Just got, I think, a positive
report on Don Fortner. Duane said he heard something
at 6 o'clock that the bleeding has been caused by ulcers. And
if that's the case, that's very good news. Tomorrow, I'll be
leaving for California and I'll be preaching in Encumba, California.
And Tim James is going to be preaching here this Sunday. He
hadn't been here in several years. I know everybody will enjoy him.
Would you turn with me to Job chapter 15 for a moment? I want
to read two or three verses to introduce this message. Job, the 15th chapter. Verse 14, What is man that he should be clean? And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous? Behold, he, God, putteth no trust
in his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. How can I, a sinner, and my sin is most
real? When I read that passage of Scripture,
I didn't think, well, that's a morose view. I thought, that's
the truth. That's the truth. How can I,
a sinner, approach the living God who is holy and have him
actually embrace me. He who is of two pure eyes to
behold iniquity. And yet I am described as one
who is abominable and filthy and drink iniquity like water. How can this holy God have anything
to do with me? Do you find that a wondrous thought? How can I approach God and how
can he approach me? He's holy, I'm unholy. How can
a holy God have anything to do with me? Now, the answer to that
question is found in the mediator. The one mediator between God
and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Now, the word mediator means
a go-between. One who brings two contending
parties together. Now, it's my prayer that by the
end of this message, we will have a little bit more understanding
of the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is a
scriptural doctrine. I just read it. There's one God. He is who He is. And there is
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. I've entitled this message, The
Gold and Silver Mediator. And I think you'll understand
that title as we consider the passage of scripture we're going
to consider tonight. Now, would you turn to Exodus
chapter 26. Verse 36, And thou shalt make an hanging
for the door of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet and fine
twine linen wrought with needlework. And thou shalt make for the hanging
five pillars of chitim wood and overlay them with gold and their
hooks. shall be of gold, and thou shalt
cast five sockets of brass for them. Look in verse 16 of chapter 27,
and for the gate of the court shall be in hanging. This is
not the door into the tabernacle. This is the gate into the outer
court, the courtyard. For the gate of the court shall
be in hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and
fine twine linen wrought with needlework. And their pillars
shall be four and their sockets four. And the pillars round about
the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be
of silver and their sockets of brass. So we read of the door
that hung on gold hooks and the gate which hung on silver hooks. That's where I got the name for
this message, the gold and the silver mediator. Now there were four things that
the priest had to pass through for him to get into the tabernacle. Here he is standing on the outside
and you'll remember the tabernacle was a tent and there was a courtyard
And in order for the priest to get into the tabernacle itself,
where the presence of God was, the Shekinah glory of God, he
had to pass through four different things. First, he had to go through
the gate into the courtyard. This gate was a curtain. It wasn't
a gate as we think. It was a curtain. You would have
to move. And it was supported with hooks of silver. That's
what held it up. You got into the courtyard, and
the first thing you saw was a brazen altar. Now, once he got into
the courtyard, he had to offer a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice,
the death of a victim. the animal. And after he offered
the sacrifice, he would have to go before a brazen laver filled
with water, and he would wash himself. And after he washed
himself, he would go through this door, another curtain, and
it hung on gold hooks. And when he passed through that
door, he would be in the tabernacle itself, the Now, you will remember
that this tabernacle was made up of a room, a courtyard, 150
by 75 feet with a white fence around it. Four things he had to pass through.
This is so important for us to understand how it is that me
being on the outside, I can be brought on the inside. That's what this is teaching,
how me being on the outside can be brought on the inside. Four
passes through this gate, through the altar of sacrifice, through
washing, and through the door into the very presence of God. In this, we are given a beautiful
illustration of the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I see how that I, and like I said, my sin is most real. I don't know how else to say
that. My sin is most real. Yet, I see how I can be brought
into the very presence of God. And he embraced me through the
mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, first, let's talk about
this gate. The first thing you had to enter
into was a gate. Blue thread, which told of heavenliness. Purple thread, royalty. Starlet
thread, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. White thread, the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the person of Christ.
Now, this curtain was hung on hooks of silver, the silver that
came from the atonement money. Now, this is where all this silver
came from in this entire tabernacle. You know, you had tons of silver
that they'd have to drag around through the wilderness. I mean,
the foundations of silver and so on, and all the silver that
was in the tabernacle came from the atonement money that every
male Israelite had to pay. The rich didn't pay more. The
poor didn't pay less. They all paid the same, a half
a shekel of silver. It's the atonement money. The
silver represents the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The silver
represents He as a man, only a man can shed blood. So for me to get into Christ,
and this is what this gate is about, for Christ to come to
me, for me to get into the Lord Jesus Christ, I get in through
His humanity, through His shed blood. Now understand this about
a mediator. A mediator has to bring two contending
parties together. He's got to bring one party in,
that's me, and the only way he can bring me in is as a man,
he shed his precious blood and put away my sin. And the way
he brings me into God is through that other door, on the gold
hooks, he brings me into the very presence of God through
his deity. You see, His humanity brings
me into Him, it brings Him to me, and His deity brings me to
God. So I'm fit to come into the presence
of God. As a man through this gate, hung
on these silver hooks, which represents His atonement, His
blood, this is how I come. This is how I always come. I
never come any other way than this. I come through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having boldness to enter into
the holiest, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
how I'm brought in. I'm brought into Him, His humanity,
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the door of
the tabernacle, it was held up by gold. And this represents
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm brought into the very
presence of God and accepted by Him. You see, God can have
fellowship with God. God can accept God. God can be
pleased with God. That's the only one He can truly
be pleased with. Did you notice in that passage of Scripture
in Job, it says He doesn't even trust His saints? Now, in Christ,
I realize Christ is completely trustworthy, and in Christ I'm
trustworthy, but I don't trust myself. Why would God trust me?
I don't trust a thing about me. I really don't. Even my thoughts.
My thoughts. I know they're wrong thoughts.
I hold myself suspect. I mean, here's one guilty till
proven innocent. Guilty. That's the way we are.
That's the way the Lord is. So how can I come into God's
presence when I'm so sinful? It's only as Christ and His deity
brings me in. He's the door into the very presence
of God. The foundation of both of these,
the gate and the doors, brass, that's talking about the dual
nature of Christ, His humanity and His deity. The gate, His
humanity, His shed blood that brings me in. And the door, gold,
His deity that brings me into the very presence of God. The God-man can do this. Now,
what a mediator. As man, he brings me in. As God,
he brings me to God. And that's how I can approach
the living God through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what a door. You know, the
Lord said concerning Himself, I am what? The door. By me, if any man enter in, He
shall be saved. And I get such joy from thinking
about what our Lord actually said. Now, think about what He
said. By me, if any man enter in, he'll
be saved. He doesn't say beside me. If
any man enter in, he'll be saved. He doesn't say behind me. If
any man enter in, he'll be saved. He says, by me. If any man enter
in, he shall be saved. What that means is, is when the
Lord enters into the very presence of God, I do too. I enter by
Him. I'm united to Him. I'm united
to Him by His humanity. by His shed blood. It makes me
united to Him. I'm one with Him. So when He
enters into the Father's presence, He brings me with Him. And that's
how I enter in. And this is where my boldness
to enter in comes from. It's not even because I'm pleading
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because He Himself enters
into the very presence of God with me and thus I enter in. What a door the Lord Jesus Christ
is. And you think of a door. By me,
if any man in the arena, I come into the presence of God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. A door keeps people out. A door
keeps away my enemies. A door is a door of freedom and
liberty. Christ Jesus, the door and what
a door he is. Now, how does all this work?
How does this work as him being my mediator? How does that actually
bring me into the very presence of God? Well, that's seen in
the altar and the laver that you had to pass through. You
came into this door, you went to the altar, you went to the
laver, and then the door into the tabernacle. Now, what had
to take place? You come in and blood was shed. An animal was sacrificed at that
altar. And then after that sacrifice,
you would go to the labor and you would wash your hands. And
you could not be accepted if you didn't have both this blood
sacrifice and this water to wash you. And when you're brought
in with the blood sacrifice and water to wash you, you can enter
into the door and come into the tabernacle. Now, would you turn
with me to John chapter 19. The Old Testament sheds such
light on the New Testament. And the New Testament sheds such
light on the Old Testament. But look here in John chapter
19, verse 31. The Jews, therefore, because
it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the
cross on the Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day was an high day.
They besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that
they might be taken away, these three people hanging on a cross.
Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of
the other, which was crucified with him. But for some reason,
they didn't break the legs of the Lord. You know, the scripture
said a bone of him shall not be broken. And they didn't realize
that. They weren't looking up the scripture.
They said, well, we're not supposed to break his legs. No. What kept them
from doing it? The power of God, the providence
of God. He didn't let them break his
legs. But let's go on reading. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs, but
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side. Now, once again, he didn't know
that Psalm 22 said, they shall look upon me whom they pierced.
He didn't know the scriptural, you know, it's almost like these
guys had to have read the Bible and said, well, what do we do
next? Because that's the way it all happened. Everything that happened to the
Lord happened exactly as God said it would happen in the Old
Testament. Now, let's go on reading. And one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood
and water. Now evidently this spear pierced
up through the side of the Lord and hit the pericardium, is that
what it's called? The sack around the heart, the
pericardium. And it's supposed to have water
surrounding the heart. And so when that spear hit his
heart like that, blood and water came out. And I think something
supernatural was taking place. I don't think it was just trickling
out. I think blood gushed out, water gushed out. There was something
supernatural about this. But let's go on reading. Blood
and water. Remember, going into the tabernacle,
first there had to be blood. then there had to be water. And
this is exactly what took place on the cross. Now go on reading
verse 35, and he that saw it bare record, and his record is
true, and he knoweth what he saith is true, that you might
believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should
be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken.
And again, another scripture, they shall look on him whom they
have pierced. Now this blood and water, it
answers to the double problem that you and I have. Now we've
got a double problem, but what is it? Well, here's my first
problem. I'm guilty. I'm guilty before God's holy
law. I mean, that's settled. I am guilty. Guilty as charged. No excuses. I can't make up for
it. I have broken God's holy law. I'm guilty before God. I deserve
to be sent to hell. I deserve that. I'm guilty. That's
my first problem. Here's my second problem. I've
got a wicked heart that can't get any better. I can't make
it better. I can't improve it. I can't turn
it around. I've got a heart that I cannot
improve. I've got a double problem. My
guilt before God's law and my sinful nature. Very much like
a fellow who is on death row, guilty before the law. And he
also has a heart disease. And the only way he can be saved
is if he has a heart transplant. Now, let's consider this fellow. If he's on death row, what if
a heart donor was found for him? And we can have that transplant
in the next 24 hours, what good would that do him if the law
still says he's guilty and he's to be executed that day? It won't
do him good at all, will it? He's still going to die. What
good would it do this fellow if he was given a full pardon
and no longer guilty, taken off death row, but his heart was
still bad and there wasn't anybody to give him a new heart. He needed
a heart transplant. He's going to die anyway even
if he's pardoned. What this man needs is he needs
pardon and he needs a new heart. Now that is what the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ does. It gives me pardon and it cleanses,
it sanctifies my heart, it justifies me. And this is the blood of
Christ. It all came out of the cross.
This is so symbolic that blood and water both came out of Him. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
justifies me. You know what that means? Not
guilty. Here's my pardon. I'm not guilty. I have no sin before God because
of the blood of Christ. But not only does the death of
Christ justify me, water comes out, the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ sanctifies me. So you see, the cross does both.
It does both. You know, men look at, well,
the blood of Christ justifies you, but it's your works that
sanctify you. You need to do stuff to make yourself holy,
but that's not what the Scripture teaches. All salvation comes
from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, both justification and
sanctification. Now, let me back that up with
the Scripture. Turn to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, verse 9. Well, let's begin in verse 8. But God
commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us, much more than being now justified by His blood. Right now, every
believer is justified. I'm talking about my sin, it's
most real. As real as my sin is, just as
truly I am perfectly just before God. I'm justified. That's how
I'm brought in, to Him, through His blood, justified by His blood. Now turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10. Verse 9. Then said He, Lo, I
come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, the
first covenant of works, that He may establish the second,
by the which will, by the will of God, we are what? Sanctified. holy before God. That's what
that means, holy before God. We are sanctified. That's what
that washing represents. That's what that water represents.
We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Now turn to Revelation chapter
19, verse 8. I've brought this verse out several
times, but I don't know if I've ever brought this part of it
out. Revelation 19, verse 8, And to her, to the church, was
granted, graciously bestowed, that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. But do you know in the original,
that word is in the plural. This fine linen, clean and white,
is in the righteousnesses of the saints. Plural. The righteousnesses
of the saints. Now, what's that all about? Plural,
righteousnesses of the saints. I've heard people say, well,
this is talking about the righteous deeds of the saints, the good
works of the saints. Well, do you find your good works
to be fine linen, clean and white that God can accept by themselves?
I mean, is that the way you look at your works? I know that's
not what that's talking about, but here's what it is talking
about when it's talking about the righteousnesses of the saints. I have justification. That means I'm not guilty. I've
never done anything wrong. But I've also got sanctification. That means everything I've done
is right. I've got both a negative righteousness. I'm not guilty.
Nothing against me. That's what the blood of Christ
did. But not only am I not guilty, I've done everything right. That's His sanctifying work on
me. I'm sanctified once for all.
That means I'm holy. Everything about me, everything
I do, it's right before God. You see, this is great. This is salvation, the righteousnesses
of the saints. This is how I am brought in. This is how this mediator works
for me. In his humanity, he comes to
me. Only a man can do me any good.
And he comes to me and he sheds blood and justifies me. And as
God, He brings me into the very presence of God and I'm fit for
fellowship with God. How? Because I have righteousnesses. I've never done anything wrong
and I've only done that which is right. Now, the only way that
can be entered into is by faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you another scripture.
Turn to 1 John chapter 5. You know what I'm talking about
right now? Another way to say it would be
Christ is all in salvation. What I'm talking about right
now is what inspires a cleansed walk. In Psalm 130 verse 2, David said,
if thou, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who should stand,
but there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be forgiven. Now listen to me. You've got
a clean slate. And it's a clean slate that's
always going to be clean. And you're always welcomed into
the very presence of God through your Mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the go-between. He brings God to you. He brings
you to God. You're there. You're there. Now
look here in 1 John chapter 5, verse 5. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you believe that Jesus is
the Son of God, the uncreated, eternal Son of God? You know
what that means? Take it for what it says. It
means you've overcome the world. But what about, forget what about.
Eric, take it as it states. If you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, you've overcome the world. You remember that
Ethiopian eunuch, he said, what hinders me from being baptized?
And Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. And he was baptized. That's a
candidate for baptism. Somebody who believes that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Now, you believe he's the Son
of God, you'll also believe that he must be successful in whatever
he does. You'll believe that he must put
away sins if he died for them. You see, believing he's the son
of God is believing everything, isn't it? Let's go on reading.
This is he that came by water and blood. Even Jesus Christ,
not by water only, but by water and blood. You see, John witnessed
this. And it's the Spirit that bears
witness because the Spirit is truth. This is what he bears
witness to. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. There's the Trinity. And
these three are one. And there are three, here's the
earthly Trinity, there are three that bear witness in earth, the
Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three are one. Now here's the gospel. When Christ's
side was pierced, blood and water flowed from the cross. And His blood justified me. And His water sanctified me. I have righteousnesses. I have never done anything wrong
and I've always done that which is right. Now, what about what
you said at the first? Your sin is most real. It is. It is. But beloved, the blood and the
water is most real. And the blood and the water put
away my sin. And my mediator makes me fit. Fit. Meet for the inheritance
of the saints in light. Fit for fellowship with God. And I'm not One who is so abominable and
filthy and drinks iniquity like water. Not to God, I'm not. I'm perfectly holy. You see, the work of Christ,
it does something for us, justification. It does something in us. sanctification. And you can never separate the
two. If they're ever separated, neither one is preached. They
always go together. To enter into the very presence
of God, I come through Christ, the altar of His sacrifice, the
labor of His sanctifying work, which both come from the cross.
And I enter into the very presence of God. And there's no separation. What a glorious mediator. Now, do you have some more understanding
of what that verse of Scripture means? There's one God and one
mediator between God and men. the man, Christ Jesus. Let's pray together.