A little Wyneken

The man goes on and on, but I don't know what not to underline. Every one of his many sentences carries its weight. I just want to copy a bit about Christian unity because I just read it yesterday and as a comment for Howard and Craig.

The world laughs at such a boast when it sees external Christianity split into so many different sects. Even believers may become downcast at this spectacle of division. Still the Church sings it with great certainty and surety. Thus it is and cannot be otherwise. Believers at all times and in all places--the perfected righteous in heavenly triumph or those still struggling under the banner of the cross here on earth--they all have only one mind. Even now, they are of one heart and soul.

And how can it be otherwise? The old mind of the world and of the flesh with its deadly fruits is bitterly opposed to repentance, hates it, and fights against it. but through the blessed knowledge of Jesus Christ and the grasping of His all-sufficient merit, all those who have been born anew are united in a new divine light and a new divine life. So you not only have one spiritual understanding, one and the same spiritual judgment, one and the same desire in divine and heavenly things, you have Christ Himself. He is the light and life of men. In all of your hearts, He is your light and life, your one treasure and crown, the desire of your heart, your only love. He is the boast and praise of your hearts. Because He lives in, works in, and governs all of you, because He is your very heart and your life, how can you be anything other than of one mind according to Christ? How can you love something other than Him? How can you seek to please someone other than Him? How can you strive for anything but to sanctify His name, to advance His honor, and to spread His kingdom? Your heart and soul are concerned with one thing. Your dealings, deliberations, calculations, and aspirations are all directed to a single goal: Christ and His kingdom.

We often find like-mindedness and shared aspiration in the world. Like-minded individuals often bind themselves to one external fellowship. But the basis of this fellowship is not always inner unity of the heart and love.
They are often founded only upon the fellowship of natural love that is self-seeking. So long as it works fellowship, it endures.

It is something completely different with believers.
With them, external fellowship is only the expression, the consequence, and the fruit of the deepest fellowship of life and love. It also profoundly embraces believers that they personally do not know, indeed, even those who, completely out of ignorance, are found among those who fight against them! For Christ, who through faith lives in your hearts, is indeed the eternal divine fire of love itself. He not only melds you together with Himself in the most profound love, but He joins you with all those in whom He dwells. pp. 384,385.