I, by whofe name I fwear, cannot deceive. And, laftly, his righie oufness is acknowledged in an oath: for he that fweareth doth, either exprefsly or implicity, put himself under the curfe and wrath of God, if he fwear falfely. Every oath hath an execration or imprecation in it, Neh. x. 29. 66 They entered into a curfe, and an oath, to walk in "God's law." And fo 2 Cor. i. 23. "I call God for a record ❝ upon my foul." And the ufual form in the Old Testament was, "The Lord do fo to me, and more alfo.". Now hereby God hath the glory of his righteousness and juftice given him by the creature, and therefore it is a choice part of the Divine worship, or of that homage which a creature oweth to his God. And if this be fo, then how easily may the fin of rafh and profane oaths be hence argued and aggravated? The more excellent any thing is by an inftitution of God, by fo much more horrid and abominable is the abufe thereof. O how often is the dreadful Majefty of heaven and earth called to witness to frivolous things! and oft to be a witness of our rage and fury! as 1 Sam. xiv. 39. Is it a light thing to rob him of his peculiar glory, and fubject poor fouls to his curfe and wrath, who has faid, "He will be a fwift witnefs against you?" Mal. iii. 5. Your tongues are nimble in committing this fin, and God will be fwift in punishing it. Arg. 3. It is a fin which God hath feverely threatened to punish. and that with tempora! and corporal plagues: "For by reafon of oaths, the land mourns," Hof. iv. 2, 3. That is, it brings the heavy judgment of God upon whole nations, under which they fhall mourn. And in Zech. v. 2, 3, 4. You have there a roll of curfes; i. e. a catalogue of judgments and woes, the length thereof twenty cubits; (i. e. ten yards) to fet out the multitude of woes contained in it it is a long catalogue, and a flying roll, to denote the fwiftness of it: it flies towards the house of the fwearer; it makes hafte. The judgments that are written in it linger not, but are even in pain to be delivered. And this flying roll, full of dreadful woes, flies and enters into the houfe of the fwearer; and it fball therein remain, faith the Lord; it fhall cleave to his family; none fhall claw off these woes from him and it fhall confume the timber thereof, and the ftones thereof, i. e. bring utter fubverfion, ruin, and defolation to his houfe. O dreadful in! what a defolation doth it make! your mouths are full of oaths, and your houses fhall be full of curfes. Woe to that wretched family, into which this flying roll fhall enter! Woe, I fay, to the wretched inhabitants thereof! "The curfe of "the Lord (faith Solomon) is in the house of the wicked; but he bleffeth the [habitation] of the juft," Prov. iii 33. Tuguriolum, i. e. (faith Mercer) his poor little tenement or cottage. There is a bleffing, the promises, like clouds of bleffing, dwell over it, and drop mercies on it; but a curfe in the house of the wicked. Ah! how many ftately manfions are there, in which little other language but eaths and curfes are heard! and thefe are as fo much gun-powder laid under the foundation of them, which, when juftice fhall fet fire to, O what work will it make woe to the inhabitants thereof! Well then, break off this fin by repentance, unless you intend to ruin your families, and bring all the curfes of God into your houses. If you have no pity for yourfelves, yet pity your pofterity; have mercy for your wives and children; do not ruin all for the indulgence of a luft. Arg. 4. But that is not all; it brings foul-judgments and spiritual plagues upon you: it brings hell along with it. And if thou be not afraid to fin, yet, methinks, thou shouldst be afraid to burn; if the love of God can work nothing upon thy brawny heart, yet, methinks, the terrors of the Lord fhould startle and affright it. To this purpofe, I beseech you to weigh thefe fcriptures; and methinks, unless God hath loft all his authority with you, and hell all its terrors, it fhould ftartle you. The first is that dreadful fcripture, James v. 12. "But above all things, my brethren, fwear not; neither by hea"ven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath; but let "your yea, be yea; and your nay, nay; left ye fall into [condem"nation."] O view this text seriously! methinks it fhould be like the fingers that came forth and wrote upon the wall that dreadful fentence that changed the countenance of a king, and that in the height of a frolic humour, and made his knees fmite together. Mark, [above all things] a form of vehemency and earnestness, like that, Eph. vi. 16. "But above all, taking the fhield of faith." As faith hath a prelation there before all the graces, fo fwearing here before all other vices. [Swear not,] i. e. vainly, rafhly, profanely: for otherwife it is a lawful thing, and a part of God's worship, as I have shewed: but fwear not vain oaths, by the creatures, heaven, or earth, &c. which is to advance the creature into the room of God: a fin to which the Jews were much addicted.. But, "let your yea, be yea; and your nay, nay;" i. e. accuftom yourselves to fhort and plain affirmations and negations, to a fimple and candid expreffion of your minds. And the thundering argument that backs it, is this, [left ye fall into condemnation;] i. e. left for these things the Judge of heaven and earth pafs a fentence of condemnation to hell upon you. O firs! dare you touch with this hot iron? Dare you from henceforth commit that fin, that you know will bring you under the condemnation and judgment of God? Do you know what it is for a foul to be caft at God's bar? Did you never fee a poor malefactor tried at the affizes, and observe how his face gathers paleness, how his legs tremble, and death displays its colours in his cheeks, when fentence is given upon him? But what is that to God's condemnation? What is a gallows to hell? Another text I would recommend to your confideration is that, Exod. xx. 7. "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that "taketh his name in vain ;" where vain oaths are especially included. Now, what doth God mean, when he faith, he will not hold him guiltlefs? The meaning is plain, his fins fhall be reckoned and imputed to him; they fhall lie upon his foul; he shall be bound O terrible fentence ! what foul Bleffed is the man (faith David) over to answer to God for them. can bear it, or stand before it! to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity:" Surely then, curfed is that man to whom God will impute them: and to the fwearer they fhall all be imputed, if he break not off his fin by repentance, and get a Chrift the fooner. Oh, how dareft thou think of going before the Lord with the guilt of all thy fins upon thee? When Chrift would adminifter the very fpirit of joy into one fentence to a poor finner, Mat. ix. 2. He faid, "Son, be of good cheer, thy fins be ❝ forgiven And when God would contract the fum of all mifery into one word, he faith, "His fins fhall lie down with him in the duft," Job xx. 11. Ah, foul! one of thefe days thou fhalt be laid on thy death-bed, or fee the waves that fhall entomb thee, leaping and roaring upon every fide; and then thou wilt furely have other thoughts of the happinefs that lies in remiffion of fin than thou haft now. Obferve the moft incorrigible finner then; hark, how he fighs and groans, and cries, Ah, Lord! and muft I die? And then fee how the tears trickle down his cheeks, and his heart ready to burft within him. Why, what is the matter? Oh! the Lord will not pardon him, he holds him guilty! If he were fure his fins were forgiven, then he could die: but, oh! to appear before the Lord in them, appals him, daunts him, kills the very heart of him! he would fain cry for mercy, but confcience ftops his mouth. O, faith confcience, how canft thou move that tongue to God in prayer for mercy, that hath fo often rent and torn his glorious name, by oaths and curfes? Sirs, I pray you do not make light of thefe things; they will look wifhfully upon you one of these days, except ye prevent it by found converfion. Arg. 5. And then, lafily, to name no more, I pray you confider, that a cuftom of vain words and profane oaths, is as plain an indication and discovery of an unregenerate foul, as any in the world: this is a fure fign thou art none of Chrift's, nor haft any thing to do with the promises and privileges of his people; for by this the fcripture diftinguished the itate of faints and finners, Eccl. ix. 2. "There "is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the clean "and to the unclean; to him that facrificeth, and to him that fa"crificeth not: as is the good, fo is the finner; and he that fwear eth, as he that feareth an oath." Mark, he that sweareth, and he that feareth an oath, do as manifeftly diftinguish the children of God from wicked men, as clean and unclean, righteous and wicked, facrificing and not facrificing. This fruit of the tongue plainly fhews what the tree is that bears it; Ifa. ii. 6. "The vile perfon will speak villany; and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth fpeaks." Loquere, ut videam, faid one; Speak, that I may fee what you are. Look, what is in the heart, that is vented by the tongue; where the treafures of grace are in the heart, words miniftering grace will be in the lips; Pfal. xxxvii. 30. «The mouth of the righteous fpeaketh "wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment; for the law of the "Lord is in his heart." To this fenfe we must understand that Scripture, Mat. xii. 37. "By thy words thou shalt be juftified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Certainly justification and condemnation, in the day of judgment, fhall not pass upon us merely for the good or bad words we have fpoken; but according to the ftate of the perfon, and frame of the heart. But the meaning is, that our words fhall justify or condemn us in that day, as evidence of the state and frame of the foul. We ufe to fay, fuch witneffes hanged a man; the meaning is, the evidence they gave caft and condemned him. O think seriously of this; if words evidence the state of the foul, what a woful state muft thy foul needs be in, whofe mouth overflows with oaths and curfes! How many witneffes will "Your own tongue be brought in, to caft thee in the great day? "fhall then fall upon you," as the expreffion is, Pfal. Ixiv. 8. And out of your own mouth God will, fetch abundant evidence to condemn you. And thus I have opened unto you the evil of vain words and profane oaths; and prefented to your view their several aggravations. If by these things there be a relenting pang upon thine heart, and a ferious refolution of reformation, then I shall recommend these few helps or means to thy perufal, and conclude this head: And the first help is this, Help . Seriously fix in thy thoughts that fcripture, Matth. xii. 36. "But I fay unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, O let "they fhall give an account thereof in the day of judgment." it found in thine ears day and night! O ponder them in thy heart! [I fay unto you] I that have always been in the Father's bofom, and` do fully kno his mind, that I am conftituted the Judge of quick and dead, and do fully understand the rule of judgment, and the whole procefs thereof, I fay, and do affure you, that [every idle word that men fball fpeak,] i. e. every word that hath not a tendency and reference to the glory of God, though there be no other obliquity of evil in them than this, that they want a good end: how much more then, fcurrilous words, bloody oaths, and blafphemies? [Men fhall give an account thereof;] that is, fhall be caft and condemned to fuffer the wrath of God for them; as appears by that parallel Scripture, 1 Pet. iv. 4, 5. For as the learned obferve, there is plainly a metalepfis in thefe words: the antecedent to give an account, is put for the confequent, punishment, and condemnation to hell-fire; the certainty whereof admits but of this one exception, viz. intervenient repentance, or pardon obtained through the blood of Chrift here before you be prefented at that judgment-feat. O then, what a bridle (hould this text be to thy extravagant tongue! I remember Hierom was wont to fay, • Whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, methinks I ftill hear the found of these words in mine ear, Arife, ye dead, and come to judgment.' O that the found of thefe words may be always in your ears! Help 2. Confider before you fpeak, and be not rash to utter words without knowledge. He that fpeaks what he thinks not, fpeaks hypocritically; and he that thinks not what to fpeak, fpeaks inconfide rately. You have caufe to weigh your words before you deliver them by your tongue; for whether you do, or do not, the Lord pondereth them records are kept of them, elfe you could not be called to an account for them, as I fhewed you, you must. Help 3. Refign up your tongue to God every day, and beg him to guide and keep it. So did David, Pfal. cxli. 3. "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep thou the door of my lips." Beg him to keep you from provocations and temptations; or, if you fall into them, intreat him for strength to rule your spirits in them, that you may not be conquered by temptations. Help 4. But above all, labour to get your fouls cleanfed and purified by faith, poffeffed with faving and gracious principles: all other means will be ineffectual without this. O fee the vileness of thy nature, and the neceffity of a change to pafs upon it! Firft make the tree good, and then his fruit good: a new nature will produce new words and actions. To bind your fouls with vows and resolutions, while you are strangers to a regenerate work, is to bind Samfon with green withs, whilft his locks remain upon his head. I will shut up this with the advice of that divine poet, Mr George Herbert; it may be, it may affect thee, and run in thy thoughts when thou art alone. Take not his name, who made thy mouth, in vain; Lets his foul run for nought, as little fearing. When thou doft tell another's jeft, therein Play not away the virtue of that name, Which is thy best stake when grief makes thee tame. The cheapest fins moft dearly punish'd are, If thou wilt die, the gates of hell are broad, |