PREFACE.

...has drawn [them] out of the love for the world and for all that is in it, and whom He has united and made one in Jesus Christ for time and eternity; this clearly shows that His Spirit was as much, indeed more than ever, in and with this His Servant, whom He used so particularly as an instrument for the formation of the Work that He, through His grace, wished to establish among us. Thus, it is very wrongful for D. KoelmanJacobus Koelman (1632–1695), a Dutch Reformed minister who initially admired Labadie but later became a fierce critic of his separatist movement. to claim the contrary and attempt to make others believe it. Mr. de LabadieJean de Labadie (1610–1674), the founder of the Labadist movement, who sought to return to the purity of the early Christian church. often testified with great conviction and feeling that, at the end of his life, he saw that for which he had sought and longed for more than forty years, during which time he had labored for the Lord Jesus: namely, to be able to see before his death some expression and likeness of the primitive Church The 'ecclesia primitiva' or the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem, characterized by communal living and spiritual purity, which the Labadists sought to emulate. which His Spirit formed in Jerusalem after the feast of Pentecost. And God wished for him to see this here below, which also rejoiced and comforted him to the highest degree. Never has one heard him preach in a holier, more enlightened, heart-uplifting, and soul-moving way than at HerfordA city in Westphalia where the community lived under the protection of Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate from 1670 to 1672.. The life of Jesus Christ, which he presented and unfolded in the private meetings, and partly also wrote down—as will one day be seen—shows what his heart was full of: and his book named Jesus newly revealed original: "Jesus revelé de nouveau", written at AltonaA city near Hamburg (then under Danish rule) where the group fled after leaving Herford and where Labadie died in 1674., as well as several others, clearly show that this now-blessed soul indeed burned with love for Jesus his Lord and Savior, for whom he held unspeakable tenderness. So much so, that D. Koelman should fear that the Lord Jesus himself will take up the cause of this his faithful Servant, and not leave unpunished that he thinks, speaks, and writes of him in such a manner as he does. But this shall be said enough here regarding that singular Instrument of God, who has his witness in Heaven, and now enjoys the contemplation of the face of Him whom he fervently loved here below, and in so