Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

330 THE THIRD AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.violate and individual robe. The divine scripturethus speaks : But for the coat, because it was notsewed, but woven from the top throughout, theysaid«one to another, Let us not rend it, but castlots whose it shall be. It has with it a unity de-;ni>' from above, as coming, that ia, from heavenand from the Fatherwhich it was not for thereceiver and owner in anywise to sunder, but whichhe received once for all and indivisibly as one unbrokenwhole. He cannot own Christ's garmentwho splits and divides Christ's Church. On theother hand, when on Solomon's death his kingdomand people were split in parts, Ahijah the prophet,meeting King Jeroboam in the field, rent his garmentinto twelve pieces, saying: Take thee tenpieces; for thus saith the Lord: Behold, I willrend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon,and will give ten tribes to thee ; and two tribesshall be to him for my servant David's sake, andfor Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, toplace my name there. When the twelve tribesof Israel were torn asunder, the prophet Ahijahrent his garment. But because Christ's peoplecannot be rent, His coat, woven and conjoinedthroughout, was not divided by those to whomit fell. Individual, conjoined, coentwined, itshows the coherent concord of our people whoput on Christ. In the sacrament and sign ofHis garment, He has declared the unity of HisChurch.