Part 103
But since God always remembers his own for the best, even when in the greatest fear, and never entirely forgets them, he strengthened some in their imprisonment, so that they trusted in God with a good assurance and hope, that he would work for and show them a deliverance. Therefore they prayed with the others in the fear of God, though they were firmly resolved to suffer for the truth of God, and to die rather than to participate in wicked piracy; yet they had reason enough, constantly to persevere in prayer to God, with heartfelt lamentation and sighing, that he would promote his divine honor in them. In this God showed them, how they should hold proper converse with each other, the strong care for the weak, and assist one another. And though they had but very little sustenance, yet they trusted in the Lord, that he would provide for them, so that they should not have to beg for their bread. Then, on the twelfth night, at Trieste, they were all delivered from their chains and bonds, and went out of prison. Through the providence of God a place was shown them, where they all in the same hour let themselves down by cords from the walls of the city. Thus the very bonds in which they had been brought thither as prisoners, had to minister to their deliverance.
From this it can be seen, that, though the ungodly devise many things against the pious, God always turns it for the best to his people. Thus, through the providence of God, they escaped from the hands of their enemies, in spite of the watchful guards whom they had placed in the city and upon the walls; for God changed their prudence to folly, so that they escaped over the walls right near the guard-house.
When all of them, both sick and well, had escaped over the walls a good many of them gathered together, knelt down, and together offered praise and thanks to God. God thus sped them on their way, that the greater part of them returned with joy and glad hearts to the church in Moravia. Twelve of them, however, were recaptured by the wicked, who pursued them, and, together with the other three, they were delivered to the Emperor’s Admiral over the Armada, taken to sea, and brought upon the galleons, with the intention of employing them as pirates, but the pious risked their lives, and would rather be scourged. But as to the end of each one of these nothing certain is yet known, but, it is to be supposed that, if they constantly adhered to the Lord, they did not have many good days while they lived. But the above mentioned brethren whom God had delivered, when they, about the year 1540 returned from Trieste to the church in Moravia, they were received with great joy and gratitude, as a gift from God.
ANNA OF ROTTERDAM, PUT TO DEATH IN THAT PLACE, A. D. 1539.
The following is the Testament which Anna of Rotterdam left and presented to her son, Isaiah, on the twenty-fourth of January, A. D. 1539, at nine o’clock in the morning, as she was preparing herself to die for the name and the testimony of Jesus, and took leave of her son, at Rotterdam.
Isaiah, receive your testament:
My son, hear the instruction of your mother; open your ears to hear the words of my mouth. Prov. 1:8. Behold, I go to-day the way of the prophets, apostles and martyrs, and drink of the cup of which they all have drank. Matt. 20:23. I go, I say, the way which Christ Jesus, the eternal word of the Father, full of grace and truth, the Shepherd of the sheep, who is the Life, himself went, and who went this way, and not another, and who had to drink of this cup, even as he said: “I have a cup to drink of, and a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” Having passed through, he calls his sheep, and his sheep hear his voice, and follow him whithersoever he goes; for this is the way to the true fountain. John 10:27; 4:14. This way was traveled by the royal priests who came from the rising of the sun, as we read in revelation, and entered into the ages of eternity, and had to drink of this cup. 1 Peter 2:9.
This way was trodden by the dead under the altar, who cry, saying: Lord, Almighty God, when wilt thou avenge the blood that has been shed? White robes were given unto them, and it was said to them; Wait yet for a little season, until the number of your brethren that are yet to be killed for the testimony of Jesus, be fulfilled. Rev. 6:9–11. These also drank of the cup, and are gone above to keep the eternal, holy Sabbath of the Lord. This is the way in which walked the twenty-four elders, who stand before the throne of God, and cast their crowns and harps before the throne of the Lamb, falling down upon their faces, and saying: Lord, unto thee alone be praise, glory, power, and strength, who shalt avenge the blood of thy servants and ministers, and shalt through thyself gain the victory. Great be thy name, Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Rev. 4:8,10.
In this way walked also those who were marked by the Lord, and received the mark Thau upon their foreheads (Ezek. 9:6), who were chosen from among all nations of men, who were not defiled with women (understand this), and who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Rev. 14:4.
Behold, all these had to drink of the cup of bitterness, as will also all those have to do, who are still wanting to complete the number and fulfillment of Zion, the bride of the Lamb, which is the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:2), the city and throne of God, in which the glory of the great King shall be seen, when the feast of tabernacles will be kept and celebrated in the days of eternal rest and joy. Zech. 14:16.
Behold, all these could not attain to this, without first suffering judgment and chastisement in their flesh; for Christ Jesus, the eternal truth, was the first, when it is written: “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. So Paul says: Thus it pleased the Father, that all whom he predestinated from eternity, he called, elected, justified, and made to be conformed to the image of his Son. Rom. 8:29,30. Our blessed Savior also says: The servant is not above his Lord; but it is sufficient for him, that he be like his Lord and Master. Matt. 10:24. Also Peter says: “The time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” 1 Pet. 4:17,18. Read also in Proverbs(11:31): “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” See, my son, here you can hear that no one can come unto life, except through this way. Therefore enter in through the strait gate, receive the chastisement and instruction of the Lord, bow your shoulders under his yoke, and cheerfully bear it from your youth, with thanksgiving, rejoicing and honor; for he accepts or receives no son, whom he does not chasten. Hebrews 12:6. Paul further says: If you forsake the chastisement, whereof they were all partakers, ye are bastards, and not children, and shall be cast out from the inheritance of the children of God.
If you, therefore, desire to enter into the regions of the holy world, and into the inheritance of the saints, gird your loins, and follow after them; search the Scriptures, and it shall show you their ways. John 5:39. The angel who spake to the prophet said: “There is also another thing: A city is builded, and set upon a broad field, and is full of all good things: the entrance thereof is narrow, and set in a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left a deep water: and one only path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so small that there could but one man go there at once. If this city now were given unto a man for an inheritance, if he never shall pass the danger set before it, how shall he receive this inheritance?” 2 Esd. 7:6–9. See, my son, this way has no retreats; there are no roundabout or crooked little paths; whosoever departs to the right or to the left, inherits death. Behold, this is the way which is found by so few, and walked by a still far smaller number; for there are some who well perceive that this is the way to life; but it is too severe for them; it pains their flesh.
Therefore, my child, do not regard the great number, nor walk in their ways. Remove thy foot far from their paths, for they go to hell, as sheep unto death; even as Isaiah says: “Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude ... shall descend into it.” Is. 5:14. “It is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them.” Is. 27:11. But where you hear of a poor, simple, cast-off little flock (Luke 12:32), which is despised and rejected by the world, join them; for where you hear of the cross, there is Christ; from there do not depart. Flee the shadow of this world; become united with God; fear him alone, keep his commandments, observe all his words, to do them; write them upon the table of your heart, bind them upon your forehead, speak day and night of his law and you will be a pleasant tree and a sprout in the courts of the Lord, a beloved plant growing up in Zion. Ps. 92:13. Take the fear of the Lord to be your father, and wisdom shall be the mother of your understanding. If you know this, my son, happy are you if you do it. John 13:17. Observe that which the Lord commands you, and sanctify your body to his service, that his name may be sanctified, praised, and made glorious and great in you. Be not ashamed to confess him before men; do not fear men; rather give up your life, than to depart from the truth. If you lose your body, which is earthly, the Lord your God has prepared you a better one in heaven. 2 Cor. 5:1.
Therefore, my child, strive for righteousness unto death, and arm yourself with the armor of God. Be a pious Israelite, trample under foot all unrighteousness, the world and all that is in it, and love only that which is above. 1 John 2:15. Remember, that you are not of this world, even as your Lord and Master was not. John 15:19. Be a faithful disciple of Christ; for none is fit to pray, unless he has become his disciple, and not before. Col. 1:7; John 9:31. Those who said: “We have left all,” also said: “Teach us to pray.” Luke 18:28; 11:1. They were those for whom the Lord prayed, and not the world (John 17:9); for when the world prays, they call upon their father, the Devil, and desire that his will be done, as is also the case. Therefore, my son, do not become like them, but shun and flee them, and have neither part nor fellowship with them. Rom. 12:2; 2 Pet. 1:4. Do not regard that which is before your eyes, but seek only those things which are above. Col. 3:1. O my child, be mindful of my admonition, and forsake it not. May the Lord cause you to grow up in his fear, and fill your understanding with his Spirit. 2 Peter 3:18. Sanctify yourself to the Lord, my son; sanctify your whole conduct in the fear of your God. Lev. 20:7. Whatever you do, do it all to the praise of his name. Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open, warm heart thy bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and suffer not to have anything twofold; for there are always some who lack. Matt. 26:11. Whatever the Lord grants you from the sweat of your face, above what you need, communicate to those of whom you know that they love the Lord (Genesis 3:19; Ps. 112:9); and suffer nothing to remain in your possession until the morrow, and the Lord shall bless the work of your hands, and give you his blessing for an inheritance. Deut. 28:12. O my son, let your life be conformed to the Gospel, and the God of peace, sanctify your soul and body, to his praise. Amen. Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess. 5:23.
O holy Father, sanctify the son of thy handmaiden in thy truth, and keep him from the evil, for thy name’s sake, O Lord.
Thereupon she sealed this with her blood, and thus, as a pious heroine and follower of Jesus Christ, she was received among the number of the witnesses of God who were offered up.
TJAERT REYNERTS, A. D. 1539.
About the year 1539, there was also a godfearing peasant, named Tjaert Reynerts, who lived near Harlingen, in Friesland. He was brought a prisoner to Leeuwærden, where he had to suffer much for the truth, from the blood-thirsty papists. Proverbs 29:10. The cause of his imprisonment was, that, out of compassion and brotherly love, he had secretly harbored Menno Simon in his great misery, in his house. This having been brought to the notice of the enemies, he was apprehended and very cruelly examined; but he, as a valiant hero and witness of Jesus (Rev. 2:13; 20:4), would not forsake his Creator in this extremity, but freely and undauntedly confessed the faith of the everlasting truth against these tyrants and blood-thirsty men; on which account he, at said place, as a chief of murderers (according to the example of his Lord Jesus), was placed upon the wheel, though even his greatest enemies bore witness that he was an upright and pious man. 1 Tim. 3:7.
At this time the tyranny and persecution against the godfearing Christians was very dreadful, so that the envious papists, who hated the truth, caused likenesses of many of the principal teachers and overseers of the church of Jesus Christ to be made, and posted up on doors, gates, and other public places, promising a large sum of money, to such as should deliver them into the hands of the officers and executioners. And since the godfearing Menno Simon, who was zealous for God, was one of the principal teachers and elders in this bloody and perilous time, who, by his glorious admonitions, and writings from the word of God, so flourished, that none of his adversaries dared come before him in an open and free scriptural disputation, though he at various times and very earnestly requested it; through which sound doctrine and Christian admonition, and the power of the Most High, said Menno Simon drew, turned, and won to God, a great number of men, from dark and erring popery; yea, from the dumb idols, to the living God. Therefore the servants of antichrist were embittered the more against him, and, in order to quench and hinder this, caused, A. D. 1543, a dreadful decree to be proclaimed against him throughout all West Friesland; in which all malefactors and murderers were offered remission of their crimes, the pardon of the Emperor, the freedom of the country, and one hundred Carl Guilders, if they could deliver Menno Simon into the hands of the torturers and executioners. But though these envious men thirsted with such exceeding tyranny and great bitterness for his blood, and sought and persecuted him unto death, yet the Almighty God preserved him, and most miraculously protected him from the designs of all his enemies, so that they could not execute their tyrannical desires on him; for he died a natural death, as God had appointed it to him, at Wuestefeld, near Luebeck, on the 13th of January, in the year 1559, in his sixty-sixth year. Ps. 31:15; Job 14:5; Ps. 139:16.
He that desires, may read _Menno Simon, contra Gallius Faber, fol. 23_, where the offering of Tjaert Reynerts is referred to.[232]
[232] See Menno Simon’s Complete Works, English Edition, published by John F. Funk and Brother, Elkhart, Indiana, 1871, part first, page 8.
ARENT JACOBS, WITH HIS WIFE AND ELDEST SON, A. D. 1539.
Even as it was in the time of Esau and Jacob, that he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit (Gen. 27:1; Galatians 4:29), so it was also abundantly witnessed in this time; which, among others, appeared in the case of one godfearing brother named Arent Jacobs, and his wife and eldest son. These resided in the Rijp, and being born again from above of God, and seeking the eternal inheritance which is reserved for such in heaven, they were hated and persecuted unto death by the followers of Esau, who brought them prisoners from the Rijp to Monickendam, in North Holland, where they had to suffer much for the truth; but as they were built upon Christ, and suffered themselves by no torments to be led away, they were, at said place, A. D. 1539, sentenced to suffer death by drowning, which was accordingly done. To this end heavy stones were used, which the executioner was not able to lift, so that the prisoners were obliged to assist him. Thus, like irrational beasts they were cast into the water, with stones tied to their necks, and so departed this life. Thus they did not love their lives, but surrendered them unto death for the witness of Jesus, who at his glorious coming shall raise their rejected bodies from the dead, and crown them with immortality in heaven. Rev. 12:11; 20:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Phil. 3:21; 2 Timothy 4:8.
HANS SIMERAVER, A. D. 1540.
In the year 1540, Brother Hans Simeraver was imprisoned for the divine truth, at Schwatz, in the valley of the Inn; but as they could not draw him from his faith, nor convince him with the holy Scriptures, they delivered him to their high priest, the executioner, who had to lead him out and conquer him. Thus he was executed with the sword, and sealed his faith in God with his blood, thus resisting unto blood, or striving against sin and the abomination of desolation. Heb. 12:4; Matt. 24:15. Therefore he shall also, on Mount Sion, among the great number of those who testified to and confessed the name of God in the world, receive a palm in his hands, and be crowned with the unfading crown of life. 2 Esdr. 2:45; 2 Tim. 4:8.
WALTER OF STOELWIJK, A. D. 1541.
On the eleventh of February, A. D. 1538, another pious and faithful brother, named Walter of Stoelwijk, at Vilvoorden, in Brabant, fell into the hands of the ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15), and had to suffer much for the truth, from these envious papists. But he, as a wise builder, had founded his house upon the firm and immovable rock, Christ Jesus; and therefore remained steadfast in all these great trials, though he had to suffer cruel imprisonment for three years, and much severe and tyrannous examining and torturing from these blood-thirsty men. Finally, on the 24th of March, in the year 1541, he was sentenced and burned at said place. Thus he remained faithful to his Lord and Creator unto death, and steadfastly confirmed with his death and blood the genuine faith of the truth, and his unwavering, living hope. He shall therefore, as an obedient sheep, also hear the voice of the great Shepherd of the sheep saying to him: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” John 10:3; Heb. 13:20; Matt. 25:34.
A LETTER WRITTEN BY SAID WALTER OF STOELWIJK, TREATING OF THE SUFFERING AND THE GLORY OF CHRISTIANS.
Grace, peace, and mercy from God our heavenly Father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, be with all those who live godly in Christ Jesus, and therefore suffer persecution, to the glory and praise of the true God, to the trial of their faith, and the eternal salvation of their souls. Amen. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:12.
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his unfathomable grace and mercy hath called us out of darkness unto his marvelous light, and still daily lets his face shine upon us, that we may know his way on the earth, and his salvation among the Gentiles. Yea, blessed, praised, and glorified be God our most blessed Lord and most merciful Father, who, through his unspeakable goodness, and not through the merits of our works, has chosen us, through Jesus Christ, to be his children, that we should be heirs of his eternal kingdom, and inherit all things as true children and heirs of God; children of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we do the will of God our heavenly Father, that we may be glorified with him, and enter into his glory. Tit. 3:5; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 2:6; Rom. 8:17. For it is true what Christ says: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 7:21. Now it is the will of our heavenly Father, that we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ.
In the first place, we must deny ourselves; that is, we must forsake our own will, and surrender ourselves wholly to Jesus Christ, so that according, to the words of the apostle, we live no more unto ourselves, but unto Jesus Christ, who died for us, that he may be Lord both of the dead and living, and that no one shall live unto himself, but unto him who died for him, and rose again. O Lord God, how few there are who are willing thus to deny themselves, and desire only to do the will of God; yea, how many do not yet know which is the true will of God, but hold to the doctrine and commandments of the Roman Pope and antichrist, and are in such a condition, that they do not know Jesus Christ. To these, the Almighty God, according to the pleasure of his will, must open the eyes of their understanding, with the radiance of his grace, that they may emerge from this blindness into the true light, and know with all the saints, what is the delusion and sorcery of the Babylonian whore (Rev. 18:2), and that the teachings and commandments of Christ Jesus alone are to be kept, yea, that we must follow and preserve only the teachings and commandments of Christ Jesus, and that we may in no wise live according to our own will, but are to consider that Christ Jesus himself did not his own will, but the will of his Father, who sent him; which was done and written for our admonition and instruction, that we should not fulfill our own will, which, because of the innate wickedness of our cursed nature, is prone to evil; but the acceptable and perfect will of God, so that we may pray aright, as Christ has taught us, saying: Heavenly Father, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matt. 6:9,10. How many there are who do not say this with a good heart, but with false lips, even as Judas said to Christ: “Hail, Master” (Matt. 26:49; Mark 14:45; Luke 22:47), at the same time betraying him; so they say with the mouth, that God’s will is to be done; while at the same time all their thoughts and works are contrary to the will of God. These are those real false Christians who say to Christ Jesus: “Lord, Lord,” and yet do not what he has commanded them. These are the true Pharisees, the hypocritical saints, who honor God with their lips, while their heart is far from him. These are the true unbelievers of whom St. Paul says that with their words they profess to know God, but in works deny him, so that they are abominable to the Lord, because they are disobedient to him, and reprobate unto every good work. Yea, these are the true hypocrites, the disciples of deceitful Satan, who have learned from their master, to disguise their inward craftiness, and outwardly to adorn themselves with a beautiful appearance. Such hypocrites the Lord will forever curse and cast out, and say to them: “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I know you not.” Matt. 7:23; Ps. 6:8. But he will bless the pious Christians and bless and glorify the good and true disciples of Jesus Christ, who deny themselves, and have surrendered themselves unto the will of God, which is the true beginning of the Christian life, and without which life can not be begun.