A Testament Left by Joriaen Simons to his Son Simon

May God through His great mercy grant to my son Simon to grow up virtuously, and, if the Lord allows him to reach the years of understanding, to confess Him, and, having learned His will, to order his life according to it, in order to obtain eternal salvation through His beloved Son Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Ghost. Amen.

My child and dear son, incline your ears to the admonition of your father, and listen to my account of how and in what manner he began and finished his life.

The beginning of my life was unprofitable, proud, puffed up, drunken, selfish, deceitful, and full of every kind of idolatry. And when I reached maturity and began to be my own master, I sought nothing but what pleased my flesh, a lazy and self-indulgent life. I was greedy for dishonest gain; I sought to bring my neighbor's daughter to fall, as, alas! appears from my work; and what I did in secret is too shameful to mention. Indeed, I was a vessel full of iniquity. But, my dear child, when I turned to the Scriptures and searched and read them through, I found that my life tended toward eternal death; indeed, that everlasting woe was hanging over me, and that the fiery pool which burns with brimstone and pitch was prepared for me. This, I say, was coming upon me, according to the words of Paul, who says: "Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5, verse 21.

When I took this to heart, I began to be greatly alarmed and frightened, and I took the Word of God as my counselor as to which was more advisable for me: to lead a life of pleasure here for a little while and expect the everlasting pains of hell, or to suffer a little misery here (if misery it can be called), and then enjoy eternal happiness. I found in the Scriptures: "What is a man profited, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16, verse 26. Therefore, my beloved son, I thought it better, like Moses, to suffer affliction with the children of God for a little while than to live in every luxury with the world, which will perish. Thus I abandoned my ease, willingly and uncompelled, and entered upon the narrow way, to follow Christ, my Head, knowing well that if I followed Him to the end, I would not walk in darkness. Now, when I had partly forsaken and cast away the old damnable practices, and wanted to be a new divine creature, and to lead a pious, penitent, godly life, I was at once, like all the pious who had gone before me, hated, and indeed imprisoned in Haarlem, in Saint John's gate.

This, my beloved son, was my life until the Lord enlightened me. First of all, my dear child, I would affectionately warn, admonish and entreat you to beware of and shun all wickedness, and to walk from infancy in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom; and if God reveals His wisdom to you, do not hesitate to walk in it, since death pursues the young as well as the old. Make good use of the time God has given you for repentance. Keep your company with the good, and beware of the perverse. If sinners entice you, do not consent, and have no fellowship with them; keep your foot from their path, for their steps take hold on hell. So do not touch pitch, or you will be defiled; for an evil end draws near to the wicked, which will bear the burden everywhere. Of this and every evil, my dear son, beware, and remember that Paul says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad (Second Corinthians 5, verse 10); but the flesh will advise you to nothing good. So Paul may well say: "To be carnally minded is death; indeed, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8, verses 6 and 8. Therefore put to death your carnal members here on earth. Read Paul, or have him read to you; he will tell you which are the works of the flesh. Galatians 5, verse 19. If you have time and opportunity, use diligence to learn to read and write, so that you may better learn and know what the Lord requires of you.

Beloved son, my heart's desire and prayer to the Lord for you is that your soul may be protected from the deluge of God's wrath, which shall come upon all the ungodly who did not care for the Lord and did not walk in His commandments. You can escape this impending wrath of God in no better way than by looking to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty and eternal Father, who is the Head and Pattern of all believers, indeed, the Captain and Finisher of the faith, that is, Jesus Christ. Ask Him for counsel as to what is best and most necessary for you to do, and He will tell you. Knock at the door of His Holy Trinity, and worship Him; He will open to you, and give you what you need. Have a desire and appetite for the truth, and you shall be satisfied. Do not seek high temporal things. Though those who obtain them are called and commended as happy by the common people, they are nevertheless unhappy and rejected before God. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that you may be exalted in eternity. First Peter 5, verse 5.

See how He fared, and likewise all the pious before and after Him. His birth was poor and miserable; at once He had to flee from Herod, who sought His life; when He suffered, He had nowhere to rest His head; and the thanks for all His great and glorious benefits were that they called Him a deceiver, a wine drinker, a Samaritan, and one who had a devil. Besides this, He had to expect being stoned by them, until, when the time was fulfilled, they condemned Him to the most shameful death. And before the law, pious Abel had to suffer from his brother Cain, who killed him out of pure hatred and envy, because his brother's works were good and acceptable to God, while his own were evil and rejected. And all the dear prophets, who practiced and upheld the Word of God, likewise had to suffer much, without any respect of persons. Micaiah, who alone was found true among four hundred false prophets in the days of King Ahab, was beaten by Zedekiah, and afterwards cast into prison. First Kings 22, verse 24. Elijah, the only true prophet among the four hundred and fifty false priests of Jezebel (First Kings 18, verse 19), also had to suffer much; so that Paul may well say (for he had experienced it himself) that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Second Timothy 3, verse 11.

This also all the other pious witnesses of Christ experienced, and they remained steadfast to the end; therefore, according to the Scriptures (James 1, verse 12),

the crown is prepared for them, since Christ's own mouth declares that he who endures to the end shall be saved; he who overcomes shall inherit all things, shall be clothed in white, and shall eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of paradise. Matthew 24, verse 13; Revelation 21, verse 7; Revelation 2, verse 7.

Consider this, my beloved son; meditate night and day on how to die to the world and to fulfill the will of Christ. In the first place, and before everything else, beware of all false prophets and hypocrites, who in my time were the priests and monks, and who, I expect, will not be lacking in your time, so long as rich pay follows them. Do not believe them, for they deceive men and murder their souls. My son, the one who wrote you this learned it by his own experience and searching; he drank of this cup himself. And do not live among any sect, of which there were already many in my time, such as Lutherans, Zwinglians, and others, who, though they have a good appearance, are in fact evil and deadly poison. Look for the little flock, whose whole rule of life agrees with God's commandments, and whose ordinance or sacrament conforms to the command of Christ and the practice of the apostles. This is the true church of Christ, without spot or wrinkle; this church is flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. These also have teachers according to the teaching of Paul (First Timothy 3, verse 2), blameless in everything, who have obedient children and believing wives, who are strangers to lawsuits and legal proceedings, to cursing and swearing, to hatred and envy, to lying and cheating, to lewdness and adultery. There everything is love, peace, unity and truth, as Paul will teach you, which are the fruits of the Spirit.

My dear son and beloved child, this is my chief and last will, my testament to you, which I desire you to read diligently, to meditate well upon, and to compare with the Scriptures, in order to govern your steps according to it. Mark well, my son, what I write: many will appear in the garb of good teachers, saying that they have medicine for your sick soul; but the ones who will profit you are those who have the truth; hold to them. Water and fire are set before you: stretch out your hand to whichever you will, to death or to life. Sirach 15, verse 16. This, my dear son, will at first be very hard for you to hear, since it is contrary to your first birth, which is of the flesh; but you must be born again and converted if you would enter into the kingdom of God. You cannot understand this as long as you are carnally minded, indeed, as long as you do not become the fool and enemy of the world. Dearly beloved son, I entreat you again, as I did before, to consider this, and to govern yourself according to it. Out of a faithful father's heart I have left you this, as I am about to depart from this world and to die for the Word of the Lord. May the Lord grant to you, and to all who read this or hear it read, that they may take it to heart, act according to it, and be eternally saved.

My son's testament, written in the year 1557, the first Monday in April, and confirmed by death on the 26th day of the same month.