Reply to Gellius Faber: The Lord’s Supper

We will very briefly review and answer Gellius’ treatise on the sacrament called the Lord’s Supper, because we have published our foundation and belief on this matter in the past, and referred to many Scriptures. Whoever delights in the truth may read them and reflect on them in the fear of God. Yet, in our weakness, before we begin our reply to Gellius’ publication, we would remind the pious reader that it is written, “For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread,” First Corinthians 10, verse 17. We learn from the Scriptures that the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord as a sign and testimony, not to the world but to the church of God, that all of us who are one bread are members of one body, namely, of the body of Christ. And we plainly see that both the dispensers and the partakers of the worldly supper are not true members of the Lord’s body. The dispensers are all hirelings, thieves of the honor of God and murderers of our souls, who by their promises, philosophy and logic keep the thoughtless, reckless people in all manner of unrighteousness, blindness and an unbridled, carnal life; who deceive all the world, and hate, upbraid, lie about, arrest, banish and exterminate the pious, who renounce evil, follow the word of the Lord and always eat of his bread. And the partakers are, generally, an impenitent, light-minded and vain people, indeed, worldlings, some of whom not only care little for the Spirit, word and knowledge of the Lord, but trample it under foot, as may be seen. Therefore we abstain from their supper; for the sincere fear in our hearts, caused by the word of God, keeps us from partaking of it with such dispensers and partakers, lest we also share in their deceiving actions and abominable abuse, and receive the same reward with them on the day of Christ.

He boasts a great deal of his admonition, yet all his admonition is nothing but vain boasting, entirely without power. For how can he and preachers like him rightly teach Christ and admonish others, while they are still filled from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet with all manner of unrighteousness, blindness and disgrace?

They would do well to reflect on the words of Sirach and rightly learn to know themselves, because many of them are still such useless people that they are more fit to be herders of swine than shepherds of the sheep of Christ, as he writes. And because Gellius is not only a falsifier of the Scriptures and a deceiver of souls, but also a very cruel, profane and slanderous man, as may very clearly be gathered from his writings.

He writes that in the first place they admonish them as to what the qualifications of the partakers should be, according to the doctrine of the law, and especially of the holy gospel.

Answer. Wherever the law is rightly preached and taken to heart through faith, and shown in Spirit and power, there we find a subdued mind, a penitent, humble heart, and a conscience that trembles before the word and the true fear of God, and that checks sin and drives it away, as Sirach says.

This is the real intention and purpose of the law: to reveal to us the will of God, to uncover our sin to us, to threaten us with the wrath and punishment of the Lord, to proclaim death and to point us to Christ, so that before the eyes of God we may be humbled in heart, die to sin, and seek and find the only and eternal medicine and remedy for our souls, Jesus Christ.

It is the same with the gospel. Wherever it is preached in true zeal, according to the pleasure of God, and blamelessly in the power of the Spirit, so that it penetrates the hearts of the hearers, there we find a converted, changed and new mind, which joyfully and gratefully praises its God for his inexpressibly great love toward us miserable sinners in Christ Jesus, and so enters into newness of life willingly and freely, by the power of a true faith and a new birth.

If Gellius would knock at the innermost heart of his followers, and of himself, with the hammer of the law, and zealously kindle in them the fire of the holy gospel, so that in true repentance they would change their unclean, hardened hearts, abandon their heathenish pomp and splendor in their houses and clothes, their vain show of gold and silver, their extravagance, greed, drinking and carousing, and would enter with Christ into newness of life, then I would admit that what he has written here concerning the Lord’s Supper agreed well with their walk. But as it is, he only comforts the poor with an empty purse, and acts in a manner entirely contrary to how he should. For the signs of the New Testament are in themselves quite powerless, vain and useless if the thing they signify, namely, the new, penitent life, is not there, as has been said above in treating of baptism.

He writes further that in the second and third place they admonish them (their hearers) that it is not enough to know and understand the doctrine, but that it must also be shown in their walk, indeed, at the risk of body and life; that they should be prepared for the cross and temptation, should patiently and obediently bear it, and follow their bridegroom, for the devil dislikes such a confession and therefore hates and persecutes them.

Answer. Caiaphas said to the Pharisees and Scribes, “It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not,” John 11, verse 50.

His intentions sounded right, yet his cruel, bloodthirsty heart did not see that it was he who, through bitter zeal, was seeking the life of the king of all glory.

We do not dispute that Gellius and his fellow preachers sometimes talk of a pious life according to the Scriptures, and admonish their hearers concerning the cross. But how they love true righteousness, which true doctrine brings forth, and how they treat those who confess it, may, alas, be gathered from their indiscreet and disgraceful writing and crying out.

He writes that he admonishes them in this way, as we have heard; and yet it is plainly evident that he not only hates the true righteousness, power, fruit and obedience which true preaching brings forth, but also, I fear, crucifies it by his indiscreet and disgraceful writing. Therefore the godly, pious reader may consider whether in this respect he is not like the Scribes and Pharisees, who, although they understood the law, so hated righteousness that by their connivance and advice they crucified the one who was promised in the law, the Fulfiller, Christ Jesus.

Dear reader, understand what I write. Outward preaching, hearing, baptism and Supper are of no avail at all before God; but what avails before him is teaching and believing, faith and works, baptism and Supper outwardly according to the letter, and inwardly according to the Spirit and truth. See, this is what God’s word and ordinance teach us.

So long as such impenitent, carnal people are the dispensers, and such vain, pompous, covetous, extortionate, carousing and drinking people the partakers, so long, I say, it is not the true Supper of the Lord, but a supper of the impenitent, an encouragement to the unrighteous and a bewitching mockery, however much it may be adorned and decked out before men with high-sounding words and praises; for outside the church of Christ, which is a gathering of the penitent, there is neither baptism nor Holy Supper. Again, understand what I write: neither water, bread nor wine avails anything in Christ without true repentance, even if they were served by the apostles themselves. Before him only a new creature avails, a converted, changed and broken heart, a sincere fear and love of God, unfeigned love of one’s neighbors, a sober, humble, peaceable and converted life, according to the word and example of the Lord. Where there is such a new being, lo, there is true baptism and the true Supper. But to be baptized outwardly and to partake of the Supper according to the letter, and not inwardly before God in Spirit and truth, is, I repeat, nothing more nor less than a shadow, a vain mockery of God’s work, indeed, hypocrisy and deceit.

Is it not a lamentable blindness that these poor, misled people place so much value on the outward, visible sign, and do not notice that with all their heart they are hostile to the invisible thing it signifies, for whose sake the visible sign was commanded in the Scriptures? As if God took a special pleasure in the mere elements, water, bread and wine, and not in their proper meaning, which is represented and urged on us by them.

O no, reader, we cannot please or serve God with mere water, bread and wine, for it was all created by his hand. But we can serve and please him with what his baptism and Supper signify, namely: that by them we testify our faith and obedience; that we will walk in continual and eternal penitence; that we will remember his inexpressibly great love and blessings; that we are reminded by them that he has offered his spotless, pure body for us, and has shed his precious blood for the reconciliation of our souls in his ardent love for us; that we will always walk with him in unity of the Spirit and follow him; that we will love, help, comfort, reprove, bear with, admonish and serve each other as members of one body; and that until death we will prove ourselves the newborn children of God in all righteousness, holiness and truth. See, dear reader, for this purpose the signs of the New Testament were instituted. If Gellius and preachers like him used the Holy Supper in such a heart and spirit; if the meaning, fruit, spirit and power, even if in weakness, were found in them and their disciples, as it is represented and taught by the sign, then by the grace of God we would soon come together, and not dispute about the use of the sign. But so long as they walk on the broad road, practice and uphold infant baptism, defame the baptism of believers, do not separate their disciples and church from the world or teach a blameless doctrine and life, so long we cannot unite with them in doctrine and sacraments, whether that brings us prosperity or adversity, as God pleases. For we know for certain that the Lord’s invincible, strong truth is on our side, and the damnable, weak falsehood on theirs.

My faithful reader, reflect on what I write. Our separation from the doctrine and sacraments of the preachers is chiefly for two reasons. In the first place, because we can plainly see from the Scriptures and from their actions, and are assured, that they are not pastors but deceivers. All the Scriptures teach us that we shall not hear such preachers but shun them. For if we are afraid of thieves, murderers and wolves according to the flesh, how much more should we fear those who so miserably devour our poor souls, who keep us in darkness, rob us of the light of Christ, and fearlessly lead us into the frightful, unending darkness of everlasting and hellish torment, for the sake of a meal of bread. For God’s sake, dear reader, do not think hard of me. See, before God what I write is true.

The second reason is that by such shunning we may testify to you and all others, by open deeds, that you are outside the Spirit, word, kingdom and church of Christ, that you are walking on the wrong way, and that you are miserably deceived by your preachers, so that you may still awaken in time, depart from evil, walk in truth and be eternally saved.

If you are reasonable people, then consider well what we are seeking by this, and do not think that we are so completely without reason that we walk this narrow way out of contentiousness and partisanship. O, how gladly would we spare our weak bodies, our wives and small children, our possessions and lives, and live peaceably with the world, if we were not constrained by the love of God and by the eternal salvation of your souls and our own. But as it is, for the two reasons mentioned we must give up everything to robbery, and, if the case requires it, to death, in sincere, genuine love. For, as a general thing, truth is upheld at great cost, and sincere, faithful love is crowned with a crown of thorns. O Lord!

Last of all he writes, “From this every pious Christian may gather how unreasonably these people act, who accuse us of enmity, contention and discord, and who quarrel among themselves about the articles of faith, and so sow enmity, contention and discord, as said; indeed, who have never thoroughly examined our doctrine and have scarcely seen us partake of the Supper, and who nevertheless reprove us for our Holy Supper and leave the assembly of Christ’s church.”

Answer. To this I would reply in the first place: the unrighteousness which shuts us out of the kingdom, church, body and Supper of Christ is not contained only in enmity, contention and discord, but also in all the other kinds of works of the flesh, such as pomp, splendor, greed, drinking and carousing.

Although enmity and discord are partly settled among some of them by the use of their supper, as he writes, yet all the other abominable sins and unrighteousness remain untouched, as may be very plainly and publicly seen by their fruits. The heathen, too, make peace among themselves when they are at odds with each other, yet they are not the right grains of the Lord’s bread and the true members of his body. Let everyone of sound mind reflect on what I say.

In the second place I say: he cannot truthfully prove his accusation against us that enmity, contention and discord exist among us.

He and his fellows berate our Christian doctrine and faith, our sacraments and actions before the whole world, and cause much trouble and affliction; and we, by the grace of God, do not treat them as enemies, but patiently bear with them, teach, reprove and admonish them, maintain truth with truth, and in sincerity of heart show and point out to them the right way at the risk of blood and life, for which they hate us so. In the same way, some rise up among us, as was the case in the times of the apostles, who would rather follow their own opinion than the Scriptures, who return again to the broad road, seek honor and a name, and therefore make unscriptural pretensions. With such people we plead and reason, admonish and reprove them, as the Scriptures teach us, and I trust we do this reasonably and in love. If they let themselves be taught, change their ways and strive after peace, then we thank the Lord for his blessing. But if they despise brotherly admonition, remain hardened in their ways and cause contention and discord, then they cannot be our fellows and brothers until they acknowledge their faults and return in peace to the Lord’s people, First Timothy 6, verse 5; Second Timothy 2, verse 17; Titus 3, verse 11. Whether this should be called causing contention, enmity and discord about the articles of faith, or whether it should be called purifying the house of the Lord, all the right-minded may judge, both by their common sense and by the Scriptures.

In the third place I say: the reason we do not hear their doctrine and do not watch their partaking of the supper, as he complains, is that we have long seen by their fruits that their doctrine is vain and powerless and their sacraments are not according to the word. For what spirit both their preachers and disciples are of may be gathered, first, from the dishonest, infamous, bitter, false, spiteful and inflammatory writings of the preachers, and second, from the abominable show of clothes, the extravagance in their houses, and the superfluous, carnal life of the best of their disciples. What good is their fine appearance and their ornate logic, while in fact they forsake the Scriptures and the meaning, fruit and power of the holy sacraments, indeed, hate and persecute it? If I do not write the truth, reprove me.

In the fourth place I would say: Gellius accuses us of forsaking the church of Christ. But I say that, according to the teaching of the word and ordinance of God and the example of the holy apostles, we forsake the world and its false prophets; and that through the Spirit and grace of God we free the church of Christ from snares, faithfully admonish her members, and in our weakness establish and build them up according to the command of the holy word, Isaiah 52, verse 11; Second Corinthians 6, verse 17; Acts 2, verse 40; Revelation 18, verse 4. What can this poor man say and boast of the church of Christ, when she is still quite unknown to him? I freely make this offer: if they allow me a discussion with them under safe conduct, either privately before witnesses or publicly before a full assembly, and if I cannot prove or maintain by the power of the truth that the preachers in general are deceivers and not pastors, and that their pompous, greedy, extortionate, swearing and cursing disciples are of the world and are not Christians, then I will publicly acknowledge before all the world that we have not only forsaken the church of Christ, but are also lamentably destroying her, and causing many a pious heart much misery, affliction and trouble, in vain.

But since we can prove these assertions by the power of the truth, why then must we still hear so many evil words? It is indeed high time that the preachers stopped their deceiving; that they and their disciples, whoever, wherever and whatever they may be, awakened, trembled at the wrath and punishment of God, repented, conformed themselves to the Spirit, word and example of the Lord, and established a true Christian church according to the command of the Scriptures; and that they disclaimed and renounced their borrowed names and false boasts, such as evangelical teachers, faithful shepherds, soul-savers and preachers of the holy word, which, to the dishonor of God, they merely claim in appearance.

See, reader, I write you the truth and do not lie. Before my God I seek nothing but that I may win Gellius and all the preachers, wherever they may be, to Christ by the Spirit and word of God; or else that I may be defeated by them and stand ashamed before all the world as an open deceiver. If they now are of a Christian disposition, and preachers of the holy word who desire unity, as they pretend to be, then let them agree to what I ask of them, namely, a free discussion of the grounds and doctrines of both sides, so that the pure, saving truth of Christ may thereby be maintained, and the impure, damnable falsehood of antichrist destroyed.

But if they refuse this, as they have refused me twice before, and continue their infamous slander and abuse as they have always done, and accuse us before the common people with all manner of accusations, that we forsake the church of Christ, that we are a misled, deceived people, and that we turn good into evil, what else can we do but leave them to the Lord and his judgment, willingly submit to the cross, as we have done, possess our souls in patience, admonish those whose hearts are not perverted as much as we can, and consider carefully what kind of preachers and pastors they have, what great injustice they do us poor, miserable people, and how scornfully they reject truth and maintain falsehood? For we, in all humility and true love, invite them to this free, Christian discussion of the Scriptures, to the praise of Almighty God and his eternal truth, and to the beneficial refreshment of all oppressed and afflicted souls. But they refuse us this, and besides, they slander and defame us by their infamous publications without discretion, without any foundation or truth, and so disgracefully accuse us before the whole world, and cause many pious, innocent children to be deprived of their possessions, their honor and even their lives, as may, alas, be witnessed in many different places in the Netherlands.