What shall the swearer say? By
James Michael. You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
who takes his name in vain. Exodus 27 How justly will God, the righteous
judge, repay the imprecations into the bosoms of these blasphemers? They sin in sport, but God hears
in earnest and will punish in zeal. They call on God profanely
in their words, and God hears and will answer them in His wrath. They swear and forget, but God
has sworn that He will remember. That which they think adds vigour
to their words shall indeed add anguish to their grief and fierceness
to their torments. What shall the swearer say when
tossing on the fiery billows, shrieking under consummate despair? O miserable state of intolerable
torments, which I must endure! How shall I spend this eternity
of pain? It was nothing to me in time
to hear others curse and blaspheme, and to join in the infernal dialect
myself. And now, I'm encircled with unceasing
blasphemies from all the legions of demons, from all the millions
of miserable sinners suffering under infinite vengeance. and I mingle in the uproar and
join in the terrible tumult against the throne of God, although dreadfully
tortured in my rebellion. Then, curses accented every sentence. Now, every sentence is one continued
curse. I thought God was altogether
such a one as myself, and that he would never remember my swearings,
which I never minded, nor call me to account for committing
that which I made no account of. Damn me, damn me, was always
on my tongue, and now I am damned forever. The oaths and curses which I
sowed in time have now sprung up into bitter bewailings and
eternal blasphemies. As I took pleasure in cursing,
so it has come unto me, but with inexpressible pain. O Eternity,
Eternity, how long! They cursed the God of heaven
for their pains and sores, but they did not turn from their
evil ways. Revelation 16 11. This is indeed
the lamentable end of profane swearers who shall confess the
equity of God in their torments. But, as the wicked shall be repaid
according to their ways, so shall the righteous be in theirs, all
their imperfect attainments, longings, wrestlings, hopes,
desires, prayers, meditations, tears, godly sorrows, spiritual
joys, and the seeds of every other grace, shall come to a
wondrous conclusion at last. Now they serve God with weakness,
but then they shall enjoy Him with a vigorous immortality.
They sow in tears and go weeping heavenward, but shall possess
Him in a triumphant state, where sorrow and sighing shall forever
flee away.