preserve thy Church

For it is not we who could preserve the church. Our ancestors also did not do it. Our posterity will also not be able to do it. But it was he, is he, and will be he who says: ‘I am with you to the end of the age.’ [Matthew 28:20] As is written in Hebrews 13:8 ‘Jesus Christ, yesterday and today and forever.’ And Revelation 1:8: ‘The Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ Yes, this is the name of the man, and no other man is named in this way, and no one else is supposed to be called this way. He who is called ‘yesterday’ and ‘who was’ preserved the church one thousand years ago, when we did not yet exist. And even today the church is not preserved by us, the living, but only by him who is called ‘today’ and ‘who is.’ Likewise, we will also not contribute anything when we are dead, but he will do it who is called ‘who will come’ and ‘in eternity.’ -- Martin Luther