Luke 18:1-8
Will Jesus Find Faith When He Returns
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 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?”
I have read where the fastest growing religion is "none", that is no religion...People today, more and more are describing themselves as being religiously unaffiliated...The trend seems to be growing to say you are not affiliated with a religion in our country...So more and more people have either not heard about Jesus, or have not been exposed to His Teachings...The strength of any religion is the current youthful generation...They are the last group who will pass on their beliefs to their future children and the next generations of Christians...
When Jesus returns in His Second Advent we should be ready for His return with our faith...He tells us we should always pray and not give up...He teaches this story before He asks a most interesting question...He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought...And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’...“For some time he refused...But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”...And the LORD said, “Listen to what the unjust judge 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?”...
We are always to be ready, because we do not know what day our LORD will come...We are to be persistent like the widow coming back over and over for justice...This persistence maybe an extremely important characteristic, because Jesus teaches us the importance of persistence, be He asks will He find faith...We should be like men who are waiting for their Master when He returns, because He is our Master and Teacher...Therefore, we should always be ready, for in such an hour the Son of Man could come...Jesus tells us that no one knows the day and hour when He will return...The Only One who knows is our Heavenly Father...He says that people should be ready today, tomorrow, always...Every day we are to be on guard for His return...His Father has not forgot about us who cry out to Him, day and night...He will not keep putting us off...Some ways we should prepare for His return is keeping our persistence, regular prayer, listening for Him and to Him, reading about Him, keeping Him in our daily lives in our hearts, and always improving our faith, our relationship with God and our relationships with all our neighbors...These things take our persistence, maybe a Spiritual Persistence...
When Jesus asks the question, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"...Jesus was talking to His disciples about the importance of prayer, persistence, and not losing heart...The faith Jesus is referring to is the faith that He will settle all accounts when He returns to earth to judge both the lost and the saved...Jesus is asking if people on the time He returns will we trust Him to settle all accounts that need and will be addressed...Jesus is also predicting that faith in God may have declined so badly that maybe it has weakened to such a state that our faith may have left our thoughts, our Spiritual Beliefs, our souls, and maybe has departed from mankind over the long time He has been gone and away from earth...Faith is our belief and trust in and our loyalty to God...Faith is being obedient with the will of God...We will see if man's faith in God and His Son remain and has remained strong or will there be a lukewarm faith or no faith at all...
When Jesus returns evil will be defeated, and earth is restored, and God and His Goodness will overpower all evil...Good has overcome evil...Where we go when He returns depends on our relationship with Him, and is Jesus in our hearts...Jesus' return will be the fulfillment of the Blessed Hope...Will men and women of faith be here to greet Him?...