(2.) A lie committed in courts of judicature; as Exod. xxiii. 1, * Thou shalt not raise a false report ; put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.' So ver. 7, ' Keep thee far from a false matter ; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not ; for I will not justify the wicked.' Now this is the most heinous sort of lying, because it perverteth God's ordinance, appointed for the finding out of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, and turns a tribunal of justice into a record of iniquity : Ps. xciv. 10, ' He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct ? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know ? ' Partly because witnesses are sworn ; and perjury, a lie con- firmed by an oath, is no small ciime : ' God will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain,' Exod. xx. 7. Partly because they are bound to witness the truth, and the whole truth, concerning the fact in hand, which in ordinary commerce we are not bound to do. Indeed in ordinaiy speech our purpose should be to inform our neighbour, not to deceive him ; but we are not bound to inform him in all things, or to make known all that is true in every matter of fact, but when we are called thereto by justice and charity. I must sj)eak falsehood at no time, but I am not bound at every time to speak the whole truth ; but in matters of testimony, I must speak all that belongeth to that fact in question, without fiaud or collusion. Therefore this is the most criminal sort of lying. Partly because my neighbour is greatly wronged by it ; he is wionged by privy detraction, but more evidently wronged ■by a false testimony in judgment ; not only wronged in his reputation, but in his life or estate ; not only before a few, but in the face of his country, before all who shall have notice of it; and wronged in a
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«olemn way, not by whispers, but by a sentence given by God's deputies •and officers in the throne of judgment or seat of justice.
II. Why must it be made conscience of by the children of light, or those who are ' light iti the Lord' ?
I answer — For these reasons —
1. Because it is a sin most contrary to the nature of God, who is truth itself; it is not only contrary to his will but to his nature : Titus i. 2, * In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.' He can do all things, but he cannot lie. What a case had the world been in if God could lie, or were not of undoubted truth ! for then we could be sure of nothing ; no sure direc- tion by his word, nor comfort by his promises. Therefore lying is a sin that maketh us unlike God. God cannot lie, nor command us to lie. He can command us to take the life of tmother, for he commanded Abraham to offer Isaac ; the life of all creatures are at his dispose. He can command us to take the goods of another, as when the Israelites spoiled the Egyptians of their jewels ; for he is the sovereign Lord of all, and can transfer right and property as he pleaseth from man to man : but God cannot lie, nor give command for any to lie, because it is contrary to his nature. And there is an impossibility in the case : Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie ; ' as it is impossible for God to cease to be God, or to act contrary to his nature. Therefore there cannot be a greater deformity or unlikeness to God than to be given to lying.
2. Because when God was incarnate, and came not only to represent the goodness of the divine nature, but also the holiness of it as a pattern for our imitation, Jesus Christ, this God incarnate, was eminent for this part of holiness, for sincerity and truth : 1 Peter ii. 22, ' Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.' This was Christ's character, and therefore it shonld be ours ; for this is true religion, to imitate what we worship. You know Christ's commendation of Nathanael : John i. 47, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.' Why an Israelite indeed ? Because he was like old Israel ; for it is said of Jacob, who is also called Israel, that he was ' a plain man, and dwelt in tents,' Gen. xxv. 27. We may say of a plain-hearted christian, how weak soever he be otherwise. Behold a christian indeed, because he is like Christ. Therefore it is prophesied that in the days of the gospel : Zeph. iii. 13, ' The remnant of Israel shall do no iniquity, nor speak lies ; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their month.' They shall be all like Christ. This prophecy intimateth both duty and event ; it showeth not only what christians should be, but shall be, if they be true christians. Well, then, this is the essential com- mendation of a true christian. Some of God's saints may be famous for several graces, but all for truth ; Moses for meekness, Phineas for zeal, Abraham for faith, David for devotion ; but eveiy one that is born of God, and accepted of God upon the account of Christ, for sincerity and truth. It is made the qualification of the pardoned to have no guile : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.'