In his sermon, Mike Davenport explores the profound theological concept of Christ as the Mediator, emphasizing His dual nature as both divine and human. He discusses the unity of Christ's person, where attributes of one nature may be attributed to the person named by the other nature. The sermon highlights the notion of eternal redemption, stating that Christ's sacrifice was not to make redemption possible, but to achieve it definitively. Davenport delves into the doctrine of particular redemption, affirming that Christ's redemption is applied effectually to all for whom it was intended. The sermon further underscores the necessity of Christ's roles as prophet, priest, and king, each addressing specific human spiritual needs. Davenport warns against transferring Christ's mediatorial role to others, such as pastors or spiritual mentors, and stresses the importance of recognizing Christ as the sole Mediator. The sermon concludes with an invitation to acknowledge our spiritual need for Christ’s mediation and to embrace His redemptive work through faith.

Well, tonight we come to the end of a chapter that I don't want to come to the end of in dealing with Christ the Mediator. And so we'll be looking at the last four paragraphs, Lord willing, tonight and starting with paragraph seven. Paragraph seven. Christ in the work of mediation acts according to both natures by each nature doing that which is proper to itself. Yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person denominated or named by the other nature.

Now maybe you were like me and when I first started reading that I was scratching my head what are they trying to say and only because they use proof texts that I find it both helpful and challenging. So if you've got your Bibles with you, look first at John 3, John chapter 3. Now, children, in John chapter 3, we have a discussion between Jesus and what man? John chapter 3, Jesus is having a discussion with what man? Who?

Wasn't Ezra. Nicodemus, with Nicodemus, right? That well-known text, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, John 3.16. Well, in this same discussion, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus is having a hard time understanding. And hey, some of the things that Christ was telling him, even in this verse that we'll look at right now, are difficult to understand.

But this is what he told him. He said Nicodemus, verse 12, if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven. What he's saying by that, nobody went up to get heavenly things in order to proclaim them. Nobody has ascended up into heaven to take what is of God, to bring it, but he who came down from heaven.

That's how the message came from God. Not somebody going up saying, God, what do I need to proclaim? But Jesus came down from heaven to proclaim. He says that is the Son of man who is in heaven. The Son of man who is in heaven.

So here we have Jesus describing Himself as the Son of man. That's identifying with the human nature of Jesus Christ, right? We're dealing in this of Christ the mediator with these two natures, His divine nature and His human nature. And remember, as I had explained before, if you can draw this big dot in time when Jesus came down to earth. And if you look backwards, there's an arrow drawn to all eternity that Jesus has always been the Son of God.

He's always been eternal. But now from this dot at his incarnation, this particular point going forward, he is now continuing as the Son of God. So from that dot and arrow going in both directions, but now From this point forward, he also is human. He has taken on the body of a man. And so he continues as both God and man forever.

And so that term, son of man, became his at his incarnation. The Son of God is now the Son of man. And he is saying here the Son of man who is in heaven. So the Son of Man came down from heaven and he is in heaven. Now how could that be?

If he came down how is he in heaven? Because of his deity. Because of his deity, right? Christ did not, we discussed this before, Christ did not lay aside. He didn't give up his deity to become man.

Children, if you remember that example I gave, I think it was apple juice and orange juice, right? Christ didn't come down, you know, if you have a full glass of apple juice, the only way to get orange juice, any orange juice in that glass is You've got to pour some of it out in order to add the orange juice in. Christ did not empty Himself of His deity. Not one drop, not one measure. He's fully God.

So in His deity we know that God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. So Christ could sit there as the God-man looking at Nicodemus and he says, the Son of Man is in heaven. He's in heaven. Right then, right there.

Now was his humanity in heaven? No it wasn't. But he was God still and he had not laid it aside and he could say the Son of Man, my identity is man and he describes that which is true of his deity and not his humanity. And so you see that's what they're wrestling with. He's acting according to his nature, he's in heaven, but he says son of man in association with that which is true of his deity.

Turn over to Acts 20, 28. Here Paul is talking to the Ephesian elders as he's getting ready to leave and they and their families have escorted him down as he's getting ready to leave them and he has these parting words. And he says in verse 28, "'Therefore, take heed to yourselves, ' talking to these pastors, "'and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood." So here you have him describing this is the church of God, obviously deity, which he purchased with his own blood. Now the deity, God is a spirit. God is a spirit.

He doesn't have blood. Now, the Bible describes the hand of God, right? We were talking about that today in Ezra. The hand of God was upon Ezra. Does God really have a hand?

No. But we understand the guiding hand of a dad, right? Holding the hand of the child saying, you're coming this way, or on the shoulder to kind of guide this way, right? So we understand that, and that's how we should understand God moving. And so, here Paul is talking about describing by the name deity God, and God gave his blood for the church.

So let me give you a few texts to kind of help grasp this thing or not not text but some of some words from some commentators in regards to this I think that will that will help us better understand it. I can't say it as good as they can. Okay, this is from Jameson, Faust, and Brown, and this is in regard especially to John 3.13. The sense manifestly is this, the perfect knowledge of God is not obtained by any man's going up from earth to heaven to receive it. No man hath so ascended, but he whose proper habitation in his essential and eternal nature – that's his godhood – in heaven, hath by taking human flesh descended as the Son of Man to disclose the Father, whom he knows by immediate gaze alike in the flesh as before he assumed it being essentially and unchangeably in the bosom of his Father.

Christ is still there in the bosom of his Father, still gazing upon him even as he's here on earth. And so he's able to say, I have come and brought this message to you. Matthew Henry says this, Jesus Christ is every way able to reveal the will of God to us, for He came down from heaven and yet is in heaven. We have here a notice of Christ's two distinct natures in one person so that while he is the Son of man yet he is in heaven. God is the he that is and heaven is the dwelling place of his holiness.

The knowledge of this must be from above and can be received by faith alone. From John Calvin, as it very frequently happens on account of this unity of the person of Christ that what properly belongs to one nature is applied to another. Christ therefore who is in heaven hath clothed himself with our flesh that he may raise us to heaven along with him." And then from Linsky, though he came down and now speaks to Nicodemus as the son of man he remains He who is in heaven. He cannot change his divine nature, cannot lay it aside, cannot cancel even temporarily his divine sonship, his unity in essence with the Father and the Spirit. This is unthinkable although men have tried to think it.

To think such a thing is to make also the Son of Man an illusion, to say nothing of undoing it, undoing the thought that the very Godhead itself and the Trinity of immutable persons, he that came down is now here as the incarnate Son of man. And yet, having come down does not mean leaving heaven. He is both here and is still in heaven. Impossible is the reply. Why?

This would destroy the unity of Christ's person and the unity of his self-consciousness. In simple language this dogmatical objection declares We do not see and understand how one can be in heaven and on earth at the same time Hence such a thing cannot be Jesus must mean something else And then the search begins for what he must mean. Jesus is in heaven though as the Son of man he walks on earth. That fact stands whether it staggers our reason and powers of comprehension or not. Pre-conceived dogmatical consideration have always been the bane of exegesis.

They have vitiated the plainest grammatical and linguistic facts. The plea about the unity of person and consciousness transfers that would be true of an ordinary human being with only one nature to Christ, the unique divine being who after his incarnation has two natures. Well, when the Spirit in the form of a dove came down out of heaven upon Jesus, he did not thereby remove his person and presence from heaven, nor did he do this when he was poured out upon the disciples at Pentecost. The same is true of Jehovah when he appeared to Abraham, to Moses in the burning bush, and when he descends on Sinai to mention only these." So there again as we contemplate the triune God, those wires in our brains just...we think of Jesus coming and all the Godhead only being in that one person, in that body, But he's still God. He's still everywhere present.

And so he's able to say to Nicodemus, the Son of Man is in heaven right now. And Paul is able to say it was God who gave his blood for the church. And so that's what it's saying here in paragraph 7 that these there are distinctives, okay, the blood that flowed from the veins of Christ was human blood, but the presence of Christ in heaven at that very moment was deity and The Bible can use either because of that unity It's the same Christ and so he can be called the Son of man in heaven. God gave his blood Number eight paragraph eight To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption, He doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same, making an intercession for them, uniting them to Himself by His Spirit, revealing unto them in and by His Word the mystery of salvation, persuading them to believe and obey, governing their hearts by His Word and Spirit, and overcoming all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom in such manner and ways as are most common to His wonderful and unsearchable dispensation in all of free and absolute grace without any condition foreseen in them to procure it.

So the first thing I want to draw out is that Christ has obtained eternal redemption. It's done. Redemption has been accomplished. Christ did not die to make redemption possible. He didn't die to make reconciliation possible, justification possible.

He died to actually redeem. Listen to the words of Hebrews 9, Hebrews 9, 11 and 12, but Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption. So when did he obtain eternal redemption? When he entered into that holy place once for all, that's his death on the cross. When he died, he obtained past tense eternal redemption.

How about Hebrews 11, 1-3? God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. When he had by himself purged our sins." So Christ has obtained eternal redemption. Secondly, we see in this paragraph that this redemption that Jesus accomplished at the time of his death is then applied and communicated in time. It's applied and communicated in time.

Note the verb tense is given. Half obtained, doth apply and communicate. Redemption once for all accomplished, but applied throughout the ages. Now thirdly, we come face to face again with the doctrine of particular redemption or another way of stating it limited atonement. Now many see this doctrine as very unsettling and will choose to be called four-point Calvinists because of this one point.

But my prayer is that you will taste afresh tonight the sweet nectar that is to be found in this doctrinal flower. The writers declare the recipients of the application of this redemption. To whom Does Christ apply and communicate this redemption? All those for whom He accomplished that redemption. All of those, to all of those.

So here's the sweetness that we can draw out of this doctrine. If Christ accomplished your redemption, He will apply and communicate that same redemption. If he accomplished it, if he secured your redemption, he will apply it to you. Note that little word, all. It's a big word to be just three letters.

All. To all those. None are exempted. None are left out. All of those for whom he died, all of them will receive this reconciling grace.

But note not just the sweetness of the extent of this application, the to whom, but note also The efficacy, the efficacy of this application of redemption, it is applied to the same people certainly and effectually. Certainly and effectually. How can we be so confident of such a certainty and efficacy? Because there was a particular people for whom he obtained eternal redemption, thereby rendering the application to this people certain and effectual. So do you see that the sweetness of this doctrine?

Listen to the words of Christ from John 6 37 through 40 all that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all He has given me I should lose nothing But should raise it up at the last day And this is the will of him who sent me that everyone Who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day." So he said, I've come to do the will of my father. My father gave me a people to come and to die for and I've done his will and I'm not going to lose a one of them, not a one. All of those for whom I accomplished redemption, all of them will receive this redemption. It will be applied to them and communicated to them And it will be done effectually and certainly.

Oh, the sweetness. Then fourthly, we see in this paragraph the fruit of the mediation of Jesus Christ, the fruit. As the mediator of this reconciliation, the accomplishment of redemption has satisfied divine justice in terms of removing our transgressions. But as we see here, this redemption is applied and communicated to His people in a specific way, very specific way. What does this redemption actually accomplish?

Well the writers tell us, making intercession for them, uniting them to Himself by His Spirit, revealing unto them in Him by His Word the mystery of salvation, persuading them to believe and obey, governing their hearts by His Word and Spirit and overcoming all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom in such manner and ways as are most consonant to His wonderful and unsearchable dispensation." Note all these action verbs listed here. Then they point to the work of Christ. This is what He's doing. He's making intercession for them. He is uniting them, revealing unto them, persuading them, governing their hearts, and overcoming all their enemies.

Let's take a brief moment to walk through these actions of Christ and note His offices, His offices that flow out of his mediatorial role. Remember the offices that we talked about back in paragraph one and we'll see them in the next paragraph as well. Prophet, priest, and king, these all flow out of his role as mediator. First of all, making intercession for them. Who does that?

Who makes intercession for others? Priest. How about uniting them to himself by his spirit? By the sacrifices, that's how the uniting comes. The uniting comes through that sacrifice, again, speaking of his priesthood.

But then revealing unto them in and by His Word the mystery of salvation, that's the work of a prophet, to reveal in them by his word. And then persuading them to believe and obey, that's what true preaching is all about, it's to persuade people to believe and obey, again His office as prophet. And then lastly, two, but belong to Him as king, governing their hearts by His Word and Spirit and overcoming all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom. And finally, we see the source or the cause of this particular redemption that's accomplished and applied. What's the source?

What's the cause? All of free and absolute grace without any condition foreseen in them to procure it. This is how the doctrines of grace or what has been I think wrongly termed and too narrowly described as the five points of Calvinism, but this is how the doctrines of grace differentiate themselves from the doctrine of Arminianism. It's in the redemption of man that Arminianism makes much of man. Its gospel is man-centered, whereas the doctrines of grace make much of God.

Its gospel is Christ-centered. And so we see here that it's all, all of free and absolute grace. To God be the glory, great things He has done. Then paragraph 9, paragraph 9, this office of mediator between God and man is proper only to Christ, who is the prophet, priest, and king of the church of God, and may not, this office of mediator may not be either in whole or any part thereof transferred from him to any other." Remember the verse we looked at very early on in this discussion a couple weeks ago, 1 Timothy 2, 5 through 6a, there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself for ransom for all. There's one mediator.

And they're saying here not even one portion of that mediation can be transferred to another. Paul first declares the reality that there is only one God. This truth was made more apparent to the nations with the establishment of the new covenant. When Paul addressed the men at the Areopagus in Acts 17, he started with the acknowledgement of their polytheistic, syncretic worship, all the syncretism that they were bringing by all of these idols. And he said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you." And so what was he doing?

He was drawing attention to there is one God. But after he had established this with them, let me tell you about this unknown God. He's the creator of everything. By Him we live and move and have our being. But then notice how Paul addresses them by establishing the doctrine that there is only one God, and then from that point establishing the truth that there is one mediator, the man whom God has ordained.

And then as he comes to the end of this discussion having brought this to their attention, he says, therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent. Why? Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.

There was one that he has ordained, one, and we've been talking about that. This one chosen and ordained to be the mediator. And so the one and only God chosen, ordained, the one and only mediator. Now this mediator, Jesus Christ, in the taking up of the office most willingly became to his church the, the, not a, they don't use that he became a prophet, a priest, a king, the prophet, priest, and king. It is his office and his alone.

First because he is the only one whom the only God chose and ordained. That's why it's his alone because of God's choosing. But it's also his and his alone because he is the only one able to represent God and men, the two parties that are at enmity. And he can do so because he has both natures in their fullness in his one person. And thirdly, because he's the only one capable of meeting the just and holy demands of the immutable God.

Now, the writers surely had the Church of Rome and their priesthood in mind when writing this confession. I think this is one of the main things that they're really addressing here. But dear ones, we can become just as guilty of such a transfer, at least in part in the following ways? So how can we be in danger of transferring any of this mediation of Jesus Christ? Well, First of all, by not praying when our consciences are quickened to the reality of sin in our heart.

We become...we recognize sin in our heart. We're aware of sin in our heart. What does that often do? It shuts down our prayers. By allowing those sins to go on hindering our prayers, we testify by our actions that Christ is not a sufficient mediator.

Either unwilling or unable to wash away sins by an ear confession of them, or by these actions we testify that some part or portion of the mediation rests upon us and that that once our consciences feel a lifting of the guilt that we impose upon ourselves through some sort of process of our own design then we will feel justified in our taking up our prayer to God. Secondly, praying to God without a felt sense of dependency upon the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Praying to God without a felt dependency upon that blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, if the Father has ordained Jesus Christ to be our one mediator, How vain is it for us to approach God in prayer without acknowledging in our hearts and not just in our words that Jesus is our only hope. Or thirdly, by discipling or being discipled without a Christ-centeredness. Discipline or being discipled without a Christ-centeredness.

In other words, leaning upon or looking to others, such as a pastor or a spiritual mentor, as a means to draw us closer to God. Or as that pastor or spiritual mentor to fail to constantly point to Christ and to seek to become or continue to allow ourselves to be viewed as something that we are not a mediator between that person and God It's not just the priests in in the Roman Catholic Church that can say, come to the confession booth and tell me your sins and I will take them to God. There's a danger in our church to either for men in position to be looked at as they can get me closer to God or for them to act as if they can. Note the discipleship methods of John the Baptist. This is how John the Baptist discipled.

John 1, 35 to 37 and 3, 29 to 30. Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of God. Look! There's the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.

Then John says in John 3, 29 and 30, he who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands in here and rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, therefore, therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." Do you see John's discipleship methods? He lost his disciples. Here guys look, there's the Lamb of God. There he went.

He lost his disciples. No, he didn't. He was discipling for Jesus Christ. So if we're not discipling like that, we're seeking to make our disciples stand at my side. That's not true discipleship.

That's detracting from the mediatorial role of Jesus Christ. Look to Christ. Behold the Lamb of God. Follow Him. Follow Him.

Then lastly paragraph 10. This number and order of offices is necessary, these offices of prophet, priest, and king. For in respect of our ignorance we stand in need of his prophetical office and in respect of our alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our services we need His priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto God and in respect to our averseness and utter inability to return to God and for our rescue and security from our spiritual adversaries we need his kingly office to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom. As I have stated several times while going through this chapter, this office of mediator required much more from the one who took up this office than is typically required in the taking up of the office of a mediator. Because the distance between God and men was so great due to the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.

It was necessary that we have a prophet. It was necessary that we have a priest. It was necessary that we have a king. And note the emphasis of the writers in their paragraph is necessary. We stand in need of a prophetical, of his prophetical office.

We need his priestly office. We need His kingly office. As we think of our great need and the provision of Jesus Christ our mediator to meet that need, the words of several hymns come to mind. I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy in life had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will, and if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still. But as I ran my hellbound race, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless state, providing a mediator, and led me to the cross to find that one. And I beheld God's love displayed. You suffered in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me.

Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life.

I need, talk about need, I need no other argument. I need no other plea. Don't need another mediator I don't need another plea it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me dear children I I want the words of this last paragraph to grip your souls. Do you see your spiritual need here in paragraph 10? Are you aware of your need for such a mediator as God has chosen and ordained?

Christ is your only hope, young person. He's your only hope. He is the one mediator between God and men. So allow me children to read this closing portion of this paragraph with a slight change of the pronouns and a slight change of emphasis. These are the faults you must be confronted with in respect of my ignorance.

I stand in need of His prophetical office and in respect of my alienation from God and imperfection of the best of my services. I need his priestly office to reconcile me and present me acceptable unto God. And in response, in respect to my averseness and utter inability to return to God and for my rescue and security from my spiritual adversaries, I need His kingly office to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve me to His eternal kingdom. Do you feel this need? Do you sense this?

You have it, whether you feel it or not. You have this need for Christ. Come ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready, ready stands to save you, full of pity joined with power. He is able, He is willing. Doubt, no more.

Come ye needy, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify true belief and true repentance. Every grace that brings you nigh without money, come to Jesus Christ and by. Come ye weary, heavy laden, weak or bruised and broken by the fall. If you tarry till you're better, you think you can mediate your own cause before the holy God?

If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all. Not the righteous sinners Jesus came to call. Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him. This he gives you, tis the Spirit's rising being.

Lo the incarnate God ascended, pleads the merit of his blood. He says, this is it. I'm your mediator. Pleads the merit of his blood. Venture on him, this mediator.

Venture on him. Venture means cast yourself on him. Cast yourself wholly. Let no other trust intrude. No other mediator.

No other way. He's the way. He's the life. He alone is the truth. Let no other trust intrude.

None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none can do helpless sinners good. Praise God. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Let's look to Him and pray.

Father we thank you so much for your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you, oh God, that it pleased you to send your Son to be our mediator. And he willingly took this office up and not only accomplished our redemption, but Lord, we see it applied in hearts and souls throughout history. And Lord, we don't want that to stop. Apply it to the hearts of our children here tonight who do not know you, and any adults here tonight who do not know you.

May they come to know you, the living God, through this one way, Jesus Christ. And we acknowledge Him in His blood, in His righteousness, even opening the way for us to be able to pray. Thank you in his name. Amen.