The New Living Way Prepared by Christ

envy, wrath, fury, and all malice. If they do not have the physical sword themselves, like the Pope and Cardinals in the Roman Church, as the head of all antichristian teachers: then they take their refuge with the secular authorities and incite them to tyranny of conscience and persecution against you. These are supposed to convince and teach you through the fleshly sword about divine things, how you should rightly think of GOD, rightly believe in Him, and rightly serve Him in Spirit and truth. There you must be a fanatic, a fantasist, a Quaker, a disorderly person, a madman, and a fool everywhere and in the pulpit. Indeed, they excite all the poor souls in the churches against you, and fill their hearts with their envy, malice, and fury, so that they commit the most atrocious sins with lying and blasphemy, and are often fired up to the greatest tumults by the priests. As the prophet Micah 7:2-11 says: They all lie in wait for blood, and the sermons of the godless incite bloodshed. Proverbs 12:6. Everyone hunts the other so that he might ruin him, and they think they do well by it when they persecute Christ in His members. The prince gladly does what his court preacher, abbot, or superintendent wants, so that he might only preach to him the false peace and comfort in his sins, and by no means attack him harshly. What the prince or consistory wants, commands, or forbids, that the judge says, even if it is against his conscience and the salvation of his soul. But because he has taken an oath to follow blindly in all commands, even if they were to bring him to the loss of all his spiritual and eternal well-being; and the prince can do him a service in return: so the powerful advise, according to their waywardness, to do harm, and twist it as they want so that the malice of their godless priests might be satisfied. The best among them is like a thorn, and the most upright like a hedge. Thus the rabble bows, thus the young gentlemen, counts, princes, and all authorities humble themselves under the idols of the godless priests. Isaiah 2:8-9.

§. 6. Here it is now necessary to examine this time rightly, to rightly prepare oneself for these opportunities and circumstances, which the LORD so wisely directs for the salvation of our souls. For where darkness rises against light, lies against truth, the wicked against the pious, the legalistic Ishmaelites or sons of Hagar against those who are begotten of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit and according to the Spirit, and are set into a battle; That is the acceptable time, those are the days of salvation, there is the blessed place where, under various temptations, persecutions, tests, offenses,