The Midnight Cry*

 

     There is a Doomsday Clock that expresses the prevailing opinion of secular scientists of how close the world is to a nuclear disaster. The feared disaster is represented on the clock as occurring at 12:00, midnight. Those who set the time on the clock have decided that we are now at 85 seconds to midnight. The Sabbath Torah reading for this week is the account of Noah, the ark, and the flood of God's judgment upon the earth, a moment of global catastrophe such as is anticipated above.

     Jesus described the signs that would occur before His return, which include great heavenly and global disasters, and spiritual deception with apostasy: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Mt. 24:10-14). Betrayal, iniquity and abandonment of the faith will occur, but, the Lord said, the Gospel will be preached to all nations. We see people coming to Christ today from all nations and from various religions, and from unbelief to belief in Christ. These signs are here with us now.

     In the very next chapter of Matthew, Jesus told the parable of The Ten Virgins. A wedding is soon to happen, and the bridegroom (which is the Lord) will soon be coming. There are ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, who must be ready for the bridegroom's arrival whenever it is to happen. Their lamps should be prepared in case the event happens during the night. All of the ten virgins sleep because the bridegroom has tarried. Suddenly, "...at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.' Then all the virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil (symbolizing the Holy Spirit); for our lamps are gone out." (Mt. 25:1-8). The five wise virgins told the five foolish that they must buy oil for themselves. While the five foolish went out to buy oil, the bridegroom came, the five wise virgins went with him and joined him at the marriage. The door to the marriage was shut. The five foolish came, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not." (v. 9-12). Jesus concluded the parable saying, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (v. 13).

     The midnight cry, "The Bridegroom (the Lord) cometh!" is going out around the world already. Are we watching and prepared for the moment of His arrival? We are to be the light of the world, as He is. We cannot be that light if our spiritual lamps are empty of their needed oil. 

     As those who are of light and day, we cannot also be of night and darkness: "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and keep sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night....But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5:1-9, excerpt). Paul also wrote: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that thou walkest circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5:14-17, Col. 4:2-6). We redeem the time by being wise, not foolish, regarding the will of the Lord. Do we understand what the will of the Lord is? The prophet Isaiah wrote the Word of the LORD: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isa. 60:1-3). In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would have the same glory as Himself.

     Paul again wrote: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Rom. 13:11-12). Are you wearing the armor of Christ's light? Are we sensitive to the time?

     As mentioned above, there was a previous worldwide judgment of God against the wickedness of man as recounted in the story of Noah. It begins in Genesis 6: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD...and Noah walked with God...And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth."" (Gen. 6:5-8, 13).

     Seeing the total wickedness and evil that man with which man had filled the earth, the LORD said, "Enough!" The LORD said that the time was at hand in which He, as the just God, had to judge the wickedness that covered the earth. But Noah found grace with God. He did not earn it. Grace is a free gift from God which man cannot achieve with his works, nor by his own attempts at righteousness. 

     There are recent reports of the possibility that Noah's ark has been discovered. There is physical evidence that the earth was once covered by a universal flood. Yet, as Peter wrote, there are scoffers in the end times that deny both the return of the Lord, and the possibility of a world-wide catastrophic judgment from God. (see 2 Peter 3).

     As Jesus again described the signs of the end and of His coming in Luke 21:5-36, which we are seeing come to pass today, He said, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Lk. 21:36). Are we watching and praying?

     Paul warned believers: "...mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple...I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." (Rom. 16:17-20). Being on guard against the deceptions of those who seek to divide rather than unite in faith in Christ, the same grace that Noah found in the eyes of God is with us through Christ. This is being wise concerning what is good.

     Revelation speaks of a moment when time will run out: "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time (delay) no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." (Rev. 10:5-7, see also Rom. 16:25-27).

     We are to redeem the time, hearing and sending out the midnight cry, preparing ourselves and others for the return of the Lord, because the moment will come when the command from heaven will be "there should be time (delay) no longer." This is to walk in the light of wisdom.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 1018/26 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, which is evidence of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling, written by Dr. Stevenson, is available on Amazon.