The Olivet Discourse - A Serious Look At Matthew 24 And Revelation 6 In Parallel – Part 3 Series

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE - A SERIOUS LOOK AT MATTHEW 24 AND REVELATION 6 IN PARALLEL – PART 3

Welcome back. In this address I have been trying to show the strong link with Matthew 24 and Revelation chapter 6. This proves that there is no Rapture in Matthew 24. It is all about the Tribulation and the Second Coming. If you have come in at this point in the text, then you need to read PART 1 to get the whole setting and the background that proves Matthew 24 is not the Rapture. God bless you.

STILL CONTINUING SIGN NUMBER 6

{{Matthew 24:27-30 “Just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather, but immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.”}}

In verses 27-30 of Matthew 24, the cosmic signs of the Lord’s Second Coming are given and replicate many of the Old Testament signs for The Day of the Lord. This is the Lord coming back in power and glory. Straight after verse 31 of Matthew 24, we have these remarkable verses:-

{{Matthew 24 v 32 - 33 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so you too, when you see all these things, recognise that He is near, right at the door.”}}

The disciples had been asking about the signs of the Lord’s coming and He gave those in verses 4 to 14 (the beginning ones) and in v 29 - 31. Now He follows that by the parable, which in its context, has to be understood as belonging to the period immediately before the Second coming. What Jesus is saying, is that when you (He means the Tribulation saints) begin to see those cosmic signs mentioned in Matthew 24 v 29 - 31 (and also in the Old Testament Prophets such as Joel) then it is like the fig tree which heralds summer when the tender branches and leaves are showing. Summer will be His Second Coming outlined in this chapter, and in the Old Testament passages and Revelation 19.

I know this passage - verses 32 – 33, is used for the Rapture sometimes, but it does not really fit there, and is wrong to do so because it drags the Rapture into Matthew 24 and there is NO rapture or Church in Matthew 24. (Look back at the Introduction in PART 1) Perhaps we could say that currently the fig tree (Israel) is budding because the fig tree is a type of Israel. It is getting close. It is very close.

SIGN NUMBER 7:- Well the 7 th seal in Revelation 6 opens into the Trumpet and Bowl judgments, and Matthew does not touch on the details of this severe time of wrath, but covers, as we have seen, the “beginning of sorrows” or “the beginning of the birth pains”.

[D]. THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM: Matthew 24 v 14

{{Matthew 24 v 13-14 “but the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. This GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. “}}

All right, now we must consider this Gospel of the Kingdom to see what it is. This is essential as there is much confusion over it. The term “Gospel of the Kingdom” is exclusive to Matthew, the Jewish Gospel, and has to be understood as the Kingdom to be set up in Israel over which the Lord is the King-Messiah. Remember, neither the Church nor the gospel of grace is in Matthew 24.

John the Baptist came preaching that Gospel of the Kingdom:- {{Matthew 3 v 1-2 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”}} His message was that the Messiah-King was about to come to set up the Kingdom in Israel. Repentance and confession in the waters of baptism meant entry into that Kingdom. John could only have referred to the Kingdom as known in the Old Testament, as he was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He preached that the Kingdom was at hand. That kingdom could only come through a national repentance and acceptance of the rightful King and that is what John the Baptist preached. There was no way would he be preaching “the Christian gospel” as Jesus had not gone to Calvary.