Calvary: a place of death and love

If you have your Bible with you, turn to Luke chapter 23, please. Luke 23. Chapter 23 of Luke's gospel in verse number 33.

We'll read verse 32 first that says, And there were also two others, 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 caskets. Verse 39, and one of the malefactors which were hanged, railed on him saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him saying, Does not thou fear God, seeing 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 amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou 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 until the ninth hour. And the sun was dark and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

And having said thus, he gave up the goats. About, I'm going to say a 45 hour drive from here. There's a little community on the coast of South Labrador where some of my friends live.

And when I say some of my friends, I mean only some. Three little families in a little cove. Now, if you were to go out to that cove in the springtime, the time when what we call the Capeland run, when the little fish are coming in, you'll see that the whales are breaching the water and they're jumping out high.

Something really remarkable to see those beautiful big animals jumping out of the water. You go a little further down to the end of that road by the point and you see a shipwreck. From 1922, the HMS Raleigh, where nine or 11 people died, if I remember correctly.

You go in the house of my friend, the piano from the HMS Raleigh is there. It's kind of a neat little part of history. You go a little further and you don't have to go very far until you see the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada.

All in this little cove, this little community. The community is called Lance Amour. Lance Amour.

You can look it up and you'll see those little houses. Lance Amour, if you were to interpret that from the French, means the cove of love. So this little community with all of these historical artifacts and beautiful nature is called the Cove of Love.

It's really a nice name for a place, isn't it? If you were to be able to travel up and down in Iowa here and say, I live in Love Cove, that would be quite nice. There's something else there in Lance Amour that's very interesting for those of you who study history. The oldest known monument for burial in what they call the New World, so on this side of the Atlantic, is there in Lance Amour.

I can bring you to it, although there's not much to see. And then that raises another question because it is very likely that the name Lance Amour, the Cove of Love, is really a corruption over the years of another French phrase. Lance Amour, the Cove of Death.

The Cove of Death. And if I took you down there in the winter when the wind is howling and you can barely stand up outside, it's that windy. And I took you to that monument and there was nothing but bleakness.

You looked at the HMS Raleigh and you saw 11 people died there. You can see how it might be called the Cove of Death. But that doesn't ring quite as nicely when you're telling people where you live, right? I live in Death Cove.

But what's the difference? One place that can be called the place of the Cove of Love and the Cove of Death. I started to think about the gospel and I started to think about Calvary, a place that could be called the place of death. Absolutely.

We talk about Calvary in terms of the death and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, because that's what the Bible tells us. But the Lord Jesus and those two malefactors would not have been the first people crucified at that place called Calvary. It was known as a place of death.

And they may not have been the last people ever crucified at the place called Calvary because the Romans were known for putting many people to death. It was a place marked by death. But can I tell you tonight from the Bible, Calvary is a place of love.

A place of love where no greater love hath any man than this, than that a man lay down his life for his friends. Make no mistake when you're quoting the most famous verse in all of the world, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. We are not talking about Bethlehem in John 3, 16.

Neither are we talking about Nazareth and Galilee. We are talking about Calvary. And the ultimate place of love is the place of death.

What I want you to consider with me tonight is the experience of this one man at the cross. When our brother Jason Walls was up today, he mentioned in passing the idea of repentance. And as we look at this place of love and this place of death, we are going to see that this one man repented.

He repented. This one man had entered into that day a convicted criminal. A criminal whose sentence would no longer be suspended if it ever was suspended.

A criminal who was going to the place of death for his own sins, for his own crimes. A criminal who could very well say when he woke up that morning, this is going to be my last breakfast. This is going to be my last drink.

This is going to be my last day on this earth. Because for this man, there was no tomorrow. And I want to stop and focus on that just for a second for all of us in this meeting.

Part of the reason why young people sit through gospel meetings like this without being moved is because you have been lulled to sleep. Now I'm glad to see that everyone's eyes are open. Even the teenagers who probably didn't get much sleep last night.

But you have been lulled to sleep. You see, according to 1 John, the whole world lieth in wickedness. Now for us to properly interpret that for you, you have to understand that wickedness in this case is really a singular noun.

And it's the idea of the wicked one. Now follow me. The whole world lieth in the wicked one.

I told this before. I may not have told it in Manchester, but I told it up in Garnevillo. The idea of this is almost the thought of cradling a baby.

Now some of you live in homes where there are babies, right? And those of us who have had children and grandchildren understand that there is one thing that is very, very important when you have a baby in the house. And that is when the baby's sleeping, don't wake it up. Right? Oh, we love the babies.

Don't get me wrong. And we love to hold the baby and we love to touch the baby's chin and we love to feed the baby. But there comes a point in time when the baby's sleeping, we're like, if you wake that baby, this could be the last event in our relationship.

Don't wake the baby. Right? So, baby's sleeping in mom's arms and someone comes in, they slam the door. They slam the door.

What happens to the baby? Starts to wake, right? But then mom just pats it on the back, rocks it back and forth. Baby goes back to sleep. Then someone comes in, the dog barks.

What happens when the dog barks? Baby starts to wake. Right? But mom is good. She's skilled and she knows what to do.

She rocks a little harder, pats the baby on the back, maybe rubs his belly, puts the pacifier in, whatever it takes so that the baby doesn't wake up. You say, that's quite a funny little picture for what you're trying to tell us. No, it's exactly what's happening when the gospel is preached.

You know why? Why? Because when God is speaking, He's looking to wake you up. God is bringing you a message of conviction, a message of sin, a message of responsibility to God for your sin, a message of judgment for sin, a message of eternity, of how life is temporary, of how the Lord is coming. All of these things from the scriptures have been used in the past to wake you up.

But just as you begin to wake up, Satan rocks the baby. See, Satan knows just what it takes to put you back to sleep. And one of the main things that happens is that you just start to think, oh, well, I'll get saved tomorrow.

I'll get saved tomorrow. You know, Satan doesn't have to keep you from being saved for 20 years or 10 years. Or five years or two years or two months, two weeks, two days.

All Satan has to do is get you to say, I'll be saved tomorrow. And when the reality of eternity is preached and you begin to wake up, you put your earbuds in, watch a little show, go on your Instagram. Forget about it, right? Satan is rocking you right back to sleep.

It's happening every day. It's happening every gospel meeting. That's why you're here tonight and you're not saved.

You're rocked to sleep. But what do you think of when you think of tomorrow? You think, well, I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning. I'm going to have breakfast.

Perhaps you don't plan on coming back to the conference. That's up to you and your parents for most of you. But you have a lot of things that you could possibly do tomorrow.

Monday is going to be a big day, right? And then all of next week and then all of next year and all of next month, you have some kind of plans for tomorrow. But what about if there was no tomorrow? What about if this was to be the last day for you on earth? You've already had your last breakfast. You've already had your last lunch.

You've already had your last supper, if you will, or dinner. And you're now sitting in your last gospel meeting. What do you do? This man knew that there would be no tomorrow.

So it's important for us to understand from the other synoptic gospels that as they took these men out to the cross, the Lord Jesus, of course, unique in his purpose, unique in his character, unique in his death. And by that we mean there was no other man like him. There was no man who was absolutely perfect and sinless.

There was no man of whom it could be said that he knew no sin. There is no other man on the earth of whom it could be said he did no sin. And there was no man like this unique man of whom it could be said in John's epistle, in him is no sin.

He could say himself, the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. The Bible is absolutely clear that in his character, he is absolutely sinless. In his activity, he is absolutely blameless.

And yet he was going to the cross for a special, unique purpose. But these other two men were going for crimes that they had committed. It could very well be that they were tied to the crime of Barabbas, which was a crime of insurrection.

They were obviously not Romans, and it doesn't appear that they were slaves. It appears that they had committed a crime that was so serious that it demanded crucifixion. They're going for crimes of their own.

And yet these men who obviously had committed crimes and obviously had gotten caught, and now were obviously going out into eternity, both of them were insulting the Lord Jesus. It says, the malefactors are the thieves. They cast the same at his teeth.

That is, the accusations and the reproaches. See, they still hated God right up to the end. I want you to think with me just for a second, those of you who think that you're better than everybody else.

When it comes to eternity, and you die, you go to hell. Do you think you'll change your mind about Christ? When you are called, reunited with your body to stand before the judgment of the great white throne, your sins are gone into, the Bible is presented. I believe that's one of the books that is open.

And the book of life is open. And the Lord Jesus is just about to hurl you into the lake of fire. Do you think you will ever be saved? Do you think you will have changed your mind about Christ? What about when you are engulfed in flame, and you realize that I am now here for all eternity, in a lake that burns, but will never, ever be exhausted.

In a body that is fit to exist in this condition without end for all eternity. Do you think then you will change your mind about Christ? This may surprise you, but even the kids who sing Jesus loves me, this I know in Sunday school, if they die a Christ rejecter, let him that is filthy be filthy still. Let him that is unjust be unjust still.

And I believe tonight from the depths of hell, there are curses going up to heaven from those who have listened to this very gospel. Why? Because their nature will never be changed. And their attitude of rebellion toward Christ will never be changed.

Right to the end, right to the end, both of these men were crucified. But according to this passage, it says they crucified him. He was the main one.

They crucified him, and as they were crucifying him, he said something very important for us, because it gives us insight into his character. It gives us insight into his purpose. When he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

While tonight it would be impossible for you to receive forgiveness without receiving Christ, remember this, Christ wants to forgive you. At this place of death, there is a message of love, a message of compassion. Can't you feel it? He experienced the pain.

I hope we understand that. Just because he was the son of God doesn't mean that he didn't experience the pain of the nails. Just because he was God the son himself doesn't mean that his back wasn't hurting from what they had done with the whip.

It doesn't mean that the hair that was plucked off of his face didn't offend him, that the spittle running down his face wasn't a shame to him, that him hanging there on the cross, naked, having been stripped of all of his clothes, wasn't an exceptional shame to him. It was. And yet, having been nailed by his hands and his feet, I can't help but think about the tender, compassionate words, Oh Father, forgive them.

If he were here tonight, he would say it. It is my desire that God would forgive you. Both of these men heard that.

I hope you understand. There they were on crosses beside the Lord Jesus, and they heard what he said. And then, one man changed his mind.

Changed his mind. You look at it here, it says, And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God? So if both of them were hurling accusations at him at the beginning, and this one man now is not, it means that he must have changed his mind.

You will find here that the first thing he changed his mind on is his own condition, his own sin. He indicates that by saying, And we indeed justly. What is he saying there in our terms? He is saying that we are in the same position.

You look at him on the center cross, he has been nailed there. You look at us, one on each side, we have been nailed here. But we are here because of what we have done.

In other words, he is taking responsibility for his actions. He has now changed his mind about his sin. Now, I'm with our brother.

Asking questions like this to get you to think is absolutely essential. He has asked you, Do you take salvation seriously? And I'm going to ask you now, Does your sin bother you? Does it bother you to know that God knows all of your sin? What you've done, what you've thought, what you've watched, where you've been, does it bother you to know that you are going to meet God in your sins? Does it bother you to know that an eternity without Christ is an eternity of suffering? Does your sin bother you? Or are you being rocked back to sleep? This man's sin now bothered him. He's like, I'm here because of what I have done.

And then he says, We received the due reward of our deeds. So it's not just that I have done this, but I deserve this. You see, that's a natural extension of his change in attitude.

Not only have I sinned, but my sins deserve the condemnation that I am currently experiencing. You see, that's another question that sometimes goes unasked, but never wants to be thought of. And that's this, when you lift up your eyes in hell, will God still be right in allowing you to be there? Do you deserve that punishment? He knew my sin is the reason I'm here.

And this is a due reward of my deed. This is the just condemnation for me. But then he changes his mind about the man in the middle.

And that's what I want to end with. Having now come to the knowledge of his sin and understanding of it, changing his mind about it, knowing full well that the judgment, the condemnation he has come into is what his sin deserves. He now looks and he says, But this man, this man has done nothing amiss, has done nothing wrong.

I'm not sure how much they would have been exposed to about this man. I'm not sure if they would have seen him in Pilate's judgment hall. It's very improbable.

I'm not sure if they would have been a part of the crowd or at least behind the curtain when Pilate took him out and he said, Behold the man. I'm not sure if they would have heard the crowd shout for his crucifixion when Pilate came out and said, Behold your king. But I do know this, they would have witnessed the graciousness of Christ at the cross.

They would have witnessed a man unique in his suffering at the cross. No cursing from the lips of my savior. No words of threatening, no words of vengeance.

No, he committed himself to him that judges righteously. What is that saying? When he was reviled, he reviled not again. He left it in the hands of God, the most gracious of all of the sufferers who were ever suffering at Calvary.

There he was. They would have seen that. They would have noticed his mother at the foot of the cross.

And you know what might have even impressed them is that some of the things that were happening were actually predicted by the scriptures. Never underestimate the value of teaching kids the scriptures in Sunday school. It's very possible these men could have memorized some of the scriptures connected with the crucifixion of the coming Messiah.

And they would look down and they'd see him gambling, see them gambling for his clothes. And later on, they would watch as they give him vinegar to drink. It really would have been an amazing thing had they been familiar with the scriptures to see all of this unfolding.

Changed his mind about his sin. Changed his mind about the condemnation and the judgment that he deserved. Changed his mind about the man on the middle cross and a man who has changed his mind about Christ can do nothing else but cry for salvation.

Lord, remember me. Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. And he receives a message back.

Verily, verily, he says, I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise. What happened to the other man? He died. He went into eternity having never repented.

He never changed his mind and he will never change his mind. But thank God the moment that this man repented and cried out for mercy, he found a Savior who was immediately ready to answer. I'm not sure if you've ever thought about this, my Christian friends, and maybe some who are not saved, but was there any time in the life of the Lord Jesus that would have been more inconvenient than this time to answer any questions, to respond to any requests? And yet it was not only the attitude of the Savior, it was the purpose of the Savior, listening, listening for one repentant cry for mercy.

And he says, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. You could have that. You could have that.

According to this book, when they had come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. Calvary is a place of death. But Calvary is a place of love.

We'll pray.