The True Christian Faith: Faith and Fidelity of Moses

Moses, a servant and messenger of God, was also found faithful, vigorous, living and active in his faith. He was called by the Lord to lead Israel out of Egypt. He did not exalt himself to the high station of a prince, but humbled himself before God with all his heart and said, Send, Lord, whom you will; but what am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead Israel out? Besides, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of tongue. He refused so long that the Lord was angry. With fear and trembling he at last took upon himself the commanded duty, and surrendered himself to his God, in whom he trusted.

He went willingly before the fierce Pharaoh, and showed great wonders and power before him and all his servants. He ransomed the people through the outstretched arm and strong hand of God. He divided the Red Sea and passed with Israel unharmed through the deep, Exodus 14, verses 21 and 22. He received the tables of stone on which the commandments of the Lord were written. He caused bread to rain from heaven, and water to flow from the flinty rock. He prepared the tents and the ark of the testimony, as he was directed upon the mountains. He ordained the figurative priesthood, with all its duties, offerings, sanctifications, garments and so on, according to the command of the Lord.

He went with the people, pitched the tents, and took them up again at the command of the Lord. He gave them the commands and statutes of the Lord. He stood as a faithful mediator between God and the people when they had sinned, and he turned the wrath away from Israel. He punished idolaters, whoremongers and the rebellious. He slew Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. The Lord was with him in all his ways.

By faith, says Paul, “He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them,” Hebrews 11, verses 24 to 28.

Kind reader, respect the word of the Lord. For when we look spiritually upon such holy examples, and contrast them with the unbearable pride, haughtiness, greed, idolatry, disobedience and unfaithfulness of the princes of the world, and with the blind, mad unbelief of the common people, then we must acknowledge that they are far from the obedience and active faith of Moses. Indeed, they are unbelieving heathens, and not Christians. [Note 2]

Moses believed his God and acted rightly in all his dealings. He was kind, and concerned for the welfare of the people under his care, as he was commanded. He was the meekest of men; he served neither for gift nor reward, but obeyed the voice and word of the Lord; he was faithful in all his house, and faithfully carried out his duties in the fear of the Lord. He faithfully gave commands out of the mouth of God, and in upright love faithfully admonished the people that they and their descendants, from generation to generation, should hear and obey the voice of the Lord God of their fathers, and should follow no other customs, commandments, righteousness or worship than what he had taught or commanded them, until the new prophet, the teacher of righteousness, the blessed seed of Abraham, Christ Jesus, should come.

But suppose we went to our rulers, princes, lords, bishops, priests, monks and preachers, and all those who boast of the name and faith of Christ, and rightly measured their faith and obedience by the word of the Lord, which is the true standard, to find some who sincerely seek Christ from the heart, and fear, love, believe and trust him; who teach and practice rightly the ordinances, commands, sacraments and true worship of God; who conform their whole lives, both inwardly and outwardly, to the word and example of the Lord; and who in love carry out the service which is laid upon them, as this faithful Moses did in all his dealings. I fear they are so few that we would have to go far and search long to find them; and if there are still some, they must, alas, be given as a prey to the bloodthirsty, and bear the cross of the Lord.

I tell you the truth in Christ, and do not lie. All who do not hear the voice of Christ, do not believe his holy word, and do not follow his pure, blameless life from the whole heart, in all humility, patience, meekness, obedience and love, do not have the working and living faith of Moses, but are already judged according to the content of his doctrines. O reader, beware! Neither money, name nor boasting will help you, but power and deeds, if you wish to be saved and not condemned.

Joshua and Caleb, through faith, passed over the Jordan and entered the promised land. When Moses sent out the twelve spies to view and explore the country, he said, “Go up this way southward, and go up into the mountain, and see the land, what it is, and the people who dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds; and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood in it or not. And be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes,” Numbers 13, verses 17 to 20.

They went up and viewed the land, just as Moses had commanded them by the mouth of the Lord, and after forty days they came to Moses and Aaron, and to the whole congregation in the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, carrying with them grapes, pomegranates and figs, and saying, “We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. And Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men who went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eats up its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature; and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight,” Numbers 13, verses 27 to 33.

“And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, Would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would to God we had died in the wilderness! And why has the Lord brought us to this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? And they said to one another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes, and they spoke to all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search it is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their defense has departed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them. But all the congregation said to stone them with stones,” Numbers 14, verses 1 to 10.

See, dear reader: it is because these two faithful men believed the word and promise of God with all their hearts that they trusted firmly in his almighty power, fatherly mercy and great works, as if they had already obtained them. They saw the heinous unbelief and heard the bitter murmuring of their brothers, by which they detracted from the Almighty Majesty, as if he were not able to fulfill his promises to them and had deceived them with his enticing words; therefore they were very sorrowful and sad, and tore their clothes, as has been said. And therefore they were the only two persons, of the six hundred thousand who came with Moses out of Egypt, who entered into the promised land. All the rest died in the wilderness during the forty years, and did not reach the promised land, because they did not believe in the Almighty God, the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who with such unheard-of signs and wonders led them through the Red Sea, and so graciously upheld and guarded them in the wilderness.

So, alas, it is with some at the present day. They have spied out the pleasant land, have seen and tasted its precious fruits, have been enlightened by the word of the Lord, have tasted the heavenly gifts, have partaken of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the sweet word of God and the power of the world to come, and have beheld the grace of the Lord. But they do not consult God, but their own sinful, disobedient, evil flesh, which always seeks its own pleasure and will not willingly bear the cross of the Lord. They look with carnal eyes, and see that so many powerful tyrants and fortified cities are arrayed against them; that they have to cross a howling wilderness and must climb many high mountains; that they must give up as a prey honor, money, possessions, wife, children, body and life. Hence they murmur against Moses and Aaron, and seek to stone Joshua and Caleb. They cause their poor teachers and leaders, who with true love point them to the word and examples of Christ and preach the pure truth, such unbearable suffering. They backbite and slander them beyond measure, and choose for themselves here and there a captain, false prophet or teacher, who with fair words and under the appearance of good leads them back to Egypt. They prefer temporal things to eternal ones; they fear perishing man more than the immortal, eternal God, the Lord and Creator of the world. With unbelieving, carnal Israel they say in their hearts, We are not strong enough to go up against this great and strong people, and are not able to obey the doctrine, ordinances and example of Christ, for all the world is against us; all lords and princes persecute us, the preachers and priests upbraid and slander us, and we must become a byword and a mockery to all the world. We are much too weak to bear such great misery; and so they want to shift it onto the Lord. So you think, and err; for your unbelieving, carnal hearts have so blinded you that you do not know the righteous judgment of God, you do not hope that a holy life shall be rewarded, and you do not value the honor of a blameless soul.

Dear reader, take warning. For as truly as the Lord lives, I tell you that all those who in this way cast aside the word of the Lord and become unbelieving toward God again, and become so earthly and carnal minded that they fear those whom they ought not to fear, and do not fear those whom they should fear; who think more of the perishable creatures, such as house, lands, gold, silver, wife, children, body and life, than of the everlasting God and his eternal kingdom, and have a greater desire to enjoy in peace for a season the dark Egypt of this ungodly world than to inherit the pleasant, fruitful land in endless peace with God: such people shall all fall in the wilderness, and unless they repent, they shall never enter into his rest, Hebrews 4, verse 1.

But there are those who, with Joshua and Caleb, hold firmly to the word of the Lord; who firmly believe in Christ, as the Scriptures direct; who are firmly assured in their hearts by the Holy Spirit that God will not fail in a single word, but will fulfill in its time all that he has promised; who are not overcome by the gates of hell; who do not allow themselves to be deceived by the subtle lies and philosophy of the learned; who are not frightened by the tyranny of the bloodthirsty; who are not vanquished by carnal lusts, nor enchanted by the fine appearance of false prophets, but walk humbly in the King’s highway; who follow Christ, their Shepherd and Leader, and judge all their ways by his Spirit, word and blameless example; who do not turn aside, neither to the right hand nor to the left. See, they are the ones who will victoriously enter the spiritual, promised land, the eternal rest and peace, God’s eternal kingdom and glory, with all the saints and believers, and through grace inherit it eternally with Christ, as Joshua and Caleb inherited the figurative land through faith, and with their children inherit it. O children, believe! “All things,” says Christ, “are possible to him who believes,” Mark 9, verse 23.

Josiah, an illustrious king, pious in all his works, did what was pleasing to the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David, and did not depart from them, neither to the right hand nor to the left. While he was still a child he began to seek the God of David his father. And in the eighteenth year of his age he sent Shaphan his scribe to Hilkiah the high priest, so that money might be given to those who worked on the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah said to Shaphan, I have found the book of the Law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he brought it to the king. And when the king heard the words of the law which were written in the book, he tore his clothes, as one who feared his God. He believed the word of the Lord, and feared the coming wrath which he threatened in the book that had been found. He then commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor and Shaphan, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us,” Second Kings 22, verse 13.

So they went to Huldah, a prophetess, the wife of Shallum, and asked her as Josiah had commanded them. The woman answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which you have heard: because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.”

“Now when the king heard these words, he sent and gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant,” Second Kings 22, verses 15 to 20, and Second Kings 23, verses 1 to 3. And Josiah caused all who were found in Israel to serve the Lord, and they did not depart from him as long as Josiah lived.

Here, dear reader, observe what kind of faith Josiah had, and what its fruits were. He heard the word of the Lord and believed it. He tore his clothes, inquired of the Lord, and renewed the covenant, because he heard what God had commanded in that same book: that they should not do according to their own thoughts; that they should not follow after strange gods, nor the abominations of the Canaanites and the other heathens who were driven out before them; but that they should serve the Lord alone and cleave to him, and keep his commands as he directed them. He was strong in the Lord, resolute in a manly spirit, and acted valiantly in all his doings, for he believed and trusted God with all his strength; and with earnest zeal he tore down everything that his forefathers and former kings, out of their own imaginings and choice, had brought in and established as holy service.

He burned all the vessels of Baal and tore down all the groves, high places and altars in the land of Judea and Samaria. He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom. He destroyed the horses of the sun, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. He broke down the altar of Bethel, and offered the idolatrous priests and the dead bones upon it, as the man of God had proclaimed long before. He destroyed all that was opposed to the law of God. He kept the passover of the Lord as it was written in the book of the covenant, in so glorious a manner as no judge or king had kept it before. He also put away all soothsayers and wizards, images, idols and all the abominations that were spied out in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that they might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the high priest found in the house of the Lord. And like him there was no king who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him, Second Kings 23, verses 24 and 25.

Hear now, you great princes and kings, and all those who let themselves think that they are faithful lords and Christian princes: my admonition is to you! Do you have any fear of God? Any love for Christ or his blessed word? Or is there still any sincerity of nature in you who have understanding? Then know that you are not gods from heaven, but poor, dying men of the impure, guilty seed of Adam. Humble yourselves under the almighty hand of God, and compare Josiah, with his faith and works, with your faith and works, so that you may learn how far you are from the Spirit and word of Christ, and that you bear nothing but a mere, idle, vain, empty name.

While Josiah was still a child and young in years, he feared God, and showed a mature mind and understanding in all his works; but you, my dear lords, fear neither God nor the devil. Cursed unbelief is your mother, and unrighteousness your sister. In divine things you are blind, deaf and dumb; indeed, during your whole lives you are as lacking in understanding as children.

Josiah was eight years old when he was made king, and in the eighth year of his reign he began to seek the God of his father David. But your seeking, from the cradle on, is only pomp and splendor, haughtiness of heart, wantonness, riding, sporting, killing, enlarging your dominions, increasing your patronage and treasure, fighting, warring, taxing and usury; afflicting the destitute and poor; domineering over one another; and living with all your might, openly, according to the lusts of the flesh. The open deed testifies that I write the truth.

Josiah began, in the twelfth year of his reign, to purify Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, groves, idolatry and molten images; but you build them in every city, village, street and alley, upon every high mountain and in every deep valley; and whoever would admonish you with the Spirit and word of Christ must be a heretic and must tread the winepress of affliction.

Josiah was concerned for the house of the Lord, and appointed and paid craftsmen to work on it. But you break down and, by your vindictive decrees, tyranny and the sword, oppose the house and dwelling of Christ, which is his church, which he has sanctified by his Spirit, cleansed by his blood, and adorned with the word, ordinances and sacraments of his Father. You prevent it from being rebuilt in its apostolic clearness, and from becoming perfect in its doctrines, sacraments and conduct, according to the command of Christ and his holy word.

Josiah expelled all soothsayers and wizards. He offered the idolatrous priests upon their idolatrous altars, and burned the dead bones, and so on; but the bones of the man of God from Judah, and of the prophets of Samaria, he did not burn. But you sustain and cherish, as shepherds of the flocks of Christ and keepers of your souls, false prophets and deceiving priests, the greater part of whom are open drunkards, libertines and idolaters, full of all unrighteousness, covetous in heart, whose belly is their god, blind watchmen and dumb dogs, who dishonor God and destroy poor, miserable souls. You prefer them in your courts and give them the highest seats at your tables. They are honored with high names and great titles, and are greeted by everyone as doctors, lords and masters. You give them splendid dwellings, great rents and possessions, and say, Those who serve the gospel must live by the gospel; although they do nothing but place soft pillows and cushions under you, and preach according to the itching of your ears. But the true, pious teachers and faithful servants of Christ, who sincerely seek your salvation and that of the whole world, who point you to Christ, who rightly use his sacraments and ordinances, who desire to lead you and all men on the right way, and who walk blamelessly, must be persecuted by you without mercy or Christian decency, sentenced to fire and water, and must bear mockery and shame before all the world.

Josiah made a covenant with the Lord, and with all the elders, priests, prophets and common people, that they should serve the Lord as long as they lived, and so on. But you have made your covenant with antichrist and with all your preachers, priests, monks, judges and rulers, that the perverse, broad way should be pursued, and that the doctrines and institutions of men should be taught, followed and observed instead of the true service of God. To the people, doctrine, commands, Spirit, Supper, life and separation of Christ you give no place; and whoever acts or speaks against your abominations must lose his possessions or his life.

Josiah heard the word of the Lord and became contrite in heart; he tore his clothes and wept before the Lord; he feared the coming wrath, because they and their forefathers had rejected the word of God. But you, my dear lords, are so hardened and blinded, so bound by your sins and the lusts of the flesh through cursed unbelief, so enchanted by the false prophets, that we cannot in the least move your impenitent, hardened hearts: neither by the threatening law of the Lord, nor by his fierce wrath and terrible judgment; neither by the devouring flames of hell and eternal death, nor by the peaceful gospel of grace; neither by the precious blood of Christ, nor by the pious, blameless life of all the saints, who with their simple yes and no are murdered daily before your eyes like innocent sheep, on account of their faith and piety. It is time that you awake and take notice how you and we, with our forefathers, have so abundantly deserved the righteous punishment and wrath of God. May the merciful Lord grant you eyes to see.

Josiah turned to the Lord with his whole heart, soul and might; but you proudly dare to disregard the God who created you, deny the Lord who purchased you, and turn yourselves to dumb idols, to wood, stone, gold and silver images, to water, bread and wine, to the unprofitable doctrines and commandments of men, indeed, to open abominations and idolatry, not observing that it stands written, “Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone,” Revelation 21, verse 8.

See, dear sirs, what I have said is true; it is made plain by your pride, whoredom and carnal life, and by the ruins of burned countries and cities, the great number of churches, cloisters, priests and monks, matins, vespers, and every other false worship.

Besides, when we, on account of the multitude of our sins, are visited with pestilence, famine, war and other dangerous evils and plagues, your only remedies to appease the wrath of God and quench the burning fire of his anger are idolatrous masses, processions, as they are called, dead bones, images, crosses and banners. They, the papists I mean, carry these strange abominations, and follow after them with uncovered heads, folded hands and burning wax candles, and so on. Therefore you do not turn aside the fierce wrath, but increase it more and more; for the Lord will not give his divine honor to works of man’s choosing, nor to any creature, and he does not accept any such masses, processions, crosses, images and abominations, nor regard them in his mind, as the prophet said.

Beloved sirs, repent. The statute book of Christ is entirely lost to you. Christ and his truth, sacraments, Spirit and life you have never known nor possessed in the least degree. You serve strange gods; you hear, follow and use the doctrine, sacraments, ordinances and commands of antichrist; you lead an unclean, ungodly and carnal life. O sirs, take warning! Your sins have risen up to heaven.

Although you regard it so little (God grant it may be otherwise), yet this book of Christ has, by the grace of God, been found again by some. The pure, unadulterated truth has come to light through the pure, unmixed gospel, and is read daily in your ears, and explained before your eyes with a godly, virtuous life, with an open confession, and above all with much of the property and blood of the saints. Yet your hearts remain so stony and hard that they cannot be converted or moved, neither by grace nor by wrath, neither by adversity nor by prosperity, as we have said. See, in this way the blindness of Sodom, the darkness of Egypt, and the hardening of Pharaoh have come, through the righteous judgment of God, upon our kings, princes, lords and rulers.

Dear sirs, awake, and make haste! The trumpet has sounded; prepare yourselves! Your mortal sickness and festering, filthy wounds are shown to you. I counsel you to let yourselves be helped. You possess neither Christ nor his word. Your quarrel is against the Lamb and his chosen. Your way is in darkness, and leads to the abyss of hell. The wrath of the Lord has gone forth over you and your land, for you live more carnally and wickedly than can be imagined or described.

O my dear sirs, reform and repent, so that you may stand before God! Cleanse your hands and hearts before the Lord; change your pride into humility, and your mirth and joy into sorrow; tear your hardened hearts and your garments; hear and seek Christ, and not antichrist; implicitly obey Christ’s Spirit, doctrine, sacraments, commands and infallible example, and not the vain doctrines and commandments of men, for they corrupt and do not profit. [Note 1]

Put away from among you all offense, abominations and idolatry: masses, altars, infant baptism, the idolatrous bread, or supper (I mean such as is used by the world), images, confessions, the wanton sodomy and unchastity of the papist priests and monks. Destroy and root up all accursed heathen disgrace, such as brothels, every kind of gambling, open houses of drunkenness, together with idolatrous temples, high places, groves, churches and cloisters, which our forefathers built in such numbers, contrary to the Scriptures, through blindness and ignorance.

We call on all poor, deceiving teachers and false sects, great and small, who are against the Spirit, ordinances, word and life of Christ, to repent sincerely; and help us to resist, not by violence, tyranny or the sword, as, alas, is the custom with you, but by the Spirit of Christ, with doctrine, exhortation and similar virtuous services and gentle means, so that they may turn from evil and hear and follow Christ.

Permit all faithful messengers and servants of God to preach Christ, to use his sacraments and ordinances according to the Scriptures, to lead a penitent and blameless life, and to gather a glorious church to Christ, so that through the Spirit and grace of God, according to the Scriptures, they may win and bring to Christ an unspotted, pure virgin.

Again I say, reform! You have erred and mocked God too long, worshiped antichrist instead of Christ too long, and walked too long in the perverse and broad way of death. Awake! It is still today. See, the true book of the law, the saving, pure gospel of Christ, which was hidden for so many centuries by the abominations of antichrist, has been found.

Hear and read it attentively; believe and observe it faithfully. It is the word of the Lord God, which Jesus Christ, the first and only begotten Son of the Almighty Father, brought from heaven and taught us. Bow to his righteous scepter; fear, love, serve, honor and follow him with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your powers, as the pious Josiah did. For the Lord our God is Lord of lords and God of gods, a mighty and a terrible God, who does not regard persons nor take a reward.

Yes, beloved lords, can you convert yourselves in this way with all your hearts? Can you change your hearts and humble yourselves before God, deny yourselves, seek and follow Christ and his righteousness, and renounce the world and the flesh with all its lusts, as you have heard? Then you will become true, spiritual kings and priests; then you will possess your souls in peace, and gain the victory and conquest over all the deadly enemies of your souls; you will live and die in grace; then you may in truth, without any hypocrisy, be called Christian kings and believing princes. The testimony of Peter to all Christians (I say, to all Christians) is true: “You are a chosen generation, a holy nation, a peculiar people,” First Peter 2, verse 9.

But if you refuse this and remain what you are now, preferring perishing, temporal pleasures, joys and glory to imperishable, eternal joy and glory, then I wish that you would reflect upon what Sirach says: “Why are earth and ashes proud? He who is a king today shall die tomorrow,” Ecclesiasticus 10, verse 9. Indeed, what are all those who are of Adam but dust and ashes, a passing wind, a vapor, poor, miserable, mortal flesh, food for worms; indeed, men, and not God. O sirs, take warning, awake and reform yourselves! God is Lord, and he will judge you. Once more, take warning.

See, my kind reader, here you have before you a few examples of true faith, drawn from Scripture: Noah and Abraham before the giving of the law, and Moses, Joshua, Caleb and Josiah under the law. From them you may learn how simple and plain, unfeigned, open and obedient, indeed, how full of every kind of virtue and fruit a true faith has been from the beginning, as may be seen in Abel, Enoch, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Jephthah, Baruch, Gideon, Sampson, Rahab, Samuel, David, Ezekiel, Elias, Helias and others. Now, by the grace of God, I will present you with a few examples from the New Testament, from which you may learn very clearly what an indescribably great power, fruit, spirit, life and energy a true, evangelical, Christian faith always includes in its true nature; so that you will not, through a false notion, conform to this ignorant, unbelieving world, which boasts and claims that its fruitless, dead opinion and historical knowledge of Christ is a sincere, evangelical faith.