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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . All right, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome back to Strong Hold Baptist Church. If you can grab your hymnals and open up the song 187. Song 187, Jesus Loves Me. Song 187. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus Loves Me. He who died, heaven's gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin when his little child comes home. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus Loves Me. He who stay close beside me all the way now has fled and died for me. I will guess for him for me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. Jesus Loves Me. The Bible tells me so. Amen. Let's open up for a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for gathering us here again together. Lord, I just pray that this service give you glory, Lord. Lord, thank you so much for using us as we went out through our soul and even out in this weather, Father. Lord, we love you. We just pray this service give you glory. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Turn to our next song. Song number 250. Song 250, Burns Are Lifted at Calvary. Song 250. On the first days of sorrow and pain hearts are lonely and drear burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary Calvary Calvary burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near cash for care on Jesus today these were worthy and near burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary Calvary burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near troubleshoot the Savior can see every every morning burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary Calvary burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus Jesus is very near Amen Alright Great singing Is that renewed? Alright at this time we are going to go through announcements once again so if you don't have a bulletin slip up your hand and we can make sure we're going out to you it looks like I think everyone was here this morning so you should have a bulletin already if you open up to the first page you'll see our service times as always Sunday morning at 10 30 Sunday afternoon again at 4 p.m. and Wednesday night at 7 is our Bible study we're in Isaiah chapter 40 this week we've got the soul winning opportunities listed there as well as the salvation and baptisms for the month of January as well as for the year let's go ahead and count up any salvations for today you went on soul winning today anyone saved? yes sir two any other salvations to report? alright keep up the good work we had about three or four teams out there today toughen it out in the snow and the cold Amen well good I'm sure you know what I'm sure those two people that put their trust in Christ today really appreciate you going out in the snow and the cold and caring about them enough to knock on the door so praise the Lord for that that's good any other soul winning, soul numbers salvations to report for the week I'm pretty sure everyone is here this morning so I want to make sure we cover that offering tools down there at the bottom of the page for the month of January prayer requests nothing new to update on I haven't heard anything different from from where we've been in the past so please continue to pray for everyone on the list here we had at Verity Baptist Church Pastor Roger Jimenez his church is a passage we're praying for this week on the next page January is a Bible reading challenge so we are given a prize for this also by the way if you are able to complete the entire New Testament in the month of January you'll earn a prize for that I mentioned this morning you should be in the book of 1 Corinthians at least by today if you haven't started reading yet finishing off still finishing off in 1 Corinthians to kind of stay on that target if you started on day one and you're doing 9 chapters a day that's where you would be right now if you engage where you're at if you're somewhere around there and you're doing well keep up the good work on that try to get this thing done Bible memory passage Hebrews chapter 1 so this is week number 2 7 weeks total to memorize all of Hebrews chapter 1 some of these verses are a little bit longer so make sure that you're putting in the time that you're going to need to and don't push this off too far if you're doing this 2 verses a week then if you're able to quote that passage word perfect without making any errors you'll get a prize for that I do not have the Psalm 150 prize today I'll have them by next week I can confidently say I'm going to have those by next week and there'll be a lot more people here anyways probably people who have completed that challenge that's coming next week I know we need to get caught up brother Matt's here he wasn't here one of the other days that I was giving out prizes I know that he completed and let me see I've got my little my little list here of what what the options are for for different things so you did the soul one so that is if you come on up here brother Matt if you're able if it's going to work out for you and you can get you either get a hammock or any two of these over here so this is Amazon these are $10 gift cards Krispy Kreme, Cold Stone these hats I don't know it's a good day for a hat with a LED light on it so you can either get two of those or you can get one of these, those come with mosquito nets that is included yeah that's one of the prizes so that's a little bug zapper and it's rechargeable and hangs and stuff like that so you can also get a gift card or something else too you get two prizes for that so alright good job very good alright that was for the extra hour of soul winning week right that was at one of those challenges so is anyone else not had not received prizes that I owe for much smaller crowd tonight so I just want to make sure I get this all settled so alright very good upcoming events we got the preaching class this Saturday 10 am any men are interested in coming to this you can come to this without having to preach it's not like you have to preach in order to attend you just come and sit and learn and listen and see what it's all about or you can come and prepare some notes and prepare a sermon prepare something to get a little bit of experience and start applying some knowledge here it's at 10 am right here on this Saturday morning so I would love to see you guys come out for that and then the camping trip is May 9th through the 14th and you know we do have some people that listen online I'm this camping trip has opened up for everyone who visits our church so like we have visitors sometimes visitors asking me hey can I come on a camping trip right now the answer is yes so because we rented out the whole place which is more than enough space for the entire church to go I still don't I don't make anything like really technically public on what's still available until I have verification of the people from our church that actually are definitely coming and want to go and everything else and I get that all squared away so that way I know how many spaces are available for other people because there's such a great lineup because our camping trip is awesome it's like the best camping trip I think ever that everybody's going to want to be a part of this camp so it's going to be highly desirable you know getting in and having a campsite reserved with your name on it to be part of our Strong Old Baptist Church camp for that whole week no it's not just one day or two days of preaching it's a whole week and you know there's going to be a lot of great preachers there I don't have confirmation on everybody yet but I know 100% for sure Pastor Anderson, Pastor Shelley are going, Pastor Thompson's coming so you know it's going to be great we're going to have a lot of fun and Pastor Williams also is going to be there so I got four pastors 100% for sure that I know in my mind right now there may be some others that I can't remember if they got back to me or not there's definitely more that I invited so we'll see what what ends up but that's going to be great we're planning on doing more things this year than we have in the past so I'm going to be asking for a little bit more volunteer help I'll give you more details on that just within the next couple weeks I need to try to organize this and plan for this maybe Leslie maybe we could do that tomorrow think about do a little bit of planning for the camping trip so that we can get the sign up sheets so that people can help we've got a full kitchen for the whole week we're there I'm thinking we might be providing meals for pastors and their families and you know for the guest speakers that are going to be coming we'll probably be doing that and then we'll also have some other activities so anybody in church if you have a good idea for an activity you know by all means let us know we'd love to hear about that send me an email send me a text the preferable way because my memory isn't always the best but you know even if you just bring it up that's fine or write it down put it in the offering plate something like that if you have an idea somehow just let me know preferably in writing on ideas for activities I know we're thinking about doing like scavenger hunts and some other games and things like that but just having something set up on various days as just fun activities fun things to do people choose to do them or not but yeah we're trying to get all this stuff together so that way we can just continue to have more fun and improve on just on the camping trip overall it's great having everyone out there we have a lot of fun times but this time especially we're going to have like we have the entire camp area so like no one should you know last year there were some people that had campsites that were not part of our group that I think were getting irritated with how late some people were staying up and playing games and having fun and laughing and stuff but we shouldn't have any of that this year because no one else is at the campground there's only one cottage that has someone else outside of our church but everyone else is from our church so if you're going to be offending someone it's going to be people in our own group so we're going to have to deal with it that way but at least we can deal with it internally if there's any any issues so anyways it's going to be a lot of fun sign up sheet is there even though yes it's just like the back of some other sign up sheet but go ahead and and sign up if you haven't already just to make 100% for sure you secured your place and let's see upcoming birthdays got some birthdays this week miss Michael has a birthday on the 18th it was Tuesday I think today is the 16th and then brother Jesse so that's nice you got some you got birthdays just a few days apart that's always that's always fun my wife and I have a have birthdays a week apart and if you if you sign up for enough places like restaurants and stuff it's a total win because a lot of places will send you the free birthday meals that you could use for like at least a week or a month and then you get to go out together and then you have to worry about paying because they always get you like okay you get the free meal but then you got paper it still ends up like our family so it gets expensive but when you've got to peel the two adults and you've got free for both so just make sure you're signed up for for all those places and then just just you know rake it in for that birthday week for both of you guys that's that's that's significant that's cool that's an extra blessing having birthdays so close together so trust me if you do it right it's it's totally a blessing we've taken advantage of that plenty of times in the past is there a what was that one place is it Benihana they changed that do they even have them out here oh you got to bring a paying guest yeah yeah Benihana was the best Benihana was a teppanyaki and so you sit down at the table and they got the guy and they're cutting everything up and it's all like right in front of you and they put on the whole show great play it was a great place to eat it was good food and it's just kind of fun but they used to give it like on your birthday you got like thirty dollars which you can get any pretty much any entree there for thirty bucks and so it's a hundred percent like free meal and we would be able to go because they gave you it was good for like your birthday month so we went and we would get to go together and not spend any money at a fancy restaurant because it was our birthdays unfortunately for them that was like the only time we'd ever go to the restaurant on our birthday and you know it's funny because you'd see a lot of people in the parking lot coming in with their little birthday coupon vouchers and stuff so I think they got wise to that and made it so that like you have to go with someone else who's going to like buy some food so it's not just a total loss for them but man that was the best. Anyways enough about that I'm rambling on all the birthday stuff you can figure it out but and then so I talked this morning about the giving statements okay we I have those there's a lot of people who aren't here if I missed you this morning or you think something isn't right just come and talk to me after service I'm pretty sure that everyone is here right now I've already given you your statements if you have any issues with that any questions on that please let me know I'd be more than happy to go over that and give you more detail if you need more detail on that that's it for announcements so brother Peter come on up and lead us in our next song alright church let's open up our handles to song number 39 song number 39 song number 39 song number 39 song number 39 how beautiful heaven must be song number 39 alright church let's sing this out on the first read of a place that's called heaven is made for the pure and the free these truths in God's word he had given how beautiful heaven must be how beautiful heaven must be sweet home of the happy and free fair heaven a rest for the weary how beautiful heaven must be on the second ain't heaven no true pain nor fighting no wishing for elsewhere to be God's light is forever there shining how beautiful heaven must be how beautiful heaven must be sweet home of the happy and free fair heaven a rest for the weary how beautiful heaven must be pure waters of life there are flowing in all the world's rain may be free rare jewels of splendor are flowing how beautiful heaven must be how beautiful heaven must be sweet home of the happy and free fair heaven a rest for the weary how beautiful heaven must be the angels so sweetly are shining of their land of beautiful sea sweet ports of their golden frost the weary how beautiful heaven must be how beautiful heaven must be sweet home of the happy and free fair heaven a rest for the weary how beautiful heaven must be Amen At this time we're going to collect our Sunday afternoon offering I'm going to ask brother Chris if he can please do that for us Church while the offering plate is being passed around if you can open up your Bibles to the book of John chapter 19 that's John chapter 19 and as we do customary here at Stronghold Baptist Church we're going to read the entire chapter and I'm going to ask brother Jesse if he can please do that for us In John chapter 19 the Bible reads Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him and the soldiers planted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe and said Hail king of the Jews and they smote him with their hands Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them Behold I bring them forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in you Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate saith unto them Behold the man and the priests therefore and the officers song they cry out saying Crucify him, crucify him Pilate saith unto them Take ye him and crucify him For I find no fault in him The Jews answered him We have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God When Pilate therefore heard that saying he was the more afraid and went again to the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer unto him Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus answered Thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath a greater sin And from then forth Pilate sought to release him But the Jews cried out saying If thou let this man go, thou are not Caesar's friend Whosoever therefore maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar When Pilate therefore heard that saying he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement but in the Hebrew Gabbatha It was the preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour and he saith unto the Jews Behold your king! But they cried out Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered We have no king but Caesar Then delivered him therefore unto them to be crucified and they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha where they crucified him and two other 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 This title then read many of the Jews for the place where Jesus was crucified was night of the city and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin Then said the chief priest of the Jews to Pilate Write not the king of the Jews but that he said I am 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 every soldiery part and also his coat Now the coat was without seam woven from the top throughout They said therefore among themselves Let us not rend it but cast lots for it whose it shall be That the scripture might be fulfilled which saith they parted my raiment among them and for my vest are they to cast lots These things therefore the soldiers did Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Claphus and Mary Magdalene When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved he saith unto his mother Woman behold thy son Then saith he to the disciple Behold thy mother and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst Now they were setting 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 ghost 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 in high day but saith Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with them but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already they break down his legs But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and water and he that saw it bare record and his record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that he 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 after this Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him leave he came therefore and took the body of Jesus and there came also Nicodemus which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen cloths with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulcher wherein he was never man yet laid there laid they Jesus therefore because the Jews preparation day for the sepulcher was nigh at hand let us pray Father we thank you this time for giving us to hear the priest and the word of God again thank you for all the great things you've done for us today Lord and we just pray that you bless the service let all be done for our glory help us to have ears to hear and that you please fill past your burdens with the Holy Ghost so you may teach your word with power and we thank you for everything you've done for us and pray these things in Jesus name Amen Amen Alright so this afternoon's sermon is more of a doctrinal one and the title of the sermon is It is Finished so we started reading there in John chapter 19 which is where that famous statement is made by Jesus Christ as he's crucified it is finished and there's a lot of different ideas about this and there's actually some false doctrine that's taught about this and people take this statement and run with it on many areas where I think that you cannot make a lot of the claims that people make about this so we're going to dig into just what did Jesus mean when he said it is finished now we're going to be very comprehensive in this look so we're going to look back at the other gospel accounts of the crucifixion right we're going to get them in context we're going to read through them I'm going to give you a summary of all the notes that I made of any you know because there's always some variations not that anything is wrong or inaccurate and correct the variations come from different bits of information that are recorded by different witnesses right so you have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all witnesses to this event and they're all writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and giving us the word of God in these gospels and there are some subtle differences there's some minor variations in the recording of how these events transpire but like I said it's literally just because and you'll see this too we're going to read through all of them which they all line up perfectly but you might get a little bit of information here that wasn't in this one and vice versa so we're going to put it all together I want to make sure we get the right timeline and then look into this without preconceived ideas of what this means and let the text speak for itself and this is a big problem that many people have when they start following bad doctrine or teaching bad things you don't let the text speak for itself we need to take these things on face value and look for what is what makes the most sense in the context that this actually means not what do you want it to mean not I already believe this idea about this subject so this must mean this no let the text teach itself so we started in John 19 we're actually going to go back to Matthew I wanted to get all of John 19 read as we do always before preach a sermon to get the whole chapter in context we'll go back to John 19 and get just the relevant parts I'm going to be speaking to later but we'll start with Matthew then we're going to Mark and we'll go to Luke and we'll go to John so we're going to go through and read the story of Jesus Christ crucifixion in these elements just to get a general idea of what are the order of events what actually happens so just be paying attention to what's happening during the actual crucifixion of Jesus Christ that's what we're focusing on right I just want to make sure we all know so when we read through these passages you can be kind of thinking about it and keeping your eyes open for and specifically as we're going through this what was Jesus talking about when he said it is finished because he actually that statement is only recorded in John so the only time we see that statement made is in the Gospel of John chapter 19 you don't see that recorded in the other events of course it happened of course he said that right absolutely John's the only one that recorded him saying that but so we're going to get to that last verse number 35 of Matthew 27 and you know just stay with me it is going to be a little exhaustive we're looking through this it's a study so try to stay with me maybe it won't be the most dynamic sermon I don't know it doesn't matter though we're going to learn the truth from God's word verse number 35 the Bible says and they crucified him and parted his garments casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet they parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots and sitting down they watched him there and set up over his head his accusation written this is Jesus the king of the Jews then there were excuse me then were their two thieves crucified with him one on the right hand and another on the left and they that passed by reviled him wagging their heads and saying thou that destroyest the temple and buildest in three days save thyself if thou be the son of God come down from the cross so so far what we're seeing here is Jesus Christ is on the cross you've got the soldiers who are parting his garments they're trying to decide who's going to get what because he's got you know the things that he owns with his clothing is being divvied up among the soldiers they've got the accusation written above his head king of the Jews right it's written in multiple languages and then you also see the reference to a thief on the right hand and on the left there's three people being crucified two thieves Jesus Christ in the middle and and people then just mocking ridiculing reviling oh yeah save yourself you think you're this savior whatever people just mocking Jesus Christ on the cross right let's keep going verse number 41 likewise also chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself he cannot save if you be the king of Israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him he trusted in God let him deliver him now if you will have him for he said I am the son of God the thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying that is to say my God my God why has thou forsaken me some of them that stood there when they heard that said this man called for Elias and straight away one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him a drink the rest said let be let us see whether Elias will come to save him Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost right going from the moment right around the time where he is actually being crucified up until the time where he dies where he gives up the ghost so let us go to Mark chapter 15 and just to highlight I have notes here Jesus is crucified his garments are being parted he is mocked and ridiculed records darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour then there is the statement my God my God why has thou forsaken me they put vinegar on a sponge he receives it then it says Jesus cried again so this does not record what he said but it says he cried again and he gave up the ghost let us look at Mark and these are all going to be very consistent with each other verse number 32 Mark chapter 15 by which is let Christ the king of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe and they that were crucified with him reviled him so again we see more mocking reviling we do not see the part about the garments being parted but that is okay it is just not recording the story verse number 33 and when the sixth hour was come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour we saw that previously all the timeline is making sense here and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eloi Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani which is being interpreted my God my God why has thou forsaken me and some of them that stood by when they heard it said behold he calleth Elias and one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him a drink saying let alone let us see whether Elias will come to take him down and Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and when the centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said truly this man was the son of God so what we are seeing here is really nothing different than we read in Matthew the only thing that you are going to see different is that the garments being parted among the soldiers isn't recorded in Mark but everything else follows the exact same order pattern everything right the mocking the darkness from the sixth to ninth hour my God my God why has thou forsaken me vinegar on the sponge Jesus crying out and giving up the ghost so again this says that Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost Matthew and Mark don't record what he actually said they just said he cried out with a loud voice and then he died let's turn to Luke chapter 23 and what we are going to see in Luke chapter 23 verses John 19 is that there is going to be two different statements made that coincides with the same time that Matthew and Mark are saying Jesus cried with a loud voice and then he gave up the ghost so we are going to get all of this in order and get it all reconciled between all of them to get one order of events so Luke 23 verse 33 and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary there they crucified him and the malefactors one on the right hand and the other on the left then said Jesus father forgive them for they know not what they do and they parted his raiment and cast lots so again this is a little bit of extra piece of information where Jesus makes the statement father forgive them for they know not what they do right about the time where they are casting lots for his garments but not that big of a deal just a little bit of extra information keep reading verse 35 and the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them derided him saying he saved others let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God and the soldiers also mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying if thou be the king of the Jews save thyself and a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and in Hebrew this is the king of the Jews and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him saying if thou be Christ save thyself and us but the other answering rebuked him saying dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds but this man hath done nothing amiss and he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom and Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee today shalt thou be with me in paradise now this is also some extra information that's not recorded in the other gospels in fact what we see in the other accounts is that it just records both malefactors as reviling Jesus so what we can deduce from that is that earlier in the day when everybody's mocking and ridiculing Jesus these other guys pipe in and are both mocking Jesus right the both thieves but at some point one of those thieves changes his mind and turns in his heart he changes he repents and says you know what this isn't right so somewhere along the way and this is recorded in Luke where he says while one of the other guys is railing on him he goes dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation we indeed justly he said hey we're here because of what we did you know like we're we're here but this guy didn't do anything wrong he doesn't deserve this and then he says unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest in that kingdom and Jesus said verily I say unto thee today shalt thou be with me in paradise so this guy gets saved right he gets saved it's a deathbed calling on the name of Lord Jesus right instead of being in a bed he's on a cross but he's calling out to Christ and saying hey you know remember me when thou comest in that kingdom and Jesus responds and answers him he answers that call and says you know what today you're going to be with me in paradise now I'm going to get into this a little bit later because it's going to have an impact on this whole and it's finished thing but I just wanted to make sure we cover that a little bit but we're seeing here and primarily what we're going to be comparing here is Luke and John because those are where the key differences are to get the whole understanding let's keep reading here verse number 44 it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour same thing we saw record the other gospels and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said father into thy hands I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost so what we see here because remember we saw Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost in Matthew and Mark now we're seeing something that wasn't referenced before he died in the other gospels saying father into thy hands I commend my spirit and what I think is that he when he's saying this because the Bible literally says here and having said thus he just said this then he gives up the ghost so I think this is the last statement that Jesus makes on this earth and notice it says that when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said so which is coinciding with what some of the other gospels are recording he cried with a loud voice but there's one other thing that he also says and let's go back to John chapter 19 and look at verse number 23 the Bible says then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus took his garments and made four parts to every soldier a part and also his coat now the coat was without seam woven from the top throughout they said therefore among themselves let us not rend it but cast lots for it whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled which saith they parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots these things therefore the soldiers did now one of the things that I want you to pay attention to and notice there was no reference of the scripture being fulfilled in the other accounts we see the other account we see the soldiers parting the garments it just it just records that they did that but it doesn't make note of the reference of the scriptures being fulfilled as we continue in John chapter 19 notice the other places that continue to bring up all of the references of why these events are all important because it's going to be showing you hey this was fulfilled this was fulfilled this was fulfilled we didn't get that in the other accounts it gave all the accurate accounts but not giving you all of the references back saying hey this is what the Bible says this is important because the Bible said this this is important because all of this stuff is being fulfilled check out John 19 though now as we go through this it's a subtle difference like I said but this is it's key because it's it's important with the context very important with the context especially in the gospel the one account that has the it is finished being recorded in this chapter okay so let's keep reading here verse number 25 now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved he saith unto his mother woman behold thy son then saith he to the disciple behold thy mother and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home now this is another piece of information that wasn't recorded in the other gospels but for all intents and purposes for for one to treat you tonight this doesn't really this is kind of a side issue I'm not going to dig into this so yes it's recorded but it really doesn't have much consequence on the bigger picture that I'm focusing on tonight 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 his up and put it to his mouth when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost so here we're finishing with the with the death of Christ but instead of what we saw in Luke father into thy hands I commend my spirit and then dying here he says it is finished and then it says and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost neither one is wrong he said both phrases I'm of the opinion that he said it is finished out loud and then said father into thy hands I commit my spirit just because at Luke it said in having said thus like these words that's when he gave up the ghost so the it is finished I don't even believe were the absolute last words out of his mouth okay the it is finished was very important but I think they were just part of essentially one I mean it is finished father you know I mean just happening right next to each other making those statements and if he said it in the reverse order I'm like if you believe that it doesn't matter to me I'm not like super dogmatic no it had to be this it just seems evident to me at least that Luke is saying he just said this and gave up the ghost whereas in John it said he said it's finished he bowed his head and gave up the ghost so there's definitely time for him to have said father and you know and then do that so but let's let's keep going here verse 31 this is also important the Jews therefore because it was a preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day for that Sabbath day was in a high day besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already they break not his legs but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and water and he that saw it bear record and his record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that you might believe for these things were done verse 36 that the scripture should be fulfilled and then it names the scripture a bone of him shall not be broken and again another scripture saith they shall look on him whom they pierced so we have three statements in the context that I'm reading here in John chapter 19 that all refer to scriptures being fulfilled at the time of Christ's crucifixion right all these different things had to happen a certain way because they were prophesied to have been done this specific way so when we look at what does Jesus mean when he said it is finished well to me the context is going to define it for us now before I even get into that last thing I just want to review I've got like I said I've made notes for Matthew Mark Luke and John we've got the garments being parted we've got the mocking and railing in pretty much all the accounts the thief getting saved isn't recorded in Luke darkness darkness from the sixth hour to ninth hours in Matthew Mark and Luke and these all follow like the same the same order my God my God why hast thou forsaken me what one thing that we get Jesus saying is I thirst before the vinegar is put on a sponge and given to him the other accounts just record the vinegar being put on on the on the sponge when he says my God my God why hast thou forsaken me right John doesn't record him saying that but it records him saying I thirst we got the veil being rent and twain and Jesus crying and and saying something and then giving up the ghost which we see in Luke father in thy hands I command my spirit as well as it is finished in John those are all the things that happen so putting them all together we've got the garments being parted we've got people just mocking and railing him we've got Jesus giving Mary to John so to speak right to say okay you know he's going to take care of you now because you're just being crucified on the cross you've got darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour you've got Jesus saying my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and then saying I thirst and then the vinegar being put on the sponge and then Jesus saying it is finished when he had received the vinegar because that's the way they put the vinegar on the sponge verse 30 in John 19 says when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said so the next thing that happens after they give him the vinegar he says it is finished and then the last thing he says before he gives up the ghost is father in thy hands I command my spirit having said thus he gave up the ghost which Luke Luke's account says and then like it says in John 1930 there he bowed his head and gave up the ghost that's the order of events and it's not that hard to see that and figure that out and there's nothing in here that's like oh man this looks contradictory or anything like that but getting it all in context matters but especially you know and I know it's a little exhaustive but why don't you just see the wording and hopefully you picked up on it as I already pointed out that John 19 is making the reference to all of these things being fulfilled from a prophetic standpoint from you know this had to happen this had to happen this had to happen and when you look at verse number 28 we see a little bit in the Jesus mindset as he's being crucified he's still doing the work of fulfilling the prophecy of God and when you know like Jesus knew what he had to do in his earthly ministry so when he from his baptism all the way through all the works that he's doing he's being guided through the Holy Ghost he's being guided directly from the father and he knows what work he needs to do and especially in John you'll see many references to scriptures being fulfilled throughout the whole gospel right he's healing people he's doing all these things and you'll find many places that the scripture might be fulfilled that says and all these places and even the disciples recounting oh yeah the scripture says this and they're applying all these things to Christ because Christ had to come as the savior in the way that the Bible already prophesied he would come so part of Jesus's work and his job is fulfilling the prophecy that came before so he had to do all of the things that were already foretold that he would do Jesus could not be killed arrested crucified whatever before his time so multiple times when you're reading through the Old Testament in the gospels you're gonna see like in in John chapter 2 that the marriage supper when Mary says to give them wine and he says woman what have I to do with thee my hour has not yet come and that's a reference to his death he's talking about the wine and giving that so he said my hour has not yet come he also said that he left a couple times when there was a lot of heat coming on him well he went somewhere else because his hour was not yet come because it wasn't time for him to die yet so when people were plotting and planning to kill him and when things were getting hot when John the Baptist had his head cut off he departs and goes somewhere else because it wasn't time for him to die yet he still had work to get done it couldn't happen out of order he had to fulfill everything in order for his job to be done he had a job to do on this earth he had a mission to do on this earth and he had to complete that job before he could pass away before he could die before he could give up the ghost and the fact that John 19 brings up that this scripture needs to be fulfilled this scripture needs to be fulfilled and then in verse 28 there's this after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished so now it's like okay Jesus now knows he sees everything that's happening he knows the scriptures he knows what needs to be fulfilled and he's going okay check check check you know did this did this doing all the work now I know that all things were accomplished up to this point he's gotten everything accomplished and needs to be accomplished he says that the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst why did he say I thirst? because he needed to still fulfill the scriptures that's why he said it that the scripture might be fulfilled he said I thirst he knew they were going to give him vinegar to drink he didn't say I thirst expecting to get some water he knew that the scripture needed to be fulfilled and he knew that this needed to happen so he said I thirst he already had the foreknowledge in John 19 verse 28 I know that these things are all accomplished I thirst so then they can put up the vinegar unto him and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth all the symbolism of the Passover lamb I'm not going to get into all those details why that's so important but it was important for him to have and receive it that way and then at that moment because that was the last thing he had to do was to receive that verse 30 when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar there was nothing more left for him to do on this earth to fulfill prophecy while he was alive while he was alive while he still had his life in him on this earth he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost so what did Jesus mean when he said it is finished? everything that he had to do on his earthly ministry was finished he fulfilled all the scriptures that needed to be fulfilled while he was alive now did all of the scriptures at the moment he gave up the ghost were they all fulfilled of the prophecy of Christ yet? no there were still more prophecies that needed to be fulfilled but everything that Jesus had an influence on an impact on while he was alive of playing out his part and doing all these things those were completed those were finished it seems pretty clear from the context to me because even as you continue there are things that happened that were outside of Jesus' control because the soldiers didn't break his legs but that scripture still needed to be fulfilled but Jesus there was no reason for him to be alive to fulfill that because he couldn't be alive he had to already be dead if he was still alive in fact they would have broken his legs so that would have made the scripture not be fulfilled he had to give up the ghost in order for him to not remain on the cross the only reason why they didn't break his legs is because he had already died so they pierced his side didn't break his legs which fulfills the scripture so that moment of his death had to happen that way so his finishing his finishing work on the cross was just for that part on the cross now I take the time to go through all this detail because there are people who try to argue against the fact that Jesus Christ's soul went to hell after he died on the cross and they want to say that that has nothing to do with our salvation it has nothing to do with anything it's not that important he actually went to a place where Jesus did not suffer in hell but he just went to hell and that's where paradise was and all this other convoluted mess and they'll say well what did it mean when Jesus said it is finished and people will say well when Jesus said it is finished it means everything that needed to be done for our salvation was done on the cross I'm sorry but that is not true everything that Jesus had to do in his earthly ministry to fulfill the prophecy of scripture to be the savior yes that was finished at that time but there was still more prophecy to be fulfilled in order for the whole package which is known as the gospel to be fulfilled well let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15 and take a look at what the gospel even is because I mean people who want to say well it is finished everything needed to be done for salvation was done on the cross hold on a second because those same people that say that if you ask them well doesn't the gospel save isn't the gospel what saves us yes the gospel saves us what's known as the gospel the good news the sacrifice that Jesus made is what saves us but the gospel is a package deal there's multiple aspects to the gospel that people need to believe in order to be saved believing that Jesus shed his blood on the cross alone is not sufficient there's more to it than that if you believe that there was a man named Jesus that died for a nation that died for Israel that died for the whole world and he just bled and died on a cross there's more to that and we're going to see what 1 Corinthians 15 says now I don't believe that you have to understand that Jesus Christ's soul suffered in hell in order to be saved I believe that to be that is true that's a true statement that Jesus Christ's soul did suffer in hell but just to the knowledge that a person has to have in order to be saved is not a key part that has to be known and people will misrepresent what I believe and what others believe on this subject and try to make it sound like oh so you're saying if you don't know no it's not what I'm saying I'm saying it's absolutely true that Jesus all suffered in hell but that is not a requirement for salvation but I am saying that it's not enough to just believe that Jesus shed his blood on the cross that you do have to believe more and we're going to look at 1 Corinthians 15 to see what are the key basic elements that we need to believe in order to say I believe the gospel look at verse number 1 it says moreover brethren I declare unto you the gospel so what's he doing? he's declaring the gospel which I preached unto you is this the gospel that the apostle Paul preached? yes, in Galatians 1 didn't he say hey if you can preach any other gospel than that you have received let him be accursed so if you don't believe the gospel that the apostle Paul preached you'd be accursed this is the gospel that he preached we know exactly what that is let's keep reading which also you receive and where you stand verse 2 by which also ye are saved can you get any more clear? so wait what are we saved? yeah we're saved by this gospel if you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received see this isn't something that he came up with see I received this as well and I delivered it unto you how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, right? the scriptures prophesied this, Jesus Christ died for our sins is that a key element? absolutely, so the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross is that important? we have to believe that? yes, Jesus shed his blood on the cross yes, but does he say and it is finished that's all you have to believe no because if we keep reading there is an and and that he was buried when Jesus said it is finished was he buried yet? no and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures we know that Jesus definitely didn't rise again the third day on the day at the time he said it is finished the gospel was not completed when Jesus said the phrase it is finished so everything that needed to be done for your salvation was not accomplished when Jesus said it is finished because he had to rise again to rise again from the dead extremely important part of the gospel the resurrection of Jesus Christ this is it's all important but if any one thing is extremely profoundly important it's the resurrection from the dead look down at verse number 11 the Bible the Bible anyone who reads the Bible should know this already it's so simple and so basic every Christian should know this much that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is like where the power is the power isn't in his death the Catholics are the ones that have the crucifixes of a dead Jesus hanging on a cross but what we should be focusing on more is the empty tomb the fact that he rose again from the dead and conquered death and hell not that he was sent to death and hell but that he conquered death and hell that's where the victory lies it's in the resurrection verse 11 there 1 Corinthians 15 the Bible says therefore whether it were I or they so we preach and so ye believe now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead but if there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen look at this and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain what does that mean it's meaningless and your faith is also vain if there's no resurrection from the dead then it's all vanity it's all meaningless yea and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not verse 16 for if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised and if Christ be not raised your faith is vain ye are yet in your sins so is everything done for your salvation before Christ rose again from the dead no no no no on the one hand you could obviously say that Jesus Christ the lamb slain from the foundation of the world so of course we know that this was going to happen but the thing is all of it had to happen the death the burial and the resurrection is all part of the gospel so to say that everything that's required for your salvation was done when Jesus Christ said it is finished is false it's false it's not true so what did Jesus mean when he said it is finished well he didn't mean everything for your salvation is done no he had to rise again from the dead because if he didn't rise again from the dead then nobody's faith would be worth anything it would all be vain it would all be meaningless this is clear Bible doctrine and the fact that anybody wants to contradict what the Bible teaches so profoundly clearly is beyond me you know what it is it's either ignorance or pride but it's most people it's pride because they believe something that's not true they believe in a doctrine that they that they don't want to admit they're wrong about and will twist scripture to the point of getting themselves burying themselves on some statement where they try to make a claim of well Jesus meant this when he said it is finished well be careful when you're going down that path anyways of trying to ascribe the meaning especially when in context it doesn't even fit because we still continue to see scripture being fulfilled after that and even in the context it can be easily deduced what did he mean well he completed the work he had to do on this earth but his work didn't end on this earth turn if you would to Acts chapter 2 so while we're talking about the resurrection of Christ we might as well cover this as well and I'm not going to go into all of the proofs surrounding Jesus' soul going to hell and himself I've done it already in other sermons I have gone through that and made all of the connections because there are a lot it's not one thing or two things that point to this and prove this you could read all of Jonah chapter 2 for example you have Jesus referencing as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Jesus is literally pointing you saying look just like Jonah in chapter 2 was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth well what was it like for Jonah for three days and three nights in the whale's belly read Jonah chapter 2 and you can see what it was like because out of the belly of hell cried I doesn't sound like a good place to be and Jesus said that's what it's like it's just going to be like that son of man three days oh but it was a happy place it was a place for the saints to just hang out because they couldn't go to heaven yet no ridiculous nonsense but Acts chapter 2 and you know it's unfortunate that this doctrine is just gone by the wayside in general when you go out and you talk to people out soul winning and you cover the death of Jesus Christ even people you run into that kind of have more knowledge maybe they've gone to church for a while they've heard some things basic Christian doctrine right just essentials that virtually every denomination is going to believe you know when you talk about we're all sinners yeah yeah okay I believe that we're talking about heaven and hell very standard for Christianity in general believe those things Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world yeah yeah okay I believe you know obvious there's outliers for every single one of these things but just in general by and large orthodox Christianity they agree with all this stuff and the fact that Jesus Christ's soul went to hell was also part of that orthodox Christianity like going way way way back I mean this was not something that's like that should be revolutionary or some new doctrine or something that's just fringe or out there because this has been taught and accepted just amongst all denominations like yeah Jesus' soul went to hell right but when we talk to people today and you ask the question well when Jesus died where did his soul go I mean he had to go somewhere right he's dying on the cross but he didn't rise again for three days and three nights later so where was he where was his soul he had to go somewhere and most people say heaven but they don't really know and it's not even because I think they were taught that I think it's just because well it's Jesus so Jesus would go to heaven right and they're not really putting a whole lot of thought into it but the fact is they weren't taught that at all but Acts chapter 2 tells us very clearly where his soul went verse number let's start reading in verse number well let's start reading in verse number 25 you know what let's go up a little bit further let's go up to verse number 22 so he's he's bringing the blame here to the you know to the Pharisees saying okay look you guys have taken him and by wicked hands you crucified him and killed him he's jumping back in time at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and he says having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding of it and then he brings up the resurrection of Christ hey you guys delivered him to death but God raised him up from the dead and then he's going to bring up this scripture verse 25 and he's going to expound on this psalm he's going to expound on this passage that the Christ was going to be born in the future of the seed of David eventually he was speaking about this resurrection verse 31 he's seeing this before of the resurrection of Christ this is the explanation of this prophecy under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost recorded in scripture for us this explanation of what happened to Jesus Christ's soul he's seeing this before speaking of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh should see corruption who's soul? Christ's soul not David's, Christ's soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption his flesh didn't decay and turn to earth turn to dust, right? why? because he rose again after three days and three nights he came back to life his flesh didn't decay and his soul was not left in hell now if it wasn't left in hell that means it was in hell to not be left somewhere like if I said, well, my wife didn't leave me at the mall what does that mean? it means I was at the mall, but my wife came and picked me up and didn't leave me at the mall his soul was not left in hell why? because his soul went to hell he's speaking specifically of the resurrection his soul wasn't left in hell what does that say? well his soul actually went to hell now what's ridiculous is that people will try to tell you that when the bible says his soul wasn't left in hell well, you gotta understand hell was split up into two parts, you know, there's Abraham's bosom and then there's the fiery place you don't see that anywhere in scripture first of all, and what I mean by that let me qualify that statement when you look at the word hell and how it's used in scripture every single time if there's any description of hell associated with the usage of the word, it is never a positive reference it is never a place of comfort it is never a place that anyone would ever want to go to, it is always, when it's being described, is always fire, torture torment, darkness weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and often times fire is associated with it, hell, fire people who want to say that this was a good part of hell they use other, they use Luke chapter 16 to come up with this Abraham's bosom doctrine which was a story about a man who was saved and a man who was not saved the unsaved man went to hell and the other person went to Abraham's bosom where Abraham embraced Lazarus cause that's who died, cause Lazarus died Abraham embraces him so he's literally in his bosom because Abraham is still alive by the way as eternal life so yes, you still have, and when you die you still have your body parts, even without your physical fleshly body, you still have the form of a man, a person, right so Abraham still has a bosom to embrace this saved person this other saint that went to heaven, that's why it said that he was in Abraham's bosom because he was in Abraham's bosom not in some place with a sign over it like, Abraham's bosom, right, like I'm gonna walk in the door to Abraham's bosom not a big blinky sign out front, it's called Abraham's bosom, we're gonna step in, walk in, hey guys how's it going yeah, I love Abraham's bosom man, it's the best place, they serve the best fries here that I've ever eaten in my life, you know this is great that's not what he's talking about but that's how people try to explain, well Abraham's bosom I mean that's where the Old Testament saints went to talk about another passage where people are not letting the text speak for itself get the doctrine that's just taught from what the Bible just says stop adding to it and coming up with these crazy ideas Jesus went to hell, why would it also associate his body being corrupted, rotting, decaying with hell he wasn't left in hell, neither did this other bad thing happen being in hell is a bad thing and your flesh just corrupting and rotting and decaying is also a bad thing chapter one, you know his body wasn't left in hell, neither did this other thing happen they both are associated with death and the fact that Jesus Christ died and it is you know what, let's turn this, go to Revelation chapter one I think I've got a little bit of time, I didn't have this stuff in my notes, I wanted to cover the it is finished part, but the point is for this doctrine and I'm trying to think of some of the things that I might not have covered in other sermons that I preached before because I already covered this stuff in previous sermons like when you look at the Passover lamb and the fact that it's specifically mentioned like it needs to be rose with fire, you cannot have it sodden with water, like it's so clear and none of the other sacrifices are this like just painstaking detail, like it has to be rose with fire before you eat the Passover lamb it has to be without blemish it has to be without spot, you know all these things why is it so important that it's rose with fire why, why would that even matter unless Jesus' soul actually went to hell why would that even matter the fact that you have to eat Christ, well that makes sense on the bread of life, you know and you could see all those other parallels with eating the Passover lamb and everything else but why would they make so much of a detail on it being rose with fire why would Jesus say to well just like Jonah was three days real why would he make reference to that about him being in the heart of the earth if it's just a happy place called Abraham's bosom and why would when Jesus is talking to the Apostle John say in verse number eight I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty Jesus Christ in order to be him that is and was the was is because he died now it's not blasphemous to say that Jesus died or God died because Jesus is God and Jesus did die now the question would be in the definition of death because Jesus never ceased to exist and unfortunately some people try to say well God can't die because that would mean he ceases to exist, no that's not what death is actually at all nobody nobody no living being no living human ever ceases to exist so that definition of death is a false definition of death because every soul continues to exist which by the way is also not the definition of eternal life a soul continuing to exist is not eternal life all of the souls in hell are dead but they exist they are conscious they are aware but they are dead all of the souls in heaven are alive eternal life not tortured, not suffering that's the difference they're both eternal eternal life, eternal death and they both continue to exist so the people who we could refer to as dead would be the people who have already passed on not just physically dead but the dead the place of the dead are the souls that are in hell and they are considered dead which is why you use this I am he which is and which was and which is to come Jesus Christ the fact that he died is very important because it's not just the physical death alone that is important but the fact that he went to hell is important now as I mentioned before I don't believe you have to have that more perfect understanding of every event that happened to Jesus during the course of his death burial and resurrection because the Bible never says that you have to have that understanding to be saved you just have to believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, that he was crucified that he was buried, and that he rose again from the dead so I'm not going to add to scripture and say if you don't believe this then you're not saved no, I don't believe that I got saved without having the understanding of Jesus' soul being in hell for three days and three nights I was taught that, but it wasn't on my mind when I got saved and to be honest with you I don't even know if I really was taught whether it was good or bad or anything like that when I was brought up in a presbyterian church, it doesn't matter what I was taught but the point is when I got saved, I was trusting in Christ as my savior and I knew that he had died for my sins and rose again from the dead and I was trusting in a risen savior and if you turn to Revelation chapter 20 where you see the references again to the dead as being souls who exist who are, you can't say they're alive but they're souls that exist but they're dead souls because they don't have eternal life verse number 12 the Bible says, and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works this is another way, you know, these people are not saved one, because they're being judged according to their works and two, because they're called the dead God doesn't refer to saints who have already passed on as being dead just like Jesus said, hey Abraham rejoiced to see my day why? because he's not dead Abraham, Isaac, Jacob they're all alive and Jesus refers to them as being alive not as being dead the Pharisees were saying, oh, the prophets are dead and Abraham is dead, and what do you, you know and Jesus is like, he's not dead but these people are being referred to as dead and they're being judged according to their works anyone who's saved is not judged according to their works on judgment day, no one is no saved person is judged according to their works and being cast in the lake of fire but the dead are so the dead, you've got the book of life on one hand verifying, yep, you're not in the book of life so since you're not in the book of life, guess what now you're going to be a judge according to your works according to the law, according to the books of the Bible verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, the dead were in hell the dead were in hell Abraham wasn't dead Abraham wasn't in hell Abraham's bosom was part of Abraham, wasn't in hell yeah it's people who want to prop up bad doctrine that need to come up with some extra support that isn't there so when they go to, it is finished, they try to say oh well see look, Jesus they try to fight so hard against Jesus Christ's soul going to hell because honestly it's probably just because they've been too lopsided now look, the blood of Jesus Christ is extremely important and that is mentioned tremendously in scripture so I pause because I don't, you never want to downplay the blood because it's so critical and so crucial and so important but it's like everything, you can't just focus on one element completely when you start focusing on one thing you can get lopsided and not have the full balance of what's the big picture, what's everything right? so if you focus too much on the blood then it's like, well what about these other things? yes, the blood of Christ, you know we need to be washed in the blood of Christ, there's so many things but Jesus still had to go and sprinkle his blood on the mercy seat in heaven, which happened after his death, before his physical blood was actually shed on the cross like on this earth, he sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat in heaven after he died, but anyways I've covered that before as well did I return anywhere now? just Revelation 20 okay, I didn't know if I had to go anywhere beyond that I lost my train of thought so people try to prop up saying, it is finished and because they don't, for some reason don't like to think that Jesus Christ actually paid for our sins in hell like that, that was part of his payment because you're only focused on the blood, look the blood had to happen, the blood absolutely has to happen, 100% no doubt about that, not even a question 100% but the fact that Jesus Christ's soul went to hell is still important too and honestly, it actually just makes perfect sense as well besides being written and recorded in scripture, Acts 2 isn't the only place I mentioned, there's plenty of other references of Jesus Christ's soul going to hell, and actually not the good hell because there is no good hell, but the bad hell suffering in hell it makes sense I mean, if you're going to tell someone Jesus Christ paid for all of your sins well what's the punishment for our sins? Hell? if I die in my sins where am I going? Hell? why? to pay for your sins? because you're being punished, because you're being tortured for your sins okay, well if that's my punishment and Jesus was making the payment for my sins he went to hell, right? I mean, that's my punishment so wouldn't that be his punishment too? of course it is it is did Jesus have to shed his blood then for our sins? absolutely of course he did yes but he also had to go to hell because he bare our sins in his body on the tree and bearing those sins that's why he said my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me which is also why his soul descended into hell because of our sin that punishment had to be paid for but thank God for the victory over death and hell through the resurrection which is also vitally important if Jesus did everything else and didn't rise from the dead we wouldn't have salvation this isn't a fight about the blood or not the blood which is what people try to make it over it's it's trying to explain there's a big picture here and it's all important we're not downplaying the blood but the blood isn't the only element it's not it is one very important element but not the only element our salvation is a package deal it's Jesus fulfilling all prophecy of scripture not one left out not one left undone every single prophecy of scripture being fulfilled being born of a virgin living a perfectly sinless life doing all the miracles preaching the gospel to the poor healing everything that he did fulfilling all the scriptures even the scriptures that we aren't aware of that he fulfilled fulfilling all of those just because we don't know that it happened it was still all important all the way up until the point in John 19 where he says knowing now that he has accomplished everything now he can depart now he can say my job here is done but his job overall isn't done but his job in that capacity I mean that's a pretty significant transition from being physically alive on this earth to transitioning to his soul going to hell that's a significant enough transition to be able to say it's finished wouldn't you agree? I mean it's not just some random point where he's just like halfway through his ministry going oh it's finished I still have a bunch of other stuff to do no, it's finished on this earth all these prophecies that I could fulfill through my ministry are fulfilled and now it's time for me to give up the ghost isn't the Bible great when you could just let it teach you doctrine? I mean did I have to force anything in scripture to come to this understanding is anything like wait a minute you're scratching your head going I don't know, I mean that doesn't sound right I hope not, I mean that doesn't to me seems crystal clear but when I hear anyone try to explain well there's a separate compartment and you see I mean there was this great goal fix we had to be next to each other like well wait no that's not what, I mean a great goal is just a span, it's a distance could be a great means it's a great distance it doesn't have to be like the Gulf of Mexico you know where you're in the same vicinity and you could just say oh I could see the point is it's a miracle that they even saw each other to begin with God allowed that event to happen if it even really happened, I think it did because it uses a real name, it uses Lazarus but regardless of that event actually happening or being just a parable either way it's a miraculous event either through a parable or through real events that isn't normal, it's out of the ordinary but it's something that was happened to be in God's word to teach us a truth and the truth isn't that saved Old Testament saints went to hell it's actually pretty blasphemous Anyways, my sermon is finished as far as I have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word, I pray that you please help us to improve on our understanding of doctrine and especially something so important with the Gospel, with the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, dear Lord, I pray that you would please help us to have good sound doctrine and if we're an error in any of our understanding of scripture or beliefs dear Lord, please hone that, please help us to improve and to understand, just open up our understanding open up our knowledge, dear Lord help us to be able to allow your word to teach us and not to be stuck on a preconceived idea or some teaching that maybe we've received in the past that is incorrect but that you would open up our eyes to the truth and Lord, help us also to be able to teach others and that we would be able to perfect the saints and help us all to just grow in good, sound doctrine that there would be no way to pick apart especially something so important as the Gospel, Lord, and what it takes to be saved and these things that are concerning salvation, Lord, that we would be rock solid, 100% crystal clear on all these events, Lord, we love you and we thank you so much for teaching us and guiding us and we just ask you to continue to do so in the future, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Alright, we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed this afternoon. Brother Peter, please lead us in our last song. Alright church, if you can grab your handles and open up the song number 161 Psalm 161 Our Great Savior Psalm 161 Alright church, let's sing this out of the verse Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Thank you so much for coming