Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Notwithstanding, it is not untrue that, where the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments are administered by impure teachers, as Jesuists, priests, and monks, there the heavenly pearls are indeed offered in stained and unclean vessels, and the Kingdom of Christ can still be found there by its outward marks, but in thick fog and shadow, and laden with a heavy yoke and great burden of human laws. Yet the heavenly pearls are there, the voice of the Bridegroom and the Bride, the Christian Church, so that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, yet rules among his enemies, and ever keepeth for Himself seven thousand who do not bow the knee to Baal. - Philip Niccolai, from the first chapter of *History of the Kingdom of Christ*