Part 248
The last time was the 13th of June, when I spoke with four priests at once, but not so much as at other times; I was asked whether I would not repent. I said: “Yes, I want to desist from sin from day to day.” No, whether I would not hearken to the ecclesiastics and the Roman Catholic church? I said: “I thank the Lord, who has instructed me, and opened my eyes, and brought me into the right way; and I desire to be instructed by the Lord still more.”
Thus they wrote a letter, that they would deliver me over to the lords; that I was an obstinate heretic, and would not hearken to them; and they wrote that they had done their best, so that they would not talk with me any more. Thus I was released from the priests, and delivered to the authorities, so that I expect to hear my sentence on the 22d of June, and to offer up my sacrifice on the 23d. The Lord grant me strength unto the end, to the praise of the Lord and the salvation of my soul. The Lord grant me the spirit of boldness, that I may finish my conflict with joy.
Thus, my dear mother, cleave to the Lord. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be with you, and keep you. The Lord preserve your going out and coming in, now and forever. Num. 6:25.
My dear mother, I greet you with a holy kiss of love (1 Pet. 5:14), for I think that you will see me no more in this flesh, nor I you, my mother. Farewell, the Lord be with you, my mother; I go before, and shall wait for you in the kingdom of heaven, there we shall see each other in joy and gladness.
I bid you adieu; once more, farewell. The Lord be with you forever, for I know not whether I shall write you any more; I think that it is the last time. I greet you once more, my dear mother, who have given birth to me in pain and anguish. Greet cordially my dear brother D., and admonish him to walk in the ways of the Lord, to the salvation of his soul; this I pray you, my mother, even as I also trust, and doubt not that you will also do. Greet my beloved sister K. A., with T. and W. Greet also those whom you well know, also my beloved master, whom I love from the heart; and G. The Lord be with you all, now and forever. Amen.
My affectionately beloved mother, whom I love from the depth of my soul, I leave you here, and enter into joy, and shall behold Christ, in whom I now believe, not seeing him; and you remain here in this distressful world, where nothing else can be expected than tribulation, affliction and persecution, so long as it pleases the Lord. The Lord comfort you in all tribulation, and be with you now and forever. Amen.
Written by me your son, whom you well know, at present confined in prison at Antwerp, for the word of the truth, and for the confession of God’s holy word; I expect my sentence, to be burnt alive at a stake, if it pleases the Lord, to the praise of his holy name.
JAN BRET.
ANOTHER LETTER FROM HANS BRET, WRITTEN TO HIS BELOVED MOTHER, THE 5TH OF JULY 1576.
The unspeakable love, grace and peace of God our dear heavenly Father, who is a Father full of grace and truth, rich and abundant in mercy and loving kindness, through the bitter suffering and death of his only Son our Savior, who loved us, and washed us from all our sins in his blood, and from all the unrighteousness that we have done. The power of the Holy Ghost strengthen you, and comfort you in all your tribulation, affliction and sorrow which you have for Christ’s word and truth, in your persecution and suffering, in your grief which you may have, as I understand, for my sake according to the flesh. May he strengthen you in the faith of the truth, wherein you now stand, which God has revealed to you out of grace, that you may overcome all sorrowfulness of the flesh, which you may have. This, I your son, wish you my chosen mother, with all my heart, to the salvation of your soul, that we may meet together, and may, with all those that have endured unto the end in the belief of the truth, hear that glad and joyful voice of the only Son of God: “Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom of my Father, prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Amen.
My affectionately beloved mother, whom I love from the heart, I commend myself to you with all my heart, and inform you my chosen mother, that I did not think that I should write you this letter yet; but since it has pleased the good God, to keep me in life until this present hour, I cannot forbear, my dearest mother, to write you this parting letter, perhaps the last in my life, and bid you, my dear mother, adieu. For according to what I hear, the time of my deliverance is near at hand; yet I know not to this hour when, except that I hear that it is to be to-morrow, that I am to hear my sentence. Not that I hear concerning myself alone, but of several, of whom I think that I am one, if it pleases the Lord. We have indeed heard this often, but whether they do it to frighten us, I do not know. I have never heard it from the people here in the house, but from a girl of M.’s people that is imprisoned here; she has told it me. If it is the will of the Lord, let it be done, I am well resigned thereto. The Lord be thanked, who strengthens me poor, weak man here in these my bonds, by his Holy Spirit, to resist all that should be a hindrance or harm to my soul; for it is the day for which I have longed; the Lord grant me strength unto the end, that I may finish my conflict with joy, and gain the victory, to the praise, glory, and honor of the Lord’s holy name. Amen. Eph. 3:16; 1 Timothy 6:12; 1 Cor. 15:57.
Since, then, my dear mother, it has pleased the good God, to count me, your son, worthy to suffer for his name, to help fulfill the number of the righteous that are under the altar, and rest till the number of their brethren is fulfilled, who must also be killed as they; console yourself herein, my dear mother, and be not grieved on my account, this I pray you; for, dear mother, the Lord has called me to a better place than to remain in this wicked, evil world. Though it is grievous to the flesh, I will not regard it for the joy of which I shall partake with all God’s righteous ones; for I say with Paul: “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Rom. 8:18.
O my dearest mother, who should not long for this glory; who should not strive for it, and say with Paul: “I groan and desire to be out of this flesh; for I look for another dwelling, that is not made with hands, but which is eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5. Then shall we, as John says, see him in whom we now believe, not seeing him; then shall we behold him with our own eyes, whose brightness is greater than that of the sun. 1 John 3:2; 1 Pet. 1:8; Job 19:27. Who should now regard this suffering or pain that can be inflicted upon the flesh, and yet not without the Lord’s permission, for when they have done all that they can, according to the words of Christ, they can but kill the body, but over the soul they have no power; for we read in the book of Wisdom, that the souls of the righteous are in the hands of the Lord. Matthew 10:28; Wis. 3:1.
Who should regard this temporal pain that men may inflict upon this body, when such joy is promised for a little pain, and great, unspeakable bliss, yea, an eternal life, for a little of temporal life; for Christ says: “He that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it again hereafter.” Rev. 22:5; Matthew 10:39; Mark 8:35.
Behold once, my dear mother, how many laid down their lives for the word of Christ and the truth; and consider what man’s life is, which passes away so quickly; it is, as James says, to be compared to only a vapor that arises; for when the vapor disappears and vanishes away, it is seen no more, and is over very quickly; yea, it may be compared to a bubble upon the water, which so quickly perishes. Ps. 90:5; James 4:14. Why then should we much regard this temporal life? it cannot be compared with the eternal life.
Should you then, dear mother, be grieved on account of our pain, that may be inflicted upon my body, but which is for the faith and confession of God’s holy word and truth? O no, my mother, let not such grief come upon you; but I pray you, my affectionately beloved mother, be of good cheer; I hope by the help of the Lord, that your sorrow shall be turned into joy. John 16:20.
O my beloved mother, let it go with you as it went with Abraham, who had but one only son, whom God had given him in his old age. Behold how God tried this good man, when he commanded him, that he should go and offer up to him his only son Isaac. We do not read that he was grieved on account of the command, nor was he grieved when his son asked him: “My father, here is the wood: but where is the sacrifice?” Abraham said to his son with a fatherly voice, trusting in the almighty God: “The Lord will provide it.” Thus Abraham followed God’s command, and made his only, beloved son Isaac kneel down upon the wood, drew the sword from its sheath and raised it to cut off his son’s head, and to sacrifice him. But the angel said to him, that he should put the sword into the sheath, and not harm the child. In all this time, even to the last hour, we cannot read that this good man was grieved, or afraid to obey God’s command. My dear mother, why would you now be grieved; the Lord does not try you in such a manner, that you should kill your son, but he permits it to be done by the generation of Cain, who always thirst for the blood of the righteous Abelites that please the Lord. My mother, do also trust the Lord like the good man Abraham, and say: “The Lord will provide it”; though your oldest son whom you now have, be offered up. The Lord can raise up another, if it pleases him; hence be resigned to it. It does not go otherwise with me, than it went with all the righteous that have ever pleased God, from the beginning of the world until the present time.
Consider how it went with the prophet Jeremiah, who endured much grief, because he according to the command of the Lord reproved the cities of their sin. He was apprehended and cast into a miry dungeon, yea, much grief came upon him, as the Scriptures sufficiently testify concerning it; yea, so that he resolved no more to preach in the name of God. Behold, to such grief this man of God was subject, who yet had been chosen by God, in his mother’s womb, to proclaim his holy will. Jer. 38:6.
Again, behold John, who was sanctified in his mother’s womb. He who was known to all the people to be a prophet, did not Herod, for the sake of a harlot, cause his head to be struck off in prison? who nevertheless, according to the words of Christ, was the greatest prophet born of woman. Luke 1:15; Matt. 14:5,10; 11:11.
See, my dear mother, if it went thus with those who walked so worthily before the Lord--if they killed those, what shall they do to us?
Consider, that they did not hesitate to kill Christ Jesus, who is the only Son of God, and the Son of man, who, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, is truly God and man, the Son of God, and the Son of men, for he calls himself in many places the Son of man; and he is confessed and is the true living Son of God, who delivered us from the power of Satan, from eternal death and damnation, and opened our eyes when we were dead in our sins and unrighteousnesses, and brought us into this marvelous light; he has revealed to us his word and truth, the gospel, which, as Paul says, is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Rom. 1:16.
Since, then, the good God, through his unspeakable grace and goodness, has revealed to us his word and truth, whereby our dark eyes have been opened, and has given us to believe in him by whom we might live forever, which is Christ Jesus, upon whom the generation of vipers inflicted much pain and torment, as the four evangelists abundantly testify concerning it; how they scourged, mocked, beat, and very miserably maltreated him, and placed a crown of thorns upon his head; he had himself to bear his cross to which they nailed him; they gave him vinegar and gall to drink; they pierced his side with a spear, and water and blood issued from the same. Alas, so dreadfully did they deal with him; all that went by opened their mouth and mocked him, so that he was the most despised upon earth; he was like the prophet David says and prophesies: “I am a worm and no man; I am the most despised among all men; they open their mouths against me, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Psalm 22:6,7,14,18.
O dear mother, how bitter it is to describe the sufferings of the immaculate Lamb of God, that was subjected to so much suffering and sorrow; who should be able to describe his sufferings which he endured for our sakes? Should we then not suffer a little for his sake, when he shall so gloriously recompense all that suffer for his sake? for he says: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake;” and again: Blessed are they that suffer reproach for my name’s sake; for great is their reward in heaven. Matt. 5:10–12; Luke 6:22,23. Now you may perceive that the Lord will not leave unrewarded all those that suffer for his word and the truth; who in suffering adhere steadfastly to his gospel; who depart not from his word and truth which he has spoken with his mouth; who depart not from the narrow way that leads to eternal life; who were not ashamed to confess the truth before this adulterous generation, who did not fear those that kill the body, but much rather feared him that can cast soul and body into hell, into eternal darkness and torment, where there will ever be weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the flames shall never be extinguished, where the smoke shall ascend forever and ever, where the worm shall never die; who resemble not, as Peter says, the dog that swallows again that which he has vomited (2 Peter 2:22); that are not like the sow which, when she has once been washed and cleansed, goes and wallows again in the mire; who do not call light darkness, and darkness light (Is. 5:20); who do not call truth lies, and lies truth; who intend with Eleazar to persevere, and not to dissemble (2 Maccabees 6:18); who do not reject the truth, when they well know that it is the truth; who do not hearken to the devilish doctrine of the papists (1 Tim. 4:1–3); who follow not the priests of Jezebel, who thirst for the blood of the righteous, who love and serve God, and love him with all the heart and with all the soul; who seek to follow Christ’s footsteps, to live and walk according to his will; who seeks to please him and not men (Gal. 1:10), for James says: Whosoever will be a friend of God, must be the enemy of the world (James 4:4); who seeks to walk the narrow way; who desires to forsake unrighteousness; who forsakes the counsel of the flesh and follow the counsel of the Spirit; who forsakes this earthly good, and seeks after the heavenly; who regards the temporal as nothing, and seeks after the eternal and imperishable; who looks not at this visible, but hopes for the invisible (2 Cor. 4:18); who regards not this life, but seeks to obtain eternal life, who now delights not in this temporal joy and pleasure, but in the eternal joy and bliss; to those who are thus, there is promised that they shall inherit forever and ever that promised land, the eternal life, where they shall be crowned with great glory; they shall, as Malachi says, leap as calves of the stall (Mal. 4:2); palm branches shall be given into their hands (2 Esdras 2:46); they shall, as John says, sing the new song before the throne of God (Rev. 14:3), they shall be arrayed in fine, white linen (19:8); they shall shine forth as the sun (Matt. 13:43); they shall forever be in joy, such joy (Paul says) as ear has never heard, eye never seen, nor has man’s heart been able to conceive of the joy of which the righteous that endure steadfast unto the end shall partake. Who should now depart for any reproach or contempt? who should now depart for any persecution or tribulation or any temporal life?
O it is better to leave flesh and blood at the stake, than to suffer one’s self to be despoiled of the eternal salvation of one’s soul, of one’s Father’s inheritance which is obtained through Christ. Hence Paul says: Who can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness? We may say with the apostle, that we are 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. Rom. 8:17,35. Let us then not fear, since, my dearest, there is nothing that can separate us from God, if we love him from the heart, for John says: where love is there is no fear; for love casteth out fear. 1 John 4:18. This you may also perceive by the words of Paul, where he says: Though I had faith, so that I could remove mountains; yea, though I gave all my goods to the poor, and suffered my body to be burned, and had not love, it would profit me nothing. 1 Cor. 13:2,3. Hence there must be a burning love to Christ, we must with the wise virgins have our lamps burning, and so wait for our Bridegroom, that is we must be kindled with a fervent love, and thus wait for Christ Jesus our Bridegroom, till he comes.
Behold, hereby we are to know who loves Christ, for he says: “He that loveth me keepeth my commandments, and the Father will come to him, and we will make our abode with him.” John 14:23. But without loving Christ, and keeping his commandments, we cannot enter into life. For he says himself: “If thou wilt enter into life, keep my commandments.” Matt. 19:17. And what is his commandment, but to love him; and he that loves him will not depart from him because of any pain that may be inflicted upon the flesh, as I stated before with the words of Paul which he wrote to the Romans. But if a man do not love Christ, there is vain faith, which cannot please God, for Paul says: This is true faith, which worketh by love, that is, by the love which one has to God to keep his commandments; hence James says, that faith without works is dead. James 2:26. And this can easily be perceived; where there is true faith, there will also good fruits appear, for a good tree will bring forth good fruits, but of a corrupt tree evil fruit will spring forth; for a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit; so it is also with man; he that has a true faith will bring forth good fruits that are pleasing to the Lord. Matt. 7:17,18.
But where there is a faith that is vain and not true, there you will not perceive good fruits, but all evil, for James says that the devils also believe and tremble. James 2:19.
Now it may be considered how many there are that have also a vain faith, and yet boast that they believe truly, yea, even these papists, they can say: I believe in Christ Jesus, that he died, was crucified, etc, but they deprive him of his honor; to be brief, they do not obey him in that which he commands, they do after the lusts of their father, the devil. Christ says: for he was a liar and deceiver from the beginning. John 8:44.
O how dreadful it is, that some hearken to such liars and deceivers, and confess the devilish doctrine to be the doctrine, word and truth of Christ, whereas God says by the prophet: Cursed is he that maketh and honoreth idols. O what are they also doing, who say that the true body of Christ is in the little house with which they walk along the streets, with their bells, torches, and lanterns. O what abomination it is to call this the truth, while it is but bread and wine. While I am here, my mother, I sometimes sing a spiritual song; but though they forbid it me, I will therefore not cease, as long as they do not fetter my tongue; yea, if I or some of Menno’s people sing, then the servants sing a profane song, so that the good may not be heard.
O I am so glad that my dearest brother whom I have upon earth in the Lord, has so remembered me, poor prisoner, with a hymn and a letter by his own hand. It rejoiced me so much inwardly in my soul that I cannot describe it to you. I pray you to thank him heartily, and ask him to write again, and you also, for I think that I shall be here yet eight days longer; but when I began to write this letter to you, I did not think that I should write so much, for I thought that by this time I should have heard my sentence. But since it has pleased the Lord, that I am still to remain here in this prison, I hope, according to the advice of Paul, to abide the time with patience, till it shall please the Lord; and thus, according to the words of Christ, to possess my soul in patience, for I commit myself into the hands of the Lord, that it may be done with me according to his divine will, to the praise, glory and honor of his holy name, and to the salvation of my soul, now and forever.
Hence, then, my dear mother, I bid you adieu once more; adieu, my chosen mother, adieu, my worthy mother, who gave birth to me in pain and anguish. I pray you, my dear mother, be resigned to the work of the Lord, be not grieved on my account, be of good cheer; since our God has so ordered it that I am to be separated from you, so that you shall see me no more in this flesh, be resigned thereto, for there can nothing happen to me without the Lord’s permission, for the Lord is my keeper, my protector and my defender, for the prophet David says, that the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. Psalm 34:7. Think not that there is any one that can harm me, for Christ tells us that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, and not a sparrow falls to the ground without his will; of how much more value are we than the little sparrows! Matt. 10:30. Hence, though it is so with me that I am cast into prison for the word and truth of Christ, to confess his name before these cruel men, and suffer contempt and reproach, full of vexation, yea, finally to be put to death by them, rejoice therein according to the words of Christ, when he says: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad when men shall revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name’s sake.” Matt. 5:11.
Remember what Peter says: “Think it not strange as though some strange thing happened unto you.” 1 Pet. 4:12. Why? Because it has gone thus with all God’s children that have ever pleased him, for Christ says: “In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Hence we need not, according to the words of Peter, think it strange, for the Scriptures sufficiently declare all this, wherefore also Paul says: “It is given unto us, not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his name.” Philippians 1:29. Consider what the prophet David says: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” Psalms 34:19.
Behold, Christ himself, the author of faith, had to suffer, and thus to enter into his glory. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, what shall they then do to his servants? If they have cast out and killed the heir, what shall they do to those that are sent? Hence the Lord laments over Jerusalem, and says: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matt. 23:37. Behold, how they have always killed those that were sent by God, and shall yet do so. For Christ says to his disciples: “Ye shall be put out of the synagogues, and whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service thereby.” John 16:2.