THREE NIGHTS!

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan

“ALL OF US HAVE LEARNED THAT IN THE HISTORY OF MAN THERE HAVE BEEN MANY MEMORABLE NIGHTS. FROM GRAND AND BEAUTIFUL HAPPENINGS TO BIZARRE AND TRAGIC EVENTS. HISTORY REVEALS THEM AS MEMORABLE. WELL, IN THE BIBLE THERE ARE THREE MEMORABLE NIGHTS THAT PAINT AN UNFORGETTABLE PICTURE”

I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about it THREE SUCH NIGHTS…

… Have you ever pondered great moments in history and discovered they occurred in the darkness of night? Whether good or bad, they left an indelible mark in the memory of mankind. Well I’ve discovered that in the Bible there are many memorable nights such as these, and all of them too, have left an indelible mark on the mind, heart and soul of man. For instance, we find in the Bible,

THE NIGHT OF JUDGMENT AGAINST SODOM & GOMORRA – God sent His angels that fatal night to observe and rescue His children: Lot, his wife and family. That night God struck blind the masses of homosexuals, for their wicked sin. Following this, God destroyed the entire cities of the Plain with fire and brimstone and removed them from the face of the earth. Then there was another such night,

THE NIGHT OF JUDGMENT OF THE BABYLONIANS – Although God has permitted them to politically gain power over His children Israel and hold them as captives and slaves because of their wicked rebellion and mocking of God and sacred things, God’s hand came down the night of the Babylonian King’s drunken orgy and wrote on the plastered wall “

Dan 5:25-28 (NNAS) “”Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 “ ‘TEKEL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 “ ‘PERES’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”"

These indeed were memorable nights in the history of man from a biblical perspective, but today I want to talk about THREE NIGHTS in the New Testament that give us a startling picture that illustrates the progress of God’s salvation for the sinner. But before I get down to sharing these with you, let’s pause again and listen to this bright moment of music…

…I love history! As a young schoolboy I was fascinated by the many memorable events of history. But when I was saved and born again, I began to be fascinated with the historical teachings and reality of what the Bible reported about the life of man and our God and Creator Jesus Christ. Now the Bible of course is a history book. From cover to cover throughout the sixty-six books contained therein, we have the infallible, inerrant record of man’s history from God’s perspective. Among these historical records, we find many events are teaching events, and with them come some startling truths to behold. I want to look at three of them for together they illustrate the soul’s progress from sin to salvation. Let’s look at the first memorable night scene.

(1) A NIGHT AT PHILIPI (Acts 16:25) - What led up to this night was remarkable. The apostle Paul and his companion Silas were preaching the Good News gospel of Jesus Christ, in the process they miraculously healed a slave woman possessed by a demon. The bizarre result was her owners were upset due to the fact that in her demonic state she brought them a regular income. Now in her right mind, she no longer could prophecy by demon inspiration. As a result, they had Paul and Silas arrested for this and thrown in jail and beaten severely. That night at midnight, finding these poor souls suffering their fate, God intervened and sent an earthquake to deliver them. The story unfold as we read,

Acts 16:25-31 (NNAS) “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.””

What a beautiful picture of God’s mercy and grace reaching down to this lost sinner the Philippian jailor! Here in the night of his own darkness without Christ, without any hope in this world, aimlessly groping through the darkness of sin, the light dawns on his soul, and he sees Jesus. This is a beautiful picture of the AWAKENING OF THE SOUL. What brought it about? Two things. First, the jailor saw the uncanny and inexplicable behavior of Paul and Silas. After watching their sever beating and flogging within an inch of their lives, most prisoners cursed and swore against their abusive captors. But not Paul and Silas. We read of their holy response,

Acts 16:25 (NNAS) “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;”

As God inhabited their body, soul and spirit, God gave them the joy of the Lord in spite of their circumstances and consequences to give thanks and praise to God. As a result the Philippian jailor was listening and pondered the message Paul brought and his response to their cruelty. It was unnatural! It was supernatural and in the quest to know how they were able to live so triumphantly in the face of disappointment, cruelty and injury, he cried out that wonderful question - “What must I do to be saved?” Paul’s answer driven by God was simple. “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WILL BE SAVED!” The soul of the jailor was awakened and he responded and trusted Christ alone for salvation and eternal life. Friend have you heard the Good News, that Jesus Christ is the infinite GOD/MAN who came to earth to die for your sins and to offer you pardon and forgiveness? Scripture says, all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as their God and Savior will in the coming day of judgment be saved! It is the Word of God that awakens the soul, and it is the duty of every Christian in every circumstance to share it with those groping in darkness. Well this famous night ends positively. The jailor is saved and more, he brings the message to his own household and they also are saved too. What joy that night is and what memorable experience it is for every generation that reads that story. Now there’s a second night to remember. It is,

(2) A NIGHT IN JERUSALEM (John 3:1) – This entails another man, a religious man very proper and considered by the Jewish community to be a man of God. But do you know what? In all that he too was a man living in darkness for he was yet to be saved from his sins. The man’s name was Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee. One day after being under great conviction of the Word of God being revealed to him through the teachings of Jesus Christ, he sought answers. Embarrassed to speak to Jesus in public, and fearful of being cast out of the synagogue as a result, Nicodemus seeks the Lord Jess out by night! We read,

John 3:1-5 (NNAS) “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said^ to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

That night we learn through additional scripture and actions of Nicodemus, he received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Nicodemus we learn was the picture of the second stage of the soul’s progress from being lost to becoming saved from our sins. It summed up in one word – ANXIETY! You see before anyone can be saved they have to become “lost.” What I mean is to me to realize their lost condition. Nicodemus through the teaching of Jesus and his personal contact and witness, came to understand that his inner fears, trouble anxiety was a result of his guilt of sin, and that it could only be assuaged by the cleansing power of Jesus. ANXIETY is good here for it brought this ruler of the Jews to Christ. Friend, how about you? Are you troubled by hearing the teachings of Christianity, seeing it in the lives of others, and experiencing a growing need deep in your soul? Then, don’t shy away it, for the Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Nicodemus that “night” heard and responded and was “born again.” Now there’s a third memorable night in the New Testament that completes the illustration of the soul’s progress from Sin to Salvation it is,

(3) THE NIGHT ON THE ADRIATIC (Acts 27:23) - Here we come to see Paul the apostle is again used by God to witness the faith of Christianity to 276 people aboard a sailing vessel that would sink in a violent storm. Paul was a prisoner aboard the ship held in chains again sailing for Rome to be tried there. As a violent storm arises the night of what seemed to be smooth sailing, the ship is hurled to and fro so much that the sailors fear it will be broken up and sunk. Trying desperately to keep it afloat the sailors and solider aboard become weary and loose hope. In the middle of the night God sends and angel to Paul and speaks to him. We read,

Acts 27:21-27 (NNAS) “When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. 22 “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 “But we must run aground on a certain island… 36 “All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.”

That night the ship ran aground and was crushed, but all of the sailors, soldiers and prisoners made it ashore and were safe. Now the point of this memorable night recorded for us by God in scriptures is to show that when we come to Christ and are saved from our sins we no longer need to fear life and what it brings. Even this horrendous negative experience of death facing them on the ship, Paul brought encouragement to all aboard promising them their lives would be spared directly by God for one purpose to bring Paul to Rome. This gave Paul and the others great ASSURANCE, the third and final state of the sinner coming to Christ. You see once you realize you are a sinner and lost in it and facing an eternal judgment to come when you die, This AWAKENING is the power and purpose of the gospel. It awakens dead spirits within our soul to seek Christ and realize if you don’t you will not be spared on the Day of Judgment. Secondly, with the AWAKENING comes ANXIETY, which causes us to seek a remedy, which can only be found in the message of Christianity that Jesus Christ is the answer. He died for us all, and He rose from the dead and lives for all who come to him confessing their sins, believing in their hearts that God can and will save them through Jesus Christ. But once we come to Christ the Spirit of God works further in our hearts, He bring us full ASSURANCE of the fact that although we go through a trouble world of sin, we shall all be safe and reach the other shore. Listen to the Word of God,

1 John 5:13 (NNAS) “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

John 6:47 (NNAS) “”Truly, truly, I [Jesus] say to you, he who believes [on Me] has eternal life.”

Rom 8:28-30 (NNAS) “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Rom 8:38-39 (NNAS) “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There you have it -- THREE NIGHTS in the Bible that show us the mighty power of God to bring about the salvation of the sinner. Say listening friend are you saved from your sins? Have you turned to Jesus Christ and come to receive Him into your heart and life? Until you do, your days and nights will grow increasingly barren, filled with anxiety and often despair, until you see clearly Jesus Christ and call upon Him wherever you are to save you. The power of the Word of God can save the sinful soul and bring it into the light of day. It is our prayer here at the broadcast that God has so enlightened you and especially today if possible. Also remember God promises us no tomorrow except for those who trust Christ alone for salvation, eternal life, forgiveness of sins and for an abiding relationship of love with our Creator God. May the Spirit of God so awaken your heart and bring you the wonderful assurance of Jesus Christ.

· Radio talk #3301

· Broadcast date: August 19, 2001

· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.

For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(wwy@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/