In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a British mother who prayed for her unconverted teenage son while on holiday. Meanwhile, the son finds a pamphlet and starts reading it, intending to skip the preaching. However, he is captivated by the phrase "the finished work of Christ." The preacher explains that this phrase was used by slaves to indicate the completion of a task assigned by their masters. Jesus, as a servant of God, declared "Tetelestai" on the cross, meaning "It is finished." This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding what Jesus finished on the cross and how it impacts every person's life.

We open the word of God to John chapter 19 and beginning our reading in verse 18. When they crucified him and two others with him on either side one and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. Now to verse 28. After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon 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 spirit. The Jews therefore because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day for that sabbath day was a high day besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and broke the first and of the other who was crucified with him but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already they broke not his legs but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it bore witness and his witness is true and he knoweth that he saith true that ye might believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled a bone of him shall not be broken and again another scripture saith they shall look on him whom they pierced and thus they treated the king who cried it is finished. At the age of 33 most people are saying it is getting started but our Lord Jesus said it is finished. He did not say I am finished. It was not the defeated moan of a man who had failed. He had held his head high during those hours on the cross and now for the first time he was to bow his head lifted up was he to die it is finished was his cry. Now in the original in the original word that Jesus used when he was on the cross it was one word to tell us die. When our Lord Jesus spoke from the cross and when the spirit through John recorded in the gospel of John the word that was written is the Greek word to tell us die. It is finished it stands finished it always will be finished. You and I have to confess that there are many things we've never finished and we also have to confess that some of the things we have finished didn't last very long and yet here is the Lord Jesus Christ in the most difficult situation possible dying in weakness on the cross and he's able to cry out the cry of a victor to tell us die. It is finished it stands finished and it always will be finished. Now this word is important to us because Jesus finished something on the cross that you and I had better know about. I suppose the things that are finished in Congress and I suppose the things that are finished in the United Nations ultimately have to touch our lives in some way but oh my friend what Jesus finished on the cross touches every life and therefore we better understand this word. My Lord cries out this shout of victory to tell us die it is finished and if you and I are going to understand it and appropriate it I think we need to lay hold of three very important facts about this word. Fact number one it was a familiar word. Now you smile at that because the word to tell us die is not too familiar to us today because we don't speak the Greek language. You'll probably never see it on a menu but you'll find it in the Bible. In fact it's used back in verse 28 of the Gospel of John chapter 19 Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished same word. This word is not a familiar word to us but it was a familiar word in our Lord's day and you would hear it in the marketplace you would hear it in the homes you would hear it in the various places of the city to tell us die. Several different people use that word the slaves used it. A master would call one of his slaves and say do this do that and the slave would go off and do it. You'll remember there were six million slaves in the Roman Empire and many of these slaves were highly educated highly trained people and after a few hours the slave would come back to his master and he would simply say to tell us die which means I have finished the work that you gave me to do. The Lord Jesus Christ came as a servant they wanted him to come as a king they wanted him to come as a great conqueror they wanted him to come and deliver them from the physical problems of Roman rule but that's not why he came. You can set a man free politically and never touch him spiritually. You can elevate a man materially and never raise him spiritually. Our Lord Jesus came to get to the heart of the problem and the heart of the problem is sin and he came as a servant and he humbled himself. I don't think anyone here wants a demotion if you went to work tomorrow morning and you found a slip in your place at the clock that said please see the manager and you went to see the manager and he said to you I have good news for you we're demoting you. You'd say good news that's no good news I've been here for 10, 15, 20 years I've worked my way up in this organization you're demoting me and yet here is almighty God the sovereign who becomes the servant. Here is the master of all who becomes the slave of all and he became obedient as a servant obedient unto death and not just any kind of a death even the death of the cross and when those Philippian Christians read that in Paul's letter they must have looked at each other because no citizen of a Roman city could be crucified. It was the lowest meanest kind of death and yet Jesus as the servant who had come to be the slave of God the servant of God lifts up his head and he says to his father to Telestai I have finished the work that you gave me to do. In fact he said that in his prayer in John chapter 17. Father the hour is come glorify thy son at thy son also may glorify thee. I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do I have glorified thee on the earth. The slaves used that word it was a familiar word because the priests used it. If you were going through the temple area any day when the sacrifices were being offered like at Passover you would have heard the word here comes a worshiper here comes a man with his lamb or his goat or whatever the sacrifice might be and the first task the priest had to perform was to examine the sacrifice. No priest would ever offer on the altar a sacrifice that was not perfect and the priest would look at the eyes and he would check the ears he would look at the body he would make sure the animal was not sick and having examined the animal he would say to Telestai you know what that means it's perfect it's complete it's faultless and so as our Lord hangs there as the lamb of God as he hangs on the cross as God's sacrifice for sins he's able to say as both the priest and the sacrifice to Telestai it is perfect it is complete it is faultless so faultless was the sacrifice that his enemies had to hire liars to testify against him they examined one witness after another and they could find no fault in him did you not ever hear him speak a word that was wrong never no man ever spoke like this did you never see him do a deed that was contrary to the law no no we watched him we we saw nothing even the demons had to confess that he was the son of God when he began his ministry and came down to the Jordan River he was approved by God the father this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased he was approved by God the Holy Spirit who came down like a dove and lighted upon him he was approved by the prophet John the Baptist who said I have need to be baptized of thee and as he walked and talked and worked and lived they watched him and they listened and they spied upon him and during that last week prior to Passover that week when the lambs were always examined they examined him the men came up and said now we know you're a teacher and you don't listen to what people have to say you don't you're not swayed one way or another we want to ask you a question and they tried to trap him and as he walked through that week when the lambs were being examined they examined God's lamb and they went away and said we find no fault in him even Pilate said that to tell us die I offer a faultless complete sacrifice the priest used that word did you know that the artists used this word oh there was a great deal of art back in this day all of us have been through the museums and we've seen the roman art and the greek art and the jewish art and did you know that when an artist had finished whatever he was preparing be it a mosaic or a sculptor a drawing he would look at it and he would say to tell us die it is finished what he meant by that was every color was in place everything was where it ought to be there's a pattern here there's a picture here and you can look at it it's not like some of the art we see today I recall walking to an into an art gallery in the city of Cincinnati and there on the wall was a frame 18 inches by 24 inches and in the frame was a matting of white and on that matting was a solid black canvas no picture no etching just a solid black canvas and it was for sale and I looked at it and I said that's not finished now perhaps I don't appreciate modern art if that is modern art I don't appreciate it I always enjoy walking through the art galleries and it's difficult to enjoy a picture that's not finished our greatest picture of George Washington is not finished ever since the creation of the world God had been painting a picture God had put the universe out there God had planted trees and flowers God had made men God called Israel and God had to make a tabernacle and God did this and God did that and we saw parts of the picture but nothing seemed to fit together even the Old Testament prophets were not sure what was going on some of them saw a messiah who would suffer and die some of them saw a messiah who would reign in glory and they argued with each other and said your denomination is wrong we're right but none of them saw the whole picture and Moses added to the mural and Samuel added to the mural David came along and added Isaiah took his brush and he added to it but it wasn't until Calvary where Jesus Christ dipped the brush in his own blood that the picture was finished and the master artist who had framed the universe the master artist who had framed all of history by whom the ages were framed said to tell us die it's finished now you can look at the picture and you can see what God is doing that's why my friend if you take the cross out of the Bible you don't have the whole picture you'll never understand why God called Abraham and asked him to put his son on the altar you'll never understand why God called Moses and told him to build a tabernacle you'll never understand why Isaiah the prophet talked about one who was suffering one who was rejected to tell us die it was an artist's word Calvary puts the whole picture together the slaves used this word and the priests used this word the artists used this word and would you believe that if you went down to the marketplace you'd hear the merchants using this word have you ever been in an oriental marketplace where they're haggling and arguing over prices and values and amounts and commodities and finally they arrive at a price and you give him the money and he says to tell us die the debt is paid if you had a mortgage with some merchant back in our Lord's day and you were able to pay off the mortgage and you brought your mortgage papers down to the firm he would accept your money and he would write on the receipt to tell us die the debt has been paid it is fully paid and it always will be paid i can never come and claim on you again well that says something to us as sinners doesn't it that says to me there was a time when i was in debt to God God said here is my standard and i said i can't live up to that standard he said you are guilty i said i know i'm guilty he says the wages of sin is death but Jesus paid it all all to him i owe sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow Jesus Christ took my spiritual bankruptcy and he substituted his spiritual solvency my Lord took my bank book and he wrote across it righteous he took my debt and he wrote across it to tell us die it is finished it has been fully paid completely paid finally paid and it always will be paid and no claim can ever be made against you again it was a familiar word and as you and i come to the Lord's table i hope that we'll hear that word to tell us die the servant did the work he offered the perfect sacrifice he finished the picture of revelation and made it clear he paid the debt it was a familiar word secondly that was spoken by a faithful savior he shouted it it is finished he had faithfully finished the work that God gave him to do he was faithful as you read the life of our Lord Jesus given to us in the gospels you find that from the very beginning from the very beginning he was conscious of a work he had to do in hebrews chapter 10 we have the birth of our Lord Jesus and when he came into the world he said sacrifice and offering is not what you want you've prepared me a body i come to do your will oh God he was born to do God's will when he was just a young man just a lad of 12. he left his parents one day and they found him three days later in the temple remember that and they said we've been looking for you sorrowing and he was shocked he said why don't you know i must be about my father's business even at the age of 12 our Lord knew he had a work to do when he began his ministry he went to that wedding feast they have no wine he said to his mother gently woman what have i to do with thee my hour is not yet come he knew he had a job to do and an hour in which to do it all the way through the gospel of John he talks like this he says my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work they sought to take him but they could not his hour had not come they sought to arrest him they could not his hour had come then finally we hear father the hour is come in the mount of transfiguration our lord talked with moses and elijah about his decease his exodus that he would accomplish at jerusalem he had a work to accomplish he said one day i have a baptism to be baptized with and how i am constrained until it be accomplished his whole life was motivated by the accomplishing of one work god the father had finished the old creation and god the son was now going to finish the new creation and he did that work in spite of satan's opposition he did that work in spite of his nation's rejection he did that work in spite of the apostle's own misunderstanding his family's own misunderstanding he just kept going going going and he was able to say to tell us die it was a familiar word spoken by a faithful savior may i remind you before we look at the third fact that our lord jesus is still faithful he's the same yesterday and today and forever on the cross he faithfully finished the work today on the throne he is a merciful and faithful high priest and he's faithful to forgive if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins he's faithful to help us in temptation god is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted above that you are able he's faithful to keep us 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 are you trusting this faithful savior to tell us that it was a familiar word spoken by a faithful savior about a finished work it is finished what was finished well the types and the prophecies were finished now we can look back at genesis and exodus and isaiah and psalms and the light from calvary shines on that page and we say we see it we understand it genesis chapter 3 verse 15 god said that the son of the woman the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent that happened at the cross jesus christ defeated principalities and powers and made a display of them openly he openly put them to shame when he said it is finished as you walk through the tabernacle you say what does all this mean here's this huge brazen altar where the blood is shed oh those sacrifices that's jesus well here's the laver where you wash oh he's the one who cleanses us did you know that when the veil of the tabernacle was torn in two for the first time people could see that the arrangement of the furniture was in the shape of a cross the old testament types and prophecies were fulfilled it is finished the law was fulfilled now this bothers some people they say do you mean that god abrogated his law no no god fulfilled his law god maintained his law in the death of jesus christ on the cross god met the righteous demands of his holy law and now that he has met them we can be made righteous in jesus christ the cross of christ does not destroy the law it establishes the law god used his own law to set us free from the law galatians chapter 3 verse 13 says that when jesus died on the cross he bore the curse of the law the law can no more curse you if you're saved there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus for the spirit of life in christ jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh god sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit the law has been finished free from the law oh happy condition jesus has bled and there is remission in colossians chapter 2 verse 14 paul puts it so vividly paul says jesus christ took that bond of the law that was against us and he nailed it to his cross the law was finished and so today we don't celebrate jewish holy days and holidays we don't bring sacrifices we don't have a priesthood we are a priesthood we have no altar because the sacrifice has been finished the work of salvation is finished and the greatest commentary on this is in hebrews chapter 9 and i'm going to read it to you hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 would you listen imagine yourself to be this synagogue congregation that had received this letter to the hebrews and you're concerned you can see the temple you can't see the heavenly temple you can see the earthly sacrifices you can't see the heavenly sacrifice christ you can see the earthly priests but you can't see your high priest up in heaven and hebrews is saying don't go back don't go back go ahead go on why it's all been finished why go back to that which is unfinished go ahead because what you have in christ is finished why go back to the shadows go on into the light for christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of god for us nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the age hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment so christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time apart from sin unto salvation now the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of these things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make those who come to it perfect for then would they not have ceased to be offered because the worshipers once purged should have no more consciousness of sins but in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins thou hast had no pleasure then said i lo i come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will oh god verse 10 by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of jesus christ once for all and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices which can never take away sins but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of god from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool four by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified and their sins and iniquities will i remember no more the old testament sacrifice was repeated over and over again the blood could cover sin the blood could never cleanse sin but this man offered one sacrifice never again to be repeated that takes away sin the old testament sacrifices were imperfect they were shadows animals can never meet the moral demands for humans no animal ever died voluntarily and yet jesus the god man the perfect man came and voluntarily died for us the old testament sacrifices only brought ceremonial purification on the outside but jesus christ brings spiritual purification on the inside he touches the conscience and you're able to say praise god my conscience is clear before god because jesus has died for me the old testament priest didn't sit down there were no chairs in the tabernacle his work was never finished when jesus christ died on the cross he shouted a familiar word to tell us i spoken by a faithful savior about a finished work and he sat down when he returned to heaven because his work was finished father i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do now since salvation is a finished work all you have to do is receive it it's finished it's complete you can't add anything to it and you dare not take anything from it and you must not substitute anything for it it stands alone unique eternal and you either receive it and you're saved or you reject it and you're lost forever some years ago a british mother was greatly concerned about her teenage son oh he was a good boy but he wasn't converted she left on a holiday and left her children in the care of another and while she was on this holiday she got a tremendous burden for her son so she went off to a room and she knelt down and she prayed that god would save her son while she was praying her son was back home looking for something to do and he rummaged around in the library and he found a pamphlet and he knew at the beginning of the pamphlet there would be a story and at the end there would be a story and in between there would be preaching and so he decided he would read the two stories and forget about the preaching but as he was reading he came upon a phrase that stopped him it arrested him the finished work of christ and he looked at it the finished work of christ and he said out loud if this work is finished then all i need do is receive it and right there while the boy was reading and the mother was praying miles away he bowed his heart and received christ as his savior his name james hudson taylor the man whose missionary enterprise opened inland china to the gospel there once was a very eccentric evangelist whose name was alexander wooten even his name is eccentric i think it was alexander wooten who used to open his umbrella and stick his umbrella in the ground then march around it until a crowd gathered then pick it up and preach one day uh mr wooten was busy with something and a smart alec young man came along and said sir what must i do to be saved and wooten didn't even look at him he just said it's too late this shocked the sophisticated smart alec and he said well what must i do to be saved too late do you mean sir i can't be safe i didn't say that i said it's too late all that has been done to save your soul has been done it's finished all you need do is receive it and the boy was saved what must you do to be saved it's been done not what my hands do but what he did it's glorious to know that it's finished jesus did not make the down payment and then say keep up the installment you'll get to heaven oh we sang it before lifted up was he to die it is finished was his cry now in heaven exalted high hallelujah what a savior is he your savior are you depending on his finished work to tell us die the shout of victory it is finished thank you father that our lord held nothing back he gave his all i pray that today there might be those who will trust christ rest upon this finished work never to be repeated speak to hearts just now i pray in jesus name amen