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 invite you to open your Bibles
with me this morning to Matthew 27. Matthew chapter 27. And I want us to look at an amazing
event. An amazing event. It's an event
that is full of wonder. It's wonderful. That's what it
is. It's puzzling. Very puzzling. The event I'm talking about is
the trial, the conviction, and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The wonder of it is God's purpose
in it. The purpose he had in this event. Why he allowed everything to
happen the way it did. Even by the understanding of
men. It's just full of wonder. It's
amazing. It's truly amazing. Let's take
a look at it. Here in Matthew chapter 27, let's
look at verse 17. 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? Two men stood before the people.
Both of the men were well-known. Both of them were well-known. Look at verse 16. It says they
had a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Notable. Famous. Barabbas was well-known. His deeds were well-known. The people knew. Turn with me
over to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9, this is talking
about our Lord. In verse 26 says, "...and the
fame hereof went abroad into all that land." Our Lord was well-known His deeds
were well known. What were they? What were His
deeds? We'll go over to Matthew chapter
4. Matthew 4 verse 23 says, And
Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. and healing all manner
of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And
His fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought unto
Him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and
torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those
which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and He healed
them. He healed every sick person that
came to Him. And the people knew that. They knew that. Verse 25 says,
And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee,
and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
from beyond Jordan. Everybody knew. Everybody knew. Turn with me over to Matthew
14. Matthew chapter 14 verse 19 says,
And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and
took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to
heaven, He blessed and break and gave the loaves to His disciples. and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were
filled. And they took up of the fragments
that remained 12 baskets full. And they that had eaten were
about 5,000 men beside women and children. Our Lord fed 5,000
men, not counting the women and children. with five loaves and
two fishes and everybody knew. Everybody knew. Go over to Luke
7 with me. Luke chapter 7 verse 11 says,
and it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called
Nain. And many of His disciples went
with Him, and much people. Now when He came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of His mother. And she was a widow, and much
people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He
had compassion on her. and said unto her, weep not. And he came and touched the bier,
or the coffin, and they that bear him stood still. And he
said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat
up and began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother.
And there came a fear on all. And they glorified God, saying
that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath
visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth
throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about. And
the disciples of John showed him of all these things. He raised
dead men. Lazarus, come forth. He raised dead men. Verse 19
says, In John calling unto him, two of his disciples sent them
to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we
for another? John sent disciples to the Lord
to ask him, Are you the one that should come, or do we look for
another? Verse 20, When the men were coming
to him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying,
Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in
that same hour He cured many of their infirmities and plagues,
and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind He gave
sight. Then Jesus answering said unto
them, Go your way, and tell John what things you have seen and
heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, To the poor,
the gospels preached. They came to him and as soon
as they asked him, Art thou he that should come or look we for
another? He immediately started healing
their diseases, opening their blind eyes, the eyes of those
that were standing around. And then he sent them back and
he said, You go tell John again, I am he. I'm the one. And everybody knew. Now that was one of the two men
standing before the people. That was one of them. The Lord
of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ. The friend of sinners. That was
one of them. And as we've already said, the
other one, he was well known too. Turn with me over to Mark
15. Mark chapter 15 verse 7 says, And there was one named Barabbas,
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him. Insurrection means an uprising. It means a rebellion. and uproar. There was one named Barabbas
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him,
who had committed murder in the insurrection." Barabbas got a bunch of men together
and he started a riot. Riot throughout town. And in
the process of this wicked, chaotic, vile riot, Barabbas murdered
a man. Or maybe more than one, it just
says he committed murder. Now turn with me over to John
chapter 18. John 18, look at the very last
phrase of verse 40. It says, Now Barabbas was a robber. He was a robber. He was a murderer. He started rebellion. He was
a robber. I'm sure he was always a robber.
He was probably looting in that riot. He was a thief. He was vile. He was wicked. He was good for nothing. And
the people knew it. They knew it. They all knew it. Two men stood before the people. And Pilate said right here in
John 18 verse 39, he said, but you have a custom that I should
release unto you one at the Passover. It was their custom that one
prisoner would be released every year at the Passover. So He asked them in verse 39,
Will you therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
That's got to be the obvious choice. We have one man here
who the whole time he walked this earth has done nothing but
good, nothing but right, A man I can find no fault in.
We have a man here who has done nothing but wrong, nothing but
evil. He's caused nothing but trouble. He's been a sinner his entire
life. So he said, you have a custom
that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will you
therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying,
Not this man, but Barabbas, Barabbas. This is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light. because their deeds were evil. Who, knowing the judgment of
God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Now here's what's so full of
wonder to me about this event. As I read this Word of God, I
understand it to say that I am no better than these people and
I'm no better than Barabbas. That's what this Word of God
says about me. No better than Barabbas. I understand
this true Word to say that I have walked according to the course
of this world. Is that not what Ephesians 2
says about every single one of us? I understand this true word to
say that I am a child of disobedience. Is that not what Ephesians 2
says about each one of us? It says, I have fulfilled the
lust of my flesh. I have fulfilled the desires
of my flesh and of my mind. And I am by nature a child of
wrath just like everybody else. I understand Romans 3 to say
that there is none righteous, no not one. all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. I understand John 5 to say that
I will not come to Christ that I might have life. The word goes out, come to Christ. The Lord Himself said, come unto
me. But do you know what this word
says about me, the sinner? It says, I will not come, that
I might have life. Why? It's because I'm a dead,
vile, wicked sinner. That's why. And in this flesh,
I have not the love of God in me. That's what John 5 says. I am a prisoner of sin. And as a sinner against God,
I am the leader of rebellion. And in my rebellion, in my hatred,
my heart is murdered." Is that not what our Lord said in Matthew
5? He said, if you get angry with a man, you've killed him
in your heart. Just to hate is to murder. In my rebellion I've murdered.
My heart is murdered. I have robbed God of His glory. I'm a robber. The true word says
that I'm going to stand before God. You know that? Did you know
that every soul is going to stand before God? And I'm going to be judged compared
to. side by side with, I'm going to be judged compared
to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am Barabbas. I am Barabbas. The wonder of this event is,
I am Barabbas. I am the notorious chief of sinners. In our flesh, we are Barabbas. This event is full of wonder,
but in this event is something wonderful. It is something wonderful. Oh, the glory of this event. Go with me back over to Matthew
27. Back where we started in Matthew
27. And let's read verse 21 together. The governor answered and said
unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you,
They said, Barabbas. Pilate said 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. Then answered all
the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released, released. Then released He Barabbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus,
he delivered Him to be crucified. In this flesh, we are Barabbas. We are Barabbas. But in Christ, we are Bar-abbas. Bar Abbas. I want to show you something.
If you have your Bible open, turn with me to Acts chapter
4. Acts chapter 4, look at verse
36 with me. It says, And Josi, who by the
apostles was surnamed, and that means given the last name, Barnabas. which is being interpreted the
son of consolation. Barnabas, the son of consolation. That's what it means. Bar means
the son of. Nabbas means consolation. You've heard of a man named Simon
Barjona? Well, Bar means the son of. Jonah means a dove. You've heard of a man named Blind
Bar Timaeus? Bar means the son of. Timaeus means foul. It means
defiled. It means polluted. But God had mercy on him, didn't
he? Do you have any idea what Bar
Abbas means? Turn with me over to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8 and look at
verse 15. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear. but you have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba." What does that word mean? Look
at the very next word, it says father. Father. Bar Abbas means the son of the
father. Now think about this man, Barabbas. Think about him. Christ came
and set him free. Didn't he? Christ came and took his place. Didn't he? That cross was made
for Barabbas. Those men, they nailed that cross
together, they cut that cross out. Who is this cross for? It's
for Barabbas. Oh, I want him dead. I want him
dead. But somebody took his place on
that cross. Christ came and set him free.
Christ died instead of him. If anybody could say it, Barabbas
could say, the Lord Jesus Christ died for me. I would imagine he went through
town after all this was over and they said, Barabbas, weren't
you scheduled to die? Yes, I was. But a man named Jesus
Christ died there instead of me. He died there for me. Every soul that says that from
the heart, from the heart truly believing, I deserved to be on
that cross. That's the first thing to believe
in this is, I deserved to be on that cross. That was my cross. Because I truly am the sinner
that the Word says I am. And that was my cross. And I
deserved to die. But God, God came. And He delivered me from my death.
He delivered me from my cross. He hung there in my place. Every soul that says that from
the heart, truly believing, Christ died for me. Every soul that
believes that is a saved soul. That's what this Word says. That's
what this Word says. That's the only story I have.
This is the only hope that I have. I am Barabbas and Jesus Christ
died for me. Is that not full of wonder? Oh, but is that not wonderful?
I'll tell you who that's wonderful to. A sinner. A sinner. It's so full of wonder
to think about who Christ came to save. Well, He came to save
all those who have done right all their life and lived perfectly.
No, He said, I came to save sinners. He came to save sinners. Our Lord says whenever the great
day comes and He gathers all His people together, there's
going to be a marriage supper between the great husband of
glory, Christ Himself and His bride. And at this supper, all
who are in Him are going to be there and we're going to see Him in
all His glory and we're going to worship Him and love Him.
And we're going to do that together. We're going to see each other.
We're going to love each other. We're going to enjoy talking
to each other. And is the thought not amazing
to think of going around, seeing our brethren, meeting our brethren?
The scripture says we'll already know as we've been known. But
to go around and say, hi, my name is Gabe. Hi, I'm Abraham. Oh, how good it is to see you.
Hi, my name is Gabe. My name is Solomon. Oh, it's
wonderful. How glorious would it be? How
gloriously merciful would it be to have a man walk up and
say, Hi, I'm Barabbas. Oh, Barabbas. Aren't we a blessed
people? And then a lady walks up and
says, Hi, my name is Rahab. Oh, Rahab, aren't we so blessed
that God would have mercy on sinners like us? That Christ
would die in the stead of us? Oh, Christ truly did come to
save sinners, didn't He? Unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood. How glorious is that? The song
says, O perfect redemption! the purchase of blood, to every
believer, the promise of God, the vilest offender who truly
believes, that moment from the Lord Jesus, a pardon receives. Praise the Lord. That's the only
thing we can say is praise the Lord. Until next Sunday morning,
may the Lord bless His Word. 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 kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. 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 Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.