Protest of the Princes
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then, O Father!” To Melancthon, who was crushed under the burden
of anxiety and fear, he wrote: “Grace and peace in Christ! In Christ, I
say, and not in the world, Amen! I hate with exceeding hatred those
extreme cares which consume you. If the cause is unjust, abandon
it; if the cause is just, why should we belie the promises of Him who
commands us to sleep without fear?” “Christ will not be wanting to
the work of justice and truth. He lives, he reigns; what fear, then, can
we have?”
God did listen to the cries of his servants. He gave to princes and
ministers grace and courage to maintain the truth against the rulers of
the darkness of this world. Saith the Lord, “Behold, I lay in Zion a
chief corner-store, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded.” [
1 Peter 2:6
.] The Protestant reformers had built
on Christ, and the gates of hell could not prevail against them.
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