) and wisdom reigns supreme. But, before the establishment of that Kingdom, it will be the Day of the Lord in the sense of judgment. Judgment, the likes of which the world has never seen, judgment that surpasses all past judgments put together. It will be the worst judgment ever and will be the total destruction of all the ungodly who will be sent to hell forever as Jesus establishes His reign of righteousness. The Jews did not understand that aspect of the Second Coming (ED: AND NEITHER DO MANY CHRISTIANS!) They assumed that the Messiah would come and set up His Kingdom and for them it would be joy, bliss, knowledge, wisdom, peace and righteousness. It would be an opportunity for the Jews to be proud of their condition rather than experience the humiliating oppression that they had endured for centuries. But the truth is, because they rejected their Messiah and because the world has continued to reject the Messiah, before the Messiah comes to set up His Kingdom, there must be a horrific global judgment (ED: THIS JUDGMENT IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN REVELATION 6-19)..... And so the Second Coming will be a time of judgment experienced by the whole world. This is part of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ that we do not like. There is a bitterness and a sadness. But part of loving Jesus' appearing as Paul said in 2 Ti 4:8-note is not just that He appears to establish His righteous Kingdom, but that He appears to put an end to sin and global rebellion. He appears to bring a put an end to the dishonor, the reproach and the scandalous, blasphemous attitudes that prevail in the world toward God and toward Christ (ED: IT IS DIFFICULT TO WATCH A MOVIE WITHOUT HEARING JESUS' MIGHTY NAME USED AS A CURSE WORD! AND THAT'S EVEN PG-13 MOVIES!) and toward the blessed Holy Spirit. The Second Coming will not be just a time of righteousness on the positive side, but will be a time of the destruction of the sinful world system over which Satan and demons rule (cf 1 Jn 5:19). And when saints are found under the altar in Revelation 6:10-note saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" They are not only crying for the His righteousness to enter the world, but they are crying for an end to sin. It’s much like the prophet Habakkuk who said a similar thing in Hab 1:2. It’s what the psalmist said, “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." (Ps 69:9) The psalmist is saying in essence "I feel the pain when Your name is dishonored. How long, O God, is Your name going to be dishonored.” It’s the same thing that Jesus said when He made a whip at the beginning and ended His ministry and cleansed His Father’s house. It’s that same attitude that longs for God to be vindicated and glorified and exalted and Christ to be lifted up and worshiped and not to be so dishonored as He is today. Spiritual maturity can be defined in those terms. The spiritually mature are those who look for the Second Coming not for any personal gain but for the glory of Christ. That’s what spiritual maturity is. It’s when you love His appearing for His sake. It’s when you long for His appearing for His sake. It’s when you’re so caught up in wonder, love and praise toward Christ that you want to see Him vindicated, you want to see Him exalted, you want to see the glorious manifestation of the children of God not just for the sake of the children of God as wonderful as that is, but for the sake of the One who has made us the children of God, our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. You can understand the words of the psalmist who says that the reproaches that fall on You also fall on me. You feel that pain when You’re dishonored. (ED: THIS BEGS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION - YOU DO FEEL THE PAIN OF THE REPROACHES OF CHRIST DON'T YOU WHEN YOU ARE WATCHING A MOVIE AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY USE HIS NAME IN VAIN? OR YOU ARE IN A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE AND THEY INTERJECT HIS NAME AS A CURSE WORD? DO YOU NOT FEEL HIS PAIN? DO YOU TURN THE MOVIE OFF? DO YOU SHARE JESUS WITH THE PERSON WHO HAS JUST USED THE NAME ABOVE NAMES IN VAIN? AS AN ASIDE, I REALIZE THIS QUESTION PUTS A DAMPER ON MANY/MOST MODERN MOVIES WHICH ARE MOVING MORE AND MORE TOWARD "R-Rated" OR EVEN "MA -Rated." IF YOU LIKE MOVIES BUT YOU ARE PAINED TO HEAR HIS NAME TAKEN IN VAIN, LET ME SUGGEST YOU CONSIDER FILTERING OUT THE BLASPHEMY, CURSING, SEX, ETC BY USING AN INTERNET BASED PROGRAM CALLED VIDANGEL. I HAVE BEEN USING IT TO GREAT ADVANTAGE WITHOUT ANY LOSS OF CONTINUITY OF THE FLOW. AND IF YOU FIND THAT FILTERING THE OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT RESULTS IN SAY REMOVING 15 MINUTES OF A 90 MINUTE MOVIE, THEN YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF "SHOULD I BE WATCHING IT ANYWAY, EVEN WITH THE FILTERING?" JUST A THOUGHT TO CONSIDER. I AM NOT YOUR JUDGE!) (Dr MacArthur continues) It grieves me when our Lord is dishonored. It grates on me. It pains my heart when He is dishonored by those who are anti-Christ, anti-God and it is sometimes even more painful when He is dishonored by those who name His Name and then misrepresent Him and use His Name to abuse people to further their own ends. But whenever His name is dishonored, it is a heartache and a heartbreak to those who are spiritually mature. When I think about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, I don’t want to engage myself in some selfish thinking about the fact that I am going to be there to see the novelty of what the world is like when that happens. His coming is not just a curiosity or a fascination. It has to be beyond that. That’s why I’m not interested in the fictional approach to the Second Coming and I’m not interested in a fantasy when it comes to the Second Coming. I’m interested in the reality of the honor and the glory and the majesty of Christ being on display. I want His humiliation to come to an end in this world and His glory to begin. I don’t think many Christians seem to understand that today, many professing Christians. We live in a very self-centered, very overly narcissistic world. People are programmed to believe that they are the center of the universe, that the whole universe revolves around them. And even God is one of those revolving planets that moves around them to serve them. There’s a very superficial understanding of divine glory, a very superficial understanding of divine exaltation, divine honor, the lifting up of the majestic Christ. Really for decades, I think, evangelism efforts in the church in our sort of "minimalist theology" have been mostly sinner-centered and even more so lately. God loves you, He loves you unconditionally. He loves you so much He wants you to be happy. He loves you so much He wants you to be satisfied. He loves you so much He wants you to be healthy. He loves you so much He wants to deliver you from all disappointment and all pain and to take you to heaven. And if you don’t let Him do that, He’s really upset and unfulfilled. In other words, you’re the key to God’s fulfillment. It’s as if the salvation of the sinner is the goal of redemption and God is the means to that. That’s the very opposite of what Scripture teaches. The glory of God is the goal of redemption and the salvation of the sinner is the means to that. We are saved only that we might forever give glory to God, that we might forever exalt Christ. That’s why we are here doing what we do on the Lord’s day and only people who really understand that know what worship is all about. It’s not about a mood induced by certain music, it’s about being consumed with the honor and glory of God and Christ. And when you have a world where all the emphasis is on personal fulfillment, and then you devise a Gospel that simply fits into that world of personal fulfillment, you cheat people out of understanding the very purpose for salvation, the very essence of worship and the very reason why we hope for the return of Christ. Look, you’ve got a whole society of people who think the world exists to fulfill them so they can find their satisfaction, their fulfillment, their purpose, their place, be all they can be, their comfort zone. And if they haven’t found it already, then Jesus will help you find it. That will sell! I think that’s one reason why 85 percent of Americans say they are evangelicals (ED: SEE 2016 BARNA REPORT ON STATE OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA). They’re happy to have Jesus find their place for them. The gospel then becomes about what Jesus will do to fulfill you as the center of your universe, so that the well-being of the sinner becomes the goal of God’s plan. I admit that the well-being of the sinner is a wonderful reality. I embrace that reality with all my passion. But that’s only a means to an end and the end is the glory of God and the exaltation of Jesus Christ and we have been saved not so that we can be fulfilled, but that He can be glorified and in the process we are satisfied. But where you have people who think very little about the honor of Christ and the glory of God, you have people who have very little interest in the Second Coming and they are happy to be interested in it as a fantasy, a fiction, or fascination, but to long for it, to plead for it to cry with John, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus?” That’s a stretch. I think for the most part people really don’t care whether He comes or not, as long as they’re happy, satisfied. And if they die, they get to go to heaven. So you embrace Jesus as the means to your own personal fulfillment. And by the way, there’s an ongoing problem there because if Jesus doesn’t deliver what you think He should, you have a problem then in trusting Him and doubt, anger, disappointment and so disillusionment comes in when Jesus doesn’t perform to your satisfaction. With that mindset, there is no deep understanding of the nature or the character, the all-glorious exaltation of the Trinity and so it’s hard to get very excited about the return of Jesus Christ..... The Second Coming is about Christ, it’s about His glory and His honor and it’s about the end of sin and the beginning of righteousness. That’s why we long for it. And if you love the Lord with a mature love, then you have that longing for Him to be glorified. And really, loving the Lord is the priority, isn’t it? (cf Jesus' words in John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."). When God gave the Ten Commandments, the first commandment, the foundation of the will of God, this is what God wants as the foundation -- listen to His words, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:2-6) It’s always been about loving God, it’s always been about desiring the honor of God, the glory of God, the exaltation of God because you love God and that is why in Deuteronomy we are told that we are to "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Dt 6:5) It’s about loving God and it is that love for God that becomes consumed with the glory of God and the exaltation of God. We want the humiliation of God to come to an end. We want Christ to be vindicated. We want God to be glorified. We want to live in a world that honors Christ. We want to live in a world that honors God. Ultimately I could never really no matter what happens in the Christian world in which I move, I can never know a full and consummate and settled joy, I could never get the gnawing nagging agonizing pain out of my heart over the way God is constantly treated, and Christ, and the Spirit … both by those who reject His name and those who name His name. I want God to be vindicated and Christ and the Spirit. And so I long for the Second Coming because that’s when that vindication is accomplished. Turn to John 17 for a moment. In John 17 this gives you a perspective that may help you. Jesus is having a conversation, really a prayer with the Father here, this is a great prayer. In John 17:1, Jesus is speaking, lifting up His eyes to heaven. He says to the Father, ““Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.” That is what it’s all about. It’s all about God’s glory and the Son’s glory. And if you go down to Jn 17:24 you read this, “Father, I desire that they also whom Thou hast given Me (believers of all the ages) be with Me where I am.” Why? “In order that they may behold … what?… My glory.” This is the mature attitude because this is the heart and soul of the truth of the Gospel. We have been saved because the Father is taking out a Bride for His Son to give glory to His Son forever. We long for the Second Coming because we want to see the glory of Christ manifest. We want to see Christ glorified and in Christ being glorified the Father is glorified and in Christ being glorified and the Father being glorified, we are glorified as well. So that is the driving motivation and purpose for salvation. It is for the glory of God, the glory of Christ and we then by being made glorious become the means of glorifying God and Christ, praising Him for grace..... We want God glorified. We want Christ glorified. So the Second Coming is not some kind of adventure. It’s not some kind of a fascination. It’s not some kind of a curiosity. It is a passion for the mature believer who longs that Christ be glorified. (ED: DOES DR MACARTHUR DESCRIBE YOUR HEART ATTITUDE REGARDING THE SECOND COMING?) (Luke 17:31-37 Characteristics of the Coming King, Part 4) (Suggestion: This would be an excellent message to download and listen to a couple of times, so your heart grasps the fullness of the message from Dr MacArthur's heart. It is a message about the Second Coming which I certainly have never heard.) - click here to download the audio) Luke 17:24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. KJV Luke 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. for just like Job 37:3,4; Zechariah 9:14; Matthew 24:27 in Malachi 3:1,2; 4:1,2; Matthew 24:30; 25:31; 26:64; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2,8; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:10 Luke 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 17:20-37 The Present and Future Kingdom - Steven Cole Luke 17:23-25 7 Characteristics of the Coming King, Part 2 - John MacArthur Related Passages: Matthew 24:27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. SECOND COMING: VISIBLE GLOBALLY For (gar) is a term of explanation, which should always beg a question from the engaged reader - What is being explained? In this context Jesus is clearly explaining why we do not have to listen to reports of appearances of Christ or to those who set dates about His return, etc. We do not have to run after these false reports. To be ever looking for the Lord's appearing is one of the best helps to a close walk with God. -- J C Ryle Like the lightning - As lightning illumines the entire sky, the whole world will see the coming kingdom. As lightning strikes suddenly so too will be the return of the King! When the King returns, His arrival will not be subtle but obvious, not slow but quick, not local but global (how He does that I am not sure) for Jesus Himself taught "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory." (Mt 24:30-note) John adds "BEHOLD (idou), HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen." (Rev 1:7-note) There will be no need to turn on your television to check CNN or Fox News and no need to look at your Iphone or send a text alert to a friend, for all you will need to do in this day of His glorious return is lift up your eyes to the heavens from whence He comes! Regarding the suddenness of His return just as lightning is sudden, I often swim laps and if the guards hear thunder they know lightning is potentially nearby so they clear the pool so no one is electrocuted! When Jesus returns there will be no time to "clear the pool" of your life (figuratively speaking), for if you have rejected Him while today is still called today (Heb 3:13), like a lightning bolt suddenly striking a swimming pool, it is too late and your fate is sealed forever! Today is the best day of your life to enter into Jesus' Kingdom (Jn 3:3-5). Do not procrastinate or delay. James gives us a sobering warning writing "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit, for you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." (James 4:13-14) J C