His Hour Had Not Yet Come

April 16, 2017 · Randy

Scripture referenced 22 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

John 2 (the wedding at Cana) Jesus says 'my hour has not yet come' when Mary asks him to act

1 The third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there.
2 Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the marriage.
3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” They filled them up to the brim.
8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it.
9 When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting.
15 He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew their tables.
16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”
18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he spoke of the temple of his body.
22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did.
24 But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone,
25 and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.

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John 4 (the woman at the well)

Jesus tells the Samaritan woman the hour is coming when true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth

1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

2 (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples),

3 he left Judea, and departed into Galilee.

4 He needed to pass through Samaria.

5 So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

8 For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9 The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water?

12 Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’

18 for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.

22 You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.

23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”

26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”

27 At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?”

28 So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,

29 “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”

30 They went out of the city, and were coming to him.

31 In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

33 The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.

35 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already.

36 He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’

38 I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.”

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days.

41 Many more believed because of his word.

42 They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

43 After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

45 So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.

46 Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”

49 The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.

51 As he was now going down, his servants met him and reported, saying “Your child lives!”

52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”

53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house.

54 This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.

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John 5

Jesus says an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live, and all in the tombs will come out

1 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;

4 for an angel went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.

5 A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”

9 Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

10 So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”

11 He answered them, “He who made me well, the same said to me, ‘Take up your mat, and walk.’”

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat, and walk’?”

13 But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16 For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”

18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19 Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.

20 For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.

22 For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,

23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.

24 “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

25 Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.

26 For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.

27 He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.

28 Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice,

29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

30 I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.

31 “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid.

32 It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true.

33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.

34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.

35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.

37 The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.

38 You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent.

39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.

40 Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.

41 I don’t receive glory from men.

42 But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.

43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.

47 But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

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John 7:6

Jesus says his time is not yet here but their time is always opportune

6 Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.

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John 7:30

people sought to arrest Jesus but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come

30 They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

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John 11:35

Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus

35 Jesus wept.

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John 12:23

Jesus says the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified

23 Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

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John 12:27

Jesus says his soul is troubled and asks whether to pray to be saved from this hour, but says this is the very purpose he came

27 “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this time.

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John 13 (opening verses)

before the Passover feast Jesus knew his hour had come to depart to the Father, having loved his own to the very end

1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God,

4 arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5 Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

7 Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”

8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

10 Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

11 For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”

12 So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

13 You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.

14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

16 Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’

19 From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he.

20 Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”

21 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”

22 The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.

23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.

24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”

25 He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus’ breast, asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

27 After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

28 Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.

29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

30 Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.

33 Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”

37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.

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John 16:2

Jesus warns that the hour is coming when those who kill his followers will think they are offering service to God

2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.

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John 16:25

Jesus says the hour is coming when he will no longer speak in figures but will tell them plainly about the Father

25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

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John 16:32

Jesus says the hour is coming when the disciples will be scattered each to his own home and leave him alone, yet the Father is with him

32 Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

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John 17:1

Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and prays 'Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you'

1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;

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Matthew 26:36-46

Jesus in Gethsemane is grieved and distressed, prays three times for the cup to pass, finds the disciples sleeping, and says the hour is at hand

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”

37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”

39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

40 He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.”

43 He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words.

45 Then he came to his disciples, and said to 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.

46 Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”

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Hebrews 4:15

we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one tempted in all things as we are yet without sin

15 For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.

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Hebrews 5 (referenced as pointing to the garden)

in the days of his flesh Jesus offered prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death

1 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

2 The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness.

3 Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself.

4 Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was.

5 So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.”

6 As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,

8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,

10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

11 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.

12 For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.

13 For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.

14 But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

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Romans 6:5

if united together in the likeness of Christ's death we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection

5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;

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Philippians 2 (referenced for 'emptied himself' and obedience unto death)

Jesus emptied himself of divine prerogative and became obedient even to death on a cross so his name would be above all names

1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,

2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,

15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.

17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.

18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.

20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.

21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.

22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.

23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.

24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.

25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;

26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.

27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.

28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,

30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.

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Philippians 3:10

Randy's prayer to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death to attain the resurrection

10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;

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1 Corinthians 1:18

the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those who are being saved

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

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James (paraphrased)

to know to do good and not do it is sin

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Hebrews 13 (the benediction)

the God of peace who brought back from the dead the Lord Jesus equip you with everything good for doing his will

1 Let brotherly love continue.

2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.

3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”

6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

9 Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.

12 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.

13 Let us therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.

14 For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.

15 Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.

16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.

18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.

19 I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner.

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,

21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words.

23 Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.

24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.

25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Randy preached this Easter morning from personal grief as well as from scripture, working through the Gospel of John's repeated phrase "the hour has not yet come" to show that Jesus moved through His earthly life with full knowledge of where it was heading. The death of his closest childhood friend, Chad, three weeks before Easter gave the message an unusually personal weight. The two threads, Jesus' hour and our own time, ran together through the whole sermon.

What was said

Randy opened by telling the congregation about Chad, a friend he had known since Vacation Bible School, a double third cousin and lifelong companion who died suddenly on a Saturday morning during spring break. He described growing up together in Shiloh, Georgia, playing Little League baseball and football, going to college together, spending a summer doing campground ministry in Panama City Beach. The loss was still raw, and he was honest that he had been weeping in ways he never had before, including on a plane to Salt Lake City with his wife Tanya beside him.

From there he laid out a pattern he had noticed running through the Gospel of John. From the wedding at Cana in chapter two all the way through the high priestly prayer in chapter seventeen, Jesus repeatedly says that His hour has not yet come. Randy traced this phrase forward through the book, showing that John is structured around a gathering momentum toward one great event, and that Jesus lived His whole ministry with that event consciously in view.

Two moments of Jesus weeping anchored the middle of the sermon. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus wept in His humanity over what death does to people and relationships. At the gates of Jerusalem, He wept again over a city that bore the name "city of peace" but was about to reject the very foundation of peace. Randy quoted Pope Leo I: in His humanity Jesus wept for Lazarus, but in His divinity He raised him from the dead.

Randy then moved to Gethsemane, reading from Matthew's account of Jesus falling on His face and asking three times whether the cup could pass from Him. He said the fact that Jesus asked whether there was any other way is itself the reason Christians can say the cross is the only way. If there had been another path, the Father would have taken it. Jesus submitted, and from that point the language shifts: the hour is at hand.

He brought in Victor Hugo's four-line poem "Written at the Foot of a Crucifix," originally composed in French after Hugo's daughter drowned in 1843. The lines, "You who weep, come to this God, for He weeps. You who suffer, come to Him, for He cures. You who tremble, come to Him, for He smiles. You who pass, come to Him, for He remains," gave Randy a way to hold Chad's death and the resurrection together. Jesus is not still suffering, he said. He cures. He remains. He is the risen Christ interceding at the right hand of the Father.

He closed by returning to the phrase Jesus used with the Samaritan woman: "the hour is coming and it is now here." Randy said that phrase works in both directions. Jesus' hour was always approaching and then arrived. Our own hour is always approaching too. Chad was four months older than him and his heart simply stopped. That reality, Randy said, is not meant to frighten but to prompt, because Jesus also said that the Father is actively seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, and that "your time is always opportune."

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Randy described a sense of time running through the Gospel of John, with Jesus repeatedly saying 'my hour has not yet come' until finally declaring that it had arrived. What does it mean to you that Jesus lived his whole life moving with purpose toward that specific hour?
Randy shared that when he stood at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus wept, and that Randy believes Jesus was weeping not just for his friend but over death itself and the grief it causes. Have you experienced a loss that gave you a new or deeper understanding of why Jesus wept there?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Find in this transcript

0:00 Everybody, how are you? Good morning. He is risen.

0:04 Yes. He is risen indeed.

0:06 Alright. Fantastic. Happy Easter. We're glad that you're here. Why don't we sing and get everybody that's out in the vestibule to come on in and join us.

0:13 Alright? We're We're going to sing to start off with victory in Jesus, Florine, and miss Jennifer are playing for us today. Would you join in and sing it like you mean it? If you know it and if you don't, wait through the first verse, alright? No, I'm just kidding.

0:27 Go sing it like you mean it. Come on up here, Scott, if you would. Join us. They'll bring you a microphone in a minute. I

0:38 heard an old, old story how savior came from glory earned and his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me I heard about his groaning of his precious bloods atoning then I repented of my sin and won the victory oh victory in Jesus my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me air I knew him and all my love is to him he plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing blood I heard about his healing, of his cleansing power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see. And then I cried, dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit. And somehow, Jesus came and brought to me the victory.

2:07 Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me air I knew him and all my love is to him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory.

2:46 And I heard about the streets of gold and yonder crystal sea about the angels singing and the old redemption story and some sweet day I'll sing up there a song of victory amen oh victory in Jesus my savior forever he sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. Amen. I love me heir. I knew him and all my love is to him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

3:40 Amen. Oh, I love that song.

3:42 Y'all sound good this morning.

3:43 Oh, yeah.

3:44 And I've been gone a while. It sounds

3:45 it's really, really good to be back.

3:47 Amen. We're gonna sing

3:48 the old rugged cross next, hymn number three twenty seven. If you wanna look for your parts.

3:53 It's good to have you back, Randy. Yeah. Yeah. Vacations are nice. Get back to work.

3:57 We had some great fill in though. Matt Lutzema did a great job last week.

4:03 Fantastic. Yeah.

4:04 Amen. And well, yeah,

4:06 you did alright too, buddy.

4:09 Amen. All week before that.

4:11 It's great

4:11 to get up to Number three twenty seven.

4:18 It's one of those newer hymns you may not recognize.

4:24 Love this song. Down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown going to for me be for the dear lamb of God left his glory above to bear it to dark cavalry so I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophy's at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown for it was on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me so I'll cherish the old rugged cross still my trope is at last I lay down I will rugged cross I will ever be true in shame and reproach gladly bear then he'll call me someday to my home far away where his glory forever I'll so I'll cherish the old rugged cross so till my trope is at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown.

8:09 Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few, very few actually, announcements. Connect hour is still going to be happening between services. It happened this morning. We actually had brunch down there.

8:18 There may be some leftovers after this, but there was brunch down at the end of the hall this morning. And we're going still do coffees and donuts and that sort of stuff down there, even though the kitchen remodel has started and it's under construction. There's a big plywood room sealing off the kitchen construction from the fellowship hall. So the connect hour will still be happening. Monday nights will still be happening.

8:39 So Monday nights, why not? It's a good time. Meal music and a message on every Monday night. Carl is preaching. What's tomorrow's message, Carl?

8:47 Luke Luke eight. Alright. Look forward to that one. Luke eight. Awana is happening in this room, in this big playing circle right here, 6PM tomorrow night.

8:58 So if you're just visiting, you're just passing through, and you want to, you can come for meal music and a message down the hall, but the kids can stay in here and play at the Awana games and also have scriptures poured into their minds, hearts, and lives. So, we do that on Mondays and I think that's it. We skip the rest of the announcements this week. There's plenty going on. If you didn't grab a bulletin on your way in, you can grab one on your way out and everything that's going on is listed But I wanted to give you a chance to get up and see some folks and greet one another, and we'll bring you back together with another peppy Easter themed song.

9:33 Welcome. Glad you're here. If you stand up and greet one another, we'll bring you back together in a minute. Hymn number three fifty seven is Christ arose. Three fifty seven, my favorite Easter hymn.

9:46 Just

9:50 saying. Happy Easter, everybody. Celebration time.

10:20 From from the grave, he arose with a mighty triumph for his foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lived forever with the saints to reign he arose he arose hallelujah Christ arose they watch his bear Jesus my savior they seal the dead Jesus my lord up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph for his foes he arose a victor from the dark domain and he lives forever with his saints to reign he arose he arose hallelujah Christ arose. Did we get all that out of our

12:25 there's a little more left in there.

12:28 That's a good one.

12:28 Let's try it on this one then. 368

12:30 is he lives.

12:31 I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is with me no matter what. Alright. He lives.

12:39 368.

12:47 Better get it out on this one folks.

12:49 I serve a risen savior he's in the world today I know that he is living whatever men may say I see his hand of mercy I hear his voice of cheer and just the time I need him he's always near he lives He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me a long last narrow way. He lives. Within my heart and all the world around me I see his loving care and though my heart grows weary I never will despair I know that he is leading through all the stormy blast the day of his appearing will come at last he lives he lives Christ Jesus lives today he walks with me and talks with me a long night narrow way.

14:32 He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. Rejoice rejoice oh Christians lift up your voice and sing eternal hallelujah to Jesus Christ the king the hope of all who seek him the help of all who find none other is so loving so good and kind He lives. He lives.

15:25 Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me a long life's narrow way he lives he lives salvation to impart you ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart. Amen.

16:01 Y'all can have a seat. Wanna invite the frontline team to come forward. And would you pray with me? God, for such a glorious salvation, we give you thanks. I I am overcome with your redemptive power, with your resurrection power.

16:18 Lord, I'm

16:22 awed,

16:22 and I stand awed before you. I pray, Lord, that you will use this church as an instrument of your peace, that we will continually be looking to you as you look to the father. Jesus, that we'd be looking to you and to your Holy Spirit to direct us as to what you would have us do in this community, in this world, wherever we may be from, or wherever we may be going. So, God, would you take the offerings and the tithes that are put into these plates, and would you use these resources, this acknowledgment that you have given it, and we're giving back a portion saying we trust you? Lord, would you use this, everything that goes into these plates?

17:03 Would you use it to advance your good gospel so that more may know you and carry it further than it's ever been before? Would you bring into your kingdom those who are searching and seeking? Would you allow more to find? In Jesus name, use this for your kingdom's good work. Amen.

17:26 It's great to be here in God's house. Amen?

17:40 Go ahead.

17:43 Drive the nails in my hands. Laugh at me where you stand.

17:54 Go ahead

17:57 and season me. The day will come when you will see because I'll rise

18:13 again

18:17 ain't no that can't keep me in the ground

18:38 go ahead

18:41 and say I'm dead to God

18:45 but you will see that you are wrong go ahead

18:56 bury me that can keep me in the ground.

19:37 Go ahead

19:40 and say I'm dead

19:41 and gone, but you will see that you are on. Go ahead.

19:55 Try to hide the

21:11 Thank you, Florine. So around here, y'all know spring break happens the same time every year. Last week of March, first week of April, that's when it is. When does Easter happen? Without getting too technical, it's almost always between the last week of March, first week of April.

21:26 So how often do pastors go out of town for spring break? Not very often. This time, Easter was after spring break, by a whole week. And so I thought, hey, this is an opportunity. The elders said, hey, this is an opportunity.

21:39 So I asked a couple of the elders, Florine being one and Matt Litzelman being the other, hey, would you take my place on the second and the April 9? Tanya and Pascal and I want to get out of town and go. And they said, yeah, yeah, we'd love to do that. Sounds great. Both of them accepted immediately.

21:53 And so I said, well, good. Thank you very much. That's cool. So I had it on my calendar. Second and the ninth, I'm going miss.

21:58 It's going be a little tough coming back, haven't preached in two weeks, and come back for Easter. And then spring break happened, and it happened on March 24. That's when we started it. On the twenty fifth, I got a call. I'm gonna be the sermon.

22:14 I'll get to it in a minute. Alright? Jesus time and our times is what I'm gonna be talking about it. This guy on March 25, that's the Saturday after spring break started on Friday. This guy just died.

22:28 He is my best friend, one of my best friends ever. And a lot of y'all have been praying for me. I know I've been getting texts and calls and emails and everything. So I'm gonna share a little bit about this before I go on. Think it ties in.

22:41 Chad, great guy. My earliest memories are in church and they're in Vacation Bible School and I was sitting next to this guy. And there are differing accounts as to what happened with the Elmer's glue. But but this guy and I were involved. I do know that much.

22:57 Chad was great. I remember jumping in a swimming pool and landing on his head at his birthday party. I remember growing up together and playing on the Pine Mountain Valley Pirates for Little League Baseball, the Pine Mountain Valley Outlaws for Little League Football. Nobody ever scored on us. Was the best Little League Football team ever.

23:17 I remember the town that we grew up in, Shiloh, didn't have enough people to field the team, we always played with other towns. He and I grew up together. We are double third cousins. I know before you get thinking this is a real Georgia thing, my my grandmother and his grandmother are double first cousins. That means that my great grandmother and his great grandmother were sisters, and they married a set of brothers.

23:41 And so their kids were first cousins both directions. It's okay. Trust me. If you work it out, it's okay. But it's true.

23:49 So we have the same gene pool and everybody said, oh, yeah, y'all do favor. He's about an inch shorter than me, maybe two. And we grew up together. We grew up singing together at church, but he wouldn't sing outside of church ever. Never.

24:01 I had heard him, just kinda heard him in church, but never ever outside of that. So we continue on. We played basketball together in high school until grades came out. He's a smart guy, but he just didn't like school. So after grades came out, he had to drop the basketball.

24:15 We played golf together in high school until grades came out, then he had to drop golf. Each year each year, we did the same thing. He actually really, really smart, inventive, creative, wonderful guy. Just didn't wasn't terribly interested in school. We started college together, and we played on a flag football team that was undefeated.

24:34 The Seven Who Killed Elvis was the name of the team. We went to state. It was fun. We played music together. A friend of ours taught us both at the same time.

24:45 Two chords. You need three chords to play a song, but he taught us two chords and, wait, it was God is so good. That's the way we played. I left town for a week. When I come back, Chad was playing the guitar like he'd been like Florine.

25:00 He was just playing it like he'd been playing it forever. Chad started writing songs. He started writing music. We hung out at the Baptist Student Union at college. It was mainly because we both lived 35 miles from the school and didn't have anywhere to hang out between classes, so we just went there.

25:14 It was a comfortable place, air conditioned, Georgia. And we hung out there together. I spent the night over at his house as often as I spent the night at my house. He spent the night at my house a lot too. We were great friends.

25:28 Middle of college, we went on the home mission board is what it was, the North American mission board it's called now. Had teams called innovator teams where you worked a normal job in the daytime and then you did campground or other types of ministry at night. And so we went on a team to Panama City Beach, Florida. Tough gig. We lived there for the whole summer.

25:46 And Chad and I worked at Alvin's Island. I worked at the Magic Mountain Mall. He worked at the newest one. And we'd do selling sportswear or whatever, bathing suits and whatnot, all day long. And then we'd go into the campgrounds and we'd present the gospel, and we'd do songs, and we'd do skits, and all kinds of stuff.

26:04 Good guy. I loved him dearly. And then spring break starts. I'm planning on going to Salt Lake for shows in San Diego and hang out and go to the zoo and whatnot the next week. But the first week, didn't have anything planned.

26:16 And I hear from my cousin, Emily, first cousin. She had practiced with Chad on Friday night to sing a duet on Sunday morning, and Chad just died on Saturday. I have never had anyone this close to me die. I've done funerals here, and I have walked through and wept with you through funerals for your parents, for some of you, for your kids. And I weep with, and I I find it fairly easy to sympathize and empathize, and I do tear up.

26:49 And y'all y'all know, for crying out loud, I tear up almost every Sunday. But I don't spend a lot of time tearing up on my own. I have been since his passing. I have been quite a lot. And, I loved him dearly.

27:03 But this is what I think of. I think of his wife, Amy, and I think of his daughter, Madeleine, who just got a full ride scholarship to West Georgia College to play volleyball. And Andrew, a soccer phenom, little mini me of Chad. That's what Chad looked like when he was little. And I think of them, and I my heart just breaks, I start to tear.

27:25 And in fact, when I heard the news, had planned on coming out. I was just gonna I was gonna record the sermon. I was gonna stand next to the slides and I was gonna just record. This is the sermon for that following day, you know, because I was ready. Last part of Colossians, I was ready for it.

27:39 And then I came in and Carl said, I think that's going to be hokey, and I'll be glad to preach for you. So Carl preached. So it's been three weeks since I've been up here, you know, months since I preached last. And I thought, wow, I'm coming back on Easter, and as weepy as I've ever been in my life, this won't be hard at all. My main when I was on the way there so I Carl says he'll preach.

28:02 We drove to Salt Lake City. We got on the plane. And when we got on the plane, I finally started to kinda have that release, that cathartic release that tears so often bring. I was going, and a guy this size in a plane in the middle of the plane laugh I mean, crying like that, it's not a sight to see. Tanya actually kinda gave me the elbow and said, listen, no fly list.

28:25 You can't do this. We got to go places. You've got to drive that up, jokingly. But I did. I was able to.

28:34 And then just kind of going through it, praise God, thank you for all your prayers, were able to make it through. They asked me like insecurity in Salt Lake if I would preach his funeral. So now I'm preaching the funeral of my best friend. But God afforded us the the provision to be able to go and the time to be able to go and all of that and the pastor to take my place. And I was praising God for that but I started thinking of what am I going preach on Easter, you know, three weeks ago and all I could come up with is Jesus wept.

29:04 Jesus wept. It's two words. My goodness, it's only two words in Greek. They're longer words but Jesus wept. So, I was looking at that this week and trying to figure, how do you do an Easter resurrection?

29:17 He is risen indeed sermon on Jesus wept and so I I looked at it and I thought this is my one of my professors said this all this time all the time. I'm not sure that it's original to him, but he said that the gospels are passion narratives with long introductions. There is a story to be told in every one of the gospels, and it is the passion of the Christ, the Christ, the Messiah. And they're all differing lengths of introduction, but it's getting you to that place. And there's a definite sense of time.

29:48 And John, to me, stands out more than any other. So I'm gonna go through and use the Gospel of John kind of as a framework. I will mention a passage from Luke. I'll mention a passage from Matthew. And I hopefully will tie this back together with a couple from Hebrews.

30:01 But I don't do topical sermons very often. If you're visiting, what we normally do is go through in order, chronological order, I'll take a snippet. And we'll go on that snippet, and we will exhaustively turn it inside out. We'll try to get to all the juice out of that. And then the next week, we start right where we left off and keep on going.

30:20 But this one's gonna be topical, so we'll bounce around a bit. Lord, would you help us to understand what it is you have for us in our time here today from looking at your time that you spoke of so often, your glorification. In Jesus name, amen. So in John two, Jesus, this is this is the context of that wedding in Cana where they ran out of wine and Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to one of the waiters, just go ask him and do whatever he says. And then Jesus looks over at his mama and says, woman, my hour has not yet come.

31:00 He knew that when you share great and mighty power and work miracles, you draw a lot of attention and you draw a lot of naysayers. And so he did a sneaky little miracle. Only a couple of people knew about it. The waiters, the master of the banquet was asked Mary knew, Jesus knew, and his disciples and it said, and his disciples believed in him. That's very early.

31:23 Chapter two, gospel of John. My hour has not yet come. John four, he's at the well with a Samaritan woman. He's walking back from Jerusalem, the city of peace. He's walking back from Jerusalem, walking in between Galilee and Jerusalem, and he says, I must needs go through Samaria, and he meets the woman at the well.

31:47 The woman, he's a Jew. She's had five husbands. And Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father, but you will worship you all, y'all worship what y'all don't know. That's talking about the Samaritans. He said, y'all are worshiping on Mount Gerazim, something you don't even really know.

32:13 We worship what we do know for salvation comes from the Jews, from out of the Jews, salvation will come. We worship what we do know. So, he's directing and he says, but the hour is coming and it's now here, Jesus said, when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such people to worship him. You get the sense of time. There's something there.

32:39 He's saying the hour is coming and it's now come. He's right here. I'm right here. Your interaction with Jesus is your hour. The hour is coming when it's going to be in spirit and truth.

32:51 John seven six, just a couple of chapters forward. He says it twice in chapter five. I'll come back to those. John seven says, my time is not yet here but your time is always opportune. So Jesus said to them, my time is not yet here, the time for my glorification.

33:11 Not yet here, but your time is always opportune. In 07:30, he says, so they were seeking to arrest him. Now that's early. Seven chapters into the gospel of John, that's pretty early. It's 20 chapters long.

33:24 Seven chapters in, people are already there's enough confrontation from seeing him gaining popularity, gaining a following. There's enough from the religious establishment that they were already seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. Do you see how there's a leaning forward in the book of John towards some great magnificent event? Seven thirty, his hour had not yet come. And here's my verse.

33:54 Jesus eleven thirty five. Jesus in Spanish. Jesus wept. And I look at that and go, man, that's out of all the all of the passages that I have preached here, the longest passage that I've preached here is four chapters. The last four chapters of Acts, did all in one day.

34:16 That was crazy. The shortest passage that I've ever preached is this one, Jesus wept. There's incredible humanity there because how many of y'all know what it's like to weep? I know it in a new and more profound way. I have wept with y'all, but now the person that was the closest to this guy, except his mama and his wife.

34:34 I'm one of the closest people to Chadwick's Road. I wept. Jesus wept. Why? So the context for this one is around the grave of Lazarus, a friend that had died four days before.

34:53 If you take his sister's word for it, he stinketh by this point. He'd been in the grave for four days. Jews consider that first three days kinda iffy, but four days, he's dead. He could be mostly dead for three days, but four days, he's dead. So on the fourth day, he gets there, show me where they laid him.

35:17 Why did he cry? You think it was just because his friend died? He was as close to Lazarus as I might have been to Chad, and so he's just dying because maybe that's possible. I think he was crying because of death. The eternal councils of God, Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and the act of creation, they create mankind and they create him for relationship, create man and then woman, and it create him for relationship, and he rejects relationship.

35:52 And sin comes into the world and thus, with sin, death. And so he's feeling firsthand personally for this sister and this other sister, Mary, Martha, the other mourners that were there, and for himself too. But I think he was just seeing that death, how final it is or it seems, and the aggravation there. Well, if you keep going, actually Pope Leo I, he said this, and I'll continue to quote later, to start with, In his humanity, Jesus wept for Lazarus. We'll talk about his divinity in a minute, but in his humanity, Jesus wept for Lazarus.

36:33 If you look at when this happens, now it's in John 11, so that's about halfway through. You think, well, where is that in the time frame? That's one week before the crucifixion. It's just seven, eight days before the crucifixion. So as we're getting closer and closer to Jesus' hour, because it is progressive, history goes somewhere.

36:54 It's going in a direction, and Jesus' hour has not yet come, has not yet come. And then when we see things start to turn, when he approached Jerusalem. Now this is immediately after he raised Lazarus from the dead. There have been a few days that passed in between, but he is coming into Jerusalem. He had stopped in Bethany here, and he stopped in Jerusalem.

37:18 Now what does Jerusalem mean? Do y'all know what Jerusalem means? I mentioned it earlier in the sermon accidentally. Shalom, Shalem, Salem means peace. And then Jeru is a city of or foundation of or place of peace.

37:34 Does that sound like the Jerusalem you all know about? It has not lived up to that name historically, has it? When he approached Jerusalem, and this is where he knew his hour was coming. From the other gospels, we see his hour was at hand. His time had come.

37:51 And when he approached Jerusalem and this is in the triumphal entry. I was not here on Palm Sunday but the typical Palm Sunday passages talking about that triumphal entry. Hosanna, Hosanna, save us now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and he wept over it.

38:11 This is the second time we see in scripture Jesus crying. Now, why did Jesus weep there, you think? The city of peace, the foundation of peace. Now the very foundation of peace is riding this donkey's colt into the city that's named for peace, and he knows that that's not true. If you had known for the things which made for you peace, you would have accepted me.

38:37 That's the next line. So he is crying over the unrepentance and the inability to accept the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one way to God. So he cries, and that is apparent. John 12 says, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. This is verse 23.

39:05 27 says, and now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this very purpose, I have come to this hour. This is my time. He's actually answering in response to Peter. Why don't we fight?

39:21 Why don't we do something, Messiah? Why don't we do something about this? He goes, I'm gonna resist this. This is the reason that I was born. This is the reason that I've come.

39:31 This is everything that I've been building up to. My hour has not come. And now he says the hour has come. John 13, before the feast of the Passover. Now John, not like the rest of this of those Gospels with their long introductions, they don't mention that very intimate upper room dinner the night before.

39:51 They don't mention it in great detail like John does. He spends from chapter thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen before walking into the garden with Peter, James, and John. So 13, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the very end. You see, it's approaching closer and closer. And as we approach his hour, his emotions are forefront.

40:25 There's a crying. There's a wailing, weeping, sweat drops of blood, we'll see. John 16, while he's talking to his assembled disciples in verse two, twenty five and thirty two, I'll go quickly. They will put you out of the synagogues for believing in me. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that he's offering service to God.

40:52 Did those folks when they killed Stephen, the martyr, did they think they were offering service to God? They did. Are there still martyrs? I heard the stats this morning of how many died in 2016, and it was staggering. Christian martyrs.

41:11 And the people think that they're offering service to God for doing that. Verse 25 says, I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I'll tell you plainly about the father. Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered each to his own home and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the father is with me.

41:34 Now just a couple of hours later, they would be scurrying and scattered once the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden Of Gethsemane, fulfilling what he just prophesied right before that, even when they resisted. No. No. I won't do that, Peter said. John 17, as he gets into the Garden Of Gethsemane, he starts in John, the high priestly prayer.

41:59 All of chapter 17 is Jesus speaking to the father. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you. That's a simple prayer right there, right? Glorify the son so that your son may glorify you.

42:19 The hour has come. He knew his whole life that his hour had not yet arrived, but then when it arrived, he also knew that. And he lived with purpose in the direction of that hour the whole time. I'm gonna switch over to Matthew for just a minute. Matthew 2six 30 six-thirty eight says this, then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

42:46 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, and began to be grieved and distressed. And then he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved. Can you feel the emotion? To the point of death, remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them and he fell on his face and he prayed saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

43:10 Yet not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and he found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for one hour. Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

43:27 Can I get an amen? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Amen. He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, my father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done. And again, he came and he found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy.

43:42 And he left them again, and he went and he prayed a third time saying the same thing once more. If it be possible that this cup passed from me or that I don't have to do this, if there's any other way, father, for you to save people, if there's any other way, let's do that. I mean, he's feeling the human agony of his approaching death. You know, people have a problem with greatest problem with about Christianity. They have a problem with the exclusivity of the gospel.

44:14 How can you say it's the only way? I say it based on this. Jesus said, if there be any other way that we can do this, let's do that but not my will, lord, be done but yours. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and rest? And behold, the hour is at hand.

44:34 He has said, Lord, your will be done. This is the way. Now he had earlier said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.

44:42 In the discussion with the sisters, Mary and Martha, about the resurrection of Lazarus, He said, do you believe in the resurrection? Yes, surely I believe. She had right theology about the resurrection. And he said, I am the resurrection. I am the life.

44:59 Those who believe in me will not suffer an eternal death. They will live. Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand. The son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

45:10 Get up and let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me, we all know as Judas, is at hand. And so back to Hebrews. Hebrews five, I think, is pointing specifically to the garden. Pastor Rich actually also points to this and says, in the days of his flesh, because Jesus, as Philippians said, emptied himself.

45:35 He emptied himself of his divine prerogative, and he went through all of the anguish that a human would endure approaching his death, knowing that that death was to be given as a ransom for many, those who would believe. But he didn't deserve it. He did not deserve that death. In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death. Jesus, pray unto the father in the garden with loud crying and tears.

46:14 And he was heard because of his power piety. Philippians says, he became obedient even unto death and even unto death on a cross so that his name would be above all names, the only name in heaven or earth whereby we must be saved. There's one mediator. There's one way. His time had come, and it was the time when he'd be arrested betrayed, arrested, kangaroo court, crucified, buried.

46:48 I wanna hit Hebrews four two fifteen says, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. Now he came back and asked, are you asleep? But he had to sleep. He knew what it was like to sleep. He said, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

47:03 Watch with me. I found this poem. Actually, I found it in English and then went back and found it was originally written in French. So I called Frenchie, Marion and Frenchie. They're on vacation, and I called him.

47:15 I said, listen. Can you I'm gonna text you something. Can you translate it for me? And he did. The poem is called Written at the Foot of a Crucifix.

47:24 It's by Victor Hugo, same guy that wrote Les Mis. Les Miserables. You who weep, come to this God, for he weeps. You who suffer, come to him, for he cures. You who tremble, come to him, for he smiles.

47:43 You who pass, come to him for he remains. Now the pass right there, in my context, I think it means in death, but it could mean whoever is passing through any temporal suffering because, lo, I'm with you always, God remains. You who pass or are passing in temporal, ephemeral, come to him for he remains. I like that. It's four lines long, but it was obviously coming from a heart of a guy who had cried quite a bit.

48:19 Actually, the poem was written in 1847 about an event that happened in 1843. His daughter fell off of a boat, and she with all the bustles that they were wearing in the eighteen forties, her dress kept her from being able to come back up to the top. This young lady's husband dove overboard to try to save her, and they both drowned. Victor Hugo found out reading the newspaper sitting in a cafe that they didn't have the spread of information nearly so fast as we did. And most people, biographers, say that he never got over that death of his daughter and son-in-law.

48:55 But it drew him closer to God. Not necessarily the church, quite honestly. He didn't have a lot of respect for the church. You who weep, come to this guy for he weeps. He knows what it's like.

49:05 We don't have a high priest who doesn't know how it is to be human. He does. But the suffering line doesn't say you who suffer come to him for he suffers. He doesn't suffer. He's a resurrected Christ living at the right hand of the father intervening and interceding for us.

49:20 Yes. Weeps. He feels what we feel, but he does not suffer. He cures. For those who tremble and find themselves in fear of God, he smiles and draws as a merciful and gracious God.

49:36 And for you who pass and are temporal, he remains and does not change, and he offers life eternal. I like that. So Pope Leo the first, back to him. In his humanity, Jesus wept for Lazarus, but in his divinity, he raised him from the dead. He has the power of resurrection.

49:55 This is the God who spoke everything into existence by Christ. He made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. He spoke life. Every soul who has come out comes by this God and creator and do you think that he can bring you back? Yes.

50:15 So, all week, when I was weeping, I was weeping because we were in between one resurrection, that of Jesus, and another resurrection, that of the saints. So forward from here. We've read 15 a couple of times partially. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted and tried in all of the things as we are. Yet he was without sin.

50:42 And because he was without sin, he's the only one that has a spotless record. By his sacrificial death, he's made that available to anyone who believes. The Gospel of John is the Gospel of belief. Read it and see. He offers it over and over.

50:58 Romans six:five, we went through not too long ago together. If we have been united together in the likeness of his death and this is the verse that gave me some comfort about taking an Easter crowd and putting them through Jesus wept. If we have been united together in the likeness of Christ's death, we have to associate his death on the cross with our own sin. If we have been united together in the likeness of his death, then certainly we shall be in the future when our time comes in the likeness of his resurrection. Now from the moment of belief, the moment of belief, that's true, but we are being saved.

51:40 It's progressive. I think of Chad, and I think of his time. He's four months older than me. He was born in May, I was born in September. As I've been contemplating his mortality, I've been contemplating my own.

51:56 And thinking about that that his heart just stopped. I'm looking forward to his and my resurrection and getting back together. But look at this. We can we do not have a high priest who can't sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Therefore, because of that, let us draw near, brothers and sisters, with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

52:27 I I don't usually preach the kinda message that's like, I'll figure out a story that I could kinda lean them over a hole and then try to say, hey, there's only one way out of this hole. That's true. But I don't usually preach that message. Chad has been just grabbing hold of me. He's four months older than me, known him my whole life.

52:48 His heart was no more likely to stop than mine. Do we know when our time of need is? I go back to this. The hour is coming, and it's now here. The time is now here when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth, and father is seeking such people.

53:08 So God is looking forward to such people who will worship him in spirit and truth to worship him. John five, I told you I skipped it but I come back to it. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and it's now here. When the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. When Jesus stood at Lazarus' tomb and said, Lazarus, come forth.

53:33 I think he did it because if he just said come forth, every single one of them would have. Those who hear will live. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and they will come out. Those who have done good and believed, it's the gospel of belief. It's obvious from everything around it in context.

53:56 Those who believe to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil and pushed him away, rejected him. To the resurrection of judgment. Jesus said to them in John seven, my time is not yet. He was getting there, but he was getting there with intent because he knew his time was coming. What I wanna turn you to, though, is what your time is always opportune.

54:26 Billy Graham's famous quote for I don't know how many rallies is, you may never be any closer to God than you are right now. If you feel him tugging, you feel him drawing you, go for it. Accept him. Accept the peace that he's offered. When he's coming down into Jerusalem, the city of peace, and he is the foundation of peace.

54:47 And when he looks and he knows these people are gonna reject me, they already have. He wails and weeps. Your time is always opportune. Philippians three ten. I think Matt preached on this last week, and this is kinda my prayer for me, but it's also what I hope is your prayer.

55:10 That I may know him, that's Christ, and the power of his resurrection because he did arise. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Jesus had amazing compassion and amazing sympathy to be able to see someone that's hurting and connect with them. Do you want to be able to do that? I do.

55:34 I don't wanna just walk past somebody who's in need. I wanna be able to see it. Now that involves a certain amount of pain. It involves a certain amount of empathy and sometimes weeping. The fellowship of Christ's sufferings being conformed into his death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

55:56 That's Philippians three ten. And it brings us back to this. I know that some of you are here, and you're here because it's Easter, and, this comes up all the time. This slide, we come back to it all the time. First Corinthians one eighteen.

56:12 The message of the cross is that Christ lived a perfect life, did not deserve to die, yet he willingly laid down his life as a ransom for the souls of all who believe in him. So the message of the cross to those who are in this life perishing, heading towards their time, hurdling towards an eternity without God. It is mere foolishness. But to those of us who are being saved progressively, we're not perfect, but we're in the process towards glorification. Now Chad, at his death, he's glorified.

56:55 To those who are being saved and walking in this, it's the power of God, the transformation of life, the hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find. If today you find yourself in that place where I don't know, haven't really paid much attention, what a first century Jew can do for me, I can't understand. You're admitting that it's just foolishness to you, I'd love to talk to you about it. Anytime, now or after now. The time is always opportune.

57:24 But I think that's the end of the sermon. Would you all stand with me, and we will sing a closing song. God, would you impress upon us exactly what you would have us do? And I mean that not just for those who have never trusted in you, but for those, Lord, of us who have, would you impress upon us what you would have us to do? I think of the verse in James that says, to know to do good and to do it not, to that person it is sin.

58:00 So God, would you have us join in the fellowship of your sufferings and sympathize, empathize with others, and help everywhere that we can. Would you allow us to live out a gracious and gospel centered life in Jesus name. Amen. Because he lives, hymn number three fifty eight. Scott up here somewhere?

58:17 Yeah. Come on. Help me out.

58:40 Heal and forgive he bled and died to buy my pardon an empty grave is there to prove my savior lives because he lives I can face tomorrow because he lives all fear is gone because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives how sweet to hold a new born baby and feel the pride and joy he is he lives because he lives I can face tomorrow holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. Last verse. And then one day, I'll cross that river. I'll fight life's final war with pain. And I'll know he reigns because he lives I can face tomorrow and is worth the living just because he lives.

1:01:56 Amen. And now, may the God of peace, that foundation of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen.

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Death Of A Friend Eternal Life Grief Jesus Wept Resurrection When Is It Time

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