# A Letter From Jan Hendrickss, Written In Prison At Delft, To His Wife.

16th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: A LETTER FROM JAN HENDRICKSS, WRITTEN IN PRISON AT DELFT, TO HIS WIFE.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

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”.

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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.

In the third place, I beseech you to be patient in
the afflictions that come upon 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 ye 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.] For consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Heb. 12:1–3.

Behold, dear Jan’s daughter, thus are 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 long-suffering, 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.” 2 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;
2 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 long suffering 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; Philip. 3:19.
Strive therefore after imperishable treasures, which
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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 statutes, 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 every one may receive
according to that he hath done, whether it be good
or bad. 2 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.
1 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? 2 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? 1 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 saying 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.
1 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.” Wis. 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. 2 Pet. 3:8.

Therefore, my most beloved, comfort yourself
with these promises for he is faithful that promised;
and wait for them with patience and long suffering:
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. Wis 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.

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