That "this is your hour" for salvation, drawing parallels to Jesus' hour of suffering and betrayal in Luke 22. The passage argues that just as Jesus' enemies could not touch him until his appointed hour, individuals have a specific, personal hour of opportunity to accept Christ. The message recounts personal testimonies and historical examples to illustrate the urgency of seizing this moment, warning that delaying salvation can lead to eternal regret. It concludes with a fervent appeal to embrace Christ now, as this present moment is a critical decision point for eternal destiny.
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Shall we turn, please, to Luke's Gospel chapter twenty-two. And Luke's Gospel chapter twenty-two on verse forty-seven. And while he yet spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss. When they which word about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with a sword?
And one of them spoke the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear. and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him, Be come out as against a thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in the temple, he stretched forth no hands against me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. Then took they him and led him and brought him into the high priest's house, and Peter followed afar off. The message that has been upon my heart for the closing part of the meeting will just follow right along with the closing statements of our brother Boston.
Why not tonight? I've been greatly impressed all afternoon with this word in verse fifty three, this little message. This is your hour. And I want to bring that right into this present audience tonight, into this building, into this hour. This is your hour, an appeal to you who are not saved to receive the Lord Jesus Christ tonight for the hour is passing. It is your hour of opportunity, your hour of need, your hour perhaps from the spirit of God is dealing with you, and this is the hour, this is the night when God wants to save you and when you should be saved. These enemies of the Lord Jesus could not touch him until the hour had arrived.
He spoke of his own hour. He said, mine hour has not yet come. And previously they could not touch him. They could not lay a hand upon him. They dare not. His hour had not yet come. But now his hour had come and their hour had come. This is your hour. Now you can do with me what you want. And they took our blessed Lord and led him to the cross. The hour of God and the hour of man met. The hour of love and the hour of hatred. The hour of heaven and the hour of hell. The hour when the Lord Jesus was going to pour upon sinful man is unfathomable love. When they at the same time would pour upon him their deepest hatred. This is your hour. His hour had come.
The hour when the Lord Jesus was about to yield to the enemies and be led to the cross. and die in Calvary to put away sin. And it was their hour of decision. That's the word, correctly. The word isn't here. It was their hour. And they made their decision to take the Lord and reject him. They cried away with him. And they took him and nailed him to the tree. And they showed their hatred and animosity. And they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as we close the meeting... We want to impress upon you who are not saved that this is your hour. You see, this message conveys to us several thoughts.
It says, this, this. That is the hour presented. This is. It is a present opportunity. It is your hour. It is personal. It is yours. It is your hour. It is passing. For an hour comes and an hour goes. Like Brother Bill here, I was saved at a conference meeting. And I'm glad to be here tonight for that reason. I was saved on a Saturday night conference, gospel meeting at an Easter conference in a little town in Connecticut in the year nineteen twenty-three. I'm glad that God saved me when I was but a lad. I will tell you that so you won't be calculating your figures too high. I sat in the meeting that night and the spirit of God impressed me that it was my hour.
I knew a mother who was not well was home praying for me. I had decided I wouldn't go to the meeting that night. I worked through the day, but when the day was over, I had an automobile, of course. I took the bus in the street car, went to the little town there where the Easter conference was in session, something that I rarely had done to go to a meeting alone without being taken, and for a while at least almost forced to go. But I felt that need existing in my heart. I felt the emptiness of my little life. I felt the burden of my sin and the God had awakened me to the realization that I must not wait too long. I felt that night that I should be saved and I realized it was my hour.
It was my hour. And God spoke to me that night. And God dealt with me. And before the meeting was over, I received the Lord Jesus as my Savior. And that was a wonderful hour. It was my hour. It was God's hour. It was the Spirit's hour. It was my hour. And I embraced it and received the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. Now, I see here on Savior tonight and you have heard the gospel. You have been reminded that all of your efforts will not do. that you need to rest upon Christ alone and that Christ wants to be and Christ will be your Savior tonight and Christ longs to be your Savior but perhaps you are saying well I'll wait a little longer I'll wait till another meeting I'll wait until tomorrow night I'll wait until God speaks to me again I'll wait until I feel a little more impressed a little more convicted a little more stirred I'll wait until like I said a few more tears it may be dear sinner this is your particular hour and what are you going to do about it You can reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you do that, it may be the hour of your doom. You can receive the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do so, it will be the hour of your glorious deliverance. This is your hour. It is your hour to begin with because of your deep need. My dear one without Christ, you need a Savior tonight. You need him more than ever. Nothing else is worth a thought in comparison with this. God brought me to this realization that night that I needed Christ more than anything. And you know, when a soul realizes that and he is in dead earnest, he will find Christ. If you are in dead earnest tonight, you will receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you don't receive Christ, you're not really in earnest. You're playing with it. Oh, I want to be saved someday. I'd like to be saved. I surely want to go to heaven. Of course you do. I don't want to go down to hell. Of course not. Hell is a dreadful place. It's a dreadful reality, as we have been reminded. Possibly tonight, you will not comply with other needs. Well, I want to get along with my education, and I've just started a new job, and I want to get along with that, and I'm getting things ready for a marriage, or whatever it is, and a little later, it'll do. It'll not do, my friend, for this is your hour, and it could be your last hour. Time ends in an eternity. How quickly time is passing by. Times in the wings, how fifty speeds this way, hasting to sink in one eternal day.
Pause, passing traveler, what by destiny, when time unveils its vast eternity? This is your hour. Soon hours will be no more. Days, weeks, and months shall have their end. Eternity has none. It will always have as long to spend as those who are first begun. Oh, I believe, if through the Holy Spirit we can make you realize that this is your hour, not the hour for your friend or your neighbor, but your golden, glorious opportunity. You would not let him skip tonight. But it may be God is going to speak to some soul for the last time. Over a year ago, I was preaching the gospel down in one of the halls in Bermuda, and God was pleased to work and save precious souls.
One night, I was speaking particularly on the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was about eight-thirty. The meeting was to close at nine. And I made a statement like this. I said, it could be the Lord will come before nine o'clock. And you know, sometimes preachers make statements on the platform, hardly realizing the effect of that statement in the hearts of some. I'd hardly made that statement until A young man, twenty-six years of age, a very refined, very intelligent young man, who have been brought to the, have been coming to the meetings, brought by a Christian. He walked right up to the front.
There was no platform, in fact, no pulpit, just a little table. And I paused for a moment and finally said, what is it, my friend? He says, I want to be saved. There was no empty room, or I would have suggested someone taking him into a room right there. I said, now just sit right here in the front and the meeting will soon be over and we'll sit down together and we close the meeting as quickly as possible and sit down with that young man and have the joy of pointing him to Christ. Of course, the Spirit of God did the work. Now, I was greatly curious. I said, now what is it that prompted you to leave your seat and walk to the front? Don't you wish that would happen more often? He said, Mr. Liger, you made the statement, the Lord might come before nine o'clock and I was afraid I'd be left behind.
Think of a preacher making that statement and telling a young man to wait. I felt so ashamed of myself. He was so disturbed. He thought the Lord will come before the meeting is over and I'll be left. Thank God he got saved that night. It was his hour. It was his hour. My dear friends, I speak to you who are you children of Christian parents. This is your hour because in such an hour as you think now the Lord is going to come. This may be our last gospel meeting. The Lord is coming. His coming is very near. We will not linger there. It is a subject in itself. But this is your hour because the Lord is coming.
How dreadful is you should say, Well, not tonight. You should find yourself left behind. Tomorrow morning, left not because God wished it, left because of your stubborn rebellious heart, left because you said, no, this is not my hour, another hour is coming. Some more convenient day on the alcohol. You cry out in dark despair. I missed it. It was my hour last night. God was speaking to me through the messages. God was dealing with me by His Holy Spirit. I felt somewhat concerned. I felt that God was dealing with me. I knew I should be saved.
But I thought I would have another opportunity. And I've missed it. This is your hour, beloved sinner, because the Lord is drawing near tonight. The Lord is here. The Lord is speaking. When I was a little lad, oh, I remember singing that hymn again and again from the redemption book and how it touched my heart. If you could see Christ standing here tonight, you know that hymn, don't you? Would you believe and Jesus received if he were standing here? I wish we were saying that here more often today. Would you believe and Jesus received if he were standing here? Oh, such one, if I could see the Lord here tonight, if the Lord really stood here and he held out his hands with the marks of calvary and said, Come, I'd be the person to leave my season.
Come to him tonight. He's here. He's here. He's here. Not the preacher. It's Christ. He's here. He's waiting. The spirit is here. And if the Lord should come tonight, the saints caught away, the spitter caught away. Let you, Mr. R, the hour pass. Left behind for eternity. Oh, dear soul, I appeal to you likewise. As we think of the suffering of the Lord Jesus, the one who wants to save you tonight is the one who suffered and fled and died at Calvary. This is your hour because there's nothing remains to be done.
Everything was finished when Jesus died. He loved you unto death and he shed his blood. Can we not appeal to you tonight to make Christ your choice during this hour, before this hour closes, because of what he did for you? Somehow I was thinking while Brother Bolton was speaking, an experience we had in Winston-Salem, North Carolina years ago. We had rented a large garage building for gospel meetings. One night I was speaking on the sufferings of Christ, the cross of Christ. The meeting had not been all very long until I heard someone sobbing. It was away at the rear.
The lighting was poor. We only had a few lights. Someone was sobbing and that sobbing continued all through the meeting. And when the meeting was closed, that individual was still sobbing audibly. And without going to the door, as usual, I went into the right rear corner of the building. And I saw a young lady in her teens brought by another Christian. She had literally soaked two or three handkerchiefs and she was still sobbing. And without waiting for her introduction, I said, my friend, can I help you? And she sobbed out, I hope you can. I said, what is wrong? Oh, sir, she said. When I was a child, I went to Sunday school. I heard that Christ died for me. I knew he went to the cross, but she said, never until the night did I realize that Christ suffered all that for me.
Her very heart was broke. She said, what shall I do? It wasn't hard to tell her. We read scripture after scripture coming to Isaiah fifty-three, how the Christ had died for her. Oh, she said, and I still hear those lovely words. You've heard them before, haven't you? Sure you have. She says, if Christ did all that for me, I do want to be saved tonight. I'll accept him as my Savior. I said to the Aminah. She says, I never meant anything more. And that night we thank God for another soul forgiven. It was her hour. The suffering Savior had drawn near to her. Now she thought of his suffering and of that love and of that cruel death and all the accomplished. She realized it was her hour because Jesus had died for her.
Is there a soul in this audience tonight? God has been speaking to you. Perhaps what you have been depending on is like that bed, it's too short, and the covering won't do. You really don't have Christ tonight. Only an empty profession. How sad that is. This is your hour to throw that thing away, a profession, to let it go. This is your hour to do that. Story after story could be told from this platform by those who have served the Lord of individuals, and they thought they were saved. God spoke to them. If you don't have Christ, whatever you have, let it go tonight. Let it go right now. Let this be the hour when you'll give it up.
And when you do, you'll get to Christ. This is your hour. Your hour of need. Your hour of opportunity. Your hour of the Spirit's dealings. Your hour of decision. Your hour of deliverance when you can be saved tonight. Your hour of destiny. would be, dear soul, right where you sit tonight, you're going to make that final choice for heaven or hell right in this building, right here, that final choice. What will the answer be? When I was in Scotland, I think it was my first visit, they showed me the little town where the young coal miner was saved.
He attended a gospel meeting and was attending meetings. One night deeply stirred as to his soul's need, and the reality of getting saved that night he remained behind, and the evangelist stayed with him. It got to be very late. The young man wasn't saved. The gospel preacher said, like any, perhaps we'll say now, you just go home for tonight. You've got to get up early in the morning, four o'clock in those days, and you'll be back. We'll pray for you. Oh, he said to the preacher, this must be settled tonight. I feel this should be, this must be settled tonight. And when the preacher saw his earnestness, he said, all right, we'll stay. After the midnight hour, the light gone. He received the Lord Jesus Christ.
The struggle was over. He saw that Christ had died and received him. Right outside the town was the mine. I saw that myself. The next day down to the mine and in the afternoon, in the afternoon there was that terrible explosion that was more common than perhaps now. And he was trapped, caught under tons of rocks with others. The rescue crew began to work. And a Christian miner who had been dealing with him was there. And finally they saw this lad, this young man, still crushed under that rock but his head was free.
The Christian got near to him and he saw the lad was dying and he saw those dying lips move and he put his ear to those dying lips and he heard the faintest whisper. You know what it was. Thank God it was settled last night. That was his hour. He didn't miss it. What about at night? The Lord is drawing near to hearts. The Spirit of God is speaking. You know your loss. You know you're a guilty sinner. You know you should get this matter settled tonight. How dreadful. If you say not tonight and go out that door and you miss God's salvation. Hell will be your doom. And you'll cry, oh, with the God, I have settled this thing last night.
Oh, why not say yes to the Savior tonight? He's tenderly pleading for thee. Come, make thy choice. For life or death is eternal. The Father's home. For hell beneath. Yes, come make thy choice. Come make thy choice. Behold how time is flying. Speeding the fatal hour for grave and grave. Then every heart crab whispers thou art dying. Eternal imprisers thee choose today. Come make thy choice that may be now or never. It is worse than madness to delay. Now is the hinge of all that mass forever. Tomorrow never cometh. Choose today. Come make thy choice. God waits for thy decision.
Oh, wilt thou not while conscience bids thee say, I will. I do despise the world's false vision for the cross of Jesus. Choose today. As we bow in prayer, you know your need. And if God has spoken to you, you really want to be saved. Why not say yes tonight? Why not receive the Lord Jesus Christ? This is your hour. Tomorrow. may be too late. Our Father, we pray that we'll draw near as we close this meeting. This is the solemn hour indeed.
Souls without Christ still have the opportunity of receiving Christ. We thank you the hour has not yet passed, but yet it could pass with this night. We pray the Holy Spirit might take over where we must leave and go from heart to heart and soul to soul. We pray our Father may be no levity or likeness at the close of this meeting. This must not be. It's heaven or hell. Choices shall be made tonight. Either way. O God, we pray that as hearts are trying to thee to save their loved ones, and as the Lord Jesus is so tenderly, patiently waiting, and the Holy Spirit is dealing.
and the hour of opportunity has not yet passed that some dear souls might open their hearts tonight and say and mean it Christ for me trust that blessed one who died and waits to save them Lord will sing thy praise will thank me for thy saving power and saving grace and all heaven will rejoice remember that young man here tonight that young lady who may be stirred forbid it our God they should go away without Christ May the Spirit of God work, we pray. And may souls receive the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray it, leaving all with thee in our Lord Jesus' worthy name.
Amen. One hundred and three. In closing, please, then could we stand as we sing this lovely hymn? One hundred and three. Thank you. if you could see christ standing here to die if your crown is and dear to you could be no lie bet he with heaven so might and year in day be love as was for you Would you
be, and Jesus we say, this is your family? Would you be, and we just we say, if he would come here. If you could see that faithful come and flee, The glitz that spoke, was only true and true. The keys of it were written in his tender feet. And hear him say, Beloved, what for you?
What you see? And he does receive? If he were standing here, would you believe? And be but we say, if he were standing here. Listen to the last verse before we sing it. He whispers to your heart, turn not away. For he is beside you in your narrow pew. If you will listen, you will hear him say in loving tones, beloved, twas for you.
Will you believe and Jesus receive? For he is standing here. Let's sing the last verse. And this meeting is over.