Let us turn again to God's words
and the verse that we were considering this morning in 1 Timothy chapter
2 verse 6 who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due
time. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
6 and we were thinking more particularly this morning of that ransom who
gave himself a ransom for all. This work of redemption is part
of Christ's office as the mediator. That's how he's spoken of in
verse 5, one God and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. And as we considered something
of that doctrine of redemption, the payment of the ransom price,
we said to understand that it was to God himself that the ransom
was paid. God's justice demanded such a
payment. If the sinner was to be freed
from all the guilt of his sin or that curse of the broken law
of God, then the price must be paid. The law says, the soul
that sinneth it shall die. The wages of sin is death. That was made clear to Adam in
the paradise that was the Garden of Eden if he disobeyed. God
said in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Death is the consequence of disobedience to the commandments of God, the
wages of sin, His death. What a curse! Cursed is everyone,
says Paul, that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. Oh, we are to be those who would
be doers, but we are not doers of the law of God, we are transgressors.
But here is the sinner's comfort that Christ has redeemed us from
the curse of the law. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree." How Christ has paid the price.
He has ransomed his people by the shedding of his precious
blood. Poor Peter says, for as much as you know, that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. There is one important aspect
then of Christ's work as the mediator he has made the great atoning sacrifice. he has ransomed his people. He is that one who is evidently
a priest. But he is also, as the mediator,
one who is to be recognized as the great prophet. And isn't
that what we see in what follows here in verse 7? He gave himself
a ransom for all, says Paul, to be testified in due time,
whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity." Christ then is a priest paying the ransom price, but
Christ is that one who by preaching makes that glorious
gospel known. He himself is the great preacher
but then also there are those raised up such as the apostles
to also bear testimony to the gospel of the grace of God. Well
as we come again to consider this particular verse in 1st
Timothy, 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 6 as we come to consider
it again this evening, I want now to concentrate your attention
more particularly on the second clause where he writes to be
testified in due time, or as the margin says, a testimony
in due time. We thought this morning of the
ransom, I want now that we should consider something of the significance
of this expression, due time, the due time. It's an interesting
expression. We have the word to choose for
time, and the word that is employed as the idea of a fixed period,
the definite period of time. but then also we have this word
due, due time. And this word has the idea of
the proper time, the appropriate time. It is that time that has
been appointed and ordained by God himself. And it is that time
where in the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who is exalted as
the Savior. This work that He has undertaken
and fulfilled is to be testified in due time. What is this time? It is this Gospel day. As the Apostle reminds us in
2 Corinthians chapter 6, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
And in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. This is what we're to understand
then by this expression, in due time. It is this day, this blessed
dispensation of the Gospel, these last days, that period of time,
that fixed period of time, between the coming of the Lord Jesus
and the accomplishment of His great work and His resurrection
from the dead, His ascension on high, and the promise of His
coming is to come again. There is a fixed time between
His first and His second advents. And it is this day of the Gospel
that we know that everything with regards to the The life
and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ is that that takes
place according to God's eternal purpose. That, of course, in
a certain sense, is true of all things. It's true of your life,
it's true of my life. All the circumstances of our
lives, all that befalls us is but the outworking of God's eternal
decree, His great purpose. But now we see it to be so significant
with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ, His birth. His birth. We're told in Galatians
chapter 4 and verse 4, when the fullness of the time was come,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. How emphatic it is, we have two
definite articles. It reads, the fullness of the
time. That precise moment in history
that was ordained from eternity. When all was ready, according
to God's great purpose, so the Lord Jesus Christ comes into
this world. And as with his birth, so likewise
with his death. There were those occasions when
the Jews in their hatred would have stoned him to death. They
were always ready to accuse him of blasphemy. And yet we're told
how he passes through the midst of them. Why? Because his hour was not yet
come. His hour was not yet come. They could not lay a finger upon
Him. But when the fullness of the
time was come, that He should be received up, we're told He
steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Read the words
there in Luke chapter 9 and verse 51. when the time was come that he
should be received up. He steadfastly set his face to
go to Jerusalem. He knew those things that were
before him. Had he not spoken of those things
to his own disciples when Peter had made his confession? The faith there of Caesarea Philippi,
they want the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the Lord
after that begins to tell the disciples how they must go to
Jerusalem and all that would befall him there, that the Jews
would deliver him into the hands of the Romans and he'd be crucified. He speaks to them then of his
dying. And he is aware when the hour
has come and he is determined to execute that work. He will
be obedient to all the will of his Father, obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. and so he sets his face like
a flint to go to Jerusalem and he dies and when Peter on the
day of Pentecost preaches and preaches under that blessed unction
of the Spirit of God how the Spirit had come upon Peter and
the other disciples of the Lord how they were emboldened to bear
testimony to the Lord Jesus. What does Peter say concerning
the dying of the Lord Jesus as he was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God? While this is all under
the sovereign hand of God, this has not happened by mere chance.
He doesn't excuse the Jews, they are culpable. He says, ye by
wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory, God's sovereignty,
in the death of the Lord Jesus doesn't excuse them of that great
sin that they're guilty of, but he was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, and ye have taken him by
wicked hands and crucified and slain him, says Peter in his
preaching there. Oh, this is all, you see, in
due time. These things are to be spoken
of. This is the gospel that is to
be preached, to be testified. In due time, says Paul, whereunto
I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity. He is addressing Timothy and
he is reminding Timothy of the nature of his own apostleship. He is the apostle to the Gentiles. And this is the due time when
that gospel is to be proclaimed to the Gentiles, not just to
the Jews. Now the same subject matter,
the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is really the the
subject that is being dealt with in that portion that we read
from Ephesians chapters 2 and 3. It's the revelation of that great
mystery that Paul is speaking of there. That that was hid,
certainly hidden in the Old Testament because there we see how that
God confines His dealings to the nation of Israel, you only
have I known of all the families of the earth, and remember the
language of the Psalmist in the 147th Psalm, He hath not dealt
so with any nation. And as for His judgments, they
have not known them. He only deals with the with the
nation of Israel in the Old Testament but now in due time this gospel
is to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth and this is what
Paul is speaking of in that portion of scripture that we read earlier
in Ephesians chapters 2 and 3 see how there in chapter 2 at verse
17 he says how Christ came and preached unto you that were afar
off, that's the Gentiles, and unto them that were near, that's
the Jews. He says there at verse 11 in
that second chapter, Wherefore remember that ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh who are caught on circumcision by
that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands that
at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the
blood of Christ." How that Gospel had come, even to Gentiles, by
the ministry of the Apostle. He goes on to say there, In chapter
4 at verse 20, "...ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that
ye have heard him and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus."
Why? The Lord Jesus fulfilled his
prophetic office in that ministry that was sent to Gentiles. Or
there was a testimony even to sinners of the Gentiles. It was
to be testified in due time, the appointed time. And this man was ordained a preacher
and an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles, he says, in faith
and verity, in faith and truth. This was his ministry. Previously,
as we've said, God's grace was to the nation
of Israel even when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the
course of his own ministry. He says, I am not sent but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When he sends forth the
twelve, when he sends forth the seventeen, he tells them quite
plainly, they are not to go into the way of the Gentiles. They
are not to go into the way of the Samaritans. but that he go
to the lost chief of the house of Israel. But then the due time comes.
And so much of it centers in the calling of this particular
man, the apostle Paul. He says in Galatians chapter
2 and verse 7 how the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed
unto him. the gospel of the circumcision
was committed to Peter. Peter was to be that one who
would preach to the Jews principally but Paul is the man who is to
go and preach to the uncircumcised to the Gentiles and remember
what we have recorded in in the book of Acts. There in chapter 9 of Acts we
have the detail concerning the way in which this man was remarkably
converted. How the Lord laid hold of him,
apprehended him, arrested him at the gate of Damascus. Here
he is, he's under conviction of sin, he's kicking against
the pricks His conscience is goading him. He was there previously
at the martyrdom of Stephen. He was approving of these things
and yet there's obviously some work going on in the soul of
this man. And now the due time has come. And the Lord appears to him there
at the gate of Damascus and he's blinded. and he's led into the
city as a blind man and there's one there, Ananias who's a disciple
of the Lord Jesus and he's told that he must go to the street
called Straight to this man, this persecutor of believers.
And what does the Lord say to Ananias concerning Saul of Tarsus? He is a chosen vessel unto me
to bear my name before the Gentiles. to bear my name before the Gentiles,
He is the Lord's instrument." Here in the opening words of
the Epistle, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will, by the commandment of God our
Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope, unto Timothy, And then he says
later at verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled
me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry
who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but
I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord is
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, he was one that was raised
up and separated onto this work of the ministry to be the apostle
to sinners of the Gentiles. It was the due time. The due
time wherein these sinners must be hearing this message of one
who is the Redeemer. One who gave himself a ransom
for all to be testified in due time. You see then, and we remarked
on this this morning, why Paul uses such language as to speak
of Christ as a ransom for all. Not that that means all in an
absolute sense, all and sundry, every individual that was ever
born. We know that that could not be the case because when
Christ died there were those sinners from the Old Testament
dispensation who were already suffering the just desert of
their sins in hell. How could the Lord Jesus suffer
for such as that? That would be a double payment
that God was demanding. The Lord Jesus came to save a
particular, a specific people, but they were not just sinners
of the Jews. There would be sinners from the
Gentiles. This is why the word all is used here. a ransom for
all, that is, sinners from amongst the Jews, sinners from amongst
the Gentiles, sinners to the ends of the earth. All this is the exaltation of
the Lord Jesus. His gospel is to be testified
in due time. But not only the particular ministry
of this man who was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles,
but more than that, more than that, there is that outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. Now this Gospel is testified
by the Spirit Himself. This is what the Lord Jesus had
promised concerning Him that was to come. Now that the Lord
must depart, He must go away. If He went not away, He would
not be sending the Comforter. He has His work to accomplish
and he'll execute that work and then, having done that, he will
send the Spirit. And you know, you're familiar
with those chapters in John's Gospel that speak of his coming. And there, in John 15, 26, when
the Comforter is come, says Christ, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, He shall testify of me. He shall testify of me,
says the Lord Jesus. And this gospel, you see, is
to be testified in due time. Now, the Holy Spirit was ever
there. The Holy Spirit was there in
God's great work of creation. we read of the Spirit of God
brooding upon the waters. God says through the psalmist
or the psalmist declares the truth of creation by God the
Son and God the Spirit as well as God the Father and by the
Word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them
by the breath or the Spirit of His mouth. There is the Word,
the eternal Word. The Eternal Son there is the
Spirit. The Spirit is there in the Old
Testament Scriptures. All those who were true believers,
they were born again. They were born by the Spirit
of God. They were born from above. They have the Spirit of God.
He was the one who worked faith in their souls. And David, when
he sinned, and how great was David's sin and great was David's
fall. Oh, he was troubled at his sin
against the Holy Spirit. And he cries out to God, take
not thy spirit from me. The Spirit is there. He always
was there. But there was to be a glorious
coming of the Spirit in due time. when we read the gospel we are
told in John chapter 7 and verse 39 this is the ministry of the
Lord Jesus and the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus
was not yet glorified when Christ had accomplished
his own work when he had offered that one sacrifice for sins forever
when he had fulfilled all the types of the Old Testament as
that Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world when
he accomplished that great work and the Father raised Him again
from the dead and He ascended on high why then He was glorified
and the Holy Ghost was not given until Christ was glorified It
is the glorified Christ who sheds abroad the Spirit abundant. Again,
Peter in that sermon on the day of Pentecost, being by the right
hand of God exalted, he speaks of Christ. Being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Spirit, He has shed forth this which ye now see and hear. Oh, it is the exalted Christ,
the glorified Christ, who was shed abroad the Holy Spirit. And these are those things spoken
of in Old Testament prophecy. Remember, in the course of that
sermon, we see Peter making reference in particular to the prophecy
of George. He refers to what Joel had written
there in his second chapter and he makes mention in particular
of the reference to the last days in verse 16 of Acts chapter 2. This is Peter at the beginning
of his sermon. They were saying that these men
filled with the Spirit were drunk. But Peter says, Not so. But this
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come
to pass in the last days, saith God. I will pour out of my Spirit
upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams. And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and
they shall prophesy." He's quoting specifically from Joel chapter
2 verse 28 following now if you turn back to that portion you'll
see that it says it shall come to pass afterwards I will pour out of my spirit
but Peter doesn't just quote directly he does more than that
he in a sense is interpreting is expounding what Joel had said,
he says, it shall come to pass in the last days. Afterwards
is really equivalent to the last days. What is the last days?
It is this day of the Gospel. It is this dispensation between
the first and the second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the Spirit has come. and
he has been poured out upon all flesh. We know how that subsequently
there was another outpouring of the Spirit in the house of
Cornelius. There in Acts chapter 2 at Jerusalem,
those who were gathered are Jews and proselytes. Those who were
gathered there were yes, Jews and a number also of Gentiles
who were converted to Judaism but then later there in the 10th
chapter of Acts we have the Spirit being poured out quite specifically
upon the Gentiles. Now the scene is so amazing to
those Jews, those Jewish believers who were present together with
Peter in the house of Cornelius. The end of Acts chapter 10, while
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the words and they of the circumcision which believed
were astonished as many as came with Peter, because that on the
Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with
tongues a magnified God. Then answered Peter, Can any
man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then pray Thy hymn
to tarry certain days." So there is that particular outpouring
of the Spirit upon the Gentiles. It is the Spirit who bears His
testimony to the truth of the Gospel. Remember how the Lord
speaks of His ministry when He has come? He will reprove the
world, says the Lord Jesus. Not just the Jew, but the world,
Gentiles. He will reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because
I believe not on mirth. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and ye see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. Why Christ has accomplished all
His work. And here is the Spirit, He comes
to convince the sinner but not only to convince the sinner he
comes also very much as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ he shall
glorify me says Christ he shall not speak of himself he shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you oh how he comes to grant
to that convinced sinner such a revelation of him who is the
only saviour of sinners the one who came and gave himself a ransom
for all to be testified in due time. This is how he comforts
sinners by revealing the Lord Jesus Christ. In due time. Oh, it reminds us
then of the glorious exaltation of the Lord Jesus after fulfilling
all righteousness by accomplishing his great covenanted work and returning to the Father,
and the Spirit coming, and the Gospel going to the Gentiles.
But let us, for a while, just consider a little more carefully
this gracious administration of the Holy Spirit. Paul says
here in verse 7, Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle.
I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not, a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith, and verity. Now, as I said, we have more
detail concerning what Paul is saying here with regards to his
ministry as a preacher, a teacher, and an apostle to the
Gentiles. We have more detail in that portion
that we read in Ephesians. There in particular, look at
what he says in the opening three verses of that sixth chapter.
For this cause I pour the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles
if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you all. That is to you Gentiles. Now
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote
afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles
should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers
of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Here is the calling
of the Gentiles. It was a mystery. It was a mystery in that from
all eternity it was hidden in the purpose of God. But now it
is being revealed. It is being revealed in due time. In due time. It was to be testified in due
time in the words of our texts. However, this mystery of which
Paul is speaking is in some ways greater than just the calling
of the Gentiles. This mystery is the whole dispensation
of the Gospel. See how at the end of Romans
we have three words used in reference to the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There, at the end of Romans,
it's spoken of as the gospel, it's spoken of as the preaching
of Christ, and it's spoken of as the mystery. Those three things
are referring to one and the same thing. Those closing verses
of the epistle to the Romans, and Romans is a great gospel
epistle, as we've said before. You can think of that title that
was given to that little popular commentary on Romans by Stuart
Elliot, the Gospel as it really is. What a book is the Roman
epistle. It's full of gospel. And this
is how Paul concludes that epistle. Now to him that is of power to
establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept
secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and
by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known unto all nations for the
obedience of faith. To God only wise, be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Now see what Paul is saying
there in verse 25 he says that the gospel is equivalent to the
preaching of Jesus Christ which is equivalent to the revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret from before the world
began. It is not just the calling of
the Gentiles that we are to think of in terms of the mystery, it's
the whole dispensation of the grace of God in these last days. Why, the ministers of the Lord
Jesus Christ are spoken of in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 as stewards
of the mysteries of God. That is what the ministry of
the gospel is. These men who preach the gospel,
they're stewards of the mysteries of God. What is the great purpose in the ministry of the Word,
in the preaching of the Gospel? Well as we read there in Ephesians
3 and verse 9, it is to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery. That is the purpose, to bring
men into the fellowship of the mystery. That is the Gospel. There in Ephesians chapter 3
and verse 2 Paul speaks of the dispensation of the grace of
God. That was what his ministry was.
Look at the language again that he employs. If you have heard
of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you
Gentiles." Now, the word that he uses there, dispensation,
it has the idea of the stewardship, the management, the administration. You see, where there is that
true preaching of the Gospel, there will be some endeavour
to explain something of those sovereign operations of the Spirit
of God, the way in which the Spirit works, that tracing out
of the Spirit's workings in the soul of the sinner. How there
is that that is mysterious in the ways of the Spirit. As the Gospel is proclaimed,
so there will be that setting forth of the administration of
it. Now the Spirit comes, He comes
to convince of sin. He comes to make the sinner sad.
He works there in the soul, He reproves of sin, sin is found. The Lord Jesus is that one who
came to call such sinners. He comes not to call the righteous,
He says, but sinners to repentance or in that true gospel preaching
in some ways I think that's one of the great beauties when one
reads those sermons of J.C. Philpott I know the vast majority
of the sermons are published under the title the gospel pulpit
and how that man had such a remarkable ability to trace out those things
you read those things and it's a comfort I remember Dear old
Mr. Norton signed that on occasions
how he was so comforted when he read those sermons because
it tries to have something of his own soul's experience. He
could rely to those things that were being lied before him. There
were those who told him that it only depressed him. when he read Philpott's sermons
but he said to me did Mr. Philpott more than once sorry
Mr. Norton more than once he said
that those men who said such things had no understanding because
that ministry was not discouraging but so encouraging to him how
they must be these two things coming together the word of God
and the works of God When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 and verse 13, he says, Which things also we speak not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. That is,
comparing the Word of God, as he said before us in the Scriptures,
and the works of God, that take place in the sinner's soul, the
experience of the sinner. And interestingly, the word that
we have there, the trend of comparing, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual, it's the word Sankrina. And from that word we have our
English word synchronize. that is the etymology of the
word synchronize, it comes from that particular Greek word that
Paul is using there when he speaks of how he exercises his own ministry
with words not which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost
teaches, comparing synchronizing spiritual things with spiritual
synchronizing the Word of God on the page of Holy Scripture
and synchronizing that with the work of the Spirit of God in
the soul of the sinner. This was the ministry that the
Apostle exercised. He was there to show me what is the administration
of the Spirit. If you have heard of the dispensation,
the administration, we might render it, of the grace of God
which is given me to you all. Or that we might be those who
are able to relate God's words to our own soul's experiences. What is the point of us coming
to the Word of God? if it's never brought home into
our souls into our soul's experience if it's just with us a matter
of the minds an intellectual exercise filling our understanding
with the great doctrines of the Word of God oh yes it's good
to have a sound mind and it's good to be familiar with these
things but we want these things to be brought home into our souls
Now we need to plead with God Himself that He would do these
things. Look at the language of the psalmist. He says, Thou
shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her. Yea, the set time is come. Oh, is not this the set time?
This day of grace? this due time. Is it not that
time when the Lord God is pleased to appear? Behold, now is the
accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And we have to plead with God
in this set time to reveal the sovereignty of His grace. Christ
must see the travail of His soul and He must be satisfied. Or can we not then with confidence
plead with God that we might know in our own souls the the
fulfillment of such a word as we have here that we might be
those who have that persuasion, yea, that assurance that we have
an interest in that great ransom price that has been paid by the
Lord Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due
time, or that the Spirit might bear His own testimony to us,
bear it in our souls, that we have an interest, that you and
I have a part in that great work that Christ accomplished when
He laid down His life, when He poured out His soul unto death,
that we're those who are that purchased possession, the purchase
of His precious blood. Mother Lord, Be pleased to bless
this Word to us. Amen.