Would you turn in your Bibles
to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. I'd like to
begin reading in verse 13 of Luke chapter 23. And Pilate,
when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers
and the people, said unto them, You brought this man unto me
as one that perverteth the people. And behold, I, having examined
him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those
things whereof you accuse him, no, nor yet Herod. For I sent
you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him
and release him, for of necessity He must release one unto them
at the feast. And they cried out all at once,
saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who
for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder was
cast into the prison. Pilate, therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying,
Crucify him! Crucify him! And he said unto
them the third time, Why? what evil hath he done? I have
found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him,
and let him go. And they were instant. with loud voices requiring that
he might be crucified and the voices of them and of the chief
priests prevailed and Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required and he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison whom they
had desired, but He delivered Jesus to their will." Now very few of the events surrounding
our Lord's death are recorded in all four Gospels, but this
is one of them. the story of Barabbas. Now, Barabbas did not ask the
Lord to do this for him when the Lord took his place. I repeat,
he did not ask the Lord to do this for him. This was done without
Barabbas' knowledge while all this took place. Barabbas didn't
know anything about it. Barabbas found out that it was
done. On a Friday morning, three men
were scheduled to be crucified. Two of the men, we do not know
what their name was. We know as we go on reading in
this chapter that one of them, the Lord saved. Oh, that glorious
story of the thief on the cross. I love that hymn. The dying thief
rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. And the other thief,
died in his sins. Now, we know that the middle
cross was reserved for man by the name of Barabbas. Barabbas
means the son of the Father. And in Barabbas we see a perfect
type of every son of Adam. And in Barabbas we see a perfect
type of every son of God. Barabbas released. Now Barabbas was a wicked man. Matthew's account tells us he
was a notable prisoner. That word means notorious. public enemy number one. John tells us he was a robber,
much more dangerous than a petty thief. One who with violence
plundered people. We read where he created sedition
and insurrection. He was an out-and-out rebel. He was a murderer. He was a wicked
man. that's all you could say about
this man he was not a man you would want to have out on the
streets Barabbas now here he lays in jail bound the scripture says with
a chain laying on the floor all that night now try to put yourself
in this man's place He knew that the next day he was to be crucified. Crucifixion was an execution
by the Roman government reserved for only the vilest of criminals. and he knew that next day he
was going to be stretched out on a cross and nails were going
to be driven through his hands and through his feet and can
you imagine the sense of dread that must have overcome him now
we don't know what all he was thinking obviously perhaps he
was hardened perhaps he was resentful of the things that had transpired
in his life that had brought him to this place. Perhaps he
was utterly hardened. I don't know, but I do know this,
the man was filled with fear and dread at what was going to
take place. How could he feel any other way? Laying there all night long,
waiting for daylight, waiting for the time of his crucifixion
bound with two soldiers with him. Now let's go to another
scene. Turn to Matthew chapter 27 for
just a moment. Barabbas did not know that any
of this was going on. Verse 15 Now at the feast, the Passover,
the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom
they would. This was done every Passover. There was nothing in the Bible
about this, nothing in the law about this, but this was the
Roman government's way of pacifying the Jews. Every Passover year,
they would release a prisoner, whoever the Jews chose. Didn't matter what he did, if
they wanted him out, he would be released. And they had then
a notable, a notorious 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, remember, Pilate wanted the Lord to be
released. And he wanted this to be over. And he thought the people would
release Christ rather than this monster to be brought back out
into society and this murderer, this man who we couldn't be safe
with him around. Surely they'll pick Jesus who
is called Christ over Barabbas. Verse 18, for he knew that for
envy they had delivered him. He was a savvy politician and
he knew exactly what was going on. They were just envious of
the popularity of this man, and they thought he was making their
candle dimmer, and they wanted to put him to death. Verse 19,
when he was set 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. Can you imagine how that
made Pilate feel when his wife sends a messenger with that message? 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, whether the twain will you that I release unto
you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What
shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say
unto him, let him be crucified. Now can you imagine wishing that
on someone? Let him be nailed to a cross
and suffer and die. That was their desire. Verse 23, 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, there was going to be a riot, 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." Pilate remembers that even now
in hell. He was not innocent of the blood
of that just person. Verse 25, "...then answered all
the people and said, His blood be on us and our children. Let us be held responsible for
this. We'll take all the blame." But
what a prayer this is for the believer. Let His blood be upon
us and upon our children. Verse 26, "...then released He
Barabbas unto them, Then released he Barabbas unto
them. Now Barabbas didn't know any
of this was taking place. And now he's laying there in
his prison cell and he hears the guards coming. He hears the
door open and can you imagine the sense of dread that he must
have felt knowing the time is here for me to be crucified. And in walks the guards and they
say, you've been set free. How must he have felt? You have
been set free. The innocent is condemned and
the guilty is set free. Now I have four very simple points
to this message. I hope God will give us grace
to hear what's being said in this man named Barabbas, the
son of the Father, the great type of a son of Adam, and the
great type of a son of God. Barabbas, here are the four points. Sovereignty, sin, substitution and salvation. Those are the four points to
this message concerning this man named Barabbas. And the first point is sovereignty. Turn back to Luke's account,
Luke chapter 23, verse 16. Pilate says, I will therefore
chastise him and release him. Now look at verse 17, for of
necessity he must release one unto them at the feast. Now this was a custom not prescribed
in the law but yet look at the strength of these words of necessity this was absolutely necessary
he must release unto them one at the feast now why was this
a necessity because it was the will of God
that's why He of necessity must be released. It was the will
of God. And when God wills something,
it is necessary. It must take place. You see, the cross was God's
will. Never forget that. The cross
was God's will. The cross was not God's response
to Adam's fall. Let me repeat that. The cross
was not God's response to Adam's fall. Adam's fall was for the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called in Revelation chapter
13 verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now remember this, the cross
is the focal point of all history. The cross is the most evil thing
to ever take place when the creature nailed its creator to a tree. And the cross is the most glorious
thing to ever take place. It's the most God-like thing
God ever did when He made salvation for His people. The subject of
the eternities before time, what was the subject? The Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And in eternity future, what
will be the subject? Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."
That's the subject of the Eternities. And listen to this, when we're
in glory, we won't even remember what it's like to be sinners.
Can you imagine that? We won't even remember what it's
like. But we'll look at Him, one look, and we'll see His scars
as the Lamb slain. While we won't remember what
it's like to be sinners, we'll be very aware that the only reason
we're there is because of Him. the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I repeat, the cross is the reason God does
everything He does. It's for the cross. The reason
God made the universe. And God is suffering. We talked about that yesterday.
I love quoting the scripture. I quote it almost every time
I preach. And I don't get tired of quoting
it. Somebody says, I'm getting tired of it. Well, I'm not. I'm not. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand. or saying to him, what doest
thou? He giveth no account of his matters. He is sovereign. That means his will is always
done. I know not many people read the
paper anymore. You probably read your laptops. I still read the paper. But I
like to open up the paper and know what's God doing today.
He is in absolute control of everything. And this custom was
a necessity. When God wills something, it
becomes a necessity. I love that verse of Scripture
with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. He must needs go through
Samaria. Why must need He go through Samaria?
Because it was the will of His Father. Zacchaeus, make haste
and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Why? Because God decreed it. there's
a necessity in everything he does because everything is according
to God's will, God's sovereign purpose. Now how many times with
regard to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the cross do
we read this was done that the scriptures might be fulfilled? Why was this happening? Barabbas
being let go and Christ taking his place? Well, God had decreed
that Christ must suffer and die on a cross. Cursed is he that
hangeth on a tree. It must take place. This is the
will and purpose of God. Listen to this. Peter, on the
day of Pentecost, that glorious sermon, here's how he begins.
Him being delivered, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and
slain." The early church, these are believers that have just
been believers for a few days. Listen to their prayer and Him
appraise at the same time for the truth. These are people,
let me remind you, that have only been saved for a few days
just after Pentecost. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." What was going on? the will of God, the purpose
of God. This necessity came because of
the absolute sovereignty of God. I love thinking about this. Do
you know that God has complete dominion and control over the
free and uncoerced actions of men? That's how sovereign he
is. the very thoughts that are going
through your mind right now he's in absolute control of. You're thinking what you want
to. You may be rejoicing in this, you may not like it. God's in
control of that. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. He's in control of that too. Because he's absolutely
sovereign. And we see the absolute sovereignty
of God displayed in Christ. taking the place of Barabbas. Here's my second point. Sin. Sin. No doubt Barabbas was a
wicked man and he committed many crimes and he was a hardened
evil man bound, unable to save or deliver himself. But did you
know that while sin is seen in Barabbas, we see this hardened,
wicked man, sin is much more clearly seen in the men who desired
Barabbas and wanted Christ to be crucified. Now, nobody's going
to argue a murderer, an insurrectionist, a thief and a robber is a wicked
man. Such was Barabbas. But read these
verses with me again, verse 13 of Luke chapter 23. When he had called together the
chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them,
You have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth the
people, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And behold, I,
having examined him before you, found no fault in this man. Touching
those things, where have you accused him? No, nor yet, Herod,
for I sent you to him. And lo, nothing worthy have done
is death unto him. I will therefore chastise him
and release him. For of necessity he must release
one unto them all at the feast. And they cried out all at once,
saying, Away with this." And notice man is in italics. He's not even fit to be called
a man. That was their opinion. of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain
sedition made in the city, and for murder was cast into prison.
Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to
them, but they cried, saying, Crucify, crucify him. And he said unto them the third
time, Why, what evil hath he done? I found no cause of death
in him. I'm sure he was scared." Remember
his wife sending him that note? Remember when he found out that
Christ claimed to be the Son of God and the scripture says
he was the more afraid? He was nervous at this time.
He thought, I've got into something I can't handle. I found no cause
of death in him, I'll therefore chastise him and let him go.
And they were instant, united, with loud voices requiring that
he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priests prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired." And look at this last phrase, but, he delivered
Jesus to their will. Now my dear friends here we have
the essence of sin. Somebody says well I believe
in free will. Now understand there's no such
thing as free will. It's an absurdity. God doesn't
have a free will. Your will is controlled by your
nature. I want to say this carefully, but God can't sin, can he? He cannot lie. His will is controlled
by his holy nature. Now, with regard to man's will,
man's will is controlled by an evil nature. And someone who
believes in free will has never learned the gospel. They've never
learned who God is. They've never learned who they
are. It's an absurdity. But just because
man's will is not free, man's will is the most evil thing there
is. if God left me and you to our
will. And this is how you find out
how bad you are. Not by the things that you've done that you feel
guilty about. Every one of us in here have
done many things that we feel remorse and guilt for committing
those sins. But that's not where you find
out anything about your sinfulness. Your sinfulness and my sinfulness
is seen in our requirement. A lust that could not be satisfied
with anything less than the death of Jesus Christ. Now that is
what I'm guilty of. And that is what you're guilty
of. A will. that if God doesn't deliver
you from it and do something for you a will that desires the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ it's the will of man that speaks of total depravity
the Lord said you will not come to me that you might have life. What greater crime could there
be than that of our perverse will? You see your will, your
desires. My desires, my will, that's what
we really are. And he delivered Jesus to their
will. What evil. While man's will is desperately
evil, God's will is sovereign over man's will, and God uses
man's will to perform his greatest accomplishment on Calvary's tree. In Barabbas being released and
Christ being crucified, we see the sovereignty of God This was
the will of God being done. But we also see the sinfulness
of man. What sin really is. Now the third
point, substitution. Substitution. This is the glorious way in which
God has made a way to be just, righteous, and holy, and yet
justify someone who is unjust and unrighteous and unholy in
a way that glorifies His holiness, justice, and righteousness. Now, What a horrible thing when
the guilty are set free. How do you think the relatives
of the man that Barabbas murdered felt about him being set free?
It's a horrible thing when the guilty are set free. I think of what would happen
to our society if every criminal was set free, there'd be no safety,
would there? It's a horrible thing when the
guilty are set free. And what a horrible thing it
is for the innocent to be condemned. What's right about that? What
a horrible thing for the innocent to be condemned. You think of,
I wonder how many people have been executed for crimes that
they never committed. What's going on in their mind
when they think just before the electricity begins or before
the doors open to hang them and they know, I didn't do this. It's a horrible thing when the innocent are condemned. And yet,
what we see on the surface with Christ and Barabbas, the innocent
was condemned and the guilty, they were set
free. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
17, if you would. Proverbs chapter 17. I heard a preacher say recently,
on the cross, the innocent was punished and the guilty was set
free. Now read this verse of scripture
with me. Verse 15 of Proverbs chapter 17. He that justifieth
the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
an abomination unto the Lord." If I'm punished for somebody
else's sin, where's their justice? All of us know that that's wrong. There's something in us that
recoils of that. If I'm punished for somebody
else's sin, where is their justice? If I'm set free when I'm guilty,
where is their justice? What is right about that? Now
here is the glory of the gospel. God has made a way to be just and justify ungodly, evil, hell-deserving
sinners, and still say, I will by no means clear the guilty. That is so clearly illustrated
in Barabbas and Christ taking his place. You see on the cross
the sins of God's elect became the sins and I say this fearfully
on the cross the sins of God's elect Christ was not simply charged
with them but he bore them in his own body on the tree. He was made sin. Do I understand this? No. This is a transaction between
the father and the son. When the father took the sins
of those he gave the son, and he put them in his son, and his
son became guilty of those sins, and the wrath of God came down
upon him and killed him. And he took the righteousness
of his son and gave that righteousness to every one of his people, so
that they're the very righteousness of God in him." Now somebody
says, how can that be right? Because God did it. Is that enough
of a reason? for He hath made Him to be sin
for us." God did it, and God doesn't do something because
it's right. It's right because He did it. That's the rightness. Secondly,
this is right because Christ did this willingly. This wasn't forced upon him.
He said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it up. This
commandment have I received of my Father. Christ did this willingly. He said, my meat and my drink
is to do the will of Him that sent me. Christ, who for the
joy that was set before Him, the joy of doing his father's
will, the joy of saving his people, endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God. This is
right, because Christ did this willingly. Here's another reason
this is right. Because of Christ's relationship
with his people. We're the sheep, he's the shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He's the husband, we're the bride. Christ loved the church. and
gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present
it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blame before
Him. This is Christ taking on the
debts of His bride, His beloved bride that He loved so dearly,
and willingly putting away their sin. Why? Is this right? Because we're saved the same
way we were lost in another. In another. Now when Adam sinned, I can't
really say that his sin was charged to my account because when he
sinned, I sinned. It's not just that his sin was
charged to my account. By one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, in that
all sinned. When Adam sinned, I was in him.
He was my head, and I sinned. But just as I was lost in another,
I'm saved in another. When Jesus Christ kept the law,
I kept the law. I don't try to keep the law.
I kept it. Kept it perfectly. When Jesus
Christ died under the wrath of God, I did too. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised as well. Just as I was lost in another,
I'm saved in another. Now, understand this, on the
cross, the guilty was condemned, and the innocent was set free. Amen? The guilty was condemned, and the innocent set free. Now here's my last point. Salvation. We've seen sovereignty. That's
why Christ took the place of Barabbas. We've seen sin, men's
evil will and desiring that Christ be crucified. We've seen substitution,
Christ taking Barabbas' place. And here's the last point, salvation. Question, why was Moravius set
free? Was it because he believed? Was it because he repented? Was
it because he asked to be set free? Was it because he asked
Christ to do anything? The fact of the matter is, the
only reason Barabbas was set free was because Christ took
his place. That's the only reason. There is no other reason. Salvation. Notice in verse, back to Luke
23, Verse 23, And they were instant
with loud voices, requiring, this was their desire, that he
might be crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence, that
it should be as they required, and he released unto them. him that for sedition and murder
was cast into prison whom they desired but he delivered Jesus
to their will now this word release is a glorious New Testament word
let me give you the ways it's translated to the King James
Version when Barabbas was released it's translated loose set him free It's translated, dismissed. Case, dismissed. It's translated, depart. You're free to go. It's translated, forgive. You are forgiven. You see, when you were justified,
that's why you were forgiven. And the only way a believer could
ever look at their sins is as forgiven sins. It's translated, go, go, go your way. Bartimaeus followed
Jesus in the way. It's translated, liberty, you're totally at liberty it's
translated send away put away your sins are put away now that
is what Christ did with my sins and I am released set free for
this one reason He took my place. What is your hope of salvation?
My only, now listen to me, my only hope of salvation is that
He took my place. Now, somebody's thinking, how
can I know if He took my place? Now my dear friend, you can know. How can I know? He took my place. You see, Jesus Christ the Lord
did not die for everybody. If He did, everybody would be
saved. I despise that teaching that
teaches He made salvation possible. That takes away the only hope
I got. If he can die for somebody and they wind up in hell, I guarantee
you I'll wind up in hell. I've got no question about that.
If he can die for somebody and they can still be damned, I'll
be damned. I know I will. So how can you know, how can
I know whether he died for me? Romans chapter 5. Why don't you
turn there and look at this with me. Verse six, four, Romans chapter five, verse
six, four. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now let me ask you,
are you without strength? without any strength. Are you ungodly? Would that describe you? Without
strength, ungodly. Then my dear friend, if you are,
Christ died for you. That is who He died for. This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. Are you a sinner? Ungodly? Without strength? He came to
save you. I guarantee you, there's no doubt
about it. Christ came to save you." Well,
how will I know? You'll believe the gospel. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. If Christ died for you, I guarantee
you this, you're going to believe on Him as everything in your
salvation. And you'll look nowhere else.
Now, in this man, recorded in all four Gospels, we have a beautiful
picture of the Son of the Father. Here's the Son of Adam. Barabbas
really illustrates that. But here's a son of God, saved
because somebody took his place.