If you will turn back in your
Bibles, John chapter 19. Today is known throughout the
world as Palm Sunday. The Sunday which began the week
in which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. He entered Jerusalem
on Sunday, met by those carrying palm branches and crying, Hosanna,
blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the
Lord. And then before the week was
ended, he was crucified upon the cross. He was delivered,
judged, and pronounced innocent by Pilate. and yet he delivered
him to be crucified. He was nailed to a cross with
this written above, Jesus of Nazareth, king, the king of the
Jews. Now, when you take the other
gospels with this gospel of John, we have what men have come to
call the seven saints of Christ from the cross. The number seven
in the Word of God stands for completeness. And while no one
gospel gives them all, each gives some of them. And there's a tremendous
message in just the order in which our Lord spoke these words,
but that will be a message for another day, the Lord willing.
We've read three in this chapter. In verses 26 and 27, he spoke
to his mother, woman, behold thy son. And he spoke to John,
behold thy mother. And then in verse 28, the fifth
of the seven sayings, I thirst. And then the sixth of the seven
sayings in verse 30, it is finished. And it's this last saying that
we read in this chapter that I want to speak to us from today. It is finished. It would be impossible,
be impossible to guess how many messages preachers over the years
have brought from this saying of the Lord. One thing is sure,
and that is, it is a saying that shall never be exhausted. It
is finished. In our Bible, we have three words.
In the Greek, from which the scripture is translated, it's
only one word. But we have three words, and
from these three words today, I want us to speak, or I want
to speak rather from three truths. Three truths. It is finished. First, all, A-L-L, all Old Testament
prophecies which concerned his sufferings, it is finished. There were many, many prophecies
concerning his sufferings, so many that we could not mention
them all. The fact that we read that he
was nailed to a cross, his hands and his feet, they were pierced. He was beset around the cross
by mockers. Crying out, he trusted on the
Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, saying he
delighted in him. But they all had to be fulfilled. As I said, there were many, many
prophecies, some of them going back centuries. Yes, all of them,
in fact, going back centuries. Some millennium. And yet everyone
had to be fulfilled before he could say, it is finished. If you notice here in our text
today, it's obvious that he knew At this point, he knew that there
was one prophecy concerning his sufferings that as yet had not
been fulfilled. And that's the reason he spoke
and said, I thirst. He was thirsty. In fact, in Psalm
22, the scripture speaks of the thirst that he experienced there
on the cross. But now he says, I thirst that
the scripture, the scripture which spoke of his suffering,
that in his suffering, he was given vinegar to drink. That's found in Psalm 69 in verse
21. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar
to drink. His sorrows. All of them were
ended. It is finished. Now we have this
word in the book of Lamentations. It's a word concerning Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was sacked and
burned and destroyed by the Babylonians, Jeremiah, outside what was left
of the ruins, he spoke, but he spoke these words which were
a type or a picture, rather, of the Lord Jesus Christ upon
the cross when he said, see, see, look, see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow wherewith he hath afflicted me in the day
of his fierce anger. All Old Testament prophecies
which concerned his sufferings were finished. We sang that hymn
just now, Man of Sorrows. What a name. For the Son of God
who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior. To think that he would suffer
as he did, but there was an end to his sufferings. And until
he said, it is finished, he suffered, but then he gave up the ghost. A second truth, all Old Testament
types which concerned his substitution, it is finished. The many sacrifices
under the law which God gave to Moses, we know that they all
in some way pictured his one sacrifice. His one sacrifice
in the stead and in the place of his people. He substituted
himself. He who knew no sin, the Bible
tells us, was made sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. It was the justice of God that
took the sins of His people and imputed them, laid them, charged
them upon our blessed Lord and Savior, God's dear Son. All of those sacrifices, all
of the blood that flowed from the animals the lambs, the beefs,
the goats, all of that throughout the Old Testament days. They
all pictured, they all were some way a type of his work, of his
substitution. We know it's not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin, never intended
to, never intended to take away sin. But all of them intended
to picture that one sacrifice, that one bloodshedding of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And all the types that pictured
his substitutionary work were now fulfilled. It is finished. We know that there were three
hours of darkness when the Lord Jesus Christ was hanging upon
the cross. from about the sixth hour to
the ninth hour. There was three hours of darkness. And even that, when you think
about it, is a beautiful fulfillment of the type. On the great day
of atonement, when the Lord's goat, the lot that fell upon
that one goat, there were two goats, remember, brought, but
the Lord's lot fell upon that one goat, And it was slain and
its blood was carried in to the Holy of Holies, but no one saw
that. No one witnessed that. He went
in behind the veil and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat
out of sight of all those who were gathered there that day.
And the same is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. as he was hanging
there upon the tree, three hours of darkness, as though no one
could see what was taking place between the Lord Jesus Christ
and God the Father and His justice. And as I thought about this again
this past week, I thought about that second goat. You remember
the second goat was called the scapegoat. And after the blood
had been applied upon the mercy seat, then the priest came back
out and he laid his hands upon that live goat and he confessed
the sins of Israel upon that goat. And then that goat was
commanded to be led away, and we read there, into an uninhabited
land. Think about that. A land uninhabited. And what about the Lord Jesus
Christ as he was suffering on the cross and he cried, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now where is there a place
where God isn't? You're talking about uninhabited. He took the sins that were laid
upon him and he took them away. It is finished. The apostle tells
us who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot. Yes, he had to be without spot. He had to be holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, innocent in his person. Guilty before God, before the
law of God, yes, but in his person he was innocent. He offered himself
without spot to God. He didn't offer himself to you.
He didn't offer himself to me. He certainly didn't offer himself
to the devil as some false religions have taught. No, the sacrifice
was made God had to be satisfied first. Something had to be done
for God first before God could do anything for you and I. He had to be satisfied. One of, if not the greatest of
all the Old Testament types was the Passover. The Apostle Paul writes, for
even Christ our Passover His sacrifice for us. It is finished. All the Old Testament promise,
prophecies rather concerning His sufferings, all the Old Testament
types, all fulfilled. It is finished. The third, all
His work which His Father gave Him to do, it is finished. Now the night before, In his
high priestly prayer, he spoke these words, I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. I was reading the last words
of Queen Elizabeth the other day. And as she lay on her deathbed,
she turned her lady in waiting, and she said, is this it? Is this it? After all the power
she had wielded for, I think, a reign of over 75 years, is
this it? And it was the end. And she confessed
she had finished nothing. And you will say the same thing.
And I will say the same thing. There's only one person, here
he is, who could ever say, it is finished. I have glorified
thee on the earth. Notice these four things. First
of all, his work of honoring God's law is finished. He did not come to destroy the
law. If you want to look over in Matthew chapter 5, at the
very beginning of his public ministry, he made this very clear. Matthew chapter 5 and verses
17 and 18. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy but to
fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law. Now notice this, till all be
fulfilled. Now sometimes when we read of
the law, it refers to all of the Old Testament, no doubt about
it. But God's word is established
in heaven. It will never pass away. The
law he has reference to is the law of commandments, the law
of Moses. Until that law was fulfilled,
it would not pass away. But that law was taken and it
was nailed to his cross. The commandments, the ordinances,
they were all against us. They all testified against us. They all said, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the law
for to do them. And until that law was fulfilled,
he would not say it is finished. He came to fulfill the law, to
bring in that everlasting righteousness. And this he did by his perfect,
perfect obedience to every jot and every tittle. People are always trying to get
believers to get under the law. Bring yourself under the law.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness unto everyone
that believeth. For you're not under law, but
under grace. He fulfilled God's law. It is finished. Second, his work
of satisfying God's justice. It is finished. By his one offering
for sin, he did what Daniel said the Messiah would do. He made
an end of sin. By His one offering, the writer
of Hebrews tells us, He hath perfected forever. Perfected forever. Now, if you
are perfect through His one offering, if God says that, I'd say you're
perfect. Wouldn't you? By His one offering, He hath
perfected past tense, forever, them that are sanctified, them
that are set apart, set apart by God in election before the
foundation of the world, chosen in Christ as the scriptures declare. He so finished his work of satisfying
God's justice that no charge can be brought against one of
his elect. This is what the apostle writes
in Romans chapter 8. Who, who, who shall lay anything
against God's elect? who shall bring any charge against
God's elect. It is God that justified, and
he justified based upon this satisfaction of his justice. He so finished his work of satisfying
God's justice that no charge can ever be brought against one
he represented. The curse of the law cannot reach
them, cannot reach one of them. No charge can ever be brought
against one of them in the court of heaven. Why? Because it is finished. Number three, his work of destroying
Satan, it is finished. The first promise of the coming
Deliverer said, thou, that is Satan, shall bruise his heel. Now this reached its climax at
the cross, when all the demons of hell, and we do not know how
many there are, but all the demons of hell attacked the Lord Jesus
alone. Charles Spurgeon graphically
described this battle in these words, at last, foot to foot,
He met the champion of hell. And now, our David fought with
Goliath. Not long was the struggle. Thick
was the darkness which gathered around them both. But he, who
is the son of God, as well as the son of Mary, knew how to
smite the fiend. And he did smite him with divine
fury, till having despoiled him of his armor, having quenched
his fiery darts, and broken his head, he cried, it is finished,
and sent the fiend bleeding and howling down to hell. It is finished. And number four, his work of
ratifying the everlasting covenant, it is finished. If we think of the covenant,
as a will, and it is presented like that to us in Hebrews chapter
9. We all know what a will is. A
man has a will, and when he passes away, that will is put into force. Until he passes away, the will
may be changed, but once he leaves this world, that will can never
be changed. And he has an executor. And the
executor, he makes sure that everything written in that will
is given out and placed to the account of those named in the
will. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
said, it is finished, if we think of the covenant as a will, He
ratified the covenant. It cannot be changed. It cannot
be altered. And thank God. And He's the executor
of His own will. He rose from the dead to make
sure all the benefits and all the blessings go to those named
in the will. I think of this will like in
Ephesians chapter 1. And verse 4, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. All spiritual blessings, what
are they? Well, justification is a spiritual
blessing, isn't it? Forgiveness of sins, acceptance
with God, adoption. Sanctification, glorification,
being an heir, being made an heir, a joint heir with Christ,
all these spiritual blessings that were named in the will,
they all come to those because the will has been put into force
by His death. It is finished. But we may also
think of the covenant as a contract and that is Probably the way
it's most often given to us in the Word of God, a contract.
And in this contract, the eternal Son of God agreed to certain
things. He agreed to be made flesh. And
in the fullness of the times, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. He agreed to live here for 30
some years. under His law, God's law, and
obey that law perfectly. And He agreed in that covenant
to satisfy that broken law on behalf of His people. It's finished. It's finished. But God also,
God the Father also agreed to some things in that covenant,
didn't He? And by the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ, when he said, it is finished, then all the I wills
and thou shouts are sure to come to his people. For instance,
I will be their God and they shall be my people. A new heart
also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you.
That's a new birth, new heart, new spirit. I will put my Spirit
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall
keep my judgments and do them." All of these benefits and blessings
of that covenant, because he said it is finished, flow to
those who are named in the contract, in the covenant. Let me close my message today
looking at these three words, first of all, as words of comfort
and then words of warning. As words of comfort. And that's
what we are to do. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. God's people are poor in spirit. God's people are troubled. They
have a new nature, but they also have an old nature, have conflicts
within and without. And so God commands his preachers,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people. And these three words, it is
finished. What words of comfort are they? To God's children. When, if you're
like me, and I know you are, if you're one of God's children,
when we look at our love, Our love to Christ. And we do love
Him. Make no mistake about it. We
do love Him. But when we look at our love,
when we look at our service, when we look at our obedience,
can we say of any of it, it is finished? It's perfect? Of course not. Our service is
imperfect. Our obedience is incomplete. And our love is fluctuating. Sometimes it's hot. Sometimes
it's cold. Sometimes it seems like we're
up on the mountain. We're living in beauty land.
We can almost see over into the celestial city. And sometimes
we're down in the valley, we can hardly lift up our head. Comfort sheet, my people. It
is finished. Turn your eye of faith away from
self and look to him who said, it is finished. And recognize, hear me now, You
are complete in Him. You can't beat that. You are complete in Him. I don't know if you heard Brother
Fred a minute ago when he was praying, but he said this about
our Savior. He got the job done. He got the
job done. And because He got the job done,
you are complete in Him. But these are also words of warning. Do not attempt, whoever you are,
do not attempt at anything anything to his perfect, complete,
and finished work. Don't try it. Don't try to go
about establishing your own righteousness. That's what the Jews of Paul's
day did. That's not possible. Do not attempt
to add anything to the finished, complete work of Jesus Christ. He said it is finished. He satisfied God. God's justice
can want no more, demand no more. And if you put your hand to the
work, it's marred. It's marred. You say, what are
we to do then? Lay down. Rest. Feint. As Spurgeon said one time, just
feint. Everyone can feint. You don't
have to do anything to feint. You just fall. Your knees go
out from underneath you. I'm talking about spiritually.
Feint into the arms of Jesus Christ. It is finished. Arthur W. Pink concluded his
remarks on this saying of Christ with this story. Let me give
you this and I'll be through. Some years ago, a Christian farmer
was deeply concerned over an unsaved carpenter. The farmer
sought to set before his neighbor the gospel of God's grace. and
to explain how the finished work of Christ was sufficient for
his soul to rest upon. But the carpenter, and there's
myriads of people like this, the carpenter persisted in the
belief that he must do something himself. One day the farmer asked
the carpenter to make for him a gate. And when the gate was
ready, he carried it away to his wagon. He arranged for the
carpenter to call on him the next morning and see the gate
as it hung in the field. At the appointed hour, the carpenter
arrived and was surprised to find the farmer standing by with
a sharp axe in his hand. What are you going to do? He
asked. I'm going to add a few cuts and
strokes to your work, was the response. But there's no need
for it, replied the carpenter. The gate is all right as it is. I did all that is necessary to
it. The farmer took no notice, but
lifting his axe, he slashed and hacked the gate until it was
completely spoiled. Look what you have done, cried
the carpenter. You have ruined my work. Yes,
said the farmer, and that is exactly what you are trying to
do. You are seeking to nullify the
finished work of Christ by your own miserable additions to it. It is finished. I pray the Lord
would bless this Word to all of us here today and give us
grace to rest in this wonderful truth. In Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe. Let's sing that hymn. 125.