Good morning. Thank you again Mark, Jake, and Sarah for leading us in such rich, meaningful hymns this morning to prepare our hearts for our message on this beautiful spring Northwoods Lord's Day. I'm a bit disappointed to have Pastor Neus and his family absent from the gathering this morning. I too was recently reminded of the strange feeling it is to make plans in advance for a Sunday that doesn't include being here with this body of believers. Each and every week, I long for this opportunity to be among you all and share in our like precious faith in Jesus. 

And I know Pastor and his family's hearts yearn as well to share in that with us today, but circumstances not permitting something to do with pigs offer me again the amazing opportunity and honor to come to this pulpit and preach God's Word. Now, as most of you know already, it was just over a month ago that I was at this pulpit for my first crack at preaching, which was one of those experiences for me that was extremely gratifying to get through because, quite honestly, my fear was that I couldn't. 

But through that experience, I learned so many things that encouraged me and comforted me to continue and press on. I'm grateful that the elders have seen this desire within me to be a good work and that they have extended me the privilege again to preach. I think from here on out, Lord willing, the opportunities continue, I'll have to leave out this disclaimer about being a fresh preacher and just let that show forth in itself. 

But I want to be clear; I take these opportunities as they come as a great privilege and pray that the elders would be watchful over my words and diligent to correct when necessary. One of my biggest personal struggles in all of this is where I don't know I'm wrong. My greatest intent in preaching and teaching is to simply say what God has said in His Word and make that clear and understandable to the best of my ability. But I know and have to deal with the fact that there are going to be points of failure on that. 

Which is why I'm so thankful for the grace and support and guidance I'm confident I will receive from our eldership as well as from all of you. Well, when I set out preparing that first sermon, the last thing I was worried about for myself was brevity. As most of you are well aware, I'm typically a man of few words and reserved in conversation. So when I asked pastor, he said shoot for about 5,000 words to be able to cover the normal time set aside in our sermons and our services for the sermon. 

Thus, a big concern for myself was the ability to have the long-windedness it takes. Turns out, when you listen to a sermon, it seems to last four times longer than when you are actually delivering it. But with that concern in mind, I chose a passage of scripture that would be full of richness to work with in order to fulfill what seemed to be a daunting goal of 5,000 words to me. 

Pastor's advice to me during my preparations was something he heard years ago from Alistair Begg, which was, "Study yourself full, then write yourself empty." John said when he feels like he's studied himself full, he just sits down at his desk and the sermon just flows out. At this time, this advice was not so encouraging to me. It left me feeling like this is either something you have or you don't, and we're just going to watch see if you sink or swim. 

So I set out to construct that first sermon from Colossians 1 verses 9 through 14, but first because of my recent familiarity with it from teaching it in Bible studies, but also because of the exceedingly abundant richness of Bible truths to be expounded from it. When I came to the point of putting my studies down into writing the sermon, it became quite clear that pastor's advice wasn't just blowing smoke. 

I concluded the first point on my outline at about 3,000 words, bringing me to realize that there was no way I was going to be able to cover everything I wanted to that I set out from the beginning and I didn't have the audacity to ask permission to make my first preaching opportunity a two-part series. I decided to redesign my outline and take less of that passage to focus on the message only on verses 9 through 11 so that I could achieve the new goal of concise brevity that I didn't rightly account for initially. 

So for myself, there has been much anticipation to preach again and to continue on in the second half of such an amazing passage of God's Word. If you would open your Bibles with me to that passage in Colossians 1, and I would like to begin reading at verse 9 again so that we can keep this prayer of Paul's together as one flow of thought. 

Beginning in chapter 1 of Colossians at verse 9, it says, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy, 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 in whom we have redemption, through his blood the forgiveness of sins.” 

I have four points on your outline for the message this morning, which I've titled, “Conveyed Into His Kingdom.” First, we're going to look at heart worship. Second, partakers of the light. Next, delivered from darkness. And finally, purchased by the King. 

Now last time in our study of those first three verses, 9 through 11, we noted that this section is a prayer of Paul's for believers. And specifically in this letter, he is writing to young churches in the Hierapolis area that were coming under the influence of Gnosticism and Jewish legalism, which we summarized last time as teachings that require something more than faith in Christ alone for justification and or sanctification. 

Paul begins this letter by giving thanks to God for their faith in Christ, their increasing fruitfulness, and their love toward one another, which he attributes all to their belief in the gospel and their knowledge of the grace of God in truth. Paul's heart intent in writing this letter is found in the beginning of chapter 2. Look with me there in verse 1. Paul says, "For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 

Did you see that, our purpose word there in the beginning of verse 2, that? That what, Paul? For the purpose that these believers would be encouraged, bonded together in love, and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance, which all comes through a growing understanding of the knowledge of God's will. 

Paul's greatest concern for these believers was that these false teachers would deceive and lead them away from the truth of the pure gospel of Christ, thus cheating them of their peace and fullness of life, which comes from having complete assurance from God through Christ's finished work on the cross, and knowing that in Christ you are complete, lacking nothing. We also discussed last time what it was that Paul so desired for these believers in his prayer. Of main importance was the desire that they be filled with the knowledge of God's will. 

We spent a good portion of time discussing what the Bible means by this word filled, learning that it gives the sense of being so consumed by something that it manifests itself outwardly through you, or as to have a controlling effect on an individual. We also noted the phrase knowledge of God's will refers to what God has revealed through his word, which for us today is his completed written word, which we have contained in our 66 books of the Bible. 

In this, we find the basis in everything else we see Paul ask for in this prayer, from walking worthy of the Lord, to being increasingly fruitful, and to be strengthened for the enduring of our trials with an attitude of joy. Paul is telling us that from filling ourselves up on the knowledge of God, who he is, and what he's done for us, that the following desires of his prayer will be natural manifestations when we believe and yield to God's word. 

Which brings us to the first point in our outline for this morning: heart worship. Beginning in our text in verse 12, we get to Paul's conclusion of his prayer in this section. Verse 12 begins with giving thanks to the Father. First, we recognize that in context, the giving thanks is not a command for believers, but rather, like I just said, it is an outcome from the filling of the knowledge of God and his will. 

If we know and believe what God has revealed about his character, plans, and purposes from his word and through his son, Jesus Christ, it is inevitably going to cause great thankfulness towards him, which will abound more and more as we grow in knowledge and understanding. 

I find thankfulness to have a twofold effect in this case. As believers, is it not an immense blessing to be able to know every moment you have so many magnanimous promises through Christ to be thankful for, which works directly hand-in-hand with being able to endure all circumstances with an attitude of joy? But on the other side of this would be the receiver's end, God. God offers salvation to every man on the basis that it is a gift for the purpose that we could only receive it in contrite, humble gratitude of his grace. 

Giving thanks is the essence of genuine heart worship, the willful praise God has always desired of man since the beginning. Turn with me to Luke chapter 17. This is the account of the ten lepers being cleansed. Luke 17 at verse 11. 

Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." So when he saw them, he said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned with a loud voice and glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 

So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Arise, go your way; your faith has made you well." 

In this account, we see Jesus equate the one leper's thankfulness as a confirmation that his faith was genuine. If our salvation is obtained by any means of ourselves, that leaves room for boasting on our own behalf, not the humble thankfulness God deserves or desires. 

Listen to Psalm 100 at verse 4. It says, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name." When I read that, enter into his gates, to me it means that by thankfulness we enter into his presence when we receive salvation as a gift. 

The author of Hebrews makes another stunning statement to a Jewish community about their worship in chapter 13. After he one by one dismantles their form of worship through animal sacrifices, priestly rituals, and law-keeping, pointing out they all are fulfilled in Christ and were just shadows and pictures to point them forward to his sacrifice to make full atonement for the sins of the whole world. The author writes in verse 15, “Therefore, by him, Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.” 

The point is, God did for us what we in no way could. How can we not be thankful? Next on the outline, we have partakers of the light. Again, in verse 12 of our text, it says, “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” 

Here Paul begins to lay out a number of attributes of God, who he is and what he has done, that are meant to draw about thankfulness within the believer. And the first reason Paul gives is the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Notice it is God who has qualified us. Nothing in and of ourselves could ever make this possible. Man under his own strength is confined to sin, death, and the lake of fire. Apart from God's grace and mercy upon us, we would always and only be qualified for his wrath. 

Also, take note of the words, “has qualified.” The Old King James uses the phrase, “has made us meet.” The phrase is in the Aorist Tense, an event that took place once in the past. And qualified, or made us meet, shows us that God has rendered us entirely fit and made us completely sufficient to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 

Which is what I want us to focus in on here. This is such an intriguing and fascinating phrase to me. Inheritance of the saints in the light. Inheritance of the saints. Okay, I got that. But what's with this additional phrase, in the light? After some digging on this, I found there to be a profound insight into what Paul means by this. 

I think as serious Bible reading believers, we bring a presupposition about this word, inheritance. Our minds automatically go to the eternal heavenly glorified state in paradise with our Lord forever, which in the large majority of instances, this is absolutely correct and certainly appropriate, premier encouragement for every saint. 

But after looking at the Greek and comparing it with other similar passages of scripture, as well as taking the context of Colossians as a whole, I come to a different conclusion. The literal translation in our text for the word inheritance is "lot," as in the portion of the lot. I don't disagree or have a problem with the translation here. I find it to be an awesome understanding and insight they had, but we need to rightly understand what the translators and God wanted us to see from this passage. 

The Greek word here is "kleros," and there is only one other instance in the New Testament where this word is also translated as inheritance. Yet eight other times, we find "kleros" translated as lot, twice as part, and once as heritage. For instance, listen to how these four different authors use this word. 

Matthew 27:35: "Then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They divided his garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." 

Mark 15:24: "And when they crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take." 

John 19:24: "They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the scriptures might be fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Therefore, the soldiers did these things." 

And then Acts 1 verse 17: "For he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." 

Now I know this doesn't necessarily nail anything down. Believers certainly have a part or lot in paradise, so I want to show you two more passages that help me understand this better. The first one comes from the Old King James, showing us a different way to look at this word. 

1 Peter 5:3 says, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock.” The word heritage in this verse is our word "kleros," and it shows that the flock of God, us, the church, is God's heritage or his portion of the lot. 

The last case of this word "kleros" I want to show you is in Acts 26 at verse 18. Other than in our text this morning, this is the only other instance "kleros" is translated as inheritance in our Bible. Acts 26:18 says, “To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” 

In this verse, identical to the subject of our text, can you see that this inheritance Paul refers to is not necessarily speaking of the heavenly eternal state? Listen again to how this is written here. It says, “an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Inheritance in both passages are in present active tense. It is something they are already currently taking part in. 

I would argue that if either of these passages were referring to the future eternal state inheritance, the authors would have most likely used the Greek word "kleronomia," which we can find used 14 times in Scripture, 100% of the time it is translated as inheritance. Strong's Concordance describes "kleronomia" as the eternal blessedness of the consummated kingdom of God, which is to be expected after the visible return of Christ. 

Conveniently, the best example to contrast the differences between these two words, "kleros" and "kleronomia," is right here in Colossians. Turn over to chapter 3 with me at verse 18. I want us to focus on verse 24. 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality." 

Did you notice that in verse 24? He said, "You will receive." Speaking of a future event yet to happen. The inheritance spoken of in our text clearly is one that the saints already currently partake of. 

I hope I'm not losing you in all these complexities. If I lost you, come on back. We can get to the point I'm belaboring. My intent is for us to see the broader and fuller meaning of what our inheritance is as believers in Christ. 

Again, in verse 12 of our text, it reads, "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be the partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." Of the saints in the light provides us with some more clues in nailing down what the inheritance is that Paul has in mind. The way the grammar is structured, the phrase "in the light" qualifies our word "inheritance." 

The direct link means that the inheritance the saints have been given already is being members of the light. What do I mean by that? Plainly, I mean God's representatives of truth and purity, which is life. Christ's life of truth and purity through us is the light of life that now shines in this world, drawing the lost. 

As believers, we have been given the light of life for the purpose of drawing men to the Savior, which is our joy and rejoicing to be an active part in all that that entails. Another tremendous blessing of the enlightenment of the truth through divine life in us is that we now live guided by the Spirit in discerning good from evil. 

Listen to 1 John. Actually, turn there with me. We're going to look at a few different passages. 

1 John 1, verse 5: “This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 

The light spoken of here shows us that it exposes our own sin to ourselves. If we don't recognize the sin and our total inability, we don't recognize our need for the Savior. 

Next, turn a page over to chapter 2, verse 9: “He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” 

Do you see the promise we have here? How about when Jesus says in John 11, "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him." 

Because if we know Jesus and have his life in us, there is no cause for stumbling in any one of us. Can you believe this? Not only has God graciously given us the truth, but also has now made it possible and also our desire to live in accordance with that truth. 

If I could sum it all, the portion of our lot is a life lived now in Christ, enlightened of the truth. As I have read Colossians through over and over, it is clear that Paul puts an emphasis on what they already have through faith in Christ. I see this idea paralleled so well in 2 Peter 1. Turn there with me, beginning in verse 2. 

2 Peter 1, verse 2: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 

Both authors' message in this is not that you're going to be saved, but that you have been saved. If you have placed your faith in Christ, you possess eternal life now today. 

And now as we move into our next point on the outline, delivered from darkness, we should see the continuation and connection of Paul's thought from this idea of a new life now in the light. Let's go back to our text and look at verse 13 again. 

Colossians 1:13: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” Just as we saw in the previous verse, again, we see this, God has. Remember, Paul is working to instill thankfulness for what God has done for us. 

In a little word study of the term delivered in verse 13 again shows that this event God worked in our lives was only by his authority and power. To modern English speakers like us, delivered doesn't seem to carry all of the definition that it once did. Delivered, as it is used here, means to rescue or to draw oneself to oneself. And it carries the idea that the one doing the rescuing has an inherent power that the one being rescued does not. Thus, reinforcing the fact that God was the only one able to make this happen. 

So what is this power of darkness God has rescued us from? Well, the term power gives the sense of a tyrannical rule over those in its power. Some other translations use terms like domain, dominion, authority, and kingdom, implying that this darkness rules and reigns over those in its power. In contrast to light, darkness represents the opposite of truth and life. The power of darkness is the power of sin and death. Satan, who is the ruler of darkness, is the one who holds this power, and he works by deception. 

Satan's greatest goal is to keep people under his power by leading them in any direction, but the light of the truth of God's grace and plan. Listen to what Paul writes beginning in 2 Corinthians in chapter four. It says, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness or handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your bondservants for Jesus's sake. 

For it is the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Did you notice that? Little G, the God of this age? It is Satan that blinds the minds of those who reject the gospel. 

And his means has been by configuring a world system that promotes and entices men to fulfill the lusts of their flesh, holding every man under the power of sin and death since the fall of man in the garden. Go to the gospel of John in chapter three and follow along with me beginning in verse 16. 

John chapter three, verse 16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God.” 

When you look out at this world, is it not blatantly obvious that pride or that the pride and promotion of sin is rampant? Friends, this is Satan's means for men to suppress and conceal their own sin. That is exactly what this world system offers them. While they live in darkness or ignorance of the truth, their sin remains concealed, at least by their estimation, but not to God. 

In reality, this world system Satan rules now is based in falsehoods that will all be exposed and brought into the light. There are so many incredibly accurate descriptions in scripture regarding the reality of living under the power of darkness. 

Jesus said in Matthew 6, “But if your eye is bad,” that would be your eye of understanding. “If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” One that sticks in my head is Ephesians 2, where it says that you are without God, having no hope. Apart from God and knowing the truth, there is no hope. You can hope so all you want, but it just won't be so. 

I shared in our Bible study on this passage that based on the knowledge I've received growing up, mostly through the public school, taking evolution as fact, that the really only hope I had was to become compost, fertilizer, rotten matter to return to the dirt. But in the moment I asked Jesus to save me, just as so many of you here today have, God conveyed us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of his love. 

Conveyed has to do with a change in location or position. In this case, I find it both. When an individual places their faith in Christ, at that moment, God imputes or credits the righteousness of Christ to that individual. So positionally, believers are in Christ, and there are loads of scripture, which I wish we had time to cover, that affirm this new position as one of everlasting permanency. 

But in regards to location, and what I see more in view of this passage, is that we have been totally released from the power of sin, death, and hell that previously ruled over every man born into this world. But now have been made fit by the king to serve the king in his kingdom now on this earth. We have been enabled to obey Christ and be ministers on this earth on his behalf. Therefore, the change in location is not one of the physical realm, but that of the spiritual. The kingdom of God is within you. 

Now in verse 14, we come to the final point on our outline, purchased by the king. Here we learn the cost and how it was that made this transfer of kingdoms possible. Let us read together in our text at verse 14. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” 

“In whom” refers back to the son of his love, which may seem like hard to understand lofty speech, but he really just means Christ. It shows that this kingdom belonged to the father, and as a sign of his love, he handed it over, handed over this kingdom to his only begotten son, Jesus. Jesus is the one who conquered the power of sin and death. 

It is in Jesus Christ we have redemption. Redemption can be defined as a releasing from a ransom or bought back at a price. That price was through his blood. He had to live a life of sinless perfection and take in our place the death that we deserve in order to be able to be the full satisfactory payment for our sins now and forever. 

And now by that act of self-sacrificial love, Jesus has attained for us all the forgiveness of sins. Profound to me is God's forgiveness. Unlike humans, unlike us humans, we can forgive, but apart from maybe a bad memory, we really don't forget. That memory will continue to linger, but the right understanding of God's forgiveness is as if the offense never even happened. 

In total today, we've seen the amazing work and plan of God for every man that places their faith in Jesus, and Paul's encouragement to believers in all that they have through Christ from the moment of faith, so that they would be grateful, living out a life of thankfulness with an attitude of joy to shine as witnesses for his glory. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, thank you again for this opportunity to open and hear from your word, the truth as it really is, and that we can trust you. I pray these words were an encouragement for everyone here today, and that we would continually meditate on your mercies that we looked into this morning. Father, help us always carry about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus, so that his life would be manifested and magnified through each of us. In Jesus' name, amen.