Higher Ground

Midnight Praise

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. E.C. Polite

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Series Code: HG

Program Code: HG000005


00:46 God's love is inconceivable
00:52 The love that He shows is unconditional
00:58 The power of the Lord
01:00 is unbeatable
01:03 Great is the Lord
01:06 we serve
01:08 God's love is inconceivable
01:14 The love that He shows is unconditional
01:19 The power of the Lord
01:22 is unbeatable
01:25 Great is the Lord
01:27 we serve
01:29 God is great
01:34 and greatly to be praised
01:38 Praised
01:40 God is great
01:45 and greatly to be praised
01:48 praised
01:52 The greatness of the Lord is inconceivable
01:57 The love that He shows is unconditional
02:02 The power of the Lord
02:05 is unbeatable
02:08 Great is the Lord
02:10 we serve
02:12 God is great
02:17 and greatly to be praised
02:20 praised
02:22 God is great
02:27 and greatly to be praised
02:31 praised
02:33 God is great
02:38 and greatly to be praised
02:41 praised
02:44 God is great
02:49 and greatly to be praised
02:52 praised
02:56 God is great
03:00 and greatly to be praised
03:02 praised
03:05 God is great
03:10 and greatly to be praised
03:13 praised
03:17 God is great
03:21 and greatly to be praised
03:24 praised
03:27 God is great
03:32 and greatly to be praised
03:35 praised
03:38 God is great
03:43 and greatly to be praised
03:45 praised
03:48 God is great
03:51 Oh oh, oh oh
03:54 greatly to be praised
03:56 praised
03:59 God is great
04:04 and greatly to be praised
04:07 praised
04:09 God is great
04:12 oh oh, oh oh
04:15 and greatly to be praised
04:18 praised
04:21 God is great
04:24 and greatly to be praised
04:28 praised
04:32 God is great
04:36 and greatly to be praised
04:39 praised
04:42 God is great
04:47 and greatly to be praised
04:50 praised
04:52 God is great
05:03 God is great
05:08 God is great
05:18 and greatly to be praised
05:21 praised
05:28 Come on let's sing that
05:30 God Almighty
05:36 Lord of Glory
05:40 You have called me
05:44 friend
05:49 God Almighty
05:53 Lord of Glory
05:57 You have called me
06:01 friend
06:06 I am a friend of God
06:10 I am friend of God
06:14 I am a friend of God
06:17 He calls me friend
06:21 I am a friend of God
06:31 I am a friend of God
06:34 He calls me friend
06:37 God Almighty, sing
06:39 God Almighty
06:43 Lord of glory
06:47 You have called
06:50 me, friend
06:54 God Almighty
06:59 Lord of glory
07:03 You have called
07:07 me friend
07:09 Say I am a friend of God
07:12 I am a friend of God
07:17 I am friend of God
07:19 I am a friend of God
07:23 He calls me friend
07:27 I am a friend of God
07:31 I am a friend
07:33 I am a friend of God
07:36 I'm a friend of God
07:37 I am a friend of God
07:39 He calls me friend
07:47 He calls me friend
07:56 To worship You
07:59 I live
08:01 To worship You
08:04 I live, I live to worship You
08:13 I was able
08:15 To worship You
08:18 I live
08:21 To worship You
08:24 I live, I live to worship You
08:30 Anybody _ to worship
08:33 To worship You
08:39 I live
08:41 To worship You
08:44 I live, I live to worship You
08:54 If you came to worship Him
08:56 say, To worship You
08:59 I live. What worship is that?
09:02 To worship You
09:04 I live, I live
09:07 to worship You
09:11 Come on we're going to take it
09:13 when you have nothing else to say
09:16 Oh, oh, oh, oh
09:26 Oh, oh, oh oh,
09:32 Will you help me sing?
09:34 oh, oh, oh, oh
09:40 Oh how great you are God
09:43 I love the Lord
09:45 oh, oh, oh, oh
09:51 One more time, one more time say
09:54 oh, oh, oh, oh
10:01 oh, oh, oh, oh
10:15 I give myself away
10:25 I give myself away
10:29 to You, please use me
10:35 I give myself away
10:41 Lord I give myself away
10:48 to You, can you use me
10:53 I give myself away
11:00 My heart You've got I give myself away
11:07 All my life, my heart
11:10 My mind, my soul
11:13 I give myself away
11:18 I give myself away
11:26 So you can use me, oh
11:33 Use me Lord. Come on
11:36 To show someone the way
11:41 And enable me to stay
11:48 My storage is empty
11:52 And I am available
11:58 Come on let's take it up
12:00 My storage, my storage is empty
12:06 and I, and I
12:08 am available to you
12:12 If you are available, come on sing, my storage
12:15 my storage is empty
12:19 and I am available
12:25 I am not my own
12:30 to you I belong
12:34 I give myself, I give myself
12:39 to You
12:41 I give myself, come on
12:43 My life is not my own
12:47 To you I belong
12:52 I give myself, myself
12:56 I give myself to you
12:59 You and only You, come on and sing
13:01 My life is not, my life is not my own
13:07 To you I belong
13:11 I give, I give myself
13:14 I give myself to You
13:19 My life is not my own
13:26 To you I belong
13:30 I give myself, I give myself to You
13:39 Applause
13:41 Turn with me to the Book of Psalms
13:43 What did I say?
13:45 Psalm the 30th chapter
13:49 Psalm 30
13:54 And I want you to consider with me verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 30.
14:06 Psalm 30 verses 4 and 5.
14:16 There you'll find these words recorded.
14:21 Sing unto the Lord O ye saints of His
14:27 And give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness
14:32 For His anger endureth but a moment
14:37 In His favor is life
14:42 Here's what I want to lift up today.
14:45 Weeping may endure for a night
14:49 But what, everyone?
14:52 I don't hear you.
14:54 Joy cometh when?
14:56 In the morning. I just wish some one would think with me today
15:00 on the thought 'Midnight Praise"
15:05 Midnight Praise, I may have told you this story before
15:09 If I did and it comes to your mind, just turn to your neighbor
15:12 and say, I heard that before and it's good.
15:17 Donna and I had just settled in for the evening
15:26 And because it had been an exceptionally busy day
15:29 I drifted off into a deep sleep, a coma like sleep.
15:38 A sleep that they call REM sleep Rapid Eye Movement
15:44 But suddenly my deep sleep was interrupted by a sound
15:50 A sound that I didn't recognize
15:55 but the more consciousness took over my reality, the more
16:00 I began to recognize the sound
16:03 till I became all the way awake.
16:10 And I opened my eyes and noticed that Donna was already awake.
16:15 She was just laying there with her eyes open.
16:19 And I said, Donna
16:24 do my ears deceive me or is that a bird singing?
16:31 She said that's a bird singing I've been laying here listening
16:35 to him for a little while
16:39 In all of my intellectual profundity
16:49 I asked Donna a question
16:51 I said, Donna what's a bird doing, singing at midnight?
17:02 You know Donna
17:05 She has the sweetest disposition
17:08 you could ever imagine.
17:12 I guess that's why it went so deep with me when she answered
17:17 and she said, she calls me Bud
17:21 She's been calling me Buddy since Oakwood and she said, Bud
17:24 who said a bird couldn't sing at midnight?
17:31 Where does it say that the only time a bird can sing
17:35 is when the sun is shining?
17:40 She said that the Bible says that the Lord will give you
17:43 songs in the night.
17:46 You know being the preacher I had to have the last word
17:51 and I said, but not when it disturbs my sleep.
17:56 That bird needs to go to bed like the rest of us.
18:00 And when the morning comes
18:03 we can all praise God together.
18:08 But as I turned over and tried to slip back into sleep, I
18:13 really couldn't because Donna's words had gone deep with me
18:17 They had gotten to a place of agitation and I began to ponder
18:23 the profundity of her thought.
18:26 Who said a bird couldn't sing at midnight?
18:29 Who's restricted our praise to only when the sun is shining?
18:38 We have to get to the place beloved
18:41 when we don't just praise God when the sun is shining.
18:47 Somewhere in our journey, we've got to learn to praise God
18:53 even when there's no sunshine anywhere.
18:57 We've got to get to the place in our spirits
19:00 where we learn how to praise Him even when we're standing
19:05 in the midnight of our circumstances.
19:07 We've got to learn how to praise Him when we've been washed by
19:12 adversity and entrenched in despair. We've got to learn
19:16 how to praise Him even if it means that our very life
19:22 is on the line, but somewhere before our eyes close
19:25 we've got to be able to say Jesus
19:32 I believe this morning there is no sweeter praise
19:38 to the ears of God than the praise that is rendered
19:43 in the midnight of our circumstance
19:49 It's one thing to praise God
19:51 when your pockets are full of money
19:57 It's another thing to praise God when you got more
20:01 debts than money. It's one thing to praise God
20:06 when you've just gotten up from a three course meal
20:09 It's another thing to praise God when you haven't seen
20:14 a meal in three days. It's one thing to praise God
20:18 when you're walking around in the bloom of health
20:21 It's another thing to praise God
20:24 when you just heard that you got terminal cancer
20:27 It's one thing to praise God when you go to your job
20:31 and you sit behind your desk, it's another thing to praise God
20:35 when you've got no job and you've got no desk.
20:38 It's one thing to praise God when your family is fine
20:43 It's another thing to praise God when all hell has broken loose
20:47 in your home. It's one thing to praise God
20:50 when everything is coming up roses, It's another thing to
20:54 praise God when you seem to only be growing thorns.
21:01 I'm just talking about midnight praise
21:05 That's a different kind of praise.
21:08 It's the kind of praise that doesn't make sense at all.
21:16 It's the kind of praise that people don't expect to come
21:22 from you. When they consider what you're going through
21:26 It's the kind of praise that doesn't seem to register
21:32 at the level of intelligence.
21:37 I heard one preacher say that midnight praise
21:41 is a preposterous praise. You know I'm a word-smith. I like
21:47 that word preposterous. It sounded like it meant something.
21:51 And so I went to look it up and this is what Webster said
21:55 about the word. It said that preposterous praise was
21:59 something that is contrary to nature, reason, common sense
22:04 and is absurd.
22:08 I guess if we wanted to summarize all those definitions
22:12 we could just say it's crazy praise.
22:15 You've gotta be crazy
22:18 to praise God with the lights all out in your house
22:21 You gotta be crazy to praise God when your automobile
22:26 just broke down at rush hour on, what's that expressway?
22:31 RL? You gotta be crazy to praise God when your kids are
22:38 losing their mind. You gotta be crazy when you know everybody
22:43 is looking at you sideways. You gotta be crazy
22:49 to give praise when it makes no sense at all. In fact
22:59 that word in the Latin, when I looked it up in the Latin
23:02 it says going forward with your backside first.
23:12 I was trying to picture that in my mind, how do you go
23:16 forward with your backside first?
23:21 Until I saw a Michael Jackson video.
23:28 and it is something called the Moon Walk
23:32 Now don't ask Pastor to do it 'cause I will pull my back out
23:38 But I understood it a little bit better. A motion that looks
23:42 like its going forward but at the same time he's really
23:46 moving backward. How can you go forward while going backwards
23:51 I don't understand. Midnight praise is sometimes that way
23:54 finds a way to go forward when everything in your life is going
23:59 backwards. That's midnight praise.
24:04 I saw that kind of praise in the life of Job.
24:12 Job 1st chapter. Go there with me, let's revisit Job chapter 1
24:18 And let's lift up this classic portrait of midnight praise
24:24 Job 1, looking at verse 8 we find, and the Lord said to Satan
24:32 Hast thou considered my servant Job, there is none like him
24:38 in the earth, a perfect and upright man. One that fears God
24:42 and eschews evil. You've got to get the background here
24:46 See the devil shows up trying to bring an indictment against God
24:51 that there's nobody who's livin right
24:55 there's nobody who's living right
24:59 You got to understand even when you don't think somebody is
25:01 living right, God always knows who the 7000 others are
25:07 who haven't bent a knee to Baal
25:10 and He says, have you considered my servant who?
25:17 If you don't know you better ask somebody
25:20 He's perfect. He doesn't fear anything evil.
25:30 God is bragging on Job and verse 9 says, the devil says the only
25:36 reason he's praising you is why?
25:39 Talk to me
25:41 Cause you got a hedge all about him.
25:47 A protection. Oh somebody's going to get blessed right now
25:52 The only reason he's serving you the only reason he's praisin you
25:59 the only reason why he's acknowledging you is what?
26:03 you got what? a hedge. Don't you understand that even the
26:08 devil knows he can't get into when the Lord builds a faithful
26:13 wall around me. Every day the devil knows he can't penetrate
26:18 that wall because it's impregnable.
26:20 And so he says to the Lord, if you just move your hedge
26:24 out of the way, just move it
26:29 If the devil is so bad why can't he just cut it down?
26:35 I got some hedge clippers
26:41 If you are that devil just cut through the hedge yourself
26:46 But no! He had to ask permission
26:51 Oh somebody, I hope somebody gave the? today.
26:54 He had to get permission. Lord move your hedge and I guarantee
27:00 you, he'll curse you to your face. Verse 12 says, and God
27:04 gives the devil permission to try Job, to try him but don't
27:10 touch him. You touch anything he has but leave him alone
27:17 Look at verses 13 through 19 We find out
27:22 his cattle have been killed, his servants have been killed
27:28 his children were having their own little family reunion
27:32 a tornado comes up and kills them too.
27:35 Everything that's near and dear to him, his wealth, his servants
27:44 his children are all taken away from him.
27:53 And yet, when you come to the end of that chapter
27:57 notice Job's response. Verse 20 Then Job arose and did what?
28:06 rent his mantle and did what else?
28:09 and what else did he do?
28:12 And did what?
28:18 You know what I said midnight praise was?
28:20 It's a crazy kinda praise
28:22 You just lost everything, you just lost all your children
28:27 And the Bible says,
28:32 he just tore his clothes, shaved his head, and worshipped.
28:41 What did he say in his worship? Verse 21. And Job said what
28:49 Naked came I out of my mother's womb, what else?
28:53 Naked shall I return thither
28:56 The Lord gave, what else?
29:00 What's that word?
29:02 What's that word? What's that word?
29:05 Blessed be what?
29:12 If you don't know how to give midnight praise
29:16 You are the?. Use Job's praise.
29:19 I didn't have anything when I got here,
29:23 And so now that I've lost it all to Jesus
29:27 Now that I've lost everything
29:29 I know perhaps I should be upset about it
29:34 But since I got here with nothing
29:36 I'm just back to the beginning
29:40 But the fact that I can be here at all makes me say
29:43 Blessed, blessed be the name of the Lord. See you got to
29:49 understand something about midnight praise. Midnight
29:53 Praise doesn't focus on what you don't have
29:57 it focuses on what you do have
30:00 I may not have my children I may not have my wealth
30:06 I may not have my servants
30:09 but I still got my Jesus. Might you all say Amen
30:13 I still got my life. There are things we have in life
30:20 that are worth more than material things.
30:23 That are worth more than anything else,
30:27 your life and your Lord
30:32 We don't put enough value on our lives and our Lord
30:44 But the Bible lets me know
30:49 that the devil came back again
30:51 in Chapter 2 because he thought his strategy would work.
31:02 And yet instead of getting him to curse God
31:07 Job gives the midnight praise
31:11 And so he comes back to God and says, listen
31:16 see, here's the problem. You wouldn't let me touch him
31:24 You let me touch the things he had.
31:27 But You didn't let me touch him
31:31 So this time let's do this thing a little bit differently.
31:34 I just don't want to touch his things, I want to be able
31:40 to touch him. And the Lord said, have a try,
31:48 If you feel foggy
31:55 He ain't scared of you
31:58 Go ahead. But there's one thing I gotta tell you
32:03 Don't take his life
32:07 Listen to me beloved. You may feel like that thing you're
32:14 going through right now is going to kill you. But you need to
32:18 understand, God has placed limitations on him
32:25 no matter how hard that thing is, no matter how bad it feels
32:30 no matter if it feel like it's going to kill you, if you feel
32:34 like it's going to take you out understand the devil can go only
32:37 so far and no further. The Lord has put restrictions on the
32:43 devil. I don't care what your experience is right now
32:47 my God says, thus far and no further!
32:53 God's got your back whether you believe it or not.
32:58 It doesn't feel like it right now because you're standing
33:03 you're standing fresh in the reality of that experience
33:09 and so your mind does not process the goodness of God
33:15 or the quickness of God. Your mind is still trying to deal
33:20 with the loss, with the pain, with the change that is coming
33:26 in your life and so it will take a little moment for you to
33:31 shift out of first into second. Until you can get into 4th gear
33:37 and be able to say with Job Though He slay me
33:43 Yet I'm going to trust Him
33:47 Can we talk? I said, can we talk?
33:51 Well you better talk to me then
33:54 If we talk understand something understand something
33:58 You don't grow and get that kinda faith overnight
34:06 So don't let people guilt trip you
34:11 I'm telling you something now. Don't let people guilt trip you
34:15 Because your faith doesn't seem to be as strong
34:19 as they think it should be.
34:22 You know it's one thing for somebody to say to you
34:25 when you just lost something or someone
34:28 Well you got to know the Lord is my Shepherd
34:37 It's another thing when the tables are turned.
34:42 And the situation is different.
34:45 And they are now walking in your shoes.
34:48 And they recognize there's a rock in your shoe.
34:54 Those same people who can quote those scriptures to you
34:57 Those same people who were so ready with their commitment
35:01 now you can barely see them with a smile on their face
35:06 because they're always bent over in grief and despair
35:11 because while they knew the 23rd Psalm they failed to
35:17 know the Shepherd.
35:23 We need to move beyond a rote memorization of the Word
35:30 to a place where we gain an experience in the Living Word
35:36 Are you listening to me?
35:42 It is different when you're going through it
35:46 than when you tell somebody or watch somebody
35:51 go through it and try to give it a word. One of the moments
35:55 in my ministry where I feel the most helpless and useless
36:03 I'm just being transparent here
36:05 is when someone is going through an experience and I have
36:09 absolutely no way to help them.
36:12 I can't resurrect their loved one, I can't give them back
36:18 their job, I can't pull their marriage back together
36:22 I can't get their child off crack cocaine
36:27 All I can do is say, I'll pray for you.
36:32 I'll pray for you. And I feel so useless.
36:40 Except for the fact I start to remember when somebody
36:44 prayed for me.
36:48 If that's all you have, then you use it.
36:52 There's a power in prayer. Did you hear what I said?
36:57 There's a power, I'd rather somebody prayed for me
37:00 When I am going through something, cover me
37:05 When I can't pray myself. Job said
37:10 The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away
37:14 Blessed be the name of the Lord. Even after the devil comes again
37:19 and God gives him permission to touch him
37:22 he still doesn't budge. When you read through chapter 2
37:26 of Job you find out that his friends came to him.
37:32 I'm going somewhere with this
37:36 Now Job is going through great distress and calamity
37:42 and when you're going through something, there's something
37:44 that I learned while a chaplain in the military, it's called the
37:48 ministry of presence. Don't think that you're supposed to
37:54 have an answer for everything.
37:56 Did you hear what I said?
37:58 Sometimes, the best thing you can do
38:02 is just sit there and shut up.
38:06 Just be there for somebody
38:10 Because while they're going through their midnight
38:13 their eyes are talking and they can't see God.
38:18 And so they can try to get as close as they can to God
38:23 through you by you sitting there to represent God's presence
38:30 Well you ought to know that you ain't God, so shut up.
38:34 You can't say the right thing so just be there in presence
38:43 There are going to come times in the experience of God's people
38:48 we're not going to understand what God is doing.
38:53 When I talked with Nikki this morning
38:56 and I listened through her tears
39:02 I couldn't offer anything that sounded intelligent to me
39:09 so I listened with the ministry of presence
39:18 Even if I tried to convey the story
39:22 of Job, it wouldn't have meant anything
39:24 right then. It was too fresh and it was too new.
39:32 When I hear stories like Job I feel indicted
39:37 because I don't know, well I do know now
39:41 that I don't respond like this
39:45 when I'm going through something. Do you?
39:49 You don't have to tell me the truth, you know the truth anyway
39:54 We've got a long way to grow, did you hear what I said?
39:59 We've got a long way to what?
40:02 Not go but to grow
40:08 Let me share a passage of Scripture with you as I
40:12 bring this message to a close
40:15 Philippians the 4th chapter
40:21 What kind of praise am I talking about?
40:24 Philippians the 4th chapter
40:27 Have a look at verse 6 and 7
40:30 Philippians 4:6-7. Be careful for nothing,
40:36 But in everything, how many things?
40:38 A few things. How many things?
40:41 Everything. In everything by prayer and supplication
40:47 with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto who?
40:54 Unto God
41:03 That's an important principle, let your request be known to God
41:08 When Job's friends came to him you'd expect your friends
41:12 to do what when you're going through your midnight?
41:15 I heard support you, isn't that right?
41:18 Be there for you, isn't that right?
41:20 Hold your arms up, isn't that right?
41:23 When Job's friends got there
41:28 they noticed something about him
41:30 Bible commentators speculate that Job had a venereal disease
41:38 that was in its advanced stages
41:42 William Barclay, a noted authority in New Testament
41:46 times and teachings says that their thinking was simple that
41:51 there was some sort of relation- ship between sin and suffering
41:55 so that the part of the body that was afflicted
41:59 was no doubt the part of the body used to commit the sin
42:03 What kind of disease?
42:06 I'll let you fill in the blanks.
42:09 This is a preacher who's supposed to be holy.
42:13 This was a preacher who was supposedly keeping commandments
42:18 This was a preacher who was married. This was a preacher
42:22 who's supposed to be faithful
42:24 and he's sitting there in sack cloth and ashes
42:27 with a venereal disease
42:31 scraping the sores because they itch so bad
42:36 and trying to convince them he hasn't done anything wrong.
42:44 I'm talkin about Job's friends.
42:48 You need to be careful who you call friends.
42:53 You have to ask God to select your friends for you.
42:59 Because your friends can be a help or hindrance to you
43:06 when you're going through your midnight journey
43:11 You need the kind of friends that even though it doesn't
43:13 add up, even though it doesn't look right, even though
43:19 the circumstances say one thing they refuse to believe
43:24 what they see but rather they'd believe what they know about you
43:32 That's why the writer of Philippians says
43:36 Rather than to go to man
43:40 where you really need to go, see your friends on account of
43:44 whom they can just be there even if you don't say nothing
43:47 if you're just quiet. Make your requests known to who?
43:54 Let God know what's going on because there's nobody
43:59 down here when you're standing in the midnight of circumstances
44:03 that can do anything about it.
44:06 Only God can. So make your requests known unto God
44:14 Here's what you gotta do in midnight.
44:20 At midnight you need to pray
44:25 You need to what?
44:28 Pastor I don't feel like it.
44:33 Pastor I'm angry with God
44:37 Pastor I don't believe God is listening anyway
44:42 Pastor do you realize I just lost my mother?
44:47 I just lost my father?
44:50 And God is sovereign and He could've stopped it if He wanted
44:54 and you say I need to do what?
44:59 Pray
45:02 Understand beloved that just because we're believers and
45:06 we're Christians in the body of Christ doesn't mean we always
45:08 want to do the things the body of Christ does.
45:13 The only reason you don't know about it is because nobody is
45:16 honest enough to tell you they don't feel like praying.
45:21 But if we were transparent we'd be honest enough to say
45:25 there are times when I am angry with God
45:27 There are times when I don't want to talk to God
45:31 There are times I feel like God has let me down.
45:35 There are times when I could slap somebody if they mention
45:41 God's name. But you need to understand even when its
45:47 when you don't feel like praying that you need to pray the most
45:53 squeeze out a prayer, moan out a prayer
45:58 hum a prayer, cry out a prayer
46:03 If you don't have a prayer turn to the Psalms and borrow
46:07 a prayer. Whatever you do, get a prayer unto the Lord
46:13 Because even if you were in the best of your mind
46:16 your best prayer still needs to be reinterpreted before
46:21 it reaches the ears of God. The Spirit grabs your prayer
46:25 and puts it in a language where God can understand precisely
46:30 what you need even if you didn't ask it in your prayer
46:35 I like that about God. Even when I don't know how to pray
46:41 He helps my prayer out!
46:43 There's something else you should do at midnight
46:47 it's right there in verse 7
46:51 after you've made your requests known, the what of God?
46:56 the what of God?
46:57 Which does what?
47:00 What will it do?
47:07 Midnight praise will cause you to pray,
47:10 midnight praise will cause you to have peace
47:14 that nobody else understands
47:20 It has to be mingled, however, with a prayer
47:26 Prayer first, praise second, and then it will produce
47:33 peace. Listen to this quotation from the book Education, page166
47:39 When Jesus was met with stinging or sharp words
47:44 when atmosphere around Him was heavy with gloom
47:48 dissatisfaction, distrust or fear, He would sing
47:54 He met temptation with praise and left temptation with peace
48:02 Peace. Do you remember what that felt like?
48:06 Peace. The absence of fear.
48:11 The absence of conflict. The absence of anxiety.
48:16 Peace. The three Hebrew boys knew something about that
48:21 because even when looking in the fiery furnace,
48:26 in the midnight of their circumstances, they said OK
48:30 we're not careful to answer you. The God who we serve is
48:35 what? I don't hear you.
48:37 He's able to do what?
48:40 Deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.
48:47 But if He doesn't
48:51 He's still God.
48:54 But if we burn to death He's still good
48:59 But if He doesn't deliver us from the fire
49:02 He's still our God.
49:05 But if we have to go to sleep today understand something
49:10 we're still going to serve Him and we're not going to serve you
49:16 You've got to have your heart fixed and your mind made up
49:19 when you're going through the midnight experience.
49:24 Finally, finally, finally
49:28 It says and God shall keep your hearts and your minds
49:31 through Jesus Christ. Understand something beloved. You've got
49:36 to get this point. Understand something.
49:39 Midnight praise precedes victory
49:47 What did I say?
49:52 I was on the internet one evening after my father died
49:59 and it was a chat room full of people
50:05 I don't really know what kind of chat room it was
50:07 I don't know what kind of chat room it was
50:13 I remember chatting, putting in words and I said
50:19 My father has died
50:23 and it hurts so bad
50:27 and I left it out there. And they kept right on chatting
50:31 all around, I saw post after post after post
50:37 and then after about 10 minutes
50:42 someone directed a post to me
50:48 and they said, CP
50:55 it's going to get better.
50:59 I can't explain it but it's going to get better
51:05 They went on to chat and tell me how they had lost their mother
51:11 and so they were relating to the emptiness that I felt
51:18 they understood the pain that I had
51:23 But they wanted to let me know that there is a bright side
51:28 somewhere. I began to chat with that person
51:33 further and we shared our journey with each other
51:40 and by the time I finished talking with him that night
51:43 it was well after midnight.
51:48 Where I had been crying, where I had been full of anxiety
51:53 and perplexity, by the time that person finished talking to me
51:58 I was praising God.
52:03 I would be lying to you if I told you that I stayed in that
52:07 place, because I didn't.
52:08 I relaxed and I went back out again trying to find that person
52:14 hoping they would be out there for me,
52:17 just to tell me hold on
52:20 Victory is around the corner Jesus is able
52:25 They never came out again. I went the next night
52:29 and the next night and the next night
52:31 They were never out there again
52:34 And so for the next four years
52:39 I had to forget about that chat
52:43 and I had to send out another chat
52:50 Even though there's chatting going on all over the place
52:55 I recognized that when I sent out my chat, He heard
53:02 He was able to distinguish my need
53:06 from everybody else's need. When we're going through the
53:11 midnight of our circumstance sometimes we're inclined to
53:16 believe that I'm going through it all by myself
53:20 Nobody understands what I am going through.
53:23 But understand something, Jesus knows.
53:29 And He offers, He offers
53:34 His peace, His comfort and His grace
53:45 When I hung up the phone this morning
53:51 Donna sent me a text and her text says
53:59 Buddy, just remember today that if you're weeping
54:07 Jesus is weeping more
54:14 Please share that with the families today
54:22 He's touched by the feelings of our infirmities
54:25 He can relate to us
54:32 Don't think Jesus doesn't feel your pain
54:37 He feels it, just as verily as He felt those nails
54:41 go through His hands.
54:43 Those nails through His feet
54:47 That ignominious crown of thorns pressing into His brow
54:51 He feels your pain
54:54 And today, this morning, Jesus wants to give you peace
55:05 in the midst of your pain
55:11 It doesn't matter whether or not you're capable of giving
55:14 Him your midnight praise right now
55:16 Can you give him a midnight surrender?
55:19 Can you just come to the altar and say, Pastor
55:26 I confess I haven't been able to give the Lord midnight praise
55:32 but I can give Him my midnight pain
55:38 You said He can turn it into midnight praise
55:41 Weeping endures for a night
55:45 the Bible says, Joy is going to come in the morning
55:50 Do you need to come?
55:53 Do you need to bring your midnight of pain?
55:57 Until you can get to the midnight praise? If you need
56:00 to come just come. Slip out of your seat and just come
56:03 Just come, just come
56:06 You need to bring your midnight of pain here
56:10 Just come. Bring it, bring it Just get up and come
56:14 Get up and come. I don't know what it is
56:19 But I know what God put in my spirit to say today
56:22 just come, bring your pain
56:24 Just bring your midnight of pain. Bring it
56:27 Bring it. Don't just sit there. It doesn't matter
56:30 what people say. They can't do anything about your pain
56:34 Only Jesus can. So don't be concerned about who's looking
56:39 Just get up and come. Don't worry about who's looking
56:42 at you. You ought to be worried about who can see from there
56:46 Do you need to come? Come, come, come
56:49 I don't care if you haven't responded to an altar call
56:54 But come today, respond today If this is the first time
56:57 you've come to the altar call come today
56:59 Bring your pain today
57:02 Let's sing. All to Jesus
57:10 I surrender all
57:18 All to Him I freely give
57:26 Is there someone else that needs to come?
57:28 I will ever
57:33 love and trust Him
57:40 In His presence
57:45 daily live
57:50 I surrender all


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Revised 2016-04-21