many of us, with our wives and little children, are driven from our country and possessions, must roam in foreign countries, naked and destitute; and all this for no other reason, God knows, than that we do not agree with the inordinate way of living of this world, and do not commune with the preachers who oppose the word of the Lord by their doctrine, sacraments, and life; that we rightly use baptism and the Lord's Supper, shun all idolatry, self-righteousness, and abuses, according to the Scriptures; and that we would gladly, in our weakness, fear the Lord, and follow in righteousness.
We beseech your Excellencies and Honors to consider, in the fear of God, what he requires of you, namely, That you shall rightly judge between man and man, without all respect of persons, and that you shall deliver the oppressed from the hands of the oppressor, The Lord says, "Execute judgment between a man and his neighbor;" "Oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood." Consider this; that your despised servants and miserable subjects, who fled from the roaring lions, may, in peace and quiet, serve the Lord, and earn their bread according to the Scriptures, under your paternal care and merciful protection, Jer. 7: 6, 7; 22: 17; Isaiah 59.
Secondly, we desire that your Excellencies and Honors would weigh, with the infallible word of God, with the living example of Christ, and with the pious, unblamable life of the saints, how a true Christian should be disposed according to the Scriptures. If reading, singing, water, bread, wine, name, and boasting, would constitute true Christianity, then there would be a great number of Christians. But no, beloved lords, no. The word of God knows no Christians but those who are born anew in Christ of the living seed of God, through the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, which, being preached in the power of the Spirit, is accepted in true faith, by the grace of God and through the operation of the Holy Spirit; who, by virtue of this birth, bury the old sinful life, and arise with Christ in newness of life; who, in their weakness, gladly obey the holy will, word, example, ordinances, and commands of the Lord, and who sincerely die unto every thing contrary thereto; who diligently combat all licentious, vain thoughts, and besetting sins which flow from the inherited Adamic nature; and who daily sigh and mourn before the Lord, on account of their human weakness, errors, and short comings, with an humble, broken heart; who are prepared to take upon themselves the cross of Christ, and to forsake father, mother, husband, wife, children, possessions, and self, for the sake of the testimony of his holy word, when the honor and praise of God require it. In short, they are minded as Christ Jesus; are in Christ and Christ in them; they are led by his Spirit; and they abide immutably in the word of the Lord, through true faith, firm confidence, and a living hope, in all temptations and perils, Rom. 6: 4; Col. 2: 12; Gal. 3: 27; 2 Tim. 3; Matt. 10: 38; Luke 14: 27; Phil. 2: 3.
Inasmuch as it is found in fact that our faithful brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus, the beloved companions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, Rev. 1: 9, so sincerely fear and love the Lord, their God, that they would rather give their reputation and money, goods, flesh, and blood, and every thing of which human nature is desirous, as a prey to the blood-thirsty, than willfully and knowingly to speak a false word or to act hypocritically, contrary to the word of God; therefore we would beseech your Excellencies and Honors to consider whether they are such pernicious and dangerous people as, alas, they are called by many, and adjudged by all. Yea, dear lords, all their pleasure is in the word of the Lord. Their mouths flow with wisdom, their love smells like the precious ointment on the head of Aaron, their prayers are as the noble incense before the ark of God; their life enlightens as the golden candlesticks in the temple of the Lord, and they seek nothing on this earth, but, that they may serve the whole world unto righteousness, both with body and spirit, and that they may deliver many from the destruction of their souls, and win them unto Christ, through the grace, Spirit, power and word of the Lord; and, that they may thus, with the gracious help of God,
