Another Letter of Jacob the Chandler, Written in Prison

I, Jacob, imprisoned for the Lord's sake, wish my dear brother much grace, mercy and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He would strengthen and enlighten you by His Spirit, according to His pleasure, to the revelation of His knowledge, that you may do His will, so that you, according to the true judgment of God, may be found worthy for His kingdom, through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3, verse 1; Second Timothy 1, verse 8; Ephesians 3, verse 16; Romans 16, verse 27.

Very dear brother, beloved in God, since I have remembered so many of the God fearing by writing, I cannot in the end forget to write a little to you, as a token of the good fellowship which we had together for a time in Christ Jesus, through faith, but which must now for the Lord's sake be broken and severed. For as a wife must, for her husband's sake, leave all the good acquaintance and fellowship which she has besides her husband, and go with him where he pleases, so we must also for the Lord's sake forsake all the good acquaintance and fellowship which we have with anyone apart from the Lord, and this through faith in Christ Jesus and love to Him; for we have not seen Him with our bodily eyes (First Peter 1, verse 8); so it is clear that it must be done by faith. For if we love a thing because we see it, it is not done by faith, since this love comes from sight; but if we love a thing for what we hear of it, the love arises through faith in what we hear of it. So it was with Rebecca. Though she did not know Isaac, and, as may be gathered from the Scriptures, had never seen him, yet through the words of Abraham's servant she so loved him that for his sake she left all that she had in Syria and went to meet Isaac. So we must also for the Lord's sake, through faith and not through sight, forsake everything that we have in this world; not only in spirit, as we may have done for a time, which is the smallest part, but now everything must be forsaken in fact by me, unworthy one, in the hope of meeting Him in the air, and being forever with the Lord. First Thessalonians 4, verse 17.

So Peter writes: "At the appearing of Jesus Christ; whom, having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." First Peter 1, verses 7 to 9. See, dear brothers, then we shall walk no more by faith, being absent from the Lord, but by sight; then the pilgrimage shall be over, then hope shall cease, then we shall receive what we now hope for, namely, we shall inherit all things, for the marriage shall then be at an end, since the bridegroom shall come for His bride, which is His church. Then the vision which John writes of shall be complete: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Revelation 21, verse 1. Mark, dear brothers, he says: "There was no more sea;" for this is widely understood to relate to the present time. But we still have a sea, whether this is meant in a natural or a spiritual sense, however one may understand it. For in the fourth chapter (verse 6) we read of a sea of glass, but as I understand it, John speaks of the natural sea, and of the natural heaven and earth. And at the last day, when heaven and earth, according to the words of Peter, shall be dissolved by fire and be renewed, we find nothing about a natural sea, but it says: "Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells:" for God faithfully keeps His promises. Second Peter 3, verses 12 and 13; Isaiah 65, verse 17. Then His righteousness shall be revealed; for when God shall give to everyone in his body according to what he has done, whether it is good or bad, then God's righteousness shall be plain, in righteousness as well as in unrighteousness, since He will faithfully keep His promise to everyone. Jeremiah 17, verse 10; Second Corinthians 5, verse 10; Revelation 2, verse 23.

And John writes further: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, See, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;" which, dear brothers, has not yet been done, for the tears are still flowing here from the eyes of those who are renewed by Christ. Revelation 21, verses 2 to 4; Second Corinthians 6, verse 16; Jeremiah 24, verse 7; Zechariah 8, verse 8; Isaiah 25, verse 8; Revelation 7, verse 17; John 16, verse 20. But when the righteous shall stand in great boldness before the face of those who have afflicted them (Wisdom of Solomon 5, verse 1), then the tears shall be wiped from the eyes; for there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, "See, I make all things new." Revelation 21, verses 4 and 5; Second Corinthians 5, verse 17. So Peter writes: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening to the coming of the Lord." Second Peter 3, verses 11 and 12. For if we are to inherit the new things, we must be renewed here in spirit; for otherwise we cannot rise to eternal life, since those who have done evil shall come forth to the resurrection of damnation. John 5, verse 29. Therefore Peter writes: "Therefore, beloved, since you look for such things (namely, since you expect to inherit the new heavens and the new earth, according to God's promise), be diligent that you may be found by him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And count the longsuffering of our Lord Jesus Christ as your salvation; for God is longsuffering, and not willing that any should perish, but that they should come to repentance." Second Peter 3, verses 9, 14 and 15; Ezekiel 18, verse 32; First Timothy 2, verse 4. For if the Lord had come eighteen or twenty years ago, it is to be feared that we would not have been ready yet; therefore His having been longsuffering toward us will be for our salvation, if we are now found without spot and blameless in the peace of God.

So, my dear brothers, take heed to yourselves, and prepare yourselves for the Lord; for our dear Lord stands perhaps also before your door, with the ring in His hand, ready to knock. Therefore, dear brothers, prepare your hearts for the Lord, so that when He comes and knocks, you may stand ready to open to Him; for He comes at a time when we least expect Him. So be sober and watch, and gird up the loins of your mind, and always act manfully in truth, as a valiant hero, to oversee our poor little flock, and lead them into the true pasture of the divine Word, that they may be fed; for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Deuteronomy 8, verse 3; Matthew 4, verse 4. So David says:

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want; he feeds me in rich pastures, and leads me to the refreshing waters."

But though Christ is the true Shepherd, He has ordained various ministers in the church (First Corinthians 12, verse 5) to oversee the sheep, and to lead them to the pasture; for though the children have bread, someone must cut it for them. So, dear brother, do the best you can in this time of need, and stay with them, and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that does not fade away. And always see diligently to it that the church is not left uncared for, but that she may always be served with all the ordinances. Give up excessive subtlety and human opinion, and tell the people to act according to God's truth, just as I briefly wrote to our church, and would have written more, if I had had more paper. So, my dear brother, always act wisely, and keep yourself pure; beware of meddling with the strife of others; examine a matter well before you meddle with it, for whoever meddles with the strife of others is like one who takes a dog by the ears. Proverbs 26, verse 17. But whatever you can say to promote peace, say it; do not say what leads to division, for this is not the time for it. But if a false doctrine rises up against the established and well tried articles of the truth, act as a man, yet with kindness and longsuffering; defend the truth, and turn the foxes out of the vineyard of the Lord, so that the tender branches may not be bitten off or torn from the vine, Christ Jesus, but that it may remain sound and fruitful in the Lord.

Therefore, dear brother, exercise yourself in the Scriptures, and give up a part of your temporal business, so that by practice your mind may be trained in discerning good and evil; for temporal business is a great hindrance to spiritual gifts, since by it the thoughts are filled with anxiety and become widely scattered. So, dear brother, remember that the apostle says bodily exercise profits little; for it profits the body, but not the spirit. The Lord has blessed you much according to the flesh, so that you are not pressed by necessity. But godly exercise is profitable for all things, for it profits the spirit and the body, since it cares for both, remembers the inner man, and does everything that leads to his salvation. Such is the nature of godliness; and it does not neglect the body, but knows how to use temporal things with moderation. And it casts its care upon the Lord, knowing that He cares for it. So the apostle says that it has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Therefore, dear brother, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth; and do not be like a mole, whose mouth is always digging and rooting in the earth, and which is moreover so blind that it hardly sees the heavens. Not, dear brother, that I say you are like this; by no means, for I have better confidence concerning you. But when we examine ourselves thoroughly, we find that we are of such a nature that we are earthly minded and blind in divine things; and though we are enlightened through Christ Jesus, so that we have obtained sight in divine things and been renewed through Him, we nevertheless sometimes follow our inborn nature too much, and by that nature faith must sometimes bow and show its back, for it is crushed down by the inborn nature, which through unbelief and lack of confidence toward God still bears its fruits; and from this it comes that men make shipwreck in the faith; for when two vessels that are enemies to each other meet at sea, one is seen to conquer the other. So also faith and unbelief, coupled with man's nature, are enemies to each other, so that they conquer each other. So if we do not firmly resist by faith with the inner man, we shall in the course of time be overcome; for unbelief has much support: in the first place, from Satan, who works in the children of unbelief (Ephesians 2, verse 2), and in the second place, from our own flesh. Therefore consider, dear brother, if a city is betrayed from within, how great a resistance must be made before the enemy can be put down and the city held in peace. So we too must show great diligence before we overcome all these enemies. In the first place, our own flesh, which is prone to all evil, for it lusts against the Spirit. Galatians 5, verse 17. So we must notice how prudent the kings of this world are. When they feel that their enemies are beginning to stir, they make provision and strengthen themselves, to resist those enemies. But we, who like kings and men ought to be prudent in what is good, and simple as children in what is evil, go to meet our enemies when we feel that they are beginning to stir; but it is not done through faith, but through unbelief. That is, when we feel that our own nature, which is earthly minded, is not content with a fair profit, but would rather have still more, for it loves money and so will not soon be satisfied with it, we go to meet it: we set up two or three additional looms, and do not rightly consider how hurtful this is to our faith, and how widely our thoughts are thereby scattered; so that we become much more concerned with temporal things than with spiritual things, and thus the spiritual gifts decrease when they ought to increase, and we have no desire to offer our hand to the flock of Christ, and to feed it with what we have received from the Lord. Truly the apostle says: "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." First Timothy 6, verses 6 and 7; Hebrews 13, verse 5.

And now, dear brother, though we think, I do not seek to lay up treasures, I do not want to keep the gain for myself alone, consider also that we are not for ourselves, for we are servants of a great king. Now if you were a king, and had servants, and appointed one to be your chamberlain and another to be your halberdier, suppose the chamberlain should forsake the office in which you wanted him to serve you, and should want to be a halberdier; consider whether you would be well satisfied with that servant. So also, dear brother, the Lord has appointed you His servant, that you should serve Him with the spiritual gift which you have received from Him; and if you want to forsake that, and busy yourself with what is temporal, to serve Him with that, consider whether you will please the Lord by it. And if you give as your reason that it is not your office, know that not all who exhort the church must be teachers; this is no rule laid down in the Scriptures. Therefore, my dear and much beloved brother, take heed to yourself, and surrender yourself to the Lord, and stay with the church; this I ask of you with all my heart, that the little flock may remain together. I hope the Lord will help and keep you until the proper time, if you seek Him with all your heart; lay it to heart, this I ask of you. I should have written you more about it, but there is no opportunity. I hope to write you another letter, if the Lord grants the time; you may lay that to heart as well. With this I commend my dear brother to the Lord, and bid you a cordial adieu. Receive my letter in good part, for it has not been written only for your sake; I wish that it might be read by M., or at M.'s, and by all our ministers.

Written in my prison to my dear brother, D. B., by me,

JACOB THE CHANDLER,

On the 29th and 30th of May, in the year 1569.

Alle die lijden na den Wille Godts, wilt hierop

mercken,

Die bevelen haer Zielen den getrouwen Schepper

met goede Wercken. (First Peter 4, verse 19).