Thank you, Joy. Would you open
your Bibles with me to Psalm 22? Psalm 22. We've been looking at the last
words of Christ from the cross, and the one we looked at Sunday
before last was this cry that our Lord made that was prophesied
in Psalm 22. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the
daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and
am not silent. The Lord Jesus Christ was cut
off. He was forsaken of God. And he answers in verse three
his own question. You ever felt forsaken of God?
Truth is you've never been forsaken of God. Christ was. But sometimes
we feel that way. And here's the answer to that
feeling. Verse three, but thou art holy. All thou that inhabit us, the
praises of Israel. Whatever you do is right. Lord, you're holy." And he does inhabit the praise
of Israel. Where his people come together and join their hearts
in worship and in praise, he's there. And so we believe that
right now. We believe that he's faithful
to his promises. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
Now I'm one that is here, I hope, in his name. Anybody else? Go
ahead, it's okay, you can raise your hand. Okay, well, I see
two or three, two or three. So that's his promise, isn't
it? All right, let's stand together.
Tom's gonna come lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Psalm 22 verse 4, Our fathers
trusted in thee, they trusted and thou didst deliver them.
He's the same yesterday, today and forever. What he did for
those who trusted him in the past, he'll do for those who
trust him now. They cried unto thee and were
delivered, they trusted in thee and were not confounded. But
I am a worm and no man. a reproach of men and despised
of the people. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn, they shoot out their lip, they shake their head, saying,
He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver
him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me
out of the womb, thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's
breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from
me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. Many bulls have
come past me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They
gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and
all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax that is
melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. Thou hast brought
me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the
assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and
my feet." David wrote these words a thousand years before the Lord
Jesus Christ was made incarnate. Crucifixion wasn't devised until
maybe a hundred or two hundred years before the coming of Christ. There was nothing like crucifixion,
and every detail of our Lord's death is prophesied in this psalm,
a thousand years before it was ever even imagined. I may tell all my bones, they
look and stare upon me, they part my garments among them and
cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me,
O Lord, O my strength. Haste thee to help me. Deliver
my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog. Save
me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns
of the unicorns. Now, the horn is a picture of
strength in the scripture, and a unicorn is a picture of a one-horned
animal. And there we have Christ as our
strength. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the congregation while I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise
him. All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him, and fear him, all
ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid
his face from him, but when he cried unto him, he heard. My
praise shall be of thee in the great congregation. I will pay
my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be
satisfied." There's faith. The meek, the lowly. They'll
eat, and they'll be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your heart shall live forever.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,
and all the kindreds of the nation shall worship before thee. For
the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the
nations. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and
worship. All they that go down to the
dust shall bow before him. and none can keep alive his own
soul. You hear that? None can keep
alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. They shall come and declare his
righteousness unto a people that shall be born. that he hath done
this." Let's pray together. I mentioned
in the first hour, in case you weren't here, that Terry Petrowski
fell last night and broke her hip and is in the hospital. And
we want to remember to pray for her. She's in Florida Hospital
East off of Underhill, so if anybody would like to go see
her or send her a card, I'm sure that she'd be appreciative of
that. So let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
what great hope we have in reading these words of the suffering
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. We
thank you for promising what he would do and then for fulfilling
that promise in offering up your son as the
sacrifice for our sin. We thank you that we have a righteous
one. one who bore the full penalty
of your punishment, not for his own sin, but for ours, that you
made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. We ask now that you would
use your word in the power of your spirit to bless our hearts
with the light of the gospel in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, that you would save our
souls, for truly we cannot save our own. We pray for Terry, for the doctors
that minister to her now and give them knowledge to know how
to treat her, and we pray for you to comfort her heart. We
ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Paul said to one of the churches,
I fear lest you be taken from the simplicity that is in Christ. I want this morning to bring
a message that is so simple and I want it to be so simple. I
want it to be clear. I want you to hear it. I want you to believe it. I want
our young children to be able to understand the truth of this
message. Very familiar passage of scripture
in the book of John chapter 19. Really the message in the original
language is a one-word message. It's a one-word message. Now
it's translated into the English into three words, but in fact
it's one word. When our Lord spoke from the
cross, he didn't say three words, he said one word. We have to
put it into three words in order to translate it into English,
but it's just one word. And the simplicity of truth can
be condensed into one word. Verse 30, John chapter 19, when
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. It is finished. That's the message. It is finished. It's finished. Nothing left to do. It's done. It's accomplished. Here's the
sum and substance of the gospel of God's free grace in the accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This declaration, it is finished. Now, the whole of scripture,
the Bible, is God's revelation of himself in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord chastised the Pharisees,
didn't he, when they thought they were such good students
of the Bible, and he said, you search the scriptures, because
you think in them you have eternal life but you've missed the meaning
of the Bible for these are they which testify of me in the volume
of the book it is written of me beginning in Genesis and all
the way through the book of Revelation the purpose of the Word of God
is to reveal the glorious accomplished work and the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ that's what the scriptures are about That's why
we make a beeline to Christ wherever we are in the scriptures. Now
we cannot know God apart from what he has revealed of himself
in the scriptures. We'll never learn who God is
from nature. We'll never learn who God is.
Though the firmaments declare his glory, we will never understand
who he is in salvation. in the revelation of himself
made in nature. Though we're born with a conscious
awareness of God, and all men are. All men come into this world
knowing that there's a God. Atheists just lie to themselves
and lie to others, and if they continue to do it long enough,
they can sear their own hearts so that they believe their own
lie. But it starts out as a lie, because in their heart of hearts,
they know there's a God. conscience will not will not
reveal the glory of Christ. That must come from Scripture. Now at the cross we have the
clearest most comprehensive most concentrated and most complete
revelation of Christ at the cross. All we need to know about God
is revealed to us at the cross. We know, we don't see any greater
demonstration of the holiness of God than what we see when
God was forced by his own holy nature to thrust the sword of
his justice into the heart of his own son and forsake him when
he was made to be sin. God's hatred for sin and God's
holy nature is seen more clearly at the cross than anywhere else
in all of scripture. We see more of the glory of God
at the cross. In terms of the success that
the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross, particularly in
this declaration that we just read, it is finished. We see God's glory demonstrated
in the sacrifice of Christ for the payment of sin. We see more
of the power of God in the cross than anywhere else in all of
scripture. We see that he has redeemed his people, he's delivered
them from the gates of hell, and that his death on Calvary's
cross was effectual for those for whom he died. The Lord Jesus
Christ did not make an offering of salvation. None of his blood
was wasted. His power was not exercised with
futility. He exercised his power with perfect
effect, saving those whom he came to save. We see more of
his love at the cross than anywhere else in all of scripture. Greater
love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his
friend. Where do we see the love of God
revealed more gloriously than at the cross? Herein is love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us and gave his son
as a propitiation for our sins. So we see the Lord Jesus Christ
making God propitious, God the Father offering up his son for
the sacrifice of the sins of his people. What great love.
We see more of the grace of God at the cross than anywhere else
in all of scripture, don't we? The free gift of salvation made
for his elect. The cross is what all of human
history points to. And the scriptures in their entirety
are a revelation of God's nature to man. It is the Word of God. Now if those two things are true,
if we see the greatest demonstration of God's nature at the cross,
And the scriptures are nothing less than the very word of God
revealing God's nature to us. What does that say about the
words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke from the cross? All of his words are true. All of his words are flawless. All of his words are powerful.
But when our Lord said, Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do, what summary of hope the believer, the sinner
has in knowing that we didn't know what we were doing, but
by the grace of God, he has prayed for us. Be of good cheer, I've
prayed for you. When our Lord spoke to that thief
and made a distinction between one and the other, we know that
he has made us to differ. And but for his arresting grace,
we'd be like the other thief. But oh, what great hope we have
in hearing him say, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. when our Lord spoke to his mother
Mary and said woman behold thy son and spoke to John and said
behold thy mother what great hope we have in seeing how the
Lord provides for his children in the family relationship of
the church those mysterious words that we
read in Psalm 22 just a while ago My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? There's no possible way for us
to comprehend the depth of the meaning of those words, but we
see in them, we see in them a demonstration of the love of God, the grace
of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God, in that the
father forsook the son and made him to be sin for us. knowing that all things were
now accomplished, he saith," you see our text? Verse 28, after
this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished. You see that word, now accomplished?
That's the same word, it is finished. Same word. That the Scriptures might be
fulfilled, he saith, I thirst. We see something of the humanity
of Christ in his thirsting on Calvary's cross, but more than
that, our Lord was saying to those who were crucifying him,
it's time now for you to fulfill the prophecy that said you would
give to me vinegar to drink. A picture of the bitterness of
God's wrath and God's justice. The bitter dregs of the cup that
the Lord Jesus Christ was to drink from symbolized in that
sponge of vinegar that was put to his mouth. Our Lord was in
complete control of every detail of his death. He was not in any
way a victim of circumstances. He was saying to them, it's time
now for you to fulfill the scriptures and give to me that vinegar. Look what he says, that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. He say, if I thirst, now there
was a vessel full of vinegar and they filled it with a sponge
of vinegar and put it on his sip and put it to his mouth. Oh, what glory that our Lord
shows of himself hanging there on the cross, controlling everybody
around him and everything that was done. And now that that scripture
has been fulfilled, now that all things that he had prophesied
were accomplished, he saith, It is finished. This is not the despairing cry
of a dying martyr. It is not the sigh of relief
that his sufferings were finally over. When the Lord Jesus Christ
cried on Calvary's cross and said it is finished, it was a
victory cry. It was a declaration to all of
God's people that he had accomplished everything he came to do. All
that God required for sinners to be saved was performed perfectly
by him. The full ransom price for redeeming
God's elect was paid. All the promises of scripture
were fulfilled. All the prophecies were answered.
All the shadows were now animated and all the types of Christ were
now personified in himself. So that Paul wrote in the book
of Hebrews, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
unto our fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his son. It's finished. Everything I promised
from the time that the fall took place in the garden, and I promised
Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would crush the head
of the serpent, that was done. When our Lord bowed his head,
gave up the ghost, and said it is finished, he was declaring
in those last words for his people that he accomplished their salvation. It's amazing to me that the first
words we have recorded in the scriptures spoken by our Lord
were those words that he spoke to his mother at the age of 12
when she came back to Jerusalem and found him. And you remember
what he said? Did you not know that I must
be about my father's business? Mary, you know who I am. You know that you knew no man
when I was conceived in your womb. You know I'm the Christ,
the Messiah, sent here of God. To do what? To accomplish my
Father's business. And now what does he say in his
last words? It's finished. It's finished. Everything the Father sent me
to do, I've done. Here's a word of hope. If, when
the Lord said, it is finished, he was making a declaration of
success and victory over accomplishing everything that God had promised
in his first coming, what does that tell us about the prophecies
that God has given us in his word about the second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it possible that any of those
promises would go unfulfilled? The great purpose of God in human
history was now accomplished. What is the purpose of God? Someone
asked me this week. If God elected a people before
the world began, what's the purpose of our life on this earth? Why
didn't he just create us in heaven and let us live with him for
all eternity. Why are we here? That's a good question. Very
good question. And I responded to him by saying,
well, that's exactly what God did for the angels. He created
them in glory. They live in glory with him for
all eternity and they delight in his glory. But here's the
point. Here's the point. we know more
about God than the angels in heaven know about God the glory of his grace as Paul
speaks about in first in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 6 the glory of
his grace the angels know nothing about they know nothing about
they know nothing about mercy they know nothing about forgiveness
they know nothing about atonement They know God in His power and
in His glory, but they don't know the fullness of who He is. Not like redeemed sinners. Redeemed
sinners know more about God than the angels in heaven know about
God. Now what is God all about? God
is all about demonstrating His glory. The fall of Adam was necessary
in order for the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ to be exercised. Sin was necessary in order for
God to demonstrate His grace and His mercy and His forgiveness
towards sinners. In order for us to know the fullness
of God's glory, Christ had to die on Calvary's cross. The purpose of God is to glorify
himself and the chief end of man is to glorify him and to
enjoy him forever. That's why the scripture says,
do you not know that you'll stand in judgment of the angels in
heaven? Believers are going to have an exalted place in glory
that the angels never knew. They never knew. They can't know
it. They've never sinned. They've never been forgiven.
They've never been redeemed. They don't know anything about
God's grace. We're going to know for all of
eternity things about the glory of God that the angels could
never know. Scripture says in Colossians
chapter 2, for in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth the
fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in him. Complete. Made just like him. It's finished. This word is used
in several places in the Bible. One of them is in Revelation
chapter 10 when it speaks of the destruction of the earth
and the seventh trumpet, the seventh judgment that will come
upon the earth. And the scripture says, there
shall be time no longer and the mystery of God shall be finished. Finished when the earth is rolled
up like a scroll and God is finished Demonstrating his glory in the
salvation of his people. It'll all be finished in Revelation
chapter 15 verse 1 the seventh angel having the seven of the
last plagues and in them is Filled up the wrath of God Finished
What exactly is finished? What is finished? Turn with me
in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the
law or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. What did we see in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 3? The veil was over their face
so they could not see the end of that which was done away with,
the law. What is the end of the law? The
end of the law for righteousness is nothing other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I did not come to destroy
the law. The law is holy and good. There's
no problem with the law. But because of the weakness of
our flesh, we're unable to keep the law. Christ is the end of
the law. What did he come to do? He came
to fulfill the requirements of the law on our behalf and to
offer himself up as our righteousness. That's why the prophet Jeremiah
said his name shall be called the Lord our righteousness in
Jeremiah chapter 23 and then 10 chapters later in Jeremiah
chapter 33 the scripture says and she, speaking of the church,
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. His name has been
given to us. That's what he came to do. And
when he declared on Calvary's cross, it is finished, he was
saying, the requirements of the Sabbath, they've been met. Christ
is our Sabbath. He's our rest. The law has nothing
to say to us. Who is he that condemneth? It
is God that justifieth. The law says guilty, but not
to those who are in Christ. Not to those who hear what the
law says and flee to Christ for their righteousness. They know
that the law has been fulfilled. And when the Lord said, it is
finished, he was saying the requirement of the law has been satisfied. Turn with me, you're there in
Matthew. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. What did the Lord mean when he
said, it is finished? He meant the law is fulfilled.
You're not under the law. The law has nothing to say to
you. The law has been silenced. The law has been fulfilled. The
law has been quieted. It's finished. It's finished. Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 the
Lord said think not that I am come now here's what did he come
to do when he said it is finished he's finished the finishing the
work that the father gave him to do did you not know that I
must be about my father's business now he's telling us right here
what he came to do He said, I did not come to send peace on the
earth. We have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, but not with man, not with man. Have you seen the bumper sticker
coexist? It's got all the symbols of all the major religions of
the world. And the last symbol in that word
that's on that bumper sticker is a cross. Well, that's not
what the Lord came to do. He didn't come. to give us tolerance
or coexistence with other religions. He didn't do that. He said, I
did not come to bring peace in the world. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance
against his father and a daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law and a man's foes shall be they of
his own household. What I came to do was to make
a declaration of the one and only way to God. I came to make
myself that way, that truth, and that life. The offense of
the gospel is that it leaves no room for compromise. You cannot be indifferent to
the gospel. You can't be indifferent to it.
It's like Michael reminded us last week. If you've heard the
gospel, it's going to either cause you to riot against God,
to say in your heart, I'll not have this man to reign over me.
It'll cause you, or it'll cause you to say, truth Lord. You're
going to riot, or you're going to have a revival. One way or
the other. The gospel can't be taken neutrally. You're either all in or you're
all out. That's what the Lord came to do. He said, I did not
come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. If you
believe me, it's going to put you at odds with all those in
this world who don't believe me. And it doesn't matter how
close they are to you. They're not going to be, they're
not going to be with you. In John chapter 6, he said, I
came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me. Turn with me there to John
chapter 6, verse 38, because I want you to see the next verse.
You might ask after hearing that verse, well, what is the will
of him that sent me? The Lord said, I came to do the
will of my father. I didn't come to do my own will,
I came to do the will of Him that sent me. Look at verse 39.
And this is the Father's will. There's no ambiguity about it. There's no question. There's
no way to debate it or to discuss it. This is the Father's will.
That all of which He has given me, I should lose nothing, but
I should raise it up again at the last day. Here's the Father's will. The
Father, according to his own sovereign choice, elected a people
before the world ever began. He wrote the names of his elect
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
the Father sent me to redeem those that he gave to me. And
out of those that he gave me, I will lose none. Someone asked
me this past week, well, can one for whom Christ died be lost,
end up in hell? And I said, absolutely not. Absolutely
not. He will not lose one of his sheep.
Not one of them will be lost. I read an article this week,
and actually most of it was very good. Most of it was on this
text, It Is Finished. A preacher wrote a long article.
I just googled It Is Finished and started reading different
articles. And I started reading this article, I thought, well,
this is a brother in Christ. He was so clear about the glorious,
accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ that it was finished.
There was nothing left for us to do. And then I got to the
end. He said the eternal debt owed
for the sin of mankind was paid in full. God the Father looked
upon his perfect, precious, and priceless son as if he had lived
the filthy, detestable, sin-stained lives of all a fallen mankind. And for those who repent and
receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, God looks upon
them as if they had lived Christ's perfect life. I tried to find an email for
this guy so I could write him back and say, well, was it finished
or was it not finished? I couldn't find an email to write
him. That can't be, to say it's finished,
but that, what was, the death of Christ, when He said it's
finished, He didn't finish salvation for everybody. If He did, then
everybody's saved. That's just universalism. There's
no way around it. If Christ died for everybody,
then everybody's going to heaven, because He finished it. But now
if he didn't really finish it, there's still something for you
to do. If you have to exercise your free will, if you have to
pray a prayer, if you have to prove yourself to be faithful,
if you have to be put under the law and inspected by the law
to make sure that you're living a Christian life, then it's not
finished. It's not finished. No, what the
Lord Jesus Christ finished, he satisfied the demands of the
law. He finished the declaration of the gospel as being exclusive
to himself for all God's elect. I have come to do the will of
my father and this is my father's will that all that he gave to
me I shall lose nothing. John chapter 18, I mentioned
this in the previous hour, That interchange that our Lord had
with Pilate. When Pilate asked him, are you
the king of the Jews? And our Lord said, to this end
was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. This is
what I came to do. What? To bear witness unto the
truth. They that are of the truth heareth
my voice. They hear it. They rejoice in
knowing that I finished everything necessary for them to be saved.
There's no contribution whatsoever for them to make. It's finished.
And they love it that way. They know. Those who hear the
truth and hear my voice, they know that if there's anything
for them to add to what I've done, they're going to mess it
up. It's finished. It's finished. Is it finished or is it not finished?
Are we going to talk out of both sides of our mouth or is it finished?
Is it finished? Turn with me to John chapter
12. Look at verse 46. I am come a
light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide
in darkness. God removes the veil and turns
the heart and gives to us faith to look to Christ alone as the
finisher of our salvation. The author and the finisher. Looking unto Jesus as the author
and the finisher of our faith. If He gives us the faith to do
that, then we don't walk in darkness. We're not confused about how
it is that God saves sinners. We know how he saves sinners. And if any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. That's what I came to do. To
save my people out of the world. You see, God doesn't have to
do anything to judge us. The law already judges us. The
unbeliever is... He already has a judge. The Lord
said, you've already got a judge. Moses is your judge. I don't
have to judge you. The law stands in judgment of
you. The law condemns you. What I came to do was not to
destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. So the law no longer
has power over you. The law can no longer stand in
judgment of you. It's been satisfied. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment,
what I should say and what I should speak. Every word that came out
of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ was given to him by God. I know that His commandment is
life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. I have believed, therefore I
have spoken. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man can come to the Father
but by me. Yes, I am the truth. For this cause came I into the
world. truth is that what this is all
about you got the whole city in uproar about truth don't you
know that truth can't be that important truth truth is relative if the Lord has finished a work
of salvation in your heart you know truth not relative you know
he is the truth and yes worth dying for. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
it is finished, he meant that everything necessary
to make his church holy was accomplished. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
5. Look at verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify, make
her holy, set her apart, and cleanse her with the washing
of water by the word. Now sanctification cannot be
relative. It's an absolute. Either you're
holy or you're not holy. Righteousness cannot be relative.
It's an absolute. Either you're righteous or you're
not righteous. Either you're sanctified or you're not sanctified.
Either you're in Christ or you're not in Christ. I can't remember who that was
the other day. Jeff and I were saying something
and I said, she's a little bit pregnant. I said, and then I,
no, that's not possible. She's pregnant. Can't be a little
bit pregnant, can you? You can't be. Sanctification cannot be progressive. It cannot be progressive. You
can't be made more holy. God has a standard of holiness.
He said, they that are sanctified, that's the church, that's his
bride, that's the one he came to cleanse, and he that sanctifyeth,
that's himself, are all as one. Therefore he's not ashamed to
call them his brethren. They're just like him. When he
said, it is finished, he was speaking of the sanctification
of his church. Set them apart, made them holy. He finished the work of glorifying
God. In closing, turn with me to John
chapter 17. Look at verse four. I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
mean when he said it's finished? The ultimate glory of God is
accomplished in my death. In my death. Did Adam, we talked
about believers knowing more about God than the angels in
glory, but you know Adam knew more about God after the fall
than before the fall? And the other thing about Adam
is that before the fall, Adam was subject to death and he was
subject to the law he was under he was under the the covenant
of works God said don't do that and if you do you'll die that's
the covenant of works Adam was under the law and was subject
to death if he broke the law after he died after he after
he sinned he was no longer subject to the law and he was no longer
subject to death he was made perfect in Christ he was clothed
with that lamb skin you know believers aren't subject
to the law and they're not subject to death if you believe in me
you shall never die you're not under the law and that's the
glory of God is glorified the Lord Jesus said father I have
glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do what is God's glory? to make his children to
be just like him did he finish what he came to
do? or is there something left for
you and I to do? I'm going to put my hope in it's finished It's finished. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we rejoice in that victory cry,
that declaration of accomplishment that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke
to us. In confidence, it's finished. We ask that you would enable
us now to find in him our all in all. For we ask it in his name. We pray Father that you would
bless this table cause us to believe as we receive this bread
and wine that the bread represents for us the perfect sinless life
of the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the requirements of your law.
That the wine represents for us the finished work of sanctifying
justifying, making holy your people through the shedding of
his precious blood. That his life, his death, proven successful by his resurrection. He is our life. We thank you
for the table, for the simplicity of the gospel. We pray that you
would guard us against complicating it. give us faith to believe. We pray it in Christ's name,
Amen. I ask the men if they'll come
please and distribute the bread and the wine. Tom we're going
to sing number 108 in the Sopback Temple, number 108.