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

ord. Either— or! No third way! "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be damned,” are the words of our loving Savior in Mark 16:16, and with this word He divides all m ankin d into two classes, into believers and unbelievers. Cursed is everyone who adds a third class. Therefore, beloved, in my very first sermon, I send out to you this call: either— or. Either a believer or an unbeliever; either converted or unconverted; either a natural man or a regenerate man; either a sheep or a goat; either on the right or on the left; either the straight gate, the narrow way or the wide gate and the broad way; either flesh or Spirit; either God or mammon; either Christ or Belial; either blessing or curse; either life or death; either salvation or condemnation ; either heaven or hell! There is no third! This choice I will continually place before you, neither will I permit you to remain together, believer and unbeliever, but you shall become separated according to the words of Paul in II Cor. 6:14ff.: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” For that reason I am preaching faction and am no friend of the pitiable unity of believers and unbelievers, by which the believer loses his faith and the unbeliever does not come to a knowledge of his belief. Especially in these days, when the time of decision has come so very near, and, as it seems to me, the Lord has in a special way sent His angel, in order to gather the tares into sheaves and the good grain into His bams. Therefore especially I call out with all my might: “You believers, you partakers of the inheritance and of salvation, go out from the world, separate yourselves from the unbelievers, and even if they bear the name of ‘pietist’ or ‘brethren,’ avoid them and separate yourselves from them, the wretched, pitiable half-believing, the hypo- crites, mere outward and mouth Christians, who, though they say ‘I believe,’ do not have it in their hearts. If there are such among you, who with every decisive “either-or" immediately become fearful and anxious, who approve of outward discipline and order, but are an enemy of the inner decisive life from God, such who always strive to reconcile the big factions that stand against each other, and seek to fill the chasm that the Lord Himself has set between believers and unbelievers ; those who for the sake of outward peace and comfort which 222 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH one ordinarily enjoys in indecisiveness, putting at stake the eternal rest that remains for the people of God (Heb. 4:9), who have come out of Egypt; if there are such among you— and these will not be lacking— who fear every decisive word in o