Turn your Bibles to the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts. There's a question why it's called the Book of Acts. Is it the Acts of the Apostles or the Acts of the Holy Spirit? But certainly one great emphasis in the Book of Acts is there's a lot of preaching. I think the Apostle Paul's seven sermons and the Apostle Peter's six sermons are found in the Book of Acts, plus others as well. But those two main men, the dominant preachers in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2. Let me pick up the reading at verse 22. This is the Apostle Paul speaking on that day of Pentecost, which would have been a Sunday, first day of the week. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him, in your midst, as you yourself know. This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." Well, let's again look to the Lord. are thankful that we can come in your name and come believing that your ear is open, that your hand is ready to help us. We believe, Lord, your heart is one that is well disposed to your people. You have loved us with an everlasting love. You are the Good Shepherd who desires to feed us and nourish us and bring us to full maturity in Jesus Christ. So continue, Lord. to show yourself tonight to be our Father, our Shepherd, our Helper. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Faith is an amazing grace. You can't live the Christian life without that grace. It's a supernatural grace. And you might recall that Jesus, on more than one occasion, drew attention to that grace called faith. He marveled when he saw a man's great faith. If you have faith, you see what nobody else can see. You see the invisible. You see God's glory. Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And you remember that great chapter in Hebrews 11, you have that phrase, by faith, by faith, and we read there that Moses left Egypt not afraid of the anger of the king, but endured as seeing him who is invisible. The Christian life begins with faith. We walk by faith, not by sight, but it's an essential grace to become a Christian, but also to live a Christian life. And the thing that we should also know about faith is that faith is a Christ-centered grace. It has eyes for Christ. John chapter 3. Faith is looking to Christ. Faith is coming to Christ. Matthew chapter 11. Faith is resting in Christ. Hebrews chapter 4. Faith is calling upon Christ. Romans chapter 10. Faith is turning from sin or from idols, turning to Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Faith is eating. It is drinking of Christ. John chapter 6. Tonight I want us to use, we could say, the mouth of faith, the legs or the feet of faith, and the eyeballs of faith, because we are going to look at Christ. But I also want us to make good use of our memory. Faith does that as well. It was Matthew Henry who said, faith has a good memory. Faith has a good memory. Faith remembers who Jesus is and what Jesus did. This supper was instituted for that very reason. Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus wants us to exercise faith. And these emblems of bread and a cup focus upon Christ, but in particular upon his death. When we come to the table, Christ is remembered, but in particular, we remember His death. Christ Jesus crucified. So faith remembers Christ. Faith remembers the cross. And here are three things I want us to remember tonight by faith. Faith remembers the place where He died. Faith remembers the time when He died. And faith remembers the reason why He died. Faith remembers Christ, where he died, when he died, why he died. Faith remembers the place where he died. If I were to ask you the question, where did Jesus die, what would you say? If we say what the scriptures say, we know from at least three or at least all four of the gospel accounts that he died at a place called Golgotha. or a place called the Skull. We read of that in Matthew 27, Mark 15, John 19. Mark uses this language, and they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means the Skull. John says Jesus carried his cross to a place called the place of the Skull. In the Aramaic, it means Golgotha. Just think of the name itself, the picture. Skull. Why skull? It may have been because it was a place of execution. It was a place of death. It's quite possible there were skeleton bones on that particular piece of terrain, even skulls, literal skulls, that's possible. Some think it depicts the shape of that mountain or that hill. There is actually a place in Palestine, if you look at it, it's called Gordon's Calvary, by the way, why they call it Gordon, I think it's the guy who discovered it was Gordon, but it's somewhere outside of Jerusalem. And you look at it, it actually looks like a skull. There are these big cave openings, and they look like eye sockets. Whether that's the place or not, we don't know. We do know from Scripture that wherever it was, it was outside the city gates. It was considered to be a place of exile. It was a horrible place. It was a place of brutality. It was a place of Remember what takes place at Golgotha. When you think of the various places in which one person could die, probably no worse place in all the world than Golgotha. I'm sure some of you have heard or seen that movie way back when, or even the more recent one, Dunkirk. It's a movie about soldiers who had to be rescued from the beaches of France. And Churchill was hoping they could rescue 30,000. They ended up rescuing 300,000. But a lot of them died. They died on the beaches. They died in those boats. An awful place to die. Think of the Holocaust. Think of six million Jews who were gassed in those prisons. What a horrible place to die. But as terrible and as horrifying as all of those places would have been, the Skull Place was by far the worst. From several different standpoints, it was a place where there was crucifixion, which was the most excruciating way to die. People could hang on a cross for days. But the worst of it all was there was a stigma of disgrace and shame. They hung there, ordinarily they hung there naked. In the case of Jesus, he hung there, on either side were two thieves or two criminals. We know that some of His disciple friends were there. We know from Mark's Gospel that they stood off at a distance, probably too afraid to come near. John tells us, that portion that was read earlier, that Mary and John at least got close enough to hear the words of Jesus. Behold your mother, behold your son, probably didn't say anything themselves to comfort Jesus when He was on the cross. All His possessions were taken from Him. No soft pillow. When Luke zoom-lens the cross, the first thing he focuses upon are soldiers gambling for his clothes at the bottom of that cross. No medication to sedate him. He did have some sour wine, and it wasn't to relieve his pain, but simply to enable him to make that last cry from the cross. It is finished. And you remember the cross, remember the place he died. The gospel narratives, they all take us outside the city gates. And what you also have to remember, why it really does become the worst of the worst places to die, it wasn't just a place of execution, at least not for Jesus, it was a place of judgment. Jesus will be judged. He will be judged not by men, but by God Himself. Almighty God will condemn His own Son there on the cross. The physical sufferings were minuscule compared to His spiritual sufferings. That's why the Bible says very little about His physical sufferings on the cross. That's not the point of the cross. It's His spiritual sufferings. He's forsaken by God. He's rejected and despised by men, that's true, but he's rejected by God. Golgotha is the place of the cross. It's the most horrifying place in all the world to die. When we remember the cross, not only do we remember the place he died, but we also remember when he died. When he died. All the gospel writers spend most of their time on that segment of time or that period of time called the Passion Week, 50% of Mark's Gospel focus upon that last week of our Lord's life, 50% of John's Gospel. We're given something of a breakdown, aren't we? Day by day, if you follow the Gospel accounts, Think of that week. When does it begin? It begins on a Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. And the crowd is delirious. They're delirious with excitement. They're singing Hosanna to the King. Things couldn't have started, you could say, in a better way. They're caught up with what was called messianic fervor. They believe that Jesus, this Messiah, has come to overthrow the Romans. But not everybody was excited, were they? The religious leaders and the Pharisees and the scribes, they are not very happy to see this messianic exuberance. They even rebuke Jesus and say, tell these folk to shut their mouths. And Jesus said, no, even if they did, the stones would cry out. But who can stop this Jesus? When you think of the and the masses who seem supporting him. What are the religious leaders going to do? Well, I'm sure they're starting to think, maybe, maybe we can use Rome. Convince Caesar that this Jesus is a rival, that this Jesus is a threat to his throne. Well, that happens on that Sunday, on Monday, Jesus goes into the temple and he cleanses it, and that's a direct assault upon the religious establishment. It precipitates what you could call a crisis, a more aggressive approach by the religious leaders. They don't like what he's done. Tuesday, Jesus performs a very strange miracle. He curses a fig tree. It's his only destructive miracle. It's a picture of Jerusalem, but it's probably a picture of the nation, the Jewish nation was symbolized by the fig tree. It's a picture, it's a prophecy that judgment is coming. Wednesday. The plot begins, Matthew 26 says, the chief priests and the elders, they gather in the palace of the high priest and they plot together to arrest Jesus and kill him. They don't know how, they don't know when. They think we'd better wait until after the Passover when the crowds have left. And then guess who shows up on their doorstep? Judas. It was an answer to prayer. This is the way now they can get rid of Jesus. We've got a plot and scheme and we'll use this man Judas as a pawn Thursday. The upper room, that's where Jesus is with his disciple friends and he institutes a new supper meal which we will celebrate tonight. He mentions blood, the blood of the new covenant. In scripture, covenants are often ratified by blood. Jesus also makes that very shocking announcement. He prophesies his own betrayal, that one of the twelve is going to betray him. You see, when it comes to the cross, there were no surprises for Jesus. He knows exactly how it's all going to unfold. He knows how He's going to die. He knows when He's going to die. He knows why He's going to die. And at some point, at that meal of the Passover ends, Matthew Gospel tells us they sang a hymn, probably from the Old Testament Psalter, and they make their way to the Mount of Olives. They go to a garden called Gethsemane. This is still Thursday. It's probably a private garden. Maybe a friend or a disciple of Jesus had loaned it to him on occasion. It was probably one of the sweetest places that the disciples had gone with their Lord. John tells us there was a habit that they had had going to that particular place for fellowship, probably for instruction, for prayer. It was a favorite place. But on this occasion, it was going to be very different, wasn't it? What takes place in that garden on this late Thursday night will confuse His disciples and disturb them. They will see Jesus in a way they've never seen Him before. He will actually drip these drops of blood. The person who they'd seen with such majestic power and calmness and serenity, undisturbed, unflappable, is now looking for encouragement and support from his disciple friends. He is bearing this crushing load. They don't know what's happening. There was a time where these disciples got scared. I mean, real scared. It was there in the garden. darkest hour. But one of the saddest things we see in that garden is that his disciple friends, they fail him. They fall asleep. And you get a sense of our Lord's disappointment when he says to them, could you not watch for an hour? Pathetically weak. And when he awakens his disciple friend for the third time, Jesus knows The time has come. He knows it's Satan hour. And that quiet garden suddenly becomes like a noisy cacophony of noise, intrusion of soldiers and temple police and scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps all of them wanted to be there and then to betray himself. Judas is there. And Jesus is taken captive. And what's interesting is that Jesus, there in the garden, when they come to apprehend him, he's not what you would call a passive victim. He takes the initiative. Do you notice that? He tells the soldiers what to do. He says, release my disciple Fred. You see, even in those moments when Jesus, you would have thought, would have been thinking about himself, He's still thinking about his disciple friends. He's the good shepherd protecting the sheep. Two of his disciples have swords. Peter uses one of the swords, but Jesus doesn't need human swords. He tells those captives, I could pray to my father and he would provide me twelve legions of angels. You get a sense of his power because John tells us that when they came close and Jesus simply steps forward and announces who he is and they fall back. And then Jesus prophesied, did he not, this desertion, that's what happens, the disciples they run away. And while Jesus is alone, he's really not alone because remember what he said in John chapter 16, he said, the time will come when you will be scattered and you will leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. But this is all part of God's plan. Everything is happening on schedule right down to the minutia. But once we get out of the guard, we're still Thursday night, late, late Thursday night. Jesus does at that point in time suddenly take the posture of a lamb. No resistance. No pushback. No complaints. And even though he is falsely accused and there are trumped up charges and there's a corruption of justice, something of a kangaroo court takes place, Jesus remains silent. There's a cowardly trial at night time, a predetermined verdict. He's found guilty of blasphemy. But the Lamb bears it all. He bears all the abuse in quiet, majestic silence. That great prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled like a Lamb. led to the slaughter like a sheep set before its shearer. He's open, not his mouth. And now we come to Friday morning. It's the crucifixion day. And even though his disciple, or sorry, the religious leaders have agreed on a guilty verdict, the sentence of death has been passed. They have accused Jesus of blasphemy. They still need to strategize as to how to implement the penalty. They have a problem, don't they? Capital punishment has to be approved by Rome. The Jews just can't do it themselves. And Rome will not recognize blasphemy. That's a religious crime. John MacArthur makes the point, listen to what he says. Rome rarely approved the death penalty in cases of adultery, homosexuality, blasphemy or any other moral or religious transgressions. This is a religious matter. This is for the religious court. This is not for the civil court. How do they get it into the civil courts? How do they get Jesus before Rome and get Jesus to be pronounced guilty? Notice Matthew 27. tells us they bound him, they marched him off to the Roman governor. Verse 2, that is Pilate. Now there's this engagement, this exchange between Pontius Pilate and the Lord, and it's very clear that Pontius Pilate smells of dirty rats. He's a politician. He's seen manipulation. He's a shrewd guy himself. And they bring their accusations against Jesus. And Pilate begins to ask Jesus some questions. And the first question he asks Jesus, Are you the King of the Jew? John in his gospel gives us something of the exchange that takes place between Jesus and Pilate. And Jesus tells Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting and they would have delivered me. My kingdom is not from this world. Pontius Pilate asks the question again, are you the king of the Jews? And Pilate makes a quick assessment. He realizes this man, Jesus, is not a threat to Caesar. He's a harmless rabbi. And so Pilate says, I find no guilt in this man. But the Jews push back. They put more pressure on him. They're going to take this to Caesar. And Pilate being the man that he was, a weak man, a man of expediency, he doesn't want to lose his job, at least not over a Jewish rabbi. And his political instincts kick in. Jesus is expendable. And so he delivers him to be crucified. Now here's the countdown. It's almost like the gospel writers slow down the clock. Now they start using hours. Hours. three specific times. We're talking about the time in which He died. Three specific time frames are given with respect to the time of crucifixion. Jesus is put on that cross in the third hour. That's between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Mark chapter 15 verse 25. That's the first segment of time. The world turns dark on the sixth hour. That's 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Jesus is hanging on the cross. Matthew 27, verse 25. Jesus dies on the ninth hour. That is between 3 and 6. Mark 15, Luke 23. Jesus is on the cross for six hours. Six hours, relatively short, very short compared to what most men would endure. Six hours and he died. Faith remembers the place of the cross. Faith remembers the time of the cross. And thirdly, faith remembers the reason for the cross. Why the cross? Well, that's really the most important question you could ask about the cross. If you don't answer that question in the right way, it's simply an ugly, tragic story of injustice. But to answer that question, to answer the question in the right way, in a biblical way, you have to look at the cross through two lenses. You have to look at it through two lens. You know what they are? The lens of human depravity or human responsibility and the lens of divine sovereignty. If you want to answer that question, why did Jesus die? Well, if you answer that question, looking at that question or seeking to answer it through the lens of human responsibility, Jesus dies because of man's hatred of God. Jesus dies because of man's enmity against God, man's depravity. And we can't ignore human responsibility. But if you look at that cross and answer it through the lens of divine sovereignty, you say Jesus dies according to the purpose of God, the plan of God. Notice again Acts chapter 2. that day on Pentecost. If you haven't turned there, you can turn there and see for yourself. But Peter, the apostle preaching on this day of Pentecost, he uses both lens to look at the cross. He begins that sermon without these words. Men of Israel, verse 22, and no sooner has He introduced them to the Jesus of Nazareth, and He does tell them about this Jesus of Nazareth. He gives quite a Christology here. Christ pervades the sermon. He preaches about His miracles, verse 22, His crucifixion, verse 23, His resurrection, verse 24. He presents Christ the Messiah, verse 36. Christ the ever-living Lord, verse 34 through verse 36. Christ the Holy One of God, verse 27. Christ of David's line, verse 29. Christ who is giver of the Holy Spirit, verse 30. It's all about Christ! But he also preaches about sin. He preaches about sin. Notice what he says. He uses the second-person plural. He says, you killed him, you murdered him. Jesus delivered up according to the foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. He is looking at the cross through the lens of human depravity, through the lens of human responsibility. He uses the second-person plural you doesn't use the. generic we, you. It's a pointed application. He doesn't want them to evade the responsibility. They are guilty for what they've done. But notice, he also looks at the cross through the lens of divine sovereignty. Verse 23, same verse. Go back to that same verse. Jesus delivered up according to the divine plan and for knowledge of God. You see, the cross is smothered with human fingerprints but it's also smothered with divine fingerprints. Smothered with human fingerprints of murder and hate and enmity, but it's also smothered with God's fingerprints of love, you could say, of justice, of sovereignty. So, yes, the cross, you could say, was a terrible thing. Nothing more terrible, nothing more wicked than the murder of the Son of God. All creation groaned. Even the heavens became dark. Three hours of supernatural darkness. But it was according to the divine script. God writing the story. God planned the story. from all eternity. Why would God purpose, why would God purpose for His Son to die like that? To die in that place called the skull? What's the answer? Well, the answer is sin had to be defeated. The devil had to be crushed. There had to be the shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. He's on the cross as a sin bearer. He has become a curse for us. He's dying there in our place, in my place, condemned. He stood. And brethren, we should say this, shouldn't we? We should be able to sing those wonderful hymns found in our hymn book. We sing them with emotion. We sing them with joy because of the cross. There should be nothing that should cause us to sing more than what Christ did on the cross. There's nothing that should humble us more than what Christ did on the cross. It's for us, it's for sinners. There's nothing that should elicit more thanks from our hearts than what Christ did on the cross. There's nothing that should make us hate sin more than what Christ did on the cross. There's nothing that should make us love God more and love Christ more than what he did on the cross. Looking to Jesus, the crucified one, why is he on that cross? Well, you can also answer that question by listening to Jesus himself. when he was on the cross. Jesus explains why he's on the cross by those seven words. Those seven words. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He's on the cross to forgive sinners. He speaks a word of salvation. Today you shall be with me in paradise. He's on that cross to save sinners. He speaks a word of dereliction. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The cross is a cross of propitiation. He's absorbing the very wrath of God. That cry, it is finished. It is accomplished. That means the salvation that He came to accomplish has been accomplished. That's the great news of the cross. Nothing more needs to be done. Nothing more needs to be added. All that Christ had to do was done. It was accomplished. Why is He on the cross? He's on the cross for us. For sinners. Bearing the very wrath of God. He's suffering in our place. He's suffering for us. The cross was a supreme tragedy, but the greatest victory. No greater accomplishment than what took place at the cross. That's why we sing, to Him be the glory for the great things He has done. Hallelujah. What a Savior.