Good morning. Thank you for inviting
me back, and I'm glad to be here. Not quite as hobbling as I was
in March. My knee has mostly recovered,
and that's made it more comfortable to travel. Open with me to Genesis
chapter 5. Our text is going to be from
John 19, and we'll get there in a couple minutes. Genesis five, and I'm going to briefly touch a few verses. So if you don't want to read
along, you can just listen. Genesis five, verse five, and
all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. Verse eight, all the days of
Seth were 912 years, and he died. The days of Enos were 905 years,
and he died. The days of Cainan were 910 years,
and he died. All the days of Mahaliel were 890 and five years, and
he died. The days of Jared were 960 and two years, and he died. And all the days of Methuselah
were 960 and nine years, and he died. And all the days of Lamech were
777 years, and he died. One day, someone will stand in
front of a congregation, and my days will be summed up. All the days of Obi were some
number of years, and he died. We have daily reminders of what
we are, of how fallen we are in Adam, but there are times
when we are reminded by events that hit very close to home. A family member is pronounced
dead, a loved one, A close friend endures grave
sickness. In those moments, how very alive
do verses such as Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. 5.12, as by one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." These verses become alive. They become meaningful. In those
times, each and every one of us is an eternal soul dwelling
in a tabernacle, in a tent, a tent of flesh with an appointed time
when we will put off this tabernacle. What then? When this robe of
flesh is put aside, what then? When our eyes of flesh close
in death here, the very next instance we shall find ourselves
in the presence of the true and living God. Not the little G
God of our wicked imaginations, but the God declared throughout
this word and indeed throughout the world for those who have
been given eyes to see. You don't need to hold your place
here. Turn with me to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. When our eyes of flesh close
in death here, And we shall suddenly be in the presence of the thrice
holy, self-existent, sovereign God who declares of himself,
Isaiah 46, verse 9. This is the almighty God speaking. He says, remember the former
things of old. For I am God. and there is none
else. I am God, and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. When we appear in his presence,
when we see him as he is, will we hear from the king upon his
throne, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Or will we hear, come, ye blessed
of my father. The response, the words that
we hear will come down to one man, the man upon the throne,
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now turn to our text, John chapter
19. John 19, we'll begin reading
in verse 17. John 19, 17. And he, our Lord Jesus Christ,
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. Now skip down to verse 28. 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
his hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus, therefore,
had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head. and gave
up the ghost. Recently, I was talking with
some dear friends, and as it usually goes in our conversations,
the subject matter turned to distressing news. And as we got to the end of our
conversation, I said, well, after all of this, I need to go think
on some good news. And this is what I shared. It
is finished. That is good news. I have good news this morning
for those of us who have heard and received the word, I am The
center. There's good news. It is finished. Finished. What a word. If only I could cling to that
word, what rest would I find? In our flesh, all we know is
do, do, do. It's what we've learned from
our father, from our first father, Adam. In the sweat of thy face,
shalt thou eat bread. You want to eat? Do. You want to live? Do. Don't do
and die. Listen to the King of Glory. It is finished. When we were in elementary school,
sometimes the teacher would give you an assignment. As soon as
you finish this work, you get to go to recess. And you hurried through that
work, Put the paper in and you left. Did you take that work
with you when you went out? You went to play. You couldn't
care less about the work. It was finished, as far as you
were concerned. Grade didn't matter. Nothing
mattered. It was done. I'm going out to play. Went out and rested from the
work. It was done. It is finished. The work is done
perfectly, wholly. There's nothing lacking. The
mission has been accomplished. There's nothing pending, nothing
in limbo, nothing waiting for me to do or not do. It is finished. Now, we've all had this situation. Someone came to you. They said,
it's finished. I've done it. Don't worry about
it. Put it out of your mind. I took care of it. But a little
while later, you found out it wasn't really finished. They
halfway did it. Can we trust this man who has
said it is finished? Look with me upon his cross. Over the head of the man hanging
there is a title written, verse 19, here in John 19. And Pilate
wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. On this title that Pilate
had written, was the name of the man dying on the cross and
the crime for which he was executed. Who is it that hangs on this
cross? Jesus. Oh, the humility of our Lord. He whose name is King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, whose name is I am, now hangs there as Jesus. Oh, how precious is that name? Matthew 121 says thou shalt call
his name Jesus. For. This is the reason you're
going to call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Job asked, How should man be
just with God? And to that these scriptures
answer through the blood and finished work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the savior of his people. Who hangs on this cross? Jesus
of Nazareth. Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Nazareth brings to mind the word
Nazarite. One separated. Our Lord. Our God. Came to where his loved elected
people were. Separated from God. For, you know, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor. That ye through his poverty might
be rich. Jesus Christ, God, the son came
in the likeness of sinful flesh. He made a vow to God the Father
and God the Spirit. When he said, similar to what
Judah told Jacob, Judah said, I will be surety for him. Of
my hand, shalt thou require him. Our Lord said, I will be surety
for my people. Of my hand, shalt thou require
them. Jesus of Nazareth, a title meant
to be demeaning, yet this title reveals that this is Jesus the
Christ, the mediator between God and men. Jesus of Nazareth,
the King, The cause for which Jesus of Nazareth hangs on the
cross, he is the king. Here hangs the king born of the
line and lineage of King David. But so much greater than any
earthly king. John started his account in John
one with in the beginning was the word and the word was with
God. And the word was God and the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory,
the glory as the only begotten of the father. Full of grace
and truth. This man is God manifest in the
flesh, king over all, all in heaven, all in earth, all under
the earth. all throughout all eternity. He is the King. But here is the cause for which
he hangs on the tree. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. He is King of all, but he doesn't
hang on that cross as King of all. He hangs on the cross for
his people, for a specific people, the Jews. Who are the Jews for
whom he hangs in such agony? Are they those who are born the
children of Abraham's grandson, Jacob? No. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, not just those born naturally of Abraham's line. As Paul said, for he is not a
Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and in the
spirit and not in the letter. whose praise is not of men, but
of God. Can you trust the word of this
one who hangs on this cross, who cries out, it is finished? See who he is, Jesus of Nazareth. the King of the Jews, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, God who cannot lie, who
declared, it is finished. Now, just what is it that God
has declared finished? It, The law is finished. Romans 10, four, for Christ is
the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. It, all the Old Testament prophets,
Our Lord said, Matthew 517, thank not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. Yet. The acceptable, perfect, holy
walk that God himself is pleased with is finished. The walk that
no man or woman born of Adam can accomplish in the flesh.
God, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, walked
in absolute perfection and holiness. Amen. The man, Christ Jesus,
our Lord, kept the whole law of God perfectly. in the flesh. Yet the law, the prophets, the
perfect acceptable walk, yet the justice of God is finished. Hold your place here and turn
quickly to first Peter chapter two. 1 Peter 2, the justice of God is
finished. Verse 24, 1 Peter 2, 24. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, How
are we dead to sins? Because he was slain in our place. That we being dead to sins should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Go back to John, this time John
chapter six. You don't have to hold your place
in John 19. John six. The law, the prophets, the walk
that's required, the justice of God, the eternal purpose of
God is finished. John 6, verse 37. The purpose of God is as he is
eternal, unchanging. What he purposed is what he has
always purposed, and what he purposed is what he will ever
purpose. And here in John 6, God the Son
states plainly the purpose of God. John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. The Father's will is wrapped
entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishing His purpose. Verse 40, And this is the will
of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, how
can one dead, one that is blind, see the Son? Only if God is pleased
to give him life and to open his blind eyes and to reveal
to him through the preaching of Christ crucified will the
Son be revealed. Verse 40, and this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. In short, the eternal purpose
of God is that Jesus Christ should receive all glory and honor and
power in the redemption of those centers given to him from the
foundation of the world. It is finished. The salvation of God's elect
is finished. You don't have to hold your place
here. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10 verse 11. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. Most of you know, we had a conference
back in Kingsport this last weekend. And on Sunday, some of y'all
know the work that goes into hosting that conference. On Sunday,
I went home and I sat down for what seemed like the first time
since Friday evening. The conference was over. Everyone
had gone home. It was done. And I sat down. I rested. It is finished, the work of salvation
is done. How did the Lord Jesus Christ
finish the work that was given him? Verse 14. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. It is finished by
one offering. Again, return, look there on
Calvary's cross at our Lord as he hangs there. We have seen
the cause for which he suffers and dies, Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. He is the one of whom Pilate
declared multiple times, I find no fault in him. This is he who went about doing
good and received from God the Father honor and glory when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, suffers and dies as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, not for anything he
has done, but for my sin laid upon him. Look there upon our
Lord as he hangs on the cross, his head pierced with many a
thorn, because the thoughts and imaginations of my sinful mind."
Isaiah 1 5, the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. His hands pierced through by
nails because all that I touch, all that I handle is polluted
and defiled. As we have declared in Ecclesiastes
2, I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and
on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity
and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Upon his precious back, he said,
the flowers plowed upon my back, they made long their furrows,
A man's back is often thought to represent his strength. And
we read from poets words like, bowed by the weight of centuries,
he leans upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, the emptiness
of ages in his face, and on his back, the burden of the world. That burden that weighs us down,
that burden that we that we declare, I can take it. I've got it. Sinners all. We claim to have the ability
to fulfill the law of God when we have absolutely no strength
at all. There on the cross, our Lord
bore the burden in our place. Look, Look on our sacrifice who
described himself in Psalm 22. I am poured out like water, and
all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted
in the midst of my bowels. All my bones are out of joint. As my substitute, he became what
I am. All wrong. All out of joint. I am not as God. He is holy. I am sin. He is right. I am unrighteousness. He is good. I am evil. He became what I am. Isaiah one six from the sole
of the foot, even unto the head. There is no soundness in it,
but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. How did Christ Jesus finish
the work that was given to him? The work that he freely undertook,
he took our place. Listen to 1 Peter 3, 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He did all that we cannot do. He lived as we cannot live. He
paid the debt we have nothing with which to pay. He took our
filthy robes of sin and gave to us his glorious robes of righteousness. Our appointed hour is upon us
for some of us sooner than others, but we are all a few days when
this earthly tabernacle in which we dwell is laid down. and we
enter into the presence of the thrice holy God, shall we hear,
enter ye blessed or depart from me? The answer is entirely dependent
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe him? Do you believe
him when he said it is finished? How do I know if I really believe. How does this flesh, with so
many doubts, so many fears, so many what-ifs, my conscience continually condemning
me, if you believed, you wouldn't think that. If you believed,
you surely wouldn't do that. For many years, I could give
the technical correct answer. Christ is all. But I didn't really believe that. Christ is all, but I, but my. I'm not that bad. My parents,
but I go to the right church. When Christ brings us to know
what we are, sin from top to bottom, the buts that rely on
me are no more. When my conscience, which still
plagues me, if you believed, you wouldn't, the answer now
is, oh, you're right. I'm guilty. There's none worse
than I. But Christ, my Lord, said it
is finished and upon him is all my hope. I'm concerned continually
assaulted from within. You don't pray enough. Guilty. But he upon whom all
my hope is stayed, he prays for me. You don't believe enough. Don't I know it? But Christ is
my all and in all, and he is faithful. And all I can do is
cry out, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Led us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest. It is finished. Lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. Lord, help us believe thy word.
It is finished.