Where is Your Kingdom? (Luke 17:20-18:8)

Reformed & Expository Preaching

The Kingdom of God is both a present spiritual reality and a future physical hope. Jesus challenges any expectations that we might have when to think the Kingdom must be a visible, tangible, and worldly reign. Instead, the Kingdom is among us now—spiritually present in Christ’s ministry and advancing through the faithful witness of His Church.

Like in the days of Noah and Lot, life goes on as usual until sudden and decisive judgment comes. This tension between the “already” and the “not yet” calls us to live faithfully amid a broken world, persevering in prayer and trust. This precedent communicates how the kingdom functions. There is a time when we enjoy life as we know it, and then one day, without warning, there is judgment. So the people in Noah’s day lived, and then the flood came. People in Lot’s day lived, and then the judgment came.

The thing to remember is that it seems the judgment is executed without notice. This is not true. Noah built an ark, testifying to the coming judgment. Lot had visitors, and Lot fled the city to avoid judgment. There is always enough unrest in this world to remind us that this world is not a safe place. This world needs to be healed, recreated, and ultimately glorified. This creation will not reach its potential until the Lord returns.

Christ is communicating that this is our expectation in the kingdom. Life seems normal as any other day, and then there is a radical change. Christ confirms or establishes the kingdom in his arrival. Christ enters history to establish the kingdom. However, the kingdom is not verified by any sort of scientific validation. This is why we should not listen to people who claim that the kingdom of God is here or there. The reality is that only God knows when the kingdom’s full glory will be manifested.

The citizens in the kingdom are those who recognize their need for God’s mercy and justice, not those who rely on their own power or status. Jesus warns us to be watchful, for when He returns, He will separate those who belong to Him from those who do not.

As we await the full coming of the Kingdom, we are called to endure, to seek justice, and to hold fast to faith—so that when the Son of Man returns, He will find us ready, persevering, and steadfast.