4. Its aspect on your eternal welfare —
[In all the most essential things, all the members of Christ's mystical body are of necessity united : there is " one body," of which you are members : " one Spirit," by which you are animated ; one inheritance, which is the " one hope of your calling;" "one Lord," Jesus Christ, who died for you ; " one faith," which you have all received ; " one baptism," in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, of which you have all partaken ; one God and Father of all, who " is above all," by his essential majesty, and " through all," by his universal providence, " and in you all" by his in- dwelling Spirit* : and shall you, who are one in so many things, be separated from each other so as not to be one in Christian love ? It cannot be : your love to each other is the most indispensable evidence of your union with him : and, if you are not united together in the bonds of love in the Church below, you never can be united in glory in the Church above. If ever then you would join with that choir of saints and angels which are around the throne of God, be consistent, be uniform, be humble ; and let love have a complete and undisputed sway over your hearts and lives.]
1 ver. 4 — 6.
Eph. iv. 4 — 6. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
IT is often urged, as an objection against Chris- tianity, that those who profess it are not agreed re- specting the doctrines which it inculcates : and we are triumphantly urged to come to an agreement amongst ourselves, before we attempt to proselyte others to our religion. That persons calling them- selves Christians differ widely from each other, is readily acknowledged. But it must be remembered, that Christianity is not a mere theory, which leaves men at liberty in relation to their practice : it is a religion which requires its votaries to have their whole souls brought into subjection to it, and cast, as it