Sermon Tone Analysis

Offering

Midnight Hour Prayer

Intro:

When Mercy was only a few months old, Angela got pregnant with our second child.

Silence.

Ooh.

Scholars note that between the end of the Old Testament and the time of the New Testament, there was a period of 400 years of silence.

For 400 years there was no prophecy.

Think of that, our nation is only 241 years old.

During the 400 years of silence, the nation of Israel had struggled to obtain their independence.

During the 400 years of silence, the nation of Israel had struggled to obtain their independence.

They even had seasons of freedom and independence... but eventually fail to the Roman Empire.

Thailand ultrasound indicated possible problem.

By the birth of Christ, Rome had exerted such irresistible force that Israel was hopelessly subjected to them.

When they would later rebel in AD 70, the temple would be destroyed and the land ransacked.

All Jews would be forced to leave the land by command of the emperor.

This would lead to two thousand years of Jewish exile from their homeland- a time in which they would be scattered to the ends of the earth with no motherland to call home.

They were fighting for a homeland they felt powerless to defend.

They were controlled by a culture they could not influence.

And they could not seem to hear God.

Ultrasound in Calcutta revealed the baby had died in the wound and stopped developing and she would miscarry anytime.

Anyone ever felt like that?

Anyone ever been in a midnight hour season of life?

For Israel, Jesus was born at one of the darkest moments in their history.

Returned to the hotel in a dark cloud.

There is another story in scripture that reminds me of the silent years.

It is the story of Paul and Silas in jail.

We find the story in

We did not know what to do?

Should we take Angela to the camp?

Should we leave her back?

Stay or go?

How do you balance faith and wisdom?

I can tell you, that was one of the darkest hours of our life.

What do you do in the dark hours?

When there is no light?

When your life is flooded with pain?

When you are confined with no way out, no way forward?

Paul and Silas faced a moment like that.

There is another story in scripture that reminds me of the silent years.

It is the story of Paul and Silas in jail.

We find the story in .

Please turn there with me in your Bibles.

So the great apostolic missionary team was split.

But it turned out to be ok.

What looked like a tragedy born out of frustration actually resulted in a multiplication of ministry.

Only God can turn frustration into multiplication.

So Paul and Silas set out.

But soon they are stopped by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word of God in Asia.

Why?

They are missionaries.

Aren’t they supposed to preach the Gospel?

Perhaps God is protecting them.

Perhaps He has someone else to minister in that region.

Perhaps He is rushing them to an urgent assignment.

Perhaps Paul would have been killed and half the New Testament would not have been written.

We cannot say for sure.

And sometimes, that is how God’s will is.

We cannot fully understand it.

But we must be people of the Spirit, lead by God.

We must be prepared to obey God even when we do not fully understand what He is saying.

God Is Leading Paul and Silas.

God Will Lead Us

Now most of us have been so infected by the American Gospel-

the idea that Jesus called us to take up a crown and not a cross-

that we think whatever God is leading us to will always be better than where we are, easier than where we are, more comfortable than where we are, more successful than where we are.

Friends, that simply is not true.

God rewards us with higher levels of service, not necessarily higher levels of income.

He gives us more important assignments, not more indulgent assignments.

How many Navy Seals sign up with the expectation that the harder they work- the safer they will be?

The more they get promoted, the easier life will be.

Let me answer that for you.

None.

If they work hard, serve faithfully, and continue in service long enough to be promoted- the best they can hope for is to be entrusted with the responsibility of sending other men into harm’s way- an assignment far more difficult than going yourself for those who have already gone.

What we see with Paul and Silas is that God clearly leads them to Macedonia.

But when they get there- life is not paradise.

Heaven will be paradise.

This life is war.

We have marching orders from our Commander to march into the battle and push back the enemy and liberate the captives.

That is not a vacation.

This is war.

And Paul and Silas find themselves in the middle of this war.

As soon as they arrived, they encountered two things:

Salvations

Satanic opposition

When we follow God, He will use us to reach the lost and confront the enemy.

One will be fun.

One will not- but it will be necessary.

Watch what happens.

You would think that the satanic opposition would come in the form of an enemy- someone out to get them.

But actually- just the opposite.

A slave girl starts bragging about how great Paul and Silas are.

Satan knows the power of pride.

He will try to puff us up to bring us down.

And this fortune telling slave girl, who has a demonic spirit, comes to Paul and Silas and starts bragging about them.

There is a huge difference between encouraging some one and enticing them.

Both say nice words but they have a different motive.

Encouraging them is saying kind words to help them follow the Lord, to not give up, to strengthen them.

Enticing them is saying nice words to influence them, control them, to manipulate them into what you want them to do.

The devil is using this slave girl to say nice words- not to help them, but to distract others from hearing them.