"GET ALONE WITH THE LORD"
Genesis 32:24

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My wife and I in the mid-1970s were members of a church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina pastored by my father, E.W. Parks. We had planned a vacation in New Hampshire, and had prepared to depart one Sunday afternoon for the two-day trip. But we learned that morning from our pastor that Don Fortner was to minister to our church that evening. Don and I had been high school classmates and dear friends. He also had been at an earlier time a member of the church pastored by my father. He at that time was pastor of a church in West Virginia. But he was in Winston-Salem because of treatments he was receiving for his cancer. Sandy and I decided to remain for the evening worship service in order to hear our dear friend preach.

Don preached on "things that accompany salvation" (Hebrews 6:1-9). During his message my wife, a professing believer, realized she was lost. I told my pastor and Don that she desired to speak with them in a classroom of the church building. When she told them she realized she was lost, Don said, "Get alone with the Lord!" Then he and my father left the room.

I was a rather young believer, and thought they should do more than just that. Nevertheless, Sandy did indeed "get alone with the Lord", and the Lord was pleased to save her.

When my son Dee telephoned in 1999 from 850 miles away to tell me he was lost, I briefly counseled him and then gave to him to same instructions earlier given to my wife: "Get alone with the Lord!" Dee did indeed "get alone with the Lord", and the Lord was pleased to save him also.

Quite a different situation is found in Churchianity. Sects generally teach that a sinner cannot be saved apart from some sacrament administered by some person acting as priest or mediator between the sinner and God. That error involves the twin doctrines of sacramentalism and sacerdotalism. Sacramentalism (not to be confused with sacramentarianism) is "the doctrine that sacraments are inherently efficacious and indispensable to salvation and capable of conferring grace on a recipient's soul" (Webster's Dictionary). Sacerdotalism is "a belief that assumes a necessity for an authorized priesthood as a mediator between men and their divine needs or aspirations" (Webster's Dictionary).

For example, some sects teach that one cannot be saved apart from baptism. Baptism is therefore their sacrament, the ceremony through which saving grace is said to be conferred to the recipient. This ceremony necessarily requires an administrator, who is said to be their priest or mediator in order that the sinner's need and aspiration of salvation is met. Since both the sacrament and the priest are necessary in order to be saved, those sects would never be able to tell a seeking sinner to "Get alone with the Lord." Rather, they must say, "Get together with our saving ceremony and its administrator."

Consider another form of this error found in much of professing Evangelicalism. I remember from my seminary days the account of a classmate as to how he "got saved" (a term not found in Scripture). He realized after curfew one night that he was lost, and had to go looking for someone to "lead me to the Lord" (as he expressed it) – else he could not "get saved". His "soul-winner" served as his priest between him and God, and the method employed by the "soul-winner" served as his saving sacrament. I do not recall the specific method employed. But it probably involved the "Romans Road" and/or the "Sinner's Prayer". (In the former, the "soul-winner" elicits the seeker's mental assent to certain statements made in the Epistle to the Romans regarding personal salvation; in the latter, the "soul-winner" has the seeker to "repeat after me this prayer for salvation". The seeker is then pronounced by the "soul-winner" to be saved.) My classmate expressed his delight at being able to find someone to help him get saved that night – for evidently he could not get saved while alone.

How different is the counsel of a gospel preacher when he tells seeking sinners to "Get alone with the Lord!"

I. What is our warrant in telling sinners to "Get alone with the Lord"? The counsel of the Lord Himself when He says: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28); "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37); "He who comes to Me shall never hunger" (John 6:35). The Lord Jesus Christ never tells seeking sinners to "Go to a priest" or "Go to a mediator." He never tells seeking sinners to "Go to a sacrament", as in "Go to baptism." He never tells seeking sinners to "Go to the altar" or "Go to the mourner's bench." He never tells sinners to "Repeat this prayer after Me and you will be saved." Rather, He says "Come to Me." Gospel preachers therefore tell seeking sinners to "Come to Jesus."

I remember the trip with my wife to New Hampshire after she had heard the counsel to "Get alone with the Lord." I wisely heeded the same counsel in leaving her alone with the Lord. But I prayed fervently all the while for her salvation. She repeatedly requested I sing to her during the trip. The only song I would sing was the various verses of Joseph Hart's

Very shortly before reaching the Massachusetts-Vermont border on I-91 she requested I pull off the road. She then confessed, "The Lord just saved me!"

II. What is our confidence in telling sinners to "Get alone with the Lord"? "Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9). If our confidence was in a priest or mediator with his saving ceremony and/or sacred furniture, we would direct you to them. But since our only confidence for salvation is in the Lord, we direct you to Him alone, not to a proxy. We are absolutely confident He alone is able to save sinners totally apart from our aid or assistance.

III. What happens when sinners "Get alone with the Lord"? The Lord reveals Himself to them. So it was in our present text (Genesis 32:24ff). Jacob was in dire trouble. The man who had earlier promised to kill him, and from Jacob had fled (27:41-43) was now coming to meet him with four hundred men (32:6-8). Jacob had no one to help him. "Then Jacob was left alone" (v.24a) – with no company but his contemplations and prayers. It was then that the preincarnate Jesus Christ, the Angel of Jehovah, revealed Himself to the troubled sinner (v.24b; cp. Hosea 12:4). Jacob expressed his reliance upon Christ alone in saying "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" (v.26). Christ blessed Jacob's reliance with the promise of salvation and preservation (vv.28-30).

We do not deny the necessity of a sinner hearing the gospel from a man sent by God in order to be saved (Romans 10:13-15). And we do not deny that God often saves men while they are hearing the gospel being preached (as in Acts ch.2).

Rather, we here address those sinners who have heard the gospel but are yet concerned for the salvation of their souls. In such instances it often is best for the preacher to get out of the way and exhort the seeking sinner to "Get alone with the Lord." Obey Christ's exhortation and believe His promise that you should alone "go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matthew 5:6). Remember that this was true of Saul of Tarsus, of whom the Lord took notice when he prayed alone, and was assured by a vision from God that his sight would be restored (Acts 9:11f). Do not resort to a priest and his sacrament. Rather, "Get alone with the Lord."

IV. What should sinners do when they "Get alone with the Lord"? First , you will fear the impending death coming as the consequence of your offence against God (Romans 3:23) – as Jacob feared death approaching him as the consequence of his offence against Esau. Second, you will realize there is no man to save you, and that you have no hope of salvation apart from the Lord (Psalm 118:8f) – as did Jacob. Third, you will see God revealed to you as your Savior (2 Corinthians 4:6) – as did Jacob in exclaiming "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Fourth, you will wrestle with the Lord – or the Lord will wrestle with you, as He did with Jacob. Fifth, you will realize your helplessness to help yourself – as did Jacob when Christ put his hip out of joint, rendering him unable to stand on his own. Sixth, you will lay hold on Christ with all your strength (1 Timothy 6:12) – as did Jacob when he exclaimed "I will not let You go unless you bless me!" Seventh, you will be saved – as was Jacob.

O how blest are all who "Get alone with the Lord!"

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