Welcome everybody to our Wednesday
evening service. We will start with scripture
and prayer, and then the message will be delivered by Pastor Kent
Clark. We will read from the book of John and the book of
Hebrews tonight. So I'll give you a moment to
get your Bibles open, get your tablets set up. We're going to
read John 19.30 and Hebrews 1.3. All right, 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 we're gonna turn to Hebrews
1, 3. Hebrews 1, 3. who being the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down the right hand of the majesty on high. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
please continue to guide and comfort us in these trying times.
Continue to bless the doctors, nurses, scientists, and everyone
else that is still working to provide the essentials that we
all need. Keep them safe, healthy, and focused. And for those of
us that are isolated, quarantined, or out of work, give us the guidance
and strength to heal and to make good use of our free time. Help
us use this time to draw us nearer to you and nearer to your word.
You are a mighty God who has no boundaries, and we are in
need of your miracles and your blessings. We ask this in your
name, amen. And now, Pastor Clark. Thank you, Mark. We return tonight to the study
of the seven sayings from the cross. Tonight, I want to take
this saying, it is finished. Mark has read from John 19, 30,
and also from the book of Hebrews chapter one and verse three.
Jesus in his words, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Spoke words of desolation. In his words, I thirst, we hear
the cry of lamentation. Remember the passage in Lamentation
112. Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Now there falls upon the ears
his cry of jubilation. It is finished. It is accomplished. It is done. Three small words,
packed with so great a message. The ancient Greeks boasted themselves
in saying a lot in a little, a good lesson for many of us
preachers, but it is finished in the Greek is one word. In the New Testament, it is finished,
translated three words, one word in the original. And yet that
word wraps up, I believe, the gospel of our God. This was not the despairing cry
of a helpless martyr. I hear many talking about poor
little Jesus, feel sorry for Jesus. This is not the cry of
a helpless martyr. It was the declaration on the
part of a divine redeemer that all for which he came from heaven
to earth to do was now done. It's accomplished. Hebrews 1-3,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. Hebrews 4-10, for he that is
entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works
as God did from his. And Hebrews 10, And verse 12,
but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever
sat down on the right hand of God. The old Puritans used to
ask the question, why did he sit down? And the answer was,
because the work was finished. It was accomplished. Firstly,
I would have us note in this, it is finished statement, that
all that had been prophesied concerning how he should die
in the Scriptures, his birth, his life, and death, was now
accomplished. Everything that was prophesied
in the Bible that he was to do, he has done. Acts 3.18 says this,
All things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his
prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Whatever that suffering was to
be, he fulfilled that suffering. Genesis 3.15 says that he should
be born of the woman's seed. Galatians 4.4 says, But when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. Isaiah 714 said that his mother
would be a virgin, and Isaiah 714 says, Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,
God with us. that he was to be named before
he was born is found in Isaiah 49, 1. Listen, O Isles unto me,
hearken ye people from far off, the Lord hath called me from
the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath made mention
of my name. Luke 1 and verse 30, the angel
said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. It was announced that
he should be despised and rejected in Isaiah 53. Psalm 69 says, they hated me
without a cause. There was no reason found in
Christ for him to be hated. It is finished What an awesome
word this is from our God, and how I rejoice that it is accomplished,
it's done. You see, salvation doesn't begin
with a big do, it begins with a big done, a finished, accomplished
in Jesus Christ. It is finished. All that had
been prophesied concerning his death was now fulfilled. His sufferings was finished.
Acts 3.18 says this, But those things which God before had showed
by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he
hath so fulfilled. How awesome is that! In these
three small words, it is finished, we can see the goal of the incarnation
is reached. It is finished. You see, each
divine person in the Trinity had a special peculiar work.
God the Son was specially concerned with this work of redemption.
Before he came to earth, a definite work was committed unto him by
his Father. John 5.36 says, for the works
which the Father hath given me to finish the same work that
I do. Whatever God sent him to do,
he did and accomplished it. As a 12-year-old boy, he said,
"'I must be about my father's business.'" Speaking in anticipation
of the cross in John 12, 23 and 31, "'And Jesus answered them,
saying, "'The hour has come that the Son of Man "'should be glorified.'"
Verse 31, "'Now is the judgment of this world. "'Now shall the
prince of this world be cast out.'" And that wonderful passage
in John 17, 4, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. Yes, the work is finished. I hope you're rejoicing in that.
The work of Jesus Christ was finished on the cross, and whatever
He came to do, and we know what that was, He did. He came into
this world to save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Jesus, for he shall save his people. Not he might,
not perhaps, he shall save them. And that's what it means, it
is finished. The work of redemption, God's
work of being a just God and justifier of the ungodly through
a substitute, through a propitiation, through one taking our place. Christ did that on the tree of
the cross, and he himself said, it's finished. If your preacher's
saying it's not finished, he's wrong. Jesus said it's accomplished. It's not what church you belong
to, it's not your good works, it's not your good life, even
after you're converted. It is found here, the salvation
of God's people in the redemption blood of Jesus Christ on the
tree of the cross. No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
by the way, he was the man of one subject. He said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's because Jesus paid it
all. "'All the dead I owe sin and left a crimson stain, "'he
washed it white as snow.'" Acts 2.23, him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. It was no accident that
Christ was taken and crucified. It was purposed by God before
the foundation of the world. And Christ finished that work,
which God gave him to do. Acts 4.26, The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ, for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." It is finished. It is accomplished. I love that. And then thirdly, in these three
small words, we can see that the Savior meant he had accomplished
full atonement for his people's sins. Not part of our sins, not
our sins after conversion, but full atonement. He paid the debt
in full. It is finished. That means made
an end of. He made an end of sin, the scripture
says. It is paid, the scripture says. It is accomplished. It is done. Why are you fretting and worrying?
Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe, sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Luke 19 10, the Son of Man came
here to seek and to save that which was lost. And what he came
to do, he did. He seeks and saves that which
is lost. 1 Timothy 1 15, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, not good folks, but sinners,
and he did. The scripture's so clear about
the Lord Jesus Christ, not making an attempt, not writing a prescription
for your salvation, but in his doing and dying on the tree of
the cross, actually saved sinners from their sins. Galatians 4.4,
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, to redeem them that
were under the law. 1 John 3.5, Christ came to take
away our sins, to seek, to save, to redeem, to take away our sins. Jesus has taken away sin by His
death. He said so. It's finished. It's
accomplished. He offered an acceptable and
effectual propitiation, which he said is finished. The appeasement
factor is found there at Calvary, that he appeased the wrath of
God, that he satisfied the justice of God, and now there is therefore
now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Nearly
2,000 years ago, Jesus paid the dreadful debt of all his elect,
made full atonement for the whole mass of their iniquities. He
not only made forgiveness possible, he secured forgiveness. He didn't
simply make it possible for you to be saved. He actually saved
you 2000 years ago on the tree of the cross. Now you didn't
find out about it perhaps to 2020, but you found out about
it, that Jesus paid it all and you're rejoicing in that. And
you have come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's your
ticket to heaven. He's your blood offering for
sin. He didn't make salvation possible,
didn't make man savable, but he made him safe. And for all
that Christ died for, they are indeed safe. Christ paid and
put away sin there on the tree of the cross. Tell me what to
do to be saved? Too late. because Jesus did it
all. There's nothing for you to do
except to believe on him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. I can do nothing to save myself.
Jesus paid the debt. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. I hope you right
now, wherever you are, are rejoicing in this truth. I never thought
about it that way. It's accomplished. It's done
all by himself. Jesus on the tree of the cross
paid my sin debt, therefore there is no debt for me, and I rejoice
in Him who did the work." All that a holy God required has
been done. The gift of God is eternal life. through Jesus Christ. I hope
today in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, as you sit where
you're sitting, the Spirit of God has sought you out of your
lowly bar, the Spirit of God has quickened you, the Spirit
of God has given you life, and now maybe you're a very religious
person and you don't even know how you got on watching today,
but you are seeing this message and you've never heard before
that Jesus Christ paid the debt and said, it's finished, it's
accomplished. Now, what do you do? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The scripture
is so clear that we're saved by grace through faith. And even
that faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. To every
elect, there is quickening, there is the gift of faith and a trusting
in Jesus Christ. I hope that you today will trust
him and then that you'll let us know about it, that you come
to know Christ through this good news gospel. I know we're living
in trying times. I understand that there's a lot
going on in a lot of people's lives today, but this is the
truth. And God is pleased and honored
through the preaching of this truth that Jesus Christ, God's
only Son, saves sinners by his substitutionary death on the
tree of the cross. Come to Christ. God bless you.