Grace and peace to you, church. We are taking a detour from Jude due to the circumstances, and we're going to be in the Gospel of John this morning, the Gospel of John chapter 19. Hope you got an outline. I like to do that. Hope that's helpful for you. John 19. the passion of Christ in this chapter, Jesus delivered to be crucified. I'm going to read the text from verse 1 to verse 30. I'll pray and then we'll get started. John 19 beginning in verse 1. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him saying, hail, king of the Jews, and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, see, I'm bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out. wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, behold, the man. When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered, we have a law. And according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God. And Pilate heard the statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all. unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin." From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone pavement. and an Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, behold your king. They cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? These are our words, beloved. The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the King of the Jews, but rather, this man said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garment and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. Now this was to fulfill the scripture which says, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. And then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. And after this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. And a jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, what a magnificent passage. Help, oh Lord, in this moment to see you for who you are and what you've done. Grant our eyes clarity, grant our hearts a hunger to know you Save, oh God, those who do not know you, who have not yet bowed their knee to this King of all kings. And help us to rest as we unfold this passage, the finished work that you completed on the cross, Lord Jesus. Grant the hearers ears and eyes, and grant the preacher strength. He is in much weakness and fear and trembling. In Christ's name I pray, amen. It is finished to telestai. That is one word in the Greek language, one word. of inexhaustible fullness. It's a word on which all of humanity, all of history, all of the universe finds its purpose, finds its fulfillment, and finds its end. It's said of the Greek philosophers that they sought to show forth their excellency of thought by speaking much in a few words. And as one theologian says, what they only sought is here, found. Wrapped up in this word, we discover the reason for everything that ever was, everything that is, and everything that will be. Every pain, every joy, every heartache, every hallelujah, everything about your existence is wrapped up in this phrase, it is. finished. The perfect obedience, the sufferings, and the subsequent glories of Jesus are not only the most worthy things we can think about on this earth, but the scripture says it will be the very subject of eternity. The borderlands of eternity will not carve out what is contained in this phrase, it is finished. John Flavel, says, in that one word is contained the sum of all joy, the very spirit of all divine consolation. A.W. Pink called it the cry of joy. And Octavius Winslow said of this passage, there has never existed but one being who in truth could affirm this of his work, it is finished. Incompleteness, he goes on to say, and defect trace the most vast and elaborate and accomplished products of human genius and power. And our beloved Spurgeon says in this text, it is an ocean of meaning in a drop of language. Our text is one that is full of great, great meaning. These are the things which the prophets sought and the things into which angels long to look. And if you have an outline, we're gonna try to cover this in four simple points. God help me. First, we're gonna see Jesus speaks a finished prophecy. Second, we're going to see that he speaks of finished fulfillment. Third, finished redemption. And fourth, we're going to see a finished life, a finished life. So the cross was, as we know, a very dark place. It was a desolate place. If you follow the account of the cross in the Gospels, you can piece together seven sayings of our Lord during this dark time. John's gospel paints a picture of perfection for the reader, symbolized by the number seven. Earlier in his gospel, John gave us seven miracles that Christ performed and seven I Am statements indicating the perfection of the Messiah as the true tabernacle. And here in John 19.30, John alone, out of all the gospel writers, records for us in this next-to-last saying before Christ committed his spirit into the hands of the Father. So John continues this idea of perfection and paints a picture of finality in our Lord's death. And truly, his death was a perfect death, beloved. It was a summation of all things in him. At the beginning of the darkness of the cross, was a prayer of forgiveness. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. There was the promise of pardon to an unworthy thief. Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. There was the commendation of a beloved disciple to the care of his mother. Woman, as we read, behold, your mother. But as the darkness of the cross settled, There was a cry of desolation, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The darkness of the wrath of Almighty God was unleashed on the Messiah that day. No help, forsaken, barren, desolate. the consummation and concentration of all woe, beyond which there is no deeper anguish that any human being has ever suffered, anointed the Messiah that day. And as the darkness lingered, as if the trickery and the spite and the mockery and the hatred of men had not met its capacity, sour wine was given to him. thirsted." Now what's interesting that Proverbs 31 6 says, give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those in bitter distress. It has been known from ancient times that wine is an anesthetic. It numbs the mind and the pain of that it was an intoxicating drink that was mercifully given to condemned criminals to render them a little less sensible of the torture they were enduring while they were dying. And a mother's advice to a king in Proverbs 31 was, though a man is condemned to die, that even mercy in death ought to be shown to him. Yet what was given to our Lord? Not the good wine. Not the good wine. Sour wine. Vinegar. Some jug of spoiled, dirty wine left out in the elements and probably left over from a previous crucifixion. And what is given to him to increase his misery, not to comfort him. His persecutors paid him no respect. Matthew Henry notes here, when heaven denied him a beam of light, earth denied him a drop of water and put vinegar in its place. Thomas Manton writes, Christ would make his sufferings as full of merit as possibly he could, and therefore would not receive the least drought of comfort till he had paid the whole debt. Truly, Christ would have no comfort and provide no comfort for our souls. from the cup of blessing until he had drank in full the cup of wrath. Sufficient had been the suffering of the Messiah. But in that very same darkness was another cry. It was not a cry of helplessness. It was not a cry of relief from suffering. It was not, as one preacher says, the last gasp of a worn-out life. It was the cry of finality. It was the cry of triumph. It was the cry of fulfillment, the summing up of all time, space, and history. It was the cry of the inauguration of a new humanity. Everything that Adam had destroyed, everything that the curse had done, new heavens, new earth, new life, inaugurated. It was the cry of the seed of the woman crushing the head of that serpent, fully, finally, forever beloved. In short, it was the cry, it is finished. Jesus did not merely triumph after the cross at his resurrection. He triumphed on the cross. He triumphed on the cross We have to ask ourselves, what does it mean that it is finished? First, I want you to see that it means he finished prophecy. He finished prophecy. When Christ said it is finished, he was referring to the fulfillment of prophecy, that he, being the eternal one, would be born of a virgin, Isaiah 7.14. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call his name Immanuel. This was fulfilled in Luke 135. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. that he, the king, would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. Zechariah 9, 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation, as he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, on the foal of a donkey. This was fulfilled in Matthew 21, 4 and 5. and that he, the friend of sinners, the one who would stick closer than a brother, would be betrayed by his own disciple and friend. Psalm 41.9, even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. Matthew 26.23, we see Judas' betrayal. That he who owns the very universe and the stars was sold for 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah 11 prophesies of this, and Matthew 26 records that Judas sold him for that amount. That he who is the omnipresent one should be fixed to a cross. Psalm 22, 16, for dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircle me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. We can read about that in Luke 23, that he who is holy would be numbered among transgressors. Isaiah 53, therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he's poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Fulfilled in Luke 22. He who was clothed in majesty had his very garments divided and gambled over. He who has the keys of death would rise from the dead. Psalm 1610, you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption. This was fulfilled in Luke 24. Peter looking into the tomb, what did he see? It was an empty tomb, beloved. Even his request for something to drink from the cross fulfilled the scripture. These and many, many more, some theologians have counted up to 300 prophecies of Christ have been unmistakably fulfilled by him. This was done not only to settle your mind regarding who Christ is, but also to settle your heart about his work. that he may be believed on for salvation. And so I ask, do you believe these things? This is what it's meant by it is finished. There is in the words of Christ on the cross a deep recognition of finished prophecy. Second, there's also finished fulfillment. Finished fulfillment. When Christ said it is finished upon the cross, he meant to show that every pattern, every type, every shadow and illusion in the Old Testament found its ultimate fulfillment in himself. As one theologian has written, the Old Testament is a messianic document written from a messianic perspective to sustain a messianic hope. Robin pointed that out in Genesis 3.15. The hope of the gospel there at the very beginning pages of your Old Testament was what was carried through in the hearts of every believer up to the time of Christ. It sustained a messianic hope. He's the seed of the woman promised by God to crush the head of the serpent. He's the last Adam who would come as the representative of the new humanity and win by his obedience eternal life. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Adam gave every one of us natural life. Christ alone gives us the grace of eternal life. He's the blood on the doorpost and lentil of the believer's life so that the angel of death may pass over, Exodus 12. He's the true sacrificial lamb, something which the life of Abraham's son Isaac only typified. He's the bronze serpent lifted up on the pole over the congregation so that all who have the poison of death running through their veins may simply look to him and live. No work, just look and you'll live. Lift up your eyes and believe. Every perpetual Old Testament sacrifice promised the one who was to come and offer a single sacrifice for sins forever. And being the culmination of all those types, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. In our text in John 19 verse 30, there's this implied contrast to all of the Old Testament perpetual sacrifices. This can't be missed. In the words, it is finished, Christ contrasts his death with all the shadows of the ceremonial law. As if he were saying that the law had no power to take away sin and appease God's wrath. Only Christ did and can do what the law could not do. He ended sin by his once-for-all sacrifice. And we can even push this theme a little further back beyond Genesis 3. Think about this. It's no coincidence that the sixth saying of Christ on the cross was a cry of his finished And at the end of the sixth day of creation, what does God say? It's finished. All the work of creation is done. Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. Is this a mere coincidence, a happy but kind of unintended correlation? I think not. And I don't think John thought that way either. The early pages of Scripture and the account of creation are not primarily, follow me here, not primarily scientific texts on origins or even generically theological, though they are at least those things. Those early pages are specifically an embryonic Christological pattern for us. Christ is being revealed in those passages. We do not see Christ in light of creation, but creation in the light of Christ, and we must keep that order that way. Last things come first. We read Genesis 1 in light of John 1. We see everything in the light of Christ, everything, or we see nothing at all. Therefore, Adam was a type of Christ. Abel, Noah, Aaron, the ark, the cities of refuge, the tabernacle, the temple, all its details, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, the scapegoat sent into the wilderness, Jonah, on and on and on. All were patterns, all were types, all were shadows, all were illusions, echoes of Christ. And so I give you the words of the Lord to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, O foolish ones. And slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. The point is this, beloved. By weaving these individual threads of promises and types and shadows mentioned in the Old Testament, God is painting for us a beautiful tapestry. We see the underside of this in the Old Testament, but what happens when we turn it over and see the final product? We see the upper side, and we see what God meant all along. Step by step, these things are revealed. And what is revealed is one thing, the glory of Christ. That's what the Old Testament's about. That's what it's meant by it, it's finished. There is in the words of Christ on the cross a deep recognition of finished fulfillment. No more, it ends with him. Third, finished redemption. When Christ said, it is finished, he meant that his great work of redemption was complete. He did not say, I've done all I can, now tidy up the loose ends. He left nothing for man to accomplish, no sacraments, no penance, no cooperative effort. He said in majestic simplicity that the work of redemption was done, completed. Would our Roman Catholic friends listen up? Finished was the redemption of God's elect, we being chosen in Christ by the Father before the foundation of the world. Daniel 9.24, if you remember, several months ago, Brandon preaching on that, it says of the Messiah's work that he will finish the transgression, put an end to sin, and atone for iniquity. Ransom paid, debt charged, condemnation silenced. Justice and all of its demands found their answer in Christ. Now, maybe you've struggled with this question of the atonement. Maybe, as you've read Scripture, you've struggled with that question, for whom did Christ die? For every individual? For God's people alone? Now, if you've struggled with this, you're in good company. So have I. But can we not safely reason from this text, from John 19.30 and many others, that what Christ did, he did fully and he did finally. Was the sacrifice of atonement not final here? Was it not final? Was his work not final? Was not punishment exhausted? Was not the wrath of God satisfied? If Christ has suffered all the punishment due to God's people, it cannot be that anyone for whom he died must answer for any of their sins. Any of their sins. Matthew 3.15 says that he has fulfilled all righteousness. The righteous requirement of the whole law was fulfilled by Christ as a surety for us. We know what that word means, right? As a surety for us. It's someone who takes the responsibility for another's performance. The holiness of God is stamped on His law, and every man who does not keep it bears its eternal curse. Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to do them. Galatians 3.10. But he offered himself as a substitute for us, and he offered himself in perfect holiness. For it was indeed fitting, as the Hebrews writer says, that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." Now, this begs a question. It begs a question that the apostle Paul raises in Romans 8. Could God ever condemn a man who was represented before the law by such a one as this? The Apostle Paul asks it this way, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? Answer the question. It's God who justifies. Who is to condemn, beloved? Who's going to bring a charge against you before the throne of God? It's Christ Jesus, the one who died. more than that, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Paul reasons that the death of Christ actually frees men from condemnation. It doesn't just make men savable, nor does it just make salvation possible. It actually saves. It finishes the work, it purchases, it redeems. The work of Christ on the cross answers the question, who shall bring a charge? Who will condemn? To which the answer is no one. No one. His work was definite. It was a definite work of atonement for his people. What's the testimony of the angels in Matthew's gospel? The announcement of Christ. Mary will bear a son and call his name Jesus, for he might save his people from their sins and fail? No. No. He will save his people. Not might save, not try to save and fail. He will save. Mission accomplished. Revelation 5.9, he ransomed people for God from every tribe and tongue and nation. Colossians 2.14, he canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside by nailing it to the cross. Now, beloved, did he cancel the debt by his death or did he not? Answer the question. Let us not be Christmas Calvinists. Noel, Noel. That was a poorly placed joke. As one theologian has said, men are not in heaven without the record of sin, nor are men in hell without it. Men are not in heaven with a record of sin. There is no one in heaven with a record of sin. nor are men in hell without it. And from our text, we have no reason to assume that Christ died for those who were, are, or will finally find themselves in hell. What does this doctrine mean? What does this doctrine mean? It means everything. It means everything, everything necessary for your salvation. for the salvation of a particular and peculiar, and you are peculiar, and purchased people, bought by His blood, was finished on the cross. There's no solid ground of assurance. that we have, that we are loved by God apart from this fact. You have no reason to be assured of the love of God if you have not been purchased, if your debt has not been canceled, if it's not final. Beloved, let us, as Newton says, love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Savior's name. He's hushed the laws, loud thunder. He's quenched Mount Sinai's flame. Amen. Well, finally, I want you to see a finished life. A finished life. Finished was his suffering and earthly life. The Messiah bows his head and gives up his spirit. His life of pain, of mocking, of hatred, insults from sinners was over. He who hung the earth in place, as one early church father says, is hanged in place. He who fixed the heavens in place is fixed in place. He who made all things fast is made fast on a tree. The sovereign is insulted. God is murdered. No more could wicked men smite, spit upon, or crown with thorns the brow of the Son of God. The pain of all pains, the suffering of all sufferings was over. Never a man spoke like this, and never a man died like this. His suffering was bitter to the last drop. The Messiah drank to the dregs the cup of the wrath of God, every last drop. Justice has been satisfied. Reconciliation has been secured. Wrath has been absorbed. Everlasting life in the kingdom of God was purchased. He fought a good fight. He finished the course. He kept the faith. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. And all the crowds assembled for the spectacle of the cross. When they saw what had taken place, it says, they returned home beating their chests. They couldn't imagine what they had done. In the life of the Son of God, In these words, it is finished. We find the sum, the substance, and completion of all that God purposed in time and eternity to take place, not only for your good, but for His glory. This is incomprehensible majesty. Majesty. Well, as we close, I want to give you a few observations. And if you've already filled in the blanks, shame on you. You should have waited. Observation number one. I think we can sum up a few things here. There are so many. I had an old preacher tell me years ago that he'll start a list and no list is complete. Finish it. Add to it. Meditate on these things as you go home. So number one, Christ's finished work means that God's justice is satisfied. God's justice is satisfied. We who have trusted in him need not fear. No fear before the Father. Romans 5.9, since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. One old theologian says, what can the law crave more than the blood of the Son of God? What can the law crave more than the blood of the Son of God? It can crave nothing more. God's justice is satisfied. Rest in that. Rest in that. We find now in our Father a friendly grace. Rest in that, beloved. Justice is satisfied. Secondly, Christ's finished work means that death has met its end. Death has met its end. In the words, it is finished. We see the death of death in the death of Christ. Death is swallowed up in victory, as Paul says. Where is your sting? The cross of Christ gives the believer confidence to taunt a former enemy. Where is your sting, death? Where is it? We can stare each other right in the eyes, mano y mano, where is it? It's lost its sting. The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord. As Lewis would say, death now, the stone table is turned on its head, and now it begins to work backwards. it begins to work backwards. Number three, Christ's finished work means that the Christian may have comfort in death without fear. Isaiah 57, one and two, the righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace. They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. Spurgeon said this, The best moment of a Christian's life is his last one because it is the one that is nearest to heaven. One Puritan asked this question and I would love for you to answer it. If a man that is desperately sick today did believe that he should arise well the next morning, or a man today who was in despicable poverty If he had the assurance that he should tomorrow arise a prince, would he be afraid to go to bed? Would he be afraid to lay his head down knowing that tomorrow he would arise a prince? The Christian does not fear that sleep. Why should we, of all people, be afraid to die who hope to live by dying? Why should we be afraid? It's finished. It's finished. Number four, Christ's finished work means that the Christian may have an assurance of the love of God. Christ's finished work means that the Christian may have an assurance of the love of God. John Newton was reflecting on the Christian life, and if you know me, you know that Newton's one of my favorite theologians. Another John, Owen, is the other one. Lots of Johns. Newton says this, assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord's power and goodness to save. When we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and then healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope and then been suddenly snatched from danger and placed in safety. And when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply the word and power of God beyond and against all appearances. And this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance. Newton recognized something central to the Christian life. God never grows our assurance without a deep knowledge of the evil and deceitfulness of our hearts. We are too proud and too self-reliant. And God, in his infinite wisdom, breaks a man of his self-reliance by trial. I not only say that, I know that. That's in my bones. Not to discourage him, not to drown him, but to push him to relinquish his pride and desperately trust the only thing, the only thing that will give him true assurance of the love of God, the finished work of Christ. That's the only thing the believer has. Maybe that's why some of you here don't know assurance as you all. You're resting in your performance. And when you don't measure up, you don't run to Christ, you just do more, you run more. Pick her up by the bootstraps, get it done. You don't rest. You don't rest. And God, if you are his own, will push you to that point of desperation, if you are his own. What son is there who his father does not discipline? And when he disciplines, he yields what? The peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. This is the paradox. This is the paradox. Newton says, we are never more safe, we are never more safe, never have more reason to expect the Lord's help than when we are most sensible that we can do nothing without him. We'll never know the power of this in our lives apart from the finished work of Christ. In the words, it is finished. We must draw our comfort and our assurance. But maybe you don't know Christ at all, and therefore you have no grounds of assurance of the love of God. You shouldn't presume to have it. You can have it. It's yours if you will but come to him. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. The times of ignorance, Paul says, God has overlooked. But now, not suggests, not has a warm conversation over coffee, he commands all men everywhere to repent. He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all are raising him from the dead. It's not a suggestion, it's a command. The King says, repent, turn away from your sin, turn away from your wicked ways. Will you stand before the judge in your own work, with your own merit, or will you stand before him in his own perfect work? Can you say from the heart, It is finished. Will you say that? You must say that. Amen? Let's pray. Lord, we have scratched the surface. Such short meditations on such grand things. Would you help us not to end this moment right now? Help us not to close out these things in our mind or our hearts. Help not this prayer to be something where we just flush these things out of our thinking. But Lord, would you please grant us the rest of this day a deep meditation, a deep thinking on longing for the truths of this passage. It is finished. Hallelujah. It is finished. All glory be to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Amen.