Our Lord Jesus in his preaching
seldom preached as we commonly hear men preach or as I commonly
preach. If you're keeping up with your
daily readings, a couple of weeks ago we read the Sermon on the
Mount where our Savior ascended up into the mountain, sat down,
and began to expound to the disciples His message, that's the only
place I can think of in the New Testament where our Lord delivered
a sermon as we commonly think of sermons being preached. He
first dealt with the Beatitudes and then he explained to them
the spiritual nature of the law and told us about faith and prayer
and alms and worshiping God in secret, in private, walking before
him in uprightness. But most of the time when the
master would preach, he simply told a story. He took something
with which everyone was familiar and used that story to illustrate
his doctrine and his message. That's mighty good preaching.
Ron, we ought to learn from that. We ought to learn from that.
He just told a story that was just almost impossible for people
to ignore. When he preached about himself
as the shepherd, laying down his life for the sheep, everyone
understood how a shepherd endangers himself to protect and care for
the sheep. The difference with him being
that he willingly laid down his life for the sheep. When he talked
about shepherd and sheep and the gathering of his elect, using
that as an illustration, everyone was familiar with what he was
saying. The shepherd goes out and fetches his sheep. He doesn't
go get other people's sheep. He goes after his own and brings
them home at the proper time. Our Lord Jesus spoke about the
preaching of the gospel. And when he did, he had a picture
before him. I can almost picture someone
out planting seed in a field over here while the master is
standing here talking to his disciples. He says, now see how
that farmer there is sowing his seed, he plowed the ground, and
now he's sowing his seed. And he gave us an example of
how God saves sinners by the preaching of the word. We cast
out the seed. Some falls on good ground. Much
of it falls on stony ground. Some falls by the wayside. Some
falls on stony ground. But he puts some in ground that
was prepared by the farmer to receive the seed. just as God
puts his word in the hearts of chosen sinners, prepared by God
to receive the word that is preached so that you who hear the word.
I keep praying that you may have your heart prepared of God to
receive the word, and only as God prepares the heart will you
receive the word. He must put it in your heart.
Our Lord Jesus spoke for himself and his kingdom. And he speaks
about his kingdom as being a householder. And he gives his servants charge
over his house to take care of his things while he's gone until
he returns. And so he gives his servants
his word to minister to his people and care for them. And they're
responsible to him. Our Lord Jesus gave many, many
such stories. Of course, one of the most commonly
well-known understood is the Particle Son. And there he describes
how it is that God saves sinners by his grace and receives sinners
returning to him freely. The father saw his son when he
was yet a great way off and ran and fell on his neck and kissed
him and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him. So it is
that God in heaven Freely forgive sinners for Christ's sake receive
sinners through Jesus Christ Every sinner who comes to him
is freely received by him come then to the Savior Come to God
by faith in Christ Jesus and you will find yourself welcome
at the throne of grace And then he speaks of the gospel and the
preaching of the gospel as a marriage feast inviting folks to the marriage
feast what a Blessed illustration a marriage feast by that's a
celebration. That's a time of rejoicing That's
a place where folks come together with great gladness and so it
is that God Almighty Received sinners into his kingdom and
his people received them with great gladness But at this marriage
feast No one's allowed to come who brings anything Everything
is provided by the Lord God himself. In the text this morning, Matthew
chapter 27, we have another story. A story with which we are all
somewhat familiar. A story by which we have given
by divine inspiration a marvelous portrayal of how it is that God
saves sinners through Jesus Christ the substitute. Read with me
beginning at Matthew 27 and verse 15. Now at that feast, the feast
of the Jews' Passover, the governor was wont to release unto the
people a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable 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. For 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. But the chief priest and
elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas
and destroy Jesus. When the governor answered and
said unto them, Whither 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, saying, let him be crucified. When Pilate
saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was
made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See
ye to it. Then answered all the people
and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Then released
he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered
him to be crucified. Luke puts it this way. He released
unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison,
whom they desired. And he delivered Jesus to their
will. Men everywhere talk about substitution. Religious people everywhere talk
about the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Most
any fairly conservative church you would attend would talk with
some regularity about the fact that Jesus Christ died as a substitute
for sinners when he died at Calvary. But few, few have any idea what
the scriptures teach with regard to substitution. What does the
Word of God teach when it declares to us the work of Christ Jesus
as the sinner's substitute? Now, the Word is nowhere used
in Scripture, and yet the doctrine, like the doctrine of Trinity,
is taught everywhere in Scripture. It's taught in all the sacrifices,
all the ceremonies of the Old Testament, taught in all the
New Testament, taught in all the epistles. Substitution is
Christ Jesus dying in the room instead of chosen sinners. Dying
in our place, bearing our guilt, bearing our sin, bearing our
shame in his own body on the tree. Enduring for us the curse
of the law. And he having died in our stead,
all for whom he died must and shall go free. Every sinner for
whom Jesus Christ died as a substitute must and shall go free. It is not possible. It is not
possible that any sinner for whom Christ Jesus bled at Calvary
ever suffer the wrath of God. Now understand that and you understand
the teaching of Holy Scripture. It is not possible that any sinner
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died at Calvary shall ever suffer
the wrath of God. Justice being satisfied, God
Almighty is now just to justify the ungodly. Now let me set the
background for you. The Roman government had a custom.
It was a custom probably intended to pacify the Jews on their day
of Passover. They would release a prisoner.
someone who had been locked up for a crime, someone who was
clearly guilty, and the Jews would decide which prisoner.
Much like our presidents, when they go out of office, are busy
the last hours while they're in office, writing out pardons,
signing pardons for folks, one after the other. People who have
been petitioning the president to be pardoned. So, on the day
of Passover, the Jews would choose one man, one criminal, to be
set free. Probably this was done so as
to give some semblance of the Roman government caring about
their religious feast and their religious ceremonies and placating
them somewhat because this was the day the Jews came out of
Egyptian bondage and this is the thing they were celebrating.
Well, on this occasion, Pilate thought he now had opportunity
to get himself out of this perplexity he was in. His wife warned him
to have nothing to do with this just man before him. Pilate had
examined him and found there was no fault in him. There was
no reason for him to be crucified. And yet the Jews kept clamoring
for his crucifixion. So Pilate said, you know it's
a custom. for the Roman government in their
benevolence to release to you one that you choose to be released
from prison in celebration of your Passover day. So who would
you like for me to release to you? Barabbas or Jesus? Barabbas was well known. He was
in prison for robbery, for sedition, and for murder. He was a man
who was a thief, an insurrectionist, and in the process of doing those
things, the man had committed murder and was found guilty.
Obviously, everyone knew about Barabbas. Would you have been
released to you Barabbas or Jesus? Jesus, who is called Christ,
was also very well-known. Well-known for miracles, well-known
for mercy, well-known for righteousness, well-known for preaching the
Word of God, well-known for overturning institutionalized religion, well-known
for overturning tradition and religious custom. Everyone knew
the contrast. Here stands the Holy Lamb of
God. Here stands Barabbas, a murderous
insurrectionist. Whom will ye that I release unto
you? Barabbas or Jesus? without a moment's hesitation. The whole crowd, without a dissenting
voice, said, Barabbas! And Pilate said, well, what will
I do with Jesus, who is called Christ? They said, crucify Him. Crucify Him! And Pilate washed
his hands and said, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person.
And the Jews said, you say what you want to, let his blood be
on us and on our children. And so it is to this day. And Pilate scourged the Savior,
delivered him to the soldiers, and they mocked him and beat
him, and then led him out to Golgotha's Hill and crucified
him. Who this man Barabbas was, we
are really not told. All we know is that his name
means his father's son. His father looked at him and
said, I want to call this my son, my son. Perhaps he was an
only child, an only child of a father who dearly loved him.
Some of the mystics think that there's an indication here that
he was especially or uniquely the son of the devil. one of
hell's own prodigy. But there's no reason for us
to think there was anything different about Barabbas than any other
criminal of his kind. He was guilty of those three
crimes I mentioned to you. Robbery, sedition, and murder. This wretch is brought out and
set in competition with the Holy Son of God. And the poor inhabitants
of Jerusalem cried out give us Barabbas and crucify this one
who is God's own fellow. My subject this morning is Barabbas
or Jesus. Barabbas or Jesus. Here is a striking event that
displays the way God saves, pardons and justifies sinners by the
sacrifice of his son. God Almighty forgives sinners
because Christ died. God Almighty saves sinners through
the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, his son. Without the
shedding of blood is no remission of sins. God in his holiness,
justice, and truth cannot and will not forgive sin. Absolutely. God in his holiness, justice
and truth cannot and will not forgive sin. Absolutely. When
Moses said, show me your glory. God said, I'll pass by you and
declare my name. And this is the first thing he
says, I will by no means clear the guilty. It won't be done.
God in his holiness, justice and truth. cannot and will not
forgive sin absolutely. And yet at the same time he spoke
to Moses and said, this is my name, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin. He said, I will by no means clear
the guilty, but I will forgive iniquity, transgression and sin
in order to do so, in order to do so. Someone must satisfy the
justice of God. And that someone is God's own
darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that the Lord God, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost look upon Jesus Christ, our mediator before
the world was and says concerning his elect, deliver him from going
down to the pit for I have found a ransom. In the Old Testament, The rite of cleansing lepers
involved the use of two birds. One bird would be slain, and
the other bird would be dipped in the blood of that slain bird.
And with the blood of that slain bird dripping from his wings,
it would be released into the heavens and set free. That's
what Christ has done for me. He died in my stead. I, being bathed in his blood,
am set free. So there is a fountain filled
with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath
that flood lose all their guilty stains. Here's the picture. Barabbas
must die, or Christ must die. Don Ranieri must die, or the
Son of God must die. You must die, or Christ must
die. The sinner must perish or Christ
the Immaculate Lamb of God must be slain. Behold, the incarnate
God dies and all for whom he dies are set free. Now let's look at what we had
before us in this story given to us in all four gospel narratives. I want to call your attention
to four things. First, understand that Barabbas was a man guilty
of many offenses. Second, this man Barabbas was
a prisoner under the sentence of death, under the sentence
of the law. Third, a substitute was provided
to die in Barabbas' place. And fourth, because Christ died,
Barabbas went free. All right, let's look at the
passage. The first thing I want you to see is this, Barabbas,
was a man guilty of many offenses. We sometimes say a man is as
guilty as sin. Well, Barabbas was as guilty
as sin. His life was a life of riotousness
and ungodliness. He had been tried in court, in
a court of law and justice, and was found guilty of robbery,
sedition, and murder. As such, he's a fairly good representation
of you and me. Guilty. Guilty sinners before
God. Yes, you're guilty before God. Guilty of every crime imaginable. We are all like Barabbas, the
sons and daughters of our father Adam. His image and his nature
and his character are reflected in us all. Like Barabbas, we're
all rebels. God-hating rebels. We use the
word revolutionary. That's what Barabbas was. And
we kind of tend to put something good on the term revolutionary. Well, it's really not a good
term. It's really not a good thing
to be a revolutionary. A revolutionary is the fellow
who is determined to overthrow government. A revolutionary is
a person determined to overthrow government. Now, we can find
all kinds of excuses for it, but a revolutionary is determined
to overthrow the government of the land in which he is a citizen. That's you and me. Bob, we were
born with our fist shoved in God's face. In our father Adam,
we sinned against God and said, God, you have no right to be
God. We came forth from our mother's
womb speaking lies. And all the days of our lives
have lived in rebellion against God, rebellion against authority. And the fact is, all rebellion
against God's ordained authority. Did you hear me? All rebellion
against God's ordained authority. What authority is ordained of
God? Whatever authority there is. Whatever it is. Paul and the apostles lived in
the days of the most corrupt government the world's ever known.
The government after which our nation patterns its government,
the government of Rome. It was vile. It was oppressive. It was corrupt from top to bottom. It promoted lewdness and lasciviousness
of every kind. But you do not find any word
in this book to inspire revolution against the government. Not even that one. Rebellion
against authority is rebellion against God. Because the powers
that be were ordained of God. In our youth, we show that hatred
of God, that rebellion against God. by rebelling against our
parents, rebelling against teachers, refusing to be ruled, insisting
on having our own way. As adults, we show our rebellion
against God by rebellion against authority wherever it comes.
All it takes to stir up the rebellion is for me to hear on the news
when I go home at night that the government's enacted another
law. I hate it. That's my vile nature. That's my vile nature. It's time
that we recognize rebellion for what it is. It is rebellion against
God, mine and yours. And the rebellion must be held
in check and only God can do so. Rebellion, though, is the
inward enmity of man's heart against God. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. Rebellion is man declaring, I
really think I ought to be God. I really think I ought to be
in charge. I ought to have authority. Let
everybody else alone. I should rule. I should govern. I should be my own master. I
should be the master of my destiny. God, you've got no right to be. That's rebellion. That's rebellion. Even as regenerate men and women,
the rebellion is constantly there. Constantly there. Paul said,
I find the law in me. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. So the things that I want to
do, I can't do. The things I hate, those are
the very things that I do. He said, in my flesh, in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. No good thing. Only Adam. That's all that's
in us by nature. Like Barabbas, we've all robbed
God incessantly. It was Adam's determination,
to rob God of his authority, to rob God of his creation, to
rob God of his glory. And that's exactly what man does
by sin. We've robbed God of his glory,
refusing to worship him. We've robbed God of his honor,
refusing to believe his word. We robbed God of his right to
be God by refusing to obey his word. We rob God of His creation,
stealing that which God has made for Himself, that which is to
be used for God's glory, and use it to consume it upon our
own lust. We robbed God, and when we do,
we rob ourselves. Man by rebellion, man by rebellion,
has robbed himself, and is robbing himself of blessedness. God has given us his law The
commandments, you know the commandments he's given to a brother down.
We don't talk about that here Oh, yes, we do and they talk
more about that God's law is not a recommendation God's law
is a declaration of that which is right and That which is right
is blessed And every violation of that which is right leads
to misery. Eric, how old are you now? 20?
Not quite. I know what I'm talking about,
buddy. I know what I'm talking about.
You live with your fist in God's face. I'll have my way. I'll do what I want to. and you
bring on yourself misery and shame and agitation and disgrace. We robbed ourselves of blessedness. We robbed ourselves of fellowship
with God, of the image of God. We robbed ourselves of all true
freedom. We robbed ourselves by sin of favor with God and
of life itself so that man is born dead in trespasses and in
sins. Though our sin and rebellion
is that which we constantly like to excuse. It has reduced our
race to nothing but emptiness and vanity. Just emptiness and vanity. Solomon understood this. Vanity
of vanities, all is vanity. Men live for vanity. Men love
vanity. Men chase after vanity. And when
I say vanity, I'm not just talking about standing in front of the
mirror all day. I'm not just talking about pride.
Vanity is emptiness. Emptiness. Emptiness. Let men gain everything they
want. Be it materialism, the gratification
of their lust, seeking their own pleasure, fame, fortune,
whatever it is. When they've gotten it, they
grab it and realize there's nothing to grab. It's just emptiness. Emptiness. Tell you what, when
you lay on your deathbed, I recommend that you grab your checkbook
and hold it real tight. Find what comfort you can get
with it. When you lay on your deathbed, you take your ungodly
lust obscene and snuggle up close to them and say, oh, I'm going
to die so well. I've lived so well. Go ahead
and try it. Vanity. Vanity. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians 2. Children of God. look to the rock when which you've
been hewn and the hole of the pit from which you've been dug
and don't forget don't forget Larry what God's done for you
don't forget where you were when he called you by his grace don't
forget what you are by nature Ephesians 2 verse 11 wherefore
remember Remember that ye being in time past Gentiles Now we use that term Jews and
Gentiles and we use the term just to distinguish between races
But that's not how the terms used here. That's not our Jews
Gentiles You know how the Pharisees used to pray God, I thank you. I'm not a woman a dog or a Gentile. And that's just how they classified
things. A woman, a dog, or a Gentile. Gentiles were vile, lascivious, corrupt, idolatrous, smart sinners. You being in time
past, Gentiles in the flesh. who are called uncircumcision,
unclean by that which is called the circumcision, by that which
is called clean in the flesh made by hands. At that time,
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world. Look back at Barabbas again.
Like Barabbas, we've robbed God, robbed ourselves,
robbed men, robbed our sons and daughters, robbed everybody we've
come in contact with by our sin. We've lived in rebellion and
insurrection against God, against authority all our days. And like
Barabbas, there's blood on our hands. I was working on this message
when I went out Friday morning to run some errands, and I turned
on the news just to check the weather. And I haven't heard
any more about it, don't know any of the details, really don't
care to know. It's so common anymore. A 17-year-old boy called the
police, one of the states out west, and calmly, with no emotion,
told the 9-1-1 operator that he'd just shot his mother and
his sister, killed them both. No crying, no remorse, no emotion,
just cold, calculated. And the operator asked him, did
you kill anybody else? He said, no. Did you kill them for any
reason? He said, no. He said, would you
just them or just anybody? He said, I just wanted to kill
somebody. And you look at that and say,
oh, how could anybody do that? How could anybody do that? God
just let you alone for a minute or two. God just let you alone for a
minute or two. That's all. That's all. Our Lord tells us
in that sermon on the map we read earlier that anger without
cause is murder. How many times last week did
you get so angry at something you could have just killed somebody?
Nobody takes that seriously. I do. Because if there were no
consequences, Baba, that's exactly what we'd do. That's exactly
what we'd do. Not only that, we murdered God's
darling son. Those Jews and those Romans were
but representatives of you and me. Sin is the plague of the heart. Passed on from one generation
to another ever since the fall of our father Adam. So that when
Adam sinned, Adam died and we died in him. Died spiritually. So that now man being born of
Adam is born with Adam's nature dead in trespasses and in sins. Very much alive, but dead spiritually. dead with reference to God, dead
with reference to holiness, dead with reference to righteousness,
dead in his soul, dead, dead. In this plague of the heart,
every father passes on to his sons and daughters. We must never
forget what we are by nature. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. There is not an atrocious wickedness
written upon the pages of human history of which I'm not guilty in Bob
Poncer II. The things you read in the newspaper
pop out of your heart. That's where they come from.
Not from society, not from your environment, not from your teachers,
not from the way you're raised. They come from the heart. So
I just don't believe that. Well, take it up with God. He's
the one who said it. What the book says. Well, that
doesn't jive with what we learn in sociology and psychology. I told you before, all that stuff's
just vanity. It's as empty and meaningless
as spit in the wind. It's just man's excuse for his
ungodliness. Now, here's the second thing.
Barabbas was a prisoner under the sentence of death. A prisoner
at law. Barabbas had been tried He was
found guilty and he was sentenced to die. It wasn't on probation. He was on death row. Take him
away. Bind him hand and foot. The prisoner
will be slain on the given day. Picture Barabbas. There he sits. Soon he's be taken out and executed. You know what prisoners commonly
do on death row? They twiddle their thumbs. They write about this, that,
or the other. They write to people. They correspond. They talk to folks. They play
checkers or play chess. They read books and study. They work on some kind of degree,
just as if nothing were about to happen. That's how they live
on death row. I read a short biography this
past week about a preacher, a fellow named Dodd, who was executed
in London in the 1700s for forging checks. But he had a more than
checkered past. He lived constantly stealing
from folks. He lived constantly cheating
people out of stuff. And finally hung him at death.
Do you know what he did while he was waiting to be executed?
He's waiting to be hanged for writing a bad check, for forging
a check. And he wrote essays on Shakespeare. Until it came time to die. That's
where you are. That's where you are. Twiddle your thumbs. Eat what
you want to, drink what you want to, do what you want to. Nobody pays any attention. There's
nothing. Why? They said I'm going to die
today. Hadn't come this ways off yet.
And there you sit on death row, playing games before God with
eternity in front of you. And then the day comes for execution. Now things are different. Now
things are different. Now you see a little quiver. Now you see some pacing. Now
you see some trembling. Now you see some fear. because judgment is about to
come. Understand this, will you? Will
you hear what God says? The wrath of God abideth on you. The wrath of God abideth on you. The soul that sinneth It shall
die! Man's bondage is cruel and terrible
as it is sure. Men like to think they're free.
They like to boast of their freedom. They like to talk about their
free will and free expression. You see these crazy people You
wonder, you wonder what possesses folks. Matter of fact, I was
shoving, I was somewhere, I can't remember where it was. I was
doing nothing. Oh, down in Alabama, coming back
from Alabama. I was sitting in a coffee shop, drinking coffee,
waiting on her to look at a dress shop or something. And the person
waiting on the table, I referred to, I just presumed it was a
girl. I just presumed it was. And after
looking more closely, when she called my attention to it, I
said, I'll still call it a girl. Had holes in his ears with something
shiny, looked like dimes. Kind of prissy looking. And then
you see men. Oh, look at my manliness. See
all the ink I got all over me? I got tattoos everywhere. Ain't
I something? Seemed to me like I remember
seeing pictures of that kind of stuff in National Geographic
when I was a boy. And they'd go there and take
pictures of Hindus, I mean, of New Guinea tribesmen and tribesmen
in Brazil and tribesmen in Africa. They had bones in their noses
and in their ears and tattoos all over. Free. Free my foot. Yeah, man walks across the stage
of time like prisoners in chains One blindly following the other
in the bondage of his nature called sin and rebellion and
hating God Wonder why folks do like this
cause they hate God. That's the nature and yet folks
talk about freedom and worst of all Religious folks learn
to talk about their free will. Free will. Man's will. Brother Scott Richards
put it one time, about as well as I know, it's about as free
as a frog in a snake's belly. You can jump around all you want
to, you just can't get out. You do what your nature demands. You do what your nature demands
in as much as God will allow it. And the only reason you don't
behave like a barbarian slaughtering your own children is because
God doesn't permit it. That's the only reason. The only
reason. Barabbas was guilty. He's under the law and a sentence
of death. But understand this, though he didn't know it, The
substitute was found for Barabbas. Someone to die in his place by
order of law. Someone to die in his place by
order of law. Someone to die in his place by
order of law. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, died upon the tree that was carved for Barabbas. There sits Barabbas in his prison,
in his shackles. And he hears the guard coming. And he hears the rattle at the
door. And I can imagine Barabbas crying and squalling and Maybe
he wanted to die like a brave man who didn't squall outwardly
and who didn't cry outwardly like a baby going to die with
dignity. But they still got to take him
to the place of execution. He didn't walk there voluntarily.
And there's Barabbas trembling. He's about to meet God in eternity. The guard opened the door and
said, Barabbas, you're free. Did you ever hear of Jesus of
Nazareth, the man that's called the Christ? We're going to kill
him in your place today. And they took the Son of God
and nailed him to the curse tree in the room instead of Barabbas. The Lord Jesus took Barabbas's
place. He did more than that for you
and me. Would you turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5? I'll wrap this up. Oh, what an exchange he made.
Verse 21. I know you can quote it. I want
you to read it. For he hath made him to be sin for us. Somebody said, are you saying
Christ was made a sinner? I've never said it or thought
it. He was made a lot worse than that. He was made sin. He was made sin. You were made sin for this purpose, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. He took our place. He took our
place. Oh, what an exchange of grace.
His death, my life. His sin, my righteousness, His abandonment by God, my acceptance
by God. When Christ died in Barabbas'
place, here's the fourth thing, Barabbas went home free. Barabbas went home free. The law had no claim on him.
Somebody died in his place. The law didn't terrify him. Somebody
died in his place. The law didn't pursue him. Somebody died in his place. The
law was silent. Somebody died in his place. My name's Barabbas. I'm my father's
son. And he gave his son for me. Would you go home free? Free in your conscience? Free
before God? Without guilt before God? with
nothing to fear from God, with no dread of God's curse, come
to Christ. Come to Christ and life is yours. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Amen.