8
The Acts of the Apostles
destroy it. Truth is inspired and guarded by God; and it will triumph
over all opposition.
During ages of spiritual darkness the church of God has been as
a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations,
the pure doctrines of heaven have been unfolding within its borders.
Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object
upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is
the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to
transform hearts.
“Whereunto,” asked Christ, “shall we liken the kingdom of God?
or with what comparison shall we compare it?”
Mark 4:30
. He could
not employ the kingdoms of the world as a similitude. In society He
found nothing with which to compare it. Earthly kingdoms rule by the
ascendancy of physical power; but from Christ’s kingdom every carnal
weapon, every instrument of coercion, is banished. This kingdom
is to uplift and ennoble humanity. God’s church is the court of holy
life, filled with varied gifts and endowed with the Holy Spirit. The
members are to find their happiness in the happiness of those whom
they help and bless.
[13]
Wonderful is the work which the Lord designs to accomplish
through His church, that His name may be glorified. A picture of
this work is given in Ezekiel’s vision of the river of healing: “These
waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert,
and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters
shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth,
which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live:... and
by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall
grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit
thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his
months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and
the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Ezekiel 47:8-12
.
From the beginning God has wrought through His people to bring
blessing to the world. To the ancient Egyptian nation God made
Joseph a fountain of life. Through the integrity of Joseph the life of
that whole people was preserved. Through Daniel God saved the life
of all the wise men of Babylon. And these deliverances are as object
lessons; they illustrate the spiritual blessings offered to the world