Of all the exhortations the pastor could have given a young person, such as the necessity for moral purity, honesty, truthfulness, faithfulness, kindness, courtesy, respect for authority, teachableness, the value of diligence, initiative, and hard work, even a readiness to test the spirits of a meeting if the pastor wished to get into spiritual matters, instead he brought up this miserable, decaying aspect of dispensationalism. (You can tell from my words that I am not favorably disposed toward the doctrine and also am somewhat emotionally involved.)

This is the problem with Christian teaching today. Instead of instructing the believers to keep the commandments of Christ so they may present to the unsaved community the light of good works, of righteous behavior, of integrity, of a morally pure life, we talk about that which is absolutely useless in meeting the needs of God and man: grace as an excuse for lawlessness, the pre-tribulation "rapture" of the believers to avoid suffering, how to get rich by faith, how to control the universe by imaging and positive thinking, how to get into politics so we can force the unsaved to keep the moral laws of God when we ourselves are not being conformed to the image of Christ, and now how to cast aside one's good judgment and be ready to jerk, twitch, fall in a swoon, and bark like a dog in the assembly.

Things are going to the dogs in more ways than one.

What doctrine or experience will be next? Hard to say. But you can be sure its effect will be to divert the thinking of the believers away from the need for iron righteousness and integrity, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.

Perhaps the most destructive of the current heresies is the presentation of Divine grace as a substitute for godly behavior.

Perhaps the second most destructive of the current heresies is the teaching that God is just about to carry the believers to Heaven so they can escape Antichrist and the great tribulation.

I was so upset about the pastor trying to make a proselyte of the young man that when I got home last night I asked the Lord what He thought of the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine and what I should do about it if anything.

I expected to hear that I was to forget it and preach the wealth of good things the Lord has revealed to me, such as the meaning of the feasts of the Lord, the creation of the Body of Christ as the Servant of the Lord, and the work of restoration.

Why advertise the Devil's work?

I was quite surprised to find that the Lord was as upset as I. In addition, when I got out of bed I found I was burdened to write another article even though I have editing work piled up.

To be continued.