A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

Braght, Thieleman J. van (Thieleman Janszoon) • SECTION 1265

The Fourth Letter Of Hansken Van Den Wege.

← The Bloody Theatre, or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians

Adieu, adieu, dear mother, dear mother, farewell, farewell; O yes, blessed, blessed. Amen, amen.

The unfathomable and abundant great grace and mercy of God our heavenly Father, given and bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ the Son of the true and living God, and Jesus Christ, with all his humility, meekness, and great holiness, yea, the great power, consolation and full joy of the Holy Ghost, this we wish you from the depth of our soul, and with all the strength of our heart, our dear and much beloved chosen sister in the Lord, together with all that fear and love the Lord, and call on him out of a pure heart. This is our perpetual, blessed wish, yea, holy salutation; may the Lord grant you this our blessed wish and holy salutation, and make you wise in that which is good, and simple in that which is evil; so that you may be found upright and perfect, fearing God, and eschewing evil. Amen.

Further, dear and much beloved chosen sister in the Lord, we wish you and also us, and all men, the eternal, great and blessed treasure to which Christ compares the kingdom of heaven; which a man found and hid, and for joy over it went and sold all that he had, and bought that field. Yes dear sister in the Lord, let us also be minded as he was that had found the treasure, since the treasure is now also revealed to us, through Jesus Christ the Son of God. let us also hide it, and this with great diligence, with prayer, supplication and fasting in the Spirit to God, for where there is a treasure, the thieves and murderers seek to get it; hence let us take good heed that it be not taken from us, and let us go in righteousness and peace, and with great joy and gladness, in the Holy Ghost; for the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. 14:17. Hence let us thus go on, since to us is revealed the treasure that lies hidden in the field before so many. Let us therefore be diligent, yes, dear sister; let us go on, and with great steadfastness in meekness follow the infallible truth Jesus Christ; for he is the way, the truth, and the life. Hence let us always follow him, and let us thus go on until the time that we have forsaken and sold everything, and let us then buy the field in which the treasure is hid; for he that does not forsake everything, says Christ, is not worthy of me. For if it were hid in a great, broad field many would come and seek for it, but only one would find the treasure; so also the good and blessed treasure, Jesus Christ the Son of God, lies hid in the field of the holy Scriptures, and many indeed come and seek for it, but only one finds the same; namely, all the members that are in the body of which Jesus Christ is the head, have found the treasure Jesus Christ, with all his graces and merits, and also eternal life. They now may well greatly rejoice in the Holy Ghost, that they have found the great, beautiful, and holy treasure (Jesus Christ), and say with the prophet: The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; the Lord is the portion of my inheritance: therefore I will not fear; though my flesh and my heart fail, thou, O Lord, art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever; yea, the Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. Ps. 16:6,5; 73:26; Lam. 3:24.

Therefore my dear and much beloved chosen sister in the Lord, let us go on with a valiant, firm and strong confidence, and with great humility and meekness of heart, and with a great desire after our holy and blessed treasure (Jesus Christ); and the Lord shall desire our beauty, and when the Lord shall come with his mighty angels, and with the sound of the trumpet, in the clouds, to reward every man according to his works, then shall the elect be gathered together from the four winds of heaven, and they shall, as sheep, be set on his right hand, and the ungodly, as goats, on the left; then shall we hear the sweet and blessed words: Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom of my Father, prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 2 Thess. 1:7; Matt. 16:27; 24:30,31; 25:33,34. Then we shall enter into the great, beautiful and imperishable glory of the Lord, where we shall be in great glory and unspeakable, great and eternal joy, and thus forever be with the Lord of lords, King of kings, God of gods, and Father of fathers, and praise, thank, glorify, honor and sanctify him, for Holy, holy, is the holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come, Rev. 4:8. But to them on the left hand he shall say: Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for you and the devil; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hence, O dear and much beloved in the Lord, let us take good heed, that we do not sleep in sin, lest our treasure be taken; for when people sleep, thieves go and rob them. But let us watch and pray and adorn ourselves as the five wise virgins, who had oil in their lamps; so that when the bridegroom comes, we may enter in to his glorious and imperishable marriage, where the Lord will be praised forever, for it is a good thing to sing praises to our God.

Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.

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