“LOVER OF TRUTH”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 638, 15 April 1929, Page 12

“LOVER OF TRUTH”

MAN’S HIGHEST TITLE SERMON AT ONEHUNGA "No man can win a higher title than to be known as a lover of the truth and a speaker of the truth,'* said the Rev. D. D. Scott in the Onehunga Presbyterian Church last evening. When Jeremiah (chap, ix.) accused jthe Jews of his day with having taught their tongues to speak lies, the nation, feuid Mr. Scott, must have reached a Jow level of moral deterioration. Withcut the virtue of truthfulness, the goodwill by which society is held together tended to disappear, resulting in inevitable collapse. If men couid not trust the word of their neighbours, if treachery became a common practice, life as we know it to-day would be impossible. The evil arose sometimes in the lurking pride of personal achievement, in a persistent anxiety to stand well in the eyes of his fellows, which brought a certain pleasure from public approval. A man n\*xy be so mucli taken up with himself, may so assess himself in terms of his own preconceived importance, that he may iiohieve notoriety at the expense of worthy citizenship, but those who thought of themselves as dwelling in the presence of God’s judging scrutiny would be most disposed to please Him rather than to stand well in the eyes cf men.

QUALITY OF SELF-RELIANCE This attitude, however. did not Undermine the good quality or' selfreliance, without whicli no brave attempts could be made to reach high positions, and without which the foundations of the British Empire could not have been laid. Such a spirit was entirely different from that of the . boaster, who in lieu of achievement ! invented heroic situations where he j himself excelled. Such a person soon I earned the good-natured contempt ! the public. He whose only hero was I himself was generally rated as a j jromancer. It might, however, occur to some J that no one ever made such claims as Jesus Christ. But it should be noted that in discharging his great mission he mad© those claims without losing or infringing upon the charm of His lowliness, Christ, however, failed to convince the priests of Judali of His messages. ' They refused to hear Him out, and Ho turned to humble Ushermen. . He fought the prejudice of the high priests, who undoubtedly had a high regard for their national religion. Tie believed that the force of truth would make its own appeal, but on the day of crucifixion His Jewish assailants shouted down all evidence but their own. FALSEHOOD AND INJUSTICE A truth-loving mind, however, should not fortify itself against the entrance of a new truth. It was a mark of culture when light lroni an unexpected quarter was received with open-minded regard. A capabis judge beard all sides. He did not show impatience with a hesitating witness, and he gave an unbiassed judgment. Falsehood appeared at its worst when it inflicted damage upon another's life, and perhaps there were very few of whom we could not find something unfavourable to say. Anyone, for instance, could make a case against the life of Edward Gibbon ■Wakefield or John Calvin, but such men were not to be judged by their failures alone. Their whole lives and characters must be impartially surveyed, so that harmful tales were balanced with favourable truths, otherwise a grave injustice would be done. Falsehood, therefore, had a strong connection with injustice. Falsehood and hatred were also connected, but whero the governing motive in life is love, it would be impossible for the evil of falsehood to survive. Mr. Scott concluded by urging his hearers to be fair and merciful toward the failures of their fellow-men. and to judge not, that they be not judged.