“There is one body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:4).
There is one living organism, so constituted by the one Holy Spirit of God, who indwells the members of that vital system. It is the one body which is inclusive of every true believer in Christ, the living Head of the assembly. It is not a mere organization: it is a vital organism. Reputable or disreputable religionists may be held together by strong organizers, or by an agreed upon organization: that, however, of which we speak is a vital system, an organism of living indefectible members, moved by one Spirit; and the glorious Head is Christ Himself,
“from whom the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love” (Eph. 4:16, N.Tr.). How encouraging and assuring is this unalterable truth to the true heart which holds fast to the one Head of the assembly. What a travesty of the truth—nay, what offensive unfaithfulness is seen in the petty parties, or larger religious organizations, formed by men at variance with the revealed mind of God.
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H.J. Vine ( - )
H.J. Vine was involved in the early Plymouth Brethren movement. The Plymouth Brethren are a conservative, low church, nonconformist, Evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland in the late 1820s, originating from Anglicanism.Among other beliefs, the group emphasizes sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the supreme authority for church doctrine and practice over and above "the [mere] tradition of men" (Mark 7:8). Brethren generally see themselves, not as a denomination, but as a network (or even as a collection of overlapping networks) of like-minded independent churches.