Part 226
Furthermore, Beliken, my love, I understand it to be your request, that I shall write to you once more, which it is impossible for me to refuse you; yet I am unworthy to write to you, because of the thorn which I have in my flesh, for my weakness is so great, that I might well say: Oh that my head were waters, that I might day and night bewail my miserable weakness; for my weakness is exceeding great, and my sorrow moreover is not small, for when I think, O Beliken, my only lamb, that I must part from you, and leave you among this adulterous generation, O, then my heart is burdened unto death, and when I think; if God should take you out of the flesh before me, O then my heart is troubled still more, for I feel that after your departure, I should not see a single happy day. Thus my thoughts distress me from every side, so that I may well say with Susanna: O in what a great strait am I now! Sus. 22. Yea, this miserable state has so laid hold on me, that I may well cry to God, and say with Hezekiah: O Lord, ease me: for I suffer distress (Is. 38:14), yea such distress as is suffered by the hinds, when they writhe to bring forth. Moreover, I am ofttimes more despondent than Jonah, when he was smitten down by the sun, Jon. 4:8. Hence I may also well say: “O tribulation and vexation, how long will ye live in me?” Yea, moreover, I may well say with David: “My enemies ploughed upon my back, and made long their furrows.” Ps. 129:3. But then I console myself again, O my love, when I remember, that God, as Paul says, chasteneth whom he loveth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth; and with the temptation also makes a way to escape, that one may be able to bear it, which I have often experienced. Heb. 12:6; 1 Cor. 10:13. Hence I also thank the Lord, who has everywhere delivered me from the snare of the fowler. Ps. 91:3. Therefore I will also with David praise the Lord and glorify him among many, for he stands at the right hand of his poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. Ps. 92:1; 109:31. Hence, O my chosen, dearest love, let us firmly cleave to the Lord, and not stumble, though the wicked persecutes him that is more righteous than himself. For Job says: The ungodly pluck the child from the breast and make it an orphan in the city; they cause men to sigh, and the souls of the slain to cry out; and God troubleth them not. Job 24:9,12. But it is nevertheless certain, that God will not always say amen to their course. For he says by the prophet: “I hold my peace for a time, and am still, but at the last I will avenge myself on mine enemies. Isaiah 42:15. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh over the blood of the slain, and over the captives, and over the uncovered head of the enemy.” Hence, Moses says: “Rejoice, all ye that are his people; for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and render vengeance to his adversaries; but he will be merciful unto the land of his people.” Deuteronomy 32:40–43. Thus, O my love, my only lamb, let us be of good courage; though we must now sow in tears, we shall in due time, I hope, reap an abundant harvest. For God says through the prophet: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” Is. 66:10,11.
Thus, O my chosen, dearest love, let us for a little while help the Lord bear his reproach; for it is a faithful saying, says Paul: “If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him, and if we die with him we shall also live with him; and then all tears shall be wiped away from our eyes, and all our tribulation, shall be changed into eternal joy. Hence, O my love, let us diligently pray the Lord, that this promise may be fulfilled in us, and that we may be found citizens in the beautiful city where the walls are of sapphire and the streets pure gold. Rev. 21:18.
Further my love, I will commend you to our dear Lord; may he keep and govern you as his daughter, for I take leave now and bid you adieu.
O adieu, my affectionately beloved, for we must part in tears. O adieu, Beliken van der Straten, my very dear wife, whose hand I took with tears of joy. O bitter parting, how hard it is for me! Once more I say adieu. O Beliken, my chosen, dearest love, I thank you most affectionately for all your pure love. May the Lord recompense you. Greet from me those that are with you. Adrian also greets you much. The Lord be with you.
Written in my bonds, by me, your weak brother and servant, as much as I am able.
MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN.
THIRD LETTER FROM MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN, TO HIS WIFE.
I Maerten van der Straten your affectionately beloved husband and brother in the Lord, yet both unworthily, wish you my very dear, beloved wife and sister in the Lord, Beliken van der Straten, much grace and mercy from God our heavenly Father, and may the love of his Son be multiplied to you, and may God, moreover, fill you, like Jeremiah, with his Holy Spirit, that you may thereby withstand all the subtle assaults of the devil, and after the victory, with all God’s children, receive the crown of glory upon the pleasant mountain where, according to the writing of Esdras roses and lilies grow. 2 Esd. 2:19. And, my dearly beloved, I pray the Lord, to make you meet and worthy to play the new song before the throne of his glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Cordially written out of tender love, to you Beliken van der Straten. O my love, my chosen, dearest love, which through God’s providence was given to me before his church by my father, and whose hand I took with tears of joy, for which I also thank the Lord, that he gave me you, for I would not have thought myself worthy of you. Hence this is also a reason for me, to love you the more. Yet, I call God to witness, that I love you as my soul, yea, more than the heart in my body, which I am bound also to do according to the demand of the Scriptures, for, since I, according to John’s writing, am bound to love my brother, how much more then must I love you since you, according to the word of God and Paul’s declaration, are flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bones. And the apostle also says: “No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it.” Eph. 5:29. In short, he that loves his wife also loves himself.
Further, Beliken, my beloved, after this my proper and Christian salutation, let me, please, inform your love that I, the Lord be praised, am in tolerably good health according to the flesh, and according to the spirit God be praised, my mind is still fixed to fear the Lord, all the days of my life, according to my weak ability. Furthermore, my dearest, I have the same confidence concerning you, that you are well both in soul and body, prepared to live and die to the glory of the Lord. This worshipful, good God, who has broken the bow of the mighty, and, according to the word of the prophet, through the gracious goodness gives both wine and milk without price (Is. 55:1), may strengthen and confirm you and us all in this lion’s den, where we, on every hand, are so severely assailed and so greatly distressed, like Israel, when they were compassed about by Holofernes. Jud. 7. Yea, the false elders do so distress us, that we can with Susanna find nowhere a place of escape, but behold death before our eyes on every hand; for our persecutors are evening wolves, that leave nothing over till the morning. Hab. 1:8. Hence we may well say with David: “They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. Psalm 94:5,6,21.
But, my dearly beloved, let us not therefore despond, though we are now tried in the furnace of affliction, for the prophet says: “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that he may have patience in the day of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will forsake his inheritance. For he regardeth the prayer of the destitute, and doth not despise their petitions; for he looketh down from the height of his sanctuary, and from heaven doth the Lord behold the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner. Ps. 94:12–14; 102:17,19,20. For Sara said: This I truly know, if a man serve God, he is comforted after temptation, and delivered from affliction, and after chastisement he findeth grace. For thou, O Lord, delightest not in our destruction; for after the storm thou causest the sun to shine again, and after weeping and mourning thou dost give us joy abundantly. Eternal praise to thy name O God of Israel, for with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light we see light. Tobit 3:11; Ps. 36:9.
Hence, my love, O my dearest love, let us patiently drink the cup of the Lord, for we know, according to the words of Isaiah, that truth is fallen in the street, and that he that turneth from his evil ways is the spoil of every one. Is. 59:14,15. For Esdras says: For there shall be in every place, and in the next cities, a great insurrection upon those that fear the Lord. They (the ungodly), shall be like mad men, sparing none, but still spoiling and destroying those that fear the Lord. For they shall waste and take away their goods, and cast them out of their houses. Then shall they be known (says the Lord); who are my chosen; and they shall be tried as the gold in the fire: 2 Esd. 16:70–73.
Therefore, O my chosen love, my lamb, let us give our back to the smiters for a little while yet, and look to the author of our faith, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who for our sakes was so maltreated and disfigured, that he himself says: “If they have done these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry.” Luke 23:31. Hence, O my love, my dearest love, let us think as Paul, that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, will hereafter work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 2 Cor. 4:17. For Solomon says: But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord’s hand: for with his right hand shall he sever them, and with his arm shall he protect them. Wis. 5:15,16. Therefore, O my dear lamb, let us diligently pray the Lord, that we may be worthy at his coming, to live with him for ever and ever.
Further, my chosen, dearly beloved, know that I do not know much more to write you, but I commend you into the hands of the Lord, and bid you adieu if I should write you no more; for our enemies are now so greatly incensed at us, that they gnash on us with their teeth, even as they did on Stephen in the judgment hall. I therefore yet give you this letter, even as Israel, when they were bound, gave their children the last milk. And furthermore, I thank you, O my love, for all your pure love and sincere friendship, and I also thank you much for the sleeves you made me; they stand me in better stead than the coat which was sent me. Rightly did Sirach say, that one friend helps the other in time of need, but much more yet husband and wife.
Once more I take leave, and bid you adieu; O adieu, Beliken, my dearest. Greet from me them that are with you. Adrian also greets you much.
Written by me, your dear husband and brother in the Lord.
MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN.
Pray for me.
THE FOURTH LETTER FROM MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN, TO ANNA SERVAES.
I, Maerten van der Straten, your unworthy friend and brother, wish you, my beloved, dear sister in the Lord, Anna Servaes, much grace and mercy from God our heavenly Father; and may the love of his Son be in you as a burning fire, that you may become perfect unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, and bearing good fruits, as a tree planted by the rivers of water, so that you may be numbered among the royal priesthood, the peculiar people, which God, according to the writings of Moses, bore on eagle’s wings; so that you, when the land shall again be divided to Israel, may possess an inheritance full of joy, for ever and ever. Amen. Eph. 4:13; 1 Pet. 2:12; Ps. 1:3; 1 Peter 2:9; Deut. 32:11.
A cordial, fond and affectionate greeting to you, my dear and much beloved sister in the Lord, Anna Servaes, whom I love with a pure love out of a pure heart, of which God be my judge, who, according to the word of Jeremiah, tries men’s hearts and reins. Further, after all proper and Christian salutation, let me, please, inform your love, that I and my dear wife are in tolerably good health according to the flesh, and according to the spirit we hope by God’s assistance to keep the covenant which we once made with the Lord our God, when we bowed our knees before him and his glorious majesty. Yet, we moreover trust that also you are well in soul and body, ready to perform your journey to Bethel, and to prophesy against Jeroboam and his altar. 1 Kings 13:1. To this end, may you and we all be strengthened by the only and eternal, almighty God, whose tabernacle is on high, and who lives far above all heavens, in a light which, according to the words of Paul (1 Tim. 6:16), no man can approach unto; that we may fear and love him above all. For he is a jealous God, who would dwell alone in man’s heart; for thereunto we have been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, and from them that hate us, that we should fear and serve him without fear, in true righteousness and holiness, all the days of our lives, as good and faithful servants, seeking the praise of God, and, with Paul, counting our gain loss for Christ’s sake, leading a chaste, honorable life, and setting up an ensign for the nations, that we may not make the blind to wander out of the way, but that we, according to the words of Peter, through a modest and good conversation, may win the unbelieving without the word; which Christ also teaches us in the Gospel, saying: Let your light shine before men, that they may behold your good conversation, and glorify God our Father in the day of visitation. Ex. 20:5; 2 Cor. 6:16; Luke 1:74,75; Phil. 3:7; Isa. 11:12; Deut. 27:18; 1 Pet. 3:1,2; Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:12. Hence, O my dear and much beloved sister in the Lord, let us with all humility follow the Lord’s footsteps, that in every respect we may adorn the doctrine of the Gospel, shining as a bright morning star among this evil and perverse generation; then shall the King, as David writes, greatly desire our beauty. Ps. 45:11.
Hence, O love, let us each seek to be the chiefest in virtue, and patiently wait for the Lord, our Comfort, who alone can help us, as David says: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Ps. 40:1–3. Therefore, O dear lamb, let us thank the Lord, and pray that we may not be caught through our tongue, saying with Jesus Sirach: “O Lord God, Father and Lord of my life, let me not fall among the slanderers, and perish among them. O that I could bridle my thoughts, and discipline my heart with the word of God, and that I might not spare myself, if I erred, lest I should cause sin, and create great error, and commit much evil, and perish before my enemies, and become their sport.” Sir. 23:1–3. Hence, O dear sister, let us seek God’s face day and night with tears, that we may not perish with the wicked under the wrath of God, but that we may continue obedient in Christ unto the end of our lives, so that we may be saved in the day of the Lord, which, according to the words of Christ, shall come as a thief in the night; in the which according to Peter’s writing, the heavens shall be dissolved with fire, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. And if all these things are to come to pass, O how ought we to be meet and adorned with a good, chaste and holy conversation! For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it now begin at us, and if the righteous shall scarcely be written in the book of life, what shall the end of the ungodly be? Matt. 24:42,43; 2 Pet. 3:10–12; 1 Pet. 4:17,18. O well may I sigh and say with Solomon: O Lord, wink at the multitude of my sins. Wis. 11:23. Hence we may also with David say: “O Lord, enter not into judgment with us, or, thou, O Lord, shalt be justified. And render us not according to our deeds, neither reward us according to our works, nor chasten us, O Lord, in thine anger, but be merciful unto us, O Lord, according to thy goodness, which is great.” Psalm 143:2; 6:1,2. Therefore, O dear lamb, let us cleave to the Lord with prayer and supplication, with a broken heart and contrite spirit, that we may be saved, not through our merits, but through the grace of God, and thus live with the Lord in his eternal kingdom.
Further, my dear sister, I do not, because of my small gift, know much more to write you, but commend you to the Lord, and to the rich, comforting word of his grace. I moreover pray you to excuse the plain, simple letter which I, your unworthy servant, have written, who am the weakest in Israel, yea, not worthy to unloose your shoe’s latchet; however, I yet trust in the grace of God.
Furthermore, my dear sister, greet your dear husband, and also the acquaintances, in my name. My dear wife also greets you both, and the acquaintances much. There also greet you much, Adriaen, Grietgen, Hansken, and Dingentgen; and all of us prisoners jointly request of you, that you will diligently pray the Lord for us. Nothing more. Farewell, and do the best in the beginning and in the end.
Written in my bonds, by me, your weak brother and servant, as much as I am able.
MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN.
THE FIFTH LETTER OF MAERTEN VAN DER STRATEN, TO SERVAES JANSS.
I, Maerten van der Straten, imprisoned for the word of the Lord, wish you my dear and much beloved brother in the Lord, Servaes Janss, much grace and mercy from God our heavenly Father, and also to all that have been redeemed from the earth, and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the word of the prophet, bore our reproach, took upon him our sins, and restored to us that which he had not taken away, that he might deliver us from this present evil world; according to the will of God his Father; to whom be glory power and honor forever and ever. Amen.
Out of a fond heart a loving greeting to you, my beloved, dear friend and brother in the Lord, whom I love according to the peculiar privilege of Israel, this the Lord knows, who according to the words of Jeremiah, tries men’s hearts and reins, and according to David, knows men’s thoughts when they are yet afar off. Jer. 17:10; Ps. 139:2.
Further, after all proper and Christian salutation, let me, please, inform your love, that I, the Lord be praised forever, am in tolerably good health according to the flesh, and according to the spirit my mind is still fixed to serve God all the days of my life. I have moreover the undoubted confidence concerning you, that you are also well in soul and body, ready to keep the covenant which you once made with the Lord our God, when you bowed your knees before God and his glorious majesty; may this only, eternal, and only wise God, endow you, according to the word of the prophet (Joel 2:28), with his Holy Spirit, that you, led by him, may lead a good and chaste conversation among the Gentiles, as Christ teaches us in the gospel, saying: “Let your light so shine before men, that they beholding your good conversation, may glorify God your Father.”
Hence, O my dear brother, let us, according to the writing of the apostle, diligently strive to be the chiefest in virtue; as Paul also says, that we should approve ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed: For God can wound, and heal again, as is written in the Book of Kings: “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.” Tit. 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:4–9; Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6.
Hence, O my dear brother, if you be visited at any time, out of bonds as well as in, be not grieved, nor become weary in the way of the Lord, though it is narrow and straight; for it is better to suffer affliction for a little time with God’s children, than to possess all the treasures of Egypt; for though man, as Christ says, should gain the world, and lose his own soul, O what would he have then, that he could give in exchange for it? Heb. 11:25,26; Matt. 16:26.
Therefore, O my dear brother, let us seek the kingdom of God above all things, and let us not follow after that which is earthly, as is written in the epistle to the Colossians, by the holy apostle Paul, where he says: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3:1–4. For it is a faithful saying: “If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him.” 2 Tim. 2:12. Hence let us not be weary in well doing, for according to Paul’s writing, in due season we shall reap a most abundant harvest. Galatians 6:9. 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 the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:17,18.