The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1912-05-23

1-12
GOLDEN TEhT-"Putting away false
hood. speak ye truth each man with his
neighbor; for we are members one of
another"-Eph. 4:25.
In this lesson Jesus makes a still
further application, or rather gives us
another illustration of the righteous
ness of his new kingdom, which must
be greater than that taught by the
Pharisees. We have studied the sa.
cred relations of the righteous life,
now we are to consider the matter OF
truth. We have first paragraph from
Jesus, then an ethical teaching and ap-
plication from the writings of James
the apostle.
Under the old law men swore by
heaven which is Gods throne, by the
earth which is his footstool, by Jeru-
salem which was his peculiar chosen
city. They swore by the head and
yet they could not change one hair
white or black. Jesus contrasts all
OF this with his new kingdom in
which absolute simple veracity in our
speech is all that is to be required.
men live in these new relations, with
this new consciousness OF God they
will speak the truth naturally and OF
necessity. To such there will be no
need for any form OF speech or oath,
for the simplest, plainest speech will
be the only necessary and the alto
gether satisfactory medium OF giving
and of creating assurance. How about
oaths in court? Jesus is speaking to
the members of his new kingdom. Be
tween them yea and nay is sufficient,
but as between them and others we
must adjust ourselves and therefore
we do not read into this any admoni-
tion not to take an oath in court.
Should Be Swift to Hear.
BE not many teachers" We now
turn to paragraph from the Epistle
of James which has it's peculiar value
and interest as showing the difficulty
of mastering the tongue. In the
church of Christ there must of neces-
sity be a great many more disciples
(learners) than teachers. Every man
should be swift to hear, but the posi-
burden OF responsibility that no one
should audaciously assume 1t, see
Eph. All, ETC. With this responsible
ity is also a correspondingly heavier
judgment II we stumble. lie that
stumbles not in teaching, in the use
OF his tongue, is indeed perfect man
and one that is able to bride the
whole body; to guide the ship of life,
of state, and OF the church, amidst
the fiercest storms.
The tongue is a fire" 1t is in
deed for 1t infiames with anger the
whole body, the family, society and
the nation. History is ablaze with the
conflagrations that are a consequence
OF untimely words and OF unbridled
tongues. Prov. 1871, etc. The tongue
giving utterance to the thoughts OF the
heart (for out of the abundance OF the
heart 1t speaks), will intlame lust
wither purity and consume strength
1t fires jealousy and burns the sweet
bonds OF friendship. 1t will sever the
ties of home, burn away the founda
tions of character, OF commercial in
tegrity, social purity and destroy the
bonds of civic righteousness. 1t is
i7ieed "a world of iniquity among our
L.a 1srs." Let us quote from Dr. X
l. Orryy: The fires OF hell are
l'rl'-d BY idle words that set men
{. Akng wrong about God and sin and
C1'.at a.l the Bible. Men usually
~ ~ handling fire are careless
-.l the tcrGue. Whence come the
" rs that Ilname the imagination
g the passions? Whence come the
as that undermine faith and the
c'glitility OF the Bible? II any man
ion James words that the tongue
10 man tame he has evidently
over tried 1t himself" This does not
meon, however, that the tongue can
not be tamed, for what is impossible
vih man is possible with God, James
draws a frightful picture OF the un
tanned tongue and OF its evil conse
quences.
Profane Men Classified.
"These things ought not to be-
No more can a fountain yield fresh
and salt water at one and the same
time, or a fig tree yield olives, than
for Christian to bless God and with
the same tongue curse his fellow men
Not only is 1t unkind but 1t Is un
Christlike. Sarcasm means literally
"to tear flesh like dogs" the chari
oteers whip tore the flesh, so we use
the tongue as a lash, biting the sensi
tive spirits OF men; verify these things
fought not to be-" Phillips Brooks
said, Tell me the words a man uses
and reproduce his tone Of voice and
I'll tell what sort of man he is"
II is literal fact that the truthful
man Is he who usually exemplities all
other virtues and we cannot en-
phasize too strongly that no gentle
man swears. Profane men are OF
three classes those who are thought
less, those who are ignorant OF Ian
guage and have a paucity OF express