If you would, first, this morning,
turn to Luke chapter 23. The title of the message this
morning is, What Does the Cross Say? What does the cross say? Now the cross really proclaims
the whole gospel, doesn't it? The cross says everything that
there is to say about who God is. The cross says everything
that there is to say about who man is. But I want us to look
at what the cross says this morning by looking at the seven sayings
of Christ from the cross. And we usually pay more attention
to a man's dying words. We put emphasis on those words.
Well, these are the dying words of the Savior himself. And they
tell us a lot about the message of the cross. So first, what
does the cross say? The cross says there is forgiveness
of sin for sinners. Look in Luke 23, verse 34. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. What a plea from the suffering
Savior. Now you think about what has
happened to our Lord Jesus. The day before, The religious
Jews came and took our Lord. They bound him. They took him
to their religious judges in the middle of the night, questioned
him all night long against the Jewish law. They tied him up. They tied his hands behind his
back and they beat him with their fists. They scourged him, even
though they knew he was innocent, they scourged him. They stripped
him naked, made fun of him. They blindfolded him and then
they hit him, hit him with their fists and said, you're a prophet,
prophesy who hit you, mocking him, making fun of him. They
spit in his face. They pulled out his beard by
the handfuls and then they nailed him. They nailed his hands and
his feet with railroad type spikes through his hands and feet and
hung him on a cross to die and made fun of him while he suffered.
This is the one who could have called 12 legions of angels and
put an end to the whole affair. He could have destroyed all these
wicked men with just a word. But instead, he prayed for them. He prayed that his father would
forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Now these
men are the most open rebels there are against God's Christ.
Yet the Savior prayed for their forgiveness. The cross says there
is forgiveness of sin for sinners because of what Christ accomplished
on the cross. Look over in Acts chapter two.
I don't know which individuals exactly our Lord prayed for here,
but I do know this, whoever it is he prayed for their sins forgiven
because he prayed for them. And we get a clue to this in
Acts chapter two, verse 36. This is, the end of Peter's message
on the day of Pentecost. And he says, therefore, let all
the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same
Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, Peter
undoubtedly is talking to some people who were there at the
crucifixion of Christ, who were responsible, who yelled out,
crucify him, crucify him. He's talking to people who were
there and responsible. Now, when they heard this, verse
37, They were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall
we do? We're in trouble, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the
promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are
far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. With
many other words did he testify, and exhort, saying, save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Then they gladly received his
word and were baptized, confessing the very crucifixion they were
responsible for. They were baptized. And the same
day were added unto them about 3,000 souls. 3,000 people believed that day. You know why they believed? Because
they were forgiven. Because Christ prayed for them.
Even before this time, The dying thief. He believed, didn't he?
He believed on Christ. You know why he believed? Because
the Lord prayed for him. Father forgive him of his sins.
He was forgiven and he believed. Now, this applies to each of
us here this morning. These men crucifying our Lord
are us. I mean, it's not like they're
us. We are them. We're just as guilty, we're just
like them, just as sinful, just as guilty. We've got the same
nature, the same sin that they do. But the cross says there's
hope for forgiveness of sins, even for sinners as bad and vile
and guilty as we are. And that hope that our sin could
be forgiven, it's through the death of Christ on the cross.
As he was dying, as he said, Father, forgive them. And the
father answered that prayer. The father forgives the sin of
his elect because that sin was put on his son and his son suffered
and died, shed his blood to put that sin away. This is our dying
savior, but he's the high priest. He's acting here as the mediator
between God and men. He's the only one who can intercede
for sinners like this. He's the only one who can or
would intercede and beg for forgiveness of sin for sinners because it's
his blood that's blotting out their sin. He's gonna get what
he asked for because of his blood. And he says these men don't know
what they're doing right now, but they will. They can't see
it now, they're dead in sins. But if they're God's elect, Christ
died for them. So the Holy Spirit's gonna come,
and he's gonna give them eyes that see. He's gonna give them
eyes that understand who and what they are. They're gonna
understand what they've done, so they cry, men and brethren,
what shall we do? We're in trouble. We're guilty. What are we gonna do? And then
they'll cry out for mercy, and God's gonna forgive them their
sin, because Christ died for them, and he prayed they'd be
forgiven for his sake. for the sake of his blood that
he shed. The cross says there's forgiveness
of sin for sinners. Second, the cross says there
is eternal life for sinners. In Luke 23, look at verse 42. This is that dying thief. He
said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today, shall thou be with me in paradise.
Now, you know the story of this thief. He just like the other
thief. Both of them were railing on our Lord. Both of them were
trying to get the Lord set himself free and them too. All he was
interested in was getting down off that cross. But something
happened to this thief. Something happened to him. Want
me to tell you what that something is? It's salvation. God saved him. He saved that
dying thief. He learned who he is and he learned
who Christ is. Look back up here at verse 39.
One of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering
rebuked him. Saying, does not thou fear God?
Seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due rewards of our deeds. Somebody taught this man
he's a sinner. I'm getting what I deserve. But
this man had done nothing amiss. Somebody taught him that Christ
is righteous and holy. Then he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. He learned that
Christ is king. Who taught him all that? God
the Holy Spirit taught him. The Holy Spirit taught that thief. He's a sinner who deserves to
die. He's getting what he deserves.
And more than that, he deserves to die eternally and spend eternity
under the wrath of God because he's guilty. And the Holy Spirit
also taught this poor thief who the Lord Jesus Christ is. So
this undeserving sinner, he learned who he is. He learned who Christ
is. He knows he doesn't deserve anything.
But this undeserving sinner came to Christ begging for mercy.
After everything, can you imagine the horrible things he said to
the Lord? They're both hanging there on
a cross. He didn't deserve for the Lord to even respond to him.
His whole life long, he never had any use for the Lord. He
never had any use for the scriptures, for the gospel. He never sought
the Lord. He didn't deserve for the Lord to respond to him at
all. I want you to look at the gracious words which came out
of our Savior's lips. Today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. Today, no waiting period, no
purgatory. Today, you'll be with me in paradise. You know why? He'd been given
eternal life. Our Lord's prayer for the forgiveness
of sins has been answered, hasn't it? This man's sin was forgiven
and he was given eternal life. I like what John Gill said about
this verse. He said, the Lord promised him
more than he asked for and sooner than he expected. You know, we
beg for mercy. We always get a whole lot more
than we ever dreamed the Lord would give. He got more than
he asked for, sooner than expected. Mercy. That's what this thief
perceived it as, mercy. Mercy must always be sovereign
mercy. There's no other kind. It comes
from the sovereign king who's coming into his kingdom. Now
just like the man responsible for the crucifixion of the Savior,
this dying thief is us. Now we may not be nailed to a
cross, but we're dying. These bodies are dying. We are
a dying thief, just as guilty just as vile, just deserving
of eternal damnation as this thief. But what does the cross
say? The cross says there is eternal
life for sinners. God's people have eternal life
because Christ died for them. Eternal life. The cross says
there's eternal life. The cross says there's forgiveness
for sinners. Then do what this thief did.
Come beg the king for mercy. Cross says there's eternal life
for sinners. Come beg God for it. Third, the
cross says there's a new birth. Now we read these passages about
the crucifixion of our Lord. It's very easy to see the sinfulness
of man in it. Man's so wretched, vile. Look what they did to the Lord
of glory when God let them get their hands on him. But now again,
brethren, that's us. I mean, we're no different. That's
us. This is our nature on display. Our nature is helpless. It's
hopeless. You can't do anything with it.
You can't change it. You can't make it any better.
The only thing it's good for is be put in the ground. That's
all it's good for. This is why our Lord told Nicodemus, you
must be born again. Sinners must be given a new nature
and a new birth. Look over in John chapter 19.
If Christ died for you, you will be born again. The justice of
God demands you be born again if Christ died for you. John
chapter 19 verse 25. Here is an illustration of the
new birth. 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 into his own home. Now this is the Savior. First
of all, he's fulfilling the law to the very end, isn't he? Even
in his dying agony, he's honoring his mother. Jehovah Jireh provided
for his mother. Why are we surprised when the
Lord provides? He always provides for his people. His name is Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord provides time and time
and time again. At this time, Joseph was dead.
Our Lord, as the oldest son, had been providing for his mother,
but now he's going away, and he provides someone else to provide
and take care of Mary. And this is a picture of the
new birth. Back in Psalm 22 that we read as our scripture readings, The psalm of the cross tells
us that there's going to be a new birth because of this. You know,
first of all, there will be eternal life because of the cross. At
the end of verse 26, your heart shall live forever. That's eternal
life because of the cross. And in the last verse, verse
31, there's a people that shall come. They shall declare his
righteousness unto a people that shall be born. There's a people
who, not been physically born yet, and they've not been born
again yet, but they're going to be born. How? Through the
preaching of Christ our righteousness, through the preaching of His
righteousness. They're going to be born again. And what we
have in John chapter 19 is a picture of the new birth. When we're
born again, we're born into a new family. We're born into the family
of God. We're Born from new seed, from
the seed of the word of God. So we've got a new nature, just
like the seed. You know, when I was born the
first time, I was born from the seed of my father, Frank Senior.
And I'm a lot like him, just, you know, I got his flesh, I
got his nature. When we're born again, we're
born from the seed of a new father. And we bear the image, the nature
of our new father, born from that new seed. It's a nature
that's holy, a nature that cannot sin, a nature that can't do anything
but believe God. That nature born as a nature
of faith. And when we're born again, everything
is new. We've got a new father. We've
got a new nature. We've got a new heart. We've
got new motives. We've got a new Lord. We've got
a new master. And we've got a new family. When we're born again,
you got a whole bunch of new mothers and fathers and brothers
and sisters. Look at Matthew chapter 12. There at the cross, John got himself
a new mother and Mary got herself a new son, a new family. And
this is what our Lord spoke of in Matthew chapter 12, verse
46. While he yet talked to the people,
behold, his mother and his brethren, this is Mary's other children,
stood without desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto
him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring
to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto
them, who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched
forth his hand toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and
my brethren. You want to see my mother and
my brethren? Here they are. For whosoever should do The will
of my father, which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister
and mother. That's the new birth. It gives
us a new family. And our Lord showed us something
about the family of God. The family of God is to take
care of one another. Now we're to take care of one
another. We're to take care of our earthly family. This is not
at the expense of or the exclusion of our earthly family. I told
you a couple weeks ago, God's family's not a cult. This is
not the exclusion of our earthly family at all. But we have a
high obligation to one another, to help one another, take care
of one another. And the proof of it is Mary's
other children. Our Lord had other half-brothers
and sisters. Mary had other children. But
the Lord didn't put her in their care, did he? He put her in the
care of John, her spiritual son and her spiritual brother. We're
to take care of one another. We've been born again with the
nature of Christ and born into a new family as a result of the
cross. Fourth, look in Matthew chapter
27. The cross says that salvation
is by substitution. Matthew 27, verse 45. Now from the sixth hour, there
was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And 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? Now this word our Lord uses,
forsaken. It means to totally abandon. Now, we don't have the kind of
mind that can understand God, forsaking God. We just cannot
understand this. But by faith, we can understand
why God totally abandoned His Son. We can understand that. Because by faith, we understand
God's Son at this time is the sinner's substitute. He took
the place of his people as their substitute. Now, we think of
a substitute. You know, here is big time in
this country for basketball. You see a substitute come in.
One guy goes in, one guy goes out. Just trading places. But, you know, if Adam and I
traded places, he's going to be my substitute. And Adam would
come up here and I'd sit down there. Well, it'd still be Adam
here. and still be frank right there.
I mean, all we did is trade places. That's not substitution. That's
not what took place at the cross. When Christ became a sinner substitute,
he was made sin. He was made to be guilty of all
of the sin of all of his people. And that's why the father forsook
him. The father totally abandoned his only begotten son because
the father's holy. He can't even look on sin. His
son was made sin. So his father turned his back
on him, totally abandoned him. That wouldn't have happened if
the transfer of sin and guilt was not real. We're not talking
about just shuffling paper here. This was a real transaction.
The Savior cried out to His Father in utter agony. Now, no one ever feels like they're
really suffering agony if you're falsely accused. Isn't that right? I've been falsely accused and
it made me good and mad, but I didn't suffer agony for it
because I knew I was innocent. I didn't do that. The Savior suffered agony because
he was made guilty. This, our sin, the sin of his
people became his sin. The Savior knows why the father
forsook him, but he cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? So we'd know the father forsook
him. And so we would know why the father forsook him, because
he was a substitute for his people. Salvation is by substitution.
In Christ our substitute, he suffered everything the sin of
his elect deserves. The father didn't go light on
him because he knows it really wasn't his sin. No, it became
his sin and the father poured out his full fury upon his son. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. That's why Christ died. He died
as a substitute, dying the death his people deserve. Sin deserves
to be punished for eternity in hell. Christ, our substitute,
suffered hell for his people. Now, he didn't actually go to
the place called hell, but he did suffer hell for his people.
What is hell? I don't know where hell is, but
I know what it is. Hell is the absence of the presence
of God. The father took his presence
from his son, and he suffered the absence of the presence of
God. He suffered hell as a substitute
for his people. And it's interesting the way
our Lord phrases this cry, my God, my God. This is the only
time the Lord Jesus calls out to his father and calls him God.
Every other time he calls him father. This time he calls him
God. Why is that? Because at this
moment, Christ is the sinner substitute and the father is
not dealing with Christ as a loving father, deals with His Son. He's
dealing with Him as Judge. He's dealing with Him as Almighty
God. Christ does not call His Father,
Father. He calls Him God. Because at
this moment, the Lord Jesus is not coming to God as the Son.
He's standing before God as the sacrifice for sin. He's standing
before God as a substitute for sinners. And the Father is dealing
with him as God dealing with the sacrifice for sin. You see,
the cross says salvation is by substitution. Now, here's good
news. This just makes the hair on the
back of my neck stand up. The cross says if Christ died
for you, you can never die. because your substitute already
died. The cross says if Christ died
for you, you could never go to hell because your substitute
already suffered hell for you. Here's mercy and grace shown
in truth. The forgiveness of sin is always
given in justice. Christ prayed, Father, forgive
them their sin. Father said, all right, I'm going
to totally abandon you. because forgiveness of sin is
purchased by the substitute, suffering what his people deserve.
The cross says salvation is by substitution. Fifth, the cross
says Christ died as the sin bearer. Now look in John chapter 19,
Christ died as the sin bearer. In verse 28, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things
were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Boy, there's a whole message
in those two words, I thirst. The Lord Jesus is a real man. So he could be the representative
of sinful men. And as a real man, he felt real
human emotion. He felt the physical needs of
a human body because he had a real human body. He wept, he grew
angry, he loved, he grew tired and hungry, and he grew thirsty. Now you remember early in his
ministry, he must needs go through Samaria. There's a woman there
he must meet. He grew tired and he grew thirsty. There he sat at the well, he
was hungry, he was tired and he was thirsty. Sent his disciples
to get him something to eat. And there comes a sinful Samaritan
woman. The Lord was thirsty. He asked
her for a drink. He felt physical thirst because
he felt a lack of water in his body. Now at the end of his ministry,
and that whole story is the gospel in a picture, isn't it? Well,
now at the end of his earthly ministry, he thirsts again. But Dale, this is not a physical
thirst. It's a spiritual thirst. He thirsted because he was dying
as the sin bearer. He was bearing the results of
sin. He thirsted for what he did not have. He thirsted for
the presence of his father. He didn't have the presence of
his father. He'd been totally forsaken and abandoned. He thirsted
for his father's favor. He didn't have his father's favor
because he was made sin. Look in Luke chapter 16, he thirsted because he was suffering hell
for his people. In Luke 16, you know this story
of the rich man and Lazarus sat at the gate begging and they
both died. Verse 22, and it came to pass
that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell, he lifted up his eyes being in torments
and seeing Abraham, afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And
he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I'm thirsty for I'm tormented
in this flame. That is exactly what our Savior
is suffering at this moment. He's tormented because he's suffering
hell for his people. He's so tormented and nobody
can bring him anything to quench his thirst. The soldiers tried
to give him vinegar. In their wickedness, they weren't
trying to quench his thirst. It's debatable what they were
trying to do when they gave him vinegar. Some people think they
gave him vinegar as a painkiller. Our Lord wouldn't take a painkiller
because he must suffer all the pain and all the torment the
sin of his people deserves because he's the sin bearer. Some people
think that they may have tried to give him this vinegar to add
to his life, to add to his time he would live on the cross, add
to his sufferings, he wouldn't take it. His suffering is not
going to last one moment longer, we'll see this in just a minute,
than he deems. It'll end when he gives it up,
but not before. The Savior's thirst, like I said here, it's
a spiritual thirst. What did he thirst for? He thirsted
for his Father's presence. He thirsted for his Father's
favor. And he thirsted for righteousness. His people hunger and thirst
after righteousness. You who believe, what's the thing
you want more than anything? To be made righteous, to be made
just like Christ. We hunger and thirst after righteousness. We don't have any. So our Savior
is our substitute, thirsted for the exact same thing. You say,
Frank, no, you can't say that. I can say it. I can't understand
it, but I can say it because that's what scripture says. What
did David say? I've been young and I'm old,
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken. Our Lord was forsaken. He is forsaken by the father
because he'd been made sin. He'd been made the sin bearer
for his elect. And Christ, the Savior, thirsted
for righteousness. He thirsted for his father's
presence. He thirsted for his father's
favor as the sin bearer so that his people will never hunger
and thirst for any spiritual thing that they need. Christ,
the sin bearer, bore the sin of his people away and he made
his people righteous so that they'll never thirst for anything
that they need. They'll never thirst for anything that God
requires because Christ filled them filled them with everything
they need. He thirsted, so we'll never thirst. He thirsted as the sin bearer.
Number six, the cross says Christ is the victorious savior. In
John chapter 19 again, verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Now this cry, it is finished. It's the cry of victory. You see this all the time. You
see a basketball player, you know, towards the end of the
game, they make a play, you know, a steal or they make a shot or
whatever that seals the victory. And they just stand there and
yell just a primal yell of victory. That's what our Lord is doing
right here. It's a scream of victory. It is Finished. Our Lord was not trying to accomplish
anything that He hoped someday, somebody years down the road
might hear about it and believe, make what He's doing effectual.
No, sir. The victory's won. The battle's
over. He accomplished everything He
came to do. And if you look over in Isaiah
chapter 40, this is our comfort. This is the believer's comfort.
It's finished. Isaiah 40, verse one. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Well, how you gonna do that?
Speak ye comfortably. Speak to her heart. Speak comfortably
to Jerusalem and cry unto her, her warfare's accomplished. Their
iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sin. You cry unto her, the warfare's
accomplished. It's finished. You tell her exactly
what the Lord cried. It is finished. Well, what's
finished? Everything that is required for
the salvation of God's elect is complete. Christ finished
the work. His time as a servant is finished. His time as a man made under
the law is finished. He'd already kept it and honored
it. It's finished. Secondly, the law is finished. God's elect are not under the
law. You are not under the law as
a rule of life. You're under grace because Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Christ,
our representative, kept the law, so we don't have to. We're
not under any obligation to the law whatsoever. His life of obedience
is finished. He was obedient unto death. And
his obedience to the law is finished. And his obedience is our obedience.
So our relationship with the law is finished. The law is finished.
Third, all the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies are
complete. The atonement for sin is finished.
There's no more need for any more sacrifices. You don't have
to turn to this. Let me turn to it, read it to
you quickly. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 18, and no more sacrifices. And here's why, because where
remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. There are no more sacrifices
because Christ is enough. There are no more sacrifices
because Christ is all. The word finished, he uses here,
it means paid. The debt's paid. You don't have
to pay it again, the debt is paid. Jesus paid it all. All
the debt I owe. So I don't offer any more sacrifices.
It's finished. There are no more Passover lambs
because Christ our Passover sacrificed for us. There's no more Day of
Atonement. There's no more killing the lamb
and the bullock and catching its blood in the basin and taking
the blood behind the veil. It's finished. When the Savior
cried, it's finished, that veil is rent in two from top to bottom,
making it crystal clear to us, it's finished. The way to God
is not around that veil anymore. The way to God is now wide open
in Christ. You come to the Father by hand,
bringing absolutely nothing with you, pleading nothing but Christ.
If you come naked and empty-handed, you can come to the Father by
Christ. The way is wide open. Now come to Him. Fourth, the
work of righteousness is finished. Christ said He came to seek and
to save that which is lost. And then in John 17, before he
goes to the cross, he prayed, Father, I finished the work that
you gave me to do. They're all found. They're all
saved. They're all made righteous. The
work of righteousness is complete. My people have been made righteous.
Fifth, the entire will of God's concerning the redemption of
his people is finished. The work of covenant grace is
finished. That covenant that began, if
we can Call it that and eternity past is now finished. He told
his parents, remember they lost him and they came back and found
him and said, what have you been doing to us? And he said, don't
you know, I must be about my father's business. He could have
told Mary, do you remember that time? Now it's finished. The work of the covenant of grace
is done. Now look to Christ. Zech's sin
is finished because Christ our sin bearer bore all the sin charged
to him and he bore it away. He blotted it out under his blood
so that sin is finished. Sin shall not have dominion over
you because Christ put it away. And last, the curse is finished
because Christ was made a curse for us. There's no more curse. The work is finished. The victory
is won. Now you surrender to Christ.
Just submit yourself to Him. He's all you need. Don't try
to add anything to Him. The work's finished. I come to
Him. And last, look in Luke chapter
23. The cross says there's rest in
Christ. 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. I just
love this. When our Lord had accomplished
all salvation, it's all finished. The work of righteousness is
complete. Everything necessary for God to be just and justifier
is finished. He prayed, Father, forgive them
of their sins. Everything that was necessary
for their sins to be forgiven, everything that was necessary
for his people to receive eternal life, it's all done. And when
it was all done, Christ, our Savior, just rested. He just
rested from all of his labor. He just hung his head and went
to sleep. Nobody had to rip the ghost out from him. He gave it
up because the work's finished. Christ is the only high priest
to ever sit down. Christ, our high priest, sat
down because he's the only high priest that ever finished the
work of a high priest. Well, where did he sit down?
He gave up the ghost. He hung his head and gave up the ghost.
Where did he sit down? He sat down at the right hand
of God, waiting till his enemies be made his footstool. So there's
no more need for another sacrifice. He's rested from his sacrifice.
There's no more need to burn incense. That smoke that came
up from that incense is a picture Intercessory prayers of Christ. No more need to burn incense.
Our mediator's at the right hand of God. There's no more need
to light candles in the tabernacle. No more need to light candles
around here. Christ, the light of the world, is already in the
heart of his people. He's rested from his work. Our
high priest has rested from all of his labors because the work's
finished. Now come rest in him. And get
a hold of this. I like this. Our Savior rested
in complete confidence. Of course the Father's gonna
accept Him. He finished everything the Father sent Him to do. Then
everyone who's in Christ can rest from all of our work and
rest in confidence in Christ. And if we're in Christ, now the
day's coming we're gonna face the death of this body. If we're
in Christ, we can face that day, that moment with complete confidence
and say the same thing our Savior did. Father, in thy hands, I
commend my spirit. And we lay down our head and
we can die in confidence because Christ is our Savior. We can
rest in confidence because of what the cross says. We can be
confident that we're accepted in the beloved and we'll be accepted
the same way our representative was accepted. Just rest. Just rest in Him. What good news
the cross has for sinners. Now we observe the Lord's table.
The men are going to come and hand out the elements and we'll
observe the Lord's table. The Lord's table is for believers. This table represents everything
we just read about. It represents the broken body
and the shed blood of our Lord. And when we take that bread and
we take that wine, what we're saying is, I believe everything
the cross says. I believe everything I need is
pictured in this. Everything I need is found in
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his work.