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Guard Against Untruthfulness!, March 4
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.
Ephesians 6:14
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God permitted Satan to carry forward his work until the spirit of
disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his plans to
be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen
by all.... His power to deceive was very great. By disguising himself
in a cloak of falsehood, he had gained an advantage. All his acts were
so clothed with mystery, that it was difficult to disclose to the angels
the true nature of his work.... It was his policy to perplex with subtle
arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple
he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the
plainest statements of Jehovah.
The underworking was so subtle that it could not be made to appear
before the heavenly host as the thing that it really was; and so there was
war in heaven, and Satan was expelled with all who would not stand on
the side of loyalty to God’s government.
I am bidden to warn all who make untruthful statements that they
are serving him who has been a liar from the beginning. Let us be on
our guard against untruthfulness, which grows upon him who practices
it. I say to all, Make truth your girdle.... Put away all prevarication and
exaggeration; never make a false statement.
An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance
of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a
falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. All intentional over-
statement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous
or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner
as to mislead, is falsehood.
There should be a continual effort to imitate the society we expect
soon to join; namely, angels of God who have never fallen by sin.
The character should be holy, the manners comely, the words without
guile, and thus should we follow on step by step until we are fitted for
translation.
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