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SERMON XXIII.

MATT. V. 33.

Again ye have heard, that it hath been faid by them of old Time, Thou shalt not forfwear thy felf, but fhalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths. Ver. 34. But I fay unto you, fwear not at all, neither by Heaven, for it is God's Throne, Ver. 35. Nor by the Earth, for it is his Footstool: neither by Jerufalem, for it is the City of the great King.

Ver. 36. Neither shalt thou fwear by thy Head, because thou canst not make one Hair white or black.

Ver. 37. But let

your

Communication be, yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than thefe, cometh of evil.

I

The First Sermon on this Text.

N thefe Words, our Saviour gives us another Instance wherein the Righteousness of Chriftians muft exceed that of the Scribes and Pharifees; namely, in the Matter of Oaths, to which thefe five Verfes which I have read, do appertain. In thein, for Methods fake, we are to confider these three Things.

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1. What

1. What was good in the Opinion of the Jewish Doctors concerning this Third Commandment.

2. Wherein our Saviour finds it faulty and defective.

3. What further Improvements he makes on this Subject.

I. As to the firft, it was certainly good in general that they condemned Perjury. Ye have heard that it hath been faid by them of old time, Thou shalt not forfwear thy felf, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths.

II. As to the Second, our Saviour finds their Doctrine defective in the following Particulars.

1. In that they thought nothing else was prohibited in the Third Commandment, but the Sin of Perjury, which was a very lame Account of the Matter.

2. It was faulty in their Doctrine, that they allowed of Oaths by Creatures; of which four are here mentioned, Heaven, and Earth, Jerufalem, and their Head.

3. It was another Fault in their Doctrine, that they reckoned fuch Oaths as were not by the Name of God, not binding: whereas, though they were not in God's Name, yet they had fo near a Relation to him at least, as having the Formality of a Promise upon Oath, that on that Account they ought to have been observed.

4. It was another Fault in their Doctrine, that by the Loofenefs of it, they had brought in a Practice of fwearing in Converfation, and fo made way for rash, idle, customary Oaths.

III. As

III. As to the third, our Saviour's further Improvements on this Commandment, they may be reduced to thefe four:

I. In that he condemns all rafh customary Swearing in Converfation.

2. In that he difallows of all fwearing by the Creatures.

3. In that he afferts the Obligation of such Oaths, as to Men, though defective in point of Duty to God.

4. In that, in general, he recommends fuch a Veracity, Honefty, and Sincerity in Speech, that we may be trufted upon our bare Word, without an Oath.

These are the Heads of our Saviour's Doctrine on this Subject, which, for your Memories fake, I thought fit to propofe, defigning likewife to bound my Difcourfe by the fame Method, that it may not wander befide the Purpose.

I begin, firft, with what was good in the Opinion of the Jewish Doctors on this Subject of Oaths, namely, that, in general, they condemned Perjury. Again, fays he, ye have heard that it hath been faid by them of old Time, Thou shalt not forfwear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths. This was their Senfe of the Third Commandment; and though it was an imperfect one, there being feveral other things prohibited therein befides Perjury, yet in fo far it was true, and deferves a particular Confideration, efpecially confidering the great Abuse of Oaths in thefe latter Days, which have fo debauched the Confciences of Men, that fome want Inftruction, and others Admonition in this Matter.

In order then to diffuading from the Sin of Perjury, which falls in properly to be treated of from this first part of the Text, I fshall

1. Describe wherein Perjury confists.

2. Enquire what it is that leads and tempts Men to it.

3.

I will fhew the Heinoufnefs of this Sin. I will confider what falves us from Perjury, though we cannot always perform our Oaths.

4.

I. First then, in order to the Defcription of this Sin, Perjury is either a fwearing, to a falfe thing at prefent, or afterwards, a voluntary Breach of a lawful Promise upon Oath.

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To understand it then aright, we must know what an Oath is, and when we may be faid voluntarily to break it.

An Oath is the calling God to witness the Truth of what we fay, and it implies always in it, the expofing our felves to his Curfe and Vengeance, if we fwear falfe, and therefore it is juftly reckoned the highest and strictest Bond or Tye among Men. The chief ufe of it is for finding out, and clearing the Truth in doubtful and controverted Matters: and those must be Matters of fome Confequence, not light and trivial, in which fuch a folemn Act of Religion is used. Divines agree that the chief Properties of an Oath, are those three mentioned by the Prophet Jeremiah, ch. iv. 2. Thou shalt fwear the Lord liveth in Truth, Judgment, and Righteousness. The firft Condition Truth, excludes not only all Lying, but all Trick, Deceit, or Equivocation; and therefore it is neceffary that Oaths be taken in the plain and moft obvious Senfe of the Words, fuch as is honeftly understood by both the Giver

and

and Taker of the Oath. The fecond Condition is Judgment; for it is not fufficient that what we fwear be true, unless it be a thing of that Weight and Importance, that it require the Gravity and Deliberation of an Oath. This Condition is an Act of Prudence, from which we determine whether the thing we take our Oath of, be a thing of that Confequence, that it deferves to be proved with fo great Solemnity. They tranfgrefs this Condition, who fwear rafhly and cuftomarily, and without due Confideration and Reverence of that holy Name of God which they invoke. The third Condition is Righteousness; for it is not fufficient that it be true, and a thing of Weight that we swear, unless it be likewife a juft thing in itself; and therefore David's Oath to cut off Nabal, and all his House, and Herod's Oath, in the Sense he meant it, as extending to all things just and unjust, were certainly unlawful Oaths, as being unrighteous in their own Nature.

Some further Light into the Nature of Oaths may be afforded, by confidering the common Divifion of them into Affertory and Promiffory ones. The Affertory relate chiefly to the Time present and past, and require no more but a prefent Truth in him who takes them; but the Promifory, befides the prefent fincere Intention to perform what we promise upon Oath, require alfo our after-Care and endeavour truly to perform it, according as we have promised.

From all which, it will be no hard matter to determine wherein the Sin of Perjury doth confift: For as, in general, it is the calling of God to be Witness to a Lye; this in particular is done these several Ways. (1.) When we af

fert

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