When Jan Wouters van Kuijck was in prison, suffering horrible physical persecution and preparing for his execution because of his belief that salvation was a matter of personal faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was able to write several letters and have them smuggled out and to their intended recipients. One was to his captors in which he said, “I confess one Lord, one faith, one God, one Father of all, who is above all, and in all believers. I believe only what the holy Scriptures say, and not what men say.”
He also wrote a letter to his young daughter in which he encouraged her – “Diligently search the holy scriptures, and you will find that we must follow Christ Jesus and obey Him unto the end; and you will also truly find the little flock who follow Christ. And this is the sign: they avoid that which is evil, and delight in doing what is good; they hunger and thirst after righteousness; they are not conformed to the world; they crucify their sinful flesh more and more every day, to die unto sin which wars in their members; they report they do evil to no one; they pray for their enemies; their words are yea that is yea, and nay that is nay; their word is their zeal; they are sorry that they do not constantly live more holily, of which reason they sigh and weep. Let not this however be the only sign by which you may know who follows Christ; they are also these, namely who bear the cross of Christ, for He says, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’”