Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from John chapter
19. And the verse of scripture that
I'm going to focus on is over in verse 30, where the Lord, hanging on the cross
just before he died, And you know, the Bible teaches that
he said many things, but we're just gonna look at this one thing
and surrounding the death of Christ. It says in verse 30 of
John 19, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, that's
the sour wine that the soldiers gave him when he said, I thirst,
he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. And we're gonna focus on that
term, it is finished, But the title of the message is the glory
of the cross. The glory of the cross. And I'll
probably preach two messages on that subject as we look at
these passages here in the book of John surrounding the crucifixion
of Christ. And it's the glory of the cross.
You know the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 6 and verse
14 He said, God forbid that I should glory, save or accept in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. And that word glory means to
boast. It's a word of confidence. It's
like Paul was saying, God forbid that I should boast or have confidence
in anything for my salvation except one thing. And he said,
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the one thing that I have
confidence in. Now, you understand, I hope,
that when he said, I glory in the cross, He's not talking about
the wood, the actual wooden cross on which Christ was crucified.
Certainly he's not talking about some emblem that you wear around
your neck or a picture of a cross. What he's talking about is the
death of Christ. I often talk about Christ's obedience
unto death. which is his work. And then another
thing that you need to understand is that when the Bible speaks
of the cross, it's not only speaking of the death of Christ, but it
includes the person of Christ, who Christ is, who he was and
who he is forever. Because these are the issues
of the gospel. There's so many people today
who claim to be Christian, but who really do not understand
the reality of the cross. And the reality of the cross
is stated in this verse of scripture in John chapter 19, verse 30,
when Christ said, it is finished. And so when we talk about the
cross of Christ, we're talking about the finished work of Christ,
The Christ who is God manifest in the flesh, His finished work
to secure and guarantee the salvation of all for whom He died. And
that's the issue of the gospel. When people talk about the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Christ, well his resurrection
is the grand truth of the gospel and the reason that he arose
again from the dead he was raised again from the dead is because
he finished a work that the father gave him to do the father gave
him a people chose a people before the foundation of the world gave
them to christ and in order for them to be saved from sin Christ
had to do a work and he had to finish that work. Now the finished
work is related and pictured in the issue of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is the seventh day and it's an emblem of a work
finished and so you rest on the Sabbath day back in the Old Covenant. Well, Christ is the Sabbath of
his people. And the book of Hebrews chapter
four speaks of that. You can read that in Hebrews
chapter four. See, our Sabbath is not a day
today. Back in the old covenant under
the law, it was the seventh day of the week. And you had Sabbath
weeks, you had Sabbath years, all of that. But under the new
covenant in the gospel, in the church, our Sabbath is not a
day. Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath. Now, Sunday is the Lord's day,
but every day is the Lord's day. But it is a special day because
that's the day that according to the early church records that
we have in the New Testament, that they gather together on
the first day of the week to meet and worship the Lord collectively
as a church. And so that Sunday is a special
day. But it's not our Sabbath. Our
Sabbath is Christ crucified and risen from the dead. It's the
finished work of Christ. And in Hebrews chapter four,
it talks about there remaineth a Sabbath for the people of God. In other words, and what that
is, it's just as God in creation did a work in six days and then
rested on the Sabbath, And that doesn't mean that God got tired
or that He expended His energy and had to rest up and recharge.
No, it just means He finished a work. And the same way with
Christ. He finished a work. It is finished. And so when we talk about the
cross, through His obedience unto death, Christ finished a
work. He didn't leave it unfinished.
He didn't do a work left unfinished that could only be effectual
if you or I would finish it. And I'm afraid a lot of people
believe that now. For example, this idea of a universal
atonement. They'll say, well, Christ died
for the sins of every person that has ever lived or ever will
live. And the Bible does not teach that. So what they say
is that Christ died for the sins of every person without exception,
and they can potentially be saved if they will do what their denomination
or what somebody tells them they're required to do. And so they say,
well, there's millions who end up in hell for whom Christ died,
and that is anti-gospel. And I know people don't wanna
hear this, but it's true. Christ died for his sheep, the
elect of God that were given him. And he said it, we've read
it in John 6 and John 10 and other passages, that all for
whom Christ died shall be saved. And my concern is not, you know,
people will go off and they'll say, well, then it doesn't matter
what I do if he didn't die for me. No, my concern is this, am
I one of his sheep? I wanna be one of his sheep.
Well, what did he say? He said, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they know
me. Nobody can pluck them out of
my hand and my father's hand. He said, I and my father are
one. Have you heard his voice? Now, what does that mean? Does
that mean an audible voice or a dream or a vision? No, it means
the gospel. The voice of Christ in the truth
of the gospel. Romans 1 16 and 17 says, Paul
said, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. You
must believe, there's no doubt about that. But if you're one
of his sheep, he says you will believe. At some point in your
life, God by his providence and his spirit will bring you under
the preaching of the gospel. And He'll give you a new heart.
He'll give you eyes to see, spiritual eyes, spiritual ears to hear.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And that
faith is the gift of God. It doesn't come natural. It's
not by the free will of man. People say, well, you've got
a free will. Well, I understand what some mean by that. But what a lot of people mean
by that is heresy. For example, the Bible says that
there's none righteous, no not one, there's none that doeth
good, there's none that seeketh after God. That's the state of
man by nature as fallen in Adam and born spiritually dead in
trespasses and sins. That's why Christ said you must
be born again or you cannot see the kingdom of God. Kingdom of
heaven. You must be born again or you
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. How are you born again? And he
said the wind bloweth where it will, listeth where it will.
You don't know where it comes from. It's the spirit in the
preaching of the gospel who gives sinners new life. born again. It's not a decision you make
and then you're born again. No. If you make the right decision
and come to Christ for all salvation and bow to Him, plead His blood
for all the forgiveness of your sins and His righteousness for
your justification, that's the evidence that you've been born
again by the Spirit under the gospel. And so that's what the
Bible teaches. The Bible speaks of the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ, as I said. But those are more
than just historical facts. Even the devils know that Christ
died, was buried, and raised again. And they believe it, but
they don't love it. They don't believe the gospel.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believe it, to the Jew first, the Greek also. In other words,
there's no racial, no national, no sexual barriers here. Sinners
saved by grace, equally forgiven by the blood of Christ, equally
justified by His righteousness imputed. Verse 17 of Romans 1
says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. And what is that from faith to
faith? It's from knowledge revealed by the Spirit, knowledge of Christ,
knowledge of God, knowledge of our sinfulness, knowledge of
how God saves sinners, knowledge revealed to faith, knowledge
received and believed because you've been convinced by the
Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. it is written
that for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith as it is written the just the justified Shall live by faith
and what does that mean? They live by looking to Jesus
the author and finisher of their faith. There's that finished
work again Hebrews 12 to run the race of grace looking unto
Jesus the author the beginner the and the finisher, the completer
of our faith, of what we believe. What do I believe about salvation?
I believe that my salvation was conditioned on Christ, all that
God requires can put upon Him, and He finished it and secured
my salvation. But as I was born into this world,
I came into this world ignorant of these things. not believing
these things. I came into this world as a sinner
lost in his sins, but at some point in time, according to God's
appointment, Paul said, when it pleased the Lord, he brought
me in contact with the communication of the gospel, the preaching
of the gospel, the preaching of the cross. It says in first
Corinthians chapter one, And the Spirit of God, under that
preaching, gave me spiritual life, raised me from the dead
spiritually. Ephesians 2.1, and you hath he
quickened, given life, who were dead in trespasses and sin. You
see that? And that's all because of these
three words that Christ spoke in John 19. It is finished. Now, if you go back to John 19,
and you can read the whole chapter, but Christ has been brought up
on trial before Pilate, And Pilate spoke to him. Pilate said three
times, I think it is. Look at verse six of John 19. When the chief priests, therefore,
and officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify
him. Now, crucifixion was not a Jewish
form of punishment. If they did it according to the
law of Moses, if they killed him or executed him, they'd stone
him. But Rome had outlawed them doing
that. And of course, they weren't gonna
desecrate their Sabbath, we'll see later. But they wanted Rome
to do it. Crucifixion was a Roman form
of capital punishment. Well, Pilate said unto them,
verse six, take you him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. Now that's the impeccability
of Christ. This is who the person is. He's God manifest in the
flesh. He had no sin. He knew no sin. He didn't have a fallen human
nature. His human nature, the humanity
of Christ, was sinlessly perfect and remained so throughout his
life on earth. God manifest in the flesh. That's
who He is. He had to be both God and man
to save His people. Matthew 1.21 says, His name shall
be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Well, is He qualified to do that? Well, Matthew 1.23, and His name
shall be called Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with
us. Only God can create life and
give life from the dead. And only man can die. God cannot
die, but this person who is man did die. This person who is God
gives life. And this is the person of Christ.
He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, but declared
to be the son of God in power as he was resurrected from the
dead. He was declared to be that way. And so Pilate said, I find
no fault in him. He had to be the perfect sinless
lamb of God in order to be qualified to die for the sins of his people. And so verse seven says, the
Jews answered him and said, we have a law and by our law he
ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Well,
he is the son of God and he claimed to be the son of God. Now, Believers,
those who come to faith in Christ, are children of God, sons and
daughters of God. But the son of God here is a
messianic term referring to the Messiah, the Savior, who is God
and man in one person. And so that's what they're saying.
Well, when Pilate, verse eight says, when Pilate therefore heard
that saying, he was the more afraid. Verse nine, he went into
the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? Where
do you come from? But Jesus gave him no answer.
Now I want you to listen to this. Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest
thou not unto me? You know, Pilate was a powerful
man. And he was a proud man. Well,
knowest thou not, Pilate said, knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Now listen
to the answer. that the Lord gave Pilate in
verse 11 of John 19. Jesus answered, thou couldest
have no power at all against me except it were given thee
from above. Pilate's power was given to him
by God. Most people would say, well,
that's a blessing from God for Pilate. Well, normally you'd
say that's a blessing, but it ended up being a curse for Pilate.
A lot of times people, when they get what they want, they think
it's a blessing, but it ends up being a curse. For example,
people who receive riches. for some odd reason. I don't
know whether they work hard for it or they win the lottery, and
they think that was a blessing. I know a man up in Kentucky who
won the lottery, and I think he got around $45 million. And
when they interviewed him on the newscast, the first thing
he said when he got behind the camera, he said, well, there
is a God. And you know what I thought when
I heard him say that? I said, well, you fool, there was a God
before you won that lottery. And he's telling people that
God blessed him. But he ended up moving to Florida,
getting on drugs, losing all of his money, and dying. So it
was a curse to him. He didn't know the Lord. He didn't
use that money to glorify God, to help people. Well, Pilate
has power here, but he's not using it for the glory of God.
And it says, and Christ said, therefore he that delivered me
unto thee hath the greater sin, talking about the Jews. And it
says in verse 12, and from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him.
But the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou
art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king
speaketh against Caesar. So Pilate gave them what they
wanted. He said, behold your king, and you remember he made
the plaque. It said, the King of the Jews written in the Hebrew
and the Greek and the Latin. They got upset at that. He said,
take that sign off. And they said, we have no King
but Caesar, which was so hypocritical of them. And he said, what I've
written, I've written. Well, it goes on down how Christ,
how they took him to the cross. Everything revolving around his
death, his suffering under death was according to scripture. when
they cast lots for his coat, that was according to the scriptures,
all of that. And one of the things that I
think people need to understand is that the description of the
suffering unto death of Christ here in the Bible is not to make
us feel sorry for him. It's to show us that he came
to finish a work. I think about this when he was
on his way to the cross and he saw the women on the side crying. And he turned to them and he
said, don't cry for me, cry for yourselves. We're sinners. We're in a mess. And there's
no way out of this but by the finished work of Christ. Well,
he says in John 19.30, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Now, what was finished? Well,
there were many things that were finished. First of all, all of
the whole purpose of God from before the foundation of the
world that was laid upon Christ was completed in the redemption
of his people. Now this is what you need to
understand about the cross, about his death. It is not an attempt
to save people if you will let him. It's a redemption, a redemption
prize. The sin debt of God's people
that he gave to Christ was laid upon him, put to his account. The Bible puts it in many ways.
You see that in pictures and times with the high priest laying
his hand upon the sacrifice. But it also says that Christ
was made sin in 2 Corinthians 5.21. How was he made sin? He wasn't made to be a sinner.
He wasn't corrupted or contaminated by the sins of his people. The sins of his people, the sin
debt. That's what sin does. It runs
up a debt to God's law and justice. It was charged to His account.
And when He died on the cross, you know what He did? He paid
that debt in full. That's what redemption is. He
redeemed the people. He didn't give them a potential
redemption. But He redeemed them from their
sins. And that means they're going
to be saved. They're saved by the grace of
God through the blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Righteousness was finished. What is righteousness? It's the
perfect satisfaction to God's justice for the sins of His people. And as our sins were charged
to His account, His righteousness is charged to His people's account.
How do you know who they are? My sheep hear my voice, remember? I know them and they know me,
they follow me. They are those who come to faith
in Christ, God-given faith, and repentance of dead works and
idolatry. And as you go through here, you
see his resurrection is the capstone of that finished work. Back over
in the book of Daniel, in Daniel chapter nine and verse 24, We
see Daniel's prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and the
work that he would do. Read that passage in verse 24
of Daniel 9. It says, 70 weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city, and that would be
77 days. which would be about 490 to 500 years. And that was
the time from the Babylonian captivity, their return to the
coming of Christ. And it says here's what he would
do. To finish the transgression, that's the fall of Adam. In other
words, he settled the matter. And it says to make an end of
sins. He put away the sins of his people. He washed them away. by paying
the price, which was His death, His blood, and to make reconciliation
for iniquity, He established on the cross the ground of peace
between God and His people." That's reconciliation. God was in Christ. reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. That's 2 Corinthians 5, 19. Now, who is the world there?
Those to whom God does not charge with their sins. And if he doesn't
charge them with their sins, what does he charge them with?
The righteousness of Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 4, 6, of
the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth, accounts,
charges, righteousness without works. Well that righteousness
was finished in time by the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and
he made reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness. All the righteousness that God
requires, all the righteousness that I need for my entire salvation
was brought in by the obedience unto death of Christ as my surety,
my substitute, and my Redeemer. And then it says to seal up the
vision and the prophecy. That's the Old Testament types
and pictures and prophecies. He sealed them up. And to anoint
the most holy. When he died, when he said it's
finished and gave up the ghost, the Bible says the veil in the
temple was torn in two from top to bottom because that old covenant
types and pictures, they were all gone. They were abolished
by way of fulfillment. It is finished. That's the glory
of the cross. How do you know that he accomplished
that? He was raised from the dead. and He reigns forever and
rules forever in heaven for the salvation of His people. It is
finished, the glory of the cross. Now there's a lot more we can
say about that, and I hope you'll join us next week for another
message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
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at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.