I invite you to turn back with
me to John chapter 19, and primarily I hold my comments
to verse 30. In John 19 verse 30, the Apostle records a declaration
found nowhere else in the Word of God. Yet, the truth of that declaration
is taught throughout the Word of God. In verse 30, our Lord, hanging
upon the cross, was delivered the vinegar on
a spear or a pole with His And had he received it, he cried
these words, it is finished. This is the very basis of the
sinner's hope before God. And it is the foundation of the
Christian faith. And it's the foundation of Christian
practice in this life. The man or woman who's ignorant
of this, he can be or she can be deceived and tempted to practice
almost any kind of religion and to be blown about by every wind
of doctrine. But the person who believes this
and understands this and is established and he's made wise unto salvation,
it is finished. Is it? Is it? Our Lord said it was. Know this then, apart from an
understanding, receiving, and embracing of this great truth,
there can never be any true and lasting peace or rest before
God. I must know this. And I tell
you, you'll want to know it too if you ever convinces you of
sin, if He ever pulls on the strings
of your heart and begins to reveal to you what you really are, let
you just look down into that pit that we call the heart. and begin to see its potential
and begin to see what's in there. Out of the heart, he said, proceed
evil thoughts and adulteries and fornications and all these
things, false witness, blasphemy, all these things come out of
the heart. Whose heart? Your heart, my heart, man's heart. And I tell you, if He ever shows
you this, and this is the first work, He has to show you this.
I can't show it to you. I can declare it to you. I can
read to you about it, but I can't show it to you. Only the Holy
Ghost can convince a man of sin. And when He does, when He does,
the sweetest word you'll ever hear, it is finished. It is finished. There are three
things I want you to see concerning these final words of Christ before
being laid to rest in the tomb. I want you to see that His earthly
course had drawn to a close. Everything He had come to do,
He did. I want you to see also that all
that was written concerning His appearance on this earth had
been fulfilled. And then thirdly, that the promised
redemption of God's elect had now been fully accomplished.
Now let's look at these one at a time and see if the Lord will
open to us the Scriptures and show us that thus, thus, that's
what He showed His disciples. You remember He opened their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. and
showed them that thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead, and that his gospel might be preached among all nations. So here's the first thing I want
you to see concerning this cry, it is finished. This is a declaration
that is earthly course. We all have a course. He had
a course. I have a course. Paul said, you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in times past you walked according to the course of this world.
There is a course. Every man has a course. Everything required of him as
a man was now complete. Paul tells us in Hebrews 10.7
that in the volume of the book, This is what our Lord said in
the volume of the book. It is written of Me, I come to
do Thy will, O God. Our God, the God of Holy Scripture,
is a God of purpose. He does nothing by chance or
circumstance. There is a purpose behind creation,
a purpose behind the ages, and a purpose to every time under
heaven. Isn't that what Solomon wrote?
A purpose. All these times and seasons and
all these things, there's a purpose behind these things. God does
not wait on Mother Nature, evolution, or any other imaginary thing
and then react to it. He sets Himself apart from every
imaginary God that man has ever conjured up. And He said, here's
what makes me different. I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. And these grasshoppers and wiggle
worms down here who really think there's something, they can't
do anything about it. He does all things. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. No man has ever come into this
world apart from the purpose of God. We like to explain unwanted
children away as accidents of nature, unplanned pregnancies,
and so on. And I have no doubt that that's
what they are in our eyes, but not in the eyes of God. There's
a purpose. There's a purpose behind all
these things. Paul tells us that of one blood,
listen to this, of one blood, our God hath made all nations
of men for to dwell on all the faces of the earth, and hath
determined the times before appointed and set the bounds of their habitation. You think about that. This God of whom they were ignorant
of had raised a little monument there to the unknown God. Paul
said, Him I declare unto you. This God you don't know. In Him,
he said, we live and move and have our being. In Him. Some vessels of wrath fitted
for destruction and some vessels of mercy aforeprepared unto glory. Every man, woman, and child who
comes into this world comes here in some way to fulfill the purpose
of God. And this is especially true of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything which could be done
had been done, and nothing was left undone. You remember the story of Lazarus
and the rich man, and they both died. And Lazarus was carried
up and laid in Abraham's bosom. And the rich man cried out from
hell. And he said, send somebody back
to warn my family. Send somebody. If they'll see
somebody raised from the dead, they'll believe. He said they
wouldn't believe the prophets. And they're not going to believe
one though he be raised from the dead. They won't believe. Everything that could be done
is being done, isn't it? And it was being done with Him.
Everything that could be done was done. And nothing was left undone.
He died at 33 years of age and lived a full and satisfactory
life. How many funerals have I been
to of my own relatives? Young boys killed in their prime. And I've heard preachers stand
up and say this about them. They were robbed. They were robbed. Does God rob
a man when He takes him out of this world at a young age? No. Our Lord was only 33 years
old, and He lived a full and satisfactory life before God
in 33 years. Everything required of him as
a man had been done in perfect obedience and glorious perfection. Our Lord was obedient to His
parents. He was submissive to the law
of the land and faithful to His calling. Paul speaks of our daily
lives in the light of this and tells us this, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let this
mind. who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, took on Him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." Jesus Christ knew the will of God,
the redemptive will of God, and He knew the glory of God, for
He was God. God and man in one person. And
knowing these things, he lived a life of perfect submission,
humility, humble obedience, even unto death. Even that ignominious
death of the cross. And having set before us a real
man, a perfect example, he cried, it is finished. It's finished. We're not left to speculate or
experiment, but rather to let this same mind be in us that
was also in him. So here's the first application
to these words. It is finished. It is a declaration
that his earthly course had come to an end. Everything that God
sent him here to do, he did. He did. We all have a course to follow,
a time appointed of God to fulfill it. May the Lord teach us and
enable us to be about the Father's business and not so much our
own. Alright, here's the second thing
I want you to see. When our Lord cried, it is finished. This was a declaration concerning
everything that was written of His person and work. It's finished. It's finished. Now, I want to break this down
into two parts for you so we can understand it a little better.
The written Word of God up to and including the days of our
Lord where He walked upon this earth was divided into two parts. One part was the law, especially
the ceremonial law. Things that they were to keep.
Holy days, weeks, a priesthood, sacrifices, and on and on. His
declaration that it is finished is the end of ceremonial worship
and the end of figures and types. Hebrews 9 tells us of the first
covenant. He tells us that it had ordinances
and service. It had a priesthood and sacrifices. It had a tabernacle and a temple. An ark and a mercy seat. He tells
us that as long as those things continued, that the Holy Ghost
signified that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest. Long as this priesthood, long
as this temple worship, long as these figures and types stood,
stood alone, the way into the holiest had
not yet been made manifest. He calls them, in verse 9 of
Hebrews, nine figures for the time then present. He calls them, in verse 23, patterns
of things in the heavens. He calls them, in verse 24, figures
of the truth. And then in Hebrews 10, verse
1, He calls them shadows of good things to come. When Christ cried
from the cross, it is finished, the veil of the temple. That
heavy veil that separated the outer part from the inner sanctuary
was rent in two. Ripped top to bottom. Why? Why would God rip that holy
veil? This was of God's doing, of God's
appointment that that veil hung there. Why would He rent that
thing top to bottom? Why would He destroy That thing,
why would He take that partition down? Why did He do such a thing? Because temple worship had come
to an end. The priesthood had served its
purpose. The types had all been fulfilled. By virtue of His death, the Old
Covenant is said to have vanished away. Hebrews 8 verse 13. That
old covenant, that old economy, that old priesthood and temple
worship had been done away. It vanished away. There is no
more need of an earthly priesthood, a high priest or a burnt offering.
We don't need a tabernacle or a temple built with hands. Christ
is our tabernacle. No more ark, no more mercy seat,
no more altar, no more showbread, no more holy labor, no more offering
for sin. Our Lord, as a man, fulfilled
every type and figure in the Old Testament. This man, Paul
said, because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able to say them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. I have no need of a high priest. He is my high priest. He is my
high priest. He is the fulfillment of every
type, even the Sabbath. We've had Sabbatarians who have
attended a meeting here and went away angry because I tell them
we have no more Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. He's our
rest. He's our rest. And to continue
or condone the observing of these things is a denial of the person
and work of Jesus Christ. It is as much to say, no, He
didn't fulfill these things. But He did. Paul said in Colossians
2, verses 16 and 17, "...let no man judge you, therefore,
in meat or drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new
moon, or of Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come." When did he say that? He said
that right after he said, "...in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in Him." Now, he
said, don't let any man judge you on Sabbath day. I'm your
Sabbath. And then secondly, this is the
first thing. He's done away with temple worship.
All these things have been fulfilled. And then secondly, it's a declaration
that all the prophecies concerning the coming of the Redeemer have
been fulfilled. Isaiah said, the Lord Himself
shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel, God with us. He fulfilled that. He fulfilled
that. He shall be born in Bethlehem,
Judah. Then He is going to move to Egypt
for a while, and then He is going to go to Nazareth where He is
going to be raised. And this man is going to die
a cruel death, die with the lawless, be buried in a bog tomb, and
then on the third day be raised from the dead. How do I know
these things? The Scriptures declared it beforehand. in great detail. I underlined
this morning in this very chapter at least four places where he
said that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. And Jesus, knowing
that all things were now accomplished, that the Scriptures might be
fulfilled, said, I thirst. I remember reading this in one
of our studies in the Gospels. John's disciples came to the
Lord and they said, John sent us over here and we need to ask
you, are you the Christ or do we look for another? He said,
you go back and tell John what you've seen. You go tell him
the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised
unto life. You go tell John that. The Old Testament weaves a garment,
one man said, that will only fit one man. And that man is
the Lord Jesus Christ. John tells us of the last things
that took place on the cross. And he said, these things were
done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. A bone of him shall
not be broken. And again, they shall look on
him whom they have pierced. His course as a man was finished.
The old covenant was folded up and vanished away, and all the
future prophecies of the coming Redeemer had been fulfilled. It's finished. It's finished. And then lastly, when our Lord
cried, it is finished, it was a declaration that God's promised
redemption for His elect was fully accomplished. It's finished. It's finished. Having fulfilled
the redemptive will of God, our Lord cried, it is finished. He
is now, from this time forward, always was, but especially from
this time forward, He is now the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. Righteousness has been wrought
out. Righteousness has been accomplished. The gospel is not, sinner, do
this and do that. The gospel says, it's done. And
now what the hymn writer wrote, it's done, it's done, the great
transaction is done. As our covenant surety, our Lord
become obedient unto death. He did this to redeem His people
and make them acceptable to God. In the book of Galatians it says,
when the fullness of the time was come, What time? That time declared by God Almighty
before the world began. When the fullness of that time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. And you cannot
be redeemed without a righteousness, and you cannot produce one by
yourself. Jesus Christ took our place before
the holy bar of God, bore our sins in His own body on the tree. We were judged in Him, condemned
in Him, put to death in Him, and raised from the dead in Him. Listen to what Paul says. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Brethren, be careful. We all
fall into temptation and sin. Every one of us do. Further moment,
angry, jumping up and down, saying things. Be careful what you say
back toward that brother, toward that sister. Be careful. Who
is he that condemns? It's Christ that died. I tell
you, if we keep that on our mind, we wouldn't be so quick to blow
up maybe. Who is He that condemns? It's
Christ that died. God who justifies. He was delivered, Paul said,
for our offenses. Delivered by divine appointment.
Delivered by divine stewardship. Delivered by divine union. Delivered
by divine justice. He was delivered for our offenses,
and He was raised again for our justification. Sinner, let me tell you something
this morning, and I'll wind this thing up. It's your only hope. There's no other hope anywhere
else. Kissing a man's ring ain't going
to save your soul. Coming to the front of the church
ain't going to save your soul. Making decisions for Jesus and
accepting this and that ain't going to save your soul. Salvation
is in Him. It's in Him. And you have to
hear who He is. You have to hear who is this
man Jesus Christ? And why did He come? And what
did He do? And where is He now? You find
the answers to those four things, and you've heard the gospel.
And hearing it, we receive it. Receiving it, we rejoice in it,
and we stand in it. It's the only hope there is.
If Christ did not fulfill all that's required of the sinner,
then the sinner still has it to do. He still has sins that
are not being paid for. He still has a debt unpaid. He still has the bar to face. He still has a judgment to face. This is your only hope. If Christ
did not fulfill all that is required of you, then you still have it
to do. It is Jesus Christ, as God has
set Him forth, our everlasting torment. That's not a word preachers
made up to scare people. That's the Word of God. Come
to Him. Receive Him. Rest in Him. Rejoice
in Him. Somebody said, well, you're just
trying to build a cult. I'm not trying to build anything.
I'm trying to point you to Jesus Christ. That's it. If you want
to go to England and worship God, it's all right with me.
It's all right with me. I can still have fellowship wherever
you go. I'm not trying to build something
here. I'm trying to point men to Christ. There's nothing outside of Christ.
Nothing. Just temporary things that you
receive in this life. Little temporary benefits. These
ministers that are running around here, they're ministering to
your earthly wants and desires and situations. I'm trying to
point you to eternity. I'm trying to talk to you about
eternal matters, your soul. And there is no hope outside
of Him. None outside of Him. How will you call on Him in whom
you have not believed? And how will you believe in Him
of whom you have not heard? And how are you going to hear
without a preacher? Oh, my soul, may God be pleased
to open our