The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 176

from his iD~rcession to admonish the Ephesian Christians about the necessity of oulti- TI\ting lcrwline&ll of mind and mutual consideration, that in the Churoh there may be preserved "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It is plain from the verses that follow that Paul's conviction was that the Divine glory could only be manifested in a Church thoroughly unit.ed. To the all-important subject of the unity of the Church we are consequently led. I. CoNSIDER TBE llNIFYING FACTS. (Vers. 4-6;) Paul here lays before the Ephesians certain great facts which are meant to contribute to this unity of the Church. These facts we had better enumerate in barest outline. 1. There ie one body. This refers to the solidarity of believers, who, so far from being independent units, are depeni3.ent parts of one great organism of which Christ is the Head. The unity of the Church is thus shown to be organic, and lying deep down in the nature of things. 2, There is one Spirit. For to the existence of a body there must be a spirit.. The body, the Church:, is per,aded by the Spirit, the Holy Ghost. It would be a corpse but for this indwelling. 3. There is one hope in all the called ones. The unity of hope is surely a remarkable fact. All the called ones have their faces set towards the future as the golden age, 'I-hen their id('a]s shall be realized. Christianity is the religion of hope, the one religion which denies that the former times were better than these, or that 'the golden age is behind us. 4. One Lord. J esns reigns as the Church's living Head. He as Mediator is the Source of :ill authority in the Church. His lordship or headship is a fact which calls for unity. 5. One faith. This asserts that the truth is one. Error is manifold, bnt the truth a.s it is in Jesus is one. It seems to onr latitudinarian age almost heresy to affirm the nnity of the Christian faith. But seeing that its substance consists in facts, it would be msdness to relegate these to the region of uncertainty. 6. One baptism. This is baptism int-0 the one :Kame of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matt. xxvili. 19), so that the Divine Name unifies the baptized believers. "The doctrine of baptism" is reduced t-0 a significant unity thereby. 7. "One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all" (Revised Version). This is the seventh and last of the unifying facts. The fatherhood of God, all-embracing, all-pervading, speaks of family unity and rebukes all discord. In presence of such facts the wonder is that division could be entertained. II. CoNHIDER TEE UNIFYING GIFTS. (Vers. 7-12.) More has been done towards the, unity of the Church than confront believers with unifying facts, even in their sevenfold perfection. The ascended Sav:iour has bestowed unifying gifts upon his believing people. We need not tarry over the humiliation by which Christ secured them-a, humiliation down to the lower parts of the earth, and involving the tenanting of the tomb and the region of the dead. We hasten to the glorious gifts themselves, which come ont of the hands of the ascended and glorified Christ. And here we have : . L .Apostles. We may well restrict the term to the selected witnesses of our Lord's resurrection, the noble band who WTonght most earnestly for the unity of the Church. 2. Prophets. The inspired ones, whose inspiration was always on the lines of Christian nnity ; for the will of God which they conveyed to men is that believers should be one. 3. E,rongel.ists. Men like Timothy or Apollos, who go forth with the one message, thereby promoting nnity in the Church of God. 'l'he gospel is not a manifold, as we have seen, bnt a unity, and he who proclaims it with simplicity and earnestness C?n• tributes thereby t-0 the unity of the Church. 4. Pastors and teacher/!,, These gifts are less special, and consequently more important. True pastors, true teachers for God will aim at "the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ." The note of a Divine gift is the desiru to promote • the alJ-important unity. Is it not a glorious thought that orders of men have been established by Christ for this special purpose of promoting the unity of the Church? Ill Coi,;srnER THE UNIFYING DEVELOPMENT. (Vers. 13-16.) The unifying process is to be educationa~ a:id ao progressive. The unity will not spring full-grown and panoplied l_ikc Minerva from the head of Jov~, but.it wi)l grow, as knowledge gr?ws and bndly feeling, "from more to more." And in this patie~t devclop_ment Jcs~s 1s _to 1e <Jur Ideal, and his fulness and perfection the goal for which we strive, Takmg him as <Jur fitan2ard of excellence, we arc to h,row up into him in all things; and if we do, , ::.;ty must reimlt. And here we should observe: 1. Our development will carry u, l':'j'ff.d cl,i/1.,.,h vw:ulr,tir,n. (Ver. H.) For there iR :votliing so detrimental to unity as OH. IV, 1-32.) THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.