It's time for truth, a ministry of truth family Bible church in Middleton, Idaho. It's time for truth exists to glorify God through the edification of His saints in our local church and for the benefit of the church around the world. I'm your host Pastor Danny Steinmeier. Well, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. Great to be with you as the time has changed and we're moving much more quickly towards springtime and we are glad to be back in the saddle here in the studio with Pastor Gabe Render from Stone Mountain Baptist Church and looking forward to our continued conversation through the London Baptist confession of faith. Pastor Gabe, welcome back. Good to be here sir. Yes, yes. We're happy that all you are joining us out there in podcast land and I'm glad that you are listening and we're looking forward to more discussions about current events, more interviews. We have some good thoughts about things for the podcast going into the future of 2026. So looking forward to all that the Lord has for us and continuing today on chapter 8. I think this is part three of Christ the mediator chapter 8 of the London Baptist confession of 1689 and we're going to pick up quickly with paragraph six. We left off on paragraph five last time and let's go right into it with paragraph number six. Would you go ahead and start us off? You got a paragraph six of chapter 8 on Christ the mediator says although the price of redemption was not actually paid by Christ till after his incarnation yet the virtue efficacy and benefit thereof were communicated to the elect in all ages successfully from the beginning of the world and and by those promises types and sacrifices wherein he was revealed and signified to be the seat of the woman which should bruise the serpent's head and the lamb slain from the foundation of the world being the same yesterday and today and forever. All right why do we think that this was a necessary thing to say relative to the idea that he didn't actually pay it the price of redemption wasn't paid by Christ until after his incarnation that seemed sort of a obvious thing to say but yet highlighting it regarding all the things that took place in the past. Why is this why does this stand as something important to communicate in a confession like this? Well he is trying to combat a couple of misconceptions that a lot of just average Christians have this idea that sort of the old covenant means of salvation was somehow different than the than the new covenant means of salvation and so it's really accomplishing two goals here. One it's demonstrating that the one sacrifice of Christ is what actually merited the salvation of all the elect whether old covenant or new covenant regardless of time that the old covenant find their salvation in hope of the fulfillment of the promise whereas we find our hope in the fulfillment of the promise actualized at the cross but also secondarily it's pointing out the fact that that Christ's effect like it was preordained that he says that he was the lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world. This idea that that ultimately God as we talked about earlier in the covenant of redemption communicated this grace in his four ordination of those whom Christ would save and so the idea being communicated here why it's important to include in the confession is that it's recognizing that even at the point in history when it had yet not actually been sort of the check had been written and cashed you know so to speak to tell us that I had not yet been declared functionally in God's divine decree was still already accomplished in that it would be accomplished. God's decree is do not fail and so the merely hoping in that future state is sufficient for the salvation of the old covenant. The surety of the promise was sufficient for salvation by means of faith in that promise. Amen. Yeah and so you know they put out rightly that Abraham was saved and justified by his faith faith in the promise that the seed actually would come and as it's noticed here so it's it's important for us because even in like pretty solid churches, Bible believing churches we still have this weird idea that you'll when you just talked to this the average parishioner this idea that well they were saved by their you know they're keeping the covenant and the works and all the signs and smells and bells and the symbols and said well no no that's not what saved them actually was their faith that those things pointed to Christ. Yeah no very true I think that's super helpful I think yeah just conventional wisdom just sort of the default programming at times the thought is well they were saved by works they were saved by the law by doing things and that's absolutely not correct right. Everyone is saved by Christ in all in all ages and the application of the work of Christ is taken backwards to the beginning to the first couple Adam and Eve they are saved by the cross-work of Christ and they are they had faith in the promise of this the the head crusher the one who would come and Christ the serpent said the promise of the gospel given at the beginning of humanity's sin and and all subsequent revelations and promises and pictures and ceremonies that that pointed to Christ all were those things that the that the people of God were to follow through with but looked to as the promise but it wasn't in the keeping of it and I we've been talking a lot in our study of the book of James but just generally speaking and being clear about the gospel is what is the role that works play in Christianity right and we recognize because James talks about being justified by works Paul talks about we're justified apart from our works what gives which is it okay and so the idea here is that the keeping of the law the the following all of the rules and so forth are our evidences their validations and so the concept of justified by the works is not the forensic justification for God which is apart from works but it's the justification that it which is to say validation of the of the of the possession of genuine saving faith and so if you say I have genuine saving faith but you don't have any works that go along with it that demonstrate the family resemblance that follow after the family household rules and more alighting standards you're not following after the ways of God but you continue to follow the ways of the of the devil then your works are betraying you and not validating the the presence of genuine saving faith it's demonstrating that you have a dead faith not a living faith which is kind of the whole point there and so I would agree that that is not something that creates dissonance in the gospel even though even even Martin Luther referred to James as an epistle of straw you so you know convinced of a salvation by faith and justification by faith that he had concerns all the Sun about the book of James until you really thought about it but we can see that yeah Paul and James are not at odds with each other they compliment each other because even Paul himself says elsewhere that the conformity to Christ and Ephesians right those good works that Christ died for are actually produced for you to walk in them so you're saved by grace who faith so that you would walk in the way that Christ walked and so that's again validation I think the other thing that that stands out here though is what you were just talking about is how these different things communicated the gospel right the the sacrifices the Old Testament even the promises the covenant promises and in the Garden the promise to Abraham the promise to David Moses all these things communicated the gospel preemptively and so when they looked at the you know the arc of the covenant there is a type of Christ that's happening there I just preached on that reason that we're going through Joshua and so seeing that the pillar of fire in the pillar of cloud the the tabernacle and all the representations within within that I know you preach through you know a lot of that stuff extensively all that we're pointing forward to Christ in ways that maybe the people at the time didn't fully understand but again it wasn't that they were meaningless it wasn't just that they had sort of these meaningless rituals God was sort of this weird pagan God and then now we have Christ and so we we can see more clearly no those things actually were meaningful because they taught the people about what Christ was going to fulfill and so I love I love typology in general a lot of Christians can can overdo it sometimes perhaps with typology they see things unnecessarily they they get a little too fast and loose but there are so many beautiful pictures in the Old Testament that we see this unveiling you know as we look at the covenants as we look at these pictures of who Christ is even even things like Isaac carrying his own bundle of sticks and that there's a ram caught in the thickets you know these pictures of of Christ carrying his own cross and he is the lamb who is slain wearing a crown of thorns you know so there's so many beautiful pictures of the covenant that point to Christ and this is just communicating that fact and we are privileged to be able to see it all clearly because of the progress of revelation and the closing of the canon the full corpus of divine revelation yet the Old Testament saints had sufficient light given to them by God whereby they would have faith in God himself and his promises and faith in his word faith in the covenant that he has made with his people and and in seeing their faith they would be declared righteous just as their father Abraham was or prior to Abraham others who would trust in the Lord and his promises and so yeah it's just identifying here that though while Christ was crucified in time in a place yet those who came before were not somehow left out they were all included in that covenant so sometimes I think people think of well from Christ everything then applies forward in the new covenant but the reality is that the old covenant saints are also covered by the new covenant actually saved by the new they're saved by the new covenant which we don't appreciate well enough because but it's the faith in the proto new covenants right wherein they are actually yeah so a way a lot of a lot of guys talk about when we talk about covenant theology is that the new covenant is the covenant of grace in the old testament ratified in Christ's blood and so there's a way of saying that the promise like when you have you know a last-wooled testament well it doesn't this is kind of the argument in Hebrews right it doesn't actually become valid until the person dies right and so that doesn't mean that the will is not a legally binding thing it just means that it's not actually advocated or actualized enforced until that those premises or that that sort of standard hits and so we see that there is a real binding covenant in the covenant of grace even though it wasn't fully ratified and and acted if you will in full force until Christ came which is the whole point of this paragraph even though it was not actually paid by Christ till after his incarnation the virtue efficacy and benefit was communicated so and ultimately the last statement there it says that you know God is unchanging he's the same yesterday today and forever so it's reiterating that the God of the new testament is the God of the Old Testament that Christ even though he was in a pre incarnate state still in his identity as the second member of the Trinity there was never not a time in creation where this wasn't his accomplished goal if that makes sense yeah he was bringing all of his people but all of of history unto his own cross yeah amen yeah very good all right next paragraph number seven from chapter eight 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 by the other nature well that's a hypostatic union yeah easy yeah easy very easy to explain right yeah so Christ in his mediation acts according to both nature so it's it's just identifying that he is he is human and divine one person two natures okay one person two natures each nature though having so a human nature and divine nature and not in conflict right so what it was saying here is that according to both natures each nature doing what is proper to itself and so Jesus in his divinity is able to live the pure spotless perfected life that's required demonstrate power and authority but Jesus in his humanity is able to actually be the sacrifice that can atone for the sin of humanity he can be the kinsmen or deemer in that sense and so both his natures are working together for the salvation of his people yeah the divine nature is in need of nothing and the human nature thirsts exactly and so it's a it's actually a marvel it's a it's a beauty that we can never fully appreciate enough for comprehend in its fullest extent we just know what is communicated and revealed biblically about who Christ is and so having the human and divine united in one person the human and divine is possibly made possible through the the means of the virgin conception and the virgin birth and because he does not have a human father right so he's he does not have a sin nature the holy spirit and the overwhelms the the virgin Mary she conceives of the holy spirit and so it is the the coming together in an amazing miraculous way the divine and the human the divine and the creature in one in one person and so there is no one like Christ right he is the unique qualified savior I talk about being a suitable substitute in a qualified savior I talked about that all the time and actually really stood out to me especially when when Moses as a as a type of Christ as we were talking about a moment ago Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and I probably brought it to supplement a previous podcast but it's so I think beautiful Moses intercedes for the people as a type of Christ but he's not a qualified savior or a suitable substitute correct and so he offers him he offers himself he offers to die for the people he offers to be to take the place God is angry with them after golden calf and God is ready to wipe them out and and Moses intercedes and says take me instead and the Lord says no no and why would he say no because you're not him is that what the isn't that what the with the kids say today like I like he is him or he's not him right he's not qualified he's a sinner right he's not a suitable he's not a suitable substitute and he's not a qualified savior but only Christ is because he is uniquely divine and human that two natures in one person truly God truly man not a hundred percent God a hundred percent man you know Johnny Mac why do I always have to correct you remember that I see spoke I know truly God and truly man one person attributing to the person denominated by the other nature he says making identifying that at times you see his divinity shine forth at times you see his humanity on full display and it's yet perfectly in harmony within this one person yeah exactly right like you mentioned earlier Jesus thirsting well in his divine essence he never thirsts but as humanity does and and sort of as a secondary point to this that is really fascinating is that Christ has a perfected glorified body now that includes a human nature still that's that's that's I don't appreciate that enough yeah well especially because that is what allows us to have a perfected body because we will be like him John says in first John that that you know we don't yet understand what we will become but we will be like him so it's actually where the eastern orthodox go too far with this but the concept of like theosis sort of this taking on the divine you know they they have sort of this divine mysticism where they're like we're going to become gods right they kind of overemphasize that idea but there is something in there like scripture does talk about the fact that we are we are going to have resurrected life in a sense because we partake in his divine nature now that isn't me we become gods right that's the important thing no tiny god like doctrine here but there is a sense in which because we are unified with Christ we're given a glorified body like his his divine essence is what's going to sustain us in eternity and in perfect worship in the you know in the final stage of eternal life and so that's actually something that we don't appreciate enough I think in the Protestant tradition because some of our forebears in the Roman Catholic Church in the eastern orthodox have abused it but if you read the church fathers they talk about this concept a lot that taking on the divine and we do that because Christ opened the door for us to follow him in that sort of sense again not that we become gods but it but it's an important thing that our humanity is not what makes us sinful right like humanity is actually good God made us good Christ perfects it and we get to join him in that perfection well there yeah I'd being clearly identified clearly communicated by the fact that the second member of the Trinity is now forever human yeah right that's a yeah that's a really powerful moment right but what's your getting at the Gabe is the is the issue that you we have to wrestle with and I had a professor in college that really tried to press this concept home to us but also being cautious and careful to what how do we understand this and you got to be careful otherwise you get into a hair season weirdness like the Mormons or whatever else but you go second Peter one four for by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature exactly having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust yep what does that mean uncorruptible divinity I think is speaking to our our the fact that our nature will no longer be corruptible but you can read that and take it to some very bad places yeah yeah it's it's I accept what it says but I don't know the fullness of what that's like because I'm fallen but there is when what is glor what does it mean that we will be glorified yeah yeah we recognize there's a sinlessness but there is a fitness for heaven that there is a union with God that is incomprehensible to some degree right yeah it will be greater than even the angelic creatures right like we'll judge them you know scriptures so so it's not even that we'll like attain to sort of like we'll be the sort of spirit beings that have been created for heaven how much like Christ will we be yeah right it's fascinating it's a fascinating thing obviously he will be the one the object of worship he is the one who is who is Lord of all that we are his his servants we worship him but there is a there is a beautiful welcoming to be so close and so united and so want I mean to be in dwelt by the Holy Spirit is just a amazing concept as well that that God would take up residence even within within a center how much even the bride of Christ like right like Christ can't be unequally yoked in a sense right so obviously we're not going to be equal to Christ in our divinity in our but in our perfected sinless state we will be as the bride of Christ yoked to Christ and so there's there's a sense in which we we can't really wrap our mind around that because we're finite sinful people yeah maybe something maybe something like this game how much more how much more incredible and valuable let's put this way will it be in glory to be a sinless person in dwelt by the Holy Spirit that's a good point right is that is that sort of that glorified concept of having the spirit of God dwelling in us but without the but without the barrier the destruction of our own of our own sin our own flesh part takers of the divine partakers of the divine nature by means of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but indwelling glorified resurrected persons yeah how much again how much like Christ will we be perhaps quite a bit more like Christ than we would really appreciate and value not formed not becoming gods but but with a closeness in family resemblance like we're we're going to be so much more more like family than we already are yeah does that make sense yep no I think that's helpful yeah it's a it's a marvel right we have to be I think we have to have a sense of wonder yeah we act like at times we know all that we need to know and yet there are things that have yet to be revealed things that the that we have not been able to comprehend and there's we have to be careful about our imagination but there is something about the wonder and marvel about what we what it will be like well anytime you approach God's word and you walk away with it marveling you're doing something right right yeah no that's all right the next paragraph paragraph eight that's you sounds good to all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption he does certainly and effectively apply and communicate the same making intercession for them uniting them to himself by his spirit we got ahead of ourselves already revealing unto them and in by the 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 in ways we are most consonant to his wonderful and insurgable dispensation and all of free and absolute grace without any condition for seen to them to procure it man you got a love renon sentence as man I mean I mean they write like Paul writes right no I mean we got a factual calling here we've got you know a couple letters out of the tulip acronym going on here some unconditional election this is this is good stuff yeah so yeah at the beginning of this particular paragraph or run on sentence however you want to look at it he does certainly and effectively apply and communicate the same making intercession for them speaking of our eternal redemption so there is the the recognition that he the redemption that he accomplished does not just lie out there it's not just available it's not just available it's on a potential it's not inert but but is actually he he actually redeems those for whom he died so it's particular redemption right it's that and it's day and it's the effectual call yep so some people would call that limited atonement right tulip definite atonement I think it's actually a really helpful term because it's saying that God defines those whom it's applied to which is really helpful but nevertheless yeah that's exactly what it's speaking to here is that the Christ when he cries out at his finish it actually accomplished something right it didn't just make us save a bowl but we're actually saved praise Peter God all right so we're not going to leave that right right because limited atonement yeah for those of you who don't already know because I've shared it at various times in college I did actually excuse me seminary I did give myself on a little bit of trouble um my professor was was a four and a half point Calvinist right what that means yeah well it's he called it unlimited limited atonement so I wrote a paper for my class and I titled it limited limited atonement love it and he he didn't like he he's such a he's such a godly you know wonderful man and and he he did rebuke me he didn't just tear me apart but he did rebuke me you know for not speaking to him about it and and sort of you know just sort of really opposing his position you know just just dropping it on dropping it on his table so and and and I really appreciated the spirit like I I received it and and I appreciate I didn't he didn't anyway all that to say I I clearly had a sense of this of this doctrine and while a lot of people do struggle with the concept of limited atonement I I think it's actually one of the most beautiful absolutely concepts in all of scripture and in here's why because when you're talking about limited atonement particular redemption definite atonement or whatever you're what you're doing is you're saying um you know when I I'll say I'll use an analogy something similar um when I got married I married a particular woman yeah a particular woman by name I chose to love her I chose to put a ring on her finger I chose to take her home with me which is the picture in scripture but keep going yeah but pesky details uh that's it's it's a picture of of I intentionally loved yeah a person and when you're talking and then also another key factor if you're having a hard time with this or wanting to explain this um when it comes to the Old Testament sacrifices as a for instance um or those sacrifices generally offered by individuals for the sake of the whole world as as a as a potential sacrifice or were those sacrifices by particular individuals for themselves pointing to the sacrifice of Christ who would deal with their sins that were being at that time passed over and and and covered but but not sufficiently for the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins so got stuck right so um yeah even even the most general of atonements the day of atonement was still intended for the covenant covenant people of God and not for the Philistines or whoever else you want to fill in the blank for the the sacrificial system points to a particular people who are sacrificing and that sacrifice applied to them and their family when when Job sacrificed this is pre-Mosea covenant uh when Job sacrificed on behalf of his children he was doing it not for the world but for his children and the idea of a sacrifice is particular you have people in mind uh it is applied locally or or limit in a limited fashion uh it does does no such thing as a universal sacrifice for the for the world and so the idea there is that you're actually it actually so much more potent and beautiful to say that when Christ died on the cross to save a sinner he did he did did so for sinners by name whom he chose whom he elected who he decided to put his love upon yeah not glorifying man to say there's this there's this salvation laying here on the table if you would just grab it for yourself it's inert it's it's it's it's actually not powerful until you activate it um then we're really just putting things backwards and the glory goes to man in his choosing but the beauty is of it is when God says I uh you're dead you're you're disgusting you're rotten you're a corpse and I'm going to love you and I'm going to clean you up and I'm going to make you alive and I'm going to bring you home and I'm going to make you my child I'm going to include you with my bride like it's that's the it's a beauty of a particular loved salvation well confession time I used to be a free Methodist minister so here you go I was a youth pastor in the process of being ordained in the Armenian Wesleyan holiness tradition and I was a full-throated uh not only did I believe in prevenient grace this idea that when uh when Christ died he sort of achieved sort of a first rung of grace that made us able to receive the gospel sort of like a open-door policy uh but I also believed uh in what was called entire sanctification this idea that you could see from sitting in the mortal life which is absurd so by God's grace I was born again again uh the doctrine is sent itself so yeah it's absurd right uh but but one of the things that really opened my eyes is uh the argument the way it was put to me that was very helpful for me understanding this doctrine was that everyone limits the atonement yes it's just whether you limit the atonement in scope or in effect that's right and I realized that whether you're Armenian provision is label yourself whatever you want a lot of people like to say I'm not I'm nothing I'm just a Christian like you have a position on this whether you want to label yourself or not but regardless you're either limiting the scope which is what our position is is that we're saying that Christ died fully effectively for his bride or for everyone or you're saying he died for everyone but it's effect is only available for those who actually obtain it for themselves so you either are full heretic and believe in universal and you're outside yeah yeah you're a universalist every all dogs go to heaven right everyone goes to heaven or you've limited the efficacy right the power of the power of it right yeah yeah Christ died to make you save a bowl but you have to avail yourself of it which if you read scripture you know well that doesn't really work because we're sinners and we're not able to actually grasp the picture again is not dead people don't yeah exactly they don't raise themselves I like to ask people I was like it says Lazarus stinks he's he was in the grave for a while did he raise himself come on he stink it stink it there you go I was gonna say it but I thought you'd make fun of me anyway but it's great it's great it's great it's a great word so Lazarus is dead of the grave right he's wrapped up like Jesus could call him all day long he's not responding unless Jesus brings him to life first right that's the picture of what Christ has done for us we were dead stinkin rotten in the grave and he called us back to life and and so when I wrapped my render if you'd be the concept you know how I go people say if you didn't say Lazarus then everyone was coming that's a good boy he had to be particular yeah to say his name yeah wait particular redemption that's right yeah it was a particular resurrection is what it was it was a resuscitation he yeah he died again but yeah no it's good stuff and so I think this actually a beautiful doctrine when you the more you think about it the more you you recognize that God is actually not only gracious but just in this pursuit of this and and another thing is really helpful to you is is recognizing that that word for no right is a personal applied verb when when the word for known is used in scripture just emphatically in the Greek also when it's used even in the Hebrew you know equivalent in the Old Testament it's it there's two different words right for no I think we've talked about this on a previous episode but when we have a word we just say no in English but most languages that are more particular have a word for knowledge that refers to knowledge of events facts history and then personal like like familial or relational knowledge Germans like this Greeks like this you know a lot a lot of languages are like this and so the word for foreign knowledge to for no it's not he for new an event it's he for new a person and so that's really helpful if God for knows he for knows you not what you would do he for knew you before the foundation of the world and placed his love upon you that's beautiful if you want more on that you can read a w pink satchel beats a god or Stephen Charnock good stuff yeah not because you pre-existed because you were in the mind of God as as one who he intended to create and love well and in my Armenian you know Wesley and days back in the day when and for those of you there aren't familiar with free Methodist that's not the rainbow flag Methodist that's the basically Nazarene Methodist to throw them out there but but back in my my my day then the way I would always articulate was the stupid you know chessboard argument well God just looks down the court of time he sees where you're going to move then he moves and puts in checkmate so that you have to believe you're on the on the precipice of open that openness theology uh which is exactly where that leads if you actually take it to its logical conclusion God's taking on knowledge he's not actually omnipotent he's not actually omniscient he's actually responding and he's a contingent being and if he's a contingent being he's not God word all right just just we don't have our have our Calvinist sidebar yeah just two pastors geeking out on Calvinism all right moving on here in this up particular paragraph he says uniting them to himself by his spirit revealing to them in and by his word the mystery of salvation persuading them to believe and obey and again the emphasis of this is the work of Christ through the spirit through the word um teaching and revealing and training us disciplining us in the doctrines in the things of self pertaining to salvation that we would believe and obey yeah and and ultimately like the word of God the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing but when we are in the holy spirit we're regenerated into new life we're born again now we're able to receive that word as instructive for our sanctification it's no longer foolishness to us its life giving and we'll talk at another time about the the ministry of the holy spirit and the idea of of what the holy spirit does he teaches and he illuminates right and that's what this is uh conveniently uh communicating communicating in advance right setting up more discussions about the holy spirit but uh governing their hearts by his word and spirit overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom in such manner and ways as our most consonant to his wonderful and unsurczable dispensation uh what it's this paragraph is really pulling into um it is the recognition that Christ is active in the lives of his of his people who can be saved it's not just simply he's distant and he just can't wait to come back but that he actually um uh i think it was uh kelly shoemaker that uh at one point just commented and maybe taught in one of his one of his sermons and just really kind of struck me a fresh was the was the concept and the recognition of that that Christ moves among his lamp stands yeah that he is present in his church so present in the in the worship of the saints when two or three are gathered in my name he is there in the midst that he is but this is also highlighting the fact that he is governing the hearts of believers by the word and the holy spirit so his uh the scripture the word that he um it's uh that he gave throughout the old and new testaments overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom so he's working through providence and uh to to accomplish all of his purposes in us and for us and and for himself and in such a manner as says and ways as our most consummate consonant to his wonderful and unsurchable dispensation and all of free and absolute grace without any condition forciene in them to procure uh just we are saved by grace by the entirety of the work of god to not only save us monogism not synergism right he saves us uh he redeems us but he also keeps us and and he and he works uh with the with the spirit and the word to sanctify us and to bring us ultimately home yeah and that last line is really just driving home the concept of unconditional election it's not that god saw something in us that merited our our election brother it was his free grace that he just applied it to us for his own good pleasure uh because he placed his love upon us in in the same way that like even when Noah is declared as a righteous man god still chose Noah by his own decree uh for his own purposes same thing with Abraham what was so special about he would even first be righteous yeah exactly so so all throughout the scriptures we see god does this he takes people who have no business being chosen like i still start with the fact like israel named after Jacob what really like i've read the old testament over and over and multiple like tell me what's your most maritable thing about Jacob pre like what's your favorite thing about Jacob oh i don't know probably the well i mean it's going to be the wrestling with god but it's going to be uh yeah i mean is it the is it the lying about his wife is it the so my point here is like Jacob's not exactly the most admirable character for a lot of his life is it stealing the birthright yeah right but we worship the god of Jacob right so god uses the strangest characters in all of history for his purposes and that's the reason why us two bald guys sitting here we can have any sort of confidence that god can still use us right uh that's actually the beauty of the of the gospels that we see gods applied grace to all sorts of sinners throughout scripture and god covenants with them and he makes them new and i believe that there are uh these people await the same perfected state that we do and they're going to be able to taste of that union with the holy spirit that they never had in the old covenant life just in the same way that we long for it even though we have tasted the holy spirit of this life uh and that's a beautiful thing to look forward to but god does strange things with with strange characters and he's always been saving people who have not married it for themselves yep it is all of grace thanks be to god paragraph number nine 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 be either in whole or any part thereof transferred from him to any other suck it pope that's what that paragraph said that's the clip that's out of the cliff notes for you uh that's that's the that's the pastor gave pastor commentary uh commentary uh yeah a vicar of christ right right um but now we recognize that there are um there are priestly qualities to the pastorate there's prophetic qualities to the pastorate there are priestly qualities and prophet qualities to a father there there are certain things but not in any type of of uh way approximating the minister in mediatorial work of christ always under we're called under shepherds that's right that's right yeah so yeah he's the chief shepherd uh he would be the owner we would be the managers right that's that's the way we look at him he's the king of kings and yet we are given sort of these these kingly uh responsibilities as overseers and in fact if you look at the different words used for pastors in the new testament they sort of reflect upon these three roles in a lot of ways that you have a wisdom to speak prophetically as an elder that you have sort of a priestly you know care for your people as a shepherd as a pastor that you have an overseeing an authority role over your people but again in a way that does not approximate christ but rather points to christ right and in the Old Testament we don't have um we we have pictures and individuals who have these types of roles that i would say the closest was Moses but again he actually wasn't even proper he functioned to some degree as a king but he was definitely a prophet in a priest david was never a priest so he what but he was a uh he did do some sacrifice yeah yeah no he did he did he did prophesy as a probably knows the king he did have some prophecies of course but but not in a proper proper sense not in the full sense they were again they were types and pictures recognizing that they were fallen men and imperfect and and finite they all died and you know and what's what's the comment and they're and their graves their tombs are all with us we all know where they are right but there's a there is a uniqueness to christ there is no one other than him who is qualified uh and functioning as a mediator and so there is um actually it was listened to something earlier today we we have a big problem um you know right now uh we'll probably do an episode on the war but we've got the um you know discussions about the third temple um being potentially built and that's what israel's hoping for is the third temple uh well let's say it actually happens let's say they build they build a temple and we bring back uh the sacrificial system what are the uh what are the Zionists what are the what are the um dispensationalists going to do with that because you know so the sacrifices is god pleased with the sacrifices we have a big problem with the book of Hebrews there aren't any more sacrifices for he is the he is this all sufficient sacrifice he is the he is the one such for all he is the high priest yes well and the amazing about christ is he's not only a picture of the high priest he's a picture of the temple so like it is christ it's it he's the final picture of everything the old covenant point towards every jott and titl is fulfilled in him there's nothing exciting about the prospect of a third temple no it's just the church the church is the temple of the living god amen you you are a temple of the living god but the church is the temple of the living god christ is the cornerstone we are living stones in that temple we are offering sacrifices unto god with our with our lips with our worship uh he inhabits he indwells his church um well and we're being consecrated and cut up by the word of god when we sit under the sermon and we're teaching we're being administered in a sense it's like we're being cut by the word we're the one who are living sacrifice living sacrifice so like there's nothing there's nothing left to be done the third temple is no improvement it's actually an insult it's blasphemous 100% actually he's done all right yeah we got some current events we got some uh so beat beat up the Zionist uh kind of kind of weirdness but uh yeah people what what does it come back to you comes back to christ is the only sufficient qualified mediator as prophet priest in king and there is no need for any other one that's why it's blasphemous for joseph smith to be as deemed as a prophet after christ so to say that there's a need for another another prophet like a true prophet after christ is fulfilled that now now did the apostle speak prophetically yes but but in the same sense that they're trying to add on to his perfect prophetic work in the gospel as if what christ accomplished in the new testament is not sufficient yeah i think the main point that i would make there would be just the there is a prophetic um role and end of and and percentage that was privileged in the new testament but with your closing of the canon the role of the prophet came to an end and everything is culminated looking to pointing to once again the the ultimate only prophet presteem prophecy is exercised now in us speaking prophetically about what christ is accomplished through god's word it's not that the prophecy in that small piece that's right doesn't happen is that the way in which that happens is by us speaking truthfully forth telling that which has been accomplished in christ yeah the better way to say it is we're now ambassadors right we're ambassadors we represent him choose what christ says what's all the word says very good all right paragraph number 10 we're making good good headway here and wrap it up because it may hear you i think it's i don't remember i'm gonna go this number in order of offices is necessary for in respect of our ignorance we stand in need of his prophetical office in the 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 into god and in respect to our averseness and other inability to return to god and for our rescue and security from our spiritual adversaries we need his kingly office to convince subdued raw uphold deliver and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom yeah once again more discussion of the prophet priest and king the perfections of christ yeah this is uh we can start once again with the prophetic office he says then um for in respect of our ignorance we stand in need of his prophetic office so as a prophet as a prophet you are speaking the word of god and communicating god's will to god's people so the way i love the way doctor excuse me dr. varner used to talk about this at at masters the uh they're just a simple way of of of keeping it straight a prophet stands with his back to god and receives the word from god and delivers it to the people he faces the people with his back to god and so in this case uh christ being god and being a uh the perfect prophet he speaks the word of god his word um comes to us and we we need that because of our ignorance because of our neediness and so his word is given to us and that is his prophetic role and in respect of our alienation from from god and in perfection of the best of our services we also need his priestly office so what's significant about the priestly role? well i have a feeling what you're going to say is that now you turn around now he stands with his back to the people interceding for the people before god and and essentially intervening and mediating between god and man now we know that christ does that perfectly uh perfectly now as as the one true mediator between god and man yes exactly right and so the priest is one who leads his people the people he represents he leads them to god and he and he and he uh as as the priest he helps them to be acceptable unto god so he leads them to god and brings them into acceptable relationship with god yeah reconciliation is not possible between god and man apart from the priestly work of intercession mediation etc and christ does that perfectly through his own sacrifice so in the old covenant ways the priest would would oversee the sacrifices that would they would atone for the sins of the people the scapegoat all these all these images and practices that that happened all of that was in a way of bringing the people before god in a way where they would be acceptable to god and we recognize that there are plenty of times where they fell away from that you know we see constantly there a rebellion against god god and his mercy oftentimes withholds his judgment but as you mentioned earlier with Moses there were times where god also stays his hand stays his hand in the midst of of a moment of intercession or he applies it anyway regardless of the intercession and so it all points to christ but nevertheless the priestly role is one that seeks to apply the salve of grace and gospel to the people while also seeking to reconcile the people to god and it is such an intercessory role one of the things that i don't know that we appreciate enough is the reality of christ the priest praying for us right so it's his representation his calling upon his father to consider our frame to consider our weaknesses to to lift us up in sanctifying petition on to pray that we might be one as he is one of the fathers that's right sanctify them by the truth that word is truth that's his high priestly prayer but the but his his intercessory work continues in glory at the right hand of the father and so that's a beautiful thing and then it says 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 so we need him in every in every sense right we need him to subdue us in our sin and to subdue the tyranny of the devil as the heidelberg catechism puts it the enemies that would seek to lead us astray he crushes them under his feet while also crushing our sin underneath his feet that we might actually come to him and be successful so we need a king to rule over us we do yeah we as a people need a king and he is that king we live by the law of Christ he is the he is the only logiver in judge he is the one who provides us the kingdom standards by which we live under his rule and reign and then with that he as you already said this concept of protection right there are that he protects us from the evil one he protects us from the the world the flesh and the devil and and we and so he subdues us and he subdues the enemy and then ultimately in conclusion he preserves us to us having the kingdom he is the one who says that you know I will lose none of my sheep he is the one ultimately who sustains us he is the living bread he is our our true life giver no one can snatch them out of my hand right there is security there is there is a sense that even we could not undo our own salvation of our on our own that that that that he he overcomes our foolishness our our our our ignorance and all these things and he makes us willing he makes us loving he causes us to walk in these good works and then he keeps us in his kingdom by his grace by his power and then conquers the the devil and death the final enemy yes in this chapter just just to sum it all up once again is Christ as our mediator but as our mediator he fulfills that in the only way in such a unique way that only Christ could he fulfills he mediates us as our king he mediates as our prophet he mediates as our our priest he mediates as our our Redeemer and our our sustainer this is a very powerful chapter that really not only hits on Christ's own nature but also his offices and the in the means by which he achieves that which he promises and so we hope it's been an encouragement to you to consider Christ in the office of mediator because apart from that there is no gospel very good well that's all the time that we have for truth today thank you for joining us and until next time we hope that you will grow in your love and commitment to Christ and his church as we are sanctified in the truth God's word is truth