The New Living Way Prepared by Christ

to walk alone in and according to the law of Christ and His Spirit. The circumstances were these:

§. 14. Since all godless and hypocritical teachers in churches and schools with all their teaching, praying, blessing, baptizing, holding the Lord’s Supper, binding and loosening sin, etc., are only stubble and straw because they do not have JESUS and His Spirit dwelling within them, GOD opened my eyes ever more clearly to see this abomination of desolation, how most teachers murdered so many thousands of souls and kept them captive under needy human statutes. GOD ignited the fire of His love-righteousness ever more within my innermost being, so that I felt both the great distress and misery of the teachers as well as of so many thousands of listeners in compassionate love, and was drawn more and more, as well as into divine love-zeal against all works of the devil, own wisdom, human trifles, and ordinances, that GOD might destroy them completely, and burn up entirely all stubble and straw of own wisdom, fleshly learning, and all own willing and working. In such a sense I was compelled on August 11, 1721, to go to the late Mr. Scharfschmied’s hospital church at Glauche. While I was listening to this pious and faithful teacher, these thoughts fell with great emphasis into my heart: You must also hold an exhortation in this place. As I had a great struggle about this throughout the entire sermon, that the Spirit of GOD said "Yes" in the inner man, but reason said "No" in the outer man, I finally became certain of the will of GOD and decided to follow GOD simply, as His Spirit taught, urged, and persuaded me in the inner man (Jeremiah 20:7–9). I began to testify in the name of JESUS about the godless life of most teachers, and the great seduction arising therefrom, about the needy human statutes and church ordinances in Christendom that are diametrically opposed to the Gospel of Christ. I continued this 14 days later for the second and third time according to the inner conviction of GOD, in this very church, and also in the market church here in Halle. But because a pious servant was ministering in this one, he did not hinder it, but gave the Spirit of GOD complete freedom