There is great danger of losing sight of the Church in the endeavor
to emphasize the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven or Christendom. We
are prone to think it a small thing to speak of the Church; the
Kingdom and Christendom seem so large in comparison. We are tempted
to distinguish and contrast Churchism, as it is sometimes called,
and Christianity, to the disparagement of the former. It is well
to remember that Jesus Christ positively identifies Himself with
the Church (Acts 9) and not with Christendom; He gave up His life
that He might found the Church (Eph. 5:25). The Apostle Paul sacrificed
himself in his endeavors to build up the Church, not Christendom.
He speaks of his greatest sin as consisting in persecuting the
Church of God (1 Cor. 15:9). The supreme business of God in this
age is the gathering of the Church. Some day it will be complete
(Eph. 4:12), and then the age will have served its purpose.