The Hour has Come

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn this morning to John chapter 12 John chapter 12 we and we will be in verses 20 through 26 Should be a very familiar place in your Bible as a matter of fact John Chapter 1 all the way to the beginning of chapter 12 should be well-worn and should be familiar To you, but we will be in verses 20 through 26 this morning Now the last time that we were in John we were in verses 12 through 19 That was the Sunday before Easter and we looked at what I called the triumphal entry in those verses We had a big carryover. I call it.

We had a carryover from Chapter 11 which collided with this major event on the Jewish calendar, which was the Passover feast that Passover celebration Chapter 11 there was a great banquet given in Jesus honor there at Bethany that was the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus Then in chapter 12 verse 1 that great crowd from Bethany followed Jesus to Jerusalem and Joined that great crowd who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration It was really amazing for us to see that the Bethany crowd was literally Reaching to the Passover crowd about what they had seen happen in Bethany We saw that in verses 17 and 18 now.

I have a question for us and that question is What is taking place in our verses this morning? after the triumphal entry in Chapter 12 verses 21 through 22 we see a natural reaction To what took place there at the triumphal entry? Jesus had humbly come into town on the donkey fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies the crowd welcome him with those palm branches Which was a cultural symbol of victory the crowds were shouting Hosanna Hosanna we're familiar with those verses Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord even the king of Israel They truly seem to be welcome welcoming Jesus as their Messiah They're promised one Now that leads us to another question What was this natural reaction?

For us to see this natural reaction. I want us to look at a first these first two verses verse 20 on down to verse 22 Let's read those together now. There were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast These were these therefore came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him saying sir we wish to see Jesus and Philip came and told Andrew and Andrew and Philip came and They told Jesus now I want us to see that this was a natural reaction to what was going on there in Jerusalem and this is really the setting of the message for this morning two things about this Reaction first of all we see here that these Greeks were coming to inquire of Jesus these would have been God Worshiping Greeks they would have been coming to worship there at the Passover.

These would be what are called proselytes or converts to Judaism There would have been many many Gentile proselytes coming to Jerusalem during the time of the feasts there on the Jewish calendar Now with the Passover being the most important feast Gentile Worshipers would have come far and wide from the Roman Empire So these are proselyte Gentiles who have come to worship and now they're inquiring of Jesus Then also I want you to see here That these Greeks asked Philip if they could see Jesus Now we do not why they ask Philip, but we do know How they ask Philip the construction of the word asked here tells us that they were asking over and over and over to see Jesus Now maybe they were too meek to go straight to Jesus therefore they went to Philip but they were bold enough to keep asking and asking and asking to see Jesus So we have the Passover celebration The crowd had come from Bethany following Jesus and they had come and mixed with this crowd there at the Passover and God-fearing Greeks who have sought out Jesus in this physical and spiritual Commotion they have brought Jesus to the forefront they were doing what the Jews should have been doing and that is earnestly seeking Jesus and within the next four verses Jesus reveals that he is about to reach the pinnacle of his earthly mission and within this Revelation he reveals very foundational truths concerning the Christian life So let's go back and let's look at the remaining verses We saw there in verse 20 there Greeks they were coming to Jerusalem for the feast they came to Philip there in verse 21 and then in verse 22 Philip and Andrew brought the matter to Jesus, but notice verse 23 Jesus answered them saying the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified Truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat some translations say a corn of wheat Unless it falls into the earth and dies it remains by itself alone But if it dies it bears much fruit He who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to eternal life If anyone serves me let him follow me and where I am there shall my servant also be If anyone serves me the father will honor him Now I want to give you the title of the message that comes straight out of verse 23 And that is the hour has come The hour has come now.

We're going to look at four main truths out of these verses We see the hour has come out of verse 23 The hour has come for Christ's death out of verse 24 Then we will see the hour has come for man's death out of verse 25 And the hour has come for true service out of verse 26 Like I say repeatedly I challenge you to take notes So that you can study on your own and learn and retain all that God wants you to learn and retain So let's look at our first main truth. That's out of verse 23 The hour has come right there.

Those Greeks are seeking Jesus He seemingly looks over their head and what does he say the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified now As you have seen the title of the message comes right out of this verse and you need to see that this is the climax of this entire event Jesus had come to Passover with great fanfare There was a great confluence of two crowds like two giant rivers coming together there on the streets of Jerusalem We have that crowd from Bethany who followed Jesus to Jerusalem and that crowd who had come to the Passover for that great celebration And in the midst of that physical and spiritual commotion Jesus is making a very very unusual announcement Now why do I say unusual?

Up until now Jesus has been saying that his hour has not come Up until now he has been coming up to this point and he has been pushing back from Making this announcement, but it all changes right here in verse 33 Now I want to help solidify this in your mind by going back and then going forward You don't necessarily have to write these down, but I think this will help form this in your mind I want you to notice that all throughout his ministry so far Jesus has refused to come to this place I'm just gonna give you references out of the gospel of John But in John chapter 2 when Jesus is at that wedding feast there at Cana of Galilee They had run out of wine and his mother had stepped forward and said do everything he says to do notice Jesus response He said the her in verse 4 woman.

What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come In John chapter 7 verse 8 Jesus commands his disciples to go on ahead of him He says you go up to the feast. I am NOT going up to this feast for my time has not yet fully come and Then later on in John 7 Jesus said so they were seeking to arrest him This was the Jewish crowds, but it says but no one laid a hand on him Why because his hour had not yet come Then in John chapter 8 We see that these words he spoke in the Treasury as he taught in the temple that temple complex But no one those Jewish leaders no one arrested him why because his hour had not yet come But now notice how it changes from now on Jesus announces that his hour has come I've already referenced John 3 or John 12 verse 23 Jesus said the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified then in John 12 27 He says now my soul is troubled.

He is praying and what shall I say father saved me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour Then in John chapter 13 verse 1 now before the Feast of the Passover When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the father. He's speaking of that hour John chapter 16 verse 32 Behold the hour is coming indeed It is come when you will be scattered each to his own home and will leave me alone And then in John 17 1 When Jesus had spoken these words he lifted up his eyes to heaven and he's praying and he says father the hour has come Glorify your son that the son may glorify you So here we see that Jesus our has come his death his Resurrection his glorification is at hand and this is not defeat.

This is victory Remember the context of the triumphal entry they are waving the palm branches and they are culturally waving them Saying victory victory and we know that he is coming in victory Now chronologically these events the death barrel and resurrection are right around the corner The cross is less than a week away. So the hour has come up to this point Jesus has been speaking of these things taking place in the future But now he says it is now the verb is come is in the perfect tense Meaning the hour has come it is with us. There is no going back I cannot turn around until these things are finished. So what do we see?

Jesus our has come everything he has said and done everything He has preached the very fabric of his being has lived for this time the hour has come Now I think you know me by now I want to make application here I Think that there is a limited application we can make here We need to know chronologically what's going on here Everything fast-forward from this time on to the cross. Jesus is saying the cross My death my resurrection my ultimate glorification is right around the corner.

We need to know that chronologically I think that we could parallel the work of the church right next to the work of Christ So in that day Christ's hour has come and what we need to see that in our day We live in the day of grace the time of grace the time of the church There we will be a day when the church ceases to be to ceases to exist on earth But we live in the day of grace.

We live in the day of the church The center of God's activity in this day is in the church and we need to wake up We need to see the church wake up to see that we live in the day and the time and the hour of the church Church is all around our land and all around the world need to wake up and see that God himself is entrusted His work kingdom work to us Our time and our day has come individual Christians We need to wake up and see that our day and our time has come We have a limited amount of time here on this earth.

It comes and it goes very fast But when we are alive in this body our day as Christians has come But I also want to make application to us Know the Baptist Church we need to see that our day has come we need to be sober Minded we need to be attentive to the things of God We need to pray and walk with the Lord and we need to ask God to open up our eyes to the wonderful plan That he has for us.

God has shown us that we are much like the church at Philadelphia God put an open door of ministry before them He has put an open door of ministry before us it is greater than we could ever imagine We can do larger things in the kingdom than we can ever imagine our time has come We live in the time of grace We live in the time when we can propagate the gospel around the world.

We live in the time when God expects the church To carry on kingdom work and that is the redemption of man and the building of the Saints Jesus day had come and he rose to the occasion perfectly in our time is at hand And we need to be obedient to all that God would want us to be and do Let's move on. I want us to notice our second main truth.

I want us to notice the hour has come for Christ's death The hour has come for Christ's death We see this in verse 24 truly truly I say to you unless a grain or a corn of wheat falls into the earth and dies It remains by itself alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit Now remember the audience There's Andrew. There's Philip More than likely there are those other disciples There are the Greeks and there are the crowds Now if they had any dreams of a physical victory over the Romans Jesus destroyed those dreams right here in this verse here in this verse Jesus introduces an agricultural illustration to teach an essential and Paradoxical truth now, what is this truth?

The truth that he is teaching is spiritual fruitfulness comes through death spiritual fruitfulness comes Through death now, this is a specific truth and a general truth specific and that this refers to Jesus and his role and General in that it does apply to others and we will see how it applies to us as we continue in the message Now I want to take a few moments. I Want to examine this truth as it applies to Jesus? in his messianic role First I want us to see Jesus emphasizes his truthfulness here. He Emphasizes our highlights his truthfulness.

We're familiar with this language The King James reads very very the modern translations read truly truly in our language It can be translated Amen and Amen And what that means is Jesus is it is affirming and he is exalting what he is about to say Jesus uses this phrase all throughout the Gospels as a prefix to Significant statements the purpose is to set these statements above and beyond So he is emphasizing the truthfulness in the importance of the statement Second I want you to see that Jesus emphasizes his death Jesus uses this word die or dies two times in the verse Here Jesus is speaking of his death on the cross Of course, this was total absurdity to the Jews to suggest that they're long awaited Messiah would die on a cross and Die like a criminal and die at the hands of the pagan Romans and Jesus always always Rejected that thinking that resisted his death as a matter of fact There are two times where he attacked it one time he called it foolish and one time he called it satanic Let me give you these examples He called this foolishness or foolish to the disciples They were disagreeing with him concerning his death and he said to them Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory?

What is he doing? He is saying that they are foolish to deny that the Christ must die then he called Peter satanic for even saying such a thing and Matthew chapter 16 Starting in verse 21 the text reads from that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed in on the third day raised and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him and what does Jesus say in verse 23?

He says get behind me Satan So Jesus is teaching and he is illustrating and he is emphasizing the absolute necessity of his death here So Jesus is emphasizing his death and the third main truth. I want us to see Under this hour has come of Christ's death. Jesus emphasizes his fruitfulness The true life and fruitfulness of Christ can never be fulfilled unless he dies After his death comes a resurrection then comes the ascension and then the glorification After the completion of the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross for the sin of the world True life and fruitfulness comes to all believers after the giving of the Holy Spirit but this fruitfulness can only come after his death and we see this taught all through the Gospels So here we see that Christ is announcing in verse 24 to all who hear that the Power of his death has come he is announcing that his perfect Fruitfulness would only come after his death on the cross Now an application For us as a church we must see that the cross is essential to the gospel message and the cross is an essential message to the church a Church that does not preach the cross is a foolish church and a demonic church What did Jesus say to those disciples when they resisted his death he said you are foolish What did he say to Peter when Peter tried to rebuke him and say no, no, you will not die he called him demonic and It is heresy for the church to discount the cross and ignore the church the cross and not preach the cross Christ on the cross was the propitiation or the atonement for sin According to 1st John 2/2 without the cross there is no Substitutionary death and with no substitutionary death mankind is hopeless to be made right with God The cross is the only pathway for the Christian life The problem with most so-called Christians today is that they want Jesus to do all the dying and they want to do all the living But that's not the Christianity of Bible the Christianity of Bible is Jesus does the living and we do the dying and he does The living through us that's the pathway for the normal Christian life And then Christ on the cross it is an absolute offense To sinful man the world will hate the message of the cross They hated it then and they will hate it now But we must see that Christ and the cross must be preached and that is on Unpleasant in some circles it is rejected in some circles There are some that say that you have to be culturally relevant But I say it is foolish to ignore the cross and it is demonic to take it out of the message of the church The hour has come for Christ's death and I believe the hour has come for the church to preach the cross Let's move on notice the third main truth that comes out of verse 24 and verse 25 We know verse 24 truly truly He says I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls through the earth and dies it remains by itself alone But if he dies it bears much fruit there is application to Christ But then notice verse 25 He who loves his life Loses it and he who hates his life in this world should keep it to eternal life We have seen specifically how verse 24 was applied to Jesus and his role and now we will see generally How this verse is applied to all true believers if we look at the verses verse 24 can be called the sermon and verse 25 can be called the Application now notice in the application that there are two types of people that is in verse 25 First those who love their life and then second those who hate their life So let's take a few moments and examine these two peoples So first notice those who love their lives What does the verse say?

He who loves his life loses it all of the translations read virtually the same the word life here can be translated soul But notice what Jesus is saying the one who loves his life ultimately loses his life We need to understand the depth of the meaning of this word loses it in the culture This word was used to describe the death of an individual maybe in battle It was used in destroying or laying waste to a city It was used as an active verb to kill or to demolish it was used to describe one being morally ruined Such as children being under bad influences So what do we see here?

Loving or keeping one's life ultimately results in the destruction the killing or the death of one's life Now notice an important detail here This is a self-destructive Process there is no one to blame but self So those who love their lives ultimately Destroy their lives and then the second person Those who hate their lives He loves his life loses it and he who hates his life in this world should keep it to eternal life Now here we see the opposite of love and about his hate This is a cultural expression that communicates that one thing is given supreme preference over another This is not actual hate as we would understand it in our culture We see this taught in a more detailed manner in Luke chapter 14 Starting in verse 26 when the great crowds were following Jesus Jesus turned to them and he taught them the true terms of following him as a true disciple And notice what he says in Luke 14 26.

He said if anyone comes to me That's true discipleship and does not hate his own father and mother his wife his children his brothers and sisters Yes, even his own life. He cannot be my disciple So in this context here in verse 25 Jesus is saying that these followers that their love for him Must make their love for their family their material possessions their own dreams their own plans their own aspirations Yes, even their own life look like hey our love for Christ must be supreme So here we see not only an application of verse 24, which is death We see a contrast between the lost man who holds on to his life and ultimately destruction and the saved man Who loses his life?

Yes, even hates his life and in turn receives eternal life Now an application we must see that there are only two kinds of people in the world today There are only two kinds of people in our families today There are only two kinds of people in our workplace today. There are only two kinds of people in our church today They're only two kinds of people First the one who is loving his life They're holding on to their life. They're the captain of their own ship They are the one that determines their own destination.

They think they do They hold on to their life and they are the captain of their own ship and ultimately they bring about self Contruction according to the this verse and any man any woman any young person who is not a Bible Christian They are holding on to their life. They are the captain of their own ship they are the one that rules their own life and ultimately they will be destroyed and Then there's the second the one who is hating their life. It's not that they hate their life. This is itself mutilation No, it's that their love for Christ is so supreme.

It is so great It is so above and beyond everything else that their love for Christ Contrasted with their love for everything else. It makes it look like hate You see a large difference here Jesus is saying the hour of my death has come and then he is saying the hour of Man's death has come and he is saying if you're gonna follow me you must die Let's move on to the last main truth of the message truth number four. I Want us to see the hour has come for true service The hour has come for true service.

Look at verse 26 if anyone serves me Let him follow me and where I am there shall my servant also be if anyone serves me The father will honor him Now what needs to be seen here is the direction? Jesus has been going He is moving from death To death of those who follow him He is moving from his death to the death of those who proclaim to be Christians One of the Bible commentators that I read his name's Leon Morris He says the outcome of all of this is true Christian service.

So at the end of the death is true Christian service Now I want to make one observation out of this verse and then I want to reveal two promises first the observation Notice Jesus says true service is following Jesus Jesus says true service is following Jesus What does he say if anyone serves me let him follow me? loving Jesus Serving Jesus and following Jesus are all bound up in the true Christian life.

They are inseparable To really grasp this we need to examine two key words here Very important first the word serve this word serve in the original is used some 29 times in the New Testament always in the form of one taking upon themselves a Servits role they are serving or attending another later in the New Testament this very word Ultimately begins to describe an office in the church and that was the office of the deacon They were men who put on the towel to serve the body and the second word I want us to see is really a compound word and that compound word is let him follow me the English standard reads He must follow me that compound word is in the present is a present tense verb Meaning it is ongoing and continuous in action.

It is also in the imperative Meaning that it is a command Jesus is saying that true salvation produces true service in a new direction in life and it is ongoing and it is expected and it is a command he commands it and he expects it John MacArthur describes it like this True salvation is not only affection but direction. I Would turn it around and say look at someone's direction and you will see their affection Now after Jesus makes this declaration About true discipleship and truly following him. He goes on to make two promises.

Let me read the verse You might not have seen them If anyone serves me let him follow me and hear the promises and where I am There shall my servant also be and if anyone serves me the father will honor him the first promise Those who serve him shall be with him on earth and in eternity This is the promise of eternity in heaven Jesus makes another similar statement in John 14 3 when he says and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and take you to myself and that where I am You also may be and then the second promise is those who serve him shall be honored by the father Of course, this is the honor of inheriting Glory in heaven as a true child of God So here we see Jesus clearly Annunciate what true discipleship is this is more than verbal or temporal affection But entirely different direction in life.

This is more than words but a lifetime of affection direction and service affection to Christ Directing one's life towards Christ and serving Christ Now an application I want us to see that in our day in our time we have those who verbally say they love Jesus But do they and many of them do not live a lifetime of service? We live in a day when many people profess Christ you can go down the road to your neighbor You can go to the local grocery store.

You can stop people in your work You can go to people in your own family and there are many who give a verbal affection They will nod and they will agree with you about the things of God But yet their life is not directed after Christ. They are not serving Christ loving Christ with their life They say it with words, but the direction of their life says otherwise but for us Those of us who were born again We must see that the natural outflow of our life is serving God is being attached to the work of God which is the church and serving him all around the world for his glory and honor So what do we see Jesus is saying the hour has come for true Christian service and He wonderfully explains what that is Now I remind you of the title of the message It's real simple.

The hour has come. It's right out of verse 23 It's the very first time so far that Jesus has made this statement Everything changes in chapter 12. I've already said everything changes after this event there in Jerusalem Everything begins to change in a very rapid manner after these verses Because his death barrel and resurrection is right around the corner. The hour has come Now in closing I want to go back to some of the very first application that I made We need to see that the hour has come for the church This is our day.

This is our time This is our opportunity Given by God that we would be obedient with the things entrusted to us the gospel message Which can only say the work of the church which can grow the saints The kingdom command to take the gospel around the world to touch those who are untouchable to build strong families to raise their children to love the Lord listen the hour has come for The church and we need the Lord here at Nola Baptist Church to give us a faith that goes beyond our understanding we need the Lord to give us an understanding of what he could do through us that is far greater and far larger and far more reaching than we ever could imagine And if the Lord is going to do great things through us We must see that our time and day of service is at hand Do we love Jesus more than our own life Do we love Jesus more than our own families?

Do we love Jesus more than our jobs? Do we love Jesus more than our homes and our material possessions? Do we love Jesus more than our own plans? And if we'll answer that question properly not just with our words, but with our actions Listen, we will be used in a great way individually and as a church In that day and that time Jesus our had come and in our day and in our time. It is the time of the church May the Lord help us to accomplish and do and become all That is in his heart Let's pray