Galatians chapter 3. This morning
we'll be looking at verses 19 and 20. 19 and 20. The title of the message this
morning is One Mediator. One Mediator. Galatians chapter
3 and verse 19 says, Wherefore then serveth the law? It was
added because of transgression. till the seed should come to
whom the promises was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Now, in this passage of Scripture
in Galatians chapter 3, I want us first of all to see this.
that God did give a Mediator of the Old Covenant. God did
give a Mediator of the Law. And when God gave the Law to
the people of Israel, He gave it by the hand of a Mediator,
and that was Moses. Moses was God's man to deliver
the Law of God to the people. Now, what is a Mediator? What
is that? A mediator is one that stands
between two opposing parties. That's all it is. It's an arbitrator. It's somebody that stands in
the middle, in the gap, between two opposing parties. In Job
9.33, Job was being attacked by his friends. They were saying
that it was his sin that caused all of these things to come on
him. And Job said, would to God there was a dazeman. Betwixt
us. In other words, he was hoping,
he was praying for someone that had greater authority and yet
could put his hands on both of them. In other words, he wanted
someone to settle the matter between them. He wanted someone
to stand between. It was their word against his
word about something that neither one of them could see. Sin. They needed God to come and mediate. And what did God do? He came,
didn't He? And He stood between Job and
his friends. He was a daisman. He was a daisman. Friends, in order to be a daisman,
in order to be a mediator, there must be a qualification. Job says this, he said, a daisman
betwixt us that he might lay his hand upon us both. In other
words, he must have an interest in both parties. He must have
an interest in both parties. He must be able to understand
the one and understand the other. Otherwise, it's not a fair mediation,
is it? You would not want somebody to
come and mediate between you and an enemy if the enemy chose
his best friend. You wouldn't want that. Why?
He couldn't lay his hand on you. He couldn't be fair to you. A mediator must be qualified
as a mediator. He must be able to identify and
arbitrate with both parties. Now, Moses was such a mediator. He was such a mediator as to
mediate between God and the people of Israel, and he was qualified
to do so. Well, the first qualification
is this. If there is something between God and men, if there
is a dispute between God and men, God has to choose the man. God has to choose the person.
God has to be satisfied with the mediator. And before the
people chose a mediator, God chose a mediator of this law,
of this covenant, and it was Moses. He said to Moses, certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee. And the token was that he would
come back to that mount where he was at, and he would receive
the covenant. He said, I'm promising you, I'm
with you. You're my man. You're him. I've chosen you,
Moses, and you're going to take that people out of Egypt, and
you're going to come back to this place, and I am going to
give you a covenant between me and them, and you'll mediate
it. You'll mediate it. And that is exactly what happened,
and I'm sure that gave Moses assurance of his mediatorship. When he did return from Egypt
with those people to the exact mountain that he was talked to
God here, it was an assurance God gave him a token that he
was the mediator between him and the Israelites concerning
that covenant of the law. But Moses was not only qualified
of God and sin of God, he was also qualified to be their mediator
because he was a child of Israel. He was a child of Jacob. He understood
their bondage. He understood that these were
men. He was of man. He was chosen
of God from man so that He could mediate to man. This was also confirmed by the
people. You remember when that mountain,
it was filled with smoke and God spoke to the people and the
people, they bowed their heads and they said, we cannot hear
this. We need someone to stand between
us and God, lest we die. Moses, you go up. He was chosen
of the people. And he was chosen of God. He
was the mediator. He laid his hands on both of
them. And both parties were satisfied
to have him as a mediator of this old covenant. And friends, by that mount, if
you remember, the book of Hebrews tells us that that mount was
on fire. I've seen a volcano on television
and I've never seen one up close. I mean, do you really want to
see one up close? No. Nobody really wants to see that.
But can you imagine that it was filled with darkness that you
could feel? It was a darkness. It was a tempest. It was a sound of thundering.
And not just one man was afraid, the whole nation was afraid.
And the Scripture says Moses, who was the mediator, he exceedingly
feared and quaked in the presence of God. Can we not clearly see
that there is, by this covenant, we can clearly see that there
is a dispute. There is a dispute. Between God
and man, there is something that needs to be mediated. Man cannot approach unto God
by himself. That's what it's telling us.
This is what God is teaching us. Man cannot. You and I cannot
approach unto God without a mediator, without someone to stand between
us lest we die being full of sin. Lest we die. Moses was that mediator. He received
that covenant. That's what it's telling us here
in our text. In Galatians 3.19 he says, And it, the covenant
of the law, was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. This law of the covenant was
received by someone that God chose, that was chosen of the
people. And He gave it to the people. He
gave that covenant to them as a mediator. He received that
covenant of God and gave it to the people. He was a mediator,
not of just one, but he was a mediator of many. Verse 19 says, Now a mediator
is not a mediator of one. That's a crazy person, isn't
it? Somebody that mediates with himself. Somebody that has an
argument with himself and he's mediating it. That's not a mediator. You see, in order to mediate,
there must be more than one party and there is. One party has many. But the other party is just one
God, but God is one, one God. One God. God is not one in person, but
one in essence, will, power, and attributes. All of the attributes
of God are equal among the persons of the Godhead. Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Not three gods, one God. One God, yet three distinct persons
in the Godhead. John says this, there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one. We cannot understand that. We
can't understand that. But the Scriptures are clear
that there is only one God. One God. Yet the Scriptures are
also clear that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the
Holy Spirit is God. And it is this one God against all of his people, opposed
to all of his people because of their sin. You see, God did nothing to offend
man. It was man that offended God. Yet notice it was God who provided
the mediator. It was God who called them. They would have never called
Him. They would have never mediated
with Him. God must be the one God to mediate
among the many. And so when Moses went up to
that mount to receive that law, and God says, this is it. Here
it is. Here's my law. Do all that I
say and I'll bless you. Do all that I say and I'll bless
you." And what did the people say? We will. We'll do everything
that God says, Moses. You just go up there and get
that thing and we'll do it all. We'll have no problem with that.
We're pretty good people. Surely God will accept us. You
go get that and we'll keep everything. You tell God we'll keep everything,
He says. And so God gave a clear term of peace, didn't he? When God gave that covenant to
Moses, he gave the terms of satisfaction. Holiness. God gave that covenant. He said,
this is it. Be thou holy for I am holy. And yet even before Moses had
brought down the terms, the children of Israel had already disobeyed
God. They had already built that calf. And God says, Get thee down,
Moses, for this people hath quickly turned aside. Quickly turned
aside from obeying the covenant. Friends, the law, this covenant,
again, as I said last week, had only one purpose. And that was
to expose sin. And that's it. This covenant
gave no remedy for sin. It only gave the holy nature
of God to man. That's all He did. It exposes the sinful nature
that the natural man receiveth not the things of God. He cannot. They're foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them because he's spiritually discerned. And
so Moses was a true qualified mediator of the law. And let's make no mistake about
this. The law is a real covenant. It is not a fake covenant. It
is a real one. It is a true covenant of the
living God. The law is not evil. The law
is not bad. The law is good. There's nothing
wrong with the law. The law is perfect in every way. The problem is not with the law
or the covenant. The problem is with man. The
problem is with us. The problem is our sin. We have
defiled that law. We've broken God's law. And the
law gives us no means by which to recover ourselves. Before you knew and I knew anything
about the law of God, we've already broken it. Isn't that right?
The same way those Israelites did before they even received
the testimony. They had already broken it. Same
way with us. And when they got that law, all
it did was revealed that they were sinners. That's it. That's
all it did. It is a true covenant. And if
a man desires to be under that covenant, he must keep the whole
law without exception, every sacrifice, every offering, every
feast day, every dietary meal, every governmental assurance. It must be completely, absolutely,
and utterly fulfilled in every part if a man is to be under
the law. There is no exception. There
is no exceptions. If you want to base your righteousness
on not lying, then you must base it on not stealing and loving
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your strength, every second of every day, and love your neighbor
as yourself. Impossible. Impossible. These are God's terms for peace,
holiness. Friends, there is a true separation
between God and man. God is holy and righteous. He
created man perfect and righteous, and when Adam fell, his sin and
judgment was passed to all of his people as a representative. The scripture says, but your
iniquities have separated you, separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not
hear." Is that not a desperate situation for the lost? Friends, if God had not purposed
to save a people, there would have been no salvation at all. None. There would have been no
hope. But because God purposed to save,
because God was willing to save, because God loved to save a people, He sent a mediator, not of the
law, but of promises. but of promises. I tell you what,
that word even just sounds better than law, doesn't it? Don't we love promises? Those
are great. When somebody promises you something
good, you just smile, and you don't even know if they're going
to give it to you. But man, you're just glad they promised you. My kids
promise me, Dad, I promise I'll do well. That just makes me smile.
I know they're not, but it just makes me smile to receive that
promise. But I know this, God is not a liar, and God has made
promises. He has made promises. And by these promises, He will
send a mediator to deliver the promises to the people. That's my second point, the mediator,
not of the law. but of the covenant of promise.
As Moses was a mediator of the covenant of the law, he was qualified
as a mediator of that covenant. Even so, is Jesus Christ the
mediator of the covenant of promise. Jesus Christ is the only qualified
mediator of this covenant of grace. The only true mediator. The only true one. The only qualified
one. In Deuteronomy 18, Moses knew
this. Moses understood this. That he
was just a type. He understood, he said, the Lord
shall raise up a prophet like unto me. From among the brethren
and him shalt thou hear. You hear him. When he comes,
he's going to be like me in that he will be a mediator. But he
is going to be greater than me in that you must hear him. Because
he is the true mediator and only mediator of God. Moses was only a type of the
true mediator. This covenant that he was to
mediate is the gospel of grace towards sinners. It is a promise
not based on their obedience. The other one was based on their
obedience. This one was not based on their
obedience. This covenant of promise was
something that was given even before there was sin. Therefore, sin could never disannul
something that God had promised in eternity. You see, He first
promised it not to us. He first promised it to Christ,
the Mediator. God in eternity had chosen a
Mediator. And it was His only begotten
Son. It was His only Son, Christ Jesus
the Lord. And God had promised Him to be
the Mediator of a people. And as such, He gave them to
Christ in eternity. And Christ gladly received His
people to Himself. They were in union with Him from
all eternity. God promised that He would be
a King over willing subjects. that the Son would be in the
covenant of agreement, the mediator of His people. Not a covenant
of works, but as the Scripture says, He is the mediator of a
better covenant. You read Hebrews, that is the
key word in the book of Hebrews, better. Better. It's always showing
you how Christ is better than the law, better than Moses. And that's exactly what he's
talking about. Moses was a mediator, but Christ is a better mediator
because he is a mediator of a better covenant, not based on works
that we have done, but based on the righteousness of the mediator. Scripture says in Hebrew 8.6,
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. What was the promise of the law? Do this and live. Don't do this
and die. That was the promise. Cursed.
Here's the promise. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
That's the only promise the law gave. Oh, but I've got a better
covenant over here. There's a better covenant! This
one is of grace. This one is of mercy. This one
is of love. And it says, I have done all
things. All things are ready. Come and welcome. Come and welcome. And friends, there is no other
mediator of this covenant but Christ. The Bible is very narrow,
isn't it? It's very bigoted. It's very
singular in its object. This is how come I can say it
without hesitation. that Jesus Christ is the only
mediator between God and men. How do I know that? He was qualified. He was qualified. He was not
only sent of God, but He was sent of God to be a man. You
see, he must be able to touch both parties. He must be able
to put his hand on God and he must be able to put his hand
on man and bring them together and reconcile them. That's what
a mediator does, is he's agreeable to both parties and he reconciles
them. Reconciles them. And Jesus was made a little lower
than the angels so that he might be qualified
to stand between God and man. For there's one mediator between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus testified of his deity
as well of his humanity. He told those Jews, He said,
before Abraham was, I am, I am God. And in Hebrews 10, it tells
us, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. In the volume of the book
it is written of me. Scripture says, A body hast thou
prepared for me. You see, Christ, He suffered
everything that a man can suffer. There is nothing that our Savior
cannot identify with us. There's nothing. He is a mediator. He is a high priest. And that's
what a high priest is, isn't it? Is it someone to offer a
sacrifice acceptable to God for man? Well, where was a high priest
taken from? Where do you get a high priest?
Did an angel come down from heaven and become a high priest? No.
Why? They have no idea what man is.
They have no idea. It was man that brought sin into
the world. It must be man that makes the
offering to God. But our offerings are worthless.
Our offerings have nothing but sin. Therefore, the sinless Son
of God became man, so that He might offer the offering of Himself
to God. in the place of His people. Will God accept His offering? You bet. Remember, it was God
who sent Him to be the offering. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him and to make His soul an offering for sin. Why? because he was
supposed to be the mediator of his people. And he did. He mediated between them and
God by taking their place as a substitute for them. Moses could have never done that,
right? If Moses would have burned himself, it wouldn't have done
anything. He had to burn the offering of
another. But this mediator, as he has
come once at the end of the world and made his soul an offering
for sin, and God has accepted his offering so that we have
good tidings of great joy to sinners in need of salvation. Because Christ has already accomplished
the mediation. There is one. And he has mediated
the covenant of better promises than that of the law. Friends, only God could mediate
the righteousness of God. Isn't that right? But because
man had lost righteousness, it must be man that restores righteousness,
and Christ as a man restored it. He said, I have restored
that which I have not taken away. I didn't cause sin. Oh, but I
restored righteousness. and satisfaction to God as the
God man mediator. So then, because Jesus was God
manifest in the flesh, we may be assured then that his mediation
was absolutely and completely perfect. He being God cannot fail. And now, has the mediator come
by His Spirit to reveal this covenant to His people? Has God revealed that covenant
to you? Has Christ mediated between you
and God? If He has, you have a covenant
of better promises. Get rid of the law. It does nothing
but accuse. But because we have a true mediator
that has accomplished redemption, accomplished righteousness, what
then stands between us and our God? The veil has been rent entwined
and access granted. Come and welcome. I don't feel
like I... Come and welcome. that says God. Is that not a glorious covenant? It is if you know the mediator
of it. It's a glorious covenant full of assurance. I pray that
God would bless this to our hearts.