"The Ninth Hour" - Rev. J.H. Osborne
by J.H. Osborne
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Mark 15:25, Mark 15:33-34

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/j-h-osborne--the-ninth-hour
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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What an introduction. Thank you, brother Carpenter and Sister Carpenter have been longtime friends of ours. We didn't just meet here recently at at at when he was been married maybe I don't know was it three days or four days or something. come preach account meeting and uh so I've watched his life from that day until this day sometimes close and sometimes from afar but I have watched the carpenters and their uh you know grace was designed for the worst day of your life it's not designed for sunshiny days and stormy days but you maybe think you've already had the worst day of your life maybe you have maybe you haven't knows if you're a little older you're probably thinking I've already had my worst day. But you know, worst days kind of come and go sometimes in your life. And uh to think about the grace of God that's been on brother Sister Carpenter, they have ministered and now being the general superintendent of the assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've got to watch them. You know, there there books been written about the last sayings of people, the last thing they said before they died. Seven sayings of Christ from the cross. A lot of lot of books have been written about that. But I I found the final words of Nehemiah are to me somewhat profound. I don't think anybody ever mentions them because they're they're really not very long, but it's it's because of the final words of his testimony to God. And he said, "Remember me, oh God, for good." When you think about me after I'm gone, I I just hope you remember the good. You remember me for good. You know, don't don't don't remember me for my mistakes. Remember me for my errors. But God, I want you in the final words of Nehemiah were that I, oh God, remember me, oh God, for my good. When you recall to mind my life, let it be for good. When you think of me, Lord, I want you to think good of me. And when you consider my ways, uh, master, I hope that you will they will be good ways. And when someone mentions my name to you, Lord, I I want you to think good of me. It's a great great testimony to have at the end of your life to want God to think good of you. Because when you say Kora in the Bible, you think rebellion. And when you think Uzziah, you think he went out of leper. When you think about Eve, you got to go to forbidden fruit. And you think about Thomas, you think about the time he doubted. And we think about Judas, you think about a betrayer and a thief. When you think about Deeus, you think about a forsaker. When you think about Leodysia, you think lukewarm. Nehemiah says, "When you think about me, Lord, I want you to think about good. I want you." Now, I haven't always been good, but I hope that the good outweighs my faults and failures and mistakes and what have you. And so, I think it's a great a great a great testimony to have at the end. When I think about brother and sister Carpenter, you know, I I think about all the good in their lives, the good they have done and how they have traveled the world and preached and all the burden that's been laid upon them with with good preaching and a good spirit and always a good attitude and good decisions and good judgment and good leadership and good kingdom-mindedness and and having a good marriage as an example and good children, good commitment to this great apostolic doctrine. When I think about them, I I think about good. I don't know if he's always been good. Probably after his kids and ask his wife maybe for his goodness. But when I think of him, I think about the good. I think about good. I want I remember the good. You know, uh uh Paul said, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Writing to the church of Philippi. Every time I remember something about you, I I just remember good. And so, it's my pleasure to be here today with Sister Osborne. I'm glad she is here with me. She's my wife and uh I mean you probably know that just like pick her up on the highway or something. She's really is my she had a cardboard sign out here in the intersection. I got her in out of the heat. That's not true. She's my wife and I love her and uh she's my she's my right hand. So I'm grateful for that. The Lord said, "If you want to come into the inner sanctum, if you want to come into where I live into the Holy of Holies," he said, "Take your incense and break it down small and then get some coal fire off of the altar and light up your incense. put it into your sensor and then come within the veil. It it incense is a is a is a type of of worship and praise. And sometimes broken praise and broken worship that's coming out of a broken heart qualifies you to come within the veil into the presence of God. You can have whole incense on the on the on the table of incense, but if you're going to go further than that, you have to break your incense up that qualifies you to come within the veil and have this communion and fellowship with God. So if you're broken today and you can still praise him, it is broken incense. It's incense has been crushed because it has a unique fragrance to it that's unlike whole incense. You know, when you crush the petals of a rose, it gives out the aroma of the rose. When you crush something, it releases its fragrance and the perfume uh comes from it. And so when your praise comes out of a heart that has been broken or a heart that has been crushed and you can still praise God that has a unique fragrance to it and it entertains the Lord in a special way. And he said, "Come on with me. We're going into the inner sanctum. We're going to go place where whole incense can never go. We're going into a place where people that have never been crushed, they've never been broken. Their hearts are still whole. But a broken heart, if you can praise God with a broken heart, it has an aroma to it that God cannot resist. He cannot resist a broken heart that can praise God. He says, "I'll take you where I'll take no one else. Come into my within the veil and you and I'll have a little communion today." Hallelujah. I love him. Don't you? He's amazing. He's amazing. He is amazing. He is amazing. He is amazing. He is amazing. He's all together lovely. crown of his head, the sole of his feet, just altogether lovely. I find no fault in you. Pilate had examined him and he said, "He's just lovely all the way from the top of his head to the sole of his feet." And I'm glad to be in love with one who is altogether lovely. And I want him to remember me for good. If you stand with me, please for the reading of the word of the Lord. You know, we stand, I said, because the reading of the word of the Lord is so important. And I I guess it is. I'm sure it is. But but but if I had my brothers, you would sit for the reading and stand for the preaching. It's like like preaching is not near as important as reading. Okay. Mark 15:25. Then I'm going to Mark 15:33 and 34. Just dump down a few verses. Mark 15:25 and Mark 15:33 and 334. Mark 15:25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. Down to the 33rd verse. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the 9inth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Elohim, which is being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice. I want to do my best this morning to preach to you on the ninth hour. Let's lift our hands and love the Lord for his word today. Thank you for your word, dear God. The indelible, unfallable, anointed, glorious word of God, the unchanging word of God. Thank you for loving us when we were unlovable. Dear God, thank you for saving us we couldn't save ourselves. Thank you for getting us up when we couldn't get up by ourselves. Thank you for healing us when we couldn't heal ourselves. Thank you for forgiving us when we couldn't forgive ourselves. Thank you for all you have done to bring us to this day, to this moment in time for your kingdom's sake and your glory. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. These scriptures are quite unique in that the word of God has seen fit to give us a time frame in which to place the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because quite often in the Bible, we are given such t times as in the year of a certain king. You remember in the year that Uzziah died. We don't know when it was. It's sometime during that year. So we don't get specifics generally speaking when there are occasions. Sometimes it's it was a certain season that such and such happened or one writer said it was in the time of figs that that this particular event took place or it was in time of harvest. Sometimes we're given days, sometimes we're given weeks, sometimes we're given years when things happen. But the crucifixion of the Lord is broken down into hours. And that is unique to me that we would be given the hours. The Jewish day began as you know at 6:00 am in the morning. And verse 25 states the crucifixion began at the third hour or 3 hours from 6:00 in the morning which would be at 900 a.m. he was crucified. In verse 33 there's a careful noted a change that occurred at the 6th hour which would be 6 hours from 6:00 which would be at 12 noon. that there was darkness over the whole land. It is midnight in the middle of the day. It beholding this hellish experience of the of the of the crucifixion. The sun went out at its zenith at 12:00 the hands are straight up. They're at the pinnacle of of sunlight. It was at that time at the zenith that the sun became black as sackcloth. It was not some local phenomena according to the Bible, but it was all over the whole land. And I think it is important to remember that we get scriptural accounts in word pictures of of much of his of his suffering. The Bible is trying to turn your ears into eyes. It's what I'm trying to do today. That's what preaching is. I try to take a word and get you to see it because if you can't see it, then it won't mean much to you. So I know you hear it with your ears, but your ears have to be turned into eyes so that you can understand because all we have are words. We don't have any pictures. If your Bible's got pictures in it, why you understand those are not real pictures. Those are renderings of what person thought maybe it might have looked like. But when you have nothing but words, then you have to try to paint a picture with words as you have turn your ears into some eyes that you can see what God is trying to say to us. So in the Bible, we get a lot of pictures of the Lord. We get to see him in all of his humanity. And the Lord does not hide anything. You know, if you look through your scrapbooks or look through your pictures, not anymore. You got to, you know, you got them on digital form now. And you you always you always get rid of all the ones that are not very good. And those are probably the ones you should save because they're the ones when you look back on the old printed out pictures, it's the goofy looking ones and the things that were not exactly right, you know, that are the the best one. We want anything but perfect. But see, you never think you look good in a picture, especially women. You know, you never don't think you look good in the picture. The problem is you have never seen yourself. Not really. You've seen pictures of yourself and you've seen reflections of yourself, but you have never really seen your own face. Cuz right now, I've seen it more than you have because you've never seen it. So you never think it looks like you, but everybody around you says, "Yeah, it looks just like you." Looks just like it. Cuz they've seen you and you've never seen your own face. And just let it roll around. Somebody stood like you really don't believe it yet. You know, I you've seen momentary pictures in a mirror and you've seen photographs of it, but you've never physically seen your own face. So I have a better judgment of whether that looks like you than you do whether it looks like you. says, "Robin never thinks it looks like her." I tell her every time, "It looks just like you. I see you every day, it looks just like you. I would know you in a hail storm. I'd know you wherever I was at. It looks just like you." You know, but she never thinks it looks like her. It's not a flattering. It's not a good picture. It's not my good side. It's not, you know, I know. But when the Lord paints a picture, he just paints a picture and there it is for you. And if you have your old old old books where you put pictures in there, you know, you got baby pictures in there, you know, and there sometimes can be a little iffy sometimes, you know, according to how you're dressed. Uh um you know, mothers take pictures of their babies on diaper tables and in various stages of of and you know, you got all those pictures and we even get to see a picture of the Lord. The Bible paints a picture of him laying in a manger and not a physical picture, but he paints a picture of him because there was no room in the end. You can see the straw and you can see the manger and you can see the cattle around about him. You can hear him whimper. You can hear him cry and mama taking care of him and because there was no room for him in the end. You can kind of paint your own word picture around that little scenario of shepherds and horses and mules and donkeys and sheep and lambs and whatever you know like the like like the picture we always have of him. It's just a baby picture. The Lord said, "I want you to see him as a baby. I want you to know this is how he came. This was his bedroom. This is where he lay. This was what it was like to be Jesus as a as a baby, you know. And the next picture of it, get him, he's 12 years of age, just getting going to teenage years. He's sitting in the temple and and debating with the elders. And so it kind of paints, you can see him sitting there in a chair and the elders all gathered around with their long flowing robes and Jesus sitting there, you know, he's got a pimple on his cheek. He's just getting ready to turn 13. Hormones getting ready to kick in. He's all out of balance, you And so you get to see him sitting there and debating and talking and engaging with with with with the scribes and the Pharisees. And he's he's a pretty good debater, you know. So he's pointing his finger, they point their finger, he talks, they talk, you know. We get to see him in that little scenario there of debating at 12 years of age. We get to see him go home and be subject to his parents. We get a little picture of his parents. They're not happy with him because they went several days journey and Jesus had hung around there in Jerusalem. It got taken up with debates, you know, and uh and they had went so they missed him, you know, and they went back, found him. Don't you know, we've been worried about you. We can you see his mother waving her arms and and you know, she's she's been her worry lines are on her face and and but he goes home and it's subject to his parents. You can see her grabbing by the ear and bringing you stay right here by me. Don't you leave my side until we get home. Well, maybe not. That's not how it happened. I'm just trying to paint a picture of how it could have happened. You know, we can see him as baptism. He walks down into the old muddy Jordan River and says, "John, I need to be baptized." John said, "No, no, no. You baptize me, Jesus." Well, supper to be so that I might fulfill all the word of God. So, he gets baptized in Jordan. Then you get to see him driven of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. You don't get to see him in the wilderness being tempted. You just get to see him go in and you get to see him gone out because what happened in the wilderness is none of your business evidently because he didn't tell us anything about it. It's like when Noah went into the ark. You don't get another word till he comes out. See, there's some good preaching in there somewhere if the Lord would have just told us about it. I'd like to know how it's like to live with your mother-in-law for all those days on a boat. You know, you know, there would be some good preaching in there, you know, but there was no reports. There's no And Noah didn't get to write a book. Do you notice that? I'd like to read his book, wouldn't you? I'd give him a book in the Bible. It wouldn't make it that much bigger. Just give him a book, God. But we don't know anything about the ark after he goes in. We know nothing about the ark. Once the doors shut, we don't get one word from the ark. Not one word. It's amazing that the Lord wouldn't tell us anything because you don't need a picture of that. What you need a picture of what it takes to get in the ark and what it was like when he come out of the ark. Soon as he come out of the ark, he built an altar and sacrificed unto God because everything went okay while they were in the ark. He was still saved. His wife was still saved. Kids were still saved. The They they they didn't get a divorce cuz there was no lawyers in there anyway probably. So they didn't get no divorce or anything. So there they are. Everybody's saved and everybody comes out good. So you just you get a picture of some things and some things the Lord leaves out. We get to see him cry. Not everyone's a big fan of that. If I tears if I'm crying, I don't want nobody snapping. Oh, let me get a picture of that. You know, put your camera away if I'm crying, if I'm broken. We get to see Jesus weep. He wept at Lazarus's tomb. You get to see the the the the the tears, the liquid pain drip out of his eyes and curse down, course down his old dusty cheeks and drip off of his chin. You get to you get to watch him cry and Jesus wept. Of course, people preach thousands of sermons on Jesus wept. But you can make anything you want. Jesus just wept. That's all there was to it really. He just wept. And it it broke his heart to think what was going on around him. We get to watch him cry. You know, you you get to you see his rejection at Nazareth. goes back home thinking everybody's going to yay raw and be glad he's there, you know, but they weren't. The Bible said they were offended at him. Isn't this Mary and Joseph's son? What business he got? Come picking up the scroll and reading. It's other kids don't act like that. His brothers and sisters don't act like they he walks in like he owns a place. He walks in like this place was built for him. And he picks up the scroll, starts reading it. And and the Bible said they were offended at him. And and the Bible said because of that, he could do no great works there in Nazareth because the people were offended at him. And so it's it's amazing that being offended at Jesus Christ could shut him down from doing any great work except the Bible said heal a few sick folk. That's all he could do because he couldn't because they were offended him. I I was just wondering about this kind of aside. I was wondering about this if we got the offended at what the devil was doing. I wonder if you could stop him from doing a great work except making a few people sick. Maybe that would just be the other side of the coin. You know, cuz if you could shut Jesus Christ down, who had all power in heaven and earth and shut him down from doing signs and wonders and miracles, I wonder if you could shut the devil down if what he was doing would offend you. If that offends you, then maybe he couldn't do a great work. He could just make a few people sick, you know. He doesn't know. We get to watch him though begin to be offended at him. You know, you get to watch him asleep in the hind part of a ship. I never was a big fan of that. you know, if I go to sleep, just leave me alone. You know, come up with the cameras, you know, and start taking pictures of me. And I fell asleep in airports before a few times. And when I wake up, I'm always wondering, you know, I got drool coming out of the corner of my mouth. And, you know, I look like I just woke up, you know, and uh hoping I didn't miss my plane or anything. But when Jesus was asleep behind the part of the ship, the disciples told on him. He was asleep back there in the ship, you know. He was tired and laid down, went to sleep, and you get to hear him. You can almost hear the coarseness of his breath as he is worn out and he sleeps back there in the Honda part of the ship. You get to see him at the mount of transfiguration talking to Moses and Elias. He doesn't nothing is hid from us, you know. You get to see him at Gethsemane. I'll even show you Gethsemane. I'll watch him as he falls on his face and begs God to take this bitter cup from him. But if it if you can't, dear God, you know, give me strength in this and let it pass away. If there's any way for it to pass away, but not my will, but thine be done. We get to see that. We watch him sweat. I mean, there's nothing hid from us concerning Jesus Christ. You get to watch him sweat as it were great drops of blood. You get to see him fall under the weight of the cross. The mockery of a trial, his beard being plucked, his face slapped, spit upon, beaten at the scourge post, crowned of thorns, and the nails driven through his hands. We get to see it all in word pictures. But there was something beyond the physical pain and anguish of all this bloodletting. There was one portion of the cross unlike anything else. Because something transpired in the last 3 hours from the 6th hour to the 9th hour or from noon to 3:00 that human lips cannot describe. There was something he embraced out there, some dreadful experience he went through that was utterly indescribable and horrible to the extreme. And when it happened, nature hit its face. This was a private affair. It was too personal and too intimate. No man's eyes were to intrude into this this this picture of these last three hours from six o'clock till 3:00 was not for public consumption. There's no word picture to paint for this. I mean, you can watch him falling on the way to the cross. We'll let you watch him suffer. We'll let you watch him crowned, watch him spit up on, watch him mocked, watch his beard plucked, watch his face slapped, and tell me who slapped. We get to watch the whole thing in word pictures. But in this portion right here, God shut the lights down. Sackloth of hair, it's dark over the whole land. Cuz this is not something for human beings to watch. But because we encounter no spiritual experiences except those of our Lord has first tasted and because we fellowship in his suffering, then it follows that some of us may also taste that same experience. In some small way, you may enter into the last hours of Calvary. And what is that experience? It is the darkest time of your life when it seems that God has removed himself from your life. That there is no God within. That there is little evidence of God without. That there is no internal sense of his presence. that God has somehow extricated himself from the universe and you have been left alone by all measurable evidence. God has packed up, moved out, and the emptiness is overwhelming. There seems to be a kind of finality to it. Some of you won't have any idea what I'm talking about cuz I'm painting with a pretty small brush right now, but some of you will understand what it's like to have that feeling. Where is God when I need him most? Jesus is in that place. He's well aware that in the end his friends and family and multitudes would all leave him. He didn't expect Barnameus to be there. He didn't expect Gyrus to be there. He didn't expect his daughter to be there. He didn't expect the multitudes he fed with five loaves and a few fishes. He didn't expect any of them to be there. He understood and foresaw Judas was going to sell him for 30 pieces of silver. He predicted that Peter would deny him three times because he was not surprised when he saw Peter out there warming himself by a fire and cursing and saying, "I don't even know the man." That did not surprise Jesus. He predicted it a long time ago. He was not surprised that his disciples all forsook him and fled. He understood that would be the course of his life. But it was the experience of these last three hours from the sixth hour to the 9inth hour that prompted the cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I understand everyone else would forsake me. I comprehended all of the others would not come and would leave me and abandon me. My question to you is why, my God, my God, would you forsake me?" Cuz when the spirit devevested itself of the flesh, when the sinless took on our sins, then God had to leave. Cuz God is too righteous to be able to bear up under the sins of the world. And so when when divinity took leave and left nothing but humanity hanging there on the cross, when that exodus took place and God removed himself from the flesh of Jesus Christ, he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" So you consider when the cross did its final work that your Lord died outside of any sense of God's presence. Jesus died in the vortex of forsakenness. Why in the Greek carries the thought of repetition? That is why why why why some of you in here have asked that question a hundred times. Why? Why? Why? Why am I going through this? Why have I had this? Why has this happened to me? Why? Why? Because it it's like an echo. It just keeps coming up every day. Why? Every hour it comes up. Why would this happen to Why would I lose this? Why would God take that? Why would God leave me like this? Why would God be Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Is the is the solemn cry of a person who feels like God has somehow moved out of my life. Why hast thou forsaken me at this time when I need you the most? Why abandon me now? Why desert me now? Why leave me at this time? Of all the times, why now? It cries for some explanation, some response to its confusion. I just want God to answer me. If you'll tell me why I can deal with it. If you'll tell me why I'm going through this, I'll be better better able to go through it. But you understand teachers don't ask questions during tests. If you have a question, you need to come to Bible study. When Bible studies happen, you be here on Sunday morning and Sunday night and find out all the reasons God does why he does. Cuz when you're going through it, he don't answer. You raise your hand up during a test and the teacher will tell you to put your hand down. This is a test and I don't explain answers to you when I'm testing your life. If you wish to know if a thing you're going through is truly a cross, look for this imprint unless there is a question. A question that receives no answer. There really isn't much of a cross involved because a cross demands that you feel forsaken and then you are ignored. That's the mark that a cross puts on you. Forsaken. Then when you ask a question as to why, you're ignored. The Bible is full of questions. Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him. And Rebecca, his wife, conceived. God, he went to God and and and beg God that she could have a child and and and the Bible said God was entreated by him. God said, "Okay, I'm going to give her one." So he gave her one and the children struggled together with her. And she said, "If it be so, why am I like this? If I got this from God, then how come I got this war going on inside of me? If if if this is God, why do I have this problem? If I've got the Holy Ghost, why is there a war going on inside of me? If I if God loves me, why am I going through what I'm going?" That's what she wanted to know. You got two boys inside of her. There were two nations inside of her, actually. You know, she's got she's got these Esau and Jacob inside of it. Got a head like on one another. got the umbilical cord tighter trying to hang him in the womb. They're going through all kinds of contortions in there. It's a horrible thing she's going through. It's good thing men don't have to have babies. Men are such babies to begin with. You know, it wouldn't be two or three of you and and that's all there'd be on planet Earth. I guess some brave men that somehow conceived, but you know, men men don't do well, you know. And uh and she said, "If I'm like this, how come this is God? You told me you went to God and got this?" Seems to me like you might have went to somebody else and got it. And a kind of her husband said to Hannah, "Why weepest thou?" You know, when your wife's crying, sir, you just better leave her alone. You know, why weepest thou? Why eat thou not? Why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to you than 10 sons? You know, he had a lot of wives and Hannah never answered him. never said a word to him, you know, because you know, he El kind of elicit is a good man and and and he's and after the sacrifice have been made, they give their portion to the families and they go out and eat and and he give a he give a portion to Panina, his first he had two wives to begin with. That's his horrible mistake. And uh he give a portion to his first wife and his wife and he gave a portion to her kids, you know. Then Hannah's sitting over here and the Bible said he gave her a worthy portion. The word worthy is a cool word because it means nostril or breath. So he gave her everything that was under his nose, everything that would have given him breath. He shoved it over in front of Hannah. Said, "Here, I'm going to give you my portion. I'll give you everything I should eat to give me life, but I'll push it all over to you." And he gave it to her. Daddy says, "How come you ain't eating? I've given you everything under my nose. I've given you my breath and you still won't eat. Why are you crying?" You know, sir, let me just say something to you right now. You can't do everything for your wife. She needs some things from God. You know, you can buy her the best vacuum cleaner in the county, you know, and that ain't going to pastor, she'll still cry. You know, you give her all that you can give her. Shove everything in your life under your nose to her. And she's still crying cuz she needs something from God that only God can give her. Only God can satisfy Hannah. And she went in and got dust with God. And God gave her a son. You know the rest of the story. But it's why why why why? And Hannah never does answer him. Why is my pay? Why am I, you know, Job was a, you know, why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? Why are the the breasts that I should even suck them? And and and and then Jeremiah said, "Why is my pain perpetual? Why is my muse my my my my my wound perpetual? Why is my wound unccurable?" And nobody ever got an answer crying, "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? And I know some of you have asked that many, many times. Even sitting here today, your life has been a you look back over and you want to know why this and why that and why the other thing and why am I going through what I'm going through right now? Why am I in this position? What have I done to have deserve this? I want you to remember with me because I've come by to give you some good news. Right now, the news hadn't been all that good, but I've got some good news for you today because the gospel is good news. It may start out bad news, but if you keep reading, it goes into good news. You know, it'll give you some good. You ready for some good news? Remember, the Bible was careful to tell us that the darkness only lasted until the ninth hour. The number 10 in Hebrew signifies complete or fullness and richness. It is the accumulation of all the digits. Unless you're a descendant of Goliath, you've got 10 fingers. And when you in the ninth hour, you've only got one more finger to come up. As far as the Jew was concerned, there were only 10 hours. And if you're in the ninth hour, you're in you're in the hour that's getting ready to change. And the next digit's getting ready to come up. And the 10th hour, everything is going to change in your life. That's why it is important that Abraham asked God, "Will you spare Sodom for 10 righteous?" Abraham's servant took 10 camels searching for a bride. God gave Moses ten commandments. He's coming again with 10,000 of his saints. Saul killed his thousands, but David killed his tens of thousands. Playing on an instrument of 10 strings. He's the chiefest among 10,000. Daniel was 10 times better. There are 10 virgins and 10 lepers. In Revelation, there are 10 times 10 times 10,000 worshiping and praising God. The tabernacle is made up of tens. 10 cubits, 10 boards, 10 sockets, 10 pillars, 10 curtains. And when you're in the ninth hour of the darkness of your life, if you can hang on for one more hour, if you can hang on for one more digit, that last finger is going to come up and the sun is going to come out again. It was only dark. It was only dark from the sixth to the ninth hour. If you can get through the ninth hour of darkness, that sun is going to blaze forth again and shake the sackloth out. that God is going to do something amazing in your life. Something amazing in your life. Some of you are flirting with the ninth hour right now and you're ready to give up. You say, "I've already prayed. I've already sought God. I've been anointed with a whole bottle of oil. I've lifted my hands silent requests. I've put in I put in petitions. I've prayed. I've asked God. I've begged God. I've asked him why. And I'm just ready to throw my hands up and give up. I come by to beg you. Stay with it one more hour. Hang in there for one more hour cuz the light is going to break forth. The light is coming back again. You may never know why, but God is going to bring you out because this only lasts until the ninth hour. And there are only 10. There are only 10. You just got to get through this ninth hour. Be seated. Hang on. You're in the ninth hour. The ninth hour in Hebrew is the idea of turning. It means transition. It's a new day is coming. The light's getting ready to break forth. Darkness is about to be dispelled. The sun is ready to break through off the sackloth and it's going to shine again. There was a man laying at the gate called beautiful. I doubt if the gate was that beautiful to him, it offering much comfort. I'm sure he's got questions. Why was I born lame? Why must I beg? I will never be have a job. Why am I deprived of family and children? Why can't I be normal like everyone else? Why must I be carried and a burden to others? Why, God, would you leave me this close to the temple but can't go in? Why is life so unfair to me? Why am I so close yet so far away? 10,000 wise would be in his life. But get ready, sir. Things are about to change. The sun is getting ready to shake off the darkness in your life. The Bible said, "Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour." He's laying there at the ninth hour. And the ninth hour is the hour of prayer cuz you prayed the first hour, second hour, third hour, eighth hour. You come right up to the in the ninth hour is when you want to give up. But the ninth hour is the hour you have to pray cuz things are getting ready to change. Sir, it's about the ninth hour. Peter and John are on the way to the temple at the ninth hour. And the ninth hour, the Bible said, is the hour to pray. It's the hardest hour. It's the darkest hour. It's the most depressing hour. It's the most wifful hour. It's the hardest hour. But you got to pray in the ninth hour. You got to pray one more time. One more time. At the ninth hour, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. That's what the ninth hour will do for you. If you can pray in the ninth hour when it's the darkest and you've already prayed and you don't have another prayer to pray, you've cursed every demon. You've cursed every devil besie you cursed everything you can think of that would hinder you from getting your answer. And then the ninth hour comes which is you've been in darkness from noon until 3:00. It's been dark. can't see the hand in front of your face. But you know what happened at the ninth hour when he cried? The veil was rent in the temple and the light of the seven golden candlesticks come pushing through into the holy of holies that had no windows or light in it at all. It got daylight in the holy place when he rent that veil in two. Something's going to happen when you're in the dark on the outside and God rens that veil in two. And let the light of the candlesticks pour in to the holy place and you get to see for the first time the glory of God come down and answer your prayer and satisfy the need that you have in your life. Just one digit left in your life. There's a certain man I'm coming down the stretch here. It ain't going to get no better than this. There was a certain man in Cesaria called Cornelius Centurion of the band called the Italian band. He's devout man, one that feared God with all his house. He gave up arms and he prayed to God always. He's always praying. He's all He prayed always. He wasn't saved, but he prayed always. He's a gentile. He's trying to pray so you can get in. He's praying to God cuz if he'll take me, I'll drag some more folks with me. You know, I'm going to let the dogs in if I get in. So, he prayed always, paid tithe, gave arms to the church. Never got an invitation. didn't get no flyers. Special service tonight. Why don't you come corners? Wasn't invited the upper room. Probably nobody thought am I am I not worth being saved? Nobody ever knocks on my door and says, "Do you know Jesus?" No. Nobody ever comes my way and ever gives me I don't I don't I don't I don't ever get any invit I don't get any any any invites to things are going on at church. I'm just over here. But I'm praying. I'm seeking God and I'm paying my tithe and I'm giving offers to build a church that I'm not invited to, but I'll go ahead and do it because I love God and he's praying and he's seeking God and he prays every day and he lays before the Lord. Hallelujah. Why am I invited to the upper room? Why was I born a Gentile and don't deserve saving? What am I supposed to do to be saved? I don't know. I don't know. But when Luke was writing this, it says he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day. He said, I don't know when it was he saw it. But since he got an answer, evidently it must have been about the ninth hour of the day because that's when prayer gets through at the ninth hour of the day. Luke didn't know when he prayed. He wasn't there. He said, "Evidently, evidently, if a man gets a prayer request answered, evidently when a woman comes out of the bondage and gets her house put back in order, I can say evidently she was praying about the ninth hour of the day." Cuz that's the hour of prayer. That's the darkest hour when you've been praying all your life, all of your adult life to be saved. And you've been praying somebody would come by and bring a word to you. When you have paid your tithe and you have given an offerings to a church you've never been invited to when you can pray he prayed one day two days three days 100 days 300 I don't know how many days he prayed but he finally got evidently Luke says it evidently it must have been the ninth hour of his life and when he prayed God said I have heard your prayer your prayers have come up as a memorial before me and you're wondering why why I'm not going to tell you why I'm just going I'm going to tell you, I've heard your prayer. Luke said it must have been the ninth hour. It just have been the ninth hour cuz that's when God does it. Stand with me. That's when God does what he does. I'm just telling you, I'm going to hang on. I want to hang on cuz I think right now somebody's in the ninth hour. I just come by to let you know there's some folks here right now that you have prayed. You have prayed. You have laid before God. Your tears have been your meat both day and night. You have asked quiet 10,000 times. You've never got an answer because God seems to ignore you. You feel like you're out of touch. God has extricated himself from your life. He sent me by today to tell you right now, you're in the ninth hour of your experience. If you can pray just one more digit to come up and you have number 10, but the ninth hour is the darkest hour. You say, "I've already been the altar. I've already been anointed. I've already been prayed over. I've already consecrated. I've already fasted. I'm not talking about the past. Maybe the first hour, second hour, third hour, eighth hour. I'm talking about in the ninth hour is the hour of prayer. It's the hour such as I have give thee. It's the hour I have heard your prayer and I'm going to send Peter by your house. That's why they got the Holy Ghost while he was speaking. They was so hungry. He'd have to have no organ playing. Why not tonight? Have no choir people up here singing or anything to entertain them. He just started preaching to them. And while he was preaching, it wasn't a particularly good sermon. 780 words, I believe. And he preached. And while he was preaching, Holy Ghost fell on them. What if he had taken that day off from prayer? What if he'd have said, "Uh, you know, I've been praying forever. I think I'll just give up. I think I'll just surrender. I'm after somebody today. I'm after you today. I'm after you today. I really am. I'm I'm I'm reaching for somebody today. I don't want you to give up and go home and walk out of this building and not hear God say, "I have heard your prayer." This is the hour of of prayer. They're going to play. We're a going to make no big drawn out thing out of this. I'm just going to ask you if you have any idea of what I've been talking about. Some of you won't, but there's some of you do know what I'm talking about exactly. You know what it it feels like when God divests himself of his spirit and you feel like you're alone and you've been forsaken and forgotten about and God doesn't hear your prayer. God doesn't hear your cry. I wanted you to know there's one more prayer to be prayed and it's in the ninth hour, the darkest hour of your life. I'm going to ask you to step out of your seat. I don't want you to be backward or bashful. You either want to or you don't want to. If you want to go home, that's your business. If you want to come to the altar, I want to pray with you today in the ninth hour of your experience. In the ninth hour of your pain, in the ninth hour that you think it can't be done, it's not going to be done. I have prayed. I have fasted. I have asked God. I have supplemented. I have given. I've supported missions. I've supported the church. I've given my time and my energy and my effort. I have supplemented. I have I've supplicated. I have done all I know to do to get the attention of God. But it's like God doesn't hear me and God doesn't see my need and God doesn't know where I am. I want you to know God does know where you are and God does see you. He wants you to persevere. He wants one more prayer out of your life. Somebody here is going to pray a ninth hour prayer and God is going to come down and say, "Thy prayer has been heard. I heard all of them. They came up as a memorial before me." Hallelujah. Somebody pray a ninth hour prayer. It's the darkest time of your life. It's when you think everything is gone and it's all been lost. It has not been lost. God is going to come on the scene. He may never tell you why, but he does hear you. This the ninth hour is the hour of prayer. I want you to pray. I want you to believe God right now in Jesus name. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, sir. Come on and pray. Give it one more shot. Give it one more. Let the light burst through. God's going to rim the veil and let the light of the knowledge come into your life. I have these hands and Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. God all that I am and find my own the altar