Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy chapter two. 1 Timothy chapter two. Let's read the first seven verses
of chapter two together. I exhort, therefore, that first
of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in
authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all. to be testified in due time,
whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity." Now, if we know anything about election and limited atonement, and the
truth about God's Word concerning salvation, then these verses
got our attention. If we know anything about those
things, these verses got our attention. Verse 3, he said,
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who will have all men to be saved. and to come unto a knowledge
of the truth. Verse six, he said, who gave himself a ransom for
all to be testified in due time. Do those verses grab your attention
at all? I'd like for this Bible study
to be one that helps us understand some verses that are hard to
understand at first glance. And these verses are among those
that are hard to understand at first glance. There's a lot that
we could say here. The Lord willing, we will. There's
one God and one mediator between God and man. The Lord willing,
we'll look at all that. This morning though, I want to
focus on one thing. All right, just one thing specifically.
I'm sure at some point you have heard someone say, Now you know that God wants all
men to be saved. You know God wants everybody
to be saved. I saw a false church sign not
too long ago here in Kingsport. And I know that it was a false
church because this is what their sign said. God saves everyone
without exception. That's what the sign said. Does he? Does he? Does God want everyone
to be saved without exception? Think about a statement like
that, all right? Just think about this. If he
is God, if He is actually the Almighty
God that this Word declares Him to be. And if He wants everybody to
be saved, don't you think everybody would be saved? If He is the All-Powerful One, if nothing can overpower Him,
nothing can overpower His will, nothing can overpower His work,
if everything and everyone must bow to the way that He says it's
going to be. And we're going to get into that
a lot more in the message in just a moment. But if He says, My desire is
for everybody to be saved, Wouldn't you think everybody would be
saved? Here's a reality that must be
confronted. If not all souls are saved, and not all souls are saved,
if there is a place of destruction, a place of damnation called hell, and there is. There is a hell, there are people
in it. I don't even enjoy, I never enjoy
talking about that, but it's so. Our Lord has referred to it as
outer darkness. He's called it the lake of fire. There are people in that place
not saved. So if not all souls are saved,
then it means one of two things. It either means, number one,
God is not really God. Or it means God has not purposed
for all men to be saved. If there are lost people, then
it means God is not really God. It means God wants everybody
to be saved, but He just can't accomplish it. He's not God. Or it means God has not purpose
for everybody to be saved. Now I'll tell you this, God really
is God. He really is. And again, we're gonna declare
this in the message. It's gonna just continue. But
God really is God. Therefore, we must conclude according
to his word that he has not purpose to save all men or all women. Not all souls are saved. And if every soul is not saved,
then it means God has not purpose for every soul to be saved. We
see that in so many places in the scripture. Here's a few that
just stand out, okay? Esau. God said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. I have purpose to save Jacob,
I've not purpose to save Esau. Pharaoh, the Pharaoh of Egypt,
God said, for this same purpose have I raised you up that I might
show my power in you. He said, I raised you up to tear
you down. The same thing can be said about
Judas, his own follower. The Lord called him the son of
perdition. Perdition means utter destruction. It means ruin, loss. The Lord said he was lost on
purpose according to the commandment
of God. If you look back up at chapter 1, we were just Just
there in chapter 1 verse 18 says, This charge I commit unto thee,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith
and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning
faith, have made shipwreck. of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."
That's an on-purpose announcement. He said, they were delivered
unto the adversary that they might learn not to blaspheme.
So clearly we can see that God has not purposed for all men
to be saved. Well, then why does chapter two,
verse four say, who will have all men to be saved. Let's let the Word of God answer
that for us. Chapter 2 verse 1 says, I exhort
therefore that first of all supplications Prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. Supplications means begging in
a humble way. That's what a supplication is.
It's a humble begging. Prayer means supplication specifically
to God. Begging humbly to God, that's
prayer. Intercession means on behalf
of somebody else. That's what intercession is.
Begging God on behalf of somebody else. Here it says all men. And he said, thankfully do that. And it's very natural for the
flesh to pray for things and beg for things on half of ourselves. We do that all the time. But
verse one, he said, I exhort therefore, first of all, that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men. Why would we do that? Why would
we do that? I had this thought go through
my mind many times. I brought a message one time
titled, Why do we pray? Why do we pray? If we know something
of God's sovereignty, is everything set or not? Is there chance with
God or not? Is it ordered or not? Did he
select a people or not? Why would we do that? Why would
we do that? If we know that not all men are
going to be saved and only God's elect are going to be saved,
why would we beg God in supplications and prayers with thanksgiving
for all men? Here's a good illustration of
why. Somebody asked Charles Spurgeon one time, if you believe only
God's elect will be saved, why don't you just preach to God's
elect? And he said, I would if they
had a big E on their forehead, but they don't. They don't, so
we preach to everybody. We pray for, we beg for all men
and women. I'm so glad that God has not
revealed to us who his people are. That gives hope for anybody,
any sinner just like me. We beg God for mercy on all men
and women. Who knows whether they're among
the ones chosen to salvation. God is going to save a people
out of every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue on this earth. That's
what Revelation 5, 9 tells us. Psalm 100, verse 5 says, His
mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth to all generations. Every tribe, nation, kindred,
and tongue, all generations. He is going to save from every
nationality of people. He is going to save from every
generation of people. He is going to save from every
class of people. Noble, kings. You think about
it. He saved kings. David, Solomon,
different kings. All the way down to servants.
He said not many noble, but some. But the point is he's gonna save
all types of people, all manner of people from all over the world. Look with me if you would at
Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11. The Lord came to Peter in a vision
and he said, I want you to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles. And this was a little bit confusing
to Peter because he thought that the promises of God were only
to his people and they are. But what he didn't understand
and what the other Jews didn't understand is they did not know
exactly who God's people were. Romans two says he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly. That means just because a man
is born into the nationality of the Jews, that doesn't make
him a child of God. He's not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. He's a Jew, which is one inwardly. Circumcision
is of the heart, in the spirit. But the Jews didn't know this
yet. So when they found out that Peter preached to the Gentiles,
they asked him, why did you do that? He went and preached the
good news of salvation. And they asked him, why did you
do that? Like we were saying just a minute
ago, why would we do that? Peter told them the story of
how God appeared to him in a vision and told him to do that. And
after he did preach to the Gentiles, he said God's Holy Spirit brought
faith to them to believe the message. They believed. They
believed on Christ. Look at verse 15. That's what
he's saying right here. Acts 11 verse 15. He said, and
as I began to speak, The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at
the beginning. Then remembered I the word of
the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but
you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. For as much then
as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand
God? And when they heard these things,
when the rest of the Jews heard these things, they held their
peace and glorified God saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life. A Gentile is anybody in the world
who is not a Jew. anybody else from all over this
world. At that moment they realized God's salvation is not limited
to the nation of Israel only. He has had mercy and He's going
to save men and women from all over the world, all over this
world. It doesn't matter whether they are Jew, Gentile, male,
female, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. God will have mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and it's all manner of men. Go with
me back to 1 Timothy 2. So that's why Paul said we need
to be praying for everybody, and we do. We need to be preaching
to everybody, all men. Verse one says, I exhort therefore,
that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. He's going to have mercy on all
kinds of men, all kinds of women, whether they seem to be too sinful
or too self-righteous. There are some people that you
see and think God's not going to save them, they're just too
sinful. This is foolish on my part, but I can't help it. I
don't think that way with sinful people, but I do think that way
with self-righteous people. Ignorantly. Ignorantly on my
part. I'll see somebody and I'll say, God's not going to save
them. They're just too self-righteous. They're just too religious. God is going to have mercy on
all kinds of people. Saul of Tarsus was one who was
too self-righteous, wasn't he? God in His mercy and in His kindness
and His grace and His love, He's gonna have mercy on all kinds
of men. He will have all men and women
to be saved. Verse two, for kings, I exhort that prayers
and intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men, for
kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. We pray
for the salvation of all men, whoever God might be willing
to save, and we pray for God's control and restraint over all
men, that he might lead those that are in authority to make
decisions for the good of His people, for a quiet, peaceable
life. And He will do that for the good
of His people. He will control and restrain
all men according to His will. Proverbs 21, verse 1 says, The
king's heart, the earthly king's ruler's heart is in His hands,
in the hands of the Lord. As the rivers of water, He turneth
it whithersoever He will. The lot may be cast in their
lap, but the whole disposing is of the Lord. So Paul said,
we pray to the Lord concerning them. Verse three, for this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God, our savior, who will
have all men to be saved all manner of men from all over this
world. He's able to save to the uttermost
and he will. Verse four, who will have all
men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Every soul that he saves will
come to a knowledge of the truth. Men try to deny that, but it
cannot be denied. Every soul that He saves will
come to a knowledge of the truth. That's an evidence of who He
saves. He has not purposed to save all
men. But He has purposed to save some
out of all men. And the souls that He's purposed
to save are evidenced in this way. He brings every single one
of them to a knowledge of the truth. Turn with me over to John
6. John chapter 6 verse 44 says, No man can come to me, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Every man that hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh unto me. They shall be all taught
of God. All of my saved people are gonna
be taught, every one of them. What are they going to be taught?
What are God's people going to be taught? Well, number one,
they're going to be taught that no man can come to Christ except
the Father draws that man or woman to Christ. They're going
to learn the truth about how high and holy God is. This is something man does not
know, naturally. They're going to learn the truth
about how low and sinful they are. This is something man does
not know naturally. They're going to learn the truth
about salvation. That all of it is in the hands
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is all in the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Man tries to satisfy the law. He tries to satisfy the law.
He tries to satisfy the law. But once he learns the truth,
he realizes Christ has already satisfied it for him. You wanna
know the most relieving thing a sinner in bondage trying to
earn salvation could ever hear? It's this, Christ has already
satisfied the law for you. Man tries to offer sacrifices
to God, trying to earn forgiveness, forgiveness. He wants to be obedient
and he wants to be forgiven. And he tries to earn forgiveness
for his sin. But once he learns the truth,
he realizes Christ has already forgiven him for his sin. Christ has already made the payment
for that sin. The sacrifice has already been
made. There's nothing to do. It's already been done. Look
with me at John chapter 8. John chapter eight, verse 32,
it says, and you shall know the truth. Oh, may God teach us the truth.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,
free from trying to secure a salvation that Christ has already secured.
Christ has already secured that for his people. And man is trying
to go secure something that Christ has already done. And once he
reveals that to his people, they stop, they rest. They see it's finished. God reveals
that to all of his saved people, all the ones he purposed to have
mercy on. He brings them to a knowledge of this truth and the truth sets
them free. What is the truth? It is a person and his name is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Once a sinner sees Christ, once
a sinner stops looking at the law and stops looking at doctrine
and stops looking at self and stops looking at everything.
Once a sinner sees Christ, only Christ, Christ being all that
sinner has. come to the truth, seeing the
truth, who is a person. Our Lord said in John 14, verse
six, I am the truth. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. God has purposed in his heart
to save a people from all over this world by bringing them to
a knowledge of Christ, who Christ truly is, what Christ has truly
done, Finished. Finished. The law says do. You know what the gospel says?
Done. Finished. For His people. Go with me back to 1 Timothy
chapter 2. Verse four says, who will have
all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And that's
not the subject we're looking at this morning, but I'd love
to spend a whole lot of time right there. Lord willing, we
will. There is one God and it's not me. And there's only one
mediator between God and sinful men, and it's not me. It's the
man, Christ Jesus. Verse six says, who gave himself
a ransom for all, all that the father gave to him. That's what
Christ said. In John 17, these are His words. He said, I pray not for the world, meaning every soul in the world.
He said, but for them which thou hast given me. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me. None of them
are going to be lost. Isn't that what He said? None. All of them are going to be saved.
All of them. He said, that's who I'm praying
for. That's who I'm going to save. The ones you gave to me.
Here are a few well-known scriptures that men like to quote, trying
to argue that Christ died to make salvation possible for everybody. John 3.16 says, For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Well, in the verses before that
verse, verse 16, the Lord told a man named Nicodemus, you must
be born again. The spirit must bring life, it
must bring faith, And he said, the Spirit blows where it listeth. He brings that faith to whoever
He will. Ephesians 2 says, Faith is not
of ourselves, that's the gift of God. The Lord said right after John
3, verse 18, He said, He that believeth not is condemned already. What this means is it's all in
God's hands. If faith is His gift to give,
and whoever He gives it to believes on Christ and is saved, and whoever
He does not give it to is condemned, this is in His hands. God gives salvation to whom He
will. We can't take any verse of scripture
out of the context of what He has said in His entire Word.
Revelation 22 verse 17 says, Whosoever will, let him come
and take the water of life freely. Let me repeat that. Whosoever
will, let him come and take the water of life freely. We all
just read John 6, 44. Remember what that said? No man
can come except the Father draw him. You know who will come and take
the water of life freely? Whoever the Father draws. That's
who will. He will make his people willing.
You've heard this one. People will say, well, you know,
He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance. That's not what the verse says.
It says He is long-suffering to usward His chosen people,
the ones His Father gave to Him. He's long-suffering to usward,
not willing that any of the usward. should perish, but that all of
the usward should come to repentance. And they will, they will. Verse seven, Paul said, where
unto I am ordained a preacher. These things, I'm ordained a
preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ and
lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. God is not purposed to save all
men without exception. But God's salvation has come
to all men, all manner of men, wherever he gives faith to believe
on Christ. And he said, it's gonna be a
number no man can number. He's good, he's merciful, he's
kind, he's gracious. He's gonna be a number that no
man can number and for that we rejoice, we're thankful. My prayer
is that we'll be among them, every soul here, included in
those that the Father gave to Christ. The Lord willing, in
just a minute here, we're gonna find out if we are. We're gonna
find out who that is, who the Father gave to Christ. All right,
you're dismissed.