not to take it he ought to know how far he is bound thereby Whereof we have a commendable Example in the Spies by Joshua sent over Jordan how Cautious to make Plain what [o] Josâ—â—a 2 Rahab made them Swear to as also was Abraham's Servant as already Quoted and this Oath of the Spies at the taking of Jericho Joshua remembred to have it kept Then the Mind and true Meaning of the Swearer is to be considered what he aimeth at when he doth Swear So is the true and proper Signification of the Words made use of in the Oath the meaning of those who require administer and take the Oath must be very plain Now as not only Evil it self but also occasions of Evil ought to be avoided it were fit and convenient for Magistrates when they tender an Oath to proceed warily therein and with great Caution for fear of becoming Instruments of Damnation to those who forswear themselves wherefore it would be very Necessary not Indifferently to offer an Oath but first to have some thing said whereby men might well understand what they are about how Holy and Sacred it is and how great the Danger to Swear to a Lie or else for want of giving such a warning they may become accessory to the Sin of him who forsweareth himself for want of a due and timely Warning without which the Law or Custom are Defective for none doth For-swear but he who Swears and both Judges and Jury-men ought to be very Cautious how they believe one who without Consideration runs him self under an Oath or who in his Deposition doth Stagger Waver or Contradict himself such should be Discouraged and the Testimonies of Witnesses ought indeed more to be Weighed than Numbred I deny not but that in necessary Occasions when a Man offers himself to Swear he may and ought to be admitted to take his Oath or else this would put a stop to the Course of Justice but I mean that when one 's grosly ignorant or suspected of being inclined to Perjury something should be Enacted to prevent it and the Court be more Cautious how such a one is admitted to Swear So hereupon those who make use of them ought in Conscience be Wary how they bring them in for fear of being partakers to other mens Sins The Third thing for him that takes an Oath is To Swear in Righteousness or Righteously That is that the Matter by Oath to be Confirmed be just and lawful for one must not Bind himself to any thing by Oath but what is such for an Oath ought not to be made a Bond of Iniquity as was done by those wicked Fellows that (a) Acts 23.14 Had bound themselves under a great Curse that they would eat nothing until they had Killed Paul If a Promisory Oath then it must be with a full purpose to Perform what one doth thereby Oblige himself to and accordingly to be Careful to make it Good and if the Oath be Testificatory to bear Witness to the Truth of a thing it must be done out of certain Knowledge of the matter So must the occasions of taking the Oath be just and the end good as to promote the Glory of God and the Good of our Neighbour (b) Levit. 19 15 35. In Righteousness shalt thou judge thy Neighbour and ye shall do no Vnrighteousness in Judgment So in Righteousness Witnesses must Sâ—ear and not to pervert Judgment and Equity 'T is also to be observed how when we are Sworn ' it must be before those that have Right and Authority to Exact and Administer an Oath one is not to Swear in a publick and solemn way without a Call from those who may lawfully Summon us to it We must also take notice how by Oaths we Bind ourselves unto God as unto men which no Human Power can Release and Dispense us from Wherefore 't is said (c) Matth. 5.33 Thou shalt not forswear thy Self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths But we must now begin to draw near the main Point namely Perjury this must take up our Serious Thoughts concerning several Things relating thereunto from the Greatness and Righteousness of the great God from the Nature and Consequences of the thing and of several other necessary Circumstances duly to be Weighed and Considered The Ark was called the Ark of the Testimony First because the (d) Exod. 25 16. Tables of the Law whereby was Testified God's Covenant with his People were laid up there then because from above the Mercy Seat which was above upon the Ark God did meet with Moses to (e) v. 22. commune with him of all things which he gave him in Commandment unto the Children of Israel and because the Ark was within the Tabernacle so the Tabernacle is called the (f) chap. 26.33 Numb 17.7 8. and 18.2 Tabernacle of Witness As upon that Signal and Special Occasion where the Glory of the Lord appeared and God himself was both Witness and Judge to decide of the Dispute about the High-priesthood immediately after the Rebellion of (g) ch 17.8 Korah Dathan and Abiram and their Punishment and the Plague which followed upon the People for their Murmuring at it I say God there appeared in the Miracle of Aaron's Rod which was Budded bloomed Blossoms and yielded Almonds So in doubtful and disputable Cases But God is and will be both Witness and Judge men call upon him to be a Witness to the Truth of what is in his Name Affirmed and Transacted but will certainly be the Judge whether or not men call upon him for it Though there be now no Ark yet Heaven is his Throne and Earth is his Footstool (h) Gen. 31.50 No Man is with us saith Laban to Jacob See God is Witness betwixt me and thee God being present every where is Witness to every thing and sees every thing to reward it but specially when he is called upon to be a Witness and a Judge between man and man In that Excellent Prayer of Solomon upon the Dedication of the Temple he makes a special mention of Oaths [i] 1 Kings 8.31 32. If any man Trespass against his Neighbour and an Oath be laid upon him to Swear and the Oath come before thine Altar in this House Then hear thou in Heaven and do and judge thy Servants condemning the Wicked to bring his way upon his head and justifying the Righteous to give him according to his Righteousness A Man hath Wronged his Neighbour but he denies it upon the Accusation an Oath is laid upon him to clear the matter the Oath to be taken in the Temple before the Altar hitherto men have acted their parts but can go no further wherefore God's turn comes to act though his Altar and the Temple be upon Earth yet God heareth in Heaven which is the great judgment Seat the true Seat of Justice and Equity and what 's done after hearing he judgeth between the Parties And how First
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
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)
Prov 8.11 Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil. But let such unto themselves apply what the Apostle saith (r) 2 Pet. 2.3 Their Judgment Lingereth not and their Damnation Slumbereth not Thus we proved the Point with clear Evidence out of Scripture Human Laws and strength of Reason which might be more Enlarged upon if Occasion required it This I must add That 't is a sad Case a loud and crying Sin that must need reach up to Heaven when Justice cannot be obtained against neither Adulteress nor Adulterer as if there was a Combination against it to provoke God and Men to the utmost till God's time be come to render it who being most just never fails to do 't when he thinks fit but sometimes when he doth men take no notice of it thô I think it to be one of the chief Causes of the heaviest and most frequent Judgments inflicted upon the Nation for as it is one of if not the most common National Sin and none in Scripture more often nor more strictly Forbidden as most of any contrary to God's holy and pure Nature So those who commit and continue in it must look for the most dreadful and terrible Judgments which God's Justice Anger and Vengeance for the Contempt of his Authority and Breach of his Laws can in this World and in that which is to come pour upon wretched and presumptuous Sinners Besides I would have all Offenders in this kind to know That there is not in the World a Meaner Wretch than the Lewd and Vicious Man who doth the Devil's Drudgery and being a meer Slave to his Passion is thereby put upon the most Indecent Basest Vilest Shameful and most Dangerous Shifts that can be is ever Restless being continually Spurred on by his Lust which first in this World will (s) Hos 4.11 Take away his Heart for Whoredom and Wine do so and except God shews Mercy for want of that Purity which in Relation to Women the Apostle so (t) 1 Tim. 5 ◠carefully Commends to his young Disciple shall in the next hurry and deliver him into everlasting Burnings For the Truth and justice of God require that the Fire of Lust wherein they Burned here should hereafter be punished with Eternal Flames For saith the Apostle Them that walk after the Flesh 2 Pet. 2.9.10 in the Lust of Vncleanness God reserveth unto the Day of judgment to be Punished with a Pain Adequate to their Sin FINIS A CHARGE TO Judges Juries Witnesses CONCERNING OATHS HAVING of late been Summoned to give in upon Oath my Evidence in a weighty Business I was at first Amazed and at a stand then moved with just Indignation to hear several Men with a Brazen-face to Swear for Truth that which in my Conscience I knew certainly to be False for I speak only of those Things and Circumstances which come within the Sphere of my certain Knowledge and upon serious Thoughts such prostitute Wretches tho they speak but to one part of a Cause yet they give Men reasonable Grounds of entertaining an Ill Opinion of the whole For no good Cause may be supported by evil and unlawful Means which at last will Discredit Blast and Ruin it In the mean while such Practices of Swearing falsely do bring Dishonour upon God Scandal upon our holy Religion and are a Shame to a Nation and if not as much as 't is possible Suppressed and Prevented God the Judge of the whole Earth will in his due time require it at the Hands of those in whose Power it lieth and whose Duty it is to do 't Wherefore upon so just and necessary an Account I look upon my self as bound to give in my Evidence and I Wish Judges Jury-men and specially Witnesses may so take notice of and mind what I shall say as every one to do their Duty in their respective Stations for herein I shall bear Witness for God as for men And my great Motive why I now commit to Paper these few Lines and Serious Thoughts of mine 't is only to bear Record unto the Truth For (a) 2 Cor. 13.8 I can do nothing against but for the Truth which I think I am called to thorough the Occasion which is the Ground of all this Which to Prosecute I shall make use of both Law and Gospel I Thank God when I appeared in this Business I never but once before had been Summoned to bear Witness upon Oath for I own it I fear an Oath the fewer the better and the least Account one is to give God about these matters for therein Men thô unwillingly and Ignorantly yet thorough want of Memory or some Mistakes are in danger of Failing Wherefore I shall ever avoid as much as I may being brought under an Oath without a just and necessary Cause rashly and hastily to venture upon 't is usually attended with bitter Effects and is the cause of much Evil of Sin as of Punishment from both God and men He that easily and hastily doth Swear will as easily and hastily Forswear for when he makes no Conscience to take an Oath he will make none to break it Neither would I multiply Oaths for many Oaths many Snares To go upon sure Grounds and Explain the matter we must first see upon what Occasion an Oath is taken and what it is because too often thorough the Unrighteousness Malice and Craftiness of False and Self-ended Men Truth is driven into Corners which yet God in his due time and sometimes in an Extraordinary manner will bring to light to the Confusion of the Wicked that would have suppressed it Therefore because one man will not Trust another and that men do suspect the Sincerity and are in the Dark about the Thoughts one of another upon such an account God who alone knows and is the Searcher of the Heart (b) Heb. 4.13 For all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do is called upon to be a Witness of the Truth of that which is in Question and Sworn for (c) chap. 6.16 An Oath for Confirmation to men is saith the Apostle an end of all Strife Not to sow foment and promote it and shelter Villanies under God's most holy and sacred Name for this overthrows the good Ends for which an Oath was intended and perverts Justice and Equity over-turns the whole World and tends to Disorder Confusion and Ruin all Effects of Perjury Now an Oath is a calling of God to Witness for the Confirmation of what we Say or Promise 'T is a Religious and Necessary Confirmation of Things doubtful by calling on God to be a Witness of Truth and a Revenger of Falsehood which last part is much to be taken notice of though many who Swear mind it not and there is a great Reason why God should avenge the Abuse of his Name for if
often the meanest men cannot endure to be named as witnesses unto a Lye how much more will the most Infinite Glorious True and Holy God suffer his Sacred Name to be so Abused as to Shelter and Countenance a Lye An Oath was ever lookt upon as a Thing so Sacred that in all important matters men could find nothing Surer or Stronger to Tye one another to the Truth of what they said or promised then to put them to their Oath Thus Abimelech to make sure of Isaac said to him (d) Gen. 26.28 Let there be now an Oath betwixt us c. that thou wilt not hurt us For when Men or Women do take an Oath they thereby (e) Numb 30.10 Bind their Soul by a Bond with an Oath And we read how before that time Abimelech had made Abraham to Swear (f) Gen. 21.23 Now therefore Swear thou unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me nor with my Son nor with my Son's Son Thus also Abraham made his Eldest Servant (g) Gen. 24.2 to Swear about the Charge he gave him concerning a Wife for Isaac And we are to Observe the Servant's Conscientious Care and Tenderness about the Oath v. 5. and Abraham's explaining how far he Thought to Bind him by his Oath v. 8. which Oath the Servant remembers v. 37. So Jonathan after he to assure David of his sincere Love had Sworn and said to him The Lord do so and much more to Jonathan (h) 1 Sam. 20.13.17 He caused David to swear This is the last and surest way to engage men to be True as to make God concerned in their Dealings of one with another for 't is supposed that though they care not for men yet they will have a regard unto God who will not fail soon or late to avenge his own Honour if wronged Wherefore because we must Swear by a Greater (i) Heb. 6.16 For Men verily Swear by the Greater than themselves and that 's by God or in his Name for Three Reasons First God hath expresly Commanded it (k) Deuter 6.13 Isa 45.23 Heb. 6.13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his Name And when God Sweareth he Sweareth by himself l I have sworn by my self The 2d Reason because an Oath is a Religious Invocation which is due to God alone Thirdly Because God alone knows the Heart and he is able to judge of the Truth or Falsehood of our Thoughts So then when we call God to Witness we render that high and special Worship that is due only to him for thereby we bear Witness that God is present every where sees and avenges all Falsehood and Unrighteousnesses of men which things are proper to God alone So then to Swear in God's Name is a part of his Worship wherefore not only as we said before God Commanded to Swear by his Name but hath also Forbidden to Swear by False gods and Creatures not so much as (l) Exod. 23.13 Joshua 23.7 To make mention of their Names or to let them he heard out of their mouths which Joshua interpreteth by causing to Swear The Lawfulness of Oaths by what we Observed but a little before doth appear out of God's Precept and Example Whereupon we are to take Notice how God Sweareth by several of his Attributes which he doth to condescend unto man's weakness and unbelief for we are apt enough to mistrust his Word and therefore to give us gracious and infallible Security of his Promises and Threatnings too he confirms them by an Oath Thus he Sweareth sometimes by his Life (m) Numb 14.21.28 Isa 49.18 As I live saith the Lord in several places of Scripture for he is the Living God a Characteristical Note of the True God At other times he Sweareth (n) Psal 89.35 by his Holiness which is his Nature Again he Swears (o) Isa 62.8 By his Right hand and by the Arm of his Strength That is by his Power that he being Almighty is able to do what he Promiseth or Threatneth And also he Swears by and in his Truth as to (p) Psal 132 11. David and whensoever he Sweareth he doth it by his Truth (q) Tit. 1.2 For he cannot Lye So he doth by (r) Jerem. 44.26 his great Name and that which comprehends all (s) Isa 45.23 He Swears by himself that is by his Nature and Attributes Because Oaths are sometimes necessary God hath given Rules and Directions about them we have them thus (t) Jerem. 4.2 And thou shalt swear the Lord liveth in Truth in Judgment and in Righteousness This is plain enough so that men may not pretend Ignorance we must Swear the Lord liveth that is by the Life of the Lord of the living God which was the ordinary Form of Oaths used not only in those times or before by the People of God as we read of 1 Sam. 14 39.45 and chap. 19 6. but also long before among the Heathens to Swear by the Life of their Kings which Joseph learned in Pharaoh's House to Swear (u) Gen. 42.15 16 by the life of Pharaoh Also in our Saviour's time one was to speak the Truth by the Life of God thus the High-priest said to Christ (w) Matth. 26.63 I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the son of God This was their way whensoever any one was to Swear This speaking the Truth in God's Name is in Scripture called to give him the Glory thus Joshua exhorteth Achan (x) Josh 7.19 My Son give I pray thee Glory to the Lord God of Israel make Confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done Hide it not from me After this manner the Pharisees dealt with the Man whom the Lord Jesus had restored unto his Sight (y) John 9.24 Give God the Praise Thus when any one was to Swear there was a Compellation in God's Name for such a one to speak the Truth whereby when it came out Glory was given unto God so every one that Sweareth must do 't (z) Psal 63.11 Isai 65.16 by the Lord and he that sweareth in the Earth shall swear by the God of truth Not by Baal or any Idol whatsoever as forbidden in several places of Holy Scripture To this manner of Oath and Phrase the Lord Liveth answers (a) 1 Sam. 25.22 Rom. 1.9 2 Cor. 1.23 so also and more do God unto me and God is my Witness and I call God for a Record upon my soul All which import that as we call upon God to be a Witness to the Truth of what we say so it implies an Imprecation that he would take Vengeance of us if we Swear falsely in his Name which ought not to be made use of but upon Account oâ— Necessity that is of Religion Charity and Justice He then who Sweareth must do it in God's Name and that 1st In Truth 2ly
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
so of London But with Grief and Sorrow I am afraid 't is not so 't is true but of very few To Lie is to tell for True that which one knows to be False or to affirm that to be False which he knows to be True Though a man may ignorantly tell a Lie yet not Lie for to Lie implies a design for to Deceive or to Hurt whereupon the difference is to be observed between telling a Lie and Lying or making a Lie for an honest and conscionable man may happen ignorantly and imprudently to tell a Lie upon a False Report as of such a man reported to be Dead when 't is not true but to Forge a Lie is with an evil Design and to Deceive the Intention and Contrivance is that which makes it Abominable and if it be so as 't is in ordinary Discourse and Conversation how much more upon the occasion of Oaths when God's most holy Name is made use of not in Private but in Publick and in Judgment whereby Truth which is part of Justice is perverted and Lie part of Injustice is set up There are Three sorts of Lies The Officious to do a Man some Service as to Lie to Save his Life Liberty c. The Merry or Pleasant to tell a Lie with an intent to Divert a Company And the Pernicious to Hurt one As to the Two First kinds I say that though Casuists differ about the Question whether or not they may be used which in my Opinion I think unlawful and look upon as Snares by degrees thorough Custom to be drawn from one kind to another yet all own the last called Pernicious to be most Wicked and by no means to be allowed [a] Psal. 5.6 Thou shalt destroy saith David them that Speak Leasing or Lies [b] Prov. 12.19 the Lip of Truth shall be established for ever but a Lyng tongue is but for a moment To Lie is to abuse God's Gifts who hath given us a Tongue truly to express our Mind and not to Deceive or otherwise Hurt our Neighbour 'T is for a good not for a Bad Use and we must not abuse the Gifts of God such are the Organs of Speech this also overthrows Human Society and breeds Jealousies Animosities and Causes Disorder and Confusion Certainly this kind of Lie is worst of all against God thorough the abuse of his Gift when others no greater Sinners are Dumb and God hath given thee the free Use of thy Tongue and also 't is against man with procuring his Harm The other Two sorts tho Evil yet in a less Degree then this and if according to the true Rule a Man though to save his own or Neighbour's Life ought not to tell a Lie much less to ruin his good Name Fortune or his Life God in his gracious Promise of the Restoration of Jerusalem after the Seventy Years Captivity gives them this Charge [c] Zach. 8.16 These are the things that ye shall do Speak every man the truth to his Neighbour execute the judgment of truth Which Precept the Apostle enlarges upon thus [d] Ephesians 4.25 Wherefore putting away Lying Speak every Man the truth with his Neighbour God having by Paul given a Character of the most wicked and worst of Men concludes it with this most abominable Brand [e] Rom. 1.25 26. they changed the truth of God into a Lie And see the judgment immediately at the tall of the sin the greatest on this side Hell that God inflicteth upon men For this cause God gave them up unto vile Affections and other terrible judgments expressed in that remaining part of the Chapter but God will in his just Judgment follow them further in the World to come for they who make Lies shall not only be excluded [f] Rev. 21 27.8 From entering into New Jerusalem but also lodg'd among every other wicked Man as Vnbelievers Abominable and Murtherers Wheremongers Sorcerers and Idolaters also Lyars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death The Devil is by our blessed Saviour Branded with Two Things for being a Murtherer and a Lyar he doth but name the first Crime but the last he doth exaggerate and insist upon as if it was the Greatest of the Two He contents himself with saying [g] John 8.44 the Devil was a Murtherer from the beginning Of the other he saith He abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him when he Speaks a Lie he Speaks it of his own for he is a Lyar and the Father of it And therefore the Everlasting Fire is prepared for the Devil and his Angels and for his Children too who with him are [h] Jude 6. Reserved in or to Everlasting Chains under Darkness Those Lyars are those wandring Stars to whom if not pardoned is reserved the blackness of Darkness for ever If such terrible judgments and pains be reserved for the common Lyars that are the Devil's Children how much greater Degrees of Pains shall be inflicted upon those who were not content to Lie in their ordinary Discourse but who have highly aggravated it with their Perjuries and bringing in the Name of God to Countenance their pernicious Lies who not only have [i] 2 Tim. 3.8 Resisted the truth as St. Paul speaks but are gone further and to speak in another Apostle's Words [k] James 3.14 have Lied against the truth Now to the Second Qualification as he that Sweareth must do 't in Truth so he ought to Swear in Judgment or Considerately and with Discretion for [l] Psal 11â— 5 A Good Man will Guide his Affairs with Discretion making Conscience of all his ways especially of an Oath well weighing and advisedly considering what it is that he is to Swear and who it is by whom he Sweareth so as neither to prophane his Name or make it common with using it upon unnecessary and light occasions as expressed Matth. 5.34 35 36 37. Nor make use of it [m] Jam. 5.12 unadvisedly but Religiously and Reverently and only in matters of weighty Concernment and not as [n] Mat. 14.7 Herod who Promised with an Oath to give Herodias's Daughter whatsoever she would ask As Rash a thing as Man can hear of for she might have asked any thing else as well as John Baptist's Head And if this Condition is to be Observed in any thing certainly it must be in matters of Judicature which are so publick and the Consequences so great hereby Man is required to Swear in knowledge and wisdom therefore Children Fools Mad-men Atheists notoriously Impious and People Drunken when in the Fit must not be admitted to take an Oath for he who Swears must before-hand be well Instructed in the Thing in Question that requires his Oath for he is called thereby to confirm it and then he must well understand the binding Nature of an Oath and the Consequences thereof for he which makes no Conscience of an Oath is
Souls in the Reverence we express in our Words and Discourses about it and in the Study we make how to Promote it in our Lives and Conversations that is both Inwardly and Outwardly in the Antecedent Concomitant and Consequent Circumstances thereof By the word to take is meaned to speak use or mention it Men are known by their Names so by God's Name God himself is to be understood and to give Men a warning I cannot too often mention how herein God naming the smaller fault in taking his Name in vain declared the hainousness of the greater for if taking only his Name in vain be a Sin how abominable is it when 't is Blasphemed or used to confirm a lie Not only the mentioning God's Name where it should not be used that is when there is no just cause for it is forbidden but also chiefly the abusing or using it amiss when we should do it with fear and holiness (a) Psal 99.3 for his Name is great and terrible and (b) Deut. 28.58 't is a glorious and a fearful Name yea (c) Psal 72.19 a glorious name to be blessed for ever (d) Psa 111.9 Holy and reverend is his Name That holy Name (e) Psal 113.2 3. The Lords name is to be praised from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same and blessed from this time forth and for evermore But false Swearers instead of blessing they curse it and if some only for taking God's holy Name in vain be called his Enemies for saith David (f) Psal 139.20 Thine Enemies take thy name in vain much more they who curse it By reason of the importance of this matter I shall now by the Grace of God in few words declare the meaning of that third precept whereof the end is that God will have the Majesty of his Name to be most Sacred unto us and so must not be despised or unreverently prophaned Hence followeth our duty to use it with a Religious veneration So that we must think or speak nothing of God's Nature Attributes Works Word and Ordinances but with an awful Reverence much less make use of it for self ends or worldly Interest but with a true sense and tenderness of heart never mention any thing relating to God but therein admire and adore his Wisdom justice Goodness and power and when others are wanting therein we may charitably warn them of their duty which if slighted the occasions of coming into such Companys must be avoided not to be hearers and Wittnesses of the dishonour put upon God and disparagement to our holy Religion the true Christian Reformed Protestant for such Men when once God hath left them to themselves they harden themselves turn the acts of Sin into an habit then the custom of sinning takes away the feeling of Sin from one sin they fall into another they daily (g) 2 Tim. 3.13 Wax worse and worse so except God gives them Repentance they cannot (h) Chap. 2.26 recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will and they cannot (i) 2 Pet. 2.14 cease from sin This I insist upon to shew the necessity of avoiding evil companys which corrupt good manners and are snares to draw Men into Drunkenness Whoredom Impiety Swearing Cursing Forswearing Blasphemy c. Now if there be so much evil when Men do rashly and unreverently take God's holy Name into their lips how much more then when 't is made use of for wicked ends And if God in this Precept doth exclude as he doth from pardon those who take his Name in vain how much more those who slight despise and prophane it to serve their own turns and as we hinted before an Oath is a calling upon God to be a Wittness of the truth of what we say or of the sincerity of our intention in what we promise So Men ought to be very cautious of affirming nothing but what they know to be true and have a great regard to the nature and greatness of an Oath wherein God is taken to Wittness against the Soul of the Swearer if he deceiveth And as a false Oath ought to be avoided so a due consideration ought to be had in taking of a lawful one and this should be in a legal way I mean when lawfully called and upon a necessary Account which as I said before is part of God's Worship as expressed in the Prophecy about the call and confederacy of the (k) Isa 19.18 Assyrians and Egyptians with Israel They shall swear to the Lord of hosts that is serve and worship him for in that day shall five Citys in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and (l) Chap. 65.16 he that Sweareth in the Earth shall swear by the God of truth again (m) Jer. 12 16. And it shall come to pass if they will diligently learn the ways of my people to swear by my Name the Lord liveth as they taught my people to swear by Baal then shall they be built in the midst of my people When human Testimonies are failing our refuge is in going to God and calling him to Wittness for he is the Eternal and unchangeable Truth not only the right and proper Wittness of the Truth but as the only assertor thereof who alone can bring to light the hidden things of darkness for (n) Psal 139.2 he knows our thoughts afar off and is the only searcher of the heart wherefore that makes him so jealous and angry when that which belongs only to him is transfered to the Creature or to Idols that makes him so heavily complain and threaten [o] Jer. 5.7 how shall I pardon thee for this thy Children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no Gods That is worshiped them which I will not pardon and the reason why he will not pardon is set down lower They have belyed the Lord v. 12. called him to be Witness to their lies sworn falsely in his Name O the sad condition of perjured men they think all is well with them but God hath found them out and points at them (p) Isa 28.15 because ye have said we have made a Covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement when its overflowing scourge shall pass thorough it shall not come unto us and the ground of all this confidence or carnal security is this for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid our selves But men must have a great care not to turn into Iniury and contempt of God that which is intended for his honour and service for Oaths were instituted as for peace among men so for the honour and glory of God wherefore 't is one of the Ten Commandements and one of the first table as immediately relating to God and as Princes and Magistrates are keepers of both Tables of the Law so they and those under them as 't is their duty
if men neglect to do 't God himself will set his Hand to 't and do the Work If the Distemper be but Personal the Punishment of that Person will satisfy God but if it be Epidemical then the Vengeance shall be General nay sometimes the Innocent of that Crime are involved with the Guilty as in the Case of the Gibeonites though they had deceived Joshua with their Lies yet notwithstanding the People had a general Order to destroy all those Nations 't is said (s) Josh 9.15 16 18 19.20 They Smote them not because the Princes of the Congregation had Sworn unto them by the Lord for they said We have Sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel now therefore we may not touch them lest Wrath be upon us because of the Oath which we have Sworn unto them They understood what an Oath is and how dangerous to break it and how long after was the Breach of it by Saul avenged wherefore God sent a Famine for Three Years and being inquired by David declared it is for Saul and his bloody House because he Slew the Gibeonites So for this same Sin the Breach of Oath the whole Land suffered and Seven of Saul's Sons lost their Lives to expiate for it Among the several Instances we have in Scripture of God's signal judgments for breach of Oaths this is a considerable one God's Anger was moved with a witness and would not be appeased till after the Gibeonites had Hanged before the Lord those Sons of Saul (t) 2 Sam. 21.14 which by David's Command had been delivered up to them for then and not before the Lord was intreated for the Land for thereupon the Famine ceased Thus we see that where the Magistrates suffer Faults especially Perjuries to go unpunished there God's judgments lay upon the Land for all that might be pretended to excuse it as here for the Gibeonites had with a Notorious Lye cheated and imposed upon Joshua and the People (u) v. ◠Saul had done it in his Zeal to the Children of Israel and Judah and so long after the Oath had been Sworn All this is I hope Sufficient to shew how God in his Law not only Threatneth but also actually Punisheth the Abuse of his holy Name thorough Perjury in such a publick and solemn a Manner as whole Kingdoms and Nations are therein concerned I pray to God that for that very Sin which is so common in the Nation and no due care taken to prevent and Punish it that Threatning of God by the Prophet Jeremiah already Quoted doth not reach us to bring a Nation upon us not from far but from near I mean that to whom belongs the Character of a bitter and hasty Nation by the Prophet (w) Habek 1.6 given the Chaldeans for our Neighbours in their Nature are Hasty and in their Successes Bitter and Insolent Once God us with the Spaniards blessed be God that he repented him and cast the Rod into the Fire but now he hath gotten another nearer our backs Let us remember that Swearing Falsly is a Nation destroying Sin which God punishes either mediately by Men or immediately by some Extraordinary judgment These publick judgments are upon extraordinary Cases when Kingdoms have contracted this Sin and no due care is taken to stop and punish it the want of punishing it in private Persons ends at last in the Ruine of whole Nations which I pray God may in due time seriously be considered but because the occasion of my Discourse is about things not altogether so universal as chiefly relating to the Courts of Judicature and not to the Politick part of the Government I shall conclude this Head with what God ordered in his Law to be done in the Case of False Witnesses because one man might out of Enmity or desire of Revenge Swear against another God declared one Evidence not to be sufficient but provided there should be Two or Three as being supposed that Number would not so easily design a Man's Ruin as one single Man Well God's Rule which is certainly the wisest and the best that any Man or Nation can follow about False Witnesses is this (x) 〈◊〉 19 15 16 17 18 c. If a False Witness rise up against any man to Testify against him that which is Wrong then both the Men beeween whom the Controversy is shall stand before the Lord before the Priests and the Judges which shall be in those Days and the Judges shall make diligent Inquisition and behold if the Witness be a False Witness and hath Testified falsly against his Brother then shall ye do unto him as he thought to have done unto his Brother So shalt thou put the evil away from among you And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil among you And thine Eye shall not pity but Life shall go for Life Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hand for Hand Foot for Foot This contains several very important Things First That sometimes and too often some men do rise to Wrong their Neighbours which when it happens as no man may be a judge in his own Cause so the Plaintiff to be Righted must take lawful Courses and prosecute his Adversary before Legal and Competent Judges those who at that very time are in Office and Authority Here besides the Civil Judges the Priests are named for though the Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions be of a different nature and not to be Confounded yet matter of Oaths and Swearing being a part of God's Worship they to whom the Care of things relating to Religion is committed God would have them not excluded but to be present to mind that which concerned his Service the more because at that time the Government of the Jews was Theocratical or Divine God so eminently and visibly directing and ruling over them and therefore 't is said both the men in Controversy shall stand not only before the Judges but before the Lord the true Competent Judge for upon all such occasions the great Judge is ever present to observe how the Judges behave themselves who here are commanded to make diligent Inquisition not perfunctoriously and lightly but to mind and make it their Business for to speak in Solomon's words [a] Prov. 25.2 as 'T is the Glory of God to conceal a thing so the Honour of Kings and of Judges and Juries too is to Search out the matter till the Truth be found out which being Effected judgment and punishment are to follow thereupon and the Mischief the Guilty maliciously intended against his Brother is justly to be retorted upon him Thus this abominable Crime of Perjury is a great Evil to be put away from among a People for fear a whole Nation do suffer for the Wickedness of one or some few particular men and thus Justice being executed upon the Guilty they shall be made Examples unto others who Hearing shall Fear and out of a Terrour of the
Punishment shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil. This will prevent it's spreading further and in the inflicting of this due Punishment God's Command to the Judges is this Thine Eye shall not Pity no mercy for such wicked and miserable Wretches who are the Plague of Church and State therefore both Church and State must set helping hand to root it out and put it away Life shall go for Life c. Here is a Divine Rule for all Judges and Juries against Perjured Persons who are the worst kind of wicked men as are [b] 1 Tim. 1 9 10. Vngodly unholy Prophane Murtherers of Fathers Murtherers of Mothers Men-slayers Whoremongers Sodomites and Lyars in the highest Degree among which all they are Reckoned Thus much as to the Punishment of this detestable Sin according to Divine Laws As to human Laws it appears how all Nations knew by the Light of Nature how much Perjury was abominable in the sight of God and unto men execrable therefore they enacted Laws severely and strictly to punish it as we may read in several prophane Authors This I say because I know how Men who so far corrupted themselves do not much think on or mind God's Wrath but are in fear only of Men for their Body but not at all for their Soul He who once hath forsworn himself Vbi Semel c. Cicero pro Rabirio saith one must never afterwards be believed though he would swear by many Gods The Civil and Canon Laws are larg◠and clear upon this Infamy is the first pain inflicted upon Perjured Men. Cod. lib. 2. Tit. 4. de Transactionibus l. 41. S◠quis major This Infamy and pain of Perjury is so heavy so foul and filthy that though God if he pleases may thorough Repentance forgive it as every other Sin yet before Men either in Civil or Ecclesiastical Courts it sticks so fast that it can never b◠washed off nor are they ever when convicted admitted to bear Witness in any Court of Judicature and in the decret c. 6. q. 1. can 17. infames Perjure◠Men are declared to be Infamous So it is c. 3. ◠5. Can. 9. constituimus and farther decret c. 6. q. 〈◊〉 Can. 18. quicumque we read of him that hath bee◠noted of Infamy that his Evidence is never to be received and de Testibus et attestationibus cap. 54. Test◠monium 't is ordered that a Man branded with Infamy is never any more to be believed eithe◠in h◠own cause or in any other Mans for Perjured Person are always to be rejected and in the same * Qui semel periuratus fuerit nec Testis sit post hac sed nec ad sacramentum accedat decret 〈◊〉 22. q. 5. Can. 14. parvuli He that once hath Fo◠sworn himself afterwards must be no Witness nor admitted to take an Oath or to swear in his own cause or any Man 's else Now so great a crime as Perjury deserves according to the Law of Retaliation the grievous though just penalty of Infamy for the Perjured Man as much as in him lays would make God Infamous seeing he brings him as Witness to confirm his lie wherefore 't is very just to make him Infamous indeed for that Man ought no more to be believed who was not ashamed to call upon God who is Truth it self to bear Witness unto his Lie and 't is to be observed how thorough Perjury Men not only do highly provoke God but thorough a just Judgment do also thereby forfeit their Credit with Men who will not believe them no not when they speak the Truth which always becomes suspected out of the Mouth of a Liar Hence it is that our most blessed Saviour often rebuked evil Spirits and would not suffer them to confess who he was the Son of the Living God for fear that great and important Truth should by his Enemies be suspected for a Lie because coming out of the Devils mouth who is the father of Lies and we know how wickedly the Jews were inclined to take advantage against him when they said c Mat. 12.24 He did cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Besides Infamy there are other Penalties as to be deprived of Ecclesiastical Goods and Dignities if the Perjured Persons be possessed of any De rescriptis cap. 2. So may not have any Office in the Church as unworthy of having any hand in the Government thereof which Decree is de jure-jurando cap. 10. querelam also cap. 12. cum quidam and they are to be deprived not only of all Office and Benefice in the Church but also of every Dignity and place in the Civil so as never any more to be admitted to the same or any other wherefore if Doctors Magistrates Judges Jury-men and Witnesses be convicted of Perjury they may and ought to be removed out of their Places and Imployments so they should for matters of Bribery chiefly in Courts of Judicature for I am fully perswaded that he who takes a Bribe to sell or pervert Justice will not scruple to Swear a false Oath to receive Money and satisfy his Covetousness Withall I add that the false Witness may be Indited and sued for damages by him whom he wronged by his false Evidence Panormit in cap. 1. de crimine falsi Forsworn Men are also by several Human Laws adjudicated and condemned to Corporal Punishments as to Banishment Whipping the Pilory the Galleys Imprisonment branding in the Forehead boaring thorough in the Tongue and with Death in Capital Cases in conformity to God's Law by Moses as already mentioned So then such abominable Vermine were by the several Laws of different Nations stained in their Names and Honours punished in Goods and Fortunes whether Secular or Ecclesiastical in their Persons Liberties and Lives So they were also liable to Church Censures as Excommunication Fasting with Bread and Water only upon certain days and sometimes for seven years together to make publick Penances and such things as we read of in the Decretales Hence it most clearly appears how justly by the Divine Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws Perjured Men are judged worthy of all sorts of Pains This I shall add how to avoid the evil the occasion also that leads to it is to be avoided wherefore I think that every doubtful case is not always to be decided by an Oath but by the truth of things when it is found out though it had been betrayed by the Perjured Person therefore such forsworn people may be indited for Perjury and if convicted the wrong they had done the party ceaseth and the sufferer enters upon that Right and Possession which he thereby unjustly had been deprived of It were also very just that any and all that abet entice countenance and directly or indirectly promote and encourage Men to forswear themselves or already forsworn as they have an hand in the Crime so should also be made sensible of and have a share in the punishment for the
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
an infinite difference between the Lord Jesus and all that were nam'd before But the better to see how the promise of the Keys was not made in particular to Peter but to the Colledge of the Disciples we must read the conclusion of that whole Conversation as 't is in ver 20. Then charged he his disciples not Peter alone that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ which implies that tho' Peter alone had said so yet thereby all his Disciples had owned him to be Christ the Son of the Living God and as their Confession concerning him was general so was his promise This on my way I thought fit to take notice of to shew how ill grounded is the Romish Church in her pretensions Now I return to Peter's pretended Infallibility as to his Person and say that if ever he was infallible it must be either before our Saviour's Death or after his Resurrection and after he had been restored to his Apostleship but neither of the two First not before the Lord's Death no Infallibility tied to his Person since Scripture mentions some gross failings of his as his Ignorance in the Transfiguration for when he spake of making three Tabernacles the Evangelist observes of him (Å¿) Luk. 9.33 Not knowing what he said A Man who knows not what he saith is not infallible nor he who wants Faith wherewith Christ upbraided him when he said to him (t) Mat. 14.31 O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt Again certainly Peter was not infallible when in the forequoted Chap. Mat. 16. the Lord having foretold his Death Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee when for that same end he came unto the World and without it there had been no Salvation which drew upon him this sharp and unusual reproof of our Saviour Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of men This passage by the Evangelist is related immediately after what had been discoursed between our Saviour and his Apostles concerning what he was v. 22.23 may be thereby to destroy all inferences that might afterwards happen to be drawn on Peter's behalf to the prejudice and exclusion of the rest of the Apostles for therein any pretended Primacy and Infallibility are overthrown and that circumstance of time makes it remarkable But if there was no other proof against his Infallibility but that sad Denial of his Lord and Master even with an Oath to confirm a Lie yea Cursing and Swearing and that thrice together it were too strong a proof against his Infallibility before our Saviour's Death But I say also he was not infallible after our Saviour's Ascension Witness St. Paul who in (u) Gal. 2.11 12 13. Antioch withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed and therein 't is expressed in what namely for his Dissimulation a thing so contrary to Faith Truth and Sincerity Besides that after his Conversion Peter was a Sinner still and no Sinner is infallible wherefore saith another Apostle speaking of himself as well as of others (x) Jam. 3.2 In many things we offend all and long before a great and a wise King had said (y) 1 King 8.46 There is no man that sinneth not And I suppose a thing which is not that one Man could be found who in his whole Life-time had committed but one Sin yet saith the same Apostle (z) Jam. 2.10 Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all So then Peter was not infallible in the state of Grace and after his Repentance Much less hath any such thing as Infalibility been entailed upon any that were to Succeed him granting that which is not the Popes to be his Successors for there is not the least step thereof in Scripture and Experience teaches with a Witness how Fallible were his pretended Successors Before Men can well Dispute about a thing the Question must be Stated so before we come to Discuss this Matter of Infallibility let them first agree among themselves where to Lodge it which hitherto they could not for some would have it to be in the Council others in the Pope and others in both Pope and Council together The Council of Constance which was held in 1414. Decreed the Council to be above the Pope which is also a Lash against his Supremacy but in Italy this is accounted an Heretical Doctrine But why to talk of Infallibility a thing not be found in the World To Lodge it in any Man is to make a Contradiction and Nonsense for no meer Man was ever Infallible Hence it is that Scripture mentions flaws and failings in the best and most Holy Men to begin from Adam whose Fall Mankind hath cause to Remember Noah Abraham Lot Isaac Joseph Moses Job David Solomon Jonah Elijah that zealous Servant of God of whom James saith he was subject to the like passions as we are Jeremiah Peter Paul Barnabas In few Words Human Nature is attended with such frailties as render any Man subject to error and mistakes How then can Peter or his pretended Successors even in Cathedra as they term it claim an Infallibility By Vertue of what Priviledge and whereupon grounded Now let there be a Council of Men and every one fallible how then can the Council be Infallible Can the number of Men alter Human Nature when sometimes as many Men as many Minds Doth not experience shew how grossly Councils have Erred We find them one set against another The first of Nice condemned the Arrian Heresy which that of Arimini approved of Yet tho' Men and Councils have Erred we own there is an Infallible Rule which if they follow they shall not Err but not the Persons but the Rule is Infallible because it is the Word of an Infallible God Now these immediate Inspirations of the Holy Ghost are not necessary ast hey were at first when the Gospel of Christ was Published by the Ministry of Men for then Men were to be convinced who it came from and was approved by Heaven but now it is setled and hath been confirmed by so many Signs Wonders and Miracles and by the effectual and immediate working of the Holy Ghost we need it no more to demonstrate that truth which hath so often been proved only we are to follow that Rule which Christ and his Apostles have left us wherein he himself speaks as from Heaven If then Councils be Fallible why shall not those Men whom they consist of be so too Which reason is by woful experience confirmed in the persons of Popes in whom others would Lodge the imaginary Infallibility of the Romish Church among whom their own Authors as Platina Baronius and others own to have been Sorcerers Blasphemers Whoremongers Incestuous Sodomites Profane Blood-thirsty and the most abominable Wretches