When Will The Hardship Of This Life Come To An End?

Do you ever catch yourself lamenting this question? When will it all be over? When will the difficulty and the pain and the hardship and the suffering come to an end? I think it’s easy enough for all of us to agree that this world that we live in and this life that we live is not without its difficulty and hardship. The political landscape across the globe is an absolute train wreck. Poverty is at an all time high across the world. Crime rates are climbing. New terror organizations seem to pop up on the horizon every day. One tragedy after the next floods our news feeds and TV screens. Everywhere you look marriages and relationships are on tilt. People are at war with one another. The world is at war with itself.

When will the hardship of this life come to an end? When will God bring total restoration and healing? When will the suffering and the hardship and the difficulty of this life be over? When will we no longer struggle to get by financially? When will we no longer face the oppression of terror? When will we no longer struggle in our marriages and our friendships? When will we no longer struggle with depression? When will our struggle with the bondage of sin and the effects of sin be over… laid to complete waste… done? These questions are the implications of the deep desires within the souls of the disciples who followed Jesus in Luke’s gospel and the Pharisees who come to Jesus and ask him a question about the coming of the kingdom of God.

Look at Luke 17:20 – 37…

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

In this passage Jesus answers the questions of the Pharisees and his followers with a list of 5 kingdom warnings. Ever gotten a warning from an officer for speeding? Ever gotten a warning from your spouse for a certain behavior you should think twice about in the future? Ever gotten a warning from an employer for being late to work too often? Ever gotten a warning from your banker because you keep running your accounts into the hole? Ever gotten a warning from a close friend who is concerned about the desires of your heart? If you’ve ever received a warning then you know that warnings are meant to bring some issues to your attention that need to be fixed.

The issues that need to be fixed in each of us are not necessarily behavioral modification issues, or thinking modification issues, but instead, the real issues that need to be fixed in each of us are the issues of our desires which, are issues within the longings of our hearts, because it’s out of the desires and longings of our hearts that flow the very lives we lead. The reason for these 5 kingdom warnings in our passage is that Jesus wants to change the desires of our hearts so that our thinking patterns and our behavior patterns can truly change.

What Jesus basically does in these 17 verses is warns us not to miss out on what’s happening in our midst because of the desire to have all the answers… not to be led astray by our desire for instant gratification… not to miss the boat because of our desire to live in the moment… not to look back because of our desire for the good old days… and not to get separated from the kingdom of God because of our desire for self-preservation. Jesus is issuing a set of stern warnings to us. And the real question we must ask is… Are we hearing these warnings?

Warning #1: Don’t Miss Out… (20 – 21)

Jesus warns the Pharisees not to miss out on what’s happening in their midst because of their desire to have all the answers. The Pharisees were very proud of having all their ducks in a row and they were addicted with having all the right answers. So when they came to Jesus asking about “when the kingdom of God would come” I think we can empathize with them a little. Who doesn’t want to know when God will bring his work of redemption to completion? But the problem with the Pharisees is the same problem we have. We really just want to have all the answers so that we can look better… feel superior… and be “in the know”. So Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.” In other words… You don’t find your way into the kingdom of God by some external practice or compulsion or experience. You find the kingdom of God through the inner workings of faith in Christ and the message of the gospel. This is why Jesus confidently continues by saying “nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” In other words, the kingdom of God isn’t found by external work and external learning. The kingdom of God is entered into by beholding or turning our attention to Jesus who is standing right in front of us and Jesus is essentially saying “Don’t miss out on what I am doing in your midst because of your desire to have all the answers.”

Are you hearing this warning? Don’t miss out on what Jesus wants to do in your life because you’re all caught up in your desires to have all the answers… to look smarter than you really are… or to look better than you really are. Don’t miss out.

Warning #2: Don’t Be Led Astray… (22 – 25)

Jesus warns his disciples not to be led astray by their desire for instant gratification. The disciples were really no different than any of us. They still struggled with the hardship and the suffering and the difficulty of this life and as a result they would begin to long for the return of Christ to bring an end to the suffering and hardship they were facing.

Even the apostle Paul many years later in Philippians 1:21-24 said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” Can you imagine, Paul, writing this from prison in the midst of great persecution and hardship? Paul refused to be led astray by any desire for instant gratification of escaping the pain and suffering of this life.

To some extent… what Paul says in Philippians is an echo or a ripple of what Jesus teaches his disciples in this passage when he says “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” We will all have our days when we slump into despair because of the hardship of this life and we will be tempted at that point to give into the desire for instant gratification but Jesus warns us here not to be led astray by these desires. He reminds us that many people “will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.” In other words, do not be led astray by your desire for the instant gratification of chasing every rumor and heresy that says, “God is over here or look he’s over there.” True believers won’t need to listen to the pop culture theology of instant gratification through escapism theology that permeates the evangelical landscape.

Instead, true believers will know when the day of Christ’s return happens because if you are in Christ then the Spirit of God will make it obvious to you. Just as obvious as lightning in the sky is to anyone. Jesus says “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” In other words there is a divine sequence of activity that must take place and the return of Christ will be obvious to all believers so do not be led astray by your desire for instant gratification. The work that Jesus does in each of us is what I like to call the “slow grind” of being made into the image of Christ. Don’t be misled by people who try to turn your attention off of what it means to have true faith that works itself out in the fruit of gospel change.

Are you hearing this warning? Don’t be led astray by your desire for instant gratification. God’s redeeming work in you takes time. You will not arrive overnight. You will struggle. You will face suffering and hardship because of the gospel. Pursuing the instant gratification of escaping the hardship of this life will lead you astray. Don’t be led astray.

Warning #3: Don’t Miss The Boat… (26 – 27)

Jesus warns his disciples not to miss the boat because of their desire to live in the moment. He gives them this warning in the form of a reminder when he reminds them of the days of Noah. Jesus says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.” In other words, it’s ok to long for the return of Christ to rescue us from this evil age but it’s not ok to be so consumed with escaping this evil world that all we do is live with our heads in the clouds because if we do that we may just miss the boat of God’s kingdom in Christ Jesus. Do you remember the story of Noah? How he built a boat for years during a time when there was no rain? Jesus reminds us that all of the people of Noah’s day “were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” In regards to the day of Christ’s return, Jesus wants us to know that it will be the same as in the days of Noah. People will go about their business as usual. People will go on sinning as usual. People will carry on with their lives as usual. People will even mock the people of God for being obedient to God just as they did in the days of Noah. But then without any further warning God’s judgment will come and people won’t even know what hit them. Jesus is warning us in this section not to miss the boat because of our desire to live in the moment.

Are you hearing this warning? Don’t miss the boat because of your desire to live in the moment. Don’t shrug this warning off as a fairy tale. Don’t be deceived into thinking you are ok unless you have believed the gospel and embraced the cross of Christ and have the testimony of the Spirit of God that you are His son or daughter. Only then can you be free to live in the moment awaiting the return of Christ to bring the kingdom of God to completion. Don’t miss the boat.

Warning #4: Don’t Look Back… (28 – 32)

Jesus warns his disciples not to look back because of their desire for the good old days. Do you ever do that? Reminisce about the good old days? Ever miss some of the days of your youth? It’s interesting how Jesus communicates this warning because he does it by looking back. But when Jesus asks us to look back he does it so that we can learn and live differently. Jesus is basically like “Hey, do you remember the good old days of Lot & his wife?” In those days “they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all – so it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.” Do you remember Lot’s wife? What happened when she looked back? She was destroyed on the spot for her lack of faith and obedience. She was trying to straddle the fence of following Jesus while holding onto the good old days of her life in Sodom.

Are you hearing this warning? Don’t look back because you desire the good old days again because if you do look back then you stand in danger of being destroyed. Do you desire your old life from yesterday? Do you desire your old sins of last night? Are you constantly looking over your shoulder instead of looking ahead to the new life in Christ that God has called you to? Don’t look back.

Warning #5: Don’t Get Separated… (33 – 37)

Jesus warns his disciples not to get separated from the kingdom of God because of their desire for self-preservation. Jesus says, “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” In other words, if we get caught up in all of our desires for self-preservation and self-promotion in this life then we will get separated from God’s kingdom. Look at verses 34 – 37 carefully… Jesus says, “’I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.’ And they (the disciples) said to him, ‘Where, Lord’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’” In other words, Jesus is telling the disciples that when he returns there will be judgment and unbelievers will be separated from believers, which causes the disciples to ask where this judgment will take place. Jesus’ answer is that this judgment will happen in a place where the corpse rots and the vultures gather. In other words, if we give into our desires of self-preservation and self-promotion we will be separated from God’s Kingdom because we will be in a place where the stench of sin and death and judgment are obvious.

Are you hearing this warning? Don’t get separated from the kingdom of God because of your desire for self-preservation. You cannot preserve your life by getting a better spouse, a better house, a better car, a better friend, better kids, a better bank account or better belongings. This kind of self-preservation will kill you. The only chance that you and I have for not getting separated from the kingdom of God and thrown into a place of destruction because of our sin is to trust in Jesus who gave his life so that we could be set free to live as God asks us to and then grow in our capacity to love Him and love our neighbors. Don’t get carried away.

Here’s My Desire For Us…

My longing and really my deep desire is that we would be a church family whose desires are being radically transformed by the gospel. My desire is that we would be a church family who heeds these warnings from Jesus.

My prayer is that we would repent of our desire to have all the answers. Repent of our desire for instant gratification. Repent of our desire to live in the moment. Repent of our desire for the good old days. Repent of our desire for self-preservation

My prayer is that we would not miss out on what Jesus wants to do right here in our midst. My prayer is that we would not be led astray. My prayer is that we would not miss the boat. My prayer is that we would not look back. My prayer is that we would not get separated from the kingdom of God. My desire and my prayer is that we would hear and act upon these warnings.  Are you hearing these warnings today?