John, the second chapter, we'll read from the
first verse.
And on the third day a marriage took
place in Cana of Galilee.
And the mother of Jesus was there.
And Jesus also and his disciples were invited
to the marriage.
And wine being deficient, the mother of Jesus
says to him, they have no wine.
Jesus says to her, what have I to
do with thee, woman?
Mine hour has not yet come.
His mother says to the servants, whatever he
may say to you, do.
Now there were standing there six stone water
vessels, according to the purification of the Jews,
holding two or three measures each.
Jesus says to them, fill the water vessels
with water.
And they filled them up to the brim.
And he says to them, draw out now
and carry it to the feast master.
And they carried it.
And when the feast master had tasted the
water which had been made wine, and knew
not whence it was, but the servant knew
who drew the water.
The feast master calls the bridegroom and says
to him, every man set on first the
good wine.
And when man hath well drunk, then the
inferior.
Thou hast kept the good wine till now.
This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee, and manifested his glory.
And his disciples believed on him.
The same book, chapter twelve.
John, chapter twelve.
We begin with verse twenty.
John twelve, twenty.
And there were certain Greeks among those who
came up that they might worship in the
feast.
These therefore came to Philip, who was of
Bethsaida of Galilee.
And they asked him, saying, Sir, we desire
to see Jesus.
Philip comes and tells Andrew.
And again Andrew comes and Philip, and they
tell Jesus.
But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is
come that the Son of Man should be
glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the
grain of wheat falling into the ground die,
it abides alone.
But if it die, it bears much fruit.
He that loves his life shall lose it,
and he that hates his life in this
world shall keep it to life eternal.
If anyone serve me, let him follow me.
And where I am, there also shall be
my servant.
And if anyone serve me, him shall the
Father honor.
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall
I say?
Father, save me from this hour, but on
account of this have I come to this
hour.
Father, glorify thy name.
There came therefore a voice out of heaven,
I both have glorified and will glorify it
again.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
Thee for this privilege of coming to Thee
with holy boldness.
We thank Thee that we can enter into
the holiest of all without any fear or
trembling.
It is all because of Thy Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ.
And Father, as we are in Thy presence,
we do expect Thee to reveal Thy mind
to us and draw us into the very
center of Thy purpose that Thy Son, our
Lord Jesus, may be glorified.
We commit this time into Thy hands and
trust Thy Holy Spirit to do its work.
In the name of our Lord Jesus.
Yesterday morning, we went through the Old Testament
to prove what King Solomon says, there is
a season for everything.
A time for each purpose.
And a wise man's heart knows the time
and the manner.
That is to say, a wise man knows
when and what to do.
Now this morning we would like to continue
on this into the New Testament.
And of course when we come to the
New Testament, the first one that we will
focus our attention upon is none other but
our Lord Jesus.
It is said in Galatians chapter 4 verse
4, when the fullness of time was come,
God sent His Son into the world.
Born of woman, born under the law, that
He may deliver us out of the curse
of the law.
That we might receive sonship.
Four thousand years ago, in the Garden of
Eden, after the fall of man, God gave
man a wonderful promise.
Saying that the seed of the woman shall
crush the head of the serpent.
And four thousand years had passed.
But these times were not passed in vain.
Why?
Because God was working.
God was working towards the time, the fullness
of time.
When He shall send His beloved Son into
this world to deliver us out of the
curse of the law into sonship.
From the human standpoint, it seems as if
the time was not right for the coming
of the Son.
Why?
Because it was the time of the Roman
Empire.
A Caesar was upon the throne of the
world empire.
A Roman governor was in Jerusalem.
And Herod, the Idomite, Idomite was the king
of the Jews.
Not only that, but even you find the
people, the Jewish people, they were really not
ready for the coming of the Messiah.
Even though it was their prayer through the
years for the Messiah to come.
Every morning, after the temple was opened, there
will be that morning prayer and the priest
will enter into the holy place, burn incense
at the altar, and there he will offer
prayer for the whole nation.
And no doubt, the prayer for the whole
nation is a prayer for the Messiah to
come.
And yet you find that in reality, the
people, the Jewish people, though they pray for
the coming of the Messiah, day after day,
and yet their hearts were not ready for
Him.
Now even though in man's eyes the time
was not right, but God said it was
the fullness of time.
So God sent His Son into this world.
There were some people there who were ready
for the Messiah.
A remnant, not many, we have Mary and
Joseph, we have Zechariah and Elizabeth, we have
Anna and Simeon, we have those temple shepherds,
and we have also those who became the
disciples of John.
And these were the remnant among the Jewish
people who were prepared in their hearts to
receive the Messiah.
And God looked upon these hearts, and God
said the time is right to send His
beloved Son into this world.
As we look into the life of our
Lord Jesus, we find that His life is
characterized by one thing.
We find that He has a watchword, and
the watchword of Christ, as you'll find especially
in the Gospel according to John.
It is repeated again and again, and it
is that word my hour, the time, my
time, these are the expressions of what is
upon His heart.
Our Lord Jesus knows His time.
He has not only the knowledge of the
time, but He is ever conscious of His
time.
His whole life moves with the hour, with
the time that God has assigned for that
particular period.
The first time we find our Lord Jesus
mentioned this watchword of His is found in
the second chapter of the Gospel of John.
And there you'll find there was a marriage
in Cana of Galilee.
The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus
and His disciples were also invited.
Now marriage was a happy occasion.
And evidently this young couple they were to
be married were very popular.
Because you'll find that more people were at
the wedding than they expected.
And probably more people lingered there longer than
they expected.
So the result was after maybe a day
or two of feast and happiness, the wine
began to be exhausted.
And it would be a most embarrassing situation
to the young couple.
At the very height of their happiness, sorrow
will come in.
Shame will come in.
Evidently the mother of Jesus was a close
friend of either the young man or the
young woman.
Therefore she was drawn into the inner circle.
She knew about the situation.
So she came to the Lord and said,
they have no wine.
Now why did Mary told Jesus about that
need?
Humanly speaking, we would think that naturally she
was expecting that Jesus would do something about
it.
But to her surprise, the Lord Jesus said,
what have I to do with thee, woman?
Mine hour has not yet come.
Now in the English language you find that
it seems a little bit harsh.
But actually in the original it is very
different.
Because when the Lord Jesus said, woman, well
in the English language we would say little
woman.
So actually it wasn't a very harsh word.
It is a word of affection.
Little woman.
Now why is it that the Lord does
not say mother and say little woman?
Now probably the reason is because our Lord
Jesus now had begun His ministry.
When He was at home He was under
the authority of His parents.
But when He was thirty years old and
you remember how He came to John to
be baptized.
He stepped out into the public.
That was the beginning of His public life,
of His public ministry.
And as He entered into His public ministry
to be occupied with His Father's business.
You find He was in a different realm.
He wasn't in home.
He was in the work of God.
And in the work of God He was
to be directed by none other but His
Heavenly Father.
Human relationship, natural relationship could not enter into
the work of God or interfere with God's
work.
And probably it is for this reason that
He does not address His mother say mother.
He says woman, little woman.
He loves His mother very much.
There is an affection in it.
But He calls Him her little woman.
What have I to do with thee?
Now this, what have I to do with
thee?
Brother T.
Austin Spock said in the original actually it
has that kind of meaning.
What is there in common between you and
me?
What is there in common between you and
me?
You are thinking of one thing.
They have no wine.
But I'm thinking of another thing.
We are on two different wavelengths.
You are thinking that they have no wine.
They need a wine.
In order that this marriage may be a
success.
But this is not in my thought.
In my thought I'm thinking of something very
different from what you think.
I'm thinking of another marriage.
The marriage that God has in His purpose.
Even from the very beginning.
I'm thinking of that union typified by Adam
and Eve.
God put Adam to sleep.
God said it was not good for man
to be alone.
God put him to sleep.
And then out of His sight God took
out something.
Now in our Bible it says a rib.
But in the original it is took out
something.
God took out something out of Adam.
And God used that something out of Adam
to build a woman.
And the word build is a word used
in architecture.
To build a woman with that something coming
out of the side of Adam.
And then He led Eve to Adam.
When Adam saw Eve he said this is
bone by bone and flesh of my flesh.
He shall be called a woman.
And from that time on they are united
into one flesh.
And the Lord as if the Lord is
saying now little woman you are thinking of
this marriage in Cana of Galilee.
Now it is important to see that this
marriage will be a success.
But I'm thinking of a greater thing than
that.
I'm thinking of the marriage typified by Adam
and Eve in the beginning of human history.
I'm thinking of the marriage between the Lamb
and His Church.
I'm thinking of the union of God and
man.
I'm thinking of that eternal marriage.
And surely I want to see that marriage
to be a success.
So we are on two different wavelengths.
You are thinking of one thing, I'm thinking
of another thing.
You know our Lord Jesus when He was
on earth His life was directed, focused to
a very clear and definite purpose.
He was not just walking upon this earth
drifting finding His way hitting upon things.
No, our Lord Jesus His whole life on
earth was governed by an ultimate purpose.
And that purpose is the marriage.
And you find that the whole Bible actually
is centered upon this.
Because in the book of Genesis it begins
with a marriage and when you come to
the end of the Word of God, you'll
find in Revelation chapter 121 and 22 another
marriage.
The marriage of the Lamb and the Holy
City, the New Jerusalem.
So that is what the Lord has in
mind.
What is there in common between you and
me?
This is upon my heart.
But anyway in order to save the situation,
the Lord, after the mother told the servants
whatever He says, you do.
In other words, let the Lord be the
Lord.
And you do not try to direct the
Lord or even to suggest the Lord what
He should do.
So when she put the Lord in His
rightful place then you find our Lord Jesus
moving and He told the servants to pour
the water into the water vessels that stands
at the door for purification and fill these
six water vessels to the brim.
And then He said, draw them out and
show it to the feast master.
Let the feast master taste it.
And when the feast master tasted it he
found that it was the best wine.
Now brothers and sisters when the Lord performed
this miracle He said this is in conjunction
with my hour.
My hour has not yet come.
Now what is His hour?
He is very conscious of His time.
Now what is that hour?
What is that hour that He is looking
forward to?
He is actually looking forward to that hour
when He will pour forth His life like
the water drawn out of the water vessel
in order to quench the thirst of those
who are thirsty.
In order to make that marriage a success.
And this is the hour that our Lord
Jesus is looking forward to.
The Bible said this is the first sign
He did.
To manifest His glory.
Now you know in the gospel according to
John all the miracles, wonders performed by our
Lord Jesus are called signs.
These miracles are wonder works.
No doubt about that.
But in the gospel of John all these
wonder works, all these miracles are called signs.
Why?
Because they are not just work of wonders.
These work of wonders point out to something.
There is something deeper just performing a miracle.
These miracles are to lead us into something
more.
And that is lead us to see the
ultimate purpose of God.
Through the working of these wonders we are
to be shown the eternal purpose of God.
And that is to manifest His glory.
Dear brothers and sisters, how does Lord Jesus
manifest His glory?
He manifests His glory not just by turning
the water into wine.
To us that is glorious enough.
But to the Lord that is nothing.
That cannot be considered as glory.
To manifest His glory He has to perform
something much more than that.
And what is it that He has done?
Through that sign He is telling us that
He is going to pour out His life.
And by pouring out His life He is
to obtain from Himself a bride.
And there will be a marriage.
And that marriage will be successful.
And that marriage will be eternal.
Now dear brothers and sisters, this is His
glory.
And that is what the Lord Jesus refers
to.
And this is the hour that He is
looking forward.
Now the second mentioning of the time on
the hour in the Gospel of John is
found in chapter four.
Now in chapter four you'll find our Lord
Jesus.
He was in Judea.
And there was some kind of murmuring that
He made.
He baptized more people than John.
In other words you'll find there was some
kind of murmuring.
There was some kind of suspicion.
There was some kind of unpleasant feeling.
And our Lord Jesus is so gentleman-like.
He wouldn't even allow such thing to happen.
There was no competition between Him and John
the Baptist.
So when He heard about that, He decided
to leave Judea.
To go back to Galilee.
And the Bible said He must pass through
Samaria.
Now dear brothers and sisters, you know that
even geographically, Judea is in the southern part
of Palestine.
Galilee is in the northern part.
And in between is Samaria.
But according to the custom of the Jews
at that time, because of their hostility towards
the Samaritans.
And the hostility of the Samaritans towards the
Jews.
These two races if you can say that,
because the Samaritans actually are mixed race.
But you'll find there was such enmity.
Such hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans.
That the Jews will not enter into the
land of the Samaritans.
They will have nothing to do with them.
So when they want to go from Judea
to Galilee they would rather cross the river
Jordan to the eastern shore.
And then they would travel in Piraeus.
And then bypass Samaria and re-enter through
the river Jordan into Galilee.
That is the way that the Jewish people
travel in the days of Christ.
But here you'll find the Bible said he
must go through Samaria.
The must there is not according to tradition.
The must there is a spiritual must.
Because our Lord Jesus knew that there was
a woman there that needed Him.
And for that reason He broke the tradition
of the Jews.
You know, because our Lord Jesus broke so
many traditions of the fathers.
He incurred their wrath.
And even eventually you'll find that crucified Him.
They wouldn't want Him.
Because He did not follow their tradition.
But the Lord Jesus said, you hold on
to the traditions of the father and even
violate the commandment of God.
And dear brothers and sisters, this was not
something new.
We find that it happened even today.
But our Lord Jesus broke the traditions of
the time.
In order to meet that Samaritan woman.
So He went to Samaria.
And He was so weary in His journey.
Because He was walking.
And when they came to the well of
Jacob, He rested there.
His disciples went into the city to buy
food.
Because they were not only weary, they were
also hungry and thirsty.
And they left the Lord Jesus there resting
a while while they entered into the city
to buy bread.
It was at that time that a Samaritan
woman came out of the city to draw
water.
Now this was most unusual.
It wasn't according to the custom of the
time.
Because according to the custom of the time,
when the women came out to draw water,
they usually came out either in the morning
or towards the evening.
Because these were the time that they were,
it was not very hot.
And they usually came out in groups.
They were like companies.
They like to talk, you know.
So they usually come out to draw waters
in companies.
I remember when I was in Israel, and
I still saw the same thing going on.
Saw that these women, you know, came out
in groups to draw water.
And actually in that area, that was the
only well.
Only source of water.
But the difference was, in those days, you
know, when they came to draw water, they
may have a pitcher on their head.
But now, you know, you find there was
a gasoline can upon their head.
Now that was the difference.
But anyway, they came to draw water.
But this woman didn't come in the morning.
Nor in the evening.
Nor with the other women.
She came alone.
And at no time.
Why?
Evidently she wanted to avoid people.
She didn't want to have anything to do
with people.
Because she was well known in the city
as a bad woman.
Nobody would keep company with her.
And when they saw her, probably they would
curse her.
So she became very hostile to the whole
world.
She came at no time.
But she was thirsty.
So she came at no time to draw
water.
She thought that there would be nobody there.
She would all be by herself.
And to her surprise, she found that a
man was sitting by the well.
And more so, when that man began to
talk with her.
Now that man was a Jew.
By his garment, you know that he was
a Jew.
And there was nothing between the Jews and
the Samaritans.
And yet a Jewish man talked to her.
And not only talked to her, but said,
give me some water to drink.
Now that was most strange.
Because a Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman
for water, that was not done in history.
But our Lord Jesus, in order to contact
that woman, he was willing to humble himself
even before a Samaritan woman.
And asked that woman to give him water
to drink.
That's the humility of our Lord Jesus.
But the woman did not respond.
The woman said, now you are a Jewish
man.
Why do you ask water for me?
And the Lord said, if you know who
is talking with you, you will ask him
to give you water to drink.
That water that will become a fountain within
you.
And you will never be thirsty again.
And of course, when that Samaritan woman heard
about that, of course she would like to
have that water.
She didn't understand.
So she said, sir, you do not have
any instrument, vessel, to draw the water.
The well is very deep.
Now how can you draw water without the
vessel?
And this well, our father Jacob give it
to us.
Now are you greater than our father Jacob?
You can give us a water that will
not be exhausted?
Give me that water.
And the Lord said, go and get your
husband.
In other words, the Lord pointed out to
her, her sins.
And when the Lord said that, she realized
that she met a prophet.
And her conscience was awakened.
And dear brothers and sisters, you'll find when
a person's conscience was awakened, the first thing
is worship.
Worship is something that is built in human
beings.
When we were dead in sins and transgressions,
we forgot to worship God.
But once our conscience is awakened, the first
thing is, how can I worship God?
Where can I worship Him?
How do I worship Him?
So you know, it is very strange.
When the Lord pointed out the sins of
that woman, and her conscience was awakened, now
this woman was deep in sins.
She wasn't thinking of worship God at all.
But suddenly you'll find her conscience was awakened,
and immediately she found that this problem, this
question of worship became a supreme question, a
problem.
So she asked the Lord, where should I
worship?
You Jewish people said, if you want to
worship God, you must worship God in Jerusalem,
in the temple.
But we Samaritans, we said, we worship God
in this mountain, Mount Gerasing, because there on
Mount Gerasing, they built a temple.
And that's the place where we worship.
Now, which is the right place to worship?
And the Lord Jesus said to that woman,
woman, the hour is coming.
When you do not worship, either in Jerusalem,
nor on Mount Gerasing.
Because the hour is coming, and now is.
Those who worship God, worship Him in spirit
and in truth.
The Father is seeking for true worshipers.
Those who worship Him in spirit and in
truth.
Now dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus
is ever conscious of His hour.
He is not only the man of the
hour, that He does everything according to the
time that God has assigned for Him.
But you know, with the coming of the
Lord Jesus, He Himself lived His life in
the hour, and more so, with His coming,
He brings in an hour.
A new era, a new time.
He is the one who in a sense
terminates the old time and brings in a
new time.
With the coming of the Lord Jesus, the
hour is changed.
It is changed from the time of the
law into the time of grace.
In the time of the law, worshiping God
is an external thing.
In other words, worshiping God is limited by
time and space.
There is a place that you go to
worship God.
To the Jews, it is Jerusalem.
To the Samaritans, it is Mount Gerizim.
Under the law, worshiping God, there is a
time.
With the Jews, they have to go to
Jerusalem three times a year to worship God.
And with the Samaritans, of course, they have
their own time of worship.
Under the law, you'll find nothing is perfect.
Under the law, everything is outward, is external.
God is far above, beyond the approach of
man.
Man can only worship Him from afar, with
fear and trembling.
Now, that was the time under the law.
But with the coming of the Lord Jesus,
the law said, the hour is come.
And now is.
With His coming, everything has changed.
We are delivered out of the time under
the law into the time of grace.
And there the Lord Jesus said, the very
nature of worship has changed.
You do not worship God externally anymore.
You worship God in spirit and in truth.
Now, why is it?
Because with the coming of the Lord Jesus,
this is made possible.
Before His coming, man's spirit was dead in
sins and transgressions.
God is a spirit.
And if we want to worship Him, we
must worship Him in spirit.
But our spirit was dead in sins and
transgressions.
So the only way men try to worship
Him is with His body.
And of course, with your body, or even
with your soul, you can never really touch
Him.
You can only worship Him from afar.
That external, that imperfect, that is never complete.
But thank God with the coming of our
Lord Jesus, the time is changed.
Why?
Because He comes to quicken our dead spirit
and make it a new spirit.
And with a new spirit, and the Holy
Spirit dwelling in our spirit, we are led
into true worship.
We can contact God, we can worship God,
we can please God, we can commune with
God.
So today, it is not a matter of
external worship, worship has to be inward.
We worship in spirit, and in truth.
The truth there is not only a matter
of teaching, or true doctrine.
Now the Jews, in a sense, they had
the truth.
The Samaritans did not have the truth.
Because God commended the Jews to God said,
I will appoint a place where I will
put my name there.
So in other words, they had the truth.
But to them, the truth was just an
objective truth, an outward truth.
The truth is in letter.
And the letter kills.
But thank God, with the coming of the
Lord Jesus, you will find the truth has
become living.
It has become a reality.
The Lord said, I'm the truth.
There is a reality coming in.
And today, we can worship Him in spirit,
and in truth.
The hour has changed.
He has changed the hour.
Dear brothers and sisters, if today people are
still worshipping God externally, they are out of
God's time.
And if you behave, if you act out
of God's time, then you are out of
God's purpose.
And if you are out of God's purpose,
that you do not accomplish anything, and God
does not gain anything.
It is vanity.
So today, we find that with the coming
of the Lord Jesus, the hour has changed.
Now, we can worship God in spirit, and
in truth.
And it is only such worship that you
are worshipping in God's time.
And you fulfill God's purpose.
And your manner, your behaviour is in tune
with God.
And dear brothers and sisters, this is what
the Lord Jesus has provided for us.
Then you find the third mentioning of the
time.
And it is found in John chapter 5.
In John chapter 5, verse 25.
After our Lord Jesus has healed that man
infirm of 38 years.
Then the Lord Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, that an hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and
they that have heard shall live.
Before that hour came, nothing of this nature
could ever happen.
How could the dead hear the voice of
the Son of God?
Now, of course, the dead here does not
refer to the physical dead.
The dead here refers to the spiritually dead.
The spiritually dead shall hear the voice of
the Son of God.
And when they hear it, they shall live.
Brothers and sisters, before that hour, before our
Lord Jesus come, those who were dead in
sins and transgressions, they were just dead.
They couldn't hear.
They couldn't hear the voice of the Son
of God, but the Son of God is
now come.
And when He speak, even the dead shall
hear.
And when the dead should hear Him, they
will live.
And this is what is happening since the
coming of the Lord up to our present
time.
And then if you read on to verse
28 and 29.
Verse 29.
Wonder not at this, for an hour is
coming in which all who are in the
tombs shall hear His voice and shall go
forth.
Those who have practiced good to resurrection of
life and those that have done evil to
resurrection of judgment.
Now here you Lord find our Lord mention
another hour.
Actually you find these two are different hours.
In verse 25 the Lord said an hour
is coming.
And now it is.
He refers to the hour that the Son
of God is upon the earth.
The Son of God has come.
And He speaks to the spiritually dead.
And those who hear will live.
But then in verse 28 and 29 He
mentions another hour.
That is another hour.
It is an hour in the future.
When those who are in the tombs.
Now I think it is very clear.
The Lord does not say dead because if
He said just dead people think He may
be spiritually dead.
But He said they are in the tomb.
In other words, these are referred to the
physically dead.
Now those who are physically dead.
One day when the hour shall come they
shall hear the voice of the Son of
God.
And when they hear His voice they shall
all be raised from the dead.
And those who practice good.
Now the practice good here does not mean
that you live a life doing good things.
And because you have merits therefore one day
when the voice of God shall come and
you will be raised from the dead.
And you will be resurrected unto life.
It doesn't mean that.
In the Bible, the good in the Bible
is not the good that we usually think.
You remember the young rich ruler coming to
the Lord and said, good teacher what shall
I do that I may inherit eternal life?
And the Lord said, why do you call
me good?
There is no one good but God.
In other words, you will find the good
in the Scripture simply means God is good.
And that is to say, if you do
the will of God, that is good.
If it is not the will of God,
no matter how good it may appear to
the world, it is no good.
So those who practice good simply means those
who practice the will of God.
Those who do the will of God and
what is the will of God?
The will of God is that we should
believe in Him whom God has sent.
Now those who practice good, there will be
resurrection to life.
But even those who have done evil.
And again, evil in the same sense.
Not evil that the world will call evil.
There are many things that the world will
call good that God will call evil.
Evil simply means do not know the will
of God, do not do the will of
God, do things against God.
That's evil.
And those who practice evil to resurrection of
judgment.
Now, of course, these two resurrections are a
thousand years apart.
Because the resurrection of the just is before
the millennium.
And the resurrection of the evil is after
millennium.
You'll find that all the dead will be
raised in Revelation chapter 20.
And they will appear before the judgment of
the great white throne.
So dear brothers and sisters, again here you'll
find the Lord Jesus is ever conscious of
the hour.
There is an hour.
And you need to know the hour.
You need to discern the purpose of the
hour.
And you need to act accordingly.
There will be hour now.
There will be an hour in the future.
Now another mentioning of the time of the
hour is in chapter 7.
Chapter 7 verse 6.
You remember at that time there was opposition
to the Lord Jesus.
And he was in Galilee.
Because the Jews sought to kill him in
Judea.
Now the feast of the tabernacles had come.
And during the feast of tabernacle the Jewish
people will all go to Judea, will all
go to Jerusalem, to the temple, to worship
God.
But the brethren, that is the brethren according
to the flesh to our Lord Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus was born of the Virgin
Mary.
But after she gave birth to the Lord
Jesus, then you'll find through natural means she
gave birth to other sons and daughters.
So these were the brothers according to the
flesh to our Lord Jesus.
Now they did not believe in the Lord
Jesus.
So his brethren say to him, Remove hands
and go to Judea, that thy disciples also
may see thy works, which thou doest.
For no one does anything in secret and
himself seeks to be known in public.
If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to
the world.
For neither does his brethren believe in him.
Now dear brothers and sisters, here you'll find
the natural mind.
The natural mind is a person wants to
seek fame for himself.
And if you are ambitious, and you want
to seek fame for yourself, then you have
to go where the people are.
Appear yourself to them.
Draw them to yourself.
And that's the way that you become a
success.
They didn't know that our Lord Jesus, even
his brethren according to the flesh, didn't know
that our Lord Jesus was not ambitious in
the human way.
He was not trying to seek fame for
himself.
He was on earth to do the Father's
will.
To glorify the Father.
That was his ambition, and nothing else.
So his brethren could not understand him.
And they tried to knock him and said,
now go to Judea.
Appear yourself.
And then you will be success and gain
fame.
And you know what the Lord Jesus said?
Verse 6.
Jesus therefore says to them, My time is
not yet come, but your time is always
ready.
The world cannot hate you, but me it
hate.
Because I bear witness concerning it, that is
works of evil.
Ye go ye up to the feast.
I go not up to this feast, for
my time is not yet fulfilled.
Having said these things to them, he abode
in Galilee.
But after his brethren left, but when his
brethren had gone up, then he himself also
went up to the feast.
Not openly, but as in secret.
Now here you find how the life of
our Lord Jesus was governed by the hour.
He knows his time.
It is the time of the Father.
And before the Father speaks, he will never
move.
He will never move before the time.
Nor will he lag behind the time.
You find that our Lord Jesus always moves
exactly on time.
So when his brethren was talking to him,
the Father hasn't revealed his mind to him
yet.
So he said, my time is not yet
come.
You go.
You can do whatever you want.
That's the way your life is.
But that's not my life.
My life is strictly governed by the time.
By my Father.
Oh, what a disciplined life that is.
Dear brothers and sisters, how about us?
Is our time always in our own hand?
We can go anywhere we want to.
We can do anything we like to.
As Oswald Chambers said, between born and death,
between these two limits, you can choose whatever
you like to do according to your disposition.
You can make your time a sorrowful time,
or you can make your time a joyful
time.
You can do whatever you like.
You make your own time.
In other words, you do not care about
God's timing.
But with the Lord Jesus, it's different.
He is waiting upon the Father for the
right time.
And when the right time comes, you'll find
He moves very quickly.
It may give the appearance that our Lord
was a little bit subtle, but that's not
the fact.
If you really know what it means, you
see that our Lord Jesus moves exactly on
time.
And when the time comes, even if there
is danger there, He is willing to face.
And if you read on, you'll find in
connection with that, in the same chapter, verse
30.
They sought Him, therefore, to take Him.
And no one laid his hand upon Him,
because His hour had not yet come.
His time has come for Him to go
to Judea.
But His hour for accomplishing the work that
God has sent Him to this earth has
not yet come.
And that hour, of course, refers to His
crucifixion.
His hour has not yet come.
And before that hour comes, no man can
lay His hand upon Him.
In other words, His life is secured.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is a security
if you move according to God's time.
If you live your life in God's time,
then no matter how dangerous it is, no
matter how people try to take you, no
matter how people try to do something to
you, no one can lay His hand upon
you before the hour is come.
And here you'll find our Lord Jesus, He's
not afraid of the danger.
He goes, He goes to Judea.
And people try to get Him.
But they couldn't do it.
Because His hour is not yet come.
And the same thing you'll find in chapter
8 verse 20.
There our Lord was in Jerusalem.
No one lay His hand on Him.
Again in the treasury of the temple, He
spoke of His relationship with His Father.
And He said, I and My Father are
one.
And then in verse 30.
As He spoke these things, many believe on
Him.
And that is not the verse I want.
20?
Yeah, verse 20.
That's right.
That's the verse I want.
These were His book in the treasury, teaching
in the temple.
And no one took Him.
For His hour was not yet come.
And then the next mentioning is in chapter
12.
In chapter 12.
Our Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem.
That was His last week in Jerusalem.
Not only the multitudes went out of the
city to welcome Him and say, Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name
of the Lord.
The Lord has a triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
But you'll find a certain Jew, children, Greeks,
even want to see Him.
Humanly speaking, this was His most glorious time
upon this earth.
In verse 20.
And there were certain Greeks among those who
came up, that they might worship in the
feast.
These therefore came to Philip, who was of
Bethsaida of Galilee, and they asked him, saying,
Sir, we desire to see Jesus.
Even the Gentiles wanted to see Jesus.
Now, how glorious that will be!
But the sense of glory to the Lord
is different from the sense of glory that
man has.
So, when Philip and Andrew came to the
Lord and said, the Greeks want to see
you.
Now, listen to what the Lord said on
verse 23.
But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is
come that the Son of Man should be
glorified.
Now, don't make a mistake.
Thinking that the Lord said, Now even the
Gentiles are seeking after Me, so I am
glorified.
Not at all.
Because immediately He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling
into the ground die, it abides alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In other words, the Lord said, My hour
is come.
What is that hour?
The hour that He is to be glorified.
Not in the sense that the whole world
is now seeking after Him.
But in the sense that He, being the
grain of wheat, who has fallen upon this
ground thirty some years ago, now is going
to die.
And in dying, He will bear much fruit.
Now, this is the hour that He is
referring to.
So that He said, He who loves his
soul life shall lose it.
And he hates his soul life in this
world, shall keep it to life eternal.
But is it an easy thing for him
to do?
Listen.
Now, verse twenty-seven, now is my soul
troubled.
And what shall I say?
Our Lord is a perfect man.
He is one who knows no sin.
Not only He hasn't committed any sin, He
does not know what sin is.
Because His whole life pleases the Father.
Always doing the Father's will.
He is of such purity.
And He says, what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour.
The hour is coming.
He who knows sin is to be made
sin for the world.
Not only to bear the sins of the
world, but to be made sin for the
world.
Think of that.
One who knows no sin, not just to
be tainted with a sin or two, not
just to bear the sins of the world,
but He is to be made sin itself.
That troubles Him.
Father, save me from this hour.
Naturally, His pure soul refrains from such pollution,
defilement.
It shouldn't happen.
But immediately the Lord said, but on account
of this, have I come to this hour.
This is the hour that I come to.
Father, glorify.
And how does the Father glorify His name?
By crushing His only beloved Son on Calvary's
cross.
There came therefore a voice out of heaven,
I both have glorified and grailed.
This is then we find in
chapter 13, verse 1.
Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus
knowing that His hour had come, that He
should depart out of this world to the
Father, having love His own, who were in
the world, love them to the end.
The Lord know that His hour had come.
After His death, He will be raised from
the dead and He will ascend up to
heaven.
He will go back to the glory that
He had with the Father, even before the
foundation of the world, in eternity past.
He knew that the hour is coming.
And you know what He did?
He loved His own and loved them to
the uttermost.
He washed the disciples' feet.
Because the hour, the hour is the hour
of His glorification.
And His glorification is His death, burial, resurrection
and ascension.
That is His glorification.
And what is the purpose of that hour?
The purpose of that hour is that by
pouring out His life He may purchase for
Himself a body.
And He is to complete that body by
the washing of the water with the Word,
that this body may grow up and may
become a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle,
or any of such thing, but may be
presented to Him a glorious church, holy, without
blemish.
And you know, this is the purpose of
the hour.
Why did our Lord Jesus die?
Why did our Lord Jesus be enraged from
the dead?
Why did our Lord Jesus ascend to Heaven?
You find that the death, burial, resurrection, ascension,
the hour, what the Lord had done, is
for one and one purpose only.
And it is to obtain for Himself a
bride.
The Apostle John said, when the soldier came
to broke the legs of those who were
crucified, because the next day was Sabbath, they
broke the leg of the two robbers, but
when they come to Jesus, they found He
was already dead.
But in order to make sure that He
was really dead, a soldier used a spear
and thrust through His side, and out of
it came out blood and water.
And John said, I witnessed it.
And my witness is true, and it's not
false.
Why He made such a big thing out
of that?
Because, you know, in 1st John, He said,
there are three witnesses upon this earth.
The blood, the water, and the spirit.
We know what the blood is.
The blood is for the remission of our
sins.
Here you'll find the blood came out of
the body of our Lord Jesus.
You know, actually, this was the last drop
of blood.
Because they scourged Him before He was crucified,
and blood oozes out.
They put a thorny crown upon His head,
and beat His head with reeds, and blood
coming out of His head.
They nailed the nails upon His hand, and
blood came out of that.
And they put nails upon His feet, and
blood came out of that.
And here you'll find our Lord Jesus was
there, His blood just flow and flow, and
until all the blood was gone, and He
was dead.
Before the normal time of death, by crucifixion.
But when the soldier put a spear into
His side, evidently it reached to His heart.
And we are told that when the heart
is broken, the very blood within the heart
disintegrate.
Become blood, and plasma, and water.
The blood for the atonement of our sins.
And the water speaks of life.
He poured out His life song, 22nd said.
He poured out His life like water.
And with this life, with this blood, He
build for Himself His church.
I will build my church.
With what does He build His church?
With the blood, and the water coming out.
Dear brothers and sisters, and after He has
born us, Ephesians chapter 5 God said, He
purifies us, sanctifies us, by the washing of
the water with the word that He may
present us to Himself a glorious church without
spot or wrinkle.
And there you'll find our Lord Jesus washed
the feet.
It is symbolic of how He will use
the life that has been poured out.
With the word, living word, to purify and
sanctify us.
That will take us, take away from us
any spot that may be in us.
A spot, something too much.
A wrinkle, something that has grown old, no
longer flesh anymore.
And brothers and sisters, the life of the
Lord Jesus is purifying His church, is sanctifying
us continuously by the washing of the water
with the living word.
So that all the spots and wrinkles will
be taken away.
And one day, we will be presented to
Himself as a glorious church.
That is what He is doing.
And the next mentioning of the hour is
in chapter 17 verse 1.
These things Jesus spoke and lifted up His
eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour
is come.
Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify
Thee.
As Thou has given Him authority over all
flesh, that as to all that Thou has
given to Him, He shall give them life
eternal.
The hour.
After He had talked with His disciples, then
He turned His heart to the Father and
said, Father, the hour is come.
Now glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may
glorify Thee.
And out of such glorification comes out those
people whom the Father has given to the
Son as a gift.
And to these people, He gave eternal life.
So brothers and sisters, you'll find the whole
life of our Lord Jesus is governed by
the hour.
He has the knowledge, He is ever conscious
of the time that the Father has assigned
for Him.
And He comes to do the will of
the Father within that time.
Fulfill that purpose until He is received back
into glory.
Waiting to come again to receive His bride.
Now finally, I would like to close reading
something from a little booklet written by Chelsea
Fox.
It is called The Watchword of the Son
of Man.
He went, that is the Lord, went towards
that ultimate purpose by stages, governed by a
consciousness which found His expression in a familiar
phrase, Mind Hour.
That was the solemn watchword of our Lord's
life, and progressive movement into and unto His
ultimate purpose.
Now I will not read you the whole
thing, but I will just give you the
subtopic of it.
First, the sign of the ultimate purpose.
John chapter 2.
And that sign is marriage.
Number 2, the security of the ultimate purpose.
John 7, 30.
If you live a life in the time
of God, your life is secured.
Number 3, the law of the ultimate purpose.
John 12, 21.
Death and resurrection.
That's the law of the ultimate purpose.
Number 4, the basis of the ultimate purpose.
Matthew 26, verse 18.
The law said, I will eat with you
as the last Passover.
And he mentioned the covenant of the blood.
So, the basis of the ultimate purpose is
covenant.
Number 5, the mind and method of the
ultimate purpose.
John 13, humility and service.
Number 6, the instrument of the ultimate purpose.
John 17, 1.
The cross.
Number 7, the cost of the ultimate purpose.
Matthew 26, 45.
Loneliness and suffering.
And all these you'll find that the Lord
just governed by the hour until he reached
the ultimate purpose.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
thee for showing us how thy beloved Son,
while he was upon this earth, is governed
throughout his life by that hour that thou
has assigned to him.
And we do praise and thank thee that
the purpose of that hour is to bring
in a bride for himself.
And how we do praise and thank thee
that he is willing to lay down his
life in order to fulfill the purpose that
I set for him.
And Father, we thank thee because we are
now in the good of all that he
has done for us.
And Father, we do pray that as he
is governed by the hour, that we too
may know the time, and the purpose, and
the method.
In the name of our Lord Jesus.