The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1880, Page 30

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30 ‘The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pionecr.’’) :
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.
Exodus 20, 7.

The tongue is a very dangerous little thing.
It needs watching. It must be checked and
bridled, lest it speak what is displeasing to God.
Great sins are committed by the tongue. For
instance, that horrible sin forbidden in the
second commandment is a sin that is for the
most part committed by the tongue. ‘‘Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain”’; that is: Man, control thy tongue. Let
it not speak the name of God in vain. Let us
therefore beware of our tongue. Let us learn
to understand the second commandment well.

Never say: God, Lord, or any other word
meaning God, unless you are then and there
thinking of God and intend to speak of Him or
to call upon Him. Whenever you mention
any name of God or speak of Him, do so with
holy fear, remembering that you are speaking

” of the almighty and holy God. Some people

are in the habit of crying out, as soon as any-
thing surprises or astonishes them, or troubles
and hurts them, or makes them glad: ‘‘Lord,”’
“God,’’ ‘‘My God,” ‘‘Good God,’’ “‘O Lord,’’
“Lord have mercy,’’ ‘‘Bless the Lord,” and
the like. Though they are not in the least
thinking of God just then, yet His names are
continually in their mouths, as if they were
but handy words to use every time when people
wish to speak their thoughts in a-strong way.

Don’t curse. It is also taking the name of
God in vain. Ineed not mention here all those
profane words and curses forbidden in the
second commandment. You have heard them
already in this great country of curses. If not,
I wish you would never hear them nor use
them. The worst kind of cursing is to curse and
blaspheme God Himself. It is only through
the patience and longsuffering of God that such
people are not swallowed by the ground on
which they stand. Nor should we curse our
neighbor, that is, by the holy name of God
wish him any evil. The most frightful of such
curses is to wish our neighbor to be damned in
hell, while we ought make all possible efforts
to save him from being(lost forever. We should
not curse ourselves, nor anything that happens
to us by the will of God. We would thereby,
in fact, curse Him that made us and gives and
sends us all things.

Don’t swear an oath, if it would be false or
unnecessary. Remember that by swearing an
oath you call upon God to witness the truth of
what you say and to punish you if you speak
falsehood. How dare you then swear an oath,
if you know that you are about to say, or did
say, What is untrue? Never swear to a lie.
Therefore, if the assessor comes around with
the tax-book, don’t swear falsely, simply to
saye a few cents of your taxes. If you are
called before court to swear, never swear falsely,

simply to help a friend or to clear and benefit
_ yourself. By a false oath you swear your soul

away. Do not swear an oath that something
is true, if you are not certain about it. That
is also a false oath. Only swear to things of
which you know without a doubt that they are
true. Do not swear because you guess or think
it is true, but always decline to swear an oath
when you are uncertain and still have some
doubts, or don’t remember the facts correctly.
— Do not swear to a promise which you do
not intend to keep or of which you know that
you are unable to keep. Never swear to do
anything wicked. Never swear on oath when
you can do without it. Don’t swear, even to
the truth, if your government does not require
it or if you can in any other way help your
neighbor or save your honor, or if the glory of
God does not demand it. Don’t swear to some-
thing that everybody knows and believes with-
out your oath. Don’t swear to every promise
you make, when a simple ‘‘yes” or ‘‘no” will be
sufficient. Oaths are not to be trifled with.
The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh
His name in vain by swearing a false oath or
an unnecessary one.

Do not lie or deceive by God’s name. All
preachers and teachers of false doctrine do it.
Whenever they preach or teach the falsehood,
they do not say: We say so and not God; what
we say now is only our opinion and our inven-
tion; of course not. People would then not

listen to them. But they say: What we say
now, that the Lord says in His word; it all
agrees with and is taken from the Bible.. Thus
they make people believe their false doctrine
by using God’s name to cover their lies and
make them appear to be truth. Let me tell
you of another class of such liars and deceivers.
All hypocrites are such. The greatest hypo-
crites always talk much about God. They have
so much to say about Him, that people regard
them as very pious. They pray often and long.
At heart, however, they are the devil’s own.
They cannot deceive God, but can deceive men,
as to their true character. Beware of being
such a hypocrite. Of course you may speak
about God, but don’t do so, simply to appear a
Christian before others. Do so with true fear
and love of God in your heart.

On the other hand, keep God’s name holy
with your tongue. Call upon God in every
trouble. Pray without ceasing. Pray when
you rise, pray when you lie down, pray before
partaking of your meal and after. Pray all
the time by asking God’s help and blessing to
everything youdo. Pray with your heart if
you cannot move your lips. Praise God’s name
with song; praise Hinr by confessing your faith
before all men; praise Him by telling of His
wonderful greatness and mercy. Give thanks
unto the Lord for His loving kindness and
tender mercies bestowed upon you.

Thus, my friend, guard your tongue from
taking God’s word in vain and use it to glorify
your God, to call upon Him in every trouble,
pray, praise and give thanks. May God‘help
you to do it until you land there where our
tongues shall be constantly employed in singing

to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, slain for our

sins, in whose blood we are cleansed from our
sins, also from all the sins that we have com-

mitted against the second commandment.
F. B.

- > + o~m 0+

What is the Tongue For?

“Since God made the tongue, and he never
makes anything in vain, we may be sure he
made it for some good purpose. What is it
then?’’ asked a teacher one day of her class.

“He made it that we may pray with it,’’
answered one boy.

“To sing with,’’ said another.

“To talk to people with,’’ said a third.

“To recite our lessons with,’’ replied another.

“Yes; and I will tell you what He did not
make it for. He did not make it for us to scold
with, to lie with, or to swear with. He did
not mean that we should say unkind or foolish,
indecent.or impatient words with it. Now,
boys, think every time you use your tongues, if
you are using them in the way God means you
to. Do good with your tongues and not evil.
It is one of the most useful members in the
whole body, although it is so small. Please
God with it every day.’”’

——— ~~ eee

Turn at Once.

If it is the sense of sin which does not let
you be comfortable, turn at once to ‘Him with
whom you have to do.’’ Remember, it is not
with Satan that you have to do, nor with your
accusing conscience, but with Jesus. He will
deal with all the rest; you only have to deal
with Him. And He is your great High Priest.
He has made full atonement for you; for the
very sins that are weighing on you now. The
blood of that atonement, His own precious
blood, cleanseth: us from all sin. Cleanseth
whom? People that have not sinned? Thank
God for the word, ‘‘cleanseth us’’—us who have
sinned. And you have todo with Him who
shed it for your cleansing, who His own self
bare your sins in His body on the tree.

Gen. WASHINGTON is said to have stopped
his horse, as he was once riding along a coun-
try road, to administer this rebuke to a-profane
ploughman: ‘‘ My friend, I am older than you,
have many times been placed in positions of
difficulty and danger, and have had many
things to perplex and annoy me, and I have
always found, that it did no good to get angry;
and that neither broken ploughs nor anything
else can be mended or made better by the use
of profane language.”

————qw +0 oo ae

Ir you let trouble sit upon your soul like a
hen upon her nest, you may expect the hatch-
ing of a large brood.

+ +o 0 >

Erraer keep silence or speak romething

better than silence.

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