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kept. But if at any time, through ignorance or malice, a man shall engage and fwear to execute an action which plainly contradicts the law of right, it is clearly his duty to defift from any fuch finful purpose, left he incur the double vengeance of the Almighty for his perverseness; and equally does it concern him to be upon his guard not haftily to bind himself to any thing he has not power to perform: the unlawfulness and impiety of all fuch oaths are highly offenfive to the Almighty, and confequently injurious and ruinous to all concerned in them.

I will only add a few remarks concerning the particular crime of perjury, and then conclude the fubject. In order that you may be more thoroughly fenfible how very offenfive in the fight of God the wilful commiffion of this fin muft be, it may be serviceable to many of you to be informed what is the nature of an oath upon a book before a Magiftrate, or as it is commonly expreffed, to fwear by the Bible. First then, when any perfon, laying their hands upon the Holy Gofpel, doth fwear to give a true account of whatever things are charged upon them, or required to be made known, and that they are no ways reftrained from speaking the truth, and acting juftly through favor, dread, or malice towards any party, as they hope God, and the contents of that facred volume may help them; they fhould moft feriously confider what that book contains, by which they folemnly confirm their evidence: that it is the repofitory of no less a treasure than God's eternal truth, His holy word itself; whereby we have forgiveness of our fins held out to us, and are enabled to become inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven, to live for ever with God's bleffed angels, and the fpirits of juft men made perfect, in endlefs joy and peace.Further, they should recollect that this fame Gofpel doth likewife threaten to every obftinate finI 2

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ner, those terrible punishments which all must fuffer who do not mend their lives; who difbelieve the truth of God's most holy word, and the everlafting torments prepared for the ungodly; for hypocrites, vain fwearers, and perjured perfons, false witneffes, and unjust accufers of the innocent and guiltlefs, as alfo for fuch who through partial favor or selfish intereft, conceal the crimes of evil doers, and prevent their being brought to public juftice. In this view of taking an oath, it must clearly appear, that whofoever wilfully forfwears himself upon Chrift's most holy volume, doth openly defpife and forfeit God's gracious mercy, truth, and goodnefs. They flight the merits of their Savior, and the glorious benefits derived to all his faithful fervants through virtue of his birth, life, paffion, death, refurrection, and afcenfion. They reject the forgiveness of fins promised to all penitent finners; they undervalue the joys of Heaven and the bleffed company of its inhabitants; all which eternal comforts the Gofpel promifes to fincere and humble chriftians only. Every perfon therefore, who carelefsly abufes the fanction of this holy book, doth confequently inlift himself or enter into the devil's fervice, who is the father of all falfehood, decet, and perjury. They do highly provoke the fevere wrath and curfe of God against them in this life; and the terrible judgment of our Savior Chrift at the laft great day of account, when He shall strictly recompence both quick and dead, according to their works. From this plain ftate of the cafe you must be fenfible, that whofoever thus difregardeth truth, through love or fear of any man, or for gain and profit to bimfelf, muft be confidered as denying Chrift, the author of all truth; and like Judas, betraying him with a KISS; for thus they furely do who pay an outward refpect to the word of truth, while they act in pofitive contradiction of its precepts. And al though the treachery of fuch perjured perfons may

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now escape the knowledge of men, yet fhall it be discovered at the general and dreadful afsize, when the fecrets of all hearts fhall be made manifeft to all the world. Then fhall truth fhine bright as the fun, and join with their own consciences to accuse them; while the bleffed hoft of Heaven shall bear open teftimony against them; and Chrift the righteous Judge, fhall publicly condemn them to endless fhame and death. Heinous then is this fin of perjury, and truly hateful before Almighty God and thus doth he deliver himself particularly concerning it, by the mouth of his prophets Malachi and Zechariah. This is the threatening of his fore punishment to the Jews of old, Malachi iii. 5. I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the forcerers, and against the adulterers, and against falfe fearers.-And God declareth the fame thing to Zechariah in a vifion, wherein the prophet faw a book flying, of vaft extent, in which was written God's judgments against finners: and the Lord faid to him at the fame time, Zech. v. 3, 4. This is the curfe that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth fhall be cut off as on this fide, according to it; and every one that fweareth fhall be cut off as on that fide; and this curfe faith the Lord of hosts shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that fweareth falfely by my name, and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and fhall confume it with the timber and the stones thereof; that is, it fhall bring heavy and univerfal misfortune upon himself and family. Thus hath it been moft fully declared to you, how greatly the Lord detefteth all falfe fwearers, and the heavy punishment prepared for them. In fhort, perjury is a vice fo mifchievous to the community, fo dangerous in its effects to the perfons guilty of it, and fo highly dishonorable to God, (fince it fruftrates the benefit of that most folemn bond intended to protect the lives and property of hi

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creatures) that it cannot be too ftrongly painted and difcouraged and doubtlefs, it is from ignorance of the prodigious fin attending it, which confifts in the foul offence of making the word of God a fanction for wickedness, that we fadly experience fo much of it ftill exifting in a chriftian land. As no better service therefore, can be done to religion and fociety, than to expose and reprobate fuch crying fins, let us feriously confider the duty lying upon all men, most religioufly to attend to the folemn nature of their oaths, and in what cafes it is both lawful and neceffary to use them; their true properties or conditions have equally been pointed out for your direction, and the most earneft exhortations offered against fwearing vainly, in every fenfe, and fhape whatever. Lastly, the fevere and certain condemnation, which awaits this crime, hath been repeatedly enforced to check the progrefs of it; all that remains is, to apply to God for grace to keep us on our guard from entering into any engagements or ufing any methods of confirming them, which may offend his holy name; and that we may righteously obferve all fuch as neceffity and legal obligations require us to difcharge, and confequently are confiftent with God's good-will and pleasure. To whom, with the Son and Holy Ghoft, be all honor and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

DISCOURSE IX.

Of falling from God.

EZRA viii. 22.

The band of our God is upon all them for good that feek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forfake him.

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HE caufe that the wife man gives of our forGod is this: PRIDE, fays he, was the beginning of all fin, Ecclus, x. 13. for by it the heart of man was first turned from his Maker; and he that bath it shall pour out abomination. And as it was on this account that the Lord brought strange calamities upen his creatures, and overthrew them utterly, and that through pride and fin we fall from God; fo fhall God and all goodness forfake us, if we continue to cherish fuch companions; for pride is bateful both before God and man, and whether men be rich, noble, or poor, their greatest glory is the fear of the Lord. And the prophet (Hosea vth, and 5, 6,) doth plainly declare, that they who continue to depart from God by vicious living, and yet fuppofe they can appease his wrath by facrifice, will be found to labor in vain, for notwithstanding their moft coftly offerings, he will ftill defert them, The pride of

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