There is "one Spirit" (Eph. 4:4).Many and varied are His offices; but in each and all, His object is to glorify Christ(John 16:14). Whatever He does, in whatever way He acts, it is always in accordance with what He is Himself, "the Holy Spirit;" and with that one object ever in view -the glory of Christ. Conflict, confusion, or contradiction in His actions there cannot be, He is God the Holy Spirit. Therefore in His many and varied activities and operations, there is, there can be but one, united, consistent, and harmonious action on His part, and an object that is never deviated from. On our part, to " keep the unity of the Spirit," is to see and to act in harmony with the Spirit, and consequently with all those doing likewise. It is not merely seeing eye to eye with one another about some particular truth whatever it may be; but it is seeing eye to eye with the Spirit of God; being in His mind, and acting in harmony with Him. It is not "many men, many minds," but one mind – the Spirit's mind. Many men surely, but "all made to drink into one Spirit" (i Cor. 12:13), so that all may be controlled by, and in the mind of the Spirit.

We see at once that if this is really carried out in practice, then there will be a manifestation of oneness on our part, whether it be in connection with what is ecclesiastical or moral. If we fail in this, then we are not keeping the Spirit's unity. It is not that we have broken it as to actual fact, for we cannot break what He forms, or does ; but we are out of harmony with His object and action, and are not keeping His unity. Hence we see the force of the word that is used "endeavoring;" or as the new translation reads it, "using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace."

Timothy is told to " hold fast the form of sound words;" and to "keep, by the Holy Ghost, that good
thing which was committed to him " (2 Tim. 1:13,14). 'There was no thought of making or breaking, but simply of keeping, holding fast, not letting slip. If otherwise, then he would be out of touch with what was entrusted to him as a valuable deposit from God to keep; and although the things mentioned existed just as ever they did, yet he would be out of harmony with the Spirit about them. The Lord, it will be observed, speaks in a similar way to the remnant in Thyatira, '' I will put upon you none other burden, but that which ye have hold fast till I come " (Rev. ii 24, 25).Then He commends the church at Philadelphia with "thou hast kept My word, and not denied My name " (Rev. 3:8).Thus we see that keeping, or not keeping, does not necessarily mean either making or breaking, but holding fast-being true to, and acting consistently and in harmony with that which we are called upon to keep or hold fast.

Now this exhortation to keep the Spirit's unity is, I judge, very comprehensive. It is not limited to the ecclesiastical aspect or use of it, as has been so often done, but embraces all the truth of God revealed and communicated by the Spirit (i Cor. 2:; 10, 13; i Pet. 1:12). And the moment any saint of God acts contrary to the mind of the Spirit with regard to any truth revealed in the Word, no matter what it is, he is there and then out of touch, has lost hold as it were, and is not keeping the unity of the Spirit. There is thus call for constant exercise of conscience and faith, and constant "endeavoring," as the hindrances and difficulties are many and great.

Let us keep clear in our minds that what the Holy i Spirit forms, and all that He does, stands in its absolute perfection, untouched, and unaffected by all the failure and evil on every hand. We can neither make, break, or mar it in any way. The body which He forms (i Cor. 12:13) is perfect and cannot be divided. The Scriptures which He has inspired and given (i Cor. 2:10, 13; 2 Tim. 3:16) are absolutely perfect and "cannot be broken" (John 10:35). And His interpretations of those Scriptures, or application of their principles. admit of no contradiction, or possibility of saints being led by Him to opposing judgments on the same subject; neither can He be the author of contradiction and confusion; and we must be careful, and not, either ignorantly or otherwise, father on Him the manifest results of our own weakness and failure in endeavoring to keep His unity.

Those who really and truly keep it will have the Word as the basis and guide for their action, for the Spirit ever acts through the Word. Apart from that Word as their authority for such action (and it will appeal to and command the consciences of the godly everywhere) it is but the fleshly activity and assumption of those whose claim to spirituality is but a mere claim for themselves.

It has been said, "The unity of the Spirit is the one mystical body on earth." Indeed this is a view held by many on the subject, that He has formed a something-the one body-which we are to keep. But I think it is a mistake to speak of it thus, and confounds the "one body" with the "one Spirit." Surely it becomes us to be in His mind and act in unison with Him in the truth of "one body:" but if the unity of the Spirit '' is the one mystical body," seeing we are told to keep that unity, it practically means we must keep the one body; and to obey such a command would place us at once in conflict with much of the Spirit's teaching in the Word, and create confusion and contradiction making Him the author of it. We should have to walk with every member of the body no matter who they were, what they were, or where they were. Nothing would justify us in separating from any of them, let their doctrines or practice be what they may; and this certainly would not, and could not be the unity of the Holy Spirit, whose object is to glorify Christ, the One who is the "Holy and the True."

True, He forms the body-a divine unity, as i Cor. 12:13 teaches:that, we do not question. And had there been no failure in acting on that truth, all saints would have been in harmony with the mind of the Spirit, and there would have been an outward manifestation of the oneness of the body; and the unity of the Spirit in that ecclesiastical connection would have been kept by all. But man is a sinful and fallen creature. Even the saints, though born again and indwelt by the Holy Ghost, have sin in them still; and the certainty of failure in responsibility was foreseen, and provision made by God for the walk and path of the godly in the midst of failure and ruin. Yea, the very fact of ruin foreseen, and now existing, necessitates the endeavoring, in the face of difficulty and opposition, to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace:in other words, to be in His mind, and act with Him and in His power on the principle of one body, spite of all ? hindrances-not try to keep the one body.

The state of the professing Church to-day makes it an impossibility to walk with every member of the body, though we are bound to recognize all true Christians as being fellow-members of it. Not only is moral and doctrinal evil in the individual a barrier, but the awful increase of evil doctrine among those who teach, makes association, where it is known and allowed, an equal barrier to fellowship; and it is this question of association which is being let slip to-day by many, and which we have to guard against. To receive some, therefore, to fellowship at the Lord's table we dare not. Take the case of a true saint of God falling into any fundamental false doctrine, as 3 John 10:; he has not lost his place in the body. The unity of the Spirit, too, remains untouched, altogether apart from the state and action of the fallen brother. But he is not keeping it. He is entirely out of harmony with the mind of the Spirit as to the truth about Christ's person and work, and also with those who are endeavoring to keep it. Besides which he has made himself subject to discipline through his fall.

What then is to be the attitude of fellow-members of the body toward such an one? Are they to continue in fellowship with him under the mistaken plea of keeping the Spirit's unity, and that unity is the one body? Certainly not! He has become leavened; and the instructions in the Word are most explicit in such a case. See i Cor. 5:6-13. Yea, even a Christian lady is commanded by God not to receive such an one into her house, or she would by so doing become "partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 10). Could we then imagine our own doors closed against such a person and yet the door of God's Assembly kept open for him to come and take his place at the Lord's table? We should be unworthy of the name of Christian were we to allow it.

Then in acting thus toward that one, and refusing him a place at the Lord's table, and also to all those knowingly in sympathy and fellowship with him, and thus "partakers " of his evil deeds, do we, in that, fail in keeping the Spirit's unity? Far from it! Nor do we in any way deny that they are true members of the body equally with ourselves. But in the ordering of the house of God where the Holy Spirit dwells, the instructions are clear and explicit how to act in a case:and it is self-evident that the Holy Ghost would not, and could not lead a company of saints to act thus in obedience to the Word, and another company to act altogether differently and in opposition, and thus be the author of confusion.

Moreover the judgment of a local assembly in regard to any question of discipline which may arise in its midst, is of necessity a judgment for the whole assembly or house of God. How could it be otherwise? It is arrived at under the Spirit's guidance in that house, and in connection with that house (though in a local assembly), for discipline is ever connected with the house, and not with the body. Assuming therefore that such judgment is arrived at in a proper and scriptural way, to refuse it would be a very serious matter indeed; as well as to deny the Spirit's unity instead of endeavoring to keep it! in the bond of peace.

The unity of the Spirit is, however, as I have already said, not merely ecclesiastical and connected with the assembly; but embraces all His activities and operations in connection with everything in the written Word and for the glory of Christ. And our endeavoring to keep it is each one acting individually or all collectively, in harmony with, or in the "fellowship" of the Spirit, in whatever He is occupying us with at the moment.

Nor must we ever forget that to "walk worthy of the calling wherewith we are called," as well as to endeavor to keep the Spirit's unity, calls for a certain state of soul to enable us to do it. It must be with "lowliness and meekness, and long-suffering; forbearing one another in love." We shall ever find in ourselves, as we walk in the light, that which calls for lowliness and meekness:and that in others which demands long-suffering and forbearance. We cannot insist that others should not be weak, or that they must see eye to eye with us on every point-except, of course, that which is fundamental:we must wait on them and help them, in order to arrive at that oneness; hence the necessity for the exercise of those qualities.

But on the other hand, when evil is there, and such evil as calls for righteous and peremptory dealing, then forbearance and long-suffering have no longer a place:we are called upon to act for God and "put away from amongst yourselves that wicked person." f At the same time, woe unto us if there is only that fiery and fleshly zeal to put away evil, and the absence of that lowliness and meekness in ourselves which enables us to enter into the gravity and sorrow of that which has so dishonored Christ, disgraced ourselves, and which calls for the extreme act of excision.

The recognition of others as fellow-members of the body of Christ and receiving them as such, so much insisted on in a mistaken way by some to-day, is incumbent on us, we fully admit; but that must be qualified by, "provided they are not scripturally disqualified." To do so otherwise is not keeping the Spirit's unity, but a peace-at-any-price sort of policy, which cares far more for outward unity and a mistaken charity than for the Spirit's unity, and the interests of Him who died for us, and the holiness that becomes God's house forever.

May we all be preserved from the continued encroachments of that looseness which is creeping in; which sees only the unity of the body, and mistakes lit for the unity of the Spirit who gives every scripture its due weight and place-as well as from that extreme exclusiveness which dishonors the Lord by rejecting those who have scriptural right and title to the privileges we ourselves enjoy.

Wm. Easton.

New Zealand