2. By your act towards Christ. All the Father's acts are ratified in time by believers ; he ordaiueth, we consent ; he chooseth Christ for Lord and king, and ' they shall appoint themselves one head.' So God's giving of souls to Christ is ratified by the believers' act. As there is a double giving on his part, by way of charge and by way of reward, so there is a double act on our part, committing, and conse- crating ourselves to Christ.
[1.] Committing ourselves to Christ. Can we wholly and abso- lutely resign up our souls into his hands ? The Father is wiser than we ; he knew well enough what he did when he commended us to his Son. Faith is often expressed by ' committing ourselves to Christ ;' it answereth the trust the Father reposed in him : 2 Tim. i. 12, * I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep, irapaOrjK'qv fxou, that which I have committed unto him against that day.' This is not an easy matter, it argueth a sense of danger, a soli- citous care about the soul, and an advised confidence. What care hast thou ever taken to lay thy soul safe ? What confidence hast thou of Christ's ability ? Didst thou think thou couldst be safe without him ? Thou wouldst be an unfaithful guardian. Knowingly canst thou ven- ture eternity on thy present state ?
[2.] Consecrating ourselves to him : Kom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.' Then walk as his, it is dangerous to alienate things once consecrated : 1 Cor. iii. 23, ' Ye are Christ's.' Whatever you have, you must give up to him for his glory. You have nothing at your own dispose, neither tongue, nor heart, nor estate ; as long as a man reserves to himself an interest, he will miscarry. Nabal called what he had, ' My bread, and my water, and my flesh,' 1 Sam. xxv. 11. Did you ever make a serious resig- nation of yourselves to God ? Ps. cxix. 94, * I am thine, save me ; for I have sought thy precepts.'
SERMON XIX.
And noio I am no moi^e in the ivorld, hut these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine oion name those ivhom thou hast given me, thai they may he one, as loe are. —John XVII. 11.
Fifthly, The last ci'-cumstance, ' That they may be one, as we are, is the aim of Christ's request, which is unity and consent among the apostles. It is illustrated by the pattern or exemplar of it, ' As we are one.'
The explicatory questions are two : —
1. What kind of unity this is that is prayed for.
2. Under what respect it is prayed for in this place.
First, What this unity is ? How one ? One in judgment, or one
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in heart, or one body knit together with the same spirit ? I answer — All these ; for consider for whom Christ prayeth, for the disciples of that age, and principally for the college of the apostles ; now saith he, ' Let them be one.' There is a double unity — mystical and moral.
1. Mystical union is the union of believers with Christ the head, and with one another ; with Christ the head by faith, and with one another by love ; tva oicnv ev, understand ev aoiiia ; so it agreeth with the letter of this j^lace, nay, with the meaning. This union of be- lievers in the same body is often compared with the mystery of the Trinity ; and it is elsewhere expressed by one body, as Col. ii, 19, ' And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God ; ' a place full to this purpose, where all believers, in regard of their union with the head, and with one another, are set forth as one body, governed under one head, by one spirit, by which they increase and grow up, till they come to such a kind of unity as is among the divine persons. I cannot exclude this, because where Christ's prayers are indefinite, it is good to interpret them in their full latitude, and according to the extent of his purchase. And yet I think this is not principally intended, because, as I said, Christ chiefly prayeth for the apostles and disciples of that age, not for the church catholic or universal.
2. There is a moral union, and that is twofold — (1.) Consent in doctrine ; (2.) Mutual agreement and concord of affection. As it is said of the church, Acts iv. 32, ' The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one mind.' One heart, that noteth agreement in affection; and one mind, agreement in judgment: for both these doth Christ pray.
[1.] Let them be one in doctrine and judgment. Christ had intrusted them with the weightiest affair the sons of men are capable of, with the promulgation of the gospel ; a doctrine which Christ brought out of the bosom of the Father, and gave it to the apostles, and they to the church ; and Christ obtained that which he prayed for. There is such an exact consent and harmony between the doc- trine of the apostles, that is a sufficient foundation for the faith and unity of the church. For the faith of the church : 1 Cor. xv. 10, 11, ' I laboured more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace of Grod which was with me : therefore whether it were I, or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.' We have no cause to stumble and take offence at the doctrine delivered by the apostles ; though God used several instruments, of different gifts and opportunities of service, yet all were conducted by an infallible Spirit : ' So we preached, all of us,' &c. So for unity and concord in the church : Eph. iv. 3-5, * Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,' &c.