[2.] Secondly, Consider this, That pernicious',, lies and liars are very destructive to all human societies, Idngdoms, and commo7i- wealfhs. Lying destroys all society, all commerce and converse among the sons of men. Man, as the philosopher observeth, is ^vou iroXiTiKov, a sociable creature. Speech is the means whereby men have society and commerce one with another. Now lying perverts that order which the God of truth hath appointed to be among the sons of men. It is the will and pleasure of God that the sons ot men, conversing together, should by their words and speeches and discourses impart and comnnmicate their minds, designs, intentions, and meanings one to another, for the mutual good of one another, and for the profit and benefit of the whole. Now if there be nothing in men's words but lying, deceit, and fraud, instead of truth, what can follow but confusion and desolation ? When the language of men was confounded, so that one could not tell what another spake, then presently followed the dissolution of their combination ; for the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city, Gen. xi. 7, 8. When one asked brick, saith a Rabbin, i another brought clay, and then they fell together by the earsj and one dashed out the other's brains ; and by this means their communion was dissolved, and God brought on them the evil wliich they sought to prevent, ver. 4. But surely a lying tongue is a far worse enemy to society than an unknown tongue ; and much better it is for a man to have no society at all, than with such as he cannot believe what they say, or if he do, he shall be sure to be deceived by them. Concerning such we may well take up the words of Jacob : ' 0 my soul, come not thou into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united,' Gen. xlix. 6. And pray with David : ' Deliver my soul, 0 Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue,' Ps. cxx. 2. Jeremiah did so loathe and abominate the society of liars, that ho had rather live in a wilderness than live among them, or have anything to do with them, Jer. ix. 1-6. Liars destroy that communion and society that by the law of God, nature, and nations they ought to preserve and maintain. Lying dissolves that mutual trust that we should have with one another ; for hereby all contracts, covenants, and intercourse of dealings between man and man, which is, as it were, the life of the kingdom or commonwealth, are quite overthrown.^ When men make no conscience of lying, nor of keeping their word any further than either fear of loss or force of law compelleth them, all civil communion is at an end. There can be no trust where there is no truth, nor no commerce with those that cannot be trusted. The Scythians had a law, that if any man did, duo peceata contorquere, bind two sins together, a lie and an oath, he was
' R. Salomon. The Hebrew doctors say that at this dispersion there were seventy nations, with '• .ty sundry hmguages.
^ Menda.. .ucratur, ut cniii vera dixcrit, ei non crcdatur.
IsA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE late fiery dispensation. 95
to lose his head, because this was the way to take away all faith and truth among men. Had this law been put in execution in London, I have reason enough to fear that many citizens would have lost their heads long before they had lost their houses by the late dreadful fire. Now, seeing that pernicious lying, a course, a trade of lying, is so destructive to human society, why should we wonder to see the Lord appear in flaming fire against it ? But,
[3.] Thirdly, Consider, That lying is a sin that is most odious and hateful to God ; yea, a sin that makes men odious and hateful to him. Lying is repugnant unto God ; for God is a-^evhyi<i, one that cannot lie, Titus i. 2. He is ]Q^< Thi^i, the God of truth, Isa. Ixv. 16, and therefore lying cannot but be odious to him. God is said not only to forbid a lie, but to hate a lie. A lie, it is an abomination. Now we abominate that which is contrary to our natures. Amongst those things that are an abomination to the Lord, a lying tongue is reckoned : Prov. vi. 16, 17, ' These six things doth the Lord hate : yea, seven are an abomination to him : a proud look, a lying tongue,' or as the Hebrew runs, ' a tongue of lying,' that is, a tongue that hath learned the trade, and can do it artificially ; a tongue that is accustomed to lying, a tongue that is delighted in lying. So ver. 19, ' A false witness that speaketh lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.' Among these seven things abominated by God, lying is twice repeated, to note how great an abomination lying is in the eye and account of God : Prov. xii. 22, ' Lying lips are an abomi- nation to the Lord ; ' not only offensive or odious, but abominable. Liars pervert the end for which God ci'eated speech, which was to give light to the notions of the mind, and therefore the Lord loathes them, and plagues them in this life with great severity, as you may see in those sad instances of Gehazi, whose lie was punished with a perpetual leprosy uj)on himself and his posterity, 2 Kings v. 20 to the end ; and of Ananias and Sapphira, who for their lying were punished with present and sudden death. Acts v. 5-11 ; and of Haman, who slandering Mordecai and the Jews, and by his lies plotting their ruin, was taken in the same snare that he had laid for them, and both he and his sons hanged upon the same gallows which he had made for innocent Mordecai, Esther iii, 8-11. The same liar that was feasting with the king one day was made a feast for crows the next day, chap. vii. 9, and ix. 13, 14. Dreadful are the threatenings that the great God has given out against liars : Ps. v. 6, ' Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.' Such as lie in jest will, without repentance, go to hell in earnest : Ps. xii. 3, ' The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.' God, by one judgment or another, in one way or anotb>er, Avill cut off" all flattering lying lips, as a rotten member is cut off from the body, or as a barren tree that is stocked up, that it may cinnber the ground no more : Ps. cxx. 2-4, ' Deliver my soul, 0 Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto thee — or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue ? Sharp arrows of the mighty' — God will retaliate sharp for sharp — 'with coals of juniper.' The coals of juniper burn hot and last long, some say a month and more, and smell sweet. Now upon these coals will God
96 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLIT. 24, 25.