THE SIXTH LETTER FROM MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN, AND BELIKEN HIS WIFE, TO ADAM V. L. AND HIS WIFE.

I Maerten van der Straten, and Beliken van der Straten, my most dearly beloved wife, both of us prisoners for the word of the Lord, wish our very dear brother and sister much grace and mercy from God our heavenly Father, who dwells on high, in a light unto which, as Paul writes, no man can approach. We moreover wish, that you may have the love of his Son, that you may be a light for them that sit in darkness, and that you may shine as a bright morning star among the blind that err in the way, so that you may hereafter, as Isaiah writes, behold the King in his beauty, and meet with that perfect and unspeakable joy and gladness that shall endure forever and ever. This we wish our dear friends in the Lord, with all the strength of our souls, out of an affectionate heart.

A cordial, loving greeting to you our very dear brother Adam V. L., and to Mariken, your very dear wife. We two prisoners, as said above, love you, as Paul says, with a godly love, and out of a pure heart, as Peter writes; this the almighty Lord knows, who penetrates every thing with eyes which are as a flame of fire.

Further, after all proper and Christian salutation, let me, please, inform your love, that I and my dearly beloved lamb, whose hand I took with tears of joy, are still, the Lord be praised forever, in tolerably good health according to the flesh, and according to the spirit, God be praised, our mind is still fixed, by the help of the Lord to prefer with Eleazar, an honorable death to an ignominious life. But, dear brother and sister in the Lord, we are also confident beyond a doubt, that you both are well in soul and body, ready to keep the covenant you made with Almighty God, concerning which we are exhorted by Moses, that we should always be mindful of the covenant which we once made with the Lord of lords. Deut. 4:9. And Paul instructs us still more fully, that we are to call to remembrance the day in which we were illuminated. Heb. 10:32. The merciful King, and God of gods, who according to the word of the prophet, in time of need gives bread, and in thirst water, and in the day of tribulation forgives sin, may strengthen and confirm you and us all with his Holy Spirit, that we, as Luke writes, may serve him in true righteousness and holiness all the days of our lives. And let us, O dear friends, always have the Lord before our eyes, even as David, who says: “I have set the Lord always before me.” Ps. 16:8. And again he says: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” 24:4,5. Hence, dear friends, let us always seek the face of the Lord with humility, and take good heed to our vocation, redeeming the time, because the days are evil, as Paul says (Eph. 4:1; 5:16); for the tongues of the builders of the tower of Babel have come to disagree. For David says: “Violence and strife are in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” Ps. 55:9–11. And, as the prophet says: “They fear not God; for they lay their hands on his peaceable ones, and break his covenant,” verses 19,20. “Their mouth,” as David says, “is smoother than butter, but they have war in their hearts: their words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords,” verse 21. Hence, O dearly beloved friends, let us always watch circumspectly in the spirit, and fear our God from the heart, and cleave to him with prayer and supplication, even as the royal prophet David says: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice,” verses 16,17.

Thus, dear friends, when you are distressed, call upon the Lord, and do not let the waters of Marah (Ex. 15:23) become too bitter for you, but remember, that according to Paul’s words we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Even as also Christ teaches us in the Gospel, saying: “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matt. 11:12. Hence, dear brother and sister, let us willingly bear our cross, and give our back to the smiters, and not regard it however great the heat of the sun, for the servant is not above his master or lord; for if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Matt. 10:25. For Peter teaches us saying: “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, 914 excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. 1 Pet. 4:1–3.