Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. We have been in 1
Timothy all day now. And this verse of scripture,
is a glorious benediction to everything that we've looked
at. This is a glorious benediction to anything that we could ever
look at, today or any day. This is the final say in the
heart of every redeemed sinner. I cannot tell you how much I
love this verse of scripture. This is, every time I preach
from this verse, I'm just so thankful. What a privilege to
preach, to read, to think on this verse of scripture. If we
could leave everything on a final note, it would be this note right
here. Verse 17, 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, it says, Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Is that not the stance of our
heart? Honestly, do we not stand right
there? Isn't that what we stand on? Now unto the King eternal. I want to, a benediction is a
final word. You know, this is our closing
word. I would love for my closing words. You know, David has his
last words. These are the last words of David.
Every man has his last words. I would love for these to be
our last words. May God put these words in our
heart and may we leave this world and go out into eternity crying,
now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I just love that. He said, now, right now, right
now, that is gonna be our cry throughout all of eternity. That's
gonna be our cry throughout all of eternity. That is the cry
of heaven. That's what heaven's crying.
That is the cry of glory. That's gonna be the cry throughout
the ages. But that's our cry right now. Now, unto. Boy, you wanna know where
we stand? You wanna know what our doctrine
is? You wanna know what our message is? What do y'all believe over
there? What do you preach over there? Here it is. Unto. Unto. It's all Two. I was just thinking about that
while we were singing those songs. I love those songs. And I was
thinking, Lord, if you would let us worship you one more time,
oh, we would be so blessed. If you would let us enter into
a heart that cries two, it's all of him, through him, to him. All of it. Not unto us, oh Lord. Not unto us. That's our cry right
now. Right now. And that cry will
never change. That will never go away. That's gonna be our cry throughout
all of eternity. Not unto us. It's all unto Him. It is all 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. We enter into
that sometimes now. I cannot wait to enter into that
in sinless, spotless glory. with no hindrance of the flesh,
the total liberty of the spirit, crying, it's all to that one
right there who's seated on the throne. And I'm looking at him
and I see him. It's all to the one seated on
the throne, the King eternal. The King eternal, now unto the
King eternal. I sincerely receive so much comfort
and so much happiness knowing that He is the King eternal. I do, I personally do. What that
means is He will be our King forever. He's gonna be our King
forever. That's wonderful knowing that,
isn't it? Turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah 9. We quoted this this morning. And we read these verses not
too long ago. but I want to read it again because
it just gives me so much peace. This gives me so much peace.
Isaiah nine, verse six, it says, for unto us, a child is born
unto us, a son is given and the government, this is the king
we're talking about. The government shall be upon
his shoulder. And His name shall be called
Wonderful. Who will call Him this? God the
Father will call Him this. God the Spirit will call Him
this. Every cherubim, seraphim, angel, and saint in glory. His name is Wonderful. Counselor,
He's our Counselor. The Mighty God. This one who
was born, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Now watch verse seven. Of the
increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end. It's not just that he will remain
in office forever, and there will be peace forever, but it's
going to increase. He's gonna be the increasing
high king of glory. He's gonna be higher and higher.
The longer we go, the longer we see him, the longer we hear
him, he's only gonna get higher and higher and higher in everything
that we learn of him. Our view of him is just, It's
going to increase and His peace is going to just increase, just
peace upon peace upon peace. Great peace. Verse seven says
of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no
end 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. Now watch this. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal of the Lord of hosts.
Romans 10 talks about man having a zeal, having a fervent heart,
a fervent zeal. Spirit to do something. He has
a zeal, but Romans 10 says man's zeal is all wrong. He has a zeal, but his zeal will
not accomplish what man is desiring for his zeal to accomplish because
he's ignorant in his zeal. It's not according to knowledge.
Man has a zeal, but it's not according to knowledge. And every
time it leads man to failure. Well, the Lord of hosts has a
zeal too. He has a fervent spirit, a fervent
heart for something. The Lord Jesus Christ, He has
a zeal too, the King eternal. And it's nothing like man's zeal.
It's a zeal that performs its desire. It's a zeal of knowledge. It's a zeal of accomplishment
according to righteousness. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
is to establish His throne and His kingdom with judgment and
justice forever, with liberty and justice for all. And the
zeal of the Lord will perform that very thing. Of the increase
of his government and peace, there shall be no end. I believe
it. I cannot wait to know it and
experience it. I just cannot wait. Now, what shall we say to these
things? Here's the only thing we can say to it. Now unto the
King eternal. Now unto the King eternal. Do you know what the word King
means? It literally translates sovereign soul reign. Isn't that what we want? Isn't that the way we want it
to be? Isn't that what brings absolute joy and peace to us? Him having soul reign. That's what I want. I want him
to have soul reign. That's good that we want that
because that's what he has. He has soul reign. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. And man, we're glad. Nothing
brings us greater joy. Nothing brings us greater peace
than hearing and knowing and being reminded of that. Look
with me, if you would, at Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52 verse 7 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 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 nations, and
all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Now unto the King eternal. Now if He is the King Eternal,
this stands to reason. Alright, if He is the King Eternal,
this stands to reason. But go back to our text, 1 Timothy
chapter 1. 1 Timothy 1 verse 17 says, now
unto the King eternal, immortal. Immortal means cannot die, will
not die, cannot die. Our hope of salvation lies in
that right there. He ever liveth. He told John,
I love how whenever the Lord put John, the apostle John on
the Isle of Patmos, John was at the end of his life and the
Lord appeared to him and told him, what I show you, you write
it down. It's now known as the book of
Revelation. And it says, John was there on
the Lord's day, and he heard behind him a trumpet, this voice
talking. And when he turned around, he
saw this one who had eyes of fire and hair like wool, and
this was the Son of God. And fear came over him, and he
fell at his feet as a dead man. And the Lord Jesus Christ put
his hand on him and said, fear not, it's I. I am, I was dead. I died for
you. But now I have risen. I'm alive
forevermore. He ever liveth. That's our hope. He ever liveth. If we live in him and he ever liveth because he
lives, We live also. As long as He lives, we live
too. That's our hope. If we live and
move and have our being in Him, if He is our life, if our life
is hid with God in Christ, the foundation of our hope and our
assurance and our security, it's in the fact that He ever lives.
He is the immortal one. Turn with me over to Hebrews
7. Hebrews 7. Verse 19. It says, For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the
which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an
oath, He was made priest. Who is that talking about? Christ
our High 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. The Lord raised up these high
priests in the Old Testament as a picture of Christ, the one
who would make intercession to God for us, the one who would
bring blood on our behalf to pay for our sin debt. And all
of those priests throughout the Old Testament, they would live
a little while and they would die. And another one would come
along and live a little while and they would die. And the next
one would come along. Verse 24 says, but this man, Because he continueth forever,
he has an unchangeable priesthood. Nobody's taking his place. 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. He traded places with us. He
became us, 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, first for his own sins and then
for the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. Now unto the King eternal. This
is the prophet, priest, and king. Now unto the King, eternal, immortal. Along with meaning ever living,
that word also means incorruptible. And that goes with the next word
in our text, which is invisible, immortal, invisible. Without spot, without blemish
of any kind, as pure as light, As pure as light, you can't see
light, it's invisible. You can only see the reflection
of light. It's just too pure. Well, that's our King Eternal.
He is uncorrupted, undecaying, not corruptible, immortal, invisible,
incorruptible. As our Lord laid in the grave
for his people, he was bearing their punishment for their sin.
This was his prayer to the Father in that moment of suffering.
Psalm 16 recorded it for us. And this is a few lines throughout
the Psalm. He said, preserve me, O God. While he was laying there on
behalf of his people, he prayed, preserve me, O God. He said,
the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, favorably. That's amazing, isn't
it? He said, therefore, my heart
is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope
for thou will not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer
thine holy one to see corruption. His glorious body is incapable
of seeing corruption. And in him, as he is, so are
we. When it says he became us, who
was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, when he
traded places with us, that's what we got. When we got righteousness,
we got holiness, harmlessness. undefiled, separate from sinners,
removed from sin. As He is, so are we. Turn with
me over to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 16 says, 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 firstfruits
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. Every soul
that the Father placed in Christ is made alive. Look with me now
at verse 45. It says, And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam, which is
Christ, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not
first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward
that which is spiritual. 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 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 doth 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. 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."
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, incorruptible. Go with me back
to 1 Timothy 1. Verse 17 says now unto the King,
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. I want to emphasize, emphasize
the word only the only wise God, the only wisdom
that there is. The only knowledge and understanding
that there is, the only wise God. Everything that He does
is so wise. We're gonna really understand
that one day. Everything that He does is so
wise. We look at something that we just consider to be absolutely
horrific. And we know that our King sovereignly
reigned over it. We know that He is the one who
allowed it. It was all done according to
His will, His decree, but this is what we think. I wonder why
He allowed that to happen. I wonder why He did it that way.
Here's the reason why. It was the only way that was
wise. That's why. It was the only way that was
wise. Everything that he does is wise. Whatever it is, it can
and will be said and is said that was wise. Everything he
does is right. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? He knows the end from the beginning
because he's the one who ordered the end from the beginning. He
is the only wise God. May He teach us to trust Him,
really trust Him. Verse 17 says, now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. This King eternal is God. And
to Him be honor. That word translates value. I'm gonna tell you where all
the value is in heaven. All the worth, everything of
any value, it's all in the person of the King Eternal. All value. Oh, the value of His blood, the
value of His body, the value, all of it is on Him. To Him be
honor. Verse 17 says, and glory. That word means praise. That
word means worship. I love worshiping Him. God's
people love worshiping Him. They are so thankful when the
Spirit gives them moments of worship. And they know God overruled
my flesh and He overruled my mind and He overruled my heart
and He let me worship. We love worship. All value, all
praise, all worship. May all of it be on our Lord,
our Savior, our King, Jesus Christ. Verse 17 says, forever and ever. This will be our heart and our
stand on the matter forever and ever. Thank God. Thank God He
won't let us fall away from this one stance. He will not let us
fall away. He will never let, This praise
grow old. He'll never let it grow tired.
Never. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. That means, so be it. That's the way I want it. I wholeheartedly
agree. Amen literally translates, I
believe. That's what it means when somebody
says, amen, they're saying, I believe, amen. I believe that's the most
glorious benediction. the most glorious final word
that a child of God could have on the subject of Christ, the
gospel, salvation, everything our God has done for us to redeem
him to himself. May all honor, all glory, all
praise for everything be unto him. Amen. All right.