by Charles H. Stalker
The Son of God had five thousand when He was feeding them
with the loaves and fishes, He had a multitude when He was opening the eyes of the blind,
but when He was sweating the death sweat for a lost world, He was alone.
I want to say, beloved, that this is as true as it has ever been. You will spend much time
alone with God, and the greatest struggles and the greatest battles of your life will take
place when you are alone. There will be meetings and there will be messages, but you must
have something that will take you through alone. Until you have something that will defy
the devil and defeat all hell and drive back the powers of darkness when you are alone,
you will never have much victory. It is good to have someone to pray with, that is the
right thing, but there is nothing that will give you courage and build up your character
so much as being alone with God in the great battles of your life. We are apt to depend on
people, and we are apt to listen to them. Jesus was left by the multitude and left by His
followers, that is the thing; left by His followers, those who had been with Him and knew
Him best. They were tired and weary, and they had no conception of what was going on; they
saw it not. It is good to be with our friends and to hear their encouraging words, but,
beloved, you will get more alone with God in prayer, in communion and in struggle than you
will ever get in any other way. This is the point where a great many fail they are not
prepared to go through alone with nobody around. Remember you will have to die alone, and
God wants you to get the victory alone.
Another thing I want you to notice. Carnality is sleeping while Holiness is weeping. That
has always been the case. Now you want to get away from the sleeping to the weeping, and
if you weep, you will weep alone. You live and talk with your friends, but when you go to
prayer they are not there. Look at Jesus up there on the mountain, looking over Jerusalem
while it is sleeping, and what does He say? "How often would I have gathered you as a
hen gathereth her brood under her wing, and ye would not." They would not. That was
the secret. "Your house is left unto you desolate." It is too late now; the
opportunity is past. God help us to see these things this morning. If you laugh, the world
laughs, with you; if you weep, you weep alone.
Why did He weep? Because He saw a lost world. Why did they sleep? Because they had
calamity. Their eyes were open to see the miracles, but when it came to the great
struggle, they were asleep. The Son of God had no doubt walked as far as they had and was
just as weary, but He was facing the cross. He was praying for a lost world, and His heart
was beginning to break, and Peter, James and John, not Judas now, but Peter, James and
John, the chosen ones, those who had been with Him most, were sleeping. How few are
willing to go out and go through with God alone. It means a great deal, but it is worth
all it costs, and things you get that way you can have for time and eternity. So you see
how much it meant for the Son of God to go through that struggle. When He came back to His
disciples, He found them sleeping. How it must have torn His very heart. Three times He
returned and found them sleeping. He was alone, and He was weeping, and He sweat as it
were great drops of blood, even on a cold morning. Someone says, "How do you know it
was a cold morning? "Only a short distance away Peter was warming himself by a
fire." He was sweating; it was just the burden of soul. There is nothing, beloved,
that will bring such agony as a burden of soul. You can carry a financial burden, you can
carry a physical burden, but when you get a burden of soul, it will bring out of your
veins the blood that is there. And it is a wonderful thing to know that God hears and
answers prayer. A prayer takes something out of you. It took sweat from the Son of God. It
takes something out of you, but it brings something to you. A great many people think it
is just a pastime, but when the heart is in it, it takes something out of you.
Now it is easier to get preachers and singers than prayers. People will do everything else
before they will pray. There is a demand for prayers, but there are not enough to supply
the demand. I do not like to speak on this subject without spending most of the night in
prayer. It seems a special picture. He was just praying, and He had to do His praying
alone. There is something peculiar about prayer; there is something special about prayer.
Talking to man is one thing, but talking to God is quite another, and it seems that the
devil wants to keep people from praying.
The Holy Ghost is faithful and beloved you do not realize what privileges you have until
you are filled with the Holy Ghost. He makes intercessions for you with "groanings
which cannot be uttered". Now the groanings of Jesus could be uttered. Notice, He
groaned in spirit and He uttered groans, but the Holy Ghost intercedes with groanings
which cannot be uttered. You might pray a few words, but that prayer becomes special when
it is groaned out by the Holy Ghost at the throne of God. Prayers that become groans
always get an answer. And it says Jesus "sweat as it were great drops of blood
falling to the ground." And He went back the third time, but they did not understand.
They did not notice the disappointment when He said, "What, could ye not watch with
me one hour?" He asked for just one hour, but they were too sleepy, and they did not
wait with Him even one hour. God help everyone of us this morning not to miss anything He
has for us. Another thing that seems so very impressive, was about the last thing Jesus
said to them "Sleep on now." He had awakened them twice; but the third time He
went back He said, "Sleep on now". It is one of the most pathetic and saddest
utterances there is in the Bible. The disappointment at the cross was hardly equal to
this; it scarcely meant so much when they took His garment and tore it to pieces and gave
Him vinegar to drink. This "Sleep on now," showed they had missed the great
opportunity of their lives.
They disappointed Him in the hour that He needed them most. There was only one
Transfiguration, and there was only one Gethsemane. Now they had disappointed Him, and He
said, "Sleep on now." Later, these disciples went to the Upper Room and received
the Holy Ghost; but just think of the people who never wake up.
What is time for? Just weeping and praying and groaning for a lost world. What is eternity
for? Rejoicing with the blood washed and the redeemed. They may be sleeping all around
you, but you can be wide awake, and the greatest honor that can be given to you is to have
a burden for souls that will lay on your heart till it breaks. People have remarked that
certain men would have lived longer if they had not had such a burden for souls, but if
you die with a broken heart, there is no lost time. You had better live ten years with the
Holy Ghost than a hundred without Him. The Holy Ghost energizes and inspires and gives
courage and character so that you can accomplish more in ten years than some people would
do in a hundred. The burden for souls is rare; not many have it, and some say they would
not like that kind of burden. It takes real life to carry it, and people may not live so
long, but they will live through all eternity.
Jesus might have lived longer if He had not carried such a burden, and His followers might
have lived longer if they had not received the Holy Ghost. We say that because they all
died an unnatural death. John might have stayed off the Isle of Patmos if he had not had
the Holy Ghost. They chose to have the Holy Ghost and die an unnatural death rather than
have carnality and live a hundred years. That is the secret, and may God help someone to
receive the Holy Ghost, and in life and in death have the victory . God help you to be
willing to pay the price. Do not miss your opportunity; it is within your reach now, and
the Holy Ghost will be faithful to you. There was only one Transfiguration, only one
Gethsemane, and only one Calvary. Jesus went through and died of a broken heart. Take the
step now, regardless of anyone, and God will meet your need. Let us pray.
Reference Used: Holy Ghost Messages by Charles H. Stalker