Until we all come

By C. Elden McNabb

The Apostle Paul said that God “gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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 fullness of Christ.”

Everything in the Holy Bible is simply wonderful, whether it is seemingly easy to understand or whether we are reading one of the darkest of all passages. The things which pertain to being “born again” and “holiness” are quite simple. If you want your sins forgiven, Jesus said, “You must repent and believe the gospel” (Matt. 1:14-15). Philip carried it a little further when he met the Ethiopian eunuch. “The eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. … And he baptized him” (Acts 8:35-38). When you repent, and confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you are “Born Again.”

Its companion experience is called “Holiness,” or “Sanctification of the Spirit.” In the Old Testament, the birth of a male child, and circumcision were separated by eight days to make it more simple for us to understand that being born again, and being sanctified are two different experiences. Isaiah spoke of the Way of Holiness, saying, “A highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein” (Isaiah 35:8). As you can see, Holiness is not about leadership, or social customs, or any such thing. It is about consecrating ourselves to God, and walking in the light with a pure conscience.

Paul said it this way, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them [idolators], and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).

How simple, and wonderful it is. Once you have received this experience, it is possible for you to conquer both the flesh and the spirit, and cleanse your whole person from all ungodliness. That is not a popular truth among our beloved Christian family, but it is a wonderful experience.

On the other hand, some doctrines, prophecies, and even New Testament epistles are very difficult to understand. They are written in a mystery, such as an allegory or parable. That seems especially true of such prophecies as Daniel, or The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is also true of Paul’s epistle to the Church at Ephesus, simply because it was written to, and about, the Church: the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. In Ephesians 5:20-33, Paul described the relationship between a husband and his wife, and repeatedly compared it to Christ and the Church. Then he told us, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”

Today, very few Christians believe that there is any mystery about the Church, and insist that we preach only on a simplistic level, erroneously teaching that every Christian is part of The Church. Paul’s words to the Ephesians certainly belie that idea. Marriage itself is a “great mystery,” how can “Christ and the Church” not be. Solomon chided us harshly for doing that, saying, “How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge” (Prov. 1:22)?

In Ephesians, chapters two and three, Paul explained how Jesus had broken down the wall – the Law of Moses – that separated the Jews from the Gentiles so that we could both be part of that spiritual temple which is called the Church. He spoke of how Jesus had chosen him to further that cause, and that a dispensation of the grace of God was given to him for them and for us, “to fulfill the Word of God” (Col. 1:25). He spoke of how that by revelation [God] made known unto [him] the mystery; saying, “(As I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph.3:1-5). There are five gifts of the ministry of the New Testament, but only two of them provide the Church with understanding of “the mystery.”

I know that the idea of there being Apostles and Prophets among us today is not well received. However, without them there is no way of knowing anything about God except “Jesus Saves,” and such things as “Sanctification,” and that is the case almost everywhere in The Kingdom of God today. But how can we accept such a simplistic approach to the ministry, when, in Ephesians 3, Paul told us that those gifted ministers were given “To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be know by the Church the manifold wisdom of God?”

Under the Law of Moses, there were five ministries given to foreshadow the New Testament ministry, (Priesthood, Heb. 7:11). Two of them made up the priesthood, to purify the people, and three of them were given to them to perform the other works of the tabernacle and the temple. So it is in the Grace Age. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, has given us five “gifts of the ministry,” and only two of them are able to unravel the mysteries of God for us. The ministers who have been given the gifts of Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher are for the support of the Apostles and Prophets to help them to get the work done of which God has prophesied to precede the coming of the Bridegroom, just as the families of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari were given to Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, as a gift from the Lord, to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation (Num. 18:1-7).

Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, … but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:7-16). I wonder why anyone would not want to be a part of that.

When God executed His plan to give the gifts of the ministry to the New Testament “Priesthood” (Heb. 7:11, 19), He did so to enable them to accomplish a special work which would put the final, glorious touch on the Grace Age. The last thing God created was the woman, the help meet for Adam. On the sixth day of creation, after God created the “first Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45-49), He put him into a deep sleep, took out one of his ribs, closed up the flesh instead thereof, made it a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto His wife and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:21-24).

For those of us who have not yet learned that everything in the Old Testament is a prophecy in the New Testament era, please read Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:13. (I recommend that you do a little study on the subject from the New Testament point of view, and I will be happy to send a list of passages on request.) The Apostle Paul boldly used this fact in 1 Cor. 15:45-47, calling Jesus “The Second Adam.” I find it interesting that Jesus died (defined by Jesus during his ministry as sleep), and shortly thereafter one of the soldiers pierced His side, and “out flowed blood and water.” Paul also told us that Jesus purchased the Church of God “with His own blood.” We are speaking here about the Bride the Lambs wife; not about the bridesmaids or the guests at the wedding. Only Christians will be at the wedding. Some will be bridesmaids, and some guests, but the Bride: the Elect Lady of which John spoke will have the honor of being the “Second Eve.” And that is what the five gifts of the ministry are about. God gave us Apostles and Prophets so He would have a group of ministers equipped with the necessary tools of understanding, to uncover the mystery of Christ and the Church, and a large “support group” to help get that job done in the fulfillment of all of the prophecies which so clearly predict its occurrence. Peter said of Jesus, “Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution (fulfillment) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:18-21). It is high time for those apostles and prophets to begin to “wake out of sleep,” trim their lamps (that is, study and learn the things which I am telling you’re here), and begin to come together in the unity of the faith.

The marriage of the “Second Adam” will occur very soon. Our job is to do the necessary work to prepare a people worthy to receive His name, and become His queen. That work is listed in Ephesians 4:7-16. The responsibility which has been given to those five ministries is, First “The perfecting of the saints;” not a popular concept, which, in the last few years, most people want to water down to “maturing” of the saints. Second, there is “The work of the ministry.” Third, there is “The edifying of the Body of Christ,” until it be “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Paul made it perfectly clear that those ministries would be functioning “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 fullness of Christ.” Fulfilling this commission presents one of the greatest challenges that our Lord has ever presented to His ministers. How can we possibly bring a group of Christians, of any appreciable size, to the unity of the faith, and to the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God? What is it that will make God’s Church into a form which could be justifiably compared to “a perfect man?”

I can assure you that “the measure of the stature of Christ” is not about some man-made creed. It is clearly about the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife reaching the measure which God revealed to John when he went in the Spirit to the third heaven. The angel described the Bride, the Lambs wife as “That great city, the Holy Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:9-10). He described the early Gentile Church as twelve “gates of pearl,” and twelve “angels” who had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on them (Rev. 21:11-13). Then he described the last-days Gentile church as a wall which had twelve foundations. “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a men, that is, of the angel” (Rev. 21: 12-17). This was no ordinary angel. It was Jesus’ personal Angel. Revelation 1:1 begins by telling us that this book is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.”

We can be sure that all of these things must be accomplished before the coming of our Lord and King. God is, even now, beginning to inspire an army of ministers to accomplish His will as is expressed in Ephesians 4:11-13. In Luke 18:8, Jesus asked the question, “When the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?” Today it surely does not appear that there are many Christians who actually believe The Bible. Yet, I believe that God will do all that He said He would. His words cannot fail. It is not a matter of “whether it will be done.” What God has given us these gifts of the ministries to perform, God will see that it is done. Will you believe God with me?

The Angel of the Lord told John that the marriage of the Lamb will come when “His wife hath made herself ready.” We will see “The perfecting of the saints.” We will see “the work of the ministry” accomplished. We will see the “Body of Christ” fully edified. And we will see a sizeable group of believers “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” because Jesus is coming very soon.

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”