Well it is indeed good to be
back with you all. I always look forward to coming
to Kingsport. Turn with me please to the book
of John for our Bible study this morning. The book of John chapter
19. John 19. Actually what I have to say in
the Bible study hour and what I have to say later in the worship
service will tie together. John chapter 19, verse 1. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus
and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple
robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smote him
with their hands. Pilate, therefore, went forth
again and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you that
you may know that I find no fault in him. Then Jesus came forth,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said
unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priests, therefore,
and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him,
crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take
ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews
answered him, We have a law. and by our law he ought to die
because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate therefore
heard that saying, he was the more afraid and went again into
the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
Then Pilate said unto him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou
not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release
thee? Jesus answered, thou couldest
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee
from above. Therefore, he that delivered
me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thence forth Pilate
sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if thou
let this man go, thou are not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh
himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore
heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the
judgment hall seat in a place that is called the pavement,
but in the Hebrew tongue, Gabbatha. And it was a preparation of the
Passover, and it was about the sixth hour. And he said unto
the Jews, behold your king. But they cried out, away with
him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall
I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we
have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him
away. And he bearing his cross went
forth into the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew
Golgotha, where they crucified him and two others with him on
either side one and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a
title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read, Many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh
to the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priest of
the Jews to Pilate, write not, the King of the Jews, but that
he said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I
have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts,
and every soldier a part, also his coat. Now the coat was without
seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves,
let us not rent it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, they parted my garments
among them, and for my vesture did they cast lots. These things,
therefore, the soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his
mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith to
his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple
took her unto his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing all
things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
Hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. He bowed his head and gave up
the ghost. I want to concentrate on three
words, which we find in verse 30 of our text. Three simple
words, it is finished. Three simple words, four syllables,
but they carry more meaning than we can possibly begin to imagine.
They're describing the conclusion of the most blessed and also
the most cursed event that ever occurred on planet Earth, that
being the murder of our Lord Jesus Christ. God came to earth
in human flesh. The one who had created this
earth came in the form of a man, likened to his brethren, to redeem
them from the curse of the law. And what did men do? They despised
him. They brought charges against
him, false charges. And the Jewish leaders convinced
Pilate to kill him. They had been wanting to do that
for quite some time, and they finally accomplished it. They thought, we have finally
got this guy. Little did they know that they
were serving the purpose of God. What did our Lord say in John
10? You're already in John. Flip over to chapter 10, verse
18. John 10, 18. Therefore, if my father loved
me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again, no
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father. Now, in describing the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we sometimes say that men, wicked
men, took his life. But that is not correct, because
what we just read tells us otherwise. Wicked men did not take his life. He laid it down on his own accord,
of his own free will. Everything that was done by evil
men that faithful day was long ago foretold in the scriptures.
how that the Lord Jesus gave his back to the smiters and his
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. We will look at that
more in depth in the worship hour. The very manner that the
soldiers cast lots for his garments was prophesied in the scriptures. Peter told the Jews this on the
day of Pentecost, where we read in Acts 2.23, he's speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." This is not something that happened
because God lost control, things spiraled out of control. This
happened Every single event that we read from the mob taking our
Lord Jesus in the garden to the time he was laid in the tomb,
they all happened exactly according to the purpose of our God. In Isaiah 14, 24, I love this
verse, I quote it often. The Lord of hosts has sworn,
saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass as I
have purposed So shall it stand. It was determined in the mind
of the triune God in the far ages of eternity past that on
this day, in this place called Golgotha, that the Lord Jesus
Christ would become that eternal Lamb of God. Slain, seemingly slain by men,
but actually slain by God the Father. It was determined by
the triune God that this must come to pass. Every single event
was predetermined by God to accomplish his purpose that we just read
about, which was to redeem wretched sinners and to bring unto himself a number
that no man can number, to make them his adopted children Heirs
of God, joint heirs, we're told, with Christ. So the first word
of these three, it, indicating a single task, not
they are finished, which would indicate multiple tasks, but
it is finished, indicating a task that was now completed. So we
have to ask, what is this it that our Lord is talking about
in this text? What is this it that he said
is finished? We read these words from our
Savior in his prayer to the Father in John 17, four. He says, I
have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work that
thou gavest me to do. Now Christ here proclaims that
he has already finished the work that the Father gave him to do,
and yet he cries out from the cross again, it is finished. Is there a contradiction here?
There is no contradiction. There's not a contradiction to
be found in God's Word. He is talking about two completely
different things. When he says to the father in
John 17 that he has finished the work that he was given to
do, he's referring to the things that he spoke of in Matthew 11
when the two disciples of John the Baptist came to him asking,
art thou he that should come or do we look for another? And
our Lord replied to them, go and show John again those things
which he do hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto
him." Now there's numerous accounts throughout the four gospels of
our Lord doing all these things that he described in this verse. But John tells us, in the last
verse of his gospel, and there are also many other things which
Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one,
I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written. The events, I should say, recorded
in the four gospels are just a small sample of everything
that our Lord did while he walked this earth. Now he's also talking
about what he said in Luke 19 verse 10, for the son of man
is come to seek and to save that which was lost. All of the acts
that he performed when he walked on this earth were those things
that his father had given him to do that he spoke of in the
17th chapter of John. Those things that he finished
before ever going to the cross But chief among those things
was him perfectly keeping God's law. He had to do that in order
to become the spotless Lamb of God. It was absolutely essential
that he kept every commandment found in God's holy law. When
we speak of the sacrifice to be offered, Leviticus 22, 21
tells us this. It gives instructions concerning
the sacrifice. It says, It shall be perfect
to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. Peter tells us that our Lord
Jesus Christ met that standard when Peter writes in 1 Peter
1 18, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, As of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
the perfect sacrifice of God, the perfect sacrifice to God. Christ himself made this promise
concerning the law in Matthew 5. He said, think not that I
am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfill. For I say unto you that till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law till all be fulfilled. Fulfilled by the spotless Lamb
of God. So these are the things that
were finished before our Savior ever went to the cross. So what
is the it? that he finished on Golgotha's
tree. When he cried out, it is finished. It can only be one
thing. He's referring here to himself
enduring the wrath of a holy God in the place of his chosen
people. The pouring out of his blood,
the laying down of his life, the breaking of his body, the
very offering of his soul. This is spoken of in Hebrews
chapter nine. He says, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained, it is finished, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. Now there was no work done by
a lamb when it was to be made a sacrifice. It did nothing except
submit itself to the one doing the sacrificing. And so it was
with our Lord Jesus Christ. We just read what he said about
finishing the work that the father gave him to do. But there was
no work done by him when he became the eternal sacrifice for his
people's sin. He simply submitted himself to
his father's will. He said this in Luke 22, 42.
Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. Now, scientists tell us that
there are over three million pain receptors in the human body. These send a signal to the brain
indicating an injury. We get burned. We mess up our
knee like Obi. We fall and hit our head. We break a bone. And these pain
receptors send a signal to the brain registering pain in that
particular part of the body. The worse the injuries, the more
pain receptors that come into play. But thankfully, even in
a trauma such as a car wreck, only a small percentage of those
pain receptors come into play. And when the pain is severe enough,
the body has an override system that causes that person to pass
out when the pain becomes too excruciating. It's part of the
body's defense system. I did some research into this,
into the science behind this, and I found out that our blood
pressure and heart rate are regulated by what's called the autonomic
nervous system. And when pain becomes unbearable,
this system drops the blood pressure and blood flow to the brain,
which causes you to pass out. This also happens when a chokehold
is applied, cutting off the blood to the brain, you pass out. But
we read and we know that this human pain defense mechanism
never occurred when our Savior hung on that Roman tree. It could
not be. He must stay awake. He must be
conscious every moment that he hung on that tree paying for
the sin of his people. There's nothing in any of the
four gospels that would even remotely indicate that he passed
out. He was conscious, we know, the
entire time from the first beating by the Roman soldiers until he
cried out, it is finished, and gave up the ghost. But much worse
than that, he suffered the equivalent of an eternity in hell that should
have been suffered and would have been suffered by his elect
chosen people. in those three hours that he
hung on that cross before giving up the ghost, before dismissing
his spirit. And we cannot begin to enter
in into what that statement means, to imagine the degree of agony
that would be experienced if all three million of those pain
receptors that scientists tell us are contained in the human
body, if those were all triggered at the same time. And lost men
and women cannot begin to imagine the terror, the agony, the suffering
that awaits them in the pit of the damned. If they did, they
would no doubt lose their mind with the thought of what is in
store for them. But our Savior, we have to understand this, our
Savior knew before he ever came to this world to be born of a
virgin. He knew that he would one day suffer at the hand of
the Father. He knew what the sufferings of hell was. He's
the one that created it. We know this from what we read
in the first chapter of John when it says, all things were
made by him and without him was not anything made that was made,
including the pit of the damned. So is it any wonder that he prayed,
oh father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. He
was about to be made the very thing that our holy God finds
the most repulsive. He was about to be made sin. And I thought about trying to
give some examples that would turn our stomachs if we were
subject to them, but I decided first that it would be too disgusting
of a conversation to have in polite company, and secondly,
that no matter how vomit-inducing I could give you examples, it
would not begin to compare to how repulsed our God is, how
holy he is, how much he hates sin. Nor do we have any idea
how furious that our God is when it comes to the punishment of
sin. We read in the scriptures that it says God is angry with
the wicked every day, and yet we have no idea what that truly
means. But you can be sure of one thing.
God the Father was never as angry as he was the day he poured out
his wrath on his son. And the reason I say that is
there has never been such a concentration of sin on one person in this
world. When he bore all the sins of
all his chosen people, Isaiah 53, that text that we're so familiar
with, it says, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all. untold sins were laid on our
Lord Jesus Christ. So we see that this is what our
blessed Lord meant when he said, it is finished. And as I thought
on the sufferings of our Lord, I thought of that story in the
scriptures of Lazarus laying at the gates of the rich man.
And both he, the rich man, and Lazarus died. And we read of
the rich man in the agonies of hell begging Father Abraham to
send Lazarus, it says, that he may dip the tip of his finger
in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Now try to imagine the degree
of suffering that is experienced by the damned if they begged
for just a single drop of water, not a glass of water, but a single
drop of water on their tongue, anything to give a brief split
second of relief. But it is not to be. So is it
any wonder that our Lord, as he was enduring the equivalent
of an eternity in hell for his people, that he cried out, I
thirst. He was experiencing the same
agony as a rich man, but multiplied 10 million times 10 million as
he bore the punishment of a multitude that no man can number. He cried out, it is finished. Our second word, is finished. Present tense, done. Right now,
the price has been paid. It is finished. Finished, not
begun, but there's more that will be required for the sinner
when he decides to give his heart to Jesus. Not I've done my part,
now it's up to the sinner to make my work effectual. No, he cried out, it is finished. There's nothing more required,
nothing. Hebrews tells us that after our
Lord had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. You don't sit down until all
the work is done. We just read it a few minutes
ago. By his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. He laid hold on redemption. He secured it. It is done. It is finished. And the last
word. Finished, it is finished, brought
to a state of completion, fully accomplished, complete. This is why Paul wrote to the
Colossians, and ye are complete in him. Nothing lacking, all
that is required to stand justified before a thrice holy God and
be seen as righteous and as holy as Christ himself. This is why
our Lord proclaimed, come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. One cannot completely
rest until all the work is done, not just finished, but finished
to perfection. This is what he means by it is
finished. But even though the work of blood-bought
redemption is finished, he is not finished doing his people
good, because we read in Hebrews 7.25 that he ever liveth to make
intercession for them. But when the last elect sets
foot on heaven's shore, even that work will be done. We will
then enjoy an eternity. appraising and admiring and adoring
our Savior as we sing forever. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Worthy is the lamb who finished
the work that was required. Finished by the only one in this
entire universe who could accomplish such a task. It is finished. Nothing lacking, nothing else
to do. So for those of you who have yet to bow the knee to our
Lord Jesus Christ, I would encourage you, as Paul did, the keeper
of the prison, in Acts 16, 31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. You dare not wait until you try
to make yourself better. It cannot be done. We're told
that man in his best state is altogether vanity. We're told
that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Christ did
all that was required by God's strict law and justice to present
sinners faultless before the throne. Thank God for the assurance
that is given us in these three simple words. It is finished. Thank you for your attention.