# A Letter Written By Jan Block.

16th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: A LETTER WRITTEN BY JAN BLOCK.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

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, surpass328
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.

O dear brethren and watchmen over the house
of the Lord, do not regard the person; for those
that are young in the understanding of the Christian
life can be ruined in no way more effectively,
than by not diligently exhorting them with the
word of the Lord, to become new creatures, and
to humility, and to lead a godly life. O how I have
experienced this within my own self, that so few
are found at this time who are truly converted and
renewed, and rightly follow the life and the footsteps
in which Christ went before us. O if they felt
it, as I now in my last time feel it, they would be
afraid of speaking or thinking of anything, except
chiefly of the law of the Lord. O dear friends, now
only I understand it, and very often think of one
of our three sisters, who wrote her son Tobias a
testament, in which she speaks, I think, of improving
our time, and that we shall deplore nothing
more, than that we have so little improved our
time, but often spent it in frivolity. O dear friends,
I would from the heart, that those that are guilty
in this matter, or are found slothful, could feel their
present time as I now feel in my heart my past
time, and am accused [in my conscience] concerning
it; you would certainly be found, in godly exercise,
to be renewed in the power of the Spirit, into
a new, spiritual life, which is like the image of him,
who poured out his holy blood for us poor sinners;
then we should indeed show forth the mind and
nature of Christ in words and in works. We should
then, according to Matt. 5, so let our light shine,
and be such a salt of the earth, that we should indeed
have the greater praise before this adulterous
generation; yea, we should shine forth with a clear
light in the church of God. Even as the light of
the candle is improved by trimming it, so if we
would in our short time, trim our body in word and
deed from our carnal body, in words and in works,
yea, in dress and worldliness, then our lights would
certainly be found to give forth a clearer light.
Hence since every one sees, how many there are
found to be darkness, to the reproach of the Gospel,
we see here, that so many in this last time, without
affliction, become alienated from God, and wax cold;
that, as the Lord says, when the Son of man shall
come, whether he shall then find faith on the earth.
O dear friends, though one may guard himself so
854as not to be punished with excommunication, do
you think that one is then also a new creature before
God, truly according to his Father’s image,
truly dead unto all sin? O no; I think differently;
and this through the grace of the Lord. But this
is my last time, to all appearance, and I also make
no other calculation, than to surrender my body
from day to day for the testimony of the word of
our dear Lord, to suffer a little through his grace,
and to strive manfully, even unto death, yea, unto
the death by fire, or whatever my enemies will, as
the Lord permits them. I have commended myself
to the Lord of my salvation and strength, and my
helper in time of need.

O dear brother and sister in the Lord, I have
written this letter, my little gift, to you most beloved,
with abundant tears, out of love. In short, I
beseech you, dear brother, and my cordially beloved
sisters in the Lord, from the depth of my soul, that
you will everywhere with one accord, bow your
knees before God, and lift up holy hands to the
Lord, and entreat the almighty Father for me poor
weak servant, that he will give me strength, that I
may finish it joyfully, to his holy praise, and to
my salvation, undismayed unto death, as I hope
and trust, without my knowledge. And it behooves
you to write, according to ancient, holy custom,
that the strong pray for the weak, especially in
peril of death. I pray the almighty Lord according
to my weak ability for you dear brethren and
sisters in the Lord, that he will keep you that are
still in a good state; and those who have erred or
sinned in anything, that they may truly confess
their sins before God, with weeping, and be converted
in time. My cordially beloved fellow believers
and dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, I your
poor unworthy brother—yet through the grace of
the Lord I hope to be worthy—would have written
you concerning what happened to me before the
lords; but I cannot put it all here, nor have I much
to write concerning it; for, after I had been confined
for a week, they had me brought above; then
I confessed my faith; since that time I have had
very great conflict, and shall have as long as I
am in this tabernacle. I hope to write you more.
Dear brethren, if you should find any words that
may lack a letter or two, or if the spelling or
writing be bad, excuse me, for my reason and
memory have lately left me much, and this through
great sorrow, to state the reason is not necessary;
but my mind is firm and of good cheer in the Lord,
and I am as courageous as a young lion. I cannot
thank the Lord enough for his great goodness
which he daily sends me, sometimes by great sorrow,
and sometimes by great joy, yea, that I at
times think that I am in heaven; however, for the
most part I have tribulation, the Lord be thanked
for it. Dear brethren and sisters in the Lord,
heartily pray the Lord for me; by the grace of God
I shall do likewise, according to my small ability.

Written by me at the Nimeguen in prison, where
I unworthy one was confined for the word of our
dear Lord, which is tried and pure. The almighty
Lord mightily strengthen my mind by his grace,
when I shall have to render up my life, who have
not the strength to finish it to the praise of my
Lord before wicked men. Adieu, my dear brethren
and sisters in the Lord. I bid you most beloved
good night, to wait for you all where I hope to
get by the grace of the Lord, in the eternal joy.

Jan Block.





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