Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/855

 of hell  can  do  against  it. Happy are  they  who  belong  to  that Church, who  believe  as  she  believes,  and  who  observe  her  commandments.

Yea, happy  are  they  who  belong  to  the  Church  and  are  her living members. Jesus Christ,  the  King  of  kings,  will  own  them as His  brethren. They shall  dwell  with  Him  and  His  Saints  in  a new  heaven  and  a new  earth,  and  shall  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Life in the  Paradise  of  heaven.

The wonderful  preservation  and  growth  of  the  Church  prove  1. that Jesus Christ  is  God,  and  2. that the  Church  is  a divine  institution.

1. Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  foretold  that  the  powers  of  hell should not  prevail  against  the  Church,  and  that  she  would  grow  and spread like  a tree  springing  from  a small  grain  of  mustard-seed  (see chapter  XVIII). This prophecy  has  been  in  a perpetual  state  of  fulfilment for  nineteen  hundred  years;  therefore  He  who  uttered  it  must be Omniscient,  i.  e.  God.

2. During  the  first  three  centuries  the  Church  was  persecuted  in the  most  cruel  way,  and  yet,  far  from  being  destroyed,  she  throve  and grew. Even in  the  centuries  which  followed,  down  to  the  present  day, she has  been  continually  opposed,  oppressed,  and  persecuted. She would have infallibly  succumbed  to  the  combined  forces  of  heresy  and  the  civil power, if  Almighty  God  had  not  protected  and  sustained  her. That after nineteen  centuries  she  still  exists  is  a great  miracle,  and  a tangible proof that  she  is  the  work,  not  of  man,  but  of  God.

The Papacy. Peter  is  dead,  but  his  chief  pastorship  continues. Peter having  died  bishop  of  Rome,  his  present  successor  in  the  See  of Rome  is  the  chief  bishop,  the  supreme  pastor  of  the  Church. As such he is  called  the  Pope,  or  Father  of  Christendom.

The Bishops. The  other  apostles  likewise  died,  but  their  pastoral office did  not  cease,  having  been  continued  to  this  day  in  an  unbroken chain of  bishops.

The Priests. The  bishops  are  aided  and  supported  by  the  priests in the  exercise  of  their  pastoral  office.