Rapture Fever

FOREWORD
(to be read)
For which of you, intending to build a towe~ sitteth not down first,
and counteth the cost, whether he have su.cient to finish it? Lest haplj
[it happen], afier he bath laid tk foundation, and is not able to fintih it,
all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, Thti man began to build,
and was not able to jlnish (Luke 14:28-30).
Count the costs, Jesus said. But we must also remember to
count the benefits. In this Foreword I present three major gifts
that are available to all Christians through their membership in
God’s New Testament Church. The existence of these stupendous
gifts has been denied by many theologians. Millions of
Christian laymen have therefore been unwilling to accept these
benefits from the hand of God. I concluded that it was time for
a Christian layman to protest. I can read the Bible, too, and I
am convinced that all three of these gifts are not only available
to God’s people, but also that He is highly displeased when we
deny their existence and thereby reject them.
There is a reason for Christians’ hesitancy to admit the availability
of these gifts. They know that with all blessings inevitably
come duties and obligations. We never get something for nothing.
Even salvation requires men to live new lives that break
with their evil past (I Cor. 6:9-1 O; Eph. 5:1-5). Millions of
Christians think they can evade many duties and obligations if
they just refuse to accept God’s blessings. This is a terrible