implied in the Lord's intercessory prayer, is not merely, in general, that the world may be brought to have a favourable opinion of Christians and their Christianity, -but that the world may know the Father in the mission of the Son,-or, in other words, may know how the Father hath loved the Son and given him glory, -how the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, how the Father and the Son are one.

CHRISTIAN UNION.

PART THIRD.

THE DIVINE IDEAL AND ITS COUNTERFEIT.

(JOHN Xvii. 21-26.)

THE divine purpose, as it is brought out in the close of our Lord's intercessory prayer, is to reveal God through the Church to the world. But God is known, —and we may add, is knowable,—only in the relation in which the Father stands to the Son. To manifest the Father in that relation is the great end of all the divine dispensations of creation, providence, redemption, and judgment. It is especially, however, through the Church that the manifold wisdom of God is unfolded. And it is through the Church, as reflecting in its own brotherhood the divine Sonship; or as transmitting, through the unity of its own members, an image of the unity in respect of which Christ himself said, "I and my Father are one."

Now the unity of which we speak, it may be proper here to remark, in the fourth place, and in supple

ment of the particulars already noticed, is dependent on the agency of the Holy Ghost.

For it is not the doctrine of the Trinity, or the union of the Three Persons in the One Eternal Godhead, that is chiefly the subject of the Saviour's argument in this prayer ;-although that doctrine is throughout, and necessarily, involved in it. The very absence of all direct allusion to the Holy Ghost proves this. In the farewell discourses of our Lord, as recorded in the three preceding chapters, the agency of the Holy Spirit is the topic on which he delights to dwell:-in his prayer to the Father, the Holy Spirit is not once expressly named or noticed. And the reason is, that the Lord, as Mediator, is praying "in the Spirit;"-"the Spirit making intercession for him." In addressing his disciples, he speaks much to them of the Spirit; in his address to his Father, the Spirit indeed is with him-standing by him and accompanying him in his supplications; but, as is usual in all the work of the Spirit, without speaking of himself.

It is plain, therefore, that the Lord sustains throughout this prayer the character of Mediator,—that he speaks not as God, but as God manifest in the fleshthe angel or ambassador, the missionary or apostle of the Father. And the union between himself and the Father, to which he points as the type and model of the unity of his Church, is not merely that which is implied in the great truth-" that there are three persons in the Godhead, and these three are one God," —though but for that eternal union, this mediatorial union, if we may so call it, could never have been described in the language here used;-but rather the fellowship of love which subsists between the Father

and the Eternal Word,-especially as "the Word made flesh and dwelling among men, full of grace and truth."

In that fellowship, the agency of the Holy Spirit has ever been conspicuous. The communications of the Father's love were thus conveyed to the Saviour in such scenes as those of his baptism and transfiguration, when the Spirit descended upon him, and a voice from heaven proclaimed him to be the only-begotten Son of God. And the frequent expressions used by the evangelists concerning Jesus,-as, that he waxed strong in spirit, that he was led by the Spirit,-that he groaned in spirit,—and so on,-conspire with the whole tenor of his walk with God in the world, to indicate, as it would seem unequivocally, the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. For it was by the anointing of the Holy Ghost that He, like every servant of God, was fitted, not only for doing the Father's will, but for keeping up and realizing that intimate communion with the Father, in respect of which it might be said that "he was in the Father, and the Father in him." And the same Spirit is imparted to those whom he identifies with himself in this prayer, -whether presently, as pointing out the eleven then before him, or prospectively, as embracing such as should believe on him through their word. It is, therefore, by the Holy Ghost dwelling in them, that they become one in the Son, even as the Father and the Son are one.

From all this it would appear, that the unity or union, so earnestly commended and made the subject of such pathetic supplication in this prayer, is far less dependent than is sometimes thought on external organization; and is, in fact, much more simple and

divine. It is true, it must be a visible union-apparent as well as real-patent and palpable to spectators

and such as the world may know and recognise:otherwise it could never lead the world to a knowledge of the Father. At the same time, in whatever measure and in whatever manner it is thus open to observation, it must be as a union, not of man's contrivance, but of God's inspiration.

For in the first place, let it be observed, that this manifestation of union among believers is not given in mere deference to the world's careless or presumptuous demand of a sign. And in fact, in so far as it is a sign at all, it is a sign of such a sort, that when given, and in proportion as it is given, it will generally be found to be more weighty than it is welcome,-more vexing to the uneasy conscience than acceptable to the unrenewed heart.

Thus, for example, it is notoriously the common refuge of infidelity, whether practical or speculative, to upbraid the gospel with the manifold divisions of its disciples. First agree among yourselves, says the sceptic, and then present your claims to us with some reasonable prospect of having them allowed.

Now, give the sceptic what he asks. In haste to take him at his word, let a general convention be called, or, with less stir, let a general peace be assumed. The voice of discord is hushed, or, at all events, is not heard any longer by ears profane. Over all the strife of the schools, silence broods and reigns. Discordant parties entertain proposals of forbearance,-or of submission. Terms of mutual compromise and indulgence are ratified. And, every murmur of dissent