# John Claess, And Lucas Lamberts, An Old Man, Called Grandfather; Together With Several Testaments Written By John Claess, While In Prison At Amsterdam, To His Wife, Children, And Other Friends, In The Year 1544. · Page 3 of 4

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Write to me immediately how you are, and I
shall be the more comforted if you comply with my
request. Pray; the Lord will be entreated; this
I now experience. Pray together all of you, that
the will of the Lord be done in me and in us all.
Amen. Matt. 6:10; 7:11.

A testament of John Clæss to his brothers and
sister after the flesh.

Know, my dear brothers, Cornelis Clæss, and
Gerritt Clæss, and my dear sister Adriaentgen
Clæss, that I affectionately desire of you, that you
turn to the Lord, and forsake all your pride, covetousness,
453
and all wickedness, as also all bad company,
and be quiet, and associate with the good. Search
the word of the Lord, and ask him for his Holy
Spirit, and the same shall instruct you in everything
which is needful for you. This will come to
pass, if you deny yourselves and forego your own
will; for the Lord says: “If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily and follow me.” Therefore die unto all your
lusts, and you shall never die, for the wages of sin
is death. Col. 3:5; Rom. 6:23. But ask God for
his Holy Spirit, who will so change your minds,
that you will hate evil and shun it. O my most beloved,
hate that which is evil, and love the good,
and God, who alone is good, will be with you. But
if you will continue in your wicked sensuality, I
testify to you from the mouth of the Lord, that you
will condemn yourselves. Rom. 8:13. But I am
persuaded better things of you, though I thus
speak. Heb. 6:9. O, keep what the Lord hath
made known to you, namely: “Whatsoever ye
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them,” and it will be well with you, and you shall
prosper in every good thing. To this end may the
good God help you, through Jesus Christ his beloved
Son. Amen.

Another Testament of John Claess, to all his
Kindred.

Be it known to you, dear brothers and sisters,
cousins and relatives, and all my kindred, that I do
not suffer as a thief, murderer or evil-doer, but for
the ordinance which the apostles of the Lord taught
and instituted, namely the ordinance of the holy
church, made fifteen hundred years ago, which Jesus
Christ enjoined upon his dear disciples, and sealed
with his blood, and which the apostles preached and
taught, and confirmed with their blood. 1 Pet. 4:15;
Mark 16:15; Heb. 9:14; Acts 2:14; 7:58; 12:2.
My dear friends, do not be dejected or cast down on
my account, because men say that I died as an Anabaptist
and heretic. There is but one baptism given,
and that upon faith; before faith God has not commanded
baptism. Now some one might ask: What!
ought infants not to be baptized? No; but they are
nevertheless saved through the merits of Jesus Christ,
and are baptized in his blood; for it is written:
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22. This is done
through pure grace, without any sign. Acts 15:11.
But my dear friends, the Lord has commanded to
preach the Gospel, and they that believe it, are to
be baptized. Mark 16:16. He also commanded that
the believers should observe his Supper, in remembrance
of him, in such a manner as he instituted,
and the apostles practiced it. Matt. 26:26; Acts 2:42.
Besides these, he did not command them anything;
no mass, no infant baptism, no auricular confession,
nor any other outward worship. But he commanded
to love God alone, to obey his word, and to love
our neighbor as ourselves. Luke 10:27. O where
are they to be found who do this? Search the word
of God; there is no Christian who does not know
this. You cannot maintain thereby, what they teach,
namely, that you should continue in the holy
church. You must know what the holy church is,
namely, the assembly of believers born by the word
of God (1 Pet. 1:23); for you well know that no one
can come into this world without being born, so no
one can come into the future world, unless he is
born again as Peter declares: “not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever.” John 3:3;
1 Pet. 1:23. O well for him who is born of it! they
that are thus regenerated, practice the true baptism
and the true Supper. They also separate themselves
from all who teach a scandalous doctrine, or live
disorderly; they do not destroy their bodies, for
this is not taught in the word of God; but they
avoid their company until they repent (2 Thess. 3:6);
for they are the Christian church, the community
of the saints; they have forgiveness of sins; for
there is none other name given in heaven or on
earth whereby they can be saved, but the name
of Jesus; that is, through his merits. Acts 4:12.
They believe and live only according to his ordinances.
He did not kill those who did not believe in
him, neither did his holy church do this. But he
and his own have been slain from the beginning,
and thus it shall continue. Rev. 13:8. By this you
shall know who are his own. Not those who boast
of his name, and maintain their cause with the
sword; but those that live according to the example
of their Lord, and confirm their cause with the
word of God, which is the sword of the true believers.
1 Pet. 2:21; Eph. 6:17. Now some might say:
What has become of the forefathers, who did not
know better? We leave this to God. It might also
be said that the Lord promised to be with us even
unto the end of the world. Matt. 28:20. He is
always with believers—but never with unbelievers—namely,
with his word and the right use of his
signs, that is, baptism and the Supper, and will
always be with those who walk aright, and live conformably
to his word.



## Original source

[Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_453)

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