Effects of Oppression for thereby man's right and just Cause are oppressed and we know what the wise King saith in the Case (o) Eccles 7.7 Surely Oppression makes a Wise Man Mad. He that loseth his own loseth his Wits with a surely therefore will he endeavour to see himself Righted and if Lawful ways because they be Corrupted and Abused do fail then God knows what the next Step will be Right oppressed is sometimes turned into Fury and this is the ready way to set Men together by the Ears and to make them to Cut one another's Throats the Mine and Thine is the ground of Discord in the World and therefore 't is but just that every one should enjoy his own whereupon God the Sovereign Judge saith (p) Ezekiel 21.27 I will overturn overturn overturn it and it shall be no more until he come whose Right it is and I will give it him Though Men will not I will Therefore when Perjury is found to be in a Cause which appears by Contradictory Depositions for 't is not possible for a Thing to be and not to be a man cannot at the same time be in Two several Places so in the same Circumstance of a Matter one to Swear for the other against is a palpable Contradiction for two contrary Oaths about the same thing cannot be True but if one be the other necessarily must be False as if one Swears that such a man at such a time was in the Countrey and I Swear that same Person at that same time was in the City because for several Days together I met with Saw Discoursed had Meetings Walk'd Managed Businesses with and visited him in his own House and I cannot believe that a Spirit had assumed that Man's Body to act all that part with me nor that I saw a Vision or was in a Dream all that while Hence it clearly appears that there is a Perjury in the Case for as some have Sworn the Truth so others have that which is False Wherefore the matter is very well worth strictly and narrowly Inquiring into to find out the Truth and see at whose Door the Perjury lyes there to Punish it that hereafter Men be not exposed to the Mercy of such Wretches and Villains And what I say is for one side as well as for the other for I am Partial for neither only for the Truth the justice of the Cause is what I stand for and am no ways Byassed by the Merits of Persons Upon such Accounts Men ought to Swear for no other End than to bear Record unto the Truth which I pray God to Discover as he is the most True and Faithful Witness and as he is the Great and Supream Judge to cause an Exemplary Punishment to be made of this loud and crying Wickedness as they that are concerned to do it shall answer to God at the last Day for Judges Juries Witnesses Parties and every Man shall some time before the Iudge of the whole Earth stand to be Tryed and Judged when there shall be no Dissembling nor Concealing of the Truth but all things shall then be manifest and be seen even just as they are In the mean time what Laws are in being against the Crime ought exactly to be put in Execution and wherein they are Defective and Wanting it may easily be Supplyed by the Legislative Power when those in whose Hands is the Executive part who have so many Occasions to observe where 't is Wanting and where not do according to their Duty represent it to them Thus all will unanimously concur to set up the Glory of God the Good and Welfare of the Nation and to the Immortal Praise of all those that will be Instrumental therein or to their Eternal Confusion if they neglect it (q) Psalm 94.2 Psalm 63.11 Then lift up thy self thou Judge of the Earth and the Mouth of them that speak Lies shall be stopped FINIS A DISCOURSE ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM THE Doctrine of the Sacraments is of so high a Concernment in the great Mystery of our Salvation that the Enemy thereof Satan hath raised many of his strongest Batteries against it They are the Seals of God's Pardon which he doth what he can to Tear or at least to Deface thereby to Deprive us of the Assurance of God's Love in Christ As to the First which is Baptism how many Disputes and Questions hath he started against it With Papists we have no less than Seven about it whereof the Two First relate also to the Lord's Supper As first to the number There are but Two Sacraments and they would have Seven 2ly The Vertue of the Sacrament doth not depend upon the Intention of him who administers it 3ly It is not lawful for Lay-men or Women to Baptise 4ly The Baptism of John had the same Vertue and was as Effectual as that afterwards Administred by the Apostles 5ly Baptism ought to be administred according to Christ's Institution without any Addition Diminution or Alteration whatsoever 6ly Every Child Baptised is not thereby Regenerated and every one that hath the Sign hath not the Thing Signified 7ly Baptism is not absolutely necessary to Salvation for some are Saved without it but it ought not to be neglected or delayed See how sometimes God suffereth men from one Error to fall into another and to maintain one they multiply others Thus Anabaptists to Assert that Infants ought not to be Baptised hold the Quintessence of the Damnable Pelagian Heresy 1st That they have no Sin 2ly That there is no Original Sin at all 3ly That no Sin comes by Nature but is Learned only by Example and Imitation of others 4ly That all that dye in Infancy shall certainly go to Heaven for none is Damned but for Actual Sins Against what Scripture saith First All Infants are Sinners (a) Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me 'T is the case not only of David but of every one else (b) Isai 48.8 For we are called Transgressors from the Womb and (c) Ephess 2 3. by Nature we are children of Wrath even as others Then Secondly Many Infants have been made Vessels of Wrath and the Effects of God's Wrath for Sin are fallen upon them as in the Flood in the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah God's Order to Saul (d) 1 Sam. 15.3 was to Destroy utterly the Infants and Sucklings of the Amalekites And the Psalmist (e) Psalm 147.9 declareth him Happy that dasheth the little ones of the Babylonians against the Stones But Thirdly All Sin is not Learned by Example as we see in the Case Cain who had no Example of any Murther Committed before him Their Fourth Assertion is Rash and without Ground in Scripture But now to the Point The Word Baptism in Scripture hath several Significations It is first taken for the whole Holy Sacrament instituted by our Lord sometimes for the Sign (f) Matth. 3.11 Water and other times
In Judgment 3ly In Righteousness To these Three Conditions are opposed False Rash and unjust Oaths It is a Duty incumbent upon every one that takes an Oath to Swear in Truth that is truly and nothing but what is according to Truth not abusing Godâ—â— Name to attest an Untruth the words of our Oaths if minded are full and comprehensive to swear the Truth nothing but the Truth and the whole Truth that is to the best of my Remembrance Now Truth is a Divine Thing which is asserted by Oath wheâ— in the Dark There is a Truth of the thing spokeâ— of when we speak according as the thing is indeed or as near as possibly it can be and herein sometimes by reason of human weakness the whole Truth doth not come out for we do not always know things aâ— they are But there is also the Truth of the Mind that is one Swears as in his Mind and Conscienceâ— he is perswaded of the thing this must always Necessarily be in the Oath or else there is Perjury in the Case Now Truth relateth either to Divine things or to Human To the former when we entertain and have right Notions and Thoughts due and reverend Expressions of things immediately belonging to God as his Nature Attributes Works and Word The Truth required in regard to Human Things is either in common Society and Dealings between Man and Man or else in publick Judgments in Courts of Judicature which concerns the Judges upon the Bench fairly to Sum up Evidences and impartially to direct the Jury 2ly This Concerns the Jury-men not to receive any Prejudices or suffer themselves to be Byassed or Bribed nor to stand too much upon this that any of them will agree with the rest rather then to be Pinch'd or Suffer in being lock'd up very long when in their Conscience they are Convinced that most of the rest are in the Wrong an Honest Man will say I have rather to be Starved though there be hardly once in Seven Years any such Dilemma than to go against my own judgment and Conscience which when thus wounded will at one time or other rise and fly in their Faces 3ly This regard's the Plaintiff who is to promote his just Cause by Fair and Lawful Ways without False Accusations Subornation or such unwarrantable Practises 4thly The Defendant who in his own Defence must forbear using any malicious and unjust Means and make use of none but such as are according to Truth Law and Reason 5ly The Evidences are concerned whose Duty 't is with bearing true Witness to help and relieve their Neighbour in his just Cause when 't is in danger of being Oppressed And here I would have all Parties from the Judges to the Witnesses to mind that there is a great Day of Judgment a coming when all indifferently shall stand at the Bar to give God an Account of every Idle Word much more of every False and Unjust Judgment Evidence or other Sinful Dealing when the Secrets of all Men shall be made manifest and Mens own Consciences shall be Witnesses against themselves their own Judges and Tormentors and let them know how God ever is among them though in an invisible way and sees hears and sets down upon Record their false and unjust Dealings for (a) Prov. 15 3. the Eyes of the Lord for whom they judge and bear Witness are in every place beholding the Evil and the Good and (b) Zechar. 4.10 these Eyes of the Lord do run to and fro through the whole Earth So that he leaves not himself without Witness And the Qualification of those who are to judge the People whether under the Name of Judge or Jury are plainly set down in God's Word they must be (c) Exod. 18.21 Able Men such as fear God men of Truth hating Covetousness But we must return to Truth and somewhat longer insist upon it the Importance thereof is made out First By the many positive and reiterated Commands of God for us to Practise it in every thing we say or do Secondly Because God doth so often and so expresly Forbid us the Practise of the Vice contrary unto that heavenly Vertue namely to Lie for as Truth is the Daughter of God so a Lie is the Child of the Devil and often God in one and the same place doth Command one and Forbid the other God's great Commandment is that we should speak the Truth Love Follow and (d) 2 John 4. 3 John 3. 1 John 2.21 Walk in the Truth God is the God of Truth nay Truth it self and no Lie is of the Truth (e) John 1.17 Truth came by Jesus Christ and he himself (f) ch 14.6 is the Truth and (g) ch 18.37 For this cause he came into the World that he should bear witness unto the Truth The necessary Qualification for one to â—e admitted and abide in his Tabernacle is (h) Psal. 15.2 3. To speak the Truth in his Heart not to back-bite with his Tongue nor to take up a Reproach against his Neighbour See how Heart and Tongue are concern'd in matter of Truth to the same purpose the Psalmist says 24.3 4. Who shall stand in the Lord 's holy place he that hath not Sworn Deceitfully c. So that by the Rule of Contraries he that speaketh not the Truth in his Heart shall not abide in his Tabernacle nor he that hath Sworn deceitfully in his holy place This is the Mark by David given of an upright Man but the Character of the Wicked is that he speaks Lies For the Wicked are Estranged from the Womb they go astray assoon as they be Born speaking Lyes Psalm 58.3 but (i) Psal. 96.13 God shall Judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Truth Here is the Pattern for men to Judge by as God doth with Righteousness and with Truth 'T is said of the Messiah the Lord Jesus (k) Isa. 42.3 He shall bring forth Judgement unto Truth Here is a Precedent for you O ye Judges of the Earth Judges Jury-men and Witnesses lay hand upon your Conscience and see whether there be not a just Cause to renew the Prophet's Complaint (l) Jerem. 9.5 They will deceive every one his Neighbour and will not speak the Truth they have taught their Tongue to speak Lies and they delight in Lies Psal 62.4 Another Prophet saith (m) Isa 59.15.4 Truth faileth and have we not a most just cause to complain of it and None calleth for Justice yea some call for 't but cannot obtain it Nor any pleadeth for Truth and though they do 't is to little or no purpose for they Trust in Vanity and speak Lies at least they Believe it I am much afraid that (n) 2 Thess 2.11 God hath sent a strong Delusion that men should Believe a Lie and many too Hear of a glorious Promise (o) Zacha. 8.3 Jerusalem shall be called a City of Truth Would to God we could say
after the manner of Adulteresses How so I will bring up a Company upon them and will give them to be Removed and Spoiled and the Company shall Stone them with Stones and dispatch them with Swords they shall slay their Sons and their Daughters and burn up their Houses with Fire When that Sin is not Punished with private Judgment at last God doth it with publick The Concealers the Denyers of Justice become Accessory and this bringeth publick Judgments upon Cities and whole Kingdoms And Thus saith God will I cause Lewdness to cease out of the Land that all Women may be taught not to do after your Lewdness The Lord not only maketh Adulteresses Examples of his Judgments but also makes them Examples to others as a Buoy to take Warning by When God hath been as it seemed only looking upon for a while then he sitteth upon the Judgment-seat and judgeth (m) ch 16.38 I will judge thee as Women that break Wedlock As indeed Punishment is ty'd to the Tail of Sin when un-repented (n) Rev. 2 20 21 22. I gave her Jezabel space to repent of her Fornication and she repented not behold I will cast her into a Bed and them that commit Adultery with her into great Tribulation But to return close to our Point and which is our main Design to ground it upon the Truth of God's Word which we lay our chief stress upon Before I conclude I desire the Reader to remember what our blessed Saviour the great and supream Judge said upon the matter and to make him take the more notice of it in few words I shall make a kind of Recapitulation of the Substance of it out of which it doth clearly appear that in this point of Divorce Two things occur to be Discussed which our blessed Lord doth by his Authority decide in the two places of Matthew's Gospel already Quoted in the first Occasionally when he purges of and refutes several false Glosses which the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon the Law but in the last he speaks to 't as being the matter in hand and directly to answer the Question put to him Whether for every Cause a Man might lawfully Divorce his Wife Which he denyed and gave reason for it out of Gen. 1 27. and 2.24 But because as the Evangelist Observes they came unto him Tempting him and this design was if possible to make him Contradict Moses (o) John ◠as at another time they would have done in the Case of the Woman taken in Adultery that they might have something wherewith to Accuse him here to Intangle him they brought in Moses's Authority who had commanded to give a Writing of Divorcement but of it he gave a Reason namely their Hardness of Heart whereat they could not be pleased And in the following Verse he Magisterially and by his Legislative Authority thus Decided it But I say c. These Words to be compared with those of Chap 5. which are Parallel and about the same Subject as quoted before and both do plainly affirm the self same thing which hath two parts the first about Divorce the Second about Marrying again after it As to the First there are Two Things one Expressed the other Implyed and this last as well as the first coutained in the Text Our Saviour affirm that no man may Divorce his Wife for every Cause vain and trivial as the Jews used to do but at the same time he declares there is one Cause and only that which he names Fornication for which a Man may lawfully put away his Wife For when he denies that any man may Divorce his Wife except for the Cause of Fornication at the same time he implieth that Fornication is a lawful Cause to put her away and every Divorce Grounded upon that Cause and none else Is Lawful or else why should he make that Exception If his Intention had been to Teach that there is no just cause in the World for a Husband to Divorce his Wife he would absolutely have spoken it thus for no Cause whatsoever and not have assigned one with an Exception Saving for the Cause of Fornication he must be Blind who cannot or Obstinate that will not see this Truth out of both these places But they both do also afford another Truth as a just and right Consequence of the former if the Divorce be unlawful then a second Marriage is unlawful which by the Rules of Contraries implies that if the Divorce be Lawful then a Second Marriage is also lawful so any man who hath put away his Wife for the cause of Fornication may marry another for there is no middle either make the Divorce Unlawful and the second Marriage Unlawful or the Divorce Lawful and a second Marriage so These two things are so depending one upon another and so much the Consequence one of another that we see our Saviour doth injoyn them together that having spoken of the Divorce he presently and immediately mentions a Marriage of both Parties in the 5th chapt of the Woman and in the 19th of both Man and Woman 'T is said Whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the Cause of Fornication causeth her to commit Adultery How doth he cause her to commit Adultery Because she Marrieth another if she would continue Single there would be no Adultery committed but she marrying another Husband and the Marriage with the first holding still and not being dissolved because Fornication which is the true Cause of Divorce did not intervene then such Marriages are meer Adulteries So then the Husband who hath unlawfully Divorced his Wife if he marrieth another committeth Adultery and the Wife that is thus unlawfully Divorced if she marrieth another Husband doth also commit Adultery but neither Husband nor Wife if lawfully Divorced though he marries another Wife and she another Husband do commit Adultery as observed before by the Rule of Contraries A second Marriage is an Effect of a Divorce so if the Cause be Good and Lawful or Unjust and Unlawful the Effect must be such It is well known how by the Jewish Law and Custom a Woman Divorced might and did marry another and our Saviour finds no Fault with this nor with marrying again but with their Divorce without just Ground and Cause for if they were lawfully Divorced they might Marry again For as observed before Marriage is the Remedy which God hath appointed against Incontinency so that those who are lawfully Divorced if they have not the Gift of Chastity as the Apostle saith to avoid Fornication must Marry 1 Cor. 7. What must a Man do after he hath put away his Wife and she after she hath been put away and they cannot Contain must he turn an Whore-monger and she an Harlot How can this be justified after a lawful Divorce With Paul I may say (p) Heb. 13.4 Marriage is Honourable with all but Whore-mongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. 13.4 In his due time thô often (q)
Condemneth the Wicked that is him who Prophaned his Temple and his Altar by a false Oath then Execution followeth the Sentence for he brings his Way upon his Head And also he justifies the Righteous and gives him according to his Righteousness Let all men that are brought to their Oath take a special notice of this that God is both Witness and Avenger wherefore there must be an awful Reverence of God's most Holy and Sacred Name which is made use of upon Occasion not upon Common and Trivial but only necessary just and weighty Accounts Wherefore the Nature and Use of an Oath are to be known before one Sweareth First the Nature by considering three things the Person to be Sworn by that is GOD the Parts of the Oath or the several Actions included and implied in it which are Four 1st An Assertion by way of Affirming or Denying either barely or with Obligation to or from something The 2d An Acknowledgment of God's Omniscience Almightiness Justice and other like Attributes The 3d An Invocation of him to bear Witness to the Truth of what we say The 4th an Imprecation against our selves if we do speak Falsly that is a referring over and offering ourselves into his Hands to be Punished by his power and justice Then the Purpose or Use to which these Actions are to be applyed are to be Considered that is the ending of a Controversy which otherwise cannot be conveniently ended So that an Oath is a Religious Service of God whereby we refer ourselves unto him as a competent and fit Witness and Judge of the Truth and Falshood of our Speeches about a Controverted matter for the ending thereof Now the Use of an Oath must be known in Two Things 1st Of just Occasions of using it as when the matter is of moment either in it self or in the Consequents and Effects of it as for the Satisfying of another that requires and will accept of it or binding of one's self either to another as (a) Gen. 47 31. Jacob caused Joseph to Swear or to himself (b) 1 Kings 2.23 as Solomon Sware that Adonijah should Dye 2ly We must know the just manner of an Oath in regard of using it upon such an occasion and that in the Three ways I mentioned before which men cannot be too much put in mind of namely in Judgment that is in a serious Consideration of the Cause of our Swearing and Greatness of the Name of God by which we Swear in Truth that is a perfect Agreement betwixt the meaning of the words of him that Sweareth and betwixt both these and the things themselves of which the Speech is and that also according to the Intention of him that tendereth the Oath so far as he shall manifest his Intentions to him that Sweareth Also in Righteousness that is in Reverence to God Care of doing Good not Hurt unto our Neighbours by Swearing and Aiming at the right end which is quietly determining of a Doubt by interposing God's Name to shew our high Opinion of him for thus God and Man have their due and that is Righteousness in every act that every one whom it concerns may have that which is due to him therein It must be observed how in matter of Oaths there are an Affirmative and a Negative part that is Things Commanded and Things Forbidden for every one of the Ten Commandments when it commands a Vertue doth at the same time forbid the Vices contrary to it and when a Vice is forbidden the Vertues contrary are commanded though Commanding is expressed in Affirmative Terms as Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it Holy The Forbidding is declared in Negative Terms Thou shalt not wherein is contained every other Precept of the First and Second Tables of the Law of God Now men ought to take Notice how Negative Precepts are of a larger extent and more binding than Affirmative for these bind only Semper non ad Semper at Certain Times not at all Times but the Negative do bind Always and at all times as I am bound to Help and Assist and be Charitable to my Neighbour but that is only when he wants my help and as far as I am able which I am not always neither doth he always stand in need of being helped but the Negative Precept goes further for I stand bound never to hurt him to do him Wrong and Injury at no time whatsoever This I now take notice of in relation to the Third Commandment not to take the Name of the Lord in vain which I shall have occasion to speak of as being the Ground which in this matter I am to go upon for therein the Abuses of an Oath are forbidden and 't is Abused in Two ways 1st In the Taking 2ly In the Keeping thereof In relation to the First as to the matter for it's Object or Subject for the Object the Thing or Person Sworn by for the Subject whether Affirmative or Promissive As to the First the Thing must be True and the Oath Necessary not Trivial which deserves not an Oath As to the Second the thing Promised ought not to be either Impossible or Unlawful As to the manner of using the Oath it must not be taken 1st Ignorantly 2ly Without Cause or just Inducement thereto 3ly Irreverently 4ly Ragingly or in the bitterness of Passion 5ly Maliciously with a Design of Hurting any Man 6ly Nor Falsly Have a great Care of Negative Oaths wherein lays a great danger of Forswearing therefore not to be tendered nor taken for they can be no Proofs only sometimes strong Presumptions Indeed one may well say I never heard such a man say so or I never saw him do so but no man may say He never said or did so he might say and do so though you never heard or saw him speak or do 't A Negative Assertion may by a good Consequence be drawn from a Positive thus Such a man at such a time to my certain Knowledge was in the City therefore at the same time he was not in the Countrey for at once he could not be in both places but I may not Swear such a one at such a time was not in the City because I did not see him for he might be there and you not see him only in this Case if the place be within such a narrow compass that he cannot be in 't when you are there but you must see him as for Instance At such a Day and such an Hour we were Twelve at Table in such a place he was none of the Twelve therefore he was not there though one may say he was not at Table yet he may not say he was not in the Room for he might be hidden in some secret part thereof All this I say to shew how Cautious men ought to be in point of Oaths but I see this matter is so Copious as I find it draws me very far wherefore I must restrain it only to my present Purpose namely Perjury
of all their Judgments And as the Understanding ought to be Sound and the Heart Upright so must the Conscience to love search find out and judge according to Truth be very wary and cautious to do nothing against it rather detest abhor and punish all Lies Falshood and any thing conttary to 't Besides these they must not want Moral Vertue but avoid things contrary thereunto Now Justice is one of the Four Moral Vertues and as nothing is so apt to pervert it as Covetousness for it makes men seek after Bribes and both Blindeth the Eyes and Corrupteth the Heart so they that are appointed to do Justice ought not only to be free from but also to (s) 1 Coloss 3.5 Hate Covetousness which by the Apostle is well called Idolatry because Riches is the god of adored and served by the Covetous Man in few words the same Apostle calls the Love of Money which is Covetousness the Root of all Evil. This is the most pernicious Rock of all which Judges can run upon This very same Sin though they had every other Quality for the Place doth Unqualify them for it and highly declares them Uncapable of Except they hate Covetousness all other good Qualities are Insignificant and it is Pity a great Shame and Scandal to any Court of Judicature that any one who ever was Branded with and Convicted of Bribery should be suffered to sit upon the Bench and have Daily Occasion to satisfy his Covetousness and Pervert Justice and Judgment of such speaks David when (t) Psalm 26.10 he saith Their Right-hand is full of Bribes but Fire shall Consume the Tabernacles of bribery Job 15.34 We have in Scripture another most considerable Charge though to the same Purpose as Moses's in King Jehoshaphat's Instructions to his Judges thus (u) 2 Chron. 19.5 6 7. And he said to the Judges take heed what ye do for ye judge not for men but for the Lord who is with you in the Judgment Wherefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no Iniquity with the Lord our God nor Respect of Persons nor taking of Gifts This is very full and comprehensive first to shew how Cautious Judges and Juries must be of what they do not to be Rash or Hasty or Corrupt in their Judgments and though they be appointed by men as Princes c. as those Princes and Kings themselves are appointed by God so Justice is Originally in and derived from God for that saying of Divine Wisdom of the Son of God is most true (w) Prov. 8.15 16. By me Princes Rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the Earth by me Kings reign and decree Justice Not only from but by me in my Name and Authority Wherefore Jehoshaphats Reason is very true First Negatively Ye judge not for men Then Positively but for God with this weighty Consideration that God is with them in the judgment If Judges should judge for Men that is for those who appointed them for that Office then they would judge for the Absent for Princes who gave them their Places are not present at their judgments and therefore if they have a mind to know what passes in such Courts they stand in need of being informed by others for they cannot know it by themselves but when they judge for God 't is for him who being every where is always with them heareth seeth and observeth all their Proceedings and knows all by himself and therefore needs not being informed by men of what passeth there (x) Heb. 4 13. for There is not any Creature or thing that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Therefore Judges in the Discharge of the Duty of their places ought to look upon and eye God and not men or at least God chiefly and primarily Wherefore this good King Jehoshaphat would have not the fear of himself be upon his Judges as if he would turn them out of their places or undergo his Displeasure if they did not Right but he would work upon them out of a more noble and higher Motive not out of a Principle of Interest but of Conscience and that makes him point at the very Spring of all Justice Equity Rewards and Pains when he saith let the Fear of God be upon you and they ought to have a great care and it ought to be their whole and constant Study to do 't by a Reason drawn from the Purity of the Nature and Actings of God for there is no Iniquity with the Lord our God as the Spring is so the Streams derived from it ought to be God's Representatives upon Earth in administring of Justice ought to imitate him and not suffer Justice which is pure in it's Source to be corrupt and defiled by themselves as the Pipes thorough which it is conveyed for as it is Written Be ye Holy as I am Holy so they are Commanded Be ye Just for I am Just or else thorough his just Judgment they may happen to be Infatuated and deprived of their Understanding a heavy Punishment for (y) Job 12.17 God maketh the Judges Fools Now as to Witnesses besides what I have already said upon the matter the Charge is (a) Exod. 23.1 Put not thine Hand with the Wicked to be an unrighteous Witness Which argues how sometimes there is amongst the Wicked a Combination to be false Witnesses to pervert Right and Justice (b) Prov 24.28 Be not a Witness against thy Neighbour without Cause and Deceive not with thy Lips Without a just Cause and a lawful Call men ought not to intrude to be Witnesses against any one no Enmity Envy or Jealousy should prompt us to it but when we are Summoned then have a care not to tell Lies but to speak the Truth from the Heart The â—inth Precept is very Positive and Universal renewed and confirmed in several other places (c) Exod. 20.16 Deuter. 5.20 Matth. 19.18 Luke 18.20 Rom. 13.9 Not to bear false Witness The Character which Solomon gives of a False Witness is this (d) Prov. 2â— 18. A Man that beareth false Witness â—gainst his Neighbour is a Maul and a â—word and a sharp â—rrow A Dart a â—â—ammer and not barely an Arrow but a Sharp one ail these Offensive Arms whereof some break things in pieces others divide and this to shew the Mortality of the Wound made by such False Tongues Now such Villanies as these are the more Abominable because there is nothing to be pleaded for to excuse it 't is no Mischance no Ignorance no Mistake nor Infirmity but it proceeds out of a rotten Principle out of a corrupt Spring from the Heart wherein it is designedly deliberately and maliciously Contrived and Hatched For saith the Lord Jesus out of the Heart proceed among other horrid Sins (d) Matth. 15.19 False Witness and Blasphemies The wise King makes
all manner of Equivocations and mental Reservations for those Locusts that are broke loose out of the Bottomless Pit I mean the Jesuits But for true Christian Protestants who make a Profession of the pure and true Doctrine of the Gospel they ought in their Practise as in their Principles wholly to detest and abhor it Every honest Man ought to fear an Oath and not be forward rather avoid being brought to it except upon a Good and Lawful account and before-hand consider the binding Nature and Consequences thereof and when upon the Stage to remember he must Swear the Truth and nothing but the Truth therefore to be the more Cautious of what he saith for though one may happen to impose upon Men yet he never can upon God who hears and seeth all windings and turnings of the heart this rule holds for Young as well as for Old Men for young die as well as old though one would think according to the course of Nature they have a longer race to run yet Experience teaches it to be a mistake for more die under Thirty years then above however soon or late all must die Death is certain but the time uncertain and truly though some Perjured Young Men should live the longer yet this Sin would make their life but uncomfortable for being Enemies to God they cannot be at peace with their Consciences and themselves nor with others for there is a Curse tied to the back of Perjury which except they be wholly hardened and that on this side Hell is the greatest of all Judgments hunts them perpetually and makes them miserable for (i) Isa 57.20 21. The Wicked are like the Troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the Wicked nor shall be As for Witnesses that are come to Age they ought to be the more weary of what they say because having already one Foot in the Grave they cannot tell how soon the whole Body shall be tumbled into 't Wherefore they ought to consider every Day and every Moment as being possible for it to be the last of their Life and when they give in their Evidence as if they were upon their Death-bed and come to their last Gasp and as if they were taking the Sacrament upon 't Surely in that Condition besides the immediate Presence of God no man that hath any sense of Religion would take the Holy Ordinance of the most Sacred Blood and Flesh of Our most blessed Saviour to be a Witness to a Lie and go out of this World with a False Oath in his Mouth to appear in the Presence of the All-seeing and All-knowing God of Truth to give an Account of himself I am Charitably loth to believe any one is so desperately Wicked as considering all these Circumstances would Swear Falsly If so when any is upon such an Account brought to his Oath let him look upon himself as at that very time lying under all such Circumstances for he can be sure of nothing to the contrary it being not impossible for him to Dye at that time of a Sudden Death which hath been and is still the case of many Now I say these Thoughts may work upon and Influence one on such an Occasion to say the Truth and not to suffer himself by any means to be Byassed in what he is upon nor to have any Regard to those he doth speak for or against from the King that Sitteth upon the Throne to the Beggar that lyes on the Dunghill he must be Partial only for the Truth and withal Consider that he Witnesseth not for men only but also for God who is Concerned called to be a Witness and whose Cause Truth is Every one that is Witness for another hath his own Witness for himself and must with Joh say (k) Job 16.19 Behold my Witness is in Heaven this God owns and I Wish that every one when he gives his Evidence would represent God speaking to him thus (l) Jerem. 29 23. Even I know and I am a Witness saith the Lord. It should make one Tremble to speak a Lie in the Presence of the God of Truth as no man when he doth an evil thing desires to have any one present and witness to what he doth for as Evil is a work of Darkness so he that commits it in any kind doth seek dark places and avoids the Light which would reprove him for his Work now if one when he doth a bad thing is so unwilling and afraid to be seen by any man for Shame from the Time of our First Parents is an Attendant of Sin how much more ought one to be ashamed and afraid to do Evil and speak Lies in God's Name in God's own Presence and under his Eye which none can avoid This Presence and Testimony of God is the only way to clear and secure all things at least for time to come Thus Samuel upon his going out of this World takes great care to make all things even between himself and the People (m) 1 Sam. 12 3 4 5. how He had not Defrauded nor Oppressed them neither taken any Bribe to blind his Eyes The Truth whereof he calls God to Witness to whom after his Death he was to give an Account of The People gave in their Witness that he had spoken the Truth but besides he had that of his own Conscience but that of God was the greatest of all for therein lyes the Comfort and Assurance of a Good Soul for (n) 1 John 5.9 If we receive the Witness of men the Witness of God is greater And this I Wish every man that is brought upon his Oath would Consider well Upon this Point one thing more I would Commend to the serious Consideration of Judges and Juries namely the Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents of Perjury among other things the Malicious Designs and Contrivances thorough the Suggestions of the Devil and Corruption of Man's Heart whereby the Guilty do inure themselves to and harden in Evil things thereby fitting and disposing themselves thorough ill Habit and Custom to commit any Villanies in the World according to their own Counsels by which at last they fall from worse things to worst of all Some of the Concomitants are Falsehood Hypocrisie Deceit Impiety c. all Punishable by the Laws of God and men As to the Consequents they are Dreadful Pernicious and Destructive for thereby a Dishonour is put upon God and Occasion offered his Enemies to Blaspheme a Scandal upon Religion followeth with a Stain upon a Nation this also will Ruin Persons Families and overthrow whole Kingdoms After this no man's Good Name Honour Estate Liberty or Life can be safe and secure So after this rate no man may call his own any thing he hath thus farewel Property and Right And what to Day is one man's case may to morrow be any one 's else so Division Distraction and Destruction are at hand as