when you are lawfully called to it by those in authority, or by the sincere advice of your own consciences.
I. As to the first, there are several ways by which a man may be justly called a false witness against his neighbour.
First, According to the direct meaning of the word, when a man accuseth his neighbour without the least ground of truth. So we read, "that Jezabel hired two sons of Belial to accuse Naboth for blaspheming God and the king, for which, although he was entirely innocent, he was stoned to death." And in our age it is not easy to tell how many men have lost their lives, been ruined in their fortunes, and put to ignominious punishment, by the downright perjury of false witnesses! the law itself in such cases being not able to protect the innocent. But this is so horrible a crime, that it doth not need to be aggravated by words.
A second way by which a man becometh a false witness is, when he mixeth falsehood and truth together, or concealeth some circumstances, which, if they were told, would destroy the falsehoods he uttereth. So the two false witnesses who accused our Saviour before the chief priests, by a very little perverting of his words, would have made him guilty of a capital crime; for so it was among the Jews to prophesy any evil against the temple: This fellow said, "I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days;" whereas the words, as our Saviour spoke them, were to another end, and differently expressed: for when the Jews asked him to allow them a sign, he said; "Destroy this temple,
