Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries
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Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

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11.07.2015 Views

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.

THE THIRD AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.331" Who, then, is the criminal and traitor, who soinflamed by the madness of discord, as to thinkaught can rend, or to venture on rending God'sunity, the Lord's garment, Christ's Church? HeHimself warns us in His Gospel and teaches, saying:O And there shall be one Fold and one Shep- " J- ^herd. . . . Think you that any can stand and livewho withdraws from the Church, and forms forhimself new homes and different domiciles ? . . . Believershave no house but the Church only. Thishouse, this hostelry of unanimity, the Holy Spiritdesigns and betokens in the Psalms, thus speaking:God who makes men to dwell with one mindin ahouse. In the house of God, in the Church ofChrist, men dwell with one mind, and perseverein concord and simplicity." To this he adds :" There is one God, and one Christ, and HisChurch one, and the Faith one, and one thepeople joined into the solid unity of a body bythe cement of concord. Unity cannot be sundered,nor can one body be divided by a dissolution ofits structure, nor be severed into pieces with tornand lacerated vitals. Parted from the womb no-"thing can live and breathe in its separated state:loses its principle of health;" for " charity willever exist in the kingdom; she will abide evermorein the unity of a brotherhood which entwinesitself around her."And he is more specific still; for this "oneChurch is founded by the Lord Christ upon Peter,

THE THIRD AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.331" Who, then, is the criminal and traitor, who soinflamed by the madness <strong>of</strong> discord, as to thinkaught can rend, or to venture on rending God'sunity, the Lord's garment, Christ's Church? HeHimself warns us in His Gospel and teaches, saying:O And there shall be one Fold and one Shep- " J- ^herd. . . . Think you that any can stand and livewho withdraws from the Church, and forms forhimself new homes and different domiciles ? . . . Believershave no house but the Church only. Thishouse, this hostelry <strong>of</strong> unanimity, the Holy Spiritdesigns and betokens in the Psalms, thus speaking:God who makes men to dwell with one mindin ahouse. In the house <strong>of</strong> God, in the Church <strong>of</strong>Christ, men dwell with one mind, and perseverein concord and simplicity." To this he adds :" <strong>The</strong>re is one God, and one Christ, and HisChurch one, and the Faith one, and one thepeople joined into the solid unity <strong>of</strong> a body bythe cement <strong>of</strong> concord. Unity cannot be sundered,nor can one body be divided by a dissolution <strong>of</strong>its structure, nor be severed into pieces with tornand lacerated vitals. Parted from the womb no-"thing can live and breathe in its separated state:loses its principle <strong>of</strong> health;" for " charity willever exist in the kingdom; she will abide evermorein the unity <strong>of</strong> a brotherhood which entwinesitself around her."And he is more specific still; for this "oneChurch is founded by the Lord Christ upon Peter,

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