every kind of fin,to fcar men from the breaches of thefe commands; here he mentioneth not forfwearing or blafphemy, but taking the Lord's name in vain, which is the loweft de gree of that kind; that, by this, God may teach us what reverence we owe to him, and of what large extent the command is, and how careful he would have us to be, left we Thould come upon the borders of any thing that feemeth to be a breach of it.

If it be asked, Why the Lord is fo peremptory in urging this command, and in pressing the thing bere commanded in the very leaft?

Anfw. 1. That he may in this fet out his own greatness, and work a fear and reverence of him in the hearts of his people; therefore will he have them reverendly using that which concerneth him, that the due diftance betwixt God that is in heaven, and creatures that are on earth, may be. imprinted on us, and entertained by us, Ecclef. 5. 1, 2, 3. Lev. 22.31, 32. Pfal. 89. 9.

2. Becaufe his name, whereby he holdeth forth fomething of himself, or that infinite excellent Being, called GOD, is great, dreadful and glorious; and is fo to be had in reverence, Pfal. 111. that more than ordinary watchfulness fhould be used in teftifying our refpect to it.

3. Because this is the way to curb atheism and profanity, which the devil driveth on by thefe fteps; firft, to think little of God; and then, by little and little, to inure men to profanity, and habituate them to baffle and affront the name of God: Hence it is, that he taketh poffeffion, mainly, of young ones this way; and hardly ye will fee any that irreverendly meddle with the name of God, but they are grofs, or fall at length to be grofs, in other things.

4. God's name is precious, and given to his people for a great refuge, Prov. 1S. 10. therefore will he not have that which is their fingular mercy to be abused.

5. God is a friend in covenant, yet fo, as that relation may not in the leaft wear out his honour, and our due diftance with him, Deut. 28. 58. 'tis the great and dreadful game, The Lord our God.

6. Because this honoureth God, and adorneth the profeffion of the gofpel before others; whereas irreverence therein difhonoureth God before them.

For more particular confidering the matter and breaches

of

of this command, we shall draw it to thefe heads; and, 1. We fhall fpeak to what concerneth fwearing, vowing, or publick covenanting with God. 2. To what concerneth blafphemy. 3. Concerning the taking of the name of the Lord in vain, in worship private or publick; particularly, how it is taken in vain by hypocrify. 4. Of taking it in vain out of worship rafhly and unneceffarily. 5. How it is taken in vain in our converfation, as others are occafioned or caused to blafphame God's name by our carriage. 6. Concerning lots, &c. Thefe we fhall confider, efpecially with respect to our practice.

In fpeaking of what concerneth Oaths, we would, 1. Speak of an oath. 2. Of the obligation of it; for this command both requireth oaths, and the keeping of them, and it may be broken in reference to both.

We would in the entry diftinguish betwixt thefe four; 1. Oaths, 2. Affeverations. 3. Simple affirmations or aflertions. 4. Imprecations or curfes.

3. Oaths are fuch as directly invocate God by fuch like expreffions, as, Be, or by; as, By my bolinefs I have fworn, Pfal. 89. Ifwear by the Lord.

2. Affeverations (called vehement Affertions) are expreffed thus, As the Lord liveth, As that light fbineth, In confcience, Faith, &c.

3. Simple affertions are fuch as, In truth, Truly, Indeed; which but fpeak the thing fimply, and affirm that to be true or falfe that is afferted, and fo belongeth to the 9th command. only, as fuch.

4. Imprecations are either directed to one's felf conditionally; as, if fuch a thing be truth, then let me perish; shame befal me, if I do not this or this: or toward others, efpecially in thefe, Shame befal thee, The Devil take thee, A vengeance on thee, and other expreffions abominable to mention.

Again, in oaths which are for confirmation, let us distinguish betwixt affertory oaths, that do but confirm fuch a thing to be truth; and promiffory oaths, that engage the perfon fwearing to the performance of fuch a thing for the time to come, either abfolutely, or with qualifications.

For clearing the matter, take this propofition,That oaths in both thefe cafes, being well qualified, is a lawful piece of God's worship, and may and fhould be made ufe of by his people. This is a clear truth from thefe fcriptures, Deut. 10. 20. Deut. 6. 13. Fer. 4. 2.

A.

As for Anabaptifts, who deny the lawfulness of oaths under the new teftament, we are not now to meddle with them, because there be few in thefe days that are in fuch an error. We fhall confider, 1. What qualifications are requifite to right fwearing. Then, 2. Clear fome practical queftions. 3. Shew wherein this command is violate in refpect of fwearing.

In an oath confider, 1. Its matter. 2. Its form. 3. Its rife, or mens call to it. 4. The expreffions 'tis conceived in. 5Our manner of going about it. 6. Our keeping of it, which followeth after to be spoken to diftinctly.

(1.) For the matter of an oath; affertory oaths must be of things that are, 1. True. 2. Weighty. 3. They must be fuch to our knowledge. Again, promiffory oaths must be in things juft and lawful, poffible, profitable, and in our power, and which to our knowledge are fuch.

(2.) The form muft be, By the true God, it being a peculiar part of his worship; for we can fwear by none whom we cannot invocate: therefore idols, creatures, graces, &c. are excluded here; for none of these are God.

(3.) Its rife must be edification, that is, God's glory, our own vindication, or our neighbour's good, or the call of a magiftrate putting us to it; and it fhould be used for deciding of controverfies, when no other mean of clearing or deciding Inch a thing is remaining: hence we fay, Juratis fuit, He was fworn, paffively; and the Hebrews have no active word for expreffing it, to let us fee, men ought not to fwear, but to be fworn, or by neceffity preffed to it.

(4.) As to the expreffions in which it is conceived, or the thing fworn; 'tis required not only that it be truth to and in the man's meaning that fweareth, but that the expreffions be plain and intelligible to his meaning and understanding to whom the oath is given; otherwise it deludeth, but doth not clear. Hence thefe two rules are to be observed; 1. That the meaning be fo clear, as may be, and is most ordinarily and obviously gathered from fuch words and expreffions as are used. 2. That the expreffions be according as they are fuppofed to he understood by others, especially him that exacteth the oath; for if he mean one thing, and we another, God's name is profaned, and the end of an oath frustrate: Much more equivocations in expreffion, and mental refervations are to be condemned here; the firft whereof take in ambiguity in words; the fecond a different fenfe in our thoughts

thoughts from what feemeth to be meant in our words. (5) As to the right manner of fwearing, these things ought to be noticed; 1. That it be in judgment, that we underftand the thing we fwear, and the nature of our oath, and him we fwear by, Fer. 4. 2. 2. Fear and reverence in going about it, as being in an especial way in God's own fight: Thus, to fear an oath, is a good property; and the heart would be filled with the apprehenfion of a prefent God. 3 Singleness in the end, that it be not to deceive any, but to express the truth truly and faithfully, called Righteousness, Jer. 4. 2. And for the most part thefe properties or qualifications may agree to oaths, affeverations and imprecations.

For the further clearing of this matter, we would speak to fome questions.

And the 1ft queftion is, How then differ oaths from asseve-,

rations?

Arf. They fhould both be in truth and judgment, with fear, and when called unto: but in this they differ, that in oaths we are only to make mention of the true God, and fwear by him; but affeverations may be thus expreffed, As thy foul liveth, 2 Kings 2. 2, 4, 6. and yet we do not fwear by the foul of any.

A

A zd queftion is, What we may judge of fuch oaths, as are, by angels, faints, Mary, Paul, and by other creatures, as beaven, light, the world, by foul, conscience, &c. or by graces, as by faith?

Anf. We need not ufe much curiofity in diftinctions: For we conceive them all to be fimply unlawful, (1.) Because none of these are God, and fwearing is a peculiar piece of his worship, Deut. 6. 13. And fwearing by any thing, whatever it be, which is not God, is condemned, Fer. 5. 7. They have fworn by those who are not gods. (2.) Because we cannot invocate any of these, and therefore cannot fwear by them, feeing an oath carries along with it an invocation of him we fwear by. (3.) Because they want these properties due to fuch to whom this worship belongeth; as, 1. Omnifcience, to try whether we mean as we have fworn or not. 2. Omnipotency. And, 3. Juftice, to avenge if it be not fo as we have fworn. 4. Sovereignty, to call the fwearers to reckoning. 5. Because it would derogate from the fcope of this command, which giveth this to God alone, as his due; and implieth that he alone hath all these properties in him. 6.

Be

Because fuch oaths are exprefly prohibited by Chrift, Matth. 3. 34. Swear not at all, neither by heaven nor earth; for they ftand in an inferior relation to God, and are his fervants. 7. Because, as none of these things are God, to take order with us if we fwear falfly; fo none of them are fo ours, as we can lay them in pledge, for the leaft change to be made upon them, in cafe our oath be not true; none of them can be added unto or diminished from by us. We cannot make one of our hairs black or white, and therefore ought not to fwear by our head; much less can we quiet our confcience, or increase our faith, that we fhould fo freely fwear by thefe. That place, Mat. 5. 36. cleareth this: For that of Mat. 23. 16, 17, &c. fpeaketh of the obligation of an oath finfully made, as to that manner of fwearing, which yet ftill bindeth; but it warranteth not the making of such oaths.

C.

A 3d Queft. is, What is to be judged concerning Affeverations; fuch as, In confcience, Good faith, As I fhall answer, &c. As I am a chriftian, As I have a foul to be faved, and fuch like? Anfw. 1. We think, there is no queftion, but, if thefe were rightly and in the due manner made use of, they might be lawfully ufed, as fcripture cleareth. 2. Yea, we think, if any oaths be made ufe of, these would first be used; and a man may be called to ufe one of thefe, when he is not directly to fwear. 3. Therefore, we think they cannot be ufed, but in neceffity, when lefs will not ferve; and should be used with fear, reverence, understanding, and the other qualifications: And that therefore they fin, who, in common difcourfe, rafhly and vainly use them; which we conceive to be forbidden here: And, when they are not confcientiously ufed, they lead men to a greater degree of the fin here dif charged; as we fee fome begin with affeverations, then idle oaths, and then imprecations, as Peter finfully did, Mat. 26. Reafon 1. All these affeverations are reductively oaths, and imply the contrary imprecations in them: Thus, Let me not be esteemed a chriftian, nor have a foul to be faved; which muft relate to God for executing thefe: Therefore, being indirect oaths, they ought to be used as oaths, and belong to this command. 2. Because the very end of any vehement affeveration is to confirm what is faid, further than an ordinary affertion can: Now, in fo far, it is an oath; it being proper to an oath to confirm what is fpoken: And, feeing it agreeth with an oath in the effentials, they must be materially one, tho

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