Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay, we'll be starting today
in the book of John, the Gospel of John chapter 18. Gospel of
John chapter 18. We'll begin reading in verse
28 of John 18 and read through the end of the chapter. John 18, 28. Then led they Jesus
from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. And it was early. And they themselves went not
into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that
they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them
and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? They answered
and said unto him, if he were not a malfactor, we would not
have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, take
ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death.
They betrayed their true intentions with that statement. That the
saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what
death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art
thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, sayest thou
this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it of thee?
Pilate answered, Am I a Jew, thine own nation, and the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me? What hast thou done? Jesus
answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were
of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should
not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? Jesus said, thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, what is
truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in
him no fault at all. But ye have a custom, men and
their customs, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you
one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again saying,
not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Now
I've entitled this message simply one word, Barabbas. I could have
just as easily titled it, I am Barabbas, you are Barabbas. And verse 40 tells us Barabbas
was a robber. Now a robber is someone who takes,
sometimes by force, something that belongs to another. And
mankind by nature tries to take from God what rightfully belongs
to him, and him only, his glory and his praise. The Lord tells
us in Isaiah 42.8, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Religious folks try to claim
that salvation was a group effort between them and God, between
their effort and their doing and God doing his part. They
acknowledge that yes, The foundation of salvation was laid by Christ,
but their believing actually made it effectual. It's kind
of like when a seed is planted in bone-dry ground, and it won't
spring forth until it's watered. They claim that their believing
on Christ was the water that made their salvation spring forth,
and thereby they become as Barabbas, a robber, robbing God of his
glory. Malachi 3.8, a verse that we're
familiar with, Ask, will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse, for
you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Now this certainly
is speaking of the physical nation of Israel during the time of
Malachi. But it can very well be applied
to the entire human race from Adam right up to this moment. Men try to rob God of the glory
that's due His name for the work that He has performed on behalf
of His elect. Christ did all the necessary
things to satisfy the holy law of God, and He made Himself a
sacrifice, yet men teach that that is not enough, that there's
something more to be added to the work of Christ to make it
effectual. And therefore, they rob God of
the glory due to Him for the things that He has accomplished
for sinners. In Ephesians chapter 1, I won't
read all the verses. We're familiar with them. But
let's turn over there to Ephesians chapter 1 for a minute. Ephesians chapter 1. I'm just going to skip through these
quickly. Verse 4. It says, according as He had
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him love. Verse 4 explains clearly
that God Almighty made a choice of a people in Christ before
the foundation of the world yet men choose to rob God of his
glory that glory do his name for this wonderful work by denying
the doctrine of election which is clearly taught throughout
God's Word. And their choice, again, is the
thing that makes effectual the work of Christ on their behalf. And by doing so, by claiming
that they again rob God of the glory that he will not give to
another. Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. This clearly clearly states that
God predestinated us unto the adoption of children. How did
He do it? By Jesus Christ. But natural
unregenerate men say otherwise. They say that when they could
decide to give their heart and life to Jesus, they, by their
decision, make themselves children of God, again, robbing God of
His glory. Then verse 11, let's read verse
11. Speaking of Christ, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. But again, men
claim that they have free will and therefore they are the ones
that truly in the end decide whether the work of Christ is
effectual or not. Once again, robbing God of his
glory, Now turn over with me to Mark 15. There's a different
account of what we just read in John concerning Barabbas. Mark 15. We'll read the first 15 verses
of this text. Mark 15. And straightway in the morning
the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and
the whole council. and bound Jesus and carried him
away and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, art thou
the king of the Jews? And he answered and said unto
him, thou sayest it. And the chief priest accused
him of many things, but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him
again, saying, answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things
they witnessed against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing,
so that Pilate marveled. Now at that feast he released
unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. And there was one
named Barabbas, which lay bound with him that had made insurrection
with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. 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 that he should rather release
Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said
unto them, what will you that I should do unto him whom ye
call the king of the Jews? And they cried out, crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, why?
What evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly.
They couldn't answer that question. but they just cried out again
like a madman mob would do, 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. Now verse seven
of this text says that there was one named Barabbas which
lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him. who
had committed murder in that insurrection. Now the definition
of this word insurrection, it means the act or instance of
an open revolt against authority. The act of rising up against
authority, a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control
from another. Now here we have a perfect description
of mankind. This verse tells us that Barabbas
lay bound. He was in a situation that made
it impossible for him to do anything to improve his condition, as
such is the condition of every man and woman that are born in
this world. We are born in bondage. Hebrews 2 tells us this, it says,
starting in verse 14, it says, for as much as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of
the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. We're under the bondage of sin,
that sin that Hebrews describes so well when it says that that
sin so easily besets us. This word beset, it's an interesting
word. Talking about the sin that attacks
us, it says to attack, this is the meaning of beset, to attack
from all sides, to trouble persistently, to harass, to attack, and is
that not the perfect description of what sin does in the lives
of both lost men and women and believers? Peter told us, for
of whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought into bondage,
that sin that so easily besets us. But God gives us this promise
that sin shall not have dominion over us. In Romans 6, 14, sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the
law, but under grace. Further, he promises in 1 Corinthians
15 that we will also have victory, final victory, over death as
well. And this verse goes on to tell
us that Barabbas lay bound with them that had made insurrection
with him. Now, everyone who had taken part
in this insurrection had been rounded up, cast into prison,
into bondage with Barabbas. And such is the case with all
of mankind In our Father Adam, we took part in a rebellion,
in an insurrection. We cried out, we will not have
this man to rule over us. We will do our own thing. We
will go our own way. Yet, lost men and women claim
to be free as they please. In fact, they claim to have a
free will, but yet they're bound by the chains of their own evil,
depraved will. And the last part of this verse
tells us that Barabbas had committed murder in their insurrection.
So he was now under the sentence of death, awaiting the time of
his execution. And so are we under that same
sentence of death. What does the scripture say?
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. In our natural state, we're
born under the sentence of death, eternal death. We had nothing
to look forward to but condemnation. and ruin. But there's one more
thing that I want you to see here in this verse. It says that
Barabbas lay bound with them that had made insurrection with
him. I would assume it would be a
very large number because I wouldn't think that anyone would be crazy
enough to stage an insurrection with a handful of people. And
yet, out of this entire group of people, there was only one
chosen to go free. And that reminded me so much
of the friends I used to run with, taking part in evil deeds. And yet, as far as I know, God
has only chosen me, wonder of wonders, to be an object of his
grace. And our family members, our immediate
and extended family members, as far as I know, there's few
in my family, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, that know
the true gospel of Christ and Him crucified. And we're told
in Matthew 11 why that takes place. Turn there with me, Matthew
11. Flip over just a couple of books. Matthew 11, we'll begin reading
in verse 20. The question is, how is it that
I came to know the Lord, that I was brought to the feet of
Christ and others were not? Matthew 11. Verse 20, then began
he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were
done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you
that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day
of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. And this
is astounding sentence right here. For if the mighty works
would have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
this day. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in that day than for
thee. And here Christ explains why
God does what He does. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes. And this is why. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight. Now God chooses entire nations
and leaves others to perish. He chooses cities, but He especially
chooses individuals. And we have to remember that
this crucifixion took place at the time of the Passover. Everything
that Christ did during His life was according to the Scriptures.
Everything that He did. And not only that, all the actions
of the Roman soldiers and the crowds crying out for His death
were done according to the Scriptures. And therefore, His death had
to take place during the Passover. He was that Lamb that we're told
in Revelation 13, 8 was slain from the foundation of the world.
He's the final Passover Lamb that needed to be slain. That
Lamb that was pictured all those hundreds and hundreds of years
in every sacrifice made at the Passover. And further, his death
took place at exactly the time of the evening Jewish sacrifice,
three in the afternoon, the ninth hour of the Jewish day. That's
when we read Christ crying out, my God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? And it says in verse 50, Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost at the time of the Jewish evening sacrifice. Now someone
had to die in this circumstance. Roman law demanded it. Justice
cried out to be satisfied and justice was completely satisfied
when the fierce wrath of our God fell upon his son. Nothing enrages God so much as
the sight of sin. It says he is of pure eyes and
to look upon sin. So it should not surprise us
to read that when our sin was laid upon Christ, that God reacted
in the only way that His justice would allow Him to react. Justice was terrible, swift,
and sure. Because of our sin, He was bruised,
He was wounded, He was chastised, He was smitten, He was afflicted. He went from being the apple
of God's eye to being the object of his wrath for one simple reason,
that our iniquities were laid upon him. We read in Malachi
3.6, I am the Lord, I change not. God hates sin and he promises
to punish it wherever and upon whomever it is found. And when
it was found on his dear son, he did not hesitate. to administer
the appropriate punishment. And God tells us that He hates
all workers of iniquity, and by imputation, simply, definitely
not by deed, but by imputation, there was never a greater worker
of iniquity than the Lord Jesus Christ. When all of the sins
of all of His people were laid on His head, we not, with our
limited intellect and understanding. We cannot begin to imagine the
degree to which our Lord suffered on that Roman tree. It was as
if all the oceans of God's wrath were condensed into a thimble
and poured out on one soul. Unimaginable suffering that an
untold number of men and women would have suffered and should
have suffered had Christ not stood in their place for eternity.
And he bore that in three unimaginably excruciating hours on the tree. Now we see in this story of Barabbas
how the just suffered in the place of the unjust. Barabbas
was guilty of everything for which he was charged, robbery,
insurrection, and murder. He deserved the punishment which
he was facing, which was death. Christ, on the other hand, was
completely innocent of all charges that were leveled against him.
We are told in God's word that he is holy, harmless, and undefiled. Even Pilate had to admit, I find
no fault in him at all. And this is a picture of natural
man always, always, without exception, choosing the evil over the good.
It's our nature to do so. And it should also be noted that
our Lord Jesus Christ and Barabbas were charged with the same crimes,
sedition, insurrection, and treason. Remember how the Jews cried out
to Pilate and said, whoever makes himself a king speaketh against
Caesar. And we can't have that. And even
though Pilate declared that he found no fault in our Savior
at all, yet he was led away to be crucified. to be crucified
in the place of another. He spared Barabbas from judgment
and punishment, and it satisfied Roman law and Roman justice,
because someone had to die. And when we consider this, I
stand amazed. That old hymn says, in my place
condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood, hallelujah.
What a Savior. And we were all at Barabbas before
our gracious Lord brought us out of bondage. We were robbers,
stealing from God the glory that is due His name. We were insurrectionists,
rebelling at every turn against the will and authority of a God
to whom all power belongs. And we were murderers with hearts
full of hatred and enmity against God and His blessed Son. had
been in that crowd, we would have been crying with him, crucifying,
crucifying. We will not have this man. But
we're also akin to Barabbas in another way. He, being guilty,
was set free because another was chosen to die in his place.
And so it is with the elect of God. We're released from bondage
of sin and the sentence of death. because another was chosen to
die in our place. Now Barabbas was guilty of all
the charges that were brought against him, but he suffered
no punishment whatsoever. You think about that. One moment
he's in a dungeon, in chains, and the next, And you have to
remember, most of these dungeons were places of total darkness.
I don't know if you all have ever been to Mammoth Cave, but
one of the tours down there, you go in and they shut the lights
off, and you literally cannot see your hand in front of your
face. And that's the way these dungeons were, but as they're
laying there, Barabbas hears the door open, and he's wondering,
is this my time? And yet the jailer comes in,
undoes his chains, and leads him out a free man. And I'm sure
all the others were wondering what, I guess, I'm glad that's
not me, because this guy's going to his execution. Little did
they know. Little did they know. But Barabbas
did nothing to secure his pardon. Now imagine that he hollered
for the jailer and said, come here, I got something to tell
you. I've decided to reform my life. and to do better and so
I think you need to go ahead and release me and make me a
free man. Now that would be the absolute
height of assumption and insanity to think that the authorities
would say, that's great, we're glad you decided to straighten
up. It's completely ridiculous and yet that's what lost men
and women say about God. Lord, I've decided that I haven't
been living right and I'm going to reform my life, and I'm going
to do better. And the Lord is just delighted
that they decided that they were going to do better and make his
son's work effectual. And he releases him from bondage.
That is not what happens. Now to conclude, we're not told
in scripture what became of Barabbas. But I can't help but believe
that he later came to faith in Christ. that he sought out his
disciples, maybe to find out about this one who John the Baptist
called the Lamb of God. But there's another reason that
I believe that that might be the case, because Barabbas would
be the only human being in the history of this world for whom
Christ died that was not later redeemed. So perhaps Barabbas
is among that group in glory, singing the praises of him who
died in his place. We have to remember that he was
certainly not so far gone that he could not be redeemed. That
gives us hope for those that we know, those of our family,
that there is no such thing as being so far gone that the grace
of God cannot redeem a sinner, Christ died for and was chosen
in eternity past. It's no wonder that we will one
day sing his praises and shout out glory to the Lamb. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength, glory and honor and blessing. So how can
our praises ever find end and we have so much for which to
be thankful. Barabbas was a rascal. He was
a wretched sinner. He was just like us. I hope that has been a blessing.