Good morning. We're going to be looking at
several different passages of Scripture this morning, but the
first one you'll find in 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter
2. Let's ask the Lord's blessings
on His Word to our hearts. Merciful Heavenly Father, we're
grateful for having a place where we can come and sing hymns like
that from our hearts and express to you, Lord, our desire, our
need for your rest, for your comfort, for your peace, for
your forgiveness. We ask, Father, that you'd be
pleased now to bless your word to our hearts and that you would
reveal to us the accomplished work of our mediator, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who reconciles us to Thee. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Have you ever been in need of
a mediator? Perhaps in business, you had a conflict with a client
and you needed a mediator. Perhaps in a relationship you
needed someone who was able to reconcile the differences between
you and another. The scriptures refer to the Lord
Jesus Christ in our text in 1st Timothy chapter 2 at verse
5 as the one mediator that is able to reconcile us to God. Look at verse 4 or verse 5. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now a mediator
is his purpose is to restore peace
in a relationship or to ratify a covenant between two individuals. Job in the midst of his great
trial cried in Job chapter 9 verse 32, for he is not a man as I
am. that I should answer him and
that we should be able to come together in judgment. He says,
neither is there a mediator, neither is there a daysman betwixt
us that may lay his hand upon us both. Now a successful mediator
must be able to represent both parties. And he must be able
to succeed in reconciling the differences between those two
parties. And that is exactly what the
Lord Jesus Christ came to do. He is the God-man. He was qualified for the office.
He possessed both deity and humanity. And in his deity, he was able
to comprehend the claims that God had for us to fulfill. And in his humanity, he was able
to fulfill those very claims. So he ratified the covenant and
he reconciled those who were by nature at enmity with one
another. And so the Lord refers to himself
as our mediator. Now a mediator has to be compassionate. He has to have some sympathy towards the one who
is in error in this relationship. And so it is with the Lord Jesus
Christ. The scripture tells us in the
book of Hebrews, we have not a high priest that cannot be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all
ways tempted even as we are, yet he himself being without
sin. And that passage goes on to tell
us that we can come boldly, we can come confidently before the
throne of grace knowing that God has provided for us a mediator. One who stands, as Job said,
betwixt me and God. One who is able in his humanity
to put his hand on me without being defiled. One who is able
in his deity to put his hand upon God without being destroyed. And so the God-man is called
in the scriptures our mediator. The question is, do you need
a mediator? Do I need a mediator? Do we need
one to stand betwixt us and God and satisfy himself the demands
of the covenant? Usually a mediator would listen
to both sides. A mediator would find some common
ground and seek to compromise a solution. The problem with
that is that all the fault of the fault that exists between
us and God is on our side. In this case, one in this relationship
is perfectly righteous and the other is perfectly unrighteous. All the fault of the estrangement,
all the fault of the separation, all the fault of the enmity that
exists between a holy God and sinful men lies on our side. Now, turn with me to Galatians
chapter 3. There are those who would seek
to use the law as their mediator. The law cannot be a successful
mediator. The reason is because the law
cannot compromise its standard. The law represents only God's
side of the equation. The law can't represent us. The
law stands in judgment of us. The law can't recommend us to
God. The law can't make us accepted
or approved before God. It does not have that power.
Look at Galatians chapter 3 at verse 19. Wherefore then serveth
the law? It was added because of transgressions
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." Now
that mediator there is speaking of Moses and the scripture says
that the law came by Moses but grace and truth came by the Lord
Jesus Christ. So now this mediator, Moses,
the lawgiver, presents the law to man as a means of mediation,
but not for the purpose of succeeding in mediating sinful men with
God, but for the purpose of exposing its inability to accomplish that
mediation. Read on in verse verse 20 now
a mediator is not a mediator of one in other words a mediator
has to represent both sides but God is one so what are we going
to do if if if the law represents God and the law has to be satisfied
the law has to be fulfilled in order for this broken relationship
to be established, in order for us to be reconciled in our relationship
with God, what is the hope? God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. If there was a law that could
have given to us life, then righteousness, establishment, a relationship
with God, a right relationship with God, would have been mediated
by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all are under sin. We violated the law of God. We
can't keep the law of God. We can't satisfy its demands. that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that belief. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now, when the scripture speaks
of the law of God being our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, it doesn't
mean that we need to preach the law in order to put men under
the burden of the law so that they will see their need for
Christ. It means that the evidence of the law is clear and that
it is of itself unable to mediate. It was given by a mediator, by
a lawgiver, but it was unsuccessful. Why? Was the problem with the
law? No, the problem was with us.
The problem was with our inability to keep the law. And so he's
going on to say that, so now, therefore, this inability of
the law, which is what the law does, the law just shows it can't
save. The law can't mediate. It drives
us to find our hope of salvation in the one who satisfied the
demands of the law. The one who succeeded, the one
man, as Paul said in 1st Timothy 2.5, the one man who stands between
God and man, who possesses the full The full nature of God,
the fullness of the Godhead resides in him bodily and at the same
time he possesses the full nature of man. He is man's perfect God
and he is God's perfect man and he's the only and one mediator
between God and man. That's why he himself said that
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to
the Father except by me. Our only acceptance before God
can be found through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that
faith comes from him. The law could not, it's, you
know, we saw in the book of Ruth that that Boaz had to reconcile
with that kinsman that was nearer to Naomi than was Boaz. You remember he met with that
kinsman in the gate of the city and he gathered together ten
of the elders of the city and told that kinsman if you're going
to redeem her then redeem her but if not You make it public
right now. And what did that Neera Kinsman
say? He said, I cannot redeem that Moabitess. If I do, I'll
mar my inheritance. In other words, I'll have to
lower my standard in order to take her into my family. And
the law will be destroyed. And so Boaz, purchased and bought,
as a picture of Christ, Ruth and Naomi into his own household. He assumed the obligation of
both parties. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. That's the new covenant. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
8. Hebrews chapter 8. We could not mediate for ourselves. We could not reconcile ourselves
to God. The Lord could not lower his
standard of righteousness and give to us a law that we would
be able to keep so that reconciliation would be successful. And so he
took it upon himself, he took it upon himself to bear the responsibility
of both parties. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is as our mediator. You see in Hebrews chapter 8,
look at verse 6. 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. Now the old covenant was a conditional
covenant. If you do this, then I will do
that. They failed. to do what God had
commanded. And so the covenant, the relationship
was broken. And the promises that God gave
them to protect them and to provide for them were not kept on God's
part because they broke the covenant. So a new covenant had to be established. Now here's the mystery of the
gospel. The New Covenant is infinitely
older than the Old Covenant. The New Covenant wasn't established
after the failure of the Old Covenant. The new covenant was
established in eternity past when the Lamb of God was slain
before the foundation of the world and the promises of God
were made to his elect. The old covenant was just for
a brief period of time for the nation of Israel to show their
inability to satisfy the demands of God's righteousness, and to
usher in, as the writer of Hebrews calls it, a reformation, a reformed
time of a new covenant, a new covenant, which is not new, but
it is old. It's new in its revelation, Hebrews
chapter 1 verse 1 while you're there in the book of Hebrews
turn back with me to chapter 1 verse 1 God who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by
the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also
he made the worlds, who be in the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person, and uphold of all things
by the word of his power. And here's the newness of the
New Covenant and that it was revealed in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It was established by God before
the foundation of the world. And all those types and symbols
in the Old Testament were just pointing to the fulfillment of
that New Covenant. And now he says it's based on
better promises. It's a better covenant. Why? Because the promise is that I'm
going to fulfill all the demands of the covenant. I'm going to
be your mediator. I'm going to satisfy the demands
of the law on your behalf. I'm going to present you. I'm
going to be your representative. I'm going to be your advocate.
I'm going to be your mediator before God. And the promise is
that I'll provide everything that you need in order to be
reconciled in your relationship with God. And I'm even going
to provide the faith. I'm going to give you the ability
to believe. I'm going to do everything. Everything. I gave you an opportunity to
save yourself. You couldn't. You couldn't. So I'm going to bear the full
responsibility of mediating my people back to God. Turn with
me to Jeremiah chapter 31. Verse 31. Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which
covenant, my covenant, they break, although I was a husband unto
them, saith the Lord. The problem that was not on my
side, I established a covenant with
them and they broke it. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my law in their inward
parts and write it in their hearts and be their God and they shall
be my people. I'm going to give them faith.
I'm going to write the law of grace, and the law of love, and
the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit on their hearts.
I'm going to be their God. I'm going to cause them to come
to me. I'm going to give them faith to believe in me. I'm going
to do everything. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. In Old Testament Israel, the
majority of the Israelites were not believers. And those who
were, were always having to tell the unbelievers that were in
Israel, you need to know Christ. You need to know the Lord. But not so in the New Covenant.
Do we not tell men that they need to know the Lord? Not Israelites. Not Israelites. for they shall
all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them
saith the Lord they're all gonna know me for notice that word for for didn't say And, or therefore,
I will for, for, I will remember their sins no
more. It's the forgiveness of our sin.
It's the forgiveness of our sin in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's this faith, this new covenant based on better
promises, a better covenant. It's this faith that enables
us to rest in Christ and to believe in Him that puts away our sins
once and for all. And that's what makes the revelation
of this new covenant real to our hearts is to have our sins
forgiven. Have all of our sins forgiven.
To have a mediator before God that presents a perfect righteousness
on our behalf as he presents himself as God's perfect man,
as our substitute. What better covenant could there
be? Go back with me to the book of Hebrews. You've been in covenant
relationships before. When you signed a contract to buy a house,
you entered into a covenant relationship with the bank. And they promised
to let you live in their house as long as you promised to make
payments. And when all the payments were
fulfilled, then the house would become yours. Well, that's what
the Lord's done. He's made all the payments for
us. There's no more payments to be made. When He shed His
precious blood on Calvary's cross, He paid the price. He became
our ransom. He paid off the mortgage. And
this covenant now that we have with Him, He's allowing us to
live in His house and has made it to be our house. He's made
it to be our house. Oh, it's such a better covenant,
isn't it? It's such a better covenant than
the old covenant. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
9. Look at verse 9. Speaking of
those Old Testament offerings, he says that they were a figure
for the time then present in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience. So there was no forgiveness
of sin in the conscience, not in an honest man's conscience. He still had the guilt of his
own sin, even though these sacrifices were made, they didn't clear
the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers
washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time
of reformation. I know they call that revival
that the Lord sent back in the 15th and 16th century, the Protestant
Reformation, it wasn't a reformation. You don't reform evil. The error of Catholicism has
never been reformed. The error of the false gospel
has never been reformed. You can't reform something that's
evil. It was a revival. The Lord called
out a lot of his elect and there were a lot of folks that were
saved and the gospel was given a new, fresh power by God into
the world. But it wasn't a reformation.
The only thing you can reform is the old covenant to the new. Because the old covenant wasn't
evil. There wasn't anything wrong with
the old covenant. Except that he couldn't save. The problem
was with us. So God reformed it. He took the
old covenant and he reformed it. reformed it into the new
by satisfying all the demands of the covenant himself. He became
our mediator. Look what he goes on to say,
but Christ being come a high priest of good things to come
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands
that is to say not of this building neither by the blood of bulls
and goats but by his own blood He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Oh, notice
the, when was our eternal redemption obtained? When the Lord Jesus
Christ entered back into glory. When He presented Himself before
the Father. He took with him the names of
those that he had successfully redeemed, and he has been seated
at the right hand of the Majesty on High, serving as our mediator. He's our mediator. For verse 13, if the blood of
bulls and goats and ashes of heifer sprinkled the unclean,
sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh. If those things
were symbolic in the sanctifying of the purifying of the flesh
when done in faith obediently before God, 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? This is what Jeremiah was talking
about. I'm going to write it on their hearts. I'm going to
be in them, causing them to will and to do my good pleasure. I'm
going to bring them to that place of worship. And for this cause, He is the
mediator of a 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, the promise of eternal
inheritance. Now the promise of God under
the Old Covenant was, I'll do this if you'll do that. That's the covenant of works.
Most folks in religion are still under the covenant of works.
And they're fooling themselves in thinking that they're satisfying
the demands of God's law. They're comparing themselves
to themselves, thinking that they're getting better. They're
comparing themselves to other men, believing that they are
better. They're comparing themselves
to the law and sabbing their conscience and convincing themselves
that they're somehow satisfying its demands. They're still under
the covenant of works. They don't have a mediator. They
don't have a mediator. There's no mediator under the
covenant of works. The mediator is under the New
Testament, the New Covenant, the Reformed Covenant, the Covenant
of Grace, where the Lord Himself bears the full responsibility
of satisfying the demands of the Covenant on behalf of His
people. And He has obtained for them
eternal redemption. Oh, what hope of eternal life
we have. We have a mediator. We have a
mediator, one that God's satisfied with. One who mediates successfully. One who is able to place one
hand on God and not be destroyed. And place the other hand on sinful
men and not be defiled. He's the perfect, He's the only
mediator. The covenant of grace. It's an
everlasting covenant. It's a sure covenant. It's an
unchangeable covenant. It's liable to no possibility
of error or misapplication. It's ordered in all things. David said, this is all my salvation
and all my desire. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified through his shed blood. He's our perfect mediator. Now only those, you don't need
a mediator unless there's a division. The only time you need a mediator. We'll leave it with that. Trust
the Lord will apply that truth to your heart. Let's pray together.
Our Heavenly Father, we're so very thankful. that there is one in heaven who mediates successfully on
the part of sinners. We ask, Lord, that you would give to us the faith to look
to him, to rest in him, and to rely upon him for all of our
righteousness before thee. We pray it in Christ's name.
Amen.