"The Hour Is Coming!"
John 4:19-24; 5:24-29
INTRO.Before Christ came all men were under the law and subject to its ordinances. But when Christ came, He opened a new and living way unto God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Think not I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfill.” He was and is, the Messiah, the one the woman at the well was looking for! All the prophecies of the coming Messiah and His love and suffering for mankind was fulfilled in Christ Jesus!
The law was not unimportant, but needful, for Galatians 3:24-25 tells us, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." In that verse, v25, it says, "after that faith is come", speaking of the revealing of Christ, the Messiah. John Gill in his commentary on Galatians writes: “That is, since Christ the object of faith is come in the flesh, and has fulfilled the law, and redeemed them that were under it from its bondage, curse, and condemnation” (John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible). When Christ came, mankind was no longer under the Law and keeping of its ordinances, but under the grace of God and faith in His Son.
I want to title the message, "The Hour Is Coming!" In our reading, we have two separate accounts. The first we have is the woman at the well in John 4 and the second is the healing, by Jesus, of the impotent man on the Sabbath day in John 5. In these two accounts, Christ, Our Savior, uses the phrase, "The hour is coming, or the hour cometh...", four times. The word "hour" that Our LORD used is the Greek word "Hora" which means “a period of time or a season.”
The WORD OF GOD is divided into 7 consecutive dispensations, or time periods. The seven dispensations are these: 1) Innocence,
2) Conscience, 3) Human government, 4) Promise, 5) Law, 6) Grace, and 7) Kingdom. When Christ, the Messiah, was revealed, mankind moved from the dispensation, or hour, if you will, of Law, into the hour of grace. We are now under grace, not law!
Christ, in our text, is stressing the fact that, since He has come; He has fulfilled the law; and NOW WE ARE UNDER THE "HOUR OF GRACE." But notice, also in John 5:28, He mentions also the beginning of the final hour in God's dealings with man. Let's look at these times Christ spoke of
(1) The Hour Is Coming And Now Is, Of Salvation
Text: John 5:24-25—“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they
that hear shall life.”
- THE CONDITION (v25). “…The dead..”. Those who are spiritually dead. Those who have never been made alive in Christ. Those who are dead in trespasses and sins. As Paul wrote the Church at Ephesus in Ephesians 2:1—“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Note the words “WHO WERE DEAD…”. A living corpse: without the gracious presence of God's Spirit in the soul, and so unable to think, will, or do aught that is holy. (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary).
- THE CURE (vv.24-25). Our Lord gives us the cure for this spiritual death that is the lot of all mankind. It involves two things: hearing and believing. He says in v24—“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Hearing and believing; are not those the two requirements given over and over again in the Word for salvation? (Acts 4:4; Romans 10:9-17; Hebrews 4:1-2; Revelation 3:20). Note v25—“…The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” Lost friend, Today is the day to hear His voice and to respond to His call (2 Corinthians 6:2). Today, don’t put Him off!
(2) The Hour Is Coming, And Now Is, For True Worship
Text: John 4:20-24
A. WHO ARE TRUE WORSHIPPERS? In John 4:23a we read, “But the
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth…”. True Worshippers are thinking nothing
of the beauty of the building they are in, but in the beauty of holiness
in the finished Work and shed blood of Jesus Christ! They worship
God in heart, not merely in form. Too much of the “worship” today
appeals to the flesh instead of to the Spirit. Worship is for God, not to
move us or pump us up or make us feel good!
ILLUS: I am dismayed by the popular phrase "worship experience" to
describe the church's corporate worship. Worship has the
capacity to transform us, because it focuses our hearts and
minds on God--God seen in one another, in ourselves and in
the world around us. However, the phrase "worship
experience" suggests that worship is important because it
induces feelings. In this context worship is focused more on
the worshiper than on the One worshipped. ... We need to ask
ourselves what a true worship experience is so that if we had
one, we could recognize it. -- Mark Horst in The Christian
Century (Nov. 11, 1987). Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 2.
B. WHY SHOULD WE WORSHIP THIS WAY? In John 4:23b Our Lord
says, “For the Father seeketh such to worship him.” God’s desire is that
we truly worship Him! In Robertson’s Word Pictures, Robertson writes
that the Father: “seeks such as those who worship him.” John pictures
the Father as seeking worshippers, a doctrine running all through the
Gospel. God wants not merely the praise of our lips but the purity of
our hearts.
C. WHAT IS TRUE WORSHIP? Our Lord tells us in John 4:24. It must
be offered in two ways:
- In Spirit--To Worship From the Heart (Hebrews 10:19-23).
- In Truth---To Worship By and Through The Truth--Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Hebrews 13:15).
ILLUS: Worship is not, and never has been, something people attend
in order to be entertained or fed. Worship can be entertaining.
Worship can be richly nourishing. I have pleasant memories of
worship being both of those things to me. But those are not
the reasons God calls us to worship. -- Douglas J. Brouwer in
"Singing in a Presbyterian Congregation" (Perspectives,
February 1992). Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 10.
(3)The Hour Is Coming, And Soon Will Be, For Resurrection
Text:John 5:28, 29--Hear His Voice.."
*These are Resurrections of the bodies, not the spirits. The spirits are: If
saved, in heaven, and If lost, in hell. The Bible speaks of TWO
RESURRECTIONS (Acts 24:13-15):
A. THE RESURRECTION OF LIFE (FIRST)
Text: John 5:28-29a—“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in
which all that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, And shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life…”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
1 Corinthians 15:52
Revelation 20:6
1,000 yrs. Separation------
B. THE RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION (SECOND)
Text: John 5:29b—“And they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.”
Revelation 20:11-15--Great White Throne Judgment
CLOSING: THANK GOD, We are living in the "Hour Of Grace!" But, as we saw,
the last hour of God's dealings with man is soon coming. That
hour is the Kingdom, but first, the resurrections must take place,
and after those, the judgments. For Hebrews 9:27 tells us, "And
as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment."
The Kingdom is a prepared place for prepared people! Only those
prepared, who have accepted Christ, as Savior, will have a place in
the Kingdom. Are you prepared? Will you receive His GRACE? How
do you prepare you ask? Romans 10:9-10, 13 tells us how to
prepare to meet God: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved.” If you are unprepared, will you do that today?
Christian, are you serving and TRULY WORSHIPPING GOD in this
“HOUR OF GRACE?”