chapter 1 and we'll read a couple of verses here in this chapter and then over into the chapter number 6. Let's read from the verse number 15 the Word of God says this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now on to the keen eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. And then chapter number six, we'll read from the verse 13 of the same book of 1 Timothy chapter six, verse 13. I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only pontitate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. And we'll add our own amen to the public reading of God's holy and precious word. Prayer in the Bible takes on different forms depending upon what is being prayed for. For example, prayers in the Bible, we have those that would be termed as intercessory in nature. Prayers that are offered to God on behalf of others are intercessory. Then we have those prayers that are more supplicatory in nature. And really those are the prayers that we pray for ourselves. Those petitions that we offer to God on our own behalf, bringing to him our burdens and our cares before him. And then there are those prayers that would be more what we would term pastoral in nature. And those are the kind of prayers that we've been considering over the last little while. With regard to pause prayers for the church of Jesus Christ, we have congregational praying that we find within the word of God. We think of those great prayer meetings in the book of Acts, Acts chapter one, Acts chapter 12, a number of examples of those types of kinds of praying, congregational praying. A.W. Pink, he gave a threefold classification to all prayers that are found in the Bible. He said this, the prayers of scripture may be described as those of humiliation, those of supplication, and those of adoration. Humiliation, supplication, and adoration. And certainly any prayer that you look at within the scripture really does fall into one of those three groups. Well, the verses that we read together this evening fall really into the category of adoration. There is a spirit of adoration in the words that we have read together. They really express the veneration and the love that the Apostle Paul had for his God as he came to be taken up with God's infinite perfections. If we doubt these words or prayers, then we only have to but look at the closing word of the verses that we read together this evening that really do present to us the thought that they do carry the spirit of prayer about them. Look there at the verse 15 again of 1 Timothy chapter one. Sorry, verse number 17. Now on to the keen, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. And then note the closing word, amen. And then if you turn there to, again, 1 Timothy chapter 6, the verses 15 and 16, which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only punitent, the king of kings and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach onto, who no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. And then we have the word again, amen. These then could be termed as prayers because it is a word amen that we attach to the end of our prayers. But what does it mean? What does the word amen mean? Well it simply means so let it be. So Let it be. Really, when we add our amens to the prayers of God's people, we're really saying that we are in agreement with what they are praying. We are affirming our agreement with what we hear others praying. And so Paul, he takes himself to God. And I believe he comes to take himself up before God. And as he considers God, he finds himself in a place of prayer, even in these particular chapters of God's precious word. And so the presence of these amens, I believe, at least in my mind, they show to us that really they are prayers that we are considering. Prayers that exalt and extol the only true and the living God. And brethren and sisters, there's times that we need that kind of praying. That kind of praying is needed at times within prayer meetings. Prayers that simply extol and exalt our great God you know at times we often rush in and rush out of God's presence simply with a shopping list of requests and we feel to to adore our God to worship our God just to exalt him and to to make his name known and his greatness and his majesty known even as we come to pray you'll recall how the Lord Jesus Christ gave a template prayer to his disciples over there in Matthew's gospel and the chapter number six. We term it as the Lord's Prayer. It is the disciples' prayer and it is a template. And we think about how that prayer begins. It doesn't begin, give us this day our daily bread. Doesn't begin, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. But rather it begins with an exalting and an extolling of our God, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Before he begins to make intercessory prayer, he exalts and extols his God. Christ began this model prayer by focusing the minds of the petitioner upon God the Father, his name, his kingdom, and his will. As I came to think about these prayers that we have in 1 Timothy, I thought, what a fitting way, what a fitting way to conclude our series on the prayers of the Apostle Paul, considering prayers that ascribe praise to God for His excellencies and for His infinite perfections. This is true worship. Worship is the ascribing of praise, the ascribing of honor, the ascribing of glory to God, and prayer is an act of worship, and thereby it should involve this ascription of such praise and honor and glory to the one to whom it is due. Now, let me remind you that God does not need our praise. He doesn't need it. God doesn't need our praise in order to feel himself more complete in and of himself. No, God is self-satisfied with himself. And so he needs not our praise. However, although he does not need it, he does deserve it. He does deserve it. According to 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, our praise, our honor and glory. of God should begin now and extend into eternity. Look there, verse 17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory. Yes, let's begin it now, but let's continue it right on into eternity forever and ever. Amen. And that will be our employment in eternity. praising of our God, the worship of our God. And it begins here on earth. And it continues right in to God's great eternity. Now the substances of these verses remind us who it is that we are coming before in prayer. And that needs to be remembered and recalled to our attention from time to time. We must avoid seeing God, and I say this reverently, we must avoid seeing God as a mate, or as a chum, or as a pal. God is holy. God is infinitely exalted. God dwells in light unapproachable that no man can approach except through a mediator, through Christ, this eternal Son of God. We must come to see our God as Paul comes to see Him in these three verses. We must come to see Him as the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity. We must ever have the highest views of our God. Paul comes to recognize this as he comes before God in prayer, this is no human being I come before, this is no man, this is no angel, this is no even glorified saint, this is the eternal God before whom I approach with the entire I believe God had in view. Paul then attributes four titles to God that I believe are worthy of our consideration tonight before we get down to pray. And so I want to think about those particular titles in a message of entitled, The God Whom We Approach. The God Whom We Approach in Prayer. The God Whom We Approach in Prayer is called in the first instance, the King of Kings. the King of Kings. In 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, God is described there as the King, and then Paul expands upon that title a little over there in chapter six in the verse 15, because there he is termed as the King of Kings. He is the King, and then he is described as the King of Kings. the King of Kings. This is whom we approach in prayer tonight. We come before the King of Glory. The King of Glory. That should instill awe. That should instill reverence within each one of us as we come to God in prayer. God is seen to take on this role of king by other inspired penman, either by direct or indirect references. I don't need to list them all, but let me give you just a few direct references. Psalm 44 verse four, thou art my king, the Psalmist said, O God's command deliverance is for Jacob. Psalm 47 verse seven, for God is the king of all the earth. Psalm 95, three, for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. Isaiah 43, verse 15, I am the Lord, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king. The last one, Jeremiah 10, 10, but the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and an everlasting king. At his wrath, the earth shall tremble and the nation shall not be able to abide his indignation. These are but a sample sources of references that speak directly of God being his king. And then there are indirect references in which we find regal imperial objects being ascribed to God that remind us that he is a king. Isaiah 6 verse 1, we find there's a throne ascribed to him. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne. And kings, they sit upon A throne. A throne is ascribed to him. In Hebrews 2, verse 9, we find that there's a crown that is ascribed to him. But we see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, and he, by the grace of God, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man, he's crowned. We find that also relayed to us in the book of the Revelation, that upon the man the one who rides upon the white horse he is crowned with The crown is upon the victor's brow. Psalm 46, we find a scepter ascribed to our God. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. And then throughout the word of God, we find that there is a kingdom ascribed to God. Psalm 103, verse 19, the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. over all thrones, crowns, scepters, and kingdoms all belong to kings. This is our, our God is king. Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 6 verse 15 of God being the king of kings. Earth has its kings, but who are they in comparison to our king? Who are they in comparison to the king Heaven, God is king over the kings of this earth. It is he who gives them their thrones. It is he who gives them their scepters. It is he who gives them their crowns. It is he who gives them their kingdoms. Aye, and he removes such things from them when he so wills it. Was that not what Nebuchadnezzar came To understand after God set him aside from his kingdom for a period of time, Daniel would inform the Babylonian king the purpose of why God was going to have him driven from men and why he was going to live among the beasts of the field and why he was going to eat grass like the oxen. Daniel 4 verse 32, this is the reason, this is the purpose why this is going to happen to you, Nebuchadnezzar, that you might know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he willeth. You know, too often despair and dismay can overtake the Christian, especially in these days when we see evil men and their triumphalism with regard to their wickedness and with their sin. But oh, let this truth deal with our dismay and discouraging by remembering that our God is the King of Kings. That's who he is tonight. He's King of Kings. And thank God in a moment of time, he can dispossess, he can dispossess our enemies of their power thank God in a moment of time he can dispossess he can dispossess us and our enemies of their re and Daniel put it like this Daniel 2 verse 21 God remove removeth kings and setteth up kings God removeth kings and setteth up kings As king over all creation, God sovereignly rules and reigns on the throne of glory, and thus we must remember this as we come before him in prayer, that I am coming before the king of kings. John Newton put it like this, I think it was quoted maybe last week, thou art coming to a king. Lord's petitions with thee bring, for his grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much. It is to the King of Kings that we approach in prayer, and so we come before him reverently, we come before him humbly, and yet we must come before him expectantly. Notice the three descriptive words that are placed before this king, that we're coming before in prayer. In 1 Timothy 1, in the verse 17, there are three attributes, three describing words, adjectives that are here used with regard to our king. Listen to what our king is. Our king is eternal. Our king is eternal. While the kings of the earth are confined to the realm of time, our king is an everlasting king. He is an eternal king, and being an eternal king, he shall never be dispossessed of his kingdom. Death will not remove him from his throne. No, he is a king who will never cease to reign. He will be a king that will never be required to upkeep his throne, for he is the king eternal. The reigns of earth's kings are temporary, but God's reign is enduring, continuing as one, continuing as one generation after another passes on. He is the king eternal. He is the king immortal. We've hinted at this already, all other monarchs, they die, but God endures on changing on, as the hymn says. He ever lives. He ever lives. He shall never die. He shall never cease to exist. He will never come to that point of life being exhumed and removed from his being. No, he lives forevermore. And thus he ever lives to make intercession for his people. He lives to reign over them. He lives to protect them. He lives to provide for them. He is the King Immortal, and he is the King Invisible. Oh, we may not see him through the natural eye, and yet he's real. Oh, more real, more real than even we are is this King, the King Eternal, the King Immortal, the King Invisible. It takes faith to pray to one who is invisible. But that is the Christian's life. It is a life of faith. And so we come before the king. Oh, if you were to meet the queen, our present queen, I tell you, you would be soon talking about it. You'd soon be bragging about it, about the community. You'd want people to know that you'd met the Queen. But brethren and sisters, we're before the King of Kings tonight. I wonder, will we talk about it tomorrow, that we met the King? We met him in his house. We spoke to him freely, without hindrance. We were able to unburden ourselves and all our cares to Him. You know, whenever we would go before the Queen of England, there'd be a lot of things that we wouldn't tell her. She probably wouldn't care, but not our King. He deeply cares. He invites us to cast our care upon Him, for He doth care for us. And so we come in prayer to the King. This is who Paul was coming before. We not only come before he who is the king of kings, but the God to whom we approach in prayer is called, secondly, the only wise God, the only wise God. 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, he is called the only wise God. The gods of this world are wholly destitute of wisdom. However, the Christian's God is termed as God most wise. God's wisdom is a wisdom that is infinite in degree. It points to his omniscience. He knows all things. God's wisdom is seen in many areas of life and none more so than when it comes to the answering of our prayers. In wisdom, there are times that he withholds There are times when he withholds from us that which we request in prayer. And there are other times when he in wisdom grants our petitions almost immediately. And so, all answers to prayer are governed by God's wisdom. Those prayers that he denies, Those prayers that are delayed, those prayers that are granted, all, all are answered according to the infinite wisdom of our God. Now, brethren and sisters, a persuasion that God's perfect wisdom manages our affairs in life should really then enable us to submit ourselves to God's appointments and God's providence in our lives, to be satisfied to know that although we do not know his plans, though we do not know his purposes, yet such is guided by unerring wisdom. James Buchanan wrote, it is not enough for our comfort, or is it not enough comfort to know that a God of infinite intelligence presides over its affairs? and that its laws are emanations of his unerring wisdom. There's no defect, there's no deficiency in God's wisdom, and therefore we must never repine, we must never murmur when he denies or delays our prayers. The answers to them I speak of. We must ever remember that God has many ways in which he can achieve his means and his ends, but yet it is always his wisdom, it is always by his wisdom that he knows how best to accomplish such things. William Cuthbertson said, keep praying, but be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your prayers. Keep praying, but be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your prayers. It is to God most wise that we come in prayer. And so then, as we come to petition Him, let us then leave it to Him and to His on-airing wisdom as to how and to when He answers. These are petitions. I am coming in prayer tonight to the most wise God and I will leave it to His wisdom. And whether He answers my prayers immediately Whether he delays answering them or whether he denies them, absolutely, I will leave it to his wisdom. This is how we should come before God in prayer. I am coming to one who is wiser than I, and so I will leave it with him to decide how and when. And if those petitions I unburden myself with He comes to answer them. I will leave it to the only wise God. Then over there in 1 Timothy, we read of a third, a title that is given 1 Timothy 6 now in the verse number 15. We find there that he is described as the blessed and only potentate. The word potentate really speaks of one who is mighty, mighty. The mighty one. It speaks of one who is great in authority. One who rules over all. One who is sovereign over the entirety of everything that occurs in my life and in this world. The mighty God. This is who we come before tonight in prayer, the one who has never failed his child, never once. No difficulty, too great for him. No problem, too great for him. No, this is who we come before. He is the blessed and only potentate. Now does that not give us confidence in prayer tonight? the one that we come to sovereignly as ruling and governing all events in our lives and in this world. He is the one who has absolute power and dominion over all his creatures and his things. He is the most high God. He is the only Potentate. He is the King of Kings. He is invested with perfect wisdom. He is invested with unlimitable power. And He is in control of this world. He is in control of this history, including our very part in it. Why it needs then to be thundered From every pulpit within our land, until its truth grips the heart of every believing child of God, God still reigns. He still reigns. He's still on the throne. He is the blessed and only potentate. Thank God for that. He is the almighty. He is the God, the great God, the one who never fails. And so the question is, why then do we become so upset at the providential workings of God in our lives? Why do we often find ourselves fretting? Why are we so often anxious? God reigns, God rules over all. I'm sure whenever Paul wrote these words, he was thinking about Nero, the Roman emperor, and all of his claims to be divine. That's what the Roman emperors took for themselves. This claim that they were divine, that they were the only potentate of the world, that they ruled and reigned, that no one was greater than them. And as Paul thought about that, and as he thought about his head soon being put upon the block, and he was going to be martyred for his faith, I'm sure he thought to himself, Nero, here he thinks himself to be mighty, but I'm taking myself to him who is the only potentate, the Lord Almighty. He lifted his eyes to heaven, he saw God, and he came to be comforted with the thought that the Almighty He is in absolute control of my life and of my destiny. And then, the God to whom we approach in prayer, he is called fourthly and finally, he is called the Lord of Lords. The Lord of Lords, verse 15, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. One of the titles that some of the Roman emperors took to themselves was the title Dominus, which really translate to mean Lord, Master. That's what it literally translates to mean. Dominus means Lord or Master. Such was used as an honorific title. It was popular with the Emperor's Middle History or the Empire's Middle History. Well, you know, Paul makes it very clear that there was only one Lord. Lord. Glory, Lord of Lords, the God of heaven. This title appears five times in scripture, verse 76, verse 15, Deuteronomy 10, 17, Psalm 136, verse 3, Revelation 17, 14, Revelation 19, and the verse number 16. He is the Lord of Lords. All authority, therefore, is in his hands as Lord. As master, he knows what is best for his subjects. Therefore, when our prayers are denied, we must submit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ. It is the Lord. Is that not what was said by Eli? And ever Samuel came with the news concerning his sons and how all that was going to fall out in the family of Eli. And Eli said, it is the Lord. Let him do as seemeth him good. He submitted himself to the Lord of lords. And so we come before him who is Lord, master of our lives. This is what Paul prayed when he found himself on the Damascus road. He came to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. It was the very first thing that he acknowledged, Lord, Lord, what would thou have me to do, Lord? And so as we come in prayer, May we come realizing that he is Lord, and may we come with that spirit that Paul had. Lord, what would you have me to do? What would thou have me to do? With regard to this matter, with regard to this burden, with regard to this care, what would thou have me to do? And as I close, is it not an amazing truth to ponder It's not an amazing truth to ponder how great God's condescension is, that he would take notice of such mean and vile creatures as we are, coming before him in prayer, and yet he does. How amazing to think that the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only wise God, should listen to our prayers and supplications, and yet he does. I am more than that. He delights in me. The prayer of the upright is his delight. They delight his heart. Brother, sister, you come before God and pray tonight. You'll delight the heart of your God. As we consider then the one that we approach in prayer, May it fill then our hearts with awe, with reverence, yes. But then may it also instill into our hearts confidence. Confidence. This is the King of Kings. This is the Lord of Lords. This is the wise, the only wise God. This is the only potentent. And he's hearing my prayers. and he will answer them according to his will. Oh may God give us strong confidence then in God this evening as we come before the Lord in prayer and may God be pleased to bless even these thoughts to our souls tonight and may they be used as we go before the Lord in a word of prayer. Let's pray together briefly, Father in heaven, We rejoice that we do come before thee. We are before the King tonight. We have his ear. We come in Jesus' name, pleading the blood of Christ as our only plea. We cry to thee, O gracious Father, that thou wilt hear these our supplications and answer them as the only wise God deems best. And may we submit ourselves to He who is Lord of our lives, knowing that what that was purposed for us is the best. To answer now these, our prayers, we offer them in our Savior's holy name. Amen and amen.