Your Bible is with me this evening
to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. I pray the Lord
that I do as he said this evening, bring a message that will be
comforting to the Lord's people, edifying to them, but most of
all, most of all, will bring all the glory to our Lord Jesus
Christ. And may we see him who alone
is worthy of our praise, our worship, our adoration, our submission. He alone is worthy of it. Here
in John 19 and 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 Hysop
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. Our Lord Jesus Christ is here
in his last moments of life. He's in his dying moments. He's
just a few moments away from dying. Dying, just as dead as
anyone you've ever seen. He's going to die. Life's going
to leave his body. But he is so gloriously in control,
so gloriously a man, so gloriously so powerful, that right up to
the moment that he gave up the goats, and he gave it up, He
died when he willed to die. They didn't take his life. He
gave up the ghost. He committed his spirit to his
Father. But his mind was crystal clear when our Lord Jesus was
dying. If you've ever been around anyone
in the last moments of their life, most of them are troubled
in their mind, get very troubled, maybe because of the pain that
they're enduring or maybe the fear of death. Some of them, you know, when
they get ready to go, they can't get their thoughts together.
They try to say something, and you get down close to them. What
are you trying to say? And they're hard to be understood.
But here our blessed Savior, in His last moments, His mind
is crystal clear. His memory is perfect. His last
few moments on earth were so full of wisdom and prudence. Even though He is suffering,
and His sufferings are without measure, When he declared there
in verse 30, it is finished. It is finished. In his mind,
in his mind, his Father's glory was right in front of him. Father,
thy has come, thy has come. Glorify thou son as thy son has
also glorified thee. And not only that, but the salvation
of his sheep, the salvation of his elect, the salvation of his
people. were foremost in his mind, even
though his suffering, and suffering more than you and I could ever
imagine, his mind was clear when he said it is finished. Look
what happened here in his last moments. There is his mother,
four women and one man around his cross, and he was in such
a clear mind that he looked at them and talked to them. He said,
And let me tell you just a little bit about the cross of Christ.
You see these pictures of Him like this, way lifted, way up
high. I personally believe, and I think
I'm right about this, you search it out. I believe that it wasn't
even a cross, as you and I know a cross. It's like a tree, and
they would put their hands above their head like this and put
their feet on top of one another. And His feet probably was about
that high off the ground. Because his mother and his brethren
and all those women stood right next to the cross. Stood right
next to it. As you read here, they stood
next to his cross. And as they stood by him, they were close
enough to converse with him. Stood right by the cross. And
he says, Woman, behold your son. And that, and then he says, and
that disciple whom Jesus loved. Our Lord seen John, and he loved
John as a disciple whom he loved. He said, Son, behold your mother. And then, knowing that all scriptures,
knowing that all things were now accomplished, knowing all
things were now accomplished, he said, I thirst. You know why he said that? Not
because he was thirsty, though he probably was. But it was so
the scriptures might be fulfilled. The Scriptures have already said
that that's what he's going to say. And he knew all things that
were to be, not thirst. He was the one who measures the
water in the hollow of his hands. He was that rock in the wilderness,
beloved, that followed them, that gave them water to drink
in the wilderness, hanging on this cross. You think that he
had to depend on men to give him something to drink when he's
thirsty? But that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. See how clear
his mind is when he's done. See how strong and clear and
powerful and mighty and glorious he is? So when our Lord said,
It is finished, his mind was clear. He knew then that every
purpose, every promise, every prophecy, every ceremony, every
sacrifice The covenant and all eternal glory was fixed clearly
in his mind at this awful hour. And not only that, but he knew
that every one of them was comprehended in himself. In himself. Jesus, knowing all things that
should come upon him, went forth. Went forth. And all of this,
as he beheld all the eternal purpose of God on that cross,
as he beheld all of his people. He beheld his eternal bearers
and earners. He beheld the salvation of God
in every prophecy concerning himself, every ceremony, every
sacrifice that had been going on for centuries. He seen them
all in his mind. And he knew every one of them
were comprehended and fulfilled in himself. And then he said,
it's finished. He knew that. And all of this,
when and while, men are standing around his cross mocking him.
He saved others, he can't save himself. If you be the Christ,
come to him. He's coming for Elijah. And oh,
at this moment, as he's hands and feet are nailed to that cross,
at this moment in time on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ
beheld all of God's revelation and cried, it is finished. Our
blessed Savior, and listen to what I'm telling you, our blessed
Savior, by the worth of his person, the value and merit of his person
as a man, endured in six hours, six hours on a cross, He suffered,
and by the agony He endured, He was able in six hours on a
cross to endure everlasting punishment that you and I could have never
endured. He endured it for us in six hours. How could that
happen? If you knew how much He was worth,
you would ask that question. See, it's not how much blood
that was shed on the cross, it was whose blood that was shed.
It's not how much suffering He endured, it's who that suffered
on that cross. And He was of such infinite value
and such infinite merit that He was able to endure what I
would have had to endure for all eternity. That's how valuable. That's how precious. That's how
much merit. That's the worth of Him. And
oh, bless His holy name. How can one man suffer so much
for so many in such a short space of time because of who it is
that's doing the suffering. If you ever see who it is that's
doing the suffering, you will have a bit of trouble trusting
him. Our Lord's sufferings cannot
be measured by a finite line. You just can't do it. We've talked
about it today so much. But I do know that in his suffering,
and I do know that in his time on that cross, He took away what
causes eternal punishment, sin. He took away what would cause
God to send a soul to hell and banish him from his presence.
He took that away. He took away more eternal punishment,
but he took away what causes eternal punishment, sin. And
I also know that what he suffered on the cross, bless his holy
name, God accepted it. God took it. God accepted it. You know, we stand or fall by
our sacrifice. That's why the works of our hands
are unacceptable. That's why Adam, when he fell,
he ran and covered his nakedness with a fig leaf and hid behind
the bush. God said, Adam, where are you? He said, I'm hid. Why?
Because I'm naked. He had it covered and all, but
he said, I'm naked. He was covered, but he said he
knew before God he was naked. Naked. And beloved, God had to
cover him and shed the blood and cover his nakedness with
the shed blood of an animal. God did that. And God will only
accept what He Himself provides. And God provided Himself a sacrifice
equal to Himself and the person of His blessed Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if you have that sacrifice,
then you're acceptable to God. Without that, you're unacceptable.
When they came to the tabernacle, they'd bring a sacrifice. And
if that sacrifice had a blemish, if that sacrifice had a spot,
if there was anything wrong with it, they wouldn't accept it.
It had to be without spot and blemish. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
that Lamb, that Lamb without spot, that Lamb without blemish. But I know that what He suffered
on that cross, God himself accepted it for all whom he died on that
cross. And so he said here in John 19.30, when Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, what did he say? He said, it is finished. And he bowed his head. That means
he held his head up. He was looking out, seeing. He
held his head up. It's finished. about his head,
died. Boy, when he said it is finished,
what was comprehended in this statement? What was comprehended
in this? God helped me to grasp it. God
helped me to understand it, all of us. Let me try to say a few
things about it. I know this, all the types, the
Old Testament is full of types. All the types. Noah's ark was
a type. The Passover lamb was a type.
The smitten rock was a type. The brazen serpent lifted up
was a type. All these types. Abraham when
he took Isaac up on the mountain as typology. All the promises
of God, from the very first one in Genesis 3.15, all the prophecies
were now fully accomplished in Him. Ain't that what he says
there in verse 28, here in John 19? Now, after this, Jesus, knowing
that all things were now, all things were now, what? Accomplished. There's none of this here knocking
on your heart's door, wouldn't you please let me do something?
It's done! It's done. Salvation's accomplished.
He ain't going to ask you for nothing. He's going to bring
salvation to you. And oh, beloved, the Scriptures
were fulfilled. The whole book, the whole book. Now, not the New Testament. I'm
talking about the 39 books of the Old Testament. From Genesis
to Malachi. The whole book. The Law and the
Prophets was finished in the Lord Jesus Christ. From Genesis
3.15, where when God pronounced a curse, and in that curse He
made a promise. He says, the seed of the woman,
He told the serpent, the seed of the woman shall bruise thy
head, crush your head, and you will bruise His heel. The seed
of the woman? Well, when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law. And then to Malachi where he
says he shall rise with healing in his wings and the Lord whom
you seek shall suddenly come to his temple. And all the types
from the red heifer that was burnt. outside the camp and mixed
with water, and they sprinkled it on people to make them sanctified. And that turtle dove that was
slain in his bloodshed for the leper and for the poor, and one
turned loose and one slain. And the chesap that was dipped
in the blood and sprinkled on people. To Solomon's temple with
all of its gold and all of its silver and all of its glory,
all of them were fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every
prophecy was wrought out and worked out in him. And let me
give you something to think about. You take away Christ from the
Old Testament. That's like you ain't even got
a little. You take Christ from the Old Testament, and what have
you got? What have you got? Huh? You take
that Old Testament and you find the wisest man you know, find
the wisest man living, hand him those books, hand him Genesis
to Malachi. Hand them to him and say, now
listen, I've got a problem, I want to present a problem to you.
And as you read this book and you go through this book, construct
in your imagination an ideal character. who shall put exactly
everything that is prophesied in this book, and everything
that is promised in this book. You start in Genesis, you go
to Malachi, and you construct, as you read the prophecies and
the promises, you construct in your mind an ideal character
to fit this book. And you know there was a man
confronted with that. Look over in Acts chapter 8, and I'll show
you. There was a man confronted with that very thing. He was reading that, and he knew
that it was talking about something that he didn't know what it was
talking about. You remember the Ethiopian eunuch? Now, we've
handed this book to a man, a wise man, the wisest man who took
Christ. Now, you construct in your imagination
as you read this, who fits all the promises and all the prophecies.
But look here in verse 26, Acts chapter 8, and the angel of the
Lord. under Philip, saying, Arise,
and go toward the south, under the way of the Gorth, down from
Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose, and went,
and behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority,
under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all of
her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship." He
was a Jewish proselyte. He was returning and sitting
in his chair, he read Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit said
to Philip, join yourself to this church. So Philip ran up next
to him and he's riding along and he heard him reading. He's
reading out loud. And he heard him read the prophet
Isaiah. And he said to him, do you understand what you're reading?
Do you understand what you're reading from Isaiah? Do you understand
what you're reading? He said, how can I except some
man should guide me? What's this then? And he said, would you come up
here and sit down beside me? And he did, and the place of
the scripture which he read was like this. He's reading from
Isaiah 53. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a
lamb done before his shearers, so open not he, not his mouth.
In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And who's going
to declare his generation? Who's going to talk about how
he come from and where he come from? His life is taken from
the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, now listen to me, I pray thee, of whom speaketh
the prophet? He said, let's do a prophet now.
We're giving this book to a wise man. Is this prophet, this prophet
here, is he speaking of himself? Or some other man? Who's he talking
about? And oh, that's what we're going
to do. Give this blessed book to a man. Who is he talking about?
Who is he talking about? Now remember, wise man, we gave
you this book. Gave you this problem. Let's
take Christ away for just a minute. You've got to construct a man
that will fit this book. Remember, he must be a prophet
like Moses. He's got to be called of God.
He's got to meet God face to face. He's got to be a friend
of God. He's got to have the wisdom and
the power to bring his people out of Egypt. He's got to be
used of God. The word of God's got to be in
his mouth. And then he must be the captain of the Lord's host,
like Joshua, and fight all the Lord's enemies, and defeat every
one of them, and take the promised land. And he must be Aaron, the
high priest with all of his glorious robes on, with the names of the
children of Israel on his breastplate, and bearing them on his shoulders,
had that whole bonnet on that says, Holiest unto the Lord.
He must be the one with the bells on his robe, and when he goes
into that holiest of holies, he's got to be able to go in
there and offer a sacrifice acceptable, and come back out! And oh, not only that, but he
also must be a high priest like Melchizedek. No beginning of
days, no ending of days, no father, no mother. Who beloved the priest
of the most high God. You don't know where he come
from? You don't know where he went? He's blessed. Abraham even came
and worshipped with him and before and all paid tithes to him. Oh my, he must be a priest. And
he must be David, the king. He's going to have His throne,
and not only have it for a little while, but have it forever. He
must be Solomon in all of His glory and wealth. He must be
wiser than Solomon, more glorious than Solomon. He must be arrayed
in great majesty. And He must be Noah, whose very
name means Comforter. You know why they called him
North? God's going to comfort His people through Noah. Oh,
call Him North! Why? He's going to comfort His
people. And oh, He must be Jonah, who's going to spend three days
and three nights in the belly of the whale. And oh, He's going
to come up! And oh, bless His holy name.
He must be Judah! who arises with the scepter,
he must be Judah, out of whom Shiloh shall come with peace,
and the star comes out of Judah. And then he must be Joseph, who
his brethren despised and hated, and was jealous of, and sold
him into slavery, and took him down to Egypt into bondage, and
lied on him, and ridiculed him, and deceived his father. And
he went down there, and then he was falsely accused and imprisoned. And our beloved Noah is imprisoned
and he got to be brought up out of prison and ascended to the
throne with all power and authority. And if anybody gets anything
in Egypt, they're going to have to come to Joseph. You want bread?
Go to Joseph. You want life? Go to Joseph. Oh, I see what I'm talking about. Oh, my our Savior. And all of
this was in His mind. And all of this was fulfilled
and comprehended. And all of it fulfilled Him. Oh, listen, wise man. This man
that you've got to fit this book, he must be the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. He must be the Passover Lamb.
He must be the serpent lifted up. He must be the rock smitten.
He must be the goat that's the sin offering upon whom they lay
their hands, and they confess their sins over Him, and the
priest takes His and slays Him. And then He must be that scapegoat
who the fit man takes Him out into the wilderness, and as He
takes Him out into the wilderness, He's taken all of the sins of
Israel far away, and they all stand and watch Him go. There
He goes. Oh, look, He's gone. He's gone.
He's gone! They can't see Him anymore! And they're waiting for that
man to come back. And a little while, they see a spot and he's
coming back. And the goat ain't with him. Sandra gone! Oh my! Oh, he must be that turtle
dove dipped in blood and sprinkled. He must be the priest who slew
the bird. He must also be the altar, and
there's two altars in the Scriptures, and He's got to be both of them.
There's the brazen altar, the one where they put the burnt
offering, and the fire is constantly on it and it's bearing the judgment
of God. He must be the morning sacrifice,
the evening sacrifice, the bullet. He got to bear it, and as that
fire consumes that sacrifice, and yet the altar must be able
to bear that burden of judgment, and that fire of God's wrath.
He must be the blazing oak. And then he must be that altar
of incense, that one that stands before the veil, and they crush
the herbs and all the spices and all, and mix it together,
and they crush it, and he must be crushed. And have that crushing. They take that fire and put it
on. And oh, and oh, that smell goes ascending up to God, the
sweet-smelling Savior. He must be the altar, the brazen
altar. He must be the altar of incense.
And he also must be the tabernacle. That tabernacle, when anybody
looked at it, all they seen was a bunch of boards and badger
skin. But he must be that tabernacle
where God dwells and where God meets men, where the sacrifices
are offered. And behind the veil, there was
a mercy seat made out of pure gold. And the priest only went
to that mercy seat one time, once a year. And at that mercy
seat, as he went behind that veil, He would take blood with
him and he would put the blood before it seven times, put it
down on the ground right in front of it so that he would have a
place to stand in perfection. And then he would take the blood
and sprinkle it on that mercy seat. And, beloved, that mercy
seat meant when God accepted that blood, that sins were accepted,
the sacrifice was accepted, and God would show mercy. His wrath
was appeased. And the people, when the priests
come out, they know then that God had accepted him. He must
be that mercy seat. That place where the blood has
been applied and God's wrath has been consumed. And he must be that show. In
this tabernacle they had showbread on the table. And that showbread was holy bread,
bread they eat. And he must be that showbread
for he's our bread. He must be that light in the
tabernacle. He must be the table. Oh my soul. All prophecies, all
prophecies must meet in this one man. And oh, you know how
many prophecies seem to contradict one another when you read them?
Let me just give you an example. David said, All kings shall fall
down before him, and all nations shall serve him. Yet, he is despised
and rejected of men. How can that happen? How can
all the kings bow down before him and he be despised and rejected?
Who's going to meet this man? Who is this man? He must be born
of a virgin. That doesn't happen, but he must
be. He must be a man without spot or blemish, and yet God
is going to cause all the sin of all his people to meet on
him. He must be a glorious king, the
son of David, and yet a root out of dry ground. Now, wise
man, I gave you all these things. Where's the man? Where is the
man? It's all of these things. And
that's just a drop in the bucket to what he is. Ain't it, Bruce?
Ain't it? I mean, you know, the old God
said, let there be light. Who was that light? Who was God
that said, let? The other thing God done, he
done by his word. And who is his word? The Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, my soul. Now, wise men, where's
the man? Where's the key? Where's the
key that's going to unlock this book given to you? There's only
one. There's only one key. For who
is it? It's the Son of God incarnate.
And Him with His cross. Him with His cross. In Him we
see all things accomplished. When our Lord Jesus said, It
is finished. It is finished. Everything is
summed up in the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the
typical sacrifices of the old Jewish law. Have you ever wondered
why, when you go through the Old Testament, all those sacrifices
you read? Leviticus, to most of you, is
very, very boring, because all you read meets one ceremony after
another, one ritual after another, one law after another. The Jews
say that there are 600-something laws that they have to keep.
Maybe some of you know that radio talk show host, that woman, Laura
Schlesinger? Schleckender? Schleckender? Dr. Laura, what's that her name?
She converted to Judaism. And somebody asked her if she
was interested in the love of God. She said, I ain't got time
to think about the love of God. She said, I've got 630-something
laws that I've got to be worried about keeping all the time. Dietary
laws, washings, sacrifices, hours and days and months, moons, feasts,
sunrises, suns going down. Oh, a thousand things around.
That all mine and all those sacrifices. You ever wonder what all those
sacrifices was? Why did God say, Abraham, take
your son, your only son, take him up and offer him where I
tell you to, and offer him on that mountain. You ever wonder
why that was? All of those things was telling us. about Him who
is to come. All of them are telling us about
the Lord Jesus Christ and all these things were fulfilled in
Him. When He said it's all finished, it's all finished. All the typical
sacrifices of the Jewish law, all of the rituals, all of the
ceremonies, all of the washings, all of the sanctifications, every
lamb, every heifer, every bird, everything fulfilled, every bullock,
every goat abolished now. and explained. Now we understand
what they meant. And they were finished in him. His was the one sacrifice. Not
one sacrifice ever put away one sin. Before Christ came, and not one
sacrifice has put away one sin since Christ has There's only
one person who put away sin once and for all by the sacrifice
of himself, and that was this blessed man on this cross. And
he said, it's finished. That's what he's talking about.
Huh? Oh my, he put away sin once and
for all. He alone satisfied God, and he
satisfies the consciences of his people. When Abraham got
on that mountain with Isaac, and he drew back the knife to slay his son. He had the wood
already under him, had him strapped down, had the wood under him,
had the fire ready to start the fire. God said, Wait, Abraham,
don't do that. And he looked around and there
was a ram caught in a thicket. And the scripture said, Genesis
22, 13, and Abraham took that ram and put it in the place of
Isaac. in the stead of Isaac. That's what's happening here.
And He was the Lamb, the Lamb was what was sacrificed. And
that was telling us that Christ is the one sacrificed for us.
We, the fires of hell was just fixed to start on us. And God
had every right to strike the match and let it go. But He took
His Son and put Him in our place. And that was telling us. Sacrifices
is finished. It's done. It's put away. Put
away. It's done. You know, I feel sorry
for people that's trying to work to save themselves from their own
sins. I've tried that before. I've tried it. You can't pray
enough to put away a sin. You can't
give enough. I used to remember that if I
could just Give enough, you know, if I can just, I know why I'm
a conscious, but I'm not praying enough, so I'll go pray some
more. I know why I'm a conscious, but it still bothers me. Now,
I'm not reading enough of the Bible, so I'd read some more
of the Bible. I know why I'm a conscious, but I'm not going
to church enough, so I'd go to church every night somewhere.
I didn't know what this preacher didn't care, but I'd go. I know why I'm a conscious, but
I've got a television. Well, I'll get rid of it. I know
about why my conscience bothers me. My daughter and children,
why my daughter wears pants and my wife, my sister, I put dresses
on them. And they wear too much makeup.
You ain't wearing no more makeup. I know why my conscience bothers
me. And that just on and on and on and just do and do and do
and do and do and never no peace. Never no peace. Because we're
trying to appease God and put away our sin by what we did.
And oh my soul, there's only one person who ever put away
sin, and he did it one time when he said it's finished. It was
done at that time. Put away once and for all. In
fact, when our Lord Jesus Christ said it's finished, all the sins
of God's elect were put away once and for all, for all time
and all eternity. My sins there were put away. And somebody come and told me
in the gospel it was done. That's what the gospel is. It's
not telling you what to do. It's telling you what God's already
done. There ain't no good news to tell you to do something.
There ain't nothing good about that. Come to the front, raise
your hand, accept Jesus, let Him into your heart. Start paying your tithes. Change your habits for new habits.
That ain't going to do you no good. Oh, there's only one person who
ever put away sin. He said it's finished. He put
away sin. Hebrews 9.26. He appeared once
in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Huh? And oh my. Oh, when I found out. You know
what? When my conscience went to rest. Now listen to me. When
my conscience went to rest. is when I found out that what
satisfied God was the only thing that satisfied me. When I found
out God was satisfied with him, his son, and that's what he meant
when he said it's finished, when God was satisfied and accepted
his son, his sacrifice, his sin offering, his work, his righteousness,
his obedience, his doing, his dying, his burial, his resurrection,
his ascension. When I found out that he was
that lamb that God appointed and God sacrificed and God offered
him and that God requires no more than him, my conscience
quietened down and it ain't bothered me since. I quit trying to work. You know what our Lord said?
Come unto me and what do you do? Find rest. And when you're resting, you
ain't doing nothing. What are you going to do to be
saved? Nothing. I've already been saved.
When? When Christ died on the cross. And I'm going to tell
you, he's done such a wondrous job of putting away sin that
every sin that I've not committed yet has already been paid for. You say, how in the world can
that be, Preacher? That's just the way it is. That's what God
said about it. put away sin, and in fact, it's
put away so far and put away so gloriously that God said,
those sins and iniquities I will remember no more. For Christ
to put sin away in such a wondrous way that God says, I don't remember
it. God said, I've been looking for
iniquity in Judah or Jacob. He said, I didn't find any. Why? Christ put it away. So it's finished. and all beloved and our blessed
Savior, just like that high priest went behind the veil once a year. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered
not into that holy place made with hands, not with high priestly
robes on, but he entered into heaven itself now to appear in
the presence of God for us, clothed in human flesh. And as a man
sits at the right hand of God, and he entered once into that
holy place in heaven itself, not with the blood of bulls and
goats, but his own blood he entered once into the holy place. And
I'm going to say something. I don't know if you agree with
me or not. I won't hold it against you if you don't. This is the
way I believe, I feel. There was three hours of darkness
on that cross. There was some transaction that
went on between the Father and the Son. But I personally believe,
because of the way the Revelation talks about it, and Christ going
into that eternal place, not made with hands, entering into
the presence of God, putting His blood in the presence of
God through the eternal Spirit, offering His blood. I personally
believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, during that three hours on the
cross, I personally believe that He went into the presence of
God. And I believe, just as the high priest went behind the veil,
I personally believe that he took his blood, and he offered
his blood to God in that holy place, in that tabernacle made
without hands, and offered his blood to God. God smelt it as
a sweet sacrifice, and then when our Lord Jesus went there by
the Spirit, and when the sun come back out, he said, I thirst,
took his drink, he said, it's finished, and died. But I believe
he took his own blood and went into the presence of God. I really
do. That's what it says. In Hebrews 9, he entered into
that holy place with his own blood through the eternal Spirit. Is that what it says? And he's
talking about that altar where that blood's at. The speaking
blood. And like I said, if you don't
believe that, that one won't hold it against you. And I hope you don't
hold it against me. But I do know this, after ending into
the holiest of all by his own blood, he came out from the very
presence of God and cried, It's finished! It's finished! It's
done! And, O beloved, for sinful man
to be saved, the law must be kept, and a man has to have a
righteousness equal to God Almighty's. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when
he cried, It's finished! The law was done. It was done. And he brought in an everlasting
righteousness. Let me show you this in Romans
10, and I'll be through. Romans 10. Let's look at this
verse of scripture just a moment. Romans chapter 10. You know, our Lord Jesus, he
finished the end of the law. He is the end of the law. He's
Jehovah's Akidnew, our righteousness. And it's more than just a righteousness
that covers us. Christ himself is our righteousness. It's more than just a robe that
we put on. He himself is our righteousness.
What's your righteousness? Christ. How do you stand before
God? Christ. How do you accept before
God? Christ. Did you fulfill the law? In Christ. Did you obey God fully, completely,
perfectly in Christ? Are you without sin in Christ?
So it's not something that you stick on. It's a person that
we possess, a person we know, a person that dwells in us, and
us in Him. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
And oh, look what it says here in Hebrews 10. For Christ is
the end of the long. You ever get to know one of these
streets that says, dead end, no way out? Well, that's the
way it is. Christ is the dead end of the
law. When you get to the end of something, it can't go no
further. And Christ did end of it in two ways. Let me tell you
this, and I'm through. He's the end of it in two ways.
First of all, if you're going to be saved by law, you've got
to keep it from the day you're born until the day you die in
your thoughts, in your heart, in your motives, your desires,
that you cannot fail in any way. Love God, love your neighbors
as yourself. You've got to perpetually keep the law. Keep it. And if you don't, then you've
got to bear its curse, which is death. Well, our Lord Jesus
Christ is the end of the law. in both of those. He's the end
of the law for obedience. He perfectly, perpetually fulfilled
it. So if I'm in Him, the righteousness
of the law is fulfilled in me. Is that not right? And then,
not only did He obey it and fulfill it, but then, as a sacrifice,
He boards curse. He boards penalty. And he's the
end of the law as his curse, as his punishment. And if he
bore his curse, then I bore his curse. And that's why it says
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Not to anybody
that does, but who? He that believeth. He that believeth. You know, beloved, God can ask
for no more than the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what's so glorious
about this being finished, is our Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
is not letting me get by with not one sin I've ever committed.
Not one. I've not got by with one sin
I've ever committed. Sins that nobody can see. Sins
that's going on inside of me right now that you cannot know
anything about. The pride, the presumption, the arrogance, the
anger, impatience, all the miserable
things that makes a human being a human being. And God's not letting me get
by with one of them. He punished every single one
of them. Where did He do it in? In Christ. In Christ. You see how just He is? He ain't
going to let us get by with our sin. He's just. He got to punish
it. He punished it in Christ. And
Christ said, It's finished. Now, if God... punished Christ,
and He punished my sins in Him, is He going to come back and
get me later? Well, that wouldn't be just.
If He has already punished Him, come back and get me for something
I've done wrong, when Christ already bore my punishment? What
kind of God treats somebody that way? You say, well, if you think
that He's already atoned for all your sins that you're going
to commit, that means you're going to sin all you can do and get...
No, no, no, no. How can we, who are dead to sin, and Christ loved
us, Greg said this, he said, what if somebody went and paid
all your debt? You wouldn't go try and pay it again, would you?
I said, oh no. He said, if they told me my debt
was paid, I'd say, who paid it? I want to go and hug them, I
want to kiss them, I want to tell them how much I love them,
how much I appreciate them, and I'm going to just follow them
around and say, oh boy, you just don't know what you've done for
me. Not only did he pay my debt, but he paid all the future debts.
It's finished. It's done. It's complete. It's
accomplished. Can you find your soul's rest
in God's blessed Son? Can you do it? Will you do it?
Will you do it? The Lord bless you.