Jesus or Barabbas? Part 2

Introduction and Review of Mark 15:6-15 and Luke 23:1-12

0:06 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, November 12, 1989, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I urge you to follow in your own Bibles as I read in your hearing this morning two parallel passages of the Word of God. For those who may be visiting with us for several years now on the Lord's Day mornings, as I have had opportunity to preach, we have been expounding in a consecutive manner the Gospel of Mark, and we are presently in Mark chapter 15, verses 6 to 15. But as background, I do want to read in your hearing Luke chapter 23, verses 1 to 12, and then we will turn to the appropriate passage in Mark's Gospel. Luke chapter 23, verses 1 through 12. And the whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate.

1:20 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest. And Pilate said unto the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no fault in this man.

1:54 But they were the more urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, and beginning from Galilee, even unto this place. But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And when he knew that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod. Who himself also was at Jerusalem in these days.

2:22 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad. For he was of a long time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. And he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. The chief priests and the scribes stood.

2:47 The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers set him at naught and mocked him. And arraying him in a gorgeous apparel, sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day.

3:07 For before, they were at enmity between themselves. And now back to the 15th chapter of Mark's Gospel. And verses 6 through 15. Mark 15 and verse 6.

3:28 Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner whom they asked of him. And there was one called Barabbas lying bound with them that had made insurrection. Men who in the insurrection had committed murder. And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was told.

3:52 And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the king of the Jews? For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the multitude that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate again answered and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews?

4:21 And they cried out again, Crucify him! And Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify him! And Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, Released unto them Barabbas, And delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be crucified.

4:50 Now let us again see, The face of God in prayer that God by the Spirit will attend The preaching of the word to the prophet of each one of our hearts. Let us pray.

5:06 Our Father, as we read these portions of your word And reflect upon the gruesome realities Of our Savior mocked, Bloodthirsty men calling for his crucifixion, We acknowledge that we will be like that Unruly mob, utterly unmoved Before the scene, unless by the Holy Spirit You take the word and bring it home to our hearts with power. And we therefore plead with you, O gracious God, To send the Spirit that he may convince us of our sins, That he may then lead us, To the one fountain open for sin and uncleanness, Even that fountain that is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Come then by the Spirit and assist your servant, And each one who sits before the word, We plead in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Gospel Picture: Barabbas Released, Christ Crucified

6:23 Now in our continuing expositions of the Gospel of Mark, We examined last Lord's Day, Mark's account of the second appearance of our Lord Before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. And that second appearance before Pilate Is recorded in Mark chapter 15, verses 6 through 15. But since the events between the first and second appearances before Pilate Are not recorded by Mark, but are given to us by Lord, Luke, I designated those particular events As the interlude between the two appearances before Pilate. And that interlude is described in Luke 23, verses 7 to 12. And then the prelude to the second appearance before Pilate, As it is given to us in Luke 23, verses 13 to 16. Then we concentrated our attention upon Mark 15, 6 through 15, under the three very simple and obvious headings Demanded by the text.

7:39 The custom describes 6, that of releasing a prisoner At the time of the Passover each year. And then the custom implemented in verses 7 through 14, In which the crowd release of Barabbas While demanding the crucifixion of Jesus, And then the custom culminated in verse 15, In which Pilate actually hands Jesus over To be crucified, to which he is crucified. And after opening up the passage, We had time to make but one fundamental observation and application, And it was this, That we are to behold this transaction of the custom That was in place at the time, At the time that our Lord was on trial, A system that led to not only an accused, But convicted, in carcass, being set free, While the innocent Jesus is placed in the hands of men to be crucified, That we are to behold in that whole transaction, In which condemned Barabbas is released,

9:03 And the innocent Christ is punished by scourging, And handed over to crucifixion, and then, And handed over to crucifixion, and then, And handed over to crucifixion, and then, A marvelous picture of the very heart of the gospel of the grace of God. And that point and observation is made very perceptively and beautifully By Bishop Ryle commenting on this very fact. Let us mark in these verses what a striking picture The release of Barabbas affords of the gospel plan of salvation. The guilty is set free, and the innocent is put to death the great sinner is delivered and the sinless one remains bound Barabbas is spared and Christ is crucified we have in this striking fact a vivid emblem of the manner in which God pardons and justifies the ungodly he does it because Christ has suffered in their stead the just for the unjust they deserve punishment but a mighty substitute has suffered for them they deserve eternal death but a glorious surety has died for them we are all by nature in the position of Barabbas

10:30 we are guilty wicked and worthy of condemnation but when we were without hope Christ the innocent died for us died for the ungodly and now God for Christ's sake can be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus let us bless God that we have such a glorious salvation set before us our plea must ever be not that we are deserving of acquittal but that Christ has died for us now that was the one observation observation and application we had time to make last Lord's day but that by no means exhausts the applications that press upon us to be observed in this passage in the events leading to and surrounding the crucifixion of the Lord of glory we are not only confronted with the most blazing and comprehensive displays of the glorious attributes of glory attributes of glory of glory of glory of glory of the deity but we are confronted with the most hideous penetrating and incisive revelations of human depravity never is God more glorious in all the sum total of attributes than at the cross

12:00 never is man more hideous in all the manifestations of his wretched state as a sinner than at that same cross for the glory of God for one brief period in the history of the world man's nature is given the opportunity to dispose of the incarnate the truth and desire collective heart and when in such a position man's what he really is apart from the grace of God when through the voice that mob active man but release unto us Barabbas and as surely as it is said it is proper to say that the most accurate answer to the question what is God like is found at the cross so the most accurate answer to the question what is man really like is also we come back to this final aspect of the appearance of Jesus before the civil trial and seek to pick up

The Wretched Basis of Human Friendship: Shared Rejection of Christ

13:29 several other lines of observation of the gospel of the gospel of the gospel and application and the first for this morning is this behold in these events of the trial of Jesus the most wretched and foul basis on which to build human friendship now the moment I mention the word human friendship I'm touching a chord ought to reverberate in every human heart from the youngest child to the oldest man or woman in this building human friendship is a very precious commodity from our infancy we find ourselves on to certain people in a more intimate way with whom we've greater freedom to share our joy our sorrows and just to find delight in their presence and that great and precious gift of human friendship which would have been a marvelous thing had sin never entered in which we would have been in which we would have been in which we would have been which will be a glorious thing in the new heavens in the new earth here we that precious gift brought to its lowest depths in conjunction with the trial and the condemnation of our Lord Jesus and I ask you to behold with me in these events of the trial of Jesus

14:58 the most wretched and foul on which to build human friendship when we were considered the interlude between the two appearances of Pilate we did not pause to make any comments upon Luke's record of that appearance before Herod but I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 23 and meditate for a few moments upon this amazing and shocking statement of verse 12 of Luke chapter 23 and Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that for before they were themselves now what do these words take of a language well two things number one that their joint dissipation in the trial and openery of Jesus in the northern region of Palestine the northern region

16:22 the northern Judean of Palestine were enemies of each other the text is clear for before meeting before meeting between themselves and this word enmity is exactly the same word that is found in verse 8-7 in which we read the carnal enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be that disposition that is in every man's heart by nature in which there is a defiance and resistance to God as expressed in his law that was the disposition that was the disposition that existed between Herod and Pilate there was nothing but a disposition of hostility to one another until that enmity between themselves but then the text affirms a second thing on the occasion of their joint participation in the trial and open mockery of Jesus they became friends

17:49 with each other and the emphasis in the original is collision of their joint passion in the trial and open of the Son of God and the stand ship is used they become that there was now amity from a relationship of alien there was now a position of conciliation mutually shared now for most of us those two versions of the text raise questions question number one why enmity with each other to which we must answer we don't know various conjectures only one that is any biblical plausibility is that Herod may well if the actions of Pilate is recorded

19:17 in Luke chapter 13 in verse 1 for we are told that when certain people from Herod's jurisdiction in Galilee had come down at one of the feast times at Jerusalem right while they were offering their sacrifices Pilate had certain of his own military guard seize upon these people and slay them on the spot so that their blood was mingled with their sacrifices and it may have been that because of that activity Herod was angry with Pilate but it's much more likely that in the intrigue and in the push for power and influence and the desire to have influence and a larger domain of legitimate rule assigned by Roman authorities that these men filled with collision course of personal interest but we simply do not know why there was this enmity but that there was tea until this day is unequivocally asserted by the text the second question that we are bound to ask is what was it in their joint partition in the trial of Jesus which made them friends

20:43 well it appears that we are that we can answer at least tentatively that second question first of all in Luke 23 in verse 8 we are told that when he saw Jesus was exceeding glad and Jesus from his jurisdiction to Herod's it was an immediate at least in Herod's eyes he had been longing to have some first hand contact with Jesus he had heard about him to see him and that what he had heard were to the most of the mighty sign wonders that Jesus did the majority of which were done up in his region up in the region of Galilee cities up there where scripture says most of his mighty works were done and so Herod was glad this long standing desire at last possibly be gratified but perhaps even more significantly in sending Jesus up to the world to Jesus up to his jurisdiction

22:10 Pilate was acknowledging the legitimacy of Herod's rule there in that part of Palestine up in the Galilean region here was as it were a palm branch of relationships when he tried enough to send up this famous teacher and preacher and miracle worker to come under the scrutiny of his judgment and then when Herod examined him having asked him many questions having marveled that Jesus did not even dignify the ludicrous accusations by an answer he then hands him over to his soldiers who make sport with him who play with him for a time and then send him back dressed in some mock whether a purple or a white robe we do not know and you see this would have immediately said to Pilate that they shared a similar perspective concerning Jesus they shared the perspective that he was innocent of the charges laid against him and we read in verses 13 to 16 particularly verse 15 where Pilate says neither I am worthy of death

23:39 so these two men who had been at enmity now are agreed in their assessment of Jesus but not only are they agreed in their assessment of Jesus they are both agreed that they will compromise their consciences for the sake of their constituency if Jesus was innocent there should have been no handiwork with him if Jesus were innocent there would be no grounds for Pilate to another jurisdiction or to propose Luke 23 15 I will therefore chastise him and release him but you see the two men became friends by this weaving together of these various strands perspective Herod is glad that he gets a chance to see Jesus Herod is flattered that Pilate would send him up to his jurisdiction Pilate is flattered that Herod defers to him and sends him back to his jurisdiction and so their friendship is cemented by what it is cemented by this jointive and action with reference to the claims of Jesus

25:06 with reference to the question what shall we say concerning Jesus of Nazareth what shall we do with this one who is in our hands for judgment as they are agreeing their response to those questions they become on that very level , they are in the bosom of God and they are in the bosom of God now what is the great lesson for us in this I say here is displayed the most wretched and foul base on which to build human friendship namely a shared commitment to avoid the righteous claims of Jesus a shared commitment to the right to avoid righteous claims of Jesus they become but with the same that they have supposed to respond to Jesus

26:35 in terms of what their own judgment declared to them about Jesus they become partners in a pathetic attempt to avoid the inevitable if the malt is for his blood if the rye is for his blood we will mock him and make we'll not to protect and defend the person of Jesus we will be companions in our guilt and companions in our unprincipled refusal to come to the defense of Jesus and as then so today throughout the centuries many a man many a woman many a boy many a girl a father many a friend many a friend where once there was enmity when there was occasion to agree that we shall acknowledge the rightful claims of Jesus Christ you see when these events are reflected upon in the prayer of the people of God in Acts chapter 4

28:04 they see in the events a fulfillment of the second psalm for after being opposed and threatened for preaching the gospel Peter and John go back to their company verse 23 of Acts 4 and report what had happened they lift up their voice with one accord and they say oh Lord verse 24 thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that in them is who by the Holy Spirit by the mouth of our father David thy servant did say why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples imagine vain things the kings of the earth set themselves in array and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and his anointed for of a true city against the Jesus anoint both the Gentiles together they friendships cemented on the us a fulfilled

29:33 that man who are in constant influence is sitting in the same council chamber he's with their joint self and I said the centuries this been the pattern of the human heart take the whole academic inquiry different theories of what man and what makes man the very when it comes to the detail of what makes man kick in why does they do and relate do to one another but in this they have an unholy whatever he does much we're a

30:54 Greek son of God can trans accountable to the law with one another when it comes to their various theories of what makes man is and why he does what friendship and coalition of commitment there is to buck against the rightful claims of Jesus Christ God's anointed in the realm of official religion we find the same thing rise among all and among all but reject the authority of the word of God in this day that they will not , not have the holy scripture to rule over them and this becomes true and this is the area

32:21 where I want to press in terms of personal relationships how about you young people some of you in Trinity Christian school until you started in school together and got to know one another maybe there's a couple of you guys one of you was king on the hill along came someone else and he began to rival your turf maybe you were little miss cute miss and all the boys looked at you until that other gal came into the class and now they look at her first and there's enmity opposition striving for places of influence and popularity but when you long enough to find out that in your heart of hearts the one thing you don't want is that Jesus Christ will exercise his rights over you you found in your little talks in the bathroom and out on the playground that you both took delight in passing on the latest dirty joke and in using curse words around one another to prove that you were really macho and when you girls found that you could talk and titter about things that you knew mom and dad would spank your buns if they knew about it what happened you who were at enmity suddenly become friends on the very day that you realize

33:50 in spite of all the opportunity of Christian home and Sunday school and Christian school and church in this and from that very day that you discovered that about each other you've been the closest of friends there may be some of you in this assembly had very little to draw you into any kind of intimate or special friendship until you found out by one way you share of resistance to some areas and rights of Jesus Christ and once you discovered that about one another it's amazing how you've been able to leap over all of the barriers that up till now kept you apart and your special friendships are not cemented in righteousness and in a common bond of loving unreserved commitment to Jesus Christ special bonds of friendship are cemented with the claims of Christ a desire to resist and overthrow those claims as they impinge upon your own heart and upon your own life

35:18 again listen to Bishop Ryle let us observe in this passage how easily and readily unconverted men can agree in disliking Christ we're told that when Pilate sent our Lord a prisoner to Herod the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together for before they were at enmity between themselves we do not know the cause of their enmity it was probably some petty quarrels such as will arise among great as well as small men but whatever the cause it was laid aside when a common object of contempt fear or hatred was brought before them whatever else they disagreed about Pilate and Herod could agree to despise and to persecute Christ the incident before us is a striking emblem of the state of things which may always men of the most discord can unite in opposing teachers of the most opposite doctrines can make common cause fighting against the gospel in the days of might be seen combining their forces to entrap Jesus of Nazareth and put him to death in our own times we see Romanists and that is liberals

36:47 infidels and idolaters worldly pleasure lovers and bigoted ascetics the friends of so-called liberal views and the most determined opponents of all all rank together against true biblical evangelical religion one common hatred binds them together they hate the cross use the words of the apostles in the book of Acts and then Ryle quotes this very passage that I've read from Acts 4 and verse 27 and then Ryle goes on to say the true Christian must not count the enmity of the world a strange thing he must not marvel if like Paul it rhymes the way of life away everywhere and if all around him agree in disliking his religion if he expects that by any concession he can win the favor of man he will be greatly deceived let not your heart be troubled Ryle says you must wait for the praise of God you must never forget the words of your master if you were of the world the world would love its own but because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you I ask you as you sit here this morning boys girls men and women

38:15 what is the basis the real basis of your most intimate friendships is or is it a calm affinity in commitment that you will not yield yourself up to the claims of that Christ that you will expense of bloodying your cunts be like Pilate and like Herod whatever friendships you frame on the basis of a common rejection of the claims of Jesus are based on a most wretched and foul foundation and they will bring you to ruin may God help us ever to remember these words on that very day they became friends but then I would ask you secondly to behold in this passage not only would I have the most wretched and foul foundation on which to build a human friendship

The Pathetic Picture of a Man Violating His Conscience: Pilate's Compromise

39:44 but behold in these events the pathetic picture of a man violating his own conscience regarding the person and the claims of Jesus the pathetic picture of a man violating his own conscience regarding the person and the claims of Jesus when we take the various statements of the gospel writers and put them all together a picture emerges that is very clear and it's the picture with reference to Pilate of a man whose conscience is declarance of Jesus but a man followed the dictates of that conscience in the place of a resolute manly printed conscience we see evasion equivocation accommodation compromise until at last there is an old vision of his conscience which he tries to justify by a silly little ritual of self-proclaimed absolution and innocence he brings a bowl of

41:12 water and ceremoniously washes his hands and says I have no guilt while all they would not have drowned the voice of his accusing conscience listen to these statements I've written them out so you'll not have to be flipping and lose the train of thought mark 15 5 says of Jesus mark 15 9 said he desire 23 5 through 7 he seeks to shift the decision to her it doesn't want to make it yet he sees the pressure of the crowd Asian send him up to Herod maybe Herod will take care of this mess for me and when he's sent back from Herod we read in Luke 23 14 to 16 he declares the innocence of Jesus a declaration he says I share with Herod and then in Luke 23 20 it says he again desires and seek Jesus Luke 23 22 he

42:36 27 19 he proposes an accommodation and compromise and then he is I'm sorry that's in Luke 23 22 that he would then simply scourge him and release him but then Matthew 27 19 he's warned by his wife because of the innocence of Jesus and then when we turn to John's gospel we find these amazing statements in John chapter 18 and here you may want to follow as I read these several verses from John John 18 38 Pilate said unto him what is truth and when he had said this he went out to the Jews and said unto them I know in him chapter 19 verse 4 behold I bring him out to you that you may know that verse 6 when the officers saw him they cried crucify him Pilate said take him crucify him I know then in verses 7 to 12

44:04 culminating with verse 12 upon this Pilate this man innocent when all nations are hurled he stands with stately composure enveloped in the consciousness of his own innocence in the presence of God and men again and again according to John says I find no crown is innocent if you're a man of principle turn him loose give him protection from this angry mob you have been instituted to implement justice and righteousness this trial as it was in your conscience Pilate is an innocent man be a principle be a conscience release him but he doesn't do it he caves

45:29 into crowd pressure that crowd pressure was the fear of the consequences of doing what was right Matthew 27 24 and Mark 15 15 in the book he saw tumult arising he wanted to quiet the because this would not be a good report to be taken back to those over him at Rome that in the area of Pilate's jurisdiction there was a mob that got on room at a feast day and so he caves into the pressure of the crowd and then performs that sickening sanctimonious but empty ritual of self proclaimed absolution and innocence Matthew 27 24 he washed his hands and said I am innocent of his blood you take him and do with him what you please ah Pilate in the building where Trinity Baptist Church meets today are you here this morning Pilate about the claims of Jesus your confidence is

46:59 worthy of all God demands of you as he stands before you in the gospel that you acknowledge your desperate need of him that you turn from all hopes to fix yourself up and turn both in repentance and faith of this Christ who can forgive with God and your conscience tells you that that word about Christ is true all the sermons you've heard about Christ are truths to which mom and dad have testified but then there is another voice and it's not the voice of a mob stirred up by chief priests and elders in Israel but it is the voice of your own lusts stirred up by your own native sinfulness saying no not Christ no longer aim in you if Christ is acknowledged for what he is we must die must be done away with and so the voice of your own ambition and your own self

48:28 will he should be with what conscience tells you yet the tumult to his voice of your lust within your own breasts cause you to be like pilot and you equivocate and you try to shift the responsibility on another and you may even go through little rituals of self absolution and self justification that may be why your conscience oh no your coming to church is not because you love Christ and long to have his reign more extensively worked out in your and to blend your voices with others in prayer worship an utter empty ritual that will somehow silence an accusing conscience that you have not done right by the son of God what a miserable person you are in this building this morning you cannot shift the responsibility to another because you cannot

49:57 cut out your conscience or you may try to compromise and shift and strike bargains with yourself but conscience will not allow you peace in that condition my unsaved friend hear me this morning that accusing conscience will never be silenced righteously and safely until it is silenced as you bow in penitence and faith before the Lord Jesus Christ willing to accept all of the consequences of embracing him for who and what he is all of the consequences personally relationally economically career it means who says whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my disciple and I say to you people of God in all of us there is a remnant of Pilate and when we are pressured between duty as conscience is enlightened by the word of Christ and our own fear of the consequences could it be that in some of you there is an unmortified Pilate that's why you are compromising on the job you know you ought to go with the

51:26 right attitude and a right disposition and sit down with your boss and say to him sir I seek to give eight hours in this area you are forcing me to compromise my Christian conscience and sir if this cannot be altered to make me comfortable with my conscience you'll have my two weeks notice oh no you're fearful of the consequences and so you go to work week after week with a bloodied conscience that you are knowingly and volitionally without protest being complicitous with evil and with sin there are some of you who are the heads of your home who are the there are areas where your wife is deviating from biblical norms but when you've brought up the issues before she's pouted she has cried she's turned on her tears she's manipulated you into silence and every time you hear the word of God preached about the headship of a godly husband you hear the words of Joshua as for me and my you're not willing to live with the consequences

52:52 and so you capitulate the ungodly pressure of your wife it may be the reverse that some of you wives capitulate to the ungodly pressure of your husbands and I tell you one of the greatest tragedies to see otherwise mature Christians capitulating to their kids what a horrible thing when God has made you as a Christian parent it means that you would not utter his use of his walkman he might walk and not come back and you're intimidated by your own kid and you cower

The Horrible Nature and Fruits of Envy: The Chief Priests' Sin

54:05 against the dictates of your conscience pilot what's your address this pilot dwelt somewhere there in Palestine I don't know his address but alas I've seen his family members all too often behold in this passage horrible sight of a man who will not act consistent with his enlightened conscience then much more briefly in the third place notice with me in this passage behold in these events the horrible nature and the fruits of the sin of envy behold in these events the horrible nature and fruits of the sin of envy look at Mark 15 in verse 10 and the parallel passage is in Matthew 27 in verse 18 but Mark's statement is stronger Mark says in verse 10 for he pilot perceived that the accusative had delivered him up

55:33 even a morally vacillating man like pilot could see through the thin veneer of these accusations that the chief priest and the scribes and the elders were bringing against Jesus he could see clean through it and it says he perceived he knew that it was on account of envy that they had handed him up on account of envy what is envy well here's the best description I found of envy envy is the feeling of displeasure around seeing someone possess what you don't want him to possess jealousy is the desire to possess it for myself envy in the case of Jesus well through his ministry the crowds were comparing him to this very bunch of scribes he and not as their scribes until as we read in John chapter 11 after the raising of Lazarus from the dead they are frustrated they said the whole world honest and say it's bent our nose

57:02 clear all the back of our head they said oh this keeps up why the Romans will come and take away our place in our nation what a bunch of baloney why would the Romans come and take away their place in their nation if they're all following Jesus any more than if they're all following the scribes and the Pharisees no what they really meant is we believe we're the rightful teachers and we can't stomach it that our following is going after him and Pilate was familiar enough with what was going on among the Jews that he knew they had delivered him up isn't it amazing that the Bible says that the triggering sin that precipitated the death of Jesus was envy envy when have you heard a sermon about envy I confess and I've had to confess to God I've given it all to the Lord for when I went to the scriptures I found this matter of envy is joined to murder in two passages of the New Testament in two other passages it is ladled to murder

58:30 and stopping short of murder will be the mother of all kinds of strife here we see this heart sin doing its worst it delivers up the son of God to death and at the root of envy is pride and rebellion against the ways and the will of God I couldn't help but think of the contrast with John the Baptist when his following began to run after Jesus people came and said John all your disciples are going up and John said a man can receive nothing except it be what given him from heaven he recognized that the size and the nature of his following was determined by God and then he said this is what I've lived for he must increase but I must decrease but oh what an opposite disposition was in these religious leaders the root of their unmortified pride against the ways that resulted in their handing him over to the Gentile authorities to be put to death in the worst death that could be given to a common criminal under the Roman rule my friend

59:58 brother sister young man young woman let this sin loosen your heart today and you may be watering the seats of murder and of strife it's amazing how seldom you ever hear anyone confess either the sin of pride or the sin of envy people will confess anger confess the sin of love seldom do men want to confess to the sins of pride and envy when you see one of your brothers or sisters drive in God's blessed them with a new car what's your attitude thank you Lord thank you Lord God enables them to get into the real estate business and they get their own home or at least they've got a little piece of it and the bank has the rest and they're getting it bit by bit do you rejoice or do you turn green with envy envy's got the seeds of murder in it the seeds of the most bitter strife and oh how ugly is this sin of envy in its roots and in its fruits when it is not dealt with by the withering power of the cross and of the Holy Spirit don't

61:27 tolerate unmortified envy in your heart given the right circumstances you'll murder if men you'd murder another human being and remember Jesus said that seething unjust hatred is of the essence of murder I tell you the things that surround the cross of Christ are not pretty sight but you see that's just precisely why he was going to the cross because the human heart is not a pretty sight and when we stand before this manifestation of this foul friendship we stand before a man who lacks the principle to our conscience and when we see we're to say oh if you do not cleanse my heart and break the power of sin there's no hope for me in principle I read in a pile and I

The Cross as the Remedy for Our Sins

62:50 will place left to myself I'll be a pilot who will forever be living with an accusing conscience I will pressure of envy when any blessing comes to another that does not come to me my friend don't let this ugly sight of the human heart discourage you face it for what it is and realize this is why Christ put himself in the hands of men that going from Pilate's judgment hall out along the Via Della Rosa and to the cross there dying the just for the unjust God's wrath might be poured out upon him for your sins of unholy friendship your sins of violating conscience in the face of light your sins of envy and the pride of envy Christ died to forgive sinners and the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin even these sins and then it is in the strength of the

64:19 spirit of Christ alone that we are enabled to be just the opposite of what we see in these passages to refuse any voluntary friendship I'm not proud associations that are pressed upon us in the path of duty relationships which in common grace and a rejection of Christ and his claims exist but oh I need strength to say I will form no voluntary friendship with anyone the basis of which must in any way compromise Christ rightful claims over me it will never be they became friends for before enmity no it is only when men become Christ's friends that they will be my friends for by this we know we've passed from death to life because we love the brethren and we love them because they are brethren and they are brethren because they trust and love the same Christ we do likewise with this matter of being true to your conscience as it is in lightened by the Holy Spirit it is only in the strength of Christ that we can be enabled to stand and not cave in

65:49 to the pressures that come because of my obedience when a Martin Luther stands and faces the whole imposing sight of the church of Rome virtually unchallenged in her structures for centuries except for a little voice here or there and says here I stand so help me God reason he said it can never to violate one's God Luther gave here I so help me God that's the kind of husbands we need it's the kind of wives we need sons and daughters and preachers and missionaries and workmen in the workplace that people have conscience what a trap when people think every man's got his price every man's basically a pilot pressure him long enough he'll cave

67:14 in may God give us people who will who would under any pressure but the pressure of the word of God upon an enlightened conscience and how are we going to be free of the sin of envy it's only when our hearts are content in the Lord Jesus and we live in the realization that we are his and he is ours and in him we are made complete in the language of John Ryland oh Lord I would delight in thee and in that hymn he says I must have all things and abound while God is God to me oh may the Lord help us to linger even though the scene is ugly let the ugly reality of these things drive us to our precious and our gracious savior for forgiveness and for strength it will not do my friend to go through little ceremonies of self absolution and self declared innocence Pilate

Conclusion and Prayer: Rejecting Self-Absolution, Embracing Christ

68:43 tried it it didn't work it may have impressed a few silly people who thought religion consisted in external washings and rituals and you may impress a few silly undiscerning people but there's nothing vital and real and contagious in your professed Christianity while it's made up of a lot of people it's made up of a lot of people it's made up of a lot of people it's made up of a lot of people it's made up of a lot of people it's made up of silly little rituals that never touch your heart that never bring you into real contact with the real God dealing with your real sins in your real heart and that's what you need the only place to get it is at the feet of Christ God grant that we should be found there let us pray our father we acknowledge in your presence that the human heart when stripped before the light of your word is an ugly thing we confess oh God our shame when we think of all the alliances some of us once formed based on a mutual commitment to reject the claims of Jesus we are ashamed oh Lord of the violations

70:12 of our consciences for fear of men for fear of the consequences of the path of righteousness we're ashamed of our sins of envy oh Lord wash us in the blood of your son for those sitting here this morning who've never known what it is to be freed from the dominion of these sins oh God fulfill your word that when he has come he will reprove the world of sin bring home to their hearts such conviction as will not let them rest until they are plunged into that fountain open for sin and uncleanness we pray for your people Lord we confess that we are so prone to be like a pilot give us grace that we shall not conform to the patterns of pilot but oh that we may have grace to stand no matter what the cost before the light of your word as it impinges upon our consciences keep our hearts free of envy keep us from every unholy alliance based on an affinity for sin oh God deal with us don't let us go through another Lord's day having just washed our hands by church attendance while missing heart dealings with you God don't let us do it

71:41 we pray but have dealings with us we beg of you in Jesus name Amen