Jesus was a bearer of bad news

JESUS WAS A BEARER OF BAD NEWS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 17:22 22
Then he saidto his disciples,"The time is
coming when you will long to see one of the days of the
Son of Man, but you will not see it.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Brief Day Of Opportunity
Luke 17:22-25
W. ClarksonThe thought of our Masterin this passage (as I understand it) is
this: "I have been askedwhen the kingdom of God will come:my reply is that
it has come already; that you have not to look about in this and that direction;
here, in the midst of you, impersonated in him that speaks,is the kingdom. It
is present in the PresentOne. But," he says to his disciples, "he is present in a
very strict sense. The time will soonbe here when you will greatly long for his
fellowship, and you will not be able to possess it. Do not believe those who will
tell you that the Sonof man is still on earth; it will not be true. His life below
will be of the very briefest; it will be but as a lightning-flash which passes
through the darkenedheavens in a moment, and is gone again;so brief will be
his stay, so soonwill he be gone. But before he goes he must suffer many
things; much must be done, for much must be endured, before his short day is
done."
I. THE BRIEF DAY OF OUR LORD'S OPPORTUNITY. Whenwe think of
the long centuries that preceded, and of those that have alreadysucceeded, the
day of Christ, we may well regard his short visit to our world as a mere flash
of light for transitoriness. Whatwere those few months of his short stay
among men comparedwith all those dark ages, andto all those that have been
illumined by the light which his truth has shed upon them! But, transient as it
was, it sufficed. It does not take long to utter or to illustrate the most Divine
and the most vital truths; it did not take long to undergo the most mysterious

and the most availing sorrows - it took but a few agonizing hours to die the
death of atonement. Into that short day of opportunity our Divine Redeemer
compressed:
1. The utterance of all needful truth - all the truth we need for our guidance
into the kingdom of God, and for our passage throughlife and death into the
kingdom of glory.
2. The illustration of every human grace;the living of a human life in all its
perfect loveliness and grandeur.
3. The endurance of sorrow such as constituted him for everthe Man of
sorrows, andthe High Priestof human nature, touched with the feeling of our
infirmities (Hebrews 4:15).
4. The dying of that death which is the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. A few
months of time sufficed to complete his work and make him the Divine
Teacher, Leader, Friend, Saviour, of the whole race of man for all time to
come.
II. OUR BRIEF DAY.
1. Measuredby hours, our day is very brief. Human life is abort at the longest.
We are "but of yesterday,' and to-morrow we shall not be. The rocks and even
the trees look down on many generations. And in all the bustle and battle, in
all the pursuits and pleasures ofour lira, the little time we have hastens away
and is gone far soonerthan we thought it would go. It is not only our poetry
that sings, but our experience that testifies of the swiftness of our course
beneath the sun.
2. Yet it holds manifold and precious opportunities of regaining our position
as the children and heirs of God; of doing "many things" that shall tell even in
future years for truth and God; of "suffering many things" after Christ our
Lord, and in holy and noble fellowshipwith him (Philippians 3:10).
3. Its transiency is an urgent reasonfor
(1) immediate decision, and
(2) constant and earnestaction in the cause of righteousness,
Whilst we have the light that shines, let us walk and let us work in the light. -
C.

Biblical Illustrator
One of the days of the Son of Man.
Luke 17:22-24
Mistakendesires for Jesus
D. G. Watt, M. A.I. JESUS FORESHADOWSA CHANGE OF FEELING ON
THE PART OF HIS DISCIPLES IN REFERENCE TO HIS APPEARING.
They will desire to see one day a visible appearance ofthe Sonof Man. If you
have the spirit of Jesus, if He has come to you so that you know Him to be
your Saviour and Friend, you cannotbe free from such changes offeeling in
reference to Him. No. There come to you times in which you think, "Surely
my life in Christ is not pouring on me so clearlyand warmly as it might do."
You are inclined to murmur out such plaints as, "I cannot see His face,
though I have eagerlylookedfor it; waiting to catchsome beams of the
wondrous glory resting on it, and be able to say, 'It is the Lord.' I want to feel
His strong hand holding me up; but I do not graspit, though I stretchout
mine before, behind, on eachside. My prayer this morning was that I might
find to-day to be a day for a personaland new contactwith Jesus."So there is
a sense in which your feeling in reference to Him is somewhatchanged. The
day has come "whenye desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man."
II. JESUS FORESHADOWSHERE THE FAILURE OF SUCH DESIRES
FOR HIS APPEARING. "Ye shall not see it." He does not want His people to
indulge in vain dreamy longings. He does not want to frustrate hopes that at
the bottom might express loyalty to Him, but are mistakenas to the wayin
which their purport is to be achieved. He could not grant that which would
not be for the honour of God; that which would be to the hurt of those who
desired only one day of the Son of Man.
III. JESUS FORESHADOWSHERE THAT THERE WILL BE FALSE
ANNOUNCEMENTSMADE IN REFERENCETO HIS APPEARING.
"They shall sayto you, 'See here! or see there!'" From history we find that
there has hardly ever been a time of specialtrouble in the world, hardly ever a
time of formality and deadness in the Church, but men have risen up to
declare that the Son of Man was just coming, and that plans should be
adopted to meet Him. But that is not the kind of expectationI want to warn

you against;it is not the one that you are most in danger of succumbing to.
But is there not a tendency to gather religious meetings under the idea that
because you thus gathertogetherJesus will manifest Himself? Is there not a
tendency to believe that, if you can get up a greatorganization to carry out a
Christian purpose, obtain plenty of money, and seemto succeedoutwardly,
Jesus is there? Is that not saying, "See here, see there"? Againstall that sort
of thing His words ate meant to bear. You may gather meetings;you don't
necessarilygatherwith Christ. You may get wealthto support your efforts;
that is not a proof that Christ approves them. You may find numbers to
sustain certainplans; that is no pledge, on the part of those numbers, that
they are moving under the leading of Christ. You must learn that there is no
powerof life in those things by themselves. I do not despise meetings, wealth,
or numbers. There is a certainvalue to be attachedto them; but that value is
just equivalent to any number of cyphers, goodfor something when you put
one, two, or other numeral before them. So gather all kinds of people, money,
and meetings;but until you put Christ into them they are of no real value. It is
the powerof the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that is to be desired, not the
powerof external agencies. Praythat your heart may be brought more and
more into sympathy with His, and that you may more and more clearly know
that you are living on the Son of God by faith. Then you will not need anybody
to point out the Sonof Man to you when He comes. You do not need anybody
to tell you that there is light in this place — you know it; and when Christ
appears, His servants will know it without going by the reports of others,
without following any one. We shall know it by the power He Himself will
exert. Meantime we have to walk by faith, and not by sight.
(D. G. Watt, M. A.)
And why not
C. H. Spurgeon.While the Lord was yet on earth the days of the Son of Man
were but lightly esteemed. The Pharisees spokeofthem with a sneer, and
demanded when the kingdom of God should come. "Is this the coming of Thy
promised kingdom? Are these fishermen and peasants Thy courtiers? Are
these the days for which prophets and kings waitedso long?" "Yes," Jesus
tells them, "these are the very days. The kingdom of God is set up within
men's hearts, and is among you even now; and the time will come when you
will wish for these days back again, and even those who best appreciate them
shall ere long confess that they thought too little of them, and sigh in their
hearts for their return."
1. We are bad judges of our present experiences.

2. We seldom value our mercies till we lose them.
I. ConsiderTHE IMMEDIATE INTERPRETATIONofthe text.
1. Our Lord meant that His disciples would look back regretfully upon the
days when He was with them. In a short time His words were true enough, for
sorrows came thick and threefold. At first they beganto preachwith
uncommon vigour, and the Spirit of God was upon them. But by and by the
love of many waxed cold, and their first zeal declined; persecutionincreased
in its intensity, and the timid shrank awayfrom them; evil doers and evil
teachers came into the Church; heresies andschisms began to divide the body
of Christ, and dark days of lukewarmness and half-heartedness coveredthem.
2. These disciples would look forward sometimes with anxious expectation. "If
we cannot go back," they would say, "Oh that He would hurry on and quickly
bring us the predicted era of triumph and joy. Oh for one of the days of the
Son of Man."
II. AN ADAPTED INTERPRETATION SUITABLE TO BELIEVERS AT
THIS PRESENTMOMENT.
1. Days of holy fellowship with Jesus may pass awayto our deep sorrow.
While the Belovedis with you, hold Him, and do not let Him go. He will abide
if you are but eagerfor His company.
2. Days of delightful fellowship with one another. Let us labour in love, zeal,
humility; for a continuance of these all our life long.
3. Days of abundant life and powerin the Church.
III. A MEANING ADAPTED TO THE UNCONVERTED. Whenon your
death-bed you will be willing to give all you possessto he able once again to
hear the voice of God's minister proclaiming pardon through the blood of
Jesus. Emotions formerly quenched will not come back; you resistedthe
Spirit, and He will leave you to yourself; and yet there will be enough,
perhaps, of conscienceleftto make you wish you could again feelas when
almost persuadedto be a Christian.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Days of holy privileges
DeanVaughan.Two kinds and sets ofdays are here contrasted:coming days
and days that are now. The generalthought is very natural and very human.
It might be said to almost any one at certain periods of life, that he will one
day be looking back upon that period wiG, regretful fondness, even though it
may not be entirely bright or altogetherenjoyable while it is passing. Days of

childhood, though many restrictions have fettered, and many faults may have
saddenedthem; days of schoollife, though often complained of at the time as
days of burdensome lessons, arbitrary rules, and irritating punishments; days
of early struggle, and hope long deferred, in the practice of a profession;days
of uncertain health or variable spirits, while opinion, faith, and habit, are
anxiously shaping themselves, and the aspects and prospects oflife are in
many ways both gloomy and formidable; of all these, and many other
examples might be added to them, it might yet be said with greattruth by an
experiencedlooker-onto the person passing through them: "Days will come
when ye will be desiring to see one of these days over again, and when, alas,
you shall not see it! Yes, you may well prize, while you have them, the days
that are now, though they may be very far from perfect, either in opportunity
or in circumstance;for assuredlyyou will one day be desiring one of them
back — no tears and no prayers of yours will be of any avail to recallit."
When our Lord said here to His disciples:"The days will come when ye will
desire to see one of these days" — "days of the Son of Man," He calls them —
"and ye shall not see it," there was a solemnity and a pathos in the prediction
far beyond the universal experience of which we have spoken. There was
much to make the days of that time far from enjoyable. They were days of
unrest; they were days of toil; they were days of anxiety; they were days also
of perplexity and bewilderment in spiritual things. They were very slowlyand
very intermittently realizing very elementary conceptions. Theyhad no such
hold of greathopes or greatfaiths as might have made their heaven all
brightness, whatever their earth might be. They were always disappointing
their Masterby some expressionwhich betrayed ignorance, orby some
proposalwhich threatenedinconsistency, which must have made, we should
have thought, the very memory of those days of the Son of Man a bitterness
rather than a comfort. Yet it is quite plain that our Lord lookedupon those as
in some sense happy days for them. "The days will come when ye will desire to
see one of them, and sorrow because ye cannot." "Canye make the children
of the bride-chamber fastwhile the bridegroom is with them?" And in that
last clause He touches the one point, which makes those happy days for them,
whatsoevertheir drawbacks, and whatsoevertheir discomforts;it was the
personalpresence of the loved and trusted Lord. In that one respectthey
would be losers evenby the accomplishmentof redemption. "A little while,"
He said, as the end drew on, "a little while, and ye shall not see Me, and verily
I say unto you, that then ye shall weepand lament, while the world is
rejoicing, then ye shall be sorrowful, though at lastyour sorrow shall be
turned into joy." Yes; when He speaks ofa sorrow in separation,andthen of a
joy growing out of it, He combines in a wonderful and a merciful way the

natural and the spiritual, recognizes the difficulty of rising into the higher
heaven of faith, and yet points us thither for the one real and one abiding
satisfaction. We have had no such personal experiences as these whichthe text
tells of — none of those companyings with Jesus, as He went in and out among
the disciples. It is only from afaroff that we can contemplate that living
companionship. It is only by a remote emulation that we can desire one of
those days of the Son of Man. In the hope of catching some distant ray of that
glory travellers have sometimes soughtthe land of Christ's earthly sojourn, if
so be they might live themselves back into the days of His ministry and of His
humanity. But others, with a truer and a deeperinsight, have soughttheir
inspiration in the holy Gospels, have readand pondered those four sacred
biographies till they could see and hear Him in them, without those
distractions of surrounding imagery and scenerywhich canbut divert the soul
from that heavenlier wisdom. "He is risen; He is not here." It is not in
hallowedground, any more than in imaginative dreaming, that we shall find,
in this far-off century of the gospel, the best and most life-like conceptionof
what the text calls "the days of the Son of Man." Rather shall we seek to
frame our idea of them — first, in the most human and personal contactwith
such wants and woes as He came to seek out and to minister to; and, secondly,
in the diligent study and imitation, so far as we may, of those characteristics
and those ministries which, in our own day and generation, make the nearest
approach, howeverdistant it must be, to the characterand ministry below of
the Divine Son Himself. To acquaint ourselves, not as unconcernedhearers,
but as sorrowing sympathizers, with the actual condition at our very doors of
the toilers and sufferers by whose labour — alas!too often by whose sacrifice
— the wealthand luxury, nay, the comforts and conveniences ofthe higher
English life, are made what they are; not to shrink from the contemplation
with a sentimental repugnance, but to compelourselves to take notice of it,
and to encourage by word and deed, by giving and feeling, all the serious
enterprises by which English manliness, and Englishphilanthropy, and
English Christianity, late or early seek and strive to grapple with it. Thus, on
the one side, we shall be realizing the days of the Son of Man. Forthis was the
earth which He came to save, and this was the man whom He took upon Him
to deliver. True, He did not become Himself the denizen of an overgrowncity.
He did not take our flesh in the midst of that swarming hive of humanity,
imperial Rome. He did not wait for that latestage which should develop into
its gigantic proportions such a metropolis as this London. But no monstrous
growth and no uttermost corruption was out of the ken and scope ofHis
incarnation. The days of the Son of Man are whereverChrist and misery
stand face to face. Whosoevertries to bring Jesus Christ into one lodging-

house or one alley of sinning, suffering London, is doing more to realize to
himself, and to others, the ministry of the Saviour, than if He tried to track
His earthly footsteps through Palestine, orto picture in vivid imagination the
very occupations and employments of the days of His flesh.
(DeanVaughan.)
COMMENTARIES
EXPOSITORY(ENGLISHBIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(22)When ye shall desire to see
one of the days of the Son of man.—The words express both the backward
glance of regret, and the forward look of yearning expectation. The former
feeling had been described before, when the disciples were told that the
children of the bride-chamber should fast when the Bridegroomshould be
takenfrom them (Luke 5:34; Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19). The latter was
expressedby-one of those who were now listening, when he spoke ofmen as
“looking for and eagerlyhasting” the coming of the day of God (2Peter3:12);
by another, when he recordedthe cry of the souls beneath the altar, “How
long, O Lord?” (Revelation6:10). It is, we must re member, the disciples, and
not the Pharisees, who are now addressed. In the long, weary years of conflict
that lay before them, they would often wish that they could be back againin
the pleasantdays of friendly converse in the old Galileanlife, or that they
could be carriedforward to the day of the final victory. Analogous emotions
of both kinds have, of course, been felt by the successorsofthe disciples in all
ages ofthe Church. They ask, Why the former days were better than the
latter? (Ecclesiastes7:10);they ask also, in half-murmuring impatience, “Why
tarry the wheels of His chariots?” (Judges 5:28);sometimes, evenin the
accents ofunbelief, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2Peter3:4).
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/context/luke/17-22.htm"Luke 17:22-25.
The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of
man — One day of mercy, or one day wherein you might converse with me, as
you do now. Having spokento the Pharisees,he now addressedhis disciples,
and in the hearing of the Pharisees prophesiedconcerning the destruction of
the Jewishstate, whose constitution, both religious and civil, was the chief
obstacle to the erectionof his kingdom; for the attachment which the Jews
had to their constitution was the spring of all their oppositionto Christianity,
and of their cruelty to its abetters. A prediction of this nature, delivered as the
continuation of his answerto the Pharisees, who desiredto know when

Messiah’s kingdomshould come, plainly signified, that it would first become
conspicuous in the destruction of the Jewishcommonwealth. But because love
and compassionwere eminent parts of our Lord’s character, he spake ofthat
dreadful catastrophe in such a manner as might be most profitable to his
hearers. He told them, first of all, that they and the whole nation should be in
the greatestdistress before the destruction of their constitution, and the full
establishment of Messiah’s kingdom;and that they should passionatelywish
for Messiah’s personalpresence to comfortthem under their afflictions, but
should not be favoured with it. Next he cautionedthem againstthe deceivers
which, in that time of universal distress, would arise, pretending to be the
Messiah, andpromising to deliver the people from the powers which
oppressedthem. He told them, that these deceivers would lurk a while in
private, till, by the diligence of their emissaries spreading abroadtheir fame,
and exhorting the people to go out to them, they had gathereda force
sufficient to support them. They shall say to you, See here, or see there; go not
after them — Do not go forth to them, nor follow them, for by this mark you
shall know them to be deceivers. Foras the lightning, &c., shall the Son of
man be in his day — So manifest, so swift, so wide, so irresistible, so awful in
its consequencesshallhis coming be. He shall come, indeed, but in a manner
very different from that in which the generality of this people expect him,
even to execute a sudden and unavoidable destruction upon his enemies, and
establishhis religion and government in a greatpart of the world. See notes
on Matthew 24:23-27. Butfirst he must suffer many things — See on Matthew
16:21;Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary17:20-37The kingdom of God was
among the Jews, orrather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom,
setup in the heart by the powerof Divine grace. Observe how it had been with
sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had
been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this
destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when
the Sonof man is revealed. When Christ came to destroythe Jewishnation by
the Romanarmies, that nation was found in such a state of false securityas is
here spokenof. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the
world, sinners will be found altogetherregardless;for in like manner the
sinners of every age go on securelyin their evil ways, and remember not their
latter end. But wherever the wickedare, who are marked for eternal ruin,
they shall be found by the judgments of God.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible(The days will come He here takes occasionto
direct the minds of his disciples to the days of vengeance whichwere about to

fall on the Jewishnation. Heavy calamities will befall the Jewishpeople, and
you will desire a deliverer.
Ye shall desire - You who now number yourselves among my disciples.
One of the days of the Son of man - The Son of man here means "the
Messiah,"without affirming that "he" was the Messiah. Suchwill be the
calamities of those times, so greatwill be the afflictions and persecutions, that
you will greatly desire "a deliverer" - one who shall come to you in the
characterin which "you have expected" the Messiahwould come, and who
would deliver you from the power of your enemies;and at that time, in the
midst of these calamities, people shallrise up pretending "to be" the Messiah,
and to be able to deliver you. In view of this, he takes occasionto caution them
againstbeing led astrayby them.
Ye shall not see it - You shall not see such a day of deliverance - such a
Messiahas the nation has expected, and such an interposition as you would
desire.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary22. The days—rather"Days."
will come—asin Lu 19:43, when, amidst calamities, &c., you will anxiously
look for a deliverer, and deceivers will put themselves forward in this
character.
one of the days of the Son of man—Himself againamong them but for one
day; as we saywhen all seems to be going wrong and the one personwho
could keepthem right is removed [Neanderin Stier, &c.]. "This is saidto
guard againstthe mistake of supposing that His visible presence would
accompanythe manifestation and establishment of His kingdom" [Webster
and Wilkinson].
Matthew Poole's Commentary Our Lord spendeth his further discourse in
this chapter in a forewarning of his disciples of those greattroubles which
should follow His departure from them. At present the Bridegroomwas with
them, and they could not mourn; for many years after that he was departed
from them
the days of the Son of man continued, that is, gospeldays, times wherein the
gospelof Christ was freely preached to them. But (saith he) make use of that
time, for it will not hold long; there will come a time
when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see
it. These evil days beganwhen false Christs and false prophets rose up, which
was most eminently a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, which

happened about forty years after. Every factious person that had reputation
enough to make himself the head and leader of a faction, taking his advantage
of the common error of the Jews, thata Messiah, a Christ, was to come, who
should exercise a temporal kingdom over the Jews, wouldpretend to be, and
give out he was, the Messiah, to draw a faction after him. This is that which
our Saviour saith in the next words.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd he said unto his disciples,.... Who also
were expecting a worldly kingdom, and external honours, and temporal
emoluments, and riches;and therefore to take off their minds from these
things, and that they might not have their expectations raisedthis way, but, on
the other hand, look for afflictions and persecutions, he observes to them,
the days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the son of
man; , "the days of the Messiah", a phrase frequently used in Jewishwritings;
that is, when they should be glad to enjoy one such a day in the personal
presence ofChrist, as they now did; and instead of looking forward for happy
days, in a temporal sense, they would look back upon the days they have
enjoyed with Christ, when he was in personamong them, and wish they had
one of those days again; when besides his corporealpresence, andspiritual
communion with him, and the advantage of his ministry and miracles, they
bad much outward peace and comfort: whereas in those days nothing but
afflictions and persecutions abode them, whereverthey went; so that by these
words Christ would have them to understand, that they were not to expect
better times, but worse, and that they would be glad of one of the days they
now had, and in vain wish for it:
and ye shall not see it, or enjoy it. Moreover, days and opportunities of public
worship, of praying to the Lord, of singing his praise, of hearing his word, and
of attending on his ordinances, may be called days of the son of man, or
Lord's days; see Revelation1:10 even the first days of weeks, onwhich days
the apostles, andprimitive churches, met togetherfor religious worship: and
these may very well be calleddays of the son of man, since, on those days, he
first appearedto his disciples, after his resurrection, John 20:19 and on the
same days his disciples and followers met togetherto preachin his name, to
hear his Gospel, and to commemorate his sufferings and death, Acts 20:7 and
still continue to do so; and seeing he often meets with his people at such
seasonsand opportunities, fills them with his Spirit, communicates his grace,
and indulges them with fellowship with himself, which make those days
desirable ones:but sometimes so violent has been the persecutionof the saints,
that they have not been able, for a long time, to enjoy one of those days
openly, and with freedom, though greatly desired by them; which may be

consideredas a fulfilment, at leastin part, of this prediction of our Lord's:
and therefore, wheneverthis is the case,it should not be thought strange;it is
no other than what Christ has foretold should be: and it may teachus to prize,
make use of, and improve such days and opportunities, whilst we have them,
we know not how soonour teachers may be removed into corners, when we
shall wish in vain for them; and seasons ofhearing them, as is here suggested:
sad it is to know the worth of Gospelopportunities, by the want of them!
Geneva Study Bible{8} And he said unto the disciples, The days will come,
when ye shall desire to see {d} one of the days of the Sonof man, and ye shall
not see it.
(8) We often neglectthose things when they are present which we afterward
desire when they are gone, but in vain.
(d) The time will come when you will seek forthe Son of Man with great
sorrow of heart, and will not find him.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/luke/17-22.htm"Luke 17:22. The
Pharisees have gottheir answer. But Jesus does not allow the point of their
question to be lostthereby, but turns now to His disciples (probably after the
departure of the Pharisees, as they do not appearagain in what follows, and
as the discourses themselves bearan unreservedcharacter, wholly different
from Luke 17:20 f.), in order to give to them instructions in reference to the
question raised by the Pharisees, andthat not on the temporal development of
the kingdom of the MessiahwherewithHe had despatchedthem, but on the
actualsolemn appearing of the Messiahin the Parousia. “Calamities will
arouse in them the longing after it, and false Messiahswill appear, whom they
are not to follow; for, like the lightning, so immediately and universally will
He reveal Himself in His glorious manifestation,” Luke 17:22-24. See further
on Luke 17:25. We have here the discourse ofthe future from the source of
the accountof the journey. This and the synoptic discourse on the same
subject, Luke 21:5 ff., Luke keeps separate.Comp. Weizsäcker, pp. 82 f., 182,
and see the remark after Luke 17:37.
μίαν τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ υἱοῦ τ. ἀνθρ. ἰδεῖν] i.e. to see the appearance of a single
day of the Messianic period (of the αἰὼνμέλλων), in order, to wit, to refresh
yourselves by its blessedness.Comp. Grotius, Olshausen, de Wette, Lange,
Bleek. Your longing will be: Oh, for only one Messianicday in this time of
tribulation!—a longing indeed not to be realized, but a natural outbreak
under the pressure of afflictions.

Usually, yet not suitably in accordancewith Luke 17:26 : “erit tempus, quo vel
uno die meo conspectu, mea consuetudine, qua jam perfruimini, frui
cupiatis,” Kuinoel; comp. Ewald.
καὶ οὐκ ὄψεσθε] because, to wit, the point of time of the Parousia is not yet
come;it has its horas et moras.
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK"/context/luke/17-22.htm"Luke
17:22-25. The coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:26-28).—πρὸς τ.
μαθητάς:so in Mt., but at a later time and at Jerusalem;which connectionis
the more original cannotbe decided.—ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι,there will come
days (of tribulation), ominous hint like that in Luke 5:35.—μίαντ. ἡ., etc., one
of the days of the Sonof Man; not past days in the time of discipleship, but
days to come. Tribulation will make them long for the advent, which will put
an end to their sorrows. One of the days; why not the first, the beginning of
the Messianicperiod? Hahn actually takes μίανas = first, Hebraistic fashion,
as in Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2.—οὐκ ὄψεσθε, ye shall not see, notnecessarily
an absolute statement, but meaning: the vision will be deferred till your heart
gets sick;so laying you open to temptation through false readers of the times
encouraging delusive hope.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges22. The days will come, when ye
shall desire, &c.]Compare Matthew 9:15, “The days will come, when the
bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast, in those days.”
See, too, John 12:35;John 13:33; John 17:12. They were looking forwards
with no realization of that rich present blessednessforwhich they would one
day yearn. Revelation6:10.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK"/luke/17-22.htm"Luke 17:22. Μαθητὰς,the
disciples)who were likely to comprehend that saying, rather than the
Pharisees.—ἐλεύσονται,shallcome)Jesus intimates hereby that the present
time of the kingdom of God [the time of its being present] will have passed
away[will become past], whilst the Phariseesare seeking andinquiring when
it is to come. His reply embraces events further off, Luke 17:24, et seqq., as
well as nearer events, Luke 17:31, et seqq.—ἐπιθυμήσετε, ye shall desire)A
hypothetical statement;[190]for afterwards the Paraclete allayedthat desire,
but only in the case ofthe Christians: see ch. Luke 24:49;Luke 24:52. [Avail
yourself of present privileges.—V. g.]—μίαν)one of such days, as ye have now
in greatnumbers,[191] Matthew 9:15 : inasmuch as ye now see Me with your
eyes (See on the appellation, “Sonof man,” the note, Matthew 16:13): and the
“heavenopen,” John 1:51. After His ascension, but one such day, and that the

greatestofall days, still remains, namely, the lastday: see Luke 17:30.
[190]i.e. If ye were to desire, or when ye shall desire, to see a day of the Sonof
Man, ye could not see it. The Pharisees hadno such desire. The disciples
would have it, when Jesus left them: Matthew 9:15; John 16:6.—E. and T.
[191]See Amos 8:11.—E. and T.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 22. - And he said unto the disciples. The Master
now turns to the disciples, and, basing his words still upon the question of the
Pharisees,he proceeds to deliver a weighty discourse upon the coming of the
kingdom which will be manifest indeed, and externally, as well as internally,
exceeding glorious, and for which this kingdom, now at its first beginning, will
be for long ages merelya concealedpreparation. Some of the imagery and
figures used in this discourse reappearin the greatprophecy in Matthew 24.
(a shorter report of which St. Luke gives, Luke 21:8-36). Here, however, the
teaching has no reference to the siege of Jerusalemand the destruction of the
Jewishpolity, but only to "the times of the end." The days will come, when ye
shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. In
the first place, our Lord addressedthese words to the disciples, who, in the
long wearyyears of toil and bitter opposition which lay before them, would
often long to be back againamong the days of the old Galilaeanlife, when
they could fake their doubts and fears to their Master, whenthey could listen
without stint to his teaching, to the words which belongedto the higher
wisdom. Oh, could they have him only for one day in their midst againl But
they have a broader and more far-reaching reference;they speak also to all
his servants in the long Christian ages, who will be often weary and dispirited
at the seeminglyhopeless nature of the conflict they are waging. Then will
these indeed long with an intense longing for their Lord, who for so many
centuries keeps silence. Thesewill often sigh for just one day of that presence
so little valued and thought of when on earth.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES

And Why Not? BY SPURGEON
“And He said unto the disciples, The days will come when you shall
desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you shall not see it”
Luke 17:22
WHILE the Lord was yet on earth the days of the Son of Man were but lightly
esteemed. The Phariseesspoke ofthem with a sneerand demanded when the
kingdom of God should come. As much as to say, “Is this the coming of your
promised kingdom? Are these fishermen and peasants your courtiers? Are
these the days for which Prophets and kings waitedso long?” “Yes,” Jesus
tells them, “these are the very days. The kingdom of God is set up within
men’s hearts and is among you even now. And the time will come when you
will wish for these days back again. And even those who best appreciate them,
shall, before long, confess thatthey thought too little of them, and sighin their
hearts for their return.”
This suggeststhe remark that we are bad judges of our presentexperiences.
Those days of which we think very little while they were passing over us come,
by-and-by, to be remembered with greatregret. Have you not found it so in
your own lives? Has it not been so that the very experience which causedyou
anxiety while you were passing through it was, afterwards, appearedto be so
excellentin your eyes that you have wished to have it back again? I have said
unto my soulsometimes, “How heavy you are! How are you bowed down!
How little do you rejoice in the Lord! It is sad that you should fall into this
condition.”
The period of heaviness has passedawayand then I have chided my heart in
another way, saying, “Soul, how careless andunfeeling you are! It were better
for you if you were as heavy, now, as you were a little while ago, for then you
were in earnest–thenyou were driven to mighty and prevailing prayer–but
now you are steepedin lethargy! You have lost your fervency and are scarcely
alive at all!” This stage has gone by and I have againhad to look back and feel
that when I thought myself insensible I was really very spiritual and sensitive–
and that my fears of falling into carnalease were sure proofs that I was
carefully upon the watch. Thus are we delivered from carnalsecurity by being
made to see more beauty in past experiences than in those now passing over
us.
Holy anxiety, when it broods over us, is often mistakenfor unbelief. Full
assurance is suspectedto be presumption and joy is doubted and stinted for
fear it should be pride and self-deception!When our spiritual spring is with

us, we are fearful of its March winds and April showers. But when it is gone
and we are parched with summer heat, we wish we had the winds and showers
back again. So, too, when autumn comes, we mistake ripening for decaying
and mournfully wish the roses of summer would return–while all through
winter we are sighing for those summer hours we once enjoyed and those
mellow autumn fruits which were so sweetto our taste. Thus, Brothers and
Sisters, we continue, if we permit ourselves to do so, to judge eachstate in
which we have been to be better than that in which we are, and to shed useless
tears of regret over times and seasons whichare gone past recall!
While they are with us, we see their deficiencies. Whenthey are gone, we
remember only their excellencies. Itwere wiser if we took eachtime and
season, andstate and experience, while yet it was on the wing, turned it to the
best accountfor God’s Glory and rejoicedin it! It will be time, enough, to
mourn when it is gone from us. After all, eachseasonhas its fruits and it were
a pity to wither them with idle regrets. Let us turn to goodaccountthe old
worldling’s motto, and live while we live. Let us live one day at a time, enjoy
the presentgoodand leave yesterday with our pardoning God. The days of the
Son of Man, of which the Apostles thought comparatively little, they
afterwards sighedfor. And these presentdays, of which we are complaining,
may yet come to be regardedas among the choicestportions of our lives.
Our secondremark is a very commonplace one, you have heard it a thousand
times–we seldomvalue our mercies till we lose them. We best appreciate their
excellence whenwe have to deplore their absence. This has been so often said
that I wish it did not continue to be true, for it is an atrocious piece of folly
that, after all, we should be obliged to lose our blessings in order to learn
gratitude for them! Are we such dolts that we never shall know better than
this? Such conduct is only worthy of the idiot or the insane!Can we not put
awaysuch childishness and thus remove one occasionforour sorrows?Would
it not be well to resolve, in God’s strength, to estimate the blessing while we
have it, and so to use it that when it is gone we may remember that we turned
it to the best accountfor our soul’s profit, for the benefit of others, and for
God’s Glory?
We cannotcall back the sun and lengthen out these shortening days, but we
can, at least, so live that every flying hour shall carry with it, tidings of our
zealous industry in our Master’s cause.Come, dearBrothers and Sisters,
whateveris our present condition is good, let us bless God for it now and use
at once its peculiar opportunities and advantages, lesthaply, in some future
day we should rue our foolish neglectand desire too late to see more of such
days. This morning, as the Holy Spirit may help me, I intend to use the text,

first, by explaining its immediate interpretation. Then, secondly, by giving an
interpretation adapted to Believers atthe present day. And then, thirdly, by
urging home another interpretation, much after the same import, adapted to
unbelievers at this time.
1. First, let us consider THE IMMEDIATE INTERPRETATION ofour
text. The first meaning ought always to have the preference in every
discourse. We must always mind the mind of the Spirit. Did not our
Savior mean two things, first, that the day would come in which His
disciples would look back regretfully upon the past, wishing that they
could have Him walking among them again? And, secondly, that they
would anxiously look forward to the future, wishing that they might, if
it were only for one day, behold Him in His Glory, enthroned in power,
as He shall be in the latter days, when He shall stand a secondtime upon
the earth?
Looking either backwardor forward, the one thing they sighed for was to
have their Lord personally and visibly with them. First, then, I say, our Lord
meant that they would look back regretfully upon the days when He was with
them. In a short time His words were true enough, for sorrows came thick and
threefold. At first they beganto preachwith uncommon vigor and the Spirit
of God was upon them so that thousands were convertedin a single day. Then
they saw how expedient it was that their Lord should go and that the Spirit
should be given. Persecution, however, soonarose andthey were scattered
abroad. And many of them, doubtless, mourned those quieter days when their
Lord’s Presenceshieldedthem.
Still, in all their scattering, the powerof the Spirit rested upon them and they
increasedand multiplied–and the joy of the Lord was their strength. But by-
and-by the love of many waxedcold and their first zealdeclined. Persecution
increasedin its intensity and the timid shrank away from them. Evildoers and
evil teachers came into the Church. Heresies and schisms beganto divide the
body of Christ and dark days of lukewarmness and half-heartedness covered
them. In such circumstances many and many a time did the true servant of
Christ say, “O for an hour with the Lord Jesus!O for one of the days of the
Son of Man, when the arm of the Lord was revealedamong us! O that we
might go to Him and tell Him all our problems and ask his guidance and
entreat Him to put forth His power!”
I can imagine that all the first generation, and the next, and the next, after our
Lord had ascended, had often upon their lips the sigh, “Would to God we
could see one of the days of the Son of Man! Oh, where is He that trod the sea
and made the waves ofthe lake of Galilee lie still at His feet? Oh, where is He

that chasedthe demons and met our foes at every point?” They must often
have felt a strong desire to see one of those grand days of miracles when even
the devils were subject to them. It has often occurredto us to desire the same.
Though it is now 1,800 years ago andmore since the Lord went into His Glory
and though He has given us the blessedSpirit to abide with us in His place, yet
we have fondly wished, but wished in vain, that we could, for one day, at least,
see Him healing the sick and raising the dead!
See here, the scoffers tellus that God is dead, or that if there is a God, He has
no influence in this world, but has laid aside His powers and handed it over to
certain rigid laws with which He has nothing to do. Oh, if we could have the
Incarnate God among us but for a day to work His wonders of Grace, to feed
the hungry, to open blind eyes, to unstop deaf ears, to make the lame man leap
like a rabbit and cause the tongue of the dumb to sing! Have you not desired
it? Your desire will not be gratified. “You shall not see it.” It would not be of
much service if you did see it. It could only happen in one place upon any one
day and you who already believe would be confirmed by what you saw, but
not so unbelievers.
We should only have to begin a new battle with infidels, who would as readily
deny that which happened today as that which happened almost 2,000 years
ago!Only those who saw the miracle would ever believe that it occurredand a
large proportion of these would begin to say, “This was probably done by
sleight of hand,” or they would ascribe it to magnetism, or electricity, or some
newly-discoveredforce. Miracles willnot convince when men are resolvedto
disbelieve! Faith is not born of sight, nor can it be nourished by it. It is the gift
of God and the work of the Holy Spirit–and we err if we believe that even
Christ’s bodily Presence andthe repetition of His miracles would be of any
value! He who believes not Moses and the Prophets, neither would he believe
though he were to be dazzled with miracles! The kind of faith which merely
outward signs would produce would not be the faith of God’s elect.
Then, too, we have been weariedwith fierce disputing upon this doctrine and
upon that, and one has said, “This is the Master’s mind,” and another has
said, “No.” One teacherhas denouncedhis fellow and has been answeredby
an excommunication from his opponent. In these controversies have we not
wished that we could go to Jesus with all questions and say, “Master, give us
one Infallible Word, untie or cut these knots with one word of Your lips. Then
will Your poor Church be no longerdisquieted with debates.” Brothers and
Sisters, Jesus is not here! Instead of His Presence,we have that of His Spirit,
and though you may wish for His bodily Presence, it would not be of much
service to you in the matter for which you desire it, for, strange to say, if our

Lord were to speak again, men would begin to dispute tomorrow about what
He meant today, even as they now quarrel over His Words of 1,800 years ago!
His language in this Book is already so very plain that I do not know, if He
were to speak again, that He could speak more clearlythan He has done. At
any rate, His hearers said of Him, in the days of His sojourn here, “Neverman
spoke like this Man,” and I suppose if He were to speak again, He would not
improve upon what He has already spoken, nor would He teach us much
more. For us to hear Him speaking, again, wouldonly be to create a new
opportunity for a fresh setof controversies–andwe should have among us the
Old SchoolChristians, and the Christians of the Later Revelation, which
would double the confusionand make bad worse!No, my Brethren, we need
the Holy Spirit to enlighten us as to what our Lord has already spoken, but it
is idle to wish that He would teachamong us again.
We ignorantly desire to see one of the days of the Sonof Man, but Divine
Providence kindly denies us our wish and tells us plainly, “You shall not see
it.” “Ah,” but you have said, “Only to see our blessedLord once!Just to cast
eyes upon His beloved Personfor a moment! To hear but once the tones of His
heart-moving voice!Oh, if I might but once unloose His sandals or kiss His
feet, how would my spirit feel confidence and joy all her days! How would
faith grow if she could but have a little actualand intimate communion with
the Well-Beloved!I would gladly give all that I have for one glance of His
eyes.” I know you have indulged that thought, for I have often had it myself,
but dear Brothers and Sisters, if the Lord Jesus were to come upon earth, I
am not sure that you could have much of His company, because there are so
many of His people–andeachone would wish to entertain Him.
He could, as a Man, be but in one place at one time, and you might getto see
Him, perhaps, once in the year, but what would you do all the rest of the year,
when you might not be able to hear His voice because He would be in America
or in Australia? How much better off would you be? Surely none at all! It is
far better for you to continue to say, “Whom not having seenwe love; in
whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.” The fact is, Brothers and Sisters, the great
battle of the Lord has to be fought out upon the lines of faith and, for us to see
with our eyes would spoil it all. That sight of the eyes and hearing with the
ears which we desire, just to break the monotony of the walk of faith, would,
in fact, spoil it all, and amount to a virtual defeat.
Our God is saying to us, “My Children, canyou trust Me? Can you obtain the
blessing of those who have not seenand yet have believed? Abraham trusted
Me, but he heard Me speak with an audible voice. Mosestrusted Me, but he

saw My wonders in Egypt and in the wilderness. Canyou trust Me without
voice or miracle?” The Lord has spokento us by His Son, who is better than
all voices or wonders!Can we now believe Him? Is the spiritual life within us
strong enoughto believe the Lord without any further evidence? Can we
honor Him by resting upon His sure Word without seeing signs or wonders?
We, upon whom the ends of the earth have come, are setto work out the great
problem of defeating the powers of darkness and walking throughout an
entire life by simple, undiluted faith–canwe accomplishit? By the Spirit’s
help we can!
I beseechyou, Brothers and Sisters, sayunto the Lord, “Lord, increase our
faith, and grant that we may so trust You that from now on we may neither
ask for sight nor sound, nor anything else that would prevent our resting on
Your bare Word.” You have fallen into that mistaken condition and wished
for one of the days of the Son of Man, but you shall not have it, for your
heavenly Father has reserved some better thing for you, that you, to the end,
with simple, unalloyed faith in Him, should endure and conquer through the
blood and the powerof your unseen Redeemer, who is really with you, though
you see Him not!
Our secondreading of the text was that these disciples would look forward,
sometimes, with anxious expectation. “If we cannotgo back,” they would say,
“Oh that He would hurry on and quickly bring us the predicted era of
triumph and joy! Oh for one of the days of the Glory of the Son of Man!”
They would gladly have a drop of the Glory before the showerof the
Millennium. They would hear one blast of His trumpet before it shall sound to
raise the dead and see one flash of the eternalmorning before whose dawning
the shadows shallforeverflee. Have you not, sometimes, desiredthe same? I
know when I stood at the foot of the so-calledHoly Staircase atRome and saw
the poor deluded creatures crawling up and down the steps, in hopes of
obtaining remission of sins by their prayers, I wishedthe Lord would flash
forth His powera moment upon those horrible priests who had degraded
their people by such superstition!
One of the days of the Son of Man with the scourge ofsmall cords would effect
a greatchange in the Church of Rome, but one of the days of the Sonof Man
with the iron rod would be better, for there are plenty of potter’s vessels
around the Vatican that need dashing to shivers! Our indignation would
anticipate the judgment and put a speedy end to Antichrist. We long to see the
millstone dashed into the flood from the angel’s hand, never to rise again!In
all this indignant impatience there is much that needs repressing. Our Lord

says to us, “My Children, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet
come.”
We know not what spirit we are of, for in reality we are wanting to give up the
battle on the present lines and see it fought out in another way! Or, in other
words, we consentto a defeat, so far as faith goes, andwould console ourselves
with victory obtained in another manner. Suppose we wish for one of the days
of the Son of Man to break down the idols of the heathen and the images of
the Papists–to overthrow allsystems of error and to establishstraight away,
by force of Omnipotence the kingdom of Christ? Now, if our wish could be
granted, what would it all amount to? It would only manifest what is clear
enough, already, namely, the powerof God in the world of matter! But it
would not prove His greatness in the moral and the spiritual worlds.
If you will think of it, awhile, you will see that the Omnipotence of God is not
the question. It is clearthat any act of powercan be performed by the Lord at
once. He could, beyond all doubt, in a moment, confound His enemies and
utterly destroytheir errors by crushing the advocates ofthem. But that is not
the point. The question is–canthe force of love and truth by the Gospelof
Jesus win men’s hearts? Can Christ, in His people, conquer sin, falsehoodand
hatred by purely spiritual means? Cansinful creatures, suchas we are,
continue faithful to God under temptation and allurements? Will God, by the
feeble instrumentality of men and women living and teaching the Gospelof
Christ, and by the powerof the Holy Spirit, which is a purely spiritual power,
be able to break down the works ofSatan, abolish the false gods, scatter
infidelity and Antichrist–and establishthe kingdom of Grace, peace and
righteousness?
Do you not see, Brothers and Sisters, that to invoke the interference of mere
poweris to spoil the experiment? The glory of the latter days befits the period
of triumph, but not the time of conflict! To snatch from the future a day of its
splendors would be to alter the conditions of the greatfight and so to accepta
defeat! The result is safe enough! The battle is the Lord’s and He will win and,
therefore, do not let us give way to these misplacedpipedreams and longings.
“Ah,” says one, “I wish He would come, now, and divide the sheep from the
goats.” Why? Are not the sinners better among the saints for awhile, that the
Gospelmay the more easily reachthem? Remember, also, that the farmer
would not have the tares divided from the wheat till the harvestcame.
“Oh, but we wish the Lord would come and put an end to sin.” Is it not better
that His long-suffering should patiently wait, calling men to repentance and
culling out His electfrom the sons of men throughout many a generation? The
waiting is dreary to you, but it is not long nor dreary to His infinite patience.

“Oh, but this delay is tedious, and infidels are demanding, ‘Where is the
promise of His coming?’” Brothers and Sisters, ofwhat consequence is it what
unbelievers say? Are Heaven’s affairs to be arrangedto meet their
foolishness?“He that sits in the heavens does laugh; the Lord does have them
in derision.” Would it not be better for you, also, to scorntheir scorning? Who
are they that we should be afraid of their reviling?
“Ah,” you say, “but error has so long prevailed and it grows worse and
worse.” Whatif it does? It shall still be overruled for the Lord’s Glory! God is
still on the Throne. He is in no hurry. Remember the infinite leisure of the
Eternal! What would a million, million ages be to Him? Truly He comes
quickly, but you must not read that, “quickly,” after your rendering, for,
“quickly,” with Him may be slowly enough for us. We cannotmeasure the
paces ofthe Infinite, for the whole history of man is but a pin’s point to His
eternity! Our judgments of Jehovah’s going forth are sure to err–He walks,
we are told, upon the wings of the wind–He is only walking when He moves as
swiftly as the tempest! We may as readily err upon the other side and think
Him slow, when in reality, He rides upon a cherub and does fly! A thousand
years to Him are as one day, and one day with Him is as a thousand years!
No, we will not beseechthe Lord, as yet, to divide the sinners from the saints
by His Infallible Voice–we willnot expect Him, yet, to say, “Depart, you
cursed,” and, “Come, you blessed.” We will not beg Him to display at once
His greatpowerand to put down all the principalities of evil with His rod of
iron. We will wait and fearnot! Faith is now the watchwordand the order of
the day. Sight is for unbelievers, but patient trust is for the saints. This is the
victory which overcomes the world, even our faith. This it is which glorifies
God and overthrows the powers of evil! Believe, and so shall you wax valiant
in fight and put to flight the armies of the aliens. Believe, and so shall you be
established. Ask not to see, for sight is wisely denied you. Heavenwill be the
brighter and eternity the more glorious because we hope for what we see not,
and do with patience wait for it.
II. Secondly, I am going to give, with much solemnearnestness,AN
ADAPTED INTERPRETATIONSUITABLE TO BELIEVERS AT THIS
PRESENTMOMENT. “The days will come when you shall desire to see one
of the days of the Sonof Man, and you shall not see it.” That is to say, first, I
call our days of holy fellowshipwith Jesus days of the Son of Man. And these
may pass awayto our deep sorrow. We have known days when our faith in
Christ has been strong and real and our hearts have drawn very near to Him.
Our ears have not heard Him speak and yet He has spokeninto our soul. Our

eyes have not seenHim and yet our heart has been ravished with His beauties!
Oh, the delights, the heavenly joys which we have, then, experienced!
Perhaps I speak to some who are experiencing all that bliss at this present
time and this has lastedwith them for months, perhaps for years. Happy
Brothers!Happy Sisters!To abide in such a state of mind as this! But castnot
aside my word of jealous counselthis morning, for I speak in purest love.
Take heedlest the day come when you shall desire to have one of these days,
again, and not see it! While the Belovedis with you, hold Him and do not let
Him go. “I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the
hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awakemy love until He pleases.”
Remember, the Lord Jesus is a jealous Savior. He will depart if He finds you
love any earthly thing more than Himself. He will hide Himself if you begin to
pride yourself upon your gifts and think that, surely, you must be someone or
else your Lord would not so sweetlyrevealHimself to you.
He will up and away, also, if you grow cold and negligent, if you despise the
means of Grace and especiallyif you decline in private prayer and if His
Word shall become a dry bone to you. Ah, when the Lord is gone, what a
vacuum remains in the soul! It is the best thing I cansay for it–I hope that the
dreary vacuum will be mourned over and lamented. I hope that the heart will
never rest till Jesus returns, but mourn and lament–
“Where is the blessednessI knew
In union with my Lord?
Where is my heart’s refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?”
But, Beloved, the Lord Jesus neednot go and you need not depart! He will
abide with you even as He did with the disciples at Emmaus when they
constrainedHim, if you are but eagerforHis company. He will pitch His tent
with you and be no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home! Only
take heed that you grieve Him not by sin and He will remain with you till the
day breaks and the shadows flee away!And you shall evermore abide in His
love and your soulbe filled with His joy.
But take the kindly warning of this morning, for if you walk loosely, carnally,
carelessly, proudly, forgetfully, the days shall come when you shall wish for
one of the days of the Son of Man and you shall not see it. Turn the text
another way, and learn again. BelovedFriends, we have enjoyed days of
delightful fellowship with one another as well as with our Lord. In the days of
the Sonof Man the disciples were so united in heart that when He had
ascended, “theywere all with one accordin one place.” Now, it is a greatjoy

for Believers whenwe are all knit togetherin love and when Christian
brotherhood is a matter of fact and not of mere talk. Those are blesseddays
when the family circle is gracious, whenhusband and wife and children can
speak togetherof the things of God and there is no division or coldness at
home.
Those are happy times when your bosomfriends are Christ’s bosomfriends!
When those with whom you talk familiarly hold converse with God. It is no
small bliss to go up to the House of God in company with those who keepholy
day and to feelthat they are of one mind with us in the things of God. Happy
is it, also, for us when in the Church there is undivided fellowship in prayer,
when everybody seems to be in a praying frame of mind–when there is
fellowship in praise and eyes glance joy to eyes with a delight that is common
because ofthe Lord’s blessing–whenthere is fellowship and agreement, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Spirit is in all and upon all. Those are,
indeed, the days of the Sonof Man! Something like this we have knownfor
years–byHis Grace these days have been common with us.
Brothers and Sisters, I hope we shall never know the loss of them, but we
easilymay. The Church may soonallow her fellowship to be broken. And
how? Why, some do a world of mischief in this matter by denying that there is
any fellowshipat all and asserting that love and zeal have died out. Did I hear
a Brother say that there is very little Christian love nowadays? You are a very
goodjudge of yourself, Brother, for remember you are speaking for yourself!
Another says, “Oh, Christian fellowship. I never see any.” Very likely,
Brother. Again I say you are speaking for yourself and you are the gentleman
who is likely to put an end to anything like fellowship in others by your acid
spirit and bitter talk.
In other ways, also, joyful fellowship may be wounded. Let there be a lack of
holy walking, a lack of zeal, or an absence ofhumility. Let there arise in the
Church the desire in eachone to be the greatest, andlet there be small care
about the Glory of God. Let every man become proud and lifted up and there
will soonbe an end of Christian fellowship! Do you, dear Brother, neglect
private prayer and become as cold as an iceberg? Whereveryou go you will
chill other people–andthere will be frosts whereveryou are found. It is one of
the easiestthings in the world, when the devil and a knot of prejudiced people
agree about it, to spoil the fellowship of the saints!But if we labor that love
may be promoted and increased, we shall not have to sigh for the days of the
Son of Man without finding them, but they shall be continued to us all our
lives.

Again, certain times may be aptly called the days of the Son of Man when
there is abundant life and power presentin the Church of God. We know
what this means in this Church. I wish we knew it more fully. And we know
what the contrastmeans by having observedmany dead and decaying
Churches. What wretched communities some Churches are, where the soul of
religion is absent! There is a company of people called a Christian Church
and a man calleda minister who gives them a pious essayevery Sunday
morning. And they go in and out and go home–andthere is an end of the
whole thing! Meanwhile their neighbors are perishing for lack of knowledge,
but they care nothing. The heathen are dying without Christ, but they heed it
not. So much is given to the cause of Godas must be paid out of sheer
necessityfor the maintenance of outward ordinances, but there is no zeal, no
consecration, no fervor of love. May we never come down to this!
O my Beloved, I long to see among us yet more and more abundantly, the
spirit of Divine life, energetic life, fervent, self-denying life–life which
consumes everything to achieve God’s Glory! Beloved, you have this and may
have more of it, but you may also lose it. Life and power may soondepart!
Pastorand people may, alike, sleepin spiritual sloth! And then, at such times,
the power, having gone from the Church, its energyis no longer felt among
the unconverted. A living Church grasps with a hundred hands all that comes
near to it! It is a mighty soul-saving institution, which, with its far-reaching
nets, draws thousands from the sea of death! A living Church attracts even
the Sabbath-breakerand awakensthe infidel. It startles those whom it does
not save. When the Church is in this state, her converts are plenteous! Then
her teaching and preaching are with powerand the Truth of God pushes
down its adversaries.
I have been in my inmost soul bowed before the Lord with awful dread lest
these days of the Son of Man which we have enjoyed in greatmeasure so long
should be takenawayfrom us. I tremble lest we should go to sleepand do
nothing! I am alarmed lestthere should be no conversions and nobody caring
that there should be any and yet, everything seeming to be prosperous. I know
that people may be growing more respectable andappearing to be more pious
than ever they were, and yet everything may be going backwards!God forbid
that the dry rot of indifference should seize upon the heart of the Church
while she yet appears to be sound and strong! Before that occurs may God be
pleasedto take me Home!
Many of you wish the same for yourselves, and wellyou may, for I trust that
we have lived too long in the atmosphere of zeal to be able to endure the cold,
frigid condition of a carelessChurch! Yet it would soonbe our lot if the Spirit

of God were withdrawn. O Holy Spirit, do not depart from us! While His
poweris with us, Brothers and Sisters, letus be all at it and always at it, with
our whole souls serving the Lord Jesus, andso the cloud of blessing shall be
long detained. Again, “The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of
the days of the Son of Man.” This may be true with regard to a powerful
ministry, for in the days of the Son of Man the Gospelwas faithfully preached
by Christ and His Apostles and Evangelists.
It is not for me to exalt my office, if by that I am supposed to imply any
exaltation of myself. But still, I believe that to any Church and people, an
earnest, plain, simple, faithful ministry is a blessing of untold value. Yet the
Lord may readily take it awayfrom His Church, or He may paralyze its
powerso that it may no longerbe a blessing. This you well know. The Lord
may in angertake the candlestick outof its place and then what would
happen? Death may silence the earnesttongue and there will be mourning. He
who was a spiritual nursing father and a leaderin Israelmay be removed, and
what then? Are we sufficiently thankful for ministers and pastors while we
have them? Are not many of the faithful takenawaybecause they have never
been valued as they ought to have been? God’s servants are precious in His
sight and He would not have us despise them.
It may be that in this land of ours, in years to come, Gospelministers will
become scarce enough. If the popery which now abounds in the Church of
England is to go on increasing, the day may come when the voice of Christian
ministry will be silencedby Law and persecutionallowedto rage. For, be not
deceived, Rome has not changedher views! Justlet her once get power, again,
and all the penal laws will be re-enactedand you Protestants who are today
flinging awayyour liberties as dirt cheap, will rue the day in which you
allowedthe old chains to be fitted upon your wrists. Poperyfettered and slew
our sires and yet we are making it the national religion! Or if it should never
come to be a matter of Law that ministries should be silenced, yet they may
become fewerand fewer, till a little child may number them.
We have none too many faithful ministers of Christ even now, but even these
may be called away. The Lord may say to this guilty people, “You did not
hear them while you had them. Behold, I will callback My Prophets and my
messengers. Youdid not regardthem when they cried morning and noon and
night unto you, and bade you lay hold on Jesus Christ and be savedand,
therefore, behold, I will remove your teachers and take them awayfrom you,
and you shall not see their faces anymore.” Are you prepared for this? What
are Sabbaths to some Christians I know of but days of bitter disappointment?
They go to their places ofworship as a matter of duty, but they are not fed,

nor comforted, nor stirred up! They gather no Divine encouragement!They
find no influences in the ministry to help them on their way.
Are there not hundreds of unedifying preachers and hundreds of
congregations where the Sunday service is a weariness and a misery? God
grant you may never have to mourn and lament the happy days in which the
Gospelwas preachedamong you in simplicity and earnestness!But
remember, if they are not valued, they may speedily come to an end.
Infirmities of body and frequent sicknessesare not only admonitions to the
preacherbut to his hearers, also.
III. My lastpromise was to give A MEANING ADAPTED TO THE
UNCONVERTED. To them let me say these two or three things. To some of
you, now present, who have heard the Gospelfor years and yet have rejected
it, my text will, one day, become solemnly true. “The days will come when you
shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you shall not see it.”
Perhaps you will emigrate. You will wander into the backwoodsofAmerica or
into the bush of Australia where the sound of Church bells will never again
reachyou–where ministers and sermons and services will be unfamiliar
things.
Then it may be you will say, “Would to God I had used my Sabbaths while I
had them, and that I had constantly heard the Gospelwhen I might.” Or if
you should remain in England, yet in a certain time, shorter or longer, you
will lie upon the bed of sickness. And it will become clearto all around that it
is your last bed and your last sickness. And then you will begin to say, “O
God, are there no more Sabbaths for me? No more preaching of the Gospel
for me? Oh, that I had them over again!” Will you not, then, be willing to give
all that you possessto be able, once again, to hear the voice of God’s minister
proclaiming pardon through the blood of Jesus? Youknow you will!
At such a time it may be there will be an end to the emotions which you now
occasionallyfeel, for oftentimes God’s arrows stick fastin your conscience
and you are wounded. There will be no arrows to wound you, then, with
tender wounds of hopeful penitence, but remorse will tear you with poisoned
fangs!You will be going down to Hell filled with hardness of heart! Emotions,
which you aforetime quenched, will not come back. You resistedthe Spirit
and He will leave you to yourself. And yet there will be enough, perhaps, of
conscienceleftto make you wish that you were againat some of those earnest
meetings–thatyou could, again, feel as once you felt when you were almost
persuaded to be a Christian!

At such times, it may be, you will look back upon your mother’s entreaties
with greatremorse and wish she could be at your bedside to love you again
and weepover her dying child. “Ah,” you will say, “would God Mother could
speak to me about Jesus as she once did, but she is gone.” And sisters and
friends that once, you said, worried you about religion, you will wish for them,
also, but they are gone. Theywill never worry you anymore with their Psalm
singing! You will never againbe tired, and wearied, and bored with their
entreaties!You may be sure about that, for they are in Heaven, and you are
dying without hope! You are going down to the grave, now, and will never
againhave to complain of dull Sundays and prosy ministers! You will not be
annoyed with streetpreachers and missionaries. No more warnings, no more
entreaties, no more prayers, no more revival services!
You are now passing into another region. I wonder whether you will be of a
different mind towards these things from what you are now? Will you, then,
remember my warnings and call yourselves fools for rejecting them? I am but
giving you an outline of what I wanted to have said, and said with much more
earnestness, but I do beseechyou think over these things, yourself, in the quiet
of your room this afternoon. Within a short time there will be an end to all the
opportunities and means of Grace you now enjoy. Within a short time, at the
very longest, there will be an end of all exhortations, invitations, warnings,
entreaties and, it may be when they come to an end you will wish to have them
back again.
Would it not be far better that you should use them now? Escape andfind life
in Christ, for the lamp of life shall never be kindled, again, to give you a
secondopportunity! While yet Mercy’s gate stands open, enter in and find
eternal life, for if it is once shut, it will never move upon its hinges again, and
you shall be shut out, world without end! Godgrant His blessing upon these
feeble words, for Jesus'sake.Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTUREREAD
BEFORE SERMON–Luke17:20-37;18:1-14.HYMNS FROM “OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK”–136,914, 972.
BRUCE HURT MD
Luke 17:22 And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one
of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
KJV Luke 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall
desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

SECOND COMING:
LOOKING AND LONGING FOR IT
• when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man Luke 5:35; 13:35;
Matthew 9:15; John 7:33-36; 8:21-24; 12:35; 13:33; 16:5-7; John 16:16-22; 17:11-13
• Luke 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Luke 17:20-37 The Present and Future Kingdom - Steven Cole
• Luke 17:22 7 Characteristics of the Coming King, Part 1 - John MacArthur
Beginning in Luke 17:22-37 Jesus gives us some details that are associated with His Second
Coming. However, He is not a chronological description. It is more of a general description, not
a sequence. A more chronological treatment is found in Luke 21 and many other places such as
the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:15ff-note).
And He said to the disciples - Jesus seems to move now from addressing the Pharisees, to
addressing His disciples, enumerating several characteristics of His return which precedes the
establishment of His Kingdom.
MacArthur adds that "the Jews were looking at the Second Coming as if it was going to be
a...glorious, fulfilling celebration of Christ's return and establishment of His Kingdom...and they
would be at the center of it as the sons of Abraham. However Jesus is telling His disciples that
something very different...that when He comes it will be deadly, frightening, terrifying,
destructive judgment. This was shocking to the Jews who had rejected Jesus, the Pharisees in
particular, but I think it was also startling even to the disciples who anticipated a glorious
kingdom and not a kingdom that was inaugurated with destructive judgment.(Sermon)
The days will come - As discussed in this context this phrase refers to the days of the Second
Coming, which naturally beg the question "When will these days come to pass?" Well, we don't
have to speculate or set dates (as people still foolishly continue to do) because Jesus tells us
clearly in Mark 13:32-33
But of that day or hour (SECOND COMING OF CHRIST) no one knows, not even the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “Take heed (BE WATCHING!),
keepon the alert (STAY AWAKE); for (term of explanation - EXPLAINS WHY WE
NEED TO KEEP WATCHING AND STAYING AWAKE) you do not know when the
appointed time will come.
Comment: Take heed and be on the alert are both commands in the present imperative,
calling for this to be our lifestyle, our daily practice. And so this calls for saints to be
looking continually. Jesus knows that if we are continually LOOKING for His Return,
we are much more likely (enabled by His Spirit) to be LIVING for His glory (cf 1 Jn 3:3-
note, 2 Pe 3:11-note). While we not know when, we do know that no prophecy needs to
be fulfilled before the Rapture of the Church, the next event on God's prophetic
timetable. And so the Rapture is Imminent, and could happen at any time. It could
happen at any time so that every generation of Christians can live in the light of that
anticipation. And when the Church is raptured, this event will almost certainly initiate the
events of the Tribulation or Daniel's Seventieth Week.
The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man - In context
of the Kingdom of God, Jesus now moves from the "already now," invisible, internal Kingdom

of God to the "not yet," external, eternal Kingdom of God which begins with His return and the
establishment of the Messianic (Millennial) reign for 1000 years. These are the days of the Son
of Man the disciples will long to see. He is implying that this future Kingdom would not come
about in the disciples’ lifetime. Recall that in Acts 1:6 they were looking for this Kingdom, Luke
recording their question to Jesus "“Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to
Israel?” Every true follower of Jesus Christ in every age has looked for and longed for these days
of the coming of the Son of Man to set up His kingdom on earth and rule the world from His
city, Jerusalem.
1 Th 1:10-note and to wait (anemeno in the present tense - as one's lifestyle) for His Son
from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the
wrath to come.
Titus 2:11-14-note For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously
and godly in the present age, 13 looking (prosdechomai in the present tense - as one's
lifestyle, with anticipation) for the blessed hope (NOTICE THAT IN CONTEXT
LOOKING FOR JESUS MOTIVATES LIVING FOR HIM - Titus 2:12) and the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (JESUS' GLORIOUS
SECOND COMING), 14 Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless
deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession (WE ARE NO LONGER
OUR OWN!), zealous for good deeds.
2 Ti 4:8-note in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to
all who have loved (perfect tense - love Him when we were saved, with this love being
ongoing) His appearing (HIS SECOND COMING).
In fact the cry in Revelation 22:20-note is a reflection of this longing of all the saints of
throughout all the ages...
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus."
In 1 Corinthians 16:22 expressed this longing with the great word Maranatha (in depth study),
a cry from our heart "O Lord Come!" (Play the great old chorus "Maranatha" - it is guaranteed to
stir your heart to long to see His face!)
ILLUSTRATION - Dr. Joseph Stowell, the President of Moody Bible Institute, once visited a
home for retarded children that was operated by a Christian friend. Noticing the children’s
handprints on the windows, Dr. Stowell remarked about them to his friend. “Oh, those,” he
replied. “The children here love Jesus and they’re so eager for Him to return that they lean
against the windows as they look up at the sky.” That’s nct a retarded way to live! May we all
imitate those simple children by making sure that we are in Christ’s present kingdom and by
faithfully awaiting His soon coming future kingdom!
Are we looking for His return,
and do we really want to see Him come?
I often greet brethren at church with the words "It could be today," and most who hear that for
the first time are quizzical. What are you talking about is the look and/or question I get. And then
I explain that Jesus could come back today, with the implication being are you ready to meet

Him in the air? I will never forget one reaction from a Christian doctor with whom I occasionally
interacted. His response was "Well, I certainly hope not! I've got too many things I want to
accomplish." I am glad I was sitting down at my desk or I might have fallen down! I'm sure he
saw the strange look on my face!
It is worth noting that about 1 in every 20-25 New Testament verses directly or indirectly alludes
to the Second Coming, to the time when the invisible Kingdom of God becomes visible because
the King has arrived. So the Second Coming stirs a longing in our heart, as a Bride longs to see
her groom, and motivates a desire to be found pure by Him as John describes in his first epistle...
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We
know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope (HOPE IS NOT HOPE SO BUT HOPE SURE!
WHAT HOPE? HIS SECOND COMING WHEN WE WILL BE GLORIFIED LIKE
HIM) fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3-note)
Given the NT emphasis on the Second Coming, we all need to ask ourselves as disciples, "Do I
find myself frequently longing for His return and His future Kingdom on earth?" If not, then it
may be that you have fallen into the trap described by John MacArthur...
On the other hand, those who care little about Christ’s honor and God’s glory, who view
Jesus as the means to their own personal fulfillment, have little interest in the second
coming. Contemporary evangelism encourages that self-centered perspective. It makes
the salvation of sinners the goal and relegates God to being merely the means to
accomplishing that goal. But that is the opposite of what Scripture teaches. The glory of
God is the goal of redemption, and the salvation of sinners is a means of accomplishing
that goal. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Luke 11-17)
Will long (1937)(epithumeo from epí = upon, used intensively + thumós = passion) (See noun
epithumia) means literally passion upon and so to fix one's passion upon which could be good
[Mt 13:17, Lk 22:15 used of Jesus] or bad [1Co 10:6]). Epithumeo describes a strong desire to do
or secure something, in this case the Days of the Son of Man.
Broadman Bible Commentary - The intense desire of a pilgrim, martyr church will be to reach
the destination toward which it moves. Like the Pharisees, the disciples will also be concerned
about the end of the age....The whole passage is dealing rather with the problems of a Parousia
that does not occur when expected and longed for.
And you will not see it - His disciples would not see it signifies that He would not return during
their life. However the disciples will see it in the future when they (and you and I will) return
with Jesus "following Him on white horses" (Rev 19:14-note, Rev 17:14-note) and He
establishes His millennial kingdom (Rev 20:4-note).
StevenCole - There has always been speculation about the Second Coming of Christ, but that is
especially true as we come to the close of the millennium. The Y2K computer problem has
added fuel to the fire, as many Christians believe that God will bring judgment as computers
around the world fail to function on January 1, 2000. As early as 1991 I read about a group that
was predicting the end of the world as the year 2000 draws near, but the unique thing is that this
group is completely secular. It is called the Society for Secular Armageddonism, based in
California (of course!). They describe themselves as “a non-religious group dedicated to

promoting public awareness of the coming end of the world.” They believe that the proliferation
of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, the many environmental concerns, the AIDS
epidemic, the population explosion, and numerous other such issues are all proof that the end is
near and we don’t need God to do it for us. It will be a strictly do-it-yourself apocalypse.....Bible
prophecy is not given so that we can sit around and speculate about what will happen in the
future. It is always given so that we can apply it to how we live in the present in light of what
God has promised to do in the future. Specifically, it is crucial that we understand personally
how to be in God’s kingdom, because Jesus makes it clear that His awful judgment will fall
suddenly and certainly on everyone who is not in His kingdom.
John MacArthur gives some excellent advice regarding the interpretation of this section which
deals with prophecy, specifically the Second Coming of Christ..
I am aware that when you get into prophetic passages...that you get into things that are
controversial and people disagree. The way you deal with this is to apply to the text the
very same principles of interpretation that you would apply to any text, whether it's
prophetic, narrative, historical, doctrinal, polemical, prose or poetry, etc...And so, the
way you approach a passage that is prophetic that deals with the future...the Second
Coming of Christ, is to apply the same principles of interpretation. Now, having done
that, we will then uncover the revealed truth as much as has been revealed. That will also
reveal to us that there is much that has not been revealed. No part of theology has as
much mystery in it as that which deals with the future. There is no part of the Word of
God that leaves us with more questions than those passages that deal with what has not
yet happened. We understand then that we are going to be left with some mystery and
that is fine. We don't want to leave a true interpretation and get caught up in
speculating....Neither do we want to say that just because we do not understand some
aspects, then we do not accept aspects that are clear. We take what the Word of God says
about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ exactly the way we would take what the Word
of God says about the First Coming. We interpret it the clearest and simplest and most
straightforward way we can. You will find as we do that it will be clear and
understandable because the Lord wants us to know this truth. And what we do not know
we are content not to know and leave with Him. So regarding the Second Coming, what
we do know is this: The world will end with the return of Jesus Christ. There is much
speculation in the secular world about what's happening to the planet. The
environmentalists are trying to protect and preserve the planet from everything they think
shortens its potential life and therefore human existence. We have those who are looking
into the sky through telescopes waiting for some asteroid to smash into the earth. But I
am here to announce to any one who wants to listen exactly how the world is going to
end, because the Bible tells us life as we know it will end with the return of Jesus Christ
to earth --the literal, physical, bodily return of Jesus Christ who will come back in the
same way that He left. In Acts 1:9-11, while He was speaking with His disciples, He
ascending into heaven behind the clouds.
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a
cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while
He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said,
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken

up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go
into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11) (Ed: His return then will be [1] literal, [2] in His physical
body, [3] in the clouds, [4] from Heaven to earth).
Now the Bible repeatedly mentions the Second Coming, giving many descriptions and
elements associated with that great event. There are a number of features to the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ. It is called a day, but it is a day because it is a singular epoch but
it has many components. It involves the rapture of the church, followed by a period called
the tribulation, a seven-year period of judgment on the earth. The second three and a half
years of that are escalated, fierce, devastating judgment, culminating in the actual return
of Christ to the earth with the redeemed saints who have been with Him in glory to
destroy all the ungodly and to alter the earth as we know it and to establish His kingdom
for a 1,000 years.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame
of fire (SPEAKS OF RETURNING IN JUDGMENT), and on His head are many
diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He
is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And
the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following
Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
strike down the nations (SEE STONE THAT CRUSHES THE STATUE IN Daniel 2),
and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath
of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written,
“KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:11-16-note)
At the end of the 1000 years He will destroy the universe and create a new heaven and a
new earth which will last forever (2 Peter 3:10-note, cf Rev 20:11-note, Rev 21:1-note).
The ungodly will spend forever in the Lake of Fire prepared for them and for the devil
and the fallen angels (Mt 25:41, 46, see eternal punishment). That scenario from the
rapture (SEE Harpazo) through the seven-year tribulation (Daniel's Seventieth Week),
through the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom culminating in the new heaven and the new
earth, encompasses various aspects of the great event of the return of Jesus Christ. And
the Bible fills that understanding with amazing detail. If you do not take the detail at face
value as it is laid out in the Scripture using the normal approach to interpreting anything
that you would interpret in an ancient document, implying the same principles of
understanding, but instead say that it does not meant what it appears to mean in the
normal sense of language, then we have absolutely no idea what it means.
If it doesn't mean what it says,
then whatever you say it means is meaningless to me
because you would then have to have some secret insight into the mind of God
when God Himself has not made it clear to anyone else.
So, we believe that God reveals His truth in order for us to understand. That's why the
book of Revelation begins with a unmistakable sentence, "Blessed is he who reads and
those who hear (or understand) the words of the prophecy." (Rev 1:3) You're blessed if
you read it and understand it. How could you be blessed if you read it and didn't
understand it? Blessing comes with reading and understanding. And so we can know
many details. A two-volume commentary I wrote on Revelation is nearly a thousand

pages just going through the details of the book of Revelation. You can go through
the...the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25 and in Luke 21 and Mark 13, and you
can find the marvelous letters of Paul to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 2
Thessalonians and how they look at the future. You can read Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.
You will find vast amounts of material looking into the future and the glorious return of
Christ. There is an abundance of material, but nonetheless there is still an element of
mystery about the future and the things we don't know about the future I suppose could
be summed up in this simple way. We don't know when and we don't know who and we
don't know how. We don't know exactly how this is all going to happen in detail. We
don't know when it's going to happen. And we don't know who all the principle players
are. We obviously know Christ is coming back, but apart from that, we don't know who
the Antichrist is, who the false prophet is, who are the rulers and the kings who set
themselves against the Christ as spoken of in Ps 2:1-4. We don't understand all of those
elements. But that should not surprise us because 1 Peter 1:10-11 says the writers of the
Old Testament did not understand when and who. They could not even imagine who the
Messiah would be or when He would come. And similarly there are some elements of the
Second Coming that we cannot know for sure. (Sermon)
AN ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE:
DOCTRINE OF THE SECOND COMING
George Peters in The Theocratic Kingdom has a summary of the reasons the modern Church
should study and internalize the truth of Jesus' Second Coming. This excerpt is from his
Proposition 183. The doctrine of the Kingdom and its related subjects have a direct
practical tendency. Peters writes under Observation 5...
It is only requisite to point out how the New Testament uses the doctrine of the Second Advent,
in order to show how essential it is to Christian doctrine, duty, and character. This we will do in
the briefest manner. It is given:
1, to interest us in a blessed coming, Matthew 23:39; Luke 13:35 and 21:27; II
Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 9:28; I Peter 1:7, 13; Revelation 22:7, 20;
2, to encourage faithfulness by a reward, Matthew 16:27 and 24:47; II Thessalonians 1:7–
11; II Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:12;
3, to bring out the hope of reward in a “regeneration,” Matthew 19:28–29; Acts 3:19–21;
4, to avoid deception, Matthew 24:23–27; Luke 17:23–24; II Timothy 4:1–5;
5, to hold forth the culmination of the age, Matthew 24:30, etc.;
6, to show the condition of the world, Matthew 24:37–39; Luke 17:26–30; I
Thessalonians 5:1–4;
7, to teach a translation, Matthew 24:39–41; Luke 17:34–36; I Thessalonians 4:17;
8, to urge to watchfulness, Matthew 24:42 and 25:13; Mark 13:33, 37; Luke 12:35–37
and 21:34–36; I Thessalonians 5:4–6; Revelation 16:15;
9, to influence to constant readiness, Matthew 24:44 and 25:1–13 and 22:11; Luke 12:35–
40;
10, to incite ministerial fidelity, Matthew 24:45–47; Luke 12:42–44; I Thessalonians
2:19–20; II Timothy 4:1–5; I Peter 5:1–4;
11, to rebuke ministerial unfaithfulness, Matthew 24:48–51; Luke 12:45–48;
12, to teach the condition of the Church, Matthew 25:1–12; Luke 18:8; II Thessalonians
2:1–12;

13, to hold forth coming judgment, Matthew 25:19, 27, 31–46; II Thessalonians 1:8–9;
Jude 14–16; Revelation 1:7 and 19:11–16;
14, to show us His majesty and glory, Matthew 26:64 and 25:31 and 24:30; Mark 13:26
and 14:61;
15, to a confession of Christ, Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26;
16, to incite prayer, Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; I Peter 4:7; Revelation 22:20;
17, to waiting, II Thessalonians 3:5; I Corinthians 1:7; I Thessalonians 1:10; Luke 12:36;
18, to expectation and looking, Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 9:28; II Peter 3:12,
14; Revelation 1:7;
19, to love and desire, II Timothy 4:8; Romans 8:23; II Corinthians 5:2; Revelation
22:20; Titus 2:13;
20, to promised honor, Luke 12:37, 39; Matthew 24:46–47; I Peter 1:7; II Thessalonians
1:10; I Peter 5:4;
21, to occupation during postponement of Kingdom, Luke 19:11–27; Matthew 25:14–30;
22, to encourage joy and peace in approaching redemption, Luke 21:28; John 16:16–33; I
Thessalonians 1:10;
23, to impart comfort, John 14:1–3, 28; II Thessalonians 1:7; II Timothy 2:12;
24, to bestow assurance, Acts 1:11 and 3:19–21; Romans 11:26; Luke 21:34, 36;
25, to test character, I Thessalonians 1:9–10 and 5:4–9; I Corinthians 1:7–8;
26, to avoid misjudging, I Corinthians 4:5;
27, to remembrance and celebration of His Coming, I Corinthians 11:26;
28, to inspire hope in the resurrection, I Corinthians 15:23; Philippians 3:20–21; I
Thessalonians 4:13–18;
29, to inculcate moderation, Philippians 4:5;
30, to excite heavenly mindedness, Colossians 3:1–4;
31, to arouse brotherly love, I Thessalonians 3:12, 13;
32, to future rejoicing in successful labor, I Thessalonians 2:19–20;
33, to sanctification, I Thessalonians 5:23; I John 3:2–3;
34, to comfort in bereavement, I Thessalonians 4:18;
35, to urge steadfastness, II Thessalonians 2:1–2; I Timothy 6:14; I Peter 5:4;
36, to consideration of Antichrist and his doom, II Thessalonians 2:8;
37, to infuse diligence and activity, II Timothy 4:1–8; II Peter 3:14;
38, to mortification of the flesh, Colossians 3:4–5; Titus 2:12–13; Luke 21:34; II Peter
3:12;
39, to soberness, I Peter 1:13; I Thessalonians 5:6; Philippians 4:5;
40, to regard it as the great hope, Titus 2:13; I Peter 1:13; Colossians 3:4;
41, to induce perseverance, Revelation 2:25 and 3:3, 11;
42, to an abiding with Christ, I John 2:28 and 3:2;
43, to patience under trial, James 5:7–8; II Thessalonians 3:5 and 1:4–10; I Peter 4:12–
13;
44, to patience, Hebrews 10:36–37: James 5:7;
45, to a proclamation, Titus 2:11–15; I Corinthians 1:4–10; II Timothy 4:1–8;
46, to suitable preparation, Revelation 16:15;
47, to urge men to turn to God, Acts 3:19–21; Revelation 43:3;
48, to enforce obedience, I Timothy 4:13–14; II Timothy 4:1;

49, to bring salvation, Hebrews 9:28;
50, to coming gladness and exceeding joy, I Peter 4:13.
This can be greatly enlarged, as e.g. pertaining:
1, to induce sincerity, Philippians 1:9–10;
2, to holy conversation and godliness, II Peter 3:11–13;
3, to brotherly love, I Thessalonians 3:12–13;
4, to confidence, Philippians 1:6;
5, to a hope of a crown, Revelation 3:11;
6, to manifestation of saints, II Corinthians 5:16; Colossians 3:4;
7, to retribution, II Thessalonians 2:7–8;
8, to promised dominion and authority, Matthew 16:27; I Corinthians 4:5, etc.;
9, to future kingship and priesthood, Revelation 1:6;
10, to reigning on the earth, Revelation 5:10, and 20:4;
11, to Jewish restoration, conversion, and supremacy, Romans 11:15, etc.;
12, to the binding of Satan, Revelation 20:1–6;
13, to the deliverance of creation, Romans 8:19–23;
14, to the new heavens and new earth, II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1;
15, to the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:10, etc. Any reader of the present work will see
the multiplicity of subjects with which our doctrine stands related and interwoven. Hence
the extreme significance of the adjuration of the Apostle, II Timothy 4:1–8 (comp. Lange,
Conybeare and Howson, Alford, etc.)
Luke 17:23 “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run
after them.
KJV Luke 17:23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them,
nor follow them.
• Luke 17:21; 21:8; Matthew 24:23-26; Mark 13:21-23
• 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 (excellent
prophetic summary - highly recommended)
SECOND COMING:
FALSE ALARMS
They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ - Keeping in mind the context is the Second
Coming, the "they" would be those who are making false, erroneous statements about His
Second Coming. One of the more recent and notorious "false alarms" was the book by Edgar
Whisenant entitled "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988." (See "What Went Wrong...")
Rod Mattoon quips "I love the study of Bible prophecy. Unfortunately, many folks who are
interested in Bible prophecy today are not interested in spiritual growth and maturity. They are
curious, but not consecrated in serving Jesus Christ. Through the years, I have found that they
will come to church if you preach on Bible prophecy, but if you preach on their responsibilities
as Christians, they are gone with the wind! They want to be thrilled but not chilled with their
sobering duties to the Lord. They are out of balance. The study of Bible prophecy should make

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