Thus extracted from the book of criminal sentences, preserved in the archives of the city of Amsterdam.
N. N.
Here follow several letters from the aforementioned martyrs, the first from Jan Quirijnss, and the other from Clement Hendrickss.
A LETTER OF JAN QUIRIJNSS, IMPRISONED WITH CORNELIS JANSS AND CLEMENT HENDRICKSS, AT AMSTERDAM, WHERE ALL THREE WERE BURNED FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST.
The eternal, almighty and merciful Father, who by his mighty arm led his chosen out of the house of the bondage of Pharaoh, keep and confirm you, my beloved sister in the Lord, with the power of his Holy Spirit, to so do his will that you may be found spotless and blameless in all peace, and in all righteousness, truth, zeal, and love, unto the end; this grant you the almighty and strong Lord, who is alone wise and just; to him be praise, honor, glory, and gratitude, now and forever. Amen.
Very dear and much beloved sister in the Lord, whom I greatly love according to the spirit, I have undertaken, by the saving grace of God, to write you a little, as you requested of me poor servant; for I deem myself unworthy of writing to another—it were more necessary that some one should write to me. For, dear sister, I find so much lacking in me, that, when I call upon the Father, I fear that I am not his child, for I do not half his will. But, dear sister, though we are compassed by vile flesh, we will not give up courage, but firmly keep on, and always pray without ceasing, and give him the praise, and constantly thank him for his unspeakable kindness which he has shown us simple children. Eph. 2:7. O what great grace has appeared to us! O what love has been shown us! O what light has arisen to us! O what excellent, precious, hidden treasure has been given into our earthen vessels! That which is hid from the wise and prudent, he has now revealed unto us poor, simple children. Matt. 11:25. The clear truth is now made known to us; the beautiful, shining light has shined into a dark place; the clear radiance has been given into our hearts, whereby we are illumined with the uncovered, clear light, through Christ Jesus, this gracious Lord of lords. 2 Pet. 1:19; 2 Corinthians 4:6.
He took away the great darkness out of our dark hearts and yielded himself, this merciful Jesus Christ, to be a shining light unto us, as John says: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” 1 John 1:5,6. Therefore, dear sister, take heed to the light, and let it be a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path, as David says (Ps. 119:105), that you may not stumble by day, but may always see before you wherever you go; for the darkness is passed, and the true light now shines. 1 John 2:8. He has delivered us from the power of darkness [and called us] into his marvelous light, who, as Peter says, in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9,10. For this reason we may well be glad in our hearts, and rejoice, and say with David (Ps. 124:7): “The snare is broken, and we are escaped; we are delivered out of the jaws of the lion, in which we were imprisoned,” that is, in this dismal, abominable, subtle, wicked world, which lieth in wickedness. 1 Pet. 5:19.
The God of this world, that rules in the children of unbelief, has so blinded the minds of them that they believe not, and so stopped their hearts, that they cannot see or perceive in the least, nor taste that the Lord is gracious. 2 Cor. 4:4. With them we all had our fellowship, and had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Eph. 2:3. But the rich, merciful and kind God looked with his gracious eyes upon us poor sinners, and stretched forth his blessed hand, and has now extended it to us, and has delivered and brought us out of the pit of death and tied up and healed our wounds; our hungering and thirsting souls he has satisfied with the bread of life, and refreshed with the water of the Holy Ghost; he did not let us lie in our blood, he did not desire to pass by us, he did not let us perish with hunger; when we asked for bread he did not give us a stone; neither did he let us go thirsty, but refreshed our famishing souls from the clear fountain of living water. O that we had never spent money for that which is not food! but we have largely spent our money for bitter gall and vinegar, and for false, corrupt leaven. O that we had thought of this gracious host, who gives it for nought to all that ask him (Rev. 21:6); and none that come to him will be cast out. Hence, my dear sister, let us desire the rational, unadulterated milk, as new born babes, that are born again from above of God, through Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 2:3; John 3:3. Let us take good heed to and firmly keep our new birth; for John says: “Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” John 3:9.
O that we might take an example from Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. O how little did he esteem his salvation; but afterwards, when he sought it with tears, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance. Gen. 25:33; 27:38; Heb. 12:17. But, dear sister, let us diligently take heed, that we hold fast that which we have, which has been given us from above of him who is the giver of all good. Rev. 2:25; James 1:5,17. And if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hears us, in whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desire of him. 1 John 5:14,15. Is this not a gracious Lord? Yes, assuredly, and he is a Lord rich over all them that call upon him; only place your trust firmly upon him, and put your will into God’s will, and all will be well.
Therefore, my dear sister in the Lord, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor. 15:58. For you shall receive reward by it. Matt. 20:9. If you sow to the Spirit, you shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Gal. 6:8. If we sow in tears, we shall reap with joy; for our shame we shall receive honor, and for confusion we shall rejoice, says the prophet. Is. 61:7. O let us be content then—we shall be such a glorious people; and with patience wait for it, and think of the glorious promise that he has promised us. 1 John 2:25. He also will do it, he will not delay his promise (2 Peter 3:9); only let us continue valiantly, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, not slothful in our business, but fervent in spirit, a burning love in our hearts (Romans 12:10, etc.), and the Lord through love grounded and rooted in us (Eph. 3:17), so that no one may be able to separate us from the love of God, nothing of all that may come upon us for the name of Jesus Christ, and for his testimony. Romans 8:35. Let therefore no one beguile us of our reward, but let us evince from our faith virtue, and let our moderation be known unto all men. Colossians 2:18; 2 Peter 1:5; Philip. 4:5. The Lord is at hand, be careful for nothing; for it is soon over; our time, dear sister, is so short, if we well consider it. 1 Cor. 7:29. Hence let us pass our short time in the fear of God, and be sober and vigilant; for our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith. 1 Peter 5:8,9. As James says: resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7. Yes, dear sister, he walks about us very craftily; now with this, now with that, whether outwardly or inwardly with our evil flesh, which is our greatest enemy, with whom we have most to contend; the Spirit against the flesh, the flesh against the Spirit: these are contrary the one to the other, so that we do not the things that we would. Gal. 5:17. But Paul gives us comfort, when he says: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. v. 16. O that we were as fervent in spirit, as diligent in good works, in seeking eternal life, as we are in seeking earthly treasures, worldly things, which must nevertheless perish and remain here; and that we might love God’s commandments above gold or precious stones; we should be such blessed children, we should continually have less and less conflict. But alas! it is sometimes the case, that greater endeavors are made for these temporal things, than for the abiding riches that are in heaven, which shall nevertheless endure forever. In writing this I do not mean that this is the case with you; for I well perceive that you seek the Lord with all your heart. Hence, my dear sister, let us lay to heart the words of the apostle, who warns us against the tempter; lest we also be deceived by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11), that is, that he aims to capture God’s children in his net by lies and envy, since he has been the father of lies from the beginning (John 8:44), as he has shown in the case of the first man, as is written in Wisdom: “God created man for eternal life; but through the envy of the devil death came into the world; and they that are of his part do follow him. 2:23,24. Thus he also comes to us with his emissaries, with whom we have a hard conflict, yea, those who went out from us being the most troublesome to us, so that we find that the Scripture is fulfilled, namely, that in the latter days it should be as John says: “Little children it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:18,19. See, dear sister, thus the apostle warns us; for they are not all Abraham’s children that are of Abraham’s seed. Rom. 9:7.