Well, I'm just delighted to be
with you. Love your pastor. Love being here. Would you turn to Matthew chapter
27. Matthew 27. One morning, a man in Jerusalem
woke up in a Roman prison cell, and that very day was the day
of his execution. We don't know how long he had
been in that prison cell, perhaps only weeks, maybe months. He was to be crucified along
with two other men. This man's name was Barabbas. Barabbas means son of the father. Bar, son of, Abba, father, son
of the father. And there is great typical significance
to his name. He typifies every son of our
first father, Adam, and he also typifies every son of the Father,
every son of God, Barabbas. He was a wicked man. Matthew's
account tells us he was a notable or a notorious prisoner. John tells us he was a robber.
Now that's more than one who shoplifts. That means he's one
who plundered by violence. He was a wicked man, and if you
had something he wanted, he would knock you down. He would hurt
you in order to get it. Have you ever been the subject
of violence? He was a violent and wicked man. He was a murderer. And he was
guilty of insurrection, of standing against authority. He was a rebel,
a wicked man. Now, who knows? What was going
on through his mind this day? This was the day of his execution. Was he hardened? Perhaps. Did he have any remorse over
his life? We don't know. Was he afraid? You bet. Did he dread the thought
of being executed, of being crucified, of having nails driven through
his hands and through his feet? Now, that was the execution,
the Roman method of execution for the vilest of criminals.
And he knew that this was what was awaiting him. And I'm sure
he was afraid. There he lays bound, Mark tells
us, bound with chains. And the morning of his execution, And let me take you to another
scene. Look at Matthew chapter 27, verse 11. Now remember, Barabbas
at this time is down in that prison cell. He doesn't know
what's going on. He just knows it's the day of
his execution. Verse 11, And Jesus stood before the governor,
and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews?
And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest And when he was accused
of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said
Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness
against thee? And he answered him to never
a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at the
feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people. This
is talking about the Passover. This was a custom. Now at the
feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a
prisoner whom they would. And they had been a notable prisoner
called Barabbas, a notorious prisoner. We've already spoke
of him. Therefore, when they were gathered
together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto
you? or Jesus, which is called Christ,
for he knew. Pilate was a savvy politician.
He knew what was going on. He knew that for envy they had
delivered him. 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. Chief priests and elders persuaded
the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said
unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
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. And the governor said, Why? What
evil hath he done? But they cried out the more.
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 do it. Somebody once said
he's still trying to wash his hands in hell. Then, verse 25, answered all
the people and said, His blood be on us and our children. I know what they meant, and I
know what I mean. May His blood be upon me. May His blood be upon my children. Then released Heber Abbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus,
he delivered him to be crucified. Now back to that Roman prison
cell. There lays Barabbas, chained. And he hears the guard coming
in. And perhaps he's scared to death.
My time has come. He hears the jail door open. Here comes the guard and he's
getting braced. He's going to be drug out to
be crucified. And the guards say, you're free. Go on. You've been set free. The guilty is set free. And the innocent is condemned. Now I've entitled this message,
A Salvation Story. And the Lord mercifully gives
us a real event that took place during the death of his son that
we might understand the meaning of the cross. Now, wouldn't it
be a great blessing of God if we leave this place having understood
the meaning of the cross? Now, we see in this story of
Barabbas how God saves sinners. I have four points to this message. My first point is sovereignty.
My second point is sin. My third point is substitution. And my fourth point is salvation. Now would you turn to Luke's
account in Luke chapter 23. Same story, but look what Luke
has to say in verse 16. This is Pilate speaking, Luke
chapter 23, verse 16. He says, I will therefore chastise
him, speaking of the Lord Jesus, and release him for of necessity. Notice that word for of necessity,
he must release one unto them at the feast. Now, notice the
word necessity. He must release to them of necessity. He must release one to them.
Why? Why was it necessary? Was it
prescribed in the law of God? No, it wasn't. There was no commandment
in the law of God that during the feast of the Passover, a
prisoner should be released. Yet Luke says it must of necessity
take place. There's only one reason why something
is necessary. It's because God willed it. That is why it is necessary. You see, God is absolutely, immutably
sovereign. He is in control. He reigns in
all things. Now, what does God's sovereignty
mean? First of all, it means He has a will. Secondly, it means
He has the power to make sure His will comes to pass. Thirdly,
it means he has the right to make sure his will come to pass. And here's the clincher. He does
always make his will come to pass. Everything that takes place
is a divine necessity because God is sovereign. He's sovereign
in creation. He spake this world into existence
by an act of his will. He's sovereign in providence.
That means he's in control of everything that happens. He is
the first cause. You can talk about secondary
causes and so on, but he's the cause. Most especially, he's
sovereign in salvation. That means he's in control of
salvation. You know how much control you and I have in salvation?
Not a bit. We're in his hands. He is absolutely
sovereign, and the reason this took place is because God willed
it. You see, 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 say unto Him, What
doest thou? God decreed for this event to take place. It's of
necessity that one be released at the Passover. You know, I
love the way The Lord points out in the Gospels how everything
the Lord was in control of. You know, he was no victim during
all this. He was no victim. He was controlling
everything. And how many times do we read
that this took place, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled?
That the Scriptures might be fulfilled? It's almost like these
fellows who were crucified in the Lord, they read, well, what
are we supposed to do next? And they do it, but they didn't
have any idea what they were doing. But they did everything that God
ordained for them to do. You see, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken him with wicked hands and crucified him slowly. They were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. So what was going on at this
time was a divine necessity. So when we see Barabbas, it is
a necessity. that one be released at the Passover. Now, the next point regarding
this story. First, sovereignty. It's necessary. And here's the second point.
Sin. Sin. Barabbas was a sinful man. He was a wicked man. He deserved
to be crucified. He really did. I mean, this man
was a violent man. This was a man who murdered people. This man was a rebel, a thief,
one who stood against authority, and he typifies what all men
are by nature, choice, and practice. Barabbas was bound. He was powerless
to get himself out of this mess. There wasn't a thing he could
do. But I believe, we're there in Luke chapter 23, I believe
the chief priest's desire for Brabus give us more of a look
at the true nature of sin. Now, would you look with me in
Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 13. 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
perverted the people, and behold, I have examined him before you,
and have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof
you accuse him. Nor yet, Herod, for I send 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 unto them one
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 out, saying,
Crucify him, crucify him. He said unto them the third time,
Why, what evil hath he done? I found no fault or cause of
death in him. I will therefore chastise him,
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices, look at this word, requiring. him, 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 what? Required. And he released unto
them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison,
whom they had desired. See that word? Desired. But he
delivered Jesus to their will. Now here is sin. You want to
understand what sin is? He delivered Jesus to their will. This is what they required. This
is what they desired. Now here's what God has against
me and you and all men by nature. We will to put his son out of
business. We will to kill his son. Now, most people say, I don't
will that. Now, I realize that people are not mad at the Jesus
that is preached by most people. The Jesus who wants certain things,
but he can't do them unless you let him and can't save you unless
you let him. Nobody's mad at that Jesus. That's
a non-existent Jesus. We got that Jesus in our back
pocket. We can pull him out and use him however we want. But
that's not the Jesus Christ of Scripture. God's eternal son,
the sovereign of the universe, the one who has all control.
Pilate says, don't you know that I have power to crucify you and
I have power to release you? And he says, you could have no
power at all over me, except it were given to you from above.
That's the Jesus I'm talking about, the one of whom we have
no control, who controls all things. That the will of every
natural man is to kill him. Now, free will is the biggest
lie that's ever been told. Every man has an evil will, chained
to an evil nature, and here's man's will. Crucify him. Put him out of business. What
if you had somebody who wanted to kill your child? What would
you think of that person? You know what you'd think. You
know what you'd think. Sin. Here's my third point. Substitution. Here's what took
place. The guilty was set free. And the innocent was condemned. Now, what a horrible, terrible
thing when the guilty is set free. I've been reading the papers
recently about a man who who had been convicted of rape. And he'd been put in prison.
And they let him out. And after they let him out, he
captured an 11 year old girl, you all probably read about this
in the paper, and kept her in confinement for 18 years, committing
atrocities against her. What a horrible thing when the
guilty is set free. What would you think of our judges,
our judicial system, if they just up and let the guilty go
free to put these people back out upon society? This is a terrible
thing when the guilty go free. But here's an instance where
the guilty was set free. And what a horrible thing it
is for the innocent to be condemned. What a terrible thing. What about
that man who's strapped into an electric chair? And they're
going to pull the switch. And he knows, I didn't do it. Can you imagine what a horrible
thing that is? And how many times has that happened?
I mean, it's happened where somebody's accused of something they didn't
do and they are punished. for something that they did not
do. Now, Barabbas, the guilty, is
set free. And the innocent, the Lord Jesus,
who never sinned, is condemned. Now, like all illustrations,
this does not really give us a complete picture. of what was
going on on the cross. What if you committed a crime
and you were caught? And I said, I'll take your punishment. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? That'd be a gracious act on my
part. But would justice be served? If I didn't do it and you did
it, The only way justice would be served is if you were punished,
not me. Now, I've got one daughter and
I love her dearly. She's the apple of my eye. Now,
if she committed a crime that merited death, I guarantee you
if I could, I would gladly take her place. I would gladly die
in her place. No question, no hesitation, but
Would justice be served? No. She's the one that ought
to die if she did the crime. Justice would not be served if
I died in her place. It's only the one who is guilty
of the crime that ought to die. Now, here's the gospel. God's
just. God's just. Turn with me for
a minute. Hold your finger there in Luke 23 and turn to Proverbs 17. Verse 15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just,
even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Someone who would
condemn somebody who is innocent, that's an abomination to the
Lord. Someone who would justify and release someone who is guilty. That person is an abomination
to the Lord. See, the Lord is absolutely just. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of His throne. This is who He is. He's absolutely
just. He would never clear the innocent.
He said, I'll by no means clear the guilty. He won't condemn
an innocent man. He won't clear the guilty. that
will not take place with our God. He is absolutely, immutably
just, righteous, holy. Now, how is it, how is it that
the innocent can be condemned and the guilty can go free? It doesn't happen. under no circumstances, it doesn't
happen. This cannot be so much understood
or explained, but believed. God took the sins of His elect,
and He placed them upon Christ. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah chapter 53. God's got the authority to do
this. He's God. I remember one time hearing a
preacher who had been caught in some kind of moral scandal,
and they were interviewing him about it, and they said, what
about your sin? He said, well, I put that sin
under the blood. And I thought, since when do
you have the authority to do that? You can't put your sin
under the blood. Only God can do that. God is
God. This is all up to Him. Now look
here in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken
of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. Let's stop right there for a
moment. He was wounded for our transgressions. Now this word
wounded is generally translated in the Old Testament, profane. He was profaned for our transgressions. He never sinned. He did no iniquity. But He was profaned. This word
is like when you read in the book of Leviticus, you read the
word polluted. The same word. He was polluted. Isn't that awful? His holy soul? This word is also translated
defiled. He was defiled for our transgressions. It's actually translated, stained. He in His holy soul, He who never
sinned. It's hard to say stuff like this.
It's hard to... All the hell that's in my heart,
the sin, the iniquity, it all was made to meet on Him who His
own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree so that
He was guilty. My sin became his to where he
said it's my sin. It's my sin. He was guilty. Lord's
not going to clear the guilty. His wrath came down upon his
son because he deserved it. That's why my sin. He was polluted. I hate saying that. It scares
you to say that. But that's the scriptural language. He was wounded. The reason the
Lord kills him is because he had it coming. The Lord didn't
look at him and say, well, I know you're not guilty, but I'm going
to treat you as if you are. No, sir. He didn't have the satisfaction
of knowing, well, at least I know I'm not really guilty of this.
No, he knew he was guilty before his father. That can't be explained. But it can be believed and it
can be declared. It must be. and just as truly as my filthy
sin became His. His perfect righteousness, His
law keeping, His holy life is mine so that I can say And it ain't no exaggeration,
if you want to know the truth about me, read Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, and you'll find out every detail of my life. That's the believer's hope. Substitution. That's substitution. Anything less is not substitution. It's just talk. It's just religious
talk. Nothing more. Sovereignty. He must of necessity release
one. Sin. Substitution. And the fourth point is salvation. Salvation. Now there's one word
the Holy Spirit uses to describe this benefit to Barabbas. Would you turn back in Luke 23. Verse 25. And he released. There's the
word. And he released. unto them, him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison." Now this word, release, let me
give you some of the words the Bible uses to translate this
one word. Dismiss. Case, dismissed. Loose. Loosing. Set Him free. Forgive. Liberty. Depart. Go on. You are set free. You're released. Released. Now, I'll tell you this. I understand the only reason
I'm released is because he took my place. He died for me. Let me tell you why. There isn't
anything that I hate any more than the doctrine of universal
redemption, that Jesus Christ can die for you and you might
wind up wind up in hell anyway. And let me tell you why I hate
that doctrine so much. Well, first, because it's not
taught in scriptures. But secondly, and maybe this
is firstly with me, that takes away the only hope I have. Because
the only hope I have is that Christ died for me. And if you
tell me He can die for me and I wind up in hell anyway, I don't
have any hope. Here's my hope. That when He
died, I was set free and released. Now, in this story, we see, more
than anything else, the character of God. He's just. He's absolutely just. No sin will ever go unpunished. And I see the love of God. We
were singing that, we were singing that hymn of, and when I think
that God, his Son not sparing, you know, sent him to, you know,
for me, I, I, that's another thing that can't
be understood, just believed. But I want to close with this
thought. Barabbas, what happened to him? What happened to him? You know, we're not told. But
it wouldn't surprise me if somebody told him the gospel. He died
for you. That's the reason you're set
free. And he was made to understand. I don't know, but I like to think
of He became a follower, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, delighting
in the gospel.