Luke 17:25-30. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 17, 2021.
Last week, we talked about the perils of refusing to repent. Today, we are going to focus on the positive side that has been chosen by every godly saint of the past. They chose to walk in faithfulness when most around them refused to repent. May God help us to be faithful to Him in this generation.
Let’s look at our passage.
In this passage, Jesus teaches his disciples about his 2nd Coming. The day will come when they long for it. However, in that time, deceivers will come trying to take advantage of that desire. False christs and false prophets will try to feed upon the flock, the people of God.
Our section begins with a phrase, “but first.” This pulls the disciples back from the 2nd Coming into the days that were immediately in front of them. Jesus would suffer many things and be rejected. His disciples would also suffer many things and be rejected because they belonged to him.
Historically, we see that though the Gospel has been accepted by many, the majority of the world has rejected Jesus and his true followers. Some places have outright rejected it and follow false religions, and wishful philosophies. Here in the West, many still give lip service to Christianity, but the truth is that those who hold the power in our land hate the truth of Christ, and those who will follow him. The Church Age has been a mixture of acceptance and rejection, but it must be clear to us that world does not want Christ to rule over it. Thus, many religious leaders play the prostitute with world power and become unfaithful to Christ, leading their followers to be unfaithful too.
One of the reasons this world rejects the message of Christ is because they want to continue life like normal. They want to keep sinning, whether in outright rejection of God, or within the costume of a Christian. In the face of a Judgment Day that God has warned will come, we still cling to life like normal.
It is funny how we will embrace change in things that are not for our good, and yet we will dig in our heels regarding things that are for our good, like repentance. Change that strokes my flesh is easy to embrace, but change that requires trusting God and walking in faithful obedience to Him does not stroke the flesh, and is hated by most.
The enemy of your soul is a spiritual being who knows your weaknesses. He knows that you have a powerful desire to just enjoy life. Change, repentance, always threatens that. So, he operates to get us to reject repentance, all the while embracing other changes that only pull us deeper into rejection of God. Do not kid yourself. The powers of this world have rejected God and His Anointed One, Jesus. They will use your desire for “life like normal,” to bait and switch you into a place where you allowed the enemy to take over our families, our cities, our country, and our world.
Jesus uses two historical events of God’s judgment to teach those who desire to be righteous how to proceed. The first is a global event (the Great Flood), and the second is a regional event (the destruction of Sodom and its area).
There was nothing wrong with the people of Noah’s day getting married, eating, and drinking. Noah’s sons were all married, and I am sure that they ate food while working on the ark. Though I am sure that the world was sinning in the way they married and ate, there was something more that was different about Noah’s family compared to the rest of the world. They did more than just do life (marriage, food) in a godly way.
The world had left God behind, pursuing their own vain imaginations, and the false gods of the pre-flood world. However, Noah and his family had not forgotten God. They had not abandoned His Words and commands.
Noah remembered that God had warned of judgment, and so he remained faithful to the Lord each day. We don’t know who first warned of judgment, but Jude 1:13-15 tells us that Enoch warned the world of God’s judgment. 2 Peter 2:5 tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. This was in the face of such great wickedness that God’s word tells us that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” You can’t tell such people to turn to righteousness without warning of the Judgment that Noah knew was coming. Most likely, Noah received ridicule and scorn for his trouble, but if he hadn’t been faithful to do so, he may have even lost his family to the world.
Sodom is in the same boat. Before the exploding meteorite took them away, we see that they had a witness of the God of heaven. First, in Genesis 14, we are told about an attack from Mesopotamia that sacks the city of Sodom and its surrounds. These nations took the plunder and many people as slaves and headed back to where they came from. When Abraham heard what happened, and that Lot had been taken, he and some friends pulled together a small force and caught up with the marauders. God gave Abraham victory over those nations and he brought back all of the plunder of Sodom. There is a whole scene where the king of Sodom watches as Abraham and Melchizedek give honor to the God of heaven who gave victory to Abraham. This was a powerful sign to Sodom that the gods that they served were useless, and the True God of Heaven had saved them through Abraham. This was the last grace that God gave to them. It was urgent that they repent of their wickedness and turn back to the God of heaven, but they wouldn’t. And so, they pursued the things of life that become meaningless (marrying, eating, drinking, planting, building, etc.) when we pursue them without God.
On top of this, in Genesis 19:9, the men of Sodom complain that Lot kept “acting like a judge” even though he wasn’t one of them. In other words, Lot continually proclaimed what was righteous in the face of their wickedness, and I am sure, warned of God’s judgment. The previous attack had been a shot across the bow. They could still repent and be saved an eternal judgment. They continued on with “life like normal” even though it was terribly urgent that they do the works of repentance.
There are things that are urgent, but they are not the most important. Repentance may never “feel” urgent, but it is of utmost importance. The pre-flood world didn’t see the urgency in making things right with God and so they perished. Sodom didn’t see the urgency in repentance and so one day they were gone.
Christian, we must warn this world of the judgment to come, like Noah, Lot, and Jesus. However, for everyone who embraces the message many others will hate it. We must steel our nerves for an increasing rejection of Jesus and his Word in this world. All the while, being faithful to sow the Gospel, water the seeds, and bring in the harvest that God supplies.
The wicked in both events are taken away from the earth in a final judgment. It is not a warning shot that warns them to repent. It is a final extinguishing of life, and as they enter into the grave, they are in a place in which it is too late to repent. The chance for repenting was over (this life), and nothing was left but the meting out of punishment.
It is interesting that the “taken away” phrase that Jesus uses can also be used of the righteous. Noah is put in an ark and taken away from the place of judgment. The world perishes, but he and his family are safe because they obeyed the instructions of God. The same is true with Lot. He is led by angels to flee to the mountains. They were taken away from the place of judgment.
The key is not the ark, or the mountains. These things cannot in and of themselves deliver. The key is God’s instructions. Imagine Lot saying to the angels, “I don’t have to go to the mountains. I can just build a boat like Noah did.” That may sound silly, but we can do this all the time as Christians. God is telling us what to do to navigate the days that we live in, but we persist in trying to cling to things that saved in the past. Let us not forget that God has both temporal judgments that serve as shots across the bow. Definitely, this Republic is experiencing this, and for some individuals it has proven to be a final judgment as they have left this world in death.
If you have rejected God then you will not be able to enjoy “the good life.” It will be an empty joy that continually pulls you down into destruction. The righteous of every generation walked in faithfulness to God when few others did. We cannot look to the world to teach us what is right and wrong. We must look to God and His Word, to Jesus and his apostles.
Perhaps you are reading this thinking what should I do? Has God told us to build an ark? No, He hasn’t. Has He told us to flee into the mountains and build a refuge? Not that I am aware of. However, let me say that God is capable of doing different things with different people. The key is having a relationship of faithfulness with Him. What he says to one person may not be what he says to another. Of course, I am not talking about moral issues, but about the practical matters of what we put our hands to do. Jesus has told us to proclaim the Gospel. Until he shows up and tells us to stop, we need to keep doing that, even when the world is crazy all around us. We may be afraid in the flesh, but God has promised to be with us. If you need further instructions, He is quite capable of giving them to you. The repentant who are faithfully walking with God will be preserved and remain to enjoy life, and the wicked will be swept away in judgment. This is what Revelation 19 is telling the world. Repent now before it is too late.
Christian put your trust in Christ and he will see you through. Simply do what he has told you to do. The ark is a metaphor for being in Christ through your trust in him. Don’t let the world talk you into getting out of the ark, out of relationship with Jesus. The mountains are a metaphor as well. The person who continually turns to God in prayer is fleeing to the Mountain of God, greater than any mountains, or powers of this world. Satan is raising up a powerful mountain over the earth and you will be tempted to flee into his mountain. It will take a person focused on the mountain of God to escape the fire that will fall upon the false mountains of this world. Keep doing the mission. This time, the Lord has promised to catch us up to his side while the world perishes under the weight of its own decisions, and refusal to repent.