A Letter Written By Cornelis The Shoemaker, To His Wife While In Bonds. He Was Afterwards Burned With Three Others, Sealing This Letter With His Blood, In The Great Market Place At Antwerp, The 13th Of September, 1567.

The grace and mercy of God the Father, the love of the Son, and the communion and peace of the 685 Holy Ghost, who is sent us from the Father, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the comfort of all true and faithful children of God; by whom we are led, taught and healed; the same keep your heart, understanding and mind in Christ Jesus, to the praise and glory of his heavenly Father, to the salvation of your troubled soul, and to the protection of all the brethren and sisters that fear and love the Lord. This I wish you, my affectionately and much beloved wife, as a heartfelt greeting.

My dearest wife, whom I wedded before God and his church, and took to wife according to the ordinance of the Lord, I wish you comfort, joy and gladness in all your great sorrow which has now come upon you through my bonds and imprisonment. O my dear wife, I most earnestly pray the Lord for you, that he would comfort you, since I well know, my dear lamb, that you are very sorrowful on my account. But I pray you, lay your grief aside, if possible, for a little while, and comfort yourself with the Author of the faith, and look to Jesus the Finisher. Heb. 12:2. Walk henceforth in all righteousness; make good use of the time of grace, and always remember what great grace the Lord has shown you; and bear in mind what a faithful God you serve, who will not forsake you. Rom. 6:13; Eph. 2:7; 1 Cor. 1:9.

O my most beloved lamb, I cannot fully praise or thank the Lord for all the great power and strength which he gives me in all my distress. Is. 40:29. He is so faithful a God, he gives me such courage, so that I may say with Paul: Who shall separate us from the love of God? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am 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, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:35–39.

O my dear wife, I pray and exhort you, be patient in your tribulation, continue instant in prayer, and always remember the beautiful promises which are so abundantly promised us in the Scriptures, if we persevere unto the end. Matthew 10:22.

O let us well guard the treasure given us, so that no man may by any means deprive us of it. Hence continue steadfastly, and faint not; for though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 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 these are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7,16–18.

Hence, my dear and much beloved wife, do not cease to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, and to follow his footsteps. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, and that we shall be clothed with it: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 2 Cor. 5:1–5.

O my dear wife, since we shall put off the flesh, and inherit such a dwelling, let us walk fearlessly in faith before God and his church, and purpose not to depart from the Lord, nor to separate from his love—which he has shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost—on account of any affliction or tribulation; then he can succor and comfort you in your request, when you are deprived of all human help and comfort; since he comes to the help of those who forsake their own selves, and of the despairing, for he dwells and will dwell alone in the hearts of men, and would not have us serve any one besides him.

Thus, my dear sheep, be firmly founded and built up in him, as you are taught, and let love grow and increase in all righteousness and holiness, which avail and are acceptable before God; and always give diligence to excel in virtue, and look not to the walk of the idle and heedless, but consider them that live conformably to the doctrine of Christ; have your intercourse always with them, so that you run neither too high nor too low, nor too wide nor too long; for many go astray because one looks to the other, whereby they sometimes wax cold.

Therefore, my dear and much beloved wife, always seek those things which are above, and let your mind constantly be fixed on the things which are not seen; put off the old man, and put on the new man, and deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and you will have part in the resurrection. Col. 3:1; 2 Cor. 4:18; Col. 3:9,10; Tit. 2:12; Rom. 12:2; Luke 20:35. Hence know that you must first have crucified the old man, so that the body of sin may cease. And be not weary in well doing, since your labor will not be in vain. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Heb. 3:14.

Hence, my dear wife, suffer not yourself to be moved from your purpose or faith, for it is the true grace of God wherein we stand. For though an angel should come, says Paul, and teach you anything else than what has been preached unto you, let him be accursed. Gal. 1:8. Neither fear such men as would draw you away from this doctrine; for they will perish like grass; nor can they do anything without God’s permission. Therefore fear God and humble yourself under him, for he is honored of the lowly; always condescend to men of low estate, and you will be great in the eyes of God; think not yourself to be something, lest you deceive; always forsake your own self, and regard not what men may do unto you, though you be wronged; for it is acceptable with God, if a man 686 for conscience’ sake gets into grief, suffering wrongfully. Hence be patient in all that comes upon you for the Lord’s sake, so that you may be a partaker of Christ’s sufferings, and thus inherit his promise; for the time that reproach must be suffered here is short, compared with the joy which shall be revealed in us in the last time; for though we have a miserable life here, we shall enjoy much good hereafter; we are accounted here as dying, but we enter into certain rest and peace. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, 1 Corinthians 15:43,44. Therefore our house of this tabernacle must be dissolved, if we want to obtain the house prepared us of God. Hence fear not them that kill the body; for they cannot harm the soul. Let us therefore not grieve because of the work of the Lord, but as Christ says, rejoice and be glad therein, for it shall be rewarded you in heaven: and, as Peter says, Praise and glorify the Lord in this matter. Matt. 5:12; 1 Pet. 3:15; 4:16.

O my dear lamb, this is not said, that we should grieve. Thus, be patient in your tribulation and sufferings; for Paul says that all things work together for good to them that love God; hence I trust to the Lord, that it will conduce to your good. Therefore receive willingly from the hand of the Lord the sufferings and afflictions he sends you, for he will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Thus, bear patiently Christ’s sufferings; for all that are without chastisements are bastards, and not children. Heb. 12:8. James says: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12.

Thus, my dear wife, follow Christ, and take up your cross with patience and joy, and follow him all the days of your life, for he had to suffer so much for our sakes, to save us. Therefore let us suffer for his sake; since it is our hour, let us joyfully contend for the crown of life, which is prepared us and them that fear and love the Lord. Hence let us be satisfied in him, and take our cross upon us with joyfulness and patience, and wait with firm confidence for the promises which he has made us, and that we may be crowned upon Mount Sion, and adorned with palms, and may follow the Lamb. 2 Esdras 2:42; Rev. 14:4.

Thus, strengthen yourself, and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal life. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24,25.

See, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, since I can no longer serve you with my presence, I have written you a little to comfort you; and this for a memorial or testament, that thereby you may remember me, how I walked before you. I hope to seal this letter with my blood, that it is the truth; and for this I want to lay down my life, to the praise of the Lord, and to the edification of all who fear the Lord from the heart. I commit you to the Lord and to the word of his grace, that he would keep you in all righteousness and truth. And though we must separate, yet I know and firmly trust the Lord, that we shall be together in the life eternal. I hope that you will always so order and regulate your way all the days of your life, that you may obtain salvation.

Herewith I bid you adieu, my dear lamb; adieu till in eternity. Adieu and farewell to all that fear the Lord. Pray the Lord for all four of us, that we may offer up unto him an acceptable sacrifice, so that our souls may be saved forever; to this end may God the Lord give his grace. Amen.

Written by me, Cornelis the shoemaker, imprisoned for the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.