Hi, my name is David Bercot, and tonight I will be reading to you the personal testimony of Menno Simons as to his conversion and his eventual involvement with the Anabaptist movement. We'll also be reading his excellent work on the new birth. As Menno Simons relates, he became involved with the Anabaptist movement around the time of the disaster at Minster. Now that town is usually better known by its Anglicized name of Munster, but it's my understanding that the correct pronunciation is Minster.
In the 1530s, a radical band of apocalyptic Anabaptists took over the town, ran out all of the unbelievers, and set up their own little kingdom. They even took up the use of arms and eventually practiced polygamy. Now, all of those things were in direct opposition to what the whole Anabaptist movement stood for. Well, the short-lived kingdom of these radicals was soon overthrown by the armies of the Empire, and the leaders were tortured and executed. Unfortunately, this event gave the Anabaptists a bad name.
They already had one, and this made it even worse, even though what happened at Minster was so totally untypical of what the vast majority of the Anabaptists lived and taught. Well, I'll let Menno Simons relate the rest of the story to you. We read, " Dear reader, I write to you the truth in Christ, and I do not lie. In the year 1524, being then in my 28th year, I undertook the duties of a priest in my father's village in Friesland. Two other persons of about my age also officiated in the same position.
The one was my pastor, and he was well learned in part. The other succeeded me. Both of them had read the scriptures partially, but I hadn't touched them during my life, for I feared if I were to read them, that perhaps they would mislead me. Behold, such a stupid preacher I was for nearly two years. Well, in the first year thereafter, a thought occurred to me. As often as I handled the bread and wine in the mass, I began thinking that they were not the flesh and blood of the Lord.
However, I thought that this was merely the suggestion of the devil, that he might lead me away from my faith. I confessed my doubts often. I sighed and prayed. Yet I could not be freed from this thought. Well, the two aforementioned young men and myself spent our time daily in playing, drinking, and all manners of frivolous diversions. Alas, as it is the fashion and way of such useless people, and when we were to discuss a little of Scripture, I couldn't speak a word with them without being scoffed at.
For I didn't know what I asserted. For the Word of God was concealed to my understanding. Well, at length, I resolved that I would examine the New Testament for myself attentively. I hadn't proceeded farther in before I discovered that we were all deceived. My conscience, which was troubled on account of the sacramental bread, as I mentioned before, was soon greatly relieved without any human aid or advice. Though I was encouraged by Martin Luther in the belief that human authority cannot bind to eternal death.
Through the illumination and grace of the Lord, I continued daily to examine the scriptures, and I was soon considered by some, though undeservedly, as being an evangelical preacher. Everyone sought my company. The world loved me and had my affections. Yet it was said that I preached the Word of God and was a fine man.
Well, afterwards it happened before I had ever heard of the existence of the brethren and by the brethren he means the Anabaptist that a god-fearing pious man named Sicke Snyder was beheaded for being rebaptized. It sounded strange to me to hear of a second baptism. I examined the Scriptures carefully and meditated on them earnestly, but I could find nothing in them concerning infant baptism.
Well, once I had discovered this, I conversed with my pastor on the subject, and after much discussion, he had to admit that there was no scriptural foundation for infant baptism. Despite all of this, I dared not trust my own understanding, but I consulted several ancient authors. They taught me that children were to be washed by baptism from their original sin. I compared this doctrine with the scriptures and found that such a teaching made baptism essentially take the place of the blood of Christ.
Afterwards, desiring to know the grounds for infant baptism, I went and consulted with Luther himself. He taught me that children were to be baptized on account of their own faith. Yet I perceived that this also was not in accordance with the Word of God. Next I consulted Bucer, who was another one of the Reformers, a more minor one. He taught that infants were to be baptized because their baptism would cause those who were in charge of their training to be more careful in bringing them up in the way of the Lord.
Well, I perceive that this teaching too was without any foundation. I then consulted Bullinger. Let me add a little aside here. Bullinger was the reformer who took the place of Zwingli in the city of Zurich. I continue. He directed me to the parallel of the Old Covenant and circumcision. However, once again, I found this incapable of being substantiated from the Scriptures.
Having thus observed that these theologians varied greatly among themselves, each following his own opinion, I became convinced that we were all deceived about infant baptism. Shortly afterwards, I went to the village in which I was born. Covetousness and a desire to obtain a great name were actually the inducements that led me to that place. There I spoke much concerning the Word of God, but without spirituality or love, just as all hypocrites do.
And by this means I made disciples of my own stamp, such as vain boasters and light-minded babblers who, alas like myself, cared but little about these matters. Although I had now acquired considerable knowledge of the Scriptures, yet I wasted that knowledge through the lusts of my youth in an impure, sensual, unprofitable life without any fruit, and sought nothing but gain, ease, the favor of men, splendor, reputation, and honor, as all who embark in this same ship generally do.
Accordingly, my reader, I obtained a knowledge of baptism and the Lord's Supper through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, through much reading of the Scriptures and meditating upon them, and through the gracious favor and gift of God, but not by means of the service of misleading sects, as it has been reported of me. I hope that I write the truth and do not seek vain glory, though some doubtless may have contributed to my assistance in the pursuit of truth. Yet for this, I render thanks to the Lord forever.
Meanwhile, it happened when I resided there about a year that quite a number introduced adult baptism. Yet from where these first beginners came, or where they resided, or who they actually were, is to this hour unknown to me. Neither have I ever seen them. Afterwards, the sect of Minster made inroads by whom many godly hearts in our camp were led into error. My soul was much troubled for I perceived that, though the leaders in Minster were zealous, that they erred in doctrine.
I exerted my feeble efforts as far as I was able in opposing them by preaching and exhortations. I conferred twice with one of their leaders, once in private and again in public. But my admonitions availed nothing. For I myself didn't live the things that I was teaching and that I knew were right. The report spread far abroad that I could easily silence these persons. All looked to me. I saw that I was the leader and defender of the impenitent who all depended upon me. This grieved my heart.
I sighed and prayed, Lord, help me, lest I make myself partaker of other men's sins. My soul was troubled, and I reflected upon the results of my doings, namely that if I should gain the whole world and live a thousand years, but in the end have to endure the wrath of God, what would I have gained? Afterwards, the poor straying flock who wandered as sheep without a shepherd after many severe edicts and slaughters assembled near my place of residence.
And alas, because of the ungodly doctrines of Minster, in direct opposition to the Spirit, to the Word, and to the example of Christ, many of these followers drew the sword to defend themselves. In contrast, the Lord had commanded Peter to put his sword in his sheath. After this had transpired, the blood of the slain, although it was shed in error, grieved me sorely that I could not endure it. I could find no rest in my soul.
I reflected upon my carnal, sinful life, my hypocritical doctrine and idolatry, in which I continued daily under the appearance of godliness. I saw that these zealous children willingly gave their lives and their estates, though they were in error for their doctrine and faith. And I was one of those who had discovered some of their abominations, and yet I myself remained satisfied with my unrestrained life and my defilements of the Spirit. I wished only to live comfortably.
I didn't want to carry the cross of Christ. When I reflected upon these things, my soul was so grieved that I could no longer endure it. I thought to myself, " Miserable man, what shall I do? How can I continue in this way and live contrary to the Word of the Lord, according to the knowledge of the truth which I've obtained?
How can I not rebuke to the best of my limited ability, the hypocrisy, the impenitent carnal life, the perverted baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the false worship of God, which the learned ones were teaching? What if I, because of fear of man, do not show them the true foundation of the truth, nor use all my powers to direct the wandering flock who would gladly do their duty if they knew it, to the true pastures of Christ?
Won't their shed blood, though shed in error, rise up against me at the judgment of the Almighty, and pronounce sentence against my poor, miserable soul? My heart trembled in my body.
I prayed to God with sighs and tears that He would give to me a troubled sinner, the gift of His grace, and create a clean heart within me, that through the merits of the crimson blood of Christ, He would graciously forgive my unclean walk and unprofitable life and bestow upon me wisdom, spirit, candor, and fortitude that I might preach his exalted and adorable name and holy word unperverted and make manifest His truth to His praise. Thereafter, I began in the name of the Lord to preach publicly.
And from the pulpit, the words of true repentance began to direct people into the narrow path, and through the power of the Scripture to reprove all sin and ungodliness, all adultery and false worship, and to present the true worship, as well as the baptism and the Lord's Supper according to the doctrine of Christ, to the extent that at that time I had received the grace of God.
I also faithfully warned everyone concerning the abominations of Minster, concerning kings, polygamy, dominion, the sword, and other such things. Until after the expiration of about nine months when the gracious Lord granted me His Fatherly Spirit, His aid and His power, then I voluntarily renounced all my worldly honor and reputation, my unchristian conduct, my unprofitable life, and Catholic masses and infant baptism. At the same time, I at once willingly submitted to distress and poverty and the cross of Christ.
In my weakness, I feared God. I sought out those who were godly. And though they were few in number, I found some who were zealous and who maintained the truth. I conversed with the erring, and through the aid and power of God with His Word, I reclaimed some from the snares of damnation and gained them to Christ. While the hardened and rebellious, I left them to the Lord.
Therefore, as you can see, my reader, the God of mercy, through the benign influence of His abounding grace exerted upon my heart, produced in me a miserable sinner a new mind. He humbled me in his fear, and he taught me to know my true self. He turned me away from the way of death, and he graciously called me into the narrow path of life to the communion of His saints. To Him be praised forevermore, amen.
About one year thereafter, while I was secretly exercising myself in the Word of God by reading and writing, it happened that seven or eight persons came to me. They were of one heart and one soul with myself in their faith and in their life. And as far as man can judge, they were unblamable in their conduct. Furthermore, in accordance with the testimony of the Scriptures, they had separated themselves from the world and submitted to the cross.
They sincerely abhored not only the sect of minster, but the anathemas and abominations of all otherworldly sects. These godly souls, who were of the same mind and spirit with me, with much earnestness, kindly requested me to reflect on the great sufferings and needs of the poor, oppressed souls, and to use the gifts which I had undeservedly received from the Lord for the benefit of these people, for the hunger was great, and the faithful stewards were very few. When I heard this, my heart was greatly troubled.
Trouble and fear were on every side. For on the one hand, I was aware of my limited talents. That is, I knew my great ignorance, my weak nature, and the timidity of my flesh. I also knew the unbounded wickedness, perversity, and tyranny of the world. I knew of the powerful sects out there, the subtlety of different minds, and the heavy cross that would oppress me if I complied with their request. On the other hand, I realized the miserable, starving condition and need of these god-fearing, devout children.
For I saw plainly that they erred as innocent sheep who have no shepherd. At last, after much prayer, I place myself in these circumstances before the Lord and His Church in order that we might pray earnestly to the Lord for a season. I prayed that if it was in accord with His acceptable and holy will, that if I could labor to His praise, that He would give me such a mind and such a heart that would enable me to say with Paul, " Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.
" On the other hand, if this was not His will, I prayed that He might provide a way to prevent me from doing so, for Christ says that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
Thus, my reader, behold, I was not called to serve among the followers of Minster nor of any other seditious sects, as it has falsely been reported concerning me. But I have been called unworthily to this office by a people who were ready to receive Christ in His Word, by a people who led a penitent life in the fear of God, who served their neighbors in love, who bore the cross and sought the welfare and salvation of all men, who loved righteousness and truth and abhorred wickedness and unrighteousness.
So clearly, they were not the perverted persons as they are slanderously reported to have been. Rather, they were true Christians, though unknown to the world. Anybody can see this if in any way they believe that Christ's Word is true, and that His unblamable holy life and example are infallible. Accordingly, I, a miserable sinner, having been enlightened of the Lord, converted to a new mind, fled from Babylon, entered into Jerusalem, and finally, though unworthily, called to this high and arduous service.
When the aforementioned persons did not desist from their supplications, and my own conscience in some degree made me uneasy, although in weakness, because I saw the great hunger and need already referred to, I surrendered myself, soul and body to the Lord, and committed myself to His grace. And in due time, according to the contents of His Holy Word, I began to teach, to baptize, and to labor in the vineyard of the Lord with my limited talents.
I began to build up his holy city and temple and to repair the dilapidated walls, so to speak. The great and mighty God has made known and revealed the Word of true repentance, the Word of His grace and power, together with the salutary use of His holy sacraments, through my humble service, doctrine, and unlearned writings. But it was not only my labor, but rather I worked together with the careful service, labor, and help of our faithful brethren in many towns and countries.
God has made the condition of His churches so glorious and bestowed upon them such a subduing power that many exalted and proud hearts became humble. The unclean became pure. The drunken became sober. The greedy became benevolent. The ferocious became mild. And the ungodly became holy. Not only that, but these same persons also faithfully yielded their possessions, and yes, even their blood, their bodies, and their lives for the blessed testimony they had. And such people may yet be daily seen.
These are not the fruits and evidences of false teachings in which God is not a co-worker. No one could endure so long under such a grievous misery and oppressive cross were it not the power and word of the almighty which sustains them.
In fact, the Lord endued them with such grace and wisdom as Christ has promised to all His children in their trials that all the worldly wise and renowned teachers, together with the blood-guilty, daring tyrants who boast that they are Christians were vanquished and embarrassed by these invincible champions and godly witnesses of Christ. Those ferocious persons who professed Christianity knew of no other weapons or refuge to resort to than of banishing, seizing, punishing, burning, murdering, and destroying.
Yes, this has always been the custom of the old serpent from the very beginning, and as may yet alas be daily witnessed in many places of our Netherlands. Behold, this is our calling, our doctrine, and fruits of our labor, on account of which we are so grievously slandered and so viciously persecuted. Whether or not all the prophets, apostles, and faithful servants of God have endured similar sufferings on account of their faithfulness, we willingly leave it up to you who are godly to judge.
But as much as regards my poor, weak, and imperfect life, I freely confess that I am a poor wretched sinner, conceived in sin, of sinful seed, and sinfully brought forth. I can say with David that my sins are ever before me. My thoughts, words, and actions convince me. I see with Holy Paul that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Nevertheless, I must be allowed to boast this much in my weakness if this wicked, desolate world would hear our teachings, not ours, but the teachings of Christ, with patience, and in the true fear of God, follow them submissively. This would undoubtedly be a more Christian-like and better world than alas it is now.
I thank God who has made me willing with Holy Paul to hate the evil and follow the good, and willingly would I with my own blood reclaim this wicked world from ungodly and evil works and gain it to Christ? 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, godly Christian.
I hope through the mercy and assistance of the Lord that no one upon earth may have reason to accuse me of leading a covetous or luxurious life. Money and riches, I have not. Neither do I desire them. Although alas, some from a perverted heart say that I eat more roasted meat than they eat boiled. They say I drink more wine than they do beer. My Lord and Master Jesus Christ was also called a wine bibber and a glutton.
I trust that through the grace of the Lord, I am innocent in this matter and stand acquitted before God. He who purchased me with the blood of His love and called me, who am unworthy, to His service, knows me and knows that I seek not wealth, nor possessions, nor luxury, nor ease, but only the praise of the Lord, my salvation, and the salvation of many other souls. For this, I, my poor feeble wife and children, have for 18 years endured extreme anxiety, oppression, affliction, misery, and persecution.
At the peril of my life, I have been compelled everywhere to live in fear and seclusion. Yes, when other ministers repose on easy beds and downy pillows, we who are called Anabaptists generally have to hide ourselves in secluded corners. When they play the pipes, beat the tambourine, and celebrate loudly at weddings and feasts, we must watch out when the dogs bark, lest the captors be at hand.
While they are saluted as doctors, lords, and teachers by everyone, we have to hear that we are Anabaptists, house preachers, deceivers, and heretics, and must be greeted in the name of the devil. In short, while they are gloriously rewarded for their services with large incomes and easy lives, our recompense and portion must be fire, sword, and death.
Behold, my faithful readers, in such fear, poverty, misery, and danger of death, have I wretched man that I am ministered to this hour without change the service of the Lord? And I hope through His grace to continue therein to His glory as long as I remain in this earthly tabernacle. What I and my faithful co-workers have sought or could have sought in performing these our difficult and dangerous duties is apparent to all the well-disposed who may readily judge from our works and their fruits.
I will here humbly entreat the reader for Jesus ' sake to accept in love this my confession in relation to my illumination, conversion, and calling, and to meditate thereon. Signed Menno Simons. The next work I want to read to you is Menno Simon's excellent work on the new birth, what it truly means to be born again. And I would encourage you, as you listen to His words, to examine your own heart.
Have you really truly been born of God, or have you just simply accepted the modern teaching of easy believerism, imagining that you're reborn when truly the Spirit of Christ does not dwell within you? Menno writes, " Hear my words, all people, and understand them, all you who imagine that you are Christians, and presumptuously boast of the Lord's grace, His merits, His blood, and His death. " For regardless of what you say, we find among you neither Christian faith nor brotherly love.
We find neither repentance, nor the right use of the sacraments of Christ, nor pure doctrine, nor the unblamable, godly life that comes from God. In order that you no longer comfort yourselves with lying and vain hopes, contrary to the Scriptures, to your eternal condemnation, I've undertaken through the merciful grace of the Lord to explain to you what it truly means to be endowed by God with the new birth, and to whom the gifts and merits of Christ are actually promised.
Tell me, my friends, where or when did you read in the Scriptures, which is the true witness of the Holy Spirit, that the unbelieving and disobedient have a single promise of the kingdom of God? Where did you read that the adulterers, fornicators, drunkards, covetous, idolatrous, or pompous have any communion in Christ's merits, death, and blood? The truth is nowhere do we read it in scriptures, nor will we ever read it there. Rather Paul writes, " For if you live after the flesh, you shall die.
" And again, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Take note, my friends, that is God's irrevocable sentence upon all those who live after the flesh, whoever they may be. They might be an emperor or a king, a duke or an earl, a knight or a squire.
Maybe they're of the nobility or just of the common folk. They may be priest or monk, learned or unlearned. Rich or poor, male or female, bond or free. But all who live after the flesh must forever remain under God's just sentence and eternal wrath, or else the whole scriptures are untrue and false. So it is that the poor ignorant people are comforted in vain with masses and confessions, pilgrimages, and holy water. Likewise, others are wrongfully comforted with Christ's grace, His death, and His blood.
That's because the word stands firm: " If you live after the flesh, you shall die. " To be carnally minded is death. Therefore, I advise and entreat all of you to hear Jesus Christ, who was sent to us as a witness of the truth from heaven. For he says, " Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. " And in another place, unless you are born from above, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
And again, verily I say unto you, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Faithful reader, take heed. I didn't invent these words, nor are they the resolution of any council. No, they are the infallible, precious words which the Son of God, Christ Jesus, brought to us from the mouth of His Father. That word is powerful and clear and has reference not only to Nicodemus to whom he was speaking, but to all of the children of Adam, who have come to the years of maturity.
But alas, it has been so obscured by the abominable, leavenous mire of human commands and corrupt explanations of Scripture that a person can barely find one or two persons out of a thousand who have a true sense and understanding of the heavenly birth, let alone having the power and fruits of such a birth. In short, writers and learned men have corrupted everything so much through their councils and decrees that there is scarcely an article left out of all that Christ and His holy apostles taught.
Well may we sigh and complain from the uttermost depths of our heart. For that which had been Christ's Church and His kingdom is now alas the church in the house of the Antichrist. And this is for no other reason than because professing Christians have ungratefully rejected the word of grace and will not have the Lord Jesus Christ rule over them with the righteous scepter of His Holy Word and Spirit.
Nevertheless, these same poor blind people hope to obtain God's grace and promises through their infant baptisms, their masses, their confessions, their superstitious ceremonies, and their idolatries. They imagine that these are a remedy for their sins. I have said it once and I'll repeat it again that the mouth of the Lord has spoken it unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. And if you are not born from above, you shall not see the kingdom of God.
My beloved reader, do take heed to the warning of the Lord. He will not save you, nor pardon your sins, nor show you His grace, except according to His Word, which is namely, if you repent, if you believe, if you are born of Him, and if you do what He has commanded, and if you walk even as He walked. For if He saves unjustified carnal men without regeneration, faith, and repentance, He did not teach us the truth. But He is the truth, and there is no lie in Him.
Therefore, I tell you again that if you are to be saved, your sensual, ungodly life must be Reformed. If you do not repent, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can save you. We must be born from above. We must be changed and renewed in our hearts. We must be transplanted from Adam's unrighteous and evil nature into the true and good nature of Christ. This everyone may confidently rely upon who does not wish to deceive his soul.
That regeneration of which I write, from which comes the penitent godly life having the promises of God, comes alone from the Word of the Lord if it is rightly taught and if it is received in the heart by faith through the Holy Spirit. Would you like to have your inbred evil nature reformed and to be free from eternal death and condemnation so that you may obtain what is promised to all true Christians? If so, you must be born again. For the regenerated are in grace, and they have the promise.
Therefore, they do lead a penitent and a new life, for they are renewed in Christ, and have received a new heart and a new spirit. Before they were earthly-minded, but now they are heavenly-minded. Before they were unrighteous. But now they're righteous. They live no longer after the old, depraved nature of the first earthly Adam, but after the new nature of the heavenly Adam. As Paul says, I live no more, but Christ lives in me.
They bury their sin with baptism in the Lord's death, and they rise with Him to a new life. They circumcise their hearts with the Word of the Lord, and they are baptized with the Holy Spirit into the spotless, holy body of Christ as obedient members and fellow heirs of His community. They put on Christ, and they manifest the power of His Spirit in all of their fruits.
They fear God with all their hearts, and they seek in all their thoughts, words, and works, nothing but the praise of God and the salvation of their brethren. Those who have been born again, know not hatred and vengeance, for they love those who hate them. They do good to those who despitefully use them. Furthermore, they pray for those who persecute them. The born again meditate upon the law of the Lord by day and by night. They rejoice at the good and are grieved at the evil.
They don't repay evil with evil, but with good. They don't seek out their own welfare, but what is good for their neighbors? Both as to body and soul. They feed the hungry, and they give drink to the thirsty. They assist the needy. They release prisoners. They visit the sick. They comfort the faint-hearted. They admonish the erring. And they're ready after their master's example to give their very lives for their brethren.
All of those who are born of God through Christ conform their weak life after the gospel teachings. They are thus converted, and they follow the example of Christ. They live by the commands that He left us. These truly born-again persons form the Holy Christian Church. They are the true children of God, the brothers and sisters of Christ. They are flesh of Christ's flesh and bone of his bone. They're the spiritual house of Israel. They're the spiritual city Jerusalem.
They are the spiritual seed of Abraham, children of the promise, Confederates of God's covenant, and partakers of the heavenly blessings. Those who are truly born again are the children of peace, for they have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know war no more. They give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. Their marriage is that of one man and one woman, according to God's ordinance. Their kingdom is the kingdom of grace.
Their citizenship is in heaven. They use the material things here below, such as eating and drinking, clothing, and dwelling. They use it all with Thanksgiving. And they use it for the needs of their own lives and to the service of their neighbor. Their doctrine is the unadulterated Word of God, and everything that is contrary thereto, they consider accursed. Those who are truly born again prove by their actions that they believe the Word of the Lord, and they know and have Christ in power.
They know they are born of God and have God as their true Father. And this is all without merit out of pure grace from God. And here I would call on all the popes, the cardinals, the bishops, together with all the so-called wise and learned theologians, to show us one single word in the whole Bible that an unbelieving, sensual man, without true repentance and regeneration, was ever saved or ever will be saved, simply because he boasts of having faith and because he says he believes in the death of Christ.
Now, perhaps some may answer us by saying, " Our belief is that Christ is the Son of God, that His Word is truth, and that we have been purchased by His death and blood, and that we were regenerated in baptism and received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are the true Church and community of Christ. " Well, to that I reply, if your faith is as you say, why don't you do the things which he has commanded you in His Word? His command is reform. Be converted. Keep the commandments.
Yet it is evident that the express command of the LORD is foolishness and derision to you. Since you will not do as He commands, but you act as you choose, it proves sufficiently that you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, even though you say you do, nor do you believe that His Word is truth. For faith and its fruits are inseparable.
Do you think it is sufficient if you merely say that you believe on Him and are baptized, that you are now Christians and have become purchased with Christ's death and blood? Oh no! You must be so converted and changed that you become new creatures in Christ, that Christ dwells in you, and you in Christ, or else you can never be Christians. If you rightly believe in Christ as you boast that you do, then I say demonstrate it by your lives that you believe. For the righteous live by faith, as the Scriptures say.
Perhaps you imagine that you were regenerated in your baptism and received the Holy Spirit. Faithful reader, if this were so, then you'd have to admit that your regeneration took place without ever hearing the Word of God, without faith, and without the knowledge of Christ. You would also have to admit that your new birth and your reception of the Holy Spirit are altogether without power or fruit in you. For you live neither after the Spirit nor in the power of the new birth.
For those who are truly regenerated do not presumptuously live in sin. Rather, they live in faith. In true repentance, by baptism, they are buried into the death of Christ, and they also arise with Him to a new life. And those who have the Spirit of the Lord bring forth the fruits of that Spirit. For the Spirit of the Lord will not dwell in a wicked soul, nor in a body that is subjected to sin.
In the second place, I tell you that if you are rightly baptized according to the Word of the Lord, as you imagine you have, then you have put on Christ, and you live no longer after Adam's inbred evil nature. Rather, you live after Christ's regenerated good nature. But since this is not the case with you, but you are still altogether sensual and earthly, well, it's evident that you're not regenerated baptized Christians. You're still impenitent, sensual pagans.
Once more, I say awaken and hear what the Word of the Lord says. For if you have put on Christ, that is, if Christ is in you, the body is dead to sin. Let everyone take warning and trust in lies no longer, believing that he is baptized and regenerated, while he still lives a carnal, earthly life. To close this recording, I would like to read to you a very brief account of the life of Menno Simons written many centuries ago. We read, " All who live godly in Christ Jesus, " says Paul, " shall suffer persecution.
" These words, although often confirmed through the wickedness of this world, we find particularly confirmed in the example of Menno Simons. For after he had been persecuted in many ways and hunted by his opponents, they, in order that their design might be accomplished with certainty, issued a decree in which it was stated that whoever should shelter or in any manner conceal Menno Simons or any of his followers would suffer death.
And this decree was enforced in the year AD 1539, in the case of a certain peasant living near Harlingen in the Netherlands, who, because he secretly harbored Menno Simons in his house, in his great danger and distress, was a few days later taken to the principal city in the province. And as though he were some ungodly criminal, he was cruelly put on the torture wheel, even though his enemies acknowledged that he was a godly man.
Besides this, another decree was issued in the year 1543, throughout all of West Friesland, by which freedom, a general pardon, the favor of the emperor, and a hundred guilders was promised to any criminal, even a murderer, who would deliver Menno Simons into the hands of the executioner. And in order that their purpose might be more readily accomplished, his name, person, clothing, and stature were described.
And this description was posted upon all the church doors so that Menno could not even find a hut of straw where he could quietly rest with his wife and little children for any length of time. Menno himself relates that in 1546, at a certain place, four dwellings were confiscated by the emperor because the owner had rented one of them for a short time to Menno's sick wife and little children.
This severe persecution compelled Menno to hide in a place situated between Hamburg and Lubeck, which formerly had been a large forest of oaks, but which is now an open field. Now, this field belonged to a certain nobleman who at that time was a very cruel person. As a result, he was generally shunned and feared by the rest of the population.
But having spent much of his youth in the Netherlands and having often witnessed the death of martyrs, he was actually very compassionate towards the Anabaptists, being familiar with their doctrines. He clandestinely gave them liberty to dwell there on his estate, and he faithfully assisted them. However, he was soon ordered by the king not to permit them to live there. Accordingly, he announced to them through one of his servants that they should leave before sundown at the risk of punishment.
However, he sent a faithful servant after the first one to tell the Anabaptist the reason for the first announcement and to inform them that the man there should either absent or conceal themselves for a week or two. In the meanwhile, he succeeded in quieting the authorities. After this, the exiles came towards this place from every side until there was quite a little community there, and they lived in comparative quiet. Each family had to pay only $1 a year for this protection, and they were taxed no further.
All of this may well be considered a special dispensation of God's providence that these exiles were fostered and protected by an otherwise very cruel person who was feared by everyone all around him. Menno Simons died about 30 years after he left the Church of Rome. During these years, he taught and proclaimed the gospel, a gospel purified of Roman idolatry and superstition. In fact, his last exhortation was given on his very deathbed, while the hand of death seemed already to rest upon him.
Demonstrating his unquenchable zeal.