in truth in righteousnesse and in judgement where we have the form and qualifications of a lawfull Oath the form The Lord liveth In every Oath there ought to be an interposing of the Name of God Deut. 6. 13. Thou shalt swear by his Name To swear is to confesse a Deitie as appears by comparing those two places Isa. 45. 23. To me shall every knee bow and every tongue swear with Phil. 2. 11. That every tongue should confesse that Iesus Christ is Lord And because we finde this expression frequent in Scripture The Lord liveth it deserves a little opening to which purpose we may take notice of that passage in Hebrews 6. 16. Men verily swear by the greater And when the Lord sweareth he doth it by that in himself which is the greatest his Life and his Holinesse which are more then single Attributes His Life is his fundamentall excellency and his holinesse is more then an Attribute for it is that complexion which runs thorow all his Attributes and makes them beautifull And this is the usuall forme in Scripture which Men and Angels have made use of Revel. 10. 6. because of the peculiar accommodation of the life of God unto an Oath for it imports that he sees and knows our appeal that he abides ready to confirm the truth or avenge the false-hood of him that swears And I see not how swearing by any Creature can be exempted from Idoltary if swearing be as it hath been proved a part of Worship God complains that the Children of Israel swore by them that were no gods Ierem. 5. 7. and to swear by Creatures turns them into Idols if they were not so before to worship an Image and swear by a Creature may be ranked together And though some would excuse that expression of Ioseph By the life of Pharaoh and tell us that the primitive Christians did sometimes swear per salutem Imperatoris yet the former language seems fitter for Aegypt then for Canaan and the later savours more of Courtship then Christianity There is indeed a passage of our Saviour Matth. 23. 21 22. where he seems to make it all one to swear by some Creatures as to swear by God himself for he saith that he that sweareth by the Temple sweareth by him that dwelleth therein and he that sweareth by Heaven the Throne of God sweareth by him that sitteth thereon but the scope of our Saviour must be attended who reproves the vain conceit of the Pharisees who thought God was not concerned in those Oaths where his Name was not expresly mentioned and tels them that because those Oaths were reducible unto God who accounted himself interessed in every Oath they could not be excused from perjury in the breach of them Pareus expresses it briefly and well that those Oaths were formaliter vitiosa sed finaliter obligatoria So that our Saviour doth not countenance those forms of swearing but discountenance their great vanitie and folly in the construction of them for an Oath taken by that which is no god if he that swears puts it in the room of God it will be found to oblige Thus much for the Form of an Oath from which howsoever it hath pleased men to vary yet it is good to have recourse to the first and purest use of Oathes which was to mention the Name of the Lord with lifting up the hand to Heaven so Abraham as fit for our pattern as any man else Genes 14. 22. I have lift up my hand to the Lord the Possessor of Heaven and Earth that I will not c. Thus much concerning the Form the Qualifications follow In truth in righteousnesse and in judgement Hierome gives this brief and clear interpretation of these words There must be veritas in re justitia in causa juditium in modo jucandi First he that swears must have a principall eye to Truth for the end of an essertory oath is to evidence truth and of a promissory oath to engage truth veritas entis must be looked to in the former veritas mentis in the latter and no room is left for equivocation which crosses the very end of an Oath It is certainly a most horrid impiety to call God to witness an untruth who delights to be stiled The God of truth it is an affront we should be ashamed to offer a Person of Honour to make him a partner in our iniquitie In brief he that swears a falshood doth insinuate that God doth either not know the truth or not regard it but his eyes are on the truth Ierem. 5 2 3. Let those that swear falsly well consider it lest a curse enter into their houses as the Lord threatneth Zech. 5. 3 4. 2. He that sweareth must do it in righteousnesse in a lawfull and just matter if the oath be promissory the thing sworn must be lawfull and good not such an oath as David swore against Nabal and his house 1 Sam. 25. 22. or Herod to Herodias Matth. 14. 7. If the oath be assertory let it be with righteous and just intentions to the furtherance of justice and charitie and upon no other account 3. In judgement that is wisely discerning the occasion and ordering the circumstances of his oath for instance he that swears in judgement will not swear in a triviall or sleight businesse the Name of the Lord is great wonderfull and holy and not to be made use of but in solemn and serious things An honest man will not swear in a false matter nor a wise man in a frivolous Oathes and Lots are of like nature in this particular both seriously to be used and in cases of necessitie Temere jurat qui aliter potest proximo consulere is a sober speech and to be regarded If by any other means we can provide for our neighbours good and safetie it is rashnesse to swear on his behalf To swear in judgement is to do it with deliberation and actuall consideration of the importance of an oath the Majesty Truth and Justice of him by whom or unto whom we swear Having thus confirmed and illustrated the Proposition a word of application will be needfull First by way of consutation to those who utterly deny the lawfulnesse of oathes in the times of the Gospell and that under the countenance of this Scripture which I am insisting on together with that of the Apostle Iames already mentioned which I hope are sufficiently vindicated from any such meaning in the judgement of the considerate Reader If men will run away with the sound of words instead of the sence of them and single out an expression of Scripture and urge it against the evidence of severall plain places speaking the contrary it argues an Hereticall disposition more addicted to opinion than to truth Calvin takes notice of such a temper in his Commentary upon this place his words are these Vna cum rixandi libidine crassam inscitiam produnt Anabaptistae dum vocem unam morose urgendo
said of custome alteranatura it is so little capable of being pleaded by way of mitigation of the sinn of swearing or any other iniquity that it renders it the more mischievous and dangerous The Lord by the Prophet Ieremy gives an account of the state of Iudah Chap. 13. 23. Can the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good who are accustomed to do evill But was this any advantage to them that they were so accustomed to evill that they could not leave it No for it follows vers. 24. Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the winde of the wildernesse This is thy lot the portion of thy measures from me saith the Lord Let men take heed of customary sins If men will be wont to sin God is wont to punish Others there are more deliberate in this wickednesse and so more guilty they think it a kinde of a gallantrie and gracefulnesse of speech to interlace it with Oathes and Execrations nay some are become so exceeding vain and vile that they will study new-fashion'd Oathes as well as cloaths and so go down to destruction in the right mode Concerning these persons I know not well what to say but choose rather to stand and admire first the depth of wickednesse and madnesse in the heart of man which casteth up such mire and dirt and then the infinite patience of the God of heaven who is highly sensible of such affronts and provocations and easily able to avenge himself yet forbears to execute his just displeasure But let them who like raging waves of the Sea thus foam out their owne shame and vent the superfluity of naughtinesse that is in them know that though God be long suffering yet he will not alwayes suffer his patience hath prefixed bounds and though for some time there may be one event to the righteous and the sinner to him that sweareth and him that feareth an oath as saith the Preacher Eccles. 9. 2. yet there is a day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God approaching and then will the Lord put an everlasting difference betwixt the righteous and the wicked betwixt him that serveth God and him that serves him not Malach. 3. ult. It may be such profane persons finde not the Curse entered into their houses according to the threatning Zach. 5. 3 4. but it is entred into their hearts which is of worse consequence for by their hardnesse and impenitency they treasure up wrath against the day of wrath And though the persons mentioned do most notoriously offend against this rule of swearing in judgement for they have no judgement in their goings or doings yet they are not the onely offenders in this point there are many who call others to swear and are called lawfully thereunto that rush upon oathes without due consideration they consider not the weight of the matter or the necessity of an Oath in the case Every unnecessary Oath is a vain Oath and litigious persons who occasion many Oathes for the decision of their needlesse controversies will finde they have much to answer for their sins against charitie by contentions against justice by vexations and against the Name of God by calling men to swear about that which is hardly worthy a mans going over the threshold to prove And though Erasmus was too strict in saying Non est ingenui Christiani jur are pro rebus hujus seculi pro praediis nummis yet the truth lies very near it and that is men should be very backward to swearing in such cases and utterly averse if the difference may otherwise be determined An Oath is rather to be reckoned in necessariis quam in simpliciter bonis The command to swear by the Name of God Deuter. 6. 13. is not like that of calling upon his name but the meaning is If there be a just occasion of thy swearing then let it be by the Name of God and not by any Idol or Creature Others consider not the solemnity of an Oath the Majestie and Dread of that Name which is in vocated thereby but lightly hastily and irreverently use the Name of God which is full of provocation It is sad to see how in Courts of Justice where Magistrates are tender enough of their own Honour and Power the Name of God is profaned with rude and irreverent swearing what hudling of Oathes there is with very little sense or consideration of the weight and importance of them which if administred with deliberation and solemnitie would conduce much to the Honour of God and the right end of an Oath which is the serious confirmation of a Truth in question And it would be no small degree of reformation among us in civill proceedings if the number of Oathes were lessened and those that must be taken were administred with more solemnitie as all the parts of Gods Worship ought to be Let me therefore put you my Lord Maior the rest of the Magistrates in mind that God hath intrusted you with a very great Treasure which is The glorious and fearfull name of the Lord your God which he is very tender of and expects you should be so also and expresse your regard thereto by punishing unlawfull Oathes preventing unnecessary Oathes and duly regulating those which are lawfull and necessary in order to truth and peace The day is hastening upon us when we shall have no other refuge but the Name of the Lord which is a strong Power to the righteous Proverbs 18. 10. and how sad will it be to finde such a repulse as this What have you to do take my Name in your mouthes which you have profaned and suffered to be profaned for want of executing the Power and Trust committed to you by God and men Is not every mans particular burthen heavie enough for him to bear Let us not then neither Magistrates nor Ministers for we are most concerned make our selves partakers of other mens sins by not discharging our dutie to them This shall suffice o have spoken of 〈…〉 wherein I have had more speciall respect to ass 〈…〉 I come now to the second which will more directly c 〈…〉 Oathes promissory such as you have taken this day Propos. II. It is utterly abominable to forswear or not to perform our Oathes unto the Lord The righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees which came short of the Law and short of Heaven as I have already said yet reachâ—d thus far that Oathes were to be performed if Scripture were silent the Law of Nature and Nations would speak plain and loud in this point there being hardly any sin upon which they have set a fowler mark then that of perjury I suppose because of the peculiar mischief and malignitie that it carries with it to humane Societies which are preserved by truth and fidelity Apud omnes populos ab omni aevo circa pollicitationes et contractus maxima semper vis fuiâ—
totum sermonis tenorem clausis oculis praetereunt The Anabaptists by occasion of this Scripture discover together with their perversnesse grosse ignorance while they frowardly urge one word neglecting the whole frame of the discourse It is said our Anabaptists if they will admit of that name which they must rather than we to gratifie them with the name of the baptized Churches deny our own Baptisme allow of oathes It is well if it proceed from a soundnesse and not from a latitude of Principles But by denying the use of them God loses honour and men come short many times of truth and justice It is true if men were as they ought yea and nay might suffice instead of Oathes Omnis fidelis sermo pro juramento est saith Hierome but we must take men as they are with their defects of faith truth and knowledge and the remedy of those defects which is an Oath must still continue 2. But because where there is one too scrupulous there are many too profuse in the matter of oathes a severe reprehension belongs to those who observe no rule in swearing such are they who sweare by the Creatures light bread or any thing that comes next hand whereby a man first abuses his own reason for what ridiculous folly is it to call inanimate Creatures to attest any thing what madnesse to curse ourselves by our blessings Secondly he abuses the Name of God which ought to be interposed in an oath by substituting any other thing in his room which there is nothing in Heaven or Earth fit to supplie And thirdly he abuses the Creature it self by imploying it to an end dishonourable to its Creator an use to which it never was appointed and this may well be part of that burthen under which the Creature groaneth and travelleth in pain as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1. 22. and of that vanitie of sin and trouble which it is subjected to To swear by Creatures below our selves is to under-value our selves For men verily swear by the greater Hebr. 6. 16. To swear by Creatures above our selves as glorified Saints and Angels is to overvalue them for what or who are they that they should be to us in the room of God They also who regard not truth judgement and righteousnesse in their oathes what reproof is sharp enough for them To swear falsly by the Name of the God of truth how great a provocation is it Those that swear falsly that is either that which they know to be false or that which they know not to be truly are highly guilty of offence against the God of truth whose eyes are upon the truth Ierem. 5. 3. and also against humane society which is knit together by the bands of truth and justice The Aegyptians had so reverent an esteem of their Idols which were but vanity and a lie that if any were found to swear falsly by them they were adjudged worthy of death and shall we make light of abusing the name of the living and true God There is no person of honour and honesty but would look upon it with highest indignation to be called to attest an untruth what shall we then think of the God of truth will he not be very jealous for his honour in such a case It is sad to see and consider how often men are produced to swear contradictions where one must needs be guilty of false-hood in swearing unless both parts of a contradiction can be found true which is impossible And that which adds to the mischiefe is that unrighteousness is bound up with untruth in the most false Oathes and so both Tables are broken at once Sometimes men swear falsly out of malice and revenge but it is a strange revenge to destroy a mans reputation to wound his conscience to hazard his salvation that he may require another Oh what folly and madness is in the hearts of the sons of men while they live and after they go to the dead as the wise man complaines Eccles. 9. 3. Others swear falsly out of a covetous principle loving the wages of unrighteousness as Balaam did but what profit is it to win the world and lose a mans own soul saith Christ who knew well enough what the worth of both was Matth. 16. 26. such a man is like to come to Iudas his reckoning who dearly earned the reward of iniquity Act. 1. 18. Others who think it base to forswear themselves for money will yet do it out of respect to a Superiour or kindnesse to a friend but for a man to pawn his soul in courtesie is madnesse and not kindnesse and most desperate folly for one to lay down his own conscience or comfort as a Bridge to make passage for another to his worldly advantages But I shut up this admonition with that of the Lord by the Prophet Zechariab 8. 17. Let nme of you imagine evill in your hearts against his neighbour and love no false Oath for these things I hate saith the Lord Odium terminatur ad non esse Destruction is the fruit of hatred And lastly the number of them that swear but not in judgement is exceeding great alas how few are there that understand an Oath and fewer that consider it Those that swear in common conversation certainly swear not in judgement they do it so frequently so sleightly that their understanding cannot exercise any deliberate act about it they take so little notice of it that they will hardly be brought to acknowledge they have sworn if they confesse it they will tell you it was before they were aware and so are found witnesses against themselves that they swear not in judgement but if every idle word is to be accounted for as our Saviour tels us Matth. 12. 36. what shall we think of idle oathes which signifie nothing but a profane and vain spirit will not they inflame the reckoning exceedingly The sons of men especially great and noble persons cannot endure to have their Names tossed up and down among vain men or used upon sleight occasions and will no the God of heaven take it in greater indignation that his Name which is great wonderfull holy should be made triviall or common by the frequent usurpations of ignorant and wicked men certainly he will not hold them guiltlesse that thus take hiâ— Name in vain It is not the plea of custome that will excuse noâ— yet extenuate the sin It is true some places are so profane the swearing is become the very dialect of the Town or Family where they dwell and shall they escape by the commonnesse of their iniquity no surely neither nature nor custome which is the second nature are tolerable excuses for any evill but rather aggravations of it Sin is not the lesse but rather the more to be bewailed because of the deep root it hath in our corrupt natures In this glasse it was that David and Paul saw their sins to be above measure sinfull Psal. 51. and Rom. 7. And the like may be
which have been read unto you for my ground-work which whosoever would understand must diligently consider the scope of the place and the persons he had to deal with viz. the Jews leavened with Pharisaicall glosses and corrupt traditions Our Saviour was now in the exercise of his propheticall Office and preaching the Gospell of the Kingdom and finding the Sect and opinion of the Pharisees to be most opposite and prejudiciall to his intention he sets himself in this Sermon to pull down the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees that so he might bring in the righteousnesse which is of God by faith and therefore tells them plainly that except their righteousnesse did exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees they should in no case enter into the Kingdom of God Verse 20. Now because the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees was in better credit among the people then to be blasted with a bare assertion Christ shewes the vanitie and defectivenesse of it in that it fell exceeding short of its pretence which was to fulfill the Law of Moses which instead of fulfilling they destroyed For as it is the common practice of erroneous persons when they cannot bring their opinions to the Scripture they will wrest the Scripture to their opinions as the Father speaks of some who did pertrahere Evangelium ad sententiae suae praecipitium so the Pharisees seeing they could not raise their righteousnesse to the line of the Law they brought down the Law to the levell of their own righteousnesse in particular they restrained the Commamdements which in themselves are spirituall and exceeding broad reaching the thoughts and intents of the heart all kinds and degrees of evill to some outward actions which in the strength of morall principles they might forbear whose right Heirs are the Papists who resolved to establish a righteousnesse of works and possibility of fulfilling the Law will by no means grant that concupiscence is sin least thereby their legall righteousnesse should be tainted But to return to the Pharisees with whom Christ had to deal they restrained the seventh Commandement to the act of Adultery Christ extends it to the wandrings of the eye and heart they limited the sixt Commandment to actuall murther whereas Christ extends it to inordinate passion and ill language so dealt they in this particular whereof we treat They confined the third Commandement to prejurie whereas Christ extends it to the prohibition of rash vain swearing by the Creatures And so I come to the words onely I must first endeavour the determination of one Question whether Christ in this discourse intend an abrogation of the Law an addition to it or onely an interpretation of it Certainly not an abrogation of the morall Law which he professes he came not to destroy but to fulfill Verse 17. Some would have it to be an addition which opinion indeed hath the countenance of some of the Fathers but the Socinians are most earnest in this conception upon this ground they will not admit of the satisfaction of Christ oâ— justification by his death and for the wrong they do to his Priestly Office they pretend to make amends in his Propheticall and say that he came to improve and raise the Precepts of the old Testament and give a more exact Law then was given by Moses in the observation whereof our Gospell righteousness should consist But we beleeve that our Lord Jesus only intended a restauration of the Law from the corrupt glosses and traditions of the Elders with whom he deals in this discourse not with Moses who was faithfull in the House of God for he professes that he came not to destroy the Law which upon the matter he had done if he had shewed it to be a short or crooked rule but to fulfill it or as the word will bear to fill it up by true and full interpretations Christ fulfilled the Law both practically in obeying it and doctrinally in making up those gaps which the Pharisaicall glosses and traditions had made in it You have heard that it hath been said by them of old time {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} or as some would have it to them of old time It may be here enquired what times and persons Christ hath reference to in this passage some may think that he hath respect unto Moses and the people of Israel to whom he spake things to this purpose Lev. 19 12 Ye shall not swear by my Name falsely c. But I beleeve that an antiquity of a much later date is meant by this expression even of those Elders mentioned Mat. 15. 2. whose traditions the Pharsees complained were broken by Christs Disciples for the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} signifies sometimes that which is not long past as Act. 15. 7. And here take notice that after the Law and the Prophets there rose up a generation of men who were not content with the written word but added the supplement of traditions which though in the esteem of the Pharisees were ancient yet very far short of true antiquity which was Moses and the Prophets the counterpart of this dealing we find in the Church of Rome who besides the verbum {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} will have a verbum {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a traditionall word which they make equall to the Scripture in authority and esteem thus the Councill of Trent Traditiones ipsas tum ad fidem tum ad mores pertinentes pari pietatis affectu ac Scripturas suscipit veneratur Ecclesia Romana And they will pretend much of antiquity for their practises but it is a modern antiquity if I may so speak the true antiquity of Christ and his Apostles they have no minde to deal with not yet that of the first three hundred years after Christ unlesse it be some peeces which they may justly call theirs because they have either forged or corrupted them although we must acknowledge that some of their corruptions began early in the Church of which we have an intimation 2 Thessalonians 2. 7. 1 Iohn 2. 18. What is it that was said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self c. was it not well said yes doubtlesse it was the truth but not all the truth take the words in themselves and it was well said but take them with respect to the third Commandement which thereby they intended to interpret it was a misse for they contain not the sum and substance of that Commandement which reaches not onely to forswearing but to vain swearing swearing by the Creatures and other abuses of the name of God then frequent among the Jews who provided they did not swear by the name of God thought themselves excusable if they swore frequently in ordinary communication and that by the Creatures and that some of their Oathes by the Creatures were not obliging as we finde Matth. 23. 16. where the Gold and