Reply to Gellius Faber: Of the Mission or Calling of the Preachers, Part 3

Besides, their liens and properties have been obtained from antichrist through artful dealings, bewitching roguery and clerical robbery, and are still obtained in this way every day from those who walk the broad way without repentance and who, alas, find no pleasure in the Lord’s holy word.

They act hypocritically and flatter the magistrates and those of high standing; they console the impenitent and persecute the pious; they corrupt the plain word, sacraments and ordinances of Jesus Christ, by which the church should be gathered and maintained in Him; they preach to suit and please the world, so that under the appearance of the gospel they may receive the blood-reward of the poor and miserable souls, which they work so hard to get, and may possess it in peace and turn it to the advantage of easy times. Yet they console themselves with the idea that they serve the gospel and therefore should live by the gospel. See, this is how they give a scriptural shape to all kinds of false doctrines and works, and this is how they give a fine appearance to hypocrisy.

My faithful reader, I warn you in sincere love: take heed. Again I say to you: the true and faithful servants of Jesus did not have such annual stipends, rents and property attached to the apostolic churches. Most of them earned their living by their own labor, yet served the church of Christ and, in all love and humility, walked before them with true doctrine and a blameless life. They diligently watched over the Lord’s house, city and vineyard; they opposed all evil and deceiving spirits with the word of the Lord; they admonished the disorderly, consoled the afflicted, reproved the transgressors, excommunicated the disobedient and obstinate; they served reasonably, left the world to the world, and patiently bore its cross; and the necessities they needed they received, not from the world, but at the hands of their pious disciples, in humility, without greed or desire for shameful gain. Scripture allows this much, as was said above, for they rightly pastured the Lord’s sheep, faithfully planted the vineyard, diligently tilled the land, and stored the sheaves and fruits in the Lord’s barn, as the example of the prophets and apostles shows, and as the Spirit and word of the Lord command and enjoin upon all faithful servants.

I will conclude my remarks on the calling of the preachers, and would still say this. The Scriptures teach that the servants of the holy word are called either by the Lord himself or by means of the pious, as has been heard; that they shall be blameless, able rightly to rule the Lord’s church, bring forth lasting fruits, tear down and build up; that they shall not seek unreasonable gain, but sincerely seek the honor and praise of God and the salvation of their neighbors, and so on. But we plainly see and palpably feel that they, alas, are called entirely by such people as we would wish had the Spirit of Christ; moreover, that they are blameworthy in all things, for they are of an unmerciful, tyrannical disposition and of an earthly, carnal life; they pervert the gospel and do not teach it in power and true repentance; they wrongly use the sacraments, without power, spirit and repentance, and dispense them to those who are not disciples of Jesus Christ; they deceive the people; they do not bring forth lasting fruits, but plant what is evil and root out what is good; they do not seek the honor and praise of God but their own profit and gain, the favor of the world and an easy, careless life. I will let their doctrines, sacraments, fruits and life testify to this. Therefore I say without any reservation that they are not the called preachers and servants of the church of Christ whom we must, according to the Scriptures, obey, accept and follow, as they claim we should, but that they are preachers for the sake of gain and servants of antichrist, against whom the word of God warns us on every side: not to hear or follow them or their doctrine, but to flee from and avoid them as deceivers, false prophets, wicked men and faithless servants.

Indeed, my reader, what can they say about their calling, preaching and church service? Briefly stated, it is not possible, according to the sure promises and prophecies of Christ Jesus and the prophets, that a true and faithful preacher, witness or teacher, especially in these evil times and in this wicked and tyrannical world, can faithfully teach and proclaim the pure gospel of Jesus Christ without respect of persons and not be exiled, outlawed or killed; much less live at ease and in liberty, as they do, without persecution, and even receive annual stipends from the world and be highly honored and loved by it.

Search all the Holy Scriptures and see whether you can find that Christ Jesus, with his holy apostles, true witnesses and followers, fared as they do and received what they receive; whether persecution, the cross, tribulation, anxiety, prison and death were not, generally, their lot and portion. Besides, experience still teaches this abundantly every day.

If, then, the preachers acted rightly, if they walked according to the example of Christ and his apostles, if their teachings and dealings were right, as they claim, then all the Holy Scriptures must be wrong, the word of the cross be fulfilled, and Christ and his prophecies must be false; this is beyond dispute. Therefore all their boasting and artful citations concerning their calling, office, doctrine and church service, together with their defense of them, are in fact wrong, futile, hypocritical, unjust and without truth. “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s,” Philippians 2, verse 21; their own ease and not the salvation of their neighbors; they are enemies of the cross; they serve their own bellies, Romans, chapter 16. If they would rightly reprove all the ungodliness, idolatry, abuse, pride, pomp, splendor, hypocrisy and unfaithfulness of this world without respect of persons, with the same earnestness, diligence, heart and mind, and so on, as Christ did with his holy apostles and true witnesses, and would not in other respects act so freely; if they would hate all the unrighteousness of the world as Christ Jesus and his apostles hated it, then they would not long remain at ease in their comfortable houses; they would not have such incomes, and they would be little regarded by this reckless, wild world. Of this I am convinced.

But they do otherwise. They cut the garment to fit the man (as the saying goes), and they teach and act so that the world may tolerate them and love them, and that they may be the friends of the world, so that they may be at ease, not be persecuted, and enjoy good times. This is generally well understood, and it is sure proof that their sending or calling, together with their doctrine and church service, is in every particular without the ordinance, Spirit and word of God, as was said before.

With this, Gellius’ article on the calling has been answered. I would earnestly beg him and all the preachers to reflect in the fear of God, for before the flaming eyes of the Lord, which search heaven and earth, nothing wrong will stay hidden, however artfully it may be covered before human eyes, and however much it may be decked and adorned with smooth words.

Next, Gellius denies our calling and says that before we can agree with the preachers or teachers who claim that they bring forth fruit, they must first be rightly called by a church of God, and not by a gathering of people deceived by false prophets, and then come boldly forward and preach; or else they must show by facts (as he says) that Christ did wrong, and that he should rather have preached secretly to avoid the cross (as he says we do) than in public, and so on.

Answer. The sending or calling of Moses, of Christ, of Paul, of the apostles and prophets was also denied by the perverse. Moses had to hear that he had killed the Lord’s people and had led them into the wilderness so that they might perish through want and misery. Christ Jesus was called a wine-bibber, a blasphemer and one possessed by the devil, Matthew 11, verse 19. Paul was called a rebel and an apostate Jew, and so on. See, in their times the sending of the faithful servants of the Lord, no, the Lord and Messiah himself, was despised, though it was testified by many miracles. How much more, then, shall we be despised, who are such weak and insignificant instruments and live in times seven times worse and more wicked than those in which they lived.

Since, then, we are accused by our opponents, the learned, of being called not by a church of God but by false prophets, or by a false church, I would briefly admonish the reader to weigh well with the Scriptures who, how and what the church of God is: that it is not a gathering of proud, greedy, extortionate, vain persons, drunkards and impenitent people, as the church of the world is, by which the learned are called, but a gathering or congregation of saints, as the Holy Scriptures and the Nicene Creed clearly teach and set forth; namely, of those who through true faith are regenerated by God unto Christ Jesus and are of a divine nature, who gladly conform their lives to the Spirit, word and example of the Lord, are moved by his Spirit, and are willing and prepared patiently to bear the cross of their Lord Jesus Christ.

See, dear reader, such were the people whom the apostles and faithful servants won to Christ Jesus and added to his church by his Spirit and word, and Scripture acknowledges no others. From such people and out of them, with fasting and prayer, they chose and called the pious and blameless pastors and teachers to the service of the Lord, and not from the world, as has been heard.

Since, then, the preachers of the world and their congregations are not the church of Christ, but are such preachers and churches as show by their spirit, words and deeds that they are of the world; and since the merciful, great Lord in these last days of abominations graciously gathers together by his Spirit and word many faithful hearts out of the various unscriptural sects, both great and small, and from various nations and tongues, into one faith, and sets them, with their doctrine, life, goods and blood, before the whole world as an admonition to sincere repentance, indeed, as a light upon a candlestick, therefore these must be the Lord’s church and people, or else the word of God, which is and remains true, must be wrong and false. And some from these and out of these are chosen with fasting and prayer and ordained to the service of the Lord by the laying on of hands, according to the example and doctrine of the apostolic churches. Now let all of sound mind judge and weigh, according to Scripture, whether such a calling or choosing is not consistent with Scripture and with the usage of the early churches, and whether it cannot stand before the Lord and his church as divine, holy and just.

Further, I know well that the preachers tell the simple, and Gellius’ writing, if read carefully, also insinuates it, that I am supposed to have received my faith, doctrine and calling from a deceiving, rebellious and corrupt sect, by whose departure the Lord intends to purge his church. For this reason I am forced by necessity to give a brief account of my actions, about which I would, under other circumstances, keep silent for modesty’s sake; namely, how I first came to the knowledge of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and how I afterward, unworthy as I am, became one of his servants. And I hereby beg all my readers, for God’s sake, to consider this account of mine well, and not to take it amiss or regard it as vain boasting that I tell it here; for the honor of my God and love for his church urge me to do so. Let all judge me as they will. He who created me and has so far graciously delivered me from my enemies knows me; he knows what I seek in this life and what my greatest desire is.* [*]

Again, Gellius’ wish that we should preach publicly has, I trust, been sufficiently answered above, where night preaching was treated. Yet I would put forward these three questions.

In the first place: would a person not be guilty of blood if, by artful words, he persuaded someone or forced him into deep water, or by such means got him to take poison, when he knew beforehand that death would be the consequence?

In the second place: since he boasts of being a called preacher and preaches in public, I would ask why he is not moved to love and compassion for his own country. Why does he not openly proclaim his faith, sacraments and doctrines among the papists, against the emperor’s decree, tyranny, persecution and ill-will, as he would have us do?

Thirdly: he will admit, as I suppose, and must admit if he judges according to the Scriptures, that the greedy, the proud, the haughty, drunkards, the vain, extortioners, liars, the unrighteous, and so on, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and that they therefore are not Christians. So I would ask him why he does not lay aside the fear of the cross (for which he blames us) and, without any respect of persons, separate the impenitent of his church from the communion of his sacraments, according to the doctrine and ordinance of the Holy Spirit, since it is God’s express word and ordinance. He would have us preach publicly, though he knows well that we can no more do so without losing our lives than walk on the water without sinking, or take poison without dying. For he and the learned have brought about such a state of affairs by their disgraceful slanders and preaching that we are, alas, already condemned before we are caught. Besides, he advises the magistracy to stop our doings; and he knows well how he treated a certain person, about ten years ago, who would gladly have proclaimed to the people the testimony he held in sincerity of heart, and that he twice refused me a discussion of Scripture, as has been heard. Yet he says that if we are true teachers we should preach in public; while he himself, for the sake of a livelihood and from fear of the cross, does not preach his doctrine (whatever it amounts to) in his own place, but has moved to another and safer place; and there, although he can freely practice his doctrine and sacraments, he neglects separation, scriptural reproof and the ordinances of God from fear of the cross. Now the reasonable reader may draw from all this what kind of Christian, not to mention preacher, he is, since he would have us, poor wretches, do what he himself dares neither do nor touch, as you may see.

If Gellius would take these three questions to heart and consider them in the light of Scripture and in the fear of God, he would be ashamed all his life that he attacks us so recklessly, against all love, reason, understanding and the Scriptures, and that under such a pretense he so tyrannically strives after the ruin, blood and death of the pious.

But in answer to what he writes, that the prophetic and apostolic doctrine and sacraments should not be taught and dispensed in secret, out-of-the-way corners and workshops, but in public, I would say: we admit that Christ Jesus generally preached in public, yet with such discretion that he sometimes avoided the raving, mad people after they had resolved on his death, until the time of his suffering had come (a time he knew beforehand) and the prophecies were fulfilled, Luke 21, verse 32.

Also, although Jesus Christ sent his disciples to preach the gospel to all people, to Gentiles as well as Jews, he did not command them, nor would he have them, serve and dispense his sacraments, namely baptism and the Supper, to the enemies of his word, Matthew 28, verse 19; Mark 16, verse 15. It is therefore obvious that he accuses us of this without any truth or foundation in the Scriptures. He accuses and reproves not only us but also Christ Jesus, God’s eternal Word and Wisdom himself; for he celebrated his Holy Supper at night, in a secret place, with a separated people. He also accuses and reproves Paul and the early apostolic church, who often held their brotherly meetings at night in out-of-the-way places, as has been sufficiently shown above. Observe how openly he speaks against God’s word.

He writes further that our calling is testified by nothing except this: that we not only fill the hearts of many with a mad and irreconcilable hatred of all church ordinances and of the true servants of the church, however pious they may be, but also inspire them with a contentious, envious spirit.

Answer. If animosity and bitterness of heart had not so entirely blinded him, and if there were but a small spark of a true Christian spirit in him, he would soon acknowledge the precious fruits of true repentance. But as it is, he has become so blind that, alas, he calls the glorious fruits of the Holy Spirit the fruits of the devil and a new monkery, and the heavy, pressing cross of so many pious saints the cross of evildoers or heretics. In my opinion this is an abominable sin and gross slander.

The Pharisees said, “This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils,” Matthew 12, verse 24, although they strongly felt in their hearts that it was the finger and power of God. Christ said that this was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Luke 12, verse 10. But what Gellius does against us I will leave to the Lord.

God knows that I wish I might deliver him and all the preachers from their grievous damnation, even at the cost of my own life. See, this is how I hate him and all those who seek my life, though we must hear so much evil spoken against us; and I trust that all who fear the word of the Lord will be of one mind with me in this. Nevertheless he writes that we fill many hearts with anger and irreconcilable hatred against them, and so on. By no means! And this for no other reason than that we, in sincere and faithful love, earnestly reprove the hypocritical deceivers, whom he calls the true and pious servants of the church, and the unscriptural infant baptism together with all the abuses, which he calls church ordinances, not only by the Spirit and word of the Lord, but also by our possessions and blood; and because we point them to Christ Jesus and him crucified, to his Spirit, word and ordinances, and to the doctrine and usage of his holy apostles.

I truly believe that a spiteful, envious person has no part in God’s city. And if we, who are killed daily for our love, are still spiteful and envious, then much suffering is in vain. I trust that I write the truth when I say that I am more terrified of hatred and envy than of fire and sword. Yet we must hear that we are spiteful. See, this is how good is always turned into evil, and our love into hatred. What sentence the Scriptures pronounce against such people may be seen in Isaiah, chapter 5.

He also accuses us of not being united, but of quarreling among ourselves over many articles of the Christian religion; namely, over obedience to the laws, the justification of man, the Godhead of Christ and his becoming man, and the powers of the magistracy, and so on.

Answer. I trust that I can write with a clear conscience that we, who are grains of one loaf, are also of one mind in Christ Jesus. But as in the times of the apostles false teachers arose in the apostolic church, who started and taught false doctrines and who, if they did not repent after faithful admonition, were separated from the communion of their church, as may be learned from many Scriptures, so it is also in our times. Satan is always at work. Paul says, “There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you,” First Corinthians 11, verse 19. And if such people are deaf to the truth, reject admonition and start perverse sects, then we may no longer receive them as brothers, as the Scriptures teach us. As long as we continue to do this in obedience to the holy word and in the true fear of God, we are convinced from the depths of our hearts that we will be clear of all sectarianism, as also of blasphemy and perversity, although we must innocently hear such charges from the world.

Since Gellius and his fellow preachers know very well that peace-breakers and sectarians are not allowed in our communion at all, but are unanimously separated from us according to apostolic doctrine and usage, Romans 16, verse 17; Titus 3, verse 10, it is very wrong of him to call so many pious persons contentious and to give them such a bad name with the world without any truth, while they hate discord and strife and seek nothing but humbly to follow the crucified Jesus in the peace of their hearts.

If he should say that he counts them as ours because they have received the same baptism as we have, then I would answer that Peter, Simon, Paul and the rest were also one. Then all papists, Lutherans and Zuinglians, besides all thieves, murderous wizards, sodomites, fornicators and rogues, are one, for they have received one baptism; this is beyond dispute.

Again, as to his accusation that we dispute among ourselves over obedience to the laws, the justification of man, the power of the magistracy, and so on, I would say that I trust I can testify before the Lord and his church with a clear conscience that, to my knowledge, I have only once disputed, or, as Gellius calls it, quarreled, with anyone about the justification of man, and that one has already run to ruin. Nor have I ever discussed the questions of obedience to the laws or the power of the magistracy except by way of brotherly instruction. What our confession and grounds are concerning the articles mentioned may be clearly drawn from our writings.

O dear Lord, if only Gellius would for once consider his own words when he writes that the calling of the pious should not be nullified on account of the impious, and would have enough fear of God in him to be concerned about the lies, violence and injustice he so unreasonably practices on us! For what else does he do but willfully defame the pious, perhaps against his own convictions, so that he may oppose the word and uphold his cause by making ours appear false and suspect, lest his pharisaical faithlessness be made manifest? Indeed, he writes as if he would say: Judas was a traitor and thief, therefore all the other apostles are traitors and thieves. Again: Simon was a rogue, therefore all the members of the apostolic communities were rogues, and so on. For he knows well that we do not and may not tolerate heretics, peace-breakers and the like in the communion of the peaceful and pious, as has already been heard.

O, if only he would stop slandering the peaceable and could rightly see the angry quarreling, bitter hatred, division, rupture and brawling of all those who uphold infant baptism; could see how dreadfully divided they are among themselves; that they are so inflamed with envious zeal against one another that they not only slander one another and condemn one another to hell, calling each other fanatics, profaners of the sacraments and antichristians, but also take up the sword against one another, as is the way of sectarians, and utterly destroy countries and inhabitants, cities and towns, against the meek nature, doctrine and example of Christ Jesus and his apostles.

Besides, their learned men are so divided among themselves that we can scarcely find five or six in one country who agree in doctrine. One includes everything in the providence and predestination of God, Quasi necessarium (as an implied necessity). Another disputes it. The third includes Christ’s flesh and blood in the bread and wine; the fourth understands it spiritually; the fifth baptizes the children on their own faith; the sixth on the strength of the covenant with Abraham and its promise; the seventh says that faith is no obstacle to persecution; the eighth denies it; the ninth believes in faith without fruits or works; the tenth says that faith shall be active through love; the eleventh says that the sacraments may be dispensed to the impenitent and perverse; the twelfth denies it; and other such differences exist among them.

Nevertheless they call the godly, pious hearts and peaceable children of God, who are zealous for God and his righteousness as far as is in their power, and who do not tolerate quarreling, a contentious sect and ungodly, deceiving conspirators, while they themselves, on the contrary, are peaceable teachers of one mind; besides this, they call the impenitent, wicked world the church and people of the Lord.

See how manifestly the Lord “will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent,” First Corinthians 1, verse 18; indeed, that to them Christ Jesus is Belial and Belial Christ Jesus, light is darkness and darkness light, Second Corinthians, chapter 6; that they, alas, count the doctrine, life, power and confession of the chosen, and their sacrifice of possessions and life, as nothing; that they judge everything perversely, unfavorably and with partiality, according to the flesh, and so turn everything into offense; that they seek all kinds of excuses to offend the pious, to blaspheme the truth and to uphold unrighteousness, so that nobody may be converted, repent, and sincerely seek and follow the word of the Lord. O Lord, grant that this may be made manifest to them!

He further writes: “Nor is it a desirable fruit, but a shameful disgrace, that contrary to the example of Christ and the apostles they make themselves a church, desecrate the Lord’s Sabbath, leave the open assembly and service, hate and rebuke the servants, and not only do not examine the diligent labors and prophecies of the servants, but also boldly despise them, contrary to the command of the Holy Spirit and the doctrine of the command of the Sabbath.”

Answer. Observe, reader, how skillfully they can adorn lies, and how frightfully they can suppress and despise the truth under cover of virtue. All the evangelical Scriptures teach us that the church of Christ was and is, in doctrine, life and worship, a people separated from the world. So it also was in the times of the Old Testament, Second Corinthians 6, verse 17; First Peter 2, verses 9 and 10; Exodus 19, verse 12.

The church always was and shall be a separated people, as has been heard, and it is as clear as the noonday sun that for centuries no difference has been made between the church and the world, but that they have been mixed together without distinction in baptism, Supper, life and worship, which is so plainly contrary to all Scripture. Therefore we feel ourselves compelled by the Spirit and word of God, and not on our own account, to gather together, to the praise of Jesus Christ and the salvation of our neighbors, and not to ourselves but to the Lord, a pious and penitent church or community out of all the untrue and deceiving sects of the whole world; not contrary to the doctrine and example of Christ Jesus and the apostles, as Gellius falsely accuses us, but according to the Spirit, doctrine and example of Jesus Christ made manifest to us; indeed, to gather them patiently under the cross of misery, in spite of all violence and the gates of hell, and not by force of arms and persecution, as is the custom of the world, but to separate them from it, as the Scriptures teach, so that they may be an admonition, example and reproach to the impenitent world, as has already been heard.

They keep and sanctify the Sabbath, not the literal but the spiritual Sabbath, which never ends for true Christians; not by wearing fine clothes, nor by carousing, vanity and idleness, as the reckless world does, but by the true fear of God, by a clear conscience and a blameless life, in love to God and their neighbors; for that is the true religion, Hebrews 12, verse 1. And in the fear of their God they do not attend the public Sabbath and holiday gatherings, which, alas, are consecrated not to Christ but to antichrist, in all manner of vanity and hypocrisy, in pomp and splendor; nor do they take part in their idle church service, which tends to nothing but deception; so that they may thereby attend the gathering of the saints and the true service, convince the erring, and so make manifest the truth and the true doctrine, to the reformation and salvation of all mankind.

They do not hate and envy the open deceivers and false preachers who so miserably deceive the poor people, as Gellius accuses us, but earnestly reprove them in love according to God’s Spirit and word, so that they may repent and be converted, as the Scriptures teach us.

In short, they do not despise the diligent labors and the prophecies of the true and faithful servants of Christ, nor the precious gifts of the Holy Spirit, against the commands of the Holy Spirit and the doctrine of the command of the Sabbath, as he very wrongly complains we do. But at the risk of possessions and life, according to the counsel, doctrine and admonition of the Holy Spirit and the doctrine of the Sabbath, they shun the false labors and the powerless, impenitent and hired prophecies of the antichristian servants, who do not serve Christ and the church, as they boast, but serve their bellies and the world; and they dare not hear and follow them, because their doctrine and fruits show that they are those whom the Scriptures and divine truth forbid us to follow.

Their priests, says the Lord, “teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money.” They lean on the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil can come upon us. Therefore “Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,” Micah 3, verse 12; Jeremiah 26, verse 18. It is also manifest that Gellius and preachers like him have done the very thing of which he accuses us, for long before we did, they separated themselves from the papists into a separate church, as all the world knows beyond dispute. But we are sorry to say that our separation from them was caused by themselves. For if we had found them to be right, we would have remained with them; but as it is, we have, alas, had to leave them at the cost of life and possessions, as may be seen.

See, my kind reader, here you have before you my brief reply to the main articles concerning the calling of preachers, which Gellius so respectfully brought forward in defense of his cause and to the detriment of ours.

I have no doubt that you, by the grace of God, will find a clear difference, explanation and foundation if you compare his writing with ours and judge according to the word of the Lord by the manifest fruits on both sides. And this is the sum of my writings: that nobody can be a truly called preacher and God-pleasing servant in the Lord’s house and church without having the Holy Spirit, which works in all true Christians; without regeneration, which transforms the heart from earthly to heavenly things through faith; without unfeigned love, which seeks nothing but the praise of God and the salvation of his neighbor; without the saving, precious word, which cuts and cleaves without respect of persons; or without the pious, blameless life which is of God.