‘NOW TO THE KING ETERNAL’

Posted by Angella Diehl, Webmaster on November 24, 2024 under 2024 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message from November 24, 2024 from 1 Timothy 1:17

Theme: We owe our greatest thanks to the heavenly Father for salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we’ll be continuing our study of 1 Timothy by looking at just one verse. But in the providence of God, it’s the perfect verse for us to be looking at together as we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s the apostle Paul’s exclamation of praise to God that we find in 1 Timothy 1:17;

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17).

I’ve been very excited for us to look at this one verse together. It’s a rather short verse … but it’s a very full one. As we will see, it reminds us that—with all the other things we believers should be giving thanks for—the greatest thanks we should give is for our salvation. And not only that, but this verse also tells us Who it is that we ought to thank … and how we ought to thank Him!

This verse reminds us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that if we don’t give God our Father thanks—most of all—for His gracious gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, then we’re simply not celebrating Thanksgiving as we should!

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Now; these words from the apostle Paul constitute what is called a ‘doxology’. That’s a name that comes from putting two Greek words together—the word doxa, which means ‘glory’ or ‘praise’; and logos, which means ‘word’ or ‘saying’. So; a doxology is a ‘praise-utterance’—a deliberate and carefully arranged expression of praise to the glory and honor of God. You’ll find many ‘doxologies’ in the New Testament—several of them from the apostle Paul. And this is one of them.

But it’s important to know why it was that he wrote down this particular ‘praise-utterance’. He had been writing to his young ministry colleague Timothy about protecting the precious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were false teachers who had been making their way into the churches that Timothy was caring for; and those false teachers were telling people that there were other ways to be saved than by faith in Jesus Christ. They had been teaching people that they could make themselves worthy of God’s favor by embracing various philosophies, or by paying attention to phony visions, or by chasing after their genealogical ancestries, or even by carefully and strictly observing the laws and ceremonies of the Old Testament. These were all false ways of making one’s self worthy of salvation by one’s own efforts. And so, Paul urged Timothy to make sure that there was ‘no other doctrine’ taught in the church than the one that alone saves the soul—that is, the good news of how God sent His Son into this world to take the guilt of our sins upon Himself and pay for them on the cross—and how we must each personally embrace His sacrifice for us by faith.

Many people don’t like the doctrine of the cross. It forces them to come to terms with the fact that they are lost and needy before a holy God—that their sins have made them horribly guilty before Him—and that there’s no way that they can earn God’s favor or save themselves by their own efforts. It tells them that they must humble themselves before Him and say, “God in heaven, my sins are so bad that unless You save me, I cannot be saved!”; and to then trust exclusively in the payment that the Lord Jesus made on the cross to atone for their sins—and to no longer count on their ‘good deeds’ to save them. But even though people don’t like the thing that the cross tells them about themselves, it’s truly the only message that can save people from their sins, and that can transform their lives. That’s why Paul urged Timothy not to let ‘any other doctrine’ be taught in the church but the doctrine of salvation by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Paul himself was gloriously saved by that doctrine. He reminded Timothy of how much it had transformed his own life. As Paul told Timothy in verses 12-16;

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

Paul’s words in verses 12-16 show us that no one can ever be so much of a sinner that they can’t be saved if they will place their faith in what Jesus did on the cross. His point was that if Jesus could save someone like him so completely from all of his sins—transforming him from being a blasphemer and a persecutor of the church and an insolent man and into an apostle and preacher of the gospel—then Jesus can save absolutely anyone who puts their trust in Him!

And thinking about the greatness of God’s gracious gift of salvation—both for himself and for others—was what made Paul burst forth into that glorious doxology in verse 17;

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; that brings the matter down to a personal level. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ—if you have sincerely trusted in the payment He made on the cross for your sins, and have experienced the forgiveness of God—if you know, by experience, what it is to be washed completely clean inside before God and to now be 100% acceptable in His sight as His gift to you—then you know that you’ve got the greatest reason there is to be thankful! There are lots of things that we ought to give thanks to God for on this holiday—such as our loved ones and friends, good food, a place to live, clothing, health, strength to work, a good church, and the freedom to attend it … the list of things we ought to give thanks for in terms of the things of this world can go on and on. But as a sinner—who was formerly alienated from God and who was destined for eternal judgment—I can tell you that none of those other things can compare with the joy of feeling clean inside before God! None of those other things can compare with experiencing joyful fellowship with Him and resting in His love! None of those other things together can possibly compare with the peace that comes from knowing that you’re not only not going to go to hell when your life on earth is over—but that you’re absolutely going to heaven to bask in the glory of Jesus forever … and all as a gift of His unmerited grace!

As the words of this doxology show us, we owe thanks to the heavenly Father—most of all—for His gracious gift of salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

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Now; you can divide the words of this verse up into two main subjects: first, Who it is that we ought to thank for salvation; and second, how it is that we ought to thank Him.

So; notice first …

1. WHO IT IS THAT WE OUGHT TO THANK.

At the very beginning of this letter, Paul referred to God the Father as “God our Savior”; so we should take him as speaking specifically of God the Father in this verse. And in the translation that I’m using, Paul described God as, “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise …” There are four things that he says about the Father in the words of this doxology—and all four of them teach us something about the Father that gives us reason to give thanks to Him for our salvation.

First, Paul calls Him “the King eternal”.  These words are meant to convey one basic idea to us; and that is that God the Father is the Ruler of the ages. In the original language of Paul’s words, he calls God the Father “the King of the ages”; or more literally “the King of the eons”. And it’s very important for you to know that—in the original language of Paul’s letter— he put that in the plural form. He didn’t simply say that God was ‘King of the age’ as if He were ruler over one singular age only. The translation I’m using has Paul saying, “the King eternal”; but not even that captures the idea in the fullest way. What Paul actually said was that God the Father is ‘King of the ages‘—meaning King of all of the ages and of all of the eons, from before time, and after time, and all the time between. He not only exists throughout all ages, and before all ages, and after all ages, but He is Ruler and Monarch over all the ages and over all that occurs in all those ages! He is absolutely supreme and exists above and over all time and history; seeing to it that all that occurs is arranged according to His sovereign will, so that His eternal plan and design are fully accomplished.

And why is that important to our salvation? Why does that give us reason to thank Him? It’s because if we are saved by His grace through faith in His Son Jesus, then it’s ultimately because it’s according to the Father’s plan before time. It’s absolutely true of course that, if we are saved, it’s because we intentionally put our faith in Jesus as an act of our will. But if we have placed our faith in Jesus, it’s ultimately because it was according to His plan before time to save those who believe. As the apostle Paul put it in Romans 16:25-27—in another one of his wonderful doxologies;

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen (Romans 16:25-27).

As the apostle John put it in 1 John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” And dear brothers and sisters, this is the God to whom we owe thanks for our salvation—the King eternal, who crafted the plan of our salvation by the gift of His Son before the world began!

Second, Paul calls Him “immortal”. That may sound like he’s saying the same thing as in the first description—that God the Father is ‘the King eternal’; that is to say, ‘immortal’. But once again, it helps us to know what Paul said in the original language. The word that He used to describe God the Father is one that means “incorruptible” or “not subject to decay”; that is, not in any way able to perish or experience diminishing. This is describing God as not only the sovereign Ruler and Monarch of all the ages, but also a Ruler and Monarch who will never change or alter from who He is and has always been.  He is the unchanging Father—and in that specific sense, is truly “immortal”.

Think of what it tells us about God the Father in James 1:17.  That’s where Pastor James wrote;

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17).

That speaks of God the Father’s unchanging and unalterable nature. There is no variation in His being or character. What He was before time began is what He will always be throughout eternity. Think of how it would be if you placed a candle on a table that shined on a vase. That vase would cast a shadow on the wall; and you could then shift the shadow—ever so slightly—by just a tiny shift in the placement of the candle. But that will never happen with God our Father. There will never be even the faintest ‘shadow of turning’ with Him.

The psalm writer also spoke of this in Psalm 102 when he praised God and said;

Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end (Psalm 102:25-27).

And then, as if to speak to why this is important to our salvation, the psalmist added this:

“The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You” (v. 28).

So; what does God’s unchanging nature have to do with our salvation? It means that if God our Father—who saved us—never changes, then neither will our salvation. We will be established in that salvation forever. It will never fail, because He Himself will never change.  He has saved us by faith in His Son—just as He has planned from before eternity; and so, we never need to be afraid that He will alter over time or change His plan.  We owe Him thanks; because He who has begun a good work in us through faith in Jesus Christ will absolutely see it all the way to completion—and will not change.

A third thing that Paul says about God the Father is that He is “invisible”.  There’s a great mystery involved in that quality of God. But we find it often said of Him in the Bible. When Moses asked to see God, God told Him in Exodus 33:22, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Instead, He put Moses in the cleft of the rock, covered him with His hand, and passed by—declaring His holy character and nature. But God remained “invisible”—even to a great and holy man like Moses. He is the invisible One upon whom frail human beings cannot gaze.

But to say that He is invisible to the human eye doesn’t mean that He is “unknowable”.  As it says in John 1:18; “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” In John 14:9, Jesus told His disciples, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father …” As it tells us in Colossians 1:15, Jesus Himself is “the image of the invisible God”. So it wouldn’t be true at all to say that we cannot know about God the Father or—in a qualified way—’see’ Him; because Jesus Himself has revealed to us everything that we need to know about the Father in order to be saved by Him.  Jesus has revealed to us all that we need to know in His own Person as He walked upon this earth. But there’s a sense in which we can only know so much about God the Father—only what is revealed to us—and yet not fully know Him in the majestic depths of the fullness of His being. We will never be able to fathom the depths of God the Father, nor find out the fullness of His being to perfection. He will always be greater than we can know.

In another one of his great doxologies—found in 1 Timothy 6:15-16—the apostle Paul described God the Father as

He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen (1 Timothy 6:15b-16).

He is invisible in the sense that He dwells in such glorious holiness—such ‘unapproachable light’—that sinners such as you and me could never draw near to Him or understand Him except by His grace. And that gives us yet another reason why we ought to give Him our thanks. We sinners are permitted—through faith in Jesus—to draw near and have fellowship with the invisible God. As it tells us in Hebrews 10:22, we can now—through faith in Jesus—

draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22).

And that leads us to one more thing that Paul tells us about God the Father; and that is that—as it’s put in the translation I’m using—He is “God who alone is wise”.  I say that this is how it’s put in the translation I’m using; because the word “wise” isn’t found in all translations.  Some ancient copies of Paul’s letter have it simply that He is “the only God”.

But whichever way it was that Paul said it—either that He is “the only God”, or that He is “God who alone is wise”—both would certainly be true. He is the only wise God. And both ways of understanding Paul’s words would give us reason to thank Him for our salvation. He alone is God; and if He chose to save us by faith in His Son, then no one can alter His choice or undo what He has done for us. If He is for us, who can be against us? And because He is God who alone is wise, He knows with full understanding the magnitude of our sin and the depth of our need.  He knows how best to provide full salvation for each one of us who believe, and to wash us completely clean by faith in His Son.  He knows how to transform each one of us who trusts Jesus into the holy people He wants us to be, and to conform us perfectly into the image of His Son in eternal glory.

When the apostle Paul thought about the stunning wisdom of God in crafting our salvation, he burst forth into yet another glorious doxology.  It’s found in Romans 1:33-36; where he wrote;

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33-36).

It would require the infinite wisdom of no one less than almighty God to save sinners such as you and me. And the God who has graciously provided salvation for us, through His Son, truly is the only wise God. We owe Him our thanks!

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So; there’s what Paul’s doxology tells us about this God who is our Savior.  He is the Ruler of the ages, the Unchanging Father, the Invisible One, and the only wise God.  That’s to whom it is that we owe our greatest thanks.

And notice briefly …

2. HOW IT IS THAT WE OUGHT TO THANK HIM.

Paul says, “Now to the King … be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” And in these words, he recommends three things to us. First, it’s that we are to give Him honor. That means that we ought to acknowledge the greatness of the gift of salvation that He has given us so freely. That means that we ought to recognize and appreciate that our salvation cost Him the life of His own precious Son Jesus; and that the Father gladly paid that price for us, and gladly laid down His life for us in order to redeem us to Himself. And that means that we ought to obey Him with our whole being because He purchased us for Himself with the blood of His Son. We ought to honor Him!

But second—more than simply honor Him—Paul recommended that we ought to open our mouths and worship His glory. The Bible teaches us that God has saved us for that very reason—that we would respond to the majesty of who He is in active worship. As it says in 1 Peter 2:9-10;

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).

And third, Paul says that we’re to praise Him forever. Paul says that to God our Savior belongs glory “forever and ever”—or literally, “unto the ages of the ages”.  For you and me, dear brother or sister in Christ, to praise Him eternally, we will need to be saved eternally. And we will be saved eternally … through faith in His Son! Praise Him forever!

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Now; everything that we’ve talked about in this one verse—and all that it has to tell us about Who it is that we’re to give thanks to, and how it is that we’re to thank Him—is only for those who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior, and have consciously and willingly trusted in the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for their salvation. Unless we have personally and sincerely placed our trust in Jesus—crucified, raised, and alive forevermore—then we don’t yet have a ‘salvation’ for which to be thankful.

And so; the very best thing that we can do to truly prepare for Thanksgiving is to make absolutely certain that we have personally prayed and entered into a relationship with God through faith in His Son Jesus. The psalm writer put it this way in Psalm 116:12-14;

What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people (Psalm 116:12-14).

The only appropriate way to express our thanks to God is to receive the salvation He offers us—that is, to pray and say, “Father in heaven, I am a sinner. I acknowledge that I can’t do anything to make myself worthy of salvation. But instead, I trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross. I thank You that He paid the debt of my sin for me; and that Jesus’ blood washes me clean of all my guilt. I thank You that You raised Him from the dead to show that You are pleased with the sacrifice He made for me. And I ask that You now take me and make me the person You want me to be through faith in Him.”

If you will pray a prayer like that—and sincerely mean it—then you will have the greatest reason to celebrate Thanksgiving; and can sincerely say along with the apostle Paul;

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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