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neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. And in Jude, vers. 14, 15. we read, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." From these texts the profane swearer may learn his doom. The Lord will not hold him guiltless; he will make his plagues wonderful; he shall fall into condemnation; and the Lord will execute judgment upon him for his hard speeches which he has spoken against him.The wrath and curse of that Almighty God, with whose holy name he has dared to trifle, abideth upon him. That damnation which he has often imprecated upon himself and others, will without speedy repentance be his eternal portion; and then will he find that the wrath of God which he now dares to tempt is terrible; and that damnation is a word of most dreadful import.

3. The practice of profane swearing, has a tendency, injurious to the happiness of others. The evil does not end with the destruction of the swearer himself, but it injures others, and may destroy many.

The feelings of the pious are often greatly wounded, by hearing that holy name, which they reverence and love profaned by unhallowed lips. Perhaps no one of the prevalent vices which a good man is compelled to witness fills him with more horror and pain, than this of profane swearing. If then the swearer has no regard to God or his own soul; yet if he has any respect to common decency and politeness, this ought to restrain him from this vice, especially in the presence of those to whom it is so odious and painful.

And not only are the feelings of the pious wounded by this practice; but the eternal interests of those who are not pious are endangered. The example of the swearer may be followed by others, and thus their souls be destroyed. The young especially are in danger from this source. They are peculiarly prone to imitation, and especially to imitate vice. And that they are prone to imitate this vice we have constant evidence among the youth in our streets, where we frequently hear those who

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unless it is forsaken by true repentance, and the guilt of it is washed away by the blood of Christ, it will unavoidably bring down the judgments of God upon the head of him who indulges himself in it, and will inevitably issue in his eternal destruction where he will forever feel the er of that God, with whose name, and laws he has trifled, and the awful import of damnation with which he has sported. God is jealous for the glory of his name, and he has commanded us to reverence him; and will he not punish for such violations of the reverence which is due to him? Besides, has the profane swearer a right to expect any thing else? for has he not often called God to witness to a falsehood, and sworn by his name, and then broken his oath? An oath is an appeal to God as the searcher of hearts, for the truth of what we say, and an imprecation of his curse in case we swear falsely. Let the profane swearer therefore consider, whether in the numerous oaths which he has made in conversation, he has never called God to witness to a falsehood. And if so, has he any reason to expect any thing else, than that the wrath and curse of God, under which he has voluntarily put himself by his oaths, will fall upon him? Besides are there not some wretches, who, (shocking to relate!) have called upon God to damn their souls? And can such persons expect any thing else, than that they will have what they have asked?

But if, notwithstanding these reasons, any doubt could remain, as to the dreadful doom which awaits the swearer; the Scriptures have settled this point, and removed every ground of doubt. The third precept of the decalogue, which was delivered with awful majesty and terror by God himself, is, "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Or in other words he will punish those who take his name in vain. Such a threatening as this is not to be found annexed to any other of the ten commandments, which may intimate that this is sin peculiarly offensive to God. Again we read Deut. xxviii. 58, 59. "If thou wilt not observe to do all he words of this law-that thou mayest fear this gloripro ous and fearful name, the Lord thy God; then the Lord him, will make thy plagues wonderful." And James exhorts, nes v. 12. Above all things, my brethren, swear not;

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neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: butlet your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. And in Jude, vers. 14, 15. we read, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." From these texts the profane swearer may learn his doom. The Lord will not hold him guiltless; he will make his plagues wonderful; he shall fall into condemnation; and the Lord will execute judgment upon him for his hard speeches which he has spoken against him.The wrath and curse of that Almighty God, with whose holy name he has dared to trifle, abideth upon him. That damnation which he has often imprecated upon himself and others, will without speedy repentance be his eternal portion; and then will he find that the wrath of God which he now dares to tempt is terrible; and that damnation is a word of most dreadful import.

3. The practice of profane swearing, has a tendency, injurious to the happiness of others. The evil does not end with the destruction of the swearer himself, but it injures others, and may destroy many.

The feelings of the pious are often greatly wounded, by hearing that holy name, which they reverence and love profaned by unhallowed lips. Perhaps no one of the prevalent vices which a good man is compelled to witness fills him with more horror and pain, than this of profane swearing. If then the swearer has no regard to God or his own soul; yet if he has any respect to common decency and politeness, this ought to restrain him from this vice, especially in the presence of those to whom it is soodious and painful.

And not only are the feelings of the pious wounded by this practice; but the eternal interests of those who are not pious are endangered. The example of the swearer may be followed by others, and thus their souls be destroyed. The young especially are in danger from this source. They are peculiarly prone to imitation, and especially to imitate vice. And that they are prone to imitate this vice we have constant evidence among the youth in our streets, where we frequently hear those who

have but lately begun to speak, using profane language. Where have they learned this practice, but from hearing older persons, use such language? And what will be to these children and youth the consequence of this vice, which they have learned from older sinners? Undoubtedly we have great reason to fear, the consequence will be, the loss of their souls. For while the vice itself, brings him who commits it under the condemning sentence of God's law, it hardens the heart against serious impressions, and prepares the way for the commission of other sins. Perhaps no vice has a more direct tendency to destroy a reverence for God, and to lead a person to cast off his fear than this. And when a person ceases to have a reverence for God, and has no fear of him before his eyes, he is prepared for the commission of any crime. If therefore profane swearers have any respect for the happiness of others, and especially of the rising generation, who are in great danger of being eternally ruined by their example, let them forsake this vice; and especially they ought to be extremely careful, and not vent their oaths and curses in the presence of those who are in danger of becoming contaminated by them

If the profane swearer be the head of a family, evil consequences are more especially likely to ensue to those under his care. For to him his children look up for example, and when an example of profane language is set before them we have every reason to expect that the children will walk in the same steps. And are there not some such parents, who never pronounce the name of God in the presence of their children, but in a profane manner; and who instead of teaching their children to fear God, teach them by their example at least, if not by precept, to cast off his fear, and profane his holy name; and thus take the direct course to draw down his curse upon their heads? Unnatural parents! Where is that desire for your children's happiness, which God has implanted in the human breast? You are murdering your children, in the most dreadful sense,-you are ruining their souls. Happy would it be for your children, if the Lord were to take them away from you before they come to an age to imitate your example. If they live to be brought up under your instructions and example, the probability is that you will meet them hereafter in hell. And how

will this aggravate your misery through eternity! The Lord in his word not only threatens to make the plagues of the man who fears not his name wonderful; but also the plagues of his seed. As we read Deut. xxviii. 58, 59."If thou will not observe to do all the words of this lawthat thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God; then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed." And further, the curse of God abideth not only upon the profane swearer himself, but also upon his house, as we learn from Zech. v. 1, 3, 4. "Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall remain in the midst of his house." Let the heads of families who may be guilty of this vice seriously ponder on these texts.

Again this vice has a most pernicious influence on the interests of society at large, not only by the general corruption of manners which it promotes; but especially by the influence which it has in lessening the fear and solemnity of an oath, when administered by lawful authority. Perjury, or swearing falsely when called by civil authority to take an oath, is one of the greatest of crimes against society; as hereby the character, the property, and the lives of the innocent may be destroyed. The fear of God is the grand security against perjury. This is clearly implied in the circumstance, that legislators have re quired an appeal to be made to God as the searcher of hearts in taking an oath. Whatever therefore tends to destroy or lessen the fear of God increases the danger of perjury. And therefore profane swearing is a broad inlet to perjury. That man who has so far cast off the fear of God, as to take his holy name in vain in common conversation, or to call him to witness the truth of an assertion, known by the assertor to be doubtful, or even false, or to witness his sincerity in making a promise, which he is not careful to fulfil, and which he does not intend to fulfil, as is most frequently the case with profane swearers.

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