Living For Your King

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again, radio friends. How in the world are you? You doing alright? Oh, I’m fine, thank you. Happy in the Lord. Glad to be back with you.

Now, come with me then to 1 Timothy, and we’re continuing in our study there. Finished verse 16, and now we come to this beautiful doxology that Paul uses, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Why should it come in here? Well, because Paul had just finished thinking about how wonderfully God saved him. “This a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. But God gave me His mercy for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” The, the mercy of the wisdom and that wonder working of God in his life led him to exclaim in praise to God: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory, forever and ever. Amen.” Do you want to think about those different words with me for a moment?

Small thought here before we actually get into the, into the 17th verse. Your thought about the Lord Jesus, if it’s real, will always lead you to worship and adoration and praise. Never be satisfied in your morning or evening devotions until the blessed indwelling Spirit of God has led you from contemplation of the Cross and God’s mercy and saving you, to adoration and worship and praise to God. “Whoso offereth praise, glorify Me,” the Bible says, and God looks for the offering of praise by Him. “Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His name,” says the writer to the Hebrews, “for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” You want to please God? Go from Calvary to the empty tomb, to the upper room, to the shining of the glory of the risen Christ – all of it for you – and as you realize that, then let your heart just reach out in praise to God. That’s what happened with Paul, and it seems to me that’s the norm for every believer as you think about your blessed Lord. Never be satisfied until your thought of Christ has led you to the place of praise and adoration and worship.

Alright, that was sort of a little detour that I took there.

Now, he said, “unto the King.” “The King.” Why start there? Well, because that’s where the beginning ought to be. “Our Father who art in Heaven,” Jesus taught us to pray, “hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come.” “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” “We will not have this man to reign over us.” King concept again. Wherever you touch the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re face-to-face with the fact that the only possible – it’s not the best, it’s the only – the only possible relationship you can sustain with God is to make Him your King.

You see, what sin has done is to put itself on the throne instead. Brother Dr. Bill Bright has produced many helpful little booklets and formulas that enable people to understand the salvation and the Christian life. One of them, as I recall, shows a throne. Small picture of a throne, and on it is “self.” You, that is; yourself, myself.

Well, what’s the essence of, of the commitment of salvation? It’s to take “self” off the throne and invite the Lord Jesus to be King instead. Christ on the throne of your life. “The King.”

Can I ask you this question? Have you ever really grappled with this concept insofar as it affects your daily living? Is God King of your life when you first arise? Is He King of your life in your relationship with family? Is He King in your business? Is He King in your room, in your recreation and play? Is He King in your social relationships? Is He King in your money?

Oh, does it have to be all of that? Yes, it does. It does. God’s Kingship has been extended to all the areas of my life or it doesn’t mean a thing. “If He isn’t Lord of all,” said somebody long ago, “He isn’t Lord at all.”

“King.” You want to think about that for yourself? See, no amount of my talking with you is going to change the way you live, but you and God working together – for the Holy Spirit indwells the believer – you and God working together can make a difference. God wants you to be related to Him as your King. Yes, He is our heavenly Father, and we can speak lovingly with Him. I talk to Him every day, don’t you? And He talks with me – I rejoice to say – but beyond that, and overall, there is the fact that God is the King of the universe. His Word and His Will are absolutes. There is no changing of His purposes. He’s God, He’s King.

Now, the only question is, does He really reign supreme in each area of your life? Only you, my dear friend, can settle that, and I know you will as you think about it, pray about it, and pray about it.

Now, He’s the “King eternal.” I have, from time to time, through the years, struggled with this concept of eternity. And of course you always, you always come to a complete point of exhaustion, so far as your mental capacities are concerned. Because we’re finite, it’s pretty hard for us to conceive of something that had no beginning and has no ending. We are creatures of time and space. God made us so, and until we receive that new body adapted to glory in the resurrection, we’re, we’re going to be creatures of time and space, but God is the “King eternal.” That is to say, He never had a beginning, He never has any ending. He sees it all… All of past, present, and future – history so-called – He sees it all in one swoop of, of the complete, divine awareness. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” God knows.

Now, what does that mean, so far as you and I are concerned in our daily life? My purpose in all these broadcasts is to bring the truth of God right straight down where you and I live on Main Street.

So He’s the “King;” we talked about that. He’s the “King eternal.” What does that mean to us? It means more than just, just a historical note, for it does mean – seems to me – that what you and I say unto now in time, will be relevant a million years from now, and a million, million years from now. You who are part of the eternal God. You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of the eternal God, so that what you say and do has an eternal aspect to it, and eternal consequences. It will last long after your physical demise.

Memory, for example, is still active after death. Our Lord Jesus proved that in the story of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man said – in Hades – he lifted up his eyes and beheld Abraham a long way off and, and Lazarus in his bosom, and he cried, “Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I’m tormented in this flame.” What did Abraham say? “Son, remember, remember that thou in thy lifetime has thy good things, and likewise Lazarus has evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. Beside all this, there’s a great gulf fixed: so that we can’t pass from you to us.” Oh, our Savior established the fact that memory will still be alive beyond the grave, in eternity. You will still be you.

Charles Kingsley, who said everything in superlatives, was heard to remark one day, “If in Heaven I do not love my wife as I love her now, then Heaven will not be Heaven and I shall not be I.”

Well, there will be human relationships and there will be memory, yes, and there will be accountability. “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. The love of Christ constraineth,” and so on. That’s, I’m quoting from 2 Corinthians 5. There’ll be accountability, there’ll be memory, there’ll be relationships. Now we know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. There’ll be somebody else to know you.

Isn’t it refreshing when someone walks up to you in a strange city and says, “Hello Bob, how are you? I remember you.” Oh, to have somebody know you in a strange situation is refreshing. Well, Heaven’s going to be like that. There’ll be a lot of glad reunions on the streets of glory.

Now, I’ve said all of this. We sort of wandered around the point for a moment just to remind you, beloved, that your life today is not just a “today life.” Yes, you want to be good today. You want to succeed today. You want to have joy today. You want have peace in your heart today. You want to honor God today. All of these things are true, aren’t they, but it isn’t just today. Today, as you know it, is part of eternity as God knows it. He’s the “King eternal,” and so your allegiance to your Lord causes everything you do and all that you are to have eternal significance.

You mull over that for a while and pray over it, and I guarantee it will put new dignity and new meaning into life – every minute of it. The “King eternal.” Is He King of your life, beloved, and are you living, moment by moment, with the awareness that what you are doing is not just for now, not just for today, but it’s for eternity?

There is the truth of it. He is the King and He’s the eternal King, and because we are in Him, the secret we preach among the nations is, “Christ in you the hope of glory, because we are in Christ and Christ is in us. All that we are and all that we say and do is related to God’s eternal purpose, in Christ, that in the ages to come might be known.” He said, “by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” God wants to show you off in eternity. Be sure that He has something to show.

Oh, blessed Father, Thou great, eternal King – may our lives reflect our love for Thee, in Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!