That the divine providence from without, and His Spirit from within, are the fairest means of sanctification.

The Hundred-and-Sixth Letter.

That the divine providence from without, and His Spirit from within, are the fairest means of sanctification.

In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, dearly beloved brother!

Your beloved letters — the one of the 25th of June to me, and the one of the 28th of September of this year addressed to Brother N. — have arrived safely, together with the books. I have not been able to write sooner than now, and can scarcely even now: yet I cannot say that I have an actual consumption; only, for more than a year, I have had, more than is otherwise usual, headache and eye-pains and inflammation, together with a great exhaustion of the vital spirits, so that I often thought I had had a stroke, though I am not yet thirty-nine years old. It does alternate, so that I am still up and about most of the time and find it fairly bearable; yet at times, for several days, I may not read or write a single little letter, and can by no means be long among people. Now and then I am fairly lively again. God be praised, who still keeps me united with His gracious good pleasure, so that I cannot say that I desire it otherwise!

The divine providence from without, and His Spirit from within, are the fairest means of sanctification; whoever entrusts himself to both, childlike, with entire letting-go of his own understanding and will, walks upon the sure way of peace, and remains, under all stumblings, without stumbling — because even in the very least thing he can find a dying of the self, and so also God, His will and life. God wills to have us wholly in Himself and for Himself alone; therein consists our blessedness from now on, that we are wholly His, and are in Him. But we corrupt children do not understand wherein this Whole consists; nor can we rightly believe that we have gone so deep into ourselves, until the good Master Himself teaches us in the school of abiding-within, dying, and yielding, where He sets us, according to our capacity, one lesson after another. Ah! He knows how to find out the hidings and props of the self, where neither we nor any creature should ever seek them: therefore, oh! how blessed is a soul that entrusts itself to God and His providence in the blind, and lets itself be sanctified by Him, remaining only, like a child, at the lesson of the present moment, without skipping anything, or beginning higher than is shown to it! Such a soul finds life in death, help out of its enemies, and, in the greatest narrowness, ever more an unbounded wideness, which is God Himself. Lord! to Thee are we given, Thine are we; when wilt Thou have us wholly? And when shall we have nothing more than Thee alone? Bring us thither for Thine own sake, and through Thyself, that we may love and glorify Thee purely and eternally! This I pray for myself and for the dear children at N. Amen, Jesus!

Dear brother! I thank the Lord, with all my heart, who has given him — in place of the dangerous court-life — so contented a solitude and fellowship, that he may there, at the court of the King of hearts, learn to make his court aright. He has high cause to acknowledge this mercy of the Lord, and to answer it with all faithfulness. The Lord teach and grant it Himself, and give that we may be found waiting, as in the forecourt of eternity (he by reason of increasing age, and I by reason of bodily infirmity), whether we might perhaps soon obtain the grace to be called in, to appear before His divine Majesty.

For the books sent over we thank heartily; because of my weakness I have been able to look into them but very little. On the whole I find myself very much at one with the dear Brother N. and his ground; otherwise I have, for some years now, been held so near to the One, that I pass simply over particular insights, and let them be what they are. I believe what the saints say — but only because they say it, without entering deeply into their special insights, which also leave no particular trace with me, unless God Himself should lead me into something of it. But as for what concerns the ground of the inner life, or aims thither — that is really what I abide by, and wherewith I find myself most inwardly at one; as I see, too, that Brother N. is chiefly led thereto, so far as I have read, thus cursorily, in his writings with much pleasure. You are truly happy, to be able to live there in such good company, harmony of love, simplicity, and separateness; I am often with you in spirit, and refresh myself too with you. May the holy Child Jesus bless you all, and make you after His heart, that He may eternally delight Himself in you, and we too enjoy one another in Him. Amen!

Mülheim, the 29th of October, 1736.

German

Der hundertundsechste Brief.

Daß die göttliche Vorsehung von außen, und Sein Geist von innen die schönste Mittel zur Heiligung sind.

In der Gnade unsers HErrn JEsu Christi herzlich geliebter Bruder!

Dessen geliebte Schreiben vom 25ten Junii an mich, und vom 28ten Septembr. a. c. an Bruder N. gerichtet, sind nebst den Büchern richtig angekommen.

— 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).