Part 130
The beginning of my life was unprofitable, proud, puffed-up, drunken, selfish, deceitful, and full of all manner of idolatry. And when I attained maturity, and began to be my own master, I sought nothing but what pleased my flesh, an indolent and luxurious life. I was greedy of filthy lucre; I sought to bring my neighbor’s daughter to fall, as, alas! appears from my work; and what I did in secret, is too shameful to mention; yea, I was a vessel full of iniquity. But, my dear child, when I betook myself to the Scriptures, and searched and perused them, I found that my life tended to eternal death, yea, that everlasting woe was hanging over me, and that the fiery pool which burns with brimstone and pitch was prepared for me. This, I say, was approaching me, according to the words of Paul, who says: “They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5:21.
When I took this to heart, I began to be greatly alarmed and frightened, and took the word of God for my counselor, as to which should be the more advisable for me: to lead here, for a little while, a voluptuous life, and to expect the everlasting pains of hell; or to suffer here a little misery (if misery it can be called), and then to enjoy eternal happiness. I found in the Scriptures: “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:26. Hence, my beloved son, I deemed it better, like Moses, to suffer affliction with the children of God for a little while, than to live in every luxury with the world, which will perish. Thus I abandoned my ease, voluntarily and uncompelled, and entered upon the narrow way, to follow Christ, my Head, well knowing that if I should follow him unto the end, I should not walk in darkness. Now, when I had partly forsaken and cast from me the old damnable practices, and wanted to be a new divine creature, and to lead a pious, penitent, godly life, I was immediately, like all the pious that had been before me, hated, yea, imprisoned in Haarlem, in St. John’s gate.
This, my beloved son, was my life till the Lord enlightened me. First of all, my dear child, I would affectionately warn, admonish and entreat you, to beware of and shun all wickedness, and to walk from infancy in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom; and if God reveal his wisdom to you, hesitate not to walk in it, since death pursues the young as well as the old. Improve the time given you by God for repentance. Have your intercourse with the good, and beware of the perverse. If sinners entice you, consent not, and have no fellowship with them; refrain your foot from their path, for their steps take hold on hell. Hence, touch not pitch, lest you be defiled; for an evil end draws nigh to the wicked, which will bear the burden everywhere. Of this and every evil, my dear son, beware, and remember that Paul says, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10), but the flesh will advise you to nothing good. Hence Paul may well say: “To be carnally minded is death, yea, they that are in the flesh, cannot please God.” Rom. 8:6,8. Therefore, mortify your carnal members here on earth. Read Paul, or have him read to you; he will tell you, which are the works of the flesh. Gal. 5:19. If you have time and opportunity, use diligence to learn to read and write, that you may learn and know the better, what the Lord requires of you.
Beloved son, my heart’s desire and prayer to the Lord for you is, that your soul may be protected from the deluge of God’s wrath, that shall come upon all the ungodly who did not care for the Lord, and walked not in his commandments. This impending wrath of God you can escape in no better way than by looking to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty and eternal Father, who is the head and pattern of all believers, yea, the captain and finisher of the faith, that is, Jesus Christ. Ask him for counsel, as to what is best and most necessary for you to do, and he will tell you, knock at the door of his Holy Trinity, and worship him; he will open to you, and give you what is needful for you. Have a desire and appetite for the truth, and you shall be satisfied. Seek not high temporal things; though they that obtain them, are called and commended as happy by the common people; they are nevertheless unhappy and rejected before God. Hence humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that you may be exalted in eternity. 1 Peter 5:5.
Behold how he fared, and likewise all the pious before and after him; his birth was poor and miserable; immediately he had to flee from Herod, who sought his life; when he suffered, he had not where to rest his head, and the thanks for all his great and glorious benefits were that they called him a deceiver, wine-bibber, Samaritan, and one who had a devil, besides, he had to expect being stoned by them, until they, when the time was fulfilled, condemned him to the most shameful death. And previous to the law, pious Abel had to suffer from his brother Cain, who killed him, out of pure hatred and envy, because his brother’s works were good and acceptable to God, and his own evil and rejected. And all the dear prophets, who practiced and maintained the word of God, had likewise to suffer much, without any respect of persons. Micaiah, who alone was found true among four hundred false prophets, in the days of King Ahab, was beaten by Zedekiah, and afterwards cast into prison. 1 Kings 22:24. Elijah, the only true prophet among the four hundred and fifty false priests of Jezebel (1 Kings 18:19), also had to suffer much; so that Paul may well say (for he had experienced it himself) that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. 2 Tim. 3:11.
This also all other pious witnesses of Christ experienced, and remained steadfast unto the end; wherefore, according to the Scriptures (James 1:12), the crown is prepared for them, since Christ’s own mouth declares that he that shall endure unto the end, shall be saved; he that overcometh shall inherit all things, shall be clothed in white, and shall eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of paradise. Matt. 24:13; Rev. 21:7; 2:7.
Consider this, my beloved son; meditate night and day, how to die unto the world, and to fulfill the will of Christ. In the first place, and before everything else, beware of all false prophets and hypocrites, which in my time were the priests and monks, and who, I apprehend, will not be lacking in your time, so long as rich emoluments follow them. Do not believe them, for they deceive men, and murder their souls. My son, he that wrote you this, learned it by his own experience and investigation; he drank of this cup himself. Neither live among any sect, of whom there were many in my time already, as Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others, who, though they have a good semblance, yet, in fact, are evil and deadly poison. Look for the little flock, whose entire rule of life agrees with God’s commandments, and whose ordinance or sacrament is in conformity with the command of Christ and the practice of the apostles; this is the true church of Christ, without spot or wrinkle; this church is flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones. These also have teachers according to the teaching of Paul (1 Tim. 3:2), blameless in everything, who have obedient children and believing wives, who are strangers to litigations and processes, to cursing and swearing, to hatred and envy, to lying and cheating, to lasciviousness and adultery. There everything is love, peace, unity and truth, as Paul will teach you, which are the fruits of the Spirit.
My dear son and beloved child, this is my chief and last will, my testament to you, which I desire you to read diligently, to meditate well upon it, and to compare it to the Scriptures, in order to govern your steps in accordance with it. Mark well, my son, what I write: many will appear in the garb of good teachers, saying that they have medicine for your sick soul; but the ones that will profit you, are those who have the truth; adhere to them. Water and fire are set before you: stretch forth your hand unto whether you will, unto death or life. Sirach 15:16. This, my dear son, will at first be very hard for you to hear, since it is contrary to your first birth, which is of the flesh; but you must be born again, and converted, if you would enter into the kingdom of God. You cannot understand this so long as you are carnally-minded, yea, so long as you do not become the fool and enemy of the world. Dearly beloved son, I entreat you again, as I did before, to consider this, and to govern yourself in accordance with it. Out of a faithful father’s heart I have left you this, when about to depart from this world, and to die for the word of the Lord. May the Lord grant you, and all who read this, or hear it read, that they may take it to heart, act according to it, and be eternally saved.
My son’s testament, written in the year 1557, the first Monday in April, and confirmed by death, the 26th day of the same month.
THREE OTHER BRIEF ADMONITORY LETTERS BY JORIAEN SIMONS AND HIS FELLOW-PRISONERS.
May God grant peace, joy and consolation in all trouble and suffering to all those who have to suffer for his word, through his beloved Son, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
We would inform our most beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, and all who seek to fear the Lord with the whole heart, that we are all (the Lord be praised forever) of very good cheer, and hope to adhere to the word of the Lord, and not to depart from it, for any visible thing, yea, neither for life nor death, since there is nothing, we trust, which shall be able to separate us from the love of God; we shall be able to do all things through him who strengthens us; we trust by our God to leap over walls. Rom. 8:35; Philip. 4:13; Ps. 18:29.
Dear friends, rejoice with us; why should we fear, when there are so many in the world, who, for a little gain, expose themselves to the greatest danger, both of soul and body, on water and on the land, not knowing withal, whether in case of success there will be gain or loss? But we know that when we have completed this journey by the help of the Lord, all is gain, and there can be no loss; for we run not as uncertainly; we fight not as one that beats the air; but we are assured by the grace of the Lord, that, if we fight through valiantly, as we trust we shall do, we shall receive that which is promised us. We intend to return to them four-fold; we shall not keep silence, but proclaim aloud, what the Lord gives and reveals to us. Our sister Mariken is also of very good cheer, and has rightfully confessed her faith, to which she wants to adhere as long as there is breath in her; she is of such courage and good cheer, that she delights and rejoices us all. We exhort each other with the word of the Lord, as much as God gives each to speak, now by words, now by hymns; yea, I have many hours in which I never once think of it that I am a prisoner; such is the joy which the Lord gives us. I thank you with all my heart, that you have fulfilled my request, also for your affectionate exhortation. Do the best you can as regards my H. F. I commend you to the Lord, and to the word of his grace.
JORIAEN SIMONS IN BONDS.
_Our most beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord_, and all who desire to fear and follow the Lord with all their heart, we, the prisoners in the Lord, wish you a valiant and steadfast mind, and perseverance in the truth, unto the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior and Redeemer, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Greatly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, be it known to your love, that through the grace of the Lord we all strive for the best, seeking it with the whole heart, so that we want to offer ourselves up into the hands of the Lord, whether it bring us life or death. We also seek with the whole heart, that the Lord will magnify his glorious name through us, and we keep before our eyes the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus. We know that the servant is not greater than his lord. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that if we suffer with him, we shall also rejoice with him. To this all the pious witnesses of Christ had respect, and unto his great promises, which we have in the Old Testament, and which were given to the pious fathers, who hoped for the grace that should come, and therefore valiantly fought for the law of God, and would have no intercourse with the surrounding nations, and therefore voluntarily surrendered their lives, because they would not worship or honor their molten or carved images; even as pious Eleazar, who would not eat swine’s flesh, contrary to the law. 2 Macc. 6:18. By the grace of the Lord we hope to take his salutary words for our pattern, namely, that it is best to adhere to the Lord; for though through hypocrisy (from which God preserve us) we should save our lives, yet should we not escape the Almighty hand of God, neither alive nor dead. Therefore we will surrender ourselves entirely into the hands of the Lord, as did the pious Maccabean mother and her seven sons (2 Macc. 7:1); and as did all the pious witnesses of Christ, who even rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Acts 5:41. Thus, beloved brethren, we are minded in the Lord, and not otherwise. We trust by the grace of the Lord to be unto the weak babes that still feed on milk, an example of piety and steadfastness.
This was written by me on Monday, after I had been before the lords twice, and been interrogated whether I would adhere to my confession.
_Our greatly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord_, and all who want to fear and follow the Lord with the whole heart, we, the prisoners in the Lord, wish you that the gracious heavenly Father will preserve you from all harm from within and without, through his dear, beloved Son Christ Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Dearly beloved brethren in the Lord; faint not, though you now have to wander from friends and kindred, house and home, not knowing whither you shall go, since the heat of the sun now begins everywhere to scorch the seed that has sprung up. Matthew 13:6. Brethren, be not cast down; let the seed in you get and retain moisture; sit under the shadow of the Scriptures, and they will be a glorious protection unto you. We know that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven. When the head suffers, all the members suffer with it; hence, if we would be members of Christ, we must also be partakers of the sufferings of the Head; if we, then, suffer with him, we shall also rejoice with him.
Therefore, dear brethren, if the Lord suffer you to live for awhile longer among this wicked generation, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; stand out as lights in this evil, wicked world, and let your faith manifest itself in works, else it is dead. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, the captain and finisher of the faith; he is the only corner-stone in Zion, and other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. We commend you to the Lord; may he guide you into all truth.
I, Joriaen Simons, your dear brother, and my dear fellow prisoners, wish you every good thing, and we seek the best with all our heart.
As we, through the secretary of the city of Haarlem, have come into possession of the sentence of death passed upon the aforementioned friends Joriaen Simons and Clement Dirks, we deem it well, here to adduce the same, so that every one may be fully assured with regard to the foregoing account. It reads (except the title) as follows:
_Sentence of death of Joriaen Simons of Hallmen, and Clement Dirks of Haarlem._
Whereas Joriaen Simons, of Hallmen, in Friesland, and Clement Dirks, of Haarlem, both weavers, and now prisoners, have confessed, without torture and iron bonds, to have been rebaptized, and to hold most pernicious views with regard to the worthy, holy sacraments of the altar and confession, and to the circumstances and ceremonies of the holy church, and have also undertaken, said Joriaen to sell and distribute divers false books, and Clement to read and teach them, and since both continue stubborn, obstinate and hardened in said errors and pernicious views, therefore, the lords of the court, having heard the address and conclusion made by Pieter van Zouteland, Bailiff of this city, against and concerning these persons, pursuant to the decrees and edicts of his Royal Majesty, last confirmed by his Royal Majesty, our gracious lord, have condemned said Joriaen Simons of Hallmen, and Clement Dirks, as rebaptized heretics and disturbers of the common peace and of the Christian religion, and hereby sentence them, each to be placed at a stake, and executed with fire, pursuant to the aforesaid decrees and edicts, and declare the entire property of said Joriaen, and the property of said Clement Dirks to the sum of sixty pounds, and no more, if it exceed said sum, confiscated and forfeited, according to the privilege of this city, for the benefit of his Royal Majesty. Thus resolved, the 26th of April, A. D. 1557, by Joost van Hitgem, and Dirk van Berkerve, Burgomasters, Wilm Harmans Ramp, Jan Koninks, Jan Matthijss, Jan Raet, and Adriaen Willems, Judges, and pronounced in the court the same day, in the presence of the Bailiff and the aforementioned Judges.
Extracted from the first book of criminal records, beginning the 29th of November 1539, and ending the 27th of October 1582, in the keeping of the secretary of the city of Haarlem, with which book this copy is found to agree.
By me, the undersigned secretary of said city, the 10th of July, A. D. 1659.
VOLL.
SIX BRETHREN STRANGLED AT THE STAKE IN VOLEWIJK, NEAR AMSTERDAM, A. D. 1555.
It occurred A. D. 1555, when the first separation took place among the Anabaptists, because Gillis of Aix-la-Chapelle and others began to introduce that to which the other brethren of Waterland could not subscribe or consent, that these brethren maintained themselves as a separate people, without, however having been separated or banished from the others; but they became a forgotten, yea, a lost people: so that the Waterland brethren, on account of the severe persecution, could not live in houses, but had to keep themselves in boats and in the field, because they knew not where to hide themselves from the constables, who were looking for them everywhere, and sought their lives. It was at this time that six brethren, who were together in a boat, were apprehended in the Oostsaner field, and brought to Amsterdam, where they were sentenced to death. It was in the beginning of the winter when they were brought in the Volewijk, and all strangled at the stake. There was freezing weather for thirteen weeks from this time on, and, what is remarkable, during all these thirteen weeks a light like a candle stood over each stake to which the bodies of the six brethren were fastened, and burned all night. After the expiration of the thirteen weeks, a violent storm and rain arose, and, consequently, a great thaw ensued so that the water rose very high, and the ice was rent asunder by the wind. Around the body of one of the six brethren the water stood so high, that the stake, through the force of the ice pressing against it, was broken in two, and fell down upon the ice. His body drifted hither and thither on the ice, with the tide, between Sparendam and Volewijk. In that neighborhood there were two persons, each in a boat, who were both novices in the church. Passing along there in the night, they saw the aforesaid light like a candle on the ice. Looking sharply, they thought it stood on Jaapje Maet (so they called this brother). As soon as it was daylight they went to two sisters that were concealed in the city, which was known to these two novices. To them they related what they had seen in the night. Thereupon they suffered themselves to be barred out, and each entering a boat, they rowed to the most northern point, where they waited for the ice to come. In the meantime said light came drifting on the ice. They rowed up to it and saw that it stood on Jaapje Maet. They took him into their boat, and brought him to the other brethren who also kept themselves in a boat in the field.[264] These took the body into their own boat. But as soon as they touched it, in order to take it to the place where they intended to bury it, the dried up and frozen body, which had stood at the stake for thirteen weeks waiting to be burned, burst, so that the blood flowed copiously into two or three baskets which were at the bottom of the boat. The persons who saw all this, and did as has been stated with his body, were his chief brethren and associates, pious and credible persons, who related it to many, in order that this miracle should never be forgotten, but be remembered, to the edification of the pious.
[264] The reader will bear in mind that large portions of Holland are traversed by numerous canals, in place of roads.
MAERTEN ZAEYWEVER, JORIS OUDKLEERKOOPER, WILLEM DROOGSCHEERDER, VICTOR AND PIETER DE BACKER, A. D. 1557.
The bloodthirsty constrainers of conscience, not yet satiated, apprehended at Antwerp, in the year 1557, five pious Christians, namely, Maerten Zaeywever, Joris Oudkleerkooper, Willem Droogsheerder, Victor and Pieter de Backer, whom they assailed with many wiles, threats and tortures, in order to rob them of their precious treasure, which they so faithfully kept in earthen vessels, to the honor of God, that it could not be taken from them; on which account the others were so filled with envy, that they inflicted an ignominious death upon them, publicly in the market place; but God will crown them, together with his faithful servants, with great honor and joy, when the others will have to go with shame into everlasting misery.
A LETTER BY WILLEM DROOGSCHEERDER, WRITTEN IN PRISON AT ANTWERP, WHERE HE, WITH FIVE OTHERS, WAS PUT TO DEATH FOR THE TESTIMONY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AS ALREADY STATED, A. D. 1557.
Grace, peace, and mercy from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who has called us to his imperishable kingdom, and chosen us before the foundation of the world, and cleansed us with the washing of water by the word, in order that we should be blameless in his sight.
Written to you, my beloved brother N., and to my dear sister N. Although I am here in fetters and bonds, for the testimony of Christ, and am ready to seal it with my blood through the grace of the Lord, yet I do not neglect or forget my fellow members in my prayers, which I almost always offer with tears before the Lord, since you are still traveling in the wilderness, among dragons, lions and bears, which constantly run and seek to murder the innocent blood, which cries for vengeance from the time of Abel. For they bring us to death, as the Jews did Christ; for we are grievous unto them to behold; because we do not conform to them; hence they counsel and say: “Let us condemn him with a shameful death; for by his own sayings he shall be respected,” Wis. 2:15.