CHAPTER VII. The Unity of the Faith. Till we all arrive into an uniformity of faith, and of the know. ledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Eph. iv. 13.* THE apostle Paul has in his eye here, a situation in conducting to which the children of God, the united labours of prophets, and apostles, and evangelists, and teachers, were to contribute. By the properties which he ascribes to this state, such as an uniformity of trust and an uniformity of knowledge, and of attainment to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, it is evident that it cannot be meant of this world, but must unquestionably belong to a more exalted sphere. In this passage there is intimated, 1st. A place of general meeting. 2dly. That being in this place, a uniformity of trust, and of the knowledge of the son of God, will be the common lot of all. 3dly. That there will be in all a measure of attainment, termed the perfect man, of which the standard is Messiah himself. * In seculo futuro omnes erunt æquales, ad humero uno invocandum nomen meum & colendum illud. 1st. A place of general meeting. This meeting is to be a general one, not in the most extended sense, but only as comprehending all those who are of the household of faith. This place is the center of union, to which souls repair from every quarter of the earth. They come," says our Lord, "from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God." In the 12th verse, the preparatory work for this general meeting, is expressed in three different ways, which, although they amount to the same thing, yet each mode of expression gives an intimation of something that is not contained in the others. 1st. It is for the restoration of the saints, who, like joints in a state of dislocation, were now to be reduced, and put in their proper places. 2d. The work of the ministry. "The government which rested on the shoulders of Messiah," in the carrying on of which, different officers have been employed under the different dispensations of religion. 3d. For building up, that is, a preparing by previous discipline, souls before they are gathered into this general assembly. The term (Mechri) until, is expressive of the flux of ages, many of which must pass away before this place of meeting is filled up to its due compliment. CHAPTER VII. The Unity of the Faith. Till we all arrive into an uniformity of faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Eph. iv. 13.* THE apostle Paul has in his eye here, a situation in conducting to which the children of God, the united labours of prophets, and apostles, and evangelists, and teachers, were to contribute. By the properties which he ascribes to this state, such as an uniformity of trust and an uniformity of knowledge, and of attainment to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, it is evident that it cannot be meant of this world, but must unquestionably belong to a more exalted sphere. In this passage there is intimated, 1st. A place of general meeting. 2dly. That being in this place, a uniformity of trust, and of the knowledge of the son of God, will be the common lot of all. 3dly. That there will be in all a measure of attainment, termed the perfect man, of which the standard is Messiah himself. * In seculo futuro omnes erunt æquales, ad humero uno invocandum nomen meum & colendum illud. ist. A place of general meeting. This This meeting is to be a general one, not in the most extended sense, but only as comprehending all those who are of the household of faith. place is the center of union, to which souls repair from every quarter of the earth. They come," says our Lord, "from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God." In the 12th verse, the preparatory work for this general meeting, is expressed in three different ways, which, although they amount to the same thing, yet each mode of expression gives an intimation of something that is not contained in the others. 1st. It is for the restoration of the saints, who, like joints in a state of dislocation, were now to be reduced, and put in their proper places. 2d. The work of the ministry. "The government which rested on the shoulders of Messiah," in the carrying on of which, different officers have been employed under the different dispensations of religion. 3d. For building up, that is, a preparing by previous discipline, souls before they are gathered into this general assembly. The term (Mechri) until, is expressive of the flux of ages, many of which must pass away before this place of meeting is filled up to its due compliment. A general union of the children of God cannot take place here. Even when dwelling in the same city, they, for the most part, live and die unknown to one another; how much more must this be the case, when they are separated by difference of opinion or of language; when they are divided by seas and continents? An uniformityof trust in, and of the knowledge of the son of God, is absolutely incompatible with the present state, in which a man shall not only differ from others, but even at times from himself; whereas, here, a place is referred to, where this knowledge and trust shall reach one standard-remain invariably the same, and be equal in all. Such a state as this, can have no existence after the resurrection, because faith shall then be advanced into the full enjoyment of what it was expecting. It follows that this must be during the interval between death and the last judgment. 2dly. That there, a uniformity of trust, and of the knowledge of the son of God, will be the common lot of all. In this world, the faith of the people of God exists in very different degrees. So in like manner with respect to their knowledge of Christ, the same inequality obtains. In trust, some shall be strong and others weak: in knowledge, some shall stand high and others low: and these shades of difference may be as great in number as the different |