I would invite you to turn with me tonight to 1st Timothy chapter 2, 1st Timothy chapter 2, as we read together verses 1 through 7. Now to be fair, I want to say up front that I'm going to be placing many, many scripture texts before you tonight that we all consider somewhat all together. but I read with you 1 Timothy 1, verses 1-7, which we will talk a little more about in the course of the sermon. 1 Timothy 2, beginning at verse 1. Hear now God's Word. I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle i am telling the truth i am not lying and a teacher of the true faith to the gentiles and god at his blessing to the reading and consideration of his word please turn also invite you in the back of the psalter hymnal to page 99 for those of you who are visiting we've been considering over the last few weeks the confession of our church the Canons of Dort, the doctrines of God's grace found in Scripture summarized in the Canons of Dort. And we began last week, Sunday evening, we took a look at the second head of doctrine dealing with the death of Christ and the redemption of men thereby, that which we call limited atonement. And we'd just like to read Articles 3, 5, and 8 for some context. Article 3, the death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world. Article 5, moreover, the promise of the gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction to whom God, out of His good pleasure, sends the Gospel. Then Article 8, which really sums up more entirely what we believe concerning this doctrine. For this was the sovereign counsel and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation. That is, it was the will of God that Christ, by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language all those and those only who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father. that He should confer upon them faith which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit He purchased for them by His death should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing, and having faithfully preserved them even to the end should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His presence, in His own presence, forever. O beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have been considering the doctrines of God's grace and salvation as summarized in the Canons of Dort, we have considered the what of salvation. That God chose and elected to save some from their sin and He chose them unconditionally without any conditions on their part that they should have or could fulfill. And last week we began to consider the how of salvation. How did God accomplish that? He accomplished it through an atonement. By the work of Jesus Christ, God made Himself an unholy, sinful man to be at one. And the atonement Christ accomplished included removing the guilt of sin and removing God's wrath against sin. It included redeeming the sinner and reconciling the sinner to God. It included defeating Satan, sin, and death. And with all of this, then securing, actually securing eternal life. All of it, not a part of it, but all of it is what Jesus really did. For whom? Well, we also said, of course, as Scripture teaches, It was limited. A limited atonement. Limited not in its power. The power of Christ is not limited to save. The power of Christ, Christ's work, is sufficient for all. If God had chosen to save absolutely every single person who would ever live, then Christ's work was sufficient for absolutely everybody and His work was powerful enough to actually accomplish the salvation of those for whom it was done. Yet it's effective only for the elect. It's limited in its scope. It's limited for whom it was accomplished. Jesus Christ came to completely and to fully save His own, not only to make salvation possible, but to actually save them. Yet, as we mentioned last week, Limited atonement causes difficulties for so many. For example, if everyone doesn't have a chance to be saved, then how in good conscience can we preach the gospel indiscriminately to everybody and declare to them that God loves them and Christ died for them? Well, we'll come back to that quote a little bit later. But you see, they say, limited atonement is not consistent with biblical teaching. And there are texts in Scripture that talk about Jesus dying for the salvation of all and for the salvation of the world. So then how do we reconcile limited atonement and what is called God's desire to save all men? And if you happen to look in your outline, you see that I put all men in quotations. That's what, of course, Arminianism says God did. He died, that Christ died to save all men. We're going to consider together what does that actually mean. In a sense tonight, I want to consider with you two objections because no doubt many of us run into this sort of a discussion with regard to people who say, well, Christ died for everybody. After all, you know John 3.16. So I want to consider two objections. First of all, the all men. And then secondly, we're going to talk about as well about preaching indiscriminately. We might say limited atonement and unlimited preaching. Limited atonement and God's desire to save all men. Now, to the question, how can we say that the atonement is limited or how can we say that Jesus Christ did not die for everyone, the answer is really very simple because the Bible, because God Himself teaches it. But of course, we must consider the apparent contradiction, first of all. We must acknowledge that Scripture does speak of salvation in very broad, very general terms with passages that seem to point to universal atonement, that seem to speak of all, that they speak of all and they speak of the world and they use similar terms like everyone. Take our text, for example. In verses 4 and verse 6, verse 4 speaks of God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. And verse 6, Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all men. And there are a number of texts in Scripture that use the word world, that Christ died for the world. For example, the classic John 3, verse 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life. And in fact, in verse 17, John says that Christ did not come to condemn the world, but He came to save the world. And then John 1, verse 21, where John the Baptist is recorded to have said, Look, or behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Or Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 18 and 19 when he says, All this is from God who reconciles us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ. There are a number of passages that lead us in the sense of the world that Christ came to save. And also a number of passages that use the word all, including our text. In addition to that, Paul in Romans 5, verse 18, Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Or Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, For Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all. Or one more, Titus 2, verse 11, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Beloved, we cannot deny this apparent contradiction. So how do we deal with it? How do we handle it? Well, first of all, we realize that it is only apparent. It's only a contradiction in appearance. This is God's holy word. He is the ultimate author. His Word is inspired. It is inerrant. It is infallible. He is perfect, righteous, just, changeless. And He does not contradict Himself. The Bible, as someone has said, cannot say yes and no to the same thing in the same way at the same time. And Arminianism, against which the canons of Dort were prepared, Arminianism seeks to do just that. with regard to the atonement. On the one hand, Arminianism teaches that the atonement is universal. As we read last week from the grievance that Christ merited reconciliation and forgiveness of sins for all men. So universal atonement on the one hand, yet they go on to say, but those who enjoy it are only those who believe. So it's universal. and limited at the very same time. That cannot be. The Bible is one Word of God. As one minister said, there are not Calvinistic texts and Arminian texts that we somehow have to put together. That you and I, beloved, somehow have to put together and make sense out of them together because somehow they're both right. If it does not make sense to us, that is, the bringing together of two apparent contradictions, it is not a fault in or with the Word of God, but it is a fault with our understanding because we come to the Word of God with fallible, sinful minds. Yet, the apparent contradictions need, in the second place, they need the necessary clarification. They need to be clarified. And I believe we can break this up and we can talk about it in three ways. They need to be clarified scripturally, Practically and contextually. Of course, they all work together with regard to God's Word, but scripturally, practically, and contextually. First of all, the necessary clarification, scripturally. Scripture is its own best interpreter. We speak of the rule of Scripture interprets Scripture. That means we read a text in the light of the rest of Scripture. And if we come to a difficult or an obscure or an unclear passage, we are to read it in the light of the more clear texts. We read a passage in its own context, in its immediate context, then in the context of the chapter in which it's found, then in the context of the book, then also in the context of whatever testament it is found in, and then finally in the context of Scripture as a whole. Scripture interprets Scripture. So again, on the one hand, we have these passages that speak of all and speak of the world. But Scripture also teaches that with regard to the atonement, whatever word you would like to use, whether you want to say limited or particular atonement or definite atonement, that is what is taught in the Word of God. For example, in Matthew 1, verse 21, the angel said He will save His people. In Matthew 26, verse 28, Jesus says, blood of the covenant which is poured out for many not for all but for many in john chapter 10 jesus speaks of my sheep and in the very same chapter he speaks of those who are not my sheep he makes a distinction in john chapter 11 verse 52 we read about caiaphas who was high priest it says that year and he said it is better for one to die than for the whole nation to die and john tells us that he was prophesying he was a tool in the hand of god to prophesy that Christ would die not only for the Jews, but for all of the scattered children of God. Again, making a distinction with regard to those who are not children of God. Or John 17, as we considered last week, Jesus says He prays for those who were given to Him, not for everyone, not for the world. Or Ephesians 5 and Acts 10, where we read of the church of Jesus Christ. Or Romans chapter 8 of God's elect. Or one more, Titus 2 verse 14, it says Jesus Christ gave Himself to redeem and purify for Himself a people that are His very own. So all or world on the one hand, but then the teaching of Scripture of a limited, particular, or definite atonement. A certain people known to God. God says, the Bible says, the Lord knows those who are His. And we have considered Scripture's teaching with regard to the first head of doctrine, with regard to election and reprobation, the truth that some are saved and some are not. And therefore, these verses that we just pointed out teach that whatever the all or the world passages mean, for example, when John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Whatever world or all means in those passages, when it comes to Christ's atonement, when it comes to salvation, those passages that use world or all do not and cannot mean absolutely all people, absolutely every single one without exception. Because there is no contradiction in God. There is no contradiction in His Word. Let me give you one more example. 1 John 2, verse 20. There John says that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice, and it's also translated propitiation. He is the atoning sacrifice or propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Now, propitiation means to turn aside God's wrath, to turn away God's anger. So it seems that John is saying that Jesus turned aside God's anger from the whole world. However, the very same author, John himself, in his Gospel, in John 3, that classic chapter of For God So Loved the World, says in verse 36, whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. John does not say on the one hand that Jesus Christ removes God's wrath, turns it aside from absolutely every single one in the world, and on the other hand say that the wrath of God remains on some. Scripture interprets Scripture. But we can also press a little bit further and along with this consider this clarification practically in the context of Scripture. You see, words have meaning. And even though a particular word can have a variety of meanings, the context determines the correct meaning. For example, many if not all of us know that the word world in Scripture has a number of meanings. It can mean cosmos or universe. It can mean the land or the earth that God created. It can mean people in general. It can mean the wicked in contrast to the church. Again in John 17, Jesus says, I do not pray for the world, talking there about the wicked, but for those you have given Me. It can mean, we might say, place in general. In Romans 1, Paul speaks of your faith being reported all over the world. He's not talking about literally all over the globe. We might say all over the place it's being reported. The word world can mean kingdom of evil or wickedness, and it can mean and does mean men or people out of every tribe or nation, but not all tribes or nations as a whole. But all kinds of people. You see, the same thing is true with the word all. Now we would say, well, boys and girls, you might say, well, doesn't all mean all? It's a simple word. We know what it means. Especially when mom or dad says, pick up all your clothes or do all your chores. Or your teacher says, do all the math problems of page 46. All means all, absolutely each and every one. Well, the word all can mean two possible things. First of all, just that way, without exception, each and every one. In Romans chapter 3, Paul says, For all have turned away. He says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In chapter 5, he says, in Adam all die, without exception, each and every one. But all also means, can mean, and also does mean in Scripture, without distinction. Not just without exception, the first way, but without distinction. All kinds. For example, in Mark chapter 1, we read, The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Talking about going out to John the Baptist. Well, we know that Mark is not saying that literally every single person in Jerusalem or every single person in the countryside went to see John the Baptist. He's talking about all kinds. Men went. Women went. The poor went. The rich went. The slaves went. Free. All kinds of people went to see John the Baptist. In Genesis 6 and 7, we read about the flood. And we read there that the flood put an end to all people and that all mankind died. But again, even though it was nearly absolutely everyone, we know that it wasn't absolutely everyone without exception because there were eight people on the ark who did not die. Beloved, practically speaking, to insist that the word all in the salvation passages means absolutely each and every one without exception means that all must always mean that. Wherever you find it. So not only then in the texts that say Christ died for all, or salvation appeared to all men, or all are made alive in Christ, but also then, for example, in passages like Mark 1, verse 37, we're told Jesus had been healing many. He goes off by Himself to pray. Peter comes and finds Him and says, everyone is looking for you. Peter was not talking about absolutely every single person in the world. Or Mark 5, verse 20, we read about the demon-possessed man. The demon's name was Legion, you recall. And Jesus sent that demon into the pigs. And we read there, all the people were amazed. He's not talking about absolutely every single person into the world. For one thing, not everybody knew about it. Or especially John 12, verse 17, we read, So the Pharisees said to one another, See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him. Now, the Pharisees were not talking about absolutely everyone because they weren't talking about themselves. They had not gone after them. If all needs to mean absolutely everyone in the salvation passages, it must mean all in these other passages too, but it doesn't. Or think again of that classic John 3, verse 16, a favorite of the Arminians with regard to universal atonement. we would ask, who will not perish but have eternal life? Well, whosoever believes. All who believe, but only those who believe. Well, where do those who believe come from? Well, out of the world. You see, it sounds limited. It teaches limited atonement, really. God will save out of the world those who believe, And these then are the ones whose sin the Lamb of God takes away as John the Baptist preached. Clarification, scripturally, practically, but then putting it all together contextually. Scripture interprets Scripture and context determines the meaning of all and world. Now we ought to understand that the burden of the New Testament authors, especially the epistle writers like Paul, The burden with regard to all and world was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone. No, from out in the world, from those in the world. Consider the context of Titus 2, verse 11. Salvation has appeared to all men. Now those words follow on an appeal by Paul to the entire congregation to give up worldly passion. Whatever group, whatever status, whether young or old, whether married or single, whether slave or free, whatever group, whatever status, that was Paul's appeal. And it was to those without distinction, to whatever group, all groups and all statuses, to those without distinction, salvation had appeared. Christ came to save all kinds. Well, notice our text again. 1 Timothy 2, verses 1-7. Verse 1 begins, I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone. Now, what does Paul mean by everyone? Well, he goes on in verse 2, for kings and all those in authority. You see, Paul is talking there about groups. He's talking about classes of men. Specifically, kings and rulers. Timothy is not to exclude a single group in his prayer. But Paul is not talking about all without exception, each and every person in the world, but he's talking about all without distinction, whether race, whether nationality, or here, whether social position. And then when we get to verses 4 and 6 where we read, God wants all men to be saved, and Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all men, The all men there must have the same meaning as everyone in verse 1. Salvation is not universal. Neither is it limited simply to one group, for example, kings. It's for all people without distinction of race or rank or color, whether male or female, Jew or Greek or Dutchman. From every tribe or language or place, men will be saved. There is no contradiction in Scripture. Scripture teaches a limited atonement. The all passages, the world passages, are talking about all kinds of people. Well, again, there's no contradiction either if we speak of limited atonement and an unlimited proclamation of the Gospel. You see, limited atonement and God's desire to save all kinds of men includes in the third place the divine call. Paul says in verse 7, And for this purpose, in the context of prayers for everyone and Christ's ransom for all men, all kinds of men, for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I am telling the truth. I am not lying and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. And article 5 says again, Moreover, the promise of the gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction to whom God, out of His good pleasure, sends the gospel. Now again, Arminianism would ask, well, if all and world do not mean absolutely each and every single person, then how can we preach the Gospel? I mean, what's the point? How do we know who to preach to anyway? And we would answer that, we preach the Gospel confidently. Just as with regard to unconditional election, as we said, that unconditional election does not stand in the way of preaching the Gospel. But it guarantees the success of the Gospel preaching. The same flows through here with limited atonement. It guarantees the success because of Christ's perfect completed work. His perfect completed work has accomplished what it intended. God is satisfied and those for whom it was accomplished are saved. They will be brought to salvation. That work guarantees by the Holy Spirit through the proclamation of the Gospel that He will without fail bring them one and all by faith into the fact, the fellowship, and the joy of that salvation. And that means, beloved, that we can proclaim the Gospel unhindered, without hindrance, without the impossible burden of trying to persuade people to do for themselves what Christ left undone. What He's done this much, The bridge goes halfway, but you've got to do the rest. No, Jesus Christ has done it all. Paul's purpose here was to simply preach and declare the good news with confidence, knowing that Jesus Christ gave Himself for all kinds of people, and therefore He could go to anyone. He could go to everyone. See, Paul knew that it was not his job to handpick whom he thought was elect. whom he thought deserved to hear the Gospel. He knew that God had already done that before the beginning of time. And the message that is to be preached, beloved, is not that Jesus Christ died for all and made salvation possible for everyone, but you had better accept Him or He can't save you. The message is not, well, Jesus Christ died for a certain number and you'd better get in line and you'd better believe before the number is filled up and it's too late. the simple message is that Jesus Christ died for sinners. Period. Not for this little group over here or that little group or just for the humble or just for the sorry or for those who have shown themselves worthy. Jesus Christ died for sinners. He did all that we needed Him to do. He accomplished every single bit of it. So repent and believe in Jesus. Because whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Now that whosoever is not talking about an unknown people, those who will come willy-nilly of their own free will, and God doesn't know who they are. You see, God will not be surprised by who gets into His heaven. He has already determined it. But the whosoever really is comforting, is to be comforting for all who hear the Gospel message because it means that no one is outside the scope of Christ's salvation. Whosoever means it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what you have done, there is hope for you in Jesus Christ. You see, our confidence in coming to Him is not found in ourselves. It is only found in Jesus Christ and His invitation. And that message, beloved, also is not God loves you and Christ died for you and has a wonderful plan for your life. It sounds good. It seems to calm people down as you begin to talk to them. But there is absolutely no scriptural authority to say that to anyone, let alone to everyone, because it's not true. It may not be true for someone that you say it to. The simple message, again, is Jesus Christ died for sinners. for sinners. And for those who see themselves, understand themselves by the working of the Holy Spirit to be a sinner, it comes with an urgent appeal to repent and believe and trust in Him because He paid for every sin. And so that for those who trust in Him, your and my every sin has been removed. He has suffered and He has removed all of God's anger that was against you and me. And beloved, through the preaching of the Gospel, to all without limit. Scripture teaches us that God draws His elect out of the world. And He leaves those who reject Him without excuse. But that's how He draws His elect out of the world. That's why you and I believe by the grace of God because the Word of God has spread throughout time all over the place. And the Holy Spirit has brought us to see our sin for what it really is and to see the work of Jesus Christ. Christ died for His people, for those who believe. We are His people. And for us, therefore, it is finished. He has actually accomplished it. The message is that Jesus Christ is a powerful Savior who saves completely. He is powerful enough to save the worst of sinners. Now, we don't go out and preach unconditional election, first of all, or preach limited atonement. Of course not. That doesn't make sense to anybody. Only to those who have been brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for sinners, as the Gospel is faithfully preached, God will faithfully gather those for whom Christ died, from every tribe, every tongue, every nation. And as He brings them to the truth that there is an infinite salvation, there is an abundant atonement sufficient for all, and that means there is enough for you too, sinner. There is enough for me, sinner. And there is no need to fear that you will come to the Lord and He will say, I'm sorry, I just gave away the last bit of grace. You see, uncountable multitudes throughout the centuries have been washed in the blood of Jesus and praise God there is still enough left for you. His is a fountain that will never run dry. The atonement of Jesus Christ is limited to God's chosen elect. Yet the message of it is unlimited as He, as Article 8 rightly says, infallibly brings for salvation His saved ones who respond to His call by grace through faith. Now, beloved, we cannot begin to understand all of this, at least not totally, clearly, or completely. But may we be able to say with the Apostle Paul, oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out. Praise God that He has revealed His amazing love for us in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let's pray together. dear heavenly father we do praise your name and thank you for the gift of your word your word which does not speak with a double language your word which does not contradict itself your word which is true and which is comforting for your people and Father we pray that your word may continue to go forth indeed in all of its boldness in all of its truth and that empowered by your Holy Spirit you would bring many to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ even those whom you have chosen from before the foundation of the world we thank you Lord for these truths of your word these doctrines of your saving grace in Christ Jesus we pray that you would confirm us more and more in that precious faith and help us to understand more and more your word and to be able to dialogue with those in the world and to be able to show more clearly that precious truth equip us Father we are weak but you are strong and we thank you for your blessing upon which we depend both now and forever in Jesus name we pray Amen