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of the church, must be the result of constraint on the one side, and of indifference or weakness on the other; the usurpings of ambitious authority, and the yielding of the spirit of feebleness in submission to it. It is a worthless impounding of the divergent spirits of men, under the mere key of terrifying force, instead of the transformation of them by the inwardly renewing and subduing influence of spiritual and unchanging truth. It is a shell to cover, merely, and not a substance to abide. In such a system Satan accomplishes the destruction of men in two entirely separate ways, by the power of superstition within, and by the power of infidelity without. If you allow external toleration in religious concerns, you have necessarily external variety, the natural result of freedom. If you refuse it, you make the alternative of submission, infidelity-the inevitable product of constraint. Rome refuses toleration, and in doing it, has all the responsibility of propagating infidels. It says to surrounding men who look upon its system, "You shall be this or nothing, for no other system shall be allowed." And men reply, "Then we will be nothing," and they abide by their choice. And whether they are brought in, or excluded, Satan's plan in their destruction is equally secured. External minute uniformity is not the Lord's plan of oneness for his people.

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The unity of the Gospel, the unity which it gives to man, and enjoins upon man, and by which the Church of God is known, in opposition to all the divisions of men, is a spiritual unity; which though consistent with much outward diversity, is real, operative and permanent. Ye are all one in Christ Jesus." It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the hearts in which he dwells and rules; the result of which is an everlasting and unchangeable oneness of such souls thus renewed, in their relations to God, and to each other. It is an unity of motive, by which every true Christian, every real member of the body of Christ, is led to desire only and above all things the promotion of the divine glory. It is an unity of desire, by which each one seeks to attain the one mind, and character, and presence of a beloved Lord. It is an unity of purpose and plan, by which every possessor of it is prompted to obey, and honor, and imitate, one Divine Master and Guide of all renewed souls. It is an unity of spiritual experience, in which each one has been enlightened and quickened by the same Divine Spirit; made to feel the same burden of guilt; to be conscious of the same personal deficiencies; to seek the same provisions of divine mercy; to accept the same complete salvation in Christ; to find pardon in the same fountain of love; to depend on the same inward spiritual power, divinely bestowed; to ask for the same gifts of grace; to rest upon the same Almighty victorious arm; to hope for the same eternal glory; to confide in the same perfect obedience; and to fasten all their hopes and joys upon the same infinite sufficiency of one Glorious Reigning Lord. It is a unity of relation, which has joined together vast multitudes who have no outward knowledge

of each other, in one eternal and indissoluble bond, an unity which in this view expresses itself habitually in prayer, in sympathy, in love, in spiritual aid, and which in this operation, is made the grand instrument of the Holy Ghost in enlarging this heavenly companionship, and of gathering lost and perishing souls into the shelter which is thus displayed. It is an unity of affection and feeling, which the Apostle calls the most perfect bond which can subsist among men. Put on charity, which is the bond of perfection!" far higher, more real, more operative, more lasting, more divine, than all the possible bonds of intellectual agreement, or accordance in outward discipline.

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Here is unity, real, actual oneness. A oneness which brings vast multitudes who had no common relations but the needs, and guilt, and feebleness of a common humanity, into one spiritual connection from which they go no more out. Here is" one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and in all, one body, one spirit, one hope of one divine calling." How can there be greater unity among independent, intelligent beings? In what do they differ, which is not temporary and comparatively unimportant? In what do they agree, which can ever fade or perish? Surely the boasted unity in discipline of Papal Rome is nothing in comparison of this. That is the oneness of bodies which are alike, because all are dead, and motionless, and without selfcontrol. This is the union of living agents who are one, because all perfectly agree in the same great and choral harmony of love, and activity, and praise. That is the organized working of a machine, in which every automaton figure obeys the will of him who directs the motion of the whole. This is the combined energy of responsible beings, who, moved by the same spirit, accord in voluntary united operation, to produce the same great and desired result. That is the valley of Ezekiel, when its bones were scattered and were alike, because all were bleached and dry. This is the same valley where the army stood forth clothed in the activity, and endowed with the powers of a new life, and the one Spirit of God breathed from every quarter, upon the standing host, and they lived and moved, and acted, and went forth to victory, under his single heavenly guidance. This is unity, entire, actual, operative unity. But it is perfectly consistent with great outward diversity of nation, and language, and form of worship; with much and wide differences of judgment upon many unessential points of mere intellectual perception; with very differing conceptions of truth progressively understood, and as yet, but very partially discerned by any. This blessed oneness of heart and feeling must govern in the domestic circle. Wretched is the house which has it not. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is peace and order, as well as liberty. It must rule in the individual congregation of professing Christians, uniting in the same house of prayer, for worship and mutual edification. It must there oppose and correct all the divisions which

jealousy and earthly pride, or selfish interest may tend to produce. Here men are to be all of one mind, to love as brethren, to be pitiful and courteous, to be of the same mind one toward another, according to Christ Jesus. In the whole Church of God it must be the governing principle, extending its influence, and embrace not merely within the limits of one particular outward communion, but to the whole company of God's people,-to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

It is an union, however, with the people of God alone,-with real manifest believers in the Lord Jesus, with the true servants of the Most High, which seeks them for its objects here, because they are to be its eternal objects hereafter; and which renounces for them, the society and fellowship of the unbelieving, superstitious and profane. Whoever is to dwell with us forever in the Saviour's glory, must be united with us, in our exercise of sympathy and love upon the earth. And though we may differ, and must differ, in judgment and perception, and conclusions here, yet there need be no divisions, envyings, or strife. Whereto we have already attained, we are to walk by the same rule, we are to mind the same thing. Our union is not to be with the ungodly, or profane; or with this evil world, whose friendship is enmity with God; but with the people of the living God. Union with them for efforts to advance his glory, and to establish his truth, we have no right to withhold or to refuse. We are bound to edify them,-we have no authority to destroy them. To withhold our fellowship and co-operation in the Saviour's work for those whom we really believe to be his servants, in the extent to which we are able to impart it, must always

be sin.

This is an unity whose duration will be eternal. The bond by which the renewed people of God are bound together on earth is the bond which unites them all to Christ. It is an imperishable bond. It is the work of a spirit of almighty and undying power. It is the operation of a plan of grace which was formed in an eternity past, and which will abide in an eternity to come. The principles upon which it is formed, and by which it is governed, are the inseparable elements of a purified, intelligent mind. And when all the bonds of earthly circumstances, the outward conformations of ministries and ordinances have passed forever away, the whole company of God's elect, the real church and body of Christ, shall stand up together in an imperishable fellowship, known by one name, animated by one spirit, combined together in one glorious employment for eternity. The chaff of material organizations, whose protection was needful for a season, shall have been swept from the floor; and the wheat of abiding principle, of sympathy, and peace, and love, and truth, shall be gathered into the garner, and remain forever.

II. In opposition to this enjoined and required unity of the

Christian body, the Apostle solemnly declares, that divisions, envyings, and strife are carnal. He does not mean mere differences of opinion, of judgment, even upon important points of doctrine,differences which were found and tolerated, not only among the apostolic churches, but among the apostles themselves. They received different measures of divine light, and their conclusions and views of duty varied accordingly. And the Holy Spirit has thought fit to record this important fact, and to show how, in the case of Peter, (compare his Epistles with the Epistle to the Galatians,) even in an inspired man, increasing experience brought out a clearer and better understanding of the Gospel in the closing years of life. That the whole Church of Christ should be of one judgment and habit, in external conformity, can never be expected, nor is it in all respects to be desired. The divisions against which the apostle warns, are such as spring from envy and result in strife. They are carnal, carnal in their origin. It is not truth, nor the love of truth, which promotes them, but often extreme hostility to truth, and to the spirit which real truth imparts. They are carnal in their influence. Nothing more certainly disturbs and destroys the spiritual mind. They break up all peace and joy within the soul. They destroy all the holiness and power of the Church without. They are carnal in their effects. They separate real brethren from each other; and often divide into unnecessary and lasting hostility, those who are partakers of common privileges and blessings. They are the walk and the course of men, merely selfish in their purposes and operations, eager for personal aggrandizement, careless of mutual injury. Sad indeed is it that such a course should ever be introduced into the Church of Christ. But blessed be God, they are carnal in their duration also. They belong to the earth, and they will perish with the earth from which they spring. The servants of the Lord will soon outlive them, and pass beyond the field of their operation and influence. The hour will come, when they shall be mere men no longer, but equal unto the angels, as the children of the resurrection, they shall have the one mind which was in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Let such a system have no dominion among us. Let us strive to walk not as men, but as the servants of the living God. Let us avoid these contentions among Christians and those who originate them. Let us look less at the facts in religion which are temporary and fading, and more at those which are permanent and unchangeable, less at mere outward characteristics, and more at the real and spiritual marks of the Church of God:-less at the deficiencies of others, and more at the needs and dangers of our own souls. We are in no danger of loving the true servants of God too much, or of uniting too much with those who are really united to Christ. Let it be our purpose and effort to pray for, and to communicate peace and mercy upon all who walk according to this rule, as the Israel of God.

"FOR WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?"

THIS life, in its history and results, is a fearful reality; yet how prone are we all to spend it as if it were a dream of the night! Probationary life is given as a means to an end-an end, too, of infinite moment to us all; and yet most men live this life away as if there were nothing more desirable than it, and nothing to follow it. Rational being, especially in this gospel-world, is invested with amazing interest and responsibility, yet how many sleep or trifle it away as if it were a stupid or idle scene.

How few upon whom now rests the fearful responsibilities of life, and who are hastening to meet its eternal issues, in heaven or hell, have duly pondered those suggestive words-" What is your life?" or are walking wisely and peacefully in the light which they shed on the question of duty and of destiny? Few men, we fear, take a sober, rational, prayerful view of this present life-in its brevityin the uncertainty of its continuance-in its true and proper endin its relations and duties, obligations and responsibilities-in its connection with death and judgment and retribution-in the certain and eternal fruits and results of it in the future. Right views on this affecting and momentous subject--a subject in which every man has so great an interest at stake-would more powerfully affect the heart and influence the life.

Is this life "a vapor which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away"- -a "shadow flitting o'er the plain”—“ as a dream when one awaketh?" Then how can we reckon on its continuance as we do? How waste on trifles its precious moments, each of which may be the last, and one of which not even Queen Elizabeth's kingdom could buy? How defer to an uncertain future the paramount claims of God and the salvation of the soul?

"Counting on long years of pleasure here,

Though quite unfurnished for the world to come."

Is the salvation of the soul from sin and its fitness for heaven the real and chief end of life? Is this the main end we are to live for? To this single, yet sublime purpose are all things else to yield? Are all earthly questions and interests to be viewed and acted upon only as they stand related to salvation? Is this present world to be

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