The scene that is before us here in these verses that we have just read together from Luke in the 23rd chapter is the scene of Calvary. We have the three crosses here. We have Christ, the eternal son of God, the God-man on the middle cross, and we have the two malefactors, one on either side of him, as we learn from that 33rd verse there. Death by crucifixion was one of deepest shame. It was for criminals, for murderers, for those who had committed treason. But it was the death which caused the greatest pain, with arms secured behind the body and the wounds that were caused by the nails. piercing through the hands and the feet and the weight of the body hanging on those nails and we can imagine the flesh tearing in great pain and agony as the body hung there upon that cross, upon that tree. This was the scene then at Calvary with these three crosses, three men dying, Christ the God-man on another side of him as we have seen the two thieves. Now let it be said right away that it was no accident that Jesus Christ was crucified between two thieves. All was determined before by God and his defined plan to save sinners. Before Pilate gave the command for Jesus to be thus crucified in this way, some 700 years before the inspired prophet Isaiah, he declared that which was the mind of God from before the foundation of the world that his son would be numbered among the transgressors as we find it there in Isaiah 53 in the first 12. And even that which is spoken of here in the first 34, the parting of his raiment and casting them for lots or by means of lot. This was prophesied way back in the Psalm 22 and in the verse 18 so that not a single word of God failed and not a single word of God can fail and so it must come to pass. I want tonight to consider these three crosses that we find here in this chapter. First of all, we have this center cross where the Lord Jesus Christ died. Here is the cross of redemption. He died an atoning death. It is the cross of one who was the sinner's substitute. You see, in a very literal sense, the Lord Jesus Christ was the substitute for Barabbas because this cross was for Barabbas as far as the courts of the land were concerned. In Matthew 27, the first 16, we learn that he was a notable prisoner. And in Mark 15, the third verse, we read that Barabbas, he was a murderer. And so in the eyes of the courts, He deserved to die. But then we remember how the crowd chose to have him released and to have the Lord Jesus Christ to die in his place. So in that sense, we can say that the Lord Jesus Christ was a substitute for Barabbas. But Christ was a substitute in a far greater sense. For we read in the scriptures that Christ died for us. Over there, Paul says in Romans, and in the chapter five, the first six, Christ died for us, or rather in the first eight, and then in the first six, he says Christ died for the ungodly. And again, writing there, inspired of God, in that first letter to the church at Corinth, He said in the chapter 15 and the third verse, Christ died for our sins. And so, right throughout the scriptures, both Old and New Testament, and indeed, if we were to turn to the chapter 53 of the prophecy of Isaiah, we would find there in a very specific fashion, the Lord Jesus Christ is set before us as the great substitute for sinners. Here is the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the debt of the sinner's sin. He bore the wrath of God in our place. He bore the punishment that was rightfully ours. Because we learn in the scripture that the wages of sin is death. What we deserve What we work for are wages. The wages of sin is death. We deserve, we deserve to pay the penalty of our own sin. But Christ has paid that penalty in our place. He is the substitute. But then we find that here is the cross of the sinless substitute, and this is of great importance. Because we need a Savior that is impeccable. We need a Savior who has kept the whole law of God perfectly. And we see this to be the case in the first 41. We have the testimony that is born here of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have this thief. who repented of his sin, but here he is saying, this man, speaking of Christ, this man has done nothing amiss. Oh, this thief, he owns his own sin and his own guilt, but of Christ, he says, this man has done nothing amiss. Christ did not die because of his own sin. Christ is impeccable, absolutely without sin, absolutely without spot, absolutely without blemish. He died as a substitute and as a sinless substitute to purchase salvation for all of those. who would repent of their sin and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come to him in simple childlike faith and trust him for salvation. Here is the cross work of Christ. And here is the precious blood of Christ. Here is cleansing from sin, is only through the blood of him who is the Lamb of God. And so we can see here on this middle cross, we can see It is the cross of redemption because Christ there is the substitute. He is the sinless substitute, but here is the cross of the sovereign. This is the King of the Jews. We have it printed here in three languages. Above his head, we can find it is written in Greek and Latin and Hebrew. We can imagine the scene there in Calvary where it was deemed to be important that it might be said, this is the King of the Jews, so that everybody looking at Christ could see who he was. Here is the King of the Jews. But he's not only the king of the Jews, he is the king of kings. When we read through the New Testament, for example, in 1 Timothy 6 and 15, he is the king of king and lord of lords. In the Revelation 17, 14, he is lord of lords and king of kings. In Revelation 19, 16, he is the king of king and lord of lords. He is the sovereign God. Yet he who is the king of kings, here's the marvel of it. He who is the absolute sovereign. We think of all of the sovereigns of the world, the kings of the nations. But here is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of all, and we can see him going voluntarily to Calvary, to the place of crucifixion, to bear the sinner's debt, and to suffer in the sinner's place. What king, what sovereign did we ever read of among nations who ever did that? And yet here is Christ, the King of all kings, and he is found at Calvary there on the cross in order to suffer in the sinner's place and to turn the wrath of God away from the sinner. We can somehow to some degree imagine something of the physical pain that Jesus endured on the cross of Calvary. We can think of how on that cross his back was riven, and as his back was placed against the wood of the cross, oh, those wounds that were placed there by that whip, that cat of nine tails, in the hands of the expert as it was laid upon Christ and there the stones or little pieces of metal, whatever way, whatever it was, were tied into the nine tails and he dragged them down the Savior's back and it was opened like furrows and the blood ran down his back and he was placed on the cross. We can think of something of what it was like for the Saviour when they plaited that crown with the long, long thorns, and then they pressed it down upon his head and his brow, and the thorns pierced into the flesh of his head and brow, and the blood would have trickled down, and he endured the agony of it all. They spread his hands out with those old rough nails, seven, eight, nine inches long, and they hammered them through the flesh of his hands into the wood of the cross. He joined his heels together and with that spike, hammered through his heels into the wood of the cross. My friend, the pain and the agony that the Savior endured, no man suffered like him. No man sorrowed like the Savior as he endured the pain of the cross. And I, the pain of the isolation, In the midst of all of this, he was forsaken, forsaken by those who were counted among his friends, and forsaken by God the Father. Christ cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Here is the king, and he's dying for an ill-deserving pauper. Like you and me, what a spectacle, the King of Kings on the cross of Calvary. Is it any wonder the hymn writer penned those words, O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head, our load was laid on thee, thou stoodest in the sinner's stead, didst bear all ill for me. On that middle cross in Calvary, Christ purchased redemption, and he paid the price, what a price it was, by means of his own suffering and the sharing of his own precious blood for all who will repent of their sin and trust Christ alone to save them. The middle cross, the cross of redemption. But then we've also here the cross of reception because one of these thieves accepted Christ. What is called in John 1 and 12, received Christ. And we can see the steps in this man's salvation. He was a guilty sinner and he confessed that to Christ in the first 41. He is talking there. answering, rebuking the other thief, and he says to the other thief there, does I not fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And then he includes himself and he says, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. Here's a man and he owns his sin. He has been as bad as the other thief. And yes, he also had mocked and he also had ridiculed Christ on the cross. As we read in Matthew in the chapter 27 there in the first 44, he said the very same things. He railed against Christ too when he was on the cross. But this thief was brought by the Holy Spirit to repentance and he stopped his refiling of Christ and he owned his guilt that he was under condemnation from God and that he deserved it. He had no excuses, he was guilty. And people, that's the first step that a man, a woman, a young person must take if they're going to be saved. They must own their sin. I wonder, dear unsaved here tonight, I wonder can you take that first step? Can you speak of yourself knowing your own heart and say, Lord, well, I am a sinner. And I agree with the word of God that says all of sin comes short of the glory of God. I wonder, dear man, woman, young person, can you say tonight, I am a sinner, Lord. I acknowledge my sin. And then we see this man, he calls on Christ for mercy. In the first 42, he simply says unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And he's asking for pardon here. He's asking to have a part with Christ. Here's a man who was saved by faith. and his faith took hold of the word of God. He may not have known much, but he knew enough of God's truth to take hold of it. He believed that Jesus was who he claimed to be in the first 39. They acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. He's the Christ of God. He's the anointed of God. He's the one sent from God. He can see that. He knows enough of God's word to know that this is the Christ of God who is on the middle cross. And he knows the work of Christ. He knows why Christ came. That Christ came to save sinners in the first 35. We read there, and the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them, derided him, derided Christ, saying, he saved others. We read the same back in Matthew 27. This man included, he was able to speak of Christ and say, he saved others. He knew why Christ had came. He knew enough of God's word to know that, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And he believed that although Jesus was dying, he believed that Jesus would live again and that he would come into and that he would have his kingdom and be in his kingdom. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And he believed that Jesus had power to bring him. the guilty sinner into his kingdom. He believed that death was not the end. He believed there was something after death. It is appointed unto men once to die, but after that, and dear soul, tonight, if you're trying to console yourself with the fact that when you're dead, you're dead and that's the end, then your consolation is on a shaky foundation. It's on no foundation, because when you die, that's not the end. You stand before God. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, there's the judgment, you'll stand before God. This man believed all of that. I wonder, do you believe that tonight? Unsaved soul, do you believe that one day you'll stand before God Do you believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners? Do you believe that Jesus Christ can save the worst of sinners? Well, that's what this man here believed, that there was salvation for him. The likes of himself, he was a deep-dyed sinner. He was a murderer. and a thief and a robber. He was as low as a person could get. And he believed that there was salvation for him. Oh, the wonder of salvation that it is for all of those who will acknowledge their sin and come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and by faith. He believed that salvation was not by works, For he was nailed to the cross and he could do nothing. By way of trying to merit his salvation, it was all of grace. Can you believe that? Do you believe that? Maybe there's someone here and you're still trying to imagine that you can please God in your own way. You can do something some way by pleasing God and gaining a merit with God that will enable you to enter into heaven on the basis of what you have done. My friend, this man acknowledged that he could do nothing, and I tell you, you can do nothing for salvation. It's not by works, it's all of grace. It's all of grace, the very grace of God. It's the gift of God that brings you onto eternal life. I wonder, dear Unsaved, can you see yourself here? Do you see, do you understand these things? Can you identify with this man? Here's a man who stepped out of the crowd, as it were, and personally confessed Christ before all. He confessed Christ before his companions and before all of the enemies of Christ. It's as though this man has in his heart this thought of Christ for me. And he died in the full assurance of heaven. He accepted Christ. Here's the cross of acceptance. But then there is the cross of rejection here. Here's the other thief in his dying hour. And he's deriding the Savior. He's rejecting Christ. What folly, what blindness is his? Here's a man, he's as near to Christ as the saved thief. He can hear Christ's words. He can see the writing. He knows that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He acknowledged that. And there he is, defying God, still in his sin. And yes, in the first 39, we can see he wanted the saving of his life, but he had no thought for the saving of his soul. One of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Oh, he would have liked that his life had been spared, but he had no thought for his soul. Isn't that often the case? When we're sick or in trouble, then men want to be made well. No thought for their soul. Remember many years ago, many years ago now, one night getting a call. In fact, I was out with the family. We were having something to eat in a wee restaurant. I got a telephone call from a lady that I didn't know. And she said, Reverend Lyndon, I would like you to do something for me. My husband's in the hospital. He's very ill. And he's not saved. And I would like you to go down and visit with him. So she told me who she was. And when she told me that, then I recognized the name and who the people were, although I had no contact with them before. I went down to the hospital that night and went in. The man was called Billy. I went over to the bed. He was lying curled up in the bed. He was yellow, perhaps nearly orange, I suppose. He had a bad complaint. I asked him how he was. He woke up. And he looked at me and I said, you do not know who I am. He said, I do know who you are. You're Mr. McElindan. And I said, well, that's close enough. So we talked about the things of God. And he said, would you pray that I can get better? Because the doctors tell me that it's likely I will die. He was a heavy drinker, an alcoholic. Liver was in a bad state. And I said to him, oftentimes, Billy, you need to prepare to meet God if you're in that condition. You need to get saved. You need to get right with God. And he kept saying, will you pray that I can get healed, that God will heal me? He said, if you pray that God will heal me, and if God heals me, I'll go to church. I'll go to church. So after a while, I said, Billy, I will pray that the Lord will put his hand on you and heal you, if that is the will of God. But that's still no substitute for the saving of your soul. And we prayed that night, I prayed that night, that very thing, that God in his mercy would touch his body. And God did touch his body, and Billy is still alive today. He's an old man, he's in a home, he's still alive today. And he kept his word, and he came out to church every Sunday night, him and his wife. Every Sunday night, Billy was found in the backseat in the church, but I tell you this, as far as I know, on the last time that I inquired, Billy is still unsaved. And Billy's still going to the same hell tonight that he was going to way back those many years when God in his mercy touched him in his body. And if he dies as he is now, he will be forever lost in eternity. Lost in health. Maybe there's one here tonight and, oh, you would like to be in good health. You would like to remain in good health. But I tell you this, one day you're going to die and you're going to stand before God And if you're standing before God in your sin, you will be damned in your sin and lost in your sin, and you'd go to hell in your sin, and in your sin you will be for the rest for all of eternity. Paying the price of your sin among the doomed and the damned in hell, and the fires of God that God has prepared for those who reject the Christ of God. That's the penalty of the sinner's sin. Here's a man and he's facing God. He's on the cross. He's going to meet with God at any moment. And he still rejects salvation. Dear soul, you don't know the moment that you will stand before God. And you need to get right with God even now. No thought of a soul. Christ the Savior, on one side the saved sinner bound for heaven, on the other side the one who rejects Christ and he's bound for hell. Tell me, friend, what side are you on? Tell yourself. Consider it. Ask yourself the question, what side am I on? That's the question, as serious, as solemn. Have you received Christ by faith or are you still rejecting him? Are you bound for heaven or are you bound for hell? Let me just draw your attention to the question that was put to this unrepentant thief. The first 40, does not thy fear God? answering, rebuked him, saying, does thou not fear God, saying thou art in the same condemnation? Here's a man, he's about to meet with God. Here's a man who has mocked the Christ of God. He has rejected him. He has refused to have him as his savior. Here's a man still in his sin, and he dares to stand before God in his sin, to be damned and held for his sin. This man and his friend put a question to him. Does thou not fear God? He should fear God. because God, who knows him, is able to cast him body and soul into hell, Matthew 10 and 28, and fear not them which kill the body, but rather fear him which is able to kill, to destroy both body and soul in hell. He should fear God. O the folly, the blindness of this poor man! He will stand before God with this question ringing in his ears, and he will be tormented for all of eternity with this very question. And yet there are people today in the very same state who would dare to die without Christ as their Savior. They would die in their sins and meet God in their sins. Maybe, dear friend, that's you here tonight. You're still in your sins in spite of all of the gospel preaching that you've heard and the privileges that God has given to you to sit under faithful gospel preaching, you're still in your sin, you're still rejecting Christ as your savior, you will still dare to stand before God as you are in your sin. Let me put the question to you. Do you not fear God? Do you not fear God? Oh, people, turn from your sin and take Christ. Hear the question. May the question ring in your ears. If you leave this meeting without Christ tonight, as you walk through the door and go to your car, may the question still be applied by the Spirit of God. Does thou not fear God? And as you journey home in the car, even though there's a conversation going on perhaps with others in the car. May the question ring in your ears and in your head and in your heart. Does thou not fear God? And as you lay your head down upon the pillow tonight, if such should be the grace and the mercy of God to enable you to do that and to spare you to do that, as you lay your head on the pillow tonight, may you hear the question again. fear God? And do you get any sleep at all when you waken up? May the question still be there, does thou not fear God? Until you repent of your sin and put your trust in Christ. Three crosses, cross of redemption, where Christ purchased salvation, by means of his own atoning work, his suffering, his blood shedding, purchase salvation for every man and woman and young person who will repent of their sin and trust him to be their savior. The cross of acceptance, the man who owned his sin, confessed it before the Lord, and asked the Lord to save him, to bring him home to heaven. We have the cross of rejection. The man who knew that Christ died to save sinners, but rejected this Christ of God, even though he knew himself to be about to face God, dying in a sin, lost for all of eternity. That man is in hell tonight and will be for all eternity. The other thief is in heaven tonight. There with the Lord who loved him and died to save him. Dear friend, will you take Christ and prepare for heaven and for home. Acknowledge your sin, put your trust in him, call upon him to save you. Whether you're young or older, come to Christ tonight.