Three Divine Alls.

THE children of God are to pray “for all men” (1 Tim. 2:11I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; (1 Timothy 2:1)), “for kings, and for all that are in authority.” This is the will of God concerning them.
It is a wonderful place to occupy, standing between God and men in the spirit of prayer and supplication Not merely that we may, “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty,” but with a view to their eternal blessing also; for we read,
“This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Saviour God, who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
Blessed fact! The heart of God goes out to “all men,” the gospel is to be preached to “every creature,” the grace of God that bringeth “salvation to all men” hath appeared, we are to pray for “all men.”
So when we are praying for “all men,” we are in sympathy with the blessed heart of God, who contemplates all men and desires their salvation. It is the loving gracious desire of His heart of love. How blessed then to be in touch with Him and His heart, and to be bounded by no narrower circle than He is. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Rest assured, beloved reader, that there is nothing on God’s part to hinder your present and eternal salvation. Quite the contrary: He desires it. God contemplates “all men” and desires their salvation.
Some imagine that there is something in God, in His counsels or purposes, in His plans or arrangements, in His dealings in some way to hinder their salvation. But how can that be when it is written, and God’s word is better ‘than our own thoughts, that He desires the salvation of “all men.”
No, the difficulty is found in another quarter. It is found in the will of man. “I would, but ye would not,” said the Saviour, as He beheld the city of Jerusalem, and “wept over it” (Matt. 23:3737O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)).
“Ye search the Scriptures,” said our Lord to the Jews, “for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me that ye might have life” (John 5:39, 4039Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:39‑40)).
“YE WILL NOT COME TO ME.”
God wills man’s salvation, and poor blinded man wills his damnation. He refuses all that God would bring him into, and save him from, and shuts himself up to a life of self-will here, and to the judgment of God hereafter. What a swift witness against himself and his own folly will he be when he stands at the bar of God, and discovers, when it is too late, his tremendous mistake!
Then see the world-wide provision that God has made to save man. “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” (1 Tim. 2:3-63For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:3‑6)).
Could anything be fuller, more world-wide, or blessed than this,
“WHO GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOM FOR ALL”?
He stepped into the breach, He placed Himself between a holy God and a world of guilty sinners, and gave Himself a ransom for all, the one available sacrifice for whosoever will.
For four thousand years this was foreshadowed in type and sacrifice, and since His death and resurrection are accomplished facts, for two thousand years it has been testified of. The Holy Spirit of God has borne witness to the mighty power of the sacrifice of Jesus to save the very vilest amongst the sons of men. Whoever avails himself of that precious sacrifice as the means of his salvation is accepted with God, for it is in the “Beloved that we are accepted, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)).
Our theme in glory will be, “Thou art worthy, for thou wart slain, and hast redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kingdom, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev. 5:99And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9)).
Reader, what will keep you out of heaven and shut you up in hell forever, is your own obstinate and perverse will. “Ye will not come to one that ye might have life,” is a word that should ring in your ears, and show you how the matter stands.
Friend, the saints of God are bidden to pray “for ALL men”; God “will have ALL men to be saved”; Christ “gave himself a ransom for ALL”; and can you, in spite of those three divine ails, rush on refusing all, and be lost forever?
If so, then in hell these “alls” shall be a witness against you forever.
But why go to hell when you can be saved and go to heaven and be happy forever?
May your eyes be opened.
E. A.