Menno Simons

“ Lords, princes, learned and ignorant people, no matter of what station in life, exercise their tyranny over us, as may at all times be seen; not solely upon us, but also upon all those who accept and fulfill, by their works, this our doctrine, with believing, faithful, obedient and resigned hearts. Not that we claim it to be our doctrine, understand, but it is the eternal, heavenly and unchangeable doctrine of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, which he himself has carried from high heaven, from the bosom of his Father, to earth with his own blessed mouth which cannot lie ”

“ Father, through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, lead you all, one with another, into his holy, divine knowledge and evangelical truth, and make your faith so fruitful and active, that you may, with sincere, new hearts, patiently submit to his cross in every trial and affliction, and that you may walk, with unfeigned love, be peaceable and joyful in spirit, as the unblamable, pious children of God, before the Lord and his church all the days of your lives, and ultimately obtain the promise of grace, the end of your faith, and the salvation of your souls Amen. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The common people drink, carouse, curse, swear, grasp, tear, lie, and cheat. In short, we find such behavior on every hand, as if God was a chimera, and his word a fable. Behold, such are the fruits of those who boldly boast that they are the church of Christ. Oh! would to God that they could see what Christ Jesus, after whom they call themselves, and his holy apostles, have taught them in plain words, and what example they left them, that they might yet be saved. For as it is they only play with the letter, cry and boast; but, alas, no spirit, work, power, and fruits are apparent. ”

“ 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? ”

“ Beloved Reader, We are falsely accused, by our opponents, of following the teachings of Munster, concerning the king, the sword, rebellion, retaliation, polygamy and other abominations. But my kind readers, know ye that I, never in my life, accepted any of the foregoing doctrines; but on the contrary, I have opposed them for more than seventeen years, and to the best of my abilities, have warned all mankind against this abominable error. I have also, through the word of God, led some on the right way. Never in my life have I seen Munster, nor have I been in the communion of that sect. ”

“ But those who do not fear God; do not believe on Christ Jesus; who trample upon his word, and do not do his will; who love darkness rather than light; by those, all evangelical truth must be called damnable heresy and considered and treated as deadly treason. Notwithstanding all this, the word of God shall remain unbroken until the judgment day.
Woe unto such! For in them are lost the abundant gifts of grace, the heavenly word of peace, the mild admonitions, the hard and bitter labor, the precious treasure, which is the precious blood and bitter death of our Lord Jesus Christ. ”

“ No more at present, but sincerely fear God, serve him in truth, uphold unity, love and peace; watch and pray; walk unblamably; fight your fight patiently; strive after the good; be friendly to one another; willingly submit to your elders and obey them, and remember them and me in your prayers. May the God of peace, our merciful Father, by his blessed Son, Christ Jesus, bless you now and at all times, unto more righteousness, in perfect love. ”

“ 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. ”

“ My beloved in Christ Jesus, I am troubled at heart for your sakes, inasmuch as I hear that you hunger and thirst after righteousness, and that there are so few carvers, who rightly cut the bread of the divine word for the hungry consciences, and that there are so few shepherds who rightly pasture the sheep of Christ, and that there are so few masons to rightly adjust the living stones in the temple of the Lord; so few watchmen who rightly watch the city, the new Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet ”

“ 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, God-fearing 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. ”

“ For we see such living and acting, O, Lord, as if neither prophet, apostle, Christ, nor the word of God was ever upon earth. Nevertheless you men, want to be called the holy Christian church, and preachers of sound doctrine, as if Christ did not require more of his church than mere reading, singing, crying, infant baptism, breaking of bread, and calling themselves after his name; and, as if spirit, knowledge, faith, love, repentance, righteousness, works, power, and truth were no longer necessary. ”

“ When will you hear and fear God, more than you do lords and princes? When shall the abominations of anti'christ be rooted out of your heart, and instead thereof, the doctrine of Christ be planted therein? When will you be satisfied with pious and unblamable lives, and be satiated with the blood of innocent saints? ”

“ 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. ”

“ I would, therefore, earnestly pray all the pious, for God's sake, that they would assist me by their ardent prayers to the Most High, that he will bestow upon me, a poor, weak man, together with my beloved brethren and faithful servants in the Lord, the gift of his grace and the power of his wisdom; so that we may silence all opponents, by virtue of true doctrine and an unblamable walk, and thus maintain to the end, the house of our God, in pure, godly zeal and Christian love, to the honor and praise of his great name, to whom be praise and the eternal kingdom, Amen. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Now say, most beloved, which of these are we at liberty to do or not to do? Are we at liberty to be born again or not? Are we at liberty to deny ourselves, or to believe on Christ, or not? To be baptized, to give unto Cæsar that which is due him, and unto God that which is his, to beware of false prophets, and to abstain from all appearance of evil or not? ”

“ 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 ”

“ For what greater and more terrible heresy, deception, and blasphemy can be imagined than to assert that the pure and holy flesh of Christ, is a ransom for sin, to adulterate so sadly his ordinance and the apostle's clear and plain doctrine of baptism; to neglect Exclusion as required by the word of God; to slander the pious, and to console and encourage the impenitent and carnal minded by garbling the Scriptures, as he has constantly done in his writings from beginning to end. ”

“ If they allow me a discourse 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, avaricious, extortionate, swearing, and cursing disciples, are of the world and are not Christians, then I will publicly acknowledge before all the world, that we not only have forsaken the church of Christ, but also lamentably destroy her and cause many a pious heart much misery, affliction and trouble, in vain. ”

“ I have ever taught that all sins which are repented of are pardoned in the blood of the Lord, be they what they may. David's adultery and shedding of innocent blood, is to me a sure testimony. Yet everybody should take heed that he sincerely fears God, acts rightly, and that he does not wilfully sin against his God, that he does not pervert falsehood into truth, nor truth into falsehood, as did the scribes. For who knows but that he who wilfully sins against his God, will never truly repent and receive grace? ”

“ Behold, thus we are, by God's choice through faith in Christ Jesus, and through the inspiring power and renewing of the Holy Spirit, embodied into the body of Christ, which is the true church, and become flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone ”

“ If we come to the judges and rulers, to each in his station, with some we find only violence and injustice, with some nothing but avarice, astonishing practices; they steal honestly and rob honorably; pass sentence for gain and gifts; honor the high and despise the poor, do not justice to the poor widow, orphan and the oppressed stranger, execute their office and power with rigor, and not fraternally; serve princes and not God, as the prophet Micah laments, What the prince desires, the judge does, so that he will again reward him. ”

“ O, consider the difference, to live eternally with Christ Jesus in the kingdom of heaven, or eternally to die with all the devils in the abyss of hell.
Dear lords, we are in great anxiety and tribulation, and are terrified in two ways. For, if we follow the truth, which we ever intend to do in our weakness, by the grace of God, then we are made a prey to all the world. If we deviate, and again enter into the broad way, from which the merciful Father save us, then we fall into the hands of God and must bear his eternal punishment. ”

“ 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 retain us in darkness, deprive us of the light of Christ, and fearlessly lead us to the frightful, indissoluble darkness of everlasting and infernal torment, for the sake of a meal of bread. For God's sake, dear reader, do not think hard of me. ”

“ Through the grace of God, it is my desire to fear the Lord with all my heart; to love, seek and serve him, to do right before him, and be an unblamable pious Christian.
I hope through the mercy and assistance of the Lord, that no one upon earth may have reason to accuse me of leading an avaricious and luxurious life. Money and affluence, I have not; neither do I desire them, although alas, some from a peverted heart, say that I eat more roasted than they do seethed; and drink more wine than they do beer. ”

“ Take diligent care of your charge, and display a sincere concern for your flock, at all times earnestly exhort them to love, to good works, like Paul; to the pure fear and love of the Lord; to a godly, unblamable conversation, in all humility, righteousness, love, peace, harmony, mercy, and obedience to the whole word of God. Caution them against all false doctrine, and against the sword of evil tongues; for if a man bridle not his tongue, nor restrain it, his worship is vain and unprofitable. ”

“ It is a fact well known to all, dear men and brethren, how very much the pure, divine truth is disregarded in our Netherlands, caused by the envious crying and clamor of the Papists and Monks; and that the innocent blood is shed like water; on account of which we, miserable children, are forced to flee from the sword of the tyrants, and to seek refuge in foreign lands, with our weak women and little ones, and to earn our bread in tribulation and misery, according to the prophecy of God's word. ”

“ This perverse and reckless people ever call us anabaptists; heap one shameful lie upon another; point at us with the finger of scorn, as if we so behaved that fire and sword were too merciful a punishment for our bodies, and eternal hell-fire too merciful a punishment for our souls. ”

“ We, poor and despised Christians, who have to endure and suffer so much, on account of the testimony of the word of the Lord, wish to all theologians and preachers of all countries who boast of the gospel, whoever and wherever they are, a new, penitent heart; a true, active faith in Christ Jesus; an unfeigned, ardent love; a salutary doctrine; a sound doctrine according to truth, and a pious, unblamable life, in the fear of the Lord, of God our heavenly Father, in the operation and power of his Holy Spirit, through Christ Jesus, his beloved Son, our Lord and eternal Savior, Amen. ”

“ Behold, thus has the murderous, blood thirsty devil deceived the whole world, through his priests and preachers; yea, that I fear, scarcely one is to be found among a hundred thousand, who will lay to heart such a strong faith, obedience, frankness, power, great suffering and ignominious death, so that he would once reflect upon his abominable unbelief, disgraceful wickedness and presumptuous, carnal life, or doubt the doctrine of his teachers, sacraments, their lives and worship. How truly did the prophet say; "The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart," Isa. ”

“ Let nobody falsely boast; we will be judged of one before whom nothing is hidden. Nobody knows what true, Christian faith and and true repentance are, but he who has truly received them and felt their power. If God, then, plants repentance in so many hearts, as Gellius pretends, why is he and his like preachers, yet so impenitent, so inimical and refractory to truth, and so offensive and blamable in wholesome doctrine? If those of whom he speaks are of the same mind with him, which we trust they are not, then he has not written the truth ”

“ The Almighty, great Lord, who knows all hearts, knows that we are clear, before the Lord and his judgment, of all the beforementioned abominations and slanders, of which we are ever accused by you; also, that we are clear and innocent before all the world. Yea, if any one under the whole canopy of heaven, can prove, by the firm truth, that we, and our adherents, are guilty of one of these capital crimes, or that we were ever guilty thereof, then we will lay our hands upon our mouths and will be bound by life and possessions to the accuser, all our days ”

“ Yea, kind reader, had the learned firmly trusted the living God, faithfully adhered to his word, and had they not acted hypocritically with the world and had they themselves, in power and deeds faithfully practiced, without fear of the cross and the disfavor of the magistracy, what they have, in some of their writings, pointed out, O, what a noble and clear light would have shone on the world, which now, alas, has become such a pernicious darkness and destruction, and a broad way, through the fear of the cross, through hypocrisy, selfishness, desire of ease, ambition, and favor of men. ”

“ Reflect on what I tell you; you are aware of one thing, that an obedient, virtuous son, servant, or bride, does not fear the coming of the father, lord, or bridegroom, but they long for their coming; "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear," 1 John 4: 18. You are also aware that a fatigued laborer is desirous of rest, and an afflicted soul of consolation. And I have no doubt but my beloved children are sealed in God with a good conscience; that he is your Father, and you are his children; that Christ Jesus is your Lord, and you are his servants ”