Okay, let's turn again to John
chapter 18 Look verse 38 39 and 40 John 18 38 39 and 40 Pilate
said unto him. What is truth? speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in
him, that is the Lord Jesus, the Lord of glory, no fault,
no sin, no defect. He is the perfect man. I find
no reason to charge him with anything at all. But you have
a custom. that I should release unto you
one at the Passover, your Passover feast. Will you therefore that
I release unto you the king of the Jews? And they cried, then
cried they all again saying, oh no, no, no, no, no. We don't want this Galilean,
this Jesus of Nazareth. No, no, no. Don't you let him
go. Barabbas, Barabbas. We want the murderer, the rebel,
the thief. That's who we want. And Barabbas,
it says in the text here, was a robber, a thief. Now, I'm entitling the message,
and I thought about two titles. Salvation is for Sinners, or
we could rightly call this a Salvation Story. A Salvation Story. In our story, in John 18, a notorious,
well-known sinner named Barabbas. He's set free, isn't he? And
the Lord Jesus Christ takes his place, dies the death reserved
for the most vile criminals. Crucifixion was not a Jewish
death. It was the way the Romans enjoyed
watching a man slowly die. Sometimes it would take two or
three days. It wasn't something quick, it was something agonizing,
painful, and being the guilty wicked sinners that they were
and we are, they enjoyed watching a man die slowly. How wicked is that? What we have before us in our
study, in our message from John 18 is the gospel message of salvation
through Christ Jesus crucified. We see the innocent man dies
the death he does not deserve and the guilty man who deserves
to die is set free. What a miracle. What a marvel
of God's grace. Is not this exactly the gospel
message? The Lord Jesus Christ once suffered
for our sins, Peter writes in 1 Peter 3. The Lord Jesus Christ
once suffered for our sin, the just for the unjust that he might
bring us unto God. Now this story of Barabbas being
released and the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified is recorded by
all four gospel writers. That during the days of Roman
occupation, the occupation of Palestine, there was started
a custom, and I don't know where it started or how it started,
on the day of Passover that the Roman governor would release
a guilty Prisoner, a guilty Jew. Now this was probably started
as a way to show the Jews that the Romans were really people
to be admired for their kindness. We're gonna let one of yours
go. Aren't we sweet people? Pilate thinking that he now,
that he would be able to release the Lord Jesus Christ according
to this custom, Pilate sees a way out of this, doesn't he? that
I'm gonna recommend that they follow this custom and surely
they'll let the Lord Jesus go. Pilate, finding no fault in Him,
now takes opportunity to seize upon this moment to have the
Lord Jesus Christ released. But to Pilate's utter shock,
horror, and surprise, They cry out for the blood of the Savior
and prefer this wicked, wicked man named Barabbas. You set him free. Does that serve
justice? No, violates justice. Now in our message today, four
vital things I want to present unto you. The first thing is
this, I'll give you these four points and we'll go back and
look at them. The sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty is displayed. God is in charge of all things
especially this day, especially this day. Secondly, the sinfulness
of man is put on display for all to see. The sinfulness of
man is put on display. Thirdly, the substitute is found. The innocent man dies and the
guilty man is set free. And then fourthly, the salvation
of a sinner. The salvation of a sinner You
interested in that? Salvation of a sinner, that's
what you are. You need salvation whether you
know it or not. I trust that you do. Salvation
of a sinner is plainly, plainly declared and revealed. So let's
go back to number one. What was point number one? The
sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty. The sovereignty of the Lord is
revealed on this day. God is in charge of all things.
He always has been God. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God, but especially on this day. Look at John 19
verse 8. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, they said he ought to die because he said he's the
son of God. When he heard that saying he
was more afraid and went again into the judgment hall and said
unto Jesus, whence art thou? But the Lord gave him no answer.
Then says Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou
not that I have power to crucify you? I have power to release
you. Don't you know I am somebody? And the Lord corrects him, verse
11. Thou couldest have no power at
all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore
he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. Pilate,
you're not in charge. I'm in charge. No man takes my
life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. By the divine arrangement of
God, by the necessity of God, Barabbas must be released and
the Lord Jesus Christ must die in his stead because God from
all eternity decreed this day must come to pass. Look back
at Luke 23. You remember what we read in
Luke 23? In Luke 23, Verse 16, I will therefore chastise
him and release him for of necessity. Of necessity. He must release
one unto them at the feet. It is an absolute must that the
Lord Jesus Christ be our substitute. Don't turn, but let me just remind
you of this scripture that I read to you last week from Matthew
chapter 20. Our Lord told His disciples as
they were headed toward Jerusalem, His face being set like a flint,
He said, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man shall
be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles
to mock, to scourge, and to crucify. And the third day he shall rise
again." This is a month of necessity. By the sovereign arrangement
of God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ is in Jerusalem at this
hour, at this moment, to face these false charges and to die
in our room and in our stead. Our great God and Savior is the
absolute sovereign Lord over all things. And when we talk
about the sovereignty of the Lord, we often talk about His
sovereignty in creation. Created all things by the word
of His power. We talk about His sovereignty
in providence. Those things that unfold in time,
that's the providence. of life and the providence of
life is by the decree of God, the good providence of God. All
things come to pass in time because God from all eternity decreed
all things. So we talk about God's sovereignty
in creation, providence, And thirdly, salvation. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. Remember from John 17 verse two,
thou has given him power, he prays unto the Father, Father,
you've given me power as the God-man mediator over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hath given
unto him. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. All events around this hour.
All eternity points to this hour. He said, My hour is now come. This day has been appointed and
decreed of God. We read in the Revelation, He's
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And in the fullness
of time, God sends forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them. This day must come. This day
must be. God has decreed it. God has said
it in the Word, and it must come to pass. Turn to John 19. Read
this with me. John 19. How many times do we
read, this was done, and that was done, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled? Look at John 19, verse 24. They said, therefore, unto themselves,
let us not rend that his... let's go back one verse, verse
23, John 19. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts
to every soldier apart, and also his coat. And now the coat was
without seam, woven from top throughout. And they said among
themselves, Let us not rend it, but let us cast lots for it,
whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which say,
They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots, these sayings These things, therefore, did
the soldiers, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." That the
Scripture might be fulfilled. Now, stay right there in John
19, verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
said, I thirst. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
dies the death appointed of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter
15. The absolute sovereignty of God in all things. We see
it on display, don't we? Look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse
3. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how Christ died for our sins,
how He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. that he was
buried, that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. You see, everything that happened
that day was decreed of God, written of God, and it must come
to pass. We see the absolute sovereignty
of God in all things. They did to the Lord exactly
what they wanted to do. No doubt about that. But in doing
so they accomplished the eternal purpose and design, the creed
of God. We read in Acts chapter 2, Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken him by wicked hands, I've crucified the Lord
of glory. They did exactly what they wanted to do, but in doing
so, they accomplished the eternal purpose of God. We see the sovereignty
of God. Pilate wasn't in charge that
day, was he? He thought he was. God was in
charge. And always has been. The second
thing we see in our story, not only the sovereignty of God displayed,
but we see on full display the sinfulness and wickedness of
sinners. The sinfulness of man is put
on full display for all to see. We have a revelation of what?
What we are. by nature. Now I didn't say what
they were. What they were is what we are.
That makes sense. What are we? We read in Ephesians
2 that we're, what are we called? Children of wrath, even as others. We see this in Barabbas. The Lord was a substitute for
a no count. I mean, Barabbas, he was a career
criminal, wasn't he? He was not only a robber, a thief,
he was a rebel. One, Mark says, who caused insurrection
and caused murder in this insurrection. He was a rebel. He was a murderer. He was guilty. He was a guilty
man condemned to die for his crimes and justly so. He deserved
nothing but execution, killing. He's guilty. Do you see yourself
in Barabbas? No. You better or you're lost. His name means, Bar means son,
Abbas means father. His name means son of a father.
His father was fallen in Adam and all the father of Barabbas
gave him was Adam's fallen guilty nature, vile nature. born in sin, shapen in iniquity,
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, and Adam all
died, and Adam were all just like Barabbas." Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. We're guilty of all three crimes.
Guilty. All three crimes. Guilty of all
three crimes against God's holy law. We're guilty of sedition,
insurrection, and rebellion against the sovereign authority of God. We will not have this man to
reign over us. That's our state by nature. The
carnal mind is still enmity against God. The carnal mind will not
receive the things of God because they're spiritually discerned,
spiritually received. We're guilty of rebellion against
God. That's us, insurrection, rebel.
That's my name, rebel. We're not only guilty of rebellion,
insurrection against God, we're guilty of murder. Blood's on
your hands. You're a murderer. Did you know
that? No, wait a minute. Wait a minute,
preacher, you've gone too far. I haven't gone far enough. We're all guilty of murder. For
the Lord says in Matthew 5, to have an ill thought of malice
in your heart against any is to be guilty of murder. We're
all guilty. To offend in one point is to
be guilty of all the law of God. Not only that, we're not only
guilty of sedition, insurrection, and rebellion, and murder, but
we're guilty of robbery. You're looking at a robber. Robbery! We've robbed God of His rightful
honor and glory. We've robbed Him. Well, I'm a
robber. I'm a thief! We've all sinned
and come short of giving God all the honor and glory. So we
see this displayed in Barabbas, don't we? How about those religious
Jews? They're so pies. We also see this displayed, we
also see the display of our depravity in these religious Jews. They
delivered the Lord of Glory to Pilate and accused him of all
Evil things they could not they brought false witnesses to accuse
him But the witnesses that they brought to accuse him they could
not agree look back over here in Luke 23 Luke 23 Pilate gave sentence they were
verse Luke 23 23 Pilate said I find no cause of death in him. I'll Chasten him and let him
go and they were instant with loud voices requiring that he
might be crucified and the voices of them and the chief priests
prevailed and Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required
and he released unto them a He released unto them him that for
sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired,
but he delivered the Lord Jesus Christ to their will." Now here
we see a display of man's total depravity in his will. When faced with the decision
of who will be released on that day, now consider the choice. Barabbas? a notable robber, murderer, and
thief, or the lovely, holy Son of the Most High God." What did
they say? Away with Him. Their choice and
their cry of their heart was, give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Crucify the Lord. Give us a thief. Give us a murderer. Give us a
rebel. Pilate said, Behold your King. We read it a moment ago and they
said, We have no king but Caesar, away with him, crucify him. He delivered them to their will. Man's will is always downhill,
always wicked. You don't want God to leave you
to your own will, which is not free. Man does have a will, but
it's not free. If your will was absolutely free,
you walk out this front door and you just jump to the moon.
If that's what you will to do, you just do it. You just jump
to the moon. That's not going to happen. You know why? Gravity. There's a law of gravity. You're stuck down here. Your
will is bound to your nature which is held down by gravity. You can't elevate yourself above
what is decreed. Man's will is in total bondage
to his depraved nature. Man's will is not free. It's
wicked. It acts always according to its
true desire, left to itself, which is selfward, downward,
never godward and upward. Man's will is like free-running
water. I've said this for 30 years.
It's always downhill, never uphill. God must make us willing in the
day of His power. Now, here's the third thing.
A substitute is found. substitute is found. The innocent
man, the Lord Jesus Christ, dies and the one who is guilty is
set free. Now let's turn over to Matthew
27. Matthew 27. It says, we read there in Mark
15, you find Matthew 27. It says there in Mark 15, there
was one named Barabbas which lay bound. He was not only in
jail, he was in chains. And he was bound with them who
had made insurrection and had committed murder. Here he sits
in prison, bound, bound, chained up. Now, look at verse 21, Matthew
27. Let's go back to verse 19, Matthew
27. When he was set down on the judgment
seat, his wife said unto him, that is to Pilate, saying, Have
nothing to do with that just man, for I've suffered many things
this day in a dream because of him. The chief priest and the
elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas
and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said
to them, whether of the twain will I release unto you? And
they said, Barabbas. The cry, I think, was loud among
the crowd, Barabbas, Barabbas. And Pilate said to them, what
shall I do with Jesus, which is called the Christ? And they
all say unto him, let him be crucified. The governor said,
why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out to more, let
him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed
his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood
of this just person, see you to it. And they answered, all
the people said, his blood be on us, uh-oh, his death be on
our hands. and on our children, and it is. Now, think about this. Imagine
for a moment Barabbas sitting in prison, bound with his buddies,
maybe the two thieves that were crucified with the Lord. There
were three, maybe those three men there together. But imagine
here Barabbas sitting on death row, bound, chained, and in prison. He does not hear Pilate's question,
who should I release unto you? He doesn't hear that, but he
hears the crowd yell out, Barabbas! Barabbas! But he doesn't hear
that question. Then Barabbas doesn't hear Pilate's
other question, what shall I do with Jesus called the Christ?
All he hears is the crowd yell out, crucify him, crucify him. So he hears two things that day.
He hears his name and he hears the crowd yell out, crucify him,
crucify him. He's sitting here in prison thinking,
okay, here they come. He hears that jail door swing
open. He hears that Roman soldier maybe
taking his bar and raking the bars on each cell, and he hears
them footsteps coming closer. He thinks, okay, it's all over
for me. And the Roman soldier comes to
him and says, you're set free. What? Another dies in your place. What? I'm set free and another
is going to take my place?" Here sits Barabbas on death row. He's
justly found guilty. He's awaiting the day of his
execution by crucifixion and he hears the guard come and the
Roman jailer say, you're set free. Barabbas, go on home to
your family, to your children. The guilty man is set free and
the innocent man dies in his stead. What do we call that? Substitution. Substitution. This is what happened when the
Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture.
He bare our sin in His own body on the tree. We stood guilty
before God and justly so. The Lord Jesus Christ came representing
us, worked out a perfect obedient righteousness for us, honored
the law of God for us, became obedient unto death and willingly
died our death, took our place. taking our murder, our thievery,
our rebellion to Himself, bearing all of our sins in His own body
on the tree, pays the full price that justice demands, and sets
us free. What a message! He dies, the
Lord Jesus, for all the transgression of His covenant people, taking
their sin unto Himself. He willingly takes our place,
suffers in our stead the wrath of God for our sin. How many
times have we quoted this scripture? God made Him sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That God might be a just God
and Savior, that God might be just and holy, that He might
be the just and the justifier of the ungodly. Now, there is a difference between
Barabbas being set free and the sinner being set free. In the
story of Barabbas, it's not a perfect picture, is it? Because justice
wasn't satisfied. He had broken the law and he
got off scot-free. But in the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ actually suffers for our
crime and pays the debt and satisfies God's law and justice. Therefore,
God can show mercy to me, not at the expense of His justice.
That's the glory of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's
the fourth thing. The salvation of a sinner is
plainly revealed. Barabbas is set free. Set free. He's released. He's let loose. His chains fall
off. His bondage is over. He's set
at liberty. He's set at freedom. Freedom! Freedom! He's set free because another
took his place. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
died in his stead. with the other two thieves, maybe,
I'm just thinking, speculating in my heart, maybe these two
other thieves were the friends of Barabbas in that resurrection
and murder, don't you think? Here's the glorious good news
of the Gospel. Those for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died for at Calvary must be set free. Justice now demands
our freedom. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
paid our debt. God's justice can't twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
paid my debt, God said, because I found a ransom, and when the
ransom is paid, his people are set free. And the Lord paid our
sin debt, and the law of God demands that we must be set free. It's not possible for God to
punish my substitute and then punish me. That would be unjust,
wouldn't it? Since the Lord Jesus Christ paid
my debt, I have no debt. There is no condemnation to those
who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought about this?
I've been thinking about this. Whatever happened to Barabbas?
Whatever happened to him? We don't read another word in
scripture about what happened to Barabbas. But don't you think
in your mind and in your heart, don't you think that the Barabbas,
who was a notorious, wicked, sinful man, don't you think that
he was somewhat inquisitive about who this man was that took his
place? I kind of think in my mind as
he watches his other two friends being crucified, maybe he's off
on a hill someday, on a hill that day, looking at the Lord
Jesus Christ dying in his place, thinking, man, that's what I
deserve. Now, I don't know about Barabbas. I don't know what happened
to Barabbas. But I've heard others say that
maybe, just maybe, Barabbas was given faith to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ crucified and was a saved man. I don't know. I'm
just speculating. Others have said so in the past.
But I do know this for certain sure. There is none in hell for
whom the Lord Jesus Christ died. There's none in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ loves. There's none in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ is substitute Being the Lamb of God, taking
away my sin, all the charges against us have been paid in
full, and the elect of God stand justified in Christ Jesus. So much so that God says this,
turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 32. Romans 8.32, if
God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8.32, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? Well,
it's Christ who died. He ain't rather He didn't stay
dead, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine, nakedness, sore, nay, and all these things were more
than conquerors to him that loved us. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the
charges against God the elect have been paid in full. We're
justified by His blood and because He died, we live. Because He
died, we have salvation. He delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. In Christ crucified, I see the
glory of God declared. In Christ crucified, I see His
love, the love of God manifested. I see in the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified, all the attributes of God glorified. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Now, is the Lord Jesus Christ your
substitute? Is the Lord Jesus Christ your
Savior? Do you see your need of Him dying
in your stead, being your mediator, your surety, your advocate, your
Savior? I hope you do. I hope you find
in Him, the Lord Himself, to be your all and in all. You see, looking at my sin, I
see Christ as all my atonement. Looking at God's law, I see the
Lord Jesus Christ as all of my righteousness. Looking at God's
justice, I see the Lord Jesus Christ as all of my justification,
being justified freely by His grace. Looking at death, I see
the Lord Jesus Christ as my life. Looking at the grave, I see the
Lord Jesus Christ as my resurrection. Looking at eternity, I see the
Lord Jesus Christ as my only hope, my God, my Savior, my all
and in all. My all and in all. He's all our
hope. We have a good hope only through
grace. Barabbas. set free, and the Lord
Jesus Christ dying in our stead.