Invincible Benefits of Faith

In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me.
PSALM 27:5 (KW)
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Invincible Benefits of Faith
Tabernacle is the Church or the Body of Christ, which, however, in a mystical sense is also the Church. And in it is hidden every believer. This hiding must not be understood in a physical sense, because the saints are certainly placed on the candlestick (cf. Mark 4:21). This does not mean, however, that all his glory is in his soul alone, but rather because man is called inward and hidden in that he does not live in a worldly and carnal fashion, that is to say, he withdraws himself from the life, the customs, and the activity of the world. Indeed, as the apostle says (2 Corinthians 10:3), that even though they live in the flesh, they do not wage war according to the flesh. And 1 Peter 4:4 says: "They are surprised that you do not join them, etc." Therefore to be hidden is nothing else than not running with those who live carnally, something the carnal people certainly see plainly. . .. The cover [cf. Psalm 27:5 in the ESV] therefore is the Church's faith, or spirit, which is the same. For they live by faith and in spirit, that is, by the recognition and love of what is invisible. . .. And note that the Church is protected, not in the open and in visible things; no, in these the Church is abandoned to the will of tyrants and wicked men. . .. But the Church is defended in spiritual things, so that they cannot be taken away from her or she be harmed in them, for they are the invincible and eternal spiritual benefits of faith.

From First Lectures on the Psalms, on Psalm 27 (Luther's Works 10:125)
April 3
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