Thieleman J. van Braght

“ Hence, my most beloved, adhere to it diligently, and let us always, draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and let us wash our bodies with pure water, that is, put off all uncleanness of the heart and the flesh, and perfect all righteousness and holiness; and hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised; and always consider yourself—this I entreat you, my most beloved—to provoke unto love and to good works. ”

“ Him I confess to be a living God, who created and made heaven, earth, the sea, and all that in them is, even as both the Old and New Testaments highly extol and worship him in his worthiness; as an invisible and immortal God, a God of gods, a Lord above all lords, a great God, mighty and most terrible, who sits upon his throne, a Lord unto whom there is none like, for he is higher than the heavens, deeper than hell, longer than the earth, and wider than the sea, as he himself by the prophet says: “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” ”

“ O heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, preserve us that thou mayest perform the good work which thou hast begun in us, to the praise and glory of thy holy name. O thou Almighty and everlasting God, how utterly incomprehensible is thy grace and fatherly mercy upon those that fear and love thee. O Father, who should not fear such a God, who knows how to deliver his own ”

“ Who shall separate us from the love of God? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”

“ In a dark hole I have found pleasure; in a place of bitterness and death, rest and hope of salvation; in the abyss or depths of hell, joy; where others weep, I have laughed; where others fear, I have found strength; who will believe this? In a state of misery I have had very great delight; in a lonely corner I have had most glorious company, and in the severest bond, great rest. All these things, my fellow-brethren in Jesus Christ, the gracious hand of God has given me. ”

“ And when I have fallen asleep, then, my most beloved wife and dearest sister, you are released; conduct yourself in your widowhood to the praise of the Lord, to the edification of your neighbor, as a pattern to our most beloved, only daughter, and as a light to the world, and to your soul’s salvation. Endure and persevere in the unadulterated truth wherein you stand; though you be tried so that one conflict succeeds another, count it all for your salvation; always prepare your heart for patience, and the day shall come that will comfort you. ”

“ I also have before me the beautiful example of a bride, how she adorns herself, to please her bridegroom of this world. O, how ought we then to adorn ourselves, to please our bridegroom! O that we might be adorned as were the five wise virgins with oil in their lamps, to meet our bridegroom, that we might also hear the sweet voice: Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom of my Father. I pray the Lord day and night, to give us such fervent love, that we may not regard the torments which they may inflict upon us; yea, may say with the prophet David: “I fear nothing of all that men can do unto me.” ”

“ O how deep you are buried in my heart; which is now a great conflict for me; may the Lord help me to gain the victory, so that the crown of life may be prepared for me, with all the elect saints of God; who have forsaken everything for the Lord’s sake. O my dear wife, my lamb, my love, I thank you from the depths of my soul, for your consoling letter, which you sent me; and may the Lord grant his eternal life to all those that by counsel or deed lent their aid in the matter. The letter removed a greater weight from my heart, than all the riches on the face of the earth are worth. ”

“ In this city is the glory of the Almighty God, which neither Moses on Mount Sinai, nor the eyes of any mortal man were able to behold. This brightness and everlasting light shall shine in this city forever and ever. Here all sorrow and mourning, cold, nakedness, hunger and thirst shall be changed into everlasting, satisfying joy and consolation. This glory and joy is so exceedingly great and unspeakable, that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him ”

“ O Lord, who lookest down here from on high, and art a discerner of the hearts and of every hidden thing, before whom all things are to be accounted as nothing, thou knowest my simple love towards thee; accept me, and forgive them that inflict this suffering upon me.” Having risen, he cried to the people: “O men, eternity is so long, O yes, eternity is so long; but these sufferings here are over very soon. But the conflict here is so fierce and severe; O how fearful I am yet; O flesh, bear and resist a little longer, for this is the last conflict.” ”

“ O Lord God, how can men be so blinded as to so love this transient life, seeing they know neither the day nor hour when they must die; even as the apostle James says that this life is but a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. Jesus Sirach also says that our life, compared with the days of eternity, is as dust or as a grain of sand to all the sand of the sea, or as a drop of water unto all the water of the sea. ”

“ O Judge! how is it, that thou dost command us to turn away from true godliness? since God has made known to us, that no one in the world is richer than Jesus Christ, our Savior; and that nothing is more blessed than the Christian faith, by which the just live, and the saints have conquered kingdoms. For, without Christ there is no life, and without his knowledge there is nothing but eternal death. To dwell with him, and to live in him, is our only and true consolation; but to depart from him, is eternal perdition. From his communion we will never be separated as long as we live in this life ”

“ From his overflowing goodness every good and perfect gift proceeds and descends. And he is the living One, eternal, without beginning or end, an almighty, true God and Lord of Hosts, a commanding King over all, and above us all in heaven and earth, a terrible Judge and an avenging, consuming fire; the true Light, just, righteous and holy, full of grace and peace, and a God of love and of all comfort, longsuffering and of great mercy. ”

“ Greet all the saints with the kiss of love, and all who love the Lord Jesus, and tell them to be kind; for God is the Hero and Captain, who so faithfully succors in time of need. He is like a shower upon the parched earth in a dry summer. ”

“ Hence, O my affectionately beloved sister, who is he that will harm you, if you be a follower of that which is good? And be not afraid of their threats, neither be terrified, if they persecute you, and inflict suffering and tribulation upon you; for it is better that you suffer for well-doing, if it be God’s will, than for evil doing. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, continues Peter, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? ”

“ O my dearest wife, my flesh, my bone, my dear friend, my lamb, not on my heart, but in my heart, and henceforth my poor widow, whom I must leave according to the pleasure, goodness, will and counsel of God, who has deemed it well that I should according to his pleasure lie in bonds here for his eternal truth’s sake, which, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, I hope by the grace of God to seal with my death, to pay now the obedience which we owe to God, that is, the denying of ourselves, that we may love nothing above him, neither father, nor mother, nor wife, nor child, nor our own life ”

“ I regard neither things visible nor invisible, at which the world is amazed. It is sufficient for me if I but become a partaker of Christ. Let the devil and evil men afflict me with all manner of pain and torment, with fire, with cross, with fighting against wild beasts, with scattering of the members and bones of my body; all this I esteem very little, if I but enjoy Christ. Only pray for me, that inward and outward strength be given me, not only to speak or write this, but also to perform and endure it, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found one in truth. ”

“ Woe unto you champion antichrist, who put on the time-honored customs of the Roman church as an armor with which to defend yourselves against the truth, and use the mandate of the Emperor as a shield, and wield the sword of the magistracy, in every country to shed the innocent blood of those who will not defend themselves with temporal or carnal weapons, but only with the word of God, which is our sword, and which is sharp and two-edged. But we are daily greatly slandered by those who say that we defend our faith with the sword, as did those of Munster. ”