Standing Alone With Christ!

“Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.” – Timothy 4:17

How many times have I experienced those who declare their love for the Lord until they had the opportunity to prove their love only to play the hypocrites, I cannot tell.

They honor the Lord with their lips.  Yet, their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8).

When you look at the men of God from the past up to the present, such as Noah (the preacher of righteousness who must have been mocked, scoffed, and threatened before the rain came and the flood overtook those who refused his message; 2 Peter 2:5), you will see that he stood alone.

I think of Moses, who confronted the Pharoah and instructed him to let the children of Israel go (Exodus 5:1) so he could lead them into the Promised Land.

Moses stood alone only to have the children of Israel turn on him to the point of wanting to stone him to death (Exodus 17:4).

Consider little David taking on Goliath while being ridiculed by his brother (1 Samuel 17:28), or Paul who was put through various trials and tribulations for preaching Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 11:23-28) when he stood alone.  The good news is that they stood.  They did not falter or fail.  They stayed the course, they fought the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), and thank God that they did.  Without their example, where would the world be today?

Think about this, Jesus fed 5,000 but only 500 followed Him after lunch.

He had 12 disciples, but only 3 went further into the garden, and only 1 stood with Him at the cross.  It is true that the closer you get to the cross, the smaller the crowd gets.

How contrary to what it is that we see today in the American church, and why?  It's because of the price that it costs those who follow Him.  Yet, it was Christ who paid the ultimate price (1 John 4:10).

Let me conclude.

A man of God has few friends and is not interested in being a part of the “good ole boys club” (Psalm 119: 63), regardless of the opposition.  He alone is interested in living for the Lord (John 4:32034) and that His will is done on this earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).

He seeks what most glorifies Christ (John 15:8) and that men might be made free in Christ (John 8:32; 2 Corinthians 3:17) because he has been made free.

He's learned out of gratitude, because of what Christ did for him on the cross, that holiness removes compromise (2 Corinthians 7:1).  He doesn't need a crowd, nor the approbation of men to find his acceptance.  He is in Christ, who is his life (1 John 5:12).  He also knows that he has a cloud of witnesses that went before him reassuring him, through their examples, in his endeavors (Hebrews 12:1, 13:7).

He understands that Christians are not called to be leaders of consensus, but rather molders of consensus (1 Corinthians 11:1).

He chooses to walk alone with Christ because he understands that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

He has seen the feigned and phony (under false pretenses, counterfeits, the emotional drama, and the hypocritical betrayals within and without), and now he stands tried and true to His Lord in the fires of afflictions (1 Peter 4:1) and is now at peace with Christ.  He's complete with Christ, and with Him alone (Colossians 2:10).

One genuine friend (Christ Jesus) holds more value than all of the rest.  This, all the men/women of God know.  He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother.  Read Proverbs 18:24.