Lord bless you, dear brother. I'm sure everybody would agree
if I said that was my better half. Definitely my better half. It's good to be here this morning. Bruce told me when I walked in,
he said, I like your coat. I told him I have a story about
this coat. I went to Montana, probably been
about a year ago, went there, and I was going to preach there
for the people, and I forgot my coat. And I told my dad that,
and he said, well, just go in the closet in there and grab
your coat. I said, I got all kinds of them. I'm not going
to need them anymore. And so I went in there, and I got this
coat. He stood up in that pulpit where he preached for so many
years. I looked at his coat. I said,
just a feeling came over me. Man, it felt so low, so unworthy. Gosh, this coat's got more experience
than I do. It does. And it did. I thought of that song, I thought
of conquering now and still to conquer, right at the king in
his might, leading the host of all his faithful into the midst
of the fight. That's us. See them with courage
advancing, clad in their brilliant array. These are the stars that
forever shine when their warfare is past. Not to the strong is
the battle. Not to the swift is the race,
but to the true and faithful. Victory is promised through grace.
It's through grace. That's what it is. Oh, my. This grace is sufficient for
me. If it's sufficient for the chief of sinners, it's sufficient
for me. These words that are spoken from
my mouth this morning, they're weak in themselves, but if the
Holy Spirit is in you... Remember that verse in Revelation
20? The Lord riding in on that white horse, and out of his mouth
receded that flaming sword. That's what I'm talking about.
Oh, that we could hear the thundering of hooves this very morning.
Oh, we could hear them. That's the band we need to join
right there. Jump on your horse and ride with
the king in all of his might. That one that Bruce talked about.
That's who we're talking about. We're not talking about some
little baby in a manger. We're talking about the king
of creation, riding on that white horse. Can you see him? Can you
see him? Turn over to Matthew chapter
27. Matthew chapter 27. My subject today is who is Barabbas? Who is Barabbas? That's my subject. Starting with verse 15 of Matthew
chapter 27. It says now at that feast. Now. I believe this feast was the
Passover feast. So I believe this feast was and
it says the governor was want to release some of the people
of prisoner whom they would. And they had them a notable prisoner. This was a notable, meaning notorious
prisoner. This guy was bad guy. He was. Mark called him in his gospel.
He called him an insurrectionist. He called him a murderer. That's
what he called him. Luke calls him a prisoner bound
for sedition or insurrection. He was a rebel. That's what he
was. And murder. Well, John said plainly Barabbas
was a robber. That's all he had to say. I tell
you one thing is consistent through all of them. There wasn't anything
good said about him. That's for sure. It was in his very name. Barabbas means son of the father.
And truly, this man was the son of the father of the devil. That's
who he was. He was his son. He was his son. Verse 17 says, therefore, when
they were gathered together, these people had all gathered
together in this congregation to witness this. Oh, you can
draw great crowds if there's a threat of sin or scandal. You
can draw great crowds, can't you? You can draw great crowds
if you are going to proclaim a weak God that some religious
zealots out here can come and can please. Yeah, you can draw
big ones, fill stadiums with those kind of crowds. But my,
if you start preaching the gospel of God's redeeming grace and
tell a bunch of poor sinners they have to have an all-powerful
God, the crowds dwindle, don't they? They dwindle. No, I think
of Elijah standing there. Had them 450 prophets of Baal.
There's 450 people of those. There's only one Elijah. Stood
there against me. Oh my, there's people out here
in religion today all over. All over, cutting themselves
and under the law. They're hurting themselves. And
we sit here in this little band. We sit here. All you got to do
is look to Christ. That's all you got to do. Look
to the God who can save. Oh my, draw great crowds. Oh
my. 17, said Pilate, said unto them,
Whom will ye that I release unto you? That's what he said. The
choice was theirs. It was. It was their choice who
they wanted to have released unto them. It was, but unfortunately,
their choice was bound to sin, wasn't it? It was bound to their
will, which is bound to sin, which was bound to the devil.
That's where it's bound. The unconverted, they're bound
to that. Bound to a will. And they're
going to choose to do their father's business. That's what they're
going to do. Oh my. Only one who has been chosen.
Only one who has been converted. Only one that has been touched
in their heart by the Holy Spirit can choose Jesus over Barabbas. Only one that has that happen.
Verse 18 says, For he knew that for envy they delivered him up.
For envy. This is the great motivator of
the unconverted's life, isn't it? Envy, spite, jealousy, pride,
cowardice. That's the motivators of the
unconverted. But oh, that we might be like
the Apostle Paul and say, oh, it is the love of Christ that
constrains me. The love of Christ. That comes
from a converted heart. One that has been changed. Verse
19, when he was set down on the judgment seat, Let us not forget
Pilate was set down there. He was set down. Oh, the power
of a sovereign God was ruling here. He was. And Pilate was
set down. He didn't set himself down. He
was set down there. And oh, I bet when he sat down
in that chair and he looked at what was going on, he wished
he could trade places with some of them guys out there in the
audience out there. He wished he could. But he was set down,
right there. Brings to mind that verse in
Romans, Romans 8, where it says, doth not the potter have power
over the clay, to form one vessel under honor and another under
dishonor? Oh, what a dishonor to be piled. That one whose name
is synonymous with the crucifixion of Christ. Oh my, that the Lord
would protect us, put a hedge about us. Oh my, that could have
been us. Could have been. And then it
says here, his wife sent unto him, saying, Hath I nothing to
do with this just man? For I have suffered many things
this day in a dream because of him. Verse 20, But the chief
priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should
ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. And the governor answered and
said unto them, Whether of twain would ye that I release unto
you? And they said, Barabbas. They said, Barabbas. That's all
I could have said. Give us Barabbas. And Pilate
said to them, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called
Christ? And they all said unto him, let him be crucified. Oh,
that's all they could say. I didn't be crucified. And the
governor said, why? What evil have you 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
to it like the water of this world can wash away sin." Watch what happens there. Verse
25, "...then answered all the people and said, His blood be
on us and our children." Verse 26, "...then released Tiberius
unto them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father,
Lord, hallowed be thy name. Lord, you are. You are all powerful,
sovereign God, Lord. Lord, You are so majestic, so
beautiful, Lord. We just pray that, oh, in some
way that we might reflect the great beauty and love and holiness
that is in You this very day. Lord, that we might see in the
Lord Jesus Christ this holiness and this righteousness and we
might flee to it, Lord. That we could flee to the Savior.
The Savior of souls, Lord. Oh, that we might see Him. that
he might be uplifted this day. May your spirit be amongst us,
O, that it might grab some poor sinner this morning, that you
might show him the great love that is found in the Savior.
Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, be with us this very day.
Leave us not for a second, Lord. Leave us not. May your great
grace be amongst us here this morning. Thank you for everything
you've done in our lives, Lord. You are so merciful. It is in
your dear and precious Son's name we ask these things. Amen. My question this morning is who
is Barabbas? Who is he? Who is he? When I
was a child, I was probably seven, eight years old, I remember I
was sitting watching a TV show on the life of Jesus. It was
on the television. And I remember, I was sitting
there on the couch and watching this show. And I saw, I can remember
just like it was yesterday. I can, I remember seeing Pilate
on the TV there. And I remember him sitting back
in that chair, hinging in the chair and just looking all distraught
in his face. And then I can remember seeing
Jesus standing up in front of him. He was up, Pilate was sitting
back in the chair back here and Jesus was up here. And I remember
looking at Jesus, and His hair was all matted with sweat, and
He had that old tunic on, and it was bloody, and He had been
beaten with whips, and all the blood stains was on His back,
and He was standing up there. He looked so helpless. He looked
so helpless. And then I remember watching
Barabbas being brought out by those guards. I remember Him
being brought out, and I remember when He walked out into the light,
He couldn't understand it. He'd been down there in that
dungeon for so long. And he was brought up standing
beside Jesus. I remember them both standing
there. Just like it was yesterday. And
I remember looking at that Barabbas. Oh, and I said, you know how
when you've read a book and you watch a movie and you think,
maybe this could turn out different. Maybe this might turn out different
this time. And I remember, I was just a
young little boy. I was. I was really just a young little
Pharisee is what I was. And I remember sitting there,
and I was watching this all transpire. I said, this has got to be different
this time. It's got to turn out different this time. It's good.
I know. I know it's going to turn out different. And when
I looked at Barabbas, I saw all these things about him. I saw
this thief. You know, I saw all the things
that a young boy saw growing up. You know, I've watched Superman
and the villains and all of that. The things that, you know, these
cops and robbers shows, I've seen the robbers, and I saw their
faces in this paradise. I saw them right there. And I
thought about the insurrectionists that I'd heard about. Oh, you
know, you heard about bunches of them in the Bible. I knew
the Bible. I'd heard of it my whole life.
I'd sit under the preacher of the gospel. I knew it. And when
I looked at his face, I saw Lucifer himself, that great insurrectionist.
That one, he took a third of the heavenly host with him when
he fell. I looked at him and I said, oh boy. I looked at Barabbas. I said, oh my. And then I saw,
you know, I saw Judas Iscariot in his face. That one who led
the rebellion against Christ. The 30 pieces of silver. He took
and he betrayed the Son of God. I saw him in his face. Oh, I
said, no. There's no way they're going
to let him go. And I saw murderers in his face.
Murderers. I saw Cain lifting that rock
and hitting Abel over the head with it. I saw him in this place. And I saw Herod going out and
killing all those children under two years old, trying to get
rid of Jesus. I saw him right there. And all the hatred in
my heart for this man dwelled in me. It just dwelled up in
my soul and my heart for him. I said, this has got to be different
this time. Surely these people will not let this thief and this
rebel, this vile, wretched sinner go free. Surely they can't do
that. Oh, and then on the television,
I remember sitting there and I was listening, and all of a
sudden I heard from the back of the crowd, somebody say, give
us Barabbas. And I said, no, no, this is going
to turn out the same way. And another person yelled, give
us Barabbas. And then the whole crowd was
yelling, give us Barabbas. I said, no, this can't be. This
can't be. No, and then I saw a pilot come
up there and he said, He said, well, what? You want this guy,
this filthy rat? What am I supposed to do with
Jesus? This one who's done no wrong, what am I going to do
with him? And then all of a sudden, I heard crucify him. I said, no! No, you can't do this. Oh, it's
just this little kid sitting on the couch. That's what I was
saying. Oh, my. Then I saw those guards
come, and they took the chains off of Barabbas. and the chains
off of his feet, and they let him go free. I saw him out there
in the crowd, mingling with the crowd, and I saw him shaking
hands with people, and people grabbing him and hugging him.
I said, he's a filthy wretch! Why is he down there? And I saw
Jesus being let off, let off to be crucified. Why? What is going on here? I just
couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. But then,
there was one day, one day, I was sitting, that same living room,
it was probably four or five months later, I was sitting in
the living room. I was sitting on the piano bench
beside my mother. And she was playing the song,
And Can It Be, and singing it. And I remember sitting there
on that piano bench, and I heard those words. My mother sang them, and an Armenian
preached it, and I heard it. I heard it. And can it be that
I should gain an interest in my Savior's blood? Died He for
me! For me! Oh, and it's like that
great conqueror of souls stood over my heart, and He took that
sword of the Spirit and plunged it in me. He punched in me, and
I heard those words. I heard them. I heard them. Amazing
love! How can it be that thou, my God,
shouldst die for me? Oh, and it's like, then it was
like a crescendo in my heart. I heard them again. The song
says it again. It was like the Spirit just turned
that sword in me. Amazing love! How can it be that
thou, my God, shouldst die for me? And I remember sitting there.
I remember sitting there. I was dead. I was dead. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. Oh, and I remember, I remember
the tears just welled up in my heart. They did. Oh, they just
welled up in my eyes and just poured. They did. I understood
something right then and there. I saw something right then and
there. Because then I saw myself. I saw it wasn't for that vile
wretch that he died. It was for this vile wretch that
he died. He became not the king of kings
and lord of lords, just me. No. But then he became my savior. He became my savior. Oh, because
I needed him. I saw in my heart I needed him.
And then when I looked at Barabbas, I remember I thought about Barabbas.
And I thought to myself, you know, I looked at his face. I
looked at him and I didn't see robbers anymore. I didn't see
thieves anymore. I didn't see wicked criminals
anymore. I didn't see Adolf Hitler and
all these men that I saw in his face before. No. When I looked
at him, I recognized him. When I saw him, he was me. He
was me. Barabbas was me. He was me. That's who Barabbas is. He's
me. Oh my. I'll tell you what. I deserve to be numbered with
the transgressors. I deserve to have those nail
holes in my hands. I deserve to be led up there
and to be crucified. I did. Not Barabbas. I did. Oh my. I'll tell you what. took my place. Well, there's
five things I want to show you this morning. Five things, and
I'm in a hurry because I know it's going to be close to time
here, but five things I want to show you how Barabbas is me.
He's me. Number one thing I want to show
you here this morning is that Barabbas was a guilty, he was
a vile wretch condemned to die under the law, and so was I. So was I. Same thing. So was
I. Barabbas had stood before Pilate
before. He had. He had came, and under
the law, he had stood before Pilate. And Pilate had looked
at him, and he had proclaimed him guilty under the law. When
the charges were set, you're a murderer, Barabbas. And the
law said guilty. Guilty. Nothing to be said about
it, just guilty. That's it. And when he had come
before him as a thief, guilty. That's what the law said, guilty.
And when he come before him as a rebel, as an insurrectionist,
he was guilty. That's what he was. He was guilty.
Then he was led, wasn't he? He was chained up, bound up. And they took him down into that
prison. Down. And he went down that long corridor.
And they opened up that steel door. And they opened it up and
let him in. And then they took him down some
stairs. And down so much like Jonah, down, down, down in the
belly of the whale. Down, down, down he went. All
the way down there to the bottom level of that prison. And they
let him down that corridor and they had a cell waiting for him.
And they took that big old oak door and they swung it open.
And they shoved him in there and they chained him to the wall.
And they slammed it shut and left him there. Left him there.
Oh, he deserved to be there. He did. He did. And the only
light down there in this place, the only light down there was
the guard's light that he had. And when he left, there was nothing.
No light down there for him. Nothing. Oh, isn't that where
we're found? He sat down there in his darkness,
in his depravity, in his guilt, in his vileness, in his wretchedness,
in his wickedness. He sat right down there in that
cell, chained to the wall. And that's where the unconverted
sat. That's where he found me. That's where he got me from.
Oh, it's a perfect picture of a man in an unconverted state.
It is. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way. We have. We have. There is a way, it says in the
Bible. It seems right unto man. But
the end thereof is judgment. It is. And that's the way we're
going. Unconverted. The unconverted sinner, that's
the way he's going. Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned. That's
everybody. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Romans 3, 10 says, as it is written,
there is none righteous. No, not one. Nobody. We're truly
sinners. We have all broken the law of
God. We have. There's none righteous. No, not
one. And God said, God's law says the soul that's sinning,
it shall surely die. Under the law of God, we are
bound to die. And that's where we are found
in an unconverted state, as we have been pronounced guilty under
the law. We are chained and shackled, and we are taken down there,
and we are sitting down there in the pit of depravity, this
very moment, without Christ. That's where he's at. That's
where he's at, whether you want to believe it or not. That's
where he's at. Oh, we're worthy of death. We
are. The Bible says the wages of sin
is death. We're guilty. We're worthy. We're worthy of
judgment. There's a way that seems right in the man. Oh, and
that's the way we've chosen. And the end thereof is judgment.
We're worthy of judgment. That's what we're worthy of.
We're worthy of hell. We are. In an unconverted state, we are.
Revelation 21, verse 8 says, But the fearful and unbelieving
and vomitable, murder, the liar, we fit right in there. We do.
Whether we want to believe it or not, we do. So have their
place in the lake of fire, which burneth forever. We're worthy
of hell. We are. And there's no escape. There isn't. Oh, we're held fast
in this prison. We're held fast down there by
the flesh. We're bound to the very totalness of our depravity. We're bound to it. We are. And there we sit, dying, and
waiting to die, just like Barabbas. There we sit. Well, number two
thing I want to show you this morning is Barabbas was chosen.
He was chosen. He was elected. to be brought
out of that dungeon that he was in. And so was I. And so was
I. What is wrong with the election?
What is wrong with it? There's nothing wrong with it.
If Barabbas hadn't even chosen, he'd have still been sitting
down there. And if you're not chosen this morning, if we can't
claim election for our own, then that's where we're going to stay.
We're just going to stay right there. Right there. Oh, Pilate
pulled his prison rolls out, he looked down in rows, and he
found Barabbas. He found him. And he called Barabbas'
name. He did. That same thing happened
to me. It was. His name was called. Barabbas didn't choose to come
to Pilate. How could he have done that?
We just saw where he's at. He's down there in chain to the
wall, down there in the bottom level of his prison. He couldn't
come to Christ. He couldn't come to Pilate. You
couldn't come up there and stand beside Jesus. This day had to
be called. It had to be called. Why did
Pilate choose Barabbas anyway? Why didn't he? Why did he choose
him? Well, Pilate chose Barabbas out of his own good pleasure.
We know that. He did. It was him that chose
him. And I believe he had a motivation though. I do. I believe Pilate
had a motivation to choose Barabbas. He didn't just do it haphazardly.
He had a motivation for it. Well, what was it? Well, I believe
his motivation was the fact that he knew that the Jews had delivered
up Jesus out of spite, not of envy. That's why he delivered
him up. And he knew that. And he said, if I look through
these rolls and I find the wickedest, vilest wretch that I can find
and stand him up here beside Jesus, Then surely, I mean Pilate
had enough moral sense to know, and he looked out at these Jews
and he'd seen they were moral people, outwardly. And surely
they wouldn't turn their back on sin and wickedness found in
this person's life and let him go. And then look at this just
person right here and crucify him. I mean even Pilate was smart
enough to figure that out. And he looked at them and he
said, well, I'm going to choose who happens. He chose him because
he was a wicked vile wretch. That's why. In other words, he
chose the worst that he could find to show off Jesus. Isn't that something? That same thing happened to me.
Same thing. Exactly. Why does God choose
sinners and only sinners? Why does he do that? I'll tell
you why he does it. He does it to show off his son.
That's why he does it. So glory in God choosing a Pharisee,
a self-righteous person? What glory does that bring to
God? He chooses the vile wretch, the sinner. He chooses him to
bring him to the understanding of what he is in the sight of
the Holy God, and to show him Christ. And how does that show
off Christ? Oh my, the beauty that is seen
in Christ when you see the filth found in somebody's head of the
sight. Ah, to see Barabbas standing there beside Jesus. Oh my, what
a wonderful picture. It brings me meaning to that
word, boasting is excluded, right? Can't boast now. When we find
out why he chose us, we can't boast. No, we can't. Well, number
three. A covenant was made that Barabbas
would be set free and Christ would be crucified. A covenant
was made. It was. And that same thing happened
to me. It happened to me. Look at verse
20 here of Matthew, chapter 27, verse 20. It says the chief priests
and the elders persuaded the multitude, or they went in and
they talked with them and they promised them something. I don't
know what they promised them. They probably promised them they'd
be good to them and nice to them and everything else to them,
if they would do something for them. And so they promised they
would if they would receive something. You know, Judas, he covenanted
with those Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. He did. To deliver
up the Son of God. He did. Well, these Pharisees
and these self-righteous leaders of this bunch, they went in amongst
the people, and they covenanted with the people. And they said,
you do this, and we'll do this for you. And they said, OK, we'll
ask for breaths. We'll ask for breaths. I'll tell you what,
listen. Before the foundation of the
world, God chose a people. He did. And these chosen people,
these elect of God, these sheep, they were given to the Son because
of a covenant that was made between the Father and the Son before
the foundation of this world. That's the way it worked. A covenant
made between the Father and the Son. Chosen not out of goodness,
not out of a righteousness. That's not why we were chosen.
Not because God looked into time. I mean, that's the craziest thing
I've heard. God looked into time and saw
what we do in and of ourselves. No, that's not why he chose us.
These people were chosen out of their depravity. They were
chosen out of their wickedness, out of their violence, out of
their filth. It says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for the undied. He didn't look into time and
saw, oh, these are good people, so Christ will die for them.
No, that makes no sense. It doesn't. Oh, the elect of
God, the rebels, the thieves, the murderers. They are. They
might not have done the outward act, but they thought about it
a thousand times. Look at that. David was a murderer. He was
the elect of God, wasn't he? Saul of Tarsus, he sat there
and held a coat to those who stoned Stephen. He was just as
guilty as they were. Christ died for him. The law
of God said, these sinners, that's what the law of God said. He
said, these sinners are to be my heirs. that they are to be
mine, that they are to stand before me justified and holy
and righteous, like they're going to have to stand before me, the
judgment day. And they're going to have to
possess this holiness. They're going to have to have
a righteousness not their own. They're going to have to. And
Christ said, the only begotten Son of God looked at the Father
in this covenant of grace, and he said, I will be their holiness. I will be their righteousness.
I will be all these things for these people. I will." God looked
at his son and said, these people have to be righteous. They don't
have to not have sin found in them, but they have to be workers
of righteousness. They have to have a holiness
about them, a doer of the law, not just a keeper of the law.
Jesus said, I will be their righteousness. Jehovah's to King you, the Lord,
all righteousness. All righteousness, I will be
their righteousness. God said, these ones I give you, they must
be wounded for their transgressions. They must be bruised for their
iniquities. If they are to have peace, they
must be chastised. They must be. They have to be. The Son looked at the Father
in the covenant of grace and said, I will bear their iniquity. I'll do it. I will bear the stripes
for them. I'll do that. And that they might
have peace, I will be chastised. I will do it. But then the father
looked at the son, and he said, David Mitchell is a sinner. He's
a sinner. A sinner in the soul. A sinner,
my law says, must surely die. It's got to die. It's got to. Oh, in the covenant of grace,
the son looked at the father. And he said, I will die for David
Mitchell. I'll die for him. Oh, what beauty there. What beauty.
The covenant was made, wasn't it? Covenant was made. I will
die for him. I'll die for my people. I'll
die for them. And the Father said, they're
yours. They're yours. David Mitchell's yours. Terrence
Whitehead is yours. Ah, he's yours. Isn't that wonderful? John 10.15 says, as the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life
for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10.27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. And they
follow me, 28, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, for my Father which gave to me is greater than
all. And no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. Oh,
I and my Father are one. We're one. Oh, my. Travis is
me. He's me. We're both totally depraved. Both totally depraved. We're
both chosen by the good pleasure of the chooser. We're both affected
by a covenant we had nothing to do with. And number four,
I love this. I love this. An irresistible
force went down into that prison. It went down the stairs. It went
down there and opened up the doors. Had the key. Had the key. Opened up them doors, went down
them stairs. Went down to Barabbas' cell, opened up that door, went
in, unchained him from the wall, and drug him up there to stand
beside Jesus. The same thing happened to me.
The same thing happened to me. Irresistible grace. Irresistible
grace. Oh, my. The Holy Spirit in his
irresistible grace came and found me. He found me. He finds you,
too. Oh, he found me. God came and
found me in my darkness. He found me in my dungeon. He
found me chained down there in the wall by my depravity and
my filth. He found me in my death. That's
where He found me. I didn't find Him. He found me.
He found me. I wasn't looking for Him. He
was looking for me. He sent Him down there to look
for me. You remember old David and Mephibosheth? That's one
of my most favorite stories in the Bible. I love that story. I do. Talking to Ziva, David
was talking to Ziva, he just killed off all the people in
the house of Saul. And he looked at Ziva and he
said, he said, is there anybody left in the house of Saul? And
I can show kindness to you for Jonathan's sake. Is there anybody
left? Old Ziva looked down, he said,
oh yeah, there's a guy down here. He's down here in this house.
He's got a nice place down the road down here. He goes, no.
No, he didn't. He said, yeah, I'm a fibber shaft.
He's the son of Jonathan. He's down there in Loaded Bar.
That place of no pasture, and he's laying from the fall. This
crippled kid down there in lower bar, just laying down there waiting
to die. Waiting to die. You remember
what David said? One of my most favorite words
I find in that whole text. He said, you go fetch him. Go
fetch him. David hadn't said go fetch him,
and he's still been sitting down there. Oh, the irresistible grace
of God is like that. It's like that. That's how sinners
are saved. They are. Oh, that the Holy Spirit might
come to somebody here this morning, be seated by the God, the very
God of creation, that the God of creation said, go fetch Him.
Go fetch Him. Oh, that might be the case. I
think that might be the case. Listen, when God calls the people,
He calls them all out of the same place. He does. He didn't call people out of
different places. No, He doesn't. They're all found. shackled with
the chains and irons of sin. They are. They're all unable
to move. They're unable to walk. They're
unable to see. They're unable to hear. They're
unable to do. They're unable to... They're
unable. This is God. That's where He finds us. That's
where He finds us. The eyes are dark. They are.
Like old Brabbit sitting down there. No light. All He has is
that little thing. It slid open and threw some slop
into Him every once in a while. Never saw any light. Never did.
His eyes were darkened, but then the light of the glorious gospel
shines in our hearts. Oh my, and we see, and we hear,
and we believe. I tell you, we're brought out
and we get a glimpse of the Savior, a glimpse of Him. Remember that
next, there's another verse in that song I was telling you about,
Ann, can it be? It says, long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast
bound in sin and nature's night. Ah, thine eyes diffused a quickening
ray. I walked, the dungeon flamed
with light. My chains fell off. My heart
was free. I rose, went forth, and followed
thee." If anybody doubts Charles Wesley was saved, I know what
he found. He was found in the same place
I was found. He was. He was. Oh, my. Barabbas on one
side, Jesus on the other, and there we stand. There we stand,
same way. Pilate looked out over that multitude,
looked out over that bunch of people, and he said, who will
I release? Who am I going to release? And the people said,
because of the agreement that had been made, he said, give
us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Pilate said,
then what shall I do with Jesus, this just man? What am I going
to do with him? What shall I do with him? And they all said,
let him be crucified. Let him be crucified. Oh, let's
not judge these people too harshly. Let's not. You know, when my
parents were praying for my salvation, you know what they were saying?
You know what they were saying? They said, oh, that David Mitchell
might be saved. That David Mitchell might feel
the power of grace in his heart. How's that going to happen? Christ
must die. He had to die. He had to. Don't judge these people too
harsh. Don't do it. And if God chose me, if He did,
and the covenant was made between the Son from me, the Father and
the Son from me, and if I stand one day in the presence of God,
justified, sanctified, glorified, all these different things, if
I stand in His presence that way, I'll be for one reason only. One reason. And that is because
Christ bore my iniquity. He bore my shame and my guilt,
and He gave me a holiness and a righteousness, not my own.
That's why I'll be able to stand in His presence for no other
reason. In the doing of that Christ,
you need no sin. He became sin for me. Became sin for me. And the wrath of the Father,
it fell upon the Son, didn't it? It fell upon Him. It did. This is a personal gospel. It
is. It's personal. He didn't come
and die for everybody. No, he didn't. No, he didn't.
His pain was real. It was real. His agony was real
on the cross. It was real. It was real. And
he paid for each and every sin committed by his people. He did. Oh, this wasn't a universal atonement.
Christ didn't lay down his life for everybody. No, he didn't.
His death was effectual. It meant something. It did. All
those the Father giveth me will come to me. Why? Because I laid
my life down for them. Ah, that's not to be taken lightly. Jesus cried from the cross. He
said, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? Probably the most profound question
ever asked in the face of this earth. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Why did you do it? Ah, he forsook
his son. For me. Oh, my. What beauty there's found in
that. Oh, my. And then he pointed his finger
at his son. He said, I choose David Mitchell. I choose him.
Then he pointed his finger at his son. He said, let him be
crucified. Oh, my. Crucified. Oh, Christ was a willing
sacrifice. He was. He gave his life freely. Freely. He offered himself up.
Out of love, he did this. Out of love for his people. He
wasn't, oh, he could have called down a legion of angels and took
him off that cross. He couldn't. But he bled out
his life for his people. Out of love he did that. Out
of love. Well, number five, and we must
end here. Barabbas was free. He set free,
wasn't he? Free. Free. So was I. So was I. By grace through faith
in Christ Jesus, we're saved. And not of yourselves. It is
a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. We are set free by his grace. Brabus couldn't boast.
He's free, but he couldn't boast about it. He couldn't. He had
nothing to do with his freedom. He didn't. That one who's being
let off to be crucified had everything to do with his freedom. He took
his place. He took his place. 1 Peter 1,
18 and 19, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, such as silver and gold from your
vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the
Lamb, without blemish and without spot." That's how we're redeemed.
That's how we're redeemed. We know we're free. Free from
the law, a happy condition. I love that song. Free from the
law, a happy condition. Turn over to Romans 8. We'll
end with this. Romans 8. Romans 8, verses 1-4. Before I read that, let me tell you
another verse of that song in Canterbury. It said, No condemnation,
now I dread, Jesus and all in Him is mine. Alive in Him, my
living head, enclosed in righteousness divine. Oh, I approach the eternal
throne, bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through
Christ my own. Watch this, Romans 4, Romans
8, verses 1 through 4. Anybody that says I'm not a Calvinist,
this is Romans 8 right here in my Bible, Romans 9. Fell out. I didn't pull it out
of there on purpose. I didn't. It fell out. Chapter
8, Romans, verses 1 through 4. It says, There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Oh, anybody
here can take that to heart. That's personal, isn't it? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. Free from the law. 3 For what
the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin condemns sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us." In us. It's fulfilled in us.
If we're in Christ, it's perfectly fulfilled. To walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit. If we're in Christ, we'll walk
after him. We will. I believe in a powerful gospel.
I know it wasn't you. If you're saved, it wasn't you
who got yourself in this. It wasn't. It was the Almighty God of this
Bible that got you in it. If He got you in it, He'll keep
you. He will. He'll keep you. All
right. Brother Brisbane. I don't know how David manages
to get our pad on. It doesn't seem like he gets
that excited. I'll tell you a little story, then we'll go to dinner.
I may have put this in a bulletin one time, but Charles Spurgeon
got very, very depressed, and he began to think that he preached
the gospel, but himself didn't even rejoice in it. And so he
said, I'm going to take some time off. I'm going to hear somebody
else preach the gospel and see what I think about it. And so
he went out in the country, way out in the country, and a fellow
got up and preached one of Spurgeon's sermons. But Spurgeon sat and
wept when he heard it. Now, that wasn't my sermon, but
that was my gospel. And I tell you, I loved to hear
the gospel preached. And Spurgeon said as he sat there,
he realized No, it's not just my preaching that I love. I love
the gospel. If I'm preaching it, if somebody
else is preaching it, I love the gospel. And I tell you, I
love the gospel I heard today. That's the gospel in it. And
I'm Barabbas. I'm Barabbas too. I'm looking
at a bunch of Barabbases. Wonderful. Thank you, David.
Thank you. I don't know what we're having for sure. What are
we having for lunch? The main thing is everybody stay, if you
can. And we'll come back when we get
finished. Thank you, Brother David. You're
liberty to go.