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I'm sure a familiar passage to 
all of us, one that I made mention of in this morning's message. 
Remember the throne, God Almighty said, it is done. I referred 
to John 19, 30, which is the sixth saying of the Savior from 
the cross. When the Lord Jesus says, it 
is finished. I do want to read beginning in 
John 19 at verse 17, and we'll read through to verse 30. And 
he, bearing his cross, went out to a place called the Place of 
a Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified 
him and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus 
in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and 
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, 
the King of the Jews. Then many of the Jews read this 
title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, 
and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore, 
the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write 
the king of the Jews, but he said, I am the king of the Jews. 
Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written. Then 
the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and 
made four parts to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now 
the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They 
said, therefore, among themselves, let us not tear it, but cast 
lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, 
which says, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing 
they cast lots. Therefore, the soldiers did these 
things. Now there stood by the cross 
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, 
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his 
mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said 
to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the 
disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple 
took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that 
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, 
said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine 
was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put 
it on his hip, and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had 
received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his 
head, he gave up his spirit. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious Father, 
we thank you for this passage of scripture. It truly is an 
amazing thing that the Son of God came into this world to live, 
to die, and to rise again. so that we might have everlasting 
life. God, what a glorious truth, what 
a glorious gospel that you have provided, and we thank you for 
it, and we pray that we would indeed feast upon it tonight, 
that we would reflect upon Jesus and his ministry on our behalf, 
that we would see him, Father, in all of his glory and majesty, 
and that we would love him even more. We just say he truly is 
fairest, he is truly most glorious, most beautiful, and most worthy 
to be praised. We ask, God, that you would set 
him forth tonight by the power of your Spirit in your written 
word. And we pray through Christ Jesus, 
our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, this is 
the sixth saying of the Savior on the cross. When a man comes 
to die, that eleventh hour, he oftentimes utters certain things. We see that pattern sort of in 
the Old Testament. We see that Jacob's sons come 
to him, and then he pronounces blessing upon them. We see that 
in Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 3. Those last words that a man 
says are those words we ought to really take to heart. Not 
suggesting we don't take to heart everything else, but those seven 
sayings of the Lord are these. The first is, for they do not 
know what they do." Luke 23, 34. The second is, woman, behold 
your son and behold your mother, here in John 19. The third is, 
assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise, 
in Luke 23. The fourth is that cry of dereliction 
when the Son of God said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 
me? Matthew 27. The fifth is here 
in John 19, I thirst The sixth is, it is finished, and then 
the seventh and final is in Luke's gospel, Luke 23, 46. Father, 
into your hands I commit my spirit. Now, as we consider this particular 
saying of our Lord Jesus, I want to look at three particulars. 
First, the fulfillment of prophecy, the glory of the son, and then 
thirdly, the comfort of the church. Now the word that Christ utters 
here is quite an interesting word. Perhaps you have heard 
it before, it is tetelestai. And the verb tense is a perfect 
passive. And what that means basically 
is that something happens in the past and it has current and 
abiding results. Something happened back then 
and it has present results for us now. They found this word 
stamped on on receipts in the world of commerce and economics. 
This word to telestai means the debt has been paid in full and 
there is current and present results because of that. No longer 
will they come collecting that debt. It has been executed. It has been provided for. As 
D.A. Carson says with reference to 
the fact So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is 
finished. Carson says, this is no cry of 
defeat. Notice Jesus does not say, I 
am finished. No, he says, it is finished. 
It is not a cry of defeat, nor is it merely an announcement 
of imminent death. Though it is no less than that, 
he says the verb teleo, from which this form derives, denotes 
the carrying out of a task, and in religious contexts, bears 
the overtone of fulfilling one's religious obligations. So in 
the world of commerce, when I pay a debt, they would stamp to tell 
us die. In the world of religion, as 
Carson provides for us, it has the idea of carrying out one's 
religious obligations. And certainly Christ does that 
here on the cross. So first of all, let's consider 
the fulfillment of prophecy. When Jesus says, it is finished, 
He is not speaking in a vacuum. He's speaking in the same context 
that the prophet Isaiah 53 is speaking in. God the Lord promised 
to provide redemption through His Son, by his son, in his son, 
and he sent him in the fullness of the time, born of a woman, 
born under the law, to redeem those under the law. Not only 
the prophet in Isaiah 53, but the prophet Daniel in Daniel 
chapter 9, talking about Messiah being cut off. Psalm 22, which 
is a psalm of the cross, highlights this reality. In fact, it is 
the psalm that Jesus quotes when he says, My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me? So, on the cross, Jesus, in fact, 
executes, fulfills, and completes all that was written concerning 
Him. It is finished in terms of the 
redemptive plan of God, and He has successfully completed it. Secondly, the glory of the Son 
is seen in this declaration of it is finished. The glory of 
the Son. We'll look at comfort for the 
Church in just a moment, but we ought not to bypass the glory 
of the Son. In fact, the Church finds her 
comfort in considering the glory of the Son. Consider the fact 
that He always obeyed His Father. That is something that we find 
in the gospel accounts, time in and time out. The Lord Jesus 
says, I must do the will of him who sent me. In fact, in John's 
gospel, several times, multiple times, he speaks of the one who 
sent me. He speaks of obedience to the 
one who sent me. He speaks of carrying out the 
Father's will, carrying out the Father's task, doing what always 
pleased the Father. That is what Christ successfully 
completes here with reference to this statement, it is finished. 
He obeys his Father. We ought not to miss that. We 
ought to consider the reality that at the cross there is first 
and foremost a Godward focus. We look at the cross, we look 
at the ordinance, and we see the benefits that we accrue. 
And again, there's nothing wrong with that. When we eat this bread 
and we drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 
That death that has brought salvation and forgiveness and justification 
and all those spiritual benefits to us. But we mustn't neglect 
the reality that at the cross something more glorious is taking 
place. The Lord Christ is glorifying 
His Father. The Lord Christ is exalting His 
Father. The Lord Christ is doing all 
that the Father has given Him to do. So when we consider this 
statement, it is finished, we see in that the pinnacle of Christ's 
service unto His Father that sent Him into this world. So 
He obeys the Father. He redeems His people. Certainly, 
it is finished means that task. that act, that work of redemption. What was spoken in Matthew 1.21, 
You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from 
their sins. Here it's finished. He offers 
up His perfect life, He comes to die as a sacrifice and a substitute, 
He feels the penalty of God, He takes the wrath of God, He 
exhausts it on behalf of His people, and as a result of that, 
He brings salvation to all those whom the Father had given Him. 
So at the cross, when He utters this speech or when He makes 
this declaration, it is finished. Yes, we see obedience to the 
Father. We see the redemption of His people. In Matthew 20, 
28, He said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to 
serve and to do what? To give His life as a ransom 
for many. It is a beautiful reality that 
Christ didn't partially save. It is a wonderful truth that 
this is not a 90-10 sort of an arrangement. It's not a 50-50 
sort of an arrangement. It's not a 99.999% sort of an 
arrangement where we bring that .0001 whatever that is. If that were the case, we'd be 
damned. He has to pay it all. He has to satisfy fully the wrath 
of God. He has to provide a righteousness. 
He has to do these things, and He does it successfully, so that 
when He's on the cross and He makes this statement, to telestai, 
it is, in fact, finished. There's nothing we add. There's 
nothing we supplement. There is nothing we give to it. 
It is Christ alone who brings redemption. to His people. That 
song, Jesus paid it all. That's what is being here expressed 
on the cross by our blessed Lord. So He obeys His Father, the glory 
of the Son is seen in that. He redeems His people, the glory 
of the Son is seen in that. And He defeats His enemy, the 
devil himself. Notice in John chapter 12, John 
chapter 12, beginning in verse 27. Now my soul is troubled, 
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? 
But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your 
name. You see, he is resolute, he is 
determined, he is committed to glorifying his father and all 
that that entails. Glorifying his father wasn't 
taking out the garbage. Well, it was in a sense, but 
that garbage was our sin. Glorifying his father wasn't 
washing the car. Glorifying the father, in this 
context, was being lifted up on a cross and being crucified. 
Notice, verse 28, Then a voice came from heaven, saying, I have 
both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Therefore the people 
who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others 
said, An angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, 
This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now 
is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will 
be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. The ruler of this 
world will be cast out." He defeats the devil. He crushes the serpent's 
head. This is Genesis 3.15, the promise 
that the covenant Lord would come and would deliver a death 
blow to the head of the devil himself. He defeats his enemy. He crushes him. He destroys him. He casts him out. That is precisely 
what we are to appreciate in this aspect. Colossians 2.15, 
the Apostle Paul highlights this element of Christ's redemptive 
work on behalf of his people. Colossians 2.11, In Him you were 
also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting 
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 
Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised 
with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him 
from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses 
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together 
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped 
out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was 
contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed 
it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, He 
made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So 
that statement of our Lord Jesus on the cross, it is finished, 
highlights the glory of the son in bringing to fruition obedience 
to his father, redemption for his people, and defeat of his 
arch enemy, the devil, as prophesied in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 
15. Now let's move finally to consider 
how this statement is comfort for the church. C.H. Spurgeon makes this comment. 
on the fact that this is a word fitly spoken. He says, I am persuaded 
that it was so intended to be used for none of the words. So he's talking about it's a 
word fitly spoken for the church. He says, I am persuaded that 
it was so intended to be used for none of the words of our 
Lord on the cross are addressed to his church but this one I 
cannot believe that when he was dying he left his people for 
whom he died without a word father forgive them for they know not 
what they do is for sinners not for saints I thirst is for himself, 
and so is that bitter cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me? Woman, behold, thy son is for 
Mary. Today shalt thou be with me in 
paradise is for the penitent thief. Into thy hands, I commend 
my spirit, is for the father. Jesus must have had something 
to say in the hour of death for his church, and surely this is 
his dying word for her. It is finished. And as we tease 
out or as we investigate further the redemptive benefits secured 
by our Lord Jesus at the cross, hopefully this does serve as 
a word fitly spoken to this church in particular, to us as individuals, 
so that God Most High will encourage our hearts so that as we eat 
this bread and we drink this cup tonight, yes, we do it in 
light of the fact that we are sinners. But we do it in light 
of the fact that we are sinners saved by grace, by a victorious 
Savior who has conquered sin, who has conquered death itself, 
and who has conquered the devil for us. That's the posture we 
ought to adopt as we consider the Lord in the supper. lines 
of thought with reference to the benefits secured by Jesus 
Christ. The first I want to offer as 
a word fitly spoken for the Church is that Christ exhausted the 
wrath of God. Christ exhausted on that cross 
the wrath of God. You see, the Bible is clear. 
I mean, you can miss certain things in the Scripture. I would 
imagine if we asked ten people here, explain the end times, 
we'd get ten different explanations. But if you ask ten people who 
have any idea what the Bible says whatsoever, and the Spirit 
of God dwells in them, I think they would all, to a man, to 
a woman, agree with this, that God is a holy God. God must punish 
sin, and man is sinful throughout. And if man is not dealt with 
savingly and graciously, then God will indeed punish him. Is everybody on board with that 
reality? Well, Jesus Christ exhausted 
the wrath of God for all those whom the Father had given him. 
It is finished. Jesus, before this, says, I thirst. You know, the Apostles' Creed 
talks about Christ descending into hell for three days. I think 
that's inaccurate. I don't think it is, I know it's 
inaccurate. What does Jesus say? Into thy 
hand I commit my spirit. What does he say to that thief? 
Today you will be with me in paradise. He doesn't say give 
me three days and I'll meet you there. Christ, when he was absent 
from the body, the spirit returned to the Father in accordance with 
the psalmist. what Jesus quoted in Luke's Gospel. I thirst. Why does Christ say 
that? Probably because He's suffering 
hell on the cross for His people. He's exhausting the wrath of 
God. The fury of the Lord is poured 
out upon Him. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, 
the Lord Christ Most High is sweating drops of blood. What 
is in His future? It's not just the shame. It's 
not just the scorn. It's not just the punishment 
that men pour out. It's the prophet Isaiah. It pleased 
Yahweh to bruise Him. It was the wrath and fury of 
God Almighty that was in that cup that Jesus was called upon 
to drink. And with resolve and with resign 
unto the will of God, He drinks it down to the drains. He exhausts 
the wrath of God. This is the concept, the doctrine, 
the idea of propitiation, where Christ receives in himself the 
wrath that is due for his people. Robert Raymond explains it this 
way, the Bible plainly teaches the doctrine of the wrath of 
God. Look at the flood. Is God doing that just to, what? That's his wrath and his fury 
against sin. The Bible plainly teaches the 
wrath of God at the Tower of Babel. The Bible plainly teaches 
the wrath of God at Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible plainly teaches 
the wrath of God through and through. And nowhere do we see 
this more beautifully illustrated than at the cross of our Lord 
Jesus. So Raymond says, the Bible plainly teaches the doctrine 
of the wrath of God. It teaches that God is angry 
with the sinner and that His holy outrage against the sinner 
must be assuaged. It must be spent if the sinner 
is to escape His due punishment. It is for this reason that a 
death occurred at Calvary, when we look at Calvary. and we behold 
the Savior dying for us, we should see in His death, not first our 
salvation, but our damnation being born away, or being born 
and carried away by Christ. He propitiates the wrath of God 
for His people. Have you ever considered that 
in that fourth saying of our Lord, when He says, My God, My 
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Because He says that, you and 
I will never have to. We will never, ever say, why 
have you forsaken me? It is in and through Christ, 
it is because of the promises, it is because of His redemptive 
benefit that God covenants that I will never leave you and I 
will never forsake you. Just as He uttered to Joshua, 
it is confirmed to the New Covenant Church in Hebrews chapter 13. God the Lord will not, no He 
will not, no He will not ever abandon His people. Jesus paid 
it all. Douglas Moos says God's wrath 
is the inevitable and necessary reaction of absolute holiness 
to sin. Murray says redemption contemplates 
our bondage and is the provision of grace to release us from that 
bondage. Propitiation contemplates our 
liability to the wrath of God and is the provision of grace 
whereby we may be freed from that wrath. And in some simpler 
words than Murray, Carson says, whatever else the cross does, 
it must rightly set aside God's wrath or it achieves nothing. He exhausted the wrath of God. It is finished. You and I will 
never taste that wrath. We are in him. You and I will 
never feel the pains of hell. You and I will never be cut off. 
You and I will never know abandonment. Did you ever consider that? Boston 
brings this out in his Human Nature in its fourfold state. 
He gets into this long explanation of the doctrine of hell. Next 
to the Bible, I haven't read anything more chilling. when 
he explains or expounds the doctrine of hell, he talks about hell. 
There's two elements. There is the positive infliction 
of pain, and there is the absence of God's goodness. Isn't that 
what Jesus experienced on the cross? The Lord was pleased to 
bruise him, putting him to grief. There was a positive infliction 
of pain that the Son of God tasted for his people. But it was the 
abandonment that made him cry. It was the abandonment that elicited 
that fourth saying from the cross. It was the abandonment. Not one 
time on the cross does he say, wow, this really hurts. This 
physical suffering is difficult. It is hard. It is most excruciating. But as a man, it would have been. 
As a man, it would have been. But it was that dereliction, 
it was that cry, when the father turned, as it were, his head 
from the son, that the son says, why hast thou forsaken me? He had exhausted the wrath of 
God. Secondly, he triumphed over death. He triumphed over death. Didn't he? 1 Corinthians 15, 
I alluded to it this morning. Brethren, let that be in your 
hearts often. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul's 
long apology for the resurrection. Paul's long defense of the doctrine 
of resurrection. When he starts to come, when 
he starts to bring it home, he makes some statements that are 
absolutely glorious. Jesus Christ triumphed over death. We need to keep this always in 
our mind. Verse 50 of 1 Corinthians 15, now this I say, brethren, 
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does 
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. 
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment 
in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet 
will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and 
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put 
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when 
this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death 
is swallowed up in victory." Isn't that beautiful? Death, 
the last enemy, is defeated by Christ. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 
to 28, tells us that Jesus destroys the last enemy, and it is death. And then he offers up the kingdom 
to the Father, and then God is all in all. Now notice what the 
Apostle says. Death is swallowed up in victory. 
O death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your victory? It's almost as if, if I could 
speak freely, Paul is challenging these foes. Paul is challenging 
these enemies. You bring it on. Where is the 
sting of death? Where is the victory of the grave? God, it's vanquished, it's banished, 
it is done with. Verse 56, the sting of death 
is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to 
God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He conquers death once and for 
all. Just go back to 1 Corinthians 
15, 20 to 28. But now Christ is risen from 
the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen 
asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection 
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even 
so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own 
order. Christ the firstfruits, afterward 
those who are Christ that is coming. Then comes the end, when 
he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when or even after 
he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For 
he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The 
last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Remember that this 
morning? Revelation 21 and 22. What doesn't 
enter the new heaven and the new earth? Death. Sorrow. Pain. Suffering. Hunger. Thirst. Heaven isn't glorious 
just because Jesus and God are there, though it's glorious for 
that. Glorious because those enemies, 
those foes, those maladies are not present. For He has put all 
things under His feet. But when He says all things are 
put under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under 
Him is accepted. Now when all things are made 
subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject 
to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. So He triumphed over death. Speaking 
specifically of him, the Apostle says, knowing that Christ, having 
been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has 
dominion over him. He burst forth from the tomb. That is the paradigm for what 
we will engage in when we die. When that resurrection comes, 
when body and soul will be reunited, we'll be ushered into the presence 
of God Most High, and we will worship Him world without end. 
Amen. It was a blessing to come here 
this morning. It's a blessing to be here now as well. I suspect 
that this is about that much in comparison to the eschaton. when all God's people from every 
tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation are in the presence 
of God and the Lamb who sits on the throne. And we sing, and 
we praise, and we worship. It's gonna be glorious. A third piece of comfort. When he says it is finished, 
he secures the forgiveness of sin. He secures the forgiveness 
of sin. He is the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. You see, we need His life. We 
need the imputation of a perfect righteousness to be accepted 
by God. But we need His death. Because 
there's a principle set forth in the Scripture, without the 
shedding of blood, there is no remission. Those animal sacrifices 
in the Old Testament were types and shadows and pointers. They 
looked forward to. When John the Baptist views the 
Lord Christ, he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. This was a message we looked 
at last week at the hospital ministry. What does that mean? The Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. If you're a foreigner with reference 
to the scripture, I don't mean a foreigner from another country, 
If you don't understand the scripture, you won't know why the Baptist 
calls the Savior Lamb. But if you have some awareness 
of the Old Testament, you have some awareness of the temple 
and the tabernacle, you have some awareness of the worshipper 
bringing the beast to the tabernacle and slitting its throat while 
he lays his hand upon it, and then giving it up to the priest 
so that he can sacrifice it unto God, it makes perfect sense why 
the Baptist would look at the Savior and say, behold, the Lamb 
of God who takes away the sin of the world. You see, the blood 
of bulls and goats could never take away sin. It has to be the 
lamb. It has to be the one that God 
provides. This was a principle taught by 
Abraham to Isaac on Mount Moriah. Isaac was sharp enough to realize, 
we have the fire, we have the wood for the sacrifice, but we 
don't have the sacrifice. What's Abraham's statement to 
him? The Lord will provide. And sure enough, when God stays 
his hand from stabbing his own son, they see a ram caught in 
the thicket, and they offer that up to the Father. You see, Christ 
must die in order to secure forgiveness. Acts 10, 43, Peter says to him, 
all the prophets witness that through his name, whoever believes 
in him will receive remission of sins. You see, we can't atone 
for our sins. We can't wash them away. We can't 
do more good things to sort of counterbalance the issue. We 
must have Christ. It must be blood. It must be 
the Savior. It must be the Lamb. Without 
Him, there is no forgiveness. If you have not believed the 
Gospel, you are in your sin. If you have not come to the Savior, 
you are in your sin. God has a problem with you. God is angry with sinners. God 
will indeed pour out that wrath. So it is imperative that sinners 
fly to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1, verse 7, The 
Apostle says in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness 
of sins. John in Revelation says to Him 
who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and 
has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him 
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. When Christ says 
it is finished, He has secured for us the forgiveness of sins, 
we have cleansing, we have washing, we have purity. And that is what 
we desperately need. Fourthly, He has provided us 
with a perfect righteousness. I mentioned those two elements. 
We need forgiveness, we need righteousness. Romans 5.19 says, 
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also 
by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. The made there 
should be understood as constituted. It's not made in terms of moral 
transformation. It is made in terms of constitution 
or imputation. It is something that God declares. By virtue of Adam's sin, the 
many are constituted sinners. By virtue of Adam the second's 
righteousness, the many are constituted righteous. We have that. John 
Gill says, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous, 
not by their own obedience, nor by their own obedience and Christ's 
together, but by his soul and single obedience to the law of 
God. And the persons made righteous by it are not all the posterity 
of Adam, and yet not a few of them, but many, even all the 
elect of God and seed of Christ, These are all made righteous 
in the sight of God, are justified from all their sins, and entitled 
to eternal life and happiness." And then finally, there are many 
other pieces of comfort we could look at, but we end with this 
one. He has secured for us peace with 
God. Romans 5. Therefore, having been 
justified by faith. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. And do you realize that's 
a peace no one can ever take from you, no one can ever strip 
from you? Somebody dug a hole and threw you in that hole, you 
still have peace with God. Somebody puts you in a prison 
cell, guess what you still have? Peace with God. Somebody binds 
you and throws you in a cellar, you still have peace with God. 
If you were able to fly to the moon, you still have peace with 
God. If you go to Hawaii, you have peace with God. You have 
peace with God because you've been justified by faith. That 
doctrine of justification, that whole complex of salvific benefit 
that Christ brings to pass on the cross is presently for us 
now. It is our possession. It is our 
benefit. This is why Spurgeon could say, 
this is a word fitly spoken for the comfort of the Church of 
Christ. When you hear him on the cross 
in John 19, 30, when he says, it is finished, this is a cry 
of victory. This is triumph. This is a declaration 
that he has accomplished all that the Father has given him 
to secure the salvation of his elect and to bring glory and 
honor and praise to his most wondrous name. It is finished. I hope is a word fitly spoken 
for the comfort of the church tonight. That our hearts would 
soar, that our hearts would delight, that as we eat this bread and 
we drink this cup, we would do so in full memory, in full recognition, 
in full consciousness of the cross. And that collectively 
and corporately, as the church gathered, we would proclaim his 
death. We would be gospel preaching 
in the sacrament, in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper tonight. 
May indeed God be glorified, may our hearts be stirred, and 
if you're not a Christian tonight, may you come to the Lord Jesus. There ought to be nothing that 
you desire more than to eat this bread and drink this cup. Not 
because there's some magic in it, not because it transforms, 
not because it's something powerful in and of itself. but because 
those who eat and drink are those who've been washed in the blood. 
Those who eat and drink are those who have eaten the bread of life. 
That means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've 
not come, come. Believe. That's it. We heard this morning, simple 
faith. Simple faith. Look to the cross. As Moses lifted 
up the serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted. Did you ever 
consider that Israelite that had been bitten by a snake and 
was writhing on the ground? What did it mean for him to look 
at that brazen serpent? Did it mean complete surrender? 
Did it mean knowing the 1689 from first to last? It meant 
look at that brazen serpent. That's what it meant. That's 
what the gospel call is. Look at that Christ. Look at that Savior. Believe 
on Him, and you will have everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for the 
statement. It is finished. Certainly, this is a comfort 
to the Church. It demonstrates the glory of 
the Son. It certainly does provide us 
with many thoughts concerning the salvation that we enjoy. 
It's a salvation we enjoy because you are good, and you are gracious, 
and you are full of mercy. We didn't earn it, we didn't 
pay for it, we didn't deserve it, but you have given it to 
us freely. We thank you that you chose us 
in Christ before the foundation of the world. We thank you that 
you sent your Son to live and to die and to rise again. And 
we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit that keeps us, 
that continues to grant us the grace to persevere. We ask now, 
Father, as we come to the supper, we would be refreshed. Lord, 
certainly you give food to the weary. You give food to those 
who stand in need. And we pray that as a means of 
grace, this would benefit each and every one of our hearts, 
and that you would strengthen us. And we pray through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. We can turn over to 1 Corinthians 
chapter 11.