Ad omnes Germaniae ecclesias reformatas, piorum, qui sub Zvingliani et Calviniani nominis invidia, vim & iniuriam patiuntur, apologia

to be held until the day of the restoration of all things: so that just as he gave us the Holy Spirit as an earnest of salvation, so in turn his flesh (to use the words of Tertullian) may be our pledge in the heavens, that our flesh will one day be carried up there. Nor do we for this reason imagine him to be captive, or bound against his will or reluctantly to any certain place in heaven.

Sitting at the right hand of the Father. We believe furthermore that he sits in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where, having received all power, he reigns and commands with the Father, our unique and eternal Priest and King. There, he also appears and intercedes for us, hears the prayers of his own, finally looks upon us, blesses us with every heavenly blessing, and protects and preserves his Church against all enemies.

Arrival for judgment: Zech. 12; John 19. We believe that toward the end of the age he will descend from heaven in that body in which he ascended, in the glory of the Father with the trumpet of God and the voice of the Archangel, to judge the living and the dead. The wicked will therefore see that very one whom they pierced, and they will be relegated with their prince, Satan, into that inextinguishable fire which has been prepared for them. The pious and believers, however, will recognize their same Savior with joy, and will be caught up to meet him in the air, so that they may live with him eternally and enjoy the promised goods of the heavenly kingdom.

Holy Spirit. We also believe that the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the holy Trinity, is true and eternal God with the Father and the Son, by whose virtue all things are enlivened, preserved, and governed; likewise, he is our comforter and advocate, promised and given to us by Christ, through whom he rules his Church here on earth and acts efficaciously in the hearts of believers.