A thousand years ago you and I were nothing, and yet the church was preserved at that time without us. He who is called “who was” and “yesterday” had to accomplish this. Even during our lifetime we are not the church’s guardians. It is not preserved by us, for we are unable to drive off the devil in the persons of the pope, the sects, and evil men. If it were up to us, the church would perish before our very eyes, and we together with it (as we experience daily). For it is another Man who obviously preserves both the church and us. He does this so plainly that we could touch and feel it, if we did not want to believe it. We must leave this to him who is called “who is” and “today.” Likewise we will contribute nothing toward the preservation of the church after our death. He who is called “who is to come” and “forever” will accomplish it. What we are now saying about ourselves in this respect, our ancestors also had to say, as is borne out by the psalms and the Scriptures. And our descendants will make the same discovery, prompting them to join us and the entire church in singing Psalm 124: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say,” etc.  (Luther’s Works, v.47, p.118)

Picture:  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from  Das Newe Testament Deuotzsch.  The image is from Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) September Testament. The image is based on Revelation chapter 6:1-8.  After the first four seals are opened, four horsemen roam the earth bringing great calamity. They are shown carrying a bow, a sword, scales, and a pitchfork. Woodcut designed by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), a close friend of Luther.  http://pitts.emory.edu/

I can see there in the distance how the devil is puffing out his cheeks so vigorously that he is turning all red as he prepares to blow and rage. But our Lord Christ from the beginning (even when he was in the flesh) struck these puffed cheeks with his fist, so that they emitted nothing but the devil’s stinking wind. He still does this today and will ever continue to do so. For Christ does not lie when he declares, “I am with you always, to the close of the age” [Matt. 28:20], and when he assures us that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church [Matt. 16:18]. At the same time we are enjoined to remain awake and to do our part in preserving the light. We read, “Be watchful,” for the devil is called a “roaring lion” who “prowls around, seeking some one to devour” [I Pet. 5:8], and this he did not only in the days of the apostles when St. Peter uttered these words; he does so to the end of time. Let us be guided by this. God help us as he helped our forefathers, and as he will help our heirs, to the honor and glory of his divine name forever. For after all, we are not the ones who can preserve the church, nor were our forefathers able to do so. Nor will our successors have this power. No, it was, is, and will be he who says, “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” As it says in Hebrews 13 [:8], “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever,” and in Revelation 1 [:8], “He who is and who was and who is to come.” This is his name and no one else’s; nor may anyone else be called by that name.  (Luther’s Works, v.47, p.117-118)

Picture:  Beasts of the Earth and Sea from  Das Newe Testament Deuotzsch.  The image is from Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) September Testament. The image is based on Revelation chapter 13. All the people of earth, whose names are not in the book of life, worship the seven-headed beast emerging from the sea, as another beast emerges from the earth. Woodcut designed by Lucas Cranach, the Elder (1472-1553), a close friend of Martin Luther.  http://pitts.emory.edu/