Letter of Hendrick Maelschalck from Prison at Ghent, on the 26th of January 1568

We wish you abundant grace, joy, peace, and mercy, and eternal salvation, from God, our heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be praise, glory and honor, and power and thanks, forever and ever. Amen.

After wishing you all grace and salvation, we want to inform you, Goelken our beloved friend* in the Lord, and all dear friends who fear the Lord, that we four prisoners at Ghent, for the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ, are still well according to the flesh, and according to the spirit we thank and praise the Lord, that He thus strengthens us by His grace; for it is still our mind and purpose, by His grace and mercy, always to adhere to the Lord, and to depart from Him neither for life nor death. Praise and thanks to the Lord, who thus strengthens us by His grace, since we are weak and miserable. [n925-1] But through the help of the Lord we have been able to endure so far, and we trust through the same Helper to persevere to the end; for because He Himself was tempted, He is also able to help and deliver those who are tempted. For He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you; so that we may boldly say with the apostle: "The Lord is my helper." Philippians 4, verse 13; Hebrews 2, verse 18; Hebrews 13, verses 5 and 6.

Now, dearly beloved brothers and sisters, if God is with us, who can be against us? For all men are but the works of His hands, and He has created everything, and has power to bring it to nothing again at His pleasure; why then should we be afraid of mortal men? Romans 8, verse 31; Isaiah 51, verse 12. Surely, we must much rather fear this God; for He alone is the one who can save and condemn, and though we should escape the hands of men, we cannot escape Him. So we will rather say with Susanna: "It is better to fall into the hands of men, than to sin in the sight of the Lord." Susanna, verse 23.

Therefore, dear friends, we trust that we will by no means forsake the Lord, but will always go on to the promised land, to possess it, which is full of all good things; to this end, may the Lord strengthen, confirm and prepare us by His grace and mercy, and all those who fear and accept Him.

I, Hendricks, have written to you all, dear friends, a little about the state of our minds. Further, I would kindly ask you always to continue steadfast in the fear of the Lord; for those who fear the Lord will do good things, and those who love Him will strive to do His pleasure, and will humble themselves before Him. If you fear God, says the prophet, do not depart from Him, but enter into the eternal joy and gladness. Those who fear God will attain a good end, and in the day of their death they will be blessed. Therefore, dear friends, let us always fear the Lord with all our heart and mind; let us obey Him and keep His Word, for those are blessed who hear the Word of God and keep it, and they are also the ones who love Him and keep His Word, and he who loves Him is known by Him. But he who says, I know Him, and does not keep God's commandments, is a liar, and in him the love of God is not perfect. Luke 11, verse 28; John 15, verse 10; First John 2, verse 4; First John 4, verse 18. Therefore, my dear friends, let us love Him, because He first loved us, just as Paul testifies that, though He was rich, yet He became poor, so that we through His poverty might be rich; indeed, He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him. Second Corinthians 8, verse 9; Second Corinthians 5, verse 21. So, since we know well that the Lord has loved us in this way, and has so abundantly shed His grace upon us, let us all take good heed that His grace is not bestowed on us in vain; for we are made partakers of Him, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Hebrews 3, verse 14.

So, dear friends, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him; rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught (says the apostle), knowing well that it is the true grace of God in which you stand. Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7; First Peter 5, verse 12. Therefore, always give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if you do these things, you will never fall, says Peter; for so an entrance will be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Second Peter 1, verses 10 and 11. Therefore let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, and let us always watch diligently, and wait for the Lord, like good and faithful servants, so that He does not come at an inopportune moment for us; but that we may always be prepared, as the five wise virgins were, who had trimmed their lamps, and went in to the marriage. But the five foolish virgins had to remain outside. Matthew 25, verse 4. So, dear friends, let us not be like the foolish, but like the wise. With this we commend you to our dear Lord, and to the comforting word of His grace; may He strengthen and confirm you all, and us all, in all truth and righteousness. Amen.

Further, cordially beloved friend Goelken, and all other friends who read this, accept in good part what I have written in my weakness; for I do not think myself worthy to exhort you, since I am fully aware that you are well taught of God. But I have done this out of love, because I heard that you wanted to have something from us; so receive it kindly.

Further, if you would like to know something about our imprisonment, whether it will not soon be at an end with us, we would inform you that we do not hear much about it. We had expected to offer up our sacrifice before Christmas, for we had heard it said that it would be very soon; however, now we hear nothing of it, but by the grace of God we are constantly expecting it. Affectionately beloved friends in the Lord, pray for us, that we may continue steadfast to the end, and offer up an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. We trust to do the same for you, according to our weakness. Furthermore, we send you three new hymns, as a cordial and friendly greeting. Though they are simple, receive them in good part, for it has been done out of love. Farewell; until eternity. Amen. Greet your husband very much, and Grietgen your sister, and Bet., and Cor. Versw., and Anna van L.; and Susanna also greets you all very much. We further greet all those who fear the Lord.

Written by me, Hendrick Maelschalck, imprisoned at Ghent for the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ; on the 26th of January, 1568.

Cordially, affectionately and much beloved friends, the Lord has truly said that He will come as a thief in the night; for yesterday I had concluded and sealed the foregoing letter, thinking to send it to you; but it happened that the next morning all four of us were examined, of which we knew little when we wrote the preceding conclusion. So I say that the Lord has truly said that He will come as a thief in the night. First Thessalonians 5, verse 2. Thus all four of us were examined, one after another, in the presence of two commissaries. They asked us many simple questions, which it would be too tedious to relate. But they did not ask us about our faith, except whether we had not been baptized or rebaptized. Jan van Paris said that he was baptized; Lauwerens said that he was not baptized according to the Scriptures; Pierken said that he was not baptized; and I said that we were not Anabaptists, and that I was not baptized. They asked Pierken whether, if he should be released, he would have himself baptized. He answered: "Yes, if I were fit for it." They also asked him whether he would renounce his opinion. He replied: "I do not consider it an opinion, but the true faith." They then asked me whether I would not renounce my belief or opinion. I told them that I had renounced lies, and followed the truth. So if I were to renounce, I would renounce the truth; but by the grace of the Lord I hoped to adhere to it. In this manner they kept on asking, so that it would be too tedious to write it. To Jan van Paris they said that we would soon be dispatched, and that we should be patient for nine or ten days yet; they also said that they would send us men who would instruct us, and if we wanted to hear them, we might do so. So we expect to have priests here; but we trust to keep our eyes open, for we well know what they seek. So, dear friends, all of you, we are of good cheer, the Lord be praised and thanked forever; and by the grace of the Lord we trust to keep the faith, whether it be life or death. So, dear friends, we think our confinement will not last much longer; for it seems that we have been handed over to the lords of the council, and that they have orders from the Duke of Alva to dispatch us, and that the bailiff and the judges have nothing more to do with us. So we take leave of you all, dear friends, and ask you always to be diligent. We hope to go before; may the Lord by His grace and mercy strengthen and prepare us for it. Amen. Written on the 27th of January, 1568. By me. HENRY MAELSCHALCK.

"And do not fear those who kill the body; but him who has power to cast both soul and body into eternal darkness." Matthew 10, verse 28.