My message this morning is going
to be about Barabbas. And I'm going to use the book
of Mark as my text. But I want to read to you Matthew's
account before we go to Mark. In Matthew chapter 27, Verses 15 through 25. Matthew
27 verse 15. Now at that feast, this was the
feast of the Passover. At that feast, the governor was
wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would, that
is, whatever their choice was. And they had then a notable prisoner
called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered
together, Pilate said unto them, whom will ye that I release unto
you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? Now, the reason
he chose Barabbas is because he was a notable criminal. And this was some political maneuvering
on his part. He was going to put somebody
up there that he knew they wouldn't want. Because he knew that they delivered
Jesus because of their ill reasons. For he knew that for envy they
had delivered him. When he was sat 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 Barabbas
and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said
unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate
saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called
Christ? And 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. And 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'm innocent
of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all
the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Now, while we're doing this,
turn with me to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 15. These two accounts give us most
of the details, although they're in all four Gospels. Mark chapter 15 verse 6. Now
at that feast, He released unto them one prisoner whomsoever
they desired. And there was one named Barabbas
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him,
who had committed murder in the insurrection. And a multitude
crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done
unto them." In other words, the releasing of the prisoner. But
Pilate answered them saying, will you that I release unto
you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests
had delivered him for envy. But the chief priests moved the
people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said
unto them, what will you then that I shall do unto him whom
you call king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucified. Then Pilate said unto them, Why,
what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly,
Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content
the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus,
when he had scourged him, to be crucified. I'm going to use the book of
Mark as my text this morning. And I wanted you to hear the declaration that Matthew
wrote. And if you'd like, in Luke 23,
14-25, you can read Luke's account. And in John 18, verses 39-40, You can read John's account,
which is very short, just two verses. In verses 6 through 15 here in
Mark, we have recorded the story of a man called Barabbas. Bar
means son of. This is son of Abbas. Barabbas,
who was a man guilty of robbery, according to the scripture, and
sedition. out-and-out rebellion and murder. He was a man judged by the law,
condemned by overwhelming evidence, and awaiting the penalty of his
crimes, which was death. And no doubt there were many
like him over the years who were judged and held in prison for
a period and then put to death. His story is not uncommon in
that respect. But something happened while
he was awaiting death. Provision had been put into the
law for one to be released on the day of the Passover. Think
about that. The day of the Passover. How
significant that this man's pardon was going to come on the day
of the Passover. as Israel was released out of
Egypt and spared death by substitution. Even so, the law has always carried
this provision, even in Jewish law. The substitute, the Lamb,
atonement through the blood. And that's what I titled the
message this morning, Pardoned by Crucifixion. We're not pardoned
because God says you're pardoned, you're pardoned because of the
crucifixion of Christ. A lamb was put to death in the
garden in the very beginning. Adam and Eve were reconciled
by the blood of the lamb. He slayed a lamb. He put its
covering on them, the covering of the lamb he put on them, and
put its blood on an altar. A vessel sealed with pitch. Do you know what that original
word for pitch is? Caper. And you know what it means? Atonement. Eight souls were spared
because of a vessel sealed with atonement. And on and on it goes
throughout the Old Testament. A lamb, a substitute. And my
message, and I pray it's the message of God for you today,
is pardoned by crucifixion. He said the soul that sinneth
shall surely die. I tell you, if God says it shall
surely die, it shall surely die. No exceptions. This is the irreversible
judgment of God. Sin demands payment and God cannot
and will not ignore sin. I don't know where men get the
idea that God will ignore their sin. He won't. Hebrews 2 tells
us that every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, even when the commandment was brought by
an angel. And knowing this, he tells us,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? How are you
going to escape? You think God's going to wink
at your sin? You think God's going to smooth things out because
of something you did after your sin? Oh, that'll make everything
alright. I'll do this. I'll do that. I'll
do something else. Salvation by substitution is
the only way God can save sinners and still be God. Do you hear what I say? Salvation by substitution is
the only way There is no other way. Christ said, I'm the way.
Why did he say that? Because he was the substitute. And there's four things I want
us to see in these verses. And the first thing I want us
to see is a guilty man. Barabbas, he's a picture of us
from day one. He's a picture of us. And the
first thing he shows us here is a guilty man. He wasn't a
victim of a cruel and senseless dictator, he was a criminal guilty
of his crimes. Turn with me to Romans chapter
3. All men are guilty sinners. Now I know we'll say that for
argument's sake, but do we apply that to ourselves? Can we do
that? You can by the Spirit of God,
you can. Guilty sinners. After two and
a half chapters of evidence and explanation, Paul tells us in
Romans 3, 9 that there's no difference between Jew or Gentile. None. Having already proved, he said,
that they're all under sin. Hold up. And then He goes on to show us
the life of those under sin. He goes on to tell us about it.
None righteous. You can't be saved without being
righteous. God is a righteous God. He can't
save you without being righteous. Isn't that what it says over
there in Romans 3, verses 24 and 25? Isn't that what He says? that he might be righteous in
the remission of your sins? Just and justifier? There's none righteous. Boy, if ever there was a godly
woman, it was my grandma. I used to say that about mine
until I learned what was in man. And she was compared to other
people. She was, she was a good woman compared to other people.
But judgment's not according to other people, it's according
to God. And there's none righteous, there's
none that understand it. Nothing so obnoxious as to sit
down and talk to somebody who's never read the Bible. They've
never read it, they've never picked it up and read a single
chapter out of it, but they've heard men talk. And they'll ask
you a question, and when you go to answer it, they'll fire
something back at you. A little piece of scripture out
of... God's not willing for anybody to perish. Well, none would perish
if he wasn't. Because he does all of his will,
that's what scripture says. He has his way, and the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him what you do. He's God, ain't he? There's none
that understand it. We're full of facts. We're full of arguments. But there's none that understand
it. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're trying to appease a guilty
conscience, but they ain't seeking after God. How many people you
know want to be made like God? Huh? There's a big difference. I'm telling you there's a big
difference in trying to appease a guilty conscience and longing
to be made like God. Longing to be holy. Longing to
be righteous. Despising yourself. Huh? Isn't that what he's saying here?
There's none righteous, there's none that understandeth, there's
none that seeketh after God. They're all gone astray. They've
together become unprofitable. They're not worth anything. They
ain't worth spitting on. You think that crowd out there
had some kind of affection for Barabbas? They were glad he was
locked up. Happy he was locked up. The law
was happy. Rome was happy. Everybody's happy.
No value in Barabbas. He was a criminal. He was a sinner. They're all gone out of the way.
They're together become unprofitable. None that doeth good. Oh, but
you're going to find somebody, and that's why Paul said, no,
not one. Not one. Their throat is an open
sepulcher. They open their mouth. The only
thing that exposes the heart, what's inside, a grave. Dead men's bones. Their throat
is an open sepulcher, deceitful tongues. Their mouths are full of bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are in their ways. All God has to do to you is leave
you alone. You'll destroy yourself. You'll destroy yourself. Destruction
and misery are in your ways. The way of peace, unknown. Totally
unknown. And listen, no fear of God before
their eyes. was angry. He looked at the rich
and they had no bands in their death. They weren't scared. They
weren't afraid. They weren't desperate. They
were dying with a smile on their face. I've had relatives I know
who didn't know God die with a smile on their face. There
are no bands in their death. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. Now watch this. Verse 19, Romans
chapter 3. Now we know that what thing soever
the law says, it says to them who are under the law. Why? Why is it saying that? Is it
saying that so you'll straighten out your life? Live a cleaner
life? Is that why the law said that? Did the law say that to scare
you? Threaten you? Why did the law say these things?
It saith to them that are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped. What does that mean? That means
shut up. That's what that means. Quit talking. Quit defending
yourself. Quit making excuses. You got
no excuse. Every mouth may be stopped. Now
watch this. And all the world becomes what? Guilty before God. Not guilty
before me or you. Guilty before God. This was a guilty man. And he's
telling us the same thing. You're guilty. You go to the
law, you ain't going to find no hope in the law. The law says
you're guilty. Yeah, but I done this. Shut up. You're guilty. Isn't
that what he's saying here? Quit talking. You're guilty. I listened to a man one time.
I had a traffic ticket, and I was in court. And this guy come up,
and boy, he was arguing up and down with that judge. And after
what that judge finally told him, he said, shut up. Quit talking. You're guilty. I'm the judge. You're the prisoner. You're guilty. Who guilty? All the world. And
because of their guilt and their crimes and their sins, He goes
on to say this, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. Nobody's going to be cleared.
Nobody's going to be justified. Nobody's going to be pardoned
by the deeds of the law. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. And that's all you ever get from
the law. You're a sinner. You're a sinner. Every son of Adam is guilty by
sin. And then secondly, he tells us
here in this picture that every son of Adam is condemned of God. He's been judged and put in prison. Is that how you think of yourself
in prison? Because that's where you're at.
If you don't know God, if he's not giving you faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're in prison. You're not free. How's a prisoner free? He's free
to roam around that little 12 by 12 cell. He can go anywhere
he wants to go inside that cell. He's free. He can go over to the sink. He can
go over to the bunk. He can go anywhere he wants to
go inside that cell. You're just as free as your nature
allows you to be, and you have a fallen nature. And you can't
go beyond it. A bird can't survive underwater
very long. And a fish can't survive in the
air very long. He can't go past his nature. You see what I'm saying? A sinner
can't go past his nature. Without me, Christ said, you
can do what? Nothing. Nothing. Paul prayed for the
Jews. Why? Why would he pray for them?
That was God's elect. The Jews, wasn't it? He said, I'm praying for them
because they're ignorant. They're going about, going about,
going about, doing this, offering sacrifices, keeping the law,
going about making proselytes, doing all these things that religion
does. They're going about trying to
establish their own righteousness and would not. They were ignorantly
doing it, he said. Going about to establish their
own righteousness. and would not submit to the righteousness
of God. We're in prison. By nature, he said,
a child of wrath, even as others. Ephesians 2, verse 3. And therefore we walk in darkness.
In the book of Jude, verse 6, he said, and the angels, which
kept not their first estate, They left their own habitation.
He hath reserved, that is kept for a particular purpose and
person. He hath reserved in everlasting
change under darkness, under the judgment of that great day.
You can't do anything. You're in darkness. You want
to produce faith, but you can't. You want to repent, but you can't.
You're like that paralyzed man at the pool of Siloam. He just
lay there. Somebody had to pick him up and
put him in the pool. He was paralyzed. We're paralyzed
by sin. We're in the prison house of
our nature and we can't get out. You can't climb out. You can't
work your way out. You can't get out. God has to
intervene. Look at this man Beratus. He's
down there in the prison house. He's bound. That's what the scripture
said. He's bound and all the rest of
them that were with him were bound. They're laying there in
that old cold dungeon. And there's no visible chains
of restraints on men or angels, yet both are kept in chains of
darkness. They walk, Ephesians 4, 17, it
says, in the vanity of their minds. What's that? Vanity is
you're imagining yourself to be something that you're not.
That's vanity. A prisoner may lay on his cot
and dream about climbing mountains, sailing the ocean, but in the
end it's just a dream. And men and women believe they
have a free will and a right to choose their destiny and they
believe they know all the facts and have the ability to discern
them. But in the reality, in reality,
it's just a dream. It's just a dream. They walk
in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that's in them because of the blindness of their heart. And
the scripture says the carnal, the fallen, corrupt mind of man
is enmity, hostile toward God. It won't bow to God. It won't
listen to God. It won't obey God. Neither indeed
can be. And man's not awaiting trial.
He's already condemned. He that believeth not, Christ
said, is condemned already. By the offense of one, judgment
came upon all men to what? Condemnation. And Barabbas was not awaiting
trial, he was bound in chains awaiting punishment. Are you trying to say, Preacher,
there's no judgment at the last day? No, not at all. Prisoners
are judged every day for their crimes in prison, but they're
still in prison for their crimes. That's what I'm saying. They're exposed to an environment
of wicked men the same as we are. And every son of Adam is
a condemned prisoner under God's authority, power, and purpose. Nobody's desperate. Why not?
Because they don't know where they are. They don't know what
they are. And they don't know who God is.
Well, wait till you find that out. You haven't seen desperate
yet. He said, as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse. You mean we're under a
curse? That's what I'm trying to preach.
For it's written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law to do. You with me so far? Here's a
guilty man. He's a picture of me. Here's
a guilty man. He's guilty. He has nothing to
say for himself, nothing to plead, no value, no nothing. He's guilty. Not only that, but he's been
before the judge and the judge condemned him. Now he's in prison
and he's bound and he can't go anywhere. He can't do anything.
He doesn't have any rights. Barabbas wasn't down there demanding
to see Pilate. He's guilty and he's condemned.
He's awaiting punishment. You know when a prisoner's convicted
of murder, he's condemned. He's waiting on the electric
chair, the gas chamber, whatever. When he's led by the guards out
of that cell, you know what they cry? Dead man walking. That's what I'm trying to preach
this morning. When you're looking at this world, Preachers are
crying every day. Dead men walking. Dead men walking. This is the condemnation. Light
come into the world and men love darkness rather than light. He
was a guilty man, so are we. He was a condemned man, so are
we. And then the third thing I want us to see in these verses
is provision for release. Now I'm going to tell you something.
The farthest thing from Barabbas's mind was being pardoned. It never entered his thoughts. Matthew 27, it says, Now at the
feast, the feast of the Passover, the governor was wont to release
unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had a notable
prisoner called Barabbas. He was a notable prisoner. He's
a John Dillinger, Al Capone, a notable prisoner, one guilty of robbery and sedition
and murder. And nobody would want him set
free. Nobody would cry for his release.
And that's exactly why Pilate chose him. He knew Jesus wasn't guilty of
anything, and he was trying to set him free, but he feared the
people, and he was trying to work a little political maneuvering,
and he picked the worst one. See, normally he'd just let them
pick somebody, but he picked this guy. He picked the worst
of the mess. But it didn't work to serve his
end, but God's end. The provision for release was
not according to Moses' law, but according to Roman law. But
if I understand Romans 13 correctly, there is no power but of God.
And if there was a provision in that law for the release of
Barabbas, God put it there. He put it into the mind of that
Roman who instituted that into law. He said, the powers that
be are ordained of God, and whosoever resisteth the power resisteth
the what? Ordinance of God. Oh, God put
that into that law. And though this ordinance was
of Roman origin, the design of it overall and provision was
put there in place by God. In Acts 4.27, he tells us that
Herod, now listen to this, and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles
and all the people of Israel were gathered together to do
what God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done.
Does that include that provision? You better believe it. God put this provision for the
release of Barabbas in place to teach us the truth about substitution. And it was exercised on the day
of the Passover where the blood of the substitute was put on
the doorposts and put on the lentils in Egypt to deliver them
from the curse of death. God already pronounced judgment
on Egypt, the firstborn. We're going to die. Everybody
that's in Egypt is going to die. But he said, you take the blood
and put it on the post and the lentils. And when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. That's the Passover. The blood
of the lamb is the blood of our substitute. Scripture said he
was delivered for our offenses. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He reconciled us in the body
of his flesh through death to present us holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. He entered in once, the scripture
said, into the holy place with his own blood, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. And oh, see, O Barabbas, can
you see yourself down there with him? Old Barabbas laying there
in that cell, bound in chains, couldn't go nowhere. Here's a
bunch of them that was in cahoots with him, and they're all bound.
They couldn't go nowhere. And he's laying there on that
damp stone prison floor. It wasn't anything like our prisons.
A lot of men died in those prisons back in that day from pneumonia.
It's old, damp prisons. No bathroom facility, no nothing. And they was lying in that squalor,
in that thing, bound up with chains. And all of a sudden he
could hear this. And outside he couldn't hear
the conversations. All he heard was the voices when
it raised up. Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Crucify him. Crucify. Oh, you don't think that penetrated
that man's heart, that old stone-cold killer? Man, there's a bloodthirsty mob
out there crying for my blood. And he hears them coming down
that hallway, rattle with them sabers on their side. Comes to
the door and opens that door, unlocks Barabbas. And he said,
come to me. Come with me. And he carried
him out there into that light before the judge. And the judge
looked at him and said, loose him and let him go. Huh? Loose him. Let him go. Another's been chosen
to die in his stead. That's substitution. Why would
God have mercy on you? Or me? Or anybody here? Because another has been chosen
to die in your stead. That's why. And he loses the
bonds. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
that man's heart and mind when he took those chains off? And
he's still waiting to get stabbed with a spear or booked by the
congregation. And nobody's saying anything.
And he walked off in total freedom. Walked away. Because another
was chosen to die in his stead. There was a preacher. I'm not
sure of the era, but it seems to me like it was a couple hundred
years ago. His name was Roland Hill. And
old Roland Hill had a dream one night. He said, I dreamed I died. And he said, my next thought,
my next sense was I woke up and I'm on a hillside, kind of up
on a mountaintop, and I'm overlooking this great valley. And there's
little campfires all around and a multitude that no man could
number. And they're everywhere. And he
said, out in this valley is a dense smoke, almost like a fog. And he said, inside that fog,
there was lightning and thunder. He said he was looking around,
and everybody was sitting there just like him, kind of stunned
and trying to figure out what was going on. And he said, after
a while, he heard a voice. He said, John Smith. And pretty soon a man stood up,
and he said, come here. And he walked forward into that
fog, and that voice began to read all the charges against
him. And he said, bind him hand and
foot. Cast him into outer darkness.
And he said, that man was carried away into that fog, never to
be seen again. And then another. and another,
and another, and after a while he was sitting there and he'd
seen this over, and over, and over. And after a while he heard
this voice that said, Rolling Hill. And he said, I couldn't hardly,
he said, all the blood drained from my face. He said, I couldn't
hardly stand up. He said, I was shaking so bad.
And he said, finally I got to my feet. And the voice said,
come hither. But he said, another voice came
from behind me. And he said, I'm rolling hill. I was rolling hill when you chose
him and put him in me before the foundation of the world. I was rolling hill. when I entered
into this world as a substitute and representative and kept that
law and died on that cross. And I was rolling hill when I
raised from the grave, and you justified me and him. And we ascended into glory and
said it to your right hand." And the boy said, well done.
By good and faithful servant, enter thy hand. That's substitution. Substitution is not a fact. It's
the truth of God. And you think Barabbas needed
a law after that? You think somebody had to have
a whip to keep him in line after that? The love of Christ constrained
that man after that. He walked with Christ. He had
a love for Christ. He had an affection for him,
a devotion to him. Was Bradbury saved? I'll leave
it up to you. But Christ died in his stead,
and that's my hope. And that's what I'm trying to
preach. You know, back under the law, man had leprosy. He was polluted. And there was
a cleansing process for him, but there was also a cleansing
process for the house. And they had to take two birds,
pigeons, doves, whatever the law commanded, they had to take
these two birds. And one was slain and all of
its blood put into a dish. The best of everything put into
that dish. The live bird they took and dipped
in the blood. And they sprinkled that blood
all over that house. And then they took that bird
and set him free. Isn't that Christ? He shed his blood for us, and
we're free, and the house is clean. Our Lord said, you're
clean ever wet, ever wet. Just your feet from walking in
this filthy world. And that's why we pray daily,
forgive us our sins. We got dirty feet, but the house
is clean because of our substitutes. Oh, may the Lord give us an understanding,
a true understanding of His substitution.