Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I am going to be speaking to
you today from 1 Timothy chapter 1. If you would like to follow
along with me, we will be in 1 Timothy chapter 1. And one
verse will be our text. This is a favorite verse of mine. It's a powerful verse. This is a wonderful verse. And
it's verse 17, 1 Timothy 1, verse 17. It says, now unto the king
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honor
and glory forever and ever. Amen. That's a wonderful verse
of scripture. Wonderful. The apostle Paul is
the one who penned this. And he said in verse 15 that
he was the chief of sinners. And if you've never thought about
that and never pondered that, that's an amazing thing to hear.
The apostle Paul, we're talking about the apostle Paul, God's
apostle. He said, I am the chief of sinners. He announced it to everybody.
I'm the chief of sinners. He didn't say I was the chief
of sinners. He said, I am, I am the chief
of sinners. But in verse 16, he said, I obtained
mercy. I'm the chief of sinners, but
I obtained mercy because that's who Christ came to save. He came
to save sinners. And that's what I am. So he said,
I obtained mercy. And all of God's sinful people
who have obtained mercy, just like Paul did, through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of them have this to say
in return to the Lord who saved them. All of them. They say in
verse 17, now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Those final words, those concluding
words are sometimes referred to as a benediction. I'm sure
you've heard that before. Someone will give a benediction.
That's closing words, final comments. There are benedictions all over
this glorious book, God's Word, the Scripture. There are benedictions
all over the place. I want us to look at a few of
them. I want us to enjoy a few of these together, and then we'll
come back and look more closely at the one here in our text.
I want to begin with Numbers chapter six. If you're following
along with me, look with me at Numbers chapter six. Our Lord
is the one who gave this benediction. And he said in Numbers 6 verse
22, it says, The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron
and unto his sons, saying, On this wise shall you bless the
children of Israel, saying unto them. The Lord told Moses, I
want you to tell Aaron and his sons, the priests, to tell the
people. you tell the people." This is
my final words, my heart concluding words to my people, my chosen
people. Verse 24, he said, you tell them,
the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face
shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. He said, you tell
them that. You tell them that that's what I have to say to
them. Those are my final words to them. I will bless you. You tell them I said that. I'll
bless you. I'll keep you. I'll make my face
shine upon you. I'll be gracious unto you. I'll
lift up my countenance upon you and I'll give you peace. And
where does God do that for his people? In the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'll bless them in Christ. All
the spiritual blessings of God are found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will place them in Christ and
I'll bless them in him and I'll keep them in him. And I'll show
favor and kindness, make my face shine upon them all in the Lord
Jesus Christ. What a wonderful final word to
hear from the Lord. This one is a short benediction,
but I love how this one ends. If you look with me at Psalm
89, it says in Psalm 89 verse 52, blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and amen. Amen and amen. He said one amen
is not enough. David said, I have two things
to say about that, amen and amen. Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Blessed be the Lord. Over in
Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians 3 verse 20, It says, now unto him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think
according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now unto him that's able
to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. That's a glorious benediction.
That's a glorious benediction. I pray that God's final word
might reach the heart of a sinner who's crying, there's no hope
for me. There's no hope for me. I don't
see how God can have mercy on me after what I've done, after
seeing what I am continually. Just a wretched sinner. Well,
here's the word now unto him that's able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think. He's able to wash the vilest
offender, cleanse the vilest sinner, make him clean and pure
in the blood of the lamb and seat him on the throne with Christ.
That's amazing. That's just amazing. Hebrews
13, this is another good one. Hebrews 13 verse 20 says, now
the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of
the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work
to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. The God of peace. Now the God of peace, he said. What made him to be the God of
peace? Well, it says, he brought again
from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's what made him
to be the God of peace. He made peace, sinful man was
at war with him, enmity against him, the scripture says. And
that word is talking about you and talking about me. Every soul
on earth, including God's chosen people. All were at enmity against
him, enemies of him, at war with him but he broke down that middle
wall of partition between us and made peace. The father chose
a particular people to make peace with, he calls them his sheep
and he gave them to his son and his son died for the sheep. His
Son bore their rebellion and bore their enmity, bore their
iniquity, bore their sin, and God judged them in His own Son. And then the Spirit will call
every single one of those people back to fellowship and union
with God. And because of all that, they're
made perfect. in him and peace is made, the God of peace. And
let me show you one more. This is the book of Jude. There's
only one chapter in Jude, the end of Jude chapter one, verse
24. It says, now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only
wise God, our savior. Be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. These benedictions, these
concluding words, these are what God's people will be crying throughout
all eternity. They'll be crying, thank God
for these things. Thank God for these things. Across
my page here, Revelation 1, the end of verse 5 says, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father, to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Amen. That's what God's people will
be crying. They'll be crying, thou art worthy for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood. Thank God. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. God's people are going to cry
these heart concluding words. They're going to say, this is
the final word of my heart. And they're going to cry that
for all eternity. They'll cry it to Christ, their
savior for all eternity. And that includes the benediction
that we're going to look at for our text this morning. If you
go back with me to first Timothy chapter one, verse 17 says, now
unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I want to just break
this verse down and see what the Apostle Paul is writing in
that and as we say that, what we're saying in it. Number one,
who are we speaking to here? Who are we speaking to? Well,
it says, now unto the king. That's who we're crying to. We're
crying to the king. We're crying to the king. Now
unto the one who wears the crown. Now unto the one who is in control. Some of the greatest peace that
God's people will ever know on this earth is knowing that Christ
their King is in absolute control at all times. Even while the
apostle Paul was in prison, they'd throw him in prison for preaching
the gospel. He would say, God put me here. And he said, it's
for the furtherance of the gospel. At all times, in all things,
the King is in control. And that cry says, now unto the
one who's worthy to sit on the throne. He is on the throne. He's worthy to sit on the throne. That's who we're crying to. That
word king, when you look it up in the Bible dictionary, the
concordance that tells you the meaning, the original meaning
of these words, the word king means the sovereign. That's what it means, the sovereign. Now unto the sovereign, that's
who we're crying to. The sovereign, if a sinner ever
has his eyes open to see the Lord Jesus Christ as he truly
is, not how man wrongfully thinks he is. Most people think of him
wrongly. They don't have a correct view
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't know who he truly
is. Man has very foolishly and very ignorantly imagined him
to be less than what he truly is. If a sinner though ever has his
eyes open to see Christ in all of his glory, in all of his majesty,
this is what he's going to see. He's going to see the sovereign
The sovereign, not a simple, plain, weak man who's begging
others to help him and begging others to let him save them and
such on and so forth. When they see Christ as he is,
they're gonna see a sovereign king on a throne, reigning and
ruling over all things. They're gonna see the controller.
They're gonna see the Lord God Almighty. when they look at the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you a couple of men
who saw him as he is. All right, the first one is Job. Over in Job 42, it says in Job
42 verse five, Job said, I've heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor
myself. He said, now that I've seen you,
I hate myself. And I repent in dust and ashes. I've got a changed view of you. That's what repentance is. A changed mind on these things. A changed mind on who he is. And he said, I repent in dust
and ashes. He went on to say, I'm gonna
stop talking. I'm gonna stop talking, I'm a
fool, I see you as you are. Over in Isaiah chapter six, Isaiah
saw him, it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train
filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Isaiah said, then said I, as soon as I saw that, woe
is me. or I'm undone because I'm a man
of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. He said, I've seen the King now.
Over in Daniel chapter three, this tells us, this is the story
of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were thrown into the fiery
furnace And this tells us in verse 25, Nebuchadnezzar threw
them in and he looked into that fiery furnace, verse 25, and
he answered and said, lo, I see four men. He said, didn't we
throw in three? And they say, yeah, we did. We
threw in three. He said, well, I see four men loose walking
in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt. And the form
of the fourth is like the son of God. He looks like the son
of God. He looks like Jesus Christ. That's
who Nebuchadnezzar is dealing with. That's who's dealing with
Nebuchadnezzar. Now in chapter four, the Lord
dealt with him. He brought Nebuchadnezzar down
because of his pride. And then whenever he restored
Nebuchadnezzar, chapter four, verse 34, it says, at the end
of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation. and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
None. None can stay his hand or say,
what are you doing? Verse 36, he said, at the same
time, my reason returned unto me and for the glory of mine
kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me and my counselors
and my Lord sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom
and excellent majesty was added unto me. He said, the Lord put
me back in my place as the king over Babylon. Verse 37, now I
Nebuchadnezzar Praise and extol and honor the king of heaven,
all whose works are truth and his ways judgment and those that
walk in pride he's able to abase. He said, I promise you he is
able to abase. Nebuchadnezzar said, I thought
I knew what a king was. No, he said, now I've seen the
king. I've seen the king. We're dealing with the king of
kings. That's who we're dealing with.
One more, this is the man who penned our text over in Acts
chapter 9. It says, Saul, who became the
Apostle Paul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired
of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found
any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring
them bound unto Jerusalem. If he found anyone who was worshiping
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, and as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And
he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And Saul, trembling and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? What will you have
me to do? Lord, that means king, sovereign. What will you have me to do? He saw immediately, it's not
what I'm going to do with you. On his way to Damascus, he thought
he was having his way with this man, Jesus. But he saw immediately,
oh no, it's not what I'm going to do with you. It's what are
you going to do with me? Every soul who sees Christ as
he is will say that. What are you going to do with
me? He saw who was in absolute control
of him. And he said, I'm your servant.
You're not mine. I'm yours. If the spirit ever
reveals Christ as he is, that's what a sinner will say. Back
in first Timothy one, verse 17 says, now unto the king eternal. That means forever, forever. He is the king and he is going
to be forever. Whenever the angel told Mary
that she would have this child, Christ the king, he said of his
kingdom, there'll be no end. No end. By God's grace, the one
that his people want to be king, he will be king forever. Verse 17 says, now unto the king
eternal, immortal. That means uncorruptible. That means cannot die, cannot
decay, cannot be destroyed. He said, whoever lives and believes
in me will never die. Never. The reason he said that
is because he cannot die. He cannot. And in him, if the
father placed those people in him, whatever he is, they are. In him, we are immortal. First
Corinthians 15 says this mortal is going to put on immortality.
This corruptible is going to put on incorruption. Death is
going to forever be swallowed up in victory. in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in His immortality. Verse 17 says, Now unto the King,
eternal, immortal, invisible. That means His fullness and His
greatness and His majesty and His power and His glory, it'll
never fully be seen. Never. His glory is past finding
out. You cannot exhaust Him, the fullness
of Him. He is both visible seated on
His throne and He is invisible right now with His people. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, I'm in the midst of you. Verse 17 says,
now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. That's what God's people say.
That's what they cry, the only wise God, no other man. No other
man, they cry his word and his word alone. Only tell me what
he has to say. I only hear, I only believe what
you have to say, not what another man has to say. Verse 17 says,
now unto the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God
be honor. That means value. All value is
bestowed on him. It goes on to say, and glory,
that means all magnificence, all majesty, all praise, all
worship is bestowed on him. It goes on to say forever and
ever, as if forever is not long enough, it's forever and ever. And then he said at the end,
amen. Amen. That means that's the truth. That's what it means. Amen means
so be it. So be it. Amen means I wholeheartedly
agree. That's the truth. So be it. And I wholeheartedly agree. That
word amen again, when you look it up in the Bible dictionary,
it comes from the word that means I believe. I believe. That's what it comes from. It
comes from the word faithful, full of faith. I believe. I told you at the beginning of
this that Paul said in verse 15 that he was the chief of sinners. He said, this is a faithful saying. What that means is this is an
amen saying. This is an Amen saying. He said,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And every sinner
that he came into the world to save will cry, now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. 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, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.