+I. There is a union of the visible Church and the members thereof
among themselves, and this is twofold:+ the one necessary to the
being of a Church and being of a Church member, so that a Church
cannot be a Church nor a man a member without it, the tie of which is
God's covenant with the visible Church, and the Church's laying hold
of it; the other necessary to the well-being of the Church, which is
entertained by unity in judgment, in heart and affection, by
concurrences in purposes and actings.
+II. Neither fair pretences for peace and union in the Church, nor
seconded but contradicted by practice, nor yet careless endeavours
easily broken by difficulties, will God accept as the duty required
for preserving or restoring unity.+--There is no less called for than
the utmost of our serious endeavours for that end, so that we not
only eschew what may give cause of rending, but also be not easily
provoked when it is given by others, and when a rent is made spare no
pains for having it removed, and weary not under small appearances of
success.
+III. Whatever differences may fall out among the members of the
Church they are not to break the bond of peaceable walking+ one with
another by factious sidings, but ought to study unanimous and joint
practice in those things wherein there is agreement; and where this
peaceable deportment is, it tends to preserve what remains of
spiritual unity and to regain what is already lost.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 4-6.
_The Sevenfold Unity of the Church reflected in the Trinity of Divine
Persons._
+I. One Spirit+ (ver. 4), the animating Principle of the +one body+
(ver. 4)--the Church; the Source of its life and ever-watchful
Guardian of the Church's unity; the Inspirer of the +one hope,+ "Even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling" (ver. 4). Where the
Spirit of Christ dwells as a vitalising, formative principle, He
finds or makes for Himself a body. Let no man say, "I have the spirit
of religion, I can dispense with forms, I need no fellowship with
men, I prefer to walk with God." God will not walk with men who do
not care to walk with His people. The oneness of communion amongst
the people of Christ is governed by a unity of aim. The old pagan
world fell to pieces because it was without hope; the golden age was
in the past. No society can endure that lives upon its memories, or
that contents itself with cherishing its privileges. Nothing holds
men together like work and hope. Christianity holds out a splendid
crown of life. It promises our complete restoration to the image of
God, the redemption of the body with the spirit from death, and our
entrance upon an eternal fellowship with Christ in heaven. The
Christian hope supplies to men more truly and constantly than Nature
in her most exalted forms--
"The anchor of their purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of their heart, and soul
Of all their moral being."
The hope of our calling is a hope for mankind, nay, for the entire
universe. We labour for the regeneration of humanity. We look for the
actual ingathering into one in Christ of all things in all worlds, as
they are already gathered in God's eternal plan. If it were merely a
personal salvation that we had to seek, Christian communion might
appear to be an optional thing and the Church no more than a society
for mutual spiritual benefit. But seen in this larger light, Church
membership is of the essence of our calling (_Findlay_).
+II. One Lord+ (ver. 5), or Master, whom we are called to serve. A
consentaneous and harmonious obedience to His mandates blends His
servants into one compact unity. +One faith+ (ver. 5), one body of
inviolable truth, one code of Divine commands, one Gospel of promise,
presenting one object of faith. +One baptism+ (ver. 5), one gateway
of entrance into the company of believers forming the one Church, one
initiatory rite common to all. Christians may differ as to the mode
of baptism and the age at which it should be administered, but all
agree it is an institution of Christ, a sign of spiritual renewal,
and a pledge of the righteousness that comes by faith. Wherever the
sacraments are duly observed, there the supremacy of Christ's rule is
recognised, and this rule is the basis on which future unity must be
built.
+III. One God,+ the supreme and final unity, who is "the Father of
all," who is above all, and through all, and in you all (ver. 6).
_Above all_--He reigns supreme over all His people (Rom. ix. 5).
_Through all_--informing, inspiring, stimulating, and using them as
instruments to work out His purpose (Rom. xi. 36). _In all_--dwelling
in and filling their hearts and the ever-widening circle of their
experience. "The absolute sovereignty of the Divine Mind over the
universe," said Channing, "is the only foundation of hope for the
triumph of the human mind over matter, over physical influences, over
imperfection and death." With what a grand simplicity the Christian
conception of the one God and Father rose above the vulgar pantheon,
the swarm of motley deities--some gay and wanton, some dark and
cruel, some of supposed beneficence, all infected with human passion
and baseness--which filled the imagination of the Græco-Asiatic
pagans. What rest there was for the mind, what peace and freedom for
the spirit, in turning from such deities to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ! This was the very God whom the logic of Greek
thought and the practical instincts of Roman law and empire blindly
sought. Through ages He had revealed Himself to the people of Israel,
who were now dispersed amongst the nations to bear His light. At last
He declared His full name and purpose to the world through Jesus
Christ. So the gods many and lords many have had their day. By His
manifestation the idols are utterly abolished. The proclamation of
one God and Father signifies the gathering of men into one family of
God. The one religion supplies the basis for one life in all the
world. God is _over all,_ gathering all worlds and beings under the
shadow of His beneficent dominion. He is _through all_ and _in all_;
an omnipresence of love, righteousness, and wisdom, actuating the
powers of nature and of grace, inhabiting the Church and the heart of
men (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _In the moral as in the material world there is
diversity in unity and unity in diversity._ 2. _All phases of good
find their consummation in an imperishable unity._ 3. _To disturb the
balance of unity is a great evil._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._