Midnight Vision Christmas Eve 1986

In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2, the people who walked in darkness had seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, upon them had the light shine. Those shepherds were lucky.

I mean, they saw something. Here they are out there in the field, watching over their flock. It's quite dark, trying to keep tabs on their sheep.

Suddenly there comes this great light, and in the light, a messenger from God, who brings them a word from God, speaks to them, so that by the time they find the baby in Bethlehem, they know that they are looking at glory. Those wise men were lucky. They saw something.

They saw this bright, bright star, caused by the lining up of who knows how many stars, and they understood that that meant the birth of a king. And they understood that that had something to do with Israel. Isaiah the prophet, who centuries before it happened, told us it would happen, was lucky.

He had his eyes open. He goes into the temple one day to worship God, and suddenly he's overwhelmed by a blinding light. And there, before his eyes, is the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.

And from that day, Isaiah saw things which the natural eye cannot see. So what do we see? Christmas tree lights, candles, and it's all very pretty, but hardly enough to inspire us to spend the rest of our days as a living sacrifice. Yet the whole point of this child's birth was to make it possible for us to see something, to open our eyes.

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, the land of deep darkness, upon them has light shined. But to us, a child is born.

To us, a son is given. And not only shall the government be upon his shoulder, not only shall his name be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, but he comes to open our eyes, to give us vision. From John chapter 1 verse 9. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed on his name, he gave power to become sons of God, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

And to be born of God begins with having your eyes open, begins with vision. John chapter 8 verse 12. Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John chapter 9 verse 39, Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. He comes to open our eyes so that we can see glory, and in the light of that glory can spend the rest of our days serving the purpose of the kingdom of God.

Most of us in here tonight are believers. We've committed our lives to Jesus. We can point to miraculous changes which have occurred in our lives since we made that commitment.

But we, all of us, are still short on vision. And so the Christmas present God wants to give us tonight is to open our eyes so that we can see Jesus so clearly, know him so clearly, that all the vagueness and all the hesitancy and all the compromise is swallowed up in a wonderful, glorious, abandoning confidence in him. The word of the Lord to the body of Christ on earth now is, and to this assembly here in particular is, I have come to open your eyes.

I have come to give you vision. And if we will respond to that word with our lives, we will see what the shepherd saw, what the wise men saw, what Mary saw, what Isaiah saw, four things we need to know about this vision which God will give us. Vision beyond any vision we've had so far.

One, this vision comes to us at midnight. Two, this vision brings us under a word from God. Three, this vision offers to cleanse us from our sin.

And four, this vision puts us under a prophetic calling. First of all, the vision comes to us at midnight, at a time when all other light becomes darkness, it all goes out. And in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

And who is Caesar Augustus? He's a world dictator. You think things are bad now. They're getting back to what they were then.

The Alpha period and the Omega period are going to match. This man was a world dictator and he was a forerunner of the Antichrist. And things were dark in Israel in those days, terrible.

And into that darkness comes light. These shepherds are out there in the field, it's dark. They don't have any flashlights, no gas lanterns, no mattress.

They're watching over this flock and all of a sudden into this darkness comes light. In the year that King Uzziah died, says Isaiah, I saw the Lord. And what was the year that King Uzziah died? It was a dark year, bad year, terrible year.

And into this bad time, this dark time, comes this blazing light. It's the same for us. Vision is always preceded by darkness.

First it gets dark, becomes midnight. We've been walking through valleys. We've been seeing the judgment of God on our own lives, on the body of Christ, on the world around us.

Midnight means judgment. Midnight means that God starts calling in a count. And at midnight, there was a cross.

Behold the bridegroom. Go out to meet him. And all those virgins rose and trimmed their lashes.

And those who had oil, those who had light, those who had vision, went in with him to the marriage feast. And the door was shut. Don't be surprised, don't be upset or discouraged by whatever darkness you've had to walk through.

It's midnight. It's judgment time. God is calling us to a count.

But the people who walked in darkness, and who remained faithful, and who kept seeking those laws, and kept doing the will of God, and remained with integrity before God, and didn't compromise, today light came. And it's time for us to see light. Great light.

It's coming. It's here. Secondly, the vision brings us under a word from God.

When the shepherds saw the light, they also heard a word. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people. When the people who dwelt in darkness saw the light, they also heard a living word.

To us a child is born. To us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder.

When Isaiah saw the light in the temple, he heard a word. He heard these magnificent creations of God proclaiming to each other, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

And Isaiah never saw that glory before. He looked around, and he saw nothing but trouble, and disgust, and he saw injustice, and he saw absurdity. But now, in the midst of all that, he could hear a word from God.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a mountain. And he is transfigured before them. And his face begins to shine as the sun.

His raiment becomes white as light, preparatory for the things they're going to have to go through before, again, soon after this, in the succeeding days, and months, and years. But with that light comes a word. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him. Whenever God opens our eyes, he also opens our ears. Whenever we receive vision, we also receive.

And that word is coming, and that word is here. Thirdly, the vision offers us cleansing from our sins. Let me get into Isaiah 6 here.

In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. And his train filled the temple. And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost.

I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and he said, Behold, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away. And your sin is forgiven. Up until this time, Isaiah has this vision.

He has no idea how much sin is dragging him down. What things are clinging to him. How much deceit, self-deceit.

How much compromise. How many attitudes are holding him back. But now he sees this light, and in that light, he becomes aware of his own uncleanness.

And he says, Woe is me, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

What's going to happen to me? And this seraph, this glorious creature, comes over and brings the burning coal from the altar, touches his mouth, and says, Lo, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is removed. Your sin is forgiven.

And that burning coal is a symbol of the blood of the Lamb. Same thing happens to us. When we see light, we begin to see our own uncleanness.

When that light comes on, we start to see things in us that we didn't see before. And Psalm 51 is no longer just David's psalm, it becomes our psalm. And we begin to cry, Purge me with hyssop, with the blood, and I shall be clean.

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create me a clean heart, O God. We cry out, O Lord, forgive me.

O Lord, cleanse me. O Lord, straighten me out. I'm no longer concerned about everybody else's sin, I see mine.

I'm scared to death, and I cry out, and He forgives. And finally, the vision puts us under a prophetic calling. Notice these shepherds, after they heard all this, went with haste and found Mary and Joseph in the bay lying in the manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that was told them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them. The shepherds couldn't keep quiet. They couldn't contain this.

They had to talk about it. This was the beginning of a prophetic utterance for them. And this is how it always is.

Isaiah, after he has his sins cleansed, hears the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? And Isaiah, to his own surprise, finds himself saying, Here am I. Send me. And the Lord says, Go. Now you may think that this is just another Christmas.

You may have done everything you've done for years and years on Christmas. Trees in the same spot. Gifts are all wrapped and ready.

Turkeys ready for the oven. And now we've come together to thank God for His unspeakable goodness to us. But there is something that will make this Christmas different from any Christmas we've ever known.

The living God desires, longs to give to those who will receive it. Christmas 1986. Mark it on your calendar.

Write it in your diary. Christmas 1986. In order to prepare us for events that lie ahead, to strengthen us for work which is still to be done, to equip us for battles which we are yet to fight and win, the Spirit of the Lord desires to give His people vision.

Look for four things in your own life, starting tonight and in the coming days. First of all, look for confirmation in all sides, all around you, in world events as well as in your personal circumstances, that it's midnight, judgment time. And then, expect great light to come into your darkness.

Expect God to give you great light. Expect great light. Look for a word from God more clear than you've ever heard before.

And I'm not talking about hearing voices. Don't mess around with voices. I'm talking about hearing God.

It may be that the scriptures will just open up. You'll be reading something you've read many times and now it comes to life. It may be that you hear God speaking through a sister or a brother tonight before you leave.

It may be that even words from these carols that we've sung hundreds of times suddenly come to life. But in some way, you will begin to hear clearly a word that will be Spirit and light for the body, including you. Third, look for a time of personal cleansing in your life.

Expect God to begin to put His finger on areas in your life, areas of compromise or self-deceit, attitudes, whatever it may be, that you weren't even aware of before and never admitted to yourself. And as you confess the sin, and as the Lamb washes away that sin in His blood, freedom. What freedom? What freedom you're going to have? You're going to have freedom.

And finally, look for a clarifying of your own prophetic calling. Expect the same word that came to Isaiah to come to you as you hear the Lord say, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? And when you say, Here am I. Send me. He will make it clear.

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, upon them has the light shined. We have seen that light, we are seeing it now, and we're going to see it more clearly than ever before.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. We are His government on earth right now. We are agents of His holy peace, and it is His zeal burning in our hearts which will establish His kingdom and His righteousness on this part of the earth where He has to glorify His name.

Now let's just wait on His Spirit in silence. Let the Spirit bring us light, just in silence. We're going through a Sabbath here, we just want to listen, just listen.

Let God speak.