Colossians 1:13

Colossians chapter 1, verses 9 to 13, our focus is on verse 13. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and a desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful and every good work. and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who have delivered us from the power of darkness, and have translated us into the kingdom of His De-Eyield. Dear son, may God bless to us His sacred and holy word this morning. One of the plagues of Egypt, you recall, was darkness, which blanketed the land for three days, the books of Exodus tells us. It was so black that the Egyptians did not leave their homes. They didn’t see one another, and they didn’t see one another, didn’t rise from their place. This judgment of darkness was certainly an indication that God had abandoned Egypt. For read about the Israelites that they had light in their dwelling. The light of the sun was upon them, but it was closed off from all the Egyptians. This, of course, was symbolic of the spiritual condition. condition of the worldling and the believer. The people of God are called the children of light in Ephesians 5’8, because God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4.6. But Scripture says in Proverbs 419, the way of the wicked is darkness, and they do not know at what they stumble, for they indeed are without God in this world, as Ephesians 212 tells us. Now, Paul is speaking here in our text about being rescued from the power of darkness. Paul has spoken of the inheritance of the saints in light in verse 12. Your heavenly inheritance, he speaks. speaking of. And you’re being in the presence of God who is light, as the scripture tells us. Having explained how God the Father hath made us fit to be partakers of this heavenly inheritance, which we said involved our election, our adoption, involved regeneration, it involved our factual call, and he talks about now being translated into the case. kingdom of God’s son. Our text speaks, though, of our previous condition prior to salvation and the work of God’s grace. And he says, it is a state of darkness that we were in. Paul sent some time, he spent some time to explain all this, because he’s still talking about giving thanks to God. And we have to appreciate. The sad condition that we were in to be as thankful as we should be when we enjoy the salvation of Christ. So without a correct doctrine about God’s way of salvation, your praise and your thankfulness would be undermined. So we want to speak about rescue from the power of darkness. Now, he says you previously were under the power of darkness. darkness. What does this mean? Well, there are several things that it means. One, you are under Satan’s control. For the Bible says that while God is light, that Satan is the prince of darkness. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12. Or as Paul says in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2, wherein in time past you walked according to the prince of the power of the air, Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. If you look at 2 Timothy, chapter 2 in verses 25 and 26, Paul writes this, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, Perraventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Here we see the sad condition of the person of the world. You come into this world, entrapped by Satan, under his control. He is your master and your king before salvation. And he labors more and more to keep you in the dark, to blind his subjects, to keep you ignorant of the gospel of Christ, as 2nd Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4 indicates. I was thinking about this. I was thinking about Pilgrim’s progress when Mr. Christian is confronted by Apalian on the narrow road as he approaches the valley of humiliation. And Apollion says, When’s come ye, and whither are you bound? And Christian says, I am come from the city of destruction, which is the place of all evil, and I’m going to the city of Zion. And Apollion says, By this, I perceive that you are one of my subjects. For all that country is mine, and I am the prince and God of it. How is it then that you have run away from your king? Were it not that I hope thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now at one blow to the ground. Christian says, I was born indeed in your dominions, but your service was hard in your wages such as a man could not live on, for the wages of sin is death. Therefore, when I was come to years, I did as other considerate persons do. Look out, if perhaps I might mend myself, Apollion. There is no prince that will lightly lose his subjects, neither will I lose thee. But since thou complainest of thy service and wages, Be content to go back. What country will afford, I do here, promise to give thee. What our country will afford, I do here promise to give thee. Christian says, but I will not let myself to another. But I have let myself to another, even to the king of princes. And how can I, with fairness, go back with thee? Apollion. Thou hast done in this according to the. the proverb changed a bad for a worse, but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants after a while to give him the slip and return again to me. Do thou so too, and all shall be well. Christian says, I have given him my faith and sworn my allegiance to him. How then can I go back from this and be not hanged as a traitor, Apollion. Thou didst the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt turn again and go back. Christian, what I promised thee was in my non-age, and besides, I count the prince under whose banner now I stand is able to absolve me, yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee. And besides, O thou destroying Apollion, to speak, the truth. I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country better than nine. Therefore, leave off to persuade me further. I am his servant and will follow him. Here, of course, Bunyan captures how that we’re under Satan’s control as we come into this world. And we’re in the city of destruction. And Satan is not likely to lose us, even easily. He would like to keep us enslave. Being under Satan’s thumb, you do his bidding. He has control over your mind and your thinking. It’s sort of like a brainwashing that Satan has. You’re programmed to think what Satan wants you to think. There’s a mind control that he has over us. So you were under Satan’s control. Notice this being under the power of darkness also means you were under the dominion of sin. Scripture speaks of the unsaved as walking in darkness. John 1235. Engaging in the unfruitful works of darkness. Ephesians 511. John 1235 was the first reference. Ephesians 511 the second. Bible tells us that men love darkness rather than light, because they’re deeds were evil. The power of darkness then would relate to sin’s control over you that you are a slave of sin, that you serve sin. You’re addicted to sin. You cannot cease from sin. You take pleasure in sin. It’s like a powerful drug. Now you may realize that sin is destroying you, but you still have no intentions of giving it up. This is the madness of sinners. That even though they’re on the dominion of sin, and even though they recognized that sin is destructive in their lives, they don’t want to give it up. Years ago, there was a traveler to India who created an incident which stuck in his mind. He says, they were on a ship off the coast of India, off the shore, and the sailor, the sailor, and the sailor, hung over the side of the boat, a hook that was baited with fat. And he said, one after another, the sailors were hauling hook birds onto the deck because all of a sudden all these albatrosses came to get the fat that was on the hook. And they came to the ship stern, and they were greedily deviring that fat as quickly as they could. And they were swarming. the ship’s term. He said, not even those birds which were indifferently hooked and made their escape decided, you know, they didn’t cease from seizing the bait. They’d come right back forward again. And so the sailors were hooking these birds and hauling them onto the deck of the ship. And thus do ungodly people rush at the fat of sin. They cannot let go. They see others perish. But they’re still eager to pursue it. The sinner’s infatuation with sin is never deterred. He or she ends up destroying themselves. Sadly, sin has great power over you. You’re sort of hypnotized by it. So you were under the dominion of sin. You are also under the damnation of hell. Hell opened its mouth wide to swallow you up. You’re on the road that leads to eternal destruction. What does the scripture say about hell? It is the place of darkness. Is it not? Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We read in Matthew chapter 22 and verse 13. We read about those false teachers. They’re like raging waves of the sea, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever in Jude 13. So here you are. In this state of under the power of darkness means that you, in a sense, having God’s wrath hanging over you. And you are in danger of how fire and you’re unable by your own power to escape the damnation. of how. So here is the danger that you’re in. This is the power of darkness. Now, let me make a few observations. You see from this the absolute helplessness of the sinner. What ability do you have to escape? When your master is Satan, when you are under the shackles of sin’s dominion, and when the damnation of hell awaits you. That’s where you are. The power of darkness is an awful expression. Can you imagine someone taking you down in a deep dark cavern somewhere and abandoning you to grope around in the blackness to see if you can find your way out? That’s where we are under the power of darkness. Unless you were let out, plucked out of this horrible state by God you have no hope of freeing yourself. Who can deliver us from that? Well, the only one that can deliver us as we see from scripture is the Lord who has delivered us from such a terrible state. Its verse 13 indicates salvation is of the Lord. You can’t deliver yourself. Man likes to think of himself. Man likes to think of himself. as being in a neutral state. Man likes to think that he can make choices whether he will pursue something good or something bad in life. But read the scriptures and you’ll come to a completely different picture because man is enslaved to sin in Satan and under the power of darkness the scripture says. Notice something else here. You see the aggravation of your condition. Men love darkness rather than light. It’s bad in that we’re under the power of darkness, but then we see people love to have it that way. They love to be there. The delight in it. Because their deeds are evil, John 319 tells us. Far from decrying your condition, you enjoy it before you’re converted. The pleasures of sin delight you. You eagerly pursue them. You would rather go to hell to break off your sins. My father was once witnessing to co-worker at Jackson Gear Company where he worked as a machinist. And the man said, just let me go to hell. Just leave me alone. That is man’s condition. He loves darkness rather than light. You’re fascinated by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the mind. You gladly pursue those things. You are comfortable being in the kingdom of darkness under Satan’s power. You’re not looking to escape your master, Satan. You have to be made willing in the day of God’s power. You’re not inclined to change on your own. So you previously were under the power of darkness, and we see the observations here are very clear. It’s a sad situation. Secondly, this morning, your translation into the kingdom of God’s son. He has to delivered us from the power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Now, what does this word translation mean? How were you translated into Christ’s kingdom? This word is used by Josephus. This word translation. In the sense of taking away a people who have been dwelling in a certain place and if you were transplanting them, somewhere else. We see this in Scripture when it records the amazing instance of a great translation which perfectly fits our text. The children of Israel were in Egypt. They were under bondage in Egypt. oppressed, an miserable state. And what did God do for the people? And we know there at least six million of them. That’s a lot of people. Well, God didn’t just temper the harshness of Pharaoh to give the people of God some relief and make it a bit more tolerable that they were slaves. No. What did he do? He translated it with a high hand and an outstretched arm. He brought them out of Egypt. Remember all the plagues he brought on the nations? And how he led them through the wilderness, even for 40 years, and then translated them into the land of Canaan and the promised land where they ended up settling. That was quite an achievement. With all their flocks and their herds, their little ones, their possessions, the whole host of Israel went out of Egypt, and as Moses said, not a hoof shall be left behind, and crossed the Jordan into Canaan eventually. Isn’t this a type of the achievement of God’s powerful grace when he brings the sinner out of the bondage of sin and translates them into the kingdom of God’s dear son. Once you were in the kingdom of darkness, now you’re in the kingdom of light. So the idea behind translated is sort of a transplanting, if you would. The power of God which translated you. We see here, he has done this translation. It was easier for God to bring Israel out of Egypt than it was to take a sinner out of bondage to Satan and translate that sinner into the kingdom of his dear son. Salvation from sin and Satan and hell is quite an achievement of divine power. God had the change in evil heart. A stubborn will which delighted in darkness. Christ must of necessity be stronger than Satan. Or else, how could one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house? Matthew 12, 29. How does Christ do this? He overcame Sait. He’s more powerful than Sate. And he pulled people out of the kingdom of darkness and brought them into the kingdom of light. Who could overcome and bind the prince of darkness except Almighty God himself? He hath delivered us. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great shepherd of the sheep and he has come and snatched us from the lion’s mouth, so to speak, and delivered us. And delivered us. crushed Satan’s head with a fatal blow. Some years ago there was a family that visited a large cavern in the state of Kentucky and the guide led them through many winding subterranean passageways into the depths of the cavern and suddenly he turned off all the lights and the tour group was left in complete darkness. And then the guide said, I’m the only one who knows how to get you back out of this cavern. I’m the only one to get you out of the darkness and lead you back to the light. If I were to leave you here, you’d never get out of here on your own. You would easily come to your demise with one false step. After a few minutes, someone was crying out, turn on the lights. Because they were going crazy into darkness. The guy switched back the lights on. But it was an experience. The family said they never forgot what it was like to be in that darkness and realize this is the only person that can lead us out. My friends, Jesus Christ is the only one that can lead us out of the darkness. He’s the only one that can overcome Satan. God alone can rescue us from the power of darkness. He hath delivered us. That’s what’s important. Now, what is this kingdom into which you were translated? It’s the kingdom of God’s dear son. Well, God admits no one into this kingdom except through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the channel of grace. He is the one who received this kingdom from his father and confers it to us. As he says in Luke 2229, and I point unto you a kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me. It’s the kingdom of his beloved son, or his dear son, if you would. the father’s love is given to his son. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It is his kingdom. It’s a kingdom that he has given to his son out of love for him. It’s a great consolation for us that we, as those who make up the body of Christ, that we are accepted in the beloved. If Christ is loved, we are loved as well in him. The believer loves to have Christ as his absolute monarch of his heart. We willingly submit to Christ. You can count Christ, therefore, is precious because he is your Lord and Savior. Now, it is the kingdom of grace. We talk about Christ’s kingdom here on earth, where he reigns in the hearts of his people that we have been translated into. There is a distinction to be made between. the kingdom of Christ into which the saints are brought right now in this life and the kingdom of the father the ultimate glory which the saints possess hereafter because when Christ has put down all his enemies and the last enemy that’s put down his death according to 1 Corinthians 15 he’s going to turn the kingdom over to his father and then we talk about the kingdom of glory right now it’s the kingdom of grace it becomes the kingdom of glory and the end when that occurs. But as Christ talks about the kingdom as it is now exists, it is the kingdom of God that is within you. It’s a spiritual kingdom. It’s a non-visible kingdom. It doesn’t have boundaries. It doesn’t have walls. It doesn’t have palaces. For the kingdom of God is not need and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, according to Romans 14, verse 17. The truth faith does not consist of external circumstances or observances, but the inward graces of the spirit of God. The kingdom of God uniformly signifies the kingdom of the Messiah, and it consists of all those who profess faith in Christ. Righteousness, peace, and joy are what the believers possess as gifts of God. the spirit. Don’t we have Christ’s righteousness given to us? Enabling us to stand before God, meeting the perfect demands of the law? Don’t we have peace because a concord exists between us and God? God has given us a peace and taken away the hostility. Joy, the joy of salvation of knowing the Lord has been granted us in the eternal life we’ve been given. you’ve been translated into the kingdom of Christ because God has communicated to you these spiritual graces and made you subjects and members of Christ. Now, a couple of practical observations here. First is this. There’s no middle state here. You’re either in the kingdom of darkness or you’re in the kingdom of God’s dear son. You don’t have a choice. Those are the two places you can be. There’s no other option. no other place that you can be in. Either you are the most wretched slaves of sin and Satan or you’ve been translated into the kingdom of God’s dear son and they’re given Christ’s righteousness and you have peace with God and you have the joy of salvation. One or the other. There is no third kingdom. The question you need to ask yourself is to which kingdom do I belong? Where do I belong? Am I in Satan’s kingdom or am I in Christ’s king? That’s the question. The second observation is this. Being delivered from the power of darkness, you must cast off the works of darkness. Now look with me at Romans chapter 13, or chapter 13, verses 11 to 14. Romans chapter 13 verses 11 the 14. Paul writes here, and that knowing the time, that it is high time to wake out of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than when we believe. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly in the day. Not in rioting and drunkenness. Not in chambering and wantonness. Not in strife and envying. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. If you claim that you are a member of Christ’s kingdom, then of course you’re saying you’ve been delivered from the power of darkness. And if you’ve been delivered from the power of darkness, let not those evil works of darkness be associated with you. Walk as children of light. Don’t make allowances for the sins of the flesh. Flesh cast off the works of darkness. And here we have a means of evaluating ourselves. Have we cast off the works of darkness? We claim to be in the kingdom of God’s dear son and walk consistently as a citizen of the kingdom of God. being delivered from the power of darkness you have to cast off the works of darkness. My third observation is plead with God to deliver you. Maybe you come to realize you have not been translated by God into Christ’s kingdom. Maybe you look at yourself and say, you know, you’re right, I do love darkness rather than light. Do you find yourself a slave of sin and Satan? having eternal damnation hanging over you, then repent of your sin. Throw yourself upon the mercy of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved is the message of Scripture. Plead with God that he might deliver you from the power of darkness. God has saved the most unlikely people and added them to Christ’s kingdom. Look at Paul himself. who is the author of this epistle? Jesus says, Come unto me, O ye that labor and are heavy laden, with your sin, and I’ll give you rest. Matthew 1128. Well, the plague of darkness covering Egypt long ago symbolically portrayed the state of mankind since the fall in slavery. You come into this world under the power of darkness. Paul describes, however, the fact that you can be rescued. Then that God does the rescuing by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can be translated by the power of God out of this state of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear son, Jesus Christ. And so while there was darkness overshattering Egypt, you find all the Israelites had light in their encampments, in their homes. We are in a dark world, but the children of God are children of light. We’ve got the light. We are children of light. We walk in the light. Live up to your calling that. Thank God for the marvelous salvation that He has granted you. Let us call with a word of prayer.