one God, and not many gods; as you acknowledge
the same Divine Mediator of redemption, and not many mediators; as you are
sanctified by the same Divine Spirit, and not by many spirits; as you all
hope for the same heaven, and not different heavens, so must you all
profess the same faith.

Unity of government is not less essential to the Church of Christ than
unity of doctrine. Our Divine Saviour never speaks of His Churches, but of
His _Church_. He does not say: "Upon this rock I will build my Churches,"
but "upon this rock I will build My Church,"(19) from which words we must
conclude that it never was His intention to establish or to sanction
various conflicting denominations, but one corporate body, with all the
members united under one visible Head; for as the Church is a visible
body, it must have a visible head.

The Church is called a kingdom: "He shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end."(20) Now in every
well-regulated kingdom there is but _one king, one form of government, one
uniform body of laws_, which all are obliged to observe. In like manner,
in Christ's spiritual kingdom, there must be one Chief to whom all owe
spiritual allegiance; one form of ecclesiastical government; one uniform
body of laws which all Christians are bound to observe; for, "every
kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate."(21)

Our Savior calls His Church a sheepfold. "And there shall be made one fold
and one shepherd."(22) What more beautiful or fitting illustration of
unity can we have than that which is suggested by a sheepfold? All the
sheep of a flock cling together. If they are momentarily separated, they
are impatient till reunited. They follow in the same path. They feed on
the same pastures. They obey the same shepherd, and fly from the voice of
strangers. So did our Lord intend that all the sheep of His fold should be
nourished by the same sacraments and the same bread of life; that they
should follow the same rule of faith as their guide to heaven; that they
should listen to the voice of one Chief Pastor, and that they should
carefully shun false teachers.

His Church is compared to a human body. "As in one body we have many
members, but all the members have not the same office; so we, being many,
are one body in Christ, and every one members one of the other."(23) In
one body there are many members, all inseparably connected with the head.
The head commands and