Alright, now turn with me to
Luke 23. Luke chapter 23. Our Lord was a preacher. And I love the thought of that. I just love the thought of that.
Our Lord was a preacher. That's what he did. Yes, he was
a carpenter, but then he began his ministry. And the scripture
says, from that time, Jesus began to preach. He was a preacher. And the scripture says grace
poured from His lips. Wouldn't you like to hear one
message? Just wait. Just wait. Grace poured from His lips. Our Lord preached the gospel
of peace everywhere He went. No matter how hostile the crowd,
He preached the gospel of peace everywhere he went. And in our
Lord's dying hour, in that very hour, in the depths
of his agony and his pain, he still preached the gospel of
peace to his elect, even right then. He made seven statements. Seven statements. are recorded
from our Lord as He hung on the cross, while He was hanging there
on the cross. One of them is in Matthew. Three
of them are in Luke. And three of them are in John.
Collectively, those seven statements make up the last glorious message
of our Lord's ministry. This is His last message. This
is truly the most glorious gospel message that has ever been preached.
It's wonderful. And our Lord did this in seven
statements. This proves to me that the power
of a message is not in the length of it. That effectual saving power of
a message is in the object of it. It's in the object. It's not in the length of it.
It's in the object of it. I love Peter's prayer when he
was going down in the water. Peter was walking on the water. He was actually walking on the
water. But fear got a hold of him and
he dropped. Immediately, he just dropped.
And as his body was plunging down into that ocean, he cried,
Lord, save me. Enough said. Enough said. You don't need to elaborate.
It says immediately, right? Lord save me. It wasn't the length of his prayer.
It was the object of it. Lord save me. It's recorded that
Spurgeon showed up to a grand hall where he was going to be
preaching later that night. He came to this, he would travel
and preach, and he showed up to this big, huge grand hall. And before anybody got there,
he wanted to test the acoustics of the room. So he walked up
to the pulpit and he cried at the top of his lungs, Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And
it's recorded that up in the rafters was a janitor cleaning
the rafters. And he said when that declaration
came rolling up through the rafters, that janitor said, it just pierced
my soul. And he came and heard Spurgeon
preach that night, and the Lord saved him. It's not in the length. It's in the object. It's in the
object. Well, if a sinner wants to know
what happened in salvation, how were we saved? Our Lord spells
it out for us in seven statements, seven statements. I'm going to
give them to you in what is believed to be the order. He, he spoke
them. We don't actually know the order
he spoke on, but this is what's believed to be the order. We
know that he was hanging there because of our sin, right? That's
where salvation starts. It always starts with our sin,
us getting a good glimpse of what we really are. Revilers,
murderers, haters of God, crucify him. Crucify him. Now look at Luke 23 verse 33
says, And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the male factors, one on the right hand and the other on the
left. Then said Jesus, now this is
the first recorded statement that he made as he hung on that
cross. Then said Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not
what they do. Father, forgive them, they know
not what they do. Our Lord preached, as He hung
on that cross, this is what He preached, a plea before God. He preached a plea before God. Man is sinful, God is holy. What right does a sinner have
to stand in the presence of a holy God? What right does a sinner
have to stand in the presence of a holy God? If we approach
Him on our own, He will kill us. If we approach Him on our own,
He will kill us. We will die in our sins, but
we have a mediator. That's what we have. We have
a mediator. That's the first glorious gospel
a sinner hears. You have a mediator. Every sinner
needs a mediator to stand between him and God. Every single one. Our Lord said on the cross, you
have one. You have one. If any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. We have an advocate with
the Father. We have someone who will plead
to God on our behalf. Isn't that wonderful? His name
is Jesus Christ, the righteous. And on our behalf, he said, Father,
forgive them. Forgive them. That's good news. That is good news. That is the
gospel. We have a plea before God. Sinners who ought to just die
in their sins. Sinners who ought to just be
outcast. We have a plea before God. A
mediator. Here's the second one. Luke 23,
look at verse 39. And one of the male factors which
were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, here's what he said. Verily I say unto thee, today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. From the cross, our Lord preached
a promise. A plea, a promise. That's a promise from God. Today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Life, eternal life. Not only are you not going to
die, I'm going to give you eternal life. There is no night in paradise. There's no night in paradise. None whatsoever. Our Lord told
us that in Revelation. There's no night there. It's
always today. It's always today. Always. And he said today. You're going
to have eternal life. How? With me. Today, you're going to be with
me. with me. Life is being with Him. Life is being in Him. Life is being wherever He is.
He that hath the Son hath life, right? That's our promise. That's our promise. Christ is
our promise. Our promise is with Him. Our promise is in Him. Today,
you're going to be with me. I can't think of anything better.
I cannot think of anything better that I could possibly hear. Today you're going to be with
me. Not just in heaven. I'm sure it's a wonderful place.
But he said today you're going to be with me. That's wonderful
news to me. A plea, a promise. You have a plea before God. You
have a promise from God. The third one is in John 19.
Turn with me over to John 19. We looked at this last Sunday night. John 19 verse 25 says, 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, that's
John, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple
took her into his own home. Our Lord preached, right there
from the cross, a provider. A provider. He's leaving her,
and he did say, You look to John. That's now your son. John, this
is now your mother. You take care of her. A provider
is what Abraham preached. That's what Abraham preached.
Isaac said, they were going up, the Lord told Abraham, you take
your son, your only son, and you offer him for a sacrifice. And they're heading up the mountain
by themselves, Abraham and Isaac. And Isaac said, Dad, where is
the sacrifice? And Abraham said, my son, The
Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. And you
know that's what we're hanging on every day, isn't it? That's
what we were hanging on when this whole thing started. That's
what we were hanging on when I moved here. That's what we're
still hanging on today. The Lord will provide. He'll
provide for me today because He has provided for me from eternity.
The Lord will provide. You're forgiven. Father, forgive
them. You're forgiven. You're going to live forever. Why? You have a surety. You have a provider. This is ordered and sure. You
will be taken care of. You will be. How can I know? Behold the Son. That's how. Behold the One who will provide. What will He provide? Himself. A Lamb. Isn't that what Abraham
said? The Lord will provide Himself a Lamb. The Lord will provide
a Lamb for Himself. The Lord will provide Himself.
to be that lamb. He'll provide himself a lamb. Behold the Lamb of God. You have
a plea, you have a promise, you have a provider. So far it's
all good news. Everything he said, it's all
the gospel. Here's the fourth one. It's in
Matthew 27. Matthew 27 verse 45 says, now from the sixth hour there
was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. For three hours, for three hours
God would not even shine the sun on Christ. He was forsaken by God. He was absolutely forsaken by
God. No light, no warmth, outer darkness. Forsaken by God. It says from
the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth
hour. In about the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? From the cross, our precious
Lord preached a substitute. That's what he preached, a substitute. When our Lord said, Father, forgive
them, I thought this was very interesting. The word forgive
means let them go. That's what that word means. Not what we think it means. The
word means let them go. Father, let them go. The only way his people could
be let go was if someone else suffered in their place. That
was the only way. Someone else had to take all
the punishment they were going to get for their sin. The Lord
said, Father, forsake me. Forsake me and let them go. What
a message. What a message from the cross.
You have a plea before God. You have a promise from God. Because there's a surety. There's
a provider who took your place. Here's the fifth one. Back in
John 19. John 19 verse 28. After this,
Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the
scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. That's what he said, I thirst.
From the cross, our Lord preached a judgment. He preached a judgment. He didn't preach, oh, it'll be
all right. God will just sweep it under
the rug. That's what men preach, isn't
it? He'll forgive you. He'd love
to forgive you. He'll sweep it under the rug.
He didn't preach that. He said this sentence is real.
This judgment is real. This payment that I'm making,
this is real. I'm proving salvation. The one
who made rain, the one who made the rivers, the one who made
the ocean said, I thirst. He made himself to completely
lack moisture. Dry bones, dry bones. Can these dry bones live? Only
if I become dry in their place. That's it. He said in Psalm 22,
that's the The Psalm of the Cross, that's the Lord speaking, prophesying
of him on the cross. He said in Psalm 22, I am poured
out like water. I'm poured out. But he said in
Isaiah 55, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the water. I'm poured out. Come to the water. He said in John 7, if any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink and drink and drink."
Because if any man or woman does that, Revelation 7 says, they
shall hunger no more and thirst no more. Isn't that what it says?
In glory. Our Lord, he said, I'm not going to drink this cup
again until I drink it new with you in the kingdom. We're going
to have something in a cup with him in the kingdom, but we're
not going to be thirsty. We're just going to thirst no
more. I'll satisfy everything they need. He said, I thirst
so that they'll never thirst again. The sixth glorious statement
our Lord said is right here in John 19 verse 29. 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. It's finished. It's finished. There is nothing else to be done. That's the message I love. Isn't
that the message? That's the gospel I want to hear.
There is nothing else to be done. From the cross, our Lord preached
an accomplishment. That's what he preached. I've
thought so much about how difficult it is to describe what we preach
and believe in the 12 seconds we have when we see somebody
on the street and the opportunity opens. What do you say? What
do we say? The one that I hope starts coming
to my mind is, here's what we preach, here's what I believe.
It is finished. It's finished. It's finished. That's the glory of the gospel.
It is finished. The father required something,
didn't he? The sinner required something. The law required something. Christ said, I accomplished it
all. It is finished. The Father needed a sacrifice.
Christ said, I made it. The sinner needed a savior. Christ
said, I saved you. The law needed to be kept. Christ
said, I kept you. It is finished. It is finished. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. I love this. Hebrews chapter 10, look at verse
9. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering, oftentimes, the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. Those priests kept offering sacrifice
after sacrifice. They stood there, usually offering
the same sacrifices. People kept bringing doves, and
people kept bringing lambs, and people kept bringing bulls and
goats, and they stood there. There were no chairs in the temple.
That was not one of the pieces of furniture. Our children are
learning about the furniture in the temple. You didn't have
a chair. The work was never done. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Sin, sin, kill, kill, kill, kill,
kill. Never done. Never done. Look at verse 12. 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. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." One offering. He is the only
priest that ever sat down. He is the only priest that ever
sat down. He offered one sacrifice and
then he went right back up to the throne of God and he sat
down and he said, it's finished. It is finished. It's done. He preached a plea. We have a
plea. When I go stand before the judgment
throne of God, what do I say? Jesus Christ. He said, Father, forgive me.
That's what He said. I have a plea. He preached a
promise. He said I could be with Him in
paradise. He preached a provider. He preached
a substitute. He preached a judgment. He preached
an accomplishment. And the last thing He preached
as He hung on that cross was a redemption. Look back at Luke
23. Luke 23 verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now that it's all finished, I
commend my spirit right back to you. When Christ went back to his
father, we went back to the father with him, in him. All whose sins were paid for,
all who were made righteous, Every one of us, we went right
back to the Father in Him. We fell from God. We were cast
away, cast off, shut out. We fell from God, but He redeems
us right back, right back. He said, I am the children, didn't
He? Where I am, there they may be
also. reinstated in thy love. That's the message Christ preached.
That's the one he preached as he hung there on the cross. The
last glorious message of his ministry. Now here's the last
question. Is it true? Is it all true? How can we know? How can we know it is finished? How can we know? Salvation is
truly accomplished. Redemption back to God is secured. How can we know? Turn with me
to act 17. Acts 17, look at verse 31. Because he hath appointed a day
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he raised him from the dead. He's given assurance to all men.
In that, He raised Him from the dead. That's how we know. That's
how we know. In the last day, God will raise
us up. And the reason we know that is
because He raised Christ up. He raised Christ up. Christ is
our mediator. He's our substitute. He's our
redeemer. We just sang the song. I love
that third line in the song we just sang, Happy Day. It says,
"'Tis done, the great transaction's done. I am my Lord's and He is
mine." Finished. All right, let's stand together.