of these, which shyly reveals itself, now and again,
in one or more of them, but is independent of all, and when all of them
are wanting, still constitutes us _one_. And what is that bond of
union but the possession of a common spiritual life, like that which
unites the Father and the Son, and which pervades us also, making us
one with each other, because we are already one with God?

You may not care to admit it; you may even be ignorant of the full
meaning of this marvellous fact; you may live an exclusive life, never
going beyond the walls of some small conventicle, or the barriers of
some strict ecclesiastical system; you may bear yourself impatiently
and brusquely toward those who differ from you; you may even brand them
with your anathema: but if they are one with God, by His gracious
indwelling Spirit of Life, and if you are also one with Him, you
positively cannot help being one with them. Your creed may differ, or
your mode of worship, or your views about the Church; but you cannot be
otherwise than one with those who are one with God, in a union which is
not material but spiritual.

II. THIS ONENESS ALSO ADMITS OF GREAT VARIETY.--"One, as Thou, Father,
art in Me, and I in Thee." Now, of course, we all admit the unity of
the Godhead. The first article of the Jew is also the first article of
the Christian, that the Lord our God is one God, one in essence, one in
purpose, one in action. The Son does nothing of Himself; the Father
does nothing apart from the Son; the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the
Father and the Son. We cannot, as yet, understand this mystery; but
with reverence we accept it as the primary basis of our faith.

But though God is One, there is evidently a variety of function in the
ever-blessed Trinity. The Father decrees, the Son executes. The
Father sends, the Son is sent. The Father works in Creation, the Son
in Redemption and Judgment. And the functions of both Father and Son
differ from those of the Holy Spirit.

If, then, the unity of the Church is to resemble the unity of the
Godhead, according to our Lord's request, we may expect that it will
not be physical, nor mechanical, nor a uniformity; but it will be a
variety in unity--a unity of Spirit and purpose, and yet a unity which
admits of very diverse functions and operations. Diversities of gifts,
but the same Spirit. Differences of administrations, but the same
Lord. Diversities of operations, but the same God which worke