been given a lot of consideration.
This Thursday, our country will celebrate a
holiday called Thanksgiving. And people gather together, families
will get together, they'll eat and watch football games. But this thing of Thanksgiving, If there were ever a holiday
for the believer, I'm just confident it would be
Thanksgiving, and it wouldn't be limited to a day, but it would
be continual. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica,
he said, in everything, think about that, in everything, Give
thanks. In everything, give thanks. For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. How could we, as believers, do
anything but give thanks? We're heirs of God. joint heirs with his son, joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving. Turn with me to
Colossians chapter 1. I want us to look at just a few
verses of scripture in Colossians 1. Look beginning with 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 blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Give thanks. Give thanks to the
Father. Give thanks to Almighty God,
the Father. God who made all things. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness. He hath commanded the light to
shine out of darkness and hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of His Son, in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning,
We read in the beginning, God, all things begin and end with
God. In the beginning, darkness covered the face of
the deep and God said, God spoke and He said, let there be light. Any question as to what happened
when He said that? He said, let there be light and
there was light. He created something out of nothing. Up to that point, it was darkness.
God said, let there be light. And in the new creation, in a
sinner, think about that, God spoke. God makes something out
of nothing and He commands the light to shine forth. Jesus Christ,
who's the light? He is. Christ is our light. And He shined in our darkened
hearts to give the true knowledge of Almighty God and the glory
of His Son. Giving thanks unto the Father. Giving thanks unto Him. Listen
to these reasons listed here to give thanks, and there's many
more, but just listen to these in this passage of Scripture.
It says this. Look at verse 12. He hath made
us meet. He did that. He made us fit. Give thanks that God, by His
Son, by the Lord Jesus Christ, has made us Consider this, consider what
He made us. He made us something that we
were not. He made us something that by
nature we could never be. He did it. In the book of Jeremiah
we read, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as the potter? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, he said, so are you in my hand. We're in his hands, O house of
Israel. Listen, the potter takes a piece
of clay and he molds that into what he'll have it to be. Think about it. I mean, could
a piece of clay ever speak and say, well, I would prefer to
be this or I want to be made this? A piece of clay can do
nothing. It's just dirt. And yet the Lord,
as the potter, the great potter, He takes that piece of clay and
He molds it into what He will. Listen to Isaiah 64 verse 8. But now, O Lord, thou art our
Father, and we are the clay. It'd be good for us to learn
that, wouldn't it? That's what we are. We're clay. We're dirt.
We're nothing. And yet, we are all the work
of thy hand. We are what he has pleased. to
make us. Scripture says He's made us fit,
the believer. He's made us fit. He's made us
qualified. He's made us accepted in the
Beloved. Ephesians 1, 6, to the praise
of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted. Not acceptable. He's made us
accepted. It's finished. The work's done.
He's made us accepted in the Beloved. By His grace He did
that. God the Father has accepted us
in Christ. He has accepted us in the person
and work of His Son, in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. This
piece of clay is righteous, redeemed. sanctified, made just like His
dear Son. He's made us righteous. 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, Christ who knew no sin. He knew no sin and yet
He was made sin. He was made something that He
could never be. He's the Son of God. He is righteousness. And yet for his people, he was
made to be sin. What's the effect of that? That
we might be made what we could never be. Made the very righteousness
of God in him. Made righteous. Almighty God
has made us accepted. He's made us righteous, He's
made us meet, He's made us fit. That's a good reason to give
thanks, isn't it? Made us meet, made us qualified. We'll look
back at our text, look at verse 12 of Colossians 1. It says He's
made us qualified to be partakers of the inheritance. Don't we love the idea, just
naturally speaking, don't we love the idea of an inheritance? To get something, to get something
we haven't earned. To get something that we don't
deserve, or at least that's what we think, right? But that inheritance is left,
typically it's left by the father for the children. It's left for
his children. That inheritance, it isn't for
everyone. When a man dies and leaves an
inheritance, he typically doesn't leave it for just anybody that
comes looking for it, right? It's for his children. It's for the heirs. Well, how
can I be a partaker of his inheritance? I have to be made a son. I have
to be made something that by nature I'm not. I have to be
made an heir. In Titus 3 verse 7, we read being
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. I wasn't an heir. but were made heirs. In eternity
past, God made his people to be sons, to be sons in Christ,
heirs of the grace of life, heirs by his gracious act of adoption. He said, you're mine. You are
mine. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
4. Galatians 4. Look beginning with verse 1 of
Galatians 4. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all. but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. Who determines all these
things? The father does. Even so, when
we were children, we were in bondage to the elements of this
world. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his son, made 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 you're sons,
God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts,
crying, Abba Father, wherefore, oh, what glorious news is this,
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, if a son,
then an heir of God through Christ. We're made heirs. We have to
be made heirs. We have to be made partakers
of the inheritance. And that word inheritance in
Colossians 1, I look this up and it means this, the eternal
salvation. which God has assigned to his
saints." We're made heirs, we're made
his. To an inheritance, not like the inheritance of this world.
Nothing in this world we're going to inherit that means anything
for any length of time. What's the inheritance of the
believer? It's an inheritance that is incorruptible, it's undefiled,
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept."
God's people are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. His people
are made partakers of the inheritance." That's a reason to be thankful,
isn't it? Made partakers. Giving thanks unto the Father.
He's made us meet. He's made us fit. He's made us
righteous. Giving thanks to the Father.
He's made us partakers of the inheritance. Heirs of God. Join heirs with the Lord Jesus
Christ and turn back to Colossians 1.13 giving thanks to the Father who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness. Who delivered us? He. He delivered us. Romans 7, 24,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? He's delivered us from bondage.
2 Peter 2, 19, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptations. He delivers his people from temptation.
2 Timothy 3, verse 11, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto
me at Antioch, and Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions
I endured. Paul says, but out of them all
the Lord delivered me. Delivered from persecution. Delivered
from the power of darkness. Delivered from what we are. What we are by nation. Let me
just read a portion of 1 Corinthians 6 to you. 1 Corinthians 6, 9
says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revelers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God." That's a pretty tough list, isn't it? Listen to what he says
here, "...and such were some of you." But, aren't we thankful for those
buts in Scripture? But, you're washed. But, you're sanctified. But,
you're justified. How? In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Delivered. Delivered
from the power of darkness. Delivered from the power of Satan.
Listen, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness, that's
our desire by nature, isn't it? Man love darkness rather than
light. From darkness to light, from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me." Satan was an angel of light, but he's an angel of darkness.
The angels that sin were cast into hell, they were delivered
into what? Chains of darkness. Rulers of
darkness, the darkness of sin, the darkness of unbelief, delivered
from sin and darkness. You know, if a man's in darkness,
he can't see anything. We have to be delivered to that.
We have to have light. We have to have light to see.
You know, back in the book of Exodus, one of those plagues
that the Lord sent upon the Egyptians was that of darkness. And the
Lord told Moses, he said, stretch out your hand that darkness may
cover the land of Egypt. I can't even imagine. I don't
know that I've ever been in total darkness. There's always a little
bit of light, right? This was darkness that could
be felt. It was complete darkness. And
that darkness covered the land of Egypt for three days. What about the children of Israel? What about them? What about in
the land of Goshen? Was it darkness there? Not for
God's people. Scripture says that even during
that time of darkness, all the children of Israel had what?
They had light. They had light in their dwellings,
delivered from the power of darkness. Well, back to our text, Colossians
1. Again, look at 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." From darkness to light. translated. It means to take
people that dwelled in a certain place and to lift them up and
put them in another place. We read, giving thanks to the
Father, thanks to God who hath translated us, who took us from
the kingdom of darkness lifted us up and placed us, He moved
us into the kingdom of His dear Son. The children of Israel,
they were in the land of Egypt. But they weren't going to stay
there, were they? No, the Lord took them and He delivered them. He translated them into the promised
land. He rescued us out of the hand
of Satan. to a state of grace and life
and light, from darkness to light, from death to life, like that
fire brand. It just laid there in the fire,
burning, until the Lord was pleased to reach down and pluck it out. Plucked out of the burning, the
kingdom of His dear Son, the Son of His love. Could a believer
be more secure? Turn to Romans chapter 6. Romans
chapter 6. Look at verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. You're not under the law, but
under grace. The kingdom of his dear son,
translated us into the kingdom of His Son, where Christ is Lord. Listen, sin no longer reigns. Sin has been dethroned. We're
no longer under the law as a covenant, no longer under the curse of
the law, no longer under the condemnation of the law, but
under grace, under His reign. Huh? Where grace, listen, we
dwell in Christ and He dwells in His people. Well, alas, here
and again, much to be thankful for, but look at our text, look
at Colossians 1 verse 13. in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sin." In whom? In whom? In Christ, in God's
Son. We have redemption through His
blood. That purchase price. I had a
debt, we sing that song, a debt that I could not pay. We had a debt that we could not
pay and yet he redeemed us. He redeemed his people from sin. He redeemed his people from the
law. He redeemed his people from justice. He redeemed us. from wrath, the
wrath that we deserved by the blood of his son. We're bought, we're bought with
a price. What was that price? What was
the price that had to be paid? What was that ransom that had
to be found? We read that in Job 33, deliver
him from going down to the pit I have found a ransom." What was that, Dad? Scripture
says the wages of sin is death. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do? He died. Not for everybody, but
He died for His people. He died in the room instead of
His people. He drank damnation dry. Nothing left for his people to
do. He was wounded. Why? For our transgressions. He was bruised. Why? For our
iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we're healed. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. God's word says, curses everyone
that hang on a tree. Can we even begin to understand
the sacrifice that he made, the sacrifice he made, the price
that he paid? Paul wrote this in Corinthians.
He said, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Our words would fail to describe
it. Turn with me to John chapter
18. John 18. Look at verse 39. John 18, verse 39. Pilate had judged Christ. And this is what he told the
Jews, and he told this correctly. I find no fault in him. That
should have been pretty easy for him to do because there was
no fault in him, right? I find no fault in him. But look
at verse 39. It says, he said, you have a
custom. that I should release unto you
one at the Passover. Will you therefore that I release
unto you the king of Jews?' And then cried they all again,
saying, Not this man, but Barabbas." Barabbas, it says here, but Barabbas
was a robber, huh? Now, no doubt in this scripture,
we should see man's depravity. Something of, if we're left to
our own free will, who will we, who you gonna, men say that,
choose Jesus. Here's who we choose. Give us,
give us Barabbas. Give us, crucify him, give us
Barabbas. Not this man. Not the Lord Jesus
Christ, but Barabbas. Not Christ, the spotless Lamb
of God, but Barabbas. Barabbas, a man who was imprisoned
for murder and sedition. But consider what's happening
here. Consider what's happening in this text. A sinner is delivered. We first read that and we just
think, that's awful, right? Barabbas goes free. Aren't we
thankful that Barabbas goes free? Here the innocent is going to
be bound, but the sinner is going to go
free. Isn't that a picture of the great work accomplished by
our Savior? We'd easily take our stand there,
wouldn't we, for Barabbas? We're guilty of the same, aren't
we, huh? We've robbed God of his glory. We're guilty of sedition. We're
traitors. We're all those things. And here
we stand before him. Barabbas stands in the judgment
seat, and he's guilty. Any question about that? That's true of us, guilty. And yet, the Lord of glories,
He's bound for us. He suffers and dies in our place. The Lord delivers His people
and acquits us while the Savior, the spotless Lamb of God, that
one without spot, without blemish, without a shadow of fault, is
led to the cross to suffer and die. The redemption price paid
in full. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. How? Being made a curse for us. That which I deserve, that which
I earned, he endured it. The debt that I owed, that which
I could never pay, He paid it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. My sins forgiven, put away, cast
into the depths of sin, cast behind God's back, never to be
seen again. I know I forgive people, and
I forgive them conditionally, right? Isn't that how we forgive
people? I'll forgive you as long as you
don't cross me again, and as soon as that happens, that's
off the table, isn't it? But the Lord Jesus Christ, God
in Christ has put away our sins. They've been punished and put
away. Never to be seen again. That's a reason to be thankful,
isn't it? In everything, in everything,
give thanks. Turn back with me to Colossians
1, and I'll close. Look at verse 12. Colossians
1, verse 12. giving thanks to the father. He's made us meet, he's made
us fit, he's made us accepted in the beloved. Giving thanks
to the father that he's made us partakers of the inheritance. Giving thanks to the father,
he's delivered us into the kingdom of his dear son. giving thanks
to the Father in whom we have redemption, even the forgiveness
of sins. Thanks to the Father. And listen,
it's rightly His. You go back, look and see how
many times you see that word hath, He hath, He hath done. By His grace, by the person and
work of His Son. May God bless His Word.