The Saint’s Right to Light

I invite you to turn for a little time this evening to Colossians 1, Colossians 1. I was thinking about today and what to bring before you. My mind actually was drawn to the text that we will look at tonight. When I heard of the passing of Daniel’s mother, my mind was drawn to Colossians 1:12, just thinking about the blessing of the people of God and what we’ve been made to be and enjoy and hope for.

But then it dawned on me this would be an encouraging verse for all of us as we come to the close of our day of prayer, that you leave here not only thinking about the things you have sought from God, the blessings that you have requested, but that you go knowing—you leave here knowing—you are already blessed. We already are blessed. This is the wonder of being a child of God, that yes, we have our prayers and our burdens, but we’re not waiting to be blessed. We already are blessed.

So we’re going to read from verse 9, Colossians 1 verse 9. Let us hear the Word of God.

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 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: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Amen. We’ll end the reading of God’s Word at verse 17.

And what you have heard is the Word of the eternal God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we ask for Your help now as we look to Your Word. Give us eyes to see, give us a readiness to respond to the encouragement contained in Thy divine truth. Oh, I pray, please communicate Thine own blessing to this people. Thou knowest, I pray then that there would be a word in season. Perhaps, should there be one here without Christ, that I will take Thy word and open their blinded eyes, have mercy upon their souls. Oh, that the deep, deep love of Jesus would be revealed to them. That their own heart would be opened to receive the love of God as it is found in Jesus Christ. Oh, save we pray. Encourage us now. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As I said, after a day of prayer, there are a number of ways in which we may leave here. We may leave here and forget all the things we prayed for. We may leave here with those things very much at the forefront of our minds, but so focused on them that we omit from our heart, from our being, what it is we already have received from the Lord. And what I want you to do and encourage you to do is to go away from here, yes, with an ongoing sense of the burdens, of the things, of the requests, of the cares, but also to go away knowing I am already highly favored. I am already immensely blessed.

When we focus upon our burdens, when we give ourselves to prayer and we tend to be drawn to those matters where there’s a deficiency or some trouble or trial, we can go away from that, thinking about that, overwhelmed by that. And so my purpose this evening is to just bring back in your mind at the forefront the things you already have and enjoy.

We are not left to wait for blessings. Whatever blessings we seek from God’s hand, we are already blessed. You, child of God, you are already blessed.

It’s not true if you’re not saved. If you’re not a Christian, if you’re not in Christ, you’re not blessed. Our Lord Jesus warned that you’re condemned already, is the language He used in John 3. But if you’re in Christ, if you’re redeemed by the precious blood, then you cannot be but blessed. And God then would have us be thankful for these blessings, to recognize them, to see them and say, “Yes, I am blessed,” and to offer up praise to Him for those things.

He blesses those—I believe He blesses those who acknowledge the blessings that He has already bestowed. Those who reflect gratitude for what He’s already done, He adds more blessings to.

Tonight we’re looking at 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.”

Of course, it’s in the flow of an argument, the flow of a desire in the heart of the apostle, but I want to just focus for a little time on this single verse. I’ve titled the message, “The Saints’ Right to Be in the Light”—the saints’ right to be in the light.

There’s two main heads, very simple. We’ll see first of all the fitness of the saints and then the fellowship of the saints. It’s really easy, and we trust that God will help us just see more of what is contained in this text.

First, the fitness of the saints.

There are two things I want you to see here, as verse 12 of Colossians 1 shows the fitness of the people of God.

The first is that God did the work. God did the work. He is the one who has done the work. Now, when you read, “giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us,” it can be—that old language can be a little, throw us a little bit if we start thinking about it, because if we were writing this and how we speak in a modern way, we would say, “who hath made us?” That’s what it means, who hath made us.

But when this was translated at that time, there was less of a consensus of using “who” as in pointing back to the noun. But that’s what’s understood. Giving thanks unto the Father who or which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. And it has, it translates, it conveys a sense here because it’s in the aorist of something that is decisive, something that is done.

This is the condition, this is the place, this is the position of the child of God. We are giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

So this is something already done. It is something conferred by God, not constructed by His people. It’s not something you’re trying to develop. It’s something that you possess of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see it even in the flow of the argument. Verse 13, “Who hath delivered us”—this is a continuation more of the idea—”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.”

This is something we have because of Him, something we possess because of something He has done for us. And so we stand in this position, sealed and settled, fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. It is God’s work.

But what did God do? What does the expression mean when it says, He has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light?

Partakers of the inheritance. Those two words are very much similar, not in the sense that the Greek is the same or closely related, but the ideas are similar. Partakers is the idea of a portion, a portion conferred. And inheritance, of course, is the idea of heritage or something that has been given to you, allotted to you. And so we have a portion in an inheritance.

When you think about that language, it brings to our mind a number of truths, not least of which we are to consider what God has given to His people, that we have a portion and an inheritance.

Now, when the apostle was preaching, he said in Acts 26 verse 18—as he was, in fact, this is actually when he’s commissioned, pardon me, when he’s commissioned by God. He’s converted on the road to Damascus and God tells him what he is being called to. He is told, this is how he describes that event in Acts 26 verse 18, that he is “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

So there’s inheritance among them who are set apart by faith in Jesus Christ. And this is the message the Apostle goes out to preach and to communicate, that by believing in the Lord Jesus, there’s a forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are set apart by faith in Jesus Christ.

And that’s what he is laying before us here in verse 12 of Colossians 1, the same idea, but in using the language of partakers of the inheritance is bringing together that sense of a portion and possessing something in that inheritance that God has given to His people. And when you think about it, really it’s drawing not—this is not New Testament language that is suspended. It is drawing from something that was very much understood by the Jewish mind, a sense of having a portion among an inheritance.

The Jews were given—they had given the promised land. That was an inheritance, a tangible inheritance given to them by God. And each of the tribes had their portion. And in a very real sense, New Testament believers, Jew and Gentile, come into an experience that is similar to the Levites. They had a unique portion. Some of you will know that. If you go to Deuteronomy 10, you’ll see that. Go back in your Old Testament to Deuteronomy 10. That gives a distinct experience for those of the tribe of Levi.

Verse 8, Deuteronomy 10 verse 8: “At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.”

And so Levi is set apart, and his portion of the inheritance, experience of the inheritance is distinct. And the apostle’s drawing from that. He’s drawing from this idea of something that the believer comes to experience that God grants, that God gives, that God makes His people to be, to have a portion in the broader inheritance of the saints.

Now, for Jew and Gentile, they are brought together so that that portion—like I say, it’s similar to the Levites, because our focus now becomes not upon a piece of land, we talked about that recently, but it comes upon the Lord. He is our portion, and we come into an inheritance, an experience, and we have our own part in Jesus Christ, and we become these partakers of the inheritance.

We’re made to be meet, joined with the saints, enter into an experience that was similar to what was promised to Abraham and his offspring, that God would have a lot for them.

So we stand here, those of us who believe, that God has done something for us. He has made us to be meet or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints. We are able to come into the blessing that is reserved solely for saints. And the word saints is an Old Testament word. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” They’re set apart ones. The ones that God has laid claim to and set them apart from the rest of humanity.

So we enter in. Of course, this is communicated to a church. There have been Jews there, but largely Gentile. And the apostle is showing them that you have, you’ve entered into something here. That by faith, this is your possession.

And so this is a blessing that you possess because of what the Lord has done. And what has He done? What has He done? He has justified us freely by His grace, by the transfer of Christ’s righteousness to the believer, and the counter-transfer of our sin and guilt to Christ, we stand in this position of being reconciled, brought into a position where our sins and the guilt of them and the condemnation of them are placed upon God’s Son, and He bears the wrath, and His perfection, His obedience is ours by faith alone. That’s the work of God.

It’s not something you do. Again, the flow of the language, he gets to that point. We’re made to be meet, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and light who have delivered us. Who’s delivered? You didn’t deliver yourself. You can’t deliver yourself. You can’t be your own Redeemer. You can’t be your own Savior. This is something that God has done through His Son. And He has delivered us.

What has He delivered us from? The power of darkness. The dominion of darkness. In the bondage of darkness. Lost. Undone. Condemned. Hopeless.

God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us. He’s done this work of bringing us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption. We’ve been bought by His blood and come into the experience of the forgiveness of sins.

So God has done this work. He’s done it. He has justified us, saved us, redeemed us, brought us into His family, and sealed us with His Spirit, Ephesians 1. And so this is our experience. God has done this work.

Now, when it says there, “giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,” some may say, well, the meetness is something that they do. It’s an effort on their part, trying to transform themselves, but the whole idea here in this context has nothing to do with that. I mean, it does talk about, in the flow, there’s things mentioned in Paul’s desire for them.

If you go back to verse 9, when you have this burden unfold of the kind of prayer that he reveals of his particular emphasis and desire for them, verse 9, he might be filled with the knowledge of his will. You might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work. I mean, these are things you can see. Verse 11, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power unto, what’s the strength for? Patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father.

You say, well, all those things are things you can see, that the believer engages and desires to see built upon in their life, but the gratitude, the gratitude of verse 12 connects the verses that come next in which we are giving thanks because all of these blessings and even this transformative experience we have is on the basis of what God has done, having made us meet to be partakers, delivering us and so on and so forth. So you have to see the flow of the argument.

So God did the work. That’s the first thing.

But also, saints offer worship. As we think of the fitness of the saints, God did the work, saints offer worship, “giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Giving thanks unto the Father. Present participle. It’s an ongoing expression of the people of God. Thanksgiving is meant to be an action that is perpetual in the life of the church, in the life of the believer. Constantly thanksgiving.

When can you stop being thankful? Never. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Giving thanks always. This is language of Scripture. The thanksgiving is constantly to be emanating from the people of God, and so it is given and expressed here in that similar way.

It’s the atmosphere of the child of God. If you’re around a Christian, you should be in an atmosphere of gratitude. When people are around you, they should say, “There’s a thankful person” in your place of employment. If you’re the only Christian there, they should think something about you, one of which should be—it doesn’t matter what happens. He’s thankful. He’s always finding the, they might express it differently, he’s always seeing the positive. He’s always looking at things on the bright side. That’s how they might evaluate it, and that’s the kind of language they may use.

But it’s much more than that. You’re not just looking positively and trying to see the silver lining in every trial and burden. You’re offering praise to God. You’re saying, “God has got this. God is in control. God is with me. God will take care of it. I’m thankful for all that I have.” Maybe this place will close down, but I’m thankful. I’m thankful for the years I’ve been able to work here, I was provided for me and my family. You find all these things while everyone’s lamenting and the sky is falling, the Christian’s there expressing thanksgiving.

And so you become known for that. If you’re around a Christian, you should know you’re around someone who’s thankful. There’s never to be a time where it’s not true of us.

Now in the way it is given here, “giving thanks unto the Father,” some look at it as a fresh instruction, so it’s kind of like a little distinct from what has come before. And so this is, he talks about these prayers and burdens, and then he says, giving thanks unto the Father.

But I don’t think that’s the flow. I think that there are four big things, like visible aspects of the believer’s life that are expressed here in his prayer.

So if you go back to verse 9, what’s one of the things he’s burdened for? That he might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. He’s praying for their knowledge and their spiritual awareness and what they know and see and perceive.

Then he’s praying that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. And so there’s this sense of doing the right thing, knowing what the right thing is to do, and doing that. And that’s how you walk worthy before the Lord.

And then the third thing, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, and what’s that strength for? To manifest patience, longsuffering, joyfully, with joyfulness. So you’re not just enduring by gritting your teeth, but such is the strength with all might that God’s power in the believer is such that through the hardship they have patience, longsuffering, and joyfulness through the things they’re enduring.

And the fourth thing, the fourth mark, the fourth thing you should see as he is praying for the believers is that I see them giving thanks unto the Father.

So there’s four things he’s praying for, that he’s longing that they might show this knowledge, this fruitfulness, this endurance, and this gratitude.

You think about the all-encompassing, just within a few lines, how much the apostle puts his arms around there, in terms of your spiritual experience. Do you need knowledge? But do you need to be fruitful, knowing the right thing to do? Not always, sometimes we think, “I need to know the right thing in contrast with the wrong thing.” Sometimes for believers, it’s more about discerning what’s good from what’s best. And it’s a little more narrow, it’s more difficult. This might be good, but is it best? And so he’s praying that they might have that kind of discernment.

And then they have the strength so you can see them in their hardship and enduring all the difficulties of a world that is against them. And they not only endure it, but they’re joyful in it. And giving thanks unto the Father because of what He has done for them. He wants them to be thankful. Saints are to offer worship to God. Part of that worship is described as thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a form of worship. You don’t just come here on the Lord’s Day or Wednesday to worship. You’re always worshiping. As you offer thanks, you are worshiping. You’re giving to God, ascribing to God what He deserves.

So the apostle’s always talking about thanksgiving. Even in this epistle, he refers to it over and over again. Back in verse 3, “We give thanks to God.” There’s his example. “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.”

Chapter 2 verse 7, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Chapter 3 verse 17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Chapter 4 verse 2, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving,” so he’s hammering the point.

Preachers sometimes are repetitious, and they’re repetitious intentionally, driving the point home, or as W.P. Nicholson liked to say, “I’m rubbing it in.” And so sometimes preachers have to rub it in, because you don’t hear. The apostle lamented this, of course, “I told you once and again.” These are times of telling people things over again, and so the apostle is again peppering through this epistle, thanksgiving, thanksgiving, as a mark of the child of God, something that can be seen in them.

And so we think about why is it? Why do the saints offer worship, or this type of worship, of thanksgiving? Because, rightly understood, thanksgiving kills, on the one hand, pride, and on the other hand, despair.

If I am thankful to God, then I am ascribing to Him what has been done. And so there’s no place for pride there. It’s like, “God, You’ve done it. It’s not me, You’ve done it.” Maybe someone says something to you, say, “That really helped me, what you did there.” And you say to yourself, “Yeah, I am great.” But you know yourself, it wasn’t you. You say, “Oh, thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord, You did it. I wouldn’t have the sense to say that if it wasn’t for Your help and so on and so forth.” You give thanks to God.

And the other side, despair. We don’t have to despair. We don’t have to feel again like as if there’s nothing that we can do, nothing that God has for us. There are things that he has for us. And so we give thanks to him. We name those things and understand what we are. He has made us worthy in and through his son.

So that’s the fitness.

Then finally the fellowship, just the two things, fitness and the fellowship of the saints.

It says in verse 12, “giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” So this fellowship of the saints has two aspects that we want to think about very quickly.

First, it has a current fulfillment. Partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light has a current fulfillment. There’s something that is true about this now.

These saints, these holy ones, these ones set apart. They’re not angels. They’re sinners saved by grace. They’re the people of God. And Paul refers to them over and over again as saints, saints, saints. As I said earlier, the word saint is an Old Testament term. And Jews may have been of the mind that the only saints are Jews. But he’s speaking to a church that’s full of Gentiles. And they also come into the experience of being saints. They are saints. We are saints by faith in Christ. And so we become these heirs alongside the Jews, inheriting these privileges.

But this light, this light, the saints in light, the inheritance of the saints in light, is not something just future. It is here. We get a little taste of something here, currently. The light isn’t all reserved to the future. It’s not like we are living perpetually in darkness. I know this world feels dark, but the believer doesn’t live perpetually in the darkness of the world. That’s what the next verse says. You’ve been translated from the kingdom of darkness. Not you will be, you have been.

And there’s a foretaste of future glory we experience as a people of God even now.

So I want you to think about this. I want you to think about how the Bible describes you as a Christian, as a believer. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 5, “Ye are all the children of light.” You’re all the children of light.

Ephesians 5:8, “walk as children of light.”

1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.”

So we have this position of experiencing light, something that is going to be more full in the future we taste here. Light. You’re a child of light. That makes you different from the world. That means when you walk out of here, you’re not like the lost. You’re not like the unbeliever in your neighborhood or with whom you work. You’re not like them. Don’t think you’re like them. Oh, you are in the sense of they’re sinners, you’re a sinner, But that’s not your identity fully. Before God, you are a child of God, and you’re a child of light. They remain in darkness.

And it gives you a sense then of your purpose, does it not? If I am a child of light, I taste of light, I enjoy the light, and I’m surrounded by people who are still in darkness, then what is the purpose of your light? It’s not just for you, but it’s so you can shine a way into them, towards them, before them, in their path. Communicating the light that shines from the gospel itself when it is preached and explained.

So we walk then differently. Our fellowship with the saints transforms us because we are saints in light. That means we forgive quickly. They don’t hold grudges like those who are in darkness. That means we overlook, love covers a multitude of sins, and we have a concern for others, especially for the household of faith.

Oh, there are still shadows that linger within us, shadows that we see in this world, and we have not perceived or understood the full glory of the light which is to come, but we are not entirely in darkness.

So go out there this week and “let your light so shine before men.” You students, don’t assume everyone in your class is a child of the light. You be a child of light. You let your light shine. Don’t walk in their path. Don’t do as they do. Don’t say as they say. If they’re doing something that isn’t in accordance with God’s Word, you stay in the light.

But it has a consummate fulfillment. There’s a current fulfillment, but also a consummate fulfillment. There’s something that we are anticipating. Peter writes of “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.”

There’s a portion which is greater than what we enjoy right now. Saints in light. We sing about it, don’t we? The language of McShane, “and one day we will love Him with unsinning heart.”

And so there’s a greater light to come for us. We think of the benediction that the Levites were to pronounce upon the people of God. “The LORD make his face shine upon thee.”

If there was ever an eschatological request or desire, a prayer that has a taste of something now, but a fuller experience in the future, it is that he makes his face to shine upon thee. Whatever we have known of that now, whatever we taste of that here below, whatever my burden is or prayer for you is that the Lord would bless thee and keep thee and make his face to shine upon thee. There is a part of that prayer that lingers on and will be fulfilled in another day.

He will make his face to shine upon thee. And what a day that will be.

So the Lord would have you to know that you have this right to be in the light. Somewhat now, more fully later.

And you walk out of here then knowing, I am blessed. I am blessed. Look what God has done for me. Look what I possess in and through Christ. Look at these unchangeable realities that time, or even sin can dissolve. I am in Christ, never to be severed. I’m a child of light, never to be demoted.

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance,” I have this portion with the saints in light. That’s mine. I get to be a part of what you’re a part of and you get to be a part of what I’m a part of and we’re all going to get a part of what Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are a part of. We sit down with them in the light. Dine with them.

You are blessed. You’re blessed. So don’t let the devil tell you otherwise. Don’t leave here thinking life is so bad that there are no blessings to be known or counted. There are many. If your sins are forgiven and you are brought into this experience with the saints in light, then praise God. Go and live according to what you are. Child of light.

Maybe you’re not saved. You’re still in darkness. You have not been delivered, verse 13. You’re still in this lost condition. You’ve not been transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. How do you become a citizen of this kingdom? Well, I am glad to be able to tell you that in no way is it anything like trying to get into this country legally, which is an arduous, expensive, difficult task.

To come into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, you look and you live, you believe, and you’re saved. You cast your sin upon Christ, you confess Him, acknowledge Him, give them to Him. And He takes all your sin and gives you Himself so that when you stand before God, you’re utterly transformed legally. You’re a child of God. In an instant, it can happen.

Let’s bow together in prayer.

Young people, don’t let pseudo friends tarnish what you are. If you’re a child of the light, don’t let others taint your light, dim your light. Stay in the company of those who walk in the light, who love the light, who shine the light. And if in God’s providence you find yourself through employment or the fact that you have lost family members in the midst of those who do not know this light, then maintain your distinct position and shine your light. Be what you are. Know your identity. See yourself as you are in Christ, a saint, separated in the light.

Lord, help us to know what we are and to live in the reality of what we possess, to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Help us to embrace what we are declared to be and to know it and find great confidence in it. I pray that all of us here would live consistently what we are. We are Thy people. Let us live then as Thy people. Deliver us from trying to taste what the world has to offer. Let it be foul to our taste. May we love what Thou dost love, hate what Thou dost hate.

If there be one here without Christ, be merciful to them. Help them to understand that they too can be a child of light. We thank You for Your love and Your care for sinners. Show it, reveal it to such this very evening.

Thank You again for this day. We praise Thee for all Thy love and tender mercies and the blessing of the Lord’s day that mark it, day of the soul. We trust that we have feasted well today and will live strong in the Lord and in the power of Thy might this week.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God, now and evermore. Amen.