Let's turn together to Luke chapter
23. Luke chapter 23, verse 13. And Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the people said
unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth
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, no, nor yet heret, 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 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 Pilate
therefore willing to release Jesus, spake again to them, and
they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto
them the third time, Why? what evil hath he done? I have
found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him,
and let him go. And they were instant. with loud
voices, requiring, demanding that he might be crucified. And
the voices of them and of the chief priest 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. And he delivered Jesus to their
will. And as they led him away, they
laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyridian, coming out of the country, and
on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
And there followed him a great company of people and of women,
which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them,
said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming
in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren and the
wombs that never bear, and the past which never gave suck. Then
shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to
the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in
a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also
two other malefactors led with him to be put to death. And when
they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. Now my subject tonight is as
delightful and easy as my subject this morning was, heavy, and
difficult. I want to talk to you about Barabbas,
but I'm not going to talk much about Barabbas. I want to talk
to you about substitution. Barabbas is set before us in
this book as a vivid, clear example of that which is the central
teaching of Holy Scripture, the core of the doctrine of the gospel. the vital issue revealed in Holy
Scripture, and that is substitution. That is the substitutionary atonement
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of God's elect
by, in, and through Jesus Christ, our substitute. Now, nothing
revealed in this book is more vital than substitution. The
substitutionary atonement, the substitutionary work of Jesus
Christ our Redeemer. Most everybody uses the word
substitute, substitutionary atonement, vicarious atonement. Very few
people have the faintest idea what is meant by that as the
doctrine itself is revealed in Scripture. Their language is
vague when they talk about it. Very few people understand what
we mean when we say Christ is the sinner's substitute. Christ
died as a substitute for his people. So let's look at the
story of Barabbas, and let me give you a very clear picture,
an unmistakably clear picture of substitution as it is set
before us in this man, Barabbas, and what transpired in the passage
we have before us. The story is given by all four
gospel narratives. That sort of indicates it's really
important. All four of them tell us about
this man Barabbas and what happened with him. There was a strange
custom in these days. The Roman governor of Judea,
Pilate, had a custom. When the day of Passover came,
they released to the Jews one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. It was obviously the desire,
the intent of this custom to somehow placate the Jews, to
honor their religion. After all, on their day of Passover,
the day when they observed the Passover, they remembered their
deliverance as prisoners out of the land of Egypt. And so
in divine providence, it was arranged that some prisoner must
be released on the Day of Atonement. As he looked at this thing, he
said, I've got the opportunity. The Lord Jesus had been examined
by him. He said, there's nothing worthy of death in him. He sent
him to Herod. Herod said, there's nothing worthy
of death in him. Pilate came back and he said another time,
there's nothing worthy of death in him. His wife said, this man's
a just man. And Pilate wanted to release
the Savior. He didn't want that so much as
he wanted the smile of men, but he wanted to release him. He
knew he was an innocent man. And he said, I've got it. I'll
release him in honor of the Jews' Passover. Little did he know
that the Jews' Passover was standing before him. The Paschal Lamb
of God Christ, our Passover, must now be sacrificed. And so
he said, I'll tell you what, there's another fellow here named
Barabbas, and this man Jesus, I'll beat Jesus and release him
to you. And they said, oh no. Oh no. Oh no. We won't have Him. But rather, take that man who
is imprisoned for sedition and for robbery and for murder. This man who has been a constant
troublemaker. This man who has been a constant
doer of evil. This man who has been tried and
found guilty and now is sentenced to die on this day. Take this
man instead and set him free. and crucify the Son of God. Crucify this Jesus of Nazareth. And so Pilate delivered Jesus
to their will to be crucified. Who was this man Barabbas? We
don't know much about him. His name perhaps is significant. It simply means his father's
son. Spiritually I'm sure it's significant.
Some suggest that Barabbas By this name, it's implied that
he is particularly the son of the devil, particularly the son
of hell. I don't think that's it. Some
suggest that this is talking about Barabbas being the darling
son of his father. That probably is true. He was the apple of his daddy's
eye. Perhaps Barabbas was a son whom
his father overly indulged. and spoiled, peppered. None are more likely to bring
heartache and none are more likely to be of disservice to society
than such children. But the fact is, Barabbas was
really his father's son, just like you and just like me. He was a son of Adam, a wicked, vile, sinful creature. A son of Adam like you. A son
of Adam like the ones you and I produce. A son of Adam like
the ones from whom we have come into this world. At any rate,
this man Barabbas was guilty of three crimes. He had committed
robbery and sedition and murder. But this crowd, so hardened,
so thirsty for the blood of the Son of God, so thirsty for innocent
blood, preferred the obnoxious creature called Barabbas to that
man who is God's own fellow. And so the guilty is spared. There were two malefactors sentenced
to be executed that day, and one seditious, robbering murderer. Two criminals who had committed
crimes worthy of death, but one man who is guilty of the most
hideous of crimes. And that man is to be crucified
between these two malefactors. But the Lord Jesus Christ, numbered with the transgressors,
takes his place and is nailed on the tree that was designed
for Barabbas. What a picture this is of how
God saves sinners by our Savior. What a picture of substitution. What a picture of what Christ
did at Calvary. We deserve to die just as Barabbas
did. But a mighty substitute has suffered
our punishment. Eternal death was our due, but
our glorious surety died for us. We all were in the position
of Barabbas by nature, guilty, wicked, condemned, shut up under
the law. But when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, and now
God, for Christ's sake, now God, for Christ's sake, can and will
be both just and the justifier of all who believe in His Son. Do you remember the Old Testament
law? There was a required sacrifice.
Two birds were to be offered for the cleansing of lepers.
The one bird was to be killed, and his blood caught in a basin. And then the other bird would
be dipped in the blood of that slain bird, and the priest would
release him in the air. The first bird is Jesus Christ,
our substitute. The second bird is every sinner
set free by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. released by
God's free grace, given faith in Christ, singing, redeemed,
how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed
through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
in the place of sinners, like Barabbas, satisfying the wrath
and justice of God, and like Barabbas, now listen to me, Please
hear me, don't fail to get this. Every sinner for whom Jesus Christ
died must go free. Law, justice, and grace demand
it. Christ died in the room instead
of sinners, just as he died in the room instead of Barabbas.
And if he died in our place as he hung upon the cross designed
for Barabbas, as he bore Barabbas' penalty under the law, justice
and grace and wisdom demand that all for whom he died must go
free. Now let me show you four things.
Four things, and I'll be as brief as I possibly can. And I trust
God will speak to our hearts. Number one, Barabbas was guilty. Number two, he was in prison. Number three, a substitute was
found for him. And number four, Barabbas went
free. All right, let's look at it.
First, Barabbas was a guilty man. Guilty of numerous offenses. His life was a life of riotousness. rebellion and sin. He was tried
in a court of law and found guilty of robbery, sedition, and murder. As such, he's a pretty good representative
of you and me. Like Barabbas, you and I are
all rebels. We sometimes like to flatter
ourselves with our children. You know, if we find one that
is exceptionally well behaved and all, you know, there's just
no rebellion in him, no rebellion in her, don't be so foolish. Your sons and daughters are just
like you, rebels. Mine are just like me, rebels. Now, we may hide the rebellion.
I remember when I was in school, I had some buddies and I didn't
do much hiding of anything. My mother used to say to me,
Don, why can't you be like K.R.? That's all I ran around with
all the time. I didn't often say it to her
because I didn't want to be kept from my buddy, but I was saying
inside, what you don't know is I'm just like K.R. He just acts
better around you. And lots of folks hide their
rebellion when it's convenient, when it's to their advantage.
But rebels, God-hating rebels is what we are. That's our nature. That's our nature. God-hating
rebels. We are all proud, self-willed,
self-serving people who despise authority because we despise
God. Our nature is the nature of our
father Adam, in whom and with whom we rebelled against God. We were born with his nature.
In pride and self-will, we rebelled against God all the days of our
lives, constantly living with our fists shoved in His face,
doing everything we could to topple the throne of the Almighty.
With Satan in our hearts, we are like our father the devil
and wish God to be dead. That's our nature. That's our
nature. Oh, I'd never say that. I'd know
it because we're all liars too. We're all liars too. Every man
by nature, every mother's son, wishes God to be dead. That's his desire. That's his
desire. We're God-hating rebels. All of us. No exceptions. As
children, we rebel against parents and teachers. As adults, we rebel
against moral civil authority. And these things shouldn't be
hard for any of us to realize. I didn't say they shouldn't be
hard on us. They're hard on us. They shouldn't be hard to realize. We who have been born of God
have been made to see something of our hearts by nature, and
there is still in us a heart that hates God. And my God, I hate that man.
in me that hates God. When I would do good, evil is
present with me, so that I cannot do the things I would. There
is something in me called flesh, something in me called my nature,
something in me called Adam, that lives continually in rebellion
to God. In the new birth, that old nature
is not renovated at all. It does not improve. Blessed
be God. He puts a new man in me that
loves God and follows Him. But that old heart of flesh is
a heart of rebellion. And like Barabbas, we're all
robbers. We rob God of His glory, rob
one another every time we get an opportunity. It's our nature.
Looks like somebody's going to get a step up on us and somebody's
going to, oh boy, if I let him get by with that, folks will
think more of him than they do of me. Let me step in his way. It's our
nature. It's our nature. We take the
things that God has made for His glory and use them for ourselves. It's the whole of His creation
acting as though somehow it belongs to us. And what we've done is
robbed God Himself. and we robbed our sons and daughters infecting them with the disease
of death that will at last carry them to hell unless God prevents
it. You see the disease of death
with which we've infected them. Darwin is the only thing we can
dead sure pass on to them. Our nature, sin and death. and Barabbas was a condemned
prisoner. I don't know much about Roman
law, but there is a term that's still used today legally, if
I understand it correctly. Once a man has been tried and
found guilty, and then his appeals are all over, the only thing
The only option left that might possibly grant him reprieve of
being executed is if the governor of the state should sign a pardon
and demand that the man be pardoned or that his death sentence be
set aside. The only way he could be changed,
not executed at the appointed time, when that man's final appeal
is done, he is dead at law. That's the state all men are
in by nature. That's where Barabbas was, dead
at law. He had been tried. He had been
found guilty. The date for his execution was
set, and he's in prison awaiting execution. He's sitting on death
row. That's your position if you're
without Christ right now. You are dead at law. Judgment Day will not be a day
when God is going to examine how good you've been and the
way your good works with your bad and decide whether or not
you're going to hell. That's decided already. That's
decided already. According to law, hell is your
dessert. Eternal death, eternal damnation
is your dessert. Not only is that true, you know
it's true. Because God's written it on your
conscience, and there's no escaping it. There's no escaping it. Try
to forget what I just said. When you go to bed tonight, make
a deliberate effort to try to forget it. Try to forget it.
God has stamped death on your conscience, and you can't escape
it. Dead and alone. I've been found
guilty before God. The sentence of death is passed
upon me, and this is what the Scripture says, He that believeth
not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. The Scriptures describe us Like
this, we all were by nature children of wrath, even as others. Prisoners, dead at law, awaiting
execution. Prisoners. Oh, Brother Don, I'm
not a prisoner. I'm free. I've never been freer
in my life. Lying fool. Free. Free. You're in bondage to your
nature. You're in bondage in captivity
under the sentence and curse of God's law. You're in bondage
to the opinions of men. In bondage to Satan, taken captive
of Satan at his will. in bondage to your own heart
so that there's no change in yourself. Oh, you reform your
life from time to time. You decide you're going to do
better from time to time. People, I know that this runs
against all the educated thoughts concerning man's problems. These days, if you've got a problem,
you blame it on the brain. It's not your fault. There's
something wrong up here. If a man stays drunk long enough
and he loses enough, he doesn't need any help to quit drinking.
I've seen it happen. Doesn't need any help at all.
Just walk away from it. If he finds out it cost him enough,
he can reform his life. He can do that. You can make
great changes in your life. Thieves can quit being thieves.
Adulterers quit being adulterers. Drunks quit being drunks. It
doesn't take the grace of God to do that in anybody. No, no.
You can do that if that's what you have made up your mind you're
going to do. But you can't change your heart.
You can't change your nature. You're still exactly what you
were. You can take the pig, clean him up and put a pink ribbon
around his neck, but he's still a pig. And you will not change what
you are. It is the nature of man. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin? Are the leopard his spots? Then
may ye also do good that are accustomed to doing evil. Men
by nature are prone to every evil. Even you and I who have experienced God's grace. I hear folks say, well I do believe
there are some things a Christian won't do. Like what? Like what? Read this book one more time.
Quit trying to set yourself up as a self-righteous Pharisee
before God and take your place as a poor, wretched, doomed,
damned, lost sinner with nothing but sin in you, except what God
by His grace puts in you. The heart of man is evil and
nothing but evil all the time. And if there's any evil, that
you don't commit, it's only because God restrains you from it. That's true of you who believe
and you who believe not. How often have you found yourself
suddenly caught up in something that you... It's horrible. Your emotions are just overcome
with a situation and you... It's as though you're acting
outside your body. How many times you hear that
on television? I'm not trying to defend what he did. It's as
though I'm just outside my body. I've been there. I've been there. Because you realize how horribly
evil your behavior is, and you can do nothing to stop yourself. Nothing. Like Peter, when he
heard that cop go, what thoughts must go through
his mind. And no change made. I'm telling you, there is nothing
that can be kept from you except by God's restraining grace, who
maketh thee to differ from another. And Lindsay, that goes second
by second. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Christ alone. Man by nature is
in bondage. And in bondage brings him into
despair and helplessness and hopelessness. But blessed be His name, the
Son of God, is He who is sent to set the captive free. If the
Son therefore make you free, you shall be free indeed. Free,
free, free. Have you ever been in bondage?
I'm talking about bondage in your soul. Bondage. so that you recognize the darkness
of your dungeon and the corruption of your heart and you despair
of life. To such sinners, Jesus Christ
comes with omnipotent grace and sets the captive free. Turn to Psalm 107. Verse 10. Such as sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because
they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned, despised,
hated, rebelled against the counsel of the Most High. That's how
they got in the mess they're in. Therefore he brought down
their heart with labor, and they fell down, and there was none
to help." Oh, I'm real happy when God fixes
it up so a fellow finds out there's nobody to help him, including
himself. Because when you are brought down in your heart with
labor, and you fall down and find there is no help in you,
and no help outside you. Then, and not till then, they
cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out
of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness
in the shadow of death, and break their bands in sunder." Man, by nature, is guilty. He's a criminal, shut up under
the sentence of death in the court of divine justice, dead
at law. Is there then no hope for such?
Is there no way that God Almighty can release such a sinner? without compromising his character,
without compromising his holiness, without compromising his law,
without in any way sullying his own holy name, blessed be his
name there is. Turn to Job 33. Job 33. Now understand me. Understand what
this book teaches. God will by no means clear the
guilt of God will never show mercy at the expense of justice. God will never bend his truth
when he declares, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. He means
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. God will never break his
word, not even to be gracious. But he found a way to both punish
the sinner and set the sinner free. Job 33, 24. He is gracious unto him, and
saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom, and that
ransom is Jesus Christ our substitute. So here's the third thing. A substitute was found to die
in Barabbas's place. There sits Barabbas in that dark,
cold, damp cell, filthy, filthy, manacled, shackled, waste all around him, waste covering
him. The days come for his execution.
and he's fully aware of it and he hears that crusty old soldier
walking toward his cell and he knows now the time has come and
the representative of law and justice and terror unlocks that
door and he hears the rattle of those keys and he shakes terrified. Now I'm about to meet God. All his strength withers. All
his imaginary confidence is gone. A soldier picks him up, loosens
the manacles, takes his chains off, leads him
outside, sets him outside in the open air, in the bright sunshine. And he said, Barabbas, go on
home, you're free. Jesus of Nazareth is going to
die on your place. That's substitution. The Son
of God took the place of that man upon the cross designed for
him that he fully deserved, and bore all the sentence of law
against him in his own body, on the tree, all the while having
this accusation written above him. This accusation, the only
one written above him. Jesus, the Nazarite, the King
of the Jews. Jesus, the Savior, the Savior
who as a Nazarite fulfilled all things for the glory of God,
now seated on His throne, King of the Jews. That's my Redeemer. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
bore my sin to the full satisfaction of divine justice. So much so
that justice is satisfied and can ask for no more. Complete
atonement Christ has made and to the utmost farthing pain all
the sinner owes. Can you hear this? Can you hear
it? I don't owe God anything but
gratitude. But God demands satisfaction.
Christ gave it for man. God demands righteousness. Christ
performed it for man. God demands perfection. It's
mine in Jesus Christ. All I owe Him is gratitude. Now, since Christ died in Barabbas'
place, Barabbas must go free. Must go free. Justice won't allow
that he be slain. And since Jesus Christ died in
the room instead of his people, all those for whom he died must
go free. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. The cross of Christ shall never
be discovered a miscarriage. But Brother Don, how can I know? If He didn't die for everybody,
make salvation possible for everybody, how can I know He died for me? There ain't but one way to know
anything about God. There ain't but one way to know
anything about God. Did you hear me? There ain't
but one way to know anything about God. That's by believing
His Son. And if you can, where you sit,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you can trust this mighty
substitute and Savior, it is because He redeemed you, because
He loved you with that everlasting love Merle Redd told us about,
because He entered in a covenant on your behalf as your surety,
because He is that one from whom the Father received all satisfaction. Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. The whole thing. Oh, Brother Donnie, I believe him. I believe him. Oh God, I believe your son. We'll pay this one debt. Just
gratitude and praise. You may remember years ago I
told you a story about Eddie Rickenbacker, famous fighter
pilot. He was shot down after so many
kills. He laid in a raft in the open
sun for days and had finally just passed out. Dying of thirst and hunger, he woke up to something surprisingly
right on the brim of his hat. And he just kind of looked up
and grabbed it. It was a seagull out there in
the middle of the ocean. He ate it raw. And it saved his life. It was sustained until he was
rescued. When he was an old man down in
Switzerland, Florida, every evening as the sun would go down, you'd
see him out on the beach with a bucket throwing shrimp. seagulls come in, eating the
shrimp from his hands. And somebody asked him, why on
earth would you go buy those shrimp or catch those shrimp
and throw them to those stinking seagulls? And he'd tell them
the story. And he said, I'm just saying
thank you. Just saying thank you. That's
what faith does all the time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation, so rich, so free.