He would open with me to John
chapter 19. And we'll get there in a moment. John chapter 19. While you turn, I'm going to
read a few passages out of Genesis chapter 5. Starting in verse 5, it says,
And all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
And all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. And all the days of Enos were
905 years, and he died. And all the days of Cainan were
910 years, and he died. And all the days of Mahaliel
were 895 years, and he died. And all the days of Jared were
962 years, and he died. And all the days of Methuselah
were 960 and nine years, and he died. And all the days of
Lamech were 770 and seven years, and he died. One day, my life
will be summed up. And all the days of Obi were
number of years, And he died. We have daily reminders of what
we are, how fallen we are in Adam. But sometimes we're reminded
by events that hit close to home, such as a family member or a
close friend being pronounced dead. How very alive do verses like
Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. And 5.12, as by one
man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Each and every
one of us is an eternal soul dwelling in a tabernacle, a tent
of flesh, with an appointed time when we will put off this tabernacle. What then? When our eyes of flesh
close in death here, The very next instance, we shall find
ourselves in the presence of the true and living God. Not the little g God of our wicked
imaginations, but the God declared in this word. And indeed, throughout
the world, if you have eyes to see it. We shall be suddenly in the presence
of the thrice holy, self-sufficient, almighty, sovereign God who declared
in Isaiah 46, I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. When we appear in his presence,
when we see him as he is, Will we hear from the king upon his
throne, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity? Or will we hear, come, ye blessed
of my father? The response we hear will come
down to one man. our Lord Jesus Christ, the man
upon the throne. John 19, verse 17. And he bearing
his cross went forth into a place called
the Place of a Skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha,
where they crucified Him and two other 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. Skip down to verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
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. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Recently, I was speaking with
a dear lady, and we were speaking concerning
distressing news. That's so very often what we
speak of, distressing news. As we got to the end of the conversation,
I said, after that, I really need to hear some good news. And I said to her, it is finished. This morning, I have good news. To those who have received the
distressing news, I am a sinner. I am the sinner, as if there
is none other. It is I. And that news, that good news,
it is finished. Finished. What a word. If only we could cling to that
word. This flesh fights everything
we do. If only we could cling. It is finished. In our flesh, all we know is
do, do, do. We learned this from our father.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. In other words,
work and live. Do and live, do not and die. But, O my soul, listen to the
King of Glory. It is finished. When we were
in elementary school, oftentimes we were given an assignment,
and the assignment to be done was something that started with,
do this, and as soon as you're done, you get to go play. Time
to leave. We quickly did that assignment
and turned it in so that we could go out and play. When we finished
that assignment, we didn't take it with us to the playground.
It was done. It was finished. We left it behind. It is finished. The work is done
perfectly, wholly. There's nothing lacking. The
mission has been accomplished. There's nothing pending, nothing
in limbo, nothing waiting for you or me to do. It is finished. Now, we've all been in a situation
where we've been told by someone, it's finished. Don't worry about
it. It's done. I took care of it, only to later find out It
wasn't finished. Look with me upon that cross. And over the head of the man
hanging there, there's a title written. Can we trust this man
who said it is finished? Can we trust him to fulfill what
he said was fulfilled? John 19, 19. And Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. On this title, Pilate had written
the name of the man dying on the cross and the crime for which
he was executed. Who hangs here? Let's examine
this title, Jesus. Oh, the humility of our Lord. He whose name is King of kings
and Lord of lords. He whose name is I am now hangs
as Jesus. How very precious is that name. Matthew 1 records, Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. On this cross hangs Jesus of
Nazareth. Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Nazareth, bringing to mind the
word Nazarite, one separated, our Lord came to where his loved
elect people were, separated from God. For ye know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your
sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came
in the likeness of sinful flesh. He made a vow unto God the Father
and God the Spirit when he said, I will be surety for my people. Of my hand shalt thou require
them. Jesus of Nazareth. When Pilate
hung that, he meant it as a demeaning title of the man, but it reveals
to us that this is Jesus the Christ. The mediator between God and
men. Jesus of Nazareth, the king. The cause for which Jesus of
Nazareth hangs on the cross, he is the king, not a king, the,
very specific, the king. Here hangs the King, born of
the line and lineage of David, but so much greater than any
earthly king. John started this account by
saying, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. This man is God manifest
in the flesh. King over all, all in heaven,
all in earth, all under the earth, all throughout all eternity. But for what cause does he hang
on the tree, not just because he's the king. Jesus of Nazareth,
the king of the Jews. Christ is king of all, but he
hangs on that cross, not for all people, but for his specific
people, the Jews. Who are the Jews for whom he
hangs in such agony? Are they those who are born only
to Abraham's line, those born of Jacob? The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, not just those born naturally to Abraham, For
he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Can we trust the word of this
man hanging on that cross when he said, it is finished? See who he is. Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
God the Son, God who cannot lie, God who cannot fail. who has
declared it is finished. When he declared it is finished,
it's finished for all time. Now, what is it that God has
declared finished? It, the law is finished. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. All the Old Testament
prophets are finished. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. Over and over we read in the
scriptures concerning our Lord Jesus Christ that it might be
fulfilled." It, the acceptable, perfect,
holy walk that God is pleased with, is finished. That walk
which no man or woman of Adam can accomplish in the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, walked
in absolute holiness. Amen. The man, our Lord Jesus
Christ, kept the whole law of God perfectly in the flesh. It, the justice of God, is finished. 1 Peter 2.24, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead
to sins because he was slain in our place. We being dead to
sins should live under righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Yet, the eternal purpose and
counsel of God is finished. Turn over to John chapter six.
You don't have to hold your place there in John 19. John chapter 6, and we'll read in verse 37, the
purpose of God is as He is, eternal and unchanging. What He purposed
to do from our point of view in the past is what He always
purposed to do and always will purpose to do. unchanging. What is his purpose? John 6,
verse 37, God the Son plainly tells us the purpose of God the
Father. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I am come down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. The Father's will, the Father's
purpose is wrapped entirely in our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 40, and this is the will
of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on Him, how can one who is dead and blind see the Son and believe
on Him? only if God is pleased to reveal
Him through the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life. And I will raise Him up at the
last day. In short, the eternal purpose
and counsel of God is that Christ Jesus should receive all glory
and honor and power in the redemption of those sinners given to him
from the foundation of the world. It is finished. It, the salvation
of God's elect, is finished. Turn over to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11.
Hebrews 10, 11. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. It is finished. How did Christ
Jesus our Lord finish the work that was given to him? Verse
14, for by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. It is finished by one offering. Let's look again at our Lord,
our substitute, hanging upon that cross. We have seen the
cause for which he suffers and dies, Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the Jews. He is the one of whom Pilate
declared multiple times, I find no fault in him. This is he who
went about doing good and received from God the Father honor and
glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, suffers and dies
as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. not for anything
that he has done, but for the sins of his people that are hung
upon him, that are laid upon him on that cross. Look at our
Lord upon the cross, his head pierced with many a thorn. Because
of the thoughts and imaginations of my sinful mind, the whole
head is sick. and the whole heart faint. His hands pierced through by
nails, because all that I touch and handle is defiled and polluted. I looked on all the works that
my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored
to do, and behold, All was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no prophet under the sun. Upon his precious back, the flowers
plowed upon my back. They made long their furrows. Man's back is often thought of
and represents his strength. We read things like this poem,
bowed by the weight of centuries, he leans upon his hoe and gazes
on the ground, the emptiness of ages in his face and on his
back, the burden of the world. We equate that being burdened
under a heavy load, our back strong and upholding it, centers
all. We claim to take the weight and
the responsibility of fulfilling God's law upon our back when
we have no strength at all, dead. There on the cross, our Lord
bore the burden in our place. Look out. Look upon our sacrifice. I am poured out like water. and
all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted
in the midst of my bowels. All my bones are out of joint. As my substitute, he became what
I am, all wrong. I am not as God. He is holy. I am sin. He is right, I am unrighteousness. He is good, I am evil. He became what I am. From the sole of the foot, even
unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. His feet are nailed fast to the
cross. I cannot walk in a good and perfect
way. And he paid the price of my way. His way is truth and righteousness. My way is the way of man. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. How did our Lord Jesus Christ
finish the work that was given him, the work that he freely
undertook? He took our place. To be able to enter into that
statement, he took our place. He became what I am. 1 Peter
3.18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He did all that we cannot do. He lived as we cannot live. He paid the debt that we have
nothing with which to pay. He redeemed us from destruction. He laid down his life. He took
our filthy robes and made them his own and gave to us his glorious,
righteous robes. Our appointed hour is upon us. or some sooner than others, but
we are all a few days. When this earthly tabernacle
in which we dwell is laid down and we enter into the presence
of the thrice holy God, shall we hear, enter ye blessed, or depart from me? The answer is entirely dependent
on one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe him? Do you believe
him when he said, it is finished? How do I know? I struggle, and I think we all
do. with doubts, fears, uncertainty. I'm in this flesh, and oh, how
I love to look at this flesh and rely upon it. My conscience is continually
condemning me. If you really believed, you wouldn't
think that. You definitely wouldn't do that. possibly believe, can you? For many years, I knew the technical
answer. I knew the correct answer. Christ
is all. He's done all. And I could say that, but it
was immediately followed with, but. A but that looked at me. But I'm not so bad. but my parents,
but I go to the right church, but, but, but. When Christ brought me to know
what I am, sin from the sole of my feet to the top of my head,
the buts that relied on me disappeared. when my conscience, which still
plagues me, if you believed, you wouldn't. The answer is now, you're right. Guilty as charged. I agree. But Christ my Lord, didn't and
doesn't. He walked as I can't walk. And upon him is all my hope. He said, it is finished. I'm continually assaulted from
within. You don't pray enough. But he upon whom all my hope
has stayed, He prays for me. You don't believe enough. Don't
I know that? But Christ is my all in all,
and he is faithful. And I can cry out, and do cry
out, because he put his spirit in me. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Lord, help us to believe your
word. It is finished.