their own will, and desirous to have no will but the same; makes hard things easy, and cannot endure to have any thing called difficult to it: much love to God would do this, it would turn all duty into delight. Did we once know what this were, we should say, with St. Austin, What needs threatening and punishment to those that love thee not; is it not punishment enough not to love thee? If you would have all your obedience sweet and easy to yourselves, and acceptable to God, seek, above all things, hearts in flamed with his love.

PRECEPT III.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, &c.

THE Psalmist, stirring up himself to the praises of God, Psalm lvii. 8, calls up his glory to it: Awake, my glory. By glory the Hebrew interpreters understand, the soul; the Septuagint and others, the tongue: so the apostle, following the Septuagint, renders it, from Psalm xv. 3, Acts ii. 26.

It suits well with both the soul, being the better part of man, far excelling the body; and amongst the parts of the body, the tongue having this excellency, to be the organ of speech, and so the interpreter of the mind and this difference from the beasts, as the soul is, may well partake of its honourable name, and be called man's glory.

But that which gives them both best title to that name, is that exercise to which he calls them, the praising and glorifying of their Lord and Maker. Then they are indeed our glory, when they are so taken up and employed, when the one conceives, and the other utters his glory.

And as it becomes them always to be one, as they have one name, the soul and the tongue to agree, so especially should this one name given them be answered by their harmony and agreement in his own work, for which chiefly they have that name, in giving glory

to God; and it is that which this commandment requires forbidding that which is the ignomy of man, both of his soul and of his tongue, and degrades them, turns them out of the name of glory, to be called shame and dishonour, that is, irreverence, and dishonouring the glorious name of GoD: and therefore, on the contrary, commanding the reverent and holy use of his name and service; and that we always endeavour so to speak and think of him, and so to walk before him, as those that seek, beyond all things, that his name may be glorified in us and by us. For though false swearing and vain swearing are main breaches of this commandment, (as we shall shew afterwards,) being primely forbidden by it, yet it extends generally to all our speeches concerning God. Neither is it to be restrained there, and kept within that compass, as if it gave only law to the tongue; although, indeed, the tongue hath a very great share in it, both in the breaking and keeping of it, yet certainly the precept in its full sense goes deeper into the soul, and gives a rule to the speech of the mind, our thoughts concerning God; and larger, stretches itself forth to our actions and life, that hath as loud a voice to those with whom we converse, as our tongues, and is the more considerable of the two, giving a truer character of men, what they are indeed, than their words can do.

The first commandment teaches and enjoins whom we shall worship. The second, what worship we shall give him. This third shews us with what disposition and intention, and answerably with what manner of expression we shall worship him and use his name, that it be not vainly, and after a common, trivial manner, but in holiness and humility, and desire of his glory.

So, then, this commandment concerns particularly that which is the great end of all the works of God, The glory of his name. He made all things for himself, Prov. xvi. 4; his works of creation for this end, Isa. xliii. 7; of redemption and new creation of the elect world, Eph. i. 12, all to his praise and glory: and for

this end calls he us from darkness to light, to shew forth his praises or virtues, 1 Pet. ii. 9. This we are to intend with him, and that this precept requires of us, that which he aimed at in all his works, the same we may intend in all ours; and this is an excellent thing, the holiest and happiest condition, to make God's purpose ours, and have the same end with him. Here it is particularly true, Summa religionis est imitari quem colis: The main of religion is to imitate him whom you worship. Thus are we to live, and particu larly so to worship him and make mention of his name, that we be ever sensible of its worth and greatness, and so beware that we indignify it not, but always seek to advance the honour and glory of it; and that is the very scope of this commandment.

There are in it, 1, The precept itself; 2, The annexed commination.

In the precept, 1. What his name is. 2. To take it. 3. To take it in vain.

The name. 1. The names that are given him in scripture, Jehovah, Elohim, &c. It was a foolish and profane shift of the Jews, who thought themselves free, if they abused not the name Jehovah: and so they became superstitious in the forbearing that, and licentious in the abuse of the rest; and swearing by other things in heaven and earth, &c. Which, therefore, our Saviour reproves, giving the true sense of this commandment, Matt. v. 34, &c. And this is the nature of superstition, to make frivolous, undue restraints by way of compensation of that profane liberty and looseness in the commandments of God, which is its usual companion. 2. All the attributes of God, by which the Holy Scriptures set him forth to us. 3. Generally any thing whatsoever by which God is made known unto us, and distinguished from all others, and by which we make mention of him, which are the uses of a name. In a word, that of St. Paul expresseth it fully and fitly, Το γνωςον το Θε8.

Thou shalt not take. That is, Thou shalt not take, or lift up, or bear. 1. Not use it secretly by thyself,

"He will not clear

or within thyself, in thine own thoughts, without reverence; not take it in vain. So, 2. Not make mention of it, or express it to others vainly; not lift it up in vain. 3. Not bear, not be called by it, or have it called upon thee; not profess it in vain. In vain. 1. Falsely and dissimulately. 2. Profanely. 3. Unprofitably, to no purpose. 4. Lightly and inconsiderately, without due regard, and holy fear. 2. The annexed commination. He will not hold him guiltless. him. The sovereign Judge, from whose hand no offender can escape, except he willingly set him free and absolve him, he will not absolve them that abuse his name." And it means further, he will not clear him, that is, he will certainly punish him, and do judgment on him as guilty. And this is the rather particularly here expressed, because men are subject foolishly to promise themselves impunity in this sin, think either there remains no guiltiness behind it, but it passes as the words do; or if there be any, yet being but a matter of words, wherein the most usual and known breach of this command consists, that the guiltiness of them is so small, that any little excuse may wipe it off; that it is but inadvertence, or a bad custom, or some such thing. "No, (says the Lord, the lawgiver himself,) delude not yourselves; think not the honour and dishonour of my name a light matter; or if you will, yet I will not think it so, nor you shall not find it so; though you easily forgive and clear yourselves, I will not clear you, but will vindicate the glory of my name in your just punishment, which your sin of taking it in vain did abuse and dishonour; and you shall feel in that punishment that you are not guiltless, as you imagined." The name of God is great and weighty and honourable, (as the same Hebrew word signifies both,) and therefore, qui assumunt vel attollunt, as the word here is; they that offer to lift up this weighty name lightly and regardlessly, it shall fall upon them, and they shall be crushed under the weight of it.

There are many questions relating to this commandment handled and discussed by divines, as of an oath, a vow, &c., which, for our purposed brevity, we will pass by; and only, according to our usual method, add some chief heads of the violation and observance of this commandment.

1. All false swearing or perjury, which is to take his name after the grossest manner, in vain, or in mendacium, as the word likewise signifies; to call Truth itself, the First Verity, to partake of a lie. But he is not mocked; for as the nature of an oath imports invocating him as the highest both witness and judge of truth, and punisher of falsehood, he always in his own due time makes it good on those that dare adventure upon that guiltiness in so high a kind.

2. Papal dispensation of oaths, which is a most heinous sin, and becomes him that is eminently called the man of sin. It is more than perjury, for it is a professed, avowed patronage of perjury, together with an impudent conceit of a privilege and right to do so.

3. Equivocatory oaths, by which, if it were lawful, the grossest perjury might be defended; for there is nothing so false, but some mental reservation may make it true.

4. Abusing the name and word of God to charms and spells.

5. Execration and cursing by the name of Satan, which is no other but invocating him.

6. Swearing by any creature.

7. Abusing and vilifying the glorious and holy name of God, by passionate, or by vain and common customary swearing.

8. Swearing for ends of controversy, and in weighty matters where an oath is lawful, yea necessary, yet doing it without due reverence, and consideration of the greatness of God, and the nature of an oath.

9. Abusing of the word of God, either wresting it to defence of error, or making sport and jesting with it.