VeR. 9.] SERMOKS UPON EPHESIANS V. 281
you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof at the day of judgment/ Let him use harmless recreations^ without accusing his brother falsely, or shamming him with devised lies. Now to this sporting lie a fable or parable is not to be reduced, because it is an artificial way of representing truth ; as when Jotham bringeth in the trees conferring and consulting about their hing, Judges ix. 8. Nor yet such sharp and piercing ironies as we find used by holy mea in the scripture; as when Elijah saith, 1 Kings xviii. 27, 'He is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey ; or perad- venture he sleepeth, and must be awaked ; ' for this is a notable way to- make truth strike upon the heart with the more force.
(2.) The officious lie, for the help and relief of ourselves or others. Instances we have of tliis in the scripture. Thus Rebecca teacheth Jacob to lie, that he might gain the blessing, Gen. xxvii, ; and th& Egyptian midwives saved the male children of the Israelites by feigning they were delivered before they came to them, Exod. i. 17, 18 ; unless it may be extenuated, that so it was sometimes, and they might send to them to use the help of other women. Though it be so, they feared God, and were rewarded by God. Non remunerata est fallacia, sed henevoleniia — Not their lie, but their mercy was rewarded : their mercy was commended, but their infirmity pardoned. So Rahab saved the spies by telling the men of her city that they were gone, when she- had hidden them under the stalks of flax, Josh. ii. 5-7. Thus Michal, to save David, feigned that he was sick, 1 Sam. xiv. 14 ; and David advised Jonathan to an officious lie for his safety, 1 Sara. xx. 6 ; and Hushai by temporising with Absalom, preserved David, 2 Sam. xvi. 17-19 ; and to divide his counsels, pretendeth hearty affection to him. But we are to live by rule, not by examples ; and a good cause must be followed by lawful means ; and courage and constancy will do more in these cases than dissimulation, and tend more to the glory of God, and the preservation of ourselves and others.
(3.) There is a pernicious lie, to the hurt and prejudice of others. Of this nature was that first lie by which all mankind was ruined : Gen. iii. 4, 5, ' And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die ; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' And Jacob's children's lie concerning Joseph : Gen. xxxvii. 31, 32, ' This we have found ; know now whether it be thy son's coat, yea or no.' And that of the Jewish elders concerning Christ, who said that his disciples stole him away by night. Mat. xxviii. 12-14. All lying is forbidden, but more especially this sort. I say, all these sorts are lies, for the scripture condemneth all without distinction : Eph. iv. 25, ' Wherefore put away all lying.' And all liars are shut out of the new Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 8. And again, Rev. xxii. 15, * Whosoever loveth and maketh a lie' is cast into hell. They all violate the natural order which God hath appointed between the heart and the tongue, and the law which he hath given to preserve faith in the world. The sporting lie is unnecessary, for we have other honest recreations where- with to divert our minds. And though officious lies are not to the hurt but good of others, yet they are to the hurt and prejudice of the truth. A man is not to lie for God, and therefore not for another
■282 SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. [SeR. XI.
man ; he hindereth a p^reater good, which is the truth of commerce between mankind, and lie hurteth his own soul. Sin depriveth us of •a fl^reater <>;ood. And Augustin telleth us of one Firnms who was Jirmus nomine and firmior voluntate, who being interrogated by the persecutors about such a person or persons as he knew concealed, resi^ndit mentiri nee posse nee liominem prodere, and suffered many toiinents, till he obtained a pardon both for himself and them. But ■of all lies, the pernicious lie is most pernicious. To deceive others with an untruth, or to lie to their wrong, is both horrible falsehood and injustice.
[3 ] A lie from the formality used in making it may be distinguished thus —
(I.) A lie committed in ordinary commerce, when we speak of things or ])ersons otherwise than we know to be true. This is a lie ; for our woids ought always to be agreeable to our minds. Thus Job speaketh of his friends : Job xiii. 4, ' But ye are forgers of lies.' Because they accused him unjustly, though it were not in a juridical process. And Christ of the Jews: John viii. 55, 'And if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you ;' and Ps. cix. 2, ' For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me ; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.' Thus impudent backi)iters will in secret vent their calumnies and slanders, and avouch the most false things as truth ; and so a good man is secretly hurt and wounded many times, and his reputation and service prejudiced when he knoweth it not.