Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the first epistle of Paul
to Timothy, chapter 2, and reading from our text, verses 5 and 6. 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. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verses
5 and 6. The subject that is upon my spirit
is the mediator, not many, the one mediator between God and
men. We have in this chapter, which
at first sight we might think why, where is the connection
between the words of our text and the way the chapter begins
and the way the chapter ends. It begins with prayer. It begins with an exhortation. to pray, to make supplication,
prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men. And to be clear what is meant
there, it is for kings and all that are in authority that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. The petitions that we make are
to be for all men of whatever station in life that they hold. We are not to think, well, because
a person holds this or that station, because they are rich or because
they are in authority, that we do not need to pray for them. We are given no restraint as
to who we actually pray for. We're told later on in this epistle
that the Lord is the saviour of all men, especially of them
that believe. That is, this world only continues
because of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It only continues
because of the elect and the people of God. When they are
at last all born and all born again, the world shall end, the
Lord shall come again. And yet this world, the Lord
is good to all, his tender mercies are over all his works. He openeth
his hand, he satisfies the desire of every living thing. We must
not have this thought that somehow God is watching over and providing
for, helping and caring for his people, but it is just chance
and some other powers, some other gods that are looking after everyone
else. When we come to a hospital ward,
we have one of the Lord's people in it, and they are praying for
healing. The Lord does heal them. They
give thanks for that healing. You might have others in that
ward who will say, well, we didn't believe. We didn't ask the Lord
for healing, and he healed us. Then we haven't given thanks
to him because we don't believe that he healed us. But in the
judgment day, the Lord will say to them, you did not ask me to
heal you, but I did. I did heal you and you didn't
give thanks, but I didn't take away that healing. We must not
be of the thought that somehow there are other powers and other
goodnesses and other ways of help being obtained. And so we
exhorted those of us who pray that we do make intercession,
especially for those whose lives shall directly impact upon us. When the children of Israel were
brought into captivity in Babylon, they were told to pray for the
city that they were in. For in its peace, they would
have peace. It would be with this land as
well. If our government went to war, then it would affect
us, as it has in years gone by. And so we are not to restrain
prayer. We also are to know that the
Lord is calling his people out, savingly, out of every nation,
kindred and tongue, and from amongst all sorts of people. The Pharisees and scribes in
Christ's day could not think it possible that publicans, that
sinners, that open sinners could possibly be saved. And what was
the Lord doing with them and seeking their good and speaking
to them? great danger is done, where we
think, well, that person couldn't be, no use speaking to them about
the things of God, no use giving them a Bible, no use setting
anything before them, they won't believe, they're not one of God's
people. That's not the attitude and not the way of the scriptures
of truth. If we know the sovereignty of
God, the power of God, if we know how much sinners we are
and how we need the power of God and a miracle of grace for
us, we will never look upon another and think that they are beyond
it. It really is a test of how much
we really know our own sinnership and the grace and mercy of God
shown to us. Yes, it is true that there are
those, like the Apostle Paul, that have so much hatred when
he was sold against the people of God. But I wonder how many
of the Jews, how many of the Lord's people ever thought to
pray for Him that He would be healed or that the Lord would
judge Him like Ananias and Sapphira and slay Him and destroy Him.
But the Lord is a sovereign and there are many many that can
testify of the mercy and grace of God that found them and made
a profound change in their lives and gave them saving grace. And so we have the path of prayer
that is set before us and we have the words of our text but
then there's another exhortation in verse 8 that men Pray everywhere,
lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting." So now the
text is really sandwiched in exhortations to pray for all
men and in every place. And then we have, in light manner
also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. The churches
are commanded, as later on in here, that the woman learn in
silence with all subjection, and that the woman do not teach
nor usurp authority over the man. Paul, when he writes to
the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 14, And verses 34, 35 also speaks
of the same teaching, that your women keep silence in the churches,
for it is not permitted unto them to speak. They are commanded
to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will
learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it
is a shame for women to speak in the church. He gives in the
passage where our text is, The reason why the woman is prohibited
to be in authority and to be, she should be in silence, for
Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived was in the transgression. And so, for men,
their path is vocal prayer for the women, Their testimony is
in how they behave, how they dress, how they walk, as in subjection,
and remembering the fall and their part in that fall. Really, Eve, though Adam was
her head, Eve bypassed him, didn't say to Satan, look, why are you
speaking to me? you should not be speaking to
me, go to my head, go to Adam. She took upon herself to speak
on his behalf and brought then the deception and sin upon the
human race. And so, in the Church of God,
that order is to be very carefully observed and that same trap,
as it were, not fallen into. And that's why in 1 Corinthians
chapter 11, we have the order that is set forth there. And
it is an order of headship. He says, I have you know that
the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the
man, and the head of Christ is God. And the whole message of
that passage is though that the man and the woman are one in
the Lord, there's no difference in that way. They're both saved
by grace, they're both on the same level as it were as sinners
saved. But in the church of God there
is to be a difference and that then is set before us here in
the path of prayer, public prayer in the Church of God. So then what is the connection,
the mediator in the middle? The way God has ordered it, man
himself cannot pray, cannot speak to God, come before God himself. He must come through a mediator. But prayer is the first step. Prayer is made through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And he makes that intercession
unto God. And there is the connection.
between a passage that has a lot on it in prayer and then it has,
in the words of our text, about the mediator, the one by whom
we come to God and through who we ask. We're all used to, in
our parliaments, that our members of parliament have to speak in
the house through the chair. They make regular reference to
the chair. And it is in a similar way. We
pray for Christ's sake. We pray through our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. We always acknowledge Him, that
we're coming through Him, through His merits. We're coming through
that mediator. And so this then is the context
of the words of our text. 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. I just clarify in verse 4, where
we have, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto
a knowledge of the truth. We mentioned how that God is
the saviour of all men, especially of them that believe. It is in
a temporal way, the Lord is the saviour of all men. But in every
nation, kindred and tongue, Jew and Gentile, He is the Saviour
of all men in that way, and He is the Saviour of all men in
those of their standing, whether great or small. He is not the
Saviour of every individual. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
His own people. Thine they were, Thou gavest
them me. And he says in John 17, which
is a beautiful illustration of the Lord's intercession, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them whom Thou hast given me. In John 10, when speaking
of laying down his life, he says, I lay down my life for the sheep. He says to the Scribes and the
Pharisees, ye are not of my sheep, therefore ye hear not my word. The redemption of the scriptures,
the ransom of the scriptures, is a particular redemption. It is a ransom that having been
paid for a people, those people are let go. What would we think
of a case in a literal way If someone was being held captive
and a ransom was demanded, the ransom was paid, but not of everyone
for whom it was paid was set loose. The Lord's redemption
is certain and it is sure. So I want now to Consider the
mediator. I want to look at three points. Firstly, one God, one mediator. This is emphasised in the words
of our text, for there is one God and one mediator. Secondly, his qualifications. These are also set forth here. and in the portion that we read
in the epistle to the Hebrews. And then we have thirdly his
mediatorial work, that which he does as a mediator both in
heaven and the effects of that on earth. Now text says, who
gave himself a ransom for all to be testified. into time. Firstly, one God, one mediator. Now we must reaffirm again and
again that there is only one true and living God. The scriptures
say in the prophecy of Jeremiah, let the gods that have not made
the heavens and the earth perish from under the heavens and the
earth. If God's ancient people Israel,
who had been given the commandments that thou shalt have no other
gods beside me, if they should have been left to serve idols
gods that were man-made, made out of trees, part burned in
the fire and part made of God and worshipped, then it is not
surprising that there are so many so-called gods in the world,
and yet none of them have any power, any ability, any existence
except in the minds and thoughts of those that worship them. Solemn thought, isn't it? Manufactured
gods. There is only one God, and that
God is the God of the Bible. He is the triune God, Father,
Son and Holy Ghost, and it is He that has made the world and
formed man upon it. It is He that has wrought the
way of salvation and who has determined how And when man shall
be saved, he has decided himself the terms of that redemption,
and at the last we must all stand before him and before his judgment
seat. Such truths are not fashionable
today. Men like to think that everyone
can have their own God, and to worship how they like and still
get to a place called heaven. But there is only one God, and
he is as he is revealed in the holy scriptures of truth, the
Bible from Genesis to the Revelation. The Freemasons require that there
be a belief in God. but you must not define who that
God is. Well, the scriptures define very
clearly what the one true God is. God is a spirit. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. He is the eternal God with no
beginning and no end. It is He that was before all
things and created all things. It is His will. It is His power
that sustains all things. The Apostle says, in Him we live
and move and have our being. And we must be then very, very
clear and always maintain and always hold fast that there is
one God. And the text says, for there
is one God. And one mediator. One mediator between God and
men. That is what the mediator is
to be, to stand in between God and men. And he is set forth
here as the man Christ Jesus. Not Mary, not a priest on earth, not fallen sinful men, but the
man Christ Jesus, the one name given among men whereby we must
be saved. There is no other mediator, and
we must come through that mediator. To put it in a positive way,
there is a mediator. Want a solemn thing? If there
was not a mediator, And fallen man, sinful man, could never
approach to God, could never speak to Him, banished always
from Him. But there is a mediator. And when there is a mediator,
then we don't need to even try to go direct and to speak direct. We think of it even in simple
illustrations in our lives. The arrangement is being made
to for a husband and wife to go to a function and the wife
acts as the mediator and speaks to them and say we both hope
to go and she is the mediator on behalf of the family then
it doesn't need the husband to bypass his wife and go direct
to the people and say, we're going to go to that function.
She is the mediator, she is the go-between. And we're used to
that in many walks of life, that we have one that takes upon them
that function to be a go-between or a mediator. And so when we
have one here, it's not to be looked upon as a negative thing, that there is
only one, but a positive thing that there is one and that that
mediator be used and relied on and not thought, well, we'll
act as if we don't have a mediator. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It so struck me in this verse,
the emphasis, one, one, one. We always remember that. All of the errors that come into
the church that came with the Old Testament saints, the ancient
Lord's people of old, was that they sought out other gods and
other ways of approaching to God, offering strange fire, seeking
to come without a mediator, struck down dead, destroyed. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. What then are his qualifications? Is God silent as to how it can
be that Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, should be this mediator? is to be a mediator between God
and men. And so the emphasis, the first
qualification is that he himself be both God and man, truly God
and truly man. When Jacob had Esau coming and
he feared for his life, He put his family and all that he had
over the brook and he went and wrestled with the Lord. And we
read that there wrestled a man with him to the breaking of the
day. And he said, let me go for the
day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. And he blessed him there. And
Jacob's name was changed to Israel because thou hast had power with
God and with men, and hast prevailed. A pre-incarnation appearance
of the Eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was to
come as truly God and truly man. The Eternal God, who was ever
with the Father, the Eternal Son, And He takes upon Him the
seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, body and soul. In one person, two natures, two
distinct natures. And He has that qualification
then, that He can stand between God and men. The other qualification is this,
it's in verse 6. who gave himself a ransom for
all. A ransom for all of the people
of God, all that were chosen in him before the foundation
of the world. A price that was priced to release
the people of God from bondage, bondage under sin. bondage under
the law, bondage under death, the sentence of death, under
condemnation, deliverance from that. Paul says in the first
verse of Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ supplied
that ransom of his own shed blood, offering the sacrifice at Calvary
and rising again from the dead to show that that ransom had
been paid and accepted. And in that way, he can perform
the office of a mediator because he has somewhat to offer and
to set on behalf of his people as to a reason why they can be
heard, why they must be heard, why they must be forgiven and
pardoned and accepted in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has that
authority from heaven given him by the Father that he should
be that mediator In Hebrews, the passage that we read in Hebrews
9, we commence reading at verse 11, where we read of our Lord
Jesus Christ as the high priest and offering, not the blood of
bulls and of goats, but his own self, his own blood. And then we have in verse 15,
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. And so, this is why And for this
cause he is the mediator, because it is his blood that has been
shed. It is the ransom that he has
paid. He has then a vested interest
in it. He knows for whom he died. The
kingdom of God standeth sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth
them that are his. And so the Mediator in our Lord
Jesus Christ is given those qualifications so that he is able to speak on
behalf of his people and speak well on their behalf, to speak
for their good, to give reason why, why they should be shown
mercy. You think of the blood-sprinkled
mercy seat, the promise of God, I will meet with you from over
the mercy seat. We think of again in Hebrews,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Come boldly because there is
the promise of the mediator, promise of meeting with God,
with the Lord. and a promise that that mercy
seat is a blood-sprinkled mercy seat. Our Lord Jesus Christ has
the qualification as well that He has ascended and He is in
the presence of God. He appears in the presence of
God for us. He is our advocate with the Father,
another aspect of being a mediator, an advocate. He speaks on our
behalf to appearing in the presence of God for us. Now a mediator
on earth might just relay messages one from another, but here we
have a greater picture that's put forth. The one that is relaying
the petitions, the one that is in heaven is speaking for us,
for our good. He is our advocate. He is advocating
pardon and peace and mercy because He has shed His blood. He has
made a way that those blessings can flow to sinners. And so the
qualifications our Lord has, none other can have those. Every man is but a sinner. He
cannot appear himself in the presence of God. No one else
but our Lord Jesus Christ is God and man in one person. No
one else has shed his blood and died and rose again. No one else
is in the presence of God. No one else has the authority
of the Father. This is my beloved Son. Hear
Him. No one else has the authority
given him by the Father. So those qualifications that
he has, we are to bear in mind as we come before him in prayer. The hymn writer says, I can no
denial take when I plead for Jesus' sake. Well, what then
is his mediatorial work? In some ways we've already covered
upon that, especially that which is in heaven. What voice is that,
the hymn writer said, which speaks for me in heaven's high court
for good. And from the curse has set me
free, it is Jesus' precious blood. A lamb as it had been slain in
the presence of God. So as prayer rises, as petitions
are made, they are received by the Lord and presented in His
own merits to the Father. I remember reading once of an
illustration of such intercession as a mediator. A little girl was getting flowers,
flowers for her mother who wasn't well. And she went out into the
garden and picked this and that and all sorts of things and brought
them in. Her grandmother met her at the door and she looked
at what she got. She took that and she sorted
out the weeds and the brambles and the things that weren't nice,
arranged it nice, and then the girl brought it in to her mother. Maybe a simple illustration,
but I've often thought, what if God was to say, you be careful
what you pray, because everything that you pray, you will have
it exactly as you ask. If you ask amiss, if you ask
wrong, if you ask and you didn't really know all the facts and
you really regretted it afterwards, it's too late. You'd be afraid
to pray for anything. But if you know you have a friend
at court that will sift out those prayers, what encouragement that
that is. We think of the law of God regarding
a single woman in her father's house or of a married woman with
a husband. If either of those women were
to make a vow and their father or their husband heard it, they
had the power to disavow what their daughter or wife had promised. If they held their peace, then
that vow was established, which was the case with Elkanah when
Hannah made the promise that if the Lord gave her a man-child,
then she would lend him to the Lord all the days of her life.
It's very evident that Elkanah knew that vow. He established
that vow. And when Hannah wanted to suckle
the child and wean him, Then he cautioned her, yes, you could
do it, but make sure that she performed her vow. And he was
to see that it would be done. But for a woman in her father's
house and for a wife, it was, as it were, a great backstop,
a great reassurance that there was one that could disannul what
had been said wrongly, in folly, or was best not done. And it's
a beautiful time of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Heavenly
Bridegroom, the Church of God as His Bride, and He either establishes
or disannounces all that His Bride asks or says or does. The other side of it was, of
course, for one that was divorced or one that was a widow, that
she did not have any to disannul her vows. Any as a backstop. And it emphasizes the privilege,
the blessing, by either being in a father's house or being
married and have a husband. And so we have that work of our
Lord in heaven for His people, for their good. And though many
times it may be said, like was said of Israel, though Israel
thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found. The Lord does. appear in the
presence of God for us. We mentioned before in John 17,
our Lord's intercessory prayer while he was on earth. And we
cannot but think and know that it is in that similar vein that
he prays for his people, makes intercession for them above. And we are to come before him
and present our petitions, knowing that we have a friend at court
and one that speaks for us in heaven's high court for good,
and one that has power and authority to work on earth. The Lord has said, Lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. His bodily presence
is in heaven. We know, of course, as God, He
is everywhere. And by His Spirit, He is with
His people, with His church, and by His Spirit and by His
grace, He is with them. And so the effects of that intercession
is that there is authority from heaven given for His people. When the intercession is, that
the Lord help them, You think a Jehoshaphat, neither know we
what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. And they did really
know what to do, they knew how to pray. And the Lord not only
heard prayer, but he actioned the answers as well. Not only do we have a mediator,
but we have one that has that power to do and perform and to
answer prayer and cause that there be action on the behalf
of the sinner. In our text we have the words,
he gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. The context indicates how it
is testified. 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. That is, he
is preaching this gospel, preaching the one God, the one mediator,
preaching the ransom of our Lord Jesus Christ, setting forth these
good tidings for sinners, and it is through preaching. It hath pleased God through the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That which
our Lord Jesus Christ has done and that which He is, is testified
through the Gospel, through this very portion of the Word of God. But it is especially so when
the Lord blesses that word and blesses that gospel and reveals
himself to his people and testified in their time, in their day,
their generation, the time when he calls them by grace. And it's
a personal testimony, it's a personal knowledge that we do have an
advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. We do have
a friend at court. Each one of God's children shall
have that testified from heaven. They shall know that themselves. They shall prove it day by day. And so he says in verse eight,
I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands
and without wrath and doubting. words of our text should be great
encouragement to pray, publicly pray, privately pray, the Church
of God to pray. The people of God have a friend
at court that is a mediator and we have the exhortation to pray
and it is in direct connection with this one mediator between
God and man. the man Christ Jesus, between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. May the Lord grant us prayer,
believing prayer, prayer with an eye to the friend that we
have above, pleading his precious name and blood. If he asks anything
in my name, I will do it. There is his power, his authority
to not only hear, but also to do and to answer. And may we
have those answers that we are able to look upon and give thanks. Because in the very first verse
it's not just supplications, prayers and intercessions, but
it is and giving of thanks. So then there is a tracing that
our prayers, our supplications, our intercessions have been heard. They have availed. There have
been that intercession in heaven. There has been the blessings
that have flown down and we acknowledge that and give thanks and praise
to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless this
word to us and reinforce, may it be that nothing has been said
this evening that you have not already known. But may it be
rehearsed to us 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. The Lord add his blessing. Amen.