“Barabbas, Part 17:” by Romans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
Tonight is the 17th Installment of our Series, Barabbas. He was a man whose name meant “son of the father.” He was guilty and worthy of punishment, but he was chosen, without merit, to be released without punishment. Barabbas was spiritually symbolic for each of us, but more than in name only, we are the adopted sons and daughters of God. We are continuing, this evening, on our third “rabbit trail,” namely the phrase, “ye are,” enabling us to examine how different we are different from Barabbas.
We, as believers and members of the Family of God, experience a whole range of experiences and blessings that significantly differentiate us from Barabbas. When Barabbas left that Judgment Platform, all similarities to us ceased. Unlike Barabbas, for us – in the present tense – “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:15). We are, now... right now, by and through Christ, renewed and transformed in ways Barabbas never dreamed of.
First, tonight, we will review and examine our first “ye are” declaration is found in Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;”
The Sermon Bible says of this: “I. Consider the unity or oneness of the Church as set forth by the unity or oneness of the body. "The body is one," says the Apostle. Notwithstanding the several limbs of which it is composed, one life animates the whole. The parts mutually subserve one another.
They instinctively feel that they belong to one another; that they owe to one another mutual help and support. And so, too, the Church is one—one mystical body, as we call it—having one Author, which is God, and one Head, which is Christ, and one informing Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost;
having one country toward which all its members are travelling, which is heaven, one code of instructions to guide them thither, which is the word of God, one and the same band of enemies seeking to bar their passage, which are the world, the flesh, and the devil; having the same effectual assistances in the shape of sacraments and other means of grace to enable them to overcome these enemies, and of God’s good favour to attain the land of their rest.
II. But, secondly, as in the human body there is unity, so there is also variety, diversity, multiplicity, or whatever else we may please to call it. The Church is most truly a body in this sense also: that its different members have different functions to perform, all these being assigned to them by God; and then, and then only, it makes equable and harmonious growth.
III. Consider the lessons which we may derive from these truths. (1) We are members of a body. Let us never forget this. It is only too easy to do so. Do not let us yield to the temptation which would lead us to separate ourselves, if not wholly, yet in part, from the body of Christ, and to set up a selfish independent life of our own.
(2) If we are thus members one of another, many are the debts which as such we owe the one to the other. We owe each other truth, love, honour. Let us ask of God a tenderer, livelier, more earnest sense of the sorrows, needs, perplexities, distresses, fears, trials, of our brethren.
R. C. Trench, Westminster and Other Sermons, p. 152.
References: Eph_4:4.—J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 380; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 211.
Church Unity. In these words, which unite the passionate enthusiasm of thanksgiving with the clear-cut precision of a creed, St. Paul draws out to us explicitly that which is the great subject of the whole Ephesian Epistle: the existence and the nature of the Holy Catholic Church of Christ. The whole area of humanity, and therefore the whole area of the salvation of Christ, is seen by him as a whole.
Over the whole battlefield of the world he watches the sweep of the tides of the spiritual battle. The unity of all men in Christ with God and with each other is the magnificent truth which fills his whole mind and heart, and breaks forth ever and anon in bursts of praise; and the text draws out at last, as it were in a triumphant creed, the great lines of the pervading subject.
II. St. Paul places the source and living power of our unity not in anything that belongs to us, but in the eternal unity of God. There is one Spirit, the Holy Ghost Himself, making His temple in the hearts of Christians. They who partake of His life are one body still. The bonds which bind all Christian hearts with gold chains about the feet of God have passed upward from the earth.
They cannot be trampled and broken under the heel of man; they cannot be severed. Whatever else we have done, the source of our unity we can no more close up than we can stop the outburst of some mighty river when it comes rushing down from its ice cave in the everlasting hills.
III. In all unity between rational beings there must be action on both sides, and God brings in the law in His dealing with us. All His blessings are freely given by His grace; but only by the consent of the human will can they penetrate the soul. Faith, hope, love, that triad of Christian graces—these are the conditions which make us one body indeed. What is the duty which this passage forces upon Christians?
(1) Realise what you have. Feel, and act as if you felt, the large amount of unity which exists among Christians still. Let us act with, let us think with, let us pray with, all who bear the name of Christ.
(2) Strive for what as yet you have not. There is an incalculable waste of spiritual power, not only by division, but by friction and antagonism. There is a bewilderment of truth when it is proclaimed, however loudly, by discordant voices. If only Christendom were united, it would hardly need a generation to convert the world; if only England were united, our isle might be "an isle of saints," a kingdom of God.
Bishop Barry, Penny Pulpit, New Series, No. 679”
I. The Apostle uses a favourite image here. The Church is represented by the individual man, and the unity of the Church is represented as like the unity of a man. There is an outward oneness of character and walk, as there is an outward oneness in the corporeal structure of a man; and there is an inward oneness, as of the soul in man.
II. The one individual man, having a body and a soul, but still one, is one also as having and owning one Head. Made one body and one spirit, through the one hopeful calling common to all, we are further one as recognising one Lord. And there is but one method of union with Him and with one another in Him: faith, one faith; and one seal of that oneness of faith: one baptism.
III. Thus called, in one hopeful calling, to be one body animated by one Spirit, thus united to one and the same Lord by one and the same faith, confirmed by the seal of one and the same baptism, they who constitute the one Church come to stand in one and the same relation to the Supreme, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.
R. S. Candlish, Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 70. Reference: Eph_4:4-6.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 428.”
Our next “ye are” declaration is found a few verses away in Ephesians 4:30, but in order to get the full impact of the verse, I will start in verse 25 for a better and fuller context: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil...
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:25-30).
Of this Matthew Henry writes, “The apostle proceeds to some things more particular... and what are the peculiar ornaments of the new man wherewith we should adorn our Christian profession. 1. Take heed of lying, and be ever careful to speak the truth: “Wherefore, since you have been so well instructed in your duty, and are under such obligations to discharge it, let it appear, in your future behaviour and conduct, that there is a great and real change wrought in you, particularly by putting away lying.”
Of this sin the heathen were very guilty, affirming that a profitable lie was better than a hurtful truth; and therefore the apostle exhorts them to cease from lying, from every thing that is contrary to truth. This is a part of the old man that must be put off; and that branch of the new man that must be put on in opposition to it is speaking the truth in all our converse with others.
It is the character of God's people that they are children who will not lie, who dare not lie, who hate and abhor lying. All who have grace make conscience of speaking the truth, and would not tell a deliberate lie for the greatest gain and benefit to themselves.
The reason here given for veracity is, We are members one of another. Truth is a debt we owe to one another; and, if we love one another, we shall not deceive nor lie one to another. We belong to the same society or body, which falsehood or lying tends to dissolve; and therefore we should avoid it, and speak truth. Observe, Lying is a very great sin, a peculiar violation of the obligations which Christians are under, and very injurious and hurtful to Christian society.
2. “Take heed of anger and ungoverned passions. Be you angry, and sin not.” This is borrowed from the Septuagint translation of Psalm 4:4, where we render it, Stand in awe, and sin not. Here is an easy concession; for as such we should consider it, rather than as a command. Be you angry. This we are apt enough to be, God knows: but we find it difficult enough to observe the restriction, and sin not.
“If you have a just occasion to be angry at any time, see that it be without sin; and therefore take heed of excess in your anger.” If we would be angry and not sin (says one), we must be angry at nothing but sin; and we should be more jealous for the glory of God than for any interest or reputation of our own. One great and common sin in anger is to suffer it to burn into wrath, and then to let it rest; and therefore we are here cautioned against that.
Observe, Though anger in itself is not sinful, yet there is the upmost danger of its becoming so if it be not carefully watched and speedily suppressed. And therefore, though anger may come into the bosom of a wise man, it rests only in the bosom of fools. Neither give place to the devil.
Those who persevere in sinful anger and in wrath let the devil into their hearts, and suffer him to gain upon them, till he bring them to malice, mischievous machinations, etc. “Neither give place to the calumniator, or the false accuser” (so some read the words); that is, “let your ears be deaf to whisperers, talebearers, and slanderers.”
3. We are here warned against the sin of stealing, the breach of the eighth commandment, and advised to honest industry and to beneficence: Let him that stole steal no more. It is a caution against all manner of wrong-doing, by force or fraud. “Let those of you who, in the time of your gentilism, have been guilty of this enormity, be no longer guilty of it.”
But we must not only take heed of the sin, but conscientiously abound in the opposite duty: not only not steal, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing that is good. Idleness makes thieves. So Chrysostom - Stealing is the effect of idleness. Those who will not work, and who are ashamed to beg, expose themselves greatly to temptations to thievery. Men should therefore be diligent and industrious, not in any unlawful way, but in some honest calling:
Working the thing which is good. Industry, in some honest way, will keep people out of temptation of doing wrong. But there is another reason why men ought to be industrious, namely, that they may be capable of doing some good, as well as that they may be preserved from temptation: That he may have to give to him that needeth. They must labour not only that they may live themselves, and live honestly, but they may distribute for supplying the wants of others.
Observe, Even those who get their living by their labour should be charitable out of their little to those who are disabled for labour. So necessary and incumbent a duty is it to be charitable to the poor that even labourers and servants, and those who have but little for themselves, must cast their mite into the treasury.
God must have his dues and the poor are his receivers. Observe further, Those alms that are likely to be acceptable to God must not be the produce of unrighteousness and robbery, but of honesty and industry. God hates robbery for burnt-offerings.
4. We are here warned against corrupt communication; and directed to that which is useful and edifying. Filthy and unclean words and discourse are poisonous and infectious, as putrid rotten meat: they proceed from and prove a great deal of corruption in the heart of the speaker, and tend to corrupt the minds and manners of others who hear them; and therefore Christians should beware of all such discourse.
It may be taken in general for all that which provokes the lusts and passions of others. We must not only put off corrupt communications, but put on that which is good to the use of edifying. The great use of speech is to edify those with whom we converse. Christians should endeavour to promote a useful conversation: that it may minister grace unto the hearers; that it may be good for, and acceptable to, the hearers, in the way of information, counsel, pertinent reproof, or the like.
Observe, It is the great duty of Christians to take care that they offend not with their lips, and that they improve discourse and converse, as much as may be, for the good of others.” In the midst of these exhortations and cautions the apostle interposes that general one, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. By looking to what precedes, and to what follows, we may see what it is that grieves the Spirit of God.
In the previous verses it is intimated that all lewdness and filthiness, lying, and corrupt communications that stir up filthy appetites and lusts, grieve the Spirit of God. In what follows it is intimated that those corrupt passions of bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, and malice, grieve this good Spirit.
By this we are not to understand that this blessed Being could properly be grieved or vexed as we are; but the design of the exhortation is that we act not towards him in such a manner as is wont to be grievous and disquieting to our fellow-creatures: we must not do that which is contrary to his holy nature and his will;
we must not refuse to hearken to his counsels, nor rebel against his government, which things would provoke him to act towards us as men are wont to do towards those with whom they are displeased and grieved, withdrawing themselves and their wonted kindness from such, and abandoning them to their enemies.
O provoke not the blessed Spirit of God to withdraw his presence and his gracious influences from you! It is a good reason why we should not grieve him that by him we are sealed unto the day of redemption. There is to be a day of redemption; the body is to be redeemed from the power of the grave at the resurrection-day, and then God's people will be delivered from all the effects of sin, as well as from all sin and misery, which they are not till rescued out of the grave:
and then their full and complete happiness commences. All true believers are sealed to that day. God has distinguished them from others, having set his mark upon them; and he gives them the earnest and assurance of a joyful and glorious resurrection; and the Spirit of God is the seal. Wherever that blessed Spirit is as a sanctifier, he is the earnest of all the joys and glories of the redemption-day; and we should be undone should God take away his Holy Spirit from us.”
Our next “ye are” declaration is found in Colossians 2:10: “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”
Of this Albert Barnes, “And ye are complete in him - Having no need, for the purposes of salvation, of any aid to be derived from the philosophy of the Greeks, or the traditions of the Jews. All that is necessary to secure your salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus. There is a completion, or a filling up, in him, so as to leave nothing wanting. This is true in respect: (1) To the wisdom which is needful to guide us;
(2) The atonement to be made for sin; (3) The merit by which a sinner can be justified; and, (4) The grace which is needful to sustain us in the trials, and to aid us in the duties, of life;”
John Gill adds, “And ye are complete in him,.... Or "filled up", or "filled full" in him; that is, are perfect in him: saints are in Christ, and all fulness being in him, they are full too, of as much as they stand in need, and are capable of containing: for these words are not an exhortation to perfection, as the Arabic version reads then, be ye complete in him; but are an affirmation, asserting not what the saints shall be hereafter... but what they now are;
not in themselves, for in themselves none are perfect, not even those who are truly sanctified; for though all grace is seminally implanted in them, and they have a perfection of parts, of all the parts of the new man, or new creature, and are perfect in comparison of what they sometimes were, and of profane persons and hypocrites, and with respect to weaker believers, yet none are absolutely perfect;
the good work of grace is not yet finished in them, sin dwells in them, they are full of wants and complaints; the best of them disclaim perfection as attained to by them, and express their desires of it; but they are perfect in Christ their head, who has all fulness in him, in whom they are chosen and blessed: they are complete and perfect in him as to sanctification;
he having all fulness of grace and holiness for them, they have it in him; and he is made perfect sanctification to them: and as to justification, he has perfectly fulfilled the law for them, he has made full atonement for sin, has obtained eternal redemption, brought in a complete and perfect righteousness, by which they are justified from all things; are freed from sin, and made perfectly comely, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing:
and as to knowledge, though it is imperfect in them in their present state, yet in Christ all the treasures of it are, and they have no need to go elsewhere for any; they are filled with the knowledge of God and of his will, and are complete therein in Christ;
and what knowledge they have, is eternal life, the beginning, pledge, and earnest of it; so that they have no reason to be beholden to angels or men, only to Christ: which is the head of all principality and power; not only of the body the church, and who is to be held unto as such, from whom all light, life, grace, and strength, are to be derived;
(w) Zohar in Deut. fol. 120. 8.”
And, our final “ye are” declaration, tonight, is found in 1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
The Expositor's Bible tells us, “Believers in Christ are a peculiar treasure unto God from among all people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, even as was said to Israel (in Exodus 19:5-6) when they came out of Egypt and received the Law from Sinai. But among the dispersion, for whom he writes, there were those who had been heathens, as well as the converts from Judaism.
That he may show them also to be embraced in the new covenant, and their calling contemplated under the old, the Apostle points to another of God’s promises, where Hosea (see Hosea 1:10-11, and 2:1-23) tells of the grace that was ready to be shed forth on them which in time past were no people, but now are the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Thus all, Jew and Gentile, are to be made one holy fellowship, one people for God’s own possession.
And this kingdom of God’s priests has its duty to the world as well as unto God. Israel in time past was chosen to be God’s witness to the rest of mankind, so that when men saw that no nation had God so nigh unto them as Jehovah was whenever Israel called upon Him, that no nation had statutes and judgments so righteous as all the Law which had been given from Sinai, they might be constrained to say,
"Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people," and might themselves be won to the service of a God so present and so holy. And now each member of the Christian body, while offering himself a living sacrifice to God, while delighting to do His will, while treasuring His law, is to exercise himself in wider duties, that God’s glory may be displayed unto all men.
One of the psalmists, whose words have been in part referred to Christ Himself, testifies how this priesthood for mankind should be fulfilled: "I have published righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest. I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation; I have not concealed Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth from the great congregation." (Psa_40:9-10) These were the excellences which the Psalmist had found in God’s service, and his heart ran over with desire to impart the knowledge unto others.
With juster reason shall Christ’s servants be prompted to a like evangel. They cannot hold their peace, specially while they consider how great blessings those lose who as yet own no allegiance to their Master. "That ye may show forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." This theme fills the rest of the letter. The Apostle teaches that in every condition this duty has its place and its opportunities.
Subjects may fulfill it, as they yield obedience to their rulers, servants in the midst of service to their masters, wives and husbands in their family life, each individual in the society where his lot is cast, and specially those who preside over the Christian congregations.
Wherever the goodness of God’s mercy has been tasted, there should be hearts full of thanksgiving, voices tuned to the praise of Him who has done great things for them. Lives led with this aim will make men to be truly what God designs: a holy nation; a kingdom of priests. And ever as men walk thus will the kingdom for which we daily pray be brought nearer.
The opportunities for winning men to Christ differ in modern times from those which were open to the earliest Christian converts; but there is still no lack of adversaries, no lack of those by whom the hope of the believer is deemed unreasonable: and now, as then, the good works which the opponents behold in Christian lives will have their efficacy. These cannot forever be spoken against.
A good manner of life in Christ shall, through His grace, finally put the gainsayers to shame. They shall learn, and gain blessing with the lesson, that the stone which they have so long been rejecting has been set up by God to be the foundation of His Church, the head stone of the corner, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
Barabbas was not a mere disposable footnote in the trial of Christ. His name, “son of the father,” proved that. He was guilty and worthy of execution for his unlawful deeds. He was scheduled to be crucified that morning, but instead, he was chosen, without merit, to be released, without punishment.
Jesus was nailed to his cross. I am Barabbas. Each of you are Barabbas. But were are not the children of the Father in name only. We are the adopted children of the Father. We are and we have so many things that Barabbas never was.
As believers in God, we are the children of God, we are saved by hope, we are sealed to the day of redemption, we are more than conquerors, we are buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to new Life, we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, we are ambassadors of Christ, we are His workmanship, created unto good works, we are of the Truth.
We are His, the sheep of His pasture, Abraham's seed, heirs according to the Promise, we are of the household of faith, we are of the commonwealth of Israel, we are the friends of God, we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, we are of His body, we are of His flesh and we are of His bones, we are the Temple of God, we are joint-heirs with Christ to inherit all things. This is what we are as believers... right now... present tense.
One might think, having reviewed and examined all these various “ye are” and “we are” statements, that we have reached the conclusion of this Series. I will admit that even I thought that. But during the week, one of the devotionals that I read changed my mind. A verse was quoted which read, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19).
Building on this verse, next week, God willing, we will continue this Series with yet another Rabbit Trail, the phrase “We have...” I hope as many of you that are hearing me, tonight, will make plans to join me as we review and examine the Scriptures that present to us all that we, as believers in God and His Word, and followers of Christ, have... now... right here and now even before Christ's Second Coming. Join me! There is much to review and examine.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Barabbas, Part 17.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on August 3rd, 2022.
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