(Luke 23:33) --"THE PLACE"
Intro: This old world is filled with many places. Some are places of great beauty and happiness while others are places of ugliness and shame. If all the places of the world were lumped together, they could never compare to the Place spoken of in these verses. This is the Place where the Plan of the ages was consummated. This is the Place where we received the plan and the promise of eternal salvation. This is the Place where the greatest battle of all time was fought and won.  The PLACE I'm talking about is HOLY GROUND!
I. IT WAS A PLACE OF PROPHECY (Matt. 27:35)
A. The Prophets Predicted It – (Ill. Isa. 53) (Ill. Psa. 22:1-21) (Ill. The Levitical Sacrificial system – All pointed to this Place!)
B. Jesus Himself Preached It – (Matt. 20:18-19)
C. God Planned It – Rev. 13:8 – (This was all determined before there even was a sinner to save!) 
II. IT WAS A PLACE OF PAIN (Luke 23:35)
The description of the event doesn’t do proper justice to the pain Christ suffered for fallen man. Do not be deceived by the traditional portrayal, it was a gruesome, bloody affair!-("he was so marred more than any man"!)
A. The Pain Of His Sentence – (The Horrors of Crucifixion) Jesus died an extremely horrible death. He allowed it because He loved you and me!
B. The Pain Of His Separation – Matt. 27:46 – For the first time in forever, there was a break in the fellowship between the Father and the Son. This was His greatest agony. In that moment, Jesus was literally experiencing the horror of the Second Death – 2 Thes. 1:8-9. (Separation from God will be the greatest agony of Hell! (The Rich Man – Luke 16:26.)
C. The Pain Of Our Sins – Ill. 2 Cor. 5:21. The very reason Jesus went to Calvary is because we are sinners, Rom. 3:23. As sinners, we are doomed to Hell, Rom. 6:23. But Jesus, in His great love went to the cross, bore our sins, 1 Pet. 2:24, all because He loves sinners, Rom. 5:6-10! (Ill. It was our sins that caused this awful event to take place. He suffered it all just so we might be saved!)
III. IT WAS A PLACE OF PAYMENT (Mt. 27:50)
A. Our Debt Was Settled – (John 19:30)  Forever finished, nothing can be added to it, it is complete in and of itself! (Eph. 2:8-9)
B. Our God Was Satisfied – (1 John 2:2) Ill. Every person outside Jesus is walking, right now, under the wrath of God – John 3:36. But, through the death of Christ on the cross, we have been saved from wrath – Rom. 5:9!
C. Our Liberty Was Secured – Rom. 3:20; Titus 3:5 No more do men have to sacrifice animals or keep long lists of Laws in an attempt to please God. Now, we are made right with the Almighty through faith in Jesus Christ, plus nothing, minus nothing! 
IV. IT WAS A PLACE OF POWER (Luke 23:39-43)
A. Cleansing Power – (The Thief on the cross – He did nothing but believe, and yet Jesus forever cleansed him!) (His Blood cleanses – Rev. 1:5; 1 John 1:7)
B. Converting Power – (His Blood changes the believer – 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Cor. 6:9-11) (You will never be the same after you come to Jesus! He will change you. (Paul – Rom. 7:14-25 – The old nature is still active, but a new set of desires is in place. There will be a heart for the Lord when true salvation enters a life!)
C. Continuing Power – Rom. 10:13; 1 John 1:7. The Blood has never, and will never, lose it’s power to save the sinner and make him fit for Heaven! 
V. IT WAS A PLACE OF PROMISE (Matt. 27:54) 
A. Jesus Promised A Resurrection – (John 2:19; Matt. 12:39-40) He delivered one too! – Matt. 28:1-6! Ill. A Dead Savoir was no good to anyone! (We could have been made right with God, but we could have never had eternal life! If the grave could keep Jesus, then it could keep us all!
B. Jesus Promised A Return – (John 14:1-3 – On the eve of the Crucifixion, Jesus predicted His own return for His people.) (1 Thes. 4:16-17 – This is still our hope today!)
C. Jesus Promised A Reception – (John 6:37) If you are one who has never experienced salvation through the Blood of Jesus, then He gives you this promise!  Many institutions in this world might turn you down, but Jesus never will. He will receive you just like you are, love you, save you, cleanse you, adopt you and take you to Heaven to be with him some day. 
Conc: Have you ever, through the avenue of faith, been to the Place? Have you ever seen yourself a sinner and realized that Jesus Christ truly died for you sins? Have you ever acted on that realization and come to Him asking Him to forgive you of your sins and be your Savior?