January 14
“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation
and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
-REVELATION 1:9
and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
-REVELATION 1:9
Since John is an Overcomer, God sends out the call for Overcomers through John. John is symbolic of all Overcomers, and he is the instrument through which God raises up Overcomers.
I can relate to John. I know many of us feel as if we are alone, in exile, in a wilderness. Gradually we feel we are being shut up and shut out by others who have not seen what we have seen. It is right THERE, in the desert place, in the place of exile, in the place of banishment, in the place of dryness, in the place of darkness, that Christ is revealed to us. This ought to encourage us no matter what our situation.
Source: “The Prophetic Mandate” by Chip Brogden
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CHIP BROGDEN is a best-selling author, teacher, and former pastor who shares "real, simple, truth" about a Christ-centered faith that is based on relationship, not religion. Learn more »
The Saint Must Walk Alone
by A W Tozer
Most of the world’s great souls have been lonely. Loneliness seems to be one price the saint must pay for his saintliness.
In the morning of the world (or should we say, in that strange darkness that came soon after the dawn of man’s creation), that pious soul, Enoch, walked with God and was not, for God took him; and while it is not stated in so many words, a fair inference is that Enoch walked a path quite apart from his contemporaries.
Another lonely man was Noah who, of all the antediluvians, found grace in the sight of God; and every shred of evidence points to the aloneness of his life even while surrounded by his people.
Again, Abraham had Sarah and Lot, as well as many servants and herdsmen, but who can read his story and the apostolic comment upon it without sensing instantly that he was a man “whose soul was alike a star and dwelt apart”? As far as we know not one word did God ever speak to him in the company of men. Face down he communed with his God, and the innate dignity of the man forbade that he assume this posture in the presence of others. How sweet and solemn was the scene that night of the sacrifice when he saw the lamps of fire moving between the pieces of offering. There, alone with a horror of great darkness upon him, he heard the voice of God and knew that he was a man marked for divine favor.
Moses also was a man apart. While yet attached to the court of Pharaoh he took long walks alone, and during one of these walks while far removed from the crowds he saw an Egyptian and a Hebrew fighting and came to the rescue of his countryman. After the resultant break with Egypt he dwelt in almost complete seclusion in the desert. There, while he watched his sheep alone, the wonder of the burning bush appeared to him, and later on the peak of Sinai he crouched alone to gaze in fascinated awe at the Presence, partly hidden, partly disclosed, within the cloud and fire.
The prophets of pre-Christian times differed widely from each other, but one mark they bore in common was their enforced loneliness. They loved their people and gloried in the religion of the fathers, but their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their zeal for the welfare of the nation of Israel drove them away from the crowd and into long periods of heaviness. “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children,” cried one and unwittingly spoke for all the rest.
Most revealing of all is the sight of that One of whom Moses and all the prophets did write, treading His lonely way to the cross. His deep loneliness was unrelieved by the presence of the multitudes.
He died alone in the darkness hidden from the sight of mortal man and no one saw Him when He arose triumphant and walked out of the tomb, though many saw Him afterward and bore witness to what they saw. There are some things too sacred for any eye but God’s to look upon. The curiosity, the clamor, the well-meant but blundering effort to help can only hinder the waiting soul and make unlikely if not impossible the communication of the secret message of God to the worshiping heart.
Sometimes we react by a kind of religious reflex and repeat dutifully the proper words and phrases even though they fail to express our real feelings and lack the authenticity of personal experience. Right now is such a time. A certain conventional loyalty may lead some who hear this unfamiliar truth expressed for the first time to say brightly, “Oh, I am never lonely. Christ said, `I will never leave you nor forsake you,’ and `Lo, I am with you alway.’ How can I be lonely when Jesus is with me?”
Now I do not want to reflect on the sincerity of any Christian soul, but this stock testimony is too neat to be real. It is obviously what the speaker thinks should be true rather than what he has proved to be true by the test of experience. This cheerful denial of loneliness proves only that the speaker has never walked with God without the support and encouragement afforded him by society. The sense of companionship which he mistakenly attributes to the presence of Christ may and probably does arise from the presence of friendly people. Always remember: you cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart. Society has turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross. “They all forsook Him, and fled.”
The pain of loneliness arises from the constitution of our nature. God made us for each other. The desire for human companionship is completely natural and right. 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 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 who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. But he should not expect things to be otherwise. After all he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his own soul – and who but God can walk there with him? He is of another spirit from the multitudes that tread the courts of the Lord’s house. He has seen that of which they have only heard, and he walks among them somewhat as Zacharias walked after his return from the altar when the people whispered, “He has seen a vision.”
The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men. His joy is to see his Lord promoted and himself neglected. 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 overserious, 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. “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else. He learns in inner solitude what he could not have learned in the crowd – that Christ is All in All, that He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that in Him we have and possess life’s summum bonum.
Two things remain to be said. One, that the lonely man of whom we speak is not a haughty man, nor is he the holier-than-thou, austere saint so bitterly satirized in popular literature. He is likely to feel that he is the least of all men and is sure to blame himself for his very loneliness. He wants to share his feelings with others and to open his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand him, but the spiritual climate around him does not encourage it, so he remains silent and tells his griefs to God alone.
The second thing is that the lonely saint is not the withdrawn man who hardens himself against human suffering and spends his days contemplating the heavens. Just the opposite is true. His loneliness makes him sympathetic to the approach of the brokenhearted and the fallen and the sin-bruised. Because he is detached from the world, he is all the more able to help it. Meister Eckhart taught his followers that if they should find themselves in prayer and happen to remember that a poor widow needed food, they should break off the prayer instantly and go care for the widow. “God will not suffer you to lose anything by it,” he told them. “You can take up again in prayer where you left off and the Lord will make it up to you.” This is typical of the great mystics and masters of the interior life from Paul to the present day.
The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful “adjustment” to unregenerate society they have lost their pilgrim character and become an essential part of the very moral order against which they are sent to protest. The world recognizes them and accepts them for what they are. And this is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.
Rene’,
The Saint Must Walk Alone is such a true statement. I have not read this book, but some of the writings you have wrote today have encouraged me. I tell my husband all the time that other than Christ in me I feel alone. When I share my heart and things the Lord has revealed to me to my Christian friends and family, it’s as though they don’t understand and don’t want to understand. The Lord has showed me many spiritual things I want to share, but people don’t agree with me or they say God doesn’t really care about very fine details and so on. When it comes to my walk with Christ it is a very lonely road other than Him being with me. Human connection is almost obsolete. It is amazing how the more I slay the flesh and the Lord reveals more and more of Himself to me, the wider the distance is between me and others. This is not just worldly people that are family and friends, it’s Christian bothers and sisters that depend on religion and all the stuff that man has created for Christ. Thank you again for sharing a writing that is where I am now. But I can say the wider the distance gets in society the closer I get to my Lord. It is conformation from Him, that this is not my home as I am just passing through seeking my final destination of my Lords heavenly kingdom and eternal home, which is Him in all His glory.
Thanks as always for the reminders!! He is worth it all, This to shall pass! temporary vs eternity, His’s perspective, love embracing the cross.
Rene’..you very long reply of which I read mostly appealed to something in me but I’m not sure if it was just the msge or my enjoyment of good language-I quite enjoy it but is it necessary I now ask myself. I think I like and want simple and true from ♡.
I wrote down alot that u said..will check on the Moses story as I’ve missed the burning bush part to it..and will go over it more.One thing I wonder about : Meister Eckhart ‘ taught HIS followers’ telling them what to do in their time of prayer..I understand what he meant, but isn’t that assuming the place of the Holy Spirit? I don’t mean to bring a negative, just wondering.
I’m eating humble pie..I realize Rene’ that you were actually quoting from Tozers book..now I understand what I was feeling when reading it. I apologise for my ramblings..please ignore!
Oh, Rene, I love this PRECIOUS word of encouragement from Tozer. I printed it out years ago, it had such an impact on me. I remember flying from Kansas City to Winnipeg in December of 05, reading it on the plane, tears streaming down my face as I looked out the window at the bleak, snow-covered landscape beneath me, as I meditated on what he had said – straight from the heart of God. How I LOVE this man’s heart, his teaching, his straight-from-the-shoulder truth…..but the depths of his knowledge of God have been such a huge encouragement to me, ESPECIALLY when my own walk with God has been such a hard, lone walk at times. Men like Chip and Tozer and Andrew Murray, David Wilkerson, Corrie Ten Boom, and Paul…:-) have surrounded me with teaching and encouragement when ONLY men (and women) like them could help when I needed it. I praise God for them. I am SO THANKFUL for the depth of insight that they can give to those who follow. There is so much shallow and fluffy teaching and preaching out there that offers empty husks to the heart that yearns for the heart of God! THANK you for posting that and reminding me again of this powerful message straight from the heart of Jesus who walked that lonely path right to the foot of the cross.
Thank you for the encouraging words. I had just told another overcomer that I felt like an exile here! I know that there are many who have that perception of not being part of the culture that surrounds our lives. The true LIGHT shines brightly in this present darkness. May Jesus shine forth in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation!
There is great encouragement when feeling alone to know that you are not alone. Along with your email today came a story out of Afghanistan about the growth of Christianity there, a portion of which is:
“In the midst of circumstances that make one wonder how anyone in Afghanistan even hears about Christ, many Afghans are miraculously coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Some have come to Christ through divine revelations in dreams and visions. For others, Christian radio and television programs broadcast in the country are the vehicles through which the message finds its way into hearts that are hungry to know the truth. In places where the internet is available, those who seek are able to find answers to their questions on various websites. Last year, after the nationally televised exposure of Afghan Christians on the internet, it became widely known that Afghan Christians actually exist. Though many were angry about this revelation, others started to ask questions and began to seek.
“In recent years a number of well-educated and skilled Afghanis have become believers and begun participating in underground Christian activities. Although the complete lack of religious freedom for Afghan Christians makes gatherings of believers dangerous and difficult, family and friend groups have started to meet together. There is a growing awareness among Afghan believers that they are not alone.”
Last year in Iran, underground house churches were listed by Ayatollah Khameini, the most important figure in Iran, as one of the greatest threats to the Islamic republic. This lead to a crackdown on underground house churches and believers and many were arrested during Christmas 2010 (some of whom still remain in prison). While there was this hardship, many brothers and sisters who were isolated and felt alone realized that there were actually house churches and other Christians in Iran and rejoiced that they were not alone, that there were others.
Brothers and sisters, in Christ we are never alone. . . rejoice!
Hallelujah! That explains what I am going through. Praise God for this place I am in.
Before I felt that I’m alone but as the years passed by on serving the Lord, my heart now is filled with joy because I can feel God’s presence especially when I’m alone. I’m already a widow and my children are working far from me. Though I’ve 2 companions in my house yet I still consider it I’m alone.God filled the space in my heart longing for my lost husband 5years ago. I truly give God a great credit for that filling in my heart. And in every problem I encounter I feel that God is with me and so I’m able to overcome it. To God be the glory!
This was an answer to the cry of my heart. Sometimes the loneliness over whelms me and I need reminders like this. Thanks!
I always enjoy your comments,they always encourage me.I have been going thru testing and I must know to leave all in God,s hands and let Him do all.My problem I am the type of person that always have done all and every one expected me to do all.Pray that I rest in the Lord and let Him do all.I know this is the answer for every one of us.God has the answer for all problems.Pray that I will rest in Him and let Him do all. Iknow this is the answer
Thank you for this Chip – I can most certainly relate to John in that place of excile and banishment. … then one day some years ago Father in His graciousness took me to China and Tibet where HE showed me how HE lead HIS Church. There is no way that once seen can one ever go back to a “religious church system”. Every day God gives me breathe is a learning curve – some days better than others – but non the less continously moving forward. I KNOW first hand that the Church does exist in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, China, Tibet, Parkistan…….. in our minds it seems impossible to believe at what price these beloved brothers and sisters physically pay – some with their very lives. Some with years and years of unbelievable torture and pain….often forgotten by us. Yet when we pray Spirit hears us and comforts them – not that He needs ours prayers to do His work …. but we are told to pray for one another ….. we are never alone there is always someone somewhere to pray for…..
Great..inspiring words.
Great encouragement. I was in leadership in an SBC church and the local Association from 1998 until the end of 2010. I have since then been wrestling between the wilderness and trying to stay involved with the institutional Church system; regularly attending a Calvary Chapel and staying connected with some of the pastors & leaders of the SBC Association. Last night I showed up for one of the meetings, but they made me wait in the hallway for an hour, because leaders from the State Association were there. For an 1 1/2 hours we spoke. I went to discuss church planting and evangelism. As we spoke it was like 2 different worlds. They spoke about “process”; the steps I would need to take to be accepted (they have known me for 15 years), and I was talking about why people who love God, who want to learn about God, and whom God is drawing, are not going to come to the institution as long as it remains unreformed. Their ongoing “instruction” to me was to put myself under a pastor and learn from him. We were literally in 2 different worlds.
Lance, I like your world a lot better than theirs. As Morpheus would say, “Welcome… to the real world.”
I felt so sad at what you were talking about, Lance! I absolutely understand “where” you are coming from. The wind of the Holy Spirit with you is blowing where HE will….Jesus is building HIS church, not man. I also have a dear dear friend who is a once-was Baptist pastor who was filled with the Holy Spirit, and left the institutional church for the very same reason. It IS a different world, and SO bound by tradition….but they can’t see it and probably never will. My friend has since then been responsible for starting a grass fire that has spread across a lot of Africa, that is planting, HUNDREDS of tiny churches in communities, raising up pastors, and leaders to take the gospel right across the nation. It is just the way it was in the early church. I have been so blessed to know him and his precious wife as friends for 15 years, and we held “church” at his home two, three times a week, as the Spirit led. They were some of the most wonderful times with the LORD I have known. It was that little group of Christians who anointed me to come to America to serve here. The grass-roots church which God is building looks NOTHING like the church that came out of Catholicism and retained so many of her habits and traditions, just under another guise. I rejoice in the freedom of the Holy Spirit’s leading! I rejoice in men like brother Chip and those who guide, lead and teach Christ’s precious Bride to simply become LIKE Him, be filled WITH Him, to OBEY Him, and GLORIFY Him in their lives. He must increase, and we must decrease!…..it is not a pyramid of who’s in control, and men filled with pride fighting for supremacy, but submission to the Son of God. Peter showed me how when he stepped out of the boat that dark and stormy night…..and NOBODY knew the sea better than that professional fisherman! Nobody knew how dangerous that crazy “stunt” could be, but he knew the Son of God and that ALL things are possible to Him!.
Wonderful encouragement, Chip!
And thanks to all who have posted. Your stories and accounts also comfort me. Interesting news about the Afghan Christians. Praying for these dear brothers and sisters!
Nice to remember I am not alone as I often feel that way. A close Christian friend I have had for years made the comment to me the other day…” oh yah, you have a problem with churches don’t you.” I was a little hurt initially because I expected her to understand or at least WANT to understand but she didn’t. It is what it is. Thank you for your encouraging words Chip. And I loved hearing about the saints in Afghanistan and Iran from Alan.
“Thank you Lord for all these precious brothers and sisters . Build Your Church Lord. Amen. ” Be encouraged Lance – believe me you are in a world set far apart from where your “pastor” lives. Your eyes, ears and heart see, hear and love in a vastly different way……. yip, it will be said amongst some that you have “fallen off the perch”….. it could become a lonely walk for awhile – but keep your focus ONLY on the Lord. He will guide you into All Truth. Once you have heard the voice of The Shepherd it is impossible to learn to live in total victory in two worlds.
I love what you shared Sonja.
I would love to quote something from Soren Kierkegaard’s book, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing, but it’s the whole book that emphasizes singularity of purpose, singularity of looking to Christ, and the solitary person who stands apart from the crowd. Haven’t read the small book in decades, but it will come with me on my solitary weekend retreat this coming weekend.
Thank you Chip for your great encouraging messages…this is so good. I have not been in tha habit-yet-of reading daily,but all I have read so far really touches and makes me hunger to read the Word. I believe your ♡ is surely in tune with God’s. Like Rene’ LaBonte says in his reply about a ‘truely spiritual man’..you ‘delight not to be honoured but to see his Saviour glorified in the eyes of men’.
Everything all have shared resounds loudly in me. Its all encouraging. Sorry for my bad start to this..Rene’..and then misqouting in my reply to you Chip. I will be sure before I speak in future!
This world isn’t our home. On our journey, everyone of us following Jesus we go “alone” most of the time. My experience is being often as in a desert alone and not lonely, the Lord is teaching me to make my own oasis when needed more time to hear from him what is expected of me to do next. Next, when I hear clearly the voice of the Spirit I go boldly and do His will in the business of the kingdom of god here and now. Thank you Lord for blessed time on earth.
Thanks Chip,
Yes, it should encourage me… I really hope that I will succeed in making good use of this privilege… Time passes so quickly… I really desire a new revelation of Jesus in a special way…