It Is Finished

Now according to the divine record,
the Lord Jesus Christ uttered seven sayings from the cross
of Calvary. And these seven sayings from
the cross reveal unto us the person and the work of our Lord
on behalf of those for whom he suffered. If you'll turn, first
of all, to the twenty-third chapter of Luke, Luke twenty-three, verse
thirty-four. Now I'm not certain that I have
these in the order in which He spake them, but what I'm pointing
out is not the order in which our Lord said these things, but
I'm pointing out how that what He said from the cross reveals
unto us His on the cross, his office work, the task he came
to perform. In verse 34 of Luke 23, Then
said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Now what office do you see in this statement? Well, I see Christ
the Mediator, Christ praying for his people. There is one
God, the Scripture says, And there's one mediator between
God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus. Now, when we
understand something of the awful holiness of God, the immaculate
righteousness of God, when we understand something of our own
sinfulness, Paul said, Oh, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. We'll know that in our sin we
cannot approach a holy God. We need someone to pray for us. We need someone to intercede
for us. We need a mediator. We need an
advocate. And the serious mistake which
men and women make today is finding and choosing the wrong mediator,
the wrong advocate. Turn with me to Exodus 20. Now
this is what I'm talking about. In Exodus chapter 20, God gave
the law. God gave to the people of Israel,
through Moses, his holy law. And it says in verse 18 of Exodus
20, now this is what the people understood. They understood God's
holiness, and they understood their sinfulness. And this is
what they said in Exodus 20, 18. And all the people saw the
thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,
and the mountains smoking. And when the people saw it, they
removed, they backed up, they stood afar off, and they said
to Moses, You speak with us, and we'll hear, but let not God
speak with us, lest we die." Now here's the tremendous problem. Men and women understand something
of their sinfulness, and something of God's holiness, And instead
of turning to the one Mediator whom God hath chosen, the one
Mediator whom God hath sent, that is the man Christ Jesus,
he ever liveth to make intercession for us. God plainly declares
there's one God and one Mediator, one Advocate between God and
men, and that's the man Christ Jesus. But instead of looking
to Christ, we look to Mary, people do. They look to the Virgin Mother. or they look to the minister,
or they look to some human priest, or they even look to their own
prayers. But Christ is our advocate, and
that's the office of Christ that we see in this first statement.
Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Father,
forgive them. Now turn with me to Luke 23,
verse 43. We see Christ the Mediator. Now, in Luke 23, 43, we see Christ
the King. Our Lord Jesus Christ is King. The wise men said, we're going
to find Him who is born King. He's the King of kings and Lord
of lords. Jesus Christ, while He became
a man, was still the King. And here we have Him exercising
His sovereignty even from the cross. And Jesus said unto him,
that is, to the penitent thief, Verily I say unto thee, Today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Even on the cross he's the sovereign
king. He is the one who gives life.
He said, The Son quickeneth whom he will. Jonah declared, Salvation
is of the Lord. John wrote in the book of Revelations,
he has the key of hell and death. That's why he turned to the women
weeping and lamenting and said, weep not for me, weep for yourselves
and for your children. You don't weep for the king,
you weep for those who come under his wrath. And here on the cross
we see Christ the king as he takes a sinner to glory. Now turn to John 19 and here
is the third statement. Now according to divine record
Our Lord only uttered seven statements from the cross. He prayed, Father,
forgive them, and in that statement you see Christ the Mediator,
Christ the Advocate. He said to the thief on one hand,
Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. There Christ the King,
Christ the Sovereign, Christ the One who opens heaven's gate,
Christ who has the keys of hell and death, Christ in whose hands
we are to redeem or to condemn. Now in John 19, verse 26, Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, his earthly mother. Our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived,
the Scripture says, in the virgin's womb of the Holy Spirit. He had
no earthly father, but he did have an earthly mother. He was
born, as we are born, from a human mother. And Mary, the wife of
Cleophas and Mary Magdalene, Now when Jesus therefore saw
his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he
said unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. And he said to
John, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her into his home." What do we see here? We see Jesus
Christ the man, the man Christ Jesus providing for his mother. He was made of a woman. He was
made under the law, and being made under the law as a man,
as our earthly representative, as our representative, he had
earthly responsibilities. And one of those earthly responsibilities
was to provide for his household. Not only to obey his parents,
not only to fulfill the law, but to provide for his household. And that's what he's doing in
this scripture. He's showing forth that he is a man. While
God, while holding and containing indisputable glory, yet really
man, fulfilling every jot and every tittle of the law. Someone
says this proves that Christ had a special place for his mother.
He had a special place in his heart for his mother, but certainly
not as a mediator. and not as an advocate for sinners. One day our Lord was preaching.
The house was packed with people, just filled with people. His
mother, his brothers, and his sisters came to see him. They
had a request to make of him. He was preaching to the congregation.
They couldn't get in. The doors were jammed with people
all around. The windows were jammed with
people. His mother, his sisters and brothers were outside. So
they called a messenger and they said, go and tell Jesus. His
mother wants to talk to him. Now I've had people tell me this.
The reason we pray to Mother Mary, the reason we say, Hail
Mary, Mother of God, full of grace and truth, pray for us
sinners. The reason we pray to Mary is because if you want to
get to a man, you get first to his mother. That's what they
did at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. His mother came to
him and said, they're out of wine. Somebody had gone to her
and told her they were out of wine, they needed wine. So she
came to Jesus Christ and he supplied the wine. So they said, see,
if you want something from Christ, you go to his mother and she
can get to him easier than you can. She has always an open audience
to Christ, so if you want to get to Christ, go to Mary, his
mother. Well, here she is out there,
and all these people are around listening to him preach, and
his mother is out there wanting to see him, having a special
request, so she sends a messenger and says, Jesus, I want to see
you. So the man came to him and said, Master, your mother is
outside, and she wants to talk to you. And he looked at the
man and he said, Who is my mother? Who are my brethren? Who are
my sisters? These who do the will of God,
they are my mother, my brothers, and my sister. I don't leave
them to talk to Mary or anybody else. Jesus Christ is our advocate,
Jesus Christ is our King, and Jesus Christ is the man Christ
Jesus. And while she has a special place,
and from that cross he showed again that he is man, that he
had a responsibility to fulfill the law. He didn't ignore his
mother, but he put her in her place. And he ministered to her,
and after he died he was sure that she was taken care of. He
was fulfilling his responsibility as a son. and as a human being
and as a man. Now turn to Mark 15. Mark the
15th chapter, verse 34. Now here we see Christ's, the
sin offering. Mark 15, verse 34. It says in
verse 33, When the sixth hour was come, and there was darkness,
that's noon, over all the land, until the ninth hour, till three
in the afternoon, At the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, that is, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Here we see Christ, the sin
offering. Christ, the sin offering, separated
from the Father. God had separated himself from
his Son. I cannot explain this theologically. Christ is God, he said, I and
my Father one, but I know that Christ the Lamb, Christ the scapegoat,
bearing our sin in his body on the tree, enduring for us the
judgment of hell and the wrath of God, for the Scripture says
your sins have separated you from your God. Jesus Christ our
Lord in this hour was separated from his Father. under the judgment
and wrath of God. I would make no attempt to explain
how that could possibly be. In the Apostles' Creed it says
that Christ descended into hell. If that is so at all, this is
when it happened. Not into the lake of fire itself,
but hell is being separated from God. That's the essence of hell.
That's the summary of hell. That's what hell is. It's being
without God. And Jesus Christ, in this hour,
as our scapegoat, as our substitute, bearing our sins in His body,
He endured, right then, separation from God Almighty. That was hell.
That was hell. When men shall stand in the last
day at the judgment, the Scripture says, the book shall be opened.
And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and
those which are not found in the book of life shall be cast
into hell. God shall say, Depart from me,
I never knew you. The angels of God shall bind
them and cast them into outer darkness. They shall be separated
from God. We have already endured that
in the person of Christ. When he cried, My God, why hast
thou forsaken me? In that hour every believer's
hell was endured. Now they teach us that there's
a purgatory. Now we need to go, we need to
establish our faith and confidence according to God's word. They
say that when a man dies, he goes to a place of suffering,
separated from God, into a place called purgatory. And there he
suffers until he is prayed out or until he is paid out. The Bible does not teach that
at all. This right here is our purgatory. When Christ cried, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me? In that hour all of the hell
and all of the suffering and all of the penalty and all of
the debt and all of the payment was made for our sins. Christ
as a man, as our representative, was separated in that hour from
the Father and our sins were purged. That's our purgatory.
He was separated from God in that hour, and as our representative,
we were separated from God in Him, and the debt was paid. Now
turn to John 19. In the nineteenth chapter of
John, verse 28, we have the fifth saying. In John 19, 28, it says,
And after this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst." Now here we have Christ the sufferer bearing
the consequences of sin. And as he bore sinful flesh,
he had to bear all the suffering, the thirst, the hunger that flesh
brought. Turn to Genesis chapter 3. This
is what we're talking about here in Genesis 3. Now, in the garden
of Eden when Adam and Eve were, Adam was created and Eve was
made and they were put in that garden, there was no thirst,
there was no hunger, there was no disease, there was no suffering,
there was no bleeding, there was no dying, none of these things. But when Adam fell, when Adam
sinned against God, he brought these things into the world.
Sin brought death, sin brought suffering, sin brought disease,
sin brought thirst. For in Genesis 3, verse 19, God
said, verse 18, thorns also. Let's go back and read 17. And unto Adam God said, Because
thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy and hast eaten of the
tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of
it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of
the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it
wast thou taken. For dost thou art under dust,
shalt thou return." Now, when our Lord was on this cross, he
cried, I thirst. And here Christ, the sufferer,
bears the consequences of Adam's sin, for he knew what it was
really to thirst. He knew what it was to have fever,
to rack his body so much that his tongue cleaved to the roof
of his mouth. He knew what it was to be hungry
and to thirst and to sweat. When sin shall be no more, suffering
shall be no more. Now turn to Luke 23 quickly,
and here we have the third, or the sixth saying, Luke 23, verse
46. Verse 46, And when Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost." Now here you have Christ the victor, Christ the
conqueror, Christ the successful redeemer, returning home from
the battle where the conqueror falls. The scripture says Christ
led captivity captive. Satan was conquered. His power
was broken. Christ took us with him, for
we're seated with him in the heavenlies. And David wrote in
Psalm 24, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? He's
the Lord strong and mighty. He's the Lord mighty in battle,
the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory, Christ
the victor. Christ did not die on the cross
as a failure, but Christ died on the cross as the victorious
conqueror. he accomplished what he came
to do. Now turn back to our text. Here is the seventh saying, and
this is the one that I want us to look at just a little longer,
a few minutes longer in the message. We have Christ Jesus the Mediator. Father, forgive them. We have
Christ Jesus the King. Today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. We have Christ Jesus the Sufferer. We have Christ Jesus, the man,
woman, thy son, John, thy mother. We have Christ Jesus here as
the victor, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Now,
in John 19.30, when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he
said, It is finished. Now in this saying we have four
important things to notice. There's first of all a word of
glory, then secondly there's a word of comfort, and thirdly
there's a word of joy, and then fourthly a word of instruction
for me and for you. Now first of all a word of glory. He said it is finished. What
was finished? What was finished? Well, his
earthly life was finished, but I don't think that's what he's
talking about. His agony on that cross was finished, but I don't
think that's what he's talking about. What was finished? I believe in one sentence this
sums up what Christ is saying. The glorious work of redemption
was finished. The work which he began in eternity,
for he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The work which He began in eternity, for He is the surety of an eternal
covenant. The work which He began in eternity,
for His is the blood of an everlasting covenant. The work which He began
in eternity, for we were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. It is the work which He undertook
in Bethlehem's manger, for the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. In the fullness of time, God
sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were born under the law. The work which he performed
in living obedience, for he was tested in all points as we are,
yet without sin. The work which he died to perform,
for the Scripture says he was wounded for our transgressions,
and by his stripes we are healed. Lamb of God, thy death hath given
pardon, peace, hope of heaven. It is finished. Let us raise
shouts of thanksgiving and shouts of praise." What was finished?
The work which he began in eternity, the work which he came into the
world as a man to perform, the work for which he was a living
representative, and the work he accomplished when he died.
Now, to whom did he say, It is finished? Christ our Lord said,
It is finished. The work of redemption is complete,
it's finished. To whom did he say that? Well,
he said it to all whom it might concern. He said it to all whom
it might concern, but chiefly, to whom was he speaking? Turn
to John 17, verse 4. Now, this is important. This
is important. In John 17, verse 4, our Lord
said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the
work thou gavest me to do. To whom is he speaking? He's
speaking to the Father. Now here's something you need
to learn if you haven't already learned it. Christ Jesus did
not buy me from Satan. He did not pay the price to Satan. Christ Jesus came into this world
in the flesh that God might be just and justify the ungodly. Christ Jesus came into this world
in the flesh and made a ransom, paid a ransom to the justice
and holiness of God's divine law. We were under the curse
of God's law. We were under the penalty of
divine justice. We were held in captive because
we'd broken God's law. And Jesus Christ came that God
might be just and justify the ungodly, that the divine law
might be honored, that the divine law might be exalted. that the
divine honor and justice and righteousness and holiness of
God might be fulfilled. So when He came down here and
suffered for sin, He looked up to the Father and He said, It's
finished! It's finished. Back in eternity
in the covenant of grace, when God chose a people and gave them
to His Son, He designated His Son as their representative.
They were a fallen people. They were a sinful people, and
God's love and God's mercy cannot be revealed or demonstrated at
the expense of God's righteousness and God's holiness. So Christ
was designated as our surety. Christ was designated as our
Savior, and He came down here in the flesh to do what we couldn't
do, what the law could not do, because of the weakness of the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
condemned sin in the flesh. And when He came down here and
was born of a woman, was obedient to His parents, was obedient
to the civil law, to the moral law, to the ceremonial law, to
the religious law, to all the laws, When he obeyed all of these
things in every jot and tittle, when he fulfilled all righteousness,
when he went to the cross and died, he lifted his eyes to heaven
and he said, now it's finished. The work is finished. The debt's
paid. The ransom's paid. Now God, the
Father, can be just and justify the ungodly, for the ungodly
in Christ are ungodly no more. The guilty in Christ are guilty
no more. The rebel in Christ is a rebel
no more. And that's what he was saying
when he said it's finished. Now secondly, here's a word of
comfort. A word of comfort for his church.
Father, forgive them. That's a word for sinners. Woman,
behold thy son. That's a word for Mary. I thirst. That's a word for the holy scriptures,
the prophets who said that he'd say that on the cross, that the
scripture might be fulfilled. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise, a word for the thief. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me, a word for the Father? It is finished, a word of comfort
for the church." How does this comfort us? Well, turn to Hebrews
10. The first thing that's a comfort
to me is to know this, that no more sacrifices need to be offered. No more sacrifices need to be
offered. In Hebrews 10, it says, verse
1, "...for the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not
the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which are offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect." What law are we talking about here? Not the moral law,
not the Ten Commandments, we're talking about the ceremonial
law. And we're talking about the sacrifices of the ceremonial
law. We're talking about the lambs and the bullocks and the
scapegoats and the turtledoves and all this blood, rivers of
blood that was shed on Jewish altars for centuries. And they're
offered year after year after year. Why? Because they can never
take away sin. Verse 2, For if they could take
away sin, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because
the worshipers, once purged, would have no more conscience
of sin. Once the ransom's paid, the captive's free. Once the
debt's paid, the debt is discharged. But in those sacrifices, there's
a remembrance again made of sin every year. Well, it's not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. I'd have
hated, I would have hated to have lived in those days. Every
time you go into the under the veil into the Holy of Holies
to put that blood on the mercy seat. You remember, it's got
to be done again next year. It's got to be done again the
next year. If you live 500 years, it's got
to be done every year. There was a morning sacrifice. There was a noon sacrifice. There
was an evening sacrifice. There was a feast of the tabernacle,
the feast of the Pentecost, the feast of the Passover. All of
these things had to be done over and over and over and over and
over again. But look at verse 12. But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right
hand of God. Verse 14, For by one offering
he hath perfected forever, forever them that are sanctified. That's
a word of comfort. It's finished! All of these Jewish sacrifices
through the years—finished! All of these feast days—finished!
All of these tithes—finished! All of the remembrances—finished!
It's finished. No more of the bloody spear,
the cross and nails no more. Hell itself shakes at His blood
while all the heavens adore. Now both the sinner and the surety
are free. The Father sees Jesus and then
He sees me. It's finished. Our redemption
is perfected by one offering. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Finished, my righteousness My
robe of holiness is completely woven. Finished! Not a sin remains. Finished!
Not another payment due. Finished! The whole debt is paid. Finished! The penalty of sin
is gone. Finished! The curse of the law
removed. Finished! Satan's power gone. Finished! Sin's power broken. Whom he predestinated,
he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. And it's finished. That's a word
of comfort. Now, thirdly, a word of joy,
a word that ought to make every believer rejoice. Our Lord Jesus
Christ cried, and I know that cry echoed throughout heaven,
throughout earth, and throughout hell. It is finished! That ought to make every believer
rejoice, for every prophecy of the Messiah in that moment was
fulfilled. Now John was in prison, and John
sent word to Christ, Are you he that should come, or do we
look for another? Is Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
is he really the prophet of whom Moses spake? Is he really the
lamb of whom these sacrifices are tied? Is he really that rock
from which the water of life comes? Is he really that mercy
seat covering the law, the satisfied law? Is he really my shepherd? Is he really the one by whose
stripes I'm healed? Is he really the brazen serpent
lifted up? Is he really the ark of safety? Is he? Until he cried, it is
finished, there was room for doubt. But when he cried, it is finished,
he died according to the scriptures. And every mark, every type, every
sign, every prophecy, every sacrifice was fulfilled when he died. Now that's the reason I say to
you, and I'm no stick in the mud, Christmas and the celebration
of his birth It's all right for friends to get together. I wish
we could have Christmas 365 days a year with a spirit of kindness
and love and generosity. But the babe of Bethlehem didn't
save anybody. He couldn't have died without
being born, that's so. But brother, the word of joy
The word of deliverance, the word of an effectual payment,
the word of a ransom. I found a ransom! You won't find
it in Bethlehem. You'll find it at Calvary. It's
the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sins. I got a letter from a man this
week. I forget where he lived. He watches a TV program, way
off somewhere, and he sent me a letter. And he said in that
letter, he said, Brother Mann, I'm not sure whether I'm saved
or not. I'm not sure whether I'm a Christian.
And this is what he said, if I can quote it. He said, I don't
take God's name in vain. I don't do that anymore. Secondly, I don't drink whiskey,
beer, other things that some people drink. Thirdly, he said
I work in public works, but he said I don't enjoy being around
the profane people, the vile people, the people that hate
God. Fourthly, I enjoy being in church. I like to go to church. I like
to read the Bible. He said I don't get anything
out of it. I don't understand it. It's Greek to me, but I like
to read it. I like to give to missionaries.
I give my money, and I don't mind giving my money that missionaries
might preach. I don't mind giving for television
broadcasts like this, and he went on talking about He said,
I do have one bad habit, I do smoke. But he said, I'm trying
to stop that. And he went on all of these things
and then he said, now I want you to tell me whether or not
you think I'm saved. So I sat down and spent a long
time writing to him. The first thing I did was tell
him, I said, I got two impressions when I read your letter. Number
one, I thought about, I thought about the people in Matthew 7
who said to the Lord at the judgment, Lord, I prophesied in your name,
and I cast out devils, and I did many wonderful works, but Christ
said to them, I never knew you. Depart from me. The second impression
I got after reading your letter was of the Pharisee who prayed
with himself in the temple, Lord, I thank you I'm not like other
men. I tithe, I fast, I give alms to the poor. And that man
went home condemned. I said this is the way a sinner
saves, and I showed him how we fail in Adam, what sin is by
birth, by practice, by nature, by choice, what we are inside
as well as outside. I showed him how in the flesh
no man can please God. Then I tried to show him from
the scripture how that Christ came down here as our representative
He came down as a man, and he obeyed the law, and he died on
the cross, and suffered for us, and shed his blood, was buried,
and rose again, and went to the right hand of God, where he intercedes
for sinners, which we are right now. And I went through all of
this. Then I said, now I'm going to send your letter back to you.
It's a two-page long letter. I couldn't quote it all. I said,
I'm enclosing it right back to you in this envelope. Now, I've
quoted to you from the Scriptures, and I've given you the references
how sinners are saved. We are redeemed, not with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy hath he saved us. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Christ Jesus, who knew no sin,
was made sin for us." And on and on. Now I said, read your
letter again. You read it yourself in the light of those scriptures,
and you write back to me and tell me if you found in your
letter anywhere Christ, his blood, his death, his cross, none of
those things, they were not even mentioned one time in that letter.
No, you're not saved. Now brethren, I tell you, and
I tell you as kindly as I can, it's at the cross that sinners
are saved. Without a cross, there's no salvation. Without a cross, there's no redemption. The wages of sin is death, and
those wages have got to be borne by somebody. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die, and somebody's got to die for our sins. Either
we die for our sins, or Christ does. But God's justice and holiness
is going to be satisfied. Now this is a word of joy. Christ
said, it's finished. The debt's paid. And my troubled
conscience can find rest. Oh, I know that I have sinned,
and I know that I do sin, and I know that I am sin. But my
conscience, my conscience is clear. Because the question has
been answered for me, how can God be just and justify the ungodly? How can man be just with God?
Even the heavens aren't clean in his sight. That's what Job
said, how can man that's born of a woman, how can man that
drinketh iniquity like the water, how can man be clean in God's
sight? And the answer comes back, the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
There's your answer. A conscience can only be satisfied
if God is satisfied. My conscience can only be satisfied
if it knows God is satisfied. And if my conscience knows God
is satisfied, it can be at peace. And God is satisfied for He said,
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And when Christ
died on that cross and was buried and rose by the power of God
and went back to glory, it showed me that God is satisfied. And
I have a scriptural guarantee of eternal life. He said, I am
the good shepherd. I lay down my life for my sheep,
other sheep I have which are not of this foal, and them I
must bring. They shall never perish. Never
perish. All right, in closing, here's
a word of instruction. It's finished. Now someone might
come up with this, all right preacher, if Christ has finished
the work, there's nothing for me to do but fold my hands and
wait for glory to dawn. Nothing could be farther from
the truth. A man who makes a statement like
that proves one thing for certain, he's never met the Redeemer.
For the man who has met the Redeemer knows this, he has a race to
run, he has a life to live, he has a God to glorify, and he
too has a work to finish. For the Apostle Paul said, The
time of my departure is at hand. When our Lord was about to die,
he said, Father, I have finished the work you gave me to do. When
Paul was about to die, Paul said, The time of my departure is at
hand, I have finished my course. I have finished my course. I have a race to run, I have
a work to finish, I have a God to glorify, I have a life to
live, and one of these days that work is going to be finished.
Now what are those works? Well, there are two types of
works. You know, James says, you show me your faith without
your works, which you can't do. I'll show you my faith by my
works. Now the reason you can't show
your faith without your works, you can speak it, but you can't
show it. You can profess it, but you can't
show it. You can claim it, but you can't
reveal it. I'll show you, James says, I'll
show you my faith. There are two types of works.
There are external works and there are internal works. Now
the external works, the Pharisees had these, and these external
works are not difficult to produce. External works such as praying,
such as fasting, such as giving, such as singing, such as preaching,
such as giving, such as teaching, such as singing, such as being
good neighborly with a glad handshake, such as being kind, such as being
generous to your neighbors, those are outward external works. These
works can be produced Not often, but they can be, even by an unregenerate
heart. But there are internal works,
or fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5, which are love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, meekness, gentleness. These are internal works. And
this is growing in grace, in the fruit of grace, in the fruit
of the Spirit. Now these external works, Christ
said if the inside of the cup is clean, the outside will be.
And if this internal work of love, and of faith, and of humility,
and of joy, and of kindness, these internal works exist, then
they'll show outwardly. I think all of us ought to make
it a prayer. We read these scriptures, but
they mean so little. Love your enemies. Do good to
them which despise you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you. Bless and curse not. Now that's
love, faith, meekness, humility. I'm nothing. If a brother be
overtaken in a fault, restore him with meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be tested. I think we ought to pray daily
for these internal graces. It's so easy to profess something. It's so easy to claim something.
It's so easy to speak something. It's something else, for it really,
personally, in a real manner, in a real experience,
to live in here. Our Father in Heaven, we thank
Thee for our Lord's obedience, sacrifice, substitutionary work. We live by him who died. We live
because he died. Our sins are put away and our
guilt is put away. And we have eternal hope of eternal
glory because Christ, the sinless, was made sin for us. That we,
by his righteousness, might be made

It Is Finished

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