If you do, please turn to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter number 23. When you have Luke 23, say amen. All right, you guys are quick, quick. The Word of God says in verse number 13, Luke chapter number 23, Neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him, and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him. I will therefore chastise him and release him, for it was necessary for Pilate to release one to them at the feast.' And they all cried out at once, saying, Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus again, called out to them. But they shouted, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! Then he said to them the third time, Why? What evil has he done? I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go. But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence, that it should be as they requested. And he released to them one that they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison, but he delivered Jesus to their will. That is, The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. We're going to take some movements through the passage this morning. Then we're going to close in prayer. Brother Tim will come and ask God's blessing on the meal. It might seem trivial, but to the kitchen committee, it is not trivial that I tell you that you're limited on your first trip through to one hot dog and one hamburger. You're welcome. That's your first trip through. Now, Brother Tim, now you don't have to tell anyone. The Scripture says, and by the way, as we come into this, it is the day of Jesus' death. You might call it Good Friday. And here, as we've been traveling as a church through this passage, we are confronted with a very fickle crowd. This is a mob, if you will. According to verse number 14 in verse number 13 Pilate when he had called together the chief priests the rulers and the people That is shocking That the people are involved with this The reason this is shocking is because it was just five days earlier when these same people are saying Hosanna Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord and These same people are saying, we want this man to reign as king. Five days later, the same fickleness that'll distract you in this parking lot is the same fickleness that allows a person in five days to turn from adoring Jesus Christ to wanting him impaled on a stick. The word crucify means to affix to a pole. What kind of audacity does it take for these people to want a murdering rebel to be released to them and for this perfect son of God to be nailed to a piece of wood? I suspect that there are people in this congregation today that think that somehow mankind has much improved. You've lost your stinking mind. There is no chance that the humanity here and the humanity here is any different. Give them a cause and they'll burn their city down. Give them a cause, they'll kill a righteous man. Give them a cause and they will hope for his death in a Maryland hospital. Give them a cause. The mob, friend, hasn't changed. And every time that you think, ah, there's some good in every man, you're asking for the King of Glory to womp stomp all over that retardation and correct that false opinion. Mankind has not improved. That same mankind that declared that they must have this righteous Jesus murdered, is the same mankind that today says, I'm not much on Jesus, I just am rather spiritual. No, you're not spiritual. You're the same kind of person like I am that have given the opportunity I would have nailed the Son of God to a cross. You're made out of the same stuff I am. I know some of you know that, but others, you're looking at me kind of like a pious gas bag. You're under the impression that your kind of humanity stinks a little less than my kind of humanity. as if you wouldn't have raised your fist to a holy God at the Tower of Babel, as if you would not have eaten of the forbidden fruit in the garden. No, friends, we are a people that would rather crucify Jesus and go to hell than to surrender to the Lord of glory and find our way in heaven. That's the humanity that we see in this page. So before you think as you rock your beautiful little granddaughter, here's the first non-sinner ever hatched. You just remember there were a lot of baby granddaughters in the mob that day. 20 and 25 years old, every one of them started out suckling by mom. You hear me? You hold that precious little darling and you look at them and see that hidden within their bosom is the very, very thing that would crucify the very Son of God. No, there's nothing special about humanity we haven't changed. But I also want to draw your attention to the works and the words of Pilate. In verse number 14, he says, you brought this man to me, and I find no fault in him. And again, in verse number 20, he says it again. If you'll look at the text, 2320, he says, Pilate, wishing to release Jesus, called out to them, but they shouted, saying, they're shouting Pilate down as Pilate is saying, don't make me do this. Yeah, Pilate, you're a real saint. Pilate, we'll get to you in a moment. But in this passage, Luke is teaching us not just about the nature of man. Luke is teaching us about the wonderful impeccability of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, in this passage it says that he's done nothing worthy of capital punishment. In this passage it says that he's done nothing that Herod and Pilate could find. But Luke is teaching us theology. You see, the Gospel of Luke was written to a man named Theophilus. And Theophilus had to be convinced that this Jesus truly is the Son of God. So Luke is teaching his readers that Jesus is not just faultless on Good Friday. He was faultless in Passion Week. He's not just faultless and passion-weak. He's always been sinless, from the time that He was conceived in Nazareth, to born in Bethlehem, to crucified in Jerusalem. From the time that He was with the Father before the creation of the world, all the way until the time He is now seated at the Father's right hand, you're going to find a sinless, impeccable, faultless Jesus. Let me tell you how sobering it is to know what lies deep in this chest is anything but saintly. But as my eyes are lifted to the right hand of the one on the throne, I see one who is never over-promised and under-delivered. I see one who is worthy of all my trust, all my surrender. I look heavenward and I see one who is perfect in all of his ways. qualified supremely to die in the place of every man, woman, boy, or girl under the sound of this voice. That is our Jesus. Now, there are three religions I've located that have downgraded sins to baggages brought forth to this current day. In other words, you lived somewhere before you lived here, on another planet, another island, if you will, and then you were conceived and you brought things from previous existences to your current life. We don't want to call them sins. Scientology would call it engrams. You know, Mormonism would call it an unfortunate pre-existence where you had to be put in some kind of purgatorial sort of kind of probation here on earth. Nation of Islam says that you had interplanetary existence where you were either suppressed or privileged based on your ethnicity. And when you downgrade the works of man to something besides transgression against God, then no wonder all three of these religions say that Jesus did not need to be virgin born, Jesus did not have to die for sinners, and Jesus did not get up from the dead, and there's no need for Jesus to come again. But as you heard this morning, you're surrounded by people who believe all of that. That, in fact, He is coming again. He arose from the dead. He died in our place. He was a sinless man. He is a sinless man. He was born of a virgin, conceived of a virgin, completely faultless. If you're looking for fault today, call it me, but don't blame Jesus. Call it us, our over-promising of what Jesus means for us. Blame it on our human nature that says that God should do things for us, but don't blame Jesus. Pilate would stand in here in front of you today behind this microphone and tell you, I find no fault in this man. Herod would say, I find nothing worthy of killing this man. Next, I would like to quickly talk to you about the idea of having a national hero who is known for taking human life. You see, that's what's going on in this passage. You find out later in this verse, particularly verse number 17, verse 16, that they want a man named Barabbas in verse 18. What kind of a culture was Jesus in? Where people would rather have a national hero that is known for shedding blood. A political cause causes him to take blood, if you will. And he is known as a national hero. People are taking videos on their phone, hashtag Barabbas. And they're happy that he killed someone, because after all, it was a good cause. It was a matter of choice. We have a national hero here who is known as a murderer. Hey, in fact, it says it twice, verse 19 and verse number 25. Luke is so surprised that these people would reject a perfect Christ, like many of us would, and would pick a hero, a superhero, if you will, who battled the establishment, found a cause, hated being suppressed, was tired of being under the man, and is going to take a life, and everyone says, that's a man we can believe in. You say, oh, I'm glad we're not like that anymore. Right. Right, friends. I would say that you need to change the filter on your mask if that's the way you think. I would say that you need to find some fresh air if that's the way you think, friends. I would say you need to get away from the tailpipes if that's the way you think. We are people that are made up of wicked things. And we always seem to think that our nastiness stinks less than someone else's. But it was this Baptist boy, raised in a Baptist church, saved at the age of 21, assured of his salvation, pastored at age 20, and I want you to know, I'm the filthiest man I know. You say, man, I don't even want to hear you preach. There are days I don't want to hear me preach. You'll not see me in the newspaper. You go check out the search history on my computer, you'll find nothing that will disqualify me from ministry. But I will tell you, you don't lay awake at night and think about all the mistakes that I've made. I do. You don't lay awake at night and plead the blood of Jesus over your resentment about yourself like I do about myself. Friends, brothers, the worst sinner you know is the one that looks back at you in the mirror. You're not a victim. The whole world will tell you you're a victim. Hear the one voice in your life today that will say you are not a victim. We are a product, yes, of a lot of things, but our choices is one of them. And brothers and sisters, I come before you today just wanting to be a lone voice in the wilderness. You look at verse 23 now, we're almost done, we're on the, as we could say, on the descent of the mount. And here's what it says, the voices of the men and chief priests prevailed. That means that it got stronger and stronger. In the Greek language, it's the imperfect tense, meaning that the crescendo of the voices eventually wore Pilate out. What voices do you hear today that wear you out? I'm talking about the thing that almost kept you in the bed this morning instead of coming to worship our Lord. Those voices, I'm talking about the thing that'll make you get on social media today and curse someone out on this very Lord's Day. What voices do you hear? Is it voices like, get them before they get you? You deserve a break today. Is it voices of aspiration, voices of failure, voices of regret, voices of resentment, voices of who to vote for, voices of what to do about the virus, voices about whether you should wear a mask, not wear a mask, six feet apart, 20 feet apart. Hey, sanitize everything or at least wait six hours. I mean, has anyone else been hearing voices this year? Personal priorities, parenting priorities, allow me to be a voice in your life today to say, what will you do with Jesus? That is what Pilate is facing, and what can Pilate do to quell the voices? In the past, in this passage, he reasoned with them. He said, I don't find anything wrong with them, verse 15. He pacified them. How about I just whip them real good and then release them? That wasn't good enough. And then he delayed, verse 5. He sent them to Herod. And then, potentially, he had some other choices to quiet the voices. He could have retreated into his palace, the praetorium, and kind of waited till the mob dissipated. He could have taken a law and order and said, I got about 600 to 2,000 soldiers here. It's Passover time, and I'm going to make sure that there's no more unrest. He could have done that. He could have said, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take over here. He could have potentially said, I will die with this Jesus. That could have happened. If he does nothing, the mob may take over and kill both Jesus and Pilate. The reality is, when you're choosing Jesus, you are choosing death. Jesus didn't say, if you will just follow me, I will make all of your dreams come true. That was Pedro. We're talking about Jesus. Jesus said, you follow me, it comes with a cross. Say amen right there. What we want is we want a Jesus that says, I'm here for you, big boy. You need a tire change? I'm your cosmic bellhop. You need your bags carried? I'm your boy. You need someone to make you feel good about who you are? Call on me. And Jesus says, here's what I'm going to do for your self-esteem. You choose me, you might die. And every day of our life, we hear the voices and we are tempted to live in fear. I know what that's like. And one of the choices that Pilate had was to capitulate. And that's what he did. Listen to me. Politically, Pilate was a success. He kept the peace. Do you know that it's possible to win in politics and to lose with God? Do you know it's possible to say all the right things so that the crowd goes away and to lose your eternal life? Apparently, Pilate can tell a story. Politically, he's a success. He kept peace for a moment. Spiritually and morally, he was an utter failure. And with all of his resources, tell me, how can he say in verse number 24 that he can give a sentence that it should be as they requested? What kind of a moron are we dealing with here? I'll tell you what we're dealing with, a scared man. Terrified, he's going to lose his position in life. Terrified, he's going to lose his place at the job. That's exactly what's going on here. Terrified that the blogosphere is going to tear him up. He can't deal with the voices, so he surrenders to the mob. He does what everyone wants him to do, and our Lord Jesus Christ dies an innocent man. And here's a great quote from our commentator Robert Stein. He says, Pilot is misunderstood by some as a man caught in a tragic circumstance, pressed into doing something he really didn't want to do. No sympathy should be lost over this man who willingly executed someone he knew was innocent. The one human being who had the most to do with Jesus' crucifixion was Pontius Pilate. He had the authority to release this innocent man or crucify him. He chose the latter to preserve his political career. And as a result, history and the church will always confess that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Yep, and that's where we're at. And we turn the corner and we come to another truth. And here it is. If you give people an opportunity, if you leave them to themselves, it says in verse number 25, what will happen? If you leave them to their own will, which is what it says, they will kill an innocent man. Anything to quiet the voice of reason, anything to quell the Holy Ghost, anything to calm the storm, hey, just give me, hey, more medicine, dull my spirituality, more excuses, dull my situation. Hey, I need more hashtags so that I don't have to take responsibility for what I'm about to do in this moment of decision. I am oppressed, I am a victim, I am just a poor chap in the middle of a difficult circumstance. No, pilot, you chose wrong. And today, there are people here in this parking lot and on this lawn, standing and sitting, some awake and some asleep, who have got to admit that in this moment it may not feel important. We might be near the bottom of the hour now and it's time to dismiss. Lord knows we can't go 61 minutes. And all that we can think about is the lack of eternal significance in this moment. Hear me when I tell you that this moment will ring off the halls of eternity. Long after you and I would ever be in hell fire, what we hear on a Sunday morning in October of a year like 2020 would ring in our ears as the devil chants in our minds. Friends, it's better to put faith in God than in chariots and horses. It's better to put faith in Jesus than in your self-discipline and moderation and morality. No, friends, take a lesson from the page. We are not nearly as good as we thought we were. So, the wheels are down. The stewardess is coming to get your empty cups. And we find out that the guilty ones, it seems, are free. Well, in a way. In a way. You see, I told you at the beginning of this message, and here we are at the caboose. I told you that Luke is teaching us theology. If Luke is teaching us about the impeccability of Jesus, and if Luke is talking to us about the nasty depravity of mankind, then Luke is also teaching us about the reason for this entire drama to begin with. You see, the name Barabbas is really strange. It's like he was the 27th kid in a family of 29 or something. Barabbas means son of a father. Thanks, mom. What a name. Son of a father. That's not only a fact of history. That is a lesson in theology. Because what ends up happening is because Jesus doesn't use all of his power to get out of a moment of victimization. Here he is about to be a murder victim, completely legal. Yeah, I know there's a discussion to be had there, but once the pontiff says, kill him, it's a completely legal execution. A man whose name means son of a father is about to go free so that the perfect son of man will die on his cross. And what I'm trying to say is the reason that God in His sovereignty allowed a man whose name means son of any old guy is because you and I, we're supposed to look through time and see that the son of any old guy, Barabbas, can be anyone. Jesus stays put, and Jesus is nailed to the cross of anyone, the son and daughter of any old guy. It's a picture, friend, of how you and I, though we were murderers in heart, insurrectionists in mind, are allowed to walk free men and women. to enjoy eternal life outside the bounds of the destruction our sin brought, while the perfect Son of God dies on our cross. This is wonderful and timeless. It's beautiful. It means that no matter what you've done, He was nailed to your cross. But you don't know what I've done. If my stuff was hung out here in public, everyone would throw things at me. Well, I'm glad that you're the son or daughter of any old guy. And when you were allowed to go free and Christ endured the wrath of God under the darkness of God's hand on Good Friday, He was dying on your cross. He was dying on my cross. And today, friend, you can put faith in this one. He said, if people know that today's the day of my salvation, what will I do about all those who thought I used to be good people? I wouldn't be so concerned about that. Pilate made that mistake. And I want to just remind you of a man named John Bunyan. John Bunyan wrote a book called Pilgrim's Progress. Listen to what he said. This is from the 1600s in England. He said, I had few equals. I was a blasphemer like no other person I knew. At age 16, cursing, swearing, lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God. And at age 15, his mother and sister died within one month of each other. His sister was 13. And to add to his heartache, his father remarried within a month. All this. While not many miles away in that same month of loss, the king attacked a church in Leighton and began to cut the wound right and left, he says. Listen to what John Bunyan says. Later that fall, when I was the wickedest man I knew, I had turned 16, I was drafted into the parliamentary army, and for two years I was taken from my home for military service. There were harrowing moments, he recounts, as, for example, one when a man took his place as a sentinel and was shot in the head with a musket ball and died. The testimony of John Bunyan is, here I am, a wicked man. If God had a right to let anyone die that day, it was me. But he provided someone to stand in my place. And he took a musket ball to the head and died. Hear me today. Here soon, you'll be faced with a decision of what will you do with Jesus. Sitting where you are, you can glorify the Lord who died in your place and put all of your faith in Him. Praying a prayer won't save you. You've heard me say that for four years and I'll continue to say it until the Lord moves me or I die or you fire me. Praying a prayer will not save you. Taking a trip down an altar to an altar down an aisle will not save you. You know that. Come on, check the records. We're a Christian nation. You know hundreds of people in your history that said that they got saved and you can't find them with the FBI on Sundays. You know exactly what I'm saying. You know lots and lots of people that have claimed to be born again. They've done that prayer thing. They've done that saved thing. You know full well it didn't do a change in their heart. You know being baptized won't save you. You know thousands of people that were baptized and none of them live a life that's exemplary like a person who's had a change of heart. You know the Holy Ghost is speaking to you right now. Your conscience is rising up inside of you right now. You know everything I've said this morning, jaded at times, is true nonetheless. What will you do with this Jesus? What will you do? You can listen to the mob. You can ignore the voices. You can die with him. But to let the mob do with your Jesus what the mob has done for 2,000 years, you're gonna die a lost person and spend an eternity without Him. Look to the Lord today and be saved. Put your faith in the gospel of Jesus and become one of the children of God. Get on board the ship Zion and sail home with a band of the redeemed this morning. Look to Him. He died on your cross. You do not need to die a sinner. Die a saint and be forever with our God in paradise. That is the gospel of our Lord.