Quotable

“To remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray, ‘that they may be one, even as we are one’? (John:17:22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
See All...).” A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping the unity tune. What they are saying is, “Christians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless....Unite, unite!”

Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Our Lord’s prayer in John 17 must be read in its full context. Look at verse 17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel.

—Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Essence of Separation”

In some...churches the man who prays first, longest and loudest gets a reputation for being the most spiritual man in the assembly....The [truly] spiritual man wants to carry his cross. Many Christians accept adversity or tribulation with a sigh and call it their cross, forgetting that such things come alike to saint and sinner. The cross is that extra adversity that comes to us as a result of our obedience to Christ. This cross is not forced upon us; we voluntarily take it up with full knowledge of the consequences. We choose to obey Christ and by so doing choose to carry the cross.

—A. W. Tozer
, The Best of Tozer, Wiersbe