The Saint Must Often Walk Alone

Introduction: Loneliness is the Price the Saint Must Pay for His/Her Saintliness.
From the beginning, God's people, otherwise known as saints, have experienced great
loneliness. Set apart from the world as belonging to God, loneliness was a price the saint
had to pay for his/her saintliness (e.g. Enoch, Noah, Moses, Paul). Though often around
many people, the saint nevertheless walks alone, living a life that the majority does not
understand or respect.
Many who claim to be Christians deny such loneliness, confidently asserting:
“How can I be lonely when the Lord is with me!?!” Such people mistakenly attribute the
presence of Christ to being around friendly people. Such people have never truly walked
with God without the support and encouragement afforded to him by society.
The truth is, no individual saint/Christian can carry his/her cross in company. His/her
cross is his alone to carry. Even when Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for
Jesus to the top of Calvary (Luke 23:36), it was still ultimately and only Jesus' cross to
bear. Though the saint is surrounded by a vast crowd, his/her cross is his alone and his
carrying the cross marks him as set apart from others (cf. Luke 9:23-26).
The loneliness of the saint results from his/her walk with God in an ungodly world,
a walk that takes him away from the fellowship of so called “Christians” and separates
him from the world. Every Christian is called to be a saint! (Roman 1:7).

I. The Saint, a Spiritual Person, is Truly Set Apart from this World.
A. The saint is a “holy one.”
i. Christians are called to be holy (1 Cor. 1:2).
Note: Christians are called saints over 60 times in the New Testament!
a) Sanctified or made holy by Christ (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 6:11), we are called
to be saints – holy ones set apart from this world as belonging to God.
ii. Our conduct on earth is to be true to our calling: “Be holy for I am holy.”
(1 Peter 1:13-19).
a) As obedient children, we put away fleshly desires to live spiritual
lives which conform to the holiness of God.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not
walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” - Romans 8:1
iii. Ungodly speech and behavior is not fitting for saints - completely out of
character for those called to be imitators of God or saints (Eph. 5:1-5).

B. Saints are spiritual and therefore are strange to the rest of the world.
i. Saints are people who have been reborn in Christ (John 3:3, 5; Rom. 6:4;
Gal. 3:27), “new creations in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17).
a) Every Christian has been given the gift of the Holy Spirit who indwells
him/her (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 1 John 3:24).
ii. Saints think different than other people do, for they have “the mind of
Christ” and look at things from a spiritual point of view (1 Cor. 2:13-16).
iii. Saints are perceived as strange for not participating in the sinful ways of
the world, choosing instead to be spiritual like Christ (1 Peter 4:1-5).

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II. The Saint is Truly Something of an Oddity to This World!
A. The saint lives not for him/herself, but for God.
i. In these last days, many people are “lovers of themselves” and “lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2, 4).
ii. The saint lives not for him/herself, but for the interests of the One who
died for him. The world thinks he is “out of his mind”! (2 Cor. 5:12-15).

B. The saint seeks to follow the Lord only, above everyone else.
i. Many religious people today are followers of men and their teachings
which is carnal, unspiritual behavior (1 Cor. 3:1-4).
ii. In contrast, the saint seeks to please Christ above all (Gal. 1:10); loyal to
Jesus above everyone else, he/she is set apart as a true disciple of Christ.
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant
will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” - John 12:26

III. The Saint Does Not Feel at Home in This World.

A. Not because the saint is haughty and thinks of himself as superior to others.
i. The saints wants to share his/her spiritual thoughts with others and open
his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand, but alas there are
so few spiritual-minded individuals to be found, so he/she often remains
silent and seeks greater refuge in God.
ii. The saint who is silent in the presence of sinners is often perceived as
having a “holier than thou” attitude and maligned for it (1 Peter 4:4).
iii. The saint is not puffed up with pride and self-righteousness, but instead
believes: “But by the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10a).
B. Not because the saint isolates himself and is indifferent to the needs of
humanity.
i. Many suppose (undoubtedly because of bad examples they have seen) that
Christians are too busy contemplating “heavenly matters” to get involved.
ii. The truth is, because a saint is detached from the world, he/she is all the
more able to help it (James 1:26-27; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

C. The saint does not feel at home in this world because he/she is a “pilgrim” and
his true home is in heaven with God (Hebrews 11:13-16).
i. The weakness of so many modern “Christians” is that they feel too much
at home in this world.
a) Seeking comfort in this world, they compromise with the world to
avoid persecution.
b) They lack the “pilgrim character” and are a part of the world order they
are supposed to be protesting and be set apart from.
c) As a result, they are recognized and accepted as one of them. They are
friends with the world, but are the enemies of God! (James 4:4).
d) They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.
ii. Saints abstain from fleshly lusts and conduct themselves honorably,
knowing that Christ will return to take them home (1 Peter 2:11-12).