"The Hour is Come"

Q: What does the Bible say about the hour of Jesus' crucifixion?

The Bible reveals that the hour of Jesus' crucifixion represents the culmination of His mission to glorify God and redeem His people. In John 17:1, Jesus remarks, 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.' This hour is a critical moment in redemptive history, marking the convergence of His humiliation and the fulfillment of all prophecies concerning His death. It is a divinely appointed time when Jesus would offer Himself as a once-for-all sacrifice, bringing about the ultimate victory over sin, death, and the devil. This hour confirms His obedience to the Father and showcases the profound love and submission inherent in the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Q: How do we know that Jesus' prayer in John 17 is unique?

Jesus' prayer in John 17 is unique as it is spoken by the sinless Son of God and reflects His distinct role as our High Priest. In John 17, we witness an extraordinary moment where Jesus, as our High Priest, audibly prays to the Father. Unlike any other prayer recorded in Scripture, this prayer does not contain confessions of sin; it emphasizes His obedience, purpose, and the divine relationship He shares with the Father. The uniqueness of this prayer is underscored by its content, as Jesus intercedes not only for Himself but also for His disciples and all believers. It reveals the heart of God’s redemptive plan, demonstrating that Jesus' divine nature sets this prayer apart from any model for us. It stands alone in authority and significance as He articulates the intimate relationship He shares with the Father.

Q: Why is the hour of Christ's death important for Christians?

The hour of Christ's death is vital for Christians as it signifies the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan and the establishment of a new covenant. The hour of Christ's death is immensely significant for Christians, representing the pinnacle of God’s plan of salvation. This moment, when Jesus offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice, fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. By dying on the cross, He paid the penalty for sin, establishing a new covenant based on grace rather than the law. Hebrews 10:14 affirms that by this one sacrifice, He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Christians find hope and assurance in this hour, as Jesus' victory over sin and death guarantees our justification and eternal life. It is through His sacrificial death that we are reconciled to God, transforming our relationship with the Father.

Saved by the blood of the Crucified One Thou ransomed from sin and a new work begun Sing praise to the Father and praise to the Son Saved by the blood of the Crucified One Saved, saved My sins are all pardoned, my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved, I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.

Saved by the blood of the crucified one. The angels rejoicing because it is done. The child of the Father, joy-bearer with the Son, Saved by the blood of the Crucified One. Save, save my sins, For a part in my guilt is all gone. Save, save Saved by the blood of the Crucified One. Saved by the blood of the Crucified One.

Holy Father, He's making His will, it was done. Great blessing, my heart, in His own precious Son. Saved by the blood of the Crucified One. Save, save, my skins are all torn and my guilt is all gone. Save, save, I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. All hail to the Father, all hail to the Son All hail to the Spirit, the Great Three in One Saved by the blood of the Crucified One Saved, saved by the sins of the Lord And my guilt is all over Be seated, we'll sing hymn number 352. 352.

Jesus, lover of my soul, Led me to thy bosom, fine, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past. Saved him to believe in God Oh, receive my soul at last Of the refuge at my love ♪ Aims my helpless soul ♪ ♪ On thee ♪ ♪ Leave, ah, leave me not alone ♪ ♪ Still subordinate God to thee ♪ ♪ All my trust on thee ♪ All my health from Thee I bring. Cover my definition With the shadow of Thy womb.

Thou, O Christ, art all I am, more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy Name. I am all unrighteousness. Full and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace. Plain just grace would be a spell, Grace to cover all thy sins Let the healing streams of help Make and keep thee pure within Thou of life, the fountain of. Free me, let me take a beat. What a hill. There's so many lines in there that are so true. My favorite ones cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of grace and truth. John 17.

Going to use one verse of scripture this evening, that very first verse. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. Our great, blessed, eternal God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come with such gratitude, such thankfulness, such praise, such adoration, with a desire to worship you from our heart, to really worship you, to feel your presence in our service tonight, to have the presence of the Holy Spirit, to have the presence of the power of God, to be able to open the scriptures to the glory, thy glory, and the good of our dear people here. And Lord, we pray for those, as we always do, that can be with us through the frailty of the body, providentially hindered, whatever it may be. Lord, you know them. They're your children. They're your sheep. And so, Lord, I leave them with you. You know exactly what to do with them, how to encourage them. You know how to give them grace. Give them strength. Lord, bless your word tonight. And again, we pray, oh, Lord Jesus, for our family, our sons, our daughters, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren.

Oh, Lord, if you don't go and get them where they are, they're not going to come to where you are. If you don't go make them feel their great need, they'll never have a need. And Lord, we never look to ourselves or even look to them for any hope or any sign. Lord, we look to you alone, knowing the salvations of the Lord, and we'll leave them with you. And God, meet with us tonight for your glory and the blessedness of this congregation. We pray for Christ's sake. Amen. Item number 337. 337. Teach me thy way, O teach me thy way. By guiding grace so forth, teach me thy way.

Help me to walk or ride, or by faith bless my sight. Lead me with heavenly light, teach me thy way. When I am sad, my Lord, teach me thy way. When earthly joys depart, teach me thy way. In hours of loneliness, in times of dire distress, in failure or success, teach me thy way. When doubts and fears arise, teach me thy way. When storms o'erspread the skies, teach me thy way. Shine through the clouded rain, Through sorrow, toil, and pain, make Thou my pathway, and teach me Thy way. Long as my life shall last, teach me Thy way. Where'er my Lord be cares, teach me thy way. Until the race is won, until the journey's done, until the crowd is won, teach me thy way. My subject this morning, or this evening, excuse me, is The Hours Come. Jesus lifted up his eyes, spake Jesus, lift up his eyes to his father, and said, Father, the hours come. The hours come. The hours come.

This particular chapter is one of the most precious, powerful, and profound portions of all the Holy Scripture. And yet our great high priest is allowing us to hear his prayer. The veil is drawn aside. We're allowed to enter into the holiest of all with our great high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's praying audibly. He's praying audibly. Disciples are listening. And what we have here is the utterance, the mind of the heart of the God-man.

Oh, how full of grace, how full of truth is our Lord Jesus Christ here as we see. You know, our Lord prayed many times in his mystery and he paid vocally where people could hear him. At his baptism, the scripture said he prayed and the heavens were opened. When he started his public ministry, he went onto a high mountain to pray alone. And he was praying, while he was praying on the Mount of Transfiguration, he was changed, like he would be when he would be in glory, when Moses and Elijah met with him, transfigured right in the very presence of those men, and he glistened like the sun, shone like the brightness of the sun.

And look with me in Luke 24, 23, verse 46. The last breath he took on this earth was a prayer. Luke 23, 46. Well, I'm in 44. Here we go. In verse 46, and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, this is his last prayer. Father, and to thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. His dying breath was a prayer.

Father, giving myself to you. I gave myself to you when I came into this world. And I give myself to you when I leave this world. He said, I came here to do your will. I came here to glorify you. And I've lived that life doing that. And now I'm going to glorify you with my very last breath. I'm going to trust you to take my spirit into your hands.

What a Savior. What a Savior. And now let me ask you this, is this a model prayer for us? In a sense, yes. It reveals to us that the glory of God should be the purpose of our prayers and our petitions. That's what our Father, that's what our Master said, Father, I come to glorify you. I've glorified you on this earth. And that should be our prayer, to glorify our Father while we're on this earth.

And that we, and the second thing is, not only should we pray for ourselves, but pray for others. Our Lord prayed for himself and then spent the rest of the prayer praying for other people. But yet in a greater sense, this prayer of our great high priest has never been, could never be a model for us. It stands alone. It's unique. It's author, the author of this prayer, is the second person of the Trinity.

He's the one who assumed our nature, come down into this world and assumed our human nature. That's why he says, you know, I had a glory with you before the world was. So, I mean, he before the world ever began, he was with Christ, God with the Father. And he came into this world to assume our nature, a human nature.

And it's addressed to Christ's Holy, Righteous Father. He calls him Father in verse 1. Look down in verse 11. And he says, middle of the verse, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those who thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. He called him Holy Father. Look down in verse 25. Here he called him his Righteous Father. Oh, he says down there, verse 25, oh, righteous father, the world has not known me, but I have. And these that you give me, they've known that you sent me. You know me, I know you, and you know those that's given to me. They believe me. They believe me. And oh, I'll tell you something else about it.

It does not contain a single confession of sin. How could the sinless, holy Son of God confess any sin? How could He do it? He never had any of His own. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. And our Lord mentions His obedience. He mentions His fulfilling the work and finish the work the Father gave Him. And oh, and you know what he told us to pray? Forgive us, forgive us. Christ didn't have to say forgive me. He told us to pray forgive us of our sin. Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. He didn't have to pray that. Oh no. And these words spake.

And all he had said to this point, and all the chapter 13, 14, and 15, and all my, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven. Now, our Lord Jesus, he was able to look up into the true holy place where he was soon to enter into. He got to look into that place where he came from and he's going to go back to. that he's gonna go back to. And oh my, this shows how the true spiritual reverence which our God is, which our Lord is due and which is due God. Our Lord gave great reference to his Father.

The heavens of heavens is his dwelling place. He said, I lifted up mine eyes to heaven from which cometh my help. I lifted up my eyes to heaven where dwelleth my God. It says Psalm 121, 122. They cried that. Cried that. And now we lift up our eyes. Where are we going to lift them up to? Up to heaven. That's where our father dwells. That's where our master dwells. That's where we're going to dwell one of these days. Oh, my.

And he shows his confidence in his father. Father, the hour has come. Lord Jesus Christ had two relationships to his father. First of all, as his father, the relationship as a son. And secondly, as an affection in love. Now the word father is mentioned six times in this chapter. Six times. Our Lord calls him father. Six times. Six times. And, oh my, he was his father first and foremost by virtue of his human nature. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ had a supernatural birth. There's two people in the scriptures that had supernatural births. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the first one.

God come down upon a virgin that never had known a man. And he come down in the presence of the Holy Ghost and took God's seed, if I can say it that way, and planted it in that woman's womb. And a baby come out of that woman's womb who was God manifested in the flesh, who was the Ancient of Days that Daniel saw. He'd come out of that woman's womb And she had never known a man. And that was the son of God. God's only begotten son. He never had a son like that.

And the second miracle birth was Isaac, when God promised, I'll come to you when you're 90 years old. I'll visit you this time next year. And you'll have a son. And I'll tell you what, you're going to name him. You're going to name him Isaac. The angel said, you know, God told him, I'll tell you what, you're going to name this son of mine, you're going to name him Jesus.

That means Jehovah's Savior, because he's going to save his people from their sin. That's what he's going to do. And oh my, God prepared him a body, a place to dwell in, some tent to live in, in this world. And secondly, he's the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he sent him here to be the head and representative of the family of all the redeemed. He sent him in here. He said, Father, you gave them to me. They were thine, but you gave them to me. And I'm going to keep them. I'm going to save them. I'm going to keep them. He said, I've kept through thy name all that you've given me.

And oh my, he's our kinsman redeemer. He's a firstborn among many brethren. He is a firstborn among many brethren when he is begotten of God. He's a firstborn among many brethren when he is raised from the dead. He's a firstborn among many brethren as he sits at God's right hand. He's a firstborn. He's the one that's got all the inheritance.

And oh my. he is our Lord's father and it's the first person of the Trinity. You know, there's three persons in the Godhead and this is a, this is, this is one of those mysteries of the Godhead. Our God the Father is the first person of the Trinity. God the Son is the second.

And here's the thing, listen to me. The Son and the Father are one and the same. You cannot know God the God in heaven and not know the Son. They're exactly the same. They're holy, they're righteous, they got all power, they got all glory, they got all majesty, they got all omnipotence. Everything that God is, Christ is. They're one.

That's what he said, I and my Father are one. If you say, Philip says, show us the father satisfied. Philip, have I been with you such a long time, and you've not seen me? He that has seen me, he's seen the father. He don't have to look no further. Oh, bless his name. And oh, my God's own son. Absolutely his son. Peculiarly his son. Glorious. And then he's his father in love, in affection. In affection. He said, oh, look here in verse five. He said, oh now, oh now father, glorify thou me with thine own self. Listen to this. Which I had with thee before the world was. I was with you before the world ever was. Before you ever said anything. Oh my.

And I tell you, the father spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And when he says father, our Lord Jesus is expressing his love, expressing his confidence, expressing his submission to his father. Look over here in John 17, John 10, 17, excuse me. John 10, 17, look over here with me at this verse of scripture. Oh, my. He expressed his love, his confidence, submission to his father. Look what it says in verse 17 of John 10. Therefore, doeth my father love me?

Because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Now listen to this. No man takes it from me. I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it again. Now watch what the next line says. This commandment have I received of my father. My father commanded me.

Oh, he said, I love my son. And oh, my. He loved me. Oh, my. He was the son of his love. Oh, the love between the Father and the Son. Look down verse 24 in the last sentence of verse 24. For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. You loved me, peculiarly loved me. Lovest me. Oh, the love between the Father and the Son we cannot imagine. And our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ is saying here, Father, I love you. And you love me. I confide in you. I submit to you. Father, I'm your son. You command and I will obey.

It's like Abraham and Isaac. Abraham said, Isaac, we're going up there on that mountain. We're going up there and we'll be gone three days, but we're coming back again. We're going up to worship. And Isaac never said a word and went right up there and let his father put him on an altar. God, and listen, he took his son back off that altar and took him back down that mountain. And I, Lord Jesus Christ, went to a cross, and God took him, put him on the cross, and when he got off that cross, he went to the grave, and he come out of the grave, and, beloved, he sits now at the right hand of God on high."

Oh, my. He said, I love you. I confide in you. I submit to you. Oh, my. Look over in John 18, 11. Just turn over one. Now, excuse me, just on the next page on my Bible, right on across the page, look what our master said in verse 11. Then said Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? It come from my father, shall I not drink it? Quit trying to defend me, Peter. I don't need defending. Put up your sword. I don't need somebody to fight with a sword. Oh, my. I trust you. Our Lord Jesus, when he prayed, he said, I trust your power. I trust your wisdom. I trust your faithfulness. And into thy hands, I commend my spirit.

And now look what else it says now. Look about the hour. He said, Father, the hour has come. The hour has come. There's a time that's everything in this world, everything in this universe, there's a time fixed in God's eternal decree. The hour is fixed. And, oh, he's going to go to the cross, but he also has a coronation. He says, my hour has not yet come. This was the watchword of our Lord's life. There's seven references in John about the hour, his hour. The first time it's mentioned, when he turned the water into wine, it's a marriage in Cana. His mother said, whatsoever he saith unto you, do. And he said, look down a woman. What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. And then two times in John 730 and John 820, it says, they took to lay hands on him, but no man laid hands on him for the hour had not yet come. The hour had not yet come.

Oh, look over here in John chapter 12. verse 23 and 24. Oh, these fellows wanted to see Jesus. And then verse 23, And our Lord answered them, saying, The hour is come, is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto you, and this is how he's going to be glorified, that when the hour comes, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, talking about what death, he's going to die. It abides alone. But if it dies, what happens? It brings forth a whole lot of fruit. Oh, my.

Look in John 13.1. Oh, my.

Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was now come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, knowing that his hour's come, he said, having loved his own, how long's he gonna love him? To the end. Oh, look in John 16, 32. I'll just give you a few of these. This is one where he told his disciples that before he, this is the last word that he give them before he started this high priestly prayer.

Behold, the hour cometh. Yea, now is, that you all are going to be scattered. And every single one of them were. Every man to his own. And you shall leave me alone, and yet I'm not alone, because the Father is with me." So his hour has now come. What is this hour he's talking about? It's the culmination of his whole life. It's a time. An hour means a time. And that hour of his humiliation, the hour of his betrayal, The hour of 500 men coming to apprehend him. The hour of Peter's denial in all of them. The hour of his being given into the hands of sinful men. The hour when he himself would be nailed to a cross and die. The hour was when Christ would finish the work of everything he'd come to do here and offered himself as one sacrifice for sins forever and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

One offerings all it took. They offered Solomon on the day that he became king, he offered over 20,000 lambs in one day. Rivers of blood But it took one sacrifice to put away all the sins of all of God's people, once and for all, by His blessed sacrifice on that cross.

Oh, bless His holy name. Bless His holy name. Just one. And I'll tell you something else He did by that one sacrifice. He perfected perfected forever, them that are sanctified, set apart by that sacrifice. Forever. Oh my. And this hour, this hour was the fulfilling of all the prophecies and types concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the seed of the woman that would bruise the head of the And when the time came and the fullness of time was come, he was made of the seed of woman. And oh, Isaiah said it like this. He said, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given.

Who is he? Wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. And bless his name, he's the Prince of Peace. Oh, my. Isaiah, he was that wounded one, that chastised one, that soul that was made an offering for sin, wounded for transgressions. Everybody turned hands down on him. But God said, this is my son. This is my righteous servant. And I'm well pleased. I'm satisfied with him. And to him, all the prophets give witness. And then all the types. All the types. You know the first type Christ was?

The ark. When God told Noah to build that ark, and it took him 100 years to build that ark, and he was a preacher of righteousness for 120 years. Eight souls went into that ark. One door into that ark. Not all the wrath of God fell on the ark, but none fell on Noah and his family. And all the, and Christ is our ark, one way in the presence of God, Christ. And all the wrath of God fell on him and not one drop falls on us. We pray for showers of blessing fall on us, but there'll never be one drop of wrath, not one.

And oh my, that Passover lamb, that was Christ. That serpent that was lifted up on a pole, that was Christ. That bread, that manna that came down from heaven, that was Christ. That rock that Moses spitting and water, smitting water come out of it, that rock was Christ. And all that tabernacle and everything that was in that tabernacle pictured our Lord Jesus Christ.

The outside of it just an old badger skin. But when you got inside, oh, the glory that was in there. And our Lord looks like anybody else, but oh, the glory that was in that man. Oh, my. Every sacrifice, every altar. brazen altar, the incense altar, the veil that he went behind, he took it aside. All found their fulfillment in this man, our Lord Jesus Christ in this hour, in this hour. Oh my.

And I tell you, and all fulfilled in him and his one sacrifice. And he stayed on this earth for 40 days and 40 nights. to give many infallible proofs that he was who he said he was. And they stood watching him one day outside Jerusalem. And he lifted up his hands and he blessed all those disciples.

The Lord lift up his eyes upon you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you. The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. And then he lost gravity and started going up into glory. And our angels stand there beside him. Your men of Israel, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus has gone away. You'll see him come back the same way. And I tell you, one of these days, there's going to be a trump. A trump shall sound. Christ shall descend. The dead in Christ shall rise first. And then they which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them." To meet who? The Lord forever in the clouds. This was our Lord's victory over death? This hour was his victory over death? The hour of victory over sin? The hour of victory over the devil? The hour of victory of bringing in anew? A new covenant, a new man. Destroy the old and bring in a new man. Destroy the old man, bring in a new one. Destroy the old heart, bring in a new heart. Destroy our hope in everything and make us new creatures in Christ.

Oh my. He said, this is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed. And oh, what encouragement, what encouragement for us. We have seen our Lord Jesus drawn near to His Father in solemn, solemn devotion. We've seen Him drawn near to God. And in this, He's given us a wonderful example.

He went to His Father. Let us go to God as our Father. Not the same as a father in the same sense Christ was his son. But oh my, we're sons of God. He's our father because he's Christ's father. He's our father because we're his children. We're united to his son. And bless his name, he sent the spirit of adoption into our hearts. And you know what? We cry, Father, Father, Abba. Father, we cannot not do it now. You know why we cry, Father? He sent the Spirit into our hearts, so we'd cry that.

He did that. I thought I'd make two messages out of that, but I got through it. I hope it's a blessing. The hour has come. The hour has come. Now it's come and gone. You know, somebody said something to Christ. He says, my hour's not yet come, but your time's always at hand. He said, I know. I got to go. But he said, your time is always at hand. And that's right. We don't know. But I'm grateful he does. I'm grateful he does.

Our Father, in the blessed, blessed name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for allowing us to meet here this evening. Thank you for your wondrous gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that we can talk of him, get lost in the wonder of it, the glory of it, the preciousness of it. Oh, I bless you, Father. And I pray that you'd cause this to be a blessing to your dear saints in their hearts.

Give them some courage, give them some encouragement, give them some comfort. Lord, I have to go out in this world and live in it and work in it. And oh, Lord, be with them. Be with them, uphold them. And Lord, for those who are not with us but listened, I pray your blessings upon them. Lord, we need you. We need you. Every hour, we need you. I bless you and praise you in Christ's name, amen, amen. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, my Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. See you Wednesday, God willing. Huh? Sunday. Did I say Yeah, I'll go over the same thing.

"The Hour is Come"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the hour of Jesus' crucifixion?

How do we know that Jesus' prayer in John 17 is unique?

Why is the hour of Christ's death important for Christians?

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"The Hour is Come"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the hour of Jesus' crucifixion?

How do we know that Jesus' prayer in John 17 is unique?

Why is the hour of Christ's death important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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