Will He Find Faith On The Earth?

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 

When The Lord returns, will he find any faith on the earth? It's sad to realize that this question would come to his mind, and he'd ask it- as I look around me in my day, I'm asking the same question. Some time will be spent looking into what some commentators have to say about this verse; and what we can learn from them.
                                              
                      THE LESSON FOR DARK DAYS

There are three phases in our Lord’s teaching about prayer-that of Mat_6:1-34, Luk_18:1-43, and the words of Joh_14:1-31; Joh_15:1-27. In Luk_18:1-8 He exhorts to uniformity and urgency. There is an aspect of prayer that we are in danger of overlooking when the skies are blue and the sun is shining, and that is, the need of holy violence.

This lesson is taught, in the parable of this paragraph, by a striking contrast which may be stated thus: If an unjust and ungodly judge will finally grant a just petition, out of base and selfish motives and merely to save himself from being worried by a defenseless and oppressed woman, how much more shall the just and merciful God hear the cry and avenge the cause of those whom He loves. If answers to certain prayers, which we have offered in an agony of tears, are slow in coming, we may be sure, either that the time is not ripe, or that He is going to do something better. F.B. Meyer comm.

B.W. Johnson goes back to verses 6-8, and gives this thought:
                                                    
The Lord said. This is the application of the parable.

Shall not God avenge his elect? If an unjust, hard-hearted judge can be moved by the persistent prayers of a widow, will not the tender, loving, good Father hear the cries of his children?

Though he bear long. Rather, as in the Revision, "He is long-suffering over them." He is long-suffering for them for their own good, and long-suffering towards their enemies in order that they may have opportunity to repent.

Shall he find faith on the earth? Prayer is the utterance of faith. Prayerlessness is proof of unbelief. The Lord, pained by the unbelief of even his disciples, shows in these words what a burden to him is our unbelief (see Mat_17:17).

​And from the JFB commentary:

Luke 18:8
speedily — as if pained at the long delay, impatient for the destined moment to interpose. (Compare Pro_29:1.)
Nevertheless, etc. — that is, Yet ere the Son of man comes to redress the wrongs of His Church, so low will the hope of relief sink, through the length of the delay, that one will be fain to ask, Will He find any faith of a coming avenger left on the earth?

From this we learn:

(1) That the primary and historical reference of this parable is to the Church in its widowed, desolate, oppressed, defenseless condition during the present absence of her Lord in the heavens;
(2) That in these circumstances importunate, persevering prayer for deliverance is the Church’s fitting exercise;
(3) That notwithstanding every encouragement to this, so long will the answer be delayed, while the need of relief continues the same, and all hope of deliverance will have nearly died out, and “faith” of Christ’s coming scarcely to be found. But the application of the parable to prayer in general is so obvious as to have nearly hidden its more direct reference, and so precious that one cannot allow it to disappear in any public and historical interpretation.

Cross reference verses that give deeper insight into this is:

Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows. 
I believe we are now in the beginning of sorrows, see also- Mark ch. 13:1-37
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 
Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

I believe the Lord asks the question, because of the depth of depravity the world will have sunk to, by the time He does return; and when he does, few will be ready, or even be looking for him. Christians will be persecuted, and slaughtered; but the irony will be, the ungodly in many parts of the world will still be profiting/running their businesses, partying and living large, until the day He comes; take a look at this:

                                                   No One Knows That Day and Hour
Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 
Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 
Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 

As were the days of Noah. As the deluge surprised the world, so will the Lord's coming. For them, it was just another day, until God shut the door, and it started to rain. No doubt, they didn't have a clue the danger they were in, until it kept raining day after day, until there was no place to go. One can imagine the screams and cries of those who begged to be let on the ark, when the waters came up over their heads, but, it was now too late. It will be the same, when the Son of Man comes in the clouds, for his own.
Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

Sounds a lot like today, unknown thousands of Christians are killed every week, but you never hear about it on the news- their too busy peddling their fake news and propaganda; and keeping that smile on, no matter what. Christians here in this country are starting to feel the same persecutions other believer's have endured for a long time, such as China, Russia, parts of Africa, etc.

Peter goes on to describe and explain why hardly anybody will believe it, when the Lord does come;

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

Where is the promise of his coming? This question is asked by the scoffers, as though the coming of Christ was so long delayed that all hope had ended. They take advantage of the disappointment to try to destroy faith.
All things continue. The scoffers assert that the regular order of nature continues right on as it was from the beginning. They forget the deluge.

                                                                     2 Peter 3:4
(Compare Psa_10:11; Psa_73:11.) Presumptuous skepticism and lawless lust, setting nature and its so-called laws above the God of nature and revelation, and arguing from the past continuity of nature’s phenomena that there can be no future interruption to them, was the sin of the antediluvians, and shall be that of the scoffers in the last days.
Where — implying that it ought to have taken place before this, if ever it was to take place, but that it never will.
the promise — which you, believers, are so continually looking for the fulfillment of (2Pe_3:13). What becomes of the promise which you talk so much of?
his — Christ’s; the subject of prophecy from the earliest days.
the fathers — to whom the promise was made, and who rested all their hopes on it.
all things — in the natural world; skeptics look not beyond this.
as they were — continue as they do; as we see them to continue. From the time of the promise of Christ’s coming as Savior and King being given to the fathers, down to the present time, all things continue, and have continued, as they now are, from “the beginning of creation.” The “scoffers” here are not necessarily atheists, nor do they maintain that the world existed from eternity. They are willing to recognize a God, but not the God of revelation. They reason from seeming delay against the fulfillment of God’s word at all.

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

What do we look for to gauge where we are in God's timeline for his return? Jesus gives us a good picture:

1. The gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world as a witness;

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The media sources, iphones, computers, TV, radio, the internet, ipads, all are being used to spread the gospel now, around the world. It says it's to be preached, it doesn't say everyone will get saved.

2. There will be signs in the sun, moon, stars, and the sea raging, with nations in perplexity. 

                                                     The Coming of the Son of Man
Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 
Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 
Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 
Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

I've posted multitudes of articles, videos, and news clips of disasters, plagues, and earthquakes have increased. We only have to sit and listen, and read-the news is telling us we are in the days Jesus described. We need to head his warning-look up, our redemption draws nigh.

The corona virus pandemic/covid-19 is one more thing to add to the world wide increase of pestilences and plagues, and the world health organization run by Bill Gates from hell, will be working feverishly to get a vaccine to force people to take/to further his depopulation agenda-it's all part of these endtime events; and we're seeing the prophecies in Matthew playing out in front of our eyes.
Lorna Couillard

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