Valerius Schoolmaster Martyred, A. D. 1568.

“But they are not ashamed before God, nor afraid of him, from whom they cannot hide; and who can kill the body, and cast both it and the soul into the fire of hell. Intelligent and impartial reader or hearer, prove whether these false Christians in this their improper and unchristian life can be saved through God’s mercy and the death of Christ, or not? even as they presumptuously say, that the kingdom of heaven is for them, and not for the beasts, and besides utter so much nonsense, as though they were raving, as they also are, so that a true Christian may well be ashamed and afraid to see or hear their madness and their unrighteous works. 2 Pet. 2:8.

“O depraved and wanton men! Though the Jews, because they were called Abraham’s seed, claimed to be God’s children, Christ showed them that a thief, liar and murderer from the beginning, even the devil, was their father, because their works were evil. John 8:44. This may have seemed strange to them, even as it may seem strange to those who obey not the Gospel of Christ, that according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures they are called, and are servants of sin (Rom. 6:20), an evil and perverse generation of serpents, vipers and adders (Matt. 3:7), the seed of the devil, children and heirs of wrath (Eph. 2:3), accursed and of eternal damnation, seed of Cain, Ishmaelites, filthy swine, devouring dogs, ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15), that is, under the cloak of sanctity, uncircumcised, gentiles, aliens and strangers from the covenants of the promise of eternal life, who have no part in the kingdom of God, though they entertain a vain hope of it; without God, without Christ, godless and idolatrous in the world. These evil works are the nets, snares, fetters, blocks, chains, bonds, and imprisonments, with which the prince of this world, the devil, who works in the children of disobedience holds men captive, blinded and bound at his will. Eph. 2:2; 2 Tim. 2:26. And so long as the false Christians go or creep about bound by their sins, and entangled in their unrighteousness, they boast in vain and heap one great lie on top of another, when they boast that through Christ they are redeemed and freed from their sins, when they still live in their toils, and because of their unbelief and disobedience are predestinated unto eternal damnation, unless they turn from their sins to God, and by faith rightly receive his grace unto repentance; whereby they will not perish, but are predestinated to eternal life, and become vessels of honor prepared unto glory, according to my simple view. Rom. 9:23.

700

“Mark what Christians these are, because they say that there is a gracious God, which the devil also believes, and trembles; moreover, they say that they are sorry for their sins, and still they go on in them, the longer the more, the older the worse, and under the cloak of the grace of God commit all kinds of sin, the one in this, another in that, so that no wickedness is left undone. Let every one search the secrecy of his heart, and he will better understand and find what I, prisoner, here write. One man cannot alone commit all these sins, for his life is too short and insufficient. For it is generally seen that sins leave men when sickness or old age comes, which, however, does not tend to their repentance, amendment, or salvation, though many who are robust and healthy abandon and deceive themselves, saying: I shall repent when I am old, when I lie upon my death bed, or I care not longer to serve the world; if any one sorrows for his sins then, and the end is good, all is well.

“O vain consolation! for what kind of repentance can that be, when one is no longer able to commit sin and wickedness? it is nothing but mocking the Lord, sinning presumptuously, and rejecting his grace. O that all men captive in sin at the will of the devil (2 Tim. 2:26), would always consider this, and thus give the more diligence, so that through grace their souls might become disengaged and free from the snares of the devil, or sin; even as a prisoner according to the body gives diligence to obtain his liberty, so as to escape bodily death for a brief and uncertain time yet, though he ultimately cannot escape it. If men believed that God is just, and that he will not suffer any evil to go unpunished in impenitent sinners, they would be terrified, and through fear of God’s righteous judgment forsake their sins; but now they are comforted in their misfortune by their preachers, with flattering words and soothing sermons, with grace, peace, mercy and salvation; whereas they ought to be reproved for their sins, and threatened with the anger, wrath, fury and displeasure of God (Rom. 2:8), and eternal damnation, so that they might repent while the door of grace is open for a little while yet. 2 Cor. 6:2.