Another Letter from Janneken Munstdorp, Wife of Hans van Munstdorp

The abundant and unspeakable great grace of the Father, and the mercy of God, and the loving kindness and love of the Son; with the communion of the Holy Ghost, who through grace has been sent us by the Father, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the comfort and joy of all faithful true children of God, by whom we are all guided, taught and instructed; may the same keep your understanding, heart and mind in Christ Jesus, to the praise and glory of the Father, to the salvation of your soul, and to the edification of all dear brothers and sisters that fear the Lord and love the truth. May the same God, who alone is wise, make you fit for this, to whom be glory, honor and power, might and strength, forever and ever, Amen, and for a perpetual adieu. After this, my heart's wish from God, for an adieu, and a perpetual farewell to you, my dear brothers in God, and to you, my very dear and chosen, affectionately beloved sisters: [I would say that] the time has now come that we must part from one another; I shall now be freed from all sorrow; sorrowing and sighing shall befall me no more. My dear friends, adieu, adieu; we must now part here. Though the Lord has so ordered it with me, I am yet constrained to write you once more for the last time. True, I have written you adieu, but now it goes to my heart: sentence has been passed upon me that I must die. I said to them that they should take good heed, that our blood would be severely required at their hands. They said they did not do it, that it was the decree of the king. I said that this would not save them, but the Lord forgive you if you do it ignorantly; but I think that you, in part, know well enough what kind of people we are. They washed their hands of it. I said: "Pilate did so too." They said that Pilate was a just judge, and that we acted contrary to the king's command. I said that we had greater reason to obey God than the king; it is a little matter that you inflict this temporal death upon us, for we do not know how long we shall live, but we know that we must certainly die sometime; and I said that they should take good heed with regard to shedding innocent blood. So we four were sentenced, and it will now soon be over with us. My dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has heard me, that I am permitted to offer up a sacrifice for His name. I did not think that the Lord did so love me; I have certainly never merited it of Him; but He will make me fit for this through His grace. Oh, what a strong helper in distress we have, who does not let us be confounded. How short the time has seemed to me that I have been here, whereas I was previously so afraid of it; and how faithfully He has succored me in all my distress, and now makes me so happy that I know nothing to say of sadness. Oh, oh! how strong is our God; who should not want to fear Him? Of whom will we be afraid? God is with us; who can be against us? At all events we must here leave everything behind. I may well say that there was never more joy in my heart than I had when I was sentenced. My dear sister, do not fear men, who must pass away like grass; for they can do no more than the Lord permits them. My dear brothers and sisters, do not be afraid; if the Lord had permitted them, they would not have waited with me so long; but now the Lord permits them. I am well pleased with it, that they shall remove me out of this evil, wicked world, from the evil that I might yet have had in it, so that I shall not be moved; for I expect no joy in this world, because of my dear husband, who went this way before me, and whom, by the grace of the Lord, I am now to follow, having long waited for this time. I also go before you now; follow me. This is the narrow way which the prophets and apostles went, who also had to drink the cup which we must now drink. We shall now soon have passed through this wilderness, as soon as we have drunk the bitter waters. Exodus 15, verse 23. The time of travail is now at hand; weeping and mourning shall then be over. Oh, what a joy this is in my heart, so that I cannot describe it to you. Oh, how mightily the Lord works in us poor, weak vessels; for I know that I have never merited it from the Lord, but am worthy of nothing but eternal death. If the Lord would enter into judgment with me, I should in no way be saved; but now I must expect salvation out of pure grace, and I do not doubt that He will remember my past sins no more, as the prophet says: "When a sinner turns away from his wicked life, and does righteousness, he will remember his unrighteousness no more." Ezekiel 18, verses 21 and 27.

O my dear and much beloved, chosen sister, whom I greatly love from the heart, and this out of a godly love, you have shown me so much friendship, and assisted me in need, that I cannot fully repay you, since I am now but a poor, weak creature, and about to pay all that I owe, whether according to the flesh or according to the spirit. Hence, my dear sister, I cannot reward you, but I thank you very heartily (writing you still some more) for all that you have ever shown me. O dear sister, you write me that I should forgive you what you may have done amiss to me; O my dear sister, you have done nothing amiss to me, but know that I fall short to you in many things; but I trust that you will bury it with me, and remember it no more. I know that I fall short in everything; but Christ died, to pay for that in which we fall short. Did He not die a bitter death for us, though He was without spot or wrinkle, and no guile was found in His mouth? How should we then not gladly die for a righteous man? Hence let us not spare ourselves, but willingly go into death for the name of Christ, and not fear what men can do to us. Romans 5, verse 7; Hebrews 13, verse 6.

And, my dear brother and sister, be of good cheer; though men put us to death, it is the will of the Lord. Please do not sorrow for me any more; for I know that you have great sorrow on my account. It is now all over; I shall soon have conquered my last enemy, and be able to say with Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." First Corinthians 15, verse 26; Second Timothy 4, verses 7 and 8.

I shall soon be an epistle to you, which may be read by all men. Second Corinthians 3, verse 2. And, my dear sister, though we must part here, know that it is for something better; we have neither hour nor time. It is so glorious to die for His name, and Peter says:

"Rejoice if you suffer and endure for well doing; this is acceptable with God." First Peter 4, verse 14; chapter 3, verse 17; chapter 2, verse 20.

But, my dear sister, it is now my turn; it may very soon, perhaps tomorrow, be your turn; be of good courage, and patiently await your time, my dearest sister. You write me in regard to my child; I have confidence in you that you will do your best with it. I have committed it to the Lord, to do His good pleasure with it, and to move your heart to it. For, dear sister, I trust that you love me from the heart, and those that love the tree will also love the branches. I read your letter again with tears, when I heard that you were so sad on my account, and that I was so joyful.

O my dear sister, how glad I was that I had kissed you once more. Do not grieve that you have not visited me more; I did not take it amiss, for I well know that you did not lack the will: my dear sister, you have done so much for me. O my dear brother and sister, I would write you more yet, of the hope that is now in me, but I cannot write you so much; it is much greater still [than I have described to you]. I hope that you will take this in good part, and will herewith bid you a perpetual adieu; and do the best with each other. And you, my dear brother, please comfort my dear sister in her tribulation which she has on my account, for I love her from the bottom of my heart. Parting is grievous according to the flesh, but according to the spirit I thank and praise the Lord, that I am permitted to offer up such a sacrifice, which can be acceptable to Him; indeed, that I can offer up my flesh and blood at the stake. Gladly I give it to Him that gave it to me; though I had seven bodies, I should gladly deliver them up for the Lord's sake. Pray the Lord heartily for me, that I may now make straight paths for my feet, to the edification of all dear brothers and sisters. Herewith adieu. I have sent knitting needles for my daughter; keep them, and do the best with her. I also leave you here a poor little orphan without father or mother: may the Lord be your dear Father, and I commend you to Him that created and made you. My sister, I wish you would keep my lamb in remembrance of me, and I sent some sugar for you and your daughter, of which I ate when I was sentenced; and thank Engel much in my name for the pot of wine, and tell him adieu. I know nothing special now to commit to you, but do the best with my young lamb; the Lord will not leave unrewarded what you do for His name. Bid my father and mother, my dear brothers and sisters, adieu and farewell; adieu and farewell to all; farewell to my dear brothers and chosen sisters, whom I love from the depth of my heart; I greet you once more with the holy kiss of peace, as though I were present with you; kiss one another. My fellow sisters who are with me also greet you, and have kissed me once for you, and I have done the same for you. My dear, chosen brothers and dear sisters, do not weary of Jesus Christ. I hope to go before you yet to the heavenly city, to wait for you under the altar with all the chosen saints; follow me. My dear chosen sister, I must now go before you, where I shall enjoy bliss. Adieu, dear sister; remember me still; the time of travail is at hand, to offer up my sacrifice at the stake, much beloved. Herewith I commend you to the Lord.

I shall seal this with my blood. Adieu, adieu, my dearest brothers and sisters, with your little lamb, and also mine, which I bore under my heart. I have written this for you yet after I was sentenced, after one o'clock in the night; however, it was not irksome to me. I take leave and bid you adieu once more, till we meet hereafter, where men shall separate us no more. Adieu, till we together drink the new wine which Christ shall give us at His table. Matthew 26, verse 29. This other letter is from Augustijn, who sent it to me. Adieu, adieu, all of you adieu. I shall follow Hans, my dear husband. The lady with her midwife, and her nurse, are going now, and shall receive a like reward. Nothing more from me, but adieu for the last time. Follow me.

Fear God; this is the conclusion.