Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of Sovereign Grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to follow along
with me in your Bible today, I will be speaking to you from
1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. The gospel message is who Christ
is and what he has done to redeem his people from their sin. That's what the gospel message
is. Who Christ is and what he has done to redeem his people
from their sin. And this verse of Scripture is
the response of the child of God to that message. In hearing
that wonderful news and having a heart of faith and conviction
and belief and thankfulness, this is the response of every
child of God to that gospel message. Here is the final say in the
heart of every redeemed sinner, redeemed in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. If God's people could leave everything
on a final note, it would be this note right here. 1 Timothy
1 verse 17 says, now unto the King eternal. immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I love that verse of scripture. I say amen to that verse of scripture. It truly touches and blesses
my heart. Paul said, now, that's how he
started that verse, now, right now. That will be the cry of
God's people throughout all of eternity. That's the cry of heaven,
that's the cry of glory, that will be the cry throughout the
ages, but that's our cry right now. All of God's people cry
that very same thing right now. Now. Unto. It's all to. It's of Him. It's through Him. It's to Him. Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us. That's our cry right now. And
that cry will never change. That cry will never go away.
That will be the cry of God's people throughout all of eternity. Not unto us, unto him. Unto him that loved us and gave
himself for us. Unto him that washed us in his
own blood. Thou art worthy. For thou was
slain and redeemed us to God by thy blood. It's all to the
one who is seated on the throne. It's all to him, the King eternal. The King eternal. Paul said,
now unto the King eternal. I sincerely personally receive
so much comfort and so much happiness knowing that he is the king eternal. I am so thankful for that. That
means he will forever be the king. He will forever be the
king of his subjects, the king of his people. Isn't it wonderful
knowing that? Turn over to Isaiah nine with
me. If you have your Bible there, look with me at Isaiah chapter
nine. I love this verse. There are two verses here and
it's so good. Isaiah nine, verse six says for
unto us, a child is born. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ unto us. A son is given and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Now listen to verse seven. Of
the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no
end. It will just keep increasing
and increasing. upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this increase in government, in peace, as he reigns
on the throne. Romans 10 talks about man having
a zeal and he is wrong in it. Man has a zeal of God, but he's
wrong in it. And it says that zeal will not
accomplish what man desires in his zeal. Because he is ignorant
in his zeal. That's what Romans 10 says. Mankind
is ignorant in his own zeal. It's not according to knowledge.
And every time it leads man to failure. Well, the Lord of hosts
has a zeal too. The Lord Jesus Christ has a zeal. The King Eternal. has a zeal
and it's nothing like man's zeal. It is a zeal that performs its
desire. It is a zeal of knowledge and
accomplishment according to righteousness. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
is to establish his throne and establish his kingdom with judgment
and justice forever. forever and the zeal of the Lord
will perform that very thing. Of the increase of His government
and peace there shall be no end. What shall we say then to these
things? What else can we say? But now unto the King eternal. Unto the King eternal. The word
king, it literally translates, when you look up the definition
of that word, it translates sovereign. That's what it translates, sovereign. The word sovereign means sole
reign. Sole means one person reigns. If someone is sovereign, that
means they're in charge. They're the only one who reigns.
And is that not what we want? That's what I want. That's the
way that I want it to be. I hope and trust that's the way
you want it to be. That brings absolute joy and
peace to God's people. Him having soul reign. I want him to have soul reign. If all of us desire for Him to
have sole reign, that's a good thing because He has it. It's
a good thing for us to desire that because either way, He has
it. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. He reigns, He rules. Nothing
brings God's people greater joy. Nothing brings God's people greater
peace than hearing and knowing and being reminded of the fact
that the Lord our God reigns. He is reigning, He is ruling. Look with me at Isaiah 52. Isaiah
chapter 52, verse seven. It says, how beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Thy God reigneth. Thy watchman shall lift up the
voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break
forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord hath comforted his people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations. and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God. I love that so much. I especially
love that last verse. I can't help but think about
this and you may enter into this with me. But when I was a child,
when I was a young child, you know, four years old, four or
five years old, I can remember so often going up to my dad.
He'd get home at the end of a day at work and, you know, get a
shower and be relaxing and all of that, all of those things
that we do. And I would come up to him and
I asked him this question time and time again, dad, show me
your muscle. I wanted to see that muscle.
And he would do it. He'd pull his sleeve up and he'd
hold his arm up. And he'd show me his muscle and
I'd lay my two little hands on that muscle and I think that's
the biggest muscle I've ever seen in my life. So much strength
there. So much safety there. So much
comfort there. And that's exactly how God's
people feel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. our strength, our
comfort, our safety. Verse 10 right here says, the
Lord hath made bare his holy arm. That's Christ. Christ is
the right hand, the right arm of God, our father. The Lord
hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and
all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God,
the strength, the security, of our salvation, it's in Christ. And that's where our comfort
comes from. Now unto the king eternal. Now unto the king eternal,
that's the heart and the desire and the cry of all of God's people.
Well, back in our text, back in first Timothy chapter one,
verse 17 says now unto the king eternal, immortal. Immortal. That word means cannot
die. That's what immortal means. Cannot
die, will not die. Our hope of salvation lies in
that right there. He ever liveth. That brings so
much comfort. He ever liveth. If we live in
him and he ever liveth, Because He lives, we live also. We ever
live. If He ever lives, and He is our
life, we ever live in Him, with Him. As long as He lives, we
live too. If we live and move and have
our being, that's what the scripture says, He's our life. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. That's what the scripture says.
And if that's the case, then the foundation of our hope and
assurance and security is in the fact that He ever lives. He's the immortal one. Look with
me at Hebrews 7. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 19,
it says, The law made nothing perfect. And I wish that the
Lord would really teach us that and reveal that to men and women
everywhere. Men and women naturally believe
that the law is what makes us perfect before God, obeying the
law. The law didn't make anyone perfect,
it never has. The law exposed sin. That's the reason why God gave
his law, not for us to follow it and be holy and perfect before
him. Verse 19 says, the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. That's
Christ by the witch. We draw now unto God. We come
to God through Christ our Lord. Verse 20 says, and in as much
as not without an oath, he was made priest for those priests
were made without an oath, but this with an oath. By him that
said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better Testament, and they truly were
many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. All of those priests throughout
the Old Testament, they would live and carry out that office
for a little while, and they would die, and then another priest
would come along and take over, and that one would die, and then
another one would come along, and his time would be over. And
every man who stood, there came a point where his time was over.
And the next one, his time was over. The time is never going to be
over for the Lord Jesus Christ. Never. Verse 23 says, they truly
were many priests because they were not suffered to continue
by reason of death. But this man, because he continueth
ever hath an unchangeable priesthood. wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest
became us, became his people, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. who
needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice
for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did
once when he offered up himself. In Revelation 1 verse 18, he
said, I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive
forevermore. He said, I accomplished death
once. I accomplished it. I accomplished
the end of it once. Never to die again. Never again. That makes God's people cry,
now unto the King eternal. Immortal. Immortal. Along with meaning ever living,
the word immortal means incorruptible. incorruptible. And that goes
along with the next word in our text, which is invisible. That's what 1 Timothy 1.17 says,
Now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, without spot, without blemish
of any kind, as pure as light. You know, you can't see light.
Light exists, but you cannot see light. It's invisible. You can only see what light is
reflecting off of. It's too pure. Light is just
too pure to physically see it. That's our King Eternal. He is
uncorrupted, undecaying. not corruptible at all. It's
not possible that he should see corruption at all. He is immortal. He is invisible. He is incorruptible. As our Lord laid in the grave
for his people, bearing the punishment for the sins of his people, this
was the prayer that he prayed to the Father in that moment.
in that moment of suffering, in that moment of death. In Psalm
16, it quotes our Lord saying, "'Preserve me, O God. "'The lions
are fallen unto me in pleasant places. "'Therefore my heart
is glad and my glory rejoiceth. "'My flesh also shall rest in
hope, "'for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.'" Neither will
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. You will not. His glorious body is incapable
of seeing corruption. And in Him, as He is, the scripture
says, so are we. So are His people. Whatever He
is, That's what his people are in him. That's glorious. What is he? Well, he's incorruptible. He's immortal. He's invisible.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. It says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse
16, if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, you are yet in your
sins. Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is
Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them
that slept. For since by man came death,
By man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Just like
every soul in Adam, every soul that came from Adam, born in
Adam dies, every soul that is in Christ. Is that every soul
on earth? No. Every soul on earth is in
Adam, but every soul on earth is not in Christ. Every soul
that God the Father placed in Christ, every soul born in Christ
lives. In Adam, all die. In Christ,
all are made alive. Right here in 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 45 says, and so it is written, the first man Adam was made a
living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. The last Adam, speaking of Christ.
How be it that was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural. And afterward, that which is
spiritual. And that's how it is in us. We're
born into this world first, naturally. And then in time, we are quickened
by God's Spirit, quickened by Christ. Verse 47 says, the first
man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. As Adam was, that's how every
soul in Adam is. As Christ is, that's how every
soul in Christ is. Verse 49, as we have borne the
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. There will
come a point when the Lord returns that every soul that has gone
on to be with Him will rise from the ground, and there will be
men and women standing on the earth who have not physically
died and left this world, And the saints in Christ will rise
from the ground and be gathered there with the saints that are
still on earth to see the Lord in the air, to meet the Lord
in the air. Again, verse 52 says, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, the last trump for the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. I
love that. I love the sound of that. Verse
55 says, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? This flesh is so naturally afraid
of death, afraid of the grave. And I understand that because
I'm flesh. But every soul in Christ, when
that time comes, is going to say, where's the sting of it? Where's the victory of it? This
is not death. This is life. Going on to be
with Him is life. It's not death at all. Verse
55 again. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. But
if sin is gone, the sting is gone. The strength of sin is
the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto
God. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, incorruptible. Our text goes on to say, the
only wise God, the only wisdom there is, the only knowledge
there is, the only understanding there is, the only wise God,
everything he does is so wise. He reigns and rules over everything. And we see things that happen
and they seem to be horrible to us. They seem to be terrible
to us. And we think, why would that
happen? If he reigns and rules, why would he allow that to happen?
Here's the reason why. It's the only thing that was
wise in that moment. We may not understand it, but
he does. He is all wise. Everything he
does is wise. Everything he does is right.
Shall not the judge of the earth do right? He knows the end from
the beginning. He ordained the end from the
beginning. He's the only wise God. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God. This King eternal is God. To
Him be honor, value, worth. The text goes on to say glory.
all glory, all praise, all worship. May all of it be to our Lord
and Savior, our King, Jesus Christ. He went on to say forever and
ever. And I pray that will be our heart.
I pray that'll be our heart's cry now and forever. Amen. Amen. Do you know what that word amen
means? I love this. It means, so be it. It means,
that's the way I want it. I wholeheartedly agree. And it
literally translates, it comes from a root word that literally
translates, I believe. That's what amen means. When
you say amen, what you're saying is, I believe. That's what you're
saying, I believe. I believe he's the king, eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God. He deserves all the
honor, all the glory, all the praise forever and ever. Amen. I believe that's the most
glorious benediction that a child of God could have on the subject
of Christ being our salvation, the gospel of our salvation.
I pray the Lord will give us all a heart to say that. Amen. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.