Solitude Over Solidarity

Please turn your Bible to Luke chapter 6 Luke chapter 6 that can be found on page 602 of your pew

Bible and while you're turning there I will add one more thought to What I was saying about first Corinthians 11.

I also believe that in a culture where Distinctions between men and women have eroded that it is also good to restore those distinctions

I say this because I have been contemplating whether or not in my own home I should restore some of those distinctions with head coverings or something like that not out of a conviction that it would be a law for worship for every generation, but rather to to simply restore

Distinctions that have been lost. So I I say this in part because I know that if I were to make some change then people would

Arise at certain assumptions, etc. About what is meant by that but Anyway, it is good to restore distinctions where they have been eroded to All right

Let's turn to Luke chapter 6 Please stand when you have that I'll begin in verse 17 and he came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people

From all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured and All the crowd sought to touch him for power came out from him and healed them all and he lifted up his eyes on his

Disciples and said blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God? Blessed are you who are hungry now for you shall be satisfied

Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the son of man

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for so their fathers did to the prophets

But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation Woe to you who are full now for you shall be hungry

Woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep woe to you when all people speak well of you

So for so their fathers did to the false prophets. Amen You may be seated

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word We pray that it would guide us today that you would grant us by it the strength to endure every trial that you have before Us in Jesus name.

Amen Well as I've been taking various breaks from going through Isaiah one of the topics that we've come back to not in any particular series, but just a

Topic that has been on my mind that many of these messages are coming from our keys to endurance

If we were to put all these into a single Series, that's probably what

I would call it is keys to endurance I Believe it is very important to be able to endure to know how to love

Solitude to know how to love time with the Lord the Christian life the faithful Christian life is often a lonely life and the key to being able to endure that loneliness is

To be able to enjoy the companionship of God himself The context of this passage here.

This is at the beginning of Jesus ministry Early on in the ministry and he is preparing his disciples for all the things that they will have to endure

This is very likely the same sermon that is Recorded in Matthew 5 and onward the

Sermon on the Mount now it says That he came down from the mountain and stood on a level place so many people refer to this as the

Sermon on the plain, but it's possible that this is still somewhere else on the mountain. Just a flat part of the mountain regardless many of the same ideas are communicated in this sermon and He gives the

Beatitudes One of the things I very much appreciate about this passage is it shows that the inverse of the

Beatitudes is also true It's not just blessed if this is true about you but cursed if it is not true about you

Whoa, if it's not true about you So it shows the gravity of the

Beatitudes that Christ gives the Beatitudes Being the statements of blessing blessed.

Are you? Blessed are the poor blessed are those who are hungry, etc

And he speaks of the rewards that people should await at the end of these at the end of this list he says

Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the son of man

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for so the fathers did to the prophets the assumption here is that the prophets

Receive a great reward people know that they do it did and if the prophets were treated poorly

And the people should be expect should expect to be treated poorly if they are going to faithfully serve the

Lord and if they are then they know that they have brotherhood with the prophets who endured the very same thing and Otherwise in verse 26 woe to them woe to you when people speak well of you for so their fathers

Did to the prophets as I said a moment ago the faithful Christian life is frequently a lonely one

If you turn to first Kings Chapter 19 we will see one of the prophets of which

Jesus likely had mind perhaps. This is the one he most had in mind first Kings chapter 19 beginning in verse 9

Says there he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold the word of the Lord came to him and said to him

This is Elijah. This is speaking of what are you doing here Elijah? He said I have been very jealous for the

Lord the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant thrown down your altars and Killed your prophets with the sword and I even

I only am left and they seek my life to take it away They said go out and stand on the mount before the

Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great strong wind Tore down the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the

Lord But the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake But the

Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire But the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire sound of a low whisper and when

Elijah heard it He wrapped his fake his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and behold

There came a voice to him and said What are you doing here Elijah? Said I have been very jealous for the

Lord the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword and I even only

I am Left and they seek my life to take it away and the Lord said to him Go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus And when you arrive you shall anoint

Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Mahola you shall anoint to be prophet in your place and the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael Shall Jehu put to death and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall

Elisha put to death Yet I will leave 7 ,000 in Israel all the knees that have not vowed to bail and every mouth that has not kissed him so here

Elijah is Dealing with the loneliness of being someone who's standing for the

Lord when no one else seems to be now There are thousand other prophets, but they are not people that he is he is interacting with and he is able to enjoy their company

So he is standing all alone A couple of things to observe about this passage

The first is that God's answer to him though. He mentions the thousand prophets that still exist is

Not to grant him some Close Brotherhood some close friendship that might that might encourage him now.

He does lead Elisha Yet the primary thing that God tells him is that he's going to be removed

And that he is going to leave a legacy basically a legacy of destruction and victory where Ahab is going to be destroyed

There's going to be Hazael the king of Syria and there's going to be Jehu's who's going to take over the throne in Israel and then

Elisha Who's going to take over his own ministry? And so his answer to all this is not particularly to give him brotherhood

But to give him Confidence that his work is not in vain furthermore

Even the way that he gives this prophecy Where does he tell him to go?

Says go out and stand on the mount before the Lord So presumably does not say this but he goes out and he stands on the mount before the

Lord Various things happen, but there's no voice of the Lord that's told him but then he hears the voice

Low whisper when he hears it He wraps his face in his cloak and he goes out and stands at the entrance of the cave

What is the implication of this? If he has if we were to understand him as going out on the mount and then coming back to the cave

Still small voice lets him know that the Lord has been with him the whole time This is the confidence that we ought to have it's the presence of the

Lord You will face all kinds of loneliness in the

Christian life This loneliness this abandonment will come from all sides.

It will not just come from unbelievers who Do not like to hear the message.

It will come from believers or at least those who are us us who are ostensibly believers it will come when you decide not to go to that wedding that does not honor the

Lord and people Abandon you over that it will come when you're when you tell your family about the doctrines of grace and all the things the

Bible says about predestination and they find this to be something that is

Completely different than the religion that they are familiar with and the word of one They have a different JC.

We follow Jesus Christ. They follow John Calvin. I don't know if you've ever heard that before But some people really hate to hear about the truth of the

Bible and what it says about predestination so there are all kinds of ways where even those who are

Believers or at least ostensibly so will exclude you if you are following after the

Lord faithfully This happens Frequently Repeatedly you see

Jesus Promise that this is what will happen to his disciples as he equips them and he tells them what's going to take place they will be excluded and What does he tell them that they need to do in that circumstance here in Luke, what should they do in that day?

They should rejoice in that day Brotherhood is a good thing.

It is something that you should pursue. It's not something that you should abandon Proverbs 18 1 Says that the one who isolates himself seeks his own desires.

He breaks out against all sound judgment Proverbs 18 22 says that man finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the

Lord Proverbs also says that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother Clearly companionship is a good thing and it's something that we are made for and meant for The opening pages of the

Bible tell us that is not good for man to be alone The idea is

Not that you are to figure out how to be fine with being alone

But it is to learn how to appreciate the companionship of God himself This is how temptation works

You have some need you are one who has various needs

You're oh You're created as a man who is or woman. You know what?

I mean by man a human You have needs for food you have needs for sleep you have needs for all kinds of things

Satan Comes and he offers you things to meet those needs This is how

Jesus was tempted when he went out into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days Satan tempted him with bread and Jesus says man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God What is his answer to these needs that he is not feeling being met?

His answer is to be satisfied in God in the way that God Satisfies him that even though there may be certain physical needs even though there should be certain

Human needs for fulfillment even needs of companionship. They can be fulfilled in other ways

You see this throughout Scripture when it talks about different ways of dealing with temptation What does it say about the drunkard?

Do not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit It tells us that we should rejoice and sing to one another in Ephesians 5

So what's the cure for the one who pursues joy by drinking? He has this felt need for joy and he supplies it to himself in ways that God is not authorized

Well, it's to have the joy of the Spirit That by having the joy of the

Spirit you can Not feel the need to supplement your joy in other ways

The same is true with companionship you can learn to appreciate the companionship of God himself and It is important to not simply reach to not simply

Cease to complain about loneliness cease to complain about being isolated in the

Christian life Rather you must learn to rejoice in it as an opportunity to experience the presence of God That is what

Jesus says rejoice in that day Some passages consider the consider the prayer lives or the

Personal devotional life so these several men first of all Jesus in Luke 5 15 16 says but now even more the report

About him went abroad in great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray

Jesus is eager to spend time with the Lord Jeremiah 1517

I did not sit in the company of revelers nor did I rejoice I sat alone because your hand was upon me

For you had filled me with indignation So he has the opportunity to go and enjoy the company of others, but he chooses rather to sit in the presence of the

Lord he's full of anger that the Lord has placed in him, but What that drives him to it is spend time with the

Lord Psalm 23 for this is David Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me and Then Paul in 1st

Timothy 4 16 through 17 And my first offense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me may it not be charged against them

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me So that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the

Gentiles might hear it So I was rescued from the lion's mouth Paul's answer to his loneliness is to be strengthened at the hand of the

Lord those times when you Find that providentially God has taken away from the companionship that may even be good for you our

Opportunities to be consoled and strengthened by the Lord himself These are reasons for rejoicing

Luke 6 22 to 23 this passage that we have blessed are you when people exclude you?

Skipping some lines here rejoice in that day and leap for joy Acts 5 41 then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name

People having been beaten and they rejoice at the end of it Philippians 1 29 for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ You should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake

There's a sense in which these opportunities to suffer are a gift because it is in them

Do you experience the goodness of God? Strengthening you and then have an assurance of the reward that would come that would be the same reward

That the prophets would receive must learn to cultivate an

Appreciation for the presence of the Lord in order that you would not be

Tempted away to sin when you lack the companionship that you were created for You were indeed created for companionship it is not it is a human weakness

But it is not a sinful weakness to desire companionship, but the way that it is met

Is it ultimately it is met in the Lord? now this companionship

Something that happens through your private walk with the

Lord as You walk with him he strengthens you Do not assume that those who appear very religious necessarily have strong walks

Many of them are unwilling to stand alone. They are able to Stay in their position and act courageous because they have many people around them

But that's very different than being able to be like Elijah and stand alone Then being able to be like the one that Jesus says needs to be like the prophets and stand alone being abandoned by friends and family and all others

That is real courage Like Jesus explains in Matthew chapter 6 there are people who will

Give publicly who will pray publicly who go around wearing the robes and everything to appear very religious

But this does not mean that their private life is a very religious private life

Do not be fooled by that, but you must cultivate your own personal devotional life with the

Lord Matthew 6 6 what your father sees in secret. He will reward

God rewards those who serve him in secret and moreover in the process of serving him in secret you end up cultivating an enjoyment of that time

It is something that That is not to be enjoyed sparingly it is supposed to be enjoyed and whatever measures you can get it

You are supposed to be eager for that time Love your time with the

Lord Look forward to it Find ways of adding to it

These are These are ways that you will be strengthened for whatever Comes your way a quote.

This is not from a Christian man, but it's from a Psychologist that I think made a very good observation a leader

This is Edwin Friedman from the book of failure of nerve He says a leader needs the capacity not only to accept the solitariness that comes with the territory, but also to love it

This is his observation of people that made good leaders and those people who don't make good leaders It's basically there are some people who not only are okay with being alone and standing alone but they seem to really appreciate it

I Read this book and as I read it I thought about these passages because it it resonated me as being something that I've seen in Scripture and and Here it is in Luke 6

This is what's being described is The one who is really capable of leading is able to stand alone now

The unbeliever doesn't have an answer of how that can be supplied other than some weird character quirk that some people are just born with But God has provided this in himself in the still small voice.

He has provided this in giving you access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ that you might be able to spend time with him and cultivate a relationship with him through Jesus Christ and And it is particularly through the work of Jesus Christ that we can have that closeness of relationship with him

Not just what I mentioned where by his blood we have access to the throne but consider what it is that Jesus suffered that Suffering the wrath of God that clouds being the sky being darkened

Such that it's the father's the father turning away from the Sun not that there was ever any kind of Ontological terror in the

Trinity such a thing is impossible. But the Son of God being man

Experiencing all the wrath of the father on him he is experiencing an incredible kind of loneliness where all of his friends have abandoned him and What he gets to experience there on the cross is not an abiding with God the way that we're describing

It's rather a my god my god, why have you forsaken me? Christ was forsaken in order that even in our loneliest moments.

We are not forsaken He was forsaken on our behalf so that we might enjoy even in the lowest moments the presence of God And then not only that but through the incarnation he became man so that we might have companionship with him that is not

That is in a way that we were designed for we were designed for companionship with other men with other human beings

We're not when Adam, you know examines all the animals. There's not a helper found suitable for him

None of those are companions for him But God made Eve another human to be a companion for him

Now Adam would walk with the Lord in the garden, but there was something that was Similarly not good about that.

There was something in by that. I mean there was something more to be had whatever appearance

God had when he would walk with Adam was not the same as having been joined to humanity itself in the incarnation in Christ has and Some of the assurances that we are given in Scripture about enduring in the

Christian life especially in Hebrews 3 and 4 Come back to the fact that Because he was man and he has endured all the things that we have that this is the confidence that we have

We have companionship even in our sufferings in Jesus Christ apart from him having come and suffered

We would have no companionship from him in them But we do and so as we pray to him not just to the father through him

But we are told that we may pray even to him We have companionship with Jesus Christ him us suffering with him and He has given us his spirit so that we might enjoy his presence in a way.

That's a much greater measure Than was permitted even in the Old Testament Now even in the

Old Testament, they had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit I am not a fan of the teaching that Many people have that would say that the

Holy Spirit only dwelt on people in the Old Testament But he dwells in people in the New Testament There's a number of texts that show that this is evident.

This is plainly not true that he always indwelt believers But there is an outpouring in The New Testament at Pentecost The guarantees a special measure of the

Spirit to endure the kinds of things That was only for a handful of people in the

Old Testament God Gave his spirit in a special measure to the prophets to Kings to priests in Order to do the very special work that he had given them, but we have been made a royal priesthood

We are supposed to be in the Son who is the only King who is the high priest

We are supposed to be kings and priests We are supposed to as he is the great prophet prophetically

Proclaim his word to others How do we have the capacity? To do this in a way that is able to endure the things that the prophets of old endured

That Jesus is telling us we need to be able to endure. Well, the answer is that at Pentecost Once again through the work that is done in the gospel through the work that was done at the cross

He has given us his spirit in greater measure than it was enjoyed by the average follower of God in the

Old Testament in order to endure and Why is that so helpful?

Because it is through the Spirit that we have companionship with our

Creator and not only with our Creator as a

As a being that is completely different than us But even with our

Creator as he is known in the Son in Jesus Christ himself who is likewise man who has suffered in all ways as we have and in more ways than even we have you can be capable of enduring of Enduring all kinds of things you can be invincible

If you have the presence of the Lord you can endure all kinds of Solitariness if you learn to appreciate the solitude that you can have with Jesus Christ Many people want solidarity.

This is what they seek they will Abandon their convictions if it means having solidarity with others

This is often how unity is described unity is often described as setting aside Differences even very important ones in ways that they were not meant to be set aside.

I Recently had a conversation with someone who told me some convictions he had arrived at at the

Bible that his church was practicing and then said and Then said at the end of this

But I think you know, I think it's good for other churches to do different things Like well those two don't fit together.

You can't say that this is biblical and good But it's good to not follow the Bible too. That's just not that's not something you could say

And so even though I disagreed with his position. I did not appreciate the way that he was trying to To offer it to me.

I would have I would have much more appreciated and respected just uh, just a

Plain statement that this is right and you know, I just have the conviction that this is right

I wouldn't have had any problem with that. There's no need to Explain that. Oh, no, and the way other people do it.

That's just fine, too But many people want solidarity and as you cultivate these kinds of loves

That this love for God this love for his word this love for time with him that will shape the way that you're able to act in difficult circumstances and Most people don't understand this because they don't know what it's like to have that presence of God They don't have a close fellowship with him.

And so they interpret things According to their understanding by what it must be so they understand.

Okay. Well if I love Solidarity this person doesn't what does that mean? It means he hates it means he hates man, right?

Misanthropy right hatred of man. This is how many people are interpreted If you are one who is willing to stand alone,

I meant imagine how Elijah was thought of What did what did people probably think of him?

Did they not think? Oh, well, he's just Callous or he's a provocateur saying all these things that no one else says it must be that he hates us

Well, the answer is that he loves the Lord. This is not coming from a hatred of man. It's coming from a love of God But many people who are

Effectively cowardly and do not stay are not willing to stand for truth alone But will stand with others in order to have solidarity.

They're often seen as lovers of men These are the people who really love they are gentle They are peacemakers when the reality is they may be fretful pushovers so this is a difficult thing to endure because your love of God may be interpreted as a hatred of men and I think back on the example

I gave earlier of the Of the wedding, you know how that wasn't would it be interpreted?

Oh you did not go to this wedding Because you don't think it honors the Lord, right? This must be because you hate me or you hate us or you hate this person, right?

It can't be because you love the Lord It has to be because you don't love man because if you love man, this is what you would do for the sake of solidarity if you cultivate presence of God if you cultivate a

A love for solitude with the Lord if you go into the desolate places and pray run away from the crowds as Jesus did

You can be able to follow his command here and rejoice in that day when you suffer and you are excluded

Learn to dwell with the Lord learn to cultivate a private devotion

Do what it takes schedule time if you need to schedule time Set an alarm clock if you need to set an alarm clock if you're the kind of person who when you're praying your mind kind of You're trying to rush through prayers as fast as you can to be done with it

And you're not actually praying as you ought to pray then go ahead and set an end time so that There's no reason to rush because the end time is always the same if you're someone who?

Does the opposite and just kind of Dilly -dallies while you're reading the Bible and there's no real point to it

Then set a goal of what you're going to of what you're going to accomplish what you're going to read so that you would

Accomplish it and not just spend there too little time on it and Not have anything from it

Produce artifacts if you need to produce artifacts what I mean by that is take notes on your readings in Scripture take notes on what?

You're praying through on your prayers Many people have found

I have found that this is one of the best ways of keeping yourself engaged in the work of prayer and meditation on the word and enjoying enjoying these times cultivate that learn to learn to Pursue the

Lord in such a way that the difficulties of it all you know the waking up early or whatever it may be

That makes it difficult Maybe you have trouble with reading and reading is difficult for you, and it just feels really draining

Just do it over and over so that that part diminishes, and then you're able to more and more cultivate the love for it

I Remember when my life when

I've hit that milestone of transitioning from being able to simply in obedience read the

Bible and spend time with the Lord and Really just begin absolutely loving it and looking forward to it that that transition point it was just it was just something that was so good and Cultivating that just really

Helps you to stand alone by yourself when you have a love for time with the

Lord when solitude is not burdensome, but rather a delight because it is time with the

Lord and And then learn to identify courage when you see it in others

Don't don't be deceived by what courage is it's not just being able to speak clearly and confidently

It's being able to stand alone find that and absorb what you can from courageous people and then

Having absorbed what you can from courageous people be willing to support those who are courageous You do not want to be found in the last day to be one of the ones who abandoned

Now there is always forgiveness for that Peter Abandoned Jesus Christ, and he was forgiven but you do not want to abandon those who are courageous just because they look different because they're

Standing by themselves and clearly they can't be because they don't match everybody else learn to Identify that and learn to be one who is willing to stand alone

If just a second person is willing to stand with one who is standing alone

You're no longer alone And now you're doing the thing Ecclesiastes describes where if one person falls the other can pick him up and the cord of three strands is not easily broken and that That can be a great strengthening factor to the one who is

Serving the Lord courageously courageously as Elijah was When people exclude you

Rejoice in that day and you can prepare to rejoice in that day You can strengthen yourself for it even now by learning to enjoy solitude with the

Lord This is not something where you're supposed to wait for that day to come and then on that day. You're supposed to Just brand new without having ever really prepared yourself before before Rejoice it is something where you are supposed to prepare for that and Jesus is preparing you for that Telling you this command and this is how you do it

Listen to the still small voice spend time with the Lord. Amen Dear Heavenly Father We thank you for the

Means that you have given us to enjoy your presence We thank you that you have provided Jesus Christ that we might enjoy your presence in ways that not even the

Old Testament saints Typically enjoyed we pray that you would cultivate in us a

Love for time with you in order that we would be willing and able to stand alone as we love you