Fourth Letter of Lauwerens van der Leyen

The peace of the Lord be with you. Amen. Grace and peace be with you, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ. And whether we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; or whether we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so you will also be of the consolation. Second Corinthians 1, verses 2 to 7.

I affectionately greet you, my dear brothers Nathanael and Lieven, with the peace of the Lord; I earnestly commend myself to you, and inform you that I am of fairly good cheer, the Lord be praised for His great grace, which He has shown so richly toward me, in that He has redeemed me from this present evil world; and that, whereas you once saw me in such great wickedness, the light of truth is now revealed to me, for which I greatly thank the Lord, and trust that I will continue in it by the grace of the Lord; for, my dear brothers, know that we have nothing of ourselves, but that all must come from the Lord, for the Lord says: "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my name's sake will preserve it." Luke 17, verse 33. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but one who was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4, verses 14 and 16. O my dear brothers, since we have and know the truth, let us not part from it, but let us always lay our foundation upon the cornerstone Jesus Christ, so that our building may be firmly joined together (Ephesians 2, verses 20 to 22), when we are tried as gold in the furnace, that is, in all manner of tribulation, whether in bonds or out of them; for Satan sometimes torments us greatly. Ephesians 6, verse 11. So let us take heed that our crown is not taken from us (Revelation 3, verse 11); that we may be prepared for conflict; that we may have the helmet of salvation on our head, and have the sword of the Spirit. Ephesians 6, verse 17.

Dear brothers, he who overcomes will inherit all things; indeed, he who overcomes will be clothed in white linen clothing; then the crown of life will be prepared for us. O dear brothers, do not fear those who kill the body; but much rather fear Him who, after He has killed the body, can also cast the soul into hell. Luke 12, verse 5.

My dear brothers, you know that I have had this written to you out of love. Excuse my little understanding. I send you a hymn. With this I commend you to the Lord, and to the Word of His grace, and bid you farewell; farewell, my dear brothers, farewell. All my fellow prisoners greet you most cordially. Hans de Luyckener greets his brother most affectionately, and Anthonis Claes greets Elsgen Aerts much. Greet all the friends much, all who fear the Lord, and remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them. Matthew 25, verse 36; Hebrews 13, verse 3. Dear brothers, also greet Tanneken, wife of Lenaert de Lettersetter, very affectionately, and bid her farewell in my name.

Written the 25th of October, in the year 1559, by me, Lauwerens van der Leyen, imprisoned at Antwerp for the testimony of Christ.

NOTE. The very severe decree of Emperor Charles the Fifth, made in September, in the year 1550, and renewed and confirmed six years afterward by Philip the Second, King of Spain, against the Baptists (as we have shown in detail for the year 1556), was now, in the year 1560, again renewed by the said Philip the Second, and proclaimed everywhere in the Netherlands. See the aforementioned defense of William the First, Prince of Orange, against his adversaries, edition 1569, page 165, taken from the large book of decrees of Ghent, and so on.

It appears that as a result of this the bloodshedding, slaying and burning of the saints increased all the more, as is evident from the following martyrs.