Will He find faith?

A passage that has been floating in my mind lately is Luke 18:7-8, which says, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

This brought a rather sobering question to mind – is it possible to be in the house of prayer and crying out to Him day and night for Him to bring justice, yet still be missing what He will be looking for in my heart?  When it says that the Son of Man will be searching for faith on the earth, what does this mean?  As I was reading some commentary from Matthew Henry, here is how he interpretted this passage…

Now, when he comes, will he find faith on the earth? The question implies a strong negation: No, he will not…In particular, he will find few that have faith concerning his coming…Even his own people will begin to despair of it, and to conclude he will never come, because he has passed their reckoning…But this is our comfort, that, when the time appointed comes, it will appear that the unbelief of man has not made the promise of God of no effect.

It seems to me that this is very true of the Church today – that there are “few that have faith concerning his coming”.  Honestly, my faith wavers all the time!  I don’t think I doubt that He will come someday, but I am still constantly tempted to believe that it’s unlikely that He’ll come in my lifetime.  Now, this is also the type of faith I was instructed to have – we should believe He’s coming, because the Bible says it’s so, yet it’s foolish to have faith that He will come during any given period of time.  The popular opinion is that many have thought He was coming on a particular day and the doomsday preachers have tried to predict His coming countless times, yet always been wrong.  This I agree with, for it’s clear in scripture that even Jesus does not know the day of His return, however, He also rebuked the scholars of His day for not perceiving the signs of His first coming (Matthew 16:1-4).  I was also taught that the day of His return will come like a thief, catching all of us off guard, which will be true for the unbeliever, but Paul said, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4). 

I believe that it is the desire of Jesus to find His bride with not just a casual belief about His coming, but a strong, steadfast faith in His return!  He desires to find a bride that is watching and waiting expectantly for Him, with no doubt in her heart that He is coming for her!  And not only for her to be watching, but for her to be ready and prepared for it – not caught off guard and scrambling to put herself together (Matthew 25:1-13).  In fact, I have had several dreams where I dreamt that I knew Jesus’ return was imminent and fastly approaching and I was filled with regret and panic, feeling like I wasn’t ready for Him to come, knowing I hadn’t lived my life “worthy of the calling” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).  In one dream in particular, I woke up in my dream, somehow knowing that that day Jesus was going to come.  Foolishly, I was scrambling for my makeup case to try and make myself look pretty for Him, the whole time, knowing full-well that He does not look at the outward appearance, but He looks at the heart.  The same could be applied to our outward acts – I don’t want to be one who does all the right things and says all the right prayers and looks good on the outside, but in my heart, have Him find that there was no actual faith that He would come and actually answer my prayers!

Lastly, there is a verse in Hebrews 11 that always convicts and challenges me.  It’s the infamous “Hall of Faith” passage, describing all the men and women who under the most horrible circumstances somehow had strong and enduring faith in the promises of God, so much so that the “world was not worthy of them” (vs. 38).  But the striking thing is the next verse which says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”  This is the type of woman I want to be – someone who believes with fierce assurance until the very last second before I take my last breath, even if I don’t see the promise of what I was believing for.  I do not want to be one who wavers in my faith, always doubting, “blown and tossed by the wind” and “double-minded” (James 1:6-8) – I want to be a woman of faith, specifically one who has faith in His appearing and that He will be true to His promise.  I want Him to find faith in me, whether it’s when He returns to the earth or when I die and come before His judgment throne.  Either way, I want to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faith-ful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

Making Ready a People Prepared

Lately I’ve been reading and meditating on Isaiah chapters 61 to 63 which contains several scriptures pertaining to the coming of the Messiah, both His first coming and His second.  The verse which stuck out to me recently though was Isaiah 62:10 which says, “Pass through, pass through the gates!  Prepare the way for the people.  Build up, build up the highway!  Remove the stones.  Raise a banner for the nations.”

Prepare the way for the Lord
I believe this verse has many layers of meaning, but it’s especially important to view it through the lens of Jesus’ return to the earth.  This is quite clear from the following verse where the Lord instructs Isaiah to proclaim, “See, your Savior comes!  See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.”  The Lord desired for Isaiah to preach a message that the Savior was indeed coming, bringing with Him both a reward for His people and vengeance for His enemies.  Yet, before this message could be proclaimed, obstacles needed to be removed and the path built up and prepared so that the people would be able to receive the message.  This a similar calling to what was given to John the Baptist who was a forerunner that was to ”pass through” ahead of others and go before to prepare the way of the Lord… 

A voice of one calling in the desert: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  Isaiah 40:3-5

Make ready a people prepared
In the case of John the Baptist, a key aspect of preparing the people’s hearts was to call them to participate in the baptism of repentance.  For them this was an outward act to demonstrate the inner response of their hearts to turn from their wicked ways and return to the Lord.  But what is the Lord saying to the forerunners of today?  What do we need to do to prepare both our own hearts and also the hearts of those who God desires us to proclaim this message of His return to?  How can we remove the obstacles in the way, the things that are hindering us and them from being ready on that day?  How can we do what is necessary to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord”?  (Luke 1:17)

Watch and pray
I think a key component to being prepared for the Lord when He returns is found in Jesus’ talk with His disciples in Matthew 24 and 25.  After warning them of the signs of the end of the age, Jesus exhorts them to be like the faithful and wise servant who was found watching and waiting for his master’s return and the five wise virgins who kept oil in their lamps and were ready when the bridegroom appeared.  Among other things, I believe this speaks of prayer, for when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, he implored the disciples to “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation”.  (Mark 14:38)  Prayer is one of the most strategic ways that we can keep our hearts alert and on guard, full of oil and lit with the fire of passion for Jesus, as opposed to slumbering and being caught unaware when He returns. 

Remove the stones
Intercession on behalf of others is also critical for the removing of the obstacles in their way – we need to be watchmen on the walls of our cities that are never silent day or night (Isaiah 62:6-7), warring for the demonic influences over people to be taken out and for the blinders to be removed so that they are able to “see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).  I believe this is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for people – that they are unable to see Jesus for who He is and that He is the express image of the Father.  Many, including myself, do not have a correct view of Jesus or the Father and we need to intercede for wisdom and revelation to know Him better (Ephesians 1:17) and also preach about who He truly is, tearing down the wrong mindsets and ideas of what He’s like and how He feels about us.

Return with fasting and weeping
Another passage of scripture that contains several instructions on how to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ return is Joel 2:12-17.  There’s too much here to go into great detail on each item, but the Lord calls for the people to return to Him with all their heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.  If we desire to be prepared and desire to make ready a people prepared, then repentance, fasting, and mourning need to be an essential component of our daily lives.  If we do not want our love to grow cold (Matthew 24:12) then we need to turn from our sin and turn to the Lord wholeheartedly – holding nothing back.  He wants our whole hearts – He desires for us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).  I believe that adding fasting to your repentance is an incredible accelerator to the process, as you are choosing to kill the desires of your flesh and live by the spirit (Romans 8:13-14).  Also, when we are able to connect with the reality of how our sin grieves the Holy Spirit and we can mourn over our spiritual condition and the condition of our cities and nations, our hearts will be tenderized and the gift of weeping and groaning will allow us to enter into partnership with the Spirit in intercession (Romans 8:26).

Raising forerunners
So what does this have to do with raising forerunners?  As a soon-to-be mother, I have been impressed on my heart with the importance of my calling to make ready my children to be ones who are prepared for the Lord’s return and who will also be forerunners that will prepare others.  Imagine what it was like for Elizabeth, realizing the destiny of the child she carried within her and how vital it was for her to raise him as the Lord had commanded and teach him the ways of God, instructing John about his destiny to prepare the way of the Lord and ready the hearts of the people for their coming Messiah!  I feel this same urgency, this same weight of responsibility.  I know that the child in my womb has an incredible destiny and purpose and it is my role to disciple them and prepare them for it, with the help of Holy Spirit.  I certainly cannot do this on my own and sometimes the thought of it overwhelms me, but I also must trust that the Lord has given this child to us and will equip us to train him or her in the way they should go.  I have a new appreciation for the story of Samson’s parents, who when told of the special calling on their unborn child’s life, cried out to God, “O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”  (Judges 13:8)  God answered their prayer and as I make this prayer my own, I believe He too will come and teach my husband and I how to raise this little forerunner in the making.

The Scoffing Spirit

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation”…But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…2 Peter 3:3-4,8-10

The Scoffing Spirit
Today at Sanctuary House of Prayer, the message shared began in 2 Peter 3 with a warning about our susceptibility to be influenced by the scoffing spirit of this age. The speaker went on to describe the danger of this spirit’s ability to clutter our fervency and leave us unknowingly dull. This provoked me to write about our need to combat this spirit with a holy violence in our lives.

What I “Knew” About the End-Times
Now, if you have never thought about the Second Coming of Jesus or if you’ve sort of avoided the topic because it seemed too difficult to understand, or perhaps a little scary, then you’re not alone.  Since I was a child, I had a fascination with the topic of the end-times and the book of Revelation, but I had absolutely no understanding on it and nobody around me seemed to either.  The only things I remember ever being taught or hearing about the end-times and the return of Christ to the earth was that:

1. The book of Revelation is far too difficult to interpret so leave it alone.
2. He is going to come when we aren’t expecting it so don’t bother trying to figure out when He might be coming.
3. Everyone who has ever thought Jesus was coming soon was wrong, so basically don’t expect Him to come in your life time (so taking point #2 into consideration, if I’m not expecting Him to come, wouldn’t that mean He’s probably coming? ).
4. If it does happen to occur in your life and for some reason you don’t get raptured with the rest of the saints, all you need to remember is DON’T TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST!!

One of Them
Now I don’t have time to refute each of these in this post, but, needless to say, my eschatology (end-times theology) was pretty limited, mostly ignorant and a little fearful.  To add to my struggle, I would often have dreams relating to the end-times and Jesus’ return, and since I believe that God speaks vividly and prophetically through our dreams, I was troubled by them and didn’t know what to make of them.  You can imagine the wrestling match I endured when I found out the man I was dating and knew I was going to marry began to tell me that he believed with all of his heart that Jesus would return in his life time!! I was appalled, confused, offended, angry, afraid, and embarrassed, to mention just a few of the emotions I felt!  I began to argue the four points above with great passion (mostly #2) and at that time in my life, was pretty much one of the scoffers mentioned in 2 Peter 3.

Dull & Slumbering
Sadly, my passionate conviction that we couldn’t know when Jesus was coming and that it was heretical to even think you knew when he might be coming was birthed by a scoffing spirit found not in the world, but within the church herself.  The very bride of Christ who is described in the book of Revelation as partnering with the Holy Spirit and crying out for Jesus to return to the earth, this same bride didn’t seem to believe He was actually coming!  Or at least, not likely in their life time, which is exactly what the speaker meant when he said that this scoffing spirit will leave us “unknowningly dull”.  If we buy into the lie of the enemy – whether it’s coming from the church or from the world – our hearts will become dull and listless and slumbering, for there is little reason to prepare for something you don’t expect to happen.

How then should we live?
Peter goes on in his letter to encourage the body of Christ, that in light of their firm belief in Jesus’ return (he was writing on the assumption that this was so), that it was absolutely vital that they prepare their hearts for what was coming!  Since it was absolutely certain that He was going to come back and that He was coming not just to sweep His bride off the planet, but to also bring judgment upon sin, Peter gave them the answer to the looming question of, “So what kind of people ought we to be?“  We must be asking this same question of ourselves – in light of this knowledge, how should we live our lives?  What kind of bride is He coming back for?  How do we need to prepare?  Peter’s answer was this…”live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him…be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

On Guard
We need to be on our guard against this spirit that would seek to steal away our hope and belief in the second coming of Jesus.  Yet, let’s take it one step further, and instead of just being on the defensive, take the offense and wage war against it!! If you don’t know what you believe about the end-times and Jesus’ return, then start digging into the scriptures and start asking those hard questions. Wrestle out your beliefs, do your research, argue it out with someone, truly examine the Word!  Then make every effort to firmly stand your ground against anyone who would try to lure you into to being carried away by their unbelief.  Seek understanding, but most importantly, seek to know Jesus and who He is and surrender to His desire to make you into the pure, spotless and blameless bride He is coming back for.

---

For a good place to start researching and asking questions about the end-times, check out the onething forums at the International House of Prayer’s website or check out the book End Times Simplified by David Sliker.