I bid you adieu, my dearest mother, adieu; if I should write you no more, and if this should be the last letter, I bid you adieu, my beloved mother, and take leave from you, if it should be the last time; my mother whom I love, adieu, for I leave you for the Lord’s sake, and also hope to lay down my life for his sake, for the Lord has promised me another life, which shall endure for ever, and never pass away; not like this life, which must perish, for this life, or the temporal pleasure of this world, is not to be compared to the joy and gladness that is promised to the righteous that endure steadfast unto the end; where one day, as David says, is better than a thousand here in joy and pleasure. Ps. 84:10.
I hope by the help of the Lord soon to partake of the eternal joy. Then I shall be freed from all sighing, weeping and sorrow; then I shall neither thirst nor hunger any more; then I shall no more feel heat or cold; then I shall be released from all, and for ever triumph with the Lamb. Hence, grieve not, neither weep nor sigh; though I go before, we shall meet again; be of good cheer, my chosen mother; the Lord comfort you with his Holy Spirit, in all your tribulation and sorrow. John 14:16.
I might be grieved more than you, for your sake, for I leave you here in this evil world, where you are subject to all sorrow, tribulation and affliction, while I depart from tribulation into joy, from this life into the eternal life: but we need not be sorrowful, but resigned to the work of the Lord, for Paul says; “All things work together for good to them that believe;” hence, remember what we pray: “Lord, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Rom. 8:28; Matt. 6:10.
Therefore, let us take heed, that we do not will anything contrary to the will of the Lord, but that we be patient and longsuffering in all things, so that there may be fulfilled in us the passage contained in John’s Revelation: “Here is the patience of the saints.” Rev. 14:12. Therefore, dear mother, be patient in all that has now come upon you, and that may yet come upon you.
Farewell, my affectionately beloved mother, and I pray you, when you begin your prayer to God, remember me poor, weak man, your son, imprisoned here for the testimony of the only Son of God, as I hope and doubt not that you do; for James says that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much, and he adduces an example, and says, that Elias was a man like us, and he prayed that it should not rain, and it came to pass so; and he prayed again, that it should rain, and it rained. This, James tells us, to show how effectual the prayer of the faithful is. James 5:16; 1 Kings 17:1; 18:45.
Christ also says: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, if ye believe and doubt not, it shall be done unto you.” Mark 11:24. The Scriptures abundantly testify, that the prayer of the righteous penetrates through the clouds, so that they are heard by the Lord. Herewith I take leave from you, dear mother, if it should be the last time, and I commend you to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of all comfort console you; the strong God strengthen your faith, to resist all the fiery darts of the wicked one; the Lord keep your going out and your coming in, now and for ever Amen.
Adieu, my dearest mother, adieu in this life, till we see each other in life eternal, with Christ our only Head and Bridegroom. Amen.
Greet my dearest brother in the Lord Christ Jesus, the dearest brother I have on earth; greet him very cordially, and also my chosen dear master, if he is with you. Greet my beloved brother D. B., when you write to him. My mother, take this my simple letter in good part, since I have written it out of love, according to my little knowledge, which the Lord, through grace, has given me unworthy man. The Lord be with us all. Amen.
By me your son, whom you well know, at present confined in prison, at Antwerp, on the 7th of July, A. D. 1576, for the Gospel, and for the confession of the only Son of God, Christ Jesus our Savior, whom the world does not confess, but denies.
Hans Bret.