Page:Complete Works of Menno Simons.djvu/179

 my words, all people, and under- stand them, all you who imagine that yon are Christians, and presumptuously boast of the grace, merits, flesh, blood, cross, king- dom and death of the Lord, notwithstand- ing we find among you neither Christian faith, brotherly love, repentance, the right use of the sacraments of Christ, the pure doctrine, nor the unblamable, godly life, which is out of God, to which the Scriptures admonish us ; neither the true, divine serv- ice, evangelical disposition, nor obedience; but throughout, nothing else than abomin- able, dark unbelief, a lewd, carnal life, false doctrine, false, self-devised sacraments, a devilish heart and mind, an accursed, heath- enish idolatry imder the name of Christ, blind, blood-thii'sty tyranny, envious and furious revengefulness against all the chil- dren of God; yea, open obstinacy, disobe- dience and rejection of the words of Christ and of his Holy Ghost, as may be very plainly perceived and seen throughout the world.

In order that you may comfort yourselves no longer with lying and vain hopes, con- trary to all Scriptures, to your eternal dam- nation, and not glory in vain, in the afore- mentioned riches and glorj^ of the children of God, namely of the kingdom, grace, mer- its, flesh, blood, cross, death and promises of Christ, &c., which do not yet pertain to you, because you are yet altogether earth- ly, carnally and devilishly minded, reject Christ, and do not keep to his Spirit, word and example, without which no one can be a christian ; therefore I have undertaken through the merciful grace of the Lord, as much as is in my power, to inform you, briefly, by the infallible, powerful, saving word of the holy gospel of Christ, and out of the pure doctrine of his holy apostles, in this my epistle, who they are, or who they are not, that are endowed through the grace of God, and to whom pertain the aforemen- tioned gifts, merits and promises of Christ. Tell me, most beloved, where or when did you read in the Scriptures, which is the true witness of the Holy Ghost and the plummet of our consciences, that the unbelieving, dis- obedient, carnal adulterer, whoremonger, drunkard, avaricious, idolatrous or pomp- ous had a single promise of the kingdom of Christ and his church, yea, part or com- munion in his merits, death and blood ? I tell you the truth, nowhere do we read it in the Scriptures, nor ever will we; but thus it is written by Paul, "For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die." Adulterers, whoremon- gers, buggerers, effeminate, unclean, idola- tors, drunkards, proud, avaricious, betray- ers of the innocent, and bloodshedders, thieves, murderers, backbiteijs, perjurers, sorcerers, liars, unmerciful, the disobedient to God and Christ (if they repent not) will not inherit the kingdom of God, yea, their portion will be in the fiery lake which burng with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, Rom. 8: 13; 1 Cor. 6: 10; Eph. 5: 5.

Behold, worthy reader, this is God's ir- revocable sentence and judgment upon all who live after the flesh, whoever they be, emperor or king, duke or earl, knight or squire, noble or ignoble, priest or monk,