Ephesians 5:25-27 English Standard Version

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

In these passages we are asked to do only one thing, to love our spouse. Yes Paul is speaking to the husbands but in truth the advice goes out to both partners.

Everything else in these passages is done by our Lord. Husband and wife are both betrothed to Christ and members of the bride, His church.

While Christ sacrificed Himself on the Cross we cannot have that same effect on each other’s lives because we do not hold each other’s eternal salvation in our sacrifice to one another. When we place the needs of our spouse in front of our own we do fulfill His command, to love one another.

As for sanctification, we cannot separate our spouses from sin but we can hold our relationship as sacred and therefore keep sin from coming between us. We hold our spouses separate in the sense of protecting the relationship.

As for being cleansed by the washing of the word, studying the Word together we will both grow together, closer in relationship with Christ and with each other.

As for being presented spotless, well our part in that is repentance, confession, forgiveness and obedience of faith. All these things we do for each other and for Christ allowing Him to perform His will in our lives.

Just one more tiny thing before we go.

Give praise and honor and glory to God because without Him what we do would count for nothing.

Matthew 24:3-14 English Standard Version

Signs of the End of the Age

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

With war comes a desire to see to an end of all wars. This is what Jesus had to say about wars.

“These are but the beginning.”

I am extremely reluctant to place war as a sign of things to come. Here Jesus speaks to tribulation but that does not mean the Great Tribulation. In John 16:33 He tells us we will have many tribulations. Christians are already put to death and hated for His sake. False prophets have been around for many generations. Lawlessness is on the rise but it does not seem to have caused our love to have grown cold. Has it?

The only thing that is tied directly to the end of the age is preaching the gospel throughout the whole world.

But what age? The church age?

The apostles tied His second coming to the end of the age, but that was not confirmed by the Word that Jesus spoke.

Without any clear answers except to preach the gospel to bring about the end, then let us preach the gospel.