April 09, 1525 – Conrad Grebel an Anabaptist leader, baptized by immersion, a large number in the Sitter River (Switzerland) according to historian Henry S. Burrage. Another considered the “Hercules of the Anabaptists”, George Blaurock who was martyred for his faith, wrote a thirteen stanza hymn while, it is believed, he was waiting to drink of his cup of suffering entitled “Forget Me Not, O Lord” as a farewell to his brethren. The hymn begins with praise to God for His truth made known and for giving Himself in grace, as Father and Savior, at a time when he was a younger man in despair with a heavy load of sin. He rejoiced in the grace of God that had given him deliverance from sin and the hope of eternity. The last three stanzas sound a note of victory as he finishes his life’s course. “In the hours of the last day, as out turn must come, help us, Lord, to bear the cross out onto the battlefield. Attend to us with all grace, that we may be able to commend out spirit into your hands. “With all my heart I pray to you for all our enemies, no matter how many of them there be, that You, O Lord, as is Your wont, lay not their deeds to their charge. I pray You, may it come to pass according to your will, O God. “And so I take my leave, together with my companions, May God lead us by His grace into His kingdom, that we may be in the faith, undoubting, His holy work completing, and may He give us strength to the end.” May God grant us the strength of our convictions to be able and willing to face persecution and even death itself for the sake of truth. What a heritage is ours in the faith! “Of whom the world was not worthy.”
Condensed by Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: pp. 194-96. [CF: William R. Estep, The Anabaptist Story (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1963), p. 1.]
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