The Midnight Hour

From: October 31, '06

[Spinning record by Wilson Pickett "Gonna wait till the midnight hour"
Matthew 25:1-6 "At midnight the cry rang out:…"

Romans 13:11-12 CEV "You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord. [12] Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light."

One translation of verse 11 says, "The hour is come to wake up for the end is near…" And it says of our text in Mt. 25:6 "A cry went out at midnight, the bridegroom is coming…"

I believe we are living in the hour before Jesus returns. He is coming again. We need a personal revelation/conviction that JC is coming again—will keep you pure! There are some events in the Bible that happened at midnight and then put ourselves in those places as we think about the coming of the Lord:

Judges 16:1-3 Here we see Samson sleeping in enemy territory – he was sleeping in Gaza. But it says at midnight he woke up. It is time to wake up and rip out the gates of the enemy and do some exploits for God. It's 11:59 and time to do some exploits for God!

Acts 16A Paul & Silas in jail and they did what? That is an exploit when things are going bad for you to… Need to live our lives like it is 11:59.

Ruth 3: 1 Story of Ruth – awesome story—beautiful story & picture! Again, I want us to see the church here – you and me. It's time to do our best for Jesus! Boaz redeems Ruth and takes care of her. But in verse 8 it says concerning Boaz "Now it happened at midnight that the man [Boaz] was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet [Ruth]." Boaz had been good to Ruth & she wanted to show her love—she wanted to show her appreciation for what he had done for her. In verse 7 it says she came in "softly" or "quietly" as not to disturb Boaz. In other words she wanted to do her best – she wanted to show her love by doing her best! What time is it? -- 11:59. Everybody knows you play your best in the 4th quarter and you study your best. Time to do your best!!

1 Kings 3:16-20 Story of two women (actually harlots/prostitutes) who gave birth to one son each in the same house. It says one of the sons died because the mother laid on him in the night (talk about sad). They have come before Solomon for a judgment because of what happened. One of the ladies is speaking to Solomon and says in verse 20 says, "So she arose in the middle of the night (at the midnight hour) and took my son from my side, while I slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom." Sounds like something that would make it on the Jerry Springer show! Bizarre! Want you to see this –at the midnight hour one woman deceived another. You do realize we live in time of great deception – don't you? It's time to be free from deception. Walk out of your…

The Apostle Peter reminds us, "Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack." 1 Peter 5:8 CEV. Jesus was speaking to his disciples in Mt. 24:4 NIV and he says to them, "Watch out that no one deceives you." And in verse 5 he says, "For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many." In Matt. 13:24-30 Jesus gives the parable of the wheat & the tares (weeds). Jesus says, "…The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat,…" This is a picture of what is happening at the midnight hour –what is happening today. There are some weeds in the church

The devil is the one who puts weeds in the church –they are in my church and they are in your church. People who can sing like angels on Sunday but live like the devil during the week—they are weeds. People who have one foot in the church and the other foot is in the bar! Really going to find great people there – especially at the single bars…

Luke 11:5-9 Great searching for bread here at midnight. This man was bold to go to a friend at midnight – he persisted and because of it he got what he needed. And in the same way there is a great searching for truth at this midnight hour. In John 6 Jesus says He is the Bread of Heaven—Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. This is a great word for us – Jesus/truth will not be found by the causal – by those who are just wanting to get by –we have to seek him with all our hearts—day by day, everyday! It's time to seek Jesus w all our hearts… Won't find the truth/Jesus by accident – have to seek for it. Prov. 2:2-4 NLT says, "Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure." Look at those verbs!!!!!!!!

Concl: You can attend church, be involved, sing, and still go to hell. You can be religious but do you know Jesus in your heart? If we could do a countdown – 60, 30, 20, 10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 –and an alarm clock went off and the midnight hour came – How would you be living? What do you need to change? What time is it? 11:59 At midnight it is too late.