From a letter to the Ephesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
Try to gather together more frequently to give thanks to God and to praise him. For when you come together frequently, Satan’s powers are undermined, and the destruction that he threatens is done away with in the unanimity of your faith. Nothing is better than peace, in which allwarfare between heaven and earth is brought to an end. [...]
These are the beginning and the end of life: faith the beginning, love the end. When these two are found together, there is God, and everything else concerning right living follows from them. No one professing faith sins; no one possessing love hates. A tree is known by its fruit. So those who profess to belong to Christ will be known by what they do. For the work we are about is not a matter of words here and now, but depends on the power of faith and on being found faithful to the end.
It is better to be Christian and remain silent than to proclaim to be Christian and not be one. Teaching is good, if the speaker also acts according to what he teaches. Now there was one teacher who spoke, and it was made, and even what He did in silence is worthy of the Father. He who has the word of Jesus can truly listen also to His silence, in order to be perfect, that he may act through his speech and be known by his silence.
Ralph Pallen Coleman, "Lonely Christ." 1958.