Would you turn to Matthew chapter
27? I have been so blessed by being
here. It's just been a blessing that
I've heard what I needed to hear. And I don't think there's anything
more pleasurable than hearing the gospel in the power of the
Holy Spirit. Nothing more pleasurable than
that. And I've just been privileged to be with you and thankful. One morning, a man in a Roman
prison cell woke up. He was in chains and that very
day was the day of his execution. He was to be crucified along
with two others. His name was Barabbas, which means son of the father. Bar always means son of. Bar Timaeus, the son of Timaeus. Abba, you're familiar with that
term, father. The son of the father. And there's great typical significance
to this. He typifies every son of Adam
and he also typifies sons of the Heavenly Father. 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. That means a plunderer. One who
used violence in order to get what he wanted. If you had something
this man wanted, he'd hurt you in order to get it. He was a
wicked man. He was a murderer, the scripture
tells us. And he was guilty of insurrection. He was a rebel against authority. Now, who knows what was going
on in his mind that morning when he woke up and knew he was to
be crucified. Put yourself in his place. Would
you have been afraid? Of course you would. Now, maybe
he was a hardened man, but I dare say he trembled at the thought
of being crucified. Was he feeling remorse over his
life? I don't know. Was he fearful
of death? I feel certain he was. There he lays, bound. Mark 15, 7 says he was bound. He was no doubt bound in chains,
waiting for them to come and get him to be crucified, to be
nailed to a cross, the execution that was reserved for the most
notorious criminals in the Roman government. Now let's go to another
scene in Matthew chapter 27. I want to begin reading in verse
11. Now remember he was waiting to be crucified. Hard telling
how far under the ground he was. 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 in so much that the governor
marveled greatly. Now at the feast, the governor
was want to release, that's talking about the feast of the Passover.
Now at the feast of the Passover, the governor was want to release
under the people a prisoner whom they would. And they had been 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. Pilate was a savvy politician.
He knew what was going on. Verse 19, when he was set down
on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou
nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many
things this day in a dream because of him. But 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 saying,
let him be crucified. And 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 our children. I know what they meant. But this is my prayer, his blood
be upon us and our children. Verse 26, then released he Barabbas
unto them. And when he had scourged Jesus,
he delivered him to be crucified. Now, let's go back to this Roman
prison cell, deep under the ground in Jerusalem. There Barabbas
lays. He doesn't know what has taken
place. There Barabbas lays, knowing his time has come. He hears the
guards come in. He hears the cell door unlocked
and open. He's scared to death. Guards say, you've been set free. Go on. You've been released. The guilty is set free and the innocent is condemned. Now, I've entitled
this message, A Salvation Story, because the Lord mercifully gives
us this real event that took place to teach us the meaning
of the cross. And wouldn't that be a blessing
from God if we leave this place with some understanding, some
spiritual understanding of the meaning of the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I have four points to this
message. Sovereignty, sin, substitution,
and salvation. Those are my four points. Now
would you turn to Luke chapter 23. The first point is sovereignty. Luke chapter 23. Verse 16. This is Pilate speaking
again in Luke's account of this same event. Pilate says, I will
therefore chastise him and release him, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Pilate said, I'll chastise him and release him. Now look
at verse 17, for of necessity. You see that word? For of necessity,
he must release one unto them at the feast day. Now this was
a custom on the Passover day. It was not prescribed in the
law of Moses. It wasn't necessary in that sense,
but it was necessary. It says, He must of necessity
release one to them on the feast day. It was necessary because
God willed it to take place. That's the only reason anything
is necessary. It's necessary because God willed
it to take place. You see, God, the living God,
is absolutely sovereign. What's that mean? That means
He has a will. That means He has the power to
make sure His will comes to pass. And He always does make sure
His will comes to pass. There's never a time when his
will is not done. He is the first cause behind
everything. Everything? Everything. Your pastor just read that passage
of scripture in Isaiah 45 verse 7. I am the Lord. I create the
light and darkness. I make peace. I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. And you know what? I like it
that way, don't you? I mean, people try to apologize for that.
I'm not going to apologize for what the Lord does. Whatever
He does is right. I might not understand it all.
I don't need to understand it all. I'm just satisfied to know
He's in control. The reason that this took place
is because it was necessary. Why was it necessary? Because
God willed it. He must, of necessity, release
one at the Passover. Let me show you a passage of
scripture in John chapter 19. This demonstrates this. John
chapter 19, verse 23. Then the soldiers, John 19, 23,
then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His
garments. His clothes were ripped off of
Him. They flung Him down onto that cross naked. They nailed
the spikes through His hands and His feet. And then they took
His clothes, and what's it say they did? ripped him up to four
parts, to every soldier apart, and also his coat. Now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said,
therefore, among themselves, let's not rend it, but cast lots
for it, whose it should be. Now, how cruel, how unfeeling,
how wicked these men were the way they were doing the Lord.
But look what it says. They did this that the scripture
might be fulfilled. You know, it's almost like these
fellows, everything that happened around the cross, it's almost
like they all, did they have to read it? Well, here's what we do next.
No, they did what they wanted to do. They did what they wanted
to do, but everything they did was determined before that that's
what they do. And who determined it? God did. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken with wicked
hands of crucified and slain. Now let's go on reading in the
scripture. That the scripture might be fulfilled which saith,
they parted my garment among them and from my vestures they
did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers
did. That's why they did. Well, didn't
they do what they wanted to do? Yes. Everything they did was
evil and wicked and they're held responsible for it. But they
did everything because God determined for it to be done. One other
scripture, Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. This is the early church, right
after the day of Pentecost. I mean, it was very early. experience of these people, but
look how quick they were taught the gospel. Verse 26 there, they
say the kings, they're quoting a passage of scripture and they
say the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against his Christ for of a truth.
against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel, were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done." Everything that
took place. This custom was made for this
one purpose, on the Passover, they would release a prisoner
to teach us the gospel, the purpose of God. Now here's my second
point. See, see, Barabbas was a sinful man. Obviously, a plunderer by violence. He was somebody who needed to
be behind bars. He was a murderer. He was a thief. He was a rebel. He was one who
stood against authority. And he represents what every
one of us are by nature, by choice, and by practice. But talking about the things
he did, doesn't really give us the real picture of sin. The
real picture of sin is the people's desire for Barabbas. You see, what we desire is what
we really are. Everything else is just a show.
What we desire is the truth about us. What do you desire? You're in Luke 23. Let's begin
reading in verse 13. And Pilate, Luke 23, 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, having examined him before you, have
found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof you accuse
him, nor yet Herod, for I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy
of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him
and release him, for of a necessity he must release one unto them
at the feast.' And they cried out all at once, saying, Away
with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain
sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into the
prison. Pilate, therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried out saying,
crucify him, crucify him. And 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 their loud voices,
requiring, you see that? Requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priests prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired. But he delivered Jesus, to their
will. You ever heard of free will? Here's man's will. He delivered Jesus to their will. Now, do you want to know how
sinful you are? Don't look at the things you've
done. They're bad. Don't look at the things you've
done. Look at what you would do if God left you to yourself. You'd be right in this group. Don't look within your own heart
to find out how bad you are. Look to what God's Word says. Look to what took place at this
time If God left you to yourself, you would murder, I would murder
the Son of God. Now, somebody says, I don't feel
that way. Well, you would. And you might
not murder the false Jesus that you feel comfortable with, that
one that you can manipulate and control and you can get him to
do, nobody's mad at that Jesus. But I'm talking about the utter
sovereign of the universe, the Christ of scriptures, You and
I, if left to our will, this is what we would do. Isn't that
sad? Free will is a lie. There's no truth to it. We have
a will that's controlled by an evil nature. Sin. Sovereignty. Sin. Here's my third point. Substitution. Here's what took place. The guilty
was set free. And the innocent was condemned. What a horrible thing when the guilty is set free. If you've been looking in the
last month in the news about that man who was in prison for
rape and they set him free. And he captured a little 11-year-old
girl and kept her for 18 years. Have you seen that in the paper? 18 years. This girl was imprisoned
by this man, committing atrocities against her. And it's because
the guilty was set free. That's a horrible thing when
the guilty is set free. What if somebody murdered your
child and that person was set free by our judicial system?
That's a bad thing, isn't it, when the guilty is set free? And what a horrible thing when the innocent is condemned. How many times has this happened? Someone who did not commit the
crime is yet condemned for it. How would you feel if you were
strapped into an electric chair or they put the noose around
your neck and you knew in your heart, I didn't do it? That's a horrible thing, isn't
it? When the guilty go free and the innocent are condemned, But
the only way the guilty could be released is if the innocent
was condemned. And that's what happened on that
day. Barabbas, this wicked man, got what was due to Christ. And Christ got what was due to
Barabbas. But, like all illustrations,
this does not give us a complete picture. My dad, When he was a little
boy, he had a pretty rough father. And he had one sister. And when
his sister did something wrong, his dad said, somebody's going
to have to be punished. Wrong was done. But I'm not going
to punish her. I'm going to punish you. My dad
actually took weapons for his sister when his sister did it. Was there anything just about
that? Was there anything right about that? What if you committed
a crime? And I said, I'll take your punishment. That'd be nice of me, but would
justice be served? I have one daughter, the apple
of my eye. I can't even express the love
I have for that little girl. If she committed a crime worthy
of death, I would gladly take her place. But would justice
be served? is the gospel, justice is only
served when the one who is guilty of the crime dies. Isn't that so? Justice is only served if the
one who is guilty of the crime dies. Justice is only served
if the one who is innocent is released. Now here's the gospel. God is just. You see, he wouldn't
do that. He wouldn't condemn somebody
who was not guilty. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
17. This is a very important verse of scripture. Verse 15. Our God is just. Aren't you glad He's absolutely,
immutably just. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Now look here in Proverbs 17,
verse 15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth
the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. That's
an abomination to the Lord. He wouldn't condemn somebody
who was innocent. He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't
let the wicked go. He said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. He'll never let the guilty go
free. Now here's the question. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? Would you turn with me a moment
to Isaiah chapter 53. Verse four. Now, what I'm getting ready to
try to address is too profound, infinitely too
profound to be explained. It can only be declared and believed. That's it. Verse 4, Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgression. See that word wounded? He was
wounded for our transgressions. That is the word that is generally
translated in the scriptures polluted, profaned, defiled, stained. That word is usually
translated by those words, that same word. I can't explain this, but I can
sure enough believe it. God took the sins of his elect
and placed them upon Christ and they became his so that He in
His person, and I don't understand this, it's almost scary to say
it, and it makes me sick to think about it. Our Lord was profaned
for our transgressions. Our Lord was polluted for our
iniquities. And just as truly, just as truly
as my sin became His so that He became guilty of it, His righteousness So I'm the very righteousness
of God in Him. The guilty wasn't set free. The
guilty was condemned. My sin became His. And His perfect
righteousness becomes mine. When I'm released, I've got it
coming. I've got it coming. You see how Barabbas... Barabbas
typifies the son of our first father, doesn't he? Adam. But
he's also... The Son of God. Turn to Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Beginning in verse 19. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, It sayeth to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Now here's where we got to begin
our state before God. I'm not trying to prove anything
to you. I'm just saying, here's what the Bible says. Our state
before God is. I'm not trying to prove God's existence. He
is. Everybody knows that everybody knows that I don't have to prove
that Bible's word of God. When you hear the truth, you
know, it's true. Here's our stake before God. Guilty. Guilty. Nothing else needs to be said.
Is there anything we can do to change this state? Is there anything
we can do to change this horrible position? Look what it says,
therefore, in verse 20. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Is there anything we can do to
change this? No. No. not a thing. Does that mean there's no hope?
No. Verse 21, but now the righteousness
of God without the law, without my personal obedience to it is
manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets. This
is what the scriptures have always taught. Even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, the faithfulness of Christ,
his obedience unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference for all of sin and come short of the glory of
God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. God foreordained him for this
to be a propitiation. That's a big word. It's an important
word. What's it mean? God's appeased. His reason for
anger has been removed. He doesn't have a reason to be
mad at me. You know why our sins and iniquities
he remembers no more? Because there's nothing there
to remember. That's how effectually the Lord put away our sins. There's
nothing there to remember so that when God sees me, He sees someone without sin,
just like His Son, whom God set forth to be propitiation
through. faith in His blood to declare
His righteousness, not just His mercy. Yes, His mercy is seen.
His grace is seen. But what does this declare? His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness
that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. salvation. Sovereignty, sin, substitution,
and salvation. What is the one reason that Barabbas
was set free? You know the word that's used
mostly And perhaps you notice this in all these scriptures
I've been reading. There's one word that keeps describing the condition
of Barabbas, what was going to happen to him. It's the word
release. Release. That word release is
often translated loose. Dismiss. You ever heard case
dismissed? Case dismissed. Depart, go on, you're free. That's
what they told him. You've been set free. Liberty,
forgive, send away, put away. All these words describe what
was done for Barabbas. Now Barabbas, there wasn't any
merit in that man at all. He didn't do anything. The only
reason he was released was because the Lord Jesus Christ took his
place and no other reason was needed. If I stand amongst the redeemed
in glory, there will only be one reason It's because Christ took my place. No other reason. And I know this
for a fact. He did that simply because he
would. Not because there was something
in me that moved Him to do it. No, no. He took my place. He did it willingly, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, the shame he felt
before his father of being made sin. I can't, that's what makes
me so sad to think about him being polluted, him being, the
shame he felt before his father, but yet he did this with joy
at saving his people. Now I see God's justice I see
God's love, I see God's glory, and I see that which captivates
my heart. Were the whole realm of nature
mine, that were a present far too small, love, so amazing,
so divine, demands my soul, my life. my own. You know, we're not told, but
I like to think that somebody told Barabbas what happened. And he believed. We'll find out one day, won't
we? Well, it's been such a blessing
being with you. Pastor. It's been a blessing to all of
us. What a wonderful time. I said when we started, this
is a time of confirmation, establishment in the gospel. And I believe
that's happened this weekend. Looking unto Him. Seeing what He did for us in
Barabbas. His cross work for us. Let's
close with a song that will also serve as our closing prayer. Number six in the white chorus
book there. You have to look on with somebody,
but if there's one near, page six the middle of the page The Lord make His face shine
upon you And give you peace And give you peace And give you peace The Lord be gracious to you. The Lord make his face shine
upon you. And give you peace. And give you peace. Amen. You're dismissed. Stay
and eat with us if you can and let's