gives us the fullest account of it For ye are not come unto the Mount that might be touched and that burned with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more and v. 21. so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake Which request of the Israelites doth plainly imply that they well understood that the reason why God did proclaim his Laws after so dreadful and terrible a manner was that they might receive them with the greater reverence and observe them with the greater diligence which therefore they promised to do upon the meer intimation of his will to Moses And as God caused his Law to be promulgated after so solemn a manner that it might make the greater impression upon them so did he also confirm and ratifie it with the greatest Sanctions for the same reason i. e. as he did promise the greatest blessings to encourage them to obedience so he denounced the severest Curses Judgments and Penalties against such ceeds from vanity or lightness of mind and want of the fear of God and a true sense of Religion from fraud and hypocrisie in the Swearers or the incredulity and distrustfulness of some who will believe no one without an Oath and the words are true in either sense Which Positive Precept serves only for the illustration and confirmation of the Negative one Above all things swear not c. That men might have no evasion pretence or excuse for the breach of it And here I must premise that the Apostle doth not forbid such Oaths as are Imposed by Magistrates or used in matters of Weight and importance for the maintenance of truth Justice and deciding of Controversies among Men Which are either Assertory when a man doth Assert or deny that such or such a thing was or is or Promissory which is a promise made with Solemn Invocation of the Name of God which if made to God are called Vows if to Men Oaths Now these have not only been used in all Ages and Nations but accounted necessary for the support of human Society and the greatest security that one man can give of his Truth and Fidelity to another as it 's said Heb. 6.16 An Oath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Confirmation is among men an end of all strife And we have several Instances of it Abraham made his Servant Swear concerning the chooseing of a Wife for his Son Gen. 24.3 Jacob took an Oath of Joseph concerning his Burial Gen. 47.31 As he did of the Israelites Chap. 50.25 And what a Solemn Oath did there pass betwixt David and Jonathan 1 Sam. 20.17 But if there is any one to be believed without an Oath certainly God is who as he is Omniscient and cannot be deceived so is he so immutably Holy as that he cannotlye and yet that we might the more firmly believe and embrace his Promises he has been pleased to confirm them with an Oath Heb. 6.17 God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the Immutability of his Counsel Confirm'd it by an Oath The Apostle says v. 13. That when God made the promise to Abraham because he could Swear by no greater he Sware by himself Why what need was there of God's Swearing at all What would not Abraham the Father of the Faithful that great Pattern and most eminent Exemplar of Faith he of whom it is said long before the making of that Promise that he believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness Gen. 15.6 and that he Stagger'd not at the Promises through Unblief Rom. 8.20 but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God Would not he I say have taken God's bare word or did God doubt whether he would have believed him without his Oath No certainly 't was far otherwise And yet for the greater Solemnity he Confirmed his promise with an Oath Which doubtless he would not have done had an Oath been morally Evil and unlawful For tho God doth often condescend to represent himself after the manner of Men yet he never doth Imitate or comply with them in any matter or custom that is in it self wicked and Sinful Indeed there is a Sect sprung up among us that utterly refuse and condemn all Oaths as unlawful at least under the Gospel Reformation tho the use of them might be Tolerated under the Law upon the same account that divorce was viz. because of the hardness of mens hearts And in Compliance with their Infirmity And their Opinion is professedly grounded on that precept of Christ Mat. 5.33 which seems indeed very much to Countenance it being laid down in the most large and comprehensive Terms But I say unto you Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. Which is the same Law here enforced by St. James much after the same manner But this as it is a very new and upstart opinion so I think it was never entertain'd by any one man of any considerable Learning or understanding tho I must confess there is scarce any error that hath greater colour or pretence to countenance it in Scripture so that it s no wonder so many have imbraced it I shall not Labour at present in confutation of it my design being not to discourse of what is not but of what is forbidden in the Text but only briefly And first It is certain that if such Solemn Oaths are sinful they were always so For Christ as he did not come to destroy the Law or any part thereof so did he not properly make any Addition to it only he shewed the true sense and meaning and the true extent and Obligation of it he gave a fuller and better interpretation of it then had been formerly made and confuted those false Glosses and comments that the Scribes and Pharisees put upon it Before Christ's coming it was the duty of all men to avoid not only Murther but Hatred Malice Revenge Envy yea and rash and causless Anger not only the act of Adultery but all unchast Thoughts and lustful Desires 'T was not he alone that made it unlawful for men to put away their Wives for every cause it was a sin from the beginning In brief 't was no more lawful before his time than it was afterward for men to resist evil or to render evil for evil it was always their duty to love their Enemies to do good to them that hated them c. Tho' indeed the generality of the Jews did not so well understand what was commanded or forbidden by the Law until Christ did then expound it to them tho' the Scribes and Pharisees would not receive his Exposition And therefore it follows that if it be now a sin to swear or take any Oath at all under the Gospel it was so under the Law and yet w◠find it frequently used by good men and tha◠not rashly
light he that was known to have been drunk was forced to keep private and was ashamed to show his face But now 't is grown so common and usual that many hardly think it a sin at most a very small one But what then doth the commonness of a sin extenuate it and make it less No certainly 't is rather an aggravation of it shews the great decrease of Piety and Godliness and the great encrease of wickedness profaneness and debauchery 'T is the commonness of a sin that makes it cry so loud for vengeance Had there been but ten Righteous Persons in Sodom God would have spared it and had there been but ten guilty of those great sins 't is probable he would not have destroyed it 'T was because those great sins were grown so common that God said that they were very grievous and the cry of them was come up before him Gen. 18.20 When great and notorious sins do universally and generally prevail in a Nation And little or no notice is taken of them and few are concerned about them 't is a sign that the measure of it's sins are full and that 't is ripe for vengeance As when all flesh had corrupted it's ways and the earth was filled with violence 't was time for the Floud to come and sweep them away Gen. 6.11 Thus when dolatry and Lewdness was grown so rife among the Canaanites as that there was hardly one to be found among them that was not guilty their Land was no longer able to bear the burthen of their wickedness but was forced them to spue out And God charges the Israelites that they should take heed that they should not tolerate any of them such as Idolatry uncleanness or the like lest if they should become customary the same land should cast them out too Levit. 18.28 Was Lying the smaller a sin or the more excusable in the Cretans because 't was universal no rather 't was much the greater for which cause St. Paul strictly charges Titus that he should rebuke them sharply Tit. 1.13 We ought not therefore to follow a multitude to do evil Exod. 22.3 for 't were easy to demonstrate that the more common a sin is the greater and more heinous it is in the sight of God Again to make Swearing a mark and token of Gentility is the greatest abuse and highest affront can be put upon the Gentry Gentility was designed as the reward of virtue and all Civilized Nations did ever justly expect that the gentry should raise themselves to an higher pitch then the commonalty and signalize themselves by worthy and virtuous actions If Swearing be a Gentile accomplishment Gentility will soon become ridiculous and contemptible in the eyes of all sober men And such Gentlemen how much soever they may be fear'd will never be loved or esteemed by any yea they are the very scorn and contempt of the Rabble And if to be able to mouth an Oath gracefully as some speak shall be thought a gentile qualification to swear like a Gentleman will soon become as common and scandalous a Proverb as to be as drunk as a Begger How rhetorically such graceful Oaths may sound in some mens ears or what tropes or figures they may fancy in them I know not sure I am that Swearing is none of that Salt with which â—t Paul would have us season our speech to make it savoury and pleasing to sober and good men Solomon tells us Pro. 14.9 fools make a mook at sin but what egregious fools are they that think it a Grace and Ornament What Grace what Ornament can that be in which the meanest Beggar and the veryest fool that is able to speak can come up equal with them In brief As Swearers are the most nonsensical among men so all the excuses they can make for it are idle silly and impertinent it being a sin by which no man can gain any thing besides everlasting damnation which brings me to speak of the reason of the prohibition why Christians should above all things abstain from Swearing viz. Lest they should fall into condemnation The reason why the Scribes and Pharisees looked upon the Obligation of the Law to be chiefly external and consequently why they were very careful to avoid the outward acts of Murther Adultery Theft and false Witness but made little or nothing of Anger Envy or Malice especially towards Enemies or of Lust or Covetousness was because they observed that there were no punishments appointed for these latter by the Judicial Law They accounted the Tenth Commandment to be a Guard or Fence of the Laws of the Second Table by way of advice or counsel rather than properly any part of it and therefore they thought that if a person did keep himself from doing actually any hurt or injury to his Neighbour he did not violate that Law tho' he were guilty of the sins of Malice Lust and Covetousness in his heart and desires or if they were sins they esteemed them too small and inconsiderable to deserve punishment because God had not expresly threatned any punishment to them And so in like manner here they observing that tho' there were the severest punishments denounced in the Law and by the Prophets against Perjury or false Swearing yet there were none against rash vain Swearing they thought it but a small and inconsiderable sin or rather no sin at all especially when they swore by the Creatures Indeed they pretended to have that awful veneration of the Name of God that they very seldom swore by it but in the matters of weight and concern And as a solemn confirmation of some great and important truth according to that Jer. 4.2 Thou shalt swear the Lord Liveth in Truth in Judgment and Righteousness Yea 't is very evident from Eccles. 23.9 that the wise and devout among the Jews did very much condemn rash and vain swearing or taking God's Name in vain as very dangerous and inconvenient if not absolutely sinful and wicked in and of it's self Where the Son of Sirach adviseth thus Accustom not thy self to Swearing neither use thy self to the naming of the holy one For as a Servant that is continually beaten shall not be without the blue mark so he that Sweareth and nameth God continually shall not be faultless Yea so distastful and odious was common Swearing to the wise and religious that the same person says Chap. 27.14 the discourse of fools is irksome and their speech is the wantonness of sin The talk of him that Sweareth much maketh their hair stand upright and their braules make one stop his ears As it is a sin therefore displeasing to God so 't was odious to good men ' tho it doth not appear there was any bodily punishment or Pecuniary Mulct annext to it by the Judicial Law But as our Saviour shows Mat. 5.20 that not only Murther but rash Anger and approbrious words and whatever else proceeded from Malice or envy was prohibited by God's Law and ' tho
woes against the Scribes and Pharisees they thereupon began to urge him vehemently and to provoke him to speak of many things laying waite for him and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him They thought that he was warm with zeal and passion And they hoped that by provokeing and exasperateing of him they might cause him to speak such things as might give them matter of Accusation and that they might intrap and intangle him in his Discourse What advantage they thought they had against Christ the same Satan really hath upon most men when they are angry he takes that time to tempt them to such things as at other times he despaireth of perswading them to And that he hath at such times especially a fit opportunity to provoke those that are in the least given to Swearing to be guilty of that sin is evident from this that they alleadge their being in a passion to excuse or at least to extenuate their being guilty of it Again as for such as are very little or nothing Addicted to this sin and would avoid it let them carefully avoid lewd and debauched company i. e. the company and society of such as customarily use it 'T is a common and usual thing for persons who have been Civilly and Religiously educated when they go abroad into the World if they fall into ill company to be soon corrupted and debauched and to learn those vices which at first they seemed to dread the thoughts of 'T was doubtless a very common thing in the Egyptian court to Swear by the Life of Pharoah and Joseph himself when he became a Courtier and Associated with the Grandees of Egypt that he might be modish had learnt it too Gen. 42.16 4. If we would avoid this sin of Swearing let us not accustom our selves to vain foolish and unnecessary Asseverations such as Faith and Troth upon my word as I am an honnest man and the like in which there may be more evil then every one doth imagine And indeed our Saviour seems to condemn such forms of speech as well as Swearing it's self Mat. 5.34 for having said Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. he adds but let your Communication i. e. your talk or discourse in ordinary Conversation be yea yea nay nay For whatsoever is more then these cometh of evil Now 't is most certain and evident that such Protestations or Asseverations are somewhat more then yea yea and nay nay i. e. then plain simple Affirmations or Negations and therefore must proceed from evil i. e. from guilt and hypocrisie or at least from Levity and inconsideration and they often tend to evil for which cause St. James here would have that our yea should be yea and our nay nay lest we should fall into Condemnation And perhaps the force of our Saviour's reason why he would not have us Swear by Heaven or Earth by the Temple or Altar or the like may without straining reach this very case Swear not by Heaven says he for it is â—od's Throne nor by the Earth for 't is his Footstool i. e. because God himself is virtually invoâ—ed by every such Oath And is not every such Asseveration a kind of Appeal to God and is not the Design of it much the same with that of an Oath viz. to gain the greater Credit to what we say tho' God's Name be not expresly and formally invoked For such Asseverations are either idle and insignificant things proceeding from a foolish custom and habit of speaking that we have gotten and then they are to no purpose or they are intended and taken as solemn confirmations of what we say and then they seem to be much of the nature of an Oath and upon both accounts they may be sinful to be used but there can be no danger or inconvenience in leaving and disusing of them But were those Asseverations in themselves never so harmless yet I am apt to believe the frequent use of them hath drawn many into Swearing for even those who did once scruple the first have in a little time fallen into the latter Even as those that often accustom themselves to those wicked words that are of kin to Curses are very easily drawn into Cursing it self If therefore we at any time use such forms of speech as are or are taken to be Asseverations or solemn Protestations 't is adviseable that we do it very sparingly and only in serious and weighty matters Lastly Let those that have not been guilty of this great sin make their humble Prayer and Supplication to God that they may never fall into it and let those that have been guilty of it Implore his grace that they may avoid it for the time to come I said I will take heed to my ways that I Offend not with my Tongue says David Psal 39.1 and 't was a good and pious Resolution and therefore he earnestly beggs the Assistance of God to inable him to make it good Psalms 141.3 Set a watch O Lord before my Mouâ—â— and keep the Door of my Lips Let us beseech him to make us sensible of the Sinfulness and danger of rash and vain Oaths as knowing that if for every Idle word we shall give an account much more for such sins as these of which whoever is guilty shall without serious Repentance and great Humilation fall into the Condemnation of which the Apostle speaks in the â—ext And how light soever he may make of it now he will then find it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God who is a Consuming â—ire and who hath Solemnly declared that he will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain Nomini tuo da Gloriam FINIS