So hear now God's holy word from 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 11 through 16. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment, unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. which he will display at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. This ends the reading of God's word. Let's ask his blessing upon this word. A brief word of prayer. We do pray, Lord, now this morning, particularly, that you would illuminate our hearts and minds for the reception of your word. Help us to receive it by faith, and receiving it by faith, help us to respond obediently, obeying the commands, learning the truths, and walking this Christian walk as you would have us to do. We pray these in Jesus' name. Amen. Being a Christian isn't easy. Never has been. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. I think it's true though. And we might ask, why is that? And I think there are many reasons, many answers to that question. You can think about some of them maybe with me this morning. Being a Christian is difficult because to be a Christian is to believe things that most of the world does not believe. To be a Christian is to do things that most of the world doesn't do. To be a Christian is to set one's heart and one's hope on that which the world simply does not understand or appreciate. And as a result of all of that, the thoughtful and the committed Christian will often be forced to choose the path scorned by the world while still dealing with the internal hindrances of the flesh and the external hindrances interposed by the powers of darkness. It's not easy. And the Bible gives us no reason actually to expect that it will be. Jesus depicted the life of the disciple in the Gospels in his teaching as the carrying of a cross to heaven. Not being carried to heaven on a bed of roses. And frankly, this cross-carrying difficulty is amplified in certain senses for those who seek to live not just as a Christian, but who seek to live their Christian life in active Christian ministry. That's the reality which stands behind Paul's exhortation to Timothy in our sermon text this morning. Gospel ministers, such as Timothy, don't just believe, act, and hope in unpopular ways. They are to proclaim those beliefs, they are to urge those actions, and they are to instill that hope in others, no matter what opposition comes. For example, when ministers are ordained in the OPC, at least, they are expected to answer yes when asked this question. Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in maintaining the truths of the gospel and the purity, the peace and the unity of the church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise unto you on that account? You see, the call to faithfulness is a call to faithfulness regardless of the cost. And as we've seen throughout this letter, plenty of opposition had in fact come to Ephesus where Timothy was at this time serving as a gospel minister. There were wavering believers within the church, there were false teachers surrounding the church, and there was demonic opposition against the church. I think that's enough to give even the most committed believers, even those ordained to ministry by an apostle, a little bit of pause or maybe some second thoughts. So having just rebuked prior to this passage in this letter, the false teachers opposing Timothy, Paul now sees a need in his son in the faith, and he goes to him to encourage him to put any second thoughts which he's having on account of that opposition out of his mind. Now was not the time to check out. It was time to press further in. And ultimately, Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 11 through 16 is that Timothy must persevere in his faith and ministry as he awaits the return of the Lord. And in the process of giving that exhortation, Paul really instructs us all. He instructs all future gospel ministers who would follow in Timothy's footsteps, and by implication, he instructs all who would believe in the gospel, teaching us all to fight the good fight of faith until Jesus comes again. With that in mind, let us then turn to the specifics of Paul's exhortation to persevere, identifying in this text four things that Timothy was to do, and four reasons that he was to do them. Four things that Timothy was to do, and four reasons that he was to do them. We begin with the things that Timothy was to do. The first of which was to flee. We read in the text, but as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Once again, when these words ring out in our ears, we are reminded that this was a real letter from one man to another man. Often Paul's letters are letters to churches, big bodies of believers. But there is a real preacher-teacher who is the recipient of this letter, and the Apostle here directly addresses Timothy. He is the you to whom he turns after dressing down the false teachers. And in contrast with the false teachers, Paul identifies Timothy as the man of God. He's the man of God. Now we sometimes might speak informally of men of God or women of God, of someone that we think is particularly faith-filled, someone that we believe is particularly pious, and so we might use that language from time to time, but Paul's use of the time probably carries more weight than we realize. This is biblical language, and not just because it's in 1 Timothy. In the Old Testament, a man of God is someone who prophetically heralds God's word. And there are a number of celebrated heralds of God's word which are called the man of God in the scriptures. A couple of examples. Moses is called the man of God in Deuteronomy chapter 33. Samuel the prophet is called the man of God in 1 Samuel chapter 9. David is called the man of God in 2 Chronicles chapter 8. And Elijah is called the man of God in 1 Kings chapter 7. We could amplify and extend these examples. The point, though, is this. Given this Old Testament background, we should understand Paul's address to Timothy, as a man of God, as an address of an apostle to one of the ordained ambassadors and heralds of God's Word who is to live and to act in his capacity as a man of God. And in this capacity, the first thing that Timothy is to do is to flee These things. That's the first thing he's to do. He's supposed to run away from something. What? What are these things? If you think back to the passage prior, then perhaps you'll recall that these things that Paul is talking about just before these words is the corrupt teaching. The craving for controversy, the chasing after greedy gain, all things which were pursued by false teachers. And so context suggests for us that Paul here, when he says flee these things, he's calling on Timothy to flee from the doctrine and from the lifestyle of the false teachers who were plaguing the church in Ephesus. He was not to make compromise with them, he was not to make compromise with their way of life, and he was not to cozy up to it. And truly this is the responsibility, I believe, of every true Christian. Heresy, false teaching, and sin, these things are not laughing matters. They're nothing to wink at. And rather than overlook and tolerate such things in our lives, as they begin to creep in, we must flee them for the sake of our souls. And so this morning, as you hear the first thing that Timothy was to do, perhaps reflect upon your own life and ask yourself, are there ways in which I have come to reflect, even subtly, the teachers in this letter? Here's a couple questions you might ask yourself. There could be more. Here are some, though. Do you love controversy over doctrine more than sound doctrine itself? That was the way of the false teacher. Have you cast aside contentment in your pursuit of wealth and pleasure? Is that really the driving motivation in your life? That's what was behind their actions. Does Christ, despite the fact that you call yourself a Christian, does he play a relatively minor role in your experience of the Christian faith? See, these people had some credence because they knew that name Christ. They knew how to speak about him. The problem was he was just a minor part of their system. He played into their grand theological scheme in a way that did not reflect the true intent of his ministry. Ask yourself if that's present in you. And if you sense any inkling of these things in yourself, then you must flee them. Waste no time. Put them away. So Timothy was to flee. The second thing he was to do, though, was to pursue. He says, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. When Paul said flee, you see, he was not encouraging Timothy to just embark on a retreat. He was not to run away like a coward. No, he was not running away just for the sake of running away. He was running away so that he could run after or pursue things much more beneficial than the pathetic offerings of the false teachers. And verse 11 provides us six examples of the better things that he was to pursue rather than the life and doctrine of the false teachers. First, he says that Timothy is to pursue righteousness. Paul doesn't have in mind here, I don't believe, the imputed righteousness of Christ. Rather he has in mind here the practical righteousness which is obtained by all to whom Christ's righteousness has been imputed. In other words, Timothy was to pursue a life which was in sweet harmony with God's will and God's word. He was to reflect God's own righteous character, thereby pleasing God in all things. He was to pursue righteousness. He was also, though, to pursue godliness. Last week we borrowed a definition from the commentator Andrews Kostenberger who defined godliness like this. He said, Godliness is a disposition of reverence for God that is grounded theologically and expressed ethically. It's a disposition of reverence for God that is grounded theologically and expressed ethically. And as Timothy sought to conform his life to the patterns of righteousness, He would come to embody that spirit of godliness, a disposition of devotion to God that affects both inward affections and outward actions, turning them both heavenward. In this way he was to pursue godliness. Third, he was to pursue faith. At a time when the false teachers were working hard to sow doubt among the believers in Ephesus, Timothy was to flee their foolishness and he was to double down on faith in Christ. He was to grow in trust, not to wane in trust. He was to grow in trust, not allowing his difficult circumstances to cast a cloud over all that he knew to be true. He was to grow in faith and trust for the Lord. Fourth, he was to grow in love. It's easy. Maybe you know this from experience. It's easy to be hardened towards others in the context of conflict and controversy. When you begin to feel like someone is your enemy, and maybe even they are, then you may find yourself on the lookout for more. Suddenly you're hardened, you're on the defensive, you're on guard. But you see, Timothy was not to allow the controversy which he was facing to harden his heart. He was to pursue love for God. He was to pursue love for others, continuing to, in himself, internalize the heart of Christ, whose love, we know, that carried him all the way to the cross, forgiving even his enemies. Fifth, Timothy was to grow in steadfastness. In other words, Timothy was to pursue the sort of character which would enable him to weather these storms and persevere. We're talking here of an attitude of dependence upon the Lord, which takes its cues from the solidity of his word, rather than the shifting sands of experience. He was to bear up amid this trial, to be steadfast and to endure. And finally, he was to pursue gentleness. This is not the first time that gentleness has been introduced as a concept in this letter. Earlier in the letter, Paul instructed Timothy to minister to the church in a gentle manner, keeping his power, keeping his authority under careful watch, not abusing those around him. And it was important for him to continue pursuing such gentleness when confronted by provocation, always mimicking the Christ who had called And so these six things Timothy was to pursue in place of the ungodly, untrue lifestyle and doctrine of the false teachers. And taking this list together, you might recognize connections between the things that were to be pursued as the life of the false teacher was left behind. Here's how one commentator has expressed it. He says this, righteousness and godliness represent one's relationship to God, faith and love are the animating principles of the Christian life, and steadfastness and gentleness are terms for the right ways of acting in relation to a hostile world. And so with that in mind, we can see Paul's exhortation to pursue as an overarching exhortation to pursue a holiness before God, before the church, and even before enemies. It was a holistic holiness in all of life that Timothy was to run after as he ran away the things of the evil one. Folks, if you pursued this sort of wholehearted, holistic holiness, You see, it was not enough for Timothy and it's not enough for you simply to say the right words, mouth the right condemnations of sin and false teaching, and to place a verbal claim on fidelity and orthodoxy and all these things. Truly fleeing the bad will entail, for the Christian, an active pursuit of a better way. Formed by God's Word, led by God's Spirit, we must be looking for ways to possess and exhibit righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. We too must pursue these things. In other words, if you have been released from captivity to sin, then you have been set free to serve Christ. We talked about that a little bit at the beginning of this chapter. And service to Christ, done by those in union with Christ, should increasingly resemble and display the character of Christ. And so with Timothy this morning, let us be reminded of the need for the Christian, not just to flee that which the Bible condemns as bad, but also to pursue that which the Bible commends as virtuous and good. That's the second thing. Flee, pursue, third, fight. Fight the good fight of the faith. This really, I think, is what fleeing and pursuing the proper things is. It is the persevering in the good fight of the faith wherein we struggle forwards towards the goal of a life lived to the glory of God. The language of fighting the fight which is employed in this setting is, you might think it's the language of the battle of the warrior or something like that, but actually I think this is more likely to be the language of the athlete who undergoes training and competition and great trial to achieve their goal. Think of the wrestler to be more specific. A sport that was very common in this day and age in the Greco-Roman world who would regularly be called upon to summon all their strength to fight and to overcome the foe and to be crowned the victor. Paul wants Timothy to be that victor. It was not time to throw in the towel. It was not time to tap out. It was time to fight with all of his might. Like every believer must, if he or she has taken hold of that apostolic, biblical faith proclaimed in God's Word. To become a Christian, you see, is to become, in a certain godly sense, to become a brawler who is willing to roll with the punches for the sake of the gospel. The Bible teaches that there is no crown without a cross. And like the Lord Jesus, we must endure ourselves many hardships and be pricked by many thorns on the road to glory. So when the world and your flesh and the devil begin to bear down on you, don't just lay down and take it. Like Timothy, fight the good fight of the faith in anticipation of victory. Struggle for the cause. Because victory has been secured by our great Redeemer and Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ. You fight not in your own strength, but in His strength. In the strength of Him who gives you His Spirit. And in that strength, you can be confident in conquering. So Timothy was to fight. He was to persevere in the struggle until it reached its end. And we see that in this fourth thing that he was to do, which was to take hold. to flee, to pursue, to fight, to take hold. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Now taken as a whole, this line begins to supply Timothy with reasons to heed the apostolic exhortation. So for right now, we just want to focus on the fourth thing that Timothy was to do, which was that he was to take hold of the eternal life to which he was called. The fourth command here extends, I think, the metaphor that has already been introduced. In fighting the good fight, he was to struggle to win the athletic contest, to use the metaphor. And the call to take hold of the eternal life within that metaphor is about struggling all the way to the finish line. It's about struggling right up until that final buzzer sounds. When God called Timothy out of darkness and into light, a light in which he would live eternally, the final destination of his journey became clear. All that Timothy had to do was to march on until it was time to take hold and to take possession of that which had been promised to him. He needed to run the race until he was in the victor's circle, take hold of the prize. The Apostle is now reminding Timothy of that fact. God had called him to eternal life and he needed to persevere in the fight of faith so that he might take hold of that which had been held out to him when the time came. Congregation, are you preparing to take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called? The day is coming soon, whether through your death or through Christ's return, whichever comes first. And when one of those days comes, you're going to be called to take possession. So don't leave off from Christ for his service. Heed Christ's words in Matthew chapter 24, 45 through 51, where he says this, Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blast is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour when he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Timothy and us take hold of eternal life, so that might not happen to him. The fourth thing that Timothy was to do reflects the teaching of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24. Timothy was to continue steadfast in service until his master's appearing, lest he face the consequences of rebellion. And that's the duty of all the Lord's disciples. So let us, with Timothy, do what is necessary to take hold of eternal life in Christ as we cross the finish line, at the end of our life, or at the coming of the Lord. aimed to persevere. He was to persevere in the Christian life and he was to persevere in the ministry. And in order to do that, he would need to flee the life of the false teachers, he would need to pursue a life of holistic holiness, and he would need to fight the good fight of faith until he could take possession of the eternal life to which he'd been called by Sovereign God. And that's what we're to do as well. But then Paul did not leave off, he did not leave Timothy hanging. He then gave Timothy four reasons to do those things. And the first of the four reasons that Timothy was to do those things was, first of all, Timothy's good confession. He had made a good confession. Again, reading that verse which we just considered, "...take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." Baked into the call to take hold of eternal life was a reason to do it. Timothy had confessed his faith in the past publicly in the presence of many witnesses, testifying to his calling from God. Forsaking that confession now in a time of difficulty would turn that past confession into something fraudulent. Everyone would know that Timothy hadn't really meant what he had said. Now there's debate over just when Timothy made this confession. Some suggest that this was something which was done at his baptism as he confessed his faith. Others suggest that it was something done at his ordination. And there are good arguments made in both directions. But I think, while it doesn't change the point drastically in either way, I do think that it makes most sense to say that this was something that Timothy did at his ordination. Why would that be? Well, because reference has already been made to Timothy's ordination in this letter. A reference was made back in chapter 4 to that momentous occasion which was witnessed by elders. A time in which Timothy did stand before witnesses as they laid their hands on him and set him apart for ministry. So we already have a reference to an event like that within the book. And so I think that we may expect that on that occasion when Timothy was ordained that he declared his faith and his willingness to proclaim that faith as a gospel minister. And so Paul is saying, Timothy, you have made the good confession. Persevere in your labors. Stay true to the confession that you made when you stood before those witnesses so long ago. That's the first reason. The second reason that Timothy was to do these things was that Jesus had provided an instructive example. So we move from Timothy's good confession to Jesus's instructive example. He says, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. Now Paul here begins by saying that he charges Timothy to do something, and in a moment we'll circle back to the substance of his charge, because the substance of that charge doesn't really come up until the next verse. But observe now the way in which Paul charges Timothy in the presence of God who gives life to all things. He calls on God as creator, the giver of life, to bear witness to his charge to Timothy. and he also calls as his witness Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made good confession. In other words, Timothy, you made a good confession that you need to sustain when confronted by opposition. I charge you to keep that confession before Jesus, who himself set an example for you by making his confession before Pontius Pilate. You see, when Jesus was arrested, he could have tried to talk his way out of that which was to come. He could have tried to reason with Pontius Pilate, who at times seems to show some sympathy towards Jesus. He could have appealed to the legal mind of that Roman governor who would decide his fate, humanly speaking. But when given an opportunity to take back the things that he had said, he opened not his mouth. And then, when he did open his mouth, he affirmed Pilate's accusation. Those who made the accusation understood it wrongly, but he affirmed the accusation in the sense that he was the king of the Jews. Matthew 27, 11-14 says, Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus said, You have said so. But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. When opposed, Jesus did not take the easy way out. He stood by his identity. He stood by his ministry. And for this, he was crucified. The point is this, if Jesus could do that, then Timothy, whom Jesus had called, could surely make the good confession when called to face far less. You see, brothers and sisters, the difficulty of the Christian life, we're being told in a sense here, is bearable because of the Gospel. Jesus, the Son of God, in whom there was no fault, lived a perfect life, and despite this fact, he was persecuted by his kinsmen and hauled before the Romans in order that he might be executed. He willingly, instead of trying to work his way out of it, he willingly faced that bitter end for the sake of sinners so that he might pay the penalty for sin in his body on the cross. And after three days, his willingness to hold fast to his confession before Pontius Pilate was validated when he rose from the dead that we, though dead in sin, might be raised up and reconciled to the living God through faith in him. Do you believe that that happened? You must, because that is the source of eternal life, and that is the story which makes the fight to take hold of eternal life worth it. Jesus made the good confession, and so can you. So can Timothy. So that was the second reason he was to do the things he was called to do. The third reason, Paul provides The issue is a binding charge. A binding charge. He says, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. With God as his witness, Paul charges his son in the faith to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until that great day when Jesus comes again. What commandment does he have in mind? There have been many proposed answers to that question. But given the fact that Paul does not specify, I think it has to be something broad and general in view. And thus many believe that once you consider all that Paul has said in this passage, he must be referring to the broad commandment to believe the gospel and live the Christian life of holiness within the context of gospel ministry. In other words, he's calling on Timothy to be who he's supposed to be. Paul is authoritatively and solemnly charging Timothy to do all the things that he's been telling him to do. To keep the faith, to live the faith, to defend the faith. And this comes to him not just as pious advice. It doesn't come to him just as good counsel. No, Timothy is to do these things because Paul is charging him to do them with all of his apostolic authority which derives from the authority of God himself. And so for this reason, Timothy was to believe and to live and to serve in an uncorruptible manner. He was not to be corrupted by the false teachers. He was not to be corrupted by his difficult circumstances. His obedience was to show no signs of stain or reproach. And it was to remain this way in perpetuity as he waited for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this does not necessarily mean that Paul believed that the Lord would appear in Timothy's lifetime. But regardless of when the Lord appears, we're all to be living as if we are waiting, because we are, that great appearance. And so Timothy was to live as one expectant in waiting for the Lord. It's interesting here that Paul uses this somewhat unusual language. He frequently uses other terms, but here speaks of the appearing of the Lord Jesus. And these appearings, this was a concept that the Romans were familiar with because the Romans often awaited appearances of the emperor who was at times viewed as a semi-divine figure worthy of veneration. And so when the emperor appeared, that was a time to bow the knee and to offer veneration and to show him your loyalty and allegiance. But Paul, by using that language, is showing and reminding Timothy that Christians have their hopes set on a much more glorious appearing than any appearing by a Roman emperor. Now we await the coming of Christ on the last day, when eternal life will come for all who have been called to it. And Timothy was to keep his eyes and to shape his perspective by setting his focus on that horizon, that event horizon, rather than on the difficulties that he was facing in his immediate context. Paul gives him here a binding charge to that effect. Keep your eyes on the skies, keep your eyes on the horizon, wait for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you do so, I charge you to keep your commandment, your duties as a Christian, unstained. So that's the third reason, Paul's binding charge. The last reason that Paul gives to Timothy is that he reminds Timothy of the glory of the God that he serves. He tells Tethy to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, who no one has ever seen or can see. To him be glory, excuse me, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. And this might seem somewhat abrupt, and it is somewhat abrupt. Why does Paul break out in doxology here? I think it's because having charged Timothy to keep the commandment until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be sent forth from the Father at the proper time, Paul cannot help but become enraptured at the very thought of that. As he thinks upon that day when the Father will send forth the Son to gather the flock together, Paul breaks out and prays at the thought, and he breaks out and prays to God, thereby supplying Timothy with another reason to do the things that he was supposed to do. Because one can do anything for this sort of God. Paul says that the God Timothy serves, He is the blessed and only Sovereign. All blessing and power reside in Him as He presides over the entirety of the universe. Nothing falls outside of His control and nothing happens which fails to serve His plans. He is ruler over time and space. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. These would have been fighting words in a world with a Roman emperor claiming to be the supreme authority over all within his jurisdiction. But the truth of the matter is that all legitimate authority on this earth is derived and borrowed authority. It is simply borrowed from the one who is king over all of those who exercise kingship, and he is lord over those exercising lordship. There is no one above him. He's also the one who alone has immortality. That might seem false at first, because the Bible teaches that we have immortal souls, we have eternal life in Christ, there will be no end to our existence. But like authority, you see, we derive our life in this world from another source. God is life itself. He gives us life, but He is life. And he depends on no one to be who he is. No, he is the I Am who exists independent of any other being. He is being itself. He is the fountain of life. And so it is true that he alone possesses immortality inherently and by his very nature. In the fourth place, he is the one who dwells in unapproachable light whom no one has ever seen or can see. You think back on the Old Testament, we think about the way in which God appeared to Moses and to Israel atop Mount Sinai. It meant fire, and smoke, and thunder, and these great signs. And that appearance in history teaches, through temporary signs and wonders, that God is indeed wrapped in righteousness, and holiness, and perfection. The light of His own glory encircles Him, as one who is perfect and pure spirit. No sinner can approach Him his or her own right. And we know that the comparative sinfulness of the creature is in view here when the text says that no one has ever seen God or can see God. Given other statements in scripture, we should probably take this to mean, with Augustine and with Calvin, that no one can see God in his inapproachable light with their fallen nature still intact. Why would we go that route? Because 1 John 3, verse 2 says, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And so the Bible does speak of the Christian seeing God in this sort of mysterious way. But any vision of God in His perfect glory must wait until that day when we have ourselves been glorified and transformed. It's not possible while the flesh remains. In our current state, a vision of God's glorious presence must wait. And therefore it is true that for us, God dwells in inapproachable light, outside of our gaze. In the words of the hymn, He is the immortal, invisible, God-only wise, in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes. Finally, Paul says that he is the one to whom honor and eternal dominion belong. Having reflected on God's sovereignty and His kingship and His immortality and His glory, Paul is left with no other option but to ascribe to Him the proper honor and eternal dominion. And there is no other option for those who properly understand who God is. He will rule forever. And with this doxology and anthem raised to God by Paul as he thinks on the day when the Lord will appear in his glory, he's giving Timothy another unshakable reason to do the things that he's been called to do. He serves a glorious and powerful God who far exceeds every other master. There was no one more worthy of persevering service than him. For the God who rules over us today will rule over us in eternity if we take hold of that which has been gifted to us through Jesus Christ. As Paul provides this final reason, he's providing in doxological form that truth which he shared with the church in Romans chapter 8 verses 17 and 18 as he says this, The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God, fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." This final doxology is reminding Timothy of the glory that is to be revealed, the sort of glory which cannot be compared with these piddling sufferings that we face in this life. Brothers and sisters, while Paul exhorted Timothy in this way due to his unique role as a gospel minister during a tumultuous time in church history, it contains a useful lesson for us all. If you have received Christ and entered His service, you must press on no matter the cost. You must flee sin. You must pursue virtue. You must fight the fight of the faith until the very end, in order that you might take hold of eternal life. And you do have plenty of good reasons to do so. God has called you to Himself. He didn't have to, but He did, if you have believed. Many of you have already confessed your faith before others. Jesus has shown you what it means to maintain a confession amidst suffering. He did it Himself. The Bible commands you to follow His example. And the glory of the God whom we confess makes the bitterness of this life taste sweet in the perspective of eternity, which we long to enter at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, hear 1 Timothy 6, verses 11 through 16. Press on. Fight on. He's coming soon. Let's ask for His help now in a word of prayer.