They delight in each other's society; they each esteem others
better than themselves, and in honour they prefer one another
before themselves. They fulfil the Psalmist's ideal: "Behold, how
good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity." Here is a picture of the unity of Christians in the
beginning in Jerusalem: "And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the
multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common." What an
ideal is this! And since it has been attained once, it can be
attained again and retained, but only by the indwelling of the
Holy Ghost. It was for this that Jesus poured out His heart in
His great intercessory prayer, recorded in John xvii., just
before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. He says, "I pray
for them.... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may
be one." And what was the standard of unity to which He would
have us come? Listen!
"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."
Such unity has a wondrous power to compel the belief of worldly
men. "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 perfect in one; and that the world may
_know_ that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou
hast loved Me.
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