Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil III (1775)

Brotherly call: to love the great God, to worship, and to wait upon the Lord's keeping. A sigh.

Bd II · Th III · Brief 134 · Der hundertvierunddreißigste Brief

Addressee — Salutation "Mein herzlich geliebter Bruder!"; body du/dein/dich → you/your. God-apostrophe at HErr rede! dein Knecht höret and at Ach mein JEsu! du… Du hast… deinem Blut → thou/thy/thyself (lowercase except sentence-initial Thou hast; He/Him/His stay capital).
Date — Mülheim, 19 February 1750.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil III, pp. 405–406), 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-thirty-fourth Letter.

Brotherly call: to love the great God, to worship, and to wait upon the Lord's keeping. A sigh.

My dearly beloved brother!

Your pleasant of the 27th of February I have in its time well received. Although I have nothing of consequence to write, and otherwise work enough waits upon me, yet I find myself now inclined to greet you in particular, my dear brother, with heart and pen, which inclination I will then only follow.

My heart greets and kisses you in the name of Jesus, and calls to you: Come with me, and let us love and worship our God, the near, the great, the unchangeably-good God, who has chosen our spirit for His sanctuary, and has called us wretched ones to His blessed service in the spirit. If the Lord does not always give a clear and open entrance into the sanctuary, yet let our inner notice of love remain turned thither, to wait upon the Lord's keeping, and to give room to all His good-pleasure and moving. Lord, speak! thy servant heareth.

I have asked the Lord, He might hedge about your heart and keep it withdrawn, that nothing strange may press into His sanctuary and profane (unhallow) it in some measure! He will also do it; that I trust Him for, and to penetrate the spirit with His divine life, which only deserves to be called life. I greet heartily all whom the time does not permit to name. Ah my Jesus! thou great Shepherd of thy sheep! thou art indeed essentially near to every one of these hearts; say thyself into each heart what is to be said to them! Thou hast purchased them to thyself with thy blood: feed, suffer, and keep them, that not a single one perish! I greet you tenderly, dear brother, and remain through grace, etc.

Mülheim, the 19th of February, 1750.

❦

German

Der hundertvierunddreißigste Brief.

Brüderlicher Zuruf: den großen GOtt zu lieben, anzubeten, und der Huth des HErrn zu warten. Seufzer.

Mein herzlich geliebter Bruder!

Dein Angenehmes vom 27ten Febr. habe seiner Zeit wohl erhalten.

— 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 brotherly call — to Johann Engelbert Evertsen, Mülheim, the 19th of February, 1750 (same day as Brief 133 to Rocholl). To love the great God, to worship, and to wait upon the Lord's keeping. A sigh.

Your pleasant of the 27th of February. He has received it in its time. Nothing of consequence to write, and work enough waits, yet he finds himself now inclined to greet him in particular with heart and pen. Come with me: let us love and worship our God, the near, the great, the unchangeably-good God, who has chosen our spirit for His sanctuary and called us wretched ones to His blessed service in the spirit. If there is not always a clear entrance, let the inner notice of love remain turned thither, to wait upon the Lord's keeping. Lord, speak! thy servant heareth.

Hedge about your heart. He has asked the Lord to hedge about the brother's heart and keep it withdrawn, that nothing strange press into His sanctuary and profane it. He will also do it. Greet all whom the time does not permit to name. Ah my Jesus, thou great Shepherd of thy sheep: say thyself into each heart; thou hast purchased them with thy blood; feed, suffer, and keep them, that not a single one perish. Mülheim, the 19th of February, 1750.

A few words and echoes.

Come with me, and let us love and worship. The whole letter is this call — to the near, the great, the unchangeably-good God, who has chosen their spirit for His sanctuary.
us wretched ones. uns Elende — here the persons themselves, called to His blessed service in the spirit.
inner notice of love. inneres Gemerk der Liebe — when a clear entrance into the sanctuary is not given, this notice is still to remain turned thither.
wait upon the Lord's keeping. der Hut des HErrn zu warten — to give room to all His good-pleasure and moving, not to force a way in.
Lord, speak! thy servant heareth. The set-off word of the waiting: Samuel's answer, made theirs. (1 Samuel 3:9.)
hedge about your heart. The prayer asked of the Lord: that nothing strange press into His sanctuary and profane (unhallow) it.
His sanctuary. Heiligthum — their spirit chosen for it; what presses in from outside would unhallow what only His divine life deserves to be called life.
feed, suffer, and keep them. The closing sigh to the great Shepherd of the sheep, purchased with His blood, "that not a single one perish." (Hebrews 13:20; John 10:28.)

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, III. Theil, Brief 134 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-134.html.

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