But it certainly is my delight
to be here. We've looked forward to our visit
today and pray that the Lord would bless us richly. If you would, turn your Bibles
to John chapter 18. John chapter 18. While you're
turning, let me give you the greetings from your brethren
in Ashland. And also tell you earlier this
summer, just delightful time we had with your pastor and his
wife preaching at a meeting in Princeton, New Jersey. The Lord
just blessed the meetings and the fellowship richly. I'm so
thankful for your pastor and for this congregation, and I
pray the Lord would continue to bless you. Now I hope that
every one of us, every man and woman and boy and girl, will
listen very carefully to the message this morning. If the
Lord will enable me to preach it, if the Lord will enable me
to get out of the way and preach this message, and he'll give
you an ear to hear it, when I'm done in about 40 minutes, you'll
understand the gospel. You'll understand how it is that
God saves sinners. The title of the message is The
Truth of Substitution, and I have four simple, clear points. Number
one, the truth of the Savior, the truth of who the Savior is.
Number two, the truth about man, the truth about you and me by
nature. Number three, the truth of who it is that God saves.
And number four, the truth about how Christ saves sinners. Now
verse 37 of John chapter 18, our Savior tells Pilate that
he came to bear witness of the truth. Verse 37, Pilate therefore
said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, 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
thee truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. Christ says he came to bear witness
of the truth. He came to reveal the truth. Christ came to reveal the truth
about who God is. God loves sinners. That's the
truth. He loves real bonafide sinners. Here's how we know that. Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners. That's how we know
the truth of God. He loves sinners. The truth of
God, the truth of his character is God is holy. God is just. We know that truth only in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He came to reveal that truth.
We know that God is holy by seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. The father
turned his back upon his son with his own darling son when
his son was made sin. God's holy and God is just. He will by no means clear the
guilty. We know that's true by seeing
the Lord Jesus Christ. The father put his own son to
death when sin was found on him. God's holy, God's just. We know
that only by seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see Christ,
we see the very wisdom of God. In Christ we see. how God can
be just and justifier, how God can be just and still justify
sinners like you and me. We see that in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ revealed the truth of
who God is, and Christ revealed the truth of who man is. Only
when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, the only perfect man to ever
live, Only then will we see how truly defiled with sin I am,
how truly ruined in sin I am. I see that only when I see the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ came to reveal the truth
of the scriptures. The scriptures are not written
to give us the law so that we see a way to earn our righteousness.
The scriptures are not written to tell us how to live. Like
Brother Lindsey told us in a lesson this morning, the Scriptures
are not given to give us cute historical stories from the Old
Testament. The Scriptures are written for
this purpose, to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ. If we read the
Scriptures and we're not pointed to Christ, we haven't read it
right. The Scriptures are written to point us to Christ. The Scriptures
do give us the law, but the law wasn't given to show us the way
we could keep it and make ourselves righteous. The law is given to
show us that we can't keep the law so that we must go to Christ
who did for us what we cannot do. He did for his people what
we cannot do. He kept the law for us. He satisfied
God's law and God's justice for his people. That's why the scriptures
are written. Christ came to reveal the truth
about who he is. He's the sovereign king. He's
the sovereign savior. Christ is Lord. That's the truth
he came to reveal. And Christ came to reveal the
truth about how God saves sinners. God saves sinners by grace, not
by our works, not by our merit, not by our contribution, by pure
grace alone. We only see that in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Grace and truth. must have something to do with
truth. Grace must be given in truth. Grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. And we learn, if we'll learn
the truth of substitution, this is what we'll learn. How is it
that grace and truth are tied together? Grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ. Christ came to bear witness unto
the truth. That's what he told Pilate. So
here's our first point. The truth of the Savior. Christ
came to reveal the truth of the Savior. In verse 38, Pilate said
unto him, what is truth? When he had said this, he went
out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in him no fault
at all. Now Pilate asked, what is truth? You came to bear witness of the
truth? What is truth? What does it really matter? That's
what he's asking. Is there just one truth or is
there many truths? No, there's only one truth. It's
the truth revealed in Jesus Christ. We can only preach the truth
by preaching Christ. There's just one truth, it's
Christ. The question that Pilate should be asking is not what
is truth, but who is truth? The Lord Jesus Christ standing
right in front of Pilate is the truth. He is the truth of God. Pilate's asking what is truth?
And he's also asking this. Is this truth worth dying for? I mean, look at what you're going
through. Is the truth worth this? Yes,
it is. Yes, it is, because the only
way we can see the truth is in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, it's worth it. This is how the truth is revealed.
Now, here's the truth of the Savior. Pilate is the judge in
this case. And he says what everyone knows
to be true. There is no fault, no sin in
the Lord Jesus Christ. I find in him no fault at all. Well, of course he didn't. There's
no sin in him. There's no fault in him. The
Lord Jesus lived the life of a man. God's son became a man. And as a man, he lived a life
of absolute perfection. He obeyed the law in every jot
and every tittle. He obeyed the law perfectly,
indeed, but also in thought, in motive. He lived a life of
perfect holiness. John said in 1 John 3, in him
is no sin. There's no fault in him. Peter
said he did no sin. Peter said that Christ is the
Lamb without blemish and without spot. He had no sin. He wasn't even acquainted with
sin. How well acquainted are you and
I with sin? Very, very, very well, aren't
we? The Lord Jesus wasn't even acquainted with sin. Perfectly holy, and everybody
knew it. The angels knew it. When the
angel came to tell Mary she was with child of the Holy Ghost,
this is the Messiah, this is the Savior, the angel did not
know what to call that child in her womb. He just said it's
that holy thing without sin. Oh, that thrills my soul. The
angel said, that holy thing in your womb, that's my savior. That's my holiness. That's my
righteousness. No sin. The angels knew it. And you know who else knew he
had no sin? The demons knew it. In Mark chapter one, that demon
possessed man, those demons spoke from him. They saw the Lord coming.
He said, I know who you are. You're the holy one of Israel.
You're holy. Judas knew it. Judas knew it. He went back to those priests.
He gave them, the high priest, their money back. He said, I
betrayed innocent blood. He didn't do anything wrong. Here's the power of God's grace.
The dying thief knew it. He told that other thief, you
know, you and I better keep our mouth shut. We're getting what
we deserve. This man hath done nothing amiss. There's no sin
in him. That centurion, I think the Roman
centurion had to be a hard man. Didn't he have to be just hardened?
Seen lots of death. He watched the Lord Jesus die.
And he said, certainly this was a righteous man. There's no sin
in him. That's why Pilate could find
no fault in him. Look at Acts chapter 13. Satan
couldn't find no fault in him. Our Lord said, the prince of
this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Satan couldn't find any
sin in him. And Satan's minions, the Pharisees,
these men leading this false religion of the works and the
ceremonies of the law, that's why they couldn't find any fault
in him either. Acts 13 verse 28. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be
slain. These men, they knew the law
and they could find no fault in him because he's sinless. And that gives me the first clue
to our second point. They could find no fault in him,
yet they desired him to be put to death, didn't they? You'd
think. that men would love the perfect,
holy son of God. You'd think that they'd love
him, wouldn't you? He didn't, he never did anything wrong. He
was always kind and generous to sinners, but man, by his nature,
utterly hates the Lord Jesus Christ and his perfection, hates
him. So here's our second point, the truth about man. And when
I'm talking about the truth of man, I'm talking about the truth
of you and me by nature. Let's apply this to us now. This
is the truth of man by nature. Look back in our text, John 18,
verse 39. Pilate says, but 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. Now Barabbas was a liar, or was
a robber. Now man, this is the truth of
man, man is the opposite of Christ. There was no sin in Christ. Nothing in him but righteousness.
In man, there's no righteousness. There's nothing but sin. Everything
in us is sin. And that sin nature is pictured
and all the different people taking part in this crucifixion
of our Lord. Pilate. Pilate the judge. This is the guy supposed to be
in control. He knew that the Lord Jesus was innocent. He knew
it. And you know what he did? He scourged him anyway. And you
know what scourging is? They take a cat of nine tails,
those, how many are there, eight or nine leather strips coming
off that whip handle, and they tie in there little bits of,
bone or broken pottery or something, and they take that whip and they
just rake it across the back of the victim, just tearing flesh
off the back. Oftentimes, someone would die.
Their internal organs would fall out their back. What a horrible,
painful thing to be scourged. And Pilate did that to a man
he knew was innocent. Now how wicked is that? How wicked
is a judge that scourges a man that he knows is innocent, and
then sends him to his death, knowing he's innocent? That's
our nature. That's the wickedness of our
nature. That's not just confined to Pilate,
that's in the heart of every one of us. Wicked, wicked nature. Pilate knew that the Lord Jesus
was innocent. And you know, he sent him to
be judged of Herod anyway. Look back at Luke chapter 23.
He didn't send him to Herod for a social call. He sent him to
Herod to be judged of Herod. Luke 23, verse seven. And as soon as he
knew that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to
Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at the time. And when
Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to
see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him,
and he'd hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he
questioned with him in many words, but he, the Lord, answered him
nothing. And the chief priests and scribes
stood and vehemently accused him. And Herod, with his men
of war, set him at nought and mocked him, and arrayed him in
a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. And the same
day Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before
they were at enmity between themselves, but now they're friends. Pilate
sent the Lord to be judged of Herod. Herod was happy to see,
he was excited to see the Lord Jesus, and they mocked him. This is what he did to a man
he's happy to see. I'd hate to think what he'd do
to a man he was mad to see. And that day, Pilate and Herod
had always had enmity with each other, but now they became friends.
You know why they became friends? Because all men can agree. I
don't care what your background, what your political affiliation,
what job you have, I don't care anything about that. All men
can agree on this by nature. We hate the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hate him. And I'll tell you the reason
for that. Man is all sin. Everything about us is sin. Our every thought is sin, our
every action is sin, our every motive is sin. And that's why
we hate the perfect Holy Son of God. You think I'm taking
that too far? If you're still on Luke 23, look
here at verse 20. And he said unto them the third
time, why? What evil hath he done? I found
no cause of death in him. I'll 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, that's
Brabus, whom they had desired. but he delivered Jesus to their
will. And what did they do with him?
They crucified him. That's man's will. That is man's
will to crucify, to torture, to kill the Son of God. In Matthew 27, Matthew tells
us that the chief priest persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas
and to destroy Jesus. That's our will. Man says, well,
we want our free will. We want to make our own free
choice. That's the choice we'll make every time to destroy Jesus,
put him to death. Man's will is we prefer sin to
holiness. We love sin. We love wrath. We love destruction rather than
holiness. We prefer a man like Barabbas
to God's own son. That's our nature. Well, that's
the truth about man. Now thirdly, let me give you
this truth. The truth of who God saves. God saves sinners. That's who he saves. God saves
real bonafide sinners who are the worst of the worst. God saves
sinners who, when they look inside themselves, can't see any reason
for God to save them. If you have been brought so low
that when you look inside yourself, You're horrified. You think,
there's nothing. There's no reason for God to
save me. Oh, that's good. I hope so. Because that's the people God
saves, who had no hope. There's no reason for God to,
there's no goodness in them. There's no soundness. That's
good news. Because God saves the chief of
sinners. That's who he saves. Now, All
men are sinners, we know that. We've just seen the truth of
man. All men are sinners, that's how we're born. But all men don't
know they're sinners. All men can't admit that they're
sinners unless God does something for them. But God saves everyone
who knows they're a sinner, everyone. And that's pictured in our text
in Barabbas. This Barabbas, he was an infamous
criminal. Matthew caused Barabbas a notable
prisoner. Everybody knew about this guy.
His crimes were so awful, everybody knew him. Luke tells us, we read
this a minute ago, that Barabbas was guilty of insurrection against
the government and he was guilty of murder. John tells us that
Barabbas was a robber. Now, that brings us back to my
second point, the truth about man. That's how the truth of
who all of us are by nature. Barabbas is a picture of everyone
that God saves. Everyone God saves is a notable
sinner. Everyone God saves says, I am
the chief of sinners. Surely there can't be anyone
worse than me. There can't be anyone more low
down, more or less deserving of God's grace than me. Everyone
God saves is the chief of sinners. Everyone God saves is guilty
of insurrection against God's government. The desire of our
heart is to take God off the throne and be our own God. That
began with Adam in the garden and has continued right up to
our heart to this very moment. The desire of our natural heart
is to take God off the throne and be our own God, be our own
ruler. Everyone God saves is guilty
of murder. We're guilty of the murder of others. Our Lord said
to be angry without a cause is to be guilty of murder. To think
it in our heart makes us guilty of murder. We're guilty, aren't
we? No denying it. And worse yet,
we're guilty of the murder of God's only son. The cry of our
heart is crucifying. The cry of our natural heart
is give me Brabus and destroy Jesus. Let me have my own will
and my own way. I'll not have this man to reign
over me." We're guilty of murder. Everyone God saves is guilty
of being a robber. Every one of us has robbed God
of His glory. We're guilty of robbing God of
His glory every time something happens that we don't give God
all the credit for it. Guilty of robbing God of His
glory. and we've robbed our own souls.
We've robbed our souls of life. We've robbed our souls of happiness
in our rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ. We've robbed
our souls of life. Now here's Barabbas, look at
Mark chapter 15. That's who we are and we can't change it. There's no point in me telling
you, start doing better and turn over a new leaf, because we can't
change it. This is our sin nature. In Mark,
excuse me, Mark 15, verse seven. And there was one named Barabbas,
which lay bound with him, that had made insurrection with him,
who had committed murder in the insurrection. Barabbas lay bound
with him. He was bound in the prison, and
he couldn't get out of it. There's no way of escape. Barabbas
is helpless. And that's you and me. We're
bound by sin. We're helpless before sin, and
we cannot escape it. And we can't escape the results
of sin either. The result of sin is death. Sin,
when it's finished, bringeth forth death. We're sinners, and
we're helpless to do anything about it. And Barabbas is so
sinful that other sinful men have determined the only thing
we can do with him is put him to death. There's no hope for
correction. There's no hope to reform him.
The only thing we can do with this guy is put him to death. Other sinful men determined that.
He deserves to die. They said if we don't put Barabbas
to death, he's gonna turn our world into hell. Now remember,
Brabus is you and me. He's a picture of you and me,
that's us by nature. We deserve to die for our sin. We deserve God's wrath. That's
the one thing we've earned, is God's wrath. If God does not
put us to death, if he doesn't put us away, we're gonna turn
his world into hell. We're gonna turn everywhere we
go into hell. That's the truth about us. That's
the truth about who God, Barabbas is gonna live. That's the truth
about who God saves. Now we've seen the truth of the
Savior. We've seen the truth about man, the truth about you
and me, and we've seen the truth about who Christ saves. Christ
saves sinners. Now here's the fourth thing.
I hope you get this. Here's the truth about how Christ saves
sinners. God saves sinners by substitution,
by substitution, by Christ dying as the substitute for his people.
It's no accident that this story of the crucifixion, when our
Lord was suffered and died, it's no accident this took place at
the time of the Passover. That's what was going on here.
It's the feast of the Passover. You know the story of the first
Passover. You're coming up on it soon in your lessons here
in Exodus, aren't you? The Lamb died. as a substitute
for the firstborn. The lamb died, his blood was
shed, his blood was put on the doorpost, and God said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. I'll pass over this house.
I will not stop at this house in judgment. I see the blood.
I see from the blood there's already been death. The substitute
already died, so the firstborn will live. That's the story of
the first Passover. This is the last one. Oh, they
might observe some of the form and ceremony of it, but this
is the last Passover, because at this Passover, Christ, our
Passover, is sacrificed for us. Mm-mm-mm. He was sacrificed.
He suffered and died as a substitute for his people, so his people
live. Christ, our substitute, died.
His people live. Now, who is Christ a substitute
for? He's a substitute for sinners. Christ died for sinners. Christ
died so that dead sinners would have eternal life. That's what
Barabbas is a picture of here in our text. Now I looked and
I don't know where this custom started and I can't find out
really anything about it. I don't know where this custom
started that they would release a prisoner at the Passover. I
don't know why it started, I don't know when it started, but I do
know this. It started for this Passover.
That started for this Passover. It started here. Wherever it
started, it started so that during this Passover, before our Lord
was crucified, we would have a picture of Christ dying as
a substitute for a sinner. There lay Barabbas in that prison,
bound. I can imagine how his day began.
He's tied up in chains of some sort, laying on the floor of
a cold, dark, damp dungeon. He didn't sleep much that night.
I mean, he wasn't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination.
But he also couldn't sleep because he knew what was going to happen
to him the next day. Oh, he dreaded it. It was awful. He knew he would suffer for many
days. After they nailed a person to
a cross, it often took days for the victim to die a slow, painful,
humiliating death. And Brabus had to be worried
about that. Nobody wants to suffer like that.
He woke up in the morning or from dozing or whatever, he could
hear the crowd. He could hear the cries of that
bloodthirsty crowd. He couldn't hear Pilate's questions
to them. But he could hear the cries of
the crowd. All he heard was, give us Barabbas and crucify
him. He thought, I know what I'm going
to get. Then he heard that guard walking down the hall. He heard
his armor clanking. He heard that spear hitting the
floors as he walked. You heard him stop outside that
cell, heard the keys. He took those keys off that chain
he's got on his side, put the key in the lock, turned it, opened
that big, heavy door, swung open. That guard walked over to him,
looked at him with a scowl on his face. He jerked him up off
the ground and started untying him, taking those chains off
of him. He shoved him. He said, get out of here. You're
free to go. The guard would just assume we
crucify both of them. You know, this is gonna be some
fun for us. But he was ordered, ordered, let Brabus go. Get out of here. Brabus said,
what? He said, you heard me, get out
of here. You're free to go. And Brabus said, why? And that
guard said, you're being released. And Jesus is taken to be crucified. At that moment, Brabus could
have written a song every believer knows and loves. I was guilty
with nothing to say. They were coming to take me away.
But then a voice from heaven was heard that said, let him
go. Let him go. Take me instead. Oh, I should
have been crucified. I should have suffered and died.
But Jesus, God's son, took my place. Those rusty nails, they
were meant for me. Oh, but Christ took them and
he let me go free. Free through the death of the
substitute. That's how God saves sinners.
Substitution. Christ takes the place of his
people. The innocent takes the place
of the guilty and the guilty goes free. The innocent dies
so that the guilty could live. Not at all. Not at all. It would be unjust for the innocent
to die. Just as much as it would be unjust
for Pilate to crucify Christ and scourge him because he knows
he's innocent, it would also be unjust for the guilty to go
free. That's wicked. It would be wicked.
It would be wicked for Pilate to send an innocent man to his
death. It would be just as wicked for
the judge to let the guilty go free. In this matter of salvation,
God's the judge. And God's a righteous judge.
He never does anything wicked. Then how can a sinner like you
and me go free? How can we go free in justice? Here's the truth of substitution.
God's son became a man. The Lord Jesus came to this earth
to work out a perfect righteousness by obeying God's law perfectly.
He didn't do that for himself. He's already holy. He's already
righteous. He earned that righteousness
as a man to give to his people, the people that the father gave
him, the people that he came to represent. Christ made his
people not guilty. He made them innocent of every
charge by keeping the law for them. The righteousness of Christ,
the obedience of Christ is our personal righteousness. My righteousness
before the Father is the obedience to the law of the man, the Lord
Jesus. His obedience is my obedience. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness. He made his people not guilty
by giving them his obedience. But something's got to be done
with our sins still, doesn't it? So Christ, our substitute,
was made guilty of the sin of his people. That was not pretend. That's not just shuffling papers,
you know, legal papers. That was real. I can't explain
how it happened. I feel no need to explain how
it happened. God did what only God can do. He made the holy
son of God sin for his people, and he made his people righteous
in him. My sin became his sin so that
the Lord Jesus Christ became guilty and his righteousness
became my righteousness so that I am innocent. So now what happens? The innocent goes free and the
guilty dies under the full wrath of God against sin. That's how
God saves sinners. God said, I will by no means
clear the guilty. Then God's not going to let the
guilty go free, is he? No, and God's not going to put
the innocent to death. When God said, I will by no means
clear the guilty, he's just when he does it. When God forgives
sin, he does it in justice. He's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins. God saves sinners in justice,
without violating His holiness, without violating His justice,
because God is both a just God and a Savior. And He can only
do that through the death of the substitute. And when Christ,
our substitute, died, God's justice demanded that His people go free. If Christ died for you, You must
live. God's justice demands it. Look
in Luke chapter 23. I love salvation in justice. This was not done, salvation
is not done by doing it and around the law. No, it's done by satisfying
the law. Luke 23 verse 16. Pilate says, I will therefore
chastise him and release him, for of necessity he must release
one of them at the feast. The guilty must be made innocent,
must go free, because the substitute died in his place. God saves
sinners through substitution. Secondly, how does God save sinners?
Sovereignly. Sovereignly. Christ is sovereign
in salvation. Who's in control here at this
story? Pilate is trying everything he
can think. This man's a professional politician. I mean, he knows how to work
the back channels and get stuff done. He tried everything he
could do to let Jesus go free. And he couldn't do it, could
he? You know why he couldn't? Because Christ is sovereign in
salvation. Pilate's will is not going to
be done here. Christ's will is going to be done here. This is
God's determinant counsel and foreknowledge. God's will is
going to be done here. Christ is sovereign in salvation.
Not only did he choose when he would die. How many times did
the Pharisees try to take him and put him to death, and they
couldn't do it, because his hour was not yet come. No, he chose
when he would die. When they took him, it's because
he allowed it, wasn't it? He chose when he would die. He chose
how he would die. Not by stoning, but by being
crucified. He said, if I'm lifted up from
the earth, I'll draw all unto me. He must be crucified. And
he's sovereign in salvation in this way. He chose who he died
for. He didn't die for the sin of all the sons of Adam. He died
for the sin of his elect. He died for the sin of the people
that the father gave him. Christ was a substitute. Who
went free? Barabbas. Barabbas' gang didn't
go free. No, Barabbas went free. All his
gang still died. But Barabbas, the ringleader,
The chief went free because Christ was his substitute. Christ died
so that Barabbas could live. Now the truth of substitution
gives the chief of sinners hope. The truth of substitution doesn't
give good people hope, does it? But it sure gives a guilty sinner
hope, doesn't it? That's the good news of the truth
of substitution. Janet asked me one time, she
said, do you think that Brabus is one of the Lord's own? Well,
I don't know. Scripture's silent on the fact,
I don't know. But I sure hope so, don't you? Oh, I hope so. I can imagine how Brabus' day
started, and I'd like to imagine how his day ended, too. Could
be he walked out of that prison complex, and he went and watched. as the Lord Jesus suffered and
died in his place. And he couldn't help but think,
that could be me. That should be me. And how could
he not watch the Lord Jesus suffer and not go ask somebody some
questions about this man, Jesus? He found somebody watching. He
said, you know anything? Who is this Jesus? They said,
well, he's the man there on the middle cross. And Brab said,
can you tell me anything about him? They said, well, I don't
know much, but he's got some disciples. I mean, maybe you
could ask them. Maybe after a few days, Brabus
found the 11. I don't know if he did or not,
but maybe, I hope. And after the resurrection, after the ascension
of our Lord, oh, what a story, Peter. And James and John had
to tell this sinful man, Brabus. And I don't know if it happened
or not, but if it did, you know what drew Barabbas to Christ?
The same thing that draws you to him. The Savior said, and
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me. Will draw all my people unto
me. If Barabbas was drawn to Christ,
it's the same reason you who believe are drawn to him. Because
by faith, you've seen him lifted up for you. and you can't help
but come to him. You can't help but keep coming
to him because he was lifted up for you as your substitute. Now this is the truth. All men
are sinners. All men deserve eternal damnation. But God sent his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to this earth as a man to be the substitute for
God's elect, to be the substitute for those that God in eternity
chose to save. Christ came in time to work out
their salvation and those elect are saved. There's no chance
that they perish because Christ died as their substitute. The
father made Christ to be guilty of the sin of his elect and Christ
suffered and he died. and he shed his blood to put
that sin away. So it is no more. There's nothing
left to accuse you of if Christ died for you. Your sin's gone.
Satan could accuse you, your conscience can accuse you, others
can accuse you, but when you stand before the bar of God's
justice, you know what God says? What sin? The record shows none. It's gone. Gone under the blood. of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the elect, and only God's elect are saved
because Christ died as their substitute. That's the truth.
And this is also the truth. If you, I don't care who any
of us, if you come to Christ for salvation, for mercy, for
grace, he will never cast you out, never. Would you listen
to me for a moment? Don't make the mistake I made.
I grew up hearing the gospel. I've always, from the time I
can understand language, I've heard the gospel. So you know
what I did? I tried to figure out if I was
one of God's elect, because I thought, well, if I can just figure out
if I'm one of the elect, I'll come to Christ. Nobody Nobody
ever came to Christ because they knew they were one of God's elect.
God didn't say, if you're one of my elect, come unto me. He
said, are you thirsty? Come and drink. Are you weary? Come and find rest. Are you a
sinner? Come to the Savior. Come to the
Savior for forgiveness. Come to Him for mercy. Come to
Him for life. Come to Him for forgiveness.
You'll find out soon enough you came because He was always drawing
you. But you come to Him because you're
a sinner who needs a Savior. And He'll never cast you out
because He died as a substitute for sinners. God make us sinners. God'll make us sinners. We've
got good news, don't we? If we're a sinner, We've got
good hope. Christ died for sinners. Lord
bless you.