Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil III (1775)

A mortally sick man is pointed wholly upon grace and upon the infinite love of God.

Bd II · Th III · Brief 123 · Der hundertunddreiundzwanzigste Brief

Addressee — The GEB print suppresses the name (salutation "hertzlich geliebter Bruder!"; argument a generic tödtlich Krancker). Same calendar day as Brief 122 but Schmitz, not Evertsen. Addressed du/dein/dich → you. Prayer-stretch daß du die sündige Menschen also liebest → Thou.
Date — Mülheim, 7 August 1749.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil III, pp. 371–372), in normalized GS 1845 house orthography, collated against the 1798/99 second edition (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). All rendered words come from public-domain prints.

The Hundred-and-twenty-third Letter.

A mortally sick man is pointed wholly upon grace and upon the infinite love of God.

In Jesus, who has loved us and given Himself up for us, dearly beloved brother!

My heart greets and blesses you once more, and calls to you: Lean wholly upon grace! Expect everything that you need in time and eternity from the Love, which is truly wholly infinite, and which will let itself be found and experienced by you as infinite Love. The grievous covering of the body of misery hinders it, that we cannot so look into the heart of the wonderful love of God. O yea, my God! who believes it, that thou so lovest sinful men? Who believes it, that thou so lovest freely? Who believes it, that thou lovest also, when thou seemest to grieve? And when we believed it, O! how would we worship, and fall silent before deep wonder, without thinking upon ourselves!

Let your heart then take delight therein, my heart's-brother! that you belong to such a God, that you can yet suffer a little for His sake. Soon the dark covering of the mortal body will fall away, then we shall see it clearly, and see with eternal wonder what we now believe. Go with good courage to Him, as to your God, who eternally and without end will be your whole blessedness. Amen. Hallelujah! I kiss you in the Spirit, I remain near you, and find myself moved to lay you much upon the heart of Jesus: the children here say just the same. I remain unceasingly

Your

Mülheim, the 7th of August, 1749. — obliged brother.

❦

German

Der hundertunddreiundzwanzigste Brief.

Ein tödtlich Kranker wird ganz auf die Gnade und auf die unendliche Liebe GOttes hingewiesen.

In JEsu, der uns geliebet und sich selbst für uns übergeben hat, herzlich geliebter Bruder! Mein Herze grüßet und segnet dich abermals, und rufet dir zu: Verlasse dich ganz auf die Gnade!

— 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. A deathbed letter of the 7th of August, 1749, from Mülheim to Johann Peter Schmitz of Solingen (the old print suppresses the name; Benrath restores it). The same calendar day as Brief 122, but this brother, not Evertsen. The argument: a mortally sick man is pointed wholly upon grace and upon the infinite love of God.

Lean wholly upon grace. He greets and blesses him once more, and calls to him: Lean wholly upon grace. Expect everything needed in time and eternity from the Love, which is truly wholly infinite, and which will let itself be found and experienced as infinite Love. The grievous covering of the body of misery hinders looking into the heart of God's wonderful love.

Who believes it. O yea, my God: who believes that thou so lovest sinful men? that thou so lovest freely? that thou lovest also when thou seemest to grieve? And when we believed it, how would we worship, and fall silent before deep wonder, without thinking upon ourselves.

The dark covering will fall away. Let the heart then take delight therein, my heart's-brother, that you belong to such a God, that you can yet suffer a little for His sake. Soon the dark covering of the mortal body will fall away; then we shall see clearly, and see with eternal wonder what we now believe. Go with good courage to Him, as to your God, who eternally and without end will be your whole blessedness. Amen. Hallelujah. He kisses him in the Spirit, remains near, and finds himself moved to lay him much upon the heart of Jesus; the children here say the same. I remain unceasingly. Mülheim, the 7th of August, 1749.

A few words and echoes.

who has loved us and given Himself up for us. The salutation is already the whole counsel: this dying man is pointed upon that Love. (Galatians 2:20)
Lean wholly upon grace. The one cry of the letter: expect everything, in time and eternity, from the Love which is truly wholly infinite.
the grievous covering of the body of misery. Decke des elenden Körpers — it hinders looking into the heart of God's wonderful love.
Who believes it. Three questions: that He so loves sinners; that He so loves freely; that He loves also when He seems to grieve.
when thou seemest to grieve. The love does not stop when it looks like pain — and if we believed it, we would fall silent before deep wonder, without thinking upon ourselves.
heart's-brother. Herzens-Bruder — take delight that you belong to such a God, that you can yet suffer a little for His sake.
the dark covering of the mortal body. Soon it will fall away; then we shall see clearly, and with eternal wonder, what we now believe.
Go with good courage to Him. As to your God, who eternally and without end will be your whole blessedness.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, III. Theil, Brief 123 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-123.html.

← Bd II · Th III · Brief 122 Bd II · Th III · Brief 124 →