'Now, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever
and ever. Amen.'--1 TIM. i. 17.
With this burst of irrepressible praise the Apostle ends his reference
to his own conversion as a transcendent, standing instance of the
infinite love and transforming power of God. Similar doxologies
accompany almost all his references to the same fact. This one comes
from the lips of 'Paul the aged,' looking back from almost the close of
a life which owed many sorrows and troubles to that day on the road to
Damascus. His heart fills with thankfulness that overflows into the
great words of my text. He had little to be thankful for, judged
according to the rules of sense; but, though weighed down with care,
having made but a poor thing of the world because of that vision which
he saw that day, and now near martyrdom, he turns with a full heart to
God, and breaks into this song of thanksgiving. There are lives which
bear to be looked back upon. Are ours of that kind?
But my object is mainly to draw your attention to what seems to me a
remarkable feature in this burst of thanksgiving. And perhaps I shall
best impress the thought which it has given to me if I ask you to look,
first, at the character of the God who is glorified by Paul's salvation;
second, at the facts which glorify such a God; and, last, at the praise
which should fill the lives of those who know the facts.