Relation to God and are his Servants 6. Because as none of these things are God to take Order with us if we swear falsly so none of them are so ours as we can lay them in Pledge for the least Change to be made upon them in Case our Oath be not true none of them can be added unto or diminished from by us We cannot make one of our Haires Black or White and therefore ought not to swear by our Head much-less can we quiet our Conscience or increase our Faith that we should so freely swear by these That place Mat. 5.36 cleareth this For that of Mat. 23.16 17. c. speaketh of the Obligation of an Oath sinfully made as to that manner of swearing which yet still bindeth but it warranteth not the making of such Oaths A. 3d. Quest. is What is to be judged concerning Asseverations such as In Conscience good Faith as I shall answer c. as I am a Christian as I have a Soul to be saved and such like Answer 1. We think there is no Question but if these were rightly and in the due manner made use of they might be lawfully used as Scripture cleareth 2. Yea we think If any Oaths be made use of these would first he used and a man may be called to use one of these when he is not directly to swear 3. Therefore we think they cannot be used but in necessity when less will not serve and should be used with Fear Reverence Understanding and the other Qualifications And that therefore they sin who in Common Discourse rash â—y and vainly use them which we conc â—ive to be forbidden here and when they are not Conscientiously used they lead men to a greater Degree of the sin here discharged as we see some begin with Asseverations then idle Oaths and then Imprecations as Peter sinfully did Mat. 26. Reason 1. All these Asseverations are reductible Oaths and imply the contrary imprecations in them Thus Let me not be esteemed a Christian nor have a Soul to be saved which must relate to God for executing these therefore being indirect Oaths they ought to be used as Oaths and belong to this Command 2. Because the very end of any vehement Asseveration is to confirm what is said further than an ordinary Assertion can Now in so far it is an Oath it being proper to an Oath to confirm what is spoken and seeing it agreeth with an Oath in the Essentialls they must be materially one though Asseverations be pronounced in another Form 3. Vain Asseverations are against that Rule Mat. 5.37 Jam. 5.12 Let your Communication be Yea Yea and Nay Nay and what-ever is more in ordinary Communication is Evil And it cannot be denyed but this is more and therefore needless and sinful 4. We do not find Asseverations such as My Conscience beareth me Witnesse to be used warrantably by Saints in Scripture but with great Reverence even almost in such things as they used to confirm by Oaths therefore Swearing is often joyned with them Rom. 9.1 2. 2 Cor. 11.31 5. For what end are they used It 's either to confirm some-thing or to no end Beside the needless use of them habituateth Folk to baffle and prophane excellent things and do inure them to prophanity hence these that use them most are ordinarily lesse tender in their other Carriage and it cometh to direct swearing at length If it be said good Faith signifieth no more but in Truth and without Dissimulation as it 's understood sometimes in the Laws Bona Fide and Mala Fide Ans. Yet Faith is otherwise taken in our Common Acceptation and Words would be so used as they are commonly made use of by others 2. If it be not Evil yet it hath the appearance of Evil which should be eschewed and abstained from 1 Thess. 5.17 3. Whatever Good Faith signifieth yet certainly in our common use it 's more than a simple Assertion therefore should a man tell me an untruth and put Bonâ fide or Good Faith to it to confirm it will any man think but he is more than an ordinary Lyar against the Nineth Command Yea would he not be thought Infamous in breaking his Good Faith Therefore it is more than Yea or Nay and so not ordinarily to be used Yea we conceive that these Asseverations will have more weight on Natural Consciences than simple Asserions and therefore the Challenges of dealing Falsly in these will bite and wound the Conscience much more sharply than falsifying simple Assertions which speaketh out this that they are nearer of kin unto and more involved in this Command than at first appearâ—t â— The 4. Question is What may be said of Imprecations Ans. Distinguish betwixt such as one useth against himself as Let me not see Heaven if that be not Truth or the like 2. Such as are used against others I speak by private Persons as Shame fall thee Divel take thee and the like which are either Conditional as If thou do not such a thing c. or absolute without any such Condition We say then 1. That keeping the Qualifications formerly mentioned and required to an Oath one may in some cases lawfully use some Imprecations even to ones self the S â—â—iptures having such Patterns in them but with great Caution Circumspection and Tenderness 2. Cursing of others by private Persons out of Passion or Revenge is simply prohibited and that in several Respects For 1. It derogateth from the Glory of God if He be therein invocated in making Him subservient to our Passions and to Execute our Revenge or if He be not â—nvocated in these Imprecations it 's worse because the Devil or some other thing is put in His room 2. It derogateth also from that love we owe to others 3. As for mentioning the Divel in such Imprecations as Divel a bit or Fiend a Body or such like it is most Abominable For thereby the Devil is employed in Gods Room and God is forsaken because there is no ground to exspect a hearing of such a Suit from Him so you betake you to the Devil praying him employing him rever â—â—cing and worshipping him as if he were just to Execute you Judgement when God doth it not And sometimes by such Imprecations you call on the Devil who is the Father of Lyes to witnesse a Truth Ah! How Abominable to be heard amongst Christians Men need not go to the Wild-Indians nor to Witches to seek Worshippers of the Devil Alas There are many such to be found amongst Christians How sound these Words What Devil now The Meckle Devil c. It is Horrible to mention that which goeth out of some Mens mouths without any fear Ah! What can be the Reason that Christians thus Worship the Devil and swear by him as Israel did by Baal There remain yet some things concerning Oaths especially Promissy Oaths to be cleared As 1. How Promissory oaths differeth from an Assertory Oath And 1. They agree in this that
of God Vile and Contemptible cannot be Warrantable Now that Lotting in these Games hath such a tendency to make the Ordinance of a Lot and of Prayer which should at least be joyned with it Contemptible is obvious to any serious and impartial considerer of it neither can it in reason be thought that that which is in so Sacred a manner and with Prayer to God to be gone about in one thing and is by Him appointed for such an end as an Oath is can Warrantably be used in a manner and for ends so vastly different from the former in an other thing 7. If Lots belong at all to this Command then these Lotting-Games are unlawful for they cannot with any Religious reason be supposed to be commanded in it and therefore they must be forbidden And if in trivial things Lots be unlawful much more in such Games which end not strife and contentions but often and ordinarily begin them and bring them to a height and therefore do the Ancients declaim against this as a Sacrificing to Devils and invented by Idolaters If it be said here that these things are thought but very little of by men Answ. It is true and no great wonder for most men use but to think little of the breach of this Command yet are their breaches sinful notwithstanding as many take Gods Name in their mouth lightly and think but little of it and yet that maketh not their doing so cease to be a sin God hath added his Certification here the more peremptorily for that very end that men may not think little or lightly of the very least breach of this Command to let pass more grosse breaches of it If it be further objected here Why may not such Playes or Games be used as well as other Playes wherein sometimes Chance or Fortune as they call it will cast the Ballance Answ. 1. Though in those other Chance may now and then occasionally occur yet that is but accidental these are simply or at least mostly guided by Lotting and immediat providences and cannot be prevented or made to be otherwayes by the best art and skill of men 2. In these other Games there is an intervention of second causes and an use of mens parts Natural and Moral for obtaining such an end ultimat in some respect and immediate as for example when men strike a Ball with a Club or throw a Boul to a hole they are guided therein rationally as they are in coming down a Stair and they act therein as in other things by second causes and use of means whether of Body or mind but in these Lotting-Games it is not so for all is cast hung upon extraordinary providence even as if a man who cannot would betake himself to swimming in or walking upon the Water when an other betaketh himself to a Bridge or to a Boat In Summe As Lots and Oaths are much for one end to wit the ending of Controversie Strife Heb. 6.16 Prov. 18.18 So ought the same Rules almost to be observed in them both Then 1. Before the Lot we should look to and follow Gods call and depend on him in it 2. In the time of Lotting we should act reverently 3. After the Lot we should reverence the Lord and submit to the event of it as to his mind even though our frame has not been so right As an Oath bindeth when taken in lawful matter though there hath been rashness as to the manner by vertue of Gods Name which is interposed So do Lots Because how ever we be as to our frame it is He who decideth as to the event therefore ought that decision to be looked on as most Sacred God having thought good beside the general rules in his Word to give evidence of his mind by Lots as to some particular events and though these Games at Dice or Cards may in the compleat frame of them require some skill how to manage such throws or such particular Cards when a man hath gotten them yet that that-throw is such casting up so many blacks and no more that such a man hath such Cards and no other that is meerly by immediate providence and so must of necessity be a Lot or it is by some other means which would if assaid wrong God also very much And though skill may possibly influence the event as to the upshot of the Game yet in these throwings or shufflings there is no skill or if there be any thing that is accounted Art or Skill it is but deceit seeing the scope is by these to leave it to providence in its Decision This Doctrine concerning such Games was the Doctrine of the Ancients who did vehemently inveigh against this sort of Lottry see Cyprian de Aleatoribus who fathereth it on Zabulus and calleth it the snare of the Devil and compareth it with Idolatry so Ambrose de Tobia pag. 590. It was also in some Councils condemned Can. Apost Canon 42. Con. Trull Canon 50. This hath been the constant ordinary Judgment of Protestant Writers on this Command and some of them have written peculiar Treatises to this purpose particularly Danaeus wherein he proveth that such Lottry is unlawful in it self and most prejudicial to men this is likewise the Doctrine of the Schoolmen though none of the most rigid Casuists yea it is the Doctrine of our own Church these being as unlawful Games condemned of old and of late to wit Anno 1638. by the General Assembly of Glasgow according to a former Act of an Assembly held at Edinburgh Anno 1596. Lastly Consider for scarring from such Games these Two things 1. The contrary events that follow most ordinarily on such Lottry Strifes Contentions are occasioned if not caused by them which are ended by the other so very different are the events 2. Consider that most men who use them fall often into grosse Prophaning of Gods Name or into high passions at best An Omen or sign or Token is when men propose to and resolve with themselves that if they meet with such and such a thing they will construct so and so of it or when they seek it from God for that end Thus Abraham's Servant did at the Well seek to know the mind of the Lord and accordingly drew Conclusions about it concerning a Wife to his Master's Son Gen. 24. So did Jonathan about his Assaulting of the Philistines 1 Sam. 14. So likewise did Gideon about his success against the Midianites Judg. 6. And Mary for confirmation of Her faith concerning what was told her by the Angel Luk. 1.34 This is still to be understood as to some particular fact or event not in a common Tract or for the Determin â—tion of a general Truth as for example Mary believed that Christ was to be Born but knew not that she was to be his Mother but Zacharias John the Baptists Father did it seemeth doubt of Gods power or of the event or Truth of what was told to him and therefore he
express it ambiguously or refuse to testifie or assert what is not true 4. By the Advocate by undertaking to defend or pursue what righteously he cannot or by hideing from his Clyent that which he knoweth will prejudge his c â—use or by denying it when he is asked about it or by not bringing the best defences he hath And as to the first point here about Advocat â—s it is to be regrated as a great Divine in the Neighbour-Church hath most pathetically according to his manner lately done as a sad matter that any known unrighteous Cause should have a professed Christian in the face of a Christian Judicatory to defend it but incomparably more sad that almost every unjust Cause should find a Patron and that no contentious malicious person should be more ready to do wrong then some Lawyers to defend him for a dear bought â—ee I speak not here of innocent mistakes in cases of great difficulty nor yet of excusing a cause bad in the main from unjust aggravations but sayes that great man when money will hire men to plead for injustice and to use their wits to defraud the righteous and to spoil his Cause and vex him with delayes for the advantage of their unrighteous Clyents I would not have the conscience of such for all their gains nor their account to make for all the world God is the great Patron of innocence and the pleader of every righteous Cause and he that will be so bold as to plead against him had need of a large fee to save him harmless 5. By the Accuser or Pursuer when unjustly he seeketh what doth not belong unto him or chargeth another with what he should not or justly cannot 6. By the Def â—nder when he denyeth what he knoweth or â—â—â—ceth it c. And by all of them when business is delayed and protracted through their respective accession to it as well as when justice is more manifestly wronged this is the end of Jethro's advice to Moses Exod. 18.23 that the people may return home being quickly and with all convenient diligence dispatched which to their great loss and prejudice many wayes the unnecessary lengthening of Processes obstructeth and maketh Law and Lawyers appointed for the ease and relief of the people to be a grievous and vexatious burthen to them for which men in these stations and capacities will have much to answer to God the righteous Judge of all the Earth when they shall be arraigned before his terrible Tribunal where there will be no need of leading witnesses to prove the guilt since every mans conscience will be in place of a thousand witnesses neither will the nimblest wit the eloquentest tongue the finest and smoothest pen of the most able Lawyer Judge Advocate Notary or Litigant that shall be found guilty there be able to fetch himself fair off O! then all the fig-leaves of their fairest and most flourishing but really frivolous pretences vvherevvith they palliate themselves vvill be instantly blovvn avvay by the breath of that Judges mouth and so be utterly unable to cover the shame of their nakedness in the manifold breaches of this Command then the greatest stretches of Wit and highest strains of Eloquence made use of to the prejudice of truth and justice vvill be found and pronounced to be poor silly and childish vviles yea very fooleries and bablings after vvhich they vvill not speak again but laying their hands on their mouths eternally keep silence It vvill therefore be the vvisdom and advantage of the guilty in time to take vvith it and resolving to do so no more to betake themselves for the pardon of it to that Advocate vvith the Father even Jesus the Righteous vvho throughly pleadeth and vvithout all peradventure or possibility of loosing it doth alvvayes carry the Cause he undertaketh to plead In sum that which in this Command in its positive part is levelled at as the scope thereof is the preserving and promoting of truth honest simplicity and ingenuity amongst men a sincerely and cordially loving regard to the repute and good name of one another and a sweet inward contentation joyful satisfaction and complacency of heart therein with a suitable love to and care for our own good name THE TENTH COMMAND Exodus 20.17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is thy neighbours UNTO all the other Commands the Lord hath subjoyned this for mans humbling and deep abasement in his sight and it reacheth further in then all of them being as the words bear not about any new object for it is concerning wife house c. but about a new way of acting in reference to that object and condemning directly a sin not so condemned in any other of the foregoing five Commandements so that it also seems to be added to the other as a full and more clear explication of that spiritual obedience that is required in all the rest In it we have to consider 1. the act 2. the object The act is not to cov â—t the Apostle expresseth it Rom. 7.7 Thou shalt not lust which implyeth an inordinateness in the heart as being dissatisfied with what it hath and so the positive part is contentment and satisfaction with a mans own lot Hebr. 13.5 L â—t your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have so that whatsoeve â— motion is inconsistent w â—th contentment and inordinately desireth or tendeth to a change of our condition falleth in as condemned here The object is instanced in some particulars generally set down such as our neighbours house his wife then his servants c. under which as the general following cleareth are comprehended all that concerneth him his place and credit or any thing that relateth to any of the former Commands Thou shalt not grieve that he is well nor aim at his hurt nor be discontent that thy own lot seemeth not so good And as for the reason why this Command is added its scope holdeth it forth which seemeth to be this I not only require you as if the Lord had said not to steal from him and not to let your mind ran loose in coveting what is his as in the eighth Command not only to abstain from Adultery or determined Lust in the heart as in the seventh Command and not only the abstaining from wronging of his life as in the sixth Command and of his name that way spoken of in the ninth Command or wronging of them that are in place and power by such heart lusts in us as are forbidden in the fifth Command but I require such holiness that there be not any inordinate lust or motion entertained nor having a being in the heart although it never get consent but on the contrary that in reference to all these Commands in your carriage towards your Neighbour there be in you a full conâ—entation