One God and one mediator - the man Christ Jesus. (ii) (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] With the Lord's help, I would direct your attention to the first epistle of Timothy, the second chapter, verses 5 and 6. The first epistle of Timothy, the second chapter, verses 5 and 6.

[0:15] For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

[0:37] For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

[0:54] It may be truly said that there is only one God that needs a mediator if those that worship him are to draw near with holy and humble confidence that they will not be consumed.

[1:24] The scripture rightly speaks of other gods, that they are no gods at all. If they are made by men, then those men are like unto them.

[1:42] They can neither speak, nor hear, nor taste, nor smell, nor act in any way. In which case, they are not to be feared under any circumstances.

[2:03] By contrast, one God spoken here cannot be approached unto without a mediator.

[2:15] How distinctive, then, is the position of the God whom we worship, the God whom we preach.

[2:31] His holiness is deep, beyond our comprehension. That holiness is burning. That holiness is burning. And therefore, if we should attempt to draw an eye, being conscious of it, then we should certainly be consumed by the holiness of God.

[2:57] That there are many people that suppose themselves to have drawn near to God with boldness, with presumption.

[3:13] We can only conclude that they have not drawn near to the holy God himself. We have that solemn word in Leviticus, which refers to two of Aaron's sons.

[3:34] And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his incense, sir, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.

[3:54] And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Now, this brought to the attention of Moses the importance of sanctifying the Lord in worship.

[4:13] Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people, I will be glorified.

[4:33] And Aaron held his peace. The fact that there is one God is by revelation.

[4:45] We cannot bring you to believe in one God. We can preach it.

[4:56] And we are assured from the scriptures that faith cometh by hearing. And faith is believing. And as the Spirit of God may crown his gospel with success, as the Lord God in his great holiness may be preached, so there may be a believing.

[5:25] There will be a believing when the Spirit of God works that this is the only true God. We find the Lord Jesus himself making reference to the only true God in his prayer unto his Father, where he says, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

[6:00] The only true God possesses life, eternal life. And the only true God communicates eternal life to everyone whose names are written in heaven.

[6:19] If there should be a concern in your soul as to whether your names are written in heaven, draw some consolation from this, that your name is certainly there if you have felt the movement of eternal life in your soul.

[6:45] There is no doubt that the presence of eternal life in your soul will be so different and make you so different from what you once were.

[7:04] It will be realized because you will find that there is a conflict that you did not know about before. That is, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh.

[7:26] If that is so, then it means that you have a new nature which is objected to by the old nature.

[7:40] And the new nature is the evidence of eternal life. And if you have the evidence of eternal life, your name is written in heaven. That is just one development which you may consider and as God may give you faith, believe that your name is written in heaven.

[8:05] Now, we discover from the Lord's own words what eternal life is. That they might know thee the only true God.

[8:17] So we have an important evidence of our being right or wrong by our knowing the only true God.

[8:27] God. This morning we spent some time on noticing several aspects of the one God. And what we attempted to set before you was really equally aspects of the only true God.

[8:49] Now, if those points that were mentioned this morning could be looked upon, as things that you knew about, then must you not be encouraged to believe that you possess eternal life.

[9:10] Because you know the only true God. You know that he is a God of fire. And you know that he answers by fire. You know that he hears and answers prayer.

[9:24] You know that he is faithful unto his promises. You know that he is the great God above all. You know that he works all things after the counsel of his own will.

[9:37] And none can stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou? But we have also Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

[9:50] so we need to make a distinction between the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

[10:05] Jesus Christ is the Son of God. There is no question about him being anything else but the Son of God.

[10:15] the only true God includes the Son of God includes Jesus Christ. But why does the Holy Ghost make such a distinction?

[10:30] Jesus Christ is the Son of God that came in the flesh and whose glory was veiled by his flesh when he was here upon earth.

[10:48] As Jesus Christ he was indeed the mediator of the new covenant. May the Lord give us an understanding of the great extent of the work of mediation.

[11:06] And one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus. We view this from two points first of all that he was a mediator between God and men when his prime purpose was here upon the earth in giving himself a ransom.

[11:38] A ransom the word says here for all. the general tenor of scripture will immediately inform us that this does not refer to all men women or children but it refers to a ransoming ransoming of people from all nations tongues and peoples and tribes surely we may say that there is not a tribe however small however insignificant that cannot look at this scripture and take heart who gave himself a ransom for all so the work of our lord jesus christ whilst he was upon this earth was engaged in this great work of laying down his life and giving himself a ransom we are familiar with this word ransom in more recent times as it is used in criminal circles and we also know this that when a ransom sum is asked it often seems to be quite preposterous and out of all relationship to that which would mean the release of the captive the design is criminal therefore honesty is not considered we may regard the price of our lord jesus christ in his mediation as being tremendously high and yet god does not make any unjust demand the computation is perfectly true the price that is demanded is precisely right but who is capable of laying down his life of giving himself a ransom for all there is one mediator between god and man the man christ jesus as there is one god so there is one mediator there is one person alone that is capable of engaging in this heavy responsibility of saving his people from their sins there is only one mediator that is capable of standing in the breach one mediator there is only one person that can face up to the demands of justice and of the law to the holiness of god and so on i say there is only one person that is capable of enduring these things one mediator now if that mediator is to be between god and man the mediator himself must be on level terms with god otherwise he would not be accepted with god now does it concern you and me that we should have such a mediator that though acceptable to us will also be acceptable with god we may indeed consider that the lord jesus is acceptable to us because no man never man spake like this man but will he be accepted in the presence of god the only person that we can ever hope that could be accepted in the presence of a holy god is a person of equal holiness equal righteousness equal elevation so that he would be on the same level as the eternal god now this is what makes this so important if there is one god which by the spirit we have come to know and realize how truly holy he is and cannot be trifled with with a few instances of the scriptures where his holiness caused men to die who presumptuously entered into his presence may we not tremble unless we have a mediator who is acceptable to god as well as unto us so the glorious truth is before us for there is one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus in the chapters we read reference was made to the lord's mediation and powerful were some of the references made to that mediation only the lord jesus christ himself could engage in that but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises for as he we go on to read how much more shall the blood of christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to god purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living god and for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance we therefore see from this that this most glorious and blessed mediator the only one mark you the only one that is acceptable between god and men enters in with his own blood the evidence that sin is atoned for the evidence that the price is paid the evidence that god is reconciled and may we not remember those blessed words of the scripture that god was in christ reconciling the world unto himself when you look at the accounts which are given to us of our lord's life upon the earth do you see god in christ do you see what is happening that he is reconciling the world of his church unto himself do you see that in this reconciliation as a mediator between god and men he is engaging to fulfill the law and to make it honorable in every jot and tittle and do you see also that god in christ is reconciling the world unto himself by his death putting away sin and putting it away forever and never remembering it anymore there is a sweet reference in the old testament under the image of two goats we find this sometimes in the ceremonial law it was not possible for the whole type to be shadowed forth in the one animal or bird as the case may be and so on this occasion there were two goats set forth now over the one the one was offered as a sacrifice now we read in Hebrews that the blood of balls and of goats could not take away sin in order to complete the time we see that there was another goat with the sins cast upon it so to speak by implication taken into the land of forgetfulness by a fit man and that man was

[22:31] Jesus Christ and that was the land of forgetfulness and those sins could never be remembered anymore now we come back to the glorious antitype our Lord Jesus Christ our mediator you see when he died upon the cross then sin was expiated sin was atoned for but it was also forgotten it was also cast out into the land of forgetfulness the work of the mediator and there is only one mediator oh may we make this point quite clear if it needs to be made clear that there is one mediator as there is one God and that mediator is between God and man and that mediator is the surety of his people indicating that he will undertake for them in all things now mercy may cry spare and justice slay but

[23:52] Jesus says let the person go free and punish me this is the mediator can we see the glory of the mediator willing willing to take on justice punish me and let this soul go free and there's only one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus that can accomplish such that can bear the punishment let alone anything else maybe at times we have thought about those words of the hymn what must the load of all have been when only mine so great a mediator one that is capable of carrying our salvation through who gave himself a ransom for all that were given into his hand to redeem but then a reference was also made in the chapters that we read of his mediation in respect to this aspect of the covenant for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of

[25:20] Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people only because of Christ's mediation and they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more now this brings us to the point in respect to this great scripture for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus that this is to be known and this is part of Christ's mediation to ensure that this glorious truth concerning his redemption and he himself having paid the ransom price that it shall be known conveyed into the souls of those that are redeemed redeemed by Jesus blood redeemed we therefore have this most important part of that one mediator between

[26:43] God and men who can tell you what the mediator has performed apart from himself who can tell you that your sins are washed away apart from the mediator himself now we read there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus and this mediator can ascend to the highest heights of heaven and at the same time he can descend to the lowest place you can ever get into as a poor fallen creature of a day the mediator can reach you wherever you are and he can also go to the zenith of the heaven of heavens what an extensive work is

[27:49] Christ's what an area shall we say a cubic capacity that he covers but then we notice there that in the text it says there is one mediator between God and man men the man Christ Jesus when the name of our Lord is put to us in this way the Christ Jesus as distinct from Jesus Christ it is generally accepted that this refers more particularly to a risen Lord now this is important to us in respect to this one mediator I think it was in the chapters that we read that it was needful if a covenant or a testament was to be beneficial it required the death of the testator in ordinary life it means that someone else has got to ensure that the terms of the testament or will are carried out not so with this one mediator death because having offered himself a sacrifice for sin once and for all he rose again from the dead and we have this blessed truth discovered to us that he ever liveth to make intercession for us at the right hand of

[29:41] God even the father so his mediation is being continued he is alive to ensure that the inheritance of the saints in light are given to them the blessings that proceeded from as well as devolved upon his death now will certainly be received by those to whom they have been appointed only one mediator that is risen from the dead only one mediator engaging in this great work of continual intercession is it not a great deep do not we have to say open thou mine eyes that which

[30:48] I see not teach thou me but at the same time do we not feel deeply humbled that we should have that hope because of eternal life abiding in our souls and faith rising in our hearts and fixing itself upon this one man yet this God man even blessed person Christ Jesus that our hope is there being conscious of the justice and holiness of God we rejoice in this our redeemer could we say that our redeemer how good it is when faith is given to us to say before

[31:49] God has thou faith have it towards God thus we read in the epistle of James we may look at that verse in this light you see not everybody perhaps we might say few would boldly be able to make an undisputable claim that Christ was theirs but there's nothing to stop you from coming in the secret presence of God and telling him exactly what you feel telling him that there is one God and you've been taught about that one God and that there is one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus and it is through that person you've now drawn near to

[32:49] God and that your hope is only in him it's not what you tell other people so much as what you tell God and we should never tell other people what we haven't told God about even though he knows it all you see a right sense of our acquaintance with the words before us will cause us to worship God first and then we may come on to the sixth verse who gave himself a ransom for all has he given himself a ransom for you and me now this is not a matter because it is too serious a matter for us to let go on without reaching some decision

[33:49] I am well aware that the scriptures declare the vision is yet for an appointed time though it tarry wait for it but in the end it shall speak therefore though it tarry wait for it the time of love will come when you shall clearly see not only that he shed his blood but he shall say for me and that worthwhile waiting for worthwhile praying for worthwhile pressing for how shall we engage in these activities it is God that worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure and undoubtedly it is the good pleasure of God that you should wait that you should watch that you should press that you should pray to know these value truths as having their application to your souls who gave himself a ransom for all what will happen how will you feel if this great truth is communicated to your soul well surely you will feel overwhelmed you will feel how great is the love of

[35:28] Christ that he should have laid down his life that he should have paid my ransom price and there's another point that just comes to my mind whereby we may prove that we are the ransom of the Lord I refer to Isaiah 35 the last verse and the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away so the ransom of the Lord shall return return to God return to faith and hope through this one mediator between God and man but this mediator is a known person sometimes it is necessary for mediation to take place between two opposing parties now both parties would feel happy if they knew the person and yet would also be happy if the person didn't know about their individual cases but here is a case where we need first of all to know the person that he can judge accurately and justly in our case but can we say that he will not know our case our mediator knows our case far better than we do and hence he is able to strengthen his arguments knowing that we are sinners undone there is nothing that can be said but the sole fact must be admitted no lies are allowed in God's court so it must be that the person should die whether man woman or child but here we come to the point our mediator is able to set forth his life and to set forth his death and to set forth his sacrifice and to draw near unto his holy father and show the blood that blood which is the token of his victory the blood of Jesus

[38:32] Christ which is able to bring us near the blood of Jesus Christ which does and has when Christ died upon Calvary cleansed the whole church of God from their sins who gave himself a ransom now that will be the day never to be forgotten when this glorious truth is made over to us some of us may have enjoyed this but if you have not don't give up because it's important to you you'll die a happy man or a happy woman or for that matter a happy child if you have this blessed view by faith of this one God and yet this one mediator between God and man the man

[39:34] Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all you see under the Old Testament the priest they offered sacrifices but they didn't give themselves and ultimately they died because they were sinners but here was one that was holy and would never die and yet at the same time gave himself the ransom prize for his church now the last clause tells us this to be testified in due time so there is an appointed time for all things and certainly amongst other things there is to be this testimony the end of the third chapter we read this and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness god was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of angels preached unto the gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory no he was to be testified in due time testified at the appointed time when he was here upon the earth but also to be testified in the hearts of everyone whose soul had been ransomed when Jesus died now how good it is to be such a one that will testify to the truth the apostle paul says this on one occasion i know whom i know whom i have believed and can we interject here and say for there is one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself a ransom for all he gave himself a ransom for me hence with the confidence which the apostle enjoyed at that time he was able truly to say concerning his god i know whom i have believed and i am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day now you see we walk by faith and not by sight have we to him out to know you go he want toü��