This is Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Connect with Skip Heitzig is all about connecting you to the never-changing truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching.
That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others. Before we get started with the program, we want to invite you to check out connectwithskip.com. There you'll find resources like full message series, weekly devotionals, and more. While you're at it, be sure to sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and receive teaching from God's Word right in your inbox each day. Sign up today at connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
We have a little bit of research going on around the world. We've had a few ops happen, but the façade of the Metropolitan Tabernacle is still intact, and some of the auxiliary buildings. The main sanctuary itself is there, but it's not the same as it was in Spurgeon's Day. I stood in that pulpit, and I just imagine what it was like to be listening over 100 years ago to Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He really had the first mega church. In the 1800s, it sat 5,000 people, no PA system. So the way it was constructed, I think, is to take time out of the to be listening over a hundred years ago to Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
He really had the first mega church. In the 1800s, it sat 5,000 people, no PA system. So the way it was constructed, I hear, was there were three levels. There was a ground level, then there was a balcony level that went all the way around. And then there was a third balcony that also went all the way around. The pulpit was constructed in an unusual manner.
It was at the second balcony level. So you'd walk up a stairway from the first level to the second balcony and jutting out over the main floor and at the level of the second balcony was the pulpit from which Spurgeon would preach and then he could even look up to the third level. Well, Spurgeon had not only a church, but he had a pastor's college. He taught young men in the ministry. And he believed that young men in the ministry should be taught the art of extemporaneous preaching. That is, you give them a text and they're ready at any moment to think on their feet, to be led by the Spirit, that they should know enough Bible truth to be able to be given a passage and preach.
So often in his midweek studies, Spurgeon would hand a sheet of paper to one of the students in his school who were sitting in the congregation. The only prep time they would have to give the message is the time from their seat up the stairs to the pulpit and preach. On a midweek service, Charles Spurgeon scribbled Luke 19, story of Zacchaeus on a sheet of paper and it was handed to one of the young college students.
The only time he had to prepare was a few songs in the song service and his journey from his seat up to the pulpit. How intimidating it would be to be given a passage of Scripture, stand in front of an audience of people and speak on it and especially intimidating when Charles hadn't Spurgeon, the prince of preachers was in the front row looking up at you. The young man who was given the text on Zacchaeus from Luke 19 was himself a short fella. So he climbed up the stairs into the pulpit and he said, the text that I have been given to preach on this evening is the gospel of Luke chapter 19, the story of Zacchaeus. And like our eloquent pastor has taught us so well, I have three points to bring to bear on this passage. Point number one, Zacchaeus was a wee little man.
Just like I am a wee little man. Point number two, Zacchaeus was up a tree. Even as I myself am up a tree. And point number three, the Lord looked up and said, Zacchaeus, come down from that tree and I feel that's what the Lord is telling me and he scampered out of the pulpit immediately. He was a clever student and to the delight and the applause of the congregation, he made an impression. I thought of that when I was standing in Spurgeon's house in Spurgeon's pulpit and I thought of another pulpit I had seen and wondered about in Edinburgh, Scotland, the pulpit of John Knox, the Scottish reformer, St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile.
And knowing what I know about Knox and how clear and even scathingly he preached and I thought of some of the sermons against Mary, the Queen of Scots, preached from that pulpit and how that got him into trouble time and time again during that era. But the greatest pulpit ever was constructed from two pieces of wood hastily put together in the form of a cross. Jesus, the greatest preacher who ever lived, preached the greatest sermon ever heard from that pulpit that he was nailed to for six hours. He gave seven short statements, short statements but big ideas, monumental thoughts of forgiveness and provision and salvation. John records three of the statements that Jesus made from the cross. The third statement, the fifth statement and the sixth statement made on the cross, John records and we will consider the sixth statement made in verse 30 of chapter 19.
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished and bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. I don't know about you and your life and your organizational skills but for me just to read, it is finished, brings a sense of conviction. Do any of you have unfinished projects in your life?
I mean, I automatically go to the leaves in my backyard under all those bushes. I'm gonna get to them but I just haven't yet. Or my garage, boy, it's collected lots of junk and it needs organization and cleaning. I'm gonna get to it, just don't know when. I have a closet that I've just stuffed junk in.
It's like my one little closet that I can get to someday. The day hasn't arrived yet. I'm waiting for the day. Unfinished tasks, unfinished business. We're getting to tax season.
This year, I'm not gonna file for an extension. I wanna get it done. In fact, we have a phrase that has been coined in our culture, it's sort of a blue collar phrase and when we have one guy trying to tell another guy to finish the task, we say, get her done.
Yeah, I'm gonna do that, we'll get her done. On the cross, Jesus said the words, it is finished. Now, in hearing the words to the uninitiated, it might sound like, well, that is typical of anyone dying. It's the end of his life, it's finished, it's over.
I'm out of here, I'm dying. But Jesus doesn't say, I'm finished, as if my life is over. He's not saying, we're finished, as if to say, all that I have worked for and invested in the last few years, it's done now. He said, it is finished.
What does he mean by that? You should also know that Matthew, Mark, and Luke add an important notation. It says, when Jesus cried out, and it doesn't say what he cried out, only John does, when he cried out, then he dismissed his spirit and he died. What Jesus cried out was, it is finished. These are not the words of a victim, these are the words of a victor.
This is somebody who has crossed the finish line and says, it is done. Well, we wanna consider that single statement and this single verse in John chapter 19. I'm gonna look with you, first of all, at the statement itself, then at the speaker, then at the significance. The statement that Jesus made, it is finished.
The statement is meaningful. Three words in English, one word in Greek. It is finished is the translation of the single word in Greek, tetelestai, tetelestai, or telios. It means to complete, to bring to an end, to accomplish, or to perfect. All of that is embodied in the word. You really don't get the gist of the depth of the meaning, so I'm gonna take you back in history, allow me to do that, as I tell you four different ways it was used in antiquity.
Four different groups that used the term and how fitting then it is for Jesus to say. First of all, servants use the term. In a day of slavery, 2,000 years ago, when a servant did a task, accomplished something that the master asked him to do, he would go back to the master and give the announcement, tetelestai. In other words, master, I've done everything you've told me to do. I've brought to an end the job you gave me to do.
It's accomplished, it's done. How fitting then, because Isaiah the prophet, on four different occasions, predicted that Jesus the Messiah would be God's ultimate servant. He speaks about the servant of the Lord who accomplishes the task of the master. Even Jesus himself, when he comes on the scene in the Gospel of Mark, he makes this announcement. The Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.
Even when he was a little boy, 12 years of age at the temple, he tells his mother, don't you know that I must be about my father's business? I'm like a servant on a mission, accomplishing the will of the master saying, it's done. It's finished.
So servants used it. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig, weekend edition. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, the 1960s promised us an explosion of love and brotherhood, but instead, they delivered a nation in turmoil, confusion, and moral decline. Fortunately, God has the solution for our damaged families. And in Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World, Pastor Skip Heitzig gives a biblical guide for marriage and families that can help restore relationships which have been damaged by sin. Beyond the Summer of Love is our thanks for your gift of at least $25 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give $25 or more today to help reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip.
A second group that used the term tetelestai, the word or the equivalent of the word were the priests. You know, if you and I lived a couple thousand years ago or 3,000 years ago when there was a temple or a tabernacle, if you wanted to bring an animal for sacrifice, you couldn't just get any old animal. You couldn't like say, hey, there's like a stray cat in the back of the house. Let's just bring that. I've always wanted to get rid of that thing. Just bring that for a sacrifice.
Couldn't be done. First of all, it had to be a lamb. Exodus 12 says that the lamb had to be a male lamb without blemish. So you would bring your lamb to the priest. The priest would examine your lamb. He would look for flaws, inherent or acquired. If there were no flaws, he would say the equivalent in Aramaic or in Hebrew, the equivalent of the Greek, tetelestai.
It's perfect. It's a suitable lamb for sacrifice. Again, how fitting that Jesus would say tetelestai. For Peter says, you and I were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold. We were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without spot, without blemish. You know that even Jesus' enemies knew that he was perfect. You know that the Sanhedrin had to hire false witnesses to bring false accusations against Jesus because he did nothing wrong. Even Pilate said several times, I find no fault in him.
Even Judas Iscariot admitted I have betrayed innocent blood. There's a third group of people that used it. Artists used the term tetelestai. When an artist was making a painting or a sculpture, when the artist was done, he or she would step back from the work of art. And if it was completed, all the color was there, all the detail, all the finishing touches and a good craftsman put detail and touch in it.
He or she would step back and say, tetelestai, it is finished. The picture is complete was the idea. The picture is complete. Hey, when I read the Old Testament, I find lots of details, lots of touches, lots of prophecies about the Messiah, shadows, ceremonies, lots of stuff. But when I read it, I get the idea that something's missing, the picture's not complete.
It's predicting something that hasn't come yet. But when I read the New Testament and Jesus steps into the picture, now the picture is complete. Jesus said, I didn't come to destroy the law or the prophets, I came to fulfill, to complete the picture.
So the picture is now all completed. There's a fourth group that used the term, merchants and bankers. Once you paid off your bill or your debt to the bank or to a merchant, they would give you a little sheet that would read at the top, tetelestai. In fact, did you know that we have found, not we, not like I've done it, but archeologists have found, scholars have found, papyri, ancient papyri for people who have paid their taxes off and across the top of the papyrus it reads, tetelestai, paid in full, was the idea, paid in full. So merchants or bankers would use the term tetelestai to simply say your debt has been paid off in full.
How fitting for Jesus to say it from the cross. Because, I don't know if you know this or not, most of you do, we are debtors. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That's an insurmountable debt, you can never pay that. You're bankrupt. The wages of sin is death.
So we have a debt we can't pay and we look at this huge pile of debt, it's like, there's no way I can pay that off. Jesus comes along and announces from the cross, paid in full, it's done, tetelestai. So as the servant, he's fulfilling the wishes of his master. As the priest, he's offering himself as the perfect sacrifice as the artist, he's completing the picture.
And he's paying off in full our debt. The statement is meaningful. The second thing in looking back at the text is just hearing the statement as we read it. It tells us something about the speaker himself that here's a man who lived with purpose, with goals, with priorities. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished and bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
He lived with purpose, he lived with priorities and those priorities, that goal comes out in so many other statements that he made in his life. Here's one, remember the time when Jesus goes to Samaria and he goes to the well of Samaria and there's that woman at the well of Samaria and Jesus talks with her. The disciples have gone into the town to buy food, they get back, the woman leaves to tell her friends and family what's happening. The disciples knowing that Jesus is tired like they are and needs something to eat. They say, here's some food, you ought to eat it. And he says, I have food to eat that you don't know anything about. And they look at each other like, what does that mean? Did somebody like give him a hamburger while we were gone?
Excuse me, a falafel while we were gone? And Jesus explains himself, for my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work, to do it and to finish it. I'm living with a purpose, I have a goal, I am on track, I am going somewhere and I live by priorities and I'm gonna finish the task. Fast forward to John chapter 17, we've reviewed it in depth, the high priestly prayer of Jesus. Jesus lifts up his eyes and he says, Father, the hour has come, glorify your son that your son may glorify you. I have glorified you on the earth, I have finished the work which you have given me to do. He knows he's right at the end, he has hours left to live, everything the Father has given him and now he anticipates the end of it and he said, I've finished the work. Then look down at our text and go back to verse 28 and notice these words again, if you will. Verse 28, after this, Jesus knowing that all things are now what? It says accomplished, same word, teleos, accomplished. That the scriptures might be fulfilled, same word, teleos.
He says, I thirst, he drinks it and then he says, tetelesai, it is finished. Here's a man who lived and spoke and moved with purpose. He had goals in mind and now he's saying, it's done. I was reading a magazine, I was on the way back from Dallas, Texas a while back and the magazine cover had an article entitled, The Power to Excel and it was an article about several books out on finding the goals that you set in life. So I was reading a magazine, I read the article and read some of the titles of the book and if memory serves me, the books were called The Power of Purpose, Iron Will, Self-Discipline, The Magnificent Obsession, The Physiotherapy of Achievement. All of these books and they basically had the same idea all the way through them. Here's the idea, if you wanna be successful in life, say these authors, you, number one, set a goal.
Number two, you make concrete steps to achieve your goal and number three, you evaluate those steps along the way objectively. So I was thinking about that, that this whole philosophy about achieving your goal and I thought, how different from Jesus? Oh, he had his goals and he had the steps to get there and he had the steps to get there and he evaluated those steps but how different because Jesus' whole life and goal and purpose was not for self, was not self-oriented, was not self-centered, was not for self-aggrandizement but for the Father. It was all about pouring his life out for others according to the will of the Father so that at the end of his life he could say it is finished.
I have a question for you. How can anyone say it is finished after three and a half years of ministry? Three and a half years, that's a very short span to do much of anything but after three and a half years on the cross he says, it's done, it's finished, everything you've given me to do I've accomplished. Now, Jesus, I grant you, did many wonderful things. He healed many people but for every person he healed there were 10 unhealed people.
There were still broken lives and broken bodies throughout all of Israel, let alone the world. So how can you say at the end of three and a half years, I've done it all, here's how. Because he said, I've done everything you have given me to do, Father. This is what you have called me to do. Here's my goal, here's my priority and that's it. So the goals he was accomplishing were goals given to him by the Father and number two, he evaluated those goals in the light of eternity, not the temporary.
Boy, I tell you what, if we can grab ahold of that, there's freedom in that. What has God called you to do? In fact, this is a good time to ask yourself, what are your goals in life? How's the spiritual goal thing coming for you? How's the Seek First the kingdom of God going? What are your goals, what are you pursuing?
Is it worth it? And what are you going to do when you achieve it? We're so glad you joined us for Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you understand and follow God's plan for your relationships.
Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World by Pastor Skip Heitzig is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $25 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
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We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His Word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
