"I'll Pay You $5,000 If You Can Prove The Rapture!"

"I'LL PAY YOU $5,000 IF YOU CAN PROVE THE RAPTURE!"

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: The doctor’s bill

1. Morris was worried because his wife Barbara was very ill and needed a good doctor. Dr. Myers was the best doctor in their city, so Morris asked him to treat Barbara.

2. Dr. Myers said, “OK, but can you afford me? What if I’m unable to save Barbara and you decide not to pay my bills?”

Morris replies, “I promise to pay you whether you cure Barbara or kill her.”

3. So Dr. Myers agreed to treat Barbara. Unfortunately, Barbara died. When Dr. Myers invoice arrived, Morris refused to pay, despite his promise. The doctor took the bill before a judge.

4. After reviewing the agreement, the Judge asked, “So did you cure her?” “No.” “Did you kill her?” “No, I certainly did not,” replied Dr. Myers.

5. “In that case,” says the Judge, “Morris owes you nothing – you fulfilled neither of the conditions on which you agreed that your fee should be paid!”

B. RECENT EXPERIENCE

1. Carol, a lady who goes to our church, had a recent experience in which she went to a Bible study in someone's home. During the lesson, the teacher stated that there was no such thing as a "rapture."

2. When Carol objected, the teacher was so bold as to say, "I'll give you $5000 if you can give me a Scripture that proves there is a rapture!"

3. So imagine yourself in that position. Everybody is looking at you and expecting you to come up with Scriptures to defend your beliefs. What would YOU say that circumstance? Would you be flummoxed are which you have answered you give to them asking you?

C. THESIS

1. We're talking about the rapture tonight and using this time as a laboratory experiment. Once you've done all you can, then I will give you my reasons for believing there is a rapture.

2. The title of tonight's message is, "Why We Believe in the Rapture."

I. WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?

1. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” 1 Thess. 4:16-17.

2. Definition of “Rapture”: “Christ’s sudden, brief, and unannounced coming in the air to catch away His Church before the ‘Day’ of God’s wrath begins. Jesus returns to heaven with His saints for the Believer’s Judgment and Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”

3. The Greek word “harpadzo,” used in 1 Th. 4:17 and trans. as “caught up” was trans. in the Latin Vulgate as “raptus,” from whence we get our English word rapture.

4. CONCEPT OF BEING EVACUATED

a. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” Jn. 14:1-3.

b. The Lord cited the rescue of Lot and his family from Sodom before judgment fell and the 10 Virgins who had to be ready, 5 of which WENT WITH Him to another location. This is a key concept of the Rapture.

II. WHY WE BELIEVE IN THE RAPTURE

A. JESUS SAID HE WAS COMING BACK

1. Early in His Ministry (Luke 4:18), Jesus told Jewish leaders that He had come to heal the sick. They didn’t believe He could, but He healed the people anyway.

2. Jesus told them He could drive out demons. They

didn’t believe He could, but He did it anyway.

3. Jesus told them He would rise from the Dead. They didn’t believe He would.

a. His body was wrapped in grave clothes

b. A heavy stone was rolled against the tomb’s mouth,

c. Soldiers were posted outside the tomb to guard it,

d. The door was sealed so it couldn’t be opened….

4. BUT NO HUMAN OR SUPERNATURAL FORCE COULD STOP THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FROM THE DEAD! HE’S ALIVE!

5. This same Jesus told us, “I am coming back.” There are 52 prophecies of Jesus’ 2nd Coming, 535 verses! Many Christians have quit looking for His appearing, but HE’S COMING BACK!

6. Many people today make fun of the idea of the Rapture. People like Harold Camping have made a mockery of it.

7. BUT JESUS IS COMING BACK & ALL THE POWERS OF HEAVEN OR HELL, OR ARMIES, OR NUCLEAR MISSILES CAN’T STOP HIM!