Well, it is an honor to be with
you all this morning. And I don't say that just because
that's what you're supposed to say. It is indeed an honor. For our Bible study, let's turn
to the Book of John, Gospel of John, Chapter 19. John, Chapter
19. We'll begin reading in verse
16 of John 19. Of course, this is having to do
with the trial and the crucifixion of our Lord. And in verse 16,
we read, Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him
away. 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. This title then read, many
of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh
to the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priest of
the Jews to Pilate, write not the king of the Jews, but that
he said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I
have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts
to every soldier a part and also his coat. Now the coat was without
seam woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves,
let us not rent it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, they pardoned my
arraignment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things, therefore, the
soldiers did. They didn't do this because they
knew the scriptures. They did it because God prophesied
that they would do such a thing. Verse 25, 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, 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 unto his own home. 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 bowed his head and gave up
the ghost. Now, this morning, I want to
concentrate on these three little words that are found in verse
30. It is finished. Now, these words
carry more meaning than we can possibly begin to imagine. They are the conclusion of both
the most blessed event and the most horrible event in the history
of planet Earth, that being the murder of our Lord Jesus Christ. God came to earth in human flesh.
He that made all things came, made like unto his brethren.
And what did man do? He exercised his free will, falsely
accused him, and had him put to death. The Jewish leaders,
we read, convinced Pilate to put him to death. But that death was so much more
than the death of a man. So much more. And that death
was done according, exactly according to the purpose of God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over, you're already in
John, flip over to chapter 10. John chapter 10. What did our Lord say here in
John chapter 10 in verse 18? He tells us this, Doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again? No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Now, in describing the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we sometimes mistakenly use the
term that wicked men took his life. That is not so. because
what we just read says he freely laid it down of his own accord. Everything that was done by evil
men on that fateful day was long ago prophesied in the Old Testament
scriptures. How the Lord gave his back to
the smiters in his cheeks, to them that plucked off the hair,
the very manner that we read about that the soldiers divided
his garments Peter told the Jews this on the day of Pentecost
when he said this in Acts 2.23, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said this, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. This was
not something that happened because things spiraled out of God's
control. He didn't see this coming. He
didn't see men doing this to his son. No, every single event
that happened from the mob taking our Lord in the garden to the
time He was laid in the tomb happened exactly according to
the predetermined purpose of God. Our Lord said this in Isaiah
14, 24, The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have
thought, so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so
shall it stand. It was determined in the mind
of the triune God in the ages, far ages past of eternity, that
on that day and that place that we read about called the Golgotha,
that the Lord Jesus Christ would become that eternal Lamb of God,
slain seemingly by men from all outward appearances, but actually
slain by God the Father. slain according to his determinant
counsel. It would determine that this
must come to pass, and so it did. Every single event was predetermined
according to the purpose of God that we just read about. And
that purpose was to redeem a number of sinners that no man could
number, and to make them the adopted children, heirs of God,
and joint heirs with Christ. Now, the first word of these
three simple words, it, indicating a single task. Not they are finished,
it is finished. So we have to ask, what is it
that this it means? What did our Lord mean when he
said it is finished? Now we read these words from
our Savior in his prayer to the Father in John 17. He said, Father, I have glorified
thee on earth. I have finished the work that
thou gavest me to do. Christ proclaims that he already
finished the work that the Father had given him to do, and yet
again he cries from the cross, it is finished. So is there a
contradiction here? Lost men and women like to say
the word of God is just, the Bible's full of contradictions.
That's because God has blinded their eyes to where they cannot
see. What's that scripture that says, professing themselves to
be wise, they became fools. That's what they are. But there
is no contradiction here. Our Lord is talking about two
completely different things. When he said to the father in
John 17 that he had finished the work, that He had given Him
to do. He was speaking of the things
that He spoke of in Matthew 11 when the disciples of John the
Baptist came to Him and said, Art thou He that should come
or do we look for another? And our Lord replied this, He
said, Go and show John again those things which you do see
and hear. The blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto
them. Now there are numerous accounts throughout the four
gospels of our Lord doing these very six things that we just
read. But there's so much more that
our Lord did when he walked this earth, because in the last verse
of John's gospel, we read this, and there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written everyone,
I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written. The events recorded in the four
Gospels are merely a sample of all the things that our Lord
did when He walked this earth for three and a half years as
a man. And He is also talking about what He said in Luke 19.10. Our Lord said this, For the Son
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Now all the acts that he performed
as he walked this earth were among those things that God had
given him to do that he spoke of in John 17 when he prayed
to the Father and said, I have finished the work that thou gavest
me to do. Those things that he finished
before ever going to the cross. But chief among those things
on which hinges our salvation, chief among the things that he
did was perfectly keeping the law of God, perfectly becoming
the spotless lamb of God. It was essential that he kept
every single commandment in the law. When speaking of the sacrifice
of the Lord or the sacrifice to be offered to the Lord in
Leviticus 22, 21, we find this statement, it shall be perfect
to be accepted. there shall be no blemish therein. And Peter tells us that our Lord
Jesus Christ met that standard when he writes in 1 Peter 1.18,
this verse that we're so familiar with, for as much as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
father, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, the perfect sacrifice to God
dictated in the book of Leviticus. Now Christ himself made this
promise concerning him keeping the law that we read of in Matthew
5, 17 and 18. He said, think not that I am
come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law till all be fulfilled. Fulfilled by who? Fulfilled by
the precious, spotless Lamb of God himself. So then these are
the things that were finished by our Savior before he went
to the cross. So what then is this it that
he speaks of is finished? It can only be one thing. He
is referring here to him enduring the wrath of God for his people's
sins. The pouring out of his blood, the laying down of his
life, the demanded price to redeem sinners. This is spoken of in
Hebrews chapter nine, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood he entered in once. into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. As it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. Now, there is no work that was
done by a lamb when it was made a sacrifice on a Jewish altar.
It did nothing except submit to the will of the One doing
the sacrificing. And so it was with our Lord Jesus
Christ. We read what He said about finishing
the work which the Father gave Him to do. But there was no work
done by Him when He was made a sacrifice. He simply submitted
Himself to the will of God the Father. He said this in Luke
22, 42, If thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. He simply submitted himself unto
the will of the father. Now he suffered the equivalent
of an eternity in hell that should have been suffered by his chosen
elect people. in those hours that he hung on
the cross before giving up the ghost, before dismissing his
spirit. And we cannot begin to enter
into what that means because we cannot imagine the degree
of suffering that was endured by our precious Lord in order
to purchase our redemption. Only one who was God Almighty
could have endured such a thing. Lost men and women They speak
flippantly of hell, how they're going to party with their friends
in hell. But if they could begin to imagine
the terror, the suffering, the agony that awaits them in the
pit of the dam, they would lose their very mind. at the thought
of what was in store for them. I had a conversation years ago
with Darwin Pruitt. Many of you know Darwin. He pastors
a church out in Arkansas. He actually attended in Danville
for a long, long time. But we had a conversation one
night. We were at Cheddar's having dinner. And we were speaking
of how Paul said he could wish himself
a curse for his brethren according to the flesh. And we both agreed
that as much as we love our children, as much as we love our wives,
as much as we love our grandchildren, that if God were to give us a
glimpse into the pit of hell and then offer us the choice
of suffering there for one of that we love, there's no one
that would accept that offer. No one had ever loved that much
except one man. Our Savior knew before he ever came to this earth
to be born of a virgin what he would one day suffer at the hand
of the Father. He knew what the sufferings of
hell were. He is the one who created it.
John chapter one tells us that all things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. And that
includes a pit of the damned. He knew what he was about to
suffer. Is it any wonder then that he
prayed, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me. He was about to be made the very
thing that is the most repulsive to a holy God. He was about to
be made sin. And as I wrote that, I thought
about trying to give some examples that would turn our stomachs
if we were subjected to them. But I thought, number one, it
would be much too repulsive of a conversation to have in polite
company, and number two, no matter what examples I gave, no matter
how vomit-inducing they might be, they would not begin to scratch
the surface of what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered when he
was made to be sinned, made to be sinned on our behalf. We have no idea how very holy
our God is. We try to imagine, and yet we
have nothing to compare it to. They talk about this few weeks,
they were talking about the Holy Pope, and it just turns my stomach. But we have no idea how holy
that our God truly is, nor how repulsive sin is to Him. We have
no idea how furious our God was when all our sin was laid on
His Son. There was no mercy He had that
day. God cannot sacrifice his justice. Our sin had to be punished. And
it was punished in our Lord Jesus Christ. So we see that this is
what our blessed Lord meant when he said it is finished. And as I thought of the sufferings
of our Lord, the story of Lazarus and the rich man came to mind. We all know that story, how the
rich man in the agonies of hell, it said he begged father Abraham
to send Lazarus that he might dip his finger in water and cool
my tongue. He said, for I am tormented in
this flame. I try to imagine the degree of
suffering that is experienced by the damned if they beg not
for a glass of water, but a simple drop of water, just a split second
of relief from the agony that they're suffering. But it is
not to be, it will not ever be. So is it any wonder that our
Lord, when he was enduring the equivalent of an eternity in
hell for his elect, cried out, I thirst. He was experiencing
the same agony as a rich man, but multiplied 10 million times
10 million as he bore the punishment due for our sins. He cried out,
it is finished. Our second word is, present tense,
done, right now. The price has been paid. It is
finished, he said. Not begun, but there's more to
be done by the sinner when he decides to give his heart to
Jesus. No, it is finished. There's nothing more required.
Hebrews tells us that after our Lord had by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
You don't sit down until all the work is finished. Verse 28,
here in our text, in John 19, tells us this. After this, Jesus,
knowing that all things were accomplished, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled. Now the last word, it is finished,
brought to a state of completion, fully accomplished, complete. This is what Paul wrote of to
the Colossians when he said, ye are complete in him. Nothing lacking, all that is
required for us to stand justified before a holy and righteous God
had been done. It has been accomplished. I love
this word accomplished. It means established beyond a
reasonable doubt or dispute, completely settled. This is why
our Lord proclaimed, come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy laden and I will give you rest. Only one can, only can,
or I'm sorry, one can only rest when all the work is completely
done, not just finished, but finished to perfection. Then and only then can you sit
down as our Master did on the right hand of His Father, after
He had finished His last task as a man on earth. In Luke 22, we find our Lord
speaking to Peter, and He says this, And he said, I tell thee, Peter,
the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me. And he said unto them, when I
sent you without purse and script and shoes, lacked ye anything?
And they said, nothing. Then said he unto them, but now,
he that hath purse, let him take it, and likewise his script.
And he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy
one. For I say unto you, that this
that is written must be accomplished in me. He then quotes Isaiah
53, and he was reckoned among the transgressors. And Christ
said, for the things concerning me have an end. And that end was just a few hours
away when he said this. And in Luke 18, 31, we find our
Lord again for telling the things that were about to come to pass.
He told His disciples this, and He took unto Him the twelve and
said unto Him, Behold, we go up into Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished. In Luke 9, when the Lord was
transfigured on the mount, verse 30 says this, and behold, there
talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared
in glory and spake of the deceased, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. When someone dies, we usually
don't think, well, that was quite an accomplishment. They died. They failed to live. But unlike
all other men, our Lord Jesus Christ, his death was an accomplishment. It was not a result of him failing
to do what the father had sent him to do. It was the accomplishment,
the finishing of all that work. All the things that he was sent
to accomplish, including his death, were finished to perfection. Every single minute detail completed,
which is how he was able to cry out in triumph, it is finished. Isaiah 5311 tells us that the
Father is content with the accomplished work of Christ on the behalf
of His chosen ones because it says this, He shall see of the
travail of His soul and be satisfied. He could not be satisfied until
the work of redemption was complete. We've already read that the sacrifice
Any sacrifice to the Lord had to be perfect to be accepted,
and our Lord Jesus Christ most certainly met that criteria. He was perfection personified. And even though the blood bought
our redemption, And that work is finished. He is not yet finished
doing his people good, because we read in Hebrews 7.25, that
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. But when the last elect
sets foot on heaven's shore, even that work will be finished. And our blessed Savior will enjoy
the praise and admiration of his chosen people for eternity.
As we sing, worthy is the lamb that was slain. Worthy is the
lamb who finished the required task of bringing all who the
father gave him to faith in himself. Finished by the only one in this
universe who could accomplish such a task of meeting the strict
requirements of God's holy justice and his holy law. is finished,
nothing else to do. Thank you for your attention.