The Parker post., 1914-01-17
BY DIVINE COMMAND
All Must Seek the Truth, But
Stern Prohibition Is
"SeII It N0tw

important u puICudSS 10 u uIA' oAS
it is the one above all others that
should never be sold 1t should be
obtained, however much we are called
upon to pay for it, and never bartered
away at any price that may be OF.
fered
1t is a significant fact that the
truth cannot be bought from those
who have it for sale. The mercenary
preacher, teacher or public speaker
who suppresses the truth by utterlng
smooth things to please men, are
selling the truth for the supposed
gain of popularity, but we do not OBJ
tain the truth from them
There is a mart of truth. God is
truths and from him alone in the rev
elations he has made is this greatest
of ell commodities to be secured. In a
very important sense, we have to buy
the truth.
There is no such thing as getting
something for nothing. If we do not
pay for the thing ourselves, others
have paid for US. We may inherit
that for which we did not labor, but
others have labored fo~ it. Every
thing of great v1Ae is bought at
great price, and there is nothing OF
greater value than truth.
No Price Too High to Pay.
We must buy it; that is, we must
be willing to give up, anything OF
everything else for it. 1t is cheap at
any price. Whatever it costs there is
never occasion to repent or be sorry
of the bargain. No specific price Is
fixed for tit can never be too dear
Money alone will not buy it, but
money expended for education and
the gaining of knowledge is means
by which truth is bought. All the
pains and labors endured in searching
after truth; all losses suffered in tenn
poral interests by refusal to deny OF
neglect the truth, are payments in
purchase of the truth. 1t is a pearl OF
such great price that every one should
be willing to sell all that he has in
order to buy it. And having obtained
it, he must not sell it.
The divine prohibition is, Sell it
not"
The human prohibitory laws are di.
rected against the sale of things that
are injurious and harmful And all
such things should neither be sold nor
bought. In the divine law sale is for
hidden of the commodity that Is the
most beneficial and helpful
All should buy and none should
SELL 1t is a possession of such tran,
scendent value that the owner should
never part with it. 1t may be i'm
parted and yet still retained It is
kept if it is given away. To teach
knowledge to others does not lessen
but increases our own knowledge
To sell the truth is to part with 1t
entirely without getting value re.
ceived.
There are many who sell the truth
for the honors, riches and pleasures
of the world. They make a bad bar.
gain. The wealth of honor fades, the
riches take wings and fly away and
the pleasures lose their exhilaration
and charm.
Truth is eternal, and 1t has no
equivalent or substitute for which il
can be bartered Everything is value.
less when contrasted with truth. Life
itself is not an equivalent for it. A
seeming paradox is that truth may
be bought, and yet there is no equiva.
lent for which 1t may be sold
BUY the truth and sell it not"
Truth is bought with the currency
of heaven, and it has no sale in that
realm. If sold at all it must be paid
for in the currency of earth. The
combined wealth of the world is not
equal in value to truth, therefore sell
it not"
Prohibition Ever in Force.
The prohibition against it's sale has
been in force from the beginning.
Our first parents sold the truth for
a taste of forbidden fruit, and Their
sad bargain entailed upon themselves
and their posterity the appalling loss
of Eden and all the peace, comfort
and hope that possession meant tc
them and to the human race.
The prohibition against the sale of
truth has ever remained in force
1t is an unrepealable statute of the
divine law
Cain sold the truth for the fruits
of revenge. For his parting with the
great truth of brotherhood he received
in exchange the curse of the fugitive
and the vagabond and henceforth bore
upon his brow an ineffacable mark OF
infamy.
Judas sold the truth for thirty pieces
of silver; Ananias and Sapphira sold
it for part of their possessions, and
their names have ever been a by
word and reproach among men. The
most awful and appalling conse
quences have ever attended the sale
of the truth. Therefore, "sell it not. >
1t can never be disposed OF or part
ed with for any price or any purpose
without entailing disaster and loss
There is nothing of permanent value
to receive in exchange for it. "It ia
more precious than silver or gold. ano
all the things thou canst desire are
not to be compared unto it,"