Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Our subject Um today is help. I feel alone.
I feel alone. I appreciate Brother Frank reading in 2 Timothy chapter 4. There were more verses read than I needed, but I put them all there just to hear him pronounce.
Some of those were, it had nothing to do with the message, but I just wanted to hear Crescens. I wanted to see how he was going to say that. And Tychicus, that's a touchy one there. And I just wanted to see what he was going to do with that one.
So I appreciate him reading the unnecessary verses, but it entertained me for a little bit. We are coming into a holiday season, and I will tell you this: that loneliness. Um is really one of the greatest unspoken burdens. that a person can have. The very fact that a person feels loneliness means you're not going to go tell people I'm lonely.
It is, if I have to tell them that, it kind of ruins the whole purpose. And holidays magnify that. Um If a person feels that there are individuals that haven't Reached out or showed interest, or even their own families, there's tension and there's not. a tight family relationship. Thanksgiving comes, Christmas comes, the whole year is hard, but this time of the year, is especially difficult.
And you can get to the point that You think everybody except you is all together with friends. During a holiday season, you can sit at home, and if you feel that, you know, hey, I wish I had close friendships or whatever.
Now you begin to think everybody in the world is that, you know, they're all having parties, playing board games, wearing Christmas sweaters or whatever the case might be. And that's just not the case. But we begin to think everybody has something to do. Everybody has a friend circle. Everybody this, everybody that.
and it can be difficult. All I can say is this: that when it comes to kind of feeling abandoned, when it comes to feeling overlooked, When it comes to basically being in a situation where you feel alone. Paul, of all people in the Word of God. Knew exactly that. And let me just say this: Paul Spen is The second half of his life.
Doing nothing but reaching out to people. And sometimes, when you're the person that spends a lot of time reaching out and helping people, you can end up sometimes being the one that feels alone. You've always worked to make everybody else feel like they're not alone. But nobody really reaches out to you. To make sure you don't feel alone.
You know why? Because they think you're great. They think you're fine because you're the one always helping them. They don't think that you're the one. that might need some help.
I will tell you this: there are times as a pastor I feel extremely lonely. And you would think, well, my word, you know, you can't, you know, I'm an hour shaking hands, talking to people after church. And, you know, my whole life, what I'm doing, I'm every day I'm seeing somebody, praying with somebody, visiting somebody, all those different things. But how many of you know that you can be in a room crowded with people and feel really lonely? In fact, you can sit at home by yourself and feel less lonely than you do at a place when there's a lot of people.
and you don't feel like you have anybody. Paul felt some of this and Paul's message here that Brother Frank read he's writing to Timothy and he's in A dungeon. He's in jail, but he's literally in a dungeon. He's nearing the end of his ministry. And he writes this somewhat sad commentary.
Now, we don't know exactly in some ways. You know, some people think that Paul really, some people think that he died in an arena, some people think that he died being stoned, some people think that he died in different ways, but we're getting close to this. And so here's Paul at this stage of his life, probably the greatest Christian. Greatest church planner, greatest missionary, probably checking all the list. And yet here he is.
feeling alone. The good news is, this whole passage is to make sure you're aware that when everyone else walks out. That's when the Lord walks in. And it might not have anything to do with Christmas or holidays. It just might be some circumstances in your life right now.
that you feel very much Alone. Let's pray and we'll dig into it. Um This morning. Lord, I love you. I thank you for all that you've done.
I pray that you would minister to the hearts that need it the most. Um right now. And Lord, um we thank you for The promises that you give us in this passage. that we need to remember. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Now, number one, I want to kind of... Lay this out, that the situation and all the different levels that Paul was feeling here. Number one, I want you to. Notice the pain. of desertion.
the pain of desertion, this feeling This is verses 9 through 11, even down in verse 16 and others, but What we find, the picture of it is in verse 9. And Paul's writing to Timothy, and he says this: Do thy diligence. to come shortly unto me. And what he is saying here is like, I really need you to get here as quick as you can. I I need somebody.
I need something. And he's getting ready to explain. why he's feeling this. I want you to notice number one, We see friends that forsake. Friends That forsake.
Look at verse 10. He says, listen, do your diligence to come shortly unto me. That means get here as quick as you can. Look at verse 10. For Demas hath forsaken me.
having loved this present world and is departed Unto Thessalonica.
Now, Demas once labored alongside of Paul. Colossians chapter four talks about that. But what happened is In Demas's life, worldliness led to weariness. And his weariness led to withdrawal, and he just kind of left. And Paul finds himself here that here he's going through this suffering alone.
Because his friend had left. Demas would represent in the Word of God those who choose comfort over their calling. Demas, what's ironic? Demas left prison to save himself. But in doing so, he missed the presence of the Savior.
who stands with the prisoner. In other words, Demas says, I don't want to face that lonely life, and he leaves, and yet, the most lonely life. is when you leave what God has called you to do. It's like literally, we think, well, this is lonely, but you have no idea what lonely is. to where we have we allow a separation with Christ.
The fact is Demas chose something instead of Paul. Bottom line, however you want to look at it. Deemas, there was something he wanted more than his friendship with Paul. There was something he wanted more than to Be faithful to that friendship. He found something he wanted more.
He found something more appealing.
Some of you are sitting in this building and you feel alone because somebody chose something. or someone. Over you. It can happen.
Some of you have been there.
Some of you are there. Friends that forsake, you know, Paul in Romans 3, verse 12. You know, ironically, you know, we're talking about Paul here, but hey. Even in Romans chapter 3, we find that You know, this is how Jesus, even, he says, they are all gone out of the way. They are all becoming profitable.
I mean, Jesus came unto his own and his own received him not. I look at Matthew chapter 10, and the Bible says, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. It means this, that you and I have got to be careful that we don't always just choose something over our relationship with God. And what Paul was here, he felt alone because he had a friend that forsook him. And some of you have maybe some friends that have forsaken you.
People that you used to, and we used to spend time, and we used to this, and yet maybe they got another friend now, and maybe they got another group that they spend with. And you say, hey, this is a Sunday morning. Why are we talking about stuff like this? Because this is real life. Because that's exactly why people sit in God's house and can't worship.
And they can enjoy it because deep down they feel alone. And they don't know how to get past that. Friends that forsake, I want you to notice secondly. He brings up friends that are far away. Look at verse 10.
He says literally that You know, do your diligence to come. Demas forsook me. He says this, notice, but. Cressens to Galatia. This wasn't a person that had done wrong or a person that had left Paul because he just deserted him.
He was just busy serving God. He said, Cressens is in Galatia, Titus is in Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. And then verse 12, and he says, And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
So I mean literally not only there is a friend that forsook me, but now I There are some friends that I need, but they're far away. And some of them weren't faithless, they were just far away. And even good friends can't always be present. And that's what you and I need to understand today.
Sometimes even good friends cannot be there, but God always is.
Sometimes you can face feeling alone because, and listen to me now. Because you had a close friend where you used to live. before you moved here. Either you had to move or they had to move. Maybe you had a close friend and they had to.
Move. And you know, it just, and by the way, here's what I here's my take on it. Anybody comes to a church. Really, if they just have one really good friend, they're fine.
Now, if they have two or three, or they end up, hey, there's a group that they just mesh, they just have a lot in common, whatever the case is, great. I believe we all ought to be friendly here. I believe we're all part of the family of God if you've been saved. And church ought to provide those friendships and those relationships. But sometimes people put too much pressure on a church.
And like the church is supposed to fulfill everything they need in their social life. And dear friend, you've already set yourself up for Satan. Because Satan's just going to make sure you don't find somebody and you don't click with somebody because he knows that's going to discourage you if all of our eggs are in that basket. And sometimes it's not that you haven't had friends, it's just you can't be with your friends and you can't be with those that you need. And sometimes you can change a church, you can move out of the area and come to a church, and you had a really good friend at that church and you did everything together.
And now it's hard coming to church and you need that kind of connection and you wish you had that, but that person's back there and you're here or whatever the case might be. And it's very difficult, and you can begin to feel alone, even in a church full of people that deep down are open-minded and do love you and do care, but we just can't be the person you want us to be or whatever those things might be. And a lot of times you can feel alone, even where God put you. Paul is exactly where God put him. But just because we're where God wants us doesn't mean we're never going to feel alone.
I personally believe sometimes God wants you. to feel that.
So that you can begin to depend Upon him. Friends that forsake, friends that are far away. Notice thirdly, he brings up friends that are few. Verse 11, only Luke. is with me.
Now if I'm Luke and reading this I'm thinking, you know, what am I, chop liver here? That's right, I'm here.
Sorry Tikakus can't be here. But my name's a lot easier to say. Only Luke's with me.
Now, far be it for us to ever think that maybe Paul had a human moment. But Sometimes you and I We feel so much of what we don't have. that we can fail to appreciate. Who we do have.
Okay, maybe you don't have as close a friend as you did back when you lived there, but Thank God you have a few friends. Here. Nothing else. Thank God you have your health. Paul was in prison, but at least he was alive.
Friends that are few. Don't overlook. The few friends. That you do have because you are hurting because of the friends that you don't have. I want you to notice more I could say about that, but for time I could get off on this stuff and Number four, I want you to see he brings up friendships that are fractured.
Now just in one passage, Paul Paul's got the whole gamut here. You got demons that just place out, he just... Desert it. And then you have friends that just can't be there. And then you have.
One that is and Look at verse 11. As he's writing to Timothy, he says, Listen, do your diligence. Get to me as quick as you can. Oh yeah. Take Mark.
and bring him with thee. For he is profitable to me. for the ministry.
Well, can I remind you? Paul didn't always think that way about Mark. In fact, Paul severed that relationship with Mark. Paul didn't have trust in him. Paul didn't.
He didn't have confidence in Mark.
Now, it could be that maybe for some of the reasons that Paul had faced with him. Maybe that was the case, but if you remember, He kind of deserted Mark. He kind of like, no, I'm not going to go serve with you. And Barnabas took Mark under his wings, but. All of a sudden, now Paul is hurting and alone and This friendship with Mark had been restored.
It had been fractured, but it had been restored. And now the guy that Paul used to think had no profit to him whatsoever, now he's alone and he tells Timothy, No, bring Mark. We have a history and it wasn't all good history. But do you understand sometimes that some of the people that may you have been distanced from and may have been hurt by, do you understand sometimes in life they end up being down the road?
some of the best friends you have. They end up down the road sometimes helping you more. Than the people you thought would. Listen to me. Kerwin, by the way, listen, it's not real long today, but are you with me?
Say amen. Are you listening to me? Say amen. Do you know at one time Paul would have put more confidence in Demas than he did Mark? And yet when he came down to it, Demas had gone.
Mark was still there. That's why it's important when we preach things about having peace with each other and forgiving one another. I'll tell you why, because you never know how you might need somebody down the road. Friendships that are fractured. You know, God often restores friendships at the right time.
to renew your strength. I want you to notice next in verse 14, Paul talks about Foes that oppose. You see, he was alone not just because of Friends that left or friendships that were fractured or Friends that couldn't be there, but notice in verse 14, he said, Alexander the coppersmith.
Now, he didn't just say, Hey, we've had some issues, he names them. Yeah. How many you have some you could name? I could too. I mean, nobody in this building.
Nobody in this build. Notice what he says, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. And as he's writing to Timothy, he warns him: he says, of whom be thou ware also. In other words, he's still on the scene.
In other words, this guy still had influence. And by the way, just because somebody does you wrong doesn't mean tomorrow God's going to wipe them out. It could be somebody has wronged you and done wrong to you and been unfair to you and flat out evil to you. And it can get very frustrating to think, but they did this. Why is God still letting them?
I've been there. Here's Paul says, Hey, Timothy, you better be wary of them too.
So yesterday Um My wife and I were in the car and and they had a Sunday school thing. And I don't know what happened. We got out on 68 and... We hear this screeching, and here's a little. whatever kind of car And A man inside of this car and he just Stop spins out and they have barriers.
This is nowhere to turn around. And he goes over a barrier, a concrete barrier, to try to go back on the other side of the road. And when I'm looking at this, it was so random. I mean, it was like the guy was... A space cadet, well, then he gets on the road and he's in front of us and you know, I'm gonna watch this guy for a minute.
He veers over here, goes over here, just keeps moving, kind of a thing. And then we finally get to a stoplight and there's a guy sitting in the truck next to me that was behind him. We're at a stoplight, and I rolled down my window, and this guy's in the truck, and I started talking to this guy. And of course, he's probably thinking, What is this idiot saying? And so, when he finally turned his radio off, I said, Listen, be careful of that guy up there.
He's crazy, something's wrong with him. Just watch him. And the guy's like, you know, meh, meh, meh, whatever.
Well, we take off from there. Guess what? This guy goes right down near the interstate, stops in the middle of three lanes, just stops. Traffic's going, stops, all of a sudden, cars, then he decides to turn this way, and cars have to screech and go around him. I don't know if the guy's drunk, I don't know if he's fastic, whatever.
But guess what? That guy, probably, when that happens, you know what? That guy was absolutely right.
So Paul says, hey, watch out for this guy. I'm just warning you. This guy can really cause some damage.
Now, I want to develop this just for a minute before we get to the good news, but Who was Alexander the Coppersmith?
Well, this title in the Greek literally means he was a worker in metal. and we would think probably worked with copper or bronze. Where coppersmith would come from, all right?
Now, Alexander was a common name, so to be honest with you, there are a few of these in the New Testament.
So we're not exactly sure everything about this Alexander the Coppersmith, but we. Many believe it's possible that he is the same one that's mentioned in 1 Timothy 1. And the Bible says that this Alexander, if it's the same one, was delivered unto Satan for blasphemy. In Acts 19, Um 33. There was another Alexander that was present in Ephesus.
And if you remember, all the guild, the metal guild, the workers, they had a riot against Paul because they were making idols and Paul was preaching the gospel. People were being converted and they weren't buying the goods. And so they kind of all got together against Paul. It could very well be that this is the Alexander, that he was in that guild, that he made idols with the copper and different things. And he's mad at Paul.
He's got to stop him somehow. We just don't know for sure.
So, what did he do to Paul?
Well, it says plainly: what does Paul say? He did me much evil. And not only that, he gives exactly what he did. It says he greatly withstood our words.
So that suggests that it was either verbal or public opposition. That this guy resisted Paul's preaching, resisted Paul's speaking. He probably slandered him. It means he probably opposed Paul's doctrine. He opposed or harmed Paul's reputation.
He hindered Paul's ministry. And can I just point this out? This is a freebie. Look how Paul responds. He said, The Lord reward him according to his works.
Instead of me trying to take on the mantle of getting justice here, Paul says God needs to take care of this. And can I just give you a freebie? You better do that. In your life, you can sit and go through everything that's right and wrong, and you can have the conversations with yourself in the car like I do. And when I finally arrive, I have won that argument.
We can do everything we want to do to try to make an outcome, to try to. But sometimes you're just going to have to let The Lord reward him. Once you notice, last, we see followers that disappeared.
Now look at verse 16. Paul says, at my first answer, No man stood with me. Paul says when it when all of a sudden the going got tough And all of a sudden resistance and jail and all these things. Notice, no man stood with me. They were all following Paul.
They were all, hey, we love you. And all of a sudden, he says, not some, he says, no man. But all men forsook me. And this is what he says, I pray, God, that it may not be laid to their charge. See the crowd vanished when the cost came.
Psalm 27 says, My father and my mother have forsaken me. But the Lord will take me up. I want to remind you, maybe you're here and your family has really done you wrong. When my father and mother You can fill it in with sister, brother, aunt, uncle, it don't matter. even her own children, even her own grandchildren.
The Lord will take thee up. Psalm 38: My lovers and my friends stand aloof. from my sore. I'm hurt. And they're nowhere.
You know, listen to me.
Sometimes God allows people to leave you.
so that you can learn he never will. The pain of desertion. Number two. Good news, the presence of the divine. Paul begins in verse 17: look at this word, notwithstanding.
And we don't use that word a lot. But this is transition. It means Paul's saying that if I was a lawyer and I was making a case, I've made a really good case that I should be discouraged. I've made a really good case that why I should feel alone. I've had friends leave me.
I have friends that can't get to me. I've had foes that are against me. I've had friendships that were fractured. Paul is saying I could make a big case of why I have the right, why I'm justified to wallow in my aloneness. But notwithstanding.
Even though it's a big list. And even though it's all true. Look what he says. The Lord stood. with me.
And strengthen me. That by me the preaching might be fully known and that all The Gentiles might hear, notice this. And I was delivered out of the mouth. of the lion. Paul says, Notwithstanding that a close friend abandoned me for the world, notwithstanding.
When the going gets tough, my friends got going. Notwithstanding that businessman tried to ruin my reputation with false attacks, notwithstanding the loneliness that I feel. Number one. The Lord stood with him. The presence of the divine.
It doesn't say the Lord stood for him. Right. I know, you know, listen, you like me, you've had a lot of people, hey, I'm for you. Yeah, but you weren't with me.
Okay, I'm for you. Yeah. Look at what he says, the Lord stood with Me. He didn't say the Lord stood close. The Lord stood with The Lord's nearness is not poetic, it's personal.
Isaiah 41, 10. Fear thou not, for I Am with thee. Before we go any further, let me just say this. If you are at a place in your life you feel alone, There's just one fact that we've got to get settled before we give you all these other things. You have got to understand and believe.
that whether you feel it or not, The Lord is with you. Psalm 23, you know it, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for Thou art With Me. Listen, God does not just see your loneliness. He steps into it with you.
You think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Old Testament? That fiery furnace, they weren't alone. What do they say when they look in? Hey, we see a fourth man. Walking with them.
The Lord stood with him, and he stands with you. Number two, the Lord strengthened him. He didn't just stand with him. He strengthened him. Listen, it's more than we deserve that he will stay with us.
But he doesn't just stand there and say, Hey, I'm here. He stands there and says, I'm here and I can help. I'm gonna help you. Look what Paul says, and strengthened me. God gives strength.
Listen to me. Paul is not saying God gave me the strength to get out of this trial. Listen to me. God gives strength not to escape the trial, but to endure the trial. Paul didn't say, Hey, God gave me strength so I could get out of this.
No, he said God gave me strength in this The whole point was God was wanting to show Paul in that dungeon when everybody else had left him, when he felt all abandoned and all alone. God wanted him to know that my presence doesn't mean you're always going to get out of the dungeon. My presence means you'll never be anywhere that I'm not with you.
So instead of bringing a friend. God brought himself. Oh, Paul had some friends that were away, but God didn't send one of them. God sent himself. And that should show you if you need a person.
to fulfill your loneliness. then that conflicts with this passage. Because Paul's loneliness was helped not because a person showed up, but because of the presence. Yeah. The Lord strengthened him.
Listen, Paul didn't find strength in circumstances, he found strength in Christ. What does 2 Corinthians 12? What does Paul later say? Listen, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God says, Paul, my strength is perfect when you're weak.
Isaiah 40, 31, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The Lord strengthened him, the Lord renewed him. God's strength is perfect in our weakness. Number three, the Lord spoke through him. You know what's interesting?
Some of the times in your life where you feel most alone can be some of the times God's preparing you the most to use you. I think of Moses. Moses spent 40 years being a major leader, had everything. He spent the next 40 years tending his father-in-law's sheep. Thank you for listening today.
We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirkwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app.
Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
