Every word that came from our
Savior's mouth was and is precious. When He says, the words that
I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. We respond
with Peter, thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe
and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living
God. When our Lord was nailed to a
cross, there were seven different statements
that he made. And I think there's something
awesome about this, thinking of him being nailed to a tree
and the things that he said from the cross. Seven sayings. The first was, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. And do you know that everybody
he prayed for was forgiven? That wasn't some generic prayer.
Everybody he prayed for was forgiven. And then he said to his mother
while he was nailed to that cross, woman, behold your son. Referring to John. He was taking care of the needs
of his people. And he said to John, behold your
mother. The third thing he said from
the cross is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now that gives us some small
glimpse of what was going on. while he was hanging from the
tree, he was forsaken by his father, deserted, left to himself. At that time, when he made that
try, he couldn't even say, my father, my father, why have you
forsaken me? He said, my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me? And we know the answer to that
question. It's because what I deserve. I deserve to be forsaken just
like that. But he took my place. His fourth statement was that
statement to that thief hanging on a cross beside him. That thief
is one of my heroes. He's just one of my heroes. I
think of the faith that the Lord gave that man when everyone else
was making fun of the Lord. He knew who he was. He said,
Lord, you're the Lord, you're the controller. You're in charge of this event.
Remember me when you come in your kingdom. He knew he wouldn't
stay on that cross. He knew he would come back as
a mighty reigning king. And he said, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. And I love the reply. The Lord
said, today thou shalt be with me. in paradise. And then the fifth statement
he made from the cross was, I thirst. What thirst he experienced. being forsaken by his father.
Oh, true, he was talking about physical thirst, but more than
anything else, he was talking about the thirst, the pain he
felt. I thirst. And then the words
of our text, these six statements, it is finished. What was finished? And then his last words were,
Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. Now, I would like
for us to contain our thoughts to the sixth statement. It is
finished. Now, what did the Lord mean by
that when he said it is finished? If you and I can learn what the
Lord meant by that statement, we will have learned His gospel.
Wouldn't that be a blessing? Now, in the original, this statement
is in the perfect tense, which means perfectly completed, never
to be repeated. It is finished perfectly completed,
never to be Repeated. Finished. Are you finished? Yes. That means there's nothing
left to be done. It means to bring to an end,
not merely to terminate a thing, but to carry it out to its end. Now, his first words that were
recorded were what? You remember? I must be about
my father's business." His last words, it is finished. Whatever his father's business
was, he did it. He finished it. Early in his ministry, he said,
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and finish his
work. John chapter four. He said, for
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 nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Before his birth, the angel announced
in Matthew 121, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Now that's why he came. He came
to save his people from their sins. And when he said, it is
finished, that is exactly what took place. He saved his people
from their sins. Now, I don't know of anything
more comforting than these words, it is finished. There's nothing that comforts
my heart more than that. You see, if he left anything
undone, I am undone. If he left anything incomplete,
it's over for me. There is no hope for me. But thank God, he said, I have
finished the work that thou gavest me to do. Now, the way I want
to approach this glorious statement. It is finished and I hope the
Lord will be our teacher so we'll know exactly what the Lord meant
and it will be gospel to us and good news to us. Not something
we just hear and either agree with or disagree with but something
that we rejoice in and glory in. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The way I want to approach this
is there are 12 different words that are used to translate this
word in the King James Version. In both the noun and the verb
form, there are 12 different words used by the translators
to translate this one word, it is finished. And I think each
one of these words will give us some idea of what the Lord
meant when he said, it is finished. Look in verse 28 of our text. After this, Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished. Now that's the same word. Accomplished. It is accomplished. Whatever the Savior intended
to do, he did. Mission accomplished. That's what he meant. accomplished. The extent of the
atonement of Christ is determined by the intentions of the atonement
of Christ. What did he intend to do? Whatever it was he intended to
do, that is precisely what he did. In Matthew chapter 1 verse
21, I've already quoted this once, thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people. from their sins. That's
what he intended to do. He intended to save his people
from their sins. He said in John chapter 10 verse
14, I lay down my life for the sheep. That was his intentions
to lay down his life for the sheep. Is everybody a sheep?
No, they're goats. He only intended to save the
sheep. Now that is his intention. In
Ephesians chapter five, verse 25, we read that Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. His intentions was to save
the church. In John chapter six, verse 39,
he said, this is the will of him that sent me that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. Now his intention was to save
his people, the elect of God, those the Father gave him before
the foundation of the world, his intentions was to save them. Ain't that what scripture teaches? Am I telling you the truth? I
know I am. Now, whatever his intention was,
and we know from the scriptures, his intention was to save the
elect, to save his sheep, to save his people, to save those
who believe. That's why he came. And here
is statement, if you want to call it, regarding that. It's
accomplished. He saved his people from their
sins. Mission accomplished. And I think
of just what all that means. He saved me from my sins. He
saved me from the penalty of my sins. I'm not going to have
to pay for my sins. He did. Thank God for that. What an amazing
thing to get a hold of. I'm saved from the power of my
sins. Sins will not have dominion over you for you're not under
law, you're under grace. There's a time when I couldn't believe.
I do now because I've been saved from the power of my sins. I'm
actually saved from the presence of sin. Now, this is mysterious,
but if I'm in Christ, I'm seated in heaven right now. That's what
the scripture says. Mission accomplished. Now, the
second word that I'd like to use is it's actually translated
in Luke 18 5, continual, continual. It's where the Lord is giving
that story to encourage us always to pray about the woman who kept
coming to the unjust judge. And then he said, I'm going to
go ahead and give her what she wants, lest by her continual
coming, she weary me. This message, it is finished,
is continual. It's always in effect. There's no intermission. There's
no end of it is finished. It is finished continually. This is always in effect. It's
always powerful. It's never old. Well, what if one of his people
sins? It's finished. Well, what if
they sin greatly and fall greatly? It's finished. What if they sinned
like David did? It's finished. What if they seem
to be like Solomon and their heart seems to be turned away?
It is finished. Is that good news to you? It is finished. This glorious message
is continually in effect. It is finished. You know that, I'm so happy about
that. The third word is found in Revelation
20 verse 7. It's translated, it is expired. It's expired. What happened when the Lord cried,
it is finished? You know from the other account,
you know what happened when he said it is finished? You know what
took place? The veil was rent in two, from the top to the bottom. Can you imagine how those people
felt in the tabernacle and all of a sudden, just supernaturally,
all of a sudden the veil's rent? I'll tell you something else
that's kind of interesting to think about, is when that veil
was rent, man's religion was exposed. You see, there wasn't
any ark back there. It had been gone for a long time,
but they'd been fooling around, acting like it was there. Phony
religion. But what that represents is the old covenant has expired. Expiration date. No longer under
law, under grace. It is expired. Oh, that's good news, isn't it?
No longer under law, under grace. The way into God's presence is
open to all who come. That veil has been rent. Come
and welcome. Don't have a veil separate you.
You can go. You come into his presence through
Christ. You'll be received. Now, here's
the fourth word. It is ended. That's the way the word is translated
quite often. You know that scripture, John chapter 13, 1, having loved
his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. Romans 10, 4 says Christ is the
end of the law to everyone who believeth. The end, the story
over, the end. Daniel 9 24 says he shall make
an end of sins. I love that statement. He shall
make an end of sins. Concerning my sins, the end. He made an end of them. They
are no more. Story over. He hath appeared
to put away sins by the sacrifice of himself. The end. Christ is the end. of the law for righteous. It
is ended. Here's the fifth word, Revelation
15.1, it's the same word as translated filled up. It is filled up. When I go to get gas, I'm always
stressed over the price. Lynn gets mad at me, but I'm
always stressed over the price. She says, why don't you forget
it? But I always fill it up because I'm afraid it might be a gallon
more. So I fill it up all the way.
I fill it up to where there's no room for anything else. Christ said it is filled up. There's no room for anything
else. Paul put it this way in Colossians
chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body, and you are complete. You are filled
up. There's nothing that can be added
to you. And that's what he meant when
he said, it is finished. There's nothing that can be added to
you. You can't get any more loved.
You can't get any more accepted. You can't get any more holy.
You can't get any more saved than you are right now. It is finished. There's no improvements to make. There's nothing lacking. It is
filled up right now. We are filled up. If Christ died
for me, I cannot get any more pleasing
to God. You can't add one drop to me,
nothing to improve me. It is filled up. And then in 1 Peter chapter 3
verse 8, the word is translated, finally. It is finally. You see, the cross of Christ was my final
exam, and I got 100%. It is finalized. And then I love what our text
says. I'm going, perhaps you can figure
it out in alphabetical order of the different translations,
but our text says, it is finished. There's nothing left that needs
to be done. It is finished. Now, the law can be summarized
by this word. do. Here's what you need to do. That's the message of religion,
isn't it? Here's what you need to do. The gospel says it's finished. It's done. There is nothing left for you
to do. There's nothing you need to do
to complete this. It is finished, there remains
a rest for the people of God. For they that have entered his
rest have ceased from their own works as God did from his. Now, when do you really rest?
The only time you rest is when it is finished. If there's one
thing left undone that you need to do to complete it, it's not
finished and you can't rest. But oh, if it's finished, how
you rest. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
it is finished, my salvation, now hear this, my salvation was
finished. Well, that doesn't even make
sense. Yeah, it does. The only thing that does make sense, that
my salvation was completely finished. by what he did. And then the
next word that is used to translate this word is fulfilled. Every time where you read where
the scriptures are fulfilled, it's that word. The scriptures
are fulfilled. This he did that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Now, when the Lord said it is finished, all the Old Testament
types were fulfilled. Every picture that's given to
us in the Old Testament. One of the things I love about
the Old Testament. The Old Testament gives us a portrait of Jesus
Christ. So you can know who He is by
that portrait. It gives us a portrait of the
Gospel. All these types and pictures. The lamb slain. He's the Lamb
of God. He's the Paschal Lamb. He's the
Lamb of Abraham. All the ceremonies, all these
types are all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only
are these types fulfilled, this promise, he shall bruise
the serpent's head, has now become he has bruised the serpent's
head. The promise, he shall save his
people from their sins, is he hath saved his people from their
sins. Completely saved. And then in Matthew chapter 10
verse 23, the word is translated go. Go, gone, go. There's, because he said it is
finished, there's nothing holding you back. There's no reason why you can't
come immediately into his presence right now and be accepted. There's
nothing to prevent you from doing it. Go right now. Romans 8.32 says he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him freely give us all things? Doors open. Doors not closed. The doors open
because he said it is finished. It's open to anyone who needs
him. Go to the Father. Go to the throne
of grace. Don't linger. Don't wait for
something to happen. Don't wait to do something. Don't
wait to get better. Don't wait till you learn more
or understand more. Come to Christ right now just
as you are. Let not conscience make you linger
nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. Come and The door is open to
all who come. Just as I am without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Now everybody, you're commanded
to come because he said it is finished. The door is open wide
for you. right now. And in Matthew chapter 17 verse
24, the word is translated paid. I like that. It is paid. I know the world believes Jesus
paid a half the other half I owe. But no, Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. Sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it. White as snow. Child of God, you are completely
debt free. The only debt you owe is gratitude. Paid in full. It is paid in full. Todd Niebert's sins are all paid
in full. There's nothing for him to pay.
I love that scripture in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 18 where it
says, now where remission of these is, listen to the language,
where remission of these is, there's no more offering for
sin. Don't try to bring an offering for sin. Don't do that at all. It's already been paid. It is paid. And then in Luke Chapter 2, verse
39, it's translated performance. It is performed. It's already performed. Now,
every one of us stress over our performance in about everything
we do. We stress over whether we're
being proper husbands or wives or whether we're doing our job
properly as a parent, as an employee, we're always stressing about
our performance in some way. Well, here's another place I
don't need to stress at all because it's already been performed.
He performed my salvation perfectly. It is performed. Perfect righteousness has been
performed. A perfect sin payment performed. Perfect satisfaction has been
performed. Perfect salvation has been performed. It is performed. Now, the last word that is used
to translate this same word is found in 1 Thessalonians chapter
2 verse 16. It's translated uttermost. It is uttermost. You know what that means? I have been saved to the uttermost. Can't be better. Can't be more
complete. Can't be any more accepted. Can't
be any more holy. It is uttermost. It's accomplished. It's continual. It's expired. It's ended. It's filled up. It's finally. It's finished. It's fulfilled. It's go. It's paid. It's performed. It's the uttermost. Now can you rest in that? Now
somebody's thinking. I hope somebody's thinking this. Is this for me? When he said it is finished,
is he talking about my salvation? Is it finished? Is this for me? And you've got to ask yourself
that question because like the first point on it is accomplished.
He did not intend to save everybody. I've got to say that. I wouldn't
be honest if I didn't. He did not intend on saving everybody. You remember when that Syro-Phoenician
woman came to him and said, Lord, have mercy on me. He didn't answer.
And then she continued coming. He said, I'm not sent but to
the lost sheep at the house of Israel. I didn't come to save
everybody, is what the Lord says. And when we're pointing this
out or when the scripture points this out, it's not because there's
some kind of else, you know, no hope for you. He probably
didn't die for you. That doesn't have anything to do with it. What
we're doing in bringing that out is how that if he died for
you, you must be saved. You must be accepted. What he
did was successful. Now, here's the question. How
can I know personally if what he did, he did for me? How can I know that? I want to
know and let me repeat. I don't want anyone in here thinking,
well, he did it for everybody. Well, then if he did it for everybody,
then he failed because not everybody saved. Did he do it for me? I've got two questions to ask
you. Two questions, two very simple questions. Number one,
this is how you can determine if he did this for you. Here's
the first question. Are you a sinner? Are you? 1 Timothy 1.15 says, this is a
faithful saying and it's worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If you are a sinner, He did this
for you. Here's the second question I
want to ask. First, are you a sinner? And I tell you what, I could... Depends on what time you ask
me. Are you one of the elect? Well, I hope so. Sometimes I wonder. Did Christ
die for you? I hope so. Have you been born again? I hope
so. Do you have faith? I sure hope
I do. Are you a sinner? Yes. Yes, I
can answer that with an affirmative. Yes, I know that for sure. Now,
here's the second question I want to ask you. Do you need him to finish it
for you? Do you need him to finish it
for you? And if he doesn't, it's over
for you. Now, if you do, if you're a sinner,
and if you need Him to finish it for you, listen to these words. It is finished. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, He saved us. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. Now, what came first, the saving or the calling? He saved us. And he called us. He saved us
before he called us, you see. You are saved. I was saved when he said, it
is finished. And then he called me and I found
out that that is so. Aren't these glorious words? It is finished. You know, when I say that, I
feel tension leave my body. It is finished. and the veil in the temple was
rent into. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that it
is finished. How we thank you for the all
powerful words of our Savior.