Tonight, I have a message for
us found in Proverbs chapter 4. If you'd like to turn there.
Proverbs chapter 4. I love the simplicity of the
Lord's gospel. It's grounding. What do I mean
by that? Well, it grounds your feet. It
stops our flesh from doing. It stops the flesh from working.
It stops the flesh from asking questions. When the gospel's
preached and the Lord's pleased to reveal it in power, it grounds
us. It settles us. When we see Christ
high and lifted up, we rest. And my hope tonight is that's
exactly what the Lord would do. Allow us to see Christ. His gospel
gives him all glory and all praise. And Lord, the people want it
that way. We didn't come here seeking glory or praise. We came
to see him. The religious will fall over
the simplicity of the gospel. They'll stumble at it. They'll
stumble upon it. They can't step over it, and
they can't conform the gospel to what they believe in. They
can't mesh it in their, into what they believe in for it to
fit. It won't fit. It's too simple. It's too simple.
Likewise, the wise of this world are foolish because they think
that the gospel's foolishness. It's foolish to the wise. It's
foolishness to the wise. It's what the scripture says. But under the Lord's people,
under the Lord's people, God's gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to every single one that believes, to everyone that
he calls. And we know that if the Lord
don't call us, we will never be called. If the Lord doesn't
save us, we will not be saved. If the Lord doesn't help us,
as David was crying out in Psalm 70, Lord help me. Lord doesn't
help me, I won't be helped. I've titled this message, He
Taught Me. He Taught Me. And that's what's
found in our text if you want to see. Verse four says, he taught
me also and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words,
keep my commandments and live. Now I also wanna read the first
three verses and then read that fourth one again so we understand
what's happening here. It says, hear ye children, the
instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding, for
I give you good doctrine. Forsake ye not my law, for I
was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of
my mother. He taught me also. and said unto me, let thine heart
retain my words, keep my commandments, and live. He taught me. He denotes who's doing the talking. He tells us who is doing the
talking. The second thing is what he's
doing while he's speaking is teaching. The word taught denotes
that he's teaching. He's teaching. He taught me. And me denotes who he's teaching,
who he's talking to. And this is the Lord, how he
teaches his people, how he instructs his people. We know that if he
doesn't teach us, we won't be taught. We'll be ignorant, we'll
be unlearned of his ways. His ways are not our ways. This
hour, I hope to answer these three questions. Who is teaching?
And I've already answered it, but I'm gonna answer it again.
Who's teaching? What is he teaching and who is
he teaching it to? Who's teaching, what is he teaching, and who
is he teaching it to? Who is the he found here? Who is the
he? Well, we know it's the father.
He tells us, for I was my father's son. And in the first verse,
he says, hear children, the instruction of a father. He taught me, the
father taught. He is God. The father, the supreme
being, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. He's the
first and the last. He's sovereign over all. He's
the sustainer of life. He's the governor of all things.
All things consist by Him because all things were made by Him.
He's purposed all things according to His will. This is who He is. He's successfully seated, never
had been challenged, never have been threatened by anything. He's God. He's God. This is who
He is. He's the one who inhabits eternity. And we don't, we can't understand
eternity. We're so constrained by time. I was talking yesterday
to Brother Steve, and we were talking about just time. And
it was like, I don't know, you talk to somebody else about time
that don't know about the gospel, they'll look at you like you
have three eyes. You know, they don't understand a word you're
saying. But you talk to a brother about time, and you say, it's
not just that we're running out of time, but it seems like we're
so, worried about time. And yet we know, we know that
it's God's time in every way. He's the one that made time.
He's the one that controls time. He's the one that's purposed
every second that ticks on the clock. The sun rises and falls
by His command, by His purpose, His will. Yet we get worried
about things like time. One day we won't have to worry
about time, will we? Not when we're with Him. There won't be
any more appointments. We'll have one more appointment,
and that's to meet him face to face when we die. That's the
last appointment. After that, no more appointments. No more
running late. There's no time. No more growing
old. There's no time. And yet in his
mercy, he made this place of time in order to redeem his people.
It was all by his mercy and grace. He's the one who has mercy on
whom he will have mercy. And whom he will, he'll harden.
He's the one that has the power to make a vessel of honor and
a vessel of dishonor according to His choice, according to the
good pleasure of His will, according to His purpose. He's the one
that has total and absolute power over heaven, over everything
in the earth, and even over hell itself. He owns death, hell,
and the grave. He conquered them on the cross
of Calvary. He's God. That's who He is. He's God. The amazing part about this is
it's not something that he had to earn. He didn't have to earn
the power. He's God. He's always had it. But yet,
he took upon himself the nature of a servant in order to redeem
his people. He laid down his, he never laid
down his deity, but he laid down his, well, he wasn't, he was
no longer, he robed himself in the likeness of sinful flesh.
You understand what I'm saying? What a humbling picture that
is for the Lord, our God, to become a man of flesh and blood
in order to redeem us. By His choice, everything actually
is His choice, His right, according to His will. All things were
made by Him and without Him not anything made that was made.
He's God, He's God. You talk to people about God
and they have an idea in their head of who God is. but they
don't understand, they don't know because they haven't been
taught. That's the second part here that
we're not quite there yet to. They haven't been taught. See,
he must teach me. He must teach you. It's not something
that we can teach each other. It's not something we can teach
our children. He must teach. Scripture says, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Maybe Kinezer said, who can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? What doest thou? He is Adam's covering lamb. That's who he is. He is Noah's
Ark, refuge from the wrath of God. He's Noah's Ark. He's our
Ark too, isn't he? He's our covering also. Abraham's
substitutionary ram caught in the thicket. It was us that would
deserve to die. It's our children that deserve
to die. And yet there was a ram caught in the thicket by its
horns. Abraham said, the Lord will provide himself a sacrifice,
son. And he did. He provided himself and he provided
it for himself. This is what the Lord did. He's
Jacob's resting rock. We have no other rock to rest
on. No other rock to rest on. We heard about that Sunday. If
we don't have him as our rock, we have no foundation. He's the
rock we rest on, just like Jacob. He is Moses' cleft of the rock,
a hiding place, and he's our cleft of the rock. He's the only
place that we can hide and not be destroyed from the wrath of
God. This is who he is. This is who's speaking here.
He's David's shepherd, wasn't he? Still is. It's our shepherd
too. It's David's shepherd. He's Rahab's
promise keeper. Rahab, you put that cord out
the window, you won't die. Amazing part, that whole entire
Jericho, every bit of that place fell down except for this. I
mean, I don't know if it was on a column. I don't know how
it was still standing. We just know it was still standing.
Everybody that was in that house, they were safe. Why? God keeps
his promises. He's the promise keeper. That's
who is speaking here. He cannot lie. He cannot lie. What color was that thread? It
was red. the color of blood. That's the
promise, isn't it? The blood. When I see the blood,
I'll pass by you. He's Ruth's kinsman redeemer,
wasn't he? He is Ruth's kinsman. He's our
kinsman redeemer. The only one that could redeem
us. Law couldn't redeem us. No, he could. He had the right. He had the right. He satisfied
the law's demands and he redeemed us, his people. He's Joshua's
guide. and leader throughout all the
trials and afflictions and battles and sorrows and sufferings. He
led them to the promised land. He is our God and he is our leader.
He's our God. Besides him, there is none other.
When Jonah saw him after he had rebelled and was in the belly
of the well, you know what he was resolved to say? Salvation
is of the Lord. I can't save myself. I can mess
it up real good. But he's my salvation. That's
what David called him. He's all my salvation. All my
salvation. David on his deathbed. David
said, though it be not so with my house, yet the Lord hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
This is all my hope and all my salvation, even though he make
it not to grow. He's our salvation. That's who's
speaking here. When Job saw him, what did Job
say? Behold, I am vile. I'm vile, and I'm going to put
my hands over my mouth, and I'm not going to talk anymore. I
like what Brother Richardson said about
that. Scott Richardson, he passed away. You all probably know that.
Katie Baptist Church, that's where he was at. Marvin Stoniker
took over the work there. He said, never miss a chance
to shut up. Never miss an opportunity to shut up. I thought, that's
pretty good advice, actually. If I have an opportunity not
to talk, I guess I shouldn't talk. Job felt the same way. He was
like, I can't talk anymore. I'm in the presence of God. I'm
going to shut up now. When Nebuchadnezzar saw him,
he said, all glory and honor to God. Who can stay his hand?
Who can challenge him? Who's a threat to him? Remember
what Isaiah said when Isaiah saw him? He said, I'm, woe is
me. I'm undone. No, wait a minute.
The chapter right before that, all Isaiah was doing was saying,
Lord, these people are a problem. These people are sinful. These
people have unclean lips. These people, these people, these
people are the problem. And he said, in the year King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on the throne and high and lifted
up and his train filled the temple. And I said, woe is me, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and
I dwell among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts. When John saw him, he fell on
his face as a dead man, didn't he? Fell on his face as a dead
man. When Paul saw him on the road to Damascus, his name was
Saul. When he saw him, it struck him blind, didn't it? He was
blinded to his righteousness then. He didn't have any righteousness.
He needed Christ. Imagine getting struck blind
and saying, Lord, I see a lot better since you struck me blind.
That's what he does though, isn't it? Strikes us blind to everything
we believed before. We don't see that anymore. Can't
open that anymore. He said, Lord, what would you
have me do? The Lord told him. He is our Lord. And our God,
he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the one that
was and is and is to come. He is. The only potentate, King
of kings and Lord of lords. He's from everlasting to everlasting.
Never had a beginning. He'll never have an end. Somebody
told me one time, I find that hard to believe. No, that's impossible
to believe. It takes faith. And if God doesn't teach us,
we won't believe it. But if I look at you and I say
he never had a beginning and never had an end, the believer
says, amen. Truth, Lord. I don't understand
it, but truth. I know that has to be how it
is. All the things that I've described thus far, the believer
says, truth, Lord, all those things, I can't save myself. All these men and women, David
wasn't a good guy that deserved to be saved because of what he'd
done. He was a murderer, he was an adulterer, he was all kinds
of terrible things, and yet the scripture calls him a man after
God's own heart. That gives me some hope. How
can that be? Grace, that's it, just grace. That's the only reason that David
found, well, that's the only reason he found grace in the
sight of God was because of grace. That's it. He is our father by his choosing. You know, he chose to be your
father. He chose to be your father. Think
about it, he didn't have to do that. There's nothing good in
us where you examine yourself. Well, I feel like I'm not as
bad as this person or not as bad as that person. In his sight,
we're wretched, vile creatures, and he chose to be your father.
And in doing so, he took on the full responsibility of your welfare
as his people. He said, I'm gonna take care
of everything. That's why we get to call him Abba Father.
It's a form of, it'd be like saying daddy, like a child's
affectionate plea to their father. He's our Father. He chose, because
of His choosing to elect and His choosing to redeem and His
choosing to save and call and keep, He chose to do it all.
This is who He is, the Savior of His elected people. This is
who is speaking here. This is He. One word. This is
He. This is the I am. That's He. That's who's speaking. Now the
second part to that is He taught. He taught me, he taught. What is he teaching? Well, look
in verse four and five. He taught me also and said unto
me, let thine heart retain my words and keep my commandments
and live. Get wisdom, get understanding,
forsake it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. You have to forgive me a second.
I had a, I don't turn that phone off, and it goes off while I'm
up here. It'd be such a distraction. I forgot, so I apologize. Get
wisdom. Get understanding. Forget it
not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Wisdom is
not a thing. Men talk about wisdom. I remember,
I know I use my, I guess that's what preachers do. They use their
personal experiences. That's all I can go off of. I
can't go off of yours. We can spend time together and you can
teach me yours. That's how we do as brethren, isn't it? But
people would talk about, oh, he's so wise. You know, he's
so, and a lot of times that just meant that he was solemn. Well,
that's what I've come to the conclusion of. He just didn't
talk very much. It didn't make him wise. It just, you ever heard
the term better to be thought of as a fool than to speak and
remove all doubt? Yeah, that's a good saying. I wish I could
have learned that in my teens. but I'm gonna save me some heartache.
But a man, just because they don't speak, that doesn't mean
they have wisdom. Wisdom's not of the earth. Wisdom's from the
Lord. Wisdom's a gift. Wisdom is when
you see Christ, and Christ bestows himself upon you. You see more
of him and less of self. See, wisdom's a person. Wisdom's
a person, and the more time the Lord allows us to spend with
him, the more understanding we have. We're not of this world.
The cares of this world are not, this isn't our home. It's not
meant to be comfortable all the time. It's not meant to make
us feel, if it was happiness all the time for us, if it was
a bed of roses and rainbows just flooded with joy and peace and
no heartache, we wouldn't long for glory. We wouldn't long for
the endless day. No, our bodies get tired. We have to rest. We get weary.
But one of these days, we won't have to do any of that anymore.
We'll be in his presence, and we'll be able to rest. To have wisdom is to have the
Lord Jesus Christ. To have wisdom is to have the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the more, I don't want to
say the more we have of him, the more he reveals himself to
us. The more he, well, that's the word taught, isn't it? That's
exactly the word. The more he teaches us, the more
he teaches his people. the more we rest in Him and the
less we rest in ourself. The more we see of Him and the
less we see of ourself and worry about ourself, the more we see
of Him, truly the happier we are in Him. I mean, there's no
other rest that we have in this world. There's no other place.
We leave, and you know that voice inside of your head that says
all those things that you wish that you didn't say or think,
the battle and the warfare that you had, the inner man that you're
fighting. Lord, let us see Christ so we can rest. That's the desire,
isn't it? Teach us, teach us. Why is it
so important to be taught of God? Well, no man can come to
me, Christ said, except the Father which has sent me draw him and
I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the law
and prophets and they shall all be taught of God. If you're not
taught of God and I'm not taught of God, I'm not his. That's why
it's important. He only teaches his children.
He only teaches his children. And he says, every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me.
Unless we're taught of God, we cannot come to Christ. We cannot
come to Christ. And if we don't come to Christ,
we can't come to the father. And the amazing part is no man
comes to the Father but by Christ, and no man comes to Christ but
by the Father. This is their choice. This is their decision. I used to think that what that
no man comes to the Father but by Christ, okay, that means I've
got to come to Christ. Well, that is true, but it was
a work in religion. It was I had to do something
to get there. No, Christ has to come to me and he has to bring
me to the Father. That's the point. He's the conduit. He's the only way. There's no
other way I can go. He's the gate. And if I don't
go through him by him, if he doesn't call me, you know, we
talked about we were moving up here and it's the same thing
in approaching the father. It's the same thing. We were
concerned and scared. I said, Lord, I want you to,
if you would open the door and kick us through it and shut the
door back. Well, here we are. So I feel like that's kind of
what happened. But it's the same thing in approaching the Father.
We don't approach the Father by saying, okay, I'm gonna turn
this knob and see what happens. I'm gonna take the first step
and let God take the rest. That's foolishness. And we say,
Lord, open the door, carry me in there, kick me through it,
and shut the door. Because if you leave me to myself, I'm not gonna go
in that door. And aren't you glad he says, he taught me. He taught me. He made me go through
the door. He made me go through Christ. Why is it so important to be
taught of God? Because never a man, never a man spake like
this man. Turn with me to John chapter
seven. Look at verse 37. In the last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. But this he spake of the spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying,
said, of a truth, this is the prophet. Others said, this is
the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of
Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to
the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they said unto them, why
have you not brought him? The officers answered, never
a man spake like this man. Never a man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees,
are you deceived? Have you any of the rulers or
the Pharisees believe on him? This people who know not the
law are cursed. Nicodemus said unto them, he
that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, doth our law
judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth? They
answered and said unto him, art thou also of Galilee? Search
and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet, and every
man went unto his own house. Every man went to his own house.
Here is the Lord Jesus Christ standing upon the last day of
the great feast, and he says unto them, any man thirst, let
him come to me and drink. If any man thirst, come to me.
And some of them said, well, he's a prophet. Some of them
said, well, he's the Christ. And then there was a division.
Well, how can Christ come out of Galilee? He's supposed to come
out of Bethlehem. And he did come out of Bethlehem. Somebody
said, well, why didn't the Lord just speak up and say, I did
come out of Bethlehem? Because his sheep know his voice and
follow him. He don't have to prove anything
to anybody ever. He's God. We learned that the first part
of this message. He's God. He doesn't prove himself to you.
He doesn't have to prove himself to you, but as soon as you see
his finished work, that's proof enough, isn't it? Everything
that he's done, you don't need to, we don't test the Lord or tempt
the Lord to show us signs and wonders. These people couldn't
see that they were talking to the Lord Jesus Christ, but somebody
says, the officers answered. Never man spake like this man. Why is it so important that we
be taught of God? Because nobody speaks like the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody speaks like the Lord Jesus
Christ. He spoke the world into existence.
Scripture says in John chapter one, in the beginning was the
Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and
without him there was not anything made that was made. So the Word
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, made everything for the glory
of God the Father. And in doing so, the purpose
of redeeming his people, he spoke light from darkness. You and I can't comprehend that,
can we? He spoke light into existence
from darkness. Let there be light. He's the
only one with the power that could do so. And if you've ever
seen the black putridness of your sin, if I've ever seen the
darkness of my heart and the black putridness of my sin, we
know that unless we're told of God and with the same power,
Him say, let there be light in this dead corpse, We will always
be in darkness. We will always be in darkness.
All we can do is just continually add to the mountain of our sin. Because all we are is darkness,
completely devoid of life. But here's the good news. The
one that spoke to the winds, think about that. We had a hurricane
that came through the United States here recently, and it
was pretty devastating for certain areas. And you can imagine Bobby
and I have been in a couple where we lived in Florida. The winds
are just breathtakingly powerful of itself, not to mention the
floods and everything else that happens. But we're talking about
the creator of the universe standing on the bow of a ship with a storm
happening and he says, peace be still. And it was instantly
peace. Why? Because the winds knows
his voice. They know who is speaking. And
just the same as you and I, he speaks the word of power, peace,
to our heart. He says, live. It's the same
word of power that calls us out of darkness into his light. Just
the same power. He's the one who spoke Lazarus
from the dead, didn't he? He said, Lazarus, come forth.
Wonder why he didn't say come forth. Because if he would have,
every grave in that cemetery would have burst open, wouldn't
it? Calling of the Lord is a particular calling. He was there for one
purpose, there to call Lazarus from death to life, to show us
he comes to a particular place, to a particular person. He loved
Lazarus. He even said that he loved Lazarus.
Scripture says he loved Lazarus. He wept. Lazarus come forth. And what happened? Lazarus came
forth. And I love the fact that it said he came forth bound hand
and foot. How did he walk? You ever thought of that? I don't
know, but he came forth. We know that, don't we? Why?
God brought him forth. And he said, loose him and let
him go. And that's what he does for his people. He looses us
from the bonds of sin. We realize the more we finally
understand that going to the law, all that we see is our sin.
But when we flee to Christ, when we're made to flee to Christ,
we realize that sin's gone. That sin's gone. He's commanded
it to be gone by his death. This is what he teaches. This
is what he teaches. He alone can speak the sweet
words David heard from Nathan. After David had sinned with Bathsheba,
committed adultery and all those horrible acts, sinned against
the Lord, it said, and the thing David did displeased the Lord. Don't you think for a second
you and I? Don't you think that we displease the Lord in our
sin? I mean, our sin costs the Lord
Jesus Christ his life. I mean, that's how serious it
is. We're aren't you glad he doesn't look at us to require
of us what he demands for salvation. He looks to his son in our stead.
He said the thing David did displease the Lord. David went about his
business for some time. Nathan, the prophet comes to
him and tells him the. the parable of the sheep, taking
the one, the rich man took the, you lamb, instead of taking the,
one of his flocks and herds. And David said, the man's going
to die. He's going to surely die. And Nathan said, you are
the man, David. And he drew the confession from David that he
draws from you and I, when the Lord teaches you. And that's
what he was doing. The Lord was teaching David through Nathan. David,
you are the man. You're guilty before God. You've
trespassed against the Lord above. You tried to cover it up. You're
the man, David. David did not say, you know what?
I'm not as bad as so-and-so. No. No, the sinner don't have
time for that, do we? If the Lord ever shows us we're
truly sinners, we don't have time to point fingers. We know even
if we tried, we have three. I always heard you have three
pointing back at you or four pointing back at you. That's
the truth, isn't it? Triple guilty or whatever we're accusing everybody
else of. What does the Lord draw from us? I have sinned. That's what David said. Oh no,
I'm guilty. I'm guilty. What's the wages
of sin? Death. I deserve death. Can you
imagine the overwhelming guilt that came over David to realize
I have displeased the Lord and I am guilty of this sin. What
am I going to do? Nathan said the sweetest words
that the Lord teaches his elected sinners. Fear not. I have put away your sin. The
Lord has put away your sin. You shall not die. Oh, you deserve
it, David. But because you're in Christ,
you don't deserve it anymore. He's put it away. What sin? It's gone. It's gone. He put
it away. Fear not, the Lord hath put away
your sin, you shall not die. That word you, that's the same
word in our text as me, isn't it? Which brings us to the third
point. He taught me. And all the men and the women
that I've mentioned up until this point, that's the me's of
the Bible. Not all of them, but that's the
us's, that's the elect, that's the children of God. And that's
who the me is here, he taught me. Me, Jesus does not teach
everyone. Jesus doesn't have his arms outstretched
unto everybody, begging and pleading for everyone. No, he teaches
his children. He loves his children. He died
for his children. He made certain that his children
received eternal life, not based upon their merits in any way,
but completely based upon his choosing, based upon his grace
and his will. Who is the me? Nathan said, fear
not, the Lord hath put away your sin. What if the Lord, I hope
the Lord allows the Spirit to teach us that tonight. I have
put away your sin. If you heard that from the Lord,
what rest? What hope? That means I am sinless
before God. The law can't say anything against
me. I have been justified freely by the grace of the Lord. By
his own blood he purged our sin. That's what the scripture says.
There's now therefore no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus.
That's what he did. I'm sinless before the law if I'm in Christ
Jesus. Only the Lord can teach us this. Can't be taught by a
man, only the Lord can teach it. What does the Lord teach? Me. What does the Lord teach
his people? You. How can the most wicked,
vile creature be made the very righteousness of God. That's
what he teaches his people. Only because Christ who knew
no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Contract didn't have an addendum
at the bottom that said you have to do your part. Didn't have
an attached piece of paper that said well it's contingent based
upon your performance or it's contingent based upon The prayer
you pray or walking down an aisle or name it. Those are just some
examples of what religious people do. It's not contingent. Why? Because Christ said it is finished
on the cross. It is finished. He, the Father, made him the
Son. Sin for us, the mes. the Me's
in our text, that we, the Me's, the elect, might be made the
righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That's what he did. That's
what he did. For all God's Me's, there is
now therefore no condemnation, because he said it's finished.
Now, in closing, I put this in here because I want to share
this with you. I'm excited to share it with
you. And I may have should have waited till Sunday. And I'll
probably tell you again on Sunday, it's going to be in the bulletin
as an article. This is something Lord revealed to me. And I'm,
uh, overwhelmingly thankful for what the Lord showed the word
it is finished. And I hope the Lord, the Holy spirit will teach
us this, this last portion. And I hope I'm a me. the me that's
here, I hope I'm a me, and I hope you're a me, and that's our hope,
isn't it? Lord, make us, if all you teach is the mes, I gotta
be a me. The word, it is finished, is
one word, Christ cried from the cross. The translators use three
words, it is finished. But it's one word. It's tel-tel-is,
tel-tel-is-tay, tel-tel-is-tay, tel-tel-is-tay, tel-tel-is-tay. And it's a five-part meaning.
I'm struggling with that word a little bit. I apologize. I
practiced and practiced. It's a five-part meaning. And
I hope the Lord will bless this to you the way he did to me.
But the first part is in sacrifice. Tetelestai, in sacrifice, means
that in the time of Jesus, the high priest would declare tetelestai
after sacrificing a scapegoat, signifying that the sin had symbolically
transferred to the scapegoat. The high priest would say, Tetelestai,
it's finished. The sin has been transferred
from the person to the scapegoat. That's the first one. The second
one is based on completion. In Jesus' time, builders, carpenters,
and artists would declare Tetelestai when they had finished a project
or a masterpiece, when the work was done. they declare tetellestai. The masterpiece is done, the
house is built, the work is finished. Tetellestai. The third one is,
is debt paid in full. Tetellestai was often written
on ancient receipts or debts, meaning paid in full. They would
slap tetellestai on the receipt saying paid in full. The fourth
one in the legal context was in the court of law. Tetellestai
means fully served. Fully served the punishment or
the time that was due. Fully served. The law is satisfied
now because you have paid your debt to the law. You've served
your time. And the last one is a military
context. In the military, to tell us thy
means the battle's been won. The battle's been won. Now if
I can try to sum this up to make it more simplified, what the
Lord said on the cross of Calvary is when he said it is finished,
is that he had bore the sin of all of his people in his own
body on the tree, and he put them away being our sacrifice,
our substitute, our surety. He was our scapegoat. He also
completed the work that the Father gave to him. He completed, the
project was done. The job was finished on the cross.
He paid the debt in full that you and I owed. All the debt
that you and I had accrued against the law in our transgression,
in our trespass, and in our iniquity, the Lord Jesus Christ took all
of that away by the sacrifice of himself. In a legal context,
we fully served the penalty for our sin in Christ Jesus on the
cross because of what he did. That penalty's been fully served.
and the warfare has been accomplished. That's the last one. The warfare
has been accomplished. What did he say in Isaiah? Speak
comfortably to my people. Speak comfortably to my people.
Tell them that their warfare is accomplished, their sin has
been pardoned, and they have double for their iniquity. Double
for their iniquity. Their warfare is accomplished.
Tetelestai. It is finished. It is finished. That's what the
Lord must teach us. That's what he does teach us.
It's a five-fold finished. It's not just some one thing's
finished. It's all finished. Every aspect of salvation. Every
aspect of salvation. Those whom the Father teaches
have been justified freely by His grace, made to confess nothing
but the Lord Jesus Christ as all their wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. made to declare that it's not
by works of righteousness which we have done. We didn't cry to
tell us to die on the cross, he did to the father and the
father accepted it. It was his promise to the father
and to us. The father was satisfied. Makes us cry out, not unto us,
oh Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all glory and power
and praise forever and ever. He, the father, taught his people
The salvation is of the Lord, only found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Christ gets all the glory. We didn't seek him, he
sought us. We didn't choose him, he chose
us. This is what he taught us. We didn't love him first, he
loved us first. I love that. When we were yet without God,
when you were yet dead and trespasses and in sin, Christ died for the
ungodly. When we were yet dead and trespasses
and in sin, God so loved, gave his son to be the propitiation
for us, for his me's. Thank God, all that he loves
will be taught of him. And they'll say, you'll get to
say, he taught me. He taught me. Now if he teaches
you and he doesn't teach me, that's not gonna do me any good.
If he teaches me and he doesn't teach you, that's not gonna do
you any good. But if you can say that the eye of faith looking
to Christ, believing he's all your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, if you believe you've seen him, you can say he taught
me as he taught you, as he taught you. Let's pray. Father, we rejoice
in your word. We ask that you would bless it
to our understanding and forgive us of our sin. In Christ's name,
amen.