MIDNIGHT HOUR2

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

Part 2

“The Knock at Midnight”

Luke 11:5-8

Now, this is a parable emphasizing the need for perseverance in prayer.

First we have a man knocking on the door of a friend in the midnight hour.

He has suddenly found himself in need of bread.

He explains his dilemma to his friend on the other side of the door, “I have nothing with which to feed a friend in need because I, too, am in need.”

The parable closes with the man giving his needy friend some bread, not because he was his friend, but because he persisted in his asking.

Now, while this parable is primarily about perseverance in prayer, it also provides a powerful message for the church of the last days. Let’s break the parable down:

The first thing we see is the problem. The man at the door said:

I have nothing

Here we see the world, especially in the midnight hour.

The friend was empty-handed and barren.

This will be the condition of the world in the final midnight hour before Christ’s return.

The world can never meet your deepest needs.

It has no genuine bread to satisfy the hungry soul.

Jesus knew this well when he masterfully described the final outcome of the Prodigal Son:

“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”

Isaiah also describes men’s plight in the midnight hour when:

“We long for light but sink into darkness, long for brightness but stumble through the night. Like the blind, we inch along a wall, groping like blind men in the dark. We stumble in broad daylight, like the dead, but somehow continue walking. We look for justice and find none; for salvation—but it is far from us.”—Is. 59:9-11

We long, we grope, we stumble, we search for an answer in the midnight hour!

At midnight, desperation sets in. Jesus said that even lost and godless people will begin noticing that something is wrong.

Luke 21:25-26 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

And in the midst of all this uncertainty, and all of this seeking for spiritual reality, there will come a knock at midnight on the door of the only place that has any bread—the true blood-bought church of the living God!

“Friend,” they will ask, “have you any bread?”

And the true church, the church that hasn’t compromised its message or caved in to the culture, that still holds on to the blood, the Word and the Cross, will say:

“Yes, we have bread, and plenty of it!”

Jesus said the man inside gave his friend three loaves.

And I thought, that’s exactly what the church has to give as well.

First, we freely offer:

The Bread of life

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”—John 6:35

Jesus is to the soul what bread is to the body.

The person who is lost in his sins feeds on dead things in hopes of finding life.

The Prodigal Son fed on “pig food.”

The world without God feeds on the dead bread of philosophies that don’t lead them to God.

They feed on false messiahs, empty hopes, vain pursuits, deceptive riches all in the belief that they will provide the bread their souls long for.

But at midnight the emptiness of their soul, the bondages of their body, the hunger for spiritual reality begin to cry out for something genuine.

And the church responds by saying, “We have bread! Real bread! Living bread! Come to Christ Jesus, the Bread of life!”

The second loaf of bread we have is:

The Bread of Hope

In the midnight hour the world is devoid of hope.

All the false idols they have placed their hope in fail in the midnight hour.

The foundations they have built their lives on are found to be made only of sand.

Every foundation man builds his life on is tested in the midnight hour.

Jesus said, “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”—Matt. 7:26

But the Bread of Hope the church has been entrusted with is a sure foundation. It will not fail, no matter how dark the times.

Bible hope is not a flimsy, tentative, shaky, “hope so, maybe so, my fingers are crossed” kind of hope.

The church’s hope rests on the promises of God.

Here is our hope: “For God so loved the world, He gave…”

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”—Heb 6:19

And finally, the third loaf of bread we offer is:

The Bread of Love

At midnight, love is a rare commodity. The Bible predicts that just prior to Christ’s return, love will have all but disappeared:

“In the last days perilous times shall come. People will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.”—2 Tim.3: 2-5

But in the true church, the bread of love and compassion will be found in plenty because of Christ Jesus, who loved the sinner, living in our midst.

The Bread of life

The Bread of hope

The Bread of love

These are the goods that the Lord’s true church will offer to the hungry seeker in the midnight hour.