Participants: Pr. E.C. Polite
Series Code: HG
Program Code: HG000005
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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 |
Revised 2016-04-21