I find a friend who is all to me. His love is ever true. I love to tell how he lifted me, and what his grace can do for you. Saved by his heart divine, saved I'm a Belfast man and I'm not that familiar with the north of the country but it is lovely to be here, it's good to see the locality. You know I love music and I think music It should be enjoyable, I think it should be fun, and this little piece, certainly the tempo is up, but we don't want you to miss the meaning of the piece. We don't want you to miss that at all. You know, it's to do with the precious blood. I read in Ephesians that there will be a gathering together, a great gathering together of God's people, and they will have something in common. They'll all be redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed. The precious blood of Jesus Christ will have washed away their sins. I wonder, are you going to be in that gallery? Can you see it? Can you point back to a certain juncture in your life when you came to Christ and you put your faith in a cross that your brother was speaking about just a few moments ago? We're a band of Christians on a fighting sail every day. We're standing up for Jesus while we're kneeling down to pray. In His precious blood, we'll answer and wash away your sin. That makes you a member of the Blood Boys Band. Praise God, I'm a member of the Blood Boys Band. I've been voiced in the song, claims the God of the land. I was bound by chains of sin, till one day the Master came. And made me a member of the Blood Boys Band. God's children are advancing, marching till they reach the goal. For the battle's almost over and we'll soon be going home. I can hear the sound of angels as the saints come marching in, singing praises to the captain of the blood-washed band. Praise God, I'm a member of the blood-moist band. I've been washed in the soul-cleansing blood of glad. I was bound by chains of sin till one day the Master came. And He made me a member of the blood-moist band. I was bound by chains of sin till one day the Master came. The second piece speaks to us about heaven and the duration of heaven. Because heaven is going to be an eternal experience. An eternal experience. And we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining, as the sun will have no less time to sing its praise than when we first begun. What a glory that will be, to be in the presence of the Lord forever, without end. Of course, there's a flip side to that. The flip side is this, that if you're out of heaven, there's only one other destination, and that is hell. Okay. Soon I'll come to the end of life's journey And I'll greet the one who gave his life for me I'll thank him for the vow that he made ♪ And 10,000 years, oh Lord, I pray with thee ♪ ♪ 10,000 years will just be started ♪ ♪ 10,000 years, oh Lord, I pray with thee ♪ We've just begun The rattle is over And the victory's been won Ten thousand years And we've just begun We will just begin to sing our sweet story. And it's a song holy angels cannot sing. I'm redeemed by the blood of the Savior. ♪ And 10,000 years or more I'll praise his name ♪ 10,000 years ♪ We'll just be starting ♪ 10,000 years And the victory's been won Ten thousand years Ten thousand years Ten thousand years And we've just There are pieces, hymns, I don't want to give a wrong impression, but you could be blunt about them and you could say that they're mediocre. It's pretty true. If you were to really be honest about it, they're mediocre. They're mediocre in their writing. And if you have someone who is a really good singer, they can make something of them. And I don't count us in that category, let me say that. And then there's pieces that are just brilliant, exceptional. The piece that we've just sung as an example. I believe this is one of the pieces, the piece that we're going to sing is in that category. Tremendous piece. Some have said that it is the greatest hymn ever written. I don't know whether you'd agree with that. And I trust that you appreciate the words and the message of it. You know, it speaks of the fact that God's truth is marching on. And this word may appear to be going in a downward spiral as it comes over. But the reality is that the Lord is accomplishing His plan. He is accomplishing His plan. In His own time and in His own perfect way. And there's coming a juncture where the Lord will interrupt this one. This truth is marching on. Tell me, on which side of history do you stand? Do you stand on the side of the future? Of Christ? Saved? The family of God? Or do you stand on the side of the past? have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He hath loosed the faint from lightning Of His terrible swift sword His truth is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. He is sifting at the hearts of men before his judgment seat. O, be swift, my soul, to answer him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea. With the glory in His bosom, that transfigures you and me. As He died to make the new leaf, let us live to make with Him ♪ And God is watching over you ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ His truth is marching on. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the way. He is destined to the mighty. So the world shall be his footstool, and his soul a tighter stake. Our God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. His truth, he is marching on. He's marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah Glory, glory, hallelujah Glory, glory, hallelujah His truth is marching on. Reverend Leckie and your wife tonight, Gerard, thank you for coming, coming so far from Cookstown, ministering in song. If I could sing like that, I'd be very tempted to sign him out of the mission. But I'm not going to trouble you that way any night. May the Lord bless those messages in song, use them for his glory. I imagine you're not known with that any more, yes? Funny enough, the Reverend Gray said the very same. He said to me, when I come on Friday night, can you get someone to meet me in the church car park at a quarter past seven, for I haven't a clue where Vanda Moore is. So I don't know these men, but I've never lived. I don't know where Vanda Moore is. But they'll soon find out, you'll find out tonight, our brother will find out on Friday night. And I trust that you've been blessed coming, and our Brother Gray will be blessed as he comes and stands in on Friday night as well. to preach the gospel. We're looking for showers of blessing and we've had showers outside and on my little app on the phone. If you look at it, maybe you'll go one, two, raining every day, every day, right up as far as it goes, about eight days ahead, it's going to be rain every day. So we want to see Him spiritually. The shards of blessing in the scripture, or shards in the scripture, are likely going to revival. Like God coming down and we certainly want to see the mighty shards falling upon this mission. Mervyn has mentioned the fact that if we don't pray we are not going to see the blessing of God. God has so ordained this means, they call it the means of grace, it is the avenue of We will not see God move unless we pray. God moves our hearts to pray. And when He has designed blessing for His church, He sets them a prey. That's what Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator said. We mentioned in the last week when we had our special preparation week for this mission, That God always sends revival in answer to prayer. There has never been a revival in the past, whether it's in biblical history or in church history, without prayer. And so we just encourage God's people to pray. Pray at home. If you can get to the prayer meeting at 7.30, come and join with us in the little room just to the left coming in. And pray with us that the blessing of the Lord will fall. God needs to move in our hearts. They moved in the hearts of those four young men who went to the schoolhouse in Kells and they prayed. Can't work out the blessing of God but we can pray a dial and they prayed. And they prayed for months and months and others joined them until there were about 50 people regularly in prayer. And then the year of grace came. The year of grace was 1859 and God moved. Tens of thousands of people were converted to Christ right here in Northern Ireland. And as we mentioned the other night, one million people profess faith throughout the United Kingdom. It was a special year. Won't God be coming to do similar things again for us? Thank you, Merton, for leading, despite your foot trouble. Thank you, Phil, for opening in prayer. Phil has a lovely accent, hasn't he? From Liverpool. And he was preaching last night in Craig's Mission Hall. When he came home, he was able to bring the report that there was a wee woman at the door. And we always thank God for those wee women. And she said, I could have listened to you all night with that accent. Now, I'll not tell you, because I can't remember the name, who it was that she had in mind. Very similar accent from the city of Liverpool. We'll leave Phil to tell you that. But there you go. Thanks, Phil, for opening in prayer. Now, we're turning this evening to the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke. It's a great song that you sung, and I suppose if I went round this room tonight and I asked the people of God, you would all have a different song to give us, and you might say, well I think that's the greatest hymn, or this is the greatest hymn. Well I, beyond all shadow of a doubt, I'm going to preach the greatest message that can ever be preached. Not because of who I am, but because of what the message is. Because we're going to sing about the greatest story that has ever been told. And we're going to read part of it as we turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 23 and we're reading from verse 24. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they let him away, They laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bared, and the paps which never gave suck. And they shall begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death. 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. 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 I be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the manufacturers which were hired, railed on him, saying, If I be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Does not thou fear God? saying 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 of this. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when I comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth, unto the ninth hour. And the sun was dark, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Ending the reading at verse 46. May the blessing of God be upon it, as we have read it together. Let us pray just for a moment. Almighty God and gracious Father, we come to your precious word, we come to this lovely history that is recorded by the Gospel writer Luke, and we praise thee for these verses that we've read and for the story that has unfolded here. We thank thee for the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, the Redeemer of men, who came into this world that he might be the sacrifice for our sin. We thank thee that through faith in him, and who He is and what He accomplished, we can have everlasting life. We praise Thee that it is by grace that we are saved through faith and that none of ourselves, it is the gift of God, none of works lest any man should boast. We pray that God will just settle our hearts down for these few minutes around your Word tonight, in the closing minutes of this Gospel mission. We pray that God will speak to every heart. We know that He will. And we pray that that will give us proper reactions and responses to the word of God. Indeed we pray for those who know not the Lord among us. I want to praise you tonight for bringing them to this meeting. We know it's not by chance. We know that they're here because God has ordained them to be so. And Lord we pray that as they listen that their hearts will be touched. Indeed that their soul will be melted. that they will come to a realization of their need, that they will see their sin, but Lord that they will see the remedy for their sin in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. If I was to give you a text it would be the opening words of verse 33. When they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. And the message tonight as I have announced is the greatest story that has ever been told. Or the greatest history that has ever been written. The greatest event that has ever taken place. The greatest love that has ever been demonstrated. The greatest suffering that has ever been experienced. What am I referring to? I'm referring to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to preach the cross tonight. I want to preach Christ and Him crucified. I have often felt that if the story of the cross fails to make an impression upon the hearts of sinners, then nothing will. Because nothing melts the heart more than a sight of the suffering Saviour. Nothing touches the human spirit more than understanding something of the Holy One bearing away our sin. Nothing affects the emotions of the human heart more than being confronted by the Eternal God as we have Him manifested at this place called Calvary. Nothing softens the hardness of sinners more than setting before them the seams of agony as we have those seams on Golgotha's brow. The hottest sermon on hell will not move the soul the way that the cross will. The severest preaching against sin and the consequences of sin will not break the stubborn will the way that the cross will. The greatest exposition on heaven will not move souls to seek God the way that a sight of the suffering Saviour will. So God forbid that I should glory. saved on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I must ever set the cross before my hearers. I must ever preach the blood of the Lamb. I must ever exalt the redeeming work of the Saviour. If sinners are to be saved, if they are to be arrested, if they are to be moved, if they are to be brought to an understanding of their need, if they are to be changed, it will be through preaching Christ. and Him crucified. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. And so, we can say with Paul, we preach Christ and Him crucified. Now I must preach against sin, because sin is the great problem in the lives of men. And I must preach on the subject of hell, Jesus' death. preached more on the subject of hell than he did on heaven. For hell is the awful consequence of dying without the mercy of God. And I must preach on the subject of death because it's appointed unto men once they die. We're all going to die. We're going to leave this world. And I must preach on the judgment. There is coming a day when all men will be summoned to stand in the very presence of Almighty God on that judgment day. And these are all great subjects. They are important realities, they are fundamental truths. But in all my preaching, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ must be settled. For without the cross there's no salvation, there's no pardon, there's no forgiveness, there's no mercy. There is no heaven at the end of the road. And so tonight I want to set before you the greatest story that has ever been told. The Lord Jesus Christ has been tried and sentenced. Pontius Pilate has handed him over to the bloodthirsty mob of Jews. The soldiers have beaten him and mocked him. They have led him along the streets of Jerusalem, outside the city walls. And now they arrive at the desecrated spot. And amidst all the jeering and the taunting and the shouting of the crowd, the Saviour is nailed to the cross and he's lifted up to die. the dying lamb of God at Calvary, we're going to be affected in some way. You cannot sink and contemplate Christ and Him crucified without being affected, without giving some kind of response in your heart this evening. I trust that it will be the right response to come to know Him, to receive Him, if you're not a child of God tonight. We're going to think about the plan of the cross. We're going to think about the pain of the cross. And then we're going to think about the people at the cross. But notice first of all the plan. And this is very important. I see cruel men and they take God's dear son. They have led him, as I've said, through the streets of Jerusalem. They bring him to the place that is called Calvary. And then they stretch his body out upon this old Roman cross and they nail him hand and foot and they lift him up to die. The hopes of the disciples are dashed. They thought it would be him who would deliver Israel but not this way. They have not fully understood the purpose of the cross at this particular moment. And so they have fled, most of them have fled from the scene and everything seems to be lost. It appears that the Lord Jesus Christ is helpless. There he is, nailed hand and foot. There was no struggle, there was no resistance, there was no argument on his part. He makes no effort to get down from the cross. The people cry, come down from the cross. If you are who you say you are, if you are the son of God, prove it now and come down from the cross. In a sense he could have. He could have called for the angelic host to come and help him, but he didn't. When I stand and I gaze at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, I must understand that this is the purpose of God. This is the plan of God. This is not something that went badly wrong. This was not a mistake. It was carefully planned by a God of love. And when I see Jesus Christ dying in all that shame and all that suffering, I have to remember it was planned. Pontius Pilate had no power to do anything. against Jesus Christ. He couldn't even lift his little finger against the Son of God without divine permission. No, my friends, the cross was ordained from all eternity. Jesus Christ is that lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the Bible tells us. And when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, do you remember what he said concerning this? Him being delivered By the determinant counsel and foreknowledge or foreordination of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. He said to the Jewish people, thousands of them that were gathered that day as he preached, you have taken him in a physical sense, you have slain him, you have crucified him, but it was all in accordance to the preordained plan of Almighty God. Remember Paul spoke of God's own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And so we must travel beyond the regions of time. We must go into eternity past and there we will see God in Trinity and God in unity sitting as we sometimes describe it in council the one with the other. And as they look down into time and they know all that will befall creation and they know all about the fall of man. Right there in eternity past God had a purpose, God had a plan to reconcile them unto himself and to save the souls of men and it was through the Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world at the appointed time, the fullness of time and going to the cross of Calvary and laying down his life for his people. Hundreds of years before the cross Perhaps there's not a greater prophecy about the cross of Isaiah 53. Some of you have learned it off my heart. But do you think of what Isaiah was able to write 700 years before Jesus came. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and with his stripes we are healed. And you read all the verses of that chapter and you will see how clearly and vividly The prophet was able to speak about the cross. Why? Because he knew about it. God had taught him about it. He was able to write about it. This was the plan of God. And when Jesus came into this world, he came into this world knowing exactly what was before him. Knowing exactly what would happen at the end of his ministry. Knowing that one day he would go to Calvary and there he would be crucified. And during his ministry, he told his disciples the very same thing. The plan of the cross, ordained by Almighty God. for the saving of souls. And then there is the pain of the cross. Himmler said we may not know, we cannot tell what pains he had to bear. And that is so true. We can't fully understand all the suffering that the Lord Jesus Christ endured. We think of the physical sufferings and that's something that we can appreciate. To one degree or another, suffering or pain. We've endured pain, physical pain in our bodies. And I'm thinking here especially of the crucifixion of the Saviour. We're told the crucifixion was one of the worst, inhumane, cruel deaths that could ever be imagined. Worse than our puny minds could take in. Among the Romans, it was a death penalty inflicted only on slaves. or on free men who had committed the most heinous of crimes. The ordinary Roman citizen was exempt from this punishment by the law. It sometimes began, as it did with the Lord Jesus, with a cruel scourging. The back of the victim was ripped open and ploughed into furrows of flesh and blood. And then when his body was frightfully lacerated, he was compelled to bear the cross to the place of execution. Jesus did that also, at least part of the way. The place of execution was always outside the walls of the city. At Jerusalem, it was a place called Golgotha. The name being derived from the skull-shaped hill-crime that was there. The cross consisted of an upright poster stake. The condemned man was divested of his clothing and usually presented with a cup of wine, sometimes medicated. to dull the senses and alleviate the pain and this of course Jesus refused. Choosing rather to endure with a clear and a perfect consciousness all that was laid upon him. The hands of the victim were kneeled above his head. The feet were usually nailed separately but sometimes one long spike was driven through both of the feet. And then the cross was lifted up and dropped into the socket that had already been provided. And every nerve, every muscle, every tendon of the body was stretched to capacity. The pain was dreadful. The suffering was horrific. The worst punishment imaginable. And this is the punishment that was inflicted upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He endured the cross, despising the sheep. Why did he do it? I think Peter brings it out so well in what he wrote in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. That's the purpose. Why did he suffer for our sins upon the cross? to bring us to God. And I want you to get a hold of the suffering of Christ in this physical sense. I want you to see his pasted head made by the thorn wounds, as those thorns were driven into his brow. I want you to view his lacerated back through the scourging, behold his hands and his feet, ease upon his bleeding side, and then just think about the suffering, the agony, the pain, the wound. But you don't understand tonight that there is more than physical suffering. You think of the mental sufferings of Christ. Isn't there a pain that is deeper? A pain that is more severe than the pain of the body? The pain of the mind? Think of the hurt, the bitterness, the injury, those things that are endured because of hatred and persecution and verbal assault and abuse. How cutting that pain can be? We need to remember that the Lord Jesus had a real human body but he also had a real human soul and a human nature. He knew what it was to fail inwardly. and inward pain. He knew what it was to be injured and denied. Think of how he must have felt in his humanity when Judas Iscariot betrayed him. When Peter forsook him, denied him and then forsook him. And all the disciples forsook him and followed him far off. Think of how he must have felt in his mind and heart when he was belittled by Herod. heard its men who dressed him in a mock robe and bowed before him mocking him as a king? How did he feel when he was abused by the soldiers who spat into his face until their filthy saliva trickled down his cheeks? And how he must have felt when he was mocked by the Jews and ridiculed by the crowd and we read something about that this evening. And how did he feel when he was forsaken by the Father? Who can understand the depths of agony when he cried upon the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The mental sufferings of Christ, the physical, the mental, but they were also the eternal sufferings of Christ. These are sufferings that we cannot fully understand. What the Lord Jesus endured for my sin, when your sin, when our sin was literally laid upon him, And he is brought to bear our sin and be punished for our sin when he was as the prophet said smitten of God and afflicted. When the father punished his son because of our sin in the darkness of that hour. Who can comprehend the intensity of that agony? When the Lord Jesus bore our sins in his own body at the tree, I confess that I'm at a loss. I can't understand it. I can't take it in. I can't imagine the misery or grasp the depths of agony. The truth is that none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was that way that our Lord passed through, ere he found his sheep that were lost. But Jehovah lifted up his rod as we sighed being poured out against sin, your sin, my sin, the eternal pains of hell seized him. And all that was due the sinner is now brought to bear upon the Lord Jesus Christ as he was made sin, treated as a sinner and bore the punishment of the sinner there upon the cross of Calvary. May God help me tonight to take it in, the pain of the cross, what Jesus endured because he loved you. Then I want you to think about the people at the cross. Because gathered beneath and round about the cross that day there were a variety of people. And they all reacted differently. They had different responses. But you know they represent everyone in the ages past right until this present time. They represent you. I'm going to mention some of them this evening and I want to say to you that you are found here in one category or another. There was a little group of believers beneath the shadow of the cross. The Gospel writer John tells us about these people that loved the Lord and knew the Lord and were gathered there in John chapter 19 and verse 25. Let's read just those few verses where we are told. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, And he reminded me. And then the next two verses tell us about John. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, and we know that was John, 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. The dear mother of Christ was there. His mother's sister. Mary the wife of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene and John. And we know that Peter all day in the distance he watched the Lord Jesus die. For in his writings he said he was an eyewitness. Other than that we are not quite sure who else was there that were true believers that day. But you know these Christians they stood there and they could hear, they could hear the very dripping of the blood of Christ. as it fell from his body. They saw it trickle down his brow from the thorn wounds. They saw the blood run down his naked side and drip off his toes. They saw that blood seep from the lacerated back and ooze from the spikes through the hands and the feet. They saw the touch out in a sacrificial fountain when the spear was driven into the side of Christ. And how were they affected? How did they feel? How did they respond? Their hearts were filled with sadness, undoubtedly. And their souls were heavy. Their eyes were tear-stealed. Because they loved Him. And they cared for Him. And they felt for Him. As they watched their beloved friend, their Lord, their Master, their Saviour die upon the cross. I think Christians tonight can understand something If you could just put yourself there in their shoes and stand beneath the shadow of the cross and be near the cross and watch Jesus die, you'll understand how they must have been affected. Because your heart will be touched too. And then there were some beneath the cross and they were indifferent. In other words, it meant nothing to them. They didn't care. The soldiers, for example, it's certainly the start of the story. It was just a job to them. They didn't care. Well, yes, they heard his sighs and his groans. They saw the agony in his face when he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? They saw his lips feverish and parched when he begged for water and was given vinegar and gall instead. They were near Jesus when he died, but it meant little to them, as it still means little to people today. Because you can preach on the cross and you can set before your hearers all the sufferings of Christ as we have sought to do just a little this evening. And men and women and young people can sit in the gospel service and they can go in one ear and out through the other and it means little or nothing to them. Maybe this is where you are found. And then there was another group beneath the cross that day and their hearts were filled with hatred and resentment and bitterness. The Lord Jesus is dying in such agony that there are people who could have felt that way. The Pharisees, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, many of the Jews. How did they react? With scorn and ridicule and blasphemy. We read something about it tonight in this reading and in the other gospel narratives. We see how they acted or reacted. Wagging their heads, shaking their heads, mocking him. pouring scorn upon Him, telling Him to get off the cross if He is the Son of God. They too stood in full view of the sufferings of Christ. They gazed upon His battered, broken, bleeding body, and they heard His words of mercy and forgiveness. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. They saw the barbaric, cruel treatment, but it made no impression upon their hard hearts. And there are people like that today. You talk about the cross immediately welling up within them. There's a sense of resentment, a sense of hatred. And they hate the cross and they want nothing to do with it. Then beneath the cross, thank God, there were some that were moved and some that repented. Like the dying thief. There were two dying thieves by the way. in his sinful way and died that way and was lost forever. But there was the one that we normally call the dying thief who rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And this man cried out having understood something about his own need and who this was that was being crucified now beside him, Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And he cried out for the salvation of Christ. That nurse sinner saw and heard all that took place that day and the Saviour dying in agony and love affected him. The cross touched his life and so he cried out. And I'm asking you the question just as we come to the close of this meeting, where do you fit in this evening? What impression does the cross How do you react when you see such a sight? What does it mean to you? You've been brought face to face with Christ and Him crucified. And you've got feelings in your heart right now. Isn't that true? As you sit here this evening, and as you've listened, if you have been listening, you've got thoughts, you've got feelings. You're reacting inwardly. Do you meet Him tonight in a difference? In fact, there's no difference when you come into this meeting and took your seat. And there is now. This hasn't troubled you at all, it hasn't made an impression upon you, you're just indifferent like some, like the soldiers that were gathered there that day. I wonder even as you're sat tonight, has there been a sense of resentment in your heart? You don't want to hear about the cross and you despise the cross. And you're like many of those Jews, especially the leadership of the Jews that reacted in such a way that day. I wonder this evening as you've listened to Christ and Him crucified, you'll be brought to see the suffering of the dear Lamb of God as He took our place there upon the cross. Would your hearts be touched in some way and melted? And your feelings tonight are feelings of thankfulness and love, either because you're a child of God and you're rejoicing that Jesus did this for you, or because you're unconverted and you are thankful, you're beginning to see how much God loves you and is sending forth a son to die upon the cross for your sin that you might be saved. Oh my dear friend tonight, open your heart. If you're not a Christian, open your heart to Christ. Open your heart to the cross. Receive Him. Invite Him in. And praise God, He will come in and He'll make all things new. And He will forgive you for your sin. And you will have pardon with God tonight. and peace with God through the blood of the cross. But you need to come. The greatest story ever told, the greatest history ever written, the greatest love ever shown, the greatest agony ever experienced is right there. Let us bow together in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the hymn writer when she wrote those beautiful words, Jesus, keep me near the cross. We thank you for bringing the scenes of Calvary before us in this Bible reading. And for reminding us this evening what the Lord Jesus did for sinners. When we think of He who was the eternal God, came into this world manifested in human flesh for the purpose of being the saviour of men. What manner of love is this? We can't explain it. What manner of death is this? We can't fully explain it either. But Lord, you brought us to see the cross tonight again. And you've taught us these truths, many of them we know already. How the God had ordained it to be so. and how the Christ died for us and suffered for us that we might be saved. Lord, you have touched our hearts tonight, you have spoken. We thank you for that. We pray just now for the dear unsaved ones that are in our midst that know not Christ the Savior. Yes, there's no beauty that they should desire him, but Lord, you can create that desire. You can bring about the changes that are necessary to bring a person in this meeting to understand the nature of sin. And how because of sin they are separated from God. And how because of that sin they deserve to die everlastingly. And go to what Christ has held. But Lord you can show them the remedy. You can show them Christ. You can show them the one who went to this cross and took our place and died for us. Lord bring sinners to know the Saviour. And Lord do it tonight. For Jesus sake. Man.