THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

Christ! If you wish to commit yourself to the Lord for time and eternity and through Documentary Supplement 125 diligent prayer realize this goal by an appeal to God’s grace, then you must properly reckon with the fact that many a contrary storm and much adversity, temptation and anxiety will come your way. ... As soon as you wish to pray the Devil will initially risk everything he can to keep you from it. Nor can you be saved from this except you sink yourself more deeply each day into Christ and His satisfaction through believing prayer; then your faith will appropriate Christ and all His salvation treasures, then Christ will be in you and you in Him, and He himself will say: If anyone abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Then Christ will also destroy the works of the Devil in you, I John 3:8. Then you will be enabled to overcome the Devil, the world and sin in you through his indwelling. . . . But do not be deceived into believing the error that God will be kindly disposed to you only when you have reached a certain level of godliness and virtue. O no! As soon as the sinner senses his sinfulness, sorrows over his sins and calls on God for mercy and grace, the loving heart of God the Father looks upon us in mercy. The righteousness of Christ is granted to the contrite sinner freely through grace and apart from the works of the law, Rom. 3:24. Nevertheless, a thorough conversion must gradually [?] result in a way of life which will allow people to see who dwells within us and whose spiritual children we are, as we learn to say with Paul: ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me,’ Gal. 2:20. But before one reaches this point, many a person says: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I cry, but thou dost not answer me, Ps. 22:2. But— he who endures to the end will be saved, Matt. 24:13. Greetings to you and your dear wife from your friend Jakob Dyk. Neu-Osterwick, February 16, 1847.” 4. Fourth letter. “Dear friend and brother in Christ! If by God’s grace we have entered upon the narrow way of the cross, have accepted the decision to follow Him, and because of our love to Him have decided to relinquish everything displeasing to Him, then the evil one becomes our determined enemy. We will also be hated by all those who are still outside of Christ, and even though some may remain friendly to us and flatter us for some time, this cannot last long before one recognizes and condemns their malice as well as our own. ... If we commit ourselves unreservedly to Jesus, and if the evil one realizes that we are deadly serious about following Jesus, then he at least seeks to vex and hinder us, and to make the way to heaven bitter or lead us onto byways where we lack experience. . . . [Compare further: M.B. Church, Chortitza District, ‘Kronsweide Revival’!!] When a person has reached the point where he begins to sense God’s presence in his life, when energy and will are united within him