Ashcroft Opening Song: #207 It May be at Morn Title: Timing of God’s Hour
Scripture: Isaiah 40:31: But those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
A young American engineer was sent to Ireland for a year. When he left, his fiancé gave him a harmonica. She said, "I want you to learn to play this: it will help to keep your mind off those Irish girls." He wrote to her often and told her that he was practicing his harmonica every night. After a year she met him at the airport, he grabbed her to kiss her and she pushed back saying, "Wait! before you kiss me, I want to hear you play the harmonica."
We may think God says wait because He wants to test us, maybe make us suffer, or something hard on us. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy, Psalm 16:11. When we follow God on life’s path, we will be at the right place at the right time. Yet nobody likes to wait. You wait until you’re 16 to drive a car. You wait for the right person to get married, for that promotion, your first home, new van, 9 months for a baby. You wait when a loved one has surgery, or your company decides who gets laid off. We don’t always get what we want when we want. What we want may be good, but circumstances are not right. Delays with God or “Wait” are NOT denials of prayer.
John 7:2-5, But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even His own brothers did NOT believe in Him. Out of unbelief His brothers urged public show. Jesus told them, “The right time for Me has not yet come; for you any time is right.” His brothers thought in earthly terms; Jesus did God’s will. Time would come when He’d declare Himself and confront religious leaders. But this was not the right time.
Jesus said to the Samaritan at the well, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” Jesus said in Gethsemane, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” Once events were in place, Jesus declares the hour has come. Jesus died at 3 p.m. on the 14th day of Nisan just as the Passover lambs were to be slain. He knew the correct timing.
Jesus delayed early events to ensure timing was right. Wedding in Cana was a public event. When wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." We see Mary understood Jesus cannot be controlled by her. She learned this in the temple when He was 12. Jesus did the miracle in private where only servants and Mary knew. John 2: 9 says master of ceremonies “did not know where it came from.”
In this world we find ourselves in need, even when we think ourselves in control. Jesus’ hour is come for us when we recognize our need of Jesus. Some kids made wooden boats and floated them in a drainage slough. A neighbor warned they could drown if they fell in. One wooden boat floated under a bridge; as Davy reached out to grab it, he slowly slid into the water. Davy couldn't swim. He went under twice and was on the way down third time. Kids on the bridge screamed for help! The neighbor who warned them, heard the noise. He couldn’t see the boy in the muddy water, but he felt Davy as he jumped in. The neighbor was getting ready to go to town; just a few minutes later and he wouldn’t have been there to save the 8 year old boy. David Pratte remembers saying, "You saved my life." The neighbor saved his life at just the right time!
Genesis 19:19, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but first sent Lot out, just in time. Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave. He became governor; God worked the timing in each instance. Times in my life, God came through at the very last minute, and I realized it’s not me or anything I can do, it is all God’s timing. God can deliver us from problems no one else can solve. When our situation seems hopeless and helpless, when we are powerless, that is when we recognize we need Jesus.
SONG: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
God offers salvation, but people respond in order to receive. God saved Lot and Lot left Sodom and Gomorrah. God used Joseph to save his family, and they moved to Egypt. God saved Israel at the Red Sea, and they marched through the sea. God saved David from Goliath, and David put the stone in the sling. Our Savior met the people's need that they could not meet for themselves. In every case people responded to God, not tomorrow, but today.
The beginning of Moses' miracles was turning water into blood. Beginning of Jesus’ miracles was turning water into wine which shows difference of ceremonial laws of Moses and gospel of Christ. Jesus is Source of blessing. Has He turned your water into wine, given you grace? It is to profit not plague you; so draw from His abundance and use it. It was healthy fruit of the vine. Jesus’ works are offered even to those who don’t realize His goodness; all at the wedding drank Jesus’ good miracle, not realizing He supplied it. What Jesus produces always was best of its kind!
The reply of Jesus to the suggestion of His mother; "woman" was used by Jesus when He spoke most tenderly to His mother at the cross; this was no disrespect to parent. Bible scholars say our Lord refused to be guided by His mother; He was breaking off submission which He had willingly done in the past. They say it was proof of blame of the mother Mary. I don’t think Jesus was blaming her, but we do not worship His mother, only Jesus. God said, "Mine hour is not yet come." His time for miracles in public was not yet, not His scheduled time. Providing the supply was not the issue for Jesus. He is ALWAYS willing to supply our need. The timing was the difference. Time for Christ to tell the world all Mary already knew, that time had NOT yet come. Jesus follows God’s schedule, the right hour!
Romans 5:6, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Jesus was born and died right on time by prophet Daniel’s 70 week prophecy which works out to 490 literal years. Daniel 9:26, And after 62 weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. Jesus began His ministry right on time. He died right on time. “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice.” Does Jesus seem slow?
2Peter 3:8-9, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but that all should repent.” If you could travel at the speed of light like God can, you would travel from the earth a day and when you get back 24 hours later, 1000 years would have passed on earth. We can trust God’s timing. God works His own way. Anything I have in my life is only from Him, even that I can stand again. When I wait, I learn it isn’t anything Isabelle can do but God has full power and control.
Why is Jesus coming back? Hebrews 9:28, "So also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and He will come again, but NOT to deal again with sins. This time He will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for Him." A pastor was building a wooden trellis for a climbing vine. As he pounded, he saw a little boy watching. The child didn’t say a word, so pastor kept working, thinking the lad would just leave. But he didn’t. Finally pastor asked, "Are you learning pointers on gardening?" "No," he replied, "I’m just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer." If we don’t trust God and His timing, we will get caught up waiting for the wrong things in life.
Are we waiting for doomsday, waiting for disaster, waiting for negatives? Trust God to bring all good things according to His time. A man limps into a hospital to have his foot X-rayed and is asked to wait for the results. An orderly appears and hands the man a very large pill. As he’s handed the pill, a mother with a small child in need of immediate help enters and the orderly disappears with the new patient. The man with the foot problem hobbles over to get a glass of water, swallows the pill, and sits down. A short time later the orderly comes back bringing a bucket of water to the man with the limp. "Ok, let’s drop the pill in this bucket and soak your foot." Let’s not rush ahead of God’s timing!
1Corinthians 1:7-8, “You have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Who is the One who keeps you? He guarantees to the end that you will be counted blameless on that day when He returns.
A family was at the lake. One son was watching little brother, but he got distracted. 3 year old Billy lost his balance falling off the pier. The older son let out a piercing cry. Dad came running and jumped into the water, but unable to find anything, swam up for air. Sick with panic, he went right back down, and began to feel everywhere around the bottom. Nothing! Finally, on his way up, he felt little Billy's arms locked in a grip on one of the posts of the dock under water. Prying the boy's fingers loose, they burst up. Finally when their nerves calmed down, Father asked, “What on earth were you doing down there hanging onto the post under water?” Little Billy’s answer was classic, "I was waiting for you, Dad. Waiting with all my might!” Waiting for God isn’t laziness, uncaring; it’s doing His will, and holding on.
SONG: YOU ARE LOVED DON’T GIVE UP
The second coming is certain to occur. The very integrity of Jesus is at stake. He promised, “I come again, if it were not so I would have told you.” Either Jesus must come again or He is a liar! And there was no point in giving His life to save us. He will come a definite day, “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” His coming will be personal, “the Lord Himself”. He will come visibly, not as invisible “rapture” spread by Hal Lindsey in his book The Late Great Planet Earth. The second coming will be unmistakeable!
When false teachers challenged the “promise of His coming,” Peter said Jesus’ coming is accompanied by MELTING of the world’s elements, 2Peter 3:10. So you can’t MISS the second coming! And we’ll be transformed into His likeness. Philippians 3:21, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to His glorious body.
What is the last promise Jesus gives us in the Bible? Revelation 22:20, He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” His coming will be just as quick as possible, not one hour early, not one hour late. For certain, it will be right on time. It is NOT dependent on you or me. If Jesus’ coming was dependent on man getting over OUR selfishness, we would be serving a very fickle God. But just as Jesus was born right on time, God will come back right on time!
A mother was making pancakes for little sons. The boys argued over the first pancake. Mom saw a moral lesson. "If Jesus was sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.’" Kevin said, "Ryan, YOU be like Jesus!" Learning to be like Jesus is learning to wait. We must trust God to provide when the time is right rather than worrying. A woman for many years couldn’t sleep well at night worrying her home would be robbed. One night her husband heard a noise, so he went to check. Downstairs, he found a burglar. The husband said to the burglar, "Come upstairs and meet my wife. She’s been worrying 10 years to meet you."
Jewish wedding in bible times; during betrothal the groom went to prepare a place for his bride, by adding rooms to his family's home. Jesus made the typical bridegroom speech, "I go to prepare a place for you." And He went back to His Father's house, to prepare room for His bride, the church. It was not for the groom to decide when the place he was preparing was ready; his father would decide and give go-ahead to receive his bride. If asked the date of his wedding, the groom would have to reply, "Only my father knows."
Time of the groom's arrival was a surprise! The bride took betrothal seriously. She knew approximate timing, but exact hour was unknown when Father of the groom would give final word. Jesus told His disciples, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36). As with a Jewish bridegroom, He must wait for Father’s word. Time to go for his bride, the groom dressed as much like a king as possible. A gold crown if he could afford it, otherwise a garland of flowers. His garments would be scented with frankincense and myrrh, his girdle brilliantly colored silk, sandals carefully laced, and flowing robes.
The bride would be waiting for her groom to carry her off to her new home. The time of betrothal was great anticipation! Bride's responsibility was to be waiting every day no matter how long it took! Tradition was he would come at night, even at midnight, and take her by surprise. He always came!
Friends had a little apple tree. One year branches hung heavy in abundance. The year before, there was late frost in spring and all buds froze. When that happens, an apple tree does a miraculous thing storing energy in thousands of nodules. All that energy waits until spring of next year, then explodes as an apple tree unleashes stored up energy! The harsh frosts of life- cancer, stroke, divorce, bankruptcy, trauma, abuse, grief- cause our hearts to freeze. God's power is pulsing under gnarly bark of this world. In Christ we’re being formed into a nodule of living hope. During seasons of our life, we feel our hearts waiting for frozen places to burst into bloom.
Sometimes we get discouraged; it seems little result from work we do for God. Sometimes even changes we’d like to see in our character take far longer than we like. When we start to get discouraged, remember perhaps the right time has not come. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” No matter what it may look like, life proceeds according to God’s schedule. I choose to fit God’s timetable, not fit Him to mine.
A 12 year old boy was on a train on a miserable day. People around complained about their discomfort but the boy strangely was smiling. A woman leaned forward and asked, "Sonny, aren't you tired of this?” “No, I don't mind much." The lady was about to ask why, when he added, "Because Daddy is going to meet me when we get to Winnipeg.” Life’s road is rough at times; waiting seems almost unbearable. But Jesus is at our journey's end.
SONG: GOD IS LOVE