Thank you, brother.
Well, good morning.
Good morning. Is this on.
Are we? Good? Okay.
So we are going to continue.
And actually hopefully finish.
1st Timothy.
So I've been going through first, st Timothy versus.
4!
It's been a long time now, I think.
It's taken me some time, but we're finally getting to the end of 1st Timothy.
And so I'm gonna before I jump in. I'm just gonna give a brief.
Overview of what we've been talking about. Some of the things that we've seen going through this book.
Paul. Paul is writing to Timothy now. He left Timothy in Ephesus.
To stand for the truth of the gospel. The gospel of grace stand for apostolic teaching, stand for.
The church.
What the Church is, how it functions. New Testament principles.
Church, Order.
He. He left Timothy there to stand for those things.
And in this passage today that we're in 1st Timothy.
We see some of the final exhortations that Paul gives to Timothy before the end of the book.
So I'm going to go ahead and read.
1st Timothy 6. Now I'm gonna read now. Last time I spoke.
I went through some of these verses in more detail. But I'm going to just read for context.
So I'm gonna start here in 6 11 to the end.
1st Timothy, 6.
11.
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, gentleness.
Fight. The good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I urge you in the sight of God.
Who gives life to all things.
And before Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Punch's pilot.
That you keep this commandment without spot.
Blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ.
Appearing.
Which he will manifest in his own time.
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 we honor an everlasting power.
Amen!
Command those who are rich in this present age, not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Let them do good.
That they be rich in good works, ready to give.
Willing to share.
Storing up for themselves a good foundation.
For the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life.
Timothy guard what was commuted to your trust.
Avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions.
Of what is falsely called knowledge.
By professing it. Some have.
Strayed concerning the faith.
Grace be with you.
Amen!
Let's pray again.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this passage before us. We thank you for the apostle Paul.
And we thank you for Timothy, who served there in that assembly.
Help us, Lord, to learn what you have for us here this morning.
We thank you for your word. We thank you that, Lord, you.
Instruct us.
You you've given. You haven't left us to ourselves.
But, Lord, we can read what you have for us. Lord, we just commit this time at your hands. We thank you for it. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray.
Amen!
So just a real quick.
Go through this passage before I jump into what I want to speak about today. But they're in verse 11.
In verse 11.
Paul says, but you, O man of God, flee these things. Now what is he talking about? Flee these things now, that's the previous portion of Chapter 6. I'm not going to go through it today, but just real quickly. Paul was warning Timothy about the some of the people there at Ephesus. They were concerned with self promotion.
They were concerned with the facade of godliness for personal gain.
They had impure motivations.
And we read in verse 10, there, 6, 10. The love of money.
So they they saw.
Serving in the assembly as a way to make money.
And they
You know, trying to promote themselves. And these sorts of things.
So Paul says to that. Paul says to Timothy, These things flee.
But then he says he goes on, he says, or follow after.
Righteousness, godliness, love, patience, gentleness. So I taught last time we went through every one of those words, but you see he is to flee certain things and needs to follow certain things.
And then verse 12, fight the good fight of faith.
Lay hold on eternal life.
So again we see these exertations that Paul is giving Timothy. And again I went through this last time.
There is a battle.
Like we were just talking about. There is a battle.
And so we are to fight the good fight of faith.
And then they're in verse 14. We'll skip down to verse 14. Well, actually, verse 13.
Paul says, I urge you.
I urge you in the sight of God.
Who gives life to all things before Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Punch's pilot. I urge you that you keep.
This commandment.
Without spot.
Blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ.
Appearing.
Now there's many questions about what that means. The commandment.
I think it's just what he just said. What Paul just went through. Follow.
You can summarize the Christian life. And in that 3 words here today.
Flee, follow, fight, and he says.
That you keep this commandment without blameless.
Until our Lord Jesus Christ.
Appearing. We talked about this last time as well. It's the epiphany right? It's the brightness.
The.
When are the Lord Jesus Christ appears? It's this bright light.
And we we follow after.
We pursue.
Until for the rest of our lives.
Or the rapture.
That's what he's saying. Here.
To Timothy.
And then in verse 15.
It seems like Paul kind of switches gears here a little bit.
It says here, verse 15.
Which he will manifest in his own time.
He who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Who alone is immortality, dwelling and unapproachable light.
Whom no man has seen or can see, to whom everlasting power.
Amen!
So Paul goes into.
What some people refer to as a doxology.
It's a praise he's going through. He's writing this letter to Timothy, and he suddenly just breaks out into worship.
About who God is.
Doxology. It means to speak.
Or a word of glory.
That's what a doxology is. We have a song in the hymnbook called Doxology. Praise God.
Unto all blessings flow.
I misquoted that it's a doxology, it's a worship. So Paul breaks out in worship.
When he's starting to. He's exhorting Timothy. It's interesting.
Now.
Paul's writings are filled with these. Doxologies are filled with.
The sun break in what he's saying, and he's taken up with.
God taken up with His attributes, who he is.
And it's a blessing to consider what led him to this. What is he writing? What is he thinking about? What's going on in his mind that leads him to this.
Exaltation.
Of.
The Lord.
In his mind and his heart.
Take a look at first, st Timothy. One.
There's another one in this passage.
In this book. There's another doxology.
1st Timothy, 1, 15.
Paul says.
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 do.
Obtained mercy, that in me Jesus Christ might show all suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now here it is, now onto the King, eternal, immortal, and visible to God.
Who alone is wise, and glory forever.
Amen. What's going on in Paul's mind that he just starts to worship.
He's reflecting on his own condition. He's the chief of centers.
And this.
This mercy and this long suffering that he found that he experienced. It's available to all. If that doesn't cause you to worship, I don't know what would.
He comes to this point.
He's taken up with him, taken up with God, taken up with.
Who he is.
Now to the King, eternal, immortal.
To God, who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever.
So in this.
There's other doxologies in in.
That are found in the Word of God.
In Paul's writings. Romans. End of Romans, 11.
And Ephesians 3. You can read those at another time. I won't.
We won't go through those today, but here he is.
He's worshipping, and you think about it, I think, for instruction, for some instruction for us when we come.
To the Lord's Supper, when we worship.
Paul is.
He's lifting up. He is!
He is proclaiming the attributes of God.
Who he is.
Who Christ is.
What he's done for us.
You know there's that wonderful.
First, st Peter, too. You don't need to turn to it first, st Peter, 19, 2, 9. 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 has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. That word.
Proclaim his praises that can be translated.
Proclaim his virtues.
Who he is.
So Paul proclaims the virtues.
Of his God.
Father.
God the Son.
So, as I mentioned, there's other doxologies.
Romans 11 Ifians 3. But and also the passage we're in today.
This doxology.
That we find here.
And 1st Timothy, 6.
Which I read before.
Versus 15 and 16.
What was it?
What was it that filled Paul's heart with praise?
When he.
Came to this point, what was.
What was on his heart, what filled his heart with adoration?
When he was writing to Timothy.
And he came to this point.
Verse 14.
That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ.
Appearing.
That's what it is.
That's what I think it is.
All the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To see him.
To stand before him.
It fills his heart with praise and adoration, it fills him with confidence.
And hope like we heard about this morning. Hope.
It fills in with hope.
And who is this one?
That is going to appear.
And then he goes through these wonderful attributes that we're going to look at this morning.
But to see him.
To stand before him.
It ought to motivate us.
To live for him.
When we know that he is going to appear.
He is going to appear.
That Paul live for that.
Paul, live for that moment.
He wants Timothy to live for that moment when we stand before him, when he appears, the brightness.
Is coming!
Take a look at Titus. 2.
Titus, chapter 2.
Titus, chapter 2, verse 11.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
Teaching us that denying ungodliness, and we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for that blessed hope and the glory disappearing of our great God and Savior.
Jesus Christ.
Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify him.
Purify for himself his own special people, zealous.
For good works.
Speak these things, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one.
Despise you.
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious appearing.
It ought to stir us.
To love, and good works.
Right zealous for good works.
To pursue his purposes in our lives. His calling obey His calling in our lives.
It motivated Paul.
That the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, it motivated him.
It'll have to motivate us.
Paul was looking for that day.
To stand before him.
With joy.
And confidence.
Knowing that he had completed the work, that.
Godhead.
Sent him to do that Jesus Christ had sent him to do.
Now.
Paul did once stand before the Lord.
Back there in acts.
But acts 9, many years ago.
Paul stood before the Lord.
Now, if you remember.
Paul.
He was persecuting the belie.
He was zealous.
For the law, and zealous.
The the old covenant.
He was zealous, and there were these.
People.
That we're worshipping these heretics.
That we're worshipping this man that had.
Died on a Roman cross.
That.
That, and they were saying that he was the Messiah. That's blasphemy.
That this man was the Messiah.
He persecuted them, he arrested them. Even those that he thought were heretics.
That's what he did.
With all the power that he had.
With zealous.
That's what he did.
They were worshipping him.
As as the Messiah, and it just.
He had to. He had to snuff these people out. He persecuted them with everything he had.
And then, as he's going there on the road to Damascus.
We're told that a light brighter than the noonday sun shown down on him. He fell on his face.
He, he? And then he realized that this one before him is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the One who died.
The one that was on a Roman cross. He's risen. He's glorified.
He sees him.
And he realized that truly this is the one he is the Messiah. Jesus.
And then you know what he says. He says, Lord.
What would you have me to do.
Lord, what do you want me to do.
And the Lord told him. The Lord told him. He said.
You're going to bear my name to the Gentiles.
You're going to bear my name to kings.
You're going to bear my name to the children of Israel. And you know what, Paul, you're gonna suffer.
Many things you're going to suffer.
And it says for my namesake, you're gonna suffer for my namesake.
And.
Paul got up, and that's what he did. That's what he did.
With all the gusto that he had persecuting the Church. Now he was proclaiming the gospel.
Going, going into the darkest regions of the Gentile nations.
Getting rejected by the Jews.
Suffering.
Over and over and over again.
He was sold out.
He was a fool for Christ. He was a spectacle.
He had given up everything.
For the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it was all because.
I think.
He wanted to see him again.
You saw him once there on the road. Now he knew that he was going to see him again one day.
And.
He would be.
Standing before him. Did you do the work I'd sent you to do, Paul?
And he said at the end of his life, yes.
He did.
What a wonderful thing!
All the things that he suffered, all the things that he went through.
For that day.
To stand before the Lord.
Here's an old him! I don't. It's not in our in our new book. But this came to my mind when I read this.
When I was reading this study for this.
It will be worth it all.
It's an old hym.
Some some people know it. It goes like this. Sometimes the day seems long. Our trial's hard to bear.
Were tempted to complain, to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear to catch his bride away, all tears forever over.
In God's eternal day.
It will be worth it all. When we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ.
One glimpse of his dear.
All sorrow will erase.
So bravely run the race.
Till we see Christ.
So.
It's worth it, all right.
To pursue him, follow him, serve him.
It's worth it.
And like, I said, that's what Paul did.
He went, and he.
Worked for the law, he labored for the Lord.
Let's just take a look at.
Well, Colossians.
You don't need to turn to it. Speaking of Christ, it says him, we preach warning every man, and teaching every man and all wisdom.
That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus to this, and I also striving, according to the working which works in me.
Mightily.
He stroll, he labored.
For this in the work that God had given him to do.
You know 1st Thessalonians, too, he talks about how it is his joy, his crown, to see others before the Lord at his coming.
High fives all around. Right.
When we're all standing before the Lord in victory and rejoicing.
And then finally there, at the end of his life.
Second, Timothy.
Yeah.
Finally, at the end of his life.
I'm sorry. Second Timothy. 4.
Verse 6.
For I'm already being poured out as a drink, offering.
And the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give.
To me.
On that day, and not to me only, but to all those.
Who have loved his appearing.
So that's what he was focused on. That's what he was.
Pursuing.
That's what was always before him.
That date.
That day.
So back there.
1st Timothy.
And I think that this idea of the Lord's Jesus Christ appearing.
Brought him to this point here in versus 15 and 16.
This doxology.
To praise and worship.
And think about. This is the one.
This is the one that has called me. This is the one that's going to bring me all the way through. This is the one I'm going to stand before.
This is the one who I serve.
This is the one whose power is with me, working me mightily, he says.
It's this one.
The thought of the peering of the Lord Jesus Christ Paul to worship.
And praise.
It says, here.
Inverse.
15.
Speaking of is appearing, which he will manifest in his own time.
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 has seen or can see, to whom we honor, an everlasting power.
Amen!
So let's take a look at this.
Let's.
Go through this.
And bring out some points here, with the time remaining.
And I got about 10 min.
So that was just the introduction.
All right.
So.
So verse 14.
You know, he says, until the Lord Jesus Christ appearing, and then he says.
Which he will manifest in his own time.
So? Who is that? He? There.
Now, whose time clock? Whose timing are we on when it comes.
Lord Jesus Christ appearing.
Coming back.
Take a look at acts. Chapter one.
I think it's talking about the Father acts. Chapter one.
In his own time.
He's going to.
The Lord's going to come back.
You know it says there in Acts chapter one, it says in verse 6.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord.
Will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the father has put in his own.
Authority.
So we're talking about the Father, God the Father.
It is in his time he he will manifest.
Our Lord Jesus Christ to the world in His own time.
Now we know that the Lord's going to come.
For the church.
And that's really what.
When we think about coming before his appearing, it's at that judgment seat of Christ.
We don't want to be at that other.
At that white throne judgment. That's where the world, those that have rejected Christ will go.
But it's all in the Father's time.
On the Father's time.
Which he will manifest in his own time.
He says.
It's all in the father's hands.
But then he says, here he goes on Paul, considering this one whom he serves and loves.
He says he who is.
The blessed.
And only potentate.
He Who is the Blessed.
What is that word? Blessed, mean.
Lessed.
You know it means.
Happy.
You know, when you think about the attributes of God.
When you start thinking, well, okay, God's omniscient.
Omnipresent Right.
All of these, and we have all these attributes. Have you ever thought happy.
He's happy.
It's.
God is happy.
He is the antithesis of sorrowful.
He is happy.
Complete happiness in himself.
And salvation. When we get to know him. He's sharing his happiness with us. That is.
That is, who he is.
I have a source of joy.
And peace.
That comes from him, the one who is happy and joyful. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
I can serve him. Paul could go.
To, the.
You know around the world, and suffer, and all these things that he did.
Serving the one.
Who has, who fills him with joy and peace.
You know God is not worried.
You know that God's not worried.
God's not thinking, how is this all gonna work together.
He's he's got that all figured out. He's happy.
He is satisfied in the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done.
He is blessed. He is the happy one.
His joy.
He is the only potentate. It says.
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
He is the Supreme Ruler.
He has ultimate authority in this world.
You know, Dan, let's take a look real quick, Daniel. 4.
Daniel 4, 35.
He says.
Do you know? 435. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain his hand or say to him, What have you done? He is the ultimate authority. He doesn't answer to anyone. He does what he wants to do.
He is the potentate, he is the sovereign.
Nothing happens without his knowledge.
Nothing that happens in your life.
Is a surprise to him.
There's nothing that happens that he doesn't allow.
That doesn't go through him first.st
Whatever happens in your life.
You can trust.
That he knows what he's doing.
He allowed this to happen, for whatever reason I don't understand, but I know he's good.
He's never taken by surprise. Either he or he causes.
Or allows things to happen in our lives, and he's able to use all those things, work them all together for good, for those who love God.
He is the potentate. He is powerful.
He is so.
He is over all existing authorities. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords.
All power and authority.
Is his, and he has delegated to the son.
To work in this world. Now, in this dispensation, Matthew.
Verse 3, I'm sorry.
The 3rd point here.
Who alone has immortality.
That word there, it's deathlessness.
Deathlessness, absolute life, no decay, no corruption, no darkness. He has life in himself.
He is not dependent on anything. This is who he is.
He exists.
He's not dependent on anything.
You know what's us? On the other hand.
We do not have life in ourselves.
We don't.
We are very dependent.
You know we're dependent on this atmosphere.
How long can we last without any oxygen.
Not very long.
How long can you hold your breath? Should we try 3 min, maybe. Now there are some people that train themselves but 3 min without oxygen were dead. I mean, we're dependent upon.
Just this atmosphere.
No water.
3 days.
No food, 30 days.
We are so dependent on all these little things.
He is dependent on nothing, he has life in himself.
He is, and Christ has life in himself.
You know, I think about those men that were in that submersible that went down to look at.
The Titanic.
And the the thing imploded on itself, and they were gone like that.
How long can you last in deep water.
It happened so fast that their brain couldn't even register the pain. It just boom! They're done. They're gone in a mist.
We are very dependent.
We do not have life in ourselves. He does.
And then next, dwelling and unapproachable light.
The brilliance of that light.
We can't even imagine.
Unapproachable light, we would be vaporized.
Standing before that. That's why I think it says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, because flesh and blood can't stick. It would just be gone.
One moment in his presence.
You know it says no man has seen or can.
So that's why I think this is talking about the father.
Standing before him.
With, in our.
Curtain condition. We would just be vaporized. We'd be gone.
Paul saw a portion of that light.
Just a little glimpse of that light when he saw Christ it knocked him to the ground, and he was blinded.
So.
These are just some ideas here, some.
Attributes that Paul is dwelling on when he considers this one who he has given his life to.
This one that he wants to stand before with joy, knowing that he has completed the work.
And then he goes on. He says, to whom be honor and everlasting power.
Amen!
And this is the one that we're gonna stand before we're gonna stand before this one.
We cannot do it without Christ.
If you, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, you have no hope.
To stand before this one.
We need Christ.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We can't do this ourselves. We can't try to be good enough to try to reach that.
We all fall short.
That's why we need Christ. We need Him.
We need His righteous.
To stand before.
Stand before God.
And be found blameless.
We need Him.
So Paul comes back to earth here in verse 17.
Real, quick.
He goes off like I said, into this doxology, and now he comes back to.
Some practical advice.
Continuing some thoughts from 6, 10 about the love of money as a root of all evil.
He says, command those who are rich people that are trying to be rich, and the love of money, and they make all kinds of.
Shortcuts, and they compromise to try to be rich. Now he's talking about those that are rich.
Not to be haughty, not to be proud or trust in uncertain. That's for sure, in this world.
There's nothing for sure.
The only thing that is a sure thing is the word of God, and that's what we put our trust in, not an uncertain, but in the Word of God, in the living God.
Who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Let them do good, that they be rich and good works ready to give, willing to share. I was thinking about our brother and Stewards Foundation. That's what they're doing right using those.
Using the the those funds to do good.
To help.
Workers and assemblies.
Storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life.
Invest in the future. Lay up for yourself treasures.
In heaven.
And then verse 20.
This final word to Timothy.
Before Paul signs off on this letter.
Verse 20, 0, Timothy, he says. Oh, Timothy.
Guard that which was committed to your trust.
You've been entrusted with something. Timothy, you've got.
The Apostolic Teaching.
The teachings of Paul. You have the Word of God.
You've been entrusted with these truths, you need to stand for these things. Stand for them.
They've been committed to you, avoiding profane and idle babblings. Don't get cut off with all of the.
The things that are unprofitable.
And that, as a matter of fact, Timothy, or excuse me. Paul started the letter with this.
With this idea. Take a look real quick. First, st Timothy. One.
He? He started his letter with this warning.
He says, here.
For Timothy 1, 3, as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain an Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine.
Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes.
Rather than godly edification, which is.
In faith.
You know. Keep.
Focused on what is going to edify. What's going to build up? Don't get caught up in these.
Idle babblings or fables, and these sorts of things that can lead us astray.
And then.
Finally he says.
Avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. There's a lot of things in our world it's called knowledge.
And.
You know a lot of times we need to say no, thank you.
Oh, we discovered something even better than the Word of God. No, I'm sorry. No.
That's not correct.
So we need to stand guard.
And then it says, You know these ones they've professed.
By professing it. Some have strayed concerning.
The Faith.
Well, we need to be so careful. We need to stand firm. We need to be in the Word of God. From what we've been given here in the Word of God.
Grace with.
Grace be with you.
Amen. So that's 1st Timothy.
I think next I think I'm gonna go on to Titus just because it's.
The next kind of chronological book for Paul.
So that's what we'll do next time. So.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father. We thank you for this passage. We thank you for the Apostle Paul, and his example.
His example of.
Living for that day, to stand before you.
Living, for.
Giving his life.
For others, teaching others.
Preparing others to stand in that day.
Lord, we we just, we help us. Lord.
To be the same Lord living for that day.
Hoping, realizing that we will one day stand before you.
And Lord help us to.
That we would be those pursuing after these things. You.
Pursuing righteousness, being in your words, sitting at your feet, learning.
O Lord, we thank you for this time together. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray.
Amen!