Another Letter From Mr. Jelis Matthijss To His Wife.

It seemed as though the bailiff wanted to say: “Yes, it comes through you;” however, he did not give utterance to it, and went away with the other, and our God was not far from us, with the consolation of his Holy Spirit, and made my heart joyful, so that I could not refrain from singing a hymn.

In the afternoon we were given a bit of a candle, and I commenced to write this, which I should have liked to send to you before night, but I was not able to do so; hence accept it in love.

O my affectionately beloved lamb, I think our hour is fast approaching; for it seems that the ruler of this world will come this night. Hence I beseech you by the bleeding wounds of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and for the sake of the eternal salvation of your soul, that you will never let it leave your heart, how I walked before you; and when my blood—which I hope you will bring up in the fear of God—has attained to years of understanding, admonish him with it, and do you, my most beloved, not forget it either; but let my blood be a perpetual testament and memorial to you, how I, according to my feeble ability, have been an example to you. Still, I would that I had been able to walk more holily and blamelessly before you; but you know that according to my feeble ability I sought to please the Lord, and, according to my weakness, walked with boldness in the way of the cross, which it is my heart’s desire, that also you will do; and do not forsake it; but it is my fatherly entreaty, that you give more diligence to make your holy calling and election surer and surer; for the day of the Lord is not far off, in which he will reward every one according to his works. Then, my faithful lamb, he will find the lukewarm slothful and heedless, 652 who now bear the name of Christians, and do indeed bear the vessels, but have not the oil of love and righteousness in them. Hence, my flesh, my blood, I entreat you kindly, not to regard the lukewarm, slothful, heedless, and fearful; but prove yourself, and daily examine yourself, whether you are truly walking in the faith of the Son of God. If you thus examine yourself, you may prove and know what is yet necessary for you to put off. 2 Corinthians 13:5.

O always strive for humility, since a humble heart is in the best condition for self-examination; for such an one constantly bewails his weakness and insignificance before the Lord, fearing lest at last he might yet come to shame in this perilous, fearful time, through the manifold and subtle snares and nets; wherefore such a regenerate child of God has a heartfelt desire to be at home, and to be delivered from this miserable, spotted garment of the flesh, knowing full well that he is walking amidst great, perils; hence he rejoices when he hears of the cross of Christ; he is not minded, lightly to flee before the ungodly, except when necessity demands it. But the lukewarm, slothful and heedless, who sometimes think that they are rich enough, and have need of nothing, they in the meanwhile, as soon as they hear aught that the ungodly only form a compact to extirpate the righteous, are greatly disconcerted or are more fainthearted, and this sometimes is not yet all, but they come to their neighbor, whose heart they ought to encourage, and make him fainthearted too.

But you, my faithful lamb, be courageous, this I heartily entreat you, and look not to the aforementioned, nor to those who now so unfaithfully depart from the Lord, whether through cross, or persecution, or false doctrine. O, if they previously had daily examined themselves, and had had a taste for heavenly things, they would not have suffered themselves to be deceived so easily, or have dreaded the cross so much; but they would heartily desire to confess the name of their God among this wicked and perverse generation, and entreat their Lord from their hearts, that they might be strangers in the land, to the praise of their God, and the edification of their neighbor.

Further, my dear, faithful, beloved, and chosen wife, whose soul I love as dearly as my own, it is yet my Christian and fatherly request, that you will take care all the days of your life, that you may come to the place where I shall soon be, so that we may not be separated in the eternal habitations. O that it might be God’s holy will and pleasure, and be possible, that I might drink the cup of bitterness for you. Yea, though it were thrice, I think I would most willingly do it, from the heart, so that you might also be saved.