# A Letter From Jan Hendrickss, Written In Prison At Delft, To His Wife. · Page 1 of 4 [Previous page: EXTRACT OF THE SENTENCE OF MAERTEN JANSS, CORN PORTER, CITIZEN OF THIS CITY, AND JAN HENDRICKSS OF SWARTEWAEL, STEERSMAN, PUT TO DEATH WITH FIRE.](/en/stories/mm-extract-of-the-sentence-of-maerten-janss-corn-porter-citizen-of-this-city-and-jan-hendrickss-of-swartewael-steersman-put/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER FROM JAN HENDRICKSS, WRITTEN IN PRISON AT DELFT, TO HIS WIFE.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-from-jan-hendrickss-written-in-prison-at-delft-to-his-wife/part-2/) The God of all grace, who has called us from the power of darkness into his eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ, and married us with an everlasting love, as the prophet says, the same grant you, my dear wife, according to the riches of his grace and glory, to be strengthened with might by his Holy Spirit in the inner man, that you may stand steadfast and immovable in faith and love, and the peace of God, to the salvation of your soul and the praise of God, that you may receive the undefiled, incorruptible and unfading inheritance, together with the crown of eternal life, Amen, which God has promised to all them that love and serve him with all their heart. This, I Jan Hendrickss wish Lijsbeth Jans my dear wife, from my bonds and in my last time, as a very cordial salutation in the Lord. Further, after all proper salutation to you my beloved wife Lijsbeth Jans, I inform you that I am still valiant and of good cheer in the Lord, and trust to adhere to his word and truth by his help, without whose aid it cannot be done; and I trust that he will keep my treasure unto the end and deliver me out of the lions’ jaws, that they may not devour me with their teeth. Thus I trust that it also with you, and I sincerely have this confidence concerning you that you are still minded and determined with me to serve him all the days of your life in righteousness and holiness; and I trust that God will strengthen and keep you therein, even as he has hitherto done, for which praise be to him forever. Furthermore, my dear wife, since the time of my departure, according to human purpose, is very near at hand, I cannot forget you, but must out of love write you a little yet, because of the great love which I have to you, and because you have shown me so much love in my bonds, in various ways by visiting and writing, for which I thank you very much; may God in high heaven, reward you for it. And I thank you most heartily for your last letter, which was very precious, for when we read it we were so much rejoiced by the great consolation that we both wept. And because you love me so, and I you, therefore I must still care for you a little, and admonish you as my most beloved. Not, my dear Jan’s daughter, that I have not the confidence that you will walk in the fear of God; oh no! I am confident that you will do nothing but what is good. But that I exercise this care for you, is done only from pure, clear love, because I love your soul so very much; hence I very often wish that you might be taken before me, since I well see how difficult it is to reach heaven, and how easily man is [led astray], even as Paul warns us 1 Cor. 10:12, saying: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”. 888 Hence; dear Jan’s daughter, take this in good part, this I pray you, as I trust that you do. And I further admonish and beseech you, that you always walk in true and unfeigned fear of God, since the fear of God is the true foundation to please the Lord, for without the fear of God it is impossible to please him. For by the fear of God we guard against evil and shun that which is wrong; for when we begin to consider that God will punish sinners so fearfully, we fear him on that account; for if this were not so, there would be no need of fearing him. But when we begin to consider it, we consequently shun and avoid that which is wrong; but those that do not fear him commit much ungodliness. In the second place, my dear Jan’s daughter that you firmly cleave to the vine Christ, and abide in him and he in you, and you shall be as a fruitful branch, full of good and beautiful fruit; and thus the Father will purge you, that you may bring forth fruit more abundantly. For he that does not abide in him, but departs from him, the same is cut off from him as a withered branch. For your sins, says the prophet, “have separated between you and your God.” Isaiah 59:2. Behold, dear Jan’s daughter, here we have the clear express scripture, by what a man is cut off from Christ, the vine, and what the separation is whereby we are separated from God, namely, sin; for when we sin, we are by the sin separated from God. Therefore, my dear wife, I beseech you once more, that you firmly cleave to the Lord, and shun sin as you would a serpent, that you do not come too near it, and be devoured by it; for the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a lion, slaying the souls of men. Sir. 21:2. We must beware of sin; for God does indeed warn man against sin, but he does not prevent him from it, when he is determined to commit it, as we have many examples in the Scriptures, as in Adam and others. ## Original source [Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_888) [Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855) [Previous page: EXTRACT OF THE SENTENCE OF MAERTEN JANSS, CORN PORTER, CITIZEN OF THIS CITY, AND JAN HENDRICKSS OF SWARTEWAEL, STEERSMAN, PUT TO DEATH WITH FIRE.](/en/stories/mm-extract-of-the-sentence-of-maerten-janss-corn-porter-citizen-of-this-city-and-jan-hendrickss-of-swartewael-steersman-put/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER FROM JAN HENDRICKSS, WRITTEN IN PRISON AT DELFT, TO HIS WIFE.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-from-jan-hendrickss-written-in-prison-at-delft-to-his-wife/part-2/) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/stories/mm-a-letter-from-jan-hendrickss-written-in-prison-at-delft-to-his-wife/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+A+Letter+From+Jan+Hendrickss%2C+Written+In+Prison+At+Delft%2C+To+His+Wife.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+4&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AA+Letter+From+Jan+Hendrickss%2C+Written+In+Prison+At+Delft%2C+To+His+Wife.+%C2%B7+Page+1+of+4%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fstories%2Fmm-a-letter-from-jan-hendrickss-written-in-prison-at-delft-to-his-wife%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-a-letter-from-jan-hendrickss-written-in-prison-at-delft-to-his-wife%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+16th+century+%28source+section%29%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)