This sermon emphasizes that man's hour of darkness is God's hour of power, illustrating how God's power is often manifested when man's resources are depleted and only a miracle can provide a solution. Various biblical examples are shared, highlighting how God waits until the darkest hour to display His greatest power, encouraging believers to trust in God's deliverance and power even in the midst of tribulation and hopelessness.

My message, man's hour of darkness is God's hour of power. Amen. You can turn to John, first, second chapter, first few verses there. And why don't we just go there and John, the second chapter, Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding at Canaan. I want you to get the words as they're written. First verse, in the third day there was a marriage in Canaan of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they lacked or wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. Jesus said unto her, woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith, just do it. Whatever he tells you, do it. Lord, bring a word to us tonight, this morning. Speak, Lord, from your heart. Sanctify this vessel that we may speak the truth under your unction, under your anointing and not flesh. We give you honor. We give you praise. Lord, we want to hear what your heart is saying in these times. Lord, we thank you. Lift our spirits this morning in Christ's name. Amen. The mother of Mary comes to Jesus at the wedding. And these weddings at that time would run five to seven days. I don't know how long this wedding had been going on, but there came a time when they ran out of wine. And Jesus, Mary goes to her son Jesus and said, Jesus, son, they're out of wine. And Jesus gives a rather strange answer. He said, woman, and that was not put down. That was apical to the generation at the time. He said, woman, my hour has not yet come. Now, he's not speaking of the hour that he spoke of in 17th John when he said he knew his time was come just prior to the cross. He knew he was going to be crucified. And he said, my hour has come. This is another hour. This had to do with something was happening in that wedding. And Jesus, I picture standing there just watching. He said, it's not my time. This is not my hour to do my work. And this is going to be now. Now, remember, his ministry has just begun. So it can't be the hour of John 17. He said, my hour is not yet coming. I'm watching in my imagination, Jesus standing there watching what's happened because some are still lifting their cups and there's still a little wine left. And some of the servants are going around and there's still a little bit. Now, they anticipate there's going to be no wine, but they're still pouring. And then suddenly the host is running around rather raggedly and saying, we're out of wine. And he's looking at the bottles and they're empty. And he's looking around, the glasses are empty. And there are six pots, six pots of water. They estimate in between the six, about 180 gallons. And Jesus says, fill them up. His hour has come. You see, the hour of God's power manifest almost consistently all through the Bible the hour of God's power comes at the end of man's resources. His hour had come. He waited and waited until there's no other answer. When the only thing that answers the situation is a miracle. There was no other way. Now, folks, Jesus never said a word, never acted without significance, eternal significance. There was something he was teaching. He was teaching his disciples, but beyond that, he's teaching his church. He's teaching a lesson. And you'll find this principle all through the Bible. God seems to be pleased to wait until man gives up striving, until he quits looking in other directions, until really a miracle is needed. And that is the time that man's darkest hour is the hour of God's greatest power. And let me give you just a few examples all through the Scripture here. You'll find it in Judges 6 chapter in the story of Gideon. According to the Scripture, Israel at this time was totally impoverished. The Midianites would come in with their tents and their camels and their families, and they would move right into the land, right into the heart of Israel and Judah. And they would strip the land of their crops. They would take their herds and their cattle. And the Bible said they were in extreme poverty. And it was one of the darkest times in Israel for that period. They were hiding out in caves. And Israel came to the end of their hope. There was no hope because they were saying the Lord has forsaken us. And they cried, then God has forsaken us. That's the answer Gideon gave. He said, if you're with me, because the Holy Spirit began to move, God began to move at that hour of impoverishment and hopelessness, God manifested himself. He manifested his power. He comes to the poorest tribe, to the poorest family, and to the poorest man in that tribe, Gideon. And God says, I'm going to change things. And you know the story. God came down and gave direction. And with 300 men with nothing but trumpets and torches, scared the Midianites and they flew and God delivered. Because man's hour of darkness is God's hour of power. I could give you example after example. Let me give you just a few more. Here's in Judges, the fourth chapter. Again, Israel, because of their sin, God sold them into the hands of the Canaanites. Caesarea, the king. And for 20 years, Israel lives in extreme poverty and judgment and no hope. The same situation, a hopeless situation. The Lord sold Israel into the hands of the Canaanites. And God waits until they come to this absolute hopelessness. And he has a female, a woman prophetess up in the hills, and she's living under the palm trees, the scripture says. She's living under the palm trees. And the Bible says that Israel was mightily impressed. And here Ephraim is a prophetess, a woman of God. And the captains of the armies have given up. Most of their armies are what had been signified as their army. They've all fled. And people are coming up to this hillside. They're coming up to Deborah's open air camp meetings. And she's preaching a different message. While all of Israel is in darkness and groaning, where is God? God has forsaken us. She would not take the darkness. She saw through the darkness. And she was preaching a message, get up. Here's their very words. She said, for this day, this hour, which the Lord has, this hour, the Lord has delivered the enemy Caesarea into our hands. Is not the Lord gone out before you? And the hand of the Lord of Israel prospered and prevailed. You see, God wants us to look beyond the darkness. There are dark days, but there are people that God chooses. God is never surprised by the times. God always has somebody in preparation for the darkest hours. He's preparing Gideon. Look how God prepared Moses, how he prepared Abraham. He's always had a man in preparation, a woman in preparation, and he's always had a people that would follow. It's amazing. It amazes me as I've been going through the scriptures, looking at this principle of the Lord as he waits till that hour. But you see, during that waiting time, while the darkness mounts and grows, begins to go gross, can become gross darkness. God has a plan. He has a people. This has to do with your life and mine as well. There comes a time in all of our lives that we reach a point where we feel we can't carry anymore. Some of you listening to me right now, you may be at that point where you have prayed, and you've sought the face of God, and maybe you're praying for your children or for your grandchildren, your husband, your wife, or someone else. And you have prayed, and you have fasted, and it seems that you see no evidence whatsoever of any change. Even though you've laid hold of God and prayed in the Spirit, and you've laid hold of God, and there are times you have felt you prayed through, and you have the answer. And right now in this generation, I believe we have many parents that are praying. I have grandchildren that I'm praying for. And I have come to a place many times where I have so felt that I prayed through, and I see no evidence of it whatsoever. But folks, I want you to know something, that the Holy Spirit is standing by. The Holy Spirit knows the hour. He knows the time when their friends have failed them. He knows the time when their cup goes dry, and they run out of wine. They wine out the wine of the world, and God knows He's standing right by. There's all the Holy Spirit wine that we need, fresh wine, new wine from heaven, and God knows the day. He knows the hour, and He's going to keep His word. So pray on, my friend. Pray on and seek the face of God. There's a good example in 2 Chronicles when King Jehoshaphat receives a frightening message of a huge army coming against them. A messenger came and said, there's coming a great multitude against you from beyond the sea in this side of Syria. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast. There was a great prayer meeting in the land. People began to pray and seek the Lord. Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. They came to seek the Lord, and the king cried out, oh God, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. Certainly this was a very dark hour for Israel. They began to praise the Lord. They called for a praise meeting. Something happens when you begin to praise the Lord, abandoning yourself to praise, believing that God is still on the throne, and they begin to praise the Lord in a mighty fashion. And the spirit of the Lord fell upon them. And while they were praising the Lord at the very same time, the angel of the Lord was sent and ambushed the enemy, and the victory was given in one moment. In that same dark hour, this was God's hour of power and deliverance. Now, let me bring it closer to home. Sixtieth chapter of Isaiah. 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 the light, and the kings to the brightness of thy rising. Now, folks, Isaiah, I believe, is speaking about the last days. And he is prophesying that in the midst of this gross darkness, that there's going to be a light that arises. And Gentiles, they're going to come by multitudes to the light. And folks, that has not yet been fulfilled. The gross darkness began when Jesus came. And at the crucifixion, Jesus announced that he said, this is your power of darkness. This is your hour of darkness. This is your hour of power. And that's what the devil conceived that he had. An hour of darkness began there at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, when gross darkness covered the earth. The Roman empire was going into ruin, sexual perversions of all kinds, evil corruption, deceptions, and greed, apostasies of all kinds. And even among God's people, there was a hypocrisy. The priests were robbing widows' houses. And Isaiah looks into time, even down to our time, and he sees a gross darkness coming. And folks, there is a darkness in the land. There's a darkness in the nations today, a gross darkness. That's a taste of hell, a darkness that can be felt. And the prophet Isaiah, in fact, that dark hours when Jesus, the light broke forth, in that darkness, Jesus came as a light. And I want you to know that in this day of darkness, Jesus Christ is still the light of the world. He has come to break through the darkness. And folks, don't let your heart be burdened down with this darkness, the sins of mankind, the perversions that we see and hear today. And folks, we're not to be focused. We're to listen to the prophetic voices. But we're not to be focused on that. Jesus said, you're not to just focus on the times. You're not focused on the times and the signs of the times. And you're not to allow the darkness to bring you down, because in that darkness comes forth the greater the darkness, the grosser the darkness, the greater the light of Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you, Jesus is still the light of the world. Hallelujah. I want to give you a few reasons why I believe that we are facing in this our time a significant in gathering of lost souls. I said, and now if I were younger, when I was younger, I would have, I would have said it like this. God's going to send incredible, all-encompassing, glorious Holy Ghost revival. I'm telling you that I believe, and I'm putting it simply, I believe with with all my heart that what is coming is going to be amazing in gathering of many thousands of lost souls. I believe that. Let me give you, these are simple reasons, but in prayer this past week, I'm saying, Lord, how, how can we know this? Take me into the Scripture and give me biblical proofs. And God began to speak to my heart of the simple things of the inner knowing, something that was happening in my soul, and something I believe is happening in our pastors, and I believe it's happening in the hearts of every praying person. I believe there's a witness of the Holy Spirit, that He is about to break through the darkness and bring forth a moving of His Spirit. And as I see it in the Scripture, almost every moving of the Holy Spirit, every tremendous work the Holy Spirit has done, He gives a witness. There's a witness of the Holy Spirit because He prepares people for what He's about to do, and there's a witness of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. There's an inner witness. The Scripture says, God also bearing witness with signs and wonders and miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost. And in Hebrew 10.5, the Holy Ghost is a witness to us, to the inner man. He's a witness to the covenant that Jesus Christ has made. And it's, it's in verse 16 here in Hebrews 2, I will make a covenant with them in those days. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds and their sins and transgressions. I will remember no more. I have a witness in my heart, the same witness that tells me that I'm a child of God, the same witness that has borne witness down through the ages. They're all who walk with Christ. And I believe deep in your heart, you know that because of these times, we live under a nuclear threat every day. We live in times where the bad news all the time, almost every day. But in these times, I believe that there's a witness in your heart. God, you have to do something. Something has to be done. And you've made it clear that the church is not going to go out vanquished. It's not going to go out as a dark in darkness, that the church of Jesus Christ is going to prevail, that God is going to be doing a work right to the very last moment. And there will be an engathering. And I believe that that witness is in you if you've been seeking God. And I know that it's in my heart. And he is bearing witness. He bears witness to the movings of his spirit and the workings of his Holy Spirit. In a time of denominational deadness, when entire denominations are blessing same-sex marriage, and the Holy Spirit is leaving entire denominations at the same time, he's stirring the hearts of his people. He's stirring a godly remnant. And I have a stirring in my heart. It's not an emotional thing. It's something deep in the soul that says, God, this is who you are. God, this is how you work. You don't leave whole generations. You don't forsake generations because of the perversions. You don't forsake generations because the blood that you shed on the cross endures to the very last breath, to the last of the last days. And there's a witness of the Holy Spirit. There's going to be a great engathering. The second reason is that God is moving in my heart and speaking to my heart. Now, I've been preaching for 58 years, and I hope I've come to know the voice of the Lord in some measure. And what we're seeing now is God laying hold of his people with a spirit of prayer. Who would have ever believed that there would be prayer meetings called now in churches all over New York City? Who would have believed even a few years ago that 50,000 people would meet here in Times Square to pray? Who could have believed that a holy hush would fall over 50,000 people and when it's time to pray, every head bowed and everyone looking to the throne of God? Who would believe that we're in a time now where so many conferences, conference after conference after conference on every subject. But the word that I'm hearing now from those who are still doing conferences, the Lord has called them to turn them into prayer conferences. And prayer, a spirit of prayer is laying hold of the true body of Christ. There's something God saying, now is the time to pray. And when God gives you a promise, you can't just sit back and say, well, I have the word. I'm going to just trust God. I'm going to believe God. I'm not going back to God. That would evidence some doubt or unbelief. No. When Daniel calculated that the 70 years of bondage was over and Israel was going to be delivered from Babylon, he saw the promise that was given to Jeremiah. And the Bible says he fell on his face before God, and he began to fast and pray and intercede before the Lord to obtain the promise that was already given. And if there were, I visit the prayer meetings of this church for 10, 15 minute. I called a cup of cold water, and I'm hearing a sound that is really a supernatural sound. It's not just noise. There's a holy desperation. There's something of the Holy Spirit that's moving. And folks, you hear it right here in this main auditorium, in all the meetings, there is something, there's something moving. There's something of the Holy Spirit that's breathing. And God is creating an atmosphere that anyone who doesn't know Christ, anyone who is not walking with God can walk in these doors and sense what you've sent this morning already, that these have been already birthed in the Spirit. There's a birthing of something supernatural. And I don't believe that the spirit of prayer that's laid hold of this church and Brooklyn Tabernacle, my son Gary talks about it in the church in Colorado. And I just got a picture of a thousand teenagers in Israel, all believers, Arabs and Jew young people, a massive prayer meeting calling for the Lord to come down in Israel. There's a spirit. There's an anointing. There's something powerful that's going on. I don't have to raise my voice for you to get that, do I? Do I? Are you hearing it? Are you hearing it? Do you have a spirit of prayer on you? Do you feel God drawing you to prayer? Is there something because you say, Lord of the times, just because of the times we're living in and we want to see God save us all. We're not looking to fill the seats because every seat's usually full anyhow. That's not it. There's a whole city here. There's a whole city of millions of people. And the ground has to be broken. And that's through prayer, folks. If we've ever prayed, we need to pray now more than ever before. This is the time to seek the face of God and to pray. The third reason, and these are very, very simple. This generation has run out of wine. There are two kinds of wine. There's the wine of the world. Now, it couldn't be that the wine that Mary wouldn't go to a marriage feast where there was any wickedness of any kind. But the Bible, wine is represented as that which makes glad the heart of man, gladness and joy. And gladness and joy has been stolen from this present generation. It's gone. There is little joy, little gladness. Bible said sin robs of mirth and gladness. Ask any young person that's been club hopping, running from, and folks, I see that from our apartment. We can look down and there are three or four bars, open rooftop bars that we see. We could see them coming out of those bars and how downcast. Every Sunday night in this church, there are testimonies of people who have been saved. And almost inevitably, every testimony goes something like this. I have tried everything. I came empty to the place where there's nothing left but tears. And folks, they've run out of wine. The wine of the world has left them empty. And I don't think any word more describes the mood of this generation than emptiness, total emptiness. But thank God. Hallelujah. In light of this, what do we do? Mary just turned to the disciples and said, just do what he tells you. Just do what he tells you. When you seek the Lord, the word comes. Now, there's one other something that laid hold of my heart this morning. I was reading in Revelation 7. Jesus told us to work while for the night cometh when no man can work. In the seventh chapter of Revelation, there's an account of an unnumbered multitude, a multitude that can't be numbered, standing before God's throne, a multitude that no man could number from every nation and from all people, all tongues and all nations in white robes, praising the Lord. And John is so overwhelmed by the sight of these white robed multitudes worshiping. And he said, where did these come from? Who are these people? And the answer was these are those who have come out of great tribulation, out of great tribulation. Now, friends, I'm not going to talk about the great tribulation, whether Jesus comes pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. I've always said we can't lose trib. That's what I believe. But I'm not wanting to be facetious, but I want you to picture this, please. They've come out of great tribulation. Now, that describes many, many martyrs all down through the ages that have paid with their life, and they've come through tribulation. But it doesn't answer, I believe, to this great multitude that's come out of great tribulation. Somewhere, somebody in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of darkness, in the midst of tribulation. Now, these came out of great tribulation. Somebody's been preaching to them. Somebody has been lifting up the light. The light is still shining through tribulation, and a great multitude have come out of this tribulation. Folks, my point is this. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how difficult, we can't stop doing what God has called us to do. We can't pull back what God has called us to do. Folks, I've ministered to you in weakness, but I know that God is speaking. I know God is bringing a word to our hearts. I stood in this pulpit years ago in the first service when we dedicated it, and I told that congregation just about what exactly what I'm telling you now. After all these years, and all the people have been saved, the multitudes have been saved, these altars have always been graced with numbers of people that are coming to Christ. And I've prayed, God, in my time, as long as I live, let me see, let me be a part of what you're doing right up to the last breath, or until Jesus comes either. Folks, I tell you now, with the Spirit of the Lord on me, that as long as this church exists, as long as there are men of God in the pulpit, the best wine has been saved for the last. The best wine has been saved for the last. This is God's hour of deliverance. This is God's hour of power. This is not just an hour of judgment. This is for the church of Jesus Christ, its finest hour. And I, my heart is rejoicing. My heart is absolutely on fire with anticipation of your sons and daughters, your grandchildren. There's going to be something of conviction. There's going to be something of an anointing. There's going to be such an outpouring of this new wine. I hear the sound of rain, an abundance of rain, an abundance of rain. If I'd had the strength, I'd jump off here and run down this aisle and come back down this aisle. Could we have somebody at the piano? One of my all-favorite songs is Jesus is the Light of the World. Jesus is the light. Cora, can we sing that? I want you to stand, if you will, please. Could we sing that, Jesus is the Light of the World? Heavenly Father, as we think about the future and the good things that you have in store for your church, we think now of those that are standing here in the annex and here in the main auditorium, and some, Lord, that have grown cold in their spirit and cold in their heart towards you. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would speak to their hearts. Lord, this is your hour. This is your time. I ask you, Lord, to speak to those who have drifted away from you or those that are here who don't know you. Will you draw them by your spirit? Draw them, Lord, we pray. You said, if we confess you before men, you'll confess us before the Father and all the angels of heaven. So speak to us now. Now, if you're here in main auditorium, in the balcony, if you're in the balcony, you can step down. If you feel the tug of the spirit, you feel the pull of the Holy Spirit, and you want to come back to your first love, and if you're here and you don't know Christ, and you walked in here, God sent you here. God, what he's going to be doing in the future, he's doing even now, and it's a spirit calling you, come. The Lord wants to move on you and change your life. Up in the annexes, you can go turn around into the general hallway and ask the ushers how to get into this building, and you can walk down the stairs and come and meet us here in the front, and taking a step of faith, saying, I'm not going to leave the way I came. I don't want to walk out the door the way I came, and if you need him, if there's a hungering and a thirsting after him, just step out of your seats and come while we're singing. Now, we're going to sing, Jesus is the light of the world. Let that light touch your heart now in the closing parts of this service. Lord bless you as you come. Now, for those that came to this altar today, Father, I pray God that you give everyone the ability to realize the great measure of your life that's available to those who trust in you. Lord, you bring joy out of despair. You bring freedom out of captivity. You bring clarity out of confusion. You bring strength out of weakness. That's who you are. That's what you do. That's the God that we serve. I pray, Lord, there be a joy breakout, God, as there must have been on the wedding feast at Cana, when they came to the governor of the feast and said, you brought out the best at the end. Most people bring out the worst, but you brought out the best. And, Father, we thank you for this. Thank you for blessing these in Jesus' mighty name. Now, let's give God a shout of praise in his house today.