Luke 17:20-25

Luke 17:20-25

1. We are taught that the kingdom of God is utterly unlike the kingdoms of this world.
2. We are taught that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be a very SUDDEN event.
3. We are taught that there are two personal comings of Christ revealed to us in Scripture.

"The literal kingdom which Christ shall set up one day will begin in some respects very like His spiritual one."

"Those who denounce the doctrine of the second advent as speculative, fanciful, and unpractical, would do well to reconsider the subject."

"He was appointed to come the first time in weakness and humiliation, to suffer and to die. He was appointed to come the second time in power and great glory, to put down all enemies under His feet, and to reign. At the first coming He was to be "made sin for us," and to bear our sins upon the cross. At the second coming He was to appear without sin, for the complete salvation of His people."

Questions:

1. Ryle declares that there will be no observable indication of the coming kingdom, and that those who think otherwise are asleep (clearly, Ryle is not a Postmillennialist)! Whether you hold to his view or not, an expectation of the Kingdom is a means of grace of living holy lives now. Are we living in such a way as to be ready for Christ to return?

2. Ryles points out the two personal returns of Christ, His first 2000 years ago, and His second coming at a time nobody but the Father knows. Are we living in light of these two markers in history?