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love of neighbours. 5. Such contentions are powerful engines of the devil to destroy all Christian love on both sides; and to stir up mutual enmity and wrath; and so to involve men in a course of sin, by further uncharitableness and injuries, both in heart, and word, and deed. 6. Poor men are hereby robbed of their necessary maintenance, and their innocent families subjected to distress. 7. Unconscionable lawyers and court officers, who live upon the people's sins, are hereby maintained, encouraged, and kept up. 8. Laws and courts of justice are perverted, to do men wrong, which were made to right them. 9. And the offender declareth how little sense he hath of the authority or love of God, and how little sense of the grace of our Redeemer! And how far he is from being himself forgiven through the blood of Christ, who can no better forgive another.

II. The evil of false witness.

1. By false witness the innocent are injured; robbery and murder are committed under pretence of truth and justice. 2. The name of God is horribly abused, by the crying sin of perjury (of which before). 3. The presence and justice of God are contemned, when sinners dare, in his sight and hearing, appeal to his tribunal, in the attesting of a lie. 4. Vengeance is begged or consented to by the sinner; who bringeth God's curse upon himself, and as it were desireth God to plague or damn him if he lie. 5. Satan the prince of malice and injustice, and the father of lies, and murders, and oppression is hereby gratified, and eminently served. 6. God himself is openly injured, who is the Father and patron of the innocent; and the cause of every righteous person is more the cause of God than of man. All government is frustrated, and laws abused, and all men's security for their reputations, or estates, or lives is overthrown, by false witnesses; and consequently human converse is made undesirable and unsafe. What good can law, or right, or innocency, or the honesty of the judge do any man, where false witnesses combine against him? What security hath the most innocent or worthy person, for his fame, or liberty, or estate, or life; if false witnesses conspire to defame him, or destroy him? And then how shall men endure to converse with one another? Either the innocent must seek out a wilderness, and fly from the face of

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men as we do from lions and tigers, or else peace will be worse than war: for in war a man may fight for his life; but against false witnesses he hath no defence: but God is the avenger of the innocent, and above most other sins, doth seldom suffer this to go unpunished, even in this present world; but often beginneth their hell on earth, to such perjured instruments of the devil.

III. The evil of unrighteous judgments.

1. An unrighteous judge doth condemn the cause of God himself; for every righteous cause is his. 2. Yea, he condemneth Christ himself in his members: for in that he doth it to one of the least of those whom he calleth brethren, he doth it to himself. It is a damnable sin, not to relieve the innocent and imprisoned in their distress, when we have power what is it then to oppress them and unrighteously condemn? 3. It is a turning of the remedy into a double misery, and taking away the only help of oppressed innocency. What other defence hath innocency, but law and justice? And when their refuge itself doth fall upon them and oppress them, whither shall the righteous fly? 4. It subverteth laws and government, and abuseth it to destroy the ends which it is appointed for. 5. Thereby it turneth human society into a state of misery, like the depredations of hostility. 6. It is a deliberate, resolved sin, and not done in passion by surprise: it is committed in that place, and in that form as acts of greatest deliberation should be done as if he should say, 'Upon full disquisition, evidence, and deliberation, I condemn this person, and his cause.' 7. All this is done as in the name of God, and by his own commission, by one that pretendeth to be his officer or minister. For the judgment is the Lord's. And how great a wickedness is it thus to blaspheme, and to represent him as satan, an enemy to truth and righteousness, to his servants and himself? As if he had said, God hath sent me to condemn this cause and person.' If false prophets sin so heinously who belie the Lord, and say, ' He hath sent us to speak this,' (which is untruth); the sin of false judges cannot be much less. 8. It is sin against the most full and frequent prohibitions of God. Read over Exod. xxiii. 1-3, &c. Lev. Deut. i. 16, 17. xvi. 18.

a Rom. iii. 3—6.

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b 2 Chron. xix. 5-8. 10.

Isa. i. 17. 20. 23. Deut. xxiv. 17. xxvii. 19.

"Cursed be

xciv. 15.

xx. 8.

xxix. 4.

x. 2.

lvi. 1, 2.

lix. 14,

Ezek.

xviii. 8.

xlv. 9.

Zech.

vi. 12. Mic. iii. 9.
Prov. xxi. 3. 7. 15. I

he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, the fatherless, and widow, and all the people shall say Amen." Ezra vii. 26. Psal. xxxiii. 5. xxxvii. 28. lxxii. 2. cvi. 3. 30. Prov. xvii. 27. xix. 28. xxxi. 5. Eccles. v. 8. Isa. v. 7. 15. Jer. v. 1. vii. 5. ix. 24. Hos. xii. 6. Amos v. 7. 15. 24. vii. 9. viii. 16. Gen. xviii. 19. cite not the words to avoid prolixity. Scarce any sin is so oft and vehemently condemned of God. 9. False judges cause the poor to appeal to God against them, and the cries of the afflicted shall not be forgotten. 10. They call for God's judgment upon themselves, and devolve the work into his hands how can that man expect any other than a judgment of damnation, from the tighteous God, who hath deliberately condemned Christ himself in his cause and servants, and sat in judgment to condemn the innocent?" The Lord hath prepared his throne for judgment, and he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness; he will be a refuge for the oppressedd." "He will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day ".' Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne f." "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed "." In a word, the sentence of an unjust judge is passed against his own soul, and he calleth to God to condemn him righteously, who unrighteously condemneth others. Of all men he cannot stand in judgment, nor abide the righteous doom of Christ.

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Direct. 11. When you well understand the greatness of the sin, find out and overcome the root and causes of it in yourselves: especially selfishness, covetousness and passion.' A selfish man careth not what another suffereth, so that his own ends and interest be promoted by it. A covetous man will contend and injure his neighbour whenever his own commodity requireth it. He so much loveth his money, that it can prevail with him to sin against God, and cast away his own soul; much more to hurt and wrong his

c Luke xviii. 5-8.
f Psal. lxxxix. 14.

d Psal. ix. 7-9.

g Psal. ciii. 6. cxlvi. 7.

e Psal. xxxvii. 6.

neighbour. A proud and passionate man is so thirsty after revenge, to make others stoop to him, that he careth not what it cost him to accomplish it. Overcome these inward vices, and you may easily forbear the outward sins.

Direct. III. 'Love your neighbours as yourselves:' for that is the universal remedy against all injurious and uncharitable undertakings.

Direct. IV. Keep Keep a tender conscience, which will not make light of sin.' It is those that have seared their consciences by infidelity or a course of sinning, who dare venture with Judas or Gehazi for the prey, and dare oppress the poor and innocent, and feel not, nor fear, whilst they cast themselves on the revenge of God.

Direct. v. Remember the day when all these causes must be heard again, and the righteous God will set all straight, and vindicate the cause of the oppressed.' Consider what a dreadful appearance that man is like to have at the bar of heaven, who hath falsely accused or condemned the just in the courts of men. What a terrible indictment, accusation, conviction and sentence must that man expect! If the hearing of righteousness and the judgment to come made Felix tremble, surely it is infidelity or the plague of a stupified heart, which keepeth contentious persons, perverters of justice, false witnesses and unjust judges from trembling.

Direct. vI. Remember the presence of that God who must be your final judge.' That he seeth all your pride and covetousness, and all your secret contrivances for revenge, and is privy to all your deceits and injuries. You commit them in his open sight.

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Direct. VII. Meddle not with lawsuits till you have offered an equal arbitration of indifferent men, or used all possible means of love to prevent them.' Lawsuits are not the first, but the last remedy. Try all others before you use them.

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Direct. VIII. When you must needs go to law, compose your minds to unfeigned love towards him that you must contend with, and watch over your hearts with suspicion. and the strictest care, lest secret disaffection get advantage by it and go to your neighbour, and labour to possess his heart also with love, and to demulce his mind; that you may

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not use the courts of justice, as soldiers do their weapons, to do the worst they can against another, as an enemy; but as loving friends do use an amicable arbitration; resolving contentedly to stand to what the judge determineth, without any alienation of mind, or abatement of brotherly love.'

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Direct. ix. Be not too confident of the righteousness of your own cause; but ask counsel of some understanding, godly, and impartial men; and hear all that can be said, and patiently consider of the case, and do as you would have others do by you.'

Direct. x. Observe what terrors of conscience use to haunt awakened sinners, especially on a death-bed, for such sins as false witnessing, and false judging, and oppressing, and injuring the innocent, even above most other sins.'

CHAPTER XXIII.

Cases of Conscience, and Directions against Backbiting, Slandering and Evil Speaking.

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Backbiting and Evil

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Speaking.

Quest. 1. MAY I not speak evil of that which is evil? and call every one truly as he is?"

Answ. You must not speak a known falsehood of any man under pretence of charity or speaking well. But you are not to speak all the evil of every man which is true: as opening the faults of the king or your parents, though never so truly, is a sin against the fifth commandment," Honour thy father and mother :" so if you do it without a call, you sin against your neighbour's honour, and many other ways offend.

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Quest. II. Is it not sinful silence, and a consenting to, or countenancing of the sins of others, to say nothing against them, as tender of their honour?""

Answ. It is sinful to be silent when you have a call to speak if you forbear to admonish the offender in love between him and you, when you have opportunity and just

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