One has but to commence reading an epistle of the New Testament and he will be exhorted to live a righteous, holy, and obedient life—a life offered continually as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. This manifestly is true. Sometimes the believers complain they are not being fed. Nevertheless the apathy continues. It appears that the Christians of the wealthy nations (as well as the non-Christians of those nations) have a deep sense that a sword is hanging over them. But they are hoping to live one more day without their house caving in on them. The Christians trust that their teachers are speaking the truth when they state there is no need for us to worry because any moment now we will be whisked off to Paradise where we can continue a carefree, pleasurable life.

How are such immature believers going to feel toward their teachers when they experience in this life or in the next the consequences of their ungodly works?

There is no doubt that the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is playing a major role in causing the current lukewarmness among God's people. They believe they will be caught up by grace to a comfortable position from which they can view the Jews who, without the help of the Holy Spirit, will at that time be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom in the face of Antichrist.

Why should the Gentile believers seek the Lord with intensity? They have been taught they already have been rescued from all danger and suffering.

Apathy, as under discussion here because of the Lord's expressed attitude toward the lukewarm Laodicean believers, is indifference toward the Lord and His Kingdom. The believer agrees with the Christian Gospel, not because he loves God and His righteousness but because he desires a guarantee he will not suffer pain now or in the future.

He is halfhearted. He has not really come out from the world. He has not laid down his life, taken up his cross, and followed the Lord to death to all that he is and possesses.

He enjoys teachers who minimize the demands of the Gospel. He wants to know the minimum effort needed to insure his happiness in Heaven. Those teachers, who indeed are worshipers of their own bellies, are using Paul's doctrine of grace as a minimal response, a minimal effort that will guarantee entrance into Paradise after death. The current deception has gained the ground that it has because of the contemporary humanistic self-love of people.

"Do you owe a thousand dollars? Take your bill and write fifty."

We have just stated that the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is producing a deadly state of spiritual apathy, of indifference to seeking the Lord and His righteousness. Let us explain why we believe this to be the case.

The believer in the pre-tribulation rapture tradition views his life as a waiting for the Lord to come and deliver him from the tribulations of the world. Because he believes he is saved by grace and not by works, his interest in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God is secondary. He subscribes to such virtues but is under the impression that God understands that the believer cannot keep His commandments and therefore will catch him up to Paradise so he will not suffer.

(There are believers in the pre-tribulation rapture who are strong disciples of the Lord. We are not referring to them but to the majority of the Christian believers in the wealthy nations.)

To be continued.