Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

That spiritual sloth amid so many graces is a shame.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 10 · Der zehnte Brief

Addressee — To Johann Engelbert Evertsen, Barmen. Salutation "In JEsu herzlich geliebter Bruder!" — Rule B (herzlich geliebter → "dearly beloved brother"). Body du / dir / dich / dein (the brother) → you/your. No God-apostrophe. No standalone Dein on this close (print dateline only; incipit dein Angenehmes is the brother's letter).
Date — Mülheim, 26 October 1754.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 23–24), 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 Tenth Letter.

That spiritual sloth amid so many graces is a shame.

In Jesus, dearly beloved brother!

I have only an echo to give on your agreeable letter. God awaken and bless our heart-correspondence, and make us ever more capable of it, through the prayer of the heart and the walk in the Spirit. (1 John 1:7.)

I see that you also complain of the now raging sickness of spiritual sloth: Last Sunday I gave some recipes against it out of Heb. 12:12. Whether they will take effect, that lies with God. It is indeed a shame, to have been counted worthy of such grace; to be so loved by a God; to have such a jewel before one; to be coming ever nearer the end of the pilgrim-course, and yet to live so idle and indifferent.

Now! the experience of what we are and are able belongs with it too; only, that we so much the more haste to leave ourselves, and to sink ourselves into Jesus, the worse it looks with us, and not to grow weary in waiting upon the gracious revelation of His life. Do you also think that these dead bones shall live again? Ezek. 37:3.

Some nearer news of the state of the fellow-called there I still await; greet meanwhile those to whom you come.

Mülheim, the 26th of October, 1754.

❦

German

Der zehnte Brief.

Daß die geistliche Trägheit bei so vielen Gnaden eine Schande seye.

In JEsu herzlich geliebter Bruder!

Ich habe nur ein Echo auf dein Angenehmes zu geben. GOtt erwecke und segne unsere Herzens-Correspondenz, und mache uns immer fähiger dazu, durchs Gebet des Herzens und den Wandel im Geist.

— 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 short October letter of the 26th, 1754, from Mülheim to Johann Engelbert Evertsen in Barmen. He has only an echo to give on the brother's agreeable letter. God awaken and bless their heart-correspondence, through the prayer of the heart and the walk in the Spirit. The brother also complains of the raging sickness of spiritual sloth. Last Sunday he gave some recipes against it out of Hebrews 12. Whether they take effect lies with God. It is a shame — so much grace, so loved, a jewel before one, the pilgrim-course nearly run — and yet to live idle and indifferent. Leave yourselves; sink into Jesus; do not grow weary waiting. Can these dead bones live. He still awaits news of the fellow-called there. Mülheim, the 26th of October, 1754.

An echo, and the raging sloth. Only an echo on the agreeable letter. God awaken and bless the heart-correspondence, and make them more capable of it, through the prayer of the heart and the walk in the Spirit. The brother complains of the now raging sickness of spiritual sloth. Last Sunday some recipes went out from Hebrews 12: lift up the hands which hang down. Whether they take effect, that lies with God. It is a shame to have been counted worthy of such grace, to be so loved by a God, to have such a jewel before one, to be coming ever nearer the end of the pilgrim-course — and yet to live so idle and indifferent.

Leave yourselves; can these bones live. Now: the experience of what we are and are able belongs with it. Only, haste all the more to leave yourselves, and to sink into Jesus, the worse it looks, and not to grow weary in waiting upon the gracious revelation of His life. Do you also think that these dead bones shall live again. Some nearer news of the fellow-called there he still awaits; greet those to whom you come. The printed edition keeps this counsel and this dateline. The manuscript copy closed in French. The print does not. Mülheim, the 26th of October, 1754.

A few words and echoes.

only an echo to give. Ich habe nur ein Echo auf dein Angenehmes zu geben — on the brother's agreeable letter.
heart-correspondence. Herzens-Correspondenz — through the prayer of the heart and the walk in the Spirit. (1 John 1:7)
the now raging sickness of spiritual sloth. die jetzt grassirende Krankheit der geistlichen Trägheit — he also complains of it.
recipes against it out of Heb. 12:12. last Sunday; whether they take effect lies with God. (Heb. 12:12)
such a jewel before one. ein solches Kleinod vor sich — counted worthy of such grace, so loved, the pilgrim-course nearly run. (John 3:16; Phil. 3:14)
sink ourselves into Jesus. in JEsum uns zu ersenken — leave ourselves; the worse it looks. (Col. 3:4)
not to grow weary in waiting. upon the gracious revelation of His life. (Isa. 40:31; Gal. 6:9)
can these dead bones live. daß diese Todten-Gebeine wieder lebendig werden? (Ezek. 37:3)
greet those to whom you come. the short close; the print keeps the dateline only.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 10 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-010.html.

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