Will Christ Find Faith?
“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,” (Lu 18:1 NAS)
“ … However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lu 18:8 NAS)
Jesus told this parable assuring us that God will hear and answer the prayers of his people, and that justice would be served. However He concluded with this haunting question. “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.” (1Jo 4:10 NAS)
It was in the humble setting of a stable over 2000 years ago that Jesus entered this world. From this humble beginning to has sacrificial death on the cross Jesus revealed to us God and His plan of salvation for all of mankind. Jesus resurrection and commissioning of the disciples began the work of the Church to preach the eternal gospel of salvation to the whole world. Empowered by the Holy Spirit the work has continued until our day. In spite of the opposition to the gospel Christianity has affected every nation on earth. The message of God’s love has proved more powerful than the mightiest armies on earth.
But are we now beginning to witness something different? Is it not becoming apparent that we are approaching the end of time? The fulfillments of all prophesy is at hand as all things are beginning to draw together. We are approaching that great and dreadful Day of the Lord in which Christ will return to restore all things and set up His Kingdom. The message of the cross is still just as real and powerful as it was 2000 years ago, but we are seeing men turn from it to follow in the deceptions of the enemy. Are we witnessing the reason for Christ’s concern? Will we continue to see nation after nation turning their backs on God, denying the faith they once professed? As prophesy is fulfilled and things wax worse and worse will there still be those who will stand firm on the sure word we have received from God? “… When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lu 18:8 NAS)
Before we go any further I want to define faith so that you understand exactly what we are talking about. Faith is necessary to receive salvation, so it is crucial we understand what it is.
The word faith is used in different ways in our modern English language. For many that word is synonymous with belief. For some people faith means a belief that has no basis in fact, a blind faith. For some people faith is synonymous with religion. For some faith is just a psychological escape from reality, or entrance into a spiritual realm that has no connection with the material world.
But for the Christian, faith is the response to all that is real. God has revealed himself in all of creation, for His signature of design and wonder is clearly seen in all that is. God has also revealed Himself in each one of us as our conscience, convincing us of right and wrong. Then God revealed Himself through the Law and the Prophets as God dealt with the Nation of Israel in truth and justice. Then God revealed Himself in human form through His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. God’s love and grace was manifest as Jesus became our sacrifice for sin. Through His death and resurrection He became our Lord and Savior, our promise and guide. Then through His Holy Spirit He empowered witnesses of all He had said and done. And each generation since has witnessed signs and miracles confirming His Word.
Faith then is the response to revelation. As we experience God our faith grows in relation to that experience. So for the Christian, faith is more than just belief or wishful thinking. It could be summed up as belief, obedience, and faithfulness. It is confidence in the Word of God that has proved to be reliable. It is a confidence that leads to obedience, or a lifestyle that reflects the truth revealed. It is a confidence in the truth that reflects the faithfulness of its source.
Foundation of Faith
“So faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Ro 10:17 NAS)
So, when Christ returns will He find those who are faithfully living in obedience to the truth and diligently looking for His return? Or will His followers become deluded by lies and neglect to follow in truth observing to do all that He commanded?
The foundation of true faith (saving faith) then must be the Word of God. It can’t be based upon opinion, or logic, but simply what God has said. The test of whether you have true faith is if you adhere to the Word of God, rejecting the opinions, and logic of man.
Our tendency as humans is to believe what we want to believe. Our obligation as the faithful is to seek the truth of God’s Word and not deviate from it. As the words of a chorus declared:
- If God said it, I believe it.
- God’s Word it cannot lie.
- If it’s written in the Bible.
- I’ll believe it until I die.
Myths Replacing Truth
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.” (2Ti 3:1 NAS)
“3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” (2Ti 4:3-4 NAS)
We are in the last days and difficult times have come. And if we continue to read the third chapter of Timothy we would see that the difficult times have come because men have become lovers of self, lovers of money, etc., etc. As men’s attention is drawn from God’s kingdom coming and His will being done to fulfilling man’s fleshly ambitions and desires, they become vulnerable to the false teachings built upon the opinions and logic of man. The teachings which once were so clear have now become clouded by the opinions of men who have no love of the truth. These opinions and logic injected into the Word defile its purity gradually transforming the truth to a myth. If left unchecked the myth becomes tradition rooted alongside the tenets of the faith.
It is such a myth that I seek to expose before it is too late and men perish for lack of the truth. As the coming of our Lord draws ever nearer and nearer it is important that we eliminate this myth that would cloud our understanding of His return and our gathering unto Him. If we know the truth, the truth will set us free. His Word is Truth.
Purpose for Writing
My purpose in writing is to encourage people with the Word of God so that their faith does not fail. If they hold fast to the Word of God they will remain faithful and steadfast until the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But there is reason for concern because we live at a time in history when knowledge has increased and is readily available. This is a blessing and a curse, for we are overwhelmed with it. There are a multitude of voices screaming for our attention, mixing the facts with the fiction to the extent that the simplest of matters can become confusing. It is my hope that I can help you the reader cut through some of this confusion and focus on the fundamental facts that are essential to maintain a pure and steadfast faith as we stand before God.
The World is not short of books on prophesy. Some of them actually agree with each other on some points. I don’t claim to have special insights or new revelations, but simply want to bring people’s focus back to the clear reading of Scripture which must not take second place to the conjecture of men.
From Tradition to Truth
From my earliest recollection I was in Church on Sunday. Born into a preacher’s family I grew up in Church. By the time I was six years old I had been convinced that I was a sinner and needed to repent, and I did. More than once I made my way to the altar to repent of my sins and ask Jesus into my heart as Lord and Savior. As a child I grew in the knowledge of Christ, learning the fundamentals of the Christian faith and how a child of God should conduct himself. By the time I was in High School I could tell you all about the second coming of our Lord. I could explain to you how Jesus would first come for His Church and rapture them away. Once the Church was removed from the world, all hell would break loose in what was termed the Great Tribulation. I knew that one of the most important things was to be ready when Christ returned because no one wanted to be left behind on earth during this dreadful time. It wasn’t that you couldn’t be a Christian during this time, but if you did you would be persecuted beyond belief and eventually you would have your head cut off for your faith. Oh those glorious days when we knew so much, or thought we did.
I don’t even remember why I began to question the Pre-trib Rapture Theory. I think that those doubts came from several different sources. The result was that I began to pay a little more attention to what the Scripture had to say on this subject. Finally my interest peaked to the extent that I determined that I was going to study this matter out for myself until I knew the truth. I had to know the truth. As I prayed and studied I became confident that God would reveal truth to me. After all, didn’t the scripture promise that if we ask we will receive, if we seek we will find, and if we knock it will be opened up for us? It didn’t take long though for me to decide though that this theory as presented could not be easily discerned from just reading the text. The text soon convinced me that a pre–trib rapture was not likely.
In all of that reading and study I had missed the Pre–Tribulation Rapture. You would think that something so monumental and fundamental to my religious training would have been obvious when reading the Scripture, but it wasn’t. In addition to not being able to find this teaching in the Scripture, I was finding it in conflict with some of my other areas of study in the Scripture. So I made an appointment to get together with my pastor and discuss this subject. He was much more schooled on the subject and very much a supporter of the teaching. Believe me, it lead to several hours of lively discussion. When we parted neither of us had convinced the other of his stand as to the timing of the rapture. But I was learning. There are different perspectives. There are other thoughts other than mine that people think are most logical from their perspective.
A couple of years latter our Church had a change of pastorate. By now I was convinced that the Pre–Tribulation Theory was a myth. When it became convenient I again approached a pastor who had more schooling than I and presented what I had found in the Scripture. As you may guess it was to no avail. I was beginning to see just how deep rooted this teaching had become. The old rhetoric and logic was seemingly indelibly implanted into the doctrine of the Church and any challenge was emphatically opposed.
What should I do? I felt that God had answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth in this matter. I had shared my study with family and a few individuals. My brother, who was a minster, had come to the same conclusion as I had through his studies. Had I found an area of truth that I had to suppress? Although I taught an adult Sunday school class at this time, I didn’t feel comfortable sharing my study in class as long as the pastor was opposed. How important was it anyway if people believed in a Pre – Mid – or Post – Tribulation Rapture? My logic said it was very important. Other people suggested it wasn’t that important as long a person was a believer. Most people didn’t seem to even want to hear about the conflict. Some said, “I am a Pan – Tribulationist, it will all pan out in the end.”
So where was I to go from here? I didn’t want it to become a, “I’m right, your wrong”, kind of thing. Yet somehow I couldn’t let it go altogether because I was convinced that for some people this could be the thing that destroyed their faith. As time went on it became increasingly difficult to sit through sermons and studies that centered on the Book of Revelation or the second coming of the Lord. Each time I would question myself, could I be wrong? But each time renewed study would verify the conclusion that God’s Word did not indicate a pre-trib rapture of the Church. But if this is true why would I, a mere layman, be privy to truth when those who were more educated, gifted, and spiritual than me embraced what appeared to me to be a myth? I still cannot answer this question.
My social world has always been rather small because of my environment and personality. So it wasn’t long before I had very few people with who I could share my frustration with concerning this matter. I remember wishing that God had just simply and clearly stated in His Word when the rapture would take place in relation to the great tribulation. And then one day while reading a familiar passage I saw it so plainly that He had indeed clarified the time of the rapture, and I don’t know why I had not seen it before. I was excited. But I soon found out even this was not enough to overcome the tradition that was so deeply rooted in our doctrine.
Before I share with you the clear reading of Scripture on this matter I would like to share the parable that convinced me of how serious this matter really is. The message of this parable will not let me passively regard our understanding of the timing of the rapture to be unimportant.