force has risen to counterwork His work, that He has not
foreseen. All has taken place as He predicted. He has not left
His church forsaken, but has traced in prophetic declarations
what would occur, and that which His Spirit inspired the
prophets to foretell has been brought about. All His purposes
will be fulfilled. His law is linked with His throne, and no
power of evil can 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 bles