Epistle to Martin Micron, Part 3

I am very much surprised that the other preachers, some of whom are naturally intelligent (though they do not want to be on the narrow path with Christ and his chosen ones), do not reprove you and stop your slanderous writing, since it is a shame to them as well as to yourself. For your antichristian foundation and doctrine concerning Christ, the Son of God, was never made so manifest as it has been by your bold assertions and blindness, and by my necessary reply to them. All who have eyes may see what fearful unbelief and abominable foundation and doctrine you have. Still, you will remain good teachers in the sight of the world; for it is such that the world seeks and desires. John truly says, “They are of the world; therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them,” First John 4, verse 5.

See, dear Micron, I have placed the clear mirror of truth before the eyes of your conscience, and properly dissected the invisible members of your soul. Now open your eyes, and you will see what kind of man you are, and how greatly you are diseased in spirit; from which spring all these noxious exhalations, such as upbraiding, lying, defaming, false explanations, adulteration of the Scriptures, and flatteries. “For by the law is the knowledge of sin,” Romans 3, verse 20; so this epistle will show you how deadly you have been stung by the serpent, and how he has corrupted you before God by the accursed venom of his evil nature and poisoned your whole life.

If the merciful Lord in his loving kindness should make you feel and know the abominable shame you have committed against God and man by your slanderous writing, which I fear you have until now hardly noticed, because of your great blindness, hatred, ambition and self-love, then do not delay (if you would not die in your ungodliness) to come before the throne of grace, the ever blessed Christ Jesus, with a broken, contrite, repentant spirit, in an unadulterated faith, with a changed, penitent and new heart. For he is the spiritual brazen serpent, raised up as a wholesome sign for all of Adam’s children (who are poisoned in Adam). He is the man who can cure you of all the deep wounds of your diseased soul. He is the Physician in Israel. With him alone is found the ointment and medicine of eternal life. And if you would commit yourself to him and follow his advice, so that you may find help and health for your diseased soul, you must give yourself up to him; obey his word, will, commandments and prohibitions; deny your selfish, ambitious, false, partial, envious, vain, wrathful flesh, which leads you to this abominably false writing; become little in your own sight; lay a better and Christian foundation in your heart; quit your flattering, your adulteration of the Scriptures, your idolatrous sacraments and all hypocrisy; truly seek and fear the Lord and his holy word with sincerity of heart; be reconciled with tears, in sincere brotherly love, to your neighbors whom you have wronged through pernicious falsehood; and publish to the world in other writings that, through mere hatred of the truth, you have without cause defamed still further their name, which was already hated too much for the truth’s sake. This, I fear, you will hardly do, unless you become a more godly, penitent and pious Micron than you, alas, have been until now.

So long as you do not do as is pointed out here, it is manifest that you hate your neighbor without cause and are his enemy out of hatred of the truth, and are therefore separated from Christ, with the murderers. O friend, reflect and repent. Take heed lest you destroy your precious soul forever for the sake of a little temporary and vain praise! A short time, and Micron is no more! O the sentence, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire! Oh, oh, what a sentence!

Friend Micron, in faithful love I warn you. Take heed, I pray you. I have known several persons who were driven by a like spirit of bitter zeal against the Lamb and his chosen ones, and who were judged and punished before the eyes of men by the Lord, who does justly and rewards the unjust as they deserve.

It is about eighteen or nineteen years since a certain highly esteemed man, much respected by the world (whose name and country I will not mention), wickedly advised that they should destroy me together with the pious. His words and ungodly thoughts were hardly finished when the avenging hand of the Lord was laid upon him. He dropped at the table, and so in a moment his bloodthirsty, impenitent, ungodly life was ended in a terrible way. O fearful judgment!

About the same time it happened to another man, who thought he would set his trap so that I could not escape, that at the very meal at which he was eating while he spoke these words he was suddenly struck by an arrow from the Lord, stricken with a severe disease, and so had to give an account before the Lord. He was buried within eight days from the time he spoke these words.

Another, who was to become an officer of the emperor at a certain place, thought he would destroy this people, if there was any power in the imperial army. He came to the place where he was to be stationed and serve in his office, and four or five days later the bell was tolled and the requiem sung over him. See, so God the Lord brings to nothing the designs of the ungodly who storm this holy mount, and destroys those who hate his truth and are its enemies.

In the year 1554 three of our brothers were at Wisburg, in Gotland, to earn a living. A preacher of the city named Lawrence, who was of the spirit of his father (the devil), cried after them in the street, hooted at them, and said “That they should not practice their religion there, if it were to cost him all that his clothes surrounded,” meaning his body and soul. A few days afterward he talked with one of these brothers in the presence of another preacher, who was not unreasonably minded. He behaved outrageously. The great Lord struck him in the presence of both of them, so that he lost his voice at once; and within twenty-four hours he was a corpse. O terrible punishment and judgment of God!

A case almost like it happened the same year at Wismer. They had taken on a crier named Doctor Smedesteet, who said, “That he would rather have a hat full of our blood than a hat full of our gold.” He persuaded the magistracy, who gladly listen to such makers of pillows, “To proclaim to the poor children, just before the cold winter, that they must clear out of the place before Saint Martin’s day, or else they would be put where they would not like to go.” Smedesteet was very glad that he had achieved his heart’s desire, but to his sorrow; for the same day the almighty, great Lord laid the hands of his wrath upon him, and within seven days the Lord took him away by a severe illness. Yet the blind, obstinate world does not notice these things. [Note 1]

In the year 1555 there was a preacher in the same city named Vincent, who still lives there, who never tired of upbraiding and slandering. On the day they call the Lord’s Ascension Day he read the Scripture, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved,” Mark 16, verse 16. He said, “He would upbraid and slander us as long as his mouth would open.” That same hour the strong Lord closed it and bound his tongue. He fell down in the pulpit, and was carried by some of those present into his house as a punished man, a dumb man. See, so he can punish those who would touch the apple of his eye and harm it. If I were to relate all the things that in my time befell the enemies of the saints, it would take a separate volume. Therefore I advise you in sincerity of heart to oppose such a strong and avenging God and Lord no longer. I tell you in Christ that it will be too hard, yes, too hard for you to kick against the pricks, Acts 9, verse 5. For his name is Sovereign Lord, Mighty Prince, Isaiah 9, verse 6. “Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15, verse 11. His arrows never miss, and when he calls we must appear. No one can escape from him and avoid his wrath. O Micron, take heed.

Good friend, if your battle were against me, as you perhaps think it is, you would already have won it. For in this matter the whole world is on your side, indeed the serpent himself, and against me; for this foundation is the only weapon, according to the doctrine of John, that is to conquer his kingdom, the world. But the battle is not against me, but against the truth itself, against the Father and his blessed Son, against the whole Scriptures, and against those who dwell in heaven. Therefore take heed. For although the reckless, rough world may say amen to your cause, it will not be so with the Most High, whose glory, honor, truth and testimony I uphold according to my small talent, by his grace and help.

And even if you deprive me in the sight of the world, which is not included in Christ’s prayer, John 17, verse 9, of my honor, reputation, body and life, which I have long counted of little consequence for Christ’s sake, though, thank God, I have never harmed you nor wished you any harm, still God the Father will remain the true Father of Christ, and Christ the true Son of God. And you will have to turn from your impure, antichristian doctrine to the unadulterated, pure doctrine of Christ, or else you will be one of those of whom it is written: “He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” John 3, verse 18. Neither partisanship nor disputing will prevail against God and his word. He is the one who will have the praise, and his word is the doctrine that will remain the truth. If you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that his testimony and word are true, and that his ordinances are the true ordinances; if you are not born of God, do not become of divine disposition and nature, are not moved by and possessed of the Holy Spirit, do not sincerely repent; if you are not in Christ, nor Christ in you; then according to the doctrine of John you are one of those who have no God, First John 2, verse 22.

But if you have Christ, if you truly believe that he is the true Son of God, then you have both the Father and the Son, First John 2, verse 24; and you will walk as he walked. You will not willfully tell a falsehood, for you are born of the truth; you will not hate; you will not defame; you will not inform against your neighbors; and you will wrong no one. You will seek the salvation of others and not their ruin; you will reprove their sins; you will teach them rightly and not deceive them; for the spirit of love, which deals justly with God and man, will dwell in you and move you.

If you have Christ in truth, you will walk in the light, John 3, verse 21; John 8, verse 12; you will follow the true shepherd and enter in at the right door, John 10, verse 2; you will walk on the true road, remain in the truth, in the right vineyard, John 15, verse 1, and build on the true rock, Ephesians 2, verse 20; First Peter 2, verse 5. You will not adulterate the word of God; for your spirit is one with the Spirit of Christ; your faith will be one with his word, and your life, though in weakness, one with his life.

You will seek the praise and honor of the Lord, and not your own; you will confess Christ as your Savior before all the world, at the risk of life or death; all your pleasure will be in the law of the Lord, and your whole life in his fear; your thoughts will be pure, and all your words well seasoned; your daily combat will be against the world, the devil and your own evil flesh; and by your honest, virtuous life you will set an example to all the world. The cross, taken up for the sake of the Lord’s word and testimony, you will patiently bear; and if you should thoughtlessly think, say or do anything wrong, you will sincerely lament it. In short, you will prove by all your actions that you are a chosen child of God, born of the heavenly seed of the holy Word, and that you have become a living member of the body of the Lord.

See, dear Micron, such penitence and reformation I sincerely wish you. I would like to see it truly manifest in you, in power and truth, and then, for the sake of the testimony of Jesus, to have to make a sacrifice of my blood together with you, to the praise of the Lord and the edification of our neighbors. I say it again: repent, so that the precious treasure given for us may not be lost in your case.

I hereby commend you to almighty God. He will bestow on you according to his great grace, as I would like to see you receive it. No more hereafter, however much you may cry and write, unless you are converted to a better mind, and I am constrained and urged to it by the God-fearing.

Nor shall I hereafter seek a public discussion with anyone, and that for these reasons. First, because for many years I have desired it by numerous written and spoken requests, and have never been granted it. From this it is manifest that they care very little about the glory of God and the souls of men.

Secondly, because your principal teachers and exemplary men, such as John A’Lasco, Calvin and Theodore Beza, whom you confess to be your most worthy and most beloved brothers, are men of blood. That this is so is testified by their own books, and also by old Seructus of Geneva, and Joris of Paris, who was burned in England. [Note 2]

Thirdly, because your brothers, the Welsh church, as they are called, at Frankfort, have sworn against us in their publications; two things we did not know as certainly before as we do now. [Note 3]

I plainly see that nothing but deceit, faithlessness, bloodthirstiness and perverseness is found among the children of men wherever one turns; and nothing does or can avail on earth but the praise of Christ and the salvation of souls. Therefore I will let Babylon, with its false preachers, impure doctrine, idolatrous baptism and supper, together with its false religion and impenitent, vain, easy life, be Babylon. And with the holy prophet Habakkuk I will stand upon my watch and set myself upon the tower, and so clearly sound the trumpet of the holy, divine word from the walls and gates of Jerusalem, according to my small talent, and faithfully awaken the citizens of the eternal peace to sing the lovely Hallelujah joyfully through the streets, with grateful, joyous hearts, to the honor of God, Hebrews 2, verse 1; and to clothe themselves, before God and the world, in the shining white raiment of the saints, in sincerity of heart and purity of doctrine. I will faithfully admonish them with the careful, pious Esdras and say, My people, hear my word, and prepare yourselves for the battle, and evil things, and so on, Fourth Esdras 16, verse 41. With holy Paul: “Take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,” Ephesians 6, verse 13. And with Christ himself: Watch and pray, Matthew 24, verse 42; Mark 13, verse 33; Luke 21, verse 36; First Peter 4, verse 7. For the prince of darkness with his whole force and kingdom besieges the city of God, storms it by night and day, and uses many means, with flesh and blood, such as falsehood and false doctrine, the lusts of the eye, imprisonment, banishment, confiscation, bloodshed, tyranny and violence. Whoever does not constantly pray and fear the Lord cannot stand. [Note 4]

I will let Babylon be Babylon. Those who are piously inclined will leave off their ungodliness and wed themselves to Christ; for the truth is revealed, and the feast is prepared. Blessed is he who enters in with sincerity of heart and keeps his wedding garment. I would sincerely warn all the chosen children of God, the sincere, faithful brothers and sisters of Christ, with beloved John, our most beloved brother and companion in tribulation, in the kingdom and in the patience of Jesus Christ, and say, Children, “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world; and the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever,” Second John 2, verses 15 to 17. Friend Micron, be warned again; repent, pray to God for grace, and earnestly reflect on what I have written. And do not be angry because I have reproved you so sharply. I have done it truthfully, to the honor of God and the benefit of the reader, as I reprove the whole world without respect of persons, so that you may rightly learn the brightness of Christ, see and feel your foul sores, be healed by the Lord’s medicine, sincerely repent, and be eternally saved. I hereby commend you to the gracious, merciful God and Father, for the enlightenment of your blind soul and the reformation of your sinful life, by his blessed, firstborn and only true Son, Christ Jesus, by the manifestation of his eternal Holy Spirit, to greater righteousness. “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful,” Proverbs 27, verses 5 and 6. [Note 5]

MENNO SIMON.

October 16th.

It is an old proverb, dear reader, that “Many men have many minds.” Everyone generally judges according to his own ideas, and so many an unjust and wicked sentence is passed, especially where blind partiality holds sway.

I find that our opponents with their false doctrine cannot stand before the power of the holy, divine word, and that they diligently try to defame and slander us and to garble our words, so that we, with truth on our side, are rejected by the world, and they, with falsehood on their side, are honored by the world. Therefore I pray all impartial readers not to be offended at their saying, “Menno has not written this or that truthfully.”

In accordance with the doctrine of Christ, I rejoice in being called a liar by the liars. I trust that those who are born of the truth will not charge me with falsehood; for I chose truth for a mother more than twenty-one years ago. I also desire, in my weakness, to walk in her ways as an obedient, faithful child, without looking back and without offense, as long as I remain on earth. Of this my hand and mouth, my humble life, together with my tribulation, poverty, privation, misery, cross and death, shall be witness against my enemies at the judgment of Christ. Take heed.

I consider it impossible to describe word for word, just as it happened, those parts of the discussion that Micron has suppressed or misinterpreted. Nor have the holy apostles and evangelists, who described the actions and doctrine of Christ by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, done so. For one describes the same event this way, and another that way. It was enough for them to show the foundation of truth; so it is for me. I do not desire to wrangle about a word. I only care to show the reader that the crucified Christ Jesus is God’s firstborn and only begotten, true Son, and to show that Micron has given a quite untrue account of the discussion and has deceived his readers by open falsehood.

Secondly, I pray them not to take it amiss that I have also referred to John A’Lasco. It was not done out of hatred or disfavor; rather, zeal for the glory of God and of Christ his Son, for the honor of eternal truth, and for the sincerely desired salvation of your souls has moved me to do so. For Micron says, “That they are of one mind in doctrine,” and I do not see how one could believe, teach, write, speak, hold or feel more abominably concerning the crucified Christ than he does in his defense against me. Besides, I hear that he too has become a man guilty of blood, even though he confessed to me by word of mouth that no one should be harmed on account of the faith.

But now, as I hear, it is claimed that it was not on account of faith but on account of disobedience. As the foundation is quicksand, so are their assertions. Let the rulers command things in keeping with the gospel of Christ and neighborly love; and if we refuse to obey them, then we are culpable. I will leave it to the judgment of all reasonable rulers, as before God in Christ, whether it is in accordance with the Scriptures or contrary to them to banish poor souls from their country because they fear God; confess the crucified Christ to be God’s Son; receive holy baptism according to the commandment of the Lord and the doctrine of the apostles; affirm their testimony by yes or no in accordance with Christ’s command; and because they lead a penitent, pious life in righteousness, and so on.

I am aware that there are many unsuspecting hearts who look more to John A’Lasco and to the learned than to Christ and his apostles. Therefore I have also pointed out his errors in this matter, so that all God-fearing readers may see what kind of writers and teachers they are who are so highly esteemed and whose names are considered so worthy.

Thirdly, I pray that no one will take my saying that I will no longer seek a public discussion to mean that I have no courage to do so. That is not the meaning I wish to convey. But I do not desire to discuss, publicly or privately, with such people as those I referred to in my epistle, nor with such as dishonestly adulterate, change, break and misinterpret my words and testimony and slander us, as Micron did from the beginning to the end of his writing. For I generally find myself deceived by them on all sides, as is the nature of those who would lead an easy life and not take up the cross of the Lord.

But if any rulers should be troubled at heart concerning the Scriptures and suspicious of their preachers and teachers, and would invite me to a public discussion for the sake of finding out the truth, it would be as glad a tiding as I could hear on earth; nor, I trust, would I be dissuaded or prevented by the God-fearing, to whose hands and counsel I always willingly commend myself. For we are sure that we have the Scriptures and the truth on our side.

Fourthly, I pray them not to take it as upbraiding and slander that I sometimes handle Micron roughly, according to the truth. It was done for no other purpose than that he and his followers may recognize their deceiving, lying spirit through such earnest admonitions, which are in keeping with the foundation of Scripture, and may come to dislike their abominable doings and so renounce their evil ways; and also that all the unsuspecting, good hearts that are bound in their snares of unrighteousness may be set free, to the praise of the Lord.

It was done in the same spirit that moved the holy apostles and prophets, and Christ himself, in their various reproofs. If anyone now should reprove me for my forcefulness, they must first reprove Christ and his messengers. For it is they who in the Holy Scriptures have taught me and all teachers who follow and uphold the right to do so.

All who have an understanding of Scripture know that wherever we find mention in the Scriptures of contempt for God and blasphemy against him, we also find added the sentence and sharp rebuke of the Holy Spirit.

It is manifest that Micron is not ashamed to fasten one falsehood upon another; to make a translation to suit himself; to deny the testimony of God, the Father of Christ Jesus, of his blessed Son, and of the angel Gabriel, together with that of all the other witnesses of the New Testament; to flatter the rulers; to seek the favor of men; and to deceive the poor souls for whom the Lord’s blood was shed. Therefore it is surely not wrong to call him by such names as the Holy Spirit applies to him in the Scriptures. The truth must have its course, and respects neither emperor nor king, much less a false prophet or teacher who pleads the cause of the serpent, perverts the testimony of God into falsehood, and for the sake of vain honor and his lusts strengthens the ungodly and troubles the saints. Whoever has sound judgment and knows the way of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures must say that I am right.

Fifthly, I pray that no one will think that I write this to retaliate for Micron’s writing. O no. I leave wrath to him who is judge of all the world. I have done it for the service of Micron and all the erring, that they may be converted and give fitting praise and honor to Christ, the Son of God, Deuteronomy 32, verse 35; Hebrews 10, verse 39; First Peter 2, verses 3 and 23; First Peter 3, verse 9. The truth is set before them, by the grace of God, with such power and clearness that no man can annul it by virtue of the Scriptures or contradict it by virtue of intellect. Therefore it would be well if our opponents would look at it more clearly, so that with all the saints they may flee from the coming judgment, and in the day of his appearing may stand before the throne of his Majesty in eternal joy.

If they do not, but refuse and remain obstinate and partial; if they repay good with evil and love with hatred; if they seek help from the worldly powers, since they are too weak in the Scriptures, and so watch for the ruin and misfortune of the pious by falsehood and embellished inventions, as has, alas, been the case with many until now; then we must leave them to the Lord, possess our souls in patience, and remember the saying of Christ: “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you,” Matthew 5, verse 12.

Lastly, I would faithfully warn all my readers and hearers, both great and small, rich and poor, favorable and unfavorable, as before God, and sincerely pray them in Christ Jesus to read this our incontrovertible, thorough answer and explanation impartially; to weigh it rightly in the balance of the holy, divine word; and to compare it with the fictitious foundation and doctrine of our opponents, so that, enlightened by the truth, they may find the true way to life.

Let no one believe me; but believe the truth that I have set before you, according to my small talent, in invincible power and clearness, according to the pure doctrine of the holy apostles, evangelists and prophets, and of Christ himself. In Christ, be warned. Your poor souls are lamentably deceived by the doctrine of our opponents. For it is the smoke from the bottomless pit, Revelation 9, verse 2, which darkens the bright Sun, Christ Jesus, and the air of his holy word; it is the falsehood of the old serpent, its egg and brood: he who eats of it dies, and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper, Isaiah 59, verse 5; it is the spiritual dung with which Ezekiel had to bake his bread, Ezekiel 4, verse 12. In short, it is the horrible, abominable draught from the golden cup of the Babylonian whore, drunk with the blood of the saints, with which she has made drunk all who dwell on the earth, Revelation 17, verse 4.

Their doctrine and confession stand clear and manifest: that the crucified Christ Jesus was not the true Son of God, for they say he had no Father and is only called so on account of their invented union. They reject the baptism of Christ; they rage and blaspheme against it, and institute a different baptism, which the Scriptures neither teach nor command them. They deny the difference between the oath of Christ and that of Moses, and say that we are allowed to swear to the truth, that it is a holy thing, and so on, Matthew 5, verse 34. Let him who is intelligent understand what we have explained in both our book and our epistle.

John says, “The Word was made flesh,” John 1, verse 14. Paul says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory,” First Timothy 3, verse 16. Because we sincerely confess this testimony, and all others that confess the visible, tangible, crucified Christ to be the Son of God, to be true and just, we must, alas, be called sectarians and heretics by the world. It is time to beware. Kind reader, take heed. God grant you his grace. Amen. Read attentively and judge impartially. Amen.