In the Fourth Watch

Thank you, Jesus. No terrors in darkness. No arrows by day could make our hearts tremble or make our faiths shake. Because there'll come a morning when all is made right. We will not waver. We know that our Savior will roll back the night. Amen. Oh, we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon. Oh, we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside us. Oh, we stand amazed at your mercy rising to find us. Oh, we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon. Thank you, Jesus. Though there may be sorrow, though there may be tears, this confidence holds us and drives out our fears. So be of good courage. All hell cannot break this promise He made that He'll save us. So when we watch Him, we wait. Oh, we wait. So we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon. Oh, we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside us. Oh, we stand amazed at your mercy rising to find us. Oh, we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Even so, Lord Jesus, even so, Lord Jesus, come, come, Lord. Even so, Lord Jesus, even so, Lord Jesus, come. We need you, Lord, yeah. Even so, Lord Jesus, even so, Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord, yeah.

Even so, Lord Jesus, even so, Lord Jesus, come. So we give our eyes on the light that's on the horizon. Oh, yeah. Oh, we will take hold of the hope that's deep down inside of us. Yes, we will. Oh, we stand amazed at your mercy rising to us. Oh, we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon Oh, we keep our eyes on the light that's on the horizon Even so Lord Jesus, even so Lord Jesus Christ We need you, we need you right now Even so Lord Jesus, even so Lord Jesus Christ We need you right now Oh, Jesus, even so Jesus Christ And even we live and move in harmony unless we do it Even so Lord Jesus, even so Lord Jesus Christ Even so Lord Jesus, even so Lord Jesus Christ We need you, we need you right now Even so Lord Jesus, even so Lord Jesus Christ Christ Hallelujah! Come Lord, come Lord Jesus Two thousand years ago Paul prayed that very thing He thought the Lord might come while he was alive It's been prayed for hundreds of years Come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus I'm praying it now, we're singing it now I want to see Jesus, I want to see Him today I wish He would come before I preach And I pray that everybody's ready should He come today Almighty God, we call you Father Angels call you the Creator

Devils tremble in your presence We get to rejoice Thank you Jesus for everything Thank you for your blood, thank you for your word Thank you for the Holy Spirit Thank you Jesus for the church Thank you for hope We're a thankful people And we gather today Lord in this building But we know tens of thousands are watching somewhere else We want you to be pleased and praised I thank you for the music that prepared my heart I thank you for the word that's now going to strengthen our faith So while we sit in the next few moments Lord, if you don't come back Give this shepherd the ability to feed this flock It is in the name of Christ Jesus I pray, Amen And everybody say it with fervor, Amen That's better, you can be seated A few weeks ago I was involved in a celebration service for someone who had passed Gone on to be with the Lord And I got up and made some comments and I said this, I never thought about it before And after I said it, while I continued to talk, I thought, that's really good That's really good And here's what it was They say that the 8th chapter Chapter of Romans is the greatest chapter in the Bible. Now, I don't know how you come to that conclusion. I surely do love it. But here's what it says. Verse number 1, and then there are 38 after that.

First verse. There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You get that? No condemnation. Last verse. I am persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities, things present, things to come, any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And here's where it got good for me. Verse 1, no condemnation. Verse 39, no separation. Now, if I were a believer, and I am, but if I were sitting in a pew, I'd shout hallelujah. No condemnation. Nothing against you. You don't have a record. God doesn't keep a file. He doesn't bring up what He has forgiven. He doesn't renew what He destroyed. No condemnation. Now, I'm already feeling a little fire. Shut up in my bones. No condemnation. Nothing does God see against you. Nothing. With all your faults, and even the weak you had, whether it was a good one or a bad one, God sees nothing to condemn you for.

If you've repented and accepted Christ, you are in Christ Jesus. And because you are in Christ Jesus, and there is no condemnation, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Hallelujah. But between those two verses, we got some stuff to deal with here. Between verse number one and verse number 39, I see flesh. I see the word struggle. I see the word suffer and suffering. Then I see the word death. And I see the word groaning. All that seems to have a negative connotation to me. I am so happy that God holds nothing against me. I am so thankful that nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. But I got to live between those verses. So there it is again. Flesh, struggle, suffer, groan, death. And so while we are already seated in heavenly places in Christ... Did you know that? As far as God is concerned, you already have a seat in heaven. You're seated with Christ in heaven. Wow! Sure doesn't feel like it. I've been on the hot seat lately, but I haven't been feeling like I was in His seat. And so, I have still been wrestling with these panic attacks at night.

Remember I told you about that? I'm not ashamed of it, but I don't want to bore you with it. Just wake up at 3 or 3.15 or 3.30 and I can't breathe. And I'm suffocating and I'm struggling and my head is spinning and my heart, I feel like it's going to quit any moment. And I'm pounded with thoughts and doubts. And it happened this morning. And this morning I pondered these verses. The Bible says that the fourth watch of the night, the disciples found themselves in a life-threatening storm. The fourth watch of the night. You see, in Jesus' day, the Romans had the day divided up into watches. There were four. The first watch was from six to nine. The second one from nine to twelve. The third from twelve to three. And the fourth watch was from three to six. It was the darkest time. It was the most dangerous time. That's when the thieves and the robbers did their worst. And the disciples found themselves out in the boat at that hour of the morning, because the fishing was best at that hour, they say. And a storm arose. And they thought they were going to die at the fourth watch of the night. I understand that when the children of Israel took lamb's blood and put it over the lentils of their doorpost, it was at the fourth watch of the night. The darkest time. The death angel was about to move through. It was at the fourth watch of the night that when the death angel moved through,

the children of Israel got up and left. I also understand that when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, which is where He won the battle for your soul, when Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, it was at the fourth watch of the night. The darkest, loneliest, most painful time of the night. When the disciples could not even stay awake to pray with Him. And in my study of eschatology, the prophetic, when Jesus Christ comes the second time, it will be at the darkest time in human history. The fourth watch of the night of human history. When the Antichrist will have gained control of the world and all kinds of tragedies and cataclysms will have taken place. The man of sin will walk into the temple of God and declare that he is God. And the nations will gather together to fight against the Lord. The darkest time. The fourth watch of the night. Now what happens in the fourth watch of the night? If you go through this, I think you can identify. I feel guilty. I don't even know why. I lay there, and this happens often, and I say, have I done something wrong? Did I do something that I don't know about? Have I done something I haven't confessed to Christ? I feel guilty. Where's this guilt coming from? And I go through the list. I can't find a thing that I've done. If I misuse my tongue, I do remember saying I'm sorry, I repent.

You know, you confess your sins quickly. I couldn't find a thing this morning that I was guilty of, but guilt was there. Because at the fourth watch of the night, the devil does his worst. If you've ever been awakened, or have started waking up between three and six, and there's a restlessness about you, you can mark it down. There's a great spiritual battle going on in you about something. And I find myself, listen, I found myself defending myself. And you know what Satan always goes after? I call it the spiritual jugular. He always goes after your salvation. You're not really saved. And then you join in with him, and kind of agree, well, you're not worthy, and you haven't done all you know to do, and before you know it, at the fourth watch of the night, you're agreeing with your greatest enemy, and God's arch enemy, that you may not be the recipient of the kindness and mercy of God that you thought you were. He begins to make you doubt your salvation. And then it hit me this morning, why? Why am I always defending my standing in Christ to the devil? Why do I find myself having to justify myself to myself? Why is Satan and self or why are Satan and self gaining the upper hand on me, making me stand in a corner and defend what Christ has done in my life?

Just as surely as I'm standing here, the Lord spoke to me at that time and told me to stand in this pulpit today. I've already done it once. I'm supposed to tell somebody, stop arguing with sin. I'm sorry. Stop arguing with Satan and yourself about your salvation. Your salvation is not up for grabs. It's not negotiable. It's not fragile. Sorry. It's not tenuous. It is a solid, mighty, eternal work of God. Hallelujah. Here's the other thing. I'm supposed to say it, so just rear back and take it. What you're going through now has nothing to do with your salvation. Praise God. He is a liar. He is an accuser of the brethren. All he knows to do is lie to God about you, accuse you to God, come and accuse God to you of being unfaithful. The Lord wants somebody to hear this today. What you're going through has nothing to do with your salvation. Your salvation is a work of God, not a work of the flesh. Hallelujah. What you experienced when you were saved was the mighty miracle working power of the new birth and conversion. You didn't do this by going to church or paying tithes or any good effort. Whatsoever. You didn't get saved because you quit smoking or quit drinking. You're not saved because you're trying to be better than you've ever been. You're saved because on an old rugged cross, God took your sins in his body. God washed you clean. God set you free. God did this. You didn't do it. God did it for you. Come on church. My Lord. Your salvation is based on blood. His blood. Precious blood. Royal blood. Your salvation is based on power. His power. Resurrection power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead

has made you alive in Christ Jesus. Your salvation is based on the Word of God. The Word cannot be revoked. It cannot be changed. It cannot be taken back when God says it is said for eternity. Your salvation is not based on you. You are weak. You are incapable. You are empty. You are an embarrassment. But when you come to the foot of the cross, God elevates you. God makes you a son or a daughter. God makes you worthy of his great salvation. Man, this is good preaching. It's based on what God said. What did God say? He said, He that believes on the Son has passed from death unto life. Past tense. Done deal. He that believes on the Son has passed from death unto life. Paul said, He that believes on the Son is transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in the kingdom of his dear Son. In the kingdom of light. Jesus said, He that comes to me I will in no wise for any reason cast out or reject. Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Jesus said, whosoever believes in the Son will never die. Jesus said, my Father owns you. You are in his hand. My sheep know my voice. And a stranger they will not follow. And no man can pluck God's sheep out of God's hand. Peter said, you've been bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are the Lord's.

The Bible says, if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved. Paul said, you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Paul said, when you got the Holy Ghost, it was a down payment on the life that is to come. Hallelujah to God. God put a down payment on you by the Spirit. God washed you clean by his blood. God jerked you out of the kingdom of darkness. God raised you from the dead. God put you in a heavenly place in Christ Jesus. This is not your salvation. This is his salvation that he gives to you freely by faith in what God said. Now, I might be weak, but I'm a weak child of God. I might be disobedient, but I'm a disobedient child of God. I might be prayerless right now, but I'm a prayerless child of God. I might be struggling with doubt, but I'm struggling as a child of God. I might have some resentment in my heart toward somebody, but I'm still a child of God. I might have some fear eating me up, but I'm still a child of God. I might be depressed for a little while, but I'm still a child of God. I may be in despair for a few days, but I'm still a child of God.

All of that will not keep me from being a child of the most high God. Hallelujah to God. You see, all of that will change. Because I'm living between 8-1 and 8-39, I go through these things. They change. I change. But the fact that I've been born again of the word of God by the eternal spirit, born again of incorruptible seed by the word of God, which lives and abides forever, is the thing that will not change in my life. Can I say this again? Because some of you are looking at me a little cockeyed here. You may be prayerless sometime, disobedient sometime, fearful sometime, full of doubt sometime. It'll change. You may be weak sometimes. You may fail God sometime. It'll change. You'll get back up on your feet. Something will happen. God will do something in your life. Though that stuff changes between 8-1 and 8-39, but the thing that will never change is who I am in Christ Jesus. He's not only my Savior and Lord. He's my elder brother. And I belong to God the Father. I don't have to yell like this, do I?

Sometimes people ask me, why do you have to yell like that? And I think, well, you've never had fire shut up in your bones. I can't help it. I tried to be scholarly last week, but it does not work for me. I am a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fire shut up in my bones. Fire shut up in my bones. Fire shut up in my bones. I pray one of these days when it feels like this, the trumpet's going to sound, we'll all just. Go up, hallelujah to God, just go up shouting. Now let me get back to the middle. I'm not gonna preach much longer. Let me get back to the middle of this sandwich. 8.1, 8.39. This is a fact. Until you stand before Jesus and get a brand new body, a glorified body like his body, you're gonna have to wrestle. You're gonna have to wrestle with the body you're in, this body of flesh. It will give you no rest. It will never take a vacation from haranguing you with your past, especially at the fourth watch of the night. I don't wanna get off my subject here, but you know, it seems that Satan waits till it gets to be the darkest and you're the weakest and the most fatigued,

and he goes at you. But see, the sun's coming up, and Satan has to keep moving. He hates light, because he's a father of lies and darkness. There is no light in him. All he is is darkness, and he hates the darkness. You can call him a vampire if you want to, but he hates it so. As he's working on you, here comes the sun. It comes up every morning, you see. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. And so Satan's always on the move, trying to tear up what he can, but here comes the light, so he moves a little more. He works on this person. Then he works on that person. And I'm not saying he doesn't work during the day. I am saying that he does his most damaging work at the fourth watch of the night. So just as surely as the sun keeps coming up and dispels the darkness, Satan keeps moving around. He's on the move. And you're gonna have to deal with that till you see Jesus. You're gonna have to wrestle with your flesh,

which wants everything but Jesus. You know that? Yes. In your flesh dwells no good thing. So you gotta wrestle with it. But if you remember, I don't know how many weeks ago it was, I preached to you about Jacob wrestling with God. I thought it was insightful. The fact that you are never closer to anyone than when you're grappling with them, wrestling with them. And Jacob wrestled with God all night long. And when we say wrestle, I'm not talking about this fake WWE entertainment. That's not wrestling. I'm talking about these high school kids, these college, these Olympic wrestlers who have to wear the ear protection. And once the referee blows a whistle, hits the mat, they go at it. There's no lead up. And you feel like your guts are coming out. And you wish it were over, but if you quit, you'll lose. So you stay there and you try to remember everything you were taught. And God let Jacob wrestle with him because that was, did you know physically that was the closest God and Jacob had ever been to each other?

In a wrestling match. Wow. And I told you, sometimes God will let you dangle. He doesn't answer prayers right away because he wants to wrestle. He wants a wrestling match because you're never closer to God. than when you're wrestling with Him. And that's why God lets you wrestle in His Word. I'm a realist. So listen very carefully, I'm a realist. Things have been bad in our life. Bad! People say, oh, I wouldn't say that, I wouldn't admit that. No, don't let that come out of your mouth. Don't speak that into existence. I didn't speak it into existence, it's already in existence. That's foolish. Oh, I don't say any negative things. Well, then you're just empty-headed because bad things are all around you. Let me tell you something. My life has been in a bad place. Oh, don't you have faith? Do I have faith? Yeah, listen to this. My life is a mess, but my God is on the throne. I'm not denying that I'm in a wrestling match. I'm not denying that I'm between 8'1 and 8'39 and it's struggle and it's suffering and it's groaning.

I'm not denying that. I'm saying when we get to the last verse, God will have the last word. You know, let me calm down. I really don't see how some of you can just sit there and stare at me like this. I just told you something God wanted you to hear. God likes to wrestle with you. You're never closer to God than when you're saying, but God, you said, you said this, Lord. Lord, why are you so slow? And Lord, you didn't answer that prayer. Lord, I prayed it, but you did not answer it. I'm wrestling with you, Lord. And God's saying, I know, I know. And I love to smell your sweat. And I love to see your tears because I know you're doing it because of me. You've come to me for an answer. You've come to me for help. Here I am. And what I want you to know, I will have the last word. And what you thought was over will one day be a glorious thing for my name's sake. That I may know him in the power of his resurrection. King James says, listen, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Fellowship? You mean I'm suffering and yet I'm having fellowship with Jesus?

That's it. We don't like that. We thought if you really have enough faith and you really do all the right stuff, if you really say the right stuff, you won't have to go through this. Oh, but Jesus sees fellowship in sufferings. I'm gonna say it again. People go, ooh, don't do that. God will sometimes pick you out or you or you and trust you with a tragedy. He sees that no matter what you're gonna praise him. When the stalls are empty and there's no fruit on the vine, when there's nothing to say, there's a God. Where there's nothing to say, there's a blessing. Yet, will I praise him? God picks people out and says, I'm gonna trust you with this trouble because through your handling of this, somebody is going to be saved and lots of bodies are going to be blessed. So if you wonder at the fourth watch of the night while you're feeling guilty about everything and why doesn't God answer prayer and you can't take this anymore, you weren't the first one. David said, truly God is good to Israel to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, uh-oh. He said, I know God.

God's good to good people. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. You know what that means? I almost gave up. My steps had nearly slipped. I almost fell off the path. How did it happen, David? Because I was looking at people. I was envious of the boastful. I saw the wicked prospering. That they seemed to get away with everything. They seemed to have everything they need. And I couldn't handle it anymore. They seemed to prosper no matter what they do. God doesn't seem to be interested in judging them or fixing them things. It was too painful for me. That's what David said. This is too painful for me. I'm going to come down, alright? I have seen righteous people suffer. I myself have said, Lord, this is not fair. I know you're God, but what I'm looking at is not fair. He didn't slap me. He didn't put leprosy on me for that. You know why? Because I'm between 8'1 and 8'39. Why? Because I'm wrestling with Him.

He's enjoying my sweat and my tears. Why? Because He's enjoying the fellowship of His sufferings. He'll let you ask that all day long out of a sincere heart. I know people. I know them. They're people I love who are going through it and it doesn't seem that God cares. It won't let up. It gets worse. And I go, Lord, I know these people. These are good people. It ain't fair. And David said that very thing. He said, they increase in riches. Surely, I have cleansed my heart in vain. You know what that means? I've lived all this for nothing. All this singing and preaching and praying and living right and telling the truth and being honest in business when it costs me everything is for nothing. I've been an innocent guy for nothing. I do the right thing and I'm plagued all day long and chastened every morning. Ooh, fourth watch of the night. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. Next word, until.

Until. Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end. As long as my eyes are on them and that, I'm confused. I say, is it worth it? Does this work? You mean all these prayers are for nothing? Lord, I started praying 20 years ago. I've seen no change. Lord, I prayed for this sick person to be healed. We buried them. Lord, I don't understand this. I just don't get it. But you see, as long as you look at that, that's how you're going to feel. But when he said, I went to the sanctuary, it means I went to his presence. I let him cover me. I let my wrestling opponent get on top of me and instead of trying to pin me, he blesses me. And I want to tell somebody that might be going through the same thing, my heart hurts. My heart is broken today. My heart is broken. No need in telling you why. But this won't go away. It's been five years. Five years.

You've got to walk to the pulpit anyway. You've got to get up at the fourth watch of the night anyway. Quote His Word. Talk to Him. Fight the devil. Fight the flesh. Wrestle. You've got to do it. I've walked to this pulpit when I felt like squalling. When I wanted to quit. When I wanted to run away and go home. I didn't want to see you. But when God begins to explain things to you... In His presence, in His sanctuary, you begin to see, oh, He's going to work this thing out. He's going to work it out. He's going to amaze us at what He's going to do. Stay with me, please. How long has it been since you've said, I'm saved, and meant it? Say it. I'm saved. I'm saved by the blood of Jesus. There is no condemnation in my life, and nothing can separate me from the love of God. Hallelujah. Praise Him. Go ahead, take a moment, praise God for it. Hallelujah. But He's going to help me get from 8-1 to 8-39,

day by slow day, day by day, God is faithful. I call the first service down. I'm not going to call you guys down, but I want to read something to you. I'm always saying, I never saw this before. That's because I'm always studying. I never saw this before. In the fourth chapter of Revelation, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Listen, you created all things, and by your will they exist and created. Now, who's saying that? The cherubim, the creatures. The 24 elders are just down on their faces. They represent the church. But the creatures are praising God for what? You created all things, and by your will they exist and are created. The angels sang together one morning when God laid the foundation of the earth and built the universe. They sang while He built, and now they are glorying in His creation. But I move over one chapter, and I hear something else. Wow!

When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song. I'm sorry. I get to enjoy this, too, you see. They were singing an old song. Well, now the 24 elders, the church is about to sing a new song, and here's what it says. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation and have made us kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. I'm talking about your redemption, your salvation. The angels can only sing about creation, but we who are saved can sing about redemption, the blood of Jesus. That's why you ought to praise Him one more time this morning. Sing it, David. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. Lord, now and always, we give you praise. We give you praise.

We give you praise. Lord, now and always, we give you praise. Everybody, balcony and floor. We give you praise. Praise. Praise. of you, we give you praise. We give you praise. Lord, now and always, we give you praise. If you don't know Jesus, whether you're in here or in the Family Life Center or you're in Wilmington or Lake Park or on the screen, if you don't know Jesus, it's the easiest thing to be born again. This is the age of grace. God says, come, and all you do is come. And if you confess your sins and believe on the Lord, you will be saved. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how many times you've done it. It doesn't matter with whom you did it. If you come to Jesus, bring all that nasty stuff, lay it at His feet, call Him Savior, walk away clean and free. And the whole church said, Amen. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen. Love you, church. See you next time, unless Jesus comes. We pray that today, as you watch Pastor Livingston's message, you will be encouraged and ready to dig deeper into a life with Jesus. To help you on this journey, Central has two resources for you. First, you can sign up to receive Central's Jail and Prison Correspondence course through the mail by writing to Central Church, Jail and Prison Ministries Discipleship Center, 5143 Sardis Road, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28270. Second, by using Central's app and clicking on the button below, you can read a short daily devotional that will encourage you to read and pray daily as you draw closer to Jesus. Thank you for watching.