Keeping the Unity of the Spirit

“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
– Ephesians 4:3 –

The unity of the Spirit should be kept, dear friends, because Satan is so busy to spoil it. He knows that the greatest glory of Christ will spring from the unity of His church. “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). There is no church happiness where there is not church unity. If a church is hostile and divided, then the tear in the body will be death to all holy fellowship. We cannot enjoy communion with each other unless our hearts are one. Our work for God, how ineffectively it is done when we do not agree! The enemy cannot desire a better ally than strife in the midst of our camp. “Can you not agree,” said a warrior of old, “when your enemy is in sight!” Christians, can you not agree to keep the unity of the Spirit when a destroying Satan is always on the watch seeking to drag immortal souls down to Hell?

We must be more diligent in this matter. We must seek to purge from ourselves everything that would divide us, and we must seek to have in our hearts every holy thought that would tend to unite us with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When I join a Christian church, I must not say, “I am quite certain I will never break its unity.” I am to suspect that I am capable of that evil, and I am to watch with all diligence that I keep the unity of the Spirit.

From Spurgeon on Unity, p. 33