Martyrs Mirror 1056ANOTHER EDIFYING LETTER AND EXHORTATION OF JOOST VERKINDERT, WRITTEN IN HIS IM; PRISONMENT, THE 20TH OF JUNE, TO THE CHURCH OF GOD AT A.

Grace, mercy and peace from God the heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood; together with the consolation of the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, to comfort all them that are in any tribulation and affliction for His holy name's sake. To Him be praise, honor, glory, dominion, power and majesty, forever and ever. Amen. This we wish you all as a friendly greeting, my beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord. We prisoners for the testimony of our dear Lord Jesus Christ inform you, that it is still tolerably well with us according to the flesh; but as regards the spirit, we would that it were better, for we are compassed about with such a vile, evil flesh, which always lusts against the will of God, and shrinks much from suffering; however we must suffer and fight, if we are to overcome. For, dear brethren and sisters, the crown lies not at the beginning nor in the middle, but at the end; there the conflict lies; then the gold is tried by the fire of affliction, which no one knows better, than those who have been tried therein.

It is indeed true what the apostle says: "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Heb. 12:11 .

Further, my dear friends, brethren and sisters, we pray you by the great love of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you be all of the same mind, and let there be no discord among you nor any strife about any matter; but let each seek to be wise and prudent in that which is good, and simple in what is evil, remembering the words of the apostle where he says: "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Yea, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was rich, became poor for our sakes, that through his poverty he might make us rich, and purify unto himself a holy church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; which he hath purchased with his own blood, that they should be holy and without blame, and walk in love." Phil. 2:1-5 ; I Cor. 10:24 ; II Corinthians 8:9 ; Eph. 5:26 , 27 ; Acts 20:28 ; Eph. 1:4 .

This church has now for a time suffered much sorrow; may the complaint ascend to the merciful Father in heaven, concerning the misery and sadness that have come upon Zion. But the God of all grace be praised for His great mercy which He has yet shown the church at Antwerp, which continues still in good peace and unity (as I think); wherefore there is great joy ar_d gladness there according to the spirit, but great distress according to the flesh. For the Lord tries His people with tribulation and distress, as Christ says: "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known my Father, nor me." John 16:2 , 3 . For if they had known Him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. I Corinthians 2:8 . And though the persecution is not so severe in some places, the Lord can nevertheless try men by other means, by strife, discord, strutting and boasting, reveling and banqueting, in short by carnal works, all of which are not according to our vocation. Not, dear friends, that I would here accuse any one; but out of brotherly love we exhort every one; for before God nothing can be hid, for He will bring to light all that is done in secret. I Cor. 4:5 .

Therefore, my dear friends, let us not deceive the Lord; for His eyes are as a flame of fire, and He is a mighty, powerful and strong God; and sees everywhere in secret and openly; hence He may well be feared, for He has not spoken a single word in vain, as He says by the prophet, that the Word which goeth forth out of His mouth does not return unto Him void, but does accomplish all that He pleases. Rev. 1:14 ; Isa. 55:11 .

My affectionately beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, receive this letter from your poor, weak brother in good part; for it has been written at the request of some brethren, if peradventure you might be comforted and refreshed a little by our simple epistle, for we have written these few lines out of cordial affection, and because we should exhort one another while it is called today; for we hope soon, by the grace of the Lord, here to put off our flesh. Heb. 3:13 ; II Pet. 1:14.

O friends, the way that leads into life is so strait and narrow; but the way that leads into hell is so broad and easy for the flesh. Truly indeed does the prophet Isaiah say, that hell has opened wide her mouth, and both princes and the common people descend into it, yea, they go to hell like sheep to the slaughter. Isa. 5:14 .

Hence, my dear friends, let us take diligent heed, that we may not have received the grace of God in vain; but let us constantly remember the days of our illumination, and how little we then were in our own eyes, when we humbled ourselves under the mighty hand of God, yielding up ourselves entirely, to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness acceptable before Him. Heb. 10:32 ; I Pet. 5:6 ; Luke 1:75 . For we were then all like Saul when he was anointed king, who was of the least of the tribes of Israel and little in his own eyes. But when he became proud, the Lord rejected him. For the Lord said to Samuel: "Go and tell Saul to destroy Amalek from the earth, both man and beast." But Saul followed his own judgment and spared the king, and the best of the oxen, and of the sheep, to sacrifice them to the Lord; whereby he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and was disobedient to His voice, notwithstanding the Lord ,desired obedience and not sacrifice. I Sam. 15 ,

Behold, dear friends, for what a small matter Saul was rejected; hence let us take good heed, for He is still the same God. This is also the case with part of us, that we take too great liberty in our faith, in consequence of which we are rejected, and then do not know ourselves where the fault lies. Now a spirit of contention comes upon us, causing the pious to sigh and mourn: so that thereby division and schism are wrought in the church of God, which mostly occurs where Christians have great liberty. How much it is now like it was in the days of Israel; when they were in peace [from without], they waged war against one another, so that many thousands fell, when they fought against the Benjamites. Judg. 20 . Hence, my dear brethren and sisters, let Christ Jesus be an example unto you, who has called us in peace. I Cor. 7:15 . For the fruit of the Spirit is all manner of goodness, righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Eph. 5:9 . And let us take good heed that we do not become like the church of Laodicea, which was neither cold nor hot, and thought she was rich and increased with goods, and had need of nothing. But the Spirit answered her, saying: "I commend thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." Rev. 3:18 . Hence, it is daily necessary to exhort one another with the word of the Lord, which is the true mirror and plumbline by which to measure our life and conversation according to our weakness. I say according to our weak ability; for if God should enter into judgment with us, no one could stand before Him. Ps. 143:2 . Hence, no man may or can justify himself before God. But we must always remain debtors, remembering that we come short in many things. Matthew 6:12 .

Let us therefore take diligent heed, and have our predecessors constantly before our eyes, namely, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the prophets, who were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and sought a country, a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker was God; and experienced tribulation and affliction, stripes and imprisonments; of whom the world was not worthy. Heb. 11 , And Christ Jesus Himself had not so much in the world as upon which to lay His blessed head, for He says: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. 8:20 . But He had to flee away everywhere ( Matt. 2:13 ), even also, with much sighing and mourning, traveled through the wilderness of this world, compassed about with an evil flesh, which has never yet advised me to anything good: yea, if I had not fled for refuge to the word of the Lord, I would have been utterly overthrown in the wilderness of this world, for flesh and blood greatly desired to be one with the world, since they always shrank from suffering. But when I with David went into the sanctuary of God, and there beheld the recompense of the world, and how soon they are cut off, and that they were blots, and not children; and also remembered that it is written: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm; yea, cursed be their going out and coming.in." Ps. 73 : 17; Deut. 32:5 ; Jer. 17:5 ; Deut. 28:19 . However fine a captain one may choose, to prosper in the world, flesh and blood are nevertheless the ultimate object herein; for experience has taught me this; nor am I surprised at it, since men are now of no other material, than were the children of Israel. How often did the Lord sigh over them, and what great trouble did He have with them? Hence we may daily take good heed, and be up and doing, that no one may take our crown.

Therefore, my dear brethren and sisters, be not troubled, that Fra. Ha. Jo. Ta. have gone back to Egypt, which does not surprise me. But let it be an example unto you, that they were overthrown in the wilderness of this world ( I Cor. 10:5 ); and do you take better courage (as I trust you will), and constantly keep before your eyes the pious that were before us; for he that flees opt of the conflict, does not get the crown, for there is but one victory comprised in the Scriptures by which we are to be crowned. I Cor. 9:25 ; II Tim. 2:5 ; Rev. 2:10 .

O dear brethren and sisters, we now look through quite different eyes as to what salvation depends on than when we were out of bonds; for out of bonds I never could pray to God as I now sometimes do.

Further, my dear brother, I commend to you my wife, whom I love from the heart; desiring and requesting of you, that you will exercise Christian care over her, the more so, since she desires to remain a widow; for the holy Scripture commands us to visit the widows and orphans in' their affliction. James 1:27 . Hence, be the more diligent to aid her in everything wherein she may need your counsel, in order to gain a livelihood for herself and my children; so that she may not become despondent.

O my dear brethren, this I exhort you with tears, for if the Lord had not taken me from them, J could have provided for them myself according to my weakness; but now the Lord has ordered it otherwise with me, since He knows best what we need, and what is for our best. Hence, I will also leave them for the Lord's sake; for, dear brother R., my wife has been with me, and we ate together a parting meal, and thus took final adieu from each other. Think for yourself, how bitter a parting it was, for I know that she also loves me from the heart.

Hence, if the Almighty Lord did not give strength and power, it would not be possible to endure and overcome it; but through Him we can do all things. Phil. 4:13 . Hence, I commit my cause now as before to the Lord, declaring that it is not on account of any crime, heaven and earth bear me witness herein, and God, who searches heart and reins, also knows very well my object in this matter.

Furthermore, dear W., if it were possible, and you should be in the city, I should from the heart like to converse orally with you, which (as it seems to me) could very easily be done, by giving a piece of money. But as you live so far away, I fear it cannot well be done since it is so inconvenient for you; and in such case I hope to be patient herein; for we neither know nor hear when we are to die, nor have any priests assailed as yet; but a secular man came to see us once and assailed us. Neither have we been spoken to by the authorities, since we were tortured the first time; for as we hear, the margrave has had a sore leg. Thus we do not know if we shall be tortured any more or not. They would indeed like to find out much from us, but I hope that the Most High will keep our lips; for though one were to tell them something, they are not satisfied with that, but want to know more and more.

Hence, my dear brother and sister in the Lord, we pray you, and all them that inquire after us, to remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Heb. 13:3 . And pray the Lord heartily for us; we will also pray for you. Lauwerens, my fellow prisoner, and I, greet you all with the peace of the Lord, together with all our acquaintances in the Lord that are over there from here. Let all of you remain like minded, and the God of peace will be with you; and let there be no strife among you. Rom. 12:16 , 15 :5. Remember me, my dear brother and sister; I hope to wait you under the altar, where all tears shall be wiped away from our eyes. Herewith I will commend you to the crucified Christ Jesus; may He strengthen our hearts and minds, and direct them into all that is acceptable before Him. Herewith I bid you adieu. Adieu, my beloved brother and sister.