1tim1v17

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READ: 1 TIMOTHY 1:1-20 TEXT: v17 [SERIES 4]

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul’s spirit erupted as he wrote this letter to Timothy
He has just related to him (doubtless again) his testimony i.e. how he came to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour (previous verses)
For a man so steeped in the deepest theology…(Read his epistles to the Romans/Ephesians) … Paul does not hesitate to go back to that which even the newest lamb in the fold can do: Relate how he was saved

A great European theologian came to America. He spoke in many churches and universities
One day in a question period someone asked, "Doctor, " with all of your knowledge/theology and the Bible, what is the greatest truth you have ever learned?"
The great man's eyes filled with tears as he said,
"I learned it at my mother's knee, 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so ...'

Paul hasn’t got beyond these things
What use is doctrine (I speak reverently) to someone if they have no saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?
Doctrine is but a means to an end
When we obey the doctrine (Romans 6;16) then it leads us to Jesus Christ who is the sum of all doctrine
To Him give all the Prophets witness (Acts 10:43)

Evidently, it wasn’t old hat to the Apostle either
As he relates (albeit in a few words) his testimony, his spirit erupts like a volcano into a whole torrent of praise (text)
Yes…he is getting excited! Presbyterians can get excited too!
It is not a sin to burst forth into the praise of God
Read the Hallelujah Psalms/David for good Biblical examples

Notice: His praise is not couched in childish/silly language
This is no mere sentiment here where Jesus is my boyfriend
The praise is spontaneous, but the language is solid
The praise/text is entirely objective
It relates to who God is and why He should be praised:

We have 5 things to observe from our text

1) THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD:
Unto the King

A/ In their sinful folly, the men/Thessalonica referred to Jesus as being another King – a rival king to Caesar (Acts 17:7)
In this, they took the lead from the Jews/Crucifixion;
We have no King but Caesar… (John 19:15)
Truly both Jew and Gentile have come together to reject Christ
But there is only overall King – King/kings and Lord/lords
And that King is Jesus Christ who saved Paul from his sins
He is not merely “a king” but “the king”

B/ Why is He called the King?
Simply because He reigns in His sovereignty
We ought not to limit the sovereignty/God to any one sphere
Some allow Him to reign in the sphere of creation and providence
Most Christians are very happy about this end/things
They first pray to Him and commit their way unto Him because they know that He (in His sovereignty) will bring things to pass
They carefully give Him all the glory for the things that happen
Not unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory (Psalm 115:1)
But the same Christians get a little queasy when the exact same principles are applied in the circumstances that lead to salvation

It seems that the most important matter of all must be left either up to blind chance or (worse) the whim of sinful men
This is not so:

C/ Consider the conversion of Saul/Tarsus as related
Why did Paul receive the effectual call/salvation on that fatal day and it appears that others with Him didn’t?
It cannot be his faith or repentance because:

[i] Saul was going down to Damascus to injure the Christians
[ii] Faith and repentance followed the effectual call i.e. they are the sinner’s response to it

The bottom line: Paul was called by sovereign grace
He was brought to the feet of the great King/Heaven

D/ Men gnash their teeth when you mention God’s sovereignty
They want a god they can manipulate and dictate to and mould according to their own whims
Just as we rubbish (as Isaiah did) the idolaters who made their god out of the leftover wood, so too we must rubbish the concept of a god who hands are bound by silken cords

If God is to be worshipped as God, then it is to be in His capacity as King/Kings for His name/definition can suggest nothing else

2) THE ETERNITY OF GOD:

Some render this text that God is the King/Ages i.e. eternal
Matters little which way we approach it – same outcome
These are truly high doctrines which form part/Paul’s praise

A/ If he has still his conversion by grace in mind, then he is thinking back to the fact that he was chosen in Christ before the foundation/world (Ephesians 1:4) i.e. in eternity past
However, it is likely that Paul has the whole truth in mind here

B/ We find it very hard to conceive of eternity
Like trying to pour/ whole Atlantic Ocean into a pint sized bottle
Cannot conceive of it for any length of time
Our little 3lb brains are so finite and time bound
We are regulated by the ticking of a clock denoting time
But God knows no such limitations, either before or afterwards
I’m sure Paul struggled intellectually with this concept as well
Not struggling intellectually with its truth (It must be true if God is to be God i.e. he cannot have a Maker)
But he struggled with the its great depth
But in his struggle, he did not walk away from it but he incorporated it into his praise of God
Let us work on what we can know of God in our praise
We know: God is from everlasting to everlasting, (Psalm 90:2)
He had no beginning and He has no end
Every thing with Him is in the present here/now

C/ Moses wanted to know by what name he should identify God to the enslaved Israelites in Egypt
What name would inspire/inflame them to rise up in hope and cast off the cruel bondage and get them into the Promised Land?
Jehovah had just the name that would do that:
Tell them: “I am” hath sent me unto you (Exodus 3:14)
The Great Eternal One is in charge of this operation

D/ I cannot leave this matter of the Eternity/God without a distinct and specific reference to Jesus Christ
An interesting incident took place in His life in John 8
He made reference to the fact that Abraham had saw his day
Jews were astounded! He was not yet 50 years old and yet spoke of an event thousands years before hand as one who was there
Thou art not yet 50 years old and hast thou seen Abraham?
Verily, verily, I say unto you: before Abraham was, I am
It is Jesus Christ’s claim to Eternal Deity
A fact witnessed by the Jews taking up the stones to kill Him

It is all here in this great swelling note of praise on Paul’s part

3) THE IMMORTALITY OF GOD:

A/ Another big theological word trips off Paul’s praising tongue
The word carries the thought of being beyond any decay
We know what the hymn writer said: Change and decay all around I see

Everything that has been created/made sees corruption
It loses its pristine glory and begins to run down and wear out
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (1 Peter 1:24)
Even this great universe with its mighty mountains and all its grandeur and great rolling rivers etc., is all subject to change
Eventually, it will roll up like a scroll and vanish away
But again: God is and cannot know any change

B/ God ultimately cannot change because change is an admission of certain weaknesses
What caused the reason for God to change?

[i] Did God not know beforehand – Is there new information?
If so, then God is not omniscient i.e. knowing all things

[ii] Has God come up against something He cannot deal with?
If so, then He is not Almighty and all powerful

[iii] Has God come across something which baffles Him?
If so, then He is not the all wise God/the Bible shows him to be

[iv] Has God come across something which happened/absence?
If so, He is not omnipresent i.e. in all places at one/same time

B/ AW Pink (Gleanings/Godhead) said of God’s Immutabiliy

[i] God is immutable in His essence
He is the Lord and He changes not (Malachi 3:6)
Is neither evolved, grown or improved – subject to no mutations
There is no wrinkle on the brow of eternity

[ii] God is immutable in His attributes
Already mentioned some of them
They are necessarily without any change
If God therefore loves us…it is with an everlasting love
Having loved His own which were in the world…unto the end (John 13:1)
Significant that God follows up His “I am the Lord/change not” (Malachi 3:6) with the words: “therefore ye…are not consumed”
If God was to fluctuate, we could not have any assurance
We might feel fine today but we would rise tomorrow with this spectre hanging over our heads that God could change
Once Judas professed to love Christ and bore His reproach
But one day came when Judas changed and sold Him out
Is that the kind of god we could worship?
Would that kind of god provoke Paul to praise as he did?

[iii] AWP continues: God is immutable in His counsel:
He never changes His mind or His plan
The gifts/calling of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29)
He is of one mind, who can turn Him? Whatsoever His soul desireth, even that He doeth (Job 23:13)
Objection: Does it not say that God repented that He made man?
Answer: Yes, but it is the language of accommodation
Just as the sun is said to rise/wane when we know that it is fixed, so God uses language that appeals to our eyes
Sometimes the road doubles back and the scenery radically changes, but the destination is always the same
Therefore the Bible specifically speaks of the immutability of His counsel (Hebrews 6:13)

[iii] AWP continues: God is immutable in His purpose:
This flows naturally from the idea of an unchanging counsel
God knows what He is going to do and sticks at it
You and I might have limited information
We lay our plans knowing that fresh information could scupper them all – for better or for worse
Therefore we guarantee no one anything
But when God purposes, then who can stay His hand?
There are no mitigating circumstances in the plan/God

C/ So Paul praises God for being immortal or immutable
He cannot know either in His person or His deeds any corruption

4) THE WISDOM OF GOD:

Not enough for Paul to mention God’s sovereignty etc.,
He must make mention that God is the only wise God also
Greek construction makes several translations possible

A/ It matters little whether we think of God as the only God or that we think of Him as the only wise God
It is not that there are other Gods in existence
But rather that the invented gods/wicked minds are folly
How can I invent a god in my imagination – equip him from the ill furnished cupboards of my own brain and then worship him?
The workman made it, therefore it is not God (Hosea 8:6)
Surely the maker is greater than the thing made?
Therefore the maker should be god rather than the thing made?

B/ Paul therefore takes great comfort in the wisdom of God
Who wants to be in the company of fools?
A companion of fools will be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20)
But it is to Paul’s great comfort and the theme of his song/praise that God is all wise and void of any folly
Figure/speech: Foolishness/God is wiser than the wisdom/men
He takes the wise in their own craftiness (1 Corinthians 1)

C/ No matter what plan is hatched against Him by devious men
Even the Devil (Most malignant brain/world) – cannot outwit Him
That’s what we need to hear and we hear it in this passage

5) THE PRAISE OF GOD:
Learn some basic principles here:

A/ Praise/God is to be built on Biblical principles
Chiefly we praise God for who He is
We should also praise Him for what He has done for us

B/ Our praise is to be designed to bring Him honour/glory
Not all praise does – and He doesn’t want it: Amos 5:23
Let us glorify Him in the way that He has designated
Let us be consistent in doing so: For ever/ever: Amen

THE END

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