me hope of
eternal life; all having been called to enter the same state of
salvation, in which the prize was within their reach. All had been
taught the same articles of Faith. All had been baptized, with the
same form, into the Name of the Blessed Trinity. And so S. Paul summed
up their bonds of union in these words, "One Body and one Spirit, even
as ye are called in one Hope of your calling; one Lord; one Faith; one
Baptism; one God" (Ephes. iv. 4-6).

But the unity of a Kingdom depends, not merely upon having one Head
and certain general laws and ordinances; but also upon the ready
obedience of the subjects. "Every Kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation" (S. Matt. xii. 25). An earthly kingdom is strong
only when the people are united together in loyally obeying the king,
and the laws, and officers of the kingdom. It is weak when suspicion
and factious opposition prevail; or when the subordinate princes
exercise their authority without respect to the general good. And, if
it does not fall altogether, it is an unhappy kingdom indeed, when
these opposing interests break out into open rupture and civil war.

The case is exactly the same with "The Kingdom of Heaven." It is
strong only as a united Kingdom. And the last prayer of our Lord
before His Passion shows how well the King knew beforehand wherein the
weakness of His Kingdom would consist, which would hinder it from
comprehending the whole world according to His loving design. The
essential unity of the Kingdom was secured, as we have seen above. But
still the strength of His Kingdom, as a united Kingdom, would depend
upon the loyal obedience of His subjects. And He knew that His
subjects would be as much exposed to the evil influence of false
teachers, as the subjects of an earthly king are to the seductions of
the misguided and seditious. And He prayed "That they all may be one;
as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be One
in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (S. John
xvii. 21).

An unhappy tendency to division was soon manifested in the Church. And
S. Paul wrote to "the Church of God which is at Corinth," to rebuke
them for imagining that the founders of the Church were founding
communities in their own names, forgetting that they were the mere
ministers of the King. "While one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I
am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers b