"Neither when we have chosen our way can we keep company with those who go the other
way. There must come with decision for truth a corresponding protest against error."
-- C.H.S., The Sword and the Trowel, September 1887.
"Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt
and stab at faith." -- C.H.S., The Sword and the Trowel, August 1887.
"Believers in Christ's atonement are now in declared union with those who make light
of it; believers in Holy Scripture are in confederacy with those who deny plenary
inspiration; those who hold evangelical doctrine are in open alliance with those who call
the Fall a fable, who deny the personality of the Holy Ghost, who call justification by
faith immoral, and hold that there is another probation after death ... Yes, we have
before us the wretched spectacle of professedly orthodox Christians publicly avowing their
union with those who deny the faith, and scarcely concealing their contempt for those who
can not be guilty of such a gross disloyalty to Christ. To be very plain, we are unable to
call these things Christian Unions; they begin to look like Confederacies in Evil ... It
is our solemn conviction that where there can be no real spiritual communion there should
be no pretense of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in
sin." -- C.H.S., The Sword and the Trowel, November 1887.
"The day will come when those who think they can repair a house which has no
foundations will see the wisdom in quitting it altogether. All along we have said that to
come out from association with questionable doctrines is the only possible solution of a
difficulty which, however it may be denied, is not to be trifled with by those who are
conscious of its terrible reality." -- C.H.S., The Sword and the Trowel,
July 1889.
"Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any
successful protest against it ... Fellowship with known and vital error is participation
in sin ... As soon as I saw, or thought I saw, that error had become firmly established, I
did not deliberate, but quitted the body at once. Since then my counsel has been 'Come out
from among them.' I have felt that no protest could be equal to that of distinct
separation from known evil ... That I might not stultify my testimony I have cut myself
clear of those who err from the faith, and even from those who associate with them."
-- C.H.S., The Sword and the Trowel.
"Ah, my dear brethren, there are many that are deceived by this method of reasoning.
They remain where their conscience tells them they ought not to be, because, they say,
they are more useful than they would be if they went 'without the camp.' This doing evil
that good may come, can never be tolerated by an enlightened conscience. If an act of sin
would increase my usefulness tenfold, I have no right to do it; and if an act of
righteousness would appear likely to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet to do
it. It is yours and mine to do the right though the heavens fall, and follow the command
of Christ whatever the consequences may be. 'That is strong meat,' do you say? Be strong
men, then, and feed thereon." -- C.H.S., Sermons, 37, p. 426.
"Constantly we hear of proposals for union, and truly these are welcome where mere
technical matters divide true Christians; but what is the use of pretending to create
union where there can be none? There is another matter which needs to be thought of as
well as union, and that is TRUTH. To part with truth to show charity is to betray our Lord
with a kiss. Between those who believe in the eternal verities and those who constantly
cast doubt on them there can be no union. One cried of old, 'Is it peace?' And the answer
was a sharp and true one. We render it thus -- 'What hast thou to do with peace while
departures from the truth of God are so many?' The first question is, 'Are we one in
Christ?' And are we obedient to the truth revealed in the Scriptures? If so, union will
necessarily follow: but if not, it is vain to clamour for a confederacy which would only
be an agreement to aid and abet each other's errors." -- C.H.S., The Sword and
the Trowel, February 1887.
"For Christians to be linked in association with ministries who do not preach the
gospel of Christ is to incur moral guilt. A Union which can continue irrespective of
whether its member churches belong to a common faith is not fulfilling any scriptural
function. The preservation of a denominational association when it is powerless to
discipline heretics cannot be justified on the grounds of the preservation of 'Christian
unity'... It is error which breaks the unity of churches, and to remain in a
denominational alignment which condones error is to support schism." -- C.H.S., The
Forgotten Spurgeon, pp. 164-165.
"I have preached God's truth, so far as I know it, and I have not been ashamed of its
peculiarities. That I might not stultify my testimony, I have cut myself clear of those
who error from the faith, and even from those who associate with them." -- C.H.S.,
October 1888.
* Key Bible Verses:
Exo. 34:15,16;
1 Jn. 4:1-6;
2 Thes. 3:6,14,15; Hag. 2:11-13;
Gal. 1:8,9;
1 Cor. 15:33;
Amos 3:3;
Rom. 16:17;
2 Cor. 6:14-18;
2 Chron. 19:2;
Titus 3:10;
2 Cor. 7:1;
Neh. 13:23,25; 1 Tim. 6:3-5;
2 Tim. 2:20,21;
Hos. 4:17;
Matt. 18:17;
1 Tim. 5:22;
Psa. 1:1;
2 Tim. 3:1,2,5;
2 John 10,11;
1 Cor. 5:11;
Acts 19:9;
Eph. 5:11;
Rev. 18:4
