Spurgeon on the church's love for Christ then and now: 

They were people who knew the love of Christ and rested on it as a man leans on a staff whose dependability he has proven.  The love that they felt toward the Lord was not a quiet emotion that they hid within themselves in a secret room in their souls.  They did not speak of it only in their private meetings when they gathered on the first day of the week and sang hymns in honor of Christ Jesus, the Crucified One.  Instead, it was a passion of such fervid, all-consuming energy that it was visible in all their actions, spoken of in their daily conversation, and unmistakably seen in their eyes, even in their casual glances.  Love for Jesus was a flame that fed on the core and heart of their being; therefore, from its own force, it burned its way into the outer man and shone there.  Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians.  Because of their dependence on Christ’s love, they dared much; because of their love for Christ, they did much, and it is the same now.  The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love:  the love of Christ drives them.   –Charles H. Spurgeon