Farel did not confine himself to giving the solution of the enigma. He desired above all to teach consciences and to lead souls to Jesus Christ, while he rescued them from the pope. This was the great aim of his long life. That is the reason why, in addressing a vast audience, he cried out, ‘Come then to Jesus, to Jesus who hath borne our sorrows, and trust wholly in him that you may be saved. Abandon the perverse doctrines which the pope and his servants teach, the masses and the confessions, the absolutions, indulgences, and pardons for life. Run no more hither and thither to the broken cisterns. Trust no longer in persons so impotent and so cruel; receive neither the pope nor Mohammed, nor anyone who assumes to govern you by his own ordinances. Hold fast to the sole head, Jesus, who when he entered into the great sanctuary, offered to his Father his own blood, thus making peace between God and us, so that Christians are made immortal. If you trust in the pope you will be put to shame when you hear from the mouth of God these words: Who commanded what you have done? You have had the popes for your gods.... Go then, and let them save you if they can. Then will come upon you great desolation. It is greatly to deceive yourselves to seek Jesus Christ in the wafers of the priests, in bread, in wine, in flesh, in tears, thorns, nails, wood, shrouds, cloths, and all the other mockeries which Rome offers you, which lay low everything that is of God. It is in another way, it is in his Spirit, it is by faith, that you must seek the Saviour. A church of Jesus, governed by its spouse, does not receive all these papal errors; it directs poor sinners to God, that he may open their hearts, and that they may implore his mercy.
‘Then do not send your wives nor your daughters to those whom you know so well. Do not give your souls up to the guidance of men to whom you would hardly like to intrust your sheep. Let all go to God, go to him with the heart, for it is the heart he asks for and not our money. To sing a mass, to mutter prayers and Ave Marias before a piece of wood, to make so many journeys hither and thither; these are not what he wants of us. He wants us to cling wholly to him alone, and he will save us.’
Farel then turning to the priests, of whom there was a large number present, said to them, ‘Leave off then, you poor priests, who till now have been deceived, and have deceived others, leave off teaching that without your confessions, your penances, your satisfactions and absolutions, whether made in this world or in the world to come, it is not possible to enter into paradise. Lead your sheep to the shepherd who gave his life for them. The church of Jesus gets nothing out of all your trash. God does not care how you muffle yourselves up, what sort of shirts you wear under your gowns, whether your cloaks are bordered in the proper way, or whether you keep in good condition the ornaments and furnishings of your chapels and altars. To place salvation in these outward things is to reverse the doctrine of Jesus, for the kingdom of God is within you.’
HIS APPEAL TO THE PRIESTS.
Farel, as he closed his discourse, raised a song of triumph, and pointed out that the Reformation did not adopt the weapons of its adversaries, but that its method formed the most striking contrast to theirs. ‘Many,’ said he, ‘have tried to assail my propositions, but the truth has been the strongest. Yet the priests and the monks have been subjected to no secret interrogatories; they have not been forbidden to speak; they have not been threatened with prison or with death; no deathsmen have appeared on the scene to settle the questions before us by fire or sword. All have been kindly invited. All those who wished to dispute have been listened to, and no one has taken offence even at their frequent repetitions. Receive then the holy doctrine of Jesus which has been set before you, and let him alone suffice you. One better, wiser, or more powerful, we cannot find. Be Christians; be no longer papists.
‘O priests, canons, and monks, if henceforth you have no more the honors which you have previously enjoyed, if you should not be so well treated and fed, do not on that account destroy yourselves and the poor people. Better is it to enter into life eternal with the poor Lazarus than go with the rich bad man to hell. Leave, then, your songs and your masses, and follow Jesus. Instead of chanting Latin before the people, preach to them the sacred Gospel. When some came like brigands to kill us, we did not demand vengeance, but grace and forgiveness for them. And now we ask that you may be joyfully and tenderly received, as wandering sheep returning to the fold.
‘And you, my lords,’ said Farel, addressing the delegates from Berne, ‘since God has led you to the conquest of this country, and has committed its people to you as a child is committed to its father, see to it that God be holily honored in the lands which are intrusted to your rule. Let not Jesus be to you of less estimation than the poorest man in the land. May God touch the hearts of all kings and lords, to the end that the poor people may live according to God’s will, without war and in peace; that human blood may not be shed; that a man who is made in God’s image may not kill his fellow who is made in the same image; but that each may love and aid his neighbor as he would that his neighbor should aid him. And may all those who have suffered for the faith in Jesus be strengthened to persevere even to the end, and declare the goodness and the power of God, so that all the earth may worship him.’[413]