In Jesus’ various teachings concerning the end of time and His return there is a great emphasis on being ready.  So I have to ask you, ‘are you ready?’  He speaks about this readiness in relation to how we live, ‘do our lives show the evidence of being born again’?  Jesus wants us to have a sense of assurance, but there can’t be strong assurance if we are actively ignoring His commands for our lives.  So work with me through the following questions: Do I accept God’s verdict on my life, that I actually deserve to be separated from Him and punished for my sin? Do I see that my only hope is in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that I will continue to the end only because His Spirit enables me? Am I asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to me where I need to change and seeking His enabling to be more like Jesus?

Chaos!  Don’t we just hate chaos?
It is one thing after another.  There is always something dripping or broken in the house, but that is nothing compared to the fact that there are people in the church on the edge of homelessness.  The kids have just gone back to school – and we wonder how they will cope this year.  There is that worrying lump, and the doctor’s appointment.  There always seems to be new bills to pay.  We are worried about elderly relatives or wayward children.  There are so many things that make life stressful.
In these verses Jesus speaks about very stressful events.  To those Jews He speaks of the fact that in a matter of decades the Roman forces are going to come in and destroy the temple – that symbol of their nations favour, security and pride.  What’s even more frightening is that at some undisclosed day in the future there is going to be the breaking up of the very fabric of the world.
How are we supposed to cope with those levels of stress?  We cope by remembering that Jesus is in control of all things and that He loves us.
God cares for us in the chaos (14-23)
Jesus had told the disciples that the temple would be destroyed.  Four of them had asked him when this would take place and what would be the sign that these things were about to be fulfilled.  Jesus now gives them an answer.
When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong . . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  The ‘abomination that causes desolation’ is the sign that the temple was about to be destroyed.  But what is ‘the abomination that causes desolation’?  The answer lies in the book of Daniel.  There this phrase is used in connection with the desecration of the temple—the introduction of pagan sacrifices to it.
Jesus is telling them that ‘when you see pagan worship in the temple then you should know that it is about to be destroyed.’  While there is some debate about what this act of desecration looked like the thing to note is that it did take place and the temple was then destroyed in A.D. 70.
Jesus then gives them some specific advice.  The events surrounding the temple are going to be dreadful and his followers are to flee to the mountains.  If you read the history books you will see that the temple and the city itself were destroyed by the Romans, and it seems that the Christians did take this warning seriously and escaped before the crisis.
so note God’s care for his people!  Jesus warns them so that they will escape this terrible event.  In verse 20 we read that the Lord even shortened the time of that tribulation for the sake of his people.  The God who is in control of history altered the course of history for his people’s sake.
Look back upon your life through the eyes of faith.  Weren’t there times when you thought you could not cope, but He actually got you through?  Hasn’t He proven that He has trustworthy?  He who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not grant us all things? (Rom. 8:32).  Psychologists have discovered that the mind can not dwell on anxiety and thankfulness at the same time, so thanking God for His past mercies actually drives out present worry!
One of the things that I love about our heavenly Father is that He is concerned about everything in our life.  We may not be facing the destruction of our city and having to flee our homes, but that does not mean He thinks the small things are insignificant.  He tells us to cast all our anxieties on Him–‘no job too big. no job too small’ – because He cares for us!
Don’t be afraid of Jesus’ return (verses 24-31)
When the four disciples had asked their question about when the temple would be destroyed they seem to have associated the destruction of the temple with the end of the world.
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Easter is an annual remembrance of a historical event that’s still being celebrated, arguably on a greater scale than ever, nearly 2,000 years later. That’s because it’s the biggest news story of your life, or any life—even of those who shrug it off or scroll right past it.

Can you remember any top world news headlines from April 9, 2023? What about headlines from April 17, 2022, or April 4, 2021? Probably 2020 was the only Easter in recent memory when you might reme`mber what was happening in the world—but even that will fade from memory sooner than we expect.
What we can remember about Easter last year, and every year going back nearly two millennia, is that scores of Christians across the world confessed, sang about, and celebrated their belief in the deity of a human who actually walked and talked on this earth for a time.
This man is named Jesus. On Easter Sunday every year, people from nearly every nation and language, every class and ethnicity, worship him as Lord. They confess he suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried in first-century Jerusalem; and supernaturally rose from the dead three days later.
Consider how absurd this sounds. Consider how shocking it’d be as a headline if it were reported by some time-traveling newswire service to people in any BC kingdom or culture. We’re talking about the most outrageous headline of the year, and it happens every year: On Easter, a third of the planet’s population honors the day in history when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
It’s an insane headline because it speaks to the fact that, even today—in our modern scientific age—more people than ever believe in a supernatural event that science says cannot happen. The headline’s enduring repetition, year after year for centuries, proves the legitimacy of the event at its center (the resurrection) or highlights a mass delusion of unprecedented scale. Either way, it’s utterly newsworthy.
And yet on this year’s Easter Sunday, any number of soon-to-be-forgotten occurrences will claim “lead story” status in newspapers and newscasts worldwide. Instead of what 2.4 billion Christians claim and celebrate, “Breaking News!” alerts will compel millions to click on infinitely less newsworthy items. More people will probably click on articles about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on Easter Sunday than will read a Gospel account of Jesus’s resurrection. For American college basketball fans, the big news of the day will be which teams made the Final Four.
Why are we numb to the resurrection’s shock and seemingly bored by history’s biggest event? Why does the headline “Billions worship a man who rose from the dead and ascended to heaven” seem like old news that barely registers as a trending topic? Here are a few theories.
1. It’s old in a world obsessed with new.
Part of why the resurrection feels like “old news” is that it is old news, especially in a culture of increasingly short-term memory. Few of us can remember what was newsworthy a week ago, let alone a year or a century or two millennia ago. The digital age has eroded cultural memory and our capacity to think beyond the “now.”
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Written by Benjamin L. Merkle |
Friday, September 2, 2022
The unity of the church is based on the sevenfold unity of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:4–6). Such unity, however, does not mean uniformity since Christ has gifted each individual uniquely (Eph. 4:7–16). A diversity of leaders are given to the church so that every member will become mature and Christlike in how they think and how they live.

The Theology of Ephesians
In one sense, there is nothing distinct about the theology of Ephesians. It is a New Testament letter written by the apostle Paul that conforms to the message of the rest of the Bible—a message about how the God of the universe rescues sinners through the work of his Son, Jesus Christ. And yet, the book of Ephesians adds unique tones to the symphony of music that sounds forth from Scripture.
For its size (six chapters and 155 verses), Ephesians has had a profound impact on the life and theology of the church. Harold Hoehner declares, “The Letter to the Ephesians is one of the most influential documents in the Christian church.”1 But why has this small letter had such a big impact on the church? The answer, at least in part, is due to the depth and diversity of topics emphasized in the letter. Paul addresses topics such as the plan of God in salvation, union with Christ, walking according to the Spirit, the unity of the church, and spiritual warfare.
The Plan of God in Salvation
Although Paul explains God’s plan to redeem a people for himself elsewhere, Ephesians 1:3–14 is perhaps the most detailed passage in the Bible related to this topic. In this passage (which is one long sentence of 202 words in the original Greek), Paul speaks about election, redemption, adoption/inheritance, perseverance, and regeneration. Additionally, several aspects of God’s sovereign election are emphasized such as the threefold repetition of God’s purpose (Eph. 1:5, 9, 11) and the threefold repetition of “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14), which demonstrates the significance of each member of the Trinity in relation to our salvation: God the Father (Eph. 1:3–6), the Son (Eph. 1:7–12), and the Spirit (Eph. 1:13–14). Paul also includes four key concepts which form the foundation or basis of our praise to God: he chose us (Eph. 1:4), he redeems us (Eph. 1:7), he provides us an inheritance (Eph. 1:11), and he seals us with his Spirit (Eph. 1:13). While meditating on God’s grace, Paul erupts with praises to his God. Paul is not merely stating that God is worthy of our praise. Rather, he is actually praising God for his glorious salvation—and in doing so inviting his readers to do the same.
Union with Christ
Although Paul references union with Christ nearly 200 times in his writings, about forty of those occurrences are found in Ephesians. This amounts to about twenty percent of all the uses in Paul’s epistles, although Ephesians contains less than seven percent of the Pauline content.2 Indeed, Ephesians 1 has the highest concentration of “in Christ” language in the letter, especially Ephesians 1:3–14 which has eleven occurrences. Every spiritual blessing that Christians possess is due to their relationship and union with Christ (Eph. 1:3). Specifically, we are chosen “in him” (Eph. 1:4), predestined “in him” (Eph. 1:5), blessed “in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6), redeemed “in him” (Eph. 1:7), united “in him” (Eph. 1:10), granted an inheritance “in him” (Eph. 1:11), and sealed with the Spirit “in him” (Eph. 1:13). The frequency of union with Christ language in Ephesians demonstrates that it is a central theme in this epistle. Although Paul’s theology cannot be reduced to union with Christ, union with Christ is often the Christological anchor that grounds his theology and ethic, and there’s no clearer place that this concept is demonstrated than Ephesians.
Walking according to the Spirit
Before Paul provides instructions for how believers are to live, he first reminds us of our former condition.
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