A Faith Worth Contending For - Enemies Of The Faith Once Delivered

Temple Baptist Church - 3-30-2016

Jude 3

 

Introduction:

 

A.  I want to identify the enemies of God’s Word tonight.  It is a very clear message tonight because you are either on the right side of God’s Word or you are on the wrong side.  There is no middle ground with God or the Bible. 

 

1.  Some people are on the wrong side of the Bible but are there because of ignorance.  These may be saved but are being destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Their “shepherds” are guilty of ear tickling and compromise because of their love of money.

 

Ezekiel 34:1-2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  (2)  Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

 

2.  Some people are on the wrong side of the Bible because they do not believe the Bible.  These are destroyed because of a rejection of knowledge.  Let me give you an example of these who are willfully ignorant because they will be the focus of this message.

 

Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

 

B.  The message tonight is also a hard one!  The Word of God divides us from people that we love and are friends with!  The Bible divides us from the churches and schools that we once attended.  I owe no allegiance to the church that I was saved in nor to the Bible schools that I graduated from.  As long as they stay with the right doctrine, I will stay with them.  When they stray from right doctrine or the Bible, I leave them.  Period!

 

Matthew 10:32-37  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  (33)  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.  (34)  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  (35)  For I am come to set a man at variance (to alienate) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  (36)  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.  (37)  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

 

C.  If we are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered, we MUST be steadfast and willing to pay the price for the Bible.  Others paid with their lives, can we do any less?

 

D.  To stand for error and fallibility of the Bible is to declare that the Bible is wrong and cannot be trusted fully.  I want to look at a couple of verses to prove my point.

 

1 Peter 1:23-25  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.  (24)  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:  (25)  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.  (There are 4 things in these 3 verses that I want us to take note ofJ

 

1.  “Incorruptible.”  This word means un-decaying.  Let me give you a Biblical example of what “incorruptible” means.  Acts 13:35-37  Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  (36)  For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:  (37)  But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.  (The body of our Lord Jesus saw no corruption or decay!  Even most liberal will agree with this statement because, if they are saved, they must believe in the bodily resurrection of our Lord.  “Incorruptible means just that, absolutely no decay at all!)

 

2.  “Abideth for ever.”  This words means to continue, to be present, to remain.  It is something that cannot and will not change.  2 Timothy 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.  (Our Lord Jesus Christ “abideth” faithful because not to would be a denial of all that He is.  He never changes as He is the same, Yesterday, today, and forever.  The Word of God “abideth for ever!”)

 

3.  “Endureth for ever.”  It is of interest that the King James Bible translates the same Greek word differently here.  The word “abideth” and the word “endureth” come from the same word.  Why?  “Abideth for ever” means that it will never change while “endureth for ever” means that it will perfectly resist every attack or effort of man and devil the change it.)

 

Psalms 100:5  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

 

Psalms 12:6-7  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  (7)  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

 

4.  “This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”   “Is preached” is in the present tense as the Word of God was in hand to these people. 

 

2 Peter 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  (We have a Word that is more sure than angels or even God Himself speaking from heaven.  It is a Word that continues to remain.)

 

2 Peter 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  (17)  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 

E.  The Bible is very clear when it speaks of inerrancy and infallibility.  I will say without apology that these so-called theologians who attack the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible are on Satan’s side of the battle.  They may claim to be fundamental and Bible believing but they call God a liar.  It all boils down to this: you either believe what God says or you do not.

 

F.  Satan hates the Bible because of what it gives.  Satan’s attack upon the Word of God is purposed, planned, and manned!

 

1.  It gives us Eternal Salvation - John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

 

2.  It gives us Blessed Assurance - 1 John 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

 

3.  It gives us Doctrinal Purity - 2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

4. It gives us Spiritual Maturity - 1 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

 

5.  It gives us Satanic Exposure - Isaiah 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

 

6.  It gives them Everlasting Damnation - John 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

 

G.  Let us look at a few of the tools that liberal theologians use in their attack upon the Bible. 

 

1.  The Tool Of Intellectualism - 2 Peter 1:16-17  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

 

1 Corinthians 2:1-5  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.  (Almost every denomination or religious group has fallen through their institutions of higher learning.  Seminaries have become breeding places for heretical teachers who undercut the authority and veracity of God’s Word.)

 

Colossians 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  (Philo-sophia or the love of wisdom.  The wisdom of man is foolishness with God and the wisdom of God is foolishness to man.)

 

Matthew 23:7  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.  (Rabbi means “My Master.”  One who is over another.  Rabbi means “Teacher” or one trained in Jewish Law.  Today it is “Doctor, doctor!”  I have no problem with education but education does not equate spirituality nor does it make one superior in any respect.)

 

2.  The Tool Of Dishonesty - 2 Corinthians 4:2  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  (By deviously rendering the Word of God is such a way as to make it agree with false teachings.  Romans 1 says that they change the truth of God into a lie.  Where I come from, the only thing that we rendered was pig fat in order to make lard!  In Bible Colleges as well as many pulpits, the teacher or pastor will read King James English and then contradict the Scripture by said, “This word could have been translated” or “This word should have been translated!”  It makes the pastor or professor the final authority as he corrects the Bible instead of allowing the Bible to be the final authority as it corrects him.)

 

3.  The Tool Of Textual Criticism - 2 Corinthians 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. 

 

Jeremiah 36:22-24  Now the king (Jehoiakim) sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.  And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.  Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.  (Textual Criticism is the science of studying ancient manuscripts to determine the authentic text of the Bible. It is sometimes called Lower Criticism.  Many elevate the Minority Text over the Majority Text and teaching people that the King James was either inaccurately translated or is archaic and in need of constant revision.)

 

4.  The Tool Of Deception - Ephesians 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. 

Jude 3-4  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.  (4)  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.  (These men pretend to be Bible believers while infiltrating the fundamental ranks and later showing their true colors by leading others astray from the “Old Paths.”  These are “ungodly men!”  Enemies of the Word of God are enemies of the Lord God!)

 

5.  The Tool Of Confusion - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

 

1 Timothy 1:4  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

 

1 Timothy 4:7  But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

 

Titus 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.   (By carrying the King James Bible while constantly referring to the Greek and Hebrew, teaching God’s people that you must have a working knowledge of the original languages in order to properly understand the Bible.  These deceivers become the authority instead of the Bible being the final authority.)

Getting Even

Temple Baptist Church - 3-27-2016

1 Thessalonians 5:15

 

Introduction:

 

A.  As Paul continues in his exhortation to the church, he deals with the subject of “Getting Even.” 

 

1.  If any man ever had a right to “get even,” the Apostle Paul did.  Rejected of Christians that were Jews because of his past and distained, castigated, ostracized, abused, beaten, imprisoned everywhere he went because of his present. 

 

2.  In the days of my youth, I often heard “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”  Today, it is “I don’t get mad, I get even!”  “Do unto others as others do unto you” is a famous misquote that is often used.  Some even say, “Do unto others before they do unto you!”

 

B.  The Jewish Law was broken down into three distinct categories:

 

1)  The Moral Law the Law of Holiness  The moral law of the Ten Commandments is an expression of God’s character; it is the standard of all righteousness, an expression of His will. The moral law is the embodiment of two great principles:  a) Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength b) love thy neighbor as thyself.  It is called the Royal Law.

 

Mark 12:30-31  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  (31)  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

2)  The Civil Law or Law of Retribution.  A body of the laws of God regulating both civil and private matters along with the penalty for breaking them.  

 

3)  The Ceremonial Law or Law of Worship.  Ceremonial laws were given by God to Israel, and they pointed forward prophetically to their fulfillment in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These laws made a distinction between what was clean and unclean; set forth the holiness of God; and set up the Old Testament priesthood along with how sinful men were to approach a thrice holy God. 

 

C.  In Exodus 20, we find the Moral Law as God gave the Ten Commandments.  In Exodus 21, we find the Civil Law as God commanded justice in the form of Retribution.  Exodus 21:1  Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

 

Exodus 21:18-25  And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:  (19)  If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.  (20)  And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.  (21)  Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.  (22)  If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.  (23)  And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,  (24)  Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,  (25)  Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

 

D.  An ”eye for eye, tooth for a tooth” was never intended for personal retribution, it was the Civil Law to be dispensed by those in authority, not by the one injured. 

 

1.  The Civil Law of Israel was one of retribution, not incarceration.  You find no Jewish prisons.  The first mention of prison was found in Genesis 30 and referred to the prison in Egypt.  In the New Testament, all prisons were Gentile, both Roman and otherwise. 

 

2.  Though our system of Civil Law is both retribution and incarceration, it still reflect the Civil Law of the Old Testament.

 

3.  A good example of the retribution of an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” is found in the Book of Judges:

 

Judges 1:4-7  And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.  (5)  And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.  (6)  But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.  (7)  And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

 

4.  The Apostle Paul suffered the retribution of injustice at least 5x at the hands of the Jews. 

 

2 Corinthians 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

 

E.  Now, the message is very simple tonight.  “See that none render evil for evil unto any man!”

 

1.  Realize that people are going to do you evil and, if you are living for God, persecute you!  Life is hard, God is despised, and you will not be popular with the world!  2 Timothy 3:10-12  But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,  (11)  Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  (12)  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

 

2.  Learn to forgive if they apologize to you or not.  Luke 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.  (Those that Jesus forgave continued on as they were.)

 

3.  Overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:20-21  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  (21)  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

4.  Put the past in its proper perspective, the past.  Philippians 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

 

5.  Learn to act, not react.  1 Corinthians 10:31-33  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.  (32)  Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:  (33)  Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

7 Sayings Of The Cross – Part 7 – Father, Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit!

Temple Baptist Church - 3-27-2016

Luke 23:46-24:12

 

Introduction:

A.  Jesus Christ died “just right!”

1.  Jesus Christ died when He planned to die.  Galatians 4:4-5  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  (5)  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

 

2.  He died where He planned to die.  Genesis 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

 

2 Chronicles 3:2  And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

 

3.  He died how He planned to die.  Deuteronomy 21:22-23  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:  (23)  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

 

Galatians 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

 

4.  He resurrected just right.  Matthew 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

1 Corinthians 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

 

B.  For the past 6 weeks, we have studied the first 6 sayings of our Lord from the cross.  In them we find the blessedness of Calvary.

 

1.  Calvary’s Pardon as Jesus Christ cried out for the forgiveness of Herod the king of Galilee, Pilate was the Roman governor in Judea, the Roman soldiers who drove the nails into His hands and feet carried out the brutal torture, to the Jews who planned it and for all the human race who are responsible for His crucifixion.  “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!”

 

2.  Calvary’s Promise as Jesus Christ responded to the penitent cry of a dying thief.  To the thief He promised, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” thus giving hope to all who put their faith in Him.

 

3.  Calvary’s Provision as Jesus Christ placed His loving mother into the hands of John the beloved.  “Woman, behold thy son…Behold thy mother.”  Dying, our Lord entrusted His earthly family to His earthly church.

 

4.  Calvary’s Price as our Lord became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  Because Jesus Christ literally became sin for us that we might one day live forever with Him.

 

5.  Calvary’s Pain as, in the darkness of the noon day, Jesus Christ’s voice was heard once more.  “I thirst.”  He suffered as no man has ever suffered and His suffering was for our sins.

 

6.  Calvary’s Purpose.  “It is finished!”  Our Lord finished the work that the Father had sent Him to do.  Nothing can either be added to or taken away from Calvary.  Calvary covers it all!

 

7.  Calvary’s Peace!  “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” This Resurrection Sunday Morning, we come to The final saying of our Lord from the cross.

 

C.  I purposely left this 7^th saying for this morning because the peace of the cross does not rest in the death and burial of Jesus Christ alone.  Our peace is not the grave nor is the grave the resting place for our spirits.  One man put it this way, “Our body is simply the husk while our spirit is the living kernel.”

 

D.  Here, we find our Lord committing His body to the ground but His spirit to the Father.  In the remainder of our verses, we find the glorious, bodily resurrection that soon followed.  One of these days, I will die.  One of these day, if the Lord has not come yet, you will die!  “Life is short; death is sure; sin the cause; Christ the cure!”

 

E.  I thank God that I can face death with confidence. 

 

1.  David said, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.” (Psalm 31:5)

 

2.  Stephen said, “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon  God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  (Acts 7:59)

 

3.  Paul said, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”  (2 Timothy 1:12)

 

4.  Peter said, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”  (1 Peter 4:19)

 

1.  In These Words, We Find An Eternal Relationship – “Father”

 

a.  Our Relationship is Birth Based – Ye must be Born Again.

 

b.  Our Relationship is Unchanging – Nothing can separate us?

 

c.  Our Relationship is a Personal Relationship –We are His children.

 

2.  In These Words, We Find An Undying Confidence – “Into thy hands”

 

a.  Confidence in God’s Presence – He will not leave nor forsake us.

 

b.  Confidence In God’s Person – He is God in death as He is in life.

 

c.  Confidence In God’s Promise – Let no your hearts be troubled.

 

3.  In These Words, We Find A Blessed Assurance – “I commend my spirit”

 

a.  Life’s Assurance – I am never out of His sight or care.

 

b.  Death’s Assurance – absent from the body is present with Him.

 

c.  Heaven’s Assurance – Our “long home” awaits.

 

Conclusion:  One day, the Lord will say to me, “It is finished!”  That day, death will call for me.  In that day, with blessed assurance, I will say unto Him, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!”

 

7 Sayings Of The Cross – Part 6 – It Is Finished

Temple Baptist Church - 3-20-2016

John 19:28-37

Introduction:

A.  Thus far, we have seen:

1.  Calvary’s Pardon as Jesus Christ cried out for the forgiveness of Herod the king of Galilee, Pilate was the Roman governor in Judea, the Roman soldiers who drove the nails into His hands and feet carried out the brutal torture, to the Jews who planned it and for all the human race who are responsible for His crucifixion.  “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!”

2.  Calvary’s Promise as Jesus Christ responded to the penitent cry of a dying thief.  To the thief He promised, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” thus giving hope to all who put their faith in Him.

3.  Calvary’s Provision as Jesus Christ placed His loving mother into the hands of John the beloved.  “Woman, behold thy son…Behold thy mother.”  Dying, our Lord entrusted His earthly family to His earthly church.

4.  Calvary’s Price as our Lord became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  Because Jesus Christ literally became sin for us that we might one day live forever with Him.

5.  Calvary’s Pain as, in the darkness of the noon day, Jesus Christ’s voice was heard once more.  “I thirst.”  He suffered as no man has ever suffered and His suffering was for our sins.

6.  This morning, we come to Calvary’s Purpose.  “It is finished!” 

In 1921, Jennie Evelyn Hussey wrote the hymn “Lead Me To Calvary. It starts out:

“King of my life I crown Thee now— Thine shall Thy glory be;

Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow, Lead me to Calvary.

“Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony;

Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary.”

B.  Here we find words of finality!  Years ago, I heard Dr. James Crumpton preach on this subject and remember well his emphasis on the Greek word used here: “teleo.”  The last stroke of the artist’s paint brush!

C.  Jesus Christ, Jehovah God incarnate, came to die for the sins of the world.  He came to finish the work that the Father gave Him to do.  In the phrase “it is finished” we find accomplishment.  His life; His work finished and summed up in one short phrase.

1.  Calvary, where redemption’s price was paid.

2.  Calvary, where the Just became the Justifier.

3.  Calvary, where the Innocent took the place of the guilty.

4.  Calvary, where the blood shed covers my sin, my guilt, and my shame.

5.  Calvary, where God’s mercy is great and His grace is free.

6.  Calvary, where the burdened soul finds true liberty!

D.  This morning, we find: not a distressed voice, not a cry of defeat, BUT a clarion cry of victory! “IT IS FINISHED!”

E.  As I thought on this sixth saying from the cross, I pondered on just what Jesus Christ had finished.  I hope and pray that these will be a blessing to you as they were to me.

1.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Word Of God Verified – Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

John 19:28  After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.  (There were hundreds of prophecies written concerning Jesus Christ and He fulfilled every prophecy, every promise, every “jot and tittle” perfectly and completely!  God’s Word can be depended upon not only in the performance of this life but also the expectation of the life to come.  Jesus Christ left nothing undone!)

2.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Work Of Propitiation Finished – John 4:34  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 

John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  (At Calvary, we find the finishing of 4,000 years of sacrifices!  Millions and millions of lambs had died while awaiting the death of THE Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.  Mankind had long awaited Messiah’s coming and we look back to His coming in wonder and amazement.  When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He was saying that the substitutionary work on the cross for us had been accomplished.)

Peter said, in I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”  (Jesus Christ became the “scapegoat” for you and me.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking my place and dying for my sins!)

3.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Way Of Salvation Established – John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Proverbs 16:25  There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.  (18)  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (Man can teach and preach anything that he chooses but it does not change the fact that salvation is through Jesus Christ and Him alone!  Not a church, not a denomination, not a movement, not a baptism, not a sacrament, not a dogma, and not an individual theology—but the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Man can go his own way but he will not go to heaven until he comes God’s way!)

4.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Wages Paid In Full – Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ezekiel 18:20a  The soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Jesus Christ became the “Sinner’s Substitute.”  Our sin separated us from a holy God and Jesus Christ, our Propitiation, reconciled us back to Him through the finished work of Calvary.)

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Hebrews 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  (The cross upon which Jesus died was an “altar” and He was the “sacrifice.”)

5.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Lost World Condemned – John 3:16-18  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (17)  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  (18)   He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

1 John 5:10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

John 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  (As Christ suffered for us as no man ever suffered, so the sinner who rejects Christ will one day suffer for all of eternity!)

6.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Works Of The Devil Destroyed – 1 John 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.  (God will destroy Satan’s position, his purpose, his power, his people, and ultimately his person.  Because of Calvary, one day there will be no more Satan!)

7.  In “It Is Finished,” We Find The Wealth Of Eternity Secured – Revelation 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  (Because of the finished work of Christ on Calvary, one day we that are saved will be “finally home!)