The Tupelo journal., 1912-05-24

&0t0er S~aLIbIACIOEy mculuIU VI 9AVAuo
and of creating assurance. How about
oaths in court? Jesus Ia speaking to
the members Of his new kingdom. Be-
tween them yea and nay Is suficient.
but as between them and others we
must adjust ourselves and therefore
we do not read into this any admont
ton not to take an oath in court.
Should Be Swift to Hear.
BE not many teachers" We now
turn to a paragraph from the Epistle
Of James which has it's peculiar value
and interest as showing the dificulty
OF mastering the tongue. In the
church Of Christ there must OF neces.
sity be a great many more disciples
Qearners) than teachers. Every man
should be swift to hear, but the posi-.
ton of teacher carries with it such
a burden of responsibility that no one
should audaciously assume 1t, see
Eph. ALL, etc. With this responsible
ity is also a correspondingly heavier
Judgment il we stumble. he that
stumbles not in teaching, in the use
of his tongue, is indeed a 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.
1.-The tongue is a fire." 1t is in
deed for it infiames with anger the
whole body, the family, society and
the nation. History is ablaze with the
CONGREGATIONS that are a consequence
of untimely words and Of unSrldied
tongues, Prov. 1871, etc. The tongue
giving utterance to the thoughts OF the
heart flor out OF the abundance OF the
heart 1t speaks), will infiame 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-
lions Of character, OF commercial IN
tegrity, social purity and destroy the
bonds of civic righteousness. 1t is
ind eed "a world OF iniquity among our
members" Let us quote from DR.. H.
A. Torrey: The fires Of hell are
kindled by idle words that set men
thinking wrong about God and sin and
Christ and the Bible. Men usually
careful in handling fire are careless
about the tongue. Whence come tho
words that fnf1ame the Imagination
and the passions? Whence come the
words that undermine faith and the
credibility Of the Bible? II any man
question James words that the tongue
can no man tame he has evidently
never tried 1t himself" This does not
mean, however, that the. tongue can
not be tanned, for what is impossible
with nan is possible with God. James
draws a frightful picture OF the I'M
tanned tongue and Of it's 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, thar
for a Christian to bless God and WITH
the same tongue curse his fellow men
Not only is it unkind but it Is I'M
Christlike. Sarcasm means literally
ito tear flesh like dogs" the chari
oteer's whip tor 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 L."
It is q literal fact that the truthful
man Is he who usually exemplifes 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
sions at their command, and those
who use profanity to emphasize a lie,
and generally the greater the lie the
more and stronger the oaths. We must
not forget, however, that by our 81
fence we may bear false witness and
that q positive obligation rests upon
us to speak words of praise.