6. To speak nothing but what is Necessary to be spoken Profitable to be heard 7. To bridle our Passions chiefly that of Anger the cause of as many other sins so especially that of Swearing 8. To avoid Drunkenness and to be lovers of Temperance 9. To shun the Company and Society of those that are given to Swearing 10. To consider the manifold and great miseries such blasphemers bring upon the Kingdom Places and Families wherein they live 8. A Diet for the Tongue being cured consisting in these three things 1. To be slow to speak 2. To be circumspect in speaking 3. To use few words when we speak 9. The benefit that will redound to us by observing this Religious Diet which is two-fold If we respect First our bodily Estate we procure to our selves hereby reputation and peace Secondly if we respect our Souls health hereby we shall free it from the guilt of many a sin 10. The Conclusion of all comprising an exhortation to this duty of not Swearing in regard that we are Gods Saints elected His Sons adopted His Servants redeemed by the blood of his Son Christ Jesus Therefore in all and for all God is to be glorified by us which is chiefly done by Invocation and Thanksgiving the two parts of Prayer and the Christians best Sacrifice A Prayer To be used by one that is addicted to the Sin of Swearing O Eternal Omnipotent Lord God who in thy self art the fulness and perfection of Glory and Happiness who needest no Tongue to praise thee no Pen to express thee and no Work to magnifie thy Greatness before whose glorious Name that is * Vid. Psal 20.1 Rom. 10.13 thy self an infinitely Great and Glorious God Angels and Arch-Angels bow with an humble lowly dejected reverence to which thy blessed Spirits and Saints of thy Triumphant Church sing perpetual Hallelujahs Rev. 19.1 so that Heaven rings and resounds with their Hymns Praises I a poor sprig of disobedient Adam who am as vile as sin can make me and deserve what curse thy wrath can lay upon me do here presume to take thy holy Name into my defiled lips that Name which I have dishonoured in my words disparaged in my thoughts and profaned in my actions yet knowing that thou art a jealous God and a consuming fire burning with love to a poor humble sinner and believing that as thou art fearful in thy Judgments so faithful in thy promises I fly upon the wings of this Faith from mount Ebal to mount Gerizim Deut. 11.29 from the dreadful Name Jehovah which I have abused to that gracious Name of Jesus wherein thou art well pleased In that most sweet and soul-refreshing Name O God I present my supplications unto thee beseeching thee not to remember what I have said or done but what my Saviour hath suffered for me in his Agony and bitter Passion O let his bloody sweat anoint my bleeding wounds and accept of his death as a full satisfaction to thy Justice for my sins Cleanse thou my heart O God from the stain of this bosom-darling-sin whose custom begun with a wanton imitation and being continued with an habitual presumption had almost taken out of my guilty Soul a sense of it and of thy displeasure against it O my God now that I have begun to have a taste and sight of the foulness and danger of my crying sin afford me I beseech thee that measure of thy Grace which may work in my heart a fear of thy displeasure and beget in me an awful reverence of thy Name Let all my communication be ordered as in thy presence let thy Holy Spirit govern the words of my mouth and so sanctifie my thoughts with the continual meditation of thy Commandments and of those fearful plagues which thy word denounceth against Swearers that I may be ever hereafter of the number of those thy servants who sanctifie the Lord in their Hearts 1 Pet. 5.15 who love and fear thee above all things in Heaven and Earth who delight with trust and affiance in thee above all worldly stayes and comforts and praise thee evermore with joyful lips Lord I desire to praise thee O heighten these desires I resolve by thy assistance no more to blaspheme thee O strengthen this good resolution for the time to come and avert those judgments from me which thy word hath threatned and my sin my black and filthy sin hath deserved And mortifie all those unruly passions which provoke me to offend thy Goodness especially that of Anger which if immoderate and carried on with precipitate rashness benights the Soul darkens Reason and hurries a man to the acting of those things that displease thee Therefore dear God kill this Fury in me and leave only so much life in it as to be zealous for thy Glory Quicken my Soul with faith in thy promises inflame my affections with love of thee for thy mercies fill my mouth with prayers to thee and praises and crown my weak desires of praising thee with the all-sufficient power and strength of thy Grace that glorifying thy Name with my Tongue and by an holy conversation I may escape that vengeance which thy Justice threatens against my sin here and obtain that happiness which thy mercy hath promised hereafter Lord grant these my requests for the merits of thy Son Christ Jesus in whose Name and Prayer sanctified with his sacred lips I beg these mercies and whatsoever else thou knowest requisite for me and for thy Church saying Our Father c. A Prayer For the whole Kingdom MOst glorious Lord God who delightest not in the death of one single sinner nor takest pleasure in the destruction of any Creature thou great and mighty God Jer. 32.18 whose name is the Lord of Hosts who rulest over all and governest all things in Heaven and Earth look down I humbly pray thee from the Throne of thy Glory and behold this sinful Kingdom wherein we live with an eye of mercy and pity Thy goodness and bounty O Lord have displayed themselves to us in many great and undeserved National mercies by restoring to us our most gracious King and Him to His Royal Dignities and redeeming thy Church from that Disorder and Confusion by means of proud and unquiet men whicn threatned our utter ruine and vastation for so great deliverances we are obliged to make returns unto thee of a thankful obedience by reforming our sinful lives and obeying thy commands But we as if we had forgot what thou hast done for us have done nothing for thee but rather much against thee by rebelling against thy word by resisting thy holy will by abusing thy Creatures through our wanton excess by profaning thy Sabbaths and blaspheming thy most sacred Name which ought to be ever hallowed and had in an awfull reverence by us These are our National personal crying sins which like so many infectious Vapours have mounted up to Heaven and being condens'd into a thick Cloud of
put off by degrees and lose this vicious custom A firm well-grounded setled resolution is the souls Coat of Maile to arme it against the powerful commands of a long continued habit or custom in sin Art thou then another Apitius a man given to excesse in meats and drinks to surfeiting and drunkenness resolve to eate and drink sparingly and that only at meals for thy necessity and by Gods grace assisting and strengthning thy resolution Aquin. ut bonum quod velis efficaciter opereris that thou mayest efficaciously put into act what thou resolvest thou shalt by degrees get a contrary habit of sobriety and temperance That thy resolution against swearing may be likewise effectuall in thee observe that Rule of St. Chrysostom Chrys Hom. 28. prefix to thy self a certain number of dayes whether eight ten or twelve more or less wherein thou must resolve never to swear an Oath first beseeching God in prayer to strengthen thee by his grace that thou mayest perform what thou resolvest If after this time expired or run out thou chancest to fall into the snare again and be intangled in the guilt of thy former sin what is then to be done by thee Chrys Hom. 5. ad Baptis Follow the Counsel of the fore-named learned Father punish thy tongue with an whole dayes thirst thy body with a long fast that the sense of this torment of hunger and thirst may beget in thee a sense or fear of Hells everlasting torments Rom. 6 23â— the wages of this and other unrepented sins If the fear of present pain in induring a daies thirst or of future I mean that which is everlasting with the Devil and his black Angels in Hell cannot bridle thy tongue and deter thee from this sin then try another way take another course perhaps the love of gain and reputation will do it Resolve therefore as oft as thou profanest Gods name with an Oath to give so many pieces of silver to the poorest of Christs Members Their prayers to God for thee together with the shame of thy often infirmities in committing so foul and unprofitable a sin whereby thou betrayest thy self to be Gods * Ps 139.20 Thine enemies take thy name in vain enemy their prayers I say on thy behalf to God and the shame in being noted or branded for Gods enemie as fighting against his will by a constant rebellion to his word and opposing his Commandement these may prevaile so far as to redeem thee from thy custom of swearing unlesse thy Conscience be cauterized and hardned in thy sin The III. Remedy A consideration of the great indignitie offer'd by it to God Now if none of these Remedies can work a cure of thy malady but after thy setled resolution and many tryals to subdue thy evil custom thou beest again foil'd in the fight and sin gets the Conquest then consider with thy self what an indignity and disgrace is cast thereby on thy Almighty God Let this supposall which I shall now propound to thy Conscience sink into thy heart and ponder it seriously Suppose the same Law were now in force which Lodowick or Lewis that famous King of France enacted in his time which was Vid. Câ—chtâ— v. Ser. de 2. praecepto that the lips of all swearers should be seared and their tongues bored through with an hot iron or imagine that all blasphemers were to be drown'd which another King of France King Philip ordain'd or that they should be beheaded which the Emperour Maximilian decreed or punished with Confiscation of goods besides the loss of their Lives if these Lawes were now in force among us wouldst not thou make a Covenant with thy lips and a League with thy tongue never to speak of God nor use his Name but with a reverent and awful devotion and that either in Prayer or Thanksgiving I presume thou wouldst Sith then God hath severely threatned as a punishment of this sin of swearing the everlasting burnings in the bottomless pit of Hell and we notwithstanding slight his threats and reject his commands do we not thereby * O miser praepost ra fidei homuncio homini pluâ— crediâ— quà m Deo qui creator est hominis poenam perpetuam minatur Deus negligis poenam temporalem minatur judeâ— terrenus contremisâ—u Viexmont Instit ad Poenitent p. 1. c. 1. undervalue the Divine Majesty do we not degrade him in our thoughts below man and thrust him as much as in us lyeth beneath the Creature in that we deny him that Reverence yield not that Obedience to his Lawes which we would afford to the Proclamation of an Earthly King or command of a Father St. Paul was sensible of this indignity offer'd unto God by our bold rebellion disobedience where he sayes Heb. 12.9 We had Fathers of our flesh who corrected us and we gave them Reverence shall we not much more be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live Mal. 1.6 Heb. 12. Agreeable to this is that complaint of God by his Prophet Malachy c. 1. A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master if I then be your Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts unto you that despise my name The Lord of Hosts methinks this one appellation when thou readest it should strike thy heart with fear considering his universal power and generall Command over the Creature the Heavens the Earth and all things in them contain'd All which like an Army set in battel-aray and sweetly order'd in their several ranks are ever in a readiness to obey their Makers commands Heb. 1.14 The Angels those Ministring Spirits do fly where and when God sends and appoints them Josh 10.13 the Sun and Moon stand still when he speaks the word as in the dayes of Joshuah A cloud will drop from the middle Region Exod. 14.20 leave its proper place and forsake its diurnall revolution to be a guide to Israel at its Makers command so the waters will stand on an heap and cease from their natural motion that Gods people may be secur'd from their pursuing enemies whilst they walk through the Sea as if it were dry land verse 29. More of this we may read in the 16. of Wisdom where we have many examples of the Creatures subjection to God their Creator Thus the inanimate and senseless Creatures are willing and ready to obey their Maker and shall man alone who only amongst them is honour'd with so rare a priviledge endow'd with so high a prerogative as to have reason and understanding given him to know to love and so the better to serve his God shall he alone be wanting in his duty deny obedience to his Maker for whose service he was created as the Creatures were for his The greater and lesser Luminaries of Heaven all sheep and oxen the beasts of the field the fouls of the aire and the fishes of the Sea and whatsoever walketh through the
his thoughts to the height of absurdities no one thing would be found more absurd then that practice of the Romanists who as they pray to Saints and Angels attributing to them thereby Gods power and omnisciency who onely knows our severall wants and can help us in all our needs so to back this absurdity they have broach'd a new Impiety maintaining it lawfull as in prayer so in Swearing to invocate the creature As to swear by the Holy Evangelists by any Saint or Angel and the like Whereby they break the first Commandment in setting up a new Deity and so prove guilty of a Sin which they make light of and that is no less then blasphemy which Sinne is committed First when we attribute or ascribe to God what he is not Aqui. 2.2.13.2 1. Art Three degrees of blasphemy Secondly when we detract from him what he is and Thirdly when we ascribe or give what is due to him to the creatures and this we do when we swear by them as I shall prove after I have discovered the fountain or Originall and withall the foulnesse of the Papists errour herein This profane practice of the Romanists besides that it has no ground nor warrant from the Holy Scriptures which in matters of Religion must be the rule of our actions and besides that it is scandalous to the hearer who by our blasphemous and Idolatrous custome in this Sin may be induced to imitate and use the same forme in swearing besides these and many other the like reasons which I could alleage we must know to lay open this Sin and to make it more odious that it owes its beginning to certain hereticks called Osseni Lib. contra Nic. Serrà rium whom Scaliger will have to be all one or the same with the Esseni Of these as Epiphanius records li. 1. c. 19. one Elxai was notorious who lived in the time of Trajan and spread abroad the poison of this corrupt doctrine teaching that men ought to swear by Salt and Water by the Earth by Bread and by the Heaven by the Aire and by the Wind c. which Hereticall opinion is refuted at large in the forecited place by Epiphanius Like unto these were the Manichees whose Ringleader and Capt. was Manes or Manicheus whom Cyril justly calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Master and Contriver of Iniquity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hier. Catech. 7. a magazin of Impiety the common Inne or Store-house of all filthy absurdities and obscenities whose heresie contain'd a masse a venemous composition of old extinguisht heresies This Manes with his Followers taught what they of the Church of Rome maintain that it was lawfull to swear by the creatures as appeares by those words of St. Augustine Lib. 19. Cant. Faust c. 22. Jurabant saepissime nulloque mentis scrupulo per creaturas They says he used to swear by the creatures frequently Hereby we may see what grounds and how good Authors our adversaries in the Church of Rome have for their pernicious and dangerous practice yet to set a glosse upon it they have invented a prettie distinction as vain as they are vicious First they divide the creatures into two Classes or ranks Rationall and Irrational by the former they assert we may swear Absolutè absolutely without any restriction Such are the Angels and Saints in Heaven Aquin. 2.2 Qc. 89. They might as well have added men on Earth By the latter only Relativè Relatively In quantum divina veritas in iis manifestatur so far or forasmuch as the divine truth is manifestly revealed in them As when we swear by the Gospell it is say they by that God whose truth is manifested in the Gospel I say again this Assertion is vain and frivolous invented only to countenance and maintain their Invocation or prayers to Saints and Angels Omitting the former part of that fond distinction as unworthy of a refutation let us examine the second part of it which is to swear Relativè in relation to God This the Romanists affirm we may do which we absolutely denie and prove it thus To swear by the creature in relation to God is to invocate or call upon the creature religiously with reference to God this latter is expresly forbidden in Gods word as in the forenamed place Levit. 6.13 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God Him only shalt thou serve and swear by his Name So Isaiah 45.53 Every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall swear to me Which Text St. Paul citing Rom. 14.11 and following the Septuagints Translation fearing lest if he should do otherwise an offence thereby might be given to the Gentiles or Greeks who adhered to that translation useth these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confesse to God i.e. Swear by his name Est enim Jusjurandum vera ac aperta ejus Dei professio quem ut testem et perjurii vindicem appellamus Beza For an Oath is a true and open profession of that God whom as a witnesse of our sayings and a Revenger of perjurie we invocate This honour none can or may affixe to the creature Therefore swear not at all by it but in those cases premised by the Creatour But I meet with a seemingly-strong Objection from the Romanists which deserves a solution It is borrowed from the 42. of Gen. v. 15. where we read that Joseph swore to his Brethren that he would not let them goe back to their Father unless they would send for their younger Brother Benjamin and he seems there to swear by a creature namely by the King where he saies By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not goe hence except your younger Brother come hither It is not say they to be imagin'd that Joseph so good a Saint and so wise a man would have sworn by his King unless he had been fully perswaded in his soul and that by the spirit of God by whom he was alwaies governed that to swear by the creature was not a sin nor derogated any whit from Gods glory at which he ever aimed A plausible objection To which I answer first with the learned Zanchie Ab exemplo unius quamvis Sancti viri argumentum duci non posse contra apertum Verbum Dei Zanch. in Miscellan From the example of one particular man though for his piety never so much famed we may not draw a pattern for our practise against the express word of God Ex fide personas non ex personis fidem probamus Tertul. We must prove or try mens persons by the Faith or Doctrine of the word and not the Faith by mens persons i. e. Because God hath said or commanded it and not because such a one did it is a thing lawfull and good Supposing then that Joseph swore by Pharaoh his action must not be a rule or pattern for thy imitation The law of God as it is the way wherein we must walk
paths of the Seas all these recited by the Prophet David Ps 8.3 6 7 8. with many more not mentioned by him were made to serve us and all do in a manner thus call upon and bespeak every one of us God made us for thee Coelum terra omnia in illis creata 〈◊〉 ut amem te Domine serviaâ— tibi Maub Exercit. â—iet that thou shouldst serve and glorifie him who made us and thee O then let the consideration of thy unthankfulness to God thy Creator put thee to a blushing shame and let the memory of his mercies and blessings spur or incite thee to an active obedience and quicken thy dead or drowsie spirit to walk cheerfully and constantly in the waies of his Commandements do not dishonour nor disgrace him by a constant and wilfull breach of them by a frequent and rash taking of his name in vain Swear not The IV. Remedy by way of motive drawn from the irrational Creatures If all the fore-named Motives will not startle thy obdurate Conscience and drive thee to obedience of Gods Commands consider then the brute Beasts who wanting Reason which thou enjoyest and Speech which God gave thee to set forth his praises * Homo immedâ—atè est propter Deum omnia quâ—liabet habet propter Deum Raymund to advance and publish the glories of his Attributes yet they led only by the guidance of Natures Law offer no indignities no injuries to their Masters from whom they receive food and sustenance nay they have ever shewed themselves thankful to strangers from whom they received the least benefits or courtesies All which may serve to check thy ingratitude in dishonouring God by Rebelling against his precepts Lib. 7. c. 4â— Nat. H st The story in Aelian of Androcles and a Lion is remarkable he pull'd a thorne out of the Lions foot the Lion afterwards repai'd this courtesie by saving his life when he fell among thieves and cryed out for help Ael l. 8. c. 22. A parallel story to this we find in the same Historian of the Tarentine Woman and a Stork she cured one of the Storks young ones which had by a casualty broke its leg the Stork not long after in requital of her goodness dropped a rich Jewel into her lap as she sate in a solitary place bemoaning the death of her dear Husband a little before that time deceased The truth of these Stories I cannot warrant Let then the Scriptures to our shame be witness of mans ingratitude to God and of the brute Creatures thankful respect to their Masters and Benefactors Man for his sensuality and beastly lusts Ps 49.12 20 may be fitly ranked with and compared to the beasts that perish but they are above him admit him not as their equal if you respect their grateful dispositions The Oxe knoweth his owner Isa 1.3 i. e. will submit his neck to the yoke to toile and labour in the field when and so long as his Master pleases so the Asse knoweth his Masters crib or Manger i. e. willingly and readily stoops to any burthen sustains any blow because that is imposed and this comes from his hand by whom he is fed But Israel doth not know what great things I have done for them my people doth not consider how that for their Saviours sake or merits I have provided Heaven for them which shall be the reward of their service and where they shall rest everlastingly from their labours O Man think of Gods complaint here by his Prophet think of it with shame with an inward blushing confusion of spirit and for shame let not the brute beasts out-strip thee in thankfulness submit thy neck to Gods yoke which is easie and light obey his Commands and Swear not The V. Remedy A third consideration In the fifth place consider seriously in thy most recollected thoughts which may be a great remedy against Swearing what recompence God requires of us for all his benefits unto us It is Honour and Praise Praemium Dei est honor operis lauâ— gloria praemium creatura est utilitas Raymund And this duty we discharge when we declare and publish with joyful hearts and thankful tongues the Magnalia Dei those great things which he out of his great mercy hath done for us in our Creation Redemption Vocation together with the manifold and wonderful acts of his Providence over us For the least of which his mercies we could not be sufficiently thankful to God although we should live a thousand years ten hundred times told and spend every day and hour in that long period of time onely in Prayer and Thanksgiving Oh then let us wash our hearts from filthinesse and our tongues from all obscene pollutions Let our mouths be ever fill'd with Gods praises and let us chearfully redeem the time to this blessed work of thankfulnesse which because it is too large or too great to be done in this span-long life Sit illud meditatio frequens in hoc seculo quod perpetuum opus erit in futuro Aug. in Psal 148. it shall be ever doing in that which shall succeed hereafter and is everlasting For Thanks is the chief if not the whole work of the glorified Saints and Angels in Heaven who vent and spend as one sayes well all their burning fire of love in the flame of Gods praise The erect posture wherewith God has endowed man above his fellow-fellow-Creatures should put him in mind of his duty to God by way of thankfulness For as if the earth were not a fit object for our Contemplation our faces are set upward and our Souls too by so many foot carried up toward Heaven as our Bodies are erected to it By which frame of our Bodies we are taught this lesson to have our hearts alwayes fixed upon God in Prayer and Thanksgiving He that shall endeavour to follow Saint Pauls wholsome admonition Pray continually In all things give thanks 1 Thes 5.17 18. that man will seldome or never swear nor defile his Soul with the guilt or stains of idle and sinful discourses but being here on earth will live an Angelical life live like to an Angel and Saint in Heaven where there is only continual chaunting out cheerful Hymns which contain Gods praises and he that intends to bear a part in that Celestial Quire must lay aside his Cursing and Swearing and practise here betimes before death surprise him to sing that new Song which Saint John heard in his Revelation Chap. 5.9 10. and ever joyn with Saint Paul in his joyful and thankful Doxology 1 Tim. 1.17 saying Vnto the King immortal invisible and only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Again to incite us to use our Tongues to the praise or to exercise them in the praises of God let us consider to what end He gave us speech and utterance which he has denied to the other inferiour Creatures was it not
that we should exceed them and praise the Lord both for himself and for them whom he created for our service and for the glory of his Name Shall the Birds sing to God and not he for whose benefit he created them So said once a pious man a great Master of Meditation It was a devout speech of another If God had made me a Nightingale I would have sung as a Nightingale but now in that he hath made me a man I will sing and publish the praises of God with my tongue as a Christian whose spirit being enlarged by the powerful work of divine grace because it discernes or foresees the eternity of Gods love it therefore endeavours as far as it can to maintain an eternity of Gods praise They will be ever giving of Thanks Psal 84.4 sayes the Prophet David in his Description or Character of Gods true Saints And were it not for these a few gracious Souls what honour should God have from a generation of proud perverse worldlings who tread his favours under their feet like Swine and are never mindful of that everlasting Spring of his goodnesse from which the streames of his blessings are derived unto us And this their unthankfulnesse who dishonour God by their tongue * Which David calls his glory Psalm 16.10 My glory rejoyceth Gloria mea i. e. lingua mea quod membrum conditum est praesertim ut gloriam Dei celebret Sim. de Miris in loc which was given them to glorifie Him this I say should stir us up the more to be Trumpeters of Gods praises in the midst of his enemies because this noble and gracious act hath in some sort a Prerogative above our praising God in Heaven for that he hath there no enemies to dishonour him and we meet with no opposition Lastly to deter you from this disgraceful and ungracious sin of Swearing and Blaspheming the holy Name of God and to stir you up to this Heavenly work of praising him with your tongue consider what reward shall be given thee if thou performest this holy service and duty God hath so linked and joyn'd his glory and our happinesse together that if we referre all that we have or doe to his glory if we employ the whole stock of his graces in us to his honour and praise he will re-pay us with everlasting happinesse To him that hath shall be given Mar. 4.25 i. e. to him that hath a thankfull heart and a thankful tongue to him shall be given an encrease of grace and goodnesse with an accesse or addition of outward blessings which shall be seconded and crown'd in the World to come hereafter with transcendent joyes Where do men delight to sow but in fertile soiles where they reape most fruit where do Musicians delight to sound their Instruments but where the Echo multiplies their Notes in speedy and quick returnes So God delights to scatter and shed his grace and favours in the hearts and upon the heads of those that are humble and fruitful in love and thankfulness We may collect from hence how great the benefit is which shall redound to those whose tongues are ever exercised in sounding forth Gods praise As first their mouths shall never be polluted with vain Oaths and secondly they shall find by a joyfull experience that the reward of this their service will be everlasting joy and happiness * Id quod damus Deo non est ei utile sed nobis quia quod Deo redditur reddenti additur Aug. There was never anâ— that was a loser by Gods service God is the best pay-master Never any that trusted in Him thereby glorifying his Truth Power and Providence and was confounded they never fail'd of their hope or expected reward He is a most faithful rewarder and bountifull benefactor So much for the fifth Remedy the sixth followes of which very briefly Bona vis habere malus vis esse The VI. Remâ—â—y to beware of idle words or to utter nothing but what is necessary profitable so said St. Austine once to an ungodly man who deferred his conversion to God Thou desirest vain man and expectest good things from God and in the mean time wilt not cease to be wicked It is all one as if he should have said in plainer terms In vain doest thou expect any good from God above so long as thou servest the Devil here beneath And believe me thou canst not do the Devil greater service then by profaning Gods sacred Name whereby thou begettest a light esteem of his Majesty and Person in the hearts of those that hear thee blaspheme Familiarity we say breeds contempt And the common Swearer makes himself equall with Almighty God whose great and glorious Name he so familiarly or frequently takes into his mouth without any the least shew of Reverence or Respect To prevent then a great mischief even the Corruption of those with whom thou conversest and thine own destruction entertain a Religious and high esteem of God in thy heart and then thy whole body all the parts of it will strive to testifie by outward expressions thy inward Veneration of his Majesty Religio est quadam protestatio fidei per aliqua signa vâ—â—eriora Aqui. which to do in the judgement of Aquinas and other Schoolmen is a main point or part of Religion The knees will then bend the eyes and hands will be oft lift up to God in prayer neither will he want then the sacrifice of a joyfull tongue Luke 6.45 which is the Souls best interpreter Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh If the heart abound with sinful lustful thoughts the tongue will froth and lash out into blasphemy and unchaste Speeches if it be garnished with the fear of God and Heavenly Meditations the tongue will utter nothing but what is necessary to be spoken and profitable to be heard And these are the two words which as Bonaventure asserts we are permitted in our ordinary discourse onely to utter Bonav l. 2. de profect Relig. c. 10. the first is Quod necessarium est tibi vel alteri the second is Quod utile est tibi vel alteri i. e. in all our discourses with men we should aime or drive onely at this to speak nothing but what is necessary to be said and profitable to be heard both in respect of our selves and others As when we stand up in the defence of the Truth as undaunted Champions of it boldly opposing those that be enemies to it and secondly when we only speak and utter that which may conduce to our Neighbours edification and comfort by instructing the ignorant in the knowledge of Divine Truths or of such things as are stamped with the mark of goodness and by reforming those who erre and go astray from God to reduce such by our counsel into the right way and to comfort others who are mourners in Sion who are under any outward cross or