Loneliness by Carter Conlon

Lord only gave me one message all summer number one for me he said I want you to rest and it has really been a very very restful time they only gave me one message and it's simply called loneliness and I know that it's a deep word today and it's going to minister to you Psalm 102 please if you turn there Psalm 102 be talking this morning about loneliness the father I thank you for the anointing Oh God Almighty I thank you more than anything that you have chosen to abide dear in this house that you've called by your name and you've given all of us strength that we don't naturally have and you've given us wisdom that is not our own everything we have all that we do how we receive how we speak how we sing has all come from your hand and all we can do is bring it back to you with grateful hearts and say thank you Lord Jesus Christ for going to a cross for us O God help us now to live for you give us understanding take us Lord in to a place of strength diverse from weakness Lord bring us into spiritual strength help us to take on some meat and to not be afraid of the deeper truths in your word we thank you for it God thank you for the simplicity of your word every man can understand it for himself we thank you for this in Jesus mighty name Psalm 102 beginning at verse 1 speaking about loneliness hear my prayer O Lord and let my cry come unto thee hide not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble incline thine ear unto me and the day when I call answer me speedily for my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as a hearth my heart is smitten and withers like grass so that I forget to eat my bread by reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin I'm like a pelican of the wilderness I'm like an owl of the desert I watch and them as is Sparrow alone upon the housetop I don't know what particular difficulty this psalmist was in at the time of writing this which is really a song of worship but in this um is found a common experience a common difficulty that you face and I face all of us face it seasons at certain seasons it might be more intense than others but there is something about this that I want you to see today verse seven he says I watching them as a sparrow alone upon a housetop now the writers saying I live in a place of Revelation I live in a place of understanding now keep in mind this this person whoever it is has got a pen in his or her hand it is writing an inspired text of the Holy Spirit God is flowing through the hand that penned this song and the writer knows it and it must bring about somewhat of a dilemma in the heart if I have the anointing of God if I have the revelation of God if I'm living in a place as his paralyzed he says upon a housetop where I I see more than ordinary men see I know who I am I know where I'm going I know that my redeemer lives I know that I live because of my Redeemer I know the purpose of life I know why I'm left on the earth I know that in Christ is my all in all he's my everything he's my healers my deliverer he's my strength he's my tower I live in a place where I have a higher view but yet I feel so alone have you ever been there he says in verse four and five my heart is smitten and withers like grass I forget to eat my bread by reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin the writer says loneliness has become such a battle that sometimes I forget to eat some days I find it hard to get up and go so tired of being alone I'm so tired of feeling alone verse 8 he says mine enemies reproach me all the day and they that are mad against me are sworn against me there are voices all around trying to take away my sense of well-being trying to tell me that I have no purpose somehow God doesn't see me doesn't care about me in the way I should be cared for and perhaps I've failed him in some measure why do I feel so alone why can't I connect with people why does God sometimes seem so distant from my heart you know loneliness is not necessarily stemmed from the fact that someone is indeed alone you don't have to be alone to be lonely in New York City the Greater New York City area I don't know what what is it 17 million people I think they say in the greater area of New York City and yet it could be one of the loneliest places on the face of the earth every day people go to work packed into subway cars 100 strong and yet in that hundred in the subway there's probably a substantial number of people that are fighting back the tears every moment every day of the sense of being alone some are thinking about suicide some are still despairing in our families we can be alone perhaps rejected because you've come to Christ and many others haven't maybe you've just lost the ability to relate one to another and it can be a lonely place in your own home and the church can be a lonely place you here today in the main sanctuary the annex you're you're one of I don't know maybe 3,000 3,500 voices lifted to the Lord today people before you behind you you're all singing together you've stood on your feet you've jumped in the air but you know that when this is over you're going to be alone again you're going to walk out that door and in your heart you say why can't I get rid of this deep sense of loneliness that's in my heart now some of the greatest men and women in scriptural history struggled with this so you are not alone you're not some aberration in the Church of Jesus Christ you're not deficient because you struggle with this and you're going to get to see this as we go on with this message now think about David for a moment he has anointed to be king of Israel he knows he's anointed the Spirit of God has come upon him he has fought were no one else and the army of Israel could fight he's experienced victories that perhaps no one in his generation had seen he's got talents and abilities given to him of God but on a point of his journey he finds himself in the cave and in Psalm 142 verse 4 he says I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared from my soul David said nobody could understand where I was nobody could feel what I was feeling and quite frankly it's his opinion at least in the psalm that nobody really cared to know nobody was reaching out to me nobody was truly asking me how I feel I couldn't find refuge in any of the humanity around me no one cared for my soul think of the Apostle Paul now David is an anointed warrior as it is he's a king and Paul arguably has the greatest revelation of any writer in his generation there's nobody that has more flowing through his pan at that time than the Apostle Paul perhaps nobody being used in greater measure in lasting measure throughout history but listen to the words he writes to Timothy in the last hours of his life and second Timothy 4:16 he said that my first answer no man stood with me but all men first sucked me and I pray God did not be laid to their charge how lonely it must have been at that moment in Paul's life that whole journey and all that he'd done and everything he'd given for all the churches and finally he's called into giving an answer before the judicial system of his time and nobody stands with him how tempted he must have been to be overwhelmed at that moment how tempted we are to throw in the towel when we feel alone all of us from time to time but we need to ask ourselves a question today and this is where I feel the Holy Spirit would have me go in this message is it possible I just want you to ask the question just open your heart to this for a moment is it possible that loneliness has deeper roots and the deeper purpose than you and I understand is it possible that we live trying to escape something that could truly have a reason for being in our lives we live in a society in America today that has adopted the theological perspective of all we do and everything we pursue is to escape all hardship we want no sorrow that the Bible promises a day in heaven when there's no sorrow there's no sighing there's no loneliness is no crying isn't it weak but we want it now as it says in the scripture I want my prodigal Center said I want my portion now we want it all now we want every every Church we go to to make us happier than the last one every message to build up our self-image and somehow allow us to escape all suffering and tragically that pursuit has left much of the church in this country ill-prepared for the days that we're about to face now think about this for a moment there was no loneliness in the human race until sin separated man from God in the Garden of Eden Adam was not lonely Eve even Eve wasn't lonely there was no loneliness there was fellowship with God there was fellowship at least with one other person of course it was only the two of them but when mankind sinned loneliness came into the heart of the human race now loneliness is not it's a sin in itself but it does lead many people to sin people abuse substances now we are drawn away the scripture says by our own lusts and we are enticed that's how sin gains a foundation in the human life but many many people it doesn't begin with lust it begins with loneliness lust eventually takes over people don't go to the internet and start browsing things that they shouldn't browse because they're initially lust-filled in many cases not all cases but in many they're simply lonely they don't start to read and do things and get into relationships and start to embrace or take in substances or addictions because they necessarily wanted to do it it's because there's this aching loneliness in the heart and something has got to satisfy it and yet people come to the church and come to Christ and somehow get the impression that all this stuff is supposed to be gone I'm never going to be lonely again we even have the odd song that has those words in it and so we sit here today saying well if I'm never supposed to be lonely again why am i lonely what's wrong with me why am i as a sparrow upon a housetop why do I have this understanding of the kingdom of God but yet in my heart it doesn't seem to have found route why do I feel so alone now the lonely person who gives in to sin has made a wrong choice if you find yourself lonely today and sin has snared you or you're moving toward sin you've made a wrong choice you're becoming led by the lusts of your own fallen nature and you will find yourself in a worse situation than you've ever been in before I want to suggest that loneliness is in your heart for a reason number one God put it there remember when Keane went into the earth and he was afraid that he was going to be harmed and the scripture says God put a mark upon him that no man no man could hurt him when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden it's as if loneliness was put into the human race by God himself as a Marv there's no other way I can explain it and he put it there because he wants all of you back to himself again you will never find anything in this world that satisfies that ache in your heart you're created by God in the image of God for fellowship with God for the purposes of God for a journey with God and then ultimately for eternity with God and search as you may try get all the fame you can get get all the money you can get get all the popularity be the life of the party do anything you want to do go to any place you want to go but that ache in your heart will never be satisfied until you and I are back in full relationship with God it's a mark of God that he put upon all of humanity because he wants you back he wants every person born in His image in this world back to him again but yet mankind incessantly circles this globe looking for some new things some new relationships some new thrill some new activity to satisfy that ache in the heart that is put there by God himself because there's nobody else that can satisfy it but not only are you lonely for him but he is lonely for you David the psalmist said I looked on my right hand and behold there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my soul but then in verse 5 he says I cried unto thee O Lord and I said you are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living David was lonely but he said God I know that you are the only one that can satisfy this ache in my heart I know that I'll never be complete until I'm back in right relationship with you and in full fellowship with you we go back to Paul 2nd Timothy 4:16 at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me I pray God that it not be laid to their charge verse 17 notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear Paul said there is a message but until that message brings us to the place of understanding that Jesus Christ is our only lasting strength and comfort in this world until everything else sometimes is stripped away and all that remains is a friend that stays closer than a brother as proverb says until we stop looking on the left and on the right until we come to church and it's no longer about who's on my left hand who's on my right hand who's before me who was behind me thank God for people but it's not about that that will not satisfy the ink in my heart at any time it is only a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ that's the only full message and Paul said I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion remember the psalmist said my enemies reproach me all day and they that are ment against me are sworn against me I was delivered I'm not deficient I haven't missed the gate on this journey hallelujah I am fully embraced by God fully endorsed by God fully walking and moving with God and there's something that God is doing in and through my life that is going to bring glory to his name now we come to Christ we come to God through Christ and we are given the Holy Spirit of God who comes and makes us his dwelling within us is God the third person of God living in us and we're told that we're given a new heart a new mind in a new spirit now that newness comes from God within us God says I'm going to share my heart I'm going to it's my mind I'm going to give to you it's my heart it's my spirit that's the newness it's not you and I willing ourselves to do better now it's God coming and he says now let me let me the two of us are going to down become one and let me share Who I am with you now is it possible that loneliness in the human heart is in part at least God sharing with us the longing in his heart to have all people come back to him the loneliness that you and I sometimes feel when we walk down the street to New York City now you can you can waste your time in a self focus trying to somehow get rid of that feeling but is it possible that is the heart of God is it possible it's the manifestation of the heart of Christ in you saying look just look away from yourself for a moment it's it I love you I have embraced you you are mine I've called you by my name it's now no it's not all about you anymore but look out and look at all the men and women in the streets look at the teenagers on the street corner look at that senior across the hall I am lonely for them it's in measure a part of the sharing of the suffering of Christ 2nd Timothy 2:12 Paul said if we suffer we shall reign with him and as I said earlier we live in the generation that that just lives to escape anything that has the word suffer attached to it but yet in the clip in the scriptures it's very clear that if we become partakers of the suffering of Christ we will share in the victory of Christ the cross was about other people Jesus often felt alone the scripture tells us he he prayed alone he dwelt alone in John 11 verses 33 and 35 coming to the tomb of Lazarus the scripture says he groaned and was troubled and he wept he must have felt so alone when he was in the room with his own disciples and they're trying to convince him not to go to the cross so other the scripture says he could not commit himself to man for he knew what was in man when they came to make him a king he walked away it must have been lonely you see the only real lasting fellowship he had was with his father and with the Holy Spirit and that's why when you and I read those words father if it be possible if it be possible take this cup from me there's nothing of this world that can satisfy me father it's the fellowship I've had with you that's been forever and even the thought of losing that four-season I believe you Christ was almost unbearable Hebrews 4:15 says he was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin he was tested in this if he wasn't lonely then the scripture isn't true he had to be tested in all points like as we are yet without sin he didn't try to escape the loneliness but in spite of it he allowed the hand of God to reach out through him to others in spite of his own pain to other people whose pain would be eternal if he drew back his hand and failed to act and if we as God's people spend our day drawing back from humanity spend our day trying to escape hardship spend our day not really wanting to be partakers of what it really means to be the Church of Jesus Christ in this world if we draw back our hand how many people are going to suffer for eternity or thank God he didn't draw back I thank God he didn't say father not only happiness it happens with you and I'm not willing to forsake it for anything if that were the case then you and I would be here today without hope we'd be here without help we'd be here without strength all of this would just be words in a page that we no power and it whatsoever but hebrews 12:2 says for the joy that was set before him endured the cross the joy the joy of view the joy of me being reconciled to God again the joy of the Father's heart the longing the loneliness the heart of God being satisfied did you know that God has a need that only you can meet you ever considered that you ever thought that God might be lonely if that weren't the case couldn't he just have written off all of humanity couldn't have said well I tried it didn't work let me create another world some other place some other people oh no when he came down into the Garden of Eden and me and he yelled out Adam oh no he was like a father who'd lost his child who's like a husband who'd lost his wife oh no oh no oh no there was a loneliness in the heart of God a loneliness for every person throughout all of time and eternity who would miss out on the great love of God the great provision of God the great salvation of God it caused him to come to the earth as a man had caused him to go to the cross it caused him to cry out it is finished and now he sends us as his church he says as the father has sent me now I send you into the world so my question is that we are way to live to escape all hardship are we to live just to be happy now happiness is wonderful and Christ there were times of great joy in his own life but are we not still on a redemptive mission as the Church of Jesus Christ no we can't personally redeem anybody but we bring people to the Redeemer and then all I not to share something of the heart of God how can I represent somebody that I would be aloof from if I didn't feel anything that's in the heart of God if I could walk by all of humanity and feel nothing if I could see a person crying on a bench in Central Park and not be moved to speak to them do I really share the heart of God I would say for the joy set before us we should be willing to endure the cross and despise it shame the joy of men women and children reconciled to God the joy of knowing our fathers heart being satisfied for the joy for the joy he'll be so foolish of me to throw away something out of my life that God is using to give me compassion lonely people are aware of lonely people did you know that and if you suffered yourself and had to be comforted by God alone then it becomes only a natural extension that you start reaching out and you become compassionate to the needs of others around you if you and I lived on a mountaintop we'd be obnoxious to this world we just come down with our million-dollar smiles and our list of things that people have to do to get right with God to be absolutely nothing in us that really represented a Christ that went to a cross all that passionate love of Jesus that loneliness in the heart of God for his own creation caused prostitutes to fall at his feet and wash them with their tears cause lepers to climb crawl through a crowd cause blind men to crowd on the side of the road could it be could it be could it be could it be that we've not understood the deeper workings of God you know how could it be that is an American sir change the life and liberty and pursuit of happiness has become the theology of our churches could it be that the society is so infiltrated the church that we don't look like Christ anymore and we reject everything or most things that could produce his character within us the only way to deal with loneliness is put it to work that magical person is not going to come into your life and take that out of your heart homemade uhlet for a season but it'll come back again if you truly share the heart of Christ if you have the heart of Christ in you there's a loneliness for people who are lost it's God's heart being given to you does it answer the question now why am I so lonely when we don't understand things as because when we are focused on ourselves all the time I shouldn't feel this way put your loneliness to work reach out from yourself when you go out into the streets of the city this day or go to the fellowship after the service that's going to be happening put it to practice reach out to somebody that's standing there alone ask God for the compassion to be able to move towards people that he sees and knows have that same cry that you have in their heart but they don't have the answer to it you have the answer proverbs 18:24 says a man that has friends will show himself friendly and there is a friend Jesus that sticks closer than a brother a man that his friends must show himself friendly New York City we get so used to our little bubble around us don't we our apartment is our space don't knock on my door don't come around everybody gets tall and thin on an elevator you ever noticed that but he stares at the numbers 38 39 40 you know there's there's there's 13 lost souls in the elevator with you but it's just like I want out of here these people are in my space I think if you left here today with the understanding that God is lonely for his creation and the God's heart is in you and if you are dealing with a nun you can't put your finger on the reason for the loneliness in your life it is possible that God in His mercy is sharing his heart with you sharing how he feels we have to trust him for the power to break out of that space when you have 17 million people crammed into a specific area geographical area it's it's it's human behavior to want to push everybody out to have a three-foot space around you that nobody can get into but that's not the weekend the kingdom of God works people have to be able to break through and touch you God give us the grace to live this put it to work that's the only way I know to begin to understand why you and I deal with these things put the loneliness to work put it to work in the kingdom of God reach out to other people breaking through that 3-foot bubble for many people in New York City is as much a step of faith as David running into the valley to face Goliath but God gives the power to do it and my holidays I had a chance to share Christ one particular occasion it was a couple that you wouldn't think had any interest in the things of God but I felt something in my heart along the lines of what I'm talking about right now I felt the loneliness of God for these people I can't explain it any other way and I said to them I'd like to tell you a story of my life it'll take me about four to five minutes they said but I won't tell you if you don't want to hear it and they said yes we'd like to hear it and the exterior of this people you've not you'd never think in the exterior they're interested in God an hour later the most marvelous hour we had together and then I found out to this man who's scattered quite a lengthy past and a lot in it he said I've been talking to God and I'm so tired of hurting people and so tired of living the way I'm living if I hadn't felt how God feels I would never have spoken but I felt something in my heart I felt God wants you and I was able to tell him this night I preached in New York City I is nothing on Sunday night to see 30 40 50 people come to Christ at an altar I said but it isn't about that it's about you and the moment I said that and said it in sincerity that's when the tears came it's about you I said God wants you he's lonely for you he wants you home wants you back to himself and people get overwhelmed father would you help us - would you help us Lord to represent you in New York City would you help us Lord not to just go about our day unaware unmoved focused on ourselves would you deliver us God from this and deliver your tarts Lord in this country God from all of these things would you bring us into the work of Jesus Christ would you help us I pray God for the lonely people that are here today I pray that you give us all the grace give us all the power give us the ability God to understand these things and help us to move forward out of our own pain out of our own struggle and into what really is dear to your heart thank you Lord for not letting us become soil oof so happy so self focused that we're just completely unmindful of the work of the cross thank you Lord for not letting us go thank you for sharing your heart with us thank you God that you've not let us find satisfaction in anything in this world no relationship no position no power no nothing has ever been able to satisfy that need only you Lord would you give us the power Lord Jesus as a church to reach the city would you take us deeper farther would you do something more profound than we've ever known would you guide us would you lead us Lord would you give us hearts of compassion would you do it supernaturally we can't program this you can't even reason that it's deeper than that it's something that you have to do in the heart would you help us to care more about people than how we look before people to give us the grace Lord to represent the Christ of Calvary oh my god I'm asking Lord for you to do something deeper and more profound in this church than we've ever known I'm asking it to take us farther than we've ever been I'm asking you Lord to give us understanding which you promised your people would be the stability of their time understanding God help us to care help us not to draw back you said if any men dropped back my soul will have no pleasure in him help us not to drop back help us to move forward Lord deliver us from all the snares in the traps that are just waiting for the lonely soul help us to understand we ask it in Jesus name I'm going to give an altar call today for people who would just like to put their loneliness to work in the kingdom of God to realize as David did and Paul did the Christ will stand with you he'll walk with you and Paul said by by this the preaching will be fully known among the Gentiles people will fully understand that God is willing to walk with men let's stand and I'm going to ask you just to move out of your seat in the Annex between the screens and the main sanctuary just come to the altar please if you will to the front of the sanctuary and we'll pray hallelujah hallelujah [Music] Lord says I will never fail you I'll never forsake you I've come to you when you reached out to me and I've made my dwelling with you and there is a day coming and there's no more sorrow there's no more tears you can't even sigh in that place not a memory in your heart that would cause you to take a breath and exhale in a manner of exasperation all of that is gone but till then you and I are given to share the heart of Christ in this world and I'm very thankful that he doesn't let us just become aloof that means distanced from the pain of humanity around us distanced from the heart of God ending up singing songs but looking nothing like the Savior I'm thankful are you thankful I'm thankful now if you can take now if you can take that loneliness that's in your heart today and you channel it in the right direction and you say Lord that's how you feel about other people that's how much how much I long for something to come into my life you know long more than I do for fallen men women and children to come back to you again so God please help me to get the focus off of myself and to let this be channeled for good let me go to the wounded and let me take that heart you've given me and tell them that there is a savior who loves them and it's not a program it's not attract anymore it's it's not for laws it's Christ we're presenting to people it's the true Savior it's the heart of God where we can weep with those at weeping we can feel the struggle in the pain of people who have known life without love and without God this is a blessing lord I thank you I thank you Lord that you're giving understanding to us you're helping us Lord to know what it is to be partakers of your life you're helping us to care you're helping us God through the indifference of our own human hearts to have the heart of God beating within us now you don't leave us Lord in sorrow you don't leave us empty you come to us like you did to David and you did to Paul you come to us but God don't ever let us lose your heart I thank you Lord for what good is going to come from these things that you've spoken to us today I thank you with all my heart in Jesus mighty name holiday [Applause]

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 119,248

Keywords: Carter Conlon, Carter Conlon Sermons, Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth

Id: gfwiBjcujxs

Length: 38min 46sec (2326 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 28 2010