God’s relation to the believer is not one of contract but of ownership, and since we never can merit His favors, we should ever let Him have the praise of His comforts, while we seek to manifest His spirit toward our fellowmen.
Our Lord Jesus is with certainty coming back to earth to reign gloriously. His coming will be with such suddenness that none can announce it in advance. The world will be moving on in its regular pursuits in disregard of the warnings of God’s Word, when He appears.
Luke 17
1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
3 ¶ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
11 ¶ And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
20 ¶ 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:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
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.
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
24 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.
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 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.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Luke 17:1-10 – J. Vernon McGee
Luke 17:11-37 – J. Vernon McGee
Luke 17:1-10 – “Take Heed to Yourselves”
The world is full of stumbling-blocks. Men are perpetually placing them in each other’s way; and especially before little children, the simple and the weak. Let us take heed to ourselves and endeavor to make life’s pathway easier for others. Let us spend lives of helpfulness and sympathy, full of love and forgiveness, of light and joy.
Do these precepts seem too difficult? Does a sevenfold forgiveness seem impossible? Then learn the lesson of the mustard seed, which opens its tiny door to the inflow of Nature’s energy and is therefore enabled to produce what, to its unaided strength, would be impossible. Open your soul to God! His love through you will forgive and save to the uttermost!
But when you have done all, you have nothing to be proud of, and neither God nor man is under any obligation to you. Love is the elementary duty of the follower of Christ. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Luke 17:10 – Of one thing we may be sure, – if we have all that we want in any sphere of effort or influence, we have a lower standard than we ought to have. The best worker is always behind where he would like to be. His ideal is ever ahead of him.
Luke 17:11-21 – The Man Who Was Grateful
Their common misery drew these poor outcasts together and made them forget the fierce national antipathies of Jew and Samaritan. When bidden to go to the priest, before there were any outward signs of healing, they started, and thus gave evidence of their faith that they were healed. It was this faith that saved them, because faith like this lets in the whole tide of God’s saving health. In the case of the poor alien, it was clear that he was not only healed, but saved, as his gratitude and worship indicated. Do we thank God, not only for His miracles, but for His daily providence?
The best things are stillest. The deepest work of God, in the individual and in the community, does not reveal itself to the newspaper reporter, but steals on the world like Spring through garden and woodland. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Luke 17:20—The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.
The Kingdom is “in mystery” just now. It is hidden from mortal eye, because the King Himself is withdrawn from the visible sphere. The creation groans and travails for its manifestation. He must be manifested before we can be manifested with Him in glory. In the meanwhile, it is not without, but within; not compelling human attention, but pervading human hearts. Let us remember this when we are lamenting the slow progress of Christianity in the world. It appears to recede almost as quickly as it advances; what it gains in one place it loses in another. If heathen lands are receiving Christ, are not the populations of Christian lands departing from Him? Stay; you cannot tell! It is useless to argue! There may be much more good working than you know. For every bold confessor there are probably seven thousand who have not bowed to Baal.
When we are tempted to estimate our success by numerical results.—When our church is crowded; our roll of communicants constantly augmented; and the money revenue large—we are disposed to think that the cause of Christ is really advancing in our midst. It may be so. But sometimes, where numbers are scant and difficulties many, a yet deeper and more lasting result is being achieved.
When we are lamenting the apparent slowness of our growth in grace.—You do not feel as you would; nay, to judge by your emotional life you fear lest you are positively receding in the divine life; you think that the quality and quantity of your fruit unto God is decreasing. Stay; the deepest work is not always the most obvious. Before the mole appears above the wave, years of work have been expended where no eye can see; but every stone tells in the result. —Our Daily Homily
Luke 17:22-37 – “The Days of the Son of Man”
Clearly enough, our Lord foresaw the approaching dissolution of the Jewish state. There was no help for it, notwithstanding all that the Baptist and Christ Himself had done. Suddenly and inevitably its doom must befall, as the deluge in the old world and the overthrow of Sodom. The Roman eagles would gather round the devoted city and only instant flight would avail. The early Christian disciples were warned by these words, and escaped to Pella, before Titus struck the last blow.
Since then other catastrophes have befallen, and finally the day of doom will break upon the world—to all of which the Master’s words have been and are appropriate. In one sense, the advent of Christ took place at the fall of Jerusalem, the scenes of which were probably a miniature of the travail through which the new heavens and the new earth will be born. Let us not seek our own, but the things that belong to the Kingdom; then all other things “shall be added,” Matthew 6:33. —Through the Bible Day by Day