Midnight Manners

Text: Acts 16:25-26

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25)

Intro

Paul and Silas were had a real midnight experience.

It was midnight by the clock and by their circumstances.

Paul and Silas has been faithful in preaching the Gospel of Christ but they had been arrested and put through a mockery of a trial in which lies were preferred above truth.

As a result of the trial they were put in prison and were placed in stocks. But because of their midnight manners they were to see the light of the morning in victory.

You may be in a midnight experience. It may be a sickness, or a death in the family, or a job loss, or rejection because you did right.

When these times come upon us and the lights go out in our soul and we wonder if we will ever see the light of morning in victory, our text will show us how to obtain that victory.

“What to do at Midnight”

ILL: A long lost trait is manners!

What are some manners we can learn at midnight?

Midnight Manners

(Prayer)

I. Midnight Worship

Verse 26

“At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God.”

Paul and Silas did two things at the midnight hour which had much to do with victory in the morning.

A. They Prayed

“Prayed.”

The midnight hour does not find many folk praying.

It will find more folk trying to drown their troubles in booze, but that only adds to the darkness of their troubles.

Prayer is a great deliverer from darkness.

Prayer may be the only thing you can do in your midnight circumstances.

Your hands may be tied and your feet bound by circumstances, but you can still pray which is a weapon far greater than any hands or feet.

When the midnight hour descends on you, lift your heart in pray to God, it is a great help to seeing victory in the morning.

Pray, Pray, Pray

B. They Praised

“Sang praises unto God.”

This was a most unusual thing to do, but it was a very wise and helpful thing to do.

Scripture exhorts us to honor God in all things (Ephesians 5:20).

Often during one’s midnight experience folk cuss and curse God and profane His holy name in their usage of it.

That will not help one’s deliverance but only hinders it.

Honoring God is one of the keys to deliverance from one’s midnight experiences.

Praise God through the pain

Praise God through the night

Praise God all the day

II. Midnight Witness

verse 25

“The prisoners heard them.”

They were a witness even in one of the darkest moments of their life.

We have prisoners all around us tho are imprisoned by affliction and suffering and trials.

What they hear from us will either lighten their burden or increase it.

If Paul and Silas had cursed God and complained; it would have added to the prisoners depression and discouragement.

One of the keys to deliverance from our midnight experiences is how we affect others in their midnight experiences.

If we add to other people’s trials through unsanctified conduct, out deliverance can be delayed and even denied.

But if we lighten their load by holy conduct, we hasten our own deliverance.

Deliverance from our midnight experiences can be ours, but we must gain it God’s way, the way found in our text.

A. Witness through their lifestyle

The biggest witness they had was their actions

B. Witness through their preparation

They knew what to tell the guard

They were prepared!

Are you prepared to tell someone about Christ?

III. Midnight Miracle

verse 26

God is a God of miracles!

A. Open Doors

God opens the doors that need to be opened

2 Corinthians 2:12 KJV - 12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,

The biggest miracle that God has given us is salvation!

God closes the doors that need to be closed

Walk through the doors that God opens, and leave the doors alone that God closes

B. Bands Loosed

Jesus has loosed your bands of sin!

Saved the lost

Cleansed the sinner

Repaired the marriage

Broken the addiction

Psalm 107:13-16 13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. 15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Why go back to the prison and shackle yourself?

Proverbs 5:22 KJV - 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Conclusion

We will all have “midnight moments”

Times where things seem dark.

What do we do in these moments?

Let’s learn from Paul and Silas:

They worshiped through prayer and praise

They witnessed to others

They saw God do a miracle