The end comes: God is all in all. At this furthest horizon of thought, Christ and His own are seen together rendering to God unceasing glory.
"It is good we return unto the ancient bond of unity in the Church of God, which was _one faith_, _one baptism_, and not _one hierarchy_, _one discipline_; and that we observe the league of Christians, as it was penned by our Saviour Christ, which is in substance of doctrine this: _He that is not with us is against us_; and in things indifferent and but of circumstance this: _He that is not against us is with us_."--LORD BACON: _Certain Considerations touching the better Pacification and Edification of the Church of England_, addressed to King James I.
"I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
"There is one body, and one Spirit, Even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all."
EPH. iv. 1-6.
This Encyclical of St Paul to the Churches of Asia is the most formal and deliberate of his writings since the great epistle to the Romans. In entering upon its hortatory and practical part we are reminded of the transition from doctrine to exhortation in that epistle. Here as in Romans xi., xii. the apostle's theological teaching, brought with measured steps to its conclusion, has been followed by an act of worship expressing the profound and holy joy which fills his spirit as he views the purposes of God thus displayed in the gospel and the Church. In this exalted mood, as one sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, St Paul surveys the condition of his readers and addresses himself to their duties and necessities. His homily, like his argument, is inwoven with the golden thread of devotion; and the smooth flow of the epistle breaks ever and again into the music of thanksgiving.
The apostle resumes the words of self-description dropped in chapter iii. 1. He appeals to his readers with pathetic dignity: "I the prisoner in the Lord"; and the expression gathers new solemnity from that which he has told us in the last chapter of the mystery and grandeur of his office. He is "_the_ prisoner"--the one whose bonds were known through all the Churches and manifest even in the imperial palace (Phil. i. 12-14). It was "in the Lord" that he wore this heavy chain, brought upon him in Christ's service and borne joyfully for His people's sake. He is now a martyr apostle. If his confinement detained him from his Gentile flock, at least it should add sacred force to the message he was able to convey. The tone of the apostle's letters at this time shows that he was sensible of the increased consideration which the afflictions of the last few years had given to him in the eyes of the Church. He is thankful for this influence, and makes good use of it.
His first and main appeal to the Asian brethren, as we should expect from the previous tenor of the letter, is an exhortation to _unity_. It is an obvious conclusion from the doctrine of the Church that he has taught them. The "oneness of the Spirit" which they must "earnestly endeavour to preserve," is the unity which their possession of the Holy Spirit of itself implies. "Having access in one Spirit to the Father," the antipathetic Jewish and Gentile factors of the Church are reconciled; "in the Spirit" they "are builded together for a habitation of God" (ii. 18-22). This unity when St Paul wrote was an actual and visible fact, despite the violent efforts of the Judaizers to destroy it. The "right hands of fellowship" exchanged between himself and James, Peter, and John at the conference of Jerusalem were a witness thereto (Gal. ii. 7-10). But it was a union that needed for its maintenance the efforts of right-thinking men and sons of peace everywhere. St Paul bids all who read his letter help to keep Christ's peace in the Churches.