That's good. Finished all the
types and shadows of the ceremonial life. Finished all that God had
promised, death and hell, no more shall all. Good words. Got those from Spurgeon's hymnal
that they used back quite a few years ago. All right, let's look
again at John 19. This is the last in a series
of messages we have been doing on when Christ cried out loud. There are only seven times recorded
in Scripture where it says that Christ cried loud. Most of the time he did not raise
his voice. He didn't need to. He wasn't
trying to convince anyone of anything. He wasn't trying to
get anyone to believe on him. He wasn't trying to get people
to hear him, per se. He knew his sheep, and he went
about calling them calmly. and particularly they knew him
when they heard his voice and they followed him. But there
are a few exceptions. Seven times in the scriptures
they are recorded that he cried loud, and this is one of them. This is the last time it is recorded
in scripture that he raised his voice. He cried out. It's not recorded particularly
here, but it is in the other three versions. However, in the
other three versions, the words, It is finished, is not recorded
either. I don't know why God had a reason for doing that. But the last actual words that
our Lord spake before he died were, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. Now, he said that to God, so
the last words he spoke were words to his Father. They were
not directed to us at all. But the last words that Christ
uttered to mankind were right here in verse 30, John 19. The last words he uttered for
mankind, he said When he had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished, or he cried with a loud voice, a strong voice,
a voice with all authority and power, It is finished, and I
wouldn't dare try to imitate that voice. But he cried loud,
and he said, It is finished, and
he bowed his head. Or immediately after that, he
said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. Then he bowed
his head and gave up the ghost. These three words, like three
other words that I know and love so well, Christ is all. That sums up salvation, doesn't
it? Colossians 3.11, Christ is all. Those three words sum up
salvation. So do these three. It is finished. They sum up salvation in Christ. When Christ said, It is finished,
he who never uttered an idle word, every word of his had eternal
consequences and significance. He never uttered an idle word.
Every word he spoke was written with a pen of iron and a rock, it is finished. It is finished. The first words that our Lord
uttered, the first words that are recorded that he spoke when
he was on this earth, the first recorded words were found in
Luke chapter 2, verse 49. You don't have to turn. He was
twelve years old. Twelve years old when his first
words that he uttered were recorded in it, and it is written where
he said to his parents, "'How is it that you sought me, or
why are you looking for me? Wished you not, or don't you
know that I must be about my father's business?' Now, those
are the very first words uttered by Jesus Christ when he was on
this planet, the first words recorded for us to hear. Don't
you know I must be about my Father's business. The last words he uttered
were, It's finished. Whatever his business was, he
said, It's finished. He said, My mission is accomplished.
All I came to do is done. The job I set out to do has been
completed. It is finished." All right, what
did Christ come to do? What did he finish? What was
his mission? What was the business at hand? He said, at twelve years old,
he said, I must be about my father's business. And twenty-one years
later, he said, I've finished it, the business. It's over. It's not. It's finished. Look
at John 17. Back a few pages to John 17. And you'll see the primary reason
why Jesus Christ came to this earth. The primary reason why
Jesus Christ came to this earth is found in John 17. Look at
verse four, or let's read verses one through four. These words
spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father,
the hour is come, speaking of his crucifixion, glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal. that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do." Do you see what the first work Christ
came to do was there in verse 4? He said, I have glorified
thee on the earth. He came primarily to glorify
God as a man. That's why he came. Man was created
in the beginning like everything else. Why was man created? Let me ask you that. Why was
man created? What's the purpose? Why God created
man in the first place? Just so man could enjoy himself
or just so he could ever so God could have a companion that's
what one foolish preacher said God was lonely. And created man
why was man create you know why I was created man created for
what to glorify God. You see, all things, the Scripture
says, were created for His glory. All things were created by Him
and for His glory. They are and were created. That
includes man. Man was created to glorify God,
and he did that a while. Adam and Eve. They glorified
God a little while. How long, we don't know. But
then they rebelled against God and came far short of that glory. And all men and women throughout
the ages, from Adam on, have sinned and come short of glorifying
God. From the cradle to the grave,
men give God very little glory, none worth speaking about. We
live twenty, thirty, some forty, fifty, sixty years, some seventy,
some more, without giving God a thought The God who feeds us,
who clothes us, who does all things for us. Romans 1, the
indictment comes down against mankind. The God, the God Almighty,
you haven't been thankful to Him. That's what the Scripture
says. We haven't been thankful to Him. That's glorifying God,
being thankful. Daniel 5, I believe at 4.35,
he said, The God in whose hands our breath is, we have not glorified. we have not glorified. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, and no man can
truly glorify God. Listen to this. Isaiah 43, verse
7, says, Everyone is called by my name, I have created him for
my glory. That's why God saves people for
his glory. But all have come short of that
glory, that glory. Our Lord said one day when he
walked this earth, he said, a man come in his own name, he seeks
his own glory. But when he comes in the name
of another, he seeketh the glory of him that sent him. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
came to glorify God as a man, and God Almighty said He was
well pleased with this man. This man had lived a life to
glorify Him. And He said it right here. He
said, I finished the work you gave me to do. I have glorified
the owner as a man who lived all of his life for the glory
of God. Only one. Only one. this man, this man. Jesus Christ
fully glorified God. He fulfilled the purpose of mankind,
that is, to glorify God Almighty. And he did it in thirty-three
years. How long do we live? Seventy years, maybe. We're promised
only seventy. After that Christ glorified God fully, completely. He fulfilled the life of man
in glorifying God in half the time. Thirty-three years. Thirty-three years. Most people are beginning their
livelihood at that age, aren't they? Thirty-three years is when
you begin to go to work. That's when Christ retired. He
said, it's finished. My job's over. I quit. That's it. Nothing left to do. That's the first work that Almighty
Lord came to do. Look back at Isaiah 42. Here's
the second work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to do. He did
not come primarily to save people. That's part of it, but that's
not his primary or chief reason for coming. We read that in John
17. He came to glorify God on this
earth, and that's what he did as a man. And he did that for
some men and women. Here's the second work that he
came to do, and it's tied with the first. Isaiah 42, look at
verse 21. It says, The Lord is well pleased.
This is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is well
pleased for his, that is, Christ's righteousness' sake, he. Here's
the prophecy. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. This is the second work that
Christ came to do—one of the works that Christ came to do—magnify
the law and make it honorable. God's law had been broken. Christ
honored it. God's law had been rejected by
mankind. Christ fulfilled it. Christ said
to John at his baptism, he said, it behooves us to fulfill all
righteousness. We ought to fulfill all righteousness.
John couldn't do it. Christ could and did. The righteous
Lord, the scripture said, loveth righteousness. He says this too. God has magnified his word above
all of his name. His word. God's law and God's
righteousness are one and the same. God's law, you could say
God's word, those words are used interchangeably. The word of
God, the law of God is a revelation of God's holy and righteous person.
And the scripture says here in verse 21, the Lord is well pleased
for this man, for Christ's righteousness sake. Why? Because he magnified
God's law and made it honorable. He fulfilled God's law. He lived
according to it. He fulfilled every jot and tittle
of it perfectly. And he did so not just in outward
deed, but in thought, word, and deed, and with his motive. That's
what God required—perfection of motive even, of thought. Christ did that. He did that. He fulfilled God's law perfectly. Romans 10, verse 4 says, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who He's the end
of the law for righteousness. That is, believers don't have
to keep the law to be saved. They want to keep the law, but
they can't. Perfectly, like God required.
In order to be saved, they don't have to keep the law to be saved.
Christ did that for them. He's the end. He finished that
for his people. Now, understand this. That Jesus
Christ came to glorify God He came to magnify the law and make
it honorable. Why? To show that he could do
it? He's God. He wrote the law. He wrote the
law. He made man. Why Christ did this,
understand this, why Christ did this, why he glorified God, why
he honored the law, magnified the law as a man, is he was doing
it for some men and women. He was a substitute. A substitute
for sinners. A substitute. And all that he
did, he did for some people. Not all. Not all. Because if he had done
that for all people, Isaiah 45 says, "...by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many." What knowledge? His knowledge
of the law. Him knowing the law and every
jot and tittle and being able to fulfill it in thought and
word and deed, he did that by his knowledge. And by knowing
him, "...shall my righteous servant," Christ who is the righteousness
of God for his people, "...justify many." By Him, we are justified. By Him, we are justified from
all things, from which we could not be justified by the law. Right? By Him, we, believers,
are justified from all things by which we could not be justified
by the law, from which we could not be justified by the law.
So Christ did that for some people, for God's elect, the Scripture
said, for his people, his people. All that he did, he did for his
people. And he said, hanging on that
cross, after he lived thirty-three and a third year, and magnified
the law and made it honorable and did this on the behalf of
his people, he said, it's finished. There's nothing left to do. To
be funny. There's nothing left for us to
do. Right. Nothing. Nothing left for people to do. So you got to believe. Even that's
the work of God. Even that's the work of God.
Nothing left. Faith is the gift of God. That
is not of yourself. It's a gift of God. Nothing left
to do. Christ said it's finished. And
he said, I will send the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit's
the one that gives faith. He's the one that gives faith. He
said, I'll send him. This will be the promise. This will be
the seal of what I've done. He will go to my people and give
them faith, give them repentance and faith. Nothing left to do. Christ finished it all. Nothing
left to do. Old Scott, we're preaching right
now, he would drive that 100 times. There's nothing left to
do. It's finished. It is finished. It's finished. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
The end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
Paul, one time in Galatians, he said some people were very
foolish in going about trying to keep the law to in order for
God to approve of them. We see that all the time now,
don't we? People trying to live right and do right. There's nothing
wrong with that, as long as you're not doing it thinking that God's
taking notice of you. God doesn't look on the outward
countenance. Know what the Scripture said? He looks on the heart. You're not paying attention to
your outward countenance first. God doesn't see, or God's vision
is not limited to the outward countenance. God looks on the
heart. That's the first place he looked, the first place he
looked. Of course, the outward is a manifestation
of the inward. But we cannot keep God's law
perfectly, and Paul said to some people who were trying to, and
he said, you who desire to be under the law, who desire to
keep the law, he said, don't you hear it? It shall be perfect. to be accepted, and we can't
do it. And Christ is the only one that
could and did, and his perfect work is accomplished. He said
it's finished, there's nothing left to do. And it's utter blasphemy
to try to add anything to it. Finished. When something's finished,
that means you don't have to add anything to it. When it's
finished, when you have a job to do, and you work hard on it,
and Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief from
his youth up, working out our salvation. And when he was hanging
on that cross, he said, it's finished. And it's the height
of blasphemy for somebody to add one work to that work of
Christ, to wiggle their finger, to add faith, to say, well, I
believe, I believe. You don't even add that. That
was accomplished by Christ on the cross. Everyone he died for,
he would send the Holy Spirit to give that faith to. So he
said, my work is finished. That means it's over. It's over. All right, look at Matthew 1,
verse 21. Matthew 1, 21. Here's, and I've
been saying it already, but here he says it, or here the angels
announce it. Matthew 1. Another reason why
Christ came, Matthew 1.21, it says, prophecy concerning Mary,
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Call his name Jesus, that means
Savior, not try to save, not I hope to save, not I will save
if you let me. Not he wants to say, but can't.
He won't let it. Savior. God picked his name out. Men abuse it, misuse it, don't
know it, don't know what it means, but God's the one that picked
it out, and he says, call his name Jesus, and he'll do what
it means. He shall save his people from
their sins. He shall save. Christ hung on
the cross. He came to redeem a people, to
save God's elect from their sins. And when he was hanging on that
cross, after his work was over, he said, It's finished. What's
finished? I saved my people. I saved my people. Saved by people. Look at Luke 19. Turn over there
quickly. Luke chapter 19. We have these
words from the mouth of the Lord himself. Luke 19. Luke 19. A great shepherd came
for his sheep. He said, I know my sheep, and
I am known of mine. And he left, as it were, the
ninety and nine in heaven in search of his his stray sheep,
all of his strays. He came to say, Luke 19, verse
10, he said, the Son of Man, verse 10, the Son of Man has
come to seek, where did he find them? He came to seek the Son
of Man. He says he's the shepherd in
John 10. The shepherd has come to seek
his lost sheep. Did he find them? Did he? Oh,
it says that when he findeth them, yes, he found them. He came to seek them and to find
them. Look at verse 10. The Son of
Man has come to seek, he found them, and to save. Did he save
them? He said that on the cross. It's
finished. He wouldn't have said that if it hadn't happened. Right? He's the biggest liar
there ever was, if that doesn't mean that he saved his people.
not made salvation possible, not laid down part of the price,
part of redemption's price, and if we'll pay the rest by our
good works or faith, then we'll be saved. No, completely. He
obtained eternal redemption. He paid redemption's price in
full. What did it take? Not Christ
plus anything. Christ alone. His blood. That's the cost of redemption.
Sinless blood. He paid the price. He's got the
receipts to show it. Scars. And he's going to get
what he paid for. What's that? His people. His
people. All of them. Let me read you
this in Isaiah 40. Listen to this. It says, The
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. And
John 10 says, The good shepherd seeketh his sheep. Listen to
this. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his
arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him,
his work before him. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall," and no maybes here,
people, nothing but shalls, wills and shalls. That's the reason
I like Isaiah. There's no maybes, ifs and buts
or maybes. There's no yea and nay preaching
here. It's all yea and amen. And he says, He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd, that is, with the gospel. He shall gather
his lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and
shall gently lead those that are with him. He shall. He shall. So it says he came
to seek and to save the lost. Did he do it? His last words
were, Yes, it's finished. it's finished. And in glory someday,
the scripture says, he's going to present the people to his
Father and say, Behold, I and the children which you have given
me. But this is the Father's will,
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing." Isn't
that what he said? This is the Father's will, of
all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. God gave Christ
to people to save, and then the Scripture says in Hebrew that
when he comes into glory someday, into heaven, he's going to say,
Behold, I and the children that thou hast given me, all present
and accounted for. They're all here. None of them
missing. None of them missing. Not one too many. There's not
going to be the unexpected people. All their names are written in
a book before the foundation of the world. They're all going
to be present and accounted for. Not going to be empty seats.
All full. All filled. All fulfilled by
Christ. He said it's finished. And lastly,
the work he came to do. The last work he came to do,
and I want you to turn to Revelation 20 with me, and this is the last.
Revelation 20. The work he came to do and the
work he finished is to do this, to defeat sin, Satan, death,
and hell. That's what he said. And the
first gospel words uttered to mankind were uttered by God Almighty
in Genesis 3, he said, The woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's
head, but he, the serpent, shall bruise his heel. Do you know
what that's talking about? Most of you do. That Satan would
indeed bruise his body. He would bruise his body. He
would tempt him and so forth. But it says that Christ, this
woman's seed, that's Christ, would bruise his head. The head's
the place of power in it. The head's the place of life.
Christ bruised, the word is crushed. The power of Satan. Listen to
these words. Listen to them here, and I'll
read Revelation in a moment. Let me read this to you from
1 Corinthians 15. These are very comforting words. It says that
Christ When come at the end, he shall deliver up the kingdom
of the God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all
rule and all authority and all power." That's Satan. Incidentally,
Satan's on a chain right now. He's not loose. He's not doing
what he wants to. He's doing only what God Almighty
allows him to do. Read that in Job 1 and 2. It
says, some day he will put it down completely. He must reign
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. And the last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death, no more dying. And listen to this, O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
For the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who abolished sin, death, and hell by his sacrifice
on the cross." And it says in Hebrews, listen to this for your
comfort. It says he will deliver them who were all their lifetime
subject to fear, fear of death, all their lifetime subject to
this bondage, fear of dying. It says he will deliver them.
He himself was tempted. He's able to succor them. How? He died. He died. Now let's read here in Revelation
20, verses 13 through 15. And a sea gave up the dead which
were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That book
of life is Jesus Christ himself, who is life, who is the book,
who is the Word, written on him, written in him, written in him,
found in him, complete in him. Those he said that for, it is
finished, will never perish. Well, do you know that Christ
uttered one more? Well, he has yet to utter this.
Those were the last words recorded that he uttered. Look back at
Revelation 10. But it says here in Revelation
10 that he's going to cry out again, one more time. The last
time he's going to raise his voice. Have you parents ever said that
to your children? This is the last time. Don't
make me raise my voice again. You ever said that? Sure you
have. Sure you have. Well, God Almighty. I'll never
forget a message that Scott Rickerson preached years ago. I've referred
to it many times. And the gist of what he was saying
was, is that all men want God to say something from heaven.
People want God to speak. God will just speak to us. We'll
listen. If God will just speak to us,
then we'll have the answer. Say something. Do something.
Right? That's what men want God to do.
They want God to break His silence. He's been silent all these years.
The last time He spoke was when Christ was on this earth. That's what this book has written,
all of the things that Christ deemed necessary for us to hear.
There's nothing else necessary for us to hear. It's all written.
Right? God doesn't need to speak again.
It's all written. He doesn't need to speak again.
It's all complete. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto we do well to take
heed, Peter said. And God's not going to speak
again until this time. Look at Revelation 10, and let's begin with verse 1. I saw another mighty angel come
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon
his head, and his face was as it were the sun, his feet as
pillars of fire. He had in his hand a little book
open. He set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on
the earth. This is Christ. And verse 3, And he cried with
a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. The lion of the tribe
of Judah? The lion is king, isn't it? This
is Christ. It says he cried with a loud
voice. What did he say? It's not recorded. It doesn't say. We're going to hear it someday.
The last time he's going to raise his voice. It does not say what
he said. It's a secret. But he's going
to do it. And that's what Scott said. He
said, When God finally breaks his silence, it's all over. When God gets up, Scripture says
Christ is seated. At the right hand of the Father
on high, the Majesty on high, is expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool, and all things be brought in subjection
unto him, all rule and authority and subjection unto him, till
all his people be gathered by the Holy Spirit, and all his
people hear the gospel and repent and believe by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and come to him. When all be elect, the sheep
are gathered into the fold, then Christ is going to get on that
throne, he's going to shout something.
Put a foot in the sea, he's going to shout something. He might
say this again, it's finished. He might. Those would be good
words, wouldn't they? We don't know what he's going
to say. But when he breaks that silence, finally, it's too late.
It's too late. And once the master of the house
has risen up and shut the door, Then there's no more, there's
no more mercy, no more mercy. When he breaks his silence, that's
when men are going to quake with fear. That's when God's people
are going to shout hallelujah. He's coming. Lo, the bridegroom
cometh. That trumpet may be his voice,
that sound. All right. Let's sing, I have
another hymn picked out, 205. 205. This is a good, good hymn after
those words. It is finished. 205, once for
all. Stand up and let's sing. Free from the law, happy conditions,
Jesus has fled and there is remission. Purged by the law and bruised
by the cold, grace has redeemed. Once for all. Once for all. Once for all. Once for all. Once for all. Once for all. Now are we free? There's no condemnation. Jesus provides a perfect solution. Come unto me, O hear His sweet
call. Come and be saved, once for all. Once for all, sinner, receive
Him. Once for all, brother, believe
Him. Christ has redeemed us once for
all. Children of God, oh, glory and
glory. Surely His grace will keep us
from falling. Have Him from death to life ever
flow. Wise for all, sinner, receive
it. Wise for all, brother, be it. Cling to the cross, Lord, for
I am your foe. Rise up, Redeemer, once more. It is finished.