Unity. C.H. Brown

Unity in itself is no object unless it has a sound and solid basis. Otherwise, you have merely union, merely amalgamation, merely the assembling of a lot of individuals together. You do not have unity. Evidently, the unity of the Spirit must have been broken at some time, with the result that these two companies are going on apart from each other. The unity of the Spirit must have been broken, and indeed it was. Meetings have a history, and it is a matter that is accessible. If I want to find out why, I can find out, and I will find that there was a time, it does not matter how far back, when a question was at issue that affected the honor and glory of Christ, and those who wanted to abide in the apostles' doctrine, those who refused to compromise conscience and who wanted to be loyal to Christ, had to act for Him. They had to separate themselves from that which was evil, that which was a dishonor to the name of Christ. It is a sad thing, but oh, far better to separate than to go on with evil. For remember, we have read scripture after scripture that tells us not to go on with evil—not to go on in fellowship with that which dishonors Christ. If a man goes on in wickedness, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, tells us to put him away. That chapter is most familiar to all of us here. No, brethren, the idea that we are to go on with everybody—that we are to have fellowship with everybody that calls himself a Christian—there is not a shred of scripture for any such idea. All the body and burden of Scripture is in the opposite direction.