If you'd like to follow along,
please turn to the first chapter of Colossians. First chapter
of Colossians, and I'm gonna begin reading in verse 12. Actually, I'd take that back. The sentence
doesn't start to chapter, to verse nine, so I'm gonna start
back there. Besides, it's all good, it's all good. Verse nine,
Colossians one. For this cause, we also, since
the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire
that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing. being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patients and long-suffering
with joyfulness. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things, and by him all things consist. I'm gonna stop right
there, because I got to. I just keep reading. Oh. We speak and we preach a lot,
rightly so about what God has done for us in his son, the Bible,
the old Testament and the new Testament. And the gospel in
particular is filled to the overflowing with the work of the triune God,
father, son, and spirit. and that work for the child of
God. However, we don't lessen and
we don't wanna leave out what God has done to the believer. Because make no mistake about
it, the believer is different than the unbeliever. The believer
And what I'm talking about is someone who has been brought
into Christ. Not just chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. We were. Every believer was. But there are those out there
who right now don't believe. And there is a difference between
the unbeliever and the believer. Even in the elect. Unbeliever. That's just the way it is. And
this is one of these passages that I've got to Paul, my title
here is Made Us Meet. I like that thought, that thought
caught me and I just really kind of grabbed ahold of, I mean there's
so much here in Colossians the first chapter, it's just ridiculous,
but I don't know how Paul wrote all this stuff down. Oh wait
a minute, yes I do. The Holy Spirit led him to write
this. Because I mean, there's just a concentrated amount of
gospel in this first chapter that is just hard to believe.
Don't worry, most people won't believe it. But believers will. The believer is different than
the unbeliever because the believer is in Christ, brought into him
by grace, through faith, and believes the truth. and the believer
is a new creature, a new creation. Things are different to the believer
because the believer is different than the unbeliever he used to
be. We all used to be there. Every
believer used to be an unbeliever. That's the thing the world wants
to let go of, see? and they don't wanna think about
because there's a change in you made by God to where now you
believe what you once ridiculed. Now, some people wanna preach
that you can forget that and go away from God and reject your
salvation. Well, I'm here to tell you, you
can reject your salvation, but you can't reject His. He won't
have it. Because he's the one that gave
it to you. Now if you got your own, you
can reject your own. Enjoy the heck out of yourself. Don't ask me what the value of
that is, because I have no idea. Because I remember what I was
like as an unbeliever. I don't want to be that way anymore.
I don't want to disbelieve God or his word. Not anymore, I did
that for 23 years. And sure, at the time, I thought
I was fine. But I found out I wasn't. And
now, I have found out that God has made me meet to be a partaker
of the inheritance of the saints in life. And I'm gonna tell you
something, he's made us meet here. Here, right here and right now. Now, I do wanna make very clear,
I am not boasting in myself, and I'm not gonna boast on you.
Even though it may sound that way. Who I'm boasting in is my
glorious Lord Jesus Christ. And his Father, whose will he
did, what? To make us meet. Because it's the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit who's made us meet. Verse 12 starts off
this way, and I love this. Giving thanks unto the Father.
Giving thanks unto the Father. For what? Well, essentially,
everything. Everything. Because here it is. Everything starts with the Father. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. Now, the son was there. You can
read that in John chapter one. But here, everything starts with
the father, everything continues with the father, and everything
with the father shall never end. And you can say that exact same
statement and substitute the son. And you can say that exact
same statement and substitute the spirit. Because everything
starts with God continues with God and shall ever continue. It never ends. The covenant,
the testament of salvation starts, continues, and will never end
with the Father. It starts with the Father. The
Son came to do the will of the Father. The Spirit came and applied
it to you. to every believer who believes. The son is the father's elect,
his chosen. The son is the father's mediator. Yes, he's our mediator. But more
importantly, he's our mediator to God. He's God's mediator. God's the offended party. We're
not. We're the offenders. We're the sinners. We're the
ones who can't stand in his presence. But he came to mediate us to
the Father. The Son is the Father's sacrifice,
substitute, burnt offering, and reconciler. Because we've been
reconciled, who? To who? The Father. By the Son. Now be ye reconciled to God.
Guess what? Believers have reconciled themselves
to God. Believers have stopped fighting
against God. How's that possible? He made
us meet. He made us meet. The Father's purpose, the Father's
will, the Father's word, and the Father's work is supreme. because all of Christ Jesus'
offering, all his sacrifice was not to us, it was to the Father. Read Hebrews, it'll tell you.
He offered himself to the Father and was accepted, perfectly and
completely accepted because the Son never did anything against
the Father's will. I can tell you this right now.
The Son is not doing anything against the Father's will. And
he never shall do anything against the Father's will. I and my Father
are one. And you understand? That's in
the present tense. And guess what? It's just as
true today as it was 2,000 years ago. And it'll be just as true
2,000 years from now if this world runs around that long.
It doesn't matter. The father, the son, and the
spirit all agree in one. They are one. And here, while
he was on this earth, what's it say? Giving thanks unto the
father? The son gave thanks to the father while he was on this
world. Now it was a strange thing he
picked to thank him for, one of them. Walter, you preached
on this once. In that hour, Jesus, what, rejoiced
in spirit. He rejoiced in spirit. I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou has what?
Hid these things. Jesus Christ rejoiced that some
things were hid. And you know, he thanked God.
He thanked the Father that thou has hid these things from the
wise and the prudent. but that wasn't all he thanked
God for. And hast revealed them unto babes. Why, why, why would
God do something like that? Hide things and reveal things.
Hide things from one and reveal them to another. That's what
he's saying. You know why he said that? Because
that's what God does. for so it seemed good in thy
sight, in thy sight. The other time I found where
Jesus Christ thanked the Father was at the grave of Lazarus. Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid, this is John 11, 41,
And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me. No surprise there. That's what
Christ said next. And I knew that thou hearest
me always. But because of the people which
stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent
me. He was getting ready to raise
Lazarus from the dead. And I'll tell you folks, that's
a picture of salvation. Because we were dead alien sinners
as unbelievers. That's what an unbeliever is.
Unbeliever is, I guess, a nicer way of saying you're dead and
you stink. What do you tell him? Don't roll away the stone. He's
been dead four days. He stinks by now. Folks, we used
to stink. We were a stench, where? In the
nostrils of God. But God, the Father, always hears
his Son. And that is our hope. Our Son,
his Son, our Lord. That's our hope. That's our hope. And he said, roll away the stone,
and he called Lazarus by name, and when he said Lazarus' name,
Lazarus was alive. I don't care what anybody says.
When he calls you by name, you're gonna live. When you hear the
voice of the Son of God, though you're dead, you'll live. And he heard his name being called,
and he lived. Then he said, come forth. And
he came forth, still bound in grave clothes. I thank thee,
Father, that thou hast heard me. I'm gonna tell you something,
every unbeliever that is elect is going to come forth still
bound in grave clothes at first, still bound in the past. You know, I told Walter years
and years ago, three decades ago, that I was glad sometimes
that I'd been raised Catholic, because I didn't have that much
to unlearn. Now it's not because there's not a lot there, it's
just because I never bothered to learn it when I was a Catholic.
I learned more about the Catholic Church after I got out of it
than when I was in it. But I didn't have that much baggage
to throw away. Because you can come bound in
the baggage of Pentecostalism. You can come bound in the baggage
and the bondage of being a Baptist. There's all kind of bondage. Every one of man's religion is
nothing but a bondage. But praise God, the father heard
the son when he said, loose him and let him go. That's right. And when he went to that Gadarene
demoniac, he didn't go there to bind him. Because bondage
is never the answer. It's the answer men use because
it's all we got. That's all we have. All we can
do as men is bind other men with rules and commandments. They use them as a bondage. Now
the commandments do tell you to shut up and see your guilt.
Because it's not only what you do, it's what you think. Don't
ever forget thou shalt not covet. Because coveting ain't doing
anything. It's just thinking about doing
something. It's an evil thought which proceeds
out of the heart of a man. And it's a sin just as much as
anything else. Those commandments are there
to tell you you're guilty before God. And you better have the
son to say, loose him and let him go or you're still gonna
be bound. Give thanks to the father. Why?
Because he hides and he reveals. Give thanks to the Father, why?
Because he always hears his Son. You know, and what's it say our
Lord Jesus Christ is doing now? He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. And you know who hears him make
intercession for us? His Father hears every word.
And you know what? He does everything the Son says.
and the Son does everything the Father says, and the Spirit does
everything all of them say. These three are one. Give thanks
to the Father, why? Because he's put us in his Son,
and he'll hear us. In Christ. In Christ. When you go, ask. Ask of my Father. Christ said, in my name. In my
name. Pray to the Father. in my name. Now it's not what you want, it's
what the Father wills. Because I can tell you this,
God will answer the prayer of every believer. I believe that
wholeheartedly. But I'm gonna tell you something,
sometimes the answer's no. Because the scripture tells us
that too. James is very clear, he says, the reason you don't
get the answer you want is because you ask amiss. That's us. Even now. But give thanks to
the Father. Give thanks to the Father for
what He's done. And give thanks to the Father
for what the Son's done. And give thanks to the Father
for the Holy Spirit of God. Because give thanks to God which
hath made us meat. Now just the fact, very carefully,
very quickly, just the fact that God said he made us meat means
that at one time we were not meat. If we were meat, there would
have been no reason for him to make us meat. And Paul says very
clearly, it's us. And I mean every one of us. And
this is us as believers, now. This is Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother, to the
saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae,
to believers. That's who he's writing to. He
has made believers meet. Now, like I said, the fact that
he had to make us meet means that we weren't meet. Um, let's, you know, let's just say
it as it is, because we talk about total depravity and rightly
so, but here's what it means. Man cannot even appear before
God in his natural state. Can't happen. Now, it can't happen,
not because of you, because God won't have it. You understand? God's not gonna permit any unholiness
in his sight. He's not gonna have any unholiness
in his sight. Because man would not be accepted
by God in his natural state. Because dead in trespasses and
sins is not meat. It's not, here's the word, fit. That's the word I like. I like
that. You know why? Because if you're
now, he makes you fit, it means before you was unfit. You were
unfit. Now, I like what they said, was
it Scott? You gotta fit the description
before you can claim the promise. Can you claim that you know you
were unfit? That's it. Most people don't
think they're unfit. They think they're mostly fit.
Some of them may think they're really fit. They're all wrong,
but they think that. That's the beauty of humanity.
Never underestimate the capacity of man to deceive himself. and
never underestimate the capacity of strong delusion that they
should believe the lie. Because that comes from God too. Still comes from God. Because hating the light and
loving darkness is unfit. The other way this word can be defined, that's it. I lost the
word for a minute. Is enabled or qualified? We were unqualified. And the
only way for us to be qualified is for him to make us qualified. Wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores from head to toe is unfit. Is totally unfit. And guess what?
It was every one of us. from the top of our head to the
soles of our feet. And you know, Paul was quoting
the Old Testament when he said that. There's no difference between
the Old Testament and the New. It's just the amount of light
that shined on it. And you know something else? A believer would
know that. An unbeliever don't get it. He's made us meet. He's made
us qualified. You know, Years ago, when we
were at Browns Road and we had those songbooks there, there
was a song in there and it's a Christmas carol. And it's not
in any of our books now. It's called A Way in a Manger.
And this was the one thing about that version in that book that
just hit me hard and I just really liked it. It's the last stanza
of the third verse. And the way it read in our songbook
was this. and fit us for heaven to live
with thee there. Because it says now, most people
say, and take us to heaven to live with thee there. Well, I'm
gonna tell you, he ain't gonna take you if you're not fit. That hit me 35 years ago, whatever,
37 years ago. That hit me and it stuck with
me and I'm reading this and it's like, oh yeah, that's what this
is. Because if you ain't fit, you ain't going. I understand he picks up beggars
off of the dunghill. And he does it for the express
purpose. I almost want to say the express
written purpose. The express purpose to sit them with princes
and kings. So a little while back, I preached
on Lazarus and a certain rich man. And Mason, you know, we
talked about that, you know, where it said that Lazarus ended
up in Abraham's bosom. I said he just got a hug, you
know? Well, that's my interpretation
of it. But that's what it was, he was
welcomed there. In a place of honor. Abraham met this old beggar. But I'm gonna tell you something,
that beggar wasn't wearing beggar's clothes. Not anymore, you know
why? Because the angels carried him
there. What that man was wearing, and I preached on this a few
months ago, he was wearing the garments of salvation and the
robe of righteousness. The garments, plural, and the
robe, singular. He was dressed appropriately. Why? Because he was fitted to
be in Abraham's bosom. Now since then I have listened
or heard somebody talk about this, because this fellow and
I had a disagreement, only he wasn't there. about that being
a parable or not, and he says it's a parable, and some people
say it's not a parable, which would be me, because it says
name Lazarus. I said, well, the reason Jesus
used the name Lazarus is because if he didn't, that parable wouldn't
have made any sense. And I thought, all those other
parables made sense without names, and here's the other thing he
forgot, and I didn't even mention it. This is what I'm gonna throw
in for free. Not only in that account, of the rich man and
Lazarus. A certain rich man and a certain
beggar named Lazarus is Lazarus' name, but so is Abraham. You understand? He never used
anybody's names in any parable anywhere else. And here you've
got Lazarus and you've got Abraham. Both of them, I believe, are
real people. And here's the thing. What he
did say was this, that in Abraham's bosom is just like what John
was. in the Last Supper, okay? He was on our Lord's bosom. What it was is you ate in the
Middle East back in those days, you ate reclined on your side
with your legs sticking out. And the person who was right
in front of the master, in this case Abraham, that was said to
be in their bosom. So I don't see anything in there,
it does say Lazarus was comforted. It doesn't say anything about
him eating, but here's the thing. He might have been sitting at
a table with Abraham, the father of us all. That's a place of
honor. That's a place of welcome. I
still think Abraham gave him a big hug. I do, I do. He welcomed him in. Why? Because Lazarus was fit to be
there. or he wouldn't have been there. Because you and I may not know
what we're doing, but I guarantee you the angels of God do. When
they carried him to Abraham's bosom, that's because that's
where he belonged. He was qualified to be there. He was enabled to be there. He
was made fit for the inheritance. What? Of the saints in light. What's the inheritance of the
saints and light? You get to sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob in the kingdom. By gollies, that's fit. That's
fit. And you know why you're fit?
Because he's made us fit. He's made us fit. So how have
we been made fit? I mentioned it in the introduction. First of all, you have to be
a new creature. And that's just the bald facts
of it. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, now that's a mighty
big if. If any man be in Christ, he is
what? A new creature. And don't take
the creature thing, it's a new creation. A new creation. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new. Guess what? My Catholicism became old. And
this book became new. And slightly understandable at
first. I could understand what I could
understand. But that's something else he
gives you, his understanding. We'll get to that in just a second
here. The old creature was not meat. The old creature's not
fit. But the new creature is. It's
a new creation. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Now how do you become a new creature? You can't. but God can make you
a new creature. There's only one way. You have
to be born a new creature. You have to be born from above
and you have to be born of God and you have to be born of the
water. Yeah, that's what it says, John chapter three. See, if you can't see the kingdom
of God, unless you've been born from above. But you can't enter
the kingdom of God. Let me see if I can find it in
this new Bible. I know I know this, and it's
just like, I still don't trust myself anymore sometimes. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The water and
the spirit. the washing of regeneration,
and the what? Renewing of the Holy Ghost. That renewing word bothered me
a bit until I looked into it. No, make new. To make new, what? You're a new creature. Why? Because you've been made a new
creature. Now it's still you. You've still got all those memories
that you would rather do without, some of them, a lot of them.
It's still you. but you're different. You're
alive where you once were dead. You believe his gospel where
you once might have hated it. You believe him where you once
rejected him. Even if you didn't know you were
rejecting him. Because to accept another gospel
is to reject the Christ. That's what they don't wanna
say. Because you better make sure the gospel is the gospel. Try the spirits to see whether
or not they be of God. Why? Because if they're preaching
another gospel, they're preaching a heresy. At best, they're preaching
error. And what's it say? A little leaven
leavens the whole lump. But don't worry, God hath made
us meat. I like that, I do. I glory in
Christ's work. His crucifixion, sacrifice, offering,
redemption, resurrection, ascension, and new life from the son for
the believer. New life matters. The new birth
matters. Circumcision doesn't. Doesn't
matter Jew or Gentile. Doesn't matter bond or free,
doesn't matter smart or dumb, doesn't matter old or young,
rich or poor. What matters is that he has made
us meet. You are a new creature because
only a new creature is fit for the inheritance of the saints
in light. Secondly, I want to point out,
not only are we a new creature, There's a reason we're a new
creature. First Corinthians three and verse
16 says this. Know ye not that ye are, right
now, ye are the temple of God. Now, I told you, I'm not gonna
boast on you, and I'm not gonna boast on me, but we are the temple
of God. And that the spirit of God dwelleth. Present tense, continuing on,
dwells in you. In you. You know what that does? I'm
gonna tell you something. That makes you meet. That fits
you for heaven. It's not you, but it's in you.
Actually, it's not you, but he's in you. Let's say it that way.
We are the temple of God. The Holy Spirit lives within.
That's what it means to be born from above. That's what it means
to be born of God. That's what it means to be what?
The sanctification of the spirit, which is what? Unto belief in
the truth. Because I'm gonna tell you something,
without the spirit of God in you, you would not believe his
gospel. Just consider your former self,
the old creature you were alone, before what? I'll give you a
new heart. A new heart, wait a minute, and
I'm gonna put it in you. You don't have to open, he's
not knocking on your door wanting to get let in, you understand? Because listen, folks, he owns
the house, he's got the keys. He made you. And if he's gonna
make you meet, he's gonna give you a heart that understands
what means. a heart that understands. Not
like that old heart you already had, because that wasn't any
good. It was unfit, but the new heart
is fit. We have the spirit of God, which also means we have the
mind of Christ. First Corinthians two, Verse seven, but we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of
this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. Have you ever wondered why the
big shots don't know what's going on? It's been hid. It's been hid to the wise and
the prudent. Jesus Christ, thank God for it. If they'd known, they wouldn't
have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
And I have heard people stop right there and preach. See,
you can't know. And I'm thinking, why didn't
you read the next verse, buddy? Well, they didn't want to. because
the next verse brings up more problems than they can deal with.
The next verse brings up more problems than any Arminian wants
to hear in his lifetime. But God hath revealed them unto
us. Who's us? We're the ones that's
meet. He's revealed it unto those that are fit. Unto us by His Spirit. which he just said in the next
chapter, the temple of God, you are. The spirit of God's in you. He's revealed us unto by his
spirit, for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so, the
things of God knoweth no man. I put period right there, but
he put a comma, but the spirit of God. So how do you know the
things you, how do you people, I said this to Debbie in the
kitchen, how do you people get all this stuff out of this Bible? Because it's given unto you to
know the things of the Spirit of God. It's been given unto you. You've
been made fit to know the things of God. You know, people of old
have wanted to look into some of these things that we've got
written here in black and white. and that you can read, and by
his grace, by his spirit, you can understand. Because we have the mind of Christ.
That's what it says. Now, we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. See, the problem with the world
today is they wanna compare natural things to spiritual. and they
wanna compare spiritual things to natural. And it doesn't work. It doesn't work. But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness unto him. Now they are not foolishness,
but they're foolishness to him. Neither can he know them. What,
he's incapable? Neither can he know them. You
mean he's not able? Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. So if you don't have the Spirit
of God in you, you're not gonna discern anything of the Spirit
of God. That's just the facts. But he
that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged
of no man. For, who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? Well, that's a rhetorical
question. Nobody. Now we can't instruct him, but
we have the mind of Christ. Now, don't get excited about
that word mind. It's not a cloned brain or anything
like that. Like I said, you are still you.
Because that word there is the same word at the end of Luke,
chapter 24. When he says in verse 45, Then
opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures. The Scriptures, what? The Scriptures
are a thing of the Spirit of God. How are the Scriptures written? Holy men of old move with fear
and wrote stuff down, what? According to the Holy Spirit.
But here, then he opened he their understanding that they might
understand the scriptures. We have the understanding of
Christ. Why? Because we have his spirit. Because he's made us meet. That's
how he's made us meet. This is actually a change in
every believer. Give thanks to God. Give thanks
to the Father. I mean, God has done so much
for us, but he has also done so much to us. Because God has
not left us alone in this world. No matter what you think, if
you're a true believer, you have him. No matter what you feel, you have his son. Our Lord Jesus
Christ if you're a believer. And no matter what man says,
we have his Holy Spirit. You have his Holy Spirit. If
you're a believer, because God has made us meet. And not only
that, no matter what man says, no matter what men think, no
matter what you think, no matter what you feel, he has given us
each other. Our fellowship, is with the Father,
in the Son, by the Spirit, and with each other also. You know, that's the beautiful
thing about him making us fit. He has made us fit. And it's us fit. Not just you, not just me. Not
just you, not just you. He's made us fit. A believer never walks alone. He says before that, Colossians,
that we should walk worthy. Well, you can't walk worthy alone.
I'm sorry. Not even if you've been fit.
You can't walk worthy alone. You gotta walk with him. You
gotta walk in the light. You gotta walk in his word. You
gotta walk in his way. If at all possible, I understand
some people it's not, you're walking with other believers.
And you will encourage each other. Why? Because not only have you
been made fit, they've been made fit. And that is a blessing from
the Lord. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for this time and this place. Lord, thank you for making us
fit, meet, enabling us, giving us your spirit, giving us your
word. Lord, we didn't deserve any of
it. And we don't deserve what we
have now, but you have seen fit to give us everything, all spiritual
blessings in your son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we
pray, amen.