Well let us turn once again to
God's word and turning now to the first epistle of Paul to
Timothy in chapter 2 and I'll read the first five verses in
1st Timothy chapter 2 and reading the first five verses the apostle
writes I exhort therefore that First of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus." And it's the words that we have
there in verse 5 that I really want to take up this morning. There is one God and one mediator
between gods and men, the man Christ Jesus. When we think of
the Lord Jesus, often consider him, of course, in terms of his
person, how important it is that we have a right understanding,
a true appreciation of the doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then we think of his offices. He comes in that threefold office,
of course, as prophet, priest, and king. but all together really
summed up by what we read here in the text. He is the mediator. Christ in his person, Christ
in his offices, and Christ also in his work, that that he came
to accomplish as the only mediator of the new covenant. Well, as
we come to this particular verse and consider it for a while this
morning, I want us then to think of the Lord Jesus as Christ the
Mediator. Christ the Mediator. And we observe how here we have
the context of prayer. Having spoken of the importance
of prayers, supplications, intercessions, and so forth, we then have this
statement, for there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus. And when we come to consider
prayer, we must also take into account that all our prayers,
of course, are subject to God's sovereign will. In the pattern
prayer, the Lord's Prayer, Christ tells us, amongst those various
petitions that we are to make, we are to always come in submission
and to say, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Well, here we have prayers being
spoken of and it's interesting to consider just what the Apostle
is saying. He speaks of all sorts, all types,
all classes, all offices of men. There in the second verse, Kings,
all that are in authority, all the powers that be, ordained
of God, we are to pray for them that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. And it's a passage,
this, that's often abused and misinterpreted because he goes
on to say doesn't he in verse 4 that God will have all men
to be saved and some say well there it is you see there is
a universal love in God he has a desire in himself to save every
single individual that has ever lived on the face of the earth
he will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth but when we look at the context He's not really
speaking of every individual. As I said previously, the exhortation
is that prayers are to be made for different classes of men,
all sorts and all types of men. We're not to think of the word
all in a universal sense. This is the context then, and
then we come to the words of the text, where we read of the
mediator. And again, how this fifth verse
is so often misquoted. Many, many times one hears people
referring to this scripture and what do they say? There is one
God and one mediator between God and man. The man Christ Jesus. But he doesn't have the singular.
The reference here is not to mankind. But when it uses the
plural men, between God and men, we have to think of certain men,
various types of men, how God calls men out of all the different
circumstances and situations of life. Well, as we come to
look at the verse more closely, I'm going to divide what I say
simply into two points really. First of all, to say something
with regards to the one God, And then secondly to say something
with regards to the only mediator, the one mediator. For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. First of all then, one God. And of course, when we speak
of God we're to remember that there is only one living and
true God. to recognize the unity of the
Divine Essence, all that God is. Here, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord, is one God. But we know also from the Scriptures
that there are three persons in the Godhead, three persons
in that one God. That is the mystery, isn't it?
The greatest of all the mysteries that we could ever be confronted
with. The doctrine of God, that He
is one and yet He is three. There is a unity, as I said,
in the divine essence. And you know, all Christians
are those who make that confession and acknowledge that triune God
as the only living God. Because when he comes to our
baptism, where we make that public profession of faith, it is, of
course, a Trinitarian formula that is used in the service of
baptism. The words of the Lord Jesus at
the end of Matthew's Gospel, Go ye therefore and teach all
nations. And it goes on to speak of how,
as they are taught, as they come to saving faith, they are to
be baptized, and how are they to be baptized in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And again
it is interesting isn't it what we have there because the name
is not plural but singular. It doesn't say in the names of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost It literally
says that to be baptized in the name, singular. There is one
God, and God's name is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And so at the very beginning
of the Christian profession, when we make that public confession
that we're trusting in the Lord Jesus, our baptism is in the
name of all the persons in the Godhead. We sometimes sing that lovely
hymn of the Trinity, number 34, to comprehend the great Three
One, His more than highest angels can, or what the Trinity hath
done, from death and hell to rescue man. But all true Christians,
this may boast a truth from nature never learned, that Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost to save our souls, are all concerned. We confess then that God is one,
and yet God subsists in three distinct persons. Oh, how our
poor minds cannot really begin to comprehend. Reason fails with
all her powers, but faith prevails, and love adores, says Isaac Watts
in the hymn. But the unity that we have here,
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The unity does not so much respect
God himself, but God's relationship with men. See the opening word
here, the word for, indicates there's a connection with what
has been said previously. As I said, it's all in the context
of prayer. But what is the prayer that's
being spoken of? Well, I exhort, therefore, that
first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in
authority, for there is one God. And this one God, you see, is
the one who rules and reigns over all men. He is sovereign.
He is sovereign over the affairs of all the peoples of the earth.
He is sovereign over all the designs, all the machinations
of those who are mighty men in the world. All the powers that
be, they're under His sovereign hand. It's God's absolute sovereignty
that we are reminded of here. There is nothing outside of His
control. He only is the Creator, the language
of the 100th Psalm. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God, it is He that has made us, not we ourselves. We are His
people and the sheep of His pasture. and how the Lord is good to all
and His tender mercies, we're told in another psalm, are over
all His works. Even such a great man as Nebuchadnezzar,
one of the greatest emperors that ever lived, there ruling,
reigning over Babylon the Great, how he is brought humbly to submit
to the God of Israel and to acknowledge that God. as the only living
and true God. You read Daniel chapter 4 how
that proud man is stripped of all his reason. He begins to
behave like a beast of the field and then God in his goodness
restores his reason to him and then he makes that confession
that God is that one who rules in the armies of heaven and amongst
the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or
say to him what do us that Oh God is sovereign by me, King's
reign and Prince's decree justice we read in the book of Proverbs. The wise man then acknowledges
God. And we can say that what we have
here really in verses 3 and 4 is a reference to that general benevolence
that God manifests in the way in which He rules over all men
and all peoples without any exception. It is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our Saviour then to pray for all sorts of
men. Why? Because God will have all
men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Now,
it's not improper reading those two verses to see that there
is there a reference to the general benevolence of God, the way in
which He watches over all His creatures and makes every provision
for them. He is a faithful Creator God.
When we read, you see, in verse 3 of God's our Saviour. We're not to relate that to the
One who is spoken of in verse 5 as the One Mediator. No, we're to relate God our Saviour
at the end of verse 3 to that One who is spoken of at the beginning
of verse 5 as the One God. The One God is He who has created
all things, the One who upholds all things. He maketh His Son
to rise on the evil and on the good He sends rain upon the just
and upon the unjust He is the God of all His creatures and
God cares for them there is a general benevolence in God in Him we
live and move and have our being He upholds everyone and we're
not to lose sight of the relationship between God and all his creation. In praying to God then, and praying
for all sorts of men, even those who are in high places in the
earth, we address God as that one who is over all his creatures,
and that God who is sovereign in all his dealings. He sits
upon the circle of the earth. and he takes up the inhabitants
as grasshoppers, while he treats the mighty nations as fine dust
on a balance or a drop in a bucket, in the language of Isaiah. There
is one God, and that one God then is over all his creatures. But then to come to what I said
we would also consider, and that is what he said here concerning
the one mediator, the only mediator. There is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There's another verse, isn't
there, and I find it a strange verse in many ways. We find it
in Galatians 3 verse 20 concerning the mediator. And there, right
into those Galatians, Paul makes his statement, now a mediator
is not a mediator of one, but God is one. What are we to make
of that statement concerning the mediator? The mediator is
not a mediator of one, well that's obvious, a mediator is one who
mediates between two parties. But there it says A mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. The way I understand that is
that we have to recognize that with regards to this mediator,
God is both the offended partner, but He is also the mediator. He is the offended partner, but
He is also the mediator. It reminds us that the covenant
of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the only mediator is altogether
a covenant of grace. It is altogether the doing of
God. It's altogether the provision
of God. And so here we're directed to
that remarkable thing that God has done in the covenant of grace. in the provision that he has
made of a mediator and who that mediator is because that mediator
is none other than God himself in the person of his only begotten
son the Lord Jesus Christ although you see God is the one
who as the creator is sustaining all his creation and dealing
benevolently with all sorts and types of men and women. Christ
is not the mediator of all. Now I've already intimated something
of this because we're not to use that singular noun, man. He's not the mediator between
God and man. He's not the mediator between
God and mankind. He's the mediator between God
and men. He's the mediator between God
and certain men. And we know that. We know that
from the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When we
see the Lord Jesus here upon the earth, and of course, as
I said at the beginning, He has many offices as the mediator.
He is prophet, He is priest, He is king, when we think of
Him as priest, Why we see him at the end of the Gospels as
that priest who is making the great sin-atoning sacrifice.
But of course we also see him in John 17 as that one who as
a priest makes intercession. We have that record of his high
priestly prayer. And what does the Lord say in
the course of that prayer? Who is he praying for? Who is he the mediator for? Well
you know the language that we have there. 9 of that 17th chapter. He speaks
of his disciples and he says at verse 9, I pray for them,
I pray not for the worlds, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. Again at verse 20, neither pray
I for these alone, but for them also which I believe on me through
their Word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me. He is praying for those
that the Father has given to him. And the ones that he prays for,
of course, in his office as the interceding priest, are the same
ones that he dies for when as a priest he makes the great sin-atoning
sacrifice. He prays not for the world then. He is the mediator for certain
men. Well, I want, as we think of
Christ as the mediator, to mention two things concerning his mediation. First of all, when we think of
Christ as a mediator, we must of course take account of not
only his work, but his person. He is the Christ. That's his
official name, isn't it? That reminds us of his office.
He is the Christ. He is that one who has two natures. He is Jesus, that reminds us
of his human nature, and he is Lord, which reminds us of his
divine nature. And we often speak of him under
that threefold name, Lord, Jesus, Christ. Lord, he is God. Jesus, he is man. Christ, That's
his office. He is the mediator. But as the
mediator, do we not there see him as one who, though he be
one person, one Christ, yet in that one person there are these
two natures. And here, of course, in the text,
we read of the man. the man, Christ Jesus, for there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ
Jesus. The emphasis is very much upon
the truth of his human nature. But he's not merely man, we know
that. How could he be the mediator,
except he were also God? Remember how Job expresses his
great desire for a daisman. Job looks to the heavens and
wants one to come and stand between heaven and earth. Neither is
there any daisman betwixt us, he says, that may lay his hand
upon us both. What is he speaking of there,
the daisman? Well, literally, the daisman is the one who comes
to argue, to present a case, as it were, to be an advocate.
And that's what Job longs for, one who will stand between himself
and God, one who can come between heaven and earth. He wants one
who can lay his hand upon us both. Lay his hand upon God,
and lay his hand upon Job. Lay his hand upon God, and lay
his hand upon man. And the only person who can do
that, of course, is the Christ. Because of who he is, he is the
God-man. Paul goes on, doesn't he, to
say that at the end of chapter 3, without controversy, great
is the mystery. of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. That's where it all begins. The
mystery of godliness. What is godliness? Well, there
the word has the idea of real religion. And it all begins there,
with the great mystery of the incarnation. God's manifest in
the flesh. And what a remarkable thing it
is, when we think of the relationship between that divine nature in
the Lord Jesus that He is God. And yet, as God the Son, He has
taken to Himself a human nature, and that that comes from the
womb of the Virgin, remember the language of Luke 1.35, that
holy thing that shall be born of thee that human nature, that
human body, that human soul join to the eternal Son of God that
holy thing shall be called the Son of God and so it means that there is such worth
and value and efficacy in the work that the Lord Jesus Christ
has done in dying for sinners, that precious blood that was
shed when the Apostle addresses the elders at Ephesus in Acts
chapter 20 he's saying his final farewell as he's going to Jerusalem
and he's so mindful that he will not see their faces again he
seems to be aware that death is before him but he gives charge
to those elders in the church at Ephesus and at the end of
it he speaks of the church of God He says, which he hath purchased
with his own blood. God has purchased the church
with his own blood. That blood that was shed by the
Lord Jesus at Calvary was of course human blood. It was Christ
in his human nature. God doesn't have a body. God is a spirit. says Christ. The true worshippers worship
in spirit and in truth. But that is the great mystery,
that's what they call the hypostatic union. The person of the Lord
Jesus, he's the God-man. And so that blood that was shed
has such a remarkable efficacy. It's clothed with all the virtue
that belongs unto God himself. Look at the language that Paul
uses when he writes in Romans in Romans chapter 3 and there
at verse 24 he makes this statement concerning the justified being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say, at this time
his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus." It's a remarkable statement that
he's making there because he makes the point how that God's divine justice has been
fully satisfied. Here we have atoning blood mentioned
and here we also have justifying righteousness. These two aspects
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ come together. How the
divine justice of God has been altogether satisfied in the person
of the Lord Jesus as God's man who has come made of a woman,
made under the law, and he is that one who has honoured the
law by the righteousness of his life, he has obeyed every precept,
every commandment. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
And yet, then this Southside Jesus is the one who has also
shed that sin atoning blood. and paid the penalty that the
law demands the soul that sinneth it shall die the wages of sin
is death and he dies and he sheds his precious blood he gives his
life all the wonder of it and the virtue of it because of who
he is he is God and he is able to satisfy all the demands of
God's holy law in His blessed person as God-man. And so He
has vanquished and conquered all His enemies. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the Lord,
but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. We remember then that He is not
merely man, He is God, and He is man. in one person,
and in everything he does he acts as that person, he acts
in that office of the mediator, the Christ of God. But, we have
to come back to this, the emphasis, the emphasis here in this verse
that we're considering is surely very much on the reality of his
humanity. One mediator between God and
man the man Christ Jesus he's spoken of as the man there's
no reference to his lordship when we look at the name that's
given to him here it doesn't say the Lord Jesus Christ as I said just now you see Lord
reminds us of his deity, his God Christ reminds us of his
office, the mediator. Jesus reminds us of his human
nature, the name that was given to him by his parents at his
birth. They shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. The emphasis
is so much on the humanity, the man, the human name, Jesus, that
is used. What has this man done? Well,
he has come as a man to stand in the law place of all his people. He was made of a woman, he was
made under the law. He stands in the law place, he
stands as that one who is the surety of all his people. In
all that he does, he's a public figure. Every action he undertakes,
he does it for his people. He lives for them. And then he
dies for them. He dies as their substitute.
He dies in their room, in their place, in their stead. Again,
Romans 8 verse 3 Paul says, God sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Oh, the wonder of it! Where the
Lord Jesus Christ stands, He stands forth as that one who
is the representative head of all His people. Why? He's the
second man, isn't He? He's the last Adam. If Adam stands
there at the beginning, the head of the whole human race, well,
this one, the Lord Jesus, the last Adam, He's the head of all
those that the Father has given to him in that eternal covenant
of grace. He stands in their law place.
He dies as their substitute. But more than that, when we think
of him as a man, he's one who is able to sympathize with his
people. He's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, Paul says. All he can feel for us, you see.
He knows infirmities, not sinful infirmities. There's nothing
of sin in him. That human nature, that holy
thing, is free from every taint of sin. But he can sit there
at the wall at Sychar in John 4 as he goes through Samaria
because he's weary. He can manifest real human emotion. He's at the grave of his great
friend Lazarus, and he sees the grieving sisters Mary and Martha,
and is overwhelmed. Jesus weeps. Jesus wept. He's troubled in his soul. He
knows real human emotions. Oh, this is the one, you see,
touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Tempted in all points,
like as we are yet without seeing. No, he has these two natures.
Yes, he is God. And he's never anything less
than God, but he is also a real man. And yet, and we must never
lose sight of this, though two natures, always one person. And in everything that he does,
we're to remember he's God-man. We can't separate the natures.
We're never to say, well, here's the Lord Jesus and what he's
doing here, he's doing as a man, and then we come over to something
else and we say, well here we see him doing something that
is of God. In everything, the two come together. The hypostatic union. He is always
God-man in every action. And the great mystery is, of
course, even when he comes to die, who is the person who dies
upon the cross? It's the God-man. Oh, it's a mystery. Isn't Christianity
just full of mysteries? The mystery of God, the doctrine
of the Triniton, the mystery of the Incarnation, that God
is manifest in the flesh, the person of the Lord Jesus, the
God-man. The mystery of His dying, because He never ever ceases
to be God and and God can never be divided because God is one,
always one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and yet there in dying,
how he cries in all the agonies of his soul, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Mystery. It's beyond us, beyond
our understanding. Oh, but this one mediator, one
God, it says, and one mediator, the one person of the Lord Jesus. He has then these two natures. But as we close this morning,
I just want to say something with regards to the two names
that are given to him here at the end of the verse. He's referred
to as Christ Jesus. Now, we've already said this,
haven't we? The significance of the name
Jesus. It is the human name When the angel appears to Joseph at
the end of Matthew chapter 1 and he's not to put away his wife,
well, she was betrothed. Betrothal, of course, I think
in some ways was more of a commitment than engagement. A couple might
now become engaged, engaged to be married, but they're not married. We read of betrothal, it's certainly
engagement, but it's such a commitment really. to put her away, he would
virtually have to divorce her. I know once upon a time in this
country, if a couple were engaged and the engagement was broken
off, the agreed party could sue for breach of promise. But that's
no longer the case. I know people become engaged
and many can quite likely break off an engagement. but it was
a very solemn thing she was betrothed she was betrothed to this man
Joseph and she's with child and he's minded to put her away but
the angel appears to him and tells him who this child is and what name
is to give to this child thou shalt call his name Jesus for
he shall save his people from their sins Jesus, the Greek form of the
Hebrew name, Joshua. And I'm sure you're aware that
in Hebrews 4, of course, where we read of Jesus, in that context
there, it's actually Joshua from the Old Testament that's being
spoken of. But Jesus is Joshua, and Joshua simply means salvation
is of the Lord. And this is the name that we
have here, He is Jesus. But then we also have that official
name, he is Christ. And so we're reminded of his
office. His office is that one who is the Mediator, that one
promised in the Old Testament, the Messiah, the Mediator of
the New Covenant. And of course, Messiah, Christ,
really refers to his anointing. We have it back in Psalm 45,
the promise God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows. A reference to the Lord Jesus.
He's anointed with the oil of gladness to a remarkable degree,
such an effusion. And so at the end of John chapter
3, God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him, Now, the
Spirit descends upon him like a dove as he comes up from the
waters of baptism. He is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the Mediator. And here
we have these two names, He is Christ, Jesus. Now, again, are
we to take account of the way in which the name is expressed
It's not Jesus Christ, is it? Sometimes we might refer to him
as Jesus Christ. But the order is Christ Jesus.
And we believe in the inspiration, the verbal inspiration of Scripture,
so surely we're also to take account of the order in which
the name is expressed. In a sense it's a descending
scale. from his office as the Christ
to the reality of his human nature. It's a descending order. And
does it not remind us that he is not only the one who mediates
between men and God, he does that certainly when it comes
to our prayers, we present our prayers in and through his mediation,
we plead his name. This is how we approach God,
In the language of the psalm we beseech God to look upon the
face of His anointed one, His Christ. He's our mediator. But He is
also that one through whom God mediates, through whom God comes
to us. No man has seen God. At any time
the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has declared Him. is the image of the invisible
God. God comes to us through him. Christ is the mediator of
the new covenant. And of course in him we have
all the fullness of gospel grace. And I read those two portions
in the Hebrew Epistle. And that second portion we were
reading there in in chapter 12 where we have the contrast between
the two covenants the one on Mount Sinai and the other from
Mount Zion remember the language there at verse 22 you are come
unto Mount Zion unto the city of the living God the heavenly
Jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to
God the Judge of all, and to the Spirit of just men made perfect,
and for Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. And then see that Yirishu is
not him that speaketh." It's more solemn, you see, than anything
that they knew in the Old Testament. In all the terrors of Mount Zion, all to have dealings with this
God as He comes to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh thank God
when we come to know God in Christ, ultimately we know Him as that
God who through Christ will receive us and grant the forgiveness
of all our sins. We can come boldly, we can come
boldly to the throne of grace And there we can obtain mercy
and there we can find grace to help in all our times of need.
Why? Because of this one who is the
only mediator, even the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God,
then be pleased to grant to us such a realization of the privileges
that belong to us, that we should live in such a day as the day
of grace and that we should hear so much concerning that glorious
covenants of grace, and that one who is the only mediator,
the one by and through whom God graciously condescends to come
to men and to minister to men, poor, needy, sinful men and women
such as we are. 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. Now, the Lord willing, I trust
we might be able to consider that following verse when we
come together again this evening. The Lord grant His blessing on
His Word. We're going to sing as our concluding
praise the hymn 117 to the tune Sorely, 231. Awakes with gratitude and seeing
the Ascended Saviour's love, seeing how He lives to carry
on His people's cause above. 117 June 231.