# The Fifth Letter From Jan Wouterss, To His Wife And Daughter.

16th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: THE FIFTH LETTER FROM JAN WOUTERSS, TO HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

The unfathomable grace and mercy of our heavenly
Father, the abundant love of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the co-operation of his Holy Spirit,
always be multiplied to you beloved, my chosen on
earth, for consolation on your pilgrimage, for the
steadfastness and confirmation of your faith, to the
praise of God, and to the salvation of your soul;
that you may always be a light in this world, and
also edify your dear, only daughter, and your
neighbor, in that which is good; so that you may
always be like unto fruit-bearing branches, for to
this are all believers appointed. If another decreases
and becomes weary, do you constantly increase,
and let your increasing become manifest before God
and men, knowing that the good works will follow
you; and it will be an ornament to your wedding
garment when you shall appear before the supreme
Bridegroom; when the slothful, the sleepers—who
are sufficiently awake to seek that which is perishable
only too much—shall stand naked, then you
shall be gloriously appareled.

Therefore, my dearest sister above all men, weary
not, though you must still walk in this pilgrimage;
always trim and fill your lamp in simplicity with oil,
and keep it constantly burning, and thus with patience
wait for your Comforter the Bridegroom.
Then he shall for a little season of faithfulness bid
you a glorious and joyful welcome; for he has opened
the way, for you and all believers, who use diligence,
and add to their faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge;
to knowledge, temperance; to temperance, patience;
to patience, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness;
to brotherly kindness, charity. If these things
be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall
neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But he that
lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar
off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his
old sins. Hence Peter further admonishes: Wherefore
the rather give diligence to make your calling
and election sure; for if ye do these things (mark),
ye shall never fall (mark still more): for so an entrance
shall be ministered unto you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1:5–11.

O it is very evident from this, how one falls, and
how one gets into the way of life; hence, diligence
is a good thing. For David says: “Thou hast commanded
us to keep thy precepts diligently!” Psalm
119:4. And Paul says: “Be not slothful in business,
but fervent in spirit.” Rom. 12:11. He further
writes: These things I will that thou affirm
constantly, that they which have believed in God
may excel in good works. Tit. 3:8.

O how well it goes when one heeds this! He
further also says: O that it were the will of God,
that those whom I have instructed might minister
to the furtherance of the truth of the Gospel, and
become diligent in the works of eternal life. O they
who lay to heart these divine Scriptures of admonition
and warning, will not easily grow weary;
when others will halt, they will go on with a faithful
heart, as long as they can draw breath, and constantly
make no account of what they do, because
of the divine nature that is in them, which love is
without measure. Namely, when one considers in
his heart, that Christ, by his great agony of death
made us dead men alive, and delivered us from the
power of the devil, and translated us into the kingdom
of Christ; that he has taken and chosen us
poor sinners from so many thousands, and enlightened
us. When they shall go into eternal fire, we
shall go into everlasting joy, and our vile body shall
be like unto Christ’s glory. O who can tell that
great joy which shall endure forever? Every one
who truly tastes said love and goodness of God
does not easily weary in well doing; the same, Paul
also says, shall reap without ceasing. Gal. 6:9.
And Christ says: “A good tree bringeth forth good
fruit.” Matt. 7:17. He also says: “They that have
done good shall arise unto the resurrection of eternal
life.” John 5:29; Dan. 12:2. O my very dear
and beloved wife, though I must now leave you,
and see you no more, yet by the grace of the Lord
I hope to see you in the resurrection, but with
a glorious and incorruptible body. Therefore, my
dearest lamb, always go on in virtue, according to
your ability, as I trust with all my heart, my dearest,
you will do. Hold fast the truth wherein you
stand through the grace of God; for it is the right
truth, and there shall no other be found: of this
I am sure in my heart. Hence be firmly rooted
therein, that you may be able to stand against
all tempests, and not fall through persecution, or
through being robbed of your goods, or your beloved,
nor through false Christs, of whom, alas!
there are many abroad, who disturb and deceive
many hearts and minds, under the semblance of
truth, which is adulterated by them; so that much
bitterness has sprung up, and love has waxed cold
in a very great measure.

Yea, I fear, that it will go yet as Christ says:
“When the Son of man shall come, will he find
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believers on the earth?” Luke 18; 8. O my most
beloved wife, I can no longer watch over you by
the help of the Lord, nor strive for you; strive now
for yourself, with earnest prayer to God. He will
not forsake you, though I must leave you. Trust
firmly in him, and always adhere unwaveringly to
the doctrine of Christ. Fulfill that which you have
heard and accepted, in the fear of God, and you
shall have eternal life; for God is able to perform
and to accomplish the same good work which he
has begun in you, without delay.

Finally, be strong in the Lord, through the
power of his might, and be well armed against all
adversity, and you shall triumph by the help of
the Lord. Set your affection on divine things, and
overcome that which is human. Col. 3:2. And I
beseech you as affectionately as I can, be resigned
in the Lord, and constantly be mindful of your redemption,
and of the treasure that surpasses all
treasures, which has been given you out of grace;
and have in constant remembrance the glorious
promises; and I hope by the grace of the Lord,
that the bitter cup and the bitter water Mara, which
you must now also drink for the Gospel’s sake,
will be, in a measure, sweetened. For, my dearest,
you are certainly well aware that these are our meat
and promises, and that ever since we accepted the
truth we expected to become a spoil to every one;
for the servant is not better than his lord, and we
must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of God. And consider, from Abel to the present
time, how the righteous had to suffer. The
Scriptures must certainly be fulfilled; for if I were
not apprehended, nor another, how should the
number of the martyrs under the altar be fulfilled?
for they wait for the fulfillment. Hence console
yourself, my dearest, and comfort one another; for
I suppose when one weeps the other weeps too.
For I can comfort you with the holy word of the
Lord; and I am still more assured that I am not
a bastard, because the merciful Father has been
pleased to chasten me poor, sinful man, and to
receive me unworthy one as his dear son; his will
be done. Therefore pray, and cause prayer to be
made for me, that I may with my death praise the
name of the Lord, to the edification, emboldening
and joy of my neighbor, for a light to the world,
for the awakening of those who are still in the sleep
of sin, and to the salvation of my soul. Amen.

I must also inform you, my dearest on earth,
that it is a great alleviation to me in my bonds,
that you are not in custody. O I also cannot
fully thank my God on account of our poor little
daughter, who saw her father bound, as though he
were a murderer; however, the strong and faithful
God gave me such grace, that I was hardly frightened
at all, only I said: “O my lords, why do you
bind me thus, as though I were a wicked man?”
“O,” said they, “you inflict this upon you yourself;”
hence there was much lamenting among them.
When he asked me concerning you, I spoke in a
very loud tone to the Bailiff, in order that you
should flee, so greatly was I concerned for you.
The Lord be praised, that he so graciously chastens
me.

O dearest lamb, you were certainly very near,
as may be imagined, if one leaves the cloak behind
and flees without it. Now, dearest, be of good
cheer; true, you leave more yet; but if you leave
much you shall receive much. And always possess
yourself in patience, and you shall by the grace
of the Lord overcome everything that comes upon
you; for patience is a special gift of God. Patience
is the Christian’s strength; this I, unworthy one,
have discovered indeed, and I also experience it
best in my bonds which I suffer for Christ’s sake.
I cannot fully thank his grace for his consolation.
I experience how a man feels that is not imprisoned
for any evil doing. I experience the Lord’s faithfulness,
which he has promised his own. I trusted in
his word, that he would keep it, before I was apprehended;
for the Lord says: “Though a mother
forget the son of her womb, yet will I not forget
thee.” Isa. 49:15. He is certainly the strength of
the poor, and a true helper in time of need.

O I was in hopes that I should alone seal it with
my blood; but another weak lamb has fallen into
the hands of the wolves, and this very strangely.
One would have thought that she was certainly not
in much danger. She came into my masters’ house,
and was held. When my time was fulfilled, I also
fell into their hands; I believe that the good God
has ordered it so for my salvation; for he knows
better than I, what is necessary for me; hence his
will be done. O my dearest, be also resigned thus,
and offer me up, your most beloved, into the will
of the Lord, as is our daily prayer; for I had many
times before prayed the Lord, that he should give
me, and let come upon us, what is for my salvation.
I therefore see that the Lord wants to take me away
from the evil to come, and to bring me into rest;
for he that loves the Lord and the church from the
heart is seldom without sorrow of heart, but frequently
in travail. But now, I am also ofttimes,
it seems to me, like a woman in travail, when I
think of your and my daughter’s grief, and of the
sorrow of my old father and my old mother; then
I indeed could cry, but the Lord gives me consolation
again by his Holy Spirit; praise to him forever.
Amen.

I further cannot forbear, but must greatly thank
you, my dearest, only wife, for having been such
a dear, faithful wife to me, for more than nine years;
the time has passed away so rapidly, that I am surprised.
I have had such joy in my heart because
of your love, that I could never fully thank the Lord
for his grace; yea, I thought, that though the hairs
of my head and the grass of the earth were tongues,
I could not fully thank his goodness: I should remain
his debtor. But however much I loved you,
I had to limit it, in order that if it should come
to what it has now come, I might overcome the
parting.

Again, I loved my daughter rather more than I
showed; I dared not set my affection too much
upon her, in order that when I should have to part
from her, as the Lord has ordered in regard to me,
unworthy one, the bitter parting should not overcome
me. But now that the Lord has called me to
this state, I will commit you both, my dearest lambs,
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to the Lord of lords, and beseech his grace to keep
you both from the evil, and to bring you into his
everlasting kingdom. Amen.

But, alas! I have often regretted, and do still regret,
that I, miserable, man have not walked more
holy and perfectly with you. Do as I would, I always
fell far short; so that I did not struggle through
all the years of my faith without stumbling or falling.
But the rich God, seeing my good intention,
according to his mercy lifted me up again, for he is
willing to forgive, as I also gladly forgive, and his
promise is sure: If we forgive men their trespasses,
he will also forgive us our trespasses. Matt. 6:14.
When I thus felt my own deficiency, it caused me
to keep myself in humility, and to bow myself under
the mighty hand of God, and it was an admonition
to me to be zealous in my calling. While I was
in a good determination, the Lord of lords came,
for which eternal praise be to him; and I often pray
him to forgive those who named, delivered, and apprehended
me; I forgive them all. O my beloved
wife, this I must also heartily pray you yet, that you
will likewise thus forgive them that have sinned
against me, and caused your grief; for if you forgave
not, I think you should prevent the Lord your
and my God from forgiving your debt; hence I beseech
you to forgive it from the heart. And pray for
them that afflict you, and you will be a good sister
in Christ. Make God your debtor, and he will also
forgive your debt; for we need daily forgiveness,
because we are frail.

But I am also daily afflicted in this, that our dear
church—many poor souls—are scattered so, and
must wander about in foreign countries, yea, some
of them having nothing to lay hold of, and yet the
poor children must be fed. O there is a lack of
cheerful givers in this distressing time.

Nothing special further for this time; but I commend
you now and forever to the Lord, and to the
rich word of his grace, who is so able to keep you
from the evil, and to bring you into his everlasting
kingdom. Amen. I greet you most affectionately
in the Lord with the kiss of love and peace, and this
in the heart, as present with you in spirit. Bid our
beloved daughter much good night in my name,
and tell her to comfort her mother, and if she is an
obedient daughter, learns diligently to read, and
then also to write, and then helps her dear mother
to gain a livelihood, I shall love her. Greet much
in my name, in the Lord, all the godfearing that
ask you concerning me; tell them to be of good
cheer all of them, and to hope and trust in the Lord,
for his hand is not shortened, this I now realize.
Let therefore no one fear mortal man, but much
rather the immortal God. I have confessed the
faith, not sought my life, freely and openly confessed
Christ before this sinful people, for a testimony
unto them, that they may have no excuse to
make in the day of Christ.

The Bailiff asked me, whether I would not renounce
my faith; that they would then give me
back my liberty, so that I could gain a livelihood
for my wife and child as before: “you are yet a
young man,” said he, “you can raise children yet,
and increase the world.” I answered, that I did not
wish to renounce. The Bailiff said: “Do you not
want to live, then?” “Yes, my lord, but I will not
renounce my faith for anything in the world.” In
going he said that I erred; he would prove to me
from history, that the doctrine which I said in the
time of the apostles was called the sect of the Nazarenes,
is openly contradicted; you must see that our
faith has existed for so many centuries, and been
handed down from generation to generation. I said,
“I do not look at the years, but at the truth.” Thus
we parted.

Go not around much with my letter, lest I lose
my liberty [of writing]; the Lord be praised for it.
If any one feel constrained by love to write a little,
send it; put into it, a little color, and soil it a little,
and it will be noticed the less. Write me how you
and my daughter are; send it with color, or some
spice, if it be only fennel seed, or a piece of cake; it
shall be acceptable to me. Salute cordially your
brother and his wife.





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