Would you turn back to John 19
while you're turning there? Jan Carver's mother, Mary Bolton,
passed away last week. And the service is this Saturday
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Everybody remember her. And Joe
Cradtree passed away this week, Bruce's wife. And the funeral
is this Friday in Indiana. And Paul Daniel Sr. had his appendix removed. And
he's home doing well. That's quite remarkable. John 19, verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, and we know from Mark's
account, he cried, with a loud voice, right before he died, it is finished. Now I think of what the Lord
said from the cross, what if you were there hearing these
words, his first words, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And
we're given some idea of why he was there from that, that
you might be forgiven. And then I think of his second
saying, when he looked at his mother and can you imagine like,
if my mom saw me nailed to a cross, I believe the pain would be greater
for her than it would be for me. And he looked at his mother,
and I know that he felt the pain of knowing what anguish she was
in, and said, woman, behold thy son, speaking to John. And he said to John, behold thy
mother. Here we see the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, looking
at his mother, his earthly mother, in that light. And then his saying, I thirst. And this speaks of his suffering.
He thirsted like nobody else has ever thirsted. And that's
more than physical thirst. The thirst of wanting to have
his father's presence when he didn't have it. And then his saying, my God,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now here we learn why we're
not forsaken. This is the one reason. Because
he was forsaken. This speaks of his glorious substitutionary
death on the cross. And then we love to think of
what he said to that thief today. Thou wilt be with me. in paradise. Oh, what authority! Today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. And then we think of when he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. What faith he demonstrates at
that time. We learn what faith is. He had
no light. Yet he said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit. Now, I don't think there's any
more precious words. Those are all precious words,
and I wouldn't set one against the other. They're all of infinite
value. But there's nothing more glorious
than this statement that he made. And I try to picture people watching
him. There were people sitting down
and watched him there. What must have gone through their
mind when he said, Is finished. Now his first recorded words
were to his parents when he was 12 years old. How is it that you sought me?
They came to him and said, son, we've sought thee sorrowing.
And he looked at them and he said, how is it that you sought
me? In saying anything, you shouldn't
have been worried about me. How is it that you sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about
my father's business? And what were his last words? It's finished. I must be about my father's business.
And that's what he was doing for 33 years. And now he says
it is finished. Now it takes three words in the
English to give the one word spoken in the original. One word. And it's spoken in
the perfect tense, perfectly completed, never to be repeated
mission. accomplished. Look in verse 28 of John chapter
19. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, you know, that's the same word
is finished. Same word, knowing that all things were now accomplished. Now, what does that let us know?
It lets us know that whatever his intentions were, that's what
he did. Whatever I intended to do has
been done. Accomplished. He said in John
chapter four, verse 34, my meat, this is what I live on. This
is my necessary food. My meat, is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work. And we know from his own testimony
what that will was when he said, my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me. He said in John chapter six, verse 38, I
came down from heaven. That's a glorious thing. You
reckon people were flipping out when he would say that? What
if I said I came down from heaven? You'd say, you're crazy. And
I'm sure people were thinking this. He said, I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose what nothing but raise it up again at the last day he came
to do his father's will having been sent by his father and he
finished it perfectly it is Finished. What did he come to do? Well,
first, and I think this is the first thing that ought to be
said, he came to glorify the father. That's why he came. He came to glorify his father. He said, father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee." That's eternal life. To know God, the
only true and living God in Jesus Christ, whom thou sent. Then
he said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. He completely glorified
every attribute of God in his great work on the cross. And
he did so completely. He came to fulfill the law. He
said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law and the prophets.
I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. He kept the law. Isn't that a wonderful thing
to think about? He kept the law perfectly. He never sinned. He fulfilled every type, every
sacrifice. He is the promised seed. He is
the fulfillment of Abel's lamb. He is why God had respect to
Abel and to his offering, because he had respect to his son. He fulfilled Noah's ark. I'm that ark. He fulfilled the
Passover lamb. He fulfilled the great high priest. He fulfilled Melchizedek. He's
saying, I'm David's son and I'm David's Lord. I am the fulfillment
of all of this. I love when he said to John the
Baptist, thus it becometh us, me and you and all the elect,
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You search the scriptures, in
them you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify
of me. Every single one of them. Finished. Mission accomplished. In Matthew 121, I hope this is
a scripture we're all very familiar with. thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." When he said it is finished,
they were saved from their sins. When thinking of what he was
being called upon to accomplish in this great work, he said,
I have a baptism. This is in Luke 12. I have a
baptism to be baptized with. And he'd already gone through
water baptism. He's not talking about water baptism. He's talking about being immersed
in the wrath of God, submerged completely beneath the wrath
of God, and he emerges from the wrath of God in his resurrection. But when he thought of this,
He said, how am I straightened until it be accomplished? Finished, same word, finished. It said of him in Hebrews chapter
one, verse three, when he had by himself purged our sins, I
hope that never becomes old. When he had by himself, with
no aid from me or you, purged, made purification, put away our
sins. You know what the scripture says
he did? He sat down. Why did he sit down? His work
was finished. You know, resting in Christ cannot
be understood apart from him finishing his work. There's nothing
left to be done. Do you hear that? It's finished. There is nothing left to be done. Now false religion has you finishing
his work. He did his part. Now you do yours. Nothing could be further from
the truth. It is Finished. I'd like you to look at this
with me. Turn to Hebrews chapter four. Verse three, for we which have
believed do enter into rest. Because it's finished. That's
why we enter into rest. As I've sworn in my wrath, if
they shall enter into my rest or they shall not enter into
my rest, talking about some people who did not enter into his rest,
who never believed, look at this next statement. Although the
works were finished from the foundation of the world. Every aspect of his great work
of salvation, everything he did was finished before there was
a creation, before there was time, before there was space,
when all there was was God, salvation, and every aspect of salvation
was finished. That's how finished. He was finished
before the foundation of the world. Now the message of false religion
is you need to finish it. He's done his part, now you do
your part. You are the finisher. He died
for you, but you need to finish what he did by making his work
applicable to you. You need to finish becoming more
holy by doing things READING THE BIBLE, PUTTING DOWN SIN,
PRAYING, ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE CALLED UPON TO DO TO MAKE
YOU MORE HOLY AND LESS SINFUL. WHY, EVEN YOUR FINAL POSITION
IN GLORY WILL BE DETERMINED BY WHAT YOU DO. YOUR POSITION IN
HEAVEN WILL BE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORKS. DO, DO, DO. NO, IT'S DONE. IT'S FINISHED. You know, preachers are scared
to death to say that. Well, I'm saying it. There is
nothing for you to do. It is finished. Now, there are 12 words in the
King James Version that This one word is translated by 12
different words, all of which give us some idea of what it
is finished means. Now, the first word is accomplished. We've already seen that in John
chapter 19, verse 28. IT IS ACCOMPLISHED. YOU REMEMBER
LUKE CHAPTER 9 ON THE MAN OF TRANSFIGURATION WHERE MOSES AND
ELIJAH SPAKE WITH HIM CONCERNING THE DECEASED WHICH HE SHOULD
ACCOMPLISH. THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS
FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I have been saved from all of
my sins. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Mission accomplished. He sought him out and he saved
him. CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD
TO SAVE SINNERS, OF WHOM I AM THE CHIEF." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. IF YOU'RE A SINNER, HE SAVED
YOU. HE SAVED YOU. HE DIDN'T OFFER
YOU SALVATION. HE DIDN'T MAKE YOU SAFEABLE.
HE SAVED YOU. IT'S BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. Now here's
an interesting way this word is translated. In Luke chapter
18, verse five, he talked about the importunate widow and the
unjust judge says less by her continual coming, she weary me. Continual, all the time, all
the way to the end. Now here's the point, this message
It is finished is always in effect. There is no time when this is
not in effect. There is no intermission. There
is no time when it's not finished. Oh, what if his people sin? It's
finished. What if they sin greatly? It's
finished. What if they fall like Peter? It's finished. What if they sin
like David? It's finished. What if they stray
like Solomon? It's finished, period. That does not take away. It is finished. Nothing can change that. This
glorious message is continually in effect. It is finished. And then in Revelation chapter
20 verse 7, the word is translated expired. Expired. I like this expired. What happened after he made this
cry? Do you remember? The veil in
the temple was rent from top to bottom. And the Lord is letting
us know the entire Old Testament economy has expired. You know what happens when something
has reached its expiration date? I don't eat it. It's not good
for you, is it? You stay away from that. It is
expired. The old covenant is expired.
It's not in effect. It's done away with. We're not
under law. This was all finished when he
cried. Expired. Expiration date, no longer valid. This word, it is finished, is
quite often translated, it's ended, the end. Having loved his own, which were
in the world, he loved them to the end. Romans 10, four says Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. Now, I love thinking about this. When you read a book, if it ends
with to be continued, it's not over, is it? But when it says
the end, story over, everything's accomplished story. He made an end of sins Daniel
9 24 says he made an end of sins He hath appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself and now they're ended. They're
not story over I'm justified. I stand before God. And even
when I say this, I'm aware of my own personal sinful guilt. Don't think I'm trying to say
I'm not aware of that because I am, but listen to this. In
spite of that, I'm justified before him. I stand without guilt
before him. End of story. It's over. The word is translated in Revelation
15, one filled up. Have you ever seen a glass that
is so full that it seems like the water, I can't remember what
the, there's a physiological reason, but the water actually
just goes a little bit over the brim. You know, and if you add
one more drop to it, it'll fall out. It can't hold any more. It is finished not a drop can
be added to you you are complete in him there's no room for improvement
nothing can be added it is finished the word is translated in first
peter chapter 3 verse 8 finally finally you know This is your
final exam, and you've already passed it. Perfectly. 100%. This
is true with regard to me. I have this stress dream. I've
had it hundreds of times. And I'm always so happy when
I wake up. I stress out. that finals have come and there's
a class I haven't thought about, forgot it, I'm gonna flunk it,
no doubt, I'm not gonna graduate, and I am stressed. Why didn't
I think about it? I didn't study for it. Now I'm
gonna flunk out, I'm not gonna get to graduate. And it's such
a relief when I wake up and find out I've already graduated. Now, I don't know where my certificate
is. Somebody says, prove it. Well,
I don't even know where the, do we still have that? I don't
even know. But it says I graduated. Somebody might call that into
question. I used to have it, it's lost now. But still, the
fact that Mary's, oh, the stress is gone, but that's so stressful
during that dream. It is final. And then in John
chapter 19, verse 30, it is finished. There's absolutely nothing left
that needs to be done. Now, please may God give me and
you the grace to get a hold upon that. There's nothing left that
needs to be done. It is finished. There's nothing for you to do.
It's finished. Nothing you can add to his finished
work. Rest. It is Fulfilled this is another
word that is used to By the translators for this one greek word. It is
fulfilled. The scriptures are fulfilled
completely every sacrifice fulfilled I love it when the lord was preaching
in in uh I can't remember where it was at capernaum. I think
in luke chapter 4 and he gives the year of jubilee That's the
acceptable year of the Lord when deaths were canceled. If you
were a slave, you were set free. Whatever you lost was restored
to you. And there was a year of vacation. And you know, there's not one
record of that ever being held in the Old Testament. It was
a law, but they never did it because the people in power didn't
want to do it because they'd lose money out of it. And so
they found a way to never observe this. But I love the way the
Lord said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He is the day of Jubilee. And then in Matthew chapter 10,
verse 23, it's translated go. Go. Green light. Go. Nothing holding you back. Go. Nothing you need to experience. Nothing you need to do. Go. Don't wait. Don't wait till you
get better. Don't wait till you understand
more. Don't wait till you're more spiritually
mature. Don't wait till you feel like
you handle sin better. Go right now. There's nothing holding you back. is finished. Matthew chapter 17 verse 24 the
word is translated paid. The debt is paid, paid in full. It is paid. Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe Sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And then in Luke 2 at 39, the
word is translated performed. Performed. It is performed. We stress over our performances. I always stress in my performance
of everything I do. We stress over our performance
in our marriage. Every one of us know we could
be better spouses in so many ways. We stress as parents. We stress in our jobs. We stress
over our walk, our, quote, Christian walk. We stress. But listen to
this. It's performed. It's all performed. And we have a history when our
name is called upon Judgment Day, perfect performance. It's
all been good. It's all been right. It's all
been just. You say, how can that be? Because
God's able to make that happen through the gospel. A brand new
history that's all good. And then in first Thessalonians
2.16, this is the last one. This word is translated uttermost. Uttermost. It is uttermost. You can't be any more saved than
you are because you've been saved to the uttermost. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing
can make it any better. Near, so near to God, nearer
I cannot be. For in the person of his dear
son, I'm as near to God as he. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of his dear
son, I'm as dear to God as he. It is accomplished. It's continual. It's expired. It's ended. It's filled up. It's final. It's finished. It's fulfilled. It's go. It's paid. It's performed. It is the uttermost
in everything I've mentioned. Can I, dare I believe that this
is said in my behalf? I'll ask you two questions. Number one, do you believe you're
a sinner? Very simple question. Do you
believe you're a sinner? Here's the second question. Do
you believe that Jesus Christ is God, the son? And yes, it was finished for
you. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for these
precious words of our savior. Lord, we confess our sins, but
how we thank you that you made an end of our sins and finished
the work the father gave you to do in saving us from our sins. Lord, how we thank you that it
is finished, that your gospel is a thing finished, not something
incomplete that we need to do to make it complete, but it finished
salvation to the uttermost. And we're so thankful. Bless
this message for your glory and for our good. And Lord, when
we go to bed tonight, may the last thought we have before we
go to sleep is it is finished. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen.