All right, let's open our Bibles
tonight to Colossians 1. I taught my Sunday school class
this morning for about 35 minutes and then preached a lengthy message out here and
exhausted myself. I'm a little bit tired, but I'm
going to not try to preach at you or to you, but rather exhort
a bit from Colossians 1 on the subject giving thanks unto the
Father. That's the way Paul begins verse
12, giving thanks unto the Father. Look over at Chapter 4 Philippians
just most of your Bibles. It's just to the left of Colossians
here chapter 4 verse 6 And there Paul says be careful
for nothing be anxious for nothing Don't be fretful But in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your requests
be made known unto God. Paraphrasing that verse there,
Paul is saying, don't be filled with anxiety. Don't be fretful over the things
of this world. But take your burdens and your
cares and your heartaches and your problems to the Lord in
prayer and in everything. in everything, let your requests
be made known to God and do it with thanksgiving, giving thanks
unto the Father. That's our subject, with thanksgiving,
giving thanks unto the Father. Now, I read some time ago, someone
said this, as we grow older, both in years and in faith, We
find that our prayers contain more thanksgiving and less request. Let your requests be made known
to God with thanksgiving. Maybe in the early days, the
requests outnumber the thanksgiving. But in the latter days, the thanksgiving
outnumbers the requests. I found that to be true. I'll
tell you why. One reason is I don't always know the things
for which I should pray. I don't know what to ask God
for, do you? We know not the things for which
we should pray as we ought. Do you know? I don't know. I
know what I want, but I don't know what's best for me. He does.
I don't know what I need. The Scripture says, my God shall
supply, that's over here in verse 19 of Philippians 4, my God shall
supply all your need. He knows my need. He knows what
I need. And I don't. I really don't.
He knows what I truly need. He knows the things that are
best for me. And perhaps as I Our thanksgiving
to God overshadows our request. Maybe it's a sign of maturity.
Maybe we're growing, growing up. Maybe we're growing in grace. And maybe we're learning, like
Paul, to be content. He said that over in chapter
4. Look at verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I've learned. It's taken a long time. And it
does take a long time. I've learned in whatsoever state
I am at this present time therewith to be content. I know both how
to be abased. I've been there. I know how to
abound. He said, I've been there. I've
prospered. I've had plenty. And I know something
about want. But everywhere and in all things,
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthened me. So perhaps if this be true, if
it be true of us that we've learned to pray with less request and
more thanksgiving, less give me and more thank you, more contentment
and less murmuring, maybe it's a sign of maturity. So though
I do not always know what I need, I know what I have by His grace. And I can thank Him for that,
and that's my subject. So let's look at verse 12 without
any further ado. He says in verse 12, giving thanks
unto the Father, number one, thank God, He hath made us meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. You know
what Paul is saying? God has literally, actually made
us fit for heaven. Made us fit for heaven. He has made us actually qualified. If you and I die tonight, if
God is pleased to call us away from this earth tonight, we are
fit, qualified, and worthy. to walk into His presence. That's
right. Without any further change, we'll
leave this old body, but the new man, like Joe Terrell preached,
whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world. This old flesh doesn't overcome
the world, but that new nature does, and it's the new nature
that's made fit for heaven. But why did they use the word
meat? Look at verse 12. giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet. That means qualified, worthy,
fit for heaven. But why the translators used
the word meet? I'll tell you why I believe they
used it. Because in Christ we meet every
requirement for glory. That's right. In Christ he met
the law and obeyed it. He met Satan and conquered He
met temptation and overcame it. He met the world and overcame
it. In Christ, we meet every requirement. We meet every standard. We meet every spiritual grace. We meet every jot and tittle. And we are worthy in Him to enter
glory. Isn't that something? By His
grace, the Father prepares the inheritance for us. That's what
our Lord said, I go to prepare a place for you. He not only
prepares the inheritance for us, He prepares us for the inheritance. He justifies us by His death. He sanctifies us by His life. He cleanses us by His blood.
He regenerates us by His Spirit. And he implants within us the
principles of life and light, of grace and holiness. And he
will one day take away this old flesh, this old body, this old
nature, and give us a new body that will also be fit for heaven. You mean now I'm qualified? You mean right now I'm worthy? You mean right now that I have
met every requirement to leave this place and depart to be in
His presence? Not by nature, but by grace you
are. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
3. 1 John chapter 3, verse 1. Listen to this. Behold what manner
of love Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, right now, this moment,
are we sons of God. Is the Son welcome in the house?
He is. Is the Son worthy, qualified?
to abide in the house? Absolutely. Now are we sons of
God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. We know this, when He shall appear. If it's tonight, I tell you,
when I die, somebody says, well, that's at the coming of Christ.
When I die, He's come for me. He came then. He's come for me. And when He comes, we shall see
Him as He is, and we'll be like All right, back to the text.
Giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet, qualified,
worthy, fit to be partakers of that blessed inheritance of the
saints and light. Secondly, giving thanks unto
the Father who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.
What is this power of darkness? Well, the power of darkness is
the power of Satan. If you're turning your Bibles
to Acts 26, Acts 26, verse 18, we're going to get a little light
on this subject. The power of darkness is Satan. He has delivered us from Satan.
Acts 26, verse 18, Acts 26, 18, listen, "...to open their eyes," Well, verse 17 says, delivering
thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I
send thee, I send you to the Gentiles, to open their eyes,
to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance
among them which is sanctified by faith, that is in me, the
power of darkness. That's Satan. Our Lord has delivered
us from the power of darkness. Oh, at one time, he says in the
book of Ephesians over here, chapter 2, at one time, verse
2, Ephesians 2, in time past, You and I walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh and fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
We were under the power of Satan. But he had delivered us from
the power of Satan. Delivered us from darkness. You know, we pray the Lord's
Prayer. Turn to Matthew 6. We call it
the Lord's Prayer. It's a disciple's prayer, but
over in Matthew 6. In Matthew 6, beginning with
verse 9. Turn to Matthew 6 a moment. After this matter, therefore,
pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
extolling the attributes of God. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil. Have you looked at that word
and you've prayed that, you've recited that. You know what that
is saying? Deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from Satan. This is
what Paul is saying in our text. from the power of Satan. Power
of darkness, that's who Satan is. He's the power of darkness. Listen to these words. He was
once an angel of light, now he's darkness itself. He is reserved in chains of darkness. He is called in the Bible the
ruler of the darkness of this world. He is the ruler of the
darkness. They hate light because their
deeds are evil. They're lovers of darkness. His
kingdom is called the kingdom of darkness. He blinds men. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them who are blinded by Satan in darkness. And His works are
called the works of darkness. And our God has already delivered
us from the power of darkness. Satan hath no more dominion over
you and over me, none whatsoever. God has plucked us as brands
out of the burning and has delivered us from sin, Satan, and darkness. And when he spoke in Nazareth
and read that Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61, he said, God has
sent me. to preach the gospel, to open
the eyes of the blind, and to set who? The captive free. Set the captive free. Oh, thank
God, he has made us worthy, qualified in Christ for heaven right now,
for his presence, and he has cut the bonds, he has freed us. He has set us free. He has set
the captive free. We are delivered from darkness.
Listen to me. The life of Christ makes death
the flea. There is no death where Christ
is. He's the life. The light of the
gospel made darkness fade away. How do you get rid of darkness?
Turn on the light. Darkness flees from light. You
can't have both. It's impossible for me to be
in the kingdom of light and in the kingdom of darkness. It's
an impossibility. I can't go back and forth. Light
drives away darkness and the light never leaves. I can never
die because I'm alive in Christ. I can never be under the power
of darkness because he's delivered me from the power of darkness.
The power of Christ defeats Satan and puts to flight all of our
enemies. What did he say? If the Son,
therefore, will make you free, you're free indeed. You're not just claiming to be
free, you're free indeed. You're not just professing to
be free, you're free indeed. Oh, I'm free. I'm not anybody's
servant. A lot of people have said that
who are slaves of sin, but I'm free. I'm free indeed because the Son
made me free. Thank God He has made us fit
for heaven. Thank God He's delivered us from
darkness, power of darkness. Power of darkness. Who has the
power of darkness? Satan. All right. Thirdly, giving thanks
to God who has translated us already, translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love. Is that what your center reference
says? It's the kingdom of the Son of
His love already. Already. We're translated already. We're already made fit for heaven. Now are we sons of God. We're
already delivered from the power of darkness. Sin shall not have
dominion over you. Satan shall not have dominion
over you. No more. And he has literally
translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Now then,
obviously, this is not the kingdom of glory. I'm an heir of the
kingdom of glory, but I'm not there yet. Some of our loved ones are. I
talked this morning about some of our dear, beloved believers
from this congregation are in the kingdom of glory. But we're
not there yet. You and I are not. We're heirs
of it. There's an inheritance reserved
in heaven for us. There's a place Your name's already
written in heaven. That's why our Lord said, they
came back, his disciples, and said, why, the devils were subject
to us. He said, don't. That's no problem. That's how he, he said, don't
rejoice that the demons are subject to you. Rejoice that your name's
written in heaven. Rejoice that you got a reservation. Rejoice that the table is set.
Rejoice that your names are in the book of life. We're heirs
of glory. And in Him we're worthy of glory.
And in Him we have a good hope of glory. But we're not there
yet. But we are in His kingdom, the
kingdom of His Son. It's the kingdom of grace. Now
let me read you about it. Hold the text there and go to
1 Corinthians 15. Here's the kingdom. in which
we live. We've been translated into this
kingdom, the kingdom of his dear son. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 21,
since by man came death, by the man Christ Jesus came the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own
order, Christ the firstfruits, and afterward they that are his
at his coming, then cometh the end when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put
down all rule and all authority and all power, for he must reign
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under
his feet." You know, Paul said in Hebrews, we don't yet see
all things under his feet, do we? But they're there. They're
there in purpose. They're there in God's plan,
in God's will. They're there in God's mind. And he says, when he saith all
things are put unto him, it is manifest that he is accepted
which did put all things unto him. And when all things shall
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things unto him, that God may be all
and in all. Thomas Boston wrote a book many
years ago. called Man's Fourfold State. I don't know whether it even
is available. But when I learned the gospel
of God's grace, I read that book, Boston's Fourfold State, and
it was such a blessing to me, such a revelation. He talked
about man's fourfold state, the state of innocence. in which God created Adam. God
made man holy and upright, the scripture says, a state of innocence. Because of his fall, he entered
a state of guilt, guilt, depravity, deadness. God in mercy, covenant
mercy, gave his elect life and they left that state of guilt
and deprived and entered the state of grace. That's the kingdom
of grace. That's the kingdom of his dear
son. That's the kingdom of Christ. And that's where we are. He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and literally translated
us. We are no longer guilty. Not
guilty, we're justified. We're no longer under condemnation.
We're no longer under a curse like the world. Beloved, John
said, we are of God. The whole world lies in wickedness.
We're not in wickedness. We're in God. We're in His kingdom
of grace. You see that? When I die, I'm
going to enter the kingdom of God. So there's your fourfold
state. Innocence, I never lived there. Adam did. Guilt, I lived there. No more. Grace, all of grace,
grace, amazing grace, translated me into the kingdom of grace
someday, into the kingdom of glory. And I'm already worthy,
already fit. And it's a kingdom. Now watch
this, back to our text. He has translated us. That's
already done, into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And He's
our King. He's our Lord. He says, I've set my King on
the holy hill of Zion. And His people are subject to
Him, not out of constraint, but willingly. They're subject to
the King. And thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. He reigns. I know the world said
we'll not have this man reign over us, but believers say he
reigns over us. And rebellion is not a trait
of his people. Submission. We're in the kingdom
of God's dear son. A man knows he's in the kingdom
of God's dear Son when he's submissive to the King, when he bows to
the King, when he calls Christ Lord. All
right. Verse 14, giving thanks unto
the Father in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin. This is the first cause
of all these mercies that we're thanking God for, which we're
thanking God. This is the foundation for all
these mercies. We're qualified for heaven because
he redeemed us. We're delivered from Satan and
sin because he redeemed us. We're translated into the kingdom
of his grace because he redeemed us. And the author of redemption
is the son of his love. He was called to this work in
the covenant of mercy, in the council of peace. Our Lord was
made charity of this glorious work of redemption. He took upon
himself, willingly, agreed to undertake the work for us in
the fulfillment of this covenant of redemption. He, being our
kinsman redeemer, has a right to redeem. You remember when
When Ruth came to Naomi and she said, I've been gleaning in the
fields of Boaz, and Naomi got so happy, she just shouted, exclaimed,
she said, oh, thank God he's not left off his mercy. He's
not left off his mercy. This man, Boaz, is our kinsman. and he has the right to redeem
us. And I'll tell you, Jesus Christ
the Lord, being our kinsman, identified with us, bone of our
bone, flesh of our flesh, not only has the power to redeem,
he has the right to redeem. He, the God-man, is mighty to
redeem. He is our great high priest,
has a sacrifice which can redeem. And he is the one mediator. The
living surety, an intercessor, has the power to enforce that
redemption. Notice this. In whom we have
redemption. Who's the we? Well, it's not angels. It's men. Christ came to redeem men. giving
thanks to God that we, sons of Adam, have redemption through
His blood. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. You
know, men are not the only creatures that fail. The angels fail. And
yet there is no redemption for angels. It says here in Hebrews
2 verse 16, "...for barely For verily, Hebrews 2, 16, he took
not on him the nature of angels. He's not their kinsman redeemer.
He's not their servitor. He's not their representative.
He didn't even take their nature. He left them in chains of darkness
reserved for judgment. But he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful,
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of his people." Oh, thank God. Thank God. We have redemption through his
blood. And the particular, listen to
this, the particular mercy, the particular blessing of all blessings,
we have even the forgiveness of sins. You know what that means? Giving thanks to God in whom
we have redemption. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Original sin and actual sin. Sins of heart, sins of lips,
sins of life, secret sins and open sins, known sins and unknown
sins, past sins, present sins, sins to come, sins of omission,
sins of commission, all sins. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin. In Christ there is no sin. Can
you get hold of that? That's the reason we're fit for
heaven. That's the reason we're qualified. That's the reason
we're in His kingdom. We have no sin. Sins are entirely removed, forgotten,
and remembered no more. My sins, oh, the bliss of that
glorious thought. My sins, not in part, but the
whole, are nailed to the cross. I bear them no more. It's well,
praise the Lord, it's well with my soul. Don't have time yet to ask for
any requests, do we? Giving thanks to God. Now here's
the last one. Giving thanks to God for who
He is. And for Him in whom we have this
treasure. Verse 14. Verse 15. Who is? Now, the apostle having thanked
God for our redemption takes up a description of our Redeemer.
And your redemption is only as good as your Redeemer. That's right. The power of your
redemption lies in the ability of your Redeemer. I tell you, if you're in trouble
with the law, you want the best lawyer you can get. Money is
no object. And it may be that your deliverance
will depend entirely on the power and ability of your advocate.
And I know in this, great sinners need a great Savior. The greater
the sinner, the greater the need of a great Savior. And here he
takes on himself to describe this Savior like he did in Hebrews
1. God, who at sundry times spake to our fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. whom he hath
made the heir of all things, by whom he made the world, who
is the exact likeness and expressed image of his person. And now
he tells us who this Savior is. He says in verse 15 that he is
the image of the invisible God. He is the exact likeness of the
unseen God. He is the visible manifestation
in the flesh of the invisible to God. To see Christ is to see
the Father. Our Redeemer is God in human
flesh. He's the image of the invisible
God. He's the exact likeness of the
unseen God. And listen, He's the firstborn
of every creature. What does that mean? Well, He's
not the first of creation, He's the Creator. He's not the first creature created,
He's the Creator. This means this, now listen,
and file this away. He's the firstborn of every creature. This is what it means, and you
file it away. You won't know much more when I get through
than you do when I start, but file this away. Listen. He was
begotten of the Father. He's called the Father's only
begotten Son. That's what He's called, isn't
He? The only begotten Son. But He was begotten of the Father,
in a manner unknown to men, inconceivable by men, inexpressible by men,
and suffer us to say that he is before any creature, and from
him all creation flows." See what I said? You wouldn't know
any more than when I began. But what I'm simply saying is,
it's beyond your understanding. I do know what it doesn't mean.
When it says he's the firstborn of every creature, he's not the
first creation, because he's the creator. He's not the first
creature, because he's the creator. But he is begotten by the Father
in a manner unknown to us, inconceivable by us, and inexpressible by men,
and we leave it right there. Before any creature from him
came the crypt. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities, good and evil,
or powers. All things were created by him
and for him. And our Redeemer is before all
things, and by Him all things consist. What does this mean
to you? It means His ability to handle
what we need to have handled. To do for us what needs to be
done. He's great! Inexpressibly, unspeakably, unexplainably
great! Beyond all imagination! He's
before everything. And by Him, everything is held
together. And He's the head. He's the head
of the body of the church, who is the beginning. He's the firstborn
from the dead. That in everything, all things,
in heaven, earth, and under the earth, visible and invisible,
He might have the preeminence. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's
the first and the last. He's the chief over the seraphims,
the cherubims, the angels, and all creation. My Redeemer in
sonship. There's none like Him. There's
no one that's a son in the sense that He's the Son. In election,
He's the first elect. He's mine elect, God said. In
the covenant, He's the surety. He's the mediator and He's the
messenger. In redemption, He was alone.
By Himself purged our sins. Walked the winepress alone. Died alone. In dying, He conquered
death. He conquered the grave. In exaltation,
He's given a name which is above every name except Him who gave
Him that name. In judgment, God will judge the
world by that man. In eternity, He wears this name,
King of kings and Lord of lords. And that's my Redeemer. Thank God. I just don't want much to do
with this poor little Jesus they're preaching today. I just don't
think I want my case in His hands. who wants to and can't, who wills
to and folks won't let him, who's wringing his hands and crying
his eyes out because he can't have his way. Here's the one
I want for my redemption. In whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin. He's the image of the invisible
God. He's the firstborn of every creature.
By Him all things were created by Him and for Him and through
Him and held together by Him. He's the head. And in closing,
verse 19, for that's how it pleased the Father. It pleased the Father. It pleased
the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell. Now that's
a twofold meaning. All fullness. dwells in Christ. First, there's a fullness possessed
by Him which is His naturally, necessarily. He's God. And all fullness dwells in Him
because He's God. He's before all things. Creation
didn't make Him full. He was full already. Creation
didn't add to Him. We don't add anything to Him.
He said, if I need anything, I will ask you. Naturally, necessarily,
essentially, all fullness dwells in Him because He's God. All
creation dwelt in Him. All purposes and plans and wills
and providence dwelt in Him. Everything was in Him and came
from Him. So that's not what we're talking
about here. But the fullness spoken of here
that dwells in him, with which you are concerned and I'm concerned,
is that fullness which is put in his hands as the God-man to
distribute to those who are his people. I'm a needy... David says over and over, I'm
poor and needy. I'm naked, diseased, bankrupt. broken, powerless. I'm in need of everything in
reference to God. And in Him dwells everything
I need. All the fullness, the fullness
of light, the fullness of life, the fullness of wisdom, the fullness
of righteousness, the fullness of sanctification, The fullness
of redemption, the fullness of grace, the fullness of peace,
the fullness of joy, the fullness of glory is all in Him. He makes it mine, in Him. That's the reason verse 27 says
this, Colossians 1, 27, to whom verse 26 says, which hath been hid from ages
and generations is now made manifest to the saints." You realize how blessed we are
to know this? A mystery that's been hid from
generations is revealed to us, to whom God would make known. What is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles? Which is? Christ in you, the
hope of glory. That's it. Giving thanks to God. Christ in you, the hope of glory
and all the fullness dwelleth in you.