Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
to you this morning from Mark chapter 15. And if you have a
Bible there with you, I encourage you to open it with me and let's
look at these things together. We're going to be looking at
most of the chapter here in Mark 15. I want to begin the message
by asking this question. What is the gospel? What is the
gospel? That's the title of the message.
What is the gospel? Here is the answer. Substitution
and satisfaction. That's the answer. Substitution
and satisfaction. The answer is a person and what
that person has done. Substitution and satisfaction. Now, my hope and my prayer for
this message is that by the end of this message, we will truly
understand what substitution and satisfaction is. The reason
is because understanding that will cause us to know whether
the preacher that we are hearing is a true gospel preacher or
if he is a false prophet, a man who is just telling lies. Our
Lord warned, beware of false prophets, they're everywhere.
And understanding the truth of substitution and satisfaction. that will let us know whether
the message we are hearing is truly a gospel message or whether
it's one big lie. Now, I know this is shocking
to hear, but many, many preachers today are not telling the truth. Believe me, I know that's a shocking
thing to hear, but it's true. Many preachers are telling lies. And what that means is they're
not preaching the gospel. And the reason we know that they're
not preaching the gospel is because they're not preaching substitution
and satisfaction. People love gospel songs. People love to sing gospel songs. But once the Lord reveals to
us truly what substitution and satisfaction is, We'll be shocked
to see how many of these gospel songs or what we believe are
gospel songs are truly not. And just need to be thrown away.
Shocking, I know, but it's the truth. The reason we can know
whether a song is a gospel song, whether a message is a gospel
message, I'll say it again, it's substitution and satisfaction. A true gospel song will sing
the beautiful, glorious message of a person and what that person
has done. Substitution and satisfaction. Now, what is? substitution and
satisfaction. What is it truly? The answer
is. In what happened on the cross.
The true answer to that question is what actually happened on
the cross. Now, most people believe that
they know what happened on the cross. But sadly, they don't. They don't. It has to be revealed
what actually happened on the cross. And I want us to look
at one of the clearest pictures that we have of substitution
and satisfaction by seeing what our Lord has written concerning
Christ on the cross. May He reveal to us the truth
of this issue. Here in Mark 15, verse 1 says,
in straightway in the morning, The chief priest held a consultation
with the elders and the scribes and the whole council bound Jesus
and carried him away and delivered him to Pilate. They held a council
and they decided that they wanted to lay hold on the Lord and bring
him and judge him and crucify him. That's what their ultimate
desire was. And Pilate asked him, Art thou
the king of the Jews? And he answering said unto him,
Thou sayest it. Pilate asked him, Are you the
king of the Jews? And the Lord answered, You've
said it. You've said it yourself. This
is the king of the Jews. The king is who's doing all of
this, every bit of this. The king is the one who hung
on the cross, not a poor, pitiful martyr. The king hung on the
cross. Verse three says, and the chief
priest accused him of many things, but he answered nothing. He answered nothing. They lied
on him. They accused him. They on purpose
brought in men to lie on him. They accused him of committing
sins he never committed. He did not say one word, though,
through all of their accusations, not one word. It says he answered
nothing. Why did he not answer? Why did
he answer nothing? The reason is because he was
standing there as the substitute, the substitute for sinners. He
was standing there in the place of sinners. Verse four says,
And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? Behold,
how many things they witness against thee. They're bringing
all these accusations against you. But Jesus yet answered nothing,
so that Pilate marveled. Now at that feast, he released
unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. That was the custom
of the feast. Pilate would ask the people,
who do you want me to release to you? And they would say who
they wanted and Pilate would release a prisoner. Verse seven
here in Mark 15, it says, and there was one named Barabbas,
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him,
who had committed murder in the insurrection. Now this man Barabbas,
he was laying in a prison cell. It says, bound with them. That sounds like two to me. Them sounds like two. They made
three crosses that day. Barabbas and two other men had
three crosses made for them that day. The reason that Barabbas
and these two men had crosses made is because they created
an insurrection, it says. That's a riot. That's what the
word insurrection means, a riot in town. And they started a chaotic,
rebellious riot. And over in John 18, it says
Barabbas was a robber. In the middle of this insurrection,
in the middle of this riot, it says that Barabbas was robbing,
looting. I'm sure you've seen on the news
these riots that get started in these big cities. Chaotic,
terrible riots. They set everything they can
on fire. And they run through the town
just smashing everything they can get their hands on. And they're
loving it. They're relishing in it. They're
laughing, they're cheering. And it's terrible. It's terrible. They break all the windows out
of the businesses and they run in and they they steal everything
they can steal. And it's just wicked. It's awful. That was Barabbas. That was Barabbas. He created an insurrection. He was a robber. And it says
in verse seven, he committed murder in the insurrection. It doesn't say he murdered one
person. It says he committed murder.
There's no telling how many people he murdered. This chaotic running
through the city. Murdering people as he ran. Horrible,
wicked. Now, standing before this crowd
of people is the holy, spotless, innocent, pure Lord Jesus Christ. And also standing with him is
Barabbas, this wicked, sinful, robbing, murdering man. And it was Pilate's custom to
release one prisoner. Verse 8 says, And the multitude,
crying aloud, began to desire him to do as he had ever done
unto them, But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I
release unto you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the
chief priest had delivered him for envy. But the chief priest
moved the people." The chief priest delivered the Lord to
Pilate, and then the chief priest went out into the crowd and started
speaking to the crowd. And they moved the crowd to say,
We want Barabbas. It says that the chief priest
moved the people that he should rather release Barabbas unto
them. And Pilate answered and said
again unto them, what will ye that I shall do unto him whom
you call the king of the Jews? What do you want me to do to
him? And they cried out again, crucify him. Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, why? What a question. Why? What evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly
crucify him. We want him crucified. Kill him. Kill the innocent lamb
of God. How wicked. How sinful. They said, let the guilty, vile,
rebellious sinner go free and kill the spotless Lamb of God.
I can see Pilate through this. As we read about this account
in the different gospels, it tells us that Pilate kept going
back to the people and he would go back to the Lord. And I can
see him continually turning to the Lord saying, you better speak
up. You better speak up. They're
wanting you dead. If you don't speak up and defend
yourself, you're going to die for this. It says that our Lord
opened not his mouth. He never said one word. Pilate would go back to the people
and say, surely you want me to release Barabbas to you? And
they cried, no, give us Barabbas. Crucify Christ. You kill the
Christ. And Pilate would go back to him
and say, this is your last chance. If you don't speak up right now,
all the judgment that is supposed to come to this wicked man is
going to be laid on you and you're going to die instead of him.
And our Lord opened on his mouth. He never said one word. You know what that is? Substitution. That's what it is. Substitution. Why did Barabbas deserve this
substitution? The answer to that question is
he didn't. He did not do anything to deserve
a substitute to die in his place. What did Barabbas do to earn
anything? All Barabbas did was sin. Barabbas
did not earn this. Barabbas did not deserve this. Barabbas did not ask for this. He didn't ask the Lord to do
this for him. He didn't ask the Lord Jesus to come into his heart.
As men will stand up and tell sinners to do. Barabbas didn't
ask the Lord to do that. Barabbas didn't stand up in front
of that entire crowd and say, I've decided to clean up my life. I'm sorry. I've decided to change
things from here on out, I'm going to straighten up and fly
right. He didn't do that. What role did Barabbas play throughout
this whole thing? The only role he played was the
sinner against God, and he represents you and me. That's the only role
he played, was the sinner against God. But in spite of Barabbas,
in spite of him, without Barabbas, completely without Barabbas,
Jesus Christ willingly stood in his place. Willingly. He took his place. on that cross,
the cross that was made for Barabbas. I can see the men making those
crosses, hewing that wood. They made three crosses. And
one of them says, who is this cross for? That one's for Barabbas. That wicked sinner who made insurrection,
ran through this town, looted our stores, killed our family,
our friends. Jesus Christ took Barabbas's
cross. He made it his own. And that's
what he did for his people. He took the sin of his people
upon himself and he willingly, lovingly, graciously made it
his own. He stepped in as the substitute. And he set his people free just
like he set Barabbas free. Christ made himself to be Barabbas. made himself to be Barabbas.
Hebrews 7 says he became us. That's amazing, isn't it? True
substitution. Christ made himself to be Barabbas. All of the hate, all of the anger
that Barabbas deserved from that crowd of people. You think about
the fact that that crowd of people knew Barabbas did this against
us. But all of the hate and the anger that that crowd of people
should have given to Barabbas, the Lord took every bit of it
upon Himself. The Lord made that His own. Verse
15 right here says, And so Pilate, willing to content the people,
released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus when he had
scourged him to be crucified. Now, everything we're about to
see from here on out should have happened to Barabbas. It should
have happened to Barabbas. Everything we're about to see
happened to the Lord of glory, the spotless Lord of glory should
have happened to you and me. This is what we deserve. And had it not been for our substitute,
this is what we would have received. This right here is the wrath
of God against sin. If we don't have Christ, the
substitute, the wrath of God is going to fall on us. It's
the truth. But if we have Him, if we do
have Him, if we were chosen in Him, if God gave Christ to us
and if He gave us to Christ, then this is what He endured
for us as our substitute. This is what we will be spared
from. Verse 16 says, and the soldiers
led him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together
the whole band. And one of the commentators on
the scripture said this was the same band that came with Judas
to betray him. 500 men, 500 men. They gathered the whole band
and they clothed him with purple and plaited a crown of thorns
and put it about his head. and began to salute him, hail
king of the Jews. And they smote him on the head
with a reed and did spit upon him and bowing their knees, worshiped
him. And when they had mocked him,
they took off the purple from him and put on his own clothes
and led him out to crucify him. And they compel one Simon Assyrian
who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander
and Rufus, to bear his cross. Our Lord was so beaten. You can
only imagine. Our Lord was so tortured. He
couldn't even carry his own cross. The scripture says that he his
visage was marred more than any man. This band, 500 men, beat
him, tortured him, marred more than any man. Verse 22 says,
and they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted
the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine
mingled with myrrh, but he received it not. And when they had crucified
Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what
every man should take. They laid our Lord on this cross,
laid Him down on this pole. And they took nails, and they
nailed His hands and His feet to this cross. And then they
stood this cross up, and they dropped it down in a hole, and
it jarred Him. It jarred every bone in His body
out of socket. And they left him there for all
the people to look at and mock and scoff. And it says in verse
24, when they crucified him, they parted his garments, casting
lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third
hour and they crucified him. And the superscription of his
accusation was written over the king of the Jews. That's what
they accused him of. That's all they could accuse
him of. He's the king of the Jews. And with him, they crucified
two thieves, those other two men who were with Barabbas. Those
other two men who made that insurrection, everything they did, all the
sin they committed. And we know this story, the Lord
even has mercy on one of them. The Lord is so good and he became
the substitute for Barabbas and he became the substitute for
one of those two thieves. Two of these three men found
mercy. How good is the Lord? And it
says in verse 27, with him, they crucified two thieves, the one
on his right hand and the other on his left. And the scripture
was fulfilled, which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors,
Isaiah 53. That's what it says. He was numbered
with the transgressors and they that passed by railed on him.
wagging their heads and saying, ah, thou that destroyest the
temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself and come down
from the cross. They reviled him, they mocked
him, they wagged their heads at him saying, save thyself and
come down from the cross. Thank God he didn't do that. Thank God he didn't do that.
Didn't he say to Peter, when Judas came, Peter drew his sword
and he tried to kill the servant of the high priest, but he missed
and he cut off his ear. And the Lord told him, Peter,
you put your sword away. Don't you realize I could right
now call down 12 legions of angels? That's 72,000 angels. I could
do that right now. Judas again, when he first came,
he walked up with this band of men, 500 men. And the Lord asked
them, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said to them, I am. And as soon as he said, I am,
it says they all fell back like trees, just stiff as a board,
they fell back like trees, 500 men. Our Lord had all control
over this situation. and he could have done whatever
it pleased him to do, but thank God it did not please him to
save himself. Thank God. Verse 29 says, they
passed by, they railed on him, wagging their heads and saying,
ah thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days,
save thyself and come down from the cross. Likewise, also the
chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes,
he saved others himself. He cannot save. You know what you call that right
there? That is called the gospel. That is called the gospel. Do
we see substitution right there? He saved others. He saved others. How? How did
he save others? The answer is, he saved not himself. He did not save himself. Verse
31 says, likewise also the chief priest, mocking, said among themselves
with the scribes, he saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ,
the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see
and believe. and they that were crucified
with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,
which is being interpreted, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Do you know what we call that?
is called the gospel. It's called the gospel. Do you
know why God's people will not be forsaken? It's because God
forsook his own son in their stead. God forsook Christ. The only reason a sinner like
me Has any hope, the only reason that a sinner like me has any
hope, a sinner who knows he deserves to be forsaken by God, the only
reason a sinner like me has any hope is because Christ, my substitute,
was forsaken for me. That's the reason. God cut him
off. God poured out his wrath. and God killed him instead of
me. That's my gospel. Verse 34 says,
at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is being interpreted, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood
by, when they heard it, said, behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a sponge
with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink, saying,
let alone, let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice
and gave up the ghost. He gave up the ghost. He gave
up the ghost. He said, no man takes my life
from me. No man. I'm going to willingly
lay it down. And he gave up the ghost. Seeing
who he is and seeing what he did, is it not so disgraceful
to see how weak men make him out to be. How weak they declare
him to be. They say he's done all that he
can do. Now the rest is up to you. How
disgraceful. How absolutely disgraceful. He
did not ask Barabbas if he would accept this salvation. He has
never asked any man if he would accept salvation. God has freely
given salvation to his people of his own will and his own doing. Daniel 4 verse 35 says, all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? He's God, he's sovereign, he
does as he pleases. And that's what Christ did on
the cross. And I'm going to read one more verse of Scripture in
this story, and in this we will see that God is truly satisfied
with His payment. Verse 38 says, And the veil of
the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. God
told Moses to sew a veil, and you put that in the temple to
separate people from the holy of holies. No man can come in
because of his sin. If he comes in, he'll die. cannot
come in. But when Christ died in the stead
of His people and put away their sin, God the Father reached down
and laid hold of that veil and ripped it wide open from the
top to the bottom. And it says, welcome in. Your
sins are gone in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the glory of the
gospel. Till next week, may the Lord
bless His word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.