A SERMON,

BY THE REV. J. H. EVANS, M.A.

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 12, 1846.

"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. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."-John xvii, 21-23.

I ENDEAVOURED to show, last Lord's day morning, that there must be a sense in which this prayer of our Lord must have been accomplished; for if not, then should we be at painful uncertainty as to the accomplishment of any one of those things for which He prayed. That it appears so feebly to have been fulfilled, as 1 endeavoured then to show, is because the working out of it stands intimately connected with our own diligent use of the means; as they are always imperfectly used, feebly used by us, so is the manifestation of the blessing consequently comparatively weak. No one can deny this to be the true reason. 66 Sanctify them through Thy truth," we read in the seventeenth verse; but who ever expects that that will be accomplished in any other way than in our own diligent use of the means God has appointed? In the fifteenth verse the Lord prays "that we might be kept from evil," and in the eleventh verse that the Lord would keep us-"keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me;" but who does not connect the means of grace that God has appointed for us, with our enjoyment of the blessing? Oh! that the Lord may keep any of you from the opposite mistaken opinion. It is one of the great delusions of Satan. VOL. XIII.-No. 453.-September 3, 1846.

Y

This truth, then, the manifestation of the unity of the Church, stands connected with our use of those means, and our living on those principles which God hath unfolded in His own precious Gospel. But that there is a sense in which this truth has been accomplished, I endeavoured to place before you by a view of the day of Pentecost, where it had its primary accomplishment. Who cannot see the unity of heart of the apostles? who cannot see the unity of doctrine? who cannot see the unity of purpose, that marked those beloved men of God? And who can see the effects, as displayed on the day of Pentecost, without seeing that there was then a glorious fulfilment of this very prayer? Ah! shall you and I ever see such a day? There were three thousand converts just brought to the truth; " and they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people."

I remarked too, that this prayer had its partial accomplishment in the gathering in of Jew and Gentile; "for through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." And a most glorious accomplishment it was, in its sense, and in its degree; so that we can say now, as in the third of the Colossians, "There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all." Though the prejudice of the Jew be strong, and the prejudice of the Gentile as strong, yet in Christ they are one; "the middle wall is broken down," and in Christ there is but one family, whether Jew or Greek.

I also remarked, that in a partial degree there is the accomplishment of this petition of our blessed Master, in the very present state of the Church; that there is a real substantial unity in the Church of God at this moment. Upon that I laid some degree of stress; but as I shall again touch on it in this sermon, I will not repeat what I then asserted.

It will only have its accomplishment in a brighter day, when the Lord Jesus shall gather in all His into one; when He shall take possession of His own throne, and shall "reign before His ancients gloriously." Then it shall be seen that they are one! Ah! what a day, when all shall be brought in from the four corners of the earth, and all bow before Him, " King of kings, and Lord of lords."

Here are two points, which I would desire your prayerful conside

ration of may the Lord grant to you and me a wise and discerning eye, a wise and discerning mind, for this perhaps (as I conceive) one of the most difficult chapters in God's Word! First, let us consider what is that unity, for which our Lord here prays: much is said of it in these three verses, and therefore we must pay some attention to all the particulars which are given to us here. And then, secondly, let us observe the end-the object for which our Lord prayed for this unity. "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. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one : and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."

I. First, what 'is the unity that our Lord prays for? What is the degree of unity? what the nature of unity?

This is one of many passages, in which it will be well for us to recognise this principle always-that the utmost extent of the words is not to be taken. There are many such passages in God's Word—the Bible abounds with them-in which we are to determine by the context what our Lord means, and not by the mere sound of the words. We are not to go to the utmost extent of these words, and for this manifest reason-because that would lead us up to such a view of the unity of the Church, as the world could have no judgment of—could not see, could not know, could not appreciate. How could "the world believe," then, that of which they had no anticipation? There are expressions in these three verses, which so understood would take us up into some deep, mysterious and unfathomable union, of which the world could not judge, and for which it never would be the better.

Yet, that there is a deep and mysterious sense in the passage, I have no hesitation to acknowledge. That there are many intimations of it, I dare not deny. I cannot agree with those who think, that there is only reference to manifested unity; I cannot think it comes up to the expressions. Just let me turn to them, and pray as I read them. "As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in us." "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have

given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.” No doubt there are deeply mysterious truths in all this. And yet, beloved, it is quite clear—the first principle is clear, that it must be some manifestation of this principle by its effects, of which alone the world can judge. It can only know the working out of the principle by its tendencies; and therefore the great end and drift of our Lord was, that to the world at large might be seen, by the unity of His people, the Church, in their mutual forbearance and love, kindness and tenderness, something of that inward and higher principle of unity, of which He speaks. Still, the great subject is the manifested unity of the Church of God.

And observe, in the first place, that it is a unity already given, as to its root and its base. Observe, "the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one." I do not by any means understand that as the same with the future glory in a subsequent verse-"I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory;" that was to be bestowed on them, but this was already given—they already had it—in its root and principle. Were I to paraphrase the passage, I should do it thus, if I am in possession of the mind of God in it, and am not deceived. The Lord saith, "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them;"'glory hath been given Me as God-Man, man in God, partaking of the nature of God, partaking as it were in My humanity of the Divine nature, filled with Thy Spirit, as Thy receptacle of grace, Thy treasury of grace, that I may convey that grace and that blessing to the world around Me. Thus have I given it to them, that they too may be one with Me, and thus one with Thee; that they, as Thy receptacles, may be Thy conveyancers, and convey this grace to those around them.' I believe that to be the spirit of the passage. "The glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them;" they are to convey from them that which I have received from Thee, and have conveyed to them. As through Me they are one in covenant, justified together, pardoned together, accepted together, adopted together, regenerated together -one family-so may they be Thy witnesses together; receiving grace from Thee, one in heart, one in purpose, one in endeavour, one in mind, to disseminate Thy truth, and to disperse Thy Gospel.

And though it be primarily of the apostles, yet is it not exclusively; it belongs to the whole Church of the living God. "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them;" I receiving it from Thee in order to dispense it-they receiving it from Me that they may disperse it too.

"I in

Not only is it a glory already given, however, but I perceive it to be a perfection of unity. Observe the twenty-third verse: them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one." Does our Lord pray that they might be perfectly justified? They were so; they could not be more so. Does He pray that they might be perfectly sanctified? That is not the position of His Church upon earth; though there is all fulness treasured up in Him, and it should be our ceaseless aim to press on for more conformity to His blessed image day by day, and hour by hour, yet perfect sanctification is not the portion of His Church upon earth. Does He pray that they may be perfectly glorified? No; He says, “ད pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world," and as long as they were in the world, they could not be perfectly glorified. But He prays that they might be perfectly united; that having one God, one Spirit, one Bible, one Gospel, one covenant, they might have one end and one heart, be one in aim, one in purpose, and show forth the blessed unity of the Gospel in its sanctifying effect throughout the world.

Nor is this the whole of what is here intended. I think I perceive, that the very high and mysterious union between the Father and the Son set forth in the twenty-first verse, is set forth as the pattern of what unity ought to be among the people of the living God: 66 as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee." We seem taken up to a height, in which we can hardly breathe; it is an atmosphere in which we can hardly move: "" as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." My dear hearers, the Father and the Son have one nature; they have one spirit; they have the same attributes; and so far as the people of God are led by the same Spirit, they too are partakers of the same nature and of the same attributes. If you ask me what I mean, I would simply explain in one word: just in proportion as I live with God, and walk in Christ, and live by faith, the very same things that belong to my brother, belong to me; that which forms my brother's trials, forms