THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS ing that this purpose of Christ regarding His Church will be consummated (cf. Col. 3:4, R. V.; 1 John 3 :2). In verses 25 to 27 we have Christ’s love and work for the Church in the past—He “ gave Himself up for her;” Christ’s love and work for the Church in the p resen t- sanctifying and cleansing her; Christ’s love and work for the Church in the future— presenting her to Himself arrayed in glory, “ without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy (absolutely and perfectly so) and with out blemish.” Hallelujah! FRIDAY, August 21. Eph. 5:28-30 By the word “ even so,” with which verse 28 begins, Paul points back to verses 25 to 27 and says, “ even so (i. e., in the way described in verses 25 to 27) ought husbands also to love their own wives.” Then he further defines what he means by “ even so,” viz., “ as their own bodies.” There are those who teach that if a man reaches the highest pitch of sanctity and perfect love, he will not love his own wife any more than he does any other woman, that to love your own wife more than other men’s wives is a form of selfish ness. Those who teach this folly will find no warrant for their teaching in the Word of God. On the contrary, it is plainly taught here (as well as else where) that while a man should love all mankind, he should have an alto gether peculiar love for the woman who is “ his own wife,” his own “ body,” just as Christ while having a love for all mankind has an altogether peculiar love for the Church which is, as we are plainly taught in this whole passage, His bride and His body. The man who begins by not loving his own wife more than any other woman usually ends by lov ing some other woman more than his wife. The man’s wife is his own self. By an inborn law of nature no man hates his own flesh (v. 29). If he did hate his own flesh he would not be a man, but a monster, and so is the man who hates his wife. A man instead of hating his own flesh, "nourisheth and cherisheth it” : indeed how tenderly most of us look out for our own bodies. In the same way Christ tenderly careth for the Church which is His body, and in the same way also ought husbands to tenderly care for their wives, who áre their bodies. There is a school of inter pretation today that tries to make out that the Church is not the bride of Christ, but the body of Christ, and try to make it out from this passage among
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others; but the very point of the pass age is that the Church is His body be cause it is his wife, just as the man’s wife is his body just because she is his wife. Our wives are both our wives and our bodies, and the Church just because she is the wife of Christ is the body of Christ. The reason why Christ thus cherisheth us is because, as members of the Church, His wife, we are also “members (limbs) of His body” (cf. Rom. 12:4, 5; 1 Cor. 6:15; 12:12, 27). These are wonderful words, not needing exposition as much as they need devout and thankful meditation. SATURDAY, August 22. Eph. 5:31-33 The dearest and most sacred of other ties must be given up for the wife, “ for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife.” The word “ leave” in this pass age is a very strong word, it means “ leave,” with an emphasis upon the leave. The force is, utterly leave. The word translated “ cleave to” is another very strong word, and the word trans lated “ his” before “ wife” is a stronger word than the word translated “ his” before father and mother. The Holy Spirit would set forth in the most emphatic way possible the wife’s claim upon the affections of her husband. In \comparison to cleaving to her, we should leave utterly even those who are united to us by the dearest of other ties. This was God’s ordination in the original institution of marriage (Gen. 2:24). Woe to the man, or father or mother, who dares to violate this first law God laid upon man. The world is full of misery today because of contempt for this law of God. Fathers, and even more, mothers, will persist in stepping in between their sons and their wives and their daughters and their husbands and demand for themselves an affection or, a love equal to the love that the son bears for the wife, or the daughter bears for her husband. This is contrary to God’s clear ordination. Marriage is the most sacred of all human ties. Mar riage is so sacred “ for this cause,” viz., because it is a type of Christ’s relation to His Church. “ This mystery (i. e., the secret once hidden from man, but now revealed in the gospel, the secret of Christ’s being the husband of the Church) is great.” Indeed it is, it is marvelous. Paul goes on to say that it is in the marriage relation between “ Christ and the Church” that verse 31 is fully true. He says very distinctly in regard to the marriage relation, “ I
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