Can You Stand Alone Many Others Stood Alone Can we stand alone? Elijah felt like he stood totally alone when he confronted the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal. He was not aware of the 7,000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal. “Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.” (1 Kings 18:22) David stood alone against the Philistine, Goliath. What was everybody else doing? What was the whole army of Israel doing? They were hunkering down, unwilling to face the enemy. What made David different? How was he able to stand alone against the enemy? While it may be cozy to sit in a large congregation, surrounded, seemingly protected in a cocoon of safety; we need to remember that our safety comes from faith in God, not from lots of people. If on the other hand, someone seeks anonymity and obscurity for the very purpose of not having to take a stand, there exists a serious spiritual problem. We need to ask ourselves, “Are we in the best place to work out our own salvation?” “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12) Is this concept of working out our own salvation a group action… or do we qualify for the Kingdom of God individually? The answer is that we separately stand before Jesus Christ to give an answer for ourselves (Romans 14:10, 12). You might respond with the question, “Then what’s the use of having a church at all?” Again, we “go to church” for the purpose of considering one another to provoke unto love and to good works. We honor and serve God as we serve and care for others (Matthew 25:40). Here is the question you must ask of yourself when you see God’s principles being violated, “Am I not taking a stand because I need the approval of others… because I fear being reprimanded… because I fear breaking rank… because I am afraid to take a stand for what is right in God’s eyes?” Today is our only opportunity to take a stand for God’s Truth; we may never have another chance. During the millennium, those who will be reigning and ruling with Jesus Christ will be saying to others, “This is the way, walk you in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) When do we learn to stand alone on our own two feet? The answer is, we are to be learning now! Some brethren have gotten the idea that all the “ work” is being done by some central organization. They forget that we must each, alone, carry our own work load. "Let everyone prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, without depending on the approval of others. For every man shall bear his own burden. " (Galatians 6:4-5) “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” (1 Corinthians 6:2) When do we expect to learn to make decisions? Right now is our opportunity to develop discernment and to learn to judge. We must learn to discern! “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3) Who today has the valor of Phinehas? He stood alone! The people of Moab invited the Israelites over for sacrifices to their gods, and the Israelites accepted. It turned out to be a dreadful party. “They called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.” (Numbers 25:2) The great, great majority of Israel went along with the crowd, joining in idolatrous whoredom with Baalpeor. They all felt that there was safety in numbers because they figured that God was certainly not going to wipe out all of Israel. One man stood alone for God; notice what Phinehas did. He took a javelin and put a stop to the sordid mess (Numbers 25:7-13). Do we ever take a stand for God’s righteousness today, or do we close our eyes? Are we crowd-pleasers, preferring not to rock the boat or make waves? Are we too fearful to make a decision for righteousness? Or are we, like Phinehas, courageously willing to stand up? Here’s the question: is there a Phinehas in the Church of God today? What about Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? It was incredibly terrifying for them to take a stand against Nebuchadnezzar and face the burning, fiery furnace. They had to make up their minds: either take a stand for God or go along with the crowd. They did as they had always done. Even when it meant disregarding an order from the King, they continued honoring God. Facing death, they did what God said, not what a man wanted. Through his ethical and excellent attitude, Daniel rose in prominence. When King Darius planned to set Daniel over the entire kingdom, the jealous presidents and princes sought to ruin Daniel’s reputation. They knew that Daniel was uncompromising and faithful to God. They concocted a scheme whereby Daniel would have to choose between King Darius and God. At that point, Daniel could have sought some middle ground – he could have compromised a little. He could have easily reasoned that he could do so much more good alive than dead. Daniel stood alone, and God delivered him from the mouths of the lions. Can we, too, stand alone? Here’s an even more important question that we must consider: Will we have to stand alone? Will the circumstances be such that we have no choice but to stand alone or lose our salvation, as in the case of the young men mentioned above? “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2) Some have failed the test that God sent to them. They must repent now and cry out to God, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalms 51:11) “Some will awake to everlasting life…” What a great resurrection! Some of us awakening to everlasting life, to be a part of the Family of God, is what the plan of God is all about. But… notice this… “some [are going to awake] to shame and everlasting contempt.” Being able to stand alone is necessary, but taking pride in being an “independent Christian” is wrong. There are those with a lack of understanding who are selfishly independent simply for the sake of not being committed and involved. Those independent Christians are failing to consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works (Hebrews 10:24). That self-sufficient posture is not taking a stand for the Truth of God. “Standing alone” means that we fully represent God’s way, especially when others fail to do so. We will not go into the Kingdom of God until God knows that we will always take a positive stand for Him. When church organizations or church leaders are not living up to the high standards and calling of Christ, that is a specific time for us to demonstrate to God that we will always remain faithful – if necessary, by standing alone. God appreciated Daniel’s stand. The same thing was true of Joseph, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sara, Rahab and many, many other men and women of faith, “of whom the world was not worthy.” (Hebrews 11:38) The Bible is filled with examples of strong and courageous men, women, and young people standing alone in faith. At the time of their captivity, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were very young men of twelve to fourteen years of age; even so, they had the bravery to refuse the king’s unclean dainties. David was very young when he faced Goliath, perhaps only seventeen years old. God wants us to be able to stand alone for His priorities in any situation. Are we willing to stand alone? When we “put it all on the line” for God’s Truth, it is likely to cost us a great deal. We must be willing to pay a big price. Sometimes the prophets would say, “Even if God does not deliver me, I am going to stand in faith.” That is what we have to say; we must be willing to lay down our lives. Christ says we cannot even be His disciples until we make that determination, till we make that decision. From where does that strength and faith come? From where does that courage and determination to stand alone come? Do we have a pure faith and trust in the plan of God – that it will be fulfilled – that it is being worked out in us? Nothing can stand between us and God – not country, not fraternity, not even family. Can a woman find the courage to stand alone for the Truth of God even though her husband or father departs from it? She may be tempted to say, “I’ll keep my mouth shut for the sake of peace in the family.” Jesus did not teach peace at any cost – but exactly the opposite. Jesus taught, “Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. Do not think that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:33-37) We will not go into the Kingdom of God until we have shown that we will allow nothing to stand between God and us. It is a wonderful blessing for Christians to be able to fellowship in peace, unity and Truth. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1) However, God calls upon each one of us in times of crises to stand up and be counted – even if we must stand alone! It was no accident that Queen Esther stood alone; it was by God’s design. God placed her in a unique position. He wanted her to take a stand – alone. In the exact same way, God gives each of us the opportunity to stand alone for what is right and true, to be an example to others, and to let our light shine. Yes, it is difficult. For Esther, it was almost overwhelming. |
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