Another Letter by Jan Hendrickss, to Maerten Janss, his Fellow Prisoner

The eternal God of all grace, who has called us with a heavenly calling, from the power of Satan into His eternal, marvelous kingdom, strengthen and confirm you, my brother Maerten Janss, with His holy Word, and give you the power of the Spirit, so that you may be able to resist all the wicked wiles of the Evil One, whether through himself or through his emissaries, so that you may be able to stand in this grace; and grant you and me a valiant faith, firmly rooted and grounded, so that you may neither be moved nor cast down by the great tempest of false doctrine. This, I Jan Hendrickss, your weak fellow brother in imprisonment, tribulation and affliction, wish Maerten Janss, my dear brother, in his bonds and imprisonment, as a friendly greeting in the Lord, for the refreshing of your mind. Amen.

Further, my dear brother, I tell you that I am still of good cheer in the Lord, and my heart and mind still have no other purpose than to fear Him, and to hold to His holy Word, according to my great weakness, with the help of God. Without whose help I am utterly powerless to do the same. So I hope, and am confident in my heart, that it is also so with you. I thank you much, further, for the comforting letters you have sent me to refresh and comfort me in my tribulation, and that you still remember me in your prayers, which I also do for you, so that we may help each other fight in this great conflict, which we now have with the great red dragon, which draws the third part of the stars from heaven with his tail. Revelation 12, verses 3 and 4. When I read your letters, it was no sorrow to me to hear that you were of such good cheer and courage in the Lord, but it gladdened my spirit. So, my dear brother, let us take good heed to, and well consider, the teaching and admonition of Paul, where he says: "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him." Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Mark, dear brother, it is needful that we attend to these words and this admonition of Paul. For since we have put on Christ by baptism, and have become members of His body, let us walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and firmly abide in Him, just as He says: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, brings forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John 15, verses 4 to 6. Mark, dear brother, how well it is with him who is in Christ, and Christ in him; but he who has no consciousness of Christ is like a branch that is cut off and withered, which receives no sap or strength, nor the nature of the stem of the vine.

Dear brother, let us now earnestly consider the matter, whether this is not the case with men. Let us therefore abound in him with thanksgiving, and by him offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, so that we are not spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Hebrews 13, verse 15; Colossians 2, verse 8. For it is now an evil time, a time that searches and tries Christians, whether they are firmly rooted and built in the faith. For when a woman has conceived, and the time of her delivery is drawing near, before she is delivered great pain comes upon her, which is the forerunner and sign of her coming delivery; but when she is delivered, she soon forgets the great pain, because she has gotten a child.

Behold, my dear brother, so it is also with us now; the great temptation and vexation, conflicts without and fears within, which happen to us daily, these are our pains which come before the delivery, by which we may perceive that the time of delivery is fast approaching; but as soon as we are delivered, then we shall remember it no more; namely, when we shall have put off this tabernacle, the mortal clothing, that shall be the last of our pain; then we may say: "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." First Corinthians 15, verses 55 to 57. Then shall the last enemy, death, be conquered. Then we shall no more weep, mourn, or lament; all torment, pain and affliction shall then have passed, like a vapor that lasts for a little time. Then we shall no more be tormented or tempted, apprehended or hunted; but we shall rest from our heavy labor, and help keep the eternal day of rest, with many thousand saints under the altar, who are chosen out of every kindred and nation, who have also sealed the Word of God with their blood, and have passed through the world through many great tribulations, and did not love their lives above their Creator, even to death. Revelation 14, verse 13; Revelation 7, verse 14; Revelation 12, verse 11.

Behold, my dear brother Maerten Janss, what will it matter then, whether we have lived in great luxury and pleasure, or whether we have been persecuted, imprisoned, tormented, tortured, burned or beheaded; yes, what will it matter when it is all over? For then we shall all follow the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, with a great multitude of saints, arrayed in fine linen clean and white, palms in our hands, and crowns upon our heads. Oh, what a glorious work that will be for him who will be able to endure here to the end! So, my dear brother, I say with tears, though I write it to you, let us keep good courage; for in the world, says Christ, you shall have tribulation: "But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16, verse 33. In doing so let us hold fast the promise, without wavering; for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10, verse 23); though they say that we have the devil of pride in us, and that he is too firmly seated in us. But it will be found otherwise, when that comes which shall come; there is no doubt about it. Though we are deprived of our right here, when the judge of judges shall judge we shall get it back; I have no doubt at all. With this I will commend you to the Lord, and to the rich Word of His grace, who is able to keep you to the end. Amen.

Know, Maerten Janss, that the tormentors have been with me all week, except one day, and I expect their return daily. Adrian Corneliss was also here this week, with the chaplain. And on Saturday the chaplain was here, with a steersman from Egmont, named Jacob Meulenaer, who wanted to prove to me that however bad a man was, he might teach the Word of God rightly, and save men; indeed, though it were the devil, he might teach men the Word of God rightly. He took off his cap, and sat there as though he was about to deliver an exhortation, and made a speech almost a quarter of an hour long, starting at the very beginning. I could not keep from laughing whenever I looked at him, for I thought that his head was out of order. When he had finished, all three of us fell into a dispute; yet I did not intend to make many words, but it is hard for a man to keep silent. So when they saw that I would not listen to them, they assailed me very hard. The steersman said: "Had I been the officer, you would not have lain here so long; he would have made short work with me." He said to the priest: "The lords must put this man to death secretly; he [the devil] was so firmly seated in me," he said, "that he could not come out;" and many other ugly words he said. I said: "The plainer you make it the better I understand it." And the chaplain and I had many hard words, and he was greatly angered. I said that I did not want him so any more. He said that he marveled with Paul that I had so soon let myself be led to another gospel, when yet there was no other. I said: "What other gospel have I accepted?" He said: "That I had not been willing to have my children baptized." "Indeed," I said, "you do not have a single letter of Scripture that they must be baptized." Observe, dear brother, his view: "If Paul had ordained it as a command and custom to baptize infants, and we rejected the same, we would have accepted another gospel." I also had some words with the steersman; what he said was neither rhyme nor reason, and he was very abusive to me. I said: "Calling names breaks no bones; one can do it sitting down as well," and I offered him a chair. He said that he knew more in one finger than I in my whole body; and many other things he said. Farewell, and acquit yourself valiantly; I hope to do the same. And let us remember each other in our prayers. Take this my simple letter in good part, for it has been written out of love; and excuse me for having waited so long before writing, since I have many visitors, not friends, however, since no one is allowed to come to me except my father. Write me again, how it is with you, for I hear nothing but good of you, God be praised.

Written in the year 1572, in my bonds, by me,

JAN HENDRICKSS. [n1072-1]