Grace, peace, and the abundant love of our God, with the deep and unspeakable love of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen gift of faith, are revealed to us by God, the merciful dear Father, through Christ Jesus, and given to his saints, whom he, through his fatherly love, has now chosen, called and ordained thereto, yea, delivered from the chains and heavy bonds of the perpetual darkness of unbelief, with which this evil, wicked and perverse world is bound; and has, according to his fatherly mercy, begotten us again unto a living, saving hope, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have the forgiveness of our sins through his blood, that we my dear sheep, should henceforth serve him without fear in all obedience, righteousness and holiness, all the days of our life, 1 Peter 1:3; Col. 1:13,14; Luke 1:74,75. To this end may the merciful dear Father help and strengthen us with the power of his holy Spirit. Amen.
Since you people have requested me, through your letter, and through greetings heard from you at different times, as also previously, by the letter of your dear wife, who also requested the same of me [to write], know that I have frequently purposed in my heart to do so according to my little gift, although I trust it is not really necessary, yet I hope that it will nevertheless assure and confirm you the more. But as I had rather much writing to do, and was engaged also with other matters, I could not very well attend to it; yet I have constantly cherished a father’s care for you, frequently beseeching my God with a fervent heart, according to my weakness, that he would preserve you both, under the shadow of his wings, in this horrible and perilous time full of all wickedness, and fill you more and more with his Holy Spirit, and open the eyes of your understanding, that you, my dear sheep, may learn to know well the snares and outspread nets of the devil, which he now in so manifold ways daily lays for the regenerated, though you are not ignorant of them partly, well knowing his devices; wherefore you have watched until the present time, in which I greatly rejoice, as also in this, that your faith grows and increases in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom I have begotten you and the others, in my bonds, by tears, with the power of the Holy Ghost. And you became followers of me, and of the Lord, and received the word of the Gospel of the cross of Christ with much sighing and godly sorrow, and have obeyed it from the heart, in the form of the doctrine wherein you now stand, so that you have became ensamples to all those in Middelborgh, who want to amend their lives, and take up the cross of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 1:6,7. Not only these, but many saints are made to rejoice, beholding your obedience and humility in the fear of your God, which, I hope will increase and become manifest still more from day to day, so that, my dear sheep, it may be clearly evident, that you are truly born again from above, of God the Father, and renewed by the renewing of your mind. Rom. 12:2. Remember that your conversation must be heavenly, namely, according to the new man, who after God is created in all manner of righteousness and holiness; for since he who has called and chosen you to this service is holy, you must also according to your ability, lead a holy, chaste and godly life in the fear of your God. Eph. 4:24; 1 Peter 1:15. For to whom we have yielded ourselves, his servants we are, as the apostle says: whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto life. Rom. 6:16. God be praised and thanked forever, my dear sheep, that you were the servant and handmaid of sin, but are now washed and cleansed with me, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, whom God the Father shed on us abundantly through Christ our Savior, not for the works of our righteousness which we had done; for we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others; but God, the merciful, dear Father, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, when we were dead in sins and unrighteousness, quickened us together with Christ, or by Christ, his dear Son, through faith. Tit. 3:5; Eph. 2:3, etc.
Therefore, my affectionately beloved sheep, in Christ Jesus, whose souls I love from the heart, and for whom I have a fatherly and godly care, I admonish and beseech you as a prisoner in the Lord, frequently to call to remembrance the day in which the merciful dear Father had compassion upon you, and took the vail from your eyes and hearts, which still hangs before the eyes and hearts of so many thousands, who walk such hard ways and know not the way of the Lord, because they are drunken with the wine of the Babylonian whore, namely, the false doctrines, by which the whole earth is covered; but you, my sheep, have become sober, and come out of her, and I also hope that you will no more touch her uncleanness, lest you perish with her plagues. 2 Cor. 3:16; Wis. 5:7; Rev. 17:2; 18:4.
Hence watch sharply in righteousness, so that you, my dear sheep, be not put to confusion after my departure in this horrible and perilous time, for you can plainly see and hear that now is certainly the time of which Christ Jesus and his holy apostles have so diligently warned us, even as Christ himself said that the love of many should wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matt. 24:12,13. O my dear sheep, ponder the words of Christ, and let them lodge in your hearts. It is indeed not spoken with regard to the world; for in the world the love of God cannot wax cold, since it has not received it, neither knows it; but it is spoken with reference to the true Israelites, and you see that this happens abundantly among them, which is certainly a lamentable matter, as that the devil and spirit of the old serpent has gained such strength and power in the present time, through the manifold, subtle and dexterous snares which he daily lays, to capture anew in his net of unbelief the souls of the regenerated, who have escaped him through the knowledge of God, whom he does capture again, my dear sheep, some of them through false doctrine, not only through the Roman antichrist, since now there are many antichrists in the world. For this reason he has put on another cap, which is no longer like the Roman, well knowing that his game with it will soon be played; hence he has transformed himself, and appears now as an angel of light, and does his diligence to mingle with the children of light, there to set forth his wares anew. For, my dear sheep in the Lord, formerly he came with human ordinances and commandments, but now he knows that men want to hear Scripture; hence he now comes adducing many Scriptures, so that it seems to be all right, even as he presumptuously did with Christ, quoting to him from the prophet David, that it was written that he [God] should send his angels, who should bear him up in their hands, lest he should dash his foot against a stone. Matt. 4:6; Ps. 91:12. See, my dear sheep, he did indeed quote Scripture, just as it read; but it had not been spoken or prophesied with any such meaning; thus these also, though they quote many Scriptures, and presumptuously say: Thus it is certainly written; by which he easily captures in his outspread net the wavering and those whose ears itch to hear something new.
Others he gets through deceitful riches that come to them, which bring men into destruction and perdition, since covetousness is the root of all evil. 1 Tim. 6:9,10. Nevertheless, some yet desire that their temporal possessions increase, and are so busily engaged therewith, that in the meantime they forget the exercise of godliness, and bring upon themselves many sorrows. Alas, my dear lamb, it shall go with them as it went with certain of the Israelites; they that had gathered much had nothing over; and they that had gathered little had no lack. Ex. 16:18. Hence, if we have food and raiment, O that we could therewith be content; for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 1 Tim. 6:7. For we see, dear sheep, that the words of our dear Lord Jesus Christ are true, namely, that the deceitful riches choke and suppress the good seed, namely, the word of God, whereby many also come to shame.
The third class [he deceives], through the loss or spoiling of their goods, who do not rightly consider that, like the merchant-man, they have found the most beautiful pearl, which is certainly well worthy of all this, and far above comparison with it. The fourth, through crosses and suffering, namely, persecution. The fifth, through the entreaties and solicitations of father and mother, friends and relatives. The sixth, through wife and children. The seventh, by their own evil, subtle flesh. The eighth, because they become weary of the way of righteousness, and turn back to Egypt and Sodom, to live at ease and peace for a short time with the Babylonian whore, and afterwards to be tormented with her in everlasting pain.
Behold, my most chosen and beloved sheep, all this is wrought and set in motion by a single spirit, the old serpent, who neither sleeps nor slumbers, but constantly walks about us, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Pet. 5:8. Hence resist him manfully and with a believing heart, and let it not terrify you, though they so lightly forsake the commandments of the Lord. O, regard not the negligent, slothful and unfaithful; but let all faithless servants and false disciples forsake their Lord and Master, yet we hope nevertheless to adhere to him, and you with me, and are ready to suffer whatever he imposes upon us. Ah! what should we do or undertake, if we should forsake his commandments? whither should we flee, where he should not find us? Oh! heaven and earth must obey him with trembling; mountains and caverns must quake before him, and can not stand in his presence; how much more the children of men, who dwell in houses of clay. Ps. 114:7; Job 4:19. O my dear sheep, wherewith shall they excuse or justify themselves when he shall visit them, who now so unfaithfully depart from him?
Alas! alas! it is indeed a lamentable matter, that they have conceived such a loathing for the noble heavenly bread, and that the only medicine by which all the souls of the regenerated have been restored, is become such a deadly enemy to them. Yea, my dear sheep, we may well sigh and lament with the prophet over the destruction of Israel, and over Jerusalem the fair city of God, and this the more because so many Israelites drift into the wilderness of this wicked world, and are again destroyed and slain by the subtle spirit of the serpent. Also, because some of the watchmen are become apostates, and the citizens of Jerusalem, too, are becoming slothful and drowsy, though he who walks around the camp neither rests nor pauses, but diligently seeks day and night, whom he may find idle or sleepy, to sow his tares into the field of the heart, even as he, alas! did not a little in my time, and will still do, the longer the more, according to my opinion. For the more the people of God increase, the more will he reign among them; nor will he rest until he succeed in getting some of them to submit to his will again; and God permits him to torment the pious, and also to seduce them, that the others may be tried. See, my dearest and much beloved children in the Lord, it is therefore my fatherly entreaty and humble request of you, for the sake of the eternal salvation of your souls, that you will henceforth exercise great care that you may remain in the way of righteousness, and always be mindful how you from this time on ought to walk in the house of God, which is the church of God, unto which you have come, whereof I was very glad, when I heard it, and thanked and praised my God for his great fatherly goodness and grace which he has shown you, and has received you as his son and daughter, yea, as heirs of his heavenly riches, on which account you have so voluntarily betaken yourselves under the yoke and rod of the cross, and, with the holy apostle Paul, counted your gain loss, that you might gain your souls in Christ, even as you have done. Hence, take heed to yourselves, and depart or waver neither to the right nor to the left, lest you fall from your own steadfastness, and eternal fire be your inheritance; but as you, my dear sheep, have now put on the Lord Jesus Christ, so continue to walk in him, and remain firmly established and rooted in his doctrine, lest you wax cold or lukewarm in love, and thus lose what you have received and so willingly accepted. 2 Peter 3:17; Col. 2:6; 1 Cor. 4:7.
I also beseech you, by the mercy of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, that you neglect not, to thank and praise God the merciful dear Father day and night, through Christ his dear Son, for the great, unspeakable benefits which he has shown us poor, miserable creatures; and has foreseen and chosen us from our mother’s womb, and this to the end that we should truly live and confess his name among this wicked and adulterous generation, and thus may hold fast unto the end, the beginning of the Christian life. For though, my dearest sheep and much beloved children, you are now become true heirs of eternal life, through obedience to the Gospel, and are written with me and all saints in the book of life, yea, have been brought to an innumerable company of angels, yet, O my dear sheep, he can soon blot us out again, and write our apostate names in the earth (Jer. 17:13), if we do not faithfully, according to our weakness, walk in God’s commandments unto the end of our lives; for we know that the glorious promises given to the pious, and the crown of eternal life, lie neither in the beginning nor in the middle; but he that endures, and continues faithful unto the end, shall receive the same from the hand of the Lord. For it is evident, that it availed the outward Israel (in whom we have a clear example) nothing, my dear sheep, that they by the strong hand of the Lord, had been delivered out of Egypt from the service and bondage of Pharaoh: yea, all the benefits shown them on the way by the faithful, merciful, dear Father, were certainly for the most part lost or in vain. Though he fed them with angels’ food, and gave them all that their soul desired, yet they became impatient and murmured, and did not receive their trial in the fear of God, or in patience, wherefore the Lord was wroth, and destroyed twenty-three thousand at one time. O, my dear, chosen sheep, think on it; it certainly occurred for our instruction and admonition, as the holy apostle says, that we should not fall into the same example of unbelief; for what could it avail us, that we have now also gone out from spiritual Egypt and Sodom, and been delivered from the service of the hellish Pharaoh, through the Red Sea of the blood of Christ Jesus, and been baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, upon the confession of our faith, and have thus, having renounced our own selves, entered into the true Noah’s ark—Christ Jesus. O my dear sheep, it all cannot avail or save us, if we do not observe the fulfilling of the commandments of our God; for the apostle John says: “He that saith, I know God, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4. But you, my most beloved, have always obeyed not only in my presence, but much more in my absence; therefore work out your salvation with fear, and constantly walk as becomes the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, after my departure, that you may always stand fast in one spirit and mind; and be not terrified in any wise by your adversaries, whether from within or without, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of eternal salvation, and that of God. For, my dear sheep, it is not enough that you believe on Christ, but you must also suffer for his name, if not in bonds or imprisonment, then in the daily conflict and temptations, which at the present time arise in many and various forms, and may come upon you still more. Phil. 2:12; 1:27. For God proves and tries his chosen in manifold ways. Bonds and imprisonment are regarded as the greatest trials of faith; but, my dear lamb, I write and confess to you at this time, that to me it is the least, compared with the perils and temptations I tasted and met with in the wilderness of this world, or which I saw before me, so that I often did not know which way to turn, for anxiety of heart and spirit, and sighed and wept to my God on account of the manifold subtle and adroit snares which the old serpent is now laying, fearing that I might yet become entangled in her snares of human weakness, and of the wisdom of my own flesh, because I saw and heard that such high, strong and firmly rooted trees were completely torn up by the roots, and such lofty mountains brought low most miserably. Besides, I felt that in me there dwelt no good thing; moreover, I considered that at his righteous day much chaff will be found, when he will look over his own. O then he will see those who will not have on a wedding garment.
For this reason also I was in great anxiety, fearing that through my daily mistakes and polluted walk I should not be able to stand at his coming; hence I often besought him with tears, that through his fatherly mercy he would make me, poor, miserable man, fit, that I might suffer for his name’s sake, to go into bonds and imprisonment, and even into death, for his holy testimony;—then I should be sure of my soul’s salvation, and not fear to come to shame in the day of his wrath,—whereto he, through his fatherly mercy, has now chosen me and made me worthy, to declare his holy testimony before this evil and adulterous generation, in my bonds; on which account I am greatly rejoiced in my soul, and sincerely regret that I cannot thank or praise my and our merciful dear Father enough for his unspeakably great benefits which he has shown and is still daily showing me miserable creature; for I trust in his fatherly grace and mercy, that he will further fit me and make me worthy to go into death for his holy testimony; for he knows that I have for a long time longed to be at home, and this on account of the manifold dangers I behold in the way. Hence, my affectionately beloved sheep in the Lord, as I still have a fatherly care for you, and love you with a godly love, I cannot forbear, seeing I am still in this tabernacle for a little while, to admonish you a little by my writing, praying you not to think that I rule over you; but I seek to build you up with all kindness unto the full stature of the fullness of Christ, so that you, my dear sheep, may be found a true letter of Christ, not written with ink on paper, but by the Holy Spirit of the living God, whereby you are also sealed unto the day of your redemption, who has written God’s statutes and laws into your hearts and minds, whereby you are now become an epistle of Christ, which is seen and read by all men who behold your holy, chaste conversation in the humility of your heart and depreciation of yourselves. 2 Cor. 3:2; 1 Pet. 3:2.