The daily times., 1921-10-17
DIR. LOVE DELIVERED
INTERESTING SERMON.


First Methodist church yesterday
morning from the following textl
Thou shalt not take the name orthe
Lord Thy God in Vain; For the LORD
will not hold him guiltless that
taketh His name in vain.
Our text involves three vital facts
in personal and social life. These are
expressed in perjury. profanity ana
reverence We think Of perjury as re-
lated to the third commandment be
cause of the association OF the name
of God with it and not as related to
the ninth commandment which deals
with the sin of false witnessing IN the
simple social sense Briefly we bring
these to your consideration at TINS
time with the hope that we will go
from here with a higher regard for
these things in the life of today.
The value of the courts of justice is
fundamental in our social lie. Ihe
key to their value depends upon the
sacredness of the oath of the witness.
He who plays fast and loose with
this is the enemy of man and traitor
to our government. This was so vital
that in the organiza ton of our courts
men were asked to invoke the name
of God in their witnessing. So the
oath became sacred Thus its relation
we have invoked the divine here to
break down our courts at this point
is to dishOnor God and destroy our
legal system. The punishment we
mete as society while severe is not
nearly so great nor so sure as the
punishment of the God whom we
profane.
;, There are two forces at work to
| break down this great factor in our
social order. The first is the sin and
| selfishness of the criminal and his
| friends, who fail to count the cost.
| The other is our legal profession
| which at times allows itself to be
governed by false system of ethics
| The first is wholly bad criminal and
| ineXcuSable while the second is in :
volved and has some superficial ex-
the first and we need nc further proof
| of it's existence than xamples i'll the
mind of every man present.
| Perhaps the outstanding example is
the whiskey traffic, beyond a doubt
there is a oneness of purpose here to
defeat the ends of justice as nowhere
else in our social life 1 think l
would be safe in saying that fifty
percent of the convictions in liquor
cases coming before our mayor are
had in spite of tSA sworn statement
) of the defendant. In league with him
is the equally guilty buying party
whose limited knowledge is pathetic
He can't even remember when under
oath, the face of his distressed first
cousin with whom he played ell his
life. But it goes further than this and
) invades the jury. Men of this stripe
hang around the court house ready tC
be used and no evidence will convict
when some men are in the jury box
1 know of one case where a wet soil
citor knowingly allowed men under
, suspended sentence to go on a jury tt
, try man for some offense When We
grasp the significance of this we NJ
longer wonder that God placed i
among the first of his demands in ou1
lrelaticn to himself.
: Entirely too often the legal pro
/ fession lends itself to this procedure
and hides behind technical limo
: cence that he may rest assured Goo
: will not recognize. In his anxiety tt
: see that men have a fair trial the,
, often realize this only as consum
> mated in clearing man they know t,
be guilty, in that they have become
l party to a crime
= Reverence is an indispensable fac
: tor in the spiritual life of man and i
= was in recognition of this that tn
Lord seeks to guard us from the foil
). and sin of irreverence. AS we recall
e the history of the chosen people W
are impressed with the demand TO
reverence.
Moses in the presence of the bus
lit up with the glory of God is com