Will He Really Find Faith on the Earth?

[Barry Korthuis] Well, good afternoon, everyone. Good to be here. What a joyful noise. Isn't that just beautiful? I always think that harmony like that is just another proof of God. It just is. It's just so beautiful. I'm glad we could be part of it. 

Well, by way of introduction to the sermon, over the years there's been, well, kind a considerable amount of activity. There's even been some amount of debate surrounding a particular question that a lot of manufacturers ask. And that is, “Why is it that consumers tend to ignore the instruction manual?” Why? And if you were to even go through and sift through some of these reports, you'd see that marketing experts, customer service consultants, project engineering groups, and even corporate executives, for that matter, have found that in general, for most consumers, reading the manual is perceived as being too time consuming. They don't have the patience or the intention span to do it. And typically, they don't even like how they're written. 

Commonly expressing that instruction manual is, well, they're just too technical, often hard to understand. And so it's come to this. Americans, we buy the most sophisticated computers, electronics, digital cameras, even advanced-featured automobiles and appliances. Of course, we have these incredibly versatile smartphones, and even advanced tools and equipment, and then most will tend to do what? Don't either forget to client or let's just refuse to read the directions, whether they're in print or online. You know, owners manuals, care guides, how-to directories, details on product safety. No, thank you. You know, why won't my new printer work? Something simple as, is the ink cartridge in? Is the toner installed properly? You know, is there actually paper in that paper tray? Is it hooked up with a cable or Wi-Fi connection, actually working on the computer? Because after all, instruction manuals can do this and do these things to help troubleshoot those questions. But it does remind me of an old joke, and perhaps you've heard this before, or this already, and by the way, the computer manufacturer attests that this is something that actually happened. Really happened. Their technical helpline once received a call from a new purchaser complaining that their teacup, yes, their teacup, kept slipping out of the computer's cup holder. The reason, of course, the cup holder was the tray that slides out for the CD-ROM disk. I would have loved to have been there that day.

But do you notice, too, more and more, how manufacturers will often include a little at-a-glance folder, a little summary guide in addition to the manual, and the products? Here's your four-panel folder. Here's your quick guide to answer at least some of your questions, since it's likely that most of you aren't going to actually go to the instruction manual. Or perhaps they provide a QR code, get you to an FAQ page, frequently ask questions, or something similar before you might otherwise have an opportunity to view the complete instruction manual online. But regardless, the manufacturer or the retail store or the salesperson at that store is hoping that these instructions will significantly reduce the number of inquiries they might otherwise get to address so many questions that are already answered in the instruction manual. So I'm not here, by the way, brethren, to get into the weeds or compel you to read the entirety of the instruction manuals provided by the various manufacturers of the products that you use. I'm not here to do that. We all have personal decisions to make regarding time and attention. However, and you've probably guessed where I'm going with this, we have a spiritual instruction manual, don't we, in the Bible. And that manual is something we're to read cover to cover, to simulate all the knowledge in entirety and in detail, because it answers everything. Everything we need to know about how to live life. Things like how God loves us. Book even shows us how we are to love God. Shows us how. Shows us how to love one another. What that looks like. How it behaves.

Even with the songs of worship that we've just heard, this book shows us how to do that as well. And even how to pray to God. How to meditate. Not only how to meditate, what to meditate about. This instruction manual, the Bible, we read about precepts, commands, law. Not only what to do, but when and how to do it. And the instructions come in many forms. You know, just for example, you know, Jesus, he teaches with authority. We sang about that in the third hymn of the opening set. He knows exactly what he's talking about. And he taught in different ways. He accommodates all sorts of things in Scripture. He uses object lessons, analogies, repetition sometimes. It's a teaching tool. We find him often quoting the law or parts of the law. The prophets, the Psalms. So that they here would recall, should recall, what Scripture he's referring to. That's part of what he's teaching. He uses story telling. He even uses hyperbole, you know, exaggerating something to make a point. 

Like, for example, if your eye causes you to sin, you know, pluck it out. Not to be taken literally. And then there are teachable moments where he grabbed opportunities, opportunistic times, circumstance. Where he provides unique construction, excuse me, unique instruction, given the context of whatever situation that was. As well as emphasizing sayings, he shares word pictures. He even has some humor in there, too. And of course, he also taught in the form of parables. Parables. But, brethren, there are a lot. There are a lot of sources out there. A lot of commentary. And all in the various forms that that can be communicated. But a lot of that stuff is kind of like this four-panel folder from a manufacturer. You know, the quick guide. Some form of summary that may include some aspect of the instruction manual called the Bible. And, you know, and they may be some benefit and place for that.

But we still need to be watchful, don't we? You gotta be careful. Make sure that whatever we read is is real. Is it truth? Does it align with Scripture? Or is it only partially true? Or in some cases, it's just somewhat incomplete. And that's part of biblical theology. That to find the answers we need gotta be willing to go through the whole book. Gotta be willing to do that. Because if we are to know the height and the depth and the width of instruction that God gives us, no surprise. He asks us to dig. Dig into the details of the instruction manual. You know, knowing too, like we read in certain places, like 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10, that God reveals these things to us through His Spirit. That the Holy Spirit searches all things. All things. And yes, the deep things of God. So, of course, God gets all the credit and how thankful we should be for that and for the gift of the Holy Spirit. But again, we're actually asked to dig. We're asked to dig. 

Well, that said, for the sermon today, let's take time to focus on a particular parable that Jesus taught. And let's dig into the details and context of the instruction God provides here in our spiritual instruction manual here today. Now, though we've had sermons on parables before, let's first do just a really quick review, just for some background, so it makes it fresh in our minds. You know, this word parable, at least in the Greek, it's parabole. And it includes symbolic accounts or stories to make a comparison so that a teaching or a concept can be revealed.

For example, a parable may use something relatively common, like weed and tears, to make a comparison, to bring about a deeper lesson or understanding. And the parable uses that comparison to teach, to teach and to reveal something. So if you understand this in the context of the parable, then you're going to understand that in some way or another.

Or it's the opposite of that, depending on the context of the parable. Weed and tears is done that way. They're opposites. And parables are found throughout Scripture, throughout the Bible. Even the book of Proverbs includes parables. The title Proverbs is a Hebrew word called mashal. Which is simply another word for parable, or parables.

Of course, we find many parables in the Gospel accounts, where the parable of this or that is shared. And what typically follows that parable is then an explanation of it, an interpretation of it. But there are also a few parables, though, in the Gospel accounts that first tell us what the purpose of that parable is before then making an explanation of it. And today we're going to be doing that. We'll be looking at one of them that's lined up that way. So let's go ahead and turn now to Luke chapter 18. I'm going to find the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge.

This is part of a series of lessons that Jesus used to teach his disciples about prayer, and about prayer and not losing heart. Prayer and not losing hope. Prayer and not giving up. Yet it is the question he poses, though, at the end of that parable that perhaps is most familiar to us here. When he asks this question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” Will he really find faith? It's a big question, an important question. And as we review, though, this parable here in detail today, we will be reminded about how prayer and not giving up has a lot to do. With what will ultimately be the answer to that question. Let's go ahead and read through the parable first. It's Luke chapter 18, 1 through 8. Let's go and go through the whole parable first.

Luke 18:1-8 He says, “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray, and not lose heart, saying there was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me for my adversary.’ And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her. Lest by her continual coming, she weary me.’ Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, And shall God not avenge his own elect, who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them? I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”

Let's take a closer look at this parable. We're going to go almost verse five verse, and let's go right back to verse one of Luke 18. Read it again here. 

Luke 18:1 “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray, and not lose heart.” 

So again, this is a parable that first tells us what the purpose of the parable is, before giving the details of it. And as we just read, it was given to encourage, to encourage his disciples to always pray, to always pray and not lose heart. Always pray and not lose heart. We are his disciples as well. We too should keep, develop and keep an intimate prayer life, never to give up on it, no matter how it might be tested, and in doing so, not lose heart. To lose heart, which is represented as faint, or to give up in some other versions of the Bible, it means to grow weary. But it means to grow weary, such that ultimately someone actually gives up on God, and gives in to the pressures around them.

It's a big question here. Will we pray? Will we continue to faithfully pray? And not lose heart? No matter what? We hear messages about prayer. We all read scripture on prayer. How to pray and what to pray about. Our instruction manual has a lot to say about it. For example, we read in James 5:16 That, “We're to confess our trespasses to one another and to pray for one another, that we may be healed, and how the effective fervent prayer of the righteous avails much.” 

Fervent means that we are active in prayer. And we're working at prayer. And of course, we're given an example in Matthew 6 of the model prayer.

Yet there are also things that can, realistic here, if unchecked, can come between our prayers, can hinder our prayers. Something that we should look at actually on an ongoing basis, but perhaps the most obvious one is sin itself. And we read in places like Isaiah, chapter 59, talks about how iniquities, the sins, had actually separated the people from God, such that He would hide His face from them, not listen to them, prayers included. You know, sin is an address, and we all have to deal with sin. But if it isn't addressed, then effective prayer is hindered. And that can make you lose heart. It can make you lose heart. And what about doubt? I heard about that in the sermonette. What if I pray, but I have doubts about God? He rules chapter 11 and instructs us that without faith, it's impossible to please Him. That those who come to God must believe that He is. And that He rewards the work and the rewards He gives to those who diligently seek Him. I'm going to have to up my prescription on these readers. Those who do not doubt. Prayer and faith, they go hand in hand. So does doubt and not praying. And what about enemies? What about your enemies? What about mine? 

Matthew 5:44 Jesus says, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. And pray. And pray for those who spitefully use you. Persecute you.” 

So many things to pray about. This can so easily fall to the back of the line, can't it? Yet effective prayer includes this kind of prayer. And there's distractions. Our adversary seems to be a master at causing them, including it would seem during prayer time. Have you ever experienced this?

Your mind wanders when you pray? It seems to make you think about everything except what you're supposed to be praying about. That ever happened to any of you? Ask me. We read in Romans chapter 8 about the Holy Spirit, how it helps us in our weaknesses, including what we should pray for, and how it searches the heart so we can pray effectively. Yet we often need help, don't we? Even during their time of prayer, in order to focus on what it is we should be praying about. And of course, that should mean, or could mean, that we might want to include in our prayers, perhaps quite early in that prayer, for God to give us more of His Spirit so we can actually focus in that prayer. Which, of course, also points to another need as part of prayer life, and that's privacy, in order to mitigate distractions. Jesus spoke about this in Luke chapter 5. What did He do? He withdrew Himself from the crowds, and where did He go? He went to the wilderness. To pray. Privacy. And of course, in addition to these, another reason people can lose heart a bit are the delays.

When answers don't come, or don't come in the way we'd hoped, delays can also relate to our desire for and timing of justice, of God intervening. As we will see, this point has a significant emphasis in the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. To also teach us, though, prayers may appear to take a long time in being answered. Persevere. Not grow weary. Keep praying. And do not lose heart. Do not lose heart. Let's go ahead and move on to verse 2 now, Luke 18.

Luke 18:2 Saying, “There wasn't a certain city of judge who did not fear God, nor regard man.” 

So the parable is set in an unnamed city. But over that city presides an unjust judge who has no fear of God, and no respect, no regard for the people under his jurisdiction. Let's think now a little bit here about the audience that Jesus is speaking to at the time in their familiarity with Scripture, with the law, the prophets, the Psalms. Although they might not fully understand the spiritual height, width, and depth of the parable, that is, until they might otherwise receive the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promised after his resurrection, which was fulfilled at Pentecost, they were otherwise, at least generally speaking, quite familiar with those writings. And what to expect of a judge? That a judge was to be impartial. Judge righteously. And recognize that judgment ultimately belongs to God. We, too, should be very familiar with this as well, because our manual covers it. It covers the principles and details of what it means to be an appropriate judge. We read in places like Deuteronomy chapter 1 about what a judge should do, what righteous judgment is, about impartiality, and judgment. In this parable, though, it's clear that the judge here is not competent as a judge and unqualified for the job, but he's in it in the parable anyway. Let's now continue in verse 3. 

Luke 18:3 “Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Get justice for me from my adversary.” 

So a widow comes before this judge to plead her cause or case, excuse me. The word justice here has the meaning and the context of her defending her cause, but not only that of maintaining her rights. Maintaining her rights. So the point being is that this is a legitimate claim that she's making, that this widow is making in this parable. And according to the law, which again, as listeners would have been aware of, again, as should we, widows were to receive special protection under the justice system. For example, we read in Deuteronomy chapter 10 how God shows no partiality, nor takes a bribe, and how he administers justice for who? The fatherless, the widow, the stranger, giving food and clothing. Later in Deuteronomy chapter 24, it also speaks of justice to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, including the example of providing food, but also the provision that they can glean. They can glean from the various harvests and in part be provided for in that way. But this widow in Luke 18 kept coming to this unjust judge who kept ignoring her. Although again, she had a legitimate claim that there was someone acting against her in an unjust way. Now, in the parable, Jesus doesn't tell us about the specifics of the grievance. And though the judge at this point continues to act unjustly, what does she do? She refuses to give up. She refuses to give up. But then things change. Let's go ahead and read actually verses 4 and 5 of Luke 18.

Luke 18:4-5 “And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she wary me.” 

Eventually the judge more or less says to himself, I don't fear God and I don't care about anyone else, but this widow is wearing me out. So this judge sort of reasons within himself that he had better avenge her, give her justice, instead of the inevitability that her visits would never cease until he did. You know, interestingly, the phrase, wary me, is a Greek word called hypopiazzo, which literally means to hit under the eye. As in giving someone a black eye. But figuratively, it has the context of giving someone a black eye in terms of their reputation. Not that the widow smacked him in the eye with the left jab and the right hook. As entertaining as that may be to imagine. It seems that the judge is acting here out of frustration and persistence, again, of this widow, but it also seems like he's trying to avoid, again, a black eye to his reputation. But in the end, what happens? The widow receives justice. She was seeking. Let's go ahead and continue in verses 6 and 7 and the first part of 8 of Luke 18.

Luke 18:6-8 “Then the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him the way he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.”

Jesus is making a comparison here. That of the faithfulness of our loving God, in contrast to this unjust judge. The judge in the parable just acts out of personal motivation. That dealing with the persistence of the widow now is better than having this thing go on and on. And again, perhaps in an effort to protect his reputation, but Jesus explains his point. If an uncaring, unfit, unjust judge answers with justice in the end, how much more will loving and holy Father give what is right to his children? He emphasized the vast difference, the complete enormity of the difference between this unjust judge and the righteous God. And at the same time, Jesus is clarifying this in a way that helps manage our expectations.

Among all the many and incredible and immeasurable traits of God, is his capacity to love. And that includes how he bears long, slow to anger. And while verse 7 does focus this somewhat on those who are the oppressors of his own elect, it also shows us that God is this way with everyone. Including you and me. Forbearance, long suffering are proofs of God's goodness, his faithfulness, and his desire to grant salvation, not just to us, to all humanity. You know, Romans 2:4 describes God that way as forbearing, long suffering. It's part of what who, it's part of who God is. But it's also part of what God does. What does God do? How does he act? And you think about forbearance. What is forbearance? That means he's refraining from the enforcement of something that's due. A debt, a right, or an obligation, if you want to use the legally. And that includes justice and the timing of it. Long suffering differs slightly in that its emphasis is on the love that God has, the patience God has, and acting in this way. And so Jesus ends verse 7 with the phrase, “though he bears long with them.” And God is very aware of what's going on, and we can have absolute trust and faith in him. And all of it, his awareness, his promises, and importantly, his timing. His timing of justice. And in knowing that, to keep engaging effective prayer. Not losing heart. In the first part of verse 8, Jesus states, well, rather emphatically.

Luke 18:8 “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” 

Speedily can also mean suddenly or unexpectedly the idea being that when God's patience and tolerance of oppressors has run its course, he will properly act at the right time. He will deliver on his promises, and we can rely on that. Let's go ahead and now read the last part of Luke chapter 18 verse 8. 

Luke 18:8 “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” 

And Jesus presents this final question on the matter at the end of the parable. Will he really find faith on the earth when he returns? Will the faithful continue to pray and not lose heart? And for us, will that be you? Will that be me? Will the faithful trust in God and endure whatever happens? Knowing God has it in hand? Or put another way, will he find those who may not? Or did not, shall I say, lose? Will he find those people? I'll just refer to it here, but we read words God inspired Jeremiah to write, you know, about God, about God's faithfulness. Lamentations chapter 3 verses 21 to 23. You can turn there if you want, but I'm just going to read this. As Jeremiah writes this.

Lamentations 3:21-23 He says, “This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. Because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” 

Great is God's faithfulness. You know, God will be faithful. Will we? Back to Luke chapter 18. And as we read in verse 6, the context of the parable of the unjust judge and persistent widow, while primarily being addressed to his elect, is chosen, also has broad implications to society at large. And the question, will he really find faith on the earth, can on one hand be a little bit daunting? It's also a very positive one. As the parable addresses how, we can otherwise not lose heart.

You cannot lose heart through effective prayer and faith. There's a way to not lose. Well, at the same time, the context here points to the end times when the Son of Man does come, when Jesus returns. Of course, you know, that will be a time of confluence of many things, won't it? Including, at least at a kind of a societal level, a loss of heart and faith that'll very much dominate the culture of society in which the elect live. So let me ask you something. When you think of this parable, and just all the things that would be going on prophetically, just before Christ returns, what scriptures, what part of the Bible, what part of this manual comes to your mind? Again, I'm not trying to be negative in any way about the end times and how difficult that would be, but what do you think, what do you imagine those times will be like? And do you take time to imagine what those times would be like? And what do you think your prayer life's going to be? What the measure of faith in God will be as events do unfold. You know, we're told it's coming. It's described in detail in Scripture. Something that increases in intensity and frequency. And part of the lesson of the parable is to have a clear sense of the reality of it. But what gives you hope? What builds your strength? What increases your faith? Speak for myself. One place is Matthew chapter 24. All of it prophecy. Jesus' own words about the signs of his coming and and of the end of the age. Difficult things going on here. But we have Jesus Christ telling us exactly what those things are.

And he's a unique teacher. A unique expert. Uniquely qualified to share that with us. And in that section of Scripture, he talks more about what's going to happen than just anywhere else in Scripture. I know it's hard to talk about those things sometimes, but always within these things and within prophecy and within even the difficulties that are being projected to happen, there's always another place that happens within those Scriptures. And in this case, like in verse 13 of Matthew 24, what does he say? He emphasizes an incredible promise that has a lot to do with not losing heart.

Matthew 24:13 He says, ‘He who endures to the end. Shall be saved. It's guaranteed.” 

God cannot lie. God's not going away. All of these factors, all these conditions, do all course do support the reality that we will be tested. Faith will be tested and not just once. It will be tested again and again. And of course, the sobering reality is that if we look at this from a global perspective, faith in God and obedience in His way will be hard to find. Hard to find, so to speak, at the end. It will be relatively a rare thing before Christ returns.

But you know when it comes to faith, it can be said that people will place it in something or someone. Faith might be placed in oneself. Might be a friend. Could be faith in a government. Some place it in things like knowledge, science, things like medical advances. I'm not trying to offer a complete list here to limit the combination of what that might entail. Well, at the same time, if God is not top of mind and heart, for the placement of faith, it is likely to reside somewhere else. In something else. And that way of thinking, interestingly, of placing faith in something or someone other than God, it's also making its way into the lives of those who may profess to be spiritual. And I'm bringing this up because this is something that our adversaries are using to attack us as well.

Even among those who claim to be faithful believers in God and the Bible, yet resist actually reading and hearing to the Bible and its teachings, resisting this instruction manual. I'm not suggesting anybody in this room is having a problem with that, but I am suggesting that the test is happening and continues. And by the way, if you haven't taken a closer look at trends in religion for a while, go look up some recent Pew Center research center reports, Gallup poll reports, and those sorts of things. You just kind of see the dynamics of trends and what's going on.

Looking into some of the reasons why there's resistance in actually reading and adhering to the instruction manual. And when you do, it's quite telling. Please know I'm speaking of this in general terms, that I don't mean to paint a picture or overly assume anything or be judgmental where I shouldn't be. But when you go read this stuff, many of the reasons that are used are similar to why it is that consumers tend to ignore instruction manuals.

Too time consuming. This is too time consuming. Don't have the patience to read this. Don't have the intention span to read this. I don't like how this is written. See a lot of that. Some say that this is just outdated. Kind of irrelevant. Certainly the details are irrelevant.

But you have a whole other group that basically says that the biggest reason for them not being engaged in the Bible is because it's simply not entertaining enough.

So there are those who profess to be believers in God while at the same time prefer a summary guide, so to speak, instead of this. Don't give me this. Give me a few sound bites. Give me a few highlights. Give me something quick to follow. Give me my little four-panel folder. Give me some answers to a few questions. Encourage me enough to get by. Or just let me read a book on the subject that is written in a more engaging way. While not faithfully engaging God's written word, the instruction manual, again, the Bible. Why do we even bring this up? Well, for one, so we can exercise caution and certainly not fall into a similar trap. But I do remember a recent conversation with somebody who was an avid reader. He just gobbled up books. He would read so much in his history and biblical history and archaeology and all sorts of things. And he said, but there was a time that he sort of made a foray into the Christian bookstore world, and he just consumed all sorts of things from there. And he said that, you know, that was then that he had to be the most careful. And it's because he said, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot of good stuff in there. He says, but there's a lot of there's there's chaff in there too amongst the wheat. And you have to really, really be careful. He says the one positive thing that he experienced as a result of doing that, he says it made him go back and look at this all the more to make sure that what he understood was right, the truth. But there's a whole push not to even go to this thing anymore. Not to even use it. Not even in much of the Christian world. You know, prophecy, of course, also points very clearly to the eventuality of trends of moving away from from faith from God. 

Moving away. Just an example, Revelation 13 prophesies about a time when almost all of humanity will put their trust and faith in government. Placing it in a world-ruling government accompanied by a religious superpower will dominate the world. The world seen at the time. And you go read those scriptures. They mentioned that all the world marveled and followed the beast. And more than that, they would worship the beast.

So in a manner of speaking, there will be widespread faith, but it's misplaced. But what about the faithful? What about them? You know, if we were to read Luke chapter 17, of course, this is the chapter before Luke 18, 1 through 8, before the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. If you were to go through Luke chapter 17, in the first part of that chapter, Jesus warns the disciples of the inevitability of offenses, that it's impossible that no offenses should come. You know, offenses, they're like stumbling blocks, doing something that trips someone up to induce or cause someone to sin or fall into sin. And when we think of increased lawlessness in its various forms, it plays into this. But Jesus then talked about the process, the conditions of correcting that brother and forgiving him. The principle of being generous and forgiving others. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors kind of thing, irrespective of how many times it takes.

But how did those disciples react? Hearing the high standards of his teachings, what did they conclude? They came to the realization that they needed more faith. Probably a lot more. And as do we. And we'll need all the more as time advances. You know, in the beginning of the parable, with a persistent widow and unjust judge that we talked about a lot today, we're told to do what? Always ought to pray. Always ought to pray and not lose heart. And those prayers should also, for not doing so already, include asking God to increase our faith.

So that through his power, we actually can be faithful. Because it's his power that allows us to do that. We know it's not ours. It is his. And one of the great comforts we get in Scripture is also in its warnings. We are told what challenges we're going to face, and we're told how to overcome them. And for example, and even though this is very sobering, when I'm about to read here, 

1 Timothy 4:1-2 Reads as follows. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”

That makes me want to pray more. God help me that I do not fall prey to this. Because the message is for us to the people of God who Jesus is asking whether he'll really find faith in them when he returns. But let's now turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Verse 10 of the 6. Again, a message to you and me of remaining faithful, of not losing faith. In the earlier part of the chapter here, much is said about things like godliness, contentment, as compared to things like error and greed. But then we read here in verse 11,  of chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6:11-12 “But you, O man of God, flee these things,” flee things like error and greed, “and pursue righteousness, pursue godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” And then in verse 12 he says, “Fight, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

So fight the good fight. You know, don't just know what faith is. And that includes knowing and understanding the entire instruction manual on it, the Bible, but actually live by faith. But more than that, fight for it. Fight for it in your life. Fight the good fight means agonize the good agony. No, I'm not kidding. It actually means agonize the good agony. Inspirational words, aren't they? Though I'm not sure it would make a very compelling marketing slogan, though. Think about a gymnasium that you might work out. Where do you work out? My gym's called agony. What exercises do you do? Think about it. The agonizing kind. Got many members? No.

The context here is that of a sports competition. But let's say, put another way, or just to, you know, talk about this in another way. Exert everything that's needed to win the race. Put it all in, and put it all on the line. Don't let anything have a foothold in your life that erodes faith or encumbers your race. But more than that, fight for it. Fight for it. And that, too, is part of praying always, and not losing heart.

Today, we looked at the parable, this parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. Jesus teaches about prayer, again, and about not losing heart, about not losing hope. Don't give up. And he makes this comparison. That while an unjust judge with selfish motives might ultimately do right for a persistent widow, how much more will God do right for you? For us. According to his will and timing, we can have total trust and faith in that. So what is the answer to this question that he poses at the end of the parable? When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on earth? Let's turn to Hebrews 10. And the verse is preceding what I'm about to read. It speaks to challenges, the tribulations, the spiritual fight that is part of living for God, part of what it means to struggle, and what it means to win the good fight of faith. It also says other things. It speaks to holding fast to our confession of hope, without wavering. And it speaks to the faithfulness of God that we can completely trust, can fully rely on, including his promises. It also talks about something else, to consider one another, to stir up love, and good works, of not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but exhorting one another, encouraging one another, so much the more as we see the day approaching, the return of Jesus Christ. But let's read verses 35 to 39 of Hebrews chapter 10. 

Hebrews 10:35-39 “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance. We do need to endure to the end. We have need of this, of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe, to the saving of the soul. Will he find faith? Yes, he will. He will find it in the faithful, those living by faith. He will find it in those who would not draw back, those who would not give up. Let's pray and continue to pray that he finds it in us. Pray that he will find it in you. Pray for more faith, and pray always, and not lose faith. And continue to dig deep into the details of the spiritual manual we have, the Bible, and for the answers, the promises, the encouragement. But also, brethren, let's fight. Let's fight the good fight of faith. Agonize the good Agony. Endure to the end, and be saved.