Come back to John chapter 19,
verse 30, is the verse I want to use. I told Dale that while
he was teaching the class out of Romans 8, 28, I thought of
that scripture in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, comfort ye one another
with these words. We get our comfort from the Word
of God. That was so comforting to me
this morning. It was so comforting. To once again be reminded, oh
how we need to be reminded. I couldn't tell you how many
times Dickie said, did you remember to get that? I said, no, I forgot
it. We need to be reminded. This do what? In remembrance. You mean you have to be reminded?
Yes, we do. We are a forgetful lot. And the
older we get, the more we forget. And in this verse, verse 30,
is another one of those comforting words. Finished. Finished. I don't know what's so hard to
understand about that. That means there's nothing left
to do. Finished means there's nothing left to be added to it. There's nothing missing from
it. It is finished. And I'm so glad that I get to
stand here and give to you a gospel, a message of one who finished
the work of salvation. We don't have to offer the blood
of bulls and goats every Time we come here each week. That
does not have to be done. The atonement does not have to
be offered once again every year. It's finished. It's finished. His work is perfect. And His
work that is perfect is for us. It's for us. His elect? What
if I'm not one of the elect? Well, let's say it this way.
It's for sinners? Does that fit? Does that shoe
fit? If it fits, where? Ungodly? Does
that fit? I don't like to be called ungodly.
I don't know about ungodly. Well, then you mean you're like
God? Ungodly is unlike God. That fits me. By nature, I am
so unlike Him, it's a shame. But it's finished. And I'm not
going to preach, He finished His work. Now, you've got to
finish yours. You don't have any. You and I
don't have a work to finish. We'd mess it up. We'd mess it
up. But all we do is come to the
One, receive Him, bow to Him, worship Him. Who finished it?
Our Lord said that he must work the works of him that sent him,
of his Father that sent him. He had a work to do. Salvation
is by works. Now get this. Salvation is by
works, but it's not yours, not mine. It's his. I must work the
works of him that sent me. He came on a mission. Every step
he took had a purpose. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. And every step he took, it was
on purpose. Every word he spoke was full
of truth and purpose. You and I, we don't know half
of the steps we take, what's going on. That's true. But not
him. Not him. Every day he had his
agenda. I'd get up on Saturday and I'd
think, what am I going to do today? What am I going to do
today? Well, am I going to mow the yard today? Am I going to
do this? I don't really feel like mowing the yard today. I
think I'll do this or I'll do that. His day wasn't like that.
His day was full of purpose. It had its agenda. He went about
fulfilling his Father's will. My meat, my meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me. And he went about doing it. Enthusiastically. Enthusiastically now. He delighted. I delight, he said, I delight
to do thy will. Do you delight? Do I delight? Now, as believers we do delight. But not like he did. Not like
he did. He delighted to go to the cross. He despised the shame,
but now he delighted in the end result of it, which is the salvation
of a multitude of sinners. All those that were given to
him, he said, I shall lose nothing. Raise him up again at the last
day. He was given a work to do, and he did it. He did it perfectly,
and at the end of it, he said, he cried out triumphantly. You see, they thought they finished
him. The Roman soldiers, the Jews that were all standing around
there, they thought, they believed they finished him. When in reality,
he was the one who was doing the finishing. They thought they
got rid of him. They thought it was over. And
with a triumphant cry, he cried out, and all four evangelists
record that he cried out. But only John tells us what he
cried. And it's this, it is finished. When he took that drink, look
here in verse 28. After this, Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished. Everything that he was given
to do, right down to the jot and tittle. I wish I could do
my work that way every day. So I wouldn't have to redo it
tomorrow. One of the places I work, They had a period of time when
they hired so many new guys and a lot of rework, a lot of rework.
And the saying got going around the shop, we do it right because
we do it twice. That got to be the saying going
around the shop. We do it right because we do it twice. We always
called them dead horses. Our Lord did it right and He
did it once. Once He offered up Himself. Once
He died. Once He entered into the Holy
of Holies. He's not doing this many times. He did it one time.
That's how absolutely perfect the work of the Son of God is.
I start to say was. No, it ain't was, it is and always
will be. He offered up his self as a sacrifice
for sin. He shed his blood for the atonement
of sin. And he brought in an everlasting,
now listen, an everlasting righteousness. He brought in an everlasting
righteousness, one that God can be satisfied with. Now, did he
get the job done or not? He did. Turn over to Isaiah 42. Isaiah chapter 42. He says in verse 1, Behold, my
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail." When
he cried, it's finished. They're hanging on the cross,
mutilated. His visions, it says, were so
marred more than any man. He's nailed between two thieves. He's hanging between two thieves.
His body just mutilated. And he cries, it's finished. It doesn't look like it. Really,
it doesn't look like it. No, he finished what he came
to do. He came to redeem sinners. He came to redeem a multitude
of sinners given to Him by the Father, and He did it. He got
the job done. He came to establish a righteousness
that God Almighty could accept, that God Almighty would be satisfied
with, and He did it. And that's what He came to do. He didn't get distracted. In
one place it says He set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem,
undeterred, undeterred. We know that He finished the
Scriptures by that one I just read you in verse 28. After this,
Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the
Scripture, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. He didn't
just say this because He wanted a drink. He said this, that the
Scripture, the Word of God might be fulfilled. He finished everything
that the Old Testament said about Him. Everything that was prophesied
of Him, Every type, every picture that portrayed him wasn't finished. The priesthood finished. Look
over in Hebrews chapter 10. Let me read a little bit of this
here in Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews chapter 10, it says,
For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not
the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which they offer year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices,"
those sacrifices of the bulls and the goats and all those sacrifices,
but in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of
sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not.
He did not come into this world to offer the blood of bulls and
goats. There were plenty of people to do that. But a body hast thou
prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sins thou hast had no pleasure. His pleasure has always been
in Christ. That's where his pleasure's always
been. He's given pictures and types here. God never sneaks
up on anybody. He gave such clear revelations
through pictures and types that when the Messiah came, they should
have recognized Him. He came unto His own and His
own received Him not, but they have no reason not to. It's not
because God didn't prophesy or give prophecies other than pictures
and types. My soul, they were given all these things. They
had the Word of God. They read the same Isaiah and
I read. They read Isaiah 53 just like you and I read. They had
that. He says, then I, in verse 7,
then said I, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book it is
written of me. Where's that at? Where is it
written, the volume of the book it's written of me? Right here. We have it in our hands. We have
it in our hands, in our laps. Above, when he said, Sacrifice,
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin thou wouldest
not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." He what? He
taketh away the first, that first covenant, all those tithes, all
those pictures, the priesthood. He takes away the first, that
he may establish that second covenant. that covenant of grace,
that covenant that was before that old covenant, that covenant
that was made back in eternity. He came that He might establish
that covenant by which we are sanctified and set apart through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For every
priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down, finished. Finished. Oh, this is the good
news of the gospel. Finished. Sat down on the right
hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. That's what's going on right
now. For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. He finished. He finished all
the types, all the pictures, all those prophecies concerning
Him. He finished them. He answered them. And they're over. It's over. I'll tell you something else
he finished. His sufferings. His sufferings. The cross was
always before him. Always. It was never out of his
mind, out of his view. His cross, dying on that cross,
shedding his blood to redeem. The blood of atonement now. For
33 years, the blood of atonement flowed through the veins of that
man. Think about that. The life of the flesh is where? It's in the blood. But where's
our life at? It was flowing through His flesh. The blood of Atonement was flowing
through the flesh of that man. And he knew, he knew that he
was going to the cross. He knew the purpose of His coming
into this world. I must suffer. The Son of Man,
He said, the Son of Man might suffer? No. The Son of Man must suffer. He
knew why He came. He knew what He must do. And
He was doing it. He was doing it every day. The cross was always
before Him. At the marriage feast, he said,
mine hour, mine hour is not yet come. He said to Nicodemus in John
3, the Son of Man must be lifted up. He must be lifted up. If
sinners are to be saved, if righteousness is to be established, the Son
of Man must be lifted up. Must be. He said to his disciples. I have a cup to drink of." He
knew that he had a cup to drink of the wrath of God. We don't have to drink of that
cup. Everyone here who believes the gospel, you believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, you love Christ, you believe Christ, you don't
have to drink of that cup. You do not have to drink of the
wrath, of the fury of God Almighty against sin. It's over. He finished it. He drank it.
And not one drop is left for me to drink. Not one. Not in
this life. You know, God doesn't punish
me for anything in this life. He chastens me. Trials are not punishment. They're
chastenings. Just like you'd chasten your
children. You're not punishing them, you're chasing them out
of love. If you love your children as
a parent ought to love his children, you're chasing them out of love. And we will not have to drink
of that cup. He said, I have a cup to drink
of, I have a baptism to be baptized with. He says it over Matthew
20, 22. Baptized under the wrath of God.
Submerged under the wrath of Almighty God. I don't have to
deal with that. I don't have to drink that cup.
I don't have to ever, ever, ever deal with God's wrath. I can't even begin to put into
words what that is. Just no way. It's not even possible. He told Peter one time, he said,
I must go to Jerusalem. They didn't want him to go there.
What are you going back there for? You know they hate you.
You know it's going to be trouble. Our Lord spoke of his death one
time, and Peter said, no, no, that ain't going to happen. And
he looked at Peter and said, get thee behind me, Satan. Satan tried to deter him when
he was in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights. Didn't do it. Couldn't do it.
Couldn't do it. His sufferings were finished.
It's over with now. It's over with. The atonement. The atonement that all the blood
that was shed all those years. Think of how many animals were
slaughtered. Think of the blood that was shed. I would say every year, day after
day, there were sacrifices made. Day after day after day. Listen,
morning and evening. They had the morning and evening
sacrifice. Every day they was having to
slit a throat. Every day they was having to shed blood. It
was every day. Then one time a year was the
year when they'd make the Day of Atonement. And that's when
the high priest would take the blood and once a year go to the
Holy of Holies. That's over with. The atonement
has been made. The price for my sins has been
paid. It's been paid. It's finished. Only a fool tries to add to that
which is finished. Only a fool would do that. The
purpose for which the Lord Jesus Christ was sent into the world
was now accomplished. It's accomplished. That's what
he said. After this, Jesus knowing that
all things were now what? Accomplished. There in verse
28. All things were now accomplished. He spoke to Moses and Elijah
on the Mount of Transfiguration. What did he talk to them about? The death that he should have
to die? No, he said the death that he
should accomplish. Death was an accomplishment for him. It was something he accomplished. Righteousness, everlasting righteousness
has been established. I'm not trying to do anything.
You're not trying to do anything if you believe the gospel. To make yourself more accepted
or to produce something to make God think more of you, To produce
a righteousness, we can't produce a righteousness. It says salt water, clean water
can't come out of the same fountain. Christ was a clean fountain.
Christ is a clean fountain. And righteousness, nothing but
righteousness came out of Him. And He is our righteousness.
He is our righteousness. All our sins have been put away.
He put them away. All of them. Sins I've not yet even committed. I tell you what, to a child of
God, that's good news. That's good news. All my sins
were put away before I was ever born. You know, Nathan told David after
he pointed out to him He was guilty. He said, Thou art a man.
But he says, God put away your sin. Christ hasn't died yet. It says in Scripture, He calls those
things which be not as though they were. With God it's done.
With God it was done. I tell you what, before God created
the heavens and the earth, as far as God's concerned, this
was already done. This is all over. You and I are going to
have to go through it and experience it, but as far as God's concerned,
it's done. It is done. It is finished. Finished. Remember that scapegoat
in Leviticus. Turn over to Leviticus. Leviticus
chapter 16. Look in verse 8. into the wilderness. Now look
down in verse 15. Then shall he kill the goat of
the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood
within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the
blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before
the mercy seat. Now, go to Hebrews 9. In Hebrews chapter 9, look in
verse 11. But Christ, being come a high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
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. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God." Now go to verse 19. When Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, He took the blood
of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and
sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the
blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover,
he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels
of the ministry. And almost all things are by
the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is
no remission, no forgiveness. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ," here's the better
sacrifice, here's the better blood, "'for Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself.'" You see that high priest
in the Old Testament, he took that blood of that goat and he
went into the Holy of Holies, sprinkled it upon the mercy seat
and around the mercy seat. But the Lord Jesus Christ entered
heaven itself, the Holy of Holies, the Holy of Holies into heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Yet that he should offer himself
often like they did in the old testament because he didn't get
the job done. As the high priest entered into
the holy place every year with blood of others, for then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world."
If he's going to follow that pattern, if his blood's no better
than theirs. But now what? In the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Did he do it? He said he did. He said it's finished. He said
it's finished. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, and it doesn't end
there. I'm glad it doesn't end there.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and He
did it, and it's over. And unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin. The sin issue is
over. My sins are gone, they have been
dealt with, it's over. It's over. Good news, it's finished. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. When he cried, it's finished.
He's saying by that, redemption, the redemption prize has been
paid. It's been made. It's over. It's
finished. Don't look for some other sacrifice.
Don't look to any other way. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. He has established righteousness. You know, we need to learn to
make much of that which God makes much of. You need to learn that. And God makes much of righteousness.
And he has established a righteousness that God has
accepted. The proof of it is he is seated
where he's seated. He is seated at the right hand
of God. That's the proof of it. Now what is a sinner to do? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's it. That's what that jailer said,
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
He did it all. All to Him I owe. Rest in Him. Rest in Him. The hardest thing for anyone
to do is to really rest. Rest. To just stop, sit down, and rest. Hardest thing to do. And it's impossible to do spiritually
unless God enables us to do it. Because it's in us by nature
to want to do something to please God, to impress God. But just rest in Him. Rest. Sit out in Him and rest. When the Lord says
it's finished, you can be sure. You can be sure it's finished.
You can be sure of it. There's nothing else to do. There's
nothing to be added to it. It's perfect. So don't be a fool
and try to add something to it. Just believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and rest in Him.