Selcart (30)

According to the custom of the times, after he was sentenced, Cors was permitted to be left alone to live out his days as if he lived in his own home. That is why he could direct Pastor Harmensz and his companions to leave by the same door which they used to enter his cell, which he did with dignity and authority. The spiritual leaders, seeing that all their efforts made no impression upon the heretic, finally left with anger in their heart. Rulers and subjects both great and small bowed down for these pompous priests but not our farmer from Naaldwijk and, along with him, many who had been delivered from the bondage of the Roman Catholic Church and who had, through Christ’s meritorious suffering on the cross, received free access to the heart of the Father.

About six o’clock that evening, Cors was brought out of the cell where he had been kept in solitary confinement and brought to the room where those who had been condemned to death would spend their last night. With his hands and feet bound with heavy chains, he was led to the room by Dries and his helper. He looked up at Brechtje, who was also present, with a smile full of meaning, letting her know that he was joyful in his God and looked forward to entering the joy that the Lord has prepared for them that fear Him. Deeply moved, the poor maidservant returned to the kitchen, and while she wiped away a tear, she sighed, “Ah, if he had only been willing, it is likely I would have been able to save him from the scaffold.”

Coming into the room, Cors saw a cheerful fire of wood branches, for Dries and the helper had taken care that he would not suffer cold in the long December night. In the corner of the room there stood a camp bed which had a sufficient quantity of bed coverings while on the wall there hung a large cross.

When Cors had sat down upon the chair, the jailer asked him what he would like to eat and if he had any further requests which, if possible, he would fulfill promptly.

Cors requested some bread and wine, and if at all possible, he would like to have Rev. de Lier whom he had not seen for a number of weeks and also Klaas Cornelisz, the shoemaker from s’Gravenzande with whom he had shared his cell for the past several weeks, to spend a few hours of the night with him.

The first portion of Cors’s request was immediately acted upon. The second part raised considerable objection. Although there were no rules or regulations in place for the jailer to follow, he would be responsible if he had the three men as well as two servants together in one room. Dries was not very happy about being alone with the condemned prisoner. Although it had happened before, he was always bothered by superstitions regarding these occasions, so he strongly recommended that the visit be allowed. There was undoubtedly a measure of sympathy for the condemned man, so soon the three friends brought together by true faith were in the same room. Cors and the shoemaker sat upon the bed, Rev. de Lier sat upon the chair, and Dries and his helper stood by the fire.

The meeting of Cors and Rev. de Lier was heartfelt as could be expected of men who stood ready to give their lives for the name of Jesus; there was something in them of the lives of the early Christians who, in the face of their martyr’s death, increased in love and encouraged each other to remain faithful.

In addition to that, the presence of the Holy Spirit was noticeably present when the three condemned prisoners, weighed down by their chains, knelt and offered prayer for the king and his representative, the welfare of the nation, and the extension of God’s kingdom. In the nightly hour the cell of the condemned prisoners became a sanctuary of God where a sweet savor of their prayers and supplications rose up to heaven.

Even Dries who heard all this did not know how to react. He had already guarded many heretics, but he had never before experienced a gathering such as he now witnessed, and it made a deep impression upon him. It is no wonder, for it is written, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” There, where the great King of His Church reveals Himself in all His love and majesty, where He causes His light to shine, the darkness must roll away, and the world shudders under the supremacy of those people that in such an hour become as “terrible” as a battle array under the banner of their King.

As a means of diversion, Dries and his helper began to play cards. “The heretics will amuse themselves,” was his mocking retort, but their card playing aroused no interest. Against their will they were struck by the actions and words of the three men. They watched Rev. de Lier break the bread which had been meant for Cors’s evening meal, and the servant of the Lord poured the wine into the tin cup, and for the first time the keepers of the prisoners heard the words spoken by Jesus when He instituted the Holy Supper.

Whether the impressions upon the two men were of a lasting and saving nature we do not know. One thing is certain, it will either have been a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Our pen is too feeble to adequately describe the gathering of the three brethren. We can only say that the blessed presence of Christ in the cell of that jail made it as Bethel so that they could say with Jacob, “Surely the LORD is in this place; this is none other but the house of God.” p

(To be continued)

The whole life of a Christian should be nothing but praise and thanks to God. We should neither eat nor sleep but eat to God, sleep to God, work to God, and do all to His glory and praise.

— Richard Sibbes

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