1 Timothy 2.3-7 The Praying Church

[0:00] Now, when you come to church, do you come to church with the intention of praying?! What I don't mean by that is I don't mean a certain chaos where everyone's trying to speak! over top of everybody else. But when you come to church, to the service this morning, do you come with the intention of praying? I ask this because the congregation prays together with the minister as one people. And as we pray, as you participate in the prayer with the minister, what is your view of God when we pray? Do you consider God according to our creaturely imperfections?

[0:43] Or, in the same manner, do you consider God when we pray as one who has a longing, but that longing is either frustrated or inept? Do you, in your view of God, unintentionally attribute creaturely imperfections to God? See, we cannot relate to God. We do not know what it means to be God.

[1:11] And sometimes we, without realizing it, may take what we perceive things as according to our creaturely imperfections. And if so, if you do attribute creaturely imperfections to God, when we pray, what effect do you think that would have on, how would, how do you think that would affect prayer? Now, in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 to 7, we broke up into two parts. And last week, we looked at verses 1 to 2, and we saw that God is not frustrated when kings and governing authorities persecute the church. That when this happens, God is sovereign, God is almighty, and his longings, his desire, his will, if you will, is not frustrated by earthly kings. God is still all-powerful.

[2:06] And in the second part, we will see that God is not frustrated or inept as he carries out his plan of redemption. So today, we will be looking at verses 3 to 7 of chapter 2. So let's take a look, and we will read in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 to 7.

[2:28] 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.

[2:46] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to 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, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

[3:21] A great God, we thank you for your word, you who are almighty and all-powerful, you who are a saving God, that you have given us divine revelation, that we may learn about you, the triune God, and your perfection, and that we may learn of the duty of the church to come before you in prayer and to spread the gospel.

[3:43] We thank you that you are a God who saves, and we pray that you would indeed be at work saving lost souls in our midst and in our community and through us.

[3:53] We pray that as we look to your word, that you would illuminate your word to us and help us to grow in our knowledge of it, and that you would be growing us in the graces of salvation.

[4:04] Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So in these seven verses of one to seven, last week we looked at verses one to two, which we looked at the priority of prayer in public worship.

[4:20] And today in verses three to seven, what we are going to look at in these verses is the reason for the church's prayer life.

[4:31] And the reason for the church's prayer life relates to the church's mission of making the gospel known. Now this is important to realize. This is the focus of what this text is, and that when we look at each word or each sentence, it's a part of the context of the whole section.

[4:50] And in this section, it's about prayer. Verses one to seven is about prayer, about the church's prayer life. We looked at the priority of prayer, and now we look at the reason for the church's prayer life.

[5:03] So keep this in mind as we seek to understand what each part of it means, that it relates to the reason for the church's prayer life relating to the church's mission of making the gospel known.

[5:16] So we will look at it in four parts. The first part is a summary, a summary of the reason to pray. If you recall last week, we asked the question, then why pray? If God is sovereign even over when kings persecute or governing authorities persecute the church, then why pray for these kings and governing authorities?

[5:38] And so we'll ask the same question today. Why pray if God is almighty and why is God sovereign? But in that question, why pray? The reason for the church's prayer life is given in our text.

[5:50] So first of all is the summary of that reason. And second of all is the scope. Third, surety. And fourth, spread. Summary, scope, surety, and spread.

[6:03] As we examine the reason for the church's prayer life as it relates to the church's mission of making the gospel known. So first of all, summary. In verse 3, As we looked last week in verse 2, we saw the what and the who that we pray for.

[6:23] The what being supplications, prayers, intercessions, and the giving of thanks. The who being for all men. All manner of men. And kings and governing authorities are not excluded from that term, all men.

[6:36] So in verses 1 and 2, we saw the what and the who. And in verses 3 to 7, we look at the why. Why we pray the what for the who.

[6:50] So in other words, why we pray supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks for all men. We have the reason why. So again, that question. Why pray?

[7:01] Why are we to pray? Well, verse 3 is a summary of an answer to that question. Why is the church to pray? Verse 3 says, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

[7:18] These counter arguments that are brought up. If God is sovereign, why pray? If God in his almighty power is not frustrated by kings that persecute the church, then if that's God's will, why are we to pray?

[7:34] If it's God who saves sinners, why are we to pray? Well, we have a good summary here that it's God's preceptive will that we pray. Because we are not God. We do not know the mind of the Lord.

[7:46] And we have a duty. And it is God's preceptive will for the church as the means for the spreading of the knowledge of the gospel. God uses the church as the needs of the spreading of the gospel.

[8:00] The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And the church is called to pray for the spreading of the gospel, for the advancement of God's kingdom.

[8:13] And if you recall from last week, we are to pray for governing authorities so that we may live peaceable lives in all godliness and in dignity. And in praying for the governing authorities so that ungodliness doesn't cause society to persecute godliness, it's not so that it's just merely a matter of having an absence of strife in our lives, while that is a benefit, but it's for the gospel advancement.

[8:44] So remember, the whole overarching context is prayer. Prayer and public worship, the praying church, the prayer life of the church. And our praying is not merely, when we pray for governing authorities, for peaceable lives, it's not merely for a lack of conflict or for a lack of persecution, but so that the church may be free for the spreading of the knowledge of the truth of the gospel.

[9:07] The church may be freed up for gospel advancement. So as we start to see the purpose, the mission of the church, one thing in our age that is an ideology that has been gaining momentum, which is very contrary to this, to the church's mission, is sovereign citizen, sovereign citizen ideology, which is godless and contrary to scripture.

[9:32] That is not what the church is called to do and church is called to be. So this has no place in the life of the church. The church is called to prayer, to submission to authorities for the purpose of peace, so that we may live godly, pious and dignified lives for the purpose of the advancement of the gospel.

[9:53] And that's the church's mission, is the advancement of the gospel. So the context of prayer is to the end as the means to the end of the advancement of the gospel. So that brings us to our second point.

[10:06] Having looked at the summary, for the reason, we now look at the scope. Now it is God's preceptive will, as I mentioned before, it's God's preceptive will, or legislative will, to pray for all manner of men as the scope of the universality of the gospel.

[10:26] So if you remember, in verse 1, it said to pray for all men. And we understand that not as for, we have to pray for each individual specific person, but for all manner of men.

[10:38] No manner, no type, no kind of men, not included in those whom should hear the gospel. So it's God's preceptive will to pray for all manner of men as the scope of the universality of the gospel.

[10:56] So our second point is the scope. Now look further at verse 4. We'll move from verse 3 to verse 4. Now there's two particular things I want to look at in this verse.

[11:13] The first one being desires, God's desire, and the second one being all men, to understand what this means. Now God desires. How do we understand this word of God's desire?

[11:24] Now God is eternal, and his will and his purpose is eternal, which means it is not, it doesn't undergo successions of change in time.

[11:35] It's not that he desires something to happen and has to wait to catch up to that place in time to see if it's going to happen or not. God is eternal in his act. So when we who are creatures perceive God's eternal will, we can categorically understand it in two different ways.

[11:53] It doesn't mean God has two wills. It doesn't mean that God's will changes from one to the other, but the way in which we understand God's will, we can see it in two different categories, two different ways. His preceptive and his decretive, or to put it in more basic terms, his revealed will and his secret will.

[12:14] God's revealed will, his preceptive will, is that which he has given us in his word. For example, we know that it is God's revealed will that we live holy lives according to the moral standards of the Ten Commandments.

[12:28] But we also know that God has his secret will, which he has as God eternally decreed all that shall come to pass, even that which is contrary to God's moral standard.

[12:40] We see this in Deuteronomy 29, 29, which says the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of his law.

[12:55] So the secret things that belong to God is not for us to know, but it's God's prerogative to be God and to know his secret decretive will.

[13:09] But for us, we have his revealed will, his preceptive will, his legislative will, that is, that we may do all the words of this law.

[13:22] So an example of this, and the most obvious one, is that he wills obedience to the moral law. And in the moral law, which is preceptive, right, God's legislative will, his preceptive will, we know that thou shalt not commit murder.

[13:39] So it is God's will for murder to not be committed. But God also willed that Christ would be murdered contrary to the moral law.

[13:49] So God, it's God's will that murder not be, not to occur, but it's also God's will that Christ would be murdered. So there's God's preceptive will and God's decretive will.

[14:04] In Acts 2.23, it says, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death.

[14:17] The lawless crucifying and putting to death was according to the purpose of God. So we can understand both God's revealed will, our duty, which he has revealed in his word, and also his secret will, that which he has the prerogative as eternal God to decree as the cause of all things.

[14:39] Everything that exists, exists not only because God created it, but because he upholds it by his almighty power. Nothing happens that is overpowering God as the first cause.

[14:52] And God is eternal. So, God desires all men to be saved. What does all men refer to?

[15:04] We've already seen this before in verse one, that we are to pray for all men, and now we see this again, that God desires all men to be saved. Does this term, all men, refer to universalism, which is an idea that every single person alive will be saved, will go to heaven, regardless of whether they have faith or not.

[15:28] Or does all men refer to the universal scope? So, is it universalism, or the universal scope? In other words, does all men refer to each man, or does it refer to all manner of men, as does in verse one, that we are to pray for all manner of men.

[15:49] Now, in verse four, it says, God desires all men to be saved, and this is true. Yet, not all men are saved. We see in scripture, that not all men will be saved.

[16:01] So, what's going on here? Is there a change in God's will? Is it that God willed for all men to be saved, but yet there was a change in his will?

[16:12] To attribute this change to God and his will is to attribute creaturely imperfection towards God. God is divine, and God in his perfections does not change.

[16:30] So, to assert an idea that God changed his mind and his will, this is not divine in perfection. So, we are taking that which we as creatures experience, and attributing that to God.

[16:46] Or, does this mean, if God desires all men to be saved, but yet not all men are saved, does this mean that God is defective in power?

[16:57] That he desires to save all men, but he doesn't have the power to bring it to be. If God willed each man, if we are to interpret this as God desires each man to be saved, if God willed each person to be saved, and yet not everyone is saved, then God is not almighty to do all his holy will.

[17:21] Can God not achieve what he wills and intends? Which even, that very question alone puts God out of eternality, and in time, that he is in a state where he longs to do something, but then has to accomplish it in the future.

[17:41] This is not God. This is a creaturely limitation of us in time. God is outside the bounds of time. He fills all space in time, as though it is one moment. Another question, is God's will ineffective?

[17:54] That God wills all men to be saved, but it is ineffective to bring it about. If God willed each person to be saved, then how did he will Judas' destruction?

[18:07] We see in Scripture that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, that his destruction was predetermined, that it was God's will. So if God desired each person to be saved, how did he will Judas' destruction?

[18:23] In a similar manner, a question is, is God's will contingent upon his creation, and that God wills all men to be saved, but his will is contingent upon creation to fulfill that which God wills?

[18:43] Again, remembering that God is the almighty and eternal one who upholds all of his creation. Last week, when we considered even that Paul breathing threats and murder against the church, that God upholds all of creation, and that the very breath that Paul inhaled to breathe out threats and murder, that breath is the mercy of God upholding the life of the individual.

[19:07] Or even the very fact that the ones who are nailing Christ to the cross, God divinely upholds the life that is crucifying, that is murdering Jesus Christ.

[19:22] Petrus van Maastricht, he wrote this, The will of God is eternal. For this reason, neither does he begin to will what he did not will previously, nor does he stop willing what he willed previously, nor does he will one thing prior to another, although, based on the order that we observe in our will, we conceive that God wills the end prior to the means according to the order of intention, and he wills the means prior to the order of execution.

[20:01] That's a lot to chew on. If you want, let me know afterwards and I can email you that quote. But the one true living God has no creaturely imperfection.

[20:15] Psalm 115.3 says, But our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases. So, God desires all men to be saved, yet not all men are saved.

[20:31] Examples that we see in Scripture is Proverbs 16.4. He has created the wicked for the day of judgment. Or Romans 9.18. He hardens whom he wills.

[20:42] Or Romans 9.22. He has prepared vessels of wrath for destruction. Or 2 Timothy 2.9. Prescribed some for judgment.

[20:54] So, God desires all men to be saved, but yet it is God's will that not every man is saved. So, when we see this word all in verse 4 that God desires all men to be saved, it does not mean each.

[21:10] It does not mean that each man will be saved. But it is all manner. So, we see it the same way that we do in verse 1. That we are to pray for all manner of men and God because God and the reason we are to pray for all manner of men is because God desires all manner of men to be saved.

[21:33] For example, every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. This might start to sound a little bit familiar of the bigger picture of what's going on.

[21:43] God desires every tribe, every tongue, and every nation to be saved. Romans 5, 9 says, For you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

[21:59] So, this word all, all men, it speaks to the universal extent of the church's mission. And that's why the church is to pray for all manner of men because of the church's mission.

[22:12] all means not just the Jews. Not just the Jews are to be saved, but all manner of men.

[22:24] Salvation is for everyone. There's not two ways of salvation. It's not that there's one way of salvation for the Jews and another way of salvation for the Gentiles or for all nations.

[22:36] There is one God and one mediator between God and man. there are not two ways of salvation for different ethnic groups, but one way of salvation by, what is this one way of salvation?

[22:50] By coming to a knowledge of truth. And that is what we see in our text. Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

[23:04] all means all without distinction, not each individual without exception. So all, all manner of men without distinction means also the enemies of the church, which is why we are to pray for all manner of men, why we are to pray for kings and governing authorities.

[23:27] We are to pray for the enemies of the church, which would include, in this day, the emperor, the emperor who persecutes the church and who, which is a position which sets itself up as a god and to be worshipped as a god.

[23:46] So also Saul, Saul who persecuted the church, but God divinely intervened and Saul is a gospel demonstration.

[23:59] So if somebody asks you, is it God's will that I be saved or if our children ask us, is it God's will that I be saved, we don't have to know God's secret will.

[24:11] We don't have to know God's decretive will. Those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world. We don't have to see that in order to answer that question.

[24:22] We don't have to know God's secret will in order to do that which we are called to do. And we know that God desires all manner of men to be saved. So if someone asks us if it's God's will for them to be saved, if our children ask us is it God's will for them to be saved, then we can say yes, because they fit into the category of all men.

[24:41] And we can proceed to give make known the gospel truth of redemption.

[24:58] We pray for all manner of men because it's God's desire that all manner of men to be saved. And the church's global mission is to make known the gospel truth of redemption.

[25:09] So our third point is surety. Now surety is the payment of somebody's debt. In Hebrews 7 22 it says that Christ became our surety of a better covenant.

[25:29] Now let's look at verses 4 to 6. Who desires all men to be saved and to come to 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.

[25:48] So the provision of the only mediator as we see the surety! the provision of the only mediator. The question to ask is does Christ save or does Christ not save?

[26:01] Does Christ save or not? Which we want to see the right use of the word all in the flow of this whole text. We are to pray for all manner of men. God desires that all manner of men are to be saved.

[26:16] Christ did not merely make salvation possible so that people can by their works claim something or earn their salvation with the work of their faith because then that is not grace.

[26:31] Grace is contrary to works. If it is of a work it is no longer entirely of grace. Christ saves completely. Christ made satisfaction.

[26:44] When we consider ransom, the ransom is paying a price of redemption and surety is when somebody pays that which is owed, the debt which is owed, we sinful fallen mankind have two problems.

[27:01] We have the problem that we are to be obedient to God personally and perfectly and we're not. So that is an outstanding debt of perfect obedience.

[27:13] And Christ as our surety satisfies that debt by his perfect obedience. Also by not doing the obedience that we're supposed to do as God's creatures. We disobeyed God and we sinned.

[27:26] So there is the debt of God's condemnation and wrath against sin. And Christ as our surety satisfied justice and paid the debt which we owed on our behalf.

[27:41] Christ is our surety. Christ made satisfaction satisfaction and when we consider making satisfaction for a debt that is owed different words that are used in scripture is surety in Hebrews 7 22 or ransom that a ransom is paid to redeem to pay a ransom price is to satisfy the debt that is owed.

[28:04] Divine justice has been satisfied. So Christ as a surety for his people satisfies divine justice so that that debt is no longer owed.

[28:14] There is no longer condemnation. There is no longer wrath over those who are in Christ because justice has been satisfied once for all complete the ransom price paid to purchase a people for his own possession.

[28:33] So as we move into verse 6 when it says a ransom for all how are we to understand this? Are we to understand it as universalism that Christ satisfied divine justice for each man ever to live which is an idea that contradicts scripture and the scope of scripture and other parts of scripture or is it something else?

[28:57] when it says Christ was a ransom for all Christ ransom paid the debt satisfied divine justice no longer condemnation is that for each man or not numerical universalism rather ransom price paid for all manner of men we are to pray for all manner of men it is God's will that all manner of men to be saved and Christ was a ransom for is this universalism or all manner of men all manner of men whose redemption was purchased will be saved because there is no longer condemnation for those who are in Christ Christ satisfied divine justice there is no outstanding debt if a debt has been paid then it would be unjust for that person to then have to pay their own debt if there is a surety a mediator who has satisfied justice on their behalf in

[30:01] John 10 15 it says I lay down my life for the sheep he doesn't say he laid down his life for the wolves he doesn't say he laid down his life for the goats he said I lay down my life for the sheep Matthew 1 21 says he will save his people from their sins in Isaiah 53 which if we have time we'll we'll swing back to double back at the end and look at Isaiah 53 about how it specifically speaks of or prophesies that Christ as a surety for his people my question here is have you received Christ and all the gospel promises as your own as we see the holiness of God the righteousness of God the justice of God the condemnation for sin and the only way one God one mediator is by the ransom of Christ as our surety have you received Christ and the gospel promises as your own the gospel promises which belong to those whom with

[31:06] Christ as their mediator no longer owe a debt we're going to double back to that at the end and I'm going to ask it again but have that question in mind as we work through what it means for Christ to be a surety is this something you have received and the gospel promises personally as your own so a ransom for all manner of people some would want to use the word all sorry in this text the word all is repeated three times and it's the same use of the word throughout the whole text from verses one to seven and verse one we are to pray for all and in verse four God desires all and then in verse six Christ was a ransom for all and it's the same use of all throughout the text so it must either mean universalism which is contrary to the rest of scripture or all means every tribe every nation and every tongue which when

[32:23] Paul wrote to first Timothy first Timothy was to contend against these false teachers who were obsessed with excessive! genealogy themselves being Jews and likely asserting their right because of their genealogy as being pure red Jews the opposite view would accuse with an uninformed strawman argument that if that's the case that if this is speaking to all manner of men and not each individual then if that's the case then we wouldn't evangelize but this is wrong this is making a straw man and then asserting something unbiblical!

[33:13] unbiblical towards it but if we are willing to submit to God's word that God saves those whom he saves and that not every man will be saved then we also submit to God's word where it tells us what our duty is and we don't have to know God's secret will in order for us to submit to God's revealed will and that's exactly the point of the text that the church is to take the gospel which is the power of God to salvation to the ends of the earth because we don't know the mind of the Lord we don't know who God is going to save we know what God has revealed for us to do because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God as the text says to come to the knowledge of the truth this is why we are to pray for governing authorities that they may restrain evil so the church can make the truth known to all manner of men the more in which governing authorities restrains evil in society than the less persecution there is against the church and the more the church is free to make the gospel known which brings us to our fourth point that

[34:30] God independently wills all things inclusive of the end and the means God's will is independent God does not depend on his creatures in order for him to!

[34:45] will what he does so God's independent will wills all things inclusive of the end which we see in Revelation as well as the means to that end we don't need to know God's secret will of the end in order for us to know God's to do God's revealed will as the means to that end so our fourth point is spread so kids sorry to tell you this is not going to be about Nutella spread is the church's mission for the spreading of the gospel now let's look at verse seven for which I for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying a teacher of the Gentiles and faith and truth so Paul as an apostle was appointed to preach and teach the

[35:46] Gentiles and faith and truth who are the Gentiles the Gentiles are the nations so preaching and teaching is to be extended to the nations you see an advancement to spreading here in faith and truth similarly the great commission to the after after the resurrection the 11 disciples when Christ said in Matthew 28 starting in 18 Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age so the resurrected Christ appeared to the 11 disciples and tell them to go make disciples of all the nations this is a going this is a spreading but yet these 11 disciples they didn't go to all nations did they they didn't go to the ends of the earth similar with

[36:57] Paul he was appointed to preach and to teach the Gentiles in faith and truth but Paul didn't cover the ends of the earth did he so how is this great commission filled out well the apostles preached and taught on the teachings of Christ and his kingdom and they inscripturated the word of God written and established the church and as the church grows and spread being founded on the teaching of the apostles the doctrine of the apostles on Christ of the word so the apostles did not go to all the nations this is carried!

[37:41] forward through the church which is built on the doctrine built on the teaching of the apostles now when we see all in verses 1 to 7 all represents the universal range the universal range of the mission of the church to all the nations so are we supposed to pray for every single person that's alive or in verse 1 when it says all types of people even to the extent of!

[38:10] governing authorities that persecute the church this is the same thinking that carries through all manner of men for the purpose of the church's mission of making the truth of the gospel known to all nations all manner of men every nation every tribe every nation every tongue every language and that is the point and that is the point not universalism not that each and every person will be saved not that it's God's will for each and every person to be saved not that Christ satisfied divine justice for each and every person but the point is the universality of the scope the global range the church who is to be a praying church the church is to spread the knowledge of the gospel to all men without exclusion to each and every sorry to teach every nation in God's act of salvation so when lost sinners are transferred out of darkness into marvelous light this act that occurs in

[39:20] God's act of salvation the effectual call from darkness to light is the work of the Holy Spirit that is not the work of man the church is as the means to the end the church brings the gospel message and the Holy Spirit brings the regenerating power to make that gospel message effectual to effectually call out of darkness into light so in conclusion we don't need to know God's secret will in order to obey his revealed will we don't have to know the mind of the Lord that which he has to create in eternity his secret will in order to obey his preceptive will and we know that God's will is for the church to be a praying church that we to pray for all manner of men and that we are to pray for kings and governing authorities that we may live a peaceable life that we may live pious lives in all godliness and dignity that as such we may be free of the church for the church to to carry out its mission of making the truth of the gospel known and that is the redemption in

[40:36] Christ Jesus back to a question that I asked as we were considering one god one mediator and Christ ransom for all manner of people I asked have you received Christ and the gospel promises as your own some may have a misconception of what it means to be saved that merely it's just believing in God but salvation is more than merely acknowledging that there's God salvation is receiving Christ it's resting on Christ and what he has done in his work of redemption in his accomplishing of the work of redemption faith we're justified not by our works but by faith and faith is the receiving of Christ so what are we receiving that Christ has done how do we apply Christ redemption to ourselves make it personal make it our own I want to read Isaiah 53 and consider that as this applies to you and if you have not received

[41:47] Christ and the benefits and the promises of the gospel then know that these things have not been applied to those who have not received and by his stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he has oppressed!

[42:43] He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from a prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteousness my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore

[43:53] I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he has numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors let's pray our great God and Savior we praise you that you are an eternal God that you are an independent God that you are a saving God that you are a merciful God that you are a gracious God we know by virtue of you being creator that you are almighty that you are wise and that you are righteous God but you by you your grace you have condescended to reveal to us that you are a loving God that you are a merciful God that you are a gracious God we thank you that we see all your divine perfections in the face of Christ and the work of redemption in accomplishing the work of redemption for people who are purchased!

[44:52] as a possession to be transferred out of sin and misery out of darkness out of death out of condemnation and out of wrath into a marvelous kingdom of light and glory and life we thank you Lord that you divinely intervene and that you save us and all glory is due to you and all merit belongs to you I pray Lord that you would help us to ascribe to you the glory and the worship of which you are worthy of we thank you for all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places which belong to all those who are in Christ we thank you that you grant us faith that we may receive Christ rest on Christ and all the benefits of Christ as promised in the gospel and the work of redemption that being united to Christ divine justice has been satisfied that the debt which is owed for our transgressions has been paid in full divine justice satisfied and there is no longer condemnation for those who are in

[46:03] Christ there is one God and one mediator between God and man the Lord Jesus Christ pray these things in Jesus name amen