Perhaps most of us have experienced seasons when the future was bleak. We were facing a lawsuit, or an operation, or a tragedy about to take place in our family. How did the dread affect our relationship to the Lord? Did it drive us toward Him or away from Him? With many of us our prayers become much more serious and intense when a great danger is at hand.

What if someone told us we would be taken to Heaven before the lawsuit went to court, or the operation was performed, or the tragedy in our family occurred? How would that affect the sincerity and intensity of our prayers?—our consecration?—our preparation for trouble?

How has the idea that we shall be in Heaven away from all trouble in the near future affected the way we respond to the mounting crises in the world? Are we seeking the Lord for strength to stand in Him during the days of trouble or are we relaxing in the assurance that "we won't be here"?

It is certain that one does not diligently prepare himself to be a soldier if he is told there will be no battle.

It is the pastors, teachers, and evangelists who must arise and drive out the "rapture" teaching.

If we are correct that the removal of the any-moment pre-tribulation "rapture" concept would result in much more serious, more intensely dedicated churches, then the "rapture" doctrine indeed is a monumental disaster in terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The "rapture" doctrine, aimed as it is at God's elect, may well prove to be the most destructive of all the errors that have weakened the Christian churches throughout history.

It is not acceptable to say, I don't care whether it is "pretrib" (pre-tribulation), "midtrib," or "postrib." I just want to be ready. It is not a question of theological accuracy. It is a question of the degree of seriousness with which we regard the future and our determination to save ourselves and our loved ones. As long as there is a trace of the any-moment pre-tribulation rapture concept left in our spirit, any notion that we shall escape the days of judgment that are at hand by being caught away to Heaven, we simply will not prepare ourselves with the sternness the truth calls for.

The error is not in placing the ascension at the wrong time in God's program, it is in viewing the ascension as an escape to the spirit realm because of trouble in the earth. The purpose of the ascension is not to provide an escape for the saints. The Lord Jesus did not ascend into the heaven in order to escape pain and trouble. The record of the Old Testament contains several incidents in which God protected His saints in the midst of trouble.

To be continued.