The Midnight Hour

Why "The Midnight Hour"

On my father's last night, his crew reported their first contact shortly after midnight. Their last report came just after three in the morning, somewhere over black water in the Gulf of Thailand. For my family, that was the midnight hour: the dark stretch of the night when everything changed, while the rest of the world slept.

Midnight is the hour this book is about, the hour when the riches of this world come to nought, and the hour the Lord comes for those who are watching. I pray it finds you awake.

Free sermons from the book

These sermons are free to preach, teach, copy and pass on. Each points to hope for a church entering a hard season. We ask only that you credit The Midnight Hour. Tap any title to open it. Readings open to the full text.

1. 1

   From the First Hallelujah to the Last

   Full sermon

   Psalm 104:35 · Matthew 6:10 · Revelation 19:1–6 · Revelation 21:4

   The whole Bible is held between two Hallelujahs, and we're rehearsing the second one now.

2. 2

   Oil in Your Lamps

   Outline

   Matthew 25:1–13 · Ephesians 5:18 · Acts 2

   We don't have to be caught unprepared. The Bridegroom is coming for those who are ready.

3. 3

   Lengthened for Them, Shortened for Us

   Outline

   Genesis 5:27 · 2 Peter 3:9 · Matthew 24:22

   Every delay is mercy: more time for the lost, and less trouble for His people.

4. 4

   Not Children of the Dark

   Outline

   1 Thessalonians 5:2–6 · Luke 2:25–38 · Matthew 24:32–36

   Watching isn't fear. It's readiness, and readiness brings peace.

5. 5

   Empty the Quiver

   Outline

   2 Kings 13:14–21

   When God visits you, hold nothing back. His anointing doesn't weaken with age.

6. 6

   Tribulation for Us, Wrath for Them

   Outline

   Daniel 9:27 · 1 Thessalonians 5:9 · Revelation 7:14–17 · Revelation 21:4

   Our trouble is short. His comfort starts in heaven and is finished on the new earth.

7. 7

   As in the Days of Noah

   Outline

   Genesis 6–9 · Matthew 24:37–39 · 1 Peter 3:20

   God closes the door Himself, and those inside are carried above the flood.

8. 8

   The Lord Will Provide

   Outline

   Genesis 22 · Hebrews 11:17–19

   If the system shuts off our bread, God is still Jehovah-Jireh.

9. 9

   Fig Leaves and Skins

   Outline

   Genesis 3:7, 21 · Isaiah 64:6

   No system can cover our shame. Only the blood can, and the Father runs to meet us.

10. 10

    I Came With My Friend

    Outline

    John 15:15 · Genesis 32:24–31 · Luke 22:42

    We prevail by holding on, not by winning.

11. 11

    Alive, but Still Unwrapped

    Outline

    John 11:43–44 · Philippians 1:6

    Salvation happens in a moment, and freedom keeps coming. God finishes what He starts.

12. 12

    The Rigged Fight

    Outline

    Matthew 11:28–30 · Galatians 2:20

    The battle is already won. Our part is to stop fighting God and rest in Him.

13. 13

    No Ebb: The Last Call

    Outline

    Luke 14:16–24 · Matthew 22:10 · Acts 2:2 · Matthew 25:10

    The greatest harvest may still be ahead. The hall isn't full yet.

14. 14

    The Mouth of the Fish

    Reading

    Revelation 12:6 · Matthew 4:19 · Psalm 19:1

    When this world's money fails, God's provision doesn't.

    Arthur Burt carried one prophecy with him for most of his life: "It shall come as a breath, and the breath shall bring the wind, and the wind shall bring the rain… and there shall be floods and floods and floods… and there shall be no ebb."

    There's a picture of that in the autumn sky. On clear nights this time of year, low in the south, one bright star hangs almost by itself. The ancients called it Fomalhaut, "the mouth of the fish." The old star maps drew it as a great fish lying on its back with its mouth wide open, drinking a stream of water poured out from above. It rises every fall, as it has for thousands of years. But I can't see it now without seeing what Arthur saw.

    I see two things in that picture. The first is provision. When this world's money finally fails, God will not leave His people to starve. He fed Israel in the wilderness every morning, and Revelation says the woman will be fed in the wilderness too, in "a place prepared by God" (Revelation 12:6).

    The second is the harvest. The fish has been the sign of Christ's people since the first century: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). I see the greatest revival the world has ever known gathering just before the dollar falls and pouring on after it. And I see why the Lord holds the crash back: every day He delays it is a shorter season of trouble for His people, and one more day for the wedding hall to fill.

    "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). Every autumn they declare it again: the water is about to be poured out, and the mouth of the fish is open.

15. 15

    Some Trust in Chariots

    Outline

    Psalm 20:7 · Revelation 13:17 · Revelation 18:9

    A system can take a bank account. It can't take a trust that's been given to God.

16. 16

    The Light That Exposes Me

    Outline

    Ephesians 5:11–13 · Romans 3:23 · 1 John 1:9

    The light that exposes us is the same light that cleanses us.

17. 17

    The Flaming Sword

    Outline

    Genesis 3:24 · Ephesians 6:17 · Hebrews 4:12 · John 14:26

    We don't have to be scholars. The Spirit opens the Word to the humble.

18. 18

    A Thousand Years on This Earth

    Sermon notes

    Acts 1:11 · Zechariah 14:4, 9 · Revelation 20 · Revelation 21:1 · 1 Corinthians 15:25–26 · 2 Peter 3:8

    The order Scripture gives, from Christ's return to the new earth: Christ returns to the Mount of Olives. Satan is bound for 1,000 years. Christ reigns with His saints on this earth. Satan is released for a little while, then cast into the lake of fire. The old heaven and earth pass away, and death is destroyed. Then comes a new heaven and a new earth, where God dwells with His people. The earth that groans today will see its rightful King.

19. 19

    Blessed Is He Who Comes

    Sermon notes

    Exodus 3:15 · Amos 9:11 · John 1:41 · Matthew 23:39 · Zechariah 12:10 · Jeremiah 23:5–6 · Romans 10:12–13

    What they cry out for at the Western Wall, and the name they will one day call. They pray every day for the Messiah, the Son of David, without His name. Jesus told Jerusalem exactly what they would say when they see Him: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" The name they would not speak, and the One they have waited for, turn out to be the same One.

20. 20

    John the Baptist: Knowing the Season

    Reading

    Luke 1:80 · Luke 3:2, 15 · John 1:21–33

    Watch the Scriptures. Know the season. Don't claim the day or the hour.

    John wasn't guessing. Luke tells us he lived in the wilderness "till the day of his manifestation to Israel" (Luke 1:80). He began baptizing when "the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness" (Luke 3:2). As I see it, God's word found a man who had been watching. Daniel had laid out a timetable to the Messiah, and the same prophecies sent the Magi looking for the King. By the time John began, a whole nation sensed it: "Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not" (Luke 3:15).

    But John knew only the season, not the Man. God gave him a sign: "Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33). When the leaders asked, "Are you the Prophet?" he answered, "No" (John 1:21). He called himself only "The voice of one crying in the wilderness" (John 1:23). His whole purpose was to point: "that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water" (John 1:31).

    That is the lesson I take, and it's the pattern of this book. Watch the Scriptures. Know the season. Don't claim the day or the hour. Never claim to be more than a voice. And when He appears, point to Him and step aside.

21. 21

    Not Caught Like a Thief in the Night

    Reading

    1 Thessalonians 5:2–4 · Revelation 18:17 · 1 John 4:18

    Watching isn't fear. It's readiness.

    Scripture says the day of the Lord will come suddenly, and the world won't see it coming: "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3). But Paul's very next words are for believers: "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4).

    Much of the church uses "a thief in the night" as a reason to shrug and stay passive, as if we can't know anything. But John the Baptist knew his season, and so can we. We can't know the day or the hour. Jesus kept that for the Father. But He commanded us to watch, and He gave us the fig tree so we would know when it is near.

    As I see it, the thief's hour is the hidden hour of destruction Revelation describes, when Babylon's riches come to nothing "in one hour" (Revelation 18:17). That is the moment the world's money fails because the bond market holding it up gives way. The world will be caught by surprise. Those who are watching shouldn't be.

    Watching isn't fear. It's readiness. When it comes, we may lose every account and every earthly comfort, down to nothing but Christ. But "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

    The point of watching is that when the cry goes out at midnight, our lamps are full.

22. 22

    Seeing More Clearly as the Day Approaches

    Reading

    John 14:29 · 1 Corinthians 13:12 · Hebrews 10:25 · Proverbs 4:18

    The foundation of what I believe hasn't moved. Only what I see has grown.

    In my book I use two phrases on purpose. The things Scripture plainly spells out, starting with the Apostles' Creed, I believe. The things given to us in shadows, I only begin to see, and I see them more clearly as the day gets closer. When what I've seen comes to pass, it becomes something I believe, because Jesus told us ahead of time: "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe" (John 14:29).

    I never claim to see it all. Paul didn't either: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). The picture sharpens a little at a time, "as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). "But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Proverbs 4:18).

    That's how this book came together. It wasn't one flash of insight. It came from years of reading and rereading, checking other sources, and asking whether what we see in the world fits what Scripture describes. Every near miss in our financial system has brought it a little more into focus. The foundation of what I believe hasn't moved. Only what I see has grown.

Write to Bobby

Questions, feedback on the draft, or a request for the sermon files:

themidnighthourbook@gmail.com