Felix Mantz, in the Year 1526

Felix Mantz was also an originator of the Reformation of the faith in Germany; and when he practiced, taught, and preached the recognized truth of the Gospel with great zeal, he was envied, accused, and imprisoned by his adversaries, and finally drowned at Zuerich for the evangelical truth, thus becoming a witness of the sufferings of Christ. This happened in the year of our Lord 1526. He left the following admonition to his fellow brothers, for their comfort

"My heart rejoices in God, who gives me much knowledge and wisdom, so that I may escape the eternal and never-ending death. Therefore I praise You, O Lord Christ from heaven, that You turn away my sorrow and sadness; You whom God has sent me as a Savior, and for an example and a light, and who has called me into His heavenly Kingdom already, before my end has come, that I should have eternal joy with Him, and should love Him and all His righteousness, which exists here, and which shall endure forever hereafter, and without which nothing avails or endures; and so, many who do not have this in truth are deceived by a vain opinion. But alas! how many are found at present who boast of the Gospel and speak, teach, and preach much about it, but are full of hatred and envy, and who do not have the love of God in them, whose deceit is known to all the world, as we have experienced in these latter days, that those who have come to us in sheep's clothing are ravening wolves, who hate the pious on the earth, and obstruct the way to life and to the true sheepfold. This is what the false prophets and hypocrites of this world do, who curse and pray with the same mouth, and whose life is disorderly. They call upon the authorities to kill us, and by this they destroy the very essence of Christianity. But I will praise the Lord Christ, who shows all patience toward us; for He instructs us with His divine graces, and shows love to all men, according to the nature of God His heavenly Father, which none of the false prophets are able to do.

"Here we must notice this difference, that the sheep of Christ seek the praise of God; this is their choice, and they do not let themselves be hindered either by possessions or by temporal goods, for they are in the keeping of Christ. The Lord Christ forces no one to come to His glory; only those who are willing and prepared reach it by true faith and baptism. Whenever a person brings forth genuine fruits of repentance, the heaven of eternal joys is, through grace, purchased and obtained for him by Christ, through the shedding of His innocent blood, which He so willingly poured out; thereby showing us His love, and endowing us with the power of His Spirit; and whoever receives and uses it grows and is made perfect in God. Only love to God through Christ shall stand and prevail; not boasting, denouncing, or threatening. Love alone is pleasing to God: whoever cannot show love shall not stand in the sight of God. The true love of Christ shall not destroy the enemy; whoever would be an heir with Christ is taught that he must be merciful, as the Father in heaven is merciful. Christ never accused anyone, as the false teachers of the present day do; from which it is plain that they do not have the love of Christ, nor understand His Word; and still they would be shepherds and teachers. But at last they will have to despair, when they find that everlasting pain shall be their recompense, if they do not reform. Christ also never hated anyone; neither did His true servants, but they kept on following Christ in the true way, as He went before them. This Light of life they have before them, and they are glad to walk in it; but those who are hateful and envious, and who so wickedly betray, accuse, strike, and quarrel, cannot be Christians. They are the ones who run ahead of Christ as thieves and murderers, and under a false pretense shed innocent blood. By this we may know those who are not on the side of Christ; for they, as children of Belial, driven by envy, destroy the ordinances of Jesus Christ; just as Cain killed his brother Abel, when God accepted the offerings of Abel.

With this I will finish my discourse, desiring that all the pious be mindful of the fall of Adam: when he accepted the advice of the serpent and became disobedient to God, the punishment of death came upon him. So it shall also happen to those who do not accept Christ, but resist Him, love this world, and do not have the love of God. And so I close with this: that I will hold firmly to Christ, and trust in Him, who knows all my needs, and can deliver me out of them. Amen.

First Peter 5, verse 1; John 16, verse 20; Galatians 5, verse 21; John 5, verse 42; Matthew 7, verse 15; Second Thessalonians 3, verse 7; John 10, verse 3; Acts 2, verse 38;

Luke 6, verse 36; John 8, verse 12; John 10, verse 1; Genesis 4, verse 8; 3, verse 6; First John 2, verse 15; John 5, verse 42.