Luke 17:20

Luke 17:20 says, And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:  The Pharisees demanded that Jesus tell them when the kingdom of God would come.  People have been trying to figure that out ever since Jesus's death, burial and resurrection.  Jesus answered that the kingdom of God didn't come by looking, and we can be certain that is still true.   Verse twenty-one adds, Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.  Jesus said that they should not say that the kingdom of God was here or there, but that the kingdom of God was within.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit lives within us, and we are already a part of the kingdom of God.  Verse twenty-two states, 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.  Jesus told the disciples to not always expect the success they had when He was with them physically.  We may start with great success as Christians, but there will be days when we can see nothing but problems and failures.  Even then, we are not to give up, because the Holy Spirit is still with us.  Verse twenty-three adds, And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.  Jesus warned the disciples that some would say He was in a certain place and others at another.  He then warned them to not listen to them.  We need to be careful that we are not following someone today that claims to have a special insight into Jesus and what He wants of His followers.  Verse twenty-four continues, For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.  Jesus said that just as the lightning lights up the sky, so will the Son of Man when His day comes.  We don't need to be concerned about Christ's return.  No one will be able to miss it when it happens.  Verse twenty-five says, But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.  Jesus then said that before the world could see the day of the Lord, He must first suffer many things and be rejected by that generation. He has been rejected by some of the people of every generation since.  Verse twenty-six adds, And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  Jesus said that just as in the days of Noah when people ignored his warnings, so would it be in the days of the Son of Man.  He was rejected by most when He was on the earth and has been rejected by many of every generation since then.  Some Christians say that today it is like the days of Noah, but so has every generation since Jesus's crucifixion been.  Verse twenty-seven continues, They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  Jesus said that life went on as normal in the days of Noah until Noah went into the ark and the flood came and then it was too late.  Until Jesus returns, life will go on as normal, and then it will be too late for those who have not accepted Him as Savior and Lord, just as it was too late when the doors of the ark were sealed and the flood came.  Verse twenty-eight states, Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  Jesus then compared the coming of the Son of Man in victory to the days of Lot, when life went on as normal in spite of all the sin that existed around them and that they participated in.  Verse twenty-nine adds, But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  Jesus reminded those around Him about what happened to the people of Sodom when Lot left Sodom.  Fire and brimstone rained down from heaven on them.  This is the fate that awaits everyone when Jesus Christ returns in victory if they have not accepted Him as their personal Savior and Lord.