About this sermon
Paul charges Timothy to keep the commandment until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about at the proper time. Christ has two appearings: his first coming in humiliation, ending in his exaltation, and his second coming in glory. Believers live between the two and look for him as the bride in the Song of Solomon longs for her beloved. On that day the last will be first and believers will share in judging the world. Until then, they keep their confession unstained.
Sermon transcript
Our second reading will be just dipping into one verse, 1 Timothy 1-7, and lastly 1 Timothy 6, 14 through 16. And we will have 14b and 15a as our target verses for this day. Assuming we are all there, Song of Solomon 2, starting with verse 7. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you do not arouse or awaken love until she pleases. Listen, my beloved.
Behold, he is coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall. He is looking through the windows. He is peering through the lattice. My beloved responded and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along.
For behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land. The time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. Oh, my dove. in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway. Let me see your form. Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your form is lovely. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards while our vineyards are in blossom. Pardon me, one more. My beloved is mine, and I am his. He pastures his flock among the lilies.
Let’s turn to 1 Timothy 1.17. Paul gives praise to God. He erupts in praise to God, saying, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6.14 You keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To him be glory and eternal dominion. Amen.
Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we ask that you would send the Lord Jesus Christ in your time, in the time that you plan. We ask, oh Father, that you would give us grace. Give us your truth in the meantime. Give us all of which we stand in need. In Jesus’ name, amen.
You may have noticed that I skipped a few words. Not by accident. That was on purpose. Sometimes you come across a word or so in your Bible, and it is italicized in some versions. That is because that word is not necessarily there in the Greek, but it is implied. Certainly it’s good to read the implied word but occasionally it is good to read the word as it is in its most literal way. Either way, both would be true.
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you this day Do you love the Lord’s appearing? Does the very thought of your Savior coming back excite your heart and fill your mind with joy and with grandeur? In Song of Songs, the bride looks forward to the coming of her beloved. She says, behold, He comes, and He does come. He comes as a gazelle. He comes as a young stag. He comes in power, but He comes in grace. Equally, the church of Jesus Christ looks forward to the day when the bridegroom will come. When that one will come who will come in power, and in grace, in an unmatched power and grace.
Do you long for that day? Are you looking forward to that day? I hope you are. But in the meantime, from our context with this these verses tell us is that we must long for that day, but continue to profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to confess Him until that day, and confess a pure Christ, the one who is revealed to us in the scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament. Continue to do that fight, the good fight, until that day.
That is what our text is telling us. Are you ready for the appearing of our Lord? Or as it says in the Greek, are you ready for the epiphany of the Lord? The word epiphany has worked its way into our English language, and an epiphany is oftentimes thought of just as an idea that comes to us out of the blue. I had an epiphany. I realized that I need to do this, this, and this. But in the old time, in Greek, 2,000 years ago, it was an appearing. Jesus Christ has two epiphanies, according to God’s word. He has a first epiphany and a second epiphany. His first coming, he comes in humiliation glory, and he will come again in exalted resurrection glory.
Those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ are not ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be shocked on that day, the day in which they are shown to have known things about God. Indeed, they have known the true God, but they were suppressing it in unrighteousness. For those who are in Christ, for those who know Him, that will not be a day of terror.
That will be the greatest day of our existence. It will be glorious beyond our understanding. But only for those who have loved His coming, loved His appearing, loved His cross, and loved His resurrection. That day will be the beginning of the eternal Sabbath. That will be the day of the Spirit. But to understand His second coming, we must understand a little bit about His first coming. That we might have informed minds so that our hearts would cry out to God about this. As I said, His first coming is in humiliation glory.
In one sense, we could say there was little that was significant about the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginnings of His life. He was not born in a palace. He was born in a little humble place, in a humble town, and laid in a humble bed, a manger. Very humble beginnings for this one. We could even say humiliating for Him. He lived a life of means that were very low. He was not extravagant. He seems to have had access to all the things that were necessary, at least for the majority of his life. Food, clothing, but certainly not extravagant. but his humiliation, birth, and life were but preparation for his humiliation of death.
His death is a glorious, but amazing, humiliating time in which the Lord Jesus Christ willingly went to the cross He did so that He might bring glory to His Father, that He might make His Father’s name to be known throughout all of the nations. He died on that cross. He suffered on that cross in great ways. Jesus Christ suffered on that cross at the hands of men and at the hands of God. And he suffered more than the accumulated sufferings of all mankind together. Surely we suffer, but not as much as the Lord Jesus Christ.
He suffered greatly. It is one thing to be abandoned by man. How much more to be abandoned by his heavenly father, the one in whom he had eternal community, eternal communion, and joy. And there was a separation that he would cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He comes in glory in his humiliation, but he is resurrected.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to life And He gave and continues to give eternal life to His people, to the ones that He has set His love upon, to average sinners, and to horrible sinners, and to the king of sinners, the chief of sinners. God, by His grace, bestows life upon the Apostle Paul. And in 1 Timothy 1, Paul is just amazed at how God has been so gracious to him, that of all people, this persecutor, this blasphemer, would be not only saved, but that he would be an example of God’s grace for the church of Ephesus, which this is written to, but all the churches that Paul wrote to and ministered to, but also he is an example to us of God’s amazing grace that God saves sinners, even the most vile of sinners. And we reach a point in 1 Timothy chapter 1 where Paul just praises God.
It’s as if he just erupts into ecstatic praise. Now it’s a controlled praise. It is fenced in by the parameters of God’s Word and of who He is. But he just praises God. He says, now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. In the Greek, there is no verb there. It’s supplied by your English translators. It’s implied.
And he just says, the king eternal, just praise be to him. Another implied verse or an implied word that he gives. but God is at the center of that praise. God’s first coming in Christ was in humiliation and eventual exaltation on the third day so that he might save his people. John 3, 17, surely the Apostle Paul would love these words and concur with them.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Isn’t that amazing? God would look down upon sinners and say, I’m not going to send my son in there simply to just out and out condemn the whole world. I am going to send my son to save sinners and to show my grace and to show that they ought not to look for ways that they can measure up to me. They cannot. They are all sinners, and if I do not intervene, they will all be lost for eternity.
But the Lord Jesus Christ enters into time and space to save that which was lost. That is His first coming. But what are we to know? What are we to think of His second coming, His second epiphany? We live, as it were, between the times. Between the times of His first coming and of His second coming. And the time to come is a time of consummate resurrection glory. many important events are going to take place on that day. And I want you to know what sort of events, not all of them, we’re not going to seek to be exhaustive, but what I want you to look forward to that day with knowledge and with understanding that you might not be surprised on that great day.
On that day, all of the people in the graves will come out. They will be resurrected. They will be raised. Believers and non-believers, there is a unity to the complex set of events that is going to happen that day. We do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to bring certain people out of the grave at one time and then a number of years later bring a number of another number of people out of the grave. John says in 525, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Every single person who has ever lived and died will be brought back to life in that day. The focus of the majority of God’s word is upon the resurrection of the saints, but all people will be raised. They will be resurrected on that day.
It does not matter if someone’s grave is presently in the ground. Or, if they are in the sea, they will be raised, all people, on the same day, the saved and the unsaved. Every person who is alive though, who has not died at that time, everyone who is alive at that time, will be changed. As 1 Corinthians 15 says, in the flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we will all be changed. We will be fitted for eternity. That is what is going to happen on that day. All people will come back to life. That’s not it. Greater things than the resurrection will happen in that day. Christ will appear from heaven in that day.
And He will come with His mighty flaming angels and He will come in flaming fire. And Christ will separate the sheep from the goats. He will put the goats on His left side. he will say, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. This will be a day of terror when people hear that final That final condemnation, that sentence that they will, in a sense, be in prison, in a horrible prison for the rest of eternity, because they did not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, because they opposed the gospel of Christ in their own hearts and surely in the hearts and minds of people all around this world. But that’s not all. for those sheep, for those whom He has set His love upon from eternity past, those whom He has rescued, those will be on the other side and they are seen as sheep.
And He will say those words that I long to hear and I hope you long to hear them as well. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And in that day, the saints of God will marvel at the sight of their Savior, for He will be glorious on that day. All saints, those who are justified by faith alone and not by any works that they have done, those will wonder at their God.
But There are other things that will happen on that day, and I must say I’m not so sure of the sequence of events. I know what’s going to happen that day. But there are some things that are still a bit of a mystery to me, and we must not be surprised when they happen, but we don’t know what exactly will be the order of events that day. Because the Bible says that we will judge That is, believers will judge those who are sinners.
Isn’t that strange? God can do it himself, but he’s going to bring us to do that. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2 tells us that. And isn’t that interesting that God is going to bring his people in to do a part of the judging. Now we understand that God does not need that, he doesn’t need our counsel, he doesn’t need our advice, but in his own way, for His own reasons, He has decided that it will be that way. Equally so, we could talk about the preaching ministry.
God does not need to do things as He has done, to put preachers, bumbling, stumbling preachers up before you, Sunday after Sunday, who seek to preach about God’s grace and His holiness and His justice. God could have done a way that would be much more effective. He could have had angels come down and be beamed and explain his words to us. He could have just spoken with a voice Sunday by Sunday. But in his grace, he has put shepherds in congregations and he has decided to use them.
Equally so, he will use the saints to judge in that day I don’t know. Stay tuned. But it doesn’t stop there. We will also judge angels. Judge demons. That’s what we’re told. The same chapter. 1 Corinthians 6, 3. Do you not know that we are to judge angels? how much more than matters pertaining to this life. This is a mysterious text.
We know that it’s true that on judgment day, you, if you’re trusting in Christ, will judge angels. I can imagine that we will probably have a case against them. Accusations will be made. And then we will have to, as part of the jury, Make a judgment. Isn’t that amazing? But praise God for whatever he ordains. Now understand that Paul is saying in that text, his main point is not, hey, guess what? Let me tell you something very interesting.
We are going to judge angels. What he is saying is, you must be able in the church to judge rightly, not hypocritically, not rush to judgment. Do you not understand, Corinthians, that you’re going to judge angels? If you’re not able to be faithful in the little, which is judging in this realm and in this sphere, how can you be entrusted with angels to judge them? It’s just a minor point that he’s making. It’s subordinate to his main point. But we know that subordinate points are true, just like anything else God’s word says.
On that day, martyrs will be vindicated. Throughout the church age, there have been many martyrs, brothers and sisters who died The fire? For the simple crime of believing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Believing that Jesus saves sinners through no works that they perform. Many of them, their closing moments, were standing in fire. There are others who, their closing moments, simply for the crime of professing the Lord Jesus Christ, They felt a blade upon their neck, and they were beheaded for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
On that day, those people will be vindicated. And in one strange sense, they will judge those who misjudged them. Those who are martyred, were martyred, will judge their former murderers. Stephen, that one who was stoned in Acts chapter 7, he will not be the one who is being judged in that day and the rocks thrown against him.
He will be in a much better position against those who did those sorts of things, for those who did not repent and come to the Lord Jesus Christ and realize what great crime they had committed. And there will be another reversal. What I’m talking about is the reversals of the point of death for someone, and then the day of judgment, there will be a grand reversal.
There will be a grand reversal for the Lord Jesus Christ and Pilate. You see, the kingdom of man stands in judgment over the Lord Jesus Christ. Pilate sits in the catbird seat thinking that he has power and that this country bumpkin who is the Lord Jesus Christ, this out of town man who has some rumors about him and some fame and maybe he’s able to do some magic tricks. These kinds of things were spoken of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a great reversal that will be. when the one who stood in judgment of Christ will be judged that day. And there will be a reversal because Christ will be the one who is doing the judging on that day. This will be absolutely amazing to see. Does the Bible not tell us that the last will be first and the first will be last? Do you believe the Bible when it tells us this? It will be the case.
And Paul, the apostle, at one time took the coats of those who martyred Stephen as one who judged them, judged Stephen rather. He undergoes a reversal himself because he is one of those who repents and comes to Christ. And he has martyred himself, probably under Caesar Nero. What a grand reversal that will be as well, when the tide is turned. That day will be a great day of comfort for the saints.
We will be changed to sin no more. We will have no more failures. No more weaknesses. No more death. No more sin and struggling. The tears we have wept over death and over sin will be no more, because death will be no more. Jesus Christ has the victory now, and Jesus Christ will have the victory on that day. And God will wipe every tear from our eyes.
How can we not love that day? We will see our Savior on that day. And we will wear a crown of righteousness on that day, a righteousness that is not earned by us, but is earned by Christ’s perfect life, imputed to us, given to us, His perfect sacrifice of death, imputed to us, so that it will be as if we have not sinned, and where we have sinned, that will be covered over And this is for those who fought the good fight, who fought against sin, and professed Christ by God’s grace.
And for those who have an unstained profession, they have the commandment, which is professing Christ, believing in Christ. There, they have an unstained and unreproachable confession of Christ. all because of His grace. And we will see our Savior face to face. Do you long for that coming, brothers and sisters?
We say with the Bride and Song of Solomon that our Beloved is coming, and He will come in glory. He says, He says to the bride, arise, my darling, my beautiful one. Let me hear your voice, your sweet voice. We will be raised, as he says to his church, to his bride, arise, beautiful one, my darling.
I want to hear your voice. I don’t know about you, I love the singing in this church. But the singing on that day will make this singing pale in comparison. I cannot wait until we sing to our Savior that day when we say, as the church, when we respond to Him who said, speak, my darling, oh, beautiful one. I want to hear your voice. But there will be a yet more glorious song that day. And it won’t be sung by us. And it won’t be sung by the angels. It won’t be sung by the animals. It won’t be sung by the valleys and the mountains.
For there is a yet more glorious song to be sung. And the singer of that song will be God Himself. A verse that I rest upon often and I’d encourage you to do so. God speaks about his church. Christ speaks about his church. Zephaniah 3.17, the Lord your God is in your midst. A mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. What a great day that will be when we sing to our Savior, and what a greater moment it will be when He sings and exalts over undeserving sinners, over His undeserving bride. What a great day that will be.
We must continue to profess Christ and keep a pure, unstained profession until that day. Unstained by false doctrine and unstained by our lives and understand that Christ died for even our hypocrisy. O Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord will descend. Even so, even so, it is well with my soul. Let us pray.
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