Verklaring van de evangelische parabolen

However, the bond of friendship between Your Reverence and me was laid no less firmly, or rather tied more tightly, when Divine providence brought me back to that same city after having left the High School of Franeker for about three years. I returned as a Teacher of the Congregation of Jesus Christ there, which allowed me to have my teachers as my listeners. Through daily interaction with them, I was able to benefit myself toward the greater perfection of those sciences that a servant of Jesus Christ needs for the adornment of the ministry of the Holy Gospel. I still remember many times with much emotion that my public preaching service was not only blessed and pleasant to Your Reverence and your very worthy spouse, but also how kindly I was received at all times by Your Reverence in your home. I remember how often I had the happiness of consulting with Your Reverence in the most familiar manner, in sweetness and secret, regarding matters of learning, or also those which might concern true piety and the handling of the souls of men in the

D E D I C A T I O N
Congregation. This friendship and love toward me has not faltered nor been extinguished, despite my moving again to other provinces where it pleased the Lord of the Harvest to use my humble service. It has been maintained through constant correspondence. On Your Reverence's side, this was not seldom a source of teaching for me, by answering proposed questions or difficulties. It was also an encouragement, both through the pious content of the letters and the exhortations Your Reverence was pleased to give me, to build up the congregations of our Fatherland, not only through my preaching service but also through my writing labor. For all of this, I am glad to have now found the opportunity to openly express my gratitude to Your Reverence and to testify and show my obligation. For to involve myself further here in the praise of your learning would be superfluous, as that is something the entire world knows, and of which all your well-crafted