What Will You Do at Midnight? - DJ Dickerson

The lesson this evening coincides with

what the kids have been learning in

their Bible classes as of late. Now, as

you might remember, of course, over the

several past weeks uh on the Sunday

evenings, uh I've not been kind of

following along, I guess, in in a in

their lessons due to other uh sermons

that I had prepared. Uh but the

particular lesson that we're going to be

considering uh this evening is from the

book of Acts. And of course in the adult

Bible class, as we're quite aware, we're

studying that exact book, aren't we? Uh

except we haven't got to this particular

chapter in the book of Acts, uh in our

adult class, but I encourage you to go

to Acts chapter 16 with me. Acts chapter

Acts 16 · chapter mention Acts 16 · chapter mention

16.

And as you're turning over there to Acts

16,

I want to ask you if you have ever

thought

that some of the greatest victories in

scripture

didn't happen in temples and not even on

mountaintops.

Rather, we find a lot of accounts that

speak

of those

powerful displays

that happened in dark places,

behind locked doors.

They happened when God's people were

hurting,

when they were misunderstood and

chained.

There's a lot of recordings of that,

isn't there? And this evening, I want to

take you into a prison cell in Philippi

and let you listen to two men who refuse

to let suffering silence their faith.

And this is an account that again is

quite familiar to most, if not all of

us, regarding the Apostle Paul and that

of Silas and what happened when they

faced midnight.

So this lesson I I'm my design for this

lesson is to press us for the question

that we must ask for ourselves

not as to whether midnight will arrive

but rather what will you do at midnight

because I assure you

midnight will come.

And I want to say this before we read

our text here that when I say midnight,

you know, some people look at that

question, what will you do at midnight?

And most, if not all, are like, I'll be

asleep. Uh, well, bear with me what I'm

saying about this. Okay, let me put some

context here. When I say midnight,

midnight is is more than a time on the

clock.

uh midnight is representative of of

those moments when I I I believe that

when life uh feels the darkest. I I I

think of sometimes when prayer may feel

heavier uh when tears come easier and

when fears

tries to speak louder than our faith.

And I want you to keep that in mind as

we read through here. I think you're

going to see the connection as we go

through this chapter. Acts 16 16-34

is the passage that we're going to be

considering tonight. Now, it happened as

we went to prayer that a certain slave

girl possessed with a spirit of

divination metas

who brought her masters much profit by

fortunetelling. This girl followed Paul

and us and cried out saying, "These men

are the servants of the most high God

who proclaimed to us the way of

salvation."

And this she did for many days. But Paul

greatly annoyed turned and said to the

spirit, "I command you in the name of

Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he

came out that very hour. But when her

master saw that their hope of prophet

was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and

dragged them into the marketplace to the

authorities.

And then they brought them to the

magistrates and said, "These men being

Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, and

they teach customs which are not lawful

for us, being Romans, to receive or

observe." Then the multitude rose up

together against them. And the masters

tore off their clothes, and commanded

them to be beaten with rods.

And when they had laid many stripes on

them, they threw them into prison,

commanding the jailer to keep them

securely. Having received such a charge,

he put them into the inner prison and

fashioned their feet in the stalks. But

at midnight,

Paul and Silas were praying and singing

hymns to God. And the prisoners were

listening to them. Suddenly there was a

great earthquake so that the foundations

of the prison were shaken. And

immediately all the doors were open and

everyone's chains were loosed. And the

keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep

and seeing the prison doors open,

SUPPOSING THE PRISONERS HAD FLED, drew

his sword and was about to kill himself.

But Paul, called with a loud voice,

saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are

all here."

Then he called for a light, ran in, and

fell down trembling before Paul and

Silas. And he brought them out and said,

"Sir, what must I do to be saved?"

So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus

Christ, you'll be saved, you and your

household." Then they spoke the word of

the Lord to him and to all who were in

his house. And they and he took them the

same hour of the night and washed their

stripes. And immediately he and all his

family

were baptized.

Now when he had brought them into his

house, he set food before them, and he

rejoiced having believed in God with all

his household.

You know, as we walk through this

passage, you know, I

again, it's one of those ones that you

you know, you've read. Again, the kids

were just learning about Paul and Silas

and in the jail. And

there are some things that I I was

reflecting on and preparing this lesson.

And I want to share with you a few

points of what we find in this passage.

And again, what we what we find quite

apparent is I believe faithful obedience

does not guarantee easy roads.

I think that's pretty clear, isn't it?

Now, as we know, Paul and Silas, they

were not criminals. Uh they were

missionaries. They had come to Philippi

to preach Christ. They they came to

bring hope. They they came to share the

gospel.

earlier that day as it states there in

our passage that that Paul he cast an

evil spirit out of a slave girl. And now

of course we know what what uh stirred

some things up is because that that uh

slave girl her owners lost their source

of what? Income.

And when money is threatened, I think we

understand it. When money is threatened,

truth often becomes what? The target,

doesn't it? You better believe it.

So here, get the imagery. The crowd

turned. False accusations were made and

the mob rose up

and without a trial. Paul and Silas were

beaten with rods. Their their backs I I

want you again, I think when you read

through it, we might miss some of this.

When they're beaten, it's not just like

a little, you know, tap or so. I'm

talking about beat

backs were torn, bodies bruised, their

dignity itself stripped away, and then

they were thrown into prison.

They're not placed comfortably. They're

not gently escorted. Again, I want us to

get that in our minds. They were shoved

into the inner prison and their feet

were locked in stocks.

They were bound.

Think about the cold floors, bleeding

wounds, chains around their ankles,

darkness all around. You got that

imagery? Get it?

And here's what we must understand. They

were doing God's work.

They they were in God's will and they

still ended up in jail, didn't they?

You know it reminded me one of the

passages that come to my mind in John 16

and verse 33. These things, this is

Jesus saying this. These things I have

spoken to you that in me you may have

peace. In the world you will have

tribulation but be of good cheer. I have

overcome the world.

You see, Jesus is reminding even from

this passage that faithfulness does not

cancel hardship.

Friends, faithful obedience does not

mean that life will be easy. Sometimes

doing right leads straight into

hardship. And that's a prime example we

see in Acts chapter 16. Sometimes

Acts 16 · chapter mention

following Jesus brings one face to face

with suffering.

But I would submit that we never confuse

hardship with abandonment.

God had not left them. Rather, he was

truly positioning them. And what I mean

by that is what we're going on through

this lesson and what midnight is

revealing.

Midnight is revealing the heart.

Scripture tells us something remarkable.

And if you notice it again in verse 25,

it says, "At midnight, Paul and Silas

were praying and singing hymns to God."

Now, I want you to think about this. Not

at noon, not in the morning, but at

midnight.

Again, think of this with me. What did I

say earlier? Midnight is when pain feels

heavier. Midnight is when doubts grow

louder. Midnight is when exhaustion just

settles in. Midnight reveals what truly

lives inside us.

And at midnight, what were they doing?

Well, according to what we see here in

the scriptures,

well, they were praying and singing

hymns to God.

They prayed. They sang.

They didn't whisper.

They didn't complain.

They worshiped.

And I I've always tried to imagine this,

you know, two two men in chains, fresh

wounds on their backs, unsure if they

would even see morning.

And instead of curses on their lips,

there was praise. This has just always

astounded me when I read this.

And friends, I I want to share with you

that what that does, it tells us

something powerful

about their hearts.

Because as we find in the scriptures,

praise is not the product of comfort.

That's not that's not what that is.

Praise is not the product of comfort.

Praise is the choice of faith.

That's what that is.

And I want you to think with me. They

they didn't wait for the miracle to

sing.

I mean, think about this really. They

didn't wait for the miracle to sing.

They sang before the miracle come.

And they didn't wait for the doors to

open.

They worshiped while the doors were

still closed.

They didn't praise God because things

were good. They praise God because God

is good.

That tells us something about these

hearts of Paul and Silas

and horrible conditions,

horrible circumstances that they're in.

But yet, Midnight's revealing something

about these two men.

And it's not something that we just see

now as we see it recorded for us in Acts

Acts 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

But what else does the passage say? The

prisoners were listening to them.

One's response to suffering is never

private.

You know, someone's always watching. We

we may not think about that part of it,

you know, because sometimes we're we're

really consumed with what we have going

on in our lives,

but someone's always watching.

Could be our spouse, it could be our

children, it could be our co-workers,

could be our church family.

And I believe they were doing just as

Jesus had said in the sermon on the

mount, Matthew 5 and verse 16, let your

light so shine before men that they may

see your good works and glorify your

father in heaven. I think that's what

they were doing

because how they were showing how they

handled hardship and difficulty was

preaching louder than any sermon.

And they were revealing their hearts

at that midnight hour.

The other prisoners probably were

amazed, weren't they?

It's the way they responded.

And I want you to know something. Notice

something else with me I I believe is

intriguing this passage. And that and

that is God moves when his people

praise. You'll see that throughout the

scriptures. Se there are so many

examples of this

as we even think about what James says.

You know, draw nigh unto God and he will

draw nigh unto you. and and and look at

all the things that that that that's

happened as we see se several accounts

and even in this one that suddenly there

was a a a violent earthquake the

foundation of the prison were shaken

every door flew open every chain fell

loose

and when you let that sink in and and I

was thinking we might call this one

prayer meeting with with two faithful

servants and God shook an entire jail

but here's what amazes me

as Soon as the doors open and the chains

come loose, what's Paul and Silas do?

How many us we just start running for

the door, right? We're we're about we're

about to get out of that place. We've

had enough of this.

But Paul and Silas, they didn't run.

They didn't escape. They stayed.

I think this is a key in this one, too.

Because God did not send the earthquake

and all of this just to free them. There

was something more to this.

As such reminds me of what Isaiah the

prophet

reminds us of Isaiah 55 and verse 11.

What were they doing there in Philippi?

What do we say? They were preaching the

gospel, weren't they?

They were preaching God's word. Look at

Isaiah 55:1. So shall my word be that

Isaiah 55:1

goes forth from my mouth. It shall not

return to me void, but it shall

accomplish

what I please, and it shall prosper in

the thing for which I sent it.

See, that goes back to God's purpose and

God's plan.

He said, "My word shall not return to me

void." See, God had purpose in that

prison.

Again, that's that's not exactly how it

probably would have played out in our

minds or Paul and Silas's minds.

But what does this lead us to?

It's not about them being freed

physically from a jail cell. Yes, that's

great.

But it's what the rest of the story,

what the rest of the account is showing

us that a broken jailer meets a saving

God.

Now again, when you go back to

scriptures, the jailer, he woke up. He

saw the prison door standing open. He

assumed the prisoners had escaped.

That's scary.

Because under Roman law,

what that mean for his life?

Not good.

What did he do?

Well, the Philippian jailer, he removed

his sword

with a very intention to take his own

life

to kill himself.

I thought about the echoes that may have

been going on this,

but Paul shouted the words in verse 28,

"Do yourself no harm, for we are all

here."

I don't think Paul was whispering. It

was It says he called with a loud voice.

I'm sure this is a very dramatic moment.

If you got the imagery in your mind, you

can you can kind of feel it's kind of

it's kind of a tense situation, isn't

it? This is tense.

And so here the the the the guard

dropped his weapon. He rushed inside. He

fell trembling before Paul and Silas and

and he asked one of the most important

questions ever spoken. What was that

question? What is verse 29? Verse 30.

And he brought them out and said, "Sers,

what must I do to be saved?"

You know, we might ask what what even,

you know, led to this very question born

in fear, but I would even say formed in

worship and answered by grace. In Acts

16:es 31-34, look what said. What did

they say? Believe on the Lord Jesus

Christ and you will be saved. you and

your household. Then they spoke the word

of the Lord to him and to all who were

in his house. And he took them the same

hour of the night and washed their

stripes. Immediately he and all his

family were baptized.

Now when he had brought them into his

house, he set food before them. He

rejoiced, having believed in God with

all his household.

Don't notice this. The the man who had

locked their chains now washed their

wounds.

The man who had guarded their shell now

opened his own home to them.

He gathered his family

and they all heard the word of God.

What did that prison become?

The prison became a mission field

of all places. We think that's it.

That's the place.

See, a lot of times the focus is well

the the temple or you know the

mountaintop and all those are great

moments. I'm not taking that away from

from it.

But look what's happening here in the

prison. And scripture says that he

rejoiced having believed in God with all

his house. Friends, only God can do

that.

There's so many lessons I believe that

you can take from this very lesson.

And what they were doing

that very night he and his entire

household were baptized. Jesus said in

the great commission, he said to him,

"Go into all the world and preach the

gospel to every creature. He who

believes and is baptized will be saved,

but he who does not believe will be

condemned.

When they came to that watery grave

of baptism,

a jailer became a brother in Christ.

What was considered to be an enemy

became family

in Christ. A prison became that mission

field. And scripture again says he

rejoiced having believed in God with all

his house.

What's this teach us today?

I think first first

is that our darkest moment may be God's

doorway to someone else's salvation.

You see, Paul and Silas thought they

were, you know, might say, "Well, we're

just surviving prison." You know, we're

just trying to make it.

We might just think that, but

but really what God was doing,

there was work that was happening that

again

leading up to this very point.

and the very struggle that they were

going through and the way that they

responded

actually became someone else's

testimony.

You remember Joseph of the Old

Testament, I always refer back to him's

great example. We know in Genesis

Genesis 50 · chapter mention

chapter 50 and verse 20 when when he uh

told his brothers who had sold him into

slavery, he said, "But as for you, you

meant evil against me." But God meant it

for good in order to bring it about as

it is this day to save many people

alive.

Those waiting rooms of life that Joseph

went through,

he had some dark moments, didn't he? He

sure did.

But look what it led to

to save many people alive. Paul and

Silas

again, difficult circumstances, beaten,

thrown into the jail, right? Fastened in

the stocks.

How did they respond to that? They sang

and they prayed to God.

There were those that meant evil against

them, no doubt.

But what did God do with it?

And also in their response,

it brought about the salvation of the

Philippian jailer and his household.

And I and I I believe that the

endurance, our endurance

may point someone to Christ

and that we don't waste our suffering.

We we we suffer in all kinds of

different and you can list categories

and all those places, areas of our lives

that we go through difficulties. Don't

waste it.

Don't waste it because God can use it.

How many accounts do we find in the

scriptures where God used suffering?

Again, Joseph is one of them.

Something else I believe we see from

this is that praise changes atmospheres.

When I say atmosphere, what was going on

in that jail? I mean, I think about the

dreiness and I mean, you know, it was

probably terrible. Definitely conditions

there obviously, but the praise that

they were doing and and into and to

singing and praying and

you see it changed to jail, didn't it? I

mean it changed the jailer. It changed

the household.

And you know even today

praise still changes homes, changes

marriages, changes churches and and and

hearts today. It still does that

because God inhabits the praise of his

people. And look at all the fruit that's

produced from it.

When I was thinking about Philippi,

automatically I was like, let's go read

Philippians, right? And I was like,

well, maybe I maybe I'll just preach

Philippians 1 through4 tonight along

with it. But there's just not enough

time for that, right? But I didn't want

to go to Philippians because when you

think about Philippians, Paul was

writing that to church of Philippi,

wasn't he?

That whole that whole book of

Philippians

is just full of joy.

What was Paul trying to do? Show them

praise changes atmospheres. He lived it.

He was living it.

He was not writing letters of doom and

gloom and woe is me.

He's talking about rejoice in the Lord

always. I say again, rejoice. That's

that that was his attitude.

And he would tell them verses six and

seven of Philippians 4, be anxious for

nothing, but in everything by prayer and

supplication with thanksgiving, let your

requests be made known to God. And the

peace of God which surpasses all

understanding will guard your hearts and

minds through Christ Jesus.

See, Paul's not just throwing words

around flippantly.

He's been the midnight hour.

He was fastened to stocks

and he's telling them it's not just

words. He's lived it. He's demonstrated

what it means to be anxious for nothing.

That's powerful.

and you don't find that the atmosphere

won't change around your house, won't

change around your family, won't change

around your workplace, it will change

around your fellow brothers and sisters

in Christ. Friends, you got you got it

wrong if you don't think it will because

it will.

But I would also submit to you what this

teaches. Sometimes God frees us from

trouble and sometimes he works through

it.

And now again Paul and Silas yeah they

were freed physically absolutely

but the greater miracle

was spiritual

what actually have that was that that's

that's the greater

because you have this individual this

man this Philippian jailer who found

Jesus

a family was able to enter the Lord's

church.

And you know what was established at

Philippi? A congregation of the Lord's

people.

When you start reading at the first

part, you're like, I don't know if

that's going to work out there in

Philippi.

But it sure did, didn't it?

And that's why I started thinking,

what verse can I put with this one? And

I thought Romans 8 verse 28 is one I

Romans 8:28

believe hits home with this. Paul told

the Roman brother, he says, "And we know

that all things work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are

the called according to his purpose."

There's assurance that friends, God's

victories are often larger than our

immediate suffering, our immediate

discomfort, our immediate pain,

whatever. They are often bigger than the

problem that we're focused on. And I

know this from experience.

I've got experience

in areas like this,

and I'm sure you do, too.

It really boils down what we're focused

on.

Is it my purpose or is it his purpose?

That verse Romans 8 and verse 28 again I

believe connects right back to Genesis

50 and verse 20. You can see it.

Joseph's life

we know that all things work together

for good to those who love God, those

who are the called according to his

purpose.

So friends, I'm I'm wanted to present

this lesson and again in coordination to

what the kids have been learning in

their Bible class about Paul and Silas.

In in this brief lesson, we we come back

to the question that we ask ourselves,

what will you do at midnight?

Because we all have midnight moments.

And you can make a list. Doctor's

reports, family struggles, spiritual

exhaustion, loneliness, disappointment,

and the list could go on and on and on.

And again, as I stated earlier, the

question isn't whether midnight will

come

because come, it will.

The question is, what will you do when

it arrives?

Will you complain? Will you quit or will

you pray and sing?

Because when God's people praise in the

dark

and friends change still fall, doors

still open, hearts still change,

families still come to Christ, and souls

are still saved.

That Acts chapter 16 still exists today.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

A lot of times we're in a prison of our

own.

And we're told just as we see from the

examples to lift our voice and put our

trust where it should be to begin with

and that is in the Lord God. Proverbs

3:es 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all

your heart and lean not on your own

understanding. In all your ways

acknowledge him and he shall direct your

paths.

We must remember that midnight is not

the end of the story.

God is still working. And sometimes God

does not change our midnight

because he's using our midnight to

change someone else.

I'll tell you that I needed the reminder

today

to not squander and to not waste the

midnight moments, but rather worship in

it still.

Because the prison we may be standing in

today

may become someone else's doorway to

salvation tomorrow.

When I look at this passage

and I think about those thoughts,

I know that

because I've seen that happen

in my life.

And I don't think you grasp the gravity

of it

until you have even experience sometimes

this very thing in your own life.

The prison we may be standing in today

may become someone else's doorway to

salvation tomorrow.

And a lot of that we say God is going to

do this. And my friends, God does

so much.

But we can't forget. We cannot forget in

every example that we have through the

scriptures. And I'll make this very

clear and very to the point.

You've heard me say this before and I

think it's worth reminding

that God never does for man what man can

do for himself.

Noah found grace in the eyes of God, but

he still had to build the ark according

to pattern.

Over and over again, God supplied, but

yet man had to do something with it.

Paul and Silas were no different.

Yeah, it was horrible circumstances, but

at midnight, they made a choice in their

midnight.

Their midnight, they chose to worship

God. They didn't give in and give out or

give up.

They trusted him.

And look at the doorway. Not just the

jail doors that sprung open or the

chains that fell off of them. Friends,

the doorway to salvation opened for the

Philippian jailer

and his household. And the chains that

were binding him in sin and his family

in sin fell off of them when they were

baptized for the remission of their

sins.

That's powerful right there. Don't ever

look at Acts 16 is just another, "Wow,

that's a good one." Friends, there is

depth to these.

And I'm telling you,

you look at that Philippian jailer and

his household, their lives were changed

forever.

And I hope that we see our lives changed

for the better. And that what we do with

that matters in our midnight hours. It

matters not just to us

first to God, but also to all those

around us

who witness what we do in our midnight

hours.

What will you do at midnight?

I thank you so much for your kind

attention and for the time that we've

spent together in studying God's word

yet again this evening as we think about

what again prime example we read in Acts

16. What they did is they believed. They

did exactly what the Lord commanded in

the great commission of Mark 16:15-16.

Mark 16:15–16

Even in Matthew 28, right? Being

baptized the name of the father, son,

and the holy spirit. They turned their

life over being buried with Christ,

buried with him in baptism to rise and

walk in newness of life as Romans 6:es 3

and four says. And you can do the same

exact thing that the Philippian gentle

and his household did. Faith comes by

hearing and hearing by the word of God.

You've heard it. What are you going to

do with it? Believe Jesus is the son of

living God. Repent of your sins. Confess

him. And then be baptized, immersed to

rise and walk in newness of life. You

can do that this evening. All stands

ready. Or as a disciple of Christ,

something that's a miss in your life.

All things are ready here. We want to

pray for you, help you in any way that

we possibly can. You might need strength

for the day. You might be facing some

things in your own prison and you need

help.

That's what we're here for. We're here

to help you in your journey, your

disciplehip journey,

because we're all going to meet our God

one day. And we need to be prepared to

do that just as the song will say.