Kingdom Excerpts from Menno Simons' Writings

 

King over all the Earth

When his eyes opened to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, Menno Simons understood how every believer, along with every Christian church, should live within its heavenly order. But he also understood that Jesus' rule extends beyond the limits of individual experience, far beyond the boundaries of the Church. All creation, every plant and animal, even the heavenly bodies, bow to Jesus, Lion of the tribe of Judah, and awaits with eager anticipation his final reign. To fit into this bigger picture, into the cosmic Kingdom of God, Menno Simons came to believe, is the highest calling of the human race.

 

 

God made his son, Jesus our Lord, king both of the earth and of his faithful church. That Christ is the king of all the earth is abundantly testified to by the Scriptures; particularly by the prophet David, who says, The Lord most high is terrible, he is a great King over all the earth. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises unto our King! Sing praises, for God is the King of all the earth! Sing praises with understanding, for God reigns over the heathen. God sits on the throne of his holiness.

 

 

 

As certainly as Christ is God, so certainly is he King of all the earth. Paul testifies to this in his letter to the Ephesians, saying that God the Father raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:20-22).

 

 

 

Christ testifies of himself that he is a mighty King, saying; All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Paul says that Christ is the express image of God, upholding all things by the word of his power. Christ is the King of all the earth even if the wicked may rebel against it. Therefore the prophet says: The Lord reigns, therefore the people rage. He sits between the cherubim, the earth is moved (Psalm 99:1). For they can do nothing more than the Lord allows them (John 19:11), and none can withstand him. The mountains melt as wax before the Lord, the ruler of all the earth.

A Plain and Clear Proof, 1535

 

King of Spiritual Israel

 

With his understanding of Jesus' heavenly Kingdom, Menno Simons rejected absolutely the belief that any earthly nation, any political militaristic state, could ever be the "Israel of God." Even though he lived in what was purported to be "Christian Europe" Menno Simons rejected in principle the concept of Christian nations, or Christian governments on earth. The only Christian nation he believed in was that of Spiritual Israel, the church community, the final demonstration of God's heavenly rule and kingdom come to earth.

 

 

That Christ is King of his believing church is clearly asserted in the Scriptures. For Isaiah says, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6).

 

 

 

The house of Jacob is the believing Church, as everyone knows. Of it, Christ is King, as the angel testified, and as Jeremiah says concerning Christ, that he would be a King who should reign and prosper. Also Isaiah says, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgement.

 

Seeing then that Christ is King both of all the earth and of his believing church, as we have shown by the plain Scriptures . . . there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Isaiah says: The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king.

 

 

 

Behold as certainly as Christ is our lawgiver, and as surely as he is our judge, so surely is he our King. . . . Christ is the true Melchisedec, king of Salem, that is, the king of peace, who has made peace between God the Father and the human race. He is the pious Isaac who by his sacrifice has reconciled us with his heavenly Father and his sacrifice remains in honour forever. Christ is the true David, who has slain the great Goliath, and has taken away the blasphemer of Israel.

 

 

 

Yes, he has caused great rejoicing, as it is written: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

A Plain and Clear Proof, 1535

 

Witnesses to the Kingdom

 

The evidence of Christ's Kingdom on earth, Menno Simons believed, lies in the living witness of its citizens. Wherever believers gather in the peace and order of Christ, his kingdom has come, his triumph over Satan is complete and his reign on earth begins. Christ's Kingdom community, in Menno Simons' understanding of the future, will outlast this earth and continue on a new earth and in new heavens fully restored. Everyone else -- and all else -- will perish.

 

These regenerated people have a spiritual king over them who rules them by the unbroken sceptre of his mouth, namely, with his Holy Spirit and Word. He clothes them with the garment of righteousness, of pure white silk. He refreshes them with the living water of his Holy Spirit and feeds them with the Bread of Life. His name is Christ Jesus.

 

 

 

They are the children of peace who have beaten their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and know war no more. They give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

 

Their sword is the sword of the Spirit, which they wield in a good conscience through the Holy Ghost.

 

Their marriage is that of one man and one woman, according to God's own ordinance.

 

Their kingdom is the kingdom of grace, here in hope and after this in eternal life.

 

Their citizenship is in heaven, and they use the lower creations such as eating, drinking, clothing, and shelter, with thanksgiving and to the necessary support of their own lives, and to the free service of their neighbour, according to the Word of the Lord.

 

 

 

Their doctrine is the unadulterated Word of God, testified through Moses and the prophets, through Christ and the apostles, upon which they build their faith, which saves our souls. Everything that is contrary thereto they consider accursed.

 

Their baptism they administer to the believing according to the commandment of the Lord, in the doctrines and usages of the apostles.

 

The Lord's supper they celebrate as a memorial of the favours and death of their Lord, and an incitement to brotherly love.

 

 

 

Their ban or excommunication descends on all the proud scorners--great and small, rich and poor, without any respect of persons, who once passed under the Word but have now fallen back, those living or teaching offensively in the house of the Lord--until they repent.

The New Birth, 1537

 

First the Natural, then the Spiritual Kingdom

Menno Simons left Roman Catholicism, not so much in protest of the Roman church's corruption, as in protest of a fake kingdom movement that had grown up alongside it. The early Anabaptists of the Netherlands (whom Menno's brother had joined) firmly expected God's kingdom to be promptly restored to an earthly nation of Israel. They expected a literal, physical Kingdom of God on earth, with earthly wealth, an army, and a capital city, in the pattern of King David's reign during Bible times. All this Menno saw as a horrible mistake, a total distortion of Christ's Kingdom teachings, and it moved him to set out and establish the real thing in its place.

I say in the second place that the prophet Isaiah prophesied of Christ, saying, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice henceforth and even forever. Isaiah 9:6-7.

 

 

 

And the angel said to Mary, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1:32-33.

 

Dear reader, take note: these two faithful witnesses, Isaiah and Gabriel clearly assign David's kingdom and throne to our promised Messiah King, to Christ Jesus, saying that he shall sit in it and rule over it forever. Yet it is evident that in this world Christ Jesus had no kingdom. He was poorer in physical earthly things than are the foxes and the birds. So if we take God's promises, given through the mouths of his prophets and angels, to be true, we have to understand Christ's rule to be another rule, another kingdom and throne from that of David. Otherwise we would have to say the afore-mentioned witnesses erred in regard to their promise or did not speak the truth.

If then the promised rule, kingdom, and throne are not David's literal or earthly rule, kingdom and throne, but if they are spiritual, then verily also the king that is to sit on it and rule is not David's literal or physical fruit, but a new and spiritual fruit even as the aforesaid rule, kingdom and throne are new and spiritual. Otherwise one half of the throne must be taken literally and the other half spiritually. This is too evident to be denied. Reply to Gellius Faber, 1554

 

Christ's Peaceable Kingdom

  

That Christ's rule on earth would look, sound, and behave itself like Christ, immediately became clear to Menno Simons. Every un-Christlike struggle for power, show of force, or use of coercion and violence he correctly identified as belonging to Satan, the god of this world -- the antithesis of everything Christ has in mind for his never-ending reign.

 

 

 

Seeing then that Christ Jesus is the Prince and the Lord of eternal peace and since his entire doctrine and life, as also his death, has represented, portrayed and implied nothing but peace, no one can receive his honour and good will, or be given a place in his kingdom save those who have the holy peace of God in their hearts. For his kingdom is the Kingdom of Peace. It knows no strife, even as it is written in the prophets that in the kingdom of Christ -- that is, in his church -- they beat their swords into ploughshares and sit under their fig tree and vine, and no more raise up their hands unto warfare (Isaiah 2, Micah 4).

 

 

 

Since no one can be in the kingdom and church of Christ who does not dwell there through love and peace, as the Scriptures testify, all those who are quarrelsome, tumultuous, slanderous, defaming, bitter, wrathful and cruel of heart may well rouse themselves, be sorry, and repent. For such people prove through their deeds that they have no peace, that they do not heed Christ Jesus the true Prince of Peace, nor belong to his kingdom, even though they may look like Christians or be greeted as brothers. Let everyone beware, for the Lord Christ does not judge according to externals as do men, but according to the hidden reality of the heart, which is altogether naked and open before his blessed eyes.

Exhortation to a Church in Prussia, 1549

Two Opposing Kingdoms

Plunged into the thick of a life and death struggle between the governments of Europe and the defenceless Anabaptist communities of which he soon became a leader, Menno Simons got a first-hand view, a magnificent vision of the great war between two kingdoms grappling for supremacy of the earth. That there could be no compromise, no blurring of the lines, between earthly politics and the politics of Jesus became the guiding conviction of his life.

 

 

The Scriptures teach that there are two opposing princes and two opposing kingdoms. The one is the Prince of peace, the other the prince of strife. Each of these princes has his particular kingdom, and as the prince is, so is also the kingdom. The Prince of Peace is Christ Jesus. His kingdom is the Kingdom of Peace, which is his church. His messengers are the messengers of peace. His word is the word of peace. His body is the body of peace. His children are the seed of peace, and his inheritance and reward are the inheritance and reward of peace. In short, with this king, and in his kingdom and reign, there is nothing but peace. Everything that is seen, heard, and done is peace.

 

 

 

We have heard the word of peace, namely, the consoling Gospel of Peace from the mouth of his messengers of peace. We, by his grace, have believed and accepted it in peace and have committed ourselves to the only, eternal, and true Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus, in his Kingdom of Peace and under his reign, into whose body we are incorporated through the gift of his Holy Spirit, by means of faith. Henceforth we look with all the children of his peace for the promised inheritance and reward of peace.

Reply to False Accusations, 1552

No Other Foundation

During his long writing career, Menno Simons kept to the general theme of Christ's Kingdom and peaceful reign. On the title page of every one of his twenty-five books, as on a large number of letters and personal epistles, he wrote these words: "Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).

In this short collection of quotes no justice can be done to the scope of what he wrote and said, but it is fitting to close with these words from his most important and most widely circulated work, Foundation of Christian Doctrine, first published in 1539:

 

We write the truth in Christ and lie not, that as to the spirit we acknowledge no King either in heaven above, or on earth below, other than the only, eternal and true King David in the Spirit, Jesus Christ, who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

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Note: All photography in this issue features New Zealand, and where people are pictured, the Gloriavale Christian Community of Greymouth, South Island.

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