Home » Discussion Area » Coffee Break » The Loneliness of a Christian
| The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6819] |
Mon, 22 February 2010 13:26  |
 grandom
Messages: 404
Registered: October 2007 |
Senior Member |
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I wasnt going to post again for awhile because it seemed since
I started posting again, everyone else stopped.
That being said,while drinking my cup of coffe this morning I came across this little article by A.W. Tozer.
The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.
The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.
The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.
He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.
It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."
By A. W. Tozer
I dont apologize for being serious most of the time.I like Tozer long for people in my day to day walk who are interested in talking about the Lord and the things of God. It seems I just make them uncomfortable. I know my experience is probably no different then most on the forum.It just seems so sad that most who claim to be Christians dont want to talk about The Lord.
It reminds me of the Saviours words to the lost on judgement day. They will say Lord Lord but he will say "I never knew you".
I dont mean to put a damper on everyones day, because Jesus said I will never leave you or forsake you.I have found in my darkest hour He IS THERE.
Bless His Holy name.
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6821 is a reply to message #6819] |
Mon, 22 February 2010 16:39  |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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Just a quick note of encouragement, don't let others responses or lack thereof, dictate you sharing what The Lord puts on your heart to share. If you believe The Lord is using the forum to minister to others(remember, it's not about us) then you can't let anything effect your attitude. I know from personal experience of what I speak, many times over the last year I've posted messages/words of encouragement/admonitions where there was no, or very little responses. The flesh would have you give up and feel alone.
Remember, if you're obeying The Lord...then obey.; but if you're looking for someone to make you feel accepted, then sometimes you might not find it.(people are busy working, taking care of family, studying The Word, ect.but everyone still loves each other...I think, most of the time anyway<grin> ) I don't think the 'slow down' is a results of you starting to post again, AT ALL. I think there are other things at work that some are concerned about and maybe are just waiting to see what's happening. Myself, I'm right in the middle of tax season and working 10-12+ hours a day...I do have access to check on the forum and keep an eye on things, but it's hard to devote the time to a post when your mind if full of numbers and clients are depending on you to get the job done in a timely manner.
So have another cup of coffee and ask The Lord what He can show you that will minister encouragement and edification to your brethren who might not have the time to post right now...OK? 
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6825 is a reply to message #6819] |
Tue, 23 February 2010 02:49 |
sparkles
Messages: 246
Registered: March 2008 |
Senior Member |
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Hi Grandom,
Please don't stop posting unless you are certain it is the Lord's will. I have been very blessed by what you have shared. I have been very busy with my family and had to make an unexpected trip to Georgia, so I haven't posted much lately, but I still come to this site various times during the day to see what Jesus has to say to me through my brethren.
I really think the topic of the Loneliness of a Christian is very encouraging, and it is because of what you shared that makes it such a blessing to have you, James, Moulder, Mark, Dave, Sincerely, Gillyann, Abiding and others to have as christian brothers and sisters to listen to and share with. People of like minded faith and desire to please Jesus with everything we've got.
I just can't count the times I have come to this site and been spoken to from the Lord, just what I needed to hear, whether a rebuke or admonishment or encouragement.
I thank God for all who post here and look forward to what is in store for this site as the Lord continues to bless it and use it.
It seems very lonely at times, and in so many ways it is, like when no one understands why we do the things we do, or don't do things others do, but what a blessing to know that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. Remember the part of the song that says: Though none go with me yet I will follow, no turning back. That is my desire, because Lord knows there is nothing in this world worth turning back to.
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6834 is a reply to message #6828] |
Tue, 23 February 2010 17:55 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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Grandom you done gone and got me in trouble, now I can't stop humming the song about nothing being too hard for The Lord, and I'm getting these strange 'looks' from folks...
I was thinking about what you said about 'keeping humble' and was reminded of Hezekiah and how he proudly showed off the treasures of his house to the Babylonians. God didn't put up with that, and Hezekiah knew it, notice he didn't even try talking The Lord out of the word Isaiah delivered unto him. He just said, "Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken."
In the natural one would think that after Hezekiah had experienced God's mercy and grace in extending his life an additional 15 years, that he would be humbled and only looking to testify of God's great mercy; yet instead he proudly went about showing off his many possessions.
"When pride cometh, then cometh shame..." ~Proverbs 11:2
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6837 is a reply to message #6835] |
Tue, 23 February 2010 18:53 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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Hopefully they'll wait until after tax season ends to shun me...
I understand William's point, and I'm also sure each person has experienced the isolation (both self imposed and imagined) to different degrees, based on their own life's experiences. It's been my personal experience that no one has gnashed upon me with their teeth for proclaiming Biblical truths, they just usually think I'm someone who's taken religion to the extreme. (I mean after all, who doesn't go to doctors, celebrate the holidays, and bleed red white and blue?)
Ever tried telling a Catholic that Jesus wasn't physically present in the Eucharist, or that the pope wasn't God's authority on earth, or that it does no good to pray to Mary or dead 'saints', or that it was idolatry to worship statues?
Or a Baptist about the baptism of The Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues? Or share with a Charismatic that all these TV 'prophets' and apostles' are prophesying soothing word that people 'want' to hear, rather than the Word of The Lord.
Yep, some is self imposed and some is real. But it's pretty easy to develop a persecution complex and withdraw as a form of self preservation.
May we be bold as lions in proclaiming Jesus, because generally speaking, it's just fear of rejection (or fear of man) that causes one to shrink back. It's definitely easier to withdraw and go into a self imposed exile than to boldly proclaim truth without being concerned with how we'll be received. But we know the easy was is not God's way, Jesus didn't take the easy way out and He expects us to do likewise.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6839 is a reply to message #6831] |
Tue, 23 February 2010 21:22 |
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william
Messages: 1463
Registered: January 2006 |
Senior Member
Administrator |
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On Tue, 23 Feb 2010, Grandom wrote:
>
>
> moulder wrote on Tue, 23 February 2010
>> It really shouldn't be this way in a society where the majority claim to
>> be Christians.
>
>
> Grandom: Ah but there is the rub. Were in a society that claims to be
> Christian.
>
> Live the life of a true Christian and you will be ostracized. Proclaim
> the truths of divine healing.
>
> Proclaim the truth of Christmas.
>
> Proclaim the truth of the easter bunny.
>
> Proclaim the truth of halloween.
>
> Proclaim the truth of the Bapism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in
> tongues and other truths
>
Well, looks like I've stepped in it but since I've got you all started
there's no reason to stop now! (I'm responding to you Dick, but really it
isn't just to "you")
I hope you don't start out with the "truth of Christmas", the "truth of
the easter bunny" or the "truth of halloween", if you do then the
isolation and "loneliness" might not be as "imagined" as I first thought.
Paul didn't go into the synagogues with the message that they should give
up circumcision, or keeping the law, while eating a pork barbecue
sandwich... he took the 2-fold message of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ
was their Messiah, and that He bore away their sins by dying as the Lamb
of God.
When they rejected those truths, everything else became moot points.
Once they received his message he spent much time teaching them *why*
these other things were not appropriate, or *why* these things were no
longer necessary.
Which really highlights the point for those in our circles; we isolate
ourselves over these secondary issues simply because these other people
haven't been blessed to have a faithful Word taught to them and not for
their all important rejection of the central truth of the Gospel. Most of
the time they have not been taught the meat of the Gospel. How can we
then speak of such things as christmas and easter to them and blame them
for not "receiving" these truths?
What makes you and me different from them is we were blessed not only to
hear these wonderful truths but also to have someone that was capable of
teaching these things clearly to us. What was the ultimate purpose for
Faith Assembly? Did we find ourselves in that group so that we could
point out how far off everyone else is or so that we could take that
message and do as the disciples of old did and spread the truth to those
people who happen to be caught up in the modern-day synagogues, the
denominations? (By the time ye ought to be teachers...)
If you are going to wallow in loneliness at least wallow in it because all
of your neighbors have heard from you that Jesus is the risen King and He
has taken away the sins of the world. Let them reject you because you
told them about it. Don't let your loneliness be because you walk on the
other side of the street to avoid their jack-o-lantern!
>
> Here I have to respectfully disagree based on my above proclamations.
>If we live what we believe, and I would have to assume we have based our
>beliefs on scripture then I think most "Christians" will isolate them
>selves from us.
>
When you use the word "assume" I think that you "assume too much". The
proclaimed Word of God might indeed separate the joint from the marrow,
but it also has the POWER to convert even the most irascible of men. (How
will they hear without a preacher...)
>
> Quote:
>> We have had times when we have become disgusted with those Christians
>> around us and then initiated a separation, for the sake of holiness or
>> whatever, but by in large it has been a self-imposed isolation,
>
>
> Grandom: I quite agree.
> I believe 2ti. 3:5 tells us to do that.
>
That verse is applicable when the truth has been given and rejected... not
before. By your own lips you've acknowledged that the truths that we were
privileged to hear are not being proclaimed, so how can you assume they
have rejected that which they've never heard? You have no right to snub
your nose at someone who hasn't heard what you have heard, until they hear
it and THEN reject it... I ask again, where are they going to go to hear
what you already know, if not from you?
>
> Quote William:
>> We can say that it is the way it is because of our "beliefs", but unless
>> those beliefs are proclaimed the rejection that we feel is totally a
>> figment of our imagination and the isolation is a self-imposed isolation.
>
>
> Grandom: I cant agree with the isolation is a figment of our imagination
>
>
>>Quote William:
>> The reason for the rejection was clearly discerned!
>
>
> Grandom: And so the rejection today is also clearly discerned
>
Please disregard everything I have said... maybe you have told them about
Jesus and that is the reason for their rejection.
Blessings,
William
[Updated on: Tue, 23 February 2010 21:35]
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6842 is a reply to message #6839] |
Tue, 23 February 2010 21:53 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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William wrote:
Please disregard everything I have said...
maybe you have told them about Jesus and that is the reason for their rejection.
I don't think that what you said should be disregarded, it raises a valid and, in many instances, true point.
Someone once mentioned something about iron sharpening iron; we need to be challenged and provoked to examine ourselves....thanks
The forum wasn't in need of resurrection, it was just taking a siesta.<chuckle>
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6855 is a reply to message #6850] |
Wed, 24 February 2010 15:22 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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| moulder wrote on Tue, 23 February 2010 17:18 |
You guys do know that he wasn't a tongue speaker?
|
Yes, I knew that. He, like so many men of that era, had a lot of truth, but for whatever reason was blind to the Baptism of The Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. He did teach Calvinistic theology and separation/holiness... Oh, and he exposed the lie of christmas.<smile>
I enjoy the morning by morning devotional...most of the time.
I'm certainly not a Spurgeonite...  But agree with a good bit of what he taught.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6858 is a reply to message #6857] |
Wed, 24 February 2010 21:55 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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I like what Jesus said next,
"Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven..."
This thread is about 'The Loneliness of a Christian', which was just an article written by A.W.Tozer. I don't want anyone reading thinking we're a bunch of sad, lonely, misfits. While I would love to have some likeminded Christian friends to fellowship with, and although I have been physically alone for over 30 years...I'm NEVER alone, thank The Lord for The Holy Spirit (The Comforter). Can I think of easier paths to follow? Yep, but I don't think I'd arrive at the same destination.
So while it does sometimes 'hurt' to be cast aside for our Christian convictions,(especially by other Christians) we should be rejoicing and leaping for joy...
Hey! I didn't write it, it's written in red. HE said we'd be blessed........when it's for The Son of man's sake.
My point? Just to remind us that we're NEVER alone when we have Jesus... He PROMISED never to leave us or forsake us. Heb.13:5
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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| Re: The Loneliness of a Christian [message #6862 is a reply to message #6855] |
Thu, 25 February 2010 14:21 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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| james wrote on Wed, 24 February 2010 09:22 |
| moulder wrote on Tue, 23 February 2010 17:18 |
You guys do know that he wasn't a tongue speaker?
|
Yes, I knew that. He, like so many men of that era, had a lot of truth, but for whatever reason was blind to the Baptism of The Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. He did teach Calvinistic theology and separation/holiness... Oh, and he exposed the lie of christmas.<smile>
I enjoy the morning by morning devotional...most of the time.
I'm certainly not a Spurgeonite... But agree with a good bit of what he taught.
|
For whatever the reason I got Tozer and Spurgeon mixed up in my mind...
I guess ya just <smiled> and prayed for me, eh Moulder? or did you even notice?
I do have a sound mind.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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