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ALMIGHTY and Everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified, receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before Thee for all estates of men in thy Holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve Thee, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

A

SERMON,

&c.

ST. JOHN xix. part of 23rd verse.

"Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout." WE may readily believe that no circumstance, however apparently trifling, connected with the Incarnation of our Lord, and which had been the specific object of a prophetic announcement, could be without its importance, usefulness, and interest. Not one jot or one tittle of the word of God shall fail. The voice of prophecy had declared that upon the vesture of Christ they should cast lots, and accordingly we read in the verses succeeding the text— "The soldiers therefore said among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots."

To the Christian's mind many thoughts will occur

in connexion with the seamless coat of the Saviour; for it will appear to him to be a representation of that consistency which will ever mark the character of the true disciple of Christ; it will seem in its perfect, undivided formation, to pourtray with a peculiar beauty the absolute oneness of Christian love; and further, it will be recognized as an apt emblem of the unity which ought to characterize the Church of Christ.

In pursuing this latter thought, we shall find sufficient matter for our present consideration; and if God's blessing rest upon our hearts, the subject may be, to all of us, one of interest and improve

ment.

It has been observed, that "the three great subjects with which a Christian Minister is concerned are, the word of God, the Church of God, and the Christian life; that circumstances and occasions will sometimes direct his thoughts to one of these, and sometimes to another, but that so long as any of the three are before him, he is within the circle of his duty."

Now, the Church of God appears very justly to challenge our particular attention upon an occasion like the present; and in dwelling upon the subject of unity, while none can deny the vital importance of this grace, as it affects the interests of the Church; yet all must allow, that we touch a chord when we approach this point, which gives now but an uncertain sound; that fresh elements of discord, at first insidious and minute, have risen up, even in

our day, to mar the harmony of that full, swelling tone, with which the voice and heart of man should speak of and adore the Church of God.

Doubtless, it is owing to the distracting effect of these discordant elements, that many, who profess to be devoted members of the Church, appear altogether to have lost sight of the truth, that one of their first and most important duties, as such, is to endeavour by every appointed means to preserve to the Church the blessed grace of Unity: and I use the term "the blessed grace of Unity;" for who can read the Prayer of Intercession which the Saviour offered up for his Church before his hour of suffering,-who can hear the voice of his Redeemer thus pleading at the throne of God: "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are; and I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one;"—who, I ask, can hear the Saviour pleading thus, not only for his Apostles, but for all future generations of his people, without feeling that the gift of Unity He sought for them from God is indeed "a blessed grace."

And again, with what faithfulness does the Church herself follow this divine example, when, in one of her most beautiful, because most comprehensive prayers, she leads her children to pray that the good estate of the Catholic Church may be so prospered under the guidance of God's good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may hold

the faith not only in righteousness of life, but also in unity of spirit and in the bond of peace.

The subject of Unity, then, in the Church of God, though it may be too often forgotten or avoided, cannot with propriety be regarded by any as vain or unimportant; but, on the contrary, must be admitted as one justly deserving the most anxious thought, and claiming our frequent and fervent prayers at the throne of Grace.

There was a time, when the Church, like the vesture of Christ, was "without seam, woven from the top throughout." It is not so now; and although we may not be chargeable in this generation with much that has arisen in the progress of years to rend the body of Christ; yet it becomes us to ask ourselves, Have we done nothing which has had this effect? Or, again, Are we now doing what we can to repair the error of those who have gone before us, in their privileged custody of the things which belong to God? How far the voice of condemnation should in justice follow these questions, will be a matter, perhaps, of varying opinion; and yet few can hesitate to confess that the evidences of disunion, which marked the Church when we ceived it from our ancestors, are still there undiminished, if not increased; and the only reason for this, which can at all satisfy the mind as it dwells upon the fact, is, that there exists but little desire, if any, to cultivate the true spirit of Unity, little disposition to combined exertion in the cause of uniformity and peace.

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