Thieleman J. van Braght · 169 of 210

Old Book of the Martyrs Mirror · Part 107

In the third place, I beseech you to be patient in the afflictions that come unon you for Christ's sake, for patience is a very good thing for Christians, for Christ says: "In your patience possess ye your souls." Luke 21:19. and Paul likewise says: "For ye have need of patience. that, after ve have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." Heb. 10:36. Truly indeed may Paul say that we have need of patience, which I have proven in my bonds. Paul further says: "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, (and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 1 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. lest ve be wearied and faint in your minds." Heb. 12:1-3.

Behold, dear Jan's daughter, thus ace we exhorted to patience, for with patience and resignation we can overcome much tribulation and affliction; but he that is impatient cannot stand in the sufferings of Christ. Hence Sirach may truly say: "Woe unto those that have lost patience, and have turned aside into perverse ways! how will it go with them when the Lord shall visit them?" Sir. 2: 14. Dear Jan's daughter, take heed to the holy Scriptures, and in "all things approve yourself as the minister 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 thanksgiving, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor 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; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." II Corinthians 6:4-10. See, my most beloved, mark these words, and watch for the coming of the Lord; for He shall come as a thief in the night; and always have oil in your lamp and do not suffer it to go out but always be ready with the wise and good virgins to let the Lord your Bridegroom in; and constantly have a burning light in your hand, and stand with your loins girded to wait that you may not be surprised; constantly and at every moment walk as you hope to appear before Him, and do not lie down to sleep with a troubled or gnawing conscience, but purify your heart before God and your neighbor, and always act and walk according to the right rule of the Scriptures, for the Scriptures always point to Christ, and you cannot be confounded, nor deceived, nor err. And if you do this, the God of peace shall be with you and abundantly minister unto you an entrance into eternal life. Rom. 15:33; II Pet. 1:10, 21.

Hence my dear Jan's child, be patient in all tribulation and distress and take for an example the afflictions and longsuffering of Christ, and the prophets, who have spoken to you in the name of the Lord. "Behold," says James, "we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of job, and have seen the end of the Lord. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James 5:11; 1:12.

Behold, dear Jan's child, he that overcometh shall inherit all things and he shall not be hurt of the second death. He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, as Christ has testified of His Father. And to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it; he that overcometh shall inherit all things. Rev. 21:7; 2:11, 26, 27; 3:21; 2:17. In short, dear Jan's child, the Scriptures are full of the great reward of the righteous; hence set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth, for they who mind earthly things, their end is destruction. Col. 3:2; Phil. 3:19. Strive therefore after imperishable treasures, which thieves cannot steal, namely, after heavenly riches, which cannot perish, and will endure forever with the Father.

Let your meditation be in the word of the Lord, day and night concern yourself in His commandments and statues, and watch for His coming, and long for it, and avoid all appearance of evil, and act not as though you might live many years yet, but walk before the Lord just as if you were to die immediately. And let the voice or sound of the angels' trumpets constantly be in your ears, when the dead shall have to rise and appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. II Cor. 5:10. For the Lord Himself, says Paul, shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord. I Thess. 4:16, 17.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words, my most beloved; for the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall.be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? II Peter 3:10, 11. Mark well, my dear Jan's child, what manner of persons we ought to be, says Peter; let it therefore not grieve us though we must now suffer much affliction for the name of Christ. If any man suffer as a Christian, says Peter, let him not be ashamed, but let him commit his cause to God. For the time is 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? I Pet. 4:17, 18. The Proverb also says: "If the righteous be recompensed here, how will it go with the sinner?" Prov. 11:31. "And if they do these things in a green tree," says Christ, "what shall be done in the dry?" Luke 23:31. Behold, my most beloved, if Christ the eternal truth had to suffer before He entered into the kingdom of His Father, how much more His members? For He Himself says: "The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my sayings they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." John 15:20, 21. And if the righteous must suffer here, where shall the sinner appear? "Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator," says Peter. I Pet. 4:19. Thus, my dear Jan's child,. be resigned as much as you can; though men separate us here, hereafter they shall have no power. Then shall we stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted us and they shall say: "These are they whom we so often had in derision, and a proverb of reproach. We fools have missed the right way, and the way of truth hath not appeared unto us." Wisd. 5:1.

Charles with his bloody decrees, and all that help to confirm.them, shall then have no more power. The blood thirsty priests shall then no more hate the people of God ; but we shall live with the Lord forever and ever, and go in and out as calves of the stall. Mal. 4:2. Then the great sorrow shall all be forgotten, since it shall be turned into great joy, which shall never end, for a thousand years shall seem to be but as one day because of the great joy. II Pet. 3:8.

Therefore, my most beloved, comfort yourself with these promises for He is faithful that promised; and wait for them with patiene'e and longsuffering: and I hope to wait for you under the altar. Hebrews 10:23; Rev. 6:9, 11.

Herewith I will commend you to God, who brought Israel through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness, till they were in the promised land; may He bring you into His eternal kingdom. I would from the heart that I might take you with me, but you must bide the time with patience.

Herewith I write you adieu for this brief span of time, since I do not intend to write you any more after this; but I hope to speak orally with you in the throne of heaven.

Adieu, dear wife; a thousand times adieu; acquit yourself valiantly in the truth, and walk truly in the narrow way, until the Lord comes. I thank you very much from the heart for the exceedingly great love you have shown me; in time of need love is appreciated best.

Furthermore, I bid all the friends an earnest farewell, to name them individually according to the flesh, their number is too great. And bid my son, Heyndricks Janss, farewell; and tell him to become a good child; and to fear our dear Lord, for bold and ungodly children shall not enter into heaven, but go to hell, and that he learn and go to school, and not run and play with naughty children, but obey his mother and his grandfather and grandmother, and not learn to speak evil or lie, for the mouth that lieth slayeth the soul. Wisd. 1:11. Further, Lijsbeth Jans, the letters at Delft you may let her keep, and thus you will have no trouble with them, since she intends to let the readers read them first, as they write me. I send you with this letter, three pieces of money, of which each of you shall have one for a medal of remembrance, you one, my son one, and my daughter one; to my daughter, however, you may give the smallest one, if, you please to do so. You may excuse the woman from paying for the bed and the cloak, and I thank him much. Now, my dear Jan's child, acquit yourself valiantly. I herewith write you adieu, adieu, dear Jan's child; be as resigned as you can; you would have had to resign yourself to it, if I had been lost at sea; once we must part. You may return home. Pray the Lord for me; I hope not to forget you. Greet the friends, wherever it is convenient. Adieu, my dear Jan's child; you know why I suffer.

Written on the 4th of February, A. D. 1571, by me,

JAN HENDRICKSS.

SOME EXAMINATIONS OF JAN HENDRICKSS

Since some brethren have requested me to write them something concerning what the lords have asked me touching my faith, when I was before them, I can therefore not refuse to write them a little in regard to the answer which I gave them according to the simple fisherman's understanding which the Lord has given me; the bailiff also did not ask me very much or very thoroughly, as you will yet hear. Further, when I had been in confinement forty weeks, on the fifth of June, A. D. 1570, if T remember rightly, I was taken down the first time to appear before the lords; and when I entered the sheriff's hall, the judges with the bailiff and also the burgomasters were assembled there. I uncovered my head and bade them good day, and they did the same to me. The bailiff then told me to sit down upon a bench, which I did, whereupon he asked me how old I was. I said that I did not know it accurately; "but," said I "you may write twentyeight years;" and so it was written. "Where were you born?" "At Swartawael." "How long have you resided in the Haven?" I said: "Five years, counting the time I have been confined here." "Yes, that is all the same," said the bailiff.

He then asked me why I had not my children baptized. I said: "Because I have never read that the apostles baptized infants, nor is it found in the Scriptures." And so it was written: "Jan Hendrickss has confessed to us that he has not had his children baptized, and this because he has never read in the Scriptures that children were baptized." The bailiff then asked me how many children I had, whether I did not have more than the two whom he had caused to be baptized. I said

"None." "How old are the children?" Ans. "The older is three years, and the other about one year."

Then the bailiff asked me whether I had been aware that children were baptized. I said: "Yes, I have seen it myself." Ques. "Why then did you not have your children baptized? Or are you better or wiser than your forefathers?" Ans. "That I have not had my children baptized, is because I have never read that infants are baptized." Then they said that whole households were baptized. Ans. "While households are indeed spoken of, but it is written that they all rejoiced that they had come to believe in the Lord, which infants can not do." This some of the lords admitted. The clerk then asked me where it was forbidden to baptize infants. I asked him where it was forbidden to throw dice. He said that it was forbidden enough, but he could not prove it to me. Then I said: "It is nowhere forbidden; yet every one knows that it is an evil practice," and they also admitted that it was not good. I further said that the Scriptures do not forbid everything that is evil, and that no one should institute the practice of baptizing infants, unless he is able to prove it from the Scriptures. The bailiff then asked me whether I had had myself baptized. Ans. "I had myself baptized once, and I know of but one baptism." Then the bailiff asked me whether I had received more than the baptism administered to me in my infancy. Ans. "I had myself baptized once according to the Scriptures, the last day of March, '63." Then the bailiff said: "It was in '64; you confessed so to me yourself, when I apprehended you." "It was in '63, said I; but I shall not deny it, whether it is a year more or less." Then the bailiff said: "We may have misunderstood each other"; and he had it written thus: "Jan Hendrickss had himself baptized the last day of March, '63, and this according to the Scriptures." "Then you were not very old yet," said the bailiff. "This is true, I said."

He then asked whether I did not know that I was baptized in my infancy. "I have heard it said," said I, "but I do not remember it." "This indeed I believe" said the bailiff. "What man was it that baptized you, and where was he from, and what was his name?" Ans. "I did not ask him what his name was, I had never seen him, nor have I ever seen him since that time, as far as I know.." This was written exactly as I confessed it to them. Ques. "Where does he reside?" Ans. "I do not know." Ques. "Do you not know where he was from?" Ans. "I do not want to tell you this; I do not wish to name any one." Ques. "Why?" Ans. "Because I do not wish to bring any one into trouble; there are enough in trouble now, and you have trouble enough with us." Ques. "Was no one present when you were baptized?" Ans. "Yes." Ques. "Who were they and what were their names?" Ans. "I do not wish to tell." Ques. "Where did it occur and in what place?" Ans. "In Holland." Then the bailiff said: "Holland is large; in what place?" Then I said: "Why would you ask me much for the place; if I were to tell you the place, you would demand to know still more; but I do not wish to implicate any one."

Finally I told them the place, and said that it had taken place in Delfshaven. Ques. "In what house?" Ans. "I do not wish to tell." Ques. "What was the name of the people that were in that house?" Ans. "I do not wish to name any one." Ques. "Why are the people in that house so sacred that they may not be named?" Ans. "If you knew them, you would not leave them in peace; and I do not wish to implicate any one; you have trouble enough with us." Then the bailiff began to ask how long I had had my wife, and where I had married her. Ans. "About five years," and I told them that I had married her before the Christian church. Ques. "Before what church? you certainly did not marry her before the church that stands in Delfshaven?" Ans. "No." And so it was written that I had married her before the Christian church. Ques. "Who was present?" Ans. "I do not wish to tell you."

Then the bailiff said that I should name the persons, or he would torture me. Ans. "Sir Bailiff, who taught you this?" Then the bailiff said that he had power to do thus with me, and threatened me greatly, and when he heard that I would name no one, he told the clerk to write: "Jan Hendrickss has confessed to us such and such things (such as I told them). but he has named no one, and this because he did not wish to implicate any one;" and so it was written. When the bailiff had thus interrogated me, and wished me many miles away, I said to them, "I would fain be in Hitland." Then the bailiff said: "Where is that, where the busses catch the herring?" "Yes." "I indeed would that you were there," said the bailiff, "with all those that are of your persuasion." Then one of the lords, who, I was told was a burgomaster, wanted to speak to me concerning baptism, and asked me that if a man should lead a Christian life, but did not have himself baptized. whether he could not be saved: whether it would be an obstacle in the way of his salvation? I replied: "No , else salvation would he by the water; but baptism is a command of Christ. hence it must be practiced." Then I think he said, that it was our view that infants ought not to be bantized. and asked me when they were to be baptized. and how old thev had to be. Thereupon I replied to him that the Scriptures specify no vear, whether they were twenty, or thirtv. or fifty, or a hundred: whenever they repented, and requested it, it might be done: and so we use it. but not sooner, said I and so did Christ teach, and the apostles practice it. Then they said that at that time it had to be so, that adults were baptized, but now the infants must be baptized, for then was the beginning or commencement; this was their pretense. I then asked the burgomaster whether Christ, Matt. 28 and Mark 16, had not commanded to go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and whether the apostles had not observed the same, and had first taught the people and then baptized them? This he admitted; for we find, he said, that about five thousand were baptized at one time. Thereupon I think I asked him whether he confessed that adult persons were baptized at that time. "Yes," he said. "Well then, we certainly find clearly enough, that the apostles lived more than ten or twenty years in the world, and they first baptized adult persons, as you confess yourself; and this had therefore to be done so at that time, because it was in the beginning: now, since we find that they lived to the world so long, infants enough must have come into the world in this long period of years;" this he also acknowledged. Then I said: "Now show me once where the apostles in this long time baptized infants; and transferred baptism upon infants; for you say that then adult persons had to be baptized, but now infants. If the apostles had wanted to change baptism, or wanted that it should be changed, they had time enough themselves, for they were long enough in the world, for Paul says: `I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"' (Acts 20:27); but they could not prove it to me. Then the oldest judge said that they would prove it to me, but it was not done; and the same judge said that God created man once, and no more; and He commanded circumcision to Abraham once and no more; and He commanded baptism once, and no more. Ans: "This is true. Now, if God created the man Adam once, and no more, and commanded them circumcision once, and no more, and commanded them baptism once, and no more, and they observed the same, and did not change it, why then have they changed baptism from adult persons to infants?" Then they said: "Who has changed it?" Ans. "The Pedobaptists." Then they told and begged me to consider the matter well, that it was not a convenient thing to be burnt. I replied: "I know that well; I have no desire to be burnt it is not convenient to be burnt; if I did not know that I am right, I would rather ignominiously yield; than honorably lose my life; for it is no small matter to suffer one's self to be burnt at the stake; I am not so desirous of death, I would rather keep my life, if it were God's will." "Yes," said they, "consider it well." Then the bailiff said

"Jan Hendrickss, you have confessed this to us (and he had my confession read before my eyes, all that I had confessed); now if you will yield. my lords will do their utmost to procure your release." Ans. "My lords, I am quite open to conviction; if you can prove to me that I am wrong, and when I can feel, that, I will desist from that which is evil." That was well, they said. and they told me to ask the Lord for grace, that He would grant me a good understanding. "That I will gladly do," said I. This lasted about an hour and a half, whereupon they had me conducted up above again. These are the principal questions which they asked me, and which I have remembered. and these are my simple fisherman's answers which I made, as far as I can remember, for it was written six weeks after I was before the lords; for there was a man confined with us, and for this reason we dared not write, but to write the words exactly as they were spoken, would be impossible for me, for my memory is weak.

A few days after I was taken below again before my lord the bailiff and a young priest, the chaplain of the Old Church, and thus three of us were in the sheriff's hall. The priest then began to relate how he had had a conversation with a man, and that they had had many words together concerning the holy Scriptures, and about this burning and killing, for there had recently four priests been put to death in the Hague, and the priests had said to one another that there were many different views in the world concerning the holy Scriptures, and each died for his belief, and yet there was but one true. This the priest told me, and said to me that they had many words; and the man had requested the priest that he should talk with me; so the priest said. I then asked: "What kind of man was it?" "He was of your persuasion," he said, "a sailor, and a man like you are." Then it occurred to me who it was, but he is not of our persuasion, for I had already heard of him; and thus we fell into an animated conversation, and the priest asked me, whom I acknowledge as true, for there are so many persuasions. I said: "What have I to do with another, I have enough to do with myself." He asked whether there was more than one faith that was true. "No," said I. And there fell very many words, and the bailiff listened, and greatly strengthened the priest in what he said; and whenever I quoted Scripture against them, the priest was immediately on hand to obscure what I said, so that I could not finish my remarks, and he frequently said to me: "You are forever coming with the holy Scriptures." "Yes," said I, "with what should I come? I have nothing else." "Yes," said he, "I well know that you always come with the Scriptures, and much with the passage, II Thess. 2:15, where Paul says: `Mark therefore, dear brethren, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or epistle."' Mark well the term word; by that he frequently wanted to prove that there was more Scripture than was written, which we were also bound to observe, as far as I could comprehend his assertion, for he frequently made it before I could understand it. But it is only a stumbling block how can we observe more than what is written? Their sole aim is to obscure the understanding of the Scriptures, since they are well aware that with the Scriptures they will fall short; and they also cannot well bear it that we quote the Scriptures of the New Testament, for whenever we do this, their first question is why we quote more from the Testament, than from other writers, and whereby we know that the Testament is true; and they then come with many sophistical questions, which are not edifying, and skip from one thing to another. But when they can find any Scriptures in the Testament that are on their side, these must stand, yea, then the Word of God must stand forever. For we came to speak of the breaking of bread, where Paul says: "Take, eat; this is my body." I Cor. 11:24. This language had to stand just as it was. I asked him more than once, whether the bread which they gave men was the body of Christ. He said: "Yes; when we have pronounced the words over it, it is His flesh and blood, yea, soul and body:" it is the truth what I write. Thereupon I said: "I have eaten the bread with you people, but I could not feel in my mouth, that it became flesh, but it remained bread even as it was."

And we had many words with regard to it. I said that Christ Himself says: "Flesh and blood profit nothing; but the words that I speak are spirit and life." John 6:63. He then came with a sophism, asking whether the flesh of Christ was not good for anything.

Thus we had many words. I said that it was written that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with men's hands. Acts 17:24, 25. "Yes," said the priest, "as though He needed any one; for He does not need us, but we need Him." Then he asked me what I held concerning the matter, or the like. I replied that Paul says, I Cor. 10:15-18: "I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" Thus I confess that there is but one communion of Christ, for Paul explains it with a simile, saying: "Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" "Now, I ask," I said to them, "what was it that Israel ate, the altar or the sacrifices?" They said: "The sacrifices;" but they said it reluctantly. "That is right," said I; "yet they were partakers of the altar: so it is also with those who help to break or eat the bread; they eat only bread, and are yet partakers of the body of .Christ." I asked whereby he would maintain his mass. He brought forward the passage, I Corinthians 11:24: "This do in remembrance of me." By this he maintained his mass. ."Well, there is nothing said about a mass," said I. This was his defense of the mass. I asked him whether a man might be apprehended for his faith. He affirmed it. I said: "Paul certainly says: `A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject;' but he says nothing about apprehending." Titus 3:10. "It is written," said the priest, "that the magistracy does not bear the sword in vain." "Yes," said I, "for the punishment of the evil, and for the protection of the good; but what evil have I done?" They said: "You have adhered to false doctrine, and attended assemblies that are opposed to the Roman religion, which the king will not tolerate, for he wants to protect his country; for it was seen what those of Munster did; their object was to capture cities, and to deprive the king of his country." Ans. "The Munsterites did wrong; have you heard such things of me? I have never in my life known the Munsterites." "No; but the Munsterites sprang from you." "Well then,.it would have been time enough for you to apprehend me, when you had heard such things of me; for no one can be burned justly, except he first have done evil himself, and not on account of another." But the priest strenuously defended the authorities in this; that a man might be apprehended for his faith. I said: "Christ certainly said to His servants, when they wanted to root up the tares, that they should not do it, but that they should let both grow together till the day of harvest." Matt. 13:30. The priest said: "But one can go and root up the tares along the edge, without injuring the good." Ans. "Christ commands not to do it, but to let it grow." But the priest constantly charged it upon the magistracy, that the apprehending was their work, just as though the ministers of the Romish church had been without guilt in the matter. I then asked them whether my lord the bailiff of Delft, who was with us, was a brother and minister in their church. This I asked him many times; but the priest would not give me a clear answer with regard to it, but jumped from one thing to another. However, I did not desist, until he made a definite answer, which he did, but with great reluctance. When the bailiff saw that we disputed so warmly, he came and stood before us, and listened with close attention; then I pressed the matter only the harder. Finally he said: "Yes." "Then you acknowledge him as a brother and minister in your church?" "Yes," said the priest. "Well then, now I desire you to show me where the apostles had magistrates in their church, who protected the faith with fire, water and the sword, as you do." This he could not prove to me, but came with the passage in Acts 23, where Paul was imprisoned, and more than forty men had vowed neither to eat nor to drink till they should have killed Paul. Paul's sister's son hearing this, made it known to Paul, and Paul sent him to the chief captain, that he should tell it to him. And when the chief captain heard it, he said to two other captains, that they should make ready the beasts, and set Paul thereon, and bring him safe unto Felix the Governor; with two hundred soldiers, threescore and ten horsemen, and two hundred spearmen.