6-25-21 The Grasping Evil

Nearing Midnight: The Grasping Evil – Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ I preface this commentary by giving credit to my good friend and colleague, Bill Salus, for his recent email newsletter with the subject Top 20 Pre-Tribulation Prophecies. As usual, I found his analysis to be on the biblical mark—even considering my disagreement with his belief that Psalm 83 is a war involving Israel that precedes the Gog-Magog attack. As I’ve stated in that regard, he could well be right and I wrong on the matter. Bill gave some good news about the assurance Bible prophecy from the Pre-Trib perspective offers, followed by some bad news for nonbelievers. About the good news, he offers the following: The Church is: Saved from the wrath through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8–9). Delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Not appointed to the wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:7-10). Kept from the “hour of trial” of the Tribulation (Revelation 3:10–11) We are to comfort one another about the blessed hope of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:18). About the troubling side, he says: The bad news is that believers have loved ones who are presently unsaved and at risk of being left behind to experience the most perilous seven years in all of post-Flood history. Bill then speaks to the attitude that some Christians have developed. The particular attitude he mentions is what I wish to address in this commentary. He states the following, paraphrasing the words of certain believers, then issuing precaution: “I DON’T CARE: ‘I’ll be Raptured, so why should I worry about such things that don’t concern me?’” I would encourage someone who has adopted this position to first realize that you may be here to endure some of the Pre-Tribulation prophecies. If you face off with one or more of these powerful predictions, you will undoubtedly be forced to care! Therefore, be cautious not to get caught up in the trap of thinking that the rest of your days will be persecution free. Bill Salus’ words are well placed while we observe these darkening times. His admonition hearkens me back to a series of services we called “revival meetings.” I’ve mentioned this a number of times before. I vividly remember sitting at our First Baptist Church in the mid-1970s. A short-in-stature evangelist was the speaker for those five days of meetings. Each night, he wore a different colored leisure suit—lime green, day-glow orange, bright red, etc. Some of the readers here will remember those flamboyant garments. We joked about his flashy dress, but we didn’t joke about his messages. They were straight from the heart of God, it was progressively obvious as the week proceeded. The last night of the revival meeting, the evangelist made a prediction that sticks to the memory like rubber cement to two pieces of paper. He said, “I believe that before Christ calls the Church in the Rapture, this government in America will be reaching with powerfully evil fingers for the throats of Christians. Just as those fingers are about to close on the necks of believers, Christ will blow the trumpet.” He believed 100 percent in the imminence of Christ’s call to the Church, but he nonetheless issued that prediction. I’ve never forgotten it. There was no such virulent threat during that mid-’70s time. Such a thing was unthinkable. But here we are in 2021 and developments trending dramatically in the direction he predicted are clearly in view. Our neighbors to the north in Canada are already starting to feel that icy grip, and that chilling grasp can be sensed even in our nation. As Bill Salus has admonished, we must not remain indifferent just because we know we will be kept from the most horrendous time to come. We must do all we can to fight those grasping, evil governmental fingers with prayer and with civil action as provided by the means our Founding Fathers provided under God’s great guidance. Most of all, we must carry forth with the Great Commission the Lord Jesus commanded just before lifting into the heavens. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19–20)