Prayer Service 9-11-24

Psalm 33:10–22 (ESV)

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;

14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

Prayers for our Nation on 9-11:

Repentance

Provision of godly leaders.

Protection from our enemies

Honest Elections

Imprecations against the evil within

Abortion

Attacks on the Nuclear Family

Sexual Revolution

Hostility toward Christianity (biblical)

Establishment of (true) Justice and Righteousness.

Personal Needs:

Gideon Daugherty: Digestive Problems

Sandra Ritz: Heart Issues

Annette Herrington: Unknown Illness

Dean Woodworth: Lou Gehrig’s, Cancer

Case Beasley: Colon Cancer

Hope, Jason, and Grandma Sanders

Expectant Mothers

Iva Lee, Allen, Jim, Leuna, Kathleen, Ty, and Roman.

The Atonement

A New Definition:

Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Atonement, Atonement Theories)

Atonement refers to God’s act of dealing with the primary human problem, sin. Both OT and NT affirm that sin has broken the relationship between God and humankind.

According to Christian theology, God accomplished the way of restoration through Christ’s death.

We’re operating (primarily)...

…within the framework of:

Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Atonement, Atonement Theories)

Penal substitution—Christ stood in the legal place of sinners, bearing the just punishment due us because we transgress God’s laws.

Elements of truth to many theories...

But, PRIMARILY: Penal and Substitutionary.

Theories on the Scope of the Atonement:

Remember this syllogism from John Owen:

The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

All of the sins of all people (Universalism)

Some of the sins of all people (General Atonement/Modern Evangelical View)

All of the sins of some people (Definite Atonement)

We have been Defending #3

-But, what about this Paradox:

3. Some passages speak of Christ’s dying for “all” men and of His death as saving the “world,”

yet others speak of His death as being definite in design and of His dying for particular people and securing salvation for them. — Steele, Thomas, and Quinn

Straight from the book:

There are two classes of texts that speak of Christ’s saving work in general terms:

(a) Those containing the word “world” . . .

(b) Those containing the word “all” . . .

— Steele, Thomas, and Quinn

World:

John 1:9 (ESV)

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:29 (ESV)

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 3:16 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:17 (ESV)

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 4:42 (ESV)

42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Why so much emphasis in John? (answer later)

1 John 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:14 (ESV)

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (ESV)

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them...

All:

All...

Persons (individually)?

Or...

Ages?

Races?

Sexes?

Classes?

Romans 5:18 (ESV)

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (ESV)

14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

1 Timothy 2:3–6 (ESV)

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Hebrews 2:9 (ESV)

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Some of these just need...

…to be interpreted in light of immediate context.

The ALL need to be interpreted...

…in light of other passages...

…that speak of the Atonement...

…in very definite and particular terms:

Matthew 1:21 (ESV)

21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 20:28 (ESV)

28 ...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 26:28 (ESV)

28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

John 10:11 (ESV)

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Acts 20:28 (ESV)

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Ephesians 5:25 (ESV)

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Romans 8:32–34 (ESV)

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Hebrews 9:15 (ESV)

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9:28 (ESV)

28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

An answer to the scope of “all:”

Revelation 5:9 (ESV)

9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

So, how do we reconcile the two threads?

One reason for the use of these expressions was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone.

Such phrases as “the world,” “all men,” “all nations,” and “every creature” were used by the New Testament writers to emphatically correct this mistake.

These expressions are intended to show that Christ died for all men without distinction (i.e., He died for Jews and Gentiles alike) but they are not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception (i.e., He did not die for the purpose of saving each and every lost sinner). — Steele, Thomas, and Quinn

When you plug that back in...

…I think that harmonizes a lot:

World:

John 1:9 (ESV)

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:29 (ESV)

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 3:16 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:17 (ESV)

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 4:42 (ESV)

42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Samaritans!

1 John 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jewish Apostles

Refutation of Gnostic Elitism

1 John 4:14 (ESV)

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Previous Verse:

1 John 4:13–14 (ESV)

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (ESV)

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them...

Context:

2cor5.17-19

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 (ESV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them...

Romans 5:18 (ESV)

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Next Verse:

Romans 5:19 (ESV)

19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (ESV)

14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

1 Timothy 2:3–6 (ESV)

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Hebrews 2:9 (ESV)

9 … by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Context:

Hebrews 2:8–10 (ESV)

8 ...Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone...

Hebrews 2:16–17 (ESV)

16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

For whom did Jesus:

Endure the wrath of God?

Take their guilt upon himself?

Die in their place?

Render satisfaction to divine Justice?

Rise from the Grave?

MAKE PROPITIATION?

Now intercede?

For His People...

From every nation!

From every kindred!

From every tribe!

From every tongue!

He’s the Savior of ALL Men!

There is no other!