Solitude

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have a Bible, I want you open ‘em up with me to two different places…Psalm chapter 1…and Mark chapter 1…Psalm chapter 1, Mark chapter 1.

This is our last week in our sermon series, “Devoted.” We’ve been looking at spiritual disciplines…things that grow us and stretch us…things that help us mature in our walk with Christ.

And remember, these are disciplines, right? These aren’t always easy things to do…but as children of God…He’s empowered us, through the Holy Spirit…He’s given us power to walk obediently in these things. And listen, I’ll be honest…throughout the history of the church…some of these things, they’ve been turned into work. They’ve become things we just do instead of things used to grow us and to help us experience, more fully, the presence of the God.

The things we’ve laid out over the past nine weeks, these are things that please God…but listen, these are things His Word prescribes that are good for us as individuals as well. These are things that help shift our focus from ourselves to His kingdom. We experience joy when we walk in these things…we experience God when we walk in these things…we see God work through us when we walk in these things.

Some of these practices, it might not always be easy to do…but when we do it with the intentions of bringing God glory…when we do it through a kingdom lens…it might not always be easy, but it’s worth it.

Listen, I’m sure your parents told you when you were growing up, “Nothing good in life comes easy,” right? That’s certainly true when we begin to follow Jesus. Nothing good will happen in our life, easily. We’re being sanctified…we’re being polished…we’re being built up…and everything about our world…everything about our flesh, its fighting against the things that are good for us…And so, we have to disciplined…we have to be disciplined about our Bible intake…we have to be disciplined about prayer and evangelism…We have to be disciplined in our worship and our discipleship of others. We should serve as result…we should steward well…we should fast when we’re attempting to seek God…remembering the sacrifices He made to give us the privileges we have….which leads us to our last discipline…solitude.

Listen, I don’t remember much about my great-grandmother…she passed away when I was pretty young…but I do remember her talking about what it was like when she was growing up…what it was like being married to my great-grandfather. Naturally, during their time…there wasn’t all the distractions we have today…For my great-grandparents…one went out into the field to work while the other took care of the home. There weren’t planes flying overhead…there wasn’t cars driving by or the constant sound from the TV or the radio…they didn’t have phones in their pockets constantly updating them when someone needed something. Finding personal solitude, for them, it was just as easy as it is for us to find a phone today.

Times have changed, but guys our need for solitude and the benefits our souls so desperately need haven’t. And listen, its not just about getting away from other people that regenerates us…Scriptural solitude, its a biblical practice that allows us to more intentionally practice some of the other things we’ve already talked about. It helps us to eliminate some of the day-to-day distractions so that we can more purposefully engage in other spiritual disciplines.

Solitude is the spiritual discipline of voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy to seek the Lord’s presence and will.

Guys, like some of the other things we’ve been talking about…fasting, Bible intake, prayer, evangelism…solitude, its a discipline that’s been neglected in the modern-day church…and guys, its having major impacts on your own individual walk…and as a result, it’s having major impacts on the church as a whole. We’re not stopping our day-to-day routines…we’re not stopping to just be with the Lord…to hear Him…to seek His direction and will. Stopping is just as hard for us, as rocket science is. We don’t know how to do it…And quite frankly, we don’t teach about it…we don’t exhort you in it.

But listen, when we go to Scripture…the things we’ve been talking about…all these different disciplines…those things take up so much of the Old and New Testaments. When we’ve been impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ…when we’ve been empowered by the very Spirit of God, we begin to care about God’s pleasure and God’s glory…and as James writes, we begin to act out those things…I said it wrong two weeks ago but it’s “Faith without works is dead,” right? We’ve been given a new heart…when we’ve been empowered by the Spirit…we now have the ability to do what we know is righteous. And not only are we able to do it, we desire it.

Solitude…Solitude, its not being alone in silence for no reason at all…it’s us, setting time aside, to approach God, partnered with other disciplines…to experience Him…to know Him…to follow Him. It’s us intentionally carving time out of our schedule to invest in our relationship with Him.

And so listen, to help us kind of understand this spiritual discipline…I want us to go to Psalm chapter 1 and Mark chapter 1…both of ‘em kind of give us a model of what it looks like.

And so, if you’re in those two places with me…let’s stand and read our passages together…We’ll start in Psalm chapter 1…and then I’ll read in Mark.

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Mark 1:35 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Thank you, you can be seated.

[Prayer]

If you’re taking notes…our three points this morning…number 1, we’re gonna look at a biblical foundation for solitude…number 2, an intentional pursuit…and then, number 3, a source of renewal.

And so, if you’re following along with me, let’s look at this first point together.

I. A Biblical Foundation

A biblical foundation…a biblical foundation for solitude.

Now, for this point…I want us to look back at Psalm chapter 1 again.

The first three verses…It says this:

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

And so, the main emphasis here, its the contrasts between righteousness and wickedness.

At the core of righteousness, look at verse 3, its this desire to be sustained by God. A righteous person…which I want to us to reflect on the gospel for just a moment…what makes a person righteous? Jesus’s righteousness, its imputed to us at the moment of regeneration, right? And so, at the moment of new birth, we’re declared righteous…certainly not because of us…we know we’re sinful…we know all fall short of God’s glory…We’re declared righteous because of Jesus. And at the moment of our salvation, the Bible says we’re sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, right?

And so, we’re declared righteous and we desire righteousness because of Jesus’s work and because of the Spirit now in us.

And so, verse 3, “He [or in order words, a righteous person], they’re like a tree…they’re firmly planted by streams of water.” That word there in the Hebrew, “planted” or “firmly planted,” it actually means “transplanted.” And so, this tree, its been taken out of the wilderness and its been planted by streams of water. It’s a picture of an irrigated garden…It’s a picture, if you remember when we went through Genesis chapter 1 and 2, its a picture of what God deemed good…when God walked with us.

In ancient Palestine, the climate there, it was very dry, very arid. Trees in the wilderness, they didn’t receive a regular supply of water throughout the year. And so, what people would do is they would dig up these canals to funnel water into gardens so that the plants would grow and bear fruit. And so, this is the picture of the righteous man here. He’s a transplanted tree in the garden of God. And notice that the action of being transplanted here, its in the passive…Who’s the one doing the planting? God is! It’s an amazing picture of our salvation. Trees can’t transplant themselves out of the wilderness and into a garden; they need a gardener to do it. In the same way, believers can’t transplant themselves out of sin and into God’s kingdom; we need God to do it.

But listen, there’s so much more to this passage. It goes on, “[The tree], it doesn’t wither...it yields fruit in its season…all that this tree does [or this righteous person does] he prospers.”

It’s this idea of God pruning us…sustaining us. And listen, all of this is happening while the tree is firmly planted…its rooted next to the streams of water.

Jesus says in John chapter 15…He calls Himself the vine. We’re the branches…by His power we produce fruit, we remain healthy. Those that are connected to Him, to the vine…they’re sustained…and those that aren’t are cut off, right? We’ll talk more about that in the third point.

But also He calls Himself “The living water,” in John chapter 4. Those that drink from His cup, they’ll live forever…You guys see the parallels?

A righteous person is one that firmly roots themselves in the presence of the Lord…and is sustained by Him.

Guys, when it comes to solitude…if you never find yourself alone with God at any point, you’re not gonna be sustained and you’re not gonna grow. And what’s gonna happen, you’ll start to realize…you’re affirmation of truth, that doesn’t save you…there has to be a turning coupled with a belief empowered by the Spirit of God.

Look at Mark 1:35 with me again.

Mark 1:35 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [ Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Now we’ll talk about this verse more in just a second… But we live busy lives…and I know some of the other disciplines we’ve talked about can be difficult to practice…but in our culture today, I really believe this idea of solitude is the hardest. Technology, and other advancements, its made us very very busy people…its made it so hard to actually find time to be alone. And even when you are alone, you always have your phone or a computer or something that makes it impossible to really unhitch yourself from everything and everyone else.

And listen, I want to be very honest with you this morning…some of you are so depressed and so anxious about the things in your life because you haven’t practiced this idea of solitude. I mean when’s the last time you’ve been alone with God, I mean really alone?…When’s the last time you’ve been planted firmed beside these streams of water? Again, we’ll cover more of this in point number 3.

But guys, we say this all the time, “Christianity, it has nothing to do with religion,” right?…, “It has everything to do with relationship!” Okay, well if that’s true…when’s the last time you spent serious, intimate time with God? We take our spouse’s on date nights…we have family time with our kids…when’s the last time you did that same thing with God? Don’t you believe it’s a relationship? And isn’t it you’re most important relationship? Giving to God first doesn’t just involve money!

Guys, if we’re gonna be sustained…if we’re gonna grow in our walk with Christ…we have to get serious about the time we spend alone with Him. We have to get alone.

Our memory verse, Deut chapter 6, verses 5 and 6…it’s actually a model for discipleship…We’re to love the Lord, our God with ourselves first…and then as we’re doing that, there’s an outpouring of that love we have for the Lord, to others.

But guys, we’ll never reach our spouses…we’ll never reach our kids…we’ll never reach our neighbors, with the gospel of Jesus Christ…until we learn to love the Lord, our God first…with every piece of us. And that starts with us being intentional in our walk with Him.

And listen, look at some of the other verses in Psalm chapter 1. Verse 2:

Psalm 1:2 ESV

but his delight [the righteous person] its in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

We’re not just silent in the presence of the Lord, as we find solitude…we meditate on His Word…we find delight in it.

Look at Mark 1:35

Mark 1:35 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

When Jesus was alone with the Father, He prayed.

Guys, solitude, its bringing together everything else we talked about and it’s acting those things out in the presence of the Lord.

And so, that’s the foundation…we’ve been made righteous…and so we desire to be with God…personally, in solitude…to be sustained, to grow. And as we do that, we’ll find satisfaction in His Word…and we’ll become more and more separated from the world. Isn’t that what the first parts of this passage in Psalms shows us?

But what does it take for us to be disciplined in this?

II. An Intentional Pursuit

Point number 2…it takes an intentional pursuit.

Look again at Mark 1:35:

Mark 1:35 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Guys, I wanna go back a couple of verses here and just paint the context for us.

Starting in Mark 1, verse 29:

Mark 1:29–35 ESV

And immediately he [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Listen, for a lot of us, whether we want to admit or not…we have the complete opposite problem than Pharisees did…for them, they really struggled with the idea that Jesus was God. I mean, that’s essentially what led Jesus to the cross. It was His blasphemy, claiming He was God, that really upset them the most.

For a lot of us, I think it’s Jesus’s humanity that we struggle with the most. We have no problems acknowledging Jesus’s divinity…we know Jesus is God. We just have problems acknowledging that Jesus was just like us when He took on flesh…minus the sinful pieces of us.

You see, when you read this story…Jesus was all over the place, right? He was at the synagogue…learning and teaching…He went to Peter’s house where he healed his mother-in-law. And then listen, it says that He stayed up, late into the night to heal people. It says that the whole city was gathered together at the door where Jesus was.

Listen, when I talk about things like solitude…or even Bible intake, prayer, fasting…we say things like, “I’m just too busy…I just don’t have the time…I just don’t know where I can fit all these things in…I know these things are good for me, but you just don’t understand, its not fair to ask so much of me!”

We forget Jesus’s humanity and we try and dehumanize Him…Jesus felt the effects of these fleshly bodies…He was hungry…He was thirsty…He felt fatigue…Look at this story, wasn’t He busy? It doesn’t look like He took a single break…It doesn’t look like He got a breath in.

But listen, I love this…Mark 1:35…Jesus intentionally pursed solitude. He intentionally pursued time with the Father…He stayed up, late into the night…working…and it says here that He gets up early, before the sun even rose…and He went and found a desolate place…a place He could be alone with the Father, and He prayed.

It was an intentional pursuit.

Listen, a couple of weeks ago…we talked about stewardship, right? And how we give to God our money, our gifts, our time…first! Isn’t that what Jesus is doing here? I’m sure He was tired…I’m sure He would’ve loved to sleep a little longer. But He gave to God first, His time and He intentionally pursued solitude.

Guys, we have to stop giving so many excuses. I get it, you’re life’s busy…you struggle to find time to do everything else! But this is part of stewardship…this is part of the disciplines we’ve been called to…this is part of the heart we’ve been given as His children. It takes discipline…it takes discipline to step away from our busy lives…it takes discipline to focus on God in this way…the problem is, for many of us, we’re just like our kids that refuse to clean their rooms…we’re undisciplined.

But guys, see Jesus’s example here…this solitude that we see…it wasn’t accidental…It was intentional. Jesus prioritized His relationship with the Father above everything else…even amid the demands of His ministry. The most important thing to Jesus, it wasn’t you…it wasn’t me…it was His union with the Father. And listen, as a result of this intentional pursuit of solitude…this pursuit to spend time with the Father, there was an outpouring of Jesus’s love for the Father, an outpouring that flowed into us.

Listen, it might just be that you’re struggling to reach those you care most about…maybe you’re frustrated because you’re doing all the right things, you’re saying all the right things to these people in your lives; and yet they just refuse to turn to Christ…it might just be that they’re not seeing an outpouring of your love for God.

You see, when your words match your actions…when you show that this is the greatest news with your actions…when you show that you’ve been changed by this news and that you’re devoted to God because of this news…when your actions match your words…people start to see the credibility in what you’re communicating…In preaching, we actually call this our “ethos” and our “logos.” If I don’t live a life that matches my preaching, chances are…you won’t take serious the things I’m saying to you.

In the same ways…if your life doesn’t model what you’re communicating…people won’t take serious what you’re telling them. We talk about this Christian life as being a relationship…and yet many of us never stop and carve out time to get with the Father alone…in this relationship with have. And if we do, most of the time, it’s after we’ve given ourselves to everything and everyone first.

Guys, if we’re gonna serious about our walk with Christ…if we’re grow individually and corporately…we have to get serious about this discipline…we have to individually begin to intentionally pursue God in this way. That’s where the practice of solitude starts.

And listen, this is different than taking a Sabbath rest…we’ve talked about that before, and that’s important…but you need to carve out time, daily…to be with the Father. It doesn’t have to be long…it doesn’t have to consume hours of your day…Look at Jesus’s example here…just start somewhere and be intentional in your pursuit of God.

That’s the second point.

III. A Source of Renewal

And listen, as you do that you’ll start to feel differently. It’s almost like changing your diet…starting to eat cleaner…you start to feel better, you start to feel more rejuvenated.

Solitude, when we learn to practice it…when we’re disciplined in it, it becomes a source of renewal for us…which is the third point we see this morning…solitude, its a source of renewal.

Listen, when you look at both of our main passages this morning…both of ‘em, they really highlight this idea of renewal and how renewal, it comes from solitude.

Psalm 1:3, it shows us this picture of a man, a man who yields fruit in season and whose leaves, they never wither. The Hebrew word there for “wither,” its “nabel (naw-bale),” and it listen, it means a couple of different things…it can mean to wilt…to fall away…to fail…to faint…to be foolish…wicked…to despise…disgrace.

Listen, when we find solitude with the Lord…when we’re disciplined in it…there is no fading…there is no wilting away…there is no decline, no deterioration of our spirit. It also means, there’s less foolishness or senselessness in our lives…which reflects an intellectual decay, right? Instead of decaying, instead of declining, solitude…being planted next to the living waters…it renews us. We become fruitful in season…our limbs and branches, they don’t wither away. But pay attention, it takes us being connected to the Lord…spending time with the Lord.

Jesus talks a little bit about this in John 15. He says:

John 15:1–11 ESV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Guys, can you see the parallels here?

Jesus says, “When you’re connected to me, you’re gonna bear fruit…when you abide in me, when you love me, you’re gonna keep my commandments…And listen, I want you to see this…the branches that don’t bear fruit…what’s He say He’s gonna do to them? He’s gonna cut ‘em off…The branches that don’t abide in Him, they’re gonna wither, right? That’s the complete opposite of what we see in Psalm chapter 1.

And what’s interesting, the word abide…it means to stay, to remain. It’s very much like the word solitude.

And listen, what I love about what Jesus tells us here…its that your joy, its a direct result of your abiding in Jesus. The discipline of solitude…Solitude specifically with Jesus, its gonna make you joyful…its gonna make you fruitful…It’s gonna make you successful, in kingdom terms.

Listen, we spend our whole lives trying to advance in our careers…we spend time trying to become better athletes…we practice so that we’ll become more successful in the things that we do…we invest money, we invest time and energy into those things, all for the purposes of success. Jesus says, success in the Christian life, it take a pursuit of God…it takes you abiding in Him…it takes you practicing solitude.

Success and renewal, they’re direct results of solitude.

And listen, read over Mark 1:35 again. Why did Jesus, who again worked late into the night…He was obviously exhausted…why did Jesus choose solitude early the next morning as the first thing He’d do? Because it refreshed Him and it prepared Him for the ministry God placed in front of Him.

Listen, Jesus tells us in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” And He says in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Closing

Listen, I wanna close with this…some of us, we’re tired…we’re exhausted…we’re discouraged because we’re not seeing fruit in our lives. Maybe we don’t feel like we’re growing…maybe we don’t feel the presence of Jesus in ways we did earlier in our life…maybe again, we feel like we’re not impacting the people around us. Some of us, we’re still struggling with old sins…it seems like we just can’t shake ‘em…or maybe we’ve recently just fell back into things we’ve already overcome.

Some of us, we’re walking through some difficult things…trials that are really testing us…and maybe it feels like there’s no good that could from it…maybe it feels like there’s no end in sight.

If Jesus were standing here, at this very moment…If He were preaching this sermon, in the flesh…I think He’d ask, “When’s the last time you spent meaningful time with me.” Not just in the Word…not just praying…not just doing all the other things we talked about (which are good)…but when’s the last time you’ve gotten alone with Him, and just enjoyed His presence?

Guys, if you wanna see fruit…if you wanna grow…if you wanna experience joy…this discipline, its crucial to practice. Daily solitude with Jesus.

Would you bow your head and close your eyes?

Listen, as our praise team comes and prepares to lead us in worship this morning…if you’re a believer, I just want you to reflect on this idea of solitude for just a moment. When’s the last time you practiced it? Do you believe in its benefits? Maybe you haven’t practiced it because you don’t really think you need it.

Hear the Word of God…find solitude with Jesus…be intentional in this discipline. Maybe that means you and your spouse need to sit down and intentionally carve time out for that to happen for you guys individually.

But listen, as we pray this morning…I want you be serious in pursing the Lord. Ask Him to strengthen your discipline…Ask Him to grow you in these areas…Ask Him to open your eyes to your own shortcomings in these things. And listen, make a commitment…make a commitment to yourself…make a commitment to Jesus…make a commitment to your brothers and sisters, that you’re gonna take serious these disciplines we’ve been talking about.

And so, that’s what I want you to do this morning.

But listen, I don’t wanna close this morning without first sharing the free gift God offers those that haven’t turned to Him. People that can’t find rest or joy. There’s people here this morning, whose lives haven’t been transformed by the message of the gospel. And here’s what God wants you to know.

In the beginning God created man to be good and perfect…there’s wasn’t disease, there wasn’t hurt or pain…there wasn’t death…it was all good. But the bad news of the gospel (the reason we need it), its that mankind took what God made good and we rebelled against that. We choose evil…we choose the desires of our own hearts. And that sin, according to the Bible, it separates us from a good and holy God and it brought on death. Paul says, the wages of sin, its death. And the worst part of the gospel…its that there’s nothing you or I can do about that problem. We’ll never be good enough…we’ll never perform in a way that justifies the sin we’ve committed. We’re all sinners and we all deserve the wages of sin.

But the good news of the gospel…is that God, being merciful, being gracious with us…He sent His Son, Jesus...who being equal to God, took on flesh. He lived a perfect life…He went to the cross, where He wore the weight of our sin. He justified us by His life and by His death. He took on the punishment we deserve so that we could experience reconciliation. And the best news of the gospel…its that its all a free gift. If you simply confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead…it says, you will be saved.

And so, if that’s you this morning…turn from the world…place your trust and faith in Jesus. And listen, as you follow Him…He’ll give you a new life, He’ll give you a new heart. He’ll transform everything about you, by His own power. He’ll take what’s broken in you, and He’ll use it all for His glory. You will find rest in Him.

And so listen, the praise team’s gonna play…I’m gonna be down front. Whoever you are, whatever’s on your heart, you to take this time…and I’ll close us in just a moment!

[Prayer]