Will He Find Faith?
"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
- Luke 18:8
I am not a patient sick person. I don't like to lay around, immobilized. As soon as I start feeling better, I want to get going. When I am feeling good again, I will go and work out or take a brisk walk. But then I feel kind of fatigued afterward.
In Revelation 3, we find a description of a church that is coming back to life, the church of Philadelphia. The Great Physician gives His divine assessment: "You have a little strength . . ." (verse 8). This isn't a negative comment about their weakness, but a commendation of their strength. They are like a sick person who is making a recovery.
This is not a super church of the end times, but it is a reviving one. If ever there was a super church, it was the church of the first century. Although they had their flaws, it was the church that changed the world. And it was the church that gave us a template we are to follow.
The implication in Revelation 3 is that the church of Philadelphia is making a comeback. Perhaps a revival is taking place. Revival is what God does for us, and revival is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray that God sends a revival, or an awakening, to America.
Evangelism is what we do for God. Jesus asked, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" The idea being that it is not a church that has taken the world over, but a church that is doing something.
Jesus commends the church of Philadelphia for taking little steps, and we need to take those little steps as well. God has given us enough strength to do what He has called us to do.