I recently came across the story of this man in my Church History II class. Of all the figures who were introduced in that short survey of the Church (from 1500-present), Tersteegen impressed me the most. He was a German Pietist who lived in the early 18th century.
Just to give you a taste of his teachings, I submit the following thought from his sermon on "True Godliness":
One of the roles Tersteegen saw the Holy Spirit filling is that of Builder. In the heart of a believer, He seeks to build a sanctuary--a place of worship for the Lord. Our hearts were made for this. Remembering that, in Hebrew, the heart was seen as the locus of the will, the goal of our lives is to establish a heart of worship. This is one of the Spirit's aims, to conform our will to the adoration of the Father--the first and greatest commandment.
The Spirit, in building this spiritual temple in our hearts, uses three building materials--
"filial fear and veneration,"
"a heartfelt confidence and faith,"
and "a fervent attachment and love to God." (in short--reverence, faith, & love)
Tersteegen's description of how this process takes place is beautiful and captivating. If you're intrigued at all, please take the time to read him for yourself at http://path2prayer.com/article.php?id=259
May the Holy Spirit build such a spiritual temple in us. May reverence, faith, and love never be in short supply! And may the worship of our hearts bring God manifold glories.
I conclude with a quote from Tersteegen and a verse from 1 Corinthians--
"One thing alone is needful, and that is God, in whom the truly pious soul, withdrawing all her desires, love, and affection from every other object, collects them into one, and thus the spirit arrives at its origin, center, and aim to which it belongs..." - G. Tersteegen
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
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