Turn with me if you would now
to 1 Timothy chapter two. 1 Timothy chapter two. We were here for the Bible study
a couple of weeks ago. And we looked at the first seven
verses on the subject of, are all men saved? Are all men and
women saved? Let's read these first seven
verses. First Timothy two verse one says,
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, who gave
himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Whereunto
I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, I speak the truth
in Christ and lie not, A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity. Does God want all men to be saved? Does God want all men and women
to be saved? We are not going to take the
time to re-preach that message. But to answer that question,
let me just quote some of what the Lord Jesus Christ has said
in His Word, okay? Let me just quote some things
to you. In John 10, He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. In Matthew 25, He said, in the
judgment, He is going to divide the sheep from the goats. And to the sheep, he's going
to say, welcome in. And to the goats, he's going
to say, depart ye cursed into everlasting fire. In Matthew seven, he said, not
everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord is going to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Not everyone. And I'll just say
that it's because they were pleading, if we go there and read that
portion of Scripture, they were pleading their own works before
Him. We did this and we did this. And that's not acceptable with
God. Our works is not something that He will accept. So He said,
not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, is going to enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven. In John 17, He said, I pray not for the
world. but for them which thou hast
given me." They are mine. Out of every tribe, nation, kindred,
and tongue from all over this world, Jew and Gentile. And in John 17 there, he said,
I have kept all of them. All, all, all. None is lost, not one. None of them is lost. In 2 Peter
3, he said, not any of the us-ward, the chosen, selected, redeemed
us-ward will perish. All of them, every single one
of them particularly, will come to repentance, every one of them.
And that's because he has already done everything necessary to
save them. If God wanted all men to be saved, all men would be saved. And because all men are not saved,
we have our answer. Now the reason that we so clearly
set forth the election of God's particular people that He sovereignly
chose, sovereignly selected to save, we do that often. We do that often. Y'all talking
about elections? All y'all ever do is just talk
about election? Y'all ever preach anything else? The reason why we so clearly,
so constantly, we try to do it clearly, but so constantly set
forth God's election of his people is because the reason we do that
is because his glory is at stake in it. His sovereign, all-powerful ability
is at stake in it. That's the reason why. If we lie on Him and claim that
He wants all men to be saved, but He doesn't have the ability
to ensure that all men are saved, then we're declaring him to be
a failure. That's what we're doing. If we declare a God who wants
to save, doesn't that sound familiar? If we declare a God who wants
to save everybody, but can't, then we're declaring a God who
is no God at all. Don't call him God because that's
not God. And in doing that, we are blasphemously
bringing him down. That's all we're doing. If we
declare that lie concerning him, all we're doing is we're bringing
him down to a place that is actually lower than the poor sinful souls
he's trying to save. lower than them. If he needs
our help, or if he needs our permission,
or if he needs our anything, honestly, do we really need him? Is he really our savior? Do we see what an insult it is
to lie on Him in preaching Him that way? That's an insult to
who He is and what He's done and what He is able to do. This is God we are declaring. This is God. The God who willed
and purposed salvation before the foundation of the world. This is the God who executed
that salvation to the fullest degree. God cannot lie. And when God
said it is finished, that means to the fullest degree. If it
wasn't to the fullest degree, it's not finished. It's not the job's not finished.
I used to do my, you know, mom would make me do chores around
the house and I do it my way. And she'd say, nope, do it again.
It's not finished. You missed a spot. God cannot lie. If God says it's
finished, it's finished. He left no component of salvation
undone. Not one component of salvation
undone. We're talking here about the
God who quickens and calls every single soul that He chose to
set His love and affection on. Every one of them. This is the God who will not
lose one of them. Cannot. That's His glory. That's His
glory. That's what makes Him God. That
right there is what makes Him God. He's able to keep that. Abraham
believed God that he was able to do what he promised he would
do. That's what makes Him God. That's what makes Him worthy
to be praised. It's because He made a covenant
to save His people from their sin. He swore to keep that covenant
and He did. He did. The surety of His Word
that He's given. The solid ground of the hope
that He's given. His trustworthiness. His faithfulness. Declaring Him to be anything
less than that is blasphemy against Him. Declaring Him to be anything
less than that His blasphemy against Him. So that's why we
declare the truth of His sovereign electing grace in who He chose
to save. God wants every soul that He chose to save
to be saved. That's who God wants to be saved.
Every soul that He chose to be saved. And that's who is going
to be saved. every soul that he chose to save. Now, the reason we're back in
these verses is because I wanted to focus a little bit more on
one of the verses that we just read here. And before we read
it, I want to tell you that this is the reason why. All right,
this right here is the reason why. Every soul that God wants
to be saved is going to be saved. This is the reason why. Every
one of them will be saved. God chose a particular people
to be saved. It's a number no man can number,
which is just a glorious thought to me. It's a number no man can
number. He's good. He's kind. He's merciful. He's
loving. He's generous. But God chose a people to be
saved and they're going to be saved. And this is the reason
why verse five, first Timothy two, verse five, it says four,
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man,
Christ Jesus. Every soul that God chose to
be saved will be saved. All of them. I got my attention. All of them. And it's for that reason right
there. It's for this reason right here. Verse five says there's
one God and one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ
Jesus. There is only one God. People
say, well now that's your God and I have my God. There's only
one God. There's just one God. And he
is the God that was just described, just declared. He is not a God
that most men preach today. And I say that sadly. I say that
so sadly. I feel so sorry for people who are under the, the lies of false
teaching. I just feel so sorry for people.
I don't say this arrogantly. Lord, teach us. Teach me. Increase our faith. Reveal your
word to us. But He is not the God that most
men are preaching today. He is not trying to do anything. He's not trying to do anything.
Well now he's trying now, you just gotta stop messing up his
plan. I literally heard a man say that one time. Now here's
the key, if you can just stop, if we'll just get out of the
way and stop messing up his plan, and if the devil will just stop
messing up his plan, he's trying. He is not trying to do anything. He is not waiting on anyone. Well, if you'll go ahead, I tell
you what, do this for me. Go ahead and make your decision.
He is waiting for you to make your decision. As soon as you
pull the trigger and say that he can. He is not trying to do anything. He is not waiting on anyone. And he is not knocking anywhere. He's knocking on your heart's
door and He's wanting you to give Him your heart. He is hoping
that you will give Him your heart and He's wanting to come in so
badly. He wants to come into your heart so badly. Please open
to Him. Please just open to Him. Open
your heart's door so He can come in. He's knocking. Don't miss
it. He's knocking. No, He's not. No, He's not. No, he is not. The only knocking that he does
is when he knocks our heart's door down. He comes in with that
right hand and that holy right arm and he knocks that door down. Thank God. Thank God and all
of our resistant pride and self-righteousness and God Almighty and the person
of that man. and he knocks out of Hart's door
down. When he wants in, he comes in. And he takes up residency. And he says, I live here now.
That old man's out. No one can stop him. No one can
even ask him, hold on now, wait a minute, what are you doing? This is God. This is God. There is one God
and He really is God. He really is God. And man really
is sin against Him. And man doesn't realize what
he's dealing with. Man does not realize what he's
dealing with. We are not in our flesh ready
to go meet God. Well, he's ready to go meet God.
He's made his peace with God. But has God made His peace with
him? That's the question. We're dealing with the all-powerful
Almighty who promises. He doesn't lie. And He has promised
that He will punish sinners in their sin. And that's what I
am. And nobody gets a free pass.
Nobody gets swept under the rug, no sin, none. Every face that I'm looking at
this morning is a sinner. And if I had a mirror right now
and I held it up right here, I would be looking at a sinner. And because we're all sinners
in our sin and in the flesh of our sin, God is angry. And this is, I speak the truth
in Christ, I lie not. I know this is not popular, I
know it's not common, I understand it's even shocking. Because most
people are just not being told this, but according to his own
word, God is angry. God is angry in our sin. God
is angry. That is the truth. Men stand
up all the time and they tell sinners. God is so pleased with you. He
has such a wonderful plan for you. It's not true. That's just not
true. If I had time, I would read Psalm
five to you. Read Psalm 5 sometime. If I had
time, I would read 2 Thessalonians 1 to you. If we took the time, I'd read
1 Peter 3 to you. Just read those places. It is
just not true. God is angry with sin and that's
what I am. That's the truth. That's the truth. All right,
now here's the gospel. And I'll say one more thing about
truth. To prove just how angry God is
with sin, look at what He did to His own Son on the cross of
Calvary. You look at what God the Father
did to God the Son and tell me God is not angry with sin. All
right, but here's the gospel. All that is the truth. And there's
one God, there's only one gospel. There's not another. There's
not another. This is the only gospel that
there is. Here it is right here. Verse five says, there is one
mediator. Oh, the good news of declaring
this to sinners. When God reveals to them the
horror of their condition, and then we have the great privilege
of standing up crying, if any have sinned against God, there
is one mediator. There is one mediator between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. There is only one hope
for us. I think that's what I titled
this. There is only one hope for us. There is only one God
and there's only one mediator between God and man. There's
only one hope for us. We need Jesus Christ. We need
the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't need the law. We don't
need morality. We don't need a second chance.
Oh, if God would just give me a second chance. We don't need
a second chance. We just ruin it like we did the
first one. We need Jesus Christ. We need the Lord Jesus Christ.
He that hath the son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God, the wrath of God abides on him and he hath not life.
We need the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse five says there's one God
and one mediator. What is a mediator? The word means reconciler. That's what the word means, reconciler. It's one who brings two who are
at odds back together again in peace and agreement. The sins of God's people separated
them from God. Christ brought them back. Because of our sin, the scripture
says, we were at enmity against Him. That's what it says. We
were at enmity against Him. That means we considered ourselves
to be His enemies. See if the Lord will let you
enter into this, okay? On the day of Pentecost, whenever the Spirit descended
on the apostles and they saw Christ in the scriptures, and
they started preaching. On the day of Pentecost, 3,000
souls were saved that morning, and 5,000 souls were saved that
evening. They put the apostles in jail
till the next day, but it was too late. They'd already preached,
and 5,000 souls were saved that evening, okay? Do we realize
who those 8,000 people were? Our brother just read that account,
okay? Do we realize who those 8,000
people were? The very ones who laid hold of
the Lord Jesus Christ and brought Him to Pilate and said, kill
Him. And Pilate said, I'll give you
Barabbas. They said, no, kill Him, kill
Him. Do we know who those people were? The very 8,000 souls that were
saved a month later. The very, he said, you who by
wicked hands crucified and slayed. They were the very ones who said,
no, no, no. You kill him. I want you to kill him, make
him suffer. And you kill him. to suffice our brothers and sisters,
okay, our brethren, to suffice God's elect, in order to appease
God's elect people. Pilate said, okay, hang him on
a cross. We look at those people and say,
what wicked sinners. They represent every single one
of us. All of God's people. And from that cross, do you know
what the Lord Jesus Christ said? Did he say, Father, take me down
from here and let them burn in hell forever? He said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Father, let your wrath be appeased. Charge this sin of theirs to
me. Charge the judgment to me. Receive my sacrifice as a payment
for all of their offenses against you. Father, forgive them. Let peace
be restored in me. I want to show you what I consider
to be one of the sweetest accounts in the scripture. This is an
account of mediation. Turn with me if you would to
the book of Philemon. Just a few pages over toward
Hebrews, right before Hebrews 1. One chapter. It's only about
four or five pages over. Philemon. I'll give you a little history
quickly. There's a man named Onesimus, and he was the servant
of Philemon, and he did him wrong. Everything he did, he sinned
against his master. He was a servant of this master,
Philemon. And he stole from him, he just horrible, horrible servant. And he left and abandoned Philemon,
and he came to Rome and found Paul. And Paul was preaching
the gospel there and Philemon heard the gospel and the Lord
just broke him, broke his soul. And so Paul is now sending Onesimus
back to Philemon with a letter. He's writing a letter on Onesimus'
behalf to go back. Now I could read this as Paul
doing a very kind thing for Onesimus. But let's read this as the Lord
Jesus Christ writing a letter of mediation, intercession to
God the Father concerning us, the sinful servants, okay? Look
with me at Philemon, verse 10. Oh, listen to Jesus Christ speaking
to His Father. He said, I beseech thee for my
son Onesimus, that's us. Whom I have begotten in my bonds."
Right here in my bonds, I begot him. Which in time past was to
thee unprofitable, but now, because I have begotten him, profitable
to thee and to me. Whom I have sent again Thou therefore
receive him that is mine own vows. He is joined together one
with me. Verse 13, whom I would have retained
with me that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me
in the bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind would I
do nothing. I do nothing against your will.
Thy will is my will. that thy benefit should not be
as it were of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore
departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever."
And that's what happened to us. In Adam, we departed for a season.
And in the bonds of Christ our Savior, we now are received again
forever, never to depart again. Verse 16, receive him forever,
verse 16, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother,
beloved especially to me. I send him back as my brother,
not my servant, but my brother. But how much more unto thee,
both in the flesh and in the Lord. Now watch verse 17. He said, if thou count me therefore
a partner, receive him as myself. You consider this me coming to
you. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on my account. Whatever he's done against you,
whatever he's stolen from you, whatever he owes you, whatever
payment needs to be made for you to be satisfied, you put
all of it on my account. Verse 19, I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. I will repay it. I will repay
it. Father, forgive them. Forgive
them. Did the Father forgive the people
that Christ mediated for? Yes, he did. How do we know that
he did? Here's the reason why. It's because
Christ did not come down from that cross. He did not come down. In order to save others, he could
not save himself. The death of the cross, that
was the mediation. That's what it took to reconcile
us back to God. That's what it took to make peace.
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. And I have a little bit more
here I was gonna tell you, but I'm gonna close. Because I believe
we've gotten the point of reconciliation. But you almost can't talk about
reconciliation without going to Ephesians 2, where it says
you were Gentiles, you were outcasts, you were aliens, you were heathen,
you were without God in the world, you were godless. But now through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're nigh. He has broken down
that middle wall of partition. And He's made of two, one. So making peace by the blood
of His cross. And then He came and He preached
peace to you. And because of that, you're no
more strangers, but now you're fellow citizens. Heirs of God,
join heirs with Christ. Ephesians 1 talks about being
accepted in the beloved. And because of that it says grace
and peace be to you. Because of this mediation of
the Lord Jesus Christ almost every single epistle in the New
Testament starts with grace and peace be unto you. All because
of the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace
be unto you. There is one God. There is one
holy God who we sinned against. And if we want reconciliation
with Him, it will only come through the mediating blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If we want to come to the Father,
it will only be through the Son, giving Him the glory for the
great things that He's done. One God and one mediator. Look
to Him. There's only one mediator. Look
to Him. All right, you come, Brother Eddie.