522. The Go-Between
The Go-Between
1Ti_2:5 : ’93For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’94
Words of an old minister to a young theological student’97Paul to Timothy. The old man was afflicted with diseased eyes. The pain was so sharp and stinging that he describes it as ’93a thorn in the flesh,’94 and he so excites the sympathies of his friends that he says on one occasion that they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him in substitute for his poor eyes. But though the apostle’92s physical eyesight was so poor, he had grand spiritual vision, and he saw Jesus Christ as no man on earth ever saw him. Christ was to him the summit of all perfection. Alegone is the name of the brightest star of the Pleiades, and it is supposed to be at the center of the great arc in which our sun and the planets move. Jesus Christ to Paul was the brightest star and the center star, the Alegone of his spiritual astronomy.
In my text Paul calls Christ a peacemaker or reconciler or negotiator. For some reason heaven and earth swung apart. They were once fully accordant. Paradise was only a colonization of the celestial. The trees on the banks of the River Hiddekel were a transplantation from a higher garden. Earth was a long, sweet echo of heaven. But in the evilest hour of eternity our progenitor reached up his hand and unhooked the chain that bound the celestial and the terrestrial, and forthwith we were all adrift. For this high treason of our progenitor, a high treason in which at some time we all sympathized, there must come severe punishment, unless there be some plan projected different from anything that human brain ever dreamed of.
How is it possible for a God who hates sin with such withering, all-consuming and everlasting fury, to be brought into amity with our recreant and sinful world? It will never be done except through negotiation. You and I have known persons who had a difference seemingly irreconcilable, yet after a while they shook hands. We have read in history of nations that were in divergence seemingly beyond all adjustment, and yet they signed a compact. And I wonder if there is not something that can bridge over the difference between the Creator and the created, between the immaculate and the sinful, between eternity and time, between earth and heaven? Hear, all ye spaces of earth and all ye armies of heaven. Where is the one who will step forth able and willing to effect this negotiation? In vain we look among the heroic and the gallant of earth. They have sturdy hearts, but are not brave enough for this. In vain we look among all the thrones of the angels. Not one of the angels is willing to be dethroned for this negotiation.
Where is the relief to come from? We want a champion. Heaven and earth both want champions if this matter is to be settled. David and Goliath went forth as champions. Goliath said: ’93Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air,’94 and David answered: ’93Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield; but I came to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied, and I will take thine head from thee.’94 But who shall be our champion in this great difference between heaven and earth? Jesus Christ steps forth, and he says: ’93I will undertake that work at which all the universe is silent and abashed.’94 And he lays one hand on the earth and he lays the other hand on heaven, and he swings them together. Strophe and antistrophe of music celestial. ’93One mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.’94
It is my delightful work this morning to show you how beautifully Christ is qualified for this work of interposition. You know very well that if two be at variance, the third party coming in must be on good terms with both the parties. If you and I are at variance, and a third party comes in to settle the difficulty, and he is my antagonist, I will reject him. If he be your antagonist, you will reject him. The third party coming in for the work of mediation must be on good terms with both of us. Behold Christ’92s qualifications. God looks at him and says, ’93My Son.’94 We look at him and say, ’93Elder Brother.’94 He will look after God’92s rights, for he has filial affection. He will be sympathetic with us, for he is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Heaven can trust him with its holiness, its justice, its attributes, and knows that he will bring all the armies of the universe for help if it be necessary to keep its glory unsullied; while, on the other hand, we know that between manger and cross he will never forget our interests, and, if need be, to stop the swift-rolling car of our destruction, will throw his own life on the bloody track. The crossbeam of the tree of crucifixion was nailed to the upright beam at the center. God’92s justice starts at one end of that crossbeam and advances toward the center. Our necessity starts from the other end of that crossbeam and advances toward the center, and they both meet in the heart of the Son of God. He has in his nature the God side, the man side. Wondrous conjunction!
Historians scoff at Louis Philippe because he was so merciful, but it was the grand characteristic of his nature, and he is to me one of the most lovable characters of history. He always felt, when for some reason he could consistently pardon a man, he had gained a victory, and one morning he said: ’93I gained seven men last night.’94 In other words, he had found it possible to pardon seven men for their crimes. How many our Lord has gained I am not enough mathematician to calculate. You had better ask the ten thousand times ten thousand and the one hundred and forty-and-four thousand. Perhaps they can tell. So wonderfully qualified for this diplomacy between God and man is Christ Jesus. On good terms with both parties.
But you know also, my friends, that in order to successful intervention between two estranged parties the mediator must be characterized by integrity. Most of us remember when Napoleon the Last called a congress of nations, and some of the monarchs came to the congress, other governments sent their prime ministers, and other governments flatly refused to come. Why? Because they looked upon Napoleon as an imperial villain. Integrity is absolutely necessary for arbitrators. And here is Christ’92s qualification of integrity. All heaven cried three times, ’93Holy! holy! holy!’94 Great authority sometimes makes opulent spoilsmen cruel, but all the wealth and all the power of heaven did not spoil Christ. On the other hand, all human hatred put him under the microscope of hypercriticism. There was not a minute of his life that the detectives were not after him. They saw where he went and when he went. It was the business of hundreds of men to find out something bad in Christ. Not one evil word, not one evil action could they report. All the charges were unsubstantiated. False witnesses blushed and staggered and fell under the weight of their lies. Purer than the lilies which illustrated his sermon. Cleaner than the Galilean wave which licked his feet. Brighter than the star that pointed down to his manger. Fairer than the heavens from which he came. He had an integrity which particularly qualified him for the work of a negotiator.
You also recognize the fact that in order to successful diplomacy between alienated parties, the go-between must be characterized by wisdom, tact, and delicacy. You sometimes have seen a very good man go in and try to settle a dispute, and he has blundered in the matter’97he has made a dreadful failure; and if there were ten degrees of violence before, after his work there were a hundred degrees of violence between the parties. There must be wisdom, tact, and delicacy for a mediator.
I do not think I put it too strongly when I say that my father never attempted to settle a dispute in vain. I remember how he would bring the two antagonists to our house, and I would hear conversation in an adjoining room, and there would be imprecation and loud talking, and it seemed as if the parties were about to annihilate each other. Then there would be a quiet, and then I would hear my father’92s voice in prayer, and then the door would open and the two contestants would walk out arm in arm. He had wisdom and he had tact and he had delicacy.
Behold in Christ all these attributes. Wisdom! Why, he knew all of God and he knew all of men. From the highest summit of the divine attributes clear down to the lowest depths of human depravity he had explored everything. He knew what God would have. He knew what men wanted. From the presence of the throne he knew its glory. Coming into the presence of our shipwreck, he knew its ghastliness. Face to face with Jehovah, he was not withered with the glance; and plunged into the depth of woe, he was not corrupted with the abomination. Solomon was wise in settling the controversy between the two women about the child; but here is a wiser than Solomon, who makes a warring earth and heaven embrace each other. Moses was wise in giving the law; but here is a greater than Moses, who by one act fulfils all its requirements. Oh, the wisdom of this Mediator!
Has he the tact necessary? Ask the fishermen to whom he preached about the Gospel net; ask the farmers to whom he talked about the sower who went forth to sow; ask the womanly housekeeper to whom he talked about the yeast that leavened the whole lump. And had he the delicacy? Ask the sicknesses on which he put his healing hand; ask the fair-browed child whom he kissed on the forehead; ask the man who hastily unwrapped the shroud from his resuscitated daughter. Never before was there, never since has there been, such wisdom, such tact, such delicacy for the glorious work of negotiation.
You recognize also the fact that in order to successful diplomacy there must be perseverance and determination amid all obstacles. If you have ever tried it you have found out that the most difficult thing to do is to settle a dispute. You go to one of the parties and you make a proposition. He says, ’93Never, never!’94 You go to the other party, and you propose a reconciliation. He says, ’93I will die first.’94 You give up the attempt. But a man with Christian perseverance and determination comes, and he keeps at it day after day, week after week, and month after month until he effects it. Oh, how much determination was necessary, and how much perseverance to bridge over the difference between these two parties, God and man!
God made a law; man wilfully outraged it. God established a government; man seceded from it. God planted a garden; man uprooted it. God sowed flowers and fruits; man sowed nettles and nightshade. God said, ’93Build righteous cities;’94 they built Sodom. God said, ’93Elevate righteous rulers;’94 they elevated Ahab. God warned and man defied. For six thousand years man has fought God, resisted God, despised God, attempted to drive him off the throne of the universe. God looks down today from heaven, and he sees hundreds of millions of polluted and sinful people. On one side of this controversy between God and man was everything that was right; on the other side everything that was wrong. Now, do you think that a few tears, a few drops of blood will put out this conflagration which sin has kindled? Is there some Grace Darling with a boat strong enough to stand this storm and save a drowning race? Is there enough timber in the two pieces of the cross to make a bridge for this awful gulf between God and man? Christ stopped not at the difficulty. All others had declined the service, and he was not the one to see the race plunged into the vortices and make no effort for the rescue. He looked into the face of heaven, and he says: ’93Let the terror fly.’94 All the thunderbolts of omnipotent wrath struck him. He faced the human race, and said: ’93I am now ready to receive the shock of all earthly hatred,’94 and all the rough hands of earthly brigandage smote him on the heart. The Lamb of heaven clutched by the catamount of hell. He stopped for nothing. He persevered to the end. ’93One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’94
You also recognize that in order to successful diplomacy it is necessary that the party coming in as a mediator feels the importance of the work. You go to a man and you ask that he be reconciled to an antagonist. He says no. You go to the other man in the controversy. He says no. You give it up and say, ’93Well, it does not make much difference, anyhow.’94 But suppose thousands of dollars are involved in the controversy; suppose the peace of the whole neighborhood, suppose the happiness of one of the parties is involved; then you feel the importance. Christ felt the importance of this arbitrament. He was in blood-red earnest. He saw it would be an awful thing to have the human race perish.
To show that he appreciated the importance of the work you have but to see him push through storm and darkness and mobocracy and mountain desolation and imperial anathema, contending with the human race, all armed against him, not to destroy it, but to save it. To be buffeted for five or ten years’97perhaps some of you know what that is. But Christ’92s whole life on earth was one of being buffeted. The first chapter of his life, Herod’92s scouting party trying to murder the babe. The last chapter of his life, the Roman hammer striking the nail through the palm. Oh, what a journey of mediation, beginning with a manger and ending with a cross! Was there ever such a self-sacrificing mediator?
Governor Sherman, of Iowa, on one occasion showed me at Des Moines a gold medal that had been struck in honor of Kate Shelly, the girl of fifteen, who at midnight sped over the broken bridge until she got to the telegraph office and announced that the bridge was down, and saved the midnight express train. A beautiful medal on obverse and reverse sides. On one side a representation of the girl on the broken bridge; on the other side a representation of the gratitude of the State of Iowa. The governor said to me: ’93She will be here in a few days, and in behalf of the Legislature of the State I will make this presentation.’94 Very beautiful, very appropriate. But, oh, my soul! tell me in what mint of earth or heaven shall that medal be struck which shall on one side represent a Christ coming to save a ruined world and on the other side represent the gratitude of a universe at the glorious achievement!
Some men have gone into humiliation and shame that they might afterward come to elevation; but here is Christ coming down that others might rise; here is the gathering up the thorns into the brow that others may wear a flowering amaranth; here is the drinking of gall that others may take the elixir. What a mediator! The star of olden times ran across the heavens at the nativity and hung above the Saviour’92s head; but our world will after a while be the star that will run across the heavens and hang beneath the Saviour’92s feet. Christ came in the world’92s back door that we might enter heaven’92s front gate.
There is a tremendous question coming out of this, and that is, are you willing to accept the arbitration? You have seen many a mediation fail because, while the mediator in the case was faithful and one party accepted the mediation, the other was stubborn and declined. Christ comes in to mediate. God today declares himself willing to accept the mediation. You are the other party. Will you accept or will you decline? If you decline, then the war will go on and the weaker will go under. You realize that this adjustment is reasonable and right, and all that is asked of you is that in the depths of your soul you accept the arbitration. If you decline it, then all the thrones of heaven will cry out for your condemnation. Then you decree hostility against the God that made you. There is no alternative.
Then the question is, who is the stronger, you or the Lord Almighty? After a while the armistice will cease, and then eternal ages will jar with the conflict. Choose your own weapons. Wrap yourself in what armor you will, throw up what fortresses you will; but woe unto him that striveth with his Maker. I am thrilled through and through, body, mind, and soul, at the riches offered you in this arbitration. If I owned a bank and threw you a bunch of keys and told you to go in and help yourself it would be called a beneficence, a generosity positively reckless. But a grander offer is made to you. A whole cluster of the keys of God’92s mercy and of God’92s storehouse I throw you. Do you want pardon? Here is a key to unlock the door. Do you want consolation in your trouble? Here is a key to unlock the door. Do you want all the treasures of heaven? Here is a key to unlock the door. O my Lord Jesus, what an offer for my soul and for the souls of all these people!
A jeweler in France resolved that he would make the richest necklace that the world had ever seen, and he sent forth his agents into all the earth, and they came back with the most precious gems they could find. He put eight hundred diamonds in one necklace and in nine rows, the diamonds in crowns and crosses and lilies. On one bright day Louis XVI flung this brilliant ornament around the neck of Marie Antoinette. But that diamond necklace was stolen; it was taken apart; it is lost forever. Babington Macaulay writes of it; Thomas Carlyle writes of it. It has been the wonderment of history, that diamond necklace. But I have to tell you that the necklace which this Gospel proposes to throw over you today can never be taken apart, can never be stolen, can never be lost. Wear it once and you wear it forever. The diamonds of it are the frozen tears of the Son of God. The deep red carnelian is the congealed sweat of Gethsemane. The woman who wears it is a queen. The man who wears it is an emperor. Brighter and brighter will the gems glow and flash until in the day when Christ shall make up his jewels. When all nations are strung together in love and brightness, that will be the diamond necklace of the world.
Autor: T. De Witt Talmage