# A Testament Written By Jelis Bernaerts To His Wife, When He Lay In Prison At Antwerp, Where He Was Put To Death For The Word Of The Lord, A. D. 1559. · Page 2 of 4 [Previous page: A TESTAMENT WRITTEN BY JELIS BERNAERTS TO HIS WIFE, WHEN HE LAY IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE WAS PUT TO DEATH FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD, A. D. 1559.](/en/stories/mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A TESTAMENT WRITTEN BY JELIS BERNAERTS TO HIS WIFE, WHEN HE LAY IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE WAS PUT TO DEATH FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD, A. D. 1559.](/en/stories/mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo/part-3/) After all heartfelt and affectionate greetings to you, my dearest, chosen and most beloved wife and dear sister in the Lord, I have received your letter, in which you write me to write you a testament, which I will not refuse to do, if the Lord gives me time; for if I could help you with my blood, I would do it. But now I cannot help you, save by writing, which I do to your comfort, out of true brotherly love, and from the bottom of my heart, intending to finish this, by the help and grace of the Lord, with the same mind with which I commenced it. Know therefore, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, how that God visited his people in former times, when they were in Egypt, in the bondage of King Pharaoh, whom they had to serve for about five hundred years. And when it was his will to deliver them, he raised up Moses for their leader, through whom God delivered them out of Egypt’s bondage, and led them through the Red Sea, in which he drowned and brought to nought King Pharaoh and all his host—with which the latter pursued them—thus delivering them out of his hands. Thus they 601 came into the wilderness, to go on to the land which was promised them; and the Lord God, through Moses their Leader, gave them laws and customs after which they were to walk. But they did not continue in his law; wherefore God became angry, and sware in his wrath, that they should not enter into his rest. Concerning whom did he swear, but concerning unbelievers? And we see that they did not enter therein, and this because of their unbelief. This having thus happened, the Lord spoke through the prophet, and said: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” Now in these last days he has revealed this covenant, given through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the true Moses, who has taken us by the hand, and led us out of Egypt, wherein we all sat and served the hellish King Pharaoh, under whom we were captive by sin; from which bonds and slavery we are redeemed through Christ, who through his death and the shedding of his blood redeemed and reconciled us, and delivered us from the hellish King Pharaoh, whom he destroyed and suffocated in his blood, thereby fulfilling the Old Testament; for all had to be fulfilled that was written in the law and in the prophets. Heb. 1:2; Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:44. Thus the fulfillment was accomplished, and the new testament confirmed with his blood; which, as already stated, he had promised through the prophets, and which is proclaimed to us through the Gospel, and confirmed with signs and wonders by him and his holy apostles, whom after his resurrection he sent out to preach to all nations, that whosoever should believe and be baptized, should be saved, also commanding them to teach them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. Heb. 2:4; Matt. 28:20. And now, my most beloved, are we the people which God chose before the foundation of the world, and made a better testament with us, than he made with Israel, who daily had to offer up sacrifice for sins, by which they could nevertheless not atone? Eph. 1:4; Heb. 7:22,27. For burnt offerings and offering for sin he would not, neither did God have pleasure therein, which were offered by the law; then said he (namely Christ), Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the former, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest then stood daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before (as is written Jer. 31:31). This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin, as Paul writes. Heb. 10:8–18. ## Original source [Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_601) [Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855) [Previous page: A TESTAMENT WRITTEN BY JELIS BERNAERTS TO HIS WIFE, WHEN HE LAY IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE WAS PUT TO DEATH FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD, A. D. 1559.](/en/stories/mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A TESTAMENT WRITTEN BY JELIS BERNAERTS TO HIS WIFE, WHEN HE LAY IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE WAS PUT TO DEATH FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD, A. D. 1559.](/en/stories/mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo/part-3/) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/stories/mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo/part-2/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+A+Testament+Written+By+Jelis+Bernaerts+To+His+Wife%2C+When+He+Lay+In+Prison+At+Antwerp%2C+Where+He+Was+Put+To+Death+For+The+Word+Of+The+Lord%2C+A.+D.+1559.+%C2%B7+Page+2+of+4&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AA+Testament+Written+By+Jelis+Bernaerts+To+His+Wife%2C+When+He+Lay+In+Prison+At+Antwerp%2C+Where+He+Was+Put+To+Death+For+The+Word+Of+The+Lord%2C+A.+D.+1559.+%C2%B7+Page+2+of+4%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fstories%2Fmm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo%2Fpart-2%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-a-testament-written-by-jelis-bernaerts-to-his-wife-when-he-lay-in-prison-at-antwerp-where-he-was-put-to-death-for-the-wo--b00011-o000000%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+1559%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.)