therefore as they were not to swear by the Lord so neither might they swear by Heaven it being Gods Throne which would amount to swearing by God that sitteth thereon Neither by the Earth neither by Jerusalem neither by the Head which being the greatest of the Creatures the prohibition includeth also the lesser Therefore it is evident none of Christs words being spoken in vain That Christ Jesus did not onely forbid all swearing by the Creatures but also by the true God For if there had been any exception intended by Christ the Wisdom of God he doubtless would have mentioned it as well as he did vers 32. where it 's said Whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for fornication causeth her to commit adultery c. For an Oath and Swearing not being in the beginning with God nor originally of him as true witness-bearing was but being added because the true witness-bearing was transgressed for a time viz. until Christ Jesus the true and faithful Witness and ground of all true witness bearing was made manifest to restore the true witness-bearing as it was at the first Now Christ being come and having chosen his Disciples out of the world to be his Witnesses and to place and restore the true witness-bearing unto and amongst them whom he had appointed to be Lights and good Examples unto the World he therefore took away Swearing which was not of Faith but was added because of transgression as before is said and as being more than Yea and Nay that he might restore and place the true witness-bearing which is of Faith and therefore to abide in the House and among the Houshold of God for ever For it is evident from the words of Christ where he saith Let your yea be yea and your nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil that swearing being more than yea and nay the original ground or cause thereof in man came of the evil and not of the good in man And thus Christ Jesus having forbidden all swearing whatsoever as aforesaid and taken away the first ground or cause thereof in his Disciples he according to the will and promise of God in the place and stead thereof restored the pure Language the Word of Faith which is the Word of Truth that was in the beginning by the Light of which every one that believeth with his Heart cometh to know the Truth and so to do the Truth to confess and speak the Truth from his Heart unto his Neighbour or before a Magistrate in witness-bearing And this Witness being of God will not lye and is therefore the greater Witness which every one that believeth hath in himself according to 1 Iob. 5.9 10. And the Testimony that is born from this and according to this word of Truth in the heart in witness-bearing is in Truth in Righteousness and in Judgement being from and according to a good understanding And as the Truth which is in Christ the Wisdom and Power of God in mans heart is believed in it doth purifie and make clean the heart by taking away sin and unbelief out of the heart and so reconcileth it unto God and one man unto another And now the Testimony that is born according to the truth in the heart is that which God hath appointed to end all Controversie and Strife amongst men for now it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is Truth 1 Iohn 5.6 And it is the Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth and so from all Oaths Shadows and Swearing in witness-bearing which having but a shadow and not the substance of true witness-bearing when the substance was come the shadows were to pass away So what Christ Jesus received of his Father that he made known to his Disciples as he said Iob. 17.8 I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee and have believed that thou hast sent me Insomuch as the Apostle Iames when he writ his Epistle to the Tribes which were scattered abroad he put them in mind being Jews not Gentiles of that Precept of Christ where he saith Above all things my Brethren swear not c. Iam. 5.12 Not that Swearing was a greater offence than Murder or Adultery But they being Jews and not Gentiles by nature had a Command from God under the Law to swear c. were apt to think they might as well swear then as they might before Not at that time being so fully informed that Christ Iesus was the end of the Law for Righteousness to them that believe in him and that by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Act. 13.39 For many among the Jews which then believed were at that time zealous of the Law of Moses insomuch as there were of them that taught the Brethren That except they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved Act. 15. 21.20 So that although Adultery and Murder were as great sins as Swearing yet the Law which they were zealous of having forbidden the one and required the other it was more difficult to bring them off from Swearing than from Murder or Adultery And therefore as it 's usual amongst men to exhort those they are to watch over above all things to take heed of those evils they have been most addicted to and of those things they have been trained up in even so the Apostle exhorted them being Jews to remember the Command of Christ in whom they believed Swear not at all c. And although it be now concluded that Christ Jesus did intend by those words Swear not at all an absolute universal and unlimited prohibition of all manner of Swearing whatsoever as indeed it must be either all Swearing that was formerly commanded or else Christ in that Command forbid nothing which was not forbidden before nay by those words Swear not at all he made the case about Swearing more questionable dark and doubtful than it was before which for any to affirm were a great injury to Christ the Wisdom and Power of God And yet Christ Jesus in forbidding all manner of Swearing whatsoever did nothing but according to the will of his heavenly Father Nor did the Apostle Iames in putting the Jews in mind of his Masters Command Swear not at all any thing in opposition but in obedience to the requiring of Christ. And now of the things before written this is the sum That an Oath and Swearing was not in the beginning with God neither was the original ground or cause of an Oath Swearing of God And therefore neither was nor is an Oath or Swearing any part of the Law eternal nor of the essence of the worship and service of God in Spirit and Truth But the original ground or cause of an Oath and Swearing amongst men in the World was the
Unbelief of Man in God his Word and Truth of which Transgression was the first ground or cause which not being any fruit of the Spirit of God as true witness-bearing is entred into the World and the World into Mans heart by sin and death And therefore an Oath and Swearing is not any part of the worship and service of God now under the Spirits immediate Administration And the Law having but a shadow of good things then to come therefore could never make the Comers thereunto perfect as the bringing in of a better Hope doth And so Christ Jesus the true and faithful Witness that ends the Controversie between God and Man being the End of the Law under which the Oath for confirmation was to be unto them that were under it an end of all controversie and strife amongst men for Righteousness to all that believe which Law not being of Faith was to be taken away or out of the way when Faith was come which was before the Law which is not of faith was given or any Oath or Swearing was For as the Love of God to Israel appeared in giving them his Laws and Statutes notwithstanding they could not accomplish their eternal Peace and Happiness by reason of the weakness of the flesh neither could be taken away nor they freed therefrom until they were fulfilled and the end accomplished for which they were given Even so the Riches of the Love of God appeared in sending forth his Son to effect that which the Law could not do for man neither could man free himself from who being manifested in the flesh the Oath and Covenant of God was fulfilled in him And to as many as received and do receive him by believing in his Word which is night in the heart to do thereafter the heart cometh to be purified and made clean and being prepared by the Lord cometh to witness and feel the Love and Power of God to quicken it and enable it to every good work So that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things Mat. 12.35 Speaking the Truth to and witnessing the Truth for his Neighbour according to and from a good understanding And thus the righteousness of the Law cometh to be fulfilled by Christ in us who walk not according to the Flesh but according to the Spirit and the end of God in giving the Law accomplished according as it 's written 1 Tim. 1.5 The end of the Law is love out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unsained So that the Law which required an Oath in witness-bearing nor any other part of the Law by Christ or any that are of him is not frustrated neither destroyed but the righteousness of the Law by true witness-bearing is fulfilled And being fulfilled was by Christ according to the will of God disanulled abrogated abolished and taken out of the way with all Oaths Swearing and Signs that were required by it And in the stead and place thereof the Law of the Spirit and of Faith the true witness-bearing as it was in the beginning before any Oath or Swearing was established by Christ in the House of God for ever By which Law of Faith the Victory over the World Sin and Unbelief cometh to be witnessed the first ground or cause of Swearing in the World And now the Righteousness of God without the Law written which is not of Faith is manifested by the Light of Christ that shineth in mans heart for to give unto man the knowledge of the things that are immediate of the Spirit and therefore are spiritual not moral being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets according to Rom. 3.21 And is not now called the Works of the Law but the Fruits of the Spirit which as the Apostle faith Ephes. 5.9 is in all Goodness Righteousness and Truth And Gal. 5.22 23. is Love Ioy Peace Long suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance c. And so the Cause being removed the Effect ceaseth From all which it is evident That true Witness-bearing was before any Oath or Swearing was And the Law that is Perfect and Eternal was though hid from their Eyes whose Minds were alienated from the Life and Light of God because of the hardness of their Hearts before the Law in the Tables of Stone was written And the Lord was worshipped in Spirit and Truth before any Oath or Swearing was And therefore an Oath and Swearing neither is nor ever was any part of the Law eternal nor of Faith neither any essential part of the Worship of God in Spirit and Truth which is unchangeable and spiritual So that the laying aside or taking away of an Oath and Swearing in witness-bearing is not to destroy witness-bearing but the reducing it to its Original Verity and Purity as it was in the beginning from all Oaths and Swearing which was added for a time to wit till the true Witness Christ Jesus and the true witness-bearing was made manifest and restored according to the Prophesies that were written of and concerning Christ And as true witness-bearing was in time before any Oath or Swearing was and therefore an Oath and Swearing was not neither is of the essence and substance of true witness-bearing even so the Truth was before any Lye although the Lyar is more ancient than the Swearer Now these things being so why should men professing God and Godliness and Christianity go about to continue an Oath and Swearing in witness-bearing under the Gospel which is everlasting and was preached to Abraham before the Law of Oaths was or any Swearing was commanded or required by God Gal. 3.8 which had its beginning and ending in time not being of the Law of Faith that abideth for ever and therefore was and is changable being of those things that might be shaken and so to be removed That true witness-bearing which being of Faith and therefore cannot be shaken may remain Therefore O ye called Christians let it not seem to you a thing so grievous to have the Bondwoman Unbelief and her Son Swearing cast out for assuredly it must not inherit the Kingdom of God with the Son of the Freewoman True Witness-bearing And now these things thus premised being a true Testimony concerning Oaths and Swearing c. I proceed to answer the subject matter contained and laid down in Twelve Arguments or Reasons whereby Allan Smallwood hath endeavoured to prove but in vain that our Saviour did not forbid all Swearing when he said unto his Disciples Swear not at all c. Mat. 5.34 Arg. 1. The first Argument as it is stated by A. S. in his Reply to F. H. his Book intituled Oaths no Gospel Ordinance c. is That the Father and the Son are one and the same God immutable in Nature and Will for mutability would argue imperfection and consequently cannot issue forth contrary Commands for that would evidence a contrariety or mutability in their Will And the Father having
A TRUE TESTIMONY CONCERNING Oaths Swearing c. AS ALSO An Answer to the subject matter contained in Twelve Arguments or Reasons laid down in a Sermon preached at Carliste Aug. 17. 1664. by Allan Smalwood D.D. as he stiles himself to prove That our Saviour did not forbad all Swearing Wherein is fully cleared The Command of Christ and his Apostle Iames Swear not at all Matth. 5.34 Iam. 5.12 from the corrupt glosses limited sence and meanings of the said A. S. in his said Sermon and in his Reply to F.H. his Book called Oaths no Gospel Ordinance c. And also The unsatisfactoriness and unsoundness of the aforesaid Arguments fully discovered and the Command of Christ Swear not at all manifested to be an universal prohibition of all Oaths and Swearing whatsoever to his Disciples Written in the year 1668. By Ger. Benson Psal. 89.49 50. Remember O Lord the rebuke thy servants have wherewith thine enemies have blasphemed thee and slandered the footsteps of thiâ—â— Anointed London Printed in the Year 1669. To the READER READER VVHat I have written in this little Treatise not being after man neither by me received of man nor from man I have therefore made no use of the inticing words of mans wisdom neither of any mans testimony for the confirming the same but as the testimony therein born is for God the truth of his sayings not for man I have made use of no other witness than the Scriptures of truth which proceeded from the spirit that beareth witness because the spirit is truth and being so can neither deceive nor be deceived which spirit being of God is greater than man and so knoweth more For the things therein treated of are matters of faith therefore stands not in the wisdom of words or of men but in the power of God who shuts no man can open opens no man can shut Neither indeed is fallen man especially a swearer a competent witness in this controversie about swearing no man being a competent witness in his own cause Read then without prejudice own with understanding or answer in the ground without contending about words to no profit For the Kingdom of God consisteth not in words but in power neither in meat drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost A true TESTIMONY concerning Oathes and Swearing c. IN the day that Almighty God created Man before man was in his Image and according to his own likeness created he him male and female created he them and having finished the works of Creation he looked upon all that he had made and lo it was very good And having also made the Man of the Dust of the Earth He planted a Garden Eastward in Eden where he put the Man whom he had made And that Man might learn Obedience the Lord commanded him saying Thou shalt eat freely of every Tree of the Garden but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Now in that day there was no strife or controversie for what the Lord commanded it was done as it 's written Psal. 33.9 For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast And God was all in all and over all the Law-giver Judge and King And as then there was no sin in the World which God had made so neither was there any controversie or strife betwixt Man and his Maker or amongst the Creatures of God neither was there any Oath or Swearing nor any other outward or visible Sign Shadow Type or Figure in or by which the Lord was to be worshipped nor any need thereof for the Lord God who is the substance of all was all in all and over all God blessed for ever who was worshipped not in words but in deeds not with Oaths and Swearing neither in set Forms Shadows Signs or Figures but in Spirit and Truth in Love and true Obedience which was and is better than Sacrifice or the fat of Rams And in that day the Law of the Spirit which is Eternal and nor Moral was the rule and guide of Man in his Worship and Service of God with whom Man in his Spirit had unity and fellowship in the Light Life and Truth that is eternal and unchangeable And as it was in the beginning even so it is and shall be in the day of restauration of all things by Jesus Christ who is and was and is to come the Almighty Alpha and Omega the first and the last the true and faithful Witness the Author of all true witness-bearing But Man being in honour continued not for the Serpent being more subtile than any Beast of the field deceived the Woman with his limitted sence and meaning which he then gave to the positive Word and Command of God even as the spirit that now ruleth in all the Chileren of disobedience with his limitted sense and commodious interpretations as they are called of the Scriptures of Truth doth deceive the simple that lends an ear unto him and thereby brought her then as that spirit doth people now into the transgression of the Word and Command of God unto which no man ought to add any thing neither to diminish ought therefrom Deut. 4.2 Rev. 22. 18 19. And the Woman having eaten of that which in its self was good and therefore not intrinsically evil mark that gave unto her Husband with her and he did eate who having eaten contrary to the Word and Command of God sin entered into the world and the world into mans heart and death by sin the first ground or cause of unbelief And now in that day the Candle of the wicked being put out Death and Darkness passed over the Life and Truth of God in Man so that the Word and Truth of God the ground of true witness-bearing which was and is Eternal not Moral was hid from their eyes who had sinned And now Man being deprived of the Glory of God and ignorant of his Righteousness went after his own Inventions so that as it is written Death reigned from Adam until Moses Rom. 5.14 And now in that day the Lord had a Controversie with Man by reason of his sin and Man in his sin was in unbelief of the Word and Truth of God the ground of true witness-bearing Insomuch as that in process of time when Men began to be multiplied upon Earth the wickedness of Men waxed great so that they went into strife and contention one against another until blood touched blood And in this estate of Man Abimelech King of Gerar who was in the unbelief of the Word and Power of God and observing that God was with Abram he was afraid as it is written The workers of Iniquity are afraid where no fear or cause thereof is Psal. 53.4 5. and having a controversie against Abram concerning Sarah Gen. 20.9 said unto Abram Swear unto me here by God
That thou wilt not hurt me nor my Children Then Abram being afraid of his life Gen. 12.12 and also having a controversie at that time with Abimelech about a Well of water Gen. 21.22 23 24 25. said I will Swear And here was the first Oath or Swearing that is recorded in the Scriptures of Truth together with the original ground or cause thereof viz. Unbelief the fruit of sin and this was in time before the Lord is said to have sworn and long before the Law was given under which an Oath for confirmation was to be unto them that were under that Law an end of all strife Heb. 6.16 And an Oath and Swearing was also in long time after Witness-bearing for we read That Eve before the Fall did bear witness concerning what the Lord had said Gen. 3.2 3. And Sarah after the Fall and in time before any Oath or Swearing did call the Lord to witness or judge betwixt her and Abram Gen. 16.5 without any Oath or Swearing So that witness-bearing was in the beginning before the Fall and so in time long before any oath or swearing was in the world Afterwards the Lord proved Abram who obeying the Word or Command of God The Lord made a Promise unto Abram That in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed and to shew to him and his seed the immutability of his Counsel and to the end that he and they might have strong consolation The Lord by way of condescention to Man in his weakness which by reason of transgression all men by nature were involved in gave a token as he had done to Noah Gen. 9.12 and said By my Self have I sworn because thou hast not spared thine only son therefore will I surely bless thee and multiply thy Seed and in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed And so the Lord added word to word thereby to regain or beget man into the belief of the truth of his Word and Promise and that by two immutable things wherein it was impossible for God to lye man might have full assurance that what the Lord had promised he would performâ— yet notwithstanding they believed not his Word neither put their trust in his help whom he had chosen out of the Nations to place his Name among and to be a peculiar People to himself therefore their dayes he consumed in vanity and their years in trouble yet he helped them for his Name-sake and made his Power known in their Deliverance out of Egypt and leading them through the Deep and in the Wilderness and yet they sinned still against him and provoked the Highest in the wilderness and tempted God in their hearts Wherefore the Lord because of their transgression and that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful and that the offence might abound Rom. â— 20 added the Law called The first Covenant or Testament Gal. 3.19 until the Seed should come which was out of transgression mark to whom the Promise was made which Seed is Christ Gal. 3.16 who being come the true and faithful Witness the Oath and Promise of God made to Abraham was fulfilled and performed in him Luke 1.72 73. whom God had appointed to finish the transgressions and to seal up the sins that were under the first Covenant which was not faultless Heb. 8.7 for the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did Heb. 7.19 and to bring in everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 that they which are called might receive the eternal Inheritance So Christ being come in whom all the Promises of God are Yea and Amen for ever he was the end of the Law which was added because of transgression until he came that was out of transgression for Righteousness to all that believe by whose obedience many were are and shall be made Righteous through Faith But the Law is not of Faith Gal. 3.12 neither was given for a righteous man mark that but to the lawless and disobedient I Tim. 1.9 10. And therefore what the Law saith it faith to them that are under it viz. to the transgressions and disobedient c. But Christians in Christ Jesus and in the Faith of him are new Creatures and therefore are not under the Law of a carnal Commandment which was peculiar to the Iewes but under the Law of the Spirit and of Faith the power of an endless life Heb. 7.16 And as the Law was not given for a righteous man so neither was it given to the Gentiles For God shewed his Word unto Iacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He dealt not so with every Nation neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Laws Psal. 147.19 20. And therefore as Allan Smalwood faith of the Judicial Laws as he calls them I may say of the whole Law written whether by Men called Moral Judicial or Ceremonial that it was never obligatory to the Gentiles neither to us who by nature are no Iewes nor ever dwelt in Canaan And so what was never imposed need not to be abolished as to the Gentiles neither to us but Swearing was never commanded by God unto the Gentiles as any part of his Worship and Service therefore as to them and us who by Nature are no Iewes nor ever dwelt in Canaan it was never Obligatory So that A.S. and all that plead for Oaths and Swearing with all their Arguments drawn from the authority of that which they call the Moral Law are overthrown and will not avail them to prove the lawfulness of Swearing amongst us of these Islands who by Nature have descended from the Gentiles and not from the Iewes And therefore A. S. is worthy of blame in going about to lay a yoke which neither the Fathers nor we were able to bear upon them which from among the Gentiles are turned unto God and are become Christians in Christ Jesus which the Lord never required nor laid upon them Acts 15.10 For what the Lord required of the Gentiles was manifest in them for God himself shewed it unto them Rom. 1.19 So that they also who amongst the Gentiles were unfaithful to and in that which they knew of God were likewise left without excuse as it is written As many as have sinned without the Law shall perish without the Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law Rom. 2.12 And as to the Iewes to whom the Law was peculiarly given and so were under it and therefore what the Law said it was to them that were under it When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law that he might redeem them that were under the Law that they might receive the adoption of sons Gal. 4.4 That so both Iewes and Gentiles without respect of persons might receive in Christ the blessing promised to Abram when he was in uncircumcision through the righteousness of Faith and not through the Law which is not
fully supply where it is received Nay there is much more surety to our Neighbour by true witness-bearing than by swearing because a true witness will not lye The fourth Argument is thus formed Arg. 4. That interpretation of our Saviours words Swear not at all which renders the following words vain and impertinent is false c. Answ. That Christ intended what he said I hope no Christian will deny And that those words Swear not at all were spoken by Christ and are in themselves a prohibition of all swearing whatsoever is evident And that they were spoken by Christ not by way of compliance with what had been said before to them of old time but in the contrary thereof is apparent by the words But I say unto you Swear not at all Which words if they signifie nothing but what was before said Then should they not only be to no purpose but hurtful by making the case of swearing more dark and questionable than it was before under the Law which for any man to affirm were a great injury to Christ Jesus the Wisdom of God And therefore Christ having spoken all those words But I say unto you Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. And that in the contrary of what was said before as the word but and the words not at all do import It is manifest that Christ did in that command Swear not at all forbid somewhat that was not forbidden by the Law And consequently all swearing whatsoever whether by the Lord or by the Creatures And that Christ added neither by Heaven the Earth Jerusalem the Head they being the chiefest of the visible Creatures all the other creatures being the lesser or inferiour are included the greater comprehending the less so that the words following and precedent are all significant and useful For being the words of Christ not any of them are to be rejected but all and every word established And therefore it were more beseeming Christians to give all diligence to observe the Law and Command of Christ then to invent and frame Arguments against his words which are in themselves plain and have no ambiguity in them and being so according to the rule when in words there is no ambiguity there no Exposition is to be made against the words expressed For in doubtful speech we utter not a doubtful sence but only that which we mean Therefore he which speaketh one thing and meaneth another neither doth he utter that which the word signifieth because he meaneth not so neither that which he meaneth because he speaketh it not Which for any man to affirm of the words of Christ Swear not at all were as before is said a great injury to Christ the Wisdom of God and to the Spirit of Truth from which the Scriptures of Truth were given forth All which words of Christ being in themselves prohibitions of Swearing and no exceptions as the words of Christ in the case of Divorcement were where it 's said Except for the cause of Fornication do the more confirm and illustrate the extent of the Command And being the words of Christ the Wisdom of God they are neither vain nor impertinent No more than those words in the fourth Commandment In it thou shalt do no manner of work nor thy Son c. All which were included in those general words before-going Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Or the enumerating all those words written in the Tables of Stone which were all briefly comprehended in those few words Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ' And thy Neighbour as thy self And yet the Wisdom of God which is wiser than men knowing whereof we as men have need spoke all those words in the Law And where the Law-giver hath made no exception he to whom the Law is given ought not And so I conclude That the Law of Christ Swear not at all is perfect and a full prohibition of all swearing unto his Disciples and being perfect no man ought to add any thing thereunto or diminish any thing from it And so I proceed to the fifth Argument Arg. 5. Nothing that of it self is not intrinsically evil is forbidden by Christ and that is proved by induction But Swearing is not of it self intrinsically evil And therefore Christ did not forbid it Answ. The thing in Dispute is not Whether Christ did ever forbid any thing that was not of it self evil But whether Christ hath forbidden all Swearing Which that Christ hath forbidden all swearing his own words which are the interpreters of the heart do prove And one single testimony of the Scriptures of Truth is of more strength than a thousand surmises or meer humane witnesses And therefore Swearing being forbidden by Christ Mat. 5.34 it is the duty of Christians to apply themselves to yield obedience to his Command and not to frame Arguments to evade the same or to ask a Reason wherefore he so did And yet we read That God commanded Circumcision and Sacrifices which in themselves are not evil and yet forbidden in the New Covenant And we also read That God forbad Adam to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which Tree and its Fruit of themselves were not intrinsically evil And the use of several other Creatures under the Law was forbidden the People of Israel And what God the Father did forbid it was by his Word And Christ the Word and Power of God he forbid his Disciples to go into the way of the Gentiles and not to enter into any of the Cities of the Samaritans Mat. 10.5 And he charged his Disciples they should tell the Vision to no man until c. Mat. 17. 9. And that they should call no man Master upon the Earth Mat. 23. 9. None of which of themselves were intrinsically evil But that which concerns us as Christians and so under the Law of Christ is not so much to enquire whether or no such a thing be good in or of it self But whether or no it be good for us to practice yea or nay For as said the Apostle What is not of Faith is Sin And therefore that is good for Christians to do which the Lord requires of them But to proceed to the sixth Argument the force whereof is this Arg. 6. Either Christ forbad not the taking of an Oath upon just occasion or else St. Paul though assisted by the Holy Ghost understood not the Text. Or If he understood it he acted against it and that not rashly but upon deliberation Because in his Epistle he calls God to witness which is a formal Oath Answ. That the Apostle Paul did know the mind of Christ in that Precept Swear not at all is believed But that he acted contrary contrary thereto when he said God is my witness or called God to witness is denied For as he knew Christ had forbidden all swearing he also knew that Christ was the true and faithful Witness the first and the last
and came to restore the true witness-bearing as at the first which was and is the Righteousness of the Law of Oaths And the Apostle being an able Minister of the Spirit not of the Letter he was come to see the End of that which was abolished and preached the everlasting Gospel the word of Faith which was and is the Word of Truth the Author of true witness-bearing which was before any Oath or Swearing was And so as Christ his Lord and Master had done before when he said unto Pilate For this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the Truth Joh. 18.37 He in obedience to his Lord and Master did bear witness to and of the Truth And in witness-bearing did as the Servants of the Lord do call God to witness or appeal to the witness of God in men concerning the truth of what he declared without observing any set forms of words And as Sarai had done before when she said unto Abram The Lord judge betwixt thee and me yet did not swear at all But A. S. saith That calling God to witness is a formal Oathâ— because there is an attestation of the Name of God Answ. That the Name of God was used in witness-bearing before any Oath or Swearing was doth appear Gen. 3.3 where Eve before the Fall in witness-bearing used the Name of God when she said God hath said Ye shall not eat c. yet did not swear at all And Sarai after the Fall did use an attestation of the Name of God in witness-bearing when she said unto Abram The Lord judge betwixt thee and me Gen. 16.5 and yet Sarai did not swear at all in so doing And therefore the calling of God to witness or saying God is my witness c. without adding of somewhat more is neither Oath nor Swearing For if such attestations or mentioning the Name of God without somewhat more were swearing then it would follow That People did swear oftentimes in their Prayers As when they use that expression Oh God the Father of Heaven c. O God make haste to help us Amen Amen c. which for any to affirm were a great injury to the People Again If a bare attestation of the Name of God by what terms soever expressed were an Oath and Swearing without adding of some what more Then would the Magistrates in Judicial proceedings in cases where an Oath and Swearing is by the Law required receive such Attestations of the Name of God without denying them for Oaths and Swearing But such Attestations or the like without adding somewhat more is denied by the Magistrates in Judicial proceedings c. Therefore they are no formal or legal Oaths without addition of somewhat more which somewhat more being more than yea and nay cometh of evil For it must be confessed and it is the chiefest ground or cause that is alleadged for the lawfulness of some swearing under the Gospel that it is necessary for the ending of Controversies and Strife in Judicial proceedings c. That if an Oath or Swearing were lawful in any case whatsoever it must be in Judicial proceedings c. And I do not find in the Scriptures of Truth That any Oath was lawful but in such proceedings or the like emergent occasions All vain and prosane Oaths being forbidden by the Law And as the lawful use of Oaths under the Law was in legal or judicial proceedings so the definition or determination of what was a legal Oath or Swearing and what was neither Oath nor Swearing was by the Law and the Ministers of it and not by private or particular men For at this day there are several kinds or forms of Oaths required by the National Laws And yet the bare Attestation of the Name of God without addition of somewhat more is not answerable to any of them neither doth fully answer the requiring of the Law as the daily practise of the Law in the Courts of Judicature doth manifest which practice doth declare what a legal Oath is in the judgment of the National Laws And for illegal Oaths A. S. I hope will not contend By which Laws also it doth appear That the Law doth put a difference betwixt an Oath or Swearing and Witness-bearing and doth not confound them together as many men do As for instance in one particular When a Party or a Witness doth appear to answer a Libel or to give Evidence in the Ecclesiastical Courts upon his Appearance in the Court he is required to take his Oath and then the Book being held the Party having laid his hand thereupon some words being spoken to him by the Judge of the Court and after the Party having kissed the Book then is the Party said to be Sworn or to have taken his Oath And being so Sworn he is admonished to give in his Answer or his Evidence as the Case is at or before such a time so that the Evidence after given into the Court is the Witness-bearing and not the Oath which Evidence or Answer as the Case requires if he neglect or refuse to give he is proceeded against for refusing to give his Evidence or Answer And not as one that refuseth to Swear or take an Oath he having Sworn or taken his Oath before which Evidence if given is the Witness-bearing and not the Oath For if he refuse to swear he is proceeded against for refusing to swear although he offer to give his Evidence without swearing So that the Evidence is the witness-bearing and not the Oath By which it doth appear That an Oath is in and of it self a distinct thing from Witness-bearing which was before any Oaths was and is but a Bond or Tye for true Witness-bearing and not the substance For when the Evidence is given if what is Evidenced be false the Oath taken before or after doth not make it true And if it be truth that is Evidenced the refusing to take or add an Oath or give a Token Sign or Pledge doth not detract any thing from it By which it may appear to the unprejudiced in mind That the laying aside of an Oath and Swearing which was added for a time under the Law in witness-bearing because men had transgressed or gone from the Truth of God which was in the beginning before any Oath was in witness-bearing is not to destroy true witness-bearing but the reducing it to its primitive purity as it was in the beginning So that the true Witness Christ Jesus being made manifest all that believe in him and receive him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God and by his Spirit which is Truth and leads into all Truth he enableth them to do the Truth confess the Truth and speak the Truth from the heart unto their Neighbour or before a Magistrate in witness-bearing as it 's written A good man out of the good treasure in his heart he bringeth forth good things So that our Neighbour
if he receive our Testimony being Truth he is not damnified by us although we may not Swear at all or give him any outward sign or pledge which cannot add any thing in Truth to the Truth which we are willing and free to bear Witness of and unto upon any just occasion Neither can the Magistrate be more assured of the Truth of what is Evidenced by an Oath than by a bare Affirmation For as the one so the other may be true or false Again I say That not only our Neighbour is not prejudiced by us because we may not add any sign token or pledge to the Truth which we bear witness of and to but he is by true witness-bearing more advantaged than he is or can be by Swearing when the Evidence born is not true which neither is nor ever was of the essence of true witness-bearing Because true witness-bearing was before any Oath or Swearing was For there may be and hath been many times Oaths and Swearing in Judicial Proceedings when the Evidence given upon such Oaths have not been true but false and so men thereby have and do suffer prejudice But when and where true witness is born and received although an Oath be denied or not given yet hereby men are advantaged and receive benefit and no prejudice at all for where a true Testimony is born there none ever did or can thereby receive loss Again Christ Jesus being come to restore and establish everlasting Righteousness in the new Covenant that is faultless and so unchangable And Oaths and Searing not being faultless and so changeable not being from everlasting but added for a time because of transgression as is before said It was expedient that all Swearing with those things under the first Covenant should be taken away that were things in themselves changable and might be shaken to the end that true witness-bearing which could not be shaken might be established in the House of God for ever So that although where Moses or the Old Testament is read an Oath and Swearing as a Vail remains to this day undone away yet nevertheless all whose hearts and minds are turned to the Lord in the Light that was before any Avail or Oath was they see and witness the End of that which is abolished for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom 2 Cor. 3. And therefore the Apostle Paul having seen and witnessed the removing of those things which might be shaken and knowing that when that which was perfect was come that which was but in part was to be done away he in witness-bearing said God is my witness I speak the Truth in Christ I lye not c. without adding any outward token sign or pledge or observing any form of words at all So that as he himself said He became as without Law to them that were without Law 1 Cor. 9.21 yet was he subject to the Law of Christ and did not Swear at all And as he did not himself swear so neither did he teach swearing to be lawful by way of Doctrine to the Hebrews when he said That an Oath is among them for an end of all strife and controversie Heb. 6.18 which words he spoke not by way of Doctrine as a thing to be practised by them as Christians but by way of repeating what formerly had been used amongst the Jews under the first Covenant and so that he might shew unto them being Jews how that by Christ the first Testament was taken away or out of the way and the second established upon better promises For as he said of Swearing he also said of the Priesthood That every High Priest is not was ordained to offer c. Heb. 8 3. And that after the second Vail was the Tabernacle which is not was called the Holiest of all Heb. 9.3 And when Moses had spoken every Precept to the People according to the Law he took the blood of Calves saying This is not was the blood of the Testament which God hath appointed to you Heb. 9.19 20. All which his sayings do plainly shew That what he had in those particulars mentioned was by way of repeating what had been in use under the first Covenant and not by way of Doctrine what they were to practise then as Christians But I proceed to the seventh Argument which as A. S. saith in brief runs thus Arg. 7. Some Swearing is enjoyned in the third Commandment every Precept prohibitive of vice being necessarily so to be expounded as implying the contrary duty or else it is impossible to free the Decalogue from imperfection And consequently Thou shalt not take the Name of God in vain implies Thou shalt take the Name of God that is Thou shalt Swear when there is a just occasion And therefore Christ who came not to destroy the Law did not forbid all Swearing Answ. What is impossible with man is possible with God and that Christ did fulfil not destroy the Law is confessed And having fulfilled the Law the end for which it was for a time given was accomplished which being accomplished according to the Will of God was abolished abrogated disannulled and taken away by Christ as before is fully proved Now as said the Apostle Rom. 7.3 4. The Woman which is in subjection to her Husband is bound by his Law to him as long as he liveth but if her Husband be dead she is delivered from his Law So then if while the man liveth she take another Husband she shall be called an Adultress but if the man be dead she is free from the Law so that she is no Adultress though she take another Husband Wherefore my Brethren ye also are become dead by the Body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit to God What words more plain to prove That Christians in Christ Jesus are freed from the Law of the carnal Commandment that they may serve God in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter Heb. 7.10 Rom. 7.6 And though it be true that Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it yet that doth no more prove A. S's Conclusion inferred thereupon viz. Therefore Christ did not forbid all swearing because some swearing was commanded in the Law Then it doth where a man is ingaged by his Bond to pay so much money upon such a day and the man upon that day doth make payment of the money according to his Bond That the man in so doing doth destroy his Boud or that it is after Obligatory to him when he hath fulfilled it For although the People of Israel to whom the Law was given by God could not be freed therefrom until it was fulfilled yet notwithstanding when it was fulfilled it was by the Ordination of God to pass away and the People freed from it as before is proved So that when Christ Jesus had fulfilled the Law not for himself
A.S. calls Moral in which â—s he saith Oaths are commanded Therefore A. S. is blame-worthy in asserting Swearing as an everlasting Statute to be observed by all that obey the Lord and his Christ and in so doing he is found in the steps of those in the Apostles dayes who taught That it was needful to Circumcise such as believed in Christ and to command them to keep the Law of Moses insomuch as the Apostles and Elders came together to confides of the matter and after consideration had declared That it seemed good to the holy Ghost and to them to lay upon them which from among the Gentiles were turned to God no greater burden than those necessary things viz. That they should abstain from meats offered to Idols and from blood from things strangled and from Fornication But I proceed to A. S. his tenth Argument or Reason as he calls it which was Arg 10. That the High Priest charged Christ our Saviour to swear and be accordingly Answered upon Oath and that some years after he had said Swear not at all Whence it follows That the lawful Magistrate may impose Oaths and the People upon whom they are imposed may and ought by Christs Example to Answer upon Oath notwithstanding the seeming prohibition Swear not at all Answ. That it was some years after that Christ said to his Disciples Swear not at all That the High Priest did use that expression unto Christ I adjure thee c. is believed But that Christ Jesus the true and faithful witness who came into the World to bear witness of the Truth and to establish the true witness-bearing as it was before swearing was when he said unto the High Priest Thou hast said did in so saying Swear or Answer upon Oath is denied Neither hath A.S. proved that Christ did swear otherwise then by his and other mens conjectures and conceivings All of which being Swearers are not in this case competent Witnesses And that he saith That the High Priest adjured Christ and Christ answering Thou hast said without more saying did Swear by the Living God not expressed indeed by him but by the High Priest Answ. But how doth A. S. know that Christ before his Answer to the High Priest did not deny swearing or to swear for it s written Ioh. 21.25 That there were many things which Iesus did which if they should be written every one c. And therefore to conclude because it is not mentioned by the Apostle that Christ did not deny to swear therefore Christ did swear This is to â—esk a surmise to warrant swearing when Christ had before commanded his Disciples Not to swear at all For if to answer by way of affirming or denying that which is asked by a Magistrate were an Oath and Swearing because the Magistrate doth require the Party to Swear without addition of somewhat more Than surely many have suffered in these late years as refusers to take an Oath and to Swear when they did Swear But my belief is That the Magistrates by whom such have been fâ—oned and imprisoned or otherwise censured for refusing to Swear or take an Oath and better know what a legal Oath is than A. S. doth in this particular are of another judgment or opinion than A. S. is or else it may be hoped that none hereafter shall suffer upon that account of refusing to Swear when they are willing to Answer and do Answer to such questions as they shall be asked or examined of by the Court or particular Magistrate And therefore A. S.'s Conclosion is denied failing in the proof of his premisses But to proceed to his eleventh Arguments or Reason viz. Arg. 11. That no Exposition of this Text or any other was to be admitted that put an inconsistence betwixt the Old Testament and the New But that Exposition Swear not all that renders it a total prohibition of all Swearing does so for it makes it contradict several Texts in the Old Testament And therefore is not to be admitted Answ. The Law of Christ is Penal to the transgressors of it Heb. 1.2 3. 12.25 and therefore doth not admit of any supply to be made by man who is and ought to observe the Command without exception of persons and not to frame Arguments against it and the Lord hath forbidden man to add any thing or diminish from what is written For the Law of God and of Christ being perfect therefore nothing ought to be added to it Therefore to admit of any Exposition of the Scripture whereby to make them contradictory one to another or any Text of Scripture contradictory in it self were a great evil And therefore all commodious Interpretations as they are called of that Text Mat. 5.34 But I say unto you Swear not at all c. inducing the lawfulness of Swearing in some cases is denied as being contradictory to what is written For if such Expositions were received for Truths Then would an able Oratour with his School-Distinctions and Syllogisms make the same thing seem either likely or unlikely according to his fancy And in the end do as the Scribes and Pharisees did make void the Law of God with their Traditions and subtil Distinctions but we have not so learned of Christ who are taught of him the Truth as it is in him unto which nothing is to be added nor any thing taken therefrom And where it is said by A.S. That that Exposition of that Scripture Swear not at all that renders it a total prohibition of Swearing does put an inconsistency betwixt the Old Testament and the New I Answer and do say It doth no more so than those Texts which A.S. and others of his judgment do own for the change of the Seventh-day Sabbath unto the First day of the Week nor thus the Apostle did 1 Cor. 7.19 where he said Circumcision is nothing and Gal. 5.2 If any man be circumcised Christ Iesus shall profit him nothing nor then Christ Jesus himself did Mat. 5-43 44. when he said It hath been said of old time thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy But I say unto you Love your Enemies bless them that curse you Besides several other Texts of Scriptures that might be mentioned in the New Testament to that purpose So that although there hath been diversities of Dispensations and diversities of Administrations and Commands as there are diversities of Gifts and Operations yet the same Spirit and the same Lord Law-giver Judge and King who at sundry times and iâ— divers manners spoke in the old time to our Fathers by the Prophets and hath spoken to us in these last dayes by his Son aâ— Commanded that all should hear him and honour him to whom he hath committed all Judgment who saith Swear not at all â— that if Times and Dispensations were rightly discerned and distinguished the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament do agree for there is no contrariety in the Spirit that gave them forth but the contrariety is in
that mind that is carnal and therefore is not subject to the Law of Christ according to Rom. 8 7. But all who mind the things of the Spirit they do the Will of God and so knows Christs Doctrine to be his that sent him when he said Swear not at all And that there was a time when God was purely worshipped and truly served before any Oath was And that there was a time when Israel was commanded to fear the Lord and serve him and swear by his Name by which it is evident That swearing was no essential part of the Worship of God in Spirit and Truth and therefore was but temporary And that there was a time when Israel was to seek the place which the Lord should chase to put his Name there viz. Ierusalem and thither they were to come and bring their burnt Offerings Deut. 12.5 6 7. Ioh. 4.20 And there was and is a time that neither in the Mountain nor yet at Ierusalem they should worship the Father Ioh. 4.21 And there was a time that the condition of the Heir should not differ from a Servant c. And there was an appointed time when he should be Lord of all and receive the adoption of a Son Gal. 4.1 to 6. But the Well is deep and whilst People have or at the least make use of nothing to draw the Water with but what they have and receive from man by man and of man they will receive little refreshment or satisfaction in these things before-mentioned Nevertheless when they in their hearts shall turn to the Lord the Vail shall be done away for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Light and it is the Light that God hath commanded to shine in mens hearts for to give unto them the knowledge of the things that are of his Spirit which the Natural man understands not nor can the Wisdom which is from below find out And now I come to A.S. his twelfth Argument or last Reason which was and is Arg. 12. The general practise of Christendom who could not all be so ignorant as to misunderstand the meaning of these words Swear not at all Or so wicked as not only rashly but advisedly to act against them Answ. It is written Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do evil And also That when King Herod heard that the Holy Child Iesus was born he was troubled and all Ierusalem with him and gathering together all the Chief Priests and Scribes of the People he asked of them Where Christ should be born And they said at Bethlem c. Mat. 2.1 c. And yet the Chief Priests and Elders of the People were so wicked that they assembled together and consulted how they might take Iesus by subtilty and kill him Mat. 26.3 4. concerning whom the Apostle Acts 3.17 bore witness That they did what they did unto him ignorantly because they knew him not and therefore exhorted them to repentance So that it may be possible That all those in Christendom mentioned by A. S. to own swearing as men might in this case of swearing be ignorant the time of ignorance being winked at And therefore this Reason given by A.S. to prove that Christ did not forbid all swearing when he had said Swear not at all is neither sound nor satisfactory especially the Scriptures following well considered Ioh. 5.34 36. 8.43 Mat. 11.25 to which many others might be added And yet my belief is That the Lord in no Age hath left himself without witness concerning the truth and extent of the Command of Christ aforesaid although born by Babes and poor Fishermen or other persons unlearned in the many languages and therefore little esteemed of the world though highly esteemed of God but by the world hated and their testimony rejected as erronious And yet greater was he that was in them than he that was in the World and so they had the greater witness for if the witness of men be great the witness of God is greater which every one that believeth hath in himself 1 Ioh. 5.9 10. And he that keepeth the commands of Christ he dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him according to 1 Ioh. 3.23 24. And I also believe concerning many of them who have affirmed as their judgment the lawfulness of some swearing under the Gospel That if they had lived in these our dayes wherein the Lord God out of the riches of his Love and the abundance of his Light which he hath commanded to shine out of darkness after the long night of Apostacy in the hearts of the heirs of his Righteousness for to give unto them the knowledge of his Glory and of the true witness-bearing in the face of Jesus Christ as it was before any Oath or Swearing was that they would have come to have seen and also to have acknowledged as many in these dayes blessed be the Name of the Lord for his unspeakable gift have done their mistakes in the case of swearing and by confessing their sins and acknowledging their mistakes have given glory to the Lord and conformed their judgments practises to the command of Christ Swear not at all And with Solomon have born their testimony That in making many Books there is no end and in reading of them much wearisomness to the flesh And that the end of all is to learn to fear the Lord and keep his Commandments which is the whole duty of man Eccles. 12.12 13. And now having born my testimony for the Lord concerning Oaths and Swearing according to that in my Conscience and the Scriptures of Truth and that not in a way of opposing the Son of God against his Father nor the Scriptures of the New Testament against the Old nor by making any Text of Scripture contradictory in it self But in and by such a way as they are established in unity one with another Neither with a contending or opposing spirit against any Law or Ordinance of man that ought to be submitted unto for the Lords sake But in the spirit of love and meekness for the clearing my Conscience before the Lord and his People in yielding a Reason wherefore I and some others may not take any Oath or Swear at all although we should be required thereunto by a lawful Magistrate I have peace causing rather in this case to fall into the hands of men and by submission unto their punishment which hitherto blessed be God I and some others have found not according to the rigour of the Law but with some moderation thereby testifying my practice to be according to my judgment against all resistance of the powers which God hath set over me and that not for fear of wrath but for Conscience sake to God who is able not only to destroy my body but to cast both soul and body into Hell fire Assuredly beleeving that whilest I have a respect unto all the Commands of Christ Jesus I shall never be ashamed And if in this matter concerning Swearing any should yet remain otherwise minded and seem to be contentious about words and forms I say we have no such custome in the Churches of Christ. For where glory is given to God on high there is peace on Earth and good will to all men on Earth below And all who wait in the Light of God as it shineth in their hearts 〈◊〉 in due time shall have the same Truth revealed unto them 〈◊〉 which I have herein born my Testimony And I and others 〈…〉 o walk in that whereunto we through the Grace of God are come That so we may not be ashamed of our Testimony for the Lord though born through much suffering THE END