the glory of the church

He [Jesus] said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:15-18 ESV)

"How clear that no other institution in all the world is comparable to the Christian church in point of glory! The glory of the greatest, wealthiest, most powerful and most resplendent empire of all history was as nothing, yes less than nothing, in comparison with the glory of the church of Christ.

"Small wonder that of all the countless organizations in the world the Redeemer fondly claims only the church as his very own. 'Upon this Rock,' said He, 'I will build my church.' The church alone is 'his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.' (Ephesians 1:23)"

(R. B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ, p. 40)

The stain glass window above, "New Jerusalem," is at the First Presbyterian Church in Muskegon, Michigan.

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