Go with me back to Ephesians
2. Ephesians chapter 2. When I started looking for this
message tonight, I was searching for, I was really
desiring something that would be a real comfort and a real
blessing. We need that, we need that so
badly, so often. Different brethren need it at
different times and right now a lot of brethren need it and
I need it. You know, sometimes our messages
are very dogmatic and sometimes our messages are, I don't know,
they have different tones about them. I just was begging the
Lord, please send us some comfort, send us some blessing. And I ran across a psalm that
I thought was going to be our text and I was gonna start working
on it. But a scripture reference led
me to Ephesians 2. And when I read this, comfort
and blessing overwhelmed me. And it's gonna take the spirit
of God to do that for you. And I am begging him to do that
for you. If the Lord will be pleased,
I believe he will do this for you. Three little words caught
my attention right here. Three tiny little words. When I read these three words,
I thought, oh, the vastness of that. The height, the depth of
what's being said in those three words, three little words. I hope this grabs you, I really
do. I want this to be a comfort and
a blessing. We're gonna read verses one to
seven, and I'm gonna go ahead and tell you what the three little
words are. I'm not gonna make you guess every phrase that we
read. I want you to know what they
are so you can recognize them and enjoy them as we read through
this. Here are the words, okay? With. in and through. With, in, through. Be looking for those three words
in verses five to seven. That's really our text, verses
five to seven. Beginning in verse one, it says,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past you 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 also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace you are saved, and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Think about that declaration.
Verse five, he said, with Christ. Verse six, he said, in Christ. Verse seven, he said, through
Christ. Does that bless you at all? with
Christ, in Christ, through Christ. That's what all of God's people
want to be. That's what all of God's people
are. Every dead sinner, every disobedient, lust-filled, wrath-filled,
captive-to-Satan sinner that the Father chose to quicken. that the Father chose to give
life to, that the Father chose to draw nigh, draw near to himself,
every one of God's redeemed people. That's all we want. That is all
that we want. That is our comfort. That is
our peace. That is our blessing. That is
our hope. The thought of being with Christ
Because we have been placed in Christ by way of or through Christ. Christ did it. It was through
Christ that we are in Christ. And that's why we have such a
good hope of being with. Christ. But this sincerely, when
I read this, this was like a warm blanket to me. This brought so
much comfort to me. It brought so much peace to me. It brought so much happiness
to me. All of that right there was secured. All of that can be said. Everything
that we just read that the Apostle Paul said to us, all of that
is in the cross. It's all because
of the cross. Those three little words right
there tell us what happened on the cross, on the cross of Calvary. Verse four says, but God who
is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved
and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus in with through our Lord said to the thief hanging
next to him on the cross, he said, today you're going to be
with me. Today you're going to be with
me. Why? Because you're in me. How? Through me. Union with Christ, that's what
this is, union with the Lord Jesus Christ, a vitally joined
union with, in, through Christ. Is that not the most comforting
thought that a child of God could have? I have union with Christ. You know, I say this every now
and then. Sometimes we really enter into
these things. We know this. We believe this. We acknowledge
this. That's true. Amen. So be it. I believe. And sometimes we really
get a hold of it. And sometimes we enter into it.
Listen. And I'm speaking on behalf of
all of God's people, but I'm speaking on behalf of myself.
I have union with Jesus Christ. I am with Christ. I am in Christ. I'm in Christ. Everything concerning
me, all of God's dealings with me are through Christ. Christ is the mediator between
God, the holy God and sinful me. It's all through, all of
his dealings are through Christ. That's the most comforting thing
a child of God could ever hear. Paul told the Ephesians right
here, he said, you know, it starts out, you were dead. He told them,
this is what you are, but you're with Christ. Yep, this is what you are. It's
not good. Nothing good to say, but you're
in Christ. Through Christ. Let's look at some other scriptures
here that talk about this. I was gonna categorize these
by whether they said with, I had all of the with scriptures and
all of the in scriptures and all the through scriptures. And
it's gonna be easier to just look at them in a row, how they're
listed in scripture. So we're just gonna mix them
all up here. We're gonna go backwards in a row. Turn with me to Colossians
3. Colossians 3, I really did, sometimes we get
a hold of this, I really did, this blessed me so much. Colossians
3 verse 1, it says, if you then be risen with Christ. God's people are with Christ. God's people were with Christ. And they will forever be with
Christ. We are with Christ. You know
what that means, ultimately? That means Christ is with us. That's what it means, Christ
is with us right now. He is with us. We all dream of
the moment that we will be in the presence of Christ, all of
us, and Christ here with us. Well, we are with Christ right now.
We are with the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Where two or three
are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst of you. And I'll
never leave you and I'll never forsake you. I'm with you always,
even until the end of the world. David said, yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil because
you are with me. You are, thou art with me. Right
here, verse one, it says, if you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ
in God with In Him we live and move and have
our being. Verse 4 says, when Christ who
is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him
in glory. With, in. That is comforting. Look at Colossians 2 verse 20.
Colossians 2 verse 20, it says, wherefore, if you be dead with
Christ. Oh, if you died with Christ. Paul told the Galatians, I was
crucified with Christ. Doesn't that make you happy to
hear that? We were with him through that.
We were with him in his suffering. We were with him in his judgment. We were with him in his death. We were with him in that tomb. We were with him in his resurrection. We were with him in his ascension.
We are with him right now seated on his throne. Even though he accomplished all
of it by himself, We were still with Him. He's the one who did
all the accomplishment. He's the one who did all the
work. But we were with Him. We were one with Him, in Him,
through Him. Look at Philippians 3. Philippians 3 verse 8, Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him. Paul said that's all I want to
be. in him. That's all I want to be. What
do you want to be? What do you want to be when you
grow up? In Christ. I don't know what all you kids
want to be when you grow up, but the only thing that I hope
you are is in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ. I want
to be found in him. I want to be blessed in him. I want to be chosen in him. I want to be accepted in him. I want to be gathered in him
as Ephesians 1 says. All of that is through the chapter
of Ephesians 1. Turn over to Romans 8. Verse 1 says, There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, for the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. In Him, in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 says, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Any man's in Christ, there's
no condemnation. Any man's in Christ, there's
no history of sin. Everything's new. Everything's
brand new. Look at Romans six. Verse three. Know ye not that
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death. Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death. that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. It's all new. Verse five, for if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves. To be dead indeed unto sin but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In him, with
him, through him. Everything's made new. It's all
made new. Romans 5 says we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3 says, we are justified
freely by God's grace through the redemption that's in Christ.
Christ is the vital key. Christ is the vital key. If we
have Christ, we have everything. If we have Christ, we're with
Him. We're in Him. and everything
concerning us with God is through him, everything. Go back to Ephesians
2. Just watch how many times this
chapter tells us that we're with Christ, in Christ, and what has been done for us
through Christ. Verse one says, you hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you 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 also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. But God who is rich in
mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved. When he made Christ alive again
by his resurrection from the dead, he made us alive again
with him by his resurrection from the dead. Verse six, and
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. You know, I always think about
being in glory with Christ. We're going to be with Christ.
That's how I always think of it. You know, we're going to
sit at his feet. We're going to hear Him, we're going to talk
with Him, we're going to be with Christ. How glorious is it to
think about the fact that His people are not just with Him,
they are in Him. He quickened us with Him and
seated us in Him. That's what it says. Verse seven,
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Everything that God has for his
people, it's all given to him through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse eight says, for by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that you
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, not with him, without
him, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world, but now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace. who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross. having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you which were far off and to
them that were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore you are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God. and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are
builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." A
habitation of God. That's the place where God lives. And Paul said God's people are
that place. They are that place. Now, I told
you that I hoped this would be a comfort and a blessing, and
I pray that it will be for this reason right here. To the called,
to the saints, to God's believers, wherever you are in life, you
are with Christ. You are in Christ through Christ. Whatever's going on in your life,
whatever you're going through, you're going through it with
Christ. If you're going through it by
yourself, there's two of you. If you're going through it with
your wife, there's three of you. You're going through it with
Christ, you're going through it in Christ. And you're going to make it through
Christ. This world can seem so lonely
and it can seem so empty, but it's not. You're with Christ. You're in Christ. and God's presence is gonna be
made known to you through Christ. The trials, they seem like more
than you can bear, more than I can bear. Trials have come,
trials are here, trials are coming, and sometimes it seems like more
than we can bear. The heartache may seem greater
than you ever thought it could be. You may have never in your
life thought that heartache could be this much. You may think you're going to
be consumed by all your anxiety and all your despair, but here's
the thing about it. You're not. You may think you
are, but you're not. And it's because you're with
Christ. You're in Christ and God is going to show his kindness
to you through Christ. And why is he going to do that?
It's because he is rich in mercy. That's the reason why. He's rich
in mercy. He's going to do that because
of his great love wherewith he loved you. You're not alone.
You're not alone. Not at all. You have Christ and
you have Christ because Christ has you. That's why you have
Christ. Christ has you. I pray the Lord will make that
to be a comfort.