all men will not yield to be one in God. God is the common interest of the saints; and thereof all that are truly saints, are truly united in him. And if all the visible church, and all the world, would heartily make him their common interest, we should quickly have a common unity and peace, and the temple of double-faced Janus would be shut up. They that sincerely have one God, have also one Lord (and Saviour), one faith, one spirit, one baptism (or holy covenant with God), even because they have "one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in them all." And therefore they must "keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. iv. 3-6.) Though yet they have different degrees of gifts, (ver. 7.) and therefore differences of opinion about abundance of inferior things. The further we go from the trunk or stock, the more numerous and small we shall find the branches. They are one in God, that are divided in many doubtful controversies. The weakest therefore in the faith must be received into this union and communion of the church; but not to doubtful disputations. (Rom. xiv. 1.) As the ancient baptism, contained no more but our engagement to God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, so the ancient profession of saving faith, was of the same extent. God is sufficient for the church to unite in. An union in other articles of faith is so far necessary to the unity of the church, as it is necessary to prove our faith and unity in God, and the sincerity of this ancient, simple belief in God the Father, Son and Spirit.

The Unity of God is the attribute to be first handled, and imprinted on the mind, even next unto his essence; "The Lord our God is one Lord;" (Deut. vi. 4;) and the unity of the church is its excellency and attribute, that is first and most to be esteemed and preserved next unto its essence, If it be not a church, it cannot be one church; and if we be not saints, we cannot be united saints. If we be not members, we cannot make one body. But when once we have the essence of saints and of a church, we must next be solicitous for its unity; nothing below an essential point of faith will allow us to depart from the catholic unity, love, and peace that is due to saints; and because such essentials are never wanting in the catholic church, or any true member of it, therefore we are never allowed to divide from the catholic church, or any true and visible member. It is first

necessary that the church be a church, that is, a people separated from the world to Christ; and that the Christian be a Christian in covenant with the Lord. But the next point of necessity is that the church be one, and Christians be one. And he that for the sake of lower points, how true soever, will break this holy bond of unity, shall find at last, to his shame and sorrow, that he understood not the excellency or necessity of unity. The prayer of Christ for the perfection of his saints is, "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, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." Here it appeareth that the unity of the church or saints is necessary, to convince the world of the truth of Christianity, and of the love of God to his people, and necessary to the glory and perfection of the saints. The nearer any churches, or members, are to the divine perfections, and the more strictly conformable to the mind of God, the more they are one, and replenished with catholic love to all saints, and desirous of unity and communion with them. It is a most lamentable delusion of some Christians that think their ascending to higher degrees of holiness doth partly consist in their withdrawing from the catholic church, or from the communion of most of the saints on earth, upon the account of some smaller differing opinions; and they think that they should become more loose and leave their strictness, if they should hold a catholic communion, and leave their state of separation and division! Is there any strictness amiable or desirable, except a strict conformity to God? Surely a strict way of sin and wickedness is not desirable to a saint. And is not God one, and his church one, and hath he not commanded all his servants to be one, and is not love the new and great commandment, by which they must be known to all men to be his disciples. Which then is the stricter servant of the Lord; he that loveth much, or he that loveth little; he that loveth all Christians, or he that loveth but a few, with the special love; he that loveth a Christian as a Christian, or he that loveth him but as one of his party or opinion; he

that is one in the catholic body, or he that disowneth communion with the far greatest part of the body? Will you. say that Christ was loose, and Pharisees strict, because Christ eat and drank with publicans and sinners, and the Pharisees condemned him for it? It was Christ that was more strict in holiness than they; for he abounded more in love and good works: but they were stricter than he in a - proud, self-conceited morosity and separation. Certainly he that is highest in love, is highest in grace, and not he that confineth his love to few. Was it not in the weak Christian that was most strict in point of meats, and drinks, and days? (Rom. xiv. xv.) But the stronger that were censured by them, did more strictly keep the commandment of God.

Christian reader, let the unity of God have this effect upon thy soul: 1. To draw thee from the distracting multitude of creatures, and make thee long to be all in God; that thy soul may be still working toward him, till thou find nothing but God alone within thee. In the multitude of thy thoughts within thee, let his comforts delight thy soul. (Psal. xciv. 19.) The multitude distracteth thee; retire into unity, that thy soul may be composed, quieted and delighted.

2. And let it make thee long for the unity of saints, and endeavour it to the utmost of thy power, that the church in unity may be more like the Head.

3. And let it cause thee to admire the happiness of the saints, that are freed from the bondage of the distracting creature, and have but one to love, and fear, and trust, and serve, and seek, and know; one thing is needful, which should be chosen, but it is many that we are troubled about. (Luke xi. 42.)

CHAP. IV.

3. The Immensity of God (which is the next attribute to be considered) must have this effect upon thy soul: 1. The infinite God that is every where, comprehending all places and things, and comprehended by none, must raise admiring, reverent thoughts in the soul of the believer. We wonder at the magnitude of the sun, and the heavens, and the whole creation; but when we begin to think what is beyond the heavens, and all created being, we are at a kind of loss. Why

it is God that is in all, and above all, and beyond all, and beneath all; and where there is no place, because no creature, there is God: and if thy thoughts should imagine millions of millions of miles beyond all place and measure, all is but God; and go as far as thou canst in thy thoughts and thou canst not go beyond him. Reverently admire the immensity of God. The world and all the creatures in it, are not to God so much as a sand or atom is to all the world. The point of a needle is more to all the world, than the world to God. For between that which is finite, and that which is infinite, there is no comparison. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand; and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure; and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing,-All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." (Isa. xl. 12. 15. 17.)

2. From this greatness and immensity of God also thy soul must reverently stay all its busy, bold inquiries, and know that God is to us, and to every creature, incomprehensible. If thou couldst fathom or measure him, and know his greatness by a comprehensive knowledge, he were not God. A creature can comprehend nothing but a creature. You may know God, but not comprehend him; as your foot treadeth on the earth, but doth not cover all the earth. The sea is not the sea, if you can hold it in a spoon. Thou canst not comprehend the sun which thou seest, and by which thou seest all things else, nor the sea, or earth, no nor a worm, or pile of grass: thy understanding knoweth not all that God hath put into any the least of these; thou art a stranger to thyself, and to somewhat in every part of thyself, both body and soul. And thinkest thou to comprehend God, that perfectly comprehendest nothing! Stop then thy over bold inquiries, and remember that thou art a shallow, finite worm, and God is infinite. First reach to comprehend the heaven and earth and whole creation, before thou think of comprehending Him, to whom the world is nothing, or vanity; or so small a dust, or drop, or point. Saith Elihu, "At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place: hear attentively the noise of his voice, God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doth he which we

cannot comprehend." (Job xxxvii. 1. 5.) How then should we comprehend himself! When God pleadeth his cause with Job himself, what doth he but convince him of his infiniteness and absoluteness, even from the greatness of his works which are beyond our reach and yet are as nothing to himself! Should he take the busy inquirer in hand, but as he did begin with Job, (xxxviii. 1, 2, &c.,) "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me," &c. alas, how soon would he nonplus and confound us, and make us say with Job, (xl. 4,) "Behold I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further." Indeed there is mentioned Ephes. iii. 11, the saints comprehending the dimensions of the love of Christ; but as the next verse saith, it passeth knowledge; so comprehending there, signifieth no more, but a knowing according to our measure; an attainment of what we are capable to attain; nay, nor all that neither, but such a prevalent knowledge of the love of Christ as is common to all the saints; as there is nothing more visible than the sun, and yet no visible being less comprehended by the sight; so is there nothing more intelligible than God (for he is all in all things), and yet nothing so incomprehensible to the mind that knoweth him. It satisfieth me not to be ignorant of God, nor to know so little as I know, nor to be short of the measure that I am capable of; but it satisfieth me to be incapable of comprehending him or else I must be unsatisfied because I am not God. O the presumptuous arrogancy of those men, if I may call them men, that dare prate about the infinite God such things as never were revealed to them in his works or word! and dare pretend to measure him by their shallow understandings, and question, if not deny and censure, that of God which they cannot reach! and sooner suspect the word that doth reveal him than their own muddy brains, that should better conceive of him! Saith Elihu, "Behold God is great, and we know him not; neither can the number of his years be searched out." (Job xxxvi. 26.) Though the knowledge of him be our life eternal, yet we know him not by any full and adequate conception. We know an infinite God, and therefore with an excellent knowledge objectively