Friends, I should write more, but you are yourselves taught of God; and as the anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in it. 1 John 2:27. I will herewith commend you to the Lord, and to the word of his grace. Take my presumptuous letter in good part.
Know, brother, that I have written my daughter a testament letter, in case our life here should soon close.
By me, your weak brother in the Lord, on the 13th of January, 1589, imprisoned for the truth. Amen.
Joost de Tollenaer.
THE SECOND LETTER FROM JOOST DE TOLLENAER.
I wish you, my heartily beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord (who as scattered strangers are dispersed in every country, driven and persecuted from their lands, cities, houses, and goods, and this for the testimony of Jesus Christ), grace, peace and mercy from God our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ his only begotten Son our Lord and Savior, through whom we have become partakers of the divine promises in his holy name, for he has cleansed us by the washing of regeneration in his holy blood, and chosen us from all kindreds of the earth, for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Christ. May he strengthen and confirm my dear and in God beloved brethren and sisters, with his Holy Spirit, in the inner man, to the praise and glory of the great, invincible God of heaven and earth, that you may shine as bright lights among the heathen nations among whom you dwell as scattered strangers, so that many thousands may take hold of your skirts, and say: My dear, we will go up with you; for we see that the Lord is with you. Zech. 8:23. To this end may the Lord give you his blessing, to the praise, glory and honor of his holy, great and adorable name.
After wishing all Christian salutation to you, my dear and in God beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, and hearing by our last examinations, of the 23d and 28th of March, that the time of our pilgrimage may very soon be at an end, I felt constrained by brotherly and simple love, to write you, my dear friends a little, thereby making known to you joyful tidings, namely, that, by the grace of the Lord, I and my fellow-prisoners are of good courage in soul and body, to adhere to the holy truth as long as we have the breath of life in us, having committed body and soul into God’s powerful keeping—for you welcome news, and for us a happy portion. May God through grace grant this to us, as servants unworthy of being partakers of his sufferings. But I rejoice in the spirit with all my heart, that God has called me to such grace, of which the world is not worthy, because of the unbelief of their hearts.
Further, my dear and affectionately beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, it is our cordial request to all the elect, that fear God from the heart, truly and fervently, in a holy faith which worketh by love, that you will bow the knees of your heart before the almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to pray for us prisoners, as imprisoned with them, and for us that suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body; so that we may gloriously accomplish the end of our faith (which through the grace of God we confessed before this evil and wicked generation, who are enemies of the cross of Christ), and yield our bodies a sacrifice acceptable unto God through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his great name, the edification of our neighbor, and for a light unto the world; this is the prayer of us all.
Furthermore, dear friends, I find in this my tribulation, afflictions and bonds and reproach, that happened to me, unworthy one, for the righteousness of God, that God is faithful in all his promises; who does not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but makes with the temptation also a way to escape. He does not leave his people comfortless; he will with his Spirit answer for us before kings and princes, as much as we shall need in that time. He has said: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hence, I will rely on the Lord, and not fear what man shall do unto me. Though they now break the earthly house of this tabernacle, we know assuredly, that for the righteous there is a dwelling prepared in heaven, which is not made with hands, but is eternal; for which house my soul has a heartfelt desire. For, friends, there is always a very great conflict, outwardly and inwardly; for within flesh and blood manifest their nature, which must be resisted by faith; outwardly, against the pride of the world and the false prophets, and lying spirits, against which we must fight valiantly with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. O friends, I have already well proved it; for I have been assailed by them twelve different times, six times by the secular authorities, and six times by the false prophets. The authorities said to me, that I had a spirit of pride in me and such evil opinions; and that I therefore would not suffer myself to be moved. I asked them, whether that was great pride, that I suffered myself to be spoiled of all my property, of wife and child, and finally to be a spectacle to all men; that I shall be burnt at the stake, and thus my flesh be given for food to the beasts and to the birds of heaven. They said again: “Yes, you pride yourself therein.” I said: “No, but we rejoice because we have become partakers of Christ’s sufferings.”
I warned them, that they should take heed, before they laid their hands upon those that seek to practice their faith in peace, that have done injury to neither you nor yours. They said that we were rebels and seditious, and seduced many simple hearts, and drew them to our faith, and that we were worthy of greater punishment than thieves and robbers. I said: “We seduce no souls; but your false prophets seduce many thousands of souls by their doctrine and false religion, which they practice under a semblance of holiness.”