Evacuation and Invasion (Part C)

In the sequence of end times events here in verse 28, what happens before the rapture? The rapture is coming, the removal of the church. What happens right before that? That's this 28th verse. At that moment, there will be signs that the day of the Lord is about to happen. And again, the rapture lights diffuse. He says, when its branch has already become tender. This is information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.

Evacuation and Invasion is the title of the study today. And Pastor Rick will be teaching in Mark chapter 13. He will destroy its sinners from it.

I told you I was going to read to you that the great tribulation period was this wrath of God poured out on the earth. And there is one of the verses that teaches us about it. Those submitted to God will enter the kingdom of God when he returns. And those who reject him will be taken away to judgment. And so when he says in Luke, one of these apostles, Mark, then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

Okay, then what happens? Then he judges those living during the great tribulation period and having sent his angels out to preach the gospel and his servants, they will have no excuse. Then Luke 17 verse 35, two women will be grinding together and one will be taken and the other left.

Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one will be left. I know that when you read that, it reads as though this is the rapture. Well, it's true of the rapture, but in the context that it was given, it is the judgment in the beginning of his return. Matthew 25, 46, all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And these will go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life. So you see there's the context of it being at his return because that does not take place at the rapture. So the three aspects one more time. Evacuation, the invasion seven years later, and then the judgment and occupation. So it kind of works out because I'm really that smart. Now that's not funny, I got feelings.

Evacuation, invasion, occupation. That's just too easy. Anyway, so the question I was asked about all this last week was will we be raptured with our clothes on? That's a good question. It's cute, but it's a good question because I'm fighting thoughts about full moons and things like that on the way up.

Yes and no. Yeah, we will have clothes on. That's the first answer, but they won't be these clothes. And for some of you that will be a great relief for the rest of us, but I see you've been raiding the lost and found again.

I mean men's fashion has been dead. Okay, back to this. Second Corinthians chapter five. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.

That's a dual meaning. It's the spiritual. Yes, we're covered in Christ. But also remember we're riding back in white linen. That's connected.

And aren't we glad that we're not going up that way? First Corinthians 1551. This is where Paul is talking about the rapture.

He says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. So we have that justification, sanctification, glorification. These bodies aren't fit for the eternal, for the atmosphere.

I mean we can't even make it in places on earth. So the body has to be changed and so will the garment be changed as an indication of all these things. Glorified bodies fit for a glorious atmosphere while our present clothing will vanish into oblivion.

Cotton is just not going to help you out in the spiritual realm. And so we're going to have the first Corinthians. I want to stay on this a little bit because I liked it. And I got the OK from God to do it.

So I hope it's beneficial. Go back to with me in first Corinthians where he says, We shall not all sleep. We shall not all die, but we shall be changed in a moment in an instant twinkling of an eye just like that.

It's going to take place when God says when he's the last trumpet sounds the change is going to be instant. The last trumpet. The Roman army, which Paul uses as his template for these analogies, and even the Jews in the wilderness, but back to the Roman one. They had three trumpets for their armies. The first trumpet meant break camp. The second trumpet meant line up. And the third trumpet said, Let's march. And that's the last trumpet.

Let's march. And so when Christ blows that last trumpet to pull his church out, that's the reference. Matthew 9, verse 6.

No, let's do first Corinthians 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. We're not fit for heaven physically. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. We can't die. We're fitted with a new body. The organs won't break down.

The things that make us live, they'll not fail. So Matthew 9, 16. No one puts on a piece of untrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse. And of course he's talking about his coming and, you know, you can't take old things and put them on new things when it's time for the new thing.

It's not a good fit. Is there precedence? Yes. This has happened before. Second Kings. This is Elijah being taken up in that chariot. Then it happened as they continued on and talked. It's Elijah and Elisha, his disciple, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire and separated the two men and Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven and Elisha saw it. And he cried out, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and his horsemen.

That's a lamentation and amazement at the same time. So he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. So the cloak that Elijah the prophet had, that was discarded and Elisha picked it up.

And with it, part of the Jordan, it was part of his ministry, his tool. Anyway, there the great prophet was taken up into heaven. He had no need for a cloak where he was going and back to the white robes. No jeans, t-shirts, dresses, suits and ties and heaven appears. And you can cross-reference this in Revelation 1-13 where Jesus himself manifests himself to John and he is clothed with a robe down to his feet. And Revelation 4-4, 7-9, just throughout Revelation. Just take your concordance, look up the word clothe in the book of Revelation and you will see that there is an emphasis placed on our being in proper attire.

Matthew 22, verse 11. But when the king, this is a parable of Christ, and he's speaking about showing up in improper attire. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless and then he was judged.

And so, yeah, it matters, it does count and I thought it was a good question. Verse 28, now we begin. Now we begin. Verse 28. Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. Now he's drawing from the surrounding, he's saying, look, I'm going to lay something to illustrate for you.

Pound of illustration is worth a ton of explanation. But here's another metaphor with the fig tree, which is the Old Testament standard for singling out Israel and making a distinction between Israel and all the other nations. Israel is the fig tree. You wouldn't say that of Egypt. You would not say that of Syria.

It was Israel. That's the fig tree. And so when he says learn this parable from Israel, you see, now we understand that this is making a lot more sense. The fruitless fig tree that he talked about in chapter 11 symbolized the corruption of her leaders.

But this is different. This is, he's picturing this fig tree with its foliage reviving, indicating a new season, a productive nation, indicating that his return is imminent. It's going to happen and he puts the barrier on, or the boundaries on it, this generation, which we'll get to. And so having taught about his return after the Great Tribulation in verse 24, he now returns to events leading up to the Great Tribulation. That's where we are in the sequence of end times events here in verse 28. What happens before the rapture? The rapture is coming, the removal of the church.

What happens right before that? That's this 28th verse. And he is indicating that those who are going to be living right before that moment, there will be signs that the day of the Lord is about to happen. And again, the rapture lights the fuse. He says, when its branch has already become tender, this has revived Israel, and it is a part of the processes of growth they have started. It is out of its dormant stage. And you know, in wintertime, the trees are bare, the sap's not flowing, and as spring approaches, you start seeing the buds on the trees, and then the leaves, and you know the saps are flowing, and summer is near.

He says, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. Israel, in this illustration of the Lord, is very important. It's still showing only leaves. There's no fruit. They still don't believe. Still, a Christ-rejecting nation, a present fact for us right now.

But this much has happened in our lifetime. Israel is back in the land. That is the beginning of this verse. When you see the fig tree producing life, when you see the sap flowing, Israel, that's what he's talking about. They're back in that land. After 2,000 years of not having their own state, their own nation, they're back just in time to start fulfilling this prophetic word in our lifetime. The rebirth of the state of Israel tells us that the Lord's return is at the doors. Now, we've got to be careful here, because we don't want to be loony and go away from the scripture.

We don't have no need for that. There's enough here to excite us. What remains to happen before the rapture? Nothing.

It can happen at any minute. There's no other prophecy we're waiting on. Once Israel got back in that land, that was it.

There was nothing left to wait for. Isn't it a technology to fulfill some of the Old Testament stuff, perhaps? But ultimately, no prophetic event. Verse 29, so you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near at the doors. Who is you?

You also. Because it certainly isn't those apostles that started this whole end-time discussion. When you see this beautiful temple and he says, you're not one stone's going to remain. It's not them.

As fig trees bud, those buds turn into leaves. That summer is near, revived nation of Israel. The end is at the doors, leading up to this secret date. The date of the rapture is not given.

That is top secret. But the times, the times are given. Matthew 16, Jesus said to the Pharisees, you know how to discern the face of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times.

Why? Because they weren't listening to their scripture. That's why. We're in the same position that they were in this sense. Their Messiah was right in front of them. They had all the scripture to understand this. And they chose not to believe it, most of them. But others did see it.

And others did surrender to it. We're living in an age where we're seeing the signs. But do we believe it?

Or do we think that it's just not going to happen? It's too sci-fi. In Noah's day, it was the start of the ark's construction. When that ark started, when that first gopher tree fell, I mean, back then, trees looked like gophers.

That's not true. It was gopher wood. And it's called that because Noah, being an old man, sent his sons to gopher wood. Anyway, when that first tree fell, I hope that's not the only thing you remember about this morning. When the rains came, it was too late to be prepared. You were done. And if you missed the rapture, you're going through the great tribulation now.

There's no way to get around it. Why so many verses from Jesus on these things? Because they're recognizable events. 1 Peter 3, verse 15. What do we do with recognizable events? But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.

Why are they asking you? Because your life is a beacon, a lighthouse. God has brought them to you, and now you can share these things. I used to share at the end time, say, Look, Israel's back in their land. The end is coming. I don't know the day nor the hour, but I know that that generation that has watched them become a nation again will be alive. Not all of it, of course, not everyone.

Let me open that up. Verse 30. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place. Assuredly.

In other words, you better believe this. Once the fig tree revives, the generation, that generation is going to participate. And again, not the generation that heard him speak these words, Peter and John and the apostles. That generation long since passed. What generation? Well, the precise length of a generation is unclear in Scripture, but we've got some hints.

It is an elastic unit, but we know that it includes contemporaries, witnesses. There will be those who have seen the tree come back in to life, and they will be alive and participate in these events. When Jesus prophesied of the destruction of the temple and that the Jews would be dispersed, he said that generation, Matthew 23, verses 34 through 39, he predicted the doom of their existing nation while he lived. And he said that generation would see it. Well, he gave that prophecy in 33 AD.

It was fulfilled in its completion in 135 AD. That's about a hundred years. So when he makes reference to a generation there, it's about a hundred years. When he spoke to Abraham and said your descendants are going to go to Egypt, that generation there, it's in Genesis 15 versus, we don't have time for me to read it out, verses 13 through 16, again appears to be about a hundred years. Are we to say, well, it is a hundred years? No, we cannot say. Can we say, well, when Christ used it and other parts of Scripture used it, there is that thought that it is about a hundred years somewhere in that number. Can it happen before it gets to almost a hundred?

Sure, it can. These are just the boundaries. So he says, watch the fig tree and Israel is that fig tree recovered from her great diaspora being pushed out throughout the world.

She is revived now. Ours has to be the generation that he is speaking. I believe there, now, so, okay, let's open that a little bit more. When does the countdown start? Is it 1948 when Israel became a sovereign state? Does the clock start ticking then on May 14th, 1948?

Or is it June 7th, 1967 when the Jews took back Jerusalem and Mount Moriah? You see, Christ, remember I started out saying these are revelations from him. Peter said, knowing these things, we're supposed to do just what I'm doing right now, explore them. We're not supposed to say, well, we don't know the date or the hour, there's no point in even looking at it. No, we're not.

We're supposed to be considering these things. And as the generations get closer and closer to the event, history tells us that the church will know more and more about what is unfolding before them. And we have so much knowledge now as Bible teachers about the end times so much more than someone like Martin Luther or John Wesley.

Their end time views were just, they weren't even there almost compared to what we know now. And so I like the 1967 one because that was a good year for baseball. I know some of you don't even know what baseball is, but that's okay.

We love you, just not as much as other baseball fans. And of course, baseball is in the Bible. There's this whole beginning conversation in the book of Genesis, in the beginning. You know I only preach what's in the Bible. Verse 31, let's finish this this morning.

So what I've given you is some boundaries for generations. Just looking at the scripture as a student, we say, you know what, it's probably going to be this longer stretch. It's a very good chance.

If so, you've got another 20 or 40 some years maybe. This better be ready whenever it happens. Next week we get into, you don't know when the day is or the hour, but you still will know the season.

And that's what we'll cover next session. Verse 31, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. Heaven and earth being the visible creation of Genesis 1, Isaiah 65 verse 17, for behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. So God is saying when I end this world after that thousand year period plus, I'm going to wipe it out.

It's not salvageable. The entire universe, Jupiter will be gone and the rest of them. Then he starts, he will create a new universe. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 12, looking for the hastening of the coming of the day of God, which starts at the rapture, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. This is at the end of the day of the Lord. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. Isaiah 66 verse 22 now, for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says Yahweh, so shall your descendants and your name remain. In other words, the Jews will not perish. And that is what Isaiah is saying, even when I create a new heavens and earth, the righteous will make it through.

Again, I hope, I hope that we're getting this, that end time prophecy is important to the Lord and it should be important to us. My words will by no means pass away, verse 31. Only God could say that. Imagine if I said, listen, you know, my words will not pass away.

It would be laughable. Unless, of course, I was, never mind. For him to say this is an indication of his deity. Jesus never said, thus says the Lord.

He says, I say to you. And that is a significant element of the New Testament and why those who reject him being God the Son will be held accountable. Jesus is God the Son of God the Father. And so, Isaiah 40, verse 8, the word of God stands forever. Revelation 19, 11, I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who sat on it was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His wrath on sinners in the great tribulation will be just. And I'm done with this verse. Revelation 22, verse 6, then he said to me, these words are faithful and true. Why would he have to say that to John?

For us. He wanted it in writing. He wanted us to hear that his words, he repeats this throughout the Bible, are faithful and true because our flesh is so sinister that it will doubt any chance it gets to doubt unless it is smacked down with truth in faith. And so he said to me, these words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophet sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place.

He sent his angel to show us and we're not supposed to dismiss it. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Mark. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. To learn more information about this ministry visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. Once you're there you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark like here on Cross Reference Radio.