How, in the absence of one's friends, one may remain in God, undivided from one another in spirit.
The Thirty-Sixth Letter.
How, in the absence of one's friends, one may remain in God, undivided from one another in spirit.
Hitherto hath the Lord helped: praised be His name to eternity!
In the Same, dearly beloved brother!
Yesterday I received your kind letter of the 9th of this month, which was refreshing to me, and gave me occasion, in my inward part, to thank the Lord: partly that the Lord so graciously brought you home again, and in good health; and then also that you found the friends there again, still in such a state as we had left them. May the Lord, our God and faithful Shepherd, let His gracious eye keep watch further — as over me, so also over you all — so that, covered in body and soul by His hand, we may love Him inwardly as His dearly-bought children, cleave to Him and serve Him, and that His divine peace may keep our hearts and minds unmoved in Christ Jesus. Amen, Jesus! ——
We are indeed not now together in body; but with my spirit I am much there with you, and ask, now and then, quite as a child: Lord! how does it stand with this or that soul? I look for no answer or revelation upon it from God, but only show the dear Saviour what I desire for you, and commend you to the governance of His grace. I do hope the Lord will soon bring us together again by His good hand; yet meanwhile even a short absence shows us how utterly unstable is everything outward and visible, and that we must turn inward, to seek a delight in God that is unchangeable — one that abides in all places, at all times, and unto eternity.
It is a great comfort, in this pilgrim-strangerhood, that in our absence from one another each of us can keep this God and this highest Good wholly and inwardly-near beside himself — indeed, that in Him we too remain undivided in spirit. For this be His name loved, praised, and glorified through Christ Jesus, in whom we have this grace, to turn in to this His blessed fellowship! Let us give ourselves up, at the ground, unconditionally to His precious drawing, and with the surrender of our whole self to the dear One who first loved us. Amen, Jesus! I greet and embrace you in the spirit, dear brother — as also all the other children and friends there, without exception. —— The Lord bless you, and give you His peace! Amen. I remain
Your devoted fellow-brother.
Amsterdam, 12 July 1743.
German
Der sechsunddreißigste Brief.
Wie man bei Abwesenheit seiner Freunde bei GOtt im Geiste voneinander ungetrennt bleiben kann.
Bis hieher hat der HErr geholfen: Gelobet sey sein Name in Ewigkeit!
In Demselben herzlich geliebter Bruder!
Gestern bekam ich dein Angenehmes vom 9ten dieses, so mir erquicklich war, und dem HErrn in meinem Inwendigen zu danken Anlaß gab; theils darüber, daß dich der HErr so gütig und im Wohlstand wieder nach Haus gebracht; und dann auch, daß du dasige Bekannte noch in einem solchen Zustand wieder gefunden …
— 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).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. Written from Amsterdam in July 1743, to a friend who had been visiting there and had just been brought safely home. It is a letter about absence — how friends parted in the body may stay "undivided in spirit" — and Tersteegen opens it, before any greeting, with the old Ebenezer word: "Hitherto hath the Lord helped: praised be His name to eternity!" The greeting itself then picks that up — "In the Same," that is, in the same Lord just praised — "dearly beloved brother."
The heart of it is a practice, not a sentiment. Bodily apart, "with my spirit I am much there with you," and Tersteegen describes how he carries the absent friends before God — "Lord! how does it stand with this or that soul?" — expecting no revelation in return, but simply showing "the dear Saviour what I desire for you." A short separation, he says, is itself instructive: it "shows us how utterly unstable is everything outward and visible," and drives us to "turn inward, to seek a delight in God that is unchangeable." The comfort of the pilgrim life ("this pilgrim-strangerhood") is that each can keep God "wholly and inwardly-near beside himself," so that "in Him we too remain undivided in spirit." The letter ends where so many of them do — in surrender to the "precious drawing" of "the dear One who first loved us" — and closes with the old priestly blessing: "The Lord bless you, and give you His peace!"
A few words and echoes.
- Hitherto hath the Lord helped. 1 Samuel 7:12 — Samuel's stone Ebenezer ("Hitherto hath the LORD helped us"); with praised be His name to eternity, Psalm 72:19.
- keep our hearts and minds unmoved in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 — "the peace of God… shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
- His dearly-bought children. 1 Corinthians 6:20 ("ye are bought with a price"); Acts 20:28 ("purchased with his own blood").
- His precious drawing. John 6:44 — "except the Father… draw him."
- the dear One who first loved us. 1 John 4:19 — "We love him, because he first loved us."
- this pilgrim-strangerhood. 1 Peter 2:11 / Hebrews 11:13 — "strangers and pilgrims."
- The Lord bless you, and give you His peace. Numbers 6:24–26 — the Aaronic blessing.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-036 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.