Instruction to a person wrestling with despair.

The Hundred and Fifteenth Letter.

Instruction to a person wrestling with despair.

In Jesus beloved brother!

At your request I will then, in simplicity, answer something upon your letter concerning the condition of friend P. May God work in me by His grace, that I may give good counsel, and the dear friend, that he may be able to take good counsel!

So far as I can gather from my last conversation with the said friend, and now from your letter, the cause of his heavy assault is this one thing: that, without knowing it, he has wanted to become holy and blessed apart from Jesus. He has, as I suppose, some particular sins upon his conscience, which have now and again much oppressed and confused him, because he has, with them, stood still in himself, and has not sunk himself, in humble trust, into the precious Son-blood of Jesus, as the opened fountain of the boundless mercy of God. Since God's grace had also given him a fair earnestness to attain to a detached and inward walk, and had granted him thereby some grace for recollection, he has secretly (as we all so easily do) set the ground of his Christianity upon his good exercises and earnestness: now, when God's goodness has had to take these props from him — and meant to — he could not be content in the humble knowledge of his nothingness, nor give God the glory, but has, in well-meaning earnestness, wanted to set himself back into the right form; wherein the Tempter, with his own strainings and a thousand deliberations, has much helped; and as it thereby became not better but worse, he has fallen wholly into confusion, fear, dread, and thoughts of despair — to which, again, the Tempter, and also his heavy blood, have much contributed.

Good counsel would indeed be very needful for the friend, if only he could always so believe and accept it. The best is, in Jesus' name, heartily to pray for him and with him, and to seek also the intercession of those we know, in this distress: could he do so himself, that would be so much the better. Retirement and long praying is also, for this time, not serviceable to him — N.B., unless he should find in himself a secret, though weak, inclination thereto: but he must not force himself to it. His whole state prays now. Many — yea, all the devout — pray for him, and Jesus himself too, before the face of His Father. Long solitude is harmful to him; yet to be much among vain people avails still less. One must draw him out, and give him opportunity to visit good souls now and then; and these must also visit him sometimes, yet not always speak only with him, and only of his state, but of God's truth and ways in general.

You do especially well, dear brother, in visiting him diligently, because he has a trust in you. You yourself well know what you must speak with him — namely, of the faithfulness of God, which is not annulled by our unfaithfulness; of the power and providence of God, without whose will, through all the devils' might, not a hair can fall from our head; of the love of God, which wills not that any should be lost, and grudges nothing but sheer good to all creatures, and has purposed it for them in Christ.

Further, this dear friend can strengthen and raise himself with the example of Christ and of all the saints. The dearest Jesus was tempted in all things, just as we are; therefore He can now also have compassion on those who are tempted. To the devil was given, for a time, power even over the Savior's blessed body, to lead it now to a high mountain, now to the pinnacle of the temple; the devil also appeared to him, and even said to him: "Fall down, and worship me!" And yet the Lord Jesus in all that sinned not; the poor Tempter had at last to withdraw with shame. And so has it fared with Job, David, Jeremiah, and all the devout of old and of today, each after his own kind. Nothing strange befalls this friend: but we can, in faith, be sure of the victory in that God who has given us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord.

It may be that this friend is still in a state where one can show him that his will, or ground of soul, has no part in all the evil that may stir in thoughts, senses, and members; for otherwise it would not cause him such dread and distress, but he would, like all the world, go on secure and untroubled. If he is not in a state for that, then one must simply assure him that it is so: that the evil is to be ascribed not to him but to the Tempter; and that, since he himself is in the dark, and so cannot judge of his own condition, it is fair that he should believe faithful friends. He will surely not think of us that we would deceive him; and it is only fair that he believe us more than the Tempter and his own thoughts.

He cannot better drive off the enemy than by slighting and despising all his suggestions and assaults; the impotent, wretched spirit is so haughty that he cannot stay with souls who make nothing of his mummeries: so long as he perceives that we so greatly disquiet ourselves over it, and listen to him, so long he plagues us. We must, of set purpose, not answer him, not dispute with him, not believe him, for he is a liar from the beginning; even if he would prove it as clear as the bright sun, that we are eternally damned. That we have committed many grievous sins, let that be always true: over that we will speak with Jesus, and settle it with Him, not with the devil.

Ah, that the dear friend could but humble himself deeply before God, and confess that he is a poor sinner, who must look for salvation only from His free grace in Jesus. Yea, could he offer up his soul and salvation forever to God's good pleasure, and lose them therein — no more to take charge of himself in self-propriety, but to leave it all to God, whatever He would do with him in time and eternity — then he could not be lost, but the power of the enemy would soon be broken in him, and his unrest stilled: which may God of His grace work in him!

As to the outward, I advise: 1. that the dear friend once let blood, if it may not yet have been done. 2. That he take wholesome food according to need, and not fast much now, especially not drink too little; and although heating drink — such as brandy and strong beer — is harmful, yet a little wine for strengthening does no harm. 3. That he be not long idle without need, but keep to his accustomed work, so far as his strength may allow; and if he can do nothing at all, that he then rather visit someone than sit idle, or read much — unless some easing of his state have gone before. 4. So long as the assault to do himself harm lasts, it is good and needful that a close watch and oversight be kept over him: yet, when it can be done, it is best that he not so perceive it, unless there be danger; and, when it is not needful because of danger, one must also not straightway confine him too narrowly, lest it grow worse.

Above I forgot to note that it comes out quite foolish, his wanting to conclude that he has committed a sin against the Holy Spirit, because the devil had forced him to worship him, and to despise God. Where there is compulsion, there is no sin at all (for sin is a willing work), much less a sin against the Holy Spirit. And besides, it is only imagination that he did such a thing; I know him and his condition better. The enemy may have brought into his thoughts what he will; and even if, by God's permission, he moved his lips to speak something unseemly, such thrown-up filth cannot defile him. God looks upon the ground of the will, which means Him, and which is the enemy of sin; if the dear friend cannot indeed find that ground in himself, yet He can who tries the hearts and reins. Thereby can we still our heart before Him, that, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 1 John 3:19, 20.

May the merciful God make His grace great, and His Name glorified, in the dear friend! May He make true in him His firm word: I have forsaken thee a small moment, but with great mercy will I gather thee, and so forth. Isaiah 54. Wherewith I greet him heartily, together with Brother H. He can also, by God's help, be assured of our intercession.

And to you, dear brother, I leave it whether, and what, you will read to him out of this letter, or not; what stands under No. 4, concerning the outward, could at least be left out. We greet you, and your household, as also all the brothers and sisters with you, heartily, and commend ourselves to your remembrance before God. I remain

Your weak fellow-brother.

Mülheim, 24 June 1731.

German

Der hundertundfünfzehnte Brief.

Unterricht an eine mit Verzweifelung ringende Person.

In JEsu geliebter Bruder!

Auf Begehren will dann in Einfalt auf dein Schreiben wegen des Zustandes von Freund P. etwas antworten. GOtt bewirke mich mit Seiner Gnade, daß ich guten Rath geben, und den lieben Freund, daß er guten Rath möge annehmen können!

— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.

German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).