Exhortation to All in Authority: Appeal to Corrupt Sects

Christ said, “False christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take heed; behold, I have foretold you all things,” Mark 13, verses 22 and 23. O you backsliding, erring children! Mark this: had you taken to heart this faithful warning of our Lord and Savior Christ; had you acknowledged his Spirit, doctrine and holy life as a perfect Spirit, doctrine and life, and acknowledged him as the true Prophet promised in Scripture; and had you received him as the true and living Son of God, you would never have been led so far from his ways, nor would such frightful errors have taken place. But, O Lord, I fear that some of you are so far enchanted that you will nevermore come to Christ, the true Shepherd; for through a perverted and obscure understanding of the Scriptures you defend as just and right the abominable works of ungodliness, which are contrary not only to the Spirit, word and will of Christ, but also to reasonable modesty, nature and reason.

Is it not a grievous error that you let yourselves be so sorely bewitched by such worthless persons, and so lamentably misled from one unclean sect to another: first to that of Munster, next to Battenberg, now the Davidists; from Beelzebub to Lucifer, and from Belial to Behemoth? Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the real truth. You let yourselves be carried about by every wind of doctrine. You choose out a way for yourselves, as the priests and monks also do; you do not hold to the head, Christ, from which all the body, fitly joined together, comes to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

I fear that your sins will be punished; for you are earthly and carnally minded, and by this you thrust from you the pure knowledge of Christ and hate his cross. Against all the admonition of the Scriptures, against the undeceiving example of Christ and his saints, you conform yourselves to the splendor, pomp, eating, drinking, folly, hypocrisy and false worship of this proud, useless, vain and idolatrous world, which by right you should instruct and admonish by a pious, humble, sober and godly walk.

O you backsliding children! Consider how grievously you disgrace the holy Moses, who teaches and speaks to you out of the mouth of God. He says, “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him,” Deuteronomy 18, verses 18 and 19. This is repeated by Peter and Stephen in Acts 3, verse 23, and Acts 7, verse 37.

What do you do with all the great prophets of God, such as David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who in so many places, with such plain words, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, direct us to Christ and his word? Either they must testify to lies, or your prophets must be deceivers and false teachers. This cannot be denied.

Did not holy Paul say, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed,” Galatians 1, verse 8? That your prophets, with their king, dominion, polygamy, sword and so on, do not agree with Paul and the doctrine and gospel of the apostles, you are all forced to acknowledge and admit; from which it necessarily follows that they, with their doctrine and conduct, are cursed and anathematized.

Tell me, my beloved, what do you do with the revealed and infallible word and testimony of the Almighty Father, which he himself has testified of his Son, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him,” Matthew 17, verse 5? Him you shall hear; but since you reject his Spirit, word and example, you follow and hear those who, with their spirit, doctrine and conduct, are from the bottomless pit, yes, manifestly antichrists and false prophets.

Do you not know that the Son of God has himself commanded us to observe all that he has enjoined, and that he will be with us until the end of the world?

Will you then say that the doctrine of Christ and his apostles was imperfect, and that your teachers bring forth the perfect instruction? I answer that to teach and believe this is the most horrible blasphemy, the most mocking perversity, that can be uttered against the Most High; for by it you declare that Christ is not the true Son of God, the perfect Teacher, and the true image of righteousness. You deny the whole Scripture; you reject the testimony of Moses and all the prophets, who pointed to the only and true Christ, as has been shown; you disparage the word of the Father and reject Christ Jesus with his Spirit, word, kingdom and spiritual government; you put your trust and hopes in lying, mortal flesh and in earthly, carnal things, which, as the Scriptures teach, must be scattered like dust before the wind. Examine the Scriptures in the fear of the Lord, and consider whether this is not a gross blasphemy against the Almighty.

Tell me, you deceived children, where is there a syllable in the whole doctrine of Christ and the apostles (according to whose Spirit, doctrine, conduct and example all Scripture must be understood) by which you can prove and establish a single one of all your erring articles?

If you appeal to the literal understanding and transactions of Moses and the prophets, then you must also become Jews, receive circumcision, literally possess the land of Canaan, set up the Jewish kingdom again, build the city and temple, offer sacrifices according to the law, attend to the worship of God, and declare that Christ, the promised Savior, has not yet come, he who has changed the literal and figurative ceremonies into new, spiritual and abiding substances.

You miserable, erring sheep, observe: I have remarked before to the magistrates that the kingdom of Christ is not of this visible, perishing world, but is an eternal, spiritual and abiding kingdom, where there is no eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. There no king reigns but the true King of Zion, Christ Jesus. He is the King of righteousness, the King of peace, the King of kings, who has all power in heaven above and on earth beneath, before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess; the true King David in Spirit, who through his righteousness, merits and crimson blood has ransomed the sheep from the mouths of the savage lions and bears of the pit, has slain the great and terrible Goliah, and has obtained eternal welfare and peace for the spiritual Israel of God. Neither the King nor his servants bear any sword but the sword of the Spirit, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, the word of God, with which he brings forth, builds, extends and governs his kingdom, and guards and defends it under the pressing cross, in all trials and temptations, from the gates, onsets and powers of hell, and not with iron or steel, as the rude, vindictive world does; for his kingdom and dominion is spirit and not letter, as has been shown.

Again, under this kingdom and under this King no other marriage may be tolerated except between one man and one woman, as God established in the beginning in the union of Adam and Eve; and Christ has further said that these two are one flesh, and that they shall not separate except for the cause of fornication, Matthew 5, verse 32.

This is not a kingdom in which a display is made of gold, silver, pearls, silk, velvet and costly finery, as is done by the proud, wicked world, and as your leaders also teach and give you liberty to do under this deception, namely, that it is harmless so long as you do not desire and serve these things from your heart. In this way Satan might approve his haughtiness and make the desire of his eyes pure and good. In the kingdom of all humility (I say), the outward adorning of the body is not desired and sought with power, but the inward adorning of the spirit, with zeal, diligence and a broken, contrite heart.

Here no lying, eating, drinking or hypocrisy is known; here no one conforms himself to a drunken, luxurious, idle and idolatrous world, or lays aside the cross of Christ, as you do, but all are upright and godly in heart and deed. They speak the truth from the heart. They lead a circumspect, temperate life; shun all idolatry and false doctrine, within and without; abstain from all appearance of evil; perform the true worship of the heart; abide firmly in the word and ordinances of Christ; lead a blameless life before the whole world; and testify of Jesus Christ with mouth, works, possessions and blood, as the divine honor requires.

Here that confession to which some of you lay claim is unknown; here we confess only to the true God, before whom we have sinned, and to our neighbor, against whom we have trespassed.

Here modesty, uprightness and honesty are taught and practiced, but not immodesty, disgrace and uncleanness. I think you understand well what I mean.

In short, here the Spirit, word, will, commands, prohibitions, ordinances, customs and examples of Christ are taught, to which all the Scriptures refer us; and not the opinions of false prophets, high-sounding words, enchanting appearances, boasting, dreams and lying miracles, against which the Spirit of God and the Scriptures everywhere warn and counsel us.

Dear children, reform yourselves. Everyone who teaches you otherwise than is testified by the word of the Lord, even if he were one who could dry up the bottom of the sea and hurl the stars down from heaven, let him be abandoned, and let his doctrine be regarded as deceiving and erroneous; for to all eternity no other foundation may be laid than that which is laid, Christ Jesus. He is the cornerstone and foundation in Zion, on whom all the building, fitly framed together (according to his will, Spirit and word), grows into a holy temple to the Lord.

O you backsliding children, hear the word of God and make haste, for your way is in darkness, and your path leads to death. Embrace the truth and learn wisdom, for your comforters have destroyed you and made uneven the way in which you must go. Munster and Amsterdam may well be to you an eternal warning and example. When a prophet, said Moses, speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not follow or come to pass, that is not the thing which the Lord has spoken.

O dear Lord! How many innocent hearts have they ruined? How many poor souls have they deceived? What gross shame have they cast upon the word of the Lord? What great abominations have some of them committed under the appearance of good? How they have made the poor, blind magistrates, who are, alas, without a correct understanding of the holy word, guilty of innocent blood!

I think it is time you should see and learn to know your lying, faithless and deceiving prophets. They are the foxes which destroy the vineyard of the Lord. These are the thieves and murderers of your souls; false prophets who deny the Lord that bought them; who have directed you, poor erring sheep, by their own lying visions, dreams and the thoughts of their hearts, and have led you, against all the Scriptures, onto a false and loose foundation.

How like those you have become of whom Eusebius writes, that they walked according to the lusts of their hearts, as the prophets foretold; who denied Paul and the New Testament, and carried with them a book which, they boasted, had fallen from heaven as a present to them.

So it is with you, O you entranced ones (bear with me, for it is the truth which I write). You read the prophets according to the Jewish understanding. You say that the doctrine of Christ and the apostles has by now been fulfilled, and you claim that there is now another dispensation, and so on; and you do not observe that by this you deny the Son of God and contradict the whole Scriptures. You comfort yourselves with mere lies, as disobedient Israel also did in their time.

O dear Lord! How long shall these sore plagues endure? How long shall the name of the Lord be blasphemed through you, and his holy word be disgraced through you? Is it not a grievous error (man frenzy) that Christ, the Son of the living God, who, brought forth in eternal righteousness, has reconciled heaven and earth by the blood of his cross, with his word of truth and with the counsels of eternal life, is rejected from your hearts, which he so dearly bought and which should so properly be the dwelling place of Christ; and that poor, sinful flesh, a mortal man descended from Adam, full of all unrighteousness, haughty speeches, lies and open deception, is received and adopted by you in his place? [Note 1]

O beloved children, what are you doing? Are you so thoroughly enchanted that you have lost all reason, intelligence, the Scriptures and everything, so that you cannot see at all? Then may God be merciful to you. Good children, observe that not a letter of the law of Moses could be changed until the new Moses, Christ Jesus, came, who was promised through the law and the prophets. If, then, the letter of the law was so strong, effective and firm, and in its time unchangeable, although it was given only through a servant and sealed by perishable blood, how much more powerful, effectual, firm and unchangeable is the free law of the Spirit, which was given through the Son himself and confirmed by the blood of the eternal covenant.

All who taught anything contrary to the word of Moses were false prophets, for nothing was to be taken from it or added to it, but every appeal was to the law and the testimony, Deuteronomy 4, verse 2. All the prophets of the present day who teach contrary to the Spirit, word, commands, prohibitions, ordinances and example of Christ are false, even though they should show themselves in appearance holier than John, more zealous than Elias, and more miraculous than Moses.

They persuade you that the doctrine of the apostles is imperfect, but that they now teach that which is perfect. This is a deception above all deceptions, as said above, for by it the creature is honored more than the Creator. Paul does not point to any better doctrine or perfection than that which is shown by the doctrine of the apostles, which will abide in everlasting clearness, according to the infallible promise of God, and which we shall receive in the resurrection of the righteous, when all doctrine shall come to an end. This is true; otherwise Paul is at variance with himself, and the true reality is not to be found in Christ.

Again, will you then say with the Jews and Scribes that Elias will come before the great and terrible day, and so wait for something new?

First, I answer with Christ’s own words, that “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you will receive it, this is Elias, who was to come,” Matthew 11, verses 13 and 14.

Second, even if Elias himself were to come, he dare not teach anything against the foundation and doctrine of Christ and the apostles; but if he would preach rightly, he must teach and preach in conformity with them. For all must be judged by the Spirit, word, actions and example of Christ, and receive the last sentence by them; otherwise the whole Scriptures are false.

Therefore one of two things must follow: either we are not to look for an Elias any more, since John was the Elias who was to come; or, if an Elias should yet come, he must set before us and teach us nothing but the foundation and word of Christ, according to the Scriptures. For Christ is the man who sits upon David’s throne and shall reign forever in the kingdom, house and congregation of Jacob.

I would therefore sincerely admonish you all with this to weigh and prove every spirit, doctrine, faith and conduct by the Spirit, doctrine and conduct of Christ, and to be temperate. All spirits which agree with it are from God; but those which are contrary to it are from him who from the beginning has turned Adam and his race aside from God and has led them by lies onward to death.

If you will not hear, but will always turn your ears to lies and believe the deceiving creature more than the infallible Creator; if you set your feet upon slippery places; if you neither fear nor regard the admonitions of Scripture, nor the power and punishments of God, but reject and set aside all of it as idle and useless, and let yourselves always be comforted with falsehoods, visions, dreams, splendid delusions and false interpretations, and continue without the cross on the broad way, then the righteous Lord will send you mockers and deceivers, and by his righteous judgment allow you to be led from one ungodly course to another, as may already be seen.

You shall be glutted with lies, vanity, folly and hypocrisy. You will reap the fruits of your wantonness, and at last, with all false prophets and lying wonder workers, you shall hear the words, “I do not know you, where you are from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity,” Luke 13, verse 27.

Be then eternally warned and faithfully admonished of God. Beware, the day approaches; repent, reform. The word of God is true. If there is anyone among you who fears God, let him reflect on what I write here; search the Scriptures and believe the truth, for God hates all liars. Eternal woe and gnashing of teeth will be the portion and reward of the hypocrite. “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God,” Second John 1, verse 9.

O you miserable, enchanted children, turn again! If you knew what it is to forsake the living fountain of Christ and dig for yourselves dry wells which can neither yield nor hold water, Jeremiah, chapter 2, how soon you would turn your back on the false prophets and their hypocritical lives, surrender yourselves to the true Shepherd of your souls, Christ Jesus, and follow and obey his sure counsel, teaching, admonition, ordinance and holy example (although in weakness). But alas, enchanting blindness has darkened your understanding. May the beloved, merciful Lord grant you eyes to see and hearts to understand; this is our sincere wish. Amen.

This is what the Bridegroom, Christ Jesus, spoke through Solomon to his bride, the church: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away,” Song of Songs 2, verses 10 to 13. [Note 2]

Chosen, true children, you who with me are called to the same grace, inheritance and kingdom, and are named after the Lord’s name, hear the voice of Christ your king; hear the voice of your bridegroom. Ah, you bride of God, you friend of the Lord, arise and adorn yourself to honor your king and bridegroom. Though you are pure, purify yourself yet more; though you are holy, hallow yourself yet more; and though you are right, make yourself right yet more. Adorn yourself with the white silken robe of righteousness; hang about your neck the golden chain of all piety; gird yourself with the fair girdle of brotherly love; put on the wedding ring of true faith; gird yourself with the precious fair gold of the divine word. Adorn yourself with the pearls of all modesty; wash yourself with the clear waters of grace, and anoint yourself with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Wash your feet in the clear, limpid river of Almighty God; let your whole body be pure and clear, for your friend hates all wrinkles and spots. So he will have pleasure in your beauty, and will praise you and say, “How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is your love than wine, and the smell of your ointments than all spices! Your lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue,” Song of Songs 4, verses 10 and 11.

Rejoice, O bride of the Lord! For your beloved is fairer than all the children of men, “the chief among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold; his locks are bushy and as black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers; his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl; his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars; his mouth is most sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely,” Song of Songs 5, verses 10 to 16. Cry out and say, “Listen, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people and your father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire your beauty,” Psalm 45, verses 10 and 11.

Draw near, O queen, O you well-prepared and fairest of all women; bow your neck with Esther under his powerful scepter; hear his word and fear his judgment; acknowledge his great love, for he has greatly humbled himself toward us. “Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. And as for your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, nor were you washed in water to supple you; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all,” Ezekiel 16, verses 3 and 4. You were polluted in your blood; see, so despised were your souls, as the prophet lamented. But he has pitied you, promised you life, nourished you and clothed your shame, purified you from your uncleanness, wiped off your blood, anointed you with balsam, and clothed you with spiritual clothes; he has adorned you with bracelets, earrings and a beautiful crown, and has taken you for his bride and made an everlasting covenant with you; he has fed you with oil, honey and wheaten bread; he has led you to the chamber of his love and kissed you with the mouth of his peace.

How lovely and gracious a bridegroom and king is he, who has chosen his miserable, impure, unesteemed, yes, unchaste servant for such an exalted station, has called her to be such a glorious queen, and has spared no labor, pains or cost until he has made her the fairest, purest, most worthy and precious among women.

Arise, make haste, adorn and dress yourselves; extol and praise him who has created you and called you to such a high honor through the word of his grace.

The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. There is nothing more that can harm or hinder, for hell, sin, the devil, death, the world, the flesh, fire and sword are already overcome by all the children of God through Christ! All they know is Christ Jesus; their seeking is the pure apostolic doctrine and the pious, blameless life which is from God.

Praise be to the Most High, who has silenced the falsehoods, for the truth sounds in every street. Antichrist sinks to shame, and Christ rises to higher honor; yes, the unfruitful, cold winter has gone, and the fruitful, pleasant spring has come; the lovely, fair flowers shoot forth and grow in every place; the voice of the turtledove is heard. The wholesome, holy word, the word of repentance, the word of grace and eternal peace, is testified with word, writings, life and death in many countries.

“The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell; arise, my love, my fair one, and come away,” Song of Songs 2, verse 13. Faith turns green, love blooms, the sun grows gentle, and the truth is published and testified to which remained fruitless for so many years. Although you must for a short time bear the heat of the sun, yet you know very well that the kingdom of glory, in eternal joy, is promised and prepared for you.

Rejoice and watch; you are black but comely, you are as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. “Awake, O north wind, and come, you south; blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out,” Song of Songs 4, verse 16. Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom; not the perishing kingdom of Assyria, Media, Macedonia or Rome, but the kingdom of the saints, the kingdom of the great King, the kingdom of David, the kingdom of grace and eternal peace, which shall never perish, but shall abide and stand forever. Therefore hear him and be obedient, so that you are not thrust out with the haughty, disobedient Vashti, but live in endless glory with the pious Esther before the true Ahasuerus, Christ, and abide with him forever.

Arise, daughter of Zion, and observe what is promised you. O Jerusalem, although for a while you sit as one without comfort and must bear all manner of storms and hail, yet your helper will arrive in time, who brings forth your righteousness as the morning and is your shelter from the wind and storm. For he who loved you has said, “Behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires, and I will make your windows of agates and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones. And all your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression,” Isaiah 54, verses 11 to 14.

See, your wall stands firmly upon twelve foundations; your gates are of pearls; the city is of pure gold; the river of living waters, proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb, is in the midst of your way, and the tree of life is on either side, and its leaves serve to heal the nation. Happy and holy is he who has part in this city.

Therefore purify yourselves, you who seek the Lord; circumcise the foreskin of your hearts. For the holy city may be inhabited by no uncircumcised person; the golden streets are trodden by no unclean feet; the unclean do not drink of the pure waters; the fruit of life shall never be eaten by any of the ungodly. “For outside are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie,” Revelation 22, verse 15.

Be all of you minded like Christ Jesus. Be earnest to keep the unity of the Spirit through the covenant of peace; you are all one temple, house, city, mountain, body and church in Christ Jesus.

Place your candle upon a candlestick; build your city upon a high mountain; live blamelessly; behave in all things in keeping with Christianity; fear God in all your ways; praise him in all your works; for great is the grace which has appeared. Prove yourselves in all things as those who are born of God; shun all false doctrine; do not repay evil with evil, but return good for evil; pray without ceasing; in patience possess your souls; judge all your thoughts, words and lives by the thoughts, words and life of Christ; so shall you never in eternity be deceived.

Walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. Let the tyrannical, blaspheming, upbraiding and furious hate the Lord and his word; it is not you they persecute, but Christ Jesus, to whom they are hostile. They will be judged in their time and, if they do not repent, will be repaid into their own bosoms.

Strive and wrestle valiantly, so that the crown is not taken from you. Fly to the mountain of the shelter of Christ Jesus. Gird yourselves with the weapons of righteousness; declare God’s word with freedom; neither shrink nor give way. God is your guide; be faithful unto death, and so you shall inherit the crown of life.

Whoever overcomes will be clothed in white clothing, and his name shall not be erased from the book of life. Although in the eyes of the unwise we seem to die and depart from the right way, our souls are nevertheless in hope and peace, Wisdom of Solomon 3, verse 2.

“It is a faithful saying,” says Paul, “for if we are dead with him (Christ), we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us,” Second Timothy 2, verses 11 and 12. Therefore fear your God from the heart; watch and pray, and commit your affairs to him, as Jeremiah did. He has chosen you to be his loving bride, children and members, has called you to the kingdom of his grace and the inheritance of his glory, and has bought you with the spotless blood of Christ Jesus.

Peace be with you. The Spirit, power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all my fellow laborers, believers, brothers and sisters, until eternal life. Amen.

See, dear sirs, friends and brothers, here we have briefly pointed out and declared upon what foundation and Scriptures we are built, what we seek and have in view, and how we rebuke with the word of the Lord all abominable sects and the ungodliness of the whole world, both in the greatest and the smallest, without any respect of persons; and we point out to everyone the wholesome, pure truth. The God-fearing may read and judge. But I have not done this in order to escape the cross of Christ, by no means; for I know and am persuaded that the lamb and the wolf, the dove and the kite, and Christ and Belial can never be at peace; the truth must be hated. And even if Christ himself should speak from heaven, still neither Scripture nor godliness, neither Christ nor apostle, neither prophet nor saints, neither lives nor property would be regarded by men. All those who rebuke in pure, upright zeal the haughty, avaricious, proud, idolatrous, bloodthirsty world, and who seek their happiness and eternal welfare with all the heart, must suffer and be oppressed.

You must (said Christ) be hated by all men for my name’s sake. Through much tribulation you must enter into the kingdom of God. Christ himself suffered so, and then entered into his glory.

Therefore I have done this: that the precious, pure truth might be revealed; that here and there some might be won; the right way pointed out to the blind; the hungry fed with the word of God; the erring directed to Christ the shepherd; the ignorant taught; the kingdom of God extended; and his holy name magnified and praised. This, together with our innocence, shall be a witness on the day of judgment to all bloodthirsty tyrants, and all deceivers, false prophets, and all the hardened and impenitent, that the truth had been testified to them. But if you will not hear, then your sins be upon you. I have declared to you, according to my small gifts, God’s Spirit, word, foundation, ordinance and will, and have pointed out righteousness to you. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear, and whoever has understanding, let him understand.

I testify of my Savior openly; I acknowledge him and do not dissemble. If you do not repent and are not born of God in your spirit, belief, life and worship, and do not become one with Christ, then the sentence of your condemnation upon your poor souls is already finished and prepared.

All who teach you otherwise than we have here taught and testified to you from the Scriptures deceive you. This is the narrow way in which we all must walk, and we must enter the narrow gate if we would be happy. Here no one is excepted, neither emperor nor king, duke nor count, knight nor nobleman, doctor nor licentiate, rich nor poor, man nor woman. Whoever boasts that he is a Christian must walk as Christ walked. “If any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God,” Second John 1, verse 9. “He who commits sin is of the devil,” First John 3, verse 8. Here neither baptism, the Lord’s Supper, confession nor absolution will avail anything. These and other Scriptures stand immovable and judge all those who live outside the Spirit and word of Christ and whose thoughts are on earthly and carnal things; they shall never be overthrown, perverted or weakened by angel or devil.

Will you say with rebellious Israel, We will not hear the word which you have preached to us in the name of the Lord, but we will do as our forefathers, our kings and princes have done from former years until the present time? Then I answer with holy Jeremiah and say: Although you take pleasure in lies and do such abominations, yet the Lord has taken your wickedness to heart and has sent you one hard punishment after another, such as hunger, pestilence, storms, grief, misery and the consuming, devouring sword, so that your land is turned into a waste, an astonishment and a curse, as one may plainly see in many places; because you perform strange worship, despise the Lord your God, cast his word aside, shed innocent blood, walk according to your wantonness, sin against God, and do not walk according to his law, ordinance and commands, as the mouth of the Lord has commanded you.

Again, as the unprofitable and rebellious world is warned and rebuked against its will, the prophets and the true servants of God are judged and destroyed by the princes and magistracy as seditious mutineers, and are persecuted by the priests and common people as deceivers and heretics. Therefore we have made up our minds both to teach and to suffer, expecting that we will fare no better in this matter than they did. But we say with Ezekiel that when this comes to pass, then you shall find that the undissembled, pure word of the Lord had been taught to you.

May the merciful, gracious Father, through his loving Son Christ Jesus our Lord, grant you all the gift and grace of his Holy Spirit, so that you may hear and read these our Christian labors and this service of true love with such hearts that you may strive for, confess, believe and follow after the genuine truth with all your soul, and be eternally saved. Amen.

Dear, worthy lords, grant to your poor servants that we may fear the Lord from the heart, preach the word of God and do right. This we ask of you for Jesus’ sake. O Lord, Father of all grace, open the eyes of the blind, that they may see your way, word, truth and will, and walk in them with faithful hearts. Amen.

MENNO SIMON.