MIDNIGHT PERFORMANCE

“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25 NKJV).

In context, the apostle Paul and Silas were arrested for preaching the Gospel, gone through a mockery of a trial and then were brutally beaten. This was followed by being put in stocks in the “inner prison.” But Paul and Silas were having a real midnight experience which demonstrated their faith in God, and it helped to bring about their deliverance from their trial. Their performance involved prayer and praise and publicity.

Prayer - “Paul and Silas were praying.” Not many folk pray at midnight. During midnight hours (literally or circumstantially), you will find most folks boozing than praying. But that will not bring about deliverance. Prayer, however, is a great deliverer. Our hands and feet may be bound in the stocks of adverse circumstances; but if we can pray, we can still conquer our midnight trials.

Praise - “Paul and Silas were . . . singing hymns to God.” When troubles come most folk get angry and may even curse God and use His name profanely. But doing that will not bring deliverance. The apostle Paul and Silas did not profane God but praised God in their troubles. Honoring God is one of the important keys to obtaining deliverance from our midnight experiences.

Publicity - “And the prisoners were listening to them.” The apostle Paul and Silas were not ashamed to proclaim their faith publicly in prison. Although they were persecuted for their faith, they still lived out their faith unashamedly. Standing firm in the faith before others is one of the keys to deliverance from our midnight experiences. Our bold testimony before others when faced with trials honors God, and that helps deliverance.

(Adapted from Butler’s Daily Bible Reading 2)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Trouble and prayer are closely related. Trouble often drives men to God in prayer, while prayer is but the voice of men in trouble!”

Edward McKendree (E.M.) Bounds (1835 – 1913)

American Author, Attorney, and Methodist Episcopal Church Clergy

Word Study

Fell from

In Acts 9:18 we read, “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized” (NKJV).

“Fell from” is the Greek word apopíptō (ἀποπίπτω = ap-op-ip'-to). It is made up of two Greek words: “apo” which means away from, and “pipto” which means to fall. Thus, the word means to fall off, slip down from. In classical Greek, apopíptō has two primary meanings: to fall off and to miss. In the Septuagint apopíptō is used to refer to things that fall. In the New Testament, apopíptō also means to fall off, to fall away. The “something like scales” that fell from Saul’s eyes was a reflection of the healing power of God, not the laying on of the hands of Ananias. By the power of God, his eyes were opened, and he could see! We don’t know exactly what was on Saul’s eyes, but the implication is that there was something physical which impaired his vision, and at this very moment the physical impediment fell off enabling him to see again. This verse gives us the common secular saying “to have scales fall from (one’s) eyes” which means to suddenly be able to see a situation clearly and accurately. For the first time in his life, Saul had 20/20 spiritual vision to see the Lord Jesus for Who He really is, the Messiah and Savior of the world.

Did You Know…

Jude’s original intention was to write to believers about their “common salvation,” but changed his mind and instead wrote to exhort believers “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

Bible Quiz

Which Old Testament figure did the apostle James used to demonstrate how the prayers of a righteous man can have powerful results?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz

According to the Book of Hebrews, why should you “not forget to entertain strangers?” You may “unwittingly entertained angels” or entertain angels without knowing (Heb. 13:2).

Prophecies Fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ

The Drink Offering - Prefigures the Lord Jesus Pouring Out His Blood (cf. Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; John 19:34)

"These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day” (Lev. 23:37 NJKV).

In Scripture, a drink offering is a ceremonial act of pouring out a liquid, often wine, before God as an act of devotion and worship. This offering was typically presented alongside other sacrifices, such as burnt offerings or grain offerings, symbolizing the totality of one’s dedication to God. The first recorded occurrence of a drink offering was that given by Jacob in Gen. 35:14, right after God changed his name to Israel. The drink offering, like other Old Testament sacrifices points forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah. The principle of total outpouring points to the Lord Jesus’ self-giving sacrifice on the cross. His blood was poured out when the Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear (John 19:34). This fulfills and transcends all foreshadowing, bringing the sacrificial system to completion in the New Covenant (cf. Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20).

Did You Know – Christian History

David Brainerd was born on April 20, 1718, in Haddam, Connecticut. He was an American Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Native Americans among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey.

Brainerd was the son of a Connecticut legislator. He was orphaned a month before his fourteenth birthday. On July 12, 1739, he recorded having an experience of “unspeakable glory” that prompted in him a “hearty desire to exalt [God], to set Him on the throne and to ‘seek first his Kingdom.’” Two months later, he enrolled at Yale. In his second year at Yale, he was sent home because he was suffering from a serious bout of tuberculosis. He returned to Yale in November 1740, but expelled in 1742 because of comments about an irreligious tutor. Unable to complete his formal education, Brainerd sought other opportunities to fulfill his ministerial calling. After receiving a license to preach, he was approved for missionary work on November 25, 1742, and was sent to a small church on Long Island. From 1743 to 1747, he served American Indian tribes near Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and at the Forks of the Delaware River. In 1745, he began preaching to the American Indians at Crossweeksung, New Jersey. It was here that God brought awakening to the American Indians, adding more than one hundred to Brainerd’s growing congregation. While experiencing sickness, extreme hardship, and loneliness, Brainerd often took up his pen to write of his increased love for the American Indians under his ministerial care. His heart longed to show them the glory of Christ through the preaching and teaching of Scripture. He spent hours in prayer, asking God to bring about their salvation and growth in Christ.

However, his time among the American Indian tribes of New England was mingled with periods of severe depression and sickness. His diary is filled with entries describing these spiritual and physical battles. Brainerd died from tuberculosis in the home of Jonathan Edwards on October 9, 1747, at twenty-nine years old. After his death, Edwards discovered Brainerd’s diaries and believed they would be of immense value to the broader Christian world. In 1749, with an introduction, Edwards published the journals as The Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd. Missionaries Henry Martyn, William Carey, and countless others have devoured Brainerd’s diaries as encouragement of what God can accomplish through frail but willing vessels of mercy. Though a short life, David Brainerd stands in the group of legendary believers mightily used by God.

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A Little Humor

The priest’s breath was so strong, the choir director said, “Father, next time, use holy water as mouthwash.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“When life isn’t a bed of roses, remember who wore the crown of thorns”