# A Letter Written By Jan Block. · Page 1 of 3 [Previous page: JAN BLOCK BURNT FOR THE FAITH, AT NIMEGUEN, A. D. 1572.](/en/stories/mm-jan-block-burnt-for-the-faith-at-nimeguen-a-d-1572/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER WRITTEN BY JAN BLOCK.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-written-by-jan-block/part-2/) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:26. The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Blessed be God, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted or comforted, it is all for our good and our salvation. This salvation, except my bonds, I wish you from the depth of my soul, for comfort and salvation in your greatest need, when you, dear brother in the Lord, will have need of help and comfort, as you, moved and impelled through the operation of the Holy Spirit, have now at the right time written and sent to me, poor prisoner at Nimeguen, for the word of our dear Lord; by which you have done me such a great and acceptable service, that I shall never in my life be able sufficiently to thank God my heavenly Father, who appointed you, like Habakkuk, to bring food, by which the pious Daniel was fed outwardly according to the flesh, through the confidence which he had toward our God. O how great is this spiritual food, dear brother, with which 853 you have fed and comforted my poor, hungry soul, which you, according to the opportunity of the past, abundantly wrote to me in your letter from the holy word of the Lord, for my consolation, and to incite me to take undaunted courage; for which I, as said above, cannot sufficiently thank you. By the help of our dear Lord I hope to do the same; through the almighty Lord I still have the will to do well from the heart. I hope and trust in God our heavenly Father, who shall strengthen me, poor, unworthy prisoner for his holy word, to finish it to his holy praise, when I shall offer up my sacrifice, as you write to me of many prophets and apostles, yea, of Christ himself, who, for the sins of us all, out of love for us, was led to the slaughter as a dumb lamb; how much more ought I, poor miserable sinner, to deliver up my life for his holy name’s sake, of which I sincerely deem myself unworthy. Yet I trust, as above, and as you wrote to me, as the prophet Ezekiel speaks by the mouth of the Most High, that he will remember sins no more, as we, the Lord be thanked, well know on what condition the Lord has spoken to us. All that desire this, and are converted from the heart, God will hear. And such as lament and moan night and day over their great transgression, as I poor, miserable sinner have done, he will hear, and be gracious unto them, for he loves to forgive, so that I, as said above, gladly surrender myself for the name of my Lord, and suffer by his grace very patiently for my sins, and deliver up my body, as did the seven children in Maccabees. And the pious Eleazar would much rather die honorably, than dissimulate and set a bad example to the young brethren. Thus, by the grace of God, is also my mind, dear brother in the Lord. But, much beloved brother, I have such great conflict on account of my former life, that I did not gain a living as an honest man. But, the Lord be thanked, a little before my imprisonment, I had resolved by the grace of the Lord, to support myself in all humility and holiness by the labor of my hands; however, I have not time to carry it out. Hence my mind is often troubled, and this by the passage of Paul where he says that, Though I had faith, so that I could remove mountains, and gave all my goods to the poor, and gave my body to be burned, and had not charity, it were all of no avail. And that we are to live so holy and unblamable, this causes my heart to shrink, and my eyes daily to flow like a river, because I have so sinfully spent my precious time; this the Lord knows, for whose word and testimony I, miserable sinner am imprisoned; yet I would not give my hope and faith for a thousand worlds. O dear brethren, how little have I known, much less had, the true regeneration and new creature, as I now feel it through the grace of God, and should gladly confess it, if I had the time. Friends, have earnest love to one another, and edify one another in all humility and earnestness in the exercise of godliness, and daily exhort one another to all holiness; also that each be the least in his own eyes, and that you do not walk so haughtily and with such display, lest the poor, blind world, according to her doing, surpass[328](/en/stories/mm-footnotes/part-17/#Footnote_328) us in many things. This view I have now, by the grace of God, had for some little time, and if I had indeed in the beginning felt it thus, and accepted it, as I ought to have done, and as I now, alas! in my last time had resolved, by the grace of the Lord, to do, I should certainly not have come to such great sorrow, which originated in superciliousness or secret pride and an easy life. Hence, dear brother, and dear ministers of the church of God, wherever you are, take diligent care, as faithful laborers in the vineyard, [and direct into the right way] the branches, which shoot up very lightly, and grow in the fullness and vanity of their mind, who are also alienated from the life of God. I only now begin to experience with the understanding, what the new creature is. ## Original source [Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_853) [Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855) [Previous page: JAN BLOCK BURNT FOR THE FAITH, AT NIMEGUEN, A. D. 1572.](/en/stories/mm-jan-block-burnt-for-the-faith-at-nimeguen-a-d-1572/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER WRITTEN BY JAN BLOCK.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-written-by-jan-block/part-2/) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/stories/mm-a-letter-written-by-jan-block/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+A+Letter+Written+By+Jan+Block.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+3&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AA+Letter+Written+By+Jan+Block.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+3%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fstories%2Fmm-a-letter-written-by-jan-block%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-a-letter-written-by-jan-block%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+16th+century+%28source+section%29%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)