Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 45
I Timothy 2:3-7
You’ll notice that I do not promote any one group as I teach, but rather we just simply want to teach the Word and we let the Lord be our supplier. He’s the One that we have to be beholden to and so all we trust is that we can avoid error. But as far as humanly possible, we are going to search the Scriptures and bring out the truth. As we begin this lesson, turn to I Timothy chapter 2 verse 5. This is the verse that we were working on in the last lesson.
I Timothy 2:5
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
We were showing in the last lesson, how God the Son became flesh, became the visible image of the invisible God. And as such, went the way of the cross, purchased our redemption, rose from the dead, and ascended back to the Father’s right hand. In order to give another perspective, we were just ready to look at I John chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 in the last lesson when time ran out. The terminology is slightly different but it’s still the same setting. John writes:
I John 2:1
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if (it’s conditional) any man sin, (we know we will) we have an advocate (like I said that’s a different term than mediator but nevertheless it fulfills the same role.) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
Where is He? At the Father’s right hand interceding for us. Now come back with me to Galatians chapter 3 verse 19, which is the only other place that Paul uses the word mediatorother than in I Timothy. He does use it in the Book of Hebrews, but that’s a little bit different setting than what Paul writes to us in the Church Age.
Galatians 3:19a
“Wherefore then serveth the law?…”
The Law was added because of transgressions, and you have to know your Bible. All the way from Adam at about 4000 BC, up until Moses, there was no written Word of God, there was no Law. At that time right and wrong was based on men’s conscience. So with the Law at 1500 BC and Adam at 4000 BC that tells us that there was 2,500 years that the human race did not have any written Word of God.
That is why Paul uses the term then that the Law was added 2,500 years later. It was added because of the transgressions. In other words, mankind was just going deeper and deeper into sin, and that’s why God had to destroy them at the Flood. But, even after the Flood it came out the same way. They just went deeper and deeper – so that’s when He called out the little nation of Israel through the man Abraham. To the nation of Israel He gave the Law, so there was no doubt about what was right and wrong.
Galatians 3:19b
“It (the Law) was added (because of their sinful lifestyle and it was going to be enforced) because of transgressions, till the seed (speaking of Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”
Now, who was the mediator at that time? Moses was! Moses was the one who stood between Israel and God. So, he was the mediator between those two parties. The picture is that now it isn’t Moses who is our mediator, it’s Christ Himself! The One who satisfied all the demands of the Law, the One Who finished the work of redemption and so now He is fully capable to sit at the Father’s right hand as our mediator.
Isn’t that a comfort? We know that even as John places it in his little letter, if we sin, we have Jesus Christ the Righteous One as our advocate. Or today we would say, He’s our attorney. He’s pleading our case constantly. He is also the mediator between God and man when it comes to this whole idea of prayer. Here again, in Hebrews it tells us:
Hebrews 4:16a
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,…”
This is all on this same scenario of Jesus Christ the Righteous One, Who is our advocate, Who is our mediator and as such then, we can go right into the presence of God! Day or night! Doesn’t matter when or where we are. We don’t have to be in our prayer closet. You can be driving down the road and you can lift your heart in prayer. You can wake up in the middle of the night and flat on your back, you can pray. You don’t have to be in a particular position or anything like that. And, here it is verse 14 of Hebrews 4.
Hebrews 4:14-16
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, (see how plain this is? Since that is the case) let us hold fast our profession. (our faith.) 15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted (or tested) like as we are yet (whereas we fail, He did not. He was) without sin. 16. Let us therefore come (what’s the word? Boldly! We don’t have to shrink. We don’t have to think, Oh, I am coming into the presence of a Holy God. No, we are now on that plane as a redeemed, blood bought individual that we can come) boldly unto the throne of grace, (into Heaven itself) that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
My what a promise!! We don’t have to be worthy. We don’t have to find someone who can plead our case. We have Him! He’s our mediator. He’s our advocate, and He’s ready and He is willing because of His mercy! When it comes to His mercy, we have to go back to Exodus chapter 33. It has been a long time since we have used these verses. I don’t think I have used them since we taught Romans chapter 11.
This is just shortly after Israel had made the golden calf. And, if ever there was a reason for God to destroy the nation of Israel it was then and there. God could have destroyed the Nation in an instant. Why didn’t He? Here’s the reason.
Exodus 33:18-19
And he (Moses) said, I beseech thee, shew me they glory. 19. And he (the Lord) said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and (now here it comes) will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”
How could God say something like that? Because He is sovereign! He doesn’t have to make an excuse for doing anything. He can do whatever He wants. If He determines He wants to pour out Mercy and Grace He can do it! And that’s where we are. It’s because of His sovereign Grace that we can come into the throne room boldly in any time of need.
We don’t have to go through anybody else, because He is there constantly. Another verse I have to use that shows His worthiness is Revelation 5 verse 9, which is a whole different setting. Here we have the Lord, ready to take the scroll, in this case which is the mortgage on the planet. He is ready to pour out the Tribulation wrath of God and all I want you to see is what makes Christ worthy of everything that He does.
Revelation 5:9
“And they sung a new song, (Look what they sang in their singing.) saying, Thou (speaking of Christ) art (what’s the next word? Worthy!) worthy to take the book, and to open the seals (that is to pour out the judgements of the Tribulation that would be coming from it) thereof: (Now here’s why He was worthy) for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation:”
See, it wasn’t that He did it for any one group of people. This is no longer just for Israel. But He went to the cross and shed His blood and rose from the dead to redeem the whole human race! That’s what we have been seeing for the last two or three lessons now, that when He finished the work of the cross, the price of redemption was paid for every human being. None excluded! They can all come in the same way, by faith plus nothing! Yet the vast majority of the world walks it under foot.
Come back to I Timothy chapter 2 and the very next verse is just about as loaded as the last, it’s the same concept. What did Christ accomplish with His death, burial and resurrection? Here verse 6 tells us.. Not only is He the mediator between us and God, not only is He the One Who advocates on our behalf, but now there is another idea. He gave Himself a ransom.
I Timothy 2:6
“Who gave himself a ransom for all, (not for a few, but for all) to be testified in due time.” Think about that for a minute. It has been a long time since we have had a famous kidnapping episode like the Lindbergh’s, which I remember from when I was a little kid. But you all remember the Lindbergh experience and how that a kidnapper will hold a child for ransom. Pay the money and you can have the child.
Well, the Word means the same thing here. Christ paid the ransom! Not just for one child but for every human being that has ever lived. And what was the price? It’s beyond human comprehension. The ransom that Christ paid with His death, burial and resurrection is beyond human understanding. But He paid it with His shed blood. Come on over to the right again to I Peter’s little epistle, chapter 1 and verse 18-19, and here we find the price that He paid.
I Peter 1: 18
“Forasmuch (Peter writes) as ye know that ye were not redeemed (by a ransomed price) with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” Now Peter is writing primarily to Jewish people. So, he is referring to their heritage as the nation of Israel under the law. Now verse 19. This was the ransomed price.
I Peter 1:19-20a
” But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20. Who verily was foreordained (that should take you back to that verse in Acts chapter 2. That it was foreordained before anything was ever created, that Christ would go to the Cross.) before the foundation of the world.”
So now come back to I Timothy again. Maybe we can make another verse or two before this lesson is over. Christ paid the ransom, not just for the few but for the whole human race. And, if I don’t get anything more across this lesson than that, I will have accomplished something. That He didn’t just pay redemption for a few, but rather He paid it for the whole human race. When you see the mass of humanity walking it under foot, chasing other gods and other religions with no concern whatsoever, what a travesty to think that He has paid for every one of us, and yet they pay no mind.
I Timothy 2:7
“Whereunto (In other words, the fact that Christ had paid the ransom. The fact that Christ is our mediator between God and men.) I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith (truth) and verity.”
I have mentioned this on the program more than once that a lot of people don’t even give Paul the time of day. They will not even look at his letters. They will quote everything from the Old Testament sometimes it’s just sheets of paper with references trying to disagree with me. And all they quote is the Old Testament and the Gospels and the early Acts and Revelation. They absolutely will not touch the letters of Paul. When I see that, if they hear this on the program, I don’t care. They go in the waste basket. Because if they are not going to pay heed to what Paul has written, they are out in left field anyway. Why should I waste my time.
But see, Paul is the Apostle of the Gentiles. (Romans 11:13) He is the vehicle through which you and I have received these doctrines of Grace! (Ephesians 3:2). Just to make it real plain and simple again, we are going back to the Book of Acts. Chapter 9 verse 15. You want to remember that for the first eight chapters it is all Israel. Peter and the eleven and then finally Stephen appealing to the nation of Israel to repent of the fact that they had crucified their promised Messiah. But, they would not.
I always call the stoning of Stephen in Acts chapter 7 as the epitome or the crescendo of Israel’s rejection. They literally screamed at Stephen as they were stoning him. We will NOT have Jesus of Nazareth over us. Well, then in chapter 8 you find that Peter again is still in the limelight and then when you get to chapter 9, we are introduced to the next character on the stage of history, biblically speaking, Saul of Tarsus.
Saul, as you well remember, was on his way to Damascus to arrest Jewish believers who accepted that Jesus was the Christ. And the Lord struck him down outside the city and while he is picking up the pieces and fumbling in his blindness and coming back into the city of Damascus, God leaps ahead into the city and approaches another Jew by the name of Ananias. The Lord is now speaking to Ananias in the city of Damascus concerning this Saul of Tarsus. Ananias had more or less been arguing with the Lord saying, “Now wait a minute! I don’t want anything to do with this Saul of Tarsus. I’ve heard of all that he has been doing to the believers and that’s why he’s here.” But, now look what the Lord says in verse 15.
Acts 9:15a
“But the Lord said unto him (Ananias), Go thy way; for he (Saul of Tarsus) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the (what?) Gentiles,…” This has never been whispered before that God was going to save Gentiles. Never!
Remember the Lord in His earthly ministry in Matthew 10:5, told the twelve, go NOT into the way of the Gentiles or into the house of Samaritans. But, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And God could not go to the Gentiles until Israel had full opportunity of bringing Him in as their King. But they would not. So after almost seven years of appealing to the nation of Israel to repent of having crucified their Messiah, and they will not, God now does something totally different. He reaches down outside a Gentile city, not inside the land of Israel but on Gentile ground and he saves this renegade, this religious zealot who was trying to stamp out the name of Jesus from the Jewish nation. To that man now, the Lord is going to turn and He has promised him that he’s going to suffer for His Name’s sake.
Paul makes such a clear definition of all of this in the little Book of Galatians – how that he is to become the apostle and the teacher of the Gentiles, and that’s what we’re trying to show that it wasn’t just a statement of braggadocio. He’s not claiming something that wasn’t true, but indeed, he IS the chosen vessel by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to now go to those hated, wicked, pagan Gentiles. Here Paul lays it out so clearly what took place.
Galatians 1:11-12
“But I certify (guarantee) you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but (where did he get it?) by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
I am always pointing out when I teach Paul’s apostleship, remember that everything in the four gospel accounts was Christ before the Cross. Except, of course, for the account of the crucifixion. But, the whole three years of His earthly ministry are only to the nation of Israel under the Law before His death, burial and resurrection. It’s at least seven years after the cross that this man gets all of his revelations from the ascended Lord, Who is now up there at the right hand of the Father. And so, this is what he says. I got it by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Then in verse 15:
Galatians 1:15-16
“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, (unmerited favor) 16. To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him (where? Among the heathen. Among the Gentiles.) among the heathen; (So he said) immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:” What does that tell you? He didn’t run back down to Jerusalem and ask the twelve to fill him in. But, instead he went the other direction into Arabia whereupon we feel he received a goodly portion of these new revelations, that nothing else in Scripture had ever revealed. And, what was it? That when Christ died, shed His blood and rose from the dead, He now could pour out saving Grace. Not just to Israel, but to the whole human race!
When Christ died, He died for ALL. When He rose in resurrection power, He defeated everything that was against us, and He became our mediator. He became our advocate. He became our Lord, our Master. As we have seen just a moment ago, it was all because of what He accomplished in that death, burial and resurrection.