One God, One Mediator

1 Timothy, chapter 2, and I'll read the first seven verses. I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time.

And for this purpose, I was appointed an herald and an apostle. Also, I am telling the truth. I am not lying. And a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

You all know that in the world in which we live, there are many different types of people. You see them every day.

There are young people and old people. There are men and women and boys and girls. There are infants and elderly. There are black and white and red and yellow people.

There are rich and poor. There are conservative and liberal people. Healthy and sick. Employed and unemployed. Leaders and followers.

Happy people and sad people. And we could go on and on with the many kinds of people that live in the world. And you also know that for the many kinds of people that live in the world, there is a wealth of variety answering to their different wants and needs and situations.

There are different kinds of cars for people of different income levels or different transportation needs or different personalities even. There are different jobs for people with different skills and different callings.

There are different clothes for people of different sizes and style preferences. There are different political parties for people of different ideologies. There are different housing options for different places in your life or levels of income.

Different foods for different tastes. Different computers, depending on how smart or not you are. There is variety for all of the different people.

But some things are universal for all people. Everyone needs the sun for life and light. If we didn't have the sun, we wouldn't have life.

But there is only one sun for all of the people on the earth. There are not many suns. There's not some suns for people over in China and some suns for us over here and not some big suns and some little suns.

There's only one. And it's for all the people. And so, says Paul, it is with God. There is not one God for the rich and one for the poor. There is not one God for people who are conservative and one for those who are liberal.

There is not even one God for people who are from Vietnam or people who are from the United States. And you can find those people in one marriage. We've received them into our membership tonight.

Together with another wealth of different people. We could go around and talk about our different backgrounds and how different we are. And we all serve and worship the same God.

Because there is only one God. There are not designer gods like there are designer clothes and cars to fit our particular wants and needs. Well, what God is to me, even as we heard about this morning.

No, there is one God. And, Paul says, God says, there is one mediator between this one God and all kinds of men. And so, as Paul has encouraged Timothy and the Ephesians to pray for all kinds of men so that they might live peaceful lives, so that they might pursue lives of godliness and respectability, he's reminded them that God wants all sorts of men to be saved.

He now reminds them how they can be saved. There is one God who saves through the one mediator, Christ Jesus. The one way that all kinds of men can be saved is by being made right with the one God.

Not one God for Jews. Not one for Gentiles over here. One God. And one mediator. And so, very simply tonight, we want to proclaim the one God and the one mediator between God and men.

Three things tonight. And first of all, is the fact that God has a message for you tonight. God has a message for you tonight. We're going to look at verses 5-7.

And the last verse, as Paul wraps up this portion, he says, And for this purpose, I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I'm telling the truth, I'm not lying, and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

Having stated that there's one God and one mediator, Christ, who is the testimony given in his own time, Paul says, Unto this, Christ, I'm a witness of him.

God appointed me to be a proclaimer of the truth. God is so concerned that all sorts of men, in all sorts of places, from all sorts of backgrounds, learn about the one God and the one mediator, that he appoints particular people in particular places to proclaim his very particular message of salvation by grace through faith in Christ.

Here it was the apostle Paul. God had appointed him to be a messenger to the Ephesians. Now, this letter is through Timothy.

But God had appointed him to this task. And God hasn't left us without a witness either. Well, let's start with Paul.

He uses some strong language here. He says, I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying. It's likely that, remember, there's false teachers in Ephesus. There's bad guys and they're teaching things that are different than what Paul taught.

And to do that, they're going to have to convince the Ephesians that Paul was wrong. And they're going to have to tell him that Paul really wasn't a messenger from God. And so you really shouldn't listen to what he said.

You should listen to us. And so when Paul gets around to talking about his apostleship, his being a proclaimer of what God says, he says, I'm telling you the truth. I'm not lying. Now, I've heard a lot in the last six months or so.

And I've talked to our young people about this. I hear young people say all the time, I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm going to tell you the truth.

I'm not going to lie. And I hear it so often that it begins to trivialize the truth. And you wonder if when they're not saying that, if they're telling the truth. Or if they're just trying to make a point like Paul is, they're not letting their yes be yes and their yes be no.

And there's a certain, I guess, something we can admire about that. They're wanting to tell the truth. And that is good. But you notice that Paul doesn't say that very often in this letter. He says, I'm not going to lie, Timothy.

Grace, mercy, and peace. I'm not going to lie to you. Here's a trustworthy saying. I'm not going to lie to you. The Spirit clearly says that in later times. No, he just says it once. One time when he really wants to emphasize it.

And so it's not trivialized. It's not made cheap. And you'll find that Paul says this a few other places. And it's often when his apostleship is under attack. When there's something particular that's under attack, like his apostleship.

I'm not lying. God is my witness. I'm telling the truth. And it's important not because Paul didn't care what people thought about him, but because it was God's message at stake.

It was the truth. That there's one God and one mediator. He says, I'm not lying to you people. I'm the messenger that God has appointed to proclaim the truth to you. And so don't be misled by these other people.

Remember, this is for Timothy. Timothy, don't you be mistaken. And don't be afraid to stand up to these false teachers. I have told you the truth. And you must receive it as the truth.

But these messengers, these heralds, are appointed by God. A herald was someone who announced things publicly. Today's equivalent outside the church might be a public address announcer at a basketball game.

Now the starting lineup. You are Bremen Lions. I wouldn't be a very good public address announcer. But anyway, that's the idea. It was a crier, a herald, someone who would go out and announce something so that all could hear.

Well, in the church, a proclaimer was somebody that did that so all could hear. But their message wasn't about the latest battle or the latest contest, the latest basketball game for us.

Their message was the gospel. God appoints people to proclaim that truth. Paul says to the Corinthians, we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.

And God doesn't leave it up to whoever wants to do it. He picks His men. He chooses them. This one will be my messenger. This one will be my herald. This one, in the case of Paul and the others, would be my apostles even.

Now, we don't have apostles today, but we still have heralds. We still have proclaimers. We call them pastors. Preachers. Those that preach the truth of God's Word.

And so when I tell you that God has a message for you tonight, it's because God has appointed people to proclaim that message. Back here it was Paul, but now. And I hope this doesn't sound arrogant to you, but God has a message for you, and tonight He's appointed me to bring you that message.

He's appointed Pastor John and Pastor Bob in this church to proclaim the truth. Now, it's the church today that recognizes God's appointed leaders and then puts them into those positions of leadership.

But God has a message for you tonight, and the evidence of it is that He's given this church pastors, and He's given them the truth to proclaim. Now, Paul's particular role was to proclaim that truth to the Gentiles.

A teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. And that was Paul's special role. And we could take all night to look at the book of Acts and the rest of Paul's letters to see how it was his job in particular to go not just to the people of Israel, but outside the nation of Israel.

One of the first ones in a large way to take the Gospel outside of the Jews and to take it to the Gentiles. That was his task, his particular job.

And that makes sense with the theme of God wanting all kinds of men to come to Himself. You see it? He says, God wants all men to come to a knowledge of the truth. He wants all men to be saved. And here is evidence of it.

He's given Paul to go not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. It's not just the old covenant people of God. It's all men that are to hear the truth now. And God provides men to go and proclaim it.

And that's true today as well. The message isn't to be kept to ourselves. It's to be proclaimed everywhere in every language, in every part of the earth. That's why we're still about the business of doing missions, foreign missions, because there are still places where people have not heard the truth.

There are still places where the Gospel has not gone out. And if God wants all men to be saved, and He does, then that means He's still appointing people. People to go to China, and to Argentina, and to Spain, and to England, and to Kenya, and Switzerland, and Mexico, and Colombia, and Turkey, and India, and everywhere in between.

God is still appointing people to go and to proclaim the truth. And we must be about the business of supporting them, sending them, praying for them, that the truth might be known all over the world.

And Paul's role then was to be a teacher of faith and truth. The NIV here says true faith. It's two separate things. It's in faith.

He was a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. That's how every herald must teach. What a good reminder for young Timothy. He knew Paul's role, but being reminded of it would remind him of his own role.

He was to proclaim and teach. It would involve evangelism and exhortation and instruction. And even though there's opponents in the church, Timothy, you must not back down. You must proclaim the truth and faith.

He too was God's appointed messenger. The truth that Paul had been faithful to proclaim, Timothy must as well. Believing that God will bless His Word.

Not watering it down so as to avoid conflict with these false teachers. Not falling into line with them to avoid the conflict. No. Preaching and believing. Proclaiming the truth. To preach something less than the truth would have been to distort God's Word.

To not preach God's words at all. So it was for Paul and Timothy and so it is for preachers today. They must teach in faith and in truth. It's true for a pastor of an established congregation.

It's true for a church planner. It's true for a missionary blazing a trail where no one has ever gone before. They must teach in faith and in truth. And it's true for the individual Christian in their everyday life.

It must teach with faith. Can you imagine a church where the pastor got up every Lord's Day and he preached but he didn't really think it was going to do any good. He didn't believe that God's Word was powerful.

He didn't believe that Christ is able to come and save sinners. That the Holy Spirit could come and work and darden. Can you imagine a preacher that preaches without faith? What kind of church would that be? It wouldn't be a healthy church, would it?

Somebody that doesn't believe that God is able to work. That He's able to build the church up and cause the people to go in grace. Somebody that doesn't believe that their efforts at evangelism will be blessed by God.

Who doesn't believe that God has ordained the means of the preaching of the Word. That church is going to crumble or they're going to start to turn away from the preaching of the Word. And look for other things.

Gimmicks and drama and excitement. Something different. The lack of faith in ministry will be the death of that ministry. It would be the same on the mission field.

How discouraging it must be to go for weeks and months and years without fruit from the God-ordained means of preaching the Word. What a temptation to abandon that Word or that method.

Seven years William Carey went without a convert in India. But he had faith. And he continued. He pressed on. And great work was done there by God through him.

And so it is in our lives. Not everyone is called to be a proclaimer of the truth, a preacher of the Gospel. But we all are called to be light and to bear witness to the glory of God in the Gospel to all those around us.

And faith will be crucial for that. Faith will be crucial for your efforts to build up your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you don't believe that God will use you, then you won't do anything.

You must have faith if you would be a witness for Christ. If you would be a faithful brother or sister in Christ. And we must have the truth. We can believe with all of our heart that God's going to bless our ministry, but if we don't proclaim His words and instead replace it with our so-called wisdom and our ideas and our thoughts, then we will fail.

False teaching will destroy an established church. It will keep a mission work from being established. It will mar your personal witness in the world. It will keep you from being a blessing to a brother.

Can you imagine yourself coming alongside a brother or sister in Christ and you've got faith that you can help them and they're living in sin and you come alongside them and you say, you know what? It's okay.

Everybody struggles with sin. Don't worry about it. Just continue on in it. Well, you've got faith, but you don't have the truth. It's not okay. And so you must have faith and truth.

Here, it's applied to the minister, but you can apply it in your own lives as well. And so, God has a message for us tonight. He hasn't left us without a witness.

He's given us someone to proclaim the truth for it. And so, what is that truth then? What is the truth that's so crucial that we hear? Two things. There is one God, and then we'll see that there is one mediator.

There is one God. I ask almost any child here, I think, are there more gods than one? And they will give a particular answer.

Is there any child that's willing to raise their hand and tell me the answer to are there more gods than one? Anybody? Paul? No? And the rest of it?

Anybody? Okay, maybe I was wrong. There is only one God. No is the right answer. Are there more gods than one? No.

There is only one God. Only one. Sometimes, Trinitarian Orthodox Christians like us are accused of worshiping three gods, but it's not so.

There's one God existing in three persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And isn't this the testimony of the Scriptures that there is one God? Perhaps the most famous claim to monotheism is what's known as the Shema.

And Shema is just the Hebrew word for hear. It's Deuteronomy 6.4. Shema Yisrael Yahweh Eloheinu Yahweh Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one.

Other places in the law, Deuteronomy 4.39, acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

Or the psalmist, for you are great and do marvelous deeds. You alone are God. Psalm 86.10. Or from the mouth of God Himself through the prophets, this is what the Lord says.

Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty, I am the first and I am the last. Apart from Me, there is no God. Isaiah 44.6. Jesus quotes the Shema in Mark 12.29.

Paul has said it already to the Ephesians in Ephesians 4. For there is one body and one spirit and so on. One God and Father of us all. Who is over all and through all and in all.

And what a contrast to the pluralistic society we live in. If anyone tells you that there is more than one God, they are lying. And if anyone tells you that the so-called God of Islam, Allah, is the same God that we worship as Christians, they are lying to you.

We simply cannot hold hands with Muslims and Buddhists and New Agers and Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and Hindus and others and either pretend one like we all worship the same God or that it's okay that we all worship different gods.

No. It doesn't work that way because there is only one God and they are not worshiping that one true and living God. They're worshiping false gods which are no gods at all.

Don't be deceived that all religions are just different ways to the same God. There's only one God that God revealed to us in Scripture and anything less is an imposter.

But not just monotheism is in view here. There's unity here in view between Jew and Gentile and all other people in the world. What a blessed thing this is.

And it was a needed thing in the church early on as the Jews tried to grapple with the inclusion of the Gentiles. How could somebody besides God's chosen people be God's chosen people?

How could these Gentiles be part of the kingdom of God? And as the Gentiles had to deal with these Jews and their exclusivist tendencies, what this church needed was to know that there was one God.

It wasn't a God for the Jews over here and Gentiles over here. One God. And it was to these same Ephesians that Paul had written about Christ bringing the Gentiles near the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile having been abolished, having been broken down.

Or as he said to the Romans in chapter 3, verse 29 and 30, is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes. Of Gentiles too.

Since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. And that principle is extended beyond Jew and Gentile.

Well, we're all Gentiles, but to all sorts of people. Remember, God wants all sorts of people to be saved. He's the God of all men. And so, for salvation, all must come to Him.

And all in the one mediator are in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3.28 Now, we could spend all night, all week, all month, learning about what this one God is like.

But thankfully, we're doing that on Sunday mornings. And so, remember everything that you've heard and take everything that we're going to hear in the rest of the series on the attributes of God and bring it to this one God.

That's who we're talking about. And what we learned this morning about that one God is that He is a God of wrath. And that will help us to understand the significance of the second thing Paul has to say to us.

There's one God, but there's also one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus. The witness given in His own time. You need the one mediator.

God has a message for you tonight. There is one God. And thirdly, and lastly tonight, you need the one mediator. You must have the one mediator.

Now just as many would claim there are more gods than one, others claim that though there may be one God, we're all worshiping the same God, there are many ways to this one God. You get to God through Jesus, that's fine.

I get to Him through Muhammad. You get to Him through transcendental meditation. But the words of Paul here and the testimony of the rest of Scripture contradict this.

Jesus' claim is an exclusive one. You could all quote with me John 14.6, I'm the way and the truth and the life.

No one. You get that? No one. Not some people. Some people over here. No one comes to the Father except through me.

That's pretty exclusive. There's only one mediator. You hear that language? No one comes to the Father except through me. That's the language of a mediator. Or the words of Peter in Acts 4 in verse 12, speaking of Jesus, salvation is found in no one else.

For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. There is one mediator. The way to get to the one God is through the one mediator. There are not many gods. There is not one God with many ways to get to Him.

There is one God and one mediator between that one God and man. Why a mediator? Why do we need a mediator?

What does a mediator do? A mediator goes between two parties between whom there is some offense. Maybe some of you parents use your children as mediators when you're not talking to each other.

It's not a recommended practice but I'm saying that's how it is sometimes. You go tell your mother that I will fix the dripping faucet but she's going to have to wait until I get our taxes done.

How noble, how upright. He's doing something good or I'm doing something good for the family and her need to have the dripping faucet fixed can just wait and I'm sick of talking to her about it so I'm going to send a mediator.

I'm going to send my son. You go tell your mom. If she wants it fixed she's going to have to wait. And then the mediator comes back with a message from mom. You go tell your father that if I didn't know he was working so hard on the taxes so that with that tax return check he could get a big screen TV I might be a little bit more patient about waiting for my dripping faucet.

There's some outstanding offense here. The faucet is in disrepair and there's disagreement over how urgent the matter is. And so the parents have unwisely I think chosen their child as the go-between.

Now this is a pretty poor example because there's sin on both parts. Mother and father. Yes, ladies. Mom too. Both of them were in the wrong.

And the child isn't a perfect mediator. At least my children aren't. Boy, they can really get a message twisted. But with God there's no sin on His part.

The sin is on our part. We've sinned and we're unable to approach a holy God. We have no standing before Him of our own.

If we were to come into His courtroom we would be pronounced guilty and sentenced to face His wrath for all eternity. And that's our problem.

That's the outstanding offense. There's a reason we can't come to each other. Because we're sinned. And our example, Mom and Dad aren't coming because they both sinned here.

It's because we've sinned and we can't come to a holy God. We can't come into His presence. And here's the evidence that God really does want all men to be saved.

He doesn't just leave us with a problem that's impossible for us to solve which He could have done. We've said, you know what, you sinned, it's your problem, you fix it.

Which we of course cannot do. But here's the evidence that God wants men to be saved. He didn't leave us with that problem on our own. He sent us a mediator. And a mediator that's a whole lot better than our children.

This mediator can get the message confused. He Himself was sinless. This mediator is the man Christ Jesus. For this reason, Hebrews 9.15, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Praise God tonight, dear people. Praise God that there's a mediator to go between us and God. A mediator to remove our offense before the righteous, just, wrathful judge that we've been learning about in our morning services.

If there was no mediator, dear people, there would be no hope, no people of God. No chance for that relationship to be made right.

No hope for us. In the old covenant, the mediators were the priests. They would stand in the gap between God with the people's best interest in their charge. And to prevent God's wrath from coming on the people, they would offer sacrifices first for themselves and then for the rest of the people.

But now there's a new and better covenant. There's a new and better mediator of the covenant. The man Christ Jesus. And really the only possible mediator, isn't he?

Because he is the God-man. He can go between God and men. Fully God and fully man. Hebrews 2.17 For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

You see, Jesus was different from those old covenant priests. He didn't offer a sacrifice for himself first and then for the people. He was already perfect. Already blameless.

Already spotless. And so he offered himself. He was the sacrifice. Hebrews 9.14 How much more then will the blood of Christ, better than the blood of bulls and goats, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God.

Jesus was the ransom, the price paid for sinners. A ransom for all. As being ransomed for all demonstrates God's desire again for all kinds of men to be saved.

And the word ransom there, it's substitute ransom. A ransom was the price paid to free a captive. And Jesus didn't just pay the price. He was the price.

His life for our life. He died in our place. He took the punishment we deserved. If you want to get the whole picture, go read the book of Hebrews. The whole thing.

We've cited just a few verses here tonight, but that will fill out the picture. Or listen to Jesus' own words. Matthew 20.28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

You see it, the penalty of our sin is death. We deserve the wrath of God. And Jesus paid that penalty.

He suffered that death. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5.21 He gave Himself as a ransom so that we would not have to suffer for eternity.

He gave Himself as a ransom so that we might be forgiven. So that we might be able to stand before God righteous in His sight. He gave Himself for us that we might be His brothers.

He gave Himself that we might be saved. It's the reason we're here tonight. It's the reason we have hope. It's the reason we have life. It's the reason we have breath in our lungs to praise our God and to sing His glory.

even as we've done. It's the reason that we can sing Rejoice! Rejoice, ye pure in heart. If there was no mediator, if there was no sacrifice, if Jesus had not offered Himself as the ransom for all, we would have nothing to rejoice in.

And so, if you are trusting in Christ tonight, if He is your mediator, praise God. Thank Him. Worship Him. Honor Him. Because without Him, you would pay the price for your sin.

The wrath that we heard of. And something else to note. The substitute ransom, Jesus, offering Himself in our place is not something for us simply to rejoice in and continue on our merry way.

Great! I have a substitute. My sins are forgiven and I'm right with God. And then we go on living our life as we always have, sinning and not caring about it. No. Several times, after the Scriptures talk about Jesus offering Himself, they talk about us and the way we ought then to live.

We read Hebrews 9.14. He offered Himself to cleanse us and so on so that we may serve the living God. Or Titus 2.13-14.

Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own eager to do what is good.

Now many of us here tonight claim that Jesus is our mediator. We trust His sacrifice of Himself as our atonement for sin. When we stand before God, Jesus will be our only plea.

We'll say, I've got nothing in and of myself. And we rejoice that there's a mediator so that we can be right with God and not face punishment. But how many of us remember on a daily basis that Jesus gave Himself for us so that we might give ourselves for Him?

So that we might serve Him? So that we might be pure and eager to do what is good? But brothers and sisters, whenever you're reminded of Christ's sacrifice, Him giving Himself for you, do you also think about how you can honor Him with a holy life?

When you're reminded afresh of sin forgiven, are you reminded to go and fight against that sin? When you come to the Lord's table as we plan to do next Lord's Day evening, do you just remember the sacrifice or does it motivate you to go and live as your Savior did?

You're tempted to lose your temper. You say, Christ has offered Himself for me. How then can I not offer myself for Him? And by God's grace, control my temper.

Or you pick your sin that you struggle with. When temptation comes, think on the sacrifice of Christ and how He gave Himself for you. How then you ought to be eager to do what is good to serve Him.

How He died so that you might be purified, not corrupted by sin any longer. And so may the mediating work of Christ, the ransom of Himself for us, move us to praise and cause us to strive for holiness.

The coming of Jesus, the offering of Himself, was a testimony in His own time. Who gave Himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time or in His own time.

A testimony that is still born today. This is still His time. From His first coming to His second coming is the time the testimony is witnessed to. And His ransom stands as an evidence, a testimony, a witness for all that God does indeed desire the salvation of all sorts of men.

His life is the witness to God's heart and desire. He came and accomplished that salvation that God planned. Not just of Jews, but of Gentiles as well.

And as we noted at the beginning, it's now the task of preachers, heralds, to proclaim that good news to all men without discrimination. So that that witness will still be heard. If we close our mouths and hide our Bibles and don't tell anyone, the testimony of Christ will be snuffed.

It will be hidden. We're to proclaim it so that it's known to the ends of the earth. Christ Jesus, who is the testimony in His own time, His proper time. So may God make us more bold to proclaim His truth, to love His truth, and to let others know about it.

And so I ask you tonight, I've told you that you need the one mediator. Do you know this mediator? As you stand before God tonight, does Jesus stand between you?

Between you and God? And say, I've taken the wrath for this one. This one can't be punished. This one is righteous. Or as you stand before God tonight, is Jesus not in between you and God?

There's no mediator there. No one to shield you from the wrath of God. No substitute for you. Is He your mediator? Have you trusted in Him? There's only one way to flee the wrath to come, and that is by fleeing to the one mediator, Jesus Christ.

Come and trust in Him tonight. Ask God to save you, to forgive you, because of what Jesus has done. May God be merciful to me, the sinner for Jesus' sake.

And then you too can have Jesus stand between you and God as the mediator, the one who has taken that wrath in your place. There is no other answer to your problem. There is no way you can make it right.

You can't fix your sin problem. Only Jesus can. And so praise God that He's provided a mediator and come and trust in Him tonight. This is a glorious message.

It rings true wherever it's proclaimed. We don't need many Gospels for many kinds of people. We don't need to alter the truth to make it more attractive to this day and age.

We don't need one kind of God over here and another kind of God over there. For all kinds of people in all kinds of places, there is one God and one mediator.

Isn't that what we sang earlier? From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, through gates of pearl, stream in the countless host. All sorts of people saved by grace, trusting in the one mediator.

And what do they sing? Singing to Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Alleluia. Alleluia. Praise the Lord. May we be faithful to proclaim our God and truth and may we hope and trust only in the one mediator, the man, Christ Jesus.

Let's pray. Thou art worthy, Lamb of God. We come before you tonight and give you thanks that you are the one mediator between God and man.

Our Father, our God, we give you thanks that you did not leave us in our sin but that you did send your Son to be our mediator, to offer Himself in our place.

We thank you that you've saved a people for yourself from every tribe and tongue and people and language. We thank you that you are one, that there is only one God and so we can enjoy sweet fellowship with one another and with saints from all over the world.

We thank you that the labors of Christ will be seen in the day of judgment. We thank you that the labors of your faithful servants that you've appointed to proclaim your truth will be seen in that day.

We thank you that in glory we will be able to fellowship with saints from France and from Argentina and from China because of the labors of our brothers David Vaughn and Don Donnell and Andy Hamilton and Dave Merrick and others.

We could go on for many countries. We thank you that you've appointed men to proclaim your truth and that we can have fellowship with these brothers and sisters all over the world because we have the same God.

And we can come to this one God through the same mediator, the man Christ Jesus. And so we give you thanks and praise this night for all that you have done for us. We are undeserving.

We are unworthy servants. And we pray that you would help us to live our lives in the light of these truths. Make us a people that are willing to give ourselves for you even as Christ has given himself for us.

Help us to go from here rejoicing in the truth of what you have done for us and determined evermore to live as a people redeemed and bought by the blood of Christ. And we pray that you would add to our number tonight.

Come and do a work of salvation in our midst. May some come and trust in this Christ for the first time and find him to be a sure refuge, their only hope, the forgiveness of their sins.

Come and work in our midst, we pray. And we ask it for Jesus' sake and we pray in Jesus, our mediator's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.