Wish of blessing to a sick man, in protracted sufferings. Testimony of joy over the earnestness of some awakened ones, and over the bowing of a friend. Counsel and encouragement in dryness and darknesses.

What this letter is. Written from Mülheim on the 6th of February 1749 to a brother — Johann Engelbert Evertsen of Barmen, whose name the old print suppresses and the critical edition restores. He answers a letter of the 4th, and the argument names the three motions in order: a wish of blessing upon a sick man in long sufferings (the brother's old father, Peter Evertsen); joy over the earnestness of some of the awakened there, and over the bowing of a friend; then counsel and encouragement for the brother himself, in dryness and darkness. It closes tired, in haste, "through grace, etc."

The old father. The first motion is all blessing. God's wisdom, longsuffering, and goodness have "hitherto preserved the dear old father, yea have in some measure refreshed him." The God who preserves and prolongs that life through the Son's intercession "will also see that this may be needful, good, and useful for him." Then the wish: that every remaining day, hour, and moment of this temporal life and suffering "may be only a blessed, fruitful time of melting and of preparation for eternal life." He does from the heart lament the protracted suffering — and at once turns it: "under which may God grant enduring patience and unconditional surrender into his Creator's and Potter's hand." The fruit hoped from it "will richly make up for all the suffering." Only let Him stand by, and chasten in grace, "that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32). "Let the body be crucified, that the spirit may be preserved in the day of judgment." The greeting to the father carries Tersteegen's continuing concern for his inward and outward state, and his affection and composure in prayer. (The old print here cuts a passage; the manuscript copy has more, on the physicians' prognosticating. The reader text follows the print.)

Joy over the awakened, and the friend's bowing. "The most welcome thing in your letter" was that the fellow-called ones there "were still in earnest." The sentence breaks into a God-apostrophe: "O my God! Thou knowest what a refreshment and cordial it is to my soul when I receive such good tidings." May the Lord Jesus bless and preserve them all in His name, "that none may be lost," and that their honest walk and earnestness "may yet bring many others in." He greets them one and all; their remembrance is "important and comforting." Then the friend — printed only as "N." — whom he has long looked out for, hungered and waited for, whether she would come nearer and declare herself honestly. Now she has "in so far uncovered herself," and he forgives from the heart whatever of an adverse kind may have arisen in her against him. He falls with her at the Lord's feet, asking that He forgive not only this but all her sins from childhood on, in His Son's blood, quiet her heart, and fill it with His divine love — "that she, like Mary Magdalene, may now also love Jesus much, since He has forgiven her many sins."

Dryness and darkness. The brother's own state he has almost no time left for: "the time is gone, and I am already quite tired." What he has is only to repeat what the brother himself had touched upon: as well as you can, hold yourself in a suffering way, and with peaceable patience wait for the help and deliverance from the Lord. Three additions: despise and forget as far as possible the evil and all assaults; do not omit prayer, however frail it may be; be content with the present will and leading of God, without a view to one's own pleasure. He commends him to the Saviour's faithful oversight, "sitting as it were before His eyes." "Be of good comfort in Him; He will carry it through, and at last as King lay all that is adverse as the footstool of His feet, and set up His throne in our poor hearts." Amen. He greets him and remains, through grace, etc.

A few words and echoes.

• wish of blessing to a sick man. Segens-Wunsch an einen Kranken — the argument's first motion, the old father in protracted sufferings.
• hitherto preserved. bishero erhalten — not merely "until now," but kept through the long illness.
• in some measure refreshed. einigermaßen erquicket — a little revival, not a cure.
• time of melting. Schmelzung — the suffering as a melting, a making-ready, not a waste.
• Creator's and Potter's hand. The sick body in the Potter's hand (Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:21).
• chasten in grace, that we may not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:32 — cited on the leaf.)
• let the body be crucified. Echo of 1 Corinthians 5:5, the flesh for the spirit's preserving in the day of judgment.
• fellow-called ones. Mitberufene — those called with him, in that region.
• Thou knowest. The one God-apostrophe; the brother's du is you everywhere else.
• good tidings. gute Zeitungen — news, not newspapers.
• that none may be lost. (John 18:9.)
• N. The print's suppression of the friend's name (the critical edition's ᵈ).
• uncovered herself. bloß gegeben — come into the open, not "exposed" as a fault.
• like Mary Magdalene. (Luke 7:47 — "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.")
• already quite tired. schon ganz müde — temporal schon, already, not the modal "surely."
• as well as you can. so gut du kanst — the Band II kanst kept.
• in a suffering way. leidend zu halten — the suffering posture of Brief 106, here only named and commended.
• sitting as it were before His eyes. sitzende als vor seinen Augen — commended to the Saviour as one seated before His face.
• the footstool of His feet. (Psalm 110:1.)
• through grace, etc. durch Gnade, 2c. — the house close abbreviated; no Dein / Mitbruder block on this leaf.