# Of The Greater Danger There Is At This Time, Than In The Bloody And Distressing Times Of The Martyrs.4

Date not assigned · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: OF THE GREATER DANGER THERE IS AT THIS TIME, THAN IN THE BLOODY AND DISTRESSING TIMES OF THE MARTYRS.4



These are sad times, in which we live; nay, truly,
there is more danger now than in the time of our
fathers, who suffered death for the testimony of the
Lord. Few will believe this, because the great majority
look to that which is external and corporeal,
and in this respect it is now better, quieter and more
comfortable; few only look to that which is internal
and pertains to the soul, and on which everything
depends, “for what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Matt. 16:26.

These times are certainly more dangerous; for
then Satan came openly, through his servants, even
at noon-day, as a roaring lion, so that he could be
known, and it now and then was possible to hide
from him; besides, his chief design then was to destroy
the body: but now he comes as in the night,
or in the twilight, in a strange but yet pleasing form,
and, in a two-fold way, lies in wait to destroy the
soul; partly, to trample under foot, and annihilate
entirely, if this were possible, the only saving Christian
faith; partly to destroy the true separated
Christian life which is the outgrowth of faith. Ps.
91:5,6.

He reveals himself on the one hand as an angel of
light, 2 Cor. 11:14,15, as a kind, pleasant, yea,
even divine messenger, with humble countenance,
downcast eyes, plain garb, and living in seclusion
from the throng of the worldly-minded, even as the
holiest people, yea, the martyrs of God, formerly
did. His words are modest, trembling and full of
contrition—seemingly coming from deep meditation,
inward fear and apprehension, lest he might speak
amiss or untruthfully. Meanwhile, and before one
is aware of it, he seizes hold and tears like a wolf in
sheep’s clothing, robbing the innocent lambs of
Christ of their precious faith, which, he pretends to
be of small importance, but without which faith it is
impossible to please God, Heb. 11:6, nay, without
which we, according to the words of Christ shall be
condemned, Mark 16:16; for (says Paul), whatsoever
is not of faith is sin, Rom. 14:23.

It grieves us to the heart that we must live to see
these times, and therefore speak in this wise. O
Lord, strengthen our faith! help thy weak, trusting
lambs, that they may not be led into error, nor
moved from the foundations of the most holy faith.

On the other hand, through his instigation, the
world now reveals itself very beautiful and glorious,
more than at any preceding time, in a threefold
pleasing form—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life.5 Almost all men run
after her, to worship her as a queen supreme; but
all are deceived thereby; yea, many who have
drunk of the poisoned wine of her lusts from the
golden cup of her iniquities and deceptions, die a
spiritual death.

As the first design is aimed at the faith, so this is
directed against the true Christian life. Here lies
great danger. Who shall escape these snares? He
that would at no time be taken unawares by it, must
indeed be cautious and watchful. But our very flesh
9seems prone to it. Here must be fasting, watching,
praying, and calling upon God for help, otherwise
there is no escape.

Many of the ancients who supposed that they had
been circumspect and observed their duty, were
deceived hereby6; some were lulled into a careless
sleep, so that they paid no heed to themselves or to
their vocation; others were brought to despair of
the divine truth; others were drawn away totally
from God; some died a spiritual death; others died
both spiritually and bodily; and some have plunged
themselves helter-skelter into the abyss of the disfavor
of God, to be punished by him soul and body
and forever.

These things which we tell you are no riddles or
blind speeches, for we speak the truth, or the word
of God must be false; but as the word of God cannot
lie, what we have said is certain and infallible
since God in his word bears witness of it, yea,
declares it emphatically and abundantly. Other
histories which make mention of this, we pass by in
silence and dismiss them altogether, because we do
not hold them in equal estimation with the holy
Scriptures. It was the world and its lusts that of
old caused all the great calamities of which we have
spoken; and not only this, but it has also caused
thousands who live in the various cities, countries,
kingdoms, empires, yea, on the face of the whole
earth, to mourn, weep and wail, on account of their
natural misery as well as on account of their experiencing
the wrath of God in their souls because of the
magnitude and enormity of the sins perpetrated by
them.

It certainly was through worldly lusts that the old
world perished; that Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim,
and Admah were consumed, overthrown and totally
destroyed by fire from Heaven; that in forty years,
through serpents, fire, and other plagues, the wanton
and lustful people of Israel perished to the
number of over six hundred thousand in the wilderness;
and that the mighty maritime cities, Zidon
and Tyrus, whose ships were trimmed with embroidered,
silken sails from Egypt; whose rowers sat
upon benches of ivory; where incalculable riches
were bought and sold, and, from carnal incentives,
almost inconceivable arts practiced were reduced to
a heap of stones and so leveled to the ground, that
the fishermen stretch out their nets to dry on the
rocks upon which these cities stood. Gen. 7; Matt.
24:37,38; Luke 17:26,27; 2 Peter 2:5.—Gen.
19:24,25; Is. 13:19; Jer. 50:40; Hos. 11:8;
Amos 4:11; Luke 17:28,29; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude
7.—compare Num. 1:2,3,46 with Num. 14:22,23.
Also Num. 11:1 and 16:31–35; 21:6; Jude 5.—Is.
23:4,5; Ezek. 27:26–28; 28, the whole
chapter.

I will not now speak of Jerusalem, Chorazin,
Bethsaida, Capernaum, and other mighty licentious
and luxurious cities, which, with all their inhabitants
who had in this respect sinned against God,
have borne his wrath, and felt, to their destruction,
the plagues of his afflicting hand; for this would
consume too much time.7 O awful judgments of
God! O pernicious worldly-mindedness! O corroding
and cankering luxury, that draggest after
thee such a train of unspeakable miseries! Help,
Lord, that our soul be delivered from all these
dangers.

But what danger would there be, if none but the
open enemies of God and his holy truth were guilty
in this matter? What harm could be done, if they
alone, and no others, would arouse and call down
upon themselves the wrath of God? For then
every pious and serious soul would beware of their
example as of a savage beast, venomous serpent, or
deadly basilisk. But now such is the state of things
that many commoners and such as are not total
strangers to religion or the worship of God; who,
as they say, would fain be saved; and who, therefore,
though they are not truly enlightened, glorify
and praise God and his word with their mouth,
show nevertheless (to the seduction of the simple)
that the world is their dear friend, yea lies nearest
to their heart, since most of their works are directed
to its service, that they may thereby partake of its
glittering but deceptive reward.

Hence arises that shameful and vast commerce
which extends far beyond the sea into other parts of
the world, Ezek. 27, but which notwithstanding
cannot satisfy those who love it, but, on the contrary,
brings great danger, that that which has
already been gotten, may be lost, others defrauded,
and they themselves, both in soul and body, stripped
and robbed of their possessions.

Numerous large, expensive and ornamented
houses, country-seats of splendid architecture and
provided with towers, parks magnificent as a paradise,
and other embellished pleasure-grounds, which
are seen on every hand indicate this in no small
degree. Dan. 4:29,30.

The wearing of clothes from foreign countries,
whether of foreign materials, uncommon colors or of
strange fashions as obtain in the course of time
according to the custom of the openly worldly-minded
(which are as changeable as the moon), and
which custom is followed by many humble and
seemingly plain people, confirms greatly what we
have before said. Gen. 35:2; Zeph. 1:8; Is.
3:16–24.

The giving and attending great dinners, lavish
banquets and wedding-feasts (though one may never
be found in taverns or tippling-houses), where everything
is in profusion, and where the beneficent gifts
of the Lord which should not be used otherwise than
with great thankfulness, and of which a portion naturally
belongs to the poor, are squandered and consumed
without the least necessity, even by those
who are considered sober and temperate, is an
incontrovertible evidence of a sensual and wanton
heart; and proves also that those who have much
to do with these things, cannot be exculpated from
living after the flesh; for which carnal life certainly
has no promise of salvation, but, on the contrary,
10many severe threatenings of the wrath and displeasure
of God, nay, of eternal damnation, are recorded
in the blessed leaves of the word of God, which
contains nothing but the truth. Esth. 1:3–8;
Dan. 5:1–3; Luke 12:19,20; 16:19.

O how different is this from the life of a true
Christian, who has forsaken himself and his lusts!
How great the step that is between their walk and
that of the holy martyrs, who delivered up, not only
their carnal desires, but also their bodies and lives,
unto death for the Lord’s sake! But how great a
difference will also be between the two classes afterwards!
when the former, having had their good
things in this life, shall be shut out from the true,
heavenly riches, but the latter, because they from
love to God, renounced and abandoned their possessions,
which might have led them into sin, be admitted
to the true enjoyment of the heavenly riches
and pleasures, and that for ever and ever! Mal.
3:18.

Here shall obtain what is recorded concerning the
end of the luxurious rich man and that of poor Lazarus:
that the rich man, when he saw Lazarus in
Abraham’s bosom, while he himself was in hell,
received this answer to his doleful lamentation:
“Son, remember, that thou in thy lifetime receivedst
thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things:
but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.”
Luke 16:25. Appropriate is here also Wis. 5:1,2.

Nevertheless, these and similar evil examples are
constantly presented to our eyes, and they are the
more pernicious and dangerous for the reason that
some worldly-minded people pronounce them to be
non-essential, unimportant for either good or evil,
and therefore, allowable; while it is the same with
them as with the fruit from the tree of knowledge,
which stood in the midst of Paradise, and was pleasant
to the eyes, but deadly in the use, for whoever
ate of it, had to die, Gen. 2:17; or with the apples
which grow in the land of Sodom, on the border of
the dead sea; which possess a beautiful red appearance,
but contain, as some have written, only dust
and ashes, and are inedible, nay, even deleterious
to health. Bijb. Naemb. edition 1632, fol. 881,
col. 2, concerning the name Sodom, ex Philippo
Melanchthone. Also Bernh. Bredenb. in Tract,
super Siddim. Also H. Buntung, Itinerarium
sacræ scripturæ, edition 1642, lib. 1, pag. 62, col.
2, etc.

O that Satan would show himself, as he really is,
and that the world, too, might come forth without
disguise or mask; then certainly no one possessing
reason would allow himself to be deceived by them.
For in Satan nothing would be seen but deadly
snares, traps and murdering daggers for the soul,
poisoned arrows wherewith to destroy everything
good in man, through unbelief, apostasy from God,
impenitent obduracy, and despair; which are followed
by a train made up of the fears of hell and
horrors of damnation. In the world men would
perceive nothing but vanity, mingled with much
vexation, sorrow, grief and misery, and this in such
abundance, that if as many tears could be wept over
it, as there is water in all the sea and all the rivers,
yet the weight of the true sorrow that springs from
them it could not be adequately expressed, for they
draw after them not only temporal but also everlasting
miseries.

But, O how lamentable! all this is hid under a
beautiful appearance. Satan appears to be a prince
or king, and the world a noble princess or queen.
The servants and servant-maids who follow them as
pages and maids of honor, appear as cavaliers and
ladies, reveling in joy and delight; though, as
regards the soul, they are poor and deformed, yea,
meaner than beggars, and without the true joy
which delights the upright soul in God.8

There is, therefore, great danger of being deceived.
O, ye upright children of God, be on your
guard.9 Let your simplicity be coupled with prudence.
Your faith as well as your life are the objects
aimed at. If Satan gain the mastery over you,
your precious faith which has been commended to
your keeping as dearly as your soul, is ruined. If
ye are overcome by the world, it will soon put an
end to your Christian and virtuous life, without
which latter the best of faith is of no avail. Care,
therefore, my dear friends, equally well for both, for
the one is as important as the other. Faith without
the corresponding life, or the life without the faith,
can, will, and may not avail before God. They are
like two witnesses, who must agree, and of whom
the one cannot stand or be received without the
other.

Knowing, then, that we must care for both, there
remains nothing for us but to do it; however, this
work must certainly not only be begun, but also
finished, according to the example of the steadfast
martyrs of God; with which finishing, whether it be
brought about in a natural or a violent manner, according
as liberty or persecution brings about we
must comfort ourselves, since it is certain that the
crown is not to be found in the beginning or in the
middle, but at the end.10

But as necessary as it is to finish well, so necessary
it is also to begin well, and, having begun, to go on
well; for without a good beginning and a good
progress it is impossible to attain to a good end.

We speak to you, then, most beloved in the
Lord, who have begun with us; received the same
faith with us; and with us as a token of this have
been baptized.

Surely, we have made a vow to the Lord, which
we cannot recall, as David sings: “Offer unto
God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the
most High.” Ps. 50:14.

We have, through faith, received Christ, the Son
of God, as our Prophet, Priest, King, Shepherd,
11
Friend, and Bridegroom; and in this we must go
on and grow stronger. This, Paul teaches us, saying:
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up
in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught,” etc. Col. 2:6,7. Hereby we have come
from the darkness of ignorance to the true light of
knowledge; which we are commanded to keep in
perpetual remembrance. In this direction tend the
words: “But call to remembrance the former days,
in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a
great fight of afflictions;” etc. Heb. 10:32. In
short: “Nevertheless, whereto we have already
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind
the same thing.” Phil. 3:16. “Building up yourselves
on your most holy faith, praying in the holy
Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life.” Jude 5:20. “Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding
joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and
majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.
Amen.” Verses 24 and 25. Is. 40:30,31; Phil.
4:13.

We would now commend you, beloved brethren
and sisters, to the Lord and to the word of his
grace, which is able to build you up, and to give
you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
Our work which has been done for your
benefit, is now finished in this respect; that you
may make good use of it, is our friendly desire.
Remember us always in your prayers, until we depart
this life; Phil. 1:23, that God may be gracious
unto us now and in eternity. We hope, on our
part, to do the same for you. O that God would
grant, that we all, without one missing, might behold
one another, face to face, in the kingdom of
God! 1 Cor. 13:12.

Meantime we rejoice in the salvation of the Lord;
for it sometimes seems to us, as if Heaven had
come down upon earth; or that we were ascending
from earth to heaven, 2 Cor. 12:1–12, etc.; or
that we, who are still among men, held communion
with God and his holy angels; or that eternal heavenly
joy and glory were offered to us; nay, that we
had a foretaste of those things which mortal eye
hath never seen, nor ear heard, nor heart experienced,
in this life.11

We walk no longer upon earth with our thoughts;
nevertheless, we are still encompassed by a cloud of
earth, a body of clay, a heavy load of the soul. O,
that we were free from it, and that our soul, liberated
from this load, might return to God in heaven,
her true origin! like a freed dove which has been
confined in a strange place, returns to her nest and
abode. But we must wait for this until the time
which God has appointed, comes.

Let us be patient together, then, most beloved in
the Lord, till the day come, which, if we remain
faithful unto the end, will assuredly bring us that
which we here wait for in hope. Then the tears,
which we, sighing and longing for the highest salvation
of God, have wept here, shall surely be wiped
away from our eyes; then shall we no longer see
through a glass, darkly, but face to face; then shall
the heavenly be shown us no longer in thought or
in spirit, but it shall be given us, and we be made
participants of it, by experience alone, in truth and
in deed. O great and precious subject! we can go
no further: our reason cannot comprehend it; our
earthly tongue cannot express it!

Yours very affectionally in the Lord,

Th. J. van Braght.

Dort, July the 25th, 1659.





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