In John's Gospel chapter 12,
Christ having entered into Jerusalem, we read these words from verse
20. And there were certain Greeks
among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore
to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him,
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew.
And again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve
me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant
be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honour. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify thy
name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out and I if I be lifted up from the earth will
draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what
death he should die. Jesus answered them saying the
hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Christ's whole life in this world. His whole reason for coming to
this world concerned this hour. This hour, the hour is come that
the Son of Man should be glorified. This point in time, this moment
this purpose. As this hour came upon him he
says now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father
save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour. He came for a purpose. He came
for a reason. But it was a purpose and a reason
that cost him. It was a terrifying hour. An
awful thing to endure. Something that no one, naturally
speaking, could pass through. but he came because he loved
his own and he came for his own to save his own. This hour and this man was long
awaited for, long looked for but it came. There was an awaiting for this
hour by many, a longing for this hour by many, a looking for this
hour by many, and an arriving of this hour for this man for
whom they waited. Generations looked for the coming
of Christ Abraham of old looked down through the ages for that
Saviour, that sacrifice, that Redeemer of whom his Lord had
spoken. Job looked for his Redeemer. David looked for the Messiah. And yet they all lived and died
and were laid in the grave generations before he came. and yet all time
centered upon this man, this arrival, and the hour. The hour which commenced with
the Passover, at which Christ sat with his
disciples, at which they broke bread and drank wine, on that
night when he knew he would be betrayed, on that night when
he knew he would be handed to the authorities, on that night
when he knew he would be taken and tried and crucified. The Lamb of God came into the
world to be slain. The Lamb of God slain from the
foundation of the world in the purpose of God came in time to
actually be taken by the hands of men, beaten, bruised and slain. The Lamb of God, the Son of God,
Jesus was chosen God. Anointed, he was born in the
fullness of time, he grew to the age of a man, he was prepared
for the sacrifice and he was offered up unto God at this hour. The Lamb was chosen, born and
prepared and offered up at this hour. His people in him for whom
he came, whom he loved, for whom he suffered, his people
too were chosen of God, were born in time prepared and were
offered up in Christ with Christ at this hour. They were one with
their Savior, one in Christ at this hour. But as with all time
and all events there is a looking for and are
waiting for, an arrival of, and then are looking back upon that
event that comes and goes in time. In John chapter 12, we
read Christ's words when he says, the hour is come. But before it came, before that
day arrived, He was looking and waiting and watching. He knew what would come upon
him. He knew how he'd be rejected
and deserted by all. He knew what his father must
do unto him as he hung upon the cross. As the Lamb of God, he
knew the sacrifice He must endure. He knew what would come before
him. But he had to wait. At the commencement
of his ministry, in John chapter 2, we read of the marriage in
Cana of Galilee, at which the mother of Jesus
was present. And both Jesus was called and
his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the
mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not
yet come. His mother saith unto the servants,
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Jesus came for this hour, the
hour in which he would be glorified. But at Cana his hour was not
yet come. Why does he speak to the woman,
his mother, this way. What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. As
though his connection with the woman concerned the hour. The hour had yet to come so why
do you ask of me? Why come to me saying they have
no wine? Mine hour's not yet come. But she knew who he was. And
she knew why he came. And in spite of his answer, she
said unto the servants, whatsoever he sayeth unto you, do it. She knew who he was. Mary knew
that that child that was conceived of her by the Holy Ghost was
the Son of God. She knew he was her hope and
his people's hope. She knew that when his hour did
come, salvation rested in him. She knew that at this wedding,
though they had no wine, he was the answer. She knew that though
we may have no wine, he is the answer. She knew that those sinners
lost in sin may have no wine. He's the answer and the hour
will come when he will bring forth the best wine for his own. Note the connection with the
woman. There was a wedding in Cana. There is this woman and
there is the wine. which they had not. This woman,
Mary, the mother of Jesus, had brought forth this child, her
son, God's son, into this world. In him, though she was his physical
mother, in him she looked for life and salvation. We're reminded of that woman
spoken of in Revelation. John who had that revelation
of Jesus Christ given unto him in which he looked upon the events
of time from the beginning of time to the end of time in such
allegorical pictures in which Christ presented under him a
vision a prophecy of what is and what is to come wrote this
gospel in which he spake of the marriage at Cana and the woman
Mary who spake unto the son and said they have no wine. In Revelation chapter 12 John
also wrote There appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars, and she, being with child, cried, travailing
in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder
in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads,
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head. And his tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to
the earth. And the dragon stood before the
woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon
as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child,
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child
was called up unto God and to his throne. And the woman fled
into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore
days. And there was war in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon
fought and his angels, and prevailed not. Neither was their place
found any more in heaven, and the great dragon was cast out.
That old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, was deceiveth
the whole world. He was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. and they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they
loved not their lives unto the death. This woman, the church of which
Mary is a figure in John, brought forth this child whom the world
hated, whom Satan that dragon hated, whom he sought to destroy,
that old serpent he sought to destroy, this child brought forth
of the woman as prophesied unto Adam and to Eve when they fell
in sin and were cast out of the garden. Eve was told that she'd
have travail in labour but that there would be one that would
come that would crush the head of the serpent. She brought forth
this child. The world sought to destroy him. Satan sought to destroy him. But in destroying him, in slaying
Christ, he brought in salvation. everlasting life now is come
salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power
of his Christ. Woman what have I to do with
thee? Thine hour is not yet come. The woman was cast into the wilderness.
She waited for his coming. He came in the fullness of time. but he came for an hour for which
she must wait. Generations had waited for the
coming of Christ. David waited, Abraham waited. When Christ was born of Mary,
she knew who he was. She watched him grow. She pondered
everything that he said in her heart. At Jerusalem, when he
was taken up as a child. She and her husband lost him
and then found him in the temple with the scribes asking questions
and answering questions and she said, why are you here? And he
said, I must be about my father's business. He came for a reason. He came
for an hour. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? They have no wine, she told him.
They have no wine. They had no wine. They had no
joy. They had no life. At the wedding
it was but wine that they lacked. that which would bring them joy.
But the wine's a picture of that which Christ came to bring in
for his people. They had no wine, they had no
blood to propitiate the wrath of God against their sins. They had no forgiveness for their
sins. They had no covering of their
sins. They had no righteousness, no
hope, no salvation, no life, no joy. They had none. They had no wine. You too, by
nature, have no wine. You have your sins which will
damn you. You have your rebellion which
kindles the wrath of God. You have your unbelief and your
apathy towards the gospel which will stir up his anger. But you have no wine. You go forth through the brief
moments of this world, of time, of your life. But the hour that
you try to grasp hold of, the brief moment of time in which
you rest all your hopes is soon gone. And then the wedding's
over and you have no wine. You have nothing but your sin
and the wrath and the judgment to come. They needed wine. picture of the blood of Jesus
Christ. They needed his blood, they needed
their sins to be covered, they needed the wrath of God to be
appeased, to be propitiated, they needed righteousness, they
needed hope, they needed salvation, they needed life, they needed
joy. They had none, they had. Now why? But why ask him? His hour had
not yet come. He came to shed his blood for
many. He came to shed the blood of
the New Testament. The wine for his people. He came to bring in the hope
and the salvation that they longed for. But his hour had not come
but she asked and she looked because by faith Mary the church
beheld the Son and knew that he was the one who would save,
he was the deliverer, he was the Redeemer, he was the Messiah,
he was all their hope whatsoever he sayeth unto thee, do it. He'll bring forth wine when his
hour is come, he'll bring it forth. he came for this hour
that was his purpose, that was his aim that's why he was there
this hour this hour to bring in wine for his people this hour
to shed his blood for the people this hour to bring in righteousness
for the people on the night in which he was
betrayed that night in John chapter 12 when he says now the hour
has come that the Son of Man should be
glorified that night when there came a voice from heaven I have
both glorified thy name and will glorify it again that night when
the people heard and said that voice from heaven thundered That
night when Jesus said, Now is my soul troubled. Father save
me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. That night when Jesus said, Now
is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. On that night, when Jesus had
sat with his disciples, and that Judas, that man that should betray
him, and break the bread and took the cup, he said, he took
the cup and gave thanks, and he gave it unto them, saying,
Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many. for the remission of sins. He
took the cup, the wine, he drank it, and said unto his disciples,
said unto the church, said unto the woman, drink ye all of it,
for this is the blood of the New Testament. The new covenant,
your salvation, The wine. The hour had yet to come, but
he came for it. The wedding, the marriage at
Cana was a picture of it. It pictured the uniting of the
woman to her bridegroom. The bride and the bridegroom,
it pictured the wedding of Christ with the woman. Woman, what have
I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. But
it was a picture of that wedding which was coming, that marriage
which should come, which should be eternal, that marriage in
which Christ took his bride. And at the hour he went with
her and was slain for her and took her sins and took them away. and brought in righteousness
and clothed her in it. He took her death and gave her
life. He took the water and gave her
wine. He took the woman and made her
in him to live forevermore. What an hour. It approached him. He looked ahead to it. He looked
for the coming of it. What an hour! In Cana he said,
the hour is not yet come, but soon it came. Soon it came. What an hour for him to look
to, to enter this world, to grow to the age of a man and know
that this hour approached, this hour when the judgment of this
world would come upon him. when his father would slay him
for her, for her, for you sinner, if you're Christ's, for you believer. What an hour. The agony, the torment, the sorrow,
the death which was set before him. the Lamb of God, prepared
for the slaying. John 4.23, we read, The hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. He came in the Gospel to make
known the hour of his death, the hour of salvation, to seek
out his people and draw them unto him. draw them unto Him
when He was lifted up above the earth, that all the world should
see and all His own should be drawn unto Him, united with Him,
that they should worship Him in spirit and in truth. The hour
cometh and now is. Have you heard in this hour? Has God come unto you in this
gospel as he came unto the woman, as he came unto the disciples
in the person of Jesus Christ and said the hour is come, look
unto me all ye ends of the earth and be saved. The hour has come. The hour has come. Matthew 26,
45 we read that he came to his disciples and saith unto them,
sleep on now and take your rest. Behold the hour is at hand and
the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. They went
forth, they went into Gethsemane and the disciples slept as Christ
travailed in prayer before his God. That this hour, this cup should
be taken from him. Nevertheless, not my will but
thine be done. Those words we read in John chapter
12, where he prays, Save me from this hour. But acknowledges,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Elsewhere we read
that this cup should be taken from him. But nevertheless he
knew he must drink it. And yet as he travailed, the
disciples slept. They slept like you and I sleep. the sleep, the slumber that causes
our ears to be shut and our eyes to close and our hearts to be
hardened when Christ stands before us. There is Christ approaching
this hour in this hour he'd already said the hour has come the moments
of his death approached that hour that spanned from the Passover
meal at which he was betrayed to the night in which he travails
in prayer with his father to the oncoming of the scribes and
the priests and the authorities that took him and captured him
and then took him to trial and betrayed him and called out for
him to be crucified that hour that then took him to be led
outside of Jerusalem carrying a cross upon which he must be
crucified that hour that spanned the hours upon the cross three
hours in the light and three hours in the darkness until he
cried out at the end it is finished and having taken away sin, he
gave up the ghost that hour. And that hour, when it's set
before you and I, we slumber like the disciples slumbered
then. Oh, how sleep comes upon our
souls. We cannot look. except he causes
us. We cannot hear except he makes
us to hear. We cannot believe except he says
unto our souls, live. As Christ rose up from praying
under his God, as his death approached, he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter what could ye not
watch with me one hour? and he rises up in resurrection
power today and comes unto you that sleep says unto you could
you not watch with me one hour? Can you not take one hour out
of your lifetime to behold what I did at this hour to save sinners
like you? What your sins have done unto
me? What your unbelief did to me
in crucifying me. Can you not watch for one hour? Or can you not? Oh but one hour
to go and to hear the gospel. Oh but one hour to hear the word
of Christ. Oh but one hour to behold his
glory. Oh you're too busy. Too much
to do. Too many concerns which will
take you to the grave. Could you not watch with me one
hour? Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Thirdly, He says of this hour,
Unto those that took Him that it was their hour. Luke 22, Then
Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and
the elders which were come to him, Be ye come out as against
a thief with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in
the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me. But this
is your hour and the power of darkness. betrayed into their hands. They
take him and they come unto him like they were taking a common
thief. They come unto him with violence
to force him. And he says unto them, it's your
hour and the hour of the powers of darkness. He allowed them
to take him. They could not take him of themselves. They could not put the Son of
God to death of themselves. He had power to lay down his
life and to take it up again. But he came for this hour. He
came to offer up his life. He came as the Lamb of God. So
their hour was given unto them. They had their hour. They got
to do what they wanted with their hour. Their hearts' desires were
fulfilled. You want things. You want to
avoid Christ, you want to dismiss him, you want to live your own
life as though he's not there, you want him silenced, you want
him in the grave, so he comes unto you like he came unto them
and he says unto you, well go ahead then, this is your hour. the powers of darkness go ahead
then use your hour how you will with me take me and my gospel
and silence me take me and put me to death do what you will
so they did and so you do in your hearts So we do by nature in our unbelief,
we take him, we take his gospel, we trample it underfoot, we shut
our ears to it, we go another way and we say that's it I won't
hear anymore. And the power of darkness which
grips us from within, which moves our every motion, the power of
sin within us takes the nails and nails this Saviour to the
cross. It takes the Son of God and does
away with Him. We cry out with the mob, crucify
Him, crucify Him. We spit upon Him, we jeer at
Him, we get away from Him, we sneer, we laugh, we mock. And there He is, He's gone, what
can He do? What can He do to me? and accept he turns our heart. And except from the cross He
looks upon us in grace and mercy as we crucify Him, and looks
upon us in particular and says of us as we crucify Him, Father
forgive them, they know not what they do, except His love is said
upon us, we will be left to the powers of darkness to pull us
down evermore. from that hour that was given
unto us our hour to be pulled down from it into
the depths of hell by the powers of darkness that led us to that
day and to that hour and will take us away into everlasting
judgment Oh what a thing to be given to them they got what they
wanted but it destroyed them forever. Oh may we not be given what we
ask for, but may God in grace give us what we need at this
hour, because of the hour in which the Saviour suffered for
his people. This hour. Forthly, this hour. Christ said, now is my soul troubled
and what shall i say father save me from this hour but for this
cause came i unto this hour father glorify thy name Then came there
a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to
him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. That prince moved in the hearts
of those scribes and Pharisees. They were given their hour. The
power of darkness moved them. But in so doing, in taking Christ
and slaying him, the prince of this world was cast out. This hour your hour, the hour. Fifthly, his hour. It was their hour to indulge
their sin, but it was his hour to save his people from their
sins. Now before the feast of the Passover,
When Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart
out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them unto the end. and supper being ended,
the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's
son to betray him, Jesus knowing that the father had given all
things into his hands and that he was come from God and went
to God. This hour, his hour. It was his hour. An hour is not yet come. The
hour is come. And Jesus knew that his hour
was come. He came for this purpose and
this hour. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? Mine hour is not yet come. But
when his hour came, sixthly, her hour came. Her hour came. His hour was her
hour. John 16, a woman when she is
in travail have sorrow because her hour is come. But as soon
as she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish
for joy that a man is born into the world. Her hour is an hour
of travail and sorrow to bring forth life. His hour was an hour of travel
and sorrow to bring forth life. He came to suffer this hour for
the joy that was set before him, we read in Hebrews 12. What joy
to bring forth life! By his death, this woman lived. By his death, sinners were brought
to life. By his death, the Holy Spirit
brought forth many sons unto glory. Woman, what have I to
do with thee? The hour has come. His hour and
her hour. It only took that hour to save
her. That time, that moment, that
event for him to take her sin and make her to be the righteousness
of God in him. We see this hour. her hour, the
woman's hour pictured elsewhere in the Gospels. In Matthew 9
we read that Jesus turned him about and when he saw the woman
he said, daughter be of good comfort thy faith have made thee
whole and the woman was made whole from that hour. She was made whole from that
hour A picture appointed to this hour of Christ's death that made
the woman the church's bride whole. Matthew 15 we read again. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Believer, your hour. is his hour,
is the hour, is the hour. Behold the hour cometh, yea is
now come, that ye should be scattered, every man to his own and shall
leave me alone, and yet I am not alone because the Father
is with me. When his hour came, the disciples His people scattered. They could not remain with Him. Like the night before they, as
it were, slept. Yet He came for them. He came
for those who were scattered. He came for those who slept.
He came for those who in their hearts by nature are dead in
trespasses and sins. He came for the lost. He came
for the wretched. He came for sinners like you
and I, the unbelieving. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father the hour is come, glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. The hour is come. The hour in which he would bring
forth wine out of water, in which he would bring righteousness
where there was but sin, in which he would shine forth light in
the darkness, in which he would bring forth life out of death,
that hour in which death was swallowed up in victory, swallowed
up by everlasting life, swallowed up by righteousness, that hour,
the hour, the hour in which he endured the darkness, Three hours
of darkness upon the cross. The darkness. the darkness of
sin, the darkness of unbelief, the darkness of this world, the
darkness of judgment, the darkness of separation from God, the darkness
of the fires of God's wrath, the darkness of the waters of
the deep, the darkness, that hour in which he endured the
torment, The billows of God's wrath, the waters of God's wrath
flowing over his head. That hour in which he felt the
fires of God's wrath consuming him as the Lamb of God was burnt
up. The sacrifice was consumed by
the fires, roasted upon the altar. the hour in which he was abandoned
and forsaken and rejected of all men. All men, believer and
unbeliever, chosen and not chosen, elect and reprobate, they all
abandoned him. But the chosen, the elect's sins
were laid upon him. He was made their sin. He bore
their sins in that hour that they through him should live. Oh what an hour, what an hour,
what an hour. This word, this term, the hour,
is not used in many places in the scriptures. In the New Testament
we read of it in several places, largely those that we've mentioned,
largely concerning this hour of Christ as he was plunged into
the fires of God's wrath. In the Old Testament the only
places we read of an hour, this time span mentioned, are found
in Daniel, largely concerning the fiery furnace. and those
who if they failed to worship King Nebuchadnezzar would be
thrown into that furnace the same hour. Those references in
Daniel point into the furnace, to the furnace in which walked
the Son of God who endured the flames for him this hour. From the sixth hour upon the
cross to the ninth hour there was darkness. This hour, the
hour, spanned those hours. There was darkness which he endured. But then, at the end, it was
finished. Righteousness had been brought
in. Three hours in the hour. Three hours when the powers of
darkness raged but when the powers of God conquered through His
Son the Lord Jesus Christ in the hour. When the light shone
in the darkness, when salvation was wrought, when salvation took
the dead and made them to live. What an hour. What an hour. In Acts, We read of Cornelius and of his salvation. In Acts
chapter 10 verse 30, Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting
until this hour and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house and
behold a man stood before me in bright clothing. At the ninth
hour. There was darkness over all the
earth from the sixth hour until the ninth hour and then in type
and figure that same man who rose from the dead after taking
away the darkness stood before Cornelius in bright clothing. That man, Cornelius' saviour,
Mary's Saviour, Matthew's Saviour, John's Saviour, Abraham's Saviour,
David's Saviour, Daniel's Saviour, that man in bright clothing is
coming again. His hour endured, salvation brought
in, he is coming again. There's an hour coming when he
will come to this world again and stand before us. When the
hour of judgment is come. When the hour of the end of time
is come. He's coming again. Are you ready? Are you looking? Will you be
with him? We're in this hour in Revelation
chapter 14 when John wrote, I looked and lo a lamb stood on the mount
Zion and with him and hundred and forty and four thousand having
his father's name written in their foreheads and I heard a
voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice
of a great thunder. and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps and they sung as it were a new song
before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders
and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and
four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. These are they
which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, and
in their mouth was found no guile. for they are without fault before
the throne of God. And I saw another angel fly in
the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. and worship him that made heaven
and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. The everlasting gospel has come
your way today. Oh, like Cornelius, may we be
brought at this hour to behold him in bright clothing, as Christ
said. Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Ye know neither the day nor the
hour when the Son of Man cometh, but He is coming. He is coming
for His own. He is coming to gather them in
because of that hour, the hour, her hour, His hour. which He
endured for her, that He should save her from her sins. Did He
come for you? Amen.