Isaiah 54:11

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted; O thou my poor church, \ hast frequently been, and wilt again and again be, in a most afflicted and comfortless condition for a time, be not discouraged thereby. I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; I will make thee exceeding beautiful and glorious. Which yet is not to be understood of outward pomp and worldly glory, as is evident from many places of Scripture, which assure us that Christ's kingdom is of another nature, and that the external condition of God's church is, and for the most part will be, mean and calamitous in this world; but of a spiritual beauty and glory, consisting in the plentiful effusion of excellent gifts, and graces, and comforts; although these shall be followed with eternal glory in heaven. See the like description of the church's glory, Revelation 21:11, &c.