1 Timothy 6.15-The Father Will Bring About The Rapture At The Proper Time
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 18, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:15-The Father Will Bring About The Rapture At The Proper Time
Lesson # 137
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 6:13.
In 1 Timothy 6:15, the apostle Paul elaborates on the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture which he mentions at the end of verse 14 by teaching that the Father will bring about this event at the proper time.
1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 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. (NASB95)
“Which He will bring about at the proper time” is composed of the accusative feminine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) (oce), “which” and this is followed by the dative masculine plural form of the noun kairos (καιρός) (keer-doce), “at the proper time” and then we have the dative masculine plural form of the adjective idios (ἴδιος) (ee-thee-oce) and this is followed by the third person singular future active indicative form of the verb deiknumi (δείκνυμι) (theek-nehmee), “He will bring about.”
The relative pronoun hos refers to the noun epiphaneia, “the revelation,” which appears at the end of verse 14 since it agrees with it in gender (feminine) and number (singular).
The noun epiphaneia referred to the rapture of the church when Jesus Christ will appear visibly to the church and will give resurrection bodies to His bride.
Therefore, hos in verse 15 refers to this prophetic event.
The verb deiknumi means “to cause to be seen, to cause to be made visible, to make known, to cause to be revealed” and refers to the Father revealing His Son Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.
It speaks of the Father effecting the rapture to take place.
It denotes that at the time appointed by Him, the Father will “reveal” or “make known” His Son at the rapture of the church.
The future tense of the verb deiknumi is a predictive future indicating that it will take place in the future that the Father will reveal His Son at the rapture of the church.
The active voice is causative meaning that the Father is the cause of His Son being revealed at the rapture and is not directly involved in the action, but rather His Son is.
The noun kairos means “appointed time” and refers to the moment in the future when the Father causes His Son to be revealed at the rapture of the church.
This interpretation is indicated by the fact that the word functions as a dative of time denoting a particular point of time.
The adjective idios functions as a possessive personal pronoun and means, “His” referring to God the Father.
“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” is composed of the articular nominative masculine singular form of the adjective makarios (μακάριος) (mah-kah-dee-oce), “who is the blessed” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the nominative masculine singular form of the adverb monos (μόνος) (moe-noce), “only” and then we have the nominative masculine singular form of the noun dunastes (δυνάστης) (thee-nah-steece), “Sovereign” and this is followed by the articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun basileus (βασιλεύς) (vah-see-lefts), “the King” and the articular genitive masculine plural present active participle form of the verb basileuo (βασιλεύω) (vahsee-levowe), “of kings” and then we have the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the nominative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος) (ker-dee-oce), “Lord” and then lastly we have the genitive masculine plural present active participle form of the verb kurieuo (κυριεύω) (keerdee-ehvowe), “of lords.”
The adjective makarios is ascribed to the Father and means “blessed” in the sense of being “transcendent in happiness and its source.”
It describes the Father’s happiness as being transcendent meaning His happiness is beyond the limits of human comprehension and it also speaks of the fact that He is the source of happiness for the Christian.
Beginning with the adjective makarios, Paul breaks into a “doxology,” which is from the Greek doxologia and is derived from the Greek noun doxa, “praise, glory, honor” and denotes a brief ascription of praise to the Father.
The adverb monos is used with reference to the Father and denotes He is in a class by Himself or unique meaning that He is the “one and only” God.
It rejects polytheism, which was so prevalent in the first century and expresses a monotheistic idea.
The noun dunastes is referring to the Father and not the Son.
This is indicated by several factors.
First of all, in verses 15b-16, Paul describes a member of the Trinity who reveals the Son at the rapture as one whom no one has ever seen.
This can only be either the Father or the Spirit since the Scriptures clearly teach that the Son became a human being and revealed the Father to the human race (John 1:18; Romans 1:1-4; 8:1-4; Philippians 2:6-8; Colossians 1:19).
In His deity, Jesus Christ is invisible but He came to reveal the character and nature of the Trinity to men.
Thus, it would be unusual for Paul to describe Jesus Christ as invisible when throughout His writings and the writings of the other apostles, He is emphasized as the revelation of God in that the person who has seen Him has seen God (John 14:8-9).
Now, in 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Paul could not be glorifying the Spirit since the Spirit never glorifies Himself but only the Father and the Son.
The Scriptures also teach that the Son and the Spirit subordinate themselves to the Father even though they are co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal with the Father (Philippians 2:6-11; Romans 8:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:27-28).
The Scriptures also teach the Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 14:26; 15:20-27) and the Son (John 15:26-27; 16:5-7), which reveals the Spirit subordinates Himself to the Father and the Son.
Also, the Spirit inspired Paul to write this doxology in 1 Timothy 6:15-16 since all Scripture including these two verses is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).
Furthermore, when He was asked by His disciples in Acts 1:6 if He was going to establish His millennial reign, the Lord Jesus Christ said in Acts 1:7 that the Father by His own authority has fixed the times and epochs.
This indicates that not only does the Father appoint the time when His Son’s millennial reign begins but also the rapture since this event is included in the “times or epochs.”
Also, indicating that dunastes is referring to the Father and not the Son is that in the New Testament, doxologies tend to be directed toward the Father rather than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, further supporting that dunastes is a reference to the Father is that the Scriptures teach that both the Son and the Spirit through their work on behalf of sinners bring praise to the Father and glorify Him in the sense of revealing His character and nature.
Paul bursts into a doxology of praise to the Father and not the Lord Jesus Christ because he is connecting Timothy’s commission as originating ultimately from the Father.
The apostle wants to make clear to Timothy that his commission in Ephesus not only came from the Lord Jesus Christ but ultimately from the Father.
The former did not command Timothy to fulfill his commission in Ephesus independently from the Father but in full compliance with the Father’s plan from eternity past.
The noun basileus means “king” and is used with reference to the Father speaking of His authority over human and angelic kings.
The verb basileuo is used of human and angelic kings or rulers who are subordinate to other rulers.
This word speaks of those individuals who were under the authority of those who were lords since in New Testament times certain kings ruled only with the approval of Roman authorities and had no power to pass on their prerogatives.
Thus, the verb basileuo speaks of those kings who ruled with the approval of other human and angelic authorities.
The genitive case of the participle form of basileuo is a genitive of subordination meaning that these human and angelic kings are “subordinate to” or “under the dominion of” the Father.
The noun kurios is applied to the Father indicating the following: (1) His joint-rulership with His Son over creation. (2) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (3) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (4) His sovereign authority over the church.
The verb kurieuo means, “to have jurisdiction” over a person, “to be lord of, to rule over, to have dominion over.”
The word was often used in classical literature of powerful political lords who had certain legal rights to authority based on their lordship and were authorized to exercise power and control over those of lesser degree (Liddell and Scott, page 1013).
This word speaks of those individuals who had authority over certain kings since in New Testament times certain kings ruled only with the approval of Roman authorities and had no power to pass on their prerogatives, thus, the verb kurieuo speaks of those lords or rulers who exercised authority over rulers.
The genitive case of the participle form of basileuo is a genitive of subordination meaning that these human and angelic kings who rule over other human and angelic rulers are “subordinate to” or “under the dominion of” the Father.