Morning everyone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Take two. This is what our hope is in, is that Christ's death on the cross is sufficient for us. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 says, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other bount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my part in this I see, nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing this my plea, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other bount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other bount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other bount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 

Thank you, Doug. Thank you all for your patience. We had to reboot the router and then we had the muting issue, so we're working through it together. This is new territory for us. It's good to see you all on here this morning. Lots of people on this morning, more people each time we do it, so that's an encouraging thing. 

We're going to be continuing our study in 1 Timothy this morning, 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 to 4. The first few verses of chapter 2 really give us an important message this morning about why we are here, why the church is here, why believers are in this world, what it is that God would have us to be doing, what we should be focused on. We're going to be considering those truths this morning. 

The epistle is really turning out to be a very challenging, interesting, and important study, and as I've been studying, striving to understand the words and intent, I feel as though I'm getting a glimpse into what Timothy was up against in Ephesus, the many challenges of the setting there and setting things in order. At the same time, I feel as though we can relate in the church today. Many of the same challenges still exist today. 

There's no question that Paul is meeting head-on some of the false teachings, the inclinations of those who had power or following in the church there, who were leading the believers off into distraction and outright false doctrine. And our text today is another great example of this, extending out from what Paul has established in chapter 1. I think it's important that we maintain the flow of the text and relate our study today to what we've learned the last couple weeks in the first chapter. 

Paul is establishing some very important truths here, and at the same time, confronting and dispelling false and misleading ideas. He's truly a master teacher inspired by the Holy Spirit. I'd like to take you back to a key verse in establishing the theme, the heart of this epistle and its intent, chapter 1, verse 3, if you'd look at 1 Timothy 1, verse 3 with me. Paul wrote, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine." 

As we studied over the past couple weeks, there were those who were in authority in the church in Ephesus who had left the central doctrine, the teaching of the grace and mercy of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, a life lived by faith and trust, and they were beginning to teach law, that we please God by keeping the law, by doing works, and they were trying to bind the law on the believers. 

Paul commissions Timothy to stay in Ephesus and to charge these men to oversee and be sure that they teach no other doctrine, no other doctrine than the grace of God found in the gospel for justification and for sanctification. And as we move through chapter 1, we see Paul make clear that the law is not for a righteous man. It's not for the man in Christ, but for the man in Adam, meant to show him his sin and lead him to faith in Jesus Christ. 

Such clear passages in Romans 3, Galatians 3 about the purpose why God gave the law to Moses to show us our sin, to show us our need for a Savior. Paul then gives his own personal testimony of God's grace in his life. We saw that in the last part of chapter 1. He was the worst of sinners, persecuting the church, but Jesus came to him on that Damascus road and brought him the good news message, salvation, regeneration by grace through faith. 

And Paul tells us in Acts in his testimony before Agrippa that he was not disobedient to that calling, that he chose to place his faith in Jesus Christ, to believe Him and trust in Him alone. And we saw his great testimony also in Philippians 3 concerning that. 

Well, let's look to our text together this morning, 1 Timothy 2 at verse 1. 1 Timothy 2, 1, Paul writes, "Therefore I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

I have four points for you on our outline this morning. First, we are going to see pray for all men. Second, a perspective on authority. Third, peaceable living. And fourth, plan of salvation. 

Well, our text this morning is centered on a right perspective of God's plan for His people in this world and His purpose to bring salvation to all men. It's difficult to overstate the importance of a right understanding of these things in the church today in the individual heart and mind of the believer in Jesus Christ. The central focus on an understanding of why we are here and what our commission is and how we are to carry it out are of utmost importance. 

And I'm afraid that one of the church's favorite pastimes is to be distracted from these very things and to go off into some other doctrine, some other purpose. And yet the scriptures are so very clear. These four verses before us are perhaps some of the most succinct in communicating the plan and purpose of God and dispelling some of the false ideas that persist among the believers and churches of Timothy's time and of our time. 

The word, therefore, in verse 1 ties us back to the charge given to Timothy in chapter 1, verse 18. He was to wage the good warfare as the overseer in Ephesus. What does this mean to wage the good warfare? What is the essence of the battle? Well, Timothy was to keep everyone focused on the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. He was to be sure that all of the teaching, the exhortation, the focus was on Jesus Christ, His gospel, His plan and purpose for the believers in this world. 

He was to be sure that no other doctrine was taught, that men were not leading the church off into all kinds of distractions and false teachings which undermined or imperiled their purpose. I'd like for you to turn over to 2 Corinthians 11 with me. In 2 Corinthians 11, at verse 1, Paul gives a warning there concerning this. 2 Corinthians 11, 1, he says, "So your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it." 

All false teaching, all distraction from truth, is related to who Jesus is and what He has done. It either undermines His person, His character and nature, or His provision, His sacrifice on the cross and the salvation that He has accomplished in the life of the believer. The most dangerous false teaching strikes at the heart of the gospel or at the character and nature of God. 

And I believe that Timothy was dealing with both of these in Ephesus. And I think we see them manifest in our text today in the way of Paul's words which attack and expose these very things. We've already seen that these men who were sowing division in the church desired to be teachers of the law. They attacked the nature of the salvation that God provides in Christ. It is not a complete salvation, they said. It's not by grace through faith alone, but you must add the law, you must add works or other religious rituals in order to go to heaven. 

They said that we needed the law for sanctification, that we may be saved by grace through faith in Christ, but we need the moral law of God to produce holiness in our lives. And thus you must all come under the law for daily living. We studied this in depth in chapter 1, but I'll just remind you of Paul's clear teaching on this in Galatians chapter 2. If you'd like to turn there, you can. Galatians 2 at verse 18. You remember in the churches in Galatia, they had a legalistic problem where the Jews were trying to bind the law on the Gentile believers? In verse 18, Paul says, "For if I build again those things which I destroyed," speaking of keeping the law as a means to salvation, "if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." 

"For I through the law died to the law in order that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness, if holy living comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." 

He continues in chapter 3, "O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" 

Some of these pastors in Ephesus were trying to build again what the gospel had destroyed, righteousness through law keeping. Having begun in the Spirit, they were now teaching that we needed the law to be made perfect, mature, complete in Christ, that somehow Christ was lacking to produce holiness in our lives. And Paul said of them, "They do not understand what they say, nor the things which they affirm. For the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that the law is not for the righteous man." 

The law is given to show man his sin, his need, how far short he falls of perfection, the standard of God to enter heaven, and to lead him in desperation to believe Jesus Christ and receive his righteousness through faith. So we see an attack on the nature of the salvation that Christ provides, and Paul makes it clear that their law teaching is heresy. 

And in our text today, we see an attack on the character and nature of God Himself with another very common heresy, that salvation is only for some. We will see this develop and Paul's clear argument against this as we move through our text, but first let's look at our first point in verse 1, praying for all men. 

First Timothy 2, 1, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. Notice the words, first of all. Isn't it interesting that Paul would say the first thing, the first priority is that we as believers, as the church, pray for all men? Why is this the first thing, the matter of utmost importance? These words speak to evangelism, to the purpose for which God called us and to a right perspective concerning the lost men of our world. 

I feel overwhelmed by these truths and their application because I think that we have so many times strayed far from this central truth and purpose in the life of the church. Paul says first of all, pray for all men. Pray for what? As we follow through the text, it's clear that we should pray for their salvation. God's number one priority in this time in the church age is the salvation of all men. This is why we as believers are left in this world. 

This is made clear by the great commission that Jesus gave to us, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He says in John 17 in his prayer to the Father that he wants him to leave us in the world that the world may know that he is the Christ. We see this all through the epistles as well, passages like Ephesians 4, where we see the purpose of the local church and our meetings is to preach the word in order to equip and build the believers for the express purpose of going out into this world to bring the good news message of the gospel to every man. 

We see this in the words of Peter where he says to live such a good life among the pagans that they will come to you, they will seek out the truth and that we might have an answer for the hope that we have. And my brothers and sisters, the answer for the hope that we have in us is Jesus Christ. There's nothing clearer in the New Testament than the central purpose of the church to bring the gospel to the world. And Paul says this starts with prayer. Prayer for all men for salvation. 

And yet the world and false teaching continually distracts us. I'll give you a pointed, perhaps convicting example in the church in our world today. Politics. Our country has never been more divided than it is now, perhaps since the Civil War. And now it is divided over politics. And I think politics is a great distraction for the church, for me. It occupies a lot of my time. It saps a lot of my energy. It causes me to fret and worry and be distressed. And it inspires a division, a hatred really, for those who are on the other side. 

So my fear for the church is that things like this will actually distract and draw us away from our central purpose. We have basically a totalitarian state going on in Michigan right now. I mean, it's really amazing. Our governor has virtually made it illegal for us to leave our homes. I'm not allowed to go over to Ray's and have a cup of coffee, just the two of us. I was in Forslund's the other day to buy some lumber for a building project, and all the paint and stain is roped off. 

And I asked the lady, why the paint, why the stain? She said, I don't know. It's a governor's order. You can buy anything you want in the store, but you can't buy paint and stain unless you call ahead. We can't have a face-to-face transaction. I could buy anything else I wanted. Our governor has closed all the parks in Michigan, has outlawed fishing on the lakes. You can go with a kayak, but if you have a motorboat, not allowed. 

What's going on? My reaction to this is anger, disbelief, and politics play a huge role in this. So my question to you is this. What is my perspective on politics toward people who do not agree with me? Are they my enemies? Careful now. This is just an illustration. Do you see how easily the world, the false teaching, the wiles of the devil can take us down a road to futility? Paul says, pray for Gretchen. Pray for her salvation. Remember why you are here. No man is your enemy. We have an enemy working hard to distract us, to render us useless as to our purpose. 

What if I prayed every day for the salvation of our governor with my family? How might that change my attitude, my focus, my anxiety? How might that change my leaders? Christ died for every man. And we are here to do all that we can do to bring that good news message to every man so that they might believe and be saved. And Paul says this starts in the church with prayer. He gives us four specific words in the verse. Let's look at those words. 

The first word is supplications. This word means petitions or requests. Now what is interesting to me about this word in the context of praying for the salvation of all men is that it speaks to need. We make supplications when we have need of something. And the need is prevalent among all men around us. The need of salvation, the need to be saved from eternal lake of fire and the judgment of God for their sins. 

We need to remember this need, the dire circumstance of lost men and what awaits them if they do not repent and believe Jesus. This truth should be at the forefront of our minds all the time. And there's also another need in evangelism, our need. Our need for the grace and power of God to empower us, to encourage us, to keep our minds right and to provide the opportunities and circumstances to witness and to give us the boldness and the motive of love to tell men the truth. 

You know, we were once lost as well. We were once without God in the world. But genuine believers, people who loved us, were patient and faithful and praying for us and telling us the truth so that we might understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and His death in my place for my sins, His burial and His resurrection, and that through faith alone in that I could be saved, I could be changed. 

We see in Colossians and Ephesians that Paul asked the believers to pray for him, that he might have opportunity, that he might have clarity and boldness to preach the gospel. Now if Paul needed these prayers, if Paul needed the prayers of the church so that he might be bold, that he might be clear, how much more do we need prayers for evangelism? Colossians 4.2, Paul said, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving, meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I also am in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak." 

We have a great need for the grace of God to work in and through us to accomplish His will for us to be a witness in this world. The second word Paul uses is prayers. It literally means an oratory, a speaking to God. This is our communion with God, our continual going to Him, our fellowshipping with Him, and this speaks to our need for and dependence on God as well. 

This is what grace is all about. I can't save myself. I've sinned and broken God's law. I deserve the punishment, and it's only God's grace, His unmerited favor in Christ that can save me. I need Him. And even in this Christian life, I can do nothing of myself. Only Jesus can work through me as I abide in Him and trust in Him. I need Him. That's what prayers are about. 

The next word is very interesting. It's translated here, intercessions. This word has the idea of an advocate. It's used of Jesus in 1 John and Hebrews. It's also the word that is used of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 when it says He makes intercession for us with words which cannot be uttered. The word is not like a court-appointed lawyer to our case, at least not in a cold, indifferent way. Rather, the word carries the idea of one who throws himself in with another, gives himself entirely to the plight of another, bears up under with the struggle of another. 

So the word has the connotation of empathy as well as an active advocacy. Think about the application here in our text. We should not only be praying for all men, asking God to fulfill our need and theirs and bringing them to salvation, but we should also be wholly empathetic to their circumstance and plight. We should feel their desperate need and the gravity of their situation and should be willing to come alongside them, throw ourselves entirely in with them to rescue them and snatch them from the flame, as Jude says. 

Turn over to Romans 9 with me, please, and let's look at Paul's example to us in this. Romans chapter 9, beginning at verse 1. Here Paul is talking about Israel. I want you to listen to his heart. Romans 9, 1. "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen." 

Now, if you look down at chapter 10 at verse 1, Paul says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." 

This is the heart of Paul, the love of God poured out into his heart, and for who? For the Jews, who hated him, who persecuted him, who beat him and jailed him and stoned him and left him for dead and ran him out of every town that he went into. It was for his enemies that Paul had such a heart, a desire. This is the heart of God for all men, lost men and Adam, and it's the kind of love for all men that we should be praying for, that we might love men in this way as well. 

The last word here is giving thanks. And this should be true of all of our prayers because we can be always thankful for our salvation, something we didn't deserve, something that God gave Jesus, His only begotten Son, to accomplish on the cross, in our place, in our stead. His great love for us demonstrated, and what can we say but thank you? Always giving thanks. And being thankful for being a part of, involved in, this great purpose of salvation, which brings Him so much glory, being His witnesses in this world. 

Giving thanks should be at the heart of all of our prayers. So we see that we should be praying for all men, and next we see that this should give us a new perspective on authority. First Timothy 2.1, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority. It's interesting that Paul would highlight kings and those who are in authority as examples of who we should pray for, perhaps because these are often the last ones we might want to pray for. 

There's something in the heart of man that causes him to chafe, to rebel against authority. But God wants us to obey those in authority over us. Romans 13 tells us that He has put them in the place of authority to maintain order, to give structure, and to protect us from threats, to pursue the guilty, and protect the innocent. Government is certainly not perfect because men have evil and corrupt hearts, and power lends itself to the expression of that evil. But I want you to remember something. 

When Paul wrote Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2, there was a particularly evil man ruling, a man who hated and persecuted the church, a despot, a dictator named Nero. So the evil nature of the ruler is not the issue. We are still to pray and to have a spirit of obedience. Certainly, we stand for what is good, for what is right. We do not disobey God in order to obey men. But in general, the thrust of our passage this morning is that our attitude should be one of submission toward authority, and this for an express purpose which works toward our goal. 

I think Jude's words are so helpful; he says we should contend for, that we should agonize over the truth, but this does not mean that we should be contentious people. It's an attitude of the heart. Look at Paul's words in verse 2, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Paul is teaching us, as the rest of the New Testament Scriptures do, that we as believers are not to be rebellious, contentious people. We are to be model citizens who bring peace and order to society and our communities. 

We should be viewed as positive influences, contributors to the good in our world, willing to give of ourselves to help, to do good and not harm. Certainly, we are going to offend. We are going to rub up against the world and its philosophies. Paul highlights that in particular in these epistles to Timothy. He was in chains for the gospel. He promises that all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution. But the point here is that our persecution should not be because we are rebellious, contentious people. We should be peaceable people, loving people. 

Do we do more to bring peace and tranquility to our community by fighting and protesting and winning battles, or by praying for those who are in authority over us, even if it's Nero? What does this do for our attitude, our perspective, our peace and quietness of heart? And what might it do for our leaders? Would the salvation of his or her soul do more for the gospel or a political battle won? Paul exhorts for us to pray for our leaders, those in authority over us, our boss at work, our elected officials, and particularly to pray for their salvation. 

And he says this will affect a certain purpose and outcome. Notice the purpose word that. So that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. The word quiet refers to a lack of external disturbance. Wiest comments that it has a particular meaning here of remaining, listen to this, it's quite amazing, remaining aloof from political agitation or persecution. How would you like to lead a quiet life free from political agitation? You can. 

Instead of watching the news and consuming endless political commentary all day, pray for your leaders. Pray for their salvation and recognize our dependence on and need for God's grace and maintain a close relationship with him through prayer, always giving thanks. Next, the word peaceable speaks to an internal lack of conflict. And this is the very thing we are speaking to. Do you want an external peace and an internal peace? Pray and remember that God is in control, that Jesus is sufficient, that our eternal home is in heaven. 

Pray for the salvation of all men and preach the gospel to yourself every day. Remember who Jesus is, what he has done for you, who you are in him and what he has promised. He has even foretold all of these evil things that are happening in this cursed world. He's told us that it will wax worse and worse. We should not be surprised. We should not be fretting and wringing our hands, developing ulcers. 

My brothers and sisters, we should be looking up. We should be looking around at all the lost people in this world and knowing that the time is short and that it is high time that we awake out of our slumber and feel the urgency of the peril and perdition that awaits the man who does not know Christ. Pray. This is the first thing Paul says in accomplishing God's will to save all men. 

And when we lead a quiet and peaceable life, free from unnecessary internal and external struggles, focused on knowing our mission and depending wholly on God's grace, then these are the circumstances that promote most of all a powerful witness in this world. I love 1 Thessalonians 4.11. How much would this fix in our world? Listen to these words. 1 Thess 4.11, that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that you may lack nothing. 

A quiet and peaceable life is tied directly to evangelism, to walking properly toward those who are outside. And that certainly is the case here in our text in 1 Timothy 2. Look at Paul's words again and the flow here. He says, "I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Listen now, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

We've seen in our text pray for all men. We've seen a new perspective on authority. We've seen peaceable living. And finally, we see God's plan of salvation. The starting point for our understanding of God's plan of salvation is understanding God's will for all men to be saved and the extent to which he is willing to go to accomplish that salvation. 

In the church in Ephesus, there apparently was teaching going on, a doctrine that said that God did not want every man to be saved. That salvation was only for a select few. Those who desired to be teachers of the law also taught a salvation that was exclusive. And this, my friend, strikes at the very heart of who God is, his character, his nature. There's no mistaking the language of the verses before us and Paul's intent. He says, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." 

The word translated desire is used 210 times in the New Testament. And the vast majority of the time, almost every time, it is translated will or willing. The word means that it's God's will to save every man. It's not that he desires to and wants to, but he's willed something else. This is so important for us to understand because it goes to the very heart of who God is, the nature of his love for us demonstrated at the cross of Christ. 

It is God's will that men believe and be saved, all men. God commands all men everywhere to repent, to turn to Jesus and believe. Christ died not for our sins only, but the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever, whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 3 says, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, how? How can I have the righteousness of God? Not through the law, apart from the law, he says, through faith in Jesus Christ. 

And then Paul says to all and on all who believe, whosoever will may come. The scriptures are clear. God desires that every man be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, but God does not force a man against his will to believe. He has given to us a choice, a free will, and a man must choose to reject all of his own self-righteousness, his religion, his sacraments, his good works, and he must turn to Jesus and receive his righteousness, his death in our place by faith. 

Verse after verse after verse in the New Testament says that a man hears the gospel, believes, and then is saved. But a man must hear. He must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, a clear message about the grace and mercy of God and Christ's payment for the sins of men, a full, satisfactory payment and salvation from sin and death and hell through faith alone in Jesus Christ. This is God's plan of salvation. 

The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ making full provision, satisfying the wrath of God, and then he is calling men and women out of this world to salvation, the church, the called-out ones, to equip them, to prepare them, and then to send them out into the world to preach Jesus Christ and his gospel of grace. That is why Paul is so clear and forceful in his words in these first chapters because there were men in the church in Ephesus who were perverting this simplicity, who wanted to teach other doctrines, to be teachers of the law, to preach an exclusive salvation for just a select few. 

This is not the plan of God for the church. So Paul writes this, first of all, pray. Pray for all men to be saved and live a quiet and peaceable life so that you might have opportunity to witness for Jesus and know in living your life, in witnessing, that God desires that every man be saved. And it is his will to bring this to pass through the preaching of the gospel of grace, no other doctrine. 

God has made every provision for the salvation of each and every man in this world. It's a free gift that God offers to any man who will simply believe. And he has called us to go and take the message of the gospel to every creature, to tell them that Jesus died for them, that he paid the debt that they owed, and that they will turn to him alone in faith and he will save them. He will give to them his own righteousness and take their sins upon himself. 

When you tell a man this incredible news, when you tell him about the free gift, the offer of salvation, I want you to know in your heart as a believer in Jesus Christ, that this is a true offer. That this is available to any and all who will believe, who will come to faith. And know in your heart and mind that our God desires, wills, that every man would hear this great truth, would come to the full knowledge of the gospel, and that he would believe unto salvation. For in this, God gets all the glory. 

What a privilege it is for us to be his witnesses, to be his ministers in this world, to take this good news message to men. Let's think on these words this week. Let's remember that God desires every man to be saved and that we are here, left in this world, to bring that message to every creature. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you that you love us. We thank you that you love us so much that you were willing to give your only begotten son, one who did not deserve death and punishment for sin, but who was willing to stand in our place and take our punishment, to die a cruel death on the cross, to be buried in the third day, to rise again, showing that you were satisfied with his payment and that Jesus, by himself, accomplished our salvation and has sat down at the right hand of God. 

Thank you, Lord, for that promise in Christ. And thank you that you have made it so clear in your word and through faithful witnesses in our world that the means to having your righteousness, to being fit for heaven, to being justified or saved is faith alone in what Jesus did. Thank you, Lord, for everyone who could be here this morning and thank you for your words, your truth, your promises, in Jesus' name, amen.