remember that John writes, that the Lord said to his disciples and to
his friends: In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, your tribulation shall be turned into joy. Hence, dear Tanneken,
rejoice in the hope of future happiness, be patient in tribulation,
continue instant in prayer, that the Lord would comfort you and not
suffer you to fall into temptation, but with it also make a way of
escape. Commend your matters to the Lord; I hope and trust in God that,
if you continue in his laws, and constantly keep the Lord before your
eyes, he will raise up some one who will help, comfort and assist you.
Never separate from the godfearing. How pleasant it is to be among the
Lord’s people! I say with Moses: I would rather suffer affliction with
the people of God than enjoy temporal pleasure.
Always associate with the saints of the Lord; for among the holy, one
becomes holy, says the apostle. And remember the words of the Lord:
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and be clothed in white
raiment, and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.
O, dear Tanneken, it seems that there must be tears; for where no tears
are, none can be wiped away. The Lord grant (as I trust in him that
he will) that after this tribulation, which has come upon us for his
name’s sake, and which is a sore affliction to my heart, we may rejoice
together in the kingdom of God and of Christ. For, my dear and much
beloved wife and sister in the Lord, whom I love from the bottom of my
heart, together with my four little children, it is very hard for me
when I think of your heavy burden, the spoiling of our property, and
that the Lord has deprived you of the provider of your daily bread.
I fain would, had it been the Lord’s pleasure, that he had spared us
this affliction; however as it cannot be otherwise, we will commend our
affliction to the Lord.
When I consider, Tanneken, our past time, I think that it is a fatherly
chastisement, for he says: “Whom I love I chasten.” I well know that
we have merited it at the hands of the Lord, since we ofttimes were
disobedient in the sufferings sent us by him. When we (as is true
enough) had little success, as the world counts success, we complained
and murmured against God, because we had not more to live on, and many
children were born to us; just as though God’s hand had been shortened,
that he could not have fed us. And now that little vanishes away as a
prey, and we must be satisfied; however, it is for the Lord’s sake; and
for his sake I gladly suffer. The Lord gave it me, and for his sake I
will also gladly resign it.
Hence, dear Tanneken, I have often before told you this. I do not write
it to trouble you, but to indicate to you that God is chastening us;
for he shows that he still loves us. Though the Lord chasten us, let us
not cast his chastisement from us; for he that rejects chastisement and
instruction will perish.
Therefore, my beloved, I earnestly pray the Lord for you, and for my
four children whom God has given me--which you bore me, and brought
forth in pain--that he would not forsake you, but comfort, strengthen
and stablish you, and feed all my four little orphans, and their
mother, both according to the soul and body. Always trust in the Lord;
I trust he will not forsake you. Take counsel with the Lord, and with
them that fear him; and take better heed to walk in the obedience
of Christ. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart, that I have not
improved my time better. And I ask you to excuse and forgive me in
whatever I have grieved you; for I am heartily sorry for it; and
wherein you may have grieved me, I forgive you all from the bottom of
my heart. And I pray the Lord, that he would also forgive us the same,
as I hope, and also trust in him, that he has done. I thank you for
the good intercourse we had together during the time of our wedlock;
and I thank also all the brethren and sisters in the Lord, for the
intercourse I had with them in the faith, for their faces were always
pleasing to me. The Lord grant us grace that hereafter we may all
live together in joy with the Lord, and be crowned with the crown of
salvation, with which all the saints of God will be adorned, and this
out of pure grace. Amen.
This is my testament, my dear and much beloved Tanneken. In parting,
let me tell you, that my mind is still unchanged in the Lord, namely,
I, unworthy one, am determined to bear testimony to the Lord, and to
seal the same with my blood, in token that it is the truth; nor do I
know any other way to be saved through grace, for a witness to the
world, to the honor of God, and to the salvation of our souls. Amen.
Cornelis, Mattheus, and Christian are also thus minded. Entreat the
Lord for us all, that he would help us finish the good work by him
begun in us, to his honor and to the salvation of our souls. Amen.
Pray the Lord for us all, and remember the prisoners, as being
imprisoned with them. All four of us heartily greet you and them that
live in the same house with you, with the peace of the Lord.
No more for the present; excuse my letter, for my mind is not in the
best condition for writing. Herewith I commend you to God, and to the
rich word of his grace. Amen.
By me, Hans Symons, your husband in the Lord, confined in prison at
Antwerp.
A LETTER OF HANS SYMONS, WHICH HE WROTE IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE,
WITH THREE OTHERS WAS BURNT, ON THE 13TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1567.
Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our 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 comforted us in
all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in
any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation
also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted or comforted, it
is all for our good, and for our salvation. 2 Cor. 1:3–6. This I wish
you, my dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, Vincent, Kaerle, Willem,
and Hans Symons, and Tanneken, Vincent’s wife, as a heartfelt greeting
in the Lord. And brethren and sisters in general, I write this that you
may remember me, what tribulation and distress I suffered in Antwerp
for the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ; and because the time has
come that I must part from you all. Amen.
Further, my dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, and co-workers and
followers of the Gospel, whom God has shown great mercy in this world,
in that he, out of grace, revealed his will. Hence, dear brethren and
sisters in the Lord, I beseech you from the depth of my heart, that you
receive not the grace of God in vain, for he says: “I have heard thee
in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee.”
Therefore, dear brethren, let us not give offense to any one, that our
ministry be not blamed; but let us approve ourselves as the ministers
of God, in much patience, in necessities and distresses. 2 Cor. 6:1–4.
Hence, dear brethren, accept this as a sincere request from me, that
you take heed to your calling, wherein you are called to holiness, for
he says: “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Pet. 1:16. And I pray you, that
you show love to one another all the days of your life, for Christ
says: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another.” John 13:35. If any prosper more than others, let
one assist the other, and do not become alienated from one another,
lest one be grieved on account of another; but exhort one another
with the law of the Lord when ye come together, and always remember
the days when you were illuminated--how zealous we all were when we
came together, to speak of the great benefits which God has bestowed
upon us, in that he has called us from the power of darkness into
his marvelous light, which is kindled in our hearts, so that we have
surrendered ourselves to serve the Lord all the days of our life, and
no more to live to ourselves. Heb. 10:32; 1 Pet. 2:9; Romans 14:7.
O dear brethren and sisters, always write the law of the Lord into your
hearts, and keep him ever before your eyes, and serve him faithfully
unto the end of your lives; for if there is anything that is not
clear, be it ever so small, in which the conscience is troubled, Satan
produces, by way of accusation, all he can produce, in order that he
may at least lead astray or trouble us; however, he frequently has
cause, for we all sin in many things, as James says. Rev. 12:10; Jas.
3:2.
Therefore, dear brethren and sisters, awake, and make straight paths
for your feet, that you may always be prepared for the Gospel of peace,
which calls us only to peace, for beautiful are the feet of them that
fear the Lord. Eph. 5:14; Heb. 12:13; Eph. 6:15; Rom. 10:15. Never
separate from the church of the Lord; for it is the body of Christ,
and he is the Savior of his body. And though sometimes there are some
in it who do not truly follow the Lord, think: Lord, I have no right
to sin too, because another sins, since the Lord has no pleasure in
the multitude of sin, but that every one turn from his evil way, and
he shall live. And I pray you and all the brethren and sisters in the
Lord, that they do not think it a small thing to grieve their neighbor,
whether by word or deed, or by the putting on of apparel. We can avoid
this sometimes, but we will not, caring not that our neighbor is
troubled thereby.
O dear brethren, when one is apprehended or put into bonds, or the
Lord takes us from this world, it greatly troubles our conscience. And
our stay here is so brief; hence prepare well your lamps, that when
the bridegroom comes, you will not have to go for oil, for the doors
will then be shut. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what will you give in exchange for
your souls? Matt. 16:25. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body, but sanctify God in your hearts, and give thanks unto the Father,
who has made you meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Rom. 6:12; 1 Pet. 3:15; Col. 1:12. O dear brethren, how true
and certain we daily find it to be, that it is the truth for which we
must suffer, of which I am becoming convinced more and more every day,
though I never doubted that it was the truth.
O dear brethren and sisters, continue herein unto the end, and you
will prosper; and do not suffer yourselves to be deceived through
philosophy, or vain deceit, through vain pomp and subtle inventions;
for men are soon corrupted from their simplicity which they have in
Christ, for it is a great grace which we have received from God, that
the truth is revealed to us, which is hid from so many thousands. Col.
2:8; 2 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:9. Hence, my dear brethren and sisters, think
now of us, how many tortures we have endured, how many sighs we have
spent, how much weeping and supplicating to God we have done, with
strong crying and tears unto him for help, that you might be able to
keep unto the end the faith wherein you stand.
O dear brethren, it is so hard for us, and the cup which we must drink
is so bitter. O how am I straightened till the child is born! These
woes are so bitter, dear brethren; I speak the truth; it is impossible
to make any one believe what pain it is to bring forth a child, except
him who has experienced it; however, when it is born, then the pain is
remembered no more. Thus it is also with me and my fellow-prisoners;
we are now in the throes of travail, many a heart-grief fills us with
anguish, and we must cry to God for help. And he comforts us, for
he is a God of comfort, who can comfort all troubled hearts, as he
also does. But I hope that we shall soon have brought forth; then we
shall remember the anguish and distress no more, and all the tears,
that now ofttimes course down our cheeks, so that at times we almost,
with David, water our bed with our tears, will be wiped away; for he
is faithful that promised it us, and will also keep it. We comfort
one another much with the Lord’s promises. John 16:21; Isa. 26:17; 2
Corinthians 1:3,4; Ps. 6:6; Is. 25:8; 1 Thess. 5:24.
Therefore, dear brethren and sisters, exhort one another daily, and
be subject to one another in love. And I pray you, dear brethren and
brothers-in-law in the Lord, I pray you, exercise good care over my
sisters, for you are placed over them; the watch over them is committed
to you. Dear brothers, live with them according to knowledge, as I
also trust you will do. I commend them to you from the heart. And you
sisters in the Lord, and according to the flesh, I pray you from my
inmost soul, in my bonds, which I suffer for Christ’s sake, that you
bear with all modesty your husbands, whom the Lord and his church
have given you, that you should live with them in all subjection and
obedience. It well becomes women to honor their husbands, for a woman
of understanding is the crown of her husband, and the wife is honored
through the husband, and the husband through the wife. Therefore I
entreat you, dear sisters, assist your husbands with all willingness,
lest you discourage them. O if the wife knew what trouble and grief
she can cause her husband in his work, she would shun to do it as she
would shun poison; for the wife can cause her husband to consume soul
and body in his labor. Encourage each other in spiritual and temporal
matters, and always shun whatever might give rise to trouble, for
Satan is wily; he is satisfied with any means by which he can cause
contention; he walks about man, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour. Hence I beseech you for the Lord’s sake, lay to heart what I
write you with sighing; I do it because I love you all in my heart,
and also all them that fear the Lord. I say with Moses: I would rather
suffer affliction with the children of God, than enjoy the pleasures
of sin. Always associate with those who fear the Lord, and pray, lest
Satan take you unawares; for when it is least expected, the Lord
comes, as I and my fellow-prisoners can testify. I trust the Lord has
thus ordered it with us. We are now in it; may the Almighty God help
us through, as I trust he will do. Help pray the Lord for us; for
the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. Acts 12:5;
Jas. 5:16. I beseech you, my dear brethren and sisters, take heed unto
yourselves; the time is short, and it is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the Lord. 1 Cor. 7:29; Heb. 10:31. Call to remembrance the
day when you were illuminated, how ardent we were in the law of God,
to walk in it. v. 32. I hope you are better instructed in everything,
than I can write. And above all, I pray you, keep the Lord before your
eyes above all else, and love one another fervently; thereby men shall
know that you are children of the Most High, for love abides forever,
it never perishes. John 13:35; 1 Cor. 13:13,8. Be hospitable, remember
them that are in bonds, comfort the sorrowing, remember the poor,
each according to his circumstances--O, it gives such peace to the
conscience. I wish indeed I had done much more. Heb. 13:2,3; 2 Cor. 1:4.
Herewith I commend you all to the eternal, Almighty God; may he
comfort, strengthen and stablish you all, and us poor, forsaken sheep,
deprived of all men, unto the end of our lives; for it lies not in
the beginning, nor in the middle, but he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved. Matt. 24:13. Behold, dear brethren, I
go before, and hope to wait for you under the altar, where they cry:
“Lord, Lord, when wilt thou avenge the blood of thy saints?” Rev.
6:9,10. But the Lord will shorten the days for his elect’s sake; and
then will he clothe them in white raiment, and wipe away all tears from
their eyes, and they will see sorrow no more, for it has never entered
into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love him.
Matt. 24:22; Rev. 3:5; 1 Cor. 2:9. Herewith I bid you all a final adieu
in this world, and thank you all for the good intercourse I have had
with you in my life. And wherein I have grieved you, or any one else,
forgive me; I am heartily sorry for it. I hope and trust to God that
he has forgiven it me; and if there be any one who has wronged me, I
forgive him from the bottom of my heart, no matter who he be. We four,
Hans, Cornelis, Mattheus, and Christian, in bonds for the testimony of
Jesus, greet you and all that fear the Lord with his peace. Amen.
The Almighty God keep you all from evil. Greet my mother, Charles and
his wife; and Maeyken, who took care of my wife. Adieu to you all. This
is my testament to you all, Vincent, Kaerle, Neelken, Willem, Hans, to
each with his wife.
By me, Hans Symons, your dear brother, imprisoned at Antwerp for the
testimony of Jesus.
A LETTER WRITTEN BY CORNELIS THE SHOEMAKER, TO HIS WIFE WHILE IN BONDS.
HE WAS AFTERWARDS BURNED WITH THREE OTHERS, SEALING THIS LETTER WITH
HIS BLOOD, IN THE GREAT MARKET PLACE AT ANTWERP, THE 13TH OF SEPTEMBER,
1567.
The grace and mercy of God the Father, the love of the Son, and the
communion and peace of the Holy Ghost, who is sent us from the Father,
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the comfort of all true
and faithful children of God; by whom we are led, taught and healed;
the same keep your heart, understanding and mind in Christ Jesus, to
the praise and glory of his heavenly Father, to the salvation of your
troubled soul, and to the protection of all the brethren and sisters
that fear and love the Lord. This I wish you, my affectionately and
much beloved wife, as a heartfelt greeting.
My dearest wife, whom I wedded before God and his church, and took
to wife according to the ordinance of the Lord, I wish you comfort,
joy and gladness in all your great sorrow which has now come upon you
through my bonds and imprisonment. O my dear wife, I most earnestly
pray the Lord for you, that he would comfort you, since I well know,
my dear lamb, that you are very sorrowful on my account. But I pray
you, lay your grief aside, if possible, for a little while, and comfort
yourself with the Author of the faith, and look to Jesus the Finisher.
Heb. 12:2. Walk henceforth in all righteousness; make good use of the
time of grace, and always remember what great grace the Lord has shown
you; and bear in mind what a faithful God you serve, who will not
forsake you. Rom. 6:13; Eph. 2:7; 1 Cor. 1:9.
O my most beloved lamb, I cannot fully praise or thank the Lord for
all the great power and strength which he gives me in all my distress.
Is. 40:29. He is so faithful a God, he gives me such courage, so that
I may say with Paul: Who shall separate us from the love of God? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:35–39.
O my dear wife, I pray and exhort you, be patient in your tribulation,
continue instant in prayer, and always remember the beautiful promises
which are so abundantly promised us in the Scriptures, if we persevere
unto the end. Matthew 10:22.
O let us well guard the treasure given us, so that no man may by any
means deprive us of it. Hence continue steadfastly, and faint not; for
though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for
these are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7,16–18.
Hence, my dear and much beloved wife, do not cease to serve the Lord
your God with all your heart, and to follow his footsteps. For we know
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,
and that we shall be clothed with it: if so be that being clothed we
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,
being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought
us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the
earnest of the Spirit. 2 Cor. 5:1–5.
O my dear wife, since we shall put off the flesh, and inherit such a
dwelling, let us walk fearlessly in faith before God and his church,
and purpose not to depart from the Lord, nor to separate from his
love--which he has shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost--on
account of any affliction or tribulation; then he can succor and
comfort you in your request, when you are deprived of all human help
and comfort; since he comes to the help of those who forsake their own
selves, and of the despairing, for he dwells and will dwell alone in
the hearts of men, and would not have us serve any one besides him.
Thus, my dear sheep, be firmly founded and built up in him, as you
are taught, and let love grow and increase in all righteousness and
holiness, which avail and are acceptable before God; and always give
diligence to excel in virtue, and look not to the walk of the idle and
heedless, but consider them that live conformably to the doctrine of
Christ; have your intercourse always with them, so that you run neither
too high nor too low, nor too wide nor too long; for many go astray
because one looks to the other, whereby they sometimes wax cold.
Therefore, my dear and much beloved wife, always seek those things
which are above, and let your mind constantly be fixed on the things
which are not seen; put off the old man, and put on the new man, and
deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, and you will have part in the resurrection. Col. 3:1; 2 Cor.
4:18; Col. 3:9,10; Tit. 2:12; Rom. 12:2; Luke 20:35. Hence know that
you must first have crucified the old man, so that the body of sin may
cease. And be not weary in well doing, since your labor will not be in
vain. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of
our confidence steadfast unto the end. Heb. 3:14.
Hence, my dear wife, suffer not yourself to be moved from your purpose
or faith, for it is the true grace of God wherein we stand. For though
an angel should come, says Paul, and teach you anything else than what
has been preached unto you, let him be accursed. Gal. 1:8. Neither
fear such men as would draw you away from this doctrine; for they will
perish like grass; nor can they do anything without God’s permission.
Therefore fear God and humble yourself under him, for he is honored
of the lowly; always condescend to men of low estate, and you will be
great in the eyes of God; think not yourself to be something, lest you
deceive; always forsake your own self, and regard not what men may do
unto you, though you be wronged; for it is acceptable with God, if a
man for conscience’ sake gets into grief, suffering wrongfully. Hence
be patient in all that comes upon you for the Lord’s sake, so that you
may be a partaker of Christ’s sufferings, and thus inherit his promise;
for the time that reproach must be suffered here is short, compared
with the joy which shall be revealed in us in the last time; for though
we have a miserable life here, we shall enjoy much good hereafter; we
are accounted here as dying, but we enter into certain rest and peace.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body, 1 Corinthians 15:43,44. Therefore
our house of this tabernacle must be dissolved, if we want to obtain
the house prepared us of God. Hence fear not them that kill the body;
for they cannot harm the soul. Let us therefore not grieve because of
the work of the Lord, but as Christ says, rejoice and be glad therein,
for it shall be rewarded you in heaven: and, as Peter says, Praise and
glorify the Lord in this matter. Matt. 5:12; 1 Pet. 3:15; 4:16.