"The Word Of Contentment" Series

• The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross; seven profound statements that Jesus proclaimed as He took upon Himself the sins of the world

• As Jesus took upon the hurt and suffering caused by sin He spoke the words that were necessary so that we may obtain salvation through His sacrifice

• This week, we look at the words of CONTENTMENT AND VICTORY

• As Jesus looked at His murderer’s, those who loved Him and up to Heaven, he felt contentment in His heart. Why? Because He understood the purpose of His mission and was CONTENT with the consequences

• On the cross, Jesus became Victorious. Victorious over sin, death, hell and the grave. When we become a child of the king, we too, become Victorious over these things

1. THE WORD OF CONTENTMENT

• Luke 23:46: “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.”

• Contentment is “Literally, held, contained within limits; hence, quiet; not disturbed; having a mind at peace; easy; satisfied, so as not to repine, object, or oppose.”

• With the definition above, we can see that contentment is total peace with a decision and its reward/consequences

• It is having the peace of God, knowing that what is taking place is absolutely necessary and is, therefore, ok

a. Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

• Jesus was dying, but still did not fear death, why? Because the peace of His Father was surrounding Him in the midst of trial

• The words of Jesus in Luke 23:46 were the last act of the Savior before His body retired

• It was an act of contentment and faith; one of confidence and love for God and all mankind

• The person to whom Jesus committed the precious treasure of His Spirit was His own Father

• Jesus was committing the Highest aspect of His being to God

• Arthur Pink describes man as “being tripartite: ‘spirit and soul and body’ (I Thessalonians 5:23: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.). There is a difference between the soul and the spirit, though it is not easy to predicate wherein they are dissimilar. The spirit appears to be the highest part of our complex being. It is that which, particularly distinguishes man from the beasts and that which links him to God.”

• The spirit is that which God has formed within us

a. Zechariah 12:1: “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.”

• Numbers 16:22: “And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?”

• Jesus, in this statement, was simply returning to God what was already his

a. Ecclesiastes 12:7: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

• The act whereby Jesus placed His Spirit into the hands of the Father was an act of faith and sat a precedent for all His people

• Jesus did this with “a loud voice” He spoke that all present might hear His words

• Those who had judged Him as destitute and forsaken by the Father would hear these words and now that it was not so, but instead, that He was giving Himself ‘CONFIDENTLY’ over to the Father

• ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

• These were the last words uttered by Jesus Christ; and was the seventh word spoken upon the cross

• Seven is the number of completeness or perfection

• At Calvary, as everywhere, the perfections of the Blessed One were displayed

• Seven is also the number of rest in a finished work: in six days God made heaven and earth, and in the seventh He rested

• Contemplating the satisfaction with which He had pronounced “very good”

• So, as it is with Christ, a work had been prescribed unto Him and that work was now done

• The job was finished and now, Jesus was content with His body of work and the results of His time on earth; He was now ready to enter eternity, the place which He had come from and willing to do so in the confidence and love of the Father