Closer To The Midnight Hour :: By Dennis Huebshman
Wikipedia states that midnight is the dividing moment between ending one day and beginning another. In the Bible, midnight is mentioned fourteen times and is always associated with some demonstration of the power of God, either Salvation or Judgment. (ESV – all emphasis is mine.)
One of the first instances that midnight is mentioned is in Exodus 12:29; “At midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the livestock.”
The Israelite people were spared when they put lamb’s blood on the lentil – or top of the doorway – and on both sides near the top. They were instructed to stay inside their homes until the next morning. Those who followed God’s word were all spared, and this became the first Passover. What the Father did was so significant that Pharaoh and all the people told Moses to take all the Israelites away. They were supplied with food, jewelry, and livestock to make sure they left Egypt immediately.
In Acts 16:25-34, Paul and Silas had been put in prison. God used this to bring redemption to souls that were otherwise lost.
“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!.’
“And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved; you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”
This is a bit lengthy, but because of God’s actions and Paul’s faithful service to Him, a man who previously had been an enemy became a Christian, along with his whole family. If Paul, Silas and the others had fled, the jailer would have been executed by his supervisors, as well as his whole family, and not in a swift, merciful manner. As is, souls were added to the Savior’s precious flock.
In Mark 13:35-37, we are given an example that we are to be aware that at an unknown day or hour, we will be raptured away from here.
“Therefore, stay awake; for you do not know when the Master of the house will come; in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning; lest He come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to all, ‘Stay Awake.’”
Matthew 25:6-13 tells of the ten virgins that took lamps to meet the Bridegroom. We’re told five were foolish, and five were wise. The wise virgins took extra oil, but the foolish did not. When the Bridegroom arrived at midnight, the wise were able to meet Him, but the foolish had to leave to find oil. The wise went into the Marriage Feast, but the foolish were locked out.
This parable specifically references persons who are putting off receiving and accepting Jesus as their Savior. They are of the opinion that they will be able to call out to Jesus later because they believe they’ll have time when the Trumpet of God sounds, and there is a shout from an archangel.
In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
At the time that Jesus spoke those words, He had allowed Himself to be fully human and lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7:9), but when He stated, “It Is Finished” in John 19:30, and He took His last breath as a human, He immediately regained being fully God.
For all humans, Paul told us in two places that we need to be prepared because our deliverance could be at any second. Looking at 1 Corinthians 51:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
By the way, this is not a trumpet from the Revelation Trumpet Judgments.
Next, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; “For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the Trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
“Twinkling of an eye” has been described by experts as significantly faster than one second. It would be impossible for anyone to even take a breath in that time, much less to be able to call out and be saved. Unless someone has already received and accepted Jesus as their Savior, they will not be taken up in the Rapture but will be left behind.
The purpose of the Rapture is given in several places such as 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him.”
Our true Creator is a God of Love, and even though we all are unworthy, He loves us completely. He sent a very precious part of Himself to this sin-filled world to be the only pure, sinless blood sacrifice that He could ever accept.
There are people who actually believe that Jesus must have sinned at least once. Though Jesus became human for our sake, no human sin-filled blood ever was inside Him. The blood He shed for us was even more pure than the unblemished blood of lambs that were sacrificed as a temporary measure of receiving forgiveness. Just one drop of His pure blood would have been enough to satisfy the Father’s need for perfection. The thing is, by the time His sacrifice was completed, He had shed nearly every bit of blood that was within Him. And every drop was as pure as Jesus was, and will be, the only human ever to have lived a complete sinless life on this earth.
Is it any wonder that anyone who rejects Jesus as Savior will not spend eternity in Heaven? All, that’s everyone who takes their last breath here without the Savior; they will spend eternity with Satan and his demons in the lake of fire, as given in Revelation 20:11-15.
Those who say they’ve been a good person, and believe that Jesus was real, but never asked Him for forgiveness and to be their eternal Savior will not be saved. Romans 10:9-13 gives the steps which are not complicated. Humans, through Satan’s influence, are arrogant enough to believe that God just has to let them in because they’re so good.
Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23 all speak of how everyone falls short on our own merits. We are described as all being sinners, and as 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No human is sin-free, no matter how pious they try to appear today. If it wasn’t for 1 John 1:8-10, we would all end up in the lake of fire. When, not if, we sin, God will forgive us if we call out and ask His forgiveness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us just how we have come to be saved. “For by Grace you have been saved through Faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”
We don’t know when the actual day or hour will be, but we need to be prepared right now. Just think for a moment how wonderful it would be to turn your lost soul into a member of His precious flock, and that very night, the call goes out.
In a previous message (September 2018), I referenced a song by Gold City featuring Ivan Parker called “Midnight Cry.” It can be found on YouTube, and I invite all to listen to it. It describes the Rapture very well.
However, the Father also knows there are many who fit 1 Corinthians 1:18; “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
Each day that passes shows the signs of this evil world rapidly approaching the Midnight Hour. Nothing more prophecy-wise needs to be done before the Rapture takes place. God will force no one to accept His Son, but all who do will spend eternity in Heaven in a place prepared by Jesus Himself (John 14:1-3). All who do not receive and accept Jesus will be separated from Him forever.
It’s your choice, and now would be a great time to decide. He will be coming soon, just as He said in Luke 21:28.
Come, Lord Jesus!
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