Menno Simons · 49 of 109

THE REASON WHY MENNO SIMON DOES NOT CEASE TEACHING AND WRITING. · Part 3

Inasmuch as I daily see the perils which have surrounded us from the beginning; and as so many souls are deceived by false prophesies, smooth words, seeming holi­ness, lying, jugglery, boasting and false promises of the anti‑christians and the false prophets who are ever intent upon their own honor, fame and gain, under a sem­blance of God's word, as was the case with the popes of Rome, with John of Leyden, the Munsterites, and others‑therefore I deem it essential and well, sincerely to warn and admonish all beloved readers in the Lord, not to accept my doctrine as the gos­pel of Jesus Christ until they have weighed it in the balance with the Spirit and word of God, that they may not place their faith in me, nor in any teacher or writer, but, solely in Christ Jesus. For if they should accept it for my sake, and should not first compare it with the word of the Lord, and should, thus depend upon me or any other man, and not upon Christ Jesus, they would be like unto the culpable Corinthians, whom Paul severely reproved because there were dissensions among them; some were of Paul, some of Apollos, and not all of Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. 1. They would be like unto those of whom it is written, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord," Jer. 17:5.

If I should, by my teaching, gain disci­ples for myself and not for Christ Jesus, seeking my own gain, praise and honor, then, indeed, woe unto my soul! No brethren, no. The Lord be blessed I seek not that which Judas, Gallio and Theudas sought. By the grace of God I am not minded like those who, in their imagination soar above the clouds and want to be like unto the Most High, Acts 5:37. But I re­peat it. I am a poor, miserable sinner, who must daily fight with my flesh, the world and the devil, and daily seek the mercy of the Lord; and who, with holy Paul boasts of nothing but of Christ Jesus alone; and that he was crucified for us.

My writing and preaching is for nothing but for the sake of Christ Jesus; for I seek and desire nothing (this the Lord knows) but that the most glorious name, the divine will, and the glory of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ may be acknowledged through­out the world. I desire and seek sincere teachers, true doctrines, true faith, true sacraments, true worship and an unblama­ble life; for which I must pay with much tribulation, trouble, uneasiness, labor, watching, fear, anxiety, sorrow, envy, shame, heat and cold, and perhaps, at last by torture, yea by my blood and death. For my reward, according to the flesh, must be that of him who, from the beginning, in his great love, has sought the salvation of the world. I say with holy John the Bap­tist; Christ Jesus must increase, but I must decrease, Jn. 3:30; he lives forever and ever, but I shall again return to the dust from whence I came, as all the children of men.

Therefore I beseech you again, by the grace of God, and for the salvation of your souls, that you may weigh my doctrine and the doctrine of all mankind, who have been from the times of the apostles, are now, and shall yet be, with the gospel balance of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of his holy apostles, lest you be deceived by me or by any other man, no matter whether he be a prince, learned or unlearned, holy in ap­pearance, or miraculous. If it be the word of God which I teach, accept it in the name of the Lord, if ye would not be lost. But if it be human doctrine, then let it be ac­cursed of God. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid (by the apos­tles) which is Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. 3:11.

No doctrine is profitable or serviceable to our salvation but the doctrine of Christ Jesus and his holy apostles, as he himself says, "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," Matt. 28:19.

All Scripture, both of the Old and New Testaments, rightly explained according to the intent of Christ Jesus and his holy apos­tles, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous­ness, 2 Tim. 3:16; but whatever is taught contrary to the Spirit and doctrine of Jesus is accursed of God, Gal. 1.

Inasmuch as there is but one corner stone laid of God, the Almighty Father, in the foundation of Zion, which is Christ Jesus, Isa. 28:16; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6; upon whom alone we should build conformable to his word, and upon none other; and as the whole world, to the contrary, have built upon strange corner stones, such as popes, councils, doctors, doctrines and command­ments of men; upon wrong practices of long standing, and still continue to build upon pretending prophets; and as they thus so shamefully reject the only, noble and fin­ished corner stone, the ever blessed Christ Jesus‑therefore I can not be restrained, but must warn all godfearing souls in the Lord, by my writings, wherever they shall be taken, read and heard, that from this moment they may awaken, if they desire to be saved (whether I live or die by so doing), and that they may without delay, enter upon the wholesome doctrine, sacraments, obedience and life of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ; for in him alone is life eternal, as has been frequently said above.

Beloved reader, verily, I can not but won­der at the obduracy, deafness and blind­ness of the world, inasmuch as they are not ashamed to bear the name of Christ, and to boast of his merits, blood and death, while nothing is found among them at all by which they prove the good will and nature of Christ Jesus. O ye vain boasters, if you are the true christians in whom God is pleased, as you pretend, where then, is your christian baptism in which you have buried your sins and put on the new life? Where is your true Supper in which you proclaim the death of the Lord and show your broth­erly love? Where is your love and fear of God? Your love of your neighbors? Your humility of heart B Your mercifulness to­wards the needful? Your obedience to the commandments of God? Your new birth from above, from which results a new life which should be unblamable before God, and before all the world? Jas. 1:27. Where is the living, holy and pleasing sacrifice of your own body, which you should ever be ready to present for the sake of the Lord's truth? We find nothing amongst you but unbelief and its evil fruits; an anti‑Chris­tian baptism, idolatrous supper; unclean love of flesh, unmercifulness, pride, avarice, disobedience in all divine matters, carnal birth, earthly mindedness, and the old blamable life, led according to the will of him who, from the beginning, was a proud, false, deceitful, cruel and bloody murderer.

We find amongst you no worship but only a self‑begotten set of rites which are pleasing to the flesh, such as, bells, organs, singing, celebration, ornamented churches, beautiful images, differences in victuals and in days, false purification and promises, reading many psalms and pater nosters with the mouth and not spiritually, adul­teration of the sacraments, and a destruc­tion and garbling of all that which Christ Jesus has taught and commanded in his holy gospel. All of which are, verily, no works of regenerated christians; but rather the works of Satan or of the foolish, blind and ignorant flesh. For by these works neither the word nor righteousness of God is taught; no flesh is crucified; no neigh­bors are served; and above all they are not pleasing to God. Therefore they can not be considered, according to Scripture, ser­vices of God, but rather an abominable, fearful and terrible service of idols. For by such means the ignorant, trusting populace is led away from the true faith and trust in Christ Jesus and is led into a false trust in ceremonies, yea, in such cere­monies as the eternal wisdom, the blessed Christ Jesus, has never commanded. By which ceremonies they plainly show that they believe at heart that Christ Jesus is imperfect, foolish, and unclean. For in case they believed him to be wise and per­fect how could they thus shamefully adul­terate, break, despise and garble his perfect, evangelical word and ordinances? And if they acknowledged him to be spotless why do they seek their salvation in such impure and strange means, and not in the only pure sacrifice, which is Christ Jesus?

But because true religion opposes your carnal mindedness, pride, avarice, unclean­ness, vanity, ease and the lusts of your flesh, therefore you have chosen for your­selves a vain and strange religion by which you think to be saved, although you do not live according to the word and will of God. O, no, dear reader, no. I repeat it, if all creatures under the heavens were devouring swords, fire and water; if all men were cruel, horrible and bloody tyrants; and if the acuteness of the learned, ruled all the people, yet all would be vanity. If you would enter into life, you must be born again, Jn. 3:5, you must be regenerated and in malice you should be children, 1 Cor. 14:20; yea, you must keep the com­mandments which were taught and com­manded of Jesus Christ, Matt. 18. Nothing can be devised as a substitute; for there will never be a way to salvation other than Christ Jesus.

It is too plain, and indiscreet blindness to think that we could be saved and at the same time be avaricious, spiteful, envious, proud, adulterous and idolatrous, as all the Scriptures too plainly show and teach that such shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Did you ever find falsehood with God? I think not. Holy Paul says that God is one "that can not lie," Tit. 1:2. Christ Jesus says, "Thy word is truth," Jn. 17:17. If he be, then, a God that can not lie; and if his holy word be truth; O, ye miserable, then all is lost with you. For his doctrine and truth is, that the unbeliev­ing, refractory, disobedient, avaricious, vain, lying, whoring, greedy, obdurate, idolatrous, adulterous, ambitious, blood­thirsty and carnal man shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven; but his portion shall be "everlasting destruction," 1 Thess. 1:9, eternal darkness and eternal death.

As you are such ungodly, obdurate and willful sinners, therefore you are, according to the word of Christ which can not lie, and according to the doctrine of the apostles who spoke in like Spirit, deprived of the glorious revelation of the children of God, and of the future life; and must remain for­ever, by the wrath of God, in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, Rev. 21:8.

And if you, notwithstanding this, trust to be saved while you do not sincerely re­pent of your old life, then, verily, your trust is vain. For by such trust you make God a liar, because you trust to acquire life contrary to his holy word.

What? Do ye think, O ye perverse, that we shall surprise, blind and bribe the Al­mighty, wise and just God? Do you think that the eternal truth shall become false­hood for your sake? No, beloved reader, no. Beware. The irrepressible sentence of God was passed, irrepealably more than fifteen hundred years ago, namely: "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die," Rom. 8:13. This word is sure and firm.

O world, world, that you thus despise as vain and useless, the calling and inviting voice of your God who is as faithful to you as a faithful Father to his beloved children! And that you speak in your hearts, with beautiful Tyrus, "I am of perfect beauty," Ezek. 2'7:3; and with proud Babel, "I am, and none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children," Isa. 47:8. Yea, although you now say, as do the ignorant, It is peace and freedom; yet I tell you, as Ezekiel said unto Tyrus, Thou art nothing; nothing wilt thou be forever; and as Isaiah said unto Babel, Thou shalt fall and not rise again; and with Paul, "That the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night," and, "as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape," 1 Thess. 6:2, 3; and although you may now, with Caper­naum, be exalted unto heaven yet you will be brought down to hell, unlooked for, Matt. 11:23. You eat, drink, dress, grab, hoard, and you act in all your transactions as if you would ever remain in this taber­nacle of clay; and you never reflect that soon the word will be heard by all of us, "Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward."

The precious word of grace and of eternal peace, which is the most holy gospel of Jesus Christ, you account for nothing more than a fable, nay, as accursed heresy; for you drown, burn, persecute, and murder those who teach, admonish and reprove you by this word, and who by a strong power of the Spirit are sent to you of God, by grace; just as the mad synagogue of the Jews did; so that they did not only perse­cute and destroy the chosen children of God, the holy prophets, but also the only begot­ten Son of God himself; who by the ineffa­ble love of the merciful Father was sent to them for their own, eternal salvation. What did they say? "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inherit­ance," Matt. 21:38.

How long will you continue in your dam­nable blindness, your refractory obduracy and your pernicious madness? Reflect upon the abundant, ineffable works of grace which Christ Jesus has shown you, and if his great love cannot move you to withdraw from your idolatry, disobedience and ac­cursed life, then remember his rigid judg­ments which, from the beginning of the cre­ation, came upon all those who did not abide in his blessed word and obedience, that you may by such fear, since you are not moved by his love, be drawn away from all evil.

Behold the weeping eyes, O, miserable world, and hear the tender voice of our be­loved Lord Jesus Christ, how he wept for obdurate Jerusalem, and said unto them, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes," Luke 19:42. At another place, "Behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and per­secute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple

and the altar. Verily, I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this gener­ation: O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate," Matt. 23:34‑38.

O, sincerely beloved readers, in case you would rightly take to heart these words of Christ, your bones would become dry by fear; they would shake and tremble; for it is with you, even, as it was with Jerusalem and Judah. You willfully deny that Christ Jesus is your Lord. You do not desire the true knowledge of his ways. But you de­sire to do as all gentiles have done from the beginning, namely, worship wood, stone, gold, silver, bread, wine and the works of your own hands. Besides your earthly, carnal and corrupt life, which, so to speak, does not conform in the least to the word and will of him who, by grace, created you, to his honor.

Indeed, you have so entirely rejected Christ Jesus and cast him from you in mockery, that there is no doctrine, sacra­ments or any thing left you which conforms to his word; but you have instituted self-begotten doctrines, sacraments, ceremonies and commandments, as if Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son and Wisdom of the Al­mighty Father, were not the true Messen­ger. And all those who, about this damna­ble, deadly error, fraternally admonish and mildly reprove you and seek to return you to Christ Jesus and to his blessed word, must be taken and suffer as rebellious her­etics, in all cities and countries.

Behold, kind reader, as you have ever been and yet are so unthankful for his pa­ternal grace, God has shut out from you his mercy, and has brought his just judg­ment upon you so that there is neither right, godfearing truth, nor true teachers, nor deacons, nor gospel, nor faith, nor christian baptism, nor christian Supper, nor christian life, nor knowledge, nor truth, nor spiritual wisdom, nor judgment, nor ban, nor love, nor piety left upon earth. Thus the house of which Christ Jesus has spoken, is entirely destroyed and the well-prepared vineyard of the Lord is without fruit, and is become useless, as the prophet says, "Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; and he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine‑press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jeru­salem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now, go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trod­den down; and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also com­mand the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Ju­dah his pleasant plant; and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for right­eousness, but behold a cry," Isa. 5:1‑7.

Behold, dear brethren, as this judgment came first upon Israel, so it also has come upon us. For all flesh has corrupted his way, from the lowest to the highest. The heavens are iron, and earth is metal. There are found in the vineyard of the Lord no dew, no moisture nor ripe fruits; there is no digger, no pruner nor tender. Every where it is accursed; the walls and hedges are trampled down; it is laid waste to be trampled upon by all men; strangers have dominion thereof. The Gentiles have en­tered into the sanctuary, and have soiled the temple of the Lord. Our princes are to us devouring lions; our fathers are our be­trayers; our pastors are our deceivers; our shepherds are our wolves; our watchmen are the thieves and murderers of our souls. We find nothing but thistles and thorns; it is all plundered and robbed; it is all torn up and broken down wherever we turn.

And all this on account of our sinfulness; this we must confess before our God.

Yea, dearest reader, compare our trans­gressions with those of Sodom and Gomor­rah and the other cities which God has de­stroyed on account of their sinfulness, and see how far they stand above us yet. For if we will rightly look into the matter we can conceive of no sinfulness greater than that of our time; no matter how great a sin it is, as pride, avarice, fornication, adul­tery, idolatry, backbiting, hatred, envy, greediness, treason, murder, disobedience to God, refractoriness, lying, stealing, hy­pocrisy or any other ungodliness, as may be plainly seen.

Besides, flesh is accounted Spirit; false­hood, truth; sinfulness, righteousness; and Satan is accounted as Christ, by this miser­able, blind, erring world. Anti‑christ is seated in the temple of God. Pharaoh arms himself against Israel. The powerful miracles and the beseeching voice of the Lord are neither seen nor heeded. Thus has this abominable darkness covered the whole land of Egypt. I repeat, thus the fearful judgment of God is come upon us because of our sinfulness, as the prophet says, "Your iniquities have separated be­tween you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity and speak lies; they con­ceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not be­come garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of vio­lence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniq­uity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: who­soever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon‑day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves; we look for judg­ment but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them: In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stand­eth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth fail­eth; and he that departeth from evil, maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judg­ment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no interces­sor," Isa. 69:2‑16.

Most beloved, thus has God, the just judge, sent his fearful judgment into this wicked world, although you do not feel it. For inasmuch as you trample upon the Son of God, deem the blood of the New Testa­ment as unclean, grieve the Holy Spirit of grace‑therefore you are under the terrible judgment and have fallen into the hands of the living God, so that you prefer falsehood to truth, obscurity to light, death to life; and therefore God has sent you error, and deprived you of his holy word, faith, knowl­edge and truth, so that you have, in this world, neither light nor way, nor spiritual wisdom, nor prayer, nor God, nor Christ, nor promise, nor righteousness, nor peace, nor conscientious freedom, nor inward joy nor hope; notwithstanding you so highly boast of the name, mercy, merits, death and blood of the Lord. For since you say that you acknowledge God, and yet do not honor and thank him as God, therefore he has suffered you to be deceived by your sen­sual thoughts, and your foolish heart is become obscured, 1 Jn. 1:6; Jn. 1:10; Rev. 22:15; Jn. 9:31; Eph. 4:18; Rom. 1:18, 22. Besides, you deem it but mockery to acknowledge God, therefore God has deliv­ered you to a perverse mind, to do the things you should not do; "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisper­ers; backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventers of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understand­ing, covenant‑breakers, without natural af­fection, implacable, unmerciful," Rom. 1:29‑31.

Behold, beloved reader, thus mysterious­ly God punishes by his righteous judgment. For God, the Mighty Lord visits this world in many different ways, on account of the sinfulness thereof. As with bondage, war, bloodshed, drought, famine, pestilence and many other diseases; at which plagues and chastisements the world is horror‑stricken. But above all, the most terrible wrath of God is his depriving us of his divine word. For the first mentioned plagues, such as pestilence, famine, sword, &c., only punish us according to the flesh, and are chastise­ments for our correction, as the prophet says, which he inflicts that his children may learn wisdom; but when he deprives us of his word, then all is lost. For if we have not the word, we verily, have nothing but unbelief, blindness, error, disobedience, conceit, acrimony, an unclean, foolish and adulterous spirit, and eternal death. But how few, yea, how very few are horror­stricken at these plagues, however abun­dantly they have come upon them.

If we should desire to put out a man's eyes, cut off his ears, take his life or take from him the inheritance of his natural fa­ther, would not such an one use all his rea­son, wit and wisdom to prevent such pain, shame, danger, and damage? And to‑day the whole world have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, life and yet are dead; and, above all, bereft of the eternal inheritance of the merciful Father, but do not mind it. O, if they acknowledged their own misfor­tune how diligently they would seek him who gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and true wisdom to the unlearned, which is Christ Jesus, Ps. 94:9.

But the finely attired woman has so en­chanted you, and the whoring spirit of the spiritual whoredom has so kept you under its wings, that I fear, indeed, that, your abominable unbelief, obscurity, blindness, falsehood and madness will never more be taken from your hearts, but that the wrath of God will remain upon you to the end; so that in this earthly life you will err, without any piety, from one unclean thing to another until the time that we shall be placed before the just judge, where every one shall receive his reward according to his works. Then, when too late, your blind eyes will be opened amidst sighs and una­vailing remorse, acknowledging that you have not walked in the ways of righteous­ness to life eternal, but in the dark ways to death eternal. O misery, where will you then hide yourselves from the wrath of God? Then you will cry in terror: Ye mountains fall upon us and ye hills cover us, Rev. 6:16. For then there can not be found a place of prayer, of mercy, nor of repentance for the sinner. But the awful sentence of the just God against all the wicked, unbelieving, willful and disobedi­ent sinners will then be pronounced, "De­part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. 25:41. O, how well it would be for such if they had never been born.

Therefore I will not cease, while I live, to teach and admonish both verbally and by writing, so far as God, the merciful Father, by his ineffable kindness, is giving me knowledge, spirit, grace and wisdom, to all those that seek the truth; that they may awaken while it is yet time and seek the Lord while he may yet be found, and call upon him while he is near, that their right­eousness may go forth as a light and their salvation burn like a torch; which consists in nothing but casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light, which is to renounce all false doctrine, sac­raments, false religion and the unbecoming, dishonest, carnal life, and again to enter into the divine doctrine, the evangelical sacraments, the services and works of love and the sincere, christian life, as it was taught, instituted and practiced by Christ Jesus, our only Deliverer and Shepherd himself, according to the will of his Father, Isa. 55:6; 62:2; Rom. 13:12.

Thus I labor and strive, according to the small talent given me of God, of which God is my witness, after nothing else than that the Day‑star, the blessed Christ Jesus, the ever shining Light may arise in your heart and enlighten you in all divine truth; knowledge, spiritual understanding and wisdom, unto life eternal. Amen, 2 Pet. 1:19.

Most beloved reader, herewith I beseech you all, whether you be lord, prince, learned or unlearned, to peruse these and all my writings, with the fear of God in your hearts, and I have no doubt but you will clearly find that our doctrine, which is the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his holy apos­tles, does not tend to mutiny, discord, trea­son and rebellion; but rather, yea surely, to true, christian love, unity and peace. For Christ Jesus whom we preach, is the true Prince of eternal peace, and not of dis­cord, Isa. 9. Say, whom have we curtailed? Whom have we injured? We sincerely seek nothing but that we may save all mankind. Not only at the cost of our chattels, shelter, gold, silver, and labor, but also (understand it in an spiritual sense) at the cost of our life‑blood.