Full Of Faith
Luke 18:8 … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is coming again but when He comes again will He find faith on the earth?
This is a question that both challenges and convicts us.
We need to be full of faith.
We live in an age where everybody is a Christian. Everybody you talk to has faith. They believe in God and they’re saved.
But if so many folks believe in God and have so much faith, why did Jesus ask if He would find any faith on the earth when He comes again?
According to statistics there are millions of Christians today and yet Jesus still asked if He would find any faith when He comes again.
Surly when Jesus looked through the scope of time He saw and knew the way things would be.
And that’s the whole point. Jesus sees the heart. Man sees the outside. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.
So when God looked through the scope of time He was troubled and asked the question; when I come again will I find any faith on the earth.
Will there be anybody left who really believes upon me?
Will there be anybody left who still has confidence in me?
The question has been asked; is Jesus Christ really coming again.
Yes! Jesus is coming again.
There have been folks that have tried to calculate the return of the Lord and so far they have all missed the mark.
This proves that the return of the Lord can not be calculated by time tables. Nobody can calculate when Jesus is coming again.
The Bible says that no man knows the hour nor the day when the son of man shall return.
The only way we can calculate when Jesus is coming again is by the signs of the time.
These signs of the time that were listed by Jesus Christ himself and by the apostle Paul are being fulfilled.
I believe that every one of these signs have come to pass. The only thing that we do not know is how intense God is going to allow things to become before he returns.
In other words it talks about wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, etc…
And we see all of these things happening all over the world.
But what we see and read about is only a matter of degree. We don’t know what level of intensity it’s going to reach in order for Jesus to return.
We don’t know just how far God will let the world go in these conditions before He says enough is enough and He decides to return.
The signs of the time tell us that Jesus is coming soon.
The one thing that we have done right in every generation is that folks have looked for the return of the Lord.
Even the apostle Paul was expecting and hoping that Jesus would come back in his day.
When he talked about the rapture of the church he said, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up in the clouds.
So we are doing right when we start looking for Jesus to return. We are right when we hope that he comes in our generation.
But there is a difference in our generation and the preceding generations.
They have always claimed it by faith but we can actually see how it is possible for every detail to be fulfilled.
The past generations could only say it by faith, because they couldn’t really see how it could happen.
For example the mark of the beast; everybody will have to take the mark or they can not buy or sale, but you know what, it has only been in our generation that we have actually have the technology where that could be implemented almost instantly.
So that’s the difference between our day and every other generation.
In 1948 Israel was restored as a nation. In 1967 Israel regained Jerusalem.
The prophecy teachers taught hundreds of years ago that these things would have to happen, but it’s in our generation that everything has been accomplished where in a matter of minutes these things could be in operation.
So we are living in a time where this question is extremely important.
When Jesus comes again, will he find faith on the earth?
What is faith? The Bible definition is found in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
So Faith is believing. But Jesus was talking about something greater than just believing.
What folks fail to understand is that there is more to faith in the spiritual sense than just believing on the Lord Jesus.
What it really means is a trust, reliance, and commitment.
And when you mention trust, reliance and commitment the numbers start to go down dramatically.
At Niagara Falls there use to be tight rope walkers. They don’t allow this anymore but there was a time when they did.
And when somebody would attempt to walk a tight rope to the other side of the falls folks would gather from everywhere to see somebody risk their life.
The stories of history tell that one man brought a wheel barrel. He promised to push the wheel barrel to the other side of the falls.
As he appealed to the crowds for their support, just like most crowds do, they were all shouting, go for it, you can do it, we believe in you.
So the man who was going to attempt to push the wheel barrel across the falls on the tight rope motioned for one of his faithful supporters to get in the wheel barrel.
And to no ones surprise he was not willing to go.
It’s one thing to have faith in your mind but it’s another thing to commit your life to what you believe.
And that’s the difference between belief, as probably the majority of folks consider it, and faith in Jesus Christ.
So when Jesus said, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved; is it saying sign the dotted line that you except these series of statements or is it saying give your life to the one that you have faith in.
The answer is obvious and it highlights the point of the question.
Jesus wasn’t just asking, “Are there going to be folks called Christians when I come again.”
“Are there going to be folks that say that they want to go to heaven?”
“Are there going to be folks that say that they believe Jesus is the son of God?”
“Jesus is the savior?”
Jesus was asking; “Are there still going to be folks that are committed?” “Are there still going to be folks that really live for me when I return?”
Not only does faith mean trust, but it also means faithfulness.
The word faithful literally means full of faith.
The point is this, if somebody is characterized by faith they also become a faithful person; somebody that you can put your faith in.
If somebody is really committed to the cause then you can count on them, you can trust them, and you know that they’ll be there when it counts.
In Galatians 5:42, when it talks about the fruit of the spirit, one of the aspects of spiritual fruit mentioned, love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness, and faith.
And in that context it means faithfulness. It means being faithful.
Being so full of faith that you are faithful and dependable.
Because after all everybody that comes to God must have faith to be saved.
It’s by faith that we are filled by the Holy Ghost.
So why would Galatians say that fruit of the spirit, the evidence of the spirit is working in your life?
The development of the Christian life will include faith.
Somebody might say, well we already have faith or we wouldn’t be Christians.
Jesus is talking about more than that initial faith that brought you into the church, to repentance, baptism, and Holy Ghost experience.
But He’s talking about a life of faith and so other translations make it explicit and they say faithfulness.
And I believe that this is what Jesus was getting at.
When the son of man comes again, will he find faithfulness? Will he find faithful people? Will he find folks who are dependable? Will he find folks who are steadfast, loyal and consistent.
In other words we are talking about trustworthiness; somebody that God can count on; somebody that God can depend on; somebody that God can trust.
That’s a big question.
Can God really count on me?
Looking at my own life I can recall times where I have failed God; He never failed me, but I have let him down because I haven’t always done what he wanted me to do.
So the question becomes very relevant to all of our lives.
Am I going to be found faithful when Jesus comes again? Am I trustworthy? Can God count on me? Can He invest his miracle working power in my life?
If you knew Jesus was coming back this week what would you do?
Would you fast and pray all week?
Would you come to church every night for prayer meeting, repentance, and soul searching?
Think about it. If you knew Jesus was coming back sometime this week what would you do different?
Would you be at church tonight? If you had a headache would you be at church tonight?
If an old friend called and said, hey, I’m coming into town, why don’t you meet me at such and place at such and time.
Would your response be, why don’t you meet me at the First Apostolic Church tonight?
Would you go and tell everybody that Jesus is coming?
I believe that I have found a better answer; and that would be go about your everyday life.
Think about it. That was not my first reaction, but actually if you are doing the will of God you don’t have anything to worry about.
If you are doing the will of God then you’re already witnessing; you’re already letting your light shine; you’re already praying and fasting; you’re already faithful to church; & you already come to prayer meeting.
So you don’t have to change your routine if you knew that Jesus was coming this week; all you would have to do is keep doing what you’re doing.
You don’t have to yell and scream and you don’t have to panic because you’re already doing the will of God.
My point is this; the most important thing that you can do is to be faithful to God.
Then you won’t have to storm the church and run to the altar.
If you’re not right with God right now, then you need to get right with God before you go home.
Somebody asked me, when do you think Jesus is coming again? My answer was, “I don’t know”.
Nobody knows when Jesus is coming again. All we know is that He’s coming and the Bible says that He’s going to come like a thief in the night.
That’s why it’s so important to be faithful.
We’re going to keep praying and fasting. We’re going to keep coming to prayer meeting. We’re going to keep witnessing. We’re going to keep praising and worshiping the Lord.
And if I’m doing something that is not right, I’d better make some changes.
Jesus could come at any moment but I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m just going to keep blessing the Lord.
I use to be afraid that the Lord was going to come before I would get to graduate from high school…
Then after I graduated high school I wanted to graduate from college.
Then after I graduated from college I wanted to get married.
Then after I got married my wife and I wanted a family.
Then when we got our family I started praying come Lord Jesus.
My point is that we don’t know when the Lord is coming. He could have come at any moment.
So what we need to do is keep working for the Lord so that when he does come he’ll find us full of faith.
God wants us to be busy. He wants us to be occupied. He wants us to be involved in doing what we know to do and what we can do.
When the son of man returns will he find faith on the earth?
He’s not asking will he find of bunch of folks that believe.
He’s asking when I come back will somebody be working on the job singing amazing grace at the same time.
When I return will there be a mother who reads the Bible to her children before they go to school.
When I return will there be a man who will be found kneeling down in prayer asking God to have his way in his life.
When I return will there be a woman who will be in Wednesday night Bible study.
When I return will there be a Sunday school teacher decorating their Sunday school room.
When I return will there be somebody busy at work with my kingdom at heart, doing my will, somebody I can count on, somebody I can depend on, somebody I can trust.
God is not looking for super Christians. God is looking for faithful Christians.
That’s the whole point of Luke 18.
If you read the first part of the chapter you will find Jesus telling them that men ought always to pray and not to faint.
The New King James Version says and not to loose heart.
Jesus was teaching, keep on keeping on. Don’t quit praying, don’t get discouraged, don’t quit your job, don’t quit the task at hand but keep pressing toward the mark.
He talked about a woman that was wronged and she went to the judge and the judge was not interested in helping her.
She didn’t have anything to bribe him with; she couldn’t pay him so he wouldn’t help her.
But she came everyday until finally this unjust judge who didn’t care about anything but himself said, the only way I’m going to be able to get rid of this woman is to listen to her.
And Jesus said, if an unjust man can be moved by your persistence, how much more will God be moved by your persistence, faithfulness, and dedication?
That’s when he answered the question. God will answer you speedily.
And when he comes through it won’t matter what was wrong because he will make it right.
I want God to know that when he comes back I’ll still be praying, fasting, coming to church, cleaning the bathrooms, I’ll still be doing the work of God.
Jesus gave another parable called the parable of the talents in Mathew 25.
He gave five talents to one man, two to another man, and one to another man.
He gave them explicit instructions to occupy until he returns, be busy.
When he came back, the man that had five talents had invested it and put it to work and now he had ten.
The man that had two talents now had four.
The master said to these folks, well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joys of the Lord.
Here we see the judgment of God. We need to understand that God does not look at success like we look at it. God looks at faithfulness.
He didn’t say to the man who had ten talents; you’re better than the others.
You’re a better singer, better musician. You’re going to get a special reward in heaven.
No, that’s not what he said. As a matter of fact he gave them the same accommodations.
He was looking at their faithfulness.
One had received more so it was expected that he would do more.
God’s judgment was fair.
Everybody that tried received the same accommodation.
But the man that He gave the one talent too, said, I knew that you were a hard master. I knew that you were strict. I knew that you were tough.
I knew that if I lost this talent that I would be in big trouble with you, so because I knew that you were going to watch things so carefully, I hid the talent that you gave me so I could protect it.
Here it is again.
The man was expecting accommodations as well, but the master said, your own mouth has condemned you.
You said I was a strict judge and I am. When I gave you something, I didn’t give it to you just to sit there.
If nothing else you could have at least put the money in the bank and let it draw some interest.
But you didn’t do anything at all and the Bible says that he was thrown into outer darkness.
The point of the parable this; we are judged by faithfulness not success.
And also that God expects active involvement, not just passive existence.
So even though it is commendable to sit in the house of God, somehow I don’t think that’s going to meet the test of faith.
When I come again, will I find faith on the earth?
A lot of folks would shout, Yes, I go to church every Christmas. I go to church every Easter.
And there will be some that will shout, yes, I go to church every Sunday, Sunday night, and sometimes on Wednesday.
But I don’t think that’s going to impress the Lord.
I think God is probably going to say something like this, Hey, I gave you plenty of time and you didn’t do anything.
I wouldn’t have given you any talents if I didn’t want anything back.
I expect somebody to be diligent, to get out there and work, somebody to use their faith.
Somebody I can depend on, somebody that I can give a job to and not have to stand over their shoulder the whole time.
But when I come back I see that the job is done; that there are some things that have been accomplished that have never been accomplished before.
That your life has made a difference; that somebody else’s life was touched by your life.
That the world was changed by your life.
That the church was changed in some small measurable way, the fact that you lived, that you had the Holy Ghost, that you made a difference somewhere in somebody’s life.
That’s what God is looking for. Faithfulness.
A fruit of the spirit. Faith. If we are full of the Holy Ghost, God expects to see some character development, some dependability, somebody that he can count on.
There are some folks that have more needs than others. People in trouble, tragedy, broken homes, folks that come from dysfunctional backgrounds.
I don’t mind one bit spending as much time as it takes to help somebody.
But there are some folks it seems that no matter how much time you invest there just doesn’t seem to be any progress because they’re not willing to make the steps of faithfulness.
And one of the most powerful points of advice that I have found, one of the best ways to find the solution to a problem is to be faithful to church.
Somebody might sit in my office and they’re depressed or they may have some kind of a family problem, or etc…
I can not give them the answer, but if they’ll be faithful and keep coming to church, if they’ll continue to let God work in their lives and allow the word of God to work in their spirits.
Things will begin to change that no body on this earth could ever change for them.
God will start working in their lives.
God will start healing areas that are under attack.
God will start working things out. God will start fighting their battles.
When you are faithful God will answer speedily.
But I have found that there are some folks that no matter how much time, or how much prayer, unless they respond with a certain determination they won’t do much good.
But other folks who get determine, I’m going to be faithful. I may not have a lot of talent. But I can be faithful.
You may not have many talents but there is one thing that you can do, you can be faithful.
And that’s what God is looking for.
When I come again, will I find faith on the earth.
Will I find some folks who are faithful? Will I find some folks who are actively involved in the kingdom of God?
Will he find some folks who are committed to the cost of the Lord Jesus Christ?
