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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/brandon-doll/calvary/
Turn with me, please, to the New Testament, to the book of Matthew. Matthew in chapter 27, please. Matthew chapter 27, we'll begin at verse number 19. The Lord Jesus is before Pilate. Verse 19, when he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man?
For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it.
Go now to the gospel of Luke, please, in chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, and we'll read together at verse number 32. And there were two other, 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 when they parted his raiment and cast lots.
And Lord, bless to us the reading of his precious word. I'd like to look at the closing part of this gospel meeting at this conference day at the place called Calvary. When they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him.
And we really cannot separate the place from the person, our Lord Jesus Christ. And so tonight, I would just like to get you to consider in a very simple way, what kind of a place was it, that place called the cross?
What kind of a man was it, the man who was on the cross? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Just very simply, let's consider this, that the cross was a place of expected conflict. Expected conflict. It was expected conflict because God had promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head.
And the very first promise there to Eve after she had sinned was that her seed was going to bruise the serpent's head. Where was that going to happen? It was going to happen at the place called Calvary and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
It is a place of expected conflict. Why then, when we preach the cross, is it any different tonight? When the cross is preached in every gospel meeting, it is a place of conflict. It is a place where the devil would seek to keep those that he has blinded still blinded.
It is a place where God himself would long to see sinners come to repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross has always been a place of expected conflict. The cross is a place of extreme contrast.
What do we find there at the cross? Oh, we find the contrast between good and evil. It's easy to see there that as they would cry out for his crucifixion, while they would nail him there and accuse him falsely and crucify him without a cause is absolutely a place of contrast.
We have the hatred of men on display at the cross. We have the love of God on display at the cross. There's a contrast. We have sin on display at the cross. And we have the holiness of God on display at the place called Calvary.
But what a contrast between God and man. At Calvary, we have heaven and we have hell. It is a place of entire contrast. It is the wisdom of men versus the wisdom of God. You have God and man at the cross.
It's a place of contrast. What side tonight of the cross do you fall on? Where do you find yourself tonight in light of the cross, in light of the blood that was shed, in light of the death that was accomplished there?
It is one side or it is the other. It is a place of contrast. It is a place of eternal consequence. The cross is a focal point of eternity and of time. From the determinate counsels and the foreknowledge of God, it was determined that the Lord Jesus would be delivered into the hands of wicked men and be slain as a place of eternal consequence.
You see what you do with the Lord Jesus Christ tonight. We read that in Matthew chapter 27 when Pilate said, what shall I do with this man? He was facing, although he didn't realize it, eternal consequence.
And tonight, dear friend, dear loved one in this meeting, you are facing eternal consequence tonight as the cross is being presented another time. As the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who suffered and bled and died upon that cross is being presented again as a sacrifice for sin.
You are in a place again of eternal consequence. Pilate wanted to stay neutral, but he couldn't. And neither can you. And tonight it is, it is a real reality that those who reject the Lord Jesus and his cross have said no another time to the grace and the love of God that is on display at the place called Calvary.
And for those of you that have come in, and maybe you had no thought of salvation all day long, maybe there's not been a thought of your sins for as far back as you can remember, this very night you are at a place of eternal consequence.
And if you died tonight in your sin without the Savior, you would be eternally and forever lost under the wrath and the judgment of God for your sin. It's a place of eternal consequence. And what God does with you in eternity, friend, is determined by what you have done with his Son in this lifetime.
What will you do with Jesus, which is called Christ? Eternal consequence. It is a place of personal discovery. That is the place. But I want to concentrate on the person, the person. What should I then do with Jesus, which is called Christ?
Pilate was in a very interesting situation. His wife had had a dream and told him, have nothing to do with this just person. The nation and the rulers wanted him to be crucified. They rejected him with every fiber of their being.
And now Pilate can see. He understands that the Lord Jesus is innocent. He understands that he is just. There's a difference between just and innocent. Innocent means that there was no guilt found in him.
Just means that everything he did was right. Pilate knew that the Lord Jesus was not only innocent, but that he was just. What do you know about him tonight? When you consider the man, when you consider his person, when you consider the Son of God, what do you know about him tonight?
Have you found any fault in him? Have you found any sin in him? Have you found any blemish in the Lamb of God? There is none. There is none. Absolutely holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners.
And you might say tonight, I know that. I know that. But yet you're still in your sins. And what will you do with this man, which is called Jesus? You will either reject him tonight or you will receive him tonight.
There are only two options. And Pilate there, he's trying to remain neutral, but he can't. He can't wash his hands and say, I want nothing to do with this just man. I want nothing to do with this innocent blood.
Because he's in a place where he's confronted with the Savior, the Son of God. If tonight the real issue was your sins. Because when we come to the cross, we want to look just for a few moments at a personal dilemma.
There's a dilemma in this audience tonight. There is a problem in this audience tonight. The problem is this, that we have sinned against God and our sin has separated us from God and we're in our sins.
And the Lord Jesus says, if we die in our sin, where I am, you cannot come. And so the dilemma, the issue tonight is our sin. And the issue is this, what are we going to do with Christ? I can say with confidence that if sin was indeed the great issue and the great problem for you tonight, that the Savior and his death and his cross would be delightful news.
Because they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. And if there would be but a sinful soul here tonight who understood their need this night and understood who the Lord Jesus Christ was, the Son of God, the just one that he came, the just died for the unjust that he might bring us to God, it would be music to the sinner's ear.
That there was one who could take my place, that there was one who could take my sin, who there was one who could take my sorrow. Salvation would be a marvelous thing tonight. But the problem is there's no need.
And there's no need because the real dilemma hasn't been discovered yet. And the real problem of sin is yet being ignored. It is a place of personal dilemma. What will you do with this man which is called Jesus?
It is a place of personal discovery. There was a malefactor that was nailed beside the Lord Jesus. And for him, the cross was a place of personal discovery. For Pilate, it was of a great dilemma. For the malefactor, it was a place of discovery.
Absolutely. That dear soul that day, the one who repented, the one who the fear of God had impressed upon him the reality of his guilt, that dear one that the Spirit of God had impressed upon him the reality that he was getting just what he deserved, the due reward of his deeds, was a place of personal discovery.
You see the difference. There was a dilemma that Pilate faced, but he failed in it. And the discovery there for the malefactor at that place called Calvary, as he was being crucified beside the Lord Jesus was this, he discovered that his sin was the cause of his punishments.
He discovered that his sin was the problem. And he was only getting what he deserved in this life. And he was going to get what he deserved in the next life. For he said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
He knew he wasn't gonna be in the kingdom. It was a place of discovery. And what he discovered was this, that his sin was the problem. And that he was going out to meet God in his sin, and he wasn't ready to meet God.
And friend, when you consider Calvary and the Lamb of God, which take away the sin of the world, have you ever discovered your sin before God? Has it been a place of discovery? The cross, a place of personal discovery.
What else did he discover there that day? He discovered that the one there that was nailed beside him was the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the Lord. He says, Lord, remember me. That's marvelous. He acknowledged him for who he was.
Maybe there's a critical thinker here tonight. And you're weighing up these two aspects of what you're going to do with Christ. And you're wondering about the place called Calvary. Listen, God is not expecting you to trust one who's nailed on a cross beside you to give you eternal life.
You think about that. This malefactor trusted the one who was suffering the same torment or the same punishment. He was nailed upon a cross. And this malefactor discovered this, that not only is my sin the problem, but this one who was nailed beside me is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the King. He is the Savior. Most of us in here, I don't think we would do that. Would you trust one dying the same death that you're dying to give you eternal life? One who seems to be not even in control of his own life?
God is not expecting you to do that tonight. But God is expecting you to believe the one who has risen again from the dead and who has ascended back to heaven and is at the right hand of God right now.
Friend, you are without excuse. God has left it with no doubt in our minds, with no excuse and no way of escape. No one can say, well, how would I know that his death is satisfying? We know because he was raised again from the dead.
No one can say it's not enough. And we know tonight that it's enough because God has raised him from the dead. No one can say that God is unfaithful. No one can say that God is unjust. God has raised him from the dead.
And listen, friend, tonight, you are living in the most privileged era that mankind has ever experienced. The promise of God, a place of expected conflict has taken place. The place of extreme contrast has happened.
Christ has died, the just for the unjust. What a contrast. It's happened. And you don't have to wonder tonight if Christ is enough. You don't have to wonder. God has declared that he is a son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.
I don't know what more you're looking for. God has made it absolutely a finished work. And yet there's something in you tonight that rejects the fact that Christ is the savior. Something in you tonight that yet whispers, I will not have this man to reign over me.
It's a place of personal discovery. You know what people discover there? They discover that that man, the Lord Jesus Christ, died for my sins upon that cross. And that is a discovery worth discovering.
Multitudes, every single person that's ever been saved has come to appreciate the man of Calvary, has come to understand the reality and the gravity of the situation that they were in, that their sins were taking them down to a lost eternity.
But there was one who came to be the substitute for the sinner. There was one who came to be the sacrifice for sin. There was one that came who could satisfy God and make propitiation and who could make full payment for sin.
And I marvel again tonight to think of how plain God has made it. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And this place called Calvary is a place of personal discovery.
It's a place, one more, of personal deliverance. What took place there at the cross was enough for the whole world to be saved. The value of the blood is such that every single one could be saved. The death of Christ is sufficient to satisfy God on behalf of the sin of the world.
But yet it is only a place of personal deliverance. Souls are saved one at a time. We heard today of our brother Stephen's conversion. His brother and himself were saved the same day that happens, but they were saved one at a time.
Are you saved tonight? Do you know the forgiveness of sins tonight? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal deliverer, personal savior? Or do you have your own way? The place called Calvary is God's place.
It is the place of God's choosing. It is the place of God's providing. It is the place of God's satisfaction. The place called Calvary is God's place. The person, the Lord Jesus Christ, is he yours? Well, he is God's son.
He is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. But my question just now as I close is this, is he your savior? Is he your savior? And not a supplement to salvation? Is he everything? He is everything.
He is the only way of salvation. His blood is the only blood that would ever do. His death is the only death that could satisfy God. And God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But in the death of his son, God has found supreme delight.
And God has found ultimate satisfaction. And because he is satisfied, the offer of salvation extends out again another time. But remember, it's personal. And what will you do tonight with the Lord Jesus Christ?
What a dilemma. It shouldn't be a dilemma. It should be a joy to understand that Christ died for my sin. What will you do with him? What will you do with Jesus? The call comes low and sweet. When tenderly he bids you, your burden lay at his feet.
We'll pray. Father, as we come to a close of this day, we give thanks for the eternal word of God. We give thanks for the eternal work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks for thy great desire for men to be saved this night.
And we pray that there would indeed be true repentance and true conversions to God tonight for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, the simplicity of salvation causes us to be concerned that dear ones in the meeting tonight are complicating the issue.
And maybe they're complicating the issue of their sin and have not yet acknowledged and understood they are guilty before God. And maybe in their mind, the work of salvation is complicated. But really, our Father, it is the message of a finished work.
And so we look to thee to bless thy word for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus. We look to thee to save souls expectantly this night in the name of the one who is above all others, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.