- Test Yourself -

Now you get to test yourself (or perhaps me) and see if in this study example, I followed the rules according to John.
Mebbe I did, mebbe I did not. You be the judge.

In a study group I belong to, a Question was posed:

In Luke 18:8 Yeshua says,
"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith in the earth?"
(the Amplified adds the clarifier "persistence in" faith

And I shot my mouth off with this response:

If we begin with the a priori assumption that all acts of faith in G*d are pleasing to G*d, we can then make the contrary statement that actions contrary to G*d's will constitute a lack of faith and require recompense for the transgretion of disobediance. We rely on the Blessing & Cursing cliff notes of G*d's will in Deuteronomy as our platform and so, no need to [quote the whole ref here.]

Now on to the question of why a lack of faith is a sign (sure) sign. All refs are quoted from the Young's Literal. Would that somone would build a search engine for the Messianic version but no matter, we begin...
Mt 24:3 - And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, `Tell us, when shall these be? and what [is] the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?'
(Diciples ask when, while we ask why, the answer is the same)

Before we hear Jesus's answer, I will take you by way of the circuitous route around some scriptures pertaining to His coming (yeah, I know it's mischevious but it's relative)...

Mt 24:32 `And from the fig-tree learn ye the simile: When already its branch may have become tender, and the leaves it may put forth, ye know that summer [is] nigh, 33 so also ye, when ye may see all these, ye know that it is nigh -- at the doors. 34 Verily I say to you, this generation may not pass away till all these may come to pass. 35 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

__So the first search I did was on the word 'coming' as in scripture relating to His coming to see if a lack of faith (in action) was one of the evidences presented in one generation. Keeping in mind our [a priori assumptions way up at the head of the post,] we look to see...

Mt 11:3 - said to him, `Art thou He who is coming, or for another do we look?'
(not lack of faith IMHO, rather a checking-of-the-facts on the part of the diciples)

Mr 13:29 - so ye, also, when these ye may see coming to pass, ye know that it is nigh, at the doors. (Jesus tells them to watch, 'these things')

Lu 13:35 - `Lo, your house is being left to you desolate, and verily I say to you -- ye may not see me, till it may come, when ye may say, Blessed [is] he who is coming in the name of the Lord.'
(Jesus reveals unbelief of Jewish folk, generally)

Lu 4:41 - And demons also were coming forth from many, crying out and saying -- `Thou art the Christ, the Son of God;' and rebuking, he did not suffer them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.
(Kinda fun when the witnesses for the prosecution are compelled to testify, itn't it)

Lu 11:52 - `Wo to you, the lawyers, because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.'
(No offense L*d but I prefer Shakespear's castigation in this case, Thank you for not making me judge)

Lu 6:47 - Every one who is coming unto me, and is hearing my words, and is doing them, I will shew you to whom he is like; (Jesus on faith in action)

Lu 21:26 - men fainting at heart from fear, and expectation of the things coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
(Jesus on the absense of faith when you really need it)

__Allright, enough already. Now we have a foundation of sorts on His coming. What was His answer to the diciples when they asked for guidance and wisdom....

Mt 24:4 And Jesus answering said to them, `Take heed that no one may lead you astray,
(the gamit from compromise in the church to outright apostacy, fath or fear?)

v5 for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray, 6 and ye shall begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, be not troubled
(----snip----)

v7 `For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places; 8 and all these [are] the beginning of sorrows
(or the begining of very public rebellion towards G*d's will on a worldwide scale and remember seeing it publicly started in the Church in the early eighties faith or fear?)

v12 and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold; 13 but he who did endure to the end, he shall be saved...
(---more snipping for brevity---)

v16 then those in Judea -- let them flee to the mounts;
(---the ubiquitous snipping---)

v20 and pray ye that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a sabbath;
v21 for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be.
v22 And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened. (Thank G*d!)

v30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite the breast, and they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven, with power and much glory;
v31 and he shall send his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens unto the ends thereof.

And what shall we think and do with regard to all this stuff?

Mt 24:32 `And from the fig-tree learn ye the simile: When already its branch may have become tender, and the leaves it may put forth, ye know that summer [is] nigh, v33 so also ye, when ye may see all these, ye know that it is nigh -- at the doors.
v34 Verily I say to you, this generation may not pass away till all these may come to pass. 35 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Tying all this rambling together, I will pose a counter question; Is it not the lack of faith in action which preceeds all these terrible woes we see as we peer over the chasm of destruction?

Since our generation has been trained to look for the hollywood blockbuster type event to cue us to action, it is no big surprise when we notice the quiet, stealthy precursor is a lack of faith, therefore; we do not notice the subtle erosion of life around us.

K, that's my take and I'm sticken to it (til the L*rd waps me upside the haid and tells me what I missed, anyway)

Wheeeew! Time for a nap!
Walksbyfaith

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G*d Bless
~ We live to serve ~

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