[2.] Let them be one in heart, and with joint consent carry on this great charge that is committed to them. So did the apostles, by unanimous consent, divide their labours for the edification of the world, and kept a fellowship among themselves : Gal. ii. 9, ' They gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto
324 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XIX.
the heathen, and they to the circumcision ;' with such concord and agreement was this great work managed between them ; for all this did Christ pray. And this suiteth witii the pattern in the text, ' As we are one.' As between the Father and the Son there was a mutual agreement in the carrying on the work of redemption, so between the apostles in carrying on the doctiiue of redemption.
Secondly, In what manner doth Christ pray for it ? Here some take this only as a new petition, different from the former ; he had prayed for preservation, now for unity. But there is a causal particle, 'iva, and therefore some connection : Jm may be taken specificcdivc, kee}) them, by making them one ; the safety of the churcli de[)endetb much upon the unity of it. Or terminativc, keep them, that they maj be one.
I had intended, because of the necessity of the matter, to have spokec of the union of the church with Christ, and then with one another. But because he chiefly prayeth for the apostles (though others are not excluded), and because the union of the church, as one body, ani- mated with the same Spirit, will fall under discussion in ver. 21 and 23, I shall adjourn it to that place.
Only now I shall observe —
1. How much Christ's heart is set upon the unity and oneness of his members. Here he praj'eth for the apostles ; in ver. 21 he prayeth the same for all believers. Ujoon this occasion let us see how much it was in the aim of Christ.
[1.] Therefore was he incarnate. He united the divine and human nature in his own person, that he might unite us to God by himself, and with one another. God and man had never been one in covenant if they had not first been one in person. The hypostatical union maketh way for the mystical. It was the main end of Christ's coming into the world, Eph. i. 10, ' That in the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ.' The angels and blessed spirits, and the saints in all nations, have communion with us in Christ under the same head. He would gather the elect rational creatures into a body, one with God in Christ, saints and angels. As all the heads of a discourse are summed up in the conclusion, so Christ would draw all into one body. He took a natural body that he might have a mystical body. Christ would not only leave us the relation of friends and brethren, but fellow-members. He would gather together all into one ; not only into one family, but into one body. Brothers that have issued from the same womb, that have been nursed with the same milk, have been divided in interests and affections, and defaced all feelings of nature ; Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, are sad instances. But this mischief is not found in members of the same ])ody ; there is no contestation and disagreement. Who would use one hand to cut off another ? or divide those parts, which preserve the mutual correspondence and welfare of all ? Again, brothers, if they do not hurt one another, they do not care for one another ; each liveth to himself a distinct life apart, and studieth his own advantage. But it is not so in the body ; each member liveth in the whole, and the whole in all the members ; and they all exercise their several functions for the common good : 1 Cor. xii. 25, * The members should have the
VeR. 11.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVIT. 325
same care one of another.' We arc not friends and brethren, but members.
[2.] No one thinj^ is so much inculcated in his sermons : John xv. 17, ' These things I command you, that 5-0 love one another.' Will you take a charge from a dying man ? This was the great charge that Christ left at his death ; it was a legacy as well as a precept. Speeches of dying men are wont to be received with much veneration and reve- rence, especially the charge of dying friends. The brethren of Joseph, fearing lest he should remember the injuries done to him in seeking his life, selling him into Egypt, they use this plea, Gen. 1. 16, 17, ' Thy father commanded us before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin ; for they did thee evil : and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.' We count it a piece of natural honesty to fulfil the will of the dead. When Christ took his leave of the disciples, this was the charge that he left upon them. Therefore when thy heart beginneth to be exulcerated, con- sider, What love do I bear Christ, since I do not respect his last commandment ? Again, as it was Christ's last commandment, so it was his new commandment : John xiii. 34, ' A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another ; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.' It was his solemn charge ; a new command- ment ! How new, since it was as old as the moral law or law of nature? New because excellent, 'as a new song;' or new because solemnly and expressly renewed by him and commended to their care ; as new things and new laws are much esteemed and prized ; Christ would have this commandment always new and fresh ; or new because enforced by a new argument : ' As I have loved you, so should ye love one another.' When we see how much Christ hath loved us, even to the death of the cross, we may learn to love with a new kind of love : E'X2')e7^ti amorem meum tarn novum et inaudiium. This was a new kind of love indeed, to enkindle love in our souls. Christ gave us such a new kind of love as was never seen nor heard of. Christ came from heaven to propound us a pattern of charity ; as to repair and preserve the notions of the Godhead by the greatness "of his sufferings, so to show us a pattern of charity, and to elevate duty between man and man : Eph. v. 2, ' Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet- smelling savour.' In Christ's example we see the highest pattern of love : John xv. 9, ' As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.' His Father loved him with an infinite love, yet parted with him for the salvation of men ; and Christ parted with himself, and all to raise our love to God and men the higher. But I digress.