Frankie Mazzapica - End Times Timeline - Part 1
The topic we are discussing today is so detailed that I’m going to have to use my iPad. I’m not particularly comfortable looking at notes, and in fact, I don’t even know how to turn this thing on. There we go! If you see me stumble a little bit, then please give me some grace. We’re talking about the timeline of the end times. We’re discussing things that you can look at and say, «Okay, the Rapture is about to come.» The Rapture is when God takes His people off the Earth. You are gone! And it’s His people, the believers. The question is always: are we close to that? Is it getting closer? What we are going to do this week is look at Israel to determine whether or not we’re getting closer to that. All right, next Sunday we will talk about whether there are parallels in the United States with Israel that say, «Hey, the Rapture is near.» As for the third Sunday, I have no idea, but I promise it’s going to be good. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I promise you it will be good.
But why do we look at Israel? I have three major points. The first one is signs in Israel. The second one will be about the Rapture, and the third one is to remember your «why» for serving the Lord in the first place. So let’s talk about Israel. No, wait! Let’s first talk about the timeline. This is the timeline. If you want to take pictures of this, I encourage you to do so, so that you can look at it later. Next Sunday, I’ll bring the timeline back a little and work my way forward from Adam and Eve. But we’re starting off in the New Testament right here, when Jesus gets crucified. That was when He paid for our sins; that was critical. If you want to stand up and take a picture, feel free to come close. You know your camera! Every single year, they come out with an iPhone that has a better camera, and I’m like, «My camera can already see Mars, so I’m good,» but you can take a picture.
So, Jesus gets crucified here. Three days later, He rises again, and then He walks around on the Earth for 40 days—that’s amazing! Here’s Acts chapter 2; this is the church age. This is when the disciples and the Apostle Paul are active. This is where we find Celebration Church of the Woodlands. This is the church age right here, and this is where we are. There’s going to be the Rapture. The Rapture—I’ll get into this because this is point two, and I don’t want to talk about it too much—is when God takes the believers off the Earth, and the non-believers stay. The believers are not just people who believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus and say, «Yeah, I’m going,» well, not so much. Satan believes in Jesus, too! The people who go are those who have devoted their lives to following the Lord, saying, «Lord, I love what You love; I hate what You hate.» When it comes to the things I want to do that You don’t want me to do, I will ask for Your help because I want to please You. I live for You. Those people go. The people who just believe in Him—yeah, I believe in Him—no, no, no, no, not you; you’re not going up. You’re staying right here. Do you want the truth, or do you want sugar-coated messages?
In 2 Timothy 3:15 or 16, it says that because you are not hot—meaning you are not passionate about God—but you’re not cold either—you believe in Him—you are lukewarm. I’m going to spit you out of My mouth. So being caught in the middle? That’s not you! That’s a little heavy for now. Look at someone next to you and say, «Don’t worry about it!» Actually, look at them and say, «Worry about it!» like, «You need to!»
Here’s the Rapture of the church. After the believers go to heaven, there will be a seven-year tribulation. This is a very bad time because there will be no believers on Earth anymore. All the people who believed in God but were lukewarm, those who weren’t all the way in, will be here without believers. Pastors are gone, worship leaders are gone. You are gone! This is very bad. Nations are being destroyed; they’re fighting each other. Atomic bombs everywhere! It is a very, very, very bad time.
Now, just so you know, some of you are familiar with the prophetic timeline, and you can hear me talk while some of you aren’t really familiar with this part. I’m pre-tribulation, which means that the church will be raptured before all this. There are some believers who think it’s mid-trib, and there are some who are post-trib, where the Rapture occurs back here. My personal belief—people argue about this all the time, and many of these scholars are much smarter than I am—is that when you look at the history of Jesus, when He flooded the Earth, what did He do? He took the believers and made them safe. When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, they were all caught up in sin; however, what did He do first? He took the believers out. His history is to take the believers out when there’s massive world judgment. Are you with me? That’s why I placed the Rapture of the church here; it’s in accordance with His history. If you want to know someone’s future behavior, you look at their past behavior. So if you’re dating someone who is absolutely nuts, you can expect them to continue to be nuts!
All right, that was free. Here we go. Next, we have the second coming. This is not the Rapture. The Rapture is when believers are taken off the Earth; we go up and meet Jesus in the air; He is in the clouds, and the angels are in the clouds. We go up, and we meet Him. Jesus does not come down; we go up. Then Jesus comes down, and we look like bosses because we’re with the angels. We are with Jesus, and we come down together on horses—whipping and riding. He establishes a reign. The Earth does not look like it does right now; it’s like the Garden of Eden level—beautiful! The Great White Throne judgment is a scary thing because now every evil person who has ever lived, every unbeliever who has ever lived, every person who has been nonchalant about Him—"Yeah, I believe in Him, but I’m nonchalant"—these people will go to the pit of Hell. They know they are sinning and don’t care.
How do I know that? Hebrews 10:26 says, «For the person who has come to an awareness of the truth but continues to sin flagrantly, the sacrifice of Jesus no longer applies to them.» I wasn’t expecting it to be this heavy! Look at the person next to you and just say, «Are you losing weight?» Go ahead. This is where they get judged. This is where Satan gets judged. This is a cool moment for us. We’ve already been raptured. Now, the Bible says we’ll look at Satan and go, «That’s the worm that tormented me!» It’s going to be an awesome moment!
So, you people being raptured, we are not being judged at that judgment seat. There’s another judgment seat where we are judged, and it’s awesome. It’s called the Bema seat. Some people say Bea, some say Bema. I call it awesome because what happens is believers are judged, but we are not judged according to our sins. That’s where we receive rewards. That is when the Lord looks at you and says, «You see that season that almost broke you, but you continued to believe in Me? Boom! Reward!» It’s beautiful.
Then we enter the eternal state with a new heaven and a new earth—that’s eternity; it’s going to be amazing! Now the question is: how close are we to the Rapture of the church? You have to pay attention to Israel to determine how close we are. Now, some of you just moved to the Gulf Coast area; you just moved to Texas. Some of you who are watching right now live in places like Wyoming, and you have no idea what it’s like to know a hurricane is coming. How do we know how far the hurricane is away? We watch the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of America. We watch that ocean over there. My 11-year-old asked, «Can you just rename stuff?» I don’t know! But, we watch the Gulf, and there’s a hurricane. When we watch that hurricane, that’s what we’re focused on; we’re not watching anything else except for that hurricane because that hurricane is determining when Texas, the Gulf Coast, is going to be affected.
We don’t watch anything except for Israel. Why is Israel so important? In Leviticus 26:12, God tells the children of Israel, «You are My people. I will walk with you. I am your God; you are My people.» He’s looking at everyone else—those evil Egyptians—and saying, «Boom! You’re mine!» That’s the Old Testament. Let me ask you this: in the Bible, everything Jesus did was in Israel. Where was Jesus born? Israel! That was the right answer; don’t be afraid! Where was Jesus born? Israel! In Bethlehem! Where was Jesus’s three-year ministry? It was all in Israel. Come on, help me out! It was all in Israel! He was crucified in Israel. Where did Jesus rise again? Israel! Particularly in Jerusalem! When the second coming comes—when He comes down, it’s going to be on the Mount of Olives.
As a sidebar, I visited the Mount of Olives. It’s right here. There’s a valley leading to the City of David, and the Bible says He’s going to land on the Mount of Olives and walk into the City of David. Between the Mount of Olives and the City of David, there’s a valley with Muslims, Christians, and Jews who all believe that land is theirs. These particular Jews don’t believe in Jesus, which is a big problem. In John 14:6, it says, «I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father except through Me.» So when Jews say, «I don’t believe in You,» they’re not getting to the Father. So, I’m already long-winded; I’m just telling you now!
Hey, I’ve gone 52 weeks in a row at 25 minutes; give me another 10 minutes!
When Jesus comes off that mount, the Christians are like, «Let’s go!» The Muslims are saying, «No, we’re not going to let you in!» People have put concrete over the door, so when Jesus lands on the Mount of Olives, He’s going to look down and think, «Oh my goodness! My whole plan, man! What are we going to do?» Come on, people think that.
So anyway, He’s going to land on the Mount of Olives and go into Israel, which is in Jerusalem. The millennial reign will be in Israel! Everything happens in Israel. There are so many signs that have happened in Israel indicating that the Rapture is very close. I’m going to pick just one—the most significant one that I think will rock you as well.
Let me explain it first. Israel was not even a nation for 2,000 years. They were disobedient, and God allowed them to be conquered. For 2,000 years, there was no Israel. But on May 14, 1948, Israel was re-established. This is one of the biggest miracles known. The Bible says about it in Isaiah 66:8, «Who has ever heard of such things? Can a country be born in a day, or a nation be brought forth in a moment?» This is crazy!
Now watch this! I need you to read this out loud with me. Look at the person next to you and say, «Participate!» Here we go—nice and loud: «Now learn this lesson.» Time out! I have to be Pentecostal and interrupt you for a second. If you read Hosea 9:10 and Jeremiah 24:5, it tells us that Israel is a fig tree—it’s illustrated as a fig tree. What we’re seeing here is that when the fig tree begins to bear leaves, when it is re-established, May 14, 1948, that’s when it comes back to life.
Here we go—ready? Everybody say, «Yes!» Now let’s start over. «Now learn this lesson: As soon as the fig tree’s twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.» If you see May 14, 1948, happen, that generation will not die until it is raptured.
Now let me ask: How long is a generation? We need to determine how long a generation is and add it to May 14, 1948. Should we argue about how long a generation is? Nah! Let’s just see how long the Bible calls a generation. Sounds good, right?
Here we go! Psalms 90:10—let’s read it out loud: «Our days may come to seventy years.» See, that’s what I love about my job; I don’t have to share my opinion because my opinion means absolutely nothing. My only job is to read the Bible out loud, and that’s my awesome job!
So, what we’re saying is a generation according to the Bible is 70 to 80 years. If you live longer than 80 years, you’re getting bonus time. All right? If you live shorter than 70 years, you could complete your assignment. But a generation is measured between 70 and 80 years. So, what are we saying? We’re saying from 1948, add 70 or 80 years. Those people are not going to die.
So now, let’s do some math. Everybody get your calculators out! Oh wait, you don’t have to. I already did it! Adding 70 or 80 years means we land between 2018 and 2028. So according to that, the Rapture is going to take place between 2018 and 2028—sometime in that window. But don’t worry! Maybe we’re in the middle of 2025!
So I say all this to say that if you wanted to be lukewarm or in and out, if you wanted to live double lives and all that, you should have done it already. Now is not the time! Now’s the time: «Jesus, help me! I feel myself getting cold!» You turn on worship music; you start worshiping; you go to church.
Come on! Now there are some theologians that say a generation is not 70 or 80 years like that scripture says. I’m not arguing against theologians; I know if one were sitting here, they would tear me to pieces. They’ve forgotten more than I will ever know. But just to be transparent, some believe a generation is 40 years. I have trouble with that because I’m 46 and still growing, and many of you are older than me and look great.
There are other theologians who say a generation is not 70 or 80; it could be 100. Okay, my only trouble with that is that I don’t meet a lot of those people. Be transparent; there are theologians who say 40 years and some that say 100 years. I’m kind of landing on Psalms 90:10. I think it’s 70 to 80. So between 2018 and 2028, that’s like right now!
Let me make you smile for a second. The majority of the room is excited about this. I say majority because some of you have been living really cold, and that makes you nervous. However, there are also people like my son Luke. Stand up and wave at everybody. Is Riley here? Riley, will you stand up and wave at everybody? Luke is 17, and Riley is 15. They’ve had the same thoughts—one’s a boy and one’s a girl.
Okay, I want to go to heaven, but I really was planning on getting married! My daughter, who’s 20, is like, «I’ve been planning my wedding for 15 years.» So there’s a country song out there that says, «I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go today.» I get it; I understand. The problem is we have no idea what we’re saying.
The best way I can illustrate this, and it’s not good enough, but I’ll try: You are in a plane, okay? You can fly, but you don’t know you can fly. However, I know you can fly. So I say, «Hey! Come on over here.» I open the door, grab you by your pants and neck, and throw you out of the plane. You go out, and you’re like, «Oh my gosh! I can fly!»
Are you thinking about anybody? Are you thinking, «I wanted to get married»? No! You’re not thinking about that stuff! Your brain is all, «Oh my goodness!» It’s heaven all the time! Everything you used to care about—you’re not even thinking about it. You’re constantly in awe.
And sometimes, I’ve thought to myself, «Hey, when we get to heaven, you’re not going to recognize me!» I’m going to look like Brad Pitt! Remember that movie where he was in a cowboy movie? His name was Tristan! What’s that movie? Legends of the Fall! When I come riding over on that horse with my hair hanging down, that’s not fair.
I’ve said it a hundred times: when I get to heaven, you’re not going to recognize me! I’m going to look like Brad Pitt! However, that’s just silly talk because in heaven, you might be gone in 60 minutes.
What’s that movie? 90 Minutes in Heaven? I brought him—what’s his name? John Piper? Don Piper? Yeah, we’re tight! A few years ago, I brought him to Celebration Church and interviewed him. I should bring him back! I said, «What was heaven like?» He goes, «When you walk in, angels are singing and they don’t have to take a breath. They’re just singing! And when you walk in, you automatically know the song, and you just start singing. The grass is alive; I can’t explain it. When you walk by, the flowers turn and look at you! It’s like nature knows that God is there.»
That’s why the Bible says the rocks can cry out! Nature knows! He said, «I saw a woman I recognized while she was on Earth. While she was on Earth she wasn’t pretty or ugly; she was just there.» When I saw her in heaven, she was so full of God’s glory that she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my life.
Now, what I’ve just said over the last 90 seconds is me trying to describe heaven. This is the Rapture. I need to go a little bit faster. I’m so sorry! The Rapture of the church is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where it says, «And we shall be caught up together.» The word «rapture» is not in the Bible, but «rapture» means to be caught up, like you’re caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus in the air—that’s the Rapture! The Second Coming is when He actually comes down; we meet Him in the air.
Thus, we shall always be with the Lord! Watch this! 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52 say, «Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.» What does that mean? The Rapture is somewhere, theologians believe, between 2018 and 2028, and in a twinkling of an eye—blink! You can’t do anything faster than a blink! Your heart can’t beat faster than a blink! The fastest thing you can do is blink!
The Bible says in a blink—in a twinkling of an eye, it doesn’t say blink—but the twinkling of an eye is like all of a sudden, your eye twinkles, and you’re different! You’re in a glorified body! In a blink, you’re raptured, and in a different body—boom! In a blink!
According to the clock of Israel, it should be landing any time now! If you push me into a corner and say, «But do you believe it’s going to happen anytime?» I’m going to say, «Live like today is your last day!» Because one of these days, you’ll be right. One of these days, someone on the planet your age died unexpectedly. Yesterday? It wasn’t the Rapture; the time was up. You don’t know! But according to scripture, between 2018 and 2028!
Now, when we get to 2029, you want to come up to me and say, «You were wrong.» I’ll look at you and say, «I’m just telling you what theologians say; I’m reading the Bible; I’m doing the best I can to describe it.» Will I be surprised if it’s 2029 and we aren’t raptured? I won’t be surprised. But I will tell you this: I will have been ready the entire time!
Now is not the time! It’s not the time to be playing around.
Now, the last and final point: you have to figure out and remember your «why.» Why? Like when you get ready to quit your job, you remind yourself of your «why.» Why don’t I quit right now? Because I need the money! I don’t feel like doing the dishes—why am I going to do it? Because I need a clean fork in about an hour, right? You always have to remind yourself of your «why.»
So the question is, why would you ever keep your spiritual pulse and say, «Lord, I feel myself drifting. I need to worship You?» I’ll tell you this: when I feel myself drifting, because I’m anointed to preach it, but I have to live it like everyone else, I say, «Lord, I love You. I love You. I love You. I love You.»
I thank You, and I can feel that fire starting to turn back up. Why would you live laying your life down before Him?
I know that you don’t like it, so I’m not going to do it. I’m not talking about these believers that say, «I know it’s sinful, but I believe God will forgive me.» Yeah, keep listening to the devil, please! No! Don’t! It’s the devil!
Some people have Super Bowl parties. Let’s say you invite me over for your Super Bowl party, but first, I run and chase my little 9-year-old in the mud trying to get her, and I’m all covered with mud. Then I show up at your house for the Super Bowl party. You’re like, «I’m sorry, but you can’t come in!»
You can’t come in unless you’re pursuing the Lord! Now, if you’re pursuing Him—if I show up muddy and say, «Look, I’m really sorry! Things got crazy! I want to come in…"—through my humility and apology, we can work something out, right? Are you with me? You’ll forgive me.
Remember your «why.» The best way I can show you is through a video. I wish I could see Jesus and know how glorious He is all the time because then I would always remember my «why.» It would be easy for me to lay my life down. I wish the same for you. I wish you could see the Lord, and it would be so much easier.
What I’m asking you to do is to stretch your faith and believe in what you cannot see. I’m going to show you a video, and it’s our best attempt to say this is what Jesus looks like, but it’s not good enough.
I’m going to show you a clip. Many of you have watched The Chosen. Wave at me if you haven’t watched The Chosen. Go home! I don’t know how you can find it! YouTube? Just find it! Google it! Ask ChatGPT how to watch The Chosen; it will change your life! There’s one particular scene that I want to show you. It’s a woman who is possessed by demons; her name is Mary Magdalene. It’s tormenting her mind, and you can see the struggle that the demons have on her mind and spirit. People came to the religious leaders of the day and said, «Do something with her!» The religious leaders were like, «I can’t deal with this.»
Then she met Jesus. Take a look at this.
[Video Clip]
We finished. He said, «Leave. That’s not for you. Don’t touch me.» «Are you okay?» «I have to go. Leave me alone.» «Leave me alone!» «Mary, Mary of Magdala!» «Who are You, and how do you know my name?» «I am the Lord who created you, and He who formed you. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.»
To one degree or another, all of us identify with Mary Magdalene. What has the Lord delivered you from? When you look back over your life and think that season was a sentence; you’re not going to make it. But what did He deliver you from? We all have different stories. What was it for you? This is our «why.» You delivered me. You saved me. You kept an eye on me when I was ignoring You. For the rest of my life, this is it. You are it!
I’m living for the twinkle of my eye. You’re it!
I want you to put your hands out like this—every one of you, even if it’s just at your waist level—and I want you to tell the Lord what you need from Him. If you’re in this room and you’re not ready for the blink of the eye, I want you to tell the Lord, «I’m sorry for my sins.» This is the moment where you’re everything to me. Tell Him what you need.
Every one of you: tell Him what you need!
Now look at me for a minute. I don’t know if that particular scene where Jesus touched her hand and then she went like this resonated with anyone. I did. It’s almost like your heart is longing for Jesus like, «I need to be delivered.» In those moments, you need to be delivered just like she was.
Many times, I’ve said, «Satan, on the third breath, you’re leaving.» I can feel the Lord deliver me right there in that moment, and I have to tell you I do that all the time.
So, I want you to put your hands out like this, and if you can relate to that heaviness, there’s something. I want us to do this together.
Satan, when they take their third breath, you’re going to leave this room! Every demonic spirit belongs to Jesus; they do not belong to you! So you stop tormenting them now!
Say that on the third breath: «Leave me alone!»
All right, fill your lungs, and breathe out nice and slow. One, two, three—go! Two more times and be free now in Jesus' name!
Now just do this. Let’s call it a brush-off. Say, «In Jesus' name! In Jesus' name! In Jesus' name!»
Do this. Tell me what you feel; that’s the power of the Lord! He still delivers people!
I’ve kept you way too late. If you have children in the children’s department, I want you to know those teachers are going nuts, and I don’t want you to leave them stranded. I want you to go get your kids because I’ll have to apologize to all of them. They’re so important to us. I have to respect them, too!
But I want to end with one worship song before anyone goes! I look forward to sharing part two with you next week. May the Lord bless you, keep you, and shine His face down upon you and be gracious to you. May His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace. In Jesus' name, Amen!