The First Letter of Jan van Hasebroeck to his Wife

The abundant grace, peace and mercy from God the heavenly Father, and the love of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, shown to us by the shedding of His holy and precious blood on the tree of the cross; may He strengthen and establish you in the inner man, with His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit; may the same give you much wisdom and understanding, that you may be able to stand, to the praise of the Lord, and the salvation of your soul; this I wish you, my dear and much beloved wife and sister in Christ Jesus, and all who fear the Lord from the heart, as a heartfelt greeting. Amen.

After all affectionate greetings, I inform you, my dear and much beloved wife, that I am still reasonably well, inwardly and outwardly — the Lord be praised forever for His great grace and mercy — as I trust by the grace of the Lord that it is also so with you, in the inner man and in the outward, as it pleases the Lord. For, my most beloved, if it pleased the Lord, He would soon have ordered it otherwise; so be content with what the Lord has ordered concerning you; for He knows what leads to your salvation. O my most beloved love, know this, that you were a medicine to my heart the last time I saw you at the lattice; for as a deer pants after the water brooks, so my heart longed to see your face again. Psalm 42, verse 1. O my dear wife, that I might see you and speak to you once more, and bid you farewell. But, my dearest, the Lord has not commanded me to take leave of my friends, but to follow Him in the obedience of the truth. Luke 9, verse 61. O my most beloved wife, whom I wedded before Christ and His church, for a helper in my pilgrimage, over which helper the Lord has placed me as head and protector, to feed and nourish you as my own body. Ephesians 5, verse 28. Now, my most beloved, if I have not attended well to my calling during the time that we have been together, if I have grieved you in anything, I ask you kindly, from the bottom of my heart, to forgive me; I have asked the Lord with tears to forgive me. O my dear wife, I forgive you from the heart everything you may have done wrong to me. O my dear wife, you have done nothing wrong to me; but I have grieved myself; so I have prayed the Lord to forgive me for it. And you also, my dear wife, pray the Lord on my behalf, that I may be an acceptable offering to Him; for I trust by His grace to go before you, with our fellow brothers, and to await you under the altar. O my most beloved, my heart's prayer for you is that you would always walk worthily before God and His church (Philippians 1, verse 27), as you have also done until now; so that at the last day we may stand and hear His voice: "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Christ also says: "Do not fear, little flock; for it is my Father's good pleasure to give you his kingdom." Luke 12, verse 32. He also says: "Do not fear, for the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Verse 7. My most beloved, comfort yourself with the Word of the Lord, and with the beautiful promises of God; so that you may not faint in the way of the Lord, because of the great persecution and torments which are inflicted on His people for His name's sake; for He says Himself: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but fear him who, after he has killed, has power also to cast the soul into hell." Luke 12, verses 4 and 5. And as the prophet Isaiah has said: "Do not fear men, or the children of men, who perish like grass." Isaiah 51, verse 12. Therefore, my most beloved, do not be afraid of this pain; for Paul says that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8, verse 18. In another place Paul also says: "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is only for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." Second Corinthians 4, verses 16 to 18.

O my most beloved wife, my heart's prayer and desire is that you would always keep company with those who fear the Lord, as I likewise trust to do; so that hereafter we may meet where men shall not part us, but where we shall remain forever with the Father and His Son. If we only remain steadfast, we shall be saved. Matthew 10, verse 22.

O my dear wife, as the prophet Malachi says, the day is coming that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, indeed, all who do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall burn them up, so that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you (he says) who fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go in and out, and find pasture. Malachi 4, verses 1 and 2. [n962-1]

See, my dear wife, what a difference there is between those who fear God, and those who do not fear Him. For as the apostle Paul says to the Thessalonians, in his second letter, in the first chapter: "When the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, where the fire shall not be quenched, and their worm shall not die; but the smoke of their torment shall ascend forever and ever." Mark 9, verse 44; Revelation 14, verse 11.

See, this shall be their reward. Romans 6, verse 23. But those who fear God, love Him, and keep His commandments, according to their weakness; their reward shall be life and peace, as the Scriptures sufficiently testify. And Paul also says that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have there entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him. First Corinthians 2, verse 9.

With this I will draw my discourse to a close, and commend you to the Almighty Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who has given you to me, and, as said before, placed me as a head, to feed and nourish you as my own flesh, which I have done according to my weakness, during the time that I have been with you. And now that I am taken from you, I commend you, my dearest wife and sister in the Lord, to the God of peace, who has given you to me; humbly praying Him, through Jesus Christ, His dear and much beloved Son, that He would keep you, and my two little lambs, always in His truth, to the end. And you also, my dear wife, I ask you in all sincerity, to do the best for my two little children, as I trust you will do. Oh, that it pleased the Lord, I would so gladly do my best for you yet. My most beloved, I have heard that you sent me a letter; but I did not receive it; so if you want to send me word about anything, speak to N., and ask her whether she knows of anyone who would come to the common prison, and ask for the brother-in-law, in the fuller's house. [n962-2] For we trust that if you can prudently give it into his hand there, we shall get it; so act carefully in this matter, and do not send it without speaking to the rest; so that it may go through at once and attract less notice. For we have been greatly distressed on account of a letter that came in from outside; in it stood that they had received two of our letters. This letter fell into the hands of the jailer, who seemed beside himself that we had written. Therefore, my dearest love, when you want to write me something, do not write that you received a letter from me; but if you have received this letter from me, and send me another, place under your letter the sign that will stand under this one, and by that I shall know that you received my letter. And if you speak to my brother, greet him much from me, and tell him to enter with Noah into the ark, lest the flood come upon him, which is the wrath of God; and to go with Lot out of Sodom, and not to look back, like Lot's wife, who became an example to those who in future times should commit ungodliness; for Christ says: "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9, verse 62. With this greet him much in my name, and greet all those who inquire after me, especially him who was my master, and my countryman and his wife, and the woman who the day before was at our house, and, also, my most beloved, whom I know upon earth, indeed, who is as dear to me as my own life; for my natural life was not nearly so dear to me; this the Lord knows, who is rich in mercy.

O my beloved, I commend you, and all those who fear God, to the Lord, and to the Word of His grace. Amen.

Written by me, JAN VAN HASEBROECK,

Your husband and weak brother in Christ.