[1.] First, That lying is a very great sin. It is a transgression not of one, but of many of the royal laws of heaven: Lev. xix. 11, 'Ye shall not lie one to another ;' Zech. viii. 16, ' Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour ;' Eph. iv. 25, ' Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another.' In the body of man one member will not lie to another ; the hand will not lie, in telling what it toucheth ; the tongue will not lie, in telling what it tasteth ; the eye will not lie, in telling what it seeth ; but every member is a true witness to another, a true witness to his neighbour : and so it should be both in the politic body and in the mystical body of Christ, seeing we are members one of another. Every one should si)eak the truth with his neighbour. One member in the natural l)ody will not mock another, nor make a fool of another; and why then should one Christian by lying mock another, or make a fool of another? Treniellius translates it thus: Ne fatuum agito, Do not play the fool with him. For certainly he is the veriest fool who by lying thinketh to make a fool of another: Col. iii. 9, 'Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.' God's conunands are not like those that are easily reversed, but they are like those of the Modes, that cannot be changed, Dan. vi. To act or run cross to God's express command, though under pretence of revelation from God, is as much as a man's life is worth, as you may
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 93
see in that sad story, 1 Kings xiii. It is a dangerous thing for a man to neglect one of his commands, who by another is able to command him into nothing, or into hell. What God commands must be put in speedy execution, without denying, or delaying, or disputing the diffi- culties that attend it.^ The great Grod will not endure to be called to an account by the poor creature concerning his royal commands ; but expects that with all readiness and cheerfulness we should obey what he requires, even when the reason of our obedience is hid from our eyes ; for then grace shines most transparently and gloriously. Gen. xxii, I have read of one Johannes Abbas, who being commanded by his confessor to go some miles every day to water a dry stick, which he accordingly did out of a pure respect to the command of his supe- rior, without disi:>uting the reason of it.^ Oh, how much more then should we readily obey divine commands, w^hich are all holy, spiritual, just, and good, considering the authority, sovereignty, and majesty of the great God, without disputing the reasons of our obedience ; for let a man's reasons, though never so many and weighty, be put into one scale, and God's absolute command weighed against them in the other, the man may well write tekel, ' They are weighed in the balance, and found too light,' Dan. v. 27. 0 sirs ! (Ps ciii. 20,) ' the angels that excel in strength do his commandments ; ' and shall the peasant scorn that work in which the prince himself is engaged? The commands of God, both in the Old and New Testament, lie fair and full against lying ; and therefore no wonder if God revenge the habitual breach of them in flames of fire. The Holy Ghost in the Hebrew tongue calleth a lie aven, which also signifieth iniquity, implying that all lies are iniquity, and that all iniquity is after a sort included in a lie, which doth sufficiently evidence that lying is no small sin, I might further argue thus, that which is. contrary to God, who is the choicest and the chiefest good, yea, who is goodness and truth itself, that must needs be the greatest evil : but lying is ' contrary to the nature, essence, and being of God. Witness the description that he gives of himself, both in the Old and New Testa- ment : Exod. xxxiv. 6, ' And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.' So Moses in his song, ' He is a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he.' Deut. xxxii. 4. So Isaiah, ' He who blesseth himself in_ the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth ; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the God of truth,' Isa. Ixv. 16, So the psalmist, * Thou hast redeemed me, 0 Lord God of truth,' Ps. xxxi. 5. Again, ' Thou, 0 Lord, are plenteous in mercy and truth,' Ps. Ixxxvi. 15, ^ So in the New Testament, ' Let God be true, and every man a liar,' Kom, iii. 4. Again, ' They themselves shew how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God,' Acts xiv. 15. Though God can make a world with a word of his mouth, Gen. i., and mar a world with a word of his mouth, chap, vi., yet he can neither die nor lie : Tit, i, 2, ' In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began ; ' yea, it is impossible for God to
' Obedientia non discutit Dei mandata, sed ia,Q,ii.— Prosper. • Cassianus, lib. iv. cap. 24.
94 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
lie: Heb. vi. 18, 'That by two immutable things, in wliich it was impossible for God to lie.' Now by all these plain pregnant texts it is most evident that lying is most opposite and contrary to the very nature, essence, and being of God ; and therefore no wonder if the anger and wrath of God rises high against it. But,