======================================================================== IT IS FINISHED by Brian Long ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the significance of Jesus' final words 'It is finished' on the cross, highlighting the completion of His sacrificial work for our forgiveness and freedom. It explores the depth of God's love and the power of Christ's victory over sin and death, inviting listeners to embrace forgiveness, freedom, and direct access to God through faith in Jesus. Duration: 39:16 Topics: "Completion of Sacrifice", "Embracing Forgiveness and Freedom" Scripture References: John 19:30, 1 John 1:9, Romans 6:14, Isaiah 1:18, Acts 2:17, John 14:6, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 4:16, Matthew 27:50 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the significance of Jesus' final words 'It is finished' on the cross, highlighting the completion of His sacrificial work for our forgiveness and freedom. It explores the depth of God's love and the power of Christ's victory over sin and death, inviting listeners to embrace forgiveness, freedom, and direct access to God through faith in Jesus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ God is here, isn't He? No one has to convince me of that. And I'm just so privileged to be here with all of you. It's such a joy and a privilege. There is such a burden on my heart because when the Lord is so present like this, there's a sense that you just want to take off your shoes because you know you're on holy ground and you don't want to get in the way. And so, I want you, if you would, tonight, to turn with me to John 19. And then as you turn there, when you turn there, we're going to pray together one more time because I'm absolutely persuaded God wants to speak to every one of us tonight right from His Word and by His Spirit. John 19. Lord, we just sang that wonderful song as a prayer. I need You. Oh, I need You. Every hour I need You. And we need You right now, Lord, to speak to our hearts, Lord. It's a mystery to me that while You need nothing, You don't need anything, You don't need anyone, but You've chosen to use the weakest and most incapable of men to proclaim Your words, oh God, that no flesh should glory in Your presence, that we all should stand in awe of You. And Lord Jesus, You want to say something to us tonight. And we pray, Lord God, that You would just rend the heavens as it is, that You would remove the veil, and that You would give us eyes to see You, Lord Jesus, high and lifted up, that You would grip our hearts with the reality of the cross tonight, with Calvary, with the price that You paid, and give us ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying to us, oh Lord. I pray, Lord God, that Your Word would go forth freely and powerfully with nothing and no one to hinder it. Give us an encounter with You, we pray now, in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Amen. Again, I'd like to ask you, brothers and sisters, to focus on three words tonight, this Good Friday night. Three words in English. In the Greek, it was only one word. In the Greek, it is the word telestai. In English, it is finished. It is finished. We'll read our text, and as we do, fix your eyes and your heart upon these words of our Lord Jesus Christ just before He died, just before He breathed His last breath. Te-telestai. It is finished. John 19, beginning in verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was said a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon a hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. And He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. It is finished. Te-telestai. In those days, those that would speak the Greek language, say a servant was sent out by his master to perform a certain duty, to carry out a certain command, to do a certain job. Once he finished that job, he would come back to his master with this report. Te-telestai. It's finished. It's done. When an artist finished putting his last touch on that painting, he stepped back, and he saw that it's good, it's complete, he would say, Te-telestai. Te-telestai. It is finished. It's done. When a soldier came back from battle, after having won the victory, he would come back with this shout of victory. Te-telestai. It is finished. It is accomplished. Charles Spurgeon said of this Greek word, Te-telestai, it conveys an ocean of meaning in a drop of language. A mere drop. It would need all the other words that ever were spoken or ever can be spoken to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable. It is high. I cannot attain to it. It is deep. I cannot fathom it. It is finished is the most charming note in all of Calvary's music. The fire has passed upon the Lamb. He has borne the whole of the wrath that was due to His people. This is the royal dish of the Feast of Love. Te-telestai. And I just pray, brothers and sisters, that the Spirit of God will give us a glimpse tonight. A glimpse into the revelation of the wonder and the glory and the victory, the finality, the beauty, the power, the victory encapsulated in just these three words. It is finished. Now, you and I need to understand this was not the cry of someone... This was not the cry coming from a defeated victim. This is the cry coming from a victorious, a victorious Savior. It is a cry of victory, not of defeat. All of us need to understand that no one took the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He willingly laid it down. No one had to pry open His hands. He willingly opened them for the nails. No one had to fight Him to put Him on the cross. He did it out of love. He laid down His life because He so loved you. He so loved the world. No one took the life of Jesus. He willingly laid it down. So you know that from His own words. We're in John 19. Flip over just a few pages to the left of John chapter 10. And notice how many times He says this. I lay down My life. Verse 14, John chapter 10. He says, I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth My Father love Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father. It is finished was the cry of victory. For Jesus Christ did not say, I am finished. He said, it is finished. And the march goes on. He finished what He ultimately came to do. He set His face like flint to go to Calvary and to die on that cross for your sins and Mine. And He finished it. He finished the work. Having loved His own, He loved us to the very end. He paid the price for our sins in full. If you were in that day to owe a large debt, and let's say finally at the end of the year you sold that last flock of sheep, you sold that last herd of cattle, that final crop, and you finally had the money to pay your debt in full, the creditor would come. You would pay your debt in full. And he hands you a certificate and he stamps on it with a stamp. Te, telestai. It is done. It is finished. Paid in full. And for those who have believed, repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, written across your life, written on that cross, all the sins that we have committed, stamped. Te, telestai. It is finished. Paid in full. He did what He came to do. He paid for the sins of the whole world. He shed His blood for you and I. This was the cry of victory, not from a victim. It was a cry of victory, and I believe it was uttered with a loud voice. A loud cry. Now, make no mistake about it, there was virtually nothing left of the precious body of our Lord Jesus at this point. We remember that He went to the whipping post. And He was scourged, the Bible says. He was scourged with a whip of catinine tails. These were leather straps that were embedded with lead and bone and metal and sharp rock. And history says when they would beat somebody with this whip, they would hit them across the back and it would embed in the flesh and they would literally rip the flesh off of them. Sometimes it would come up high and go across their face and literally jerk out teeth or eyes. He had been scourged. He had been whipped. He is bleeding. Blood is pouring from His hands. Blood is pouring from His feet. Blood is coming down His face from the crown of thorns that was shoved down upon the top of His head. No doubt, we can't understand the agony. We can't understand the weight. We can't understand fully what it was for Him to take a breath. Just to gasp for a breath. So maybe it was just a whisper when He said, I thirst. Maybe it was just a whisper when He said, pointing to Mary, behold your son, referring to John, and pointing to John, behold your mother. Maybe that was a whisper. Maybe it was just a whisper when He said to the thief that was dying next to Him, who said to Him, remember me. Remember me when You come into Your kingdom. Maybe it was just a whisper when Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, today, you will be with Me in paradise. Maybe that was all a whisper. But this I know, when it came to that last moment, that moment when He knew that all had been accomplished, that He had drank the last drop in that cup that He so dreaded. Why? Because in that cup were the sins of the world. In that cup was the very wrath of a holy and just God. And when He knew that He had finished the very last drop, when He knew that the price had been paid, He had done what He came to do and it had been paid in full. When He knew that, He did not let out a whisper. He let out a loud cry on that cross. Teheh! Telestai! It is finished! You say, how do you know it was a loud cry? I know it because the Scripture says it. Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. Look at that with me in verse 50. It was not just a whisper. It was a loud cry coming from a victorious Savior. Matthew chapter 27 verse 50. Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. He cried with a loud voice. It is finished! And then He said, Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit. And He breathed His last. And our Lord Jesus died. He died on that cross. Not only was it a loud cry, we go on to read in verse 51. Something else happens at that very moment. Verse 51 says, Behold, the veil of the temple was ripped in twain. That is, it was ripped in two from the top to the bottom. And the earth did quake. And the rocks rent. They split apart. And the graves were opened. And many bodies of the saints which slept arose. And they came out of the graves after His resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. When the centurion and they that were with Him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, Truly, this was the Son of God. They were shaken. Three o'clock in the afternoon and the sky goes black. And Almighty God the Creator, putting His stamp of approval on the perfect sacrifice of His Son, shakes this globe. Shakes this earth. Rips the veil in the temple from top to bottom. Saying what? It is finished. I want My people to know Me. Those who repent and believe, I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer is their veil separated. The price has been paid. The wrath of God has been fully satisfied. Justice has been served. The head of Satan has been crushed. Death has been defeated. Sin has been conquered and overcome. No wonder the earth shook. No wonder the veil ripped from top to bottom. No wonder rocks split apart and people literally came out of their graves. You know what I think? They literally came out of their graves. But there's something else I think God is saying to us there. No longer a prisoner. No longer a prisoner to the grave. No longer defeated by death. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O grave, is your victory? It's been defeated. Telestai. It is finished. It's been accomplished. And Jesus Christ not only died for our forgiveness, He died for our freedom. Freedom from sin. Freedom from the grave. Freedom from death. Freedom from hell. It was the cry of a conqueror. The victorious cry of our Lord. It is finished. Finished were those countless sacrifices of thousands and thousands and even millions of bulls and goats and doves and lambs and rams. Finished is that river of blood that flowed endlessly at the altars of the priests. Not because that blood could ever take away anybody's sin, but because that blood was shed because God required it. And He required it because the wages of sin is death. And He required it because all of those sacrifices were pointing one day to the Lamb. The Lamb of God. Remember what John the Baptist, that prophet said when he saw Jesus for the first time? Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. God's Lamb. God's perfect Lamb had come. God's perfect Lamb had been sacrificed. He was the perfect sacrifice. He received death in our place. And finished now are all those endless sacrifices. The perfect sacrifice has been made. And the price has been paid in full. Finished is the guilt and the shame and the stain of sin to all who believe. Hear that, child of God. I'm talking specifically now to someone who is a born-again child of God. You have repented. You have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. But somehow your past still haunts you. And past sins still nag you. And the devil loves to bring them to your remembrance. And condemn you. And you hang your head in shame. What do these words mean? It is finished. Forgiven. You're forgiven. You're forgiven if you have repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. You are forgiven. It is done. It is paid in full. My past is gone. I'm no longer the same. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. He's given me a new heart. He's given me a new mind. He's given me a new beginning. Hallelujah. Finished with the guilt and the shame. Finished are the days when that thick veil separated God from the people of God. Now through Jesus and His blood, we have direct access through our Lord Jesus Christ right into the presence of the Father. Right into the presence of the One we can call Abba. Daddy. May I say it reverently as my brother said earlier. Daddy, He's now my Father. I've been adopted as a son of the Most High God. Because it is finished. We can come boldly into the presence of God. Thank God for that. Thank God for that. You know how many years I spent as a child deceived. Going to a Catholic priest over and over and over again. Going to a Catholic priest as a little boy so convicted of sin. Knowing my heart was unclean. Wanting to be made right with God. Convinced that this was the mediator. Going into a booth. Telling him everything I'd ever done wrong. Hoping somehow that my sins could be forgiven. And walking out of that confession booth just as guilty. Just as full of shame. Just as unforgiven. Because I'm speaking to a man who can no more absolve me of my sins than that plastic chair. Over and over again. Do we realize how many on the outsides of these walls are under the same cloud of deception? You know what the Bible says? There is only one mediator between God and man. And that is the man Christ Jesus. And through faith in His blood, you can come boldly into His presence. Faith in God. Faith in the blood of Christ that washes you clean. The righteousness of Christ. You can come boldly into His presence. You don't need another mediator. There is no other mediator. But Christ alone. A couple years ago, I was preaching some revival meetings in America. Up in one of the northern states. And one day they said, Brother Brian, we want you to come pray over this woman. And I went to her house and I saw one of the saddest cases that I've ever seen in my life. A woman lying in bed, I don't know if she even weighed 80 pounds. Starving herself to death. Almost to the very brink of death. And she's starving to death. Not because she's even sick. But because she's been so deceived by the lies of the devil. That something is wrong with her when there was nothing actually wrong with her. And she would not eat. And you know what she was waiting for? She was waiting for a man of God to come with a word from God. To come and intercede for her so that she might be set free from the grip of the devil. I'm not talking about a lost woman. I'm talking about a woman who had put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ. She was a child of God. Do you know you can be a Christian and yet be in bondage? You can be. You can be a born-again Christian and still have bondage. This woman was in bondage. When I discovered this is not a lost sinner. This is a child of God who is deceived. And I said to her, you don't need a man of God. You have direct access to Father God. And you have that direct access to Father God because you yourself have been washed in the blood of Christ. It's not somebody else you need to take you there. You can go with it. I said to her, Alice, you have as much access to God as did the Apostle Paul. She prayed. We all prayed. She prayed. She cried out to God. She ended up getting up out of that bed. Yes, we had to help her. Walk her to the kitchen and convince her it's okay to drink a glass of water, to eat some soup. Do you know what happened? I returned a little over a year later and they said, Alice wants to see you. And I went to her house and this woman had gained weight. And she was smiling. She had been knitting or something. She was sitting in a chair smiling. A little bit chubby. And you would never have dreamed it as thin as she was. She said, I don't remember everything about that day. And they did take her to a doctor after that and hooked her up to IVs just to get her nutrition. But she said, you know what I remember? You told me that I could pray. That God would hear my prayers. That I could call upon Jesus. That I had access to Him. Folks, every single one of you, I'm not talking about, and I'm going to address you if you're lost, if you've not repented yet and you've not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you are shut out from the presence of God right now. You can be brought into the family. But I'm talking now about you who have trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior. You don't have to look for another mediator. There is no other mediator. You now have boldness. You now have access, direct access to the presence of the Father. And you can come boldly through the blood of Jesus that makes you clean. It is finished means for those who repent and believe, you are forgiven. You are forgiven. You have been made clean. You've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Stop looking at your own works, your dead works, your self-righteousness. You know what that's like? I shared this yesterday. There was a boat years and years ago coming down the river that led to Niagara Falls. There were two men on this boat and they got into trouble and they weren't going to make it. And they abandoned the boat and as they're coming down the river, a lifeline was thrown to them from some people on the shore. The first man grabbed hold of the rope, the lifeline. The second man, just before he was to grab that rope, saw a big log coming and he thought the log would be safer than the rope. And he jumped on the log and he dug his claws into it, hanging onto it for dear life because he thought that was his salvation. And that log was connected to nobody. That log was drifting down the river. That log ultimately went over the cliff and they never found him again. The one who clung to the lifeline, the rope, was pulled into shore and saved. That is a picture. Faith is laying hold of the lifeline. When Jesus Christ is stretching out His hands and He said that, He stretched out His hands all day. He longs for us to come to Him. He's calling us to come to Him. That faith is laying hold of Christ. Laying hold of that lifeline. And you know what happens? The minute through faith that you lay hold of Christ, He lays hold of you. And He will not drop you. He will not drop you. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall never perish. But some, they look at Christ and they take their eyes off and they look to the log of self-righteousness. My own merit. My own good works. And I'm clinging to it. And I'm digging into it. And I'm hanging on for dear life. I'll make more promises, Lord. I'll do better. And you strive and you try harder. And you're looking to yourself to overcome sin. And you know where your self is taking you? Over the cliff. Self-righteousness is connected to nothing but death and destruction. The self-life, the flesh. If you lean on the arm of the flesh, if you lean on your own merit, your own so-called good works, thinking that's gonna make me acceptable to God, whatever it is, giving money to the poor, dressing a certain way, acting a certain way, doing certain things. You know what Christianity is? Christ plus nothing. Jesus Christ plus nothing. Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling. Holy to Jesus I cling. Everything else is a log that's headed to the cliff. And it will go over. It's going over. But those who put their faith in Jesus, they'll never go over the cliff. As long as you're looking to Jesus, as long as you're believing on Him, not in your own merit, but Christ alone, you are forgiven. And not only did He die for our forgiveness, but He died for our freedom. Freedom from sin. Freedom again. I feel we need to go on a little more into this. Freedom again to have direct access into the presence of the Father. Can I tell you something, brothers and sisters? There is a revival coming. There is a spiritual awakening coming. I don't believe it's without persecution because persecution is also coming. But revival is coming. And this kind of revival is not the kind of revival that's gonna be centered on a man, one man. It's not gonna be so-and-so's preaching, everybody follow him. It's not gonna be a Moses. It's not gonna be Elijah. It's not gonna be a Billy Graham or as much as God uses men. And God will send out prophets to preach. I'm not undermining that. But there's a revival coming. You know what the Scripture says in Acts chapter two? That God will pour His Spirit out upon all flesh. And who will prophesy? Your sons and your daughters. Who? Men's servants and maidservants. These are ordinary people in ordinary places. Nobody's getting the glory but Christ. Everybody, listen, listen. Men's servants and maidservants. Ordinary people in ordinary places. People that don't have this big platform, that haven't been esteemed on a platform are prophesying and proclaiming the word of the Lord and walking in the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit. And in doing it, Jesus is building His body, building His church, purifying His bride and getting her ready. He is coming back for a victorious, pure, spotless bride. Amen? Acts chapter two, the promises of God are true. Are you a part of that bride? Are you a part of that body? It is finished, says, I am forgiven. It is finished, says, I am free. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I no longer need to be a slave to sin. I'm no longer a slave to sin. Sin shall not have dominion over you for you're not under the law but under grace. When Jesus Christ died and said, it is finished, He broke the power of canceled sin. You no longer need to be gripped in the claws of gossip, of pride, of pornography, of lust, of anger, of self-righteousness, all of these sins that Jesus Christ died to set us free from. He died and shed His precious blood that you might be free, that you might, like they did, come out of the grave. And I believe the Lord is calling just as much as He did when He stood outside the grave of Lazarus and said, Lazarus, come forth. And a dead man came out of the grave and He said, take the grave clothes off of him. We're living in a day when Jesus Christ is saying, come forth. What are you doing here in this cave? What are you doing in the tomb? Come forth. Say goodbye to your sin. Let it go off the edge to Niagara Falls. Say goodbye to the sin that so easily besets you. Take off the grave clothes. That's not who you are in Christ anymore. You're a new creation. The scripture says, He is my glory and a lifter of my head. Once you have repented, once you have confessed your sins to God, this is what the Bible says. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from, how much? All unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, shall cleanse you from all sin. It doesn't fit who you are as a Christian anymore to play around with that garbage. You turn from it and let it go over the cliff. Lay hold of Christ who lays hold of you. He died not only for your freedom, it is finished, not only for your forgiveness, but also your freedom. And I wanna close with one final thing, because I believe the Lord said to me, there'll be somebody here who's weighed down with sin, with guilt, and with shame. It may be someone who has not yet been brought into the kingdom. You've heard about Jesus, but you don't know Jesus. You've heard about Him, you've read about Him, but you've never encountered Him. You've never really let go and put all of your faith and trust in Him. You may even had a lot of outward acts that looked right, but you've never been born again. Truly saved, truly set free, truly forgiven. Can I say to you, this very night, it is as simple, this very night, it is as simple as doing what Peter did when he was sinking into that Sea of Galilee, he cries out, Lord, save me. And if that's coming from a true heart, the Lord Jesus will reach down and save you tonight. Those who aren't playing games and say, I'm sick of my sin, I've sinned against the Holy God, I've sinned against you, Jesus. Save me, forgive me. This very night, you can be brought into the kingdom, made a part of the body of Christ, born again by the Spirit of God. And for someone else who is weighed down with guilt and shame, though you say, I have believed, but it keeps coming back. Look to the blood, the blood of the crucified Lamb. There's power in the blood of Jesus. One drop of blood from Christ is enough to cleanse the sins of the whole world, because He is God. But He didn't just shed one drop, He poured it all out, every last drop out of love for you. Will you trust Him? Will you believe Him? Will you put all of your faith and trust in Him and let everything else go off the cliff? Trust in Him, His Word is true. Can He save and forgive even you? Yes, He can. In the early part of the American Civil War, there was a young woman, 22 years old. She died at the commercial hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. She died on a cold, dead winter day. She had been a prostitute. She died friendless, brokenhearted, and as an outcast of society. Can God save and cleanse even a prostitute? Yes, He can. When they gathered her things to prepare for her funeral, they found this poem written out. It says, "'Once I was pure as the snow, but I fell. Fell like the snowflakes from heaven to hell. Fell to be trampled as filth in the street. Fell to be scoffed, to be spat on and beat. Pleading, cursing, dreading to die. Selling my soul to whoever would buy. Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread. Hating the living and fearing the dead. Merciful God, have I fallen so low? And yet I was once like the beautiful snow. Once I was fair as the beautiful snow with an eye like its crystal and a heart like its glow. Once I was loved for my innocent grace, flattered and sought for the charms on my face. Father, mother, sister, all, God and myself have I lost by my fall. The various wretch that goes shivering by will make a wide swoop lest I wander too nigh. For all that is in, on or above me I know, there is nothing so pure as the beautiful snow. How strange it should be that this beautiful snow should fall on a sinner with nowhere to go. How strange it should be when night comes again, if the snow and the eye struck my desperate brain. Fainting, freezing, dying alone, too wicked for prayer, too weak for a moan. To be heard in the streets of the crazy town, gone mad in the joy of the snow coming down. To lie and to die in my terrible woe with a bed and a shroud of the beautiful snow. Helpless and foul as the trampled snow, sinner, despair not, Christ stoopeth low. To rescue the soul that is lost in its sin and raise it to life and enjoyment again. Groaning, bleeding, dying for thee, the crucified hung, made curse on the tree. His accents of mercy fall soft on thine ear. Is there mercy for me? Will he heed my prayer? Oh God in the stream that for sinners doth flow, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Those who are forgiven, what does it feel like to be clean? Doesn't it feel good to be clean? To be clean, to be made acceptable to God, to be forgiven, to be free. No longer a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness. No longer a slave out of duty, but a bond slave of love. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed me white as snow. Listen to his words. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. You know why they can be? Te telestai, it is finished. Let's pray. Father in heaven, these are your words, Lord. And your words are the only words that matter. And I pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would complete the good work that you've begun right now. And you would draw every single person in this room to you right now. In Jesus' name, amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/bHTjFC5Wk_E.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/brian-long/it-is-finished/ ========================================================================