Good morning, if you'll find your Seat and go ahead and stand with me Just a reminder no fellowship meal today and We're going to I'm gonna be preaching on John 19 The last words of Jesus when he was on the cross But I want to read out of Luke's gospel Before we go into prayer this morning But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. And when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel, and they were frightened and bowed their heads to the ground. The men said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And on the third day rise. And they remembered the words and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. That was Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened. Father, we thank you for this resurrection morning. We thank you, Father, that as we come together in the name of Jesus, every Sunday we gather, we serve a risen Savior. Every Sunday that we gather, We are here to worship our God who is alive, who was killed, made sin for us, and yet now is alive. And we can walk in that freedom and that salvation that we find in Christ Jesus. So Father, I pray today that the name of Jesus is lifted up as we worship, as we look to John 19, and we consider, Father, the magnitude of the words, it is finished. Lord, teach us through your spirit today, And we thank you that our God is alive. It's in his name. Amen. Today's scripture reading is John 19, 28 through 30. After this, Jesus, knowing all was now finished, said, to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there. So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Let's pray. God, I thank you for this day that we can come worship you. I pray that you open our eyes and ears to hear what you have to say. God, I thank you for not only your death on the cross, but your resurrection. I pray that you give us ears to hear as we listen to Ms. Zellinger preach. In your name I pray, amen. I noticed the powerpoints usually in boldface and sorry it's not this week when we transferred it hope you can still see it ok uh... we're looking at john nineteen first thirty today and uh... will pick up next sunday with fellowship mail and even our members uh... reciting and so but today i want us to look at john nineteen verse thirty now last week we found ourselves In our verse-by-verse study of Mark, we actually were at the part of the passage where it's Palm Sunday, which falls on our calendar year of Palm Sunday. But looking at where we're going ahead, obviously today, Mark 11 doesn't start with the resurrection. It's not the next verse. That's going to be a few months out. And so I want to go ahead and look at the last words of Jesus as we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday. The final words of Jesus that are founding John's Gospel. We'll pick up with Mark 11 next week. Do you ever get tired of trying? Especially if you know no matter how hard you try, you'll never succeed. Well, Jesus knew we were in that spiritual predicament. He knew that there was no way that we could save ourselves. So what did he do? Look at John 19 this morning. And after this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, which, by the way, is in Psalm 22, I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there. So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on the hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. These three words, it is finished, Probably the most beautiful and hopeful words that we read in scripture because not only does it apply to what Christ did in his finished work, but for us it means what Christ did on his behalf means that we can now be saved. This is very good news for us to read these words. There's not even a reason for us to attempt to try to earn salvation. Not that we could, but we certainly can stop trying. Jesus completed the work that God had called him to, and because of that, we benefit eternally without having to work for it at all. Christ truly paid it all, and it was forever, forever, forever finished. And what I want us to learn today is just how important this phrase is regarding our own salvation. And not just our salvation, but even this freedom from a false gospel that is so prevalent today. churches that are Bible believing churches even maybe with some of you in here today you don't realize it at this point but there's a false gospel that has creeped into your life and in the book of Titus We read, when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. There's so much truth here in these verses in Titus. These words written by Apostle Paul, they're actually refuting a false gospel, which is, again, prevalent in the hearts of many people today, just like it was in Paul's day. I mean, it's really a gospel of Satan, and it's still believed by many. So you think, well, a gospel of Satan, what would the gospel of Satan look like? Is it evil and demonic? Is it scary? Is it wicked? No. The gospel of Satan is the belief that somehow your works, your church attendance, your good behavior, the Christian family that you're in, or your good morals have contributed to your salvation. That is a satanic gospel. Now, you look at it and go, well, that doesn't sound evil. But when you say the gospel of Satan, you're probably thinking of something evil. But I'm here to tell you that the belief that you have contributed to your salvation is just that. That's a demonic perspective of the gospel. Because there is nothing that any of us have done or added or contributed that has made us more deserving of salvation. Nothing. Jesus paid it all. It really is finished. Yet the enemy preaches this gospel every day to the hearts of both believers and unbelievers. This false gospel that's rooted in Satan, that you must do something outside of faith in Christ alone, outside of the work of Christ, that you must do something, that is a lie from the devil himself. That salvation by grace through faith is not really how you're going to be truly, truly saved. The Bible tells us, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing, is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. You see, God's word is clear here. Our works contribute nothing to our salvation. Nothing. Jesus paid it all. He did it all. He gets all of the glory for our salvation. But the enemy of God has been from the beginning trying to steal all the glory from God. He desires to kill and steal and destroy every soul that God has created. His desire is to deceive humanity into believing that somehow your efforts contribute to salvation, which means you're now in a false gospel, a damning gospel. And this gospel is found quite often in the many people who faithfully attend church every Sunday, maybe even you. There's three truths here about the gospel of the resurrected Christ. that are in direct contrast to the false gospel, that takes away from the work of Jesus. If you read the scriptures, if you look at the words, the works of the enemy throughout God's word, we see the enemy is always a deceptive counterfeit. He does the opposite of God, and he does it in the most deceptive way. The first truth I want us to see is that the gospel is about what only God has done, not us. Now here's the thing, the gospel is old news. Now that maybe sounds weird hearing it said that way. And when you hear old news, you always assume then it must be wrong or out of date. But the gospel is old news. It's old news that's still good. It's the saving work of Christ in our life because of his sacrificial death 2,000 years ago. the work of Christ was finished on the cross. The Bible says when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. Jesus wasn't just referring to the fact that he was now going to physically die, but his work that God had called him to the work that was completed at the cross. The payment and the perfect sacrifice that God required for man to be saved was complete. It was a done deal. It was all that needed to be done. What God required was finished. There would be no more sacrificial requirements. There would be no more atonement or need for forgiveness. Jesus completed all that God required and his work was done. It was finished. In the book of Hebrews we read, But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. One of the significant things about this verse, it speaks about Jesus sitting down. He was done, he sat down. It's symbolic of your work is completed. When do you sit down? You sit down when you are finished, when your work is done. So Jesus sat down. It was finished. There was no more work to be done. And Jesus today remains at the right hand of the Father because there's no more work that he has to do regarding our salvation. There's nothing that needs to be added to the finished work of Christ. No more sacrifice, no upgrades, No extra requirements, even though it's been over 2,000 years since his work was done. It's done. He sat down. And what was needed for Boyd Dellinger to be saved was done over 2,000 years ago. So when I say the gospel is old news, it's true. It's news about what Jesus did 2,000 years ago for me, for you. But don't be deceived here. Do not think that because it's old news it's less true, or less effective, or less sufficient. God's saving power is just as powerful today as it was 2,000 years ago. It has not diminished over time. Christ's death was enough then, it's still enough now, even though billions of people have lived and died over the last 2,000 years. The gospel, the good news of the saving grace and power of the cross, is still just as true and sufficient and powerful as if Jesus died yesterday. It's not lost any power. There's no sufficiency that has Wayne, there's nothing. The same grace is available after 2,000 years, which is very good news, even though it's still old news. Because the gospel is about what Jesus has done, not what we have done. Because anything we do or anything we create, anything that we touch, continues to deteriorate over time. Science has a law about this. In science, there's called the second law Thermodynamics, which means over time, things diminish. Over time, disorder increases. Things deteriorate over time. If you bought a brand new car today, in 10 years, even if you never drove it, in 10 years, it would be a little worse condition than it would be today. You look, well that's just natural. Yes, it is natural. Science has a law for it. Things naturally deteriorate over time. just like our bodies. When we get older, our bodies start to wear out. We cannot sustain time. But the finished work of Christ does not fall under that law. It's still sufficient 2,000 years ago, just as if it happened yesterday. It's just as effective. His grace is just sufficient. His power and saving grace is enough. The finished work of Christ is still finished. Now an understanding, when you understand that, think about this. How in the world can we add anything of value to the gospel? How can we contribute to the finished work of Christ when it was enough in the first place? Think about this. We can't do that. It truly was finished. Back to what Titus, we read in Titus. When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. This is why we are saved. There is nothing that you can add to the work of Jesus. Zero. But Satan wants you to think there is. You have to be a little better. You must do this or that because Christ's death, His finished work, needs a little contribution from you. There's a word for that as well. It's called religion. It's called religion. The gospel is not about what God has done for us. Satan will tell you that lie all day. You need to help out a little. You need to contribute. Satan's gospel will tell you it was not enough. that has diminished over the last 2,000 years. But please understand that the gospel is good news, but the gospel is not something that you do. The gospel is about what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, not the idea that you can help in any way. So when we talk about the good news, Jesus just didn't bring the good news to us. He is the good news. He is the good news. It's all about Him and the finished work on the cross. Secondly, the gospel is a call to believe, not to do. As I just said, it's not something you go and do. We either believe it or we do not believe it. But the enemy desires to make us believe that somehow there's a dependency on you. So what does that look like when I'm a contributor, or when I think I'm a contributor to the gospel? What does that look like? We see people trying to earn their salvation. We see them. We see people trying to make themselves more presentable before God by doing certain things. But listen to this, I want you to understand there is nothing that you can do to make yourself more holy or righteous before God. Nothing. Because if there was, then Jesus's death would not have been necessary. It would have been necessary. if you could add to it. But the enemy continues to preach to our heart that there's this little bit of good in you, and that we really aren't that, that lost, and that we can contribute in some way, even a small way, to our salvation, and that the work of Jesus was not good enough. There's still something you have to do. The devil will preach that to us all day. And what we have is a world who's dying and trying to save themselves. They're living in religion. They're thinking that they can earn righteousness. They're thinking that the, you know, and you've heard it before, well, my good outweighs my bad. Like somehow that will grant them salvation. That's ridiculous. I mean, even our judges on earth do not rule that way. Well, you did a million good deeds, but we'll let that one murder slide because of all your good stuff you've done. No! What makes us think that we can be that way with God, who knows every single thing about us? And knows all of our bad. Even the things we don't even know about ourselves, He knows about that. The gospel is good news. It's not work that we have to do. Now, as believers, God, once you're saved, He calls us to do good works. But that's not what makes us believers. It's not what saves us. It's just evidence that we are. And this false doctrine is rooted in Satan's most noticeable sin, which is pride. Because in our pride we think there's some work we can do. Our goodness, our own righteousness we think is somehow a part of the good news. That there's a little bit of good in everyone. Which is the opposite of what the scriptures teach. We have nothing to contribute. The Bible says there is none that doeth good, no not one. Now think about this. If we have no goodness, If we have no goodness, do you see how our contributing to the good news of the gospel no longer would make it good? Now think about this for a minute. It's a gospel of grace, it's not of works. So if you contribute, and I've said it before, one ounce of works to a thousand pounds of grace totally removes the grace. When we attempt to add to grace, we actually nullify it. It no longer becomes grace. The devil has deceived so many into thinking that they must do something, contribute something. But that is not grace, that's religion, that's pride, that's the gospel of Satan. See, the gospel is to be believed and to receive because Jesus finished all the work that needed to be done. It's not something you do, it's not something you contribute to. Because salvation is found completely in the grace of God or it's not found at all. It's not found in attending church. It's not found in loving your family. It's not found in living right and being moral or being nice or giving away money or loving others. It's not found in being in a Christian home. None of that. Those things are not the gospel. Those things cannot save us. Because God has not called us to meet a condition. Instead, he told us what he has done to save us. What he has done. It's a call to believe and this is really good news because none of us are good. We cannot do anything to contribute to our salvation. And God is not calling us to do anything to be saved except to believe on the work that Christ alone has done. Do not fall for that deceptive gospel of Satan. For God is calling you to do something. to change in a sense like make yourself a little better before we talk about salvation. That is a lie from the devil. He's calling you to believe, to repent, and trust in his finished work. The third truth is the gospel is for the guilty, not the innocent. If you think of what God has done, it really seems absurd to even slightly believe that we have something to offer. when you really stop and sort of think what all that God has done and that somehow you are going to be able to contribute to that. You know, the Bible is filled with verses that talk about God's goodness and our lack of goodness, of God's perfect righteousness and compared to our sin, of God making us alive and our being dead to our own sins and trespasses. The Bible speaks about this over and over. But here's a perspective that I hope reveals more of how wonderful God's grace is and how much we are in need of salvation. Satan attempts to get us to believe that we, at least at the very least, can contribute to salvation. Be a part of it, do something. Just whatever you do, do not fully trust and rest in the work of Christ. But I want us to consider what we're talking about. We're talking about us needing to be saved because we have sinned. So in violation of God's law, or any law for that matter, what is the course of action that needs to be taken to uphold the law? It's called justice. The law has been broken, so justice needs to be served. But here's where a flaw in Satan's gospel is seldom seen. You know, if we have the ability to save ourselves or even contribute in some way to our salvation, then why would we even need God's mercy? You see, God's saving work in Christ is his mercy has been extended to mankind who cannot save himself. Titus speaks about that, his mercy. But if you believe in some way that you can or contribute or that you're not that guilty, then you don't need his mercy. In fact, you should be pleading for justice if you think you're innocent. Because innocent people don't plead for mercy. They just plead for justice. If you're innocent, you want justice done. If you're guilty, you want mercy. But you see, we're not innocent. Do you really see how bad of a lawyer the devil is when you think about what he's trying to convince us of? When we consider that, he has us believing that we're innocent, that we really don't need to plead for mercy, that we really don't need the full work of Christ, that we actually can contribute because there's a little good in us. But the truth is that if Boyd Dellinger gets justice for his sin, it's damnation. It's not salvation. Just like if I go to court, I believe that I have violated the law, I'm asking the judge for mercy, not for justice. Because as a violator, I want mercy. But if I'm innocent, I'm there wanting justice. If I think that in some way I'm not really guilty, then I don't need mercy. Innocent people don't plead for mercy. Yet so many have been deceived by the devil into thinking that they're okay. We don't really need mercy because we can contribute. But there is none good, the Bible says, none. We all need the mercy of God through the saving power of the gospel. Do not believe the lies of the devil that you just need some of Jesus, maybe some help from Jesus. No, you need all of Jesus. You need all that he has done. You cannot contribute a thing. His finished, completed work, the saving power of the gospel, because we are all guilty and incapable of paying our fine, what we have violated. Look at it this way, because you can't repay for your sin. There's no amount of money that would satisfy that that we offer. And if I borrowed a million dollars, and I went and blew it all, and there was no way to pay it back, would I still Be required to pay it back. Yes. Just because you can't pay it back doesn't mean you're excused from paying it back. Just because I'm unable to pay for my sin doesn't mean that I get an excuse for my sin. And we can never in a million lifetimes repay the wages for our sin. Which is why hell is eternal. Because it will never, ever, ever be repaid from us, our sin. The wages of our sin can never be repaid by us. And our inability to repay it, to satisfy it, we can't do that, but it does not exempt us from our responsibility, from our damnation. So God in His mercy has paid it full. He did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He paid it all, provided salvation for those trusting in Him. And the gospel is sufficient for our salvation. It's sufficient. We should all be thankful. Because prior to the gospel, we are all found guilty. Outside of Christ, we are all found guilty. Final warning. Some things, two things really to consider regarding The false gospel of maybe adding to our salvation. Even before salvation and even after salvation, this lie the devil gives us continues. It doesn't go away once you're saved. It's even evident among believers. And I realize that many of you in here are believers. You agree with everything that you have heard today. You know that you cannot add to your salvation. You know that your works are as filthy rags. You know that you can't contribute to your salvation. You know that you were guilty before Jesus saved you. You know these things. You believe these things. You have trusted in Christ, repented of your sins. But it doesn't mean that you are now immune to the devil's deceitful attacks regarding your relationship with the Lord. You are saved now, but the spirit of Satan's gospel is still alive and well even in the church today. A couple of ways that we can see this in a sense, and they seem to be opposites, but the first way is when you think secretly, you think highly of yourself. Let me explain this. This is probably more found in those who have been saved for a long time. And you look over your life and you see how the Lord has allowed you to do good works. You see growth in your life. But over the years, pride has sort of crept in. And you've started to believe that, you know, I'm pretty good. You know, I stay out of trouble. I don't mess up nearly as my co-workers do. You know, I haven't done that sin or that sin. I'm much better off in many ways than others, as far as how I live my life and what it looks like. And you see people who are in, you see other people who are in sin, you see other people who struggle with things, and your perception is that, you know, I would never be like that. And so there's this attitude of self-righteousness that sort of kind of seeped into your life, and if you were truly honest, you would confess that you do think you're a little better than most people. You start to look around and go, wow, that person's ridiculous. I would never be like that. And you start to look back over what God has done in your life, but what you start to see is your goodness instead of the work of God. And there's this, if there's any humility, it's like a false humility. Now maybe you had true humility when you were first saved, but now you've got so many years of, good living and cutting back on sin and doing the right thing that you're now slowly allowing this spirit of Satan's gospel to sort of rear its sinful head. And it's seen because you have this very judgmental attitude of other people. You're quick at your condemnation of others. And you're really quick at excusing yourself for things you have done. That is the spirit of Satan's gospel. You're starting to find some good in you. But just because the gospel is old news, we still need it today, even after salvation. Keep preaching the gospel to yourself. We need the saving power of God to continue to sanctify us, even as we grow in our faith. In fact, as we grow in Christ, we should be growing more in humility, more in gratefulness, more in loving others. loving others who are wrong, loving others who are not like us, and seeing more and more of the inward sins in our life that no one else sees and that no one knows about, to feel convicted about those things. This is the power of the gospel in our life today as believers, to be in a constant examination of ourself. So is that you? Or over the years, have you started to think, I'm a little better than a lot of other people I know? as opposed to resting in the gratefulness and the mercy of God's work in your life. Do not start to fall away and believe that spirit of Satan's gospel that now you kind of got your act together and you're doing pretty good, pat yourself on the back. No, we still keep preaching the gospel to ourselves. We still need our Savior. We still need the work of God in our life. And the other side of it, it seems to be completely different. Because when we think about if we knew both of these kind of people that I'm speaking about as far as what they would look like or be like, you think, well, this next person would probably be easier to get along with. Well, maybe so. But they're still both. in areas where Satan's gospel has creeped in. No one wants to be around someone who you feel condemns you and is judgmental and all that. No one wants to be around people like that. But this other person, although they might be easier to be with, is still in the same area of being deceived by Satan. And that is someone you think that God loves you more if you do better. I think a lot of people fall into this category. Satan has whispered into your ear that God's love is really conditional. And it's based on how well you behave. If you live well, then God's going to love you more. Now, if you fail or if you sin, well, God's going to be mad at you for a couple of days. And we kind of look at that and go, that's ridiculous. But how many of us live like that? We sin, we stumble, and we think, oh, God's going to be, you know, I can't really talk to him until Wednesday because he's going to be mad at me for the next couple of days because of this. But that's how some of you live in here. Your relationship with God is so conditional because it's found on what you do, not what He has done. It's on your behavior. And the result is the only time you feel that God will listen, or the only time that God really loves you, or the only time you feel that you can walk in the grace of God, is if you've had a good run of decent behavior for the last few days, or weeks, or years. Some of you feel like, I can't even talk to God because I've just not been really good lately. See, your perspective is that your relationship with the Lord is based on how well you behave. Now it's true, there are consequences for sin, and that we can break fellowship with the Lord. But our relationship with Him is based on the work that He has done. Our salvation is found in what He has done. Do you realize if you can't contribute to the payment for your sin at salvation, what makes you think you can contribute now to the forgiveness that you receive from salvation, in salvation in Christ? See, we've got to understand that Jesus really did pay it all. It is finished. And the devil is the one that keeps reminding us of our sin that's even been forgiven. If you walk into a courthouse and you have a fine and you pay it and you walk out, doesn't matter what anybody else says, it's been paid for, it's done. But we let Satan keep whispering in our ears and believe in the lie that's all based on how well we behave. See, this isn't just a message for the lost in the world. This is a message to us who are in Christ Jesus that we need to keep preaching to ourselves. Jesus is enough. His finished work is truly finished. You don't have to try and pay for your sin and your failures. You don't have to mope for days and days or beat yourself up as if it's going to make things better with God. God does not work like that. He doesn't live like that. He does not operate like that in His kingdom. Just seek forgiveness and then walk in the finished work of Christ. Walk out of that devil's courtroom and go, I have been freed because of the work of Jesus. Yes, I did not have enough money to pay the fine, but Jesus paid it for me. And I can walk in his mercy, in the finished work of Christ. He is the loving father who is waiting for you, standing there with open arms, And yet you would rather walk around wallowing in your guilt and moping for a few days, months, weeks, years, decades. But the thing is, is you are free. Repentance and forgiveness are wonderful truths of Christianity. Guilt never saved or freed anyone. And Jesus has come and in his mercy. Has finished the work that God requires, do not believe the lies of Satan's false gospel. Jesus did all the work, so quit trying to add to it. It truly is finished. And we as his children stand in innocence before him because the gospel is sufficient to save. No other contribution is needed. God took care of everything. Aren't you thankful today that Jesus and the good news of the gospel is for all who believe? And aren't you thankful today that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father because it is finished, it is done. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the work of Christ on the cross. I thank you that as we, Lord, we we consider how often we believe the false lies of the devil, that in some way we can contribute, we can make things better. But Father, you want us to rest in the finished work of Jesus. Help us to do that, Lord. Even when Satan whispers in our ears that that our Our hope is in our performance, or our behavior, or our Christian family. Any young people in here, Lord, that they're resting in the faith of their parents, or that they would see that they need to rest in the finished work of Christ and trust you. Lord, I thank you for the cross that you went to where the finished work was complete, for your sinless, perfect life that you sacrificed You became sin. You became my sin. And the payment was sufficient, what you did on the cross. Father, today we are thankful for the finished work of Jesus. May we rest in that, may we celebrate that, this Resurrection Sunday, the freedom we have because our God is alive. It's in Jesus' name, amen.