Luke 18:8: Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Faith, which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Heb 11:1), is one of the rarest/scarcest commodities in the world today. In almost every arena of this life, people have lost “faith”. People have simply “lost heart” and given up. But can we truly blame them? Looking at the world’s current devastating condition, one is tempted to quit fighting the battle against evil.
Marital instability resulting from adultery, fraud, dishonest living and eventually leading to divorce is showing increasingly devastating stats. A sociodemographic study was conducted at Kisesa, a rural area in
Parents have given up on their children. Can or will my 16 year old son ever recover from drug and alcohol abuse? How about sexual immorality? How about my 12 year old brother facing the challenges of peer pressure? These are but a few things which have caused today’s parents to lose faith and hope.
In the public grounds, civil and political leaders have lost faith and direction. The people have lost faith in them too. Corruption in the public services, civil and political wars and conflicts in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Middle East and even lately, the turmoil in Tanzania – all point to this awful truth.
At the workplace, employers have lost faith in their employees and employees can hardly believe a word their employers say. We live in that day and time when “word of mouth” is insufficient. Everything must be clearly stated in a written contract lest one party decides to exploit the other.
Can we trust our brethren in the Lord? On January 9th, 2008 a gang of four Seventh-day Adventist men in
Can we trust in our ministers, pastors and clergymen?
A story is told of three pastors who went to the pastor convention and were all sharing one room. The first pastor said, "Let's confess our secret sins one to another. I'll start - my secret sin is I just love to gamble. When I go out of town, it's cha-ching cha-ching, let the machines ring."
The second pastor said, "My secret sin is that I just love to drink. When I go out of town, I like to take a little nip of something."
The third pastor said, "My secret sin is gossiping and I can't wait to get out of this room!"
In all the countries that I have been blessed to visit or see, I have heard stories of a pastor or church leader misusing and abusing the church funds or fornicating and committing adultery or at least one case of a church leader gossiping, backbiting and slandering fellow church members. In some congregations, the situation is so intense that churches begin to split or members decide to leave. Some even give up their faith completely!
We can lose our faith in our parents. We can lose our faith in our children. We can lose our faith in our employers, employees, political leaders, fellow brethren at church and even our pastors, BUT nothing frightens me more than to see man lose faith in God. Faith in God, according to the apostle Paul, requires one to “believe that He is” and secondly to “believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (See Heb 11:6). Sad enough, modern science and modern education systems even go to the extent of disputing His very existence. The remaining who believe in His omnipresence doubt His promises to provide them with answers to their prayers. They doubt His Word. Spiritual darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. There are in many churches skepticism and infidelity in the interpretation of the Scriptures.
Many, very many, are questioning the verity and truth of the Scriptures. Human reasoning and the imaginings of the human heart are undermining the inspiration of the Word of God, and that which should be received as granted, is surrounded with a cloud of mysticism. Nothing stands out in clear and distinct lines, upon rock bottom. This is one of the marked signs of the last days. {1SM 15.2}
In a church with over 500 registered members, less than 100 return their tithes and offerings faithfully. Less than 100 contribute earnestly to the building funds and we are tempted to ask why.
A preacher announced from the pulpit," I have good news and bad news. The good news is we have enough money to retire the mortgage on the church."
A sigh of relief went through the congregation.
The preacher continued: "the bad news is: the money is still in your pocket."
Why do we hold onto our pockets so tightly? Have we lost our faith in the WORD of God?
Mal 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
But only few believe that the LORD will truly keep His promises today and pour out His blessings such as they cannot contain. Only a handful still have faith that if they “cast their bread upon the waters, they will find it after many days” (Eccl 11:2). Friends, God, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful (1 Cor 1:9).
When the Son of Man returns, He will find faith, not because we have laboured for it but because He is faithful. He has never given up on us and we ought to take heart and refuse to give up on Him. Multitudes from every nation, tribe, people and tongue will stand before Him that day. Yes, multitudes “which no one can number” will proclaim that “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And when the angels fail to sing their song of Moses and the Lamb, the elders will ask “who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from?... “These are they, which came out of the great tribulation.” These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These are they whom the Son of Man has found with faith in their God for they ceased not to call upon His name day and night. Therefore, do not lose heart. Keep pressing on and He will find you with faith when He returns to take us home!
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