individual members of the church. In him, the source of their common
life, the primitive Christians were essentially one, and by his Spirit
he operated in all hearts, in all the individual churches, and in all
the ministers whose particular gifts and qualifications fitted them
for divinely appointed oversight, both local and general. By this
means the primitive church was able to perform the work of Christ
harmoniously and present to the world the grand spectacle of one body.

[Sidenote: First steps to ecclesiasticism]

Jesus taught the humble equality of the New Testament ministry. "All
ye are brethren" (Matt. 23:8). According to the New Testament they
were all of one general order or rank, although greatly diversified
in gifts and qualifications and the kind of work accomplished by each.
The first example we have in Scripture of _positional authority_ in
the ministry as distinguished from the authority of the Holy Spirit,
is the case of Diotrephes, of whom the apostle John wrote in his
third epistle. We are also informed as to the nature of the authority
exercised by him and the direction in which it led. It was _human
authority_, something additional and foreign to the authority and
government through the Holy Spirit, and the first example of church
government by a single man. It proceeded from the evil root of pride
and ambition, the love of "preeminence" among the brethren; and
this usurped power and authority led to a judicial process by which
innocent brethren were 'cast out of the church.'

What a contrast this presents to that New Testament picture of the
divine ecclesia, exhibiting the highest form of human society known
to history, a body in which every member had his gift and use for it.
Among these many activities, oversight and preaching had their place,