7. Ye poor people! Christianity is not something as you think which can be taught, as all denominations in the world seem to think.

Ye poor people! Christianity is not something as you think which can be taught, as all denominations in the world seem to think. They think that they can teach their children to be as they are--and this they can, too! But Christians cannot. Christians may tell their children where and how man ma come to God but the child must find out himself that he is blind else God cannot make him see. He himself must be sure that he is lost before the can seek the true way. Each person himself must go through the narrow gate and along the small way. This way is not as people usually thinks. They think that through outer persecution, or by being despised, or that a person cheerfully bears all things, or by enduring all things from others for the sake of religion--this they think is the small way by which they mean to get to heaven! [this is a parody, somewhat true of Mennonite beliefs] But the small way and narrow gate of a Christian is this: to be condemned unto death so that he also says: "My God, why has Thou forsaken me?" He has to destroy the poor tabernacle and lift up the Cross! Listen how you have to go the narrow way!

You must discover that you lack God in your heart and you must call upon the unknown God that He shall make Himself manifest within you so you can come to love Him. Then you will go the narrow way and if you remain steadfast God soon will let you feel it and you no longer will doubt what the narrow way is. And still it will happen to you that you say, as Christ said, "My God! Why has thou forsaken me?" You will think that God does not want you, that you are finished and must perish! Then you will know and experience what the narrow way is and you will say that never in your whole life have you ever had greater pain than now. this is the time when life and death contend. If man then remains constant and thinks that even if he be lost he still will not forsake God then, presently, God will bear him anew and take up His abode in him.

Then, when man has come from death into life, what God has done to him he will announce to all. Then he will know what Christ's regeneration is. You think you are newly born. One thinks he became so when he was baptized as a child, another thinks the became so when he was baptized as an adult and has become somewhat more devout than when he was a youth, a third thinks that he has to keep righteous as the Scripture says and he busies himself day and night to keep these things, and if he keeps one he breaks another and so he is nothing else than a poor sinner. And if he breaks nothing he still has no guilty conscience before God, he does not know how often he hails in word and thought and is a sinner before God. Still he believes that he is better than he who does evil and he thinks that he can become blessed like another, thus living in false hope. In sum, people believe than they are right and they do not believe than man can experience God here in the flesh, that man can become sure and certain that he can sin no more. So God may call as much as He wants, men still stay choked up and do not believe. He that has ears to hear, let him hear!

When you, dear reader, examine yourself and do not find it as I here write than you believe that I must be in error and you think that I lie and you ask God to protect you form such pride. Also you will say: Test all spirits and see whether they be of God. Those of whom this was said were free from sin. A person still unregenerate and in sin cannot test spirits as he is in darkness. If he wants to rest his heart he will find the devil as god: I shall give you better advice! His mind must change from the world to God and he must think that he has to see whether he can see, and become seeing, so that he may know wherefrom each one comes. Then may he test! Before the new birth all that man does is blind. You think you are Christian and re-born; but you all have a rotten redeemer who cannot properly cleanse you. He is not from heaven but from below. the true Redeemer is from above; therefore also He can free you from sin.

Now listen, you teachers who teach people, what poor human beings you are! God does not select any from among the denominations, no matter what name they bear. All in the world stand in one condition before God. Although one denomination may appear better than the other, all are outside of God. Where a true spirit teaches, he knows where he comes from: his doctrine, which God reveals to him proceeds into the inner man and points to the true Source.

And when hearers have ears to hear they believe what has been said in the spirit and they keep themselves to God and as soon as the listener experiences an appearance of God thereafter the Spirit need say no more. Where Christ is the teacher no human beings are needed. Christ says: "My sheep hear my voice." Human doctrines last only until man becomes Christian, then he has another teacher. You think you are Christian; yet you still let yourselves be taught. John says: "the unction you received remains within you", and you really need no teaching from anyone. I do not write that you need no teachers; you do need teachers to tell you where God is to be found. But the teachers first must have found Him themselves. When a blind man shows someone the way they both fall into the ditch. And so the whole world is misled; they teach (and learn) more and more and never come to knowledge of truth. So with them all learning is nought.