Gerhard and Walther

Let us go now with the shepherds to the manger of Christ, that is, His church, and as He lay in that manger in swaddling clothes, so in the sacred scriptures, we shall find our Saviour.—Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditation XIV

Times of persecution bless Christians by preserving them from security, from love of the world, and from a lust for its goods, joys, and glory. A desire to be out of the sinful world and in their true homeland with Christ is awakened in them.They experience the powerful divine comfort of the Word of God, and a spirit of confession arises in them.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 806.