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VOL ONE THUE E
’HUJI9EH THIRTY-EIGHT
A Great Surprise Tor Our “Readers!
The unexpected has happened—We will tell you all about it next week^'- b
Wait and smile with us! ' -■’• i -'
Lying In Its Varying Tor ms and Shades —Some of the Re suits
Tabernacle Sermon by Reb. Len G. flroughton, D. T).
Steuographically reported for The Golden Age. —Copyright applied for
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor.’ ’ —Exodus 20:16.
N studying this commandment we want,
first, to look at the sanctity of language.
The word of God has much to say about
the fulfilling of its sacred function.
“The Lord hateth a lying tongue”
(Prov. 6:16, 17).
“The mouth of the wicked poureth
out evil things” (Prov. 15:28).
“A fool uttereth all his mind” (Prov.
I
29:11).
“Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked’’
(Prov. 10:6).
“I will keep my mouth with a bridle” (Ps. 39:1).
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of
your mouth” (Eph. 4:29).
“If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart,
this man’s religion is vain” (Jas. 1:26).
Christian people cannot be too careful with their
tongues. When turned loose it is indeed ‘ 1 a tire,
a world of iniquity.”
Our commandment prohibits telling falsehoods.
Let us look at it.
STRAIGHT-OUT LYING.
It does not seem necessary to discuss this, and yet
there is much of it today.
First. Lying to make a trade. Many so-called
good people do not hesitate to lie in a business tran
saction. Some time ago a blind man went into a
store to buy a linen duster, and was sold a night
shirt just because he could not see. The poor fellow
knew no better until he tried to put it on in the car.
There are plenty of. merchants who are good
church members, who do not hesitate to make a
false impression about the quality and price of
goods. They will declare that “prices have gone
up,” when they have not. “It cost me so and so,”
when it did not.
Look at the horse trader. How many lies are
told to swap or sell a horse, hell itself can only re
veal.
ATLANTA, GA., NOVEMBER 5, 1908.
Second. Lying for revenge. How many people
control their tongue perfectly until they get angry!
I know a young lady who tried to prevent a mar
riage because she had been jilted by the same young
man. What a tale she told! But not a word of it
was true. She was simply angry because she did
not get him-—that was all. And yet if she had been
stamped “a liar” she would have gotten as mad as
a hornet, and her brothers would have fought every
body in town who said it.
Third. Lying to defeat justice. It takes a good
man to keep from twisting the truth when it comes
to his interest. I know a man who is worth from
fifty to one hundred thousand dollars, and yet he
pays taxes only on a watch and a pistol. He would
fight if you called him a liar, and yet that is what
he is, and a thief besides.
How many witnesses in the court room twist their
story, or falsify outright, when their interest is in
volved! It is said that is why lawyers were invent
ed —to get at the truth. Alas, what a means! lam
persuaded that the average lawyer is paid to pre
vent the truth. It will be a bad day when the truth
depends upon the average lawyer.
JUST TO BE LYING.
Fourth. Lying without a cause. This is the
worst lot after all. So many people lie just for the
fun of it, or from habit. They have no special in
terest at stake, nor do, they want to hurt anybody,
they just seem to be constitutional liars. They know
it, and do not feel ashamed of it. Such people are
to be shunned. They are dangerous to any commu
nity. Shun them like you would a poisonous ser
pent.
Fifth. While lies. They are people who have a
way of telling what they call “dinkies.” They do
not think this any harm. My mother punished me
once for calling a boy a liar. She said I ought to
have said, “a dinky.” It might have been better
manners, but a lie is a lie just the same.
Society has a decent way of telling falsehoods. A
good woman does not hesitate to send word to a
caller by the house girl, “Not in today.” Then hear
that good woman, when she meets her caller a few
days later, “Oh, I am so sorry I was not in when
you called!” There never was a bigger falsehood
told by a crossroads horse trader than that. Then
she continues, “Oh, I am so glad to see you! I have
been thinking you never would call again.” Now,
think of it, it has not been a day since she said, “I
do hope Mrs. Smith will never call again. I just
cannot stand her in my sight.” I tell you, this
may be tolerated by society, but it is contrary to
God’s word. And further, such a course will make
lying servants and what is worse, lying children.
They see it in the parent, and hence practice it them
selves. Friends, too much pains cannot be taken
along this line.
OVERDRAWING THE PICTURE.
(Sixth. Exaggeration. This is a very common
form of falsehood: A tinge of truth colored by exag
geration so that the truth cannot be recognized. Too
many of us are like the boy who ran home out of
breath, and said, “Papa, I saw four hundred wild
turkeys in the woods.” “Oh, no,” said his father,
“not four hundred!” Then said the boy, “Well,
papa, I know there were ten.”
This kind of trouble is often the.result of not
thinking. Once, when I lived in Roanoke, Va., a
man came rushing up to me saying, “Front Royal
has burned down.” I thought it was true, and re
peated it a number of times. Much excitement was
caused by the report. But soon it was found to be
a mistake. I hunted up my informant, and learned
that he got his information from the headlines of
a newspaper. A man had had a dream, and it had
been written up with sensational headlines. My in
formant was so excited by the headlines that he
never read the story. Rest assured he was mad
when he found out how he had made his mistake.
We should all be careful about exaggerations. They
are dangerous, and the habit is a bad one.
HELLISH INSINUATIONS.
Seventh. Insinuations. This is a very dangerous
class. They are tattlers. “Do you know Mrs.
Jones, the lady who has joined our ‘Workers’ So-
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.
lIVE CENTS A COTY.
