Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is established and confirmed neither outwardly nor inwardly without preceding judgments.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 116 · Der hundertundsechzehnte Brief

Addressee, date, and source

Addressee — To N. N. Leaf centered N. N. under the argument — name unknown. No salutation line (opens JEsus breite…)
Date — Undated on the leaf (no dateline or place-line; closes with …am besten hinein. + ornament).
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 285–287), 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 Sixteenth Letter.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is established and confirmed neither outwardly nor inwardly without preceding judgments.

N. N.

Jesus spread His kingdom abroad in our and in all hearts! which however outwardly and inwardly will not come to pass without preceding judgments. Outwardly after the sound of the trumpets of God will judgments break through, and make way for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Inwardly it goes just so. God's righteousness and judgment discovers and destroys the evil in us, which does not come to pass without pains, and often goes wondrously, before He has put all enemies for a footstool of His feet. But after Jesus has well confirmed and founded His throne through righteousness and judgment; then goes nothing but goodness and truth before His face. Psalm 89.

Thereto belong without doubt the cross, the distress and oppression, of which you report in your last, though you specify nothing. On our side nothing is needful, but only to bow under God's hand; with will and purpose enter into nothing evil, and then, in quiet and true confession of one's nothingness, let oneself and one's sufferings fall upon and into Jesus; for He must and will bear us, and bear our sufferings, and lead to the goal.

Now, we also through Christ ought to bear one another's burden; and to do such on my part, I am often reminded by grace. —— Let us give ourselves over to the Lord as a praise, and as children of the sweet resignation approve all His ways in the dark. He understands wherein our salvation and our furtherance lies. Seek all your virtues and strength in the heart of Jesus; there they lie ready for you. Only, because the little door is somewhat low and small, one comes in best naked and bowed.

❦

German

Der hundertundsechzehnte Brief.

Das Reich JEsu Christi wird weder äußerlich noch innerlich ohne vorhergehende Gerichte aufgerichtet und befestiget.

N. N. JEsus breite sein Königreich aus in unseren und in allen Herzen! welches aber äußerlich und innerlich nicht ohne vorhergehende Gerichte geschehen wird.

— 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. An undated letter to N. N.: the kingdom of Jesus Christ is raised neither outwardly nor inwardly without preceding judgments; the cross, distress and oppression belong thereto; bow under God's hand and fall into Jesus; bear one another's burden; seek all virtues and strength in the heart of Jesus; because the little door is low and small, one comes in best naked and bowed.

How to read the German. The panel is the 1775 first-edition wording in the house orthography used for Band II / Th IV. Distinctive KEEP forms (Creutz, Noth, Letzteren, nöthig, Vorsatz, thun, Seits, Thürlein, zerstöhret, geleget, geschiehet, entdecket, specificiret, Bekänntniß, Ueberlassung, Lasset, gehts, also, JEsu / JEsus / JEsum, 116te) stand as on the leaf. House folds include Leyden→Leiden (§3 ey→ei), äusserlich→äußerlich, bevestiget→befestiget, Stärcke→Stärke, gutheissen→gutheißen, süssen→süßen, causal dann→denn, GOTT→GOtt, and Versalien → digraph GOtt / HErr / JEsu / JEsus / JEsum. Herzen leaf Hertzen tz folded (§3 tz→z); Creutz / Letzteren / Vorsatz KEEP tz.

English choices. you/your for the addressee (ihr); no Rule B salutation; divine names ordinary. No authorial emphasis (§9d). No close line.

How the German reads here. Panel KEEP forms (Creutz, Noth, thun, Thürlein, zerstöhret, Seits, Bekänntniß) stand; Leyden folded Leiden (§3 ey→ei); äusserlich / bevestiget / Stärcke / gutheissen / süssen / dann (causal) are folded by the house rules.

A few words and echoes.

"Güte und Wahrheit vor seinem Angesicht her. Psalm 89." — Ps. 89:14.
"Schemel seiner Füße" — Ps. 110:1.
"einer des anderen Last tragen" — Gal. 6:2.
"Thürlein… nackt und gebeugt" — the low little door; naked and bowed.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 116 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-116.html.

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