CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

JOHN 17.21. That they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, &c.

WE have declared the Nature of this Unity, Let us now consider the Excellency, Benefit and Necessity of Union amongst the godly, and the mischiefs of breaches and differences amongst them.

First, The Excellency and Necessity of it appeareth in the vehement and affectionate prayer for it, made by our Saviour. ¹When he puts the whole company of believers together, he pitcheth upon this as the most eminent, That they may be one. And although our Saviour had not the Spirit in measure, and so could not vainly repeat the same thing often, yet within a little space, he doth four times mention this, vers. 21, 22, 23. Now certainly, that thing which our Saviour in whom the treasures of all wisdom are, did much press and urge, must needs be of very great moment, here is not pardon of their sins, Justification, Adoption, Glorification mentioned, but Unity, as if the whole kingdom of grace and glory did consist in this, obtain this, and you have all; and our Saviour as he prayed then, so he preached Love and Unity; so that, whereas in matter of Justification he commended Faith above all, in matter of Sanctification he comprehends all in love, John 13.34. A new Commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: A new Commandment, not but that the duty was old, only envy and malice had so prevailed amongst the Jews, that to love was a new thing, as if it had not been a duty required before. In John's Epistles it's called both new and old, 1 John 2.8