The First Letter of Hansken van den Wege

I wish you, my dearly beloved and chosen sister, whom I love from the very depth of my heart, the unfathomable, abundant, great grace and mercy of the eternal and almighty God, the heavenly Father; and also the great humility and meekness, and the great peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only and true Son of the living God; and the great power, consolation and full joy of the Holy Ghost; this is my eternal and blessed wish and holy salutation and everlasting memorial to you, my dear, chosen sister; and also to all men who fear and love the Lord, and call on Him out of a pure heart. This is always my blessed wish and holy salutation, to the eternal salvation of your souls, and to the praise of the eternal, supreme, almighty God of heaven and earth; to whose name be praise, thanks, glory and honor, forever and ever. Amen.

O see, my dear and much beloved chosen sister, what more shall I wish you? Or what more shall I write to you than I have written? But I say it again, and this out of abundant, pure and fervent love to God, with the holy, chosen apostle Peter, where he writes to you, and also to us, and to all men

"Purify your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers and sisters, and see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The sun has risen, and has withered the grass, and the beauty of it has perished: but the word of the Lord endures forever." First Peter 1, verses 22 to 25.

O dear sister, what a good ointment and blessed doctrine this is which Peter has here taught us by the Holy Ghost. O yes, what a precious medicine this is which the Lord has left us by His apostles, by which the soul can be purified and healed. So let us open our ears, and unlock our hearts, that we may hear with our ears and understand with our hearts, what the obedience of the truth teaches us. For it is Jesus Christ, the genuine truth, with all the precious medicines of grace and mercy, and the sweet-smelling oil of love, by which we purify our souls, and by no other.

So, O dear sister, let us hear this truth, and obey it; for He proceeded from the Father, indeed, came from Him and was sent by Him, a teacher from heaven, to teach us the way of truth, and the life, which He was Himself; and all that He has heard and seen from His Father, He has taught us, in order to purify our souls, and save them forever; for He teaches us, saying: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 8, verse 42; John 1, verse 4; John 14, verse 6; John 8, verse 38; John 3, verse 5.

O dear sister, earnestly pray the Lord for a right understanding of this regeneration, which must be brought about from above, of water and of the Spirit, since otherwise we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. So let us pray with a firm confidence and a strong faith, indeed, pray with an unwavering mind to God the Most High, in spirit and in truth; and it will be given to us, as He Himself says: "For everyone who asks receives," says the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 7, verse 8. Let us therefore so ask Him that we may receive it, that is, understand the regeneration, and live in accordance with it, and then remain forever and constantly regenerated to the end. O yes, so born from above, that whereas there was nothing before, there is something now; and whereas formerly we knew nothing but lying and cheating, together with presumptuous pride, proud cursing, fighting, swearing, evil speaking, and lived in much pleasure of the flesh, we now speak the truth from the heart, and walk in the truth, as children who are born of the truth; and live in the fear of our God, with a humbled heart, in lowliness, gentleness, and in great joy of the Spirit, and no longer go to dumb idols, to worship or honor them, nor do we go into their Baal's dens, where nothing but the commandments of men are taught, which doctrines destroy men's souls, and with which the devil has destroyed the whole world, for his name is destroyer. Revelation 9, verse 11. O yes, dear sister, whenever we went there, we saw them perform their mass and abominable idolatry, which are nothing but fables and commandments of men, and instituted by the same destroyer, the devil. And when they lift up their abominable idol, everyone must fall down before it, and worship and honor it. O what abominable idolatry this is! Sentence has long ago been pronounced upon them; for idolaters, says Paul, have no part in the kingdom of God; but their part, says John, is in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. First Corinthians 6, verse 9; Revelation 21, verse 8. So, O dear sister, keep away from idols, and do not touch the unclean thing, and let us be turned from idolatry to the service of the living God, to serve Him, for He alone is to be heard, praised, honored, worshiped, served, and loved, forever. Yes, dear sister, let us so grasp the meaning of Christ, that we be truly turned from the power of this world, where there is nothing but darkness, namely, the night of sin (First Thessalonians 5, verse 7; Romans 13, verse 12); to the day of grace, where the beautiful Sun of righteousness, Jesus Christ, shines in, with all His promises and grace (Malachi 4, verse 2; Romans 6, verse 14); and from lies to the truth, and from unrighteousness and wickedness to righteousness and good works; and so show in power, that we are regenerated in humility of heart and spirit, love one another with brotherly love out of a pure heart, and have peace with all men, if it is possible; indeed, as you would have men do to you, so you also do to them: for this is the law and the prophets, says Christ, who is the infallible truth. First Peter 1, verse 22; Romans 12, verse 18; Matthew 7, verse 12.

Let us therefore consider this well, that we may not go astray; for we would indeed want men to show us much favor and mercy, and always live peaceably with us; so let us also always show much favor and mercy to all men, and do them many kindnesses, thus showing love to them, and seek to live in peace and love with one another, and with all men. Yes, dear sister, let us so purify our souls as Peter says: "Purify your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers and sisters, and love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever." First Peter 1, verses 22 and 23. Oh, yes, dear sister, let us so follow the advice of Peter, that we obey the truth of Christ, and through obedience purify our souls, and be truly born from above, of water and of the Spirit, which must be brought about from high heaven, by which we must be born again, namely, of the water, as Christ says: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." (But He spoke this of the Spirit, which those who believe in Him would receive.) John 7, verses 38 and 39. And by the words of truth, as Christ Himself says: "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6, verse 63. Oh, yes, dear sister, this is the true water and the true Spirit, by which we must be born again from above, if we are to see the kingdom of heaven; for Christ gives and sends the Holy Spirit from above down upon everyone whom He sees prepared; and His Word He also brought from above, and so this regeneration is brought about from above. John 15, verse 26; John 8, verse 26; John 3, verses 3 and 7.

Therefore, dear sister, let us take good heed, that we keep this regeneration well, and constantly, all the days of our life, walk before the eyes of the Lord in holiness, as the truly regenerated children of God, who are not born of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, namely, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. So, my dear and much beloved sister, if you are truly in this regeneration, which has been brought about in you from above, show forth the nature of that of which you are born, so that your whole manner of life is in heaven, and you are no longer minded toward flesh and blood, nor anything that is visible, as Paul says, but toward that which is invisible. Philippians 3, verses 19 and 20. For Paul says, that our light affliction, which is only for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory; while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. Second Corinthians 4, verses 17 and 18. So let us remain steadfast, and look at and believe only that which is invisible. For Peter says: "At the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ: whom, having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoiced 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. Oh, yes, dear sister, let us do according to the doctrine brought to us from above through the Holy Ghost, that we purify our souls, and be born again from above of water and of the Spirit, so that we may see the kingdom of heaven, and forever possess it through the grace of the Lord; and let us always firmly trust and believe in the invisible God, and in the Lord Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and the Savior of the world, so that our souls may be forever saved. Oh, yes, that we may be with all the elect and regenerated children of God, and with all the saints of the supreme God of heaven and earth, and with the heavenly, great, and beautiful host of the holy angels of God, in unspeakably great glory and joy, and glorious and imperishable brightness; and may forever reign with the Lord of lords and King of kings, in great glory, and in exceedingly great joy, and then, with all the great heavenly, holy hosts, out of great joy of heart, forever praise, glorify, honor, and sanctify with great honor, the exalted name of the Lord; for glory belongs to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men. Luke 2, verse 14. With this, my dear sister, I commend you to the Lord, and to the words of His eternal grace. Amen.

Written out of great, fervent, brotherly love, to you Cijntgen, my dearly beloved chosen sister, as a lasting and blessed memorial in the Lord, by Hansken, your poor, miserable and weak brother, who is imprisoned at Ghent, in the Sausselet, for the true Word of the Lord. Remember me in your prayers to God, so that through me, a poor, miserable man who is weak, the exalted, holy name of the Lord may be honored and praised forever; for it is good to sing praises to our God. Amen. Psalm 147, verse 1.