The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1915-10-15
BY DIVINE COMMAND.
All Must Seek the Truth, But
Stern Prohibition 10
"SeII II Notl"

should never be sold II should be
obtained, however much we are called
upon to pay for 1t. and never bartered
away at any price that may be Of
| fered.
1t is q significant fact that the
truth cannot be bought from those
who have 1t for sale. The mercenary
preacher, teacher or public speaker
, who suppresses the truth by uttering
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.
Citations he has made is this greatest
Of all 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. II 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 for 1t. Every
thing Of great value is bought at a
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 or
everything else for 1t. It Is cheap at
any price. Whatever 1t 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 1t, but
money expended for education and
the gaining of knowledge is a means
by which truth is bought All the
pains and labors endured in searching
after truth; all losses suffered in TEN
poral interests by refusal to deny or
neglect the truth, are payments in
purchase of the truth. 1t Is pearl OF
such great price that every one should
DO willing to sell all that he has in
order to buy 1t. And having obtained
1t, he must not sell It.
The divine prohibition IL, Sell 1t
not"
The human prohibitory laws are d.
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 II is
kept II 1t is given away. To teach
knowledge to others does not lessen
but increases our own knowledge.
To sell the truth is to part with It
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 battered. 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. ''fo
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
1t not"
Prohibition Ever In Force.
The prohibition against its 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 to
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 by.
word and reproach among men. The
most awful and appalling conse-
quences have ever attended the sale
Of the truth. Therefore, "sell 1t not.n
1t can never be disposed OF or part
ed with for any price or any purpose
without entailing disaster and losa
There is nothing of permanent value
70 receive In exchange for It, TT Is
more precious than silver or gold, ana
Ill the things thou canst desire are
1ot to be compared unto It."
Let not any consideration, any now
sr. any influence. stand In the way of
rSta4r. pofnfuo fha kw.,tt. ~ |