p. 19 | SPEAK NOT EVIL by Adolphus Smith

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1867

SPEAK NOT EVIL.

By Adolphus Smith

“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.” James iv, 11.

As a people, we profess to be keepers of the law; repairers of the breach. Who then has made us judges of the law? Ought we not to commit all judgment into the hands of God? “But the tongue,” says the apostle, “can no man tame.” How then can it be subdued? Only by the grace of God. And in whomsoever this grace dwells, it will exert a subduing influence over the heart. It may not speedily eradicate every evil, but it will give such a bent or direction to the passions, as that even the world will confess it to be a tendency to reform. It stirs up the dirt, (as it were,) from the bottom of the pool, and then, like the current, carries it all away, until the pool is cleansed from brim to brim. Why should we judge another? “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” “Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.”

“Judge not! though clouds of seeming guilt may dim thy brother’s fame, For fate may throw suspicion’s shade upon the brightest name; Thou canst not tell what hidden chain of circumstances may Have wrought the sad result that takes an honest name away. Judge not!”

“Judge not! thou canst not tell how soon the look of bitter scorn May rest on thee, though pure thy heart as dew drops in the morn. Thou dost not know what freak of fate may place upon thy brow A cloud of shame, to kill the joy that rests upon it now. Judge not!”

“Judge not! for one unjust reproach an honest heart can feel As keenly as the deadly stab, made by the pointed steel. The worm will kill the sturdy oak, though slowly it may die, As surely as the lightning stroke, swift rushing from the sky. Judge not!”

“Judge not! but rather in thy heart let gentle pity dwell: Man’s judgment errs, but there is One who doeth all things well. Ever throughout the voyage of life this precept keep in view; ‘Do unto others as thou wouldst that they should do to you.’ Judge not!”

If we stand ready to catch at every unguarded word that may be spoken, we shall find occasion for evil speaking until our tongues are hushed in death. We may walk safely through a wood, or bruise our heads against every tree and stump, as we feel disposed. So also we may bear with each other and get through the world peacefully, or we may take umbrage at all that is said, and live and die, hating and hated. Recrimination is usually paid in the same coin; but Jesus, “when he was reviled, reviled not again.” “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us.”

Would you, dear brother or sister, live by the faith of Jesus? So live that your neighbors, and especially those of the household of faith, may love you, confide in you, and unbosom to you their cares, knowing that in your keeping their heart’s jewels are safe evermore.

“It is well never to say or do anything that we should be ashamed to repeat before the most delicate female, or the most religious man.”

Never say of another in his absence, what you would be ashamed to say in his presence.

“It must needs be that offences come, but woe unto that man by whom the offence cometh.”

“If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell it between thee and him alone.”

“If thou bringest thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go first, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

“If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”

Speak evil of thy brother? “Ought ye not rather to suffer yourselves to be defrauded.”

ADOLPHUS SMITH.

Ottawa Co., Mich.