Use 2. It is a ground of hope, we shall all meet together in one assembly: Ps. i. 5, ' The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.' Now the saints are scattered up and down, where they may be most useful ; then all shall be gathered together ; then shall be that great rendezvous, when the four winds shall give up their dead ; then the wicked shall be herded, they shall be bound up in bundles, as straws and sticks bound up together in a bundle serve to set one another on fire, Mat. xiii. 40-42 ; adulterers together, and drunkards together, and thieves together, and so increase one another's torment. So all the godly shall meet in a congregation, and never be separated more. You do not only groan and wait for it, but the departed saints also : Kev. vi. 9, 10, ' I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thoti not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' As in a wreck, those that get first to shore are longing for and looking for their companions. This is the communion between us and saints departed ; they long for our company, as we for theirs ; we praise God for them, they groan for us ; we long and wait, by joint desires, for that happy day.
Use 3. It is an engagement to the churches of all parts to maintain a common intercourse one with another. All maketh but one lx)dy. We should pray for them whom we have not seen in the flesh, Col. ii.
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2, and send relief to them, as the church at Antioch to Jerusalem when the famine was foretold, Acts xi., latter end; and, as God giveth opportunities, meet and consult for one another's welfare. But the world is not ripe for this yet.
Use 4. It giveth you assurance of the continuance of the ministry as long as the world continueth. As long as the world continueth there are elect to be gathered : 2 Peter iii. 9, ' The Lord is not slack con- cerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' The ship tarrieth till all the passengers be taken in, and then they launch out into the deep. The great aim of Christ in keeping up the world is to make his body complete ; and as long as the elect are to be gathered, the ministry is to continue : Eph. iv. 11, 12, ' He gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evange- lists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Clirist.' The workmen are not dismissed till the house be built.
Secondly, Understand it singly and severally, ' That they may be made perfect in one ; ' that is, that there may be a perfect oneness between member and member of Christ's body, or a brotherly affection which one member hath to another.
Observe, no less union will content Christ but what is perfect. This was the aim of his prayers ; then strive for it, wait for it.
1. Strive for it : 1 Cor. i. 10, ' Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment.' We should all strive together, as if we had but one scope, one interest, one heart. We should grow up to this perfection more and more. Oh ! what conscience should we make of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ! If we are not one in opinion, yet we should have one aim and scope. Let us concur in one object and rule, and as far as we have attained to the knowledge of it, let us walk together.
2. Wait for it. The perfection of our communion is in life eternal. Here it is begun, we are growing to the perfect day: Prov. iv. 18, ' The path of the just is as the shining light, that sliineth more and more unto the perfect day.' Tbi Lutherus et Zuinglius optime con- veniunt. We are going thither where Hooper and Kidley, Luther and Zuinglius, shall be of a mind. In heaven they are all of one mind, one heart, one employment ; there is neither pride, nor ignorance, nor factions to divide us, but all agree in one concert.
Secondly, The end as to the world, their conviction, ' That tlie world may know that thou hast sent me, and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.' When is the world convinced, and how ? I shall answer both together — In part here, and fully hereafter.
1. In part here, by Christ's being and working in them, by the life of Christ appearing in their conversations.