Menno Simons · 70 of 109

A HUMBLE AND CHRISTIAN DEFENSE. · Part 3

O reader, kind reader, take heed, and re­member that it is written, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb. 10:31.

And although such willful blasphemy and sin had no offering in Israel, Num. 15, and the sinning against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness, as Christ says, Matt. 12; Mark 3; Luke 12; yet I would advise all the godfearing, as far as I am able, that if any should revert to the works of the flesh and of death, after his confession and baptism, wisely to consider the matter and not make a mistake in such a case by an unseason­able and undue sentence; for the Lord, to whom nothing is concealed, knows what sin he has committed; whether he has sinned against the Holy Ghost or not; but let them admonish such according to the word of the Lord. If he be converted, if he show true fruits of repentance according to the Scriptures; if he again receive a broken, contrite and pen­itent heart, and besides, a peaceable, joy­ful and cheerful mind, then it is manifest that he did not sin against the Holy Ghost. But if he remain unrepentant, continue in his perverseness and this unto the end, willfully despise Christ and his word, then his work shows what sin he has committed, and that his end and reward will be death, Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 6; Gal. 5; Eph. 5; 1 Jn. 3:6; Rev. 21:22.

Behold, kind reader, thus we believe that all sins, both outward and inward, have their reconciliation in the merit and power of the blood of the Lord, if truly repented of, according to the Scriptures.

Let every one take heed that he walk in the fear of the Lord and accept the grace, lest he be given to the wrong spirit, fall in­to the judgment of the Lord, and the pen­ance, which avails before God, be refused him. For Christ says, "Whosoever com­mitteth sin is the servant of sin." Peter says, "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." Let therefore none be overcome of sin, else he will be the servant of sin. This is incontrovertible. Jn. 8:34; 2 Pet. 2:19.

I think that this our confession and also the ban or separation, which the Scripture teaches and which we practice, by which we seek the scriptural shame of the degen­erated to their reformation, fully prove that we are vilified by our opponents in this regard. Yea we testify before the Lord and before you that we desire nothing upon earth more ardently than that we may re­turn a poor, erring sinner to the right way.

But this we say, That the promises of God of eternal salvation, as preached by the gospel, are not made to the unrepent­ant sinners, hypocrites, avaricious, earthly­minded, mockers, nor perverse; but they are made to those who, with all their heart, hear, truly believe the lovely word of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby become new men born of God; become dead unto this fearful world of ungodly pride, pomp, van­ity and lustfulness. For the unrepentant would boast of the Scripture and console themselves thereby, while their life is con­trary thereto, and is open blasphemy. Christ says, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed," Jn. 8:31. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you," Jn. 15:14; for the vine bears after its own kind.

In the seventh place they slander us and say, That we are vagabonds, sneak‑thieves, deceivers, new monks and hypocrites; that we claim to be without sin, heaven-stormers and work‑saints, who want to be saved by our own merits and works; that we are an ungodly sect and conspirators, murderers of the souls of infants, anabap­tists, profaners of the sacraments and possessed of the devil.

Answer. These and like slanders, Christ Jesus, together with the holy apostles, prophets and saints of the primitive church, had to hear many times, as was said in the preface. "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more they of his household?" "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord." Yet we trust that it is known to all honorable, pious and reasonable men that all these slanders are spoken against us by our opponents without any truth, out of mere hatred and envy, that they may thus hinder and oppose the course of the word and afflict the innocent, Matt. 10:25, 24.

Reply to the charge, Vagabonds. Vaga­bonds are rogues, evil‑disposed and idle persons, and evil‑doers, who on account of their criminality, wander from place to place without a home. But we are poor; miserable pilgrims, and, according to the flesh, strangers, who, not on account of any crime, but for the testimony of Jesus Christ and our consciences, must flee, with our wives and children from before the tyranni­cal, bloody sword, to save our lives, and thus we have to earn our bread in foreign lands, in anxiety and tribulation, hearing many scornful and abusive words, we who, agreeable to Scripture and reason, should be received in love, and provided for and pro­tected, and not be so unmercifully rejected and slandered as we are, at present, on every hand, 1 Pet. 1; 1 Cor. 4; Ex. 22:24; Isa. 58:6; Jer. 7:5; Zech. 7; Matt. 25; Rom. 13; 1 Pet. 4; Heb. 13.

Reply to the charge, Sneak‑thieves. Sneaks are thieves and murderers, who secretly en­ter houses for the purpose of taking the property or lives of others. Also perjurers, adulterers and fornicators who are intent upon defiling the houses of their neighbors. For such wait for the darkness, and say, 6 ' No eye shall see me; and distinguish his face. In the dark they dig through houses," Job 24:15, 16. But this is not the case with us. Yet it has gone so far by the ly­ing, upbraiding and cries of the learned, that alas, one cannot publicly say anything about the word of the Lord, although it is the only bread whereby our souls must live; and as we learn and understand from the Scriptures that Moses and all Israel ate the passover at night, Ex. 12; that Christ ad­monished Nicodemus at night, Jn. 3:2; that the church assembled at night to pray, Acts 12:12; that Paul taught the word of the Lord all night, Acts 20; and that the prim­itive church assembled at night to break the bread of the Lord, as the Scriptures mention; therefore we confess that it is ad­missible to preach the word of the Lord at night as well as in day time, to the praise of the Lord; and thus we ofttimes assemble in the fear of God, without injury to any body (the Lord knows) at night in a chris­tian manner, to teach the word of the Lord and to admonish and reprove in all godli­ness; also to pray and administer the sac­raments in a manner as the word of the Lord teaches us.

Reply to the charge, Deceivers. Deceivers are those who call impenitent, carnal per­sons, christians, and console them in their blindness, avarice, pride, pomp, splendor, debauchery and idolatry, with water, abso­lutions, bread, wine and ceremonies; who so shamefully adulterate the word and sac­raments of God and lead the poor, miserable souls into death for the sake of a meal of bread or a handful of barley, all of which, before the Lord, we are innocent, by his grace. For we teach the word of the Lord unadulterated and with a good conscience, without respect of person. We seek the salvation of every soul and not their favor and gifts. We administer the Lord's bap­tism and Supper according to the direction of his holy word. And although we are poor, weak, miserable, and of evil, unclean flesh, and diseased sinners, yet we would gladly, in our weakness, act rightly and be pious and live unblamably before the world.

We seek and desire, by the grace and assistance of the Lord, according to our small talent, to re‑establish that which is fallen; make right that which is wrong; seek that which is lost; humble the high­minded; direct the hungry into the right pasture; lead the thirsty to the true fount­ain and the blind in the right way, that we may thereby sow the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in many hearts, to the praise of our God, and publish his great and ador­able name, Ezek. 34; 2 Cor. 10.

Reply to the charge, New Monks. We would consider those to be new monks who formerly established churches, cloisters, hu­man statutes, and the easy epicurean life, in the semblance of zeal, which they have abandoned and in its place accepted a more lustful, pompous and carnal life, without change of heart and remained in their sins, and these placed the firmness of their faith, hope and salvation, from the beginning upon human choice, opinion and flattery. It is the manner and custom of monks to follow human statutes, commands and in­stitutions, and not the word of God. They have their abbots, priors and pursers or procurators, and are called by their found­ers and masters, Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans, Bernardinians and Jacobins.

Not so with us. But we trust, by the grace and mercy of the Lord, that we are children of God and disciples of Christ. We know of no other Abbot than him on whom all true christians call in spirit and truth, and say, "Abba Father," Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6. Our head or Prior is Christ Jesus, Col. 1; Eph. 1.

Our procurator or purser who distributes his gifts to every one, is the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:11.

Our profession is, the sincere, frank and fearless confession of faith, Matt. 10; Rom. 10:9, 10.

Our statutes and laws are the express commandments of the Lord, Matt. 19:17.

Our cap and cloak are the garments of righteousness, with which we would gladly clothe ourselves, Matt. 22:11.

Our cloisters are the assemblage of the saints, the city of the living God, the heaven­ly Jerusalem, Heb. 12:22; Rev. 21:2.

Our easy, monk‑life and pleasure are dai­ly expectation of prison and fetters, fire and water, and to be exiled with our wives and children, to suffer hunger, tribulation, anx­iety and pain, for the testimony of Jesus.

Behold, kind reader, this is the monk­hood which we confess and practice, and none other. By the grace and power of the Lord, we also hope to abide therein un‑changeably, all our lives. O, indiscreet slanderers and blai3phemers! Jn. 4

Reply to the charge, Hypocrites. Accord­ing to the Scriptures, hypocrites are those who, for the outward world, put on a holy appearance by words and gestures, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 23, and who are inwardly full of all unrighteous­ness, avarice, hatred and deceit, as our op­ponents are, who pretend to be christians, talk much about the word of the Lord, boast much of the gospel and christianity, claim that they practice the true doctrine of Christ and that they are his holy church; while at the same time, they adulterate the word of God, call the wholesome administer­ing of the sacraments, heresy; hate all the pious, and practice the works of the flesh, openly, as may be seen. We will leave all intelligent persons to judge whether such are not the companions and fellows of the Scribes and Pharisees.

The reason why we are accused as hypo­crites, and why we are thus belied that we claim to be without sins, is because we teach penitence according to the Scripture; because we testify with holy Paul, that perjurers, adulterers, idolaters, wine‑bibbers, avari­cious, liars and unrighteous shall not in­herit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; that those who are carnal­ly‑minded shall die, Rom. 8:13. And with John, that those who sin (understand, will­fully) are of the devil, 1 John 3:8, and that we, therefore, in our weakness, abhor such works; although with Moses we have often confessed, verbally and in writing, as we ever will confess, that none is clear before God, on account of the inborn nature, Gen. 6:5; 8:21; with Isaiah, that we are all as the unclean; with David, that there is no living man righteous before God, Ps. 14:3; with Paul, that nothing good dwells in our flesh, Rom. 7:18; with John that if we say, we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and no truth is in us, 1 John 1:8, and with James, that in many things we offend all, Jas. 3:2.

Behold, kind reader, this is why the preachers call us hypocrites who claim to be without sin. Such abominable lies are told by those who pretend to preach the word of God! Reply to the charge, Heaven stormers. Henceforth, because we teach from the mouth of the Lord: That if we would enter into life we must keep the commandments, Matt. 19, 1'7; Mark 10:19; Jn. 15:10, that in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircum­cision avail; but the keeping of the com­mandments of God, 1 Cor. 7:19, and that the love of God is that we keep his com­mandments; and his commandments are not grievous, 1 Jn. 5:3, therefore we are called by the preachers heaven‑stormers and work‑saints; and that we want to be saved by our own merits; although we always have confessed, and by the grace of God, ever will, that we cannot be saved by means of anything in heaven nor in earth other than by the merits, intercession, death and blood of Christ, as has been amply demon­strated above, Jn. 14:3; Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:10.

Behold, thus the best of these perverse people have been changed to the very worst, and do not observe that the whole Script­ure, condemns, all licentious, obstinate de­spisers and transgressors of the command­ments of God, to death, who plainly prove by their deeds that they do not confess the saving grace of God; do not believe in Christ Jesus, and, according to Scripture, abide in damnation, wrath and death, Jn. 3:36. For whoso doeth unrighteously, showeth by his works whose disciple he is.

Reply to the bitter slander, Ungodly Sects and Conspirators. So far as regards the bitter, envious slander and charge that we are a perverse, ungodly sect and conspira­tors we answer: If we were allowed an im­partial hearing with our opponents before a tribunal of persons who understand the word of God, we would soon be cleared of the infamous charge and they would be found guilty. For what kind of conspira­tors they are, this Scripture testifies, "There is a conspiracy (mark, conspiracy) of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof," Ezek. 22:25.

All may find a place in their sect who will but keep their ceremonies and acknowl­edge them to be the true preachers and messengers no matter what kind of life they lead if they but steer clear of falling into the hands of the executioner. No drunk­ard, no avaricious or pompous person, no defiler of women, no cheat or liar, no thief, robber or shedder of blood (understand, by going to war), no curser or swearer so great and ungodly but he must be called a christian. If he but say, I am sorry. It is all ascribed to his weakness and he is admit­ted to their supper; for, say they, he is saved by grace and not by merits. He re­mains a member of their church notwith­standing he remains in all his doings an unrepentant, obdurate and ungodly heathen; to‑day as yesterday; also, to‑morrow as to­day notwithstanding the Scripture so plain­ly testifies that such shall not inherit the kingdom of God, Rom. 1:32; 1 Cor. 6:10; for they are of the devil, Jn. 8:44; 1 Jn. 2:11.

O, preachers, preachers! Learn once to know your own sect and conspirators, we pray you for Christ's sake. You boast that you are the true, christian church, but we fear you are a new Sodom, Egypt and Babylon. Oh! Oh!! For many years we have drank from the same goblet with you and walked in the same Spirit; we have re­ceived one crisma and anointment with you, we know very well; but we have received mercy, and spewed out the inhaled abomi­nation and willingly entered into the love­ly communion of his saints, into the house, kingdom and body of Christ; who hate all ungodliness and sinfulness, and with all their strength, strive after and desire right­eousness and godliness. Although they are called by you and all the world an ungod­ly sect and conspirators, yet, they are peaceable and joyous in spirit, and are as­sured in their consciences that truth is on their side; and that they are not an ungod­ly sect and conspirators, but God's own pe­culiar people, church and body, 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:5; Col. 1:18; 1 Pet. 2:10. O Lord, how lamentably thy small flock is ever slandered! Rom. 12:4; Eph. 1:23; 6:27.

Reply to the slander and false charge, murderers of the souls of Infants. In the same manner we must often hear from these poor, blind people who seek the salvation of their children in the baptism of their preachers, that we murder the souls of our infants, because we believe the word of the Lord that the kingdom is promised them by grace, by the election of God our heav­enly Father through the merits of Jesus Christ, as he says, "Suffer little children and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. 19:14; Mark 10; 14; Luke 18:16; and that we therefore do not suffer to have them bap­tized with the baptism of anti‑christ, For not the baptism of anti‑christ but the prom­ise of Jesus Christ assures us of the salva­tion of our little children if they die and depart from here. But if the good Father suffer them to grow up and grant them his grace, then we would educate them in the instruction and fear of the Lord as much as we are able. When they can understand God's word and believe it, the Scripture directs them to be baptized, Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16. But those who practice such manifest hypocrisy and anti‑christian works, banish the devil from the innocent vessels which are cleansed with the blood of the Lord; they conjure, salt, anoint, and consecrate them, baptize them on the faith of others, while they find not a single com­mandment to practice such flummery and mockery, in all the Scriptures.

The parents console themselves with the thought that they are now christians; and thus they are, from the cradle on, raised in all manner of blindness, pomp, splendor and idolatry, without the fear of God, so that when they become of understanding age they have no information of the word of God, and walk all their lives, trusting in infant baptism, upon a crooked and dark way, without confession, faith and new birth, without Spirit, word and Christ. What such do to the souls of their little children I will leave to their own consider­ation and to the sentence of the word of the Lord.

Reply to the base charge of being Ana­baptists. We must also be called anabap­tists by the learned, because we baptize at the confession of faith, as Christ command­ed his disciples to do, and as the holy apos­tles taught and practiced, as did also the worthy martyr Cyprian, all of the African bishops; and besides, because we, with the Nicene Council, cannot accept the heretical baptism which is of anti‑christ, as christian baptism; and because we are also informed by the Scriptures that St. Paul rebaptized some of those who were baptized with the baptism of John which was from heaven, because they did not acknowledge the Holy Ghost, Acts 19:3. Inasmuch as we but baptize according to the command of Christ and according to the teaching and practice of the holy apostles; nor do any more than Cyprian did, together with the council of Carthage and Nice, in this matter (although we acknowledge that we do not believe in all their doctrine); and, inasmuch as we rebaptize those who are not baptized with a divine baptism (as were those who were baptized of John), but with the baptism of anti‑christ, and had at the time of their baptism no knowledge of divine matters, as both nature and the Scriptures teach, since they were yet unconscious infants, and as we are for this reason called ana­baptists by the learned; therefore, indeed, Christ and his apostles, Cyprian and his bishops, the Nicene Council, the holy apos­tle Paul also must have been an anabap­tist. This is incontrovertible.

Reply to the blind charge that we are pro­faners of the Sacraments. Again, some of the learned, also, call us profaners of the sacraments, because we do not believe that the bread and wine of their Supper is the actual, real flesh and blood of the Lord; or, as some have it, because we do not believe that we, through the wine and bread, actu­ally partake of the flesh and blood of the Lord; notwithstanding that we reverential­ly administer the supper to the penitent (as far as man can judge), as a figurative or sacramental sign, with fear and trem­bling, also with thanksgiving and joy, ac­cording to the Scripture and according to the practice of the fathers, such as Gregory, Augustin, Chrisostom, Tertullian, Tyrill, Eusebius, &c., and, in our weakness, dili­gently strive rightly to commemorate and fulfill the holy, glorious mystery, the Lord's death, love, peace and the unity of his church and the communion of his holy flesh and blood which by this sign of bread and wine are symbolized to all true christians.

The poor slanderers do not observe how fearfully they profane the sacraments of the Lord, if we call those sacraments, which they administer. Although they believe that they distribute the actual flesh and blood of the Lord, they yet esteem it so trifling that they distribute it to known drunkards, avaricious, liars, impenitent, &c., as if the Lord's Supper were to be par­taken of by the penitent and impenitent alike. Whether this is not profaning the sacraments you may judge according to the Scriptures.

Reply to the pharisaic charge that we are possessed of the devil. We consider those of the devil who speak his words, who teach falsehood instead of truth, Gen. 3:4, steal the glory from God and miserably deceive souls. But we trust, by the grace of the Lord (eternal glory be to God), that we hate the word of the devil from our inmost hearts; and that we are very desirous for the words of eternal truth, and of the fruits of the Spirit, according to the talent received, which is a decided proof that we are not of the spirit of the devil, but of the Lord. For if we were of the devil, as we are charged, we would walk upon a broader road and be befriended by the world, and not so re­signedly offer our property and blood for the cause of the word of the Lord. Yet it is but just that the disciple be not above the master. The Father of the house him­self had to hear that he was of the devil, Jn. 10:20; 8:48. The Pharisees and Scribes must manifest their nature and Spirit. For if they can not stand with their foolish wis­dom before the power and truth of the Lord (for the spirit of Belial must ever give way to the Spirit of the Lord), they break forth in madness, heap falsehood upon falsehood, upbraid and lie with all their might, and ascribe it to the devil, al­though their consciences testify that it is the Spirit of the Lord. By what kind of a spirit such are urged their words and works sufficiently testify.

Behold, kind reader, here you have our reply to the principal slanderous charges with which we are greeted by our back­biters, opponents and persecutors. With such slander their writings are filled and their mouths overflow. We are pictured in such colors (the Lord forgive them) that we will quite likely be considered a perverse, ungodly people, by the great mass who walk upon the broad way, so long as the world shall stand. O, perverse nature! "O, generation of vipers (says Christ), how can ye, being evil, speak good things," Matt. 12:34. I fear that they are members of the awful beast which arose from the sea, which was like unto a leopard, whose feet were as the feet of a bear and whose mouth as the mouth of a lion; and which opened his mouth to blaspheme the name of God and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, Rev. 13:2, 6. For what is there which is holy and right according to the Scripture which they do not trample with their feet and blaspheme, with their mouth as an ungodly, accursed abomination? O, dear Lord, save all thy beloved children from this lying, deceiving generation, forever!

Eighthly and lastly, they say, Well, if truth is on their side, let them come before the public.

Answer. We would faithfully admonish the reader to consider well from what mo­tive and with what intention they say so. For most of them say so from motives of mere envy and blood‑thirstiness, we are sure, thinking that if we would do so it would soon be brought to an end. Others, perhaps, through simpleness and igno­rance; thinking that we cannot defend it by virtue of the Scripture, since Christ and his apostles, as also the prophets, general­ly preached in public before the people, and were also sent for that purpose. To those that do so from motives of blood­thirstiness, we would say that they, with the Pharisees and Scribes, have burdened themselves with the blood of the innocent; and are counted as murderers, Matt. 23:34; Jn. 10:16; Luke 11:49.

But to those who do so through ignorance (if there be such, which we hope there may be), we would say in all love, diligently to search all the Scriptures to see if they will find any passages to show that the apostles and prophets went forth publicly to preach when they were sure, beforehand, that it would cost them their lives, as we know to be the case if we would publicly go forth. No, no. If I mind aright, they ever avoided the places and cities which they were sure would seek their lives; or else they kept themselves concealed, as did Baruch and Jeremiah, when king Joachim had com­manded that they should be taken, Jer. 36:19.

They have all feared death and fled from it however much they were gifted with the Spirit of the Lord. "Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me," Exod. 17:4.

Jeremiah says, "O my lord the king, let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to re­turn to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there," Jer. 37:20.

David fled before Saul from one mount­ain to the other, and from one wilderness to another.

Urijah of Kirjath jearim, a prophet of the Lord, fled from before the sword of the king of Judah, into the land of Egypt, Jer. 26:20, 21.

Elijah, the spiritual man of God, fled to the wilderness, before the threats of Jezebel, 1 Kin. 19:3. From fear of those of Nine­veh, Jonah wanted to flee into Tarshish, Jonah 1.

When Paul knew that they were laying in wait for him he was let down by the wall in a basket, by night, Acts 9:24, 26.

Behold, kind reader, thus the exalted men of God have feared and avoided death, and did not, generally, go where they feared violence, until they were admonished to do so by an oracle or by a revelation from angels.

So also Elijah appeared before king Ahab, after the long drought and famine, 1 Kin. 17. Thus the apostles freely spoke the word of the Lord in the temple, after they were led from prison, by an angel, Acts 5:19; 12:7; 26; 20.

Thus Paul preached at Corinth one year and a half after the Lord, in a vision, spake unto him, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city," Acts 18:9, 10, and other like Scriptures. We are aware, beloved reader, that God has the power to save his own, if it be his will. For he smote the Syrians with blindness, who wanted to take Elisha. He sent Jonas through the turbulent waves, in a whale, to Nineveh. He took from the fire its power, and shut the lions' mouths. He delivered the apostles by the aid of angels. He is the Lord who lives unchangeable in his power and glory, 2 Kin. 6:18; Jonah 1:17; Dan. 3:27; 6:22; Acts 12:11.

But as these are particular miracles of God which are not shown to every one, and as no Scriptures direct us to go there where we surely know that we shall die or be im­prisoned for life, but as we are admonished in plain words to flee from the tyrants; and as the faithful men and servants of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, have done the same, as was said; therefore we simply say (and that with a good conscience) that we will not now, nor at any future time, public­ly go forth unless it is proven to us in sin­cerity of heart, by Scripture (which we know, is impossible), that we should do so before we are urged as were the apostles and prophets by the power of the Lord, be it by a revelation from angels or by the urging of the Holy Spirit, as was heard. But in such a case we are at all times pre­pared to do the will of the Lord, and pub­licly to teach his holy word and administer his sacraments, at the peril of our lives, Matt. 10:23; Jer. 1:7; Matt. 2:13; 4:12.