The Saints' Meeting; Or, Progress to Glory
T. Adams. Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man… Obs. 1. Teacheth us, that God hath ordained the ministry of the gospel to last to the end of the world. The ministration of the law had an end; but there is none to the ministration of the gospel, before the end of the world. Here may be given a double excellency to the gospel. It is more gracious and more glorious.Obs. 2. This "until" gives matter of exhortation; instructing us to wait with patience for this blessed time; to be content to stay for God's "until." It is a sweet mixture of joy in trouble, the certain hope of future ease. We are got through the gate, let us now enter the city; wherein we shall find five principal passages or streets. 1. What? There shall be a meeting. 2. Who? We, yea, we all: all the saints. 3. Wherein? In unity; that unity. 4. Whereof? Of the faith and knowledge of God's Son. 5. Whereunto? To a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. I. WHAT? "meet." The meeting of friends is ever comfortable: "When the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage" (Acts 28:15). II. WHO? "We." There is a time when the elect shall meet in one universality. III. WHEREIN? "In the unity." A perfect unity is not to be expected in this life; it is enough to enjoy it in heaven. Though a kingdom have in it many shires, more cities, and innumerable towns, yet is itself but one; because one king governs it, by one law: so the Church, though universally dispersed, is one kingdom; because it is ruled by one Christ, and professeth one faith. But that unity which is on earth may be offended, in regard of the parts subjectual to it. What family hath not complained of distraction? What fraternity not of dissension? What man hath ever been at one with himself? I would our eyes could see what hurt the breach of unity doth us. Scilurus's arrows, taken singly out of the sheaf, are broken with the least finger; the whole unsevered bundle fears no stress. We have made ourselves weaker by dispersing our forces. IV. WHEREOF? This unity hath a double reference: first, to faith; secondly, to knowledge. And the object to both these is "the Son of God." 1. "Of the faith." Faith is taken two ways: either passively or actively. Either for that whereby a man believes, or for that which a man believes. So it is used both for the instrument that apprehends, and for the object that is apprehended. (1) If we take it for the former, we may say there is also a unity of faith, but by distinction. Faith is one — one in respect of the object on which it rests, not one in respect of the subject in which it resides. Every man hath his own faith; every faith resteth on Christ: "The just shall live by his own faith."(2) But if me rather take it — for Christ in whom we have believed — we Shall all meet in the unity of those joys and comforts which we have faithfully expected. 2. "Of the knowledge." That knowledge which we now have is shallow in all of us, and dissonant in some of us. There is but one way to know God, that is by Jesus Christ; and but one way to know Christ, and that is by the gospel. Yet there are many that go about to know Him by other ways; they will know Him by traditions images, revelations, miracles, deceivable fables. But the saints shall "meet in the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God"; there shall be union and perfection in their knowledge at that day. V. WHEREUNTO? "To a perfect man." Before, he speaks in the plural number of a multitude, "We shall all meet"; now by a sweet kind of solecism he compacts it into the singular — all into one. "We shall all meet to a perfect man." Here lie three notes, not to be balked. 1. This shows what the unity of the saints shall be: one man. O sweet music, where the symphony shall exceedingly delight us, without division, without frets! 2. The whole Church is compared to a man; we have often read it compared to a body, here to a man. 3. Full perfection is only reserved for heaven, and not granted till we meet in glory; then shall the Church be one "perfect man." This implies a spiritual stature whereunto every saint must grow.Whence infer — 1. That we must grow up so fast as we can in this life, joining to faith virtue, to virtue knowledge," etc., (2 Peter 1:5). We must increase our talents, enlarge our graces, shoot up in tallness, grow up to this stature. For God's family admits no dwarfs: stunted profession was never sound. If a tabe and consumption take our graces, they had never good lungs, the true breath of God's Spirit in them. 2. God will so ripen our Christian endeavours, that though we come short on earth, we shall have a full measure in heaven. We have a great measure of comfort here, but withal a large proportion of distress; there we shall have a full measure, "heapen and shaken, and thrust together, and yet running over," without the least bitterness to distaste it. This is a high and a happy measure. Regard not what measure of outward things thou hast, so thou get this measure. (T. Adams.) Parallel Verses KJV: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: WEB: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;