Advice to Youth

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Then, finally, skepticism of every sort stands directly in the way of salvation. This is the worst effect of all, and it is one, alas, which we have reason to fear is realized in thousands of instances. If it be under God, the truth, the simple truth of the Bible which converts men, how are they ever to be brought out of darkness into the marvelous light of the gospel, while their hearts are full of unbelief? Nothing indeed is too hard for Omnipotence, but such a state seems to me to be hopeless above all others. Let a man once imbibe some favorite system of error, and like a thick cloud it will be sure to shut out the light of heaven from his mind.

This is a point which may be brought to the touch-stone of every one's experience or observation. Tell a person that he is not lost and ruined by sin, that he needs no regeneration to fit him for the kingdom of heaven, that God is too merciful to cast off any of his creatures forever, and that there is no demand for so much prayer and effort, and you are doing all you well can to make his damnation sure. If he believes what you say, each of these opinions will prove like a bar between him and the path of life. How can he flee from the wrath to come, the very existence of which he denies, or how can he fall into the arms of Christ as a Savior, when he has no conviction that he needs such a Savior? Little do men think what consequences a rejection of these doctrines of the Bible is sure to involve. You will never find a man anxious about obtaining a new heart, until he believes that a new heart is necessary, or desirous to be made holy, until he believes that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." In matters of this nature, the conduct is controlled by the creed.

Take heed then how you yield to the beginnings of this evil. If you give up the doctrine of total depravity, or the final condemnation of the ungodly, you may for the very same reason give up any other and every other truth which you happen to dislike. The whole is made up of its several parts, and to blot out one chapter is to impugn the character of the entire book. There is a process in the human mind, in the reception of error, which you will do well to note. The man who begins by doubting in regard to certain specified statements, will generally be found after a while caviling at them; and soon the open and utter rejection of them follows as a matter of course. These things naturally and almost unavoidably follow each other. The steps are usually short which lead men down from incipient skepticism—to bold and unblushing infidelity.

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How then can I do otherwise than warn you against listening to the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge. Tell me, my young friend, when or where has infidelity enlightened, purified or blessed a nation, tribe or family? Where has it taken up its abode in the domestic circle to render parents more kind, or children more dutiful, or brothers and sisters more happy in themselves, or in one another?

Where has it entered an individual bosom to soothe its sorrows, establish its hopes, and expel its apprehensions? These are achievements effected by the Bible, and the Bible alone.

I must urge you therefore to hearken to no one, be his reputation or talent what it may, who would lessen your reverence for the word of God. Never allow the beauty of language or the fascination of eloquence to diminish your regard for simple, unadulterated truth. The pill may be gilded, and yet contain arsenic. If the living teacher or the printed page be found to give you diminutive views of sin, or hide the glory of the Savior—you have heard and read enough. Take not another step in this direction. No matter what pretense is set up, your peace of mind is of more significance to you than all besides; and sooner than relinquish this blessing, burn the book that would injure you, and sacrifice the friend who would lead you astray.

But I forbear. There is one safeguard, and you will find it in cherishing an habitual reverence for the Bible as the book of the living and true God. Hold fast here, fail what may, and it will be well with you in life, well with you in death, and well with you in eternity.

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CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT.

I could hardly do any youth a better service, than to recommend to him the frequent and careful study of the Book of Proverbs. For pith, and force, and comprehensiveness, Solomon has had no equal, in any age or country. This is the man to whom God gave "wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore."

Among the many sayings of the wise man adapted to those in early life, let me dwell a little upon one of pre-eminent importance. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding." Here is a sovereign antidote to two of the evils to which young men are often exposed—timidity on the one hand, and presumption on the other. Only pursue your course safely between these perils, and we shall see you in due time, reaching the desired haven in peace.

What Solomon would inculcate upon youth, in this striking passage, is a continual dependence on the word and providence of God. You may exert your powers, and put forth your efforts, but you must not rely upon them. An entire submission to the will and ways of the Most High, joined to a deep distrust of your own wisdom and prudence, is what your condition demands.

The words apply to practice, as well as faith—to the course you should pursue, as well as to the creed you should adopt. In both these respects you are in danger either of self-confidence, or despondency. Every youth in the land needs to be stimulated to earnest and persevering exertion, but then he equally needs to know that the way of man is not in himself. If he can be set right, and kept right in these two particulars, eventual success is almost certain.

But why is it unsafe for men to lean unto their own understanding? It is so because of the limited capacities of the human mind. The knowledge, gained by the wisest of men, however diligent and successful they may have been, is confined within a comparatively small compass. How little, after all, do they comprehend of the operations of nature, or the mysteries of Providence? A very few steps take them beyond their depth. Wonderful as were the discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, he seemed to himself merely to have been walking along the shore, and picking up now and then a shining pebble—while the vast treasures of the ocean still lay unexplored before him. Such a sentiment from the lips of such a man, ought to have weight. Let pretenders boast as they may, true science is invariably modest. It is only the superficial thinker, the man with a bare smattering of knowledge, one that has simply tasted of the ethereal spring, that deems himself to be very wise.

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Is proof of this demanded? You may find it in the well-established fact, that men of the clearest minds, and most solid attainments, are generally the most ready to admit the weakness of their own understanding. Ripe and thorough scholars are seldom self-confident.  Humility is the constant attendant of true wisdom. Mark how patiently such people listen to others, with what modesty they give their own opinions, and how slowly they come to fixed and definite conclusions. Especially are they backward to reject that which has the sanction of age, and the recommendation of usefulness. Never do they adopt new notions on any topic of interest for the sake of being singular, or with a view of evincing their superiority to the decisions of days gone by. They have too much good sense to break loose from what is settled, and run after the thousand vagaries afloat in the world. It is of no avail to tell them, that this strange thing and the other strange thing is exciting attention, and making proselytes, unless it coincides with the lessons of the Bible, and of experience. You do not see them "carried about by every wind of doctrine."

Well do they know, that to confide in their own reasonings, on the great questions which relate to God, and pardon, and eternity, would be but to follow a false light. Men of deep reflection, and really logical minds cannot thus become the dupes of their own imbecility. What they have as yet traversed of the vast fields of knowledge, bears so small a proportion to what still lies before them, that they feel more like learning than teaching.

What a contrast this with the conduct of those, who merely skim the surface of things! Never examining any important subject with sufficient care to see its real difficulties, or grapple with them, they naturally enough become talkative and opinionated. There is but little in their minds at all, and that little lies so entirely on the top, that it runs off without an effort. A fuller vessel would be less fluent. The world abounds with such folks, and they are the very people who are ready to overturn the pillars on which society has been resting for centuries. Puffed up with a vain conceit of their own wisdom, they feel themselves equal to any task. It would really seem as if they were wise enough in their own eyes to renounce all the teachings of the past, and cast everything into a new mold. But such a course never ends well. It is that sort of leaning unto one's own understanding which is almost sure, sooner or later, to involve an utter departure from the right path.

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Again, men are liable to prejudice. Where can you find an individual whose opinions on the most vital topics are not somewhat influenced by his feelings and wishes? There is, even in the most candid and ingenuous, some sort of bias in the mind, which must be resisted, or it will mislead. Be on your guard as you may, you will not infrequently detect yourselves in pursuing a given course, more because it is pleasing—than because it is right. It is what is felt to be agreeable, rather than what is known to be proper, which decides the case. Opinions are embraced, and courses of conduct persisted in every day, on the simple ground that the heart loves them—and not that the judgment approves of them. How hard it is to see things in a just light, when duty leads in one direction, and inclination in another.

This, allow me to say, is one main reason why the Bible is so often rejected. Could you get behind what is open and palpable, and examine the secret springs of action, you would find that skeptical opinions generally have their origin in inward depravity. The state of the heart determines the decisions of the judgment. Free-thinking, in a great majority of instances, is the result of free-living. So hard is it for men to practice one thing and believe another, that you will by and by see them making shift to suit the articles of their creed to the habits of their life. This is so natural that multitudes do it, almost unconsciously to themselves. What reason is there for surprise in the fact, that men who love sin, soon come to renounce the authority of the book which contains the sentence of their condemnation? It would be strange were it otherwise. Thousands dislike the Bible for the very same reason that Ahab disliked Micaiah—it "prophesies evil" against them. A known and felt unfitness for heaven, is really the grand argument by which sinful men persuade themselves that there is no hell.

An appeal to facts can scarcely fail to set this matter in its true light. Are men of loose opinions on the subject of religion, men of solemn and earnest inquiry; men of a candid and ingenuous temper; men of useful and virtuous lives? Whatever may be said of individuals, there is no difficulty in learning where they stand as a class. Let them pretend what they may as to liberality and openness to conviction, there are no people in the world so completely encased in prejudice, as those who see no truth in the Bible, and no glory in the character of Christ.

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Sad as such a statement is, its truth will hardly be called in question. The word of God has to make its way to the human bosom, through a host of prejudices and biases of the most formidable character. A cold assent to it as a valuable document of antiquity, is of no avail, if you go no further. If received to any saving purpose, it must be received to govern the will, and purify the affections, and regulate the temper, and shape the life. To dress it up in beautiful binding, and give it a place on the parlor table, will not suffice. Its grand aim is to get possession of the heart, and unless dominion be given to it here, its claims to come from God will probably be rejected.

There is a prejudice in the mind which impels it to lean to its own understanding.

Once more, the sentiments and purposes of multitudes are very unsettled. Not a few pass through the world, without ever becoming rooted or grounded in any well-considered opinion, even on the most vital points. Their course from first to last is shaped altogether by circumstances. As for fixed and firmly established principles, in regard to God, and sin, and Christ, and the life to come—they cannot be said to have any whatever. The ideas they entertain on such subjects float loosely in the mind. Nothing is settled, nothing steadfast. Today they are one thing, tomorrow another; and if any single trait of character is confirmed in them, it is a love of perpetual change. We may liken them to a ship at sea without helm or ballast. When the wind blows from one point of the compass they sail before it, and when it shifts they are sure to shift likewise. Unstable as water, how can they excel?

You have often met with people of this vacillating and wavering state of mind. Though they seem to be ever learning, they are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, or quietly to settle down on any system whatever. A love of novelty keeps them perpetually chasing after this teacher and that, and trying this scheme and that. Instead of believing that arsenic is arsenic, upon the testimony of competent judges, they must needs taste for themselves, though at the hazard of being poisoned. It would be amusing, were not the interests involved so serious, to stand by and witness the thousand chameleon tints which such people assume. One thing only seems certain, and that is, that they are on a declivity, and are descending lower and lower. Jude describes them in truthful, but most alarming language—"they are clouds without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." What a description of a man, broken loose from truth, and driven about at the mercy of every breeze?

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It is the ruin of multitudes, that they have no stability of character. Afraid of the shackles of an early education, they launch forth upon the great and wide sea of human uncertainties, as if there were neither rocks nor shoals. What their fathers and mothers taught them seems tame and lifeless. It pleases them better to turn from the beaten path, though in doing so they are forced out into a wilderness on which no ray of light falls, and where no sure map denotes the course to be pursued. Alas, how much is lost as to peace of mind, and confidence in God, by such a reckless spirit as this! In place of what once seemed fixed, and past dispute, these people find themselves now tormented by a sort of universal uncertainty. It is impossible for them any longer to say what they believe, or where they rest. From leaning unto their own understanding, they have rapidly gone down to the point of having no creed, no hope, no heaven, no God.

Pause here, and consider what has been said in the way of caution. Reflect upon the limited capacities of men, the prejudices which stand in their way, and the instability of their opinions, and you cannot but see reasons why you should not be self-confident.

But there is ENCOURAGEMENT for you as well as caution. This you have in the Divine injunction, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

You need guidance from above. If anything is made plain, by the history of the race, and of every individual of that race, it is that a revelation of the will of God is absolutely indispensable. Destitute of the light of the Bible, man has been forever groping in the dark, and must continue forever to grope in the dark. It was on purpose to meet this felt need of the human bosom, that the Most High has condescended to utter his voice, and give forth his oracles. On these blessed pages, all instinct with life, and all luminous with truth, we have a perfect rule of conduct. Instructions are here given, and principles are here laid down, which apply to every variety of case, even though the case itself be not particularly stated. Nothing essential to a complete system of faith, and a correct line of practice, is omitted. This single volume tells us all that we need to believe concerning God, and makes sufficiently obvious every duty that God requires at our hands. No one can wander from the right path, who meekly and honestly takes the Bible as his guide.


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It is not pretended that every objection which the wicked heart of man can raise, is answered here in so many words. Men—if determined so to do—may continue to stumble and fall on such questions as—Why was sin permitted to enter our world? Why have the heathen been left in their idolatry? Why are so few who hear the gospel saved by it? They may, if they will, cavil at the incomprehensibility of the doctrine of the Trinity, and the union of divinity and humanity in the one person of Christ. But all this only shows that their proud hearts have never been humbled, and their high looks have never been brought low. On all points which relate to facts, and principles, and actual duties, the Bible is the plainest, and most easily understood book in the world. Only be ready to do the will of God, and you shall know all that need be known of the doctrines which he inculcates.

Will you spurn the light of this lamp of life, merely because you cannot solve every query in regard to the nature and mode of its shining? The book of Creation is in many respects very like the Bible. It is impossible to study them in connection, and not perceive that the pen in both cases was held by the same hand, and that they are equally emanations from the same infinite mind. The two streams flow from one great fountain-head. If the impress of Deity is fixed upon the lofty mountain, and the fruitful valley, and the rolling ocean, it is equally fixed upon the Pentateuch of Moses, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the visions of John. The same Being who formed the earth and clothed it in beauty, has given us the Prophecies, and the Psalms, and the Gospels. But these volumes, though both the product of one all-comprehensive mind, and both intended as the medium through which one undivided power and Godhead should be made known to us, are not equally adapted to inculcate moral duty. It is on the Scriptures, and on the Scriptures alone, that you must rely for direction on all such points. They speak in intelligible and clear terms as to what you should believe, and the course you should pursue.

Only approach them with the humility and simplicity of a little child, and you will find that they shed a most reviving light over all your pathway.

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The Bible, to those who feel their need of its guidance, is, for the most part, a very perspicuous and intelligible communication. That difficulties are to be met in this sacred volume, that deep mysteries are brought forward on these inspired pages, is just what might have been expected. The Book would have lacked one proof of its Divine original, had it contained nothing which we cannot "search out unto perfection." But so far as essentials are concerned, its truths are clothed in language of the utmost perspicuity, and brought down to the level of the most untutored intellect. It is emphatically a book for man, consulting his needs, and adapted to his circumstances. Who ever went astray while following its directions? "Only give me," says one, "a Bible and a candle, and though shut up in the deepest dungeon, I can tell you what is going on in the world."

Then too you must depend on God's overruling Providence. Everyone has questions to ask respecting the way he shall take, the plans he shall adopt, and the responsibilities he shall assume, which man can never answer. The mind needs something clearer, stronger, surer to lean upon, and that something the world does not afford. If we turn to our dearest and best friends, they are as much at a loss as ourselves. If we consult the history of other men's lives, we find no solution of our doubts. A path opens on this side, but whether it is a path to walk in, or to shun, is more than mortal man can tell us; and it closes on that, but whether it closes, to turn us in another direction, or to try our patience, none are wise enough to say. We need a power above to mark out our way.

The urgency is great, but, thanks to God, it is not unprovided for. There is an all-disposing Providence rising up before us, like the Star in the East; and if we follow its direction, we shall be led safely in the way. What a privilege to be able to observe such a light, while walking in darkness. To a rightly disposed mind, nothing can be more animating than the thought, that the same God, who created the stars, and marshals the hosts of heaven—notices also a sparrow's fall, and numbers the hairs of our head. Who can say, that he has no one to care for him? If the God in whom he lives, and moves, and has his being, takes a deep interest in his welfare, what needs he more? Let him but feel right, and do right, and all will be well. Temporary embarrassments will do him no eventual harm. If his dependence is on the Mighty God of Jacob, ravens shall bring food, and fish furnish tribute money, sooner than his expectations shall be cut off.

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Rely upon it, "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." No audible voice reaches his ears, from the high and holy place, saying, "This is the way—walk in it," but he has in the thousand arrangements made without his agency, and oftentimes contrary to his expectations, all the evidence he needs, that one higher than himself is giving complexion to his life. He finds scarcely anything as he once fondly thought it would be. The place he lives in is not the one which in his childish days he dreamed of, nor is he surrounded by such circumstances as once brightened his anticipations; yet he can say–"God has done all things well." Though clouds and darkness have sometimes been about him, he sees the guidance of a Divine hand almost as distinctly as did the Israelites while making their way to the land of promise.

To all this you must add earnest prayer for direction. If men will ask the help of God, they will not ask in vain. To encourage them to do this, he comes near to them by his word and Spirit, and seeks in a thousand ways to win their confidence. In nothing does he take more delight than in the weak coming to him for strength—and the blind depending upon him for sight—and the wandering directing their eyes to him for guidance. If they will find heart and voice to pray—he will be sure to find an ear to hear, and an arm to save. You may read the annals of the Church from beginning to end, and you will not meet with a solitary instance, in which God hid his face from the supplications of his people. When all other resources failed, this was the refuge to which they could betake themselves with confidence.

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant." Difficulties now and then arise in the history of every individual's life, on which the Bible seems to throw no satisfactory light, and in reference to which the responses of Providence appear to admit of no clear solution. This, though a trying case, is distinctly contemplated and provided for in the Scriptures of truth. "If any man lacks wisdom"—so runs the comprehensive direction, the explicit promise—"if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives to all men liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given him." What more could be desired? Such a declaration has a value which belongs not to silver and gold. On the easy condition of going to God with a humble and believing heart, to seek his guidance in the day of perplexity, the pledge of a gracious answer is made; and heaven and earth may pass away before it shall fail. Why then should any one live or die in doubt. That very Being who alone is able to tell you what is good for man, both as a dweller on earth, and a probationer for eternity, has publicly committed himself in reference to this matter, and he will redeem his bond. The word has gone out of his mouth, and cannot be recalled. From the days of Enoch when men began to call upon his name, to the present hour, the promise stands unbroken.

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        Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and you shall never be ashamed or confounded. If you doubt this, look at Jacob on the plains of Penuel, at David in the cave of Adullam, at Ezra by the river Ahava, at Peter in the house of Simon the tanner, and at Paul and Silas in prison at midnight. Think of the prayers of Edwards in the midst of the revivals at Northampton, of Brainerd among the Indians of the wilderness, and of Martyn on the sands of Persia. These cases all proclaim as with trumpet-tongue that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man"—yes, that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." To connect one's cause by prayer with the mercy-seat, is to ensure the best possible success.

        Can you then do otherwise, my young friends, than comply with the duty thus enforced? Learn to depend implicitly on the teachings of Divine truth; have an eye to the good providence of God at all times; and be faithful in pouring out your hearts in prayer before him, and you will be led in the right way. God himself invites you to this course, and pursuing it you will never be disappointed.

        The bane and antidote are now before you. Lean to your own understanding as you make your way through the world, and nothing but disappointment and sorrow will hang upon your footsteps. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and everything is safe for both earth and heaven. And the one or the other of these things you will certainly do. Counsel you will take of someone, and it will be either of man or God, either of yourselves or your Maker. You need light, and you will seek it from your own candle, or from the Sun of righteousness. Can you hesitate?

        O come now, in the bright morning of your being, while the dew of youth is fresh upon you, and put yourselves under the guidance of the word and Spirit of God. Take no step, form no associations, engage in no pursuit, without first turning aside to implore the blessing of the Mighty God of Jacob. Set out in life upon this plan, and follow it steadily from day to day, and I guarantee that the retrospect will occasion you no regret, in the hour when flesh and heart must fail. Put yourselves under the care of a covenant-keeping God, and he will "guide you by his counsel, and afterwards receive you to glory."

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TRUTH between man and man.

Before I called to name any one trait of character, which goes farther than another, perhaps than all others, to render a person really worthy of respect, I should say—veracity. The child that will always tell the truth, the youth that will always tell the truth, and the man of business that will always tell the truth, is sure to be relied on. Even in the absence of much that is pleasing in deportment and amiable in disposition—a well-established reputation for simple, straight-forward, undeviating honesty, never fails to secure respect and confidence. A love of truth, like charity, seems to cover a multitude of sins.

To those especially, who are just now forming a character, the habit of stating things precisely as they are, is of more consequence than can be easily estimated. Point me to a young man, in any walk of life, of undeviating veracity—a veracity which knows no forgetfulness, and which no temptation can overcome, and I dare predict for him a safe and honorable career through the world. No danger but that such a one will open for himself an avenue to the confidence of wise and good men. Let it be seen that a love of simple verity is so imbedded in his bosom, that neither fear nor favor can turn him from it—and he will be regarded, confided in, and employed.

There are different kinds of truth; mathematical truth, moral truth, and evangelical truth, and they are all important. So there are different ways of uttering falsehood. It may be done by flattery, it may be done by promise-breaking, and it may be done by perjury. But my object now is to treat of truth in its ordinary acceptance, in the communion of man with man.

We may define truth by saying, it is conformity to fact, and to utter truth, is to utter what we honestly believe to be in accordance with fact. There is in every such case, a faithful correspondence between the heart and the lips, the feelings and the words, the inward consciousness and the outward expression. A really truthful man never intends to produce a conviction in the mind of another, by language or signs, different from that which exists in his own mind. If you could read his very thoughts, as they arise and assume shape, you could frame from them no other conclusions than those which his words are adapted to convey. Innocent himself, he cannot desire to deceive others, or allow them to receive from him as true, what he knows to be false. If he speaks or acts at all, he must speak and act conscientiously.

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Be careful to understand this. No man deserves to be called a man of veracity, who does not give utterance to the real meaning of his own heart. The essence of falsehood consists in an intention to deceive, and this may be shown by a look of the eye, a motion of the hand, or a tone of the voice as effectually as by explicitly uttered words. Anything which makes an impression inconsistent with fact, when that impression is purposely made, is a departure from truth. It is either a 'spoken' or an 'acted' falsehood.

But farther. It is possible to state facts and to state them as they actually occurred, and yet so to arrange and put these facts together, as to constitute actual falsehood. Suppose I should say of two boys, William and John, at the same boarding-school, that William left John's room, and five minutes after he left it, John went in and found that his watch was gone. This might convey an untruth, in the worst sense of the term, though the things took place precisely as has been stated. I would not thus charge William with being a thief in so many words, but my way of telling the story would convey that impression. This is a homely illustration, but all the better on this account. It presents the subject in a light in which it is not sufficiently contemplated, and in a form in which it cannot but be understood. If you would avoid sinning against the ninth commandment, it is necessary to know that deception may be practiced even where no words of untruth are used. A lie may be acted—as well as uttered. It may be a lie in reality, though not in appearance.

As you come into closer contact with the world, you will meet with people ready to justify themselves for departing, on some occasions, from the laws of strict veracity. Let me name a few of the more common instances in which this is done. Here is a father trying to get his child to take medicine, and to overcome its reluctance for the bitter dose, he gravely affirms that it does not taste bad. Yonder is a fashionable lady, who wishes her time for other purposes, and sends a servant to the door to say she is not at home. Here is a circle of kind friends, who persist in telling the occupant of the sick couch, that his case is not considered at all dangerous. But are not all these to be put down in the catalogue of deceptions? To make the best of them, they are doing evil that good may come.

Such acts generally defeat their own end. The deception will be detected. Something will occur to make the disguise apparent. How much better to be open and sincere, and if we tell not the whole truth, tell nothing but the truth. Let that father act with decision, and say to the sick child in so many words—This medicine is bitter, but you can take it in a moment, and we believe it will do you good. Let that mistress of the family speak out plainly, and tell her visitors that her time for the present is occupied with other and indispensable duties. Let that group of anxious friends, if they must express an opinion to the afflicted one, express it truly, and endeavor to turn his thoughts to Him, in whose hands are the issues of life. This is the only course consistent with sound morality, and here, as in everything else, it will be found that honesty is the best policy.

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But the evil in question assumes a thousand forms. There are lies of sheer malice—pure fabrications of iniquity uttered and circulated to defeat some dangerous rival, and cloud the fair fame of some political aspirant. There are lies too of self-interest, as when the seller of goods extols them beyond what he knows to be their value, or the buyer says of them, "It is nothing, it is nothing." And there are lies of vanity, told by men who love to attract attention, and can never allow a story to pass through their hands without giving it some additional embellishment. But they are all lies, and if not equally malignant in their nature, yet all to be scrupulously avoided.

By what MOTIVES then may truth be enforced? These are so numerous, it is difficult to make a selection. Reasons for speaking the truth, one with another, rise up on every side, and are drawn from time and eternity, from your relations to God and your fellow-men. Let me suggest a few of them.

Falsehood of every name and form is a sin, a sin against the God who made you, in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways. If ever tempted to transgress in this particular, open your Bible and read, as from the mouth of Jehovah himself, "You shall not deal falsely, neither lie one to another." Turn to the passage, "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." This is enough. God is a God of truth; the Bible is a book of truth; Jesus is the faithful and true witness; the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and every precept of the Most High is true and righteous altogether. How then must a lie appear in His sight!

Hence you find the most dreadful judgments inflicted for the commission of this sin. You know how the servant of Elisha was struck with a leprosy, which ended only with death, for his falsehood in reference to the talents of silver and changes of clothing given him by Naaman the Syrian. Your hearts have trembled within you, while reading the terrible catastrophe which befell Ananias and Sapphira, for lying to the Holy Spirit about the price of their land. But these are only individual instances. The history of the world proves that lying is a sin, which in the holy providence of God is seldom allowed to go unpunished.

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[airIam2worship]

Even life itself is not to be purchased at the price of falsehood. Had the martyrs consented by a word or a nod, to deny the Lord that bought them—could they have been persuaded to cast a single grain of incense upon the idol's altar—they might have escaped the rack, the scaffold and the stake. But false they could not be in word or in deed, though life was the forfeit of being faithful. In their view it was a thousand times better to go to prison and to death, with a clear conscience, than accept of deliverance on condition of deceiving; and that they judged wisely is proved by the crowns they now wear, and the harps they now tune.

Consider, too, how it elevates and ennobles one, to stand fast by the truth in the greatest emergencies. What else was it than the love of truth, that sustained the three Hebrew children when the fiery furnace was heated to seven-fold intensity; that enabled Daniel to answer the king so tranquilly while sitting among the lions in their den; and that filled the blessed Savior with such composure in the presence of Pilate? Truth has often stood up, unattended and alone, to rebuke the madness of the people, tear off the veil from the designs of despots, and reason of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come, in the presence of pomp and power. In whatever else you fail, never, never swerve from the truth. Even a bad man, if known never to tell a lie, will command a measure of respect. But a liar is everywhere despised. To charge a man with falsehood is regarded as the greatest insult which vulgarity and ill-nature are capable of offering.

The whole frame-work of society is upheld and kept in order by truth, and nothing but truth. Let deception become universally prevalent, and communities as such could scarcely exist, much less flourish and be happy. If love is the blood which circulates through the system, imparting to it life and warmth—truth is the joints and ligaments which hold all together. What would be the condition of a family, a school, a church, or a city, in which no one's word could be relied on. In such case, the stream of social enjoyment would be poisoned at its very fountain. Other vices have but a partial and circumscribed influence, but this touches everything and pollutes everything. Suspicion now takes the place of confidence, and the abodes of human beings are turned into so many dens of ravenous beasts. The very thought is appalling. Imagine for a moment what would be the inevitable result, if the husband could no longer trust in the word of his wife—the child in that of his father—the mother in that of her daughter—or the sister in that of her brother. Confidence and happiness could have no place. Even Hope would not be left behind.

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