Let's open our Bibles back to
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. I want us to look at three verses
of Scripture here this evening. Just for a little bit. Beginning
with verse 12. Verse 12. Colossians 1 verse 12, 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
even the forgiveness of sins." Now, the title of the message
is found in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father. Giving thanks unto the Father. So let's look together at this
passage of Scripture this evening. Verse 12, again, giving thanks
unto the Father. God's people, above all the people
on this earth, have reason to be thankful. Listen to the word
of David over in Psalm 79, verse 13. He says, So we, thy people,
and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks forever.
We will show forth thy praise to all generations. Paul, in
his first epistle to the Thessalonians, he said this, he said, in everything,
in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning
you. In 2 Corinthians 2, we read,
thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. And then later on, Paul said,
thanks be to God. which giveth us the victory through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then one more. In Psalm 92.1,
David said this. He said, it's a good thing. It's a good thing to give thanks.
It's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. It's honest. It's
pleasant. It's profitable to give thanks. We're to give thanks and to praise
God for who he is, and that which he has done for his people. And here in our text, here in
our text this evening, we find five reasons, five reasons to
give thanks. Now, obviously, there's a lot
more reasons to give thanks than just five. We certainly can't
limit ourselves to five reasons. But for the sake of this text
and for the sake of time, let's look at these five things here
this evening. First, we read, giving thanks
unto the Father which hath made us meet, which hath made us meet,
which hath made us fit. He's made us qualified by that
which He's done for us, that which He's done to us, and that
which He's done in us. What's He done? Well, God chose
us in Christ. God chose us in Christ. before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without
blame and stand before him in love. He's made us fit. He's made us fit having justified
us by his righteousness, the very righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We read that in Romans, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus. He has made us fit, having forgiven
us of our sins. We read, Be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. Almighty God has made us fit
by cleansing us in His blood, cleansing us from our sin unto
Him that loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. He has made us fit, having regenerated
us by the Holy Spirit. Paul, writing to Titus, said,
But after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men
appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost. God the Father has made us fit. He has made us qualified. He
has made us perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of Him, our Yen Christ
Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. We give thanks unto the Father
for He has made us meet. He has made us fit. He's made
us what we are not. He's made us qualified. Second,
He's made us partakers, partakers of the inheritance of the saints. Read that in the verse 12, verse
12 of our text there. You see that? Which have made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
life. I spent some time considering
this thing of an inheritance. And it's hard not to think of
an inheritance without thinking in earthly terms. That's the
first thing I think of an inheritance is something coming to me. And I thought, consider this.
Consider these things about an inheritance. You know, my dad,
I'm pretty well convinced he's going to leave me and I've got
two brothers. some type of an inheritance.
He's going to leave something for us. My friends, the believer's
inheritance is from Almighty God. In Psalm 33, 12, we read,
Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord and the people that he
has chosen for his inheritance. Our inheritance is from God the
Father. That inheritance, that earthly
inheritance, whatever it might be, it will be given to me and
my brothers. But listen, Paul speaking to
the church at Ephesus, he said, brethren, I commend you to God.
I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that
are sanctified. Those that are set apart. This inheritance. It's for me
and it's for my brethren. It's for God's people, them that
are sanctified, them that are set apart. Another thing here,
an inheritance. I contribute nothing to my inheritance. I think, I may try this with
my dad, he may take me up on it, but I think it would be foolish
for me to say, here's $20. I want you to put that toward
my inheritance. Wouldn't it be foolish to think
that I'm going to contribute to my inheritance? We contribute
nothing to our inheritance, do we? No. Turn with me over to
Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6. Look at verse 10 of Deuteronomy
6. And it shall be when the Lord
thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware
unto thy fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, to
give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest not. Houses
full of all good things, which thou fillest not. And wells digged,
which thou diggest not." You see that? All those things, they
contributed nothing. They just went and received them,
didn't they? God provided. Cities, which they
didn't build. Houses full of good things, which
they didn't fill. And wells digged. I didn't dig
that well. God provided all that. We contribute
nothing to our inheritance. I think it was Brother Henry
who said this. He said, rest assured, your mansion in glory
will not be built with any material you sent up. I'm pretty sure
he said it. If not, it sure does sound like
something Henry would have said, doesn't it? We contribute nothing. We contribute nothing. Our inheritance
is from our father, from our father in heaven. Our earthly
inheritance, at best, is temporary. It's temporary. In fact, our
earthly inheritance, it may not amount to anything. By the time
the bills are paid and everybody comes along and gets their share,
our inheritance on this earth could amount to nothing. In fact,
our inheritance on this earth could be taken away from us.
It may upset somebody and you're done, right? Well, we've seen
that with families. People lose their inheritance.
Arguments, disagreements, but not the inheritance of the saints. Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Look beginning in verse
3 of 1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
have begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance. Listen to this inheritance. It's
incorruptible. It's undefiled. It fades not
away. It's reserved in heaven for you. For who? For you who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Turn to another scripture with
me in Revelation, just a few pages of Revelation 21, beginning with verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard with a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God's and he'll
dwell with them. And they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
said unto me, he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make
all things new, And he said unto me, Write, for these words are
true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things. And I will be his
God, and he shall be my Son." Our inheritance is not of this
world. It is not a bunch of stuff. It's Christ. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ, and it's to dwell with Him, to dwell with Him forever. It's for the saints. It's for
those that He set apart. It's what He said. He said it's
the inheritance of the saints. Now, back to Colossians 1. We're to give thanks to the Father. were to give thanks to Him that
has made us meet, made us partakers, made us fit, made us qualified. He's done those things. He's
made us partakers of the inheritance of the saints. And then look
at verse 13. Who had delivered us from the
power of darkness. He. He had delivered us from
the power of darkness. Satan is called the ruler of
darkness. This darkness, it points to our
sin. It points to our depravity, what
we are by nature, dead and trespasses and sin. And listen, by nature,
we love darkness. We love darkness. Maybe when
I was a kid, I was afraid of the dark. But listen, by nature, we love
it. We love darkness. We love darkness. From the sole of the foot to
the top of the head, there's no soundness in it, nothing but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They haven't been closed
up. They haven't been bound up. They
haven't been modified with ointment. Over in John 3, 19, our Lord
said, this is condemnation. This is condemnation. Light is
coming to the world and men love darkness. rather than light,
because the deeds are evil. That's what we are by nature.
And Isaiah told, he said, our best in the sight of God is filthy
rags, filthy rags in the sight of God. And if I'm left to myself,
if I'm dependent upon my own free will, as men would say,
look at the result. Light has come into the world.
And men love darkness. Men love darkness rather than
light because the deeds are evil. Back in the Old Testament, God
sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel. Sent them down there
to deliver them out of the bondage of the Egyptians. Over and over and over we read
they wanted to stay in bondage. They wanted to stay in bondage.
They spoke to Moses. They're at the Red Sea. When
they were running from the army of Pharaoh, and they were there
against the Red Sea, they told Moses, they said this, isn't
this what we told you when we were down in Egypt? Isn't this
what we said to you? Let us alone. Leave us alone,
that we might serve the Egyptians, and that we should die in the
wilderness. Isn't that a picture? That's
just a perfect picture of us by nature, isn't it? Why don't
you just leave us? Why don't you just leave us alone?
Why didn't you leave us alone? You know, we read about the children
of Israel, and you think, how could they be so ungrateful? Boy, it doesn't take long to
figure out that that's us, isn't it? That's exactly who we are. And by nature, I'll choose darkness. I'll choose bondage. I'll choose
sin. But listen to verse 13. Listen
to verse 13. He hath delivered us from the
power of darkness. You can't deliver yourself. I
can't deliver myself. But He can. He hath delivered
us from the power of darkness. He can and He has. You see that? He hath delivered
us. He hath rescued us and translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son. He's rescued us. He's made us willing. He made
us willing in the day of His power. His power. If He doesn't, We'll stay in
that darkness. We'll stay right where we want
to be." Oh, but thank God he had delivered us from the power
of darkness. And fourth here, he had translated
us into the kingdom of his dear son. He plucked us out of the
fire. David said it this way. He said,
he brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the deep
miry clay, and he set my feet upon a rock. and establish my
goings from the power of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son." Turn to 2 Corinthians 2. Look
at verse 14 of 2 Corinthians 2. Thanks be unto God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor
of His knowledge by us in every place. He put us in Christ. He put us in Christ. He put us
in a new place, a new place. He gave us a new nature. From
sin and darkness, He translated us to light and life in His dear
Son, the Son of His love, we read. God spoke from heaven and
said, this is my beloved son. It's the son of his love. And
listen, he doesn't say he wants to, doesn't say he tried to,
it doesn't say he did all he could do and then left the rest
up to you. What does it say? He hath. He hath translated us
into the kingdom of his dear son. And then look at verse 14. of our text, back in Colossians
1, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. He's made us fit. He's made us
meet. He's made us qualified. He's
made us partakers of the inheritance of the saints. He's delivered
us from the power of darkness. He's translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son. And here in verse 15, we read,
he's redeemed us. He's redeemed us through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Redemption. Redemption. Deliverance out of the hands
of the enemy. God redeemed us and we're delivered. Delivered
from sin. We've been delivered from the
punishment of sin. We've been delivered from the
bondage of the law. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He did that. He's done that. He redeemed us
through his blood. He paid the redemption price. That which was lost, he bought
back. He bought back through his blood. He's the only one that can pay
the redemption price. We don't operate in that kind
of currency. He does. He redeemed us. He redeemed us. In Job 33, we read this, delivering
from going down to the pit, I found a ransom. I found a ransom. Christ, the Redeemer. Christ,
our Redeemer. The sins of His people, our sins,
were laid on Him. And He bore those sins. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. He bore the punishment of my
sin. He bore the penalty of my sin. He was made sin for us. Who knew no sin? That we might
be made the very righteousness of God in Him, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The sentence of the law's condemnation
was executed on Him. The wages of sin is death. It
must be paid. It must be paid. But he stood
in our room instead and satisfaction was made by him. Satisfaction
was made by him for the sins of his people. He paid the redemption
price. We're redeemed. He redeemed us
through his blood. Not by the blood of bulls and
goats, but through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that perfect lamb without spot or blemish. He redeemed us through
his blood. No other blood will do. Nothing else can pay that price.
And listen, we read there in whom we, who's this we that he's
talking about here in verse 14? Well, our brother Dale read the
first part of this text. Look back at At verses 1 and
2, Paul, who is he writing to here? Who is this we? Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and to Malthus,
our brother, to the saints, and to the faithful brethren in Christ,
was your closet. He's writing this to his church.
He's writing this to his people, in whom we, we have redemption. Turn to another scripture with
me. Turn to Isaiah 43. But now, thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for
I have redeemed thee all the way I have called thee by thy
name. I've redeemed thee. I've called
thee by..." He knows us by name. His children, he should know
them by name. We know our children. He said, I called thee by thy
name. And then listen. Thou art mine. Thou art... Boy, if we could get a hold of
that, we'd give thanks. Huh? Give thanks. I've redeemed
thee. I've called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine." And listen, if that wasn't enough,
we have the forgiveness of sins. See that back in Colossians,
back in our text. The forgiveness of sins, original
sin, actual sin, sins past, sins present, sins future. God's Word
said they're sins and they're iniquities. I remember no more. He's put them away. He's put
them away. Well, in closing, consider this. Consider this. What should our
attitude be? What should the attitude of the
believer be? One of thanksgiving. Oh, one
of thanksgiving. Don't we have so much to be thankful
for? He's made us meet. He's made us fit. He's made us
qualified. He's made us partakers of the
inheritance of the saints. He's delivered us from the power
of darkness. He's translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son. He's redeemed us. He's forgiven
us. He's forgiven us our sins. Consider the certainty of what's
going on here. Look in our text one more time
here. How many times does he say, he
hath, he hath, in whom we have? You see that? That's certain, isn't it? Not
might, not maybe, not kind of, should, try, will. No, he says
he hath. He hath done these things in
whom we have these things. And then third, who did these
things? Who did these things? Who gets
the glory in this matter? God in Christ. You see that?
Look, giving thanks unto the Father. Giving thanks to Almighty
God. He gets the glory, doesn't he? Turn with me to one more scripture.
One more scripture. Look at Psalm 100. I think these verses try to kind
of sum up what I've been trying to say. Look at Psalm 100, beginning
with verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us, not
we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. and into his courts with praise
be thankful unto him. Bless his name, for the Lord
is good. His mercy is everlasting, and
his truth endureth to all generations.