Everybody has seen me in my coat. Brother David Edmondson came
down to preach at our old building one time, and he said, you all are so far
out in the country, you have to go to town to hunt. Turn with me tonight to Colossians
chapter one. I want to express my gratitude
to this church for having me here today, to you pastor for inviting me, for having the confidence that
God has and may again speak through his service. But mostly, I thank God. I thank God, whose providence
brought me here and brought you here. Do you believe that, or
I do? My hope while I'm here is to
encourage you, maybe reassure you, And if the
Spirit of God will permit, maybe even to excite you, by turning your attention to
the riches of God laid up in heaven for all those who have,
and maybe yet will, being able to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. With that in mind, turn with
me to Colossians chapter one. Message tonight is about saints
in light. Heirs, he says, in light. Believers are heirs of God. We say that a lot, but I want
you to think about it. Think about what that means.
We're heirs of God. And I tell you, nothing can chase
away our sadness and our fear and the cares of this world quicker
than to think on the hope laid up for us in heaven. That's what Peter said about
it. It's laid up for us. And if you read that carefully,
you'll find out he's talking about God's elect. In this world, we're gonna have
tribulation. You're gonna have it if you're
a believer. You're gonna have tribulation, trouble. But our
Lord said, be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. And
he's our hope, isn't he? He's our hope. Now let's read our text here,
or my text tonight, let's read this together in Colossians 1
verse 12 and 13. Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet, he has enabled us to be partakers of
the inheritance of enlightened saints. partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light who have delivered us from the power of
darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Believers are a people who once
were nothing. They were nothing. And now what
he tells us in 1 Corinthians 1, he said, look at your calling. Not many
wise men, not many mighty, not many noble. Believers are a people
who were once nothing, could do nothing. Is that your experience? Could do nothing and had nothing. But now, by the sovereign grace
of God, have all things and such things that even the angels gather
and desire to look into. Peter said, you were a people
which in time past were not a people. You weren't even considered. In time past, not a people, but
are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy. And Paul said this to the Ephesians,
he said, just stop for a moment and remember where you come from,
and remember what you are, what you were all my soul. You were Gentiles, heathens,
that's what that means, heathens. idolaters, enemies of God, and
at that time you were without Christ. I didn't have a clue
who Christ was. And I was raised hearing that
name, quoted, preached, and sang my whole life. Didn't have a
clue who Christ was. And you were strangers from the
commonwealth, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenant. Some of you have been converted
out of religion. Did you even know what a covenant
was when you were in religion? I never heard the word. I first heard that word from
Henry Mahan and I wondered what he was talking about. What kind
of covenant? You were strangers from the covenants
of promise. Oh, my soul. Now in Christ. Now in Christ. Ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood. Nigh by the blood. Think of it,
beloved. You and I once by nature were
children of wrath, even as others. Children of wrath, even as others.
walking in the vanity of our minds, filled with darkness, didn't have a clue who God was,
couldn't read His Word. You could read the Word, but
it didn't mean anything. But now, now by the mercy and grace of
God, we're partakers of that heavenly light of glory. and
grace. And when one of these preachers
stands up and talks about grace, you know what he's talking about.
And when he talks about mercy, you know what he's talking about.
When he's talking about salvation, you know what he's talking about. Heirs of God. Think about it. The chief of sinners resting
at the king's table. Isn't that what we're doing tonight?
Gathered around the king's table. Lowlife rebels living under the
protection and blessings of the King of Glory. Religious parasites. Now wearing the priest robe. Ministry to the Israel of God. Just think about where the heirs
of God are. Well, what are believers' heirs
of? Let me give you just a few things to think about. The idea
is, first of all, we're heirs of God. We're heirs of God. You know, back in the early 20s,
when I was In my early 20s, my brother and I had a building
business. Now, we didn't have two nickels to rub yet. We didn't
have any money. We just started out from scratch,
and we were doing remodeling jobs, and then long come a house,
and we won the contract on that, was able to build a house, and
we were just struggling. And I remember going into a bank
back then, my brother and I, and we needed a loan. and this young arrogant banker
I'll never forget he come out and just talked to us like we
were dogs and uh... so we debated with
him for a little bit about it that boy he just cut us to ribbons
turned us down flat he said let me put it in language you can
understand no and made my brother mad. He's
a little bit older than I am. And he said, if you don't give
us this loan, we're going to take all of our money out of
this bank. And the banker laughed and said,
go ahead. I'm an heir of God. An heir of
God. Think about that. Somebody said, the greater the
name and holdings of the estate, the greater the expectation of
the heir. You and I as believers are heirs
of God. And I read this somewhere. that
the estates of great men are well managed and provision is
made to make sure their heirs will receive what has been their
good pleasure to give to them. We're heirs of God. The all-wise,
unchangeable, almighty God has made provision to ensure that
all his heirs get what it's been his good pleasure to give. Answers of God. He himself is our portion. I love to think about his benefits
and we'll talk about them some here in a minute. But he's our
portion. He's our portion. Don read it last night. He said,
if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
Now, if God has given himself to us, then doesn't it follow
that we shall be heirs of all that he has? And isn't that Paul's
reasoning there in Romans chapter 8? He that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all? If he didn't spare his son, what's
he gonna spare? What are we heirs of? We're heirs
of God. And secondly, we're heirs of
the Spirit of life. Let me read you something will
of God from the Word of God. Galatians chapter four, it talks
about the Son of God coming into this world, being made flesh,
born of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if you're a son, then you
are an heir of God through Christ. We're heirs of the spirit of
life. Now, I'm gonna tell you something. You can get religion. It's not
hard to get religion. There's a church on every corner.
All of them got different names. All of them got different ends.
All of them got different motives. But they're basically all preaching
the same thing. And you go down there and get
religion. It's not hard to get religion. But you can't get sad. You better get that idea out
of your head. You can't get sad. You have to be in hair of the
Spirit of God. and air. Isn't it something? I don't even know how to explain
it. It's so wonderful. I was in a meeting and yes, I'd
been reading. Yes, I'd been seeking. I'd been
doing everything I could do with my soul. He stripped me. He showed me what I was. I was
hungry. I wanted to know, but I couldn't
find out. I was just sitting there in the
meeting, listening. And man spoke, but God spoke
through him. God spoke through him. And the
Spirit of the living God opened my eyes and ears to see and to
hear and to believe. Explain that to somebody. I'm
telling you, I've been at this for a while. I've never been
able to get it all out. I don't know how to explain it. But everybody that's experienced
knows exactly what I'm talking about. Listen to this verse of Scripture,
this Romans 8, 14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, what's he talking about? Led to repentance, led
to the Savior, led to the cross, led to hear the gospel. As many as are led by the Spirit,
They are the sons of God. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit himself,
bearing witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Heirs of God and heirs of the
spirit of life. And thirdly, we're heirs of his
promise in Christ by the gospel. That's the next problem I run
into. The Bible's full of promises, all of them to his elect. Ephesians 3, 6 says that Gentile
believers are fellow heirs unto the same body and partakers of
his promise in Christ by the gospel. And there come a time
when the Lord, under the preaching of the gospel, showed me what
I am by nature and by birth and by practice, and this needy sinner
began to explore the Word of God and to search with all my
heart for something to help my sin-sick soul. And I could not
find it. I could not understand it. I
could not embrace it. And what I discovered is that
all of God's promises were to His elect. The good shepherd,
I'd read it, the good shepherd giveth his life to the sheep.
He told the Pharisees, he said, you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. As many as were ordained unto
eternal life believe. I began to see that all these
promises was to his Israel, to his elect. And how my soul longed
to know how a poor sinner could know if he was elect of God. And the answer came in the last
place I would have ever sought through the preaching of the
gospel. Paul said to the Thessalonians,
he said, I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief in the truth. We're unto he called you by our
gospel. That's how you found out. And
he told those Thessalonians in his first letter, he said, they
probably didn't know it, but he did. He said, I know your
election of God. Well, how'd you know that, Paul?
He said, my gospel came not in word only. It wasn't just the
boring words of a man standing before a congregation. God spoke
through him. And those words came in power
into his heart and broke his heart. Broke his heart, brought him
down. And then revealed Christ to him. He called you. by our gospel,
what he called it to, to the obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you, if God ever speaks
peace to your soul, he'll send his servant to you and draw you
to his servant. That's how it'll come. And that
man under God's direction and God's message and God's spirit
will declare unto you who the heirs of God really are. How do I know my election of
God? I'll tell you, you're talking to somebody who's looked. I wanted
to know. And I looked, and the greatest,
clearest answer that I ever found was in John chapter six, in verse
37. Listen to this. All that the
Father giveth to me will come to me. Huh? That's how you know you go to
Christ. Every man that comes to Christ,
believes on Christ, bows to Christ, embraces Christ, the Father chose
him. I guarantee it. The Father chose him. Am I an heir of God and
partaker of his promise in Christ by the gospel? I am, if I can
believe in and on, the Lord Jesus Christ. I am. Fourthly, what
are we heirs of? Hebrews chapter one, verse 14
says, this about his elect, they're heirs of salvation. Under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, Paul wrote these words and said, He was talking
about these angels, and he said, let me tell you what angels are.
They're ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who
shall be, not might be, who shall be heirs of salvation. They minister to you. Oh, my
soul, how often should I be dead for the things I did when I was
a young man? I ought to have been dead a hundred
times. or you really believe angels
come down and minister to us? Absolutely. I never seen one. I wouldn't know what they'd look
like if I did. But I'm sure they've been around me and preserving
me and ministering to me all my life. Heirs of salvation, think about
it. I think about old Barabbas down
there in that dungeon. waiting crucifixion, waiting
that judgment. And he's down there in that old
damp place and he can't hear what's going on. And there's
another one up there being judged, Jesus of Nazareth, he's being
judged out there. And he's listening and all he
can hear is when that crowd comes up to a roar. And the first thing
he hears is, give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Crucify him,
crucify him. I know he was a hard man, I know
he was a hardened criminal, but I tell you his heart must have
sank when he heard those words. You know what he heard next?
Soldiers coming down the hall. Coming back to the dungeon. Put
the key in the door and opened that door. Took him with his chains, and
here he went, back down that hall. And he's saying, this is
it. This is it. They're going to
take me out and nail me to a cross, and leave me hanging out there
until I die. And they come through that dark, damp dungeon, and
they come through that open door, and that soldier bent down and
unlocked the chain, and he said, Barabbas, you're free to go. Another's been chosen to die. You know why? Because we're heirs
of salvation. Heirs of salvation. Salvation is the free and sovereign
gift of God to his heirs. Heirs of salvation, the predestination
of it. Oh, I tell you, the first time
I mentioned that to the elders That free will church I went
to, I thought they were going to have a heart attack. Oh, don't,
don't, don't go there. Don't go there. That's poison
to your soul. Don't go there. Don't even read
it. Don't even... We're heirs of that. We're heirs
of the predestination of it, election unto it. the means to
accomplish it, the means of its application, the calling unto
it, and the perfection of it in eternity, we're heirs of salvation. And I'm gonna tell you something,
it's not the free will of man that saves a man, but the free
will of God, that's what saves him. If God's good pleasure,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
How'd I get to be in there? Please God. Please God. Preacher, you saying that God
arranged the salvation of his elect before the world began?
that Christ was appointed as their representative and substitute
from the very beginning, that he came into this world and lived
for them and died for them and rose for them, and they ascended
up with him into heaven and sat down with him on the throne.
And he reigns for them. That's exactly what I'm saying. Now let me tell you something.
You cannot be an heir of something that's never been purposed to
be given to you. How'd I get to be an heir? He
worked with all things after the council. His own will. You're not gonna find free will
in scriptures, but what you are gonna find is as many as were
ordained unto eternal life to live. That's what you're gonna
find. you will find the free will of God. We're heirs of salvation. Paul
said, God hath saved us. That's what he told young Timothy. God saved us. He didn't say God
gone to, although he is. He said, God hath saved us and called
us. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our work. He didn't look down, religious
people love this phrase, looking down through the telescope of
time. God don't need a telescope. Oh. he called us with a holy
calling not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. Heirs of salvation. And then fifthly, we're heirs
of promise. Peter said his divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these you might be partaker of the divine nature. Now very quickly, turn with me
to Galatians chapter three, and let me show you something about
God's promises to his heirs. Galatians chapter three, verse
16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not to seeds as of many,
but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. That man who
has Christ has all the promises of God. And not a promise in
this book, that you can't lay your head on if you have Christ. Oh, I don't know what God's gonna
do. I just don't know if He's gonna
do this. All the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen. Promises of life and peace and
rest and light and understanding and faith and regeneration, repentance,
conversion. Oh, they said, if you've been
here, my brother hadn't died. What? You believe he's gonna
rise from the dead? Yeah, in the last day. He said, I am the resurrection. You reckon God will raise me
from the dead? If I have Christ, I'm already
risen. And then, sixthly, we're heirs
of the grace of God. Titus 3, 7 said that being justified
by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. Christ did all that He did that
in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Well,
by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we're his workmanship, created in Christ unto good works. That's not talking about tithing.
Talk about believing. Not talking about church attendance.
Talk about loving. we're his workmanship. And why would God love us, choose
us, make provision for us, accomplish our salvation and make us to
know it? By his grace and because he would. And then lastly, we're heirs
of the kingdom. James said, hath not God chosen
the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom? Heirs of the kingdom. What's that mean? God has a kingdom. He has a kingdom. And in this
kingdom, he lovingly, graciously, and mercifully reigns. We've
been going through the book of Revelation, verse by verse. And our last study in there,
he talks about the reign of Christ. The reign of Christ. He reigns
in his kingdom, don't he? And he reigns over all the kingdoms
of this world. And here we're told that those,
we've been translated, we've been delivered from the fire
of darkness and translated into this kingdom, the kingdom of
his dear son. What is this kingdom? It's the
loving, sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not
just like a dictatorship. He is sovereign. He's going to
do his will, and I don't mean to take anything away from that,
but his love rules in such a way that you want his rule. I wouldn't have it any other
way. He's already shown me what I could do with it. Nothing.
I want him to rule. What if he gives you the ability
to stop this from happening or make this happen to someone else?
Would you know what to do? I wouldn't. I'm glad he rules. I'm glad he rules. Now to me, that's what the kingdom
is. It's the loving. of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And when God saves a man, he
breaks the rule of that strong man down, spoils his house, and
he takes ownership of it, and he uses it for his glory. He
rules in there, and those in the house wouldn't have it any
other way. They want him to rule. God establishes
his kingdom in the hearts and minds of his people, and they're
so thankful that he does. And I'm gonna tell you something,
there's no greater privilege on this earth than to be fellow
citizens with the saints and of the household of God. I don't
wanna go anywhere, do you? Anybody wanna trade that for
a flat earth? If it wasn't so serious, he'd
be a bunny. I can't imagine, I just can't
imagine anybody would relinquish this for something as trivial
as that. And I've heard pastors all over
this country say, we don't care if it's flat ground or a fat
frisbee, we don't care. We're not interested in this
earth. We're heirs of salvation, heirs of promise, heirs of grace,
heirs of the kingdom of God. God hath enabled us poor, bankrupt
sinners to be partakers of the inheritance with enlightened
saints. Oh, I said one time, what I wouldn't
give to have what he's got. I look up Brother Mahan and hear
him talking about the gospel and the love of God and all this.
Oh, I wanted what he had so bad, so bad. Well, God has enabled this old
bankrupt sinner to have it. And the only reason I'm fine
in the scripture is because I'm an heir. And I'm an heir because
it was His good pleasure to make me one. I had no part in it. He did it all. All to Him I owe. May the Lord bless you.