Abraham Hellenbroek

The name Hellenbroek is familiar to us because of the well-known catechism, A Specimen of Divine Truths, in which many of us were instructed in our youth. However, since most people know very little about the man himself, we will relate something of his life.

Abraham Hellenbroek, who was one of nine children, was born December 8, 1658, at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where his father, Jan Hellenbroek, was a merchant. When Abraham was five years old, a severe pestilence raged in Amsterdam, and many died. Abraham was spared, however, for the Lord had work for him to do.

After having received instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, he went to the Latin school at the age of ten and was among the best pupils. His walk at this young age was already exemplary. When he arrived at the Academy as a sixteen-year-old lad, he gave an oration in Latin verse entitled, “Of the Frailty of Human Life.” In 1677 he was enrolled as a student in Leiden, and after studying various subjects, he decided to devote himself entirely to the study of theology. In his inaugural sermon in his first congregation, he told how at the age of sixteen years the Lord had inclined his heart to the study of sacred divinity. His parents had allowed him complete freedom in his choice of study. He finished his academic studies in 1682, and in a few months he received and accepted a call to Zwammerdam, where he was installed on February 28, 1683, at the age of twenty-four years.

His stay in this little village was a blessed time for him personally. It was here that it pleased the Lord to discover Himself as a reconciled God unto his soul. This took place in the seventh year of his ministry. Now he could rest upon the merits of the cross and reconciliation through Jesus. Undoubtedly this personal experience affected his preaching, and he was privileged to bring the gospel with a certain sound.

It was also at Zwammerdam that he married in the year 1690. In his family life there were many crosses. Of the six children, four died at a very young age. The two remaining daughters were taken away in the flower of their age, one at the age of nineteen and the other at twenty-six.

In 1691 Rev. Hellenbroek accepted a call to Zwijndrecht, and after three years to Zaltbommel, where he remained for only nine months. He then accepted a call to Rotterdam in 1695, and he remained there until his death in 1731.

It is said of him that he was very diligent in every aspect of the ministerial calling, but he became most noted for his sermons. He spent much time in his study, and his sermons are characterized by a thorough explaining of Scripture from the original text, expounding it very analytically, always adding an extensive application both for God’s people and the unconverted. Many of his sermons have been published in the Dutch language.

Rev. Hellenbroek was a Voetian theologian. In one of his sermons on John 3:7 he argued against the Cocceians that regeneration is not a change from the old economy of the Old Testament to the new economy of the New Testament. He describes regeneration as that work of God’s grace by which He effectually translates the powerless sinner, by means of Word and Spirit, into the state of grace, quickening him from spiritual death to spiritual life, making all things new. Rev. Hellenbroek explained that in regeneration man is entirely passive, for it is God’s work, and it is always accompanied with a godly sorrow for sin. It is said that his sermons were very searching in his endeavor to take sinners captive, that he might lead them to Jesus. He was eyes to the blind, a staff for the weak, a counselor for the timid, a balm for the wounded, and a loving comforter for the contrite heart.

In his personal behavior he showed himself to be very meek and humble. He had learned to be nothing before the majesty of God, and he did not spend his time speaking evil of others. He was privileged to enjoy much fruit upon his labors. Eternity will reveal how much. An old farmer at Bodegraven once said to him, “Reverend, thou art my father who has begotten me in Christ.”

As Rev. Hellenbroek became older, he was afflicted with many bodily ailments. His voice grew weaker, and it became difficult for people to understand him. His memory began to fail him at times, and in 1728 he became an emeritus minister. The last sermon which he preached was on Psalm 16, verse 11, “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.” When he came home from the church, he testified that he had experienced more of that fulness than he had been able to express on the pulpit.

Once when he was sitting in silent meditation, someone asked him what he was thinking about. He answered, “I am thinking about all that is included in being reconciled with a Triune God, and how the Lord has given me ground to believe that I also am a partaker of this blessing.”

On the Lord’s Day, December 16, 1731, Rev. Hellenbroek fell asleep, to awake in heaven, where God is all and in all. An end came to his labors here on this earth, only to begin with a labor in heaven which was begun on earth, but which will reach its full fruition in heaven, namely, to perfectly magnify a Triune God to all eternity.

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