N00461:57
Promise-keeping a great duty. As it was delivered in a sermon / by Samuel…
Promise-keeping a great duty. As it was delivered in a sermon / by Samuel Willard, teacher of a church in Boston. ; [Three lines from Proverbs]
Boston: printed by Benjamin Harris, 1691
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
4 Beware of forgetting your promises. It will be no extenuation, but rather an aggravation of you fault so to do: it will argue a great want of integrity: that is one of the main ends of a promise, to put us in mind of what we have to do: and if we do indeed purpose the thing, it will set us about it, and then there will be no danger of the forgetting it.
5. Keep the Fear of God always before your eyes. Think it not enough that you can escape the Laws of men, which is all that too many take any thought about, and think all is well if they can keep clear of falling under their Lash.
5. Keep the Fear of God always befor your eyes. Think it not enough that you can escape the Laws of men, which is all that too many take any thought about, and think all is well if they can keep clear of falling under their Lash.
But remember. God is a witness of all the promises that you make, and he will be an avenger of all falsehood: be afraid of provoking him to anger at you, or of exposing his Name to reproach among men▪ think the time is coming when you must give an account of every idle word unto the great Judge; then all tricks and trivial excuses will be insignificant: he will then bring the hidden things of dishonesty to light: promise breakers then will have an awful account to give in. Let us then pray that uprightness and integrity may preserve us; that God will take from us the way of lying: this will be one way to help us to live in credit among men to enjoy great peace in our own spirits, and appear with comfort▪ before the great Judg at the Last Day.
But remember. God is a witness of all the promises that you make, and he will be an avenger of all falshood: be afraid of provoking him to anger at you, or of exposing his Name to reproach among men think the time is coming when you must give an account of every idle word unto the great Judge; then all tricks and trivial excuses will be insignificant: he will then bring the hidden things of dishonesty to light: promise breakers then will have an awful account to give in. Let us then pray that uprightness and integrity may preserve us; that God will take from us the way of lying: this will be one way to help us to live in credit among men to enjoy great peace in our owne spirits, and appear with comfort before the great Judg at the Last Day.