Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

Bodily weakness, inner bareness and our own miseries should all work together toward our full preparation.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 41 · Der einundvierzigste Brief

Addressee — To Johann Engelbert Evertsen. Salutation "Herzlich geliebter Bruder!" — Rule B (herzlich geliebter → "dearly beloved brother"). Body du / dir / dich / dein / deiner → you/your. Standalone Dein on the close → Your. No God-apostrophe.
Date — Mülheim, 8 March 1759.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 101–102), 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 Forty-first Letter.

Bodily weakness, inner bareness and our own miseries should all work together toward our full preparation.

Dearly beloved brother!

It seems the dear God will also make you heavenly-minded and ready for the journey, because your natural life-tree is getting so many a jolt, that the roots of your inclinations, if any were still firm, may become wholly loosed from all, so as to go into God and into the Eternal.

Now, to that end be it blessed, what the Lord also takes notice of with you in regard of the bodily weakness! then there is little in it, because the love and the sorrow of this life is only a passing dream. The Lord Jesus is our hope, and our eternal life; through Him we have a building, built of God, a house that is eternal, in the heavens, toward whose full preparation all the encounters of this life should work together. The Lord grant that no little leaf from the tree of the Cross fall fruitless upon the earth!

Thereunder belongs also chiefly all inner bareness and poverty, and the experiences of our miseries and weakness: All such, borne with peaceable patience, brings experience, Rom. 5:4. and prepares us for the blessed leaving of ourselves, so as only to be found in Christ; this is the purpose. The fainthearted inspecting of ourselves only weakens still more. God is our Saviour, to whom we have given ourselves into the cure; under His hand we will hold out, look at Him more than at ourselves, and praise His greatnesses and mercies, even in the midst of our miseries; for He is always worthy of it, and His praise becomes us and profits us very much.

Praised be our God's infinite love and mercy, which He has shown and intended for us poor children in Jesus Christ! Eternally will we worship Him, love Him, and sing of His mercies. Amen, Amen! I greet with a brotherly heart.

Your Mülheim, obliged brother. the 8th of March, 1759.

❦

German

Der einundvierzigste Brief.

Leibes-Schwächlichkeit, innere Entblößung und eigene Elenden, sollen alle zu unserer Vollbereitung mitwirken.

Herzlich geliebter Bruder!

Es scheint der liebe GOtt will auch dich himmlisch-gesinnt und reisfertig machen, weil dein natürlicher Lebens-Baum so manchen Ruck bekommt, damit die Wurzlen deiner Neigungen, wo noch irgend eine fest wäre, völlig von allem loß werden mögen, um in GOtt und ins Ewige hineinzugehen.

— 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 March letter of the 8th, 1759, from Mülheim to Johann Engelbert Evertsen. God will also make him heavenly-minded and ready for the journey, because his natural life-tree is getting so many a jolt that the roots of his inclinations, if any were still firm, may become wholly loosed from all, so as to go into God and into the Eternal. Bodily weakness, inner bareness and our own miseries should all work together toward our full preparation — a building of God, a house eternal in the heavens. No little leaf from the tree of the Cross fall fruitless upon the earth. Inner bareness and poverty, borne with peaceable patience, bring experience and prepare us to be found in Christ. Fainthearted self-inspection only weakens; we have given ourselves into His cure. Mülheim, the 8th of March, 1759.

Ready for the journey. It seems the dear God will also make him heavenly-minded and ready for the journey, because his natural life-tree is getting so many a jolt, that the roots of his inclinations, if any were still firm, may become wholly loosed from all, so as to go into God and into the Eternal. To that end be it blessed, what the Lord also takes notice of with him in regard of the bodily weakness: then there is little in it, because the love and the sorrow of this life is only a passing dream.

A house eternal in the heavens. The Lord Jesus is our hope, and our eternal life; through Him we have a building, built of God, a house that is eternal, in the heavens, toward whose full preparation all the encounters of this life should work together. The Lord grant that no little leaf from the tree of the Cross fall fruitless upon the earth. Thereunder belongs also chiefly all inner bareness and poverty, and the experiences of our miseries and weakness: all such, borne with peaceable patience, brings experience, and prepares us for the blessed leaving of ourselves, so as only to be found in Christ; this is the purpose.

Into His cure. The fainthearted inspecting of ourselves only weakens still more. God is our Saviour, to whom we have given ourselves into the cure; under His hand we will hold out, look at Him more than at ourselves, and praise His greatnesses and mercies, even in the midst of our miseries; for He is always worthy of it, and His praise becomes us and profits us very much. Praised be our God's infinite love and mercy, which He has shown and intended for us poor children in Jesus Christ: eternally will we worship Him, love Him, and sing of His mercies. Amen, Amen. He greets with a brotherly heart. Mülheim, the 8th of March, 1759.

A few words and echoes.

bodily weakness. Leibes-Schwächlichkeit — it too should work together toward our full preparation.
inner bareness. Entblößung — and poverty; borne with peaceable patience it brings experience. (Rom. 5:4)
our own miseries. eigene Elenden — the argument's third term; praise His mercies even in the midst of them.
ready for the journey. reisfertig — God will make him heavenly-minded and ready to depart, because the natural life-tree is getting so many a jolt.
a passing dream. the love and the sorrow of this life is only that; then there is little in it.
a building of God, a house eternal in the heavens. through Him we have it; all the encounters of this life should work toward its full preparation. (2 Cor. 5:1)
found in Christ. the blessed leaving of ourselves, so as only to be found in Him — this is the purpose. (Phil. 3:8f)
fainthearted self-inspection. it only weakens still more; look at Him more than at ourselves.
into His cure. God is our Saviour; we have given ourselves into the cure; under His hand we will hold out.
Amen, Amen. eternally will we worship Him, love Him, and sing of His mercies.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 41 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-041.html.

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