Thus you have the sum of the entire commandment explained.And with this understanding the question with which many teachers have troubled themselves has been easily solved,to wit,why swearing is prohibited in the Gospel,and yet Christ,St.Paul,and other saints often swore.
The explanation is briefly this:We are not to swear in support of evil,that is,of falsehood,and where there is no need or use;but for the support of good and the advantage of our neighbor we should swear.
For it is a truly good work,by which God is praised,truth and right are established,falsehood is refuted,peace is made among men,obedience is rendered,and quarrels are settled.For in this way God Himself interposes and separates between right and wrong,good and evil.If one part swears falsely,he has his sentence that he shall not escape punishment,ad though it be deferred a long time,he shall not succeed;that all that he may gain thereby will slip out of his hands,and he will never enjoy it;as I have seen in the case of many who perjured themselves in their marriage-vows,that they have never had a happy hour or a healthful day,and thus perished miserably in body,soul,and possessions.
Therefore I advise and exhort as before that by means of warning and threatening,restraint and punishment,the children be trained betimes to shun falsehood,and especially to avoid the use of God's name in its support.For where they are allowed to do as they please,no good will result,as is even now evident that the world is worse than it has ever been and that there is no government,no obedience,no fidelity,no faith,but only daring,unbridled men,whom no teaching or reproof helps;all of which is God's wrath and punishment for such wanton contempt of this commandment.
On the other hand,they should be constantly urged and incited to honor God's name,and to have it always upon their lips in everything that may happen to them or come to their notice:For that is the true honor of His Name,to look to it and implore it for all consolation,so that (as we have heard above)first the heart by faith gives God the honor due Him,and afterwards the lips by confession.
This is also a blessed and useful habit and very effectual against the devil,who is ever about us,and lies in wait to bring us into sin and shame,calamity and trouble,but who is very loath to hear God's name,and cannot remain long where it is uttered and called upon from the heart.And,indeed,many a terrible and shocking calamity would befall us if,by our calling upon His name,God did not preserve us.I have myself tried it,and learned by experience that often sudden great calamity was immediately averted and removed during such invocation.To vex the devil,I say,we should always have this holy name in our mouth,so that he may not be able to injure us as he wishes.
For this end it is also of service that we form the habit of daily commending ourselves to God,with soul and body,wife,children,servants,and all that we have,against every need that may occur;whence also the blessing and thanksgiving at meals,and other prayers,morning and evening,have originated and remain in use.Likewise the practices of children to cross themselves when anything monstrous or terrible is seen or heard,and to exclaim:"Lord God,protect us!""Help,dear Lord Jesus!"etc.Thus,too,if any one meets with unexpected good fortune,however trivial,that he say:"God be praised and thanked;this God has bestowed on me!"etc.,as formerly the children were accustomed to fast and pray to St.Nicholas and other saints.This would be more pleasing and acceptable to God than all monasticism and Carthusian sanctity.
Behold,thus we might train our youth in a childlike way and playfully in the fear and honor of God,so that the First and Second Commandments might be well observed and in constant practice.Then some good might take root,spring up and bear fruit,and men grow up whom an entire land might relish and enjoy.Moreover,this would be the true way to bring Up children well as long as they can become trained with kindness and delight.For what must be enforced with rods and blows only will not develop into a good breed and at best they will remain godly under such treatment no longer than while the rod is upon their back.
But this [manner of training]so spreads its roots in the heart that they fear God more than rods and clubs.This I say with such simplicity for the sake of the young,that it may penetrate their minds.For since we are preaching to children,we must also prattle with them.Thus we have prevented the abuse and have taught the right use of the divine name,which should consist not only in words,but also in practices and life,so that we may know that God is well pleased with this and will as richly reward it as He will terribly punish the abuse.
The Third Commandment.
Thou shalt sanctify the holy day.
[Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.]
The word holy day (Feiertag)is rendered from the Hebrew word Sabbath which properly signifies to rest,that is,to abstain from labor.Hence we are accustomed to say,Feierbend machen [that is,to cease working],or heiligen Abend geben [sanctify the Sabbath].Now,in the Old Testament,God separated the seventh day,and appointed it for rest,and commanded that it should be regarded as holy above all others.As regards this external observance,this commandment was given to the Jews alone,that they should abstain from toilsome work,and rest,so that both man and beast might recuperate,and not be weakened by unremitting labor.Although they afterwards restricted this too closely,and grossly abused it,so that they traduced and could not endure in Christ those works which they themselves were accustomed to do on that day,as we read in the Gospel just as though the commandment were fulfilled by doing no external [manual]work whatever,which,however,was not the meaning,but,as we shall hear,that they sanctify the holy day or day of rest.
