COWARDICE OF LYING

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 30, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 18.

COWARDICE OF LYING.

THE Devil is the father of lies, but Cowardice mothers them. All the devil's promoting would never bring them to birth if our own weakness and fearfulness did not yield to his suggesting. When the lie tempts, it is not only necessary to say to the tempter, “Get thee behind me, Satan,” but it is also needful to say to our own hearts, “Fear not; be of good courage.” The seduction of the lie is that it seems like a good place to hide; the curse of it is that it is like hiding in the powder magazine to escape the fire; the ruin is not quite so quick in coming, but, when it does come, it is far more deadly. The brave man may have to dash through the flames, but he is not caught in the explosion. So the great French novelist, Balzac, says, “All trickery, all deception, is certain to be discovered, and to result in doing harm, whereas every situation presents less danger if a man plants himself firmly on his own truthfulness.” And Cardinal Woolsey said to Cromwell, “Let all the ends thou aim est at be truth’s, then if thou fall’st, O Cromwell, thou fall’st a blessed martyr.” But if one falls practising deceit, “he dies as the fool dieth.”—Sunday School Times.