And I say also unto thee, That thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
A man once asked Charles H. Spurgeon if his church was a pure church, since he was looking for a pure church to join. The great preacher said that he was not sure about his church. He knew there were many good people in it and some truly Christian people, but he added that there might be a Judas in it, as there was in Christ's first church. There might be some deceivers and idolaters, those who walk unruly, as there were in the churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Phiippi, and Thessalonica, and all the others to which the New Testament Epistles were written. Spurgeon said he didn't think that his church, on the whole, was the one the man was looking for. In fact, he did not know that there had been a perfect church in all history. "But," he added, "if you should happen to find such a church, I beg of you not to join it, for you would spoil it."
Christ's church may not be perfect, but it is still the object of His supreme regard (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 12). Wars, conquests, changing civilizations, have rolled over the world, but the church still stands. Why? Because its foundation is immovable. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).
Is the church important? If it were not, Christ never would have founded it. He promised that the gates of hell should never prevail against it. Remember, the Lord added to the church such as were being saved (Acts 2:47). "The New Testament knows nothing of unattached Christians," said Archibald M. Hunter.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy" (Ps. 5:7).
A man once asked Charles H. Spurgeon if his church was a pure church, since he was looking for a pure church to join. The great preacher said that he was not sure about his church. He knew there were many good people in it and some truly Christian people, but he added that there might be a Judas in it, as there was in Christ's first church. There might be some deceivers and idolaters, those who walk unruly, as there were in the churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Phiippi, and Thessalonica, and all the others to which the New Testament Epistles were written. Spurgeon said he didn't think that his church, on the whole, was the one the man was looking for. In fact, he did not know that there had been a perfect church in all history. "But," he added, "if you should happen to find such a church, I beg of you not to join it, for you would spoil it."
Christ's church may not be perfect, but it is still the object of His supreme regard (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 12). Wars, conquests, changing civilizations, have rolled over the world, but the church still stands. Why? Because its foundation is immovable. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).
Is the church important? If it were not, Christ never would have founded it. He promised that the gates of hell should never prevail against it. Remember, the Lord added to the church such as were being saved (Acts 2:47). "The New Testament knows nothing of unattached Christians," said Archibald M. Hunter.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy" (Ps. 5:7).
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