• 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
• Were you to die today, could you be satisfied with the body of your work, knowing that God could look down upon you and pronounce the awesome words, “This is my child in whom I am well pleased.”
2. THE WORD OF VICTORY
• “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished.” (John 19:30)
• “Simply put it means ‘to conquer.’ Conquest; the defeat of an enemy in battle, or of an antagonist in contest; a gaining of the superiority in war or combat. Victory supposes the power of an enemy or an antagonist to prove inferior to that of the victor. Victory however depends not always on superior skill or valor; it is often gained by the fault or mistake of the vanquished.
• Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we now have the victory that He had
• “It is finished.” The ancient Greeks boasted of being able to say much in little-“to give a sea of matter in a drop of language” was regarded the perfection of oratory.
• In the phrase, ‘It is finished;’ is the entire message of the gospel of God
• In that word is contained the ground of the believer’s assurance;
• In that word is discovered the sum of all joy and the very spirit of all divine consolation
• This was not a cry by someone who had been utterly defeated, but rather, someone who knew, without a doubt, they had overcome their enemies
• Jesus had been given the cup of wrath from His Father
• Matthew 26:39: “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
• The cup in which Jesus was referring to was full of:
a. Sin
b. Sorrow
c. Suffering
d. Pain
e. Rejection
f. Death
• When we think of the word of victory, we must analyze how we have victory, who we have it over and why is it necessary
• 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
• We have a vigilant adversary who is looking to destroy our life, if he cannot destroy our life, he desires to destroy our credibility as Christians
• Victory over the devil means victory over the flesh and the temptations of this life
• 1 Peter 2:11: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”
• Peter warned us that there is a struggle between the ‘spirit’ and the flesh
• The flesh is the carnal (earthly) side of man that possesses the lusts, temptations and desire of this world
• Our spirit is what contains God’s presence on this earth and there is a constant struggle between the two
• The key is that we have VICTORY through Christ’s suffering on the cross to overcome this battle
• 2 Corinthians 12:7-9: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
• Paul had something in the flesh that caused him to have to focus solely on God in order to overcome it’s hold every day
• We, too, have something, that if we allow it too, has the ability to pull us away from the goodness of God
• 1 John 4:3-4: “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
• He, who dwells within us, is greater than anything the world has to throw at us; we have the ability, through Christ, to have victory over the flesh
• When Jesus cried out, ‘it is finished;’ He was proclaiming His victory over sin, not only that but Jesus has provided that victory to us if only we are willing to accept it
• Revelation 3:20-22: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
