Wish of blessing upon some sick ones, that they may look only upon Jesus in the sufferings, and the sufferings in Jesus.

The Hundred and Fifty-second Letter.

Wish of blessing upon some sick ones, that they may look only upon Jesus in the sufferings, and the sufferings in Jesus.

Very worthy and inmost-beloved brother!

With much compassion I see from your last letter, otherwise welcome to me, of the 17th of this month, the weak condition of some dear members there. My own weakness, the sudden dying of a niece of mine, and other business hindered an immediate answer with the pen; God has nevertheless given heart and grace to lay my frail yet earnest sighs and wish of blessing for them down upon the altar. May Jesus bless and strengthen all their hearts! May he visit and refresh them in my stead! May he look upon them, and give them also a childlike sense of faith and eye, to see Jesus only in their sufferings, and their sufferings only in Jesus, that is, as a fellowship of his sufferings, as a holy, and accordingly honorable and God-pleasing thing! O! how the enemy, reason and the cross-fleeing nature work, in hearts surrendered to God, against this — that one should not take all suffering in such a way with a simple faith from God and look upon it in God, whereby we yet make the suffering bitter to ourselves, and lose the best fruit.

We will suffer; oh yes! but seldom that which we suffer, seldom from the side, seldom at the time, in those circumstances, and just in the way, as it is. Ah! that is not dealt according to childlike faith. The sufferings, it is true, are fruits of sins, also often immediate consequences of our unfaithfulness, but also through Christ a wholesome medicine, to heal us from sin, unfaithfulness, and departure, and to make us into devout Christ-like children: Therefore we are only to kiss the fatherly rod childlike, without examining and resisting, and look more upon the Father's sweetness than upon the bitterness of the rod. Surrender into cross and dying makes cross and dying holy and beautiful.

I wish especially to the dear brother N. the inward nearness of Jesus, and this yielded frame of mind in all the will of God. Many a devout heart says: yes, I would gladly die, if I were ready and holy. But whoever has a poor, bowed heart, a heart that hungers and trusts into the pure grace of Jesus, that yields itself to God as it is, and also yields its temporal life to God when it is to be; let him go forth in Jesus' name with courage, and at the time of dying think not much upon being holy.

To the dear sisters N. and N. I also request that a hearty greeting be conveyed, and that they be assured of my brotherly remembrance. I visit each one of them often in the day, and trust this visiting will be to them on all sides unto blessing.

It seems to me I see it, as when the good Shepherd throws an earth-clod at us; then the timid little sheep run to the Shepherd; for they understand what that means.

Because I am quite faint, I must break off. I greet and embrace you in obliged love, and keep you near; the Lord will also do that. Greet also very heartily from me all the other dear members there, as if I had named each one.

German

Der hundertundzweiundfünfzigste Brief.

Segens-Wunsch an einige Kranken, um nur JEsum in den Leiden, und die Leiden in JEsu anzusehen.

Sehr werther und innigst geliebter Bruder!

Mit vielem Mitleiden ersehe aus deinem Letzteren, mir sonst angenehmen Brief, vom 17ten dieses, den schwachen Zustand einiger lieben Mitglieder dorten.

— 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).