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[SERM. 4. As it is an Honour to the King, to have recourse to him as the Supreme, and that he should have the controuling of all other Judges; but it would be an intolerable Dishonour, in the first Refult, to trouble him with every inconfiderable little Cause, such as might be decided by any ordinary Juftice of Peace: So it is an Honour to God, in Matters of the greatest Weight and Confequence, to invoke him as the Judge and Witnefs, and to appeal to his Decifion; but to flie to it for every trivial Matter, is a great Dishonour to his Holy Name, and a Vilifying and Proftituting of his Sacred Authority.

5. If we use Rashness and Precipitancy in swearing, it is impoffible to obferve the common Conditions I told you were required in an Oath, by the Prophet Jeremiah, Truth, Judgment, and Righteousness; for all these require great Deliberation and Attention. Truth is loft, if we do not recollect it carefully in our Memory, and keep up a Prefence of Mind, and restrain our felves from all Byafs and Self-Intereft. Judgment, in its own Nature, requires a ferious weighing the Importance, as well as the Truth of what we Affert or Promise upon Oath. And Righteousness requires an Inspection into the Merits and Confequences of what we swear, that we do not involve our felves in any Bond of Iniquity, by a rash general Oath, from which many Cafes may arife that we were not aware of: As in the cafe of Saul's Oath, which ensnared his Son Jonathan; and in the Cafe of Herod, which led him to the Murder of that excellent Man, John the Baptift. And therefore, fince great Deliberation is requifite to the obferving the Conditions of an Oath, we

may

may conclude, that all fudden common fwearing in Conversation is out of Doors.

6. It is worth Confideration, that rafh Oaths engage Men in many Inconvenient, and in many finful Practices. First, I fay, inconvenient Practices, which tend very much to their Lofs and Prejudice. For if what we have fworn be ever fo Detrimental, fo that it be not finful, by Virtue of our Oaths we are to comply with it, this being one Part of the Character of the Man that fhall abide in God's Tabernacle, and dwell in his Holy Hill, that he fweareth to his own Hurt, and changeth not. Pfa. xv. 4. But that is not the worst of these rafh Oaths, they lead to Perjury, and other Sins, as appears by Saul's and Herod's rash Oaths, one of which, Saul's, was broken, and indeed better broken than kept, and yet there was the Sin of forfwearing; and the other kept, and was attended with the Sin of Murder.

7. Rafh, or common Swearing, is a great leffening to the Perfon that ufes it; for the Meaning of it is, (if it has any Meaning) that he is not a Perfon fit to be credited upon his Word, and that he is fo fenfible of this himself, that he has recourse to Oaths; which yet, of all Things that ever were practiced, are the worft Remedy for a broken Credit: For it is not the Oath that gives Credit to the Man, but the Man that gives Credit to the Oath. The common Swearer, by giving fuch plain Demonstration that he has no fear of God, deferves no Credit with Men; for in all probability, fuch a one will be no better in Morals than the Law will make him; for if he were governed by any inward principle of Religion, that would keep him from the Profanenels of VOL. II.

common

[SERM. common Swearing, as well as from the Immorality of Dishonesty.

8. This Sin of common Swearing is a great piece of rudeness to the Company; especially where there are any prefent, that have any Senfe of Religion or the Fear of God. To them it is like the abufing of a Man's Friends to his Face. The Injury of the Calumny and the Back-biting is to them, but the affront is to him, and fo he must needs take it. But it not being proper for him in a private Capacity to avenge it, God Almighty takes the Vengeance into his own Hands, and commonly makes terrible Examples of fuch profane Wretches.

9. It is a great Aggravation of this Sin of common Swearing, that it has not the excufe of ftrong Temptations, as moft other Sins have. It gratifies no Appetite, it brings in no Profit, Pleafure, or Honour; if it is at any time fashionable, it is fuch a wicked Fashion, that none will take upon them to Juftify, far lefs to praise and commend; and therefore it is the being wicked for wickedness fake, it is the felling of our felves to the Devil for nought; naturally, no Man is inclined to fuch a Sin; it is only the effect of wicked Habits, and as common as it is, it is hard to tell from whence it proceeds, except from bad Example, which the Devil has taken care to propagate from one Generation to another.

The only Reason one can imagine for this Practice, is, that we may be the better believed; but it has commonly the quite contrary Effect. A Man that is known to fear

God,

God, will be sooner believed upon his Word, than a common Swearer upon many repeated Oaths.

10. Laftly, If one were to examine the Occafions of these common Oaths, it would be found true what our Saviour obferves in the Text, that they come of Evil; whether the Meaning of that be, as fome Interpret it, that they come of the evil one, that is, the Devil, or that they are occafioned by fome bad Principle, or fome wicked Temper of Mind, or fome other Vice; fuch as Pride, Anger, Impatience, Difcontent, Self-conceit, Rudenefs, a Defect of Reason, and Want of better Proof, or Atheism, and down-right Profaneness; and yet one would think that it should be the most impertinent and abfurd Thing for an Atheist, to invoke the Name of God, when he does not believe any fuch Being.

These and many more Reafons there were for reprehending this wicked Practice in our Saviour's Days; and Chriftianity has made great Improvements in the Doctrine upon this Commandment, notwithstanding the fhameless profane Practice of many that are called Chriftians. And this is the laft Thing I propofed to confider from the Text, and will be properly the Subject of another Difcourfe upon it. I fhall conclude, at prefent, in the Words of St James, which are properly Applicable to thefe Oaths in Converfation. (a) But above all things, my Brethren, fwear not, neither

(a) Jam. v. 12.

by Heaven, neither by the Earth, neither by any other Oath: But let your yea, be yea; and your nay, nay; left ye fall into Condemnation. From which, God of his infinite Mercy deliver us all, for his dear Son, Jefus Chriff's fake. To whom, &c.

SER M

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