A Haunting Question - Ben Bailey

A Haunting Question

“When the Son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).  This question Jesus asked arose from a discussion of persistence in prayer.   This question of the Lord is designed to provoke an evaluation of our faith.  The Apostle Paul said, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5).  How can we make sure the Lord finds faith when he comes?  Let me offer a couple of things we can do to ensure faith.

The only way to ensure the Lord finds his people being faithful is to follow the words of Faith, the Bible.  The way we receive faith is through the hearing of God’s Word.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17).  The more of the Bible we put into our hearts and lives, the more faith we can expect to receive.  For this to be true we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22-25).  

For the Lord to find faith when he comes we must remain faithful.  Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).  We must take up our cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).  Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Gal. 2:20).  If Christ is going to find faith when he returns, we must faithfully follow His Word (Mt. 7:21).

Dear friend, the only way Jesus will find faith in your life and mine is if we are obedient to His Word.  Have you truly obeyed the gospel?  Have you accepted the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints (Jude 3).  To become a faithful child of God you must hear God’s word (Rom. 10:17), believe in Jesus as the Son of God (Jn. 8:24), repent of past sins (Luke 13:3), confess Jesus before men (Rom. 10:10) and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38).  Once you have obeyed the gospel, then you must live faithful until death (Rev. 2:10).  May God help each of us to have faith when Christ comes!