Receive our simple letter and exhortation in good part, for it has been written out of true brotherly love; though you are yourselves abundantly taught of God, and we ought rather to be taught and exhorted of you, for we find that we have too many defects and imperfections to exhort others. But, dear friends, we also admonish ourselves hereby, and pray the Lord without ceasing, that we might be found worthy of him, to meet him in the resurrection of the dead. 1 Thess. 4:17.
O friends, watch and pray; for ye know neither the day nor the hour. Matt. 25:13. Farewell.
Written in my bonds, by me,
JOOST VERKINDERT, Unworthy prisoner in the Lord.
ANOTHER LETTER FROM JOOST VERKINDERT, WRITTEN THE 26TH OF JUNE, FROM PRISON, TO HIS AFOREMENTIONED BROTHER, W.
Grace, joy and peace from God the heavenly Father, and our dear Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and the consolation of the Holy Ghost, who is the comforter of them that are in any tribulation and sorrow. To him be praise, honor, glory, dominion, power, and majesty forever and ever. Amen. This I wish you for a friendly and cordial greeting, my very dear and beloved brother W., with your dear wife J.
Know further, that I am still tolerably well, according to the flesh, and as regards the spirit, I hope through God’s great and unspeakable grace to finish this great and severe conflict with the help of the Most High--from whom we must expect help and comfort--to the praise of his holy name, to the edification of our neighbor, and to the salvation of our souls; which salvation cannot be bought or obtained with gold or silver, nor with anything that is in the world, but only by a living and active faith in Jesus Christ. Gal. 5:6. I also received a salutation from you, together with the things that were sent to us, which much exhorted us, and was a great consolation in our tribulation, so that we rejoiced, and praised and thanked God, that there are still such good-hearted brethren, who remember us poor, weak prisoners.
O dear brethren and sisters, always remember us in your prayers, that the Lord may strengthen us, so that we may put off our flesh with joy here upon earth; for it is sometimes much afraid of the gag and of being burnt alive, which is nevertheless very soon over. But when I think of the fire that shall burn and last forever, I thank the Lord, that he has made me worthy to confess his holy name among this evil and perverse generation, the eyes of whose hearts the god of this world has blinded. 2 Cor. 4:4.
O they shall yet greatly lament at the last day, that they have thus shed innocent blood, which has been so until now, even from the beginning, and shall continue, I presume, unto the end; for the holy Scriptures abundantly testify of the sufferings of the holy fathers, how they all were strangers and pilgrims here upon earth, and after much tribulation and affliction fell asleep in the Lord; for they firmly trusted that God’s promises should not fail them, as Christ also says: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35.
O dear brother, whom I love from the depth of my heart, cease not (because of my tribulation, which is great) to serve the Lord; for we have the truth, as the Holy Ghost bears me witness in my conscience. But great care has to be exercised; for Satan brings forth everything that can be imagined, and he makes it so great and grievous, that I often pray and call upon the Lord with tears, to help and deliver me. I also call to remembrance the days of my illumination (Heb. 10:32), how little I was then in my own eyes, and that neither flesh nor blood, nor any one under heaven, advised me to do this; but great terror and fear of eternal death and of the cruel fire of hell, which (as I read) should come upon all the world; for I found myself then like others in all manner of worldly lusts, yea, altogether earthly and carnally minded, upon whom the wrath of God comes. Also that there was no other means than this, by which to be saved; hence, I entirely committed myself to the Lord, and have 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.