6. So have I personally had to do, and must still do. Otherwise I
would have been terrified and enervated when I saw the Pope, and
bishops, emperors, kings and all the world, opposed to the doctrine
they ought to sustain. I would have been overwhelmed, thinking,
"They, too, are men and cannot all be followers of the devil." How
could I comfort myself and stand firm unless I were able to say:
"Though ten other worlds and everything great, lofty, wise and
prudent, and all my dear friends and brethren as well, should turn
from me, the doctrine still remains true. It stands: it will not,
like men, totter and fall. I will adhere to the Word of God, stand or
fall what may."
7. The Christian must be discerning enough to strip the individual of
his mask--of his great pomp and majesty--and distinguish it from the
Word. He who cannot so do, cannot stand under temptation; let one
fall, and he will soon follow suit.
8. Such is the nature of the Church in its earthly government that
human wisdom must stumble thereat; various sects of the offended must
rise in opposition to the faith. But God delights to rule, not with
the sword or with visible power, but through weakness and in
opposition to the devil and the world. Seemingly, he would permit his
Church to be utterly overthrown. Guard against and resist offenses as
well as we may--and the practice is not without its efficacy--still
we must ultimately be driven to say defiantly: "He who established
the Church and has to this time preserved it, will continue to
protect it. Man would not rule it wisely, but the living Christ is
seated upon the throne whereon God placed him, and we shall see who
can pull him down and destroy his Church."