… There are two brothers, one from New Jersey, the other from New England, who are disposed to labour at the work, and who read the Word with me. I hope that they will be useful. The increase in the number of workmen is always precious to me, if they are devoted. They are brothers of a calm and sensible spirit, and not lacking in intelligence. They are Americans who are to be desired in most respects.
The desire to go deeper into the Word continues in the United States. Perfectionism,(Methodicism) which misleads much of the world, awakens needs while pointing them in a wrong direction. The same sort of thing happens everywhere. On the other hand, unbelief takes over masses, but all this brings a truer, more real and more genuine Christianity, because that is what happens now.
I think a lot of France, but in general the news is good, God be blessed.
I do not know anything new about the West. Unbelief rises up boldly there, and the lack of Bible learning in the clergy is felt more and more, but the desire to be clear about the content of the Scriptures increases, and true Christians begin to be ashamed of the things that are done in the church. But Christ is all for us. Soon nothing will have value except what we will have for Him. All the rest passes and is only vanity. It is sad to see men occupied with what is going to perish.
… I can hardly give you as much news of this country as you give me from France. It is very doubtful that I will visit France now, although my heart is as attached as in the past by the work which is done, and to the brethren there, if not more so, as the Saviour becomes more precious to me. Nevertheless visits to closer lands can be made, when those that are counted by thousands of kilometres begin to become inconvenient in old age. I am even thinking of making a trip to New Zealand, which will keep me another year on this side of the Atlantic…
I may add that the needs multiply here. The Word is weighed much more than before, and the brethren have the reputation for knowing better than others. One is occupied with them sometimes in a hostile and aggressive way it goes without saying, but one is occupied with it everywhere. May God make them faithful, that is what I ask Him now; if they are not more devoted, more separate from the world, they will be a false testimony for God. May they be kept.
Salute the brethren affectionately
Yours affectionately in Jesus
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
I am happy that you have come to the United States.
The work of the brethren in English begins to take on some consistency so as to warn the world to be on its guard. But the French brethren need labourers. M works peacefully and usefully; L is occupied with the English. At Grand River (Detroit), things are good; I have received news about that through X, whose son has been converted.
Here the Lord is working in a cheering way, so that I have had to remain longer than I thought. In New York, the work makes progress and there is need of a labourer. I have profited from the presence of brother X to get as far as here, more than 900 miles, but God willing I will soon be in New York. I think of crossing the ocean as soon as it is good weather. They ask for me in the West, but I seriously doubt whether I am able to go there; it would be for the month of June. If the work relents in New York, it is possible that I will make this visit, but in this case I will not be in Europe until the month of July.
I have been happy to have good news of dear France; this has rejoiced my heart.
Times become sober; unbelief spreads and hinders souls, but God, His word, warns us of it. We will have combat for the faith once delivered to the saints[6], but modern unbelief seems superficial and hollow, somewhat pretentious as it may be.
I will write to you if my voyage is delayed.
Peace be with you
Yours affectionately in Jesus
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
It does not go badly at X. God has raised up several workmen; there were some already but the wine business had done a lot of harm in this country. When I was there, although visits by brethren had been a bit revived, there was a lot of languor, even where at one time a lot of life was found. This weakness had left the door open to the entry of other Christians in the path of the work, and one could not reproach them. I thought that you could perhaps visit them.
… We have had good meetings; the Lord, in His great grace, is with me; several workmen are raised up; but there is now a mass of people who leave the systems without having well considered principles. This complicates the work a bit, but the brethren in general do not walk badly, and the work is fulfilled.
P has gone to Egypt, and R has left him and walks with the brethren; he has gone back to America.
At this time, I am making fuller acquaintance with the brethren from the north of England. We had a conference of workers during three days here, and I leave, God tomorrow willing, for Scotland. It is possible, God knows, that I will still go to America. The steam boats make regular trips between San Francisco and New Zealand.
I have good news of Switzerland. N devotes himself to the work in England, and in France we really need workers. Let us ask the Lord of the harvest. For my part, I find that everywhere where a testimony of Christ is rendered, simple and according to the fullness of grace, the attentive listeners are not lacking.
Salute the brethren affectionately… Peace be to you, dear brother, and may God direct you in your labours.
Your affectionate brother
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
… He was, and I have said this to him, entirely under the influence of this guilty inclination, fallen in heart, if not in body. And when one is thus, in a state of folly and bondage: one deceives oneself, one knows it, and one deceives oneself still. And nothing astonishes me about what has created this state. Look at the beginning of the book of Proverbs; see the epistle to the Corinthians, and how the apostle goes over this point. I do not say that our brother’s soul will not be restored, but I do not know if he has recognised all his prevarication, and how he seeks to avoid the accusations, while doing evil; but once in a fault, with the reputation of Christian and minister, one is guilty of all. This is not hypocrisy, it is the deceitfulness of the flesh. It is a state of soul in those who judge and I do not believe can be the fruit of the Spirit of the Lord. To judge the act, the evil, the loss of truthfulness, everything natural is in the state where this poor friend was, is all very well. But to judge evil as severely as it deserves, is something else than to say that the one who does evil is hypocritical. I fear that he is not bottomed as he must. But there is little spiritual power to restore among the brethren. For there has been among them a very strong reaction following the great confidence they had in him. They feel wounded in their affection, their confidence betrayed. In this I sympathise with them, but their spiritual judgment will have had to rise above the inward wounds of heart. I understand them; but personal regret, however just it may be, does not suit a judge, and in this case they are in the position of judges. However, it is time that the same things are severely smitten … What heartbreak, what a humiliation, what a disgrace it is to the Lord! I am surprised at His goodness, I may say, in not judging, because if God does not keep us, we are all capable of doing this too; but it gives us to think much of the danger in which the Lord’s workmen are, and particularly when, by having superior light, they are put forward. My consolation is that the Lord manifests His government here: it is a sorrowful way to learn but the thing that one learns is very precious.
Pinkerton[2] has found much encouragement; he is now in Syria; he has imported with him a press to print tracts in Arabic; a local person is able to work with him. I have blessed God indeed. In Haifa also, he has found opened doors, this will also tend to enlarge the brethren’s horizon, although it is in a certain sense still within the kingdom.
Everywhere here where Christ is fully announced one finds a numerous and attentive audience, souls everywhere are famished. The Nationalists[3] have been compelled to begin a kind of mission in the churches, which has equally attracted a lot of the world. The floods of evil rise, but evidently God works; the Lord is waited for more. There must be much to encourage in the work here, for one can only suffer here; but He who does all will do His work …
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
If I revealed all the things that I know, I would have a lot to say; and do you know that the best means of keeping a secret is not to let it be seen that you have one? To act thus, the world deceives and speaks in a misleading way – not the Christian, because if he is content only to say what God wants him to say, he has only to be silent and if he is accustomed to acting thus, the thing becomes entirely simple …
Dear C has been taken. She left this world a very short time ago. Her husband was absent; he found her dead on his return. She died in peace; she had said, ‘I know that I am going to die, but I am peaceful: I do not say more’. There is the end of small proportions, but for some one of great proportions to this poor world.
God was revealed to her soul, then God has taken her; now she is in heaven. How histories are told in few words which on a small stage have indeed filled hearts with anxiety! If one passes through this world with God, one confides in Him, while suffering for the present things more than others suffer them. One passes through without disturbance because God is there; one is not even disturbed by anything; a soul more in heaven led by the faithful Shepherd, there is the true fact. Some souls are afflicted, this is natural in this world, as when a stone falls into the water: a little noise, some circles that spread out, then disappear. The water goes on as usual, flowing with the noise of its own. No sign of the stone remains, but there is a soul gathered to the Lord and who will no more go out of His presence! What an immense joy, what profound blessing! May the Name of the Lord be blessed. One has told me that her brother is much afflicted, that is understandable; her poor husband also surely needs our sympathies.
I will tell you, dear brother, that we are going to have, with God’s help, a study into the Word in Nîmes, for ten or twelve young brothers who have consecrated themselves more or less absolutely to the work, principally in the Ardèche, but also elsewhere.
I am in the north of Italy. I know enough of the language to explain the word of God, but I do not pretend to preach. In some weeks, I leave, God willing, for France. God has rather revived the brethren in Switzerland, and I believe that He does so in France too.
It is possible that I will come to America next summer. God knows.
I can no longer do journeys on foot, otherwise I work as usual, and I am better away from London than in this great city, but in his seventy-second year, one cannot think of doing what I did when younger.
Yours affectionately
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
Si je révélais toutes les choses que je sais, j’aurais beaucoup à dire ; et savez-vous que le meilleur moyen de ne pas trahir un secret, est de ne pas laisser voir qu’on en connaît un ? Pour agir ainsi, le monde trompe et parle d’une manière détournée, – non pas le chrétien, parce que s’il est content de ne dire que ce que Dieu veut qu’il dise, il n’a qu’à se taire, et s’il est habitué à agir ainsi, la chose devient toute simple…
Cette chère C. est délogée. Elle a quitté ce monde il y a très peu de temps. Son mari était absent ; il l’a trouvée morte à son retour. Elle est morte en paix ; elle a dit : “Je sais que je vais mourir, mais je suis tranquille : je n’en dis pas davantage.” Voilà la fin d’une minime partie, mais pour quelques-uns d’une grande partie de ce pauvre monde.
Dieu s’est révélé à son âme, puis Dieu l’a prise ; maintenant elle est dans le ciel. Que d’histoires se racontent ainsi en peu de mots, qui, sur une petite scène, ont rempli d’anxiété bien des cœurs ! Si l’on traverse ce monde avec Dieu, on se confie en lui, et tout en souffrant pour les choses réelles plus que d’autres n’en souffrent, on le traverse sans inquiétude, parce que Dieu est là ; on ne s’inquiète même de rien ; une âme de plus dans le ciel amenée par le fidèle Berger, voilà le vrai fait. Quelques âmes affligées, cela est naturel dans ce monde, comme lorsqu’une pierre tombe dans l’eau : un peu de bruit, quelques cercles qui s’élargissent, puis s’effacent, et l’eau continue, comme par le passé, à couler avec le bruit qui lui est propre. Nul signe de la pierre ne reste, mais il y a une âme recueillie auprès du Seigneur et qui ne sortira plus de sa présence ! Quelle immense joie, quelle profonde bénédiction ! Que le nom du Seigneur en soit béni. On me dit que son frère est bien affligé, cela se comprend ; son pauvre mari aussi a bien droit à nos sympathies.
Je vous dirai, cher frère, que nous allons avoir, Dieu aidant, une étude de la Parole à Nîmes, pour dix ou douze jeunes frères qui se consacrent plus ou moins absolument à l’œuvre, principalement de l’Ardèche, mais d’ailleurs aussi.
Je suis au nord de l’Italie. Je sais assez la langue pour expliquer la parole de Dieu, mais je ne prétends pas prêcher. Dans quelques semaines, je pars, Dieu voulant, pour la France. Dieu a passablement ranimé les frères en Suisse, et je crois qu’il le fait en France aussi.
Il se peut que je me rende en Amérique l’été prochain. Dieu le sait.
Je ne puis plus faire de courses à pied, autrement je travaille comme de coutume, et je suis mieux hors de Londres que dans cette grande ville, mais dans sa 72ème année, on ne peut penser à faire ce qu’on faisait plus jeune.
J’ai été heureux d’avoir de vos nouvelles ainsi que des frères, et tout premièrement de nos chers frères de France. Dieu les a gardés ; il est toujours fidèle.
Vous aurez su comme tout le monde qu’il y a eu un second siège de Paris, les Communistes s’étant emparés de la ville. Des maux plus sérieux que dans le premier siège en sont résultés ; des batailles, des assauts livrés, puis pour empêcher le progrès des troupes, on a mis le feu à la ville en bien des endroits, et incendié des monuments publics. Vous en savez probablement plus que moi, car je ne lis pas les journaux ; cela me distrait, et le monde va son train, que je les lise ou que je ne les lise pas.
Les frères de Paris ont continué leurs réunions et ont été heureux, malgré les difficultés du temps. On a envoyé des fonds d’Angleterre, de Hollande, de Suisse, et on est venu en aide, au fur et à mesure de leurs besoins, aux ouvriers qui s’étaient endettés, ayant manqué de travail.
La Suisse va assez bien. Des frères anglais y sont actifs, et il y a eu un renouvellement de vie.
En Angleterre, en Ecosse, en Irlande et en Allemagne, dans le Canada aussi, l’œuvre du Seigneur fait toujours des progrès, mais le mal aussi, et d’une manière encore plus évidente. Pour ma part, cher frère, Christ est toujours davantage le tout de mon âme. Je vieillis, mon salut est plus près que lorsque j’ai cru. Toutefois, je travaille toujours, mais le travail me fatigue davantage ; ce n’est pas étonnant à 70 ans passés.
J’ai médité Matthieu à Londres, et j’ai excessivement joui de la présentation de Jésus, Jéhovah le Sauveur, homme dans ce monde, manifesté en chair, mais le modèle de notre position, le vainqueur dans notre combat, tout en étant Dieu en grâce, au milieu de nous.
Nous imprimons la seconde édition du Nouveau Testament français, avec les corrections et notes nouvellement ajoutées de la seconde édition anglaise, la troisième édition allemande, avec les mêmes corrections, ainsi que l’Ancien Testament que j’avais traduit la dernière fois que j’étais en Allemagne, ce qui, avec le travail ordinaire de l’œuvre, ne m’a pas laissé oisif. J’ai dû consulter plusieurs nouveaux manuscrits et m’occuper d’autres travaux critiques qui ne nourrissent guère…
I have been happy to have your news thus about the brethren, and first of all of our dear brethren in France. God has kept them; He is always faithful.
You will have known as everybody that there has been a second siege of Paris, the Communists being in charge of the city. More serious evils than in the first siege have resulted; battles, assaults delivered, then to hinder the progress of the troops, the city has been set on fire and also its surroundings, and public monuments burned. You probably know more than me, for I do not read the newspapers; this distracts me, and the world goes on its way whether I read them or do not read them.
The brethren in Paris have continued their meetings and have been happy in spite of the difficulties of the times. Funds have been sent from England, Holland, Switzerland, and help has come to them, according to and in the measure of their needs, to the workers who were in debt, having lost work.
Switzerland goes on well. The English brethren are active there and there has been a revival of life.
In England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany, also in Canada, the work of the Lord ever makes progress, but evil does too, and in a yet more evident way. For my part, dear brother, Christ is ever more the all of my soul. I grow old, my salvation is nearer than when I believed. However, I still work, but the work tires me more. This is not surprising at past seventy years old.
I have meditated on Matthew in London, and I have exceedingly enjoyed the presentation of Jesus, Jehovah the Saviour, Man in this world, manifest in flesh, but the model of our position, the conqueror in our conflict, all in being God in grace in our midst.
We are printing the second edition of the French New Testament, with the corrections and our newly added notes from the second English edition, the third German edition, with the same corrections, besides the Old Testament that I have translated the last time I was in Germany, which, with the ordinary labour of the work, has not left me idle. I have had to consult several new manuscripts and been occupied with other critical work which does not give any nourishment ……
Salute all the brethren affectionately
Your well beloved in our precious Saviour
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
It is really problematic for me to go to America again. It is surely not that the desire is lacking, for I will always like coming very much, above all to see one or two places; but entirely being able for a lot of work. I have passed the term assigned to human life and I am no longer as able to bear the tiredness and effort, as when I scurried on foot over the mountains of La Lozère and Gard . But in the end I am for God, a God of all grace, happy to belong to Him, infinitely happy, and desiring only to do his will up to the end, for it is the only good thing. What are we, unless servants, in this world? Soon the illusions will pass, there is only faith that is true and will abide.
I hold nine meetings a week, where I take part, and I work in my head; I still visit as always, but I do not know if a journey as far as California would be in God’s ways. I have already been asked, but at first sight, such a mission seems demanding, to supply it with the bodily strength which a man past 70 years old can hardly have, claimed as I am by other work. I am also asked for in Italy.
For the moment, the griefs of our dear French brethren appear to be coming to an end . We have done what we can to comfort them. Those in Paris have suffered a shortage of supplies, but not otherwise. Help amounting to about 40,000 francs has been sent to the area of Sedan where the distress was great, and more than 4,000 francs for the urgent needs of those who have been in the war theatre. Holland and Switzerland have taken their part in this liberality. The German brethren have done what they could to greet the prisoner brethren when they have been able to find them. Two of these last work quietly among them and earn their living: for a third, they arrived two hours too late, he had just been sent with 2,000 other prisoners to Holstein. They stood surety for these brothers to the government. Finally, there was a testimony rendered (however weak it may be), that grace and Christianity are above the miseries of this poor world. L F has visited them, and has received good letters from some among them who had been sent to Bavaria. In the Ardèche, where the brethren have little or no suffering, this has nevertheless made them sober, it has been the same with people of the world; and the meetings have been more frequent. In the Drôme, some were drawn away by their companions in the standing or mobile guard. In the country of Montbéliard, they are full of recognition towards God who has kept them. They suffered, their stock was taken, and workers, it seems, lacked work everywhere during the campaign. We send them assistance, either from here, or from Switzerland. I see this evening from the placards that the peace treaty is already signed. Things now move quickly, but the hand of God all the more is seen. I hope that under certain conditions, it will have been good for the brethren, because the massacre and ruin were frightful. Then supplies have been missed in the north of France, because what they had sown was frozen. They sow now. A tremendous amount of wheat and supplies are sent from England, but it is a nothing for a so big country. The South of France has not suffered; or in the west either, save from the inclemency of the season, and from the shortage of grain for the sowing season. But peace prevailing, things will get better in a short time. God ever good is above it all. I feared for the German brethren, that these events would go to their heads, but it appears that they were very sober and that they have turned more to the Lord.
On the other hand, I feared for the French brethren, that these things would embitter them and that they would think more of France than of the Lord. I hope however that they will turn to their good. We have prayed constantly for them. You know well what happens even at the confederation of the nations of the west? In my spirit, these events point to the return of the Lord rather than to the earth. I saw all that outright, as one might say; now that things begin to develop, events detach from one another, only it seems to me that it will require time. But who can say? It does not touch our waiting at all. There are no events between us and heaven. May our hearts be there! …
All in all, I do not think that this blight of war has done a lot of harm spiritually to the brethren. In la Drôme, there was not enough life already. I leave the question of carrying weapons on both sides; it flustered many brothers, and I understand it. What a terror! to say nothing about the principle, to see brethren killing each other. Besides, I do not think that a single brother has been killed on one side or the other. The son of a German brother has been; one hoped that he was sober. One has written too of France: X if I am not deceived has encouraged the brethren to bear arms. B must be, or has been judged for refusing to be there. God makes all things work together for good to those that love Him. What a compassionate God is our God!
Peace be to you, dear brother. Greet all brethren affectionately. Here, the brethren do well, and work extends persistently, but outwardly everything is breaking down. In Germany, the work also extends.
Yours ever affectionately
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013 Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
