What Disciples Must Know About This Hour

Through the Gospel of John, the fourth Gospel.

So please turn to John chapter 16 today.

John 16 · chapter mention

John chapter 16, our sermon text is verses 1 through 15.

John 16 · chapter mention

As I read John 16, 1 through 15 today, remember this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word.

This is God's very own word for you, His people.

If you believe that, if you receive God's word that way, when I'm done reading it, I'll say, this is the word of the Lord, and we'll respond, thanks be to God.

John 16, beginning at verse 1.

Jesus, in the last moments with His disciples, He's already left the upper room, either walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane or already there teaching them.

And He listened to what He says.

He says,

concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.

Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer.

Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.

For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak.

And He will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify Me, and He will take away what is Mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is Mine.

Therefore, I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.

And this is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God.

Indeed, you may be seated.

The Bible says that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you that you are not silent, that your word comes to your people again and again and again.

We thank you, Lord, for what you said to your disciples,

and what your Holy Spirit caused the disciples and the apostles to remember and write down.

And we pray, Lord, that today your Holy Spirit will apply your word to our lives.

Lord, we pray that as we hear your word, we will obey you immediately.

That we will receive your word as the food that we need to eat today, Lord.

You know all that we come needing, Father.

We need more faith.

We need more hope.

We need more comfort.

We turn to nothing besides you.

So please feed us today, Lord.

We are your children.

May your word feed your children, Father.

Grow our hope.

Establish us in the faith.

And equip us for your mission, we pray.

Amen.

Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I want to try to show you today what I believe Jesus wants you to know about this hour.

It's what disciples must know about this hour.

Our faith, we believe it and we receive it.

But isn't it true that most of the time it's below the surface?

We know there's a glorious gospel, like a great treasure.

We know it and we hold to it.

But it often doesn't glimmer in all of its glory until we're pressed and until we're in a moment of crisis.

Isn't that true?

We're in this hour in which God is ministering to us by the power of his spirit.

And in moments of crisis, we see the glory of Christ, that only he could have done that in a person's life.

And it brings him all the glory.

There's one such moment I heard about from a brother who lived in South Africa.

And he's still a living man.

He's still alive.

This is our generation.

He's a man of dark skin in South Africa, which is a divided country with a long history of racism.

His name was Moses.

He was introduced to us as Brother Moses.

He worked as a school administrator in South Africa.

And he shared this terrible story of how these white racist men ran over his own son on purpose with a pickup truck.

His son went to the hospital and died.

That's the first part of this moment of crisis.

I'm going to tell you more about him later.

What came out of his lips next could only be explained as a man who has the glory of the gospel like a hidden treasure in his life.

He's a man living in this final hour where all of these promises that Jesus gives to his disciples are put on display.

It's still happening.

God still does this in your life and in mine.

So that's what you need to understand.

What is true about this hour that we live in?

The hour that was inaugurated by the disciples.

And that is the hour until Christ returns.

See, the shepherd had called these sheep.

They heard his voice.

They followed him.

Jesus has told them, apart from me, you can do nothing.

You can just picture the disciples walking with them with sorrowful hearts.

And they say, yes, we believe that.

And then in the next breath, Jesus says, I'm going away.

Well, Lord, you're going away.

And apart from you, we can do nothing.

Where does that leave us?

They're gripped by fear and sorrow.

But Jesus tells them, this is to your advantage.

How can that be?

And that's what he answers in these verses.

Look at verse 2.

Jesus says, indeed, the hour is coming.

It's not going to last forever.

It'll go fast.

But it's coming.

He says, I'm going to send you out as sheep among the wolves.

I wash your wool, and it's white because I washed you.

Those woes are going to sink their fangs into you.

You're going to bleed.

You're going to give up your lives for my sake.

But this hour is to your advantage.

Look at verse 4.

Jesus said, I've said these things to you that when the hour comes,

you may remember all I told you.

So three headings of what you need to know if you're a disciple of Christ about this hour.

Number one, if you are a disciple of Christ, expect persecution from unexpected people.

If you are a disciple of Christ, expect persecution from unexpected people.

In the old covenant, being born an Israelite, it meant that your parents are what make you part of the covenant community.

Well, the Apostle Paul in Romans 9-6 reveals by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

that not all who are descended of Israel belong to Israel.

Jesus said, I am the true vine.

Only those grafted into me bear fruit, Jesus said.

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, expect surprising persecution.

I see three things Jesus said.

He gives them two warnings and one encouragement.

Warning number one, Christ warns his disciples, his true church,

he says, you will be hated by the religious elite when you follow me.

Look at verse one again.

He said, I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.

The Greek word is, it's a rude word of scandalous.

I say these words to keep you from being scandalized.

In the King James, it's to keep you from being offended.

Do you get the picture?

You're going to be persecuted.

Verse two, they will put you out of the synagogues.

They will hate you.

So the question is, who is they?

Well, in John 15, 18, he says, when the world hates you,

know that it hated me before it hated you.

So it's going to be the world that hates you.

But this, he said, of the rulers of the synagogue,

they are the worldly ones.

And in John chapter nine, verse 22, we saw this months ago.

There was the man born blind from birth.

And the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus

to be the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ,

that he would be put out of the synagogue.

So these rulers of the synagogue were the religious elite.

And Jesus is saying those are the men who are worldly.

They are of the world.

John Gill commented on the language used here,

not put out in the lesser sense,

like here's one local synagogue, but there's many others.

This being put out of the synagogue,

it was the greatest form of discipline

that they had authority to carry out.

All of their hatred and all of the spite they had toward Jesus Christ,

they were going to carry out on his disciples,

on those who followed him.

Gill pointed out that it's the greatest excommunication.

A person was cut out from the whole body of the Jewish community,

which is often referred to as the synagogue

or the congregation of the people.

It was to be given over to utter destruction.

Jesus is saying, disciples, my true disciples,

brace yourself for the rage of the religious elite.

They will hate Christ,

and they will hate you who belong to Christ.

There's one way to get out of that,

because that sounds awful.

I love how Vodibachum put it.

He said, persecution can be avoided.

All you have to do is compromise.

Jesus said very clearly in Luke 9, 23,

if anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross daily

and follow me.

And in Luke 14, 28,

Jesus warns all of his true disciples

to count the cost.

This is one of the costs

disciples must count.

The second warning Jesus gives is this.

Christ warns you, disciple,

many who think they serve God

are enemies of Christ's true church.

Many who think they serve God

are enemies of Christ's true church.

That's what he warns them

in verses 2 and 3.

Look in your Bible.

He says,

Indeed, the hour is coming

when whoever kills you

will think he is offering

a service to God.

Do you get the picture?

Here's a lamb that followed

the good shepherd

and heard his voice.

And they're going to take that lamb

and they're going to slaughter it.

And they think they're offering

that as a sacrifice to God.

Verse 3 says,

They will do these things

because they have not known

the Father nor me.

The disciples were following Christ,

going into it,

expecting that they would have

to have their lives taken

by the men of the world.

What makes it even harder to bear

is that when their lives get taken,

those who did that

think they're doing it

out of zeal and love for God.

John Gill said,

Those men believe that

whoever sheds the blood

of a wicked man

is one who is then

offering a sacrifice.

This is a gift to God.

They thought that sacrifice

would have been acceptable

and well-pleasing to God.

Well, who immediately comes to mind

as one who did exactly that?

It was Saul, wasn't it?

Saul of Tarsus.

He thought he was doing this

as a service unto the Lord,

going out of his way

and persecuting the Christians,

taking their lives,

thinking it was to please God.

Well, Sinclair Ferguson pointed out,

Real loyalty to Christ,

it does create friction

in the hearts of those

who pay Christ only lip service.

Loyalty arouses the conscience

and it leaves people

with only two alternatives.

Follow Christ or silence him.

Often, their only way

of silencing Christ

is by silencing his servants.

So count the cost, disciple.

We're told by Paul,

your life will be either

a stench leading some to death

as you follow Christ,

or it'll be an aroma

leading others to life.

And it's nothing that you do.

It's simply abiding in Christ.

That's the effect it will have.

So be warned.

Many who think they serve God

are enemies of Christ's true church.

After those two warnings,

I see an encouragement.

Jesus Christ encourages his disciples.

When your hour comes,

remember my word.

Christ encourages you

who are his disciple.

When your hour comes,

remember his word.

In verse 4, he says,

I've said these things to you

that when their hour comes,

you may remember

I told them to you.

When that hour comes,

these apostles would preach

this glorious gospel

after the Holy Spirit filled them.

There's that man,

a descendant of a Greek.

The Spirit regenerated him

and filled him.

And he helps with serving the tables.

He gets appointed as a proto-deacon.

And he remembers these words

that were written down

by the apostles.

And it's with joy

that Stephen takes the stones

on his head.

And the Lord opens up

the heavens to him

like he had done to Ezekiel

and the prophets.

And he dies the martyr,

the blood of Stephen.

Remembering the word of God

and declaring it

with the last breath.

And those who hear

that gospel preached,

God regenerates.

And there's Saul,

the criminal in this story,

who God saves,

God regenerates,

reveals himself to Saul.

Gives him a new name,

you belong to me now.

So when that hour comes

for Paul now,

Paul remembers the words

of the Lord.

And he says,

I'm on that side

with Stephen now.

To die would be gain.

It would be to my advantage

to be with my Lord,

but to live as Christ.

And I lay my life down for him

and I lay my life down

for his people.

Because he first laid down

his life for me.

God can save even Saul.

And God can save you

and God can save your enemy.

God can save those

who right now

may be like Saul.

They may be persecuting those

who they should be loving.

Saul later reflected on this

when his name was Paul

and he said,

what I did as Saul,

now I see as Paul,

I did it ignorantly

in unbelief.

I did not know the Father.

Although I knew all the Hebrew

and I knew it all,

I did not know Jesus Christ.

So disciples,

we can bear persecution

with patience.

As someone put it,

we can pity our persecutors

and we can pray for them.

We can bear our sufferings

with greater patience

because we know that

whatever we are going through

was appointed by Christ

for your life.

And he said,

this is what you should expect.

That gives us comfort.

A true disciple learns to trust

the Word of God.

That's what Jesus trusted.

According to his human nature,

Jesus trusted the Word of God

for his life.

Thomas Brooks, a Puritan, wrote

that death shall be the funeral

of all his sins,

his sorrows,

his afflictions,

his temptations,

his vexations,

his oppressions,

and his persecutions.

This is what God promises.

Do you receive and trust

that promise?

When you die in this life,

it'll be the end of all of that.

God's Word also promises

that your death

will be the resurrection

of all your hopes,

all your joys,

all your delights,

all your comforts,

and all your contentments.

This is what the Word of God promises.

So, to die is gain, truly.

And to live is Christ.

So if you are a disciple of Christ,

expect that type of persecution.

We have been warned

by Christ himself as his disciples.

And we've been encouraged

to hold on,

remember his Word.

The second heading is that

if you are Christ's disciple,

Christ promises help

in your confusion and sorrow.

If you are Christ's disciple,

he promises help,

with a capital H,

in your confusion

and in your sorrow.

He promises this in verse 4.

He understands his disciples

will be confused.

In verse 4 he says,

I did not say these things

to you from the beginning

because I was with you.

See, the very presence of Christ

with his disciples

made him the true object

of the malice

and the rage

and the hatred against God.

When he sent them out

two by two to preach,

he knew they were going

to be persecuted

at some level there,

but it was not even directed

at them.

It was directed at the message

and at Christ himself.

He was with them

and he gathered them back

and he himself comforted them.

He says,

this is going to be different.

It's not a quick mission

and you come back

and my presence comforts you.

This is going to be different.

In Matthew 10, 17,

he said,

you will be hated by all men,

persecuted from city to city,

beat in the synagogues,

delivered up to councils

and brought before kings

and governors.

But now this is why he says,

you get a greater help.

He says,

it's to your advantage.

You get the help,

the comforter,

the advocate.

Look at verse 5.

Now I am going to him

who sent me

and none of you asks me,

where are you going?

And then,

Jesus is telling the disciples,

there is a reality

you don't even see.

There is a realm

you don't even access

or can even dream of.

And that's the glory

set before him.

And the thought of them,

his disciples,

being united to him

was the joy

with which he marched

to the cross

to pay for their sin.

Christ had his future glory

in mind

because he knew

from that place,

that future glory,

he would pour out

his Holy Spirit

on his disciples.

He would be preparing

mansions for them

while his Holy Spirit

would be carrying out

his mission on earth

of bringing the true heaven

down to earth

in a spiritual sense

through the preached word

gathered up

into the church.

So he looks at the disciples

and he sees the sadness

on their face.

But in his heart,

he knows the glory.

He's comforting them

with a promise

that only he can imagine.

So Christ understands

that his disciples

feel confused.

But Christ also cares

for his disciples

in their deep sorrow.

Look at verse 6.

He says,

because I have said

these things to you,

sorrow has filled your heart.

He recognizes it

and he tells them,

I see you.

I see what you're feeling.

The reasons for their sorrow,

he says,

are these things.

He says these things

six times in this chapter.

It's like a climax

of what he's been preaching

all along.

Now he's just referring

to it as a lump sum.

These things,

these things,

these things.

It's persecution.

It's being put out

of the synagogue

by the elite.

It's losing their lives.

And the deepest point

of their grief,

it's that Christ himself

would no longer be with them

on this earth.

So sorrow

had filled the minds

of the disciples.

One commentator put,

it had seized

on all the powers

and faculties

of their souls

that Christ recognizes that

and calls it

in this moment.

He pauses his teaching

and he identifies

what it is

on their faces.

Not only does Christ

comfort them

and recognize that

in their sorrow.

Number three,

Christ only does

for his disciples

what is best for them.

In their confusion,

in their sorrow,

he says,

what I am doing

is to your advantage.

This is for your good.

Look at verse seven.

I tell you the truth,

it is to your advantage

that I go away

for if I do not go away,

then the helper

will not come to you.

But if I go,

then I will send him

to you.

He uses the phrase,

I'm going away.

He's using earthly language

to tell them

of the most glorious thing

that has ever happened

in human history.

That God,

who took on flesh,

will march

a journey to the cross

and to the grave

and he will be ascended

at the right hand

of the Father.

That's the journey.

That's the going away,

this trip

that he's telling them about.

And he will come back.

He says,

it's to your advantage.

Why is that?

Theologically,

what is happening

in this going away,

this full work of Christ?

John Gill put it this way,

I must go,

in the words of Christ,

to open the way for you

into the Holy of Holies

by my blood.

I must go to remove

all charges

and accusations against you.

I must go to take possession

of heaven for you.

I must go to prepare

mansions for you

to dwell with me

in my Father's house.

I must go to appear

in the presence of God

on your behalf.

I must go to be your advocate.

I must go to make intercession

for all good things for you.

I must go to mediate

between you and God.

I must go to present

your petitions

to the Father.

I must go to see

that every blessing of grace

is applied to you,

my people.

That's why it's to

the advantage of his disciples

that Jesus go away.

The last John Gill quote

says,

If Christ had not gone away

to die and rise again,

there would have been nothing

for the Spirit to do.

no blood to sprinkle,

no righteousness to reveal,

no fruit to bear,

and no salvation to apply.

In that moment of deep sorrow,

of deep confusion,

Jesus promises them,

what I am doing

is best for you.

This is for your good.

Do you trust me?

Do you trust me?

Do you trust me?

And getting to know

each one of you

and different ones

in our congregation,

it's humbling.

I'm humbled

because I've not had to endure

some of the most painful things

imaginable

that you've shared,

that you had to endure.

And so I feel like

I'm not even the one

who can comfort you

because I have not identified

with you in the suffering

in that way.

What I can do

is give you the word

of Jesus Christ.

He identifies

with those hardest things

you went through.

And in reasons

we can't understand now,

the confusion

and the deep sorrow

that we still feel,

Jesus Christ says,

whatever I do

in your life,

it is for your good.

Do you trust my word?

Do you trust the word

of Jesus Christ,

your Lord?

If you are Christ's disciple,

God promises help

in your confusion

and sorrow.

Praise God for the Spirit

who is our help.

And that's our third

and final heading for today.

If you are Christ's disciple,

His Spirit will

guide you

into all truth.

If you are Christ's disciple,

it's okay that you don't

have it all figured out now,

that you have big questions.

His Spirit will guide you

into all truth.

What a glorious promise.

The Holy Spirit,

I'll show you four things here.

number one,

graciously convicts you.

The Holy Spirit

graciously convicts you.

Look at verse 8.

When He comes,

the helper,

the comforter,

the advocate,

the Spirit of truth,

when He comes,

He will convict

the world

concerning sin

and righteousness

and judgment.

That's what He'll do.

And then He opens it up,

He unpacks it.

And notice how each thing

that the Spirit does

points you where?

It points you to Jesus Christ.

So,

we saw previously

how the Holy Spirit

is the second advocate.

Jesus Christ is the advocate

of His disciples.

Jesus Christ is the advocate

in heaven

pleading your case,

defending you

in the legal court.

Here,

the Holy Spirit

is advocating

for Jesus Christ.

It's the Spirit of truth

pointing to Christ.

So,

the Holy Spirit

in a legal court setting,

the Holy Spirit

is the defending attorney.

And Jesus Christ

is the one

in heaven

the Spirit defends.

Well,

what does that make us

as disciples?

We don't have to defend Christ.

That makes us witnesses.

I would like to call

my first witness

to the stand.

Is what the Spirit

is saying about Jesus Christ

true in your life?

Do you testify

that this is true?

If you take

the Lord's Supper,

you are proclaiming

that gospel of Jesus Christ

until the day

that He returns.

What is it

that the Spirit

testifies to

and defends?

Look at verse 9.

Concerning sin

because they do not

believe in me,

Jesus Christ.

So the Spirit

comes and convicts

of sin

so they will believe

in Christ.

It's a gracious conviction.

That's the first use

of the moral law

in evangelism.

We go to a community college

we bring up

any topic

under the sun

and we can use

the moral law of God

and the Spirit

by the power of Christ

will convict of sin.

And that conviction

of sin

it makes you need

I need a Savior.

It makes you know that.

And He humbles us.

It's a gracious conviction

that drives us

to the cross

of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2.23

this was inaugurated.

The Spirit

convicted the world

not just these disciples

not just the 3,000

that would believe

but He convicted

all nations represented.

Acts 2.23 says

this Jesus

Peter's preaching

He was delivered up

according to the

definite plan

and foreknowledge

of God

because you

crucified

and killed Him.

You lawless men

put the Son of God

on the cross.

And that's a gracious

conviction

to see your sin

that put Him there.

Jerry Bridges said

conviction

should actually grow

throughout

our Christian lives.

In fact

one sign

of spiritual growth

is an increasing

awareness

of our sinfulness.

Jerry Bridges

is saying

you want to see

a mature Christian

there's a Christian

who is so aware

of his own sinfulness.

So the Spirit

graciously convicts you.

Number two

the Spirit

shows you

Christ's

righteousness.

It builds

one builds on the other.

Look at verse 10

the Spirit

ministers

concerning righteousness

Jesus says

because I go to the Father

and you will see me

no longer.

Now think about that

what does going to the Father

have to do with

the righteousness of Christ?

Well Jesus died

for sin

but He was only

raised from the dead

because

the Father

saw the obedience

of the suffering servant

His entire life

His righteousness

His active obedience

His fulfillment

of the moral law

and because He was sinless

and He died in our place

now the Father

raises Him

from the dead.

He says

this is a life

that merited

eternal life

not because He lacked anything

but He merited it

on behalf

of His people

of those He came to save.

1 Peter 1.8 says

though you have not seen Him

you love Him

though you do not

now see Him

you believe in Him

and rejoice

with joy inexpressible

filled with glory.

That's the ministry

of the Holy Spirit

pointing to you

yes

you're a sinner

you need to be forgiven

and washed clean

by His blood

but it's His righteousness

that covers you.

It's the Spirit

who gives you

a joy inexpressible

and filled with the glory

of the Son

His righteousness

put unto you.

Number three

the Spirit shows you

that Satan

was crushed.

The moment when

when Christ

suffered the wound

on the heel

the serpent's head

was crushed.

That same moment

on the cross

it was the death

of death itself

and the death

of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 11

the Spirit reveals to you

concerning judgment

because the ruler

of this world

is judged.

What did Jesus

accomplish on the cross

according to

Colossians 2

15 and 16

on the cross

Jesus Christ

disarmed

the rulers

and authorities

of the spiritual realm

and put them

to shame

by triumphing

over them

in Christ.

Number four

the Spirit

illuminates

God's Word

to you.

The Spirit

illuminates

God's Word

to you.

Look at verse 12

Jesus said

I still have

many things

to say to you

but you cannot

bear them now.

When the Spirit

of truth comes

He will guide you

into all the truth

and He will not

speak on His own

authority

but whatever He

hears He will speak

and He will declare

to you

the things that

are to come.

He will glorify

me

for He will take

what is mine

and declare it

to you

and all that the

Father has

is mine

therefore I said

that He will take

what is mine

and declare it

to you.

the Holy Spirit

according to

verse 13

will guide

these apostles

into all

truth.

Yes there's

more revelation

the whole New Testament

still needs to be

written

and they will

take what is

Christ's

the full work

of Christ

and the Spirit

will open it up

for the church.

The Spirit

will help

these apostles

to declare it

and the New Testament

will be breathed

out by the Holy Spirit

and now that

same Holy Spirit

who regenerates

and who calls you

to believe in Christ

that same Holy Spirit

ministers His own

word that He breathed

out to you

and He guides you

too through His word

into all truth.

That's why we believe

what Colossians 3.16

we believe it as witnesses

we can testify

not only is this

what it says

this has been true

that as we let

the word of Christ

dwell in you richly

He establishes us

in our faith

we teach one another

into all wisdom

and we do this

with thankfulness

in our hearts

to God

it's the ministry

of the Holy Spirit

in us

if you are

Christ's disciple

His Spirit

will guide you

into all truth

so the focus today

is this hour

what we

as followers of Christ

need to know

about this hour

Jesus said

in verse 2

indeed

the hour

has come

in verse 4

He said these things

to disciples

that when the hour

has come

you'll remember

what He had told you

Jesus said

of this hour

it is good

it is to your advantage

this hour

is even better

we wish we could be there

in the first century

and see

God

in the flesh

Jesus

we don't understand it

He says

what we have now

with the Holy Spirit

is better

this is

the glorious

hour

of the Holy Spirit

in the church

beloved brothers

and sisters

believe this today

this is the hour

according to

John 12

23

yes

the hour

has come

for the Son of Man

our Lord Jesus Christ

to be glorified

this is the hour

according to

John 16

in which

the Holy Spirit

applies the redemption

that Christ

accomplished

this is the hour

according to

John 4

23

in which

the true

worshipers

will worship

the Father

in spirit

and in truth

this is the hour

according to

Matthew 10

19

in which

when you get

delivered over

to those who

hate Jesus Christ

the Holy Spirit

will give you

what to say

this is the hour

in John

1st John 2

18

in which

many

will abandon

the faith

making it

plain

that they

were never

of the true

vine

this is the

hour in which

you who are not

of the world

will walk

with your shepherd

in this world

as sheep

among wolves

this is the hour

according to

1st Corinthians

4

11

through 13

that

when you are

reviled

you will bless

when persecuted

you will endure

when slandered

you will pray

how glorious

God's power is

is often hidden

until we're in a

moment of crisis

brother Moses

of South Africa

grieved

he had anger

he wanted to

carry out

vengeance

on those

who killed

his son

brother Moses

stood and

shared with us

over a long

process

the Holy Spirit

taught him

to forgive

those

who killed

his own son

because God

forgave

Moses

who killed

the son of

God

with his

sin

that's the

power

of the

Holy Spirit

there is no

other explanation

for it

brother Moses

bears witness

everything the

spirit reveals

about Christ

is true

the spirit

advocates for

Christ

and we join

in bearing

witness

yes because

it's been

true in my

life also

this is the

hour according

to Revelation

310 in which

our Lord Jesus

Christ calls his

church to keep

his word with

patient endurance

until he returns

this is the hour

according to John

525 in which the

dead will hear the

voice of the son of

God and those who

hear will live

this is the hour

according to Luke

1240 in which you

must be ready for

the bridegroom

shall return

for you

in glory

oh disciple

of Jesus

Christ

you must know

according to

Romans 13 11

that the night

is far gone

and the day

is already

at hand

salvation

is nearer

to us now

than when we

first believed

the hour

has come

for you

to wake

from your

sleep

amen

let's pray

verse 12

of Romans

13

oh Lord

may your Holy

Spirit cause

your true

disciples to

cast off

the works

of darkness

and put on

the armor

of light

and follow

you

King Jesus

for your glory

may your kingdom

come

and your will

be done

on earth

as it is

in heaven

amen

you

IS