The Cross of Christ, Part 4

Tell me now, all you who are guilty of innocent blood and who excuse your conduct with the mandate of the emperor: where have you read a single passage in the whole life of Christ that authorizes men to shed blood and punish with the sword for the sake of faith? Where did the apostles ever teach or approve such a practice? Should not the cause of the Spirit (understand: faith) be reserved to the judgment of the Spirit? Why do you and the emperor put yourselves in God’s place, judging things you do not understand and which are not committed to you? Do you not consider what happened to Pharaoh, Antiochus, Herod and many others, because they did not fear the Most High and vented their wrath against his people? Consider, O you tyrants and bloodthirsty men, that the emperor is not the head of Christ, but Christ is the head of the emperor; that the emperor is not to judge and govern Christ, but Christ the emperor. Dear men, how can you be so arrogant and so rebellious against him who created you? Do you consider the Scriptures a mockery and without truth? Or do you hope that your life will last forever and never run out? Stand in awe of him who holds the heavens and the earth in the palm of his hand, who sends out the lightning, gives wings to the tempest and shakes the foundations of the mountains; who rules all things by the power of his word; at whose name every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth; and to whom every tongue shall confess that he is the Lord. As soon as he calls, you must appear before his judgment seat (his summons admits no delay), no matter who you are, where you are, or what you claim to be. There will be no evasion, no counsel, no excuse; when he calls, you must be there to give an account; you may be steward no longer. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Though his throne is exalted to heaven and his dominion reaches to the ends of the earth, in a short time he will be sought and will not be found.

Therefore, beloved brothers and children in the Lord, be of good cheer and full of comfort in Christ Jesus; for all who persecute you will be like grass, and all their power and glory like the flower of the field. Therefore do not be afraid of perishable, mortal man, but fear the Lord who has chosen you. For all the children of men will wither like the grass, vanish like the mist and grow old like a garment; but you will abide forever, as the Scripture testifies, and your souls will enjoy everlasting life.

Yes, beloved brothers, the longed-for day of your visitation is at hand, in which you will stand with great power against those who have afflicted you and wrung from you your sweat and toil, indeed, your blood and life. Then all our persecutors will be like ashes under the soles of our feet, and they will know, but too late, that emperor, king, duke, prince, crown, scepter, majesty, power, sword and mandate are nothing but earth, dust, wind and smoke.

With this day all afflicted and oppressed Christians who now labor under the cross of Christ comfort themselves in the firm hope of a future life, and commit all tyrants, with their heathenish mandates, to God and his judgments. They hold firmly to Christ Jesus and his holy word, and conform their whole doctrine, faith, sacraments and life to it, never paying regard to any other doctrine or mandate, just as the Father commanded from heaven and as Christ Jesus with his holy apostles taught in all clearness, leaving it as a legacy to all pious, God-fearing children.

I think, beloved brothers, it is evident enough that the defense of the tyrants, in which they claim that their outrageous murders are just and right, is completely futile and barbarous, and that their accusation against us has no foundation or truth, is directly opposed to Christ and his word, and indeed is contrary to the principles of love and fairness. May the Father of mercies grant to all who suffer for his truth’s sake a sound understanding of his word and truth, and a free mind in all temptations. Amen.

We will now, by the grace of God, show in a few words how greatly it serves our good that our flesh is afflicted and tried with many crosses and tribulations here on earth.

Beloved brothers, consider the weakness of our sinful nature and how prone we all are to evil from our youth; that in our flesh dwells no good thing; that we have drunk iniquity and ungodliness like water, as Eliphas the Temanite said to Job; and that at all times, although we seek and fear God, we have an affection for the things of time and sense. The gracious God and Father, who in his eternal love is always greatly concerned for his children, has prepared an excellent remedy for this and left it in his house, namely, the oppressive cross of Christ. By it we who in boundless mercy are received through Christ Jesus, to the glory of the Father, who believe in Christ Jesus in pureness of heart and love him in our weakness, may, through this cross, that is, through much affliction, oppression, anxiety, fear, bonds, robbery and so on, forsake all the passing delights and pleasures of earth, die to the world and the flesh, love God alone, and set our affection on things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, as Peter also says, “Since, then, Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God,” First Peter 4, verses 1 and 2.

It seems to me utterly impossible, beloved brothers, that those who willingly submit to the word and will of God, who are willing and ready to uphold the word in all things, and who are therefore constantly persecuted, afflicted, slandered, imprisoned, robbed and put to death, should turn back and set their affection on carnal pleasures and the vain and sinful desires of the world. For what are money and possessions worth to us, if we only believe that we have a better treasure in heaven, that temporal riches can neither make us happy nor give us relief, and that we do not know how soon robbers may take them from us? Or why should we gratify the lusts of the flesh, when every moment we look for and expect nothing else than to be arrested by the officers and treated by the executioners in this way: racked, tortured, drowned, burned and murdered? Moreover, how can the world give us any enjoyment, seeing that the whole world looks upon us as deceivers, heretics, scorners and fools?

Since eternal Wisdom sees our extreme weakness, and since earthly ease, peace and prosperity tend so strongly to ruin and undo us before our God and to make us careless, stubborn, lukewarm and drowsy, he has appointed his cross as a rod to awaken all his followers, by which, as a faithful Father, he restrains, awakens and stirs up the children of his love, as Solomon says, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be weary of his correction; for whom the Lord loves he corrects, even as a father the son in whom he delights,” Proverbs 3, verses 11 and 12. “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they truly chastened us for a few days after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness,” Hebrews 12, verses 7 and 10.

See, brothers, these words of the apostle are gracious beyond measure and full of comfort for all who have to bear the cross of Christ. A well-meaning and faithful earthly father who loves his children, and desires to teach and instruct them in what is best, sometimes, out of pure fatherly love, sharply admonishes, chastens and punishes them with stripes for the good of his dear children, not regarding the pain inflicted on the flesh, so that they do not disregard their father’s will, command and voice, but gladly obey it and learn and practice modesty, piety and obedience. In the same way our heavenly Father often chastens his chosen children with his fatherly rod, so that they may hear and obey him in his holy word, will and commandment; practice piety and every moral virtue; fear God with sincerity of heart; not join themselves to or become familiar with the world; live no longer to flesh and blood; and by this, as obedient and chastened children of God, be made partakers at last of the promised kingdom and inheritance.

But if they refuse the rod of chastisement, reject the cross of Christ, and in spite of their Father’s kind chastening become more abandoned and stubborn the longer it goes on, despise their Father’s will and word, and deal and act according to their own inclination, then in the end they must be cast off and considered disgraced bastards and not legitimate children.

Therefore, holy brothers, do not refuse the rod and correction of your kind Father, for its purpose is extremely beneficial, namely, that you lay aside every weight and the sins that so easily beset you, and fear, love and obey your Father in all things without exception. So this rod of the cross of Christ is pure love and kindness, and not indignation and wrath, as may be perceived and shown by the Spirit of God and not by the dictates of the flesh.

For a similar reason God often allowed his people Israel to be chastised by the Philistines, Assyrians, Chaldeans and so on, when they forgot their God and rebelled against him, so that through such scourges and punishments they might seek their God again, hear his law, cease from evil and act uprightly in all things. Nevertheless, the fatherly punishment was for the most part lost on Israel, as the prophet says: He has often reproved, but what good did it do? The rod does not amend the wicked children, says the Lord God.

“Behold, famine and plague, tribulation and anguish, are sent as scourges for amendment. But for all these things they shall not turn from their wickedness, nor be always mindful of your scourges,” Second Esdras 16, verses 19 and 20.

Again, “You have struck them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return,” Jeremiah 5, verse 3.

The words of the prophet cited above show plainly why the Israelites were so often punished and struck by the Lord, namely, so that they might turn from iniquity. Yet it was all in vain, as the prophets lament and declare in the words above.

Beloved brothers, let this serve you as a warning, so that you do not end up like disobedient and hard-hearted Israel, but willingly submit yourselves to the chastening of your merciful Father, reflecting on what is written: “When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, so that we should not be condemned with the world,” First Corinthians 11, verse 32.

Therefore, dearly beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, do not reject the chastening and instruction of your loving Father, but receive with abundant joy the exhortation of his sincere love, giving thanks that through his fatherly favor he has chosen you in Christ Jesus as the children of his love, taught and called you by the word of his power, and enlightened you with the Holy Spirit, so that through the healing working of the cross of Christ you may restore to health your poor, weak, mortal flesh, which is subject to so many loathsome, infectious diseases of lust, and wean it entirely from the pleasures and enjoyments of the world; so that you may be made partakers of the cross of Christ and conformed to his death, and by this means attain to the resurrection of the dead. As Paul teaches in a certain place, saying, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body,” Second Corinthians 4, verses 8 and 10. But we who live surrender ourselves daily to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

See, for this reason he teaches, admonishes, rebukes, threatens and chastises us: that we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; die entirely to the world, the flesh and the devil; seek our treasure, portion and inheritance in heaven alone; love and believe the true, living and eternal God, looking in patience for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a peculiar people, serving him in righteousness and godliness all the days of our life.

And for the same reason James says, “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing,” James 1, verses 2 and 4. For as gold passing through the fire is separated from the dross and becomes more and more refined, so the receptive man of God is subdued, purified and refined in the fiery furnace of affliction, so that he may increase the everlasting praise and glory of Christ and the Father, and may fear, love, honor, thank and serve the same eternal God out of a pure heart, without hindrance.

And this is the word that is written in the book of Wisdom, namely, “Having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded; for God proved them and found them worthy for himself. As gold in the furnace he has tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. They shall judge the nations and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign forever,” Wisdom of Solomon 3, verses 5 and 8.

Beloved brothers, therefore be full of comfort in the Lord, and bear your tribulation willingly as godly soldiers of Christ, so that you may please him who has called and chosen you as soldiers. Paul says, “If a man also strives for masteries, yet he is not crowned unless he strives lawfully.” So conduct yourselves valiantly in the struggle, and you will gain favor in the eyes of your King; but if you become intimidated, throw down your arms and forsake the fight, you will receive no crown. For Christ says, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.”

I fear that some may be found among our young and inexperienced brothers who let themselves be troubled by the passing thought: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? And why do the righteous suffer much tribulation? Indeed, it appears to the eyes of the unwise as if the ungodly were born to prosper, for they grow and increase like a blossoming branch. They marry and are given in marriage; they sow, plant and gather the grain into barns; they hoard money in their chests; their houses are magnificent and filled with costly things; they deck themselves with gold and silver, with silk and velvet; they nourish their hearts as in a day of slaughter; their fields and meadows flourish richly; their cattle are healthy and prolific; their children are merry, lively and vigorous in their sight; they play on the organ, the tambourine, the viol and the lute; they sing and leap for joy, and say to their souls, Rejoice and be merry while life lasts.

Their preachers confirm and console them, and their worship is a pleasure beyond all pleasures. In short, it would appear as if they were loved and blessed by God with a special love, and as if the righteous were cursed and hated by God with a special hatred. For the righteous are like a slender shrub in barren soil; like a poor, frightened owl that is chased by all the other birds; like a pelican of the wilderness; and like a sparrow alone on the housetop, Psalm 102. All who look at them mock them; all who know them despise them. There is no kingdom, principality, city or country large enough to bear and tolerate a poor, rejected Christian. All who abuse, slander and injure them think they are doing God a service.

Brothers, if we were to speak or judge in the manner of men, we would no doubt complain with holy Jeremiah, Jeremiah 12, verse 1, and say, “Righteous are you, O Lord, when I plead with you; yet let me talk with you of your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who deal very treacherously?” Again, “Why do you look upon those who deal treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man who is more righteous than he?” Habakkuk 1, verse 13; and Esdras: Are those of Babylon better than those of Sion? Asaph’s feet had almost gone, his steps had nearly slipped, when he saw the prosperity of the wicked and observed the opposition and tribulation of the righteous, Psalm 73.

I counsel and admonish all who have to contend with such thoughts to direct their hearts and eyes to the word of the Lord, and to observe carefully what is written about the end and outcome of both, and first of the ungodly. Job says, Job 21, verse 13, “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.” Again, “Do not fret,” says David, Psalm 37, verses 1 and 2, “because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity; for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” Again, “If you live after the flesh,” says Paul, “you shall die”; “To be carnally minded is death”; and many similar passages.

But of the end of the righteous it is written, “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure is taken for misery, and their going from us to be utter destruction; but they are in peace,” Wisdom of Solomon 3, verses 1 to 3. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all,” Psalm 34, verse 19. Again, “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,” Matthew 5, verses 11 and 12. Again, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all those who believe,” Second Thessalonians 1, verses 6 to 10. Indeed, all who truly read, believe and understand the Scriptures, and rightly perceive the vast difference in the end and outcome of the two, will not envy the wicked their short-lived prosperity, joy and happiness, but will by the grace of God be prepared for, and find comfort in, their own cross, tribulation and affliction.

Moreover, brothers, we know well that the cross seems grievous, harsh and severe to the flesh, and in this life it is not looked upon as producing joy but rather sorrow. Yet it contains within itself a source of profit and delight, in that it adds to the piety of the pious, separates them from the world and the flesh, and makes them revere God and his word, as mentioned above; and it is also the Father’s holy will that by it the sincere are proved and the pretender is exposed in his hypocrisy. Therefore all the true children of God are prepared through love to do the will of the Father, and they rejoice in it, as Paul says, Galatians 6, verse 14, “God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” Again, the apostles “departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name,” Acts 5, verse 41.

For we know well that the cross is a sting and vexation to our poor, weak flesh, as we may also find in the case of Job, Jeremiah, Elijah and others. Indeed, Jesus Christ himself earnestly desired that, if it were possible, the cup might be taken from him; in the extremity of agony he trembled, shook, and sweated as it were great drops of blood, so that an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. Therefore our best counsel is that in faith and humility of heart we flee for refuge to our God, as all sincere bearers of the cross have done from the beginning, and seek his grace, aid, help and comfort in full confidence. For whom does he forsake who trusts in him? And who has called upon him whom he did not hear? He is our God and Father, our Lord and King, our helper and protector, our strength and fortress, our comfort and refuge in the time of need; he is the horn of our salvation and our shade at noonday. By my God, says David, I have leaped over a wall. If God is for us, who can be against us? We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. Commit your cause to him; he works in his saints what is pleasing in his sight. Some he has rescued from the hands of tyrants, some he has preserved in the midst of fire; for others he has stopped the mouths of fierce and ravening lions; some he has released from prison and confinement. Others have trampled the fear of death under their feet, and through the strength of their faith have triumphantly and victoriously conquered hunger, thirst, shame, mockery, nakedness, stripes, imprisonment, anguish, and in addition the gallows, the rack, massacre, torture, water, fire, life, death and so on. For they were moved by the constraining, effective working of divine love, which turns the bitter into sweet and the horrible into what is greatly to be desired. “Love,” says Solomon, “is strong as death”; many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. All who possess it ought to say with Paul, “Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, and so on, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8, verses 35 to 39.

Therefore, beloved brothers, bearers of the cross of the Lord, acknowledge your God; fear, love, believe, trust and serve him, and that in the fullness of pureness of heart, after the example of all the saints and of Christ Jesus. Then the Father of mercies and of truth, in the excellence of his love, will not forsake you, but will care for you as the apple of his eye. He will faithfully support you in every misfortune and extremity, will stretch out his hand, and will guard and preserve you in life or in death, as is pleasing in his sight, to the increase of his glory and the salvation of your own souls. For he is so kind and faithful that he will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but in his boundless mercy will graciously make a way for you to escape, if only you remain steadfast in believing his word and regard him as your faithful Father.

Dear brothers, if in your trials and temptations you show such evidence as is described here, drinking the cup of the Lord with patience, bearing witness to Christ Jesus and his holy, priceless word in action and conduct, letting yourselves be led in perfect constancy like meek lambs to the slaughter for his testimony’s sake, then the name of the Lord will be sanctified and exalted with praise and abundant glory; the hope of the righteous will be revealed; the kingdom of heaven will be spread abroad; the word of God will be acknowledged; and your poor, weak brothers and companions in the Lord will be edified and strengthened by this plain dealing of yours.

Yes, my brothers, in the way described here we are informed and instructed, even to this day, by the offering and blood of Abel; by the faith and obedience of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the chastity of Joseph; the patience of Job and Tobit; the excellent and manly confession of Eleazer; the mother and her seven sons; the sincerity, constancy and piety of all the pious before us; and the pure, spotless love, humility, peace, righteousness and voluntary offering of Jesus Christ, who according to the promise of God was sent from heaven in everlasting love by God our heavenly Father, and came down to earth as an infallible teacher and an eternal example of all good.

My dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, scattered abroad in every land, for whom I have composed and written this exhortation out of pure Christian love and duty: I will now draw to a close, and I beg you in all humility to consider well, in the first place, the nature of the people who so malevolently persecute you, plundering your property and destroying your lives.

Secondly, why they persecute and injure you. Thirdly, that all the saints, and Christ Jesus himself as well, have suffered, and that all the pious must suffer persecution, as may be seen. Fourthly, how futile are all the arguments by which they try to excuse themselves for their bloody deeds, accusing us as though they did right and we justly deserved every kind of punishment and disgrace.

Fifthly, how profitable and advantageous to us is the cross of Christ, which we must take up and bear daily for the sake of the word of the Lord; and how we should desire to hear, believe and obey Christ Jesus. Now if you consider these five points with discernment, according to the Scriptures, and reflect on them in purity of heart, I have not the least doubt that this exercise will give you invincible strength, and armor and a shield that cannot be pierced, against all tribulation, persecution and distress.

Finally, I beg and exhort you to consider with earnest diligence what is promised to all the conquering soldiers of Christ Jesus in the world to come, namely, the eternal, incorruptible kingdom, the crown of glory, and the life that will remain forever. Therefore, O people of God, equip yourself and make ready for battle, not with outward weapons and armor, as the bloodthirsty, barbarous world does, but with the firmness of confidence, the calm of patience and the fervent ardor of prayer. There is no other way: the combat of the cross must be kept up, and the winepress of affliction must be trodden. O bride and sister of Christ, prepare yourself; the crown of thorns must pierce your head, and the nails your hands and feet; your body must be scourged and your face spit upon. Gird yourself all around and be ready, for you must go out with your Lord and Bridegroom outside the city, bearing his reproach. On Golgotha you must offer up your sacrifice. Awake and pray, for your enemies are more numerous than the hairs of your head or the sand of the sea. Though their hearts, hands, feet and swords are exceedingly red and stained with blood, do not be dismayed, for God is your leader. Your life on earth is an unceasing warfare. Strive valiantly, and you will receive the promised crown.

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God,” and of the hidden and heavenly manna.

Him who overcomes God will make a pillar in his temple, and will write on him his name and the name of the new Jerusalem.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and his name shall not be blotted out of the book of life, but Christ Jesus will confess his name before his heavenly Father and before his angels.

He who overcomes shall sit with Christ on his throne, even as Christ overcame and has sat down with his Father on his throne, Revelation, chapter 3.

O soldier of God, prepare yourself and do not fear! You must tread the winepress; you must go the narrow way and enter through the strait gate to eternal life.

The Lord is your strength, your refuge and comfort. He is with you in prisons and bonds; he flees with you to foreign lands; he is with you in fire and in water; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Indeed, he will come quickly, and his great reward will be with him.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Do not grieve that you are black; you are still comely and pleasing to the King.

Like a rose you must grow among thorns and be pricked by the thorns. Rejoice, for the King delights in your beauty.

Though at his first coming he was offered as an innocent Lamb and did not open his mouth, the time will come when he will appear in judgment as a triumphant Prince and a victorious King. Then our persecutors will look on him whom they pierced; then they will cry aloud and say, You mountains, fall on us; hide us, you hills. But you will leap and dance for exceeding joy like calves of the stall, Matthew, chapter 4. Joy and gladness will never leave you, for your King, Bridegroom and Redeemer, Christ Jesus, will remain with you forever. “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain,” Revelation 21, verse 4. [Note 1]

Praise, thanksgiving and glory to God will flow from your mouth in an eternal stream. I say it again: strive; the crown of glory is prepared; do not shrink or draw back. “For yet a little while, and he who shall come will come, and will not tarry. The just shall live by faith; but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him,” Hebrews 10, verses 37 and 38.

Take heed and watch, so that the fire of the cross does not consume you like wood, hay and stubble, and the rains and storms of persecution do not overthrow the house. Do not let the heat of the sun wither the cross, so that you do not, like the dog, turn back to what you have cast up. Do not let your garments and your feet, which you have washed, become unclean, so that seven worse spirits do not enter you and the last error be worse than the first.

Therefore, beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, fear God with all your heart and with all your soul, and seek him with all your powers. Watch night and day; knock at the throne of his mercy, that with his fatherly hand he may support you under every affliction, help you in trouble and distress, and graciously keep you in his way, word and truth; so that you do not dash your foot against a stone, and so, failing in your profession and your life, be overcome and disgraced; but that you may keep the treasure entrusted to your care pure and untarnished against that day, and so obtain, with all the saints, the promised land, inheritance, kingdom, life and crown. May the Father of mercies and of love grant this to you and to us through his blessed Son Jesus Christ, in the power of his eternal Holy Spirit, to his praise and everlasting glory. Amen.