# The Seventh Letter From Jan Wouterss, To His Father And Mother. · Page 1 of 3 [Previous page: THE SIXTH LETTER FROM JAN WOUTERSS, TO HIS ONLY DAUGHTER IN PARTICULAR.](/en/stories/mm-the-sixth-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-only-daughter-in-particular/part-3/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: THE SEVENTH LETTER FROM JAN WOUTERSS, TO HIS FATHER AND MOTHER.](/en/stories/mm-the-seventh-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-father-and-mother/part-2/) The eternal merciful God, full of all comfort, grant you, my dearest, beloved father, and my dearest, venerable mother, his grace through Christ, and confirm the love of you both through his Holy Spirit; so that you may pass this short time to the praise of God, as a light to the world, a pattern, to your children, and to the salvation of your souls. Amen. After this my cordial wish, I beseech and exhort your love, that you henceforth yield your members as weapons of righteousness, and not as formerly in the old man; but mortify the old Adam; that is, put off the old man with his evil deeds, and put on the new man, in true righteousness and holiness, as the holy Scriptures teach, which serve us to eternal life. Rom. 6:13; Col. 3:9,10. For his commandment is life everlasting. And remember, how diligently you walked in the commandments of men, by which they have made the commandment of God of none effect for themselves; they also worship God in vain, teaching and observing the commandments of men, which have no promise in the Scriptures, but shall be rooted up, because our heavenly Father has not planted them. Yea, the same is accursed by Paul. Gal. 1:8. O that you may now also be found very diligent, yea, much more diligent yet, in the unadulterated truth of God, which is revealed to you both through the grace of God, through Christ, in your old age. O this is such a great joy to me, that the Lord has spared you both so long, and that I have seen the day that my beloved father, and my beloved mother, and my only brother (I hope the best in regard to my dear sisters) have had their blind eyes enlightened, so that they are now able to distinguish light from darkness, that is, evil from good, and are determined to forsake that which is evil, and do what is good. If you go on together in this, and persevere unto the end, I hope that we shall rejoice with one another in the resurrection of life. When the righteous shall be raised up, O consider what great gladness and joy we shall then have, when the dear father, mother, and their children, shall hear the voice of our Bridegroom, saying: “Come, ye beloved, and possess the kingdom of my Father. But, dearest father and mother, brother and sisters, you must first think that Christ before that said: Narrow is the way and strait is the gate which leadeth unto eternal life. As the prophet Esdras testifies, who speaks of a city full of all good things, to which leads a way which is but the width of a man’s footstep: on one side is water, and on the other fire; how is one to receive this city for an inheritance, except he first pass through the strait? 2 Esd. 7:6. Hence Christ, the supreme Prophet (who could well foresee the wickedness of the world) said: Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake, and this because they have known neither me nor the Father. Matt. 10:22; John 16:3. He further says: Because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you, for the world loveth his own. 15:19. Further: If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also; if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call you? 15:20; Matt. 10:25. For the servant is not better than his lord; hence, he that would follow Christ in order to get where he is must deny himself, daily take up his cross, and follow him in affliction, for he further says: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Ye shall (he also says in the same chapter) weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy, which no man shall be able to take away. 873 From this it is sufficiently obvious, that the way is very narrow for the flesh, which must remain here; this must be ventured, or one cannot be worthy of being a disciple of Christ. But I trust that with Jacob we shall all desire the beautiful Rachel, namely, the kingdom of heaven, but this cannot be, we must first have Leah with her running eyes. For our trying, also the head was tried, who had done no sin; how then should not the members be tried? for then only he thoroughly sees whether a man fears, loves and trusts him from the heart; whether he does not love his life more than his salvation. Concerning this necessary trial to which many saints of God were subjected, we have many examples in the holy Scriptures; as Abel, Jacob, Moses, David, Job, the three young men in the furnace, Daniel, Susannah, the seven brothers with their mother, many prophets, apostles, and many saints after them, and also in my time. ## Original source [Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_873) [Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855) [Previous page: THE SIXTH LETTER FROM JAN WOUTERSS, TO HIS ONLY DAUGHTER IN PARTICULAR.](/en/stories/mm-the-sixth-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-only-daughter-in-particular/part-3/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: THE SEVENTH LETTER FROM JAN WOUTERSS, TO HIS FATHER AND MOTHER.](/en/stories/mm-the-seventh-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-father-and-mother/part-2/) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/stories/mm-the-seventh-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-father-and-mother/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+The+Seventh+Letter+From+Jan+Wouterss%2C+To+His+Father+And+Mother.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+3&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AThe+Seventh+Letter+From+Jan+Wouterss%2C+To+His+Father+And+Mother.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+3%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fstories%2Fmm-the-seventh-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-father-and-mother%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-the-seventh-letter-from-jan-wouterss-to-his-father-and-mother%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.)