THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
An incident happened while I was stationed on a U. S. air base in England
which would be very hard to forget. It was about midnight and being in the
crash and rescue department we were standing by in a truck on the runway. A
jet plane came up to the runway to warm up its engines. There seemed to be
some trouble because after warming up the engines the pilot took the plane off
the runway and waited a while, then proceeded to make its way again on the
runway. The pilot continued as at first to run up the engines, not noticing
that the fuel was leaking very fast between the hot engines. They started to
take off down the runway and as they were just starting to leave it, an engine
burst into flames. They went on into the air only to crash about four miles
away on the corner of a British airfield as they tried to make a landing. The
plane exploded in the tree tops completely blowing both the men and the plane
to bits.
The point I would like to put across is that it was near midnight and once the
decision was made by the pilot to take off down the runway, there was no way
of escape and they soon all died. The decision could have been made to take
the aircraft back for repairs if the fault had been found in time. But as it
was, the fault was not discovered until it was too LATE.
The Bible too speaks of the midnight hour in a very comparable sense -
Midnight is the turning point when one day is ended and another begins.
Midnight is often compared to the time when this life is ended and eternity
begins. That brings us to a very important question. How is it with you as to
this question of eternity? The Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23) and also "It is appointed unto man once to
die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). How about you? Are you prepared
to face your Creator when you stand before Him in judgment. It is truly
midnight in your life even if you are young. You have no certainty that you
will even be living on this earth tomorrow. It is midnight for you.
The Bible records an incident that happened at midnight in the book of Acts,
chap. 16:25-31, "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors
were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison
awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his
sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been
fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are
all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and
fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved."
It was the midnight hour for the jailor because had he gone through with his
decision to kill himself he would have been ushered into eternity without
Christ, without God, and without hope. But at that moment Paul called to him
and he came and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? and the answer was
given, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. So he was
spared from an eternity of misery and woe at midnight.
May I ask you, dear reader, what is the state of your soul. Have you heard
that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John
3:16); also "the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). "This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15) of whom the apostle Paul could say, "I am chief."
Dear reader, have you ever considered the question of what lies beyond the
grave? "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb.
9:27, 28). Have you found Him as your Savior? He bore our sins when He hung on
Calvary, and now He is offering full pardon if you accept Him as your Savior.
The Bible speaks also of a midnight that is upon this world, as it speaks of
the time that Christ will come for His own people (1 Thess. 4:16).
The book of Revelation reveals the judgment that will come upon those who have
not received Him and will be left behind when He comes for His own.
The men who were killed in the fatal aircraft had no choice once the plane
left the runway and was in the air, nor will you dear reader if the grave
finds you unprepared, nor will there be any chance for you, at the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ for His own, if you have heard of God's love and
rejected it, or put it off. Tomorrow may be too LATE.
"Behold NOW is the accepted time, Behold NOW is the day of salvation" (2 Cor.
6:2).
C. D.
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