great celebration. Verses 1 to 3, it's a celebration of himself, of the saints, and their blessings. Then verses 3 to 6, a celebration of election. From 7 to 10, he celebrates redemption. He talks about us being twice owned, having been created, the purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ, having been purchased a second time, if you like, as he died on the cross at Calvary. for our sins, redemption, twice our forgiveness, giving us a degree of freedom, freedom from the power of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin, and freedom eventually, of course, from the very presence of sin in his lovely presence. And then he celebrated grace, saying that all that we had in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was according to the riches of God's grace. Not from his riches, so that In effect, we might think there was something that there is the whole riches of God that we can draw upon. Every aspect of it, according to his riches in grace, he has lavished it upon us. Then we thought about the discernment, the celebration of the discernment of our redemption. Spirituality leading to right action, the future blessings of redemption. the Lord Jesus Christ, that he will unite all things, material and spiritual, in the day to come, through the Father God. So we thought, as we finished up last week, as it were, we thought of Paul's mind, how that in his mind he lived in the past, the present, and the future, but in his heart, the very essence of the man, he inhabited eternity. That's where he lived all his life. towards the resurrection and the life to come. That was his driving force as he went through his ministries. As he comes to the end of this great song of celebration, he once again reiterates the truth of election. He launches once more into a great celebration of it. Verses 11 and 12, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. being predestinated according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. This great doctrine was obviously a tremendous comfort to Paul. He loved to extol with me throughout his writings the absolute divine sovereignty of God. That's what he pinned everything upon. Nothing of himself that would cause God to take up a man even like him. But it was all of the sovereign love and grace of God that he was what he was. In verse 11, we read there, we, we read, in whom we have obtained an inheritance. So that we there, if you, refers to the Jews. He's speaking there of his own fellow countrymen. He's speaking of the nation of Israel. And then we come to verse 12, and he says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel. Here now, he's including the Gentiles in this great song of praise to God. The Gentiles, he says, are now included in salvation as well as the Jews. This middle wall, as we shall find in chapter two, isn't it? This middle wall of partition has been broken down, and now we are all one in Christ. Paul is celebrating the miracle of salvation, and the Gentiles as well. And in the election and salvation that came through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ was fully shown out in the love of God in his son going to the cross of Calvary. The theme, of course, this oneness in Christ of all the levers he takes up, and we shall expand on it if we get there, in Chapter 2, of course, in some weeks to come. But we might pause and ask ourselves, well, how was it that this miraculous inclusion of the Gentiles in election and salvation took place? How was it? Well, the root of the miracle is in the wonder of being those two little words that we could write across this lovely book, in, in, in Christ. That's the miraculous way in which we were included in the family of God. The wonder of becoming in Christ. In verse 13 he says, in whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This was the miraculous, the miracle, the wonder of being in Him. Paul uses this term, or its equivalent, nine times over in this passage. So wonderful is it to him, so amazing is it to him. Someone else has counted up, I haven't, and they say that he's used that particular theme 169 times in all of his writings. In him, in Christ, that's the position of the believer, this side of the cross. The terms are not found prior to Paul's writing on Afghanistan, and they're rarely used by others. It's a theme that he is taken up with that seems to flow right the way through all of his writings. So what does the term signify in him, in Christ? What does it mean? Well, first of all, we could consider it to be a radical transformation. I'll turn you back to 2 Corinthians and chapter 5, there Paul gives us a lovely statement which just shows us exactly what this radical transformation is. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17. Paul says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. This is the great theme of radical transformation that Paul sees, bound up in being in him, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Radically, fundamentally new, as the Greek poet Tenskios stresses, that it's not only a once happening event, it's something which continues and will remain with us until we get to heaven and see him and to be with him as he is. Radical, fundamental, new, this tremendous truth of being in Christ. Being in Christ brings about a radical reorientation, if you like, a movement from external righteousness that we might try to exhibit to those around us, to inward righteousness. And it's that inward righteousness that the Lord Jesus Christ in us, we in him, it's that inward righteousness that radicalizes our conduct. In Christ has an altogether different meaning than that of Christian. Many people will be asked what their religion is as they go into hospital, or wherever else they go, prison perhaps, or nursing homes. I heard somebody ask that question recently. What's your religion? And most would say Christian. Most will tell you, if you ask them, that they live in a Christian country, but they wouldn't understand what the word means. You and I, perhaps we should say, when we're asked a question, What's your religion? Perhaps we should say, we are in Christ. Because that's what Christianity is. In Christ. It's a deeper meaning than just the word Christian and Christianity. Only those in Christ are truly Christian. Christianity is Christ. So first of all, then, a radical transformation. Secondly, a dynamic unity. It's an organic relationship with Christ. Members we are of the body of Christ. And through this union, we become one with other believers. It unites us one to the other. Not only are we united with Christ, one with Him, this unity, this organic relationship that we have with Christ flows over into our unity with each other, one with each other. I'll turn you back to Galatians. chapter 3 and see what Paul says about it there. Galatians chapter 3 and verses 27 and 28. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. of being in Christ. It's a dynamic unity with Christ, and it's an organic relationship with Him, but so it is, too, with each other, believers together. Believers surely should enjoy, believers do enjoy, surely, a profound sharing with each other. That's the truth of it, isn't it? That we should enjoy being those who are knit together in and through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All those little things that irritate us about each other should be put aside, shouldn't they? Humanity comes through so often in our relationships, doesn't it? And no less so than in our relationships with each other in a fellowship of believers. We perhaps find each other a little bit idiosyncratic at times, and a little bit odd. I know you don't find me that way, but I know that you might find each other that way. We kind of have to put that aside, don't we? because we're all one in Christ. One day we're going to live through all eternity, aren't we? There in heaven itself, so we might as well start getting on with each other now. But the thought is here, isn't it, that in Christ, we're all one in him. We're all one with each other. Radical transformation, dynamic unity, and thirdly, a deep satisfaction. This is what it should be. The simple fact of life is that it is not possible to be fulfilled in our lives outside of Christ. The older I get, the truer that truth impresses itself upon me. It really is a fact, isn't it? In John 6, verse 35, it's recorded that Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The hymn writer says, I've tried the broken systems, Lord, and are the waters foul, even as I stooped to drink they fled, and mocked me as I wailed. The longer you go on a Christian life, the more you realize that everything outside of Christ, outside of the Word of God, outside of the fellowship of other believers, really is not satisfying deeply and long for long at all. It's only that satisfaction which we find in being in Christ, that really is deeply and lastingly satisfying. Deep satisfaction. I came across a quotation by Malcolm Muggeridge. Some of you older folks will remember him, no doubt. He was a broadcaster. And when he became a believer, he wrote this. And I thought I'd read it to you tonight. It's a little bit long, but it's worth listening to, I think. This is what Malcolm Muggeridge said when he became a believer. I may, he said, I suppose, regard myself, or pass for being, a relatively successful man, as the world counts it. People occasionally stare at me in the street. That's fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes, he calls it, of the inland revenue. In other words, he was paying the top rate of tax, I guess. That, he says, is success. Furnished with money and a little fame, Even the elderly, if they care to, may partake of trendy diversions. That's pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote was sufficiently heated for me to persuade myself that it represented a serious impact on our time. That's fulfilment, he says. Yet I say to you, and beg you to believe me, multiply these tiny trials by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing, less than nothing, a positive impediment measured against one draught of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty, irrespective of who or what they are. Why, I ask myself, does life hold? What is there in the works of time in the past, now, and the time to come, which could possibly be put in the balance against the refreshment of drinking that water. That's what Malcolm Muggeridge said. He tried everything, he'd become famous, he'd made a lot of money, he'd even perhaps made statements that people had written down and maybe even still used today. He had fame, he had wealth, he had notoriety. Jenny says all of that adds up to nothing when you put it in the balance against that living water that Christ offers us through being in him. So those little words, in Christ, a radical transformation, a new creation, resurrection, life, union with him and a oneness with one another. Only in Christ can we find the satisfaction and fulfillment that we desire in life. Transformation. Union. Satisfaction. In Christ. You might say to me, well give me that, I'll have some of that. There's a lot of people out there in the world you know who like that sort of satisfaction, that sort of contentment, that sort of being able to deal with the problems and difficulties give it to me, they might say, verse 13, in whom ye trust after ye have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. It's salvation that brings us these tremendous benefits. Believing in Christ is the doorway to being in Christ, the wonder of being in Christ. And then at the end of verse 13 and on into verse 14, he deals with the Holy Spirit. He says also, after that he believed, he was sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the virtuous possession. He deals with the Holy Spirit, the amazing work of the Holy Spirit. None of this, none of this being in Christ can be, can take place without the work of the Holy Spirit. Here he says, What does it mean to be sealed? How is the spirit a guarantee of our inheritance? Sealed then. Sealed. Ownership of a possession is seen by a seal placed upon it. These days we might seal and sign our name on it. A hundred years ago they would have taken wax and they would have used the seal probably on their rig and they would have stamped it on the sealing wax to stamp their authority on it. Ownership of possession is seen by a seal placed upon that possession. And that is what God does in respect of us being in Christ. He seals us. He seals that tremendous position to us and he makes it real to us by sealing it through the Holy Spirit. He's tagged us, if you like. He's left his mark on us in our hearts. The divine person of the Holy Spirit living within each of us. This is what marks us as His. Let me look at Romans 8, just read you a few verses there. Again, the words of Paul, Romans 8, 16. The Spirit itself bearest witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. That's how we are known to be the children of God, because the Spirit bearest witness with our spirit. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, are joined heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. Sealed by the Holy Spirit. The seal says that we are his, the Father God. And it further assures us of his protection. Ephesians 4 verse 30, homing to our book that we're reading from tonight. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, here it is again, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. That's the sealing of the Holy Spirit upon us. We are owned by the Lord, under His protection, until that great day of redemption. And then finally, the guarantee of our inheritance. He says, it's the earnest, verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance. At earnest, the word there simply means a deposit, a down payment. It tells us that there's more to follow. What Paul is saying here is that the Holy Spirit that we have living within us and the amount of enjoyment we get from that divine person living within us and the amount of help we get from that divine person living within us, the effect he has upon our lives. Multiply, he says, by a million times. And it's just the deposit on what is to come. It's only a dawning upon us of the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, remember all those times in your life when you've experienced the Holy Spirit's effect on your lives. Just remember those times. And multiply them up. And it's still only a deposit. It's only a foretaste of what is still to come. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, again Paul writes. But as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them, that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of Christ." That Holy Spirit that you and I have within us now, revealing to us the things of Christ. Being that guarantee of our inheritance, that one day we will inherit with the Lord Jesus Christ the glory of heaven, surely we should live verse 14 out in our lives, shouldn't we? the praise, unto the praise of His glory. That's why we are here. Unto the praise of His glory. So these verses in chapter 1 of the Epistles to the Ephesians from 1 down to 14. As we've said, one long celebration by Paul of being in Christ. His great celebration. Might we celebrate that in our lives? and in our testimony here together, in our praise and our worship as we come together each Lord's Day, might it be that we demonstrate that we truly are in Christ. We were thinking on Lord's Day last in the morning, were we not, about being that branch on that vine, drawing from the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, things concerning himself. and His Father God. May it be that we celebrate that together in our lives, both collectively here and in our own personal lives. Amen. Let's sing 605, please. 605, Lord Jesus, are we one with Thee? Of height, of depth, of love, with Thee we died upon the tree, in Thee we live. Above, such was Thy grace that for our sake Thou didst from heaven come down, Thou didst with flesh and blood partake in all our sorrows, one. Verse 6 says, Soon, soon shall come that glorious day, when seated on my throne, Thou shalt to wandering worlds display, that Thou with us art one. Wonderful truth. 605.