Our opening hymn of praise, 109. Hark the voice of love and mercy. Sounds aloud from Calvary. See it rains the rocks asunder, shakes the earth and veils the sky. 109. Page 220. Let's rise to sing this to God's glory. Let's rise to sing. Hark, the voice of love and mercy, signs of life from Calvary. See, it brings the rocks asunder, shakes the earth and fills the sky. It is finished. It is finished. Near the dying Savior cry. In His village for assurance Stood a wondrous work of more, Family blessings with like measure, blow to us from Christ the Lord. It is finished, it is finished, since the dying words record. Release all the tides and shadows of this ceremonial hour. Finished all that God hath promised, Death and Hell no more shall owe. It is finished! It is finished! Saints from hence your comfort draw. Saints and angels shine his praises, His red finished work proclaim. All on earth, and all in heaven, join to bless in Angel's name. Alleluia! Alleluia! Endless glory to the Lamb! Tremendous singing. The good wife must have gave you a good slice of County Antrim beef to get you singing like that. Great singing and we like good singing, hearty singing. It was Wesley who said that we should sing lustily and that's true whenever we know Jesus Christ our Saviour. We're going to unite in prayer seeking God's face. We're glad that you're here. Nice to see visitors in from different congregations, and we're delighted to have you here as our guests. And if you are a visitor, let me welcome you in the Savior's great name. But we need the Lord, and so we're going to seek the Lord for that purpose, that he would come and be with us in this preaching house tonight. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank thee for this great theme. that we have been singing about tonight the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank the Heavenly Father that all the sacrifices of the Old Testament culminated in the death of thy dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise thee that he finished the work and was able to cry, it is finished. We thank thee that redemption's plan was fully completed in the life and in the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We praise thee for the gospel, good news in a world that's full of bad news. And we thank Thee, Father, that Christ can save sinners, sinners to the uttermost. We bless Thee, Father, that the Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. And we praise Thee that this is a preaching house A house where Christ will be set forth, where Christ will be seen as the only Saviour for sinners, the only remedy for sin, the only escape from eternal damnation. Oh, that sinners would look to Christ tonight and live. We're praying for a sense of thy presence to be among us. We're praying for tokens for good. We're praying, Father, for answers to prayer. We're praying, Father, that you'll come and get thyself a name in this community. Come and do a saving work that only God can get credit for. Do something radical within the soul, changing men and women, gifting them faith and repentance. and bringing them to new life in Jesus Christ. Oh God, do a great, do a glorious, do a saving, do an eternal work in this meeting house tonight. We rejoice for all that has occurred already today. Sabbath school where children have been taught the things of Christ. We thank thee for Bible class, young people instructed in the things of the Savior. We thank thee for the morning meeting, the gospel open air this afternoon. And now as we come at the close of the day, as the shadows have lengthened, as the sun has set, what a reminder to us all that someday the sun will set for the final time in our lives. and the place that knew us will know us no more. Oh, let sinners be in time, be in time. While the voice of Jesus calls them, let them be in time. Give an urgency, give an earnestness, fill this preacher with love and passion and power, and grant, O God, thy hand to be upon us. We rejoice for the families out with us tonight, children that are here. What a great encouragement that is. Think of that great saying that was told us in recent days, the church that isn't crying is dying. And so we're praying, Father, that you'll come and add to our number. Add them, Father, by the saving grace of God, daily as such as should be saved. And for those that are in places, Lord, where the gospel isn't preached, O God, bring them out. Separate them unto Christ. Give them courage, dear God. Help them to take their stand for the Savior. Let them be on the Lord's side. And for those outside this denomination that are faithful to Christ, we're not fathers so sectarian to believe that Father the Free Church is the last bastion of gospel truth. We're thinking of others, others that are faithful to Christ. O God, move in their meetings tonight. And everywhere where the gospel is preached, let the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his sufferings. So shut us into God, help us to sing thy praise, and glorify the Christ of God. We pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. 215 this time. Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for me he died on Calvary. One of my favorite hymns, so please don't disappoint. In the singing of it, let's everyone do our best and we'll rise when we get some notes from our sister, Mrs. Strong. 215 please. Let's try some good time, let's. Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me, he died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. I'm not worth a cusp, my sin I learned, Then I trembled at the low I slurred. Still my guilty soul imploring her to Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was qualified to be. There my burdened soul for liberty at Calvary. Now I've given to Jesus everything. Now I'm gladly old and as my King. Now my ransomed soul can only sing of Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Heart and hair was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. Oh, the love that through salvation's plan, Oh, the grace that brought it down to man, All the mighty conflict of this time at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Heart and hair was multiplied to me. There I put my soul for liberty at Calvary. Good singing. We're going to make the necessary announcements at this time. I trust that you'll be patient with us. I trust that the Lord will help us even to get through these tonight. Let me again welcome you in the Savior's great and glorious name. Let me welcome you on behalf of the session, the committee, congregation here of Portland Lone Free Presbyterian Church. We're so glad To have you here, we have already intimated there's friends in from various congregations, and what an encouragement that is to us. We appreciate your presence with us even tonight. And we know that others are praying for us. We've had plenty of text messages today to say we're praying for you on your first Sunday. an encouragement that is to us. Let me make, as I say, the announcements tomorrow evening. We plan to visit around the homes in the town to distribute gospel calendars and invitations for the Christmas services and for just the weekly services. So if you can be here at seven o'clock, let's be here just a little bit beforehand so we can get around the town. We know that parents start to put their children to bed from half eight onwards, so we don't want to be knocking doors later on into the night as much, so let me encourage you to be here. Some have intimated that they're going to do specific areas, and if you want to do that, maybe you can't make it out tomorrow night. Some have intimated that. Please see our brother, Mr. Brown, and he'll take that area off the list, so we're not covering that list. And that's a good opportunity for you to get known in your own housing development, or in your own community, to let people know that you're safe, and that you would love to see them out at the gospel meeting. You trust that you'll take that on your heart. See your brother, Mr. Brown, if you can do a certain area, even through the day, we would deeply appreciate that. And as we said this morning, to give you a little incentive as if you needed it after that time, we're going to have those who are helping. round to the manse for something to eat, and I trust that we'll have so many that Andrea will have to go down to the town and get another loaf, and we'll have to make a few more sandwiches. But I trust that you'll make the effort tomorrow evening to help us out in this respect. Wednesday evening is the prayer meeting at 8pm. As we said, we need your prayers. Let me encourage you to come to the place of prayer. We're deeply encouraged, and I mean that. We're very encouraged by the numbers that were with us this morning and the numbers that were with us this evening in the times of prayer before the service. And if you can make it even for 10 minutes during those times, let me encourage you to come and support us in this vital way. And as we said, after the time of prayer, we just want to have a word, a short word with the committee members, just a short meeting, a couple of items that need to be sorted out because of the events that happened on Friday evening, things that just have to be tied up On Friday evening, the Youth Fellowship are meeting here at the church, 6.45, going to the fold for the carol service at 7 o'clock. That's followed then by supper and a quiz in the hall. And other members of the congregation are welcome to join and help us out in this, reaching out. Christmas is often a time for receiving, but let's give Let's give to our community and let's present Christ the meaning of the season. Let's present him. Youth Fellowship will be that on Friday night, 6.45 here and then going down to the fold. And that will conclude at 10 p.m. If you're picking up your young people, come for them at about 10 p.m. Saturday, as we intimate it, from two to four, the manse will be open, 10 Sperrin Heights, BT44, 8BQ. That's not bad for just being a week in Port Malone, we've got it. The telephone number, yes, I must mention that. The telephone number is just exactly the same as it is, or it was with Reverend Linden. The number is exactly the same, so I trust that you have that all. If you don't have it, well then, you can contact me at the door. I have the telephone number here. I just haven't got that off for a bottom yet, but the Lord will help us in future days, so if you need that. But as we say, it's Saturday. Between two and four, if you can make it. Now, we're not saying that you have to come. Don't be saying, we need to come, or he'll be chasing us up. You don't have to come. But if you can, and you want to come around and see the manse, well, you're more than happy, and we'll have a cup of tea. That's before I make a mess of it. It's in good order at the minute. And so we want to try and get in people as quickly as possible before I'm let loose in the place. And it becomes, well, you know what men are like. You women know what we're like. Next Lord's Day, Christmas Sunday, Sabbath school will be at 10.30, morning meeting, prayer meeting will commence at 11.30 sharp, family service and worship at 12 noon. That'll be followed by a communion service. We have moved it because of different issues, but we're gonna have the communion service. We'll not only remember his death or his birth, but we'll remember his death next Lord's Day. And then the evening time, 6.30, the time of prayer, and then it's the Christmas family service. And there'll be people taking part, Mrs. Sharon Brown, Mr. Paul Allen, the children from the Sunday school. Mr. Ferguson, the interim moderator, in the past he'll be here to lead the meeting, and then I'll be here to preach God's word, and then supper will be provided after the meeting. Let me thank all those who helped on Thursday night for the children's meeting, the end of the term, party or meeting, whatever, what it was, and want to thank you in the Savior's name for those who provided food and helped in any way. We appreciate it in the Savior's name. precious name. The freewill offerings are in the hallway for next year. Take your number. And if you don't have envelopes and you want a set of envelopes, speak to our treasurer, Mr. Marshall, and he'll be happy enough to take your money. There'll be no problem in that. We know on Sunday evening we don't have an offering as such. It's just a retirement offering, and you can put your offering in at the doorway. There's a box there, and we would appreciate even support in that way. Just a word of thanks, as we said this morning, to the ladies and men who came and cleaned the manse a few Saturdays ago. Andrea and I deeply appreciate that. And we know, as we said again this morning, that many were involved. Many were involved in getting us moved from County Down up to County Antrim. And we appreciate that. But as we said this morning, we want to place on record our thanks to Mr. Alistair Brown for his help. It was him that I contacted all the time. He had been given that job by the session the go-between between the congregation and ourselves and our brother did all to the glory of God and with a high degree of competence and we thank him in the Savior's precious and lovely name. There's a list in the hallway concerning the DVDs of the service on Friday night if you weren't there. You weren't able to attend, you can put your name on that list and a DVD will be given to you whenever we get them run off. I think that's all by way of announcements. If not, someone will come and speak to me and be able to point me in the direction of where we've missed. The hymn number 100. O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head, or lo it was laid on thee? Thou stood'st in the sinner's stead, didst bear all ill for me. We'll sing the odd verses of this hymn, verses 1, 3, and 5, and we'll rise to sing these three verses, 1, 3, and 5 of hymn 100. O Christ, what burdens bind thy head? Our load was laid on we. Thy students in the sinner's stead, is there all ill for me? A victim where thy blood was shed, Thine there's no loathe for me. A victim, let thy blood was shed, Thine there's no loathe for me. Jehovah lifted up his rock, O Christ, it fell on thee. I was so stricken of thy love, there's not one stroke for me. Thy tears, thy blood, beneath it flow, thy bruising healeth me. Thy tears, my blood, beneath them flow, Thy bruising healeth me. For me, Lord Jesus, Thou hast died, and I have died in Thee. Earth, rings, my hands are all on Thine, and Thine art this in me. When purified, made white, and tried, Thy glory then for me. When purified, made white, and tried, Thy glory then for me. As we intimate it this morning, we want to preach on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And so for that, let me invite you to take God's Word in your hand and turn to Luke's Gospel, chapter 23. Luke's Gospel, in the chapter 23. We'll commence our reading at the 27th verse of the chapter. Luke chapter 23. commencing at the 27th verse. The record here is of Jesus Christ and it says, And there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning on to 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 bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they 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 the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou 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. We'll end our reading there at the end of the verse 38. Let's briefly pray. Let's engage in prayer before we bring God's Word. Our Father, we stand on holy ground, the ground of redemption, the ground of salvation. history hinges hinges on this very link pin that of the cross and we thank thee for this purpose was the Son of God manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil and we bless see that there at Calvary Christ triumphed over every foe and secured for us redemption, salvation, remission from sins, pardon, forgiveness, and peace. For those who are gathered with us tonight outside of the Savior, O bring them to Christ. Let them view him and all that he has done for them. And tonight we pray that they'll enter in to the experience of sins forgiven and peace with God. Come now and fill this preacher with the Holy Ghost and with power. For human oratory is not sufficient, neither homiletic perfection. We just need the Lord. Stand at her elbow and fill us now with thy spirit. We pray this in Jesus, precious. and worthy name. Amen and amen. Majesty and Misery is the title of a book containing a series of sermons preached by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon concerning the events surrounding the death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. The title of that book aptly describes the events that unfolded on Calvary's mournful mountain 2,000 years ago. having undergone a mock trial by the Jewish ruling council of Sanhedrin, and condemned to death on a cross by the Roman governor of Jerusalem Pontius Pilate, the Savior now heads the procession of shame and sorrow as it makes its way through the cobbled streets of the national capital. I want you to stand with me by faith and view that mournful sight as heaven's king steadily makes his way to the place of execution. No ornate robes clad this king's body. Just the simple garb of a Galilean peasant covers his bruised and beaten frame, now crimson with his own blood. No throne of gold to carry him through the streets. Rather, he carries his own throne of grief, the cross. No crown set with diamonds or rubies is resting on his head. just a hurriedly plaited crown of thorns, bejeweled with the ruby drops of his own blood. Multitudes, multitudes, throng the streets to see this spectacle of sorrow. Through the narrowed streets the procession of shame goes, unrelenting in its pace until it reaches the prescribed locality outside the city's walls. The greatest miscarriage of justice ever committed by mankind is about to unfold and about to be sealed in the death and the blood-shedding of God's well-beloved Son. As we stand near the cross, near that sacred spot this evening, as we stand and view the Sovereign and all of His sufferings, I want us to consider in this meeting Calvary. place of unparalleled suffering. Calvary, the place of unparalleled suffering. Four words found in the middle of Luke 23 verse 33 for my text for this evening. The words to which I refer to are these, There they crucified him. There they crucified him. From these words I want you to notice, first of all, the arena of this suffering. The arena of the suffering. Our text says, there they crucified him. But where does that word there refer us to? Well, its locality is revealed in the details that precede this four-worded statement that we have taken as our text. Notice what it says there in that very verse. It says in verse 33, and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. Calvary, approximately 200 meters from the Damascus gate. At the northern edge of the city of Jerusalem there lies a skull-shaped hill that rises some 40 to 50 feet above the surrounding terrain. Its name, Calvary. It would be there, in that arena, that this event of unparalleled suffering was about to unfold. It was for this very purpose of Christ's suffering for our sins that this hill, this insignificant hill in Israel, had been formed. Think about that. Think about that. Does it not amaze you to think that whenever Christ spoke this world into being, that he spoke into existence the very place where one day he would suffer and one day he would die in the place of sinful mankind? See on creation's third morning as vast continents arise and throw off like a mantle the sea. See as the Son of God speaks into being against the cold skies, the vast ramparts of the rocky mountains, of the Appalachian mountains, of the Alps, aye, and of the Himalayas. See Him as He forms the mountains of Israel, Mount Carmel, Mount Geboa, Mount Hermon. Now he turns his attention to the rolling hills of Israel, those hills upon which shepherds would feed their flocks and farmers would tend their cattle. But there was one hill, just one hill that the Son of God paid particular attention to as he fashioned it because it was on that hill, the hill of Calvary, where the sin question would be settled forever. It's a place where heaven's love and heaven's justice would meet. Now if truth be told, it wasn't much of a place as places go, but it was ordained of God to be the arena where Christ would triumph over every foe and where salvation's plan would be fully accomplished from the moment that Calvary was created. That hallowed spot outside the city of Jerusalem was fixed in the very mind of the Son of God. It was never out of his sight, it ever occupied his thoughts, though he would be born in Bethlehem, Calvary. was where he was destined for. Though he would live in childhood days in the city of Nazareth, Calvary would be his ultimate destination. Though he would minister in Galilee and the surrounding district, it was Calvary where salvation's work would be accomplished. And so for 33 years, the Savior slowly and incrementally made his way towards that arena of Calvary where he would engage in the fiercest conflict that this world has ever been a witness to. I can see the Savior as a 12-year-old boy. He comes down from Nazareth into the city of Jerusalem And I don't believe it's beyond the realm of possibility that as the Son of God came into that city as a 12-year-old boy, He passed the very locality where He, the Lamb of God, would become the Lamb. for sinners slain. I can see him at the age of 30 as he stands in the pinnacle of the temple there in that great city. And I can see him as he glances northward towards that small crag outside the city walls where that sin, the sin of mankind would be dealt with, where he would die for sins, sins not his own, but where he would die for sins, our sins. Ah, sir, your sins. He would die there for you. I can see him as a 33-year-old man, coming down off the slopes of the Mount of Olives, sitting erected, as it were, on top of an ass's colt. And I can see him as he glances towards Calvary, and there he realizes in a few days' time, there he would suffer for the sins of his people. It would be true. It would be true to say that Calvary cast its shadow over the Savior. throughout his entire earthly life, Calvary's arena would soon witness the enactment for which it had been created. I wonder, have you ever been to Calvary? I'm not asking you, have you ever been to Israel? I'm not asking you, have you ever found yourself outside the city walls, gazing with the physical eye upon that place, but I'm asking you by faith, Have you ever been to the cross? Have you ever been to Calvary? Have you ever been to that place? Have you ever visited where the Son of God would suffer and die for sin? And if you would only but go there and gaze upon the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that it would strike you how much God must hate your sin if it took the death of His own dear Son to cancel your sin debt. My entreaty then to you tonight in the gospel is this. If you're not a Christian, get to the cross. Get to Calvary, sir. Get to the blood. Get to the Christ of God. Get to that fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Get to the Savior tonight. Waste time no more. Put it off no longer. You've spent enough years in sin, you've rejected Jesus Christ enough, sir tonight, madam tonight, get to the cross, get to the Savior and find sins forgiven and peace through believing. There is a second thing that I want you to notice concerning Calvary, this place of unparalleled suffering. I want you to notice the instigators of the sufferings. Verse 33, it states, there they crucified him. Now Luke, the gospel writer here, employs this word, they, when speaking about those who instigated, originated the sufferings of Jesus Christ at Calvary. And we must ask ourselves the question, to whom is Luke referring to here? Who are the they? They crucified him, who are they? I believe that that could be answered in a threefold manner. First of all, answering that question from a manward perspective, we could say that it was the Romans that brought about the sufferings of Calvary. The gospel writers are very clear on that. It was the Romans inflicted the greatest physical sufferings upon the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such was their brutality that Isaiah would prophesy years beforehand that Christ's visage was marred more than any man and is far more than the sons of men. In other words, Christ was so brutally mistreated by the Romans that he was unrecognizable a man. In actual fact the only thing that identified Jesus Christ on the cross was the title written above his head. This is the King of the Jews. That was the thing that made men and women realize that this was Jesus Christ. He was unrecognizable as a man. The Roman soldiers, they were the ones who interwove thorns into a crude crown. and placed it upon the Saviour's keenly brown. It was Roman soldiers who blindfolded him and then cleared their rough throats to spray its contents upon his divine face. It was Roman soldiers who lifted their hands and formed them into a fist and repeatedly buffeted the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then with those same hands, they would take and pull from his very face the very hairs from off his face. It was Roman soldiers who took a reed and smote his head, causing that thorny crown to penetrate deeper into his royal and regal head. It was Roman soldiers who took hammer and nails and nailed his hands and his feet to a cross. It was Roman soldiers that raised high that cross, suspending the Son of God between heaven and earth, as if to say, abandon of both and unworthy of either. it was a Roman soldier that took his spear and pierced the blessed side of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the Romans that were the instigators of Christ's suffering at the cross. Looking at it from a manward perspective, but looking at that question from a Godward perspective, though mysterious to our minds, we could say that God the Father had a hand in the sufferings of his only begotten Son. See folks, there were deeper sufferings in Christ that Christ endured upon a cross, deeper than kneeled hands and kneeled feet, deeper sufferings than a crown of thorns put into his brow, deeper sufferings than a spear, deeper sufferings than the spittle upon his face, deeper than all of this, there were the sufferings of his soul, What did he say in the Garden of Gethsemane? He says, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. What were these sufferings? These were the sufferings of heart, and of soul, and of mind. These were the deep waters that we sing about, but none of the ransomed ever knew. How deep were the water's cross, how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, ere he found his sheep that was lost. That's whenever the darkness came down upon the cross, when the father inflicted upon his son, all my sin debt, all my punishment, I, sir, and all yours. all yours, if only you had not come to Jesus Christ. What does it say in that great chapter? In Isaiah 53 verse 10 it says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to grief. He has put him to grief, the father putting the son to grief. What a mystery, what a wonder, what a depth that no man could ever plummet. And yet we find God finding pleasure in the bruising of his son. All this he did for you, and you're still not saved. You're still not saved. What more has he to do? What more has he to do? done all that he can you read in Lamentations 1 in the verse 12 is it nothing to you all you that pass by is it nothing here we are by faith trying to paint the picture of of Calvary trusting that the Spirit of God is bringing it into your soul but is it nothing to you Tonight are you going to walk past the cross? Are you going to go out the door again as you have for years, sitting under the faithful ministry of the last pastor of the congregation, sitting under those that have come for two and a half years filling the pulpit ministry? Are you going to walk out this night, our first night here as a gospel preacher? Are you going to keep walking out? Is it nothing to you, sir? Nothing to you, madam? nothing to you all ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done on to me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger the Lord hath afflicted me this is a prophecy of Christ the Lord afflicts his son here we view the Son of God suffering at the hands of God the Father as he dies as our substitute taking Our place, receiving from the Father what was my due. The hymn writer penned it well when he said, bearing shame and scoffing rude. In my place, condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior. However, if we were to answer the question, we were answered to the question, who instigated the sufferings of Calvary from a personal perspective? I believe that I am correct in saying that I caused the sufferings of Calvary. I caused the sufferings of Calvary. My sins crucified the Prince of Life and the Prince of Glory. Let me give you two verses of Scripture that present our guilt in regard to this. Isaiah 53 again, verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. The other verse in the New Testament, 1 Peter 2, verse 24, who his own self bear our sins. in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live on to righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed." Sinner, that sin that you so dearly hold on to, that habit That habit that you refuse to break and refuse to relinquish. That sinful lifestyle that you love to indulge in. These are the things that crucified the Prince of Life. My sin. Your sin nailed him to the tree. John Newton experienced that within his soul. What did he say? My conscience felt and owed my guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins, his blood had shed and helped to nail him there. My sins crucify the prince of life. I and your sins And so you're guilty, you're guilty of his death. And you'll stand before him, and oh, that your guilt will be removed. Oh, that it would be removed in time, lest he come, take thee away with his stroke. Concerning this place of unparalleled suffering, I want you to see thirdly, the method of the suffering. It says, there they crucified him. We must not think that the sufferings of Jesus Christ started, commenced and ended at the cross. That would be unbiblical and it would not be true. Neither did the Saviour's sufferings commence in the Garden of Gethsemane. Rather, the Savior's sufferings commenced the very moment that He entered into this world. That's when they started. Think of it, the Holy Son of God living and walking among sinful men. Think of it, the pure Son of God as He watches men in their crooked dealings. They're lying, they're thieving, they're blaspheming. Think of it, as he lives among them, and sees them committing adultery, and their sin, and their wickedness. Do you not think it would have grieved the heart of the very God of glory? The eternal Son of God, as he views it all? Christ's sufferings were throughout his entire lifetime. Yes, he hungered, he thirsted, there were physical sufferings, there were mental sufferings, there were spiritual sufferings. But all of the sufferings are about to climax, reach the pinnacle in the sufferings that Christ would endure on Calvary's cross. He would fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the method of his death, that of crucifixion. One such prophecy is found in the book of Psalms. Psalm chapter 22. Now this Psalm gives us a very unique view of the sufferings of Christ and the events that unfolded at the cross of Calvary. I say that because every record of Scripture that we find recorded concerning the cross, concerning Calvary, all of those other records, they view the events from beneath the cross. In Acts or in Psalm 22, We view the events at the cross from off the cross, from off the cross. This is Christ's view of what occurs around the cross. Notice what he says in the verse number 12. Many bulls have come past me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me roundabout. Down to verse 16, for dogs, speaking of Gentiles, because that's who the Gentiles were, they were called dogs. You can read that concerning the Seraphimician woman. For dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked, these are the religious people, they have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. Here's a prophecy concerning the mode of crucifixion. The mode of death, that of crucifixion. And that is reemphasized for us in Isaiah 53, when it tells us there in the verse five, but he was wounded, he was pierced. That's what the Hebrew word is. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Crucifixion was one of the most inhumane methods of death that could be inflicted upon any human being. It was reserved for the vilest dregs of society. Large nails were forced through the Son of God's hands and feet, fixing him to the cross. The violence of the hammer and the nails tore asunder the nerves and delicate tendons and small bones of these sensitive body parts. The cross was then hoisted into the air. to be dropped into its socket callously, the whole weight of the body now being borne up by the kneeled hands and by the kneeled feet. As hours progressed, the sun now reaching its zenith in the sky, reaching the highest point at noon, great waves of cramp swept over the body of the Savior, his muscles now knotting in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. whilst his thirst deepened and the pain intensified, stripped naked. Think of that. Stripped naked. The Son of God hangs now in open shame upon the central cross, flanked by two common thieves. Heaven's king among earth's bandits. Heaven's best among earth's worst. And why? Why? Why did he endure the sufferings of the cross? Why did he go through that of crucifixion? Was it for his own sins? No, for he had none of his own, but for your sins and for my sins. For what purpose? Why did he go through it? He did it so that I would not have to suffer eternally. He did it so that you might be forgiven, might be pardoned, might be cleansed, might be washed, might be made a child of God. Yes, He did it all for you and all for me. As a sinner's substitute, He would take the sinner's place. satisfied all the demands of the law, that penalty, that of death, Christ would die on our behalf so that all that would come to him in faith, turning from their sin, would be gifted eternal life. Have you received the gift of eternal life? Oh may you come to Christ and may you find peace in believing and There is one final thing I want you to notice from our text this evening, and that is the victim of the suffering. Our text says, there they crucified Him. Him. The victim of this unparalleled suffering is spoken here as Him. And Him refers us to the Lord Jesus Christ. they crucified him. They crucified him, the eternal Son of God. He who was the song of the seraphim, he who was the anthem of the angels, he who was the chorus of the cherubim, they took and they kneeled to a tree. They crucified him. They crucified Him, the Creator, the One who spoke the worlds into being, upholding all things by the word of His power. His creatures took Him, and they nailed Him, and impaled Him to a tree. They crucified Him. They crucified Him, the Prince of life. the only source of eternal life, they crucified Him. They crucified Him, the Prince of glory, the Prince of peace. He who alone can bring peace to the troubled soul because of sin, they took and they put to a tree. They crucified Him. It's incredible to think that the creature took its creator and tried him, and sentenced him, and then put him on a Roman cross. No wonder angels looked on in horror as they viewed what the creature did to their creator. They crucified him. And yet the victim was to become the victor. The cross was no defeat, it was victory. And what seemed to be a defeat was actually victory in the making. As someone put it, the terrible tragedy was transformed into a tremendous triumph. That's the cross. In the year 1815, all England waited anxiously to hear the result of the Battle of Waterloo. It was Wellington who had went to defeat Napoleon. And as they waited to hear the results of the battle, it would come via lights being shone across the streets of Dover. Wireless communication obviously hadn't been invented at that stage. And so the message would be sent across the streets of Dover by that of lights, flashes of lights, each letter of the alphabet having its own unique flashing pattern. As they waited, the message came across the Straits of Dover. Wellington defeated, and the fog came down. All England went into mourning. The battle was lost. But the fog would lift again, and the message came through again. And this time the message read, Wellington defeated Napoleon. What seemed to be a crushing defeat for all England, actually was a resounding victory at the tomb. It seemed to be that the message written across the bleak scene, Christ defeated. But three days later, Christ had arisen from the dead. And now the message read, Christ defeated sin. Christ defeated hell. Christ defeated damnation. Christ defeated the devil. Christ defeated all of our enemies. And it was actually a victory. One saved person in this meeting, he who was the victim is now the victor. And soon he will return in power and in great glory. The word of God tells us that he's coming to take vengeance on all them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's you. That's you. You who have set for years, this is you. You have obeyed not the gospel to repent from your sin and to turn and to trust in Jesus Christ. This is you. that the Spirit of God would put you there, He's coming to take vengeance on you. Oh flee to the winds then of Calvary, flee to the Christ of God, flee to the blood that cleanses from all sin. How are you gonna fare on that day? How are you going to fare on that day when Christ returns, having rejected and slighted God's offer of salvation, and all that he has procured and purchased for you there on his death of Calvary? How are you going to fare? I tell you, you're going to fare badly. You must have a saving interest in Jesus Christ. You need to know that. Above all things in this world, you need to know, I know Jesus Christ personally as my Savior. If ever you are to escape hell, and if ever you are to be in God's heaven, you have to come by the way of the cross. You'll have to come by the way of the cross. In the bygone age when the London Underground issued tickets bearing the names of the various locations that it served, there was one route on that network that had quite an unintentional significance. The ticket bore these words, King's Cross to Mansion House. King's Cross to Mansion House. I hardly need to apply the illustration. If you want to get to the Father's house, the house of many mansions, if you want to get to Mansion House, you'll have to go via King's Cross. get to the cross, because the way of the cross leads home. Calvary's unparalleled sufferings find themselves described in concentrated form in just four words that we find in Luke 23, in the verse 33. There, they crucified Him. and to think that he would do that all for the likes of you and me. What a marvel. I trust then that our time around the cross tonight will bring you savingly to Jesus Christ, because Charles Spurgeon, he said this, the last blockade on the road to hell is the cross. And if you miss the cross, you'll go to hell. You'll be in hell. Oh, tonight may you trust Him. And let this moment, this meeting, be the day of your salvation. And enter into the experience of being redeemed and knowing sin's forgiven. Oh, that you would come to Him Come to the cross. Come to this fountain so rich and sweet. Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's feet. Plunge into day. Be made complete. Glory to his name. May you come to Christ, even tonight. Let's pray.