12, giving thanks unto the Father.
Giving thanks. Paul asked this question. He
said, Who maketh thee to differ? Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if we received
it, why do we gloat as if we had produced it by our own efforts?
Every believer ought regularly it ought to come natural with
us to just stop where we are and what we're doing and do what
Paul is doing here in verse 12, give thanks to the Father. We
ought to just, whatever we're doing, wherever
we are, just stop and pause and give thanks to God for all things. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians,
I'm bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord. Psalm 103, David wrote, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, all that's within me. Bless his holy name.
Forget not his benefits. He healeth all thy diseases. He forgiveth all thy iniquities.
He satisfies your mouth with good things. So our youth is
renewed like the eagles. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, wrote Paul to the Ephesians, who chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us to the adoption of children according to the good pleasure
of his own will. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. And then Psalm 116, what shall
I render the Lord for all his benefits to me? Well, David said,
I'll take the cup of salvation. I'll take it. And I'll call on
the name of Jehovah. And I'll confess him and pay
my vows. What's this pay my vows? What
was this I read while I was going to bring an offering? It's a
vow of praise and an offering of praise and thanksgiving. We're
priests unto God. And we offer sacrifices of praise. And that's paying my vows. It's what I owe. I owe giving
thanks to God in everything, everything. But here are some
particular things listed here now in verse 12, then 13. Giving
thanks to the Father, number one, which hath made us meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. The Father
hath made us meet, and I told you several times to write in
your margin there, qualified. Our God hath made us fit, suitable
for his presence. We're made qualified and suitable. Who shall stand? Who shall ascend
unto the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy presence?
He that hath clean hands. Well, the blood of Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. He that hath a pure heart, our
hearts have been sprinkled with the blood and with pure water.
Who has never lifted up his soul to vanity, who's never sworn
deceitfully, that's us in Christ. He chose us that we should be
holy and without blame, but for Him in love. He made us fit and
qualified, suitable. The fit, the unfit are fit. The unqualified are qualified. The unholy are holy. And believe it or not, the guilty
are not guilty. Justified is not guilty. And
giving thanks to the Father himself, which hath made us meet, fit,
qualified for this inheritance. Let's read about it over in 1
Peter. this inheritance in 1 Peter 1. It says, let's just
start with verse 1 and see to whom he's speaking. 1 Peter 1
verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, who are elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit
and the obedience of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,
grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Bless God, thank God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy,
he hath begotten us again, born again. First time we were born
of the flesh, this time we're born unto a living hope. by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
he hath made us meet. He hath made us sufficient to
be a partakers of the inheritance. Isn't that what we just read?
And this inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. Now notice, no period there. No period there, comma. For whom? For you. who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto this salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time, giving thanks to the Father who hath made us
by the blood of his Son, by the righteousness of his Son, by
the sanctification of his Spirit, by belief of the truth, by the
new birth, he hath made us qualified, accepted in the beloved made
us fit, made us suitable for his presence, to stand in his
presence accepted and glorified. Thank God. Secondly, giving thanks
to the Father, which hath made us sufficient, verse 13, who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, It's so easy to read that and
just move on. The power of darkness. What is
the power of darkness? Well, the scripture says Satan
is the ruler of the darkness of this world. Satan and his
followers are reserved in chains of darkness. The light has come,
but darkness loves evil. Satan's works are the works of
darkness. He has blinded men and keeps
them in darkness. And Paul said in the book of
Acts chapter 26, turn over there and read this, talking about
his own ministry which God gave to him concerning the Gentiles,
you and me. In Acts 26, 17, delivering thee
from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send
thee, to open their eyes and to turn them 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's in me, to turn them from darkness for the power
of Satan. What is this power of darkness?
Well, people treat it mighty lightly today. They refer to
Satan and his power and his temptations and his hold on people rather
flippantly and lightly. But to illustrate this, I want
you to turn to Luke chapter 22. Now this is overpowering. This is absolutely overpowering. When you read it, when you read
it in connection with that promise and that blessing, the Father
hath made us meet, qualified, fit to stand in his presence,
perfect, accepted, holy, as holy as his Son, and delivered us
from the power of darkness. Now let me read you something,
Luke 22, and everybody get this and read it with me, follow along.
Our Lord's out there in the garden with his disciples, eleven of
them, he'd been praying. In verse 47, while he yet spake,
behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the
twelve, been with the Lord three and a half years. went before
that multitude and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. Now you
get this picture. Our Lord is in the garden, it's
dark, in darkness, and praying, talking to his disciples. Here
comes this crowd with spears and knives and swords, with these
big torches, a multitude, a huge crowd of soldiers and people,
led by one of the disciples. led by Judas, who had been with
him three and a half years. And Jesus, when he came near
to kiss him, verse 48, Jesus the Lord said unto him, Judas,
betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss? When they which were about him
saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite
with the sword his Peter and the other disciples? Now, Peter
has drawn his sword. Here's the Prince of Peace, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who's never given any indication of using
any force or power. He said, my kingdom's not of
this world. If it were, my servants would fight, but my kingdom's
righteousness and peace. Don't you know I could call on
my Father and he'd send legions of angels? But that's not the
kingdom of God is righteousness and peace. It's a heart kingdom.
And here are his disciples. Here's one about to betray him
with a kiss. thirty pieces of silver here,
the rest of them drawing their swords. And one of them smote
the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus answered and said,
Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed
him. And then our Lord said to the chief priest and the captains
of the temple and the elders which would come to him. Here
they've got the chief priest a mob of soldiers, the captains
of the temples, the elders of Israel. The whole world's turned
against him. Here's the Father's beloved,
standing here before this crowd of people, and everybody hates
him. He's despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. All alone, even his disciples,
about to run and leave him. Read on now. And our Lord said
to them, Be ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves?
Am I a thief? When I was daily with you in
the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me, but I tell
you what this is. This is your hour, and this is
the power of darkness. This is the power of darkness.
This is the power of Satan. His power is second only to God. That's right now. Second only
to God. There's no power except divine
power. It's like the power of Satan.
He has stirred up the whole known world. There wasn't anybody standing
with our Lord. He walked the winepress of God's
wrath alone. They were all against him. One
of his disciples, the others, all of you, he said, will be
offended because of me this night. All of these elders, these Pharisees
and members of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the captains
of the temple, the folks he had ministered to for three and a
half years, everybody, this power of darkness, this power of darkness
has descended upon this world and they're about to nail the
Son of God to a cross and laugh at him and ridicule him while
he dies. That's the power of darkness.
And don't underestimate it. Turn to John chapter 19. It's
permitted power, but it's power. God permits it. Our Lord gives
us an explanation here. An explanation in John 19 verse
11. Pilate said in verse 10, speakest
thou not unto me? Don't you know that I have power
to crucify you and I have power to release you? Yep. Yep, it
did. Satan had power over him. His
multitude had power over him. This disciple came and kissed
him and identified him. They got power. This is your
hour, Christ said. This is yours, this is man-made,
this is all of the flesh, this is of the devil, this is the
power of evil and darkness, what a power it is that can take the
Son of God and nail him to a cross and laugh at him. But I'll tell
you this, Christ said, verse 11, you could have no power at
all against me except it were given thee from above, wherefore
he that delivered me unto you, he has the greater sin. Nevertheless,
that's the power of darkness. And I'll tell you, the preachers
and people that underestimate the power of darkness, underestimate
the power of Satan, underestimate it. It's awesome,
fearful. You don't want any part of it.
But here's the good news. Giving thanks to God, who has
made the unfit fit, and the unqualified qualified, and the unsuitable
suitable to stand in his presence, has also delivered us from this
power of darkness. He delivered us. Satan's a ruler of darkness in
this world, but we're delivered. Satan and his are reserved in
chains of darkness, but we're delivered. That's right, once
for all. Light has come, but men love
darkness. Not this man. I've been delivered.
The Father's delivered me. Satan works in the works of darkness,
but God delivered me. And Job wrote about this. Delivered,
delivered, delivered. I tell you that word, delivered.
Powerful, he delivered us. That's what salvation means.
I've come to deliver the captive and set them free, deliver them
from the power. Turn to Job 33. Job wrote about
this. He said in Job 33, verse 23,
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among
a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, But then he
is gracious to him, and he saith, Deliver him, deliver him from
going down to the pit, I found a ransom. Deliver him, I found
a ransom. Look at verse 27. He looketh
upon men, and if any say, Lord, I have sinned and perverted that
which is right, he profiteth me not. He will deliver his soul
from going down into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Why wouldn't we pause and give
thanks to the Father? He hath made us fit, and he hath
once for all completely delivered us out of the clutches of Satan,
out of the power of darkness, and from that horrible pit of
sin. Not going to, he hath delivered
us. The third thing he said, and
he's translated us. Now watch this. He has literally
translated us into the kingdom of God's Son. We're not here
anymore. We've been translated. Where have you seen that word
before? Translation. If you were asked
to give an illustration of what it means to be translated from
one place to another, from darkness to light, from death to life,
From the kingdom of darkness and Satan to the kingdom of God's
Son, where would you find an illustration? I'll show you one. Genesis. Genesis 5. Genesis chapter 5. Here was a
man, a man, object of God's love, in a day
when there weren't many of those. Like Noah. great-grandson who found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. It's said in Genesis 5, verse
21, And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begat Methuselah.
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred
years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were
three hundred and sixty-five years, and he walked with God,
and he was not. God took him. God took him. That doesn't say translate him.
Well, turn to Hebrews. We'll read the second account
of it. Hebrews chapter 11. Here's a man who believed God,
walked with God, went out one day to pick some apples or something
and never came home. Never came back. He just was
not. God took him. God Almighty purposed, willed,
and took him. Here's where he took him. Read
Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews 11 verse 5. By faith, Enoch was translated. God took him from where he was
to somewhere else. God took him. Enoch didn't walk
down the aisle and make a decision. He was translated. He didn't
accept Jesus as his personal Savior. He was translated by
an act of God. by the will of God, he was taken
from where he was to some other place. Literally, literally. You see, read on, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death, never die. And he has translated
us from the kingdom of darkness, that's where we were. and translated
us, transferred us into the kingdom of his Son. God the Father did
that. That's what salvation is, being delivered from the clutches
of Satan, from the power and darkness of this world, to the
kingdom of God's Son, translated by an act of God. So you'll never
see death. You'll never die. He that believeth
on me will never die. He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth on me will
never die. Never, never, never die. Enoch
never died. He was translated. If you've
been translated, you'll never die. You'll sleep. You'll sleep. A friend of mine, just a few
days ago, went to bed with her husband. The next morning, she
found him asleep. If he was a believer, that's
what he was, he was a slave. And God will wake him someday.
He's not a believer, he's dead. But Enoch will never see death.
That's what it says, he'll never see death. And he was not found,
not where he was. He's not there, he's not there
anymore. He's not in that kingdom of darkness. He's not under the
power of Satan. He wasn't there. He wasn't there. Because God translated him. That's
the reason he wasn't there. You'll never see death. God translated
him. And before his translation, he
had this testimony. He pleased God. How did he please
God? He believed God. And that's when you're translated,
when you believe God. When you hear the gospel of God's
grace, sanctified by the Spirit, called of God, hear the Word,
you're translated. God does it. Give thanks to the
Father who has made us in Christ accepted and delivered us from
the power of darkness and literally translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son. Verse 14, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sin. I want to show you an
illustration of that now. Turn with me to Deuteronomy.
I want to go to chapter 10. In Christ, the law is not against
us anymore. Sin is not against us anymore.
We have forgiveness of sin. We have forgiveness of sins. In whom we have redemption, we
are redeemed, we have forgiveness of sins. You know, the Lord gave
Moses a law written on tables of stone. And Moses came down
from the mountain, and the people had made him a calf of gold and
were dancing around it and worshiping that idol. And Moses, the law
was in Moses' hands, and he came down and just dashed them to
pieces. He was so angry. There he'd gotten the law of
God, and there they were down there just completely desecrating
and disobeying. He just broke it. Well, you know
what took place. And then the Lord, in chapter
10 of Deuteronomy, verse 1, at that time the Lord said, Moses,
hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and you
come up unto me in the mountain, into the mountain, and make thee
an ark of wood, the ark of wood. And I'll write, I will write
on the tables the words that were in the first tables which
thou breakest. And you take these tables and
put them in the ark. Take the law out of the hands
of Moses and put it in the ark. So, and this is a picture of
our redemption. That ark in the Holy of Holies,
contained the Ten Commandments, and over that ark was a mercy
seat. And the high priest would come
in once a year with the blood, a picture of the sacrifice of
Christ, and sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat, covering the
broken law, covering it. The mercy seat is a covering.
The mercy seat is a propitiation. It's an eradication of sin. It's
putting away of sin. And that's what Christ did for
us. He put sin away. But that law was taken out of
the hands of the lawgiver and put under the blood. Under the
blood. And this I'll read on and show
you something here. So I made an ark of shed of wood, and I
hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and I went to
the mountain having the two tables in my hand, And the Lord wrote
on the tables according to the first writings of the Ten Commandments,
which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst
of the fire in the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them
unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mountain,
and I didn't break them, and I didn't throw them down, and
I didn't hold them and enforce them. I put them in the ark,
and there they be. And there they be. And far as
we're concerned, there they be. They're under the blood. They're
under the blood. There they be. Where's the law?
There they be, under the blood. Put away, atone for, propitiation,
not guilty. Giving thanks to the Father,
who hath made us meet, acceptable, sufficient, to walk in the glory
in his presence and inherit joint heirs with Christ, this glorious
inheritance, because he's delivered us. There's no power that can
keep me from going. There's no power that can keep
me. I'm already delivered from the power of Satan. His power
is gone. The power of darkness is gone. He has no authority
over us. And he is literally like Enoch
of Old. I see that picture when a person
comes to know the gospel. You might have left home this
morning or this afternoon and came over here tonight and heard
this glorious message and believed it. If that can happen for you
that quickly, you've just been translated, just like Enoch. You're not there anymore where
you were. You're not guilty. You're not condemned. You're
not lost. You're found. He translated you into the kingdom
of his dear son. Now verse 14, now here's who
we're talking about. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sin. Now, your righteousness,
your righteousness depends upon the one who perfected it. That's
exactly right. Our righteousness depends, the
promise is only as certain as the power of the promisor. The
salvation is only as sure as the power of the blood of the
one who represented us. Our hope of glory and eternal
happiness is only as secure as the one who has the power to
do it. And that's the reason in the next few verses that the
Apostle Paul talks about who this is. who this is through
whom the Father has given us deliverance and salvation and
inheritance. Here he is. Verse 15, he's the
image of the invisible God. He's the exact likeness of God
the Father. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. He's the visible manifestation of the unseen God. He's the firstborn of every creature.
He's the Amen, the faithful, true witness. He's the origin,
the beginning, and the author of the creation of God. He's
the firstborn of all creation. The firstborn is the heir of
all things. Being the firstborn, then all
things come after him. For it says in verse 16 and 17,
For by him are all things that are created, that are in heaven,
that are in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, the angels, the fallen
angels, Satan, the demons, all these things, visible and invisible. Whether they're thrones or dominions,
whoever's throne, the principalities, the powers, all things were made
by him and for him. And he's before all things. And
by him all things are held together. This is our Redeemer. You see,
it's like I quoted a man, your promise is only as certain as
the power of the Promiser. Well, who's our Promiser? Your
salvation is only as sure as the blood, righteousness, and
position of the one who represents you. Our hope is only as secure as
the one who represents us. But that's the Son of God. Our
hope of eternal glory and happiness is only as secure as the one
in whom that hope rests. This is him. This is he. Listen. And he's the head. He's the head
of the body, the church. He's our representative head.
Adam was our head representing us in the fall. Christ represents
us in the restoration. He's our living head. Because
I live, you live. He's our reigning head. He died
that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. He's our
providing head. My God shall supply all your
needs according to his riches and glory. He's the head of the
church. The church is his body, the whole
body of his elect, the whole flock of his sheep, the whole
family of God. The church of the firstborn,
he said, whose names are written in heaven. He's the head. Luke 18, he's the beginning,
alpha and omega, beginning and end, author and finisher. And
in all things he might have the preeminence. All hail the power of Jesus'
name, let angels prostrate follow. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
ye ransomed from the fall, hail Him who saves you by His grace,
and crown Him Lord of all. You Gentile sinners, never forget
the wormwood and the gall. Go spread your trophies at His
feet and crown Him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throne
I at His feet may fall, and I'll join that everlasting throne
and crown him Lord of all. He hath all preeminence." That's
the one in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
It's certain and sure because of who he is and what he did
and where he is now. Verse 19, let me move on. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness fullness. I read 1 Corinthians 1.30 along
with this fullness. It says, Of God are you in Christ,
who has made unto us wisdom. In him all the fullness of wisdom
and power, all of it. Righteousness, all the fullness
of truth and righteousness is in him. Sanctification, all the
fullness of holiness Perfection is in Him, and Redemption, all
the fullness of life and glory, and you're complete in Him. Now,
verse 20. And this wonderful Redeemer,
having made peace, it's done. He has translated us. He's already
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him. to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven." What's that? Things. That's people. You see,
when our Lord died on the cross, made peace through the blood
of his cross, there's a whole lot of people, just the souls
of just men made perfect. Enoch, Abel, Abraham, Moses,
Noah, David, Isaac, all were in heaven. And so he reconciled
them by his blood of his cross. And those who were on earth,
and those who would be on earth, that's me. And some of you got
boys and girls, little children, he's already reconciled them
if they're his. And some of you haven't even
had your babies yet, they'll be born later. But he's already
reconciled them. I'm telling you the truth now.
This is great. Having made peace through the
blood of his cross, peace with God, it's over. It's over. It's done. The great transaction
and translation is done. I am my Lord's and He's mine. I am my Beloved's. My Beloved's
mine. It's done. It's done for those
who are not even born yet. If they're in Christ. He's the
head of the body, the church of the firstborn whose names
are written in heaven. God never wrote one book. He
wrote it for the foundations of the world. And Christ was
the Lamb at that particular time. And He reconciled them whether
on earth or in heaven. You Gentiles, that were at one
time enemies, alienated enemies. Why were you alienated enemies?
Because you were under the power of darkness in your mind by wicked
works. Yet now hath he reconciled. He's
already reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death
to present you holy and unblameable, unreprovable. You're not that
way, preacher. Not on your side, I am on his
side. This is what matters. In his side. I don't have to be judged at
the tribunal of flesh. In his side. If you continue
in the faith, you will continue. If you're his, you'll continue.
You'll continue in the faith. And you'll be grounded and settled.
Not looking for something else. You're grounded and settled in
the gospel. And you're not going to be moved away from the hope
of the gospel. You're going to be like Peter. To whom shall
I go? He has the words of life. Where
can you find this anywhere else? Who's got the power to do for
you what he's done for us? You're not going anywhere. You're
not going anywhere. This only places any water. Only
places any bread. Only places any hope. Only places
any gospel. You're not going to be moved
away from the hope of the gospel which you've heard, and which
was preached to every creature under heaven? Well, I, Paul,
am made a minister, and I rejoice in whatever sufferings God's
called on me to bear for you, and fill up that which is behind
of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake,
which is the church." You see, Paul turned to 2 Timothy 1. He's a minister of the gospel,
and what he's saying here is that Sufferings I've endured,
God made me a minister according to the dispensation he gave to
me to fully preach his word. What I suffer is for the sake
of his elect, that's what he said in 2 Timothy 2 verse 7. Now consider what I say and the
Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus
Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel. and wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer." Folks
don't believe this gospel, most of them don't, and they rebel
against it and condemn the people that preach it. Even under bonds,
they even put me in jail, Paul said. They even put me in prison.
I suffer trouble for preaching the gospel as an evildoer, even
under prison. But the Word of God is not bound.
They can't put God's Word in prison. Therefore, I endure all
things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. That's his glorious salvation. Let's read the rest of the chapter
and close the message. Verse 25,
Colossians 1, Paul says, I made a minister sent by God to preach
this gospel according to the dispensation, the stewardship
of God which he gave to me for you. He gave this to me for you,
to fully preach the gospel, the word of God. And that's a mystery
which has been heard from ages and from generations. It's now
made manifest to his saints, to you, his saints. To whom,
his saints, God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery. We've been talking about it tonight,
making us sufficient, standing in His presence, delivering us
from this awful, deceiving power of Satan, to translate us from
where we are by nature to where He is, and to wash us in His
blood. That's a mystery. The world doesn't
know anything about that. They don't understand it. They
don't like it. They don't like it. It's a mystery
among the Gentiles, but it's Christ in you. That's the mystery,
the hope of glory. That's whom we preach. Notice
Paul didn't say that's what we preach. He said that's whom we
preach. Warning every man. Trying in
all wisdom to teach every man. Trying to teach that we may present
every man mature in Christ Jesus. Wherefore I also labor, striving
according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." That's awesome, isn't it? The
gospel is awesome. The mystery, the blessings, the
grace, the benefits, the blessings of the gospel are awesome. I told somebody the thing about
this church that distinguishes it. And this ministry are two things. One, it's worship. The services
I feel so strongly should be times of worship when we come
together to meet God in solemnity, sincerity, and worship him. and move out everything that
would interfere with that fellowship with God, seeking His face, giving
thanks, praising His name, worship, the music, the scripture reading,
no entertainment, no recognition of individuals, no recognition
of visitors, no promotion of Sunday school and numbers and
no bragging about, no preaching on stewardship, worship God. From the time we walk in here,
It's a time we walk out, a time of worship. And the second thing
is a time of teaching the Word, teaching the Word. This is our
foundation right here. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Stability and growth and comfort
and strength come from the Word. That's what I want to flow from
this pulpit as long as God permits it. Worship and the Word. Worship and the Word. God will
bless that. He'll honor those who honor His
Son.