The other day the editor heard of a clever "con" game which has made considerable money for certain swindlers. It contains a lesson we all need. One of the swindlers noticed a possible victim seated at a writing desk in a hotel lobby on a hot day. He sat down opposite and began to write a letter. "Sure hot, today," casually commented the swindler to his potential victim, as he mopped his brow. "I'm transpiring something awful. Guess I'll tell the folks about it. By the way how do you spell 'transpire?'" "Transpire?" the victim was puzzled. "Yeah, transpire — to sweat." "Oh," smiled the other, "you mean PERspire." "No, I mean TRANSpire — to sweat," insisted the confidence man. The other argued that does not mean to sweat, but to occur, to happen. An event transpires, but when a person sweats, he PERspires. The confidence man quickly carried it into a heated argument. Why, he indignantly exclaimed, he had used that word all his life, and he guessed he knew that "transpire" means to sweat, or to emit moisture from the skin. At this juncture the confidence man's partner strolled up, and quickly got into the argument on the side of the victim. He offered to bet the first confidence man that "transpire" did not mean to emit moisture thru the pores of the skin, and his partner, appearing angry and indignant quickly took his bet. The victim was induced to bet, also, and a larger amount. Then the three men went to a dictionary — and, believe it or not, the con man was right, and he took the money. Go to a dictionary, and look it up for yourself. You will be surprised to find that you, too, have been mistaken as to the meaning of the word "transpire," which is INCORRECTLY used by many people to express the meaning of "to happen," or to occur. Often we hear things, and take them for granted, and are absolutely sure of ourselves that we are right — when we are WRONG! And we heatedly disagree with the fellow who is actually right. Sometimes people will say, or write in, that they surely enjoy reading the PLAIN TRUTH, although they do not always agree with all of it. The point we wish to make is that, if you already understood and AGREED with all that this little magazine contains, it would be of no real value to you — it would bring you nothing that is new to you — and the Word tells us to GROW in KNOWLEDGE. (II Pet. 3:18 and 1:5). Unless you read, in The PLAIN TRUTH, a few things that you do not, at first agree with — a few things that are different than what you have always believed — it is failing utterly in its mission. The mission of this little publication is to make PLAIN the TRUTH. For it is the TRUTH that is to set us FREE! So if some of the truths it proclaims appear new and, perhaps, even strange to you at first, remember the Scriptures tell us, in a message for this very last day, to PROVE ALL THINGS. That includes all things you already THINK to be the truth, as well as all things that appear in this magazine. At least 99 in 100 disagree at once with the gamblers regarding the meaning of the word "transpire." These gamblers know how sure people are that they are right — even when they are WRONG. They know people will become angry over it, and actually put up their good hard-earned money to back their own ideas of what they are so sure is the truth. And many have been made to pay dearly for their ignorance. Many of the things every one of us have taken carelessly for granted — things we are absolutely CERTAIN in our own minds are the truth — are only error. Many of the things we were brought up to believe in religion are, in fact, only paganism, and find their real origin in the ancient pagan philosophers and not in the Bible at all. Remember that when Jesus came preaching the plain truths of the Gospel of the Kingdom out of the Scriptures, the people were ASTONISHED at Hs doctrine — it was so utterly different from the traditional teachings of the church leaders of His day. (Mat. 22:33). Let us be willing to PROVE ALL THINGS — all things we already believe, as well as all things brought out in The PLAIN TRUTH. If your present opinions are right, our honest questioning of them will only verify and prove them. If we are wrong, surely we want to find it out and dispel error. We ask all readers at all times to consider very carefully, very prayerfully, with open mind, and without prejudice, yet cautiously, the things written in The PLAIN TRUTH. If, after this kind of careful, prayerful study, the Holy Spirit leads you to disagree, you will have been benefited by the study nevertheless. Remember, God says His people are destroyed for LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. It is not easy to UNlearn traditional teachings that are in error. Once in our minds, these teachings cling with a death-like grip. But if you have been wrong on the meaning of the word "transpire," perhaps you have been wrong also on some of the religious convictions you have always believed.
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