Consider this, my beloved son; meditate night and day, how to die unto the world, and to fulfill the will of Christ. In the first place, and before everything else, beware of all false prophets and hypocrites, which in my time were the priests and monks, and who, I apprehend, will not be lacking in your time, so long as rich emoluments follow them. Do not believe them, for they deceive men, and murder their souls. My son, he that wrote you this, learned it by his own experience and investigation; he drank of this cup himself. Neither live among any sect, of whom there were many in my time already, as Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others, who, though they have a good semblance, yet, in fact, are evil and deadly poison. Look for the little flock, whose entire rule of life agrees with God’s commandments, and whose ordinance or sacrament is in conformity with the command of Christ and the practice of the apostles; this is the true church of Christ, without spot or wrinkle; this church is flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones. These also have teachers according to the teaching of Paul (1 Tim. 3:2), blameless in everything, who have obedient children and believing wives, who are strangers to litigations and processes, to cursing and swearing, to hatred and envy, to lying and cheating, to lasciviousness and adultery. There everything is love, peace, unity and truth, as Paul will teach you, which are the fruits of the Spirit.
My dear son and beloved child, this is my chief and last will, my testament to you, which I desire you to read diligently, to meditate well upon it, and to compare it to the Scriptures, in order to govern your steps in accordance with it. Mark well, my son, what I write: many will appear in the garb of good teachers, saying that they have medicine for your sick soul; but the ones that will profit you, are those who have the truth; adhere to them. Water and fire are set before you: stretch forth your hand unto whether you will, unto death or life. Sirach 15:16. This, my dear son, will at first be very hard for you to hear, since it is contrary to your first birth, which is of the flesh; but you must be born again, and converted, if you would enter into the kingdom of God. You cannot understand this so long as you are carnally-minded, yea, so long as you do not become the fool and enemy of the world. Dearly beloved son, I entreat you again, as I did before, to consider this, and to govern yourself in accordance with it. Out of a faithful father’s heart I have left you this, when about to depart from this world, and to die for the word of the Lord. May the Lord grant you, and all who read this, or hear it read, that they may take it to heart, act according to it, and be eternally saved.
My son’s testament, written in the year 1557, the first Monday in April, and confirmed by death, the 26th day of the same month.
THREE OTHER BRIEF ADMONITORY LETTERS BY JORIAEN SIMONS AND HIS FELLOW-PRISONERS.
May God grant peace, joy and consolation in all trouble and suffering to all those who have to suffer for his word, through his beloved Son, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
We would inform our most beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, and all who seek to fear the Lord with the whole heart, that we are all (the Lord be praised forever) of very good cheer, and hope to adhere to the word of the Lord, and not to depart from it, for any visible thing, yea, neither for life nor death, since there is nothing, we trust, which shall be able to separate us from the love of God; we shall be able to do all things through him who strengthens us; we trust by our God to leap over walls. Rom. 8:35; Philip. 4:13; Ps. 18:29.
Dear friends, rejoice with us; why should we fear, when there are so many in the world, who, for a little gain, expose themselves to the greatest danger, both of soul and body, on water and on the land, not knowing withal, whether in case of success there will be gain or loss? But we know that when we have completed this journey by the help of the Lord, all is gain, and there can be no loss; for we run not as uncertainly; we fight not as one that beats the air; but we are assured by the grace of the Lord, that, if we fight through valiantly, as we trust we shall do, we shall receive that which is promised us. We intend to return to them four-fold; we shall not keep silence, but proclaim aloud, what the Lord gives and reveals to us. Our sister Mariken is also of very good cheer, and has rightfully confessed her faith, to which she wants to adhere as long as there is breath in her; she is of such courage and good cheer, that she delights and rejoices us all. We exhort each other with the word of the Lord, as much as God gives each to speak, now by words, now by hymns; yea, I have many hours in which I never once think of it that I am a prisoner; such is the joy which the Lord gives us. I thank you with all my heart, that you have fulfilled my request, also for your affectionate exhortation. Do the best you can as regards my H. F. I commend you to the Lord, and to the word of his grace.
JORIAEN SIMONS IN BONDS.
Our most beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, and all who desire to fear and follow the Lord with all their heart, we, the prisoners in the Lord, wish you a valiant and steadfast mind, and perseverance in the truth, unto the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior and Redeemer, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Greatly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, be it known to your love, that through the grace of the Lord we all strive for the best, seeking it with the whole heart, so that we want to offer ourselves up into the hands of the Lord, whether it bring us life or death. We also seek with the whole heart, that the Lord will magnify his glorious name through us, and we keep before our eyes the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus. We know that the servant is not greater than his lord. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that if we suffer with him, we shall also rejoice with him. To this all the pious witnesses of Christ had respect, and unto his great promises, which we have in the Old Testament, and which were given to the pious fathers, who hoped for the grace that should come, and therefore valiantly fought for the law of God, and would have no intercourse with the surrounding nations, and therefore voluntarily surrendered their lives, because they would not worship or honor their molten or carved images; even as pious Eleazar, who would not eat swine’s flesh, contrary to the law. 2 Macc. 6:18. By the grace of the Lord we hope to take his salutary words for our pattern, namely, that it is best to adhere to the Lord; for though through hypocrisy (from which God preserve us) we should save our lives, yet should we not escape the Almighty hand of God, neither alive nor dead. Therefore we will surrender ourselves entirely into the hands of the Lord, as did the pious Maccabean mother and her seven sons (2 Macc. 7:1); and as did all the pious witnesses of Christ, who even rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Acts 5:41. Thus, beloved brethren, we are minded in the Lord, and not otherwise. We trust by the grace of the Lord to be unto the weak babes that still feed on milk, an example of piety and steadfastness.