Col1v12to13 Thanking the Father
Thanksgiving
to the Father (Spurgeon)
Blue
Letter Bible [/] blogs.blueletterbible.org [/] 20151116_thanksgiving
[/] http://j.mp/0ThanksFather
[/] or
http://blogs.blueletterbible.org/blb/2015/11/16/why-we-offer-thanksgiving-to-the-father-spurgeon/#more-7976
“Giving
thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the
power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His
love”
(Colossians
1:12-13)
“Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning.”
(James
1:17)
In
order to excite your gratitude to God the Father, I propose to speak
a little upon this passage [Col 1.12-13]. The text above has two blessings in it.
The first has regard to the future. The second blessing, which must
go with the first, for indeed it is the cause of the first, has
relation to the past. Let us meditate a little upon each of these
blessings, and then, in the third place, I will endeavor to show the
relation which exists between the two.
I.
The first blessing introduced to our notice is this-“God the Father
has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
the light.”
It
is a PRESENT BLESSING.
When
we reflect upon our state by nature, and how fit we are to be
fire-brands in the flames of hell—yet to think that we are this
night, at this very moment if Jehovah willed it, fit to sweep the
golden harps with joyful fingers, that this head is fit this very
night to wear the everlasting crown, that these loins are fit to be
girded with that fair white robe throughout eternity, I say, this
makes us think gratefully of God the Father; this makes us clap our
hands with joy, and say, “thanks be unto God the Father, who hath
made us qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light.”
Remember
the penitent thief on the cross? It was but a few minutes before that
he had been cursing Christ. I doubt not that he had joined with the
other, for it is said, “They that were crucified with him reviled
him.” Not one, but both; they did it. And then a gleam of
supernatural glory lit up the face of Christ, and the thief saw and
believed. And Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, this
day,” though the sun is setting, “this day shalt thou be with me
in Paradise.” No long preparation required, no sweltering in
purifying fires. And so shall it be with us. We may have been in
Christ Jesus to our own knowledge but three weeks, or we may have
been in him for ten years, or threescore years and ten. The date of
our conversion makes no difference in how qualified we are for
heaven, in a certain sense.
II.
The second mercy is A MERCY THAT LOOKS BACK. We sometimes prefer the
mercies that look forward, because they unfold such a bright
prospect.
It
is a PAST BLESSING.
“Sweet
fields beyond the swelling flood.”
But
here is a mercy that looks backward on the gloomy past, and the
dangers from which we have escaped. Verse 13:
“He
has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the
kingdom of the Son.”
What
a description of what kind of creature we used to be. We were under
“the power of darkness.” Since I have been musing on this text, I
have turned these words over and over in my mind—”the power of
darkness!” We all know that there is a moral darkness which
exercises its awful spell over the mind of the sinner. Where God is
unacknowledged the mind is void of judgment. Where God is worshiped
the heart of man becomes a ruin. The chambers of that ruined heart
are haunted by ghostly fears and degraded superstitions.
But
where are we now? Into what place is the believer brought, when he is
brought out of the power of darkness?
He
is brought into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Into what other
kingdom would the Christian desire to be brought? I feel that I never
shall be free till my self-control is all gone; that I shall never
have my will truly free till it is bound in the golden fetters of his
sweet love. We are brought into a kingdom—he is Lord and Sovereign,
and he has made us “kings and priests unto our God,” and we shall
reign with him.
So,
you see, this mercy which God the Father has given to us, this second
of these present mercies, is, that he has “delivered us out of the
power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son.” This is the
Father’s work. Shall we not love God the Father from this day
forth? Will we not give him thanks, and sing our hymns to him, and
exalt and triumph in his great name?
What’s
the connection between the two verses?
When
I get a passage of Scripture to meditate upon, I like to see its
drift. Then, I like to examine its various parts and see if I can
understand each separate clause. Finally, I want to go back again,
and see what one clause has to do with another. I looked and looked
again at this text, and wondered what connection there could be
between the two verses. “Giving thanks to the Father who has
qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the
light” Well, that is right enough; we can see how this is the work
of God the Father, to make us meet to go to heaven. But has the next
verse, the 13th, anything to do with our being qualified?-“Who has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love.”
Well,
I looked it over and I said I will read it in this way. I see the
12th verse tells me that the inheritance of heaven is the inheritance
of light. Is heaven light? Then I can see my qualifying for it as
described in the 13th verse: He hath delivered me from the power of
darkness. Is not that the same thing? If I am delivered from the
power of darkness, is not that being made meet to dwell in light? If
I am now brought out of darkness into light, and am walking in the
light, is not that the very qualification which is spoken of in the
verse before? Then I read again. It says they are saints. Well, the
saints are a people that obey the Son.
You
see, heaven is a place of light; when we are brought out of darkness,
that, of course, is the qualification for light. It is a place for
sons; when we are brought into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, we
are of course made sons, so that there is the qualification for it.
It is an inheritance; and when we are brought into the inherited
kingdom of God’s dear Son, we enjoy the inheritance now, and
consequently are fitted to enjoy it for ever.
Having
thus shown the connection between these verses, let us from this time
forward never omit God the Father in our praises!
(Adapted
from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon. You can view this sermon and more
at Blue Letter Bible.)
I2C
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