THE THREEFOLD GRACE
by
Leonhard Schiemer
1527

 (Introduction:   This is Leonhard Schiemer's Epistle to the church of God in Rattenberg, Austria, written in 1527 while in prison shortly before he was martyred, concerning the threefold grace (as it is called) that is to be found in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.  Formerly a Franciscan monk, he became an outstanding Anabaptist leader in Austria.)

The whole world blabbers and pulls about in its mouth the little word "grace", particularly our theologians. They realize from the Scriptures that there is something called "grace", but because it is not in them, they are una­ble to say anything about it. They take hold of the word "grace" like university students do when taking a word like chimera or ens cognitum from their Aris­totle, a word which has its being only in the mind, or as long as one speaks about it or thinks of it. But as soon as such talking or thinking has come to an end, the "being" of the word has come to an end also. They call it entia secunda intentionis or secundam intentiones ens reale, and there genus species proprium differentia, accidens propositio categorical, etc, and they say that these expressions cannot be translated because these people are so smart that the German language is too inferior for them. And in the end, if one considers it all, they (the things) are so high up, that they no longer are realia, even though res (a thing) or realia (a real thing) means something, i.e. a thing.  Yet it is no thing, it is nothing, because it only exists as long as one thinks of it. In the end, it just is not anything at all, it simply does not exist; and those who can babble most of this "nothing" are called masters and doctors.

The same thing happens with the theologians whose skill is not from God. They have not been taught by God, but they have stolen all their knowledge and skill from the (true) Christians and their books. Of such people, Jeremiah speaks as follows: "I am against the prophets who steal my word from one another." They have been sent by the God of the belly, and therefore they are not able to preach. Christ did not choose them from the world, and that is why they do not testify truths fully concerning the world, because their works are evil. Therefore, the world leaves them alone and does not hate them. They are of the world, and the world loves them.

They are just like a man who earns his living by chopping wood; they do their preaching just as one who follows a trade to make a living. This is evident from their fruits. That is why the Lord says, "A good tree cannot bear evil fruit." God speaks through the prophet as follows, "As rain and snow moisten the soil and make it fertile, so it will be with my word, which proceeds from my mouth. Wherever I send it, it will not return empty, but it will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it, and for what I desire." Yet they (mark, the belly preachers) cannot point to anyone who has improved as a result of their preaching, nor do they know their sheep, whereas the Lord says, "A good shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by their names."

Some of these preachers are called masters, others doctors, of the Holy Scriptures, and for this reason: they have found a word in them which is often mentioned in the Scriptures, such as "faith" or another "love" or another "community of saints" or "forgiveness of sins", "brother", "neighbor", "Holy Spirit", "Grace of God", "righteousness", "law", "Christ", "spiritual", "preach", "baptize", "Lord' s Supper", "hope", "remorse", "repentance", "rising from sin", "falling into sin", "pray", "righteous Word of God".

Words like these they have stolen from the Scriptures.

If one should ask them what a word like this means, they say, that one should believe in it. And if one asks them what faith is, which (as Paul says) is not a matter for everyone, they grow silent, even though it would be their duty to answer. They speak about love and faith, yet if anyone should inquire of them how a man can attain these two things, they do not know.  If one asks them whether they know Christ, they only know Him according to the flesh, which the Lord himself reproves when He says that there is no end to their ignorance.

If one asks them about anything, they refer to the "Word". Yet they do not distinguish the inner word from the outward word. And if one drives them hard enough they have to admit that a Christian is taught by God, and they say openly and brazenly, that they too have been taught by God. But here one sees their deception: if one asks them where God's school is, and what the first lesson is which He teaches us, they remain silent and cannot give an answer.

They do the same thing with the little word "grace" about which I am going to write now, but only for my brothers and sisters who are sealed in the Lord. Everybody should share the gift he received from the Lord with the others and hold it in common with them, as we can see in the actions of the apostles: they had everything in common. And if a brother or sister is pleased with this writing, he should not keep it to himself but copy it and share it with others whose hearts are open for it.

There are three kinds of grace (as it is called) to be found in the Scriptures, both in the Old and in the New Testament.

It must be recognized at the outset, though, that one should distinguish well between one grace and the other. For John says, "And from his fullness we have received grace upon grace" and Christ says, "For to everyone who has more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." And the worthless servant is cast into the outer darkness.

Furthermore, it is necessary that the three graces should remain completely unmixed, and that the one is not exchanged for the other. If the Scriptures speak of the first grace and someone would take it for the second, or if he would take the second for the third, he would become a prisoner or captive of the Scriptures, and he would not know to get out again. However, I do not want with this writing to open up the Scriptures to the godless, nor can I do such a thing, because the Scripture is sealed with seven seals and nobody can break it open, except the Lamb that was killed. He who does not have the key of David, to him the Book is closed eternally. This key is the Cross of Christ.

    Concerning the first grace

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John bore witness to the light, that all might believe through it, not through John the Baptist, as Luther translates it but through the light, the true light, that enlightens every man who comes into this world. Here also Luther translates wrongly "was coming into the world".

This, however, is the reason: Luther comes to Christ, to God, to faith, to the light, because he does not want any of these in him, but only next to him, under him, at him, as we will soon see in this same chapter, when he translates: "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us" whereas all students know that its meaning must be: It will dwell in us, not among us. In the same way, he translates Paul's Gospel, calling it "among all creatures" as it is the way of Luther throughout. He hopes for God, he believes "on" Christ. We however hope in God, believe in Christ, have the Word in us, not among us.

Now the text continues about the light of grace.  "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not. He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God …  And from his fullness have we received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

The first grace, then, he calls law, the second grace Christ. But when he says that the law was given through Moses outwardly, and, at the same time, says that the Light or Word dwells in us inwardly, this he also interprets by saying that what is outward is always a testimony of what is inward. Moses is an outward witness of the inner first grace, Christ is a witness of the inner second grace. He also says, therefore, that John was not the Light, but came to hear witness to the Light.

To help us to an even better understanding, the Lord put it this way. The eye is the lamp of the body. Hence, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is not healthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The Lord says further: If your body is full of light so that it has no particle of darkness in it, it will be full of light and will illuminate you like a bright flash of lightning.  From all this I conclude that God illuminates every man who comes into this world.  Those, however, who do not want to accept this light but put it out, shall not blame God for their condemnation.

Lutherans blaspheme and abuse God when they say, "I do not have any grace. I would like to do what is right and if I cannot, God is to blame for it, because he withdraws his grace from me and condemns me afterwards." In this way they make a lie of the whole Bible, as if God were a respecter of persons, treating one man better than another, giving grace to the one as a special favor, and denying it to another! But this is against the Scriptures, because Peter says, "Now I know for certain that God shows any partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him".  Even more, it is written, "God is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move, and have our being".  Paul also says, "Ever since the creation of the world God's invisible nature, namely his eternal power and divine being, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God, or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools."

Paul says farther, "God shows no partiality: all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. . . When gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts, while their consciences also bear witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day, when, according to my Gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ."

Christ also says that "on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets:  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself."  Thus we have these two greatest commandments written down in the old Law, where the Lord speaks as follows:  "For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard, neither is it far off.  It is not in heaven that you should say 'Who will go up to Heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'  Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?'  But the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it."

"I take heaven and earth to a witness that I have set before you the way of life and the way of death, good and evil, for you to choose, either death and evil or goodness, so that you may live, and enter the country which God promised to you."

Therefore this is the true Kingdom of God: to love God and your neighbor. This is what John says, "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God." Therefore the Lord also says, "The Kingdom of God is within you."

It is certain, then, that every man bears a light within him which shows him what is good and what is evil. The children, however, even though the Light shines within them before they know what
is good and evil, are innocent and will enter the promised land. This land is not the earthly land of Canaan, but the heavenly Jerusalem. David and Samuel did not yet receive this promise, even though they certainly were in the land of Canaan. About this we find more in Ezekiel when he says, "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade, you filled the land with violence and you sinned heavily. By the multitude of your iniquities in the un­righteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries."  And Christ says, "Let the children come to me . . . for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven."

Now the only thing this divine light does in a man is to show him what sin is and what is not sin. Further­more, because God in His eternal good­ness does not want anyone to be at a disadvantage, He never allowed the godless Pharisees (the theologians) to keep silent about this matter. They had to say the truth like the ass of Balaam. They had to confess the Ten Commandments, the Twelve Articles of the Christian faith, the Lord's Prayer and the two commandments of love, and anyone who keeps them finds blessedness. They (the theologians) spoke the text of the Gospel standing up, and sat down to speak lies. If anyone would have been faithful if only in little things the great things would certainly have been given to him too. Thus God did not ordain that the theologians, whether Lutherans or Zwinglians, should hide the commandments of God.

But how this matter stands with the pagans in all the other countries I have not been able to experience outwardly. However, in my heart I am assured that God is no respecter of persons but accepts everyone who turns to repentance. However, nobody is able to believe me, or Paul, in this unless God has revealed it to him.

Even though the Light is the same in all men, men respond to this light in different ways, i.e. in three different ways, and they should be clearly distinguished.

The first kind of men extinguishes this light when it shines into their darkness, wherever they can and in wha­tever way they can. This Light is not the sun in the firmament of the sky, it is the eternal living word. The darkness is our own flesh and blood. The Light draws men to everything which is good, the flesh draws them to everything evil. Man's soul stands in the middle. Because all of us, with the exception of Christ, have turned to the flesh with our soul, we have all died in our souls and Christ is the physician who awakens all of us to life again with His Word, so that we have the will to do what is right through the power of His Word, even though we cannot accomplish it ourselves.

The first kind of people resist this light in their consciences in such a strong way that they destroy it completely. The hearts of those who always resist the Holy Spirit and who do this wantonly will be hardened by God, and He will withdraw His strength from them. And because they did not take heed of the fact that they had knowledge of God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They are filled with all manner of wickedness, fornication, evil, covetousness, and malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malignity. Gossips they are, slanderers, haters of God, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, faithless, heartless, stubborn, merciless, ruthless. God is their enemy. They are those who know God's law yet disobey it, even approving of those who do the same. They do not care about Peter's rooster, for, as soon as Peter had denied Christ, the rooster crowed. Then Peter realized how he had sinned, he left the courtyard, and he wept bitterly.

But this first kind of people muzzle the rooster as it crows in their hearts. They are annoyed about its crowing and feel hostile to the rooster. They carry on like this so much and so long, that in the end they do not hear the rooster crow any more. They are not afraid of sinning anymore, they run into it head over heels and nobody can frighten them away from sin.

Such people become the best and most cheerful soldiers. They are not worried about dangers any longer, they kill, murder, and pillage as much as they can; they like to be the first to jump over the wall, they make good wrestlers, merry dancers and jumpers, singers and players, good cursers, good executioners, good keepers of brothels, good bishops, archbishops, abbots, traitors, and false witnesses.

The Lord will harden the hearts of such people. The Lord says of them, "Because the light in you is darkness, how great, then, is darkness by itself!" It is forbidden to speak the Word of God to such obdurate people, if one is aware of them. They are the dogs and swine the Lord speaks of when He says, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, least they trample them underfoot and turn around to attack the one who teaches them."  Whoever knowingly teaches such people a good deal will lose his life through them. He dies like an evildoer, for he wastes good wine by throwing it into the mud.

The second kind of people have a sleepy attitude toward this Light. They do not completely muzzle St. Peter's rooster, nor do they leave it entirely open. As often as their conscience accuses them because of a wrong they have done, they feel frightened, but afterwards they tie a cover over the rooster, which means that they do not heed its warning, but let things run their course.

The Scriptures say of such people that they are damned by a sleepy spirit. In another passage they are called lukewarm, as it is written, "Would that you were cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth!" They are the five virgins who act in every way like Christians. The only thing they lack is the oil of the Holy Spirit. They fear God with only half their hearts.

They have a high opinion of themselves and of the fear, the wisdom, reason, council, strength, and skill of man. Of these they are keenly aware. They are inquisitive, ask a good deal, and want to know everything. Such people deceive us much, because they often transform themselves into angels of light. Yes, they are good Christians until the time when the cross comes upon them. They are the "morning servants", the "winter grapes" which look exactly like real grapes but fall short of one thing: they ripen too late. These people come forward too slowly when the door is already shut. They do not pray ardently. Therefore they become unfaithful during the time of temptation, because they do not see their need deeply enough.

We cannot refuse our fellowship to such people, because they approach us with dishonest words. One must let them grow until the time of harvest, although none of them will remain faithful. About this kind of people, the Lord says that the servant who knew the will of his master but did not act accordingly, shall receive a severe beating, for this is what he deserves. Therefore, a faithful shepherd of our fellowship must learn to discriminate the spirits well. If people speak for such a person (that he be admitted) and he says that he wants to seek council with other people, and that he wants to consider it once more, let him consider it then. That he pushes it off shows that his heart does not really ache for it (this life.) He is burning like an extinguished ember.

The third kind of people are those who, as soon as they become aware of this Light, feel in anguish about the Word of God. They make every effort to resist sin, they pray, listen much to preaching, read much, enquire much, and do all this with faithful hearts. However, even though they are enemies of sin, they are incapable to resist it in their own strength and are often overpowered by the flesh. But they feel sorry immediately, they feel pain, and humble themselves faith­fully. To such people God gives grace after grace. He wants to be gracious and merciful to them. The Lord says, "But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." David says further "Thou, O God, wilt not despise a broken and contrite heart." And Christ says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Elsewhere it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me, to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound--to comfort all who mourn."

In truth, when these people feel that they are in trouble, they become restless and feel pangs of heartache. No Scripture or teaching can comfort them, except the Word of God. It is this fire which burns in them; it does not give them peace until God gives them light and shows them in what way and by what means they can flee from sin. These people know something to say about hell. Their inner suffering causes them so much need, that in their outward bearing, in their manner of acting and speaking, they are not able to show much joyfulness. As long as they use this gift rightly and do not reject the first grace, through which sin is being revealed to them, to them alone the second grace, of which we will speak next, is promised. 

Concerning the second grace

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." They shall be justified immediately "for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are those who weep and wail, for they shall be comforted."

The second grace, then, is called righteousness. It is a great work of God to create a man from nothing. It is an equally great work to justify a sinful man. But this cannot and will not happen outside Christ. He is our righteousness through His conception, birth, death, and resurrection; yes, if all this happens in us!

Christ says, "He who wants to be my disciple let him follow me," and further, "Without me you can do nothing."

Peter says, "He who suffers in the flesh will cease from sinning."

The first light was our teacher (custodian) to lead as to the second light, to Christ, who is the Light of the world. If His Spirit comes into me, I am no longer under the teacher (the law) but under grace. Here the law of (our own) works, the law of sin, the law of death and of our members (our flesh) comes to an end, and the law of the Spirit begins, the law of life and of faith or of the inner movement of the heart.

This Spirit will be given to no one, however, unless he first surrenders himself under the cross and under the discipline of the Lord. It is impossible to graft a branch into a tree unless as many branches as necessary are out off first. It is equally impossible for God in His omnipotence to give me salvation without the cross, for this is salvation, this is God Himself, that is if I love nothing except God, if I seek no joy and comfort, no security and life in anything else but in the one God; if my heart does not seek itself anymore in the creatures in any kind of way. If God allowed me to have comfort, joy, hap­piness, and love in Him, and to have love, comfort, happiness, and enjoyment in the creatures as well, He would allow me to commit adultery by loving something else besides Him. God cannot do such a thing, and it would not be good either if He were to allow it.

Furthermore, God is full of mighty zeal, He does not give His honor to anyone else. In the same way as the more a husband loves his wife the less will he allow her to commit adultery nor will she desire this from him.

If, then, we should not love any of the creatures anymore, although we did love them before, it cannot happen in any other way than by the Lord chopping off the branches, in that He takes the created things away from us and places us into the second birth naked and bare, in that He gives us His Spirit and teaches us to know Him and love Him. Such a thing, however, does not happen without pain, suffering, and anguish. Not that God takes pleasure in this suffering, but He allows it and tolerates it like a physician tolerates the bad smell of a sick person when healing him, for such suffering and pain are caused solely by our own unbelief. This unbelief torments us prior to leaving us completely. It is as if someone were to cling to an adulteress, and her running away from him would cause him pain, yet what actually torments him is only his unchastely, the illicit love he feels for her.

Therefore, if God deprives us of our wife and children, our father, mother, brother, and sister, of our property and money, our health or life, the only thing which causes us pain is our unbelief, our incapability to believe firmly that all these things happen to us for our own benefit and that something better will come to us afterwards.  Christ says, "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or child or lands for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life."

But it is an even greater unbelief which torments us when godless thoughts come to our mind all the time, thoughts like: "Oh, God will forget me; He will not remain faithful and loyal to me. He is a respecter of persons after all, He will not help me in the same way as He is helping others."

And how could unbelief be more foolish than if a person were to think: "if I surrender to God I will not be safe any more; I will perish. But if I remain with the world, I will be much safer and will not perish miserably." Or "if I were to become a Christian or remain a Christian, God will not support me; but if I continue to be an unbeliever, I will be able to support myself all right." Or "if I become a Christian, my children will starve, if I don't, they will be all right."

To this I answer: "You are not a Christian yet, certainly. You are a wicked pagan still. There will be pain until unbelief is separated from belief. A good furnace is needed, a hard trial and testing, a sharp acid, because an un-crucified Christian is like unclean ore, he is like a house the beams of which have not yet been chopped down."

There is nothing which separates us from the love of God but the fact that we do not know Him. Because He is the greatest good there is, it would be impossible not to love Him only, and love Him more than everything that is, provided we know this greatest good. Yes, whoever really knows God will learn to love Him so much that it will no longer be possible for him from now on to love anything else but Him, even if he should be commanded to do this on pain of eternal damnation.

Yes, if I were really to know God I would be so full of joy in my spirit and soul, that this joy would penetrate my body in such a way that even the body would become completely insensitive to and free from pain, it would become immortal, and glorified. It follows that, when man is purged of his love for all creatures and for his own life, God will give him that sleep which all the saints are sleeping, until the day of resurrection.

Thus we shall not be able to know God until the cover or net is removed which covers the divine light in us, that is, the created things. And the more of these are taken away from us for the sake of Christ, the more the light and the word of God will come to the fore. Whoever surrenders to God in this way under the cross, is a child of God.

Nor is this enough. Man also must separate himself from all other people who do not want to surrender to Christ, and he must keep love and fellowship with all people who surrender themselves to God in the same way, for they are his neighbors, and he must hold every gift received from God in common with them, whether they are teachings or skills, property or money or any other gift. Whatever God has entrusted to him he should use for the common good, in the same way as we find this in the articles of faith and everywhere in the Scriptures, especial­ly in the work of the twelve messengers [apostles].

Thirdly, and more, he is under an obligation to use brotherly correction as we have it in the Articles of Faith which speak of forgiveness of sin. Anybody who is not freed and accepted by a Christian fellowship is not accepted in heaven either.  John writes:  ''He who does not love his brother whom he can see, how can he love God whom he does not see?"

The Lord says further, "Through this all man will see that you are my disciples, that you have love to one another."

The second grace is, then, is the cross.  Those who ask for this grace ask for the cross. When they pray, they pray in the name of Christ.  The pagans, that is the nominal Christians, however write Christ’s name on a piece of paper and pray from this little scrap.  They never have come to be in Christ. 

The Christians say in truth, I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, but the Lord and ruler of the unbelievers is a different one.  If one presents them with the truth, they say “Our lords have forbidden it.”  If one asks them who are your lords, they reply, “The ruler of Austria” or “The ruler of Bavaria”.  Then I say to them, “How can you lie to God by saying ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord.’?”  That is why Paul says that no one can submit to Jesus as his Lord except by the Holy Spirit.  He also says, “He who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not a Christian.”

The Lord Himself shows us who the true worshipers are when He says, "God is Spirit, and all who want to worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth."

It follows that all those who have not yet surrendered their whole lives and everything belonging to them to the cross of Christ and into the fellowship of the saints and whose sins have not been forgiven by a Christian church, are from the devil and from the anti-Christ. They blaspheme, insult, curse, and mock God our Creator as often as they open their mouths thinking they are going to pray. For God only wants to be worshiped in Spirit and in truth. However, they (the heathen or nominal Christians) pray without the Spirit and in untruthfulness or lying, because their father, the devil, is a liar from the beginning and there never has been any truth in him.
 
It follows now how the heathen that is the nominal Christians pray.
 
In order that you understand me better I want to demonstrate their godless praying briefly here, so that you beware of them and that by chance you do not forget yourself by asking them to pray for you, for they cannot pray but outside of the Spirit. They would blaspheme and mock God for your sake, and if you ask them to blaspheme in this way, you would become guilty of their wickedness. Beware of this therefore.

They say "Our Father" and with this they mock Him, for they never even began to become His children not do they want to. They never have been obedient to Him. They act like those who put a crown upon Christ's head, a scepter into His hand, and a scarlet robe around His shoulders, and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" But they did not want Him to be king.

They pray further, "Who art in heaven.”  They would gladly leave heaven to Him if He would only allow them to have enough pleasure an earth!

They say, "Hallowed be thy name" and afterwards they spit in His face below the eyes, for they are the first to desecrate His name. In truth, if their praying were not mockery they would soon become angry and come forward to blaspheme and contradict God's name as soon as they would hear it. Yes, there is no name of a man or of a devil that, alas, is abused so much as the revered name of God.

There has never been a monk, priest, nun, or other wicked person so little forgotten after their death by scolding, commanding, and forbidding their teaching as is the case now with the teaching of Christ. They call it heresy, seduction, and sedition. A special decree and mandate from the emperor has to go out against this teaching into every corner. Messengers run here, sheriffs there, here comes the judge, there the commissioner, here a spy, and there a troop of horsemen, and in addition there is a traitor in every house. And anybody who does not want to betray us will talk so much about us, that in the end the brothers of Christ are driven out and killed. And those who do not want to talk in an evil way about this matter do not say anything good about it either, and excuse themselves by saying, "I do not like to do it, but I must be careful so that I do not come into disfavor with the prince; I am innocent.” Yes, like Pilate.

There is nobody (among the nominal Christians) who steps forward and says, "No, God's word should not be blasphemed and forbidden, we must be more obedient to God than to men." Actually they are afraid that they might be abused with Christ. Therefore, if they want to hallow His name, they hide behind the stove so that nobody can hear them and be aware of them. The Lord speaks against this and says, "Whoever denies me before men I will deny before my father in heaven." And Paul says that we should give testimony with our lips. The true Christians and children of God, however, stand out through their life and word, they testify with their blood, that we must be more obedient to God than to men when we pray.

If they pray, "Thy kingdom come”, Christ answers them, "My kingdom is not of this world." But they want to have both kingdoms at the same time. They make up to God like an adulteress who asks her husband to give her per­mission for him to lie at her left side while her lover lies at her right side, in one bed.

Although they say, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" they act without ceasing according to the will of their own flesh and blood, of their own evil heart, of their own godless neighbor, opposed to God.

Even though they pray, "Give us this day our daily bread'' it never is ours, but mine. Nor is it enough for today, they provide for tomorrow as well, against God's commandment, who says that we should not care about tomorrow, etc. And they do not provide for tomorrow only, they provide for a whole year, and not only for one, but for ten, twenty, thirty years ahead.  They do not only provide for themselves, but also for their children, not only in their youth, but also when they are grown up, being concerned whom they should marry. And if they ask for the bread of the soul, that is, for God's Word, that He should give it to them today, it is a1ways too soon for them if He should give it to them, for they think they will receive it one day anyhow, and for them it must always be a teaching that is new.

Although they pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" they nevertheless keep the revenge they feel for those who have of­fended them in their hearts, in contradiction to what the Lord says, "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also, and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." Paul says, “Do not sue before judges but suffer patiently." But none of these things they do, but they mock God by asking Him that He should do the same to them.

"And lead us not into temptation." They are aware that the whole world pulls men away from God and tempts them. Nevertheless, they run after the world greedily, they cannot get enough of it, they run into sin deeper and deeper, and then they ask God to pull them out.

"But deliver us from evil." Everything which separates from God is evil, but they seek everything that is against God.

"Amen." They confirm all their lies and blasphemies with this word "Amen" as though they have not despised God enough with all their nice praying. Now they add what was still lacking by saying "Amen."

From all this, dear brothers and sisters, we can see clearly why no Christian should say to a heathen: "Pray to God for me."

Now I want to speak about the third grace which nobody can receive, unless he has received the first two graces before ­hand. So many people begin with the last one without having the first two. In this they are in error.

    Concerning the third grace

The Lord speaks clearly in His parable concerning the man who started out from Jericho and was attacked by murderers who left him half-dead, a priest came by, but did not show mercy to the wounded man, and neither did a scribe. But a simple Samaritan came to help him, pouring wine and oil into his wounds, etc.

So far I have spoken about the wine. Now I will speak about the oil of joy.  About this oil John speaks as follows, “You have been anointed by Him, who is holy, and knows all things. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie comes from the truth." A little further he continues, "The anointing which you received will abide with you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you as His anointing teaches you about everything and it the truth, and is no lie and just as it has taught you, abide in Him."

The Lord speaks about this oil when He says, "The counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." This oil is the Holy Spirit. He teaches no one, however, unless he despaired of all human comforting and wisdom first. He does not comfort or strengthen anyone unless he feels a horror and turns away from all comforting and power of man. This is why the Lord says, "Do not be called masters." But this master, Christ, does not accept anyone as His pupil or disciple, unless he renounces and hates everything that he has, and follows Him and carries his cross daily. In doing this, one has to trust in the Lord's comforting and keep still, as the Scriptures say in many passages, particularly in the Psalms, the Prophets, most of all in Isaiah and the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

The strength of all Christians consists in keeping still, by not forsaking the words of the Lord so quickly, by not losing courage so soon, but by being patient, waiting for the comfort of the Holy Spirit, in the midst of the greatest desolation and misery. This is true weakness of which the Scriptures speak, in particular Paul when he says, "For when I am weak I am strong."

He also says, "For as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." That is what Christ means when He says, "A little while and you will see me no more, again a little while and you will see me." And when the apostles asked Him what He meant by this, He answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn in to joy…  Indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God… When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice... I will not leave you desolate. I will come to you. Yet a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me.”

The life of this world has a merry beginning and a sad ending in eternity. Our life, however, has a sad beginning, but soon the Holy Spirit comes and anoints us with the oil of unspeakable joy. 

Nevertheless, we should not only wait for God's comforting, but one Christian should and may encourage and console another in times of tribulation. This is what God says through the mouth of Isaiah, "Comfort, comfort ye my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem."

James says this about the oil, "If any of you sick, let him call the elders of the church, and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will help the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Here James does not speak of olive oil. The elect saints who praised God with their martyrdom recently in Salsburg and other places would not have remained steadfast in faith, even if they had bathed themselves in tubs full of oil. It was the comforting of the Holy Spirit which soothed their tortures. It was with this oil that the apostles anointed and we do this even today.

(Glaubenszeugnisse oberdeutscher Taufgesinnter, written by Leonhard Schiemer in 1527, translation from Lydia Müller, pp. 58-71, EAHD 42, edited by Don Murphy, 02/24/2004)

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