Let's start off in prayer. Father, we come to you in the worthy, lofty, and exalted name of your Son, our Savior, our Lord, our Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Father, we ask that you would bless us this morning. Father, I pray for those who are hurting. I pray that you would come alongside them via your Holy Spirit and remind them that you're the God of all comfort. That even as their afflictions increase, so also their comfort in Christ increases. Father, I pray for those who sit here who are still dead in their sins, who are unregenerate, who still hate you. Though they may profess a form of godliness and yet deny its power, I pray, Lord, that You would crush them. I pray that You would send Your Holy Spirit, not to comfort them, but to convict them of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. I pray, Holy Spirit, that You would point them to Jesus Christ, that they would run to Him as their only refuge. I pray for us, Lord. are converted, that You would again strengthen us and sanctify us by the Gospel. And so my prayer, Lord, is that You will grant me grace to preach it clearly as I ought, to preach it boldly as I ought as well. Father, I pray that as we leave this place, our minds will be filled with glorious thoughts of Thee. I think of the hymn, Jesus, the very thought of Thee with sweetness fills my breast. Father, I pray we would not leave here just smarter, but we'd leave here resolved to do Your good will, to work for Thy good pleasure. Father, I just confess I'm definitely not ready this morning, and so send forth Your Spirit to come to my aid. Lord, my desire is not to preach eloquently, but to lift up Christ. And so I pray, Holy Spirit, that You would enable me to do so. Save sinners this morning. Encourage sinners this morning, I pray as well. Father, be glorified as the Son is glorified. Spirit come, then glorify the Son, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Where we find ourselves in the first chapter, I'm going to preach on one verse. I'm very uncomfortable doing this. I like preaching through longer texts. So just bear with me, I'm going to read verse 17 and then I'm going to read the surrounding context. I want to sort of give you a synthesis of how this fits in to the prior two weeks which we've worked through in 1 Timothy. This is Paul's great doxology. If you don't know what doxology means, it just means a word of praise. Logos is the Greek word for word, and doxa is the Greek word for glory. So this is a word of glory or a word of praise. And Paul says, to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Now let me start in verse 3, so we can sort of fit this into a context. Remember the fancy Carson quote? A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text. I was on a website, I was naughty, I should have been studying yesterday, and it was very bad, very bad at the shots they were taking at people like Paul Washer and stuff, and it just reaffirmed in my mind, do not build your theology on one verse, Make sure you build your theology on the entire revealed revelation of the Word of God from Genesis through Revelation. So what ignites, what inflames Paul to this doxology? Well ultimately verses 12 through 16, which fits into a context of verses 3 through 11. So let me start in verse 3. I'll give some of the visitors here an overview of where we are and why we're working through 1 Timothy. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." Or you could translate that, Anything that is not according to the salvation plan, which is in accordance with faith. So here's Paul's purpose for sending Timothy to Ephesus. Paul's in Macedonia. He's working with some churches there. He's planted a church in Ephesus. Timothy, you need to go there. Why? Because according to chapter 3, verses 14 and 15, which have been our memory verses for the last two weeks, the church is what? It is God's household. It is the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth. How is God going to advance His Gospel reign through Christ in this world? According to that verse, through the Church. The Church in Ephesus is in disarray. Timothy, you need to go there and you need to clean it up. The perverts from within are beginning to distort and eliminate the Gospel. The Church, when the Gospel is distorted and perverted, begins to crumble. So Timothy is sent there, and he's commanded. It's not a polite request. He goes in there and he has to clean out the heretics. Because the longer they're there preaching anything but Christ and Him crucified, the longer that is going to infect the church, which represents Christ, right? The church is the what of Christ? It is the body. The body of Christ. And Christ fills all in all. So Christ has come down. He has set His church up to display His glory to the ends of the earth. The church in Ephesus is in disarray. Timothy, clean it up! And so in our first sermon, verses 1-11, we saw that Timothy has to clean up the gospel room. Right? If the church is the house of God, and we said that the gospel was the nerve center of this house. If you don't clean up the main room, the rest of the house, it doesn't matter how tidy you make it, it's in ruins. And I thought of this. It's actually a better analogy than the main room. The gospel is the foundation of the house of God. Matt and Heather, you're looking for a house soon? The first thing you look at is not how nice the hardwoods are, how nice the paint is, you check the foundation. The foundation is awry, you're going to get cracks, that house is going to be useless in 15-20 years. And so Timothy, you got to go and you got to actually get rid of the old foundation that is rotten and crumbling. And so verses 1-11, Timothy is given a charge, clean out the heresy. They're teaching other doctrine. We have been given the apostolic gospel. Paul's gone there and he's preached it there for well over a year. Timothy, go and clean out the heretics, verses 1-11, and then restore the gospel. So let's just continue. The aim of our charge is love. It is not unloving to tell a heretic to smarten up. The most unloving thing you can do is to let an unbeliever continue in unbelief, or to let heretics infect the church. That's the most unloving thing you could do. If you love Christ and you love what He loves, namely the Church, then out of a motive of love, you will give this charge. You will tell other churches, you will tell other people, out of love, you're not preaching the Gospel. What is the aim of our charge? Not to be self-righteous, not to be haughty, not to say, okay, we've got it all together. I love you too much to let you destroy Christ's Church. I love you too much to let you tumble headlong into hell, thinking that this is a Christian church. The aim of our charge is love, that issues from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without even understanding what the law says, or even the things about which they make confident assertions. So this is what happens when people turn from the gospel. They start to get into endless genealogies and myths, which promote speculations. They don't know for sure, but they sit there and they reason, and they try to figure out the unknowable, instead of the knowable. That Christ came into the world to save sinners. Now we know that the law is good. So these perverts, probably Jewish, fake Christians, have come in and they're focusing on the law, and they're using it unlawfully. Paul says the law is good, if it's used lawfully. Play on words. The law is good if it points sinners to Christ. The law is never an end. The law is always a means to an end. The law reveals sin. That's the pedagogical nature. It points us to Christ. It shows that we cannot please God in our own striving. All of our good works are filthy rags. God gives His law to what? Condemn the sinner and point them to Christ. And He also gives the political use to sort of refrain and restrain the wickedness of unregenerate people. The law is good if it is used lawfully. Understanding this, the law is not laid down for the just, the righteous, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, purgers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. which is in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I've been entrusted." Pause. I'm going to draw a link between verse 11 and verse 17. The gospel displays the what of God? The glory of God. Literally, you could translate that, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. So the Gospel reveals the glory of God. These perverts are focusing on the Law, which is not pointing to the glory of God, but is pointing to their ascetic practices and their piety. Look, I don't eat pork, and I don't drink caffeine. I know how many children this certain saint had. It has nothing to do with salvation. And so Paul, now, digresses in verse 12. He says, okay, they're preaching anti-gospel, I'm preaching gospel. What is the gospel, Paul? Well, that's verses 12 through 16. That unrighteous sinners can be saved by mercy. That grace can over-abound and bring with it the faith they need and the love they need to be converted. So, Paul has been entrusted with the gospel that unveils the glory of God. So we have glory in verse 12, and we close with glory in verse 17. So that's why I've given you this sort of extra reading. I just want to show you how this fits in. The gospel reveals the glory of God. That's why we preach the gospel. The law is not an end, but I want you to hear this, the gospel is not an end either. The gospel is a means. Some people, there's a trend here, they always talk about the gospel, but they never talk about the glory of God. Which is why I would encourage you to read people like Jonathan Edwards in the Puritans. Verses 12 through 16 are going to show that the gospel saves sinners, but that's not the gospel's primary focus. The gospel does save sinners, but the gospel saves sinners to the glory and praise of God. Ephesians chapter 1. verses 6, 12, and 14. Right? Why predestination, Paul? In love he predestined us. Why? That we might be to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why has He saved the Jews of verse 12? That they might resound to the praise of His glory. Why the Gentiles of verse 14? That they might resound to the praise of His glory. I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, having appointed me to His service. Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, but I received mercy." This is the Gospel. Not lashing your back and trying to be a good person, trying to figure out the myths and the unknowns and the genealogies that are not given. not following certain dietary laws. The gospel is mercy, which is given undeservedly by Christ to undeserving sinners. I received mercy, Paul says, because in ignorance I acted in unbelief. We saw that the two were linked. And the grace of the Lord, that's Jesus, it's superabounded, or the ESV translates it, overflowed for me, bringing with it the faith and love that are in Christ. Jesus. Our memory verse of last week, the saying, the Logos, is trustworthy and worthy of all respect, of all honor, of full acceptance. This is the bumper sticker in Paul's time, you know, the cheesy bumper stickers on Christian cars. This is the little saying they'll have on the fridge for their kids to learn. This is the essence of the Gospel, that Christ Jesus came into the world to do what? Be a good moral example? Just to heal people? He did come into the world to show us how we are to live. He did come in and heal and show that the kingdom had ushered in. But ultimately, the primary focus, the primary purpose that Christ came into the world was to save sinners from their sin and the condemnation heaped upon them because of it. That's the gospel. This is what Timothy is to preach. He's to clean out anything that does not promote this. The gospel is the stewardship that Paul has received, which we have received, and it's regarding God's redemptive plan, which operates by faith. Of whom I am the foremost, but I receive mercy. Again, the emphasis on mercy. Being a good person, trying to work your way to heaven, requires no mercy. Salvation by grace alone requires total and full mercy. I received mercy for this reason? Here it is. Okay? So, we're in verse 16 right before verse 17. Paul started a transition. Why would we receive mercy? Because we deserve it? No! That in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His complete patience as an example to those who are going to believe in Him for eternal life. So, Paul has just turned the corner on the Gospel, and then we get into verse 17. Paul thinks about the Gospel, and he starts to pray. So, if you're talking about the Gospel, and it doesn't lead you into doxology, something is wrong. Paul mentions the Gospel in verse 11. Boom! I thank Christ! He mentions the Gospel again, verse 17. Glory to God in the highest! So many Christians talk about the Gospel, and they don't understand that the Gospel is not enough to talk about. The Gospel is meant to induce us into praise, and worship, and doxology, ascribing the worthiness and honor that are due to God. So we worked this morning. This is our memory verse for next week. I'm going to just pick it apart piece by piece. It's going to help you memorize it by the end of this sermon, and hopefully it will stick in your head for the rest of your life. To the King of Ages. Immortal, invisible, the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Pause. Just talked about God the Son coming into the world to save sinners. So we see the imminence of God. Big fancy word, God draws near. God comes close. Actually, God incarnates Himself. He's born through a virgin and He comes into this world and He walks the guilty sod, which sinners walk. So God comes close in Christ. But Paul wants to balance this now. Right? The Gospel not only is that God comes near, the Gospel is that God is transcendent. He is other than. He is higher above than we could ever imagine. And this is the Gospel. Not just verse 16, but verse 17. That this eternal God that is infinite, eternal, wise, the sovereign King of all things, who is righteous and just, This God comes into the world to save sinners in Christ. This is why He gives Him praise and glory. Sometimes I wonder, I say this often, like we should be having a little jubilee when we say that. Within your heart, I know we're Baptists and we're very quiet and reserved, but you should really be giving praise and glory to God. When you think about the fact that you did not deserve mercy, That you, acting ignorantly, in your unbelief, as a blasphemer, you were persecuting God and Christ. You hated Him. And yet God, in love, sent His Son to die for your sins, and regenerate you. How can we not live in ceaseless adoration and praise? Right? We're like, okay, Christ came into the world to save me. And Paul balances it, right? We don't want to get too man-centered, as if there is some worth in Christ. This is the mystery of the Gospel. We don't deserve that God would come near us, because He is transcendent. So let's just look at some of the definitions. Two weeks ago, Matt taught about the attributes of God at prayer meeting, for which I was not there, but I heard about. Before I even preach on this, I would encourage you to study the attributes of God. Pick up a book if you need to. Come and talk to me. I can point you to some really good ones. Who is God? Who is He? Is He some dude up in the sky with a big beard? The Bible is written about who God is and how we live in accordance with Him. Most Christians have no idea who God is. He's just a G.O.D. guy. They use His name a lot. They have no idea that first and foremost, Paul describes Him as a King. When you present the Gospel to unbelievers, do you present God as a King? Or is He a motivational speaker? Cheerleader? Ra Ra, you're a good person. Let's do better. Let's clean you up. Let's make you all you can be. Or is God a king who is going to render perfect justice? Is He a conquering king who will come and who will rule? That's the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. God is first and foremost a king. But not just any king. He's the king of ages, or as most translations, He's an eternal king. I was looking up yesterday about the longest reign of some of the kings in the world. The first one was in, oh no, where is this, in Egypt. His name was Pepe. I don't know if I would bow to a guy named Pepe. He ruled for 94 years, so probably the moment he was born to the day he died, he was considered king. That's a long time, considering the longest running presidency was by, anybody know, our American friends? Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, just over 12 years. The longest Canadian was about 22 years. That pales in comparison to 94 years. And that pales in comparison to eternity. Not only is he just any king, he's an eternal king. He was a king before he even created the earth. He created the heavens and the earth as a king. He filled the earth and the heavens. as a king. He rules over all ages as king forever. So we have here two things. He's a king forever and over all. That's why I like the ESV. King of ages. There's a double nuance there. It means he's an eternal king without beginning, without end. He reigns forever and forever. But he's also king over the ages. Including this wicked evil age. Paul calls it that in Galatians chapter 1. We're living in a wicked age characterized by sin, as the devil runs rampant. Ephesians chapter 2. And yet God is king over that. Paul's rejoicing in this. He's not trying to convict Timothy and the people in Ephesus. This is to encourage them. If there is any hope that God is going to fight with them for the sake of His glory, He had better be a pretty tough king. He's just a pansied God. We're in trouble. How can we clean out your church, God, when you're not a king? But if He's an eternal King who rules over all ages, before creation, at creation, during creation, and at the new creation, at consummation, if He rules over all those aeons, Timothy, you have great encouragement, you have great confidence to clean the church up. And if you're a Christian, should encourage you. If you're a non-christian, this should scare the hell out of you. Every single person here is going to bow their knee to the King of Kings one day. You're going to bow your knee in this life by choice. You'll bow your knee to God in Christ or you will bow your knee in force in hell. The choice is yours. God is King. You will pay Him homage. You will either give Him the glory and honor He deserves by submitting yourself and your will to Him in Christ, or you will give Him glory and honor as you are punished forever in Hell. Kings don't take orders, they give orders. They make demands. And what I was reading on the internet yesterday, if you're curious, it was about these people who deny what you call Lordship Salvation. That Jesus is Savior, but you don't need to accept Him as Lord. I'll take the sins forgiven, thank you. For you to tell me what to do? No, that's a little extra for the super holy people like pastors. No, God is a King. You count the cost this morning. You take all the salvation. God is a King, and He reigns. He doesn't take orders from you. You don't tell Him how you want to take Him. He says, this is who I am. You count the cost. You want me? You bow your knee to me now, and you bow your knee for the rest of your life. Are you glorying in this? The regenerative heart glories in this. If you fight against the fact that God is King, I am very certain you are not a Christian. Because that's what the Holy Spirit does. He comes in and He gives us a nature that loves God instead of hates Him. A nature that serves God rather than tries to make God serve us. He's not a vendor. Aladdin's God. He's the king eternal. He's the king over the ages. The next adjective that describes this king is that he's immortal. Or you could translate it incorruptible. Now, instead of me preaching, I found an excellent sermon. I'm just going to read two pages from this guy. His name is Philip Reichen. He's sound. He's at 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. And he says this regarding this king's incorruptibility or his immortal. God is also immortal, Rikens says. In Paul's doxology, eternity refers to God's kingship, whereas immortality refers to God himself. So his reign is eternal. His dominion is universal, right? There's not an age He rules over, there's not a day He is not king. So, eternity refers to His kingdom, immortality refers to us, immortality refers to God Himself, to His being in essence. The word immortal is perhaps better translated as incorruptible. And if you want to sort of see the reason He's eternal, is because He's incorruptible. The milk in the fridge? Well, He's going to say. It means that God, unlike the milk in the refrigerator, does not have a use-by date. He is imperishable. He cannot decay. This makes God different from everything else in His universe. Remember the transcendent? God came into this world, and yet He's still transcendent. He's different. He's other than. Pine trees enter the forest and drive out the aspens. Rivers alter their courses, mountains erode, entire galaxies collide, and stars collapse into black holes. If the scientists are right, the cosmos itself is in gradual decline. This is explained by the scientific principle known as entropy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Brent, you can validate this, entropy is a measure of the disorganization or degradation of the universe. That's true. Things are slowing down, cooling off, and returning to a formless void. Thermodynamic theory teaches entropy is always on the rise. In other words, the entire universe is running down. Our bodies are also running down. Scientists are still trying to figure out a way to immortalize humanity, but the human body is corruptible. Human beings grow old and die. Only one thing can stop the aging process. and that is death itself. The older people get, the more wrinkles they get, the more aches and pains, and unfortunately for those of us with poor genes and less hair. The aging process goes on inside the body all the time. Cells replicate themselves again and again throughout a person's lifetime, but eventually chromosomes shorten beyond the point of repair. It is a little bit like having a shoelace that keeps breaking. Eventually the lace gets so short that the shoe cannot be tied. In the same way, the ends of a chromosome gradually deteriorate until finally the entire cell shuts down. That's what's going inside every one of your bodies right now. You're dying. Abigail came out of Christina when she was birthed. She started dying that moment. Why? Because she has fallen. She is corruptible. She will experience decay like every other person in this world. But God is not like that. That's why we worship Him. Corruption is a fact of daily human existence. Appliances stop working. Clothing gets torn and stained. Automobiles break down. It almost sounds like Jesus who talked in Matthew 6 about not putting our hope and treasures on things on earth, which rust and the moths get out, thieves steal and destroy. Demographics change, populations shift, and cities go into decline. Indeed, entire civilizations are corruptible. which is one of the main lessons of the 20th century. In the aftermath of the First World War, we see that nothing is stable in this world. Things fall apart. Families, towns, cities, nations, empires, civilizations, they all fall down. They're all like Humpty Dumpty. But not God. God is not eroding. He is not cooling off or winding down. He is not growing old and wrinkled. His chromosomes are not getting shorter. He is not falling apart. Unlike everything else He has made, God is immortal. Not only will He live forever, but every one of His divine attributes will remain undiminished through all eternity. His holiness, it cannot be tainted with our sinfulness. His eternality is not perishable. His love will never fade, will never decrease. His love is infinite and will always be infinite. You should delight in that, by the way. It's not like me on a good day, you know, where I'm just loving on everybody. But since I'm corruptible, and thus my love is corruptible, you better catch me on a good day. God's not like that. His attributes are as unchanging as His character. God does not become less powerful, less loving, less just, or less holy with the passage of time. He is every bit as powerful, loving, just, and holy as He has ever been. and always will be. Again, if you're a Christian, this is where what we call perseverance of the saints comes in. This is your hope, Christians, that God is unchanging and does not undergo decay. The best place to see God's immortality is in what? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Same Greek word as in Acts chapter 2, where it was impossible for the Holy One to undergo decay, corruption. And so we see the first attribute of this king is he's eternal. The second attribute that Paul glories in is that he's immortal, or you could say incorruptible. He's not like all the other gods that can be sort of changed and swayed. He's unchanging. Third attribute, he's invisible. A lot of skeptics don't like this. If I would only see God then I would believe in Him. It sucks to be you, because God is invisible. Doting Thomas asked for the same thing, and Jesus said to him, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. How do you see Christ? How do you see God? You see Him, as Paul said in verse 11, the gospel which displays the glory of God. You want to see God? I'm sorry, He's not going to come here and manifest Himself for you this morning in visible sight. For you to see God is to see Him by faith. You don't walk by sight, the Christian walks by faith. The seen things are transient, 2 Corinthians says, where the invisible things are eternal. God is invisible. We can no more see God than we can see gravity. No one has ever seen God the Father. Scripture makes that very clear. Not even Moses. Though he talked face to face to Him, it's clear he talked in the presence of God's glory. What happens for man to see the face of God? He will surely die. No one has ever seen God, John tells us in chapter 1 verse 18. The only God, Christ, has revealed Him to us though. We can no more see God than we can see gravity. Do I need to see gravity to believe in it though? Right? Ryan, if I picked you up and threw you up into the air as hard as I could, that would show that gravity works. You can see that God exists. Turn to Romans 1 quickly. Some people don't like the fact that He is invisible. Paul glories in the fact that He is invisible. God is beyond our scrutiny. Just so you know that. Right? God doesn't say, oh, you'll believe if you can see me. He's a king, remember? He doesn't conform to our needs and our desires. Verse 18. I would start in the verse that shows that we see Him, but I just want you to see the context. The wrath of God, present tense, is now being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. You can see God in His wrath, actually. who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, for what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, and the things that have been made. So such people are without excuse. So these wicked people who say, well, I'm not believing in God until He shows Himself to me, Paul says, these pagan Gentiles, they have no excuse. The nature of God is clearly perceived from the beginning of creation till now. And we can see that He is powerful, and we can see that He is divine. Thus they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God. It did not bow to Him as King. In the Old Testament, God was not seen at all, and yet there were these Theophanies. What's a Theophany? Phanerao, Greek word for to appear, so phany comes from appearance. What does theos mean? It's God. So we have the appearance of God, but no one can see God! This is the mystery of the Trinity. we're going to see. It's the mystery that we cannot see God the Father, God reveals Himself to us in God the Son. This doxology is to God the Father through God the Son. Because we're thinking, wait, God is invisible and yet God manifests Himself to people. John says in chapter 1 of his epistle, we have seen Him, we have touched Him, we have touched God. How does that work? It's the mystery of the Trinity. We worship a God who is invisible, and yet who has manifested Himself in Christ to save wretched sinners. I can't get my head around that. You know, if you come up to me after the ceremony like, didn't make sense, pastor. I say, you know what? I didn't get it either. You don't have to come up here and try to bumble through it and explain it. I don't think it's explainable. The invisible God becomes visible. Third attribute, or third adjective. He's eternal, He's immortal, He's invisible. He's the only God. Only is not a popular word today. It's like the word one is not popular, just like the word wrong is not popular. There's only one God. The King James would have only one God. Same idea. The emphasis is on His uniqueness. There are no rivals. No one compares with Him. He's transcendent. Even the gods of the nations are but idols. Psalm 96 says. But our God, He is the only God. And Paul is expressing his Jewish roots. The pious Jews recite this every single day. The Lord. The Lord our God is one. That's the Shema out of Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4. They still do it to this day. And Paul is saying that somehow, that fits in to his Christology. 1 Corinthians 8.6, he cites that. God is one, and yet he calls Christ God. Again, the mystery of the Trinity. The reason I keep bringing this up, because you're going to get some well-versed JWs come to your house, and they're going to say, there's only one God. He's invisible, and yet Jesus was visible. So therefore, Jesus must not be God. Do you understand some of the basic tenets of the Trinity? The Athanasius Creed says what? That God the Father is God, God the Son is God, God the Holy Spirit is God. Yet not three gods, but one. Right? Again, you come up to me and I'm just going to repeat that to you. I'm just going to write down on a piece of paper. Father equals God, Son equals God, Spirit equals God, one God. Right? Three persons in unity. Not three different gods, three persons. God in three persons, blessed Trinity. It's the same idea as a husband and a wife. The two shall become one. Is Christina like somehow attached to me preaching right now? I hope not, because we're going to see later in Timothy that women can't be preachers. But we're one! Well, there's that Hebrew word again, right? So God, Father, Son and Spirit are one. They're the only God and yet there's a Trinity. Can I explain that? I've read so many theological books and not one of them has delighted my fancy and given me the answer I'm looking for. Maybe it's because God is transcendent? Maybe? You notice how Paul doesn't explain these things, he just glories in them? I'm not saying now check your brain at the door and let's be idiot Christians and not worry about theology, but there's just some things that are unknowable. We worship God for His eternality, the fact that He's invisible, and the fact that He's unique. There's no God like Him. The three in one, there is no God like the Trinity. And there is no God but that. And yet Paul glories in it. So we have these four definitions. I know this is not the most flashy sermon. I really don't give a rep. I want you to learn how to memorize scripture. What's the first thing? To the king of ages. Or you could say, to the eternal king. That's the first thing, right? When you're in trouble, these are good things to be mindful of. My God, the only God, He's eternal. He's the king over every age. If I die, He's still king. He's on His throne. Okay, so first, to the God eternal. Next, immortal. Right? My hope is in Christ, but if Christ can somehow decay, that means that my hope is not eternal. Right? My hope is in an objective reality that is unchanging. That's why a lot of people get divorced and stuff like that. Their hope is in their wife or their husband. Problem is what? Hair falls out, weight clings to hips. Their hope changes because so does that. Our hope will never change because Christ is objectively, God the Trinity, is objectively unchangeable. He's immortal. Thirdly, we gloat in the fact that He's invisible. Paul does, so I'm going to. You know, it would make, it would be a little easier for me to believe if I could see Him. You know, like if I was shaving this morning and as I'm praying, you know, He's right there like, oh right, He's going to help me this morning. He's invisible. He's transcendent. His ways are far above our ways. That's the difference between the Creator and the creation. And we worship Him for that. Crazy, like you know, very few people like, you know, they got their shirt, God is invisible. You know, like, God is glorious, love Jesus. Never see the shirt, God is visible. Like, that's never a reason you're going to go home and, like, praise Him. Like, you're, like, eating your dinner this evening. You're not going to say, thank you, God, for being invisible. You should. I don't know why, but you should. Paul says that He is unique. Fourthly, He's the only God. That's glorious. If there are other gods, we're in trouble because there's going to be some kind of royal rumble. But there are no other gods. This transcendent God, who is other than, He's the only God. And this only God has come into the world in Christ Jesus. And this only God came into the world to save sinners, even the worst of them. Now that we've seen God, what is our response to be? We're to honor and glory Him. What does it mean to honor? It means basically just to give someone their due. You don't add to it, you just give Him His due. God deserves honour, so you give Him honour. That's all I'm going to say. It's simple like that. That's why it's the role of the preacher to present God. Which is why you preach the Gospel. The Gospel reveals the glory of God. When you see the glory of God, you honour Him. Why? Because He is glorious. He's deserving of honor, that's all it is. God deserves honor, you should be giving Him honor. If you're not, you need to repent. If you're not honoring God, then you've not seen Him alright. You've not totally understand, like you've heard words, right, you've heard, oh sweet, He's eternal, He's immortal, He's invisible, He's the only God. It's not gotten to your heart if you're not responding and giving Him honor and praise. The two words are similar. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Glory comes from the Hebrew word kavod, which means heaviness, weightiness. You're just describing the weightiness, the worthiness, the heaviness, the glory of God. That's all Paul's doing. He's not adding to his glory, he's just seeing his glory and praising it. Question, before I close. This is a short sermon, you guys are very lucky. How do you see the glory of God again? Christ, okay? Give me a verse though. Remember how I linked verse 17 with verse... verse 11. This is the minister's duty, is to preach the gospel which reveals the glory of God, as sinners come into the presence of the glory of God through the proclamation of the gospel. And the gospel says that God is transcendent, and yet in His mercy, He condescendingly comes down into this world in Christ, and Christ as God lives here at perfect life, and then He goes to a cross and He dies in the place of undeserving sinners. People see God's glory in that and they respond and they say, glory and honor be to God forever and ever. It's not just for now, you know, it's not like, sweep and justify! Had a real good day of worship on Sunday! That's not what you're to do. You preach the gospel to yourself every day and your life. You're not just waiting until the new heavens and earth come to start ascribing ceaseless praise to Him. Yes, I know Revelation 4 and 5 point to the future, but it's written to a church undergoing persecution in the then and now. So when I say preach the gospel to yourself daily, it's not an end, it's a means. Why do you preach yourself the gospel? It reveals God's glory. And when you see God's glory, when you come into the presence of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, which is revealed in the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4, 4-6, if the Holy Spirit's working on your heart, The natural outpour is praise, adoration, and just giving Him honor. God is glorious when you see that He's glorious. It's like just seeing a really nice car. You see a nice car, what do you do? That car is sweet. So what do you do? You carry a picture of that little car and you, oh yeah, that car is sweet. That's what the Gospel does. It reminds you of the sweetness of God. That's why Paul is appalled that these heretics have come in. I like, that was a word play, that was not even... Paul is a Paul, but these heretics have come in, and they're starting to lift up man. Be a good person. Keep the dietary laws. Do all this. It goes so contrary to the purpose for which God created all things. What is the chief purpose, not just of man, but of all things? To what? Westminster Shorter Catechism, question number one. The chief end of man is to? glorify God, and enjoy Him forever. That's what the Gospel helps us to do. This is why Paul says you need to go into the house of God, get rid of that rotten foundation, because it elevates man, it decreases God, and therefore is in complete opposition to God's purposes, not just for the church, but for the world. The purpose, the end for which He created all things, a great book by Jonathan Edwards, is that God might display His glory. The refulgence of His glory might come down. People might see it and they might return that glory back to Him. How do we do that? I preach the gospel to you. You see the glory of God. You respond to it and you give Him the glory that is due Him. Right? You're thinking, like, why is He always preaching the gospel? Because I love you. The aim of our charge is what? Not bigger churches. The aim of our charge is love, Timothy. If you love people, you're going to preach to them the gospel. Because that is when they're going to be the fulfilled life, right? Everyone wants the fulfilled life, so they listen to Joel Osteen and all those people. You know what the fulfilled life is? Doing the thing for which you've been created for. The reason why everyone here has been created, and if you're a Christian, redeemed, recreated, is to extol the glory of God, is to give glory to Him to whom it is due. And we close with the last point. Nathan said it. It's my last point. Amen. Sometimes I wonder when you're at prayer meeting and I'm always just dropping amens and you're like, man, that guy's super holy or super loud or likely super annoying. Why do I always say amen? I mean, the Hebrews say it. We're going to see that in Nehemiah. You know what it means? May it be so or truly. This is an opportunity not just for Timothy, but also for the congregation in Ephesus to respond. So what we do is we present the Gospel as a means to show you the glory of God, and I say, now you have an opportunity to respond to this King. Do you say Amen? Not just with your lips. Chris Austin, early church father, he says that we're not just to give Him the Amen with our lips, not just to ascribe glory and praise to Him with our lips, but with our lives. And so if you receive these things, you say, hardly, Amen! May it be so! I accept! I ascribe to these truths, Paul! And how do you ascribe to them? Just on a Sunday morning, Amen, and then leave unchanged? No. Timothy, you, and the congregation there, you'd understand, you'd hardly agree, that you exist for the glory of God. Preach the gospel which displays that glory so people can respond with their hearty amens, with their lips, and with their lives. Okay? So that's where we are now. We're in our third sermon. First sermon, getting rid of the gospel rot. Second sermon, replacing the gospel, or the false gospel with the true gospel. And this sermon sort of ties into it. The gospel is sort of like You know on the foundation of all those liberal churches, they always have to the glory of God? That's what verse 17 is. We preach the gospel which is the foundation of God's house. Right? That's the Greek terminology. The church is God's house. The foundation of God's house is the gospel. And verse 17 is like that little stamp, right? Dedicated to what? The glory of God. So I preach the gospel. because we are to dedicate ourselves to the glory of God. Not just now, but forever and ever. Amen. If you're not a Christian here this morning, you've been created to worship Jesus Christ. You have been created to give glory and honor to God. If you're an unbeliever, you have not been giving glory to God. You have been bringing Him dishonor. You've been not ascribing to Him the worthiness. That's what worship means, by the way. Worth-ship. Ascribing God's worthiness. Rather, you've been living for yourself. Blaspheming. You've been mocking, reviling, hating God. And God gives you another opportunity this morning. The King Eternal. He's ruling over everyone here. He will either rule over you by grace or by force. This eternal King is giving you an opportunity now to respond to who He is and what He has done for lost wretched sinners. The transcendent God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son so that they might not perish, so that sinners might not perish but have eternal life. Are you going to count the cost? Are you going to surrender to this King? I hope so. And if you surrender to this king, you surrender to one who is glorious and to whom you're going to ascribe worth and honor to the rest of your life. That's the cost. You want to live for your glory? By all means, reject him. You will suffer in hell. You want to embrace him? He says, take all of me. And I am a king. He's a close father. I'm just trusting you. that You've heard my prayers. I ask that I would say only what You wanted me to say and nothing more. Father, I just pray that this verse would be imprinted indelibly upon our hearts and our minds. Father, help us to see who You are. Show us who You are in Christ. So help us, Lord, to know and cherish and glory in and exalt in and exalt the Gospel. which unveils to blind sinners how glorious You are. Father, I pray that we won't be a hypocritical church that talks about the Gospel and yet does not submit to what the Gospel is meant to do, and that is to glorify You. Father, I thank You that You are so jealous for Your glory that You sent Christ into the world to secure Your glory by giving us the regenerating Spirit. And I pray, Spirit, that You would do Your work even this morning. for those who are still outside the kingdom. May they see who You are, God. Terrify them in Your wrath, I pray, and then comfort them in Your love. And Father, I just pray now that the Spirit will tune our hearts to sing Your grace, will tune our hearts to sing your praise, which you will not share with another. Father, help us to see that. Please be the capstone and the foundation of this church. Father, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.