compares the Body of Christ The eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you v. 21. Now it being the Apostle's design in this Chapter to press the Christians to Charity and Unity and mutual serviceableness one to another as Members of the same Body he assures them in the Words of the Text which I have chosen That they were indeed Members of one Body and he tells them what it was that made them so For by one spirit says he we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles and have been made to drink into one spirit That is by being Baptized they were made Members of the Body of Christ and united one to another under him the Head and this whether they were Jews or Gentiles bond or free i. e. whatever worldly circumstances made any distinction between them yet all they were one in Christ who professed his Faith and were by Baptism admitted into his Church And this Union of one to another under Christ was testified and declared by their Communion in the Table of the Lord. And whereas he says that by one Spirit they were baptized into this one Body and were all made to drink into one Spirit the meaning is that the Grace of the Holy Spirit was given in Baptism and in the Lords Supper to all the Faithful who do not receive unprofitable signs but one as well as another receives the quickning Grace of God to make them living Members of that one Body So that although there was a diversity and an equality in the Spiritual Gifts that were distributed among the Faithful in those dayes yet they were all equally Members of the same Body of Christ in as much as they were all Baptized into his Body and were all equally Partakers of his Table And thus I have explained the meaning of the Text with the relation it hath to the design of the Apostle in this Chapter That which remains is to speak to the particular design of the Text which is to shew that Christians are one Body or Society of Men and wherein the Vnity of the Church consists and what our part is to maintain it and how we may in this divided state of Christianity be satisfied that we are within that Unity Before I enter upon which I may well make two observations upon the Text in behalf of the Doctrine and Practice of this our Church of England 1. That St. Paul thought the observation of the two institutions of our Saviour viz. Baptism and the Communion of the Holy Table was a sufficient proof that believers were one Body And we have reason to believe that if he had known there were other Sacraments or outward badges of Christian profession instituted by Christ for the Church which is his Body he would not have omitted the mention of them here where he proves the Unity of the Church by Baptism and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ We know that the Evangelists mention no other outward signs and visible tokens of our profession and God's Grace but Baptism and the Lord's Supper And it is something to our purpose that St. Paul owns no more than these where he industriously proves that Christians are one Body by these 2. I observe that the Communion of the Lords Table is described by drinking into one Spirit i. e. by one part of the Sacrament as sometimes it is by the other of breaking of bread But then nothing can be more plain from such expressions than that one part or kind is as necessary as the other because sometimes one sometims the other is put for both which had been against all rules of speaking if it had been allowable to separate the one from the other But as to that of Drinking the Cup it is most evident that it belonged to all for says St. Paul We have all been made to drink into one Spirit All who All the Priests of the Christian Church only No all that belong to the Body of Christ whether Jews or Gentiles bond or free But now if St Paul had known that it was not necessary for the Christian People to drink of the Cup in the Communion but that it was sufficient for them to have received the Bread only Can we think that he would have described their receiving the Sacrament by receiving a part of it which did not necessarily belong to them and not rather by that which did I do not make this observation to prove only that the People did at first universally receive the Cup for that is not denied by any but by those who have disputed themselves out of all Modesty and even these may be convinced beyond all doubt by this very place that all the Faithful in St. Paul's days received the Cup for otherwise how could he with truth have said that they had been all made to drink into one Spirit But that which I chiefly observe is this That though the Faithful did in those days drink as well as eat at the Lord's Table yet if the Apostle had known and surely he knew it if it was true that however it was the practice then yet it might without injury be altered in after times he would not have used an argument to satisfie the Faithful of his time that they all belonged to the Body of Christ which might afterwards be quite out of doors viz. when the Church should please to alter the Institution of our Saviour in this matter but he would rather have insisted upon receiving in that kind which could not be justly taken away from them and have said that all had been Baptized into the Body of Christ or made Members of his Church by Baptism and all that are of his Body may claim to eat of that one Bread. This by the bye I now address my self to the main business I propounded which is to state the notion of the Vnity of the Church to shâ—w what is meant by it and to make some Inferences from it for our farther instruction And in the first place it is evident that St. Paul here speaks not of any one particular Church but of the Society of all Christians whatsoever that are Baptized and have a right to the Holy Communion whether they be Jews or Gentiles And it is concerning the Unity of this Church that we are to enquire or what that is which makes it one Body as the Apostle here calls it To which purpose we are to consider distinctly what are the several grounds or notions of Unity which are laid down in the New Testament or what those things are that belong in common to all Christians as their Duty or their Priviledg and in respect of their joint performance of the former of which and their enjoyment of the latter they may be said to be One. 1. Therefore all Christians do unite in their profession to submit to one Head who is our
are believers already and therefore we need not trouble our selves with constant reading of the Bible Were not they so to whom St. Peter wrote Nay the Apostles were then alive to instruct them by Word as well as by Writing and moreover daily Miracles were wrought for confirmation of the Faith yet they did well in taking diligent heed to the Scriptures And shall not we do so too who can find Apostles and Miracles no where but there We believe already but have we all of us that stedfast Faith which the Gospel requires which is not grounded merely upon education and the custome of our Country but upon the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power Have we that Faith which will bear examination and encounter opposition If we have a very little exhortation will serve the turn to make us persevere in reading God's Book whereby we shall be yet more strongly built up in our most Holy Faith. But if not our want of Faith will not be admitted at the last day for an excuse of the badness of our Lives when we had the Scriptures laid before us the Holy Scriptures I say which if they had been diligently and honestly read by us would have furnished us with such an immoveable ground of our Christian belief as would have supported us in the Day of Temptation Nay if our Faith was grown never so strong yet the Reading of the Scriptures would be necessary for us to make the precepts and rules of the Christian Life and the Motives and Reasons of practising them daily present in our minds For the Temptations to sin are always present the snares of Hell are still round about us we are ever in some danger and therefore we ought always to be strong in the Lord by having a constant sense of those Divine Truths upon our minds which are our great defence and security And I see not how this can be if we neglect to have recourse unto that ever necessary Treasure of Divine truth the Holy Word of God. St. Chrysostom therefore doubted not to say and I wish we may all well consider that earnest saying of so Wise and Holy a Man as he was It cannot be says he It cannot possibly be that a man should attain Salvation unless he be diligently conversant in Spiritual Reading Himself was so excellent and constant a Preacher that if any one man not extraordinarily inspired could have made it needless for his hearers to Read the Scriptures at home he I should reckon was the man and yet I observe he often complains to them that the reason why most of them gained little profit by what he said either as to improvement of knowledg or good practice was because they did not read the Scriptures he explained to them either before or after his Sermons and says he it is the neglect of this reading that causeth all Heresie and Corrupt Life Now I beseech you how much time do we spend in other things of little concern to us either as to our Health or Wealth or our Worldly Callings And what a shame and a sin is it for us to find so little time as generally we do to furnish our selves with the knowledg of God's Truth and with pious affections towards the doing of his will out of God's Holy Book What a great matter were it if we borrowed some time for this purpose from our Recreations or even from our ordinary business For what is this Life to Life Everlasting What is the Wealth and Pleasure of this World to our Salvation in the World to come And therefore the forementioned excellent Person argued with his hearers in this manner Perhaps some may say That they are otherwise imployed in their worldly callings and others that they have not money to spare to buy the Scriptures but says he what a ridiculous thing would it be for a man of a Secular imployment to neglect it upon pretence that he has not time for it or that he has not wherewhithal to purchase the necessary Tools of his Calling These things are seldom or never pleaded but by Idle Persons And do you not all know that you are professed Christians and called to the hope of Eternal Life and that diligent reading and hearing the Holy Scriptures is as necessary to your Christian Calling as any thing can be to the successful management of your Secular professions I shall add this one thing That besides that improvement in knowledge and virtue which is naturally consequent upon much conversing with God's Book they that do so have a peculiar title to God's supernatural Blessing who is wont to reward a pious and reverent use of Holy things with greater measures of his grace In one word by other studies we may grow wise for this world but if we add this to the rest we shall yet grow wiser for this world by taking heed to those incomparable instructions that the Holy Bible abounds with and which is something more we shall grow wise unto Salvation The Tenth Sermon 1 Cor. XII 13. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit AFTER the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles there was a continual Communication of Supernatural and Extraordinary Gifts to other believers for a long time To one was given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom To another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit To another Faith by the same Spirit To another the gifts of Healing by the same Spirie To another working of Miracles To another Discerning of Spirits To another Divers kinds of Tongues To another the Interpretation of Tongues But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. And this manisestation of the Spirit was given to every man to profit withal i. e. to profit the whole Body whereof himself was a Member For though that one Spirit which distributed his wonderful gifts amongst the Faithful could have given them all to the same man so as that one and the same Person should have had the Word of Wisdom and the Gifts of Healing and the Working of Miracles and a Prophetick Power and Discerning of Spirits and Divers kinds of Tongues yet to maintain a mutual dependance and a Charitable serviceableness of the Members one amongst another he gave to one one gift to another another dividing severally to every man for by this means one would stand in need of another and each Member would be obliged to take care of the rest knowing that he also wanted the supply of that assistance which the rest were able to give him whereas if one man had all gifts he would not be under so sensible an obligation of consulting for the common good wanting no assistance from any others But God ordered the state of the Church like that of the Natural Body to which the Apostle elegantly
Lord Jesus Christ which is so necessary a duty incumbent on all that he who makes not this profession is in no respect within the Unity of the Church this being the ground of all other reasons of Unity whatsoever and therefore the Apostle makes this to be one principal foundation of the Unity of the Church that it professes subjection to one Lord Ephes 4.5 And in the third verse of this Chapter he layes down this mark of distinction between the impulse of the Spirit of God and the impulse of an evil Spirit That whosoever is led by the former doth say that Jesus is the Lord. They are also One in professing the Common Faith that was at first delivered to the Saints which began to be Preached when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and hath ever since been contained in the Holy Scriptures and summarily expressed in the Ancient Creeds And therefore to one Lord the Apostle doth in the forementioned place add one Faith Thus we find in Rom. 6.17 That one Form of Doctrine was delivered to Christians and that they are to stand fast in one Spirit and with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel Phil. 1.27 Thus St Paul charged Timothy That if any man taught otherwise and consented not to wholsome Words the words of our Lord Jesns Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness he should from such withdraw himself 1 Tim. 6.3 not looking upon them any longer as Christians or as such conversiing with them which together with many other like passages manifestly shews that he who in any point departed from the common faith of Christians that was received from the Apostles was broken off from the Unity of the Church which is One by a Common profession of certain points of Grand importance taught at first by the Holy Spirit For which reason St. Cyprian doubted not to say He cannot seem a Christian who doth not persist in the Vnity of Christ's Gospel and Faith. 3. There is an Unity of Sacraments in the Christian Church One Baptism by which we are all admitted into the same state of Duties and Priviledges undertaking the conditions of the New Covenant and gaining a right to the promises thereof and therefore the Apostle adds also One Baptism And here in the Text he expresly affirms that by one Spirit we are Baptized into one Body into one Body of People professing one Common Faith and claiming the Priviledges belonging to such a profession The like Unity is inferred from the other Sacrament since we are all made to drink into one Spirit And in the 10th Chapter of this Epistle v. 16 17. he saith The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread. 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to the same Laws and Institutions For to all Christians it equally belongeth to govern themselves effectually by the will of their Lord Jesus Christ to observe his Ordinances and Commands by the doing of which they declare themselves to be of his Flock in that they hear his voice and of his Kingdom in that they live by his Laws and that as there is one and the same obligation so there is one and the same correspondent practice one and the same Spirit of Obedience that runs through all 5. There is also an Unity of Affection or mutual Charity prescribed to the Church Thus saith our Saviour By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another Thus saith the Apostle in this Chapter The Members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members rejoyce with it which kind of Unity appeared most visibly after the Church was begun on the day of Pentecost for it is observed presently that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one Soul. Acts 4.32 6. There is also an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in joining together in the same Acts of Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel in Prayers and in Sacraments and in glorifying God with one mouth moreover in the common defence of the same Truth and in the joint opposition of every dangerous error in propagating and promoting the same Faith of the Gospel and striving together for the interest of it 7. There is also an Unity of Discipline or Government which is to be maintained by every Member's keeping in his Place and Order in the Church the People of Christ receiving the Mysteries of Christianity from their Pastors and these confederating one with another for the maintenance of common Christianity without invading each others Liberty and Jurisdiction and accommodating as near as may be all Rites of Discipline and Worship to one another and assisting each other by Advice and Correspondence and giving no occasion to breach of Charity and Christian Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority Other more particular Instances might be mentioned but I shall content my self with these believing that upon these Grounds of Unity which I have noted it will not be difficult to satisfie those scruples which have been thrown into some mens minds concerning the necessity of being of that one Church which is the Body of Christ and they are chiefly two 1. That there must be one Church which is the only Church of Christ exclusively to all the rest that are not in Communion with her 2. That where there is most Unity there of necessity must be the true Church 1. That there is but one Society or Communion which is the Body of Christ exclusively to all other Communions whatsoever For thus they argue The Apostle here and the New Testament elsewhere affirms That the disciples of Christ are one Body If therefore there be as there are several Bodies of Christians in this divided state of Christendom that are not United in Communion in Worship in Government no nor in Doctrine neither these cannot all be the Body of Christ which is but one and therefore there must be but one of them which is that Body of Christ or the true Church And from hence they proceed farther since we grant that they are a Church we do in effect grant that we are not so much as a part of the true Church our selves because we are not in Communion with them and we and they are not Members of one another as all the Members of the Church are Which kind of reasoning how likely soever it may be to confound and amuse a Man is by no means fit to unsettle a prudent nor so much as an honest Person if he will give himself leave to consider The plain Answer to